So, in case you didn’t know, I’m headed off to Sasquan (Worldcon 2015) next week (If you’re going to be there, let me know. We’ll have coffee, maybe?). So I’ve been poring over the schedule and the guests and everything, as is my usual M.O. right before I go to a big convention. And of course, with the size of Sasquan, there are a lot of panels there that actually sound interesting, which is fairly abnormal in my experience. Normally, I discount a lot of the panels at cons I go to. Same people, same topics, all that jazz. But this time? The panels on diversity I talked about before are just the tip of the iceberg.
But one of the panels I’m really looking forward to is the Northwest All-Stars. It’s on a topic I’ve noticed quite a lot, before – here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a lot of SF/F authors. And not just small fries. Orson Scott Card, Patricia Briggs, Vonda Mcintyre, Irene Radford, Seanan McGuire. They all have ties to the PNW.
In point of fact, there are a lot of writers here, regardless of genre, plus we have Amazon’s headquarters over in Seattle.
I’ve never really considered why this happened. There’s something to be said for the Seattle area’s love of art, and something to be said for Seattle housing the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. I think the general love of art has a lot more to do with it than anything else. I mean it. If you’ve never been to Seattle and you like art—any art—I recommend you make a visit. It’s a challenge to visit Seattle without seeing some kind of art. Street performers and buskers, murals, statues. Whatever it is.
But sci-fi and fantasy in particular? I think there are a number of reasons, not the least of which is the strong science and technology background in this state. Boeing, Microsoft, Nintendo. You can find them all in Washington State, in one form or another. People like science and ideas here, and more than any other genres, SF/F deal with ideas. Big, sweeping ideas, ideas that are thoroughly separated from our own world and view of things.
A part of it comes from the diversity of cultures and the acceptance of different types of people. We’ve got a big port with Seattle, and a lot of immigrants who came in with all of their own cultures. That’s on top of the strong Native American cultures we have here (Salish, Yakama, Sinkiuse, etc). But what common ground do we all have in spite of any cultural differences?
We don’t know how many alien lifeforms might be out there. We don’t know what could be in some other world. What binds us together are all the things that we, as humans, don’t know. Not the only thing that binds us together, of course, but it is common ground. I like to think that the search for common ground brought the local fandom together, at least a little bit.
Of course, in the end, who really knows? As far as I’ve seen, there aren’t any sort of studies on this, and they couldn’t be conclusive, I wouldn’t imagine. But if I find answers, or stronger theories, I’ll swing back in and let y’all know after that panel. So if you want to learn what I did there, make sure you’re subscribed.
Voss
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Subgenre Saturday: Science Fantasy
It’s Saturday once again, which means a new subgenre for us
to look at. Last week, I went into one of my favorite underappreciated (and
unfortunately underpopulated) subgenres: new weird fiction. Now, I was planning
something else for this week. Something a little more strictly sci-fi, like
dystopian fiction or space opera. But last week really got my juices flowing,
and I got inspired by my own little bit at the end, going off into a cousin of
new weird. If new weird is the kid who likes to break the rules, then science
fantasy is the kid who sits in back and dresses funky, but still pulls a 4.0.
Or some metaphor that makes much more sense.
Science fantasy is essentially just what it sounds like: a
combination of science fiction and fantasy elements, styles, and tropes. Things
like McCaffrey’s Pern books (Dragons and telepathy and supercomputers?),
Colfer’s Artemis Fowl (Yeah, leprechauns and elves… but also high tech computer
things and mathematics.), and even The Giver (A genetically perfect society set
somewhere after a great conflict, the world turned flat and perfected, and also
the inexplicable ability to transfer memory through physical contact.).
On the film front, you don’t need to look any deeper than
Star Wars (George Lucas even said the movies were space fantasy.). Set in
another galaxy with FTL travel and aliens and lasers, but also more classic
fantasy tropes than you can count. The chosen one, the wise old mentor who
dies, the questing party, the princess, the evil overlord with a mysterious connection
to our hero. Plus, no matter what anyone says, the Force is magic. Magic magic
magic.
Unlike some of the other subgenres I’ve looked at recently,
there are plenty of works that are absolutely science fantasy, all across
different media. I touched on Gunnerkrigg Court last week, which is too blatant
to ignore (Seriously. Go check it out.). Most of the Final Fantasy franchise of
video games falls into this subgenre, and I would posit that you’re more likely
to see science fantasy in video games than almost anywhere else. You also see
it in cartoons (Gargoyles, The Legend of Korra), live action TV (Power Rangers
comes to mind. All of them.), and anime and manga (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball Z).
What are some of the big ones I missed (I’m sure I missed
something blatantly obvious.)? Let me know in the comments below, and subscribe
to stay caught up on Subgenre Saturdays.
Voss
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Subgenre Saturday: New Weird
And now for something completely different. Well, maybe not
completely, but we’re looking at a subgenre that sits in my wheelhouse, but it
kind of clings to ceiling and drips stuff down on everybody else’s head. See,
starting in the late 1800s and bleeding into the early 20th century,
you had a genre that’s known simply as ‘weird.’ It came before horror and
fantasy and their ilk were really being categorized as such. These were the
writings of people like H.P. Lovecraft and Franz Kafka. They didn’t fit into
what was being written at the time. Mainstream/literary fiction, science
romances, that kind of thing. They were different. Subversive. They were just
plain weird.
You saw the same thing in the sixties and seventies, only
this time it was new wave, not weird. Fantasy and horror were now
well-established genres, and they, along with science fiction, had their own
tropes, their own vibe, and their own expectations. New wave was just as
subversive as weird fiction, but it had much more to subvert. And it did.
Writers like Roger Zelazny and everybody’s favorite curmudgeon, Harlan Ellison
(Who, to take this whole subversion thing to the max, refused to even call his
work sci-fi or fantasy. He insisted on the umbrella term ‘speculative
fiction.’).
As with everything in the publishing world, things come in
cycles (Doubt me? Compare the popular romances of the 80s with the popular
romances of today.). These subversive tendencies cycled right on back through
into the movement I’m finally getting to: new weird. A somewhat inelegant title
for what I consider to be an incredibly elegant subgenre of sci-fi and fantasy.
New weird is a strange beast. It’s not mocking SF/F as much
as it is mocking literary fiction. For years and years, there’s been a struggle
between the lit-fic community and the spec-fic community. As SF/F writers,
we’re very often pushed into the ‘science fiction ghetto,’ because it can’t
possibly be worthy fiction if there are jetpacks or aliens. Then, when there is
something that the literary crowd likes that manages to claw out of the ghetto,
they steal it and take that glory away.
New weird protested, and did it by writing brilliant
fiction. Yes, it’s speculative fiction through and through, but it’s too
completely genius for anyone to brush off, no matter the content. It’s full of
sweeping ideas and it plays against the tropes standard in sci-fi and fantasy
(or at least the tropes standard at the time it was written). Often, it blurs
the line between the genres to a point where you can’t even tell which side of
the line it falls on.
The one name that comes to the top of almost every new weird
list, and for very good reason, is China Mieville. Essentially, it’s what he
writes, and if you pick up his work, you’ll see exactly what new weird is. My
favorite from him is Railsea, a story that could possibly be sci-fi, but could
just as easily be fantasy, but maybe it really doesn’t matter. A world where
the oceans are gone, replaced by railroad tracks lid in an ultimate war. It
mixes religion with science, and you just can’t place it. Pure brilliance.
A few other perennials of the subgenre are His Dark
Materials by Phillip Pullman, and Mervyn Peake’s brilliantly atmospheric
Gormenghast books (Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone). New weird even has
its own magazine, for fans of this type of fiction (Tales of the Talisman).
There’s also the SCP Foundation, of which I’m a huge fan. A huge intersection
between all crossroads of speculative fiction, and all very much bound in a
well-woven format.
There aren’t a lot of TV shows and movies like this,
unfortunately, or I would recommend them. It’s a little more common in anime
and manga, where genre lines as we know them blur as it is. Things like
Durarara. I feel like an argument could also be laid out for Gunnerkrigg Court
as new weird, but it would perhaps be better-suited as a straight up science
fantasy. More on that one next week.
If you liked this, make sure to subscribe so you can stay up
to date on all future Subgenre Saturdays.
Voss
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Subgenre Saturday: Magical Realism
The first installment of Subgenre Saturdays was all about
bizarro fiction which, as the name suggests, is bizarre. But it's bizarre in a
very in-depth way. The plot, the characters, the writing style, even the
formatting of the books can sometimes be very strange.
Today, we're going for a different sort of bizarre.
Everything seems all right, everything's familiar, either as modern day or
something historical (normally modern day). Except your neighbor drinks blood,
your boss is a psychic, and there's a dragon that lives in the alley down the
road. And nowhere will anyone even give the slightest suggestion that anything
might be out of the ordinary. Not even the narrator.
