Do you remember the milk scandal in China round the time of the Olympics?
If not, it was that melamine was added to the milk to fake the protein levels, and which resulted in the deaths of six children, and thousands of babies becoming ill. Well, this morning, as an end of the story, I guess, two of the men involved were executed. Sky News claims they were shot by a firing squad, but I read elsewhere that lethal injection was used. Either way, the Chinese Government had the two men killed. The highest ranking executive in the whole thing, however, a sixty six year old woman, was spared this by coping an earlier plea, and ended up with a life sentence. It probably doesn't take too much of a distrustful mind to argue that she's skated out of the execution by having friends.
However, what struck me as I was reading this, was really how much I can't support the death penalty. I mean, here are some folk who were greedy and stupid and had thousands of kids get sick, and six even die. It's a pretty awful thing. I'm not going to tell you it isn't.
But.
But, a year and a half later, the government killing the people involved... It's just not something I can get behind. Maybe it's a fault in me, I'm not sure, but I've yet to see or read or experience anything that I thought the death penalty was a suitable response.
(crossposted)
If not, it was that melamine was added to the milk to fake the protein levels, and which resulted in the deaths of six children, and thousands of babies becoming ill. Well, this morning, as an end of the story, I guess, two of the men involved were executed. Sky News claims they were shot by a firing squad, but I read elsewhere that lethal injection was used. Either way, the Chinese Government had the two men killed. The highest ranking executive in the whole thing, however, a sixty six year old woman, was spared this by coping an earlier plea, and ended up with a life sentence. It probably doesn't take too much of a distrustful mind to argue that she's skated out of the execution by having friends.
However, what struck me as I was reading this, was really how much I can't support the death penalty. I mean, here are some folk who were greedy and stupid and had thousands of kids get sick, and six even die. It's a pretty awful thing. I'm not going to tell you it isn't.
But.
But, a year and a half later, the government killing the people involved... It's just not something I can get behind. Maybe it's a fault in me, I'm not sure, but I've yet to see or read or experience anything that I thought the death penalty was a suitable response.
(crossposted)
In 2002, the Polyphony anthology series debuted. Conceived as a short fiction venue for stories that would skate gracefully across the boundaries of science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, and literary fiction, it was quickly recognized as the standard bearer for cross genre work. Since then, the series' six volumes have become a vital, unique collection of voices in literature of the fantastic.
Polyphony has been twice nominated for a World Fantasy Award and the stories therein have been featured in several "Year's Best" anthologies, along with garnering accolades from several award judges and committees. Polyphony authors range from multiple-award-winning seasoned writers to the previously unpublished. The series is truly a melodic interweaving of many voices: old and new, speculative and literary, heralded and unknown. Polyphony has not merely crossed literary boundaries, it has reformed and redefined them.
The harsh economic climate threatens to kill this vital series. Wheatland Press is asking for your help.
The authors have graciously made concessions to make Polyphony 7 a reality. They've agreed to a reduced pay rate to see the volume published. Now we need readers.
In order to publish Polyphony 7, Wheatland Press must receive 225 paid pre-orders via the website by March 1, 2010. If the pre-order quantities cannot be met, Polyphony will cease publication. It's that simple. The preorder link is here: http://www.wheatlandpress.com/
(mid page)
If the preorder number is met, then Polyphony 7 will be published on or about July 1, 2010.*
We have heard from many in the SF/F literary community that Polyphony is a vital part of landscape. We agree, but we cannot continue without your support. We hope that you will support our fine authors and their art by becoming part of the Polyphony community and pre-ordering a copy of Polyphony 7.
*The fine print: If we do not receive enough orders by March 1, then all preorders will be refunded immediately.
Polyphony is a very good anthology series. I appeared in the previous volume, and my story, 'There is Something so Quiet and Empty Inside of you that it must be Precious' is set to appear in the new book. Since it has such an awesomely long title, you obviously want to read it.
On a more personal level, Deb Layne is a really awesome person, with really fine taste in literature, and it would be nothing but a shame should her hard work have to end because of the economic climate we find ourselves in. Go, support her, buy a few books, pre-order this book in particular, and lets keep things alive.
