The World in the Satin Bag

What Are Editors Good For?

2009-11-07T15:20:00.000-05:00

I'll tell you.

Editors are gatekeepers. The whole purpose of an editor in the publishing business is to weed out the bad and leave only the good. This is especially true in magazine publishing (online or in print). If you think that every story written is good, then you are sadly mistaken. Just because you have written something doesn't mean that it needs to be seen. Bad stories exist. That said, it should be acknowledged that editors don't always get it right; but that's the nature of the human condition.

Editors spruce up prose. They don't do it quite as much as the other kind of editor that you hire, but they do make good writing better. In book publishing, an editor does a hell of a lot of work, and most of the time the work they do is good work. I've seen manuscripts from before publication and after and can honestly say that the final product is almost always better than the original thing.

Editors make you into a better writer. Emphasis on better. They don't make you into the greatest writer ever, but they certainly teach you a few things. Ask anyone published by a major publisher or even a small press. Ask them if their editor taught them anything. They did, didn't they? I thought so.

Editors are dedicated to good books. They are not evil, but benevolent creatures with only one goal in mind: find and publish good books that consumers will like. They don't always get it right (but, hell, let's face it, writers don't either), but they put a hell of a lot of work and TLC into every book they edit. They want to put out good books. In fact, they have to. A string of horrible books that don't sell very well could spell certain doom for an editor; it's in their best interest to provide consumers with good products. And if you don't believe that, then ask an author published by a traditional press. Ask someone at Tor or Penguin whether or not their editors did a lot of work to produce a quality product. Did you ask? And? I thought so.

The thing is, some people are jaded against traditional publishing. Sometimes it's for good reason, and a lot of the time it's not. Editors are not useless entities. They serve a vital purpose in publishing, and writers need them (even good writers). Self-published writers need them too. Every sentence you write isn't gold. Sometimes a sentence is utter drivel. The problem is that writers don't always know that, and it can take a good editor to make them see it.

If I missed anything here, let me know. I'm learning a lot of the editing trade, so if there are things editors do that I've forgotten, leave a comment!

(This post is a preface to another post I have coming up. I'm trying to wrap my head around a string of paragraphs written elsewhere that I can't help staring at--not because they are interesting, but because what is being said is so ignorant and stupid that I can't help gawking at the words. Expect that soon.)

Book Review Up: Angel of Death by J. Robert King

2009-11-06T15:55:00.001-05:00

I've written yet another review for yet another book from Angry Robot Books, and yet again it's a good one! Check out my review here.

Enjoy!

Calling On You: Ecocriticism, green, DIY science fiction?

2009-11-05T12:36:00.002-05:00

I'm in the process of doing some research for a paper proposal and am looking to put together a list of recent (last ten years) science fiction stories containing some element of the "green" movement in it. This can be anything from obvious ecocriticism, but more particularly aspects of the DIY (do-it-yourself) green movement as visualized through science fiction. This is not limited to near future stories; one of the novels I am working with is Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell, which is set pretty far into the future, but deals with a lot of the issues I am curious about in regards to "green" literature (i.e. living with the environment and creating tech that accommodates that sort of relationship).

Any help would be appreciated. Again, it should be recent fiction. I know of a lot of older stuff, but I want this paper to be more relevant to the more recent "green" movements today.

Thanks!

Writing Prompt #7: Comical Imitation

2009-11-04T18:13:00.001-05:00

Now that we are in the glorious month of November, it is time for yet another writing prompt. I thought I'd be silly this time around. Here goes:

Write a humorous short story in your favorite genre doing your best impression of Douglas Adams.

I think this one will be a lot of fun. Go wild, everyone. Seriously! I might have something for this by the end of the month.

Have fun, and feel free to let me know if you're taking part in the comments.

Rekindling WISB: An Idea; Opinions Wanted

2009-11-03T19:52:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I was discussing some writing-related things with a friend of mine when she brought up a problem she was having with finishing her latest novel (second in a series, actually). One thing led to another and I suggested that maybe she could write some short stories in the same world so she could keep things fresh and interesting. She didn’t much care for the idea, but thought it would be a good one for me.

And, I agree, sort of. One of my problems with The World in the Satin Bag and its sequel, The Spellweaver of Dern, is that I feel tired of both of them (not the blog, but the novels). Call it character fatigue, or world fatigue, or whatever, but whatever it was that had me clambering to finish The World in the Satin Bag isn’t there anymore. That’s not to say that I’m not interested, just that I don’t have the drive at the moment.

So, my idea is to possibly write some short stories set in the world of WISB (Traea), to be posted here, of course. My question is whether any of you would be interested in that. The stories would probably not involve characters from the novels, but it’s possible. Let me know what you think of the idea in the comments section (hate it or love it, or indifferent, doesn’t matter).

Anywho!

The Fantastic is in the Genes

2009-11-02T17:45:00.000-05:00

If you trace back through time you can see through every generation and era the presence of the fantastic. By fantastic, I mean anything that could be construed as fitting into science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, fairy tale, myth, religion, and any other such genres or subgenres in which something we know is not entirely true occurs. The fantastic is somewhat like a virus in that it worms its way into everything and evolves to fit into new shapes so that it may survive in some sort of dominant mode. So, when I say fantastic, I am using a liberal definition of the term, much as literary theorists have, in some respects.

