Selecting stories and poems for Tesseracts 16: Parnassus Unbound was not an easy process. Just ask any of the contributors who patiently waited for me as I struggled to stay on track and on time with this one. (Or ask the incredibly patient Brian Hades of Edge Publishing, who, miraculously, didn't release bloodhounds to come find me while I kept plugging away in the final throes of manuscript completion)
One of the main reasons it wasn't easy is that there was an incredible amount of phenomenal material submitted. I had so much great material, in fact, that I could have easily put together two or three volumes.
Alas, I ended up having to reject a lot of really good material -- this was extremely difficult, because I wasn't just looking at great writing, but I was trying to have the pieces all fit together in a way that they either played off one another, acted as contrasting approaches to a similar theme, or merely flowed well back to back. I also tried to ensure that as many different elements from art, literature, music and culture were represented, so that the pieces themselves created a wondrous mosaic of the talent flowing through the Canadian speculative landscape.
But I am delighted and thrilled with the result.
Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound will include fiction and poetry by:
Neil Peart & Kevin J. Anderson, Robert J. Sawyer, Ryan Oakley, Steve Vernon, Hugh A. D. Spencer, Sandra Kasturi, Michael Kelly, Rebecca Senese, Randy McCharles, Chadwick Ginther, Stephen Kotowych, Carolyn Clink, J. J. Steinfeld, David Clink, Robert H. Beer, Leia Getty, Scott Overton, Sean Costello, Virginia O'Dine, Melissa Yuan-Innes, Derwin Mak, Kimberly Foottit, Matthew Jordan Schmidt, Adria Laycraft, Jeff Hughes.
And, I'm in awe of the absolutely gorgeous cover that Jeff Johnson created. It perfectly matches the theme of this great collection.
Tesseracts Sixteen: Parnassus Unbound will be released in September of 2012. The paperback will be listed at $15.95 US and the eBook at $9.99.
It is already available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound and McNally Robinson. Of course, you can always request it from your friendly neighbourhood bookstore. Better yet, request two, so you can buy one for someone you love.
Sign up for my monthly newsletter and I'll share the entire TOC with you. I'll also reveal some interesting trivial details related to Tesseracts 16 that you might find interesting and you'll have a chance to win a Tesseracts Sixteen 6 X 9 notebook, which are in extremely limited supply.
2 comments:
It was great hearing about your composition process at Eeriecon. That line-up looks promising; good luck with the launch!
Thanks, John! Glad you commented, because it allowed me a chance to check out your hilarious blog! :)
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