General Stuff
Oct. 21st, 2010 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouseAt first I thought I must be mad to have agreed to host a sleepover while Shawn was out of town on a business trip. Now, I'm sitting in the computer room wondering what the heck I'm going to do with myself all night.
To be fair, this isn't a huge sleepover with countless screaming argonauts. It's just one other boy, someone we've had over before, no less. I've fed them... a lot, actually -- a dinner of corned beef and fixings, desert of fresh raspberry pie and icecream, and now they're munching on popcorn in front of "Ice Age." They're other big plan is to have a pillow fight. Last time, a lamp actually got broken (I know! It was like something out of a sitcom!) but we moved all the breakables into the hallway this time, and everything seems to be going well so far, knock on wood.
Like I said, I think the hardest part so far has been knowing what to do with myself. I was reading for a while downstairs while they were having the first of many pillow fights, and now I'm surfing the interwebs and talking to you.
The book I'm currently reading is GRACLING. It's a fantasy YA about a girl who has been "graced" with the ability to be an a$$-kicking assassin. I'm not wickedly impressed so far, but I can see why it was recommended to me as a follow-up to HUNGER GAMES. Kat is very similar to Katniss, and not just in name, but also in tone. She's very non-emotional, distant, and cold. I suspect that's going to change now that the love interest has made his appearance. We shall see.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for some graphic novels to show up so I can review them for my new gig. Seems my whole life is about waiting for something to come in the mail... rejection letters, royality checks, books to review... :-)
Speaking of all that I was saddened to hear about Realms of Fantasy and Dreams of Decadence folding (again.) My very first short story sale was to Dreams of Decadence, and I never managed to crack Realms. (I'm such and AWFUL short story writer, really. It's sad.) Still, like a lot of people I entertained the idea of buying them from Warren Lapine for a buck. Seems like kind of a deal, unless you consider there's probably accumulated debt, etc. Oh, yeah, and the fact that I know absolutely NOTHING about running a magazine.
And WisCON actually disinvited Elizabeth Moon, eh? Wow. I know there's talk out on the interwebs about WHAT IT ALL MEANS in terms of setting a precident, but I don't see how they could do otherwise. I guess the SF3 membership voted to disinvite her, and, frankly, I'm not sure she's a good WisCON fit because the thing that's struck me about all this is that she's offered no apology, explanation, or any kind of attempt to engage people in a discussion about her post. In fact, she deleted other people's comments. I'm sure that was an attempt/hope to make it all go away, but that REALLY doesn't jibe with WisCON's sense of discourse, you know what I mean? (And it's not really very realistic about the way fandom works in the Internet age, either.)
Looking back on this (but more its predecessors), I hope that if I ever find myself in the center of any kind of fail storm that I have the sense to shut up, listen, learn, and apologize. I don't think that it's wise for us, as writers, to walk on eggshells on matters of race, class, religion, politics, or any other hot button issue. Science fiction is one of the few genres where we push boundries -- sometimes into uncomfortable maybe even sharp edges, and I think that one of the fallouts is that we f*ck up sometimes, even when we have the best intentions.
Of course, if you say stupid things and stick by them, there are consequences. I'm not sure I can avoid the stupid, so my best bet is to try not to be hateful, and, for god(dess's) sake if I come off that way, apologize.
To be fair, this isn't a huge sleepover with countless screaming argonauts. It's just one other boy, someone we've had over before, no less. I've fed them... a lot, actually -- a dinner of corned beef and fixings, desert of fresh raspberry pie and icecream, and now they're munching on popcorn in front of "Ice Age." They're other big plan is to have a pillow fight. Last time, a lamp actually got broken (I know! It was like something out of a sitcom!) but we moved all the breakables into the hallway this time, and everything seems to be going well so far, knock on wood.
Like I said, I think the hardest part so far has been knowing what to do with myself. I was reading for a while downstairs while they were having the first of many pillow fights, and now I'm surfing the interwebs and talking to you.
