Charlie Jane Anders

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About Charlie Jane Anders
Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Victories Greater Than Death, the first book in a new young-adult trilogy. Up next: Never Say You Can’t Survive, a book about how to use creative writing to get through hard times; and a short story collection called Even Greater Mistakes.
Her novel The City in the Middle of the Night came out in 2019—it won the Locus Award for Best SF Novel, and was named one of the year's best books by the Guardian, Den of Geek, Polygon and Autostraddle, among others, and was optioned for television by Sony and Mom de Guerre Productions. Her 2016 novel, All the Birds in the Sky, was #5 on Time Magazine's list of the year's 10 best novels, and won the Nebula, Locus and Crawford awards. Her first novel, Choir Boy, won a Lambda Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Edmund White First Novel Award.
Charlie Jane was a founding editor of io9.com, a blog about science fiction and futurism, and went on to become its editor in chief. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney's, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Teen Vogue, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Asimov's Science Fiction, Lightspeed Magazine, Catamaran Literary Reader, ZYZZYVA, and numerous anthologies and "best of the year" collections. Her novelette "Six Months, Three Days" won a Hugo Award, and her short story "Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue" won a Theodore Sturgeon Award.
Charlie Jane also won the Emperor Norton Award, for "extraordinary invention and creativity unhindered by the constraints of paltry reason."
Her TED Talk, "Go Ahead, Dream About the Future" has been viewed more than two million times.
She hosts the long-running monthly reading series Writers With Drinks, in which she makes up fictional bios for the authors (and nobody's sued yet.) Charlie Jane also organizes the Bookstore and Chocolate Crawl, which brings a mob of people to local bookstores to buy tons of books, and eat chocolate along the way. And during the covid-19 crisis, she also helped to organize a series of online fundraisers for local bookstores, at welovebookstores.org. She also helps to organize and co-host the monthly Trans Nerd Meet Up.
Back in the day, Charlie Jane created the satirical website GodHatesFigs.com, which received many "best of the web" awards. She was also part of the editorial staff of Anything That Moves, the influential bisexual magazine, and helped out with many other queer publishing projects including Black Sheets/Black Books. And she also organized tons of events such as the notorious Ballerina Pie Fight—plus an event in a hair salon where people got their hair cut while reading stories about haircuts to an audience.
With Annalee Newitz, Charlie Jane co-hosts a podcast about the meaning of science fiction called Our Opinions Are Correct. The podcast has been going strong for two years, and won a Hugo Award for Best Fancast. Anders and Newitz also collaborated on io9, plus an anthology called She's Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology & Other Nerdy Stuff, and a magazine called other magazine.
Charlie Jane hugs trees, and keeps a British penny in her left shoe at all times.
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Blog postSpace opera is just over a century old — it grew out of the Western, with all of its themes of the frontier and wagon trains and Manifest Destiny. Space opera was also heavily shaped by notorious racist John W. Campbell, who infused it with his ideas of the “superior man.”
Soooo… how do you write a space opera that’s not kind of messed up?
I feel like people have found different answers to this question at different times.
In the early 2000s, there was a vogue1 year ago Read more -
Blog postPeople keep mentioning the way my YA novel VICTORIES GREATER THAN DEATH deals with consent, and I’m glad folks are noticing.
In the book, nobody touches anybody else (except for fight scenes) without asking for permission. I wish this had been in the books I read as a teenager.
This goes together with all the other themes of the book, which keep coming back to respecting people’s identities. Everyone in the book is searching for their identity and trying to become their best sel1 year ago Read more -
Blog postAlmost three years ago I decided to leave my job at io9 and be a full-time novelist. One of the main reasons was that The City in the Middle of the Night was a massive challenge that needed my undivided attention. On Tuesday, I finally start finding out if this was a good choice.
When I left io9, The City in the Middle of the Night was kind of a sprawling mess, living in a ton of handwritten journals and a bunch of disconnected Word docs. The worldbuilding was huge but the characters3 years ago Read more -
Blog postAmazon Editor's Picks: So incredibly chuffed! @amazon named The City in the Middle of the Night not just one of the best science fiction books of February, but one of the 10 best books of any genre. This is amazing. Also, I’m super stoked for Yangsze Choo!
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postWriters With Drinks: Gayle Brandeis, Laleh Khadivi and Charlie Jane Anders!3 years ago Read more
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Blog postWhy Science Fiction Authors Need to be Writing About Climate Change Right Now: Science fiction (and fantasy) authors have a unique opportunity to help us imagine a future of climate change, AND how we’ll cope with it. That also means we have a unique responsibility. My latest, at @tordotcom.
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe City in the Middle of the Night: Hey so I just launched a brand new website: https://cityinthemiddleofthenight.com
Featuring a gorgeous new painting of Xiosphant, Sophie’s hometown in the City in the Middle of the Night, by artist Valentina Filic.
All of my upcoming tourdates (including links to RSVP/buy tickets) are listed.
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postPutting Your Worst Foot Forward: Why You Should Play to Your Weaknesses as an Author: Every writer has stuff they’re good at, but often the only way to get better at writing is to lean on your weaknesses. Yes, it’ll hurt. But embrace the pain! My latest, over at @tordotcom!
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postCharlie Jane Anders Is Seeing Stars | Macmillan Library: So yeah, it turns out @publishersweekly gave The City in the Middle of the Night a starred review… which makes FOUR starred reviews in total. This has never happened to me before, and it still doesn’t entirely feel real.
3 years ago Read more -
Blog post7 Trans Performers Share the Challenges They Still Face and Their Hopes for the Future: I talked to seven young trans actors, musicians and dancers for @teenvogue about what it’s like to be openly trans on stage and screen. What I learned made gave me a new dose of optimism about trans representation, but there’s still a long way to go. This was super inspirational and made me super happy and also gave me a new window into what it’s like to be super-publicly trans in 2018
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postBookstore & Chocolate Crawl: We’re just about one month away from the next BOOKSTORE & CHOCOLATE CRAWL. This time, we’re hitting the Castro and the Mission. Eat all the chocolate, buy all the books, live your best life!
Tickets not required but you can RSVP at the link above!
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postSee Charlie Jane Anders on Tour for The City in the Middle of the Night!: I’m going on a big fun tour in February for The City in the Middle of the Night! All the tourdates have just been announced, and it includes lots of cities I’ve never done a book event in before. Check it out and please mark your calendars!
3 years ago Read more -
Blog postBook giveaway for The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders Oct 22-Nov 12, 2018: There are just TWELVE HOURS LEFT to win a free copy of my next novel, The City in the Middle of the Night on Goodreads. This is the one about the girl who gets banished into permanent darkness and learns to make friends with the creatures who live there.
4 years ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s easy to feel helpless when bigotry and bad science are becoming the law of the land, and our government is trying to dehumanize so many of us. But we have the power to make noise, to make ourselves heard, and one of the most powerful ways we can do that is thru storytelling.
I wrote a talk a while back called “Never Say You Can’t Survive” which I’ve been delivering at colleges and writing conferences all over the place. (Named for the inspirational Curtis Mayfield album/song.) Bas4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe City In The Middle Of The Night by Charlie Jane Anders exclusive cover reveal and excerpt: Here’s the reveal of the UK cover of The City in the Middle of the Night! Plus an excerpt that was not previously online! (It comes right after the excerpt that was published at @tordotcom a while back, FYI.) So excited for people to see more of this book!
4 years ago Read more -
Blog postOMG you guys Sparrowhawk by Delilah S. Dawson (plus Matias Basla and Miguel Mercado) is my new favorite comic book. A gorgeously illustrated story of faerie, broken families and magical creatures, this comic will ROCK YOUR WORLD.
4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe Big Idea: Charlie Jane Anders: Hey so I wrote a “Big Idea” essay for @scalzi’s “Whatever” blog, to celebrate the release of my novella Rock Manning Goes For Broke. It’s all about physical comedy—and why fascism manages to be ludicrous without being funny. Check it out!
4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe other day at the Baltimore Book Festival I was on a panel about literary SFF with Sarah Pinsker et al., and I said the things I usually say. Like:
1) What’s considered “literary fiction” changes over time as fashions change.
2) Literary fiction is like porn, you kinda know it when you see it.
3) But there are certain topics, tropes or stylistic devices that usually mark something out as belong to the “literary fic” genre.
4) Also, “literary fiction” is a sweeping4 years ago Read more -
Blog postI’m deep in the weeds on the second volume of my as-yet-untitled young adult space opera trilogy, so of course I’m thinking a lot about Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
Empire is the gold standard for a second part of a space trilogy, because it does so many things so well. Not that I’m trying to copy it—I don’t want to inspire any comparisons that would do my book no favors, and I’m avoiding the “confront your own literal darkness” trope.
But one amazing thing about Empire,4 years ago Read more -
Blog postI’ve been watching nothing but Sailor Moon lately, so I decided to make some gifs. Probably the first of many!
4 years ago Read more
Titles By Charlie Jane Anders
From the international bestselling author of All the Birds in the Sky, Charlie Jane Anders, comes Dreams Bigger Than Heartbreak, the sequel to Victories Greater Than Death in the thrilling adventure Unstoppable series.
They'll do anything to be the people they were meant to be — even journey into the heart of evil.
Rachael Townsend is the first artist ever to leave Earth and journey out into the galaxy — but after an encounter with an alien artifact, she can't make art at all.
Elza Monteiro is determined to be the first human to venture inside the Palace of Scented Tears and compete for the chance to become a princess — except that inside the palace, she finds the last person she ever wanted to see again.
Tina Mains is studying at the Royal Space Academy with her friends, but she's not the badass space hero everyone was expecting.
Soon Rachael is journeying into a dark void, Elza is on a deadly spy mission, and Tina is facing an impossible choice that could change all her friends lives forever.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Entertainment Weekly's 27 Female Authors Who Rule Sci-Fi and Fantasy Right Now
Winner of the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel
Finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Paste's 50 Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) List
“The book is full of quirkiness and playful detail...but there's an overwhelming depth and poignancy to its virtuoso ending.” —NPR
From the former editor-in-chief of io9.com, a stunning Nebula Award-winning and Hugo-shortlisted novel about the end of the world—and the beginning of our future
An ancient society of witches and a hipster technological startup go to war in order to prevent the world from tearing itself apart. To further complicate things, each of the groups’ most promising followers (Patricia, a brilliant witch and Laurence, an engineering “wunderkind”) may just be in love with each other.
As the battle between magic and science wages in San Francisco against the backdrop of international chaos, Laurence and Patricia are forced to choose sides. But their choices will determine the fate of the planet and all mankind.
In a fashion unique to Charlie Jane Anders, All the Birds in the Sky offers a humorous and, at times, heart-breaking exploration of growing up extraordinary in a world filled with cruelty, scientific ingenuity, and magic.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
From Charlie Jane Anders, the award-winning author of novels such as All the Birds in the Sky and The City in the Middle of the Night, this is one of the most practical guides to storytelling that you will ever read.
The world is on fire.
So tell your story.
Things are scary right now. We’re all being swept along by a tidal wave of history, and it’s easy to feel helpless. But we’re not helpless: we have minds, and imaginations, and the ability to visualize other worlds and valiant struggles. And writing can be an act of resistance that reminds us that other futures and other ways of living are possible.
Full of memoir, personal anecdote, and insight about how to flourish during the present emergency, Never Say You Can’t Survive is the perfect manual for creativity in unprecedented times.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Outsmart Your Enemies. Outrun the Galaxy.
“Just please, remember what I told you. Run. Don’t stop running for anything.”
Tina never worries about being 'ordinary'--she doesn't have to, since she's known practically forever that she's not just Tina Mains, average teenager and beloved daughter. She's also the keeper of an interplanetary rescue beacon, and one day soon, it's going to activate, and then her dreams of saving all the worlds and adventuring among the stars will finally be possible. Tina's legacy, after all, is intergalactic--she is the hidden clone of a famed alien hero, left on Earth disguised as a human to give the universe another chance to defeat a terrible evil.
But when the beacon activates, it turns out that Tina's destiny isn't quite what she expected. Things are far more dangerous than she ever assumed--and everyone in the galaxy is expecting her to actually be the brilliant tactician and legendary savior Captain Thaoh Argentian, but Tina....is just Tina. And the Royal Fleet is losing the war, badly--the starship that found her is on the run and they barely manage to escape Earth with the planet still intact.
