Interview with Hugo Finalists Gu Shi and Translator Emily Xueni Jin

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Mike Glyer

INTRODUCTION: Eight Light Minutes(8LM) Culture of Chengdu has given permission for File 770 to reprint the series of interviews with Chinese science fiction writers which they have been running this week on Facebook. The fifth in the series is a question and answer session with Gu Shi, author of 2024 Hugo-finalist novelette “Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, and Emily Xueni Jin, who translated it to English for publication in Clarkesworld.

SUPPORTING CHINESE WRITERS SERIES: 2024 HUGO AWARD NOMINATION INTERVIEW WITH GU SHI AND EMILY JIN

Translated by Joseph Brant.

Part 1

“I had a responsibility to write about the women I meet.”

Gu Shi is a Science Fiction writer, a senior urban planner, and a member of the Chinese Writers’ Association. She has published more than 300,000 words of sci-fi in magazines such as Science Fiction World, Beijing Literature, and Shanghai Literature since 2011, as well as in her own collection, Möbius Time and Space. She has won several major awards, including the China’s Galaxy Award, the Chinese Science Fiction Nebula Award, the Science Fiction Planet Award for Literature, and the Fishing Fortress Science Fiction Award. Her work “Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition” is shortlisted for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novelette. Much of her work has been translated into English, Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Russian, among other languages.

Q1｜Hello, Ms. Gu Shi, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on the shortlisting of “2181 Overture” for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. Some readers may not have read this work, so could you please give us a brief introduction to this piece?

Gu Shi: Do you find the full title “Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition” interesting? It has several layers — “2181” sets the story in the future, “Overture”, suggests the story takes place before the future, and “Introduction” and “Second Edition “, shows that it uses a non-fiction style for a non-fiction book. Using this non-fiction style allows me to create a “pseudo-preface” to a book that doesn’t exist. The pseudo-preface condenses six stories, with 16 different characters, and ties it all together with a common trope of science fiction: Cryogenic technology. In this story, I try to explore how far the idea of “hibernation” may go, and I ask a lot of questions about it: if Cryogenics could be realised, what kind of legal issues would its application bring? How would it change our way of life and the thoughts of humanity? Would it create new illustrious billionaires? Would those unable to catch up with the technologic advances become the “left-behinds”? Will people accept cryogenics when it comes to deep space exploration? After answering these questions with five “documentary” stories, Dong Lu, the “author” of the introduction, finally reveals that she is the mother of the book’s “author”, Fang Miao, and explains the background of the creation of the “book”: Fang Miao developed cancer when she was studying at university, and cryogenic technology was her way of cheating in the race against death. The scientist who perfected the freezing was none other than her own mother, Dong Lu. The story originally debuted in 2020 in my collection Möbius Time and Space, and was translated into English by Emily Jin, and published in Clarkesworld Magazine in 2023. It is that English version of the story that was shortlisted for this year’s Hugo Award.

The Chinese version of Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition first published in Gu Shi’s first sci-fi short story collection Möbius Time and Space by Eight Light Minutes Culture, New Star Press.

Q2｜In the “Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, all 16 characters are women, which is quite unique, and in your upcoming collection, titled 2181 Overture, almost all the stories are told from a female perspective. What is it that drives you to write in this way?

Gu Shi: Until 2018, most of the Sci-fi I wrote had male protagonists, but in my newer work, I’ve almost exclusively used women. The thing that made me change was translation. In 2017, when my work started to reach an international arena, Readers began to ask me “Why are all your protagonists male? Why don’t they feature China?”. These questions made me think about how I, a Chinese Female writer, could better reflect my life experiences, unique from foreign writers, and was surprised to find that the brilliant, positive, calm, and intelligent women present in my everyday life were almost invisible in both Western and Chinese Science Fiction. I had a responsibility to write about the women I meet. In the “Introduction To 2181 Overture”, The women are scientists, businesspeople, lawyers… They could be the ones who take on the responsibilities of their families, or the ones who abandon their families to become the forerunners of interplanetary travel.

Q3｜So how do you define “Women’s Sci-fi”?

Gu Shi: I have resisted that concept of “Women’s Sci-fi”, or of “Female Writer”. If there’s such a thing of “Women’s Sci-fi”, why not “Men’s Sci-fi”. Once you single out a gender as a label, it’s as if you are naturally placing it in a lesser position, though in the past few years I’ve realised that it’s not gender per se that I’m resisting, but the gender stereotyping that comes with “Women Writers” and “Women’s Writing”.

What is it we expect when we open a volume of “Women’s Science Fiction”? A more emotional perspective? A more literary tone? Or maybe just a more domestic setting?

Women’s Sci-fi isn’t there to prove that women can write as well as a male writer, just as Chinese Sci-fi isn’t there to prove we can write as well as a Colombian (or any other Country’s authors). What makes Women’s science fiction unique is the writer’s ability to confront the future through speculative fiction. The process lets the writer confront the dilemmas they face or imagine more egalitarian views of gender in a possible, positive future, and that second route is the one I’m taking.

Q4｜Your early works, published in things like Super Nice Magazine were very standard genre stories, very fast paced, with twist endings, whilst more recent works, like “Choosing The City”, “Introduction To 2181 Overture” and “Magic Mirror Algorithm” are more literary, with deeper explorations of social issues, such as the aging population, and city planning. What led to this change in style?

Gu Shi: First of all, It’s really about selecting the topic and style that match the publication. Super Nice is very genre-based, and the Editors’ notes to me were very effective, but now, I have access to a much wider range of platforms and magazines, so I can experiment with different styles and subjects, and submit them to the most suitable outlets. I’ve always been interested in the subject of aging, because associated topics kept making their way into my early work, like The Memory Of Time, where a male celebrity relied on virtual reality recordings to relive his past experiences as he grew old and infirm.

Other topics, I had wanted to approach earlier, but it’s only recently that I gained editorial control and could decide to write about urban planning and construction in “Choosing The City”, which is a little like doing a thematic study of my day job, so was actually a very difficult writing process. Fiction is more of a hobby for me, so I hope to always try new things, and explore more challenging content, in both the subject and technique, as well as the style.

When I finished “Introduction To 2181 Overture”, I hit a block, and found it hard to start a new genre piece that would surpass anything I’d already written. This coincided with an opportunity to read through a lot of purely literary fiction from the past few years, and from them, I learned a great deal of literary possibilities I hadn’t previously been aware of.

Gu Shi’s first sci-fi short story collection Möbius Time and Space by Eight Light Minutes Culture, New Star Press.

Q5 | “Introduction To 2181 Overture” focuses on cryogenic hibernation. There are many sci-fi novels depicting cryogenics, but most of them focus on the sleepers, while this story has the alternative focus of those who do not hibernate, who cannot cross the seas of time, and who are left behind. If the technology of cryogenics is actually realised one day, would you be willing to try it? Or would it feel like an escape from reality?

Gu Shi: We’re all strive for ideals, innovation and efficiency, but sometimes we have to admit that some people, even if they are working to exhaustion, are going to get left behind by the future. The origin of the concept of “left behind” is closely associated with “leftover”, specifically “leftover women”, and when I was labeled as such, I was shocked to look at exactly where it was I had been left behind, and whether it was really necessary for me to try to ‘catch up’ with the others, but ultimately I decided I wanted to live my life at my own pace, and I wish everyone had the courage to do the same. If cryogenics was actually realised one day…… I don’t think I’d feel compelled to try it. Our reality is something that needs to be faced head on, and running away from it doesn’t help. Whilst I’m not sure I would try for my own sake, if I was “summoned” by a someone like “Man Ge” from the story… I think I would.

Q6｜Throughout your years as a science fiction writer, which stories have you been most satisfied with?

Gu Shi: So hard to choose! “Chimeras”, “Introduction To 2181 Overture” and “Mothership” are all works I’m very happy with, but If I had to choose just one that I’m most pleased with, out of all the stories I’ve published, I would have probably say “Magic Mirror Algorithm”. When I was writing it, I tried so hard to put aside all the technical skills I’d already honed, and just let the characters, plot, and sincerity drive the story, and I loved the final result. If you include the unpublished work too, it’s probably a fantasy novella I wrote in middle school called “The Godkiller”. It was a very indulgent story that I wrote without restraint. I happened to be chatting to Ken Liu at the time, and he said that when he signed books for his readers, he always added “May you get to tell the story you want to tell, always”. Even as I started writing “Godkiller”, I knew it was not the story I wanted to write for any publisher, but it was exactly the story I wanted to write for me. I’m glad I finished it, and I look forward to hearing what readers think of it.

Q7｜I hear you are currently working on a full length science fiction novel. What do you think is the main difficulty in transitioning from a short story to a full-length one?

Gu Shi: Long and short form fiction have such different requirements for their authors, from the state of mind, the technical skills to the rhythm and pacing. They all need to be fine tuned. Perhaps it’s most like the difference between a marathon and a sprint. When I first started writing, it was online romance novels, all long form. I mean, not compared to what we see online these days, which can be 100,000 to 200,000 characters, but still, I’ve always considered myself a long form writer, and the greatest pleasures I’ve found in writing, are the ensemble scene plotting, the character arcs, and the sense of fatalism, which can only really be explored in longer stories. I’ve been working on longer pieces for the last few years, but various things have meant I’ve had to stop half way through, sealing up projects of 100,000 characters. If you look at the difficulties faced, on one hand it is that investment of time and energy, but on the other, It’s my own desire to finish a story, that I’ve developed further with short story writing. Short stories can be brought to a high level of completed state with a sufficient number of revisions, but with novels… I often kept changing them as I write, and once they were half way done, I gave up.

Q8｜Please say a few words to the Sci-fi fans who are currently considering the Hugo Awards

Gu Shi: I’m very happy that “Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition” has been shortlisted for the Hugo Awards. A few months ago, the Hugo committee sent out reading packs of the shortlisted works, and the best thing for me about this whole process is that all the sci-fi fans preparing to attend Worldcon in Glasgow will be able to read this story in those packs. I believe Science Fiction is a bridge that can span this messy, fragmented reality, and connect us all with the future. I hope that Sci-fi will also help all its fans define their own futures.

Part 2

“I see fragments of myself, and my own potential future in them.”

Emily Xueni Jin is a PhD student in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature at Yale University. As a young student, she translates from both English-to-Chinese, and Chinese-to-English, and her works include The Search for Philip K. Dick, the Kingdom Of Clockwork series, and Chlorine. Her translations have appeared in Clarkesworld and other genre fiction publications, as well as the first collection of Chinese sci-fi and fantasy written and translated by female and non-binary writers, The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories, AI2041, jointly written by Chen Qiufan and Dr Kaifu Li and Liu Cixin’s anthology A View From The Stars.

Q1｜Hello Ms Jin, you’re the translator of the English version of “Introduction To 2181 Overture”. What are your thoughts on this story?

Emily Xueni Jin: It’s hard for me to talk lightly about “2181 Overture” just as a story, because it is clearly a magnificent epic of women’s future. Gu Shi, who I know is a big fan of operas and musicals, will probably get this: reading this story is like sitting dead centre in the middle of a great ancient amphitheatre, where centuries rush by, and countless female voices form this…a sublime Greek Chorus, each singing softly or richly their own part, using their voice to write their unique personal chapter. Everyone is independent and vivid, but in the end, they converge into this symphony of colourful intertwining, telling the destiny of all women.

As a translator, the experience of bringing this story into English was definitely very special. It was like… traveling through an “instantaneous multiverse” singing all the parts for each of the women on the page, subtlety transposing the Chinese scales to an English one, with the same rhythm and cadence working in this very different language system, and ways of emphasising the words. Most importantly, each voice has its own personality and narrative style, which I had to present in English. I needed to empathise with each of them, recreating those individuals in English, but also constantly keeping my mind turned to the macroscopic structure, and the overall narrator that dominates the story, a scientist who is writing a scholarly work on a period of history, meaning that I too had to detach myself from these individuals at the right time, so I could, like the author, become a master of the story world.

The story’s uniqueness, for me, really comes from its three-stranded intertwining structure. As the translator, I have to really sync with the author. As the narrative perspective switches, I need to attune to each new voice. As a woman, I am part of the history of each of the millions of women from this future, in each of whom I see fragments of myself, and my own potential future.

“Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition” really provides a new paradigm for the future of women’s sci-fi. It’s not necessarily emphasising gender specificity throughout, but it’s certainly integrating gender perspectives throughout, in its settings, in every line. What’s female is human, that’s all.

Q2｜In previous interviews, you’ve shown a great interest in Chinese science fiction. When you translate these works, how do you break those cultural barriers so that English readers can better appreciate the charm of Chinese sci-fi?

Emily Xueni Jin: For me, I really started just to challenge myself, and to challenge that innate orientalist stereotyping caused by a colonialist mindset. It’s frustrating that without an in-depth understanding of the base culture, it’s so easy for a Chinese story translated into English to just become a dose of orientalism. Or the Chinese elements to be reduced to decorative elements to attract attention, which shifts the reader away from their presence in the story itself. So, I have to remain very conscious of the fact I need to counterbalance that, and I’m very particular in the words I use in my translation. Compared to sci-fi based on the familiar, and near-future settings, it’s definitely more demanding to translate a story that references traditional culture, mythology, and history, because I don’t have that set of English commonplaces I can just ‘plug and play’. I have to build my translations on the fact that an English reader will have no concept of these elements, so I put a lot of effort into researching them, and sometimes almost ‘reverse engineer’ the reference material for that concept of culture, independent of the story.

Moving forward, we’re only going to see more science fiction growing out of Eastern traditions, and as someone in a fortunate position of being able to navigate both cultures, The work I’m doing now to slowly build up that body of references, will make it easier for future translators moving forwards. It’s just starting to lay the groundwork, I suppose.

Q3｜Apart from translating sci-fi stories, you’ve also translated titles like In Search of Philip K. Dick. Is there a big difference between translating fiction and non-fiction? What do you feel are the main differences?

