May News Roundup

 *  Overheard in the Store:
"The moral of the story is pretty much 'Gravity wins'."
"It's worse . . . they don't show up and break your kneecaps, they come to your house and repossess your cat."

 *  Overheard at the Nebulas
"I don't think I trust squid from a truck."
"But he was seated next to [famous & famously grumpy author], so anyone looks like Santa Claus that way."
"Yay, San Jose. The Gateway to Gilroy."
"Oooh -- robot curtains!"
"I just want to make it perfectly clear that I don't know f**k about s** t."

Lots and lots of award news:

 *  Congratulations to Ann Leckie for winning both the Clarke Award AND the Nebula Award for Best Novel, ANCILLARY JUSTICE. http://www.clarkeaward.com/previous-awards/2014-clarke-award/2014-winner/

 *  Congratulations to the other Nebula winners as well, Vylar Kaftan, Aliette de Boddard and Rachel Swirsky! And to Nalo Hopkinson who won the Andre Norton Award for YA. http://www.sfwa.org/2014/02/2013-nebula-nominees-announced/

 *  Finalists for the 2014 Sturgeon Memorial Award announced. http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/sturgeon-finalists.htm

 *  Finalists for the 2014 Locus Awards announced. http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/05/2014-locus-awards-finalists/

 *  Nominees for the 2013 Shirley Jackson Award announced. http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/nominees/

 *  Congratulations to the winners of the 2013 Bram Stoker Awards! http://horror.org/winners-2013-bram-stoker-awards/

 *  Finalists for the 2013 John W. Campbell Award announced. http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/campbell-finalists.htm

And lots of other news!

 *  Harper Collins to buy Harlequin. http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/62097-harpercollins-to-buy-harlequin.html

 *  io9.com tells us why the livestock of the future will be insects! http://io9.com/the-livestock-of-the-future-will-be-insects-1579754501

 *  International trailer for the highly anticipated Wachowski siblings new sci-fi epic JUPITER ASCENDING has been released and it looks like it could be awesome. http://sciencefiction.com/2014/05/22/new-jupiter-ascending-international-trailer-wachowskis/

 *  Scientists think that wormholes could be used to send messages through time. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25596-skinny-wormholes-could-send-messages-through-time.html#.U36foC-f_Yd

 *  Joe Hanson, in his ongoing series 'It's Okay To Be Smart', tries to scientifically explain Westeros and Game of Thrones.  It works . . .  somewhat. http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/86252471997/science-of-game-of-thrones

 *  Echidnas are the only mammals (along with the platypus) to hatch from eggs. Watch it happen here. http://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/86509597537

 *  io9's animation blog gives us a list of the Most Bad-Ass Women in All Animation and some of the choices are quite surprising at first, but right on target. http://animation.io9.com/these-are-the-most-bad-ass-women-in-all-of-animation-1579248236/+katharinetrendacosta

 *  Alfonso Cuaron, (whose most recent film GRAVITY is amazing) is now rumored to have been offered first refusal rights to direct OVERLOOK HOTEL, the prequel to Stephen King's THE SHINING.  Cuaron is one of the few directors who could probably make this watchable -- let's hope he takes it. http://schmoesknow.com/hot-scoop-will-alfonso-cuaron-book-a-room-at-the-overlook-hotel/23609/

 *  The newest international trailer (Russian) for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY continues to hit the perfect blend of camp and sci-fi awesome. When "Spirit in the Sky" started to play I almost snorted my drink out of my nose. http://sciencefiction.com/2014/05/22/new-guardians-of-the-galaxy-international-trailer-released/

 *  Sincerely epic geek tattoos: http://diply.com/trendyjoe/25-most-epic-geek-tattoos/34484

 *  Borderlands is saddened to announce the death of beloved author Mary Stewart at age 97.  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/books/mary-stewart-british-writer-who-spanned-genres-dies-at-97.html?_r=0

 *  The full trailer for DARK DUNGEONS, the Jack Chick tract about playing D&D and Satanism, is out now! http://christiannightmares.tumblr.com/post/86310385726/its-here-the-full-trailer-for-dark-dungeons-the

 *  Happen to have $1.5 million sitting around? You can own the house where Ray Bradbury lived & wrote for 50 years: http://laist.com/2014/05/17/photos_ray_bradburys_cheviot_hills.php#photo-1

 *  We're very sorry to report the death of artist H.R. Giger at age 74. Giger died from injuries sustained in a fall. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/hr-giger-dead-alien-artist_n_5314408.html

 *  Tyrion Lannister & Jon Snow get Disney Prince-ified: (caution, spoiler in the text!) http://www.nerdist.com/2014/05/game-of-thrones-tyrion-lannister-and-jon-snow-get-disney-prince-ified/

 *  Looks like Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society Book Club's really taking off http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/may/08/topless-pulp-fiction-appreciation-society-book-club.  We likely won't have one here --  it's too cold!

 *  You may have heard about the recent Amazon / Hachette kerfluffle.  We're following the whole thing closely, but if you'd like an educated overview, here's the place to start:  http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-amazon-and-hachette-explained-20140602-story.html

For interesting commentary on what the current conflict could mean for books, ideas and readers in the future, read this:  http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/how-the-amazon-hachette-fight-could-shape-the-future-of-ideas/371756/

If you'd like an extended look at Amazon's history and business practices (written before the current troubles), here is a really excellent and in-depth article from The New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_packer?currentPage=all

Lastly, a profoundly less even-handed, but much more profane and entertaining look: http://misterkristoff.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/amazon-hachette-and-flaming-bullshit/ (Thank you to customer Keith B. for the link.)

* We regret to report the death of author Jay Lake on June 1st.  Jay used to come and write in-store in front of an audience, collaborating with artists Alan Clark and Paul Groendes to produce almost-instant books.