December 2007

World in the Satin Bag

Getting Desperate! Housing Needed!

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Some of you know my housing situation has become rather, well, bad. I need a room to rent by January, and right now it’s not looking so good. So I’m writing a post begging for help on this matter.Does anyone who reads this blog know of anyone renting a room, who may want to rent a room, or know of a room available? I can afford anywhere between $350 and $450, plus utilities. It needs to be a place that is okay with caged animals. I don’t have dogs or cats, however I get along with either if the place has them.Any help here would be greatly appreciated. This month is dwindling away fast and the only lead I have right now hasn’t called me back, which leads me to believe that I’m not going to get called back. Come January I could very well have no place to go… Thanks. (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)

World in the Satin Bag

The 2007 WISB Awards!

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Well, seeing how the year is ending I thought I would hand out some relatively useless awards to the writers and people this year who I think deserve some recognition. Granted, this little award means about as much as finding a penny on a typical New York street, but perhaps the people I’m giving this to will be glad to know someone cares. There may or may not be cute images to give people for this. Probably not, but there’s a possibility nonetheless. The 2007 Kudos AwardRobert J. SawyerThis has absolutely nothing to do with his writing, because I have yet to read his work (yes, I know I should, and trust me he is on my reading list). The Kudos Award isn’t for writing, but for personal integrity, professionalism, and value to the Specfic community as a public figure. Sawyer has proven to be this figure over and over again in his amazing interviews and discussions. He’s a perfect figurehead for the value of specfic, which is the type of person who deserves the Kudos Award. Worst Writer (Personally) of 2007Basically, this is the award for the writer who is the worst person for a year. I base this upon the actions of a particular person throughout the year. And the winner for this award is:J. K. Rowling. Yes, she’s won it hands down. The only thing she could have done worse is announce she is a Nazi and eats small children. Between her copyright bullying, which makes the SFWA’s mistakes seem like little burps in the publishing world, and her various announcements that serve as symbols of her inability to treat her fans, the people that made her who she is today, with the respect they deserve, she deserves this award more than anyone else. Andrew Burt had no chance of taking this from her because he showed some personal integrity. Best Novel of 2007The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One (Edited by Dave A. Law and Darin Park); Paperback, Kindle.First, something has to be said here about why this book was chosen over some other books I’ve read this year. Only books printed in 2007 are eligible, therefore The Steam Magnate by Dana Copithorne couldn’t be chosen. If that book were eligible, it would have won hands down, simply because it is an actual fiction book as opposed to a nonfiction book. Ragamuffin was very close to winning this one over, but it was just a little shy simply because The Complete Guide was the most useful nonfiction book I have read in a long time and deserves recognition for being tremendously valuable for the year of 2007. Best Publisher of 2007Aio Publishing. Of the publishers I’ve had contact with, this one has been the most eager to let me read their titles (thanks Tiffany), and after reading The Steam Magnate and seeing not only the quality of the writing, which was chosen by the publisher obviously, and the quality of the books themselves, I think this publisher deserves some serious recognition. Their books aren’t made on flimsy paper like a standard paperback. It’s quality paper, with a rigid cover that doesn’t bend easily. Plus, Tiffany has been wonderful to me and a joy to talk to. Best Cover of 2007Bright of the Sky (paperback; hardback) cover by Stephan Martiniere.This cover got me to pick up the book and eventually read it. Plus, it’s gorgeous. Best Writer of 2007This simply means best writer as far as style, structure, plotting, etc. goes.I’m giving this to Tobias S. Buckell simply because after reading Crystal Rain and then Ragamuffin, and really hoping to read Sly Mongoose soon, he has proven to be a very good writer. He manages to weave multiple POVs very well, develops an interesting, gripping world, and has characters you both love simply because they are awesome and because you can sympathize with them. And that’s it! Congrats to all those who won, even though these awards mean nothing.