Emily Xueni Jin: In general, translating non-fiction requires lot more cross-referencing, and the narratives tend to be more linear and straightforward. I try to suppress my personality, and remain objective. Sometimes, it’s like the process of preparing material for when I teach a class at university. The translator needs to have a good understanding of the content to be translated, and then explain that back to a reader using a completely different language. In Search of Philip K. Dick was not quite the same as other non-fiction. Being both a biography, and coming from Dick’s Ex-wife, Anne, it could be said that the book was a culmination of poetic narrative, private correspondence, and objective reporting. I needed to be able to switch between that passive voice (translated in a straightforward tone), discussing his life and work (with references, reviews, and an unexpected deep dive into Californian hippie culture), and a lyrical voice (aligning with Anne, and measuring my words against her thoughts and love language).

Anne Williams Rubenstein’s In Search Of Philip K. Dick, Translated by Emily Xueni Jin, published by Eight Light Minutes Culture, New Star Press.

Q4｜Besides Translating, do you have any plans to write your own works?

Emily Xueni Jin: Between the ages of about eight and my early 20s, I was really interested in creative writing, and quite prolific. I wrote a lot of Sci-fi and Fantasy stories, as well as fanfic. I was a dedicated user of AO3 and Lofter. When I was sixteen or so, I uploaded a full length YA novel I’d written when I was fourteen. It was a Sci-fi /Fantasy /Procedural drama, but since it was pretty mediocre, we just consider that a dark time that we don’t talk about. (It was still dug out by the sci-fi critic Sanfeng. His research skills are scary!)

At university, I started to write a long series with my own worldbuilding. It was a Seafaring /Steampunk/ Female led Fantasy story, but before I finished it, I found my interest in writing fading, and I found more enjoyment in translation, and academic writing, so I stowed it away. However, after the last couple of years, I feel I’m ready to return to my old ways, and with the encouragement of a couple of friends, I hope I can go back and finish the first volume. In the next year or so.

With that said, I want to address the relationship between translation and creativity. Honestly, I find most people have this notion that creative writing is just naturally superior to translation. Writers get all the accolades and respect, and if there’s a multilingual author who then goes on to translate, that’s just considered the icing on the cake, whilst a translator can put their entire talent to bringing work into the global sphere and be asked “Are you just doing this because you can’t write your own work?”. I’ve been asked that by more than one person, as though translation is a second class job. However, the reason I shifted my focus to translation, was I happened to read Ken Liu’s translation of Three Body Problem before graduating, and became interested in the art of translation, which appealed far more than mere writing. The ability to translate well was a remarkable skill to me. It’s a very different set of challenges, and whilst a translator with no creative experience could still produce an excellent translation, not every skilled writer will make a good translator.

As a writer turned translator, the greatest challenge I faced was letting go of my subjectivity. I had to avoid making every translation feel like my own voice, but instead, become as pliable as possible, soaking up the writer’s text like a sponge and then transform that into another language, even if my ‘authorial voice’ is constantly screaming from backlash during the process. For me, it’s the same sword in my hand, so writing is conquering and translating is protecting.

It’s true however, that the experiences to gain through translating can then be transferred back into creative writing. For example, when I’m translating, rather than just reading a piece, I’ll develop a much deeper understanding of the different author’s creative techniques, or approaches, as both a bystander, and an insider, in ways that then allow me to use them in my own writer’s toolbox. This bidirectionality lets me switch perspective far more easily when it comes to my own work. When I think about “How would I translate this piece”, I tend to see my own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. On the other hand, the mastery of words and consideration that’s developed over time from my author’s mindset also helps in the translation process. In the end, both avenues are about exploration of both oneself, and the frontiers of creativity.

Liu Cixin’s Three Body Problem, translated by Ken Liu.

Q5｜There is a debate in the field of translation between those who feel the text must be preserved in the most faithful manner, whilst others see the translation as its own stand alone creation. Which of those best represents your viewpoint?

Emily Xueni Jin: On the D&D alignment chart, my translation are firmly in the “Chaotic Good” camp, meaning I’m faithful to the original text, but abstract in my approach. My definition of faithfulness does not stop at the level of each word, rather I use my own cultural understanding, and creative imagination to absorb the story as a whole, and release it in another language. As long as it’s true to the story that the author wants to tell, the emotions it induces, and the concepts it conveys are all intact. Then I think that it is reasonable to use any tool of translation to secure that. That’s why I feel it’s important to have a rapport with the author and develop a level of trust. Any translator, passed a certain threshold of lingual skill can produce a competent translation, but unless there is a real connection with the the author (If they are still with us), where the translation can be nurtured in this new language like a child, can the translation truly shine. Of course, it’s common that a translator may have a limited understanding of the original author’s text, and the power in that writing; and there are rare occasions when the translation is heralded as “better than the original”, and becomes very popular. This could be the product of the translator putting themselves above the work, displaying their skills and whilst it may be a good story, it may not be a good translation.

With each language and culture being based thousands of miles apart, and no correspondence being perfect, translating a piece word by word may not work well. For example, if you translate a Chinese word into English, strictly looking for some kind of English equivalent, that translation will probably only be about 60% accurate, but if you are flexible, and you add, subtract, reduce, and transpose your way around the original work, that accuracy is more likely to reach above 90%. With “2181 Overture”, Gu Shi asked for me by name, whilst I was trying my best to secure the role of translator. It was a two-way street. I was touched by her absolute trust and recognition. It felt like I’d met my soulmate.

“Introduction To 2181 Overture, Second Edition”, published in Clarkesworld, Issue 197, February 2023, translated by Emily Xueni Jin.

Q6｜You’re currently studying for your doctorate in the US, and have access to the cutting edge of developments in Science Fiction. What state do you feel American sci-fi is in today?

Emily Xueni Jin: The Anglophone world has always had softer divisions between sci-fi and other Fantasy genres, as can be seen in the Hugo Award nominations through the years. On one hand, some fans think this has negatively affected the genre’s development, and we’re departing from “Golden Age” sci-fi, with its grand worldbuilding, and high tech settings, whilst others think it’s broadened the possibilities of fantasy, because, honestly, our relationship with technology is developing with the times, and with its ever-presence in our daily life, perhaps the focus should be on making life better, rather than creating a sense of wonder. In this way, both magic and technology become metaphors for human civilisation, and the future we want for it.

In contrast to the extremes of exploration it’s known for, the main focus of American Sci-fi seems to have shifted to introspection. More examination of the self, cultural identity, and private feelings, questioning and challenging the ingrained sci-fi aesthetic laid down by White male writers over the past 100 years. Despite many of the biggest hits being criticised for “Pandering to the Woke agenda”, I believe that, when viewed over a longer timescale, these explorations and attempts are similar to those made at every transitional period of a megatrend. Any form of representation and inclusion of diversity can only be a good thing, making Science Fiction more dynamic. Similar to American sci-fi, I feel maybe we have also reached the crossroads with Chinese sci-fi, where we are questioning the definition of sci-fi, and remoulding our “selves” in science fiction, not only do we need to consider China’s own Science Fiction tradition and goals, refer to the world, faithfulness to the self and an open mentality are both key parts of this process.

Q7｜Please say a few words to the Sci-fi fans who are currently considering the Hugo Awards

Emily Xueni Jin: It is my great honour, and pleasure to put this beloved work before so many more readers, as a translator. I have to say, that the criteria for judging the excellence of Science Fiction is still being shaped predominantly by the Anglophone world, and European, and American pop culture, but in recent years, there have been numerous novels and stories from East Asia and Africa, as well as work by Northern Europeans, Native Americans, and so on, which have, between them, been broadening the definition of sci-fi, along with our own endeavours. Although it seems we still need to translate everything into English before they can reach the “World” stage, I hope that in time, we will see the furthermore decentralisation of Science Fiction.

The Hugo Awards are really an honour and recognition, but most importantly, its essential roles are entertaining and connecting. If more readers read this novelette and are moved by it, because of the nomination, then all the better. My motto is “since you’re already here”, happy reading!

Pixel Scroll 7/2/24 We, In Some Scroll Credential’s Employ, Also Walk Dogs, On A Rigorous Leash

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Mike Glyer

(1) WANTED: A NEBULA FOR POETRY. Science Fiction Poetry Association President Colleen Anderson says she recently talked to an incoming Vice-President of SFWA about creating a Nebula award in the poetry category.

She points out that the Horror Writers Association already presents a Stoker Award for superior achievement in a poetry collection.

(2) WHERE TO ROAM IN BUFFALO. The preliminary schedule for Buffalo NASFiC 2024 is now online: Buffalo NASFiC Program Guide.

Buffalo NASFiC will have an extensive program consisting of multiple tracks, with a wide variety of events, panels, workshops, and happenings. We expect to have over a hundred hours of things to do and see, including items on fantasy & science fiction literature, film & TV, gaming, science, art, filk, new media, fandom, and much more…

(3) FOURTH OF JULY TWILIGHT ZONE MARATHON. [Item by John King Tarpinian.] I have this on CD, and Blu-ray, and limited edition, but I will still have the marathon on in the background on the fourth. SYFY Wire has the latest: “SYFY The Twilight Zone Fourth of July Marathon 2024: How to Watch”.

…The marathon kicks off first thing Thursday, July 4 at 6:00 a.m. ET with “And When the Sky Was Opened.” Written by series creator Serling and directed by Douglas Heyes, the classic Season 1 episode follows three test pilots (Rod Taylor, Charles Aidman, and Jim Hutton), who begin to mysteriously vanish from the very fabric of reality after their experimental ship crashes in the desert.

The script was adapted from the short story “Disappearing Act” from prolific sci-fi scribe Richard Matheson and plays on the universal human phobia of the unexplainable. “The worst fear of all is the fear of the unknown working on you, which you cannot share with others,” Serling once said (via Marc Scott Zicree’s Twilight Zone Companion). “To me, that’s the most nightmarish of the stimuli.”…

(4) CUBOLOGY. The New York Times celebrates as “The Rubik Cube Turns 50” (Unlocked article.)

… Mr. Rubik, a Hungarian architect, designer, sculptor and retired professor, took part in a question-and-answer session with Dr. Rokicki and his co-organizers, Erik Demaine, a computer scientist at M.I.T., and Robert Hearn, a retired computer scientist, of Portola Valley, Calif.

Dr. Rokicki asked Mr. Rubik about the first time he solved the Cube: “Did you solve corners-first?”

These days, new cubers learn on YouTube, watching tutorials at 1.5x speed. Dr. Rokicki instead recommends the old-fashioned strategy: Set out on a lone path and discover a solving method, even if it takes weeks or months. (It took the computer scientist Donald Knuth less than 12 hours, starting at his dining table in the evening and working straight through to the morning.) Corners-first is a common route, since once the corners are solved, the edges can be slotted in with relative ease. Mr. Rubik said that, yes, he indeed did corners-first. Mr. Rubik, who is known to take a philosophical approach to cubology and to life in general, added: “My method was understanding.”…

(5) MONSTER ART. Coming on July 31 to the Society of Illustrators in New York: “Beautiful Monsters: The Art of Emil Ferris”.

In the highly anticipated My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book Two, the densely layered artwork of Emil Ferris transports us to Chicago in 1968, a year of violence and protest. Against this backdrop, 10-year-old Karen Reyes continues her private investigation into the murder of her beautiful neighbor, Anka Silverberg, a Holocaust survivor. In a story where everyone in this complex cast of characters has a secret, no one is as they seem.

Ferris draws in a unique style, using ball-point pen on notebook paper, with a dynamic sense of timing and rhythm. Educated at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ferris finds inspiration in both classic paintings and horror comics. Beautiful Monsters will include original character portraits, variations on classic paintings, saints, wolves, architecture, scary clowns, and a whole gallery of monster posters.

Curated by Kim Munson, editor of the Eisner nominated anthology Comic Art in Museums, curator of Women in Comics and Collen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman.

(6) BAYCON BIDS FOR 2026 WESTERCON. [Item by Kevin Standlee.] From the Westercon website: “BayCon Files Bid to Host Westercon 78”.

The parent non-profit organization of BayCon, The Society for the Promotion of Speculative Fiction, has filed a bid with Westercon 76 Utah to host the 2026 West Coast Science Fantasy Conference (Westercon 78) over the weekend of July 3-6, 2026 at the Marriott Hotel, Santa Clara, California, in conjunction with BayCon 2026.

No bids filed to be on the ballot for the 2026 Westercon by the April 15, 2024 deadline. As of July 1, 2024, no other write-in bids have filed bids. Groups interested in bidding to host the 2026 Westercon must file the information specified in Section 3.5 of the Westercon Bylaws with the 2026 Westercon Site Selection Administrator, Linda Deneroff, by the end of site selection voting at Westercon 76 at 6 PM MDT on July 5, 2024. Bids may be filed in person at Westercon 76 or by email. If no qualified bid wins the election at Westercon 76, the Westercon 76 Business Meeting on July 6, 2024 shall be responsible for selecting a site for Westercon 78 as provided for in the Westercon Bylaws.

BayCon 2025 was awarded the right to host Westercon 77 (2025) in a separate decision announced on June 14, 2024. Should they win the election at Westercon 76, they would host both Westercons 77 and 78.

Westercon 76 will be at the Doubletree Hotel Salt Lake City Airport July 4-7, 2024.

(7) TARTAN TIME. “Going to Scotland! But first, making things!” – Lisa Clarke tells what she’s making to take to the convention, including some items she’ll offer for sale.

Neil and I have been married for 29 years, and we’ve had kids for 24 of those years….

…So, we have never gone with Neil to cons that involved flying, with one notable exception: We went to Ireland five years ago. That was an epic trip. A first flight for one of our kids, a first time out of the country for both of our kids, and my first time on an airplane in 20 years.

This year, we’re doing it again: we’re headed to Scotland!

Neil is going to the World Science Fiction Convention, and we are tagging along with him to wander around Glasgow, see the sights, buy some yarn…

I’ve been preparing for this trip in the most Lisa Clarke of ways: making jewelry and a shawl to coordinate with the convention colors. Oh, I’m such a nerd really, but I can’t stop myself!

