Science Fiction

Looking Forward

~ Cheryl ~ 7 Comments

It is about time I updated you all on my ongoing life complications. Apologies to everyone who finds me insufferably boring.

Firstly I’m now more or less settled in to The Cottage. I’ll try to find time to do a little photo tour of the neighborhood because, like much of the UK, Trowbridge is a rather pretty little town. US persons, prepare to be dazzled by history. Of course The Cottage is too small. I don’t have room for bookcases or visitors here. But I can’t trade up until I’m sure I can afford to do so.

In addition I have been spending some time talking to immigration lawyers and appear to have found a very good one (thanks Dave!). However, it is pretty clear that there is not much that I can do in the short term. There isn’t much point in trying to take things forward unless I have a reasonable chance of getting a visa, and not just a tourist one. I’m pretty sure that even if I got a tourist visa the CBP would refuse me entry. I need better than that.

The one thing that is liable to help me is if I have an actual UK-based business that requires me to go to the US to attend science fiction conventions. It would be even better if it was something that put money into the pockets of US citizens. This is a very scary prospect, but as I have been self-employed for many years now I do at least have a vague idea of how to run a business. I also know the SF&F field very well. There are possibilities.

Nothing is actually firm as yet. I have been talking to a lot of people. Thankfully they have been very encouraging about my ideas. Some have even been enthusiastic. That makes me feel a lot better.

Of course if I do start a business of some sort it does mean that I will have much less time for fannish pursuits. This doesn’t mean I’ll be spending every hour grubbing for money for myself. Like many other people in the business, I’ll be relying on the Day Jobbe to bring in the bacon while hoping that I don’t lose too much money doing the thing that I love. The #1 priority will be to pay decent rates to the writers and artists who do work for me. Inevitably many of those people will be based in the US, and that should help me fulfill the requirements for the business visa. If, in the long term, I also manage to diversify my income stream, I shall be very happy, but I’ll settle for not bankrupting myself. I can’t afford to subsidize a business.

On the other hand, I may get to buy toys. I can see a definite advantage to having a business that requires me to buy an iPad on expenses. And now that Apple has announced they are adding exactly the features I want (bookmarks and annotations) to iBooks I’m actually keen to take the plunge. Like I said, I have no room for bookcases here.

In the meantime it is back to planning, talking to people, and pondering such things as names and web site design. If there is anyone out there who is good at logos I’d love to hear from you.

You can expect more announcements about this in the next few months. Some of you may even get phone calls and emails from me. The rest of you can sit back and tell me that I’m mad. I won’t listen; I don’t need to; I know you are right.

More Podcast Goodness

~ Cheryl

Another weekend, another wonderful conversation between Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan. In this edition Gary and Jonathan talk about Fred Pohl, the history of the SF community, First Fandom, and the need for more books about the early years of the genre. They also get onto the subject of graphic novels.

Parallel to his series with Gary, Jonathan has also launched a solo podcast series. “Books I’m Looking Forward To” covers what Jonathan thinks are the most exciting releases in the coming month. The first episode covers June 2010. Given that Jonathan is the reviews editor for Locus, he has an almost unparalleled access to forthcoming books, so his views are well worth listening to.

Linkage, Etc.

~ Cheryl ~ 5 Comments

Herewith, a bunch of things that I have been meaning to post about.

– If you are in the UK, and have the bandwidth, please download Paul Cornell’s Pulse from the BBC iPlayer. The BBC will be counting downloads when deciding whether to commission a series.

– If I’d been more alert yesterday I would have posted about this and got there before The Guardian, but I’m glad they picked up the story. A woman in New York is suing Citibank because, she alleges, they fired her for being too attractive. Apparently her male colleagues were unable to concentrate on their work with her around. For the benefit of those straight male and lesbian readers who would like to check out Ms. Debrahlee Lorenzana’s alleged hotness, here’s The Village Voice with some photos.

– Subterranean is offering a free story, “Elegy for a Young Elk”, by Hannu Rajaniemi. (Yes, he’s one of my Finnish friends. He’s also very good. Just ask Charlie Stross.)

