(1) GRRM AND THE GHOSTS OF GLASGOW. George R.R. Martin told Not a Blog readers that he will be at Glasgow 2024 and has tried to get on program, however several of his proposals did not even get a reply from the committee. “On the Road Again”.
Glasgow has hosted worldcons twice before, and we were at both of those and had a great time. We are hoping this will be as good.
Anyway… I will be in Glasgow, attending the con, but whether you’ll see me, I don’t know. I am not on any programming. It is not for lack of trying, though. I wrote the con’s programming chair back in January, and again in February, asking for his phone number so we could discuss the details. No phone number was forthcoming, alas, just a form letter with a link to an application and a warning that while I was welcome to apply, I could not be guaranteed a place on the programme.
I did not give up there, however. Several months later, when I learned how many of my Wild Cards writers would be at the con (about a dozen, all told), I wrote again and offered to organize a Wild Cards event for them. (We have done Wild Cards events at a dozen past worldcons, everything from traditional panels to trivia contests to cage matches and the like), and they have always drawn a big crowd. I got no reply to that one. A month or so after that, I tried again. Howard Waldrop died in January, and I thought it would be nice to do a memorial panel honoring the man and his work. Several other friends of Howard will also be at Glasgow, and said they would be delighted to be part of such a panel. Alas, no reply to that one either.
As regular readers of my Not A Blog know, I have also been producing a series of short films based on some of Howard’s classic short stories. NIGHT OF THE COOTERS was the first done, and won prizes in half a dozen film fests. MARY-MARGARET ROAD GRADER is hitting the festival circuit this year, and has already won its first prize. THE UGLY CHICKENS, adapted by Michael Cassutt from Howard’s Nebula-winning short, and starring fan favorite Felicia Day, will follow this year. Just saw the final cut, directed by Mark Raso, and it’s just lovely. The films are not in theatres yet, but I offered to screen them in Glasgow, as part of the film programme (if there is one) or that proposed Waldrop Memorial Panel. No response to that offer either.
So… yes, I will be at Glasgow. I will check out the art show, as I always do, maybe attend some bid parties, and I will be wandering the dealer’s room (the huckster’s room, as us old timers call it). The rest of the time I guess I may hang out in the bar, drinking with friends both old and new, toasting Howard and Gardner and all the other friends we lost.
At the Winter Is Coming fan site Dan Selcke tried to explain why this might be happening in “George R.R. Martin ghosted by Worldcon after controversial 2020 hosting gig”.
…One of the main events at Worldcon are the Hugo Awards, given out to sci-fi and fantasy authors, filmmakers and creators. That year, the award ceremony was virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Martin was the host. As he puts it in his blog post, “things did not work out well.”
That’s putting it mildly. To make a long story short, Martin was accused on social media and elsewhere of erasing the accomplishments of authors of color, glorifying authors and editors with regressive beliefs, mispronouncing lots of the names on the ballot, making off-color jokes, taking way too long to give his remarks, and generally doing a bad job as host.
The backlash was so bad that the con chairs issued an apology. Martin defended himself by saying he was trying delve into the history of the Hugos and make people laugh, although obviously the approach didn’t work. My read on that situation was that it was a bad match of host and audience. A lot of the acceptance speeches from authors were about the importance of social justice in sci-fi and fantasy, and these people did not want to hear George R.R. Martin talk for hours about long-dead authors with problematic records, let alone endure it for the full length of the three-and-a-half-hour ceremony….
I’m sure that’s part of it. But my personal opinion is a bigger reason was that GRRM devoted a chunk of time during his pre-recorded 2020 Hugo Awards presentation, assisted by Robert Silverberg, glorifying John W. Campbell Jr. This was in the aftermath of Jeanette Ng’s 2019 acceptance speech for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer which heavily criticized Campbell and called him a fascist (see “Storm Over Campbell Award”), a speech that in fact won the 2020 Best Related Work Hugo Award.
(2) PERSEVERANCE. Sarah A. Hoyt has encouraging words for new writers at Mad Genius Club: “You Might Be A Beginning Writer IF”.
I’ve noticed that a lot of beginning writers either view these problems as “a sign I shouldn’t be doing this” or a big personality failing. Well, since I have been doing this since some of you were born, I’m here to tell you that’s not true at all. Everyone has these issues starting out. They are absolutely bog standard, and they smooth out as you practice and learn, and sometimes when you try this “one easy trick.” So in no particular order, here are issues that plague newbies…
One of them is:
I can start stories, but I lose interest and it all dies within a few paragraphs. Or at best halfway through.
Completely normal. That’s because the idea in your head is beautiful and multi-colored and amazing.
But each decision you make limits the choices you can make, so it makes the story less exciting in your brain.
This is a “in your brain” problem. It’s not real. If you push past it, eventually it will stop telling you the story is dead. Better. Once the story is done, you won’t be able to find the place it “died.”
