New Scifi and Fantasy Releases: Week of July 11th

I have a really interesting selection of books to present to you this week. At first the list of new releases was quite paltry so I had to do a bit of searching around to help supplement it, which means that I came across a number of titles and publishers that I've never heard of before.

I have to admit that there is nothing here that really grabs me, though Tribal Ways by Alex Archer seems like it could be worth looking into. If you like zombie books then The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer might be your cup of tea (especially if you like really creepy book covers) and if you are a fan of gay literature then Steve Berman's anthology of the best gay male speculative fiction of 2010 might appeal to you.

I think YA book readers will be the most satisfied with this week's selection of new releases as they have quite a few to choose from, including Sleepless by Cyn Balog, Shadow Hills by Anastasia Hopcus and Siren by Tricia Rayburn.

As for me, I'm probably going to stick with the books currently in the pile beside my bed, which should keep me busy for this week, at least.

Hope you have a great reading week!




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Tribal Ways (Rogue Angel)
Alex Archer
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Gold Eagle
Release Date: July 13

A frigid spring morning at a Native American archaeological dig erupts into sudden and brutal violence, leaving five people dead and one man gravely wounded. And in a hospital, with archaeologist Annja Creed at his side, the last survivor utters his final words to name his killer—a skinwalker. The skinwalker is feared among the Navajo and Apache. It is witchcraft of a most terrible nature that allows a man to take the shape of a wolf—and kill. But as Annja delves into the mystery of the skinwalker, she finds herself pulled into an underworld of violence and vicious radicals, threaded with legend…and sociopathic intent. In this world, Annja is unwelcome. And in this world, she could be the creature's next victim….


X-Isle
Steve Augarde
Genre: YA
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Release Date: July 13

Ever since the floods came and washed the world away, survivors have been desperate to win a place on X-Isle, the island where life is rumored to be easier than on what's left of the mainland. Only young boys stand a chance of getting in, the smaller and lighter the better. Baz and Ray are two of the lucky few to be chosen, but they soon discover that X-Isle is a far cry from paradise. Ruled by Preacher John, a dangerous religious fanatic, it's a violent, unpredictable place, where terrible things can happen at any moment. The boys hatch an extraordinary plan in order to protect themselves-the construction of a mighty weapon of defense. But can they complete this weapon in time, and are they really prepared to use it to secure their freedom?


Sleepless
Cyn Balog
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: July 13

Eron DeMarchelle isn't supposed to feel this connection. He is a Sandman, a supernatural being whose purpose is to seduce his human charges to sleep. Though he can communicate with his charges in their dreams, he isn't encouraged to do so. After all, becoming too involved in one human's life could prevent him from helping others get their needed rest. But he can't deny that he feels something for Julia, a lonely girl with fiery red hair and sad dreams. Just weeks ago, her boyfriend died in a car accident, and Eron can tell that she feels more alone than ever. Eron was human once too, many years ago, and he remembers how it felt to lose the one he loved. In the past, Eron has broken rules to protect Julia, but now, when she seems to need him more than ever, he can't reach her. Eron's time as a Sandman is coming to a close, and his replacement doesn't seem to care about his charges. Worse, Julia is facing dangers she doesn't recognize, and Eron, as he transitions back to being human, may be the only one who can save her. . . . Even once they've become human again, Sandmen are forbidden to communicate with their charges. But Eron knows he won't be able to forget Julia. Will he risk everything for a chance to be with the girl he loves?

Cyn Balog's follow-up to Fairy Tale has more wit, more supernatural delights, and more star-crossed romance! Teen girls will love this story of a Sandman who falls in love with his human charge.