Welcome to magical realism. People react normally to outside
stimuli, such as being attacked by the dragon who lives in the alley. You're
still going to be pissed that he caught your skirt on fire, but that doesn't
mean you question him being there.
The most well-known example of magical realism is probably
Big Fish (I've only seen the movie, so I can't say for certain if the book is magical realism as well.). Everything's just fine and normal… but a fish turns into a woman,
heaven is a hidden village in the middle of the woods, and you can see death in
the eye of the witch in swamp. It's all absolutely real. It's not really
dismissed (except by the son, but that's central to the plot), but it's not
really explained, either. It just is. That's magical realism in as much of a
nutshell as possible.
My favorite example is a short story by the grandfather of
magical realism: Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges. A short story,
it still took me an hour to read, and a couple hours after to roll it all out
in my head. Which should give you an idea just how trippy it is. Essentially, a
secret world order is trying to create a new world and make it real by writing
the history and culture of it and letting it pervade the world. And eventually?
It does. And it comes into being. Not just something 'so real you can almost
touch it,' but something that can't be real, even though you're pretty sure at
this point it is. Modern magical realism, on the other hand, is dominated by a
single man, the same way Borges dominated it in his day. Bruce Taylor, Mr.Magic Realism himself. He also dabbles in bizarro fiction and other more
conventional styles, but he's most known for his work in this strange little
subgenre.
In the realm of TV, you have Twin Peaks (or almost anything
by David Lynch) and, perhaps most familiar to a modern audience, Lost. A bunch
of people getting to know each other that just happens to be set on a
time-traveling island. And when you get back into film, you have Pan'sLabyrinth (here's a war, and here's some weird stuff that may or may not be
magic) and Stranger than Fiction, the story of a man who also happens to be a
character in a famous novelists work. Once it's established that he's actually
hearing the voice of the author, nobody ever questions the strange things that
happen. It becomes a morality tale about the nature of death and life and
suicide.
I realize that wasn't much of anything, but really, magical
realism is like a bird flying by. You can observe things about it, but
capturing the bird is almost impossible. If you have a better grasp on it, I
really hope you'll comment. I feel confident in what I've said, but it's a
tough nut to crack, so I always welcome a new viewpoint. And make sure to
subscribe up above if you want to stay up to date on everything to come.
Voss
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Subgenre Saturday: Steampunk
So last week, we talked about bizarro fiction, the new kid
on the block, kind of weird. You're pretty sure he worships some kind of god he
made up, but you don't ever want to call him on it just in case he snaps.
This week, we're going mainstream… or as mainstream as it
really ever gets with SF/F: steampunk. Steampunk isn't just literature anymore.
It's a whole movement, and it makes for some very polarized opinions. I know
people who hate it and say that it's all full of fun vampires who obsess over
the historical accuracy of buttons on a jacket. And I know people who do, in
fact, obsess over the historical accuracy of the buttons on a jacket… they most
certainly are fun vampires.
On the flipside of the steampunk coin, you have people who
think that like gears and so they throw them on their outfit and think: Boom.
Steampunk. In a way, they're not wrong. It might take a little more care, but
if you're using brass and gears and goggles and corsets and top hats, you're
probably going to hit close enough to the visual aesthetic that people will
say, "Hey look, steampunk."
Steampunk literature sure didn't suffer from the popularity
of the movement, either. The word steampunk, like all of the other punk genres,
came about from the big bad granddaddy that, unfortunately, most people aren't
as familiar with: cyberpunk (more on that another week). They do have some
similarities, the most obvious being the technology. Steampunk is, of course,
tech from the steam-powered Victorian era, and the works are often set in an
alternate history version of the Victorian world, though by no means is that
always the case. My favorite steampunk books, the Leviathan trilogy by Scott
Westerfeld, focuses on the first world war. Still not exactly modern, of
course, but certainly not Victorian.
One of the other defining factors is the subversion. It's
where the 'punk' comes into all of the many X-punk subgenres. It's not
ubiquitous—beyond the tech, nothing is ubiquitous in steampunk literature—but
it's extremely common to see something or someone railing against social
convention for one reason or another. Hence why the steampunk skies are full of
female mechanics and air captains, in a world where it simply wouldn't have
happened, and Ada Lovelace is raised onto her (deservedly) high pedestal. It's
why a chimney sweep who also repairs complex machines on the side would work
just fine. But moving outside of the Victorian era, subversion is still very
much present. Rebels exist throughout steampunk, people working outside the
rest of society (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comes to mind, there,
although that's still Victorian.). Even in my very limited steampunk offerings,
subversion is everywhere. Two mad scientists bonding over conquering the world,
or an automaton going against government rule to provide water for the boilers
of the poor.
I've mentioned a couple of my favorite works already:
Leviathan, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comics and the
movie). But there are many more, and many of them are considered some of the
greatest in (and about) the genre. The Difference Engine, Boneshaker, and a fair number of
the offerings of Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, most notably the Steampunk Bible.
There's also a fantasy side to steampunk called gaslamp
fantasy, but that's also for another week. But while we're talking about things
that aren't quite steampunk, I'd like to touch on the Victorian sci-fi out
there. This is personal opinion, so feel free to ign
ore it, but I think it
needs saying:
Jules Verne did not write steampunk. Neither did H.G. Wells.
Steampunk is retrofuturistc, meaning that it deals with the past, but with
advanced science and technology. Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were writing
contemporary sci-fi. I will wholeheartedly agree that their work should go
among the big influences for steampunk, but they were not writing steampunk.
Sorry… but not really.
Now, if I haven't horribly offended you with that last
little tirade and you want more Subgenre Saturdays, make sure to subscribe to
the blog, an if you have any speculative fiction subgenres you'd like to see on
future Subgenre Saturdays, leave a comment below. Always happy to hear from
you.
Voss
Sunday, March 15, 2015
An Update
Gee, thanks for the helpful title. Aren't you an author? Shouldn't you be better at this?
Most likely, but I don't like your attitude, voice in my head.
I've been meaning to get on this here blog of mine for a while and post wonderful things... but then, just like up above, the voices in my head got in the way, which means lots and lots of ideas in various stages of completion. Including some ideas for my blog (and The Other Me's blog).
So, a few weeks ago, I finished up the sequel to The Park. I'm aiming to have a release in that series every six months, so the next would be in July. Keep your eyes peeled for that little number: Evenstad Media Presents: The Mall.
I've also got some things potentially in the works for The King Jester Trilogy. The third book, A Fool's War, will come out later this year, which is always exciting.
I've also been working on a big new project for The Other Me, which I'm starting for Camp NaNoWriMo next month. It seems to be the year of me making really long series, because that one is set up to run indefinitely. Which was the point, I suppose. Doesn't mean I'm not slightly terrified of it. Only very slightly though.
Also on The Other Me front, I'm nearing publication for an urban fantasy novella through Storm Moon Press, but you'll have to bebop over to the appropriate blog for info on that.
I'm also, as always is the case, working on short stories for various things. I unfortunately couldn't pull anything together for Queers Destroy Sci-Fi, but I recommend picking up that issue of Lightspeed when it comes out. It's bound to be awesome. But I do plan on trying to get some things pulled together for other projects, so keep your eyes peeled for those awesome little tidbits.
I'm also thinking of delving into non-fiction, but I want to keep that mostly under wraps for the time being... just in case I change my mind about writing the book...
As for the blogs, I'm going to do my best to post regular content on here and on the other blog, like I did before. Not revealing what that is, either, but I think it'll be exciting.
But enough about me. What are your updates for me? Always happy to hear from y'all, when I get the chance.
Voss
Most likely, but I don't like your attitude, voice in my head.
I've been meaning to get on this here blog of mine for a while and post wonderful things... but then, just like up above, the voices in my head got in the way, which means lots and lots of ideas in various stages of completion. Including some ideas for my blog (and The Other Me's blog).
So, a few weeks ago, I finished up the sequel to The Park. I'm aiming to have a release in that series every six months, so the next would be in July. Keep your eyes peeled for that little number: Evenstad Media Presents: The Mall.I've also got some things potentially in the works for The King Jester Trilogy. The third book, A Fool's War, will come out later this year, which is always exciting.
I've also been working on a big new project for The Other Me, which I'm starting for Camp NaNoWriMo next month. It seems to be the year of me making really long series, because that one is set up to run indefinitely. Which was the point, I suppose. Doesn't mean I'm not slightly terrified of it. Only very slightly though.
Also on The Other Me front, I'm nearing publication for an urban fantasy novella through Storm Moon Press, but you'll have to bebop over to the appropriate blog for info on that.
I'm also, as always is the case, working on short stories for various things. I unfortunately couldn't pull anything together for Queers Destroy Sci-Fi, but I recommend picking up that issue of Lightspeed when it comes out. It's bound to be awesome. But I do plan on trying to get some things pulled together for other projects, so keep your eyes peeled for those awesome little tidbits.
