Frostwork

2009-08-29T12:02:00.000-07:00

The august Michael Ventrella has interviewed me to find out just what happens when you point at gun at asparagus. Of course, we're all dying to find out.

http://michaelaventrella.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/interview-with-gregory-frost/

-gf

Red Rocket Studio

2009-07-05T13:39:00.001-07:00

For readers and writers of sf and fantasy, join the discussions at:

Red Rocket Station

http://www.redrocketstation.com/

Frost Weighs in on SF SIGNAL

2009-04-29T08:58:00.000-07:00

This month SF Signal's MIND MELD posed the following question to a group of sf and fantasy writers:

In a created fantasy world, gods can proliferate by the hundreds. When building religious systems for fantasies, what are the advantages/disadvantages of inventing pantheons vs. single gods, or having no religious component at all?

Find out the answers by visiting SF Signal's site.

Frost Weighs in On SF SIGNAL

2009-04-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

SF Signal's MIND MELD asked a collection of sf and fantasy writers the following question:

Read the answers here.

Library Journal Picks Shadowbridge

2009-02-24T20:08:00.000-08:00

Shadowbridge ranks among top four fantasy novels.

Hardwired for Fantasy

2009-02-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Lynne Jamneck interviews yours truly for Suite.101

best,

Bookgasm has a...bookgasm over LORD TOPHET

2009-02-07T11:03:00.000-08:00

Lord Tophet
Author: Mark Rose

Gregory Frost’s LORD TOPHET is the completion of a two-book adventure started so magnificently in the opening SHADOWBRIDGE. In the first book, we discovered the young woman Leodora, who became a successful puppeteer under the stage name of Jax.
As she traveled the various worlds, all of which are sited on huge bridges that span an apparently endless sea, we learned more of her background and that of her traveling companions: the odd and taciturn Soter, and the god-touched musician Diverus. Jax’s search for something — perhaps news of her long-lost mother and father, perhaps just for something she can cling to — left the reader aching for more at the conclusion of the first book.

Now, at the conclusion of the second, one must hope that Frost finds a way to resurrect this storyline and continue these remarkable tales of the traveling puppet show and the unique societies of the bridgelands and the capricious gods who occasionally touch down in the bridges’ attached dragon bowls.

In this novel, Jax, Soter and Diverus continue on their travels until they encounter the devastation of Lord Tophet, a Lord of Chaos who devours spans and those who live on them, who leaves in his wake nothing but blight and destruction. Finally, after almost a book and a half of avoiding the subject, Soter tells Leodora of the fate of her mother and father, and how Lord Tophet was directly to blame. Soter only wishes to go elsewhere, to avoid the Lord, but it is not to be.

These are books about stories, as Frost often throws in a marvelous and lushly detailed parable right in the middle of the text, often as a part of Jax’s performance. These tales all have a timeless feel of myths of all lands, and make one think of Sir James George Frazer’s THE GOLDEN BOUGH, with its catalogue of common religious themes spread among fables and stories. Frost’s storytelling — both the stories within the story and the overlying tale of Jax — is intricate, detailed, filled with surprising twists, and emotionally felt. The fantastical elements are expertly interwoven and prevent one from thinking, “Well, that’s just too crazy” — a common failing among many modern fantasies today.

This duology is a perfect read for those who love and understand the arcs of storytelling, and how sometimes, a good story is better than even having one’s own adventure. Very worthwhile. —Mark Rose

Shadowbridge, the Musical

2009-02-05T14:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, this doesn't happen too often (or not often enough, anyway, to me).
Singer/songwriter (and fellow blogspot blogger) John Anealio contacted me through Facebook to let me know that my novels Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet inspired him enough to write a song for my main character, Leodora, called, appropriately enough, "Leodora."

Needless to say, I am personally blown away. Will come back to earth real soon now....

gf

Amadis of Gaul, the book that drove Don Quixote mad

2009-01-27T06:49:00.001-08:00

This came this morning from my friend, Sue Burke, in Madrid:

In January, I began translating Amadis of Gaul, a medieval Spanish novel of chivalry that became the Renaissance's first best-seller. You can read a chapter a week at http://amadisofgaul.blogspot.com

The novel tells the story of Amadis, the greatest knight who ever lived, and his adventures and love. The book zoomed to success and quickly spawned dozens of sequels and spin-offs across Europe. A century later, in 1605, it was even satirized by Miguel de Cervantes in "Don Quixote," in which a crazy old man imagines himself a valiant young knight-errant like Amadis.

