tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30085881756438265942024-03-12T19:27:57.558-04:00What's the Word Now?An award-winning writer/editor's musings on language and newsTrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.comBlogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-63782821521247167982024-03-08T11:48:00.000-05:002024-03-08T11:48:42.290-05:00Review: Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery<p>I ran across <i>Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery</i>, story by Mat Johnson, art by Warren Pleece, and letters by Clem Robins, in the graphic novels section of my local library. It's fiction, but it's based on the true story of Walter White, the former head of the NAACP, who was, as Johnson puts it, "an African-American even paler than I was." White went undercover passing as a white man in the Deep South in the early 1900s to investigate lynchings, which was, of course, incredibly dangerous.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YkC6fTQiZG6aSVxEKwDAyUct4n2_Xb3mxxIG9aNLQYEIFbEPCHCU3m_GojmzfxNQpL2hiZYN9rk_NpFH5-SOQ_aDUDunNjrQVogYGhn2FjJKSUDea6L4fi-EFw5FCPZJOnWmNbJMlAshAMCvwpeR05DwcEZ-s6xxhmoX_zSgS4TfCkzQHUQVxpYp_o4/s1000/Incognegro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover of Incognegro: A Graphic Mystery, featuring a crowd gathered around a tree with a noose hanging from it. In the foreground is a man hiding a small notebook behind his back." border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YkC6fTQiZG6aSVxEKwDAyUct4n2_Xb3mxxIG9aNLQYEIFbEPCHCU3m_GojmzfxNQpL2hiZYN9rk_NpFH5-SOQ_aDUDunNjrQVogYGhn2FjJKSUDea6L4fi-EFw5FCPZJOnWmNbJMlAshAMCvwpeR05DwcEZ-s6xxhmoX_zSgS4TfCkzQHUQVxpYp_o4/w240-h320/Incognegro.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p><i>Incognegro</i>'s protagonist is Zane Pinchback, who works for the <i>New Holland Herald</i> of New York, reporting undercover on lynchings in the 1930s. Having narrowly survived his last assignment, he wants to switch to local Harlem coverage, but his editor pulls him back one more time by telling Pinchback that his brother back in Mississippi has been charged with murdering a white woman, his partner in distilling illegal moonshine; meanwhile, a sheriff's deputy has gone missing. Zane will save his brother Alonzo if he can, and cover the expected lynching if he can't. <br /></p><p>This effort becomes more complicated when his best friend turns up on the train. Carl wants to tag along and learn how to become an incognito black reporter himself, but he's overestimated his acting ability, and gets into his own trouble. Also, it turns out that missing deputy was keeping a major secret, too, which plays a major part in how things turn out.</p><p>I admire the characterization and plotting here; Johnson tells a great story, interspersed with ironic humor that highlights the horrors of dehumanization. He's aided in this by Pleece's striking black-and-white artwork; its bold expressiveness really brings people, including their conversations, arguments and actions, to life. Additionally, the juxtaposition of cheerful camaraderie in some of the crowd scenes with the crime that they're there to perpetrate is quite chilling.<br /></p><p>The version of <i>Incognegro</i> that the library had was a 10th anniversary edition, published in 2018. An afterword by Johnson written for this edition says that when he first wrote it, he thought of it as a story of America's past -- not that racism was gone, but that its organized, overt expression had largely been defeated. But now, "the racial dynamic of the early 20th century seems to be, in some ways, repeating itself. ... Sadly, the era of racial terrorism covered in <i>Incognegro</i> is suddenly relevant again." </p><p>I couldn't agree more. I'm from the South myself, and the facts that acted as a springboard for <i>Incognegro</i> weren't any surprise to me; however, seeing how they played out here in fiction acts as a visceral reminder of how normal and accepted vicious racism has been in this country's past, and if we don't work hard to stop its current recurrence and spread, may become so again in the not too distant future.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Content warnings:</b> Lynchings and other violent deaths, drawings of dead bodies, casual and vicious racism, racist language.<br /></p><p><b>Disclaimers:</b> None<br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-57756581975277349242024-02-15T14:39:00.003-05:002024-02-15T16:18:30.617-05:00A Vanilla Villain's Variant Villanelle<p></p><blockquote><p><i> <span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“After reviewing the Constitution and the rules we must follow, the administration team determined those works/persons were not eligible.”</span></i></p></blockquote><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: right;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">– Dave McCarty’s much-repeated statement on the 2023 Hugo Awards.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><b>A Vanilla Villain's Variant Villanelle</b></p><p>It’s wrong to allege we were mere censors’ tools;<br />If you knew all the facts, you’d condone our behavior.<br />I grok Chinese fans, and was their White Savior.<br />I maintain the Committee just followed the rules.<br /></p><p>We guarded our fellows by serving as footstools!<br />The Committee’s allowed to use our discretion,<br />so we bowed to preempt any Chinese repression.<br />It’s wrong to allege we were mere censors’ tools.<br /></p><p>To dodge any offense, we looked hard for cesspools.<br />So what, if we glitched on some searchable facts?<br />Our Ineligible rulings were protective acts;<br />I maintain the Committee just followed the rules.</p><p>I knew we’d be hearing some protesting mewls,<br />so I massaged data while dragging things out,<br />and blamed lots of factors for the info-drought.<br />It’s wrong to allege we were mere censors’ tools.<br /><br />Those who’ve assailed us are ignorant fools;<br />My Facebook inquirers, I rightly rejected,<br />except for Neil Gaiman; the ONLY affected.<br />I maintain the Committee just followed the rules.<br /><br />So sorry I / we had to bury some jewels.<br />I’d have liked to give Weimer some facetime to vent,<br />But I’d have said that we ruled just the way that we meant.<br />It’s wrong to allege we were mere censors’ tools.<br />I maintain the Committee just followed the rules.<br /><br /> </p><p><br /></p><p><i>(I thought the repetitive nature of a villanelle was a perfect match for McCarty's self-referential defensive statements. Yes, I know a true villanelle should have been five tercets followed by a quadrain, not five quadrains followed by a quintain. But I needed a bit more space, and I am proud of some of these rhymes.)</i></p><p><i> </i></p><p><i>UPDATE same day: Edited to fix McCarty's name. </i><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-54198594307480883062024-01-08T21:19:00.010-05:002024-03-05T17:31:10.733-05:00Audio/Video/Gaming Roundup, 2024<p>Scroll down this post for the latest updates. For roundups of my 2023 activities in podcasting, gaming, videos, etc., please see <a href="https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2023/01/audiovideogaming-roundup.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2023/04/audiovideogaming-roundup.html">here</a>. Activities from before then are listed further back in my blog.</p><p>AUDIO: The SFFaudio Podcast #767 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: <i>The Charwoman’s Shadow</i> by Lord Dunsany, published Jan. 1, 2024. I discussed the novel with Scott Danielson and host Jesse Willis. I really enjoyed this old-fashioned fairy tale set in Spain. The audiobook is 7 hours, 40 minutes, and our discussion follows, bringing the podcast up to a total of 9:37:39. I haven't had a chance to review our discussion yet, but I certainly enjoyed exchanging thoughts about the book.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-767-audiobook-readalong-the-charwomans-shadow-by-lord-dunsany/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-767-audiobook-readalong-the-charwomans-shadow-by-lord-dunsany/</a></p><p><b>UPDATE 2/7/24:</b></p><p>GAMING: On Wednesday, Jan. 17, I played a Call of Cthulhu one-shot on the Shadows of Nox Discord channel (video and audio). I thought it was being taped, but it hasn't been released as of 2/7/24.<br />On Saturday, Jan. 20, I played another session of the Stargate RPG, with Andrew Pontious as the DM. As always, I had a lot of fun. It was private, as usual, so it wasn't recorded. I STILL NEED TO EDIT OUR FIRST SESSION, THOUGH.<br />UPCOMING: I have a private Star Trek Adventures game set for Sat., Feb. 10, and another Stargate game set for Sat., Feb. 17.</p><p>CONVENTIONS: I went to Capricon in Chicago Feb. 1-4 and came back Feb. 5. I played my first game of Traveller with the Fan GOH, Victor Raymond, and attended a lot of panels. Very pleasant!</p><p><b>UPDATE 2/9/24:</b></p><p>VIDEO/AUDIO: I was on The Skiffy and Fanty Show's Looking Back, Looking Forward discussion last Friday, where Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, Brandon O'Brien, Daniel Haeusser and I discussed Books, Media and Other things that we'd enjoyed in 2023 and that we are anticipating in 2024. Currently the VOD is on twitch.tv/alphabetstreams (Shaun Duke's Channel), but eventually this will be edited into a podcast. <br /><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2058256572">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2058256572<br /></a>(Update: This was posted on the Skiffy and Fanty podcast feed on Feb. 17 at <br /><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/759lookingbackmovingforward/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/759lookingbackmovingforward/</a><br />as a and YouTube video on Feb. 18 at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibtWceJvwq8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibtWceJvwq8</a> .) <br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 2/25/24:</b></p><p>GAMING: I played three role-playing games in February: Star Trek Adventures on Sat., Feb. 10, Stargate (by Wyvern) on Sat., Feb. 17, and Cthulhu Invictus on Sat., Feb. 24. All three were over Discord speech/video, and Stargate and CI also used Roll20. Both Paul Weimer and Andrew Pontious are very good gamemasters who do a lot of preparation but roll with it when players strike off in unexpected directions. Zoekitten (who offered the CI one-shot via The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord) is also fun to play under; she used the scenario <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/319641/Akhenaten-Unveiled">Akhenaten Unveiled</a>, where we were servants of the old gods taking action against the heretic monotheistic pharaoh.<br /></p><p>I'll be playing several more private games during A Weekend with Good Friends, a free online gaming convention organized by The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord channel, this weekend. I'll be playing a science fiction game in the Bulldogs system, a villagers vs. monsters (or aliens) game in the Mutant Crawl Classics system, and a Nahuatl (Aztecs) vs. conquistadors game (we're the doomed Nahuatl) in the Unknown Armies system. And who knows, I may also end up in a pickup game or two!</p><p>VIDEO/AUDIO:</p><p>Paul Weimer used to do a regular column for Skiffy and Fanty, called "Mining the Genre Asteroid", back before the blog went on hiatus. Now it's been reborn as a discussion and podcast, intended for every month or two. It's being first broadcast live on Shaun Duke's Twitch stream, then converted into podcasts and YouTube videos. </p><p>The first "Mining the Genre Asteroid" revival episode, on Feb. 16, had Paul, Shaun and me discussing <i>The Demon Breed</i> (1968) by James H. Schmitz, which featured a female scientist using her planet's ecological expertise to fight alien invaders. Rarely for the time, especially for male writers, Schmitz often wrote using tough, competent female protagonists, usually without even a male love interest. We had a good time talking about this one! <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2064916424">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2064916424</a><br />The podcast <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/760demonbreed/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/760demonbreed/</a><br />and YouTube video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvOZQJugbZ4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvOZQJugbZ4</a><br />were both released on Feb. 22.<br /></p><p>AUDIO: I'm in The SFFaudio Podcast #774 – READALONG: <i>Farnham’s Freehold </i>by Robert A. Heinlein, released Feb. 17, with host Jesse, and Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada, and Jonathan Weichsel. The discussion is almost 3 hours long, and does not include the audiobook. I definitely recommend skipping the audiobook, unless you're a serious genre historian, because there are a lot of vile ideas in this post-apocalyptic exploration. Maybe read Steven Barnes' <i>Lion's Blood</i> instead, if you want to read about an America where Blacks rule over whites (because the Plague killed off 90% of Europe in the Middle Ages). But you may still be interested in our discussion, because we had a LOT to say about this book.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-774-readalong-farnhams-freehold-by-robert-a-heinlein/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-774-readalong-farnhams-freehold-by-robert-a-heinlein/</a></p><p><b>UPDATE 3/5/24: </b></p><p>GAMING: I was offered a slot in a <i><a href="https://r-rook.itch.io/moonlight-on-roseville-beach">Moonlight on Roseville Beach</a></i> game on The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord's A Weekend with Good Friends free online role-playing games convention, on Thursday, Feb. 29, but I had to back out with an hour's notice because one of my freelance science editing projects ran long. However, someone else snapped up the slot within 5 minutes of its availability being posted, so I didn't feel too bad. I've played this game before, and it's fun with a willing crew, and easy to pick up.<br /></p><p>As the convention continued, I played 3 RPGs on Saturday, March 2, and every one of them had a no-show. Now, THAT is rude! But, whatever the GMs may have had to do on their ends to adjust threats/balances, things appeared to go smoothly from the players' viewpoints, and we had fun anyway. I won't put other players' names here, in case they expected privacy (games were not permitted to be recorded or streamed). <br /></p><p>Slot 9, 10-2 Saturday, March 2: Diverted Through a Nebula, for Bulldogs (FATE system), run by River, with three other players and me (and a no-show). It was a science fiction game, where we were exploring a derelict sending out a distress signal, but it wasn't abandoned after all. I hadn't played Fate before, but I had watched and listened to several
Fate-based Actual Plays, and the GM was pretty good at talking us
through our options. I played a medic ejected from a military service for triaging people and saving supplies TOO efficiently, and losing too many patients. My goal was to find something worth writing a paper about so someone would buy my contract back into civilization from the fringes. I enjoyed my RP, and so did the GM (who found something nice to say about everyone). Good game!</p><p>Slot 10, 3-7 Saturday: Temple of the Sk'wik for Mutant Crawl Classics, run by Blythy, with two other players and me (and a no-show). It started out with me, playing a sentient plant, with a human and a rat-mutant with a gun, all defending our village from gun-wielding wormy invaders, but took several unexpected technological turns. Not much RP, but a ton of fun action!</p><p>Slot 11, 7:30-11:39 Saturday: A Bed of Roses for Unknown Armies, run by mellonbread, with two other players and me (and a no-show). This was set during the fall of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), and we were struggling against the conquistadors. Again, I hadn't played Unknown Armies, or watched/seen it, but our GM talked us through it, and I had a fantastic time once I got the hang of it. I was extremely satisfied with my glorious Flowery Death that saved my son to fight another day! The GM has a wonderful writeup of the one-shot here: <br /><a href="https://bellenmred.blogspot.com/2024/03/unknown-armies-bed-of-roses-playtest-two.html">https://bellenmred.blogspot.com/2024/03/unknown-armies-bed-of-roses-playtest-two.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p> <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-30282449948303467842023-12-21T09:21:00.001-05:002023-12-21T09:21:06.195-05:00WorldCon trying a consultative online vote<p>Scrolling Mastodon on Dec. 19, I saw a post from <a href="https://newsie.social/@nwhyte@wandering.shop">Nicholas Whyte</a> about the <a href="https://glasgow2024.org/blog/2023/12/consultative-vote-on-hugo-rule-changes/">2024 Glasgow WorldCon planning a consultative (nonbinding) online vote</a> about a proposed change to the Hugo Awards, which would add two categories. </p><p>I was pretty excited about this, and <a href="https://newsie.social/@TrishEM/111609052816556935">posted threads about it on both Mastodon</a> <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/pematson.bsky.social/post/3kgwcylhjzo2o">and Bluesky</a>. I got a few favorites on Mastodon and a lot of favorites and boosts (and a few new followers) on Bluesky. I'll recap here:</p><p>This is pretty exciting and potentially important for SFFH fans! Glasgow
Worldcon is holding a consultative ONLINE vote between the close of
award voting and the start of the convention, about a proposal to create
two more Hugo Award Categories. But this will also test online Hugo
voting in general.</p><p>The onsite-only voting process does require a demonstration of true
commitment from voters (I can attest to this, having attended several
lengthy Business Meetings). But as I noted, it's far from inclusive.<br />Per <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a class="u-url mention status-link" href="https://newsie.social/@nwhyte@wandering.shop" title="@nwhyte@wandering.shop">@nwhyte</a></span>
's press release for Glasgow2024 Worldcon: "In 2016, the idea of an
approval vote for Hugo finalists, as a third round in the nomination
process, was passed at the Business Meeting but not ratified in 2017. We
therefore propose to test the operation of a consultative vote..."</p><p>So while this consultative online vote will be nonbinding for this
particular Hugo Awards resolution, it could help to eventually lead to
WSFS members voting online as a *part* of a future three-step
ratifications process (with the other two steps presumably being on-site
votes at successive cons).</p><p>I'm excited by this idea, which would help make the World Science
Fiction Society amendment-ratification process more inclusive every
time, instead of swinging between the populations of whoever can make it
to the onsite, multi-day WSFS Business Meetings at two successive
Worldcons for each change.</p><p>I think trying to move to online-only voting (with no onsite steps)
would be far too drastic a change to the WSFS amendment process for now.