The Loving Dead
Amelia Beamer
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Release Date: July 13

Kate and Michael, twenty-something housemates working at the same Trader Joe’s supermarket, are thoroughly screwed when people start turning into zombies at their house party in the Oakland hills. The zombie plague is a sexually transmitted disease, turning its victims into shambling, horny, voracious killers. Thrust into extremes by the unfolding tragedy, Kate and Michael are forced to confront the decisions they’ve made, and their fears of commitment, while trying to stay alive. Michael convinces Kate to meet him in the one place in the Bay Area that’s likely to be safe and secure from the zombie hordes: Alcatraz. But can they stay human long enough?


Wilde Stories 2010
Edited by Steve Berman
Genre: Anthology
Publisher: Lethe Press
Release Date: July 13

A newcomer to San Francisco falls in love too fast despite the warnings of a cadre of ghosts haunting his uncle; a businessman comes to regret his ennui when faced with the machinations of an outsider artist; on a train traveling through a dangerous Russian winter, a passenger encounters a wolf on two legs; a mining colony where love has become dangerous but no less passionate; a young man, mourning the loss of his ballet career, may yet get his chance to fly—these are some of the stories in this anthology, stories chosen from magazines, anthologies, literary journals, and single author collections to represent the best gay male speculative fiction of the past year.
Inside these pages are both authors acclaimed (award-winners Laird Barron, Elizabeth Hand, Tanith Lee and Joel Lane) and fresh voices (Tom Cardamone, Georgina Li) offering the best tales of fantastical and weird happenings befalling gay men.

Isinda (Fallen Dragon, Bk 1)
Rhett C. Bruno
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Release Date: July 13

"The majestic land of Isinda is trapped in an era of war and chaos. After the collapse of the mighty Deimor on the bloody fields of the Badlands, a glimmer of peace and unity amongst the warring races has shattered. The people of all kingdoms have retreated into superstition and suffering. In the City of Bronze, a king plots to become a god, imposing his will on any who dare to face him; in the forests to the east, the enslaved Blood Scaldor are forced to watch as their children are sacrificed to satisfy the hunger of angry gods. With the land returned to its bloody past, who will rise up as the Deimor did to bring Isinda under a single banner? Could a brutal king exploit the devastation left in the wake of the greatest leaders in the land, the Twin Blades? Or would a single hero rise from the chains of slavery and illuminate a path of peace that none had ever dreamed of before?


An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat (Chronicle of the Dead Empire)
Glen Cook
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Release Date: July 13

The Dread Empire, a gritty world of larger-than-life plots, nation-shattering conflict, maddening magic, strange creatures, and raw, flawed heroes, all shown through the filter of Glen Cook's inimitable war-correspondent prose. The Dread Empire, spanning from the highest peaks of the Dragon's Teeth to the endless desert lands of Hammad al Nakir, from besieged Kavelin to mighty Shinshan, the Empire Unacquainted with Defeat, with its fearless, masked soldiers, known as the Demon Guard...
An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat collects all of Glen Cook's short fiction set in the vast world of the Dread Empire, from "The Nights of Dreadful Silence", featuring the first appearance of Bragi Ragnarson, Mocker, and Haroun bin Yousif, to the culture-clashing novella "Soldier of an Empire Unacquainted with Defeat"; from "Silverheels", Cook's first published work of fiction, to "Hell's Forge", a haunting tale of cursed pirates and strange lands, appearing here for the first time. Also including a detailed introduction and extensive story notes by Glen Cook, An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat charts the development of this influential American author and the massive, multifaceted world that he created.

Shadow Hills
Anastasia Hopcus
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Release Date: July 13

After her sister Athena's tragic death, it's obvious that grief-stricken Persephone "Phe" Archer no longer belongs in Los Angeles. Hoping to make sense of her sister's sudden demise and the cryptic dreams following it, Phe abandons her bubbly LA life to attend an uptight East Coast preparatory school in Shadow Hills, MA -- a school which her sister mysteriously mentioned in her last diary entry before she died. Once there, Phe quickly realizes that something is deeply amiss in her new town. Not only does Shadow Hills' history boast an unexplained epidemic that decimated hundreds of its citizens in the 1700s, but its modern townies also seem eerily psychic, with the bizarre ability to bend metal. Even Zach -- the gorgeous stranger Phe meets and immediately begins to lust after -- seems as if he is hiding something serious. Phe is determined to get to the bottom of it. The longer she stays there, the more she suspects that her sister's untimely death and her own destiny are intricately linked to those who reside in Shadow Hills.