Courage, combat, romance, sorcery, intrigue, and danger, medieval-style. This novel drove Don Quixote mad. What will it do to you?

(Note: It's Creative Commons 3.0, distribution and derivative works permitted [encouraged], so if it does something creative to you, go for it.)

Interview at The Fix-Online-short stories

2008-09-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

The Fix Online Short Fiction Review has an interview with me (ostensibly on the topic of short fiction) at
http://thefix-online.com/interviews/gregory-frost/

gf

Books Without Borders

2008-09-12T10:24:00.001-07:00

An essay on the state of bookstores, the slow death of a chain, and what it may mean for all writers.
http://www.wildriverreview.com/oped_bookswoutbordes.php

gf

Don't take my word for it....

2008-08-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

New review of Shadowbridge and Lord Tophet on LiveJournal.

Concludes the reviewer: MUST HAVE

gf out

LORD TOPHET IS LOOSE!

2008-07-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

LORD TOPHET, the sequel to SHADOWBRIDGE, released today, July 29th. This volume concludes the story of Leodora and Diverus, so don't wait for volume three to come out, because there isn't one. As with its predecessor, the reviews coming in are raves, therefore rather than having me tell you shamelessly that book is exceptional, I'll let them do it:
—Publishers Weekly: "Frost brings the charm of an ancient storyteller and the wit of a contemporary tale-spinner to this dramatic tale, effortlessly manipulating his troupe of mortals and immortals and bringing the truths and myths of Shadowbridge equally to life."

 —Paul Witcover, SciFi Weekly: "His pages bristle with the kind of lively energy I associate with Miyazaki films, and his delight in the stories his characters hear and transform and retell is palpable and contagious." 

—Fantasy Book Critic: "...not only is Lord Tophet...a richly rewarding experience, it is also one of the few must-read fantasies of the year." 

LORD TOPHET
 by Gregory Frost
 Del Rey Books $14.00
 ISBN: 978-0-345-49759-8

Author Interview at Fantasy BookSpot.com

2008-07-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Interview with Jay Tomio, tied in to LORD TOPHET, the sequel to SHADOWBRIDGE.

On the Spot at The Bookspot.

2008-06-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Liars Club Takes Philadelphia

On June 12th, D.H. Dublin (Jon McGoran), Jonathan Maberry, L.A. Banks, Gregory Frost, and Kelly Simmons took over a Barnes & Noble and held the audience hostage while they read and discussed the process of writing. No audience members were injured.
gf

Jason Van Hollander dips into Classic Imagery to Illustrate Attack of the Jazz Giants

2008-05-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

Golden Gryphon Press chose the cover artist for Attack of the Jazz Giants, and in "Six-Degrees of Separation" event, they selected Jason Van Hollander, a multiple World Fantasy Award winning artist who also happens to live a block from me.

I live in an artistic community, though you wouldn't know it if you came to visit. On the surface, everything appears to be normal here, the way it would be if we'd all been taken over by pods from outer space. My next door neighbor, Bryan Willette, is a stained glass artist. Up the street is carpenter, and next to him a guy who builds movie sets. Across the street from Jason, a photographer. Behind us, a guitar virtuoso. A few blocks away, a children's book illustrator/writer.

This communal spirit created a rare collaborative bond between us. Not only was Jason showing me sketches for the cover, he was also proposing to include interior illustrations for the stories.

I printed out the stories that we'd selected for the collection and he read them. He asked questions about them. He followed me home in the dark. (You, you foolish people, you think I'm kidding.)We spent time in a few libraries, researching source material. I hunted up images of Bing Crosby and Bob Hope for him, while he invaded the stacks on a quest for odd Russian iconography for another set of drawings. He threw himself into the creation of the book, vanishing for days, weeks, at a time, only to turn up with another weird piece of carefully stippled illustration--of Elvis nailed up as Jesus, of a drug-warped head of Edgar Allan Poe topping the body of the Conqueror Worm, of the Virgin Mary reflected in the protective goggles of a face that looks remarkably like his own.

All of this time and effort he put into the project was out of pure love for it, because the publisher couldn't pay for interiors. They were getting them because he was compelled to create them.

Only two artists I've ever worked with have solicited opinions from me about the artwork they proposed to put on my books: Thomas Thiemeyer, who painted the magnificent covers for the Shadowbridge books; and Jason Van Hollander, whose strange and grotesque artwork is the personification of Arkham House the way it used to be--the distorted, twisted architecture of Innsmouth and a dozen other Lovecraftian landscapes.

