toddalcott:







Surprise of surprises, it's turning into a wonderful autumn at the movies. As a rule, I don't enjoy Wes Anderson's movies, but I thought Fantastic Mr. Fox was a hoot and a half. And it's very purely a Wes Anderson movie: a quirky guy set in a neurotic milieu triumphs through his quirkiness, all presented with a dry, self-aware wit. Normally, that kind of thing rubs me the wrong way but this movie bowled me over. Anderson should make more movies about talking animals.

desperance:
For those of you who thought there was, who thought there must be a point beyond which even I could not be bullied or harassed or inveigled into something I had set my face definitively against: here is evidence that you are still wrong.

I have a mobile phone.

I don't yet know how to use it, or what to use it for. I don't know whether I will just never carry it, or whether I will carry it but never use it, or whether I will become one of those flibbertigibbets who is always talking to someone else when I'm out with you. If the latter, you have my authority in advance to take stern dissuasive action, because I hate that more than anything.

It is currently charging. The rest is - well, probably not silence in the circumstances, but a mystery certainly.

Coo golly.

jemck:
I finally made it to a Novacon! First time ever - not through lack of willing. But every time I've had plans, they've been derailed by diary gremlins, disease (self/spouse/sons) or some such. But not this time!

My most immediate reason for going this year was the invitation from Caroline Mullen aka coth, to come and discuss 'Whither the Book Room?'. The particular role of the convention Book Room - or as it now is the Dealers' Room - is an interesting question, as is the question of how it will evolve - or not - as the wider bookselling landscape changes, and as various of those stalwart booksellers we've seen over the years retire.

So we had a discussion group on the Saturday afternoon, with myself, Tom Hunter and Caroline plus various other interested folk. Very interesting it was too, exploring what con-goers want, what booksellers need and how some win-win might be devised, to the wider benefit of conventions as a whole. (Feel free to chip in with thoughts and observations in the comments here.)

I'm pleased to say this was a thoroughly constructive discussion rather than some sterile gripe session coming up with a fanciful wishlist including 'and a pony', with useful input from those present with conrunning experience, not wasting time by getting defensive but pointing out the various realities, practicalities and obstacles relating to various suggestions - which were clearly appreciated, in all senses, by everyone else since it seemed most of those present have event-organising or similarly relevant experience through work or other hobbies/activities.

There was going to be a panel discussion on the Sunday programme and I shall be very interested indeed to see what came out of that. Unfortunately I couldn't be there for that because - see above re diary gremlins - Sunday was the annual black-belt training course for the Kai Shin Kai, the aikido organisation we belong to. So that was five hours of intensive and energetic practise for me there.

Came home, had a hot bath, ate dinner (which had been thrown in the slow-cooker before we went) and then we all sat down as a family and watched Doctor Who, Ray Mears and Top Gear. All good fun.

So today, I feel I am justified in taking some time off. Well, for values of time off that include getting the family laundry situation back on track, doing some housework, having a strategy phonecall with Agent Sam and then going to the dentist with spouse and sons for check-ups all round. Glamorous business, this writing life.

jenniferfallon:

http://www.jenniferfallon.com.au/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/16/Hasta-la-MS-Vista-baby

Windows 7 is out. One more computer to go, and my house will finally be free of Windows Vista, the crappiest OS ever to mangle a computer.
Only slightly more disturbing is that I had to buy three copies, but decided to leave the other three computer...

world_sf:

http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/what-rima-abunasser-has-been-reading-or-watching/

http://worldsf.wordpress.com/?p=307

world_sf:

http://worldsf.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/monday-original-content-a-convention-coming-of-age/

http://worldsf.wordpress.com/?p=304

tezmilleroz:

New Zealand author Maree Anderson issued me with a very vague topic (something readerly or writerly), and a certain episode of Family Guy I watched during the week inspired my topic choice.

And no, it didn't involve Stewie asking, "How are you going on that novel?"

Read Of Family Guy & Writing in Public

nelilly:
Will you say that I am mad?
Inordinately sensitive perhaps.
Despairing? At times.
But mad? I deny the accusation.
Inside my chest beats the heart of a romantic.
I laugh, I cry, I love with reckless abandon.
I am...

See more of Rich Man, Poe Man by Adrian Ludens »

pyrsfblog:

http://pyrsf.blogspot.com/2009/11/following-on-from-my-world-building.html

Following on from my world-building piece about ‘Sasha’, I thought I’d do something similar for the ‘Cassandra Kresnov Series’.

Obviously there’s a fair few scientific improbabilities in Cassandra’s world, starting with Earthlike planets of roughly similar gravity, atmosphere, etc. My technical excuse is that the primary scientific improbability (faster than light travel) gives humanity such a wide range that even if such worlds are a million to one, humanity now has access to tens of millions of stars, so logically there are quite a few million-to-one shots inside that range. But the real point of a story like Cassandra’s is not to ponder scientific accuracy, it’s to tell a good story. So long as it’s vaguely plausible, science shouldn’t get in the way. Besides which, no one has any real idea how many Earthlike planets there are... maybe there’s plenty, just waiting for us to figure a way to reach and colonise.

Tanusha is one such planet. We never really see the planet because we’re concentrated where most of the people are, in the city of Tanusha. Tanusha has 57 million people at the time of ‘Crossover’, though even by ‘Killswitch’ it’s gone up a million or so. It’s a boomtown, and was planned that way from inception. For one thing, environmentalists have it wrong when they oppose large cities, putting people into big cities keeps them out of the countryside, so all environmentalists should be fans of skyscrapers -- cities that aren’t allowed to grow upward will grow outward instead, eating natural land as they go. Dense cities are also more economically productive, which is not to say farmers are unnecessary (though with futuristic hydroponics, synthetic food replication etc, who knows?) only to say that the more we move into the future, the less significant farming becomes as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product in any economy. That still leaves us with mining, but again with nano-tech and replication technologies, who knows where minerals will be coming from?

