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Tag Archives: StoryBundle
Pixel Scroll 11/15/22 One Scroll, Furnished In Early Pixelry
Posted on November 15, 2022 by Mike Glyer
(1) LOCUS OPENS CROWDFUNDING APPEAL. At Tor.com LP Kindred declares "Locus Magazine Is Essential to the SFF Community" which is why you should support its Indiegogo appeal. Donors have responded by giving $17,064 of the $75,000 flexible goal on the first day.
… After 54 years of speculative fiction journalism, we are in danger of losing Locus Magazine. With the rising costs of physical publishing, the mass exodus toward digital, and the rising costs of living, the margins at Locus narrow from month to month. And if no one takes action, we could lose this resource in less than a year.
Contributing reviewers return to publishing reviews for free. The six full-time staff members lose their salaries and benefits. Our community loses the Locus Awards and the honor of the Recommended Reading List. We lose a breadth of speculative journalism including short story and book reviews, spotlights, interviews, acquisition announcements, cover reveals, press releases, articles, essays for, by, and about people in speculative fiction.
I won't pretend I had a Locus subscription when I got this news. To the contrary, I thought I had time. I thought that was something you acquired when you were farther along in your career. But it's become clear that if we don't start contributing to speculative fiction institutions, they might not be here when we think we're ready for them and they definitely won't be around for the generations of writers behind mine.
The brass at Locus is dreaming up new ways to be of service to the community at the same time that it's searching for ways to sustain. By the time you're reading this, the Indiegogo campaign will be live. There's a subscription drive in the offing as well as an auction.
In the same way that readership and fundraising are the lifeblood of so many magazines we aspire to and love to read as fiction readers and writers, this journalistic institution needs you and I to help it keep its pages open. It is an archive of science fiction past and present, and Locus needs us to help it carry us into the future.
(2) BACK TO THE FUTURE. Martin Wisse says he is ready to march "Into the glorious future of blogging made possible by Elon Musk – Wis[s]e Words (cloggie.org) at Wis[s]e Words.
Due to the glorious future Twitter is being dragged kicking and screaming into thanks to the inspired leadership of Elon Musk, suupergenius, UI thought it was time to give the ol' blog a bit of attention again. Not that I haven't been blogging semi-regularly, but whereas a decade ago I'd hit a post a day fairly regularly, the past couple of years I've lucky to get into double digits in a given month. Mostly focused on anime too, as for political and other writing Twitter was just too handy. But if Twitter is going away, will blogs make a comeback?…
(3) SFWA STORYBUNDLE. The SFWA Magical Mysteries StoryBundle of novels with characters that ask "What Am I Doing Here?" is available for through November 30.
The Magical Mysteries StoryBundle features ten fantasy books that have protagonists shaking their heads and wondering how the heck they got into this, whether "this" is discovering a dragon in a coal mine or that they've found themselves in a nightmarish game of chess. Join us for tales of burgeoning magic, portal fantasies, strange creatures and … you guessed it: characters who have no idea what's going on.
SFWA StoryBundles are collections of ebooks curated by the SFWA Indie Authors Committee and offered at a discounted price. Readers decide what price they want to pay. For $5 (or more, if they're feeling generous), they get the core bundle of four books in any ebook format available—WORLDWIDE!
The Dragon's Playlist by Laura Bickle
Jester by Geoff Hart
Dragon Dreams by Chris A. Jackson
Ritual of the Ancients by Roan Rosser
If they pay at least $20, they get all four of the core books, plus six more books, for a total of ten!
The Sister Paradox by Jack Campbell
Sorrow and Joy by D.R. Perry
Revise The World by Brenda W. Clough
The Year's Midnight by Rachel Neumeier
Pawn's Gambit by Darin Kennedy
Spindled by Shanna Swendson
Readers will gain a rich library of fantasy ebooks and can opt to donate part of their purchase price to support SFWA's ongoing work to promote and support speculative fiction genres and writers.
(4) SKEPTICISM. The Guardian's Ismene Ormonde asks "Inspirational passion or paid-for promotion: can BookTok be taken on face value?"
BookTok, the nickname for TikTok videos in which books are discussed, analysed, cried about and turned into "aesthetic" moodboards, began as a small group of the app's users who wanted a place to talk about books. It has since grown into a hugely influential community that has the power to pluck authors out of relative obscurity and propel them into the bestsellers charts.
Earlier this month it was named FutureBook Person of the Year, an accolade which recognises digital innovation and excellence across the book trade. According to James Stafford, Head of Partnerships and Community at TikTok, BookTok is a community of "creative people around the world with a shared passion for literature". Publishers, creators and writers have generally agreed that this corner of the platform has had an overwhelmingly positive effect, having led to huge increases in book sales and the discovery of new writers. The Bookseller even recently called it "the last safe place on the internet"….
(5) IMAGINARY PAPERS. The ASU Center for Science and the Imagination has published the latest issue of Imaginary Papers, their quarterly newsletter on science fiction worldbuilding, futures thinking, and imagination.
The issue features an essay by the artist, researcher, and critic Zoyander Street on the 2017 BBC utopian film Carnage, and another on Adolfo Bioy Casares' 1940 novel The Invention of Morel, by writer, podcaster, and lawyer Jason Tashea, who works on the future of criminal justice. There's also a brief writeup of Vice Motherboard's anthology Terraform: Watch/Worlds/Burn.
Carnage (2017)
The year is 2067. A diverse polycule of androgynous young people, wearing what appears to be glittering eye makeup, walk hand in hand through a sunny field, glass pyramids shining on the horizon. Comedian Simon Amstell narrates: "Though we rarely think about it, Britain is now raising the most peaceful and happy humans ever. Violence has been defeated with compassion, depression cured with intimacy."
Carnage is a feature-length mockumentary written and directed by Amstell, and published on the BBC's iPlayer in March 2017. In its utopian future, British people now live in harmony with nature and do not eat meat or animal products. Audiences are invited to reflect on Britain's history of "carnism," a term adopted to refer to the archaic practice of eating animals and animal-derived products. Their history is our present, so the film is a darkly comic appraisal of intergenerational trauma in the making. Characters represent the perspectives of different generations: millennial seniors undergo group therapy to process their shame at having participated in a system of abuse, while the generation reaching adulthood in the 2060s tries to make sense of the atrocities committed by their parents and grandparents….
1951 — [By Cat Eldridge.] Strangers on a Train
Seventy-one years ago, Strangers on a Train premiered. It's a classic film noir which was produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
It was based on the Strangers on a Train novel by Patricia Highsmith that she had written just the previous year. Hitchcock secured the rights to the novel for only $7,500 since it was her first novel. As per his practice, he kept his name out of the negotiations to keep the purchase price low. Naturally she was quite angry when she later discovered who bought the rights for such a pitiful amount.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS, MAY I SUGGEST YOU GO TO THE BAR NOW?
On a train, two strangers meet and swap the idea of murders — Bruno, who is actually a psychopath, suggests he kill Guy's wife Miriam and Guy kill Bruno's hated father. Each will murder a stranger, with no apparent motive, so neither will be suspected. The perfect murders. Or so they think oh so smugly.
Apparently they vary out the murders, or do they? Miriam shows up alive, Guy actually has no attention of killing Bruno's father which leads to, of all things a fight between them on carnival wheel that mortally wounds .Bruno
I've no idea why the psychopath didn't kill his victim, nor does Hitchcock give us a clue.
Sometime later, another stranger on a train attempts to strike up conversation with Guy in the same way as had Bruno with Guy, about Anne, the daughter of the US Senator he wants to marry (which is why he wants to kill his still alive wife — don't think about that too long) but Guy turns and walks away from him.
ENJOY YOUR DRINK IN THE BAR? COME ON BACK.
Hitchcock hated the leads, Farley Granger as Guy Haines, Ruth Roman as Anne Morton and Robert Walker as Bruno, as the Studio which paid for the production would be the one that choose the performers. He openly scorned Ruth Roman throughout the production saying she was "lacking in sex appeal".
(Warner Bros. wanted their own stars, already under contract, cast wherever possible. All studios did this because it was considerably cheaper than hiring freelancers. Hitchcock of course thought money was no object and bitterly complained.)
Though critics at the time were at best lukewarm, audience reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes are giving it a ninety eight percent rating. And it did great at the box office — the production costs were just one point six million dollars and it made seven million in its initial run. Very impressive.
Born November 15, 1877 — William Hope Hodgson. By far, his best known character is Thomas Carnacki, featured in several of his most famous stories and at least partly based upon Algernon Blackwood's occult detective John Silence. (Simon R. Green will make use of him in his Ghost Finders series.) Two of his later novels, The House on the Borderland and The Night Land would be lavishly praised by H.P. Lovecraft. While serving as a Lieutenant in the army, he was killed by the direct impact of an artillery shell at the Fourth Battle of Ypres in April 1918. (Died 1918.)
Born November 15, 1879 — Lewis Stone. He was Lord John Roxton in The Lost World which premiered here in 1925 making it one of the earliest cinematic adaptations of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel. If you define Treasure Island as genre, that's his only other genre role where he's Captain Smollett. (Died 1953.)
Born November 15, 1929 — Ed Asner. Genre work includes roles on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Outer Limits, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The Invaders, The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends, Batman: The Animated Series and I'll stop there as the list goes on for quite awhile. (Died 2021.)
Born November 15, 1933 — Theodore Roszak. Winner of the Tiptree Award for The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein (1995), and the rather excellent Flicker which is well worth reading. Flicker is available at the usual suspects, and his only other available fiction is his Japanese folktales. Odd. (Died 2011.)
Born November 15, 1934 — Joanna Barnes. Genre work includes roles on Planet of the Apes TV series and Fantasy Island. (Died 2022.)
Born November 15, 1942 — Ruth Berman, 80. She's a writer of mostly speculative poetry. In 2003, she won the Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem for "Potherb Gardening", and in 2016 for "Time Travel Vocabulary Problems". She was the winner of the 2006 Dwarf Stars Award for her poem "Knowledge Of". She's also written one YA fantasy novel, Bradamant's quest. In 1973, she was a finalist for the first Astounding Award for Best New Writer. She edited the Dunkiton Press genre zine for a decade or so. She was nominated for Best Fan Writer Hugo at Baycon (1968). Impressive indeed.
Born November 15, 1972 — Jonny Lee Miller, 50. British actor and director who played Sherlock Holmes on the exemplary Elementary series, but his first genre role was as a nine year-old with the Fifth Doctor story, "Kinda". While he's had a fairly steady stage, film, and TV career across the pond since then, it's only in the last decade that he's become well-known in the States – unless, like JJ, you remember that twenty-three years ago he appeared in a technothriller called Hackers, with another unknown young actor named Angelina Jolie (to whom he ended up married, until they separated eighteen months months later). Other genre appearances include a trio of vampire films, Dracula 2000, Dark Shadows, and Byzantium, the live-action Æon Flux movie, and the lead in the pseudo-fantasy TV series Eli Stone. (JJ)
(8) NO NEWS MAY BE GOOD NEWS. J. Michael Straczyski told Twitter "'Babylon 5′ reboot could still happen, if we're patient" reports SYFY Wire.
It's been a little more than a year since news of a potential reboot of Babylon 5 surfaced over at The CW. Since then things have stalled in a big way, and remained stalled as The CW goes through major changes after its purchase by Nexstar Media Group. So, what does all that upheaval mean for our chances at more B5? According to creator J. Michael Straczynski, it means we wait, and it's as simple as that….
— and when it does I'll get it out as soon as possible or at minimum let you know that something has been decided. Through 30+ years of rumors and online nonsense I've always dealt straight with the B5 fan community. Waiting is hard, but wait we must until *something* is decided
— J. Michael Straczynski (@straczynski) November 13, 2022
(9) THE UPSIDE DOWN. If you're in LA and have a few extra bucks, you can enter into "Stranger Things: The Experience".
EVER WANTED TO BE THE PROTAGONIST OF A STRANGER THINGS ADVENTURE?
Your chance has arrived. Stranger Things: The Experience throws you headfirst into your favorite show —join Eleven, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Max, and Will for a very special episode starring… you! Venture inside Hawkins Lab for a 45 mins. immersive experience featuring a brand-new Stranger Things storyline, then explore an 80's-themed Mix-Tape medley with food & drinks, special merchandise, photo ops, and much more.
