Things I Have Noticed

To give them the benefit of a doubt, it is very likely that they've been gathering all the reviews of Miller's titles they can find, had a press file of clippings, combed through them for quotes and the distinction was lost in the process. But if you're going to put the quote on the cover of the book -- not just publicity releases or catalog copy -- and even more, if you're going to put it on the front cover, it should have been checked to make sure it is accurate for the source. Which clearly wasn't done.

But still, nice to know you all are becoming the New York Times Book Review of the SFFH Internet. :)
 
To bring you up to speed, we've had very prompt replies from both Orbit UK and Orbit US. The short version is that it was a genuine mistake, for a variety of reasons. They are clearly genuinely sorry for the mistake and any confusion it has caused.

Thanks again for bringing this to our attention.

Mark / Hobbit
 
Always knew that the Radical Thorn was an activist at heart. Way to go, Kevin.:D

And you, too, Your Greatness.:p:D But, then, we expect that from you.:rolleyes:
 
Hereford Eye said:
Always knew that the Radical Thorn was an activist at heart. Way to go, Kevin.:D

And you, too, Your Greatness.:p:D But, then, we expect that from you.:rolleyes:
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Well, I didn't do much here, only noticed the blurb. In fact it was Mr. Trouble Maker HE who connected the dots with regard to actual SFFWorld reviews, thus upholding his fine tradition of, "But I have a question about..." :D
 
I feel kind of bad for Karen -- it's not her fault and now she loses the quote. But hopefully, later books of hers will receive rave, official reviews here. :) Her work sounds interesting to me.
 
I'm happy to announce that book sales in the U.S. have been increasing the first quarter of 2008 up 5.1% to 4.46 billion, and were up 1.3% in March to 1.03 billion, which was slightly less than January and February. The sales increase in the bookstore market was higher than the entire retail market which only rose in sales 3.9% this quarter. Which is really incredible, given that we're in a recession which usually causes a decline in sales, the number of retail vendors for books has significantly decreased over the last ten years, the chains have been closing stores, etc.
 
As Hobbit said, the Orbit folks handled the situation very gracefully and professionally. Nobody goes into a book NOT wanting to like the book. Empress is receiving a fair share of good buzz, so I think (as I said in my review) the book will do well for Orbit.

RE: Book sales - very good news Kat. Was that in Publishers Weekly?
 
It's U.S. Census data reported by PW and others. It's extremely surprising. When there's a war going on that the U.S. is engaged in, sales usually go down. When we're in a recession, sales usually go down or flatten out. And of course, we're in the next cycle of predictions of the imminent death of books, so you'd think sales would be down. :)
 
Actors who could be siblings:

Amy Adams and Isla Fisher
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Javier Bardem
Leelee Sobieski and Helen Hunt
Mia Sara and Jane Seymour
Jason Lee and Ryan Reynolds
 
Okay, as many of you may know, Lise and I recently took a two-week jaunt through the sunny countryside of England and Wales. We had a great time, I took a lot of pictures, and we got to spend some wonderful time (although not enough!) with Holbrook and her husband.

Just to prove we were really there, I've put together a website with pictures. Lots of fodder for my fertile fantasy-oriented brain, and things that I am sure will find their way into future stories, books, and artwork.
 
Very cute! Guy must have quite a memory to keep all that in his head!
 
I know there's name for it when an artist names another artist in their work but I cannot remember what that term is. Despite that, here is a current example pertaining to someone whose work we all know and love from the August Flash Fiction Contest: Towers and Trolls by Sean Regan http://www.sffworld.com/community/story/3236p0.html

Guy must have quite a memory to keep all that in his head!
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You are aware, aren't you, that he is plagiarizing/adapting Shakespeare from Henry V?
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.
 
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He's reciting and adapting Henry V, yes. Which is why I love me the SFF community. High/low culture, schlmoe culture. It's all together.
 
Yes, I did get the Hank 5 part. It's just that one doesn't typically keep the entire soliliquy in one's head unless one is performing (which I suppose he was, in a way...).

I was never big cheese enough for the title roles, anyway. I played Demitrius in Midsummer Night's Dream and (wait for it) Sebastian in a Western version of Twelfth Night (complete with six guns, holsters, boots, and cowboy hats). I was only picked for Sebastian because I was the shrimpiest guy and the only one anywhere close to being Viola's twin silbling, who was in fact played by Mare Winningham (who went on to do a bit of movie work). If anyone has ever seen Mare you'll know why, during the dress rehersal, when she and I had a scene together, the director stopped us, looked at his AD, and said, "You know, nobody in their right mind would ever confuse those two..."

Shining stage moments come out at last. :rolleyes:
 
Radthorne said:
Yes, I did get the Hank 5 part. It's just that one doesn't typically keep the entire soliliquy in one's head unless one is performing (which I suppose he was, in a way...).

I was never big cheese enough for the title roles, anyway. I played Demitrius in Midsummer Night's Dream and (wait for it) Sebastian in a Western version of Twelfth Night (complete with six guns, holsters, boots, and cowboy hats). I was only picked for Sebastian because I was the shrimpiest guy and the only one anywhere close to being Viola's twin silbling, who was in fact played by Mare Winningham (who went on to do a bit of movie work). If anyone has ever seen Mare you'll know why, during the dress rehersal, when she and I had a scene together, the director stopped us, looked at his AD, and said, "You know, nobody in their right mind would ever confuse those two..."

Shining stage moments come out at last. :rolleyes:
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LOL, what city was this? It's funny, because Winningham has done a few westerns.
 
KatG said:
LOL, what city was this? It's funny, because Winningham has done a few westerns.
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It was actually in L.A. I ended up going to high school at a place that had a reputation for turning out actors, so we had a lot of people transferring in from other areas in order to attend that school specifically. I believe Mare was one of those. In fact, Val Kilmer was her boyfriend for at least a part of that time. In addition to both Val and Mare, Stephanie Kramer was there too, although she was a year ahead of me so I only did one show with her (Wizard of Oz; I was just a Munchkin). Val and Mare were a year behind me, but we all had about two years of stage stuff together. I believe Kevin Spacey may have been there as well, but I can't recall.
 
He probably was, because he went to school with Val Kilmer. I think you win the brushes with famous people contest. :)
 
Actually, I looked up Mare on Wikipedia, and yes Spacey was there too, also a year behind me. There were two drama groups at this school, and I believe he was in the "other" one. He and Mare did a play together the year after I left, so one or the other of them must have "crossed the divide" (there was a lot of rivalry). Mare was a bit of a prodigy, directing her own stuff while still in high school. She directed me and a group of others in one of the citywide Shakespeare festival competitions, for which we won first place. Still have my little medallion for that somewhere... Val Kilmer was pretty much like his characters, kind of a smart ass (sorry, Val, if you happen across this; but it was a long time ago...). Stephanie was very nice, but as she was two years older than me (such differences being important and all at that age) I didn't get to know her very well. She was Dorothy, after all, and I was just a munchkin... a fairly tall munchkin, but there you go.

It's been interesting to see who of that bunch went on to become famous and who just disappeared. There was plenty of talent (and ego) in the group. Other than Mare, I wouldn't have predicted any of the rest of them to do anything extraordinary, but clearly Val and Stephanie did well. Spacey too, although I never met him (I think I may have seen him in a Guys and Dolls production that the other drama group did, though...)
 
Re earlier discussions on the Kindle, author Christopher Moore has a quite entertaining analysis of the machine at his blog: http://blog.chrismoore.com/ Go to the June 14th entry entitled "Why the Kindle isn't a complete P.O.S." It's got graphics and everything!
 
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