This is a Story Wordle for a story I originally wrote for my international cyberpunk class during winter quarter. I like how it turned out. It’s kind of neat and reflects the story in a way. Anywho, have you done any Wordles? If so, let me know!
This week we have a few more silly reader questions. We’ll go in reverse order this time around and start with GothixHalo: Why in books do they never have them going to the bathroom? I don’t know if anyone is aware, but it is actually illegal to write about going to the bathroom in books. Yup. Sometimes it happens, but if you do it you’re likely to be sued. You see, back in 3100 B.C. a guy named Nunchuck Dungfoot (anglicized from the original language to make it easier to remember) invented the first toilet and he declared that the whole world must acknowledge his invention lest he curse mankind to the fiery bowels of hell. Unfortunately, that has carried on into the modern world as an unofficial ban on discussing the use of bathrooms in literature. Discussing such things will result in the Trans-Orkneyan Liberation Front showing up at your house to serve you with papers. I know, it sounds insane, but that’s what happened to that guy who supposedly “lied” in his non-fiction book on Oprah’s show. Remember that? It was a cover for his writing about a bathroom. He’s since disappeared, which tells me that he was probably murdered by the Trans-Orkneyan Mafia. Yes, I’m making all this up. I have no idea why nobody writes bathroom scenes in their fiction. They just don’t. GothixHalo also asks: Why do people not like poetry, but love songs, which are basically music set to poetry? Because people are too stupid to realize that they’re basically the same thing. There’s really no difference between poetry and song lyrics, except that one is traditionally sung, while the other is not–although, historically this isn’t true. That’s basically it. For the record: song lyrics are poetry, and if you hate poetry, then you also hate song lyrics. This is a strange conflict that everyone needs to acknowledge. Lastly, Mulluane sends this question: Super power or magical power? I don’t quite understand what differentiates these two things. Can’t a magical power also be a super power? And do I have to choose one or the other? Let’s be fair, with such a vague question you can’t honestly expect me to choose one over the other. I’m taking both. I want super powers and magical powers. Why? Because in the event that someone figures out a way to neutralize my super powers, I’ll still have a fallback with which I can whoop some major superhero ass. Oh, what, you took my super ability to shoot energy beams out of my eyes? Yeah, well, I put a curse on you, fool! May you forever listen to the Sound of Music in your head, forever and ever and ever and ever. Yeah, it’s like that. But maybe I shouldn’t be allowed to have any abilities. I think I might abuse them. I can imagine myself getting revenge on people who bother me, and that’s not how super heroes are supposed to act. ————————— If you have a question, whether silly or serious, about science fiction, fantasy, writing, or, well, whatever, feel free to leave it in the comments, email it to me at arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com, or tweet it to @shaunduke. If you liked this post, feel free to stumble it, digg it, tweet it, or whatever. Thanks!
To all the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, from the dawn of our country to the present, who have died serving the people of the United States of America, I say thank you. Whether you fought in the Revolutionary War or Iraq, you deserve every American’s thanks and gratitude. It matters not whether the war was just, because Memorial Day is not about the decisions of politicians, it is about the men and women who died doing what their country asked them to, who sacrificed their lives for every one of us.So, again, thank you.
My review of The Dragon Hunters by Paul Genesse is up and can be found here. It’s a good book and well worth reading. Check out the review and leave a comment!
