Pixel Scroll 1/7/Year of the Goat *** (I’ll Never Be Your) Star Beast of Burden

(1) DECORATOR COLOR. A petition at Change.org to designate element 117 as “Octarine” — a name taken from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books has received over 5,500 signatures at this writing. (Via Steven H Silver and Ansible Links.)

This petition is to name element 117, recently confirmed by the International Union of Applied Chemistry, as ‘Octarine’, with the proposed symbol Oc (pronounced ‘ook’), in honour of the late Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series of books….

Octarine, in the Discworld books, is known as ‘the colour of magic’, which forms the title of Pratchett’s first ever Discworld book. According to Disc mythology, octarine is visible only to wizards and cats, and is generally described as a sort of greenish-yellow purple colour, which seems perfect for what will probably be the final halogen in the periodic table. Octarine is also a particularly pleasing choice because, not only would it honour a world-famous and much-loved author, but it also has an ‘ine’ ending, consistent with the other elements in period 17.

(2) NTA TIME. Voting for Britain’s National Television Awards is open. In the Drama category, David Tennant’s non-sf series Broadchurch is up against Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who, as well as Downton Abbey and Casualty.

Neither Peter Capaldi or Jenna Coleman is a finalist for best actor/actress, but Tennant is.

In New Drama, sf series Humans is a nominee. Game of Thrones is a nominee in the International category.

(3) WITCH WORLD. The Andre Norton Books site announced that the Estate has entered into a deal to turn the first two Witch World novels into a movie.

The following is a statement from The Producers as of 01/05/16.

The Producers of Andre Norton’s WITCH WORLD franchise are surprised, delighted and encouraged by the interest from Andre Norton fans. The Producers are happy to announce that they have developed a new Witch World script that they are very excited about, written by award-winning screenwriters Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens (Janissaries, Star Trek: Enterprise). This script forms the basis of the first movie in a new film trilogy based on the classic Witch World book series by Andre. The Producers’ primary goal in working closely with the Andre Norton Estate, is to ensure that the spirit of Andre Norton is retained in its full integrity within a new, contemporary vision of a classic epic story. The process towards creating a motion picture franchise is lengthy and, in keeping with the Producers’ desire to honor Andre’s creation properly, it will be some time before a release date is announced. Nevertheless, the Producers will keep fans updated on new developments. The Andre Norton Estate thanks Andre’s fans for their incredibly positive response and is in close consultation with the Producers to ensure that Witch World will come to the big screen soon.

(4) HOW WRITERS GET PAID, PART 57. “How novelists are monetizing their short fiction through Patreon” at Medium.

If this model becomes more widespread, then it could significantly alter the cost-benefit analysis that any author applies to writing short fiction. Kameron Hurley, a speculative fiction writer who has published five novels and won two Hugo awards, is constantly inundated with requests from her fans for new short stories. “There is no money in short fiction,” she told me in a phone interview. “You’ll spend 30 or 40 hours on a short story, and you’ll get paid $200. It’s just not worth your while. People would ask me, ‘Hey Kameron, why don’t you write more short fiction?’ Well, short stories were a nice way to get my name out there in the early 2000s, but then I realized I’m getting $200 for an incredible amount of work. I started doing a lot of copywriting work, and I charge $90 an hour for copywriting. If you look at the costs and benefits, you realize writing short stories doesn’t have any financial benefit and it doesn’t make sense.”

So when Hurley launched her Patreon page in 2015, she had one goal: “My bare minimum was $500,” she said. “If I could get that much for a story, and if I could resell it as a reprint or as an original to the short fiction markets, you’re starting to make something that resembles a fair wage.”

(5) KEEP YOUR FUNNY SCIDE UP. At Amazing Stories, David Kilman completes “Scide Splitters’” look at humorous stories eligible for the 1941 Retro Hugos with the third of three installments. He provides short reviews of 23 stories (beware spoilers!) and, at the end, lists what he feels are the top contenders for a Retro Hugo.

(6) TODAY IN HISTORY

  • January 7, 1934Flash Gordon debuts as a Sunday page. Alex Raymond is the initial writer and artist. Within the years that follow Don Moore will assist in the writing chores. Jim Keefe, who was the comic’s writer/artist for years, has a great blog post with lots of art.

(7) YESTERDAY’S BIRTHDAY BOY. Is File 770 in bad odor for overlooking Pepe Le Pew’s cartoon debut on January 6, 1945?

