Norilana Books

For once, I am proud to announce this great review of my own editorial debut! :-)

Publishers Weekly has good things to say about the fantasy anthology Sky Whales and Other Wonders edited by Yours Truly, coming December 1, 2009:

"Priced to sell, Norilana founder Nazarian's first anthology presents 11 intriguingly off-kilter fantasy stories where the unexpected doesn't so much jump out in the reader's path as subtly peek around corners..."
—Publishers Weekly

Read the rest of the review...

At last!

It's coming in a matter of days from the Curiosities imprint of Norilana Books!

MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES:
Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love,
and Other Dire Delights

by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian

. . .
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norilana Books presents The Captain's Witch, a stunning, erotic, dark epic fantasy by the acclaimed historical novelist Rosemary Hawley Jarman, newly revised and expanded, and detailing the complex story of true love and impossible evil.

"One of the greatest dark fantasies ever written -- in any genre." — Tanith Lee

The Captain's Witch by Rosemary Hawley Jarman




Her kiss can maim you
Her eyes can blind you
Her bed is shadows . . .

She is the dark of the moon
She is all that is dear
And she is death

Can you trust her?
Where will her lantern lead you?
To the bliss of death
Or the death of bliss

Know the most dangerous of all . . .

Rosemary Hawley Jarman was born in Worcester, England and came to fame in 1971 with her novel We Speak No Treason. Reprinted many times, the book's hero is the much maligned King Richard III. It sold 30,000 copies in its first week of publication, and gained her the prestigious Author's Club Silver Quill for best first novel, while in the U.S.A. she was nominated as a Daughter of Mark Twain. Further equally successful novels followed, also an illustrated account of the Battle of Agincourt. She lives in an antique stone cottage between sea and mountain in West Wales. The Captain's Witch is her first fantasy novel, and she is now working on a sequel.

Her website is: www.rosemaryhawleyjarman.com


The Captain's Witch by Rosemary Hawley Jarman
Norilana Books Fantasy
420 pages

Trade Hardcover (Revised and Excpanded Edition)
November 1, 2009
Retail Price: $27.95 USD - £20.00 GBP
ISBN-13: 978-1-60762-045-7
ISBN-10: 1-60762-045-6

Trade Paperback (Revised and Excpanded Edition)
November 5, 2009
Retail Price: $14.95 USD - £10.50 GBP
ISBN-13: 978-1-60762-046-4
ISBN-10: 1-60762-046-4

Click for more information...

Order Your Copy:

- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Amazon UK
- Amazon CA
- Amazon FR
- Amazon DE
- Amazon JP

Norilana Books is a Los Angeles-based new independent publisher, owned and operated by Vera Nazarian since 2006. With over 250 books in print, Norilana Books specializes in beautifully packaged hardcover and trade paperback classics of world literature, quality fantasy, science fiction, romance and women's fiction, and young adult titles. For more information visit http://www.norilana.com/

Contact:

Vera Nazarian, Publisher
Norilana Books, P.O. Box 2188, Winnetka, CA 91396
service (at) norilana.com - http://www.norilana.com/
Catalog of Books in Print: http://www.norilana.com/norilana-catalog.htm
Blog: http://norilanabooks.livejournal.com/

Vera Nazarian and Norilana Books are interviewed by Rebecca Buchanan over at Sequential Tart.

Here's a snippet from the interview:

. . .
Romantic fantasy is something in-between — in fact, it's kind of like real life: life is not a love story but a personal growth and struggle story, as most fantasy plots are. We all have major life goals, and obstacles to overcome, and somewhere along the way we might find people who we love and who love us, and who accompany us in our greater struggles and life journeys (the plot).

Thus, the best romantic fantasy recognizes the strength of love in our lives and rejoices in it, but not to the exclusion of other important personal / social / universal goals . . .

Read the rest of the interview . . .

(Here is yet another unedited snippet from the work-in-progress, subject to revision in the final version...)

EXCERPT 4...

The butler cleared his throat.

