Connie
Willis News
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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 is the award winning author of
Doomsday Book,
Passage, To Say Nothing of the Dog
and Bellwether. Connie has been
awarded 9 Hugo Awards, 10 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.
She is currently working on All Clear,
a time travel novel
to the time of the London Blitz.
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.
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Upcoming
Appearances
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Clarion West
Jun 22- Aug 1
Seattle, WA
Instructor for one section
University Book
Store
Tue, July 15, 7 p.m
Seattle, WA
ComicCon
International
July 26-29, 2008
San Diego, CA
Featured Guest
Denvention
3
The 66th World Science Fiction
Convention
Aug 6-10, 2008
Denver, CO
Program Participant
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
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The Christmas novella All
Seated on the Ground is being
published in a limited and trade edition
by Subterranean
Press in December 2007. As
with D.A., J.K Potter is doing 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 is doing a second
printing that will be available soon.
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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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