Connie
Willis News
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World Fantasy Convention 2011 Guest
Announcement
The 2011 World
Fantasy Convention in San Diego has announced several of their
guests, including Connie Willis. Announced so far is Author Guest
Neil Gaiman, Editor Shawna McCarthy, and Toastmaster Connie
Willis.
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Connie Reads from Blackout
I have posted three videos on YouTube
with Connie talking about Blackout
and reading from it taped at LA Con IV.
Clip 1 - Connie
talking about Blackout and All Clear
Clip 2 - Connie Reading from Blackout (Part 1)
Clip 3 - Connie
Reading from Blackout (Part 2)
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Read an excerpt from Blackout
Connie's publisher has made available an
excerpt from Blackout
at this
location.
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Blackout Book Tour dates announced!
Connie
will be doing a short book tour to coincide with the release of Blackout.
All of these booksellers should be able to take online or phone orders
if you don't live in the area or can't make it to the signing. So
far, the signings include:
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A MESSAGE FROM CONNIE WILLIS - Jan 2010
I'm
finally done with my two-volume time travel to the Blitz novel,
BLACKOUT-ALL CLEAR! Oh, frabjous day! Calloo, callay!
BLACKOUT comes out February second, and ALL CLEAR will be out in the
autumn. And I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!
Okay, okay, I know I said I was done with the Blitz novel in the fall
of 2008. And last spring. And this November. And it's
still not done. I still have the copyedited manuscript and the
galleys to do for the second volume, ALL CLEAR, and there are days when
I think I'll never be done, that like Zeno's frog, I will just keep
halving the distance to completion without ever getting there.
However, I am sort of done, and the first volume, BLACKOUT, is coming
out in February. Honest. I've seen the cover, the
reviewers' copies have been sent out, and assorted booksignings have
been set up. (See schedule above.) And, as my daughter so
aptly put it, "If you're hit by a bus now, you don't have to worry
about some hack finishing your novel."
And I must be done because I A) am sleeping much better; B) am several
inches taller, due to that giant albatross no longer hanging around my
neck; and C) my family says I have been much nicer lately. I have
also been beginning to think about other projects. Every time
I've had a glimmer of a story idea over the last few years, I've had to
firmly squelch it because I had no time to work on anything else, but
now I can actually write other stuff, and the ideas have begun bubbling
up. There's a story I've been wanting to write about a robot who
wants to be a Rockette, and one about Satchel Paige, who was the
greatest baseball pitcher who ever lived, but who never got to play in
the Majors till he was past his prime. And I can't wait to get
started on my Roswell--Area 51--alien-abduction--romantic comedy novel,
tentatively titled The Road to
Roswell.
But first I need to dig out from the mess I made while writing the
novel, answer six years' worth of e-mails, send out my Christmas letter
(I know it's already January!), catch up on six years' worth of
laundry, and find out what Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin have been up
to. (Surely they've gotten over their initial dislike of
President Obama by now.)
I also plan to catch up on my reading. I just finished The
Chimes, one of Charles Dickens' Christmas novels, and it was
terrific. It was also clearly the prototype of It's a Wonderful
Life, right down to the suicide attempt, which I did not know.
Right now I'm reading Screwball (about the great movie comedies of the
thirties) and can't wait to start UFOs and the Murder of Marilyn
Monroe, which I got for Christmas, and which promises to tell me just
how she was "murdered by U.S. government officials because she knew too
much about the Roswell UFO coverup!" Which I also did not know.
In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing you--I hope--at one of
my book tour stops and signings or at a convention soon.
A belated Merry Christmas-Hanukkah-Solstice-Kwanzaa-Holiday Season, a
Deliriously Happy New Year, and Good Reading!
Connie
Willis, Jan 2010
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CONNIE WILLIS DONATES PAPERS TO UNC
Connie
Willis is donating her manuscripts, her library of editions of
her own books, her research books for BLACKOUT-ALL CLEAR, PASSAGE, and
other works, her awards, and her other papers to the library of her
alma mater, the University of Northern Colorado. She attended the
university (then Colorado State College) in Greeley, Colorado, from
1963-67, where she received a BA in English and elementary
education.
The donation of her papers will be celebrated by a reception on
February ninth (location and time TBA) The library plans to
digitize her papers and prepare
them to be made available to scholars and other institutions. UNC
is
also the repository of many of James Michener's papers, including the
manuscript of Centennial, and has a display of his papers and a replica
of his office. UNC has also named a dormitory after Connie Willis
and
Mildred Hansen, the first female editor of the Greeley Tribune.
The
Hansen-Willis Dormitory is on Tenth Avenue at Twentieth Street.
University
of Northern Colorado Special Collections - Connie Willis
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Interview Roundup for Blackout
With the new book, we're getting some new interviews with Connie online.
Publisher's
Weekly - A short Interview with Connie
Locus
Magazine - An excerpt from the interview published in the October
issue.
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Studio 360 Now Online with Connie
NPR's Studio
360's Time Travel episode was broadcast on Jan 1st and is now
available to listen to online and they've also made available several
video clips from the taping including
this
one with Connie Willis and David Goldberg talking about time travel.
