World in the Satin Bag

Reading Resolutions: Enhanced and Revamped

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Earlier this year I laid out some New Years resolutions for 2010, some of them related to reading and others related to writing. But Laura Miller over at Salon.com (and Larry over at OF Blog of the Fallen) wrote something that made me think that maybe I should be a little more challenging and, perhaps, rigorous in how I address my reading habits this year. Looking back over all the books I have read in the last two years (not including school books, which are chosen for me, rather than by me), I’ve noticed the following things: Books Read (07-09): 60 (roughly; I’ve forgotten a few here or there and left off books I couldn’t finish or were anthologies of some description)By Women: 22By Men: 38By People of Color: 3 (this is not exact and based entirely on available information)By International Authors (not including Canada or the UK): 5Fantasy: 30Science Fiction: 26Other: 4 Again, these are books I read for my own enjoyment. If I included books for school you would see a dramatic shift in works by people of color and women (and I do quite enjoy many of those school books, by the way, though certainly not all). What I find curious about these numbers are three things: I have an almost even 50/50 split between SF and F.You’d think I would have read twice as much science fiction in the last three years. Apparently not. I’ve read around 1.5 times more books by men than women.I had expected the numbers to be a little closer, but I’m also pleased that the difference is relatively nominal. I’ve read few novels by authors from outside of the big three (the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.).I wasn’t surprised by this, but it is something that I want to resolve. In this case, I don’t think it will be as artificial as #4 (below) simply because international SF, while not hard to find, is certainly not what seems to get pushed on bookshelves. I’ve read almost no works by people of color.Now, there are two things that I think need to be said about this. The first is that I had to do a whole bunch of Google searches to figure out who was and was not a person of color (using a fairly broad definition). I couldn’t have told you who was and was not Asian or African American or what have you prior to this. The second is that I didn’t buy or review the books I read based on race (I can’t do that if I don’t know). This, of course, concerns me. While I had the opportunity to read a heck of a lot of women in the last few years, there weren’t a lot of opportunities to read works by people of color (I’ve read a lot of short stories by PoC, but I left those out of this analysis). I don’t know if it would be fair to say that this is indicative of a void in the SF/F publishing industry; having read 60 books in the last three years (a pathetic number, to say the least), it probably wouldn’t be right to use my numbers to comment on a bigger object. At the same time, however, I don’t know if I can use this as a basis for any particular challenge for 2010. While it would be nice to read more work by PoC, it would also be too artificial and meaningless to spend my days intentionally trying to find work by PoC. I’m not saying that works by PoC aren’t worth the effort, just that it defeats the purpose of legitimately reading work by such folks if I’m intentionally trying find them. I don’t know if that makes sense (please, leave a comment if you’re confused by what I’m saying here, or if what I’m saying is somehow indicating a negative attitude towards PoC writers). Looking at all of this, I do have some revamped reading resolutions for 2010 (challenges, actually). Read at least one full book a week. Read more international SF/F. Read a book or two outside of my traditional reading interests. Read more non-fiction. I think those are fairly reasonable reading goals. What about you? Do you have any reading goals?

World in the Satin Bag

RoF’s Women-Only Issue: Good or Bad?

