SF and Fantasy

PragoFFest appearance on Saturday, Feb. 2

I'll be appearing virtually at the PragoFFest convention in the Czech Republic on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 8 pm local time. I'll be discussing SciFi Strange and why I believe this style of science fiction is so relevant to today's SF-influenced world.

PragoFFest looks like a blast and I wish I could attend in person. The Czech magazines XB-1 (and their predecesor Ikarie) have published a large numbers of my stories. I also write a monthly column for XB-1, which Martin Sust is kind enough to translate. Translations will be available for my talk and I'll also take questions from the audience.

So if you're in the Czech Republic this Saturday, look for the virtual me at PragoFFest.

Ssh. We're not supposed to talk about latest SFWA drama

After three successful terms as president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, John Scalzi has finally fallen to his knees and prayed "Oh Great Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke, deliver me from all this SF politicking!" Seriously, John's done a great job at SFWA, helping grow the membership and set up reforms to ensure the organization's future. He's entitled to a well-earned break and he fully intends to take it.

Which, of course, brings up the question of who will be SFWA's next president. And from there comes the latest drama to play out on the SFWA discussion forums.

Now before I talk about that ... let me say I'm not supposed to talk about that. SFWA has a long tradition of keeping its discussion boards private and frowning upon anyone who breaks said silence. As as SFWA member I have no desire for a frowning upon, so no talkie on the private fun and games.

However, that doesn't mean I can't talk about what people have said in public. Theodore Beale has publically declared his candidacy for SFWA President. Now if you don't know Beale, he's published a number of genre books and also writes columns for WorldNetDaily under the name Vox Day. While I can't confirm or deny or even speculate if Beale's candidacy is causing any drama on the SFWA forums, I can point to a public comment from two years ago on how he felt 

"... inspired to run against John Scalzi for SFWA President next year. My platform is going to involve disenfranchising all of the female members and endorsing a Federal law banning women from writing any science fiction or fantasy that does not contain vampires or wereseals and comes with a warning label: WARNING: this is Vampire/Wereseal fiction, not actual science fiction or fantasy."

Beale has also made a number of other fun comments, including that "educating women is strongly correlated with reducing their disposition and ability to reproduce themselves" and that Americans need to expel all Mexican immigrants and "reclaim their traditional white Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture."

Oh yeah. Nothing controversial about this candidacy.

But the good news is that Beale is nothing more than an attention seeking candidate. Soon other candidates will throw their hats into the ring and we'll all breathe a big sigh of speculative fiction relief.

Until then, welcome to the SFWA madhouse.

Victoria Foyt again explores her own racism with Save The Pearls, Part Two

When last we left Victoria Foyt, her young adult novel Revealing Eden (Save the Pearls Part One) — about a future where white people wear black face to survive the cruelty of life under their black overlords, who are not-so innocently nicknamed "coals" — was justifiably denounced as racist and a piece of literary excrement firmly dropped in the stereotyped toilet. And that was before Foyt and her enablers questioned the ability of anyone but themselves to correctly identify racism. In case you don't remember, this bizarre train of thought derailed spectacularly when Weird Tales editor Marvin Kaye proclaimed the novel "a thoroughly non-racist book" and promised to excerpt it in his legendary magazine. Or at least, that was his plan until his boss, the publisher of said legendary magazine, went "Oh crap" at the emerging storm and pulled the plug.

If you want to catch up on all those fun and games, I suggest you read these insightful posts from N. K. Jemisin, Jim C. Hines, and Foz Meadows. And catch up you should, because Victoria Foyt is about to release the sequel to her novel, titled Adapting Eden, Save The Pearls Part Two.

According to the book's promo page, it's scheduled for release in early spring, while the book's Amazon page indicates a release of January 25. Since that's also the date B&N is giving, I'm betting on the January 25th date.

According to the book summary on Amazon:

"In the sequel to the award-winning, dystopian novel, Revealing Eden, Eden Newman must adapt into a hybrid human beast if she hopes to become Ronson Bramfords mate. She has no choice but to undergo her fathers adaptation experiment at his makeshift laboratory in the last patch of rainforest. But when the past rears its ugly head, Eden and Bramford must abandon camp along with their family and friends. Luckily, an Aztec tribe that has survived with the aid of a healing plant provides them with sanctuaryor is it? Too late, Eden realizes she is at the center of an epic spiritual battle between love and war. To survive, she must face her deepest fears or lose everything, including the beastly man she loves."

First off, Foyt must want us to ignore the grammatical mistakes in her summary. And she'll also likely want no mention that the award her novel won is questionable at best, or that the sentence about how the main character "must adapt into a hybrid human beast if she hopes to become Ronson Bramfords mate" indicates that Foyt is no more knowledgeable about racial issues than in her first novel. After all, that novel described the African-American character of Ronson Bramfords as a "beast-man;" this time the summary avoids that term and merely calls him "beastly." So if the white main character must adapt into a "hybrid human beast" to become a black man's mate...well, I can't even begin to comment on that.

