Mary Robinette Kowal, the wonderful talent who voiced our recent audio of Rude Mechanicals, has just posted an insightful mini-essay (with audio samples and examples) of the issues she had to address while recording RM. For those interested in a peek behind the magician’s curtain, head over to her blog, and have a look, and a listen.

Hi.

We’re hearing from some customers who had preordered Joe Hill’s HEART-SHAPED BOX from dealers who have not been able to supply it.

To be perfectly clear, we shipped copies to all dealers who had confirmed orders with us. There was one dealer who had his allotment cut, but as he’s currently offering copies on Ebay, we suspect he didn’t accept preorders for the title.

We’re shipping four books to the printer this week, all scheduled for May release.

– New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear
– The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
– Old Man Crow by Charles de Lint
– The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

In related news, we’ve just reached agreement to publish the limited edition of Red Seas Under Red Skies, the sequel to The Lies of Locke Lamora. Once again Edward Miller will be contributing a number of color plates. Look for ordering information soon. In the meantime, please consider picking up Lies, the first book of what we think may be the best epic fantasy series since George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.

Two new books are shipping right now — the first, The Shadows Kith and Kin by hisownself, Joe R. Lansdale, will be out the door first. Nipping closely on its heels will be Kage Baker’s Rude Mechanicals, a new Company novella (starring series favorites Joseph and Lewis in 1930s Hollywood). If you like capers and screwball comedies, Kage’s latest won’t disappoint.

Kage Baker’s short (120 pages) illustrated Company novel is in stock and shipping. According to Bookslut, RM is “from start to finish one of those excellent screwball comedy romps that I am unashamedly fond of. If you exchanged the cyborgs Lewis and Joseph for Myrna Loy and William Powell in any one of the Thin Man movies, you would have a version of Rude Mechanicals that fits on AMC any night of the week.”

Signed Limited:

$35

Publishers Weekly has just weighed in with the first review of Robert Silverberg’s To the Dark Star: “The illuminating second volume of collected short stories by one of the field’s masters makes time travel easy for SF readers… Older SF readers will relish these 21 stories, Silverberg’s first notable work, while younger readers may finally learn what all the completely justifiable fuss was about.”

“Never one to remain hemmed in by a specific genre, Lansdale runs the gamut of fanciful motifs from pure horror to whimsical fantasy in his new story collection. Lansdale’s world is by turns darkly apocalyptic or comically surreal, and its inhabitants are loners, losers, and mass murderers… Whatever creative tricks Lansdale pulls out of his sleeve, his writing never fails to deliver an emotional kick while it stirs the imagination.”

Signed Hardcover:

$35

Our webguy’s been busy — posting cover art for a whole bunch of new and upcoming titles, including:

– Sky Horizon (David Brin)
– Space Boy (Orson Scott Card)
– The Shadows Kith and Kin (Joe R. Lansdale)
– Up from the Bottomless Pit (Philip Jose Farmer)

Click over and have a look!

This week we’ve two new short stories posted thus far in the Spring issue of Subterranean Online. Check out “The Leopard’s Paw” by Jay Lake, and “A Plain Tale from Our Hills” by Bruce Sterling. On Friday, look for the latest installment of Elizabeth Bear’s column. Happy reading!

Both of this year’s Lumley books are well on schedule for publication, with A Coven of Vampires due in June, and the first volume of Brian’s best Mythos stories, The Taint and Other Novellas, slated for a Halloween release. In addition to a couple of stunning covers, Lumley’s favorite illustrator, Bob Eggleton has contributed some ultra creepy spot illustrations for each book. Our designer, Gail Cross, has come up with what we think is the perfect look for Coven, which is being repeated in The Taint, and in the second volume of Brian’s Best Mythos tales, due next year.