Bibliophile Stalker

Feature: Speculative Fiction Books That Dare to Be Different

2009-07-15T07:42:00.030+08:00

Every Wednesday, I have an essay or feature article on any topic that catches my fancy!

When we talk about books, there's usually a conventional form that people expect from the text, even from genres such as speculative fiction. Occasionally, we might run into books that present a new paradigm and alter how we read literature. Classic examples are Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Vladmir Nabokov's Lolita. While such texts are acknowledged by the canon, here are texts from genre that elevate--in my opinion--literature to another level.

Griffin and Sabine trilogy by Nick Bantock

I'm probably cheating here as Nick Bantock isn't someone you'd associate with speculative fiction, but I want to draw attention to his Griffin and Sabine books. In certain ways, he steals a page from children's literature by making reading more than just a visual experience. There's the tactile element and joy of discovery in each page. If there's any experience that can't be replicated by eBooks, it's this.

The Orphan's Tales series by Catherynne M. Valente

Not that we haven't seen nested-stories done before (Arabian Nights) but what modern author has both the boldness and the skill to actually pull it off? What's impressive with Valente is that her nested stories goes deep several levels and is sustained in such a lengthy format.

City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer

You've probably heard of the mosaic novel and what's spectacular with Jeff VanderMeer is that he takes that concept to a different level. Why settle for the "short story" or individual chapters format when you can do with so much more: dry histories (complete with footnotes), appendices, illustrations...

Thieves World anthologies created by Robert Asprin

Here's a disclosure on my part: I haven't read any of the Thieves World books. Having said that, I've heard great things about the anthologies. Much like the mosaic novel, what's interesting with this series is that several authors get to play in the same world, featuring the same characters and locale. That might be a staple of the genre right now, especially with media tie-ins and the numerous RPG books, but back in 1979, Asprin and company were pioneers.

The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Disease edited by Jeff VanderMeer and Mark Roberts

A Field Guide to Surreal Botany edited by Janet Chui & Jason Erik Lundberg

Again, as far as disclosure is concerned, I haven't read the former yet but heard great things about it. What both anthologies do is they present fictional non-fiction, remaining faithful to both the form (i.e. encyclopedic entries) and the tone.

July 15, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-15T07:05:00.032+08:00

Readers might want to grab a copy of the July issue of Locus Magazine where Philippine Speculative Fiction IV and A Time for Dragons gets reviewed (thanks for the review Rich!).

Interviews

Zombie Joe interviews Alex Bledsoe.
Mur Lafferty interviews JC Hutchins (podcast).
Liviu Suciu interviews David Weber.
Jeff VanderMeer interview K. Tempest Bradford.
Adventures in SciFi Publishing interviews James Enge (podcast).
Over at Josephmallozzi’s Weblog, James Enge is interviewed.

Advice/Articles

Social Politan has an extensive Advice on Novel Writing.
Stuart Jeffries on Space operas and far futures.
Genevieve Valentine on Past, Present, Future: Readercon 2009.
Lev Grossman on Some important things/people that I saw/met/learned/heard about at Readercon.
Judith Berman on Penelope Travels Home, Then Packs to Travel Some More.
Jenny Rough on Retirement Plans for Writers.
Pimp My Novel on A Load of B.S. (BookScan).
Nicola Morgan on Show Not Tell - Let Me Tell You How.
William Shunn on Positioning chapter headers on the page.
Megan Kurashige on helpful hints for bookstore customers, part 4.
Rachelle Gardner on Write Another Book!
John B Rosenman on Spice Up Your Chapter Titles.
The Book Publicity Blog on What is an Imprint?

News

Magic: The Gathering soda.
Check out 26 to 50, a Japanese/English literature site.
FANTASTIC FICTION at KGB--special Clarion 25th anniversary reading.
Check out the Human Genre Project.

And from PS Publishing:

Postscripts #18

July 14, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-14T04:25:00.080+08:00

RIP Charles Brown, co-founder of Locus.

Interviews

Matt Staggs interviews Jacob Kier (Permuted Press).

Advice/Articles

Stefan Dziemianowicz on Might of the Living Dead.
Jeff VanderMeer on Environmental / Human Impact of E-Readers, Books, Browsing.
Richard Dansky on A Thought On Reviews, And The Reading Thereof.
Diana Rowland on How to Network at a Convention.
Scott Edelman on Readercon: The Year Twitter Changed Everything.
Catherynne M. Valente on 2010.
Mary Robinette Kowal on Shedding My Fiction.
Paul Witcover on Elizabeth Hand -- An Appreciation.
Jeremiah Tolbert on BREAKING: F&SF’s Gordon Van Gelder Does Not Want to Drink The Blood of Your Children.
Jim C. Hines On Turning a Blind Eye.
James Wolcott on What's a Culture Snob to Do?
Patrick Ness's writing tips 6 – Freedom from tyranny.
Alison Flood on The Knight of the Swords: the first British Fantasy award winner.
Joanna Penn on Lessons You Can Learn from Scott Sigler, Author and Podcaster.
Hal Duncan on Bukiet on Brooklyn Books.
Misha Berson on Nancy Drew, Sonia Sotomayor and me: lessons learned from the teen sleuth.
Steven Harper Piziks on Name That Name.
Anne Allen on Beware Bogus Literary Agents.
Editorial Ass on Too Cool for School (and for the Book Store) (Or, Book People Are Nice).
Rachelle Gardner on Social Networking vs. Writing.
David B. Coe on “When Did You Know…?”
Kirsten Valentine Cadieux on Different Mechanisms of Coherence?

News

Charles Brown Tributes

And from the underrated Robert Freeman Wexler:

The Painting and the City by Robert Freeman Wexler

Interview: Lou Anders

2009-07-14T04:15:00.002+08:00

Every Tuesday, I'll have an interview posted.

A 2009/2008/2007 Hugo Award nominee, 2009/2007 Chesley Award nominee and 2006 World Fantasy Award nominee, Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science fiction imprint Pyr, as well as the anthologies Fast Forward 2 (Pyr, October 2008), Sideways in Crime (Solaris, June 2008), Fast Forward 1 (Pyr, February 2007), FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain, December 2004), Live Without a Net (Roc, 2003), and Outside the Box (Wildside Press, 2001). In 2000, he served as the Executive Editor of Bookface.com, and before that he worked as the Los Angeles Liaison for Titan Publishing Group. He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (Titan Books, 1996), and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers Weekly, Dreamwatch, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max. His articles and stories have been translated into Danish, Greek, German, Italian and French, and have appeared online at SFSite.com, RevolutionSF.com and InfinityPlus.co.uk.

Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. First off, how did you first get introduced to science fiction? What was it about the genre that appealed to you?

There was a succession of “first” introductions. My earliest introduction was the Sid & Marty Krofft Saturday morning television series, Land of the Lost, about a family who fall into what I now know is the Super Sargasso Sea and end up in a realm of lost things, from dinosaurs to missing links to missing civilizations. It was so gonzo out there, with crystal computers that could alter the weather or open up holes in the sky, and, again, as I now know, it was being penned by actual SF writers like Niven, Bova, Sturgeon and Spinrad. So while they might have looked at it as a quick gig to pay the rent writing some silly kids’ show, I probably wouldn’t be in this field if not for them. It hooked my imagination and never let go, in a way no other Saturday morning programming ever did. After that, there were battered volumes of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame anthologies discovered in my grandmother’s basement that I read and read and read. And then, when I was a pre-teen, my father shoved A Princess of Mars into my hands and ordered me to read it against my protests.

What do you think is the biggest advantage of science fiction that the other genres can't quite emulate?

The ability to slip in and out of literal verses metaphoric truth.

Currently, you're known for your editing work but you've also written some fiction. When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

When I saw, then very swiftly read, The World According to Garp by John Irving (and starring Robin Williams in what is still my favorite role of his). The movie made me fall in love with a writer’s life, and the book, with writing itself.

How do you divide your writing time with your current duties at Pyr? Will we ever see more fiction from you in the future?

Divide? Well, I’ve produced four pieces of publishable short fiction in nine years. But, funny you should mention this… I’ve got a steampunk western that will be appearing in Shimmer magazine at some point in the future, and I just recently completely a fantasy novelette that was written on commission for one of George Mann’s anthologies, only to become homeless when the anthology was put on hold. I worked on it every night for a month, and when George told me the Solaris news (that they are being put up for sale by Games Workshop), my first thought was, “You jerk, you could have told me that last month and saved me all the effort.” But my next—and by next I mean a nano-second later—thought was, “You saint, thank god for keeping your mouth shut or I never would have written it!” And even though it’s homeless, the piece has gotten enough positive reaction from the few trusted readers I’ve shown it too that I’m looking to go back into that world in the relatively near future at longer length.

Around two decades ago, did you ever foresee yourself editing various publications?

No. Around two decades ago I saw myself as an actor with film aspirations, possibly an actor-director (and I did work in Hollywood for at time in the 90s).

There's a couple of your previous work experiences I want to talk about: How did you break into Titan Publishing? Bookface?