“Begging pardon, Sir Thomas -- at this late hour, the Lady Bertram sends to inform -- there are -- baboons in the ballroom.”

Sir Thomas was somewhat weary of interruptions but duly unperturbed. “Baddeley -- be so kind as to remind Her Ladyship, every ballroom has its share of baboons. There is nothing one can do, when those of inferior breeding are allowed to mingle with the better set. One need but revise the regular invitation list to omit the undesirables next time. Do remind me on the morrow --”

“Begging pardon again, but one does not mean to speak in metaphor. There are actual baboons in the grand ballroom. Flesh and blood, simian. As early as this noon, perfectly inanimate and on display in this household, together with the other fruits of the Nile, as mummified objets d'art. At present, actively consuming the supper buffet spread. And tossing their own excrement at the serving staff.”


Sir Thomas became rather still.

“In addition,” Baddeley informed his master, “I am told there is a crocodile. A decidedly non-metaphorical one. Also initially mummified and hailing from the African Continent. Last seen in the drawing room, gnawing -- apparently something one would rather not venture to guess. But, I am told, the divan is in shambles.”

“What of -- the guests?”

“Bedlam, Sir.”
...

MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES:
Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses,
True Love, and Other Dire Delights
by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian

Read additional excerpts here...

Forthcoming November 10, 2009 from the Curiosities imprint of Norilana Books.

. . .
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norilana Books presents Under the Rose, a new cutting-edge anthology of contemporary stories of the fantastic, edited by Dave Hutchinson, featuring work from some of today's brightest literary talents.

"...a handful of real gems." — Publishers Weekly

Under the Rose edited by Dave Hutchinson



From fantasy to dark fantasy and horror to science fiction and the hard-to-categorize works of the imagination that fall somewhere in-between, there is something here to appeal to the most curious reader.

This volume includes stories by:

Pauline E Dungate, Tim Lieder, William John Watkins, Mel Sterling, Jean Graham, Ken Rand, Teri Smith, Liza Granville, Ralan Conley, Stuart Jaffe, CL Russo, James Targett, Ren Holton, Donna Scott, Justin Stanchfield, Lou Anders and Chris Roberson, Ian Whates, Gaie Sebold, Jean Tschohl Quinn, Angel Arango, Ekaterina Sedia, Edwina Harvey, Sarah Totton, William R Eakin, Uncle River, and John Grant.

Dave Hutchinson was born in Sheffield in 1960. He's the author of the novel The Villages and the short-story collections Thumbprints, Fools Gold, Torn Air, The Paradise Equation and As The Crow Flies. He's the co-editor (with John Grant) of Strange Pleasures 2 and the editor of Strange Pleasures 3. His short stories have appeared in Interzone, SciFiction, Revolution SF, Infinity Plus, Live Without A Net (Lou Anders, ed.) Celebration (Ian Whates, ed.) and Subterfuge (Ian Whates, ed.)
He lives in London.


Under the Rose edited by Dave Hutchinson
Norilana Books Fantasy
Trade Paperback (First Edition)
October 1, 2009
Retail Price: $16.95 USD - £12.00 GBP
ISBN-13: 978-1-60762-042-6
ISBN-10: 1-60762-042-1
452 pages

Click for more information...

Order Your Copy:

- Amazon
- Barnes & Noble
- Amazon UK
- Amazon CA
- Amazon FR
- Amazon DE
- Amazon JP

Norilana Books is a Los Angeles-based new independent publisher, owned and operated by Vera Nazarian since 2006. With over 250 books in print, Norilana Books specializes in beautifully packaged hardcover and trade paperback classics of world literature, quality fantasy, science fiction, romance and women's fiction, and young adult titles. For more information visit http://www.norilana.com/

Contact:

Vera Nazarian, Publisher
Norilana Books, P.O. Box 2188, Winnetka, CA 91396
service (at) norilana.com - http://www.norilana.com/
Catalog of Books in Print: http://www.norilana.com/norilana-catalog.htm
Blog: http://norilanabooks.livejournal.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Norilana Books has come to another seven-book agreement with the legendary British novelist Tanith Lee to reprint two of her classic high fantasy epic trilogies of novels, the Birthgrave Trilogy and The Wars of Vis sequence, plus one original.

