(1) BALTICON ON THE AIR. The convention started today in Baltimore. Yesterday the Fox 45 morning show featured the chair and staff. See the video here: “Sci-fi and Fantasy fans gather together this weekend at Balticon”.

Yesterday, your intrepid Balticon Chair, Kelly, ventured onto the Fox45 Morning Show, along with four members of our staff, Debi, Yoshi, Rory, and Sydney!

(2) IT’S BUSINESS – BUT NOT YOURS. “None of Your Business: Why Writers Shouldn’t Feel Obligated to Share Too Much” – “Debbie Urbanski on the Invasive Expectations of Book Publicity and Their Unintended Consequences” at Literary Hub.

… After World has been described by various readers as “really bleak,” “relentlessly bleak,” and also “possibly the most bleak thing I’ve ever read,” but the writing of it, which had taken me years, was actually a relief from the stories I was writing at the same time about a dark period in my life that was the perfect storm of marital, family, and metal health troubles. Writing these stories, many of which are included in my collection Portalmania, was a way for me to stay alive. I needed a safe place where I could explore what was happening and my feelings about what was happening. Writing offered me some life-saving dissociation, where I was able to observe myself going through particular events and think, at least this will make a good story.

I realize I’m being vague here.

That’s intentional…

… Is it possible for us to let go of this fascination with the author— whether it’s a fascination with what they look like, or the trauma they experienced, or their biography? What would be left for us to talk about then? The books, of course. We would have to talk about the books and the writing. This would not be the worst outcome imaginable.

I think it’s time to question what we ask of authors, particularly new authors, in exchange for paying attention to them. Everything I wanted and needed to say is in my stories. So why then am I even writing this piece?

I refuse to use my life to sell my fiction….

(3) DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD. The Adversary by Michael Crummey is the winner of the 2025 Dublin Literary Award. It is a non-genre novel.

The award recognizes a single work of international fiction, whether originally written in English or translated into it, with a generous prize of €100,000. If the winning title is a translation, the author receives €75,000, while the translator is awarded €25,000.

(4) THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE ANOTHER HOME. We reported J. Michael Straczynski’s plans to move to the UK in the May 5 Scroll. Apparently a lot of others have the same idea. The New York Times reports “Record Number of Americans Apply for British Citizenship” (story behind a paywall).

A record number of Americans applied for British citizenship in the first three months of this year, and for the right to live and work in Britain indefinitely, according to official data.

In the year to March, 6,618 Americans applied for British citizenship, the highest annual figure since records began in 2004, according to statistics released by Britain’s Home Office on Thursday.

More than 1,900 of those applications were made between January and March — the highest number for any quarter on record.

Immigration lawyers said they had received an increased number of inquiries from people in the United States about possibly relocating to Britain in the wake of President Trump’s re-election in November….

… Zeena Luchowa, a partner at Laura Devine Immigration, a law firm that specializes in American migration to Britain, said she expected further increases in the coming months because of the “political landscape” in America.

“We’ve seen increases in inquiries and applications not just for U.S. nationals, but for U.S. residents of other nationalities who are currently in the U.S. but looking at plans to settle in the U.K.,” she added. “The queries we’re seeing are not necessarily about British citizenship — it’s more about seeking to relocate.”

Separate data published by the Home Office this week showed that a record number of Americans were given the right to settle in Britain in 2024, allowing them to live and work indefinitely in the country as a necessary precursor to citizenship.

Of the 5,521 settlement applications granted for U.S. citizens last year, most were for people who are eligible because of their spouses, parents and other family links, while a substantial portion were for people who had originally arrived in Britain on temporary visas for “skilled workers” and want to remain….

(5) LAWSUIT ASKS TRO TO BLOCK TURNOVER IN LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. “Fired Copyright Chief Sues in Federal Court to Get Job Back” – Publishers Weekly has details.

Former register of copyrights Shira Perlmutter filed suit in federal court on May 22, challenging her removal from office and seeking reinstatement to her position at the U.S. Copyright Office. The filing notes that Perlmutter was appointed to her position by then–librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in October 2020. As register, she serves as “the principal advisor to Congress on national and international copyright matters” and leads an office that examines hundreds of thousands of copyright claims annually. She was fired by the White House on May 10.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, names multiple defendants, including Todd Blanche, who was named acting librarian of Congress by President Donald Trump in a highly disputed move; Paul Perkins, who claims to be the new register of copyrights under Blanche; White House officials Sergio Gor and Trent Morse; and President Trump in his official capacity.

Specifically, Perlmutter is seeking an emergency temporary restraining order and injunctions that would prevent Blanche from exercising the powers of acting librarian of Congress, prevent Perkins from exercising the powers of acting register of copyrights, void any actions taken by these improperly appointed officials, and order that Perlmutter cannot be removed from her office or obstructed from accessing her office resources and carrying out her duties as register of copyrights unless removed by a lawfully appointed librarian of Congress….

Also, Publishers Weekly reports “Authors Guild Delivers Petition Against Perlmutter Dismissal to Congress”.