Read the rest of it on my blog...

omnivoracious:

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2009/11/endotheweek-kidlit-roundup-1.html

Quick links from around the kid-lit blogosphere:

"Andy Warhol, Children’s Illustrator." Educating Alice makes quite the auction find, some Andy Warhol children's book illustrations(!):

Neil Gaiman interview. The author of Odd and the Frost Giants talks to School Library Journal. This being Gaiman, it's great. (E.g.: "If you write well for kids, you may be changing lives, in a way you probably aren’t for adults. For adults you’re giving them a wonderful vacation, maybe educating them. But for children you’re giving them part of what made them.")

Who are current kids' movies really meant for? "Will 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' be too scary for youngsters? Too confusing? Maybe, for some." A.O. Scott muses on the recent crop of children's movies--mostly kid-lit inspired, including Where the Wild Things Are and Coraline.

Septimus Heap reviews. Jen Robinson just wrote up the two most recent books in the Septimus Heap series: Queste and Syren. ("The Septimus Heap books are a solid middle grade fantasy series, well-suited to kids who like the early Harry Potter books or Sarah Prineas' Magic Thief series.... Sage has a knack for capturing bad guys and characters of decidedly mixed motives.")

New Notes from the Horn Book. The November installment of the Horn Book's monthly newsletter is out. Highlights include a Q&A with Jim Murphy and four novels about war.

"Little Critter Comes to the iPhone." An iPhone adaptation of a Mac game adaptation of Mercer Mayer's Just Me and My Dad is coming to a phone near you....

Little Books boxed set. Twenty by Jenny reviews a great new boxed set of some classic board books. ("Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Jen Corace's books are spot-on because they begin with the everyday routines that even youngest readers can recognize, and upend the logic. Little Pea hates sweets, Little Hoot loves bedtime, and Little Oink keeps his room spotless. It's the adults who break the rules.")

Heads up: more Snicket, incoming. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers just announced a five-book deal with Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket, with the first Snicket book due out in 2012.

The Bad Beginning, free online. Speaking of Lemony Snicket: In case you hadn't heard, his first book is now available free online (feel free to read below). Not everybody is happy about it:

--Paul

mearls:

• 16:27 I think Bailey's greatest talent is his ability to bark while holding a toy in his mouth. It's impressive!

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davidlevine:
Based on the presence on my iPhone of the application Peak.ar (which tells you the names of nearby mountain peaks), the App Store's Genius feature recommended an application called qando. The description of which was in German, but I have enough of the language to puzzle out that it's a bus and train schedule app... for Vienna.

Well, Peak.ar is from an Austrian company...


Screen shot above from Peak.ar on our recent trip to Albuquerque

clarisse_montag, posting in gears_and_steam:

Hello all you Steamers out there!

I wanted to give a shout out to all my fellow authors! This year, I'm working on a Steampunk novel for my National Novel Writing Month project, and would love some input!

my work is heavily grounded in the actual punk aspects of the genre, and I am very excited to be bringing that to the table!

As you might know, but as I certainly didn't know before joining NaNoWriMo, you have to put in a large number of words per night, and one of the fun exercises of the project is trope-writing.

What Punk and Steampunk plots and elements do YOU most enjoy!? I know what I like (mega corps, assassins, subjugation of truth...food etc.) but what do
YOU like!?

My inquiring, writing mind wants to know!

(X-posted to every forum I could think of!)

jeffsoesbe:
(Posted here for reference. At twitter, I'm "yeff")

• 15:55 Farkle on the iPhone cheats like a Mississippi riverboat gambler... #fb #
• 19:58 it's interesting how you can just look at the cover of a book and think "I bet that's a vanity press that published that" and be right. #fb #

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stannex:

Many of you reading this will know Sean K Reynolds either personally or by reputation. Since Gen Con, Sean has spent a lot of his online time talking about the new love in his life ... one" Jodi" whom he supposedly met AT Gen Con and who is supposed to be beautiful, smart, AND a gamer.

Yeah, right!

No one I know got to actually MEET Jodi at Gen Con ... and although she quickly showed up on Face Book, I mean, how hard is that sort of thing to FAKE? Sean was, I knew, a little lonely up in Seattle, so I figured this was his version of the "girl friend in Canada."

But today I actually got to meet Jodi while she and Sean have been down here visiting his family. We even all went out to dinner and hung around for several hours just chatting ... and I have to say that she IS real (and is REALLY all of the things Sean claimed).

And she's from Indiana, not Canada!

Seriously, though, it was GREAT to get to meet Jodi in person and see what an adorable couple she and Sean make. I think next time we should go out on a double-date ... y'know ... when my new girlfriend is visiting from Quebec.

m_francis:

On the Distinction Between Two Forms of Knowing

This will ramble a bit. I added to this in bits and pieces during the day, and now I'm sleepy. This is a continuation of the earlier discussion about Intelligent Aliens.

You are what you eat!

Aristotle famously compared knowing to eating. In both cases, the organism takes in something outside of itself and makes it part of itself. In eating, say, an apple, the form of the apple is lost and the matter is incorporated into the eater's matter. But with knowing, it is the form we retain and not the matter. That is, when we know a tree, branches of wood do not appear in our brain. [If that were the case, we would instantly stop knowing things, since a wooden head is notoriously impervious to knowledge. That raises the intriguing SFnal possibility of a Know-One-Time organism. I don't know what you could do with one; but there it is.]

Instead, what we retain is the form of the tree, or [more deeply] its essence.

The merest form of knowing is sensation.

