Grasping for the Wind

Geek Media Round-Up: March 10, 2010

PipeDreamer Grey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:00:49 +0000

Art

ComicsAlliance Takes On Gender-Swapped Comic Fan-Art.
Darren Rawlings is posting Hulk sketches all month. To date, he’s posted Hulk smashing up Iron Man, Reed Richards, and X-Men.

Film

News: Olivia Munn in Iron Man 2?
Four New KICK-ASS Character Posters have been released.
Here’s a shot of James Cameron congratulating Kathryn Bigelow on her Oscar. Awww… I think he’s gonna hug her.
The SciFi Squad has put together a list of 8 Science Fiction Films That Don’t Start As Science Fiction, starting with Predator.

Internet

If Bruce Willis had played a SysAdmin in Die Hard, instead of a cop…
I didn’t think it was possible to dislike xkcd, but, evidently, it is.

Literature

Interview: The Agony Column interviews Joe Hill. [Podcast]
Interview: Revolution SF interviews Peter Straub.
The Book Smugglers kickis off Steampunk Week with a list of great book recommendations: Leviathan, Alchemy of Stone, and more.
Futurismic wonders Do free ebooks actually affect the sales of dead-tree books?
The Huffington Post warns readers Don’t Believe the E-book Skeptics.
Is your reading suffering from multimedia overload? The Guardian thinks so.
PCWorld examines how the iPad Challenges Traditional Publishing Economics.

Science

According to DARPA, With Artificial Photosynthesis, A Bottle of Water Could Produce Enough Energy To Power A House.
Hot damn! It’s about time. Jetpacks are now Commercially Available! I knew I shouldn’t have blown all my money on cars, food, and shelter!

Television

News: Google Teams Up With Dish Network For Android-Powered TV Experiment
News: Felicia Day is coming to SyFy in the new series Red.
SciFi Wire offers the Ultimate sci-fi TV pilot guide, looking at your favorite shows of the future.

Press Release: Pyr Celebrates 5th Anniversary with Essay Writing Contest

John Ottinger III — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:46:13 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 9, 2010

Pyr Celebrates 5th Anniversary With Essay Contest
Grand Prize Winner Embarks on a ‘Pyr and Dragons Adventure’

Amherst, NY — To celebrate their 5th anniversary, Pyr, the science fiction and fantasy imprint of Prometheus Books, will sponsor a contest that incorporates things they hold dear: creative and powerful writing, a passion for reading genre fiction, and this year’s special number, five.

For their Pyr and Dragons Adventure 5th Anniversary Contest, Pyr invites readers and fans to submit a short essay on the theme: Five reasons why science fiction and fantasy is important to you.

Eligibility requirements follow*. Any essay submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be disqualified:

Entrants must reside in the Continental United States and be at least 21 years of age.
Essays must be no longer than 1500 words.
Essays must be emailed to publicity@prometheusbooks.com as a Word document attachment, with the subject line “Pyr and Dragons Adventure Essay Submission.”
The body of the submission email must clearly identify the entrant’s full name, address (within the Continental United States), phone number and email address.
All submissions must be received between April 1, 2010 and June 1, 2010.

*For complete list of rules and regulations see http://www.pyrsf.com.

All eligible essays will be read and reviewed by publishing staff at Prometheus Books. Not all of these preliminary readers will be science fiction and fantasy fans, so outstanding essays will likely be those that pique their interest in the genre and make them want to read it too. The top twenty-five essays as determined by these industry professionals will be read by Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders, who will select the top three.

The writer of the Third Place essay will win a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake and five complimentary books of their choice from the Pyr catalog.

The writer of the Second Place essay will win a complete set of Pyr books as published by the contest end date of June 1, 2010 (one copy of each title, without duplicating those that appear in more than one binding) and a commemorative Pyr 5th anniversary keepsake.

