fantastic books

Science fiction convention (twelfth of 2024)

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

Next Friday I’ll be at Philcon, which is my last scheduled convention of the year. Last! (For those of you counting along at home, I’ve already been to eleven sf conventions and seven Mensa conventions, and that’s not counting meetings, speeches, and more personal out-of-town trips.)

If you’re looking for me at Philcon (in Cherry Hill, New Jersey), I will, as always, be spending a lot of time at the Fantastic Books table in the dealers’ room. But I’m also on programming. You’ll be able to see me at:

Friday at 7:00pm in Grand Ballroom: “Whose Line, SFF Style!” with Melody Cryptid, Randee Dawn, Odele Pax, Michael A. Ventrella, and Abigail Welsher.

Friday at 9:00pm in Crystal 3: “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Con” with Tony Finan, Brian T. Price, Roberta Rogow, and Michael A. Ventrella.

Saturday at 12:00n in Plaza 5: “Remembering Tom Purdom” with Barbara Purdom, Mark Roth-Whitworth, and Michael Swanwick.

Saturday at 6:00pm in Plaza 5: “How to Write a Cover Letter for Your Novel” with Ken Altabef, Isabel J. Kim, and David Walton.

Hoping to see many of you there, because I don’t have another convention scheduled for more than two months.

Science fiction convention (eleventh of 2024)

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

I neglected to mention that this weekend is a convention, but it’s not like my typical sf convention. This weekend, I’ll be at Sci-Fi Valley Con in Altoona, Pennsylvania. This is a much bigger (than my usual) media convention, with a much greater focus on the media guests of honor, on the dealers’ room, on costuming, and somewhat less emphasis on programming. In fact, I’ll be at the Fantastic Books table all weekend, and not on programming. I was there in June and had a good time, so I’m looking forward to even more this weekend. Come, join us!

A Vampire is Running for President: Thank God!

~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

A press release from Fantastic Books:

It’s been a horrific election season. Supporters on both sides are quite certain the other candidate can’t be human. Maybe we’d be better off voting for an actual monster!

Should being outed as a real vampire disqualify one from running for the presidency of the United States? Michael A. Ventrella’s hilarious Bloodsuckers answers that question.

Disgraced journalist Steven Edwards considers the “Batties”—the loonies who believe that vampires are real and Norman Mark is one—just another crazy tin-foil-hat extremist group. Then someone shoots at Mark, changes into a bat, and flies away before Steve’s eyes, leaving him as the prime suspect. With the help of the Batties, Steve goes underground. The only way he can establish his innocence is by proving vampires exist—not an easy task while on the run from both the FBI and the bloodsuckers.

Fantastic Books is releasing a new edition of Bloodsuckers right now, timed to coincide with “the most consequential presidential election in American history.” But aren’t they all? We’ve been tuned in to news of this election non-stop for years; it’s time to take a break. Read Bloodsuckers, and put it all into perspective.

Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President
Michael A. Ventrella
$15.99, 250 pages, trade paperback (ebook $7.99)
publication date: October 29, 2024
ISBN: 978-1-5154-5828-9

Bloodsuckers—and all Fantastic Books books—are distributed via Ingram. Review copies are available upon request.

    Reviews!

    ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

    The new issue of True Review has just been posted. In this one, they’ve reviewed two Fantastic Books titles: one six years old, the other still two months from being published.

    Of Susan Casper’s The Red Carnival, reviewer Andrew Andrews writes “I love Casper’s style. It is truly gritty, edgy, compelling, dark and emotional. In this case, there is a stark and sinister force at this carny in the town of Somerset that makes all the festival lights turn red. There is a ride that appears out of nowhere, not attested to by the carny operators, called ‘Golgotha, Place of Skulls,’ and there comes a frenzy of violence by the carnygo’ers and carny staff. There is an impulsivity to this narrative that is disturbing, yet almost amusing.”

    That’s a good review of a very good book, and I don’t want to take anything away from it.