A post shared by Stranger Things Experience (@strangerthings.experience)
(10) THEIR COPYEDITOR MUST BE MY COUSIN. [Item by Daniel Dern.] From a tech PR email pitch:
Subject: Hackers using stenography for malware attacks – expert source
Daniel Dern adds, "They did get the term correct within the text – 'steganography' – and their response to my politely noting the hiccup, was as I expected, 'Damn autocorrect!'"
(11) A GAME THAT TEACHES BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION. Nature Kin is a collaborative card game to help young people and families cultivate ecological literacy. The game puts players in charge of an open space where they and their friends race to find a home for 28 different native plants, animals, and insects.
Patrick Coleman (assistant director, Clarke Center) created the game with the help of his two young daughters, who adore the abundant nature we have in San Diego County: one of the top ten biodiversity hotspots in the country.
They have launched an Indiegogo campaign to help bring that game to the world and as of today it has raised $783 of the $1500 flexible goal.
Also, for every set purchased during the Indiegogo campaign, they will donate one set to a young person through a school or community outreach program, doubling your impact, and donate $5 to Project Wildlife (part of the San Diego Humane Society), a wildlife rehabilitation program that gives injured, orphaned, and sick wild animals a second chance at life.
(12) LOCAL STONES. Here's a flyby comparison of all the moons of Uranus and Neptune – except the flyby is set above a familiar cityscape for real impact. I never knew how many moons look more like potatoes than billiard balls.
All known moons of the planets Uranus and Neptune, arranged in order of size. Uranus has 27 moons discovered so far and Neptune has 14. Some moons are known with Triton, Miranda or Titania, but there are many more smaller moons that are little known.
[Thanks to JJ, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Joey Eschrich, Rich Lynch, Andrew Porter, Michael Toman, Cat Eldridge, and Mike Kennedy for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Andrew (not Werdna).]
Posted in Pixel Scroll | Tagged Babylon 5, BookTok, Center for Science and Imagination, Imaginary Papers, Indiegogo, J. Michael Straczynski, L.P. Kindred, Locus, Martin Wisse, Neptune, SFWA, StoryBundle, Stranger Things, TikTok, Uranus | 9 Replies
Pixel Scroll 10/10/22 I Demand Satisfaction. Pixels At Dawn
Illo by Joe Pearson
(1) ASKING ABOUT BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES IN SF. Prof. Brendan Allison has a question, and File 770 has volunteered to try and crowdsource the answer:
I am an academic researcher in the field of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). I'm writing a book chapter about BCIs in science fiction, called BCI-fi. Among other academic pursuits, I'm looking for the first reference to an artificial brain interface. It must involve a device. I'm just writing you as a way to research this question.
The earliest reference so far was the first X-Men comic in 1963. Professor X can "interface" with psychic power – which doesn't count – but also uses a brain interface to bolster that ability. Frankenstein does use a device to stimulate the brain, but that's arguably not an interface.
Prof. Allison also sent links to recordings of two recent workshops about BCI-fi where one of the participants was Andy Weir. ("BCI Thursdays Next Generations: BCI-fi Part 1" and "BCI Thursdays Next Generations: BCI-fi Part 2".)
In this two-part event, we will have prominent speakers within the BCI-fi community to discuss their contributions to BCI-fi, their favorite examples of BCI-fi including movies, books, and podcasts, and next steps to develop, foster, or publicize "good" BCI-fi. We will be joined by Dr. Brendan Allison (UCSD), Andy Weir (author of The Martian), Dr. Eric Leuthardt (Washington University in St. Louis), Stephen Hou (host of Neurratives podcast), Dr. Richard Ramchurn (University of Nottingham), Dr. Jane Huggins (University of Michigan) and Dr. Robert Hampson (Wake Forest University).
(2) IS THERE AN IDEAL LENGTH? "Novels versus novellas in Speculative Fiction" are debated at A Deep Look by Dave Hook.
Many argue that the perfect length for speculative fiction is the novella, or short novel. Some believe that this is long enough to tell a successful story while not longer than needed. It is said that this length allows for character development and change, and perhaps multiple plot lines, while short enough to be taut and not meander or bog down.
I don't know if it's true that the novella is the perfect length for speculative fiction, but it is certainly true that many great works of speculative fiction are novella length, whether works such as "The Times Machine" by H. G. Wells right up to modern fiction such as "A Spindle Splintered" by Alix E. Harrow….
(3) SFWA SF STORYBUNDLE SUBMISSION CALL. The Independent Authors Committee of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) is open for submissions for their science fiction StoryBundle to be released next spring. Submissions will be accepted through October 31, 2022, at 11:59pm Eastern Time. The theme for the call is Space is Big. Really Big. They are looking for space opera and "other books that span large swaths of space." Full guidelines for this submission call can be found here.
StoryBundles are curated collections of books offered at a discounted price. Proceeds go to the participating authors and StoryBundle, and a small cut is donated to SFWA.
This is a great chance for independent and small press authors to gain more exposure and sell more books! Submissions of indie and traditionally published novels will be accepted, though publishers must give permission in writing. You do not need to be a SFWA member to apply!
We welcome full-length science fiction novels of over 40,000 words. We ask that authors submit only one novel, and do not submit a novel that has appeared in any previous StoryBundle (SFWA or otherwise.) Please only submit novels that will be for sale by March 1, 2023. You must have full rights to enter your novel in the StoryBundle, and the novel must not be in Amazon's KDP Select at the time that the StoryBundle is offered. Participants will be notified by December 1, 2022, so that any books enrolled in KDP will have time to be brought out of exclusivity before the bundle is released on or about March 1, 2023.
Questions may be directed to [email protected].
(4) FUNDRAISING FOR THE THOMASES. The Gofundme for "Lynne and Michael Thomas", who are facing the loss of their 19-year-old daughter Caitlin to medical complications from Aicardi Syndrome, had raised $58,486 when checked earlier today. Jim C. Hines, who set up the appeal, explained what it's for:
…I've spoken a bit with Michael. It sounds like the medical costs of Caitlin's treatment are covered. End-of-life costs are another matter.
The goal of this fundraiser is to cover those end-of-life expenses, and to hopefully provide a financial cushion to allow the Thomases to spend their remaining time with Caitlin – and when the time comes, to grieve – without also having to worry about money. All donations will go directly to Michael and Lynne (with the exception of GoFundMe's processing fee)….
(5) EKPEKI CROWDFUNDING. The Gofundme to "Send Oghenechovwe Ekpeki World Fantasy Con" has brought in $2,000 of its $4,000 goal as of this afternoon. Jason Sanford outlined why it's needed:
…A successful previous fundraiser brought Ekpeki to this year's Worldcon, where he was a finalist for two Hugo Awards. However, his gruesome battle with the US embassy in Nigeria for a visa and exorbitant fees and repeated payments resulting from that (including last-minute changes to his international flights) resulted in costs far exceeding what that fundraiser brought in. So this new fundraiser would also mop up those expenses as well….
(6) NEVERTHELESS, A BRADBURY AND ASIMOV FAN. "Temple Grandin Is a Visual Thinker Who Hates Graphic Novels" according to a headline in the New York Times. Here's an excerpt from their interview with Grandin.
What kind of a reader were you as a child? Which childhood books and authors stick with you?
I was not able to read until I was age 8. Mother tutored me with phonics, and I quickly went from no reading to reading above my age level. My favorite books when I was in fourth grade were "Black Beauty," "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and a children's book about famous inventors. I really related to Black Beauty's pain when he was forced to pull a heavy carriage with his head held up by a bearing rein. The inventor book appealed to me because I loved to tinker with my kites to make them fly better.
What genres do you especially enjoy reading and which do you avoid?
I avoid romance novels. The books I really enjoy are either about animals or science fiction. I loved "Merle's Door," by Ted Kerasote. Many dogs today live really restricted lives and they have no normal dog social life. Another favorite is "The Soul of the Octopus," by Sy Montgomery. It really made me think about consciousness. When I received a review copy of "A Dog's Purpose," by W. Bruce Cameron, I could not put it down. In the science fiction genre, I am a fan of Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov.
(7) PICK SIX. How long has this variation been around? A spinoff from Nerds of a Feather's "Six Books" interview series is "6 Games With Aidan Moher".
1. What game are you currently playing?
Appropriately, I'm splitting my time between a couple of JRPGs—one current, one retro.
On the big screen downstairs I'm about 60 hours into Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and still mildly obsessed. I really love a lot of creator Tetsuya Takahashi's older games—especially Xenogears, which I just finished replaying—but bounced hard off Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so I was a little hesitant when they announced the third game. It's exceeded all of my expectations, though, and is probably my favourite game in the series now—an improvement on the second game in pretty much every way. Vast world, memorable characters, and Takahashi's typical zany JRPG plot is a drool-worth combination.
Upstairs in my CRT corner, I'm playing Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64 for the first time. I've enjoyed many other games in the series—including Sticker Star, which has a bad reputation—but the original slipped past me for a variety of reasons. It's wild to go back to the very beginning and see all of the series's trademarks right there, fully formed, polished, and perfectly enjoyable 20 years later. It's genuinely funny, the combat is simple but engaging thanks to its timing-based mechanics, and it's got some of the best graphics on the system.
(8) WAS THE ZODIAC KILLER A FAN? [Item by Susan de Guardiola.] There's a new theory that the Zodiac killer was a fan, Paul Doerr.
The news reports on this are the first time I've ever seen fanzines, filk, D&D, SCA, Renfaires, etc. paired with a Zodiac killer theory.
The evidence is circumstantial, but there's an awful lot of it.
Los Angeles Magazine devoted an article to the question "Has The Zodiac Killer Mystery Been Solved (Again)", discussing author Jarrett Kobek's books Motor Spirit, about the misbegotten hunt for Zodiac, and How to Find Zodiac, about Paul Doerr.
… As he studied Zodiac's cryptic letters, Kobek brought a writerly attention to bear. He zeroed in on the killer's habit of quoting forgotten bits of cultural ephemera (the well-known call-outs to The Mikado and to the 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game," as well as a telling reference to an obscure 1950s comic book, identified by an anonymous online researcher, Tahoe27, several years back). Running other apparent quotations through Google Books and the Internet Archive, Kobek formed a picture of the killer as a fan of pulp novels, comics, and other nerdy touchstones. Kobek knew a bit about the early years of the sci-fi and fantasy fandoms, how these nascent communities had begun taking shape around an array of obscure self-published zines. On a hunch, he did a quick web search of "fanzines" and "Vallejo."…
Paul Haynes has published a long Twitter thread about Kobek's evidence, now collected in three parts at Threadreader: Part I; Part II; Part III.
I don't know if anyone who knew Paul Doerr is still around.
(9) THE CORFLU AUCTION IS NOW LIVE! The catalog for the Corflu Pangloss auction is now online at Corflu.org and eFanzines.com. Anyone can bid on those 80 lots, including non-members – the catalog has instruction on how to bid. See the Pangloss Fanzine Auction Catalog and Bid Sheet at the links.
Corflu has a long tradition of raising funds to support the convention by selling and auctioning off vintage science fiction fanzines before, during and sometimes after the convention. As Corflu is a convention devoted to fanzines and the fans who create them, it has always been a natural place to buy, sell or trade zines, and the live auction has often raised very impressive sums.
For the 39th issue of the convention, taking place October 21st to 23rd, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, we have taken a new approach… By creating this catalog of auction items and publishing it some weeks in advance of the convention, we hope to allow fans not attending Corflu Pangloss to participate. Anyone interested in buying is invited to send their bids by email to [email protected] by midnight, Pacific daylight time on October 22nd, 2022.
1992 – [By Cat Eldridge.] "Relics" was the one hundred and thirtieth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I found it to be one of the more fascinating episodes that series did and I'll tell why in a minute, but first let's talk about the usual details.
Ronald Dowl Moore was the writer of this episode and he was best known fleshing out the Klingons. He also wrote the series finale here, "All Good Things…" which won the Hugo Award at Intersection. And yes, he's done a lot more Great Things than that but I have an understanding with OGH that I'll try to keep things reasonably brief.
So why do I like it? Look there's a Dyson Sphere being depicted as far as I know for the very first time on a video series! Y'all know what that is so you know why I'm so excited by this.
And then there's the matter of the idea of the Enterprise in responding to a distress signal having the singular honor of rescuing Capt. Montgomery Scott!
So how do the two connect?
