10/07/03 TUE:
---Word from Meisha Merlin:
"Dear GRRM customers,

Here’s the lastest news on all things Limited from Meisha Merlin:
“ Tuf Voyaging
The Tuf Voyaging title pages have been shipped off to Janet Aulisio, who is
autographing and doing the remarque sketch. The pages will then be sent to
George and Michael to be signed, and back to the printer to be tipped into
the book as it gets bound. Assuming this all goes as smoothly as planned,
the target release for the book is still mid-November.

A Clash of Kings
George and John have reviewed and approved the printer’s final layout. Soon
as we hear a target date from the printer, we’ll pass it on to you.

The latest on the sketches by John: John’s sketches are absolutely
beautiful! He did anywhere from 1 - 4 sketches per board, and doesn’t want
them cut. There are about 30 boards in total. As soon as John gives us a
price per board, we will pass that info along and will post scans and prices
on our website.

Thanks again for your patience concerning Book Two. We’re in the final
stretch now, and everything from this point on should go smoothly!

A Storm of Swords
Charles Vess surprised us today with a new piece of interior art that wasn’t
part of the plan for A Storm of Swords, but is a little something that he
and George worked out together. This new piece is a pencil sketch for a
painting that is intended to be front and back endpapers. Charles describes
this piece: “When painted it will be drenched in blue tones. At night in the
deep, snow covered woods, an exhausted Sam, Small Paul and Grenn encounter
the ‘Other’ riding on the dead, blue-eyed horse.” This means that A Storm
of Swords will contain four colour pieces rather than three. The maps that
were used as endpaper in the previous editions will be relocated to
somewhere in the interior. I’ve finally gotten the cover painting as well
as the new sketch uploaded to our site; you folks get exclusive look at them
until the pages for the book go live on our site. Here’s the link:
http://www.meishamerlin.com/stormofswordsart.html

In addition to the endpaper painting, Charles has confirmed that he will be
doing everything in the interior, which means a complete new set of sigils
and chapter headings, as well as his beautiful interior artwork.

Also, for those of you not subscribed to the regular monthly newsletter:
Charles will be exhibiting his work at the World Fantasy Convention in DC in
November, and on view as part of this exhibition will be the Storm cover and
interior colour paintings. If you’re going to be in DC for the convention,
be sure to drop by the art show to take a peek at what’s in store in Book
Three!

A Feast For Crows
Once George has completed the manuscript for the Fourth Book, he will be
forwarding a copy to Tom Canty to read and begin working on the interior
sketches.

A Dance With Dragons:
While in Toronto for World Con, George and Stephe took the opportunity to
have lunch with Ted Nasmith, artist for Book Five. Ted and George discussed
very basic concepts for the book (nothing specific, as it hasn’t been
written yet!) and Ted is excited to be a part of the project. Like Charles,
he will be creating the entire interior (artwork, sigils and chapter
headings) himself.

Thanks everyone! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at
any time. Hope you’re doing well!

Alan Siler
Meisha Merlin Publishing, Inc.
www.meishamerlin.com

Available in August/September:
Tuf Voyaging (George R. R. Martin)
Low Port (Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, ed.)
Myth Alliances (Robert Asprin & Jody Lynn Nye)
Relative Magic (Tanya Huff)

Available for pre-order:
Balance of Trade (Sharon Lee and Steve Miller)”

---Word from American Fantasy:
"We've been awfully quiet, resting from two very busy years (actually just paying off the bills). While we have nothing new this Fall, Look for news in the beginning of 2004.

In the meantime, we just wanted to alert you to the fact that Randy Broecker has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award for Best Artist. Winners will be announced at the British Fantasy Convention (aka FantasyCon) on November 23rd at the Tillington Hall Hotel, Stafford.

So those of you who will be there, or possibly have strong British sales, might want to consider copies of THE BROECKER SAMPLER.

THE BROECKER SAMPLER
Saddle-stitched
5 1/2 x 8 1/2 chapbook style publication
printed on acid-free paper.
$10.00 Suggested Retail Price
ALL COPIES SIGNED BY ARTIST
350 copy press run.

This is the first collection of the beautiful black and white artwork of Randy Broecker, one of the finest illustrators in modern horror and fantasy. This sampler is a great introduction to this fabulous artist, who has been delighting fans with his art for over 20 years.

Dark, eerie, weird and wonderful, here you will find examples of his work from The Black Wolf, Dark Detectives, the unpublished Tanith Lee's Delusion's Master, Fantasy Tales, Elric from The Dreamthief's Daughter, The Illustrated Guide to Supernatural Literature by H.P. Lovecraft, Fantasy Newsletter, and a number of pieces published for the first time. He's also designed creatures for computer games, and much more. See why Broecker was named Guest of Honor at the 2002 World Horror Convention, and is now a 2003 British Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Artist.”

---Word from North Atlantic:
"Science Fiction
----------
And Now the News by Theodore Sturgeon, 1-55643-460-X,
$35.00, Spring 2003, NAB
- Written between 1955 and 1957, the 15 stories in And Now the
News ... include five previously uncollected stories along with five
well-known works, two cowritten with genre legend Robert
Heinlein. Spanning his most creative period, these tales show
why Sturgeon won every science fiction award given. The
foreword is by Octavia Butler, the acclaimed author of Lilith's
Brood, Kindred, and Mind of My Mind.
http://www.northatlanticbooks.com/public_relations/2003/pr_nowthenews.html"

---It says Spring/2003 but the publication news is only now appearing. And I have had my pre-order in for several weeks now. So maybe the book is going to be here soon. Maybe I should check on it. As of today, though, amazon.com still says: “Availability: This item has not yet been released. You may order it now and we will ship it to you when it arrives.” Ditto here.