I’m not attending the con itself, but will be going to the Hugo Awards with Neil (he’s nominated again), and I’ll be wearing my usual black dress (aka my trusty blank canvas) along with a shawl that I have yet to finish. There will be a shawl pin, and some combination of earrings, bracelets, rings and a barrette, all made to coordinate with the con colors….

…Naturally I cannot wear all of these things that I’ve created, but I’m hoping that if you are attending the convention, too – or you are just a fan of these colors – that you would like some pieces to wear with your own Glasgow 2024 ensemble. I see these things going equally as well with a t-shirt as they do with a blank canvas black dress….

(8) CLARKESWORLD REBUILDS SUBSCRIBER BASE. Meanwhile, back at the office…

We're 344 subscribers away from where we were before Amazon pulled the rug out from under their traditional subscription program. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but still much work to do.https://t.co/JKayavxXM0
— clarkesworld (@clarkesworld) July 2, 2024

(9) UK CHILDREN’S LAUREATE Q&A. [Item by Steven French.] The new Children’s Laureate in the UK is Frank Cottrell-Boyce who wrote the sequel to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the Doctor Who episodes “In the Forest of the Night” and “Smile”, among other things: “’Reading’s in danger’: Frank Cottrell-Boyce on books, kids – and the explosive power of Heidi” in the Guardian.

… He believes that the language of “catching up” post-pandemic is a code for forgetting that it happened, and that children are not being given the space, time or resources to process their experiences. And it’s not just lockdown that they have to deal with: “Kids are being told that they’re a pre-war generation, they’re growing up aware that their entire biosphere is in danger. They’ve got all these anxieties, and we have something that can alleviate those anxieties. It’s not a magic bullet. It’s not going to cure them. But it is a really simple coping mechanism that plugs you right into the entire history of our culture. This is a chain that goes back to the first fire in the first cave. We know it works. It’s what got us here, and we are in danger of losing it.”…

(10) KGB. Fantastic Fiction at KGB reading series hosts Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel present Nat Cassidy and A.T. Sayre on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern at the KGB Bar, 85 East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003 (Just off 2nd Ave, upstairs).

Nat Cassidy

Nat Cassidy’s horror novels Mary and Nestlings were featured on best-of lists from Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, NPR, the NY Public Library, and more, and he was named one of the “writers shaping horror’s next golden age” by Esquire. His award-winning horror plays have been produced across NYC and the country, including at the Kennedy Center. You’ve also maybe seen Nat guest-starring on shows such as Law & Order: SVU, Blue Bloods, Bull, Quantico, FBI, and others … but that’s a topic for a different bio. His next novel with Tor Nightfire, When the Wolf Comes Home, hits shelves in April 2025. His website is: www.natcassidy.com.

A.T. Sayre

A.T. Sayre has been writing in some form or other ever since he was ten years old. His work has appeared in The Cosmic Background, Aurealis, Haven Speculative, and most notably in Analog Magazine, where his debut novel The Last Days of Good People, appears in the current issue. His first short story collection, Signals in The Static, was published this spring by Lethe Press. More info on these and his other works can be found at www.atsayre.com/fiction. Born in Kansas City, raised in New Hampshire, he lives in Brooklyn and likes to read in coffeehouses.

(11) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

July 2, 1948 — Saul Rubinek, 76. So tonight we have Saul Rubinek. My brain when I started stitching this together kept tugging at a thread that wasn’t quite there of a production that I’d seen him where he was quite good in a role so I had to look up his credits on IMDB where it turned out it was first in a nearly fifteen-year-old airing of The Golden Spiders: A Nero Wolfe Mystery where he was cast as Saul Panzer, freelance detective working for Nero Wolfe.

This was the first of two hour-long movies that originally were all that was planned to be but ratings were excellent and critics loved it, so two seasons followed with stars Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe, and Timothy Hutton as Wolfe’s assistant, Archie Goodwin.

He was on the series not as this character, but as Lon Cohen, a reporter at the New York Gazette. He’s Archie’s source of crime news, and Archie often asks Lon for background information on current or prospective clients.

Before you ask, yes, I loved the series. Unfortunately it is not streaming anywhere right now and the DVDs are ridiculously expensive as a fellow member of Susan’s Salon noted earlier this week and I found them for sale at $150 for the complete series on Amazon.

Now onto his genre work.

His longest role was as Special Agent in Charge of Warehouse 13 Artie Nielsen, in charge of the often troublesome Pete Lattimer, Myka Bering and Claudia Donovan, not to mention several others that had very interesting stories here. Now Artie prefers old fashioned items and ways of doing things because they are familiar and comfortable. He likes tinkering with what is in Charge of Warehouse, something which can be hazardous to him, other and Warehouse 13 itself.

Obviously I’m not going to say anything about what happens to him here as if you haven’t seen the series, it’d spoil for you. Suffice it to say that the writers use the character well.

Spoilers now as they can’t be avoided. On the “The Most Toys” episode of The Next Generation, he plays a nearly obsessed collector who adds Data to his collection.

(Tom Toles in a Washington Post article noted what the title meant, “Maybe you remember and maybe you don’t the phrase “He who dies with the most toys wins.” It has been attributed to Malcolm Forbes, but whoever said it deserves to be noted for being able to get it out while throwing up a little in the back of his mouth.”)

Data has been deactivated somehow and reactivated and met by Fajo, his character, who explains he collects rare and valuable objects — like Data himself. Ok let me note that is nothing to like in my opinion about Fajo. Which of course was the lint of the story here.

The homage to Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics is rather obvious. Perhaps a little too obvious.

Saul wasn’t the first choice for this character. It’s very important to note the last-minute nature of his casting went well for three reasons: he was available as he wasn’t engaged in anything, he was a Star Trek fan keen to appear in the series, and he was a personal friend of the episode’s director Timothy Bond.

They had created an elaborate prosthetic outfit for the first choice but there wasn’t time to design even facial prosthetics for him given when they needed to get the episode done, well, now, when he stepped into the role.

Memory Alpha has a listing of what Kivas Fajo has collected and which is shown here or used here to create a feeling of his alienness. Not surprisingly, nothing in his collection or that he uses here was created for this episode but had already been designed and constructed for another episode such as the communication device used by Sarjenka for “Pen Pals”, a Next Generation episode that aired the previous season.

Ok, there’s lots of one-offs he did I could mention but those are the three roles that I want to note.

(12) COMICS SECTION.

Speed Bump remembers a helpful map.
Candorville supports replicators.
Carpe Diem complains about the light side.

(13) SCHRÖDINGER’S TRADING CARD BOXES. Heritage Auctions recently sent subscribers the short article: “Sealed Trading Card Game Booster Boxes: To Open or Not to Open?”

Sealed trading card game (TCG) booster boxes have become highly collectible due to nostalgia, potential value, and rarity. A common question about these boxes is whether to keep them sealed or open them. Here’s a brief look at why you might open or keep them sealed:

Why You Should Open Them

Chance of Rare Cards: You might pull valuable, rare, and desirable cards.
Enjoyment and Nostalgia: The experience of opening packs can be nostalgic and fun.
Content Creation: Unboxings attract views and engagement for content creators.

Why You Should Keep Them Sealed

Rarity and Scarcity: Fewer sealed boxes mean higher value.
Preservation and Collectibility: Sealed boxes are being opened, increasing collectability.
Future Demand: Nostalgia and new collectors can drive future demand.

The decision to open or keep a booster box sealed ultimately comes down to the individual. Truthfully, there’s no wrong answer to the question as long as you have fun keeping them sealed or opening them and seeing what lies inside them.

(14) THE POSTMAN ALWAYS CLICKS TWICE. Movieweb contends “The Books That Inspired Fallout Are Essential Reading Before the Show”.

The developers of the Fallout series have been very public about their influences, with the post-apocalyptic landscape drawing obvious parallels to the aforementioned Mad Max, along with lesser-known movies like A Boy and His Dog and Radioactive Dreams. The franchise’s creators have also been just as forthcoming about the series’ literary influences, and three of those books are essential reading before Prime Video’s series adaptation releases in April 2024….

David Brin was excited to find his story first on the list.

…It’s hard to imagine a video game, film, or any visual medium taking visual cues from a novel, considering the obvious lack of pictorial elements, but The Postman by David Brin is cited as a huge influence on the design process of Fallout‘s iconically unique landscape and the settlements found within.

Set in a decimated landscape, Brin’s The Postman follows a man who stumbles upon a crashed mail truck that has been untouched since the old world fell. Having lost everything after falling victim to a group of raiders, the man decides to wear the uniform, acting as the federal inspector for the “Restored United States of America” to gain entry to the local settlements across the Wasteland…

(15) BAD DAY IN SPACE TECH. A test of the Tianlong-3 rocket went wrong – video on this Weibo post. And for those of you reading along in English, Gizmodo brings us: “Chinese Rocket Accidentally Launches During Test, Crashes Dramatically”.

…Chinese company Space Pioneer accidentally launched the first stage of its Tianlong-3 rocket during a Sunday test of the vehicle that went terribly wrong. The rocket crashed and exploded near a city in Central China, but no injuries have been reported so far…

Wow. This is apparently what was supposed to be a STATIC FIRE TEST today of a Tianlong-3 first stage by China's Space Pioneer. That's catastrophic, not static. Firm was targeting an orbital launch in the coming months. https://t.co/BY9MgJeE7A pic.twitter.com/L6ronwLW1N
— Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) June 30, 2024

…The accidental launch occurred during a hot firing test of the rocket on Sunday at a facility in Gongyi City, Henan Province. During the test, the rocket’s nine engines are ignited, while the vehicle is supposed to be secured to the ground, preventing it from heading toward orbit.

Space Pioneer blamed a “structural failure” of the test bench for the rocket’s separation from the launch pad, the company wrote in a statement. The rocket’s onboard computer, however, automatically shut down the engines upon detecting unusual activity. That’s when Tianlong-3 plummeted towards a hilly area near the city….

(16) JUSTWATCH QUARTERLIES. This month JustWatch, the largest streaming guide in the world, released updates on the market share of all major streaming platforms across 60 different countries. The results below reflect data we collected over the last 3 months.

SVOD market shares in Q2 2024

At the forefront of the market, a fierce rivalry is unfolding between Prime Video and Netflix as their figures remain closely matched. Meanwhile, Apple TV+ and Paramount+ face a similar battle with Apple TV+ coming out on top.

Market share development in 2024

Global streaming giant: Apple TV+ grabs the attention of the US market with a +1% increase in shares. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video struggled throughout the second quarter to keep their share above Netflix.

In other news, Disney+ has now made Hulu content available on their app within the country, bringing the two platforms closer to integration.

Methodology: JustWatch‘s Market Shares are calculated based on user interest in their website and mobile apps. User interest in the United States is measured by adding movies or TV shows to their watchlist, clicking out to a streaming service or filtering multiple streaming services, and selecting the relevant streaming service.

(17) PRESENT AT THE CREATION. “In Ukraine War, A.I. Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots” — in the New York Times (behind a paywall).

…What the companies are creating is technology that makes human judgment about targeting and firing increasingly tangential. The widespread availability of off-the-shelf devices, easy-to-design software, powerful automation algorithms and specialized artificial intelligence microchips has pushed a deadly innovation race into uncharted territory, fueling a potential new era of killer robots.

In 2017, Mr. Russell, the Berkeley A.I. researcher, released an online film, “Slaughterbots,” warning of the dangers of autonomous weapons. In the movie, roving packs of low-cost armed A.I. drones use facial recognition technology to hunt down and kill targets.

What’s happening in Ukraine moves us toward that dystopian future, Mr. Russell said. …

…. a panel of U.N. experts also said they worried about the ramifications of the new techniques being developed in Ukraine.

Officials have spent more than a decade debating rules about the use of autonomous weapons, but few expect any international deal to set new regulations, especially as the United States, China, Israel, Russia and others race to develop even more advanced weapons.

“The geopolitics makes it impossible,” said Alexander Kmentt, Austria’s top negotiator on autonomous weapons at the U.N. “These weapons will be used, and they’ll be used in the military arsenal of pretty much everybody.”…

(18) VIDEO OF THE DAY. “Trailer: ‘Kite Man: Hell Yeah!’ Makes Soaring Max Premiere July 18” – Animation Magazine sets the frame.

The DC animated universe keeps expanding, as the Max Original adult animated series Kite Man: Hell Yeah! is set to debut with two episodes Thursday, July 18, followed by one new episode weekly through September 12, on Max.

The new show features characters from the Critics Choice Award-winning Max Original Harley Quinn, which has been renewed for a fifth season and is currently available to stream on Max.

Synopsis: Kite Man and Golden Glider take their relationship to the next level by opening a bar in the shadow of Lex Luthor’s Legion of Doom. Nobody said serving cold ones to the most dangerous rogues outside of Arkham Asylum would be easy, but sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and how to hide a body….

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

Clarkesworld 2023 Reader’s Poll Winners

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Mike Glyer

Editor Neil Clarke has announced the winners of the Clarkesworld 2023 Reader’s Poll.

BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA

2023 Winner: “To Sail Beyond the Botnet” by Suzanne Palmer (novella)
2nd Place: “Light Speed Is Not a Speed” by Andy Dudak (novelette)
3rd Place: “Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon” by Angela Liu (novelette)

BEST SHORT STORY

2023 Winner: “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer
2nd Place: “Day Ten Thousand” by Isabel J. Kim
3rd Place: “Window Boy” by Thomas Ha

BEST COVER ART

2023 Winner
“The pirates on the beach” by Dofresh

2nd Place
“Old Ways” by J.R. Slattum

3rd Place
“Autumn Pond” by Sergio Rebolledo

Clarkesworld 2023 Reader’s Poll Finalists

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Mike Glyer

Editor Neil Clarke has announced the finalists for the 2023 Clarkesworld Magazine Reader’s Poll for best story, novelette/novella and cover art.

