Under the Moons of Mars (42 page)

Read Under the Moons of Mars Online

Authors: John Joseph Adams

J
OHN
P
ICACIO

John Picacio is one of the most prolific American cover artists for science fiction, fantasy, and horror of the last ten years. His body of work includes covers for books by Dan Simmons, Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., Mark Chadbourn, Ian McDonald, Joe R. Lansdale, Jeffrey Ford, Frederik Pohl, James Tiptree, Jr., and many, many more. He has produced acclaimed artwork for franchises such as
Star Trek
and the
X-Men
, as well as major epics such as George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and Michael Moorcock’s Elric saga. Accolades include the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award, four Chesley Awards, and two International Horror Guild Awards, two
Asimov’s
Poll Awards for Best Cover Art, and seven Hugo Award nominations in the Best Professional Artist category. His website is
www.johnpicacio.com
.

T
AMORA
P
IERCE

Tamora Pierce is a
New York Times
and
Wall Street Journal
bestselling author and has written over two dozen fantasy novels for teenagers.
Tortall and Other Lands: A Collection of Tales
, her most recent book, was published in February of 2011. Tammy was born in South Connellsville, Pennsylvania into a long, proud line of hillbillies. While her family didn’t have much money, they did have plenty of books, and books continue to be the main yardstick by which she measures true wealth.

Crediting her fans with her success, Tammy loves the chance to go on tour and thank them in person. “Struggling along as a kid and even through my twenties, it’s the kind of life I dreamed of but never believed I would get. And I never take it for granted.” She hopes her books inspire her readers with the feeling that they, too, can do anything if they want it badly enough.

Tammy now lives in Syracuse with her beloved Spouse-Creature Tim Liebe, and their numerous cats, two parakeets, and whatever freeloading wildlife takes up residence in their backyard.

M
ISAKO
R
OCKS
!

Misako Rocks! is a Japanese graphic novelist from New York City. Her first break came when
The Onion
decided to use her illustrations for their now famous “Savage Love” column, which runs every week. Shortly thereafter, Misako scored a two-book deal with Hyperion, a three-book deal with Henry Holt, and a writing gig for
Archie
comics. Recently Misako published a Japanese children’s book,
Kodomo Eigojuku
, with Japanese publisher Meijishoin. Also, she is now running a monthly comic column in
Aera English Magazine
in Japan.

S. M. S
TIRLING

S. M. Stirling was born in France in 1953, to Canadian parents—although his mother was born in England and grew up in Peru. After that he lived in Europe, Canada, Africa, and the U.S., and visited several other continents. He graduated from law school in Canada but had his dorsal fin surgically removed, and published his first novel (
Snowbrother
) in 1984, going full-time as a writer in 1988, the year of his marriage to Janet Moore of Milford, Massachusetts, who he met, wooed, and proposed to at successive World Fantasy Conventions. In 1995 he suddenly realized that he could live anywhere and they decamped from Toronto, that
large, cold, gray city on Lake Ontario, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He became an American citizen in 2004. His latest books are
The Council of Shadows
(May 2011) and
The Tears of the Sun
(Sept. 2011), from Roc/Penguin. His hobbies mostly involve reading—history, anthropology, archaeology, and travel, besides fiction—but he also cooks and bakes for fun and food. For twenty years he also pursued the martial arts, until hyperextension injuries convinced him he was in danger of becoming the most deadly cripple in human history. Currently he lives with Janet and the compulsory authorial cats.

J
OE
S
UTPHIN

Illustrator and designer Joe Sutphin has been drawing creatures and creating stories about them since he was very young. He spends as much time as possible in nature observing and picking up little critters to draw in his sketchbook. He is an avid collector of kids’ books and possibly addicted to black licorice and root beer. Joe does not live on the Red Planet, but he does live in a big red barn along with his family in Carroll, Ohio. You can visit him at
joesutphin.com
.

C
ATHERYNNE
M. V
ALENTE

Born in the Pacific Northwest in 1979, Catherynne M. Valente is the author of over a dozen works of fiction and poetry, including
Palimpsest
, the Orphan’s Tales series,
Deathless
, and the Andre Norton Award-winning, crowdfunded phenomenon
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
. She also is the winner of the Tiptree Award, the Mythopoeic Award, the Rhysling Award, and the Million Writers Award. She has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, the Spectrum Awards, and was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award in 2007 and 2009. She lives on an island off the coast of Maine with her partner and two dogs.