This includes the novels THE BIRTHGRAVE, VAZKOR, SON OF VAZKOR, and QUEST FOR THE WHITE WITCH, and, in The Wars of Vis sequence, THE STORM LORD, ANACKIRE, and THE WHITE SERPENT, plus one new previously unpublished, untitled original sequel to conclude the Wars of Vis sequence. The books will be released starting in 2010, from the dedicated TaLeKa imprint.

Tanith Lee is the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories, plus 4 radio plays (broadcast by the BBC) and 2 scripts for the TV cult UK SF series Blake's 7. Her work, which has been translated into over 17 languages, ranges through fantasy, SF, gothic, YA and children's books, contemporary, historical and detective novels, and horror. This year she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror 2009. Major awards include the August Derleth Award for DEATH'S MASTER, the second book in the Flat Earth series.

TaLeKa is a new dedicated imprint of Norilana Books, showcasing the works of Tanith Lee and the art of John Kaiine.

Norilana Books is a Los Angeles-based new independent publisher, owned and operated by Vera Nazarian since 2006. With over 250 books in print, Norilana Books specializes in beautifully packaged hardcover and trade paperback classics of world literature, quality fantasy, science fiction, romance and women's fiction, and young adult titles. For more information visit http://www.norilana.com/

Contact:

Vera Nazarian, Publisher
Norilana Books, P.O. Box 2188, Winnetka, CA 91396
service (at) norilana.com - http://www.norilana.com/
Catalog of Books in Print: http://www.norilana.com/norilana-catalog.htm
Blog: http://norilanabooks.livejournal.com/

In a regular series of annual interviews of the contributors to the classic Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series of anthologies, Jonathan Moeller jonathanmoeller continues this year's interviews for volume 24 by interviewing Michael H. Payne hyniof.

Read this week's new interview here...

Read the previous interview with Deborah J. Ross...

Proudly presenting the stellar lineup...

This is the Table of Contents for Lace and Blade 3 edited by Deborah J. Ross deborahjross:

LACE AND BLADE 3

Table of Contents

Kari Sperring, "Featherweight"
Sean McMullen, "Culverelle"
Sheila Finch, "Fortune's Stepchild"
Judith Tarr, "The Horned King"
Jay Lake & Shannon Page, "Embers"
Tanith Lee, "Question a Stone"
Dave Smeds, "A Swain of Kneaded Moonlight"
Rosemary Hawley Jarman, "Fire and Frost and Burning Rose"
K. D. Wentworth, "The Garden of Swords"
Diana L. Paxson, "Blue Velvet"
Samantha Henderson, "Outlander"
Carol Berg, "The Heart's Coda"


Also, I realize we did not have a reading period for this anthology, and for that I sincerely apologize to all of you, mea culpa. The editor and I had a mis-communication, and it ended up being an invitational volume this year.

Next year should be different!

Sneak Peek Cover...

Sky Whales and Other Wonders edited by Vera Nazarian

Coming December 1, 2009 from Norilana Books Fantasy.

Cover Artwork: "Sky Whales," © 2009 by Ahyicodae.

Click on images to see full-size... (Standard Disclaimer Note: this is the ARC edition, not the final cover.)




Cover jacket flat:

The excellent Charles Tan (chartlesatan) reviews over at Bibliophile Stalker the classic fantasy novel Night's Master (Tales from the Flat Earth: Book One) by Tanith Lee, newly reissued by Norilana Books:

"...within the framework Lee is working with, she also subverts it. For example, a trope of such narratives is the rewarding of good deeds but here, that's not necessarily the case. Good acts can lead to terrible outcomes, and evil characters might end up doing good. There's also an acknowledgment of differing morals: demons are considered evil by man because the former have different mores from the latter. Mind you, all of this in a book that was published years before I was born..."

Read the rest of the review...