(crossposted)
When you are 1500 feet deep, there’s no wind, there’s no ambient sound, and there’s no sunlight as well (no wonder!). However, ride on the elevator doesn’t take too long – during these seconds you virtually see your whole life in front of your eyes. The open cage whooshes downwards swinging around like crazy and your guts really seem to come all the way up to your throat!
When you’re out of the cage, you arrive to a small platform, where multiple tunnels are intercrossed. These tunnels are made for so called “taxis”, small diesel-powered vehicles that can transport 2 to 12 men, depending on their designation. The mine uptake is only a drop in the sea of shafts, since there are lots of tunnels, which lead to actual mining sites. The most distant longwall (which is the name of the place of actual mining) is 17 miles away from the elevator! The “taxi” drives at speed of 20-25 mph, so it takes quite some time for some miners to get to work.
Link.
(crossposted)
Some days, I would forgive anyone who said that the publishing industry was one of the most poorly run businesses in existence. As one of the examples that could warrant such a comment, there is the latest plan by Harlequin in which their rejected authors can go and, well, basically pay for their work to be published:
In response to it, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) released this:
Which is fair enough, and hopefully the backlash will continue--I don't know if this is more than a slap, since really, it's just one conference--and put a stop to something that only adds another layer of work and frustration and economic struggle to an author.
It makes you wonder about the mentality behind this doesn't it? How poorly must Harlequin think of their authors to begin such a plan? I'm not a romance author but even I could feel the slight by a company there, one which appears to both belittle an author's intent to make a career from their work, and to also place the contribution of the author at what one could argue as the bottom of the totem pole in getting creating a book. It almost says, that if you write a book, self publish it, and it gets enough to read it then you will be graced by people who will help package and sell your work and allow it into book stores.
Quality doesn't seem to come into it.
(crossposted)
Author Solutions has teamed up with Harlequin to form Harlequin Horizons, a new imprint for self-published romance authors. The imprint will recruit writers in two ways: authors whose manuscripts have been rejected by Harlequin will be made aware of the Harlequin Horizons option and authors who sign with Author Solutions will be given the opportunity to be published under the Harlequin Horizons imprint. According to an Author Solutions spokesperson, the imprint will offer special services aimed at the romance market, including unique marketing and distribution services. All services are on a pay-for-service basis.
Author Solutions will handle all aspects of the venture, although Harlequin Horizons will exist as an imprint of Harlequin, and the publisher will be able to monitor sales and sign authors to a traditional imprint.
This is the second deal Author Solutions has signed with a major publisher. Earlier, it reached an agreement with Thomas Nelson to publish self-published authors interested in reaching the Christian market under Nelson’s WestBow imprint. The Author Solutions spokesperson said additional agreements with other traditional houses are in the works.
In response to it, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) released this:
Dear Members:
Romance Writers of America was informed of the new venture between Harlequin Enterprises and ASI Solutions to form Harlequin Horizons, a vanity/subsidy press. Many of you have asked the organization to state its position regarding this new development. As a matter of policy, we do not endorse any publisher’s business model. Our mission is the advancement of the professional interests of career-focused romance writers.
One of your member benefits is the annual National Conference. RWA allocates select conference resources to non-subsidy/non-vanity presses that meet the eligibility requirements to obtain those resources. Eligible publishers are provided free meeting space for book signings, are given the opportunity to hold editor appointments, and are allowed to offer spotlights on their programs.
With the launch of Harlequin Horizons, Harlequin Enterprises no longer meets the requirements to be eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. This does not mean that Harlequin Enterprises cannot attend the conference. Like all non-eligible publishers, they are welcome to attend. However, as a non-eligible publisher, they would fund their own conference fees and they would not be provided with conference resources by RWA to publicize or promote the company or its imprints.
Sometimes the wind of change comes swiftly and unexpectedly, leaving an unsettled feeling. RWA takes its role as advocate for its members seriously. The Board is working diligently to address the impact of recent developments on all of RWA's members.
