(1) DREAMHAVEN BOOKS IN THE NEWS. “Bad author behavior forces decisions on Minnesota booksellers” the Minneapolis Star-Tribune has learned.
…Many years ago, DreamHaven Books owner Greg Ketter was disturbed by misogynistic statements from John Norman, who wrote a book series about a different kind of monster, the “Gor” fantasy books. Ketter took them off the Minneapolis store’s shelves for a time but ended up restocking them when customers requested them.
About a dozen Gaiman titles remain at DreamHaven, although his presence isn’t as big as it once was. That’s largely because Gaiman has been more involved in filmmaking than novel writing in recent years (after the allegations became public, a planned Disney movie of “The Graveyard Book” was put on hold, although several completed film and TV shows are expected to be released eventually. He’s also been dropped by a U.K. publisher and a “Coraline” musical has been scrapped).
“We had a huge section for Neil Gaiman for years but it had been slowing down, so we were just moving things around when everything came out in the news,” said Ketter, who published some of Gaiman’s early work. “We are still selling some of his books and things. We just leave it up to people. If they keep buying books, we keep them on the shelves.”
The attitude is different at Avant Garden, “an unapologetically feminist and LGBTQIA-inclusive” business, according to owner Jenni Hill. Because it was created as a welcoming space for all kinds of people, Hill said, “We strive to carry books in-store that reflect our values.”
That means Avant Garden, which opened about four years ago, has never stocked Rowling titles, which Hill worries might trigger trans customers and their allies: “I don’t want anyone to feel I would advocate for a writer who has been hurtful to our community.”
That’s also why Avant Garden stopped carrying Gaiman titles as soon as the allegations came out.
“I texted Emily, our employee, ‘Let’s remove his books.’ That was literally the whole discussion,” said Hill. “It just doesn’t feel right to profit from those books. And I’d already bought the books, so I will lose money on those. But I won’t restock them for sure.”…
(2) DID YOU NOTICE SOMETHING’S MISSING? Zach Weinersmith tells Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal readers he’s cut ties with Hiveworks and that’s why for the moment there are no ads on his site. He also explains some things about the business dynamics of advertising in social media.
(3) LIBBY AWARDS. People magazine’s list of the 2025 Libby Awards winners includes many works of genre interest.
…Hosted by library lending apps OverDrive and Libby, the prize, now in its second year, honors the best books published in 2024, as chosen by librarians and library staff.
Debut Author of the Year
The Ministry of Time by Kailane Bradley – WinnerBest Fantasy
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst – Winner
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo – Runner-UpBest Horror
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle – Winner
I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones – Runner-UpBest Romantasy
House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas – Winner
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi – Runner-UpBest Science Fiction
The Ministry of Time by Kailane Bradley – Winner
The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei – Runner-Up
(4) DOES DOCTOR WHO EVER REALLY ARRIVE AT THE WRONG TIME? [Item by Kathy Sullivan.] This German trailer of the next season of Doctor Who briefly appeared and then was taken down supposedly because it was meant to be released at the end of March. It includes much of the content from the Season 2 trailer released a few days ago, but has additional bits: “German Doctor Who Trailer Staffel 2 Disney+”.
(5) AI RIGHTS. “’Sign our own death warrant’: Australian writers angry after Melbourne publisher asks them to sign AI agreements” reports the Guardian.
Australian writers, literary agents, and the industry’s peak body have expressed concern after Black Inc Books asked its authors to consent to their work being used to train artificial intelligence.
The Melbourne publisher, which produces the Quarterly Essay as well as fiction and nonfiction by prominent Australian writers, gave them until Wednesday to enter into third-party agreements with an unnamed AI company.
The writers were asked to grant Black Inc “the right to reproduce or use, adapt and exploit the work in connection with the development of any software program, including, without limitation, training, testing, validation and the deployment of a machine learning or generative artificial intelligence system”.
Under the deal the publisher will split the net receipts with the author 50/50.