The fact that the fantastic has survived through generations and eras, despite a monumental effort to suppress certain forms of it, is astonishing, and leads me to conclude that there must be something in us, something wired into our DNA, that makes mankind susceptible to the whims of the fantastic (we'll call it fanty from now on, just so it can have a cute name like SF does--i.e. sciffy--and if you're really clever you'll catch the Firefly/Serenity reference).

We know this from history: the fantastic is woven into us more finely than a nano-fiber coat (if such a thing exists). The cavemen and other early cultures had some idea what it was, and drew it and exchanged stories about it without realizing that was what they were doing. Numerous religions were founded on the very prospect of the fantastic too, and one cannot deny the relation all religious share to one another, even those religions in existence today. So much of our existence is founded in principles of fantastic discourse as figured through all mediums (fine art, writing, spoken word, etc.). So, is it any wonder that fantasy, as a genre, is doing so well, or that science fiction film (and even fantasy film, for the most part) have such a strong hold on the visual market? The fact that young adults and children gobble this stuff up like so much candy is testament to our human desire for the fantastic; as adults, we may shed some of the "silly" aspects of our youth, but there is always that thread (of course, some of us never grow up, and that thread is still wrapped around us as a coat).

Now, the question is: is it possible to cut ourselves off from the fantastic (assuming we wanted to), and if we did, what would the consequences of that be? Would we lose a part of our souls, or would it be like losing a toe (no big deal at all)?

5 Ways to Explain Scifi Obsession to Friends

2009-11-01T15:45:00.000-05:00

We all have that one friend who doesn’t get science fiction. Some of us have probably gone through the annoying experience of trying to explain it and realized how futile such a thing really is. But maybe we’ve failed because we haven’t bothered to try one of the following five options:

--I’m an Alien!
Look, your friends already think you’re insane for having Star Wars figurines lining your walls or stacks of science fiction books filling up your shelves. What harm could it do to take that insanity to the next level? Explain that your love for the genre is due to a long lost urge to reclaim the glory of your former galactic empire! At least there might be something strangely normal about saying that (especially if you’re British).

--Theater Birth
Maybe they’d understand you if they thought you had been born during the opening credits of Star Wars, or shared a birthday with twelve of the greatest science fiction writers of all time (thanks to some clever quasi-time-travel handiwork). Heck, you could even tell them your first word was a Wookie war cry thanks to a year of clever brainwashing by your scifi-crazed parents, in which you were exposed, twenty-four hours a day, to non-stop scifi goodies. Your friends will understand. Really.

--Speculative Prescription
There’s nothing like explaining away one level of “crazy” than by claiming you’re crazy in a different way, and that your new crazy is medication. There are all sorts of weird treatments out there, and it wouldn’t be that difficult to accept that some radical psychiatrist out there wants to treat your mental defects with a bit of spaceship-and-explosions-laced fun. If you really wanted to, you could cook up some fake prescription notices to your local Blockbuster. Might be fun…

--Only Wimps Get Old
Some people see science fiction obsession as a sort of desperation to remain a child. After all, it’s all escapist garbage, right? And you should just grow up and be like everyone else. I mean, come on, being into science fiction is like being a forty-year-old fat man with a beard hanging out at an Anime convention; it happens, but it’s just not natural…But screw that. Tell them you don’t want to grow up. You’re a Toys’R’Us kid, or something like that, and you’ll be damned if you’ll throw away all your fun for a suit, a tie, and a mediocre cubicle in the 9-to-5 grind. Science fiction is about life (and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness)! You’re seizing the day, as the ancients used to say.

--The Economy Needs Lovin’ Too
Still, there’s nothing like explaining to your friends just how important science fiction is to the economy. Just show them the sales figures of the last ten years of science fiction film in the U.S. and you’ll have ample evidence as to why the genre makes the world go round. And that’s not including books, action figures, collectible cards, board games, pajamas, t-shirts, food products, and novelty bedroom attire for the ladies (nothing like a little Spidey lingerie, eh?). Without sciffy nuts like you, the sales industry would be a damned boring place. And don’t forget to mention all the advances in technology thanks to science fiction: everything from new ways to make films to new technologies and ideas that make our lives easier. Plus, our current President is a sciffy fan, and if it’s good enough for the President, it’s good enough for you, right?

But maybe all these options are a little too over-the-top for you. You can stick with the same old boring answers if you want, but these five suggestions might spice things up a bit.

If you’ve ever tried anything like this, let me know in the comments. I’d like to know the different ways you folks have tried to explain your obsessions to your friends, science fiction-based or not!

Ten Things No Writer Should Ever Do

2009-10-31T18:48:00.001-04:00

There are a lot of things writers shouldn't do, but there are some things that a writer really shouldn't do. Here is a list of ten things no writer should ever do:

Send a long-winded biography not limited to your writing career.
Not only do we (editors) not give a crap, but your query letter or cover letter should be short and sweet, telling us only the things we need to know to assess your manuscript. Most editors don’t even need a cover letter, but a good story is a good story, regardless of where someone was published or not published before. Sometimes a quirky fact about yourself is cute, but beyond that, we just don’t care about your life story!

Send files in formats not specified.
If the guidelines say send your submission in .doc or .rtf form, then send it in .doc or .rtf form. More than likely, the editors can’t open other file types, or have no clue what those others are. I’ve received everything from .docx to .odt to .pages, the latter two of which are for programs I don’t even have on my computer. If it can’t be opened, it can’t be read!

Demand to be paid in a form that isn’t specified in the guidelines.
Generally speaking, if the guidelines say “paypal only,” that means “paypal only.” But sure, demand to be paid by Western Union (or whatever it’s called now). Coincidentally, the person who demanded this also told us she was a forty plus year old woman, and our guidelines specifically stated that twenty-five was the cap. What can you do?

