My story "Paprika" on Escape Pod

Artwork for Paprika by Ben Baldwin.

My SF novelette "Paprika," published late last year in the British magazine Interzone, has now been podcast on Escape Pod.

People can either read or listen to the story. 

This is my first appearance in Escape Pod. Many thanks to editor Norm Sherman for accepting the story.

The story is set in the far future and involves an artificial construct designed to preserve copies of human lives. Here's my post-script to the story as it appeared in Interzone (who also comissioned the amazing artwork at right by Ben Baldwin).

"Paprika" was inspired by the life of acclaimed anime director Satoshi Kon, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 46. In addition to animating the award-winning film which lent this story its title, Kon also directed several other influential anime films including Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers. His final film, Dreaming Machine, was incomplete at the time of his death. His fellow animators have been attempting to complete the film based on his script and designs, but funding remains an issue and no release date has been announced.

Because the SF/F reactionaries have nothing new to say

Whether or not you're following current discussions in the SF/F field around diversity and inclusivity, you should read Damien Walter's excellent look at why science fiction is going through a real-life war of the worlds. Here's the killer quote:

It is no coincidence that, just as it outgrows its limiting cultural biases, science fiction should also face protests from some members of the predominantly white male audience who believed it to be their rightful domain. What the conservative authors protesting the Hugo awards perceive as a liberal clique is simply science fiction outgrowing them, and their narrow conception of the genre's worth. Of course, if those authors really wanted to de-politicise science fiction, they could easily help to do so – by admitting the genre's historic bias and applauding its growth. And by doing everything within their power to welcome new authors from diverse backgrounds, instead of agitating for protest votes to push them out.

Well said.

This also brings up something I've been meaning to point out: the reactionaries protesting against the changes in the SF/F genre bring nothing new to the table.

Their arguments against diversity and tolerance and inclusion are the same ones people have been making for centuries. In addition, the writers sticking their fingers in the crumbling genre dike of their own privilege are not the authors creating truly groundbreaking science fiction and fantasy.

No, the writers moaning about losing control of the SF/F genre are stuck in the past and their fiction shows it. Their stories are pre-sweetened nostalgia spread between two slices of white bread and proclaimed artificially delicious. Their stories are genre junk food which simply doesn't take you any place new.

And being taken to new literary places is what I, for one, demand from my science fiction and fantasy. 

If you want truly groundbreaking SF/F, read Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor. Read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Read A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar. Read Osama by Lavie Tidhar. Read N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy. Read the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. Or read the fiction of Ted Chiang, Rachel Swirsky, Nina Allan, Yoon Ha Lee, Saladin Ahmed, Ken Liu, Aliette de Bodard, Paolo Bacigalupi, Eugie Foster, Caroline Yoachim, and so many other authors I can't even name them all.

These are the authors melding new worlds and original insights with their fiction. These are the genre authors who will still be read decades from now.

I welcome the current discussion going on in our genre. But as you listen to the discussions, don't forget where the truly original SF/F is being created these days.

Hint: It's not by those authors screaming that they don't want their exclusive genre playground to change.

When failure is the only way forward

Recently I received the worst rejection of my writing career. But I'm good with it because, as I write over on my Sci-Fi Strange collection at Medium.com, I've found that failure is the only way to go forward in life.

Read N.K. Jemisin's GoH speech

You must read N.K. Jemisin's Guest of Honor speech from WisCon 38. There's nothing more I can say than to read it and then take up her call to action in all our lives.

And if you're not familiar with Jemisin's work, I suggest starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. A few years ago I urged Hugo Award voters to select this work in the Best Novel category. While that didn't happen, I still believe Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy is one of the best works of fiction to come out of the SF/F genre in years. (I also believe The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the only one of that year's Hugo finalists which has actually held up, and yes, that includes the novel which ended up winning the award. But that's a discussion for another day.)

Update: I also suggest people read K. Tempest Bradford's introduction of Jemisin and Hiromi Goto's GoH speech.

In which I escape Typepad land and experience the bliss of Squarespace

My website has been down a lot lately, which is irritating because a science fiction writer without a functioning website is a bit of an embarrassment. "Oh, you write about the intersection of technology and humanity but can't keep your website online? Ha ha ha!"

It's not that I wanted my website to be down so much, but my old hosting company — Typepad — has been hit recently with a number of denial of service attacks. During the original attacks I was sympathetic to their plight. After all, Typepad didn't ask to be attacked.

But then the effects of that attack went on and on, following by a second round of attacks, making me suspect that Typepad's response to these DDOS attacks might be part of the problem. And then I remembered all those little irritations and questions I've had about Typepad in recent years. Like why they haven't updated their website control and design systems in forever, and why most Typepad sites look like refugees from the old AOL "You've Got Mail" generation of website creation. 

That's when I realized a little something: Why hadn't I dumped Typepad years ago?

I admit it. I was lazy. I prefer to spend my free time writing instead of building and maintaining my website.

The good news is I have a new website courtesy of Squarespace. I hope people like the new design and layout. I also can't say enough about how impressed I am with the services offered by Squarespace. They offer template and design options which Typepad can only dreams of providing.

So goodbye, Typepad. And hello Squarespace.