In Boston now, staying at a warm little B&B near our old house. Delia's reading & signing at Porter Square Books ['EAT/SLEEP/READ'] went beautifully. If you couldn't get there but want a signed copy of her books, or any of mine for that matter (including trade paperback TPOTS), we left a nice big stack all duly autographed. They sell by mail, as well.

We nearly didn't make it, though. We planned to pick up the rental car & leave NYC at 1 pm. We were excited about getting to ride back with our good friend Sarah Smith, who'd been in town to meet with her editor about a new book(!!). At 5 past 1:00 the phone rang. I heard Delia saying, "Oh my god. Oh. Oh, no." She didn't sound panicked, just a bit shocked.

Sarah was lying on the sidewalk a block from our house, waiting for an ambulance. She'd tripped and fallen, and was pretty sure her arm was broken. The call was from a guy who'd stopped when he saw her, and called 911.

I ran out. She was being a tremendously brave little soldier, but her wrist was looking bad & swelling up. I gave her Advil (racing to the nearby bodega for bottled water), and started calling friends. Ambulance came, and suggested - just in time - we take off her rings before her fingers got too swollen. I greased her fingers with the last of my Ayr menthol ointment from winter! (I'd just changed bags for the trip, and wasn't toting my usual handcreme). I was relieved to see she kept her color when she stood up. In the ambulance, they took her ID info while I found a friend of hers to meet her at Mt Sinai. Then we called her husband, who said he'd drive down from Boston to get her. This relieved my mind mightily; I felt awful just leaving her there, but we had to get Delia to her gig. I took Sarah's pack & computer back to my house, and we left the keys with the doorman (how I love the doormen!) so she could crash there when she got out of hospital. Which is what she did. (And the guy who called 911? Even after I got there, he stood quietly on the sidewalk - with the 2 large dogs he was walking - and watched until we got into the ambulance; must've been there a good half hour. She asked for his name so she could thank him later, but he just said, "Don't worry about it.")

Delia, too, was a brave little soldier; she'd thought her gig was at 6, not 7, and that it took 4+ hours, not 3.5, to drive to Boston. So essentially she thought we'd be almost an hour late, but I had no idea she'd quietly swallowed that bitter pill til we'd been on the road almost an hour. Fortunately, we made good time on a pretty day with little traffic, and were even able to check into the guest house before heading to the bookstore. It was so good to see old Boston friends there - and new ones, as well!

Lunch tom'w with more old friends, a little gentle retail therapy in the old neighb (Delia's knitting baby hats for all and sundry - she finds it soothing, and they are adorable!), and then, off to READERCON! I'll post my schedule separately.

I have been sitting on my hands for months, now, and you know it's been TORTURE. But the deal is finally done, and now blackholly & I can joyously announce:

We're doing a new Bordertown anthology!

Here's the official announcement to the trade:

Terri Windling's groundbreaking urban fantasy shared world is back in an all new Borderlands anthology, WELCOME TO BORDERTOWN, to be edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner, featuring new stories from many of the original writers including Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Midori Snyder and Charles de Lint, as well as new work by writers who were inspired by the original series, including Cassandra Clare, Cory Doctorow, Kelly Link and more. At auction to Mallory Loehr at Random House Children's Books, by Barry Goldblatt at Barry Goldblatt Literary LLC and Christopher Schelling at Ralph M. Vicinanza Ltd.

Of course, there's a long & entertaining backstory, which I will tell you when I'm not packing for big trip. But essentially Holly & I decided it was time. We went to Terri, who gave us her blessing. Terri's deep in her own art and writing these days and won't be editing the volume herself, but she's been closely consulting with us, and will write an Introduction to the new volume. The title is tentative, and so is the pub date, but we think it's Summer 2011 (I know, I know, seems like forever - unless you're the one having to write the story, design the cover, create the marketing, etc etc).

Is this the first of many? Will the old stories come back into print? Even we do not know the answers to any of this yet. All we know is, Random House is excited, we're excited, and right now we're dreaming of the Border . . . .See you there!

ADDED: Also see posts by Holly here & Terri here.

Added: DAMMIT! This was actually a post about the Fallen Princesses Project & also Lev Grossman (who pointed it out to me)'s new book The Magicians. Bad, bad, stupid cut-and-paste has failed me. Gone, gone, never to be re-undone. The links alone must suffice.

Here's what got pasted in instead (a comment I made to yesterday's Urban Fantasy post, but you should probably see it here, too):

* This 2008 Library Journal article by Nanette Wargo Donohue - footnoted in the Wiki "Urban Fantasy" listing - is spot on. Poor L. Miller's got no excuse!( Read more... )

Wanted to let everyone know how much I'm enjoying the discussion following yesterday's post. Terri Windling turns out to have a strong thread about this going on her Facebook Wall, as well. She also told me that Mercedes Lackey wrote her series as a direct response to Bordertown, which I hadn't known.

As I keep saying to anyone who will listen: "This is not hard to research! It only happened 20 years ago! We're not dead! Just ASK!"