Luckily, Tina is surrounded by a crew she can trust, and her best friend Rachel, and she is still determined to save all the worlds. But first she'll have to save herself.
Buckle up your seatbelt for this thrilling YA sci-fi adventure set against an intergalactic war from internationally bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
LOCUS AWARD FINALIST!
“This generation’s Le Guin.” —Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less
Charlie Jane Anders, the nationally bestselling author of All the Birds in the Sky delivers a brilliant new novel set in a hauntingly strange future with #10 LA Times bestseller The City in the Middle of the Night.
"If you control our sleep, then you can own our dreams... And from there, it's easy to control our entire lives."
January is a dying planet—divided between a permanently frozen darkness on one side, and blazing endless sunshine on the other. Humanity clings to life, spread across two archaic cities built in the sliver of habitable dusk.
But life inside the cities is just as dangerous as the uninhabitable wastelands outside.
Sophie, a student and reluctant revolutionary, is supposed to be dead after being exiled into the night. Saved only by forming an unusual bond with the enigmatic beasts who roam the ice, Sophie vows to stay hidden from the world, hoping she can heal.
But fate has other plans—and Sophie's ensuing odyssey and the ragtag family she finds will change the entire world.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE FROM THE FIRE?
In the moments when it all comes crashing down, what will we value the most, and how will we save it? Digging through the layers of ruined cities beneath your feet, living in the bombed-out husk of a city, hiding from the monsters on the other side of the wall, can we turn the cataclysm into an opportunity?
Featuring new and exclusive stories, as well as classics of the genre, Grassmann takes us through the fall and beyond, to the things that are created after. Calling on the finest traditions of post-apocalyptic fiction, this anthology asks us what makes us human, and who we will be when we emerge out of the ruins?
Featuring work from China Miéville, Emily St John Mandel, Clive Barker, Carmen Maria Machado, Charlie Jane Anders, Samuel R. Delaney, Ramsey Campbell, Lavie Tidhar, Kaaron Warrern, Anna Tambour, Nina Allan, Jeffrey Thomas, Paul Di Filippo, Ron Drummond, Nikhil Singh, John Skipp, Autumn Christian, Chris Kelso, Rumi Kaneko, Nick Mamatas and D.R.G. Sugawara.
In her short story collection, Even Greater Mistakes, Charlie Jane Anders upends genre cliches and revitalizes classic tropes with heartfelt and pants-wettingly funny social commentary.
The woman who can see all possible futures is dating the man who can see the one and only foreordained future.
A wildly popular slapstick filmmaker is drawn, against his better judgment, into working with a fascist militia, against a background of social collapse.
Two friends must embark on an Epic Quest To Capture The Weapon That Threatens The Galaxy, or else they’ll never achieve their dream of opening a restaurant.
The stories in this collection, by their very outrageousness, achieve a heightened realism unlike any other. Anders once again proves she is one of the strongest voices in modern science fiction, the writer called by Andrew Sean Greer, “this generation’s Le Guin.”
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild. THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories.
Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME focuses on life after the apocalypse.
THE END IS NIGH features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jamie Ford, Seanan McGuire, Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Sigler, Robin Wasserman, Nancy Kress, Charlie Jane Anders, Ken Liu, and many others.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction by John Joseph Adams | “The Balm and the Wound” by Robin Wasserman | “Heaven is a Place on Planet X” by Desirina Boskovich | “Break! Break! Break!” by Charlie Jane Anders | “The Gods Will Not Be Chained” by Ken Liu | “Wedding Day” by Jake Kerr | “Removal Order” by Tananarive Due | “System Reset” by Tobias S. Buckell | “This Unkempt World is Falling to Pieces” by Jamie Ford | “BRING HER TO ME” by Ben H. Winters | “In the Air” by Hugh Howey | “Goodnight Moon” by Annie Bellet | “Dancing with Death in the Land of Nod” by Will McIntosh | “Houses Without Air” by Megan Arkenberg | “The Fifth Day of Deer Camp” by Scott Sigler | “Enjoy the Moment” by Jack McDevitt | “Pretty Soon the Four Horsemen are Going to Come Riding Through” by Nancy Kress | “Spores” by Seanan McGuire | “She’s Got a Ticket to Ride” by Jonathan Maberry | “Agent Unknown” by David Wellington | “Enlightenment” by Matthew Mather | “Shooting the Apocalypse” by Paolo Bacigalupi | “Love Perverts” by Sarah Langan.