We invite you to attend the annual conference on July 28 - 31, 2010 in Nashville, TN, as we celebrate 30 years of success with keynote speaker Nora Roberts, special luncheon speaker Jayne Ann Krentz, librarian speaker Sherrilyn Kenyon, and awards ceremony emcee Sabrina Jeffries. Please refer to the RWA Web site for conference registration information in late January 2010.
Looking forward to seeing you at the Gaylord Opryland!
Michelle Monkou
RWA President
RWA Alert is a publication of Romance Writers of America®,
Which is fair enough, and hopefully the backlash will continue--I don't know if this is more than a slap, since really, it's just one conference--and put a stop to something that only adds another layer of work and frustration and economic struggle to an author.
It makes you wonder about the mentality behind this doesn't it? How poorly must Harlequin think of their authors to begin such a plan? I'm not a romance author but even I could feel the slight by a company there, one which appears to both belittle an author's intent to make a career from their work, and to also place the contribution of the author at what one could argue as the bottom of the totem pole in getting creating a book. It almost says, that if you write a book, self publish it, and it gets enough to read it then you will be graced by people who will help package and sell your work and allow it into book stores.
Quality doesn't seem to come into it.
(crossposted)
It seems that Michael Moorcock will be writing a Dr Who novel:
It'd be nice if it was written under the influence of a ton of drugs. I mean, I think Dr Who is one of the great all time wastes of brain space, I don't really dig franchise novels--the authors are, by and large, writing just for the cash and it shows--but if there was a press release that said, "Six months ago, we delivered 112 kilos of cocaine to Michael Moorcock's house. We locked the doors. We played endless episodes of Dr Who on giant screens outside his house. We give to you now what emerged."--well, I reckon if there was a press release that said that, I'd have to overcome my prejudices.
(crossposted)
The author of the Elric, Eternal Champion and Jerry Cornelius novels, and an inspiration to many creators such as Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Wiliam Gibson and Ian Sinclair, posted on his forum that;
Looks like it’s official. I’ll be doing a new Dr Who novel (not a tie-in) for appearance, I understand, by next Christmas. Still have to have talks etc. with producers and publishers but we should be signing shortly. Should be fun.
It'd be nice if it was written under the influence of a ton of drugs. I mean, I think Dr Who is one of the great all time wastes of brain space, I don't really dig franchise novels--the authors are, by and large, writing just for the cash and it shows--but if there was a press release that said, "Six months ago, we delivered 112 kilos of cocaine to Michael Moorcock's house. We locked the doors. We played endless episodes of Dr Who on giant screens outside his house. We give to you now what emerged."--well, I reckon if there was a press release that said that, I'd have to overcome my prejudices.
(crossposted)
I've been listening to Wolfmother's new album, Cosmic Egg. I dug their last album, but I didn't rush out to sample the next one, mostly because I didn't feel the urge. Also, the clip for 'New Moon Rising' is really boring:
But, y'know, the album is pretty decent, and I've kinda dug it.
Hows that for an endorsement?
(crossposted)
But, y'know, the album is pretty decent, and I've kinda dug it.
Hows that for an endorsement?
(crossposted)
Local authors, book publishers and unions have secured a win over the major book retailing chains in their campaign to maintain restrictions on imports of cheaper foreign-published books.
The Federal Government this morning announced it would abandon proposed changes to Australia's book publishing regime that supporters say would have made books cheaper and more widely available but critics argued would harm the local publishing industry.
In announcing the decision, Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Emerson argued the growth of online retailers such as Amazon and electronic books such as Kindle would instead drive innovation and price reductions.
"In the circumstances of intense competition from online books and e-books, the Government judged that changing the regulations governing book imports is unlikely to have any material effect on the availability of books in Australia," Dr Emerson said in a statement.
Under the existing rules, a title qualifies for protection if the Australian publisher releases the book here within 30 days of its overseas release. Dr Emerson is believed to have explored a compromise that would have reduced this 30-day period to seven or 14 days.
