April 2009

World in the Satin Bag

MEME: 25 Influential Writers

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I found this interesting meme and thought I would give it a shot. The object is to list twenty-five writers who have influenced you in some way. Everyone who wants to do this is tagged (and feel free to leave me a link in the comments, as I’d like to see your choices). Here goes (in no particular order):1. Philip K. DickHe may be the one writer who has had the most influence on me. His novels, short stories, and non-fiction have influenced not only my writing, but also my academic interests. PKD is, to put it simply, the man. I owe him a lot as far as my future career is concerned. If it wasn’t for him and Tananarive Due I don’t think I would be interested in the human in science fiction. 2. Tobias S. BuckellMr. Buckell has brought back that adventurous side in my writing interests, which is a good thing. Nothing wrong with a bit of adventure and badassery. 3. Salman RushdieI’m not actually a fan of Rushdie’s writing, or him as a person (I think he’s a tad too pretentious for my tastes). Still, his writing has had a tremendous influence on my style and he has opened a few doors academically, particularly into issues of history within literature (historical continuity, the consumption of history, and the fragmentation of history). So, while I may not read any more of his work unless I have to, I can at least say he has had discernible influence on me as a writer and as a student and future scholar. 4-5. George Orwell and Yevgeny ZamyatinI would say that Orwell single-handedly got me into science fiction. He was sort of the beginning for me. I love dystopian fiction as a result. Much like George Orwell, Zamyatin has strengthened by interest in dystopian fiction. He was an early influence to Orwell, so it’s understandable that I like him as well. 6. Richard A. KnaakOne of the first adult fantasy writers I ever read. He was one of the folks that first got me into writing, particularly fantasy, and, well, not much more can be said about that. I still like his books to this day and still remember how his works started getting me interested in reading for fun. 7. William HorwoodOne of the reasons I still love reading is because of Horwood. His Duncton Wood books were fascinating and stunning fantasy stories unlike any other. You should read his book too; his work is probably as original as you can get in the fantasy genre, considering that none of his characters are human. 8. Poul AndersonOne of the few folks who made me a lover of science fiction. “Call Me Joe” is probably the first science fiction story that I fell in love with. I’ve since resolved myself to collect all his books, because I want an entire Poul Anderson library! 9. J. R. R. TolkienI don’t think this one needs any explanation, to be honest. 10. Robert J. SawyerWhile not an influence because of his fiction writing, Sawyer has, through his discussions of science fiction and his relative popularity, offered a lot of hope in the field of science fiction. I’ve been inspired by a lot of what he has said about the genre and hope he will continue to be as popular as he is today. 11-14. Maurice G. Dantec, Richard Calder, Thomas Pynchon, and Brian Francis SlatteryThese folks are all relatively recent influences on me. Calder has primarily had influence on my writing style and content. I’ve become a bit more daring in both, taking up more “controversial” subject matter in some of my stories and altering my prose to be more, well, “literary” (in a good way, I hope). Dantec has had a similar influence.As for Pynchon, well I’m not an enormous Pynchon fan, but I have to admit that his writing style, along with several others mentioned here, has made me rethink how I write. The same can be said for Mr. Slattery, who wrote a fantastic novel called Spaceman Blues. 15-17. Isaac Asimov, William Gibson, and Orson Scott CardAs one of those big idea science fiction writers, Asimov has helped secure my interests in science fiction. Foundation was an incredible book.Gibson is, well, the unintentional creator of cyberpunk, which should be enough for anyone who has read more of my recent science fiction.Card has been instrumental in fostering my desire to be a professional writer. Not only have I enjoyed many of his books, but his book on writing was, for a long time, my Bible. I’m not sure if I would still be writing today if not for OSC. 18-20. Elizabeth Bear, Nalo Hopkinson, and Tananarive DueAll three of these authors have had an impact on my academic interests through their portrayals of the Other in their work. I’ve even written a few papers of one of Due’s short stories and I hope to do the same for Bear and Hopkinson in the future. 21-25. Karen Miller, James Clemens, Diane Duane, and Obert SkyeThese are some of the best fantasy writers I’ve read. Miller and Clemens have both inspired me as a writer and lover of fantasy, reminding me what good epic fantasy can be (The Innocent/Awakened Mage and Shadowfall are still some of my favorites today). Duane and Skye have kept me fascinated with YA fantasy and have inspired me to write my own series (well, two of them actually, one called The World in the Satin Bag and the other called The Mysterious House of Mr. Whim and the House of (Un)Desirables). 25. Dipesh Chakrabarty, Darko Suvin, Samuel R. Delany, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (and a lot of others)I’m putting these all in one primarily because they all have written on similar subjects (or at least subjects I am interested in) and have influenced me academically. Without these writers I don’t think I would have developed much in my academic career and I certainly wouldn’t