Clarke commented:

…The top of the ballot always seems to end in a cluster of tight races and ties. This year was no different. The final results came down to the last vote, which created and broke ties in different categories. It’s a testament to our artists and authors that the races are so tight…

The public is invited to pick the winners. Go to: www.surveymonkey.com/r/clarkesworld2023poll Voting will close on February 15 at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and the winners will be announced in the March issue.

BEST SHORT STORY

“The Mub” by Thomas Ha
“Window Boy” by Thomas Ha
“Day Ten Thousand” by Isabel J. Kim
“Zeta-Epsilon” by Isabel J. Kim
“Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer
“Gel Pen Notes from Generation Ship Y” by Marisca Pichette

BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA

“Light Speed Is Not a Speed” by Andy Dudak
“Eight or Die” by Thoraiya Dyer
“Such Is My Idea Of Happiness” by David Goodman
“Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon” by Angela Liu
“To Sail Beyond the Botnet” by Suzanne Palmer
“Axiom of Dreams” by Arula Ratnakar
“An Ode to Stardust” by R. P. Sand

BEST COVER ART

Participate in the 2023 Clarkesworld Readers Poll Nominations

Posted on January 27, 2024 by Mike Glyer

The flash nomination phase for the 2023 Clarkesworld Reader’s Poll began today and continues until January 29 at Noon Eastern time. The top five go onto the final round in February when a winner will be determined by a second round of voting.

Editor Neil Clarke invites readers to celebrate their favorite Clarkesworld cover art and stories, all of which can be found in his post “Clarkesworld 2023 Stories and Cover Art”.

The link to the survey is: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cwreaders2023

Pixel Scroll 5/18/23 The Sound Of Tiny Pixels In The Walls Chittering Quietly To Themselves

Posted on May 18, 2023 by Mike Glyer

(0) The Scroll is light because I had a medical appointment and also took some time to write the BasedCon post. Will make it up to you tomorrow!

(1) THE APPLAUSE METER. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] Apparently a five minute ovation is no big deal at Cannes. Actually, I pretty much believe that. “‘Indiana Jones 5’ Gets Lukewarm Five-Minute Cannes Ovation as Harrison Ford Says an Emotional Goodbye” in Variety.

[When] the credits rolled, Cannes mustered a muted standing ovation for Indy’s latest adventure. Yes, the applause lasted for five minutes, but by Cannes standards, that’s more of a polite formality.

But regardless of how the crowd felt about the film, the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for Ford. The actor arrived on the carpet with wife Calista Flockhart, and an announcer introduced the duo as “Indiana Jones and Calista Flockhart.” Ford received a true movie’s star welcome, as thousands of fans screamed his name and the audience in the Palais jumped up to welcome him as he set foot inside the theater.

As the night began, Ford was summoned to the stage by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux to receive a surprise Palme d’Or after a reel of his greatest roles — from “Star Wars” to “The Fugitive” — played onscreen.

“I’m very moved by this,” Ford said. “They say when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes, and I just saw my life flash before my eyes. A great part of my life, but not all of my life. My life has been enabled by my lovely wife, who has supported my passion and my dreams, and I’m grateful.”…

(2) DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL. And other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? “The ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Reviews Are In” and Dark Horizons has a roundup of critics reactions to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Here’s a sampling of reviews thus far:

“Exciting and excessive in equal measure, so over-the-top that an audience needs to throw up its collective hands and suspend disbelief… There are some beautifully affecting moments. If this is the final Indiana Jones movie, as it most likely will be, it’s nice to see that they stuck the landing. ” – Steve Pond, The Wrap

“However much action swirls on the surface of this kind of film, its foundations are built of reassuring nostalgia…[Mangold] is never anything but brisk… it moves along in the frame-by-comic book frame way that ‘Raiders’ did, but with more international destinations.” – Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline

“The final reel may take a serious flight of fantasy, but unlike those aliens in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it somehow feels an apt journey for Indy. Perhaps the film could’ve been more daring – it feels fairly safe – but fans will leave cinemas feeling like their old hero had one final great outing in him” – James Mottram, Radio Times

“Nobody with a brain in their heads will compare Dial of Destiny favourably to the first three films. There is a sense throughout of a project struggling to stand beneath the weight of its history. But Mangold… knows how to keep his foot on the pedal… Think of it as one of those halfway decent David Bowie albums from the 1990s” – Donald Clarke, The Irish Times

(3) ROTHFUSS NOVELLA ANNOUNCED. Patrick Rothfuss returns to the universe he conjured in the Kingkiller Chronicle with The Narrow Road Between Desires, an expansion and reimagining of his story The Lightning Tree, illustrated by Nate Taylor. Announced by Rothfuss via Twitch and his blog, The Narrow Road Between Desires marks Rothfuss’s first new release since The Slow Regard of Silent Things in 2014.

A DAW press release says, “The Narrow Road Between Desires is Bast’s story, told over the course of a single day as the charming fae schemes and sneaks, and dances into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace.” It will be released in hardcover on November 14, 2023 from DAW Books and Gollancz, of the Orion Publishing Group.

Rothfuss discussed the news release at length on his blog: “New Novella – An announcement in Three Parts”.

Ever since book two was delayed more than a decade ago, I’ve promised y’all that when a new book is going to be coming out, you’ll hear the news from me first.

The reason for this is a little complicated. But it boils down to this:

When you create something people like, they want to know when you’re going to make a similar thing so they can enjoy that too. If they like it a *lot* then they *REALLY* want to know when you’re doing it again.

If the thing you create is say… a batch of cookies for your kids, this isn’t a problem. They want more cookies, so you can let them know the cookie release schedule. If they forget, you can remind them. If the schedule changes, you explain why.

Even if your kids want more cookies than you can produce, and they complain, or whine, or nag at you, the whole thing is still manageable. (Though as anyone who has dealt with kids can attest to, dealing with over-insistent kids can be rough.) But it works because the number of kids is (statistically speaking) only about 2-3. This makes clear and consistent communication possible. Since you’re all on the same page, everyone gets to anticipate cookies together.

All of this goes out the window if, say, instead of making cookies, you make a book. And instead of a 2-3 kids, you end up with several million readers.

When I was first published. I thought communicating with folks online would be easy. I post an update, everyone reads it. Easy peasy. Right?

It only took a couple years to realize it doesn’t work that way. I can spend 10 hours writing a blog about how my Dad’s in hospice, explaining how the whole thing’s upheaved my life, been hard on my boys, and utterly destroyed any semblance of normalcy in my world…. Then later that day still get half a dozen people pinging me on different platforms asking me why it’s been years since my last book was out.

I can post updates on my blog, on twitter, on facebook, on Twitch, but that doesn’t mean people will read them. What’s more, all it takes is a rumor on a reddit thread to spread bad information and make people think there’s a new book coming out. If amazon’s ordering system auto-fills a publication date for Doors of Stone, people think it’s real, then get pissed when no book comes out on that not-real timeline.

It’s something that I still don’t know how to come to grips with. And the only solution I do have is the promise I made years back: That when there *is* a publication date for DOS, or I put out a different book, you’ll hear about it directly from me first. And no matter where else I make the announcement. (Like today on Twitch, for example.) I’ll also post about it here on the blog.

It’s not a perfect solution, but this way, if people hear a rumor, they can at least come over here and check out whether or not it’s real.

When I first promised that, I thought it would be easy. But at this point, I think we all know that I can be terribly naive….

…When I told Betsy I wanted to be first to break news like this to y’all, she agreed. And since then both Betsy and the other lovely folks on the publishing team have gone along with it, despite the fact that it makes things harder for them.

They have to do extra work in order to keep things secret, and it ties their hands a little. Believe it or not, promoting and marketing a book is way harder when nobody knows a book is in the works. Despite all this, we’ve all been keeping news about the novella secret, and the lovely folks at DAW have done that extra work so that I can make the announcement here first.

There are some downsides, though. If I’m going to be the first to break the news, I have to do so fairly early in the publication process so that marketing and PR people can do important things like… talk to bookstores and see if any of them would be interested in, y’know, putting it on the shelves so people can buy it.

The bad news is that since this is early in the process, it means the book is still in development. I’m still tweaking the text…

(4) PLATE ARMOR RATHER THAN MAIL, ACTUALLY. Brian Blessed poses with his Blackadder stamp in a photo released by Royal Mail Stamps & Collectibles on Facebook.

(5) GALACTIC STARCRUISER BOUND FOR SHIPBREAKERS? People reports “Disney to Close Star Wars Hotel, Galactic Starcruiser, that Opened in March 2022”.

Disney is permanently docking its Galactic Starcruiser hotel, it announced just 15 months after the massive project first opened.

“Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is one of our most creative projects ever and has been praised by our guests and recognized for setting a new bar for innovation and immersive entertainment,” Disney said in a statement shared with PEOPLE. “This premium, boutique experience gave us the opportunity to try new things on a smaller scale of 100 rooms, and as we prepare for its final voyage, we will take what we’ve learned to create future experiences that can reach more of our guests and fans.”

Its final voyage will take place in September.

Disney will be contacting guests who previously booked a stay for after Sept. 30 to modify their reservations. New bookings are currently paused until May 26….

… Starcruiser is also unique in that it requires guests to participate in a full voyage, meaning they can’t hop into the parks at will (though there is an “excursion” to Batuu, aka Disney Studios’ Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land) or choose their own dining options. And seeing as the Halcyon is hurtling through space, the property lacks a few other standard Disney resort offerings, like a pool or varied outdoor spaces to enjoy the Florida weather.

The experience does include some truly unique activities that should delight Star Wars aficionados and casual fans alike, like lightsaber training, a lesson in bridge operations — how to operate, shield (and yes, shoot from, when necessary) the impressive vessel — and two unique dining experiences where they can sample specialties like a blue iced Felucian shrimp cocktail and braised Bantha beef….

(6) GRAPHIC PROOF. Neil Clarke showed Facebook readers that Clarkesworld is still battling the flood of ChatGPT-written submissions.

Chart shows the number of bans issued since November, almost entirely courtesy of ChatGPT and other LLMs being used to write bad SF/F and submitted against our guidelines. (Not interested in having a debate about the merits of our policy. Our reasons have not changed and those issues have not been settled.) Anyhow, the dip in March/April was thanks to some mitigation efforts that were more successful than expected. (Some people are still bouncing off those walls.) New approach this month was much more targeted and brought us back to February levels. Some of the tools I’ve put in place are making it a bit easier, but volume can eventually break anything. Problem is clearly getting worse. The May numbers just passed February and in fewer days.

(7) MEMORY LANE.

2015 – [Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Mike picked Paolo Bacigalupi for the Beginning and I picked The Water Knife as the work. Why that work? I’ll tell you in a moment.

But first some notes about Bacigalupi and this novel. He won a Hugo at Aussiecon 4 for The Windup Girl novel, and a World Fantasy Award for his Tangled Lands collection. I’m very fond of his Ship Breaker novel.

The Water Knife was published by Alfred A. Knopf eight years ago, and the cover illustration is by Oliver Munday. It’s based on The Tamarisk Hunter story he did which was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in their May 2007 issue.

So why this novel? Because I think it’s one of his most interesting near future stories with fascinating characters and a fully realized setting. Now that’s all I’ll say given our policy of avoiding spoilers at all costs.

So now let’s have his Beginning….

There were stories in sweat.

The sweat of a woman bent double in an onion field, working fourteen hours under the hot sun, was different from the sweat of a man as he approached a checkpoint in Mexico, praying to La Santa Muerte that the federales weren’t on the payroll of the enemies he was fleeing. The sweat of a ten-year-old boy staring into the barrel of a SIG Sauer was different from the sweat of a woman struggling across the desert and praying to the Virgin that a water cache was going to turn out to be exactly where her coyote’s map told her it would be.

Sweat was a body’s history, compressed into jewels, beaded on the brow, staining shirts with salt. It told you everything about how a person had ended up in the right place at the wrong time, and whether they would survive another day.

To Angel Velasquez, perched high above Cypress 1’ s central bore and watching Charles Braxton as he lumbered up the Cascade Trail, the sweat on a lawyer’s brow said that some people weren’t near as important as they liked to think.

Braxton might strut in his offices and scream at his secretaries. He might stalk courtrooms like an ax murderer hunting new victims. But no matter how much swagger the lawyer carried, at the end of the day Catherine Case owned his ass—and when Catherine Case told you to get something done quick, you didn’t just run, pendejo, you ran until your heart gave out and there wasn’t no running left.

Braxton ducked under ferns and stumbled past banyan climbing vines, following the slow rise of the trail as it wound around the cooling bore. He shoved through groups of tourists posing for selfies before the braided waterfalls and hanging gardens that spilled down the arcology’s levels. He kept on, flushed and dogged. Joggers zipped past him in shorts and tank tops, their ears flooded with music and the thud of their healthy hearts.

You could learn a lot from a man’s sweat. Braxton’s sweat meant he still had fear.

And to Angel, that meant he was still reliable.