House of Windows
John Langan
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Release Date: July 13

When a young writer finds himself cornered by a beautiful widow in the waning hours of a late-night cocktail party, he seeks at first to escape, to return to his wife and infant son. But the tale she weaves, of her missing husband, a renowned English professor, and her lost stepson, a soldier killed on a battlefield on the other side of the world, and of phantasmal visions, a family curse, and a house - the Belvedere House, a striking mansion whose features suggest a face hidden just out of view - draws him in, capturing him.
What follows is a deeply psychological ghost story of memory and malediction, loss and remorse. This unnerving tour de force, exploring the literary haunted house, from Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft to today, incorporates family trauma, abstract art, literary criticism, the occult Dickens, and the war in Afghanistan. From John Langan (Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters) comes House of Windows, a chilling novel in the tradition of Peter Straub, Joe Hill, and Laird Barron.


The Infernal Game: Ghost Dance
Rebecca Levene
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Abaddon
Release Date: July 13

Morgan is sent on a new mission for the Hermetic Divi¬sion, investigating the murder of the world's foremost expert on Elizabethen alchemist John Dee. Her killer - an agent of Mossad with superhuman powers. In the US, Alex, a powerful medium, is employed by the CIA to invesitage a new cult called the Croatans who seem to be able to possess animals. Alex and Morgan's path cross when Morgan is drawn to the US in pursuit of Dee's greatest treasure - and the dangerous young man who plans to use it to achieve immortality!

Sunset Val
Rob St.Martin
Genre: YA Steampunk
Publisher: Weird & Wondrous Books
Release Date: July 12

Thrill to the daring exploits of the infamous pirate queen, recounted in her very own words! In this first adventure she makes friends and enemies alike, frees slaves and hunts down villainous pirates! Admire her perserverance in the face of hardship and adversity as she draws together her cadre of companions, whether human, vampyri, animan, automaidon, or patchwork! Be amazed at how this young girl surmounts so many obstacles to become one of Ayrth's greatest airship pirates!


Siren
Tricia Rayburn
Genre: YA
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Release Date: July 13

Seventeen-year-old Vanessa Sands is afraid of everything--the dark, heights, the ocean--but her fearless older sister, Justine, has always been there to coach her through every challenge. That is until Justine goes cliff diving one night near the family's vacation house in Winter Harbor, Maine, and her lifeless body washes up on shore the next day. Vanessa's parents want to work through the tragedy by returning to their everyday lives back in Boston, but Vanessa can't help feeling that her sister's death was more than an accident.

After discovering that Justine never applied to colleges, and that she was secretly in a relationship with longtime family friend Caleb Carmichael, Vanessa returns to Winter Harbor to seek some answers. But when Vanessa learns that Caleb has been missing since Justine's death, she and Caleb's older brother, Simon, join forces to try to find him, and in the process, their childhood friendship blossoms into something more.

Soon it's not just Vanessa who is afraid. All of Winter Harbor is abuzz with anxiety when another body washes ashore, and panic sets in when the small town becomes home to a string of fatal, water-related accidents . . . in which all the victims are found grinning from ear to ear. As Vanessa and Simon probe further into the connections between Justine's death and the sudden rash of creepy drownings, Vanessa uncovers a secret that threatens her new romance, and that will change her life forever.

Ghostgirl: Lovesick (Ghostgirl, Bk 3)
Tanya Hurley
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Little Brown Books
Release Date: July 12

Before she can rest in peace, Charlotte Usher must return to the tragic site of her death: high school. Once there, her assignment is to help a designated teen solve a personal problem in time for the all-important prom. But no one explained what happens if you fall in love with your class project. Charlotte would die (again) for love but facing the all-too-familiar feeling of invisibility may be too much for her to swallow.