Reflection's Edge thoughtfully reviews, in an interesting "evolution of geek culture" context, the intense poetry memoir The Memory Palace by JoSelle Vanderhooft (upstart_crow):

"The Memory Palace says the most about genre by not emphasizing its author's genre background—by treating its genre influences as neither more nor less important than Vanderhooft's other cultural experiences. It is remarkable simply by the fact of its existence; in some other years, Vanderhooft would be barred from writing anything so personal, so literary, and so devoid of dragons." —Romie Stott, Reflection's Edge

Read the rest of the review...

Our anthology author Saladin Ahmed's wonderful fantasy story "Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela" originally published in Clockwork Phoenix 2 is specially featured for free online, at Fantasy Book Critic!

SFCrowsnest.com reviews the SF anthology Warrior Wisewoman 2 edited by Roby James, and has many good things to say:

"With over half the stories in this volume this strong then there has to be something here for everyone..." —GF Willmetts, SFCrowsnest.com (9-1-09)

Read the rest of the review...

The Fix gives a great review to the SF anthology Warrior Wisewoman 2 edited by Roby James:

"Though almost no story is "about" the theme, and there is no individual story whose impact would have been lessened by being read outside the context of this anthology, the mere collection of stories with female protagonists is enough to provide a refreshingly different reading experience. It's not that there is some single female element these stories uniformly provide, but merely that focusing on female protagonists exposes us to a wide range of voices and character types that are more rarely explored in other venues." —Ziv Wities, The Fix (8-25-09)

Read the rest of the review...

...

Here is a very nice blog review of the stunning apocalyptic SF novel J. by William Sanders.

The reading period for Warrior Wisewoman 3, the third volume of the exciting SF annual anthology series from Norilana Books, edited by Roby James is now open, beginning September 1, 2009.

For more information, please see the updated submission guidelines and submit your stories!

As always, it is strongly recommended that you read the previous volumes to get an idea of what kind of material editor Roby James is looking for.

Note: the competition has increased with each year, so please send only your best work.

Norilana Books is proud to announce a new original themed fantasy anthology, Scheherazade's Facade: Fantastical Tales of Gender Bending, Cross-Dressing and Transformation, edited by Michael M. Jones ( oneminutemonkey ).

The volume is scheduled for October 2010 release from Norilana Books Fantasy.

For theme specifics, submission information, reading period, and other detail, please see the Submission Guidelines.

We look forward to seeing your fabulous stories! :-)

The contracts have all gone out, so, without further ado...

Introducing, the final story lineup for fantasy anthology Sky Whales and Other Wonders, coming December 1, 2009 from Norilana Books Fantasy:

Table of Contents

"The Sky Won't Listen" by Tanith Lee

"The Tin and the Damask Rose" by Anna Tambour

"What a Queen Does with her Hands" by Erzebet YellowBoy

"The Gifting of Nyla's Son" by Linda J. Dunn

"Stone Song" by Sonya Taaffe

"Sky Whales" by Lisa Silverthorne

"Death's Appointment Book, or the Dance of Death" by JoSelle Vanderhooft

"The Sugar" by Mary A. Turzillo

"She Who Runs" by Mike Allen

"Breaking Laws" by John Grant

"Only One Story But He Told It Well" by Robert Brandt

preliminary cover

It has been observed that there is an unusual tendency in this lineup to have all the women authors' stories first, followed by the men authors, and honest, I didn't plan it that way, it just seems to be the best order for the stories themselves... :-)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Norilana Books has acquired MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES: Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love, and Other Dire Delights, a hilarious and witty mashup parody of Jane Austen's classic novel in which Fanny Price must hold steadfast not only against the seductive charms of Henry Crawford but also an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, while Edmund attempts Exorcisms, Miss Crawford vamps out, Aunt Norris channels her inner werewolf, the Mummy-mesmerized Lady Bertram collects Egyptian artifacts, and Mansfield Park is a battleground for the forces of Ancient Evil and Regency True Love.

Publisher and author Vera Nazarian will herself pen this novel for the Curiosities imprint.

The title is scheduled for a trade paperback release in October, 2009.