I talked to her over the weekend, at Boskone. Not only do I "know" her -- i.e., I have chatted with her at conferences a couple of times --, the first time we met, I knew who she was but she paused and looked at me funny and said, "Did you used to shop a lot at Avenue Victor Hugo [local book store]?" And that was how my first chat with her began.

She and her husband Gavin both used to work there, at a time when I shopped there like twice a month.

From ScifiWire:

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America has created a new literary award to recognize outstanding science fiction and fantasy novels that are written for the young adult market, named in honor of Andre Norton, author of more than 100 novels, including the acclaimed Witch World series.

Pratchett fans: A Discworld fan film.

Any fans of the traditional Regency romance out there? (Traditionals being shorter, generally less sexually explicit, and more mannered than Regency historicals, which are what I currently write.) The buzz that I'm hearing from writer-land is that both major publishers who currently publish trads (NAL/Signet and Kensington/Zebra) are considering discontinuing their lines unless sales pick up soon. So if you enjoy these books, do your bit for their survival and buy some new ones soon.

Kensington is trying a new approach with their Regency covers, moving from this and this to a more modern chick-litty feel like this: [link] and this: [link] Which is definitely an improvement--I hope it's not too little too late.

The buzz that I'm hearing from writer-land is that both major publishers who currently publish trads (NAL/Signet and Kensington/Zebra) are considering discontinuing their lines unless sales pick up soon.

I wouldn't be shocked if it happened--to be honest, I've kind of expected it since F-C dropped the subgenre. And I *would* buy them, as a fan of the traditionals, except that (with the exception of about two or three Signet writers), the quality of the writing isn't up to scratch these days, especially in Kensington/Zebra.

It's a pity, because there used to be a high concentration of good writers in Traditional Regency.

I'm going to at least try the two new-cover Zebras I linked to, because I know the authors and those are their first books. Sort of a sisterhood thing, I guess--try the books, and if I like them, talk them up as much as I can.

It's weird, though, because the Signet editor I met at conference last year seemed more interested in acquiring trads than historicals--which disappointed me, because there's really no way in hell my wip could ever be edited into a trad. But I'm getting the impression Signet is kinda bearish on historicals in general, outside of their established authors. Which is too bad, because I think there's a wide open market for a major publisher to take some small risks within the subgenre--everything from moving beyond the medieval Scotland-Regency England-Victorian England range of acceptable settings to doing new things with the traditional settings. Like, oh, I dunno, gritty Regency historicals set on battlefields rather than ballrooms. Gee, who do I know who writes those? t looks in mirror What really interests me is that the most risk-taking historical publisher these days is Harlequin, who until very recently was going to give up selling historicals in the North American market except on their website and through their bookclub. Apparently the outcry was so great they changed their mind, and their guidelines say they're interested in anything from the ancient world through WWII.

Strange, this industry is. And just when you think you understand it, it flips around on you again.

named in honor of Andre Norton

Oh, that's just fab. I grew up on Norton, and a lot of my stories have been very Norton-esque.

I used to read a lot of the traditional Regencies--when I was younger, and my mom was cool with me reading those, since there was no sex. These days, I tend to read a lot of the bigger more sex-filled but still set in the Regency era ones.

Norton informed the world in my head, too. I occasionally come up with a particularly tidy bit of exposition that I have a tiny internal squee about, and then later realize I've merely canibalized and rewritten Norton. I read her at particularly impressionable periods, I think. And her world-building, language, and storytelling definitely still has an influence on me.

I include the usual pre-1985 qualifier, here. Or whenever it was that her stuff became "co-written." A writer friend mentioned that when she was a lowly copyeditor she actually essentially rewrote a Norton for publication. Probably the early to mid 80s.

The buzz that I'm hearing from writer-land is that both major publishers who currently publish trads (NAL/Signet and Kensington/Zebra) are considering discontinuing their lines unless sales pick up soon. So if you enjoy these books, do your bit for their survival and buy some new ones soon.

That's depressing. I haven't read any in a while, but I used to love Carla Kelly, Mary Balogh, and Mary Jo Putney.