Thanks for the Ten
Rain Taxi’s having an auction to celebrate their ten year anniversary. Go buy some stuff.
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15 Things About Books
Toni tagged me (after Pooks tagged her), in the writing fifteen things about books meme. The results (and who I tag) are behind the cut.
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More Magick and SF
Ted clarifies his original post, in another fascinating one. However, reader be warned:
Imagine a story in which teleportation is available in the form of teleport booths, where anyone can walk up, dial up a destination, and go. Now imagine a story in which teleportation is available only in the presence of a certain individual, who exerts his/her will to make it happen.
To me, based on these admittedly scant descriptions, the first story feels more like science fiction, while the second feels more like fantasy. If you don’t perceive this difference between the two stories, or if you do perceive this difference but couldn’t care less about it (both of which I consider perfectly legitimate reactions), then I advise you to stop reading this post right now, lest it piss you off.
*Why have I been cursed to wake up before 8 a.m. two weekend days in a row? Hardly fair.
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Season of Lists
Among a bevy of Book World lists, the WaPo names its top novels for children from 2005, including Carol Emshwiller’s Mister Boots (yay!) and Rafe Martin’s Birdwing.
Coincidentally, those are the next two books I plan to read. Along with the Geoff Ryman story in the previous issue of F&SF. Followed by The Cosmology of the Wider World by Jeff Ford, several LBC titles, Jeff VanderMeer’s ShriekVeniss Underground (my mind transposed the two), Walter Dean Myers’ Autobiography of My Dead Brother, Karen Fisher’s A Sudden Country and Robb Forman Dew’s Truth of the Matter — not necessarily in that order, and with a bunch of other things in the line-up too, but not currently in the stack right next to me where I can see them. I imagine I’ll continue reading 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel through all this. Oh, and I need to pick Lydia Millet’s Oh Pure and Radiant Heart back up and finish it too.
Basically, I plan a readery December, as I get back into the Roanoke research and start pecking out new words on that long-neglected book.
p.s. Apparently, only two writers got the memo that the WaPo would be looking favorably on novels with the word march in the title this year. Any guesses about the magic word for 2006?
Yay!
I finally finished the mega-rewrite of Girl’s Gang. She is now a sleek 53,000 words long, which means her diet worked.
Now I go get a massage, eat something delicious and unhealthy, then drink the bubbles. Have a great weekend.
(Updated: Or perhaps just stop and get the thing combbound for Christopher post-massage, eat food and fall into bed of exhaustion. My massage therapist said to me several things which led me to ask: "That bad, huh?" He replied, "Have you been rock climbing? Because if this is just typing, don’t do it for awhile." So champers tomorrow!)
Friday Hangovers
- Books picked up at the library: 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley (which I picked up on a blog rec, but I can’t remember whose), Mister Boots by Carol Emshwiller, and Birdwing by Rafe Martin. I won’t even get into my pre-existing TBR stack; suffice to say it is mighty. Maybe I’ll do a list this weekend. SO much good stuff I want to be reading right now RIGHT NOW. The book I am reading right now is pretty wonderful and definitely science fiction, but it’s also an LBC candidate so no talking about it yet…
- Jennifer Weiner with a very moving entry about her dog’s worsening condition. While reading, I held my breath the entire time. I’ll spoil you: for once, this has a happy ending. He makes it. (Or a bittersweet one, anyway, since he’s still sick.)
- Rick Moody responds to Tito’s account of a public event where he and David Foster Wallace interviewed each other (or something like that). I found his comment charming and honest.
- Cynsations with some excellent thoughts on critiquing first drafts.
- O.G. Octavia Butler* on the Bat Segundo Show. Find out why she hates Survivor.
- Matthew Cheney on reading and his reaction to Dave Marusek’s Counting Heads (which, frankly, I can’t wait to read). Check out the comments as well.
- The impeccably tasteful Lauren Cerand points to a pair of delicious shoes and immediately inspires a desire for them. (Size 9, good samaritans.)
