April News Roundup

* Overheard in the Store:
"It's just like GAME OF THRONES, with anthropomorphic bugs."
"_Please_ don't make me nose-pass gluten-free pastries!"
"I just love the idea of killing someone with meat"
"That's not really a good thing to hear, 'Other than that, he's completely sane.'"
"You lose all validity because you just said that you needed to put your nachos down in order to do the Chicken Dance."
"Actually, I think I have a unicorn downstairs."
"Do you find this picture of Elric weirdly erotic?"
"You just take your logic and go!"
"The world needs more polyamorous ghost stories. Or, well, one."
"Dude, this can totally be my Darth Vader hat for work!"

* We regret to report the death of author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, famous for his marvelous magical realism. He was 87. http://www.npr.org/2012/07/10/156561881/writer-gabriel-garcia-marquez-who-gave-voice-to-latin-america-dies

* Congratulations to Charles E. Gannon for winning the 2014 Compton Crook Award: http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/04/gannon-wins-compton-crook-award/ .  Gannon's novel FIRE WITH FIRE is also nominated for a Nebula Award.

* The world's smallest 3D printing pen lets you draw in the air: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/04/lix-the-worlds-smallest-3d-printing-pen-lets-you-draw-in-the-air/

* Nominees for the 2014 Aurora Awards have been announced.  Check here for a full list: http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/aurora-awards/2014-aurora-nominees/

* Short list of nominees for the 2014 Hugos announced: http://www.loncon3.org/2014hugos.php

* Short list of nominees for 1939 Retro Hugos announced: http://www.loncon3.org/1939_retro_shortlist.php

* Scholastic along with Montegrappa, LBA Books, The London Book Fair and newspaper The Independent announce a brand new award for unpublished authors of children's fiction (aged 7 - 12): http://www.scholastic.co.uk/montegrappa

* Pan Macmillan along with The James Herbert estate announce a new award for horror literature named after the late author: http://www.panmacmillan.com/Featured-Pages/Offers/James-Herbert-Award.aspx?

* Nominees for The Scribe Awards, for media tie-in works, have been announced http://iamtw.org/the-scribe-awards/scribe-award-nominees/

* Congratulations to Karen Joy Fowler, whose latest novel WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY BESIDE OURSELVES won the 2014 Pen/Faulkner Award for fiction: http://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/

* Humans with pig hearts: science fiction that is soon to be science fact?: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10793958/Pig-hearts-could-be-transplanted-into-humans-after-baboon-success.html

* Yay! Two previously unpublished early Octavia Butler stories, with an introduction from Walter Mosley, will be released as an eBook on June 24th: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/early-octavia-butler-stories-coming-out-in-june/2014/04/29/fb20349a-cf8d-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html

* Steven Spielberg is set to direct film version of Roald Dahl classic, THE BFG: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/steven-spielberg-roald-dahls-the-bfg-1201164423/

* Cast list for Star Wars VII film announced: http://starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-7-cast-announced.html

* Karel Capek's 1919 play R.U.R., which coined the term robot, is not only up for a 1939 retro-Hugo this year but has also been turned into a 60s retro short film: http://trekmovie.com/2013/10/03/chase-masterson-stars-in-new-retro-sci-fi-short-r-u-r-genesis/

* Warner Bros. has nine DC comics based movies in the pipeline including Sandman and Fables: http://io9.com/warner-bros-has-nine-dc-movies-planned-including-sandm-1569363127

* Remember that rumor that Atari buried a bunch of its unsold games, including the incredible dud of an E.T. game in a landfill? Turns out it's true: http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/xbox-successfully-digs-up-e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-video-game-1201164949/