Speculative Fiction 2014: Announcement and Call for Submissions!
Update: Submissions will close at 12 PM EST on January 2nd, 2015. Get those submissions in ASAP! Update 2: A previous version of this article did not include a notice about payment for selected works. That has been corrected below. Speculative Fiction: The Best Online Reviews, Essays and Commentary is an anthology that celebrates online science fiction and fantasy non-fiction and its influence on the community. Each year, a collection of the anthology will be curated by rotating editors. Last year, Ana and Thea from The Book Smugglers created Speculative Fiction 2013. This year, we’re pleased to say that we — me and Renay from Lady Business — will be editors of Speculative Fiction 2014. The first volume of Speculative Fiction, released in 2012, collected 52 pieces from authors, bloggers, and critics. The second volume, Speculative Fiction 2013, collects 53 pieces and will be released in April 2014 (details coming soon). All profits from the sales of Speculative Fiction will be donated to Room to Read. Each edition is published by Jurassic London, a small press run by Jared Shurin. The 2013 edition contains an afterword written by us, which explains what we will be looking for as the conversation surrounding sf/f continues throughout 2014. As we edit, we will follow those stated guidelines: We will continue the work of previous editors in finding symmetry between long term, ongoing debates and original discussions spurred by new developments in genre culture, both in creative content and fan response. We will embrace the rich diversity of voices both from within SF fandom and beyond, with the recognition that important genre conversations are happening outside standard literary SF community culture and its platforms. We will do our best to strive for parity in gender, sexuality, race, and nationality in recognition that as a fandom, SF is stronger when it includes the perspectives that may lie outside U.S. and U.K. cultural narratives. With our goals in mind, we’re happy to announce that we’re open for submissions! Send us the best reviews, commentaries, and other non-fiction works using this form. What we’re looking for in 2014: We’re looking for non-fiction reviews, essays, and criticism (“works”) with speculative fiction at their core. This can include science fiction, fantasy, horror, and topics that fall under or align with those topics. We welcome works about all forms of media, including but not limited to: books; film; television; all forms of games from tabletop to games next-gen consoles; and comics and manga. The work must have a publication date between January 1, 2014 and December 31, 2014. Anyone is eligible for inclusion: authors, fans, bloggers, critics who blog, bloggers who are authors, etc.), and all identifications are welcome, from full legal names to fannish pseudonyms. Everyone is welcome to submit any link they find interesting even if they are not the author. There is no limit on nominations. If you see five relevant posts, we’ll take them! If you see 50, we’ll take those, too. We’re aiming for pieces between 800 – 1500 words, but longer pieces are absolutely welcome. Payment is $0.01 a word (up to $10) for non-exclusive reprint rights. Submitted works can be from anywhere in the world, although we do need an English translation for consideration. SPECIAL NOTE: we are very interested in receiving commentary on speculative fiction from the young adult community, media fandom (mainstream film/television), academia, and nonwestern fandoms, such as anime/manga, as well as content on a wide array of platforms, including tumblr and other nontraditional writing spaces. And there you have it. Submit away!
I’m a Hugo Award Nominee — Holy Moly on a Stick!
If you didn’t know already, then you’re probably living in a hole, don’t know what a Hugo Award is, or don’t care. Or maybe you’re secretly plotting to keep me forever in obscurity. *glare* In any case, my podcast, The Skiffy and Fanty Show, is a finalist for the 2014 Hugo Awards in the Best Fancast category. We’re up there with a bunch of other amazing podcasts, too; there’s something really cool about being in a category with Galactic Suburbia, The Writer and the Critic, and The Coode Street Podcast. Heck, even SF Signal, who is the big boy (or girl) in town, is worthy of admiration for being a powerhouse in the sf/f podcast field. Plus, there’s Verity Podcast (Doctor Who FTW!) and Emma Newman’s adorable Tea & Jeopardy. If this isn’t a varied list of cool podcasts, I don’t know what is! So my name is among a sea of wonderful names. My crew is among a sea of wonderful crews. My podcast is among a sea of wonderful podcasts. It’s a good day. And, indeed, that’s all this post is about: celebrating the awesomeness that is this whole ordeal. I don’t know if I’ll win, and in a lot of ways, I kind of don’t care. Obviously, I want to win, but I never thought I’d sit here and write this sentence and think “yeah, I really do feel deeply honored that I got nominated and get to see this thing I’ve spent so much time on among a host of amazing shows that have worked hard to be where they are too…and even if I don’t win, I’m still going to feel great.” But I really feel that way right now. It feels amazing. I’ve never been nominated for anything important. Hell, when I played baseball in my youth, I was the kid you’d give that silly participation trophy to because I couldn’t play worth a damn (though I had the lowest strikeout record in my last season because I was so short and hardly anyone could pitch within my strike zone — I wear that with pride). But now I’m a Hugo nominee! That’s not a participation award. That’s a “people like what you do and voted for you” plaque. I may not win, but I’ll get to wear my little Hugo pin like a badge of friggin honor. And you better believe I’m going to wear that thing everywhere. Cue transition to new thing…. And that brings me to the very important fact that I’m still trying to raise funds to attend Worldcon. Now, I have a new reason: to attend the Hugo ceremonies! Right now, I need to make enough to pay for the plane ticket this month. The food and (now new) hotel expenses can come later. But it does mean I really really really need help. As of this post, I’m about $600 short of the amount I need for the plane ticket.* If you’ve got $10 to spare, please consider donating. It would help me out a lot, but it would also help The Skiffy and Fanty Show do a lot of wonderful things at Worldcon, including attending the Hugo Award ceremonies.** And on that note, I’m going to go for a walk and grin like a fool all day! ——————————- *Pretty sure I can get a ticket for between $1250 and $1400 right now, but that will change after April, I imagine. **Also on the docket: lots of interviews with international authors and a few walk-by sessions! P.S.: I’ll have another post about the awards later. Right now, I’m riding the happy.
