Inside the Blogosphere: Question #11 (I’m in it!)
Well, here it is! We were asked to recommend sf/f books we’ve read this year that we think would make good gifts. I suggested several small press books, because that’s what I mostly read anyway. What sf/f titles would you recommend as gifts for the Christmas season? (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Inside the Blogosphere: Question #10 (I’m in it!)
Number ten is up and you can find it here. The question this week: Does the very nature of science fiction (as opposed to fantasy) automatically preclude fair treatment of religion? Must religion always be seen as an outdated and outmoded way of thinking, or are there authors who can and have included religion (whether real or imagined) in its pages without forcing an either/or proposition between religion and science? Any thoughts? (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Inside the Blogosphere: Question #9 (I’m in it!)
The next “Inside the Blogosphere” question is up. This time it was about what makes a good battle scene exiting to read and what makes it drag or detract from the narrative. I’m curious what you all think about this. What makes a good battle scene exciting to read and what makes it drag the narrative? (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Graduate School, Here I Come!
In the interest of letting you all know what the heck I’m up to, I thought I’d let you all know where I’m applying for grad school. Yeah, this will likely be of little interest, I suppose, but so be it. If you have suggestions for universities that would be open to someone wanting to study science fiction and postcolonialism together, let me know (things are still open for inclusion at this point). Anywho, here’s the list: University of Liverpool: Science Fiction Studies MA University of Leicester: Modern Literature MA (w/ option for a creative dissertation) Brunel University in West London: Contemporary Literature and Culture MA Birmingham City University: English Literary Studies MA (w/ SF) (PhD. too) Newcastle University: Modern & Contemporary Studies MA (Literature focus) Oxford University: English Language & Literature M.St. (basically MA) University of Massachusetts, Boston: English MA Temple University: English Literature PhD. (Samuel R. Delany works here) University of Pittsburgh: Critical and Cultural Studies PhD. (Literature focus) University of Oregon: Comparative Literature PhD. University of Florida: English PhD. That’s it for now. Please, if you have suggestions of universities you think might be good fits for me based on my interests, please let me know. I’m eager to continue my studies and I’m particularly interested in the question of the human and how postcolonial discourse and science fiction deal with the human/other dichotomy, etc. That’s where I’m going with all this. So, suggestions welcome! I haven’t searched every university simply because I don’t have the time. Anywho! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Inside the Blogosphere: Question #8 (I’m in it!)
Well, yet another blogger question thing has graced the interwebs, and it can be found here. This time we were asked about our ideal reading environment. Looking back I don’t think I have an ideal reading environment. Lovely. What about you? Do you have an ideal reading environment?
New Beginnings
I’m going to be on staff for two UCSC magazines this year, which is fantastic. I could really use the experience and this will look fantastic on my resume. I still have concerns about getting the right kind of job in the future (after graduation), but I think the more I push myself, the better my chances are of starting a wonderful career. My LinkedIn resume is getting longer and longer. Additionally, while I was waiting for our first meeting for Matchbox (one of the magazines I’m working on), I started looking through my little Moleskine at all the story ideas I’d written down in there. I think I initially intended to come up with new ideas, but in the end I got stuck on something I had written in there some time back. It was only a single sentence attached to something cryptic that came from a book I was reading, but didn’t have with me. It wasn’t even a completed sentence; just a fragment. I stared at it for a while and then I started writing. Now I have a new story called “Door,” which is bizarre in number of ways (particularly because it opens with the image of a living creature that the main character was born with attached to his face). Unfortunately the writing got cut short, but when I got home I transferred everything I’d written in my Moleskine to the computer and added more to it. I have no idea where the story is going, but I really like it. I think it’s more of a character-focuses story than some of the more plot-driven stories I’ve written. This is probably a good thing, though. I don’t know.In any case, that’s what’s up with me. How’s the writing coming for everyone else? (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)