But that plan, as well as an alternative proposal of a price cap similar to one in place in Canada, were rejected by the Government.
The decision means the Government will not go ahead with a planned new spending program for Australian authors and publishers, which had been recommended by the Productivity Commission to compensate the industry for the proposed changes.
The issue has divided cabinet, with economic ministers including Dr Emerson believed to favour reforms to the existing rules while other ministers had been sympathetic to authors, publishers and unions.
The Labor caucus and the ALP's national conference have also put pressure on cabinet not to adopt the commission's recommendations.
The Productivity Commission recommended in July that the parallel import restrictions be abolished.
It said this would put downward pressure on book prices and help local booksellers deal with the challenge of overseas retailers such as Amazon, which are allowed to supply cheaper foreign editions directly to Australian consumers.
Link.
(crossposted)
The other week I finished work and chilled for a while in front of the TV. I flipped some channels, tried to decide if I could be bothered (the answer is usually no), but then came across Tim Roth.
I liked Roth in Reservoir Dogs, though he seemed to just have poor choice in rolls, for the most part. Still, I can get behind Roth, and I sit round and I watch this show that he's in called Lie To Me, which offers the premise of a doctor who has created a business around being able to tell if people are lying or not. Half based on intuition, half based on the little facial ticks and gestures people have, he stumbles around with a bunch of people prettier than him, and solves crimes. And why not? In America, anyone can solve a crime. In fact, in a curious way, you could argue that the promise of American TV is that, no matter who you are, you will have the chance to solve crimes and save innocent people. Of course, your chances seem to be marginally better for this line of work if you're British and someone cynical, unshaven, and unpleasant (though deep down you really care for people, and you mask this behind your cynicism).
The show isn't so bad, to be honest. I caught a second episode of it tonight and while it was a bit of a copy of House--which is probably a copy of something else--I liked Roth enough to hang for the whole thing. After a while though, I got thinking about how malleable the crime genre is--how there seem to be so many ways in which the whole case solving thing can fixed to a concept and a case, and how open it is. In many ways, I thought as I sat there, the crime genre is one that can go anywhere, and do anything. Then I realised that you could do the same with romance.
Then I decided that was enough of thinking about genre, because really, in the end, it's just some rules and expectations, and there's nothing saying you can't do whatever you want with it.
(crossposted)
I liked Roth in Reservoir Dogs, though he seemed to just have poor choice in rolls, for the most part. Still, I can get behind Roth, and I sit round and I watch this show that he's in called Lie To Me, which offers the premise of a doctor who has created a business around being able to tell if people are lying or not. Half based on intuition, half based on the little facial ticks and gestures people have, he stumbles around with a bunch of people prettier than him, and solves crimes. And why not? In America, anyone can solve a crime. In fact, in a curious way, you could argue that the promise of American TV is that, no matter who you are, you will have the chance to solve crimes and save innocent people. Of course, your chances seem to be marginally better for this line of work if you're British and someone cynical, unshaven, and unpleasant (though deep down you really care for people, and you mask this behind your cynicism).
The show isn't so bad, to be honest. I caught a second episode of it tonight and while it was a bit of a copy of House--which is probably a copy of something else--I liked Roth enough to hang for the whole thing. After a while though, I got thinking about how malleable the crime genre is--how there seem to be so many ways in which the whole case solving thing can fixed to a concept and a case, and how open it is. In many ways, I thought as I sat there, the crime genre is one that can go anywhere, and do anything. Then I realised that you could do the same with romance.
Then I decided that was enough of thinking about genre, because really, in the end, it's just some rules and expectations, and there's nothing saying you can't do whatever you want with it.
(crossposted)
Writing comedy is a very strange thing, I find.
There's an old saying that being funny is the hardest thing to do, and it is probably true. I suspect it's because being funny relies so heavily on the mood of your audience--you can twist mid story, be self deprecating, or just ride the good vibe of the people before you. When it's just you and the blank screen, however, there's a lot less 'moment' to guide you through your routine.