World in the Satin Bag

Movie Review: I Am Legend

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I love Will Smith. I mean that in a very non-homosexual way. Yes, he is a beautiful man in terrific shape, but that’s not why I love this man. I love this man because he is one of the best actors that exists today. Something has to be said about Smith’s acting abilities, because to ignore his versatility would be an insult to the craft. He can, and does, it all–pretty much at least. He’s done comedies, action movies, horror, science fiction, romance, drama, etc. And he does all of them well, mind you. While he certainly has certain “Smith tropes” that follow him in every film (namely his delivery of jokes), he is able to portray a wide range of emotions, some of which I have never seen before (Pursuit of Happiness has yet to be seen by me, so forgive me).Now, to the movie.I Am Legend is possibly one of the most enthralling movies I’ve seen this year. I had mild expectations for this film, meaning that I expected it to be decent, but nothing worthy of an award or significant recognition. After seeing it and letting it mull around in my head for a little while I have concluded that if Smith doesn’t get nominated for best actor it is a crime against the art form.The movie follows the struggle of one man. ONE MAN. And a dog. That’s it. There are no other humans in all of New York City but this one man and his dog. Can you imagine waking up every morning, cooking breakfast, working out, reading, watching recorded television, etc. knowing you may very well be the last human being alive?Neville, the main character, is a military scientist who has been working on trying to find a cure for a viral agent developed by another doctor to essentially cure cancer–the Krippin Virus. While the virus works, it slowly develops to produce violent results, turning infected people into cancer-free, vampiric monsters. When the virus goes airborne, all hell breaks loose. But not everyone can be infected. Some people are naturally immune. But when 95% of the world’s population can be infected, it doesn’t bode well for the poor folks that can’t be infected.When the evacuation takes place Manhattan Island, Neville stays behind to find the cure…and that’s where he stays as everything around him falls into complete darkness.This movie is amazing. I was driven into the story from the start. There are wonderful moments between Neville and his dog Sam in which Neville talks to the dog as if it were a person. They portrayed everything perfectly too. We see Neville living, trying to find survivors, renting movies from a movie place populated by mannequins, etc. It’s a richly developed movie and the story itself is simply enthralling. There are few times I can say I absolutely loved a movie to death, but this one had me from start to finish. Now for the ratings: Direction: 4/5I can’t say the direction was perfect, but neither can I say that it was bad. A 4 out of 5 is pretty darn good in my book, and a 5 would be saying that the director deserves an award. I think one reason I can’t give 5 is that the movie doesn’t require a whole lot of direction in comparison to other films. Most of the movie involves Smith and the dog, and nobody else other than some CGed evil guys. A 4, however, means that the director didn’t do anything that I noticed in one screening that I could called stupid. Cast: 5/5There isn’t much of a cast, so it’s not like I have to worry about crappy secondary actors. Will Smith is basically it. There’s a dog, and some very minor characters in the story who don’t really have much involvement in the bulk of the movie. But with Smith there, and with his uncanny ability to portray emotion so vividly gripping that you actually feel too, you can’t really give it anything less than 5. This might very well be one of his best roles ever. I nearly cried at certain points (I’m not saying when because it would ruin the story for you). There are few actors I think that can actually show you torment, pain, and suffering all in a facial expression and tears. Some actors look somewhat ridiculous, and while the scene is still sad, it’s not the same. Smith deserve a hug for this role.Score Adaptation: N/AI haven’t read the book so I can’t speak to the book-to-film adaptation. I hear there was a significant amount of things changed, however, but because I haven’t read the book I don’t feel right giving any sort of score here. Writing: 4/5The writing isn’t 100%, but I think what makes the writing a 4 is that Smith can take lines that would make all of us cringe and actually spin them to be interesting in some way. The writing is good, but it’s not academy award. Then again, we’re talking about a story where a man talks to a dog and some mannequins for the majority of things… Visuals: 3/5One of the biggest problems I have with Hollywood these days is this ridiculous reliance on computer animation. I love CG, I do, but there has to be a point where we go “enough is enough”. I understand that many of the scenes required CG. When the bridges are blown up by military weaponry, that had to be done with CG, and it looked good because the details don’t have to be the same to be believable as in humans. However, when you have creatures that are, or were at one point, human, I don’t see why you need to CG them. Why can’t humans play them? There was very little within the movie that would have needed CG use for the human rolls. You could have done things with stunt-men and it would have been fine. Basically my only problem with the

