October 19, 2005. At 11:05 AM, PDT, the very last Titan missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. This is a launch vehicle that goes all the way back to the Gemini Program in the 1960s. Lee and I were there, and it was quite a show.
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VarleyNews Archives © 1999-2008 by John Varley; all rights reserved |
February 27, 2008 -
Oh, Shit! He's Running Again!Will somebody please stuff Ralph Nadir into a stout box, nail the box shut, ship it to Borneo, and let him cavort amongst the orangutans until November 5, the day after the elections?
December 24, 2007 - Got an email from Jeanne Robinson
She's days away from "flying high on Zero-Gravity Corporation’s refitted 727 for the ride of a lifetime!" Read about
The Stardance Project on her blog.
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July 18, 2007 - Varley's desk is featured in this month's issue of The VERB, the ultimate reading service for writers, by writers. |
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July 17, 2007 - We’re pleased to announce that my trilogy of TITAN, WIZARD, and DEMON have all been optioned by a Canadian producer. His intention is to turn them into three mini-series for cable TV. (HBO was mentioned, though no particular company is involved yet.) This is extremely early times for this project. Development, which can last for years, begins now. Without mentioning this man’s name, I can tell you that he has a long career in the movie business, and seems to genuinely love the books. If you love the books, it is far too early to get your hopes up … but it wouldn’t hurt to cross your fingers. And be sure to check back at this site, as we will update you on any progress. |
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May 12, 2007 - Borderland Books, San Francisco. Celebration of the release of The Tiptree Memorial Award Anthology 3, published by Tachyon Publications (Saving the world ... one good book at a time.) Varley joined Debbie Norkin, Pat Murphy, and Tim Pratt on a panel discussion about expanding and exploring gender in science fiction and fantasy. |
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March 25, 2007 - On March 22nd I entrusted the manuscript of my new novel, ROLLING THUNDER, to the gentle hands of the US Postal Service, who sent it, by jet aeroplane, to New York City, where it is now in the hands of my editor. This is the third and (possibly) last of the series that began with RED THUNDER and continued with RED LIGHTNING. I say possibly because the end of this book left enough threads that I could easily write a fourth book. And I'm tempted, because writing these three has been the most fun I've had at the keyboard in ten years or so. Reader response has been good, too. So keep checking here if you want to know what I've decided. If all goes according to plan, ROLLING THUNDER should be published in April of 2008. ROLLING THUNDER deals with the adventures and singing career of Podkayne, the daughter of Ray Strickland-Garcia and Evangeline Redmond, the main characters in RED LIGHTNING. Podkayne is the first Marsborn in this family. Ray, in turn, was the son of Manny Garcia and Kelly Strickland, who with some friends built and flew the first spaceship capable of reaching Mars and returning, as recounted by Manny in RED THUNDER. All three books were inspired by the brilliant "juvenile" novels of Robert A Heinlein from the 1950s and early 1960s, the books that are responsible for my career choice of writing science fiction. I hope you enjoy them. |
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February 1, 2007 - Yesterday a great American died. I'm speaking of Molly Ivins, perhaps the greatest enemy pompous windbags ever knew. |
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October 18, 2006 - We just got the news that The Planetary Society is including one of Varley's stories, "In the Hall of the Martian Kings," on a DVD to be sent to Mars on the Phoenix polar lander sometime next year. This is a project that was to originally have gone there on the Russian 1996 Mars mission, but the rocket failed dropping the whole thing in the drink.
Click here to see the letter from the Planetary Society. |
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July 31, 2006 - Crosby Stills Nash & Young "Freedom of Speech '06" concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Awesome!! Read about it; see photos. |
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July 1, 2006 - The Salt Lake County Library System has selected MAMMOTH as a nominee for their semi-annual Reader's Choice Award. "We want to include titles that are not a "best-sellers" but are so good you just can't put them down -- and when you do finish, you have to tell all your friends!" |
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June 8, 2006 - Ann Coulter - An apology |
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June 5, 2006 - Paperback MAMMOTH now available in bookstores and online! |
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May 30, 2006 - MAMMOTH comes out in paperback. |
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May 6, 2006 - Ace reissues OPHIUCHI HOTLINE. |
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April 6, 2006 - RED LIGHTNING in bookstores and online! |
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March 2, 2006 - Science Fiction Book Club buys RED LIGHTNING. |
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February 22, 2006 - Check out the February 2006 issue of LOCUS. MAMMOTH is on the RECOMMENDED READING LIST!! |
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February 2, 2006 - Lightning Strikes Home: John Joseph Adams interviews Varley for Sci Fi Wire, The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel. |
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October 15, 2005 - Ace says YES! Susan Allison accepted RED LIGHTNING. Publication date: April 6, 2006. |
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October 5, 2005 - For readers in Russia, Varley recently signed a contact with AST Publisher's Russian language publications for TITAN, WIZARD and DEMON. No date yet.
Для
русско-язычных читателей: Варлей недавно подписал
контракт с Российским издательством «АСТ» на публикацию
трилогии «Гея», включающие в себя «Титан», «Волшебник» и
«Демон»! Дата публикации оговаривается.