Do plants know things? They will "grow toward the sunlight," if they are the right sort of plant. Their roots will seek out moisture, if they are the right sort of roots. But we usually do not consider mere sensation as "knowing." A sodium atom "knows" a chlorine atom [and will bond with it to form salt, if the external conditions are right.] Our heliotropic, hydrophilic plant is a bit smarter than a salt crystal, but we can't say that it "knows" sunlight and water. It is more like it "eats" sunlight and water. It is analogous to knowing, but is not knowing in itself.

So can there be intelligent vegetative aliens?

.

saycestsay:

• 06:12 watched some "flash forward" last night. meh. takes them gdawful long time to figure things out. why bother with scripted stupid? #
• 06:15 also began reading "Under The Dome." 53 pages in, several deaths, one great word: horripilation; waiting on the story. #
• 06:17 gonna attempt vampire story today. no sparkles. might be some leather. #
• 06:43 @jay_lake hmm, starring david bowie and mick jagger... #

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maryrobinette:

Rob and I spent yesterday bumming around San Fransisco, interspersed with me doing drawings for a potential gig and prepping for the Nebula Nomination period to open at SFWA. The sweet boy has been endlessly patient with me.

In the evening we joined the SF in SF group at Henry’s Hunan for dinner. It was like KGB in reverse in that Chinese food preceded the meal. Seeing Cheryl Morgan, Jeff Vandermeer, Jacob Weisman and the rest of the gang was a lot of fun.

Then I was off to Writers with Drinks in the Mission. Oh, my goodness. What. Fun. Charlie Jane Anders absolutely rocks as a hostess and M.C. I very much enjoyed hearing the other readers. In fact, they were so good that I got nervous about my fiction and offered the audience a choice. 1 story, 2 very short stories, or 1 very short story and a puppetry demo.

They chose option 3, so after I finished reading “Death Comes but Twice,” I pulled off my boot and used it as a puppet to demo the 4 principles of puppetry. So, you may imagine my delight when Chris Hsiang, gave me this dollar bill as I walked off the stage.

Rob and I had a relaxed day in SF and are now in San Jose where I will be teaching for the next couple of days.

Comments? -- Link.

kradical:

Watched the first two episodes of the remake of The Prisoner and the latest Doctor Who special tonight. I haven't been doing much TV gabbing here due to my Chronic Rift gig -- I'm saving the reviews for "Couch Potato Salad" -- but my next review won't be for another month (for the episode that's going live this week, I reviewed V), so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about these two here.

( Spoilers for both behind the cut..... )

xkcd_rss:

http://xkcd.com/663/

montecook:

"OK"

On the West Wing, Martin Sheen had this wonderful way of saying, "OK." It was a single statement, always as a reply to something someone else said, and it meant anything from, "I've heard enough, I can figure this out from here," to "You're spouting utter nonsense, but it would be cumbersome and ultimately a waste of my time to explain to you why, and I just need to get on with what I'm doing."

I wish there was a way to convey this in online discussions with just such a short statement. It would be hugely useful, mostly in the latter sense.

kradical:

Here's my schedule for Philcon 2009, this coming weekend at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey:

Friday
8pm: reading (Executive Suite 623)
midnight: "Eye of Argon Reading" (Plaza IV), with Oz Fontecchio, Lawrence M. Schoen, Phil Kahn, Hildy Silverman, and Victoria Janssen

Saturday
11am: "How Faithful are Graphic Adaptations of Popular Novels?" (Plaza I), with Bill Spangler, Jonathan Maberry, Stephanie Burke, and Ray Ridenour
4pm: "Star Trek: Where Does it Boldly Go Now?" (Crystal Ballroom 3), with Lawrence M. Schoen, Samantha Kwait, Terri Osborne, and Hugh Casey
9pm: "The Art of the Collaboration" (Plaza I), with Michael Swanwick, Mike McPhail, Chris Pisano, and John Grant

Sunday
11am: "The Importance of Cash Flow for the New Author" (Executive Suite 823), with Laura Anne Gilman, Sally Wiener Grotta, Christine Norris, and Oz Drummond
1pm: "Editing Anthologies" (Plaza II), with Darrell Schweitzer, Gardner Dozois, and Danielle Ackley-McPhail

Hope to see many of you there!

yhlee:
First of all: EEE YULETIDE!!!
That is all.

( Webreadings: writing, books, conlang, miscellany. )

kradical:

Joseph McCarthy born (1908)

SEVEN THINGS IN THE EVENT OF RAIN

Seven things necessary when the rain prevents us from pursuing our usual occupations:

A shelter, a purse, a stove, a cup of wine, preceded by a bit of meat, a tender maid, and a cloak.

---attributed to Ibn Sukkara Al-Hashi-mi by Edward Verrall Lucas in A Boswell of Baghdad, 1917


Study the past, if you would divine the future.
Confucius (551-497 BCE)

kradical:

Montréal was captured from the British by U.S. forces during the American Revolution (1775)

SEVEN THINGS TO BE REMEMBERED

Never to stick pins into butterflies and other insects unless you would like to have somebody stick pins into you.
Never to carry fowl with their heads hanging down, unless you would like to be carried in that way yourself.
Never to throw stones at those harmless creatures, toads, unless you would like to have stones thrown at you in the same way.
That nearly all snakes are harmless and useful.
That it is cruel to keep twitching the reins while driving.
That you should always talk kindly to every dumb creature.
That you should always treat every dumb creature as you would like to be treated yourself, if you were in the creature's place.