Foyt has posted a short prologue of her novel, and guess what, she's embraced an additional stereotype — that of the romantic natives who teach "civilized" people about the folly of their ways. But don't worry. The novel's white girl is still the world's only hope. The prologue has the Aztec sun god Huitzilopochtli saying as much, right after he muses how the glorious 1960s was his heyday because it produced great songs like “Here Comes The Sun" (never mind that you'd think an Aztec sun god's heyday would have been during the Aztec's heyday).

Yeah, this novel is going to be way more uplifting and racially sensitive than its predecessor.

A Novel of Cliched Discovery: A Subtitled Guide to the Worst Fiction Subtitles on Amazon

I shouldn't do this. One of the unspoken rules of being an author is you shouldn't pick on your fellow authors.* (see exceptions to rule below)

But no. I can't let this go. The other day I was browsing on Amazon and I realized that almost EVERY SINGLE NOVEL on the site has a subtitle, and most of them are bad. Really really bad.

I mean, what the hell? Have we reached the point where people can't buy a novel without seeing an annoyingly cliched subtitle summing up the book in the most trite way possible? Are readers lost without someone telling them that this is My Story: A Novel of Discovery in an Age of Love and War, Book 1?

Before you think I exagerate with that intentionally bad subtitle, do you know how many novels have the subtitle "a novel of love and war"? Check out the list. Since Amazon returns four pages of results with that subtitle, let's simple agree that it's quite a few.

Now don't get me wrong: subtitles can be a great thing, and Lord knows I've used them in my time. Two anthologies I've edited — Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices and Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy — both sprouted their titles in the fertile fields of subtitle land. After all, subtitles can be a useful way to both brand your book and convey added information to potential readers.

In my case, I needed to let readers know the anthologies were tied in with the annual Million Writers Award while also helping readers tell them apart. And for some genres — such as with nonfiction — subtitles are a vital tool to help potential readers quickly determine a book's subject matter.  

But that doesn't mean most novels need subtitles. And if they do, novels certainly don't need the cliches which most publishers and authors believe qualify as subtitles.

In many ways we're living in the literary landscape left by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He'd originally wanted his epic fantasy story to be published as one massive novel, but his publisher balked at the cost of doing that. Instead, they released the novel as a trilogy, resulting in bastardizations such as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

When other authors and publishers realized the payoff which could result from successful series, we began to see increasing numbers of subtitles proclaiming the series and book number. This trend picked up even more steam when mega-blockbuster films like Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope tricked a new generation of authors into believing subtitle land was the only place to write.

I'm probably fighting a losing battle against this trend, but such is life. Still, where logic and literary analysis don't succeed, there's always humor and snark. Below are the worst subtitled novels I've discovered on Amazon. I know there are many more out there — if anyone finds a jaw-droppingly bad fiction subtitle, add it to the comments below.

* Exceptions to the author-picking-on rule. Authors are not supposed to pick on fellow authors unless:

  • You can do it anonymously. Because oh yeah baby, authors love a nice anonymous flame war built on the bonfires of each other's books.
  • The author being picked on is successful. If an author makes the best-seller lists and becomes a household name like J.K. Rowling then the knives come out. Because dang it, when you're an author sometimes you're only reward in this world is extra-heavy envy of those who are more successful than you.

Donate to Worldbuilders, win a chance for some amazing signed books and prizes

Now that the world didn't end — so much for the predictive powers of the ancient Mayans — why don't you take the time to help build the world up. Worldbuilders is one of the genre community's best charities and a great way to change the world for the better.

Founded by author Pat Rothfuss, Worldbuilders helps fund the amazing work done by Heifer International. There are two ways to donate through Worldbuilders. First, you can go to the WorldBuilders page on Team Heifer and donate. For every $10 you donate, you'll receive one chance receive to win prizes such as signed books from authors like me (including both Million Writers Award anthologies I edited and my short story collection Never Never Stories). 

You can also purchase signed books and items directly from WorldBuilders through their online store and auctions. As with the donations, all money goes to Heifer. Complete details on the store and auctions can be found on the Worldbuilders website

Thanks to Pat Rothfuss for running Worldbuilders each year. I encourage everyone to go and donate for a great cause.

Harlan Ellison's first professional sale

EllisonCartoon

Harlan Ellison's discussion forum sometimes yields fascinating insights into SF history, such as his first professional sale. A forum user mentioned that he'd seen a copy of the July 1952 issue of Imagination for sale and that it contained a cartoon reportedly by Harlan.

Ellison confirmed this publication and stated the following: 

You've stumbled upon my very first actual professional sale. I was in high school, East High in Cleveland, and one of my few friends was the brilliantly talented cartoonist for the East High newspaper, Ray Gibson. We both read sciecne (sic) fiction, and I thought up the cartoon and punchline, Ray did the art excellently, we sent it off to IMAGINATION and they paid us $25.00 This item looms large in my career, even if the bibliography omits it. It was the every start, save for the two serials in The Cleveland News. It is no. 1 in my Archive.

Ray is still alive. In Cleveland, I presume.

The cartoon, with the caption "My plates are killing me," is linked to above. The ISFDB entry for Ellison indicates this is one of only two interior art cartoons Ellison helped create during his five decade plus career. 