(8) BESTSELLING ROOKIE. Seth Breidbart’s “Ludicrous fact of the year (non-politics division)”: John Sandford is eligible for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

(9) MANETTI RECOMMENDED. Sue Granquist has Goth Chick News Reviews: The Box Jumper by Stoker Award Winner Lisa Mannetti, a lively entry at Black Gate.

‘Magic’ is the operative word for this moody novella. The magic of Harry Houdini serves as an overriding backdrop here, but another kind of magic permeates these pages — the magic of fine writing. Don’t expect the usual linear plot, because there is no direct narrative. Vivid dreams, surreal images, hypnotic memories, all serve to flesh out an unsettling tale that sweeps us into a new fictional dimension. — William F. Nolan, author of Logan’s Run

If those words from one of my favorite authors weren’t reason enough for me to immediately seek out The Box Jumper, then the prospect of Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle together again in the golden age of 1920’s séances would certainly have done the trick.

I am surprised I didn’t hurt myself in the dash.

In her latest, engagingly disturbing novella, Bram Stoker Award Winner Lisa Mannetti transports us to the post-WW I-era where Spiritualism was one of the fastest growing religions, and tricksters knew no bounds when it came to roping in the willing, the gullible and the curious.

(10) PAT HARRINGTON OBIT. Best known as One Day at a Time’s lecherous Schneider, Pat Harrington, Jr., who died January 6, also had some genre roles.

He appeared in three episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (once as his stand-up comedy character, faux Italian immigrant Guido Panzini), and in episodes of Captain Nice, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Invisible Man, and The Ray Bradbury TV Theatre. He was in demand as a voice actor on Saturday morning cartoons like Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Aquaman.

He also played the narrator in the last production of Ray Bradbury’s stage play Falling Upward. Harrington was 86.

(11) SHANNARA. MTV has already aired four episodes of The Shannara Chronicles, based on the fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. I’m a wee bit behind in posting the trailer….

Coming to MTV in January 2016, ‘The Shannara Chronicles’ is a new TV series based on the best-selling fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. Set thousands of years after the destruction of our civilization, the story follows an Elven Princess, Amberle, a half-human half-elf, Wil, and a human, Eretria, as they embark on a quest to stop a Demon army from destroying the Four Lands. ‘The Shannara Chronicles’ stars Poppy Drayton, Austin Butler, Ivana Baquero, Manu Bennett and John Rhys-Davies. The series is executive produced by Jon Favreau, Al Gough, Miles Millar, Dan Farah, Jonathan Liebesman and author Terry Brooks.

 

(12) BUT THIS IS NEWS. NBC has ordered a pilot for Powerless, the first comedy from DC Entertainment according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The single-camera entry is set in the DC Comics universe that’s full of superheroes, villains and people just like us. It’s described as an office comedy about the exceedingly average employees at an insurance company and their quest to find their own power. Like all DC fare, it hails from Warner Bros. Television and will be written by Ben Queen (A to Z), with Michael Patrick Jann set to exec produce and direct the pilot.

As described by File 770 last October, the focus of the series is on the ordinary, “power-less” folk working at the insurance company who often envy the men and women outside their window who make headlines with their supernatural powers.

(13) SUMMER GLAU. Another Firefly reunion is in the works on Castle.

Summer Glau has signed on to guest-star opposite her onetime Serenity captain Nathan Fillion in a spring episode of the ABC drama, TVLine has learned exclusively.

(14) EXPISCATE! With a little imagination, the linked news video of LA trash bins being swept down the street by El Nino rainstorm looks like an invading robot army.

[Thanks to Will R., James H. Burns, Steven H Silver, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]

104 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 1/7/Year of the Goat *** (I’ll Never Be Your) Star Beast of Burden

  1. First!

    Btw, it’s not yet the Year of the Monkey – that’ll be after Feb 8th I think. It’s still the Year of the Snake.

  2. Ooops, yes, skipped a year and forgot about Goat/ Sheep/ Ram (it’s interesting how it gets variously named)

  3. If you are going to film a book which is a ripoff of LotR would it be asking to much not to cast anyone who was in the Jackson LotR movies. Oh well at least Rhys-Davies isn’t playing a dwarf again.

  4. Ow my aching feet. Lots to see here at CES, where Game of Thrones USB sticks are outnumbered by Minions.

    Two fifths barman!

  5. Snowcrash:

    Goat/ Sheep/ Ram (it’s interesting how it gets variously named)

    This post with 92 comments clarifies the matter about as much as ir can be

  6. In Japan they are pretty sure it is a sheep/ram. It was after my sister spent three years there that she started collecting sheep to go with her birth year animal.