I'm also thinking of delving into non-fiction, but I want to keep that mostly under wraps for the time being... just in case I change my mind about writing the book...
As for the blogs, I'm going to do my best to post regular content on here and on the other blog, like I did before. Not revealing what that is, either, but I think it'll be exciting.
But enough about me. What are your updates for me? Always happy to hear from y'all, when I get the chance.
Voss
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Webcomic Roundup: Top 3
I've been very productive this week. Wrote up a short story for Swords v. Cthulhu, did a couple or three rounds of edits on Silverfall for The Other Me (18+, please!), and got more stuff ready for Radcon 6C.
I also, you know, couldn't walk for a couple days, but that's not part of me being productive.
Now, along with my productivity came... well, let's call it a shock. Shock seems good. See, I've written a lot of words... but I've also actively slacked off for quite some time, too. And I have one person to thank/blame for it.
Frances.
Pauli.
See, she got me into Homestuck.
Now, I tried to read Homestuck about, oh, a year ago. My nieces were (still are) slightly obsessed, and I figured what the hell? Problem was, it made my eyes bleed. It was so slow and boring and had absolutely nothing to do with trolls, which was part of why I gave it a shot. I had that issue with Harry Potter, too. I was promised phoenixes and shit, and instead I got some old cat lady.
But, just like with Harry Potter, I've become a fan. Although I'm still a much bigger Potterhead than I probably ever will be a Homestucker. But Homestuck got me thinking, too. And not about trolls. About webcomics. I read anywhere from 5-10 pages/panels of a webcomic in an average week, and lately it's been more as I try to catch up with Homestuck. I really do love them. So I thought I'd gather up my top 4 webcomics to share, in the hopes that you, too, will grow to love them.
Note that this list includes those webcomics with long-running stories. So sorry, no XCKD, Cyanide and Happiness, or The Unspeakable Vault of Doom.
3: Homestuck
See all that stuff I talked about above.
Now, why do I love it? The story is incredibly complex and far-reaching. Above anything else, that's the real reason I'm sticking with it, even through the parts that drive me nuts, like Andrew Hussie's meaningless self-insertions.
2: Earthsong Saga
Earthsong is an interesting one. I got turned onto it by SJ Tucker, who is far and away my favorite singer. I know, it's weird to take a suggestion for a webcomic from a singer. Listen to her music and it might make a little more sense.
Anyway, I started in. And it was actually quite fascinating. I've been with it for more than a year, now. It's brilliant worldbuilding, and Crystal Yates does a pretty good job on the art, too. The story is also fairly solid.
Where Earthsong falls down? The dialogue can be a little questionable, at times, but that's forgivable enough. But the schedule is brain-rakingly slow. Once a week. Some comics can do that. But Earthsong is often so reliant on what happened on the last page, or God forbid, two pages ago, I find myself having to go backwards and recap.
But even that's not a big deal. It's well-worth the read and, if you find that you jut can't stand the schedule, we're in the last chapter now. So wait and read it all in one go.
1: Gunnerkrigg Court
For once, the order of my list actually mattered! Woo! Gunnerkrigg Court is, in my opinion, the best webcomic out there.
(Sorry. I had to go with a Coyote picture for this one.)
A combination of fantasy and science-fiction, with just the slightest dash of 'what the actual fuck' mixed in for good measure. Like with the old 90's kid's show, Gargoyles, everything is up for grabs in Gunnerkrigg. Reynard the Fox and Isegrim. Old Man Coyote (obviously). World War II. Robots. Reality-warping mind powers. Alchemy. I could go on for paragraphs, here, but there's so much more to talk about.
The art has definitely evolved over the past 10 years, although it took me an embarrassingly long time to notice. However, I would never say that the art was bad at any point in the run of the comic. And today? Breathtaking.
Now, it's not complete, and I don't know when or even if Tom Siddell plans to end it. And, at almost 1500 pages to date, it's a bit of work to get caught up. But if ever reading something long and intense has been worth it, it's Gunnerkrigg Court. I can't sing the praises highly enough.
So seriously, go start it. You'll thank me.
What are your favorite web comics? Let me know so I can procrastinate even harder next week.
Voss
I also, you know, couldn't walk for a couple days, but that's not part of me being productive.
Now, along with my productivity came... well, let's call it a shock. Shock seems good. See, I've written a lot of words... but I've also actively slacked off for quite some time, too. And I have one person to thank/blame for it.
Frances.
Pauli.
See, she got me into Homestuck.
Now, I tried to read Homestuck about, oh, a year ago. My nieces were (still are) slightly obsessed, and I figured what the hell? Problem was, it made my eyes bleed. It was so slow and boring and had absolutely nothing to do with trolls, which was part of why I gave it a shot. I had that issue with Harry Potter, too. I was promised phoenixes and shit, and instead I got some old cat lady.
But, just like with Harry Potter, I've become a fan. Although I'm still a much bigger Potterhead than I probably ever will be a Homestucker. But Homestuck got me thinking, too. And not about trolls. About webcomics. I read anywhere from 5-10 pages/panels of a webcomic in an average week, and lately it's been more as I try to catch up with Homestuck. I really do love them. So I thought I'd gather up my top 4 webcomics to share, in the hopes that you, too, will grow to love them.
Note that this list includes those webcomics with long-running stories. So sorry, no XCKD, Cyanide and Happiness, or The Unspeakable Vault of Doom.
3: Homestuck
See all that stuff I talked about above.
Now, why do I love it? The story is incredibly complex and far-reaching. Above anything else, that's the real reason I'm sticking with it, even through the parts that drive me nuts, like Andrew Hussie's meaningless self-insertions.
2: Earthsong Saga
Earthsong is an interesting one. I got turned onto it by SJ Tucker, who is far and away my favorite singer. I know, it's weird to take a suggestion for a webcomic from a singer. Listen to her music and it might make a little more sense.
Anyway, I started in. And it was actually quite fascinating. I've been with it for more than a year, now. It's brilliant worldbuilding, and Crystal Yates does a pretty good job on the art, too. The story is also fairly solid.
Where Earthsong falls down? The dialogue can be a little questionable, at times, but that's forgivable enough. But the schedule is brain-rakingly slow. Once a week. Some comics can do that. But Earthsong is often so reliant on what happened on the last page, or God forbid, two pages ago, I find myself having to go backwards and recap.
But even that's not a big deal. It's well-worth the read and, if you find that you jut can't stand the schedule, we're in the last chapter now. So wait and read it all in one go.
1: Gunnerkrigg Court
For once, the order of my list actually mattered! Woo! Gunnerkrigg Court is, in my opinion, the best webcomic out there.
(Sorry. I had to go with a Coyote picture for this one.)
A combination of fantasy and science-fiction, with just the slightest dash of 'what the actual fuck' mixed in for good measure. Like with the old 90's kid's show, Gargoyles, everything is up for grabs in Gunnerkrigg. Reynard the Fox and Isegrim. Old Man Coyote (obviously). World War II. Robots. Reality-warping mind powers. Alchemy. I could go on for paragraphs, here, but there's so much more to talk about.
The art has definitely evolved over the past 10 years, although it took me an embarrassingly long time to notice. However, I would never say that the art was bad at any point in the run of the comic. And today? Breathtaking.
Now, it's not complete, and I don't know when or even if Tom Siddell plans to end it. And, at almost 1500 pages to date, it's a bit of work to get caught up. But if ever reading something long and intense has been worth it, it's Gunnerkrigg Court. I can't sing the praises highly enough.
So seriously, go start it. You'll thank me.
What are your favorite web comics? Let me know so I can procrastinate even harder next week.
Voss
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Release: The Mountains of Good Fortune
The Rot covers the planet, destroying life, scorching soil, decaying even metal to dust. Humanity has only one option: the sky. Massive ports spread throughout the atmosphere. Docking stations for the ships that fill the air. The last refuges of a doomed race.
Captain Nila Yeden controls the skies. She’s sworn to protect the ports, protect the people, and hand down judgment to criminals who threaten society. Her job is vital, keeping the peace in a ravaged world, and she never questioned her importance. But one fugitive forces her to hesitate.
Can she bring down her own sister?
The balloon beasts provide food for all the ports, and only the bravest crews man the hunting ships. Commander Sitha Yeden devoted herself to the hunt, but something changes when she finds the map, and her bravery leads her to mutiny. And now the police forces looms over her, her sister among them. But in her hands, she holds a tether to her past, and a map to a new future. For herself and the world
Will the quest destroy her, or will she finally find the fabled Mountains of Good Fortune?
