aqueduct press Archives - Tachyon Publications

October 22, 2020

Happy birthday to the essential, award-winning Suzy McKee Charnas

Rick Klaw birthday, blog aqueduct press, birthday, stagestruck vampires and other phantasms, suzy mckee charnas, the slave and the free, the vampre tapestry 0

Hugo, Nebula, and Tiptree award–winning author Suzy McKee Charnas is best known for her groundbreaking Holdfast Chronicles, a four-volume story written over the course of almost thirty years (1974-1999) which addressed the oft-controversial topics of feminist dystopia, separatist societies, war, and reintegration, and her critically acclaimed exploration of the vampire mythos, The Vampire Tapestry.

The first and second volumes of the Holdfast Chronicles, Walk to the End of the World (1974) and Motherlines (1978), each won a 1996 Retrospective James Tiptree, Jr. Award. The final volume The Conqueror’s Child (1999) won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. The series as a whole which also included The Furies (1994) was given the 2003 Gaylactic Spectrum Hall of Fame Award. Her young adult novel The Kingdom of Kevin Malone earned the Aslan Award for Best Children’s Book of 1993. The novella “The Unicorn Tapestry,” that was part of The Vampire Tapestry, won a 1980 Nebula.

Other works include The Sorcery Hall trilogy (The Bronze King [1985], The Silver Glove [1988], and The Golden Thread [1989]), the short story collections Moonstone and the Tiger-Eye (1992), Music of the Night (2001), and STAGESTRUCK VAMPIRES AND OTHER PHANTASMS (2004), the memoir My Father’s Ghost: The Return of My Old Man and Other Second Chances (2002). Charnas adapted The Vampire Tapestry into the two-act play Vampire Dreams. It enjoyed runs in both San Francisco and New York, debuting as part of Springfest in San Francisco in 1990.

Aqueduct Press recently announced the e-book editions of STAGESTRUCK VAMPIRES AND OTHER PHANTASMS, The Bronze King, The Silver Glove, The Golden Thread, The Vampire Tapestry, The Kingdom of Kevin Malone, The Ruby Tear, Music of the Night, and My Father’s Ghost.

All of us at Tachyon wish the sensational Suzy a happy birthday!

February 1, 2016

Tachyon tidbits featuring James Tiptree, Jr., Brandon Sanderson, and Daryl Gregory

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized alexander nanitchkov, aqueduct press, brandon sanderson, catahya, daryl gregory, elizabeth story, fantasy, feminist science fiction, geoff whaley, Gordon Van Gelder, horror, interview, jacob weisman, james tiptree jr, l. timmel duchamp, lisa rogers, magazine of science fiction and fantasy, mats strandberg, mormon, review, swedish, the emperor's soul, the oddness of moving things, tiptree symposium, university of oregon, we are all completely fine

The latest reviews and mentions of Tachyon titles from around the web.

James Tiptree, Jr., Brandon Sanderson (MidAmerican Fan Photo Archive), and Daryl Gregory

The University of Oregon took videos of the entire Tiptree symposium last month, and they’re now all available online including the Panel on publishing, with Jacob Weisman (Tachyon Publications), L. Timmel Duchamp (Aqueduct Press) and Gordon van Gelder and Lisa Rogers (MAGAZINE
OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION).

At THE ODDNESS OF MOVING THINGS, Brandon Sanderson’s award-winning THE EMPEROR’S SOUL lead Geoff Whaley to curse Mormons.

DAMN you Mormons and your great Science Fiction/Fantasy! That’s about 25% fact and 75% unadulterated conjecture. Before I go into that (you can skip the next two paragraphs if you’re not interested), funny story: I kept thinking of this as some weird hybrid of the story as it happened and The Emperor’s New Clothes. My mind is weird.

<snip>

I also really enjoyed the philosophical aspect of art, politics and the idea of faithfulness/truth. There’s such a fine line between mimicry and creativity in general and I felt Sanderson wrote an incredible story which looks at it from all sides. It’s hard to say which side he comes down on because it almost seems like you can’t have either without the other.

I can’t think of anything negative to say about the work other than it is too short! Unfortunately, that’s just the sign of a great writer in that he left me desperately wanting to know more about the characters and the setting! I appreciated the addition of Sanderson’s thoughts on writing at the end of the novella.

<snip>

Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed it and think anyone really could. In less than 200 pages and in really only one prolonged interaction I became invested in three characters and desperately wanted to know more at the end. Definitely worth a read.

