Rebecca Inch-Partridge zoomed back to the 1960s for a one-on-two chat at a recent National Science Fiction Convention.

This was the result:

There are few things more thrilling for a publisher than the chance to yell “STOP THE PRESSES!”

We’ve always known that Marie Vibbert, author of nearly 100 short stories in all the biggest science fiction magazines, was just this side of making it big.

And now she has! This year, Marie not only got nominated for the Nebula Award, for her story “We Built this City”, but as of this month, that story has also made her a finalist for the Hugo Award!

The Nebula was already a big deal–it’s the annual awards given out by the Science Fiction Writers of America. But the Hugos…those are the “Oscars of Science Fiction”. Marie, my friends, has made it.

So, of course, we had to change the cover!

Folks are likening The Gods Awoke to Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, but Marie’s sublime fantasy tale, skewering organized religion even while being sympathetic to its practitioners is really one of a kind. Give it a read–with the new cover!

Janice L. Newman (At First Contact) and Gideon Marcus (the Kitra Saga) got their first Hugo nominations back in 2018. Every year since then save for 2021, their landmark time travel project, Galactic Journey, has been nominated for Best Fanzine. I don’t know that calling this sprawling endeavor, what Olav Rockne calls, “The most ambitious, immersive, and extensive project in modern science fiction,” a ‘fanzine’ quite does it justice. After all, the Journey includes not just coverage of science fiction and fact, day-by-day, from the perspective of people living 55 years ago, but it also boasts a radio station, an online lounge for in-person kibbitzing and Star Trek watching, and even live shows!

Nevertheless, Newman and Marcus are honored to be selected, delighted with their fellow nominees, and whomever wins, it’s already a happy circumstance.

Here’s hoping all three of them bring home the big rocket ship come September!

That’s when we made libraries a fundamental part of our distribution. Not only do we let libraries know about each of our titles, but we often encourage our readers to do the same (hint! )

The other day, our efforts paid off in a huge, really fun way.

San Diego Library presents… Gideon and Janice (and Lorelei)!

Isn’t that a beautiful building? The new San Diego Library is an absolute marvel. One of the many cool things they do is work with local authors to showcase worthy books. That’s how Rediscovery 2, Sirena, and At First Contact ended up in special display cases in the main concourse of the library!

More than a hundred local authors congregated for the event. We hadn’t realized there were so many writers in the community, but it makes sense–San Diego is the eighth largest metropolitan area in the country, and the event covered all genres of books.

They had a fantastic singer and accompanist duo, a lovely catered spread, and lots of interesting folks to talk to. It was a lot of fun, and we are looking forward to next year’s event!

Interview with Clarkesworld

Clarkesworld is one of science fiction’s leading magazines, so you can bet we were honored when the esteemed Arley Sorg dropped us a line and said he’d like to interview Gideon and Janice about their books, as well as their involvement with their web project, Galactic Journey.

We don’t know when the interview will come out, but it’s a good, long one, and we’ll let you know when it publishes!

A brief pause

The winter “vacation” ended up being a whirl of activity. We’ve got an exciting (but secret) new author we’re discussing the possibility of working with. Also, Gideon was approached by several agents in the last few weeks over the possibility of shopping the Kitra saga out to traditional (i.e. Big 5) publishers. There are pros and cons to doing that, but the attention certainly is flattering!

In any event, as a result, we’re not quite sure when our next book will be released, or which one will be first. But don’t worry–we’re not going anywhere, and you can still get all of our great line-up at your local bookstore, library, or at the online shop of your convenience.

Until next time…keep flying high!

Comic artist Lorelei Esther, illustrator for The Kitra Saga, is the youngest Hugo Finalist in the history of the award.  On April 7, 2022, Lorelei was selected for the Fan Artist category for her unpaid works, including her celebratory pictures of DC Comics characters Tim Drake and Jon Kent’s official coming out.

The Hugo Awards are the Oscars of Science Fiction. Regularly since 1955, science fiction fans have cast their votes for their favorite authors and artists in categories like Best Novel, Best Short Story, etc. The Fan Artist category dates back to 1967, when fan/pro artist Jack Gaughan got the first award.

There have been young Hugo Finalists before – Robert Silverberg, who was 20 in 1956 when he was nominated for (and won) Most Promising New Writer, and Ron Smith, who was 19 when he was nominated for Best Fan Writer the same year. For 65 years, their record stood.