No hopping this week

This Friday I decided that instead of participating in the various blog hops and joining more blogs that I don't actually have time to visit, that I would try to follow up on all of the blogs that I had discovered through the hops in previous weeks.

I'm starting to feel that these blog hops are becoming more about collecting followers than about actually discovering new blogs that you enjoy or about making connections. I know that few of the bloggers who have joined my blog through the blog hops have actually ever come back, at least I haven't heard from them. In which case I think I prefer that they didn't join at all. Although having a nice number of blog followers does make me feel good, I would feel even better knowing that all of those followers are actually interested in visiting my blog and reading the content that I put up.

That's not to say that I won't be participating in future blog hops because I really have found some great new blogs to follow through them, but this week I'm going to take a break and go visit those blogs who are already listed in my Google Reader.

And if you are a regular follower who does actually read what I have to say, I want you to know how much I appreciate having you here. While blogging is a lot of fun what makes it really satisfying is knowing that someone is actually interested in reading what I have so painstakingly written.

So now I'm off to do some blog visiting and I wish you a wonderful weekend with many hours of pleasurable reading.

Another funny link: Don't ask a designer for help

Another completely off-topic but still very funny link you have to check out.
It even elicited some chuckles from me and I'm not much of a chuckler.

(And I promise that this one won't take up your whole day like the last one probably did.)

Why to never ask a designer for help in finding your cat

Enjoy!

Spirit Gate (Crossroads, Bk 1) by Kate Elliott

The last time that I had read a book by Kate Elliott was about eight years ago, when I had been fully engrossed in her Crown of Stars series. And although Elliott had made a great impression on me at the time, I haven't read anything else by her since then, mostly because I have not encountered any of her books here in Israel. But when I recently came across the author online I was reminded of how much I had enjoyed her books and so I decided to try to catch up with all of her books that I had missed out on over the years, starting with Spirit Gate.

For hundreds of years the Guardians have ruled the world of the Hundred, but these powerful gods no longer exert their will on the world. Only the reeves, who patrol on enormous eagles, still represent the Guardians' power. And the reeves are losing their authority; for there is a dark shadow across the land that not even the reeves can stop.

A group of fanatics has risen to devour villages, towns, and cities in their drive to annihilate all who oppose them. No one knows who leads them; they seem inhumanly cruel and powerful. Mai and Anji, riding with a company of dedicated warriors and a single reeve who may hold a key to stopping the deadly advance of the devouring horde, must try, or the world will be lost to the carnage. But a young woman sworn to the Goddess may prove more important than them all . . . if they are not too late.

Spirit Gate offers readers a panoramic view of a land which is slowly being overtaken by a dark and unknown force. The Guardians, who had once ruled the land, have been gone for so long that no one knows if they ever really existed, and the Reeves have lost the authority which had allowed them to bring order, in place of the Guardians. But the intervention of visitors from an outside land will have far reaching consequences that may help in the fight against the encroaching darkness.

Spirit Gate follows several different and very diverse characters, switching from one point of view to another throughout the book. Each character has their own journey that they have embarked upon but as the story progresses the individual stories begin to merge, eventually bringing all of the characters and their stories together.

Mai is the beautiful daughter of the most prestigious merchant family in Kartu Town, expected to make an advantageous marriage someday to a respectable boy. But when a Qin Captain spots Mai in the marketplace one day and expresses his interest in marrying her, Mai’s father has no choice but to give up his daughter to the man. Mai is both frightened and excited by this turn of events which may offer her the freedom she has always longed for, though it all depends on what kind of man it is that she has married.

Mai’s uncle Shai is the seventh son, placing him at the very bottom of the family hierarchy. Seen as superfluous by the family, it is no surprise when Shai is the one chosen to accompany Mai when she leaves Kartu Town with her new husband. But Shai is also given the task of finding out what had happened to his older brother who has gone missing many years ago. Shai is elated to finally be free of the family who had always held him in contempt but he quickly discovers that finding a place to belong will be a lot more difficult then he had expected.

