Space Opera Course Update
A few months ago, I asked for input from folks interested in the online space opera course I planned to teach/run at some point during the summer. Many of you gave me some excellent feedback about the form the course should take, the readings, cost, and so on, and so I set out to try to put something together in time for summer 2017. Well, it’s officially summer, and as should be obvious right now, things aren’t exactly put together. And there’s good reason for that.
My OASIS 29 Con Schedule: Come See My Shenanigans!
I’m a guest at OASIS again! And let me tell you, I am super excited. Last year, I had the great pleasure of meeting A. Lee Martinez, who is both one of the nicest dudes that ever walked the Earth and also almost nearly as funny as me (not quite, but he gets like 9 points for being pretty cool :P; I don’t know what these points are on about). OASIS is one of my local conventions, located in sunny Orlando. I’ll be there for the full run of the convention — May 19th to May 21st. This year, the Guest of Honor at OASIS is urban fantasy master Faith Hunter, author of the Rogue Mage series and the Jane Yellowrock series, among others. She has something like 9 million books published under one of her 9 identities (OK, so she’s published around 32 books under three names, but 9 million is pretty close…). It should be a lot of fun to chat with her on panels in a couple weeks! And what am I up to? Boy howdy am I in for a busy weekend. This is my schedule:
Shaun’s Rambles 015: Spoilers vs. Content Warnings
Don’t spoil me with your content warnings, they say! In this episode, I take a crack at the confusion between content warnings and spoilers. What is the difference? Why are content warnings important? What value do content warnings provide? Take a listen to hear my take! Let me know what you think about content warnings and spoilers in the comments below! https://media.blubrry.com/shaunsrambles/archive.org/download/ShaunsRamblesEpisode015SpoilersVsContentWarnings/ShaunsRamblesEpisode015–SpoilersVsContentWarnings.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
2017 WISB Awards Long List
The long list returns! Last year, I introduced the first ever WISB Awards Long list, which represents all the things I loved in 2015 and, more or less, my Hugo Awards Ballot (some items are obviously not eligible). This year, I’m at it again. Shortly, I’ll release the winners of the 2017 WISB Awards. Presumably, there will be thunderous applause or something. As always, I do not include my own work on the long list. If you’re interested in nominating me for something, feel free to do so for the following: Best Fancast The Skiffy and Fanty Show (Shaun Duke, Julia Rios, Paul Weimer, Mike Underwood, Rachael Acks, David Annandale, Jen Zink, and Trish Matson) Totally Pretentious (Shaun Duke and David Annandale) Now here’s the official 2017 WISB Awards Long List: (IMPORTANT: I am in the process of filling out the categories. New updates will go up periodically throughout the day.)
Space Opera, the Course: Seeking Your Input!
Last month, I asked the following on Twitter (and Facebook): The idea behind this came from a conversation with the lovely Nina Niskanen. She suggested that I might teach a course on space opera for a more general audience using an online service . Her own interest came from the perspective of a writer who wanted to write space opera but didn’t know enough about it. I thought that sounded like a great idea. Alas, I didn’t have the time back then to really begin putting anything in motion. Teaching full time, working on a dissertation, attending conferences, applying for jobs, etc. But I’m about to graduate with a PhD in English (focused on science fiction). That means not only will I have a hell of a good credential for this sort of thing (aside from my existing work as a podcaster, etc.), but I’ll also have quite a lot of time over this summer! And so here I am asking for your input. Since a lot of people who expressed interest in this are not academics or traditional students, it’s important to me to figure out how best to approach the structure, focus, and presentation of this course. Below, I’ve broken things down into some general categories with occasional ideas about what I’d like to do. Mostly, this post is a series of questions for your consideration. If you’re interested in any of this, please leave a comment or send an email with the subject “Space Opera Course” to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com. Getting this feedback will ultimately help me create a better product for people! If you know someone who might be interested, point them in my direction. General:
The 2017 Hugo Awards Reading / Viewing List
As I did last year, I have begun to compile a big massive (and, indeed, very sexy) list of all the books, stories, comics, movies, fans, etc. suggested to me via my recent 2017 Hugo Awards Recommendations form. The following is by no means a comprehensive list, as it is based on suggestions by readers. If something is missing, let me know in the comments. Note #1: I have deliberately excluded my own work from the list, which consists of The Skiffy and Fanty Show in the Best Fancast category. If you think my podcast deserves a nomination this year, then by all means put it on your ballot! The below list is just for all the other things out there 🙂 Note #2: Normally, I try to include links and publisher information for everything. Unfortunately, I ran out of time, and I figured people would rather see the list than wait any longer for me to fill in all the details. I’m not opposed to help with this, though. So, here’s the list: