Bibliophile Stalker

October 10, 2008 Links and Plugs

2008-10-10T07:49:00.006+08:00

[insert witty remark here]

Jim C. Hines will be auctioning an autographed ARC of his upcoming book, The Stepsister Scheme. Proceeds will go to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Auction starts on Monday.
Jeremiah Tolbert has an article in Fantasy Magazine entitled The Jeremiads: Welcome to the Minority.
Greg Bear's latest Storytellers Unplugged column on Under a Cabbage Leaf (where stories come from).

I'm actually out of book plugs so if you know a cool book that's going to be released this month (I have a long list of books that will be coming out in the next few months but I believe in plugging books that are going to be released in a week or two that this blog entry gets read), feel free to comment or email me. In the meantime, check out:

This is a whopping 286-page PDF that includes authors like Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, Brandon Mull, James A. Owen, Linda Buckley-Archer, Nancy Farmer, Anne McCaffrey, D. J. MacHale, and Walter Sorrella.

Oh, and check out Steam Wars: A New Hope:

Podcast Focus: Science Fiction and Politics

2008-10-10T07:37:00.004+08:00

Every Friday, I'll talk about a podcast or two that catches my fancy.

URL: http://www.courtneybrown.com/classes/podcasts.html
RSS Feed: http://www.courtneybrown.com/classes/scifi/mp3/CB_SciFiPoliticsClass1.xml
Description: This is actually an old podcast in the sense that it's done and there won't be new episodes. However, I'd like to give special attention to Science Fiction and Politics. Courtney Brown is a professor at Emory University and Politics is his specialty. One of his classes was entitled Science Fiction and Politics and he recorded his class as he talks about books like Foundation and Ender's Game and relate them as to how they're relevant not only in the modern world but taking its political context.

Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2008/10/5

2008-10-10T07:25:00.001+08:00

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

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
The Shack by William P. Young
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski
Night in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
Collateral Damage by Fern Michaels

October 9, 2008 Links and Plugs

2008-10-09T07:57:00.018+08:00

Here's some encouraging links for writers:

Jay Lake's illustration of The bathtub theory of writing success.
Cat Rambo talks about how one typically breaks into the field.
Richard Parks shares a story on submitting and getting a notice in the mail.
Editorial Roundtable: A Discussion with Three of the Top Editors in Science Fiction and Fantasy by John Joseph Adams.

Then here are some fun informative and/or interesting links:

Book Plugs!

The Enigma of Departure by Nicholas Royle
PS Showcase #4: Glypotech by Mark Samuels

2008/10/9 Tabletop RPG Podcasts

2008-10-09T06:56:00.054+08:00

Every Thursday, I post links to various podcasts that deals with tabletop RPGs.

Tabletop RPG (Mostly)

General Discussions/Reviews/Everything Else

Pulp Gamer episodes: Clubbing Up (Out of Character), Introduction to Podcasting (Gen Con Seminar), Manager Awareness (GAMA Trade Show 2008 Seminar).
Geek Radio Daily episodes: October 2, 3, 6, 7, 8; Moanin and Mail Bag (GRD Weekly).
Secret Identity episodes: Secret Identity #134.
First Full of Comics and Games episodes: COMIC Continuum and Default Genre (Superhero Summit).
Fell Calls!, The Podcast About the Iron Kingdoms, episodes: I Do Science To It.
Bear Swarm! episodes: World Building: World Setting.
The Podge Cast episodes: Bailing Out the Economy.
RPGCast episodes: Disappointment Out of Five.
Narrative Control episodes: Episode 6.
3.5 Private Sanctuary episodes: Dwarfed Chapter 2.
The Order 66 Podcast episodes: Will Not Be Seen Tonight.
Fear the Boot episodes: Personality Archetypes.
Brilliant Gameologists episodes: Drunk Cast (1) (bonus)
Have Games Will Travel episodes: For A Few More Games #18.
Amorphous Blob Games episodes: Grab Bag.
Gateway to the Megaverse episodes: Markercross.
Animalcast episodes: Episode 61.
D&D Podcast episodes: Episode 25.
Lords of Tyr episodes: Episode 10.
Save Against Frostbite episodes: Cheating poutin, magic oral.

Interviews

Secret Identity episodes: Secret Identity #134 .5 where they interview Steve Boyd (Comic Collector Live).
The Game's the Thing episodes: A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying with Rob Schwalb.
Canon Puncture episodes: Co-Authorship and Vincent Baker.
The Independent Insurgency episodes: Judd Karlman on Dictionary of Mu.
Yog-Sothoth episodes: New Aeon: Take 1.

Actual Play Sessions

Kore RPG episodes: Myr Campaign (7).
The Gamer's Haven episodes: D&D Wizard's College (3), D&D Keep of the Shadowfell (8), Dungeon Crawl Classics #53 - Sellswords of Punjar (3).
Virtual Play episodes: Frames in RPGs.
RPGMP3 episodes: Rolemaster (10), Beyond the Mountains of Madness (10), Sorcerer Cyberpunk (3).
Accidental Survivors episodes: Actual Play: Star Wars SAGA (1, 2).
Return to Northmoor episodes: Actual Play of Session 1.