Below is a Woody Allen joke about being kidnapped. I know a lot of people don't like Allen, but I've always found him a funny sort, and I reckon you can learn a lot by listening to how he structures his gags.
(crossposted)
There's an old saying that being funny is the hardest thing to do, and it is probably true. I suspect it's because being funny relies so heavily on the mood of your audience--you can twist mid story, be self deprecating, or just ride the good vibe of the people before you. When it's just you and the blank screen, however, there's a lot less 'moment' to guide you through your routine.
Below is a Woody Allen joke about being kidnapped. I know a lot of people don't like Allen, but I've always found him a funny sort, and I reckon you can learn a lot by listening to how he structures his gags.
(crossposted)
All my students tell me that Twilight isn't cool any more. I usually respond by telling them that it never was.
It's just humour on my part, since I never considered reading the book. S described the series to me as a girl thing and I was good enough with that. Plus, the vampire sparkled. Whenever someone told me that I couldn't help but grin, so I was never in line to be the audience for the book, which I'm sure everyone involved with the book is fine by. However, for a brief moment, Twilight was the thing, and before it became huge, a bunch of students wouldn't stop talking about it; it's somewhat surprising to see how quickly the audience has turned on it. I'm told some of it has to do with Meyer's herself, some of it on the fact that the main character is reportedly pregnant with the sparkling vampire's baby in the fourth book, and because of the Mormons. It's probably all that and that fact that the book became too cool, to the point that its original audience took one look at popularity and said, "You know, fuck this, I'm going back to obscure bands, fan fiction, and TV series in different languages."
This happened a little to Rowling's Harry Potter, but not as much. Part of that, I think, was because the age in which the readers were introduced to the Potter books was a lot younger than the age that the Meyer books were pitched. Of course, I could be entirely wrong--there might be no good reason for why Rowling didn't get the backlash other than luck or a good publicist. I mean, there was some, but it mainly came in the form of new readers, coming in as the books were finished, and who would say things like, "Fuck this, gimme Howl's Moving Castle."
Ah well.
Kids.
Books.
I don't know how it works, but whatever gets them reading A Clockwork Orange, I guess.
(crossposted)
It's just humour on my part, since I never considered reading the book. S described the series to me as a girl thing and I was good enough with that. Plus, the vampire sparkled. Whenever someone told me that I couldn't help but grin, so I was never in line to be the audience for the book, which I'm sure everyone involved with the book is fine by. However, for a brief moment, Twilight was the thing, and before it became huge, a bunch of students wouldn't stop talking about it; it's somewhat surprising to see how quickly the audience has turned on it. I'm told some of it has to do with Meyer's herself, some of it on the fact that the main character is reportedly pregnant with the sparkling vampire's baby in the fourth book, and because of the Mormons. It's probably all that and that fact that the book became too cool, to the point that its original audience took one look at popularity and said, "You know, fuck this, I'm going back to obscure bands, fan fiction, and TV series in different languages."
This happened a little to Rowling's Harry Potter, but not as much. Part of that, I think, was because the age in which the readers were introduced to the Potter books was a lot younger than the age that the Meyer books were pitched. Of course, I could be entirely wrong--there might be no good reason for why Rowling didn't get the backlash other than luck or a good publicist. I mean, there was some, but it mainly came in the form of new readers, coming in as the books were finished, and who would say things like, "Fuck this, gimme Howl's Moving Castle."
Ah well.
Kids.
Books.
I don't know how it works, but whatever gets them reading A Clockwork Orange, I guess.
(crossposted)
This year for Halloween, I did nothing. It was the same as last year. However, the difference this year was that no small children came to my door looking for candy. I guess that tradition isn't taking off, at least in my neighbourhood.
In other news, it seems that Paper Cities has won a World Fantasy Award. My story, 'The Funeral, Ruined' appeared in it.
Grats to Kathy, who edited it, and Matt, who published it.
(crossposted)
In other news, it seems that Paper Cities has won a World Fantasy Award. My story, 'The Funeral, Ruined' appeared in it.