Nothing I did came about via any kind of traditional route. With Titan, I had moved to Los Angeles to try and get into film, and had been working as a PA (Production Assistant) on various commercials and rap music videos. That had started to dry up, and my father was giving me the “you are almost too old to go to law school” talk with some regularity. I went out for a three hour jog, terrified that I would have to leave California, and any and all dreams, behind. I realized that I could write, and I thought desperately about getting into journalism. I flipped a mental coin between music journalism or science fiction journalism, and because I knew (via email) a number of writers for Virgin Books’ then Doctor Who New Adventures line, I decided on SF journalism. I went and bought a bunch of scifi magazines (I didn’t read any) and wrote proposals to them all for an interview with some Doctor Who books writers. Only one of them responded – the Larry Flint owned Sci Fi Universe (long gone), who basically said, “We have no interest in Doctor Who articles, but you can go to this small convention in Irvine, CA we’ve been invited to and also have no interest in either in our place if you like.” There I met Jean-Marc Lofficier, then fan-liaison for the BBC/Fox co-produced 1996 Doctor Who telemovie, who a week or so later recommended me to Titan, who were looking for someone in LA to help them start Star Trek Monthly, the first licensed magazine of heft, which would look to be about 80 pages and feature dozens of interviews and hundreds of photos per issue. There wasn’t anything like it previously, and consequently no system at Paramount for dealing with same, and they needed someone on the ground to help hammer it out. Five years and five hundred articles later, when Deep Space Nine was winding down and Voyager was unwatchable, an old friend launching an internet startup in the online publishing space came knocking. I rode the bubble up and down, but crashed with enough literary contacts to segue into freelance editing, then full-time editing.

What were the important lessons you learned in each of those ventures?

I learned that I am at my best when I throw myself in over my head. I learned to trust my gut above someone else’s qualifications. I learned not to wait for opportunity to knock. I learned not to get too comfortable.

How does one become a talented editor, much less an award-winning one?

Well, I haven’t won any awards yet, so I can only talk about becoming an award-nominated one, and as I said above, that was through the backdoor. But I think a talent for editing is first and foremost a talent for appreciating story. Sometimes I think I am nothing so much as the world’s greatest appreciator. My superpower is the ability to get really enthusiastic about what other people do and then to infect you with that enthusiasm. Better stand back if you don’t want to drop a lot of money at the bookstore.

What are the qualities that you look for in a story?

This is broad. But I could narrow it down to two things.

One, there is a certain spark that either is or isn’t there. If it’s there, it’s there from the first sentence and it runs to the end. If it isn’t there at the start, it won’t show up late in the game. People think that editors see tons of atrocious fiction in their submission pile, but the truth is, we see tons of perfectly competent fiction. We’re not looking for diamonds in the rough. We’re looking for diamonds amid the quartz and crystal. There is so much competition out there, both to get published, and then when you do, to get noticed alongside everything else on the shelf. Why take something that fires on only one or two cylinders when next to it is something that fires on all cylinders?

Second, I think I in particular am looking for a narrow band of overlap between commercial and literary fiction, or between stories with enough of a plot and action component to appeal to a broad audience, but a certain elevated writing style that transcends the average.

Could you elaborate on how your wife is responsible for your current employment at Pyr? What made you hesitant to sign up at first?

I was involved in an undertaking that was rapidly going nowhere and dragging me down with it, but to which I felt an unnecessary loyalty, when a former Bookface colleague sent me the job notice from Prometheus books. I didn’t pay it any attention, thinking I had better fish to fry, but my wife retrieved it from my discarded email and said, “Are you crazy? You’re perfect for this.” She made me apply, on the grounds that I could always turn it down but at least I’d know how I was valued. But by the time I flew up to NY to meet the company, I was starting to get excited by the potential. Things sort of snowballed rapidly from there.

What exactly are your various roles and duties as Editorial Director? Don't you need help or clones?

Oh Lord. Let’s see. I read all the manuscripts (Don’t use readers. Can’t and don’t want to teach how I read.) I select the ones that appeal, negotiate with the agents, write up the contracts. Select the cover illustrators. Art direct the cover illustrators. Oversee our art department when it comes to putting type treatments on said covers (our in-house design team of Jackie, Grace and Nicole are wonderful). Oversee the internal layouts. Advise publicity and sales/marketing. Suggest advertising strategies and approve ads. Write the catalog copy. Write the jacket copy (with input from an in-house editor named Peggy Deemer, who is wonderful, and also often from the authors themselves). Plan the seasons (again in collaboration). Talk with some of the buyers and reps (my boss, and my marketing/sales department do most of that talking, but I talk unofficially). Blog, write the newsletter, manage our Twitter and Facebook accounts. Increasingly, (and I’m not complaining), speak at conventions and conferences, give interviews, and opine about the state of science fiction in various forums and various media. But there’s a hundred little things a day that you never see or think of, like checking to make sure the copyright page in a novel remembers to attribute the map properly, or chasing after why a book’s binding suddenly displays incorrectly on Amazon, or basically just pushing a few hundred emails a day back and forth between the people who need something done and the people who do it. Increasingly, my job description is being a conduit for email.

In your opinion, how does Pyr differentiate itself from the other presses out there?

I have been told by more than one reader that we are known for providing a slightly more-engrossing reading experience, a slightly higher level of quality, than the average. We don’t limit ourselves to any one subgenre or style, but we’ve been told by readers, distributors, and bookstore buyers that we’ve nonetheless managed to establish a brand identity where the brand is known for producing consistently high quality reading experiences in consistently good looking packages. As SF Signal recently said, “It's clear to me that Pyr is first and foremost focused on quality— not just in their book selection but also in their production." Or to quote Bookgasm, “Pyr is quickly becoming the standard by which all other sci-fi imprints are judged."

That being said, I want to stress that I don’t see Pyr as being in competition with other imprints. We are all of us in competition with a world that presents increasing distractions enticing or compelling people not to read at all, and every good book published, whoever by, enhances the genre. William Gibson is, for me, the one author that will make me drop everything I’m doing to read his latest novel. I don’t begrudge anyone that. But Gibson only writes one novel every three years or so. That’s about the time it takes Ian McDonald to write one of his masterpieces as well. And Neal Stephenson can take even longer between books. So thank god that they are all of them out there, so admirers of the cutting-edge of smart, literature hard science fiction have enough coming out to keep them engaged and interested and stop them wandering off between Gibson books. In the same way, I know that people who read our David Louis Edelman books are also reading Charles Stross, people who read our Joe Abercrombie titles are also reading Scott Lynch and Patrick Rothfuss, people who are reading Tom Lloyd are also reading Steven Erikson, and people who read our Justina Robson titles are also reading either Patricia Briggs or Charles Stross, (depending on which side of the sci-fantasy combination in Justina’s work speaks to them the strongest). What I’m saying is that every good book published serves and maintains the readership, and every good book published also has the potential to be someone’s introduction to science fiction and fantasy and thus grow that readership. I will always laud good books, whoever publishes them, and applaud the service they do to us all. It’s the bad books that aren’t doing anyone any favors.

How has Pyr adapted to the changes in the publishing industry?

More trade paperbacks, fewer hardcovers. We’re getting serious about ebooks.

But I want to give a shout out here to our Director of Publicity, Jill Maxick, who I think was somewhat ahead of the curve on reaching out to online communities and bloggers. These days, that’s a no brainer, but five years ago when we were just starting out, Jill launched us out of the gate with a heavy outreach to bloggers, and treated online review venues with every bit as much respect as traditional print venues. Again, these days, that’s not a big deal, but the climate was different in 2004, and she deserves massive credit for being one of the first to get it. And that was essential when it came to Pyr making the splash it did.

What are Pyr's future projects (or current, depending on when this interview finally gets published)?

Well, right at this moment I’m very excited by Matthew Sturges’ Midwinter, a fantasy adventure set entirely in the realm of faery that has drawn comparisons to both Joe Abercrombie and Neil Gaiman. And hot on its heels is Blood of Ambrose by James Enge, which is just about the best damn swords & sorcery I’ve ever read. And then we have Mark Chadbourn’s amazing Age of Misrule trilogy, about the return of the ancient Tuatha Dé Danann and all their attendant beasties to modern Britain. Mark’s deconstruction of the true meaning of ancient myth is so authoritative and insightful that I’ve asked him to be my new spiritual adviser. We’re also continuing Tom Lloyd’s tremendous Twilight Reign quintet, and Justina Robson’s Quantum Gravity series. And we’ll see a new fantasy from Joel Shepherd, another John Justin Mallory story from Mike Resnick, the US debut of Paul McAuley’s The Quiet War, a space opera from Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and much more.

Do you have other projects outside of Pyr?

Yes. Currently I’m editing an anthology of superhero fiction for Pocket, co-editing a swords & sorcery anthology with Jonathan Strahan for Eos, blogging and reviewing graphic novels for Tor.com, occasionally penning bits of journalism for magazines like The Believer or Death Ray, and laying the groundwork for a potential novel that I’m about to start writing.

What's your current assessment of the science fiction field?

