About My Writing – Page 10 – Dr. Shaun Duke, Professional Nerd

New Weird/Bizarro Summer Reading: Want to join me?

Over the next two months I will be researching and reading for an essay I am writing on the New Weird and Bizarro subgenres and their influence on SF/F in the last ten years. The list isn’t terribly long, and does include some older titles for historical reference, but I thought I would see if some of you wanted to read along with me. Perhaps we can have some discussions here about whatever happens to strike our fancy. So, my reading list is as follows: –The New Weird edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer–City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer–The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston–Foop! by Chris Genoa–Natural History by Justina Robson–The Etched City by KJ Bishop–Doctor Identity, or Farewell to Plaquedemia by D. Harlan Wilson–Veniss Undeground by Jeff VanderMeer–Angel Dust Apocalypse by Jeremy Robert Johnson–Wanderers and Islanders by Steve Cockayne–The Accord by Keith Brooke–Viriconium by M. John Harrison–Perdido Street Station by China Mieville–The Bizarro Starter Kit (orange) and (blue) I’ll also be reading numerous short stories by Jason Sanford and others. I can provide a short list of those if anyone wants to know. I’m pretty certain that I am starting with Perdido Street Station on Monday, which is probably the easiest of the titles on this list to get. That said, if anyone wants to join me, let me know in the comments. I’m already doing about half of these with a friend, and I’ve love to have the additional company. It would be interesting to get a bunch of people talking about the same book on here. Alright, off to reading for me!

Quick Note: Changes to Format and Suggestions

For those of you who regularly visit the actual webpage for WISB, you’ll have noticed that there are some things shifting around and new things springing up. Some of these new things are in rough shape, but as soon as I figure a few programming bits out they will start looking better. One of the big changes to my blog is that there is now a navbar on top, which includes links to my review and advertising policies, among other things (more stuff will appear there when I get it in decent shape). It doesn’t look like much right now, but it will once I figure out how to make them not look like normal links. That said, I would like your opinions on the design of the main page. Likes, dislikes, and so on. If you hate something, tell me. If you love something, tell me that too. I’m in the mood to edit this blog and make it prettier, so your thoughts are, as always, appreciated. Anywho.

Random Excerpt: The Lands of the Alger

I had the pleasure of word warring1 with some folks from Young Writers Online the other day and I thought I’d share the 500-word bit that I wrote (it came out of nowhere). I’m calling it The Lands of the Alger for now, and I have no idea if it is going somewhere. All I know is that I had a blast writing it. If you’d like to comment, feel free. I’d love to hear all of your thoughts on this. Here goes: The towers of Alger stood for two thousand years against the bitter cold of the mountains beyond. Their shadows were cast as long, watchful beasts across the great valley below, and within the confines of the arched walls outside, one would be assured of safety from the barbarian hordes or the impending wars from the North and South, from the Bespectacled King and the Lords of the Olgen. And on a fine winter’s morning, when the air swung low, dragging a chill breeze that cleansed even the most terrible of colds and drove a spike of warmth, solitude, and wonder into the most staunch of hearts in memory of the thousands who had lived here among the tribes of the Alger, the small white and blue flowers of the Hegemon awoke from the snows and dispensed their glittering seeds into the world. Orin Dol stood along the gates at just such a moment, tears in his old eyes. He was covered head to toe in thick, tanned wool, which hid his wrinkled, decaying features from the trade caravans moving along the Alger River below. They were heading north, to the black lands where the Bespectacled King was awaiting his offering from the tribes of Irion, who he had finally achieved dominion over in a long, petty dispute over lands along the outer edge of the mountains. What fools, he thought. Fools indeed. Trading their lives to a king of lesser blood. His ancestors would never have done such a thing. It was unheard of until the Garion of Calin became High King of the tribes of the Alger and sold his soul to the devils. In olden days—so long ago now, as Orin recalled—the High King kept the borders stocked with warriors and the great walls of the ancestors manned and in prime shape—the repairs never ended. The lands of the Alger were not prized for their fertility, for the land was so arid in parts that even the hardiest crops could not grow, even with the aid of irrigation from the fertile lands beyond. The Bespectacled King and the Lords of the Olgen pried the lands of the Alger for the pure desire of ownership. There was a bloodlust in their eyes when they saw what new territories they could add to their coffers. Looking deep within the walled center, Orin could see that very look on the face of just such a lord—Lord Pinwaul of the southern lands. The young, vibrant looking man could have rivaled the Bespectacled King in garb, adorned from head to toe in pristine armor engrained with gold filigree—shaped like the monstrous orbax of the southern plains, a great beast with curled and spiked horns and eyes that bled steam—and a crimson cloak framed with the spotted fur of the snow leopards that once hunted in the upper tundra of the southernmost portions of the lands of the Alger—before the Lords of the Olgen wiped them out. That’s it! 1. A word war is a writing game which involves two or more people. The participants select a period of time (usually 10-15 minutes) and then, at the same time, do nothing but write for that amount of time. In the end, everyone counts up their words and the person with the most words wins. The object isn’t necessarily to win so much as write something. It’s also a great way to kick writer’s block (if you believe in such things).

