In the mail this week, I received a finished copy of Songs of Love and Death, an anthology of new fiction from romance, science fiction and fantasy authors you’ve probably never heard of, like Neil Gaiman, Marjorie M. Liu, Diana Gabaldon, Jim Butcher, Jo Beverly, Mary Jo Putney, Jacqueline Carey and some other people. Gosh, it’s amazing how people with no track record of really honking excellent fiction get to assemble into an anthology AND get really slurpy-good cover art, isn’t it? Outrageous when that happens.
Anyway, because (a) I have an ARC and (b) I’m not done with it yet and also (c) fantasy and science fiction are not what my brain is craving right now and (d) I certainly don’t need a hardcover copy (see [a] re: ARC) I decided to give my copy away. Right here, right now, like that 90’s pop song only with Neil Gaiman instead of Jesus Jones.
This book isn’t out until 16 November, and I’ll mail the book on Friday 5 November Priority Mail, so if you’re in the US, you’ll get it before the release date. I’ll absolutely throw in the customary Smart Bitch Swag that goes into every possible mailing (stickers, SBTB post its, random pieces of cat hair – you know, the regular swag).
If you are the winner, and you want to let me know what you think of it, please do send up a flare, or an email, or both. I can’t require such things due to pesky laws and regulations but I am always curious what people think of the books they win here at the hot pink palace of Bitchery.
What do you have to do to win? Tell me which story or which author you want to read the most – and if you can’t pick one because you’ve never heard of any of these people (gosh who ARE these upstart nobodies anyway? Does NO ONE vet these anthologies for People Who Are Amazing Writers requirement? Sheesh) – tell me which author of romance, fantasy, or science fiction you’d like to see in an anthology next.
Leave your entry in the comments, or, if you’re Neil Gaiman or Tanith Lee and you didn’t get your own copy, you can email me your entry at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTcom with “Anthology giveaway” in the subject line. Comments close in 24 hours, and I’ll announce the winner tomorrow afternoon. If I get the address by Friday afternoon, I’ll mail it out Saturday morning. Standard disclaimers apply: I’m not being compensated for this giveaway except for one less hardback and a little less cat hair in my house. I’m watching the world wake up from history. Machine wash cold, lay flat to dry. Not suitable for anyone under the age of 6. May cause extreme giddiness in your pants.
Neil Gaiman peaks my interest most, but I also like Gabaldon stories.
Definitely a tie between Niel Gaiman and Marjorie M. Lui.
Oh, YAY for anthologies with AWESOME AUTHORS!!!!!
I have to pick just ONE!?!? That’s too hard : (
I would love to read any of those : )
What LisaJo said about Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett and Good Omens. Neil Gaiman. Definitely.
And after that, a good friend is a huge Jacqueline Carey fan, so if I win I can share. See, sharing is playing nicely. I should get extra credit? Pick me, pick me!
I would love to see a few really funny paranormal authors like Dakota Cassidy, Michelle Rowen, Michele Bardsley, etc do one of these anthologies.
I like most of the authors in this anthology, but it has been awhile since my last Gabaldon read…
but this would be a good opportunity to read more of all of these authors.
Gosh – Neil Gaiman or Marjoire Liu???? Well, I really like N. Gaiman’s quirkiness and bizarre stories. I am totally into the Hunter Kiss series now by M. Liu, so I am definitely looking forward to reading more by her.
So, please pick me! Thanks!
Torn between the Gaiman and the Gabaldon stories myself.
I’d love to read the one by Gaiman. He’s one of my favorite fantasy authors. Ooh, and this is edited by George RR Martin? Can’t wait to read this!
Beagle, Beverley, Gabaldon, Putney, Lee, Gaiman AND edited by George R. R. Martin?!?! That’s the biggest conglomeration of some of my favorite authors I’ve ever seen! I actually did a happy dance that made The Husband roll his eyes at me 😛 Those are the authors that would sell the book for me, but I also look forward to hearing new voices of authors I’m not familiar with.
This is easy: M.L.N. Hanover, as the only name I don’t recognize. This is one of those anthologies with more than enough names I know—or at least recognize, if I don’t remember reading anything by them recently—and want to read! So I’ll have to go with the only name I don’t know. And I haven’t read Tanith Lee in a while …
Been reading Gaiman since Sandman #1. 😉 So cool when I found out he and Marjorie Liu were going to be in an anthology together. But also intriguing to see Putney and Beverley there amongst other fantasy authors.
And speaking of Bob the Skull (don’t shoot me):
Liu, and Vaughn! I love those authors!
Although, I have to say, I look forward more to Vaughn’s story. She usually does a pretty good anthology. I will be dissappointed in Liu because I usually want a longer story with her’s.
I have wanted the skills of Neil Gaiman since Sandman along with Fragile Things, Neverwhere and The Graveyard Book…so I want this like a cat wants her catnip. But Ialso like being introduced to authors I know nothing about. That being said, I would really love a collaboration where say Gaiman writes page one, Gabalson page two, Butcher page three, etc and let us see where it takes us. Sort of like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” series, but a really really dark one.
