(1) INSIDE UTAH’S EXTRAORDINARY SF FANDOM. Provo’s Daily Herald interviewed Dave Doering and learned the answer to “Why Utah’s literary Big Bang? ‘Life, the Universe & Everything’ symposium, for one”.
When you name your symposium “Life, the Universe, & Everything,” and that symposium is in the heart of Mormon country, outsiders can get a little suspicious.
“I often had to cajole guests to come because they feared this was an indoctrination boot camp for Mormonism,” Dave Doering recalled.
Well, it’s certainly not that. Rather, LTUE is about science fiction and fantasy literature. The annual three-day symposium ushers in its 34th year on Thursday at downtown Provo’s Marriott Hotel. At this point, those early boot camp suspicions have waned: LTUE has become one of the premier symposiums of its kind, drawing more than 1,000 attendees and renowned sci-fi/fantasy authors each year, and covering a wide range of subjects pertinent to that industry. Not bad for an event that had only 30-40 attendees in 1983….
It worked. BYU’s small sci-fi/fantasy community grew as students started coming out of the woodwork. Within five years the symposium was drawing 300-400 attendees. That amount stayed somewhat stable through the years. Five years ago, though, things really blew up. Utah-bred authors like Shannon Hale (“Princess Academy”), Stephenie Meyer (“Twilight”) and James Dashner (“The Maze Runner”) put Utah on the map for young adult fantasy literature. New York City publishers now regard Utah as fertile literary ground.
“No one, I think, would have believed that Utah writers would make as big an impact as we have now in the young adult and fantasy areas,” Doering said. “Four of the top five writers in that field are from Utah, and you think for the population, that’s ludicrous! How did that happen?”
The Wasatch front, Doering said, has a particular storytelling culture that mainstream audiences have come to crave.
“We grow up with stories, and we are a very positive people. And I think that resonates,” he said. “By and large, the authors on the coasts that had been big names in the past, their dystopian view or manner of treating characters and situations, I think it got to be so repetitious that people were hungering for something different. And the kind of storytelling that we do here, and the worldview we have, people were just very hungry for. So it’s blossomed.”
Life, The Universe & Everything begins Thursday, February 11.
(2) IN LIVING B&W. At Galactic Journey, The Traveler just can’t turn off the tube the night that Twilight Zone is on. For one reason, this being 1961, if he misses one he won’t have another chance to see it until summer reruns begin.
It’s certainly not as if TV has gotten significantly better. Mr. Ed, My Sister Eileen, the umpteenth season of the Jack Benny Show, none of these are going to win any awards. On the other hand, The Twilight Zone has already won an award (an Emmy last year), and I’m hoping that my continued watching and review of that show excuses my overindulgence in the others.
(3) INCREASED INTEREST. Fantasy Faction has advice for putting your loot to work “A Guide To Banking In Fantasyland”. (Beware mild spoilers.)
These are tough times, and everyone needs a little help with the big decisions. Not sure which bank to choose? Sure, the Charity and Social Justice Bank [1] has an impressive name, but those offers at Valint and Balk [2] are really tempting. Perhaps Gringotts’ [3] goblin efficiency has caught your eye, or the great interest rates at the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork? [4] Then again, the long standing stability of the Iron Bank of Braavos [5] is looking pretty good right now…
Hard decisions? Never fear! We are here with a handy guide to finding the RIGHT bank for YOU!
(4) DEL TORO TWEETS. Guillermo del Toro had this to say —
Book: Dangerous Visions edited by Harlan Ellison. More than an anthology- an inventory of the best science fiction minds of the 20th century
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) February 7, 2016
(5) TRANSTEMPORAL PIZZA PARADOX. A NASA scientist questioned the scientific veracity of a situation John Scalzi’s Redshirts. It seems John forgot to science the shit out of the pizza.
As you can see from the above embedded tweet and picture, a reader (who also appears to be a NASA scientist) asked me a question about the atoms in the pizza eaten in Redshirts, consumed by the heroes of the story, who had also traveled back in time.