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Connie Willis on NPR's Studio 360 This
week
Connie
Willis will be in New York on Tuesday, Nov 17th, to take part in a live
recording of NPR's Studio 360
at the Jerome L. Greene
Performance Space. The show is sold out, but they supposedly will
offer a live webcast on the website at 7 pm ET which will likely stay
available. Once I have more details on when it will be broadcast on the
radio and associated links for that, I will post them.
Their web site describes the show as:
On November 17, Studio 360 takes you where no audience has gone before:
traveling through time. In this live show hosted by Kurt Andersen at
WNYC's The Greene Space (taped for later broadcast), scientists and
artists explain why time travel is more than an idle fantasy.
Astrophysicist David Goldberg (A User's Guide to the Universe) unravels
the physics of time travel. Sci-fi writer Connie Willis tells us what
to do if your journey through time goes awry. Simon Wells, the
great-grandson of H.G., shares his obsession with the classic The Time
Machine. Musical sensation Janelle
Monae performs her 28th-century funk. And Mike Daisey drops by to
give us advice from the future.
Studio 360's "Science & Creativity" explores the intersection of
art and science. The series is supported in part by the Alfred P. Sloan
Foundation
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Blackout
and All Clear Updates
Blackout
is scheduled for release on February
2nd, 2010 in hardcover and e-book from Spectra. Also in the works
is a limited
edition from Subterranean Press of both Blackout and All Clear. Subterranean
Press's announcement has a fairly detailed blurb about the book, which
some might consider spoilers, so I'll only put a
link to it here on the web page.
Look for more news about and from
Connie here soon!
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Science Fiction Hall of Fame Weekend
and Update From Connie
Connie was honored with being inducted
into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in Seattle in late June.
She also was toastmaster for the Locus Awards. Here's a message
from Connie on the activities:
THE BOOK: My
two-volume novel is at long last done (though still only partly
revised.) I've turned in the Volume 1 revisions and am now
working on Volume 2's. The book will come out as BLACKOUT (Spring
2010) and ALL CLEAR (six months later.) I'm very excited.
THE LOCUS AWARDS
BANQUET: The banquet was this last weekend at the Courtyard
Marriott by Lake Union. It was so fun. We had a
sellout crowd and nearly everyone wore their Hawaiian shirt, some of
which were even more dazzlingly garish than I could have hoped.
Gordon Van Gelder's (an Hawaiian sunset) was almost blinding and
required sunglasses. People
who did not wear Hawaiian shirts--or a Hawaiian dress (a la my
daughter) or a shirt with "Hawaiian" writtten on it in Magic Marker
(editor Eric Raab) or, in one instance, a Hawaiian kilt--were tagged by
me with a
sign saying, "I did not wear a Hawaiian shirt". These included
Ted
Chiang, who obviously did not get the message and was dressed in a very
cool-looking suit (or perhaps he had wanted to dress up for the Hall of
Fame stuff, which was immediately following.) These people had
the chance to win a Hawaiian shirt, and those were fab, too. One
had Hawaiian drinks--mai tais, etc.--on it and another was a
combination Hawaiian shirt/bowling shirt, which you do not see every
day. I
myself had on a Hawaiian shirt depicting a rocket launching from NASA,
which
you do not see every day either.
People who did as they were
told and had their Hawaiian shirts got to participate in the Hawaiian
shirt/trivia contest. This
year's questions were all about Hawaii AND science fiction, such
as: "In
what SF movie did people use time travel to try to stop the attack on
Pearl Harbor?" and "The on-land scenes of what terrible waterlogged SF
movie starring Kevin Costner were filmed in Hawaii?" Greg
Bear--who was wearing a terrific Lilo and Stitch (science fiction and
Hawaii) shirt
and is really really smart--won the contest. First prize is an
autographed
banana, which will no doubt appear soon on E-Bay, but there were lovely
gifts for everyone, including flip-flop key chains, dead parrots, and
those blowy things that kids have at parties, all of course
Hawaiian.
As to the Locus Awards
themselves, I'll only say that nearly
everybody who won was there, including Gardner Dozois (badly behaved),
Eileen Gunn (very badly behaved), Ellen Datlow (who is the only person
I know who
can make a Hawaiian shirt look stylish), Paolo Bacagalupi, Michael
Whelan, Ted Chiang, and Jennifer Brehl, who we once again persuaded to
do the hula to "We're Going to a Hukilau." The Locus Awards
Banquet is one of my favorite things to do every year. It's the
ultimate
audience-participation event in science fiction and everybody has a
great time, although some people take it way too seriously. One
person
told me that if they'd known how hard the trivia quiz was, they'd have
studied. Keep in mind that the first-place prize is a
banana. If you
decide to come next year, do NOT study. Do, however, wear a
Hawaiian shirt
or face the consequences.
THE HALL OF FAME
INDUCTIONS: What can I say? I was so honored to be
inducted, especially the same year as Michael Whelan, the illustrator
Frank R. Paul, and Ed Ferman. It was
lovely. It didn't seem right to be getting honored, though,
when being in science fiction all these years has been its own
reward. I've loved every minute
of it--well, not quite every minute, but you know what I
mean. Aside from awards
ceremonies, the highlights of the weekend were finding a great Greek
restaurant in Fremont which had baklava ice cream, seeing the famous
troll under the bridge, going to Archie
McPhee's (did you know they now have a gummy haggis?), talking to Nancy
Kress and
Karen
Joy Fowler and John Kessel, and having a great breakfast with Terri and
David Haugen and one of those magical science fiction dinners with my
family and Charles N. Brown and Amelia Beemer of Locus, Gary Wolfe, and
Gardner Dozois. We had rockfish (which is more art than food) and
sang all sorts of show tunes and poems. (Did you know that
Charles saw
Ethel Merman on Broadway in Annie Get Your Gun? And that Gary
Wolfe
knows the scores to--oh, everything, as does my aughter?
