Variable Carries Heinlein’s Star
SCI FI Wire just published a piece I wrote about Variable Star–a novel written by Spider Robinson, based upon an extensive outline written in 1955 by the late, great Robert A. Heinlein.
STRONG MEDICINE: May 2006
The latest installment of my book review column, STRONG MEDICINE: Books That Cures What Ails You, has just been published at Intergalactic Medicine Show.
In this column, I review Monster Island by David Wellington, Victory by Susan Cooper, Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge, and A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore.
Interview with Nick Sagan
Science Fiction Weekly just published my interview with Nick Sagan. This one’s a full-length Q&A, not one of the short pieces I do for SCI FI Wire.
Here’s an excerpt:
Sagan: Without a drastic change to human nature, I think it’s reasonable to doubt that world peace will ever be anything more than a pipe dream. Thousands of years of recorded human history, and look at where we are today. Look at what we are. Genetically, we’re not so far from chimpanzees. Are chimps capable of cooperation, compassion, tolerance and compromise? Yes, but they’re far more likely to form tyrannical hierarchies and then persecute, rape and kill chimps from other groups. That’s deeply ingrained primate behavior. It goes back millions of years. A few thousand years of human culture and philosophy have a hard time standing up to “might makes right.” In the animal kingdom, might typically prevails, and our genes know this. They tell us to fight or flee, lead or obey, exploit or be exploited. We can talk about egalitarian utopias all we like, but the aggression lurks within us just the same.
Go read it, then come back and tell me how awesome it is.
Plagiarism for Dummies
This looks interesting. This site is holding a contest inspired by the Kaavya Viswanathan plagiarism controversy:
Inspired by recent events, we wondered not “why does anyone plagiarize,” but “why aren’t more people better at plagiarizing?” And so we are launching a contest to see if there is a “writer” out there who can create a coherent and original piece of fiction completely made from the works of others.
(Which is about as coherent and original as modern fiction can get, right?)
The winner “will have his or her story published on The Morning News, and will also receive a TMN T-shirt and mug to remind them of this, the moment ethics in writing died.” You’ve got to enter by May 12, so get to work.
via Miss Snark
Office Cat Evaluates Manuscripts
Since everyone seemed so interested in how the office cat operates, I thought I’d capture him in action. My new digital camera also functions as a video camera, so I was able to record this for posterity. So this is how he makes his editorial decisions; it’s unusual to be sure, but you can’t argue with the results.
(Sorry about the lack of light–it didn’t look so dark as I was filming it.)
Here’s a link to a slightly larger version at YouTube.com.
An Ode to Empire Strikes Back
David Louis Edelman, author of the forthcoming novel INFOQUAKE, posted a really cool ode to Empire Strikes Back. It’s a really vivid piece of writing; check it out.
A Tribute to F&SF
Jonathan Strahan just posted a nice tribute to F&SF on his blog, in honor of Blog About F&SF Day.
If you see any other particularly noteworthy ones, feel free to point them out.
Evil Editor
Stumbled across a new blog that you, my loyal readers, might be interested in: Evil Editor. The Evil Editor critiques query letters in an effort to make the writers not sound so foolish. Of course, this is only for you novel writing folk–as we all know, short fiction doesn’t require plot synopsis in a cover letter. We all know that, right?
Evil Editor was discovered via Miss Snark, which is another writerly resource you should be reading. But try not to be a nitwit.
Blog About F&SF, Get a Free Copy
On the F&SF Message Board, Gordon sez:
I just got a box of fifty advance copies of the July 2006 F&SF sitting here.
I’m looking to give away these copies to the first fifty people who ask for one.
The catch is this: if you want one of the copies, you’ll have to blog about the issue.
Your blog can say anything, even “I’m only writing this blog entry about F&SF because I said I would to get a free copy of this sucky magazine.”
I’m particularly interested in getting younger readers to blog, so if you’re a parent of a teen, ask him/her if they want a copy.
This promotion isn’t limited to young readers, though. If you’re 112 and you blog, you’re welcome to a copy also.
Just post your mailing address here or contact us at Fandsf – at sign – aol dot com.
When the box of copies is empty, this promotion’s over.
Camera Obscura: Just another adaptation horror story
Intergalactic Medicine Show just published the latest installment of Camera Obscura. This time around, I review the DVD of Dreams in the Witch-House, which is one of the first episodes of the Showtime Masters of Horror series to come out on DVD.
[Excerpt:] Dreams in the Witch-House was a good choice to adapt, and Stuart Gordon, on paper at least, was a good choice of director–after all, he’d directed two previous adaptations of Lovecraft’s work: Re-Animator and Dagon. However, Gordon is more of a “master of schlock” than a true master of horror. There’s very little that’s scary or terrifying here; Gordon’s ham-handed filmmaking style robs Lovecraft’s story of most of its visceral power.