The Grand Prize Winner will embark on a “Pyr and Dragons Adventure” that includes*:

A round-trip flight to Atlanta, GA during Dragon*Con, one of the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. Dragon*Con 2010 will be held September 3 – 6, 2010 (Labor Day weekend).
Two nights hotel accommodation in Atlanta, GA, Sept. 3 and 4, 2010.
Dragon*Con membership/entry badge.
Dinner with Special Pyr Author Guests and Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders—details to be announced!

The grand prize winning essay will be posted at the Pyr-o-mania blog, and may be promoted by the publisher by other means, including but not limited to their other blogs, websites, e-newsletters and social networking pages.

Prometheus Books—a provocative, progressive and independent publisher of nonfiction since 1969—launched Pyr in March 2005 to complement its strength in popular science. The imprint rather quickly earned acclaim, awards, and loyal fans, including Pulitzer Prize–winning author Junot Díaz, who called Pyr “the imprint to beat in the science fiction and fantasy fields.”

With an emphasis on quality, Pyr helped to introduce readers to some authors then little-known in the U.S., such as John Meaney, Ian McDonald, Joel Shepherd, Justina Robson, and Joe Abercrombie. Pyr has also published such established authors as Mike Resnick, Robert Silverberg and Michael Moorcock. Pyr Editorial Director Lou Anders has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Editor Long Form for three consecutive years. In 2009, Prometheus Books and Pyr launched a major e-book initiative, with titles available on Kindle and programs with many different e-reader platforms in the works. In 2010, in addition to celebrating its five-year anniversary, Pyr will publish its 100th title.

Geek Media Round-Up: March 9, 2010

PipeDreamer Grey — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:00:45 +0000

Art

CollegeHumor offers an explanation of The Origin of the “Force Quit”
Darth Monet finds your lack of artistic appreciation disturbing.
Fans imagine what Captain America Movie Posters would look like.
This kick-ass Alan Moore doll was made by Ryusuke Hamamoto of Deviant Art.
This elaborate Lego Steampunk city is pretty amazing.

Comics

News: J. Michael Straczynski to write SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN
Kristine Kathryn Rusch ponders Batman in the Real World.

Film

Interview: Mark Millar discusses Kick-Ass, Superman, and Wanted.
News: Green Lantern Comes To Theaters In 3-D In June 2011
News: JJ Abrams predicts science-fiction win at the Oscars
A new Iron Man trailer has been released to the web. (Official site here.)

Literature

Interview: Elizabeth Moon discusses life in the military with Suvudu.
Interview: Michael A Ventrella interviews Lawrence Watt-Evans.
Interview: Sci-Fi Fan Letter speaks with N. K. Jemisin, author of the recently released (and really excellent) The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms.
Interview: Teri Hall, author of The Line, talks with John Scalzi.
Interview: Tor.com profiles Margaret Atwood.
Ben Bova brags “I saw e-books (and related problems) coming.”
NPR plugs Marilyn Johnson’s new book, “This Book Is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All“.
Publishing Perspectives wonders In the Age of E-books, Does the Cheap Paperback Have a Future?

Science

News: It’s official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs
Listverse has compiled a list of the Top 10 Theoretical Megastructures.

Television

News: Fringe Renewed For A Third Season
Chud remembers The Geekiest Oscar Moments Ever.
Here’s a depressing chart of What the cable company pays for the channels they sell you. Prepare to hate your cable provider.

Video Games

Is Your Life Just One Big RPG? Jesse Schell talks about the present and future of video games. [Part 2, Part 3]

Writing

GalleyCat has compiled a list of Book Editors on Twitter.
Tamara Sellman maintains that Everything I’ve learned about writing this year I’ve relearned by watching the Olympics.

