Tag from John Denardo at SF Signal who clearly must have plenty of free time on his hands (and clearly thinks I have the same). 😉

So the latest meme going around has the following instructions: “To participate, you grab any book, go to page 123, find the fifth sentence, and blog it. Then tag five people.” Here’s mine….from L.E. Modesitt, Jr.’s new release VIEWPOINTS CRITICAL, now available from Tor, cover illustration by yours truly….this is from the story, “Black Ordermage”, page 123, sentence 5:

“Two of them looked at me the way Mamaw might have looked at a plump chicken.”

So now I’m supposed to tag five people. I’m sure these people don’t have busy professional lives either….
* Lou Anders
* Chris Roberson
* Paul Cornell
* Cheryl Morgan
* David Louis Edelman

Just arrived in the mail today from the Czech Republic — comp copies of the Czech editions of A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ, as well as a Dan Simmons short story collection, both sporting cover illustrations by yours truly. Laser-Books is the publisher, and both printings look great. (Thanks, Martin!) The design for the Simmons collection is especially interesting….they did a little inset of my full illustration and combined it with a detail from the same illustration, along with another detail used as a muted background. Wow — I’ve never seen a cover design like that, but it works well. The printing is cool because the big detail of the face and the full inset illustration are both printed gloss, while the background is printed matte. I like it! I’ll now proudly shelve these along with my Hungarian edition of CANTICLE. 🙂

One last note — sharp-eyed folks might notice that the cover illustration for the Simmons collection originally appeared on the cover of the US edition of George Zebrowski’s MACROLIFE, published by Pyr. Laser really wanted to use this illustration, and even though I have the legal copyright to resell the illustration for other foreign usages, I’m really careful about reselling images for books that are in-print elsewhere. I was reluctant to sell the Czech rights for the illustration, but when I ran the notion by Pyr’s editorial director Lou Anders, he gave his blessing. So thanks, Lou….if you wouldn’t have given the green light, this wouldn’t have happened.

Congrats to all John W. Campbell Award Finalists (Jay, Lou, Ian….great to see your works in there, fellas). There are two awards in science fiction that are called “the Campbell Awards”, and this one is the juried award for Best SF Novel, presented at the Campbell Awards Conference in Lawrence, Kansas (not to be confused with the one for Best New Writer, presented at the Hugo Ceremony every year).

Amongst this year’s finalists, I’m especially pleased to see two books that I cover-illustrated — Rebecca Ore’s TIME’S CHILD and Sheri S. Tepper’s THE MARGARETS, both published by Eos. Awesome. 🙂 Big congrats to Diana Gill and Jennifer Brehl over there.

World Fantasy Award nomination ballots are due June 30 (voting info/ballots here, if you click “Nominations Ballot” in the sidebar). John Klima has a nice rundown of his choices, and he’s got some terrific ones in all categories, including Life Achievement. His post inspired me to type up a specific one about the Life Achievement category. When you take a look at this category’s history of recipients, there isn’t a name in there that isn’t absolutely worthy. It’s a terrific list, but there are very few illustrators represented (Frazetta, Cartier, Wilson, and Fabian, so far) in the award’s 32-year history. Several major fantasy illustrators are very deserving and I’ll be voting for two, and I offer the following for voters’ consideration this month. Each ballot may nominate up to two for Life Achievement.

Moebius/Jean Giraud — he was Guest of Honor last year at WFC and if you aren’t familiar with his body of work, I feel for you (see picture above). It’s hard to imagine a medium that hasn’t been influenced by his visions. He’s one of the founding fathers of METAL HURLANT (which became HEAVY METAL in the US), creator of BLUEBERRY and ARZACH, film designer, comics visionary….a giant whose work transcends country and translation. My favorite Moebius memory was back in ’97. I did a signing with him and Mike Moorcock when I was first starting out, and Moebius’ line of fans went on forever. When I was done signing (didn’t take long), I stood behind him and watched over his shoulder as he graciously did a little sketch in everyone’s book who approached him. The sketches were 15 to 30-second line drawings, but each was clear, crisp and absolutely unique….landscapes, vehicles, figures, portraits….he never repeated himself — not once. It seemed as if a projector was mounted to his forehead and he was tracing the pictures that came out. So graceful and so effortless.

Jeffrey Jones — Robert Weiner curated an awesome display of Jones paintings from his personal collection at last year’s WFC. If you saw it, it was truly a herculean effort on his part and I was glad to see so many people reminded of the fundamental power of Jones’ work at its best. Her body of work spans five decades and the piece depicted here was painted in the late ’90s, reminding us that Jones remains one of the most evocative fantasy painters ever.

Leo & Diane Dillon — Hugo Award-winning husband and wife team whose illustrated books have also won the prestigious Caldecott Medal (two consecutive, in fact)….their body of work spans six decades and include covers for seminal fantasy books by Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix and countless others. The Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame and the Spectrum Grandmaster Award already include the Dillons amongst their immortals. They’re worthy of WF Life Achievement not only for their adult genre work, but for their body of work for childrens’ books. I’m surprised they haven’t already received this.