Well, the Enterprise, responding to a distress call discovers a Dyson sphere where they the distress call to the USS Jenolan, a Federation transport ship that has been missing for seventy-five years, which they find crashed on the sphere's outer shell. And in the transporter buffer field, jury rigged to keep working, are two signals, two patterns, one degraded to be saved, the other that of Doohan.
He bonds with Geordie which is fortunate as together they need to figure out how to get the Enterprise out of that damn Sphere. Afterwards he's feeling like a relic but Picard cheers him up. As the Enterprise returns to its mission, the crew of the ship give Scott a shuttlecraft "on extended loan" to do whatever he wanted.
I thought the writers did a nice job of making him a believable character, much more to be honest than the original series often did. And critics agreed as they've consistently voted this to be one of the best episodes of the series.
Born October 10, 1927 — Dana Elcar. Most of you will remember him as Peter Thornton on MacGyver, but he has a long genre history including Russ in Condorman which was inspired by Robert Sheckley's The Game of X. He also played Sheriff George Paterson in Dark Shadows, and showed up in 2010 as Dimitri Moisevitch. (Died 2005.)
Born October 10, 1924 — Edward Wood Jr. Though known for Plan 9 from Outer Space, he did a lot of other bad genre films including Night of the Monster and Bride of The Ghouls. (Died 1978.)
Born October 10, 1929 — Robin Hardy. Wicker Man is the film he's known for though he followed that up with The Wicker Tree, an adaptation of his Cowboys for Christ novel. Anyone seen it? (Died 2016.)
Born October 10, 1931 — Victor Pemberton. Writer of the script for the "Fury from the Deep", a Second Doctor story in which he created the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. He had appeared as an actor in the series, in a non-speaking role as a scientist in "The Moonbase" story. In 1976, he wrote the BBC audio drama Doctor Who and the Pescatons which I remember hearing. Quite good it was. (Died 2017.)
Born October 10, 1931 — Jack Jardine. A long-time L.A. fan who was present at many West Coast cons and who shared the dais on panels with some of the major names in SF. Under the pen name Larry Maddock he wrote science fiction and mystery stories in the Fifties and Sixties. File 770 has more here. (Died 2009.)
Born October 10, 1941 — Peter Coyote, 81. He actually did two genre films in 1982 with the first being Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann in which he appeared as Porter Reese and the second being E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial which he's Keys, the Agent hunting E.T. down. Sphere in which he's Captain Harold C. Barnes is his next SF outing followed by The 4400 and FlashForward series being his next major genre involvements.
Born October 10, 1947 — Laura Brodian Freas Beraha, 75. While married to Kelly Freas, she wrote Frank Kelly Freas: As He Sees It with him along with quite a few essays such as "On the Painting of Beautiful Women or Ayesha, She Who Must Be Obeyed" and "Some of My Best Critics are Friends – or Vice Versa". She's credited solely for the cover art for the 1993 Easton Press interior art for The Left Hand of Darkness according to ISFDB.
Born October 10, 1966 — Bai Ling, 56. She's Miss West in Wild West West and the Mysterious Woman in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, she has a major role as Guanyin in The Monkey King which aired on Syfy.
Annie has turned the "little orphan" into a time traveler!
Off the Mark shows "parts is parts" isn't true if you're Frankenstein.
(13) DRESSED FOR EXCESS. SYFY Wire shares a load of photos in the NYCC 2022 – Final Day Cosplay Gallery.
New York Comic Con saved some of its coolest news for the weekend this year, as studios dropped loads of fun facts and features surrounding The Winchesters, Marvel's Moon Knight, The Walking Dead, and Back to the Future — just to name a few.
But the stage wasn't the only place catching fans' attention as the four-day event rolled on at the Javitz Convention Center: Down on the ground, the guests themselves kept the cosplay fit tight, lining the halls with creatively killer takes on Mysterio, Red Skull, Buzz Lightyear, Predator, and tons more….
(14) CRILLY Q&A. Stone Soup questions the writer about a new novel: "Exclusive Interview with Brandon Crilly: Catalyst".
Catalyst features an incredible cast of characters with complicated, overlapping histories. One of these characters is a stage magician who performs illusory tricks in a world where "real" magic is very present. What made you decide to bring these two contrasting approaches to magic central to this character's identity?
Thank you for that compliment! Catalyst actually went through several serious revision drafts, and originally Mavrin (my street magician) was much more skeptical and almost willfully dismissive of "real" magic. When I added magic-bestowing squid gods (the Aspects) literally in orbit around Aelda, that level of skepticism didn't make as much sense – so instead, it became obstinance. Mavrin has a lot of issues with the Aspects and their worshippers, so becoming an illusionist is part of how he distances himself from both. "I can make my own magic, I don't need you!" is probably percolating in his subconscious somewhere (even though he's fifty and not, like fifteen). But thankfully, he can only stay obstinate and grumpy for so long….
(15) A MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Nerds of a Feather's Arturo Serrano, in "Review: Wolf at the Door by Joel McKay", says the book does one thing well.
There's danger in hosting a big social gathering. People you haven't seen in years can still make your throat tighten. Various combinations of acquaintances can be in good terms with you but be mortal enemies to each other. You dread the thought of who may knock at the door next. Your pulse quickens and your survival instinct rings alarms urging you to flee. Once the tension reaches critical mass, too much honesty will rip someone's heart. The exchange of bitter words becomes a series of rounds of mutual eviscerations. Arguments get heated until someone loses their head. A friend's careless remark under too much alcohol may lead to you never seeing them again. At any moment, the air can get so heavy that some of those present will suddenly depart from your life.
In Wolf at the Door, by Canadian author Joel McKay, these emotions that tear people to pieces are materialized into tooth and claw….
(16) SOLAR POWER. "'Eye of Sauron': The Dazzling Solar Tower in the Israeli Desert" – the New York Times sees both sides.
…This is the great solar tower of Ashalim, one of the tallest structures in Israel and, until recently, the tallest solar power plant in the world.
"It's like a sun," said Eli Baliti, a shopkeeper in the nearest village. "A second sun."
To backers, the tower is an impressive feat of engineering, testament to Israeli solar innovation. To critics, it is an expensive folly, dependent on technology that had become outmoded by the time it was operational.
…The tower is more than 800 feet high, one of the tallest structures in Israel. It's visible even from space.
To some, it's reminiscent of something out of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."
"It's the eye of Sauron," said Uriya Suued, an engineer who lived in Ashalim until September.
Other times, the tower seems more like a gawky, gentle giant, awkwardly standing on the edge of a group photo. You can even forget it's there — until you spot it hovering, almost comically, behind a garden wall or incongruously, even apologetically, over the swimmers in the village's outdoor pool.
"A lighthouse without the sea," said Ben Malka, who runs the pool….
(17) DEMONIC IMPRESSION. Netflix dropped a trailer for Wendell & Wild, the new film written by Henry Selick and Jordan Peele and directed by Henry Selick.
(18) GIBSON ADAPTATION. This trailer for The Peripheral Season 1 on Prime Video was unveiled at New York Comic Con. "On October 21, the future holds the key to saving the past."
(19) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by Martin Morse Wooster.] In "Pitch Meeting: Don't Worry Darling," Ryan George, in a spoiler-packed episode, explains that Don't Worry Darling "feels like a "go to the theatre film" and not something you stay home and stream. But it's "a string of random occurrences for about 90 minutes with little or no information revealed." And then in the third act we learn the film is "like The Matrix with 10,000 times less kung fu."
[Thanks to Michael Toman, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, SFWA, Jerry Kaufman, Susan de Guardiola, Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, John King Tarpinian, Andrew Porter, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jayn.]
Posted in Pixel Scroll | Tagged Aidan Moher, Andy Weir, Arturo Serrano, auction, Brandon Crilly, Corflu, Dave Hook, Jim C. Hines, Joe Pearson, Jordan Peele, Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas, New York Comic Con, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Paul Doerr, Prof. Brendan Allison, Ryan George, SFWA, StoryBundle, Temple Grandin, William Gibson | 16 Replies
SFWA Releases Renegades of Tomorrow StoryBundle
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) has released its newest StoryBundle, Renegades of Tomorrow, for a limited time only, from August 24 to September 14, 2022. This StoryBundle offers a large selection of ebooks from independent and small press fantasy writers, and can be purchased at https://storybundle.com/scifi.
The Renegades of Tomorrow StoryBundle features thirteen reluctant heroes of all types as they face an unjust system and find they can't leave well enough alone. There are tales of steampunk adventure, sci-fi espionage, underworld intrigue, and entire galaxies standing on the brink of war in this exciting and varied look at the difference one person can make when they dare to say, "Not on my watch."
SFWA StoryBundles are collections of ebooks curated by the SFWA Indie Authors Committee and offered at a steeply discounted price. Readers decide what price they want to pay. For $5 (or more, if they're feeling generous), they get the core bundle of four books in any ebook format available—WORLDWIDE!
ACHE by Kelvin Myers
Petra by Matthew S. Rotundo
The Diamond Device by M. H. Thaung
Glitch Rain by Alex Livingston with two related bonus short stories!
If they pay at least $20, they get all four of the core books, plus NINE more books, for a total of thirteen!
The Paradise Factory by Jim Keen
The Hands We're Given by O. E. Tearmann
Ardulum: First Don by J.S. Fields
Double Edged by Jessie Kwak
Centricity by Nathaniel Henderson
Situation Normal by Leonard Richardson
The Ascension Machine by Rob Edwards
Blue On Black by Carole Cummings
Ternary by Kristin L. Stamper
Once September 14 passes, this particular collection will never be available again. Readers will gain a rich collection of science fiction and can opt to donate part of their purchase price to support SFWA's ongoing work to promote and support speculative fiction genres and writers.
[Based on a press release.]
Posted in Like Show Business | Tagged SFWA, StoryBundle | 1 Reply
Fantasy StoryBundle Submissions Call Open Through 5/30
Posted on May 11, 2022 by Mike Glyer
SFWA's Independent Authors Committee is open for submissions for their next fantasy StoryBundle to be released this fall. Submissions will be accepted through May 30, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern.
The committee cites this as a chance for independent and small press authors to gain more exposure and sell more books. They welcome submissions of indie and traditionally published novels, from SFWA members and nonmembers, as well as from small press publishers, if the publishers give permission in writing. Full guidelines for this submission call can be found here.
The overarching theme for the call is "What Am I Doing Here?" The SFWA Independent Authors Committee seeks fantasy stories of characters lost, stranded, abandoned, shipwrecked, or stuck on the wrong side of a portal. As always, the Committee is open to unique interpretations of the theme, such as tales of lost memories or of being lost in time. This StoryBundle will be offered in November 2022.
The Independent Authors Committee will select participants from the entries they receive, and "the exact composition and titles of any individual SFWA StoryBundle is subject to adjustment as we accommodate the best selections. Therefore, we encourage authors not to self-reject if their novel has any fit at all with our theme."
StoryBundles are curated collections of books offered at a discounted price. Readers select what price they'd like to pay for an initial four books and can unlock the entire collection by contributing $20. Proceeds go to the participating authors and StoryBundle, and a small cut is donated to SFWA.
Welcome are full-length fantasy novels of over 40,000 words that are either clearly stand-alone stories or the first in a series. Authors are asked to submit only one novel, and do not submit a novel that has appeared in any previous StoryBundle (SFWA or otherwise.) Only submit novels that will be for sale by October 2022. The author must have full rights to enter their novel in the StoryBundle, and the novel must not be in Amazon's KDP Select at the time that the StoryBundle is offered.
The full submission guidelines, including instructions on how to submit, are here.
Posted in Like Show Business | Tagged SFWA, StoryBundle | Leave a reply
Pixel Scroll 4/6/22 This Is The Hour When Moonstruck Faneds Know What Pixels Scroll In Yuggoth
Posted on April 6, 2022 by Mike Glyer
(1) PRESSING ON. Apex Book Company is seeking $6,200 to publish a print compilation anthology of all the original genre short fiction that appeared in their digital publication, Apex Magazine, during the 2021 calendar year. Their Kickstarter project, "Apex Magazine 2021 Compilation Anthology by Apex Publications", at this writing has raised $2,376. The appeal runs through April 22.
Apex Magazine had an exceptional 2021. Seven of the zine's stories made the Locus Magazine Suggested Reading List. The zine placed a story on the Nebula finalist list and won a Stabby Award. In October 2021, we published an issue dedicated to Indigenous authors. In December 2021, we dedicated an issue to international authors.