October 8, 2008 Links and Plugs

2008-10-08T06:25:00.014+08:00

How does people like this section so far? Anyway...

The Nebula Awards Blog has an interview with Bruce Sterling.
David de Beer on Reading for Writing, Reading for Pleasure.
Nick Mamatas on Like The Weather: Why Horror is the Odd Man Out in Genre Fiction (requires registration).
Jennifer Jackson on Choosing an Agent.
Fantasy Magazine has an article on Gamer+Girl: How to Get Your Girlfriend into Gaming.
Interested in putting up your own magazine? John Klima currently gives us a behind the scenes look on Electric Velocipede: Where My Brain Goes to Die, Getting My Hands Dirty.

As for the book plugs:

Revolvo by Steve Erikson

Vault of Deeds by James Barclay

Essay: A Quick Run-Down on Bookstores in the Philippines Part 2

2008-10-08T06:22:00.001+08:00

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

Click here for part one.

Independent Bookstores

It's tempting to say that independent bookstores are utter failures in the Philippines. They usually fall under one of two extremes: they either transition to become a retail chain or close in the span of a few years. That's not to say there's no middle ground but these are rare.

Because independent bookstores are just that, there's no set formula on how they're run. Some operate like a traditional bookstore. Others combine brand-new books will secondhand books (or even simply focusing on the latter). A rare few will have some side-business, such as a cafe.

I don't profess to be knowledgeable about the independent bookstore scene. There's probably a couple of independent bookstores that I haven't heard of or known about. Having said that, here are some independent bookstores that I do know.

A Different Bookstore (http://adifferentbookstore.com/)

Arguably one of the more successful independent bookstores, some might even classify A Different Bookstore as a retail chain. In many ways, A Different Bookstore is run like a retail store in the sense that its stocks are consistent among all the branches and everyone wears a uniform. It had humble beginnings, opening with one shop and slowly expanding into other locations.

The shops of A Different Bookstore aren't big. They're relatively small and each genre will have a vertical shelf. In some of the bigger branches, it might host events.

For an independent bookstore, it's pretty much sophisticated because if its aggressive expansion, presence of a discount/membership card, and consistent arrival of stocks (every 15th and 30th of the month). For a time, this was where I was getting all my fantasy/science fiction books that weren't available in the more popular retail chains. All's not well with A Different Bookstore though. In the past few years, aggressive expansion also led to some shops prematurely closing down (the Cubao branch and the Podium branch). Its flagship store in Serendra also attempted to set up its own cafe but has now been replaced by an in-house Starbucks branch.

Still, if you're looking for that sophisticated independent bookstore that has a certain ambiance, A Different Bookstore is a good place to visit.

Booktopia (http://www.booktopia.com.ph/)

If it's fiction and genre titles you're looking for, Booktopia is a good bookstore to visit. Again, they carry an eclectic selection of titles (this is where I find titles from independent publishers) and what you can't purchase from the shelves, you can place an order. Perhaps what makes Booktopia different is the fact that it also peddles in secondhand books and this is factored into their special orders (i.e. you can order a rare book as they'll scour the secondhand markets as well). In fact, a couple of their inventory are remainder copies (and a rare few are ARCs).

Booktopia has a casual atmosphere. It doesn't have a corporate ambiance like A Different Bookstore but rather akin to browsing in a modest collector's home. The place is comfortable and nonthreatening.

My only complaint is that the last I heard, they scaled back on their shipments so new books arrive once every two months.

Bound Bookshop (http://www.boundbooks.net/)

What caught my eye was the tag-line "five journalists plunge into the book business". They also capitalize on that fact with related merchandise and photo essays on their walls.

Bound Bookshop is relatively small and little space to maneuver in. They peddle in both new and used books. I've only been there once (it doesn't help that it has a relatively obscure location even if it's beside a relatively popular street) and as far as I can tell, they sell an eclectic selection of books (more on the nonfiction side of things).

Popular Bookstore (http://www.popularbkstore.com/)

The place is honestly a jumble. It has bins as well as shelves and there's seldom multiple copies of a book so sorting through the pile isn't easy.

Popular Bookstore is relatively spacious though as long as you don't mind using the stairs. The academe is probably the niche market of Popular Bookstore as a good chunk of their inventory are text books.

Solidaridad Bookshop

Owned by national artist F. Sionil Jose, Solidaridad Bookshop is one of the more enduring independent bookstores and aptly situated in Ermita, Manila.

The bookstore is spacious and features a wide selection, both local and foreign. (And if you're having difficulty finding copies of Sionil's books, there's an entire section here.) I was actually impressed with their selection of books as you'll find some non-US international books that aren't available elsewhere. It also has a unique selection of fiction titles, although it's not really a place to go to if you're looking for fantasy/science fiction.