Excerpt:
“We’ve got her in sight.” Captain Menit nudged the wheel to the left and pulled back the power, slowing the Nedell to a hover. With his free hand, he pressed the intercom button, broadcasting his voice through the whole ship. “If it takes more than five minutes to take this bitch down, you can all jump down and get taken up by the Rot.” He released the button, then turned and sighed to Sitha. “Be ready with the shockers. We’ve got a big female. She could haul us all across the sky, if she wanted.”
“Aye, Captain.” The control panel, stainless steel studded with buttons, levers, and screens, stretched out before her. She wrapped one hand around the power lever, her fingers sliding into familiar ruts in the rubber handle, and put the other on the winch switch. “Ready, Captain Menit.”
He nodded and pressed the intercom on again. “Why don’t I have harpoons in the air, yet?”
A gruff, crackling voice came over the line. Desyet, the lead harpoonist. “Firing now, Captain.”
Sitha looked at the balloon beast floating next to them. Its bluish-gray skin filled the whole portside window, blocked the sky from view. Huge, black eyes blinked at her. She had to be at least a ton. All good meat they could take back to port. It would feed a lot of people. Her hands sweated around the handles.
The Nedell vibrated as the harpoons left their barrels. They flew, tiny metal barbs compared to their quarry, and stuck into the thick hide. The beast noticed. She pulled, yanking the ship into a heavy tilt, almost ninety degrees. Sitha jerked back the lever, loosing the Nedell’s stored electricity along the shockers’ cables, right into her body. More than enough of a charge. The beast calmed in death.
Captain Menit spun the wheel around, righting the ship. “Start that winch, Commander!”
She pulled the switch back. The hum started, then the rumbling as the shockers reeled in, pulling the balloon beast’s carcass along with it. She thought of the food it would mean, again. The food and the payday.
Sitha sighed and stopped the winch. “I’m sorry, Captain.”
He must not have heard. “What’s wrong, Commander?”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the handshocker her sister had given her. For protection, she’d said. Just in case. Sitha aimed it straight at Menit’s chest. She looked at his polished copper buttons, not into his eyes. “I’m taking the Nedell.”
“Commander, stand down.” He boomed, using the voice that made people listen. It made Sitha shiver. “This is ridiculous.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m taking the Nedell. It can be peaceful, or it can be otherwise.”
“My crew—”
“My crew, Captain.” Still not making eye contact, she gestured with the weapon. “Get into the escape pod and go. We’re only a few hours out from Ausin Port. You’ll only be traveling for a while.”
“Commander—”
“Go!” She pushed him in the chest, knocking him back. He stumbled toward the pod door. “I won’t ask again.” She brought her other hand to the shocker and primed it. A single button press and he’d be unconscious. “Please, Captain. Don’t make this difficult.”
“I can’t give you the Nedell, Commander.”
Staring at her feet, she shook her head. “Then I have to apologize again, Captain.”
The barbed needles flew, landing in Captain Menit’s chest with a scattering of tiny thuds.
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Radcon 6B: Report
I returned, and I'm finally functional, again. Sort of. I wrote yesterday at any rate, which is a pretty good general sign of life. I think. Heck, I'm not a doctor, so I guess I can't say for sure.
But, as someone who is either functioning and alive, or a zombie, I have to tell you: this was a CON this year. Big time.It was also a pretty different experience for me. Now, this is not my first time on panels. That's not what was strange. This was the first year I didn't really go to any panels. I hit one on coffee roasting, but the only thing I heard about writing all weekend is what I heard in my panels and what was hit on in the green room or by my traveling companions.
And that was okay with me. More than anything, this con sparked something. A lot of us said it. This Radcon was really different. 2014 is going to be a year of opportunity, for those brave enough to reach for it. This year has been inspirational. It brought out artistic sides in people that they didn't really know they had.
I'll use my brother-in-law as an example. For the past few years, he's been floundering artistically. He doesn't see any value in any of the work he can create. So he goes to con. We have a good time, order some Round Table Pizza (god, is that stuff good), go through the dealers' rooms. And then, at the end of con, we go home.
The next day, he tells me that con gave him a personal 180. He's ready to start making things and doing things. Why? Because he went to con. He saw that there are people who actually would enjoy the things he makes. He sees that there are people his age and younger already starting out on creative careers. Like con does to everyone, it charged him up, got him ready to do something. Anything.
Not to say that this convention was all some philosophical wonderfest where we sat around in togas discussing the universe. It wasn't, believe me. It was a damn blast, is what it was. I mean, where else (besides the now defunct Quark's in Vegas) can you go to the bar and order a Romulan ale? Not many places, is what I think.
We wandered the party hall, wandered around the shops, just generally wandered, to be totally honest. Even with my foot in agony (I was crippled up something fierce), I can look back on this convention fondly (although my bad attitude from my pain may or may not have made me something of an asshole that first day... maybe).
Even our bad experiences weren't entirely bad. We had a fire alarm pulled the second night. My friends were in 10 Forward, I was in the D20 Girls' room. We eventually found each other and we decided to go check the sliding glass door on our dealer's room. With 2,000 plus people wandering around, you can't be too careful. Just as we started walking, they let us back in. So we rush over to the room and, yes, it was open a bit. Nothing missing, though. We realize that we forgot to bring our promo table in from the outside, though. So we do that. I'm holding the door. In comes the table.
And in come these two girls we don't know. I figure they're lost, and they'll walk back out. Then one of them screams 'Oh, books!'
We immediately clear the way to the merchandise. Believe me, they were a lot of fun. And they bought a book, which is always nice. But, as soon as they left, we all burst out laughing. It was awesome. It also told us that we really need to keep our room open longer next year. Book people stay up late. Go figure.
So, that was Radcon 6B this year. As always, it's a great convention. There's a reason I go every year, after all. And, if you're in the area, I suggest dropping in next year. Especially if you've never been to a con. This is a good one for beginners.
Happy trails,
Voss
But, as someone who is either functioning and alive, or a zombie, I have to tell you: this was a CON this year. Big time.It was also a pretty different experience for me. Now, this is not my first time on panels. That's not what was strange. This was the first year I didn't really go to any panels. I hit one on coffee roasting, but the only thing I heard about writing all weekend is what I heard in my panels and what was hit on in the green room or by my traveling companions.
And that was okay with me. More than anything, this con sparked something. A lot of us said it. This Radcon was really different. 2014 is going to be a year of opportunity, for those brave enough to reach for it. This year has been inspirational. It brought out artistic sides in people that they didn't really know they had.
I'll use my brother-in-law as an example. For the past few years, he's been floundering artistically. He doesn't see any value in any of the work he can create. So he goes to con. We have a good time, order some Round Table Pizza (god, is that stuff good), go through the dealers' rooms. And then, at the end of con, we go home.
The next day, he tells me that con gave him a personal 180. He's ready to start making things and doing things. Why? Because he went to con. He saw that there are people who actually would enjoy the things he makes. He sees that there are people his age and younger already starting out on creative careers. Like con does to everyone, it charged him up, got him ready to do something. Anything.
Not to say that this convention was all some philosophical wonderfest where we sat around in togas discussing the universe. It wasn't, believe me. It was a damn blast, is what it was. I mean, where else (besides the now defunct Quark's in Vegas) can you go to the bar and order a Romulan ale? Not many places, is what I think.
We wandered the party hall, wandered around the shops, just generally wandered, to be totally honest. Even with my foot in agony (I was crippled up something fierce), I can look back on this convention fondly (although my bad attitude from my pain may or may not have made me something of an asshole that first day... maybe).
Even our bad experiences weren't entirely bad. We had a fire alarm pulled the second night. My friends were in 10 Forward, I was in the D20 Girls' room. We eventually found each other and we decided to go check the sliding glass door on our dealer's room. With 2,000 plus people wandering around, you can't be too careful. Just as we started walking, they let us back in. So we rush over to the room and, yes, it was open a bit. Nothing missing, though. We realize that we forgot to bring our promo table in from the outside, though. So we do that. I'm holding the door. In comes the table.
And in come these two girls we don't know. I figure they're lost, and they'll walk back out. Then one of them screams 'Oh, books!'
We immediately clear the way to the merchandise. Believe me, they were a lot of fun. And they bought a book, which is always nice. But, as soon as they left, we all burst out laughing. It was awesome. It also told us that we really need to keep our room open longer next year. Book people stay up late. Go figure.
So, that was Radcon 6B this year. As always, it's a great convention. There's a reason I go every year, after all. And, if you're in the area, I suggest dropping in next year. Especially if you've never been to a con. This is a good one for beginners.
Happy trails,
Voss
Friday, February 14, 2014
Con-Tact
Date: February 14th, 2014 Ano Domini
Location: A single-wide trailer in Eastern Washington.
It's raining outside (as opposed to raining inside). The ground is still wet and squelchy from the four inches of melting snow. The world around me is... somewhat less than quiet. Filled with the meaningless noises of children.