Million Writers Award anthology ebooks only $2.99

MWAAnthologies

The ebook editions of my Million Writers Award anthologies, which are retrospective collections featuring ten years worth of award-honored stories, are temporarily marked down to only $2.99.

The first anthology, Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy, focuses on SF/F stories, while the second, Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices , highlights non-genre stories. 

To order the ebook editions at this discounted price, check out the links below.

Bryan Thomas Schmidt needs a SF social media push to realize his anthology dreams

Sometimes it seems like we hear more about the jerks in SF fandom than the truly quality people. This is partly an age-old story — as always, the news which spreads the easiest is about the creep at Readercon harassing people, or the fools who continually dip into anger and hate and undermine the joy our genre should instead be creating.

But despite how bad news spreads, the truth is that the genre jerks are far outnumbered by the great people in fandom. And one of the best people I know is Bryan Thomas Schmidt.

Bryan is a fan, an author and an editor. His debut novel, The Worker Prince, earned an honorable mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s list of best SF of 2011. He's also an incredibly nice person, always willing to discuss genre fun and games and to help those in need.

Now Bryan needs our help. Bryan has an anthology-building dream and without the help of fandom his dream won't come true. You see, Bryan has launched a Kickstarter fundraiser for his anthology project Beyond The Sun and he has less than a week to finish raising the funds!

Here's a summary of the project from the To Be Read blog

Beyond The Sun is going to feature stories by some amazing legendary science fiction writers, some established writers and some new writers on the subject,” he says. His headliners are all Hugo and Nebula winners: Robert Silverberg, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mike Resnick and Nancy Kress. All have written novels and stories on the topic before and look forward to exploring it further. Joining them are familiar names such as Cat Rambo, Jason Sanford, Jennifer Brozek, Brad R. Torgersen, Jean Johnson, Erin Hoffman, Jamie Todd Rubin and Guy Anthony DeMarco.

“The writers included are some of my writing heroes and good friends,” Schmidt says. “It’s a thrill to have the participation of such notables as well as giving new writers the opportunity get more exposure for their own work by appearing alongside others with such respected reputations. Plus, you can just tell from the list of names how amazing the anthology is going to be!”

Between them, the headliners alone have 12 Hugos, 5 Nebulas and numerous other awards. Several other invitees have nominations and awards as well.  Schmidt has even lined up award-winning artist Mitchell Davidson Bentley to do the cover as well as several experienced and up and coming artists to add images for the stories themselves. “It’s rare these days to have artwork inside books, but I think it inspires the imagination,” Schmidt says. “I know that, as a writer, it’s intriguing to see what artists get as inspiration from my own work.” With the project aimed at being family friendly and applicable for educational use, Schmidt also thinks this will add value and interest.

Yes, as one of the author's in this anthology I obviously have a vested interested in seeing this project succeed. But this is a project I'd support even if I wasn't involved. Bryan has created a remarkable lineup for his anthology and this is a book I desperately want to read.

Bryan has less than one week to raise the restof the funds for his Kickstarter campaign. So please, go and support this campaign.

And spread the word.

Because Bryan needs this to go viral.

If only a few of the people who talk online about the bad things that happen in our genre would spread the word about Bryan, then his dream will come true. I mean, the bad stuff will always happen. And it's important for us to discuss the bad so we can stop it in its tracks.

But let's not forget to also promote the great people in our genre.

People like Bryan.

Preview of my novelette "Mirrorblink"

MirrorblinkMy 12,000 word novelette "Mirrorblink" will appear shortly in Interzone and editor Andy Cox was kind enough to send me a preview of the story's art spread. (Click on the image at right for a bigger view. Please note that while the art is finished the page layout is a work in progress).

What do I think about the art? Only that it slapped my eyes silly and reprogrammed the shambling mass I call a mind into feeling nothing but shock and awe!

Which is another way of saying, "Wow!"

The art is by Warwick Fraser-Coombe, who did an equally great job illustrating my story "Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep."

"Mirrorblink" is set on a far future Earth. Humanity lives in small villages where advanced communications technology is forbidden. The most dangerous thing one can do in this world is travels, meaning visiting villages beyond your own. Not only are people suspicious of strangers, there are other dangers lurking outside the village walls, including alien beings called Observers and massive burns of plasma which occasionally rain from the skies, destroying all life in the blast area.

Here's a little excerpt from the story.

Ein of Wastal of the Town of Near Side approached the crossroads holding her pass before her like a child gifting a beloved toy to a friend.  Above, the Day shined hot and clear, with only the smoke on the horizon marring the sky’s even blindness.  Ein had hoped the smoking remnants of that distant burn would dissipate before she reached this new town, but naturally no such luck.

Ein’s body shook from starvation--her food pouch almost empty, her muscles weak and stringy from weeks of half rations--but as she stood before the crossroads she ignored her hunger.  Father Jajher had often warned Ein against approaching strange towns while distracted.  So Ein forgot everything except for the old man in the guard house and the rifle he aimed at her heart.  