The anthology will include 48 stories from a diverse group of new and established writers and will feature the Apex Magazine Readers' Choice Award-winning artwork "Entropic Garden" by Marcela Bolívar on the cover.
(2) SFWA STORYBUNDLE. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has released its newest StoryBundle, Magic Awakens, for a limited time only, from April 6 to April 28. This StoryBundle offers a large selection of ebooks from independent and small press fantasy writers, and can be purchased at https://storybundle.com/fantasy.
If a smooth sea never made a skilled mariner, then a tranquil world never forged a powerful hero: Meet fourteen budding sorceresses, wizards, and magic wielders of all ages and types as they face horrible threats that force them to confront their nascent abilities and to strengthen their powers and themselves. Then join each character on their own thrilling adventure once the Magic Awakens!
SFWA StoryBundles are curated collections of ebooks offered at a steeply discounted price. Readers who purchase Magic Awakens will gain a rich collection of fantasy fiction and can opt to donate part of their purchase price to support SFWA's ongoing work to promote and support speculative fiction genres and writers.
Readers may choose what price they want to pay for the initial four books, starting at $5. Spending $20 unlocks ten more books that they can receive with their purchase. Once April 28 passes, this particular collection will never be available again! Further details about how StoryBundle operates are available at https://storybundle.com/faq.
(3) CSI SPARKLE SALON. The second episode of the Science Fiction Sparkle Salon has been released by the Center for Science and the Imagination. It features sff authors Malka Older, Annalee Newitz, Arkady Martine, Amal El-Mohtar, and Karen Lord, and scientist Katie Mack, discussing a wide range of topics
(4) IN OUR OWN WORDS. [Item by SF Concatenation's Jonathan Cowie.] This week's episode of Word of Mouth on BBC Radio 4 discusses the lexicography of SF and SF fandom. Being interviewed is not Jeff Prucher, of the stonkingly brilliant Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, but Jesse Sheidlower of the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction. You can access the programme on BBC Sounds – "Word of Mouth – The Language of Sci-Fi".
Jessie Sheidlower
(5) PRESENTING THE BILL. "Canada Introduces Bill Requiring Online Giants to Share Revenues With Publishers" reports the New York Times.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government introduced legislation on Tuesday that would require companies like the parents of Google and Facebook to pay Canadian media outlets for allowing links to news content on their platforms.
Canadian publishers, many of which are struggling financially, have long pushed the government for such a measure, arguing that the advertising revenue that previously was the foundation of their businesses has overwhelmingly migrated to global online giants.
That pressure increased after Australia passed a similar measure in 2021 and Europe revised its copyright laws to compensate publishers.
"The news sector in Canada is in crisis," Pablo Rodriguez, the minister of Canadian heritage, said at a news conference. "This contributes to the heightened public mistrust and the rise of harmful disinformation in our society."
Mr. Rodriguez said that 450 media outlets in Canada closed between 2008 and last year….
(6) ASHCANS TO AUCTION. Heritage Auction's Intelligent Collector give the background as "Historic DC Comics Prototypes Soar to Auction". (Images at the link.)
Thirty-seven years ago, Gary Colabuono saw his first ashcan. "And I did not know what they were," he says now, decades after he began collecting, preserving and promoting these cheaply made, stapled-together black-and-white mock-ups made to secure a comic book title's trademark and meant to be tossed into the trash.
In time, Colabuono became the expert on these lost rarities from the earliest days of the comic-book industry. Now, four of his ashcans – including one of two surviving Superman Comics ashcans from 1939 – head to market for the first time during Heritage Auctions' history-making April 7-10 Comics & Comic Art Signature® Auction….
(7) THE MASTER'S VOICE. Alan Moore gives an introduction to a BBC writing course which seems the British equivalent of a Masterclass course. "Introducing – Alan Moore – Storytelling – BBC Maestro".
Step into the world of Alan Moore's incredible imagination and learn from the mastermind behind comics like From Hell, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Swamp Thing, and novels including the modern literary classic Jerusalem. Learn about Alan Moore's writing process and how he combines character, story, language and world-building to create the tales that have won him fans the world over. Ideal for aspiring fiction writers, this online course includes downloadable course notes to guide you on your own creative journey.
(8) AT BREAK OF DON. Eleanor Morton does hilarious impressions of the two Inklings in "JRR Tolkien tells CS Lewis about his new character".
(9) NEHEMIAH PERSOFF (1919-2022). A prolific actor with over 200 screen and TV credits, Nehemiah Persoff died April 5 at the age of 102.
His first genre role was playing Ali Baba in an episode of Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958). He worked constantly, with many appearances in other sff TV series: The Twilight Zone ("Judgment Night"; 1959), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Off to See the Wizard (voice), The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Land of the Giants, The Magical World of Disney, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invisible Man, Wonder Woman, Logan's Run, The Bionic Woman, Supertrain, Battlestar Galactica, Fantasy Island, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and he voiced Papa Mousekewitz in 1986's An American Tail and two video sequels.
Steve Vertlieb wrote about his visit with Persoff in 2019 for File 770.
(10) MEDIA BIRTHDAY.
1922 — [Item by Cat Eldridge.]
To John Vine Milne
My dear Father,
Like all really nice people, you have a weakness for detective
stories, and feel that there are not enough of them. So, after
all that you have done for me, the least that I can do for you
is to write you one. Here it is: with more gratitude and
affection than I can well put down here.
— A. A. Milne in his preface to The Red House Mystery
A century ago today, A.A. Milne's The Red House Mystery was published by Methuen in the United Kingdom. This is his only mystery and it's a most splendid Manor House mystery, one of the best ever written if I must so myself which I will. Milne tells the story of the mysterious death of Robert Ablett inside the house of his brother, Mark Ablett, while there was a party taking place. It's a whodunit that's wonderfully told.
That was written prior to Winnie the Pooh and was an immediate success with the reading public and critics alike. Alexander Woollcott of the New Yorker at the time called it "one of the three best mystery stories of all time" though he himself would later be judged harshly by Raymond Chandler who also disliked British mysteries in general. (Ahhh feuds among critics. Lovely things they are.) It has stood nicely the test of time and is still considered a splendid mystery.
It is now in the public domain so you can find it at the usual suspects for free though there are also copies being sold by publishers as well. Audible has four versions of the novel including a full cast production. I really should listen to that version.
If you interested in acquiring a first British edition, dig deep into your bank account as that will set you back, assuming that edition is on the market, at least thirteen thousand dollars currently.
Born April 6, 1926 — Gil Kane. Artist who created the modern look and feel of Green Lantern and the Atom for DC, and co-created Iron Fist with Roy Thomas for Marvel. I'm going to single him out for his work on the House of Mystery and the House of Secrets in the Sixties and Seventies which you can find on the revamped and stripped-down DC Universe app. (Died 2000.)
Born April 6, 1935 — Douglas Hill. Canadian author, editor and reviewer. For a year, he was assistant editor of Michael Moorcock's New Worlds magazine. I'm going to admit that I know more of him as a decidedly and to be admired Leftist reviewer than I do as writer, indeed he held the same post of Literary Editor at the socialist weekly Tribune as Orwell earlier did. Who here is familiar with fiction? He was quite prolific indeed. (Died 2007.)
Born April 6, 1937 — Billy Dee Williams, 85. He is best known for his role as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars franchise, first appearing in The Empire Strikes Back. Other genre appearances include being Harvey Dent in Batman and voicing Two Face In The Lego Batman Movie. He also co-wrote with Rob MacGregor two SF novels, PSI/Net and Just/In Time which are available from the usual suspects.
Born April 6, 1938 — Roy Thinnes, 84. Best remembered for his role of David Vincent in The Invaders. He was also in The Horror at 37,000 Feet, The Norliss Tapes, Satan's School for Girls, Battlestar Galactica, Dark Shadows (recurring role as Roger Colins) and Poltergeist: The Legacy.
Born April 6, 1942 — Anita Pallenberg. It's not a long genre resume but she was in Barbarella as, I kid you not, Black Queen, Great Tyrant of Sogo, the chief villainess. Over forty years later, she had a minor role as Diana in a Grade B film 4:44 Last Day on Earth. Now I'm going to expand this Birthday by crediting her as the muse of the Rolling Stones which is surely genre adjacent, isn't it? She was the lover of Brian Jones, and later, from 1967 to 1980, the partner of Keith Richards, with whom she had three children. Of course she appeared in that documentary about the Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil. (Died 2017.)
Born April 6, 1944 — Judith McConnell, 78. Here for being in Star Trek's "Wolf in the Fold" as Yeoman Tankris. Need I say what happened to her? Well you'd be wrong as she survived. (I looked it up to be sure as the body count was high.) She also during this time appeared on Get Smart in "The King Lives" as Princess Marta, and she'd much later be in Sliders for several episodes.
Born April 6, 1977 — Karin Tidbeck, 45. Their first work in English, Jagannath, a short story collection, made the shortlist for the Otherwise Award and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award. The short story "Augusta Prima", originally written in Swedish, was translated by the author into English and won a Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Award in the Short Form category.
Bizarro really should be more impressed with The Mildly Surprising Spider-Man.
(13) SHINY. Could these be "The 15 Greatest Covers In All Of Comics"? Buzzfeed thinks so.
Mainly featuring heroes and villains in colorful costumes, comic book covers have succeeded in catching readers' attention, but these covers are truly the best of the best. These are the 15 Greatest Covers in All of Comics.
(14) SKILL TREE. The latest episode of CSI Skill Tree series on video games, storytelling, worldbuiding, and futures thinking is now live, with SF author Ken Liu and video game designer Liz Fiacco discussing the 2020 game Cloud Gardens, a 2020 game about using plants to overgrow and transform abandoned post-industrial landscapes. This episode is presented in collaboration with Orion Magazine, a quarterly publication working at the convergence of ecology, art, and social justice. All nine Skill Tree episodes are available to view at this playlist.
(15) MOUNTAINTOP EXPERIENCES. NPR advocates for George O'Connor's version of the Greek gods: "A graphic novel series for kids that doesn't leave out gender fluidity".
…Dionysos: The New God is the last of O'Connor's Olympians, a series of graphic novels he's been writing and illustrating for the last 12 years. Each book retells the ancient Greek myths through the lens of one of the gods or goddesses, from Athena, goddess of wisdom, to Hephaistos, god of the forge.
O'Connor's illustrations are bursting with action, humor and lots of details. He researched the ancient myths in order to get as close as possible to the original stories. That means his gods and goddesses are fierce, but also voluptuous, mischievous and even snarky. To him, the Olympians are a family of distinct individuals. "There's certain personality traits that come to the fore," he said….
(16) WILSON HONORED AT BOOKFEST. Author and musician Shane Wilson won two book awards at The BookFest this past weekend for his novel, The Smoke in His Eyes. The book placed second in Contemporary Fiction and third in Coming-of-Age Literary Fiction.
The Bookfest Awards honors authors who create outstanding works of fiction and nonfiction. Books are judged in categories based on genre, theme, and aesthetics. Books published in the past five years are eligible. Entries will be vetted by an initial team, then the final places will be determined by an elite team of experts in the literary and entertainment world.
Here's what The Smoke in His Eyes is about:
When TJ—a musical prodigy—witnesses a traumatic event as a child, his senses are overrun with intense hallucinations. Over the years, his visions increase in frequency and intensity, but he hides them from those he is closest to, including his best friend and musical partner, Lila, who challenges TJ to reject formulaic creation in order to create something beautiful and unique. But when Lila signs a record deal, TJ feels left behind and alone with his art and his visions.
That's when TJ meets an artist named Muna. In his eyes and visions, Muna is made of smoke, and as this magical woman helps him learn how to manage his visions and how to translate what he sees and hears into music and lyrics, she begins to disappear. His journey into Muna's past is a journey to discover where inspiration originates and what happens to an artist when that inspiration is gone.
Available at Amazon.com.
(17) FOR TEN YEARS WE'VE BEEN ON OUR OWN. Paul Weimer praises a sequel in "Microreview [book]: Azura Ghost by Essa Hansen" at Nerds of a Feather.
….Now, ten years later, Caiden and the Azura are legends, a one man, one ship, and one young Nophek crew doing good across the multiverse, staying ahead of the forces of Unity led by Abriss Centre, and dreading what will happen if her equally dangerous brother escapes his imprisonment. It's getting harder for Caiden to escape Abriss' traps, especially when Abriss has a trump card up her sleeve, one guaranteed to slow down Caiden enough to capture him and his remarkable ship…his long lost sister.
