Her Fearful Symmetry Giveaway
I thought you’d all love to hear about this: the Regal Literary Agency is having another giveaway of Audrey Niffenegger’s newest hit, Her Fearful Symmetry. If you don’t know who that is, she’s the wonderful writer who brought us The Time Traveler’s Wife, which was recently turned into a major motion picture featuring Rachael McAdams. If you decide to enter, please let them know that you heard about it from me (Shaun Duke). Pretty please! Thanks and good luck!
Teens Read and Write MegaBook Giveaway!
I just thought you all would be interested in this huge giveaway over at Teens Read and Write. They’re adding new books for each follower milestone, and you all should join in! And that’s enough from me!
Barnes and Noble’s Nook: A New Wave in eReaders?
B&N isn’t the only one announcing new eReaders. Apple is rumored to have one coming up and Amazon has released the international version of the Kindle 2. But I think this is the first time I have found myself excited about the prospect of an eReader. B&N’s Nook is a sleek looking device with a heck of a lot of functionality, including the self-declared ability to read multiple formats adequately. While the Nook uses AT&T’s 3G network, which is not covered in all areas, it does allow you to use your USB port on your computer, which makes folks like me, who download loads of essays in PDF form quite frequently, happy because it allows for the possibility of making those reading experiences more enjoyable. So, my initial impression is that of excitement. I admit that I am not a big B&N fan (I prefer Borders only because their club card thing is free), but this might make me a regular B&N user over Amazon. But enough about what I think, what about you? Do you think it looks good? Are you reserving judgment? Or do you hate it? Let me know and tell me why!
Sci-fi Film Festival (Saturday, Oct. 24th)!
It figures that the year I move away from California all the cool things I had always wanted to happen there began to occur: all my favorite writers paid a visit and now a sci-fi film festival! But, if you’re in California, and particularly the L.A. area, you should check this festival out: Who: Trade&Row – a Los Angeles based 501c3 nonprofit organization established to develop and support community-oriented programs that engage current issues through the visual, performing and literary arts. For more information about Trade&Row, please visit: www.tradeandrow.org What: Trade&Row, a nonprofit community organization, is happy to present its second annual Saturday Fantasy Film Festival Fundraiser. Independent short films from around the world and discussions will address the role of science fiction, fantasy and horror in examining social issues. Amazing donated items such as a one night stay at the Standard Hotel (Downtown) as well as items from feature films will be raffled off throughout the day. All proceeds will be used to develop and support local community-oriented programs that engage current issues through the visual, performing and literary arts. Film screenings will be hosted by producers/writers Grant Rosenberg & Garner Simmons. The festival will also feature presentations, including a discussion moderated by Dr. Joan Wines, Professor of Literature at California Lutheran University and member of the Aldous Huxley Society, with panelists:* Sheila Finch, science fiction author* Joshua Dysart, comic book author/graphic novelist* Joshua Hale Fialkov, comic book author/graphic novelist* Marc Zicree, science fiction television and film producer* Dan Goods, Visual Strategist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, will also give a presentation on the link between science and art. When: Saturday, October 24, 2009 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Where:Rec Center Studio1161 Logan StLos Angeles, CA 90026 Tickets: Tickets are available online at www.saturdayfantasy.com as well as at the door. Admission is $10. For more information about the festival please visit: http://www.saturdayfantasy.com ——————————————- If you go to the festival, please pop buy and let me know how it went!
Comment Policy Change
I have made some changes to how comments will work on this site. All comments will now be sent for approval by me. Why? Because I have been getting an inordinate amount of spam posts and I’m tired of deleting them. To those that might be concerned that I’ll prevent your comment from showing up because you disagree with me or some such, you have nothing to worry about. I’m only stopping comments that are clearly peddling something or leaving pointless words in order to post a link to some scam site. I’m just tired of it… Thanks for understanding.
Good News: A Presentation Involving Fantasy
I recently submitted a proposal to present a paper entitled “Fabricated Histories and Non-Nationalist Identities” to a conference being held here at the University of Florida next month. Just a few days ago I found out that my proposal had been accepted. So, on November 13th, 2009, I will be presenting my paper in front of a bunch of people, probably fellow graduate students and faculty. This, I’m sure, will be a terrifying experience when I am questioned by people far more learned than myself. But, none of this seems relevant to any of you without context. This particular paper happens to spent quite a good deal of time analyzing The House of the Stag by Kage Baker, and fantastic fantasy novel from last year that I reviewed here; I also interviewed the author some time back. The paper also deals with an interesting book called In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh, which is not fantasy, but certainly worthy of your consideration. In any case, what I am most curious about in this paper are the relationships the characters in both novels have to history, particular that of fake or fabricated histories, and how their identities are formulated through their use of such things. It may sound dull, but the Baker text is particularly good at making this rather fascinating to a less academic crowd, since her use of a fabricated history is embodied by what you might call the “Dark Lord narrative.” I won’t go any further than that, since I have a presentation to work on, but I thought you all might find this fascinating indeed!