Argue about a decision.
If we don’t want your submission, arguing with us about it isn’t going to change our minds. In fact, it might make us turn to disliking you. Take a rejection like a man…or a woman. It’s part of the writing life.

Forget to attach your submission.
Okay, so this one isn’t as bad as the others, but it’s a silly mistake that you really shouldn’t do, for obvious reasons. Usually we laugh about it, but after a while it gets tiresome to send the same email out over and over.

Send an insulting email.
Something about someone emailing you to tell you that you’re a scumbag for rejecting their submission and that you should burn in hell forever is truly uplifting. People still do this, and it puzzles me why. I thought the object of submitting was to get published. How does one expect to do that if he or she insults everyone who rejects them?

Stalk someone and post hateful comments on their email.
Remember that Cole A. Adams incident? Don’t do that. Seriously. It’s bad news for you and anyone around you. It's also a good example of career suicide, and if you can't help yourself, then seek psychiatric help. They have pills for that kind of thing.

Send dead animals to a publisher or editor.
According to a rather epic story, Harlan Ellison did something like this. But Harlan Ellison got away with it because he was/is Harlan Ellison. Nowadays, I don’t think even J. K. Rowling could get away with that. This applies to any sort of shipment of illegal or unorthodox items to a publisher or editor, including, but not limited to, razor blades, pipe bombs, letter bombs, bricks, cocaine, marijuana, poison food items, anthrax, and rotten fruit.

Tell someone about your criminal convictions or crimes you've committed and have yet to get caught for.
I suppose this one would fit on a list of stupid things people do in general, but there's really nothing stupider than admitting to someone who might be inclined to publish your story for kids that you are a convicted pedophile. Honestly. It's also not a good idea to tell an editor that you killed a man once and never served any time. That's not information editors want to be burdened with. If you must confess, do so with a police officer. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help relieve your burden.

Plagiarize.
This is the big no-no, and no matter how many times people say don’t do it, there is always someone willing to take the risk. Sometimes they can get away with it, and others times not, but when you consider what happens to you if you don’t get away with it, why would you ever take the risk? I don’t know about you, but I’m not particularly fond of hefty fees or jail time. I like eating and my apartment is cozy…

What about you? What do you think are some things that writers shouldn’t do? Let me know in the comments!

Survival By Storytelling, Issue One for sale!

2009-10-30T19:13:00.001-04:00

Well, I know you've all been waiting for this for quite a while, and it's finally here. Survival By Storytelling Magazine, Issue One is up for sale at Lulu for a mere $9.00 in print and $5.00 in electronic format! You can purchase it here.

The magazine will also be appearing on Createspace and Amazon in time, but the process for those two is different from Lulu, and longer, but you'll hear from me as soon as it happens. For now, you can get your copy of SBS from Lulu.

And in case you wanted to know why you should purchase the issue, here's some incentive:
--We have some amazing fiction and poetry from writers new and old, all twenty-five and under, many of them members of YWO (Diocletian, Mercy, Adri, Nyx, Tegzz, and Crocolyle, unless I'm missing anyone).
--We have an interview with author Paul Genesse (The Golden Cord and The Dragon Hunters; he has also written many short stories for collections published by DAW). He also wrote us a fine article about writing.
--There is also an article by author T. M. Hunter in here, author of Heroes Die Young.
--Every sale of SBS pays our authors. Since we pay by royalties, every sale is directly helping the contributors, and that's a good thing, right?
--Every sale also helps Young Writers Online, which is also good. Mostly the money goes to contributors, but YWO gets a little bit out of it too, and that goes to making sure we can have more contests in the future!
--It'll make you feel good inside. Trust me. SBS is like chocolate, only better.

So go out and get your copy now! As for the contributors: you'll be getting an email from me shortly in regards to free copies for you, which wasn't in the contract, but, hey, I feel that you deserve something for your patience. Plus, it's standard practice anyway!

Lastly, please advertise about SBS. I'll try to get some promotional images together, but if you could blog about us, that would be great. Spread the word and let everyone know what you think about the magazine!

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive of this endeavor over the last year+. It's been a lot of work and we're glad to be done, if not a little misty-eyed about it. Thanks to all who contributed, and here's to a good opening run!

Interview w/ David Marusek

2009-10-29T19:53:00.000-04:00

David Marusek is the author of Counting Heads and Mind Over Ship, the latter of which I reviewed here. You can also find Mr. Marusek at his website.

On with the interview:

Thank you very much for doing this interview. First things first, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What got you into writing in the first place, and why science fiction?

I'm a middle-aged man living in a cabin in Interior Alaska. I'm single (attention, ladies), love dogs, love to chainsaw firewood, dip for salmon, and spend time in the bush. I always wanted to write, but I only got started seriously in 1986. I thought I would write about a million books, but as it turns out, I'm a very slow writer (my editor says deliberate, not slow). I started out trying to write literary fiction, but I couldn't get the hang of it. Then someone told me about the Clarion workshops, and I attended Clarion West in Seattle. I sold my first fiction to Gardner Dozois at Asimov's during the workshop and have been publishing ever since. I seem to have a crazy inventive mind that feels at home with SF, and I love the SF community of writers and fans.

Who are some of your favorite authors? Books?