Why would this matter? Because as a plot point in the book, time travelers had about six days to get back to their own time before they began to disintegrate — the atoms of their bodies from the future also existed in the past they’re visiting, and the atoms (eventually) can’t be two places at the same time and would choose to “exist” in the positions where they were in the current frame of reference.
Which is fine as long as you don’t mix atom eras. But when the characters ate pizza, they were commingling atoms from the book’s 2012 with their own atoms several centuries later — and what happens to those atoms from the pizza when the characters return to their own time? Because the atoms gained from the pizza would simultaneously be present elsewhere, and, as already noted, the atoms default to where they were supposed to be in their then-current frame of reference. Right?
As you can see from the tweet above I avoided the answer by giving a completely bullshit response (and then bragging about it). I’m delighted to say I was immediately called on it by another NASA scientist, and I responded appropriately, i.e., by running away. I’m the Brave Sir Robin of science, I am.
(6) TEE IT UP. At the B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy blog – “That Time the NFL Paid Jack Kirby to Design an Intergalactic Super Bowl”.
At the height of his power in the 1970s, Kirby was commissioned for a feature in the October 21, 1973 issue of Pro! Magazine, the official publication of the National Football League. At the time, Kirby had switched to DC comics from Marvel, and presumably had a little spare time to pick up extra commissions. Hyperbolically titled “Out of Mind’s Reach,” Kirby’s collection of art depicted a future pro football match and debuted bizarre new costume designs for four different teams.
(7) TODAY IN HISTORY
- February 7, 1940 — Walt Disney’s movie Pinocchio debuted.
(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY BOYS
- Born February 7, 1812 – Charles Dickens
- Born February 7, 1908 – Buster Crabbe, who played Flash Gordon in serials.
(9) HARASSING PHOTOGRAPHER. Lauren Faits, who writes Geek Girl Chicago, broke a years-long silence in “Zero tolerance: Naming my cosplay harasser”.
I want to publicly thank C2E2, Chicago’s premiere comic convention, for action they took this afternoon. I was not going to attend their Mardi Gras event tonight due their affiliation with a traumatic figure from my past. Now, I enthusiastically will, and encourage everyone else to support C2E2 as well.
I am going to share my story before anyone else does.
Thirteen years ago, I was under 18- a minor. I was attending an anime convention in the Chicago area. A group of cosplayers, including myself, headed up to a hotel room to change out of our costumes. We were followed. While we were undressing, a photographer began slamming into our room’s locked door in an attempt to break in. The room had one of those sliding locks, which broke open under the force. The photographer rushed in with a camera, attempting to get nude photos and/or video of underage cosplayers.
This photographer’s name was Ron “Soulcrash” Ladao….
C2E2 is the first organization thus far to take me seriously. They are no longer professionally affiliated with my harasser, and thanked me for helping provide a safe environment for all. I encourage everyone to attend their party tonight, the convention, and other affiated events.
A lesson for everyone: If someone is making you or a loved one uncomfortable, don’t ignore it. It is easy to brush off someone’s disconcerting actions as “just their sense of humor,” but acts like these are no joke. We should not be laughing at predators. In fact, several people told me I should “talk” to Ron, to see if he’d apologize. Absolutely not. If someone broke into your home, or mugged you on the street, would you follow them later to seek an apology? No. We should believe and support one another, and let our actions show zero tolerance for harassment. We don’t owe harassers anything.
(10) NOT SORRY. Stephanie S. at The Right Geek justifies last year’s actions in an extensive post, “Dear SJW’s: We Sad Puppies CAN’T Repent”.
Lastly – and most importantly – there is no such thing as a “natural vote.” This is probably one of the biggest misconceptions that under-girds our opposition’s argument: the idea that, before we philistines got involved, the Hugos highlighted works that were genuinely the best in the field — which were selected by a group of high-minded, pure, and totally impartial fans. Ha. Ha ha. And again: ha. Do you know how many works of science fiction are published in a typical year? Many thousands. There is no one on God’s green earth who is capable of reading them all. In reality, modern fandom (like any other large group of human beings) has always had its aristoi — in this case, a small group of influential bloggers, reviewers, publishers, and magazine editors that routinely has an outsized impact, intentional or not, on what gets the hype and what doesn’t. The only thing that’s changed here is that some “politically objectionable” people have proven themselves to be a part of that aristoi and have decided not to play pretend. My suggestion? Make peace with the fact that factions will forever be with us. Man is inherently a political animal. Instead of denying this state of affairs, try to manage its effects by increasing overall participation on both ends of the Hugo process.