Joss is a Reeve, dedicated to maintaining justice and order in the land alongside the giant and intelligent eagle that he rides. But for twenty years he has been haunted by a single foolish and thoughtless act committed in his youth, and which ended in tragedy. The repercussions of that day have altered Joss's life but now he is determined to take a stand and finally fight back against the enemy that has been cutting the reeves down.

Kesh had been sold off as a slave by his family when he was just a child, and for the past twelve years has worked endlessly to pay off his debt. Now a recent stroke of good luck may have handed him just the treasure that he needs to finally buy his freedom, if he can protect it long enough to make the journey home. And even then his path to freedom is not yet clear.


I admit that when I started Spirit Gate I was a bit thrown off because I had expected this book to be somewhat similar to the others that I had read by Kate Elliott, which it is not. Though once I got used to the unexpected style of the narration, I was easily immersed in the story.

At first I was a bit distracted by the fact that the story doesn't focus on any one character for very long, but instead switches from one character's point of view to another. This prevented me from feeling particularly connected to any one of the characters, which normally would hinder my enjoyment of the book, but once I got used to it I found that I really didn't mind. And as I got more involved in the story I discovered that I had gotten to know each of the characters enough that I did care about what happens to them. The style in which Spirit Gate was written actually reminds me quite a bit of Steven Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon, though it was a lot easier for me to get through. The epic feel to the story as well as the wide and detailed world building felt similar to Erikson’s novel, though the characters are not quite as intense. There is also the same kind of vague feeling to the story regarding who the villains are and what the specific danger is.

The pacing is slow but steady and the regular shifting of the point of view helped keep me interested, as did the different conflicts encountered by each of the characters.

On the back of Spirit Gate there is a quote from Sci Fi Weekly stating that this book is “a treasure for readers who enjoy the journey as much as, or more than, the destination,” which I think is very aptly put. Where the characters are headed and what their purpose is in this endangered land, largely remains unclear, but it’s the journey on which each of them have embarked that is the focus of this book. Kate Elliott has skillfully woven a wonderful story here with fantastic world building and interesting characters and I highly recommend it to all fantasy readers who enjoy a good epic tale.

Free Audio Book: The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker

The Audio Book Shop is offering a free download of the audio book The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Lienna Renee Hieber.

What fortune awaited sweet, timid Percy Parker at Athens Academy? Hidden in the dark heart of Victorian London, the Romanesque school was dreadfully imposing, a veritable fortress, and little could Percy guess what lay inside. She had never met its powerful and mysterious Professor Alexi Rychman, knew nothing of the growing shadows, of the Ripper and other supernatural terrors against which his coterie stood guard. She saw simply that she was different, haunted, with her snow white hair, pearlescent skin and uncanny gift. This arched stone doorway was a portal to a new life, to an education far from what could be had at a convent-and it was an invitation to an intimate yet dangerous dance at the threshold of life and death...

This is a really lovely and unique fantasy and if you haven't yet read it I highly suggest you take this opportunity to get the audio book for free.

My BBAW Registration

After deliberating about it for a couple of weeks I finally decided to go ahead and register for the upcoming Book Blogger Appreciation Week. It's a bit daunting, knowing that I will be competing against some really wonderful blogs, but I figured it can't hurt to give it a try.

So the niche category that I'm registering for is Best Speculative Fiction Book Blog (no surprise there) and the these are the posts that I'm putting forward:

1. Review of Lord of the Fading Lands by C.L Wilson
2. Review of The Tel Aviv Dossier by Nir Yaniv and Levi Tidhar
3. Review of The Girl with the Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
4. Interview with Peter Brett
5. Discussion Post: Readers in "the wild"

I'm also registering for Best New Book Blog

1. Review of The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar
2. Review of Soulless by Gail Carriger
3. Childhood Books Revisited
4. Book Blog interview with Fantasy Literature...Frankly
5. Friday Quotes

And there you have it.