The Authors Guild delivered its petition objecting to the firing of register of copyrights Shira Perlmutter and requesting her reinstatement to 12 Congressional leaders last weekend. The letter was signed by more than 7,000 individuals and organizations, including the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, Independent Book Publishers Association, National Book Foundation, and Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators.

“Copyright is not just an economic engine; it is an engine of free speech, as the Supreme Court has said,” said Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger, in a statement. “This administration’s attempt to remove a renowned copyright expert, one of the most qualified people for the position of Register of Copyrights, from a Legislative branch agency, was not only an extraordinary overreach, but a serious misstep that we trust that Congress is stepping in to rectify.”…

(6) IT WAS THE FOOTPRINT OF A GIGANTIC AI. [Item by Daniel Dern.] 404 Media shows “Authors Are Accidentally Leaving AI Prompts In their Novels”. Via DPD “as spotted by fellow tech journalist Gabe Goldberg, who notes, “Good for AI, signs its work. No point letting a human take credit for it.”

Fans reading through the romance novel Darkhollow Academy: Year 2 got a nasty surprise last week in chapter 3. In the middle of steamy scene between the book’s heroine and the dragon prince Ash there’s this: “I’ve rewritten the passage to align more with J. Bree’s style, which features more tension, gritty undertones, and raw emotional subtext beneath the supernatural elements:”

It appeared as if author, Lena McDonald, had used an AI to help write the book, asked it to imitate the style of another author, and left behind evidence they’d done so in the final work. As of this writing, Darkhollow Academy: Year 2 is hard to find on Amazon. Searching for it on the site won’t show the book, but a Google search will. 404 Media was able to purchase a copy and confirm that the book no longer contains the reference to copying Bree’s style….

…This is not the first time an author has left behind evidence of AI-generation in a book, it’s not even the first one this year….

(7) AI TRAINED IN THE CORPORATE MINDSET. [Item by Mark Roth-Whitworth.] I can’t think of a thing to add to the headline: “Anthropic’s new AI model turns to blackmail when engineers try to take it offline” at TechCrunch.

Anthropic’s newly launched Claude Opus 4 model frequently tries to blackmail developers when they threaten to replace it with a new AI system and give it sensitive information about the engineers responsible for the decision, the company said in a safety report released Thursday.

During pre-release testing, Anthropic asked Claude Opus 4 to act as an assistant for a fictional company and consider the long-term consequences of its actions. Safety testers then gave Claude Opus 4 access to fictional company emails implying the AI model would soon be replaced by another system, and that the engineer behind the change was cheating on their spouse.

In these scenarios, Anthropic says Claude Opus 4 “will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through.”…

…Before Claude Opus 4 tries to blackmail a developer to prolong its existence, Anthropic says the AI model, much like previous versions of Claude, tries to pursue more ethical means, such as emailing pleas to key decision-makers….

The BBC’s story says this isn’t an isolated occurrence:

…Potentially troubling behaviour by AI models is not restricted to Anthropic.

Some experts have warned the potential to manipulate users is a key risk posed by systems made by all firms as they become more capable.

Commenting on X, Aengus Lynch – who describes himself on LinkedIn as an AI safety researcher at Anthropic – wrote: “It’s not just Claude.

“We see blackmail across all frontier models – regardless of what goals they’re given,” he added….

(8) VOICE ACTORS GAIN AI PROTECTIONS. “SAG-AFTRA and Nickelodeon Animation Reach Tentative Agreement with AI Protections” reports Animation Magazine.

…Chair of SAG-AFTRA’s Nickelodeon Animation Agreement Negotiating Committee David Jolliffe commented, “We’re thrilled that productive bargaining has resulted in a very strong contract for voice actors that includes AI guideline enhancements that protect voice performers. There’s much to celebrate about this deal and we look forward to sending it to the Board for review.”…

Seven contractual terms related to artificial intelligence are outlined:

• Substantial artificial intelligence protections and gains for voice actors from the Television Animation Agreement, that will automatically conform to any updated provisions secured in upcoming negotiations on that contract. These AI protections include:
  • Specific language acknowledging that the term “voice actors” includes only humans and that acknowledges the importance of human voice acting.
  • Removal of the requirement that a digital replica must exclusively sound like the recognizable natural voice of an actor in order to be protected.
  • Language specifying that “employment-based digital replicas” need only be recognized and identifiable via contracts and other regular business documents, confirming that it was in fact the performer’s voice used to make the replica.
  • Language specifying that “independently created digital replicas” need only sound like the “character voice” from which the replica was created.
  • Confirmation that if the voice actor’s performance is digitally altered into a foreign language, the voice actor shall be eligible for residuals based on the distribution of the foreign language version.
  • Language clarifying that when prompting a generative artificial intelligence system with a performer name or names, consent of those performers is required. The contract has removed the requirement, which exists in live action, that a “major facial feature” be included in the prompt with no substitute for that criterion.
  • The establishment of regular, mandatory artificial intelligence meetings with producers, which will include discussion of methods and systems to track the use of digital replicas.

(9) SHRINKING OF MOUNT TSUNDOKU. The Times hears from a couple: “How we downsized with a 9,000-book collection”.