Lately, I like to point out that Sean Williams’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (a novelization of a computer game) and Neal Stephenson’s Anathem (a work of hard, literate, and demanding SF) both hit number one on the New York Times best seller list within a few weeks of each other. Those books represent between them a pretty broad range of science fiction literature, and for them both to achieve this level of success speaks very well of the current state of the field. Despite the recession, or perhaps because of it, we’ve seen tremendous performance in genre fiction in general, and I think the silver lining of the current economic crisis may be that publishing and bookselling finally gives SF&F the respect that it’s long been due.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

The best advice I can give is to keep reading the people who do it the best and study what they do. Michael Swanwick, whose short fiction is second to none, says that the reason his stories are so good is because he wrote several thousand bad ones first that no one will ever see. My friend and author, Chris Roberson, wrote on short story a day for an entire month in a deliberate effort to learn the craft. (Read his brilliant and mind-boggling End of the Century, btw, if you want to see how he turned out.) And it isn't just about reading for plots or ideas—you should have those on your own and if you don't, no one can help you. It's about writing enough that you encounter the problems for yourself and see them from the inside, and then turning to other people's fiction to study how they worked through various solutions to those same problems when presented with them. And get into a writing group of peers who write too. Classes and groups are only as useful as you make them, and you tend to outgrow them, but they are helpful at the start, if only for overcoming the solitude and building discipline.

Advice for aspiring editors?

If you don’t love it, no one else will. If you can’t see yourself reading it twice, don’t bother finishing it once.

Advice for aspiring publishers?

Make trends, don’t follow them.

Anything else you want to plug?

Yes, we have a Sample Chapters blog page (http://www.pyrsf.com/SampleChapters.html) where we run both sizeable excerpts from our novels and short fiction (some of it original). Right now there are six short stories up, as well as chapter excerpts from forty-three books, with new material going up every month. I’m not sure how many people realize it’s there or what a wealth of material it has already available online for free.

That, and everybody should be reading Kay Kenyon. No really.

July 13, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-13T06:44:00.042+08:00

I'm eagerly anticipating the results of The Shirley Jackson Awards but it wasn't available as of press time.

Interviews

Jeff VanderMeer interviews Minister Faust (Omnivoracious, Ecstatic Days).
Odyssey Workshop interviews Ginjer Buchanan.
Suvudu video records a reading and Q&A with Jacqueline Carey.
ResonanceFM interviews Cory Doctorow (podcast) (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

Advice/Articles

Eric Searleman on Haikasoru vs. Light Novels.
Jeremiah Tolbert on Keeping an Ideas File.
Jeff VanderMeer on Top Ten Little-Known Freelance Writer Survival Tips.
Peter Bognanni on Crop Share Newsletter: Apocalypse Edition.
Nancy Fulda on Where Can I Send My Stories?
Jason Erik Lundberg on Singapore is slowly eating my books.
Jason Sizemore on Using Magcloud magazine POD service–first impression.
Michael Drew on What I Would Do If I Were a Publisher Today.
Megan Messinger on From Death Ray to Star Wars: Nikola Tesla's WMD.
David Weber on About Those Details.
Imogen Russell Williams on A fantastic weekend with Diana Wynne Jones.
Diana Rowland on Thirteen what??
Vonda N. McIntyre on Pitfalls of Writing SF & Fantasy #4: Rampant Capitals.
William Shunn on Confusing book design with manuscript formatting.
PJ Nunn on Mistakes authors make Pt. 2.
Robin Agnew on The Path of a Used Book, or why the Kindle and the Book are Two Different Species.
Bill Lindblad on F is for Fake.
Stroppy Author on Am I a real writer now?
Juliette Wade on Characters and Direction.
Keith Oatley on Romantic Theory of Art.
Marissa Lingen on Fiction and nonfiction, upon a friend's question.

News

Jeffrey Ford has a new story "Baby Hand".
Kindle’s $9.99 Books May Shrink Publishers’ Profits.
Rhysling Winners and Cordwainer Smith Award at Readercon.

If you haven't been reading LCRW yet, now's a good chance to do so:

Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet Number 24

Book/Magazine Review: The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

2009-07-13T06:34:00.000+08:00

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free, bite-sized book/magazine reviews.

Will Elliott manages to tap into something primal with The Pilo Family Circus. Clowns as a source of darkness and depravity isn't new, but the author wraps a compelling narrative around this premise and the plot actually evolves as we progress through the book. At first glance, I expected the novel to be visceral but it instead hooks you through other means: the distinct characters, the atmosphere, and the intrigues surrounding the circus.

What's peculiar with The Pilo Family Circus is that the first part has a different vibe compared to the rest of the book. At first, it seems the clowns are the main antagonists of the story, and there's a significant lack of action taking place. This is perhaps the weakest part of the book but in a certain ways, it also prepares you for what comes after. The rest more than makes up for the satisfactory opening as every chapter is a fight for one's sanity. Any expectations you had coming into the book is shattered as Elliott delivers something alien and satisfying. Most people might describe the book as horror but for me, part of its charm is the various machinations surrounding the second half of the book. There's a clear build-up, both in the text and in the pacing, which eventually escalates into a fitting nexus of chaos. I wouldn't call the writing tight or perfect--and there are some threads which could have been integrated better--but there's also a freshness and boldness to be found here that's genuinely exciting.

On another level though, one can tackle The Pilo Family Circus as a layered text and there are several dualities and metaphors that can be mined here. Our protagonist Jamie is constantly juxtaposed to his roommates, his alter ego JJ, or simply the rest of the cast of the circus. Nearly everyone has a secret or alter ego, and there's a scene where the true nature of the circus is explained.

Despite a certain disparity in the writing, The Pilo Family Circus is an enjoyable read that delivers something different from the norm.

Book/Magazine Review: Medicine Road by Charles de Lint Illustrated by Charles Vess

2009-07-13T06:30:00.000+08:00

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free, bite-sized book/magazine reviews.

I have this genuine appreciation for Medicine Road because it's the type of book that's just the right length and is compelling enough to tear me away from various distractions. I'm not a fan of de Lint but his prose hooks you immediately, and this is actually a pretty book thanks to the artwork of Charles Vess.

For me, Medicine Road is spectacular because its disparate elements all jive together. The narrative for example is preceded by a poem which conjures the appropriate atmosphere. The first chapter itself captures a certain native American tone and while it's very different from the succeeding chapters, it doesn't feel out of place in the context of the book. And then you have your cast of characters--actually a good number of them but it's to de Lint's credit that he makes each one distinct in so few words. The story works because of this intricate web of relationships, which in turn reinforces one of the themes of the novel. And then there's the art of Vess which is gorgeous, but there's a scene where the timing is perfect as one is treated to a spread at a critical moment. This might be considered a cheap trick by some but it definitely makes an impact. Last is de Lint's language which is simple enough but possesses a certain charm that's apt for this tale.

Reading Medicine Road is experiencing a short novel that's polished and precise. The author has some indulgences--there's a tuckerization that stands out to genre readers--but for the most part it's tight and no longer than necessary. There's not a lot of books that can sustain my interest despite having lots of distractions and this is easily one such book.

July 10, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-10T06:42:00.035+08:00

Happy birthday Ekaterina Sedia! And to those at ReaderCon, enjoy!

And for writers, just reminding you of John Joseph Adam's call for stories in his upcoming anthology The Way of the Wizard.

Here's your zen photo for the day for those curious what I do for work:

Interviews

The Pub Call podcast with Mark Bertils, Kat Meyer, Richard Nash, and Kassia Krozser.
Bret Jordan interviews R.A. and Geno Salvatore.
Rae Bryant interviews Nadia Bulkin.
Cindy Hannikman interviews James Maxey.
Kate Torgovnick interviews Joshua Lyon.
Lev Grossman interviews Michael Moorcock.

Advice/Articles

SF Signal MIND MELD: Guide to International SF/F (Part III).
The Penguin Blog on Publicity 2.0, or Online Book PR, or 'Blog me the money!'
Monica Valentinelli on My Stance on Writing for Free.
Stuart Evers on Whom do you trust to read your work?
Rob Lammle on The Endless Summer Reading List: 14 Long-Running Novel Series.
Russ Juskalian on You Didn’t Plagiarize, Your Unconscious Did.
Agent Kristin on Is Publishing Just About To Be Disrupted?
Christine H on Top 7 Books/Series to Read After Twilight.
Edward Nawotka on How the Tokyo Book Fair Helps Rights Seekers.
Margaret Ronald on Put on your Sunday clothes.
NK Jemisin on Ideas Between the Lines.
Nancy Jane Moore on The Way of the Warrior: Zapped by the Bolt of Enlightenment.
Maria Schneider on Is Editing Worth It?
Justine Larbalestier on The Joy of Outrage.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch on The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Money, Part Five.
Jeffery Wagscot on Blaming the Beermaker.

News

Expanded Horizons having a call for its Fairy Tale issue.
Rift in the Sky contest.
Sunburst Award Finalists.

So I couldn't resist posting a pic...