---Julia M. Dewey, Ethics: Stories for Home and School, 1891


Lucky is he who has been able to understand the causes of things.
Virgil (70-19 BCE)

calico_reaction:

Bitter Angels (2009)
Written by: C. L. Anderson
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 438 (Mass Market Paperback)

I first heard of this book while browsing my friends' page on Facebook. Anne Harris put up a picture of the cover, and at first, I thought the cover belonged to a Kat Richardson novel, because the artist was the same and the design was similar, but when I clicked, I learned really quick it wasn't. It was an SF by a woman writer! So I plunked it on my wishlist and ordered it as soon as I was able. Because we all know I can't resist SF written by women. :)

The premise: from BN.com, which is also the backcover blurb: The Erasmus System is a sprawling realm of slavery, smugglers, spies—and constant, creeping decrepitude. Here everyone who is not part of the ruling Four Families is a slave of one kind or another. But the Guardians, a special-forces branch inside the United World Government for Earth, have deemed Erasmus a “hot spot.” Somehow, it is believed, this failing colony intends to launch a war upon the solar system.

Ex-Field Commander Terese Drajeske, now a mother of three, has been called back to active duty and sent to Erasmus, ostensibly to investigate the murder of her colleague—and friend—Bianca Fayette. At first blush, the death defies explanation: Bianca was immortal. But beneath that single murder lies a twisted foundation of deceptions. Suddenly Terese is plunged into a vortex of shattered lives, endemic deceit, and one dreadful secret. In this society without hope, someone has put into motion a plan that will cast humanity into chaos. And Terese, who has given up her family and her sanity to prevent war, may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice….

Review style: we're dividing this sucker up. Likes and dislikes, because I think it'll help me wrap my head around the book. Spoilers? No. I don't think I could spoil this if I tried. :)

( BITTER ANGELS: no spoilers )

My Rating

Give It Away: this is a hard book to rate, because in truth, the ending alone is what MADE this book and is what will make me seriously consider a sequel. Whether there will be a sequel or not, I don't know, but I definitely won't ignore future offerings from this author, and that's all based on the strength of the ending. That said, Anderson's complex plot is such that, while it leaves you guessing as to what's REALLY going on, it also keeps your head in a cloud, making it difficult for the reader to figure it out for herself. It's not an easy book to classify either: it's kind of military-SF, kind of space opera, and kind of . . . I'm not sure what. Yes, it's SF, but on one hand, while it reads like SF and will appeal to readers of both genders, on the other hand, there's something about it that doesn't read like SF at all, and not in a good way. I think it's the cloud I felt I was reading through, and hey, maybe that's just my problem. :) I will say that if you figure out what's REALLY going on before it's revealed, you should give yourself a pat on the back, because I sure couldn't connect the dots, not until I was supposed to. :)

Cover Commentary: okay, the fact it was a Chris McGrath cover that is designed like the Kat Richardson books really caught my eye, but beyond that, it's not my favorite by this artist. I just can't picture Terese like she's depicted on the cover. That may be due in part to the fact that in the beginning, when Terese is describing her children, she reveals that one of them has died his skin while so he REALLY stands out in the family, which makes me think the family is not-white, which makes me think Terese is not-white. And Terese is never REALLY well described except to say at the beginning, she's let her body grow lumpy with age, and then to say that the surgery to get her back in fighting shape was hell. So yeah, not how I pictured Terese. But the cover's eye-catching, so that's good. :)

Next up: Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

jamesenge:
Re the new Prisoner: It's a thankless task to recreate a role originated by one of television's greatest, oddest actors in one of the greatest series of all time. So: no thanks to Jim Caviezel tonight. Ian McKellan was pleasantly sinister as Number 2, though.

As my son pointed out, the stuff that doesn't echo the original is kind of interesting. When they fall into remake mode, it just reminds you how much better the original was.

Somnolent pacing and very poorly motivated action in tonight's first two episodes. I might give it another look tomorrow, but unless it improves dramatically I doubt I'll watch to the end.

matociquala:

1540 words, just ekeing out my theoretical minimum. Progress is progress. I'm pretty sure this is also progress.

Mostly, I'm just describing planets as seen from space. I wonder if anybody would notice if I did that four hundred pages.

16200 / 100000 words. 16% done!

cmpriest:

• Today I went to the zoo with Ellen, Avi, and Avi’s husband Gordon. I took some pictures. My favorite is probably this one.

• People have been emailing to ask where to find copies of Boneshaker here in Seattle. Apparently it’s been selling out around town (which is a good thing), and people can’t find it (which is a bad thing). Let it now be known: both the Barnes & Noble locations at Pacific Place and Northgate are well stocked with copies, all of which are signed; and likewise, the University Book Store in the U-district has a stash of signed copies (at the moment, as of this posting). Please, have at.

• If you’d like something signed to you, personally (or to a loved one … hey, the holidays are just over the horizon there, aren’t they?), you can order such a book through the University Book Store.

• Regarding electronic editions of Boneshaker — you can find the book here on the Kindle or via this listing at Diesel E-Books. This is literally all the information on the subject I have at my disposal.

• If you are a local (or even local-ish) bookseller and you’d like to get your stock signed, drop me an email at cherie.priest@gmail.com - and I’ll be glad to talk about coming to your store. It might take me a day or two depending on my work load and your location, but I’m always happy to accommodate you if at all possible.
  

[Crossposted to/from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

jaylake:

With the new Nebula Awards rules in place, nominating season is upon us. I thought I'd mention my works this year, highlighting my own favorites, for those interested in considering them. My favorite picks are in bold.