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Realms of Fantasy Magazine recently announced that in August of 2011 they will be releasing a special themed issue of the magazine called “Women in Fantasy.” The idea is that every department will be dedicated to that theme in some way, and only women can submit. I have mixed feelings about this: Are they going to do a “Men in Fantasy” issue? If not, why? While I understand the impetus behind creating the issue, it also has the potential to do more harm than good if the RoF folks aren’t careful. Yes, there should be more women writers in SF/F, but this is going one step farther by intentionally discriminating based on sex, without considering fairness; it could be seen as playing the payback game rather than doing anything for the community as a whole. This, to me, could be as divisive as all the other discussions begun and ended over the last year. I don’t think this is nearly as “revolutionary” as the title and the explanation seems to indicate. While there are not enough recognizable female figures in the speculative genres, this is far less true of fantasy than science fiction. Most of the problems with under-representation seem focused more on SF than F. If Analog or Asimov’s were doing a similar thing, then not only would there be more of an uproar (for various reasons, many of them wrong), but such as issue would have a greater impact on the genre. Right now? I don’t see this as being all that revolutionary when you consider that their primary genre (fantasy) is much more friendly to women than other genres (and no, I am not saying that F is perfect at all). I agree with one of the commentators that the “Women in Fantasy” idea comes off very much like a stunt. I don’t mind stunts, generally speaking, but when dealing with a clearly sensitive issue, this is problematic. I fail to understand why this issue of RoF is “women only” when the theme is “Women in Fantasy.” Is there an assumption that men can’t properly address the topic? Are men assumed to be less adequate at writing female characters or talking about women figures in fantasy? I don’t know. Maybe that’s not what they are thinking, but these are things that pop into my head. Generally speaking, I like the idea behind it. I think an issue dedicated to the discussion of women in fantasy (including fiction about women in fantasy worlds) is a fantastic idea. It could turn into something stunning, if done right. Having said all of this, I’m both curious and put-off by RoF’s “Women in Fantasy” issue. I hope it turns out well, but I think the potential for it to be regarded as something astonishing may be hampered by a failure to address the underlying problems of a gender-specific issue. We’ll see how it turns out. (Mike Brotherton offers his opinion here.)

World in the Satin Bag

Scifi Squad’s Top Scifi Rapist

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Last month, Scifi Squad posted a top ten list of scifi couples. The usual suspects show up there (Han and Leia from Star Wars), with a few modern additions (Zoe and Wash from Firefly and WALL-E and Eve from WALL-E). But then there’s #3: Rick and Rachael from Blade Runner. I wasn’t aware that being a rapist made you one half of an awesome scifi couple. But maybe the Scifi Squad folks don’t remember the scene where Rick Deckard throws Rachael against the wall after she tries to leave, and then forces himself upon her (she cries in that scene, by the way) while terrifying her into telling him “she wants it.” It wasn’t hidden. The scene is pretty damned clear: at best, Deckard is an abusive son of a bitch; at worst, he’s the worst kind of rapist you’d expect to see in a Lifetime movie. They’re reasoning? Between filming two parts of his memorable Star Wars romance, Harrison Ford fell in love with a replicant. That’s the last thing you’d expect from the world-weary Rick Deckard, who specializes in terminating “skin jobs,” but the heart wants what the heart wants, and the cool, classic beauty of Rachael (Sean Young) sneaks through his defenses, until he’s doing everything within his power to keep her alive. Did they see the same movie I did? He hardly does anything for Rachael. Yes, at the end of the movie he takes her away, but that’s the only moment where Deckard really does anything for her (rather than for himself). Throughout most of the movie he is either screwing with her mind (i.e. telling her she’s a replicant and that all her memories, which she thinks, at that point, are hers, are in fact fabrications), killing her kind, or forcing himself upon her. One shouldn’t forget that the world Deckard has come to know pretty much allows him to get away with doing whatever he wants to the so called “skin jobs.” I wonder if a little of that has rubbed off into the real world… Two thumbs up for rapists, I suppose.