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2009/7/5

2009-07-10T06:39:00.001+08:00

From USA Today's best-seller list (you can find out their basis here):

Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Hidden Currents by Christine Feehan
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

July 9, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-09T07:33:00.051+08:00

Old post, new comments! In Jeff VanderMeer's War of All Against All: Realism vs Fabulism? Er, No…, lots of insightful points are being discussed in the comments (108 at last count).

Interviews

The Nebula Awards interviews Richard Bowes.
Rick Kleffel interviews Lou Anders (podcast).
Evan Davis interviews Alastair Reynolds and Adam Roberts.

Advice/Articles

Joshua Palmatier on Revisions: The Onset of Doubt.
James A. Owen on How To Make Your Managing Editor Bonkers.
Jeff VanderMeer on Love Drunk Book Heads: What’s Your Most Revelatory Book Experience.
Eric Searleman on Haikasoru Double.
Greg van Eekhout on Paper versus.
Jeremiah Tolbert on This Week’s Editoral Advice: Do Not Reply to Rejection Letters.
Seth Godin on The purpose of a book cover.
John Fox on Ten Guidelines for Structuring a Short Story Collection.
Mark Chadbourn on "The Invisible Hand of the Gods of Writing".
David Weber On Religion and Safehold.
Charlie Stross on How I got here in the end, part twelve: the end of the beginning.
Maria Schneider on 5 Evergreen Editing Tips.
Sharon Wheeler on A nasty dose of déjà vu.
Rachelle Gardner on When Three Agents Have Lunch.
Andrew Wheeler on Book Marketing 101: Co-Op at The Chains.
The Book Publicity Blog on What to include on author websites.
Janice Hardy on Re-Write Wednesday: Get Over Overstating.
Keith Oatley on Fiction as Waking Dream.

News

Check this out:

Strange Brew edited by P.N. Elrod

July 8, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-08T06:06:00.068+08:00

Happy birthday to Jeff VanderMeer!

A partial table of contents of the upcoming local virtual anthology The Farthest Shore has been posted (two reprints but both were in the Honorable Mentions of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror).

And check out Shira Lipkin's Blogathon to raise money for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.

Interviews

The Shirley Jackson Awards interviews Darrell Schweitzer.
Mike Perschon interviews Rudy Rucker.
Patricia Altner interviews Cecilia Tan.
Innsmouth Free Press interviews J. Kathleen Cheney.
Adventures in SciFi Publishing interviews Greg van Eekhout (podcast).
Craig Laurance Gidney interviews Dennis Cooper.
Scott Esposito interviews Denise Oswald (Soft Skull Press).

Advice/Articles

Valentin D. Ivanov on A Statistical Study of Locus Online's "Notable Books".
Rose Lemberg on A side note on writerly jealousy..
Deirdre Donahue on Scholarly writers empower the romance genre.
Ed Grabianowski on The Best Way To Break Into Science Fiction Writing Is Online Publishing.
Adrienne Kress on The New YA.
Kevin A. Barnes on Wolfram|Alpha for Science Fiction Writers.
Michael Stackpole on The Myth of Formula.
Kirsten Giebutowski on Things I Have Written in Cover Letters.
Hal Duncan On Mimetic and Maieutic Fiction.
Jeff VanderMeer asks Where Do You Head For in a Bookstore?
Alan Rinzler on Choosing a freelance editor: What you need to know.
Dean Wesley Smith on Life After Copyright.
Charlotte Phillips on Are Editors On a Power Trip?
Heather Massey on How To Take A Negative Review With Grace.
Patrick Nielsen Hayden on John Scalzi is right.
Paula Guran on Urban Fantasy Covers: The New Realism.
Mike Brotherton on Reacting to People as Art.
Sarah Monette on When Last We Left Our Heroes . . .
Juliette Wade on The Puppet Problem.
Eric on Book Sales Demystified.
Cheryl Klein on Four Techniques to Get at the Emotional Heart of Your Story.
John Grant on writer jealousy.

News

Paul Di Filippo's "Return to Cockaigne" now available for free.
Hint Fiction anthology guidelines.
Nojiri wins 2009 Seiun Award!
Bordertown Lives!
After a 44-year labour of love, world’s biggest thesaurus is born.
Chronicle Books looking for Contracts and Permissions Assistant.
Happy Birthday, Robert A. Heinlein, Science Fiction Writer and Author of “Stranger in a Strange Land”.
Short list for the Prix Europeén Utopiales 2009.
New crime publisher Tyrus Books.
McSweeney's sale!
Redundancies at Penguin UK, Fraser to retire, Weldon steps up.
Orbit Books on The Most Awesomely Bad SFF Cover in the World.

And from the talented Lisa Mantchev:

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Essay: How Long Does It Take You to Finish A Book?

2009-07-08T05:58:00.001+08:00

Every Wednesday, I have an essay or feature article on any topic that catches my fancy!

“I am a reader.” It’s such a weird statement to say, especially when you’re surrounded by literate people. Surely, everyone who’s learned English—or whatever your national language happens to be—knows how to read. But just like that not every person who’s taught to play the piano becomes an actual musician, or anyone who’s taken photography classes becomes a professional photographer, there’s a big difference between being able to read and actually becoming a reader. There will be people who’ve genuinely finished an entire novel but can’t genuinely be called a reader. They betray their ignorance with a simple and common question: how long does it take you to finish reading a book?

I’ve been asked this question a thousand times, usually when people spot me reading a paperback in public. In retrospect, it’s a question I dare not ask other readers, because it’s unfair. Books have no formula and come in all shapes, sizes, and content. Reading a novella is very different from reading The Bible. Or a collection of poems compared to a collection of short stories. Authors use various techniques and styles, some of which require meticulous reading, others so superficial than one can get by glossing entire paragraphs. Even the most formulaic of writers will make distinctions between their books so that it’s really difficult to say whether Book A will take as much time for me to read as Book B.

There is also the reader’s temperament to consider. A lot of factors will intrude into my life that affect how I read a book. There are days when I barely pick up a book and spend a minute or two reading a page. But there are also times when I am inspired and devour the most dense of texts in a matter of hours and eager to consume the next title I come across.

One might attempt to quantify the question by stating “the average.” While I might have an average temperament, there is truly no average book, a rule that dictates most books should be written in Style X and contains XX number of pages. If reading were a competition, I might compare my reading speed to someone reading the same book (i.e. how long did it take you to read Book A?). Or sometimes, we compare notes with fellow readers, asking them how long it took to finish reading that book. But that’s seldom the situation I find myself faced with. What’s more common is someone asking me how long it took me to finish the book I'm currently reading and there’s a part of me that wants to reply I'll be done with it when I’m done. Before then, I don’t know how long it’ll take me. To answer such a question requires me to know the actual contents of the item in question and if I knew that, why would I be reading it in the first place?

July 7, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-07T03:37:00.049+08:00

Currently suffering from a fever so if my posts aren't ~~lucid~~ coherent...

Anyway, even though I won't be attending, I'm excited about Readercon. There's the Shirley Jackson Awards, and the Prime Books both will be having copies of Philippine Speculative Fiction IV and A Time for Dragons (just sent them around 5 copies though so...).

Interviews

The Shirley Jackson Awards interviews Tom English.
Temple Library Reviews interviews the staff of Fantasy Book Critic.
Maggie Jamison interviews Nate Kenyon.
Mur Lafferty interviews Laura Mixon (podcast).
Suvudu interviews Robin Furth.

Advice/Articles

Jeff VanderMeer on War of All Against All: Realism vs Fabulism? Er, No…
Nicholas Kauffman on The State of the Genre: The Monster Outside the Closet.
Moonrat on Why do British novels often have different titles in the US (and vice versa)?
Warren Ellis on 'We could all have swine flu by the time you read this'.
Marshall Payne on Top Ten Things a Writer Does to Write That They Don't Tell Anyone.
Electric Velocipede on Prompt One.
Jeremiah Tolbert on Don’t Damage Your Brand as a Marketing Twhore.
Cheryl Morgan on Electronic Submissions - A Tangent.
Lisa Mantchev on Oh, The Glamour.
Jason Henninger on High School Library of the Unexplained.
Jonathan Strahan on Finding Fritz - Editing The Best of Fritz Leiber.
Cory Doctorow on Cheap Facts and the Plausible Premise.
Sarah Weinman on Why do some publishers release some serial mysteries out of order? The unfortunate case of Fred Vargas.
Steven Harper Piziks on In Defense of Adverbs.
Justine Larbalestier on Agent Websites are Irrelevant (updated).
Jonathan Strahan on Paper vs. electrons: Submitting stories in 2009.
Rachelle Gardner on Should You Try to Write What's HOT?
Janice Hardy on Just the Facts, Ma'am.
Ronnie de Sousa on Fiction and Imaginative Resistance.

News

Important! Ways to support Apex Magazine.
Paul Di Filippo reviews Nog.
Volunteer at Worldcon for the dealer’s room, autographs, or the SFWA suite.
New issue of Apex Magazine.
SFWA Contact an Author program.
New issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
Prometheus Award Announced.
Edmond Hamilton Day.

For your book plug:

Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

Interview: Sébastien Doubinsky

2009-07-07T03:15:00.004+08:00

Every Tuesday, I'll have an interview posted.