(11) TITANIC DISCOVERY. Futurism reports “The Mystery of Pluto’s ‘Floating Hills’ Solved : They’re Icebergs!”
NASA’s New Horizons mission keeps astonishing us with new images and new revelations about the mysterious, demoted dwarf planet, Pluto.
The most recent discovery is this little gem: Pluto has hills and small mountains that literally float across its surface. It’s weird and unearthly, but we’re dealing, after all, with a very alien world on the outskirts of the Solar System.
And things are bound to get even weirder.
The newly discovered hills are mostly small, typically a few kilometers across, and were discovered in the immense frozen ocean of the so-called “Sputnik Planum,” which represents the western lobe of the famous heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, the most prominent feature on Pluto
It seems these hills are composed of familiar water ice (so they really are icebergs, just like their terrestrial counterparts); since water ice is less dense than nitrogen ice, these hills are literally bobbing in a vast glacier or frozen ocean of nitrogen.
(12) SUPER BOWL ADS. Here is the Independence Day Resurgence trailer that aired during the Super Bowl.
And the X-Men Apocalypse trailer, too —
[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, and JJ for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Brian Z.]
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It puzzles me that the Sad Puppies don’t make repeated unambiguous statements repudiating Vox Day and his organizations. Failing to do that invites people to say
It might also be smart if they didn’t use his rhetoric.
More on the Indian “meteorite”:
The photo on this page is very poor, but it is leaving me less inclined to believe that this is a meteorite. While the black color is absolutely what you should expect from a fresh meteorite, the reddish areas do not look like a color that I’ve ever seen in a fresh meteorite. It is also suspiciously jagged for a fusion-crusted meteorite. Unless something is wrong with the color balance of the photo as well as the focus, I don’t know what this object is, but I do not believe it is a meteorite.
http://www.livescience.com/53639-did-meteorite-kill-indian-man.html
@TheYoungPretender
In the sense that fish in a barrel are surrounded, I suppose. 😉
@ Darren Garrison
It does say that is *a piece* of the meteorite, which may be why it is jagged; it broke off something larger when it hit. Can’t explain the color except by getting morbid. But the photo is so terrible, I am just guessing anyway.
PIN acquired after emailing this morning, with about a 5 hr turnaround, so great work from the worldcon in manually sorting out whatever the problem is.
@RDF
By that list, Beale must be the clear winner, as shown by the opulence and prodigiousness of the number of Chapter 5s in the books he has edited.
Couple of good-ish stories read today: Not by Wardrobe, Tornado, or Looking Glass, by Jeremiah Tolbert in Lightspped (not available on web yet) asks what would happen if everyone started getting their wardrobe to Narnia, rabbit hole, etc etc and vacated the world. It’s not perfect, and I think it fluffs the ending, but I thought it was a really interesting take. I wonder if it was actually too big an idea for a short.
Two’s Company by Joe Abercrombie on tor.com is sort of a low fantasy vignette with character-based humour. Nothing spectacular, but it made me chuckle. I do think Abercrombie has improved quite noticeably in his last few books.
In less good news, Apex 81 was a very flat issue, especially coming after the bumper goodness that was 80. Neither of the 2016 stories I read were particularly interesting.
Hurrah! PIN received at last.
For anyone wondering who Mike Braff of Del Rey is, here’s a good interview with him earlier in his career (about 5 years ago).
http://fivescribes.blogspot.com/2011/03/interview-with-michael-braff-assistant.html
@DriveByFruiting
Welcome! Come on in and sit down.
What are some of your favorite books?
Yay! Requested PIN this morning, had it when I checked my e-mail this afternoon.
Went straight to Hugo Nominations page and entered what I have so far. Page has a tendency to time me out so I have made a point of submitting the updates often.