October 7, 2008 Links and Plugs

2008-10-07T05:34:00.023+08:00

Here are some things to keep you preoccupied:

BookEnds, LLC has literary agent Jessica Faust talk about The Way I Read [queries and submissions].
In the event that you're working on a novel, The Agony Column has a podcast feature interview: Writing 101, Lesson 1: Laurie R. King on Revising a Novel.
Dean Wesley Smith discusses finding First Readers and what they are.
Missed Archon? Rich Horton brings us up to speed: Day (1, 2).
Erik Mona talks about pulp writer Henry Kuttner (1, 2).
Steve Berman has some recommended reads for Halloween from Lethe Press and urges you to buy them from Giovanni's Room, the second oldest gay bookstore in the US.
Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers.
Social Book networks: connecting writers to readers.
Submission guidelines for The Gun: Noisy Tales of the Weird South.
Debate: God vs. Devil with Mike Allen as the latter.
Newsarama covers the TV adaptation of Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series, Legend of the Seeker as well as an interview with Chris Yost, writer for the upcoming comic adaptation of Ender's Game.
Dr. Roundbottom has a new guest.

And here are some recently-released or upcoming books:

Predator: South China Sea by Jeff Vandermeer

The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond by Jeffrey Ford

The Hiss of Escaping Air by Christopher Golden

Interview: Larry Nolen (OF Blog of the Fallen)

2008-10-07T05:17:00.004+08:00

Every Tuesday, I'll have an interview posted.

Larry Nolen is the man behind the blog OF Blog of the Fallen which has book reviews, interviews, and commentary when it comes to fantasy and science fiction.

Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. First off, can you tell us more about yourself?

This reminds me of those "summarize yourself in one paragraph or less" questions. Looks easy, but is very difficult to do. I'll try my best, although I'm going to have to leave a few things vague due to the nature of my job and Google searches.

My name is Larry Nolen and I am a 34 year-old teacher. I have a MA in History from the University of Tennessee with a concentration in 20th century German cultural/religious history. I have taught in both Tennessee and Florida, teaching from the 6th grade all the way to one community college class several years ago as an adjunct. I have taught mostly in public schools, although I recently worked a few months as a general education teacher in a residential treatment facility for teens with severe emotional and behavioral disorders. But that's the boring C.V. summary, no?

I am also a former high school two-sport athlete (football, soccer), was Phi Beta Kappa my senior year at UT, and am quite fond of practical jokes, including the time that I replaced a floormate's Colgate toothpaste with his jock itch medication. I love to drive fast and my classroom and home environment is perpetually in a state best described as "creatively organized."

When did you first fall in love with the speculative fiction genre? What is it about the genre that appeals to you?

Although I read C.S. Lewis's Narnia books at 9 and Tolkien's main works at 12-13, I never really explored reading speculative fiction while I was growing up. When I wasn't busy playing sports or hanging out with friends, I generally read the "classics" (helps that my mom is a high school English teacher) and history texts (my dad being a history teacher). It wasn't until I was in my mid-20s, about 23 or so, that I began reading speculative works in general.

As for its appeal, it is the speculative nature of the narrative, the asking of "what if?" and "why not?" I do not like "safe" stories (perhaps a reason why the years have been unkind to my impressions of Tolkien) and I wanted to read authors whose works would be intellectually and emotionally stimulating due to the unease that their stories would cause. Needless to say, this attitude probably isn't going to be the most popular response to your question if asked to 99 other fans, right?

What made you start OF Blog of the Fallen? Why is it named so?

I guess I'll be answering this question before the one a bit below, despite it being chronologically out of order. Around 2004 or so, I began to get the "itch" to go outside the bounds of my Admin/moderator work for wotmania's Other Fantasy section and to see if I could facilitate a larger discussion about certain issues I had in mind. Unfortunately, soon after I began the blog with four other wotmania Admins, I got swamped with work and lost focus, leading to a three year period where there might be only a single post a month. I decided in late May of 2007 to revive it as a potpourri of reviews, occasional interviews, and commentaries that wouldn't take a narrow approach towards discussing speculative fiction.

As for its name, I happened to be reading Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series and I thought I'd combine wotmania's Other Fantasy section (OF) with a reference to the "fallen" (completed reviews, interviews, general thoughts and commentary). Sometimes I wish I had just shortened it to the OF Blog and left it at that, but habit is a hard thing to break...

How did you first get involved with WoTMania?

Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series was actually the first epic fantasy I had read and enjoyed since I read Tolkien 21-22 years ago. I first started reading it after an impulse buy of the seventh novel, A Crown of Swords, while midnight shopping at the local supermarket. Although my approach certainly isn't a recommended one, it provided the perfect distraction at the time from my MA Exams and the final grad school papers I was writing in the fall of 1997. From there, I thought about doing a search for news of then-upcoming ninth book in early 2000 after I finally got home internet and I discovered wotmania. It seemed interesting, read the comments every few weeks and eventually decided to post sometime in October 2000. It is kind of funny how the more active I got, the less interested with the series I became. I suspect it's because the burnout from all my grad readings had subsided and I wanted to explore and see if there were other "genre" writers who were better. By that time, in late 2001, I was added to the Admin staff for the just-created Other Fantasy section of the site. Since I hated to be ignorant of the field, I decided that I would read and discover things that I liked. Just so happens that was around the time that the New Weird movement/scene/whatever you want to call it started to make waves. Lucky me.

How do you decide which books to review on your site? Same question goes for author interviews.

I decide which books I want to review based on a simple question I ask myself: "Can I say something here that would add something to the discussion regarding this book?" Of course, this also depends on a perfect world where I have hours of free time where I can sit still and reflect on what I would like to say. Lately, that hasn't been the case and I really don't want to half-ass reviews right now. As for author interviews, same general principle applies. I prefer doing interviews in rounds of 2-3 questions, which allows for follow-up questions. I've found it gives the sense of the interview "breathing," feeling more than automatic Q&A.

You've had various posts on writing book reviews but personally, what do you look for in a book review?

First thing I look for is complete and utter honesty on the part of the reviewer. Did you dare to question yourself, probe your mind to find out the whys and hows of your reactions to a story? Did you wrestle with the text and try your best to see the story not just from your own perspective but from other possible perspectives as well? Did you avoid "settling" with the general comments, instead showing that your comments are specific to that book and not just a copy/paste from another review? Did you "explore" the thematic elements, seeing what makes the story "tick" (or not, as the case may be)? These, plus seeing at least some command with the English language, are what I like to see in a book review. Styles are going to vary (Borges's approach is one of my favorites, but his is perhaps a bit too formal for many), but as long as the reviewer shows he/she was honest with him/herself and in his/her dealings with the story and elaborates on the review elements, then generally I'm going to enjoy reading that review.

What for you constitutes a good book?

Same thing as what constitutes a hot woman or man for a person? It's hard to say specifically, as it varies in degree and sometimes in kind from book to book. What makes Machiavelli in Hell a good book certainly is not going to be the same as what makes Ficciónes one in my opinion. However, I think if one were to modify slightly the questions I mentioned in the question above, it would go some way in describing what constitutes a good book. An author being honest with him/herself about his/her faults and strengths, honesty in approaching the writing, wrestling with the emerging text, exploring possibilities and daring to be unconventional when unconventional is needed - all of those are facets of what constitutes a good book for me.

Last time I checked you have hundreds of visitors dropping by the site every day. Did you ever expect to have such a wide audience?

Would you believe me if I said yes? I really didn't know what I was capable of drawing in on a daily basis, but I did (and still do) have the attitude of if I have something interesting to say and I say it in a fashion that encourages discussion rather than just dictating it for others to take it or leave it, I would end up having a growing audience.

How did you go about establishing yourself on the Internet?

Well, I began by becoming active with wotmania, rising to become an Admin for their new Other Fantasy section, and then when I felt I had gone as far as I could there, I began the blog, again mostly as a way of beginning and perpetuating a larger dialogue with others who might read my posts and who might have something to share, whether in agreement, disagreement, or pointing out silly mistakes that I had made! From there, it was a matter of reading other blogs, various author websites, and just deciding that I could enjoy myself as much by being a part of another's conversation as I would starting one of my own. From there, the usual "networking" sorts of things developed over the past 15 months or so and here I am, answering this question!

What are some of the challenges in running OF Blog of the Fallen?

Well, the main challenge is having the time and energy to blog regularly! Teaching is an exhausting field, draining one mentally, physically, and emotionally, so when I'm busy with teaching, it takes more and more effort from me to be able to blog on a near-daily basis. Another challenge is making sure that I don't repeat myself or settle into a pattern or rut. Whenever I feel that I'm starting to take the "safe" route, I'll then mix things up. Perhaps discuss something out of genre (I'm doing this more and more because my general attitude is that genre literature is but a branch of fiction, which in turn is a branch of material culture. Historian bias and all that.) to keep things "fresh." I'm rarely satisfied totally with a day's results. I do have that burning desire to go further and in the process learn more and model it for others. If I didn't, I doubt the OF Blog would have hundreds of visitors a day.

In your opinion, who are some of the unrecognized good authors out there or at least writers who aren't as focused as much by the public?

I do occasional "Author Spotlight" posts when I happen to be reading or I think of an author whose work I think ought to be read by more people. Most recently, I wrote a short piece on Argentine author Angélica Gorodischer. In many ways, her work resembles that of Ursula Le Guin's in themes and general attitude, but due to her writing in Spanish, she has only been discovered by a few Anglo-Americans.