But I sit in the captain's seat, hands on these keys, knowing this may be my last message to the living world. Today, in mere hours, I intend to set foot in a strange and very different environment.
Radcon 6B.
What I will find on this planet, I can guess, but I can't say for certain. The only guide I have is a few sheets of paper I put together beforehand and the official guidebook I will receive at the entry station. Beyond that, I am lost. There may be alien viruses, and there are almost surely hostile lifeforms. My only hope is to avoid them both, and I may well fail at this mission. Even worse than that, part of my mission is to try the local food and drink. It may kill me, but I must fulfill my mission.
If this is the final time I have contact with another human being, do me a favor: tell my friends and family I love them. And make sure nobody ever gets my recipe for cheesecake crust.
Voss
TL:DR: I'm going to Radcon 6B today. My schedule is available here. I'd also like to point out my terror at spending essentially an entire weekend in the company of Kay Kenyon. Hopefully I don't make a complete ass of myself.
Voss
Location: A single-wide trailer in Eastern Washington.
It's raining outside (as opposed to raining inside). The ground is still wet and squelchy from the four inches of melting snow. The world around me is... somewhat less than quiet. Filled with the meaningless noises of children.
But I sit in the captain's seat, hands on these keys, knowing this may be my last message to the living world. Today, in mere hours, I intend to set foot in a strange and very different environment.
Radcon 6B.
What I will find on this planet, I can guess, but I can't say for certain. The only guide I have is a few sheets of paper I put together beforehand and the official guidebook I will receive at the entry station. Beyond that, I am lost. There may be alien viruses, and there are almost surely hostile lifeforms. My only hope is to avoid them both, and I may well fail at this mission. Even worse than that, part of my mission is to try the local food and drink. It may kill me, but I must fulfill my mission.
If this is the final time I have contact with another human being, do me a favor: tell my friends and family I love them. And make sure nobody ever gets my recipe for cheesecake crust.
Voss
TL:DR: I'm going to Radcon 6B today. My schedule is available here. I'd also like to point out my terror at spending essentially an entire weekend in the company of Kay Kenyon. Hopefully I don't make a complete ass of myself.
Voss
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Anti-Classic Support Group
Hi, I'm Voss, and I'm not a fan of the classics.
And guess what: that's okay.
Before I continue: I'm not talking about the classics like Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, or Pride and Prejudice. I'm talking the classics of my genre: The Lord of the Rings, Dune, Foundation. That kind of thing. That's not to say I don't like any of the genre staples. Give me Gormenghast, A Wizard of Earthsea, Left Hand of Darkness, or Fahrenheit 451 whenever you like: I'll read it.
What's the point? No, no, it's not some form of confession, because this isn't anything to feel guilty about. But, when I went to my first sci-fi/fantasy convention, I hadn't read most of this stuff, and the people that found out thought it was an abhorrent idea. Never finished Lord of the Rings? Blasphemer! You find Dune boring and completely without interest? How dare you?
But I'm here to tell you that it's okay. You don't need my permission, but I'll even write you a note, if you'd like. Read what you like and, for the other writers out there, don't think that you have to read all this stuff just to be allowed to write in the genre. There is no gatekeeper standing in front of your laptop, I promise.
That's also not to say don't try some of the classics, some of the 'key' pieces of a genre. Do try them. Try reading everything, that's my rule. If you don't like it, then fine, don't read it. But do try: you could be missing out on a real gem if you don't.
Voss
And guess what: that's okay.
Before I continue: I'm not talking about the classics like Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, or Pride and Prejudice. I'm talking the classics of my genre: The Lord of the Rings, Dune, Foundation. That kind of thing. That's not to say I don't like any of the genre staples. Give me Gormenghast, A Wizard of Earthsea, Left Hand of Darkness, or Fahrenheit 451 whenever you like: I'll read it.
What's the point? No, no, it's not some form of confession, because this isn't anything to feel guilty about. But, when I went to my first sci-fi/fantasy convention, I hadn't read most of this stuff, and the people that found out thought it was an abhorrent idea. Never finished Lord of the Rings? Blasphemer! You find Dune boring and completely without interest? How dare you?
But I'm here to tell you that it's okay. You don't need my permission, but I'll even write you a note, if you'd like. Read what you like and, for the other writers out there, don't think that you have to read all this stuff just to be allowed to write in the genre. There is no gatekeeper standing in front of your laptop, I promise.
That's also not to say don't try some of the classics, some of the 'key' pieces of a genre. Do try them. Try reading everything, that's my rule. If you don't like it, then fine, don't read it. But do try: you could be missing out on a real gem if you don't.
Voss
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Convention Survival Guide
Hello, my darlings!
So, for those who haven't yet heard the joyous news, I'm a panelist at RadCon 6A this year (my schedule is here, if you're interested.). This is my fourth sci-fi/fantasy convention, and my umpteenth trip, in general (thank you, high school band trips). I wouldn't say for a second that I'm an expert, but I do know some things, at this point, and I'd like to pass on that information to you.
I'll note this now: reading this is probably going to be a bit of a trek. Like, bring a tent. But I'll do my best to keep you entertained. Also contains some PG-13 content.
Preparation:
So, you've found your convention and you're ready to go and all that happy stuff. Now, with most of these conventions, there are some things you want to make sure of, for the sake of your bank account. They tend to suffer the most from excursions like this.
1: If you're going to be staying at a hotel and not with friends/family/gracious strangers with candy, they might very well have a discounted price for the convention (normally, that'll be on the con's website). Now, you get some people working at the hotels that will ask you, when you give them the dates, if it's for the convention. If they don't make sure and point it out that you're here for the con. The savings can be real. For RadCon this year, the discount is something like 40 dollars a night off the usual price.
2: Pre-registration is your friend...kind of. The pre-reg price is usually cheaper, and pre-registering for the convention allows you to stop worrying about whether they'll run out of memberships by the time you get to pay (which does happen). Speaking from personal experience, those are not worries you want to have. But pre-reg does come with a different cost. Unless you're going to a bigger convention (like NorWesCon, WesterCon, OryCon, et cetera), the pre-reg line is going to be enormous, at least in my experience. If you can get there early and be at the front of that line, then that's what you should do. I've missed panels waiting in the pre-reg line, before.
3: If you've ever been to a convention or know someone that has, you've probably heard all about the dreaded con plague. The wonderful combination of 1000+ bodies, poor eating habits, sleep deprivation, tight quarters, and full blast air conditioning to combat the heat of those 1000+ bodies makes conventions the perfect place to catch 18 separate strains of influenza and, if you're particularly unlucky, fourth dimensional Andromedan mega herpes. So, before you even think about stepping over the threshold to that hotel, or even getting in the car, you should be taking Vitamin C. Don't exceed the dosage, obviously, but take it, and take it without shame--you'll be the one walking away from the convention instead of crawling through a puddle of your own vomit.
4: Most conventions put up a programming grid that has all the events for the weekend, the rooms and times they can be found in, and whoever is participating. As soon as you can, put together a preliminary schedule (it's going to change, I can almost guarantee). Then, about a week before the con, remind yourself that you do not, in fact, run by filtering dark matter through your skin. Sleeping and eating are important. So: what can you cut to give yourself a few breaks throughout the day? Find it and cut it, keeping in mind that the schedule can change an hour before an event.
Packing:
It's now very close, days away. You've made sure you have the days free (You have, haven't you? I shouldn't have to remind you of that, right?), you have the hotel room reserved (and the confirmation number at the ready, just in case), and your ride is arranged. But you now have an empty suitcase and a house full of stuff you suddenly can't live without. I promise, you can.
1: You'll forget something. It's inevitable. It could be something stupid, like your pack of playing cards, or you could be like me and forget your laptop charger. But don't panic--you'll make it through. Hand in hand with that is the fact that you simply can't fit everything you want to, barring the rental of a U-Haul.
2: When you're packing, realize what you can physically fit inside the three dimensional space of your chosen mode of transportation. A good rule is two bags and another smaller container of some sort. You can normally cram that into even the smallest vehicle. This also applies to packing people. If you have so many people in the vehicle that you have to open your doors to buckle yourselves in, that is TOO MANY people. Trust me: riding in those confined spaces can cause some very serious health issues.
3: Now, what is it you actually need to bring, and how can it possibly fit?
So, for those who haven't yet heard the joyous news, I'm a panelist at RadCon 6A this year (my schedule is here, if you're interested.). This is my fourth sci-fi/fantasy convention, and my umpteenth trip, in general (thank you, high school band trips). I wouldn't say for a second that I'm an expert, but I do know some things, at this point, and I'd like to pass on that information to you.
I'll note this now: reading this is probably going to be a bit of a trek. Like, bring a tent. But I'll do my best to keep you entertained. Also contains some PG-13 content.
