Amelia Beamer is a class act, and one of the main editors of LOCUS MAGAZINE. She lost her father-in-law to a sudden heart attack on August 13. Ellen Datlow’s blog has details, but in a nutshell, her father-in-law was a man of the people who worked on behalf of poverty-stricken communities. His family could use some financial help in the wake of funeral and cremation costs that his limited insurance couldn’t cover. The economy’s tough on everyone right now, but if you can pitch in a few dollars to help one of the good ones in our science fiction community, it would be appreciated.
(Photo of Amelia by Ellen Datlow)

LETTER FROM AMELIA’S FAMILY

Dear all,

It is with deep sadness that we inform you that Arthur Wayne Jokela has passed away. He was traveling home from his work in Malawi and Mozambique when he collapsed suddenly during a layover in London, and died of a heart attack in St. Thomas’s hospital on August 13, 2008. The body is being cremated and brought home to Los Angeles by friends.

In lieu of flowers or cards, we will be accepting donations to the Arthur Jokela Memorial Fund to cover funeral expenses and travel costs incurred by his environmental and civic outreach projects in Africa and around the world. There is a Paypal account set up to receive donations of any size, with a web page at the link below. You don’t need a Paypal account; there is a link on the left side of the page to continue with a credit card. http://tinyurl.com/6jp3bm

Memorial services will be announced within the next few months, most likely to occur in early November to commemorate Arthur’s birthday on November 5th. You can keep in touch via the new email address: arthur.jokela.memorial.fund@gmail.com, or my email address: karentayu@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,
Karen Jokela and family
1801 West Orange Grove
Pomona CA 91768
phone: 909.620.6288

Glimpsed at a San Antonio Barnes & Noble (410/San Pedro)…a shelf full of recent STAR TREK paperbacks with covers by me. Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books is the publisher. The TEROK NOR covers connect to form a single triptych. FEARFUL SYMMETRY (far right) features a flip cover on the back. Not seen here is ECHOES & REFRACTIONS, which features a story by my pal Chris Roberson. Collect ’em all. 🙂

Great times this weekend at Armadillocon 30 in Austin, TX. Rode to the show with Boxcar Satan‘s Sanford Allen early Friday morning. Over the next three days, we hung out with friends new and old including Author GOH John Scalzi, Editor GOH Sheila Williams, Artist GOH David Lee Anderson, Special Guests Joe and Gay Haldeman, Chris Roberson, Vincent Docherty, Rick Klaw, Scott Cupp, John Denardo, Mikal Trimm, Matthew Bey, Matt Sturges, Paul Benjamin, Jayme Blaschke, the Lansdales, the Moorcocks, William Browning Spencer, Peggy Hailey, Rocky Kelley, Joe McKinney, Josh Rountree, Mark Williams, Lee Thomas, Patrice Sarath (shoutout to my sister-in-law Rachel!) and more. Bill Crider proudly carried on the ‘Dillocon tradition of great Toastmasters. Hats off to Kurt Baty, Chuck Siros, Kimm Antell, Scott Zrubek, Fred Duarte, Karen Meschke, A.T. Campbell, and all FACT folk who threw another great con this year. Need to unpack and return to normal work mode, but first some pics:

YAY, FREE DRINK TICKETS!: (l to r) — Willie Siros, Sara Felix, and Scott Cupp at Friday night’s “Meet the Pros” reception

IT LIVES!: My original triptych assemblage art for Jeffrey Ford’s WELL-BUILT CITY survives the trip from Denvention (very grateful for that minor miracle), and gets ready for display in the Armadillocon Art Show

NO ORDINARY JOE: Rising star (and San Antonio homeboy) Joe McKinney signs copies of his zombie novel DEAD CITY

THE OTHER CON: Our hotel was also home to a completely different con which ran simultaneously with ‘Dillocon. Sanford Allen wonders which meaning of “con” is most appropriate here.

NECTAR OF VICTORY: ASIMOV’S editor supreme and GOH Sheila Williams drinks to the Pros’ victory in the Fannish Feud (martini by the great Scott Bobo)

GIMME SHELTER: Bradley Denton and Caroline Spector jam the Stones classic in an impromptu hotel room session

THEY KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE: Secret Masters of Fandom unite! Mary Kay Kare (far left) rocks Reno 2011’s party with members of Team Reno — Ben Yalow, Patty Wells, and Vincent Docherty.