(3) AUTHORS OPEN LETTER SUPPORTS FIRED WATERSTONES EMPLOYEE. “Authors ask Waterstones to rehire worker fired after tweet about gender-critical writer” reports the Guardian.
More than 500 authors and book industry professionals have signed an open letter calling on Waterstones to reverse a decision to dismiss an employee who said she would tear up and throw away books written by a gender-critical author.
Figures including Chocolat author Joanne Harris, writer and podcaster Dorian Lynskey, and author and culture journalist Jason Okundaye have backed Tilly Fitzgerald, who posts book-related content and reviews under the username TillyLovesBooks on social media. Fitzgerald was sacked after responding to a post on X by author Christina Dalcher, which appeared to endorse a publishing network for those “concerned about the impact of gender ideology” on the sector. Fitzgerald wrote: “Ooh, I’ll enjoy tearing up your books and popping them in the bin today. Thanks for the heads up.”
Fitzgerald, who had worked for Waterstones as a bookseller since August 2023, explained in a video posted on 8 July that Waterstones had sacked her over her social media activity. “I’ve just been sacked from the only job I’ve ever loved,” she said.
“I told [Dalcher] on Twitter that I was going to throw away her books after I found out that she was a bigot”, Fitzgerald added. “She tagged Waterstones and they have decided to fire me for my social media usage. It’s the first mistake I’ve ever made, I’ve been nothing but an exemplary employee there”.
A spokesperson from Waterstones said Fitzgerald was dismissed “on the grounds of contravening Waterstones policies” and that the decision “has nothing to do with transgender rights”.
“We are an inclusive employer and follow due process in HR matters,” the spokesperson told the Guardian. “For obvious reasons we are unable to comment on the specifics of individual cases.”
Fitzgerald told the Guardian: “My intention responding to Dalcher was only to let her know that I would no longer be supporting her books in my personal capacity as a reviewer.”…
(4) STARSHIP FONZIE REPORTS UPDATE REGARDING KARL KLINGER’S STOLEN BICYCLE. [Item by Eric Hildeman.] Follow-up to the news item regarding steampunk enthusiast Karl Klinger’s stolen bicycle: He’s about to get TWO penny farthings!
A man named Rolly, who is a great guy by all accounts, saw the story about Karl’s bike theft on the news and contacted him to offer Karl his own penny farthing bicycle, which was built in 1979. Last Sunday, Karl procured the bike from Rolly, “for a steal.” (The exact dollar figure wasn’t revealed.) Apparently, Rolly can no longer ride his bike, for whatever reason, and he wanted it to go to a good home. I think we can all agree it certainly has! So, while Karl’s new bike is currently being constructed, he now already has another one!
Rolly apparently modified this bike to go much faster than a normal penny farthing would, which Karl seems to appreciate.
Transcript on Blogger.com can be found here.
(5) TEDDY HARVIA CARTOON.
(6) SHELLEY DUVALL (1949-2024). Actress Shelley Duvall died July 11 in her sleep of complications from diabetes at her home in Texas. Just looking at her top genre work, she played Jack Nicholson’s wife Wendy Torrance in The Shining (1980), Olive Oyl in Popeye (1980), Pansy in funny scenes with Michael Palin in Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981); and Steve Martin’s supportive pal Dixie in Roxanne (1987).
Her TV work included appearances on episodes of The Twilight Zone reboot, and Ray Bradbury Theater.
…Roger Ebert wrote in 1980 that Duvall “looks and sounds like almost nobody else … and has possibly played more really different kinds of characters than almost any other young actress of the 1970s.
“In all of her roles, there is an openness about her, as if somehow nothing has come between her open face and our eyes — no camera, dialogue, makeup, method of acting — and she is just spontaneously being the character.”…
And at Deadline: “Remembering Shelley Duvall: A Career In Photos”.
(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.
[Written by Paul Weimer.]
July 11, 1899 – E. B. White. (Died 1985.)
By Paul Weimer: I missed reading a swath of children’s literature because I was always aiming and hoping to read “adult books”. I got annoyed once, while in the hospital, that the playroom only had “baby books” (e.g. Golden readers). As soon as I could contrive to get a library card to get me into the adult section instead of the children’s section, I did. And I mainly read the non fiction books in the children’s section until I could get into the Golden Country of the Adult section. So some of the basics of children’s literature, I frankly only know from cultural osmosis.
E.B. White is an exception to that, in two particular novels: Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little.
The first, Charlotte’s Web. Well, you know the story of Wilbur, the pig, saved from death by the clever titular character’s webbing and messages. I came across this story first in the animated movie from the 70’s, and went on to find it in the library and read the original. I enjoyed it even more than the animated movie, which is pretty faithful to the book I found, although it IS a musical, which I will just say was a *choice*. (They aren’t even really good songs, to be honest). Still, the movie and the book were for me what the Lion King was for a generation later, introducing the “cycle of life” (but Charlotte’s Web is a little more gentle about it)
After I read Charlotte’s Web, I then read Stuart Little, since it was sitting right there in the library next to Charlotte’s Web and I was curious. (I also briefly had the wrong idea it was set in the same universe). Still, I was charmed by the idea of the diminutive small Stuart Little being fearless and adventurous, wanting to see the world no matter what. Did Stuart Little help kindle in me my curiosity and desire to see places (and decades later, want to photograph them). Maybe, it’s certainly a working theory. Unlike Charlotte’s Web, I don’t particularly care for the late 90’s movie. I vastly prefer the book (maybe because I read the book first).
