#red tentacle

[onegoosemad]

Day 8 finally rolled around. Quick one of an angry octopus lady!

[thekitschies]

Thomas Pynchon explained in GIF form

As an Internet user, you're probably seeing an increasing number of GIF explainers lately, and also probably wondering what the deal is. They're pretty confusing, after all! The sites that run them just assume that you know what an animated image of the Insane Clown Posse has to do with scientists creating a new element.

[thekitschies]

"On the steps of the old mission house, the Sergeant sat with the boy who called himself Robin, and watched a pigeon being swallowed by a pelican."... an extract of Nick Harkaway's TIGERMAN now available online!

[thekitschies]

Fiction is an elemental force, which has the power to shape reality in its own image—or images, I should say because reality, like light, exists not only as a single point or particle, but also as an array of possibilities.

Ruth Ozeki - acceptance speech for The Kitschies

[thekitschies]

Congratulations to this year's winners - 

The Red Tentacle (Novel) - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)

The Golden Tentacle (Debut) - Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (Orbit)

The Inky Tentacle (Cover Art) - The Age Atomic by Adam Christopher, cover by Will Staehle (Angry Robot)

The Black Tentacle - the discretionary prize - was given to Malorie Blackman.

[thekitschies]

The Kitschies - Special Mentions

The judges of the Red, Golden and Inky Tentacles, as well as the directors of The Kitschies, would like to bring several books to readers' attention:

The Red Tentacle judges felt that Hari Kunzru's Memory Palace was "quite literally a work of art, and one that that existed within a bigger, broader work of art – the V&A exhibition – that is neither a novel nor exists any more. It was a beautiful, lovely book on its own terms, certainly, and while it could have been read alone, to do so would have been to only cover a tiny percentage of what Memory Palace as a whole was about." 

Highly recommended by the panel, the judges felt that Memory Palace was worthy of special mention.

In addition, several titles were removed from consideration due to conflicts of interest. 

Mark Charan Newton's Drakenfeld is a murder mystery set in a secondary world. The first in a new series, it features an unusual detective/sidekick pair and a distinctive philosophical flair. Drakenfeld displays all the intelligent, progressive and entertaining qualities that led The Kitschies' directors to approach him for a position on our board. 

Will Hill's Department 19: Battle Lines is the third volume in his best-selling series of vampiric tension. As Dracula gathers his full power, the turmoil - personal and political - within Department 19 flares. Mr. Hill's series is exciting, fast-paced and mature young adult fiction. 

Kate Griffin's The Glass God is the second in her acclaimed 'Magicals Anonymous' series - a clever, wry and occasionally quite cheeky approach to contemporary urban fantasy. Sharon, London's fledgling shaman, is tasked with finding the city's missing Midnight Mayor. Chaos ensues, and, as always, Ms. Griffin has a thoughtful - and deeply emotive - approach to writing about our connection with our cities.

Sarah Anne Langton's work appeared in or on numerous publications in 2013 - including the complete design of the 'Fox Pocket' line of books for Fox Spirit. 

Both Will Hill and Kate Griffin served as two of the Red and Golden Tentacle judges in 2013. Sarah Anne Langton was a member of the Inky Tentacle judging panel.

[thekitschies]

I grew up immersed in SF; I read it obsessively, all the time, and it would be hard to separate out one thing that influenced me the most. What attracts me to it now is what attracted me to it then: the imaginative capaciousness, the scale and wonder: the fact that it is the nearest thing we have to a literature of possibility, in the fullest sense of that word.

Adam Roberts on science fiction

[thekitschies]

Tips for aspiring writers: don't be afraid of writing rubbish. It's very easy to become hypnotised by an empty page or screen. It's tempting to abandon a half-finished work because you can't make it perfect. I hereby give you permission to write things that aren't perfect, make mistakes, try things that don't work, experiment with styles you're not used to and generally throw words around. You'll learn much faster that way.

- Frances Hardinge, interviewed by Armadillo Magazine