Locus, March 2013

by Locus Publications

  Covers by Van Dongen

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  EDITORIAL MATTERS

  The cherry-plum blossoms have finally appeared and we’re getting nice weather in between the rain showers and cold spells. I bit the bullet and hired a contractor to fix the enclosed back deck here at Locus, which has been sagging for the last couple of years. Charles never liked to fix anything till it was truly broken, and since we’ve been in hunker-down-and-survive-the-recession mode since he died, I’ve been doing my best to pretend like it was Someone Else’s Problem. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and we called a deck guy in. He gave us a decent quote and we hired him, but we had one big obstacle: the very large hot tub in the enclosed deck. According to Locus lore, this tub has met more people in the SF field than I have; it hasn’t been used since the early ’90s, but did its share of hosting parties in the ’70s and ’80s. We looked up some different methods of removing hot tubs online, and I spent a long time considering taking out a section of the fencing to lift it out. In a moment of clarity, and thanks to a video online of a guy cutting his in half to get it out of his house, we decided it had to be broken down since it weighed so much assembled. Our intern Patrick (the Undaunted) and senior editor Tim were much more interested in the project once there was a Sawzall involved.

  Tim Pratt, Liza Groen Trombi, Patrick Wells

  It’s not often that we get to spend a whole day just demolishing stuff, and after I got over my recycle-and-reuse pangs, everyone had a hand in breaking the tub down. We kept finding black widows and tucking them into a jar so we knew where they were (no one likes to be surprised by a black widow), but all in all it was a surprisingly fun event. We ripped off all of the skirting first, thinking we might still take it apart and lift it out of the deck, but that monster of a tub was not put together to be moved again later, and after about an hour the Sawzall came out and I cut the thing in half. That left us with two too-big pieces of hot tub, and the rest of the day Tim, Patrick, and I gleefully cut it down to bite-size pieces and hauled them out of the house. (See picture for a Locus moment of triumph over the inanimate.) Now the deck contractor is hard at work, and what initially seemed like a quick deck repair has turned into an ever-expanding excision of decking, joists, and bracing as more and more rot is found, and I’m back to doing my best to ignore it. (For the record, the spiders were enrolled in a local relocation program…)

  LOCUS POLL & SURVEY

  The Poll & Survey responses have been coming in steadily. If you haven’t voted yet, you’ve got until April 15, but don’t let it slip by. We need your input by the time the government needs your taxes; don’t let us get lost in the shuffle! Vote today: you can find a link to the poll on our site at or send in the paper version.

  Your votes decide the Locus Awards winners in June, and arrangements for the banquet, panels, and readings are underway. Membership to the Locus events is available now at and includes a set February-August digital subscription, covering everything from the Recommended List to the Awards write-up, and all the parties, banquet, readings, and other fun that go along with the weekend. Prices will go from $40 to $50 on May 1, so buy now. We don’t know yet who will be teaching the writing workshop with Connie Willis this year (ticketed separately), but Leslie Howle is organizing the workshop now and we’ll keep you updated on the details. Remember, Seattle in June is a beautiful city to visit.

  FARE THEE WELL

  Our intern population is thinning out, with Rachel Fagundes and Caitlin Beck both leaving us for other adventures. We’ve really enjoyed their company and wish them the best. Patrick the Undaunted and Alora are sticking around and we’ve got another intern interviewee coming soon.

  VISIT WITH TB

  I had a great visit and interview with Terry Bisson this month. He’s a laid-back conversationalist and storyteller with a vibrant history. His latest book Any Day Now is largely autobiographical, alternate history notwithstanding; it’s a naturalistic look at life, as he remembers it, as a youth in 1968 overlaid on a set of historical events that might have happened in another time stream. We talked about satire and alternate history and his Outspoken Authors series with PM Press, which combines fiction and nonfiction pieces by activist genre authors. The interview should run in the next issue, along with either the Nielsen Haydens or Libba Bray – I’m not sure yet, but will figure it out any minute now. See you next month!

  –Liza Groen Trombi

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  CORRECTIONS

  On page 5, the photo of Frances Hardinge was listed as furnished. The photo was taken by Jonathan Green.

  In our 2013 Magazines Summary, we listed the number of Lightspeed’s total visitors instead of their unique visitors: the number of unique visitors for 2012 was 15,500. In our Clarkeworld entry, we incorrectly labeled their Kindle and Weightless subscribers as ‘‘PDF’’ subscribers.

  In ‘‘New and Notable’’, we listed the publisher of Peter Hamilton’s new book Great North Road as Tor; the actual publisher is Del Rey.

  In Alice Clareson’s obituary, we changed her state of residence from Wooster, Ohio to Wooster, Massachusetts.

  Return to In This Issue listing.

  PHOTO LIST

  Isobelle Carmody (BG)

  Lavie Tidhar (BG)

  Bruce Sterling (LT)

  Evie Manieri (F/JJKJ)

  Kiini Ibura Salaam (F/RR)

  John Joseph Adams (LT)

  Isobelle Carmody (BG)

  Jay Lake (LT)

  Clive Barker (F/SF)

  Robert R. McCammon (F/RM)

  Cherie Priest (F/LB)

  Ekaterina Sedia (F)

  Sean Williams (FM)

  David J. Schwartz (AB)

  Karin Tidbeck (F/CFJ)

  Cory Doctorow (F/JW)

  Isobelle Carmody (BG)

  Anne Jordan (CNB)

  Anne Jordan, Craig Shaw Gardner, Sheila Williams (CFC)

  Tim Pratt, Liza Groen Trombi,

  Patrick Wells (FM)

  Lavie Tidhar (BG)

  Photo Listing: (BG) Beth Gwinn, (LT) Liza Groen Trombi, (F/JJKJ) James J. Kriegsmann, Jr., (F/RR) Régine Romain, (FCC/SF) Steven Frederich, furnished under a Creative Commons License, (F/RM) Ryan Morton, (F/LB) Libby Bulloff, (FM) Francesca Myman, (AB) Amelia Beamer, (F/CFJ) Charlotte F. Johansen, (F/JW) Jonathan Worth, (CNB) Charles N. Brown, (CFC) Carolyn Cushman, (F) Furnished.

  AD LIST

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  The Celaeri Song Trilogy

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  Heritage Auctions

  Locus

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  Wesleyan University Press

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  MASTHEAD

  CHARLES N. BROWN

  Founder

  (1968-2009)

  LIZA GROEN TROMBI

  Editor-in-Chief

  KIRSTEN GONG-WONG

  Managing Editor

  MARK R. KELLY

  Locus Online Editor-in
-Chief

  CAROLYN F. CUSHMAN

  TIM PRATT

  Senior Editors

  FRANCESCA MYMAN

  Design Editor

  HEATHER SHAW

  Editorial Assistant

  JONATHAN STRAHAN

  Reviews Editor

  TERRY BISSON

  GWENDA BOND

  GARDNER DOZOIS

  STEFAN DZIEMIANOWICZ

  RICH HORTON

  RUSSELL LETSON

  RICHARD A. LUPOFF

  FAREN MILLER

  GARY K. WOLFE

  Contributing Editors

  KAREN BURNHAM

  Roundtable Blog Editor

  WILLIAM G. CONTENTO

  Computer Projects

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