Hugo Party, Eclipse 3, Steampunk 2, Shared Worlds Scholarship, and More

Hugo PartyJust a reminder that if you live in Tallahassee and are curious to see what a Hugo looks like, and say hi to Ann, we'll be hanging out at the Mellow Mushroom from 7pm to 9pm on Saturday. A casual, laid-back party.Eclipse 3Jonathan Strahan has announced the line-up for Eclipse 3 and it's extremely strong. Let me blunt. In the wake of the fall-out from the mindblowing SF stories antho being all white males, it's just as important if not more important to celebrate anthologies that seem more diverse and inclusionary. In other words, being proactive means not just complaining about what seems wrong but praising what seems right. This doesn't mean that if Eclipse 3 for any reason isn't up to snuff that you soft-ball reviews, etc. Stories have to be good stories no matter who writes them. But I know that editing this series has been tough for Strahan--editing in general is tough; the anthos I've edited or co-edited have taken more out of me than any other projects--and he deserves credit for putting together such a cool line-up. The more anthos like this that succeed in the marketplace, the more diversity you're going to see, and less reliance on the same safe names (from a book sales point of view--which is the main way that publishers gauge how they think an anthology is going to do). The more anthos like this that don't succeed in the marketplace, the more you're going to see a fall-back reliance on what's comfortable for publishers. Activism means letting your money talk for you, sometimes.Last Drink Bird HeadWe've just bought http://www.lastdrinkbirdhead.com and we plan on using it for a pretty cool promotion. The idea is going to be that there'll be the ability for anyone to write their own Last Drink Bird Head creation from the guidelines and post it to this site, and there will be a donation button for people to donate to various literacy charities. We may also try to sponsor a Last Drink Bird Head week, where writers do LDBH flash fictions and drive donations to a particular URL. Still early days, and lots of other projects, but that's the initial plan.Steampunk 2For this second reprint anthology we will accept reprint submissions via email. The dates for submissions haven't been set yet, but it may be as early as November. We're still working out the schedule. Never fear, though--you will see the guidelines when available. We'll make sure of that.Leviathan 5We still plan on doing this anthology, but we're pushing off the reading period until sometime in 2010 due to other projects we need to clear off of our plates before then. It may just have a general dark fantasy theme. Originally, we were thinking dark, surreal humor, but we're still thinking it through.Shared Worlds 2010Ann and I are committed to offering a full minority scholarship at Shared Worlds starting in 2010. Shared Worlds, a teen writing camp focusing on SF/F, is a great entry point for future writers interested in non-realist writing, and it's important that it encourage diverse participation. I was struck this year by just how much good this camp can do over the long-term. Minority applicants will still be eligible for other scholarships, but we want there to be at least one specifically for this purpose. We're still working out the details, since we can only guarantee a third of such a scholarship out of our own pockets every year, still a substantial investment given I live off of my writing/editing. (If you're interested in contributing to such a scholarship, get in touch at vanderworld at hotmail.com.)Ann and Me, Workin' on ProjectsI'd just like to add a short note that, um, when a book has my name and Ann's on the cover, it's because Ann and I are equal partners in these endeavors. In many cases, Ann actually does more of the work because I also have my own writing projects. It's a little distressing when someone calls an editing project we do jointly "Jeff's". It's more than a little sexist, and it's simply not fair. I know that I have a higher public profile because I blog a lot and write a lot of nonfiction, in addition to the fiction writing, but still...Also, when my name is not on something...I don't have anything to do with it. There's still a myth out there that I somehow select the fiction for Weird Tales or something. Um, not true--I have absolutely 100% nothing to do with Weird Tales. My first look at stories is when the magazine comes out, and that's a true pleasure: to see what Ann's been up to, and to have so many wonderful surprises as a result.