NEWS: I’m at Nebula Awards Weekend in Chicago

I’m in Chicago for Nebula Awards Weekend. Here’s the panels and such I’ll be participating on, including one off-site at Geek Bar Chicago that doesn’t require being a member of Nebula Awards Weekend.

Thursday 3:00-4:00
Making the Title Fit the Story
Titles need to fit the story, but they also need to be catchy and unique. The panelists will talk about how they find titles and what you should know about creating them.
Panelists: John Joseph Adams, Usman Malik, Stanley Schmidt, Rachel Swirsky
Salon 9

Friday 8:00-9:30
Mass Autographing [see attendees]
Exhibit Hall, (Fourth Floor)

Saturday 2:00-5:00 (I’ll have to leave around 3:30)
Tor Drinkup @ Geek Bar Chicago [info]
Come hang out with me and other Tor Books authors and editors at Geek Bar Chicago. See link above or flyer below for more information.

Saturday 4:00-5:00
Editing Diversity
Editors talk about the importance of a balanced table of contents, both in terms of content creators and the protagonists of the story.
Panelists: John Joseph Adams, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Joe Monti (M), Michael Thomas, Sheila Williams
Salon 8

Tor Author Drinkup @ Geek Bar Chicago

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NEWS: THE END HAS COME Now Available as an Audiobook!

The End Has Come is now available as an audiobook!

It is unabridged and produced by Skyboat Media, the production company of acclaimed producer and narrator Stefan Rudnicki. It features the vocal talents of narrators: features the vocal talents of narrators Vikas Adam, Gabrielle de Cuir, Justine Eyre, Roxanne Hernandez, Alex Hyde-White, Emily Rankin, Stefan Rudnicki, and Judy Young.

Run Time: About 15 hours
Price: $24.95 (without Audible membership) or $14.95 (with Audible Membership)

The narrator-story pairings breakdown as follows:

  • INTRODUCTION—John Joseph Adams—Stefan Rudnicki
  • BANNERLESS—Carrie Vaughn—Justine Eyre
  • LIKE ALL BEAUTIFUL PLACES—Megan Arkenberg—Roxanne Hernandez
  • DANCING WITH A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF NOD—Will McIntosh—Gabrielle de Cuir
  • THE SEVENTH DAY OF DEER CAMP—Scott Sigler—Alex Hyde-White
  • PROTOTYPE—Sarah Langan—Stefan Rudnicki
  • ACTS OF CREATION—Chris Avellone—Emily Rankin
  • RESISTANCE—Seanan McGuire—Gabrielle de Cuir
  • WANDERING STAR—Leife Shallcross—Gabrielle de Cuir
  • HEAVEN COME DOWN—Ben H. Winters—Judy Young
  • AGENT NEUTRALIZED—David Wellington—Alex Hyde-White
  • GOODNIGHT EARTH—Annie Bellet—Emily Rankin
  • CARRIERS—Tananarive Due—Roxanne Hernandez
  • IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF THE PROMISED LAND—Robin Wasserman—Stefan Rudnicki
  • THE UNCERTAINTY MACHINE—Jamie Ford—Vikas Adam
  • MARGIN OF SURVIVAL—Elizabeth Bear—Justine Eyre
  • JINGO AND THE HAMMERMAN—Jonathan Maberry—Stefan Rudnicki
  • THE LAST MOVIE EVER MADE—Charlie Jane Anders—Stefan Rudnicki
  • THE GRAY SUNRISE—Jake Kerr—Stefan Rudnicki
  • THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN—Ken Liu—Emily Rankin
  • THE HAPPIEST PLACE . . .—Mira Grant—Judy Young
  • IN THE WOODS—Hugh Howey—Justine Eyre
  • BLESSINGS—Nancy Kress—Vikas Adam & Stefan Rudnicki

BUY THE AUDIOBOOK

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REVIEW: ScienceFiction.com on WASTELANDS 2 – “Highly recommended”

“Editor John Joseph Adams has done an exceptional job of finding even more cream of the crop from this specific sub genre of fiction.  […] This equal level of quality across the board is certainly this compilations greatest strength and what truly makes it worth the read.  Whether seeing the outbreak of a deadly virus through the eyes of a trapped child, watching humankind literally transform to survive a series of apocalypses, or following a man open up a business among the world’s rubble, each story provides a fresh perspective among the book’s five hundred plus pages. No matter what your favorite flavor of end of the world yarn may be, this tome comes highly recommended.” —ScienceFiction.com, on Wastelands 2 [review]

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REVIEW: Seattle Geekly on THE END HAS COME – “The idea behind [it] was a brilliant one.”