But Lorelei has set a new record, one which isn’t likely to be topped any time soon. She just turned 18 last month, which means the work that qualified her for this prestigious honor was all done before she’d even reached majority!

It is perhaps no surprise that she is receiving such laurels so young – Lorelei had an early start. By the time she was 7, she had already composed the comic Blue Bird. This first work impressed the folks at DC so much that Scott Snyder, the writer for Batman, created a superhero named Bluebird in honor of Lorelei’s creation!

Since then, Lorelei has worked tirelessly to improve her skills, even as physical disabilities affecting her hands impaired the creative process. At the age of 15, she embarked on her professional career, illustrating the YA novel, Kitra. Her work can also be found in Sirena and the upcoming Rogues in the House fantasy anthology, as well as the bookplate and shelf talker art that accompanies Journey Press titles.

It is likely that this Hugo nomination will be just the first of many honors. Lorelei has also secured many fans with her singer-songwriting skills as well as her writing. In fact, Lorelei was a co-Hugo Finalist last year in the Best Fanzine category for her work on the 4x Hugo nominee, Galactic Journey. 

We at Journey Press are honored as anything to have Lorelei associated with our publishing house!

Authors Gideon Marcus, Janice L. Newman celebrate 4th Hugo nom

For the fourth time since 2018, the time-travel website Galactic Journey, founded by Gideon Marcus, and edited/contributed to by Janice L. Newman, has been nominated for the Best Fanzine Hugo.

Galactic Journey is a time machine to 55 years ago. Its writers live in the past, day-by-day, writing about science fiction, the space race, and much more. For them, today is April 10, 1967; yesterday was the 9th, tomorrow will be the 11th.

Crammed with entertaining articles written by some of the most knowledgeable folks in the genre, including professional space historian Kerrie Dougherty (Order of Australia), Gwyn Conaway (Design Guild member), Cora Buhlert (three-time Hugo Finalist for Fan Writer), and John Boston (Big Name Fan since the 1960s), Galactic Journey offers an insightful look into the past while shining sidewise a spotlight on issues of the present.

That’s because the website is not just a comprehensive historical archive–its purpose is also to rediscover the forgotten greats of the era who wrote works that still appeal today. It was thanks to the Galactic Journey that Journey Press encountered the great books I Want the Stars and Sibyl Sue Blue, and found the works to publish in Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963). Journeyers also came together to help curate the selection for Rediscovery, Volume 2.

Gideon and Janice (and Lorelei) previously won the Serling Award for their coverage of The Twilight Zone. They also were awarded the Space Cowboy in 2020 for their work with Galactic Journey.

Congratulations to Gideon at Janice! Good luck at the awards ceremony!

The best news has been that people have loved At First Contact, our latest release. Not one, not two, but three major outlets asked new author Janice L. Newman for interviews about her sci-fi/fantasy romance trilogy of novellas.

Plus, we got a lovely review. So check out all the buzz the book’s gotten gotten in just one month:

On December 3, John Scalzi featured Janice on his The Big Idea:

Author Janice L. Newman is thinking about love, what it means, and how it manifests… and not in the ways we always expect. In the Big Idea for her collection At First Contact, Newman explains why all these various looks of love matter to her...

It’s a great piece. Check it out!

At this amazing December 14 interview, Ms. Newman not only talks about At First Contact, but she reads a thrilling excerpt from the first story, a hard science fiction tale of first contact…in more ways than one!

Don’t miss it!

What could a hard science fiction novella, a paranormal story, and a modern fantasy piece have in common? Janice talks about the elements that unite At First Contact and make it more than the sum of its parts on Mary Robinette Kowal’s December 23 blog.

Worth the read!

Last but not least, it wouldn’t be a book release without a review by our favorite critic, Rachel Anne Simson, published January 8:

Each story in this collection is so different from the next, but Janice’s masterful writing really helps to pull them all together, and you can go into each story expecting a romance that will blow all of your expectations. These stories are thrilling, exciting and beautiful, and each romance focuses on deep connections and friendship. With a little sprinkle of magic and wonder, this collection is unique, imaginative and diverse and I absolutely love the fact that it doesn’t conform to traditions...

See the rest!

(If you haven’t yet, get yourself a copy of At First Contact today! )