GRRM’s official site has been updated with his latest loss in the literary awards season in the "News" section, but it’s more than made up for it by the excellent sales of the A Feast for Crows paperback. "From My Readers" is also updated with several new entries.
In the fifth installment of George R. R. Martin’s podcast series, GRRM discusses “Weird Stuff”: fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Besides using iTunes and RSS feed aggregators as discussed here, the episode can also be directly downloaded for listening here.
In the fourth installment of George R. R. Martin’s podcast series, GRRM discusses his experiences with Hollywood. Besides using iTunes and RSS feed aggregators as discussed here, the episode can also be directly downloaded for listening here.
GRRM’s official site has an updated “Not a Blog” entry recapping his recent travels. He concludes with the plan to try and get A Dance with Dragons completed by the end of this year, and mentions fruitful discussions with editors at a number of publishers, including comics publishers such as Marvel, DC, and Random House Comics. There is also an update in "News" regarding the re-publishing of The Hedge Knight graphic novel by Dabel Brothers Productions in hardcover, thanks to DB Pro’s partnership with Marvel; the "Cover ARt" gallery has been updated to include the two editions of the hardcover will sport.
In the third installment of George R. R. Martin’s podcast series, GRRM gives advice to budding writers about how to get a start. Besides using iTunes and RSS feed aggregators as discussed here, the episode can also be directly downloaded for listening here.
GRRM’s official site has been updated with an update to the “Life and Times” section with a pictorial look at Parris and himself over the years.
The second podcast has now been made available. For those interested in adding the podcast to iTunes or their RSS feed aggregators, see here. The audio file, in which George discusses his beginnings as a writer, can be directly downloaded here.
On top of all the other promotional endeavors that we’ve seen for A Feast for Crows, word has just arrived that Bantam Spectra is producing a series of eight podcasts by George. The first one is available today, and discusses the origins of “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
A special message from Parris (George’s partner, Mud Clerk, and maker of the Magic Coffee):
I wanted to let GRRM’s fans know that A Feast for Crows has been nominated for the Quill awards.
Now, the Quill award is not your average hoity- toity literary award, given by literary critics and English Lit profs. Nor is it a ‘members/peers’ award like the Hugos or the Nebulas.
Nope, the Quill award is sponsored by NBC and others:
The Quills, an initiative launched with the support of Reed Business Information, is designed to be an industry qualified "consumers choice" awards program for books, honoring the current titles readers deem most entertaining and enlightening.
You can read about the Quill awards here:
http://www.thequills.org/2005.html
And for fans of GRRM, you can VOTE for the Quill awards here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737551/
A Feast for Crows is eligible in 2 categories, best SF/F and for Book of the Year. There’s a lot of other categories that one can vote in as well, I was delighted to be able to vote for ‘Elizabeth Peters’ in the Mystery category, and cast my vote in several other categories as well, because, guess what, I’d actually read 3 or more of the titles in that category because they were popular titles I was able to find and enjoy in the last year.
What qualifications are needed to vote?
You need to have access to a computer with an internet connection.
That’s it, nothing else, no membership fees, no admittance to a professional organization, no having to attend soirees with literary critics and book publishers all hustling to get their titles on the ballot while devouring the last of crab puffs, just a computer with a internet connection.
Balloting ends on September 30th, so take a couple of minutes today to cruise over to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737551/
and vote for you favorite books of the year.
Do you have a friend who first turned you on to GRRM or Peters or one of the other nominees? Why don’t you forward them this note and urge them to vote too? You have a young reader in your family who loved a YA book this year that’s on the list? Involve them by encouraging them to look at the Quills list, see if there’s other titles they should give a try since their in the same category as a beloved book.
The Quills are only in their second year of existence. If they receive a lot of attention and participation from readers that vote for the awards, they will continue, and perhaps even grow in their importance. Maybe in a few years they’ll have cash awards, a goody basket like the Oscars hand out (Although I think a goody basket for writers would consist of various forms of caffeine and chocolate, a new chair for the writing desk and a big sign that reads "GO AWAY, I’M WRITING’ and not free spa treatments, engraved iPods and Ugg boots).
So go on, do the right thing, and participate in choosing the Quill awards for 2006. You’ll be glad you did. If George wins you’ll see pictures of him in a tux accepting the award, and isn’t that enough to send your browser to:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13737551/
Thanks, and as we always said in old Baltimore,
vote early! vote often!!!
GRRM’s official site has been updated with a news update regarding the Hugo awards, a new letter from a fan in “From My Readers”, a brief discussion of the current book he’s reading in “What I’m Reading”, and a longer discussion of the beginning of the American professional footbal season in his Not a Blog.
GRRM’s official site has been updated with the Quill Awards nomination for A Feast for Crows we reported on while at the WorldCon, as well as the news of the World of Ice and Fire, the forthcoming companion book for the series that we will be co-authoring with GRRM.
As GRRM points out in his update, any suggestions for what you would like to see in this book should be posted on the board. As soon as we get a chance to get settled in (we just returned from Las Vegas today), we will make available a sticky topic (or perhaps even a dedicated subforum) for the purpose of posting such suggestions, and we may also add a couple of polls.
GRRM’s official site has updated its “Life & Times” section, as well as “Cover Art” featuring foreign edition covers of the Hedge Knight graphic novel.
GRRM’s official site has an updated “From My Readers” section featuring some new fan art, and a new entry in “Not a Blog” noting some of GRRM’s travel and appearance plans in the coming months.
GRRM’s official site has an updated “News” section reminding fans of the forthcoming The Ice Dragon (UK) that will be on shelves in October. He has also updated his “From My Readers Section” with a couple of new pictures and comments.
GRRM’s official site has an updated “News” section confirming the demise of Guardians of Order, which published the A Game of Thrones roleplaying game (PDF). George discusses the future of the RPG in the update.