2009 Published Science Fiction:

* "On the Human Plan"; Lone Star Stories; February, 2009 [short story]
* "Rolling Steel: A Pre-Apocalyptic Love Story" (with Shannon Page); Clarkesworld; April, 2009 [short story]
* "To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves"; The New Space Opera 2, ed. Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan, Eos, April, 2009 [novelette] [in Sunspin continuity</em>]
"Leopard"; Jim Baen's Universe, June, 2009 [short story]
"Black Heart, White Mourning"; Grant's Pass, ed. Jennifer Brozek and Amanda Pillar, Morrigan Books; August, 2009 [short story]
* "Chain of Stars"; Subterranean, October, 2009 - [novella] [In Mainspring continuity]
"Last Drink Bird Head"; Last Drink Bird Head, ed. Jeff vanderMeer; Ministry of Whimsy Press, October, 2009 [flash]
* Death of a Starship; MonkeyBrain Books, November, 2009 [novel]

2009 Forthcoming Science Fiction:

"Bringing the Future Home"; Global Warming Aftermaths, ed. Eric T. Reynolds, Hadley Rille Books; Fall, 2009 [short story]
"Looking for Truth in a Wild Blue Yonder" (with Ken Scholes); Tor.com, Fall, 2009 [short story]
"The Starship Mechanic" (with Ken Scholes); Tor.com, Fall, 2009 [short story]

2009 Published Fantasy:

* "Golden Pepper"; Flash Fiction Online; February, 2009 [flash]
"The True Secret of Magic", as Joe Edwards; Crime Spells, ed. Martin H. Greenberg and Loren Coleman, DAW; February, 2009 [short story]
"Witness to the Fall"; Crime Spells, ed. Martin H. Greenberg and Loren Coleman, DAW; February, 2009 [short story]
"To Stone" (with Shannon Page); Morrigan eZine, May, 2009 [short story]
* Green; Tor Books, June, 2009 [novel]
"People of Leaf and Branch"; Fantasy; June, 2009 [short story] [in Green continuity]
"Tale of the Poet and the Dog"; Japanese Dreams, ed. Sean Wallace, Prime Books; Summer, 2009 [short story]
"An Elderly Pirate Recalls the Death of Love"; Electric Velocipede Issue 17/18 [short story]
* "Red Dirt Kingdoms"; Realms of Fantasy, October, 2009 [short story]
Madness of Flowers; Night Shade Books, November, 2009 [novel]

2009 Forthcoming Fantasy:

"Bone Island" (with Shannon Page); Interzone, Fall, 2009 [novelette]
"In the Emperor's Garden" (with Shannon Page); Fantasy, Fall, 2009 [short story]
"The Passion of Mother Vajpai" (with Shannon Page); Subterranean, Fall, 2009 [novelette] [in GREEN continuity]
"Shedding Skin; Or How the World Came to Be"; Shimmer (Clockwork Jungle Issue), Fall, 2009 [short story]

anghara:
The Nebula Award nominations are now open - or will be shortly - and much to my astonishment I have a couple or three short stories that I might want to draw people's attention to, should they feel in a nominating mood...

The first is "End of the World", the story appearing in prof_brotherton's online anthology Diamonds in the Sky, consisting of astronomically correct Science Fiction stories written by graduates of his awesome Launchpad workshop (which I was privileged to attend in 2008). You can read the story here

The second is "Choice", appearing in the webzine "Edge of Propinquity" edited by jennifer_brozek, and it is available to read here

The third is "To Remember Riobarre", appearing in the Winter 2009 issue of Space and Time magazine - not available online, but I will be happy to provide a reading copy if anyone eligible for nominating the story can't find the magazine and is interested in reading this particular offering, just email me and ask.

And, of course, if anyone wants to nominate "Cybermage" for the Andre Norton Award, now's the time to do this, too...

scottedelman:
I received my contributor copies of the anthologies The Dead That Walk and Postscripts #19 this week, and since those contain the last two stories of mine slated to appear in 2009, I figure it's time to update you on this year's output.

I had seven short stories published in 2009, which marked my best year yet. I don't think I've ever before published more than five in a single year.

Here they are, broken down by genre:

SCIENCE FICTION

"Glitch"
The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume Three

Fantasy Book Critic reviewed the anthology and gave my story, which is about robot sex in the future (did that get your attention?) 4 1/2 stars ... which I hope was on a scale of 1 through 5. Reviewer Liviu C. Suciu also called my story "interesting, funny and dark at the same time."

"The World Breaks"
Postscripts #19

I've read this tale of a small town's struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic U.S. aloud many times, and it's one of those that chokes me up, as you know if you've heard me try to get through it. I made the mistake of reading it at Nippon 2007, having somehow forgotten the various references to nuclear weapons being dropped, and felt odd coming upon them and suddenly remembering in the midst of reading the story to a Japanese audience.

HORROR

"The Hunger of Empty Vessels"
Bad Moon Books

A dark story containing an unusual haunting and emotional vampires, published in both a limited lettered and a limited numbered edition. It's been called "deep, disturbing, and emotionally draining."

"The Human Race"
Space & Time #108

Another one of my zombie stories, this time set in the UK during a terrorist attack.

"Here Choose I"
Bad Moon Books

This ghost story only appeared in the lettered limited edition (and only in the lettered limited edition) of The Hunger of Empty Vessels as a bonus to buyers for laying out the big bucks.

"Tell Me Like You Done Before"
The Dead That Walk

You might be able to guess the subject of this zombie story from the title alone. No? Then how about if I tell you that two of the characters in it are named Lennie and George?

FANTASY

"The Only Wish Ever to Come True"
Talebones #38

Ever wonder why, when we get wishes, we tend to get three of them? This story, taking place over over thousands of years, explains it all.

---

And as for 2010, the only new story of mine currently scheduled to appear will be in my zombie collection from PS Publishing, which will launch at the World Horror Convention in Brighton.

kradical:

In honor of my black belt, the Forebearance (girasole, bronxbob350, helgabee, and the Infomancer) got me a new laptop! Opportunity died a while back, and I've been borrowing girasole's similar machine Rosina (which is just like Opportunity only pink).

Now, though, I have a new one that's better in every way. It's an Acer Aspire One, which runs Windows XP instead of Linux, has a better keyboard, a better monitor, and it's red!