  7. (3) Witch World movie — I am not optimistic.

    (11) Shannara — I can’t see any reason at all to worry about who’s doing what in the TV adaptation of a bad Tolkien rip-off.

    In other news: Just found out that the dog I’m fostering for Animal Control didn’t get any actual vetting during the post-seizure vet visit that verified that she was, indeed, a dog, and one who had received very poor care while in the hoarder’s possession. Immediate result: She and my own dogs now need to be dewormed.

  8. @Tintinaus: same reason I buy dragons! Well, that and dragons are cool. My last dragon purchase has led to me starting to buy bells as well though – which funnily enough was when I went to Japan last year.

  9. Mark:

    “(1) DECORATOR COLOR

    11,586 supporters as of right now. I think it’s taking off.”

    107 682 supporters for Lemmium. Ooops, 107 683. It is a Heavy Metal after all.

  10. @Hampus

    Rival campaigns? Fun!

    I’d say “this means war” but those heavy metal types all have axes….

  11. @Hampus

    AFAIK Lemmy didn’t think of himself as Metal though, to quote Dave Grohl who recorded a track with Lemmy for his Probot project:

    “We recorded his track in Los Angeles in maybe two takes about a year and a half ago. Until then I’d never met what I’d call a real rock ‘n’ roll hero before. F*k Elvis and Keith Richards, Lemmy’s the king of rock ‘n’ roll – he told me he never considered Motörhead a metal band, he was quite adamant”

  12. Lis’ other news – oh, I’m sorry to hear this. I hope the process goes as painlessly as possible for all concerned.

  13. re: 11: I guess Rhys-Davies needs the money? Or maybe he’s comfy playing in the SFF sandbox? And as mentioned upstream, at least they didn’t make him a dwarf again…

  14. @Lis, re: the dogs; what an annoyance. I hope the fister dog is doing well psychologically though?

    My own shy-and-skittish cat that I adopted two months ago gave me a terrible scare today by walking out the door. I knew it would be worse than useless to search for him outdoors — he’s almost always inclined to run away from me, and that would be doubly true in a strange environment. I could only leave the door open and hope he’d decide to come in; which he did, eleven hours later. What was he doing out there in the cold for so.long? Perhaps hiding and waiting for darkness and quiet; he left in the morning, returned late in the evening.

    Figuring out this guy’s mind has sure been an interesting challenge. He’s very different from other, more confident cats I’ve had. For instance, he won’t eat or take treats when he’s scared, so I can’t use that as motivator or reward. I have had to figure out what makes him comfortable enough to eat, in fact, it can take some creativity to get food into him if he’s having a bad day. I am learning a lot of patience and flexibility from him.

  15. I see over on Worlds Without End that someone is asking for help identifying a book. Perhaps the hivemind here can help.

    A book I read a long time ago. Pre1970 most likely. Basics that I remember:

    The main character is a Yeti-like being, a shaman of his tribe. His tribe is wiped out; he is the last. He, like other shamans, keeps the stories of his tribe on a knotted cord. At the end of the book, he finds a different species also nearly wiped out which he adopts to teach them the legends and stories of his people. The main character lives in a polar region.

    Anybody know a book like that?

  16. I don’t necessarily have any strong moral objections to the idea of a Witch World movie, but first could we get the full series (the first few books in particular) released as eBooks?

    (I know a good chunk of them are available, but the earliest ones are inexplicably missing.)

  17. I’m glad to see Kuttner in the list of humorous stories. If you haven’t read his Hogben stories, please do so. You’re in for a reel treat.
    And another great role for Harrington was in The President’s Analyst.

  18. DECORATOR COLOUR
    Wondering if there’s been a slight mix-up? Element 118 (“ununoctium”) seems to be the one which might be a noble gas (or might not be).

  19. Same reason I buy dragons!

    Unfortunately, I was born in a year that the menu at a certain inexpensive Chinese restaurant insisted as describing as the Year of the Little Cock.
    Lis, sorry to hear about the worms. I hope it is one of the types that is easier to get rid of.

  20. @brightglance: it looks right to me. 118 is indeed in the noble gases column (argon, neon, xenon etc.), which puts 117 in the halogens next door (fluorine, chlorine, bromine and so on). So, an “-ine” ending would at least be consistent, I guess.

    (I’d be surprised if they named it after anything but another famous chemist or physicist, though, in the end.)

