ellen_datlow

AFTER was featured in io9's Bookshelf Injection
All the Science Fiction and Fantasy Books You Can’t Miss in October!
http://tinyurl.com/8zket2a

Terri and I were interviewed in DA Kentner column THE READERS' WRITERS
plus it will be appearing slightly abbreviated through the GateHouse News Service

http://tinyurl.com/96wlhb5

And here's the video chat between me and Mike Davis:
http://tinyurl.com/9q2dppy

(you can see a furry tentacle like object moving in out and of the room -it's Bella's tail. She walked back and forth on my lap during some of the interview and although I tried to get her head high enough to be seen by the webcam, alas, only her tail made it into the show.

Just got back from Florida, helping out my mom, who is ailing-it's been tough and I'm very glad to be home. I was down there three times in the past two months, for 7-8 days each time. I have more traveling this summer (Readercon, Launchpad, Chicon) and possibly another trip to Florida in August.

So because all this is kind of emotionally draining (and I hate hate hate having to cook and/or prepare food regularly -even if most of it's not from scratch-plus doing dishes for two people regularly --now I know why my mom uses the dishwasher--I stupidly insisted on doing the dishes in the sink every time. Next time, screw it. Dishwasher it is).....I'm glad to have two great pre-pub blog reviews of AFTER plus the official news that the book has been taken for the Junior Literary Guild, for January 2013. For those who don’t know what that means (I didn't), you can read about it here:

http://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/how-jlg-works/how-jlg-works

but basically choices by the Guild are recommended to member libraries for their collections. (more sales, more readers).

Oops. I forgot the interview Charles Tan did with me for the Jackson Award website: http://tinyurl.com/7dd6lu4

(and yes, I'm too tired to get rid of the urls. Sorry.)



Here are the two reviews:
on the Bundles of Books blog: http://tinyurl.com/88ts25e


and from Alamosa Books: http://tinyurl.com/cxzvndt

And there's a rave review of The Best Horror of the Year volume 4 by Stefan Dziemianowicz in the July Locus.

He talks about each story (which I'm not going to quote) but will quote his summing up:
"As in all previous year’s-best volumes that she has compiled, Datlow provides an overview of the year in horror that reveals tastes as eclectic as the stories she has chosen. Increasingly, the benefit of her year’s end summaries cannot be overestimated. Over the last two decades horror has become less circumscribed as a genre and more diffuse as a sensibility that percolates through other types of fiction and seeps into many areas obscured to the average reader. Datlow finds horror worth noting in many unlikely places, which makes her summation as indispensable the stories she selects."

This makes me very happy.

The Stars at Noonday September 28, 2011
Brendan Moody's blog The Stars at Noonday
Best quote:
"In fact, the stories in this latest volume are so diverse, and the theme of vampirism such a general one, that it feels more like a non-theme anthology of the first order. Ranging from psychological horror to ghost stories to dark fantasy to Lovecraftian cosmicism, Blood and Other Cravings has a first-rate story for readers of every taste."

and
Stella Matutina blog:Stella Matutina
Best quote:
"I truly enjoyed this. These stories are the literary equivalent of the gentleman killer who butchers you without splashing so much as a drop of blood on his perfectly tailored suit. They’re brutal and beautiful; thoughtful and nightmare-inducing."

available here

Rave from Library Journal, August
The money quotes:

This collection of horror stories selected by an award-winning sf/fantasy editor shows that a wide assortment of fiends share vampire cravings. Several stories will leave readers feeling uncomfortable, even queasy. But for those stout of heart and eager to sample brilliant writing, this is a terrific anthology....

These 17 mesmerizing tales, each one creepier than the next, will delight vampire and other horror fans.

The Stars at Noonday reviews my two forthcoming anthologies:
Naked City and Supernatural Noir

AskDeb asks What are the Best 2010 Summer Books? and responds with a great mini-review of Digital Domains

and The New York Journal of Books also has some great things to say about the anthology.

Tomorrow morning, (very early) I'm off to Burlington, Massachusetts to attend Readercon for the weekend. I'll be using my brand new netbook for the first time but doubt I'll be doing more than checking email.

See you all back here Sunday night.

The Green Man Review has a very nice review of The Beastly Bride up on its site.

Tails of Wonder and Imagination has been reviewed in
Publishers Weekly: "This is that rarity of rarities: an anthology of cat stories worth reading."

Booklist: "Datlow brings horror, sf, and fantasy all into the volume on equal footing, making it likely that even genre readers who aren’t cat people will find something very much worth their while in it."— Regina Schroeder

Library Journal: "This broad sampling of cat tales from authors including Tanith Lee, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, and Michael Bishop is a good overall anthology that should appeal to short story fans and cat lovers."

Horror world reviews TWISTS OF THE TALE
(you'll have to scroll down for it).

Some choice quotes:
"If there’s one thing Ellen Datlow knows how to do well, it’s put an amazing anthology together. From The Year’s Best Horror to Poe to The Dark, she has never failed to capture the essence of the concept she set out to accomplish. The best stories are always chosen, not the most well-known authors, which results in nearly flawless products for both seasoned horror fans and those who just might be browsing....

Highly recommended – even for those who prefer dogs."


And a great review in Green Man review of The Best Horror of the Year volume One
Again, some choice quotes:
"The quality and variety of stories, along with the depth and breadth of Datlow's summary of the year in review, makes The Best Horror of the Year informative as well as entertaining, and any horror fan who wishes to keep current with the state of the genre will want to have a copy."

...."Diversity, complexity, and uniqueness are shared characteristics of all of these stories, making the entire volume a balm for any horror fan who has at times felt a sense of ennui at the sight of books featuring the same old names on the covers along with the same old illustrations of tough stoic men and naked screaming women."

I'm very pleased that the reissue from Wildside is still getting reviews. Here's a terrific one from Colleen Mondor of Book Slut along with reviews of some other fine new titles in her column, Bradbury Season.