tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55007622024-03-14T16:31:18.718-07:00VanderWorld (under occupation)“When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you’re grateful to them for providing the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why.” – Lady in Blue, rebel broadcastJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.comBlogger953125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-40216986250651554142007-06-20T19:00:00.000-07:002007-06-20T19:02:14.776-07:00THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO JEFFVANDERMEER.COMThis has been a fine old blog, but it is now officially an archive. The new blog, which is really an all-in-one website, is now at http://www.jeffvandermeer.com - please come visit and check out the new digs. And update your blog rolls and links accordingly.Come on by...there's even more fun to be had...Jeff VanderMeerJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com76tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-83581217971501974562007-06-20T13:12:00.000-07:002007-06-20T13:20:06.832-07:00FROM ABOVEOn the plane back home last night, the world looked like it was coming to an end through storm. Three in the morning, the window in that half light stained an odd green as if a port hole in a ship on rough seas. And out in the distance this distorted, baleful factory of electricity and swirling clouds, dark against gray, rising thousands of feet in the air, the hungry lightning jagging through JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-10592105885394072182007-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:002007-06-14T19:23:55.184-07:00MICHAEL CISCO'S THE TRAITORI'm reposting this old post from a few years back because Cisco's The Traitor is finally going to come out--from Prime Books. Don't miss it. Very sorry Ministry went on hiatus before we could publish it.JeffMichael Cisco is a criminally underrated author, in part because his work is sometimes difficult (in the best sense of the word), sometimes morally ambiguous, and because he's an original. It JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-34860450450426369532007-06-12T18:28:00.001-07:002007-06-12T18:34:49.429-07:00OLD BLOAT'S WORST HOUR: SOPRANOSI have to admit. I've never been that big a fan of The Sopranos. To me, it was mostly melodrama with a perhaps inspired mishmash of prior mafia movies and shows driving it forward. But, at the very least, it had a animal energy to it in the early years.But it's jumped the shark for awhile now, probably at least two seasons, and the glimpses I got this year didn't change that opinion much. Tony JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-32827834340988109442007-06-11T08:13:00.001-07:002007-06-11T19:02:31.257-07:00LATEST BOOKSLUT COMICS COLUMN: FIE ON YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHYMy latest Bookslut comics column is now up, along with the rest of the June Bookslut. Can you guess which graphic novel I was talking about here?It's hard to pick a favorite from among the stories -- almost everything is a gem. In fact, I don't even care if the writer made it all up. It's entertaining, fun, and sometimes wonderfully serious.How about here?The ugly monotone pages, ranging from JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-68879820826143320962007-06-09T16:36:00.003-07:002007-06-09T16:38:49.479-07:00ME SIS, IN EDINBURGH, IN THE PAPERMy sister's on the right.JeffJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-77893436380241484492007-06-09T06:13:00.000-07:002007-06-09T06:29:45.762-07:00MORE ON THE PREDATOR NOVELYep, as stated I'm doing a Predator novel for Dark Horse. Here's the FAQ.Why are you doing this?Because I've always wanted to write a thriller set in the real world and this allows me to do that. Because I always thought Predator was a cool idea and even liked Predator 2 (the Predator 2 that existed beneath the smarmy production values). And, now that I'm 100% freelance, I can do many more JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-51854274555885811242007-06-08T20:33:00.001-07:002007-06-08T20:37:48.134-07:00VACATION BY JEREMY SHIPPI just blogged about Jeremy C. Shipp's short novel Vacation on the Amazon book blog.This is a startling first novel by a refreshingly sharp talent. I can't tell you there aren't some rough edges here and there, but that's trifling compared to the originality on display. It's what I kind of hoped Gray by Armstrong would be.Anyway, you really should check this novel out. I guarantee you won't be JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-1301816321091619672007-06-08T16:17:00.000-07:002007-06-08T16:21:54.116-07:00FREELANCINGAt least two things about freelancing are a lot like prison: You have to make sure you don't get screwed and you've got plenty of time to work.I've been lucky on the former and adhering to the latter. Since the beginning of the year, I've worked out/lifted weights at least four times a week every week but two. Sometimes six days a week. As a result, I've seen dramatic gains--from 135 lbs on latt JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-91924484414459122352007-06-08T07:51:00.000-07:002007-06-08T07:53:40.746-07:00FRIDAY MORNING WITH EVIL MONKEYEvil Monkey:Hey, Jeff. How’s it going?Jeff:It’s going well. Just busy. I haven’t seen you around much lately.Evil Monkey:I’ve been here. You’ve just been too busy to notice me.Jeff:Sorry about that.Evil Monkey:Naw, it’s okay. It’s given me a lot more time to think.Jeff:About running for president?Evil Monkey:Oh, I’m definitely doing that. But I’m going to let some of these jokers impale JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-88788764456510064632007-06-06T05:26:00.000-07:002007-06-06T05:28:12.093-07:00SPOONBLISS GA GA GA GA GAI'm in Spoon Bliss. Ga ga ga ga ga.Coming in July. Streaming here now, song by song by ga ga ga ga ga...JeffJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-31624795234618927742007-06-03T12:16:00.000-07:002007-06-04T14:01:07.690-07:00NPR SUMMER RECOMMENDED READINGUPDATE: Here's the weblink.I believe the NPR summer recommended reading segment on All Things Considered that mentions Best American Fantasy will run tomorrow sometime. There should be info on the website tomorrow, too.I'm working on several deadlines, so blogging will be spotty for the next week.JeffJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-41320088404500610802007-05-31T12:24:00.001-07:002007-05-31T12:28:07.517-07:00HORRIBLE, DISGUSTING