 | I still like writing letters as well as receiving them. Yes, it does take time to complete a drawing, even a quick sketch like this, and then to write a letter to go along with it and then to find an envelope, postage, &c., and then take the whole assemblage over to the post office. But I feel like I'm touching something when I do it--not dissimilar to the good feel of working soil in a garden. And so... Yeah. It's just what I do. |
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More of archival information--websites for my publishers:
The University of Nebraska Press, Bison Imprint maintains a reprint line of classic works of science fiction. I wrote the introduction for their edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt. The Science Fiction Book Club first brought out Wind from a Foreign Sky in November, 1996. The sequel, A Tremor in the Bitter Earth, came out from the SFBC in 1998. Tor Books, the publisher of The Tielmaran Chronicles. Winner of the Locus Award for Best Publisher (of SF & Fantasy) for the last fourteen years in a row. Blanvalet-Taschenbücher, the German publisher of Die Tielmark-Chroniken. The University of Oxford Press, Clarendon Imprint, the publisher of 'Great as he is in his own good opinion' my William Bligh article, written for Tradition in Transition, essays which discuss the shape of the canon of 18th century literature in England. And Realms of Fantasy, sadly now defunct. FebruaryMoving to my new website platform... I want my old news to come with me. This site has been in service for 17 years--quite amazing when you think about it--and despite the fact that there's a ravine about the size of.... well... more than five years! since my last entry, I'm okay with that. I love the new website tools and, I'm ready to move forward. 2006July 9th, 2006: Today Katya is going to update her "Calendar." Okay, to be honest--after a false start, I've finally gotten going to work through this extensive mess of pages, and many of the small things are updated while the things I'd really like to get to are languishing. Look for a new header on the home page in the coming days--I love my old blue boar, but he's been in need of an updated look for, well, years, and, having had the idea for the new artwork, I need to get it done--and up! June: Thanks to Edward Perry, a long-time fan, for reminding me that these webpages are in need of updating, and providing the expertise to get me past my technical hesitations regarding updates post an upgrading of the system. Information from 2004, 2005, & 2006 has now been added, and, now that I'm linked to my service-provider once more, look for at least superficial updates being made to the these pages, or at least egregiously outdated information being removed from prominent positions. 2005'05 in Review: Writing: The softcover edition of The Wanderer came out in December. Very nice timing with a release to bookstore shelves in November for the Christmas season (these things actually do matter, very much, to authors). A busy, chaotic year. I plugged away on Patternmaker, but--too distracted to pull it to completion. November: Tor brought out the softcover edition of The Wanderer, by Cherry Wilder & Katya Reimann, with many nice new review quotations. Selecting out the best known reviewers... "Fans of high fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings, will find it difficult to put this book down. It contains all of the elements of a grand heroic quest." 2004'04 in Review: Writing: The Wanderer came out in hardcover from Tor in May. Very satisfying to see this work, completed during my second pregnancy, arrive on bookstore shelves the same month my child was born. I've been working on Patternmaker (my new book), but progress has been slow. Artwork The beautiful map that I did for The Wanderer ended up on the wrong disk and did not appear in its finalized form in the hardcover edition of the book. The lesson here: quite obviously, I allow myself to get too excited by intermediate iterations. One should NEVER give the production people anything other than the final copy of work you intend to appear in a book. Labeling along the lines of "Draft only--final to come" will inevitably become separated from the work, with predictable results. September: My "Calendar" has been updated for the remainder of 2004. August: I loved, loved, loved the review of The Wanderer which gave a snippet of "Cherry's" beautiful use of language--taken from one of the major bandages over a major plot hole Cherry had not had the energy to correct herself I had created. My "minor contributions to pull the manuscript together" were "appreciated." Hah! The revisions necessary to complete Cherry's novel--I'm going to be a gentleman and say only that they were by no means insignificant. I'm glad that some at least have found the work to cohere (though that said--look at the title--some degree of "wandering," I believe, was Cherry's conscious literary choice, and not just the cancer's effects). May: The Wanderer, by Cherry Wilder & Katya Reimann was published by Tor Books. 