“I used to be averse to short story collections but The End is Nigh edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey changed that last year with the beginning of The Apocalypse Triptych.  […] The idea behind The Apocalypse Triptych was a brilliant one. The editors did such a great job or curating the short stories.” —Seattle Geekly, on The End Has Come (and The Apocalypse Triptych as a whole) [review]

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NEWS: Upcoming Events Schedule: Baycon, Nebula Awards Weekend, Convergence and Others

I just made a last minute decision to attend Baycon this year (May 22-24), so I wanted to alert folks attending the con that I’ll be there, and also while I’m at it, I thought I’d highlight my other upcoming appearances.

Baycon
May 22 – May 24
Santa Clara, CA

Nebula Awards Weekend
Jun 4 – Jun 7
Chicago, IL

CONvergence
Jul 2 – Jul 5
Bloomington, MN

Worldcon
Aug 19 – Aug 23
Spokane, WA

PAX (tentative)
Aug 28 –  Aug 31
Seattle, WA

World Fantasy Convention
Nov 5- Nov 8
Saratoga Springs, NY

[in New York City area]
Nov 9 – Nov 19
New York, NY

 

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JJA Word Association Theater

I was watching Survivor the other night (shut up, I like it—and I’m a couple episodes behind, no spoilers!). One of the contestants, indignant that someone dared complain that he had flipped on their alliance, stood up, puffed out his chest, and shouted at him:

“You better RELAX, bro!”

It was uttered in such a ridiculous manner, with such exquisite bro-ness, that I could not help but riff on the line:

“If you want to get ready for beach season, you better WAX, bro!”

“If you need to send back that contract, do it by FAX, bro!”

“If it weren’t for the IRS, we wouldn’t have to pay TAX, bro!”

“If you want to get the most antioxidants from your protein smoothie, you gotta add FLAX, bro!”

“If you like video games, you should go to PAX, bro!”

“This weekend, we should go see MAD MAX, bro!”

And, my favorite, the pièce de résistance:

“If you want someone to appreciate your clever metaphors, don’t tell em to DRAX, bro!”

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NEWS: THE END HAS COME is Now on Sale!

The End Has Come, volume 3 of The Apocalypse Triptych, is now available!

COVER:

THE END HAS COME edited by John Joseph Adams & Hugh Howey

COVER COPY:

Famine. Death. War. Pestilence. These are the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the End of the World. In science fiction, the end is triggered by less figurative means: nuclear holocaust, biological warfare/pandemic, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm.

But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.

THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories.

Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME focuses on life after the apocalypse.

THE END HAS COME features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Ken Liu, Carrie Vaughn, Mira Grant, Jamie Ford, Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry, Robin Wasserman, Nancy Kress, Charlie Jane Anders, Elizabeth Bear, Ben H. Winters, Scott Sigler, and many others.

THE END IS NIGH is about the match.

THE END IS NOW is about the conflagration.

THE END HAS COME is about what will rise from the ashes.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  • INTRODUCTION—John Joseph Adams
  • BANNERLESS—Carrie Vaughn
  • LIKE ALL BEAUTIFUL PLACES—Megan Arkenberg
  • DANCING WITH A STRANGER IN THE LAND OF NOD—Will McIntosh
  • THE SEVENTH DAY OF DEER CAMP—Scott Sigler
  • PROTOTYPE—Sarah Langan
  • ACTS OF CREATION—Chris Avellone
  • RESISTANCE—Seanan McGuire
  • WANDERING STAR—Leife Shallcross
  • HEAVEN COME DOWN—Ben H. Winters
  • AGENT NEUTRALIZED—David Wellington
  • GOODNIGHT EARTH—Annie Bellet
  • CARRIERS—Tananarive Due
  • IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF THE PROMISED LAND—Robin Wasserman
  • THE UNCERTAINTY MACHINE—Jamie Ford
  • MARGIN OF SURVIVAL—Elizabeth Bear
  • JINGO AND THE HAMMERMAN—Jonathan Maberry
  • THE LAST MOVIE EVER MADE—Charlie Jane Anders
  • THE GRAY SUNRISE—Jake Kerr
  • THE GODS HAVE NOT DIED IN VAIN—Ken Liu
  • THE HAPPIEST PLACE . . .—Mira Grant
  • IN THE WOODS—Hugh Howey
  • BLESSINGS—Nancy Kress
  • Cover Art by Julian Aguilar Faylona
  • Cover Design by Jason Gurley