In an interview for the Swedish-language site CATAHYA, writer Mats Strandberg recommends Daryl Gregory’s award-winning WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE.

I nag always
about LOCKE &
KEY series, but they know enough, your readers
already. Michelle Pavers DARK
MATTER may actually not be missed. Elizabeth
Hands new ghost story WYLDING
HALL is really nice and mysterious. And THE
REAPERS ARE THE ANGELS by Alden Bell. I also
liked the WE ARE ALL
FINE COMPLETELY by Daryl Gregory, of monsters
attack survivors in group therapy. Scariest I’ve read in a long
time is BIRD BOX by
Josh Malerman … Then I’d also like to tell about the pod FACULTY
OF HORROR, where two academic feminists analyze horror movies –
incredibly funny, smart and informative.

(Translation for Swedish by Google)

For more on THE EMPEROR’S SOUL, visit the Tachyon page

Cover art by Alexander Nanitchkov

Design by Elizabeth Story

For more information on WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY FINE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

December 2, 2015

Join Tachyon publisher Jacob Weisman at the Tiptree Symposium

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized aqueduct press, her smoke rose up forever, jacob wesiman, james tiptree jr, John Picacio, julia phillips, l. timmel duchamp, neat sheats, tiptree symposium, university of oregon

L. Timmel Duchamp, author and publisher of the groundbreaking Aqueduct Press, discusses the forthcoming Tiptree Symposium.

Most of you have probably already heard that the University of Oregon Libraries will be hosting a symposium later this week to honor Alice Sheldon/James Tiptree Jr. on the centennial of her birth.

The symposium will kick off with a keynote talk by Julie Phillips, author of the biography:
JAMES
TIPTREE, JR.: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE SHELDON (St. Martins, 2006), and will also feature a panel discussion with other writers who carried on lively and engaging correspondence with Tiptree, including Ursula K. Le Guin, Suzy McKee Charnas and David Gerrold. I’ll be participating myself, as a panelist on feminist sf publishing with co-panelists Jacob Weisman of Tachyon Publications and Gordon Van Gelder.

The symposium will take place in the Lillis Auditorium, Room 182. Admission is free, however please RSVP here. An exhibit based on the Tiptree Papers will be in Knight Library, first floor, and in Special Collections and University Archives.

Read the rest of Duchamp’s comments on the Symposium at Aqueduct Press.

For more about the Tiptree Symposium, visit the University of Oregon site.

For more info about HER SMOKE ROSE UP FOREVER, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Picacio.

For more info about NEAT SHEETS: THE POETRY OF JAMES TIPTREE, JR, visit the Tachyon page.

June 4, 2014

Tachyon and the origins of Aqueduct Press

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized aqueduct press, book punks, feminist science fiction, jacob weisman, l. timmel duchamp, nicolette stewart, publishing, science fiction

Over at Book Punks, Nicolette Stewart provides a fascinating insight into Aqueduct Press.

Evidence of the lack of visibility among indie publishers: Until I decided to write this series, I had never heard of Aqueduct. Not one single peep. A few minutes of googling though and my jaw was on the floor. THERE IS A PUBLISHER DEVOTED TO FEMINIST SCIENCE FICTION?!?!?! Well holy fucking shit. I am a feminist, and I love science fiction. The combination of the two almost always—writing style willing, of course—leads to books I enjoy. While the Aqueduct catalogue contains a few of the bigger names in feminist science fiction—Ursula Le Guin, Gwenyth Jones, Tanith Lee, and Lisa Tuttle, for example, and feel free to translate “bigger” as “names I had heard of and possibly read”—it also contains many more names that were new to me. Their catalogue is a minefield of Nikki’s New Potential Favorite Novels.

It was during Stewart’s interview with L. Timmel Duchamp, one of the founders of the Seattle-based press, about the origins of the press that this intriguing Tachyon-related factoid appeared.

Gavin Grant’s inspiring WisCon sessions talking about the basics of small-press publishing and the example of his and Kelly Link’s Small Beer Press made it seem actually do-able. Once we set things in motion, we went to Gavin for help in finding a fulfillment service to handle our books, and other highly specific information. Later, Jacob Weisman, of Tachyon Publications, also gave us advice. Eileen Gunn, who had a career in advertising, taught me a great deal about promotion and publicity. Without question, the entire undertaking would have been a lot scarier without Eileen, Gavin, and Jacob’s generous counsel, and would have resulted in my having to continually reinvent the wheel of independent press publishing.

(Highlighting added)

For the rest of Stewart’s interesting piece on Aqueduct Press, visit Book Punks.