A Cosmic Christmas is here

Actually, it has been for a while; I've just forgotten to mention it until now.

In any case, this fine book of awesome SF Christmas stories is now available at your favorite bookseller, physical or online.  As just the list of authors on the cover should tell you, you need this book. 

If you're a Jon and Lobo fan and you don't own Jump Gate Twist, you particularly need this anthology, because it reprints the Lobo Christmas story (yes, you read that right:  a Christmas story starring our own favorite killing machine), "Lobo, Actually."  It's quite a good story, believe it or not, and with apologies for saying so myself. 

Of course, with other tales from Connie Willis, Larry Correia, Mercedes Lackey, and many more writers, even if you do own Jump Gate Twist (and, really, you should), you still need this book. 

What are you waiting for?  Go get it!

Tomorrow, we return to my normal, less-comfortable-at-promoting-himself me.  I rationalize this shameless exercise in hucksterism as being okay because my friend, Hank Davis, edited this book, so it's really his, not mine. 

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 3

Today I managed to do a better job of interweaving work and con stuff than on most con trips.  I got up early, worked, and then went off to what I was sure would be an empty room for my reading.

To my pleasant surprise, 13 or 14 people attended--and only six of them were friends.  For only the second time, I read aloud the Lobo Christmas story, "Lobo, Actually."  I was pleased by the audience's response, because everyone agreed that they liked it and the story worked.

After a panel on urban fantasy, I grabbed lunch with friends and did some work, then caught part of another urban fantasy panel.  To say that topic was all over this con would be quite the understatement. 

More work, then I went to Dave's panel on the importance of reading older works in the field.  The conversation, which old friend Brett Cox moderated and which included guest-of-honor Elizabeth Hand, was interesting and even occasionally lively. 

Work, then the Baen dinner, where a group of Baen writers and friends enjoyed a very good steak meal courtesy of Senior Editor Jim Minz.

From there we had to hustle back to do the traditional WFC group autographing session, an exercise in humility (or humiliation; it's hard to tell) for lesser-known writers.  I was pleased that during the course of the session at least half a dozen folks brought books for me to sign.

A group of us then party-crawled a bit, and I ended the day working, as usual. 

As cons go, a pretty good day.

A Cosmic Christmas

is the title of an upcoming (due in November) anthology that includes the first reprint of the only solo Lobo story, "Lobo, Actually."

As always, click on the image to see a larger version.

As you can see from this preliminary cover sketch, Hank Davis, the Baen Senior Editor (and friend of mine) who created the book, put me in good company. The final cover, which you can view here, makes it clear that I'm in even better company than the sketch suggested.

If you can't wait until November to read the story, by all means pick up a copy of my omnibus collection, Jump Gate Twist. 

This story is my first (and so far only) Christmas tale, and I'm quite fond of it.  It's a Dickensian piece with more heart than one might imagine possible from Lobo, but I believe it works.  Check it out. 

My 2011 awards self-pimpage post

Like many writers in the science fiction and fantasy area, I'm aware that the awards nominating season is upon us. In particular, the Hugo awards, the fan-voted accolades that are a centerpiece of each year's World SF convention, are now open for nomination. (For more information on this year's Hugos, see this page. To learn more about Renovation, the 2011 WorldCon, go here.) To help those interested in supporting my work, and of course to beg as gracefully as I can manage, here are the works for which I'm eligible this year:

Short story: "Lobo, Actually."

This piece appeared in my Jump Gate Twist omnibus. I like it quite a bit; after all, how can you not like a Christmas story that stars a heavily armed, hyper-intelligent killing machine? The fact that it's only in that volume, however, does mean not that many folks saw it.

Novel: Children No More

If you've read this blog for any period of time, or if you've seen this book, then you know how much it and the topic it addresses--child soldiers--means to me. I think it's a good book, my best yet, and of course I'd love for it to win a Hugo, but what writer wouldn't love that for any of her/his books?

Now, a more important plea: Whether you nominate my work or someone else's, please nominate.

If you're an attending member of the con, you already have the right to nominate for free. If you're not, you can buy a supporting membership for $50, support the con, get its publications, and have the right to nominate. Yes, you can help decide which books have Hugo Winner! on their covers.

Here's the amazing thing about the Hugos: in any recent year, a fiction work of any length will make the final ballot with 60 or more nominations. Yes, just sixty. So, if you love a book or story or movie or many of those--mine or anyone else's--please consider nominating it.

As my final bit of self-pimpage, I will note this: If I make the ballot, I'll show up for the ceremony in my tuxedo, and I'll post pictures here. So, those who want to see me in a monkey suit in public, here's your chance.