BUY THE BOOK:

If you’d like to learn more about the book, read stories from the anthology for free online, or read interviews with the authors, visit the website for The Apocalypse Triptych at johnjosephadams.com/apocalypse-triptych.

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NEWS: PRESS START TO PLAY Cover & TOC Reveal

Now that Kotaku has made the big reveal for us, I’m free to also share the final cover, (not final) cover copy, and table of contents for PRESS START TO PLAY, a mostly-original anthology of stories about and inspired by video games I edited (with Daniel H. Wilson) for Vintage. It’s forthcoming in August 2015, but you can pre-order it now.

COVER:

Press Start to Play

COVER COPY (not final):

Achievement unlocked! In the spirit of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, here are twenty-six works of fiction that put video games—and the people who play them—in the spotlight. Whether these authors are tackling the humble pixelated coin-op arcade games of the 70s and 80s, or the vivid, immersive form of entertainment that abounds today, you’ll never look at phrases like “save point,” “first-person shooter,” “dungeon crawl,” “pwned,” or “kill screen,” in quite the same way again.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

  • Foreword—Ernest Cline
    author (Ready Player One)
  • Introduction—John Joseph Adams
    editor (Wastelands)
  • God Mode—Daniel H. Wilson
    author (Robopocalypse), video game writer/developer (Mayday! Deep Space)
  • NPC—Charles Yu
    author (How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe)
  • Respawn—Hiroshi Sakurazaka (translated by Nathan Collins)
    author (All You Need is Kill, basis for the film Edge of Tomorrow a.k.a. Live/Die/Repeat)
  • Desert Walk—S.R. Mastrantone
    author (short stories)
  • Rat Catcher’s Yellows—Charlie Jane Anders
    author (All the Birds in the Sky), editor (io9)
  • 1Up—Holly Black
    author (The Spiderwick Chronicles)
  • Survival Horror—Seanan McGuire
    author (InCryptid, October Daye series)
  • REAL—Django Wexler
    author (The Thousand Names)
  • Outliers—Nicole Feldringer
    author (short stories)
  • <end game>—Chris Avellone
    video game writer/developer (Fallout: New Vegas)
  • Save Me Plz—David Barr Kirtley (reprint)
    author (short stories), host (The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy)
  • The Relive Box—T.C. Boyle (reprint)
    author (World’s End)
  • Roguelike—Marc Laidlaw
    video game writer/developer (Half-Life), author (The 37th Mandala)
  • All of the People in Your Party Have Died—Robin Wasserman
    author (The Waking Dark)
  • RECOIL!—Micky Neilson
    video game writer/developer (World of Warcraft), comics writer (World of Warcraft: Ashbringer)
  • Anda’s Game—Cory Doctorow (reprint)
    author (Little Brother), editor (Boing Boing)
  • Coma Kings—Jessica Barber (reprint)
    author (short stories)
  • Stats—Marguerite K. Bennett
    comics writer (X-Men, Batman)
  • Please Continue—Chris Kluwe
    author (Beautifully Unique Sparkleponies)
  • Creation Screen—Rhianna Pratchett
    video game writer/developer (Tomb Raider), comics writer (Mirror’s Edge)
  • The Fresh Prince of Gamma World—Austin Grossman
    author (Soon I Will Be Invincible), video game writer/developer (Dishonored)
  • Gamer’s End—Yoon Ha Lee
    author (Conservation of Shadows)
  • The Clockwork Soldier—Ken Liu (reprint)
    author (Grace of Kings)
  • Killswitch—Catherynne M. Valente (reprint)
    author (Deathless)
  • Twarrior—Andy Weir
    author (The Martian)
  • Select Character—Hugh Howey
    author (Wool)

PRE-ORDER:

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