But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH tells their stories.
Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME focuses on life after the apocalypse.
THE END HAS COME features all-new, never-before-published works by Hugh Howey, Seanan McGuire, Ken Liu, Carrie Vaughn, Mira Grant, Jamie Ford, Tananarive Due, Jonathan Maberry, Robin Wasserman, Nancy Kress, Charlie Jane Anders, Elizabeth Bear, Ben H. Winters, Scott Sigler, and many others.
THE END IS NIGH is about the match.
THE END IS NOW is about the conflagration.
THE END HAS COME is about what will rise from the ashes.
Is it the end of the world as we know it? Climate Fiction, or Cli-Fi, is exploring the world we live in now—and in the very near future—as the effects of global warming become more evident. Join bestselling, award-winning writers like Margaret Atwood, Paolo Bacigalupi, Kim Stanley Robinson, Seanan McGuire, and many others at the brink of tomorrow. Loosed Upon the World is so believable, it’s frightening.
But before any catastrophe, there are people who see it coming. During, there are heroes who fight against it. And after, there are the survivors who persevere and try to rebuild.
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH will tell their stories.
Edited by acclaimed anthologist John Joseph Adams and bestselling author Hugh Howey, The Apocalypse Triptych is a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic fiction. THE END IS NIGH focuses on life before the apocalypse. THE END IS NOW turns its attention to life during the apocalypse. And THE END HAS COME explores life after the apocalypse.
THE END IS NIGH is about the match. THE END HAS COME is about what will rise from the ashes. THE END IS NOW is about the conflagration.
• • • •
THE END IS NOW table of contents: INTRODUCTION by John Joseph Adams | HERD IMMUNITY by Tananarive Due | THE SIXTH DAY OF DEER CAMP by Scott Sigler | GOODNIGHT STARS by Annie Bellet | ROCK MANNING CAN’T HEAR YOU by Charlie Jane Anders | FRUITING BODIES by Seanan McGuire | BLACK MONDAY by Sarah Langan | ANGELS OF THE APOCALYPSE by Nancy Kress | AGENT ISOLATED by David Wellington | THE GODS WILL NOT BE SLAIN by Ken Liu | YOU’VE NEVER SEEN EVERYTHING by Elizabeth Bear | BRING THEM DOWN by Ben H. Winters | TWILIGHT OF THE MUSIC MACHINES by Megan Arkenberg | SUNSET HOLLOW by Jonathan Maberry | PENANCE by Jake Kerr | AVTOMAT by Daniel H. Wilson | DANCING WITH BATGIRL IN THE LAND OF NOD by Will McIntosh | BY THE HAIR OF THE MOON by Jamie Ford | TO WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD by Desirina Boskovich | IN THE MOUNTAIN by Hugh Howey | DEAR JOHN by Robin Wasserman.
You are standing in a room filled with books, faced with a difficult decision. Suddenly, one with a distinctive cover catches your eye. It is a groundbreaking anthology of short stories from award-winning writers and game-industry titans who have embarked on a quest to explore what happens when video games and science fiction collide.
From text-based adventures to first-person shooters, dungeon crawlers to horror games, these twenty-six stories play with our notion of what video games can be—and what they can become—in smart and singular ways. With a foreword from Ernest Cline, bestselling author of Ready Player One, Press Start to Play includes work from: Daniel H. Wilson, Charles Yu, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, S.R. Mastrantone, Charlie Jane Anders, Holly Black, Seanan McGuire, Django Wexler, Nicole Feldringer, Chris Avellone, David Barr Kirtley,T.C. Boyle, Marc Laidlaw, Robin Wasserman, Micky Neilson, Cory Doctorow, Jessica Barber, Chris Kluwe, Marguerite K. Bennett, Rhianna Pratchett, Austin Grossman, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Catherynne M. Valente, Andy Weir, and Hugh Howey.
Your inventory includes keys, a cell phone, and a wallet. What would you like to do?
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