MAKING THE ROUNDS: Author GOH John Scalzi (ZOE’S TALE) (far right) does his GOH thing and cruises the Saturday night fan parties.

BEHOLD THE MAN: (l to r) — The great Michael Moorcock, yours truly, and Sanford Allen outside Hyde Park Grill for Sunday lunch (photo by Linda Moorcock)

The geniuses of SF Signal are at it again — pooling the hivemind of science fiction for another art-driven episode of their Mind Meld series. This time — “How have digital tools affected the way in which you create your artistic pieces? Will a 100% digitally created work of art ever be considered a ‘masterpiece’, able to take its place alongside the current masterpieces?” Thoughts by Lou Anders, Dave Seeley, Maurizio Manzieri, yours truly, and many more. Check it out!

While away at Worldcon in Denver, the 2008 World Fantasy Award Nominations List was announced. I’m thrilled to be one of the five finalists in the Artist category!! My fellow artist nominees are Ruan Jia, Mikko Kinnunen, Stephan Martiniere, and Edward Miller. Proud to be in their esteemed company. 🙂

Overall the entire list is loaded with good news. A few highlights:

Life Achievement — Leo & Diane Dillon: Hugely deserving, and great to see artists recognized in this category! I voted for Moebius and Jeffrey Jones on my ballot this year, but I’m extremely happy to see the Dillons recognized with this honor.

Novel — Great to see Michael Marshall Smith’s THE SERVANTS on the ballot! Very surprised that Dan Simmons’ THE TERROR didn’t make the list though.

Novella — Tough list here…hurray for Kim Newman and MonkeyBrain Books! You too, Lucius.

Short Story — Wow, John Klima’s LOGORRHEA racks up two of the five noms here. Awesome!

Anthology — Ellen Datlow racks up two of the five here, and that man Klima is here again with a nod for LOGORRHEA.

Collection — More love for Kim Newman and MonkeyBrain Books as THE SECRET FILES OF THE DIOGENES CLUB gets a nom, along with more love for Lucius Shepard

Special Award, Professional — This category makes my head spin….toughest category of the year to pick. Look at the names in this one….Chris Roberson, Allison Baker, Alan Beatts, Jude Feldman, Pete Crowther, Gordon Van Gelder, Jeremy Lassen, Jason Williams, and Shawna McCarthy. Terrific list of finalists, but a heart-breaking choice for the judges to pick a winner. Shoutout to Alan and Jude for being first-time World Fantasy Award nominees….honestly, of all the names on this year’s list, seeing them recognized for their bookselling excellence reinforces why I respect the WF Awards so much.

Special Award, Non-Professional — If you’re counting at home, the juggernaut known as John Klima is involved with a total of four WF noms this year, including one here, and I couldn’t be happier for him. Go, Klima!!! 🙂 Extremely pleased to see Stephen Jones here with TRAVELLERS IN DARKNESS: THE SOUVENIR BOOK OF THE WORLD HORROR CONVENTION 2007. This was essentially the program book for last year’s World Horror Con, and it’s hands-down the finest convention program book ever produced. Yeah, it features cover art by me, but that’s not the reason I say that. Hold this book in your hands, and you’ll appreciate the love and production value pumped into every page. An amazing job by Steve and designer Michael Marshall Smith (the same MMS nominated for Best Novel). Expect this book to sell for several hundred dollars on Ebay, someday…if it doesn’t already.

Congrats to all of the nominees! See you in Calgary at this year’s World Fantasy Con for the festivities.

TURNABOUT INTRUDER: Paolo Baciagalupi and Irene Gallo trade places for a night; Paolo claims to have told several unsuspecting authors just how bad their covers really are, while Irene cheerfully let everyone know that their tawdry lives were nothing more than a capitalistic charade

GOOD TIMES AT THE HARPERCOLLINS/EOS PARTY (l to r): Traci Picacio; Eos executive editor and hostess supreme Diana Gill; Jude Feldman

MORE EOS GOOD TIMES (l to r): Jack Skillingstead; Nancy Kress; Ellen Datlow; Sheila Williams

PYR’S PARTY ROCKED (l to r): L.E. Modesitt, Jr. and Lou Anders at the Pyr Party celebrating Ian McDonald’s Hugo nomination for Best Novel with BRASYL

CHILLIN’ AT THE PYR PARTY (l to r): Caroline Symcox; Paul Cornell; George Mann (back); Carsten Polzin

LET THEM EAT ART: My cover illustration for the new issue of ASIMOV’S gets the chocolate treatment at the ASIMOV’S party