But adding an online voting component absolutely seems appropriate to
me. Participation in this nonbinding vote will help bring that future
possibility closer.</p><p>On a personal note, I'll certainly be participating in this vote. I'd
been planning to attend the Glasgow Worldcon this summer, and
participate in the business meetings, until I found out that neither
masks nor vaccinations will be required. Now I'm torn, but at least my
opinion will be seen online.</p><p><br /></p><p>For the record, I'll be voting against the proposed change to the Hugo Awards, which would add two more categories to an already long list of awards. But I think adding an online component to the voting process is a great idea.</p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-50187856885686293842023-12-04T14:16:00.002-05:002023-12-04T14:16:26.254-05:00Duolingo 2023 Year in Review<p> Duolingo sent me its 2023 Year in Review assessment (despite there being nearly a month left of 2023, grrr). I'm a top 1% Spanish learner! My streak of days in a row doing language exercises now stands at 576. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1hfz7uoWJ7puMMaPrpuaD3dsRS-txoZyxub21xqKFAY774pb7Y9naENj-JcNmyA18tIxPm0VQWbIa_bfMaQJJyjm_TkM5bTwseqmm_MbZpOU9pmFU5bKwbff4raHlWG2UTwthyLv0TsZYr4ky7wn6gE1DCYiJzOJ3MxPL8dZVrpFJpmm87AVo3M-rpM/s900/year_in_review_stats_share_card.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Duolingo 2023 Year in Review: I'm a top 1% learner on Duolingo! 71,886 total XP (top 1%); 12,603 minutes spent learning; 576 longest streak (of days doing exercises); 3,383 words learned." border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1hfz7uoWJ7puMMaPrpuaD3dsRS-txoZyxub21xqKFAY774pb7Y9naENj-JcNmyA18tIxPm0VQWbIa_bfMaQJJyjm_TkM5bTwseqmm_MbZpOU9pmFU5bKwbff4raHlWG2UTwthyLv0TsZYr4ky7wn6gE1DCYiJzOJ3MxPL8dZVrpFJpmm87AVo3M-rpM/w400-h400/year_in_review_stats_share_card.png" title="Duolingo 2023 Year in Review" width="400" /></a></div>This year, I focused on Spanish. In 2022, I had started off dabbling in Latin and German, then switched solely to Spanish after being laid off, partly in hopes of making myself more marketable. That hasn't produced any professional results yet, but I'm enjoying the process and keeping my brain sharp with this course.<p></p><p>The chart says 3,838 words learned, but that's a bit ambiguous. First of all, it's total words learned, not just Spanish; second, I think Duolingo means individual words, not lexemes (e.g. "be" would be a lexeme that includes am, are, is, was, were, etc.). So female and male versions of adjectives would each count, as well as each variant (person and tense) in a conjugation. Spanish also has declensions in pronouns, for subject vs. object vs. possessive. So what I really have learned so far in Spanish is probably between 2,500 and 3,000 word variants. </p><p>Experts differ on how many words it takes to be considered fluent; I've seen anywhere between 1,000 and 5,000 words for basic conversational functionality, from 4,000 to 10,000 words to live and work in another country, and 10,000 to 20,000 to be considered native-level fluency. I am not sure whether this means words or lexemes. Anyway, I have a long, long way to go toward fluency, but I am confident I could visit a Spanish-speaking city and get around as a tourist without too much trouble, after adjusting to whatever accent is prevalent there and getting people to "hable más despacio, por favor" (speak more slowly, please).</p><p>Besides Duolingo, I've started watching some shows and movies with closed-captioning in Spanish, where that's available, to try to increase my familiarity with the sounds of the language. So I'll hear the dialogue and try to match it with what's printed on the screen.<br /></p><p>Meanwhile, my phone has started showing me some ads in Spanish. Sometimes I understand a whole sentence, but more often I'll just catch a word or two. I think it'll be quite a while before I try the reverse audio exercise of watching an English-record show in Spanish with English captions -- unless I start watching something made originally in Spanish. I'd rather not just try random telenovelas, so recommendations are welcome!<br /></p><p> <br /></p><p> </p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-87053022210237657362023-11-28T09:00:00.001-05:002023-12-14T11:04:21.140-05:00Book Review: Uncanny Times, by Laura Anne Gilman (with light spoilers)<p>Skiffy and Fanty was offered an electronic Advanced Reader Copy of <i>Uncanny Vows</i> (<i>The Huntsmen</i>, Book 2, out today, Nov. 28) for review, but I hadn’t read <i>Uncanny Times</i> (Book 1) yet. Although I strongly believe that a book up for an award should stand on its own, I think a reviewer should try to experience a book in context, rather than jumping into the middle of a series and then complaining that they don’t understand what’s happening. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCwQrbUb0CMc6Jo_a5cJhJ7Vpc-IXY1TdFptSjEZ_ojzjwO5djDUXKsuzXB3OKzqAzqWMPTPEGXDWy9aCDLDmjxFmkIShb_le7fU-7amy2CwIdKP_F56lq1kG_UxodSa6iB-oHnnjr6R65av_BlWngiS2Pu25KsND876cwZ-0nWZN1CG1Npn_o6eiSuM/s2184/UncannyTimes.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover of Uncanny Times by Laura Anne Gilman" border="0" data-original-height="2184" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCwQrbUb0CMc6Jo_a5cJhJ7Vpc-IXY1TdFptSjEZ_ojzjwO5djDUXKsuzXB3OKzqAzqWMPTPEGXDWy9aCDLDmjxFmkIShb_le7fU-7amy2CwIdKP_F56lq1kG_UxodSa6iB-oHnnjr6R65av_BlWngiS2Pu25KsND876cwZ-0nWZN1CG1Npn_o6eiSuM/w205-h320/UncannyTimes.jpg" width="205" /></a></div><p>Of course, a mid-series novel should contain enough back-references for someone plucking it off a library’s New Books shelf to be able to enjoy it without feeling lost, but most people read a series from the start. I think that’s better for reviewers, too, when possible.<br /></p><p>Luckily for me, my lovely local library had an audiobook of <i>Uncanny Times</i> via Hoopla, so I was able to listen to it first, before starting the sequel.<br /></p><p>I ended up feeling slightly lost anyway. I was a little annoyed by the beginning of <i>Uncanny Times</i>, which started off “Four. By the time the Harkers made their way back to the boardinghouse, darkness was creeping its way back through the treetops.” Rosemary and Botheration were named, so it seemed like these were the Harkers, but then “they” took Botheration to his kennel. So Botheration was a dog -- or a watch-wher, for all I knew at the moment, but that was enough to be going on with. Then "Aaron" laughed, so he was the other Harker, but it took a while longer to understand that Rosemary and Aaron were brother and sister rather than husband and wife, and even longer to figure out why they were at this boardinghouse (to investigate a mystery in the town).<br /></p><p>I am not a reader who demands to be spoonfed information. Part of why I love speculative fiction is the enjoyment of figuring out how a world works; for example, I felt shocks of joy when things started coming together and making sense in Ann Leckie’s <i>Ancillary Justice</i> and Yoon Ha Lee’s <i>Ninefox Gambit</i>. However, when reading a gaslamp fantasy, what I want to be figuring out is the mystery, not the book’s structure. <br /></p><p>What could have been a perfectly good framing device was only revealed later in the book, in Chapter 1 (the second in the book, after 4) – the brother and sister received a help-me letter from someone who’d aided the Huntsmen organization before with information. But for some reason, Gilman opened the novel after the story was already in progress.<br /></p><p>It’s fashionable these days to start novels in the middle of the action: a fight, a chase, an argument. This method reveals some of the tone of the book, and promises that it’s not going to be too heavy on exposition. Preferably, there’s enough revealed during this action scene that the reader can start caring about the result, rather than just waiting impatiently to find out why it matters. But simply moving Chapter 4 to the first position in the book strikes me as a very bad choice.<br /></p><p>I was also annoyed by some other early elements in the book. The Harkers appear to unquestioningly accept all the lore and governance handed to them by the Huntsmen, in whose service their parents had died when they were fairly young, and seem completely accepting of the view that humans are mostly good and everything else is unnatural/evil. However, I loved Gilman’s complex and nuanced <i>Devil’s West</i> trilogy (<i>Silver on the Road</i>, etc.), which is why I had jumped at the chance to review <i>Uncanny Vows</i>. I couldn’t believe that everything was going to continue so simplistically black-and-white, so I kept reading, and my patience was justified.<br /></p><p>MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW: <br /></p><p>It turned out that the mysterious killings that drew the Harkers to this town had some human complicity, and the villain had gotten involved out of entirely understandable motives. The Harkers got assistance from some totally unexpected quarters, and their final report to the Huntsmen ended up shading some of the truth to protect some allies. <br /></p><p>So I was pleased to see the Harkers’ worldview expanding, and I fully expect to see more of that in the sequel.<br /></p><p>I did quite enjoy the relationship between the Harkers, with their love and trust, and making allowances for each other’s bad habits, intermingling with teasing, small frictions and secrets. Their relationships with each other and with the Huntsmen reminded me more than a little of Sam and Dean Winchester and their (looser) association with the Hunters in the <i>Supernatural </i>TV series.<br /></p><p>So far, I’m not as impressed with the opening of the <i>Huntsmen</i> books as I was with <i>The Devil’s West</i>, but <i>Uncanny Truth </i>was an entertaining light read, once I got past the beginning. And anyone who would like to read something that feels like early Supernatural episodes certainly might want to give the <i>Huntsmen</i> series a try. <br /></p><p><b>Content warnings:</b> Violence, deaths, drug abuse, era-accurate sexism<br /></p><p><b>Comparisons:</b> <i>Supernatural</i> TV series (early seasons) <br /> <br /><b>Disclaimers:</b> None (library book) </p><p></p><p><b>UPDATE 12/14/23:</b> My review of the sequel, appears at Skiffy and Fanty. "I’m sure I’ll continue to like the Harkers’ relationship, and although <em>Uncanny Vows</em>
ties up most of its plot elements in a satisfying way, there are plenty
of intriguing hints left to be explored in future books."<br /><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-uncanny-vows-by-laura-anne-gilman/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-uncanny-vows-by-laura-anne-gilman/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /><br /><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-9768632620950161542023-11-18T16:51:00.001-05:002023-11-18T16:58:50.961-05:00Review: Marcie R. Rendon’s Cash Blackbear mysteries and forced assimilation<p><br /><br />I saw <a href="https://www.marcierendon.com/home">Marcie R. Rendon</a>’s <i>Murder on the Red River</i> on the New Books shelves at my lovely local library (written in 2017, republished in 2022), and picked it up and wolfed it down. I whizzed through the series via Libby, continuing with <i>Girl Gone Missing</i> and <i>Sinister Graves</i>.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYAtLCtDl-yTte-LFHmQy5GVk2XC11D1XlxVaqgVfiyPmlgXGMytZ0AwwRV4WjCSOfGrIiWCG3evLL1nBkRONyjqL6nUzcOu8GfZqQBsgX4_bKtMIyClU7K8izrpj2JMJIMV_8WPJ7CCT9kYUOjFv1mFDH7r35mOq2EAuzcEKli1abmYfp83u4j8RoaE/s427/MurderotRedRiver.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover, Murder on the Red River: A Cash Blackbear Mystery, by Marcie R. Rendon" border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="333" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYAtLCtDl-yTte-LFHmQy5GVk2XC11D1XlxVaqgVfiyPmlgXGMytZ0AwwRV4WjCSOfGrIiWCG3evLL1nBkRONyjqL6nUzcOu8GfZqQBsgX4_bKtMIyClU7K8izrpj2JMJIMV_8WPJ7CCT9kYUOjFv1mFDH7r35mOq2EAuzcEKli1abmYfp83u4j8RoaE/w222-h284/MurderotRedRiver.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>I don’t have much in common with the protagonist, Renee “Cash” Blackbear, at least in the beginning, but I found her compelling. As the series starts, in the 1970s, she’s a freelance farmworker in the Red River Valley who loves playing pool. A 19-year-old Ojibwe, she was taken from her reservation so young that she barely remembers anything from there, and her time in the foster-care system was so traumatizing that she now drinks herself to sleep most nights. But she’s friends with Sheriff Wheaton, who helped her when she was younger and still checks in with her every once in a while. She helps him to identify the body of a Native American found in a field, and this leads her to get involved in other mysteries. <br /><br />Despite Cash’s trauma, she is capable of empathy and more. She tries to save some orphaned kids from getting split up into the foster system; when she starts going to college in the second book, she starts making friends, or at least acquaintances, and leads some strangers out of serious trouble. <br /><br />She’s sensitive, although she mostly hides it, acting out on occasion, and intelligent, although this too gets her into trouble. She also has dreams, visions, and occasional out-of-body experiences, which are not always as effective at warning her as she would prefer. It could be argued that she may not have mystical powers and is just putting facts together subconsciously, but at least while reading, I prefer to take her word for it. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3W9eb0xI7rB1n7ow-L1LFKbbTZmyjBLZw7jjyBYQQW19RcXbQLqUcAyFgQ-UtO9NwJ9XUBUX_Sq1pHsIDjyF7EQeSn6v3Zbk2vI-999tHXKgvueSRP4jWd1cFOoaOMPfo417jbTB1P3cKXeeShRu4yWdBe3xgLjoF1QtC8JLmYVzydhB9H-712lE8S4/s1890/GirlGoneMissing.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover, Girl Gone Missing: A Cash Blackbear Mystery, by Marcie R. Rendon" border="0" data-original-height="1890" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3W9eb0xI7rB1n7ow-L1LFKbbTZmyjBLZw7jjyBYQQW19RcXbQLqUcAyFgQ-UtO9NwJ9XUBUX_Sq1pHsIDjyF7EQeSn6v3Zbk2vI-999tHXKgvueSRP4jWd1cFOoaOMPfo417jbTB1P3cKXeeShRu4yWdBe3xgLjoF1QtC8JLmYVzydhB9H-712lE8S4/w217-h320/GirlGoneMissing.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>By the end of the third book, she has cut down on her drinking, moved through a couple of empty relationships and found someone who seems to truly understand and appreciate her for what she is instead of just using her. She has made some other life changes that seem very positive, although I won’t give any more spoilers than I already have. If these three books are all we get of Cash Blackbear’s story, I’m satisfied with her arc.<br /><br />Besides Cash’s story, a major throughline of Rendon’s books is the mistreatment of Native Americans, particularly children. Individual crimes against individual Native Americans are easily swept away and unnoticed. Broken foster-care systems in the Midwest are depicted as a pipeline for forced agricultural labor, and abuse is routine.<br /><blockquote><i>In foster homes, there were days and nights that were hell on earth–times she would fall asleep hoping to not wake up, or almost convincing herself life was a dream and dreamtime was the real time. Her one respite during all those years was compulsory education. That was a rule even the foster families didn’t dare break. – Sinister Graves</i></blockquote>Of course, compulsory education has itself been used as a systematic tool of oppression and erasure of Native American culture. Between 1819 and 1969, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/us/indigenous-boarding-schools-list-reaj/index.html">more than 500 indigenous boarding schools were operated in the U.S.</a>, many with explicit goals of assimilating children into majority-white society, by taking children from their parents, renaming them, forbidding them from speaking any language but English, and disallowing their local hairstyles and clothing; moreover, many of these schools were also associated with churches and missionary societies and exerted considerable pressure for Christian religious observances.<br /><br />A <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/11/us/indigenous-boarding-schools-interior-report/index.html">2022 U.S. Interior Department investigation</a> “found that 19 boarding schools accounted for the deaths of more than 500 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children but the number of recorded deaths is expected to increase.”<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI2aiWFIreLyhBIY331n9rjl6XFHxBqMi6ViWwxWlaqc-OvjBkv9It9H-B5lvycxVUd-3SC-zI2Ava7lfbrkc49wz_PSCCNscuKu15sJEQDE3MY-amcg7Q8ZDkP5GyH2nENhepXS5oFks4UBiO6LOJTgIaCwXhVFNt7IpzxrPw0bkNjNYV1_gpLeES_w/s1126/SinisterGraves.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Cover, Sinister Graves: A Cash Blackbear Mystery, by Marcie R. Rendon" border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="843" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglI2aiWFIreLyhBIY331n9rjl6XFHxBqMi6ViWwxWlaqc-OvjBkv9It9H-B5lvycxVUd-3SC-zI2Ava7lfbrkc49wz_PSCCNscuKu15sJEQDE3MY-amcg7Q8ZDkP5GyH2nENhepXS5oFks4UBiO6LOJTgIaCwXhVFNt7IpzxrPw0bkNjNYV1_gpLeES_w/w216-h288/SinisterGraves.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>The Author’s Note at the end of <i>Sinister Graves</i> says it was written before 215 children’s bodies were found in unmarked graves at the Catholic-run Kamloops Boarding School grounds in Canada. Thousands more died while attending Indian residential schools in Canada, according to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_of_Canada">Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a>.<br /><br />Coincidentally, around the time I was finishing <i>Sinister Graves</i> a few weeks ago, news broke on multiple outlets about <a href="https://apnews.com/article/tibet-china-boarding-schools-6881277c7f22dd97a2e3459067756297">Tibetan boarding schools that appear to be enforcing assimilation</a> into Chinese culture. According to the Associated Press, “China has shuttered village schools across Tibet and replaced them with centralized boarding schools over the last dozen years.” <br /><br />About a million Tibetan children, which is most of the school-aged population, including preschoolers as young as 4 years old, are estimated to be studying at these schools. Chinese authorities claim that’s voluntary, but with former local schools closed and penalties for non-attendance, it’s not much of a choice.<br /><br />I doubt that international calls to disband these boarding schools will have any effect on Chinese policy, any more than protests have had against their <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xinjiang_internment_camps">Uighur re-education camps</a>. It took the U.S. and Canada well over 100 years to realize how wrong they were to attempt forced assimilation of indigenous populations into the dominant cultures, and unfortunately, many people still believe in this policy, or at least see little harm in it (e.g., <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-native-american-children-adoption-8eee3db1e97cee84a7fdcd98d43df795">efforts to overturn the Indian Child Welfare Act</a>). <br /><br />Books like Rendon’s help bring the impact of this horrible policy into emotional reality for readers. Moreover, this series is interesting and occasionally very exciting. Sometimes the villains are a little predictable, and I’m not so sure that things would always turn out as well for Cash as they do, but she earns it. On the whole, I’m cheering for Cash, and I recommend these books.<br /> <p></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-58886841172596400442023-09-27T02:08:00.001-04:002023-09-27T11:17:04.063-04:00Review: Random relevancies in two stories by Beagle and Lovecraft<p>Yesterday, I happened to hear two podcasts in immediate succession that had some unexpected congruencies. The first was LeVar Burton Reads' rendition of <a href="https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/levar-burton-reads-528916/episodes/mr-mccaslin-by-peter-s-beagle-186849578" target="_blank">"Mr. McCaslin" by Peter S. Beagle</a>. The second was The Drabblecast's version of <a href="https://www.drabblecast.org/2023/09/26/drabblecast-478-cool-air/" target="_blank">"Cool Air" by H.P. Lovecraft</a>. These stories have no relation to each other, yet it turned out that their coincidental pairing drew some interesting highlights. I'm going to give plot summaries for them both, so if you've never read them and want to avoid spoilers, please listen to them first.<br /></p><p>I'd never read "Mr. McCaslin," but I'm a longtime fan of Beagle, from his classic fantasy "The Last Unicorn" to other books including "A Fine and Private Place" and "The Innkeeper's Song," to short stories like "Underbridge," about a wandering adjunct professor who has an unusual encounter. Many of his stories involve people in modern times encountering elements of the fantastical. Some of his early stories are a bit callow, like "Lila the Werewolf," but many are richly deep and moving.<br /></p><p>In "Mr. McCaslin," some boys in New York City help their cranky old neighbor fend off death, or at least his family's traditional messenger of death, for a few days during a hot summer so that he can get one final task done. The Black Dog is a monstrous creature in Irish legend, but here the Black Terrier is not too terrifying, although unnaturally cold; the boys are actually able to catch it and confine it in their apartments until it eventually escapes and carries out its psychopompic role. Afterward, the narrator grows into a man, and occasionally thinks he hears the terrier's claws clicking nearby, although he's not too bothered by it.<br /></p><p>As for "Cool Air," I had read it before, along with many other Lovecraft stories. I think all of his works are nominally set in the real, modern world (well, modern in the 1920s and '30s), although there are eerie and horrific things happening. But since he loved archaica and history, and many of his stories contained references to shadows from the past, along with his blatantly racist and classist attitudes, they tend to feel even older. (For a modern sequel to this story, from the perspective of the Mexican landlady's family, you may want to listen to Pseudopod's reading of <a href="https://pseudopod.org/2017/12/17/pseudopod-573-bitter-perfume/" target="_blank">"Bitter Perfume" by Laura Blackwell</a>.)<br /></p><p>"Cool Air" is actually one of his most modern-feeling stories, as one of its most prominent features is the futuristic (for the 1920s) air conditioner that keeps a New York City brownstone apartment cold during a heat wave. The narrator, who lives in the apartment below, is annoyed by an ammonia leak from upstairs, but later has a heart attack and is helped by that upstairs neighbor, Dr. Muñoz. When the doctor's air conditioner breaks, the narrator tries hard to get it repaired, but is too late; he makes the horrifying discovery that his neighbor had died years ago and had been keeping his apartment cool to keep himself from decaying. Afterward, any "draught of cool air" leaves the narrator shuddering with horror.</p><p>So, each story is set in New York City during a heat wave, each one is narrated by a helpful (or would-be helpful) neighbor, and each one involves someone trying to delay death (or its results). However, the tone of each is very different. </p><p>In "Mr. McCaslin," the boys are friends and part of a vibrant community. Their neighbor may be a cranky old guy, but he's THEIR cranky old guy. The boys work together to fulfill their pledge to help him for a few days, so he's able to write a letter to his daughter (it takes him a long time because he's not used to writing to her, but he needs to tell her something), and then finally to let the Black Terrier in, and be at peace when he dies. Despite being about death, the story is actually fairly lighthearted and hopeful.<br /></p><p>In "Cool Air," the narrator, a writer, is isolated and rather
contemptuous of most of the immigrant residents of his building, and he
and Dr. Muñoz are drawn together partly because they feel superior to
their fellows. Although the doctor has harmed nobody, and helped many before he deteriorated too much, the other neighbors and workers who come to the apartment become so terrified or disgusted that they refuse to help
(and won't even deliver ice), so the doctor's end is lonely and awfully pathetic. (His long fight against death is apparently for no other reason than that he doesn't want to die, which is reasonable but not exactly altruistic.) The
writer's lingering horror implies that he's sorry he ever got involved,