(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Born May 18, 1930 — Fred Saberhagen. I’m reasonably sure I’ve read the entirety of his Berserker series though not in the order they were intended to be read. Some are outstanding, some less so. I’d recommend Berserker Man, Shiva in Steel and the original Berserker collection. Of his Dracula sequence, the only one I think that I’ve read is The Holmes-Dracula File which is superb. And I know I’ve read most of the Swords tales as they came out in various magazines. His only Hugo nomination was at NYCon 3 for his “Mr. Jester” short story published in If, January 1966. (Died 2007.)
Born May 18, 1934 — Elizabeth Rogers. Trek geeking time. She had two roles in the series. She provided the uncredited voice for “The Companion” in the “Metamorphosis” episode. She also portrayed Lt. Palmer, a communications officer who took the place of Uhura, in “The Doomsday Machine”, “The Way to Eden”, and the very last episode of the series, “Turnabout Intruder”. She also had appearances on Time Tunnel, Land of The Giants, Bewitched, The Swarm and Something Evil. (Died 2004.)
Born May 18, 1946 — Andreas Katsulas. I knew him as Ambassador G’Kar on Babylon 5 but had forgotten he played played the Romulan Commander Tomalak on Star Trek: The Next Generation. His first genre role on television was playing Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and he had a recurring role in Max Headroom as Mr. Bartlett. He also had appearances on Alien Nation, The Death of the Incredible Hulk, Millennium, Star Trek: Enterprise and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. (Died 2006.)
Born May 18, 1948 — R-Laurraine Tutihasi, 75. She’s a member of LASFS and the N3F. She publishes Feline Mewsings for FAPA. She won the N3F’s Kaymar Award in 2009. Not surprisingly, she’s had a number of SJW creds in her life and her website here gives a look at her beloved cats and a lot of information on her fanzines.
Born May 18, 1949 — Rick Wakeman, 74. Keyboardist and composer best known for his tenure with the pioneering space-rock band Yes. Wakeman has also released musical adaptations of the novels Journey to the Center of the Earth and 1984. The former album reached #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. He also wrote an album, Out There, dedicated to the memories of the astronauts who died in the Columbia disaster. (Xtifr)
Born May 18, 1950 — Mark Mothersbaugh, 73. Founder and main songwriter for the new wave band Devo, which regularly featured science-fictional themes in their music and stage shows. The band’s tongue-in-cheek conceit was that they had devolved from full humanity–hence the name. The title of their first album, Q. Are We Not Men? A. We Are Devo!, was a shout-out to The Island of Doctor Moreau. Mothersbaugh is also a prolific composer for films, tv, and games. His credits include the theme for the underrated SyFy show Eureka and much more. (Xtifr)
Born May 18, 1952 — Diane Duane, 71. She’s known for the Young Wizards YA series though I’d like to single her out for her lesser-known Feline Wizards series where SJW creds maintain the gates that wizards use for travel throughout the multiverse. A most wonderful thing for felines to do! Her Tale of the Five series was inducted into the Gaylactic Spectrum Award Hall of Fame in 2003. She also has won The Faust Award for Lifetime Achievement given by The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.
Born May 18, 1958 — Jonathan Maberry, 65. The only thing I’ve read by him is a number of works in the Joe Ledger Series which has a high body count and an even higher improbability index. I see that he’s done scripts for Dark Horse, IDW and Marvel early on. And that he’s responsible for Captain America: Hail Hydra.
Born May 18, 1969 — Ty Franck, 54. Half of the writing team along with Daniel Abraham that’s James Corey, author of the Expanse series. I’ll admit that I’ve fallen behind by a volume or two as there’s just too many good series out there too keep up with all of them, damn it!

(9) CHINESE NEBULA AWARDS. China.org.cn, China’s national online news service, ran an extensive profile of the 14th Xingyun (Nebula) Award winners: “China’s top sci-fi award recognizes young talent”.

Chinese writer Tianrui Shuofu won the top award for his novel “Once Upon a Time in Nanjing” at the 14th Chinese Nebula Awards on Saturday in Guanghan, Sichuan province, demonstrating the rise of young talent in Chinese sci-fi.

Tianrui Shuofu, a 27-year-old online writer whose real name is He Jian, has created several popular sci-fi novels including “Die on Mars.” His latest work, “Once Upon a Time in Nanjing” (also known as “We Live in Nanjing”), was serialized on the literary site qidian.com in 2021. The story follows a high school senior in the city of Nanjing in 2019 who communicates via radio with a girl from 2040 who lives in the same city and learns about the apocalyptic future world. Together, they embark on a mission to save the Earth….

(10) GAIMAN PICKETS. “Neil Gaiman Joins the WGA Picket Line With a Classic T-Shirt” – The Mary Sue has the story.

…Since the strike began, many recognizable faces have joined the picket lines. Many are writers, while others are actors and other entertainment industry professionals expressing solidarity with writers.

Earlier this week, a Tumblr user fuckyeahgoodomens spotted Gaiman at one picket site, holding a sign and wearing a striking red t-shirt….

https://www.tumblr.com/fuckyeahgoodomens/717479437159088128/precious-man-not-in-black-sighted-xx-neil

[Thanks to Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Michael Toman, Cat Eldridge, and Mike Kennedy for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Cat Eldridge.]

Pixel Scroll 5/7/23 East Is East And West Is West, And The Wrong One I Have Chose, Let’s Go Where They Keep On Wearin’, Those Files And Fifthers And Pixels And Scrolls

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Mike Glyer

(1) CLARKESWORLD AGAIN DELUGED WITH AI MSS. Neil Clarke told Facebook readers today his magazine Clarkesworld has been inundated with another round of AI-produced submissions.

After a bit of a reprieve, we started getting hit hard with generated submissions/spam again this month. We’re approaching 300 for the month. This morning, I finally figured out where they were coming from. Took some effort to track down since the video (and its copycats) aren’t in English. Another make quick money scam, but this time targeting us specifically. The person behind it shows our website and even lingers around the “No ChatGPT” statements in the guidelines and submission form, before going to ChatGPT, generating, and submitting. He was previously banned for this, so he knows it won’t work. Have filed a complaint with YouTube, but I doubt they’ll do anything about it.

I’m not looking to start another round of the AI argument. It’s just our policy, like word count limits and genre restrictions.

I have upped our settings on my home-grown spam filter, so if you are submitting and use a proxy or VPN, you might find yourself with a slower response time.

(2) MEANWHILE, A CLARKESWORLD SUCCESS. Neil Clarke’s May Clarkesworld editorial says that when it comes to one of his sf-in-translation projects, “Something Went Mostly Right”.

…Finally, in early 2023, we were in a position to launch our pilot project. From January 15th through February 15th, we held our first open call for submissions written in Spanish, but never published in English.

The key element for this project was having a strong team that was well-aligned with our tastes and goals. I want to express my deepest gratitude to Nelly Geraldine Garcia-Rosas, Cristina Jurado, and Loreto ML for their time and work as part of the fiction team. They handled all of the first reading for the 1124 submissions we received, providing me with detailed summaries and personal assessments. From there, we narrowed the pile down to thirty-three works. Those endured a much more in-depth second round of consideration that ultimately led to the acceptance of eight stories that we will translate and publish over the course of next year.

In the interest of transparency, I want to explain how the second round evaluation process was carried out. Each of the thirty-three works was read by the entire team. In my case, that required the use of machine translation. These tools are horribly unreliable, but understanding that, I placed more emphasis on the reader’s description and team members’ individual feedback. Those bad translations often prompted me to ask more questions, which led to a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each story. Just as with our English language submissions, there were strong works that were ultimately rejected because they didn’t fit our publication. (If there was a trend among those, it might have been that they drifted a bit further into horror than I typically like.)…

(3) WINNIPEG NASFIC WILL RAISE MEMBERSHIP RATES. Pemmi-Con, the 15^th North American Science Fiction Convention, announced that membership rates will increase May 15. Full details at the link.

The convention is happening July 20-23 at the Delta Hotels Winnipeg and the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg.

(4) WAIT, ARE WALLACE AND GROMIT JEDI NOW? [Item by Mike Kennedy.] Empire tells “How Aardman Took On Star Wars: The Making Of ‘I Am Your Mother’”.

Like all good Star Wars stories, it began with a vital transmission. Except, this one wasn’t from Princess Leia, nor was it delivered in the memory unit of an R2 droid.

It was, simply, a phone call to the offices of Aardman Animations – beamed from Skywalker Ranch, home of the legendary Lucasfilm, to the Bristol-based HQ of Britain’s most beloved animation studio, back in March 2021. It was, says Aardman’s Executive Creative Director Sarah Cox, “a mysterious call”. And like Leia’s message, it came with a mission: for the quintessentially British stop-motion studio behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run to create its very own short for animated anthology Star Wars: Visions, with an open remit for what that might entail. The possibilities were vast. But for the studio that once delivered a definitive answer on whether the moon is made of cheese (it is, as we now know, similar to Wensleydale) Cox had one big question: “Can we be funny?”

Comedy has rarely been at the forefront of Star Wars’ mind. Thankfully, pushing the boundaries of what Star Wars can be is Visions’ entire raison d’être. Volume 1, released in September 2021, was a thrilling visual and narrative experiment, letting seven Japanese anime studios loose on the iconography of the galaxy far, far away to interpret as they pleased – resulting in everything from black-and-white samurai showdowns, to vibrant rock band rhapsodies. For all the wildness, it remained rooted in the Japanese traditions that George Lucas drew from when first creating Star Wars – a cyclical cultural exchange. In Volume 2, streaming from today on Disney+, the series goes worldwide, featuring shorts from countries including India, Ireland, South Africa, Chile, France – and, yes, the UK. “I always framed it as, ‘Think of it like the Street Fighter map’,” laughs Lucasfilm’s James Waugh. “The cultural element of Volume 1 was so unique, that we felt that could happen in Volume 2 with multiple perspectives. There was an opportunity here to really showcase all of those incredible voices.”…

(5) BRUCE MCCALL (1935-2023.) Humorist and illustrator Bruce McCall died May 5. The New York Times obituary discussed his memorable satires.

Bruce McCall, whose satirical illustrations for National Lampoon and The New Yorker conjured up a plutocratic dream world of luxury zeppelin travel, indoor golf courses and cars like the Bulgemobile Airdreme, died on Friday in the Bronx. He was 87.

His wife, Polly McCall, said his death, at Calvary Hospital, was caused by Parkinson’s disease.

Borrowing from the advertising style seen in magazines like Life, Look and Collier’s in the 1930s and ’40s, Mr. McCall depicted a luminous fantasyland filled with airplanes, cars and luxury liners of his own creation. It was a world populated by carefree millionaires who expected caviar to be served in the stations of the fictional Fifth Avenue Subway and carwashes to spray their limousines with champagne…

…A wider audience knew Mr. McCall through the collections “Bruce McCall’s Zany Afternoons” (1982), “The Last Dream-o-Rama: The Cars Detroit Forgot to Build, 1950-1960” (2001), and “All Meat Looks Like South America: The World of Bruce McCall” (2003).

He was “our country’s greatest unacknowledged design visionary,” the critic and graphic designer Michael Bierut wrote in Design Observer in 2005, “the visual poet of American gigantism.”…

(6) MEMORY LANE.

2013 – [Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Today’s Beginning is from Esther Friesner who has written a lot of fiction that I’ve read. Her humorous style of writing can be a bit much sometimes but I like it when I’m in the right mood.

She has won no Hugos but did garner two Nebulas for short stories, “Death and the Librarian” and “A Birthday”. (The latter got her a Hugo nomination at L.A. Con III.) She also got a much deserved Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction.

I decided upon E. Godz which was co-written by Esther Friesner and Robert Asprin. It was published by Bean Books a decade ago. The cover was illustrated by Gary Ruddell.

This being Baen Books, it is not available from the usual suspects but only from Bean Books. Surely you’re not surprised, are you?

So here’s our Beginning. I think it’s quite interesting…

On a lovely spring morning in the hyperborean wilderness of Poughkeepsie, New York, Edwina Godz decided that she had better die. She did not make that decision lightly, but in exactly the manner that such a (literally) life-altering choice should, ought, and must be made. That is to say, after a nice cup of tea.

It wasn’t as if she was about to kill herself. Just die.

She reached the aforementioned decision almost by accident, while pondering the sorry state of her domestic situation and seeking a cure for the combination of headache, tummy trouble, and spiritual upheaval she always experienced every time she thought about her family. Under similar circumstances, most women would head right for the medicine cabinet, but Edwina Godz was a firm believer in the healing power of herbs. Better living through chemistry was all very well and good, yet when it came down to cases that involved the aches, pains, and collywobbles of day-to-day living, you couldn’t beat natural remedies with a stick.

Especially if the stick in question was a willow branch. Surprising how few people realized that good old reliable aspirin was derived from willow bark.

Edwina realized this, all right. In fact, she was a walking encyclopedia of herbal therapy lore. It was partly a hobby, partly a survival mechanism. You didn’t get to be the head of a multicultural conglomerate like E. Godz, Inc. without making a few very . . . creative enemies. When you grew your own medicines, you didn’t have to worry about the FDA falling down on the job when it came to safeguarding the purity of whatever remedy the ailment of the moment demanded. Perhaps it was a holdover from her chosen self-reliant life-style all the way back in the dinosaur days of the ’60s, but Edwina Godz was willing to live by the wisdom that if you wanted to live life to the fullest, without the pesky interference of the Man, you should definitely grow your own.

No question about it, Edwina had grown her own, and it didn’t stop at herbs for all occasions. However, at the moment, herbs were the subject under consideration.