2003'03 in Review: Writing: Working on The Wanderer was a fascinating project. Working through Cherry's original manuscript, it was sadly clear that her capacities to focus on her work were failing as the book progressed. The first third of the book--it was filled with the startling beauty and sense of wonder that I so associate with Cherry's best work. And, yes, there were flashes of brilliant writing throughout--but my work became progressively more involved after that first one hundred and fifty pages. I went back to her earlier Hylor books for direction--what a great collapsing tragedy she produced! I... tried to do everything in my power to honor it. Artwork Map-making and other craft-like illustrations this year. There just aren't enough hours in a day. Late November: Technical problems with this website prompted the belated announcement of Katya's Reading and Signing at Dreamhaven Books on Tuesday, November 18th as part of the SPECULATIONS READINGS SERIES. SPECULATIONS is a co-production of SF MINNESOTA & S.A.S.E.-THE WRITE PLACE. FFI: eheideman @ qwest.net November: A terrific visit to Chicago for Windycon XXX, one of my favorite conventions these days because of the delirious proliferation of hall costumes, showcasing SF Conventioneers' (what a word!) fascinating creativity. February: The estate of Cherry Wilder has contracted me to work on and complete (for publication by Tor, edited by David Hartwell) Cherry's last novel, The Wanderer. For those of you who don't know Cherry Wilder's writing, she completed The Rulers of Hylor in the late 1980s. This wonderful fantasy trilogy includes the titles A Princess of the Chameln, Yorath the Wolf, and The Summer's King. These books completely seduced me when I first read them; rereading them now, as I prepare the final chapters of The Wanderer, I am struck afresh by just how good they are --better even than my memory served me. I never met Cherry during her lifetime, but--from my side at least--I have always felt a deep--if mysterious and ephemeral--connection to her work. A few months after I had started my first novel, I was in the Bodleian Library in Oxford (a 'copyright' library, which has copies of just about everything ever printed in England since the fifteenth century). For some reason, momentarily bored with ordering up the 17th and 18th century titles that related to my D. Phil. thesis, I got curious about what Cherry had written since Hylor. I ordered her most recent novel, Cruel Designs--spent an afternoon or two taking a break from working to read it. It's a strange, chilly novel, but that wasn't what most caught my attention: the main character was an American woman living in Germany: Katya Reimann. What a surprise to find myself the main character, even down to the correct spelling. As I trotted through the halls frequented by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, I didn't know then the turn my life was about to take from academia to high fantasy. But it was a sort of funny thing that Cherry was 'there with me' as I turned the corner. Wish I'd had a chance to meet her, outside of the pages of her lovely books. 2002 '02 in Review: Writing: I finished my short story "Codex Rex". This story is set in London in the year 1684. It describes the events following a buccaneer crewman's efforts to sell off some weird loot that he was assigned as his share of "purchase" in a raid against Spanish and Indian settlements on the Darian peninsula of Mexico. I am very excited about this story (the muse was moving through me on this one!) and look forward to its appearance in print. "Honeysuckle Flowers" came out in Realms of Fantasy's April issue. Artwork: Going slow here, but I did a nice map for the new novel. Tor will have it redrawn so it's a stylistic match to the maps that appeared in Books 1 & 2.