The Guardian has confirmed that a number of writers published by Black Inc received the request to alter their contracts last week.
The documents sent by the company’s publishing coordinator promise that, by authorising their works to be used by an unspecified AI company, authors would unlock “new revenue streams” with their works receiving “increased visibility and credibility”.
“I feel like we’re being asked to sign our own death warrant,” said Laura Jean McKay, author of Holiday in Cambodia, published with Black Inc a decade ago and shortlisted for three literary awards.
McKay says she had received the addendum to her contract on Friday, and was worried that three business days was not long enough to decipher what Black Inc was asking her to sign….
(6) BROTHER GUY AT SF CONS. The Vatican Observatory blog has a post by Robert Trembley about Brother Guy Consolmagno attending Boskone, just the latest of many he’s been at. The article includes a link to Daniel Dern’s Boskone post here, plus one of his photos of Brother Guy.
Br. Guy attended a science fiction convention over the weekend of Feb. 14-16 in Boston, where he met with friends, and autographed copies of his books….
…Br. Guy was introduced to me by mutual friends at a WindyCon (an SF Con in Chicago) in the mid-90’s – he was curator of meteorites at the Vatican Observatory at the time, and he spoke about the science of meteoritics, and how he was studying meteorites from the VO’s impressive collection. He completely blew me away! I walked away with a entirely different view of the “cool rocks from space” I’d been collecting for a couple years. Br. Guy continues to WOW people with meteorites, as he did at the recent L.A. Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, California.
(7) WHY NOT SAY WHAT HAPPENED? Scott Edelman twenty-first episode of his Why Not Say What Happened? podcast remembers “My Long Weekend Annoying MAD Magazine Publisher Bill Gaines”. You can also download episodes at the site of your choice.
My latest look back at what I was doing in comics during the ’70s has me remembering the weekend I couldn’t stop myself from teasing Bill Gaines about the National Lampoon‘s satirical slam of MAD magazine, why famed con-runner Phil Seuling castigated us fans one afternoon for mistreating our mothers, the words Gerry Conway wrote for Daredevil’s girlfriend Karen Page in the basement of a Times Square Nathan’s, how my 1980 DC Comics vampire story ended up as a 1987 episode of Tales from the Darkside, the continuing mystery of the martial arts series I’d forgotten I’d tried to write for Deadly Hands of Kung Fu (and what Tony Stark had to do with it), and much more.
(8) KGB. Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series hosts Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel present: Jedediah Berry & Victoria Dalpe on Wednesday, March 12. Location: KGB Bar, 85 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003, (Just off 2nd Ave, upstairs). Starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
Jedediah Berry
Jedediah Berry’s latest novel, The Naming Song, was described in a starred Library Journal review as “a wonderfully odd ode to language, story, and family.” His first book, The Manual of Detection, won the Crawford Award and the Hammett Prize, and was adapted for broadcast by BBC Radio 4. He is the author of numerous games and interactive works, including a story in cards, The Family Arcana, and the Ennie Award-winning RPG setting The Valley of Flowers (co-written with Andrew McAlpine). He lives in Western Massachusetts with his partner Emily Houk, with whom he runs Ninepin Press, an independent publisher of fiction in unusual formats.
Victoria Dalpe
Victoria Dalpe is a Providence-based horror writer and painter. She has published over forty-five short stories in various collections, the gothic horror novel Parasite Life and the short story collection Les Femme Grotesques. “Dalpe’s horror stories are equal parts intriguing, compelling, and appropriately macabre,”—Rue Morgue. Book one of her dark horror fantasy series Selene Shade: Resurrectionist for Hire was released September of 2024 by Clash Books. Book two in the trilogy, Loving the Dead will be out this fall. Dalpe was also a producer on the drag queen slasher film Death Drop Gorgeous. For upcoming events follow her on Instagram at victorialdalpe
(9) TURING AWARD. “Turing Award Goes to 2 Pioneers of Artificial Intelligence”, Andrew Barto and Richard Sutton. The New York Times has the story (behind a paywall.)
