Grasping for the Wind

New Feature: Disqus Comments

John Ottinger III — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:37:10 +0000

I spent a good part of this morning installing the Wordpress plugin Disqus (pronounced “discuss”) Comments. The idea was to improve the functionality of this blog, allowing you to use Facebook, Twitter, OpenID and other methods to comment. Also, it gives you more control over your subscriptions to comments (by email or RSS) and ultimately is just better for the user, as it gives more control to you, the reader.

Let me know if you have any problems with it and I will correct ASAP.

Book Trailer: The Sable Quean by Brian Jacques

John Ottinger III — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:37:42 +0000

I grew up reading Jacques, in fact, I credit a large part of my interest in fantasy to this man. I still recommend him to middle school students, and have my own limited library of his books. I’m glad to know he plans to keep on writing Redwall novels.

Press Release: The Daily Cabal 3rd Anniversary Contest

John Ottinger III — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:53:28 +0000

The Daily Cabal’s Third Anniversary: Come Up with a Celebration Idea and Be Immortalized

March 26, 2010 will mark the Daily Cabal’s third anniversary of posting brand new, very short, often wildly speculative fiction every single weekday, come Hell or high water, with about 800 stories posted to date. And we’re going to celebrate!

But we have no idea how, so there’s a contest.

THE CHALLENGE: We invite all Daily Cabal readers, supporters, wanderers, stumble-uponers, nay-sayers, and enemies to comment here with ideas for how we Cabalists can best express our elation at having survived another year. Some kind of flash fiction writing would probably be involved, but apart from that it’s all open to whatever you can imagine. Give us a writing challenge, a theme, a restriction, a process, a warning, a command …

THE PRIZE: The person who submits the winning idea will be respectfully Tuckerized (inserted into the story) in multiple Daily Cabal posts according to any personal details that person is willing to divulge, whether those details are true or fanciful, clear or ambiguous.

THE DEADLINE: Put your ideas in the comments to their post by the end of the day Sunday, March 14th.

Find out more here: The Daily Cabal

Video: Lost/Baywatch Mashup

John Ottinger III — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:20:30 +0000

Hee Hee Hee! Ha Ha Ha!

[Via Paul S. Kemp]

Geek Media Round-Up: March 11, 2010

PipeDreamer Grey — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:00:50 +0000

Art

Travis Pitts is selling Sci-Fi Jesus Fish stickers on Etsy.
Unreality has posted A Wicked Gallery of Little Red Riding Hood Re-Imagined.
Virtual Fun Zone has a gallery of Japanese Trains Decorated with Anime. I think that some of these would really spruce up New York subways.

Comics

News: Patton Oswalt to write ‘Firefly’ comic book

Film

Interview: Christopher Nolan teases a “fantastic story” for a Superman reboot.
The Innsmouth Free Press picks 10 Best Epidemic Horror Flicks.
Premiere remembers 10 Movies That Were Better Than The Books.
Wired warns of The Top 10 Movies That Should Never, Ever Be Converted to 3-D.

Internet

According to NG Online, Blogging younger demographics aren’t blogging. Does this mean I’m not “hip” anymore?
FlavorWire is claiming that Conan O’Brien is Secretly Tweeting From 8 Different Accounts. I guess the guy has a lot of free time on his hands.

Literature

Interview: Starship Sofa interviews Gene Wolfe. [Podcast]
In the article “Aliens have taken the place of angels” at the Guardian, Margaret Atwood explains why we need science fiction.
Engadget has an exclusive look Microsoft’s Courier digital journal. Apple seriously needs to strap two iPhones together to make one of these.
io9 wonders Is “Science Fiction Humanism” A Contradiction In Terms?
Jo Walton discusses Fantasy and the need to remake our origin stories.
A new book claims that Robin Hood stole from the rich and lent to the poor as a secret Templar.

Television

News: Sony 3D TVs to arrive in June

Video Games

Cracked explains Creepy Ways Video Games Are Trying to Get You Addicted.

Writing

Charlie Stross explains Why books are the length they are.

Book Review: Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein

John Ottinger III — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:04:33 +0000

My review of Between Planets by Robert A. Heinlein can now be found online at Sacramento Book Review.

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?