Prime Books has announced plans to launch a new on-line magazine, Lightspeed, in June of 2010. The magazine will be edited by John Joseph Adams, who will be leaving his position as assistant editor at F&SF at the end of the year. Andrea Kail will edit the magazine’s non-fiction. Issues will include four stories (generally two original and two reprints), as well as original non-fiction.
The Odyssey Writing Workshop is launching a series of on-line courses to help those who aren’t able to make it to the annual workshop. The first on-line workshop, Showing versus Telling, will be run by Jeanne Cavelos. Sessions will last one hour each week for six weeks, with the entire course costing $295. Odyssey’s Online Classes offer live lectures and
discussions using Web conferencing software.
Worlds Imagined: The Many Realities of Tom Deitz, an exhibit held at the University of Georgia earlier this year, has been posted to the internet. The exhibit was originally held in July and August and looked at all aspects of Deitz’s life and career.
Rose Fox has announced that Publisher’s Weekly is relaunching its Genreville blog to discuss genre fiction and events. Fox will be joined by Fantasy Magazine director of marketing Josh Jasper. According to Fox and Jasper, the relaunch will include more opinions and contain more controversial essays.
On-line zine Strange Horizons has announced its 2009 Fund Drive. They hope to raise $7,000 during the month of August to help pay for the costs of running the magazine. Everyone who donates will be entered into a raffle to receive on of several prizes. Strange Horizons is a 501(c)3 organization, which means that donations are tax-deductable.
Eric Flint, the editor of Baen’s Universe has announced that the on-line magazine will close following the April 2010 issue, signifying a four-year run for the magazine. Baen is offering a plan for subcribers to receive back issues. According to Flint, Baen was “never able to get and retain enough subscribers to put us on a sales plateau that would allow us to continue publishing.”
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has set up a website which will recreate the Apollo 11 mission in real time on the fortieth anniversary of the event. The website will go live at 8:02 AM ET on Thursday, July 16, ninety minutes before that anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch and will continue throughout the entire mission, which included Armstrong and Aldrin’s first walk on the moon on July 20.
After a hiatus, Tangent Online has been relaunched by publisher Dave Truesdale. Tangent was founded in 1993 as a print-zine with the goal of reviewing every short story published in the science fiction field. Eventually the magazine moved on line, where it was successful for several years. Truesdale has now restarted the ‘zine with eleven reviewers and an initial focus on print short story venues, although he hopes to add webzines as he increases the number of reviewers on staff.
Starlog magazine has announced that after 33 years and 374 issues, it will cease publication of its hardcopy magazine, going entirely to a web publication. The site, starlog.com, will include daily news updates, features, and reviews, as well as an on-line store.
Chronic Rift Roundtable Awards
The winners of the 2009 Chronic Rift Roundtable Awards were announced on the April 7 podcast of The Chronic Rift.
Best Writer of a Novel, Short Story, or Comic Book: Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book
Best Editor of a Magazine, Anthology, or Comic Book: Stanley Schmidt for Analog Science Fiction & Fact
Best Artist of a Comic Book: Alex Ross – Avengers/Invaders Sketchbook, Project Superpowers
Best Cover Artist of a Book, Magazine, or Comic Book: Alex Ross for Kurt Busiek’s Astro City: Beautie, Justice Society of America, Avengers/Invaders, Superman, Batman, Captain America, Project Superpowers, Red Sonja, Black Adam: The Dark Age
Best Novel: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman
Best Short Story: “Good Queen, Bad Queen, I Queen, You Queen” by Terri Osborne in Doctor Who: Short Trips 24: The Quality of Leadership
Best Anthology of Short Stories: I Remember the Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein
Best Nonfiction Book: Up Til Now: The Autobiography, by William Shatner
Best Comic Book: All Star Superman
Best Manga: StarCraft: Frontline Volume 1
Best Web Comic: Sheldon
Best Fiction Magazine: Analog
Best Nonfiction Magazine: New Scientist
Best Fanzine: Argentus
Best TV Episode: “Forest of the Dead,” Doctor Who
Best Movie: Iron Man
Best Special Effects in a Movie or TV Series: Iron Man
Best Podcast: Doctor Who: Podshock
Best Website: SF Scope
Best Director of a TV Show or Movie: Jon Favreau for Iron Man
Best Performer in a TV Show or Movie: Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight
Best Writer of a TV Show or Movie: Steven Moffatt for Doctor Who
Best Animation: Wall-E
Best Character: The Joker (Heath Ledger) in The Dark Knight
Best Thing of 2008: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Hall of Fame: Arthur C. Clarke