– The New Yorker has published a list of 20 hot new writers under the age of 40. It includes Karen Russell, who featured prominently in the article I bought for last month’s Clarkesworld. Some of the other writers listed have written weird stuff as well. Two of them have been in Best American Fantasy. Of course this didn’t stop people around the blogosphere complaining that the list didn’t include any SF&F writers. Matt Cheney is suitably scathing.

– Meanwhile in The Guardian top Spanish writer, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, has been picking his favorite Gothic novels. The man has excellent taste. Now I’m annoyed with myself for missing his appearance on Sky’s The Book Show.

– Talking of The Book Show, also at Hay this week there was discussion amongst historians about the propriety of fictionalizing historical characters. The Guardian summarizes. I mention this for the benefit for Guy Gavriel Kay, who trots out this argument regularly when asked why he writes fantasy rather than (presumably more acceptable) historical novels.

– My congratulations to everyone at SpaceX for the successful launch of Falcon 9.

– And finally, an amateur astronomer in Australia has shot film of a bright flash on Jupiter. The prevailing theory is that the planet was struck by a large meteor, and the flash was the result of it burning up in Jupiter’s atmosphere. However, we remember how dismissive Ogilvy the astronomer was when he first saw those flashes on the surface of Mars. Who knows what might be coming.

Elemental, My Dear Sandra

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Last night on Twitter various people starting linking to a “periodic table” of women in SF (PDF). Apparently it had been circulated at WisCon. That seemed a nice thing to do, but being on the iPhone I thought no more of it. Then I discovered I was on it! (Thanks Susan!) Let me put that in context.

Firstly I am on a list of just over 100 people that also includes Ursula K. Le Guin, Angela Carter and Octavia Butler. I am staggered, and deeply honored.

Also, I am on it, while people like Liz Williams, Storm Constantine, Pamela Zoline, Kelley Eskridge, Helen Merrick and Timmi Duchamp (to name but a few) are not. Obviously Sandra had to make some choices, so I’m not complaining about people being left off. Also she did provide a few blank spaces for people to add their own favorites, which was a great idea. But that I got on and those I named above didn’t??? Wow.

(Having said that, this does highlight what I believe to be a particular blind spot that WisCon people have when it comes to Liz Williams. She has written some really good feminist SF and y’all ought to go and read it.)

I think, also, that I am the only person on the list who is there for what was basically fan activity. Everyone else on the list is a professional of some sort.

Those of us with chemistry degrees immediately started wondering which element we had been assigned. Last night I thought I had been given Lead, which I found amusing. However, on closer inspection on a full screen I see that Sandra’s table does not have the same number of columns as the periodic table of elements, so direct comparisons are difficult. Numerically I am #71, and the element with that number is Lutetium. That’s a rare earth element named after the Roman city of Lutetia, now Paris. As with many such things, there was some dispute over naming rights to begin with, and Wikipedia says that in Germany it was originally called Cassiopium, which is rather cool.

I note also that I have been positioned directly between Ellen Klages and Nicola Griffith. This could be interesting. 🙂

But by far the best thing about this is the awesome video that Sandra made to showcase the project. Watch, it is lovely.

And Sandra, THANK YOU!!!

That Darn Crab

~ Cheryl ~ 4 Comments

One of the signs of getting old has to be that way too many of the people you know are fighting against cancer. Some, like Jay Lake, do this very publicly. Others prefer do it much more privately. The latest issue of Ansible brings news of something I wasn’t sure I could talk about it public, but obviously now can.

It is no secret that Diana Wynne Jones has been very ill over the past few years. What is news is that she has decided to stop the chemotherapy treatment for her cancer. As you should all know, chemo is a horrible thing that leaves you feeling dreadful. It is only worth doing if it is going to save your life. If it isn’t then you’ll have a much better time of the months or years left to you without it. While I am fully behind those of my friends currently going through chemo because they are young and fit and will have many years ahead of them once it is over, I also understand those who decide to discontinue treatment.

With the news having been in Ansible, lots of people are now talking about it online. At Diana’s official fan site there is an address to which you can send email (which will be printed out and mailed to Diana). I suspect that poor Meredith is overwhelmed with email right now, but if you do want to send something that’s the way to do it.