Not that the guard actually aimed at Ein.  He aimed at the kaleidoscope of faces and names projected into the air by her pass--an ancient data mirror containing the downloaded memories from hundreds of people.  In theory the data proved Ein was who she claimed to be.  But tradition demanded a pass be held before one’s chest.  If the guard rejected the pass, the rejection would be a hypersonic needle through both mirror and heart.

The complete story will be in issue 243 of Interzone, available in early November. If you can't find Interzone in your area, be sure to subscribe. Interzone is absolutely the most beautiful and exciting SF magazine in the world. 

Context 25 schedule

I'm attending Context 25 this weekend in Columbus, Ohio. I'll have copies of my short story collection Never Never Stories along with the anthologies Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices and Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Here is my schedule:

  • Friday 8 p.m.:  Seducing Today's Youth to SF: A Call to Arms — panel featuring me and Bill Levy
  • Saturday 11 a.m.: Can Science Fiction Match Reality? — panel featuring me, Geoffrey Girard, A.J. Scudiere, and Bill Levy
  • Saturday 1 p.m.: The Next Step: What Happens AFTER Breaking Into Print? — panel featuring me, Steven Saus, Addie King, and Mindee Arnett
  • Saturday 1 - 3 p.m.: Meet the Authors - Autograph Session
  • Sunday 11 a.m.: When Fantasy Becomes SF and SF Becomes Fantasy — panel featuring me, Linnea Sinclair, Geoffrey Landis, and David L. Burkhead

I look forward to seeing everyone at the convention. 

Today in SF History: Harlan Ellison stands up to a bullying Frank Sinatra

In the past I've reamed Harlan Ellison for a number of things, ranging from the frequency with which he screams "Plagiarism!" to the inappropriate comments and actions he's frequently delivered to fellow writers. But all that said, he is flat-out one of the best writers in SF. His The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective is among the most re-read books on my bookshelf and a must-read for anyone who worships at the short story altar.

But while Ellison's personality has frequently delivered him into wrong-headed situations, it's also part of what made him a SF legend. As proof of this, witness the time he stood up to a bullying Frank Sinatra.

The episode occurred well before Ellison was famous, back when he was only in his early thirties. The story is related in "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold," a profile of Sinatra by Gay Talese which was published in Esquire. The profile is considered "one of the seminal works of New Journalism" and can be read in its entirety here.

The set-up is such: Gay Talese has been trying to land an interview with Frank Sinatra but has been unable to do so. So instead, he follows Frankie Boy to a local Beverly Hills club, where the prima donna acts like a jerk to pretty much everyone. Then he encounters Ellison.

As mentioned, at this time Ellison was almost an unknown — he'd written one screenplay so far for the movie The Oscar, but the film hadn't yet been released. Anyway, Ellison and his friends are at the club, playing pool and ignoring Sinatra. But Sinatra can't stop looking at Ellison, or more specifically, at Ellison's Game Warden boots. Even though Talese describes Ellison and his friends as a cool group of young actors and writers, obviously Sinatra doesn't like how they — and in particular Ellison — are dressed. 

Here's the article from that point:

Finally Sinatra could not contain himself.

"Hey," he yelled in his slightly harsh voice that still had a soft, sharp edge. "Those Italian boots?"

"No," Ellison said.

"Spanish?"

"No."

"Are they English boots?"

"Look, I donno, man," Ellison shot back, frowning at Sinatra, then turning away again.

Now the poolroom was suddenly silent. Leo Durocher who had been poised behind his cue stick and was bent low just froze in that position for a second. Nobody moved. Then Sinatra moved away from the stool and walked with that slow, arrogant swagger of his toward Ellison, the hard tap of Sinatra's shoes the only sound in the room. Then, looking down at Ellison with a slightly raised eyebrow and a tricky little smile, Sinatra asked: "You expecting a storm?"

Harlan Ellison moved a step to the side. "Look, is there any reason why you're talking to me?"

"I don't like the way you're dressed," Sinatra said.

"Hate to shake you up," Ellison said, "but I dress to suit myself."

Now there was some rumbling in the room, and somebody said, "Com'on, Harlan, let's get out of here," and Leo Durocher made his pool shot and said, "Yeah, com'on."

But Ellison stood his ground.

Sinatra said, "What do you do?"

"I'm a plumber," Ellison said.

"No, no, he's not," another young man quickly yelled from across the table. "He wrote The Oscar."

"Oh, yeah," Sinatra said, "well I've seen it, and it's a piece of crap."

"That's strange," Ellison said, "because they haven't even released it yet."

"Well, I've seen it," Sinatra repeated, "and it's a piece of crap."

Now Brad Dexter, very anxious, very big opposite the small figure of Ellison, said, "Com'on, kid, I don't want you in this room."

"Hey," Sinatra interrupted Dexter, "can't you see I'm talking to this guy?"

Dexter was confused. Then his whole attitude changed, and his voice went soft and he said to Ellison, almost with a plea, "Why do you persist in tormenting me?"

