Well, I have submitted the final corrected version of my paper on Korean SF films in the 21st century to Acta Koreana: it’s been approved for publication, pending those edits, so I figure that’s one more paper in the can, to bring my current total of pending academic publications to two: “Politics, Ecology on the Korean Left: Anti-Americanism and Environmental Dystopia in The Host” supposedly forthcoming in the Arena Journal. “Another Undiscovered Country: Culture and the Reception and Adoption of the Science Fiction Genre in 21st-Century South Korean Cinema,” which if all goes well should be appearing in Acta Koreana sometime …
Category: WRITING
HP Lovecraft and the (Monkey) Puzzle of the “Good Lovecraftian Film”
I was talking with my friend Chris about a bunch of SF- (and, to a lesser degree, fantasy-) -related things the other day — one of those discussions where you are trying to get at the heart of how we read genre and why, reader/viewer expectations for genre texts and media, and so on. One of the interesting points that came up was how it’s so difficult to make a good Lovecraftian film, and the fact that people keep trying and trying. This has stuck out in my mind as a question to myself, since for a few months now …
The Smell of Progress, On Various Scales at Once
Progress. I’ve made some on a number of fronts, but the one I’ll mention is writing. I’ve been busy in the past week or so–grading, preparing a few lectures, baking, handling some stuff that needed handling–but I’ve made significant headway with writing. I haven’t leapt into the project I was hoping to get into this semester–though I will, hopefully later this month, or early next–but I have made significant progress toward getting a few new short stories, or reworkings of older ones, finished and ready to go out. For the record, I’ve: heavily revised “Asshole Island” (previously “Instead of Pinochets”) …
Traneing Up…
Some John Coltrane-related links, because yes, I’m working on that story that involves him again: John Coltrane, Avant Garde Jazz, and the Evolution of My Favorite Things is a thesis by Scott Anderson which he has generously (and stylishly) put online. It traces the development of the Coltrane Quartet/Quintet’s handling of the tune “My Favorite Things.” Also a wonderful example of how a project-focused website should look. A link I discovered on the above site, which is also amazing, is to Improviz, a project by Jon Syndal to render visual representations of jazz improvisations. There are links to various PDFs …
I’m Flattered…
Rich Horton had nice things to say about, among a bunch of novellas, novelettes, and short stories that he considered “strong work” from 2010, my story in Shine. (And mentions, in the same breath, Alastair Reynolds‘ story that appeared right beside it, which was a favorite of mine from the anthology.) So yeah, I’m flattered.
Starship Sofa Workshop
I’ve been ill, and haven’t managed to mention, something here that I’m sure some of my readers might be interested in. Tony Smith, my friend and the driving force behind Starship Sofa, has launched a workshop series for aspiring SF authors. The first one will be held on 12 March, online, and live. There’s a pretty respectable lineup and series of topics planned: The Beginning – Gregory Frost Plot Tricks from the Dark Side – James Patrick Kelly How To Fix Your Story After It’s Written and You Discover That It Doesn’t Work – Michael Swanwick Why Writing Groups – Mercurio …
“Lester Young…” in Enter A Future: Fantastic Tales from Asimov’s Science Fiction
So I just got an email from Sheila Williams that Asimov’s new Kindle-specific ebook, Enter A Future: Fantastic Tales from Asimov’s Science Fiction, is now available. It features stories by a bunch of amazing writers, namely: Connie Willis Allen Steele Kristine Kathryn Rusch Robert Reed Sara Genge Mary Rosenblum Nancy Kress Daryl Gregory Robert Silverberg (Author) … and, gasp, it also includes something by me. (My story in the collection is this one.) It’s pretty mind-blowing to be in such great company (again–this story seems to do that), and the collection is definitely worth the $7.99 US if you have a …
Mind Meld, and Mission Accomplished (in Draft)
Two things I’ve written. One you can read, one you can’t. Here’s the one you can: SF Signal’s Mind Meld for the week is about to-read piles, and I’m one of the people they invited to contribute/comment. See everyone’s to-read lists here. I should note that a number of the people who contributed are, in fact, in my extended to-read list. I’m just not getting more books for now till I’ve sorted what to do with the thousand or so I already have. The thing you can’t read, yet, is a ~5000 word story (it’s a few words short, but …
While I Work On Yet Another Broken Story…
… like the one I mentioned the other day, here are some not-broken stories for you to go and enjoy, one new and a few not-so-new, all by people I know personally and do crit with (or have done), but that’s not why I’m recommending them — I’m recommending them because they’re good: “As We Report to Gabriel” by Tina Connolly, in the current Fantasy Magazine — er, no, I can’t sum it up, so just go bask. “Superhero Girl” by Jessica Lee, in a Fantasy from about a year and a half ago. I don’t wanna spoil it but …
Another Broken Story
There are stories sometimes that feel perfect when you’ve finished them, but you discover they are not perfect. You may discover this on your own, reading over your handiwork the next day, or a week or a month later. Or it may be that a friend is needed to show you why you’re missing the big picture. (Even those authors who bash workshops and MFAs have people on their acknowledgement pages.) There are stories where you finish them, and you feel like they’re just absolutely right, and very little if anything will need changing. And then you show them to …