Alternatively, you could go and buy some of Diana’s books and read them. I think she would rather like that.

New Magazine Day

~ Cheryl

Yes, it is the first of the month again. There will be a new Clarkesworld online later today (assuming all is well with Neil). In the meantime, a very warm welcome, please, for the new kid on the block: Lightspeed. It looks very pretty, and I wish JJA and his team every success.

Introducing The Portal

~ Cheryl

There’s an awful lot of book reviewing that happens online these days, and an awful lot of short fiction magazines, but finding people to review short fiction is surprisingly difficult. It is therefore good to know that someone else is about to take on that task.

The someones in question are Val Grimm and Elizabeth Allen, both former staffers at The Fix. Their site is called The Portal, and it is scheduled for launch at World Fantasy in October. That’s quite a way away, but one of the reasons for the delay is that they are recruiting staff. You see, they don’t just want to cover the UK/US market, they want to report from all around the world. Some people I know well — Fábio Fernandes and Johan Anglemark — are already involved, but more are still needed. If you are interested in helping out, no matter where in the world you are, send an inquiry email and writing sample to thesffportal at gmail dot com. They will be delighted to hear from you.

See also comment from Fábio here.

You Should Be Listening

~ Cheryl

Seriously, if you have any interest at all in writing, or writing about, science fiction and fantasy literature, you should listen to the podcast conversations between Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan. The latest one, which includes discussion of feminist science fiction and China Miéville, can be found here. Jonathan says they are planning to make it a regular event. This is a very good thing.

More Bits and Pieces

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

Here are a few more things that may be of interest:

– First and foremost, the Hugo Voter Packet has been released. For a mere £25 (currently rather better value that the US$50 price, though it may not be after the election) you can get a massive collection of ebook goodness, including all six nominees for Best Novel. Bargain.

– Talking of Worldcon news, Reno is going to hold a film festival. That’s excellent news as it shows they are working hard on attracting a new and diverse membership.

– On to some archaeology, and it appears that the Maya were pretty clever at urban plumbing.

– Back in Melbourne, scientists claim to have proved that Phar Lap died of arsenic poisoning. Of course this doesn’t prove murder, so they have not yet declared war on the USA…

– And finally, another plug for James Maliszewski’s excellent Grognardia blog. Although it is ostensibly about role-playing, it has many posts about pulp fiction. Here’s James talking about Lovecraft and Conan. His latest post is about the history of role-playing and its connections to the SCA and science fiction fandom. My knowledge is a bit fuzzy, but if one of you would like to point Lee Gold, Diana Paxson etc. at him I’m sure he’d be very grateful.

Some Quick Linkage

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Because I have been too busy staring at airline web sites trying to minimize the cost of the Worldcon trip to do serious blogging.

– Damien G. Walter makes the case for serious fantasy on the Guardian book blog.

– Our right wing loonies in the UK generally don’t have bombs, guns and pretty white uniforms, but they do stand for Parliament.

– Joe Hill’s magnificent collection, 20th Century Ghosts, is currently on sale for 99c to Kindle customers.

– People of Canada, your trans community needs you.

So That’s What Magic Realism Is

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Over at Bright Weavings, Guy Gavriel Kay is talking about the use of the fantastic in literature. The post includes the following:

Yesterday, in the New York Review of Books, I am reading a review of a major bio of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and encounter this sentence:

“Martin [the biographer] helpfully defines magic realism as a story in which the world is as the characters believe it to be … without any indication from the author that this world-view is quaint, folkloric or superstitious.

Oh dear. I laughed too. Thank you, Guy.

Catchup Linkage

~ Cheryl ~ 2 Comments

Here’s a bunch of things that came in over the past few days:

– Margaret Atwood likens Twitter to Fairyland.

– Cherie Priest explains what aspects of publishing authors can and cannot control.

– The Science Fiction World saga rumbles on. News here (via Neil so you have probably read it). Analysis at World SF News.

– The Independent wonders whether the ancient inhabitants of Scotland were literate. Little do they know that when Pictish writing is deciphered it will turn out to be largely early drafts of Culture novels.