Derangement turned inside out. And yet, like a diseased mirror, his work reflects the range of dark fantasy and horror and, yes, humor that lies between the covers of Attack of the Jazz Giants & Other Stories. I can't imagine these stories of mine now without the accompanying illustrations. And in the process I gained a mordant, talented, remarkable friend.

So long as his sly wit graces the neighborhood, I'll know that we've not yet been taken over completely by the pod people.

gf (with assistance from Don Lafferty)

A Day at the Poe House

2008-05-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

I visited the Edgar Allan Poe house (yes, yes, I was in the Poe house...so don't make that joke, I already did) this afternoon to hear a lecture by Edward Pettit, a local (Philadelphia) Poe expert. The subject of the talk, however, was author George Lippard, who was a good friend of Poe's--one of the few who stayed a friend of his to the very end. Lippard was, in his day, a huge best-selling writer with his novel The Quaker City or The Monks of Monk Hall. It was, as Pettit informed us, a kitchen sink of a novel, filled with endless acts of depravity, nightmarish hallucinations, an evil cabal of the wealthiest men in the city, premonitory visions of the decayed Philadelphia of 1950, and, lest that fail to do you in, necrophilia. No wonder it was so popular.

Lippard was a novelist, editor, publisher, and a proto-Marxist who campaigned for the rights of the downtrodden. His output was prodigious--approximately a million words a year for the ten years he wrote before his untimely death from consumption. He is all but forgotten now (in fact he was referred to as a forgotten author by the 1870s), but Pettit and others are attempting to rescue from obscurity this gothic novelist of grotesque and noir sensibilities. And while we're at it, the same for Charles Brockden Brown!

If any of that sounds like fun, go to http://omnigatherum.com/blog.html
where you can read pieces of Lippard's work; or to Pettit's Ed and Edgar blog at http://bibliothecary.squarespace.com/

gf out

2008-04-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

Every Angel is Terrifying

John Kessel and I are in the process of collaboratively podcasting readings of each other's stories in preparation for a tour we're doing in May across North Carolina. We'll have CDs of these readings to give out at our events there.

In the meantime, Dr. Kessel has posted a podcast of my reading of his story, "Every Angel is Terrifying." If you don't know this story, it's his remarkable response to and continuation of Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find."

The recording can be found HERE.

gf out
(This post duplicates content found at Live Journal post, Frostbites)

Amazon.com Interview now up

2008-02-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

For those who want to know ALL the secrets behind SHADOWBRIDGE (like that's going to happen)...

Jeff VanderMeer has done an interview with me for Amazon.com. It's up at
OMNIVORACIOUS

Enjoy,
gf
Publish Post

Jeffrey Ford Weighs In

2008-01-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

When it rains it pours, I guess.
I spent the day at the ALA mid-winter conference in Philadelphia. Never mind that it's 50+ degrees here so "winter" is one of those sillyass words that gets thrown around by clambrained maroons like Senator Inhofe, who thinks global warming was invented by an evil cabal of liberal activists bent on kicking the shit out of Exxon or something ... and by the way, when can we start?

A great time was had by all. Librarians are wonderful folk. You'd almost think they got into this particular occupation because they feel that books--and by extension thought--mattered. Jeepers, Mr. Kent. No wonder Vice President Emperor Zombie would like them rounded up.

Last night was a Random House party at the Mummer's Museum. Much dancing to live string band music (especially by one particular couple from Random House). About half a million copies of Magic in the Mirrorstone were signed and given away. Some will go on library shelves. Some were for the librarians themselves. Ann Veddies came up with a brilliant scheme I will hereafter adopt: to sign the LAST page of one's story in a collection instead of the first. That way, whatever pithy comment flows out of one's addled brain, it seems like an afterword.

But I digress....

Jeffrey Ford has posted to his blog a very nice piece on Shadowbridge, and in the interest of increasing his traffic flow (what else?) I point you to it: http://14theditch.livejournal.com/ It's much better than me tooting the horn. Really. You've never seen me toot.

gf out

Her Name is Leodora and She Dances in the Sand

2008-01-12T05:20:00.000-08:00

Jezebel, the evil incarnate interviewer spawned by author Jackie Kessler, has just posted her interview with Leodora, the heroine of Shadowbridge.

