Sneak Preview from Ravens in the Library

Time only slows down for dying and speeding down empty highways. Winding thoughts of should-have-been are the only clocks when tires hiss with asphalt. Wise drivers know not to get lost there. Legendary ones just enjoy the ride. No one owns that moment, no matter what the automobile salesmen might try to say. You can flow into it, trudge long within it, and sometimes find Enlightenment because of it, but changing it is never going to happen.

Premonitions and chrome, they only reflect the angles you wish to see. This is even true when there is no hope that you will find out if the visions were true. Memories on the other hand are living things. There is no question that a life was lived.

Being murdered makes so many things so clear...

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- From "Mercury," by Elizabeth Jordan Leggett

Here's just a taste of the goodies gathered by our Ravens in the Library. As some of you may have seen, we signed Laurell K. Hamilton to this project yesterday, and she rounds out a roster of big names and new voices who've gathered their talents to help S.J. Tucker recover from her recent illness.

Elizabeth Jordan Leggett is one of those "new voice" contributors - a gifted author and artist whose work reveals just how rich 21st-century fantasy can be.

This story, and many others, appears only in Ravens in the Library. And although many Raven tales are reprints too, no other book contains the lineup of authors and artists you'll find within those pages.

Ravens in the Library goes to layout next week, and from there it goes to press in early February. I'll be posting more updates in this space as our release date nears. Come check 'em out, and please spread the word.

Thanks!

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Happy Obama Day!!!

Whatever today brings, whatever follows for the next four years, today marks an historic event.

It isn't merely that Barack Hussein Obama is a departure from the Crusty White Man power archetype that sets him apart. While there will be plenty of ink, tears and pixels spilled on that subject (here, among many other places), the true significance of today's inauguration is that the system worked. After eight years of being told and shown that we were trapped within a literally rigged game of Cowboy Poker, we the American People stood up, took control, and brought the most unlikely viable(*) presidential candidate in living memory and chose him to represent us all.

As I wrote on my other blog yesterday, the greatest power of an American president is symbolic. S/he reflects the nation as a whole. With Barack Obama, we have chosen a man who symbolizes the hope, diversity, intellect, eloquence, activism and decisive change from the Old Way Of Doing Things (TM). That a man whose father was an immigrant from a poor and often despised nation, whose mother held old roots in this country's shame and promise, whose skin color reflects the slavery that remains this nation's second-greatest sin (**) and whose ballsy intellect embodies its bravest virtue could become our president says great things about our culture. It's not time to give up on us yet. And that, I think, is the most inspiring thing of all.

May Obama remain the symbol these desperate times demand. May he dodge every bullet (figurative and literally) and transcend his own failings. May this be the beginning of a new, enduring path for America and for our world as we enter the second decade of this new and challenging millennium. May all attacks against him fail and return against their senders with Threefold Return, save those launched in justice should he turn from his proclaimed path. May Obama the Man survive his vast potential of becoming Obama the Martyr, and may the Hope he represents become the gateway for a new and better age for us all.

Whatever happens from here on out, we stand on the threshold of a brand new era.

May Barack Obama, America and humanity as a whole prove worthy of this moment.

Blessings!






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* - By this, I mean one who actually stood a chance of being elected and serving in office.

** - I count the Native American genocide as its greatest sin.

RAVENS IN HE LIBRARY: AN ALL-STAR BENEFIT COLLECTION

Featuring Tales by:
Ari Berk
Holly Black
Francesca Lia Block
Phil Brucato
Sam Chupp
Storm Constantine
Charles de Lint
Ben Dobyns
Jaymi Elford
Neil Gaiman
Alexandra Honigsberg
Elizabeth Jordan Leggett
Shira Lipkin
Angel Leigh McCoy
Seanan McGuire
Kris Millering and Storm Wilder
Mia Nutick
S.J. Tucker
Carrie Vaughn
Catherynne M. Valente
Terri Windling

and others...

With Illustrations by:
Amy Brown
James A. Owen
Brian Syme

and others...

Edited by:
Phil Brucato
& Sandra Buskirk

Graphic Design by:
Sherry Lynne Baker

The Ravens in the Library Project, in connection with
"A Healthy Dose of Sooj" and "Save Our Sooj" presents

RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY:
MAGIC IN THE BARD'S NAME

A Limited Edition Collection of Stories and Art dedicated to the health of S.J. Tucker

This special VERY limited edition has been compiled to defray the medical expenses and recovery of musician S.J. Tucker.

The collection will NOT be released in stores, and it is NOT downloadable! It will be available only as long as those expenses remain unresolved. After that, RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY will disappear.

Order your advance copy today... Before they fly away forever!

$25.00 includes shipping & handling within the continental United States

Anticipated Release Date*: Feb. 22, 2009
Trade Paperback format
Color covers, B&W interiors
Self-Published by The Ravens in the Library Project

With Heartfelt Thanks to Ellen Datlow and all contributors.

* - barring delays in printing or production.