World in the Satin Bag

Cover Sins: Young Flandry and the Thoughts Inspired

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Aidan Moher over at A Dribble of Ink recently posted the cover art for Young Flandry by Poul Anderson; it is by far one of the worst covers I have ever seen (just look below). Now, to be fair to Baen, they haven’t exactly been at the forefront of excellent cover art (in fact, they’re fairly well known for regularly producing questionable covers), but this one really takes the cake:I left the following comment at A Dribble of Ink: Well, Mr. Anderson just rolled over in his grave and vomited a fine mixture of dirt and liquid flesh…this is why I’ve never purchased as Baen book. There might be a good story under the cover, but I refuse to cover my bookshelf with stuff that looks like that. I have a reputation to uphold… I mean that too. The only Baen books I own were given to me as used copies; I keep their covers hidden from anyone who might actually come to my apartment and look at my collection. As a result, I have yet to buy a Baen book because when it comes to really bad cover art, I do judge a book by its cover. There’s bad cover art, and then there’s atrocious cover art (the kind of stuff that other people see on your shelf and judge you by); Baen frequently produces the latter. I fail to see any reason for Baen to have such crappy covers. Do they not have $20 to pay some DeviantArt kid to produce something of at least reasonable quality? It’s not that hard to find these people (I recently did just that and ended up with ten fairly good pieces of art for a very reasonable price). There are thousands of decent starting artists on DeviantArt, and I know Baen sells books (they’re in most bookstores, after all) and, thus, has a moderate enough cash flow to commission good-enough-art (which would be acceptable). So, what’s the hold up? The only thing I can assume about Baen is that they do this on purpose either to create the effect of the pulps or to be distinct. The problem is that a lot of their novels aren’t actually pulp novels (David Weber, for example), so poor cover quality seems more detrimental to the value of the work than anything else. And if they are trying to be distinct, they’ve succeeded, but only in making their books look like garbage. I feel sorry for the authors. I know Baen has done a lot of wonderful stuff for the SF/F community, but they could put the same amount of effort into the books they produce for consumers (and their authors) as they do into making the SF/F world better for all of us. Get with the program, Baen. Your crummy CG renders, your pulpy porno nonsense, and your other cover problems are not helping you sell books to this reader. Not at all.

World in the Satin Bag

2010: Looking Back and Looking Forward (Resolutions)

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Well, it’s the New Year, and things are gearing up to be rather exciting for 2010. I’m going to be changing a lot of things (on this blog, in my writing life, and in my personal life), for one, and, as I mentioned here, I’m going to be quite busy. But, a good way to look forward is to start by looking back, which is exactly what I’m going to do here. Last year I set several goals for myself in the form of a resolution. How did I do? Well, let’s see: Write 200,000 words — 153,424. I didn’t quite make it, obviously. Edit 200,000 words — 124,461. Again, didn’t make it. Submit 26 new short stories by Dec. 31 — Well, I only have eighteen stories submitted right now, and a few of those were submitted during 2008. Still, it’s not like I didn’t try. I have at least six stories in the final edit phase and another twenty nearly done. So, I was close. Reach a total of 20 stories in the submission queue — I think I actually hit this at one point. I have a couple stories that I have since put to the side because I don’t feel comfortable with them being out there at the moment. Get published — I actually came close. I received a rewrite request not too long ago and all I’m doing now is waiting for the specifics. So, technically if I rewrite the piece and it gets accepted, it will happen in 2010, but it was a process that began in 2009. I’ve also had a bunch of near misses this year. So close. This year, my resolutions are going to be a big different: Write 150,000 words Finish either 20 new short stories OR one of my science fiction novels-in-progress Read at least a book a week (not for school) That’s it. I want 2010 to be fairly simple. No unreasonable goals. No crazy things that can get in the way of my academic work (I’m trying to build a career, after all). Three very simple, hopefully easy writing/reading goals. What about you? What are your writing/reading resolutions for 2010?

World in the Satin Bag

The 2009 WISB Awards!