I'm now particularly interested, in an OED geeky way, in the first recorded use of the term "urban fantasy", which jongibbs asked about yesterday. From TW's Facebook thread comes this note from
Russell Blackford at 5:37am June 23
I co-edited an anthology called Urban Fantasies back in 1985. The expression "urban fantasy" was in use well before then. I picked it up from Lee Harding, and it was applied during the early 80s to books such as Harding's _Displaced Person_ (known as _Misplaced Persons_ in the US), which was published in 1979. I'd be confident that it goes back even further. Mind you, what is now known as "urban fantasy" may be rather different, but still ...

I haven't even finished the no doubt excellent new Salon article by Laura Miller on "the kickass young heroines of urban fantasy fiction" but this had me seeing red:

"...the term "urban fantasy" (meaning fantasies set in the contemporary world) was first applied to the work of such writers as Neil Gaiman and John Crowley, whose aspirations are more literary. . . . "

Oh, the giantness of this GIANT FAIL!!!!!

Of course it's only 2 male authors who are cited - probably the only fantasists who she can even think of with "literary aspirations" . . . . .

And it comes from the fabulous selection of notecards & postcards now on sale online from (and to benefit) the Bryn Mawr Library! I feel sure you will find the right one for you.

All right, wiseacres! OK, your Comments made me smirk, a lot - but my Finnish translator, Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo, has kindly set us all straight. Read her explanation here (and one from the actual Finnish reviewer, too! Wow, these folks are a friendly as you said they would be. Can't wait for Finncon!).

Poor GoogleTranslate - it tried. It doesn't really do metaphor.... Another review also praising the multiple viewpoints brings Gavin, Thomas, Meg & Elspeth from Elfland to the Airwaves as "four times a person's various audio tones transmitted clearly."

TranslateGoogle is a beautiful thing. Here is their version of a Finnish review of Thomas the Rhymer (Thomas Riiminiekka):

"Kushner language is successful transformation of the various persons blowjob, which is not a minor achievement ... "

Finland, here we come!!! I have just accepted an invitation to be Guest of Honor at Finncon in July 2010. (I suspect I owe this honor in large part to my wonderful Thomas the Rhymer Finnish translator, Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo . . . and also to a good word from past GoH Cheryl Morgan?) It will be held in Jyväskylä, which is a big University town - but we'll start in Helsinki, to do some interviews, I'm told. Hoo boy.

We are just delighted that we'll now get the chance to see a bit of that part of the world. I wonder how much else we can squeeze in?? My first thought was, "Oh, boy! Folklore! Sami! Joikking! Karelia!" But now I realize we'll be close to St Petersburg. And even Latvia & Estonia. Any suggestions?

Nicola Griffith asks an interesting question - here's my hastily scribbled answer (as I am, in fact, running off the country):

*Such* a good question - esp for fantasists! Tolkien set the mark with LOTR and his love of countryside - and a generation of American (& Brit?) fantasists then had to dig their way out of his love and knowledge into our own spaces, which tended to be Urban. In the 1980s worked a lot with Terri Windling, culminating in the Bordertown series, which some say was the start of Urban Fantasy....Still going on today.

Me, I made up an entire city to play in, and 3 novels later am still enjoying being there.

. . . and quoted Cynthia Heimel: "Don't listen to anybody, don't copy anything. Go after that twisted, deranged core of your being, wrench it into the light, and you will make one million dollars." (--an old essay in the Village Voice, reprinted in her collection A Girl's Guide to Chaos)

Now Louise Marley is singing the same song, in the key of Wise: http://lmarley.livejournal.com/84992.html

Bet you never thought you'd hear that, did you?

But the Interstitial Arts Foundation is trying to diagnose a problem we're having with donations on Click & Pledge. As you probably know, we're running a big "Crowdfund" drive to fund our next anthology, Interfictions 2. A fabulous person in Australia has been unable to make her donation online at C&P, and we think it might be the slowness of her connection: "the hang comes at the point where credit card data would be processed through a high-bit security filter."

Our trouble-shooter suggests we attempt to replicate the experiment, and asks: Do we know of anyone else with a reeeeaaallly sllllooooww connection who would try a small donation as a backup test?

While I hate to wish a bad connection on anyone, in this case I'm hoping one of you might fit the bill & be willing to give it a whirl. CLICK HERE TO HELP SPONSOR INTERFICTIONS2

And this is clearly a good time to remind you that donors of $375 or more sent by June 30 will have their names printed on the Sponsors page of the actual book! (After that, we'll try, but depends on the printer's schedule.) REally, though, any donation, large or small, is tremendously important to us. A few tax-deductible $$ thrown our way goes a long way to support interstitial fiction!

(Yes, we have access to PayPal, but for reasons I try not to understand, we prefer not to use it.)</end>

My Post-Apocalyptic Barter Skill - can you guess? Guess, then click on this delicious compilation by Liz Gorinsky for Tor.com (which includes a KGB report) and let her know yours.