Grats to Kathy, who edited it, and Matt, who published it.
(crossposted)
A book of essays around the game, World of Warcraft, and philosophy, has been released.
It's not really my thing, to be honest, and I won't be buying it. I still dig WoW, but the kind of pop philosophy that exists behind books like this, and others on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bewitched, and whatever large social pop culture fad that is in existence, doesn't ever really grab me. The essays usually end up being the worse examples of the 'make everything have meaning' mentality that make High School English so painful--except that instead of drawing meaning out of a painful set of Emily Dickinson poetry, the attempt is being made with a TV show or video game.
Good times, good times.
(crossposted)
It's not really my thing, to be honest, and I won't be buying it. I still dig WoW, but the kind of pop philosophy that exists behind books like this, and others on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Bewitched, and whatever large social pop culture fad that is in existence, doesn't ever really grab me. The essays usually end up being the worse examples of the 'make everything have meaning' mentality that make High School English so painful--except that instead of drawing meaning out of a painful set of Emily Dickinson poetry, the attempt is being made with a TV show or video game.
However, that doesn't mean the Amazon user reviews aren't any fun!
Monica Evans introduces us to the lore of World of Warcraft, discussing misdeeds and other noteworthy misadventures. Plato and Kant are introduced innocently and unobtrusively, yet I could feel the gentle increase of my intellect by at least +2!
Another highlight is Miquel Sicart's Warrior angst and consequent in-depth philosophical discussion of game play, game community, and game ethics. Again, I felt a nice increase in INT +2!
You could even call it a sexy read, as the ethical implications of flirting and role play are explored in the most unlikely places. OMG! I just got a boost in charisma +1!
This book makes the game itself more fun. After settling in to read for a bit, I rejoined my guild and found myself considering many things I hadn't previously pondered. Is the rogue really female and does it matter? How much real money is that epic loot worth? Does the game play affect our real personas? What linguistic influences will carry over into RL? What's the etymological root for noob? Tank? Or griefer? How long before folks are going to the doctor to report that their health bar is low?
A true delight for the thoughtful gamer! Belongs in a spot on the book shelf between Plato's Republic and Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash.
Good times, good times.
(crossposted)
A strange thing has happened recently in my work: it has stopped requiring advertising.
About a week ago, the last of my year 12 students finished up. The HSC has begun and I'm not required anymore. Hopefully the guys--they were all guys this year--do alright. In previous years, however, what I've done at this point in time is toss an ad in the local paper and hope to pick up a couple of replacements--a plan that has had varying scales of success, to be honest. At this time in the year, not a whole lot of people are looking for a private tutor. Everything is winding down. There's a few final exams left, but outside eager new year 12 students, I've usually just cut back a little and glided into the end of the year, in which I've run an occasional workshop or found some other work to tide me over. I have to cut back on the fish eggs and the slaves, but you know how it goes.
This year, however, it was different. As soon as the HSC started, my phone started ringing with people wanting to get the empty spots. I am known, it seems, in the Asian community, and it seems that word of mouth travels well there, and I'm full. It's a strange thing to experience, to be honest. The writing side of my life has been a bit slow this year, the natural result of shifting to trying to sell novels, leaving an agent, and a little bit of burn out from having done this for fifteen years now, with all its ups and downs and things I could do with and without. The business of writing, too, has always struck me as being so much work--not the writing itself, which is always a pleasure, but the business of selling, people, and making sure you're in the position you want to be. I've had varying degrees of success in every part, but it has always been work. To have the other work I do exist and bubble along without any real effort into bringing up people is a strange situation, but one that is quite satisfying, and is what I hope eventually the writing will become.
In fairness, I probably write the wrong kind of stuff for it to happen in the same as it seems to have occurred for my teaching. If I did freelance writing, rather than fiction, I suspect the work would fall into a similar pattern, just because there's a lot more demand for it.
But, of course, I began teaching so I wouldn't have to do that.
Which means everything is probably where it should be, and I ought to buy a beret, and work on being emotionally tortured, again.
Every few years I figure I ought to try to do that, y'know?