Oh, there is one adult book of White’s I’ve read, long ago for AP English: Strunk and White’s The Manual of Style.
(8) COMICS SECTION.
- Bliss introduces a new power couple.
- FurBabies shows some pet sitters go all out.
- Lio channels the Dark Side.
- The Argyle Sweater lets evil win again.
- Rhymes with Orange reveals a surprising moment in a royal courtship.
(9) UP ABOVE THE WORLD SO HIGH. “The International Astronomical Youth Camp Is a Summer Camp for Serious Stargazers”. Atlas Obscura says, “For more than half a century, the International Astronomical Youth Camp has attracted aspiring astronomers from around the world.”
THE CLOUDS SEEMED TO BE conspiring against Jimo Pereira last summer. The university student from Buenos Aires spent much of her time curled up in a sleeping bag on the grounds of Eichsfelder Hütte, a hostel deep in Germany’s rugged Harz Mountains. Night after chilly night she’d be out in the open field with her project partner, trying to stay warm. Every so often one of them would get up to check their telescope, but the clouds stubbornly barred their view. Then one night, finally, they saw stars.
For hours, the pair took turns checking the alignment of their telescope and camera every 20 minutes that one clear night. They came away not with an Instagram-worthy time-lapse photo, but with data on two distant stars orbiting each other in what’s known as an eclipsing binary system. The two were not scientists, however. At least, not professionally—not yet. They were participants in one of the world’s most unusual summer camps: One devoted to studying the cosmos in constant motion overhead as the camp itself travels around the globe.
This traveling camp is the International Astronomical Youth Camp, an annual three-week program for 16- to 24-year-old lovers of astronomy that’s held at a different location each year. It’s been running every summer (and the occasional winter) since 1969, and has taken place in 15 different countries so far. In August, Pereira will join more than 60 other campers and 10 volunteers from more than 20 countries for her third camp, this time among the crags of Vogtland in eastern Germany, near the Czech border.’
(10) ROLE CALL. The Hollywood Reporter says Patrick Stewart will be the voice of a demonic axe in Barbaric: “Michael Bay, Sam Claflin, Patrick Stewart Vault Comics ‘Barbaric’”.
Michael Bay is heading to television.
The director, known for his muscular and high-revving big-screen action franchises such as Bad Boys and Transformers, is in talks to direct Barbaric, an acerbic fantasy series based on the best-selling Vault Comics title.
Netflix has picked up the bold-faced series package, which it will develop with A+E Studios.
Sam Claflin and Patrick Stewart are attached to star in the series, which will be written and exec produced by Sheldon Turner, known for his feature credits such as Up in the Air and X-Men: First Class….
Launched in 2021 and created by writer Michael Moreci and artist Nathan Gooden, Vault’s Barbaric featured a talking demonic axe and Owen, a barbarian looking for redemption.
Claflin is attached to star as Owen while Stewart will provide the voice of the demonic axe….
(11) JUST HOW MANY OF THESE THINGS ARE THERE? “The Ending of Every Jaws Movie, Ranked” — SYFY Wire thinks you deserve to know their opinion. See the results at the link.
When you think about death in the Jaws movies, you’re probably thinking about the hapless beachgoers who are devoured by a giant, bloodthirsty great white shark — while John Williams’ iconic theme plays, of course. But, all four Jaws movies end with another death: that of the shark.
In Jaws (1975), Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983), and Jaws: The Revenge (1987), some member of the Brody family is, after much struggle, able to kill the Carcharodon carcharias in spectacular fashion, making it safe to get back in the water (for now, at least). Some of these kills are exciting, iconic climaxes that rank up there with the best endings in blockbuster film history. Other endings have, let’s say, jumped the shark.
With it being July, and with all four movies currently streaming on Peacock, we thought it was a good time to rank the shark deaths to determine which Jaws was the best at saying “fin.”…
(12) WITH SHARP, POINTY TEETH. And if you don’t haven’t bagged your limit, there’s Space Sharks which FirstShowing.net says you can rent right now: “Bad Trailer for Trashy Sci-Fi Movie ‘Space Sharks’ feat. Eric Roberts”.
“They don’t need water to kill!” Wild Eye Releasing has debuted a trailer for a B-movie sci-fi comedy called Space Sharks, the latest from filmmaker Dustin Ferguson. This has already been dumped on VOD and can be watched now, if anyone wants to give it a go? …
[Thanks to Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Eric Hildeman, 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 Maytree.]