RIP: J. D. Salinger
I know he wasn’t a science fiction or fantasy author, but J. D. Salinger, author of the controversial and classic Catcher in the Rye passed away yesterday. His death was apparently due to natural causes (which is a fancy way of saying “died of old age”). There’s a lot more at the link that might be of interest (it details a lot of his life, particularly as a writer). I read Catcher in the Rye many years ago and had a love/hate relationship with it. On the one hand, I enjoyed it; on the other, I didn’t get what all the hype was about. But, looking back, I think it’s because of the world I live in now, which doesn’t deem the controversial elements of Catcher in the Rye as particularly controversial at all (cursewords especially). Still, Salinger was a fine author who made one hell of an impact on the literary world, and whether you love or hate his book is irrelevant. May he rest in peace!
SF Signal’s Newest Mind Meld: My Top Five Anime Films
The fine folks over at SF Signal asked me to contribute to their newest Mind Meld on the top five Anime films. I mistakenly assumed they meant movies as opposed to television, so I’d probably change a few things now. Still, the ones I did pick are all excellent movies. They are: Howl’s Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki) The Cat Returns (Hiroyuki Morita) Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii) Princess Mononoke (Hayao Miyazaki) The Place Promised In Our Early Days (Makoto Shinkai) The actual post for the Mind Meld contains a bit more info for each, and a hell of a lot of other selections by writers and Otaku alike. If I were to change the list to include television, I’d probably consider some of the following shows: Gasaraki Saikano Samurai X Crest of the Stars (and Banner of the Stars I & II) Gundam Wing (because I grew up on it, so bite me if you think it’s stupid) There are plenty of others I’ve seen and liked, which poses a problem for me when trying to narrow things down to five. It’s easy for films; it’s impossible when you combine the two. In any case, you should check out the Mind Meld. There’s a lot of great stuff there!
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: A Thank You
Today is an important day in the United States. It’s the day we celebrate the life and struggles of a great man some of you (or most of you) have heard of before: Martin Luther King, Jr. But, today, I’m not going to celebrate. I’m going to say thank you. Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr., for struggling and fighting against oppression, for putting yourself in the middle of it all and making the world better for it. Thank you for making sure the world I live in today is the one it is and not the one it could be. Without you, your friends, and the many others who participated in your movement (and even before it), I would be forced to live in a world where it is okay to hate people based on skin color and where oppression is still the dominant mode of discourse and law.Thank you for your amazing words, for never giving up, and for reminding us that great men come in all shapes and sizes, from all kinds of backgrounds. Thank you, also, for proving that sometimes violence isn’t the answer, and that one can make a difference by showing compassion. Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr., for everything.
Two Quick Things: A Story and A Movie
Two big things to discuss about what is happening this week and today. First, as you undoubtedly know there was a massive earthquake in Haiti and all sorts of bad things are happening there. Crossed Genres is asking people to help acquire donations by posting stories online for free with a donation button pointing to one of the many relief efforts for Haiti. They’re calling it “Post A Story For Haiti.” Later tonight I will be participating by posting a new humor/Steampunk/detective story for your enjoyment. Even if you don’t like the story, I encourage you to donate (in fact, you don’t even have to read the story if you don’t want to; that’s not why I’m posting it). Second, I saw The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus last night and I have a few things to say before I post a full review: See it. It is by far one of the best movies I have ever seen. The story, the magic, the visuals, and all else are simply stunning. This is what films are supposed to be. They should be enjoyable, beautiful, and should say something deeper in a way that allows the audience to choose between seeing or ignoring it. If you are having a hard time picking something to see in theaters, then see this one. Screw Avatar. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a must see. And that’s all for now.
Reading Resolutions: Enhanced and Revamped
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?
2010: Looking Back and Looking Forward (Resolutions)
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?