This is the only picture of me smiling during this event. Despite my somewhat wan appearance--I was having a nice time. Great to see so many Twin Cities friends and familiar faces--and some new faces too. A big thanks go to Greg Ketter & Elizabeth LaVelle for organizing a nice party! May: Sometimes you read an advance review and it's just too nice not to write home about: Publishers Weekly, June 17, Prince of Fire and Ashes, Katya Reimann, Tor $27.95 September: Two new signings. Don Blyly, at Minneapolis's Uncle Hugo's Bookstore has very kindly invited me to sign alongside Lois McMaster Bujold on Saturday, October 19th, from 1:00-3:00. Lois's excellent Hugo nominated Curse of Chalion is just out in paperback--so come along for a copy of that, even if you've chosen to wait to get Prince until after it comes out in paper. For my non-Twin Cities fans--Tyler Stewart has set a date for my signing at Pandemonium Books of Cambridge, MA. I'll be there (36 JFK. Street, Cambridge, MA) from 3:00-5:00 on Saturday, October 5th. August: Am back from Worldcon and now have a better understanding of the inner workings of ASFA, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, who very kindly invited me this year to present at the awards ceremony of the Chesleys. The ASFA folk are an incredibly nice sub-enclave of the greater Science Fiction and Fantasy community, and all I can say is that as the daughter of a sculptor and an artist, it was terrific, escaping the world of writers for a few hours and visiting a world where people are working in visual mediums. July: This month I'm one of the featured writers on SFRevu.com--SFRevu is a monthly webzine focused on Science Fiction and Fantasy. Check out the nice review by Victoria McManus and the in depth interview with Ernest Lilley in the July issue. June: My portal at "www.katyareimann.com" has been redesigned, and Wind From a Foreign Sky is in bookstores. Thanks to everyone who showed up for a terrific book launch--and thanks to Dreamhaven Books for hosting. Pictures and some commentary are up at the new Signing page. The wonky links for Prince of Fire & Ashes on the "Books" page have been fixed, and a large image of the book's cover art has been added. Preview chapters are now available on the dedicated "Prince of Fire & Ashes" page. (Wind from a Foreign Sky and A Tremor in the Bitter Earth now have dedicated pages too). April: "If love makes us strong, how can it make our judgment so weak?" "Honeysuckle Flowers" has been published in the April 2002 issue of Realms of Fantasy, a bimonthly magazine of tales and art of fantastic adventure. Copies are available via your local well-stocked magazine store or via: Realms of Fantasy P.O. Box 1623 Williamsport, PA 17703 February: Prince of Fire & Ashes has now been copy-edited and is in the hands of Tor's production staff. Preview Chapters are now available, for those who would like an early taste. January: major revision to my Biography page (long overdue for an overhaul) and reorganization of the Signings, Conventions &c page. My preliminary 2002 Calendar has now been put up. 2001 '01 in Review: Writing: Prince of Fire & Ashes is in my editor's hands. A publication date will soon be set by Tor, most probably some time in Spring of 2002. I completed my introduction for the University of Nebraska Press's Buffalo Books line of Classic Science Fiction Novels (and saw it published, that was fast!). Artwork: I did a piece for Minicon's 2001 convention handbook ("Some Destinations are more Picturesque than Others") including three watercolor illustrations to go along with the article's text. The half-tone reproductions turned out well--thanks to great, and now almost blithely regarded as standard, printing technology. October: Curious to know what I've been reading? I've had some recent emails asking me about writing influences/what I've thought of some recent books. So... I do have some reviews up on Amazon.Com's site, for those who are interested. October also marks the publication date of the University of Nebraska's Bison Frontiers of Imagination Series edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Poison Belt, for which I wrote a new introduction. This is the sequel to Conan Doyle's first Professor Challenger Novel, The Lost World. It's a slim but worthy read, and I had a lot of fun doing the research for the intro. July: The "Signings, Conventions &c" page has been updated to include a high resolution image of Katya, suitable for reproduction in convention booklets &c. The thumbnail is on the Signings, Conventions &c page, the massive 767k image is on its own page "here" (don't click this link unless you have massive patience or a fast modem!). June: A new page for the German language edition of The Chronicles of Tielmark (Deutsche Ausgabe) has been added, including the beautiful new cover art (of book I!). Deutsche Leser--meine Entschuldigungen für meine schwachen deutschen Sprachfähigkeiten! May: The "Signings, Conventions &c" page has been updated. I'm going to Worldcon this year (Worldcon is traditionally held on Labor Day Weekend. This year Worldcon, The Millennium Philcon® will be taking place