HUGO NIGHT: In the green room, before the Hugo Awards (l to r) — Yours truly; Traci Picacio; Hugo finalist Lou Anders; Caroline Symcox; Hugo finalist Paul Cornell

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROC: Penguin’s Ace/Roc editor supreme (and Hugo finalist) Ginjer Buchanan (far left) represents in style at the post-Hugos festivities, along with Farah Mendelsohn and Traci Picacio

Words now, con photos later. A grueling, but rewarding week in Denver, at Worldcon 2008. I’m bushed. Some personal highlights:

* Good times with friends in and around the CCC and the Hyatt Regency: Lou Anders, Chris Roberson, Allison Baker, David Louis Edelman, Paul Cornell, George Mann, Mark Newton, Christian Dunn, Sean Williams, Alan Beatts, Jude Feldman, Irene Gallo, Diana Gill, Paolo Baciagalupi, Mario Acevedo, Shanna Swendson, Blake Charlton, Deanna Hoak, Cheryl Morgan, Kat Richardson, Ian McDonald, Liza Trombi, Amelia Beamer, Rani Graff, Jetse De Vries, Liz Gorinsky, Jeremy Lassen, Jim Minz, Diana Rowland, Diana Sherman, Warren Hammond, Walter Hunt, Kate Elliott, Alan Beck, and too many more to name.

* Good talks with Farah Mendelsohn, Moshe Feder, Steve Saffel, Cheryl Morgan, Colin Harris, Vincent Docherty, Seth Breidbart, Joni Dashoff, Andrea Senchy, Mike Willmoth, Jean Goddin, John Hertz and more.

* Big thrill — ran into the legendary Frederik Pohl at 1am Saturday morning

* Fun parties — The Tor Party (except for the brick-wall wave of “what’s that smell??”), the Hugo Losers Party, the Asimovs Party, the Baen Party….great stuff, but hats off this year to Lou Anders’ dominant Pyr Party and the HarperCollins/Eos Party, hosted by Diana Gill and Jack Womack. Eos did it classy and festive, and it was so much fun. Whoa, Pyr though — they went all out with free Pyr beer glasses, potent Brazilian drinks, chocolate soccer balls, and Brazilian-themed decorations in honor of Ian McDonald’s Hugo nomination for BRASYL. I heard buzz about their party even two days after it was over. Awesome.

* Stroll with the Stars — hats off to Stu Segal! I thought Stu was nuts to think that anyone would wake up at 9am Friday, just so they could join Lou Anders, Paul Cornell, Stephen Segal, and me for a mile-long walk through downtown Denver. Wrong. We had a mighty pack of 40-50 strong and Stu may have just created a new Worldcon tradition.

* Fun Friday lunch, and good talk, with Jack Skillingstead, Nancy Kress, Patrick Swenson, and Daryl Gregory. First time I’ve met Jack….I’ll soon be illustrating the cover of his new Golden Gryphon collection, which will release sometime in ’09, I believe.

* Won a Worldcon Art Show Award! My pencil process drawing for Robert Silverberg’s SON OF MAN (pictured at top) was selected amongst the best works in this year’s Art Show. Good thing I’m not a betting man because I actually thought this piece had a better shot, but I’m thrilled to be selected amongst the best, no matter what.

* Attention art collectors: If you haven’t seen Vincent Villafranca’s bronzes, you’re missing out. This guy’s a superstar. I wish I owned this.

* Being a Hugo Award Nominee — Proud to say…my fourth consecutive year as a Hugo Award finalist in the Best Professional Artist category. Unfortunately, still no Hugo win for yours truly. I finished in second this year. Stephan Martiniere got the rocket (congrats, Stephan!). If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get a fifth shot next year and maybe we’ll see what happens then. Never take these things for granted. For now, back to doing what matters — creating art, and chopping the rock. This year was the first time Traci joined me at the Hugo festivities, and that was special.

* I was proud to see my compadre David Louis Edelman finish a strong third place in the Campbell Award balloting. Mary Robinette Kowal took the prize (congrats, Mary!) in a very stacked group of finalists that included Joe Abercrombie, David Anthony Durham, Scott Lynch, and Jon Armstrong. Bigger days ahead for DEdelman! Disappointed for my pal Paul Cornell, who finished second in Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form category. Stephen Moffatt’s “Blink”/DR. WHO episode won the Hugo, but I sure would’ve liked to see Paul up there for his “Human Nature” episode. Hopefully, another year, another time, for Paul. Ditto for Lou Anders who has many more noms to come.