World in the Satin Bag

Rejection: Interstellar Realty

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Yup, another rejection.  I suspect they will be pouring in now, since most of the pieces I have have been out for quite a bit.  In any case, the more rejections the merrier, right?  Right?  I’m at 40 recorded ones here on WISB, and I’ve got at least five more under my belt that haven’t been mentioned.  So, yeah! It’s off somewhere else now!

World in the Satin Bag

SF/F Links: Another Pre-May Batch

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I just keep finding nifty stuff to let you all know about. Hope you find some of these interesting: I give you Zombie Kids.  I love this image. For those of you writing superhero fiction/comics, you might want to check out this detailed questionnaire.  Might be a good place to start with developing a superhero or supervillian who is three dimensional. Remember that post not too long ago about current events and reader preferences?  Well, I was right about a few things, like how escapist fiction gets a rise in not-so-good times. Natania Barron has an interesting article on the other in fantasy literature.  It’s short, but interesting nonetheless. Futurismic highlights some of the insanely Orwellian things happening in the U.K. right now.  You’ll be surprised the things they’re doing.  You think we have it bad?  They’re closer to Fascism than we’ve ever been.  I may be ranting about this in the near future. Here’s an interesting cyberpunk reading list.  Might be worth checking out if you’re into that genre or are curious about it.  (Thanks to SF Signal) Book Giveaways Today’s Adventure has a copy of Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer to give away.

World in the Satin Bag

Reader Question: Why won’t you read George R. R. Martin?

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I suspect that this question was meant partially in jest, but I see fit to answer it. For the record, I know that this question is directed at GRRM’s fantasy series, and not his other writings, which I have had the privilege to read. So I will direct my answer to the intent of the question. There are a lot of reasons why I have yet to read George R. R. Martin’s fantasy series. Some of them, or perhaps all them, the questioner will probably not like (or already knows about): I have too many books on my review list. I have too many books in my reading list for college courses. I don’t like being pressured into reading books because it ruins the reading experience for me. The work is over-hyped by the people who like it, which also ruins the reading experience for me. Perhaps the first one isn’t a great excuse. After all, I should probably attempt to work in books that aren’t sent to me for review in order to keep things fresh. And, if we’re to knock that off, then we can drop the second one as well, since it would no longer be relevant. That leaves the last two. My biggest problem with reading books recommended to me is that too often it feels like I’m being bludgeoned to death with the entire prospect. This isn’t always so, but a lot of folks with a professed love for a particular writer or series have a tendency to really drive home their desire to get you to read the same work that they’ve fallen head over heels for. This is not directed necessarily at the questioner, but more at the GRRM fanbase in general. I have been told by multiple GRRM fans that I have to read A Game of Thrones. It’s repeated over and over to me by these folks, even when I’ve asked some of them to stop and let it rest (some of them have been kind enough to stop). This creates a lot of problems for me as a reader. I want my reading experience to be enjoyable, and right now I cannot escape the reality that reading A Game of Thrones will be fraught with conflicting messages: the side of me that wants to remain unbiased, and the part of me that believes that A Game of Thrones is the best fantasy novel ever written, even though I haven’t read it. I need to clear my head of all this in order to properly read a game of thrones without bias. The same thing has happened to a lot of other books. I can’t help it, but the more pressure placed on me to read something, the less likely I’m going to read it. Think of it like going to a movie that has received an overwhelming amount of hype and realizing it doesn’t live up. I don’t want that to happen to A Game of Thrones. I want that book to be great when I read it, not because others say so, but because I can actually see it. What about you? Any of you out there have similar issues? Have any of you folded to pressure and had a bad experience (or a good one)? Anywho. If you have a question you’d like me to answer, feel free to send it to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com, or leave it as a comment, or send it as a twitter message with @shaunduke at the front of the message. Thanks!

World in the Satin Bag

Rejection: Artemis

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Well, there goes another one for this piece. I’m going to laugh if I get rejected from every single paying market for this piece. I really will. I’ll record it for you all if it happens. Not because I’m being stupid or moping over it, but because it’s legitimately funny to me. Anywho, it’s off to some other place!

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