Just received my PIN! YAY!!!!
@Cat
Forgive me, but no.
What she did was attempt to dictate the terms of gender representation for all writers of SFF.
That is not the start of a column about a discussion. It is a directive.
As a secondary issue, she also said:
Emphasis added.
And no. Just no. The perspective of binary sexuality is not uniquely Western.
Just to be clear, non-traditional gender representations in SFF do not bother me….as long as they are well written and meaningful to the story. See Peter V. Brett’s “Demon Cycle” for one example.
Regards,
Dann
@redheadedfemme
I wish I actually had time to read things. 🙁 I feel often like I’ve got this huge backlog…Short stories are nice because if you get a recommendation you can finish it in a few minutes. I really enjoyed this one: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/ten-rules-intergalactic-smuggler-successful-kind/ though the stuff Lightspeed puts out usually isn’t my kind of story.
I had to travel for work recently so the plane ride gave me a chance to finally read Goblin Emperor which I enjoyed. Fail to understand why the book was controversial in the minds of some. If you’re reading 21st century US politics into a story about goblins vs. elves, yeah…
Actually if I was going to say it reminded me of anything, Maia reminded me somewhat of Queen Elizabeth I, the unexpected monarch who tries to put the fractured politics of the past behind them, though I doubt the author had anyone specific in mind when writing the character.
1) INSIDE UTAH’S EXTRAORDINARY SF FANDOM
Isn’t this how a lot of conventions start? A couple of college kids think “we should have something like that here?”
5) TRANSTEMPORAL PIZZA PARADOX. A NASA scientist
You never know what someone will wonder about in the book you wrote. How cool that NASA scientists are arguing over the science in Scalzi’s book. I don’t think he dreamed of that when he was writing it.
10) NOT SORRY
Standback makes some good comments over there.
I wrote and deleted and wrote and deleted. It’s all a waste of time. I could be reading instead.
@DriveByFruiting – When all this started happening, I read the puppy fiction. And I realized that if this “stuff” can get published, then even I might just stand a chance. So I started writing again. And strangely enough, I’m doing well.
But just because I hate something doesn’t make it trash, it just means it’s not to my taste. That’s the funny truth, isn’t it? SF/F is a big enough tent where JCW and Ursula Vernon can somehow both carve out their own spheres.
So many stories by writers start the way yours does. I’m not sure how reading something deplorable jumpstarts the writing process, but it appears it begins by erasing the diffidence that says one isn’t good enough. Good luck.
I definitely agree that the tent is big enough for everyone, I also agree that not liking something doesn’t make it trash. That doesn’t mean it isn’t trash, though. I heartily disliked a few books I’ve read lately and that was a matter of taste. I’ve also read bad work that I disliked and think would pretty much fail most people’s tests for quality.
@dann665 – And no. Just no. The perspective of binary sexuality is not uniquely Western.
But that’s not what that quote says. Feel free to disagree as vehemently as you like, but do so based on what Alex McFarlane said, which you quoted as:
There is nothing in there that says binary sexuality is uniquely Western, only that it is a cultural norm in the West.
I still don’t have my PIN, but I now know reasons why and have an assurance that it will all get worked out. I really feel for the folks working on this.
@Mark
Thanks for the heads-up! Also, I loved what I’ve read of Abercrombie enough that your last sentence got my hackles up. As in, I unconsciously puffed my shoulders up and got all glarey at my computer screen. I may have to become one of those “I never used to be a Puppy, but you people and your differing taste have ruined everything” types that you occasionally get around here.
Actually, I want the wind to slow down a bit; trips to the shops would be a great deal easier without being blown over. That doesn’t mean that I am directing the wind, any more than saying I want an end to the default of binary gender in science fiction stories is a directive to people writing SF.
It’s an expression of desire, of what I want to happen; I could also add that if you’ve got nothing better than that to hang your argument on then perhaps you should reconsider your argument…
I don’t see how. She has no authority to constrain anyone to her desire. It’s only a statement of what she would like to happen, which seems to me a fine basis for beginning a discussion.