or at least that he's sorry he found out the truth.</p><p>According to "The Cool Air" narrator, "the abnormal always excites aversion, distrust and fear." This may be sadly true of much of humanity, and certainly of Lovecraft. However, I much prefer Beagle's vision of people who take an oddity like a supernatural death dog in stride and focus on the task of being good neighbors, with no regrets. </p><p>I was pleased to hear during LeVar Burton Reads' podcast that Beagle will have a new book coming out in 2024. <i>I'm Afraid You've Got Dragons</i> is about someone who hates the exterminating job that he inherited, and finds himself dragged into royal complications. It was originally supposed to be published in 2008 or so, but <a href="https://www.blackgate.com/2015/08/02/the-mystery-of-peter-s-beagles-im-afraid-youve-got-dragons/" target="_blank">that publication deal fell through</a>; now it's getting <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/gollancz-signs-new-novel-by-beagle-as-well-as-backlist-titles" target="_blank">a new chance</a>. Good luck to it and to Beagle!<br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-91554461527657239152023-09-05T23:21:00.002-04:002023-09-27T13:26:55.863-04:00Review: The Hopkins Manuscript, by R.C. Sherriff<p>I spotted <i>The Hopkins Manuscript</i> on the New Books shelves at my local library. This is actually a 2023 trade paperback version of a 1939 novel. I'd never heard of the author, R.C. Sheriff, or <i>The Fortnight in September</i>, the other book of his that's mentioned on the cover, or other books by him. However, he worked on scripts for a bunch of movies I've seen and found pretty interesting: <i>The Dam Busters, No Highway, That Hamilton Woman, The Four Feathers, The Invisible Man</i>, and <i>Goodbye, Mr. Chips, </i>among others. </p><p>I didn't know that when I checked it out, and I don't know why the book has been republished now (although, having read it, I certainly can see some relevancies to current times in governments' behavior and citizens' reactions), but I thought the description on the inside front cover looked interesting: Edgar Hopkins, a retired math teacher and member of the British Lunar Society, learns that the moon is on a collision course with the Earth. He's sworn to secrecy, but eventually the truth can no longer be denied.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWX-f5ZSdAATSFaNfYXaEh9IT6cvGHUUpQgAMBUAum718vgLqHmjSE3bc7ybQdGAcsi16O10vKLgvmKDcKpVnPGZqPEGcTyflEbXCXt0rC7VE1BAF-soVXqbZ6LLkuiQ-mjA2zsbS2n0hup_sJLzQHndptlyqe9Sf7x5iLVTs33RqRD0OZxyeyIKZmvw/s2107/the-hopkins-manuscript.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cover of The Hopkins Manuscript, by R.C. Sherriff, shows a large yellow moon looming over a town in the English countryside." border="0" data-original-height="2107" data-original-width="1399" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsWX-f5ZSdAATSFaNfYXaEh9IT6cvGHUUpQgAMBUAum718vgLqHmjSE3bc7ybQdGAcsi16O10vKLgvmKDcKpVnPGZqPEGcTyflEbXCXt0rC7VE1BAF-soVXqbZ6LLkuiQ-mjA2zsbS2n0hup_sJLzQHndptlyqe9Sf7x5iLVTs33RqRD0OZxyeyIKZmvw/w212-h320/the-hopkins-manuscript.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I always find these conspiracies of silence a bit maddening, whether they're in books or on TV, about looming environmental/astronomical catastrophes, alien invasions, or whatever. Various governments in the book take some proactive measures, such as digging shelters (but saying they're against bombs, for the next world war), but they don't want to people to panic or have their lives spoiled. </p><p>A little more than half the book is devoted to the lead-up to the event. Everything is filtered through Hopkins' eyes, as he goes to meetings, reads reports, and tries to influence events, while breeding chickens and winning shows. As it turns out, he has little effect on what happens. He thinks a lot of himself, but other people don't see him as much of a leader. He's really rather narrow in his viewpoint, snobbish and classist, although he means well. He proudly keeps the secret and merely drops some advice that is ignored, since nobody knows he has inside knowledge. </p><p>Once the looming, reddened moon is apparent to the naked eye, Hopkins' neighbors fall into three basic groups: Those who think it's all just a scare and won't affect England at all, those who think the moon will graze the Earth but not cause much damage, and those who think the end is nigh. Some people quit their jobs and run wild, but many Keep Calm and Carry On (so to speak; that didn't actually become a slogan until the real-life World War II, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On" target="_blank">actually the saying wasn't really popularized until the 21st century</a>), or join the digging projects and other preparations.</p><p>As it turns out, England is not destroyed by the moon, although there are great changes in the world. This is not a spoiler, since the opening frame in the "foreword" of the book is that Hopkins' manuscript recounting the lead-up, the event and its aftermath has been discovered by a scientist from a subsequent civilization, long after Hopkins' final days, sealed in a thermos and hidden in a wall.</p><p>After the event, much of the second half of the book is taken up with recovery and rebuilding efforts. Hopkins, who has always been a solitary man, builds a small community. However, although people work together at first, the world once more slides toward war, in a seemingly inevitable competition for resources and access, with tensions stoked by politicians to gain power, or simply out of fear and pride.</p><p>There's actually a lot of wry humor in this book, comparing Hopkins' views and expectations with what actually happens. There are moments of quiet heroism. Relationships range from condescension to mild hostility to respect to quietly affectionate caring. However, the end is certainly a bit depressing, even though given some of the events of the last decade, it does not seem at all unrealistic. Sherriff, of course, would have seen the rising tensions of his own time, as World War II began in Europe the year this was originally published.</p><p><i>The Hopkins Manuscript</i> fits the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CosyCatastrophe" target="_blank">"cozy catastrophe"</a> label for the most part; indeed, I've seen it listed as an influence on John Wyndham's later "cozy catastrophes" such as <i>The Day of the Triffids</i>. Although events affect the world, the narrative is tightly focused on one man's point of view; moreover, although things go badly for many mostly unnamed people, humanity does survive.</p><p>I can't recommend this book for everybody. If you're interested in period pieces between World War I and World War II (with a somewhat ironical flavor of classism), if you're interested in disaster fiction, if you're interested in the genre history of science fiction, you may want to give this a try. It's definitely well written; it's just a very particular flavor. Many people will find it dreadfully slow. But I enjoyed it.</p><p><b>Content Warnings:</b> Offscreen deaths, classism, insularity.</p><p><b>Comparisons:</b> John Wyndham's <i>The Kraken Wakes</i>, Arthur Conan Doyle's <i>The Poison Belt</i>.</p><p><b>Disclaimers:</b> None.</p><p> </p><p>UPDATE 9/18/23: I really enjoyed the conversation about this book at <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-752-readalong-the-hopkins-manuscript-by-r-c-sherriff/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-752-readalong-the-hopkins-manuscript-by-r-c-sherriff/</a>, by Jesse, Paul Weimer, Bryan Alexander, and Terence Blake, except for about 10 minutes of anti-vax diatribing by the host, about 2.5 hours or so into the podcast, after the main discussion had finished and they were digressing. <br /></p><p><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-21596964678795699402023-08-30T16:50:00.000-04:002023-08-30T16:50:12.145-04:00Review: Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail and John L. French<p>I requested <i>Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk</i> from NetGalley on a whim, despite my towering TBR pile, firstly because of the great cover illustration (credited to Mike McPhail), secondly because because I like stories about keeping machinery and infrastructure going, thirdly because the title implied I'd be looking at stories about little folk instead of titans of industry, unlike a fair number of steampunk stories that focus on great inventors instead of having much "punk" flavor, and fourthly because an anthology is a low-commitment reading project -- if I didn't like a story, it wouldn't take much of my time. It turned out to be a quick read with several interesting stories and ideas. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDetB-bUdoBr_54zVVKhCtE_sKJoDDuRa1MJGPbtrxP4npJJR-L4azuppI6YJ3dSIErKNVpxBc-F0QOSsyRH_Brqg_tlvJMfvlJBUiuM5Q5V_EeLB9Fz2q__DN0csf8ElY7y-56TwquUy4mHxB1lXD0vxzGqyGRPbV3eqYX3rVUKIEZLHw-Sdad-B-sv8/s595/GreaseMonkeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Female mechanic in boots, jeans, a stained longsleeved shirt, with goggles and grease on her face, holding a welder, with what looks like a war robot behind her." border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="396" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDetB-bUdoBr_54zVVKhCtE_sKJoDDuRa1MJGPbtrxP4npJJR-L4azuppI6YJ3dSIErKNVpxBc-F0QOSsyRH_Brqg_tlvJMfvlJBUiuM5Q5V_EeLB9Fz2q__DN0csf8ElY7y-56TwquUy4mHxB1lXD0vxzGqyGRPbV3eqYX3rVUKIEZLHw-Sdad-B-sv8/w213-h320/GreaseMonkeys.jpg" title="Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I hadn't heard of either of the editors, Danielle Ackley-McPhail or John L. French, and only a few of the authors sounded faintly familiar. The 12 stories are by the two editors and David Lee Summers, Aaron Rosenberg, Heather E. Hutsell, Ken Schrader, Misty Massey, James Chambers, Derek Tyler Attico, Maria V. Snyder, and Bernie Mojzes. </p><p>Summers' "The Falcon and the Goose" is about railroad mechanics vs. airship innovators in the U.S. Southwest. Rosenberg's "Nobody's Hero" is about a mechanic for a team of capes. French's "No Man's Land" is a grim story about an innovator during World War I trench warfare. Ackley-McPhail's "The Impossible Journey" is a grease monkey's coming-of-age story. Schrader's "Storm Spike" features airship warfare and sabotage. Massey's "My Mechanical Girl" is about a robot entertainer, espionage, and an unexpected guest. Hutsell's "On the Fly" is another coming-of-age story, about a farm mechanic thrilled to work on planes. Chambers' "The Maps of Our Scars" is about an aircraft competition with espionage and war machines in the wings. Attico's "The Harlem Hellfighters" is another trench warfare story, with mechas. Snyder's "Under Amber Skies" is about a girl who idolizes her absent inventor father but learns some unpleasant secrets. French's "The Return of the Diesel Kid" was about cops, crooks, capes, and a mechanic. Mojzes' "Hyena Brings Death" is about an angry eternal scavenger who wants to go to war with Heaven for allowing war to devastate the Earth. </p><p>I really enjoyed "Nobody's Hero" and how "Lady Linkage" (the superhero team's mechanic) performed during some unexpected crises, and how her teammates and partner appreciated and supported her. "Storm Spike" was also vividly told fun. I was intrigued by "Under Amber Skies" and really liked a developing relationship in it, although Zosia's stern mother could have used more character development. </p><p>But the story that interested me most was "Hyena Brings Death." The worldbuilding sketches felt appropriately mythic, while the cobbling together of war machines felt appropriately grounded (although Hyena's chimeric plane probably shouldn't be able to get off the ground without magic). I also really like how the British pilot she kidnapped came to believe in Hyena's cause, or at least in her, and she eventually sees him as a person rather than just an aide. I love her crazy goal too, although in this short story, we just see the beginning of her attack on Heaven, not how things turn out. It's a very rich and engaging story.</p><p><i>Grease Monkeys: The Heart and Soul of Dieselpunk</i> is slated for publication on Sept. 1 from <a href="https://especbooks.square.site/product/grease-monkeys-the-heart-and-soul-of-dieselpunk-edited-by-danielle-ackley-mcphail-and-john-l-french/135?cs=true&cst=custom">eSpec books, starting at just $3</a>, or from <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grease-monkeys-danielle-ackley-mcphail/1143236440?ean=9781956463262" target="_blank">Barnes&Noble currently on sale at $2.99 for the ebook</a> or $15.95 for the paperback. I can recommend the ebook if you're in the mood to dip into some dieselpunk, but it's probably not worth the price of the paperback unless you're a collector -- and that cover really is appealing!</p><p><b>Diversity count:</b> Only one or two of the authors appear to be BIPOC from their author photos that I found online, and only one protagonist was definitely Black. Despite the majority of authors having male-coded names, about half of the stories featured female protagonists. Several stories featured same-sex or queer relationships. (There was also an apparent interspecies relationship.)</p><p><b>Content Warnings</b>: War, violence, death, tangential implications of sex (none graphic).</p><p><b>Comparisons</b>: <i>The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk</i> (2015), which has 21 stories as opposed to this book's 12, including several well-known, award-winning authors.</p><p><b>Disclaimers</b>: ebook provided by NetGalley, with some expectation of a review in return.</p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-83602961154997032022023-08-17T14:56:00.017-04:002024-03-08T10:28:00.062-05:00Skiffy and Fanty Blog is Back!<p>(Scroll down to Updates for my latest reviews posted on the Skiffy and Fanty blog!) </p><p>I joined the crew of the Skiffy and Fanty Show, a blog and podcast that reviews speculative fiction, in 2014, first as an occasional review, then as a review editor. I started appearing on podcasts in 2015. Eventually I stepped down as a reviewer and editor, but started doing occasional audio edits of podcasts. </p><p>The person running the blog ran out of spoons to schedule and edit reviews in March 2021. Since then, all that has appeared on the website has been podcasts, announcements, and occasional surveys. </p><p>This summer, Skiffy and Fanty has decided to gear back up again. Daniel Haeusser has stepped up to become the chief scheduler, including scheduling text book and media reviews. I've agreed to read reviews and post them on the blog/website.</p><p>Reviews began appearing on the blog again on August 7, with Daniel's review of <i>Creatures of Passage</i> by Morowa Yejidé. Since then, we've published another review by Daniel and one by Paul "Prince Jvstin" Weimer. I am not fond of the WordPress platform from which we publish these reviews, but I am relearning how to make it work.</p><p>Today, my first review in years for the Skiffy and Fanty Show appears, about The Unbalancing by R.B. Lemberg. Here's how it starts:</p><blockquote><p><span face=""IBM Plex Sans", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #7a7a7a; font-size: 16px;">I found R.B. Lemberg’s <i>The Unbalancing</i> to be curiously satisfying and soothing, despite my unfamiliarity with the setting and despite the rising tensions felt by the protagonists and their people. I felt drawn to the mythology of Lemberg’s Birdverse and was intrigued by the structure of the Gelle-Geu island society, but most of all, I enjoyed the well-developed characters, their contrasts, and where their interactions led — to a relationship, to magical discoveries, and to a struggle for survival amid upheavals.</span></p></blockquote><p><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-the-unbalancing-by-r-b-lemberg/" target="_blank">Please check out my review here</a>! </p><p>You can see some of my older Skiffy and Fanty reviews (but nothing before 2017, due to a site revamp) at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/author/trishmatson/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/author/trishmatson/</a>, but the "My Superpower" essays are guest posts that I put onto the site for other people.</p><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE: 8/28/2023</b></div><div>My review of Valerie Valdes' new book, <i>Where Peace Is Lost</i>, went live on the Skiffy and Fanty blog at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-where-peace-is-lost-by-valerie-valdes/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-where-peace-is-lost-by-valerie-valdes/</a> on Monday. </div><div><i></i></div><blockquote><div><i>"I really enjoyed Valerie Valdes’ </i>Chilling Effect <i>trilogy, so I’ve been eager to check out her new novel,</i>Where Peace Is Lost<i>, which debuts on Aug. 29. It was every bit as good as I had anticipated, but for </i><i>somewhat different reasons: Although the </i>Chilling Effect<i> books are basically tasty popcorn in the form of space opera, </i>Where Peace Is Lost<i> feels a little more chewy and substantial. ..."</i></div></blockquote><div><i></i></div><p><b>UPDATE: 9/14/2023<br /></b>My review of Malka Older's delightful <i>The Mimicking of Known Success</i> appeared at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-the-mimicking-of-known-successes-by-malka-older/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-the-mimicking-of-known-successes-by-malka-older/</a> on Sept. 14.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><i>"Malka
Older’s </i>The Mimicking of Known Successes<i> is a lovely cozy
mystery and sapphic romance in a tonally nearish-future SF setting. If,
like me, you struggled a bit with author Malka Older’s Centenal Cycle
trilogy (I admit I haven’t made it past the first book, Infomocracy),
please consider giving this novella a try. It was one of my favorite
things to read this year. ..."</i> </p><p><b>UPDATE: 10/23/23</b><br />My review of C.L. Polk’s <i>Even Though I Knew the End</i> appeared at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-even-though-i-knew-the-end-by-c-l-polk/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-even-though-i-knew-the-end-by-c-l-polk/</a> on Oct. 2. </p><p></p><blockquote><i>I adored C.L. Polk’s </i>Even Though I Knew the End<i>, a sapphic noir
novella set in an urban fantasy version of 1941 Chicago. It opens
strongly, unwraps the mystery as a relationship drama unfolds, and
includes some breathtaking prose along the way. I’m completely
unsurprised that it won the Nebula Award and was nominated for numerous
others. </i></blockquote>My review of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s <i>Silver Nitrate</i> (2023) appeared at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-silver-nitrate-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-silver-nitrate-by-silvia-moreno-garcia/</a> on Oct. 16.<br /><p></p><p></p><blockquote><i>Montserrat’s research pulls them in dangerous directions, but she’s
clever and creative, and Tristán ends up acting beyond his own concerns
for once, and the book ends in an exciting and satisfying way.
Especially the bit at the very end, which I won’t spoil, but I loved it!</i></blockquote><p></p><p><b>UPDATE: 10/30/23:</b><br />My review of <i>Vampires of El Norte</i> (2023) by Isabel Cañas went live at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-vampires-of-el-norte/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-vampires-of-el-norte/</a> on Oct. 26.</p><p></p><blockquote><i>I enjoyed reading </i>Vampires of El Norte<i>. The young lovers’
misunderstandings feel natural, not artificially belabored, and the
problems they’re dealing with, of trying to negotiate societal and
familial expectations and demands to find some degrees of choice, are
depicted with understanding, compassion, and warmth. The monsters are
scary, the action scenes are exciting, the love story is sweet, and I
found the conclusion very satisfying.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>My double review of Fritz Leiber's novella <i>Ill Met in Lankhmar</i> (1970) and S.M. Stirling's and Shirley Meier's novel <i>Saber & Shadow</i> (1992) went live at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-reviews-ill-met-and-well-met/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-reviews-ill-met-and-well-met/</a> on Oct. 30.</p><p></p><blockquote><i>Recently I reread Fritz Leiber’s novella, </i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ill_Met_in_Lankhmar">Ill Met in Lankhmar</a><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ill_Met_in_Lankhmar"> (1970)</a>, for a podcast. Immediately after finishing it, I dug out S.M. Stirling & Shirley Meier’s novel, </i>Saber & Shadow<i>
(1992), from a box and reread that. I’d love to go on and reread the
rest of the Fifth Millennium series right now, by Stirling, Meier, Karen
Wehrstein, and combinations thereof, but I have too many other
commitments. Sadly, I am not feeling a similar impulse to reread other
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories at this time.</i></blockquote><p></p><p><b>UPDATE: 12/4/23:</b><br />I reviewed the first 3 issues (Nos. 0-2) of New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine. Issue 0 came out in 2022, and Issues 1-2 came out this fall. There were quite a lot of things I liked about NESS, from most of its stories and artwork, to many of its stories. My review was posted on Nov. 30 at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-new-edge-sword-sorcery-nos-0-2">https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/review-new-edge-sword-sorcery-nos-0-2</a>/. The editor, Oliver Brackenbury, emailed me his thanks afterward and said he'd screenshotted parts of the review to send to several authors and artists.</p><p></p><blockquote><i>Last year, I became aware of a debut magazine called New Edge Sword & Sorcery,
which aimed to revive the “outsider protagonists, thrilling energy,
wondrous weirdness, and a large body of classic tales” of this old
subgenre of fantasy with a focus on inclusivity and diversity (of both
characters and creators). As a longtime fan of sword and sorcery
stories, I checked out Vol. 1, No. 0, Fall 2022, which was an unpaid
labor of love for all concerned (free to all to download at <a href="https://newedgeswordandsorcery.com/">https://newedgeswordandsorcery.com/</a>).
I mildly enjoyed it, but I had a lot going on then, so I didn’t back
the Kickstarter to fund NESS Nos. 1 & 2 (Fall and Winter 2023). Now
that those have been released, I decided it was time for a fresh look. ...<br /></i></blockquote><p></p><p><b>UPDATE: 12/7/23:</b><br />I reviewed <i><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-a-death-at-the-dionysus-club-by-amy-griswold-and-melissa-scott/">A Death at the Dionysus Club</a></i>, by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, which was re-issued by Queen of Swords Press on Dec. 7. I enjoyed it as much as the first Mathey & Lynes gaslamp fantasy, <i><a href="https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2023/04/review-death-by-silver-by-melissa-scott.html">Death by Silver</a></i>, and was pleased with the expansion of the worldbuilding in this book, with a plot involving how "non-conforming metaphysics" reacts badly with modern practices. </p><p></p><blockquote><i>I don’t want to spoil how the mysteries or the romantic issues get
resolved, but the puzzles are intriguing, the perils are exciting, and
it’s great how the lovers end up standing for and standing by each
other.</i></blockquote><p><b>UPDATE: 12/14/23:</b><br />I had reviewed <i>Uncanny Times</i>, the first Huntsmen book by Laura Anne Gilman, here on my own blog on Nov. 28. <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-uncanny-vows-by-laura-anne-gilman/">My review of the sequel</a>, <i>Uncanny Vows</i>, was published at Skiffy and Fanty on Dec. 14.</p><p></p><blockquote><i>I’m sure I’ll continue to like the Harkers’ relationship, and although Uncanny Vows
ties up most of its plot elements in a satisfying way, there are plenty
of intriguing hints left to be explored in future books.</i></blockquote><p></p><p><b>UPDATE: 1/8/24:</b><br />I've reviewed two collections for Skiffy and Fanty in the last few weeks. My method for these is to take notes as I go, which slows down the reading but makes review-writing much easier, once I figure out how to organize my impressions.</p><p>My review of <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-rosalinds-siblings-edited-by-bogi-takacs/">Rosalind’s Siblings, edited by Bogi Takács</a>, was published Dec. 28, 2023. "It’s a very interesting anthology of speculative fiction and poems,
containing some fascinating ideas and characters and some really
beautiful language. Edited by Bogi Takács, it features both new and
established authors from around the world. Calling it Rosalind’s Siblings is a salute to scientist Rosalind Franklin, a chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was fundamental to understanding DNA, along with important contributions to knowledge of viruses and coal..."<br /></p><p></p><p>My review of <i><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-resurrections-by-ada-hoffman/">Resurrections, by Ada Hoffman</a></i>, was published Jan. 8, 2024. This is a collection of short poetry and fiction by the author of <i>The Outside</i> trilogy. "It shows a wide range of subject matter, themes and topics; nearly all
of the pieces are interesting and engaging, and some of them are
breathtakingly gorgeous and moving." <br /></p><p><b>UPDATE: 2/7/24:</b></p><p>My review of <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-the-imposition-of-unnecessary-obstacles-by-malka-older/"><i>The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles</i> by Malka Older</a> was published Jan. 22, 2024. It's the second book in the Mossa and Pleiti series. "Happily, for anyone who longs to return to the gas-fire rooms and dumbwaiter-delivered scones, the academic bureaucracy, the ecological speculations, the journeys, and perhaps most of all, the intermittent, somewhat difficult but definitely rewarding relationship of the first book, this one should also be rewarding."</p><p><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-what-feasts-at-night/"><i>What Feasts at Night</i> by T. Kingfisher </a>was also a sequel, and again I found it quite satisfying, although not as striking as the original. "I think a reader could conceivably start the series with this second novella, although that would mean missing some of its impact and a fair number of references. However, although this is labeled a horror series, I found this sequel significantly less horrific than What Moves the Dead; it’s more of a dark fantasy."</p><p><b>UPDATE: 2/25/24</b></p><p>My review of <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/book-review-sun-of-blood-and-ruin-by-mariely-lares/"><i>Sun of Blood and Ruin</i> by Mariely Lares</a> was published Feb. 19, 2024. It's sort of a gender-flipped Zorro, where La Pantera (The Panther) is both a swordswoman and sorceress, whose parents were Spanish and Nahua, struggling for self-control and against oppression and her own cursed destiny. "(L)ike xocolatl, the original chocolate drink, this book is a rich, frothy brew, and the conclusion, although it has its bittersweet elements, goes down smoothly. "</p><p><b>UPDATE: 3/8/24</b></p><p><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blog/double-review-what-grows-in-the-dark-by-jaq-evans-and-terror-at-tierra-de-cobre-by-michael-merriam/">My double review</a> of <i>What Grows in the Dark</i>, by Jaq Evans, and <i>Terror at Tierra de Cobre</i>, by Michael Merriam, was published March 7. "It’s interesting to watch those choices and consequences unfold, and <em>What Grows in the Dark</em>
offers the most of that; however, if at the end of the day you just
want to see some people simply stand up against evil and win, even with