The whole scene was becoming ridiculous, and it seemed that Sinatra was only half-serious, perhaps just reacting out of sheer boredom or inner despair; at any rate, after a few more exchanges Harlan Ellison left the room. By this time the word had gotten out to those on the dance floor about the Sinatra-Ellison exchange, and somebody went to look for the manager of the club. But somebody else said that the manager had already heard about it -- and had quickly gone out the door, hopped in his car and drove home. So the assistant manager went into the poolroom.

"I don't want anybody in here without coats and ties," Sinatra snapped.

The assistant manager nodded, and walked back to his office.

Again, I recommend people read the entire piece. But for my money, nothing beats how Ellison, as a then-nobody, refused to let the biggest star of that day push him around simply for wearing clothes which got up Frankie Boy's butt. And I love that Gay Talese was there to capture the incident for posterity.

For previous "Today in SF History" items, go here.

Miller's Monster: 43,000 pound steam engine tractor celebrates 100th anniversary

MillersMonsterSteampunk fans will love this. In the Aug. 1, 2012 local edition of The Budget — a weekly newspaper from Sugarcreek, Ohio, focused on the Amish and Mennonite communities — appears Miller's Monster, a 43,000 pound Case 110 steam engine.

According to the article, the tractor was built in 1912 and is currently owned by J.D. Miller. The tractor celebrated it's 100th anniversary at the recent Doughty Valley Steam Days. Miller spent more than a decade restoring the massive machine, which stands 13 feet tall.

For more on the tractor, see this article from The Bargain Hunter, which details Miller's restoration (and provided the great photo above). There's also a fascinating video on YouTube showing another Case 110 plowing a field.

BTW, I love reading The Budget newspaper, which is published in both a local and national edition. The national edition contains dispatches from Amish and Mennonite communities around the world. For more information on the paper, including how to subscribe, go here.

The anti-SF hatred oozing from Charles J. Shields' Kurt Vonnegut biography

Charles J. Shield, the acclaimed author of Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee, has written the first in-depth examination of the life of 20th century literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. In And So It Goes, Shields follows Vonnegut's life from his birth in Indianapolis through his harrowing World War II years — where he survived the firebombing of Dresden — to his literary struggles and ultimate acceptance as a ground-breaking author.

Overall the book is a fascinating examination of Vonnegut and makes for a quick read. The biography is filled with previously unknown details of Vonnegut's life, many gleaned from access to Vonnegut's personal letters. While Vonnegut comes off as far less likable in this biography than many of his fans likely imagined, that also appears to be how he was in reality.

Unfortunately, there are also major concerns with Shields' biography. First, Vonnegut's World War II years are not explored in as much depth as required. Since that experience rippled throughout Vonnegut's life — and also resulted in Vonnegut's most famous book, Slaughterhouse-Five — it literally demanded being covered in much more detail.

Of even great concern, though, is Shields' extremely demeaning and off-putting attitude toward the science fiction genre. Yes, Vonnegut had a love-hate relationship with SF and didn't want his writing dismissed by placing him in the genre box. But Shields appears to not only have internalized this attitude but taken it to an extreme. Almost ever single reference in the book to a SF author or the genre is derogatory or given short shrift.

For example, only a single page is given to Theodore Sturgeon, who was the inspiration for Vonnegut's most famous character Kilgore Trout. That single page describes a dinner shared by the two authors and how Sturgeon attempts a backward flip but falls on his knees. In Shields' account, Sturgeon is played for laughs only, as a clown who showed Vonnegut what could happen to his writing career if he didn't break out of the damned box of SF fiction. But if you read Vonnegut's original account of the dinner, which he shared in his 1999 introduction to A Saucer of Loneliness: Volume VII: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, it's obvious that this isn't how Vonnegut saw Sturgeon.

In that introduction Vonnegut said Sturgeon was the victim of a "hate crime then commonly practiced by the American literary establishment" — genreism, or the dismissal of any writer who wrote SF. Vonnegut closes his account of that dinner by describing Sturgeon as one of the best writers in America. The fact that Shields referenced this particular episode but missed Vonnegut's larger point about Sturgeon leaves me wondering what else Shields is missing due to his biased view of SF.

If that was the only time this occurred in the biography I could ignore Shields' anti-genre attitude. But it happens again and again. Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Philip José Farmer is described as a "B-grade science fiction writer" (page 320) and as an author whose "novels were outer-space sexual fantasies for male readers" (page 321). Farmer is the only novelist mentioned in the biography who is dismissed so out of hand.

Shields also doesn't go into a detailed literary examination of Farmer's novel Venus on the Half-Shell, which Farmer wrote as Kilgore Trout with Vonnegut's initial blessing. Considering how many readers and reviewers of the time thought Vonnegut wrote the novel — a fact which greatly irritated Vonnegut — and that the biography describes in detail the fury surrounding Farmer's novel, I expected Shields to spend at least a paragraph or two giving a critical analysis to Venus on a Half-Shell. Instead, Shields dismisses this novel in barely a sentence by calling it a "spoof" of Vonnegut's writing.