Good luck to all of the participating book bloggers, and if you haven't yet signed up but would still like to do so then just follow this link. Though do so quickly since tomorrow (July 7th) is the last day for registration.

Interview with SciFi Songwriter John Anealio

I'm pleased to welcome here today the talented musician and songwriter, John Anealio, who creates unique and catchy songs based on scifi and fantasy books and movies.


Hi John, thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview.

According to your blog, Scifi Songs, you write science fiction and fantasy songs, and while I’m familiar with sf&f books and movies I didn’t realize that the genre extends to music as well. Can you please explain to me about the kind of music that you write?

Well, there isn't really a Sci-Fi/Fantasy musical genre like rock or pop, although Filk can certainly be considered Sci-Fi music. Musically, I'd categorize what I do as a combination of pop, folk, and rock with a shot of electronic music and a sprinkling of progressive rock. Lyrically, I'm inspired by a wide variety of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels and films as well as other "nerdy" things.
Over the course of the past year, I've embraced the humorous side of nerd culture and many of my songs have come out funnier than I ever thought they would.

Have you always been interested in writing this kind of music or is this an idea that just hit you over the head one day?

In terms of focusing my lyrics on Sci-Fi/Nerd culture, that did just hit me one day. For years, I was a fairly straight-ahead folk singer/songwriter. A little over two years ago, I was contemplating my musical path. I had already written a few songs inspired by some Science Fiction novels. I was also considering getting into blogging or podcasting. At that moment it hit me to focus my songwriting on Science Fiction and Nerd Culture and start a blog and podcast where I release those songs for free.

What was the first song that you wrote?

At the start of my musical education, I was an obsessive guitarist, so my first songs were guitar instrumentals. I couldn't even tell you the first vocal song that I wrote, because the first 100 songs that I wrote were surely dreadful. I think the first "Sci-Fi" song that I wrote was "Sarene" which is based on Brandon Sanderson's Elantris.

Really? Why did you specifically choose Sarene for the subject of your song? (personally, I found her kind of annoying)

I liked the fact that Sarene was a strong female character and I just liked the idea of writing a love song that was set in a fantasy world.

What kind of reaction do your songs usually elicit from listeners? Do you think there is a large interest in music based on scifi and fantasy?

These days, it seems to be mostly laughter, which is good. Most people respond pretty positively. I think a lot of folks are just stunned that someone took the time to write and record a song based on something so niche or ridiculous. I think that there is an interest in music based on Sci-Fi and nerdy topics. For the longest time, song lyrics were only considered successful if they had universal themes or were aimed at the lowest common denominator. I think that people want to hear songs about topics that they are interested in. The more niche the better, it seems. My most successful song is "George R.R. Martin is Not Your Bitch". It doesn't get much more niche than that.

So I've actually been hearing quite a lot lately about this song, "George R.R. Martin is Not Your Bitch" which has garnered attention from both Neil Gaiman and Martin himself. Can you tell me the story behind it?

I'm a big George R.R. Martin fan. Neil Gaiman wrote a now famous blog post that advised a reader that "George R.R. Martin is Not Your Bitch". I just thought that it would make a perfect song. I had the great fortune of both Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin discovering the song and liking it enough to blog and tweet about it.

Have any of your other songs gained the attention of the book’s author?

Fortunately yes. Brandon Sanderson, Gregory Frost, and Kay Kenyon all discovered the songs that I wrote about their books. Not only were all of them really nice folks, they were all quite enthusiastic about the songs and were nice enough to link to them. I even had the chance to chat a bit with Gregory Frost at Philcon last year. He's a great author and a super nice guy.

Wow, that's awesome!

Where do you see yourself heading with your sff song writing?