heavy losses, you can consider giving <em>Terror at Tierra de Cobre</em> a try."<br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-21892718000309542442023-07-11T18:08:00.000-04:002023-07-11T18:08:28.507-04:00Review: LITTLE NOTHING, by Dee Holloway<p>Dee Holloway's <i>Little Nothing</i> is a really enjoyable novella that combines sapphic romance, alternative history, and low fantasy. Despite the magical elements, it feels grounded with immersive details of daily life in Florida in the lead-up to the U.S. Civil War. The story is also full of suspense and action, and the conclusion is very satisfying. My only complaint is that it's short, although the length fits the story being told; I want more from this author. </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1whIm3-67X-dbJTsM62L19MOCnfvdPa4cbqgNVqxYlMtDFjAsF7SrGJh1umWK6uv3U_L6PVpU1MvQc6H77ZMIWn5LeDTFcIM5kOObgrdFJEE_oaISndMOoBIHMfzg5kALn6-J11GRKV_42kfhBVnWgqGj5-3xxUfg2Dth0kBVPksNMvOIf_e8P6OXAw/s481/LittleNothingCover.webp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="300" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1whIm3-67X-dbJTsM62L19MOCnfvdPa4cbqgNVqxYlMtDFjAsF7SrGJh1umWK6uv3U_L6PVpU1MvQc6H77ZMIWn5LeDTFcIM5kOObgrdFJEE_oaISndMOoBIHMfzg5kALn6-J11GRKV_42kfhBVnWgqGj5-3xxUfg2Dth0kBVPksNMvOIf_e8P6OXAw/w250-h400/LittleNothingCover.webp" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover of Little Nothing, Dee Holloway</td></tr></tbody></table><br />"Little Nothing" is a nickname that, while belittling, also provides protective cover for Johnnie, the daughter of an escaped slave, Maria. Also, "little nothings" are what Johnnie's mother and Bess, the narrator and the daughter of Maria's employer, call the minor charms and curses that they weave into braids, ropes, and clothing in order to guard their loved ones and their secrets.</p><p>Aside from her innkeeping family, Bess loves Johnnie, who makes her living by catching and somewhat taming limerunners. Limeys are water horses with cloven hooves and sharp teeth; they spawn in the wetlands and start out as swimmers but eventually run on land, too. Some people call them demon steeds.</p><p>I really like their relationship. Bess and Johnnie respect each other's strengths, and while Bess is nervous about Johnnie's work and terrified of the risks that Johnnie runs as a message-bearer for the Union, Bess does her best to protect Johnnie. However, it turns out that Bess herself is also at risk, as a tool to be used against her sweetheart. But they work together as a very effective (and loving) team.</p><p>Each of the lovers also has strong family relationships, although those characters are less fully developed. Most of the other characters are basically sketches, from the local madame to the trappers who frequent the inn to the Confederate soldiers who want Johnnie to provide and control limerunners as a weapon in their arsenal against the Union. As it turns out, the Rebels are arrogant to think that they can control Johnnie and Bess so easily.</p><p>Along with the central relationship and plotting, I also really enjoy the worldbuilding in this book. Aside from the limerunners and the plaiting magic, there are also references to a community of runaway slaves and a spirit or goddess who looks over them. I grew up in a town in North Carolina, and I've never visited the Everglades, but I have walked around some wetlands and paddled a canoe on the Black River, so I have some familiarity with swampy terrain and enveloping heat. Everything feels authentic.</p><p>The language is also great, whether slow and thoughtful, simple, complex, pulse-pounding, or lyrical. Here's a paragraph that expresses some of the tensions throughout the book, along with the romance:</p><p></p><blockquote>My heart ached to see her: girlish, suddenly just seventeen, my age. She liked people to think she was older, though the whole town knew her age, that Maria had fled down Florida's length with Johnnie growing inside her. She liked to be thought tough, capable, dangerous as any of the trappers, and those things were true. But the ticklish softness at the hollow of her throat was true, too, and the scars on her arms from feral limeys' teeth, and her face when she was praying at night before we slept.</blockquote><p></p><p>Here's an interview with Dee Holloway and an excerpt of her reading from the first chapter of Little Nothing:<br /><a href="https://queerwords.org/2023/07/11/dee-holloway/">https://queerwords.org/2023/07/11/dee-holloway/</a></p><p>And here's where you can buy the novella: <a href="https://queenofswordspress.com/product/little-nothing/">https://queenofswordspress.com/product/little-nothing/</a></p><p><b>Content warnings</b>: Violence, death, sexism, racism, slavery, sexual scenes although not graphic </p><p><b>Comparisons</b>: Sarah Gailey's <i>River of Teeth;</i> Eden Royce's <i>Spook Lights: Southern Gothic Horror</i></p><p><b>Disclaimer</b>: I received a free e-ARC of this novella for this review from Catherine Lundoff (a friend of a friend) at Queen of Swords Press. </p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-4807552086240965272023-04-27T14:57:00.030-04:002024-01-08T21:12:07.256-05:00Audio/Video/Gaming Roundup<p>(Scroll down to Updates for my latest online activities, except for my Skiffy and Fanty reviews, which are posted separately!) Rather than adding another update to <a href="https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2023/01/audiovideogaming-roundup.html">my Jan. 4 post</a>, I'm starting a new roundup here:</p><p><b>Hugo Awards</b>: I'll nominate for these by the deadline, April 30. I've heard I should NOT wait until the deadline due to some problems with the site that may slow me down, as they've slowed others. (UPDATE: Yes! I finished voting around 2:30 a.m. EDT today.)</p><p><b>GAMING:</b> I've now played three sessions of <b>Star Trek Adventures</b>, GMed by Paul Weimer, with Shaun Duke and Arturo Serrano. These are not being streamed, they're just for our own entertainment. I'm playing a Romulan science officer (and XO, now acting Captain) from Diane Duane's The Romulan Way alternate universe who accidentally went through a portal to the game universe. An Andorian here sponsored me into Starfleet Academy just to tweak the Vulcans. The adventures have been fun so far, but the office politics are quite a bit more challenging than I'd anticipated!</p><p>I've also played two sessions of the <b>Stargate</b> RPG by Wyvern, GMed by Andrew Pontious (whom I podcast Stargate SG-Fun with), and including David Schaub (another SG-fun podcaster), Paul Weimer, and two other guys whom I'm not sure would want to be mentioned here. I'm playing an Aturen engineer who is not quite a pacifist anymore. This one is also a lot of fun. We recorded our voices in the first session and will probably put that on the SG-Fun podcast eventually, after I edit it.</p><p>Tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern, I'm playing a one-shot of the <b>Fifth Season</b> RPG based on N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy. I answered a casting call in the Rem Alternis Productions channel on Discord for this. If I'm interpreting everything correctly, this will be broadcast on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/gencontv" target="_blank">GenConTV's Twitch channel</a>. (UPDATE 5/1/23: It was! But due to Rem's busy stream-a-thon weekend, this has already dropped off her and GenConTV's Twitch channel's list of videos, so I have a YouTube link instead: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9os3PWnwXx8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9os3PWnwXx8</a> ). Summary: It's an interesting world and system, but it dragged at the beginning as GM Teslan kept looking up rules and our "longstraws" [drafted investigators for the community] tried to figure out the mystery. However, I really liked how what most campaigns would consider extremely low stakes, tools that had gone missing, was a vital concern for our farming comm (community), since life in NKJ's Broken Earth is so very precarious.) </p><p>I also signed up for two more one-shot games this weekend, for a multi-game weekend event being held on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/masterofrem">the Rem Alternis Twitch channel</a>. At 9 p.m. Saturday, I'll be playing the location scout for a ghost-hunter TV show in <b>Destination Investigations</b>. (UPDATE: Macabre but light-hearted; mine was the second character death, but GM Panabon had pretty well implied that casualties would be heavy, and at the end we did a "rewind" segment, so no worries. I liked the surprise that was revealed about the setting! We had a good time playing a semi-quarrelsome crew with conflicting agendas. My costume was a T-shirt of a sort of phantom figure who used to roam the hallways at Balticon, and a headstrap flashlight that I thought looked a little like the GoPro webcam my character was supposedly wearing. The Twitch replay starts about 25:30 minutes into the stream: <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1807260063">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1807260063</a> )</p><p>At 5 p.m. Sunday, I'll be playing an inventor/trick shooter in <b>Through the Breach</b>, set in the world of Malifaux, a sort of steampunky Weird West portal game. (UPDATE 5/1: I had a great time! Interesting setting, GM Jester kept everything running at a good pace without feeling railroaded, going with a narrative focus and basically ignoring mechanics helped with that; everybody got dressed up and got into good character roleplaying, and we managed a satisfying conclusion. My costume was a black cowboy hat with a black feather, a black leather vest, and a pink corduroy shirt. The Twitch replay starts about 30 minutes into the stream: <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1808018830">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1808018830</a> )</p><p><strike>On Monday night, </strike>if all goes well, I'll be resuming the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGklVrDoisE&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=31">Community D&D campaign, <b>The Dragon of Icespire Peak</b></a>, on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron" target="_blank">Arvan Eleron's Twitch channel</a>! We're hoping to wrap up this campaign during ArvCon, Memorial Day weekend, the annual fundraiser for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. (UPDATE 5/1/23: It now looks as though we'll probably resume on Wednesday, May 10, instead, 8:30 p.m. EDT, and play again on Monday, May 22, at 8 p.m. EDT.)</p><p><b>Video:</b> Nothing new so far, except the games posted above.</p><p><b>AUDIO: </b>As mentioned above, our <b>Stargate SG-Fun</b> podcast has resumed! Actually, so far we've just been editing and releasing audio that was already in the can, and recording a game we played. But we do intend to start recording SG-1 Season 3 show reviews soon.<br />The old episodes released via The Incomparable are here (podcasts 1-6, ending on the S1 cliffhanger: <a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/stargate/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/stargate/</a><br />All our episodes, including new episodes as well as the old ones, now being released independently, are here: <a href="https://sgfun.space/">https://sgfun.space/</a><br />And we're now on Mastodon: <a href="http://@stargate_sg_fun@podcasts.social">@stargate_sg_fun@podcasts.social</a><br />These are the new ones: <br />7. <a href="https://sgfun.space/7">The Daniel of This Civilization </a>(released Jan. 29): We discuss the movie that kicked it all off, and look back at Season 1. With special guest Mandy Self!<br />8. <a href="https://sgfun.space/8">Chekhov’s Sarcophagus </a>(released Feb. 12): Season 2 begins and it is not bad, not bad at all.<br />9. <a href="https://sgfun.space/9">Can’t Leave the Planet Wrecked</a> (released Feb. 27): We marvel at how many messes SG-1 has made. At least they’re trying to clean them up. With special guest Eric Scott!<br />10. <a href="https://sgfun.space/10">The B-Plot Is Actually the A-Plot</a> (released March 22): We watch and discuss the Jacob Carter trilogy, some unexpected meet-cutes, and how the writers just don’t like Teal’c and Sha’re.<br />11. <a href="https://sgfun.space/11">Bathe in the Light of That Pretty Lantern </a>(released April 17): We discuss the gravity of Stargates, how to win alien friends, and influence the weather.</p><p>I have also been on a couple more <b>SFF Audio</b> podcasts:<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-728-audiobook-readalong-ministry-of-disturbance-by-h-beam-piper/">The SFFaudio Podcast #728 – Ministry Of Disturbance by H. Beam Piper </a>– read by Phil Chenevert for Librivox. "This is a complete and unabridged reading of the novella (1 hour 55 minutes) followed by a discussion of it." With Jesse, Paul Weimer, and Evan Lampe. (released April 2) <br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-729-audiobook-readalong-the-adventures-of-tom-sawyer-by-mark-twain/">The SFFaudio Podcast #729 – The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain</a> – read by John Greenman for Librivox. "This is a complete and unabridged reading of the novel (6 hours 42 minutes) followed by a discussion of it." With Jesse and Paul Weimer. (released April 10) </p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 5/15/23:</b><br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-734-audiobook-readalong-the-black-stranger-by-robert-e-howard/" target="_blank">The SFFaudio Podcast #734 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Black Stranger by Robert E. Howard -- read by Connor Kaye</a>. "This is a complete and unabridged reading of the novella (3 hours 30 minutes) followed by a discussion" hosted by Jesse, with Paul Weimer, Connor Kaye, Alex, Cora Buhlert and me. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 5/25/23:</b><br />AUDIO: <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-735-readalong-a-night-in-lonesome-october-by-roger-zelazny/">The SFFaudio Podcast #735 – READALONG: A Night In Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny</a>. Actually, it's A Night in the Lonesome October. Hosted by Jesse, with Paul Weimer and Tony DeSimone. One of my favorite books; I usually listen to each day's diary entry each October. Released Oct. 22, 2023.</p><p>AUDIO: <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/737sfclacks2/" target="_blank">Skiffy and Fanty #737. S&F CLACKS #2: DUNGEONS, WORLDCON, AND AFTERLIVES, OH MY</a>! I joined Shaun Duke, Brandon O’Brien, and Paul Weimer on the Twitch channel for Skiffy and Fanty on April 7 to discuss the D&D Creators Summit and the future of the game, the Chengdu Worldcon and the Hugo Awards, and the passing of Rachel Pollack. This was turned into a podcast that was released on March 23. </p><p>AUDIO: <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/738timeline/" target="_blank">Skiffy and Fanty #738. TIMELINE (2003) — TORTURE CINEMA #130</a>. From the episode discussion: "Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, and Trish Matson join forces to tackle a time travel “classic” — Timeline! Together, they try to make sense of its plot, make fun of its treatment of medieval France, fawn over Gerard Butler, and get lost in thought about strange things that will make you giggle." </p><p>In addition to participating in this discussion, I did extensive <b>audio editing</b> for it, by filtering noise; synchronizing tracks; sliding tracks around in time or muting parts of the conversation to fix crosstalk issues; picking a section of conversation to highlight in the cold open; and adding the usual musical intro and outro.</p><p>GAMING: The Shadowcrew resumed our campaign of Community Dungeons & Dragons: The Dragon of Icespire Peak, on https://twitch.tv/arvaneleron on Monday, May 22! We almost, um, killed the equivalent of Ori, Nori, Dori and Gloin. Sort of. We'll see how that resolves on Saturday night from 10 p.m. EDT to midnight! You can see the YouTube replay on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xUDGUvbFKw&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=32">(51) Arv streams Day 30 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--Into Icespire! - YouTube</a> .</p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 6/6/23:</b><br />AUDIO EDITING: I edited Skiffy and Fanty <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/742leverageredemption/" target="_blank">#742. LEVERAGE: REDEMPTION (SEASON 2) W/ MICHI TROTA — SCREEN SCOUTS</a>. I wasn't on this episode, but I did all the editing for it, unless our fearless leader Shaun Duke did something subtle. <a href="https://twitter.com/SkiffyandFanty/status/1665540561971945474" target="_blank">His tweet about it thanked me for the editing</a>, not for helping with the editing. This time, I watched a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX2kYLYu88s&pp=ygUTbm9pc2UgZ2F0ZSBhdWRhY2l0eQ%3D%3D" target="_blank">half-hour YouTube video about NoiseGate</a> before I started, and I understand the attack/decay aspects much better. So the noise filtering was easier, but as usual, I spent much more time on snipping out stutters, ums, and other verbal fillers, and sliding tracks around to fix people talking over each other -- about six hours of editing for 1:22:15 of polished audio. Released June 4.</p><p>AUDIO: <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-737-audiobook-readalong-the-cosmic-computer-by-h-beam-piper/" target="_blank">The SFFaudio Podcast #737 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Cosmic Computer by H. Beam Piper</a>. Hosted by Jesse, with Paul Weimer, Tony DeSimone, and me. I found it to be an enjoyable tale, despite some quibbles, but not Piper's best work (<a href="https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2020/06/my-first-solo-librivox-project.html" target="_blank">my favorite remains his novelette Omnilingual</a>).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 6/12/23:</b><br />AUDIO: <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-738-audiobook-readalong-the-innocents-abroad-by-mark-twain/" target="_blank">The SFFaudio Podcast #738 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain.</a> Hosted by Jesse, with Paul Weimer and David J. West. I believe this is the longest single-total podcast I've been on yet, at 21:23:33, although 19 hours and 23 minutes of that is the audiobook. So it's not the longest podcast <i>discussion</i> in which I've participated. I do not recommend subjecting yourself to the audiobook unless you're a Twain completionist; skim the text instead if you want -- not that the narration is terrible, but many of the attitudes expressed are, so why undergo that? It may be that Twain himself is not as prejudiced as the opinions he expresses, but is instead making fun of those attitudes, but the fact that I'm in doubt indicates that it's not well done. Or maybe he was just being that subtle in order to slip it past his editors and the part of his audience that wanted to feel that way, but it made me cringe a lot.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 7/11/23:</b><br />TWITCH: I was a major organizer for the prize giveaways during ArvCon, ArvanEleron's annual gaming marathon that raises money for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. This year we ran from Thursday, May 25, through Sunday, May 28, and raised $6,100.01, which although a bit less than last year's total, is still a very respectable sum.</p><p>GAMING: <br />Community D&D: The Dragon of Icespire Peak held its thrilling conclusion on the Saturday night of ArvCon! None of the ShadowCrew characters died, but we were left with the decision of what to do with the egg left behind by the ice dragon. My Tabaxi bard, Grace of the Refreshing Breeze, convinced the others that we should try to find some good dragon who'd be willing to raise the egg. Here's the replay: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJXCUhVBzc0&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=33" target="_blank">Arv streams ArvCon 2023, Day 3--Community D&D: The Finale of Dragon of Icespire Peak!</a></p><p>The following month, on Saturday, June 24, the ShadowCrew convened again on Arvan's channel for a postmortem discussion that lasted for four hours, actually longer than the finale episode. We talked about possible epilogues for our characters, favorite interactions and other moments from the campaign, reasons for decisions our characters made, and much more. It was great having a chance to wrap things up like that. Here's the replay: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuIfWKxlmQc&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=34" target="_blank">Arv streams Community D&D: The ShadowCrew discusses their Dragon of Icespire Peak campaign!</a> </p><p>This past weekend, July 6-9, was A Weekend with Good Friends, an online horror gaming convention organized on the Discord for the podcast <a href="https://blasphemoustomes.com/" target="_blank">The Good Friends of Jackson Elias</a>, which focuses on the Call of Cthulhu and other horror roleplaying games. The games were played over Discord channels, with strict prohibitions against streaming or recording. I played three games during this, none of them Call of Cthulhu, although one of them used the Mi-Go as antagonists. The first game was <a href="https://www.mothershiprpg.com/" target="_blank">Mothership</a>, a science fiction RPG that felt very similar to the Alien RPG; the crew I was with investigated a derelict spaceship, and things did not go well, although three of us survived. We used pre-generated characters, and the GM guided us through the minimal rules. It was fun!</p><p>My other two games were a bit lighter in tone, played in the system <a href="https://r-rook.itch.io/moonlight-on-roseville-beach" target="_blank">Moonlight on Roseville Beach</a> and GMed by its creator. From its itch.io page: "<b>Queer pulp meets cosmic horror!</b> It's 1979, and you're spending the summer working in Roseville Beach, the queerest little town on Rose Island. You might have come here looking for an escape, some fun, a little extra money, or even love, but now people are seeing phantasms, strange animals—and stranger old gods—wander the woods, mysterious monoliths appear randomly, and that strange music is coming from somewhere." These games also used pregens, and the rules again were minimal, but we had a slow start on both nights as people felt their way into their characters, flirted with NPCs, realized that there were mysteries, and investigated those mysteries; however, the final hour of each game was full of excitement and action, so I was happy to have played them.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE 8/17/23:</b><br />AUDIO: I appeared on July 17, 2023, on <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-743-readalong-the-dark-is-rising-by-susan-cooper/">The SFFaudio Podcast #743 – READALONG: The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper</a>, with host Jesse, Paul "Prince Jvstin" Weimer, and Alex of "PulpCovers." I actually reread four books and read the fifth of <i>The Dark Is Rising</i> sequence. My favorite this time through is Greenwitch, the third in the quintology. </p><p>GAMING: I roleplayed again in Star Trek Adventures (I think this was our fifth game together) on Saturday, Aug. 11. Our GM said we keep challenging him by going off the rails; I picked up early on his clue that we had "returned" to the wrong universe when the Starfleet captain referred to the Unified Federation instead of the United Federation. My character thought aggrievedly, "I thought we were back home! ... Wait, when did I start thinking of <i>that </i>place as <i>home</i>?" Clue drop (to the other players, not to their characters)!</p><p>I have also played in a couple more pick-up games (voice only) on The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord channel. The first was Call of Cthulhu, set in 1979 San Francisco, investigating an archaeological dig sited in an old ship that had been used as a warehouse, and buried after a fire. We all made it out alive and sane! </p><p>The second was "The Murder Shack" on Aug. 11. I'd heard an actual play podcast of this Call of Cthulhu scenario earlier on Ain't Slayed Nobody, so I was pretty sure we weren't going to make it out alive or sane, but I was in the mood for some roleplaying, and the time was convenient. The GM posted the next day that "I'm still thinking of the level of emotional engagement that all of you brought, [My character] at the meeting talking about her mother sends shivers down my spine." (The scenario started with a group therapy session for people who'd lost loved ones.)</p><p>Our Stargate RPG resumed on July 29, "The Most Dangerous Game," set on a dinosaur world. We play again this Saturday.</p><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 9/5/2023</b></div><div>GAMING: I appeared on Shaun Duke's Twitch stream in an RPG named Call of Catthulhu or Cats of Catthulhu. I played an Abyssinian housecat, a Pampered Baby, with cats played by Shaun (alphabetstreams), Jen Zink (Loopdilou), and Josh (Talidos). Paul "PrinceJvstin" Weimer was our Cat Herder. It was a lot of fun, and we may play again sometime! Shaun's channel is live now, so I can't link to the specific video, but here's his Twitch stream: <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/alphabetstreams">https://www.twitch.tv/alphabetstreams</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 9/27/2023</b></div><div>GAMING: Here's that Cats of Catthulhu link: <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1913787507">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1913787507</a></div><div>And our SG-13 roleplayers did play Part 2 of the dinosaur world episode of the Stargate RPG, but again, it was a private game, so there's no link. <br /></div><div> </div><div>PODCASTS:</div><div>AUDIO: I streamed on Skiffy and Fanty's S&F Clacks #3 show, a discussion of genre news, a couple of months ago on Twitch. Here's the podcast that got released on Sept. 17: <a href="https://ia800508.us.archive.org/0/items/sand-f-745-clacks-3/SandF_745_Clacks3.mp3">https://ia800508.us.archive.org/0/items/sand-f-745-clacks-3/SandF_745_Clacks3.mp3</a></div><div>I was also on Clacks #5 a couple of weeks ago, but there's no VOD, so I'll try to link the podcast when it's released. But it'll be outdated, again.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-753-audiobook-readalong-the-golden-slave-by-poul-anderson/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-753-audiobook-readalong-the-golden-slave-by-poul-anderson/</a> -- Released on Sept. 18, this was hosted by Jesse, with Paul Weimer and me. It was quite readable, with an interesting twist at the end. I don't think anyone needs to read/listen to the book to enjoy our discussion.</div><div> </div><div><b>UPDATE 10/23/23</b></div><div>GAMING: On Saturday 10/22 I played another session of the private Stargate RPG. This was set up as a humorous episode, and we had a lot of fun. The GM enjoyed the writeup I had done of the five Great Houses of Aturen. Coming up with five flavors of pacifists was a little challenging, but he liked how I did it, and it helped add to the gameplay.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yesterday (10/22/23), I also played another <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1957981301">episode of Destination Investigations</a> GMed by Panabon on the new Shadows of Nox channel on Twitch. Things went poorly for me and the other players, but it was a lot of fun anyway. Bonus: In addition to playing with Paul Weimer, I also got to play with Jennifer Brozak and her husband! (<b>Update 11/13/23</b>: This episode is now on YouTube at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGorAIAdS0o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGorAIAdS0o</a>)</div><div> </div><div>AUDIO: Shaun Duke and I recorded an interview for the Skiffy and Fanty Show that was released as a podcast on Oct. 19. It was with Wole Talabi, centering on his new book, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon. It's his first novel, although he has published a short story collection. I really enjoyed the book and the discussion. <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/747woletalabi/">747. Wole Talabi (a.k.a. The Dreamer) — Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 10/30/23</b></div><div>AUDIO: An episode of the Skiffy and Fanty Show's Twitch stream Clacks, which discusses current events, that was streamed several months ago finally got converted to audio and published as a podcast on Oct. 26. Shaun Duke, Paul Weimer, Daniel Haeusser and I talked about Hugo nominees (long before the winners were announced), writers' strikes, and other issues. <br /></div><div><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/748sfclacks4/">748. S&F Clacks #4: Hugos, Strikes, and Simon’s Schuster, Oh My!