World in the Satin Bag

Arthur C. Clarke is 90 Today

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If you don’t know who that is, even by name popularity, then you have been asleep and should wake up. Arthur C. Clarke was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century writing books like 2001, Rama, and Childhood’s End, with dozens of books and short stories to his name. And he is 90 years old today. Happy Birthday!You can see his YouTube video here, in which he talks a little about life and the three things he wishes would happen before he dies. They are all good wishes I think. I got the video from Robert J. Sawyer. Thanks Mr. Sawyer! On a side note, Dave Itzkoff at the NY Times wrote this article. In it he said that Arthur C. Clarke’s novel (formally a serialization) Childhood’s End is about “An advanced intelligence arrives from above, creating a utopia by integrating all of humanity into a single mind that thinks and acts as one.” This isn’t actually 100% true and I think it deserves going on the record what the story is actually about.Childhood’s End is about an advanced alien species arriving on Earth and assuming control of everything by displaying amazing feats of power that force all of mankind to suddenly stop bickering and give in to the demands of the Overlords. In fact, by the time the integration of humanity into the next evolutionary stage, which is a hive mind as Itzkoff suggests, occurs, mankind has already entered into a utopian world where everyone has just about everything they need. There is no violence and no war. The worst human trait, according to the Overlords, is human curiosity. So, while the basic premise is true and they do become a hive mind, this doesn’t occur until after a utopia is created by the Overlords. In fact, if you want to be picky about things, from a human perspective, the ending isn’t a utopia at all because it involves the complete extinction of the human race in exchange for a collective of minds that cannot think individual. All individuality is lost in exchange for awesome power. Think of it as humanity turning into the Borg from Star Trek.On a humorous note, I read the first sentence of a Wikipedia article on this book and it too is wrong, only more so. This is why I don’t use Wiki at all, for anything other than very basic knowledge. This is the first sentence on Wiki: Childhood’s End is about humanity’s transformation and integration to an insterstellar hive mind the Occult, man’s inability to live in a utopian society, cruelty to animals, and the idea of being “The Last Man on Earth”. The first part is true up until the Occult part. I don’t know where the whole Occult came from. The way the story plays out it’s almost as if humanity merges with what could be considered God. It’s this powerful single mind / entity that the Overlords cannot join because they can’t evolve anymore, but humanity has the potential, if it doesn’t destroy itself, to reach that plateau. It turns out to be a dirty trick by the Overlords though because they don’t come out in front about what they are up to, which I think would have sparked nuclear war.The second part about man’s inability to live in a utopian society is really very wrong. Actually, this is far from true within the story. The one thing that the Overlords, however, fail to do is remove human curiosity, but in the process they do remove war, famine, and art. Art, it turns out, is a human curiosity, and the only reason the Overlords get rid of it is because they don’t understand it. But there is, at one point, a human colony that takes on art once again and the Overlords show up and sort of analyze it to figure out what the big deal is. They still don’t understand it, but this has nothing to do with not living in a utopia, but far from it.Cruelty to animals? What exactly does that mean? Do you mean kicking puppies for fun? Or food? That is such a vague statement and it can either be a statement laced with personal bias or a statement that doesn’t make sense to the story. The story isn’t about cruelty to animals at all, at least not from my perspective on what that phrase means. Nobody in the story kicks puppies for fun.The last bit is basically true, but it’s sort of misguided. The story isn’t about what it’s like to be the last man on Earth so much as being the last human being in the Universe. When the character that statement refers to actually returns to Earth after sneaking onto an Overlord ship and finding out all the stuff that exists out there, he basically is presented an option: he can continue traveling with the Overlords doing what they do, or he could sit down on Earth’s surface with a recording device and tell the Overlords what’s happening as the Earth is destroyed. Why he chooses the latter route I don’t know, but regardless it has nothing to do with being the last man on Earth, but more to do with being the last man in the universe. That’s a lot more complicated than the former. Anyway, that’s all from me for tonight. Happy Birthday Mr. Clarke!

World in the Satin Bag

Rejection — Artemis (short story, SF) — by Analog SF

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Well, I received a rejection from Analog SF today. There’s some good news and some bad news. The bad news, obviously, is that it was rejected. The good news is that Mr. Schmidt actually left a comment on the rejection sheet (a form letter), which editors don’t generally do, and especially not for a magazine that gets hundreds of submissions every month. The comment said: P.S.: Accurate punctuation is important, too. You should especially review format. Punctuation is something I’m really going to have to look at. I didn’t realize I was using bad punctuation. Maybe I missed something, or maybe I made some error that didn’t seem like an error, but to a seasoned editor like Mr. Schmidt, is a big no-no.As for format. I’m not 100% sure what he meant by that. I did follow the guidelines on the Analog website, which says: Manuscripts must be computer-printed or typed (check), double-spaced (check), on white paper (check), one side of the sheet only (check). The author’s name and address should appear on the first page of the manuscript (check). Please do not send submissions on disk (check). Is there maybe something I’m doing that has fallen out of style perhaps? I use Courier, I underline sections that should be italicized, and I use #s to mark breaks. Is this just an antiquated formatting style now? If anyone has any advise here (especially someone who edits), I’d really appreciate it. I don’t want the format of my manuscript to ever need commenting, because format shouldn’t be an issue. I want to be rejected cause the story sucks, not by any influence of a slightly skewed manuscript format.In any case, it’s a rejection, and one of the additional hundred or so before I get lucky, if I get lucky. I’ll review the manuscript once more and iron up the punctuation, and submit again. Hopefully it’ll get picked up because I rather like Artemis and everyone seems to like that story (even people who don’t know me, plus my girlfriend, who I trust with these things because she’s not lacking in critiquing brutality). On a good note though, I got a hand written note on a form rejection, which is still exciting to me even though it’s happened several times before through other magazines. The last story I sent Analog never got a comment, so this means I’m doing something right.

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