G
ENEVIEVE
V
ALENTINE

Genevieve Valentine’s first novel,
Mechanique: a Tale of the Circus Tresaulti
, was published by Prime Books in 2011. Her short fiction has appeared in
Running with the Pack
,
The Living Dead 2
,
The Way of the Wizard
,
Teeth
,
Clarkesworld
,
Strange Horizons
,
Escape Pod
, and more. Her appetite for bad movies is insatiable, a tragedy she tracks on her blog at
genevievevalentine.com
.

C
HARLES
V
ESS

Charles Vess was born in 1951 in Lynchburg, Virginia. His award-winning work has graced the covers and interior pages of many comic books from publishers including Marvel (
Spider-Man
,
Raven Banner
) and DC (
Books of Magic
,
Swamp Thing
,
Sandman
). His recent work is found more in book illustration, such as
The Ladies of Grace Adieu
,
The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest
,
A Circle of Cats
, and
Peter Pan
. Charles’s awards include the Inkpot Award, three World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, two Spectrum Annual Awards—a Gold and a Silver—two Chesley Awards, a Locus Award for Best Artist, and two Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. Charles’s most recent publications include two
New York Times
bestselling picture books penned by Neil Gaiman,
Blueberry Girl
and
Instructions
. He has resided on a small farm in Washington County, Virginia, since 1991, and works from his studio, Green Man Press, in Abingdon. For visual treats and updates, visit his website:
greenmanpress.com
.

R
OBIN
W
ASSERMAN

Robin Wasserman is the author of several books for children and young adults, including
The Book of Blood and Shadow
,
Hacking Harvard
, and the Cold Awakening Trilogy (
Frozen
,
Shattered
, and
Torn
). She lives and writes in Brooklyn, New York, and is impatiently awaiting the day she wakes up on Mars.

C
HRISSIE
Z
ULLO

Chrissie Zullo is an artist and illustrator best known for her cover work on DC/Vertigo’s Eisner-nominated
Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love
and
Cinderella: Fables are Forever
. She has also done work for Topp’s
Star Wars
trading cards, a variant cover for
Hack/Slash
, and interior work on DC/Vertigo’s
Madame Xanadu
and
Fables
. She is currently working on interior work for the upcoming
Womanthology
comic book. Her work has been featured twice in
Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art
. Chrissie currently resides in New York City, a city quite far from Barsoom. Her weekly progress in art can be found at her blog:
chrissiez.blogspot.com
.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to the following:

Edgar Rice Burroughs for creating this wonderful world and peopling it with these incredible characters, and for firing the imagination of the generations of science fiction writers who have followed in his footsteps.

David Gale at Simon & Schuster for publishing this anthology, and to him and his assistant, Navah Wolfe, for shepherding the book through the publication process. Jenica Nasworthy for her copyediting prowess, Lizzy Bromley and Tom Daly for their work designing the book, and Michelle Kratz for guiding the book through production.

A special thank-you to Tony DiTerlizzi, for helping us connect with several of our artists even though, in the end, he couldn’t participate himself.

My agent, Joe Monti, for finding a good home for this project, and for the incredible amount of support he’s provided since taking me on as a client—he’s gone above and beyond the call of duty. To any writers reading this: You’d be lucky to have Joe in your corner.

Gordon Van Gelder, who, like John Carter, is immortal and forever young. Or maybe he just seems that way because he’s so full of wisdom and has taught me so much. Truly, he is the Jeddak of Editors.

David Barr Kirtley for his assistance wrangling the header notes, and for our continuing friendship.

Richard A. Lupoff for writing the wonderful gazetteer found in this volume, and for being a vast font of knowledge of all things Barsoomian.

My amazing wife, Christie Yant, for all her love and support and for hugging me while I write this. Also, for the chicken chili, which doesn’t really have anything to do with this book, but is so good that it really deserves acknowledgment.

My mom for her endless enthusiasm for all my new projects.

My dear friends Robert Bland, Desirina Boskovich, Christopher M. Cevasco, Douglas E. Cohen, Jordan Hamessley, Andrea Kail, and Matt London for enduring endless conversations about possible anthology projects and hearing me go on at length about Barsoom while I was working on this one.

The readers and reviewers who loved my other anthologies, making it possible for me to do more.

And last, but certainly not least: a big thanks to all of the authors and artists who appear in this anthology.

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