In 1977, Andrew Barto, as a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, began exploring a new theory that neurons behaved like hedonists. The basic idea was that the human brain was driven by billions of nerve cells that were each trying to maximize pleasure and minimize pain.
A year later, he was joined by another young researcher, Richard Sutton. Together, they worked to explain human intelligence using this simple concept and applied it to artificial intelligence. The result was “reinforcement learning,” a way for A.I. systems to learn from the digital equivalent of pleasure and pain.
On Wednesday, the Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest society of computing professionals, announced that Dr. Barto and Dr. Sutton had won this year’s Turing Award for their work on reinforcement learning. The Turing Award, which was introduced in 1966, is often called the Nobel Prize of computing. The two scientists will share the $1 million prize that comes with the award.
Over the past decade, reinforcement learning has played a vital role in the rise of artificial intelligence, including breakthrough technologies such as Google’s AlphaGo and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. The techniques that powered these systems were rooted in the work of Dr. Barto and Dr. Sutton.
“They are the undisputed pioneers of reinforcement learning,” said Oren Etzioni, a professor emeritus of computer science at the University of Washington and founding chief executive of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. “They generated the key ideas — and they wrote the book on the subject.”
Their book, “Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction,” which was published in 1998, remains the definitive exploration of an idea that many experts say is only beginning to realize its potential.
(10) GEORGE LOWE (1957-2025). TVLine reports “George Lowe Dead, Voice of Space Ghost Age 67”.
George Lowe, a veteran voice actor whose credits include the title role in Space Ghost Coast to Coast, died on March 2 at age 67, a spokesperson confirms for TVLine…
…An alumnus of the Radio Engineering Institute of Sarasota, Lowe began his career in the 1980s with occasional voiceover work, before landing the title role in Cartoon Network’s Space Ghost Coast to Coast. A send-up of talk shows that featured live-action celebrity guests, the animated series would run for 10 years and more than 100 episodes, including a move to Adult Swim and a brief revival via Turner Broadcasting’s GameTap online video game service…
… Lowe also voiced Space Ghost in the 1995 spinoff Cartoon Planet, the 2007 movie Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters and in the 2011 video game Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion.
His voice acting credits also include The Brak Show, Robot Chicken, Squidbillies and American Dad…
(11) MEMORY LANE.
[Written by Cat Eldridge.]
Stranger in a Strange Land (1962)
Sixty-three years ago at Chicon III where Earl Kemp was the Chair, Wilson Tucker was Toastmaster and Theodore Sturgeon was the Guest of Honor, Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land won the Hugo for Best Novel. It had been published the previous year by G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
Other nominated works that year were Dark Universe by Daniel F. Galouye, Sense of Obligation (also called Planet of the Damned) by Harry Harrison, The Fisherman (also known as Time Is the Simplest Thing) by Clifford D. Simak and Second Ending by James White. I know all those authors and have read deeply of them save Daniel F. Galouye. Tell me about him please.
It was his third Hugo in six years after Double Star at NyCon II and Starship Troopers at Pittcon. He’d win his fourth and final Hugo for The Moon is a Harsh Mistress at NyCon 3 in another five years.
The working title for the book was A Martian Named Smith which was also the name of the screenplay started by a character at the end of the novel.
I must note Jubal Harshaw for me is the most interesting and enjoyable character in the book, an older experienced man who questioned everything, but with compassion, honor and a truly open heart. Harshaw also appears in three later Heinlein novels, The Number of the Beast in the coda, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls and To Sail Beyond the Sunset which I’ll confess I never finished.
Needless to say the novel is available from the usual suspects. There’s also an audiobook, one of myriad audiobooks done of his novels.
As always the artwork below is for the first edition.
(12) COMICS SECTION.
- xkcd explains a homeowner’s risk of water damage.