This dismissive attitude to all things SF continues when Shields mentions Vonnegut's most famous short story, "Harrison Bergeron." The story was published in a 1961 edition of the Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy. But instead of praising the magazine for publishing such a ground-breaking story, Shields describes the magazine as a "cultish monthly for hardcarore admirers of literary science fiction."  To my knowledge, no other magazine mentioned in the biography — and there were many — is described in such a flippant manner.

Again, Vonnegut had a love-hate relationship with SF. But you'd think a literary biographer like Shields could maintain a more even approach to the very genre which gave Vonnegut his initial recognition and praise. In Shields' previous biography examing Harper Lee's life, you don't find a similarly dismissive attitude toward Southern Literature. But perhaps Shields feels that SF is unworthy of being associated with an author he loves as much as Vonnegut. 

Despite these flaws, And So It Goes is still the first in-depth biography of Vonnegut, which makes it a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. But damn — is it too much to ask for a literary biography not to ooze so much SF hatred?

"Heaven's Touch" in the August 2012 Asimov's Science Fiction

Asimovs0812My novelette "Heaven's Touch" has been published in the August 2012 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. Subscribers are now receiving their copies and the issue should be in stores in the next week or so.

"Heaven's Touch" is a hard science fiction story set on a comet in the near future; the main character, Dusty Waylons, is an astronaut fighting both for her own survival and to save Earth. Dusty also starred in my first Analog story "Where Away You Fall," which is available here as a free PDF download. While "Where Away You Fall" works as a prequel to "Heaven's Touch," you don't have to read one to enjoy the other.

Thanks again to Sheila Williams at Asimov's for accepting the story and giving me some great feedback during the editing process. Being published in Asimov's means a great deal to me, as I rambled on about a while back.

And additional thanks to nuclear engineer Anthony Zuppero, who originally developed the idea of ice spaceships. When I was plotting out my story Anthony was kind enough to email back and forth with me on the iceship's technical aspects. Anthony is a fascinating man with some groundbreaking ideas on how humanity can expand into outer space.

Big news: Interzone is now available on the Kindle!

443_largeOver the last few years I've published nearly a dozen stories in the British SF magazine Interzone, and I've been a subscriber for even longer. Simply put, Interzone is THE magazine for cutting-edge SF. When you add in the amazing art and mind-blowing reviews, this is a magazine every genre lover should be reading.

Except, most of you don't. Which is understandable since the magazine is difficult to find in much of the world. In the U.S., for instance, only a handful of bookstores carry Interzone. And when the magazine can be found it's always rather expensive. Similar issues arise with the ebook editions of Interzone, which until now have been on distribution systems not used by most people.

So I understand why more people don't read Interzone. But guess what – your excuses are now dead little fish left in the sun for three days. I mean, they're no longer even valid as excuses and stink big time.

Because now Interzone is available on the Kindle!

You can download Interzone 239 here. The issue features great fiction from Matthew Cook, Suzanne Palmer , Nigel Brown, Jacob A. Boyd, Nick Lowe, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Jon Wallace. Kudos to Andy Cox and all the Interzone crew for putting the magazine where so many new readers can discover it.

And if you hate everything Amazon, don't worry – the magazine is still available on Smashwords and Fictionwise

Update: Black Static, Interzone's horror-magazine sister, is also available on the Kindle.

Today in SF History: Theodore Sturgeon rewrites an already published story

One of my favorite moments in SF history is Theodore Sturgeon's decision to rewrite his 1947 story "Maturity," which had already been published in Astounding Science Fiction.

As detailed in Microcosmic God: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume II, this doesn't mean SF authors before Sturgeon failed to rewrite their stories. Of course many of them did  – PRIOR to publication. However, once a story was published, there wasn't a financial or professional incentive for further rewrites. Due to the low pay and prestige of the pulp markets, authors often cranked out stories as fast as they could. Going back to rewrite a story which had already earned a paycheck was not something your average authors considered doing.

However, Sturgeon wasn't your average writer. Already known as one of the genre's "master wordsmiths," Sturgeon took extreme care with his stories and was extremely irritated when a story didn't work out as he'd intended – or worse, when an editor made random edits to fit a magazine's style. For example, Sturgeon quickly learned that editor H. L. Gold of Galaxy Science Fiction continually made bad edits to his stories. As a result, when he submitted to Gold he wrote the word STET – the editorial term for letting the copy stand as is – across the margins of each page of his submissions.

But before Sturgeon worked with Galaxy, he published stories like "Maturity" in Astounding. Sturgeon wasn't satisfied with the story and, when he learned it would be reprinted in an anthology, rewrote it. Nevermind that this didn't earn him much, if any, more money. He wanted the story to be the way he wanted it.

Word soon spread in the SF community that one of the genre's best writers had rewritten an already published story. SF fans began comparing the original story to the rewritten version, trying to understand what made Sturgeon rewrite it. His rewrite was debated in fanzines and by word of mouth, and the entire genre was the better for it.

To read more about this, go to Microcosmic Gods on Google Books. Be sure to also read the following page, which describes how many SF writers of the time promoted a false belief that they never rewrote their stories. Instead, they proudly proclaimed, "It all comes out first draft." Sturgeon's famous rewrite was one major step in changing this sense of false bravado in the SF genre.

