Chanukah Day 8: Guest Post by Esther Friesner

Sadly, Chanukah is coming to an end and it will soon be time to pack up the dreidals, menorahs, colored candles and all of the many Chanukah school projects, until Chanukah rolls around again next year.I've had a wonderful time celebrating Chanukah here, at SFF Chat, with all of the authors who took the time to participate with an article or interview and with all of you who stopped by to read the posts and share your thoughts and opinions.But it's...

Chanukah Day 7: Guest Post by Rachel Swirsky & Book Giveaway

Thoughts on Jewish Identity, Jewish Fantasy, andPeople of the Book: a Decade of Jewish Science Fiction & Fantasyby Rachel SwirskyWhen I was eleven, I remember a boy my age asking, "So which is it? Are you an atheist or a Jew?"His tone was one of skeptical indignation. He was clearly intimating that he'd caught me in a lie because I'd described myself as both. The weird thing was that my perspective immediately flipped to his. Even as I explained...

Chanukah Day 6 : Guest Post by Kate Elliott and Giveaway of Cold Magic

A few days ago I had published a guest post by Ari Marmell in which he ruminates about some of the reasons that his writing never seems to include any Jewish characters or themes. In contrast, in today's post by Kate Elliott, Elliott discusses some of the ways that Jewish elements that have been incorporated into her stories, sometimes even unintentionally. I've been an avid reader of Kate Elliott's books for many years and am really excited to...

Chanukah Day 5: Interview with Ann VanderMeer

I'm delighted to have for you today an interview with Ann VanderMeer, the editor of Weird Tales magazine and the co-editor of several steampunk and fantasy anthologies and of the humorous booklet, The kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals. And somehow Ann manages to accomplish all of this in her free time, when not working at her full-time job. Yes, this woman is amazing and I'm honored to have her here today.Hi Ann. Thanks so much for taking the time...

Chanukah Day 4: The Book by Lavie Tidhar (original short story)

The Bookby Lavie TidharThere is a bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London and it’s never open. Its windows are covered in a thick film of dust and spiders grow webbed cities in its darkness. There are books inside that no-one’s ever read; books that human eyes had never seen, books where black ink spells secrets on black paper, books written in darkness that cannot be read in the light.In the Hebrew Bible, of which all subsequent bibles are merely...

My Apologies for no new SFF Listing

I just want to offer my apologies to all of you who arrived here in eager anticipation of my weekly list of new scifi and fantasy releases. Unfortunately my computer crashed on Thursday, preventing me from accessing the list of new releases that I had prepared. And so we will just have to hope and pray that the computer tech people are able to save my computer and all of the valuable information contained within its magical wires and oh-too flimsy...