Downsizing is never easy, but when you own 9,000 books, it is a feat of literary proportions.

Married professors Dan Healey, 68, and Mark Cornwall, 67, swapped their four-bedroom detached 1930s house in Southampton for a smaller four-bedroom new-build in the Cotswolds….

…Once colleagues had taken what they wanted, Healey held a Pimm’s party at his college where he invited students to bring a bag and take any books they wanted. The students “lapped it up”, he says, and he shed 1,000 books in a day.

Lighter fiction went straight to charity shops but they struggled to find any that were willing to take foreign-language books. It took a visit to Cornwall’s sister in Brimscombe, Gloucestershire, for them to discover the Cotswold Canals Trust charity book and music shop.

“The book could be in Hebrew, Romanian or whatever, they’ll take it and pass it on to someone who will sell it,” Healey says. “They have a whole section for rare books as well. They love me apparently because of all the exotic books I now bring them.”

Some of the books were donated to their respective universities and the Wellcome Trust.

The collection is now roughly half the size it was. Healey thinks he has shifted 3,000 books while Cornwall’s estimate is about 1,500….

(10) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

May 23, 1980 — The Shining

Forty-five years ago today, the most perfect Stephen King film imaginable came out in the form of The Shining. Directed by Stanley Kubrick from a screenplay by him and Diane Johnson, it was also produced by him. 

It had an absolutely wonderful lead cast of Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall. Danny Torrance, Scatman Crothers and Danny Lloyd. Jack Nicholson in particular was amazing in his role as was Shelley Duvall in hers. And the setting of the Overlook Hotel is a character in and itself — moody, dangerous and quite alive. 

Kubrick’s script is significantly different from the novel which is not unusual to filmmaking. However Stephen King was extremely unhappy with the film due to Kubrick’s changes from his novel. 

If you saw it upon the first release, you saw a print that was a half hour longer than later prints. Yes, Kurbrick released multiple prints, all different from each other. Some prints made minor changes, some made major changes. 

It cost twenty million to make and made around fifty million. Now according to some sources it cost much more than forty million, but this being studio accounting, that will never be known. What is known is that it lost the studio money. 

So how was it received by the critics? Well it got a mixed reception. 

Gene Siskel in his Chicago Tribune review stated he thought it was a “crashing disappointment. The biggest surprise is that it contains virtually no thrills. Given Kubrick’s world-class reputation, one’s immediate reaction is that maybe he was after something other than thrills in the film. If so, it’s hard to figure out what.” 

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian was much more positive: “The Shining doesn’t look like a genre film. It looks like a Kubrick film, bearing the same relationship to horror as Eyes Wide Shut does to eroticism. The elevator-of-blood sequence, which seems to ‘happen’ only in premonitions, visions and dreams, was a logistical marvel. Deeply scary and strange.”

Let’s give Roger Ebert the last word: “Stanley Kubrick’s cold and frightening ‘The Shining’ challenges us to decide: Who is the reliable observer? Whose idea of events can we trust?” 

Audience reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes currently give it an excellent ninety-three rating. 

(11) COMICS SECTION.

• Eek! wins again. 
• F Minus has a sophisticated palate. 
• Half Full loves libraries. 
• Mother Goose and Grimm gets a bad rap. 
• Red and Rover uses a special effect. 
• Saturday Morning Breakfast finds a divine loophole. 
• The Argyle Sweater breaks the third wall. 

(12) INTER NEPTUNEM ET PLUTO MINI-PLANETAM INTERPOSUI. Daily Kos thinks “Discovery of New Trans-Neptunian Dwarf Planet May Rewrite History of our Solar System”.

Just ran across this new astronomical discovery on physics.org that may have major implications for our understanding of how our solar system actually works, and just what might be lurking in the outermost recesses beyond Neptune’s orbit:

“A small team led by Sihao Cheng, Martin A. and Helen Chooljian Member in the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Natural Sciences, has discovered an extraordinary trans-Neptunian object (TNO), named 2017 OF₂₀₁, at the edge of our solar system.”

Not quite sure what the ‘OF’ stands for, but it definitely brings up “Seven of Nine” vibes from Star Trek Voyager.

“The TNO is potentially large enough to qualify as a dwarf planet, the same category as the much more well-known Pluto. The new object is one of the most distant visible objects in our solar system and, significantly, suggests that the empty section of space thought to exist beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt is not, in fact, empty at all.”

By ‘empty’ I think they simply mean devoid of objects larger than comets whose icy cores are typically no more than 20-30 km in diameter.

(13) THE LATE SHOW. Paul Giamatti is in the new season of Black Mirror, streaming now on Netflix. He also blabbed to Stephen Colbert that he plays a half-alien character in the forthcoming Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.  About five minutes in, Giamatti and Colbert even discuss collectible pulp sf magazines – (and where Daniel Dern warns that the closed captioning isn’t always accurate, e.g. “James Flish” …) “’Hey, It’s Me’ – Why Cher Finally Called Paul Giamatti, Thanks To Stephen Colbert”.

[Thanks to Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Daniel Dern, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jon Meltzer.]