For previous "Today in SF History" items, click here.

Here they come: Million Writers Award anthologies to be published June 14!

MWAAnthologiesThis year's Million Writers Award is off to a great start, with reader and editor nominations already rolling in. Thanks to everyone who has already nominated a story and/or donated toward the award's prize money. We literally couldn't do this without you!

This is the 9th year I've run the award and during that time I've read a ton of great online short stories. I've long wished someone would publish an anthology of MWA stories so I could showcase the amazing vitality of online authors and fiction.

Well, guess what wishes do come true! I'm please to announce the release of two MWA anthologies, which will be published on June 14 by Spotlight Publishing. The first, Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy, focuses on SF/F stories, while the second anthology, Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices, highlights non-genre stories. All of the stories in these anthologies either won the Million Writers Award, were in the top ten stories of the year, or were selected as notable stories by our judges. 

In making my selections I picked those stories which remained burned in my brain long after I read them. Some of these authors have been published in print magazines and books; others are only known for being published online. But all of them are reshaping the world of short fiction. Read these groundbreaking short stories and you’ll understand why online magazines and journals are the place to find today’s most vital and challenging stories.

Pre-Order Special free ebook offer!

If you pre-order one or both anthologies from Spotlight Publishing before June 14 you'll receive special pricing on print editions and ebooks (and please note these ebooks are DRM-free). The regular price for each anthology is $15.95 + S&H. However...

  • If you pre-order the cost for one anthology is only $13.95 + S&H (1.99). 
  • If you pre-order one copy of both anthologies the cost is only $23.95 + S&H (1.99)
  • Only want the ebook? The regular price is $4.95 but the pre-order price is $3.95 for one copy or both anthologies for only $6.95.

In addition, if you use the following Million Writers Award codes when purchasing print copies of the anthologies you'll receive a free ebook. To do this, enter the following codes on the check-out page that says 'Order Summary' and 'Review Your Information.' At that time click on the link that says "Add special instructions to the seller." In the box that pops up, simply add the code you desire.

  • MWA-SF-MOBI  Code for the mobi version of the Best of SF&F ebook.
  • MWA-SF-EPUB  Code for the epub version of the Best of SF&F ebook.
  • MWA-VOICES-MOBI  Code for the mobi version of the Best New Online Voices ebook.
  • MWA-VOICES-EPUB  Code for the epub version of the Best New Online Voices ebook.
  • MWA-BOTH-MOBI  Code for the mobi version of both ebooks. Note: to receive both ebooks you must order both print editions.
  • MWA-BOTH-EPUB  Code for the epub version of both ebooks. Note: to receive both ebooks you must order both print editions.

Ebooks will be emailed to the address associated with their order/payment info at the same time the print editions are mailed out (i.e., June 14).

For more information and to pre-order, go here for the SF/F anthology or here for the New Voices anthology.

 

Million Writers Award: The Best Online Science Fiction and Fantasy

MWA_SFF_800px

Table of Contents

  • Non-Zero Probabilities - by N. K. Jemisin
  • The Faithful Soldier, Prompted - by Saladin Ahmed
  • Arvies - by Adam-Troy Castro
  • There’s a Hole in the City - by Richard Bowes
  • Horus Ascending - by Aliette de Bodard
  • Blue Ink - by Yoon Ha Lee
  • Eros, Philia, Agape - by Rachel Swirsky
  • A Song to Greet the Sun - by Alaya Dawn Johnson
  • Time to Say Goodnight - by Caroline M. Yoachim
  • The Fisherman’s Wife - by Jenny Williams
  • Intertropical Convergence Zone - by Nadia Bulkin
  • Urchins, While Swimming - by Catherynne M. Valente
  • The Shangri-La Affair - by Lavie Tidhar
  • Elegy for a Young Elk - by Hannu Rajaniemi

 

Million Writers Award: The Best New Online Voices

MWA_OnlineVoices_800pxTable of Contents

  • Friday Afternoons on Bus Number 51 - by Sruthi Thekkiam
  • The Incorrupt Body of Carlo Busso - by Eric Maroney
  • The Mountain’s Laughter is a Landslide in the Seed Moon’s Light - by J. M. Scoville
  • Hospitality - by Summer Block
  • I Am My Rooster - by Taylur Thu Hien Ngo
  • Do You Have a Place For Me - by Roxane Gay
  • Cancer Party - by Nicola Mason
  • Interview With A Moron - by Elizabeth Stuckey-French
  • Grief Mongers - by Sefi Atta
  • Alex Trebek Never Eats Fried Chicken - by Matt Bell
  • The Infinite Monkey Theorem - by Marshall Moore
  • Sandwiches From Home - by Jessica Schneider
  • The Black Tongue - by Anjana Basu
  • The Rules of Urban Living - by Kara Janeczko
  • Madame Sabat’s Grave - by Corey Mesler
  • The Boy With the Hole In His Head - by Gokul Rajaram
  • Vertically Divided, Blue-White-Red - by Mark MacNamara
  • Ditch - by Eric Beetner
  • You Are a 14-Year-Old Arab Chick Who Just Moved to Texas - by Randa Jarrar

 

The science (and fiction) around Felix Baumgartner's leap from near space

Today  Felix Baumgartner rode a 100-foot helium balloon to 71,581 feet (13.6 miles) before jumping, using a special pressurized suit and parachute system to land safely. His jump was a test run for his eventual attempt to break Colonel Joseph Kittinger's world-record parachute jump of 19.5 miles.

