I was ‘gobsmacked’–as they say here in Australia–to find out that Dreaming in the Dark made the final ballot for the World Fantasy Award. My congratulations to all the wonderful contributors who gave wings to this anthology. And my congratulations to all the other finalists on the ballot!
Here’s the link:
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2017/07/world-fantasy-award-nominees/
The Melbourne launch of Dreaming in the Dark will take place at the Continuum 13 National Science Fiction Convention at 6:00 pm at the Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne. I can promise everyone a great time…and our authors will be there to read and sign books. Oh, and I just may do some schtick <Grin>. Join us for a drink and nibbles!
Congratulations to James Bradley! His fabulous Dreaming in the Dark story “Martian Triptych” has been selected for inclusion in the prestigious The Best Australian Stories 2016.
Dreaming in the Dark, the first volume in the new PS Australia line, will be out in November; and here’s a sneak peek of the cover:
Our Table of Contents:
Welcome to the Golden Age:
An Introduction of Sorts—Jack Dann
Sing, My Murdered Darlings—Sean Williams
Falling Angel—Paul Brandon
Martian Triptych—James Bradley
Northerner’s Farewell—Rjurik Davidson
Midnight in the Graffiti Tunnel—Terry Dowling
A Right Pretty Mate—Lisa L. Hannett
Eromon No More—Jason Nahrung
Luv Story—Kim Westwood
The Luminarium Tower—Sean McMullen
Neither Time Nor Tears—Angela Slatter
His Shining Day—Richard Harland
The Liquid Palace—Adam Browne
Heat Treatment—Venero Armanno
Snowflakes All the Way Down—Rosaleen Love
Served Cold—Alan Baxter
The Dog Who’d Been Dead—Anna Tambour
Fade to Grey—Janeen Webb
All those Superpowers and What Are They Good For?
—Garth Nix
Burnt Sugar—Kirstyn McDermott
In Hornhead Wood—Kim Wilkins
Moonshine—Simon Brown
And as I wrote in the introduction:
It’s said that one of the characteristics of a good editor is the ability to read out of his or her comfort zone. Well, I can only say that every story in this volume is here because it made me nervous, made me laugh, scared me, made me think, reconsider, or just plain blew me away: i.e. knocked me out. And many of these stories are definitely out of my comfort zone. My response: ‘Oh, joy!’
Not one of the stories was bought (yes, authors need to be paid!) because the author had a big name or because the volume was light on a particular subgenre or because I had to meet a word count. If I couldn’t get the stories, then I’d wait until I did. No conciliation, no accommodation, no concession. Well, okay, I lied: I did have to make one accommodation: I had a word limit. I couldn’t buy the universe. But I sure as hell tried to buy the best of it!
Dreaming in the Dark can be pre-ordered HERE.
More Dreaming news as it happens…
I’m pleased to announce that Concentration, my collection of holocaust stories, will be published by PS Publishing in November. It will also contain an original story called “Trainspotting in Winesburg”, which is set in a future Australia.
In her introduction to the book, critic and scholar Marleen Barr writes:
In Jack Dann’s Holocaust visions, “imagination is used to enrich reality, not to escape from it.” His “invented, alternate worlds” are related to the ones Faulkner and Márquez create. But Yoknapatawpha and Macondo are not Jewish neighborhoods. Dann is a Faulkner and a Márquez for Jews. His fantastic retellings of the horror stories Nazis made real are “more truth than fantasy.” Dann imbues the Holocaust with the fantastic to liberate it from the constraints of temporal reality and, via using writing as a time machine, transports it to the new light of present and future relevance.
Looking forward to November, as my showcase PS Australia collection Dreaming in the Dark will also be published. This volume really shows off the extraordinary talent we have in Australia…and will truly be a showcase for the new PS Australia imprint. Oh, did I mention that I’m its MD? <Grin>
Herewith the publisher’s blurb (bless their hearts!):
Wonder inducing. Mind blowing. Comprehensive. Simply amazing. This entire collection includes hundreds of popular and award-winning science fiction and fantasy stories collected in thirty-five volumes gathered by the winner of fifteen Hugo awards for editing, the inimitable Gardner Dozois, and award-winning writer and anthologist, Jack Dann.
We are presenting these thirty-five anthologies in six discount bundles. Get them all, and you will own a huge swath of some of the best short science fiction ever written.
These are luminous, superb stories collected around popular science fiction and fantasy themes. They are written by dozens and dozens of amazing authors. Poul Anderson, Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, Fritz Leiber, Brian Aldiss, Ursula K. LeGuin, Arthur C. Clarke, Harry Turtledove, Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith, Greg Bear, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Nancy Kress, Fred Saberhagen—the distinguished list goes on and on!
Here is the link: CLICK HERE
Cheers!
–JACK
Jack’s anthology Ghosts by Gaslight, coedited with Nick Gevers, has been short-listed for The Bram Stoker Award, which will be presented at the World Horror Association in Salt Lake City, on March 31, 2012. Congratulations to all the contributors!
More information can be found at http://www.stokers2012.org