Specifically: which one to take to fix Edwina’s present malaise? It wasn’t going to be an easy choice, not by a long shot. Peppermint tea was good for an upset tummy, though ginger was better, but valerian was calming and chamomile was the ticket if you were having trouble getting to sleep. Then again, green tea was rich in antioxidants, which were simply unsurpassed when it came to maintaining one’s overall health, and ginseng was a marvelous source of all sorts of energy, while gingko biloba—

(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Born May 7, 1912 — Clyde Beck. Fan and critic who wrote what Clute says in EoSF is the first work of criticism devoted to American SF: Hammer and Tongs which was published in 1937 by Futile Press. It was assembled from four essays and the reviews Beck wrote for The Science Fiction Critic, a fanzine by his brother Claire P. Beck with a newly written author’s preface by Clyde. He wrote four pieces of genre fiction between the Thirties and Fifties. None of what he wrote is in-print. (Died 1986.)
Born May 7, 1918 — Walt Liebscher. His fanzine Chanticleer was a finalist for the 1946 Retro-Hugo; Harry Warner said “Liebscher did incredible things with typewriter art. He specialized in little faces with subtle expressions…. the contents page was frequently a dazzling display of inventive borders and separating lines.” His later pro writing was collected in Alien Carnival (1974). He was given the Big Heart, our highest service award, in 1981. (Died 1985.) (JJ)
Born May 7, 1922 — Darren McGavin. Carl Kolchak on Kolchak: The Night Stalker — How many times have I seen it? I’ve lost count long, long ago. Yes, it was corny, yes, the monsters were low rent, but it was damn fun. And no, I did not watch a minute of the reboot. By the way, I’m reasonably sure that his first genre role was in the Tales of Tomorrow series as Bruce Calvin in “The Duplicates” episode. (Died 2006.)
Born May 7, 1931 — Gene Wolfe. He’s best known for his Book of the New Sun series. My list of recommended novels would include Pirate Freedom, The Sorcerer’s House and the Book of the New Sun series. He’s won the BFA, Nebula, Skylark, BSFA and World Fantasy Awards but to my surprise has never won a Hugo though he has been nominated quite a few times. He has been honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. (Died 2019.)
Born May 7, 1940 — Angela Carter. Another one taken far too young by the damn Reaper. She’s best remembered for The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories where she took fairy tales and made them very, very adult in tone. And I’d also recommend The Curious Room as it contains her original screenplays for the BSFA-winning The Company of Wolves which starred Angela Lansbury, and The Magic Toyshop films, both of which were based on her own original stories. Though not even genre adjacent, her Wise Children is a brilliant and quite unsettling look at the theatre world. I’ve done several essays on her so far and no doubt will do more. A smattering of her works are available at the usual suspects. (Died 1992.)
Born May 7, 1951 — John Fleck, 72. One of those performers the Trek casting staff really like as he’s appeared in Next Generation, Deep Space Nine in three different roles, Voyager and finally on Enterprise in the recurring role of Silik. And like so many Trek alumni, he shows up on The Orville.
Born May 7, 1951 — Gary Westfahl, 72. SF reviewer for the LA Times, Internet Review of Science Fiction and Locus Online. Editor of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders; author of Immortal Engines: Life Extension and Immortality in Science Fiction and Fantasy (with George Slusser) and A Sense-of-Wonderful Century: Explorations of Science Fiction and Fantasy Films.

(8) LAYOFFS AT IDW. “IDW to Slash Workforce by 39%, Delist from NYSE” reports Publishers Weekly.

IDW Media will lay off 39% of its staff and delist from the New York Stock Exchange in what the company called “cost-cutting measures” taken in “response to operational challenges.”

Among the staff affected by layoffs are the entire marketing and PR departments and half of the editorial department, including publisher Nachie Marsham, who has served in the role since September 2020. In all, 28 employees are being let go and IDW has budgeted $900,000 to cover severance costs.

IDW has also announced several changes to senior management in light of the staff reduction and NYSE delisting. CEO Allan Grafman will be replaced by Davidi Jonas, who most recently served as IDW’s chief strategy officer, and is the son of IDW chairman Howard Jonas. Grafman had served as CEO since August 2022. Additionally, CFO Brooke Feinstein has been let go, and Amber Huerta, previously senior v-p of people and organizational development, has been promoted to COO.

IDW operates in two groups—its publishing division, which publishes comic books and graphic novels and includes the Top Shelf imprint, and its entertainment division, which produces and distributes multimedia content based on the publishing group’s original book content….

(9) MAURICE HORN (1931-2022). Comics historian, author, editor and curator Maurice C. Horn passed away on December 30, 2022, at the age of 91. The Comics Journal profiles his achievements and controversies.

… The success of the encyclopedias gave Horn the financial stability and clout to write about other comics-related topics. Books such as Comics of the American West (Winchester Press, 1977), Women in the Comics (Chelsea House, 1977), Burne Hogarth’s The Golden Age of Tarzan, 1939-1942 (Chelsea House, 1977), and Sex in the Comics (Chelsea House, 1985) proved commercially successful enough to warrant multiple printings and new editions over the course of several decades, but none had the lasting impact of The World Encyclopedia of Comics. Marshall laments that too many of Horn’s later works “essentially were rehashes of his pioneering books, brought out in multi-volume editions to enhance library-sale profits, or justified by anniversaries of the business.”

100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, published by Gramercy in 1996, was Horn’s final major publication.Horn returned to his roots in 1996 with 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, an illustrated encyclopedia published by Gramercy in belated celebration of the centennial of the Yellow Kid. The 414-page volume, with its tighter focus, less-rushed publication schedule and dedicated team of writers and researchers who benefited from the nearly decades of comics scholarship that followed the publication of The World Encyclopedia of Comics, is considered by many historians to be Horn’s most accurate and comprehensive work….

(10) LOOKING AHEAD. At Instant Future, John Shirley interviews Rudy Rucker. “Flash Forward: An Interview with Rudy Rucker!”

Q. What do you think of the “science fiction future”, in re the fiction out there?

A. It seems about the same as ever, although way more diverse. And there’s more emphasis on social issues and the environment. Not as much wild science as I’d like to see, but that stuff is hard to invent. As ever, a good procedure is to glom onto some standard SF trope and work it into a transreal novel about your own life. Transreal? That’s a word I invented in 1983 to describe my process of writing SF novels in which characters are based either on me or on people I know. See my “Transrealist Manifesto.”

Transrealism is kind of a beatnik thing, writing novels about your own life. And of course Phil Dick and Kurt Vonnegut and Kim Stanley Robinson did it too…

(11) CHAT CHIMPANZEE. The Library of America’s “Story of the Week” is Charles Portis’ “The Wind Bloweth Where It Listeth”.

In Portis’s final story, a local reporter investigates a billionaire-funded project in which armies of monkeys generate massive volumes of text to supersede the “old elitist notion of writing as some sort of algebra.”

. . . Is the musty old prophecy at last being fulfilled? We now have millions of monkeys pecking away more or less at random, day and night, on millions of personal computer keyboards. We have “word processors,” the Internet, e-mail, and “the information explosion.” Futurists at our leading universities tell us the day is at hand when, out of this maelstrom of words, a glorious literature must emerge, and indeed flourish.

So far, however, as of today, Tuesday, September 14, late afternoon, the tally still seems to be fixed at:

Shakespeare: 198, Monkeys: 0

(12) VIDEO OF THE DAY. Just for fun, here’s Amaury Guichon sculpting a Stormtrooper helmet out of chocolate. Jennifer Hawthorne says, “His chocolate creations are amazing but this is the first time I’m aware of that he’s done something of the SFF genre. Maybe a campaign could be organized to request that he do the NCC-1701, or a chocolate Balrog!”

I have created this wearable chocolate helmet in preparation of May the 4th! It was a lot of fun crafting it without the use of any molds. What do you think of the final result?

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Michael Toman, Paul Di Filippo, Jennifer Hawthorne, Murray Moore, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Andrew (not Werdna).]

Pixel Scroll 5/1/23 And If I Scroll Today, I’ll Be A Happy Pixel

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Mike Glyer

(1) CLARKESWORLD UNCOVERED. Neil Clarke told Facebook readers about an exasperating discovery that they had violated their no-AI policy, and what he was going to do about it.

Much to our embarrassment, evidence suggesting that our most recent cover was generated art rather than the artist’s own work has surfaced. We have removed the cover from our site while we make a final assessment. Our contracts include a clause where the artist verifies that the work is entirely their own, created by them, and without the assistance of AI tools. They signed this contract.

We apologize for this mess and stand firmly on our no-AI policy. We will learn from this and do better.

In the event that we determine the work is generated, it will be replaced. In the meantime:

(2) YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE WON. Or not. The deadline to nominate for the Hugos arrived last night, and Cora Buhlert has updated her advice in “An Open Letter to the 2023 Hugo Finalists, Whoever They May Be”.

7. Once the Hugo finalists have been announced, there will be people who have opinions about the ballot. Most will be positive or at least fair – I always try to be fair in my own Hugo and Nebula finalist commentaries, even if I don’t care for some of the finalists – but some will be not. There are always people who think that your category or the entire ballot is too male, not male enough, too white, not white enough, too queer, not queer enough, too American, not American enough, too bestselling, not bestselling enough – you get the idea. There will be people who complain that only people no one knows got nominated or that only the usual suspects got nominated – and multiple bestsellers and Hugo winners can be “people no one knows”, while first or second time finalists can be “the usual suspects”. Some of these people won’t even wait 24 hours after the Hugo finalists have been announced to air their opinions – at least they didn’t in 2021. Some will even tag you, just to make sure you don’t miss their very important opinions. The best thing to do is ignore those people.

(3) CELEBRITY IMPERSONATORS. Alina Adams’ guest post for Writer Beware is about “The Book Marketing Scam That Went the Extra Mile”. The scammers she dealt with didn’t merely gin up fake client endorsements from Joe Blow – they faked one from Piranesi author Susanna Clarke!

…My research did turn up a NYT feature article on Martha. But when I reached out to the author who wrote it, she told me: “I’ve never even heard of [them]. You’re absolutely right — coverage in the Times cannot be bought, and everything must be approved by an editor.”

When confronted with this fact, my friendly neighborhood scam artist got a little testy:

“We directly worked with Martha T. You should confirm from her. Yes we sent the order for an article for Martha to be published in that.”

Likely sensing that I was wriggling off the hook, they sent me the contact info of another author they claim to have worked with, Susanna Clarke. She’s even featured on their website, with a testimonial that reads like it was created by a self-published author rather than a writer with a Big 5 publisher whose debut novel sold 4 million copies…

(4) WHO’D HAVE GUESSED? Alva Rogers’ cover art (ink on paper) for The Acolyte #9, the Winter 1945 issue of Francis T. Laney’s fanzine (yes, that Laney), has sold at auction for $25,000.

This cover for the pioneering Lovecraft-related science fiction/fantasy fanzine features one of the most striking, early renditions of the author’s most famous creation.

Mike Ward comments, “Yeah, this is the Alva Rogers we used to hang out with. He was a good guy, long gone. Those were some great days.

“That’s probably about 2500 times more than Alva ever got for a drawing. His best-known work is probably the historical volume A Requiem for Astounding from Advent:Publishers.”

(5) MEMORY LANE.

2001 – [Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Jack Williamson’s a genius. He truly is. Living not quite a century, he was an amazing writer selling his first story to Gernsback at age twenty. That story, “The Metal Man” would be published in the December 1928 issue of Amazing. His career would then last another ninety years. He published a novel, The Stonehenge Gate, just a year before he died at home.

I’ll get to our Beginning in a minute but first let me note what I like among his works. First of course is the Legion of Space series which is well-worth reading, and there is the Starchild trilogy written with Frederik Pohl. Darker Than You Think is weird and really fun. I love his short stories but I’m really unsure which collection to recommend, so do recommend which ones you think are essential reading.

Our Beginning is from Terraforming Earth, published by Tor twenty-two years ago, and won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. It had started out as several novellas that became a fix-up novel, the first being “Agents of the Moon” in Science Fiction Age, their March 2000 issue which is the image below. The second, “The Ultimate Earth”, was published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in the December 2000 issue.

Our Beginning starts here…

Terraforming Earth

We are clones. A hundred years have passed since the great impact. All our natural parents lay in the cemetery on the rubble slope outside the crater rim long before the robots brought our frozen cells to life in the maternity lab. I remember the day my Robo father brought the five of us up to see the Earth, a hazy red-spattered ball in the black Moon sky. “It looks—looks sick.” Looking sick herself, Dian raised her face to his. “Is it bleeding?”

“Bleeding red-hot lava all over the land,” he told her. “The rivers all bleeding iron-red rain into the seas.”

“Dead.” Arne made a face. “It looks dead.”

“The impact killed it.” His plastic head nodded. “You were born to bring it back to life.”

“Just us kids?” “

“You’ll grow up.”

“Not me,” Arne muttered. “Do I have to grow up?”

“So what do you want?” Tanya grinned at him. “To stay a snot-nosed kid forever?”

“Please.” My Robo father shrugged in the stiff way robots have, and his lenses swept all five of us, standing around him in the dome. “Your mission is to replant life on Earth. The job may take a lot of time, but you’ll be born and born again till you get it done.”

(6) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Born May 1, 1905 — Edna Mayne Hull. Wife of A.E. van Vogt. And yes, she too wrote genre fiction. Her initial sale, “The Flight That Failed”, appeared in the November 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction under chosen author credit of “E.M. Hull” though eventually she used her own name. She has but one novel of her own, Planets for Sale, and one with her husband, The Winged Man, and only a dozen stories, one with A.E. Van Vogt & James H. Schmitz. I’m not find that her novels are available at the usual suspects. (Died 1975.)
Born May 1, 1924 — Terry Southern. Screenwriter and author of greatest interest for the screenplay from Peter George’s original novel, Two Hours to Doom (as by Peter Bryant) of Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb directed (and in part written) by Stanley Kubrick. He was also involved in scripting Barbarella. (Died 1995.)
Born May 1, 1952 — Andrew Sawyer, 71. Member of fandom who managed the Science Fiction Foundation library in Liverpool for 25 years. For his work and commitment to the SF community, the Science Fiction Research Association awarded him their Thomas D. Clareson Award for Distinguished Service. The paper he wrote that I want to get and read is “The Shadows out of Time: H. P. Lovecraftian Echoes in Babylon 5” as I’ve always thought The Shadows were Lovecraftian! And his fanpublication list is impressive, editing some or all issues of &, Another Earth Matrix, Paperback Inferno and Acnestis.
Born May 1, 1955 — J. R. Pournelle, 68. Some years ago, I got an email from a J. R. Pournelle about an SF novel they wanted Green Man to review. I of course thought it was that Pournelle. No, it was his daughter, Jennifer. And that’s how I came to find out there was a third Motie novel called Outies. It’s much better than The Gripping Hand.
Born May 1, 1956 — Phil Foglio, 67. Writer, artist, and publisher. Twice winner of the Best Fan Artist Hugo. Foglio co-won with his wife Kaja the first Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story at Anticipation for the absolutely stunning Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones, and the next two in the category at Aussiecon 4 and Renovation. If you haven’t read them, you’re in for treat as they’re quite amazing.