</a><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>UPDATE 11/5/23:</b></div><div>AUDIO: The Stargate SG-Fun podcast that I'm on with Andrew Pontious and David Schaub released its 12 episode today: Token Tok'ra. We discuss Season 2, episodes 17-20. We enthuse over Serpent's Song and talk a little about Holiday and One False Step, and a little more about Show and Tell. <a class="css-1jxf684 r-13awgt0 r-1loqt21" data-word-wrap="1" href="https://sgfun.space/token-tokra/" role="link" style="color: #0085ff; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 20.8px;" target="_blank">sgfun.space/token-tokra/</a> </div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 11/6/23:</b></div><div>AUDIO: The SFFaudio Podcast #759 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: <i>Star Born</i> by Andre Norton -- I liked Star Born much more than her terribly disappointing Star Hunter, and I enjoyed the discussion with Jesse, Paul Weimer, and Alex (PulpCovers.com). (The book is the first 6 hours and 34 minutes of the 8-hour, 16-minute podcast.)</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-759-audiobook-readalong-star-born-by-andre-norton/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-759-audiobook-readalong-star-born-by-andre-norton/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 11/14/23: </b></div><div>AUDIO: The Skiffy and Fanty Show, Patreon episode: Speculative Dispatch #33: SFF Romance, released 11/7/23. "Shaun, Jen, and Trish joined forces to talk about the contours and meanings of SFF Romance. What is it? What makes it a compelling genre? And what are some good ones to check out?"</div><div><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/92487046?pr=true">https://www.patreon.com/posts/92487046?pr=true</a></div><div> </div><div>The SFFaudio Podcast #760 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: <i>The Poison Belt </i>by Arthur Conan Doyle: Horrible classism, sexism, racism, etc., but a really interesting, enjoyable, wide-ranging discussion with Jesse, Paul Weimer, Bryan Alexander, and Terence Blake. Bryan Alexander thanked me enthusiastically for bringing up <a href="https://pseudopod.org/2018/02/03/pseudopod-580-comet/" target="_blank">The Comet by W.E.B. DuBois</a>, and I made some other good points. The audiobook is 3 hours, 17 minutes, and the podcast totals 5 hours and 26 minutes. Released 11/13/23.<br /></div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-760-audiobook-readalong-the-poison-belt-by-arthur-conan-doyle/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-760-audiobook-readalong-the-poison-belt-by-arthur-conan-doyle/</a></div><div> </div><div><b>UPDATE 12/4/23:</b></div><div>STREAMING/FUTURE AUDIO: On Friday, Dec. 1, I discussed the 1964 stop-motion claymation Christmas classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, on Shaun Duke's Twitch channel, alphabetstreams, with him and Paul Weimer. We all love it, despite the cringy moments, and support its ultimate message against conformity. Eventually, our discussion will be edited into a podcast. <br /><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1992574976">https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1992574976</a></div><div>(Edit: The podcast was released Dec. 23: <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/757rudolph/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/757rudolph/</a> )<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The SFFaudio Podcast #763 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: <i>The City Of The Singing Flame</i> by Clark Ashton Smith, read by Tommy Patrick Ryan. This is a complete and unabridged reading of the book (1 hours, 30 minutes) followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse, Paul Weimer, Trish E. Matson, Connor Kaye, and Tommy Patrick Ryan. I haven't re-listened yet, but I do recall (from recording this half a year ago) that it was an interesting book and discussion. Released 12/4/2023.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-763-audiobook-readalong-the-city-of-the-singing-flame-by-clark-ashton-smith/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-763-audiobook-readalong-the-city-of-the-singing-flame-by-clark-ashton-smith/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 12/13/23:</b></div><div>AUDIO: The SFFaudio Podcast #764 – READALONG: Logan’s Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, discussed with host Jesse, Paul Weimer, Cora Buhlert, and Jonathan Manfred Weichsel. Released 12/12/23. This was a wide-ranging discussion that somehow lasted about 3.5 hours, although I believe I bailed earlier. I haven't had a chance to re-listen yet.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-764-readalong-logans-run-by-william-f-nolan-and-george-clayton-johnson/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-764-readalong-logans-run-by-william-f-nolan-and-george-clayton-johnson/</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 12/21/23:</b></div><div>GAMING (not public): I played another session of the Stargate RPG on Saturday, Dec. 16. It was a good time -- our Cleanup Crew, SG-14C, returned to the planet from "Brief Candle" and guarded a rapidly-aged-to-adolescence Charlie. We fended off an attack by Jaffa, but it turned out that they were fake Jaffa on a mission from Col. Maybourne, who'd wanted to take Charlie and his Tok'ra companions off to a secret base, for nefarious purposes of his own. We sent him off vowing that we'd be sorry one day.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll be playing a futuristic Call of Cthulhu one-shot next Thursday, via The Good Friends of Jackson Elias Discord, run by Zoekitten (was this the San Francisco GM?). This is the first time on that server that someone has messaged me ahead of time to be an invited player, instead of me just signing up for a pickup! The scenario is <a href="https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/460276/At-the-Gates-of-Carcosa">At the Gates of Carcosa</a>. My pregenerated character is the traumatized Capt. Anna Chang. (Not being broadcast or recorded AFAIK.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>UPDATE 12/25/23 (actually posted 1/8/24):</b></div><div>AUDIO: The SFFaudio Podcast #766 – READALONG: Invitation To The Game by Monica Hughes, discussed with Paul Weimer and host Jesse. I think this may be the shortest SFFAudio podcast I've been on, at just 1:14:54. I read this back in 1990 when it was published, and although I think this is a TERRIBLE way for a government to (plot spoilers), I found it a pretty interesting story. Preferable to Robert Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky, anyway.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-766-readalong-invitation-to-the-game-by-monica-hughes/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-766-readalong-invitation-to-the-game-by-monica-hughes/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-6163639373476046322023-04-13T11:29:00.000-04:002023-04-13T11:29:53.250-04:00Review: DEATH BY SILVER, by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold<p>Somehow I missed <i>Death by Silver</i>, by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold, when it was published in 2013, even though I'm a longtime fan of Scott (<i>Mighty Good Road</i>, the <i>Point of Hopes</i> series with Lisa A. Barnett, and the <i>Order of the Air</i> series with Jo Graham). Luckily, the book came to my attention again via its reissue by Queen of Swords Press. I started it last night and finished it this morning, and I enjoyed it so much that I'm postponing the start of my freelance editing workday to write this review on the book's new release date.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1y2818zCKA7waHpVAVNkdvnOLN1-4MsdKvM1DKx0MsebHPcfqY9WQisnCeHGvhr5i4CKSf8f9_otxcxibtv0x6jEdb7R384LAJZDdImlpAXRwtKCJ2lk4Zw2qHhVOdgWz5CekoTR2PjSjW9A74dvIR_743q0x-HHFwnVSjo4P8NIcMg_wlJ2rt3i/s857/Screenshot_DeathbySilver.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cover of the 2023 issue by Queen of Swords Press of DEATH BY SILVER by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold" border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="565" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb1y2818zCKA7waHpVAVNkdvnOLN1-4MsdKvM1DKx0MsebHPcfqY9WQisnCeHGvhr5i4CKSf8f9_otxcxibtv0x6jEdb7R384LAJZDdImlpAXRwtKCJ2lk4Zw2qHhVOdgWz5CekoTR2PjSjW9A74dvIR_743q0x-HHFwnVSjo4P8NIcMg_wlJ2rt3i/w211-h320/Screenshot_DeathbySilver.png" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><i>Death by Silver</i> is a mystery and m/m romance set in a low-magic version of Edwardian England. Most of the magic encountered consists of charms and conveniences, but there are also curses, such as the lethal hex on the silver candlestick referred to in the title (as shown in the second chapter). </p><p>Here's an excerpt from that chapter: <a href="http://donsakers.com/scott/node/99">http://donsakers.com/scott/node/99</a> <br /></p><p>The narrative viewpoint shifts between the two protagonists, metaphysician Ned Mathey and detective Julian Lynes. They are on-again, off-again lovers at the start of the action; back in school, they had tried to shield each other from the viciously bullying prefects, but various factors, including some thoughtless actions and neglects, have precluded any commitment.</p><p>The father of one of those school bullies, apparently unaware of past grudges, hires Ned to check out a curse on his family silver. That client is dead by the second chapter, and his son Victor (the worst of the bullies, who thinks their shared history is well behind them) rehires Ned to investigate the murder. Ned convinces Julian that they need to investigate, despite their reluctance to be involved, because unchecked murderers tend to keep on killing innocents, in addition to people who may have deserved it.</p><p>So we learn a lot more about the household: the other two sons, Victor's wife, and Victor's mother, along with the servants and a reverend whose charity the mother patronizes. As the investigation expands, we meet many other people, from policemen to gentlemen in clubs to some of denizens of the poorer quarters of London.</p><p>I particularly like the characterizations in this book. Many of the side characters have their own personalities and perspectives, sketched out briefly, perhaps, but convincingly, from a burglar's wife to a grumbling landlady. This London feels like a real place filled with real people, not just a stage for the protagonists.<br /></p><p>I am also ridiculously charmed by the tiny worldbuilding detail of a carnivorous seedling that invades Julian's quarters due to his carelessness, but ends up being a kind of pet plant that Ned feeds ham slivers. I hope to see it again in the sequel.</p><p>The mystery is well executed, with a fair number of red herrings but a convincing conclusion. The romance also resolves in a very satisfying way. Clearly, this book will become one of my comfort reads. I enthusiastically recommend it. <br /></p><p><b>Content Warnings:</b> </p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>flashbacks to sadistic bullying incidents at school</li><li>murders </li><li>fights</li><li>sex scenes that discreetly fade to black</li></ul><p><b>Comparisons:</b> K.J. Charles' <i>Spectred Isle</i> and C.L. Polk's <i>Witchmark</i>, although both have stronger magical elements than this.<br /></p><p><b>Disclaimer:</b> I received a free review ebook from the publisher, which is why I was able to start it last night, before the release date, and finish it this morning. But <i>Death by Silver</i> ought to fit most budgets, at <a href="https://queenofswordspress.com/product/death-by-silver/">$6.99 for the ebook and $16.99 for the paperback</a>. Queen of Swords Press will reissue the sequel, <i>A Death at the Dionysus Club</i>, in December.<br /></p><p><br /> <br /></p><p><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-90055288255049460322023-01-07T21:15:00.000-05:002023-01-07T21:15:36.575-05:00"The Thing in the Woods" and "The Velveteen Rabbit"<p>A podcast that I co-recorded on June 5, 2022, will never be released. It was an SFF Audio discussion of <i>The Thing in The Woods</i>, a 1914 horror novel by Harper Williams, a pen name of Margery Williams Bianco, who then went on to write the beloved children's classic, <i>The Velveteen Rabbit</i>, published in 1922.</p><p>Unfortunately, the SFF Audio host, Jesse Willis, has lost the audiofile, as part of some massive problems with his massive website (977 pages of blog posts to date, with multiple posts per page), which has been around since 2003 -- wow! The listed guests were Cora Buhlert, Evan Lampert and me, and none of us kept a copy. I used to make all-voices recordings of all my podcasts with Call Recorder when I had an old Dell, but then it effectively died (incompatible with cameras, can't Zoom, etc.). A friend kindly gave me a Linux system, but I never got around to getting a Linux-compatible substitute for Call Recorder. Suggestions welcome!</p><p>The basic plot of <i>The Thing in the Woods</i> is that a new young doctor is asked to substitute for a small-town doctor who wants a vacation. It turns out that there have been reports of animal attacks, and a mystery slowly unfolds. </p><p>Parts of the book are slow compared to modern pacing, and parts seem needlessly complicated, or now-hackneyed to today's eyes, although they were probably fresher back then. Also, there's a bit of racist language and stereotyping in the early sections of the book, but it turns out that the Black servant (referred to less politely in the book, alas) is perfectly justified in his "superstitious" fears of driving a buggy through the woods late at night. So there!</p><p>But I thought it was reasonably good for books of that time, as early Weird Fiction goes. Things happen, although subject to various interpretations, and the plot moves along, and threads end up being mostly tied off. If you want to check out an early minor horror work, you could do a lot worse. </p><p>Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft enjoyed the book after his friend Frank Belknap Long bought it 10 years later, as I heard on the "Voluminous: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft" podcast by the HPL Historical Society. Some scholars have claimed TTITW influenced Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" story. (HPL was presumably one of the many people who looked no further than the Harper Williams pseudonym, and didn't know TTITW was written by a woman.)</p><p>Neither Project Gutenberg nor archive.org seems to have a text copy, but <a href="https://librivox.org/the-thing-in-the-woods-by-margery-williams/" target="_blank">Librivox has a free audiobook here</a> in case you want to listen.</p><p>One of the most interesting things about this minor early horror novel, of course, is the contrast with the next book by its author, <i>The Velveteen Rabbit</i>, a toy whose boy loves it so much that a fairy is able to turn it into a real rabbit, when the toy is due to be burned due to fears of spreading scarlet fever. It's poignant and well-written and deserves its great fame.</p><p>I don't know whether MWB got significantly better as a writer in the intervening years or if she just found children's books better suited to her skills. But after the huge success of <i>The Velveteen Rabbit</i>, she mostly stuck with children's books and a few young adult books. One of those, <i>Winterbound</i> (1936), was a runner-up for the 1937 Newbery Medal and won a retroactive Newbery Honor in 1971.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margery_Williams" target="_blank">According to Wikipedia</a>, MWB's "final book, 1944's <i>Forward Commandos!</i>, was an inspirational story of wartime heroism, which included as one of its characters a black soldier. Acknowledging the contribution of African-Americans to the war effort was extremely rare in literary output of the time and that fact was noted in the book's reviews."</p><p>So whatever MWB's views may have been in 1914 when she wrote <i>The Thing in the Woods</i>, I'm very happy to learn of the progressive attitudes she apparently held and fostered 30 years later.</p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-18769495186628760292023-01-04T22:51:00.002-05:002023-12-31T16:15:49.482-05:00Audio/Video/Gaming roundup<p> Audio and Video I've worked on, and games that have aired, since my last roundup on 9/16/22:</p><p>The biggest project I've done is started working with Shotcut to do some video editing. </p><p><b>VIDEO:</b> On Nov. 12, 2022, I posted <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH8Ui5vBWks" target="_blank">a promotional video for the Speculate! fundraiser marathon</a> that aired three times that same day, on ArvanEleron's Twitch channel. This was very well received! As I said in my YouTube description: </p><p></p><blockquote><p>"This is a song I wrote (and video I edited) to introduce, explain and help promote a fundraising marathon for Speculate!, a podcast and group of authors in actual-play roleplaying streams on twitch.tv/arvaneleron. Consider supporting Speculate! at https://www.patreon.com/speculate</p><p>Vocals recorded and edited in Audacity on a Linux system with a Yeti Blue microphone. Video edited in Shotcut on a Linux system. Stills taken from Arvan Eleron's twitch and Youtube channels, and from my Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (map of Waterdeep) and from https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/faerun-map."</p></blockquote>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sH8Ui5vBWks" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
<p><b>GAMING:</b> As the video says, I and the rest of the Midwintär's Mourning crew (Shaun Duke and Paul Weimer, both of whom I originally know from the Skiffy and Fanty Show) returned for a follow-up one-shot D&D game during this marathon on Nov. 12, in another Critical Crafting module, "Folktales of Gristwood," <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chI46hY8fg8" target="_blank">which you can see here</a>.</p><p><b>AUDIO EDITING:</b> I've been helping Shaun Duke edit more episodes of the Skiffy and Fanty Show podcast. Episodes I've done significant editing on include discussions of the "Tokyo Godfathers" anime movie and the "Macross 7, Part 2" anime series:</p><p><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/472tokyogodfathers/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/472tokyogodfathers/</a> (released Dec. 23) and</p><p><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/473macross7part2/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/473macross7part2/</a> (released Dec. 28).</p><p><b>AUDIO RECORDING: </b>For podcasts where my own voice is heard, I haven't been on the main Skiffy and Fanty show much recently, but I've been on two more Patreon episodes, for those who are subscribed:</p><p>In an episode released Sept. 25, Shaun, Brandon O'Brien and I discussed Problematic Authors:<br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/speculative-26-72455138">https://www.patreon.com/posts/speculative-26-72455138</a></p><p>On a show released Dec. 31, Shaun and Brandon and I responded to some questions from Patreon subscriber Arturo in our first dedicated Listener Mailbag episode:<br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/speculative-29-1-76571826">https://www.patreon.com/posts/speculative-29-1-76571826</a></p><p>I have also been on a couple more SFF Audio podcasts (and recorded a few more):</p><p>Released Nov. 28 was a podcast on Leigh Brackett's "Black Amazon of Mars," discussed with Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Alex (pulpcovers.com), and Cora Buhlert. <br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-710-audiobook-readalong-black-amazon-of-mars-by-leigh-brackett/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-710-audiobook-readalong-black-amazon-of-mars-by-leigh-brackett/</a></p><p> On Jan. 2, 2023, a podcast was posted on Leigh Brackett's <i>The Long Tomorrow</i>, discussed with Jesse Willis, Will Emmons, and Cora Buhlert.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-715-readalong-the-long-tomorrow-by-leigh-brackett/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-715-readalong-the-long-tomorrow-by-leigh-brackett/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>UPDATE, 1/25/23: PODCAST:</b> I was on a podcast at SFF Audio with Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada, Evan Lampe, and Will Emmons, discussing Jack London's <i>The Sea Wolf</i>.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-718-audiobook-readalong-the-sea-wolf-by-jack-london/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-718-audiobook-readalong-the-sea-wolf-by-jack-london/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>UPDATES for April through December: Please see this separate blog post:<br /><a href="https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2023/04/audiovideogaming-roundup.html">https://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2023/04/audiovideogaming-roundup.html</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-89535380891157599632022-11-05T16:12:00.087-04:002023-01-10T16:57:03.244-05:00MediaFest 22<p>The Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association united in holding MediaFest22, at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., Oct. 27-30. This served as the annual convention of SPJ, of which I'm a member. I went on my own dime, for professional development.*</p><p>There were a few events on that Wednesday and Sunday, but everything I went to was on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.</p><p>My agenda:</p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-9d6b780d-7fff-3b99-f797-6589b2a5ec22" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 a.m. Thurs. 10/27/22: “FOIA and access to information” - speaker Mike Hiestand</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 a.m. Keynote - Perspectives on Journalism’s Future - speakers Pauly Denetclaw, Juana Summers, Darlene Superville (Lauryn Bass was listed on agenda, but I have no notes re her)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12:30 p.m. The Editorial Freelancers Association THEFA.org</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Region 2 - Dela, Mar, VA, DC, NC. Stephanie Overman, R2 coordinator</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1:30 p.m. FOIA and Public Records 101 - speaker Anna Marie Tamburro. SPFI = Student Press Freedom Initiative</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2:30 p.m. Can You TikTok the News? Using social media video to report and present real journalism - speaker Craig Duff</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3:30 p.m. Beware of the copyright bots: Borrowing online photos and stuff - speaker Jonathan Falk</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4:30 p.m. SPJ Business Meeting</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">7:30 a.m. Friday 10/28/22: SPJ Regional Meetings (region 2)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 a.m. How to Investigate the Privatization of Public Services - speakers Jeremy Mohler, Tony Messenger, Angelica Serrano-Roman, Jeff Bryant</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 a.m. Google Tools Training - Detecting Disinformation - speaker Frank Bi</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 a.m. Woodward & Bernstein Keynote</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12:30 p.m. Women’s Roundtable</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1:30 p.m. Breaking into Business Reporting - speakers Paul Glader, DJ Shaw, Naomi Eide, Maria Monteros</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2:30 p.m. Moving Mediums: Transitioning from Print to Broadcast or Delving into New Beats - speakers Bijan Bayne, Stacie Overton Johnson, Hazel Becker</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">9 a.m. Saturday 10/29/22: Excel for journalists - speaker Sean McMinn (graphics for Politico)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 a.m. Nonprofit News to the Rescue? - speakers Stephanie Overman, Sarah Vogelsong, Len Lazarick, Jason Alconn (American Journalism Project), Yanek Rice Lamb</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">11 a.m. Keynote - Fellows Features</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">12:30 p.m. Legal & Ethics Roundtable</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1:30 p.m. Freelancer - Editor Meet & Greet</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2:30 p.m. Obstruction of Reporting through PIO Controls and Other Means: Responding to the Controls on Free Speech and Free Press - speakers Haisten Willis, Cinnamon Janzer, Glen Nowak, Kathryn Foxhall</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3:30 p.m. How to use open records laws to cover your beat and find and amplify your stories - speakers Miranda Spivack, Eve Sampson, Andy Schotz</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SPJ Business Meeting (started at 3:30, still going when I went there after my 3:30 talk, continued past 6, when non-delegates like me were kicked out to make room for hotel staff setting up the banquet)</span></p><p>Most timeslots offered numerous seminars, up to a dozen or so. As you can see, I went to a lot of talks about using the Freedom of Information Act and dealing with Public Information Officers. As someone who never went to journalism school, I thought this was an area where I could use more training.</p><p>I'm not going to write up my notes here, because I didn't see anything where speakers gave permission for their talks to be published. But a lot of interesting points were made. I took at least two pages of notes for most of the talks, often more.</p><p>I wish I had saved myself some money by registering earlier for the convention. But even paying the full rate, I definitely felt it was worth the money.</p><p>I'll also give an endorsement for Whova, the scheduling app used by the convention. Having gone to three conventions this year, which each used a different scheduler, I found Whova the best for planning activities, adding notes, and networking, all in one app.