Sebastien Doubinsky is the author of The Babylonian Trilogy. His upcoming books from PS Publishing include Absinth and The Potemkin Overture.

Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. First off, can you tell us something about yourself? Can I ask what's your day job?

I teach French and French literature at the university of Århus, in Denmark. And I love my job – I have great students, super colleagues and the luck of having one of the best contemporary Indian writers, Tabish Khair, as friend and colleague in the English department. Coffee breaks are great and quite literary!

As for more personal matters, I am French, 45 years old, married to my wonderfully patient wife, Sofie, and have two children, Theodore and Selma. Before moving back to Denmark last year, we lived for 8 years in Paris.

How did you come up with the concept for The Babylonian trilogy? What was your goal in writing it?

The concept actually took a while to appear. I wrote The Gardens of Babylon (the last part of the Trilogy) first, in the late 80s, and at the time I wanted to re-create some of the ambient bad (and stimulating) craziness that seemed to pervade these years.

I started on The Birth of Television according to Buddha (the first part) during the first Iraqi war, wanting to metaphorize the seemingly never ending Western/Capitalistic conflicts that plague our history and how they seem to shape our society’ subconscious –like Vietnam, for instance, or the Colonial wars. As I was ploughing through it, I suddenly realized how much this book was linked with The Gardens of Babylon and began toying with the idea of somehow linking them together.

The connection was made through Yellow Bull (the middle part), which was written in disgusted reaction with the “Psycho-killer” fascination of the mid-nineties – suddenly, its very different format (a detective novel, sort of) seemed like the perfect transition.

I also liked the idea of a patchwork novel – in which every side of the city is revealed from a different angle…

How did PS Publishing end up publishing your book?

"End up”, that is an excellent definition! Ha, ha! They did hesitate for a short while…

But, seriously, it was, on their part, quite a courageous decision. I had the luck of meeting Michael Moorcock in Paris, through a common friend, old Mighty Baby guitarist Martin Stone, and we became friends. After many conversations, right before leaving back for Texas, he asked me to read something of mine and I gave him (trembling) the Babylonian Trilogy manuscript. Fortunately for me, he loved it and recommended it to PS Publishing.

Peter Crowther liked it too, and ended up publishing it, after some reflection, as the style was… hmmm, different from what he usually publishes. And to my great pleasure, Michael Moorcock accepted to write the introduction.

What I liked about The Babylonian Trilogy is that you have a distinct voice and style. How did you develop it?

That is a very, very difficult question to answer.

I would say that I have always loved fragmentary writing, such as Joyce, Burroughs and Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius series, for instance, and border-pushing music – like Sonic Youth in the 80-90s and today Matt Gangi or Gesus Crystler. I do not like comfort for writers and therefore I try to go as far as I can without scaring away the reader, whom I (strangely) always respect – but I am a reader too, after all.

But I do write to put myself in danger and to express myself as freely as I can. I feel that if there is no danger, then there is no reason to write. No worth. No meaning.

Any difficulties in writing the novel?

A lot, of course! But, apart from writer’s block (which always happens after a very satisfying period of “good work”), I can’t remember precisely what!

What made you decide to pursue writing?

When I was twenty years old, I decided to try and write as honestly as I could and never regret one published line. Ten novels later - so far, so good.

In many ways, I am – like Burroughs, Ballard or Moorcock – a very political writer and I feel that the things that made me angry in my youth are still here or have worsened. So to keep writing seems to me very essential. And for my readers too, I hope.

Do you now consider yourself an author?

Yes, definitely. I have published ten novels in France. It’s about time, no?

Could you tell us something more about them?

In French, like I said, I love to explore and subvert genres.

Two of my novels are pseudo-historical novels (Les vies Parallèles de Nicolaï Bakhmaltov, which takes place between the two world wars, starting with the Russian revolution, and Fragments d'une révolution, in which I have transposed pre-1911 Mexican revolution events to the late sixties, with a touch of magic-realism)

Mira Ceti is an experimental "travel" novel passing through seven cities.

La comédie urbaine is a trilogy about three slackers in today's France, trying to fulfill their dreams.

Le livre muet and Les Fantômes du soir are both magic-realist novels dealing with the issue of creation, identity and, of course, death...

I have put out two crime-fiction novels, Les ombres de la croix and Star.

To be complete, I also have published three collections of poems and a fourth is coming out this spring...

Who are some of your favorite authors or what are some of your favorite books?

Like I mentioned before, Burroughs and Moorcock are among my favourite. I could definitely say The Place of Dead Roads and Nova Express for Burroughs and Mother London and The Cornelius Quartet for Moorcock.

How did you first hear of PS Publishing? Why did you think your novel as a fit for them?

Actually (and I hope Pete won’t be mad at me for that!) I first heard of PS Publishing when Michael Moorcock told me about them… But I immediately looked them up on the Net and thought I might indeed have my chance there – it was so wonderfully various and strange! And with writers with great personalities, from Ramsey Campbell to the great, less-known but wonderfully bizarre and poetic David Herter, whom I strongly recommend!

Do you intend to be a genre author or more of a literary writer (or something else entirely)? How would you describe your writing?

I am, actually, a “genre” author, in the sense that I love genre because it enables you to destroy it! In French, I did explore various genres, from crime fiction to classical narratives and in English, I would coin my work as “Hard-fiction”, as it borders on “speculative” fiction and “new weird”, without really belonging to any of them. I would tag under “hard-fiction” all borderline books, from Durrell’s Tunc and Nunquam, to Zamyatin and Kafka…

What's your opinion when it comes to the speculative fiction field?

It’s a hard question to answer because I think it’s an enormous field, with a lot of good things and a ton of crap… I like speculative fiction when it attacks pre-conceived ideas on all sides –and I hate it when it becomes preaching material. For instance, I love Orwell’s 1984 and Huxley’s Brave New World, but find Houellebecq’s Possibility of an island quite insipid…

Anything else you want to plug?

Watch out! If you enjoyed The Babylonian Trilogy, I have a couple more weird novels up my sleeve…

July 6, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-06T05:50:00.089+08:00

Hello new followers! Blushes that Jeffrey Ford and Moonrat reads this blog.

Oh, and you guys should check out Andrew Drilon's "The Secret Origin of Spin-Man" courtesy of the talented Anna Tambour (seriously--go buy her books!).

Interviews

Chris Roberson guest blogs at Electric Velocipede.
David Steffen interviews David Farland.
Benny Alberts interviews Lauren Beukes.
Mur Lafferty interviews Matthew Wayne Selznick (podcast).
The Odyssey Podcasts features Bruce Holland Rogers (podcast).
Poisoned Rationality interviews Lisa Mantchev.
Newsweek on The Right Stuff (author roundtable).
SF in SF Panel from June 20, 2009 – Pat Murphy, Lisa Goldstein, and Michaela Roessner Hosted by Rick Kleffel (podcast).
Bookspot Central interviews Gabrielle Faust.

Advice/Articles

Shweta Narayan on YA Fantasy book lists for characters of color and Addendum to the last post.
Scott Edelman on How to Respond to Criticism.
Jeff VanderMeer on The Full-Time Writing Life: If It Doesn’t Kill You First, It’ll Kill You Second.
Jeremiah Tolbert on Write a Complimentary Note to a Writer or Editor Day.
Mary Robinette Kowal on Fantasy Revolutions That Make for Fantastic Holidays.
Joshua Palmatier on Writing: Revisions: Inserting a New Scene.
Various writers chime in on To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish...
Jason Ridler on Hearing the Music.
Laura Miller on The spirit of the Vampire Slayer lives on in the kickass young heroines of urban fantasy fiction. Ellen Kushner reacts.
Rae Carson Finlay on Writer Jealousy Rant.
Smashing Magazine on 50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills.
John Scalzi on And Yes, In Fact, While We’re On the Subject of “The Big Three”. Gordon Van Gelder reacts.
More John Scalzi: F&SF’s Writing Workshop and Dear Writers: For God’s Sake, Don’t Assume You’ll Get Paid.
Heather Havrilesky on Science Fiction With a Smile.
Mark Sullivan on Neuromancer turns 25: What it got right, what it got wrong.
Sean Wallace on Myth Busting: Quality and Quantity of Submissions, vs Print and Online.
Marshall Payne on Top Ten Things Writers Do When They Have a Story Rejected.
Elizabeth Bear gives some writing advice.
Rachel Aaron on My, Problem.
Vadanya Singh on Journey to Kanpur: Days One and Two of SF Workshop at IIT.
Vonda N. McIntyre on Pitfalls of Writing SF & Fantasy #3: Subjunctive Tension.
Sue Lange on Watching the Singularity.
Charlie Stross on How I got here in the end, part eleven: the music stops.
Nicola Morgan on Truth Hurts - So Unleash Your Hidden Masochist.
PJ Nunn on Mistakes We Make.
Justine Larbalestier on Why Does It Matter?
Kristine Kathryn Rusch on What's Louder than Noise?
Mike Brotherton on Some Uncomfortable Questions About SF and Fantasy.
Nnedi Okorafor on No SF or F for the Penguin Prize for African Writing? What?!
Lou Anders on Things to Look Forward To For the Next Year.
Diana Pharaoh Francis on Writing By The Seat Of The Pants Part II.
Alma Alexander on When Writers Review...
Gerard Houarner on Whether Workshops.
Alan Russell on Boohoo: My Life as a Ghost.
Stroppy Author on Free at the Point of Use.
Andrew Wheeler on One of Many Half-Assed Stabs at Defining Science Fiction.
Janice Hardy on Pondering the Prologue.
Raymond A. Mar on You Are What You Eat.
Larry "Novel" on A few more thoughts on literary fiction.
Adam L. Penenberg on Amazon Taps Its Inner Apple.
Megan Messinger on MacVampire Production Diary: T minus 9.