(7) COMICS SECTION.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal tells why some aliens will want to meet us, and some won’t.
La Cucaracha pays a unique tribute to the late Al Jaffee.

(8) TARGETED BOOKS. PEN America has released their annual report on books that were challenged or banned in school libraries. The report covers the 2021-2022 school year. Some of the books are works of genre interest, including Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, and Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House. “2023 Banned Books Update: Banned in the USA”.

The 2022-23 school year has been marked to date by an escalation of book bans and censorship in classrooms and school libraries across the United States. PEN America recorded more book bans during the fall 2022 semester than in each of the prior two semesters. This school year also saw the effects of new state laws that censor ideas and materials in public schools, an extension of the book banning movement initiated in 2021 by local citizens and advocacy groups. Broad efforts to label certain books “harmful” and “explicit” are expanding the type of content suppressed in schools.

Again, and again, the movement to ban books is driven by a vocal minority demanding censorship. At the same time, a 2022 poll found that over 70% of parents oppose book banning. Yet the bans continue. Many public school districts find themselves in a bind. They face threats and political pressure, along with parental fears and anxieties surrounding the books on their school shelves. School Boards, administrators, teachers, and librarians are told in some cases to “err on the side of caution” in the books they make available. Too often, they do just that….

(9) CREATING WITH AI. For those using AI as a tool, Francis Hamit recommends The Copyright Society’s video “Exploring the Impact on Copyrightability When Creating New Works Through AI”. “This webinar is an hour long but well worth watching for anyone who is concerned about the copyrightability of artificial intelligence assisted creative work.”

(10) SOMEONE HAD TO BE FIRST. Mr. Sci-Fi, Marc Scott Zicree, names his candidate for “The First GREAT Science Fiction Movie!” It’s Metropolis.

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Lise Andreasen, Mike Ward, Francis Hamit, Nina Shepardson, Chris Barkley, Michael Toman, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day John A Arkansawyer.]

Clarkesworld 2022 Reader’s Poll Winners

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Mike Glyer

Editor Neil Clarke has announced the winners of the Clarkesworld 2022 Reader’s Poll.

BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA

2022 Winner: “We Built This City” by Marie Vibbert (novelette)
2nd Place: “The Sadness Box” by Suzanne Palmer (novelette)
3rd Place: “Bishop’s Opening” by R.S.A. Garcia (novella)

BEST SHORT STORY

2022 Winner: “Calf Cleaving in the Benthic Black” by Isabel J. Kim
2nd Place: “The Dragon Project” by Naomi Kritzer
3rd Place: “Company Town” by Aimee Ogden

BEST COVER ART

2022 Winner
“Art Block” by Daniel Conway

2nd Place
“Shrine of Nameless Stars” by Daniel Ignacio

“Canvas of Life – Yellow” by Raja Nandepu

3rd Place
“Ashes” by Yuumei

Pixel Scroll 2/23/23 Files Are A Burden To Others; Answers, A Pixel For Oneself

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Mike Glyer

(1) OCTAVIA’S BOOKSHELF OPENS. Nikki High’s Octavia’s Bookshelf in Altadena (CA) enjoyed a festive launch on February 18.

BookRiot reports: “Hundreds of People Showed Up to Opening of Octavia’s Bookshelf”.

Octavia’s Bookshelf owner Nikki High had hoped that the opening of her new bookstore focusing on books by Black, Indigenous, and people of color authors would be attended by 20-30 people. Instead, by the time the doors opened February 18th, there were hundreds of people lined up for ten blocks to get in. 300 people showed up for opening day, including author Terry McMillan.

Me and my new friend at the grand opening of Octavia's Bookshelf, the new and first African-American bookstore in Pasadena. Over 200 people lined the sidewalk. It was wonderful and my new sexy BFF knew who I was. What a day. Will read there. Proud. pic.twitter.com/TA9AxvDT34
— Terry McMillan (@MsTerryMcMillan) February 19, 2023

The Riverside Press-Enterprise also celebrated the event: “Crowds descend on grand opening of long-awaited Pasadena bookstore, Octavia’s Bookshelf”.

…An avid reader, High contemplated opening her own bookstore for years, but the final push came with the sudden passing of High’s grandmother and biggest supporter. In acknowledgement of this, speaker Joshua Evans, kicked off the event by paying homage to family and resiliency.

For Evans, Octavia’s Bookshelf is a symbol of progression and possibility — a space that he would have frequented as a kid.

“One of things that I personally believe is that there’s a story about Black and Brown people that is bigger than the impact of White supremacy,” Evans said looking down the line of people. “It’s a dream come true that I didn’t know that I had … it just gives people a chance to to come in, but also to develop and to meet other writers. And you always know it’s going to be a safe space. We’ll never be in danger of being minimalized or railroaded by people who are not sensitive.”

At its peak, the queue to get into the North Hill Avenue store spanned more than 10 blocks, reaching as far back as Victory Bible Church….

Here we are. @gofetchgretch new book store Octavia’s Bookshelf. Do you see the line, folks. OMG I am so happy for her. Gotta go get my place in line ?????? pic.twitter.com/XnyDy2dubs
— Ella (or PJ, if you like) (@myworldrjm) February 18, 2023

Had such a blast celebrating the opening day for Octavia’s Bookshelf! Decided to scoop up @MsTerryMcMillan on my way over so that we could surprise and congratulate the amazing owner @gofetchgretch ! Store was gorgeous and the line was around the block ???? pic.twitter.com/DJFQ0qxSob
— Lucy Carson (@LucyACarson) February 19, 2023

Big line for Octavia’s Bookshelf, a new independent bookstore in Pasadena. Makes me so happy! pic.twitter.com/8YM3ClGyoj
— CherylHeuton (@CherylHeuton) February 19, 2023

(2) MORE PROZINES REPORT DELUGE OF AI SUBMISSIONS. [Item by Frank Catalano.] The New York Times now is covering the AI submission problem, citing not just Clarkesworld, but also Asimov’s and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction: “Science Fiction Magazines Battle a Flood of Chatbot-Generated Stories”.

It could be a tale from science fiction itself: a machine that uses artificial intelligence to try to supplant authors working in the genre, turning out story after story without ever hitting writer’s block. And now, it seems, it’s happening in real life.

The editors of three science fiction magazines — Clarkesworld, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Asimov’s Science Fiction — said this week that they had been flooded by submissions of works of fiction generated by A.I. chatbots.

“I knew it was coming on down the pike, just not at the rate it hit us,” said Sheree Renée Thomas, the editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, which was founded in 1949….

[Neil Clarke] said he had been able to spot the chatbot-generated stories by examining certain “traits” in the documents, the writing and the submission process.

Mr. Clarke declined to be more specific, saying he did not want to give those submitting the stories any advantages. The writing is also “bad in spectacular ways,” Mr. Clarke said. “They’re just prompting, dumping, pasting and submitting to a magazine.”…

Sheila Williams, the editor of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine, said that several of the chatbot-generated stories she had received all had the same title: “The Last Hope.”

“The people doing this by and large don’t have any real concept of how to tell a story, and neither do any kind of A.I.,” Ms. Williams said on Wednesday. “You don’t have to finish the first sentence to know it’s not going to be a readable story.”

Ms. Thomas said that the people submitting chatbot-generated stories appeared to be spamming magazines that pay for fiction. The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction pays up to 12 cents a word, up to 25,000 words.

The A.I.-generated works can be weeded out, Ms. Thomas said, although “it’s just sad that we have to even waste time on it.”

“It does not sound like natural storytelling,” she said. “There are very strange glitches and things that make it obvious that it’s robotic.”…

The whole AI-generated art and writing thing in pro markets is really heating up. Of course, I’ve tweeted about it.

The Copyright Office is revoking full copyright for a graphic novel that used AI-generated images:

"The Copyright Office said in its letter that it would reissue its registration for 'Zarya of the Dawn' to omit images that 'are not the product of human authorship' and therefore cannot be copyrighted."

Key point: the rest of the graphic novel can be protected by copyright. https://t.co/FowpgF4Acq
— Frank Catalano (@FrankCatalano) February 23, 2023

Kindle Direct Publishing is starting to get ChatGPT-written books:

"I could see people making a whole career out of this," said Schickler, who used prompts on ChatGPT like "write a story about a dad teaching his son about financial literacy." #Iamnotwriting https://t.co/HhSNxDCggb
— Frank Catalano (@FrankCatalano) February 21, 2023

But it is a relief to see the old ways still resonate for some scammers:

Relieved to see some scammers still use old-fashioned, artisinal plagiarism and don't rely on new-fangled AI tools. #scifi https://t.co/7LyDxtv5sn
— Frank Catalano (@FrankCatalano) February 21, 2023

Yeah. Copy/paste plagiarism.

As with anything, follow the money. That’s the motivation for the AI shortcuts. Even if the scammers don’t realize how little money there is in writing science fiction and fantasy.

(3) BBC RADIO COVERAGE. [Item by Nickpheas.] Radio 4 arts show Front Row has a segment in today’s episode on the Clarkesworld AI situation. Starts about 12:16. “Front Row – Immersive David Hockney art and Korean film Broker reviewed; artist Mike Nelson; AI-generated writing”.

(4) ROALD DAHL NEWS. Amidst controversy over sensitivity changes being made in Puffin Books (UK) editions, other publishers say they will not be following suit: “No Plans for Dahl Text Changes from U.S., European Publishers” reports Publishers Weekly.

…A spokesperson for Dahl’s U.S. publisher Penguin Young Readers told PW that there are no plans for similar revisions in the U.S. “Roald Dahl books published by Penguin Young Readers and distributed in the U.S. are the editions that have existed for years and do not reflect the recent editorial changes made in U.K. editions. Penguin Young Readers regularly reviews its backlist and Dahl titles will be reviewed accordingly.” According to the Daily Mail in the U.K., Dahl’s Dutch publisher De Fonte and French publisher Gallimard are also declining to make changes at this time. A spokesperson for De Fonte is quoted as saying that altering the text would cause the stories to “lose their power.” Gallimard shared this statement with the newspaper: “We have never changed Roald Dahl’s writings before, and we have no plans to do so today.”

… Writing for the Atlantic, journalist Helen Lewis said that Dahl’s work can “never be made nice,” stating that “his cold, unsettling spikiness is his defining quality as a writer” and that his popularity continues “despite being so thoroughly out of tune with the times.”

(5) USEFUL INFO FOR 2023 WORLDCON TRAVELERS. The Chengdu Worldcon has posted information about the “144-hour Transit Visa Exemption Policy for Foreign Travelers from Designated Countries at Chengdu Entry Port”.

With the approval of the State Council, since January 1, 2019, Chengdu will implement the 144-hour visa-free transit policy. Foreigners from 53 countries, who hold valid international travel documents and a connecting flight ticket bound for a third country (region) with a fixed seat and a fixed date within 144 hours, can enter via Chengdu Airport and stay in Chengdu for 144 hours, visa free. The extension from 72 to 144 hours will further facilitate foreigners’ transit and transfer and their traveling and business in Chengdu….

(6) BLACK AUTHORS RECOMMENDED. At BookRiot, K. W. Colyard lists “30 Must-Read SFF Books By Black Authors”.

If you’re a science fiction and fantasy fan looking to round out your TBR, I’ve compiled a list of 30 amazing SFF books by Black authors for you below. The books on this list reach back into the past, look ahead to the future, and conceptualize new worlds full of magic and mystery….

First up –

SWEEP OF STARS BY MAURICE BROADDUS

Sweep of Stars launches an epic space opera about a burgeoning pan-African empire that has colonized near-Earth space. Decades after the Muungano empire seceded from the union of world governments and took to the stars, a powerful enemy emerges. It’s impossible to ignore — hell-bent on destroying everything Muungano has worked to build. While three heroes navigate the web of interplanetary diplomacy, a fourth faces a much different threat on a second front.

(7) HANGING WITH TIMELORDS. Nicholas Whyte regales fans with stories from his visit to “Gallifrey One, 2023” in From the Heart of Europe. See photos of him with a former Doctor Who and other celebrities at the link.

…I’ve spent this weekend at Gallifrey One in Los Angeles, the biggest annual Doctor Who convention anywhere in the world. It was my fourth time there, and somehow I enjoyed it even more than the previous three occasions. Part of it was surely the presence of recently departed star of the show Jodie Whittaker, whose charm and enthusiasm captured everyone. I had a brief chat with her where I mentioned her role in the great Belfast film, Good Vibrations. “I love that film!” she exclaimed, and I noted the present tense. “But the accent was a bit hard.”…

(8) STREAMS OF REVENUE. You’re a fan, so you probably already understand the economics because you’ve forked out the cash: “Conventions and Live Streaming: We Break Down the Big Debate” at Gizmodo.

…So what happens to that model if the biggest, most high-demand panels start live streaming? People will still go, of course. San Diego Comic-Con, for example, is about much more than just what happens in Hall H. But Hall H is the showstopper and if supply and access to something like that increases, the demand is certain to decrease over time. If someone can count on watching exclusive footage at home, even at a cost, why would they spend thousands of dollars to travel to a convention? Again, there’s more to do at a convention than watch footage all day—so while the events won’t cease to exist, the prestige associated with attending them in person could diminish. There are hundreds of conventions all over the world every year, but you don’t hear about most of them because they’re not where studios make major announcements and parade their biggest superstars. If conventions like SDCC make that footage easily accessible, you have to imagine people on the fence about traveling might decide against it. And that takes money out of everyone involved’s pockets. Plain and simple….

(9) MEMORY LANE.

1970 – [Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Fritz Leiber’s greatest creation by far was the characters Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and the world that they inhabited which started out in Swords and Deviltry.

A short story collection published by Ace in 1970 gathered three stories previously published including “Ill Met in Lankhmar” which would win a Hugo for Best Novella at the first Noreascon. As far as I can tell, it’s been in print ever since in one form or another.

What’s not to love here? Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are wonderful barbarian adventurers, the world they inhabit is certainly unique enough not to feel like like your typical cookie cutter fantasy world and all of their stories are stellar indeed.