</p><p>However, I was disappointed that MediaFest did not require masks, only proof of vaccination. I stayed masked the whole time, and went outside to eat my ration-bar lunches, but few other people were masked, maybe 1 in 20 or so. GenCon and ChiCon, my other two conventions this year, both required masks along with vaccinations, and although not everyone followed their policies, I felt much safer there.</p><p><br /></p><p>* I'm writing this post on Jan. 10, 2023, but backdating it to Nov. 5, 2022, to keep it where the event happened in my personal timeline.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><br /></div>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-35758863888753863322022-11-01T17:26:00.005-04:002022-11-01T18:33:00.892-04:00WorldCon Report: ChiCon 8 <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDjkZNesElXI8BTCQygOTe7FUXuE2S_5Q7iQ7u0VHJTvyfJVvFlVFx326Xrp55uiwovV4Oj-8RR1rH-ce8V1iFaGVlhQtmghUGaJWNmpvYGSgWW8Fohp3suxknLGeqEBb-pa_VVQA229_kznPuvNIyEWZeuftXsCmFxchCRi82yMinEsRsO2k5hoX/s4080/ChicagoWaterfront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4080" height="431" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKDjkZNesElXI8BTCQygOTe7FUXuE2S_5Q7iQ7u0VHJTvyfJVvFlVFx326Xrp55uiwovV4Oj-8RR1rH-ce8V1iFaGVlhQtmghUGaJWNmpvYGSgWW8Fohp3suxknLGeqEBb-pa_VVQA229_kznPuvNIyEWZeuftXsCmFxchCRi82yMinEsRsO2k5hoX/w572-h431/ChicagoWaterfront.jpg" width="572" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chicago waterfront from Field Museum complex, Aug. 31, 2022, by Patricia E. Matson</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>I had a great time at WorldCon in Chicago this year, but I put a lot into that trip, and it took a lot out of me, so this is a belated report. That means some details will have been lost, but I still want to note what I can of how it went.</p><p>I drove to Chicago on Sunday, Aug. 28. It took about 11 hours, but I felt infinitely safer in my car than breathing everyone's unmasked air in an airplane. There was some construction from time to time, but no significant problems.</p><p>I stayed at the convention hotel, the Hyatt Regency, on the 26th floor. It was pricey, but very comfortable and quiet. I tipped the maid well on Monday and left tips with notes saying "Thanks! Gracias!" every day, and therefore enjoyed new towels and emptied wastebaskets every day, although the hotel had said I'd have maid service every three days. The room had a floor-to-ceiling window, but was opposite another fairly tall office building, so the only way to really enjoy the view was stand at an edge of the window and look sideways through it. I could have paid more for a better view, but I wasn't planning on spending much time in the room.</p><p>Before WorldCon itself, I took full advantage of my first trip to Chicago. On Monday, I visited the Art Institute of Chicago. On Tuesday, I visited the Garden of the Phoenix (Japanese Garden, a relic from the World's Columbia Exposition/World's Fair of 1893), the Museum of Science and Industry (including its amazing U-505 captured German submarine tour), and the Oriental Institute. On Wednesday, I visited the Field Museum (home of Sue the T-rex and many other exhibits), and in the evening I took a riverboat tour discussing the city's architectural history. </p><p>I relished my first Chicago-style hot dog. My most memorable meal was at Firelake Grill, savoring an entire rack of deliciously spicy, melt-in-my-mouth Calabrian Smoked Pork Ribs.</p><p>I took many photos during all these ventures. Google put together a handy slideshow for me that has 30 pictures from that trip, <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/tpXxpMfsoiGQvBL86" target="_blank">which I am linking here</a>. If I have time later, I'll upload individual photos and caption them. I also recommend these photo albums from a dear friend of mine: <a href="https://www.princejvstin.com/chicago/" rel="nofollow">Chicago</a>, <a href="https://www.princejvstin.com/chicago-ii/" rel="nofollow">Chicago II</a>, and <a href="https://www.princejvstin.com/chicago-boat-tour/" rel="nofollow">Chicago Boat Tour</a>.</p><p>During WorldCon itself, I spent a few hours each morning prepping for my panels (in addition to the pre-con preparations, a lot of reading and note-taking). I was very pleased to realize during the panels that everyone else had done their homework, too. Every panel I was on comprised engaging, articulate, politely conversational lovers of science fiction and fantasy and the subgenres we were discussing. It was an honor, privilege and pleasure to be on panels with them.</p><p>Seven of the panels were on the 1946 retro track:</p><p>Thursday, Sept 1, 2:30 CT, Roosevelt 3: 1946: A Year in the Life of a Fan, with David Ritter (moderator), Jerry Kaufman, Joe Siclari and Peter D Balestrieri.</p><p>Thursday, Sept 1, 5:30 CT, Grand Hall GH: 1946: A Vintage Season for SFF, with John Hertz (moderator), Alec Nevala-Lee, and Dave Hook.</p><p>Friday, Sept 2, 11:30 CT, Atlanta: The Life and Impact of C.L. Moore, with Marta Murvosh (mod), Carrie Cooper, and Rich Horton.</p><p>Saturday, Sept 3, 10 CT, Michigan 3: Undiscovered and Forgotten Gems of 1946, with Alec Nevala-Lee, Connie Willis, John Hertz and Michael Haynes. (I moderated.)</p><p>Saturday, Sept 3, 1 CT, Airmeet 5 (virtual): Leading Ladies: Women in Fandom in 1946, with Carrie Cooper, Kate Heffner and Lisa Yaszek. (I moderated.)</p><p>Sunday, Sept 4, 11:30 CT, Atlanta: Science in Science Fiction: The Guesswork of 1946, with Daniel Ritter, G. David Nordley, Henry Spencer and James L. Cambias. (I moderated).</p><p>Sunday, Sept 4, 4 CT, Grand Hall I: The Likely Hugo Nominees from 1946, with Rich Horton (moderator), Dave Hook and John Stith.</p><p>I also had a fairly late invitation to one non-1946 panel, after a couple of other panelists had dropped out: The Hollow Earth and Other "SF Before SF," moderated by Heather Rose Jones and including E. Lily Yu and David Stokes, on Saturday at 5:30 CT. I've read a fair amount of old (19th century and early 20th) speculative fiction, due to growing up with my father's collection, plus reading for some Librivox projects and for SFFaudio podcasts. I didn't read anything new for this panel, but I did take some time to go through what I've read and organize my thoughts.</p><p>I was also very honored and pleased that several panelists and audience members recognized my efforts to prepare for these panels and thanked me for smoothly moderating three of them. I tried hard to foster actual conversations instead of just inviting monologues. I was thrilled after the "Science in SF: The Guesswork of 1946" panel to be presented with a copy of "The Visual History of Science Fiction Fandom: Volume Two: 1940 (The First Chicon: A focused look at the second World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago)," by its co-author, Daniel Ritter, who was on that panel with me. It's a beautiful trade paperback (<a href="https://firstfandomexperience.org/the-visual-history-of-science-fiction-fandom/">hardbacks available here</a>) with reproductions of contemporaneous photos, reports, and essays. I recommend checking out the First Fandom Experience: <a href="https://firstfandomexperience.org/introduction/">https://firstfandomexperience.org/introduction/</a></p><p>On Sunday night, I attended the Hugo Awards, as the guest of one of the finalists. Although only a few of the awards went the way I had voted, I thought it was a well-run ceremony, with several moving moments. <a href="https://www.thehugoawards.org/2022/09/congratulations-to-the-winners/" rel="nofollow">The art-deco style Hugo Award trophy was gorgeous</a>! </p><p>Cora Buhlert, winner of the 2022 Best Fan Writer Award, <a href="http://corabuhlert.com/2022/09/13/some-comments-on-the-2022-hugo-award-winners-and-the-hugo-ceremony-in-general/">comments on the Hugo Awards and the ceremony here</a>, and she also links to several other people's commentaries.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZW5vdBhc9_hIoINJET9i1nKjF9V1O9jxS0rQNtah2EdWsLq-RwiZesJnzI4EAE1CnJrsqP0KmhaEFMgxOB8lKRum65Ika6Vg404T8sVuaLDpUTliygIKa_k6h-D-wAWQ7pxITyFpiV1X2BpAefthsBz9mS3-V9xCTXBHly9SvuwKdBTT8Vx-R0WFc/s4080/TheGateKeeper.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZW5vdBhc9_hIoINJET9i1nKjF9V1O9jxS0rQNtah2EdWsLq-RwiZesJnzI4EAE1CnJrsqP0KmhaEFMgxOB8lKRum65Ika6Vg404T8sVuaLDpUTliygIKa_k6h-D-wAWQ7pxITyFpiV1X2BpAefthsBz9mS3-V9xCTXBHly9SvuwKdBTT8Vx-R0WFc/s320/TheGateKeeper.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>Other activities: On Saturday night, I attended the Fan Funds Auction, which supports sending fans to international conventions abroad, that they otherwise wouldn't be able to attend. I bought some expensive dill chips (not dill pickle flavored, which is easily available here, but just dill), which were tasty when I ate them at home. However, I am still kicking myself for not bidding on the Glasgow 2024 convention T-shirt, which had been signed by about 20 science fiction authors. The bidder won at $35 or so; could I have obtained it for $40? Will I fit into a Large T-shirt by 2024?<p></p><p>I also received and greatly enjoyed a copy of The Gatekeeper, a hilariously satirical print fanzine organized and edited by Olav Rokne and Amanda Wakaruk of the <a href="http://hugoclub.blogspot.com/">Unofficial Hugo Book Club blog</a>, which includes essays by Dan Gibbons, Bob Devney, Paul Weimer, Rebecca Calder and Cora Buhlert.</p><p>And I of course attended a lot of panels where I was NOT a participant.</p><p>On Monday morning, I attended part of the final business meeting of the convention. The business meetings are where members of the World Science Fiction Society (which you can join by buying a membership in that year's convention) vote on new bylaws and amendments to the bylaws. Most days I either went early and left early (to go to one of my panels) or went late (after a panel). Some days, I got to vote, when a vote came up while I was there, and some days, I just watched the process.</p><p>One of the amendments that I felt strongly about was a redefinition of the "fan" categories that would have prevented anyone who made any professional genre-related sales that year, even a short essay on a website, and possibly anyone who collects Patreon fees, etc., from being nominated in fan categories. While I find it perturbing that several professional authors collected awards in fan categories (my beloved Skiffy and Fanty would have been a finalist in Best Fancast again, had the pro writers/volunteer fancasters recused themselves), this amendment was far too restrictive. It was rejected. Hopefully a better one will be offered in the next few years. </p><p>When checkout time was looming, I left the meeting and finished packing. My drive home, although long, was uneventful.</p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-29681902211918250502022-10-11T12:01:00.001-04:002023-01-13T15:05:48.447-05:00Review: Black Cloud Rising, by David Wright Faladé<p> I saw Black Cloud Rising: A Novel, by David Wright Faladé, in the new books section of my local library. This fiction book is based on true history, General Wild's African Brigade (56th Massachusetts Infantry, and the 36th and 37th U.S. Colored Troops) in the Civil War, and then-Sgt. Richard Etheridge. The novel has Etheridge as the protagonist in December of 1863, when the brigade was hunting down rebel guerillas and bushwhackers in Eastern North Carolina and its Outer Banks, and working to protect Union loyalists and freed slaves.</p><p>The back cover says the author is also the co-writer of the nonfiction book "Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers" (although Amazon lists that book's authors as David Wright & David Zoby), so I will see if I can get that as an interlibrary loan. Etheridge's postwar history appears fascinating; he was appointed the first and only black station Keeper of the coastal Life-Saving Service (and recruited and led an all-black crew after the white life-savers he was supposed to command quit). </p><p>I'm not sure how much of the book is true history and how much is fictionalized, although presumably nearly all of the dialogue and a number of interactions are imagined. It's fact that Etheridge was the son of a slaveowner and a slave, and that he had been taught to read and write before leaving and becoming a Union soldier. The novel portrays a lot of inner tension that Etheridge mostly keeps hidden from his father and half-brother (even long after the war, in the last few pages), complicated relationships with his mother and the woman he loves, give-and-take with the soldiers he commands and the officers he obeys (and sometimes counsels), and outright antagonism between him and the leader of the irregular swamp fighters allied with the Union troops, who despises Etheridge as a hypocrite who thinks he's better than other blacks (not the word he uses) because of his education and his white father. </p><p>The novel includes battles, but really Etheridge's inner conflicts are the heart of the story. He spends a great deal of time mulling his words and actions, and the words and actions of his commanders. The military actions lead to more thoughts and dialogue, but the book is not about heroics and glory. It focuses more on struggling with decisions on how to act and how to think about oneself, one's place in the world and relations with other people. </p><p>I found it an interesting story, as I had expected, due to my interests in history, military history, North Carolina (I'm from Wilmington, on the coast), the Civil War, and civil rights history. It was a thoughtful read rather than an exciting read, but I do recommend it for anyone interested in these issues.</p><p>Content warnings: Deaths, violence, racist language</p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-79215361573351232752022-09-20T14:07:00.000-04:002022-09-20T14:07:51.230-04:00Death of an Eye and Disappearance of a Scribe: Dana Stabenow takes a stab at Cleopatran mysteries<p>The first Dana Stabenow book I ever read was an audio version I picked up from the new books section at a library. Hunter's Moon looked like an interesting take on "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, which I am fond of reading/watching various versions of whenever I run across them, from random episodes of TV shows like "The Crow" to movies like "Surviving the Game." In this book, Kate Shugak, an Alaskan private investigator, has taken a side job as a guide for people on a corporate hunting retreat, and things end up going very badly, for them and for her. Parts of it are grim, but it's an exciting read, and I was interested enough in Kate to look for more.</p><p>It turns out that Hunter's Moon was the ninth in a series that is now up to 22 books, most of which I've read. Stabenow does a great job of characterizations, from Kate's continuing arc to her supporting cast to side characters, with immersive details on daily lives. Investigational scopes range from very personal crimes to arguments about sustainable exploitation of natural resources, to corporate corruption, to state politics. I highly recommend that series.</p><p>Stabenow has also written 5 books about Liam Campbell, a Mountie trying to rebuild his life, which are good but don't grab me quite as hard. She also wrote a few science fiction books early in her career. I looked at the first one, saw three things that threw me out of suspension of disbelief in the first few pages, and didn't read any further in that series. She's written a few other fiction and nonfiction books that I haven't seen yet.</p><p>So when I saw "Disappearance of a Scribe" in the new books section of my new library, I was curious enough to check it out. Mystery set in Cleopatran Egypt, by an author I enjoy a lot? Yes, please! But given that I don't love all Stabenow's books and genres, it took a while to move to the top of my To Be Read pile. Then I realized that this was actually the second book in the series. Luckily, Hoopla has an audio version of the first book, "Death of an Eye," so I was able to gobble them both up in rapid succession.</p><p>In this series, an Eye is the official investigator for Pharaoh, sort of like an Emperor's Voice / Imperial Auditor in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosiverse. Tetisheri, a childhood friend of Cleopatra's, is named as temporary Eye in the first book, to investigate the death of her predecessor and the theft of a fortune in newly minted coins. She's not trained in investigation, but as the heir-apparent of her uncle's trading house (having recently escaped from a very bad marriage), she is very observant and has a great many contacts, social and business. She's reluctant to take on this risk and burden, but Cleopatra generally gets what she wants.</p><p>Happily, she has assistance from her loyal household of freed slaves (she rescues strays when she gets chances), the ex-soldier and gym owner Apollodorus, and Sosigenes, head of the Library of Alexandria, along with others. It appears she'll continue collecting allies throughout her (secondary) career -- since I'd seen the second book first, it was no surprise that the temporary appointment turned permanent.</p><p>Complicating matters are all the factions arrayed against her queen, Cleopatra. Her siblings Ptolemy and the exiled Arsinoe would love to see her dead and themselves in control; ethnic Greeks who gained power when they came over and stayed with the original Ptolemy (Alexander's general) are unhappy to see how much influence Cleopatra is giving back to the local Egyptians (and their gods); and of course there are the Romans, from Caesar who is using Cleopatra as she uses him, to his supporters, some of whom back him fully and others who are concerned he is becoming "Orientalized", to his foes who want to undermine him and all his allies, to those who just despise Egyptians because they are not Roman. </p><p>In each book so far, the mysteries themselves are not that complicated, with few red herrings diverting Tetisheri. She just has to ask the right people the right questions and put the pieces together, while avoiding being stopped permanently. But the politics and household issues and the lovely slow-burn romance, and the fact that I like Tetisheri and sympathize with Cleopatra and other characters, make these books thoroughly satisfying. I am definitely looking forward to the third book in the series, Theft of an Idol, coming out later this year. </p><p><br /></p><p>Content warnings: Death, violence although not too graphic, references to past domestic abuse, slavery, and ethnic/cultural/national discrimination by some characters. </p><p>Comps: <br />Lois McMaster Bujold's Memory and following Vorkosiverse SF books with Miles as Imperial Auditor;<br />Lindsay Davis' Marcus Didius Falco mysteries set in Imperial Rome, with him as a private investigator, followed by Flavia Albia later. Especially the first in the series, The Silver Pigs, which involves silver ingots stolen from Roman Britain.</p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-67530418486827411962022-08-15T17:59:00.007-04:002022-11-01T18:07:14.910-04:00Work, GenCon, WorldCon, and other updates<p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Work</span></b></p><p>I have worked as a journalist for decades, from copy editing and layout/design, to editor and editor-in-chief of a small daily, to project coordination, to scheduling and sharing on social media, etc. On Friday I was laid off. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciamatson/">Here's my LinkedIn profile</a>. I'm starting a job hunt this week, and I'd like to stay in journalism, but I'm open to other options. Meanwhile, I suddenly have more time than expected for WorldCon preparations, which is a silver lining. See below.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">GenCon</span></b></p><p>I went to my first GenCon (in Indianapolis) at the beginning of August. I attended numerous panels on the Writer's Symposium track, attended a game played by authors, went through the dealers' room several times and got some books and a gamebook, and roleplayed in two games. I had a great time, and will certainly consider going again next year, depending on other demands on my time and energy. I skipped the downtown walking tour since it was raining, but got to see a few sights anyway, including the impressive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldiers%27_and_Sailors%27_Monument_(Indianapolis)">Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument</a>. I missed the Escape Room event I'd signed up for, due to a schedule mixup, but got to play an informal sort of Escape Room game later.</p><p>Panels attended: Adding Maps to Your Writing; Objectivity in Reviewing; Who Cares, It's Magic; Sword & Sorcery Renaissance in Writing; and Imagining Alternate Futures. </p><p><a href="https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1553425818">D&D with Authors Liveplay</a> was GMed by Greg Wilson (host of the ArvanEleron Twitch channel where I'm a moderator), in a special one-shot adventure that he created. The players were Brandon O'Brien, Richard Lee Byers, Gini Koch, C.S.E. Cooney, Carlos Hernandez and Karen Bovenmeyer. It featured some puzzles and some fun RP, and a good time was had by all, including the audience, which included quite a few Arvanauts (regular watchers of ArvanEleron). (The earlier link was on Twitch; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-49AsVoOEY">here the game is again on YouTube</a>.)</p><p>Saturday morning, I played EsperGenesis: Crisis on Kammria. This is a prologue to the Expedition from the Barrier Peaks campaign system, which imagines what happens 200 years after the Expedition to the Mysterious Peaks module published in 1980. I had backed the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skydawn/expedition-from-the-mysterious-peaks/description">campaign on KickStartr</a>, but it hasn't delivered yet, due to various circumstances, so I was excited to get a chance to play. The DM was Rich Lescouflair, listed as the creator of the campaign. This one-shot preview turned out to be basically D&D 5e with a little tech flavor, but plotwise it was not like any module I've played before. The group (7 players) meshed pretty well, and I enjoyed rolling some dice with them.</p><p>Saturday evening, my friend and I played Weird Stories, a collaborative storytelling RPG, with half-a-dozen other people who had signed up. It's card-based, and the deck includes settings, characters and story prompts. I had voted for the creepy small town setting because I thought that would be the easiest for a group of strangers to play together, but the group decided on Victorian Manor with Something in the Basement. We ended up having a really good time with this -- a lot of good RP and moments of "Yes, and...!" building off each other's moves and ideas.</p><p>On Sunday, my friend and I went to the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, primarily to see the highly recommended sculpture garden, but since it was pretty brutally hot, I suggested seeing the museum first and waiting until later in the afternoon for the sculpture garden. We spent a few hours looking at the museum, which was grouped primarily by theme rather than period, and had some interesting discussions. However, to our dismay, at 5 p.m. the museum closed -- not just the building, but the grounds. Maybe we'll get a chance to look at the sculptures if we go back next year. But something my friend commented on prompted me to go on a rant about Roy Lichtenstein's plagiarism. Please feel free to search for yourself, but here's a link to get you started: <a href="http://www.scottedelman.com/2013/04/12/another-reason-i-love-dave-gibbons-and-continue-to-hate-roy-lichtenstein/">http://www.scottedelman.com/2013/04/12/another-reason-i-love-dave-gibbons-and-continue-to-hate-roy-lichtenstein/</a></p><p>Sunday evening, we joined Greg, his family, E.D.E. Bell, her family, and some others for a few informal games. We played a couple of rounds of Werewolf, and then we played Escape from Hoth, a combination card/online game from Fantasy Flight Games. It's the basic plot of the Hoth part of The Empire Strikes Back, but you have to solve a series of puzzles to get off the planet. Some of the puzzles were pretty obvious, some we had to use hints for, and some we gave up and looked at the manual for. We did eventually make it offplanet, but well past the deadline, alas. But we had fun anyway.</p><p>Safety: GenCon required proof of vaccination, and masks at all times at official con spaces. A lot of people whipped off their masks the second they were outside the convention center, but people were good about wearing them correctly inside. My friend and I kept ours on at all times except in our own hotel rooms and when eating outside (at a restaurant patio, or from a food truck). </p><p>I really liked the food at Cafe Patachou, but be advised that their "spicy" scrambled eggs are far from it: not even Minnesota spicy, my friend said. The corned beef sandwich from High Velocity sportsbar (to go) was also surprisingly good, with high quality meat and plenty of it. </p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">WorldCon</span></b></p><p>I've known for quite a while that I wanted to go to the 2022 World Science Fiction Convention at Chicago, aka ChiCon, which will be over Labor Day Weekend this year. (Masks and proof of vaccination are required.) I indicated interest in up to 10 panels this year, but said the maximum I wanted to be on was eight. Despite Skiffy and Fanty, which I think of as my home podcast, not being a finalist this year, and despite my not doing many reviews last year, they ended up putting me on a lot, possibly partially because I was on several ConZealand virtual panels two years ago that the audiences appeared to enjoy, and probably partially because I've demonstrated interest in the history of the genre. My preliminary schedule had 7 panels from the 1946 retro track, and one modern panel on The Resurgence of Epistolary Stories. Sadly, the epistolary panel was canceled, so it's all 1946 for me.</p><p>The 1946 track is a new venture this year. Previous WorldCons have often held Retro Hugo Awards to recognize work done in years that didn't have WorldCons and thus didn't have Hugo Awards, but prizes often arguably went to big names rather than the best work of that year, and it's getting harder and harder to track down winners or their surviving relatives to receive those awards. So this year we're having panels instead of prizes. These are my panels:</p><p>Thursday, Sept. 1, 2:30 CT, Roosevelt 3: 1946: A Year in the Life of a Fan, with David Ritter (mod), Jerry Kaufman, Joe Siclari and Peter D Balestrieri. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">As the Second World War ended, fandom in the United States began to come back to life. What would it have been like to be a science fiction fan in 1946? How did the war change fandom? What were fans reading, who were they corresponding with, and where and how did they meet each other? (This panel is part of the 1946 project, a look back at the year in lieu of awarding Retro Hugo Awards.)