Fundraiser Updatery: 18 Days and Counting…
There are 18 days left in my Worldcon fundraiser for The Skiffy and Fanty Show. And I’m $1552 short. That’s a lot to make up in less than a month, but it’s still doable. $87 a day will do it! But that means I really need everyone’s help on this. A *lot* of help. And on that subject, I want to thank all the folks who have helped out thus far: Fred Kiesche Scott Pohlenz Matthew Sheahan Louise Lowenspets (there are two dots on the last “o,” but I can’t figure out how to put it in there on my tablet — sorry 🙁 ) Andrew Liptak Stina Leicht Maureen Kincaid Speller John Pitts Linda Nagata Mike Martinez Fabio Fernandes Rachael Acks David Annandale Sue Armitage Joe Monti Catherine Hill Amy Fredericks Note: I have only listed donations that were made public. I would also like to thank all the folks who didn’t want to be named. You are equally as awesome for every little bit you’ve given me for this. Note 2: I also want to say an enormous thank you to Myke Cole, who offered to share his hotel room at Worldcon with me free of charge. It’s people like Myke and the folks above (and the unlisted folks) who make this community so wonderful: giving up money or things or whatever to help someone out. And that’s not just for me. This community has helped all kinds of people. It’s a great thing. As of right now, I’m holding off on scheduling interviews and the like, but if it starts to look that the fundraiser will get close to the goal, I’ll get all of that started. My hope is to host walk-by sessions and interview as many international authors, editors, and so on I possibly can. Likewise, it’s possible I’ll be on programming this year, which is pretty darn awesome! In any case, this month, we’re recording a Torture Cinema review of Highlander II at the end of the month with special guest Mike Martinez (who donated and was selected to pick the movie for the 3rd Milestone). Other perks are already available and listed on the page. And that’s all the updates I’ve got at the moment. If you can spare some cash, please help out. Even $5 helps. Anywhoodles.
Link of the Week: “Confirmation bias, epic fantasy, and you” by N.K. Jemisin
N.K. Jemisin takes a stab at the now tiring debate over whether epic fantasy in faux-European settings can include women and people of color without rewriting (imaginary) history. It’s an interesting topic, as always, and, as always, Jemisin is brilliant in her response. Here’s the comment I left: I don’t have too much to add to this conversation, but I will say two things: 1) I was actually surprised that there were any people of color in Martin’s world when I first started watching the show. I’d become so used to epic fantasy featuring no people of color (or “evil” stand-ins for them in the form of inhuman critters like orcs) that seeing an actual civilization of non-white folks in a world which is so very much Anglo-European for most of the show was a bit of a “well, isn’t that unusual” moment. That said, I recognize that Martin’s world doesn’t actually do much with this (based on what I’ve seen and read, mind). So the criticism of his treatment is valid. 2) I used to be one of those people who would say “but that’s how it was back then” as a defense of epic fantasy. Then I went to college. And took some classes on colonialism. And British literature from Chaucer to the Victorian Era. And African lit. And Indian lit. And all these things. And it became very clear that this whole “Europe was white” thing was, well, bunk. It certainly was mostly white (based on my understanding), but even Shakespeare wrote plays with non-white people as part of the main cast (Othello and Titus Andronicus, for example — the title character and a secondary character, respectively). In the early 1600s (maybe late 1500s). So, no, the excuse is bad. It comes from a position of ignorance, which we’re all able to correct. And it’s unnecessary. You can write fantasy set in faux European settings *and* include PoCs. Or you can try to write worlds with whatever the frick you want. It’s fantasy, ffs. If you want to mix it up and have a story about Chinese-esque dragon riders, then write it. In some sense, I think the confirmation bias endemic to epic fantasy’s Euro-myths is one part ignorance and one part unwillingness to imagine. But it’s also probably rooted in everything you’ve written up there, too. The thing I still don’t get: why does this remain a threat? What is so bad about wanting to see more women or PoCs or whatever in fantasy? Answer: not a damn thing.