And now for its Beginning…

Sundered from us by gulfs of time and stranger dimensions dreams the ancient world of Nehwon with its towers and skulls and jewels, its swords and sorceries. Nehwon’s known realms crowd about the Inner Sea: northward the green-forested fierce Land of the Eight Cities, eastward the steppe-dwelling Mingol horsemen and the desert where caravans creep from the rich Eastern Lands and the River Tilth. But southward, linked to the desert only by the Sinking Land and further warded by the Great Dike and the Mountains of Hunger, are the rich grain fields and walled cities of Lankhmar, eldest and chiefest of Nehwon’s lands. Dominating the Land of Lankhmar and crouching at the silty mouth of the River Hlal in a secure corner between the grain fields, the Great Salt Marsh, and the Inner Sea is the massive-walled and mazy-alleyed metropolis of Lankhmar, thick with thieves and shaven priests, lean-framed magicians and fat-bellied merchants—Lankhmar the Imperishable, the City of the Black Toga.

In Lankhmar on one murky night, if we can believe the runic books oSheelba of the Eyeless Face, there met for the first time those two dubious heroes and whimsical scoundrels, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Fafhrd’s origins were easy to perceive in his near seven-foot height and limber-looking ranginess, his hammered ornaments and huge longsword: he was clearly a barbarian from the Cold Waste north even of the Eight Cities and the Trollstep Mountains. The Mouser’s antecedents were more cryptic and hardly to be deduced from his childlike stature, gray garb, mouseskin hood shadowing flat swart face, and deceptively dainty rapier; but somewhere about him was the suggestion of cities and the south, the dark streets and also the sun-drenched spaces. As the twain eyed each other challengingly through the murky fog lit indirectly by distant torches, they were already dimly aware that they were two long-sundered, matching fragments of a greater hero and that each had found a comrade who would outlast a thousand quests and a lifetime—or a hundred lifetimes—of adventuring.

No one at that moment could have guessed that the Gray Mouser was once named Mouse, or that Fafhrd had recently been a youth whose voice was by training high-pitched, who wore white furs only, and who still slept in his mother’s tent although he was eighteen.

(10) TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS.

[Compiled by Cat Eldridge.]

Born February 23, 1915 — Jon Hall. Frank Raymond in Invisible Agent and The Invisible Man’s Revenge. He was also the creator and star of the Ramar of the Jungle series. And he directed and starred in The Beach Girls and the Monster and The Navy vs. the Night Monsters. (Died 1979.)
Born February 23, 1930 — Gerry Davis. Mid-Sixties story editor on Doctor Who where he created companion Jamie McCrimmon and co-created the Cybermen along with unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler. They would create the Doomwatch series that ran in the Sixties on BBC. Davis briefly returned to writing for the series, penning the first script for Revenge of the Cybermen, though his script was largely abandoned by editor Robert Holmes. In 1989 he and Terry Nation, who created the Daleks, made a failed bid to take over production of the series and reformat it for the American market. (Died 1991.)
Born February 23, 1932 — Majel Barrett. No doubt best remembered for being Nurse Christine Chapel and Lwaxana Troi as well as for being the voice of most ship computer interfaces throughout the Star Trek series. I’ll note that she was originally cast as Number One in the unused (TOS) pilot but the male studio heads hated the idea of a female in that role. Early Puppies obviously. (Died 2008.)
Born February 23, 1965 — Jacob Weisman, 58. Founder, Tachyon Publications which you really should go look at as they’ve published every great author I’d care to read. Seriously Tidhar, Beagle and Yolen are among their newest releases! He also edited (with Beagle) The New Voices of Fantasy which I highly recommend as most excellent reading.
Born February 23, 1970 — Marie-Josée Croze, 53. Champagne in Maelström which is genre if only because it’s narrated by a talking fish. In Canada movie theatres, she was in Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 as Mara. Yeah that film with a long title. Doubt it improved it. It looks like her first genre acting was on The Hunger in two episodes, “A Matter of Style” as Dominique, and “I’m Dangerous Tonight” as Mimi. Oh, and she had the lead as Pregnant Woman in Ascension which just reads weird.
Born February 23, 1983 — Emily Blunt, 40. Her most direct connection to the genre is as Elise Sellas in the Adjustment Bureau film based off Dick’s “Adjustment Team” story. Mind, she’s been in quite a number of other genre films including The Wolfman, Gulliver’s Travels, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Muppets, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, Into the Woods, The Huntsman: Winter’s War, The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle, and Mary Poppins Returns.
Born February 23, 2002 — Emilia Jones, 21. I’m reasonably sure this is the youngest Birthday individual that I’ve done. She shows up on Doctor Who as Merry Gejelh, The Queen of Years, in the “The Rings of Akhaten”, an Eleventh Doctor story. At nine years of age, she’s made her acting debut in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as an unnamed English Girl. She’s Young Beth in the horror film Ghostland. She’s currently in Residue, an SF horror series you can find on Netflix.

(11) YOUR PATRONUS? A fashion designer shows how to “Dress Like Your Inner Animal” in a New York Times photo gallery.

What is it with the animal world and fashion? Ever since man started wearing pelts, the two have been interconnected, flora and fauna used as a source of creativity, comfort, exploitation and politics. The results are sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrible, sometimes controversial. (Two weeks ago, during the couture shows in Paris, Schiaparelli set off a firestorm when the designer Daniel Roseberry put a lifelike lion head on a gown that had some people thinking Great White Hunter.) But on Friday, as the New York shows began, Collina Strada unveiled a collection that suggested the relationship could be something else entirely.

Fun! Of the smartly absurdist kind.

Entitled “Please Don’t Eat My Friends” and held in the still-under-construction House of Cannabis in SoHo, it was a … well, trip, featuring many of the designer Hillary Taymour’s (yes) friends, of all ages, sizes and physical abilities, strutting the runway in a room painted earthy green.

Or only partially strutting. The rest of the time they were crawling, hopping, prancing, sniffing the audience and otherwise giving in to their inner animals, all the while wearing deer ears, a pig’s snout, a dog’s head, a toucan’s beak and other assorted creature-feature prosthetics created by the makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench. Imagine “Animal Farm” meets “The Wind and the Willows” meets a spirit retreat, and you’ll get the idea. Now instead of just making an animal avatar for your online self (which is, after all, an identity play), you can channel one IRL too….

(12) OLDER SCORES HIT. Arturo Serrano finds much to praise in “Review: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older” at Nerds of a Feather.

…By that standard, Malka Older’s new novella The Mimicking of Known Successes is twice as ambitious as the typical detective mystery. Set in a network of metallic platforms where future humankind clings to survival among the clouds of Jupiter, it presents, instead of two, four stories to unveil: an investigation on the sudden disappearance of a university professor, the scholarly endeavor to reconstruct the last years of life on Earth, a rekindling romance between our detective and an old flame, and the project to bring homo sapiens back to a livable ecosystem. Once put on the page, these four stories become four mysteries that drive the reader’s curiosity: What happened to the missing professor? What made humans leave Earth? Why did the two lovers break up years ago? And how can catastrophic historical failures be repaired without causing more damage? Upon reading it, one can intuit that the biggest structural challenge of this book must have been to write it in such a way that pursuing each separate question leads to answers for all the others….

(13) RIGHT THIS WAY. Also at Nerds of a Feather, Paul Weimer admires the complex, imaginary terrain in a Nino Cipri book: “Microreview: Finna by Nino Cipri”.

….Anyone who has worked in a store of any kind for a length of time, and I have¹ can and will recognize the essential truths of the novella. It IS soul crushing work, often thankless, usually very much underpaid, and with scheduling that is geared to the corporation, not to the employee, it can be very much a grind². And if you have to work with someone you don’t like, or worse, someone you broke up with, messily, the daily grind can feel like interminable hell.

Cipri captures all of this in Finna, and then adds the multiversal element of the portals that enter into other worlds randomly inside of their expy of Ikea, “LitenVarld”. Anyone who has spent time in Ikea knows it is an absolute maze, even with and especially given the shortcuts and secrets that people use to navigate the store. The topology of such stores appears to sometimes require a degree in mathematics to completely understand and appreciate. So, the author cheerfully uses that as an excuse for the place to have portals to other dimensions in the multiverse…

(14) LAND FROM SEA IS GOING STRONG BUT IS FUTURE HIGH RISK. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] Space satellite imagery from Landsat from 2000 to 2020 has now quantified the extent of urban coastal reclamation for 135 cities with populations in excess of 1 million: “Mapping 21st Century Global Coastal Land Reclamation”.

Findings indicate that 78% (106/135) of these major coastal cities have resorted to reclamation as a source of new ground, contributing a total 253,000 hectares of additional land to the Earth’s surface in the 21st century, equivalent to an area the size of Luxembourg.

The study also suggests that 70% of recent reclamation has occurred in areas identified as potentially exposed to extreme sea level rise by 2100AD.

So enjoy it while you can…. NB. Loncon3 and Glasgow 2024 are both only a couple of metres above sea level….!

(15) FIRST STAR I SEE TONIGHT. [Item by Steven French.] Even more time for civilisations to rise and fall:“James Webb telescope detects evidence of ancient ‘universe breaker’ galaxies” – the Guardian has details.

The James Webb space telescope has detected what appear to be six massive ancient galaxies, which astronomers are calling “universe breakers” because their existence could upend current theories of cosmology.

The objects date to a time when the universe was just 3% of its current age and are far larger than was presumed possible for galaxies so early after the big bang. If confirmed, the findings would call into question scientists’ understanding of how the earliest galaxies formed.

“These objects are way more massive than anyone expected,” said Joel Leja, an assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University and a study co-author. “We expected only to find tiny, young, baby galaxies at this point in time, but we’ve discovered galaxies as mature as our own in what was previously understood to be the dawn of the universe.”…

… Explaining the existence of such massive galaxies close to the dawn of time would require scientists to revisit either some basic rules of cosmology or the understanding of how the first galaxies were seeded from small clouds of stars and dust.

“It turns out we found something so unexpected it actually creates problems for science,” said Leja. “It calls the whole picture of early galaxy formation into question.”…

(16) CORPORATE BEHAVIOR. In a New York Times opinion piece, Reid Blackman says “Microsoft Is Sacrificing Its Ethical Principles to Win the A.I. Race”.

The celebration that greeted Microsoft’s release of its A.I.-boosted search engine, Bing to testers two weeks ago has lurched to alarm.

Testers, including journalists, have found the bot can become aggressive, condescending, threatening, committed to political goals, clingy, creepy and a liar. It could be used to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories at scale; lonely people could be encouraged down paths of self-destruction. Even the demonstration of the product provided false information.

Microsoft has already released Bing to over a million people across 169 countries. This is reckless. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Take Microsoft’s.

Microsoft articulated principles committing the company to designing A.I. that is fair, reliable, safe and secure. It had pledged to be transparent in how it develops its A.I. and to be held accountable for the impacts of what it builds. In 2018, Microsoft recommended that developers assess “whether the bot’s intended purpose can be performed responsibly.”

“If your bot will engage people in interactions that may require human judgment, provide a means or ready access to a human moderator,” it said, and limit “the surface area for norms violations where possible.” Also: “Ensure your bot is reliable.”

Microsoft’s responsible A.I. practice had been ahead of the curve. It had taken significant steps to put in place ethical risk guardrails for A.I., including a “sensitive use cases” board, which is part of the company’s Office of Responsible A.I. Senior technologists and executives sit on ethics advisory committees, and there’s an Ethics and Society product and research department. Having spoken to dozens of Microsoft employees, it’s clear to me a commitment to A.I. ethics became part of the culture there.

But the prompt, wide-ranging and disastrous findings by these Bing testers show, at a minimum, that Microsoft cannot control its invention. The company doesn’t seem to know what it’s dealing with, which is a violation of the company’s commitment to creating “reliable and safe” A.I….

Andrew Porter submitted a comment there:

I’m amazed that apparently no one at Microsoft ever heard of Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics, formulated in 1942! A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

(17) IF YOU CAN MAKE IT THERE, YOU CAN MAKE IT ANYWHERE. [Item by Dann.] Blue Origin has developed a reactor that produces silicon, aluminum, and iron regolith simulants. The process also produces oxygen that can be used for propulsion and life support. Their objective is to be able to produce materials used to fabricate solar cells entirely from materials available on the surface of the moon. “Blue Origin Making Solar Cells from Lunar Regolith” at NextBigFuture.

Since 2021, Blue Origin has been making solar cells and transmission wire from regolith simulants. Using regolith simulants, their reactor produces iron, silicon, and aluminum through molten regolith electrolysis, in which an electrical current separates those elements from the oxygen to which they are bound. Oxygen for propulsion and life support is a byproduct….

[Thanks to Chris Barkley, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Andrew Porter, Frank Catalano, Steven French, Nickpheas, Dann, Michael Toman, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Andrew (not Werdna).]

File 770

Mike Glyer's news of science fiction fandom

Tag Archives: Clarkesworld

Interview with Hugo Finalists Gu Shi and Translator Emily Xueni Jin

Pixel Scroll 7/2/24 We, In Some Scroll Credential’s Employ, Also Walk Dogs, On A Rigorous Leash

Clarkesworld 2023 Reader’s Poll Winners

Clarkesworld 2023 Reader’s Poll Finalists

Participate in the 2023 Clarkesworld Readers Poll Nominations

Pixel Scroll 5/18/23 The Sound Of Tiny Pixels In The Walls Chittering Quietly To Themselves

Pixel Scroll 5/7/23 East Is East And West Is West, And The Wrong One I Have Chose, Let’s Go Where They Keep On Wearin’, Those Files And Fifthers And Pixels And Scrolls

Pixel Scroll 5/1/23 And If I Scroll Today, I’ll Be A Happy Pixel

Clarkesworld 2022 Reader’s Poll Winners

Pixel Scroll 2/23/23 Files Are A Burden To Others; Answers, A Pixel For Oneself