Preparation:
So, you've found your convention and you're ready to go and all that happy stuff. Now, with most of these conventions, there are some things you want to make sure of, for the sake of your bank account. They tend to suffer the most from excursions like this.
1: If you're going to be staying at a hotel and not with friends/family/gracious strangers with candy, they might very well have a discounted price for the convention (normally, that'll be on the con's website). Now, you get some people working at the hotels that will ask you, when you give them the dates, if it's for the convention. If they don't make sure and point it out that you're here for the con. The savings can be real. For RadCon this year, the discount is something like 40 dollars a night off the usual price.
2: Pre-registration is your friend...kind of. The pre-reg price is usually cheaper, and pre-registering for the convention allows you to stop worrying about whether they'll run out of memberships by the time you get to pay (which does happen). Speaking from personal experience, those are not worries you want to have. But pre-reg does come with a different cost. Unless you're going to a bigger convention (like NorWesCon, WesterCon, OryCon, et cetera), the pre-reg line is going to be enormous, at least in my experience. If you can get there early and be at the front of that line, then that's what you should do. I've missed panels waiting in the pre-reg line, before.
3: If you've ever been to a convention or know someone that has, you've probably heard all about the dreaded con plague. The wonderful combination of 1000+ bodies, poor eating habits, sleep deprivation, tight quarters, and full blast air conditioning to combat the heat of those 1000+ bodies makes conventions the perfect place to catch 18 separate strains of influenza and, if you're particularly unlucky, fourth dimensional Andromedan mega herpes. So, before you even think about stepping over the threshold to that hotel, or even getting in the car, you should be taking Vitamin C. Don't exceed the dosage, obviously, but take it, and take it without shame--you'll be the one walking away from the convention instead of crawling through a puddle of your own vomit.
4: Most conventions put up a programming grid that has all the events for the weekend, the rooms and times they can be found in, and whoever is participating. As soon as you can, put together a preliminary schedule (it's going to change, I can almost guarantee). Then, about a week before the con, remind yourself that you do not, in fact, run by filtering dark matter through your skin. Sleeping and eating are important. So: what can you cut to give yourself a few breaks throughout the day? Find it and cut it, keeping in mind that the schedule can change an hour before an event.
Packing:
It's now very close, days away. You've made sure you have the days free (You have, haven't you? I shouldn't have to remind you of that, right?), you have the hotel room reserved (and the confirmation number at the ready, just in case), and your ride is arranged. But you now have an empty suitcase and a house full of stuff you suddenly can't live without. I promise, you can.
1: You'll forget something. It's inevitable. It could be something stupid, like your pack of playing cards, or you could be like me and forget your laptop charger. But don't panic--you'll make it through. Hand in hand with that is the fact that you simply can't fit everything you want to, barring the rental of a U-Haul.
2: When you're packing, realize what you can physically fit inside the three dimensional space of your chosen mode of transportation. A good rule is two bags and another smaller container of some sort. You can normally cram that into even the smallest vehicle. This also applies to packing people. If you have so many people in the vehicle that you have to open your doors to buckle yourselves in, that is TOO MANY people. Trust me: riding in those confined spaces can cause some very serious health issues.
3: Now, what is it you actually need to bring, and how can it possibly fit?
- Underwear and shirts for every day (roll them, don't fold them--they take up less space that way.)
- A pair of pants (or a skirt) for every two days, at least (again: roll)
- Camera (you'll be sorry if you don't) and batteries/charger
- Money (make sure it's nothing that would ruin you if it did go missing)
- Wallet/ID
- House keys/car keys
- Things you require for continued living (inhalers, prescriptions, et cetera)
- Supplement pills (I bring ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, Vitamin C, Vitamin B Complex, antacids, and St. John's Wort)
- Playing cards (or another small game to pass the time)
- Good shoes (save the heels for absolute necessity moments--you average 17 miles a day at conventions, believe it or not)
- Water (please, please, please drink water. More than you think you need)
- Condoms (yes, they can be used for their traditional purpose (and should be), but they can also be filled with ice and applied to a sprain or something, in a pinch (they stretch better than a zip top bag or something like that)
- Electronics (laptop, MP3 player, CD player, cell phone, et cetera) and all applicable chargers
- Food (save yourself money: bring ready to eat foods, or easy to prep foods. And make sure you ask the hotel if they have refrigerator/microwave in the room, or at least available.)
- Chocolate (I put this separate from food for a reason. Not only will it give you a boost of caffeine, and put some food (if not very good for you food) in your system, it will help with the high stresses of a con.)
- DEODORANT (For the love of all that is holy, use this! Sacrifice something else if you have to, but bring the deodorant. Bring more than one, if you can, in case someone else needs it.)
- Females, you should also bring along the appropriate products. I won't go into more detail than that.
There may be other things you need to bring, depending on what you have to do at your convention. I personally have to bring several copies of books and a piece for reading, as well as a binder full of collectible cards I plan to sell, and paper plates/cups. Yeah. All packed into a Geo.
At the Convention:
You're here! You've got your bags and are ready to go, and you didn't even kill anyone on the trip over. Good for you.
1: Most people I know aim to arrive at a convention around noon. Here's the catch--check in at most hotels is around 3. You can get in early, sometimes, but you may end up having to leave everything but the absolute most essential items in the trunk until you can actually get up to your room.
2: Get in line right away. Like, immediately. As soon as is humanly possible. Obviously, you shouldn't do anything to piss off the people running the convention, but you absolutely must get in that line to get your badge. It's going to take some time, no matter what, so the sooner, the better.
3: Once you're all badged up (make sure it's always visible--the convention guards can get a little miffed if you try to get in without a badge), look over whatever schedule they gave you and compare it to your own schedule. Also go around to the rooms that you'll be jumping between. A lot of the time, your con will focus in one or two hallways, but not always (and those times when they don't can be a bit of a pain if you don't prepare). Also, I would grab a map, if they have one available.
4: You'll see people dressed in provocative costumes. I will almost guarantee that. That is not an invitation to grope them. It's an invitation to look and possibly start up a conversation, but hands should remain to yourself until further notice.
5: Also, please be respectful of the costumes. The people wearing them have put a lot of time and sweat (and sometimes blood and skin flakes) into making them. Even if you think it's atrocious, say nothing. Say good things, or shut up. Seriously.
6: There's a rule that goes around called the 3-2-1 rule. It's your minimum for a convention. Every day, get at least three hours sleep (in a row), 2 meals, and 1 shower (I did say minimum). If you can get more of any, do, but those are your basic survival numbers.
7: All right, now, technically, this is your con to do with as you please. You are fully welcome to pay for your badge, then sit in the hotel room until it's time to leave. But that's really dumb. You're paying anywhere from 30-70 dollars to go to this convention, not counting hotel room or travel. The very least you should do is go to the panels, and probably the dealers' room and art auction (if they have one). I won't say that you should hit the parties, especially if you're under 21 or, for some other reason, can't drink. Most of them revolve around drinking. But if you can drink, I would say to at least try a party. If you don't like it, that's fine.
8: Don't be a dick. it's Wil Wheaton's life advice, but I'm specifically putting it in here. You don't want to be that guy (or gal) that ruins someone's convention, least of all your friends'/roommates' convention. If they're nervous or stressed out or having a panic attack, that is not the time to leave them alone, or tell them to fend for themselves, or belittle what's happening to them. that's the time to try and comfort them, or at least get them away from the situation.
9: The pros and volunteers for a convention, at the most, will probably only be getting a free badge. At the most. Treat them with respect. They came here for you, to try and give you a better convention experience. And there is no training program, really. The volunteers roaming the halls, behind the tables, or guarding the doors to various events have perhaps an hour or two before the convention. And they don't get to do all the fun stuff that you do. The pros are thrown in with zero training, really. Being a panelist is a learn it on the go kind of job. So relax, and tell them that you liked it, if you did--complements are good. But don't be totally creepy about it. Bathrooms are not the place to approach your favorite panelist, I'm afraid.
I'm sure there are a million other things, but, with this, you should at least be able to avoid being disemboweled by a bat'leth. And really, when you put this many socially awkward people in a confined space, 'not disemboweled by a bat'leth' is a pretty good achievement.
Now, go forth and do great things,
Voss
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Con Weekend
This weekend is the weekend of SpoCon 2011.
That means I get to pretened to hob-nob with the big name authors. Exciting for me, and that's what you, the public, really cares about, so it's good for everyone. Maybe I'll actually get someone to look at something I post for once if I quote Patricia Briggs enough. Yes, I'm bitter about having no views on my blog. Sue me.
So, as the weekend progresses, you all will be seeing copious updates about this convention and the things I'm seeing, learning, and being inspired by. That means, in layman's terms, a whole lot of posts. A LOT of posts about SpoCon.