I don't read as much fiction as I used to. Recently, the writer who wows me the most is Jim Crace, a Brit, and two of his books I highly rec are The Pesthouse and Being Dead. He's not a genre writer, but The Pesthouse is a post-apocalyptic tale much better than Cormac McCarthy's much-hyped The Road.

Mind Over Ship is, in my opinion, a fairly unique novel because it incorporates a plethora of high-concept ideas (such as your fascinating take on the future of human cloning). What was your inspiration for Mind Over Ship (and obviously its predecessor, Counting Heads)?

I had two images stuck in my mind that, when combined, was the genesis of Counting Heads. One was of two parents holding a baby that they "retro-conceived." That is, their own DNA was overwriting the baby's own genes. In my mind I saw the baby in an in-between state. The other was of a wife abandoning her husband on a busy street when he is captured by a mechanical security device.

That's pretty much how my stories get started, with a compelling image or idea that persists sometimes for years until I do something with it.

Since your novel deals extensively with the issue of cloning, do you see human cloning becoming a reality in our near future (not just cloning cells or eggs, but cloning actual people)? Do you think our response to that will be a good one or a bad one?

Yes, I see cloning whole humans happening in the near future. At first it will probably be done by unscrupulous people just to see if it can be done. World reaction will be overwhelmingly negative. All world religions will condemn the practice. Even secular humanists will be outraged. I'm not sure if cloning will ever become a standard practice. In other SF stories, the basis for cloning humans has been to raise great armies of superior soldiers or as living tissue banks for wealthy persons, but I don't see that happening. Other technologies will fill those needs. In my own books, the labor force is made up of specialized, contented clones. This presumes that personality is tied to DNA, probably more-so that it actually is, but it makes a dandy conceit for fiction. (I have recently learned about epigenetics, which probably plays a major role in this.)

Which if your clone models in Mind Over Ship is your favorite? Why?

The Lulus, because they're hot!

Do you plan to write new stories in the universe of Mind Over Ship?

Yes, installment #3 is bubbling in the back of my head. I've been moiling in the CH and MOS universe for about 15 years, though, and I need a break from it. My current novel project is completely unrelated. In fact, it's set in contemporary America. It's all very hush-hush, and I can't say anything about it.

What other projects do you have coming up and can you tell us a little about them?

Besides the novel, I'm doing a fantasy story, my first effort in that genre. It's called "Modern Parenting--Circa 2006," and it makes me smile every time I think about it. It's about a father with a very special ability, and a daughter addicted to danger.

Switching gears, what do you think about the present state of the book industry, both on the selling end and on the making end? What about eBooks/readers?

Publishing seems to be buffeted by the economy and technological advances. No one knows what it'll look like in five or ten years, but I think authors may become empowered through POD and ebook tech. I bought a Kindle, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.

What unusual piece of writing advice would you give to a budding writer? (Emphasis on unusual)

See a doctor. No matter how pretty the bloom may be, budding is not usually healthy for humans.

And now for a silly question: If you could be any animal on the planet, which animal would you be and why?

A dodo, to mess with biologists' minds.

Graphic Novel Review: Aetheric Mechanics by Warren Ellis

2009-10-29T18:54:00.003-04:00

Well, I have another review up. I borrowed this graphic novel from a friend and liked it enough that I decided I should write a review for it. You can find the review here.

Have any of you read any comics or graphic novels of note lately? Let me know in the comments!

Haul of Books: Friends of the Library Edition

2009-10-28T17:52:00.001-04:00

There was an enormous book sale here in Gainesville over the last few days and I thought I’d let you all know what I got (a lot of stuff, actually). Next time, in April, I don’t think I will be going quite as all out, mostly because I don’t have as much need for a lot of books anymore. I intentionally went this year trying to find things to use for my research, and now I’m only missing a few things.

If you’ve bought any new books in the last few days, let me know in the comments. Here goes (sorry, no pictures; there’s just too much):

Science Fiction and Fantasy
--The Once and Future King by T. H. White
--Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
--Forest Mage by Robin Hobb
--Crossfire by Nancy Kress
--Alastair Reynolds by Redemption Ark
--A War of Shadows by Jack L. Chalker
--The Pscyhotechnic League by Poul Anderson
--The Continent of Lies by James Morrow
--Land of Unreason by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt
--A Day For Damnation by David Gerrold
--Other Americas by Norman Spinrad
--The Face of Chaos edited by Robert Lynn Asprin and Lynn Abbey
--New Writings in SF8 edited by John Carnell
--The Web of the Chozen by Jack L. Chalker
--Nightwings by Robert Silverberg
--Heads by Greg Bear
--Molt Brother by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
--Mahogany Trinrose by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
--Shardik by Richard Adams
--Continuum 2 edited by Roger Elwood
--The Four Lords of the Diamon by Jack L. Chalker
--Danger Human by Gordon R. Dickson
--The Book of Skaith by Leigh Brackett
--Worlds of Maybe edited by Robert Silverberg
--Threads of Time edited by Robert Silverberg
--The Children of Men by P. D. James
--The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.
--The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
--The State of the Art by Iain M. Banks
--The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks
--Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
--Peace on Earth by Stanislaw Lem
--Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss
--Helliconia Winter by Brian W. Aldiss
--Becoming Alien by Rebecca Ore
--Quicksand by John Brunner
--An Exaltation of Stars edited by Terry Carr
--The Final Planet by Andrew M. Greeley
--Saturn’s Children by Charles Stross
--The Urth of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
--The Android’s Dream by John Scalzi
--Gateway by Frederik Pohl
--Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
--Child of the River by Paul J. McAuley
--The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold
--Brothers of Earth by C. J. Cherryh
--The Sentimental Agents (A Canopus in Argos novel) by Doris Lessing
--Shikasta (A Canopus in Argos novel) by Doris Lessing
--The Fringe of the Unknown by L. Sprague de Camp