The other day Mulluane pointed me to an interesting discussion on independent bookstores and blogs and one of the quotes stood out to me as a particularly absurd statement: Very small stores may not have the time or the resources to devote to maintaining a blog. Small to mid-size stores may not be able to dedicate someone to consistently write a blog (and you must be consistent). Some bookstore owners or managers may not feel they have the technical expertise or Internet savvy to create a blog. Some stores question the effectiveness of a blog in generating sales. I’ve heard all the excuses. Small stores don’t have the time or resources to devote to a blog? Perhaps this explains why so many independent bookstores are suffering right now and have been suffering for a while: they simply haven’t converted. I would argue that the only hope for independent bookstores to survive is to establish web presences, to enlist the avid support of cause-oriented web-goers, because there will be a point when almost all purchases, particularly of books, will be made online, rather than in the store, and no store can hope to survive if it cannot make itself available online. But that’s not what this post is about. This is about blogging on a busy schedule and a tight budget (and it is advice that is useful to anyone, not just bookstores). I think the above quote really makes it clear what kind of people tend to run independent bookstores: not particularly web-savvy ones. Blogging is essentially free, and probably always will be so long as places like Blogger and WordPress continue to offer their services. Obviously bookstores want to host their own websites, which does cost money, but a blog is free to start and relatively easy to transfer over to a personal domain, which I’m not going to talk about here. Basically, you don’t have to pay anything to start a blog and maintain it. You can use a free service, get a free template that suits you, and blog like nobody’s business. But bookstores also have resources: they have supporters, friends, etc. There’s no reason why an independent bookstore cannot create a small following of Internet friends who would be happy to provide their words free of charge to support the store. This is why we have websites dedicated to supporting independent bookstores and why the Internet is flooded with people who buy indie (there’s sort of a movement both online and otherwise that puts the indie store at the top, and I suspect this is an extension of the hippie movements). This all depends on the store and the people who run it. Independent bookstores cannot hope to survive the rapidly technologizing industry without adopting within themselves the complicated mechanisms that make up the Internet. They have to adopt new practices including social networking on places like Twitter and Facebook, creating websites that incorporate all aspects of bookselling and promotion (from author events to buying books online), and reaching out to supporters. This isn’t to say that doing these things will guarantee the survival of indie stores. I suspect that bookstores are a dying breed; we’ll likely reach a point where only a handful of stores will exist, whether chains or otherwise. When even massive stores like Powell’s are feeling the burn (a store that has, in my opinion, surpassed any other bookstore in existence by not only having the widest possible selection–which, understandable, not all stores can have–but also staff who have actual experience in the various genres/sections of the store itself) it is perhaps a bad omen for bookselling in physical form in general. But the death of the independent bookstore need not be because of negligence. Let it be because of forces outside of their control (shifting buying habits, change in markets, the economy). There is no reason why independent bookstores cannot devote some time to their own promotion online, and it is, in my opinion, and essential part of running a bookstore. If you don’t have time to do even something as simple as running a blog, then don’t be surprised when your store dies because nobody knows about it.
I have a handful of new links that you all might be interested in. The blogosphere is certainly alive this month! Enjoy: SF Signal’s new Mind Meld is up (I took part this time around, actually). The question: Which science fiction, fantasy, and/or horror books would you recommend to a friend who has never read them before?Got any suggestions? Gizmodo makes an interesting argument as to why Asimov’s Laws of Robotics are total B.S. Interesting stuff. Tumblon talks about why fantasy literature matters for children. I absolutely agree. Aliette de Bodard lists some great software for writers. Worth checking out. Jeremiah Tolbert suggests some interesting reasons why not to blog about writing. I don’t necessarily agree, but it’s interesting stuff nonetheless. Follow the Reader asks whether the new Kindle blogs feature is a double-edged sword. What do you think? Publishers Weekly talks about book marketing methods and which ones are most effective. (Thanks to SF Signal) ScifiWatch lists five ways to increase sales, save money, and promote publicity. Good stuff. Fantasy Book Reviewer raises some valid concerns about reviewing books too early. I’ve often thought that doing so is counterproductive, but his post says everything I’d like to say about the issue, and then some. Catholic Sensibility has a really interesting take on theology and science fiction. I don’t necessarily agree, but it’s still worth reading. Seriously. Apocalyptic language and science fiction. Good stuff. Electric Velocipede talks about starting a zine, with a few humorous bits tossed in there. (Thanks to whomever I got this from) And that’s it. Hope you find the links interesting!