You can hear what Leodora has to say at http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog/2008/01/12/her-name-is-leo-and-she-dances-on-the-sand/

or via the LiveJournal format:
http://jackiekessler.livejournal.com/

Man, you invent these characters and then they go around telling stories about you...

gf

Gearing up for the ALA

2008-01-10T20:51:00.001-08:00

The ALA (American Library Association) is meeting in Philadelphia this weekend. I will be on hand, along with Holly Black and others, to sign copies of the YA anthology, Magic in the Mirrorstone, as well as the first-seen copies of my novel, Shadowbridge. I've no idea if there are librarians tracking any of this blogosphere stuff, but if so, please drop by the Random House booth on Saturday and say hello.

Best,
greg

RoF weighs in

2007-12-01T16:09:00.000-08:00

Michael Swanwick reports from the trenches ("Flogging Babel," his Blogspot blog, that is) that Realms of Fantasy this month contains not only a hot review of his own story collection, The Dog Said Bow-Wow, but also of Shadowbridge, which I reproduce in part below:

In addition to the return of heroic fantasy, stories-within-stories Scheherazade-style are back in vogue, which is good for Gregory Frost and his Shadowbridge, because not only is his protagonist, Leodora, a story collector and teller, but everyone lives on a huge bridge that is for all intents and purposes the world, as there's nothing beneath but endless seas. To call the premise audacious would be an understatement, and yet it's the stories and the characters that reign here, not the concept, for all the glitter. Leodora, fleeing her past, is a very real person, and her adventures and perils are also real. The idea of the naming of things and people being important, the idea of stories being not frivolous but vital, drives the engine of the plot. A cavalcade of other characters, from Leodora's manager to her musical companion, also provide depth. The inclusion of gos and much of wonder in the setting is certainly a bonus, but almost isn't necessary. The only real shame about Shadowbridge, however, is that it's clearly part one of a novel cut into two parts (for marketing reasons?), with the second half to be published in 2008.
--Jeff Vandermeer

All I can say is, fear not, Jeff, the second half will be published just six months after the first half, enough times to read it once, or even twice.

gf

Note: This post duplicates one on my Livejournal page.

Essay on process and plot

2007-09-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've posted an essay about the writing process on the sfnovelists' site.

Go to: http://www.sfnovelists.com/2007/09/23/plots-and-process-and-samuel-r-delany/ to view it.

gf

Palin is a Dangerous Man

2007-09-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

Sitting in the packed auditorium of the Philadelphia Free Library, I had my hand up to ask Michael Palin a question: I wanted to know his reaction to John Cleese's claim, many years back, that Palin is the single most dangerous silly person alive. Palin can, it is claimed, bring an entire film crew to a standstill. Instead, he called on a young woman from China who insisted that he should market his book there because, in case he didn't realize it, there are a lot of people in China. Well, there you are: Palin is a magnet for this sort of thing.

He was erudite and screamingly funny at the same time. He could read the least flammable bits from the diary and make them riotous. Clearly, his diary is a book best served on audiobook--but only if read by him.

An example: he mentioned the first day of shooting "Life of Brian"--that there was a donkey on the set, and every hour on the hour the donkey would mount a nearby female donkey have at it. Eventually, Palin walked over to Eric Idle and asked him how many times he thought that donkey had gotten off so far that day. Idle replied, "Including the crew?"

gf

Arrival

2007-09-06T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the first posting on a blog that, I hope, will stay literary for a change (for the not-so-literary see the LJ "Frostokovich" posts).

So...to business. Who am I and why am I posting?
My name’s Gregory Frost. I write fiction, novels and short stories, the occasional essay, and maybe one of these days a script or two. I also teach--at Swarthmore College where currently I share Fiction workshop directorship with author Rachel Pastan; at Clarion, the intensive 6-week science fiction and fantasy writing program that moved this year to San Diego, CA; in local (to me) workshops and programs of various flavors.

After many years of shifting gears (let's not add poetry to the list), I'm returning to the category of what wise academic Farah Mendlesohn calls "immersive fantasy" with a set of novels, a duology entitled SHADOWBRIDGE. The first of these is coming out in January from Del Rey Books (Random House). It is being gorgeously packaged, and I hope will catch fire as my first fantasy novel, LYREC, did lo many years ago when it was a bestselling fantasy title for a while. Nice to have been a bestseller; would like to do that again.

Well, there it is in short. Off now to write the fiction that drives this blog, and then to hear former Python Michael Palin read from his just-published ten-year diary of his time with the incomparable Pythons. That's the literary tango for today. We'll try some talk of teaching and learning and "very small rocks" later.

A bene placito--
-greg