In Which I Define Steampunk

John Ottinger III — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:19:17 +0000

I’m no expert, but apparently I’m knowledgeable enough that Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers thought that they would ask me to define steampunk as I understand it. I said:

To me, steampunk is a subgenre of alternate history in which technological progress diverged and developed along mechanized lines rather than digital. In steampunk, computers are vast machines capable of many of the same feats, but silicon chips were never invented and so they consist of cogs and wheels, more like a typewriter than our modern conception. Airships exist, but rather than planes, blimps rule the skies. In many cases, steampunk tales take place in a Victorian setting or uses that era as its point of divergence from true history, but any story with a focus on a mechanized society that also lives by a rigid social code like that of the Victorians could potentially be steampunk. Even a secondary world fantasy, so long as it takes as its model the Victorian Age – such as The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, The Affinity Bridge by George Mann, or The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt – fits into this category.

Steampunk tales have the tone and structure of a Conan Doyle story, often being mysteries or adventure tales similar to those popularized during the Industrial Revolution. For a tale to be steampunk it needs to be married to the idea that technology is solely mechanical, unable to progress without winches, gears, nuts and bolts. There is no computer age, at least as we know it, in the worlds of steampunk.

Steampunk also believes in the inherent domination of the earth by humankind, driven by our will and ability to make tools. Sometimes this takes the story into dark places, places where Jack the Ripper dwelt. At other times, it celebrates human achievement, a World’s Fair of literature. Always, there is a focus on the mechanical, the visible and concrete, that thrills the reader or viewer with a sense of adventure, of the wild unknown, and is filled with the both the capability and the desire to go Around The World in 80 Days.

Read what I and others thought at The Book Smugglers.

And tell me, do you agree or disagree with my definition? Now that I think about it, I forgot to mention the role magic plays in steampunk stories. I know what I think, but how about you?

Part 3: A Manifesto of Imaginative Literature by Justin Allen

John Ottinger III — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:00:13 +0000

For the Love of Pete, Don’t Mix Your Genres;
Or… The New York Times Book Review Hates YOU, but I Don’t;
Or… Why Where Your Book Gets Shelved Determines Your Intelligence, Work-Ethic and Value to Society

Read Part 1 at SF Signal
Read Part 2 at Debuts and Reviews

Part 3: For the Love of Pete, Don’t Mix Your Genres

Or do, but recognize the risk you’re taking.

Tia Nevitt wrote an interesting piece a short while ago, in which she gave advice to aspiring writers. I suggest you read it.

You’ll note that she offers advice principally to those writers about to embark on the great journey of authorship. And much of what she suggests is spot on. You SHOULD try to ride the wave of whatever the new popular thing is, if you can see the wave building. Trying to find a new hook on an old but popular subject is a great idea. And absolutely avoid, if at all possible, starting a book on a dying theme. I know, sometimes you just can’t help yourself. But these are all things to keep in mind if you hope ever to get your imaginative fiction published. But I want to offer a caveat based on all that we have been talking about above. And that is the first line of this now overwrought and over-thought essay.

So why shouldn’t you mix your genres? After all, some of the greatest works of art come from taking disparate themes and finding ways in which they work together. Thesis – antithesis – synthesis, right? Hey, I’m on your side. If I have been praised for anything, it has been my willingness to combine seemingly unrelated genres, including historical, fantasy, western, YA and (shudder) ‘literary’. I dearly love books that blur the edges, that make you see the fantasy in a six-gun as much as in a sword. I can’t for the life of me understand why a book’s having young protagonists makes it YA. And I believe that a great many of the tools of my ‘literary’ education can and should be appropriated for an imaginative audience.

Besides, you may well say, there are all sorts of books that have stood between genres and done fantastically well! Twilight (horror and YA), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (‘literary’ and fantasy), “The Dark Tower (fantasy, western, horror, romance), and all of Neil Gaiman’s books. Right you are, as usual! But again, this is a list of books for which things turned out all right. What about those books – some of which might be just great – that stand between genres, but you never heard of them? What happened to those books?