</span> </p><p>Thursday, Sept. 1, 5:30 CT, Grand Hall GH: 1946: A Vintage Season for SFF, with John Hertz (moderator), Alec Nevala-Lee, Dave Hook. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">As the world began to recover from the trauma of the Second World War, SFF authors grappled with atomic futures. From Chan Davis to C.L. Moore, what works have withstood the test of time, and how are these works continuing to influence the genre today? How did they reflect, respond to, or ignore social and technological challenges of the day?</span></p><p>Friday, Sept. 2, 11:30 CT, Atlanta: The Life and Impact of C.L. Moore, with Marta Murvosh (mod), Carrie Cooper, and Rich Horton. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">Among the first prominent female science fiction and fantasy writers in the United States, C. L. Moore stands as a titan of early science fiction and fantasy. Starting in the 1930s, her work regularly appeared in publications like </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.428;">Weird Tales</em><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;"> and </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.428;">Astounding Stories</em><span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">, and later in life won the World Fantasy Convention Lifetime Achievement Award and was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Our panelists will discuss the life and impact of this influential writer.</span></p><p>Saturday, Sept. 3, 10 CT, Michigan 3: Undiscovered and Forgotten Gems of 1946, with Alec Nevala-Lee, Connie Willis, John Hertz and Michael Haynes. I'm moderating this one. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">The authors and stories of 1946 that we remember and celebrate today are just a fraction of what was published. Which forgotten authors and stories captured the attention of science fiction fans in the wake of World War II? What happened, are all of them out of step with our current social values, and are they forever relegated to the dustbin of history, or is there room in modern science fiction for these older works? </span></p><p>Saturday, Sept. 3, 1 CT, Airmeet 5 (virtual): Leading Ladies: Women in Fandom in 1946, with Carrie Cooper, Kate Heffner and Lisa Yaszek. I'm moderating this one. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">From super fans to popular authors to legendary editors, women have helped shape and define science fiction since its inception. Leigh Bracket, Myrtle R. Douglas (aka Morojo), Edythe Eyde (aka Tigrina), Doris Baumgardt (aka Leslie Perri), Dorothy McIlwraith and more: our panelists will discuss the prominent female fans, authors, and editors of 1946 and the role they played in creating the science fiction community and industry we know today. </span></p><p>Sunday, Sept. 4, 11:30 CT, Atlanta: Science in Science Fiction: The Guesswork of 1946, with Daniel Ritter, G. David Nordley, Henry Spencer and James L. Cambias. I'm moderating this one. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">It’s sometimes easy to take for granted how much we know about technology and science today, but in 1946 much of what we know now had yet to be discovered. Authors wrote about spaceflight before we had sent a human into space, imagined exoplanets before we had confirmed they existed, and built galactic empires without the notion of the internet. Our panelists will discuss what writers would have known and not known about technology and science in 1946 and how that impacted the science fiction they wrote. </span></p><p>Sunday, Sept. 4, 4 CT, Grand Hall I: The Likely Hugo Nominees from 1946, with Rich Horton (mod), Dave Hook and John Stith. <span face="-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Arial, "Noto Sans", "Liberation Sans", sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"" style="background-color: white; color: #212529; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">Hugo Awards were not presented at the 1946 Worldcon, as they were first awarded in 1953. But what did attendees of the 1946 Worldcon think of the science fiction stories published that year? Using the comments, surveys, and reviews left to us by the fans of that era, our panelists will look at the most popular works published in 1946 and what the fans and readers of the time thought of them.</span></p><p>I'll also be attending the Hugo Awards ceremony. And I'll be visiting numerous museums, etc., in Chicago before the convention begins. Other parts of my schedule remain TBD.</p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Reviews/Podcasts/Video Updates</span></b></p><p>Good grief, I hadn't updated my blog since February! </p><p><b>Reviews: </b>Even before my layoff, I've been itching to get back to reviewing. I have a couple of ARCs from NetGalley in my TBR already, and expect to start tackling them this week, along with my WorldCon homework. </p><p><b>Books currently in progress:</b> "1946: The Making of the Modern World" by Victor Sebestyen, "The Best of C.L. Moore" (1975 collection), and, just for fun, Arkham Horror's "Grim Investigations: The Collected Novellas Volume 2."</p><p><b>Video/Podcast:</b> I'm on Seth Heasley's Hugos There podcast again, for the "2022 Nominees for Best Novella – Discussion Panel" -- recorded on July 23, 2022, it's also a video, which you can watch here: <a href="https://hugospodcast.com/podcast/2022-nominees-for-best-novella-discussion-panel/">https://hugospodcast.com/podcast/2022-nominees-for-best-novella-discussion-panel/</a></p><p>Other panelists besides Seth are Cora Buhlert, Gretchen Jones, Ivor Watkins, Juan Sanmiguel, Kristenelle, Lori Anderson, Olav Rokne, Rob Tomshany, and Scott Ullery. My top 2 favorite novellas were The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente and Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky.</p><p><b>Skiffy and Fanty: </b>On April 3, I was on a Patreon-only podcast from the Skiffy and Fanty Show, discussing "Conflict in SF/F" with Shaun Duke and Brandon O'Brien. A very broad topic! In other Skiffy and Fanty news, I am stepping up to help with audio editing. Basically, I do some noise cleanup and take out most of the "uh" "um" "like" "you know" etc. fillers, tack on a beginning and ending, and toss it to Shaun for a final polish. My first edited audio this year is the discussion of "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey" <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/462ptolemygrey/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/462ptolemygrey/</a> and I am working on another one this week.</p><p><b>Other podcasts</b>:</p><p>Aug. 15: In the latest SFFaudio podcast, Jesse Willis, Evan Lampe, Conner Kaye, Alex of PulpCovers and I discuss H.P. Lovecraft's The Doom That Came to Sarnath (and <a href="https://mockman.com/chapter/the-doom-that-came-to-sarnath/">Jason Thompson's awesome graphic interpretation</a>, and more). Spoiler: Those murderous, appropriative Sarnathians deserved what they got. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-695-audiobook-readalong-the-doom-that-came-to-sarnath-by-h-p-lovecraft/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-695-audiobook-readalong-the-doom-that-came-to-sarnath-by-h-p-lovecraft/</a></p><p>July 18: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada, and I discussed Robert A. Heinlein's Tunnel In the Sky. Parts were interesting, but I found the ending dissatisfying. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-691-readalong-tunnel-in-the-sky-by-robert-a-heinlein/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-691-readalong-tunnel-in-the-sky-by-robert-a-heinlein/</a></p><p>July 4: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada and I discussed John Wyndham's "The Midwich Cuckoos" novel that was made into movies as "Village of the Damned" and others. There was a lot to discuss in this one! <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-689-readalong-the-midwich-cuckoos-by-john-wyndham/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-689-readalong-the-midwich-cuckoos-by-john-wyndham/</a></p><p>June 20: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Evan Lampe, Alex of PulpCovers, Connor Kaye and I discussed Robert E. Howard's "People of the Black Circle." This is probably my favorite Conan story. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-687-audiobook-readalong-the-people-of-the-black-circle-by-robert-e-howard/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-687-audiobook-readalong-the-people-of-the-black-circle-by-robert-e-howard/</a></p><p>June 6: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada, Will Emmons and I discussed Robert A. Heinlein's "The Star Beast." Either this or "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" was the first Heinlein I ever read. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-685-readalong-the-star-beast-by-robert-a-heinlein/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-685-readalong-the-star-beast-by-robert-a-heinlein/</a></p><p>May 16: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Scott Danielson, Evan Lampe and I discussed James Tiptree Jr.'s "The Screwfly Solution." <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-682-readalong-the-screwfly-solution-by-james-tiptree-jr/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-682-readalong-the-screwfly-solution-by-james-tiptree-jr/</a> This is just a discussion, no readalong, so I highly recommend listening to Pseudopod's free version: <br /><a href="https://pseudopod.org/2014/08/22/pseudopod-400-the-screwfly-solution/">https://pseudopod.org/2014/08/22/pseudopod-400-the-screwfly-solution/</a></p><p>May 9: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Evan Lampe, Will Emmons, Connor Kaye, Alex of PulpCovers and I discussed William R. Bradshaw's "The Goddess of Atvatabar." This was a quite colonialist planetary adventure (hollow earth) that had some interesting ideas that it basically dismissed at the end. Lots of (unintentional, I believe) humor. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-681-audiobook-readalong-the-goddess-of-atvatabar-by-william-r-bradshaw/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-681-audiobook-readalong-the-goddess-of-atvatabar-by-william-r-bradshaw/</a></p><p>April 4: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Scott Danielson, Will Emmons and I discussed William Shakespeare's The Tempest. This is such a masterpiece. I listened to or watched multiple versions of the play in the week leading up to this and never got tired of the various interpretations, although some were definitely better than others. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-676-readalong-the-tempest-by-william-shakespeare/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-676-readalong-the-tempest-by-william-shakespeare/</a></p><p>March 21: On SFFaudio, Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Evan Lampe, Jason Thompson and I discussed H.P. Lovecraft's The Cats of Ulthar. <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-674-audiobook-readalong-the-cats-of-ulthar-by-h-p-lovecraft/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-674-audiobook-readalong-the-cats-of-ulthar-by-h-p-lovecraft/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Update 8/18:</span></b></p><p><b>If you're looking for me at WorldCon/ChiCon8, I'm on the program as TrishEM.</b> </p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Update 9/16:</span></b></p><p>I went to WorldCon/ChiCon8 and had a great time, which I still intend to write a full post about when I have time. I had a panel added, on "The Hollow Earth and other 'SF before SF'" with Heather Rose Jones (moderator), E. Lily Yu and David Stokes. </p><p>Also, I completely forgot to write about ArvCon from Memorial Day Weekend! Once again, I had a major role in running this marathon fundraising stream on the ArvanEleron Twitch channel over Memorial Day Weekend. I ran almost all of the giveaways onstream for the chat, while the games were happening, reorganizing prize packages as needed when some game codes turned out to be broken. We raised $7,051.77 this year. </p><p>More podcasts:</p><p>Aug. 29, 2022: The SFFaudio Podcast #697 – "Almuric" by Robert E. Howard, discussed by Jesse Willis, Evan Lampe, Will Emmons, Connor Kaye (who narrated the audio), Cora Buhlert, and me.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-697-audiobook-readalong-almuric-by-robert-e-howard/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-697-audiobook-readalong-almuric-by-robert-e-howard/</a></p><p>Sept. 5, 2022: The SFFaudio Podcast #698 – "The Dispossessed" by Ursula K. Le Guin, discussed by Jesse, Paul Weimer, Evan Lampe, Will Emmons, and me.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-698-readalong-the-dispossessed-by-ursula-k-le-guin/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-698-readalong-the-dispossessed-by-ursula-k-le-guin/</a></p><p>Sept. 12, 2022: "Flowers for the Sea" by Zin E. Rocklyn on Skiffy and Fanty's subcast, Reading Rangers -- Shaun Duke, and Brandon O'Brien discussed this book with me. Episode 464. <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/464flowersforthesea/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/464flowersforthesea/</a></p><p>I also did the initial audio edits for Skiffy and Fanty episodes 463 and 462, an Andrew Liptak interview and a discussion/review of "The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray," respectively, before handing them to Shaun Duke for their final polishes and releases. I don't talk on those episodes, however.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="font-size: large;">Update 9/19: </span></b></p><p>Sept. 17, 2022: If you're a Patreon supporter of the Skiffy and Fanty Show, you can listen to crew members Shaun Duke, Alex Acks, Brandon O'Brien, Paul Weimer and me talking about our WorldCon experiences: <br /><a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/speculative-25-8-72119642?utm_medium=post_notification_email&utm_source=post_link&utm_campaign=patron_engagement&token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWRpc19rZXkiOiJpYTozODAxZWJjZi1jYTEyLTRmZjAtYjJlMS04ZGE3YjlmNzJhZDQiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjo3MjExOTY0MiwicGF0cm9uX2lkIjozMDA2MDl9.Z_HosU5w7y1eQo7bQcNjBh6IE6n4BQqYNOK5-Oi2-kQ">https://www.patreon.com/posts/speculative-25-8-72119642?utm_medium=post_notification_email&utm_source=post_link&utm_campaign=patron_engagement&token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWRpc19rZXkiOiJpYTozODAxZWJjZi1jYTEyLTRmZjAtYjJlMS04ZGE3YjlmNzJhZDQiLCJwb3N0X2lkIjo3MjExOTY0MiwicGF0cm9uX2lkIjozMDA2MDl9.Z_HosU5w7y1eQo7bQcNjBh6IE6n4BQqYNOK5-Oi2-kQ</a></p><p>Sept. 19, 2022: The SFFaudio Podcast #700 – The Door Into Summer by Robert A. Heinlein, discussed by Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada, Evan Lampe, and me. Interesting technical work, but none of the characters are interesting, not even the protagonist, except for his determined loyalty to his cat. I was really excited for a little while when I thought the little girl was going to grow up to become an inventor herself, but no, that female empowerment plot was only in my dreams. The cat has more inner life portrayed than any of the women in the book do.<br /><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-700-readalong-the-door-into-summer-by-robert-a-heinlein/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-700-readalong-the-door-into-summer-by-robert-a-heinlein/</a></p><p><br /></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-88448381453680442882022-02-02T16:14:00.004-05:002022-02-28T15:37:08.759-05:00New for 2022Happy Groundhog Day! This is a good day to revisit some of my creative activities, from October 2021 through January 2022, from podcasts to paneling, with some streaming writing and RPGS to boot.<div><br /></div><div><b>Podcasts:</b> Mostly SFFAudio in the past few months, but I also appeared on Hugos There again, and I've recorded on a new-to-me show that should be released soon.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nov. 29: "The SFFaudio Podcast #658 – READALONG: Dancing Aztecs by Donald E. Westlake" with Jesse, Paul Weimer and Scott Danielson. Westlake has written some science fiction, but this is a crime caper, one of my favorite standalone Westlake novels. In fact, I went so far as to compare Westlake's affectionate character sketches to Jane Austen's characterizations. Others compared this to the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-658-readalong-dancing-aztecs-by-donald-e-westlake/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-658-readalong-dancing-aztecs-by-donald-e-westlake/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Dec. 6: The SFFaudio Podcast #659 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: The Shadow Of The Vulture by Robert E. Howard" with Jesse, Connor Kaye, Alex (from Pulp Covers), and Chris Schweizer. Not a Conan story, this is 16th-century historical fiction, but it does introduce Red Sonya of Rogatino, who was later repackaged into the Conan comics and movies</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-659-audiobook-readalong-the-shadow-of-the-vulture-by-robert-e-howard/.">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-659-audiobook-readalong-the-shadow-of-the-vulture-by-robert-e-howard/.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Jan. 3: "The SFFaudio Podcast #663 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Murder In The Gunroom by H. Beam Piper" with host Jesse along with Paul Weimer. A pleasantly competent mundane mystery by a writer better know for SFF, which reminded me of some of Rex Stout's non-Nero Wolfe standalone mysteries.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-663-audiobook-readalong-murder-in-the-gunroom-by-h-beam-piper/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-663-audiobook-readalong-murder-in-the-gunroom-by-h-beam-piper/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Panel on Video: </b>In November 2021, I appeared again on <a href="https://hugospodcast.com/" target="_blank">Seth Heasley's Hugos There podcast</a>, except that this time, it was a panel video recording. I thought it was also a podcast, but I can't find that in his feed. You can watch the recording on his Patreon at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/2021-hugo-for-58465159">https://www.patreon.com/posts/2021-hugo-for-58465159</a> or on YouTube at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TkggnYzvKU&t=61s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TkggnYzvKU&t=61s</a> .</div><div><br /></div><div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-TkggnYzvKU" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </div><div><br /></div><div>This panel on "2021 Hugo Nominees Best Dramatic Presentation (Long)" was a lead-up to the Hugo Awards voting, which was late this year due to the pandemic delaying WorldCon. On the panel with me, discussing the Hugo finalists (they were all movies) from 2020, were host Seth Heasley and Juan Sanmiguel, David Agranoff, Nana Amuah, Paul Senior, Steve and Marshall from Androids & Assets, Josh Ziefle, and Lori Anderson. For my favorite, I went back and forth between "Palm Springs" and "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" ("The Old Guard" is what won). I think I settled on Palm Springs there, but Birds of Prey ended as my top pick on the ballot.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>WorldCon</b></div><div>Speaking of the 2021 WorldCon, I went in-person to DisCon III in D.C. Attendees were required to be masked and show proof of vaccination, which was certainly reassuring. If I recall correctly, about 2,600 people attended, and about 25 attendees and staff reported COVID symptoms afterward, but many appeared to have contracted it before, and it definitely wasn't a super-spreader event. I attended many interesting panels, and I went to the Hugo Awards ceremony with a couple of my Skiffy and Fanty friends. I also took a lot of photos at museums and parks, which I posted to Twitter and may eventually upload to Flickr.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Flash Writing</b></div><div>ArvanEleron hosted another Infernal Salon on his Twitch channel, inviting numerous writers and other creatives to participate in a prompted writing session. They all had individual prompts and had about half an hour to write, and then read their creations. The audience also received one prompt ("Ruins are ruins for a reason") and several people, including me, submitted pieces that Arvan read onstream. The name Infernal Salon is from the fact that the writing prompts were taken from the Negocios Infernales card/writing game by Carlos Hernandez and C.S.E. Cooney. The event was a fundraiser for Worldbuilders.</div><div>This time I wrote prose. I didn't think it came together quite as well as my poem, but Carlos and CSE and chat all liked it a lot. The audience pieces start at about 2:06:00, and mine is from 2:12:05 to about 2:14:55. </div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R9eLoK6YdYE" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </div><div><div><b>"Ruins are ruins for a reason"</b></div><div>The mock chapel ruins had always bothered the silent ones. A ruined church was one thing, that was right and proper. But to take the green meadow between the big house and the forest and build a ragged stone corner on it, with an unfinished steeple? What sense did that make?</div><div>But they liked the treacherous spiral stair. At night, they would creep from their shaded swards to nestle in those gneiss niches.</div><div>When the sun shone, children might play as knights and ladies, cowboys and Indians, astronauts and aliens, repurposing the purposeless ruins as castle or fort or moonbase as desired.</div><div>When the ruins were moonlit, their watchers mostly saw courting couples, playing at being scared and then taking comfort in each other. </div><div>Once in a while, a curious soul would wander alone among the shadows, by day or night, fleeing noisy company or simple seeking a mood. The silent ones loved best to watch these loners, wondering at the moods crossing their faces. Sometimes they helped to set those moods, sometimes they reinforced them ... sometimes they swallowed them up!</div><div>When this had happened a few times, the chapel ruins became less popular with the children, and were forbidden by their parents, even though no bodies were ever found. Only a few courting couples with very particular tastes kept frequenting the ruins. </div><div>Ghost-hunters began to haunt the ruins. Nobody mocked them anymore, except from a very safe distance.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Twitch Gaming</b></div><div>Because people's lives have been complicated, and some of us have also had hardware woes, the ShadowCrew hasn't played in The Dragon of Icespire Peak campaign on ArvanEleron's Twitch channel since mid-October. I should probably watch the last episode before resuming my Tabaxi bard character, Grace of the Refreshing Breeze, hopefully later in Feburary. Here's the playlist:</div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGklVrDoisE&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=31">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGklVrDoisE&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=31</a></div><div><br /></div><div>However, I have played D&D a couple of times in a new campaign! Well, it was supposed to be a one-shot, but we've played two sessions so far, and are hoping to wrap it up on Friday, Feb. 18. It's a module by Critical Crafting called Midwintär’s Mourning. ArvanEleron GMed for Shaun Duke (of Skiffy and Fanty), PrinceJvstin (from so many things!) and me on the Sunday of WorldCon (in person! It was AMAZING to play D&D in person again!) and then we streamed on his channel for part 2. </div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA0fpfGdbcI&t=2759s">Part 1</a></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_q_cFmS1kU&t=856s">Part 2</a></div><div>I am playing Vivian the Victorious, a halfling fighter. battlemaster specialty. </div><div><br /></div><div>UPDATES:</div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWIQIzwVP7Y&t=6s">Part 3 of Midwintär’s Mourning</a> was played on Friday, Feb. 18! Between my character, Shaun Duke's tiefling bard, Sir Reginald Bartholomew III, and PrinceJvstin's dragonborn cleric, Elurian Bluewater, we resolved the adventure satisfactorily.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>On Feb. 22, I guested for the first (but hopefully not last) time on Continuum Drag, a podcast "exploring the forgotten and little seen sci-fi television of yesterday." I really enjoy Luke and Jordan's wryly affectionate takes on old shows. We discussed episodes 9 and 10 of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." This show from the 1970s features Carl Kolchak, an investigative reporter who keeps running up against stories with supernatural aspects. Naturally, I had a great time discussing "The Spanish Moss Murders" and "The Energy Eater" with Luke and Jordan.</div><div><a href="https://continuumdrag.podbean.com/e/181-kolchak-the-night-stalker-episodes-910/">https://continuumdrag.podbean.com/e/181-kolchak-the-night-stalker-episodes-910/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>On Feb. 14, I returned to SFFAudio to discuss "The Seascape Tattoo" by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes with Jesse, Paul Weimer and Scott Danielson. Set in the world of Niven's "The Magic Goes Away," this 2016 entry was far less impressive than the stories that started the series, but we still enjoyed an interesting discussion.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-669-readalong-the-seascape-tattoo-by-larry-niven-and-steven-barnes/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-669-readalong-the-seascape-tattoo-by-larry-niven-and-steven-barnes/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-20603963518237800012021-10-31T23:02:00.000-04:002021-10-31T23:02:10.230-04:00Late 2021 updates on Twitch and podcastsWhen I started to add another update to my January 19 podcasts and Twitch updates, I was told I couldn't switch from HTML mode to Compose mode or else I might lose part of my post so I'm starting another roundup post. Wow, I haven't updated since July 29! <div><br /></div><div>I've attended a couple of Skiffy and Fanty livewatch events of Torture Cinema movies -- for "The Ghosts of Mars" and for "Lady Battle Cop" -- but I had conflict dates with the podcast recordings for both, so I haven't been on any of their episodes lately. </div><div><br /></div><div> I've been fairly busy with an impending move, but I've been on four SFFAudio podcasts released in the last few months, recorded months in advance:
<br /><br /></div><div>Aug. 9: "The SFFaudio Podcast #642 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: 'The Sowers Of The Thunder' by Robert E. Howard" with Jesse Willis, Will Emmons, and Alex and Connor Kaye.