And that you can
sing the entire "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" to the theme from
Gilligan's Island? We were all reduced to helpless delight and
laughter by
the time the dinner was over, and it reminded me all over again why I
love this
field and the people in it.
OTHER NEWS: I'm
planning to go to Worldcon in Montreal and to the World Fantasy
Convention this year since it's in San Jose I just agreed to be
a guest of honor at Capclave in October of 2010, and am going to
Bubonicon this summer. The rest of the time I'm trying
frantically to
finish the revisions to the novel and get them in.
Hall of Fame
Inductees and Presenters
Connie with
new inductees plaques
Connie's
Plaque
Thanks to Cordelia Willis for the photos.
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Aug 5, 2009 - We're Back, Catching Up
Due to varous things including moving
and several conventions, I've not had an update for a while. It's
time to play catchup..
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April 2nd, 2009 Update
All Clear - Editing of All Clear is still in process.
Hopefully
we'll have an update from Connie in the near future.
Connie to join the Science Fiction Hall of
Fame
The Science Fiction Museum has announced
that
Connie Willis will be one of the inductees at the 2009 Science
Fiction Hall of Fame ceremony in Seattle June 26 & 27.
Also
being inducted are Edward L Ferman, Michael Whelan, and Frank R. Paul.
Connie
will also be hosting the Locus Awards
ceremony happening that weekend as well.
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Nov 23 - An Update
From Connie
The novel is now really turned in, though
there's still tons of work (and cutting) to be done on it, so I won't
really
feel like celebrating until that's done and the book's formally
accepted
and everything. I worked on the Obama campaign and I'm still
deliriously
happy about the election a week later and having a little trouble with
withdrawal,
though I am busily watching Sarah Palin's Victory Tour? which is
helping
some.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Oct 10 - Online
Interviews and a New Short Story
Rocky Mountain News Interview &
Story
For the A
Dozen On Denver series of stories in the Rocky Mountain News,
Connie Willis has contributed a new short story and has also done an
interview. For the interview, go
here, for the short story, "New Hat", including an mp3 of Gabriella
Cavallero reading the story, go here.
Mur Lafferty Interview From BaltiCon 42.
On Mur Lafferty's I Should be Writing 2.0
blog, she has posted a two part video interview with Connie from
BaltiCon 42.
Part
1 Part
2
BaltiCon Podcast Connie Willis Interview
On the Balticon Podcast site, they
have
recently posted their podcast
interview with Connie Willis, BaltiCon 42's Author Guest of Honor.
High Plains Library District Foundation
Fundraiser Gala Article
An article
from the Greeley Tribune reports on the fundraiser that Connie was
honored at.
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Sept 18 - Upcoming
Events
Sept 27th - High Plains Library District Workshop, signing, and Gala.
The High Plains Library District (Connie's
home libraries in Greeley and Weld County ) is honored to have Connie
as the featured event for our one community reads - Big Read 2008 -
Fahrenheit 451. On September 27th, she will be giving a workshop
for writers
at 1:00 and at 2:00 a general talk on science fiction and Ray Bradbury.
In
the evening, she will be receiving the First Annual High Plains Library
Distinguished Author award. Below is the press release for the
SciFi Fundraising
Gala.
Sci-Fi Author Connie Willis to Be
Honored at
High Plains Library District Sci-Fi Fundraising Gala
Wonder Woman, Medusa and a few aliens are already confirmed guests at
this year's High Plains Library District Sci-Fi Fundraising Gala to be
held on September 27th at the Greeley Country Club from 7 to 10 pm.
Greeley sci- fi/fantasy author Connie Willis will be awarded the High
Plains Library
District Distinguished Author Award. The gala, sponsored by the High
Plains
Library District Foundation, is part of this year's Big Read 2008:
Fahrenheit
451. The gala will feature some far out fun and entertainment including
a dessert buffet, costume contest and dancing. Get your favorite
sci-fi/fantasy
costumes ready and join us for this exciting evening of fantasy and
fun.
Tickets for the Sci-Fi Gala are $50 and can be purchased by contacting
the
Foundation at (970) 590-9881 or online at www.Blacktie-Colorado.com.
Proceeds from the gala and the auction will be used to support The Big
Read and other library programming.
In conjunction with the gala, there will also be an online auction
including items such as an art print from sci-fi artist Michael Whelan,
a subscription to SciFi & Fantasy Magazine, jewelry and more. The
auction will run
throughout The Big Read, September 21st to October 31st. To bid on
items,
go to www.Blacktie-Colorado.com.
(Note: I'm trying to find out a direct link
to the auction for the website).
The Big Read is an initiative designed to restore reading to the center
of American culture by bringing communities together to read, discuss,
and celebrate one book. This year High Plains Library District is
encouraging the community to read the classic Sci-Fi novel, Fahrenheit
451 by Ray Bradbury.
For more information, please visit the Big Read details at MyLibrary.us .
Nov 16th & 17th - Writing Workshop and Talk in Seattle
Connie will once again be participating in the Writing
Fantastic Fiction Workshop Series sponsored by the NW Media Arts group at the
Richard Hugo House on Sunday, Nov 16th in Seattle, WA. On Monday,
Nov 17th, she will be doing a reading as part of the Fantastic
Fiction Salons, also at the Richard
Hugo House.
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Sept 18 - Catching up
on the News - Another Hugo, and More.
San Diego Comic Con - Connie drew a
good crowd for her spotlight panel and signed a lot of books.
Some details were posted on the Connie
Willis Blog.
Denvention 3 - Connie participated at Denvention 3 in many panels
including a reading and several signings. She
presented two awards at the Hugo Award ceremony then was awarded her
10th Hugo award for "All Seated on the Ground". Again, details on
the Connie
Willis Blog.
All Clear - Connie was confident at WorldCon that
she was going to have All Clear finished and delivered to her publisher
within a couple of weeks. I'm hoping to have an
update
on that soon.
A Dozen on Denver - The Rocky Mountain News is
celebrating Denver's 150th Anniversary by commissioning stories from
local writers
about Denver, called A
Dozen on Denver. Connie is one of the writers listed and her
story should be turning up soon.
Philadelphia Science Fiction Society -
Connie gave a talk at the
Philadelphia Science Fiction Society on Sept 12. I
haven't
found any reports on the talk, though.
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July 22 - Connie's ComicCon Schedule (Updated)
Connie will be doing two panels at the Comic Con International Convention
in San Diego and several autograph sessions. Here are the details as
they stand now:
Thursday, July 24
5:00-6:00 Looking at Our World: Eye on the Past - Authors discuss
how they use and abuse history to inform their fictional stories.
Panelists include Connie Willis (Passage), Jacqueline Carey (Kushiel's
Legacy),
Max Allan Collins (Deadly Beloved), Peter David (Tigerheart), Naomi
Novik
(Victory of Eagles), and Jess Winfield (My Name Is Will: A Novel of
Sex,
Drugs, and Shakespeare). Moderated by Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious
Galaxy. Room 8
Friday, July 25
12:30-1:30 Spotlight on Connie Willis - Time travel, hula
hoops, flying saucers, church choirs, and other proofs of Chaos Theory
in
action! Multiple Nebula and Hugo Award–winning science fiction author
and
Comic-Con special guest Connie Willis (Doomsday Book, To Say Nothing of
the Dog) reveals the outer reaches and inner secrets of writing science
fiction. Room 10
Note that both of those rooms seat only around 280-300 people, which
could easily fill up with fans. It may seem like a lot, but when
there are around 125,000 attendees, the rooms can fill up quickly.
The group panel with several notable authors will definitely
fill up.
Autographing in the Sails Pavillion
Looking at Our World: Eye on the Past
Connie Willis, Jacqueline Carey, Max Allan Collins, Peter David, Naomi
Novik, Jess Winfield
Thursday AA6 6:00 pm–7:00 pm
Connie will also be doing a couple
of signings at the Bantam/Spectra Booths that are part of the Random
House set of booths (Booths 1128-1136) in the exhibit hall.
Friday, July 25th - 5pm to 6 pm - Connie Willis Bantam Spectra Booth
Signing
Sunday, July 27th - 11 am to 12 pm - Connie Willis Bantam Spectra Booth
Signing
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July 15 - All Clear
Update - Not Quite Done.
Reports from Balticon and elsewhere about
the status of All Clear had indicated that All Clear was finished and
turned in. That is not the case. In an email correspondence
with Connie, she indicated "It's not. It's very, very close,
but as you know there's a very great difference between that and
finished." So, no it has not yet been turned in to her
publisher and reports of it having been completed were premature.
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June 22 - Locus
Awards Results
At the annual Locus Awards held in
Seattle, Connie Willis's collection The Winds of Marble Arch and
Other Stories was awarded Best Collection. That
is Connie's 10th Locus Poll Award. Congratulations Connie!
The full
list of
winners can be seen on the Locus
Magazine
Website.
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June 2nd - All Clear
Update, Hugo Nomination
All Clear Finished - As reported
on the Connie
Willis Blog, in one report on Connie's GoH talk at
BaltiCon 42, she indicated that All Clear was finished and just
needed some tweaking before being turned into the publisher. I
hope to get some more details from her soon on when it is likely to hit
the stores.
Hugo Nomination - A belated mention of
"All Seated on the Ground" being nominated for Best Novella for this
year's Hugo Awards. Details on the full list of nominations and
voting deadlines can be found at the Denvention 3 Hugo Awards page.
The Hugo Awards will be presented on Saturday night, August 9th.
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May 24th - BalticCon
News
Connie Willis is being honored as Author
Guest of Honor this weekend at BaltiCon
42. Look for links of blog reports about the
convention over the next few days on the Connie Willis Blog. In
one report about opening
ceremonies, with news about Greeley, CO, where Connie is from,
being hit by tornadoes, Connie indicated that her house did not receive
any damage. She had heard from her husband on the phone about it after
she deplaned and before she had gotten to the voice mails of people
asking if she was OK.
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May 24th - Locus Poll
Nominees
Catching up with a bit of news. Nominations for the Locus
Poll Awards include two for Connie Willis. "All Seated
on the Ground" has been nominated for best Novella and The Winds of
Marble
Arch and Other Stories has been nominated for Best Collection. Connie
will be emceeing the Locus
Awards Ceremony, for which tickets are still available, on
June 21st in Seattle, WA..
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April 4th - Hugo
Nomination & Jack Williamson Lectureship
"All Seated on the Ground" has been nominated for best Novella for the
2008 Hugo Awards
that will be presented at this year's WorldCon, Denvention 3, being held in
August in Denver, CO. Details on voting can be found on the Hugo Awards section
of the Denvention 3 web site. Congratulations to Connie for the
nomination!
2008 Williamson Lectureship -
April 11 in Portales, NM
Connie will be speaking at the 2008 Williamson
Lectureship, being held on April 11th at Eastern New Mexico
University in Portales, NM. Joining her will be Stephen Gould and
Christopher Stasheff.
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March 15th - Connie
News Round-up
One Book, One Batavia - Doomsday
Book
Batavia, Illinois, has chosen
Doomsday Book as the One Book, One Batavia 2008 selection. As part of
this selection, Connie Willis will be making two appearances in Batavia
on March 20th. One at noon at the Batavia Public Library for the Books
Between Bites lunch session and that night at the Batavia High School
at 7 pm. Full details on on the One Book,
One Batavia page.
Starship Sofa Podcast
The works of Connie Willis are featured on the new edition of the Starshp Sofa podcast, #80 (direct
liink to the mp3 file)
This week the StarShipSofa smacks into on of the brightest stars in SF
and that is Connie Willis. Join Tony C Smith on his own personal voyage
of discovery into all things Connie Willis.
Locus Awards and Science Fiction Hall
of Fame Awards
Connie Willis will emcee the Locus
Awards banquet happening as part of the Science Fiction Awards Weekend
at the Science Fiction Museum
& Hall of Fame in Seattle Washingron on June 20 & 21.
Locus has a registration form online here
, but there's not much information online yet about the actual weekend.
In the March issue of Locus, they do have an ad with more detail
indicating that there will be a reception on Friday night sponsored by
the Clarion West Workshop, a special interview of an author done by
Nancy Pearl of Book Lust, and other events and panels during the
weekend. Once there is more detailed information online, I'll
point to it.
Locus Poll Voting Ends April
15th
Voting in the annual Locus
Awards Poll is open until April 15th and there are several entries
by
Connie eligible for awards. All Seated on the Ground is
listed for Best Novella and The Winds of Marble Arch and Other
Stories is up for best Single-Author Collection. Both J.K. Potter
(All Seated)
and John Jude Palencar (Marble Arch) are listed in the best artist
category.
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Nov
30th - Catching Up On the Latest News
New Interviews
First of all, there's been a couple of
recent interviews with Connie you should check out. The
Rocky Mountain News had an interview in October with Connie.
The
picture that went with the article
showing Connie's awards is no longer on the website. The Finding
Wonderland interview is good and also lists some of Connie's
favorite short stories and novels.
Books update
Subterranean Press is doing a
second printing of The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
and is now shipping the limited edition (mine looks very nice).
Note that some copies of the first edition are still available on
Amazon
and likely still at Camelot
Books (who also have the limited edition available as well as the
other Subterranean Press books). All
Seated on the Ground is now at
the printers and should be shipping
soon.
Oct 18 - All Seated on the Ground - In Asimov's AND
Subterranean Press Release
The December 2007 issue of Asimov's has started arriving in
subscriber's mailboxes and should soon be turning up on the bookstore
shelves. The Connie Willis novella "All Seated on the Ground" is
featured on the cover and Asimov's has the first part of it available
to read
online. Subterranean
Press has also announced they have
a short novel
version of it to be released in late November/early December.
Like D.A.,
it will be available in a signed limited edition and a trade edition.
The cover will be by J.K. Potter.
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Oct
16 - Winds of Marble Arch Availability
The Trade edition of The
Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories is now officially sold out
from the
Publisher, Subterranean
Press. They also indicate that the lettered edition
is sold out as well with the limited
edition likely to sell out soon. Amazon still
indicates they have the book in stock and other online booksellers such
as Camelot Books also
have copies on hand.
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Sept 24 - Connie
Willis.net Blog
A blog has been set up for notes and
news on conniewillis.blogspot.com.
Currently, I will be keeping
track of reviews and blog entries on
the new collection and other reports
as well as likely cross-posting the news posted here.
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Sept 23 - New Novella
in Asimov's in December
Asimov's Science Fiction will feature the new Connie Willis Novella
"All Seated on the Ground." Connie read part of the story at
Bubonicon in August and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the
story.