CAT INSTALLATION ARTSo I noticed one of our cats, Shoshona the Speckle-Bellied Monkey Cat, coughing and wheezing earlier. It didn't sound like the normal kind of hairball. I had also noticed yesterday that Shoshona had been mysteriously drawn to a particular corner of the living room, Blair Witch-style.Mystery solved. I heard her hacking up, went over and discovered she'd thoughtfully placed a rather moist art JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-27860537293506782102007-05-30T08:35:00.000-07:002007-05-30T08:37:12.531-07:00STARRED PW REVIEW OF BAFBest American Fantasy reviewed in the May 28th Publishers Weekly:In a genre where yearly “best of” volumes often repeat one another, the first in Prime’s new annual fantasy anthology series is a breath of eclectic and delightfully innovative fresh air. While the VanderMeers have included such fantasy veterans as Kelly Link and Elizabeth Hand, most of the 29 stories are by nongenre authors as wellJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-31653466013096439802007-05-30T07:06:00.000-07:002007-05-30T07:14:27.860-07:00A NEW FACE IN HELL ANIMATIONGawd willin' and the crik don't rise, Sony Playstation, as part of its sponsorship of the 2007 Manchester International Festival, will be making an animation/cartoon out of my story "A New Face in Hell," to coincide with the launch of Perverted by Language, the anthology based on songs by The Fall. The animation should be widely available on the internet, and a couple of other writers will also JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-83692759182986142402007-05-29T18:23:00.000-07:002007-05-29T18:33:55.577-07:00PREDICTING THE FUTUREIt's exciting times here at the VanderMeer Ranch. Opportunities popping up all over the place. At least three out of the eight things below should come true within the next couple of weeks...Jeff- I'll be contracted to write an off-off-Broadway musical.- I'll accept an opportunity to write a coffee table book for a software company.- I'll be commissioned to write a travel guide on a South PacificJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-16518727753424789452007-05-28T20:03:00.000-07:002007-05-28T18:40:48.803-07:00SAGA OF THE DRAGON HEAD--Part 1We just spent a wonderful, relaxing anniversary (our fifth!) weekend in St. Augustine, doing nothing but chilling out.However, I did manage to make my first insane purchase since the beginning of the year--a dragon head from the Splendid China exhibit in Orlando--sold to an antique shop owner in St. Augustine after the place was torn down. And just this cool head remaining. It'd been in the shop JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-39257996431930490902007-05-28T18:10:00.001-07:002007-05-28T18:40:20.723-07:00SAGA OF THE DRAGON HEAD--Part 2JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-37985885832829915502007-05-24T06:25:00.001-07:002007-05-24T06:36:09.071-07:00BORNEThe beginning of Borne....JeffI found it because I had to, on the flank of shudder-sleeping Mord, one leg larger than my entire home--within that brown fur jungle, matted and stinking of carrion and chemicals and whatever small creatures had hidden themselves there. Mord had leveled a soft building when he'd fallen to his slumber and the goopy pieces mashed out to the sides of him, given a new JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-33959318955941339052007-05-22T18:08:00.000-07:002007-05-22T18:10:54.706-07:00SHARE YOUR EXCITING SECRETS, FRIENDSI'm about to go away for a few days (freelance deadline). But I got an idea from this fortune from the Bamboo House, the best Chinese restaurant in the world:A friend will soon reveal an exciting secret to you!So, while I'm away, it would be most amusing if you would post your exciting secrets to the comments field. Anonymously, of course, if you so desire...let loose. It'll feel great!JeffJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-24339191529917621252007-05-22T18:05:00.000-07:002007-05-22T18:08:16.845-07:00ALIEEEN, ONE-LINE REVIEWS, AND BANGKOK TATTOOI've just posted a short entry over at Ed Champion's blog on the underrated novel Bangkok Tattoo, which I argue is a great post 9-11 novel.Also, one-line reviews and a cool ALIEEEN game over on the Amazon book blog.JeffJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-77300470664561126892007-05-22T13:54:00.001-07:002007-05-22T13:55:51.881-07:00AWESOME BAF NEWSJust as an update--Best American Fantasy, a little birdie tells me, will get a starred review in an upcoming issue of Publishers Weekly. And...drum roll...NPR's All Things Considered will feature it on a program devoted to their summer reading recommendations. Their discussion of BAF will tentatively include a reading by Kelly Link from her story in the anthology.I know I sound like a rabid JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-12796105524233265862007-05-22T10:07:00.000-07:002007-05-22T10:13:38.707-07:00CITY OF SAINTS: COSMIC BUG WINNERThe influential French website Le Cafard cosmique, which translates as the Cosmic Bug, has awarded its latest Cosmic Bug Award to City of Saints & Madmen. Prior winners include Gene Wolfe and M. John Harrison, so I am well and truly chuffed.As you can see above, not only did the jury get to talk about books at a cafe, they got to do so in FRANCE, those bastards. Trust me, it wouldn't have been JeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-85474658426727318462007-05-20T15:31:00.003-07:002007-05-20T15:32:58.351-07:00ME AND THE RILE-STEROkay, just get used to it. There will be Riley photos from time to time...gawd...I'm getting so old I'm not only becoming a big softy but all my hair is turning white...JeffJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5500762.post-6438125569675947172007-05-19T12:38:00.000-07:002007-05-19T12:44:54.015-07:00GUEST BLOGGIN' AT ED'S PLACE AND AMAZON LINKSI'm guest blogging, along with dozens of others, at Ed Champion's blog while he's moving to NYC. I posted today and will do so intermittently until Ed returns.Also, note a couple of Amazon.com posts, one on Big Books (The Religion, Acacia, and Thirteen) and Books You Shouldn't Overlook (In the Eye of Heaven, Divergence, The Music of Razors, and Ink).Next week, they'll be posting my short piece onJeffVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08306056002963293934noreply@blogger.com1