io9, one of the coolest, mandatory-read sites in sf, spotlights my work with a cover illustration gallery including the very recently-finished cover art for Dan Simmons’ MUSE OF FIRE (Subterranean Press). Big thanks to io9’s Charlie Jane Anders! And I love the title she crafted for the piece — “Revenge of the Giant Space Tentacle”. Awesome!

Here it is — this is my cover art for the forthcoming Subterranean Press hardcover edition of Dan Simmons‘ space opera gem, MUSE OF FIRE. There will be 1500 copies of the hardcover trade ($35 each) and 250 signed-and-numbered leather-bound copies ($60 each). Get ’em before they’re gone. Seriously. All previous Dan Simmons limited editions have sold out from Subterranean, and it’s a safe bet this will do the same. I’m really honored to be a part of this amazing book, and quite honestly, I can’t wait to see the finished product myself.

Bonus — Subterranean’s head honcho Bill Schafer commissioned me to write an essay about the making of this illo, and he’s included it in the latest issue of Subterranean Online! Besides this essay, you’ve got original short fiction from my pal Chris Roberson — “Mirror of Fiery Brightness”, Part One and Part Two, plus much more! Check it out! 🙂

One final note about this illustration — for years, I’ve been a fan of the great Polish poster artist Wieslaw Walkuski. This piece is an homage to his genius, with much admiration and respect.

I guess that headline can be read two ways — either you’ve got the good news that there’s free Paul Cornell reading somewhere, or you’ve got the bad news that Paul Cornell has been unjustly imprisoned and his righteous fans want him out. Thankfully, it’s the former. 🙂 In support of the brand-new anthology FAST FORWARD 2, Pyr is now offering the entirety of Paul’s short story “Catherine Drewe” for free. This is the opening story of FF2. Check it out while it’s available!

Here’s an idea of how crazy-busy it’s been here….. Thursday afternoon, I received a box from Pyr. Was in the middle of drawing and painting at that moment, so I set it aside in my studio, planning to unpack it a few minutes later. Two days later — yikes, I just remembered to open it this morning! (Needless to say, I’ve been juggling a lot of deadlines here lately.) What’s in the box — my comp copies of Lou Anders’ much-anticipated new anthology, FAST FORWARD 2!! Incredibly proud to be associated with this book, and it’s available now! 🙂 Seeing how beautifully these books turned out totally makes my day. Congrats to Lou and all the authors in this awesome book.

Bonus (revised 9/28/08) — check it out: save 50% off the cover price of FAST FORWARD 1 for a limited time! See Lou’s blog for details.

Amongst the covers I’m working on right now — MUSE OF FIRE by Dan Simmons, coming this December from Subterranean Press. Final color art will be shared here next week. Here’s a peek at part of the b/w pencil underdrawing. Subterranean’s taking pre-orders for this book right now. Word to the wise: all of Subterranean’s previous Simmons limited editions completely sold out. So act quickly if you’re interested. 🙂

More exciting news — I’ve agreed with Subterranean to cover-illustrate their forthcoming limited editions of two more Simmons magnum opuses (or is that “opi”?), THE TERROR and Dan’s forthcoming book, DROOD, which is set in the life and times of Charles Dickens. I’m reading DROOD right now and it’s awesome….an absolute page-turner. Subterranean is taking pre-orders right now for THE TERROR and I’ll post here when they start taking orders for DROOD.

Much more about the final MUSE OF FIRE art next week.

SFSignal reminds us all that today in 1966, the very first episode of STAR TREK aired (“The Man Trap”). Can’t remember which episode of STAR TREK was the first one I ever saw, but watching it in syndication after-school was a seminal part of my early years. Seen here: my 2nd grade school photo, circa 1976, rocking my prized homemade Mr. Spock shirt, with insignia patch sewn by my mother. It’s amazing how large my dome was even at that tender age. Fast forward to 2006 — that same kid illustrated this triptych for David R. George III’s STAR TREK trilogy commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the show (published by Pocket Books). And yeah, it really was a thrill. Live long and prosper, Trek. 🙂

Pyr‘s Lou Anders recently unveiled the complete cover design for his forthcoming antho, FAST FORWARD 2. Cover illustration by yours truly, and jacket design by Jacqueline Cooke. The book hits shelves next month!

A shoutout and big thanks to my pal, illustrator Lee Moyers: when I was working on the final cover art, I phoned Lee out-of-the-blue and asked him for some critique. Lee’s one of the rare guys who illustrates and designs equally well. His suggestions were invaluable and they absolutely led to this becoming a better piece. Thanks, man!

Wow. Two great finds today. Discovered a site called Paintalicious which spotlights various mixed-media artists. Can’t believe I’d never heard of this site before! Worth checking out regularly.

The other great find — Inspiring stuff for anyone toiling in the art trenches…Paintalicious has a post featuring seven quotes from the Man himself, Pablo Picasso. (Above photo — a classic by Gjon Mili.)

1. “He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.”

2. “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

3. “Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”

4. “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”

5. “Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”

6. “If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes.”

7. “Youth has no age.”

Paintalicious also include a couple other Picasso quotes, and this last one is too good: “Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”

I’m not sure which one I love more: the previous one, or #5. I feel like painting those in big letters on my ceiling.

Took a break from deadlines late last night. Went with pals Scott A. Cupp and Sean Lackey to check out Boxcar Satan, one of San Antonio’s finest bands. They’re releasing a brand-new CD this fall, but nothing matches seeing them live. The band is Sanford Allen (lead guitar and lead vocals); Patrick Sane (bass guitar); and Aaron Seibert (drums). Some of the photos may appear to have too much red-eye, but I tend to believe the camera unveils the truth. Enjoy photos of a Texas rock band possessed.

HELL ON SIX STRINGS: Sanford Allen blistering through the night’s opening number

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SETS: 15 years ago, young Sanford Allen made a deal with the devil, and the rest, as they say, is history.

THE REAL THING: Patrick Sane shows all hair-metal bass guitar hacks how to really play

EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING: (left) the headless Aaron Seibert on drums, with Patrick on bass (right)….best captures the band’s kinetic energy better than standard photography ever could…I don’t think any photo could ever communicate how good a drummer Aaron Seibert really is.

INFINITE: All great bands seem to be a conduit of something greater than the sum of their parts….hard to know whether Boxcar Satan is a conduit from heaven or from hell, but they’re awesome and one-of-a-kind!

Wanna hear some of their tunes? Make sure to check out one of my favorites, “Shoot Down the Sun.” And of course, you can browse and buy over at Itunes, CDBaby, and all finer music vendors.

Laura Domitz is a friend and long-time member of the Fandom Association of Central Texas. She’s also the tireless photographer that shoots candid photos of me and countless others at cons everywhere. I call her photos “sniper shots” because I rarely see Laura coming until she’s taken her shot. This past weekend at Armadillocon, I watched her studiously catalog stacks of prints (that she printed with her own money) so that she could gift them to the lucky folks in the photos. She’s one-of-a-kind. Over the years, Laura’s captured every conceivable facial expression of mine and frankly, a lot of expressions I wish I didn’t conceive. Recently she gave me this photograph she shot at the Nebula Awards in March. It’s one of the very few photos of me that I’ll cherish forever. Left to right — Joe R. Lansdale, 2008 SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock, and me, after Mike was given SFWA’s big honor. Besides the occasion of the photo, it’s meaningful because the first covers I ever illustrated were for these two authors. Pretty cool. Thanks, Laura! 🙂