  21. All these petitions to name elements are no doubt well-intentioned, but they ignore that A) the proposed names violate naming regulations B) elements are named by the scientists discovering them (who have often dedicated their life to this stuff), so unless they are Discworld or Motörhead fans already a petitions isn’t going to change their minds.

  22. Hypnotosov: Both Lemmium and Octarin matches the naming regulations. Lemmium is named to honour a scientist named Lemmi. Octarin is a legendary name.

    And their own name proposals were horribly bad. Livermorium? Pffft.

  23. I was born in year of the goat and as a child owned/raised goats so loving today’s title.

    @Mike Glyer good to see you having fun

    4) HOW WRITERS GET PAID, PART 57 – I support a number of creative types through Patreon – authors, comic creators, bloggers, game designers. I also support some academic types – MedievalPOC was my gateway into Patreon. I’ve helped a couple people decide to use Patreon/goals to set. I think it’s a great resource for both sides. I love this time period we are in where their are so many ways to connect people with dreams and people with a little money to help make them come true.

    Something the authors aren’t doing which most of the comic & artist I follow do:
    1. Pre-release to patrons
    2. Self-publish work 1-4 weeks later to public

    My recommendations to them would be to put their work up for sale on the major online retail outlets (or have agents/hire someone do this) selling each for $1.99-4.99 (depending on word count). When they have 5-10 stories create an anthology. They’ve already been paid to write & format the work. They reach more readers putting it up for general sale. It also gives their readers something to read in between book releases. I’m sure they could get advice from hybrid authors if they need help.

  24. I am perpetually astonished at people’s generosity through Patreon, given that I ask for 1$ or 2$ donations and don’t give any exclusive content. There’s maybe not enough to live on, but it’s a very nice supplement. People like to support art!

  25. RedWombat: I am perpetually astonished at people’s generosity through Patreon, given that I ask for 1$ or 2$ donations and don’t give any exclusive content. There’s maybe not enough to live on, but it’s a very nice supplement. People like to support art!

    I went through a period in my life many years ago, and again a few years ago when I got laid off, when I was really struggling to make ends meet. I’m not flush by any means now, but I have enough to live on plus some extras, so I try to give a little out of every paycheck to someone in need — whether it’s someone who’s been wiped out by a serious medical incident, a job loss, or a death in the family; a SFF writer, artist or fan who is struggling; or sponsoring a friend who’s participating in a charity fundraising. I also tend to support Kickstarters and Patreons for people whose work has brought me pleasure. It’s my perception that a lot of other people seem to do the same.

    I remember reading about a study at one point which said that poor or middle-income people tend to be more generous than wealthy people. I suspect it’s something to do with empathy, and a “There, but for the grace of God or fate, go I” mentality on the part of people who’ve been through tough times themselves.

  26. No list of the genre roles played by Pat Harrington Jr. is complete without his prominent role as Arlington Hewes in the 1967 satire The President’s Analyst starring James Coburn. (And it is indeed an SF film, though the extent of its science fictional nature isn’t fully apparent until the climax of the film.)

  27. In honor of City-Of-Blades-Getting-Released Day (what, you didn’t know that was a holiday?), plus reaching a particular milestone in the novel I’m writing, I just ordered a bunch of books. Yay!

    2015 SFF titles I picked up this time around were Carry On, Castle Hangnail, A Crown for Cold Silver, Depths of Blue, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Radiance, Razorhurst, The Scorpion Rules, and Uprooted.

    And let’s see … still on my list to get from 2015, but not yet gotten, are Broken Dolls, Contagion: Eyre, Dark Orbit, Darkness On His Bones, The Heart Goes Last, The House of Shattered Wings, In The Time Of The Dragon Moon, Karen Memory, The Library At Mount Char, Omega City, Planetfall, The Price of Valour, Rook Song, Slade House, Updraft, and Ungodly. So, um. Rather a lot, actually. Hopefully I’ll still be able to get to at least some major fraction of those before Hugo nomination season ends.

  28. @RedWombat

    I find Patreon a really good model, especially for webcomics and the like where you can just chip in a dollar to show your appreciation, and it adds up rather nicely with all the other fans.

  29. City of Blades has been released in the UK only; North Americans have to wait until the 26th.

  30. Yeah, Patreon works well for me because I can budget 10-20 dollars a month and end up supporting a bunch of folks doing work I enjoy.

  31. Re: charitable giving by demographic

    WEST LONDON

    Some labouring men, whose work lay somewhere there,
    Pass’d opposite; she touch’d her girl, who hied
    Across, and begg’d and came back satisfied.
    The rich she had let pass with frozen stare.