Big Trouble in Chinese SF

~ Cheryl ~ 18 Comments

By now most of you will probably have seen the story of the extraordinary blow-up taking place between staff of Science Fiction World and their boss. If not, you can read it all here. I’m mentioning it for two reasons.

Firstly the Chinese are claiming that the magazine is “dying” because circulation has slumped from 150,000 to 130,000. That, I suspect, means that they still have more total readers than all English-language printed SF fiction magazines put together.

And secondly, people have started writing to the Hugo Awards asking for help in saving the magazine. These people appear to be Westerners, not Chinese. They clearly have no idea what sort of rich and powerful political organization is behind the Hugos (ha!). Also I suspect that campaigning by foreigners will be about as much help to the SFW editors as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Linkage in Progress

~ Cheryl ~ 1 Comment

Today has been another busy one. The Day Jobbe has taken up much of my time, but I did get to look at a small, fully furnished cottage that just might be exactly what I need. I’ll be putting in an application tomorrow. Meanwhile I have a few links for you.

– Issue #3 of Yipe!, the costuming fanzine, is now available.

– Science in My Fiction discusses how to cook pasta on Mars.

– The Florida Family Policy Council of Orlando proves that no lie is too outrageous when it comes to hating gay people.

– And finally, over at SFWA, Nnedi Okorafor tries to decide what it means to be African. Some of what she says is remarkably reminiscent of ridiculous turf wars over who is a “proper” trans person, and indeed who is a “proper” science fiction fan. Identity politics can be dangerous stuff.

New Linkage Collection

~ Cheryl ~ 3 Comments

Guess who has spent most of today staring at code rather than blogging.

– Alex C. Telander interviews AussieCon 4 GoH, Kim Stanley Robinson (podcast).

– The Guardian puts the boot in to bad fantasy character names.

– Mark Kelly starts gathering some interesting statistics about how SF&F books are published.

– A Western Australia newspaper has a very positive article about Aussiecon 4.

– Jeff VanderMeer has compiled a wonderful list of recommendations of good 2009 SF&F from many different countries.

– Charles A.Tan talks to the publishers of an anthology of Tamil Pulp Fiction.

– On Saturday I tweeted about a group of people in V masks who were demonstrating outside of the Scientology offices in Tottenham Court Road. I now suspect that they may have been the racist and homophobic group talked about here.

– The Scavenger has an excellent interview with trans activist, Julia Serano.

– The Guardian publishes another trans-positive article (which I note because it shows they are making progress).

– Australian resident wins the right to have no gender.

Thanks Nick

~ Cheryl ~ 10 Comments

One of the things you don’t want to happen when you are traveling is have a major online row break out that you feel you need to comment on. Thankfully Nick Mamatas has said most of what I wanted to say, and from the perspective of Haikasoru which lends it more weight.

I do, however, want to focus in on one small part of Norman Spinrad’s somewhat bumbling and insensitive article. Talking about what he perceives as a lack of SF from “Third World” countries, he says:

If it exists, I haven’t seen a significant amount of it translated into any language I can read

Well, there’s a reason for that. It is partly about markets. The bigger the readership you have for a book the better, so you tend to want to write in a language that a lot of people read. That means you should go for Mandarin, English, Spanish, Arabic or Russian. Bearing in mind the relative wealth of the readers, French, German and Japanese might be good too. Portuguese is probably on the way up. Urdu and Bengali are also interesting prospects, but if you live in India you may choose to write in English because India has a lot of different native languages. If your native tongue is Yoruba then you may well choose to write in English, because a lot of Nigerians speak it anyway and it gives you access to a wider market. Spinrad, I suspect, will view anyone writing in English as “Western-influenced” and therefore not really “Third World”.

The other reason, and you’ll get bored of my saying this soon, is that the English speaking world is woefully uninterested in translated fiction. That’s why some friends and I have started translation awards. Perhaps if Mr. Spinrad were to read the blog there regularly (and the excellent World SF News blog) he would become somewhat better informed. And if he’d like to help support the awards we may see a lot more translated fiction in the future.