One author I didn't have time to review when I read a collection of his back in March is Brian Evenson. Jeff VanderMeer highly recommended his The Wavering Knife to me and those stories have an incredible amount of tension to them, balanced perfectly with the writing and the characterizations. Evenson straddles that imaginary line between "literary" and "genre" fiction, which perhaps might explain why he's not as well known as he ought to be. A crying shame.

Stepan Chapman's The Troika is another book that I think deserves a much larger reading audience. It's dark in places, always surreal, with very interesting characters. One never quite feels at ease in the story, which for me makes for a nice, unsettling read. I don't think I've written an Author Spotlight on him, although I will likely do so in the near future.

Can't think of any others off-hand that I haven't blogged about at some point.

We all have a long list of favorite books but right now, what books have caught your attention?

Very tough question! There are many books I've read for the first time in 2008 that I enjoyed immensely. Not limiting myself to just 2008 releases, I would have to say these are among my favorites so far (in no particular order):

Steve Erickson, Arc d'X

Naguib Mahfouz, The Children of the Alley

Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Toby Barlow, Sharp Teeth

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, El Juego del Ángel

Ursula Le Guin, Lavinia

Andrzej Sapkowski, La espada del destino

Gustave Flaubert, The Temptation of Saint Anthony

Gregory Frost, Shadowbridge; Lord Tophet

Antonio Orlando Rodríguez, Chiquita

And doubtless many, many others, but these certainly are worthy of reader attention.

Lately, you've had some posts on Spanish speculative fiction. When did this interest start?

It began in 2002, soon after I was hired to teach middle school social studies in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program in an outer suburb of Miami, Florida. I hate not understanding what others are saying, so I quickly picked up a smattering of Spanish from listening to my students explain what I had said in English for the benefit of the newer students who knew no English. From there, I decided to buy a particular book in both English and Spanish editions - Gabriel García Márquez's Cien años de soledad/One Hundred Years of Solitude. From there, I moved on to reading Borges in the original and then I was hooked. I wrote down the words I didn't know, looked them up, wrote that down, and then memorized it. Took me about a year to become reading fluent in Spanish. If I had to guess, I would say my reading comprehension in Spanish is about that of the average native junior high to high school student. Not perfect, but getting there.

Also, my desire to learn my students' languages (I also had Portuguese, German, Arabic, Urdu, Haitian, and Thai speakers in my classes) led me to want to under their cultures more, which I think morphed into wanting to read the more experimental and well-regarded works. Unfortunately, I've only had the time/resources for Spanish right now, although I can understand most of the Portuguese I've seen and bits of Italian and French.

Not knowing a thing about Spanish speculative fiction, can you tell us more about it? Who in your opinion are some talented authors in that field?

Most of my reading in Spanish isn't of typical "genre" writers, because there isn't quite the same sort of division there as there is in the US or UK. Where does one classify the Magic Realists like García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Alejo Carpentier, or Juan Rulfo, for example? It isn't a cut-and-dried area (not that the American or British markets are, but those are at least somewhat delineated due to marketing decisions), so about all I can say is that there is a somewhat greater acceptance of speculative writers in Latin America and Spain. But there is also a very young but active SF/fantasy scene developing. There was a good primer anthology on this, Cosmos Latinos, that was released about 5 years ago. Excellent source for one to begin exploring Spanish-language speculative fiction.

I also know that Spain in particular has a growing market for SF/F. Last month's annual Semana Negra festival (which featured, among others, George R.R. Martin and R. Scott Bakker) is a huge gathering of thousands of Spanish SF/F fans. Javier Negrete certainly is a very popular writer in Spain and I suspect it's more a matter of "when" and not "if" as to when his works, which mix mythological elements into alt-history and secondary world settings, will be translated into English. I am hoping to receive a couple of his books in the coming weeks. Outside of Spain, Argentina has a few good writers. I've already mentioned Gorodischer, but Liliana Bodoc has written an interesting epic fantasy trilogy that has a distinctly "postcolonial" feel to it compared to the standard Anglo-American fare.

In your opinion, how has the Internet changed the industry?

It's changed it mostly by allowing for quicker, more immediate communication. Sometimes, this leads to a rashness of opinion-giving before one has fully considered the book/reading at hand. It certainly has allowed for many authors to gain a following and thus earn a living as a writer which might not have happened otherwise. But one has to keep in mind that the immediacy of internet discussions (and later, of its social trends and "fads") can be distorted. It's like being at a huge indoor party...while the outside world slumbers and isn't aware of it. Some people lose focus and think that because a few dozen people are raving about a book that it must mean that there are thousands of orders for that book. Rarely works that way.

Have you ever considered writing fiction yourself?