The thing is, if you write between genres you are pressing the buttons of prejudice in not one group, but in many groups, and maybe in all groups! You take the chance that bookstores are going to shelve you in a place where the readers who might have loved your work will be unable to find it (their zombie feet having taken them to some other section of the store). You inflict cover problems on yourself and your publisher, making it difficult to know how exactly to attract the eye of potential buyers (should it have a fantasy cover – metal bikini and all – or a romance cover – shirtless man embracing lady love on beach? It can’t be everything!). Reviewers on all sides may object to the very heart of your project, because they dislike one aspect. Others might make the assumption that it was never meant for them, and so not give it the time of day. You may, to make a long story short, find yourself slipping between fan-bases, and so between the cracks.

And who will help you pull yourself out? Sorry, but the fact is, unless you are already successful beyond the dreams of avarice, or somehow got a HUGE advance – which means that you are almost surely one of those overpaid ‘literary’ types discussed previously – most publishers simply do not have the personnel or patience necessary to make a long-term commitment to a book. Big publishers will normally devote about two weeks to a book, at which point they expect the blasted thing to be selling left and right, no more publicity needed. Big print media either reviews a book within that short time frame or it won’t look at it at all (I have never understood that, have you? A book about Theodore Roosevelt is just the same, whether read now or a year from now. And it’s just as obtainable as well. But I guess there’s no reason to throw logic upon the NYTBR now, is there?). Worst of all, for we lovers of imaginative literature, is the investment most publishing houses are now making in the realm of internet publicity – namely, virtually none whatever. At a symposium I attended not so long ago, a group of publicists from some major houses told the writers and agents present that they would no longer take any part in online publicity, that all internet activity would be left entirely up to authors. But if you are not on the ‘literary’ side, there is virtually NO publicity that is NOT on-line publicity. So what happens to the wonderful book by the little old man who has absolutely no computer or internet savvy? I think we all know the answer. Nothing happens to that book. It sits on shelves for a month, maybe two, and then is gone just as surely as if it had never been. We don’t even get a chance to judge whether it was any good. We’ve never heard of it.

So do yourself a favor and stay right in the middle of the publishing industry’s wheel-house. Throw them a nice fat pitch they can hit over the center-field wall. Give them a book with an obvious cover and a story that is immediately recognizable; one that won’t offend liberal New England schoolmarms with its depictions of guns or violence, or conservative Southern aristocrats and Western individualists with any themes suggesting ecological conservation or multicultural understanding. If at all possible, make your book ‘literary.’ That will ensure you the chance of at least one big payday. And if you just can’t force yourself to do that, then sell it as the opening volume of some long-running and meandering series. And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t write a book that blends western, fantasy, ’literary,’ YA, adventure, multi-cultural and historical fiction, like this one purports to do. It is just too much work convincing potential readers that there might be something in there that they would like.

Of course, maybe you’ll want to do that work. It is rewarding, believe me, to chase after that “synthesis” you thought of earlier. As a writer between genres you can be your own boss, ignoring and embracing the usual tropes and traditions of the movements in whose shadows you walk. You can work toward a uniquely American vision of fantasy, horror, or romance – casting off the shackles of the old world with a shout of “Live Free or Die!” Or you can damn America with your metaphor. You have the chance to write your way through uncharted territory, to say something ABOUT literature, both imaginative and ‘literary.’ At times you may even astonish yourself. And there is a great thrill whenever someone says to you – ‘I was so surprised by your novel. It wasn’t what I thought it would be at all.’

If you want to embark on such a journey, don’t say I didn’t warn you. And heck, you might wake up one morning and find yourself famous and rich beyond your wildest dreams. It COULD happen (probably won’t, but why not dream?). Should you decide that is your path, go forth with my best wishes for luck and happiness. And when your book comes out, send me a note. I will be the first in line to buy it!

By way of closing, let me say only that the above essay was written exclusively for the purposes of entertainment, and not as some call to take up arms in defense of the little guys of imaginative fiction. In no wise do I advocate the bloody overthrow of the New York Times Book Review, big publishing houses, chain bookstore executives, or reviewers of any denomination (Of course, if you have an army of robots and a secret lair from which you are ready to launch them, please let me know!).