I'm actually using it right now. I have named it Kiisu, after the transliteration of my name spelled in Japanese katakana characters as it appears on my black belt.

*happy dance*

chris_r_evans:
I'm fascinated with history. I once took up smoking cigars because I was so taken by the image of some of the great men of history bending over map tables, stogie firmly clamped between their teeth while carving up nation states and changing the very course of human civilization. The power embodied in that captivated me. I got it into my head that I would actually better understand these men and their places in history if I too lit up (and, I thought it might give me a certain roguish appeal with the ladies). As it turns out, there aren't a whole lot of ladies out there attracted to guys turning green, coughing, then puking, all while trying to discuss the intricacies of the Bismarckian alliance system.

I have, however, found a more useful and rewarding connection with history that holds little likelihood of my regurgitating the contents of my stomach while talking about Sykes-Picot or the Treaty of Versailles. Yes, I'm referring to fountain pens. Every time I pick one up I feel like I have history in my hand. The weight, the deliberateness of the writing, the flow of the ink...it transports me to another time. As useful as my laptop is, give me a stack of thick, woven paper, a bottle of ink, and my fountain pen, and you can keep the cigar.

skylanth, posting in anachrotech:
First time poster, hello! A friend of mine suggested I post pictures of my new hobby, steampunk jewelry, in this community.

I'm using recycled pocketwatch gears and baubles. Any critiques/helpful hints, etc would be great, as I'm brand new to jewelry-making, and am just experimenting around.

The test tube one is a "portable experiment" pin with a (fake) little plant inside that glows in the dark.



Shameless Commerce Link

larbalestier:

http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2009/11/15/signed-books-in-the-usa/

http://justinelarbalestier.com/?p=6818

Because I just had a long discussion with some friends about what constitutes being crassly commercial I’ve decided now is the time to let you know where you can buy signed books of mine. What? Some people write and ask me that, you know. Also it’s Sunday no one will notice me being crassly commercial.

I have scribbled on copies of my books in the following places in the US of A:

Austin</p>

Book People
603 N. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78703

Chicago Area

B&N Skokie
55 Old Orchard Center

Skokie, IL

Anderson’s Bookshop
5112 Main St

Downers Grove, IL

Lake Forest Book Store
680 N. Western Ave.
Lake Forest, IL

Memphis

Davis-Kidd Booksellers
387 Perkins Ext

Memphis, TN

New York

Voracious Reader
1997 Palmer Ave

Larchmont, NY

Books of Wonder
18 W. 18th St.

New York, NY

Philadelphia

Blue Marble
551 Carpenter Ln

Philadelphia, PA

Children’s Book World
17 Haverford Station Road
Haverford, PA

Portland

A Children’s Place
4807 NE Fremont St

Portland, OR

Barnes & Noble
12000 SE 82nd Avenue

Portland, OR

Seattle area

UWash Bookstore
4326 University Way NE

Seattle, WA

Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA

Barnes & Noble
19401 Alderwood Mall Parkway

Lynnwood, WA

For those of you in Australia, I will be back home and shall try to sign books at various book stores in Sydney in December. I pretty much always manage to make it to Kinokuniya and Galaxy. I’ll keep you posted.

Thus ends this crassly comercial service announcement. Normal service will resume tomorrow.

warren_ellis:

As I can feel unconsciousness coming on, I leave you with this:

Photo: Tazlimur
Costume, Hair/make-up: Jessica Rowell
Model: Zoetica Ebb
Couch courtesy of Allan Amato

(Automatically crossposted from warrenellis.com. Feel free to comment here or at my internet church at Whitechapel. If anything in this post looks weird, it's because LJ is run on steampipes and rubber bands -- please click through to the main site.)

jaylake:

calendula_witch had her friend Notorious G, and NG's swain, over for lunch today, in connection with orientation on care and feeding of the extensive Witchnest orchid collection whilst she is up in Oregon for my surgery and recovery. I volunteered to cook. Apparently, madness descended, because I seemed to think that everybody needed about 7,000 calories for lunch.

I made lasagna, for some value of the term "lasagna". This originated with a meal I had somewhere in my recent travels (possibly in San Jose) where I was served a deconstructed lasagna. Ie, big flat pasta in layers with sauce and whatnot, but simply built loose upon the plate rather than laid down in a pan and baked. This seemed kind of neat, so I went for it, using no particular recipe but random inspiration.

My sins:

Chopped and lightly sauteed in butter an entire head of garlic, which I mixed with about a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh oregano, then with a stick of butter to make garlic butter for the baguette and pugliese I bought fresh this morning.

Made a salad of arugula, mixed greens, onions, tomatoes, cheese, and chow mein noodles. (This was not particularly heinous, but did serve as a grace note of plausible deniability for the nutritional blast crater that was the lasagna.)

Chopped and lightly sauteed in butter another entire head of garlic, which I split into two portions. Cooked down a pound of sliced cremini mushrooms in butter. Lightly sauteed in olive oil a red bell pepper and half a purple onion. Combined all of the above in a plain storebought red sauce base with the garlic set aside from before, along with about four tablespoons of minced cilantro and two tablespoons of finely chopped fresh oregano. Let that sit and steep for a few hours.

Meanwhile, I sauteed in olive oil eight green onions chopped down, and four serranos. I melted a pound and a half of fontina cheese in heavy cream, added the onions and serranos, the balance of my garlic, a quarter cup of green olives sliced in half, a tablespoon of truffle oil, heavy black pepper and moderate paprika.

Also for giggles I pan fried a pound of chopped prosciutto.

I then boiled a large pack of lasagna noodles, laid them down flat on four plates, spooned out a generous helping of red sauce, a couple of tablespoons of ricotta, and a portion of the prosciutto. Another layer of noodles, a generous portion of white sauce, more ricotta, and more prosciutto. Another layer of noodles, an artistic mix of red and white sauces, then topped with grated parmesan.