Every now and then. I did have an idea seven years ago about writing a mosaic novel that would integrate various internet communication media into a narrative account of how a handful of people's lives would be impacted by becoming "close" without ever being in physical proximity. But although I wrote a draft of the first of six stories, I never really felt satisfied with it, plus I was so busy with teaching and other aspects of my life that I gave it up. Writing fiction never has interested me as much as writing commentaries. Again, I chalk it up to my experiences as a history grad student, as it was quite fun to rip into each other's drafts.

Aside from OF Blog of the Fallen, any other goals right now?

Well, first is to be happy at my new job. Been teaching in some very stressful places with little to no support and I was miserable and once quit two months into the school year to take a break. Happiness with teaching would make for a much better outlook on life, that's for sure! Another goal is to settle down, perhaps outside the US. I want to earn a graduate degree in English as a Second Language, so I could have the option of teaching English abroad for decent pay if I were to grow tired of living in the US. An eventual third goal is to stop being single, but I need for #1 to be settled before I can feel comfortable with settling down with a woman. Not that this just didn't sound desperate...

What advice do you have for authors?

Dare to explore and to be honest with yourself and the story you're creating. Don't overexplain things; I'm not a dummy. That's about it, since I'm not much of a control freak.

Advice for aspiring book reviewers/interviewers?

I pretty much addressed this above, but I would add that it's best to read outside of one's comfort zone, to ask tough questions of yourself before you write down your take on a book or ask another an interview question. I spend hours crafting maybe 2-3 questions for an author to answer, because I want to allow them the opportunity to be themselves and not to be constrained by the "typical" questions, so having something like that level of concern and care would be nice.

Anything else you want to plug?

Nothing really comes to mind at 12:30 AM. I might want to plug my very soft Memory Foam pillow, but I think I covered the authors I wanted to plug earlier. Thanks for asking me to do this interview. Took me almost two hours to answer, but it was a pleasure doing this.

October 6, 2008 Links and Plugs

2008-10-06T04:35:00.017+08:00

Here's some links that gathered over the weekend:

Create and publish your own magazine with MagCloud. (Been there, done that, and I learned eight years ago how much I sucked as a layout artist.)
Beyond the Guidelines: 25 Ways You Might Be Annoying Editors Without Even Knowing It by John Joseph Adams.
Zoran Zivkovic book launch of his latest novel, Escher's Loops. (PS Publishing should be coming out with its own version in the future.)
Want to know more about Spicy Slipstream Stories? Nick Mamatas gets interviewed by Ian Rogers and you get a sample story as well, "Hydraulic" by Ekaterina Sedia. Go order it now!
Forbes's The World's Best Paid Authors. (Slideshow here.) Is it me or does Ken Follett look like Dustin Hoffman? (That would explain the "best paid" part.)
If you haven't yet bought Kelly Link's latest collection, Pretty Monsters, check out this interview with her at Meeting House. Then go buy the book.
Bill Ectric interviews Ekaterina Sedia (Paper Cities, The Secret History of Moscow, The Alchemy of Stone).
Transcriptase has been updated! New stories!
Stephanie Campisi has a series where she asks various personalities what their favorite bookshop is. Here are some of the people she's covered: Marshall Payne, Margo Lanagan, Lucy Sussex.

Now for the book plugs...

Fast Forward 2 edited by Lou Anders

Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Book/Magazine Review: Shadowrealm by Paul S. Kemp

2008-10-06T04:22:00.005+08:00

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

Shadowrealm starts with its feet off the ground, the fantasy equivalent of a nonstop blockbuster movie as it's one tense scene after another. Once I began reading, I couldn't put it down. In many ways, this is adventure fiction at its finest as conflict is constant and there is no shortage of suspense.

The strength of Kemp, as many others have said, is his characterization. Kemp features a wide ensemble from the heroes, the villains, and everyone in between (and there's a lot of 'em in this book). His protagonists have unique voices without sounding too altruistic and the antagonists, while sometimes two-dimensional, at the very least pass the evil-overlord stupidity test. What I particularly enjoyed was how the author juggles the many factions in this book: it's not simply "us" versus "them" and instead multiple groups are at work that includes a few betrayals and reversals.

Action fantasy has this tendency to be predictable yet I can honestly say that Shadowrealm is anything but that. That also plays into its theme of redemption. Again, both protagonists and antagonists are continuously presented with this choice and Kemp lures readers in by finally delivering what he's been building up over the past few novels.

As for the rest, it's your typical epic fantasy, with the chips down and the fate of the world down to its last heroes. Readers familiar with the Forgotten Realms RPG brand will get some answers but honestly that didn't interfere with my reading experience. The only word of warning I have is to get the other books before you jump into Shadowrealm. There's little room for foreplay here and the novel is instead an extended climax.

Readers who've followed Kemp this far won't be disappointed and those looking for some good old sword & sorcery will be satisfied. Easily a compelling read to rival authors like Jim Butcher, Glen Cook, or James Barclay.

Book/Magazine Review: Black Clock Issue #9

2008-10-06T04:14:00.003+08:00

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

Black Clock's ninth issue covers the current (or at least the then-current) political climate and features various discourses and short stories on the subject matter, most of which is pro-Democrat.