Yeah, maybe if she’d said “End binary gender in stories!” I could see where you’re coming from with your “directive” talk, dann, but that interpretation would require ignoring half the words in her sentence.
@Wildcat
For all Dann’s protestation’s that he’s not a puppy, he shares that tendency to ignore the inconvenient in sentences with them. And many of their opinions. And arguing their tropes.
dann665: What she did was attempt to dictate the terms of gender representation for all writers of SFF.
That’s a couple of pretty specious arguments you’re sporting there.
I want an end to the default of binary gender in science fiction stories.
is very, very different from
No one should be allowed to write SFF stories which feature a default binary gender, and everyone must enforce this.
I want a million dollars and a pony, too — but that isn’t a “directive” that other people have to give it to me.
And as Cheryl S. has pointed out, you’re claiming that the “Western cultural norm” sentence says something very different than what it actually says.
@Cheryl S.
Yes, I agree that certain things in the puppy canon were just bad. *cough wisdom from my internets cough* That was more of a deliberate troll than an actual submission. But I also didn’t want to condemn something that isn’t necessarily bad (eg Turncoat or Totalled) just because I don’t like it. Neither of those stories were bad stories, but there were definitely in my opinion better ones out there.
Maybe I’m too softhearted. I’ve had an awful lot of people say/do pretty horrible things about/to me over more or less any excuse you can think of for most of my life, making it hard these days for me to relate to people, so I generally refuse to tear something a structurally superfluous new behind. (The whole “if you can’t say something nice…”) That story is someone’s baby and they put their time and love into it, and there’s a real human behind the byline. I think that’s why I like this place. While most were frothing at the mouth, here there was only a minimum of froth. Most people were trying to give honest and well-reasoned opinions.
It’s also why I’m glad BS/RH got exposed. I’m a big magnet for those “types,” for some reason.
(5) TRANSTEMPORAL PIZZA PARADOX
I think the solution to this paradox is found is one of the classics: The Hollow Man, by H. G. Wells. Granted, I haven’t read Redshirts, and it’s been 10+ years since I read The Hollow Man, but here goes:
The Hollow Man tells the narrator that when he eats, the semi-digested food can be seen inside his body for a while. But as the food is absorbed in his body, it “takes up” his alcemically-imbued invisibility and becomes invisible like the rest of him. Vice versa, when the hollow man bleads the blood is invisible for about half an hour before it becomes visible again. (And presumably the same is true for other body waste, but Wells is too polite to talk about that.)
Generalizing from this: When someone eats something, the food will after a while take up whatever magical / alchemical / sufficiently advanced technological properties of that person’s body. Meaning that the 2012 pizza atoms become time traveler atoms once the pizza was digested.
I’m not going to think about what happens when the Redshirts characters defecate after coming back to their own time, though.
***
I finally got my Hugo Pin today after mailing the admins. I had to switch last and first name to be able to log in. So now I’ve started to formalize the little notes I’ve made here and there about stuff I’ve read. My longlist is longest in Short Story – it’s the only category where I really have to cut things and not look for more things that are eligible and that I might check out. I was really happy when a story I was just reading turned out to be relatively long, so it goes in Novelette instead of fighting for space in Short Story. (“Professional Integrity” by Michael Sullivan, from the anthology “Blackguards”.)
Reading “Blackguards”, an anthology which is yielding several stories I’m considering for my ballot. (See above.)
And I just found out that I’ve bought “Bone Swans: Stories” twice, from different sources. Have read neither copy. Well well. At least it wasn’t too expensive.
***
And I want snow. I want an end to dreary grey winters with poor skiing. Now obey my directive, please.
@Kathodus
By which I obviously meant that Abercrombie had improved from an already excellent starting point!
But seriously, I liked his earlier stuff but I know a lot of people who thought it was a grimdark too far – several friends who I pressed the First Law books on bounced off the characters. I think he’s now managed to find the right balance and his low fantasy stories have a real enjoyment factor.
@DriveByFruiting – That story is someone’s baby and they put their time and love into it, and there’s a real human behind the byline.