In the December preview of the Oct/Nov issue, Sheila Williams writes
"December issues always provoke an unusual feeling within all who work
on monthly publications, for we find ourselves in festive fictional
surroundings months before the holidays themselves take place. We at
Asimov’s have not decorated our offices for the holiday season quite
yet, (a glance in the direction of my calendar reveals the month to be
July, and subscribers will receive the issue
in October, making everyone confused). No
matter—for us, it is a Christmas in July,
and what better way to celebrate than by
introducing a wonderful new holiday novella
by one of science fiction’s most admired,
popular, and award-winning writers: Connie
Willis. In her first holiday-themed story for Asimov’s since December
2003’s “Just Like the Ones We Used to Know” (a
story I recall reading during a particularly humid summer
thunderstorm), Ms. Willis entertains again with the tale of a
mysterious alien entourage whose purpose upon Earth is not entirely
clear. The mystery of their mission only
deepens as the aliens are taken through a bustling shopping mall during
the frantic holiday season—the events thereafter are sure to surprise
and delight you. This
will undoubtedly be considered one of the best stories of the year, so
don’t miss “All Seated on the Ground”!
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Sept 22 - News Roundup
Locus
Magazine has made available their review
of The Winds of Marble Arch and
Other Stories by Gary
K. Wolfe.
Subterranean
Press has indicated that the trade
edition of The
Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories is likely to sell out
quickly.
The Clarion West
workshop has announced that Connie Willis will be an instructor for
their 2008 session
along with Paul Park, Mary Rosenblum, Cory
Doctorow, Sheree R. Thomas, and Chuck Palahniuk.
The 2008 session will run from June
22nd through August 1st.
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August 5th - Winds of
Marble Arch and Other Stories News
 Subterranean
Press has released the cover image
for The
Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories by John Jude Palencar.
The book should be shipping later this month. A few reviews of
the book are turning up online including Rambles.net , a
review in the August issue of Locus Magazine by Gary K. Wolfe, and this
starred
review from Publisher's
Weekly "Willis makes brilliant
short fiction look easy in this collection of 23 novellas and short
stories, which display a powerful range of sensibility, from poignant
tenderness (“Inn”) and
heartbreak (“Samaritan”) to close-to-the-bone satire (“Even the Queen”)
and blackest savagery (“All My Darling Daughters”). The title novella
illustrates many of Willis’s strengths. Starting from some inexplicable
meteorological phenomenon like a blast of fetid air no
one else in London’s Tube tunnels can feel
or smell, “The Winds of Marble Arch” whirls its hapless narrator
through one strange
event after another, until finally his
troubled marriage reaches an otherwise impossible transformation into
“leaves
and lilacs and love.” A bizarre snowstorm
leads to a whole new fast-cut understanding
of Christmas in “Just Like the Ones We
Used to Know,” and another eerie blizzard
brings the collection to a masterful close
in “Epiphany,” opening a door between
our puny reality and the Great Carnival around and above us all, even
though we rarely perceive it. Willis’s gift promises that signs are
everywhere; we just have to learn to recognize them."
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Aug 5th - News Roundup
Taos Toolbox Reports - There's been a
few reports on the recent Taos Toolbox writers workshop that Connie
participated in. Walter
Jon Williams posted a couple of entries on his blog . One
with
a short report and another
with some pictures. Spezturra posted notes on the lectures
by the authors on her Livejounral including this one on
Connie
Willis. Tobias Buckell has a blog
post with links to all of the
sessions of each author.
Clarion West
announced that Connie Willis will be one of the instructors fot the
2008 session along with Paul Park, Mary Rosenblum, Cory Doctorow,
Sheree R. Thomas, and Chuck Palahniuk. It will take place June
22nd through August 1st, 2008 in Seattle, WA.
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May 18 - Connie Willis on Book Lust
The Connie Willis interview with Nancy
Pearl is now available to view on the Book Lust web
site. It is currently the main interview
on the page. You can also link
directly to the specific show here.
It is in Real Player format and I'd recommend upgrading to a newer
version if you have an older version of Real Player. The show is
also available as a podcast via iTunes.
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May 3 - Nebula Awards & Locus Awards
Update
May 11-13, Nebula Awards Weekend -
Connie is attending the Nebula Awards in
New York. This will be her 25th
Nebula Awards. She is scheduled
for the signing on Friday night. It is not clear if she is doing
any other official activities this year.
June 15-16, Locus
Awards - As has been the tradition,
Connie will be the M.C. for the Locus
Awards, happening as part of the Science
Fiction Hall of Fame Awards Weekend in Seattle, WA.
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April 30 - 2007 Jack Williamson Lecture
Reports
Last weekend was the
31st annual Jack
Williamson Lecture in Portales, New Mexico.
Connie
Willis was one of the presenters and
Walter Jon Williams reported on
the
weekend on his blog. As John indicated, they published a
Jack Williamson memorial chapbook that has contributions of
many of the authors including Conniw
Willis. Details on ordering can
be found on the Hafner Press
web site.
Another online report on the weekend can be found in the online edition
of the Clovis
News Journal.
Steven Gould had a short report
with links to his previous posts about
Jack Williamson.
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April 6 - D.A.
News - Cover & Reviews
Subterranean Press has released the
cover for the D.A.
release.
A few reviews have been turning up
including Publisher's Weekly
and SF Signal.
I couldn't do a direct link
to the review in PW, but they call
it "cheerfully tongue-in-cheek" and
concludes with "Willis (Inside Job) turns a cherished SF theme
completely inside out. "
Best of
Appearance: According to a table of contents listing on SF
Signal of The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Of The Year Volume
1, D.A. will also be included in that collection. It is being
edited by Jonathan Strahan and published by Night Shade Books.