(crossposted)
About a week ago, the last of my year 12 students finished up. The HSC has begun and I'm not required anymore. Hopefully the guys--they were all guys this year--do alright. In previous years, however, what I've done at this point in time is toss an ad in the local paper and hope to pick up a couple of replacements--a plan that has had varying scales of success, to be honest. At this time in the year, not a whole lot of people are looking for a private tutor. Everything is winding down. There's a few final exams left, but outside eager new year 12 students, I've usually just cut back a little and glided into the end of the year, in which I've run an occasional workshop or found some other work to tide me over. I have to cut back on the fish eggs and the slaves, but you know how it goes.
This year, however, it was different. As soon as the HSC started, my phone started ringing with people wanting to get the empty spots. I am known, it seems, in the Asian community, and it seems that word of mouth travels well there, and I'm full. It's a strange thing to experience, to be honest. The writing side of my life has been a bit slow this year, the natural result of shifting to trying to sell novels, leaving an agent, and a little bit of burn out from having done this for fifteen years now, with all its ups and downs and things I could do with and without. The business of writing, too, has always struck me as being so much work--not the writing itself, which is always a pleasure, but the business of selling, people, and making sure you're in the position you want to be. I've had varying degrees of success in every part, but it has always been work. To have the other work I do exist and bubble along without any real effort into bringing up people is a strange situation, but one that is quite satisfying, and is what I hope eventually the writing will become.
In fairness, I probably write the wrong kind of stuff for it to happen in the same as it seems to have occurred for my teaching. If I did freelance writing, rather than fiction, I suspect the work would fall into a similar pattern, just because there's a lot more demand for it.
But, of course, I began teaching so I wouldn't have to do that.
Which means everything is probably where it should be, and I ought to buy a beret, and work on being emotionally tortured, again.
Every few years I figure I ought to try to do that, y'know?
(crossposted)
I have never really understood the desire authors have to slip the occasional foreign word into story, especially in dialogue. I got thinking about this yesterday, in relation to Nam Le's 'Cartagena'. The story itself is a coming of age story for a child assassin in Colombia, and it is a pretty decent read, though I found myself stumbling over parts when the author did thinks like this; "You have been a good soldado, he said. I think it is time we met. This week, I think."
The meaning of the word isn't very difficult to figure out, as the occasional bit of Spanish rarely is, and the context of it makes it fairly clear, but I wonder about its use. Throwing it in, to me, doesn't reinforce the cultural world that a character lives in--mostly it draws attention to the fact that it is written by someone who is writing in English. It reminds me, in fact, of an old comic character called Gambit. He used to show up in old X-Men comics with the worse Cajun dialogue, in which he calls every girl 'chere' and so on and so forth.
However, ignoring that, and returning to dialogue: I suppose the convention wisdom behind dropping in parts of other languages is to add authenticity, to further help the author build up his or her world. In theory, a few bits of Spanish or French or Japanese can do for you what a few hundred words here and there will do for world building and culture--at least, in a lazy fashion. I'm not yet convinced that it is nothing more than a shortcut that authors use in place of a real understanding of their topic--which, I might add, isn't a slam on the Le story, since I didn't have any real problem with the cultural building there, in as far as I knew much about Colombia. But still, when he dropped in the bits of Spanish, I did find myself thinking that they were unnecessary, and not doing him any favours.
Perhaps it's just me, though.
(crossposted)
The meaning of the word isn't very difficult to figure out, as the occasional bit of Spanish rarely is, and the context of it makes it fairly clear, but I wonder about its use. Throwing it in, to me, doesn't reinforce the cultural world that a character lives in--mostly it draws attention to the fact that it is written by someone who is writing in English. It reminds me, in fact, of an old comic character called Gambit. He used to show up in old X-Men comics with the worse Cajun dialogue, in which he calls every girl 'chere' and so on and so forth.