Virgil Finlay — his b/w scratchboard illustrations are amongst the finest ever in fantasy. Finlay died in 1971, but his best work has a surreal tone that seems as potent today as when it was first published. Virtually every major pulp magazine sported work by him and he did some of his most timeless drawings for WEIRD TALES. He’s definitely one of the most influential b/w fantasy illustrators of the 20th century.

Alan Lee — it’s hard to think of Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS books without thinking of Lee’s visuals at the same time. Along with John Howe, he’s well-known as a conceptual designer for Peter Jackson’s LOTR films, but even if he wasn’t associated with those films, his delicate pencil and watercolor work would still be the definitive imagery of the LOTR canon. That said, I also think John Howe would be a deserving Life Achievement candidate one of these years….what fantasy illustrator has done more to explore the mythic history of armor and combat than Howe?

Lastly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Michael Whelan. He’s the only individual to ever win three consecutive World Fantasy Awards in the Artist category and no one else will ever repeat that feat because they changed the rules thereafter to prohibit consecutive-repeat winners. He’s not only one of the greatest genre painters ever, but he’s one of the field’s most gracious ambassadors as well. He’s a shoo-in one for World Fantasy Life Achievement one of these years. However, despite his epic body of work, he may in fact still be too young for consideration. Ditto Bob Eggleton — still young and still kicking ass, even though his body of work could probably already be deserving. Just a matter of time for both of these guys….

My personal picks this year for Life Achievement — Moebius/Jean Giraud and Jeffrey Jones. I hope one or both of them are inducted this year, but I’d applaud any of the above.

Anyone have any other illustrator names that should be considered? Or non-illustrators for that matter?

First the Mind-Melding….(thus, the appropriate Spock cover by yours truly pictured left). SFSignal has posted the following Mind Meld question: What do you feel is the primary purpose of a book cover: To accurately reflect the story or to visually ‘sell’ the book? How do you balance these two ideas when creating a cover? Responses by Bob Eggleton, Bruce Jensen, Irene Gallo, Boris Vallejo, Dave Seeley, Todd Lockwood, Dan Dos Santos, Glen Orbik, and me. Check it out.

Now for the Strolling….Stu Segal is organizing what he hopes will be a yearly tradition at Worldcon: “Stroll with the Stars.” It’s Stu’s initiative to bring “a healthy attitude” to Worldcon. It’s a 9am, one-mile walk through the Worldcon city of Denver, and in a moment of temporary insanity, I accepted Stu’s invitation to join the list of lunatics…..err…luminaries, which includes Frank Wu, David Brin, Jay Lake, Ellen Datlow, Lou Anders, Paul Cornell, Scott Edelman, Mary Robinette Kowal and Stephen H. Segal. I’m not sure how healthy I’ll be spending every night of Worldcon in the hotel bar, but at least one of the mornings, I’ll be able to walk off the calories in style. So bring your sneaks, and your alarm clock, and join us! 🙂

Cool! Look what I just received — advance copies of Pyr‘s spiffy new edition of Robert Silverberg’s classic SON OF MAN! Wraparound cover illustration by me (see the full image here). Here’s the summary copy on the book’s back cover: “Clay is a man from the twentieth century who is somehow caught up in a time-flux and transported into a distant future. The Earth and the life on it have changed beyond recognition. Even the human race has evolved into many different forms now coexisting on the planet. The seemingly omnipotent Skimmers, the tyrannosaur-like Eaters, the sedentary Awaiters, the squid-like Breathers, the Interceders, the Destroyers — all are “Sons of Man.” Befriended and besexed by the Skimmers, Clay goes on a journey that takes him around the future Earth and into the depths of his own soul. He is human, but what does that mean?” If you like your science fiction trippy, transcendent, and mind-bending, you’re gonna like this one. Get yours starting this coming Tuesday from booksellers everywhere. 🙂

Here’s my cover illustration for the September issue of ASIMOV’S SCIENCE FICTION. The illustration is based on the issue’s lead story, “The Ice War” by Stephen Baxter. Imagine a War-of-the-Worlds cataclysm colliding with England in the 1720s. However, the alien ships in this story are a different take from the usual tentacled, flexible tripods of previous WOTW stories. Baxter’s aliens are Phoebeans made of ice that erupt from the ground. Their lenticular bodies are supported by huge shafts of ice that converge concentrically in-and-out underneath their body masses and this sliding action is what allows them to move. Pretty cool! So their ‘legs’ don’t bend at all, and they’re always parallel. Not until I started sketching did I realize those features make it challenging to depict movement in an illustration. At any rate — it’s a terrific story, and I think it’s more about communication than it is about conflict. A pleasure to work with ASIMOV’S for the first time!