    Matthew Arnold

    The author interprets it a little differently, but I see the beggar’s choice in the interaction as the result of experience. Those gits in the shiny hats won’t do anything but push you aside and maybe lecture a little.

    @Richard Bensam
    Thanks! I kept thinking Harrington was in that movie (and I’d come across him a few days before his death as well, in Kliph Nesteroff’s work), but was never in the right place to look it up when I was thinking about it. One of the best paranoid movies ever. I think it just gets better, even the ‘dated’ parts.

  32. nitpick on #4: AFAICT (i.e., from the search function at http://www.thehugoawards.org/) Hurley’s only won one Hugo.

    OTOH, winning on the first nomination is not to be sneezed at — and I’m glad to hear that she and others are finding short fiction worthwhile.

  33. I opened a Patreon page briefly when I was starting to ramp up on original work, but I soon closed it down again.

    Biggest drawback to Patreon is that it is completely incompatible with trying to sell fiction to the traditional pro markets. Most editors are very strict about what they count as previous publication, and won’t accept work as original if it’s been released even to a few people via Patreon. Meanwhile, it doesn’t seem to be very effective by itself as a channel for building an audience.

    On the gripping hand, patrons do seem very generous – during the brief period when my campaign was active, I didn’t have very many patrons, but several of the ones I did have set their donation level much higher than I had expected.

    Once I have a few stories that I’m confident about, but that haven’t sold to any of the pro markets for whatever reason, I plan to open up the self-publishing side of my strategy, and Patreon will be part of that. Meanwhile, if and when I get to the point that people actually know me from Adam – I have literary representation, and I’ve published a novel or three – then I may start writing short fiction almost exclusively for self-publication and Patreon, for just the reasons that Kameron cites.

  34. 11: Having watched the two-part pilot episode, I can confidently state that the Shanarra people got together an incredible VFX team, that the acting goes beyond matching the level of the writing, and that the writing is actually slightly better than I had expected, given the level that my memories of reading Brooks’ Tolkien rip-offs back in elementary school set my expectations to.

    As far as Rhys-Davies’ participation goes, I think it’s fair to say that someone whose career has included ‘Sliders’, ‘Wing Commander’, and the forthcoming ‘Star Citizen’, in addition to his role in the ‘Rings’ cycle, is more than just a little comfortable in genre roles.

  35. I see that The Tropic of Serpents, the sequel to The Natural History of Dragons is on sale for 99p on Amazon UK, so this would be a good time to buy if you are interested.

  36. nitpick on #4: AFAICT (i.e., from the search function at http://www.thehugoawards.org/) Hurley’s only won one Hugo.

    She won for Fan Writer and wrote the essay We Have Always Fought: Challenging the Women, Cattle and Slaves Narrative, which won the Hugo for Best Related Work, both in 2013.

  37. Chip Hitchcock on January 8, 2016 at 9:18 am said:

    nitpick on #4: AFAICT (i.e., from the search function at http://www.thehugoawards.org/) Hurley’s only won one Hugo.

    No, she’s won two. She won for We Have Always Fought in Best Related Work and she won for Best Fan Writer (for that essay and her other fan work in 2013).

    A Dribble of Ink, which published We Have Always Fought among other good content that year, won best fanzine. That Hugo went to Aidan Moher.

    ETA: Ow, Ninja’d by Aaron!
    .

    Reminder that you have to be a member of Sasquan, MidAmeriCon 2 or WorldCon 75 by 11:59 pm PST on January 31, 2016 in order to nominate for the Hugos this year.

  38. All right, here’s my list of sf anime from the past year that Hugo voters should check out! It’s in reverse chronological order on account of the ones from the first half of the year already having gotten a recommendation post. If you don’t know where to look for legal online streams, I’ve got links to all the ones I know of. If you’re an anime newbie, I am there to hold your hand with links to my weekly commentaries, which explain any critical cultural references. If you’re not sure which credits to list on the ballot, I have some notes on the best fits for what it usually asks for.

    Please share this onward to anyone looking for more recommendations! (I’ve already added it to the recommendations tab at Renay’s spreadsheet.) I don’t want to read any blog posts this year about how the Hugo voters should pay attention to anime but the author can’t be bothered to come up with any specific series to check out.

  39. Thanks, Steve – I was getting mixed up by bits saying that 117 was a metal and 118 was a gas but hadn’t separated the -ines from the -ons.

    City of Blades! OK I know what my birthday present to myself is for Sunday …

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