News

Anthology Builder's Match-That-Artwork Contest.
Zoran Zivkovic's first novel rights goes to PS Publishing.
The Angry Black Woman on Fictional Highlights.
"Surprise" sci fi win at Edge Hill.
Amazon Wants Patent For Inserting Ads Into Books.
No New Titles for Black Lace and Nexus.
Context Writing Workshops.

And for something different:

The Tel Aviv Dossier by Lavie Tidhar and Nir Yaniv

Book/Magazine Review: Mystery Hill by Alex Irvine

2009-07-06T05:40:00.000+08:00

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free, bite-sized book/magazine reviews.

Sometimes, enjoying a book is all about expectations. Take Mystery Hill for example. While I've heard of Alex Irvine, this is the first time I've actually read any of his work. The only preconceptions I brought with me was that this was a PS Publishing title, so this has to be good. It's not that I was disappointed with Mystery Hill, but it's definitely not a literary heavyweight. Rather, this is more of a fun title: it's decent, accessible, and has a couple of entertaining moments. Length is also important here and while Irvin's humor might get tiresome in a longer piece, it more than holds its own as a novella.

To Irvine's credit, he writes an opening that immediately hooks you and engages the reader with possibilities. Unfortunately, the direction which he steers the book isn't where I wanted it to go but that's not the author's fault and he does succeed in his modest goals. What I want to focus on is the humor because as the story progresses, it's handled with more finesse and subtlety rather than the direct commentary he employs early on. Aside from that, Irvine is a competent writer: the pace is quick, the language is simple and functional, and at the heart of Mystery Hill is an intent to entertain. It's not necessarily the type of fiction that would amaze me or make it high on my priority list, but it was nonetheless an amusing trip, more along the lines of bump cars than a roller coaster.

As long as your expectations are set, Mystery Hill is a fun read. Irvine creates a scenario that has the right doses of humor and bizarreness in easily consumable chunks.

Book/Magazine Review: Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

2009-07-06T05:18:00.001+08:00

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free, bite-sized book/magazine reviews.

Right from the get-go, Moxyland reads like a post-cyberpunk novel that's updated for modern times. You still have the greedy mega-corporations, the hackers, and the street slang but instead of outdated technology, Lauren Beukes fills the details with both familiar and not-so-familiar ubiquity. The strength of Beukes is that she writes with such passion and sensibility, a style completely her own, that the novel comes out as fresh and dynamic. She packs all the attitude and confidence, giving Moxyland a distinct character.

Not that this novel is perfect, mind you. While the author uses multiple characters, they all sound the same, making their individuality not as striking. There's also an attempt to add cultural diversity and while Beukes includes a few details here and there, they fail to sound authentic as every character seems to be consumed by the dystopic setting. Having said that, what you end up with is a very focused novel, and to Beuke's credit, the atmosphere and setting is consistent. She captures this sense of intrigue and paranoia, and writing flaws be damned, concentrates on what she does best.

I'm honestly not a fan of cyberpunk but Moxyland seems to be a perfect fit for fans of that subgenre. Beukes reminds me of an early William Gibson while still retaining her own unique voice. The book isn't perfect but it caters to a specific audience and I can easily imagine some readers clinging to the book solely on the strength of Beukes' writing style.

Book/Magazine Review: Slights by Kaaron Warren

2009-07-06T05:15:00.001+08:00

Every Monday, I'll be doing spoiler-free, bite-sized book/magazine reviews.

The protagonist of Slights suffers from a particular mania and it's a testament to Kaaron Warren's skill that the reader shares in her voyeurism and curiosity as one can't seem to pry their eyes from the page. This novel has a dark sensibility that's not overt but rather narrated as if it were the most natural thing in the world--and you'd believe it. Combine this with the other character-centric elements Warren includes and I can easily imagine this book nominated for something like The Shirley Jackson Awards in 2010.

Warren is actually faced with an unoriginal challenge: creating character investment for the least sympathetic of characters. But due to her language and technique--most noteworthy is her repeated use of "false futures"--scenes are fresh and keeps the readers on their toes. Another interesting element in the prose is the sense of time that's apt for the horror Warren is attempting to build upon. In many ways, it's anti-horror, because rather than going for one big shocking moment, what's presented is a prolonged darkness that is even more disturbing upon closer inspection.

There's also some mystery elements added in, including a puzzle, but these are, in my opinion, unnecessary. In fact, there's a couple of micro-narratives in the book that add color and detail, but I feel ends up being too long. Still, despite these complaints, Slights is this weird animal (in a good way) that's atmospheric and different from a lot of novels that's out there, and not just due to the subject matter, but because of the author's talent and skill.

July 3, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-03T04:58:00.025+08:00

*Gushes* Jeffrey Ford on Philippine Speculative Fiction IV.

On less optimistic news, Jeremiah Tolbert's aunt needs help.

Interviews

Publishing Trends interviews Juliet Ulman.

Advice/Articles

Monica Valentinelli on Why Not Every Book Promotion Will Work For Your Book.
Jo Ann Vicarel on When Mysteries Invade Science Fiction and Fantasy...
Shine Anthology on Crazy Story Ideas, part 4A: Ageing in the EU.
Jeff Gerke on Show or Tell?
Megan Messinger on MacVampire Production Diary: T minus 10.
Jason Henninger on Luke, I Am Your Spoiler Warning!
NK Jemisin on Push It! (just not too much).
Nancy Jane Moore on A Copyright Exception for Continuing the Conversation?
Editorial Anonymous on Bookstores and Not-Bookstores.
Sharon Wheeler on Think Before You Twitter.
Justine Larbalestier on Pontificating About How Writers Get Paid.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch on The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Money, Part Four.
Jennifer Fulwiler on How to Build Traffic on Your Blog, Part 2.
Steve & Melanie Tem on How Much Do You Need to Start?
Eric Rosenfield on How to Write a Book in Three Days: Lessons from Michael Moorcock.

News

Gone fishing.

Clarkesworld Magazine #34

Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2009/6/28

2009-07-03T04:46:00.001+08:00

From USA Today's best-seller list (you can find out their basis here):

Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
The Shack by William P. Young
Catastrophe by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann

July 2, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-02T08:54:00.046+08:00

Working on a holiday.

Interviews

The Nebula Awards interviews Cory Doctorow.
The Shirley Jackson Awards interviews John Kessel.
Falcata Times interviews Kaaron Warren.
Zone Horror interviews Kaaron Warren.
Nick Mamatas interviews Joseph Reeder.
Rick Kleffel interviews Michaela Roessner (podcast).
Locus Magazine interviews Kay Kenyon (excerpt).
Haven Thompson interviews Neil Gaiman.
Novelists Inc. interviews Paula Guran.

Advice/Articles

Sheila Finch on Fantastic Voyages.
SF Signal MIND MELD: Guide to International SF/F (Part II).
Joshua Palmatier on Writing: Revisions: Inserting Resurrected Scenes, An Example.
Jeff VanderMeer on Self-Publishing: When to Do It, When Not to Do It, and More.
Paul Di Filippo on Sidney Carroll Story.
Douglas Cohen on I Iz Learning.
Matt Cheney on Mimetic Fiction.
Paul Goat Allen on Science Fiction is Dead! Long Live Science Fiction!
Jay Lake on Moving the Goalpost.
Margaret Ronald on Where the Story Ends.
Angela Slatter on On the (ig)Noble Art of Sacrifice.
Charlie Stross on How I got here in the end, part ten: head-first into the Singularity.
Lynne Patrick on Rant of the Week.
Rachelle Gardner on Writing Contests.
David Niall Wilson on Collecting Characters on the Road.
Juliette Wade on Layers of Complexity - Revisions.
Andrew Wheeler on Book Marketing 101: Amazon.com.
The Book Publicity Blog on Promoting author events on calendar/listings sites.
Janice Hardy on Re-Write Wednesday: Preposition Patrol.

News

And some Angry Robot/Kaaron Warren love:

Slights by Kaaron Warren

July 1, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-07-01T07:44:00.038+08:00

Check out this musical parody c/o Mary Robinette Kowal: Web Site Story.

Interviews

Richard Dansky interviews Angel Leigh McCoy.
Rick Kleffel interviews Pat Murphy (podcast).
Horror Reanimated interviews Angry Robot Press.
Innsmouth Free Press interviews Kirk Barrett.