Why isn't my website as clear & gorgeous as Michelle Shocked's?

$50,000 fourth novel prize for works published Jan 08-July 09, juried by Michael Chabon et al! Deadline July 1, so hurry up.

4 days left to listen to BBC's radio drama Darger and the Detective: "A play drawing on the writings of reclusive artist Henry Darger, imagining his inner life....Recorded in Chicago by actors from the Steppenwolf Theatre Company" by my radio pal Judith Kampfner!

MythPunk Army shirt from Zazzle by Cathrynne Valente (want! want!!)

Congrats to the high bidder on the inscribed first edition (and believe me, we checked - not only first edition but first printing) copy of TPoTS in the Brenda Novak auction - and thanks for bidding on such a worthy cause! I'm always happy to sign books in public, too, at no extra charge: I'll be at Readercon in July, at WorldCon (Montreal) in August, and World Fantasy in November. (And I'll be at all of deliasherman's upcoming Magic Mirror events, of course - just slip me a volume, don't be shy.)

But if you're not where I am, why not order signed books from some great indie stores wiht mailorder service? I recently signed stock for: Books of Wonder and Dreamhaven. Borderlands Books might still have some signed stock from back when. All 3 of them will help you avoid #AmazonFail. (Books of Wonder also has copies of Troll's Eye View signed by Delia, Holly, EDatlow & me.) If you're a bookstore with signed stock by me, that I've lost track of, sorry - and please add yourself to the comments!

The Interfictions 2 Auction, sponsored by the Interstitial Arts Foundation (which I helped to found), is well underway, with over twenty artists already committed to creating original pieces of art based on the Interfictions anthology series of original interstitial writing (thanks, folks!). We have a great team of volunteers working on every aspect of the auction, from sending out stories to maintaining databases to photographing incoming work (yay, vols!).

We are seeking a Project Manager to coordinate & oversee the Auction committee. The IF2 Auction Project Manager is a non-paying volunteer position that should only require a few hours per week from now through December 2009. It can be performed from anywhere as long as you have reliable Internet access. In addition, the Project Manager will have a volunteer assistant to help on an as needed basis.

The position responsibilities for the Project Manager include:

* Maintaining communication with auction volunteers and the IAF Board
* Coordinating efforts between auction volunteers
* Keeping people on task
* Setting goals for the project
* Being an organizational god or goddess for which you will be worshipped

Please send an email introducing yourself along with your resume or description of your relevant experience to us at: volunteers AT interstitialarts -dt- org

For more info & related links, click here.

Now: Call Dad.

Noon: Baby worship (sponsored by Anne Groell & David Keck). Give adorable baby hat knitted (and re-knitted and re-knitted until by god it comes out right...) by Delia.

2pm: Danny & Sylvia: The Danny Kaye Musical, with Boston pals Archy & Tess & her recently-widowered mother - "Find something cheerful!" they said. Considered & discarded Avenue Q as potentially unsettling for a mom from Philadelphia of uncertain age & temperament. Delighted to find someone else who shares my passion for Danny Kaye.

6:30pm: IAF Board Meeting (phone).

8:30 pm: Sunset. Begin celebrating deliasherman's Erev Birthday!

Many thanks for the popcorn salt information - you guys are fantastic! Also, I must try the parmesan now. It is, after all, dairy + salt. Genius!

And I bet you missed my new short story announcement & fragment. I know, I know, I buried the lead.

My love for the Israeli writer David Grossman is great. Ever since I discovered his novel See Under: Love, I have considered him a personal pet of mine - even though I have not read enough of his other work. (Kelly Link did give me a copy of his YA novel The ZigZag Kid, which is terrific.) My love is renewed as I read his essay about Bruno Schultz in a recent New Yorker, and came upon this (a reflection on being a first novelist - or, as we say in the specfic field, a "young writer"):

A new writer is sometimes like a new baby in the family. He arrives from the unknown, and his family has to find a way to connect with him, to make him a little less "dangerous" in his newness and mystery. The relatives lean over the infant's crib, peer at him closely, and say, "Look, look, he has Uncle Jacob's nose! His chin is exactly like Aunt Malka's! Something similar happens when you first become an author. Everyone rushes to tell you who has influenced you, from whom you have learned, and, of course, from whom you have stolen.

Delia & I have to drive out to Bayonne from Manhattan tom'w noon to oversee the loading of our antique furniture from the storage unit (which is closing - another "Uncommon Economic Indicator"!) (For those who've been following the story - we managed to sell all her godmother's huge 1850s bedroom set back to the people who've bought the original house in the Garden District that the furniture was built for - which her godmother lived in all her life...)

Since I'll have a car - and we'll need a treat! - Any advice on cool places to shop over there on the way back? The Japanese MegaMall? A Gardening Center (for new plants for our new back yard planters)? Anything .........?

Googlemaps tell me to take Holland Tunnel to I-78 to Bayonne - any second opinions?