While I'll be almost completely holed up in the LIT Room (301) listening to things about worldbuilding, descriptions, brainstorming, and stealing some tips from the Novel Writing Master Class (Deby Fredericks, Patricia Briggs, John Dalmas, Jane Fancher, Kathy McCracken, and C J Cherryh on one panel), that's not all. I'm here for fun, of course, and inspiration--plus other tools for writing. Character voicing/accents and creating interesting characters for LARPing, metaphysical uses of crystals, screenwriting, and the obligatory dance performance or two--all there for fun and inspiration for writing.
So, what was my point? I can't remember at all. At any rate, though, I'll be there and you'll be hooked to a direct source--all eight of you. Mind, a goodly number of you will be there with me, but I digress.
I don't digress to anything important, but I digress,
Voss
That means I get to pretened to hob-nob with the big name authors. Exciting for me, and that's what you, the public, really cares about, so it's good for everyone. Maybe I'll actually get someone to look at something I post for once if I quote Patricia Briggs enough. Yes, I'm bitter about having no views on my blog. Sue me.
So, as the weekend progresses, you all will be seeing copious updates about this convention and the things I'm seeing, learning, and being inspired by. That means, in layman's terms, a whole lot of posts. A LOT of posts about SpoCon.
While I'll be almost completely holed up in the LIT Room (301) listening to things about worldbuilding, descriptions, brainstorming, and stealing some tips from the Novel Writing Master Class (Deby Fredericks, Patricia Briggs, John Dalmas, Jane Fancher, Kathy McCracken, and C J Cherryh on one panel), that's not all. I'm here for fun, of course, and inspiration--plus other tools for writing. Character voicing/accents and creating interesting characters for LARPing, metaphysical uses of crystals, screenwriting, and the obligatory dance performance or two--all there for fun and inspiration for writing.
So, what was my point? I can't remember at all. At any rate, though, I'll be there and you'll be hooked to a direct source--all eight of you. Mind, a goodly number of you will be there with me, but I digress.
I don't digress to anything important, but I digress,
Voss
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Guest Blogger: Frances Pauli
Today I am honored, priveleged, and damn lucky to have the wonderful Frances Pauli here as my guest blogger. Since today isn't about letting me blither and blather on, I'll turn you over to her loving care.
Thank you so much for having me over for a visit.
When Voss first suggested the topic of writing serial fiction, I was tempted to say a great many things. I intended to discuss characters, and how having a big, quirky cast does wonders for keeping the story alive, how you can switch protagonists if necessary when the current one happens to plot themselves into a corner. I planned to cover tangents, which can get us in a great deal of trouble in the novel, but serve as a gold mine of side trips and looping plotlines to fill and extend the serial author’s box of tools.
Both of these things are great points, and true. But then I remembered the grand, holy grail of episodic fiction technique. I remembered where I learned it all in the first place.
Soap Operas.
Stay with me. I know you want to bolt, and yes, they’re awful. But one would have to be incredibly stubborn—or simply stupid—to ignore the fact that here, in the afternoon drama fest, are stories that have kept an audience riveted for decades. Some of the classics have entertained generations of audiences, have spanned twenty, thirty, fifty years or more. Every day.
Do you believe you can write an episode a day for half a century and keep your audience’s attention? If you could, wouldn’t you be damned proud about it? Maybe these wicked, low-brow, fiction nightmares just might have a thing or two to teach us.
So I shuffled back through my memory. You see, I never actively watched Soaps, not even in High School when my friends were hanging on the turbulent relationships of Felicia and Frisco or if they preferred a different channel, Beau and Hope.
I turned up my nose at them all. Okay, there was a short period in my late twenties where I became mildly obsessed with Passions, but it didn’t last. And, I mean, it had witches and stuff. Sue me.
No, it wasn’t through my personal experience that I learned the mystery of the serial drama. It was by proxy. Rewind some more and my childhood play was often acted out to a backdrop of my mother’s soaps. We had Luke and Laura then. We had J.R. Ewing. I mentioned the nighttime version didn’t I?
Oh dear. An entire country joined in camaraderie to figure out Who SHOT JR? I’m not kidding. It was like the moon landing…It was, well, big. I also caught snatches of Dynasty, Falcon Crest etc. Basically, call it what you will, the nighttime serial drama is the shadier version of the afternoon Soap Opera. It has the same bones.
And when Bobby Ewing turned up NOT dead, and a whole season was written off as a dream, America let out a collective groan. Well, we can learn from others’ mistakes as well as their successes.
Hands down, the Soap Opera is the ruler of serial drama. It has what it takes. Like it or not.
I watched a documentary awhile back entitled, Never Ending Stories. It addressed the Soap Opera phenomenon and, I believe, offered superb advice to the aspiring serial author. I can’t reiterate it all here, but if you see it pass on your cable or Netflix or whatnot, spend a little time on it. I assure you, its worth the little wound to your pride. In the meantime, I will pass on a few things I picked up from it…and from a lifetime on the edge of the Soap Opera addiction.
#1 The Ground Rules. Soap Opera fans know the rules. The industry has established tropes that are reliable and comforting to the viewer. There are too many to list, but things like: once you’re dead, you can come back any time you like (surprise!), and if anyone ever disappears, is abducted, or has major surgery, when they come back they are most likely an impostor. You get the idea. Now, you don’t have to adopt the, somewhat ridiculous, tropes of the daytime drama, but you can develop your own. That could be fun as well.
#2 Bigger than Real Life. Everyone in a Soap Opera is either filthy rich or a dangerous criminal. We don’t really want to examine the reasons for that too closely, but suffice it to say that people watch these things like their life depends on it because they want to BE those characters. They want to live that life, face that danger, sleep with that…okay, we understand escapism, but the point is: extreme and exaggerated. Nobody in a Soap is ordinary. Even the housekeeper was once a porn star who killed a man and ran off pregnant with his child and is now hiding from the mob under witness protection so that she can testify against…someone. Simple? I think not. Character as caricature is the rule here.
#3 The Cliffhanger. Have you seen the end of a Soap episode? I know its hard to watch them all the way through, but if you do, you know the shot: one person’s face, horrified, wide-eyed expression, maybe an open jaw and a tiny hint of over-dramatic head shaking. They’ve just walked in on something, and it’s awful. It’s so monumentally awful, or possibly impossibly wonderful, that the camera is required to zoom in close enough to see their pores so that you can examine the emotions ravaging their face. BUT, we’re not going to tell you what they saw until tomorrow. Worse than that, we won’t tell you until almost the end of tomorrow’s episode. You know, cause we have to spend the first part recapping and building tension. Some weeks we’ll wait until Friday to do this, so you can enjoy an entire weekend of concern and speculation. Then, whammo. There it is, and probably, as that settles over you, we’ll do the whole thing again with another, bigger head jiggle to boot.
Okay, I’m poking fun here a little, but you know. A milder version of these steps will work. You can mock at will, but you can’t argue with a track record like that. And so, what began as me seriously pondering the tools of a serial author has landed me here, admitting that everything I ever needed to know, I probably learned from the Ewings.
Oh dear.
The good news is, unless you lived in a home without television—which I’ve heard is possible—you probably learned it all too. So get out there and write that Soap, I mean, Serial. That’s it.
Frances Pauli writes Speculative Fiction with Romantic tendencies. Her Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction series are available through Mundania Press, and she also publishes romance stories with Devine Destinies Her ongoing serial fiction can be found at: http://spaceslugserial.blogspot.com and more information on her works and writing at: http://francespauli.com
Thank you so much for having me over for a visit.
When Voss first suggested the topic of writing serial fiction, I was tempted to say a great many things. I intended to discuss characters, and how having a big, quirky cast does wonders for keeping the story alive, how you can switch protagonists if necessary when the current one happens to plot themselves into a corner. I planned to cover tangents, which can get us in a great deal of trouble in the novel, but serve as a gold mine of side trips and looping plotlines to fill and extend the serial author’s box of tools.
Both of these things are great points, and true. But then I remembered the grand, holy grail of episodic fiction technique. I remembered where I learned it all in the first place.
Soap Operas.
Stay with me. I know you want to bolt, and yes, they’re awful. But one would have to be incredibly stubborn—or simply stupid—to ignore the fact that here, in the afternoon drama fest, are stories that have kept an audience riveted for decades. Some of the classics have entertained generations of audiences, have spanned twenty, thirty, fifty years or more. Every day.
Do you believe you can write an episode a day for half a century and keep your audience’s attention? If you could, wouldn’t you be damned proud about it? Maybe these wicked, low-brow, fiction nightmares just might have a thing or two to teach us.
So I shuffled back through my memory. You see, I never actively watched Soaps, not even in High School when my friends were hanging on the turbulent relationships of Felicia and Frisco or if they preferred a different channel, Beau and Hope.
I turned up my nose at them all. Okay, there was a short period in my late twenties where I became mildly obsessed with Passions, but it didn’t last. And, I mean, it had witches and stuff. Sue me.