I want to read the Jo Beverly story first. I love it when genres mix; they usually create awesome stories.
Yay prizes!
I have to choose between Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Linnea Sinclair and Carrie Vaughn? 0.o Well…I guess I’ll go with Linnea since I read her work the longest ago.
I’m most interested in the Diana Gabaldon story – I vaguely recall hearing her name mentioned somewhere…. *grins*
If the giveaway is open to o/s SB’s, please count me in!
marjorie m liu I swear I would read the telephone book if she wrote it.
I’m a big Gaiman fan, so I’m definitely most looking forward to his story. The blurb on amazon about it intrigues me. The whole collection intrigues me and I’d love to read it because I love all the genres that are being represented.
well first i’d have to say diana gabaldon because my mom gave “outlander” when i was a junior in high school and for the next week i fell asleep in french class because i would stay up all night reading about jamie! second would have to be gaiman, he’s just amazing, i love his worlds and his characters. i think one of my favorite couples ever are helena and valentine from mirrormask! and then jim butcher, i discovered the dresden files recently and harry is just a little bit dreamy!
Holey moley! Jacqueline Carey, writer of the exquisite Kushiel’s series. Gabaldon, creator of James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Frasier (no ginger was EVER so hot). Gaiman – need you ask? And edited by both Dozois (be still my sci-fi heart) AND George RR Martin, excellent fantasy writer himself but let’s not forget who was also the producer and frequent writer for the TV series Beauty and the Beast? Hot damn, I can’t choose.
Definitely the story by Gaiman. I’m such a fangirl for anything he writes.
I would read them all in order (I’m too organized), but would most look forward to the Jo Beverly one.
It’s a tossup for me as to whether it’s the Diana Gabaldon or the Jim Butcher, but it’s a great grouping and I want to READ THEM ALL!!!!
I think I’d want to read every author listed.
Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors, he’s never disappointed me.
however, Jacqueline Carey is a goddess and I’d probably buy the book just for her since I’m so in love with the Kushiel books.
Wow, how could you go wrong? I want to choose almost half the authors as the one I want to read, and those are just the ones I’ve heard of. So I’m going to go with Robin Hobb, because I can’t place what I’ve read by her, but I’m sure it was something.
Sounds wonderful!
I’m going to be really original and say Neil Gaiman’s story because it’s so sad how little-known and obscure he is. ;P
Jim Butcher!!! I absolutely adore Harry Dresden. He’s probably one of my favorite wizards of all time. And, uh, Mary Jo Putney!!
Captcha: comes37. I have never read a book where the hero comes 37 times…but i want to!
I am always up for something new by Neil Gaiman!
I absolutely can NOT wait to read the Marjorie M. Liu story. I actually read her short A Dream of Stone and Shadows before I read anything else by her and it was one hell of a way to discover an author. I’ve been a HUGE fan ever since.
Neil Gaiman, because boy can he craft a great short story!
Um, YES!! I’ve at least heard of most of them, and read most of the ones I’ve heard of (but my heart belongs to Neil Gaiman!)
Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!!!!
*fingers crossed, eyes sqeeeezed shut, muttering incantations under my breath*
I was going to say Neil Gaiman, but then I went to the site and noticed Peter S. Beagle, the man who turned me on to fantasy at a very tender age and made me believe in unicorns. I’d love to read his latest!
Tanith Lee you say? I’ve loved her fiction since I was a teen, and wanted to turn my body into a cat form. But some more Butcher & Gaiman would also be awesome…
Dang, that’s an impressive list. I’d have to say Diana Gabaldon, since I’m most familiar with her work—but there are quite a few of those authors that I’ve read here and there (Gaiman, Liu), or I’ve been meaning to try them and just haven’t gotten around to yet (Butcher, Carey, Putney, Lee…), so this looks like a total winner to me, 🙂
It is a tough choice as I just discovered Marjorie Liu through this site and I think she is a very talented and unique writer in novel format, so I’d love to see what she does with a short story.
I am going to have to be predictable though and choose Neil Gaiman. That man can craft a truly memorable, twisted love story. Harlequin Valentine has stuck with me for years, and I want to see what else he can come up with.
Neil Gaiman, because every time I read something of his, I feel like I use brain cells that would’ve otherwise lived a very lonely life in the depths of my gray matter. Imagination = wild!
I’m normally one of those lurker-type people who doesn’t dare to comment because other people have already said it so wittily before me that I’ll just look like a pale copycat. A copycat with an Australian accent, yes, but a copycat nonetheless.
But this book is so exciting! And it’s edited by Geroge R. R. Martin, which probably means it somehow ends on a cliffhanger (quite the feat for an anthology, but he’ll manage it) and we will have to wait for endless years before we found out what everything is resolved.
The story I’d most like to read is Tanith Lee’s because one of her books made me think differently about the way I write. I’d like to see what other things she can make me think differently about here…
Really looking forward to the Gaiman story, but Jim Butcher and Jacqueline Carey are also pretty beguiling.
Can’t decide between Jim Butcher, Carrie Vaughn, or Linnea Sinclair.