* Hats off to all the tireless folks that helped to make this year’s Worldcon fun and successful. This show had its fair share of problems (too much real estate between function spaces; lack of appropriate signage; projectors that never seemed to project properly), but everyone did their best, and it was appreciated. Apologies to those I forgot to mention, and onwards to Anticipation next year!

The 2008 Chesley Award Nominations are here. I’m a finalist in two categories — Best Hardcover Illustration (for the cover of Sheri S. Tepper’s THE MARGARETS (top) and Best Paperback Illustration (for the cover of Rebecca Ore’s TIME’S CHILD (both published by HarperCollins/Eos)). Thanks to Richard Aquan, Diana Gill, and Jennifer Brehl for those assignments. 🙂

Great company in both categories — Donato Giancola, Bob Eggleton, Todd Lockwood, Stephan Martiniere, John Jude Palencar, Dan Dos Santos, and more. Congrats to all fellow Chesley nominees this year.

Update: the Chesley Ceremony will be Thursday, August 7th (7:30pm) at Worldcon/Denvention.

Attention all Denvention/Worldcon attendees — good news! FREE stuff!

Hot off the press — the grainy photo above shows the front, middle, and back of my spiffy new art promo that will be available free at Worldcon. This quick snapshot doesn’t really do justice because they printed perfectly. I’m really happy with them. Get ’em at my autographings and also at my Worldcon Art Show display. (Schedule here.)

Big news — Lou Anders and the good folks of Pyr are sponsoring a big bash at Worldcon Friday at 8pm. A signed 17″x22″ archival print of my cover art for FAST FORWARD 2 will be raffled off at the event and they’ll be serving crazy Brazilian beverages in honor of the Hugo nomination of Ian McDonald’s BRASYL. More details below. The best part is you’re invited, so don’t miss it!

Right now, I’m special-guesting over at the blog of STARGATE ATLANTIS executive producer-extraordinaire Joseph Mallozzi. Joe graciously invited me last week, and his readers fired a barrage of terrific, wide-ranging questions in the meantime. Read my responses and feel free to ask more in his comments section. In totality, it reads like an extensive interview, so check it out. 🙂 Thanks again, Joe!

Been away from here for a while….working on several fronts at the moment, including preparing my artwork for shipment to the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver next month. Oy…shipping art is such a hassle. Now fingers crossed that it arrives intact!! Right now, I’m reading DARKEST HOUR, the second book of Mark Chadbourn’s AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. I’ll be doing covers for all three books for Pyr‘s releases next year, the first time the books will be available in the US. It’s an amazing dark fantasy epic so far and I’m blown away by its depth of mythic detail. Other assignments are on the burner here. More on them when they’re finished.

News and notes:

1. Tor.com launched this past weekend. Nice mini-gallery of my stuff over there, and overall, just a terrific and dynamic site. Check it out if you haven’t already.

2. Several folks have emailed me that Dave Itzkoff reviewed ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS in the New York Times. All kindly mention that Itzkoff’s review fails to mention Alan Moore’s intro or my illustrations. Happily and most importantly though, the NYT piece shines a glowing spotlight on the greatness of Mike Moorcock and the book itself, which is all that really matters to me in the end.

3. Attn: anyone living on the upper east coast of the US — Philcon 2008 has now opened their hotel room block and is taking reservations. However, their website doesn’t yet display that info, so here it is. Philcon is this November 21-23 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ. To reserve your hotel room before they sell out, call the hotel directly (800-381-9553) and be sure to mention “Philcon” to get the con rate for the room block. Remember to specify “quiet” or “hospitality” floor. Online hotel registration will be available as soon as the web site is updated. Guests of Honor include Tim Powers as their Author Guest of Honor (or Principal Speaker as they’ve dubbed him); Scott Christian Sava as the Special Guest; and yours truly as the Artist Guest of Honor. I’ll have new never-seen Elric original art on display there, and lots of other goodies for sure. Be there. 🙂

STARGATE: ATLANTIS executive producer and man-of-the-world Joseph Mallozzi has invited me to guest-blog over at his place and he’s soliciting questions right now. So if there’s anything about covers or art that you want to talk about, feel free to pile on and ask away over at his place. In yesterday’s entry he gives a shoutout to Lou Anders‘ forthcoming FAST FORWARD 2 anthology. Go Joe!