<a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-642-audiobook-readalong-the-sowers-of-the-thunder-by-robert-e-howard/" target="_blank">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-642-audiobook-readalong-the-sowers-of-the-thunder-by-robert-e-howard/</a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Aug. 16: "The SFFaudio Podcast #643 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: 'The Hound' by H.P. Lovecraft" with Jesse Willis, Evan Lampe, Will Emmons and Connor Kaye.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-643-audiobook-readalong-the-hound-by-h-p-lovecraft/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-643-audiobook-readalong-the-hound-by-h-p-lovecraft/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Sept. 13: "The SFFaudio Podcast #647 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: 'The Picture In The House' by H.P. Lovecraft" with Jesse Willis and Connor Kaye.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-647-audiobook-readalong-the-picture-in-the-house-by-h-p-lovecraft/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-647-audiobook-readalong-the-picture-in-the-house-by-h-p-lovecraft/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Oct. 18: "The SFFaudio Podcast #652 – READALONG: 'Farmer In The Sky' by Robert A. Heinlein" with Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Maissa Bessada and Evan Lampe.</div><div><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-652-readalong-farmer-in-the-sky-by-robert-a-heinlein/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-652-readalong-farmer-in-the-sky-by-robert-a-heinlein/</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, these are all old stories, but I and several others in each discussion try to bring a critical 21st-century eye to them, while recognizing some merits in each (except The Hound, which I remember with no fondness at all). However, this month we discussed a major story by James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Bradley Sheldon), which will come out in another six months or so.</div><div><br /></div><div>Twitch:</div><div>Several of the channels I follow have been on hiatus for the last few months, due to hate raids, marriages and other reasons. ArvanEleron has continued to be an active streamer, and I've played Grace of the Refreshing Breeze, a tabaxi bard, live onstream for Community D&D: The Dragon of Icespire Peak, several more times. Episodes are here:</div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, I wrote a poem for a 30-minute creative writing challenge (extended to 36 minutes) during an Infernal Salon fundraising stream for the 2022 Strange Horizons kickstarter on Oct. 24, hosted by C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez on Arvan Eleron's Twitch stream. More than 20 people connected in some way with Strange Horizons came and did a panel, giving brief self-intros and then writing to prompts from the lovely and disconcerting Negocios Infernales card game.</div><div>Three non-panelist people who were watching the fundraiser also submitted poems or stories they wrote during the stream, and I was one of them. </div><div>These are the three writing prompts; I used them all for inspiration: </div><div><a href="https://twitter.com/csecooney/status/1452442455752728585">https://twitter.com/csecooney/status/1452442455752728585</a></div><div>"If it unlocks, it's a lockpick"</div><div>"How perfect the poem before it is written"</div><div>"Live long enough for better stars"</div><div>Arvan Eleron kindly read my poem onstream, starting at about 3:39:33:</div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aQMLh1yr-Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aQMLh1yr-Q</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the poem. I submitted the three stanzas that night and added the title the next day.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keys to Better Stars</div><div><br /></div><div><div>To find the key, first find your awareness:</div><div>What are you trying to open? What do you seek to unfold?</div><div>There is no understanding without a fair test.</div><div>Not all keys look like keys; the keyhole can be the whole.</div><div><br /></div><div>The keyhole and key are partners in a dance.</div><div>Imagine what you want, feed it with your zeal.</div><div>Plan it out first or ride/write the winds of chance</div><div>Let it live in your mind and then make it real.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let your desires build, for better or for worse.</div><div>Feed your seeds in secret, let them grow, then go through</div><div>into the wide and wondrous universe.</div><div>May the best of your dreams outlive you.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-60710572699238416052021-06-15T00:12:00.003-04:002021-07-01T13:55:47.799-04:00Barding for BardandBarbarian<p> I started watching https://www.twitch.tv/bardandbarbarian one night when, among the Twitch recommendations, I saw that an Episode 1 of Dread Rising, a zombie apocalypse game, had started. I figured that it would be easy to dive in, and I could drop it if it wasn't interesting.</p><p>Well, I've been watching every week; the finale is [June 16, two days from this writing]. I love this ill-assorted trashfire of a party, playing their roles with conviction no matter how much conflict that creates with the other characters. Some are genre-savvy while others are decidedly not. Some are trying to save loved ones (including a Honda), while others are ready to just destroy anything that gets in their way. It's been very amusing.</p><p>Two weeks ago, I wrote bredliks for each character, during the stream:</p><p>Quin Strong: <i>My name is Quinn, I have a gun; Shut up soldier, and let me run!</i></p><p>Maxwell Gray: <i>Barbara my love, we need to move; and I to you, my love will prove.</i></p><p>Clyde Myst: <i>Jetta my queen, our love is true! Don't walk away! Oh, boo hoo hoo.</i></p><p>Daniel Smith: <i>My genre lore will save the day; survival by zombie cosplay!</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Last Tuesday, I wrote a limerick as the show started:</p><p><i>Finally leaving the hospital; key to surviving the zombiefall. <br /></i><i>This party of four Could live one day more,<br /></i><i>Though they work as a group not at all.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Having become a fan of that, I have added another show on that channel, "Call of Cthulhu: Iron Dust & Blood." It's cosmic horror set in the Wild West. For this one, I jumped into the middle of the campaign. </p><p>Last Thursday, at the beginning of the CoCIDB episode, naive young Maybelle Monroe slipped an anonymous sonnet under the hotel door of Dallas Rex Mason. He read just enough to realize what it was, and stopped reading. </p><p>I decided to take the challenge and write the sonnet that Maybelle might have written. Given that it was supposed to be by a teenager, I did not polish away the word repetitions, etc.; this is pretty much how it came into my head. I take some pride in the rhymes in the first and third lines in the middle quatrain, and I am particularly fond of the dreadful fourth line in that stanza.</p><p><i><b>Love in the Dead of Winter: An anonymous letter </b></i></p><p><i><b>"Spending all winter in this tiny town<br />Has made me think much on how I feel.<br />But it's hard to pin those feelings down;<br />How much is imagined, and how much real?</b></i></p><p><i><b>"You surely are a fine gentleman;<br />Courteous, capable, kind.<br />But maybe I'm too sentimental when<br />my heart could all be in my mind.</b></i></p><p><i><b>"Is it just that I'm scared and need a broad shoulder,<br />Or can I trust the warmth in my heart?<br />You, sir, would help if you'd be a bit bolder;<br />if you'd only step up and play your part!<br />This poem right here is all I can dare;<br />please let me know whether you, too, care!"</b></i></p><p>I finished it before the stream ended and posted it in the chat after they finished the action and were wrapping up. Diana, who plays Maybelle, was kind enough to read it on stream, in character!</p><p><a href="https://clips.twitch.tv/ElatedEnchantingWoodpeckerPrimeMe-Sya8AYfwSypkNqCC">https://clips.twitch.tv/ElatedEnchantingWoodpeckerPrimeMe-Sya8AYfwSypkNqCC</a></p>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3008588175643826594.post-28186314162315194312021-01-19T15:23:00.015-05:002021-07-29T13:25:06.997-04:00Podcasts and Twitch Updates<p> Happy New Year!</p><p>Since my last social media update on 12/1/20, I've been up to a few more things.</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Podcasting</h3><p><b>Stargate SG-Fun</b></p><p>Two more Stargate SG-1 reviews have been released. I'm the host, with David Schaub and Andrew Pontious:</p><p>Where Do Little Goa’ulds Come From (Stargate SG-1 “Bloodlines” to “Singularity”)</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/682/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/682/</a></p><p>and A Little More Oomph (Stargate SG-1 “Cor-ai” to “Solitudes”)</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/685/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/685/</a></p><p>All the Stargate podcasts can be found here:</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/stargate/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/stargate/</a></p><p>We announce new episodes on Twitter, and welcome comments:</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/stargate_sg_fun">https://twitter.com/stargate_sg_fun</a></p><p>Members of The Incomparable's Slack can also discuss things with us there.</p><p>Two more SG-Fun podcasts are in the can that haven't been edited and released yet.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>SFF Audio</b></p><p>Two more SFFAudio podcasts that I'm on have been released, and I've been on a few more that aren't released yet:</p><p>The SFFaudio Podcast #610 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Star Hunter by Andre Norton, Dec. 28, 2020. I was astonished at how disappointed I was in this book's bait-and-switch meandering plot, since I read and enjoyed a lot of Andre Norton in my teens. We all disliked it, but the discussion was good. I recommend fast-forwarding to 3:37:53. With Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Will Emmons, and J. Manfred Weichsel.</p><p><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-610-audiobook-readalong-star-hunter-by-andre-norton/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-610-audiobook-readalong-star-hunter-by-andre-norton/</a></p><p>The SFFaudio Podcast #611 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Jewels of Gwahlur by Robert E. Howard (Jan. 4, 2021). Not the best Conan story, but fine, and as always, the discussion ranges far afield. With Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Will Emmons, and Alex (pulpcovers.com).</p><p><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-611-audiobook-readalong-jewels-of-gwahlur-by-robert-e-howard/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-611-audiobook-readalong-jewels-of-gwahlur-by-robert-e-howard/</a></p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Twitch</h3><p>The ShadowCrew's campaign, where I play a Tabaxi Bard, Grace of the Refreshing Breeze, continued on Dec. 3. </p><p>Arv streams Day 18 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--The Sword & the Stalker! </p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMZn1OwJY8c&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=18">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMZn1OwJY8c&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=18</a></p><p>Next episode, hopefully, is tomorrow, Jan. 20, at 9 Eastern on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron">https://www.twitch.tv/arvaneleron</a> !</p><p><br /></p><p>I also played a druid, Willow Kingsfoil, in what was supposed to be a D&D With Viewers one-shot but stretched into two nights in December, called Winter's Splendor. The first night was a little agonizing, as we fumbled around trying to solve a mystery, but I was very pleased to collaborate with Brandon O'Brien in crafting a poem in-game!</p><p> Arv streams a special holiday edition of D&D with Viewers--Winter's Splendor!</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-D7guGXU6U">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-D7guGXU6U</a></p><p>Arv streams a special holiday edition of D&D with Viewers--Winter's Splendor, Part Two!</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgsoVwucubg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgsoVwucubg</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 1/24/21: </b>We did play CD&D on Jan. 20. Here is the link for "Day 19 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--Favors at Falcon's!":</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4-bz8u8SAM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4-bz8u8SAM</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 1/25/21:</b> Another SG-Fun podcast was released!</p><p>Goo Not Go (Stargate SG-1 “Tin Man” to “Within the Serpent’s Grasp”)</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/686/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/686/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 2/28/21: </b></p><p>I've been on another SFF Audio podcast, discussing The Untamed, a 1919 Weird Western sort of novel by Max Brand, with Paul Weimer, Jesse Willis, Evan Lampe, Maissa Bessada, Will Emmons, and Jonathan Juett. The linked podcast includes the 7+ hour audiobox from Librivox, and then we have a wide-ranging and very interesting (to me, at least) conversation about it. I don't think you need to listen to the audiobook to enjoy our talk, but I do think you'll get more out of it. The tale is a bit old-fashioned, in language and pace as well as some attitudes, but I liked it.</p><p><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-617-audiobook-readalong-the-untamed-by-max-brand/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-617-audiobook-readalong-the-untamed-by-max-brand/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Another Stargate SG-Fun review has been released. I'm the host, with David Schaub and Andrew Pontious:</p><p>Goo Not Go (Stargate SG-1 “Tin Man” to “Within the Serpent’s Grasp”)</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/686/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/686/</a></p><p><br /></p><p>And I continue to play D&D on Arvan Eleron's Twitch stream, with the ShadowCrew:</p><p>Day 20 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--Metamorphoses at the Manse, Part One!</p><p><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=_GWyN1t3a2U">youtube.com/watch?v=_GWyN1t3a2U</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 3/24/21</b></p><p>David Schaub and I returned to the Supergirl Supercast to review the pilot of the new CW show, Superman&Lois:</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/694/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/694/</a></p><p>I continue to play in the Community D&D campaign on Arvan Eleron's Twitch stream:</p><p>Arv streams Day 21 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--Of Manse and Magic!</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVpXEm6xq7I&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=23">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVpXEm6xq7I&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=23</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 4/5/21</b></p><p><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-624-audiobook-readalong-william-wilson-by-edgar-allan-poe/" target="_blank">The SFFaudio Podcast #624 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe</a></p><p>I'm in this with host Jesse Willis and fellow guests Paul Weimer, Evan Lampe, and Will Emmons. The story is about 53 minutes, then we have about 90 minutes of fairly on-topic discussion, we return to the topic occasionally for the next half hour, we talk another 20 minutes and wrap. Then Jesse tacks on our 40 minutes of pre-show chatting!</p><p>Yesterday, I recorded another SG-Fun (we have quite a backlog built up), and today, I recorded a discussion of the Supergirl S6 premiere!</p><p>Finally, I continue to play in the Community D&D campaign on Arvan Eleron's Twitch stream.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQcjB5dCa0&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=23">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQcjB5dCa0&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=23</a></p><p>Arv streams Day 22 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--Hog Hooves of Thunder!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 4/6/21</b></p><p><a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/419captivesoftheflame/">https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/419captivesoftheflame/</a></p><p>Shaun Duke and I discuss Samuel R. Delaney's Captives of the Flame!<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 4/11/21</b></p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/704/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/704/</a></p><p>David Schaub, Alan Yu, Brianna Taeuber and I return to the Supercast to discuss the Season 6 premiere and sort-of-Season-5-finale of Supergirl.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 4/21/21</b></p><p><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-626-readalong-the-jewel-of-seven-stars-by-bram-stoker/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-626-readalong-the-jewel-of-seven-stars-by-bram-stoker/</a></p><p>The SFFaudio Podcast #626 – READALONG: The Jewel Of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker with Jesse Willis, Maissa Bessada, and Will Emmons</p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/706/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/706/</a></p><p>David Schaub and I discuss Supergirl Season 6, Episode 2, "A Few Good Women"</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 6/15/21</b></p><p><a href="https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/supergirl/">https://www.theincomparable.com/teevee/supergirl/</a></p><p>Supergirl S6E03 Review: “Phantom Menaces” (released April 28) with David Schaub</p><p><a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-629-audiobook-readalong-rastignac-the-devil-by-philip-jose-farmer/">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-629-audiobook-readalong-rastignac-the-devil-by-philip-jose-farmer/</a></p><p>The SFFaudio Podcast #629 – AUDIOBOOK/READALONG: Rastignac The Devil by Philip José Farmer with Jesse Willis, Will Emmons, and me. This is an odd book with some odd ideas; maybe skip it and just listen to the discussion. (released May 10)</p><p>Finally, our Community D&D campaign continues on ArvanEleron's Twitch channel!</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NT5l46mKUI&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=25">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NT5l46mKUI&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=25</a></p><p>Arv streams Day 23 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--The Summoned Swine! (released May 20)</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOEivZ3tjjA&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=25">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOEivZ3tjjA&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=25</a></p><p>Arv streams Day 24 of Community D&D: Dragon of Icespire Peak--An Inquisitory Interlude! (released May 20)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update 7/1/21</b></p><p><a href="https://hugospodcast.com/podcast/hugos-there-podcast-54-a-memory-called-empire-by-arkady-martine-feat-trish-e-matson/">I made my first appearance on the Hugos There podcast on July 1</a>. I discussed the 2020 Hugo Best Novel winner (and my own top vote), Arkady Martine's <i>A Memory Called Empire</i>, with the host, Seth Heasley. </p><p>I was on another <a href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-635-readalong-sin-hellcat-by-lawrence-block-and-donald-e-westlake/">SFFAudio podcast, this time discussing <i>Sin Hellcat</i></a> by Lawrence Block and Donald Westlake, with Paul Weimer, Evan Lampe, and host Jesse Willis. I love both those authors, but I do not recommend this book, especially for modern readers. But the discussion was certainly interesting!</p><p>As explained in a separate 6/15 post, <a href="http://whatsthewordnow.blogspot.com/2021/06/barding-for-bardandbarbarian.html">I wrote a love sonnet during the BardandBarbarian Twitch stream</a>, and the player was kind enough to read it at the end of the session. </p><p>I continued to play a Tabaxi bard, Grace of the Refreshing Breeze, on The Dragon of Icespire Peak on Arvan Eleron's Twitch stream. Day 25&26:</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSDuLTnUVCs&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=26">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSDuLTnUVCs&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=26</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noO4eIaDDC0&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=27">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noO4eIaDDC0&list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&index=27</a></p><p>and I cosplayed as Grace during the May 29 session. It was a significant game, as part of a significant weekend. Read on ...</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uo1CwkSfqkez_KQNnjS-As5urKYSl4Svl2I8xb3RVQquUkMxN5k9ajVRPMORl1f2fiHHPhaQ5skpeGOz91-IM8fYiY24CP7dKk_VTYIXEPEthWKgu0fwQsfD92sToKZBjE3kNsVKKbA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uo1CwkSfqkez_KQNnjS-As5urKYSl4Svl2I8xb3RVQquUkMxN5k9ajVRPMORl1f2fiHHPhaQ5skpeGOz91-IM8fYiY24CP7dKk_VTYIXEPEthWKgu0fwQsfD92sToKZBjE3kNsVKKbA/" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div>Finally, and most importantly, I helped run ArvCon, the Memorial Weekend charity fundraiser, May 28-31, on <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://twitch.tv/ArvanEleron&source=gmail&ust=1625251681196000&usg=AFQjCNF2JUoww7ysS48DjrB_EUfisqgecQ" href="http://twitch.tv/ArvanEleron" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">twitch.tv/ArvanEleron</a> -- I was one of the moderators, and I carried out most of the giveaways. We blew past our goal and raised $7,000 for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.</div><div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.damonrunyon.org/&source=gmail&ust=1625251681196000&usg=AFQjCNGzZRovuIDworjMFz-Azo9Vwg1iDQ" href="https://www.damonrunyon.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">https://www.damonrunyon.org/</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Update 7/29/2021:</span></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I discussed Milo Hastings' In the Clutch of the War-God on SFFAudio with Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Evan Lampe, Bryan Alexander and Kate Follis: <br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-637-audiobook-readalong-in-the-clutch-of-the-war-god-by-milo-hastings/&source=gmail&ust=1627664820243000&usg=AFQjCNGCv353qDsdTRgPdRHnxckzRe760w" href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-637-audiobook-readalong-in-the-clutch-of-the-war-god-by-milo-hastings/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-<wbr></wbr>sffaudio-podcast-637-<wbr></wbr>audiobook-readalong-in-the-<wbr></wbr>clutch-of-the-war-god-by-milo-<wbr></wbr>hastings/</a><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I discussed Vonda N. McIntyre's Dreamsnake on SFFAudio with Jesse Willis, Paul Weimer, Scott Danielson, Maissa Bessada and Will Emmons:</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-638-readalong-dreamsnake-by-vonda-n-mcintyre/&source=gmail&ust=1627664820243000&usg=AFQjCNEBAUd7Io2Te5MGcgGnqwxt3Om_6Q" href="https://www.sffaudio.com/the-sffaudio-podcast-638-readalong-dreamsnake-by-vonda-n-mcintyre/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.sffaudio.com/the-<wbr></wbr>sffaudio-podcast-638-<wbr></wbr>readalong-dreamsnake-by-vonda-<wbr></wbr>n-mcintyre/</a><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I continue to play Grace of the Refreshing Breeze, a Tabaxi bard, on The Dragon of Icespire Peak, a D&D 5e campaign on Twitch.tv/ArvanEleron . You can see the episodes here: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list%3DPLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i&source=gmail&ust=1627664820244000&usg=AFQjCNHm8IKn5A-JxRFs-0AXFtTz1h1C9Q" href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6yY-i" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/<wbr></wbr>playlist?list=<wbr></wbr>PLTBKdAD6ibG9ynqpIjaPXgAHYzQH6<wbr></wbr>yY-i</a></span></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></div>TrishEMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18298314202870039396noreply@blogger.com0