That sounds like dearly bought empathy to me rather than being too soft hearted. I agree that it is real people who are writing and it is important, at least for me, to remember that when I dislike something. I have a friend I beta read for, although I deeply dislike her prose style (it’s very ornate), at least for fiction. I work hard to tell her what doesn’t work for me and why, while staying well behind the line where it becomes an attack. We generally work well together, and the end product is something well worth publishing.
That said, I remain a little bitter about some of the slate nominations.
Thank you all! I should mention, in the interests of shameless self-promotion, that my latest novel just came out today–“The Raven & The Reindeer.” It’s a T. Kingfisher novel, not a kid book, but hopefully fun! (Other versions availble through tkingfisher.com)
@NickP — I do! Actually, Flyleaf Books (and Quail Ridge) are the two places I do signings most often. I think I’m maybe supposed to have something at Flyleaf this year, but my brain is like a sieve…
@RedWombat my latest novel just came out today–“The Raven & The Reindeer.”
I’ve confirmed the Buy with 1- click button works 😀
Hey, “The Snow Queen”! I have such an ambivalent relation to that story. On the one hand, Gerda is mostly a horribly typical HC Andersen heroine who redeems other people by suffering, being steadfast, and being made of purely pure purity. But there’s interesting things in there too. Everyone remembers the robber’s daughter and her departure for a much more adventurous story. Also it took me a couple of readings to realize that the Snow Queen isn’t evil; it’s actually a good thing that she gave Kay a safe place to be while he wasn’t fit to be around people. So why does she end up on lists of villains, except maybe that people haven’t read the original, which is admittedly long-winded in places. Anyway I very much look forward to seeing what RedWombat does with it.
@Cheryl S.
I’ve got no energy left to feel bitter, even if it’s maybe something worth feeling bitter about. But it’s only in the past couple of years that I’ve achieved what I feel is a relatively “safe space” where no one is actively trying to ruin my career, or get me fired, or expelled, or walking up behind me and telling me I should kill myself. I don’t want to feel mad anymore. I choose to forget the names of everyone who’s tried to hurt me rather than give them any importance. The Vox Days of the world feed on anger and resentment. People like that have nothing to live for but the suffering of others.
Fandom is the only place I’ve ever felt welcome. I refuse to let the dog pee ruin it. This will pass, anger can only sustain itself for so long before it goes out with a whimper.
Thank you for the conversation 🙂
@ Tasha:
Indeed. Or cleaning the bathroom. Or napping.
Really, apart from beating one’s head repeatedly against a brick wall for absolutely no reason, it’s hard to think of any activity that isn’t more productive and/or rewarding than arguing with Puppies.
Oooh! I also want a pony and a million dollars!
This is a directive.
Mwa-ha-ha-ha!
@Laura Resnick I also want a pony and a million dollars!
If I had it I’d give it to you. I think filers are thinking small though.
I want a trillion dollars and a pony and someone to take care of the pony and someone else to take care of me.
This is a directive and I want it NOW
Bwahaha
DriveByFruiting: it’s only in the past couple of years that I’ve achieved what I feel is a relatively “safe space” where no one is actively trying to ruin my career, or get me fired, or expelled, or walking up behind me and telling me I should kill myself.
Ah, gods. I’m so sorry that you went through years of that. But I’m very glad that you feel things are going better now. 🙂
@Darren Garrison: Oh that photo is absolutely craptastic. There’s literally no excuse to get such a bad shot of an inanimate object these days.
RedWombat
The links are to US sites, but at least Amazon UK has the Kindle version; naturally I have swooped down and bought it before Amazon runs out of stock…
Actually, I want the wind to slow down a bit; trips to the shops would be a great deal easier without being blown over.
Sympathy from a location in the fourth day of a Santa Ana condition, where it’s been doing 20 to 40 the entire time. (km/hr or mph: your choice. When it’s louder than traffic on the street, the units of measurement aren’t important.)
I hear that Smashwords (which also has the book) has better author payment than Amazon–RW, is that true?
@ RedWombat
I’m looking forward to the bit when the minions discover that I was taking the piss…
@PJ Evans
Thank you for your kindness – I am not alone, but it looks scary out there!