Welcome to Azura Ghost, the second Graven book from Essa Hansen….
(18) NAVIGATING THE BLOAT. Meanwhile, Arturo Serrano says the sequel he read suffers from a common series-book problem: "Review: Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Neuvel" at Nerds of a Feather.
In the first novel of this series, A History of What Comes Next (which I reviewed for this blog last year), we learned that the progress of science on this planet has always been secretly guided by the Kibsu, a humanlike species of superstrong, supersmart aliens whose genetic line split at some point in antiquity, with the female line dedicated to developing mathematics and teaching it to humans, and the male line sworn to hunting down their female counterparts as punishment for some supposed treason no one remembers anymore. For centuries, these aliens have been spreading both knowledge and death as each lineage pursues their mission while hiding in plain sight among us. The title of the series is Take them to the stars, but in that first novel the full meaning is revealed as Take them to the stars before we come and kill them all.
The newly released continuation, Until the Last of Me, displays the hallmark signs of Middle Book Syndrome: the plot gets a bit repetitive in the early chapters, feels a bit directionless toward the middle, and is suddenly hijacked at the end by the need to put all the pieces in position for the upcoming final confrontation….
(19) FOCUS ON WOMEN CHARACTERS. Minnesota author J. Lynn Else told an Authority Magazine interviewer this week:
Gowing up in the 80s and 90s, while a big fan of sci fi and fantasy, there weren't a lot of female characters to identify with. The females typically lacked depth, didn't have a lot of agency, or simply were there as a romantic interest. As I started developing my fantasy trilogy, I wanted to create a cast of female characters who were all different. They made jokes, made mistakes, got angry, got frustrated, weren't always the 'bookish smart' one. I wrote because I wanted greater depth of characters for young girls reading these genres so that they could picture themselves in these worlds without having to be ultrasmart or beautiful or aggressively assertive…
Now through Inklings Publishing, she's authored Descendants of Avalon (2018), Lost Daughters of Avalon (2019), and Prophecy of Avalon (2021). Her short story "The Girl from the Haunted Woods," won second place in the "Journey into the Fantastical" Anthology contest.
Here's the précis about Lost Daughters of Avalon (Awakenings Book 2):
After not hearing anything from their knights in Avalon for weeks, the horrible Questing Beast breaks through into the world and attacks Genie, Beth, Mei, and Whit. Their magic stirs to stop the monster, but Beth's attempts fail. Help from Avalon arrives just in time to remove the curse and reveal a woman inside the beast who claims to be Genie's biological mother.The four friends learn their knights had gone missing, along with one of Avalon's queens, Viviane. An ancient evil runs amok in Avalon and the people blame the four friends, claiming they released Merlin to destroy their world. To clear their name and rescue their knights, the four friends must once again risk the dangers of Avalon. Genie, Beth, Mei, and Whit must pull together and learn to combine their powers of air, water, earth, and fire to rebalance the world they might have thrown into chaos. If they fail, the worlds of Avalon and Earth could destabilize and end life as they know it.
Available at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca.
(20) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by Martin Morse Wooster.] In "Honest Game Trailers: Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin," Fandom Games says that in this Final Fantasy spinoff you play Jack, "a character so edgy that he makes Jared Leto's Joker seem like a birthday clown." Jack's the sort of character who responds to a demon saying, "I am" and interrupts him to say, "I don't care who you are," and starts punching the creature out. In fact, this game is so edgy that "it's like a Monster energy drink come to life."
[Thanks to Michael Toman, Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, SF Concatenation's Jonathan Cowie, Joey Eschrich, Jason Sizemore, Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, John King Tarpinian, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Tom Becker.]
Posted in Pixel Scroll | Tagged Alan Moore, Apex Magazine, Apex Publications, Arturo Serrano, C.S. Lewis, CSI Skill Tree, DC Comics, Eleanor Morton, Heritage Auctions, Honest Trailers, J. Lynn Else, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jessie Sheidlower, Kickstarter, Nehemiah Persoff, Nerds of a Feather, Paul Weimer, SFWA, Shane Wilson, Steve Vertlieb, StoryBundle | 18 Replies
Pixel Scroll 3/24/22 If You Want A Picture Of The Future, Imagine A Hand Clicking On A Pixel Scroll – For Ever
Posted on March 24, 2022 by Mike Glyer
(1) MOPOP INTRODUCES NEW ONLINE COLLECTION VAULT. [Item by Frank Catalano.] Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture is finally putting part of its collection online. This is a very cool development for fans of science fiction as popular culture.
The announcement this week only covers a small part of the MoPOP permanent collection, but it's far more than has been available before. I originally visited and covered the physical MoPOP vault in 2014 for GeekWire ("Preserving the future: A rare glimpse inside the EMP Museum vault") and interviewed its curators for a podcast about preservation a few years later ("Preserving the future: How MoPOP protects and presents our ever-changing popular culture").
How do I know it's only a small subset of everything MoPOP has to offer? Back in 2014, I donated more than 50 lobby cards for science fiction and fantasy films to the permanent collection, and only one has appeared in the online vault so far, for Futureworld. (WHY that crappy movie and not ones for 2001, Planet of the Apes, or others? No idea.)
Direct link: MoPOP Online Collection Vault.
(2) GAIMAN'S ANSWERS. "Neil Gaiman Q&A: 'As long as there's a Tardis, all's right with the world'" in New Statesman.
What's your earliest memory?
My grandmother taking me to a bridge in my pushchair to watch the steam trains go by. I was 23 months old. I also remember her venting, months later, about the Beatles song "She Loves You" and how their use of the word "yeah" instead of "yes" meant we were now all living in the end times.
Who are your heroes?
As a boy I loved urbane and unflappable literary characters, such as PG Wodehouse's Rupert Psmith, and indomitable heroes on television – Adam West's Batman, Adam Adamant, Doctor Who, and the Monkees. When I was a teenager the Stranglers released "No More Heroes" around the same time that David Bowie sang "Heroes". I listened to them both and thought we are meant to be our own heroes…
(3) KIJ JOHNSON'S NEW JOB. The Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction & the Speculative Imagination at the University of Kansas has announced that sff author Kij Johnson will join the Center as Associate Director. Johnson previously held the same title at KU's Gunn Center for the Study of SF.
"Kij is a fantastic writer and educator. I'm very excited that she is on board to help shape the vision and impact of Ad Astra," said center Director Chris McKitterick. "She has been a valued colleague for many years and someone I admire for their tenacity of thought, dedication to students, and excellence in craft."
Johnson is a writer of speculative and experimental short fiction and novels. She has won the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, as well as the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire and others.
In 2013, she gave the inaugural Tolkien Lecture at Oxford University; since then, she has been a guest of honor at conferences and conventions in Sweden, France, and the United States. Johnson has also been a professor in the Department of English at the University of Kansas, starting in 2012.
"Science fiction—speculative fiction—offers a unique way of engaging with big ideas. In some ways, it is the dominant storytelling mode of our era," Johnson said. "To continue my work exploring speculative fiction as a practitioner and educator through the efforts of the Ad Astra Center is particularly gratifying."
These efforts will include many of the center's public outreach projects, including conferences, classes, presentations, masterclasses, events, and workshops. Kij will be on hand to offer her expertise and experience in driving these projects.
"Right now, Kij and I are planning some wonderful things," said McKitterick. "For fans, scholars, and writers of spec fic, there will be a lot to enjoy."
(4) SEE SLF PANEL. The Speculative Literature Foundation has posted their panel "Creating a Shared World" on YouTube.
Writers from George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards and Ellen Kushner's Tremontaine come together to talk about the challenges and delights of working in a shared universe. Panelists: Ellen Kushner, author of Swordspoint and other fantasy novels, Delia Sherman author of The Porcelain Dove, Walter Jon Williams author of the Privateers and Gentlemen series, and David D. Levine author of Arabella of Mars. Moderated by Mary Anne Mohanraj, SLF Director.
(5) LE GUIN BIO. Publishers Marketplace, behind a paywall, notes that Julie Phillips, author of the Hugo Award-winning James Tiptree Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, is at work on an untitled biography of Ursula K. Le Guin (first revealed in 2016) "which will intimately examine Le Guin's intellectual and emotional development as a person and writer, her struggles with depression, her visionary politics, and her commitment to literary freedom."
(6) A WORKING WRITER. Cat Rambo shares some words of wisdom from "Jane Yolen on Creativity, Productivity, and Returning to Scotland" on Medium.
I had the great pleasure of interviewing Jane Yolen, author of literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books, poems, and stories. This was such a joy of an interview that I wanted to pull out some of my favorite quotes….
(7) OPEN THE POD BAY DOOR HAL. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] … And for God's sake hold onto that rope!
An article in Vanity Fair (partial paywall) tells stories of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey. These include the critical scene where astronaut Dave Bowman (played by Kier Dullea) is attempting to re-enter Discovery One and has to try a hazardous jump through vacuum without a helmet.
Dullea did the stunt himself because his face would be to the camera. In fact, his face could have ended up in the camera. The stunt was performed by the expedient of having the actor drop down a vertical shaft toward a camera mounted at the bottom. To control his fall, a rope was tied to him and belayed by a crewmember who had to stop Dullea when a knot tied in the rope reached the crewman's hands.
I'm sure Dullea was never happier to get a scene right on the first take. And I'd make a bet he took more than one deep breath after doing so. "Behind the Scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Strangest Blockbuster in Hollywood History".
… By March the production had moved onto its most elaborate set of all: the Discovery's work and living area, a centrifuge that rotated to simulate gravity. Kubrick's production team had taken six months to build an actual centrifuge, with a diameter of 40 feet and a weight of 40 tons. Dressed for its entire 360 degrees, the set could turn forward or backward, at a top rate of three miles an hour, creaking and groaning as it got up to speed. For some scenes the actors had to be strapped in place by hidden harnesses as they spun upside down, with props such as meal trays and video pads glued or bolted in place. Depending on the shot, the set's entire circumference might be aglow with lights, the actors locked inside and forced to turn on the camera themselves before hitting their marks. In production photos the set resembles a demented and unlikely torture device, a hybrid of jewelry tumbler and blistering heat lamp. With God knows how many megawatts surging through the entire setup, lights frequently exploded while unsecured props and overlooked pieces of equipment plummeted as they reached the top of the arc, narrowly missing actors and crew members. "A portentous spectacle, accompanied by terrifying noises and popping light bulbs," as Clarke described it….
(8) TIME BENDER. Brian James Gage discusses how he places real people in his supernatural historical novels at CrimeReads: "How (and Why) I Write Supernatural Historical Fiction".
…Each day started with a brief meditation session where I would clear my mind and say to myself, "All that matters is the characters. Follow their lead, their needs and desires, and everything else about the narrative will unfold naturally." As after all, in fiction, it truly is the characters who guide the story.
Let them lead and the story-arc will follow.
During my brief meditation, I would ask my characters what they were doing that day, how they were feeling, what they needed, and even if there was anywhere specific they wanted to go. Then I would kindly ask them to show up to set, so I could guide them on a wild and horrific adventure. And during this new ritual, I found something of vast importance—my authentic voice. In August 2020, I had the first draft of The Sommelier complete and for the first time in my life, the entire process felt like a wellspring of creativity and command as I purged my characters' truth onto the page….
(9) TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICT SCREENS LIBRARY HOLDINGS. In the wake of actions by Texas governor Greg Abbott, "Texas superintendent tells librarians to pull books on sexuality, transgender people" reports NBC News.
…"I don't want a kid picking up a book, whether it's about homosexuality or heterosexuality, and reading about how to hook up sexually in our libraries," Glenn said.
He also made it clear that his concerns specifically included books with LGBTQ themes, even if they do not describe sex. Those comments, according to legal experts, raise concerns about possible violations of the First Amendment and federal civil rights laws that protect students from discrimination based on their gender and sexuality.
"And I'm going to take it a step further with you," he said, according to the recording. "There are two genders. There's male, and there's female. And I acknowledge that there are men that think they're women. And there are women that think they're men. And again, I don't have any issues with what people want to believe, but there's no place for it in our libraries."
Minutes later, after someone asked whether titles on racism were acceptable, Glenn said books on different cultures "are great."
"Specifically, what we're getting at, let's call it what it is, and I'm cutting to the chase on a lot of this," Glenn said. "It's the transgender, LGBTQ and the sex — sexuality — in books. That's what the governor has said that he will prosecute people for, and that's what we're pulling out."