However, ignoring that, and returning to dialogue: I suppose the convention wisdom behind dropping in parts of other languages is to add authenticity, to further help the author build up his or her world. In theory, a few bits of Spanish or French or Japanese can do for you what a few hundred words here and there will do for world building and culture--at least, in a lazy fashion. I'm not yet convinced that it is nothing more than a shortcut that authors use in place of a real understanding of their topic--which, I might add, isn't a slam on the Le story, since I didn't have any real problem with the cultural building there, in as far as I knew much about Colombia. But still, when he dropped in the bits of Spanish, I did find myself thinking that they were unnecessary, and not doing him any favours.
Perhaps it's just me, though.
(crossposted)
Parrot and Olivier in America and Other Books
Yesterday I saw Peter Carey's new novel, Parrot and Olivier in America, and it looks pretty cool. It's a good sign, because I passed on Carey's previous book because I thought that His Illegal Self looked like it was mostly treading water in Carey's thematics. Maybe I was wrong about that, but I didn't buy it anyhow; and to be fair, there's something in the description of Parrot and Olivier in America that hints at earlier Carey, but it has at least caught my interest.
Over the last month of so I've been flipping between a few books. I've read a couple of short stories out of Nam Le's the Boat, and I dug them, actually. There's a lot of hype on the collection, but if you try your best to ignore it, you'll find the work to be pretty solid and satisfying, or at least I have. I must admit, however, that I could have done without the story about the author, the exploitation of Vietnamese culture, and his father visiting--it was a little too knowing for me, but it's all taste at that point. Good stuff overall and worth the time.
I've also been reading Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, the science fiction novel she doesn't want you to call a science fiction novel. To be fair, it doesn't really fit into what you would generally consider the modern day science fiction genre. It doesn't have the drive in plot that I would consider to be part of the successful side of the genre, and the prose itself is not what's in style. Sure, it's a science fiction novel, but if you were wanting to market it to an audience, I would head outside the SF genre to do it. Perhaps that won't make a whole lot of people happy, but while I am enjoying the book for the most part--Snowman tends to sit around a lot, which is fine, except when it's not--all the debate on whether it was a SF novel never seemed to address the idea of if it could be a commercially successful SF novel.
Ah well.
It's Monday morning, it's raining, and hello.
(crossposted)
Over the last month of so I've been flipping between a few books. I've read a couple of short stories out of Nam Le's the Boat, and I dug them, actually. There's a lot of hype on the collection, but if you try your best to ignore it, you'll find the work to be pretty solid and satisfying, or at least I have. I must admit, however, that I could have done without the story about the author, the exploitation of Vietnamese culture, and his father visiting--it was a little too knowing for me, but it's all taste at that point. Good stuff overall and worth the time.
I've also been reading Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, the science fiction novel she doesn't want you to call a science fiction novel. To be fair, it doesn't really fit into what you would generally consider the modern day science fiction genre. It doesn't have the drive in plot that I would consider to be part of the successful side of the genre, and the prose itself is not what's in style. Sure, it's a science fiction novel, but if you were wanting to market it to an audience, I would head outside the SF genre to do it. Perhaps that won't make a whole lot of people happy, but while I am enjoying the book for the most part--Snowman tends to sit around a lot, which is fine, except when it's not--all the debate on whether it was a SF novel never seemed to address the idea of if it could be a commercially successful SF novel.
Ah well.
It's Monday morning, it's raining, and hello.
(crossposted)
The comic above is funny to me probably because I watched the original Terminator the other night. I hadn't seen it for a long time, so I had a good laugh at some of the effects, clothing, and hair.
Mostly the hair.
What I found odd, however, while I was watching it was how much the film had these moments of simply not making sense. Whenever the first bits involving the future appeared--and why Sarah Conner actually believes Reece and his story. It was odd, because I knew how the film worked--all the narrative dots could be easily joined by me. However, what I found strange was that I wasn't really joining the dots through the film itself, but through my knowledge of the film in pop culture, and my own experience of it. At one point, I realised that the film itself could be a huge mess of points without any narrative cohesion in it at all, but I'd been so prepared by society about it that I would have no trouble at all in following it if it was my first time watching the flick.
(crossposted)
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