I wish Felix the best of luck in this endevour, which is as exciting and risky as it sounds. Because I've previously published a short story about high-altitude ballooning and parachuting, I considered boring people with a long examination of the science behind Felix's attempt. Instead, how about I simply let people read that short story, which is titled "Where Away You Fall" and was published in the December 2008 issue of Analog: Science Fiction and Fact.

You can download a PDF of "Where Away You Fall" here.

If you enjoy "Where Away You Fall" keep an eye out for my story "Heaven's Touch" in the August 2012 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. The new story is a sequel to "Where Away You Fall" and features the return of the main character Dusty, except this time instead of being stuck on a balloon she's marooned on a comet far from Earth.

Why I can't vote for Mitt Romney: His favorite novel is Battlefield Earth

All of the second-tier candidates in the Republican Primary must have crap for campaign budgets, as evidenced by the lousy opposition research they've done on Mitt Romney. I know this because, all on my lonesome, I've discovered something extremely disturbing about the Republican front-runner. To my mind, this bombshell totally disqualifies Romney from even visiting the White House, let alone being elected president.

Drum roll please: Romney's favorite novel is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard!

Romney made this claim in a 2007 Fox News interview (you can also find additional coverage of the statement here). In case you're not familiar with this massive 1000-page novel by the founder of Scientology, let's be generous and say Battlefield Earth reads like it was cranked out by a bunch of hack monkeys defecating on a broken typewriter. Yes, the book hit the best-seller lists, but only because of a Scientology-backed purchasing campaign. The novel was also the genesis of one of the worst SF films of all time.

I simply can't believe a serious presidential contender would pick Battlefield Earth for his favorite book. As this newscast states, "Given the existence of every other book ever written, it was a curious answer." And the best part is that once Romney realized praising a bad novel by the founder of Scientology wasn't in his best political interests, he flip-flopped and claimed Battlefield Earth was only one of his favorite books (with his new favorite book being ... you guessed it ... the Bible).

But this flip-flop doesn't change the fact that Romney still claims Battlefield Earth as his favorite, or one of his favorite, novels.  

Since Newt Gingrich is a science fiction fan, you'd think he'd have some strong words to say about Romney's choice of a favorite novel. After all, Newt may be a crap SF writer but he must know enough about the genre to recognize the cliched badness oozing from every page of Battlefield Earth. 

Of course, perhaps this won't be a big issue in the campaign. After all, Romney is a fabled flip-flopper and, according to a 2011 news report, he has already moved on to praising another set of novels--the Twilight series!

Which, considering my views on sparkling vampires, is another reason I could never vote for this man.

A few thoughts on selecting the Nebula Award finalists

This morning SFWA released the 2011 Nebula Award nominees and my first thought is hell yes! Partly this is because so many stories on my ballot made the final list. I make no apologies for that. When I love a story I want it to be recognized by the greater world, and awards like this are a great way to bring recognition and additional readers to worthy authors and works.

But I'm even satisfied with many of those stories and novels I didn't vote for. In fact, I think this is the best Nebula Award final ballot since 2009. At that time I praised the ballot because it contained so many of today's most exciting new writers. I could say the same thing about this year's ballot.

One thing non-SFWA members may not know is that the voting system used over the last few years has continually changed. For the 2009 ballot, SFWA members could see how many nominations each story received in the lead-up to the ballot selection. I really liked this because it allowed members to know which stories were gaining attention. If a story was surging in the tally, many members would go out of their way to read and consider it.

However, there was a downside to having a public tally--logrolling. People could see who supported each story. Because of this, it was claimed some SFWA members pledged to vote for different people's stories if those people voted for their own tales. Now, I personally thought this practice was rarer than people stated, but it was still a concern. And because of this in the two following years SFWA removed the ability of members to see how many votes a story received. Which of course caused many people to complain about a lack of transparency in the award process.

For this year's ballot, SFWA tried a new system. While SFWA has long hosted a section in our forum where members could recommend stories for the Nebula, this process was half-hearted and difficult to manage. Basically, if you liked a recommended story you replied to its comment thread in the member-only forum with another comment saying "Like."

This year, though, SFWA created an official recommended reading section on our site. You could add your support to and recommend stories and easily see how many other members liked the same stories. This system tallied the top recommended stories, and you could make recommendations either under your name or anonymously.

I personally found a number of stories through the list which ended up making my final ballot. I also believe this system allowed works by new writers to build support. And because this recommended reading list wasn't an official ballot, and could be done anonymously, it also cut down on the ability of people to logroll.

Anyway, congrats to all the Nebula Award finalists. And congrats to SFWA for improving the transparency and efficiency of this year's Nebula Award process.