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October 19, 2005. At 11:05 AM, PDT, the very last Titan missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. This is a launch vehicle that goes all the way back to the Gemini Program in the 1960s. Lee and I were there, and it was quite a show. |
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September 27, 2005 - Varley express-mailed RED LIGHTNING to New York City! September 16, 2005 - Varley finished the first draft of RED LIGHTNING, sequel to RED THUNDER, about the time he got the cover in the mail. Now he's busy reading and rewriting. Publication date is April 6, 2006. |
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October 15, 2005 - Ace says YES! Susan Allison accepted RED LIGHTNING. Publication date: April 6, 2006. |
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October 5, 2005 - For readers in Russia, Varley recently signed a contact with AST Publisher's Russian language publications for TITAN, WIZARD and DEMON. No date yet.
Для
русско-язычных читателей: Варлей недавно подписал
контракт с Российским издательством «АСТ» на публикацию
трилогии «Гея», включающие в себя «Титан», «Волшебник» и
«Демон»! Дата публикации оговаривается.
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September 10, 2005 - CROSBY, STILLS & NASH concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It was a great concert! And we had good seats. Thanks Croz. |
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July 24, 2005 - BORDERLANDS BOOKS in San Francisco. Varley read from MAMMOTH and signed books.
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July 2, 2005 - WESTERCON 58. THE JOHN VARLEY READER wins Locus Award. Varley was honoured to accept the Locus Award for Best Collection at the 2005 Locus Awards Banquet. Many thanks to Charles, Liza and Marina for the wonderful time! |
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July 2005 – Shaun Farrell at FarSector.com interviewed Varley last month via email. Read it here. |
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July 2005 - Editor Tony Freixas at Tiger Heron Science Fiction & Fantasy Books picked MAMMOTH for its recommended reading list for this month. |
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July 1 - 4, 2005 - WESTERCON 58 "Due North" in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We were there! |
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June 22, 2005 - Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego: Varley read from and signed MAMMOTH. Met some interesting people, including 9-year-old Harmony who's already following Heinlein's first rule for becoming a writer. Write.
Varley reading Mammoth ● Patrick ● Christine, Patrick, Gordon |
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May 2005 - Editor Tony Freixas at Tiger Heron Science Fiction & Fantasy Books picked THE JOHN VARLEY READER for its recommended reading list for this month. |
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May 6, 2005 - Email from Susan Allison, Editorial Director at Berkley Publishing Group: "GREAT FABULOUS EXCELLENT news is: MAMMOTH is getting a starred PW review." (That's Publishers Weekly: The International Voice for Book Publishing and Bookselling.) "Next week, I think. Congratulations!" |
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Review from Publishers Weekly |
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êMammoth |
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When eccentric megabillionaire Howard Christian commissions a hunt for a frozen mammoth in northern Manitoba to clone a new model in Varley's rollicking, bittersweet tale of time travel and ecology, he gets more than he bargained for: next to the 12,000-year-old beast his team unearths lies the body of a human being, wearing a wristwatch, with a metal box—a time machine?—nearby. Christian hires Matt Wright, Canada's top scientist on the physics of time, to fix the machine, and employs elephant vet Susan Morgan to oversee the cloning of a new mammoth. The machine hurls Matt and Susan back to the mammoth age, then forward again, along with a baby Columbian woolly mammoth, Fuzzy, whose engaging story cleverly alternates with Christian's indefatigable quest for personal fame. Varley's sparkling wit pulls one surprise after another out of this unconventional blend of science and social commentary with real people convincingly doing unreal things. Fuzzy, though, is the true hero, an irresistible 15-foot-tall reminder of the wonders of nature and imagination. The winner of numerous Hugo and Nebula awards, Varley (Millennium) should garner new laurels with this outstanding effort. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved |
| at the San Francisco Chronicle |
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Borderlands●Other Change of Hobbit●Powell’s●Wrigley-Cross●Mysterious Galaxy●Amazon |
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March 2005 - The latest issue of Science Fiction Studies celebrates the Jules Verne Centenary. It features an excellent essay by SF writer/physicist Gregory Benford with the intriguing title: " Verne to Varley: Hard SF Evolves." There's a one year blackout on the website, so if you want to read it now (recommended), you can order a copy from your favorite bookstore or call 800 421-1561 Wesleyan University Press. [Disclosure: Varley knows Greg, frequently turns to him for his scientific expertise.] |
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March 25-27, 2005 - ConDor XII, San Diego's Longest-Running Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention, was really fun! Read Varley's Guest of Honor speech. |
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January 2005 – Nick Gevers at Science Fiction Weekly interviewed Varley by email December, 2004. Read it here. |
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December 3, 2004 – If you missed the October issue of Locus (Varley and Gunn Make Cover of Locus) with the Varley interview you can order it from Locus postage free (save $2.00) or get it completely free with a subscription!
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November 5, 2004 - Varley wins 200r Endeavour Award. Mike Stamm accepted the 2004 Endeavour Award for Varley (who is busy writing a sequel to RED THUNDER) at OryCon 26 in Portland, Oregon. |
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September 4, 2004 - Now in Bookstores: THE JOHN VARLEY READER is a collection of 18 stories including five previously uncollected stories. Varley introduces each story with tales about where he was, what he was doing, and, retrospectively, who he was when he wrote them. |
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It is probably as close to an autobiography as I will ever get. – John Varley |
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The short story is to science fiction what the seven-inch single was to rock: the most perfect yet the most mercilessly demanding form. My life-experience of John Varley’s stories has been that the great majority of them are quite literally unforgettable. – William Gibson |
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Reviews Rick Kleffel's review at The Agony Column. Daily Camera Books Review Editor Clay Evans' review. From SciFi.com a review by D Douglas Fratz.
Borderlands●Other Change of Hobbit●Powell’s●Wrigley-Cross●Mysterious Galaxy●Amazon |
