I Believe There Was Also a Library . . .

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The Universe Box, my newest collection of short fiction, almost a decade in the making, is coming out in only a few days. Ass it chances, I was just now rererereading the almost-title-story, "Universe Box," and came upon the following notion, which pleased me greatly when I came up with it:

The Universe Box, my newest collection of short fiction, almost a decade in the making, is coming out in only a few days. As it chances, I was just now rererereading the almost-title-story, "Universe Box," and came upon the following notion, which pleased me greatly when I came up with it:

Holding up a finger, Uncle Paulie made an owlish face and said, “Let me posit a question: What one thing does the world currently need most? Eh?”

“Um... love?” Howard ventured.

“World peace,” Mimi said firmly.

“Pah! I’m disappointed in you both. A good bottle of wine, of course!” Uncle Paulie flipped open the lid of the cigar box and reached within. “As you doubtless know, the very finest collection ever assembled was the legendary Wine Cellar of Alexandria. Destroyed in that dreadful fire, such a pity. But no matter. I’ll just have to dig deeper.”

Uncle Paulie is, of course, Trickster. Howard is in for a hard time of it. And Mimi is, despite being kidnapped by the most dangerous assassin in the universe, about to have the time of her life.

But that's not why I shared that excerpt with you. The Wine Cellar of Alexandria! Makes you wonder what else went up in that dreadful blaze, doesn't it?

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Win A Free Copy of The Universe Box

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Tachyon Publications has a small but painless contest--a chance to win a physical copy of my new short fiction collection, The Universe Box, or one of three e-book versions.

Which is not as big as winning the lottery. But it costs nothing and you don't have to walk to he corner store to enter.

Just click here, scroll down past the effusive praise from writers I admire and respect, and look for the buttons marked "enter giveaway."

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Books! Booze! Ellen Kushner! Caitlin Rozakis! Amanda Cockrell! And Also Me

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Above, l-r: Caitlin Rozakis, Ellen Kushner, Michael Swanwick, Amanda Cockrell, Randee Dawn

Last night, I had a reading for Brooklyn Books & Booze , hosted by Randee Dawn at Barrow's Intense Ginger. It was great fun, if you happened to be me, and everybody else seemed to be enjoying themselves as well.

Also reading was Ellen Kushner, my dear friend from so long ago that neither of us can remember that far back. As she recently posted, she and I invented fire.

We met. We embraced. I said, "What putzes we were! We invented fire and didn't patent it!"

"I know!" she said. "And look at who we gave it to."

I also got to meet Caitlin Rozakis and Amanda Cockrell, both of whom impressed me greatly. You might well want to consider reading their work. 

It was a warm (not literally; the temperature was so cold that the traditional BB&B outdoor pic was taken inside) and gemutlich evening. The attendees were everything you would want in an audience. And they loved my story. I know because what seemed to be a dozen sought me out and told me so.

In retrospect, this was inevitable. There were a lot of writers, readers, and literary types present and "The Star-Bear" was about maintaining artistic integrity in the face of philistines with power. There is a particular pleasure in hearing your audience laughing at all the right places, horrified at the moments you thought worst, and approving of how the story ended when it finally found safe harbor.

I've been at Brooklyn Books & Booze before and can honestly recommend it as a warm and pleasant way to spend an evening. With or without my presence.

Also, the drinks are good.

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Today's Bookstore Reading CANCELLED and RESCHEDULED

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I had been looking forward today's reading at Sparkle Bookstore in Sparkill, NY. Then, alas, the snow started coming down and the roads turned murderous. I got four miles down the road and it was obvious that 1) I could never make the trip in time for the scheduled event, and 2) that it would be dangerous to try. In that brief time, I saw two cars slide off the road. One of them ran into a pad-mounted transformer. 

So I had to cancel. That felt bad.

The good news is that the event has been rescheduled to Sunday, January 25 at 3:00 p.m. 

I'll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't snow.

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A Paucity of Cat Whiskers

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I have never in my life thanked a reviewer for a positive review. That would be insulting. All he or she has to offer is their honest opinion. Injecting the reviewee's reaction would cheapen that and make it out to be less than it was.

Nevertheless, I was greatly pleased by Gary Wolfe's review of The Universe Box. By my reading (and of course yours may differ), he understood what I was getting at in every story of the collection. And if my publisher is looking for a blurb-quote, why, here it is: "for all his narrative adventurousness and sly wit, Swanwick can also be a master of evocative, graceful prose."

That's all very gratifying.

But I am not grateful for it. Because my desire from long before my first published story was to deserve such praise. If I have done so, good. If not, my bad. And if you wonder whether I deserve such a positive review, well... you can always read the book.

Those with money are encouraged to support their local indie bookstore. Those without have a friend in interlibrary loan.

And f you are curious, you can read Wolfe's entire review here.

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Sparkle Bookstore Reading This Saturday!

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This Saturday, January 17, at 3:00 p.m., I will do a reading from my new collection, The Universe Box, at the Sparkle Bookstore in Sparkill, New York. Since the book is still a couple of weeks away from its publication date, I believe this will be the first opportunity ever to purchase a copy in a bookstore. Which is, let's face it, the best way there is to buy a book.

This should be a fun event. If you can make it there, please do. The address is:

The Sparkle Bookstore

642 Main Street

Sparkill, NY

You can read their promo for the event here.

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A Brief But Telling Anecdote About Sheila Williams

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I was extremely unhappy to learn that Sheila Williams, a dear friend as well as being the editor of Asimov's Science Fiction, has been hospitalized with a brain aneurism.

When bad things happen to good friends, I try to avoid slathering them with abstract praise. Instead, I prefer to relate an anecdote, something scandalous-but-not-too-scandalous, revealing some admirable facet of their essence. 

That's not so easy about the woman Isaac Asimov routinely referred to as "Sweet Sheila Williams." (Asimov had an epithet for everyone. Gardner Dozois, for example, was always referred to as "Chestertonian.") And there's some truth there. Sheila is even tempered and mercifully free of the sharp comments that are all too common among the literary and witty.

That doesn't mean she doesn't think them, though.

I remember sitting in the bar at some Worldcon or other with Sheila and Terry Bisson. We were all drinking but Terry was far, far in the lead. He was talking about his recent experiences as a guest at Volgacon, the only SF conference in the Soviet Union (which fell shortly thereafter) to have foreign guests in attendance.

Winding up his account, Terry said, "I told them: 'I know you guys are all capitalists now. But I want you to know that I still hold to the old ways. I'm still a Stalinist.'" Then he got up and staggered away.

Sheila smiled after him--sweetly, of course--and then leaned forward and confided, "I had such a hard time not saying: 'You and Fidel, Terry."

That's Sheila. As sharp-witted as any of us, but too kind to let us know it.

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You can read Locus Online's account of her hospitalization here.

Above: Sheila's portrait was swiped from the Locus Online account.

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