Other Fiction (including magical realism, etc.)
--Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
--Middlemarch by George Eliot
--Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
--The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells
--The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
--World Without End by Ken Follett
--Love, Again by Doris Lessing
--The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
--Baudolino by Umberto Eco
--The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco
--Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
--Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marques
--Concrete Island by J. G. Ballard
--The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
--On the Road by Jack Kerouac
--

Non-fiction
--At the Edge of History by William Irwin Thompson
--The Machine in the Garden by Leo Marx
--African Studies Review, Volume 47, Number 3
--History and Memory, Volume 19, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2007
--Nationalism by Eli Kedourie

I also got a book called Religion in Colonial America by William Warren Sweet

And that's all I got, without paying a whole lot of money at all. Today was 10 cent day, by the way. I got a box of books for $3.60. Now that's a steal!

Why I’m Sick of the Term “Race”

2009-10-27T19:02:00.000-04:00

To get into this discussion, I’m going to have to toss out all of my beliefs that there is no such thing as race (a belief Edward James Olmos not only agrees with, but managed to have changed in the United Nations, adding weight to the importance of science fiction in the world of today). The reason is that my disbelief in the entity of race is irrelevant: I and Edward James Olmos, and a handful of others, are a minority; as much as we might tell ourselves and others that the very concept and belief in race is ridiculous and detrimental to society, people still cling to the prospect of race and divisional lines and all those things that operate as othering mechanisms, turning one type of person into “bad” and another into “good.” That is the problem I want to talk about here.

I am sick of the term “race” because it is one of the most terrifying forms of multidirectional cultural violence currently in existence that is not only clung to by people who sit in the majority, but by people in the minority as well, in any space on the planet (yes, that means even places where White is not the dominant skin tone). Race is like an infection, and the fact that mankind has struggled so hard to maintain it and use it as a basis for everything, either (perceived) good or bad, is absurd on so many fronts that for someone who tries so hard not to think in terms of race, there is nothing but an impenetrable barbwire-covered wall spanning the great distance between reality and perception.

I am sick of the term “race” because of the reality that we cannot think about anything in society without also thinking about race, about othering others, on both sides of the spectrum. “Race” is so much like a virus that it has infected even those who have, in the West, at least, been most affected by the inception of the term. All arguments against the idea of “reverse racism” are veiled attempts to ignore a certain humanistic reality: we all harbor within us the possibility of othering. And that othering is wrong, regardless of the justification. It is no more right to assume another to be “racist” based on their skin tone than it is for another to treat someone of a historically discriminated position poorly (even horrendously) for the same reason. It matters not what reason one chooses to turn another into the other; the very act of doing so is cultural violence, it is the sacrificing of a part of our humanity for the preservation of a systemic knowledge-base that we can only combat by fighting to stop using it.

I am sick of the term “race” because the people who have pioneered it as a system, a term, and an institution, and those that followed in the near past, present, and, no doubt, the future, have infected everyone else with “race” and othering and all the terrible things that come with constantly having to think and engage with others based on the idiocy that is “race.” The fact that I have to know how to deal with African American students at a public university tells me that “race” is always waiting to indoctrinate, to feed and attach itself to you, because you cannot escape it, no matter what you do; it is always there, always ready to go.

I am sick of the term “race” because it is not only a basis for the unfair treatment of others, but also the basis for forced non-racism: the very accusation of being “racist” causes a stir in most individuals, and, regardless of whether or not one is actually “racist,” their consequential action from accusation is a desperate attempt to prove oneself non-racist, to accommodate the other. But even that, that accommodation, is exactly what is wrong with “race” in the first place, because what you are doing is acknowledging that race is important, that some races are “special” (for good or for bad) and deserve special treatment (again, for good or for bad). You are complicit in the perpetuation of “race” without even knowing it; a good deed, thus, can become yet another factor of “racist” pathology.

And I am sick of the term “race” because for all that I have spoken of here, I still have to talk in some format that accommodates the term “race,” that lets it feed like a parasite on my thoughts and on you who are reading this. No matter what we do, we are stuck with the cultural violence of “race,” and to escape that would require an astonishing amount of effort on the part of all people to abolish it from our thinking processes and our vocabularies.

In the end, “race” is stupid. It shouldn’t exist. The fact that it still does, not just in the form of “racism,” but in how we engage with other members of the same species, makes me question the value of mankind. And so long as it does exist, it will change and shape how we act with one another, not just in white vs. black, but in all combinations and cross-relationships. There’s a saying from a relatively famous Broadway musical called Avenue Q. It goes something like this: everyone’s a little bit racist, sometimes.

The question is, if that is true, where do we go from here?

Her Fearful Symmetry Giveaway

2009-10-26T16:59:00.004-04:00

I thought you'd all love to hear about this: the Regal Literary Agency is having another giveaway of Audrey Niffenegger's newest hit, Her Fearful Symmetry. If you don't know who that is, she's the wonderful writer who brought us The Time Traveler's Wife, which was recently turned into a major motion picture featuring Rachael McAdams.

If you decide to enter, please let them know that you heard about it from me (Shaun Duke). Pretty please!

Thanks and good luck!