Served hot with garlic bread from the oven and the salad on the side. I'm not sure why all four of us didn't wind up in the cardiac ward, but zomg was it good. Deeply heinous, but stupid tasty. Pretty sure I should be banned from kitchens for life, or at least for a while.

But I ain't sorry. Nuh uh.

desperance:
Just a nudge-in-the-ribs to you SFWA members: the new-style Nebula nomination period is now open. And, um, moshui's Dragon in Chains would qualify, should you happen to have read it and enjoyed it. Should you not happen to have read it, of course, this omission can be swiftly rectified. (And Jay Lake thinks you should...)

Me, of course, I am attractively neutral on the matter...

scalzifeed:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/11/15/statements-which-are-accurate-as-long-as-you-ignore-the-rest-of-the-planet/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=9112

matociquala:


Well, it's been a very long day--clothes shopping, baby shower, social things. But I am home and dry at last and commencing my work day.

I have put on my work clothes (green and purple plaid pajama pants with a silver stripe, fuzzy slippers, and purple long johns--with the important protective gear of my wrist braces!), made myself a pot of tea, and with the assistance of my coworker I'm about to start the day's work.

Here's my office.

Today's tea mug is kitty in a filing drawer. Today's tea is vanilla rooibos.

Sometimes this job doesn't suck.

See you in six pages.

nick_kaufmann:

In case you didn't believe me...

jeffvandermeer:

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ecstaticdays/~3/pncyINvQeN0/

http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/?p=6287

It’s always hard to keep up with everything that’s out there, especially in today’s digital world. I’d like to think that I do a fairly decent job of managing to keep myself informed of what’s going on in the print and digital marketplaces but, of course, thinking that I do a decent job of keeping up and actually keeping up are two very, very different things. To misquote a cliché, the more I read, the more I realize that – in actuality – I don’t know jack.

So I’m turning to you, Dear Internet, for guidance. I’ll tell you what I’ve been reading (and watching) and hopefully you’ll share with me what you’ve been following and/or what you think I should add to my list. Television commercials have started telling me that the Season of Giving (or, as I like to think of it, the Season of Going-into-Debt-for-No-Good-Reason) is upon us – and I am not one to argue with the Failing Commercial Gods. So as you read this, picture me as that guy standing outside the mall in a big red suit, incessantly ringing that accursed bell, and making you feel guilty for not carrying cash anymore. So guilty, in fact, that you’ll probably go buy a crappy food court snack just so you can ask for cashback on your order. And then when you go back outside to vindicate yourself and say, “Hey, Guy-in-Red-Suit, I CARE. I just wasn’t carrying cash earlier. That’s why I averted my eyes. But everything’s different now because I have $2.36 in change,” you realize that there was a Guy-in-Red-Suit shift change while you were at the food court, and now a Different-Guy-in-Red-Suit is manning the Holiday Guilt Bell. And you try to tell Different Guy that you NEED him to tell the Original Guy-in-Red-Suit that you CARE ABOUT HUMANITY. But Different-Guy-in-Red-Suit just looks at you funny and asks you to step away because you’re scaring the children.

Yeah. Think of me as that guy.

So here’s what I’ve been following/reading/watching lately *DINGDINGDINGDING*:

• Emile Habiby’s The Secret Life of Saeed, the Ill-Fated Pessoptimist.

I’ve been teaching a class on Modern Arabic Literature this semester and, as a result, I’ve gotten to re-read a lot of really great work. Really great work. The Secret Life is, IMHO, one of the most endearing, confusing, challenging, funny, fantastical narratives to tackle the situation in Israel/Palestine. Habiby was a Palestinian-Israeli who served as a sitting member of the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) as a founding member of Maki (the Israeli Communist Party). He stirred up some controversy in 1990 when he was awarded (and accepted) both the al-Quds Prize, awarded by the PLO, and the Israel Prize, generally regarded as the Israeli state’s highest honor. The novel is a comic masterpiece; it begins with Saeed claiming to have been visited by space aliens to whom he narrates an absurd story of conflict, torture, exile, and loss. Following in the footsteps of comic anti-heroes like Voltaire’s Candide, Saeed is a frustrating failure who is as absurd as the narrative he tells. If you’ve ever been interested in the absurd, the meeting of tragedy and comedy, or the interweaving of the personal and the political, do yourselves a favor and get a copy of this novel.

• The 99 and Samandal

After reading Lavie Tidhar’s post here, I started digging around for science fiction/ fantasy/ graphic novels from the Arab World. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. The 99 is a comic book created by Dr. Naif al-Mutawa, a Kuwaiti “clinical psychologist [who worked] with former prisoners of war in Kuwait and with survivors of political torture in New York City.” The 99 is his answer to militant Islam, an attempt to “take back” Arab Muslim culture from the fanaticism that has hijacked it in recent years. The story he tells begins with the 1258 Mongol invasion of Baghdad that ended with the destruction of the books from its library – they were thrown into the Tigris River. Some of the librarians in Dr. al-Mutawa’s story escape the attack, however, and drop 99 enchanted stones in the river to absorb and preserve the knowledge from the destroyed books. Several centuries later, young heroes hailing from 99 world countries (including, for example, the United States, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Portugal) recover the stones and become empowered in different ways. While the 99 superheroes are based on the 99 attributes of Allah in the Koran, they have different physical characteristics from one another and none of them pray or read the Koran, as Dr. al-Mutawa’s stated goal is to produce a comic with universal appeal. The first issue is available for free download at The 99’s official website. Check it out.