Recently arrived — Maecenas, a first-rate Hungarian publishing house who also happens to be the exclusive Hungarian publisher for heavyweights like Kurt Vonnegut, has just released their edition of Walter M. Miller, Jr’s classic A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ. They bought the Hungarian rights for my cover illustration (first appeared on the HarperCollins/Eos American trade edition) and sent me a couple of copies. I was wowed by their edition’s foil and matte treatment, with partial embossing. Pazar! Hats off to Maecenas, and many thanks to Gyorgy Tibor Szanto and Eva Bitto for making it happen. 🙂

Recently arrived — Marco Palmieri and the Pocket Books team were kind enough to send me my copies of the STAR TREK: TEROK NOR trilogy. The first two debuted in March and April, respectively, and the third book should be in bookstores now. As mentioned here previously, I illustrated the three covers as a triptych so that they would connect into one picture when the books are put together. If you’re a Deep Space Nine fan, check ’em out! 🙂

Been working round-the-clock on two covers these last several days. One of them is the cover for Michael Moorcock’s ELRIC: THE SLEEPING SORCERESS, which will be the third of Del Rey‘s six-volume Elric series. Right now, I’m working on the final color version, but here’s a look at the final pencil underdrawing. Pencil on Crescent illustration board, 14″x20″. The other cover I’m working on is for ASIMOV’S. Editor Sheila Williams has given me a terrific story by Stephen Baxter called “The Ice War” and I’ll share my work on this one soon, as well as the finished Elric cover, when it’s all done and Del Rey gives the green light.

Looks like my cover art for two STAR TREK: MYRIAD UNIVERSE books has leaked into cyberspace this week. So I guess it’s OK to post it here. The top picture is the cover illo for a July release called STAR TREK: MYRIAD UNIVERSES — INFINITY’S PRISM, which features alternate universe TREK stories by Christopher L. Bennett, William Leisner, and James Swallow.

The bottom one here is for an August release called STAR TREK: MYRIAD UNIVERSES — ECHOES & REFRACTIONS, which features more goodness by Keith R. A. DeCandido, Chris Roberson, and Geoff Trowbridge. Marco Palmieri, Pocket Books‘ senior editor and STAR TREK overseer, sent me the following comment that Geoff dropped on a discussion board yesterday, “Whereas some artists work in oils or watercolors, Picacio’s medium of choice is comprised entirely of awesome.” I got a good laugh out of that one….much appreciated, Geoff. 🙂 Shoutout to Keith for his recent Scribe Awards nominations, and add another notch in the Roberson/Picacio collaboration list, which always makes me happy.

Swell photo here of 2008 SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock, courtesy of Del Rey‘s editor-in-chief Betsy Mitchell. This morning, GalleyCat posted Betsy’s photo, along with a sizable article about Mike’s honors and my collaboration with him on ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS. Pretty solid piece by Ron Hogan…..check it out!

Tor Books has been perfecting their version of the mother-of-all-websites, and as an incentive to build audience, they’re offering free(!) desktop wallpapers from different artists each week. The wallpapers are available for one week only, and then they’re replaced by another set. Starting today, this week’s featured artists — me and Bob Eggleton! My wallpaper is excerpted from my Tor cover art for L.E. Modesitt Jr.’s VIEWPOINTS CRITICAL. Get it while you can. 🙂

Well, not yet anyway. Sad news this week, well-chronicled by now — one of sf’s finest artists ever, John Berkey, passed away on Tuesday. Irene Gallo, Arnie Fenner, Bob Eggleton and others have posted nice remembrances of Berkey. I’m definitely one of the legions who revere his work, which I believe is more influential now than it’s ever been. Jane Frank’s THE ART OF JOHN BERKEY is one of my favorite art books and although Berkey was best known to many of us for his acrylic & casein sf images, he was a master of traditional landscapes, as well. The guy’s work is timeless, and I wish I would’ve met him in person.

So as for the title of this post — here’s a thought: anyone out there a paid member of the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle? If so, then you have the power to nominate creators for induction into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Every year, a list is compiled from the suggestions of paid members, and that list is given to the seven jurors who then deliberate the merits of those individuals, and decide which four get inducted every yesr. I was honored to be one of the jurors for this year’s class, and we selected legendary artist Richard Powers as one of this year’s inductees. Happy as I am about that, I was secretly disappointed that Berkey was not even on the preliminary list given to us. I knew he was in failing health at the time, and I had hoped to lobby for him before he passed away. This year’s HOF class of Powers, the Ballantines, Rod Serling, and William Gibson will be inducted on June 21, but it sure would be nice to see Berkey in next year’s class, amongst the sf immortals, where he belongs.

Now available — Includes an interview with yours truly, conducted late January/early Feburary this year, courtesy of Jeff VanderMeer, AKA The Hardest Working Man in Genre. (Bizarre — how have I known Jeff this long, and only now did I notice that he capitalizes the “M” in his last name??)

More good stuff in CLARKESWORLD #20 — new fiction by Catherynne M. Valente, who’s also got a fresh new interview in the May issue of LOCUS MAGAZINE. Cover image (pictured above ) by an illustrator named Cuson. Plus much more…thanks to Neil Clarke and Wyrm Publishing for making it happen. Check it out. 🙂