in Philadelphia, PA.) The German edition of A Tremor in the Bitter Earth made its appearance on bookstore shelves--I have yet to receive my copies. Retitled Im Herzen des Feindes--"In the Heart of the Enemy," which I take to be a reference to Gaultry's venturing into enemy territory. I'll confess, I mildly mourn the loss of the elemental aspect in the titles of the German editions (Air, Earth, Fire), but... it's actually a great title for this book. "In the heart of the enemy..." that pretty much describes Tullier's relationship with Gaultry, which is one of the most important elements of this book. It is exciting as well to see my books come to press in the language of my paternal forefathers. For all this, I forgive the fact that the new cover features a technicolor sea-serpent attacking a ship. What can I say: there IS no sea-serpent in this book! *g* April: Prince of Fire & Ashes is now in my editor's hands. When I know the publication date Tor Books has set for it, I'll put up that information here, and elsewhere on these pages. It is with great pride that I announce the publication of the first foreign language edition of The Chronicles of Tielmark: The German edition of Wind from a Foreign Sky made its appearance on bookstore shelves in Spring of 2001. Retitled Die Göttlichen Schwestern, it has new cover (better in some ways than the American cover, sigh) and looks great. I am very pleased. January: The "Signings, Conventions &c" page has been updated with my upcoming convention appearances. 2000 '00 in Review: Writing A chance meeting at Wiscon in May spurred me to write a short story in the world of The Chronicles of Tielmark. The story, "Honeysuckle Flowers" concerns a pivotal episode in the life of Tamsanne of Arleon Forest. Work continues on Prince of Fire and Ashes. Artwork: Painting. It's been pretty exciting. A fair amount of plein air work during the summer, despite having two babies. Coffee shop show with a pleasant reception. Under-priced things, and they were gone. Worth it. Kicking myself now for not taking photographs--but between the babies and the writing and this--it wasn't going to happen. June: The "Visual" page has been revamped. May: After almost five years of hosting on the Polya server at JHU, a problem with a hacker and limited access to the site for upgrading has necessitated a shift: "www.katyareimann.com" is now the registered domain for this site. 1999 '99 in Review: Writing Still working on Prince of Fire & Ashes. A major challenge: how does one write a stand-alone book that also successfully completes a trilogy? I'm wavering between feeling ecstatic and forlorn with this one. Being pregnant with twins failed to enhance my writing productivity (hah!), though it gave me a fresh perspective on how casually writers and artists use twinship as a structural device in their texts! I have now completely rethought what Gaultry and Mervion's mother would have undergone while she was pregnant. With Wind From a Foreign Sky and A Tremor in the Bitter Earth both out in paperback (formal reissue and issue date March, 1999), I'm doing more signings at bookstores. It's been good getting the feedback, and the readings that I have done from the new book are going well. Artwork Despite being pregnant, I've been continuing to assist my father on his project at Heritage Sculpture. My own painting has continued to languish (am I faint of heart, or is this not the time to be working with toxic chemicals?). July: The Johann Nicolaus Reimann Genealogy page. Courtesy the archives of "Pop-pop" Hobart Reimann. May: New pictures of Katya and some new events posted on the Calendar page. Upgraded scans of my bookcovers on the "Fantasy Titles at Tor Books" page. March: To those familiar with the page--complete revamping! 1998 '98 in Review: Writing: Working away on Prince of Fire and Ashes (and a big thank you to Andy Oakland for coming up with the final form of the title: this one I love). I've became something of a hermit, pecking away at my keyboard, and I didn't get out to as many conventions and signings as would have been good for me. Artwork: With the big commission at East Boston's Piers Park completed, it was time to move on. I continued to assist my father on his new project, at Heritage Sculpture. I had a lot of fun in the spring working with Melissa Meier, a Brazilian-Swiss sculptor with a wild imagination and the capacity for hard work necessary to transform her wild ideas into (large!) completed sculptures. She was great. The grunt work of the metal surfacing that I helped her with was been a great release from many days spent sitting in front of a computer screen.  