- I covet Coffee and Ink’s thing number three: My ultimate goal is world domination through book recommendations.
- David Moles condenses the reaction to Ted’s magic vs. science post.
- Bigfoot? Via BoingBoing.
- Have a great weekend.
Also
WithBoots lives! Ted Chiang has a post about technology, magic and consciousness you should read:
This doesn’t mean that a fantasy universe is necessarily ruled by a capricious god or gods; being a person doesn’t mean being arbitrary or inconsistent. But one consequence is that, in a fantasy universe, certain things are not susceptible to mass production. For example, you could say that, in order for your magical radio to function, you need to appease a certain deity, and so you say a prayer each time you make a radio, and your radios always work. That’s consistent with dealing with a person. But if you’ve got a machine that is stamping out functional radios by the thousands, it’s no longer reasonable to say that it’s appeasing a deity every time. Instead, it makes more sense to say you’re dealing with impersonal laws of nature; your radio is an example of applied science, not applied magic.
Thursday Hangovers
- Real posts again someday soon,as soon as I put this book to rest.
- Borders recently announced their Original Voices picks for the year. The YA category in particular has a couple of titles I highly recommend: Andrew Auseon’s Funny Little Monkey and John Green’s Looking for Alaska. (Via GalleyCat.)
- Go download the new version of Firefox.
- Jimmy Beck boils the bad sex nominees down to their essences (magically rendering them even funnier in the process). "Yo. Watch where you point that thing." Kills.
- Susan Orlean is the first writer up in Powell’s new project to have authors guest blog for a week. (Via Pinky’s Paperhaus.) Pinky points out that Orlean’s first post is, charmingly, about every writer’s favorite sin procrastination.
- The Lannan Foundation awarded writer Gilbert Sorrentino its Lifetime Achievement Award yesterday. The fabulous Coffee House Press has brought out several of his recent books.
- The end of year issue of BoldType is out and looks full of good stuff.
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VeronicaMarsTalk
Tonight’s the one with the big alternate ending afterward at AOL AND the Willow v. Cordelia scene. Here’s the cap:
"My Mother, The Fiend." Veronica stumbles on her mother’s permanent record at school and learns that she might not have known her mother at all. Alyson Hannigan, Tina Majorino and Lisa Thornhill guest star.
And Maureen Ryan at the Chicago Tribune’s Watcher blog has a lengthy post raving about the ep and VM in general. Watch!
Updated to add two things:
Wednesday Hangovers
- MetaxuCafe is a new litblogging network created by Bud Parr of Chekhov’s Mistress. Looks like a neat resource for keeping up with the lit world and all the fabulous new litblogs created every other day. Plus, it has a lovely design.
- Cecil Castellucci and Jen Sincero will perform their show Spinster at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn on Tuesday, December 6. See details here.
- Le Cineclub with Lauren and Emma on Walk the Line, which they give three peonies. (I’m still thinking about the movie, which I enjoyed a GREAT deal, and I think one of the things I like most about it is how Southern a version of the Johnny and June story it is — it seems to me a sort of cleaned up, "oh, we were so wild back then" version of a much messier story in just the sort of way that the family history of your wild child great aunt or uncle gets tidied and embellished at the same time in Southern families. No matter how fucked up anyone or any situation was, it’s always redeemable as anecdote with a spit shine and a happy ending. And, of course, everyone looks fabulous and the music, well, that goes without saying.)
- Maud Newton on the Jefferson Market Branch Library’s history. She also posts a short piece about not writing Southern by Robb Forman Dew (whose The Truth of the Matter is very close to the top of the TBR and was recommended highly by a friend with impeccable taste).
- Tod Goldberg requests your best of lists, best of whatever you want.
- Mea culpa: I’m shamefully behind on email. Really, it’s hard to even apologize with a straight face at this point. It’s not personal, it’s being personally overwhelmed with Stuff to Do. I’ll get to your message soon. Promise.
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