Hugo
Nomination - Not this year, maybe next? D.A. was
mentioned on a couple of Hugo Awards recommendation lists, but did not
make it onto the ballot. It is likely it did not garner enough
votes because not enough people had read it since it had been published
only in the Space Cadets collection. It may be that with the
Subterranean Press release, that will make it still eligible for
nomination next year for the Hugo Awards presented at Denvention 3.
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April 6 - Seattle
NW Media Arts Reports
A short report on Connie's Fantastic
Fction Workshop and Reading in Seattle can be found at the NW Media Arts
Livejournal. I'm keeping an eye out for the interview
mentioned in the report that may be turning up on the Book Lust TV show
in Seattle (and hopefully available to view online).
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Jan 23 - Space Cadets Book Availability
Update
L.A. Con IV is now making available the Space Cadets book via Amazon
and Ebay through one of the LA Con IV committee member's online
stores. Follow the links below:
Lyzard13
Shop at Amazon.com - Space
Cadets
Lyzard13 Store
at Ebay.com - Space
Cadets
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Jan 20, 2007 - NW Media Arts Events Feb
25-26 Events in Seattle, WA
Connie Willis will be taking part in two
events in Seattle presented by NW
Media Arts at the Richard
Hugo House. First is The Writing
Fantastic Fiction Workshop series on Feb 25th, where Connie will
teach a class on Fantastic Miracles of Rare Device: The Techniques and
Tropes of Science Fiction. On Feb 26th, she will talk as part of
the
Fantastic Fiction Salon. Full details at the linked pages.
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Jan 15, 2007 Subterranean Press
announces D.A.
The Connie Willis novelette
"D.A.", originally published in the
L.A. Con IV collection Space Cadets,
will be published by Subterranean Press in a limited edition signed and
numbered hardcover book and a Trade Edition hardcover. It is to
be published in June, 2007. Full
pre-order details are available at this
page.
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Jan 15, 2007 - Connie Willis.net Amazon
aStore.
If you need to catch
up on your Connie Willis and related
novels, I now have set up a Connie Willis.net
Amazon.com aStore with all of the currently available books through
Amazon.com. I do get a small percentage from each sale that will
go towards webhosting
fees for this site (and to help pay for those limited editions
:) I plan to expand it to include some of Connie's favorite
authors and books as well.
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Dec 12th
- Subterranean Press announces THE
WINDS OF MARBLE ARCH AND OTHER STORIES
Subterranean Press officially announced their Connie Willis career
spanning short story collection, titled THE WINDS OF MARBLE ARCH
AND OTHER STORIES. It will be 600+ pages with 250,000+ words
and will be released in a lettered, limited and trade edtion. The cover
will be done by John Jude Pelencar. Full details on the
Subterranean Press order
page.
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Dec 8th - Space Cadets Book
Still Available From LA Con IV
 L.A. Con IV still has copies of the
regular edition of the Space Cadets collection featuring the Connie
Willis novelette "D.A.". It also features stories by Larry Niven,
Nancy Kress, Kay Kenyon, David Brin, Harry Turtledove, Kevin J.
Anderson, Greg Benford, David Gerrold, Mike Resnick, and more.
They do not yet have anything
set up to order it via the LA Con IV
web page, however you can order one by sending an email to make
arrangements for payment to Elayne Pelz [elayne (at) socal.rr.com].
Cost is $25 for the book and $5
for shipping.
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Dec 5th - Publishing Update
The December issue of Locus Magazine has an updated
Forthcoming Books list and the listing for All Clear for
a May release is no longer there. They do list
the forthcoming Subterranean
Press short story collection, A Connie Willis Treasury, for
an August 2007 release.
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Dec 4th - L.A. Con IV
Pictures
The L.A. Con IV website
now has a ton of pictures from the
convention in the L.A. Con IV Gallery
including many with Connie including Opening Ceremonies, the Guest of
Honor Speeches, the Hugo Awards and some of her
panels. They do not yet have much annotation,
so searching for Connie does not turn
up much as of yet.
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Nov 19th
- 2006 - Jack Williamson 1908-2006
Noted Science Fiction author Jack
Williamson passed away on Friday, November 10th. A memorial
service on November 16 in Portales New Mexico featured many authors
paying tribute to him, including Connie Willis. Patricia Rogers
has posted
pictures from the service and
reception on Flickr.
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Nov 19, 2006 - News
Roundup/Catchup
Upcoming releases
Bantam Spectra has All Clear listed as a May, 2007
release. Indications from Connie is that this will be the first
half of the story.
In the November issue of Locus Magazine, they report that a
comprehensive (250,000 words) Connie Willis short story collection is
in the works from Subterranean Press. No details yet on when it
is expected.
Editors of Asimov's indicated a new short
story is coming from Connie in a future issue of Asimov's.
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LA Con IV (WorldCon)
Followup
The Space Cadets Collection edited by
Mike Resnick was released at LA Con IV featuring the Connie Willis
novelette "D.A.". The story has been well received and has
already turned up on the NESFA 2006 Hugo
Recommendations list. It was available at L.A. Con IV in a
trade edition as well as a signed and numbered limited edition. I'm
attempting to track down details
on how it can be purchased. The signed and numbered edition did
sell out at the convention, but copies of the regular edition may still
be available.
SFRevue has the
text of Connie Willis' Guest of Honor speech
from LA Con IV in their October issue.