    But of far more personal import is his review of my forthcoming collection, Wandering Through Time. He writes: “Ian Randal Strock is the Harry Turtledove of short-short SF. His alternate-history stories have punch. The take on a geographically divided America in the time of the Civil War rings strongly in ‘Shall Not Perish from the Earth.’ I think it’s Strock’s best tale. In ‘The Necessary Enemy,’ it’s always wars, it seems, that drive humankind’s progress and destiny. ‘Rockefeller on the Rocks’ proves that unique tales, true or not, of U.S. vice presidents could perhaps work, with sufficiently advanced technology. Why can’t we replace veeps with robots? Who would know?”

    I’m thrilled, honored, and a humbled to be compared to Harry Turtledove. My book is being released on December 3.

    Science fiction convention (tenth of 2024)

    ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

    This weekend, I’ll be in Texas for American Mensa’s quarterly board of directors meeting, but next weekend is Capclave in Rockville, Maryland.

    As usual, I’ll be at the Fantastic Books table in the dealers’ room (open Friday 3:00–6:00pm, Saturday 10:00am–6:00pm, and Sunday 10:00am–2:00pm). I’ll be participating in the Mass Signing and Awards Ceremony in the Atrium (Saturday, starting at 7:00pm). And I’ll be on the following panels:

    Friday at 6:00pm in Washington Theater: “What Is a Small Press?” with Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Shahid Mahmud, Adeena Mignogna, and Joshua Benjamin Palmatier.

    Friday at 8:00pm in Washington Theater: “This One Time…” with Morgan Hazelwood, Michael A. Ventrella, and Jean Marie Ward.

    Saturday at 12:00n in Jackson: “The Future of Currency” with Elektra Hammond, Shahid Mahmud, and Jennifer R. Povey.

    Saturday at 4:00pm in Eisenhower: “Short Stories Are Where It’s At” with Ken Altabef, Scott H. Andrews, Jennifer Brinn, and Sheree Renée Thomas.

    Sunday at 12:00n in Monroe: “This Was the End” with Scott Edelman, Shahid Mahmud, and Alex Shvartsman.

    Hope to see many of you there!

    …As I was saying!

    ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

    A press release from Fantastic Books:

    Fantastic Books is gearing up to publish …As I was saying! The book will be a collection of funny, horrifying, sweet, depressing, outlandish, and true tales of life and encounters at conventions. And we’re looking for your stories!

    Tell us your stories about things that happened at conventions. Give us your conventional stories that aren’t very conventional.

    We focus on science fiction conventions, but we’re willing to expand our horizons a bit to comic cons, writer conventions, media conventions, things that are close.

    Fantastic Books publisher Ian Randal Strock (who has attended more than 200 of them himself) and editor Michael A. Ventrella (who is responsible for Release the Virgins, Three Time Travelers Walk Into…, and the sequel anthology to “The Eye of Argon”) will be co-editing the book. Amazing Stories has graciously agreed to host the submission form at this link: https://amazingstories.com/convention-stories-for-fantastic-books/

    So please, share your stories; we’re dying to hear them.

    Note: the title comes from Michael’s own contribution to the book.

    Also note: this is an unpaid opportunity. If the book actually makes money, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to an appropriate charity.

    Science fiction convention weekend (seventh of 2024)

    ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

    This weekend will be my third straight away from home. This time, I’m headed to Buffalo for NASFiC. And I’m still looking for a roommate on my hotel reservation, if someone out there needs a bed.

    If you’re looking for me at the convention (other than when I’m asleep), I’ll be mostly at the Fantastic Books table in the dealers’ room (which is in the convention center; the rest of programming is in the hotel), which will be open Thursday 4–7pm; Friday 11am–6pm; Saturday 10am–5pm; and Sunday 10am–2pm.

    I’m also on programming, heavily on Friday. Seek me out on the following panels:

    Friday 10am: “Writing for Anthologies” in Grand Ballroom FG, with JF Garrard, Glenn Parris, and April Steenburgh.