I only advocate keeping your eyes and ears open and keeping your own prejudices in check as much as you possibly can. I shall certainly try to do so myself.

About the Author, Justin Allen

Justin was born in Boise, Idaho in 1974. He graduated from Boise State University with a degree in philosophy, and from Columbia University with an MFA in fiction. He is the author, most recently, of “Year of the Horse,” an all-ages fantasy-western that tells the story of sixteen-year-old Yen Tzu-lu, the child of Chinese immigrants and one of a band of treasure hunters brought together from every corner of the continent to recapture a stolen gold mine. Leading Tzu-Lu and his gang is the gunslinger Jack Straw, a figure who is as much legend as reality, as much magic as lead. Ultimately, this band of outsiders finds it must learn to live together, trust and care for one another. If they make it across a wild continent, they’ll be rich; if they don’t, they’ll surely be dead. Get your copy at Indiebound (why not support your local store?), BN.com, or Amazon.com.

Justin is roughly six feet tall, weighs somewhere around 185 pounds (often more, to his chagrin), has dark-brown hair and eyes, and suffers from near-sightedness, motion-sickness, and a tendency to get angry at airport personnel. His wife, Day Mitchell, a licensed master social worker, is trying to help him overcome this last item, but finds the going hard.

He can be contacted via justin-allen.com.

Video: Ok Go’s Rube Goldberg Machine – explained

John Ottinger III — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:20:22 +0000

Adam Sadowsky explains how he and his company created the Rube Goldberg machine for Ok Go’s recent music video.

Video: Creation of the Lord of Chaos ebook Cover Time Lapse

John Ottinger III — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:15:27 +0000

Watch this awesome video from Tor.com as Greg Manchess creates his ebook cover for Robert Jordan’s Lord of Chaos in time lapse. So awesome! Great music as well as excerpts from the audiobook makes this one of the best pieces of promotional material I have ever seen!

Here is an extended version:

Video: Greg Bear Talks

John Ottinger III — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:14:45 +0000

Geek Media Round-Up: March 5, 2010

PipeDreamer Grey — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:00:22 +0000

Art

9Gag shares the numbers on Robots in a simple infographic.
Here’s a beautiful depiction of a network system of the future.
Inspire76 offers a selection of Tick fan art.
John Bauer is well known for his portrayals of fairy tales. Buy prints at ArtsyCraftsy.
Trendone imagines the Future Convergence of Film and Gaming.

Film

Interview: Martin Scorsese discusses Artifice and truth.
Before you begin rooting for Avatar, Mercury News reminds you that Sci-fi spectacles have history of losing at Oscars.
Mike Brotherton has a nice post about Ten Actors Who Look Like Aliens.
Mute ponders Catastrophe Cinema in the Age of Crisis.
PixelMonster offers this infographic on the Film Industry by the Numbers.

Internet

Macworld offers Six essential iPhone apps for a zombie attack.
Stephen Fry on how he joined Twitter and piracy. [Video]

Literature

Interview: Brandon Sanderson answers a few questions about The Way of Kings.
Interview: Horror Bound interviews Nancy Kilpatrick.
News: Boys prefer to read simpler books, survey suggests
As the rumored ship date for the Apple iPad nears, Penguin Unveils Demo for Apple iPad Digital Books. It would be nice to see more publishers doing this.
The Guardian explains Why World Book Day matters more than ever.

Science

DARPA Brings Our Comic Book Fantasies to Life.

Television

io9 explains 5 Reasons Lost’s Parallel Universe Is A Waste Of Time.

Writing

The best advice for writers? Read, according to the UK Guardian.
GalleyCat explains How to Find an Agent for Your Urban Fantasy Novel.
Michael A. Stackpole has some thoughts on Why Consumers Think Book Prices are Too High. Listen to the DragonPage podcast for more rants in a similar vein.
Rants & Ramblings explains How To Title Your Book.

TV Review: FlashForward

John Ottinger III — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:47:58 +0000

FlashForward is a TV series based on the novel of the same name by the Hugo, Nebula, and Campbell award winning author Robert J. Sawyer. The show, a piece of near future science fiction, draws the viewer in by presenting a problem that raises many more questions than it answers. One so compelling the viewer just has to keep watching to know what happens next.

The first episode “No More Good Days” opens like a standard crime drama. FBI agents Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes) and partner Demetri Noh (John Cho) are chasing bad guys through the streets of a California city. We then jump forward to see Benford and Noh awakening from an apparent crash. But as they do, we learn that it was not just they who were involved in an accident, but that the whole world had blacked out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, during which time they see visions of their future.

In subsequent episodes we see Benford, Noh and their boss Stanford Wedeck (Courtney B. Vance) and fellow agent Janis Hawk (Christine Woods) taking the lead in investigating the cause of the worldwide blackout. It is they who first discover “Suspect Zero” a man apparently still awake during the blackout, and it is they who continue to turn up clues to the reason. Each episode ends with a similar significant cliffhanger, and I was thankful to have the DVD version so I could watch the first 10 episodes in just a few sittings.

Benford and his team are eventually given free rein to investigate the FlashForward event. This is mainly because Benford saw a vision of his future during his FlashForward, with himself as lead of the investigation.

Even as the characters are dealing with the larger issue of the FlashForward, they also have personal problems. Benford – the primary motivator of the story – saw a return to his alcoholism during his vision and his wife Olivia (Sonya Walger) sees herself in love with another man. Olivia is honest with Benford, but he is not, and a marital tension arises. Noh didn’t see anything, and so fears he will be dead on April 29, 2010 – the future day the visions seem to have revealed to most everyone. Others have more prosaic visions, which may turn out to be much more complex than they first appear.

The story is extremely compelling. The episodes ask questions about the relationship between prophecy and free will. While entertaining in its 24 like government conspiracies, it also looks at the personal effects of knowledge of the future, especially in the relationship between Olivia and Benford. The story easily hooks the reader, as it has action, suspense, love, and mystery all rolled up into an easily relatable package.

The acting is decent, though not great. Only a few of the main actors have had previous significant billing, and the show relies mostly on Fiennes for star power. This is a problem because Fiennes, a Brit, has a hard time Americanizing his accent. Instead of the smooth inflection of the actor I would expect from the star of Shakespeare in Love, we get a raspy voice that sounds the same throughout the show. Even when Fiennes’ character is talking to the daughter he loves, it sounds as if he is talking to a suspected perp. For Hugh Laurie (House on House) this works for the character, but in family man Fiennes, it sounds forced and unpracticed. As the show progresses, there is some improvement, but in the initial episodes, this is a turnoff.

Vance seems to simply have reprised his role as the prosecutor on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. He delivers his lines with nearly the same expression and voice as from the show – enough to be almost indistinguishable. This is works in his role of director of the local FBI agency but it will be familiar to viewers of his previous TV role. Cho, Woods, and Walger are relative unknowns and their acting and do quite well in their roles – making them believable and empathetic. I do think Woods seems to be rather monotone in her delivery in the first few episodes, so her character is probably the least interesting of the bunch as a result, until her story begins to be developed more fully.

All in all though, it is the story that is most compelling. Even as Season 1.1 ended, the viewer was left with many more questions than answers, and even the seemingly lackluster acting rose to the occasion. New stars and characters were added as the season went on, but undeniably, this show only becomes more riveting with each and every new episode.

I watched Season 1.1 on the recently released DVD, which contains a couple of bonus features. The documentary that describes the effects is interesting if you like background on just how shows like this are made, and the FlashForward: A Look Ahead certainly wet my appetite for more in the second half of the season, set to begin on March 18, 2010.