Huh. Saw this interesting post over at Black Gate’s blog. I agree with some of it; that whole thing about a defined evil, for example, and the world-transforming scope. But I don’t agree with… well, the rest. Basically I think Surridge’s definition is too wedded to superficialities and not enough to content. The danger of [...]
Archive for February 2011
It’s official: Nebula Nom!
So I can finally let the cat out of the bag on some great news I got last week: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms has been nominated for a 2010 Nebula Award! I’m thrilled, of course — dancing in the streets, figuratively — but I’ve actually known about this since last week, so had some time [...]
Wanna be a god?
The Con or Bust auction has begun, trying to raise funds to send fans of color to science fiction conventions they would not otherwise attend. To support the auction, I’m offering something a little special: the chance to become a god! …Well, not really. This is actually just a Tuckerization in the forthcoming Dreamblood duology. [...]
And now a word from our sponsor
Said sponsor being me, that is. I own this site, pay all costs, and derive most of the benefit from the labor that generates its content, though it would be pretty silly of me to invoice myself. That said, I could invoice myself, if I wanted to, because the work that I do writing posts [...]
More Melding!
Got asked to participate in an SF Signal Mind Meld again: what are the books that I reread again and again? Admitted some I’m a little ashamed of, since they date from my teen years, but hey — every writer’s got a few literary skeletons in her closet. And there are a few that I [...]
Clarion (West) Call
Passing the word — Clarion West, one of the well-known and justifiably-lauded six-weeker workshops that are basically “boot camp” for aspiring writers, has put out its call for applicants. And the deadline is coming up fast — March 1st! I’ve never been to a Clarion. Never had a job that would allow me six weeks [...]
What’s universal? An informal survey.
ETA: Time’s up! Comments closed. Will post summary/moar thinkythoughts soon, though prob’ly not ’til I’ve escaped Deadline Hell on Dreamblood revisions. This great post over at the Rejectionist on the African American fiction section in bookstores made the rounds on Twitter yesterday, so I’m signal-boosting it here. You might remember that this is a subject [...]
Nebula deadline approaching!
There’s a tradition in the SFF community of authors not campaigning for awards. I’m not sure I understand the logic behind this, other than the aesthetic belief that we as artists should be unconcerned with such grotesqueries as public adulation or (where applicable) material gain. Screw that. I want a Nebula. It’s shiny. I like [...]
Highly recommended!
I almost broke out the pink sparkly text again, but figured it was too soon. (The rest of this year might be too soon for that…) Still, I’m feeling sparkly. That’s because I found out that The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms made the 2010 Locus Recommended Reading list in the “First Novels” category! This is a [...]
“Feminization” in epic fantasy?
I’ll start by positing an hypothesis (H0), and its logical alternative (H1): H0: Epic fantasy is dominated, if not by male authors, then by a “masculine” aestheticism, ethos, and structural focus (it’s “the hero’s journey”, not the heroine’s). And, as with other male-dominated bastions “threatened” by egalitarianism (a.k.a. feminism and femininity), it systematically defends this [...]