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With 2009 almost over, it’s about time to toss out some of my worthless WISB Awards to the fine folks who deserve them (if I could make them worth something, I would, but I’m unfortunately not the Nebula’s). You can see previous winners at the following links: 2008; 2007. Some things are changing this year, though. First, I am no longer going to make the awards about what was published in 2009. While I would like to be able to do this every year, I also am wholly inadequate to the task of keeping up with what’s being published year in and year out and find myself consistently jumping around between 2007, 2008, and 2009 in my reading. So, from now on the WISB Awards are going to focus primarily on what I have read in a particular year rather than one what was published in that year. For a quick refresher, here are the award categories with brief explanations of what they represent:Kudos Award (given to a writer who has done something to further the genre or make the genre community a better place)Best Novel (self explanatory)Best Publisher (self explanatory)Best Cover (self explanatory)Best Writer (self explanatory)Worst Writer (given to a writer who does something detrimental to their career or the genre)(There will not be a category for movies this year, primarily because I have not seen enough 2009 films to feel comfortable making that choice.) So, without further delay, here are the award winners: The 2009 Kudos Award — John Scalzi Why Scalzi? Well, let’s run down the list, shall we? He saved Strange Horizons, one of the few pro-paying markets for SF/F left for us writerly folk; he helped out Peter Watts after the Canadian SF author was arrested and charged with a bunch of bogus crap; and he has been writing and supporting SF/F on his blog for years now. If anyone deserves a Kudos Award this year, it’s Scalzi. Keep up the good work! Best Novel of 2009 — The House of the Stag by Kage BakerI’m apparently not well known as a fantasy reader around these parts, mostly because I don’t talk about fantasy all that much on this blog (although I happen to read a lot more fantasy than I do science fiction for reasons that I can’t quite explain). This year, however, completely shattered my expectations of the genre by providing me the opportunity to read The House of the Stag by Kage Baker. I started reading The House of the Stag thinking it would be another adventurous, epic fantasy, but it turned out to be so much more. I won’t ruin my review of the novel, though. All I have to say is that if any novel deserves it this year, it is The House of the Stag. (You can see my review of The House of the Stag here. I also interviewed Kage Baker here.) Best Publisher of 2009 — Angry Robot BooksOne of the most unique publishing ventures to come into existence in the last decade, Angry Robot Books not only publishes some fantastic, edgy novels (all science fiction or fantasy), but it also has a unique approach to working with reviewers like myself and writers. I think some of the big boys could learn a few things from this brilliant startup. (You can read my reviews of some Angry Robot publications at the following links: Angel of Death by J. Robert King; Kell’s Legend by Andy Remic.) Best Cover of 2009 — Terra Insegura by Edward Willett (illustration by Stephan Martiniere)I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that Martiniere has won for best cover art this year. The artwork for Terra Insegura is stunning, as are all of Martiniere’s paintings. A big plus is the cover actually matches what is in the book. What more can I say? Just look at it! (You can read my review of Terra Insegura here. Stephan Martiniere can be found on his website. I also interviewed Mr. Willett here and here.) Best Writer of 2009 — Kage BakerI’ve read two of her novels this year and have to admit that Baker is one of the best writers currently writing in the genre right now. She has a remarkably poetic prose style and a pension for crafting lovable and complex characters. I’ve enjoyed her work so much that I actually wrote a paper (partly) on one of her novels. Add to that her wonderful use of fairytale stylings and her winning personality (she was a joy to talk to over email for this interview) and it should be no surprise why she is my choice for the best writer of 2009. (You can see my reviews of her novels at the following links: The House of the Stag; The Empress of Mars.) Worst Writer (Personally) of 2009 — John C. WrightThere are so many to pick from this year. I could go with a recent example, like Candace Sams, or I could pick someone who hits a little closer to home. I’m going to do the latter. John C. Wright rightly deserves the award for worst writer of 2009 for one-upping Orson Scott Card this year by writing this “brilliant” attack against homosexuals (and anyone who supports equal rights in this country). You’ll notice that the link doesn’t actually go to Wright’s blog. Why? Because Wright pulled it down after he was flamed to death for being a homophobic douchebag (though I suspect he’ll claim his motivations were otherwise). Still, he’s been ousted as super douche of the year by most people and with the wonders of the Internet we have the luxury of seeing everything he’s said pasted permanently on the WWW. Good job, Mr. Wright. Nothing like being a horrible human being to boost those sales (not that he actually saw a reduction in sales, but I sure as hell refuse to give him a single cent now that he’s joined the league of extraordinary jackasses). And that’s it! Did I

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