The first thing that caught my eye was the journal's design: despite being text-heavy and lacking illustrations, it manages to present itself as sleek and makes good use of space.

Much of the meat of the magazine revolves around its nonfiction, such as Rick Moody's "The Republican Diaries" or the exchange of emails between editor Steve Erickson and Michael Ventura in "The Hillary-Barack Emails". As an outsider (well, not really--the fate of the US presidency is very much a concern for us Filipinos as well), I found these pieces to be compelling despite their length and subject matter (I'm usually ignorant of politics). The authors write with much passion and make keen observations, such as Moody's diagnosis of Republicans as "sympathy deficit" or Erickson's apt description of Obama as America's willingness to roll the dice. And this was all written before Obama secured his slot as the Democrat's representative or McCain declared Palin as his VP.

All the short stories were actually impressive and most delve into speculative fiction territory in addition to some genre names like Brian Evenson and Jeff Vandermeer. Here are some highlights for me: George Melrod's "My Favorite President" paints an alternate history America where the Civil War ended differently--all the while using the elements of a history class paper. The prose is so effective, especially the ending, that I went back to the beginning and spotted that identifying the author of the said class paper adds an additional layer of depth.

Janet Sarbane's "The Adventures of the President's Daughter," on the other hand, has this deceptively simple tone yet underlies a much deeper concern. Not what I'd otherwise consider too fantastical in nature but a story that's a good contrast to the other pieces in the journal.

David L. Ulin's "One on One" uses basketball as a literal analogy for the Democratic candidacy. The premise seems ludicrous yet Ulin presents it in such a a tense and serious manner that it seems natural.

Vandermeer's "Goat Variation Redux" is the most off-the-top and gives each candidate their chance to shine in a dystopic limelight and doesn't hold back. It's quick and fun.

Overall, this issue of Black Clock was a great read and whether it's the editorial or the fiction, the writing is solid and compelling.

Plug: The Nines directed by John August

2008-10-05T12:13:00.003+08:00

I'm going out on a limb here. I'm a big fan--or I used to be a big fan (I've cut back my blogging read time as of late)--of screenwriter/film director John August's Blog (Go, Big Fish). There's lots of advice on screen writing (and writing in general) on his blog.

Early this year, his directorial debut, The Nines, was released on DVD. I urge everyone who reads this blog to watch it.

Amazon
iTunes

I bring this up because I just watched it and thought it was fantastic. Perhaps not in the "this is one of my top 5 movies of all time" kind of film but it's a great movie--one of the underrated movies of 2007.

Unfortunately, the less said about the plot or concept of the movie, the better for the audience. Don't even Wikipedia it. I'd like to have an inkling I know who my blog readers are and I can say that this is the kind of movie you'll appreciate. There are 171 people who "friended" me in Livejournal and I do think this will appeal to every single one of them.

Podcast Focus: Virtual Play

2008-10-03T05:36:00.009+08:00

Every Friday, I'll talk about a podcast or two that catches my fancy.

URL: http://virtualplay.podbus.com/
RSS Feed: http://virtualplay.podbus.com/?feed=rss2
Description: As far as tabletop RPG podcasts go, I've gone on record to say that I don't really listen to actual play recordings. Well, the past few months, that's not quite true. Aside from the Penny Arcade/PVP D&D recordings, the other actual play I actually listen to is Virtual Play. Mel White talks about his experiences with various games and plays excerpts of the relevant scenes to illustrate his point (entire games are also available in the archive). What you end up is a convenient and well-edited show. Their latest show features a D&D 4E variant where Skill Challanges rise to the forefront (instead of regular combat).

October 3, 2008 Links and Plugs

2008-10-03T05:09:00.027+08:00

Three days in a row? Who would have thought...

Links

I'm honestly bored by chess (I prefer Go) but check out this article as an astronaut faces off against Earth in a chess match.
Paper Golem LLC is open to novella submissions! (Now that's not something you see every day... Maybe Nathan Ballingrud will get his wish of an annual collection of the best novellas.)
Small Beer Press is on sale! 20% goes to Obama! Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners is also available for download (save for two stories).
James Maxey is giving away copies of his book, Nobody Gets the Girl, in a contest every Tuesday. You can also win a rare chapbook by composing superhero-themed haikus.
Matt Staggs interviews Daryl Gregory (Pandemonium).
Spout Blog has an article on 10 Coolest Film Presidents (no Morgan Freeman from Deep Impact?). Matt Staggs asks who're our equivalents for fiction (Peter Wiggin?).

Plugs

Clarkesworld Magazine October Issue.

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link

Heaven's Bones by Samantha Henderson

The Indigo King by James A. Owen

Top 10 Best-Sellers as of 2008/9/28

2008-10-03T04:57:00.003+08:00

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

Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
The Shack by William P. Young
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Night in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, Jeffrey Zaslow
Untamed by P. C. Cast, Kristin Cast

October 2 Links and Plugs

2008-10-02T07:55:00.011+08:00

I'm currently suffering from a throat so full of phlegm that I'm using them to blow bubbles like bubble gum. Thankfully, I have no pictures. Anyway, here are some links:

SF Signal's Mind Meld: What's Your Favorite Sub-Genre of Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? - I got to participate!
Marshall Payne interviews M. K. Hobson at The Fix.
Check out Lone Star Stories's latest issue!
Paul Tremblay is awesome. Check out his Chizine-winning fiction, The Blog at the End of the World.
Terra Incognita is open for submissions.
Wait, you mean you're not yet a member of the Dr. Roundbottom Foundation? Check out these membership packages.
Experienced writers speak: Steve Berman on Novels, first chapters, and the author-reader pact and David de Beer on How important is one sentence?

And here are the book plugs:

Sly Mongoose by Tobias S. Buckell

The Long Look by Richard Parks

Tour de Lovecraft: The Tales by Kenneth Hite

2008/10/2 Tabletop RPG Podcasts

2008-10-02T07:15:00.000+08:00

Every Thursday, I post links to various podcasts that deals with tabletop RPGs.

Tabletop RPG (Mostly)

General Discussions/Reviews/Everything Else

Pulp Gamer episodes: PSI Point Blank episode 4, Journey to the Center of the Earth (The Game Kennel), Demographics (GAMA Trade Show 2008 Seminar), Mathematics (Family Night).
Geek Radio Daily episodes: September 25, 26, 29, 30; October 1.
Secret Identity episodes: Issue #133.
Fell Calls!, The Podcast About the Iron Kingdoms, episodes: Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
Bear Swarm! episodes: "Gamers" Movie Review, Comedy!
The Podge Cast episodes: Min/Maxing With Meg.
RPGCast episodes: "Is It Winter Already?"
Save Against Frostbite episodes: Nymphomania hypocrites can't skip.
Narrative Control episodes: Episode 5.
3.5 Private Sanctuary episodes: Episode 49.
Fear the Boot episodes: Separating Yourself From Your Characters.
Wandering Geeks episodes: Gen Con 08 Recap Vol. 4.
Return to Northmoor episodes: Episode 2 Session 1.
Brilliant Gameologists episodes: Things We Hate About the Gameosphere (Meta).
Have Games Will Travel episodes: A Few More Games (16, 17).
Accidental Survivors episodes: Survivor Avec Frontieres, 13th Warrior Commentary Track.
All Games Considered episodes: Gaming Under Adversity.
Amorphous Blob Games episodes: Making Sausage.
Gateway to the Megaverse episodes: It is what you make it.
Ninjas vs Pirates episodes: Alternate Reality Games.
Nuketown Radio Active episodes: Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition.
OgreCave Audio Report episodes: Ogre's Choice 2008, and podcast prizes!
This Modern Death episodes: Rules vs. Setting.
Roll 2d6 episodes: Kublacon 2008!.
Radio Free Hommlet episodes: The Paladin.

Interviews

Secret Identity episodes: Issue #133.5 (Brian Haberlin).
Pulp Gamer episodes: Nicolas Logue.
The Tome episodes: Wyatt at GenCon.
Atomic Array episodes: New Gods of Mankind.
Critical Hits episodes: Interview with Scott Kurtz of PvP.
Echoes from the Rifts episodes: Jason Marker.
The Gamer's Haven episodes: Inside the Game Designer's Studio (Paul Tevis, Steve Kenson).
Roleplaying Public Radio episodes: RPPR Interview with Matt Vancil, director of The Gamers 1 and 2.
The Voice of the Revolution episodes: Episode 23 (Mel White interview).
The Game's the Thing episodes: Halt Evil Doer! with Charles Phipps.
The Game Master Show episodes: Dnd 4th Edition (Bill Slaviscek and Sara Girard).
Accidental Survivors episodes: Pinnacle Entertainment.

Actual Play Sessions

Heroic Cthulhu episodes: The Exploration of Holmes Aunt's Bathroom (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), An Obvious Case of Suicide (1, 2, 3), Confidence (1, 2, 3, 4), Five Fingered (1, 2), Terrorist & The Last Tango in the Cubical Jungle (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), Gamer Talk Fourty One (1, 2, 3).
Kore RPG episodes: Myr Campaign (6) (part 2).
The Gamer's Haven episodes: Dungeon Crawl Classics #53 - Sellswords of Punjar (2), D&D Kingdom of Thoth (11).
Roleplaying Public Radio episodes: GURPS Modern League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2).
Virtual Play episodes: Skill Challenges in Dungeons & Dragons, D&D 4E Uerlan (1), Classic Traveller Origins.
RPGMP3 episodes: Thunderspire Labyrinth (1).
First Full of Comics and Games episodes: 4C System (5).