- Brewster Rockit relays a broadcast of the Cat News Network.
- Bizarro is in on the bust.
- Free Range discovers why returning to Kansas wasn’t easy.
- Herman is on the track. Or vice versa.
- WaynoVision has a variation on a monster.
(13) ‘KIRBYVISION’ DOCUMENTARY PLANNED. Acclaimed documentary film director Ricki Stern (Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, UFOs: Investigating the Unknown) will be helming Kirbyvision – a feature length documentary telling the story of the legendary Jack Kirby.
Kirby is widely regarded as one of the comic book medium’s most innovative, prolific, and influential creators. At the height of his nearly six decade career, Kirby created or co-created many of Marvel’s major characters including Captain America (with Joe Simon), the Avengers, Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, the X-Men, and countless others (with comics impresario Stan Lee).
He worked similar magic for DC Comics, where he created the sprawling, psychedelic “Fourth World,” a series of political and psychedelic sci-fi epics often considered his most ambitious work. His creations as writer, artist, and editor include Darkseid, Mister Miracle, OMAC, The Demon, and many others who are mainstays of DC’s publishing and screen projects to this day.
Ricki Stern says: “Jack was not only one of the great comic book artists of all time, but a true visionary genius. In this new feature length documentary, we actively campaign for the recognition he finally deserves as a leading artist and storyteller of the 20th Century.”
Kirby drew his way out of an impoverished, Depression-era upbringing when he co-created Captain America, who brazenly punched out Adolf Hitler on the cover of his very first comic, months before the US had entered World War II. He was soon sent into real combat on the frontlines of the war in Europe, a harrowing experience which had a significant impact on his later work. Kirby’s astounding career touched virtually every genre, including war, romance, westerns, science fiction, horror, and, of course, superheroes. His impact is felt beyond comics to this day everywhere from animation to music to blockbuster films.
(14) FUTURIAN WAR DIGEST. Polygon recalls “How a WWII fanzine helped sci-fi survive the Blitz and beyond”. A 2019 article, but timeless.
…The cost of a mimeograph machine may have been high, but the cost of not talking to each other was higher — even in some of the most dire moments of the 20th century. The oldest zine included in As If is also the longest running fanzine to remain in distribution in Britain throughout the course of the second World War: Futurian War Digest, or FIDO, which printed from October 1940 until March 1945.
FIDO reviewed science fiction works and reflected on the fragile state of the fan community in the United Kingdom during wartime. The first issue of the zine, which was published and distributed less than a month after the start of the London bombing raids known as The Blitz, made a point of announcing the conscription of fan William F. Temple and the death on active duty of sci-fi enthusiast Edward Wade. These sombre announcements ran alongside musings about John Carter of Mars.
In a time of great uncertainty, publisher J. Michael Rosenblum said in the pages of FIDO that his self-avowed goal was to “a) to give news of and to fandom, b) to keep burning those bright mental constellations possessed by all fans.” The publication was created just as much to be an archive and time capsule as a source of entertainment, news, and distraction. By publishing the fanzine, Rosenblum recorded the history of a subculture of science fiction enthusiasts, and helped to keep a community that was being actively ripped apart together.
(15) SUPERMAN’S SPIRIT. Distilled, that is. Onward Giants is hustling the “Limited Edition Super Bottle”.
The Limited Edition Superman Whiskey Bottle is a meticulously crafted collectible designed for fans of both Superman and fine whiskey. Each bottle embodies the timeless power and spirit of Superman, making it not just a bottle of whiskey, but a unique piece of art and a symbol of heroism. This limited edition release is a must-have for collectors and superhero enthusiasts alike.
A Tribute to Superman’s Spirit
Superman represents courage, justice, and hope, and this whiskey bottle captures his essence. The iconic “S” emblem and the heroic silhouette of Superman are artistically integrated into the design, making every bottle a tribute to the hero who has inspired generations.
[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Steve Davidson.]