Advice/Articles

Cat Rambo on Your Breakfast.
Rachelle Gardner on How Much Editing Can an Agent Do?
Nick Mamatas on Freelance Writing Money, Part II.
Berrien C. Henderson on Tales from the Slushfiles #3: Keep ‘em Coming!
Jeff VanderMeer on Revising Fiction by David Madden: Leading by Example (and with TOC Checklist).
Joshua Bilmes on A Bookscanner Darkly. Jim C. Hines chimes in on Bookscan.
John Klima on PROMPT: What book would people be surprised to know you enjoyed reading?
Michael Moorcock, Alan Moore, Iain Sinclair transcript.
Simon J R Holmes on Five Narrative Techniques You Wish You’d Invented.
Kent Woodyard on Non-Essential Mnemonics.
Lovecraft Chick tract.
Nicholas Lezard on Three cheers for authors who shun publicity.
Brian James on Judging a Book By Its Cover.
TA Pratt on Bones and Boats and Experimental Publishing.
Justine Larbalestier on Some More Incoherent Thoughts on the Author/Reviewer Relationship.
Alma Alexander on I Am Not Looking For Me.

News

Paul Di Filippo reviews The Price of Spring.
Wheatland Press is on sale.
Douglas Cohen on ROF August Issue: Update.
Anthology Builder is having a pop sale.

And something you can pre-order:

Steampunk-Style Jewelry: A Maker's Collection of Victorian, Fantasy, and Mechanical Designs by Jean Campbell

Feature: What Publishers Can Learn from Other Genre Publications

2009-07-01T06:15:00.000+08:00

Every Wednesday, I have an essay or feature article on any topic that catches my fancy!

For me, the present is this big transition period in the publishing industry (although like the Renaissance, the rate of advancement varies from country to country--here in the Philippines, the traditional publishing model is just as effective as it was a decade or two ago [or maybe it never really worked]) and while I bemoan policies like DRM, here's a couple of interesting policies and practices (from the perspective of the consumer/reader) I'm witnessing from some speculative fiction publishers.

1) Order the Book, Get the PDF Now (Paizo Publishing) - While not necessarily a "fiction" publication, Paizo Publishing has a great policy with its RPG products. Order any of their titles and you get a free PDF of the book. With all the arguments on books vs. eBooks, this is the best of both worlds, and also provides instant gratification while you wait for the books to arrive at your doorstep.

2) Custom Anthologies (Anthology Buider) - It's not quite the micro-transaction business model but the ability to create your own anthology is a neat feature, especially for voracious short story readers like me. What's even better is that Anthology Builder handles all of the copyright issues so all one has to do is select which stories you want to obtain. The only limitation is the actual selection of authors/stories available but hopefully that willl develop further in the future (and right now it's certainly possible to create something like a People of Color speculative fiction anthology).

3) Buy a PDF and Get 1 Free (GUD Magazine) - The problem with some eBooks is that while it's technically possible to "share" them to other people, it's usually not legal to do so. GUD Magazine has a policy that when you buy a PDF, you get an access code which you can give to a friend so they get a copy of the issue too!

4) Microtransactions (GUD Magazine) - While not advertised at the front page, it's actually possible to purchase individual poems/stories from GUD Magazine. The system for fiction microtransactions isn't perfect (preview is limited to excerpts) but it's a start.

4) Creative Commons (Small Beer Press) - What's better than points #3 and #4? Free eBooks! Small Beer Press actually has some of their titles available for download under the Creative Commons License in a variety of formats. It's the ideal model for those with the try-before-you-buy mentality.

5) Labeled e-ARCs (GUD Magazine) - More of a concern for reviewers, GUD Magazine labels each review copy they send to reviewers. On one hand, since it's uniquely labeled, it makes the reviewer feel special. On the other hand, it also makes sure that if somebody illegally distributes the magazine, they know who to blame...

June 30, 2009 Links and Plugs

2009-06-30T06:54:00.046+08:00

Vera Nazarian: *No one* knows how to use Facebook. Most of the time we try to keep it from using *us*.

And check out this short video on 80's Saturday morning cartoons.

Interviews

The Shirley Jackson Awards interviews Doug Dorst.
If You're Just Joining Us interviews Richard Kadrey (podcast).
Rick Kleffel interviews China Mieville (podcast).

Advice/Articles

James A. Owen on Regarding Selling Out As An Artist.
Ann & Jeff VanderMeer's The New Weird Anthology – Notes and Introduction.
Borrowed time: women Cuban science fiction writers -- preface to an anthology by Raúl Aguiar.
Damien G. Walter on When The Lord of the Rings doesn't cut it: confessions of a fantasy junkie.
Jeremiah Tolbert on An Editor’s Perspective on Rejection.
John Klima on Ever buy a book for its design?
Nick Mamatas on Freelance Writing Money, Part 1.
Joshua Palmatier on Writing: Revisions, They Continue . . . Zombie Style.
Vroman's Bookstore on I am Trying to Break Your Heart and the Future of Content.
Diana Rowland on How Long?
Greg van Eekhout on Learning to Fly Solo.
Charlie Stross on How I got here in the end, part nine: the little start-up that could.
Editorial Ass on Pre-Editing (Or, My Thoughts on Hiring Freelance Developmental Editors Pre-Submission).
Justine Larbalestier on Some Incoherent Thoughts on the Author/Reviewer Relationship.
Rachelle Gardner on Have You Written More Than One Book?
Stroppy Author on Dividing the Spoils.
The Book Publicity Blog on When is the best time to run a book review?
Keith Oatley on Art and Politics.

News

T.A. Pratt's chapter one of Bone Shop. Donate!
Campbell and Sturgeon Award winners announced.
Paul G. Tremblay's The Harlequin & The Train can be read for free at Issuu. Then go buy the actual book!
50% Off Sale on SubPress Forthcoming Titles.
Alice Hoffman reacts to a review.
Readercon program.
Check out the SFWA beta.
New free read: download a PDF version of THE STRANGELING.

Try this out:

Hatter Bones edited by Paul Jessup

Interview: Nathan Ballingrud

2009-06-30T04:57:00.001+08:00

Every Tuesday, I'll have an interview posted.

Nathan Ballingrud has published stories in SCIFICTION, The Third Alternative, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, The Year's Best Fantasy & Horror, Inferno, and The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Hi! Thanks for agreeing to do the interview! I want to start with the basics: why did you decide to write genre fiction?

Unlike most writers in the field, I didn’t really discover this genre until I went to college. I never read Bradbury or Heinlein as a kid. Most of my reading was in a genre of one sort or another – Stephen King and John LeCarre, for example – but the notion that there was a literary tradition of fantastical fiction, and a community devoted to it, was completely new to me. There was a bookstore near UNC-Chapel Hill called Second Foundation, and it just seemed kind of cool, so I went in and browsed. I picked up a book called Deathbird Stories, by Harlan Ellison, and a new world opened up to me. I soon discovered Philip K. Dick, Michael Bishop, and many others. And of course the digest magazines. I’ve always been a geek, and I responded immediately to the trappings of the genre. It wasn’t so much the stories themselves, always, as it was the fact that they had spaceships in them, or robots, or ghosts in the cellar. So the decision to write in the genre wasn’t conscious, really; I was simply settling down in friendly country.

In Jeff Vandermeer's interview, you mentioned selling your short story to F&SF and then ceased writing altogether. What made you finally come back to writing fiction?

Well, when I stopped writing it was because I realized I couldn’t produce the kind of fiction that moved me. I could write a piece of fluff like “She Found Heaven,” and I could use some pretty language, but I couldn’t produce anything with any real substance to it. Stories like Hemingway’s “A Day’s Wait” and Richard Ford’s “Rock Springs” just astonished me with their simple power, and with their beauty, and I knew that that kind of story was way beyond my grasp as a writer. This was mostly due to my lack of life experience. I knew almost nothing about people; in my early twenties I probably had the emotional and social development of a fifteen-year old. I knew immediately that I didn’t want to spend my life writing filler for the digests. I aspired to what those other writers were doing. So I made a conscious decision that I wasn’t going to submit any more stories for publication until I felt like I could write about real people, and do it in a way that felt meaningful to me.

Publishing was – and still is – a secondary goal for me. My sense of accomplishment is entirely tied to the story itself. Obviously I want to continue to be published, because money is nice and readers are even nicer, but the real joy comes from writing the story, and feeling that I’ve at least come close to achieving my intentions. This is one of the reasons I’m a slow writer. I take some flak for it, but I’ve resolved never to write a story that doesn’t matter to me. It means too much to me to treat it like just another job.

So why did I come back? I guess I just felt ready, eventually. I wish I had a more interesting answer. I was tending bar in New Orleans and I had an idea for a story, and I decided to write it. I wrote two or three very short, very clumsy pieces, which never went anywhere, and then I wrote “You Go Where It Takes You,” which I sold to SCIFICTION and went on to appear in The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror.

In the same interview, you mention you like writing stories that's different from what's out there. What are story elements/tropes/plots that you feel are overused? Or what kind of material are you reacting to?