The book I'm currently reading is GRACLING. It's a fantasy YA about a girl who has been "graced" with the ability to be an a$$-kicking assassin. I'm not wickedly impressed so far, but I can see why it was recommended to me as a follow-up to HUNGER GAMES. Kat is very similar to Katniss, and not just in name, but also in tone. She's very non-emotional, distant, and cold. I suspect that's going to change now that the love interest has made his appearance. We shall see.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for some graphic novels to show up so I can review them for my new gig. Seems my whole life is about waiting for something to come in the mail... rejection letters, royality checks, books to review... :-)
Speaking of all that I was saddened to hear about Realms of Fantasy and Dreams of Decadence folding (again.) My very first short story sale was to Dreams of Decadence, and I never managed to crack Realms. (I'm such and AWFUL short story writer, really. It's sad.) Still, like a lot of people I entertained the idea of buying them from Warren Lapine for a buck. Seems like kind of a deal, unless you consider there's probably accumulated debt, etc. Oh, yeah, and the fact that I know absolutely NOTHING about running a magazine.
And WisCON actually disinvited Elizabeth Moon, eh? Wow. I know there's talk out on the interwebs about WHAT IT ALL MEANS in terms of setting a precident, but I don't see how they could do otherwise. I guess the SF3 membership voted to disinvite her, and, frankly, I'm not sure she's a good WisCON fit because the thing that's struck me about all this is that she's offered no apology, explanation, or any kind of attempt to engage people in a discussion about her post. In fact, she deleted other people's comments. I'm sure that was an attempt/hope to make it all go away, but that REALLY doesn't jibe with WisCON's sense of discourse, you know what I mean? (And it's not really very realistic about the way fandom works in the Internet age, either.)
Looking back on this (but more its predecessors), I hope that if I ever find myself in the center of any kind of fail storm that I have the sense to shut up, listen, learn, and apologize. I don't think that it's wise for us, as writers, to walk on eggshells on matters of race, class, religion, politics, or any other hot button issue. Science fiction is one of the few genres where we push boundries -- sometimes into uncomfortable maybe even sharp edges, and I think that one of the fallouts is that we f*ck up sometimes, even when we have the best intentions.
Of course, if you say stupid things and stick by them, there are consequences. I'm not sure I can avoid the stupid, so my best bet is to try not to be hateful, and, for god(dess's) sake if I come off that way, apologize.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-22 02:37 am (UTC)If you are looking for graphic novels to review, mine is coming out next week...
I don't know when I will receive my copies, but I'll get you one if you're interested.
Cheers!
-- JF
no subject
Date: 2010-10-22 02:45 pm (UTC)I'm fairly sure more people read that than do my LJ at any rate. :-) And she's been sending me any graphic novels they get.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-22 10:18 pm (UTC)You got it. Thanks, Lyda!
-- JF
no subject
Date: 2010-10-22 05:38 pm (UTC)"...center of any kind of fail storm that I have the sense to shut up, listen, learn, and apologize...."
Brings to mind the sequence, "S/he will be arrested, tried, convicted, and executed".
I.e., it assumes that it is impossible to find oneself in such a "fail storm" without in fact being "guilty".
no subject
Date: 2010-10-23 04:58 pm (UTC)So, yeah. I think it's safe to assume I'm guilty.
However, I was also trying to imply that it's extremely difficult not to be misconstrued in print -- whether you're making a political/personal response in a blog (like Moon) or creating a character in fiction (like Bear).
Intentions (aka guilt) aside, if someone is hurt by what I've said or a character/scene I've created I think the lesson to be learned for me from Moon Fail is that, for myself, I'd rather engage than not. It took a long time, but it's my impression, Bear came out of Race Fail better than Moon did, and part of that was because the discussion will contiue with or without you. (I will admit, however, to watching both from the sidelines. So I might be talking way out of turn.)