    Friday 11am: “The Folklore of Space” in Grand Ballroom ABC, with Gary Ehrlich, Herb Kauderer, and Geoffrey A. Landis.

    Friday 1pm: “How Good Does the Science Have to Be?” in Regency BC, with Geoffrey A. Landis and three virtuals: David Dvorkin, Elizabeth Moon, and Martin L. Shoemaker.

    Friday 3pm: not a panel, but a Kaffeeklatsch in Board Room.

    Friday 10pm: “Improvisational Storytelling” in Grand Ballroom FG with B.A. Chepaitis, Bill Fawcett, Phil Getz, and Merav Hoffman.

    Saturday 12n: “Truly Weird Aliens” with Jake Casella Brookins, Lawrence M. Schoen, Eli K.P. William, and Frank Wu.

    Saturday 11pm “Eye of Argon Reading” in Regency A with Michael A. Ventrella (I’m not listed in the official program, but I’ll be there).

    Hope to see many of you there! Also, I’ll be seeking out authentic Buffalo chicken wings, if you want to join me. Yummm!

    Oh, and I also have a hotel reservation for Shore Leave next weekend, if someone is looking to share a room.

    Science fiction convention weekend (sixth of 2024)

    ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

    [And yes, for those of you paying attention, I didn’t post for the fifth: it was all dealers’ room, no programming.]

    It’s another science fiction convention weekend—the first of three in a row for me. This weekend, I’ll be in Quincy, Massachusetts, for Readercon. As always, seek me out in the dealers’ room at the Fantastic Books table, where we’ll be debuting two new books: In Memoriam by Fred Lerner, and Disturbing Stories by Ron Miller. They’re both great, in completely different ways.

    I’ll also be on programming, a bit. You can find me at my kaffeeklatsch Friday at 4pm in Basalt, and on the panel “The Breakup of the United States in Speculative Fiction” on Sunday at 10am in Salon 4 with Randee Dawn, Tom Greene, James Morrow, and Sarena Straus. I’ll also be at the Meet the Pros(e) event Friday night in Salon 3.

    Hope to see many of you there… or the following weekend in Buffalo, New York, or the weekend after that in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (details on those two after I get back from this one)

    It’s publication day! So let us remember.…

    ~ ianrandalstrock ~ Leave a comment

    A press release from Fantastic Books:

    Today is publication day for Fred Lerner’s moving novel of the Terran Diaspora, IN MEMORIAM.

    In Memoriam is the story of David Bernstein, a 17-year-old member of the Remnant of Terra, who are the descendants of the 2,000 people who survived the Cataclysm that destroyed human life on Earth. For two centuries the Remnant has lived among the Wyneri, who rescued the few survivors and brought them to their world. Although the Wyneri are physically and psychologically very similar to Terrans, the two species interact only when they must. The Remnant earn their keep among their alien hosts, but otherwise remain apart, devoting themselves to preserving the cultural heritage of Terra.

    David, however, is fascinated with the Wyneri and their culture, an interest shared by none of his contemporaries. Attending a Wyneri performance he meets a Wyneri girl his own age, and he and Harari strike up a taboo friendship.

    While David learns about his Terran heritage, he feels very much alone in trying to also learn about the history of the Terran-Wyneri relationship. Violent Wyneri xenophobia drives David to intensify his studies, and to dig into the mysteries surrounding the Cataclysm, the rescue, and the ensuing two centuries of cover-ups. He begins to suspect a long-lived cabal that has spent the years working in secret, preparing for a return to Earth.

    Harari’s murder crystallizes David’s need to explore the Terran-Wyneri history. Her posthumous message proving that the Cataclysm was caused by rogue Wyneri military personnel leads David to the Remnant’s leaders, who confirm it as genuine. Their conclusion? The time has come for Terrans to separate from the Wyneri. They enlist David’s help to persuade the Remnant to return to Earth, and to encourage the Wyneri to help them.