What I was reacting to was what I still think of as a distinct lack of engagement with some of the messier aspects of real life. My wife of the time suffered from chronic, debilitating bouts of depression. I didn’t see a lot of that in genre fiction, unless it was being romanticized with some faux-Goth aesthetic. The bar I tended was regularly filled with people who were steering themselves into diminished ends – sometimes lying to themselves about it, sometimes not. New Orleans is one of the most racially diverse cities in the nation, yet the racial tensions on display at the bar were palpable sometimes – not because of anything actually said or done, but because of the host of assumptions we make, and the suspicions we harbor, about each other. I think most of the genre fiction currently being written has a white middle-class aesthetic, and while that is by no means a tapped vein, I feel that such a specificity of focus fosters a cloistered atmosphere, and a stagnation of ideas. Even worse, it tends to create a calcification of perspective, which is fatal to literature. So I wanted to write about the people I knew, who I rarely saw represented. Some of those people were drug addicts, or prostitutes, or homeless, or directionless and scared. Some of them were just people in acute emotional pain.

I acknowledge that there are probably many examples of stories or books in the genre that address these very things. A more accurate way to say it is that I couldn’t find anything that addressed these things in the precise way I wanted to see them addressed. Which is, I suppose, a primary motivator for any writer.

Why did you decide to write short fiction?

Because I thought it would be easier. Silly me.

More seriously, I love the immediate, violent impact a short story can have. Short stories can be much more aggressive, and allows the writer to take a more antagonistic approach with the reader, which can be useful.

What's currently the status of your novel?

This is my first attempt at a novel – at the advanced age of 38 – and I’m still learning its rhythms. Some days I feel like a god, other days I want to turn my back on the English language and move to some crag in Iceland. I hope to have it finished by the end of the year. More than that I’m reluctant to say.

What steps did you take to hone your writing skills?

Only once did I consciously undertake an exercise to improve an element of my writing. At some point it became clear to me that I was writing very bad dialogue, so I’d go to a public place with a notebook and a pen and just transcribe overheard conversations. I paid attention to writers like David Mamet and Richard Price. I now can’t stand to read Mamet’s dialogue (although listening to it can still be a rewarding experience), but I think Price is a genius at it. I wrote “stories” – exercises, really – composed entirely of dialogue. I think I’m pretty good at it, now, but I may be mistaken. Beyond that, any steps taken were unconscious. It probably comes down to little more than trying to write the kind of prose I like to read. I like strong, image-laden prose; I like feeling as though I’m caught in a strong current when I start to read. Lucius Shepard was hugely influential. I love the prose of Tim O’Brien, Catherynne Valente, Graham Greene, Mark Helprin. Karen Russell and John Crowley. I just read damn good writers!

In terms of the craft of writing, what aspect of it are you having most difficulty with?

I’m growing increasingly impatient with the conventions of short stories. You know, things like Chekov’s rule: if a gun is seen over the mantle in Act One it must be fired in Act Three. The notion that every detail must work in service to the plot or the theme, that not a word can be wasted. If these rules are followed too closely, short stories run the risk of becoming little more than clockwork mechanisms; once you know the rules they cease to hold any mystery or surprise to them. Short stories should not be boring or predictable. So a difficulty I’m often faced with is how to subvert expectations, especially those of a savvy reader. I often use genre elements as catalysts for the story, without offering the traditional resolutions a genre reader might expect. While I enjoy doing this quite a bit, I’m afraid that I run the risk of alienating readers, who might feel that if I introduce a werewolf in Act One I’d better bring the damn thing back in Act Three. It’s a balance between trying to please readers and myself at the same time. Since I’m a selfish bastard, usually I just go with pleasing myself.

How did you break into the industry? What were some of the challenges you faced?

I didn’t face any challenges any new writer doesn’t face, unless you count my complete ignorance of the genre. When I was in college I submitted a couple of stories to Ellen Datlow at OMNI, which got form-letter rejections. My break was Clarion, where I met Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who bought my first story. It was a great class – including Jeff VanderMeer, Dale Bailey, Pam Noles, Cory Doctorow, and Felicity Savage – and I built some friendships there that persist to this day. I learned how to self-edit at Clarion, and how to receive criticism, and I can’t overstate how important those qualities are for any writer.

Compared to the time when you short story first got accepted and when you returned to writing, what was the biggest change you noticed about the field?

The biggest change is the internet. It seems to me the community is much more engaged now than it was, and a lot of the mystique of a writer’s life has evaporated (although that may just be a function of my growing up). Everybody has a blog, for better or for worse. There’s a concerted effort to change the face of the genre, to make it more accommodating to women and minorities, which I believe is essential to its survival. The immediacy of communication makes this a sometimes rancorous process, but these are growing pains and probably unavoidable. It’s much, much easier to get a story in print these days, which is a double-edged sword. While I’ve never been one to take very seriously the idea of the “death of the short story,” I believe the internet offers some great new modes of getting stories in front of readers’ eyes. It’s a magnificent tool for writers.

How do you manage to find the time to write, what with your day job and caring for your daughter?

That’s my biggest challenge. Being a single dad – especially of a pre-teen girl – is a strange, vertiginous experience. I’m in constant terror of screwing everything up. It’s a gnawing fear, and it literally keeps me awake some nights. It’s far more important to me to be a good dad than it is for me to be a successful writer – if I never write another word again, there aren’t many people in the world who will know or care; but if I’m a crappy father, I’ll mess up my daughter’s whole life. So the writing takes a back seat. I come home from work, help her with homework, fix dinner for her, and then we just hang out until bedtime. Now that she’s older, she often wants to do things by herself or with friends, so there’s a little free time every now and then. But mostly that free time comes after she’s asleep. I generally stay up until about two in the morning. That’s when I try to get my work done. Usually I have an hour and a half in the mornings after I drop her off at school, too. It’s just a question of squeezing it in where ever I can. Don’t ask me about my personal life, though; I haven’t had one in three years.

If you could turn back time to 1994, what advice would you give yourself then?

I’d tell myself that my instincts were right. I’d tell myself to stop doubting. Sometimes I second-guess myself into a kind of paralysis; I remember many dark nights of the soul back then, trying to decide if I was doing the right thing with my life. It felt fairly radical at the time – stopping writing, moving to New Orleans without a job or a home waiting for me, just trusting myself to work it all out. And it did work out. I’m a much, much better writer now because of it. And if I’d stayed along the traditional path, getting a college degree and a respectable job, I think I’d be in better financial shape but a shabbier spiritual one. I’d know there was something fundamental I was missing.

Here's the geeky portion of the interview. What are your other interests? Comics, board games, RPGs?

All those things, at one time or another. I’m pretty much a geek archetype. I’m a round bearded guy who loves all kinds of games and still reads comic books. I don’t live in my mother’s basement – but the recession is young. My daughter and I like to play board games like Talisman and Last Night on Earth, tile games like Zombies!!!, and card games like Gloom. I’m a big fan of Mike Mignola and would love to write a Hellboy novel (Mike: call me). I think Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughn, is the best superhero comic out there and much better than his more popular title, Y: The Last Man. I love Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead and Invincible.

Beyond the geeky stuff, though, I love to read history – specifically Medieval history and early American history. I’m a political junkie, hard-left leaning; I voted for Nader in 2000 and still think it was the right thing to do. And I dearly love personal essays. I love them every bit as much as I love fiction, and I want to write my own. I might be prouder of producing a good collection of essays than I would be of producing a good collection of short stories. Might be. Above all, though, I just love to read. It’s by far my favorite thing to do in life.

Do they have any bearing on your writing or is it all leisure?

The geeky stuff doesn’t have too much bearing; certainly not the games. In comics, though, there are narrative lessons to be learned, just as with any storytelling medium, so I suppose there might be some subtle influence somewhere. I really don’t think I could point to a specific instance, though. Except that I did lift the title “North American Lake Monsters” from a throwaway bit of dialogue in Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D.

The other things – the history, the politics, the essays – impact my writing somewhere on the underground level, where I’m not consciously aware of what’s going on. The same way going to work does. The same way walking down the street does. You throw everything down there and let them ferment, and wait to see what arises.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Yes. I would advise them to be ambitious. I would advise them to write stories that matter to them. If you’re just writing it because you want to be a writer and you think it’d be cool to be published, do yourself and everyone else a favor and stop. Put down your pen forever, because we’re already choking on meaningless stories. If what you’re saying doesn’t matter to you, don’t say it. Learn the rules of the trade, but then ignore them at will. Do not fall in love with the shorthand of the internet; writing good sentences is a form of exercise like any other, and you should not neglect it. For god’s sake do not restrict your reading to our little genre; believe me, it will show.

Anything else you want to plug?

Sure. I have stories coming out in two anthologies: one is called “The Crevasse,” co-written with Dale Bailey, and it will appear this October in an anthology called Lovecraft Unbound. The other is called “The Way Station,” and will appear sometime next year in an anthology called The Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy. Both of them are edited by Ellen Datlow. You can find others in anthologies already in print: “North American Lake Monsters” in The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, and “The Monsters of Heaven” in Inferno. I will try not to use the word “monsters” in a title ever again. I promise.