Shoutout to the indies

Last weekend when I was in Seattle, I signed lots of copies of COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO for University Bookstore. Duane Wilkins is the pointman for sf/fantasy at University. He's a great guy and he does a lot for all of us in the sf/fantasy community. So if you're in Seattle, they've got signed copies of the art book over there.

Signed copies are available from the following, (and likely, other indy booksellers that I may not be aware of):

Borderlands Books (San Francisco)
DreamHaven Books (Minneapolis)
Bud Plant (Grass Valley, CA)
BookPeople (Austin, TX)

Oh yeah, and thanks to my friend Brendan Vaughan for reminding me that Cold Tonnage Books carries the book out in the UK, along with Joe Gordon and the folks at Forbidden Planet International. And if you happen to be out in the Netherlands, the American Book Center has plenty of signed copies from my visit out that way for Elf Fantasy Fair 2007.

And of course, the book's still available (although unsigned) from the big chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble, and of course, Amazon.

This year's IHG Nominees

Saturday was already a great day with the Locus Award win, but it was made even more so (if that's possible) when I heard I'm a finalist for the International Horror Guild Award in the Artist category! In my case, my IHG nomination is because of COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO. This is great because in my mind it's a shared recognition for myself and MonkeyBrain Books (Allison Baker and Chris Roberson). Thanks to all, and I'm very grateful for the recognition. All the better to share it with friends like MonkeyBrain.

Shoutout to my all of my fellow IHG nominees (complete list here), but especially to those who are in this year's Artist category.

Aeron Alfrey.
Exhibits from the Imaginary Museum

Camille Rose Garcia.
Camille Rose Garcia: Subterranean Death Clash, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York

Chris Mars.
Chris Mars: Subderma, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York

J.K. Potter.
Cover and illustrations: A Soul in a Bottle by Tim Powers (Subterranean)

Quite a diverse mix of approaches and visions, and an honor to be listed amongst them.

And the 2007 Locus Award for Best Artist goes to....

me. Wow! My return trip home from the Locus Awards/Science Fiction Museum & Hall of Fame Induction Weekend was loaded with airport delays and snafus, but that still couldn't dampen the joy I still feel over this honor. I'm home now, and sincerely grateful to all of the Locus readers who made this possible, especially considering that more folks vote in this poll than the Hugos or the Nebulas. That's incredibly humbling, and I'm really blown away by this whole thing. Thank you so much. I'll just keep working over here, and keep trying to get better.

It's really late right now and I'm dead-tired....a few photos from the last couple of days....
The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame located near the Space Needle in Seattle....site of the SFM Induction Ceremony where Ed Emshwiller, Gene Wolfe, Gene Roddenberry, and Ridley Scott were inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend






Super-cool signage near the entry to the Science Fiction Hall of Fame






Me saying a few words about the greatness of Ed Emshwiller as he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame (photo courtesy of Christopher Carey)





Eileen Gunn and me, post-ceremony, in front of the SFM's Hall of Fame wall....Eileen represented the Emshwillers in accepting Ed's HOF induction (photo courtesy of Leslie Howle)

And there it is....the 2007 Locus Award for Best Artist. Wow. Try this list on for size...this is the list of past Artist winners in the Locus Awards' 37-year history....Leo & Diane Dillon, Frank Kelly Freas, Rick Sternbach, Boris Vallejo, Bob Eggleton, Michael Whelan....and now me. I think the best thing I can do at this point is go get some sleep and get back to work. Again -- sincere thanks to everyone out there, and I'm so incredibly proud to be part of this year's list of Locus Award Winners. :)

EMSHWILLER INFINITY X TWO

Most of the time when I post here, I'm blogging about covers that I've done, or the books they represent. Not the case with the cover you see on your left. Next Saturday, I'll have the honor of commemorating Ed Emshwiller's induction into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in Seattle. I'll be presenting his posthumous award, as he's inducted that evening along with Gene Wolfe, Gene Roddenberry and Ridley Scott. Serious artillery there!

