[SF/F/H Link Post] THE SHEPHARD’S CROWN Nominated For Carnegie Medal; Lost J.R.R. Tolkien Poems Found; Cute Beanies For Funko Pops!

Interviews & Profiles

• Terry Brooks Answers Your January Questions.
• Take Five With Alan Dean Foster, Author, Oshenerth.
• My Bookish Ways interviews Mark Alpert, author of The Orion Plan.

News

• World Weaver Press has announced Assistant Editor Sarena Ulibarri will succeed Eileen Wiedbrauk as Editor-in-Chief of the speculative fiction publishing company effective March 1, 2016. – [via Press Release]
• Astronomers have detected a Super-Earth atmosphere for the first time.
• The new Robert Kirkman CINEMAX series, Outcast will make its world premiere at 2016 SXSW Music, Film and Interactive Festival this March.

Events & Event News

• Donate: scholarship fund for the Alpha teen sf/f writing workshop.
• Terry Pratchett’s final novel makes longlist for Carnegie medal.
• 2016 Compton Crook Award Finalists.

Crowd Funding

• Robert E. Howard’s Conan Roleplaying Game.
• Coleco Chameleon retro game console heads to Kickstarter.
• Brains On! – a science podcast for curious kids & grown-ups by Brains On!
• The League and The Lantern: A rip-roaring adventure series by Brian Wells.

Articles

• Unseen J.R.R. Tolkien poems found in school magazine. – [via Paul Di Filippo.]
• The Exploding Spaceship reviews The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle.
• The 73 Best Books to Read as a Family: Today in Critical Linking.
• “Writerly Problems – Real Combat Vs Fantasy Combat” by Rob J Hayes.
• Hercule Poirot: an odd sort of hero.
• Midnighter and Doomed Trade Paperbacks Reboot Familiar DC Comics Characters.
• For Our Consideration: The Link To The Past comic has the ending the game deserved.
• Reading List: Matt Ruff’s 5 favorite books that mix real and supernatural horrors.
• The most advanced AI in the world still can’t pass an 8th grade science test.
• World’s Scientists Probe Our Hidden Universe of Microbial Ecosystems –Critical to Life.
• DC Public Library Adds Historic Maps to Online Portal.
• Deadpool Wins the Guinness World Record for the Largest Number of Characters on a Comic Book Cover.
• I just read Lovecraft’s The Colour Out Of Space and I’m literally weeping out of sheer terror.
• Book Review: Ecstatic Inferno by Autumn Christian.
• 6 Mainstream Comic Book Characters as Written by Non-Comic Book Authors.
• Bookshots: Interior Darkness by Peter Straub.
• Deadliest Places on Earth.
• The Little Scavenger: A Little Force Book.

TV & Movies

• Amazon Prime And Netflix Not Removing Star Trek, Despite Rumors. – [via email tip, thanks Jacob!]
• Alex Hirsch’s X-Files for Kids: An Ode to Gravity Falls.
• The R-Rated Superhero Movie That Kicked Our Asses Long Before Deadpool.
• Gravity Falls Finale Review: Thanks for All the Weird Times.
• The Amazing Nerd Theory About E.T. That You Must Read.
• 11.22.63 showrunner Bridget Carpenter on adapting a Stephen King novel.
• 11.22.63 Showrunner Promises Hulu Series Stays True to Book, Teases Stephen King Easter Eggs. – [via Paul Di Filippo]

Art

• Artist of the Week – Boris Vallejo – does Star Wars.
• Witness An Epic Battle In New Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Concept Art.

More Fun Stuff

• Knitted Beanie And Scarf Sets For Funko Pop Vinyls Are So Cute I Can Barely Stand It.
• Fabulous Beasts and Where to Find Them.
• Stronghold Games Takes on The Red Planet.
• Star Wars: Attack Of The Clones Soundtrack Comes to Vinyl.
• April’s Marvel Collector Corps Theme Revealed.
• Star Wars: Battlefront Isn’t Really Doing Well On PC.
• Love Minecraft and Monthly Swag Boxes? “Mine Chest” Might Be For You.
• This ’80s-style New Mutants music video is exactly what Fox should do with X-Men next.
• Toy Fair ’16: Funko Experiments With New Forms For Five Nights At Freddy’s.
• Toy Fair ’16: The Power Of Retailers Expands The Anime Collection.
• LEGO Elves: 41176 The Secret Marketplace. [Review]
• Artists explain how The Witness got its special look.
• The Nerf Battle Racer Go-Kart Is Packed With Foam Firepower.