Samandal, as described by its creators, is a “non-profit organization that aims to lift the stature of comics to that of a mature art form capable of tackling more than superheroes and their baffling hairdos.” It’s a really interesting publication out of Lebanon that actively attempts to combat regional misconceptions about the cultural worth of comic books and graphic art. The work Samandal publishes is multicultural and multilingual in its scope – to date, every issue has included work in Arabic, French, and English by authors from around the globe. Thematically, the work ranges from the political to the abstract to the poetic to the comic. The first issue is available for download in English translation. Issues 2 & 3 are also available for download, but not in translation. Samandal recently closed to submissions for their sixth issue.

• Professor Lawrence Lessig’s lecture, “It’s About Time: Getting Our Values Around Copyright Right,” delivered on November 5^th at the 2009 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Denver, CO.

EDUCAUSE is a “nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.” At its annual meeting in Denver this month, Lawrence Lessig, a professor of law at Harvard Law School, a founding board member of Creative Commons, and a board member of the Software Freedom Law Center, delivered an enlightening – and slightly horrifying – lecture on Copyright laws and how they affect/will affect scholarship, art, and science. Anyone who is even slightly invested in the future of collaboration and of the accessibility of art and science should watch this. 90 minutes very well-spent.

• “Judge a Book by its Cover”

I’ll end this with something entertaining, clever, and sometimes freakish. “Judge a Book by its Cover” is a blog run by my lovely friend “Maughta,” a snarky librarian-type with razor-sharp wit. Hear that, Maughta? I plugged your blog. I expect beer in recompense. And, yes, I just said “recompense.” “Judge a Book” is the result of Maughta’s years working in the public library, where “[she] saw literally thousands of books every week; the good, the bad, and the truly hideous. These are the covers from the latter category.” With weekly features like “Sultry Sunday,” “Mammary Monday,” and “Phallic Phriday,” this is definitely a blog for booklovers. Snarky, mean booklovers.

Ok, Internets. That’s all I got. What about you? *DINGDINGDINGDING*

That’s right. I’ma keep ringing that damned bell ’till you give me some suggestions.

Rima Abunasser is Assistant Professor of Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture at Furman University. She also teaches Contemporary American Popular Culture, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Literature of the Arab World, and the Feminist Literary Tradition. That’s all a very complicated way of saying that she really likes to read. And to think and talk about what she reads. And, you know, to have an audience. She really likes having an audience. It makes her feel special – and somewhat drunk with power.

sartorias:
Something new to read every day--a fantastic idea from fantastic people.

ramblin_phyl:

Hard to believe an entire year has passed since we flipped the switch and Book View Cafe went live.

Since then we've gathered over 1200 registered users, begun our own e-book imprint, (Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls, our first anthology is now available in a variety of formats for $4.99) and added half a dozen new authors to the membership rolls. We're still here and still growing.

Incredibly satisfying and exciting.

nick_kaufmann:

First, a couple of months ago, I saw a possum. Then, a little later, I saw a raccoon.

Now there's a rooster clucking out in front of my building. A fucking rooster!

Did I mention I live in Brooklyn!

urbaniak:


Tonight at midnight on Adult Swim. Beware.

eeknight:
It was a typical Windycon in every respect but one. I've never seen so many theme-related costumes. The Steampunk crowd showed up wearing their colors ("steampunk is the Goths discovering brown") in force.

Saw many LJ friends, favorite vendors, and the Writers Workshop was another success. Had a nice break when we were invited for high tea with a few other aeronauts, courtesy of Lord (disputed) "Boom Boom" McCallister and associates.

( pics )

suricattus:

I have had Al nassma chocolate, and you (probably) have not.


Probably, because unless you were a) at NYC's Chocolate Show last month, b) have contacts in the chocolate business or c) were at the AMNH's opening of the Silk Road exhibit Friday night, you can't get hold of it in North America (or the UK, I suspect). Not yet, anyway.

Camel's milk chocolate. All sorts of health claims for it, most of which I suspect don't carry over into chocolate anyway, but whatever the gimmick, I give it thumbs up.

People, this stuff is good. I didn't like all the flavors (and the "milk chocolate" was actually a bittersweet 70% cocoa) but the texture was smooth, the taste a splendid mixture of sweet and salty, and it was rich enough to leave me satisfied after only a few small pieces at a time (starting Friday night, finishing my last bit this afternoon).

Except, of course, that I know I will want more, and I don't have any. *sads*


disclaimer: I am a bit of a chocolate snob -- not because I think Expensive = Better, but because most mass-produced chocolates (yes, including the UK brands) taste more like wax than chocolate. I would rather spend more money to get something with all-natural ingredients that satisfies, than spend less and leave my tastebuds unsatisfied. Your mileage may vary.

jacksonpublick:



Not much to say. Too busy. Doc and I are about to finish our collaborative script for the finale of season 4.2 and I'm literally on my way out the door to the final sound mix for the last episode of season 4.1.

As such I will soon be blessedly free from writing and post-production duties for a while. Looking forward to just being a director for the next several months--still a difficult, full-time job, but at least it's not three difficult, full-time jobs on top of each other.

I did want to say that tonight's episode is really really good, though. Probably my favorite of Doc's scripts in these first eight episodes. Much to enjoy in it, on the biggest and smallest of scales. And if you're not finally converted to Sgt. Hatred by this one, then you're never ever going to like the poor lug.

Also, the Williams Street online store has a ton of new Venture Bros. merch for sale. Get 'em now, before our request for freebies exhausts their limited supply!

We Love You,

JP



P.S. Two small items my perusal of various message boards these past few weeks compels me to comment upon:

1. Captain Sunshine = NOT an actual pedophile.

2. Brock's absence has nothing to do with Patrick Warburton. He didn't ask for more money, he's not too busy for us, he hasn't refused to come back or anything of the sort. It was a creative choice on our part, and Brock WILL be back in the show at some point. Just not this week. Or next.