Johan P on February 8, 2016 at 5:01 pm said:
You can have all mine. Come and get it!
I want a million dollars and a pony, too — but that isn’t a “directive” that other people have to give it to me.
It’s an understandable mistake though, given what seems to be assumed when a puppy leader says “I want a Hugo”.
@Mister Dalliard
Good thing they stopped at that, and never actually did anything else that may have caused some umbrage right or supported that assumption right?
I don’t know where it is, the list of these Puppy Talking Points that Puppies keep trotting out, but you’d think that after they’ve been embarrassed again and again and again by having the falsehoods and fallacies in them pointed out, that at least one or two humiliated Puppies would have gone back to the source of the Puppy Talking Point List and said, “You need to provide accurate (or at least unverifiable) information, because I just repeated this Talking Point in an SJW forum and got my ass handed to me”.
@JJ
As far as I can tell, Puppies are impervious to humiliation. Also data.
@DrivebyFruiting – You’re gonna make me blush over here…
Seriously, though, I’m glad you’re writing! And glad you’re in a better space than previously. If/when/if already available, please give us links to your work!
Crud, sorry for serial replies.
@Vasha – I get about twenty, thirty cents more via Smashwords, but Amazon reviews are worth 10x what Smashwords are in terms of sales, and they pay monthly instead of quarterly. Honestly, though, I’d prefer you buy via whatever route is most convenient for YOU–everything else mostly comes out in the wash in the end, but people reading by ways that are easy for them means they’re more likely to read more in the future!
@Stevie …you worry me. Should I be worried?
@RedWombat The Raven and the Reindeer is great! I bought it this morning and read it as soon as I finished supper.
Interesting mix of characters: plants, otters, raven (I love ravens and this one was wonderful), and reindeer as well as humans. And the gender balance of the humans was refreshing.
(1) Since Mormon theology specifically includes other planets with millions of intelligent beings, it’s really not surprising. The SF is baked in. Look at BSG.
(9) Good for her.
(10) Still deliberately missing the point and reading comprehension, I see. Also, “we are, to a man…” implies this is a man named Stephanie. Hey, go on with your genderbending self, I say. If not, how’s about “to a person”?
@Fabulist: I think “Sorcerer of the Wildeeps” is a novella. It was published as one, it feels like one, it falls within the plus or minus 10% rule. I didn’t like it, so it’s not going on my ballot in any category, but for Hugo purposes, it’s a novella.
@RedWombat, I read the Bob and Mermaid story twice and am delighted. I want to sit in the coffee shop and talk science with the narrator. Best story in the issue, and issue #2 is even better than #1. Why, what’s this new appearing on the Kindle? Your latest book! Wonder how that happened.
I have long wished for a Ferrari and a long weekend with George Clooney*, but neither the automotive company nor the actor have as yet bowed down to my desire. Much like there’s still plenty of binary gender in stories, despite Macfarlane’s wish. Maybe I should decree it, or make it a directive. Chop, chop, universe. I’m not even asking for millions of dollars!
*Presumably Mrs. Clooney and Mr. lurkertype can play cards or something during this time.
RedWombat
Well, I’ve had to brush up on my avoiding projective vomiting skills, but the idiots are at least going through the motions of the legal stuff at present, even if they do propose to completely ignore it.
The problem is that having seen blown up people, and having been blown up myself (though not by enemy action) I have a pretty good picture of what it’s all about. The idiots over the road have a huge sense of entitlement and no understanding of the real world; there is nothing like being trapped in a room with a fire being fed by pure oxygen to educate one in the harsh realities.
I’m good though; not well enough to go to the hearing tomorrow, but there will be plenty of people to fight the good fight. I will be going into hospital in a week’s time, or earlier if my lungs seem to be giving up on that whole breathing thing. Thank you for your concern; I really do appreciate it.
Keep breathing! Breathing is important! We will be sad if you decide to take a break from it!
My grandmother used to say “As long as the air’s still coming, it’s not too bad.” Then she would immediately follow that with the saga of how her lungs collapsed that one time, to prove her point.
I haz a PIN. But as many others here, I also had to mail for it.