I had a big move in 1998--from the East Coast to the Mid-West--and the disruption had a larger impact on my work than I had anticipated. Looking back--encouraging things were completed. My new office space is great. Getting to go in there and close the door and get to work--well, it's a relief be settled into the new space and working effectively. Because--yes, the biggest news of 1998 was that I got married. It's been pretty wonderful, thus far (not that I would hold up my relationship as a model for anyone other than Tim and myself). But yes, in the lead-up months, I was wondering--what would it be like for my creative process, living with another person? Good so far. That makes me feel--lucky, once again. October: Added publication dates to the "Books" page for the re-release of the softcover of Wind from a Foreign Sky and the release of the first softcover edition of "A Tremor in the Bitter Earth," along with a short preview of the as-yet-untitled third Chronicle of Tielmark. August: Updated the information on the "Signings, Links, Conventions" page. New reviews for A Tremor in the Bitter Earth up on the "Forthcoming" page. May: the "Links" page is now called the "Signings, Links Conventions" page. It lists Katya's public appearances. April: Updated the essay for "Worldbuilding." Added a link to my Amazon.com self-interview under "Forthcoming and In Print from Tor". 1997 '97 in Review: Writing: This year I was writing the first draft of A Tremor in the Bitter Earth. I did another draft of a short story that I've been fussing over for four years now ("What We See"). The central premise of this story won't let me abandon it, but it needs more time and work. That's okay. I have a hard time coming up with ideas that are good enough and intense enough that they will fit the form of a short story well. Artwork I spent the first three quarters of 1997 researching and assisting the design of a large commissioned sculpture for the East Boston Piers Park, which is owned and managed by MASSPORT (the Massachusetts Port Authority). This piece now has its own web page "Piers Park"--& see under "Visual" for more details. I also assisted in the installation of the snapping turtle fountain on the Framingham Service Plaza on the Massachusetts Turnpike. This involved several stages, including fun with a large crane and an 8' diameter granite monolith basin; pulling several hundred feet of greased electrical cable through a small pipe, and kibitzing. That installation is not quite complete owing to electrical malfunction in two of the four pumps that power the fountain's jets. These projects have slowed work on a collaborative Tarot Deck and other personal projects. I sketched the map for A Tremor in the Bitter Earth. Fun, as always, to be working on visual things for my own books. November: Under "Fantasy Titles from Tor Books" the jacket copy for Wind from A Foreign Sky and A Tremor in the Bitter Earth. October: Under "Forthcoming and In Print from Tor" both of my book covers--see particularly the wonderful cover art by Romas Kukalis.
Summer: new reviews for Wind, Sketchbook of India Watercolors under "Visual." Sample chapters are now available from Wind From a Foreign Sky. Thanks are owed to Angela Sh'k'anna Korra'ti, from whom I lifted the idea (probably obvious to all others, but revolutionary and clever to me) of implementing this "record of updates" page. |
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Sites I recommend
These ones are maintained by long-time personal friends.
William Reimann is a consummate artist. There are so many images to enjoy on this site. His carved wooden long-leaf red pine Rhinoceros (which he made for me when I was ~11 years old) is a personal favorite. Starless River Is the U.K. based caving gear store run by serious hard-ass Tony Seddon. This link goes to the 'caves' section of the store's site--complete with alarming portrait photo of Tony ("After 7 days underground and 700m prussiking"). The Oxford University Cave Club Maintained by Steve Roberts, a guy who is extraordinary in so many ways, I'll just limit myself here to saying "Steve is a man who knows about motors." Bensozia John Bedell is an archaeologist, historian, and father of five living in Maryland. His blog is a fascinating grab-bag of historical, artistic, and political materials. This entry about work and leisure gives a good example of his voice. Earthsign Studios This is Liz Manicatide (now Liz LaManche), principal at Emphasis Creative's personal art & graphics site. I love Liz's work, panache, and aerial artistry, which leads me to- Flying Squirrel Consortium Phil Servita's site, and the place to go for custom fabricated circus equipment (either freestanding or fixed point), and aerial classes, if you happen to live in the area. Paul Nordberg Paul's site is... unique, authentic, & expressive, and pretty much exactly what I think of when I think of a website as an artform. Metro Bikes Trails Guide (St. Paul, MN) "Reviews and Reports on over 70 bicycle paths in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area!" Maintained by the tireless Seamus Flynn, and a great little site for those local to the Twin Cities area. Green Ivy I enjoy the Ukrainian/Russian artisanship on this website. Sites I enjoy
I don't know these people, but I appreciate their work.
What's That Bug? The title says it all. A useful site for both the non-bug-phobic & the consummate bug-phobe. Margaret & Helen Best Friends for Sixty Years and Counting… Raging Grannies I'm not a grandmother (or raging!), but I appreciate this site. Especially the fact-checking part. |
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