I'd like to get more into live performing. Prior to Sci-Fi Songs, I gigged all of the time, but I've done very little performing since the start of Sci-Fi Songs. I had the opportunity to perform at Balticon this year as a part of Mur Lafferty's "I Should Be Writing" live podcast. It was the first time that I performed in front of an audience of people who were into the things that I was singing about and it was a truly wonderful experience. I'd like to perform at more Sci-Fi conventions and I'd really love to perform at events like w00tstock and Nerdapalooza. I'd love to model the career path of some artists that I really admire like Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, and Marian Call.

Are you involved in any other aspects of the sff community?

The sheet music and lyrics to my song "The Ballad of Wilson Cole" appear in the appendix of Mike Resnick's "Starship:Flagship" novel. It was really quite a thrill to see my song and my name published in an actual Science Fiction novel. It was something that I never imagined would happen. I'd love to do that again. I also co-host a weekly podcast with author Patrick Hester called
The Functional Nerds. We chat about Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels and TV shows, technology, music, comics, and other nerdy things. We've been fortunate enough to have a bunch of great guests, including: Blake Charlton, Lou Anders, and Mur Lafferty.

I saw that you recently attended Balticon where you dazzled Gail Carriger with your tunes. So how about a bit of gossip? Is Gail as awesome in real life as she seems?

Really? I wasn't aware that she was dazzled. I did have the opportunity to chat with her for a while after the show and she is every bit of awesome in real life as she seems. She's crazy smart and super nice. We also discovered that we share an interest in swing dancing.

Well, Gail mentioned your performance on her blog and she sounded pretty dazzled (I believe the words "lovely" and "talented" were bandied about). Though I don't remember her ever mentioning anything about swing dancing...

Are there any other authors that you have become acquainted with through your music?

Peter V. Brett attended the ISBW live podcast at Balticon. He and I got along together quite well. He's going to be on our podcast in July. Although not a Sci-Fi author, Ken Denmead, who is the editor of Wired Magazine's GeekDad Blog and the author of the GeekDad book, and I have gotten to be pretty good online friends as well. He's played my music on the GeekDad Hip Trax podcast a bunch of times.

I'm a pretty big Peter Brett fan so I will have to make sure to listen to that podcast.

Are you ever approached by authors who are interested in having a song written for their books?

Lou Anders, Editorial Director of Pyr Books, commissioned the song for the Mike Resnick book. I have had some independent authors request songs. Each song takes a really long time to record (up to a month), so unfortunately I can't meet every request.

Which of your songs is your favorite and how did you come to write it?

Hard to say, I usually enjoy my most recent song the best.

In that case I guess the Unicorn Pegasus Kitten song is your current favorite since that is the latest song to appear on your blog, along with the picture that inspired it.

Are there any projects or songs that you are currently working on?

I'm getting pretty close to having enough good songs to put out another CD. This one will be a little different than my Sci-Fi Songs album. Most of the new songs have a humorous slant to them, which wasn't my intention at the start of all of this, but that is how things have naturally developed, so I'm running with it.

Can you tell me a bit about the CD you currently have out as well as where it is available for purchase?

When I started the Sci-Fi Songs blog, the idea was to write and record a new song every few weeks and give it away for free on the blog. People started asking about buying a CD/album. The Sci-Fi Songs Album is what I feel the 11 best songs that I wrote and recorded during the first year or so of the blog. You can buy the physical CD through CDBaby and the digital downloads from many different outlets including iTunes and Amazon MP3.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working on your music?

Reading, Podcasting, and obsessively cataloging my iTunes library.

What books are you currently reading?

I'm currently reading The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett, which so far is excellent. I'm also diving into a few of John Joseph Adams' short story anthologies.

It sounds like you have some great reading going on there. And a Warded Man inspired song would be really awesome...

Thanks again John for joining us here today and I can't wait to see what song you come up with next.
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For more information about John Anealio visit his blog, Sci Fi Songs, and follow this link for a list of all his songs.