No, it wasn’t through my personal experience that I learned the mystery of the serial drama. It was by proxy. Rewind some more and my childhood play was often acted out to a backdrop of my mother’s soaps. We had Luke and Laura then. We had J.R. Ewing. I mentioned the nighttime version didn’t I?
Oh dear. An entire country joined in camaraderie to figure out Who SHOT JR? I’m not kidding. It was like the moon landing…It was, well, big. I also caught snatches of Dynasty, Falcon Crest etc. Basically, call it what you will, the nighttime serial drama is the shadier version of the afternoon Soap Opera. It has the same bones.
And when Bobby Ewing turned up NOT dead, and a whole season was written off as a dream, America let out a collective groan. Well, we can learn from others’ mistakes as well as their successes.
Hands down, the Soap Opera is the ruler of serial drama. It has what it takes. Like it or not.
I watched a documentary awhile back entitled, Never Ending Stories. It addressed the Soap Opera phenomenon and, I believe, offered superb advice to the aspiring serial author. I can’t reiterate it all here, but if you see it pass on your cable or Netflix or whatnot, spend a little time on it. I assure you, its worth the little wound to your pride. In the meantime, I will pass on a few things I picked up from it…and from a lifetime on the edge of the Soap Opera addiction.
#1 The Ground Rules. Soap Opera fans know the rules. The industry has established tropes that are reliable and comforting to the viewer. There are too many to list, but things like: once you’re dead, you can come back any time you like (surprise!), and if anyone ever disappears, is abducted, or has major surgery, when they come back they are most likely an impostor. You get the idea. Now, you don’t have to adopt the, somewhat ridiculous, tropes of the daytime drama, but you can develop your own. That could be fun as well.
#2 Bigger than Real Life. Everyone in a Soap Opera is either filthy rich or a dangerous criminal. We don’t really want to examine the reasons for that too closely, but suffice it to say that people watch these things like their life depends on it because they want to BE those characters. They want to live that life, face that danger, sleep with that…okay, we understand escapism, but the point is: extreme and exaggerated. Nobody in a Soap is ordinary. Even the housekeeper was once a porn star who killed a man and ran off pregnant with his child and is now hiding from the mob under witness protection so that she can testify against…someone. Simple? I think not. Character as caricature is the rule here.
#3 The Cliffhanger. Have you seen the end of a Soap episode? I know its hard to watch them all the way through, but if you do, you know the shot: one person’s face, horrified, wide-eyed expression, maybe an open jaw and a tiny hint of over-dramatic head shaking. They’ve just walked in on something, and it’s awful. It’s so monumentally awful, or possibly impossibly wonderful, that the camera is required to zoom in close enough to see their pores so that you can examine the emotions ravaging their face. BUT, we’re not going to tell you what they saw until tomorrow. Worse than that, we won’t tell you until almost the end of tomorrow’s episode. You know, cause we have to spend the first part recapping and building tension. Some weeks we’ll wait until Friday to do this, so you can enjoy an entire weekend of concern and speculation. Then, whammo. There it is, and probably, as that settles over you, we’ll do the whole thing again with another, bigger head jiggle to boot.
Okay, I’m poking fun here a little, but you know. A milder version of these steps will work. You can mock at will, but you can’t argue with a track record like that. And so, what began as me seriously pondering the tools of a serial author has landed me here, admitting that everything I ever needed to know, I probably learned from the Ewings.
Oh dear.
The good news is, unless you lived in a home without television—which I’ve heard is possible—you probably learned it all too. So get out there and write that Soap, I mean, Serial. That’s it.
Frances Pauli writes Speculative Fiction with Romantic tendencies. Her Urban Fantasy and Science Fiction series are available through Mundania Press, and she also publishes romance stories with Devine Destinies Her ongoing serial fiction can be found at: http://spaceslugserial.blogspot.com and more information on her works and writing at: http://francespauli.com
Thursday, August 4, 2011
To Boldly Go
Writing, and art in general, is supposed to be one thing and one thing alone--a means by which to push the boundaries of what is deemed socially normal.
Okay, that might be taking things a little bit far. Writing is about a lot of other things, but it's such a good vessel to explore beyond the confines of normalcy because it reaches people that, in general, tend to be more open. This is especially true of speculative fiction (See? We're totally awesome!). Spec fic readers are more willing to accept those things that aren't mainstream, because speculative fiction isn't "real" literature anyway (That was sarcastic, by the by.).
So, I'm going to touch on a subject that's still largely ignored in speculative fiction, for some reason.
Alternate sexuality.
Okay, I hate that term. I mean gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in fantasy and science fiction. Now, unless I'm just totally oblivious, that isn't represented outside of speculative fiction erotica. Am I just oblivious? I'd like to think not.
I don't know why this has been ignored to this point. Statistically, one in every ten people is gay/lesbian, and that number rockets up when you include bisexuality. Doesn't it make sense that somewhere there must be someone in fantasy and sci-fi. To me, it seems like some kind of twisted, puritan morality leaking in and that shouldn't be allowed. The puritans aren't in control here for a reason--I won't start a religious debate here, but suffice it to say there's a reason they aren't supposed to be in control anymore.
Why, then, is it still so taboo to have GLBT characters in speculative fiction? I'm making a public appeal to publishers--get over it. We're here and we're queer--you might as well start dealing with it. LGBT shouldn't be confined to thinly veiled literary porn and supermarket romance side-characters.
I've said my piece,
Happy writing,
Voss
Okay, that might be taking things a little bit far. Writing is about a lot of other things, but it's such a good vessel to explore beyond the confines of normalcy because it reaches people that, in general, tend to be more open. This is especially true of speculative fiction (See? We're totally awesome!). Spec fic readers are more willing to accept those things that aren't mainstream, because speculative fiction isn't "real" literature anyway (That was sarcastic, by the by.).
So, I'm going to touch on a subject that's still largely ignored in speculative fiction, for some reason.
Alternate sexuality.
Okay, I hate that term. I mean gay, lesbian, and bisexual characters in fantasy and science fiction. Now, unless I'm just totally oblivious, that isn't represented outside of speculative fiction erotica. Am I just oblivious? I'd like to think not.
I don't know why this has been ignored to this point. Statistically, one in every ten people is gay/lesbian, and that number rockets up when you include bisexuality. Doesn't it make sense that somewhere there must be someone in fantasy and sci-fi. To me, it seems like some kind of twisted, puritan morality leaking in and that shouldn't be allowed. The puritans aren't in control here for a reason--I won't start a religious debate here, but suffice it to say there's a reason they aren't supposed to be in control anymore.
Why, then, is it still so taboo to have GLBT characters in speculative fiction? I'm making a public appeal to publishers--get over it. We're here and we're queer--you might as well start dealing with it. LGBT shouldn't be confined to thinly veiled literary porn and supermarket romance side-characters.
I've said my piece,
Happy writing,
Voss
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Homemade Marshmallows
Yes, the campfires will soon be lit, the hot chocolate mixed, and the marshmallows roasted--the inaugural run of Camp NaNoWriMo is nearing its end. Around here, that means a camp party amongst our writing group--and that means s'mores--and that means I finally got to break out my recipe for marshmallows. I know, not writing related in an inherent matter, but I had to brag a little...
Also, let's take a small moment of silence. As of today, Chris Baty has announced that he's stepping down as the Executive of the Office of Letters and Light. The group that runs NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo, and ScriptFrenzy is going to have a change of leadership come next NaNo season. He was quite a brilliant man and none of those events will be the same without him.
Back to writing--I finished yet another manuscript--and this one's actually science fiction. Yes, I finished it! It's sci-fi and I finished it without magic, so haha! To those that don't know, it's a real shocker for me to finish a full-length science fiction manuscript, especially in a month.
Now, I can't spill this last secret all the way, at least not in public, but I'll tell you that I'm working on something in the near future with Hall Bros. Entertainment--and not just a two sentence story. I can't say any more about it in good conscience--sorry =D
Peace out, ladies and sub-species,
Voss
Also, let's take a small moment of silence. As of today, Chris Baty has announced that he's stepping down as the Executive of the Office of Letters and Light. The group that runs NaNoWriMo, Camp NaNoWriMo, and ScriptFrenzy is going to have a change of leadership come next NaNo season. He was quite a brilliant man and none of those events will be the same without him.
Back to writing--I finished yet another manuscript--and this one's actually science fiction. Yes, I finished it! It's sci-fi and I finished it without magic, so haha! To those that don't know, it's a real shocker for me to finish a full-length science fiction manuscript, especially in a month.
Now, I can't spill this last secret all the way, at least not in public, but I'll tell you that I'm working on something in the near future with Hall Bros. Entertainment--and not just a two sentence story. I can't say any more about it in good conscience--sorry =D
Peace out, ladies and sub-species,
Voss
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