Over the next two weeks, the school district embarked on one of the largest book removals in the country, pulling about 130 titles from library shelves for review. Nearly three-quarters of the removed books featured LGBTQ characters or themes, according to a ProPublica and Texas Tribune analysis. Others dealt with racism, sex ed, abortion and women's rights.
Two months later, a volunteer review committee voted to permanently ban three of the books and return the others to shelves. But that may not be the end of the process….
1999 – [Item by Cat Eldridge.] Twenty-three years ago this month, Rainbow Mars was published by Tor. It is my absolutely favorite work by Larry Niven, with Ringworld being my second. It contains six stories, five previously published and the longest, "Rainbow Mars", written for this collection, plus some other material. It is about Svetz, the cross-reality traveler who keeps encountering beings who really should not exist including those Martians.
The first story, "Get A Horse!" was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in October 1969. That was followed by "Bird in the Hand" in the same magazine, October of the next year. Surprisingly the third story, "Leviathan!" was published in Playboy in August of that year.
(Yes I know Playboy did a lot of SF, it's just that I wouldn't have expected this story to show up there. It fits F&SF better in my opinion. Your opinion on that matter of course may differ.)
Then "There's a Wolf in My Time Machine" was published in October of that year in the fine zine that printed the first two. Finally the last story that got printed at that time, "Death in a Cage" was published in Niven's The Flight of the Horse collection in September of 1973 which collected these stories as well. (The Flight of the Horse also had "Flash Crowd" which I like a lot and "What Good is a Glass Dagger?" which is fantastic.)
Now we get Rainbow Mars, the novel that finishes out the work this delightfully silly work. Some of Pratchett idea's from a conversation he had with Niven remain in the final version of Rainbow Mars, mainly the use of Yggdrasil, the world tree. Though there's Norsemen as well…
There's two other two short pieces, "The Reference Director Speaks", in which Niven speaks about his fictional sources for the Mars he creates, and "Svetz's Time Line" which is self-explanatory.
An afterword, "Svetz and the Beanstalk", rounds out the work in which Niven talks about the fictional sources for Rainbow Mars as a whole.
The fantastic cover art, which was nominated for a Chelsey Award, is by Bob Eggleton who has won, if my counting skills are right tonight, an impressive nine Hugos, mostly for Best Professional Artist though there was one for Best Related Work for his most excellent Greetings from Earth: The Art of Bob Eggleton.
Born March 24, 1834 — William Morris. Credited with creating the modern fantasy literature genre which may or may not be true, he certainly wrote some of its earlier works, to note his epic poem The Earthly Paradise, The Wood Beyond the World and The Well at the World's End, plus his entire artistic motif fits nearly within a fantasy literature and artistic design that looks as if it was created by the Fey Themselves. All of his works can be found at the usual digital suspects, often at no cost. (Died 1896.)
Born March 24, 1874 — Harry Houdini. His literary career intersects the genre world in interesting ways. Though it's not known which ones, many of his works were apparently written by his close friend Walter B. Gibson who as you know is the creator of The Shadow. And one famous story of his, "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs", was actually ghost written by Lovecraft! ISFDB lists another piece of genre fiction for him, "The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstad". And IMDB notes that he appeared in The Master Mystery which decidedly genre with robots and death rays. (Died 1926.)
Born March 24, 1930 — Steve McQueen. Another one who died far too young. He got his big break by being the lead, Steve Andrews, in The Blob. Setting aside the two different roles on Alfred Hitchcock Presents which are at least genre adjacent, The Blob is his only genre appearance in his brief life. He died of a damn heart attack. (Died 1980.)
Born March 24, 1946 — Gary K. Wolfe, 76. Monthly reviewer for Locus for twenty-seven years now and yes I enjoy his column a lot. His brief marriage to Ellen R. Weil ended with her tragic early death. They co-wrote Harlan Ellison: The Edge of Forever. Old Earth Books has reprinted many of his reviews done between 1992 and 2006 in Soundings: Reviews 1992-1996. He's also written several critical looks at the genre, Critical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy and The Known and the Unknown: The Iconography of Science Fiction. The Coode Street Podcast was nominated seven times before winning a Hugo at DicCon III; his Bearings: Reviews 1997-2001 was nominated for Best Related Work at Renovation; and Soundings: Reviews 1992-1996 was nominated for the same at L.A. Con IV. Very impressive indeed.
Born March 24, 1946 — Andrew I. Porter, 76. Editor, publisher, fan. He discovered fandom in 1960 and before the end of the year his first news-related column about upcoming paperbacks was appearing in James V. Taurasi's Science Fiction Times. Porter has been nominated for the Hugo 26 times in the fanzine and semiprozine categories. His fanzine Algol: The Magazine About Science Fiction, later renamed Starship, won a Hugo for Best Fanzine in 1974, in a tie with Richard E. Geis, who was then doing The Alien Critic. (OGH accepted that Hugo on behalf of Geis. Sorry!) Porter won two more Hugos with Science Fiction Chronicle, the newzine he began publishing monthly in May 1980, and twenty years later sold to DNA Publications. He has won the Big Heart Award, and was Fan Guest of Honor at the 1990 Worldcon. And with John Bangsund, he was responsible for Australia hosting its first Worldcon. (OGH)
Born March 24, 1949 — Tabitha King, 73. Wife of Stephen, mother of that writing brood. I met her but once on the lot of the original Pet Sematary a very long time ago. ISFDB to my surprise lists only two novels she's written solely by herself, Small World and Wolves at the Door, and one with Michael McDowell, Candles Burning. None of her books are with her husband which surprises me.
From Idiot of the East:
From a sparkling vampire to Batman ???#webcomic #webcomics #humor #humour #comic #comics #comicstrip #Batman #batmanmovie #batman2022 #batmanfanart #RobertPattison #WEBTOON pic.twitter.com/lnSoOaN4f4
— IdiotfotheEast (@IdiotOfTheEast) March 10, 2022
(13) STORYBUNDLES. Learn how the sausage is made: "THE INDIE FILES: A Guide to SFWA StoryBundles" at the SFWA Blog.
… We seek a well-rounded collection that includes a variety of subgenres and a diversity of authors, settings, and characters. We also look for unique takes on our theme, which means you should never self-reject if you think your book only kind-of fits!
Conversely, because readers do not select each book individually in a bundle, we avoid books that preach a strong message or contain content that many readers may find disturbing. Those books have a place! But we prefer not to roll them into our bundles….
(14) EVEN-MORE-COLOSSAL CAVE, COMING SOON(ISH). [Item by Daniel Dern.] "Sierra Founders Ken And Roberta Williams Are Remaking 1976's Colossal Cave Adventure" reports HotHardware. Alternate item title, perhaps: "I'd Love To Play A New Version Of That Game," said Dern adventurously.
"Roberta and Ken Williams were retired for 25 years, mostly living in Mexico, playing golf, and exploring the world on their boat. In 2020 when the Covid pandemic struck, Ken and Roberta were locked down like everyone. Ken was bored and Roberta suggested he write a book about Sierra. The process of writing the book brought back long forgotten memories resulting in Ken deciding to learn Unity and deciding to make a game," a related FAQ explains.
They didn't have any interesting in starting another company, and instead were "just looking for something fun to build." Roberta had the idea to pay homage to the game that inspired Sierra and "changed our lives."
And so here we are. Colossal Cave 3D Adventure is being built with Unity. It promises a fully immersive 3D experience with over 143 locations to explore, and will release to the Quest 2, PC, and Mac. And true to old school form, there will be a boxed version (with a USB stick in the box), though those details are still being hammered out.
You will be in a 3D maze of twisty passages! A hollow voice is unlikely to cry out, "God stalk!" 🙂 (quips Dern).
(15) INITIAL THOUGHTS. On a different subject, Daniel Dern suggested a too-long Scroll title that is too entertaining to actually discard, so here it is.
If Hans Solo and Chewie started shipping while doing the Kessel Run, we could have T-shirts that were NSFW NFT of a WTF FTL WFH? Nah, NFW.
(16) TAKING THE HYDE OFF 'EM. "Jekyll & Hyde files for bankruptcy with $1.5M owed in rent" while Crain's New York Business is watching the courthouse.
Actors put on shows during dinner and each floor of the restaurant focuses on a different aspect of a fictional, 1930s British explorers club, from science fiction to the Gothic horror of its namesake characters, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Andrew Porter says, "They used to have a branch in the 50s on 6th Avenue, where I went during a Nebula or Stoker weekend, with Stephen Jones and others, A Long Time Ago…"
(17) ERASURE. "Hit Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie Reboot Debuts First Trailer" and Comicbook.com walks us through it.
… This new chapter of the Eraser series trades Schwarzenegger's John Kruger character for a different U.S. Marshal named Mason Pollard who "specializes in engineering the fake deaths of witnesses that need to leave no trace of their existence." As you can see in the trailer, this film once again goes with the premise of the Eraser's mission being compromised in a serious way, forcing him to go on the run with a key witness that's in his care….
(18) SPACE-TIME. [Item by SF Concatenation's Jonathan Cowie.] The cover on this week's edition of Nature has an SFnal riff. The cover image shows a view of the Milky Way captured at Nambung National Park in Western Australia. To understand how the Galaxy formed requires precision age dating of the stars that it contains. In this week's issue, Maosheng Xiang and Hans-Walter Rix of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany, present an analysis of the birth dates for nearly 250,000 stars in their subgiant evolutionary phase, when they can serve as precise stellar clocks. The researchers found that the individual ages of the stars ranged from about 1.5 billion to more than 13 billion years old. Tripling the age-dating precision for such a large stellar sample allowed the researchers to infer the sequence of events that initiated our Galaxy's formation. Using this information, Xiang and Rix were able to determine that the oldest part of our Galaxy's disk had already begun to form about 13 billion years ago, just 800 million years after the Big Bang, and that the formation of the inner Galactic halo was completed some 2 billion years later.
(19) HE'S BACK. [Item by Martin Morse Wooster.] Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo team up with a Valued Senior Actor about daylight savings time as they plug The Adam Project.
(20) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by Martin Morse Wooster.] In "Batman Returns Pitch Meeting," Ryan George explains that in this movie Oswald Cobblepot became The Penguin because his parents threw him out the window into a river but penguins saved him, Villain Max Schreck thre Selina Kyle out of a window but cats licked her a lot so she became Catwoman. The producer explains he was personally saved by pigeons but since this si a family blog we won't discuss what happened to him!
[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, Mike Kennedy, Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, Frank Catalano, SF Concatenation's Jonathan Cowie, Daniel Dern, John King Tarpinian, Andrew Porter, and Michael Toman for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Tom Becker.]
Posted in Pixel Scroll | Tagged 2001, Ad Astra Center for Science Fiction and the Speculative Imagination, Bob Eggleton, Cat Rambo, Frank Catalano, Jane Yolen, Julie Phillips, Kij Johnson, Larry Niven, MoPOP, Neil Gaiman, Ryan George, SFWA Blog, Speculative Literature Foundation, StoryBundle, Ursula K. Le Guin, video games | 27 Replies
SFWA's Scoundrels in Space StoryBundle Available Til 2/24
Posted on February 2, 2022 by Mike Glyer
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has released their newest science fiction StoryBundle, Scoundrels in Space, which will be available until February 24. This collection of novels curated by the SFWA Independent Authors Committee can be purchased here: https://storybundle.com/scifi.
The con artists, thieves, and space pirates of tomorrow fascinate us, all the more because these motley ne'er-do-wells so often end up saving the universe despite their incorrigibility. Pick up the SFWA Scoundrels in Space StoryBundle and get to know twelve such spacefarers who live on the fringes of a dozen wildly different worlds, until circumstances force each of them into hard choices and more adventure than they expected.
SFWA StoryBundles are curated collections of DRM-free ebooks from independent and small press science fiction writers offered at a steeply discounted price. Purchasers can name their price for the core bundle of ebooks. Any purchase of $20 or more unlocks all 12 in the bundle, and buyers can choose to donate a portion of the proceeds to SFWA.