Pointless Plot Elements, Convenience, and Fantasy

2009-10-25T15:11:00.000-04:00

I was reading something the other day and one of the things that I disliked about it was how the author had gone about plotting his or her novel. Each element to the plot (each action and reaction) seemed too convenient, as if the author had intentionally done those things just so he or she would have an excuse to put two characters together by chapter four. While this may occur quite often in fantasy or any sort of fiction with a discernible plot, what bothered me the most was how obvious the story was about its convenience. This seems like a problem that is very common in fantasy (and, to a lesser extent, science fiction). Too many writers seem to rely on convenience rather than logic or intelligent plotting. For the record, I do not profess to be an expert on how to plot, but am speaking here primarily as a reader; and, as a writer, it is making me very aware of my own novels and stories, so much so that I have started to wonder whether or not there are elements of convenience in my own work (there are).

I can't say I know how to deal with such issues, but it seems to me that the reasonable thing to do is to avoid moments where it is obvious that you are plotting by convenience. If you say "Oh, well if I just do this, then I can put these characters together, and then everything I want to do can be done," then it seems to me that you're dealing with convenience. Worst yet, it makes no sense to a reader why you wouldn't just put those characters together in the first place if you wanted them there anyway. There are factors that make all this obvious; rapidity is one of them. The quicker you try to make your plot happen, the more clear it is to the reader that that is what you are trying to do. The nasty critical side of me wants to point out that this is amateurish; I've done it, and where I see it I know that I have done something terrible.

Having said all of this, I have no advice whatsoever on how to avoid it. Like I said, I still do it from time to time. The only thing I can think to do is to ask yourself at every plot turn if you're using convenience rather than logic. If you are, then you probably should think of something else. If you know that someone is going to say "this is terribly convenient," then it doesn't make sense to continue going in that direction.

But, I want your opinions on this. How many of you have experience this either in your reading or your writing? Let me know in the comments!

Video Found: Ray Bradbury on Writing

2009-10-25T14:02:00.002-04:00

While this is a short video, he offers some amazing advice, not just about writing persistently, but about what makes for a great story, in his opinion. You also get to see him in his boxer shorts, which, for anyone obsessed with his work, is probably a wonderful experience indeed (click the read more to see the video):

Teens Read and Write MegaBook Giveaway!

2009-10-25T10:39:00.002-04:00

I just thought you all would be interested in this huge giveaway over at Teens Read and Write. They're adding new books for each follower milestone, and you all should join in!

And that's enough from me!

Book Shopping Etiquette

2009-10-24T15:02:00.001-04:00

I recently returned from an enormous book sale in the Gainesville area and have a few thoughts on the issue of book shopping etiquette, since clearly nobody at the sale had any idea what etiquette was. So, I have compiled this list of good book shopping etiquette in crowded browsing situations:

1. Form a directional order to sectional browsing. Everyone should go the same direction, aisle by aisle, to facilitate proper browsing for multiple people. Having twelve people coming from all directions doesn't help.
2. Don't push, crowd, or rush past people who are clearly waiting politely for someone else to move. Honestly.
3. Say "excuse me" if you need to get by for some reason. It's common decency. We used to have that once, when we were still British and knew how to queue.
4. Allow people to switch places with you if you are going particularly slow so that they can get to look at the stuff on the other side of you. Snails gum up the works.
5. Don't sit down in the middle of an aisle or near a shelf and start looking through the books you've already picked, especially when it's clear that other people want to browse there. Jackass.
6. Don't take other people's books. You'd think this would go without saying, but apparently people do this, and I'll have you know that I will carry a fork from this day on especially for those folks.
7. Let the folks who are trying to rapidly restock the shelves do exactly that. At a big sale like the one I went to, where things aren't alphabetical, those folks rushing in with new boxes of books are just trying to keep the stock fresh. That's good for everyone, including you, Mr. Book Fanatic.
8. Do not bring your infant child to a book sale that you know is going to be crowded and full of boxes with sharp corners. While I may be more than willing to give you leeway, others with more rabid book buying tastes have no qualms bashing your kid in the face with a box or an elbow.
9. Let old people go first. They're likely not looking for what you want anyway, and they're old.
10. Wear deodorant. Seriously.
11. Brush your teeth. Other people have to smell your breath in cramped quarters, and someone might kill you as a result...

I'm sure there are other good rules, but I'll let you all think of them. For now, that's what I've got!

I Know What Un-American Is

2009-10-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

Do you? Well, if you don’t, maybe you should consider the following:

1. Sending U.S. soldiers into Iraq to die under the spoken claim that a) Iraq was a direct threat to the United States (false) and b) Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (also false). What exactly are they defending in Iraq? You should also consider whether or not there is such a thing as freedom in the forceful overthrow of an oppressive government and the forced installation of a supposedly free democracy, but, hey,
no need to think back to the history of colonialism and imperialism.
2. Worse still is the fact that injured Iraq and Afghanistan vets return home to find themselves deprived of what should be excellent and necessary medical aid to get them back on their feet so they can at least become productive members of society, rather than dissolve into the den of homelessness and internalized terror. Heaven forbid that our soldiers might want a little gratitude from us for not dying in battle.
3. Disenfranchising tens of thousands of voters, over and over, who were either predominately black or Democrat by using illegal methods such as caging voters and the like, and then refusing to prosecute people caught doing such things, time and time again.
4. Stopping the recount of votes some 170,000 short and ceasing all investigation into serious issues of voter fraud and illegal activities in key states, despite realistic concerns from voters and representatives about the vote itself.
5. Stopping independent investigative committees from looking into the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
6. Illegally wire-tapping hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans.
7. Taking days to get significant quantities of support into New Orleans to evacuate thousands of people, some of which died of dehydration or other ailments as a result of being exposed to sewage, etc.
8. Imprisoning hundreds of people in Guantanamo Bay for years, without being charged for any crimes or given trials.
9. Torturing said people and then lying about doing it, and then, when the truth comes out, saying that it was for the best, despite being against the Geneva Convention, which we signed, and our own laws about the treatment of POWs, without any conscious thought about how such action might affect the treatment of our own soldiers in the future.
10. Denying someone the right to be with their dying loved ones based on a prejudiced (and illegal) belief.
11. Denying people of "opposite" races to marry because it might cause problems for their future children (also illegal, by the way).
12. Denying people the right to marry someone of the same sex based on an unconstitutional inclusion of Biblical law. (To those five states with marriage for homosexuals: may you forever prosper above those states that trade in hatred.)
13. Killing people based on a) sexual orientation, b) race, or c) political orientation.

And that's just a few of the un-american things that have happened in the last ten years. Imagine what this list would look like if I included the previous thirty...

That is all.

Science Fiction is Not Immortal

2009-10-22T11:11:00.000-04:00

Having spoken of the non-death of science fiction, it occurs to me that I should also talk about the would-be-death of the genre. Because, unlike general fiction (or “literary” fiction, if you want to call it that, though that would be unfair), science fiction does have a limited lifespan. To be fair to SF, that lifespan is a long one, since the inevitable death of SF cannot occur until one of two things becomes true (and I have mentioned these before): a) we are incapable of imagining the future any longer; or b) the future ceases to exist.

I don’t know how either of these possibilities will ever worm their way into existence short of the apocalypse descending upon us, since, after all, the physical end of human history as we know it would constitute a complete absence of the future. But then, SF wouldn’t exist because there would be nobody there to think about it. So that is not a possible solution to the problematic nature of SF’s mortality.

Instead, and I think I have touched on this at some previous point, science fiction will cease to exist in the first instance when some measure of hope (or the utopian ideal of such a thing) no longer occupies us as a bulk entity of fleshy masses, when we literally cease concerning ourselves with the present’s pursuit of the future. How? Perhaps through the creation of a utopian state, as much as one can exist, in which the needs of each man and woman are attended to, in some fashion or another. It’s hard to say what could produce the incapability of imagining the future, but when that occurs, SF dies.

In the second instance, however, the future must cease to exist because the limitations of the future itself are as mortal as science fiction. The future is not indefinite, but is replaceable, recycling itself over and over, in a cycle that is finite. It is not a perpetual motion machine, but a machine with a long, slow, drawn out cease-ment-of-living. The future, thus, ends for mankind when there is nowhere else to go. Perhaps that is at the end of life as we know it, or at the end of the universe (the collapsing of the energy that created us all, which would then restart the cycle, restart time like a battery). More than likely, it is at the point in humanity’s inevitably long existence in which we simply have nowhere else to go. Imagine that, if you will: after all those centuries, we come to a point where technology cannot progress, where what is around the corner is little more than the same thing that we saw yesterday, and nothing we do changes anything in a significant manner whatsoever (on a global or galactic scale). That is where science fiction dies.

But, a simpler approach, one that is less “philosophical,” if you will, is to try to think about the place we will eventually be in, where science fiction cannot possibly offer us anything else. If we already have space ships and aliens and AI and robots and all of those imaginative constructs, then, really, where else is there to go? Science fiction simply cannot exist in that sort of environment. It will cease to be speculative and forever become the present, the every-day. We'll stop calling it "science fiction" and, instead, shove it in with all those mainstream and "literary" novels. That is, of course, if literature can survive the distant future.

And that’s all I have to say on that. What do you think?

Barnes and Noble's Nook: A New Wave in eReaders?

2009-10-21T16:58:00.001-04:00

B&N isn't the only one announcing new eReaders. Apple is rumored to have one coming up and Amazon has released the international version of the Kindle 2. But I think this is the first time I have found myself excited about the prospect of an eReader.

B&N's Nook is a sleek looking device with a heck of a lot of functionality, including the self-declared ability to read multiple formats adequately. While the Nook uses AT&T's 3G network, which is not covered in all areas, it does allow you to use your USB port on your computer, which makes folks like me, who download loads of essays in PDF form quite frequently, happy because it allows for the possibility of making those reading experiences more enjoyable.

So, my initial impression is that of excitement. I admit that I am not a big B&N fan (I prefer Borders only because their club card thing is free), but this might make me a regular B&N user over Amazon.

But enough about what I think, what about you? Do you think it looks good? Are you reserving judgment? Or do you hate it? Let me know and tell me why!

Out of Body Experiences...With Characters?

2009-10-20T19:27:00.005-04:00

I had the most bizarre experience the other day. While doing homework I found myself suddenly speaking as one of the characters in a new project I've been working on. I started walking around the house, talking as though I was telling the story, albeit rather quietly. Then, it stopped. There must have been five minutes of this, and when I tried to write it all down, I found that I couldn't, as if that part of me had simply been shut off.

I've never had that happen to me. I don't know if I'm insane or simply so fascinated by this character than talking as though I am that character is simply the way of the game.

So, to determine whether my sanity has been compromised, I'd like to ask all of you whether you've ever had this kind of experience. Let me know in the comments! You can also tell me I'm nuts and should seek medical attention, if you so desire.