PCA/ACA Conference: Day Five and Six (The End)

Well, to wrap up my brief recap of the PCA/ACA conference, I have some general impressions, a discussion of a screening of the director’s cut of Aliens, a few more words about some panels I visited on the last day, and some new reading for the reading list! We’ll do it in that order. Also, I have a post in the works about the presence of science fiction and fantasy in airports, which clearly hinges off of this trip. Look forward to that in the next few days. Now, to the final days of the conference! The conference was pretty much all kinds of awesome. I learned a lot of amazing things and made some great contacts (professional and otherwise). Career-wise, I think this conference has been more influential than any of the others I have attended. I made contacts with two publishers who are working on two separate projects: McFarland and Intellect. The former has a running series of scholarly work on various aspects of science fiction and I may be submitting a proposal to them early next year (once I finish my MA). The publisher of that particular track ran a brief Q&A session where scholars could basically ask questions to the editors involved (very helpful indeed). The second is an academic journal publisher who primarily focuses on film, culture, and horror; the fellow who was there indicated to me, however, that they are trying to put together a science fiction journal (which would make the grand total of serious academic journals for SF to six: Foundation, Extrapolation, Science Fiction Studies, FemSpec, and Science Fiction and Television)–I brought his contact information to some of my professors at the University of Florida (apparently they’re working on building a science fiction track here, which is totally awesome). Additionally, I found out about two book projects that are looking for essays and I intend to submit to both! Beyond that, I had a blast hanging out with people and talking about science fiction and all sorts of other topics. I made some excellent new friends and I may propose a panel next year on ninjas (from an academic standpoint, obviously; yes, there is a lot to say about ninjas). We’ll see. Any emerging scholars out there might consider checking out the PCA/ACA conference next year, which will be in San Antonio, TX. It’ll a lot of fun! Now, for other things. The last night of the conference ended with a viewing of the director’s cut of Aliens, one of the best science fiction movies ever made. I’ve never seen this particular version, and it is certainly enjoyable to see (they added in a few scenes that give more context to the overall narrative, which definitely makes it better). The best part of going to a film screening like this, however, is being in a room full of like-minded fans. Why? Because when you’ve seen a movie like Aliens a few dozen times (or even once), some lines of dialogue in the early parts of the movie actually become quite comical. Take, for example, when Burke says he’ll keep Ripley safe and that they’re going to the colony to destroy, not collect; having seen the movie, you know that’s all a load of bullcrap, and when you’re in a room full of people who know this too, laughter ensues. You should try it. Best film screening ever! Moving on to the recap of the panels: –The most fascinating paper on the last day of the conference dealt with the interesting relationship of various characters to books/literacy in a wide-range of post-apocalyptic fiction. The presenter made an interesting argument that, in post-apocalyptic literature, books and other written mediums become a kind of survival mechanism (at least in some cases). Very interesting approach. –The last panel I saw was actually a roundtable on teaching horror films. I didn’t attend any pedagogical panels at the SWTXPCA conference in February, but I attended this one because it seemed more geared to my interests. I have no idea how I can work in a horror film in a composition course, but the advice they gave was excellent. We’ll see if I can work it out. Reading/Watching List:–Supernatural–Earth Abides–“The Long Emergency”–After London–The Edukators And that’s basically it. The sixth day mentioned in the title was actually my last day in St. Louis; the conference ended on day five. The trip back was pretty much uneventful, but somewhat depressing. I didn’t want to leave. I really enjoyed the conference and I hate going home knowing that so many of these fascinating people are floating out there in other places, inaccessible to immediate conversation. I hope I’ll have the opportunity to meet some of the same folks again in the future (I talk to a number of them online now, but that’s not the same). In any case, that’s all I have. So, back to regular programming! P.S.: I had my first ever Shepherd’s Pie at this conference and also experienced a tapas (small portion) restaurant. The former was pretty freaking good and the latter was tasty, but not quite worth the money; I am not tapas friendly.

PCA/ACA Conference: Day Four (More Panels!)

The fourth day of my trip to the PCA/ACA conference proved to be as intellectually stimulating as the last, and it began with a fun discussion of cannibals! Here’s the recap, followed by more additions to the reading list: –The panel on cannibals in horror literature and film was somewhat disturbing. One of the panelists spent a considerable amount of time talking about rather controversial films about cannibals from the 60s and so on. Disturbing? Yes. Interesting? Very. There was also some discussion of the evolution of vampires in popular cultural consciousness and other fun things like that. –One of the panels I attended actually involved the discussion of three novels I read for the same science fiction course back when I was an undergrad (Black No More by George Schuyler, Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler). All the papers presented had a lot to say, but I think the most interesting was the one on Butler’s novel, which talked about the different representations of community in Butler’s post-apocalyptic Earth. –The most shocking experience was having someone discuss a paper on Pokemon in such a manner that I can honestly say I was completely mind-effed. Think of it this way. Take the Master/Slave dialectic and apply it to Pokemon. Exactly. I recall groaning out loud when I saw that that paper was on a panel I wanted to go to, but looking back I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised! Reading/Watching List:–Vampire in Brooklyn–The Historian–Der Vampir–The Giaour–The Vampyre–The Mysterious Stranger–Cannibal Holocaust–I Am Legend–Let the Right One In (book)–Otherness by David Brin–Black Empire by George Schuyler–Phillip Wegner on writing the Republic–“The Other Question” by Homi K. Bhabha–Buffy (series) There you have it!

Dr. Shaun Duke, Professional Nerd

Editor. Writer. Professor. Host.

Tag: About My Writing

Top 10 Most Commented-on Posts on WISB

New Weird/Bizarro Summer Reading: Want to join me?

Quick Note: Changes to Format and Suggestions

Random Excerpt: The Lands of the Alger

PCA/ACA Conference: Day Five and Six (The End)

PCA/ACA Conference: Day Four (More Panels!)