Kim Stanley Robinson and Exposition (or, No More James Patterson, Please)
Just this past weekend, I saw Kim Stanley Robinson give a talk about narrative and time at the Marxist Reading Group Conference at the University of Florida. During this talk, Robinson suggested, as I’m sure he has elsewhere, that science fiction has been the victim of casual writing instruction, which has mistakenly convinced us that exposition is terrible writing. He argued that exposition is, in fact, the bedrock of sf, as it provides much of the formal variance necessary for the genre to thrive, particularly given the genre’s history. In a sense, what Robinson argues is that the formal uniqueness of sf lies in its ability to represent what does not exist, and so exposition, by dint of representing the unreal, is a necessary tool for any writer of the genre. His argument likewise reduces the “show, don’t tell” rule to a curse of narrative zombification — what he calls a zombie meme. I find this view rather compelling as a way to define sf by what it does, as opposed to what it is. Much like Delany, who Robinson probably intentionally hinted to by referencing Heinlein’s oft-cited sf-nal sentence (“The door dilated” from Beyond This Summer[1] (1942)), Robinson seems to view sf as a genre without definition; rather, it is a genre best understood by its applications and methods.[2] The method Robinson is perhaps famous for (or infamous, depending on your interpretation) is exposition, a fact which he seemed delighted to declare in his talk. Even in something like The Gold Coast (1988), exposition is almost a necessity, for the sf-nal frame of the work only works within a functional world.[3] One can’t quite fully understand the conflict between Jim McPherson and his father without the in-depth examination of this “new” culture in which they exist. Much of that examination has to come through exposition, lest The Gold Coast become a 10,000-page monstrosity which has to show us every little darned thing so we really understand why Jim acts the way he does. Much of this made me wonder why this rule — “show, don’t tell” — has stuck with us when it so clearly compromises any work which wishes to do more than simply “entertain” in the most banal definition of the word. In this respect, I agree with Robinson that the removal of exposition may have helped some sf reach wider audiences — particularly among the “I don’t write sf even though I do, but don’t tell anyone” NYT bestseller crowd. But it’s that limitation on the language and vision that often produces inferior works — works which do little more than present a story without requiring the author to provide an explanation for the world itself or some deeper examination of the world as a container for criticism. This is not to suggest, as Robinson doesn’t either, that one must become Tolkien to produce an sf work which engages with the best activities of the genre; rather, I’m agreeing with Robinson that a genre which seeks a universalization of its modes of writing is, indeed, a zombie genre. Repetition. Rinsing and repeating. This might be why I find works like Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2013), Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson (2013), or The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar (2013) so fascinating.[4] At the same time, this assertion about exposition cannot possibly be universal. Indeed, I doubt Robinson would suggest that the absence of exposition is necessarily the default of an inferior work, as the removal of exposition could serve a literary purpose. For example: while I cannot speak for Robinson, I suspect that a surface level view of Tobias Buckell’s Xenowealth Saga would result in a number of loaded assumptions, the most of important of which is that these are just not good books because they aren’t loaded with exposition.[5] But part of what Buckell’s writing style does, whether this was intentional or not, is tied to Buckell’s oft-cited desire to represent “people like him” or “people he saw while in the Caribbean” within the genre he has so come to love. This is a charge we’ve heard from other writers who put QUILTBAG or PoC characters into their work: so much of sf/f doesn’t include characters who look like me, and so I’m going to fill the gap on my own.[6] That is that Buckell’s Xenowealth Saga takes characters which have been perhaps “trapped” in the literary sphere or the literary sf sphere and throws them into the high-flying adventure and mayhem universe of Space Opera. He plays in a particular literary mode, albeit a modern re-imagination of the form. His books do not contain mountains and mountains of exposition; they are rather subdued in that realm, in fact. But they are also excellent books precisely because of what they do with the mode. If it’s not clear, I’m not suggesting that Buckell is a bad writer; rather, I’m suggesting quite the opposite. Of course, I could be wrong. Perhaps what Robinson was pointing to were the extreme forms of anti-exposition writing found in, say, James Patterson, who I personally think is one of the worse prose stylists whose works routinely appear on the NYT Bestsellers list. His writing lacks the kind of depth that Robinson called for in his talk, so much so that I couldn’t finish one of his Alex Cross novels. It was too limiting. Too removed. Too oriented around the plot and not oriented enough around the characters. In the case of science fiction, which Alex Cross most certainly is not, I think Robinson sees exposition’s value in its ability to convey the unreal in potentially liberative ways — in the sense that our understanding of a world and our ability to immerse within it can be, in some cases, contingent upon that world seeming fully realized, allowing us to extricate ourselves from our (mundane) lives into the otherworldly. Patterson’s prose, if I’m honest, does not do that. I am not extricated. I am not compelled. I am simply “there,” reading, aware. But I want
Top 10 Blog Posts for March 2014
Here they are: Movie Review: Riddick (2013)(or, I’m Going to Mega Rant Now) Great SF/F Books by Female Authors: A Massive Twitter List! #sffbywomen Oh, John Ring and Your Silly Fantasies About People (or, I Now Like Redshirts) Post-Post-Event Thoughts on LonCon3 and Jonathan Ross Top 10 Overused Fantasy Cliches Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Anime Movies Top 10 Science Fiction Movies Since 2010 (Thus Far) Movie Review Rant: Catching Fire (2013) 2014 Hugo Nominee Ballot: Best Novel 7 SF/F Books by Female Authors to Pick Up on International Women’s Day Anything you missed?