Sci-fi Film Festival (Saturday, Oct. 24th)!

2009-10-20T19:27:00.000-04:00

It figures that the year I move away from California all the cool things I had always wanted to happen there began to occur: all my favorite writers paid a visit and now a sci-fi film festival! But, if you're in California, and particularly the L.A. area, you should check this festival out:

Who: Trade&Row - a Los Angeles based 501c3 nonprofit organization established to develop and support community-oriented programs that engage current issues through the visual, performing and literary arts. For more information about Trade&Row, please visit: www.tradeandrow.org

What: Trade&Row, a nonprofit community organization, is happy to present its second annual Saturday Fantasy Film Festival Fundraiser. Independent short films from around the world and discussions will address the role of science fiction, fantasy and horror in examining social issues. Amazing donated items such as a one night stay at the Standard Hotel (Downtown) as well as items from feature films will be raffled off throughout the day. All proceeds will be used to develop and support local community-oriented programs that engage current issues through the visual, performing and literary arts.

Film screenings will be hosted by producers/writers Grant Rosenberg & Garner Simmons. The festival will also feature presentations, including a discussion moderated by Dr. Joan Wines, Professor of Literature at California Lutheran University and member of the Aldous Huxley Society, with panelists:
* Sheila Finch, science fiction author
* Joshua Dysart, comic book author/graphic novelist
* Joshua Hale Fialkov, comic book author/graphic novelist
* Marc Zicree, science fiction television and film producer
* Dan Goods, Visual Strategist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, will also give a presentation on the link between science and art.

When: Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Where:
Rec Center Studio
1161 Logan St
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Tickets: Tickets are available online at www.saturdayfantasy.com as well as at the door. Admission is $10.

For more information about the festival please visit: http://www.saturdayfantasy.com

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If you go to the festival, please pop buy and let me know how it went!

Science Fiction's Not Dead, Fantasy is in the Golden Age

2009-10-19T18:47:00.000-04:00

People are talking about the death of science fiction again. It's not actually dead, far from it, but as soon as someone says "it's dead" someone else goes crazy (either because they believe SF has long been dead or because they're tired of hearing the argument). Apparently the genre has a few dozen lives and manages to die and be resurrected ten or so times a year. The End of the Universe said science fiction has nine lives, but I think that's too conservative of an estimate. It's died at least that many times in this year alone...

The problem with science fiction isn't that it's dead. To be fair to the genre, it's never actually died, but it has been overshadowed to varying degrees in history. Even in its supposed "Golden Age" science fiction was not exactly as popular people seem to remember. Yes, it was popular, but science fiction never had the popularity of mainstream pop-fiction. That's not to say it was irrelevant or that no science fiction books sold well enough to make it to the bestseller's list; quite a few actually did, but in comparison to traditionally larger genres (romance and quasi-mysteries), it really didn't make the crossover into market dominance at any point in its multi-century lifespan.

Fantasy, on the other hand, has, and not because the genre is necessarily better (and neither is it worse). Fantasy is doing well because it got lucky. Now, to be fair to fantasy, it has always done rather well ever since Tolkien became a persistent model for other fantasy writers. As a genre, fantasy had a lot of uphill battles to fight to get to a point where it had a secure market, but once it got there it never let it go. Now, however, fantasy has exploded. Some have said that fantasy is experiencing a "Golden Age" of its own--and I would have to agree. Why?

Well, as unpredictable as the market often is in regards to what will be the hot item of the year, I would say that fantasy simply got lucky. The publishers had no way of knowing that urban fantasy would plow through the roof like it did, or that other forms of fantasy (more traditional forms, if you will, and even the exceedingly non-traditional--literary, ultra-weird, etc.) would grow moderately over the last couple decades. It just happened.

Now, if I were to argue for a reason, I would say that the last eight years have had a lot to do with the rise of fantasy. Publisher Weekly almost acknowledged as much in the last year when the recession hit and sales of escapist titles (science fiction and fantasy) actually rose (it was temporary in the sense that, while people were going to SF/F for a presumed escape from the present, the downturn of the economy eventually led to an almost universal drop in sales in almost all markets, some of which have yet to fully recover). The reality seems to be that when the proverbial crap hits the fan, readers flock to literature that is less likely to make matters worse. They want heroes and adventures, of a sort. I don't know if this is true for everyone, but sales seem to reflect that. I am unsure how urban fantasy fits into this assessment--UF tends to be somewhat dark in nature. Either we have to accept that people are somewhat darker at heart than we ever anticipated, or urban fantasy offers a bit of harmless, well, fantasy.

I don't know how long fantasy's "Golden Age" will last. As with all booms in literature, there are limits, and I suspect that urban fantasy, which seems to be the genre largely pulling fantasy up out of the pool, will eventually wear out its welcome--fantasy, as a whole, will not. For now, we can sleep soundly knowing that science fiction isn't dead and fantasy is doing quite well. That's good news.

Comment Policy Change

2009-10-19T08:05:00.003-04:00

I have made some changes to how comments will work on this site. All comments will now be sent for approval by me. Why? Because I have been getting an inordinate amount of spam posts and I'm tired of deleting them. To those that might be concerned that I'll prevent your comment from showing up because you disagree with me or some such, you have nothing to worry about. I'm only stopping comments that are clearly peddling something or leaving pointless words in order to post a link to some scam site.

I'm just tired of it...

Thanks for understanding.