The included titles are as follows:
Core Bundle
Flotsam by R J Theodore
Severance by Chris Bucholz
Toccata System by Kate Sheeran Swed
Tyche's Flight by Richard Parry
Bonus Books
Lex Talionis by R. S. A. Garcia
Wreckers by George Ellis
The Quantum Magician by Derek Künsken
The Blackwing War by K.B. Spangler
House of Shards by Walter Jon Williams
Barbarians of the Beyond by Matthew Hughes
Border Crosser by Tom Doyle
Romance on Four Worlds: a Casanova Quartet by Tom Purdom
The Scoundrels in Space StoryBundle is the result of an open submission call made by SFWA in October 2021.
Posted in Like Show Business | Tagged SFWA, StoryBundle | 4 Replies
SFWA's "Magic and Mayhem" Fantasy StoryBundle Available 'til November 4
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) has released their newest fantasy StoryBundle. The "Magic and Mayhem" Bundle is only available from October 13 to November 4, 2021 and can be purchased here: https://storybundle.com/fantasy.
StoryBundles are curated collections of books offered at a steeply discounted price. This collection features fourteen books from independent and small press fantasy writers that span the sub-genres of fantasy while showcasing magic-induced mayhem, from the hilarious to the horrible and everything in between.
J. Scott Coatsworth, chair of the SFWA Self-Publishing Committee, said, "We've significantly expanded our StoryBundle efforts this past year, and we're delighted that the books in 'Magic and Mayhem' reflect so well the wide variety and the high quality of self-published, indie, and small press speculative fiction available today."
The "Magic and Mayhem" StoryBundle is the result of an open submission call made by SFWA in the late spring of 2021, with books selected by the SFWA Self-Publishing Committee. The list of books is as follows:
By the Pact by Joanna Maciejewska
Sekhmet's Desire by Nova Blake
Tales of the Thief-City by Gareth Lewis
The Last God of Earth by A.J. Vanderpoel
Darkmage by ML Spencer
Playing with Fire: a Magical Romantic Comedy by R.J. Blain
Ragnarok Unwound by Kristin Jacques
Cutie and the Beast by E.J. Russell
Phaethon by Rachel Sharp
Quincy Harker, Year One by John G. Hartness
Once Stolen by D. N. Bryn
Last Sword in the West by Ryan Kirk
Lady Changeling by Ken Altabef
9 Tales of Raffalon by Matthew Hughes
Questions about the StoryBundle can be directed to the Self-Publishing Committee at [email protected].
Posted in Heard Online | Tagged SFWA, StoryBundle
SFWA Call for Submissions: "Rogues of the Future" StoryBundles
The Self-Publishing Committee of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA) has announced an open call for submissions for two science fiction StoryBundles releasing in 2022. The submission window is open until October 17, 2021.
The overarching theme of the bundles will be "Rogues of the Future." SFWA seeks all types of stories involving ne'er-do-wells in a science fiction setting. The "Con Artists of Tomorrow" Bundle will be available in February 2022. "Space Pirates and Thieves of the Future" will follow in August 2022.
J. Scott Coatsworth, chair of the SFWA Self-Publishing Committee, said, "Under the guidance of Sherrie Cronin this year, who organizes the SFWA StoryBundles, we've expanded from two bundles a year to four. We're excited to offer twice as many chances for our indie and small press authors to participate in these bundles, and we welcome nonmembers to apply as well."
StoryBundles are curated collections of books offered at a discounted price. Readers select what price they'd like to pay for an initial five books. They can unlock up to fifteen total by contributing more. Proceeds go to the participating authors and StoryBundle, and a small portion of the proceeds are donated to SFWA.
The SFWA Self-Publishing Committee will accept submissions through October 17, 2021, at 11:59 PM, US Eastern. For more details, including the full submission guidelines, visit the SFWA Blog here. If you have any questions, please email [email protected].
Posted in Clipping Service | Tagged SFWA, StoryBundle
Pixel Scroll 9/30/21 We've Replaced Their Files With Scroller's Pixels. Let's See If Anyone Notices
(1) CLARION WEST OCTOBER CLASSES. Clarion West is offering three more months of classes. See the full schedule here. Below are the October offerings — click the links for tuition cost and to register.
Modern Southern Gothic With Eden Royce – October 9, 10:00 a.m. Pacific
This class will discuss the history and traditions of the genre, give tips on how to update those traditions in your writing while maintaining a timeless tone, and provide suggestions on creating a modern Southern Gothic atmosphere in your writing. Students will gain a clearer understanding of the genre and its archetypes, as well as be given tools to more readily generate ideas on how to incorporate recognizable traditions of the genre into modern work.
This class is geared toward writers of long and short speculative fiction. As this is a course focusing on genre, it can be relevant to beginning, intermediate, or advanced writers unfamiliar with Southern Gothic and/or desirous of learning how to bring this genre up to date.
Afro-Surrealism in Horror With John Edward Lawson – October 14, 5:00 p.m. Pacific
The Afro-Surreal is a storytelling approach allowing creators to examine Black contemporary life much more concisely than a traditional literary narrative by permitting that which is physically impossible or defies explanation. Despite Black-centered horror going mainstream, we have yet to see Afro-Surrealism incorporated widely to amplify aspects of psychological horror, weird fiction, traditional supernatural narratives, or splatterpunk. This workshop will define what constitutes Afro-Surrealism, which horror works have successfully employed it, and how to incorporate Afro-Surrealism in your writing while maintaining your own voice. Key aspects of plot, characterization, and action will be discussed, including: the overlap between the Afro-Surreal and the supernatural, dialogue and the disconnect between how marginalized and privileged people experience an interaction, the unreality of action since facts are frequently suppressed or denied when it comes to the Black experience.
Beginning, intermediate, and advanced authors can use this workshop to refine existing drafts or craft new material for future projects. Students will come away from the workshop equipped to adapt techniques developed by surrealists of the African diaspora for communicating bizarre, unreal experiences in their own horror-centric work.
Native Futures: Crafting Indigenous Science Fiction with Brian K. Hudson – October 15, 5:00 p.m. Pacific
Voice, Dialogue, and Characterization
Many non-Native writers are reticent to develop Native characters, but leaving out Indigenous characters is not an option, especially when writing science fiction, because it makes assumptions about the future. In the book Writing the Other, Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward give practical advice for how to write characters whose backgrounds differ from one's own. One of their most pertinent pieces of advice is to build relationships with people from those backgrounds. A good start to building a relationship with Indigenous folks is to study their texts.
In this three-hour class, we will discuss several Indigenous futurist texts with Indigenous characters in order to learn how to diversify our science fiction (or otherwise-genred) story in a good way.
Attendees will be provided with readings for class. Writing exercises and prompts will also be provided.
This class is geared toward beginning writers.
Fighting Burnout With Fun With Sarah Loch – October 16, 12:00 p.m. Pacific
Creatives, writers especially, are entirely too familiar with burnout, even before 2020. Trying to get your work published, let alone make a living as an author, requires a volume of effort that can be crushing.
In this workshop, we'll focus on regaining a sense of joy and delight in your writing, and generating ideas, characters, and settings that keep your joy front and center as you continue your journey.
Summoning Demons by Daylight With Terence Taylor – October 18, 10:00 a.m. Pacific
How can we make the familiar scary? The aesthetics of a contemporary urban city doesn't quite have the spine-chilling factor of an ancient village shrouded in fog, but that doesn't mean there can't be plenty of scares in everyday life.
In this class, attendees explore how to design new tools to build horror written in contemporary settings that take us beyond expected traditional tropes. Five excerpts from five works of horror fiction, period and contemporary, ranging from Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita to N.K. Jemisin's The City We Became, will be analyzed and discussed, with the ultimate goal of understanding how these examples have gone against the grain in horror to create an original approach to a classic field. Based on these examples, students will propose their own premises and approaches to a non-traditional horror story or novel. In the second session, we will workshop those ideas, flesh them out, and exchange suggestions for improvement. Then students will write excerpts of their own premises. In the third session, we all evaluate how effective each excerpt is and how it can be improved.
Horror Flash Fiction With Marcella Haddad – October 20, 6:00 p.m. Pacific
How many words does it take to create true fear? There are many genres of horror that can exist in little spaces. In this workshop, attendees will learn how to create short and scary stories within the confines of micro and flash fiction (100-1,000 words). We'll study the similarities between comedy and horror in terms of timing, expectation, and subversion. We'll learn about wildcard characters, invented worlds, and pacing strategies to set up suspense. Throughout the workshop, we'll stay close to character and keep an eye on how turning points and climaxes are related to the specificity of voice, desire, and fear. By the end of this workshop, participants will have the beginnings of several new horror flash pieces based on in-class writing prompts, a worksheet for outlining a short horror piece, and resources and recommendations for further reading.
Sometimes You're the Magician, Sometimes You're the Fool With Iori Kusano and Vida Cruz – October 29, 6:00 p.m.
If you've ever wanted to include the Tarot in your novel or short story without looking like a Fool, this class will teach you how to avoid common divinatory pitfalls. Learn why an all-Majors spread is statistically unlikely (and laughably overused), the basics behind each suit's themes, and why the Eight of Swords can be scarier than Death itself!
Alternatively, if you just want to use the Tarot to help you get unblocked in your own writing, this class can provide tips and tricks for that too. Tarot can also be used as a tool to help clarify plot arcs and themes in your writing. Iori and Vida will discuss finding (and breaking in!) the right deck, interpretation tips, and useful spreads and layouts.
(2) INSPIRED MUSIC. And on October 9, the Bushwick Book Club Seattle presents original music inspired by Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch. This will be a hybrid in-person and livestreamed event. Get tickets here.
An evening of musicians and artists premiering new, original works inspired by the written word.
Story: For Sunny, twelve years old and albino, her arrival in Nigeria from America was shocking enough—until she discovers herself smack in the middle of a world of indescribable magic.
Themes: Self-discovery, friendship, tradition
Heads-up: Killer on the loose, racism (more at Book Trigger Warnings / Trigger Warning database)
(3) RITE GUD. Raquel S. Benedict's Rite Gud podcast discusses "Tragedy of the Creative Commons: Superheroes and Modern Mythology" in a new installment that dropped today.
Whenever a critic complains about the ubiquity or the creative emptiness of superhero narratives in contemporary pop culture, fans argue back that mass entertainment is just the modern incarnation of our rich cultural heritage: superheroes are mythology, and fandom is folklore. Is this true, or is this a way to flatten the complexities of traditional art while giving commercial media a spiritual significance it does not deserve?
Karlo Yeager Rodríguez joins us.
(4) LEFT BANK LOGROLLING. The New York Times covers a French literary kerfuffle: "In Paris, It's Literary Scandal Season Again".
The sidewalks of Paris were already strewn with fallen chestnuts by the time the literary season's first scandal finally broke.
Most Septembers, as French publishers release their most promising books and start jockeying for prizes, the world of letters is engulfed in the Left Bank's version of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
This season had been unfolding smoothly — unnaturally, impossibly so, some literary observers quipped — until trouble hit the one big French literary prize known for its probity: the Goncourt, the 118-year-old standard-bearer of the French novel, whose laureates include Marcel Proust, Simone de Beauvoir and Marguerite Duras.
Things started when the Goncourt's 10 jurors gathered this month, over a lunch of roast duckling with cherries and bottles of Château Maucaillou 2015, to come up with their long list of contenders. The author of one book up for consideration happened to be the romantic partner of one of the jurors, Camille Laurens, a novelist and book reviewer at Le Monde. In fact, the book was dedicated to a certain "C.L."
Other French prizes are also known for their jurors' conflicts of interest.
…At the Renaudot and other big prizes, jurors openly lobby for books in which they have a personal or professional stake. Some judges are also editors at big publishing houses and advocate titles by their employers — or books they have themselves edited.
Before the changes at the Goncourt, it, too, was referred to by some critics as "the Goncourt mafia," recalled the jury's current president, Didier Decoin, who has been a juror since 1995.
(5) WRITING PROMO COPY. At Dream Foundry, Catherine Lundoff advises about "Words that Sell: Writing Marketing Copy for Your Novel".
…Some day, when we can have book tables at conventions again, it's very helpful to watch people when they pick up your books and read the back. That reaction can be magical or disappointing, but either way, it tells you when your copy grabs someone's attention. In the meantime, look at your reviews, particularly the ones from readers. If they are consistently "expecting something else," that may be a sign to review your marketing copy and ask writer friends to help you vet it.…
(6) THEY TURNED DOWN THE VOLUMES. The Pew Research Center can tell you "Who doesn't read books in America?"
Roughly a quarter of American adults (23%) say they haven't read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Jan. 25-Feb. 8, 2021. Who are these non-book readers?