August 28, 2006 - Connie Willis Wins 9th Hugo Award
Connie Willis was awarded the Best Novella Hugo Award, her 9th Hugo
Award, at LA Con IV in Anaheim, CA
over the weekend.
More pictures from the weekend will be posted here soon. For more
pictures from the Hugo Awards Ceremony (which Connie was also the
emcee),
visit the MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive.
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December, 2006 - CBS
adapted the Connie Willis novella Just Like the Ones We Used to
Know as Snow Wonder
for a holiday movie of the week. It aired Nov 20th, 2005 on
CBS and came in second in the ratings behind ABC and ahead of NBC's The
Poseidon Adventure movie. According to the CBS Ratings Press
Release "CBS SUNDAY MOVIE "Snow Wonder" (9:48-11:48PM) scored an 8.2/14
with 11.77m viewers. "Snow Wonder" was up +22% in households and +17%
in viewers compared to the MOVIE's season-to-date delivery. "
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Connie Willis at Anticipation, Worldcon
2009
Photo by Kyle Cassidy
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Connie Willis
is the award winning author of Doomsday Book, Passage,
To Say Nothing of the
Dog and Bellwether. Connie has been awarded 10
Hugo Awards,
11 Locus Poll Awards and 6 Nebula Awards.
Her stories have an epic feel to them
and range from laugh out loud funny to deadly serious. The first
half of her newest novel, Blackout, is
being published in February 2010 with the second half, All Clear, being
published in the fall.
Her most recent full novel, Passage, deals with the
study of near-death experiences and the sinking of the Titanic.
It was
nominated for the 2001 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Her most
recent releases include a special
collection of her short fiction, The Winds of Marble Arch and
Other Stories, and All Seated on the Ground,
both from Subterranean Press. |
Upcoming
Appearances
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Book
Tour for Blackout
See Table in News Section
Science Fiction Hall of Fame & Locus Award Weekend
Science Fiction Museum
Seattle, WA
June 2010
Capclave 2010
Author Guest of Honor
Rockville, Maryland
Oct 22-24, 2010
World Fantasy Convention 2001
Toastmaster
San Diego, CA
Oct 27-30, 2011
If you know of any other appearances that you would like me to list,
please let me know.
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Upcoming and
Recent
Releases for Connie Willis
|
 BLACKOUT
OUT FROM BANTAM SPECTRA IN FEBRUARY
The first volume of Connie Willis's long-awaited two-book time travel
novel, titled BLACKOUT, will be out from Bantam Spectra on February
2nd, to be followed by the second volume, ALL CLEAR, in the autumn.
BLACKOUT-ALL CLEAR is set in Connie Willis's time-travel world of
Oxford, Mr. Dunworthy, and the net, a world previously visited in "Fire
Watch," DOOMSDAY BOOK, and TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG. This novel
is set in World War II England and tells the stories of several
time-traveling historians who are being sent on assignment to different
parts (and times) of the war. Mike is going to Pearl Harbor,
Polly's going to be a shopgirl in London at the height of the Blitz,
Eileen is already in northern England with a bunch of children--two of
them very difficult--who've been evacuated from London, and Michael's
roommate Charles is busy preparing to go to Singapore in the months
before the invasion by the Japanese. But their plans almost
immediately go awry, and that's not all that's going on--the lab has
suddenly decided to cancel dozens of drops, Mr. Dunworthy's worried
about something, and seventeen-year-old Colin is determined to get to
the past by hook or by crook. There's a lot going on in World War II,
as well--the evacuation of Dunkirk and V-1 attacks, dogfights and
rationing and a plot to make Hitler think the D-Day invasion will be at
Calais instead of Normandy. To say nothing of tube shelters,
crossword puzzles, scrap drives, land girls, Shakespearean actors, and
Bletchley Park, and there's more than enough stuff for three or four
novels. But there's only one--split into two volumes, BLACKOUT
and ALL CLEAR--and they're both done, and, no, there won't be any
sequels.
Read an
excerpt here!
Blackout is
being released on Feb 2, 2010 with All Clear being
released in late 2010. Subterranean Press also has a limited
edition of both books, for which you can pre-order a set with
matching numbers.
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The
Christmas novella All
Seated on the Ground has been published in a limited and trade
edition by Subterranean
Press in December 2007. As with D.A.,
J.K Potter did the cover art.
Other recent releases include the novellette D.A., published by Subterranean Press in a trade edition and
a limited edition. Subterranean Press
has also published The
Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories: a Connie Willis Compendium in a trade edition, a limited
edition, and a lettered edition. The
cover to the Compendium was done by
John Jude Palencar. The
original printing of all three editions have sold out and Subterranean
Press also did a second printing that is now also sold out from
the publisher, but still available through other booksellers.
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Connie's other recent
published works, the novella of Inside Job from Subterranean Press and
the hilarious chapbook Roswell, Vegas, and Area 51: Travels with
Courtney from Wormhole
Books
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ConnieWillis.Net
Picture Gallery
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Connie
writing at Starbucks
Connie
outside her favorite Starbucks
Connie at
the Denver Airport Bookstore
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Connie at Chicon 2000
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Connie Willis &
James Gurney with
Guest of Honor Rockets at LA Con IV
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At the Asimov's/Analog booth at LA Con IV
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Connie Signing at Bubonicon 39
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