Sarah Pinborough, the British Grace Kelly of the horror genre, is riding high--having just won a British Fantasy Award for her short story “Do You See”--and in a few weeks she is up for the World Fantasy Award for her short “Our Man in the Sudan.” Anyone who follows her on Twitter knows that she’s a jet-setting wine connoisseur who’s not afraid of getting down and dirty and telling it like it is.

Sarah is completely adorable...and can scare the ever-living daylights out of you. I sent a “little birdy” Sarah’s way with a few fun questions about her life recently, and this is what came back.

Read our interview here.

I got a copy of THE DREAMER graphic novel from IDW and immediately fell in love (Click on the banner above -- you can check it all out online!). So much so that I contacted Lora Innes -- the comic's dynamic and fabulously talented writer/illustrator -- to see if I could do an interview with her. She said yes.

And then Cat over at Fantasy Magazine mentioned that she'd like to be the one to run it. So I said yes.
We're all such a bunch of affable people.
Hey -- wanna read it?
(You don't even have to say "yes." Just click right here.)

Happy Friday!

Cherie Priest is a displaced Tennessee Gal--she may live in Seattle now, but she was born & raised in the South, so we still claim her as one of our own. Similarly, the setting for her new steampunk novel Boneshaker is the Pacific Northwest, as opposed to the Southern settings of Four and Twenty Blackbirds and Fathom (Tennessee and Florida, respectively). We're also super excited about Cherie's new ventures in the shared world of the Wild Cards series, edited by George R.R. Martin. I saw Cherie recently at Penguicon in Detroit--she's a beauty, a ball of energy, and looks great in costume. I took the opportunity to open her skull and pick her brains a bit, just to see what makes her tick. You know...like I usually do.

Corsets and Goggles and Superheroes, oh my! Click here to check out our interview.

I came to call on Miss Leanna Renee Hieber on a breezy afternoon in early summer. We had been informally introduced through a mutual acquaintance, but someone's whose judgment I trusted implicitly, and so I took to Miss Hieber immediately. She received me in her impressive library, pretty as a picture, her deep burgundy skirts setting off a complexion almost as fair as her heroine's. We made pleasantries as she poured the tea--Constant Comment, I noted. She mentioned that the cloves reminded her of her dear Alexi. I took two sugars to her one, and she added a spot of milk to her own delicate cup. She had brewed it strong; I admired her fortitude. I am of the opinion that no one knows how to make a decent cup of tea nowadays, and it appeared Miss Hieber and I were of the same mind. I anticipated enjoying this session very much. I took a raspberry biscuit from the tray, set my cup on the table beside me to cool, and we began.

Click here to read a transcript of our dynamic discourse.

Be sure to catch Leanna this Dragon*Con weekend at PRINCESS ALETHEA'S TRAVELING SIDESHOW! (Roswell, Hyatt, Fri 5:30pm)

Alfred & The Princess at the 2009 Audie Awards

Alfred Martino is an author very near and dear to my heart--not only because he writes engaging sports stories aimed at reluctant middle grade readers, but because he is the co-founder of Listen and Live Audio. At this most recent BEA, Listen and Live's production of L.A. Meyer's Curse of the Blue Tattoo swept the stage with a total of three Audie Awards. In between champagne toasts (and meeting Neil Gaiman, which I *promise* I'll get to, Mom!), I took a little of Alfred's time to ask him about his life, his adventures in audiobook publishing, and his newest book, Over the End Line.

Check out our interview here!

I had an amazing time at my first Necon. And as "amazing" is not nearly enough to describe it, look for a retrospective post coming soon. If you're impatient, all my Necon pics are live. If you start with the first one and page through, it makes for a pretty nifty travelogue.


The Breakfast Club: Bob, Kelli, Mary, Joe, Princess Alethea, Dickie, and Bandleader Jack Haringa

I also came out from under my rock because I couldn't forget to tell you that I have a live interview today with Jerrod Balzer at The Metal Crypt @ 3:30 EST. I'm a cute little author in a sea of some seriously hardcore performers...I'm listening to the podcast with Shadowside's Dani Nolden right now. That is one seriously beautiful and talented Brazillian woman. And she has the best hair.

I've found that in the genre world the friends of my friends are some pretty cool people. And so, based on the compliments of author Jim C. Hines, I liked Charlie Finlay long before I met him. Already a noted historian, C. C. Finlay is taking the speculative fiction world by storm this summer with his Traitor to the Crown trilogy: The Patriot Witch (April), A Spell for the Revolution (May), and The Demon Redcoat (June).

With my Genre Chick hat on, I took Charlie aside and asked him a few questions about his deepest darkest secrets. Here's what he had to say.

Click here to download a free copy of The Patriot Witch.

An interview in which Rich Dansky calls me a really cool person, and I proceed to act like a Geek Extraordinaire.
[Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Lee? Really?!? *smacks forehead*]

Find out which superpower author Nick Mamatas wishes he had, and whether or not he's ever eaten a cockroach -- check out our interview here.

Bonus Material:
Nick has a new short story out in the flagship issue for flash mag Brain Harvest: read "Patmos Like Pink Elephants" here.

I assumed I was just going to have my pic and interview on the front page of the Lifestyles section of the Daily News Journal...I only hoped it was "above the fold." After the Bleeding Hearts Club program yesterday (which was a smashing success -- pictures tk), Mom and I drove all around town (do you have any idea how HARD it is to find a newspaper in Murfreesboro?) gathering up a few papers.

Not only was I mentioned in the top bar on THE front page, I was splashed all over the front of the PULL-OUT SECTION, the table of contents of said section, and my interview was the centerfold.

Astonished doesn't quite cover it.

I met kenscholes  in 2006 at the World Fantasy Convention in Austin, Texas. My first impression was that of a pleasant man in an elbow-patched corduroy jacket; turns out he's a great singer, storyteller, and someone I've since been honored to call friend. One year later, at the same convention in Saratoga Springs, we celebrated his rare and much-talked-about five-book deal with Tor Books.  His series, The Psalms of Isaak, was announced with much fanfare and glowing reviews at Book Expo America. The first book--Lamentation--will be released this winter, with the second book--Canticle--arriving fast on its heels.

You haven't heard of Ken Scholes yet, but trust me--this time next year you won’t remember a bookstore or library without him.

Read our interview here.

I interviewed my dear friend, Campbell Award Winner, and Puppinatrix Mary Robinette Kowal for the latest issue of Subterranean Online. Find out the bizarre circumstances behind our first meeting and how, despite that, I seem to still rate an appearance in Mary's perfect day.

Be sure to also read Mary's short story "Waiting for Rain."


Princess Mary at the 2008 Hugo Awards

Two for the price of one! This month, Genre Chick Alethea Kontis sits down with dynamic publishing duo Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. Ann is the fiction editor for Weird Tales magazine; her husband Jeff is an award-winning author. Together they often join forces and co-edit some out-of-this-world anthologies. Join Alethea as she chats with the Vandermeers about pirates, Steampunk, and Weird, new and old.


Available now from Night Shade books

It may be Hotter Than Hell but the Dark Side has cookies! This month, join Genre Chick Alethea Kontis as she shares iced tea in the summer heat with sweet and spicy romance author Jackie Kessler. Enjoy! Read the interview here.

This month, Ingram Genre Chick Alethea Kontis finds herself the victim of Side Show ringleader (and longtime friend) Edmund R. Schubert, editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. I…

I honestly don't know what else to say. I've been waiting for an interview like this for four years. Enjoy! Read the interview here.