I suspect most sf/fantasy fans have at least a glancing knowledge of Wolfe, Roddenberry, and Scott. However, some may know very little about Ed Emshwiller's work. A shame, but if so, here's some great news. Luis Ortiz has put together a stunning book called EMSHWILLER INFINITY X TWO: THE ART AND LIFE OF ED AND CAROL EMSHWILLER (Nonstop Press). Introductions are by Carol Emshwiller and Alex Eisenstein. Packed with a lifetime of Emsh's art and personal photos of the Emshwillers, it's a riveting bio of their lives and times. I highly, highly recommend it. On the surface, it would seem that Emsh's career as a Hugo Award-winning illustrator (five-time Hugo Award winner, in fact) was very different from his career as a pioneering experimental filmmaker. However, the two were very much born of the same brew of technical fascination, intuitive genius, and sheer vision. Emsh was an artist, if there ever was one. My hat's off to Ortiz for his diligent research and thoroughness. Carol offers balance and perspective, and the whole package presents a very inspiring account of two artists' shared lives. Bud Plant Comic Art has copies right now. So does DreamHaven Books. If you're at all interested in the creation of art, this book's a real treasure.

Forbidden Planet International

Woke up this morning and read a couple of emails from UK readers who noticed last night's post. They both asked where they could find COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO in the UK. Good question. The book was released in May 2006 here in the States and I'm not sure when it started getting European distribution, but I do know it's carried by various European booksellers. One sure bet -- it's available from the fine folks at Forbidden Planet International. In fact, this morning, they had a nice post about the BF List over at FPI's blog (shoutout to Joe Gordon). I highly recommend FPI, not only for my book, but for everything sf/f-related. They seem to carry everything under the sun. Store locations here, and of course, there's their webstore. Any other UK vendors that carry my book, please let me know, and I'll pass along the word here.

The 2007 British Fantasy Award Long List

This past weekend, I found out that I'm in consideration for this year's British Fantasy Award in the Artist category. The British Fantasy Society's "Long List", or Recommendation List, is floating around on various sites, so I guess it's officially public now. I saw it today over at Shocklines. Apparently, the BF Award in this category is given to an individual, but it has to be for a specific picture or work by that individual. I found out that the specific work responsible for my inclusion on the list, is my art book, COVER STORY: THE ART OF JOHN PICACIO. So that's great news. My understanding is that British Fantasy Society members now go vote, and that narrows the list down to a short list of finalists, which would constitute the official nominations, and then a winner comes from that list. So to any and all folks who put me on this list -- thank you. Much appreciated. Nice to be in the company of the following in the Artist category this year:

Ben Baldwin / Vincent Chong / Les Edwards / Velic Fahrija / Dean Harkness / Dominic Harman / Matthew Laznika / Zach McCain / Edward Miller / Jackie Morris / Harry O. Morris / Ted Naifeh / Larry Rostant

(By the way, if you're not quite sure what a British Fantasy Award looks like, wonder no more. Apparently, this is what one looks like circa 2003, courtesy of the Agony Column.)

THE GIRL WHO LOVED ANIMALS

Here's the wraparound cover art for the forthcoming Bruce McAllister hardcover collection THE GIRL WHO LOVED ANIMALS AND OTHER STORIES (Golden Gryphon Press). Bruce's story "Kin" is a Hugo Award nominee in this year's Short Story category. "The Boy in Zaquitos" was selected to appear in THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2007, guest edited by Stephen King. Both stories will be included in this seventeen-story collection. The introduction is by Harry Harrison; the afterword is by Barry N. Malzberg; and I think the book is slated for an October release date. It's a heckuva collection and I'm proud to be a part of this book.

"Bruce McAllister was widely regarded as one of the best science fiction writers of the '80s (although he really started all the way back in 1963), and the recent work in this collection shows that he's lost none of his skills here in the Oughts. THE GIRL WHO LOVED ANIMALS AND OTHER STORIES, which spans five decades of his brilliant career, shows McAllister at his best: complex, compassionate, angry, thoughtful, subtle, and always concerned with exploring the hidden places of the human heart." -- Gardner Dozois, editor of the annual YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION anthology series.