Several demographic traits are linked with not reading books, according to the survey. For instance, adults with a high school diploma or less are far more likely than those with a bachelor's or advanced degree to report not reading books in any format in the past year (39% vs. 11%). Adults with lower levels of educational attainment are also among the least likely to own smartphones, an increasingly common way for adults to read e-books….
More statistical cross-sections at the link.
(7) TOMMY KIRK (1941-2021). Best known as a young Disney star, actor Tommy Kirk died September 28 at the age of 79. His first venture for Disney was in the Mickey Mouse Club's genre-adjacent serial The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure, and the studio later cast him in numerous sort-of-genre productions like The Shaggy Dog, Son of Flubber, The Absent Minded Professor, Babes in Toyland, Moon Pilot, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and The Monkey's Uncle. He was also in several Sixties beach party movies, a couple of them sf-tinged — playing a Martian in the 1964 feature film Pajama Party, and in The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini. His other sff roles included the campy Village of the Giants, and Mars Needs Women. Late in his career he appeared in Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold (1995), Billy Frankenstein (1998) and The Education of a Vampire (2001).
1988 – Thirty-three years ago on this date, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark premiered. It was directed by James Signorelli from a script by Sam Egan, John Paragon, and of course Cassandra Peterson who is as you know the person behind the impressive facade of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She's really the only cast that matters here as this is Her Vehicle. Critics liked it with one saying that it was "Campy, witty and always eager to push the bawdy limits of a PG-13 rating".
Unfortunately for Elvira, Mistress of the Dark at the box office the distributor went dramatically out of business without warning the day before it came out, so it would only ever appear on five hundred screens instead of the twenty-five hundred that was intended, so it ended up losing a lot of money despite only costing seven-and-a-half million to produce. (Her costume might be the most expensive thing in the film.) Audience reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes give it an excellent sixty-five percent rating.
Born September 30, 1932 — Antoinette Bower, 89. I'll start off with her being Sylvia in the classic Trek episode of "Catspaw" written by Robert Bloch. She had a previous genre appearance in a Twilight Zone story, "Probe 7, Over and Out" in which she was Eva Nord. It's a shaggy God story as so termed by Brian Aldiss. She also had one-offs in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Get Smart and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Born September 30, 1946 — Dan O'Bannon. Screenwriter, director, visual effects supervisor, and actor. He wrote the Alien script, directed The Return of the Living Dead, provided special computer effects on Star Wars, was writer of two segments of Heavy Metal, Soft Landing and B-17, co-writer with Ronald Shusett and Gary Goldman of the first Total Recall. That's not complete listing by any stretch! (Died 2009.)
Born September 30, 1950 — Laura Esquivel, 71. Mexican author of Como agua para chocolate, Like Water for Chocolate in English. Magical realism and cooking with more than a small soupçon of eroticism. Seriously the film is amazing as is the book. ISFDB says she's also written La ley del amor (The Law of Love) which I've not read.
Born September 30, 1951 — Simon Hawke, 70. Author of the quite superb Wizard of 4th Street series as Well as the TimeWars series.He has written Battlestar Galactica, Trek, Friday the 13th, Predator and Dungeons & Dragons novels as well as the genre adjacent Shakespeare & Smythe mysteries which bear titles such as Much Ado About Murder.
Born September 30, 1959 — Debrah Farentino, 62. She's was in the cast of Earth 2 (never saw it — how was it?) and the recurring character of Dr. Beverly Barlowe on Eureka (superb, her character and the series). She was also in Son of the Pink Panther, Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes Returns, and the "Mind Over Matter" episode of Outer Limits.
Born September 30, 1960 — Nicola Griffith, 61. Editor with Stephen Pagel of the genre gender anthologies, Bending the Landscape: Science Fiction and Bending the Landscape: Fantasy (World Fantasy Award and Lambda winner) and Bending the Landscape: Horror. Ammonite won both the Lambda and Otherwise Awards. She also garnered a Lambda and a Nebula for the most excellent Slow River. All of her novels are available from the usual digital suspects.
Born September 30, 1972 — Sheree Renée Thomas, 49. Writer, Shotgun Lullabies: Stories & Poems and Sleeping Under the Tree of Life; Editor, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora which won a World Fantasy Award, and Dark Matter: Reading the Bones which also won a World Fantasy Award. She's also written a variety of poems and essays including "Dear Octavia, Octavia E. Butler, Ms. Butler, Mother of Changes". In 2020, Thomas was named editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Half Full proves no matter where you go there's no escaping the spam.
(11) GUESSING WHO. Radio Times speculates about "Who will be the next Doctor Who after Jodie Whittaker?".
At the moment there's not much to go on, and the BBC have only said the decision will be revealed "in due course" – but, based on a few of the names swirling about, our own theories about how the next Doctor would be chosen and recommendations from RadioTimes.com staff, here are a few of our picks for the Fourteenth Doctor.
Spoiler alert: we are almost certainly wrong. But if we're right, well, you heard (or read) it here first….
Meanwhile, "Billie Piper hints at possible Doctor Who return".
The I Hate Suzie star, who played the Ninth and Tenth Doctor's companion Rose Tyler from 2005 until 2008, said in a recent Cameo video that she would consider reprising the iconic role if the moment was right.
"Would I ever go back? I think if the circumstances and the story were right," she said. "I feel like I've had enough time away from it to really, really want back in on it.
"I feel like my kids are are at a good age and may appreciate that too, which is often my incentive to do anything."…
And Radio Times' Paul Kirkley adds his own evidence-free guesses about "What to expect from Russell T Davies' return".
…Will it be easy, this gear shift? Not for a second. Firstly, anyone who thinks this is going to mean a return to regular Saturday night audiences of eight million (faithful) viewers is probably deluding themselves; that world no longer exists. Sure, the likes of Line of Duty and Vigil may have proved that reports of linear TV's death continue to be exaggerated, but Doctor Who relies on continually refreshing its audience with a new generation of younger viewers. And, as Ofcom has warned, the traditional broadcasters are currently staring down the barrel of a "lost generation" who, lured away by sexy young buzz brands like Netflix, Disney Plus and YouTube, increasingly view the BBC as that funny old thing your nan watches in the afternoons. (BBC One's average viewing age, lest we forget, is 61.)
… If, as hinted, Russell does want to expand the Doctor Who "empire", what sort of expanded portfolio might we reasonably expect? The short answer: haven't got a Scooby. But has that stopped you starting to build your own fantasy Doctor Who Cinematic Universe in your head? Of course it hasn't.
So what's on your bingo card? How about an anthology series featuring one-shot appearances from former – possibly unseen – Doctors? (Hugh Grant as a pre-Hartnell Doctor, anyone?) A stylish period spy-fi drama about the early years of UNIT? Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor versus The Division? A Dalek cartoon for the kids? The Humker and Tandrell Adventures…?
Will Russell be dusting off his proposal for Rose Tyler: Earth Defender? Is Torchwood coming back? (Er, probably not.) And will they please, for the love of the mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe, just give us something – anything – with Paul McGann in?
(12) PRODUCT PLACEMENT IN PRATCHETT. [Item by Meredith.] This is old (a 2011 post) but it's so incredible I thought it might still deserve a spot in the Scroll: Terry Pratchett changes his German publisher because they inserted a soup advert into the text of one of his novels. "Terry Pratchett and the Maggi Soup Adverts" at Stuffed Crocodile.
…Fans of course got used to it, if it gave them access to the books, why not? But it became more and more grating the more genre literature was accepted into mainstream.
And then you actually had a bestseller author like Pratchett jump ship and go to the direct contender (Goldmann), just because one of these stupid stunts. I wonder how that actually was taken by the Heyne CEOs. Back then Pratchett was at the verge of becoming a star in Germany as well, so they lost him just when he was getting big….
There's a scan of an ad in the post, too.
Diane Duane also wrote a post (with scans) on her blog in 2015: "What's the Rihannsu for 'soup'?" at Out of Ambit.
If the above (and below) images look a little bizarre, well, they should. They're from long-ago German editions of My Enemy, My Ally and The Romulan Way into which the publisher inserted soup ads.
(13) NANO BUNDLE. StoryBundle is offering a 2021 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle, curated by Kevin J. Anderson.
Each year, as countless determined writers, both aspiring and professional, look at November as National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, we put together a grab back of helpful books that cover all aspects of writing, from craft, to business, to indie publishing, to marketing. This year is no exception.
Presenting a world-class StoryBundle of 16 books that will help you up your game as a writer. Plus, if you meet the bonus price, you can also get discount coupon codes for the ebook editing apps Jutoh 3 and Jutoh 3 Plus!
(14) IT'S A THEORY. Did social media clamoring for actress Lucy Lawless to be cast backfire? "Lucy Lawless Says 'Mandalorian' Fan Campaign to Replace Gina Carano Hurt Chances of 'Star Wars' Gig" at Yahoo!.
…Lawless revealed to Metro that she was actually circling a different "Star Wars"-adjacent role at the time of Carano's firing, and she said the fans urging for her "Mandalorian" casting might've cost her a trip to a galaxy far, far away.
"Well to be honest with you, I was already in discussions about something on — it wasn't 'The Mandalorian' — something Star Wars-affiliated,' Lawless said. "[The fan campaign] might have hurt me in some way, because then [Lucasfilm] couldn't hire me because it would seem to be pandering to…I'm just guessing here, I don't know anything, but in some ways, it can be unhelpful, because if they pander to this fan group, then how are you going to pander to every other fan group, do you know what I mean?"…
(15) OCTOTHORPE. The Octothorpe podcast team, John Coxon, Alison Scott, and Liz Batty, say about episode 41: "We recorded this before Fantasycon, but that didn't stop us talking about it a whole bunch. We also talk about Novacon's COVID policy, discuss the Ignyte Awards and do picks." "Leaves the Beans In".
(16) ICE CUBE ROOTER. The New York Times knows "Where NASA Will Send Its First Robotic Moon Rover to Search for Ice".
NASA has been planning for years to send a robotic rover to the moon's polar regions. Water ice trapped at the bottoms of craters there could be a boon to future visiting astronauts, providing water to drink, air to breathe and rocket fuel to propel them back to Earth or even farther out into the solar system.
Now, NASA has identified the crater that the rover — the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER — will spend about 100 days exploring when it arrives in a couple of years.
VIPER will land near the moon's south pole, at the western edge of the 45-mile-wide Nobile crater, which formed when something hit the moon. Near the poles, the sun is low on the horizon and the bottoms of craters, lying in permanent shadows, are among the coldest places in the solar system….
(17) BEYOND GOOSEBUMPS. SYFY Wire promotes the trailer for a new series based on R.L. Stine's YA comic: "Just Beyond on Disney+ drops first spooky trailer for R.L. Stine series".
…Just Beyond. Based on the BOOM! Studios YA comic of the same name (written by Goosebumps and Fear Street creator, R.L. Stine), the eight-episode anthology heads for Disney+ in October.
The official press release teases a collection of "astonishing and thought-provoking stories" about witches, aliens, ghosts, parallel dimensions, and more. Each episode will feature an entirely new cast of characters "who must go on a surprising journey of self-discovery in a supernatural world."
Seth Grahame-Smith (author of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and one of the writers behind HBO Max's upcoming Green Lantern series) serves as writer, executive producer, and showrunner….
(18) VIDEO OF THE DAY. [Item by Martin Morse Wooster.] In "Honest Game Trailers: WarioWare: Get It together!" Fandom Games says this new extension of the Warioware franchise features snappy little games with characters named 5-Volt, 9-Volt, and 12-Volt and in the next edition they'll "eliminate the middleman," and is a snack-size alternative to watching TikTok videos of men punching themselves over and over.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Michael Toman, Meredith, R.S. Benedict, Mike Kennedy, Martin Morse Wooster, JJ, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jayn.]
Posted in Pixel Scroll | Tagged Alison Scott, Billie Piper, Brian K. Hudson, Catherine Lundoff, Clarion West, Diane Duane, Doctor Who, Dream Foundry, Eden Royce, Honest Trailers, John Coxon, John Edward Lawson, Kevin J. Anderson, Liz Batty, lori Kusano, Lucy Lawless, Marcella Haddad, NaNoWriMo, NASA, Nnedi Okorafor, Octothorpe, R. L. Stine, Raquel S. Benedict, Rite Gud, Russell T Davies, Sarah Loch, StoryBundle, Terence Taylor, Terry Pratchett, Vida Cruz, VIPER