Just a reminder that the new SCI FI Channel show Eurkea premieres tonight at 9PM (EST). In case you missed it, I gave Eurkea what is practically a rave review over at Intergalactic Medicine Show.

So check it out tonight, and let me know what you think!

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A few days ago, I received a copy of Jonathan Lethem’s How We Got Inspid, a 1500-copy limited edition hardcover which reprints two of Lethem’s previously uncollected stories, “The Insipid Profession of Jonathan Hornebom,” and “How We Got in Town and Out Again,” and includes an original afterword by the author.

Along with the book was a somewhat puzzling note.  It says that the publisher can’t send review copies of the book to trade journals or to book reviewers for newspapers or magazines.  Why?  I’m guessing that Lethem’s regular publisher–the one who’s publishing his novels that keep making the bestseller lists–are afraid that Subterranean publishing this collection might somehow interfere with their corporate marketing machine and/or cut into Lethem’s sales of the books they publish.  Not only that, but Subterranean is also forbidden from selling the book in stores via normal channels.  And all of this is actually contractually forbidden. 

So, given the handcuffs placed on Subterranean’s marketing efforts, I guess we’ll find out if bloggers and other non-traditional review sources can be just as effective at selling books as Publishers Weekly, The New York Times, and the rest. 

I haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll post some thoughts once I have the chance to take a look at it. 

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Paradise Lost is a documentary about a triple-homicide in West Memphis, AR in the mid-90s, in which three teen social outcasts were railroaded by the justice system and imprisoned for a ghastly crime they didn’t commit.

How this film evaded my radar I’ll never know, but though it originally aired on HBO over ten years ago, I just saw it recently. It’s a powerful and troubling film. What’s troubling about it is what a complete travesty of justice it depicts. The case was so riddled with police misconduct and incompetence, I wouldn’t have believed it it I’d seen that on Law & Order. It’s a case where truth is stranger than fiction; I’d’ve thought that no police force would conduct an investigation that way, not in this modern era. Yet it really happened, and these innocent kids are still rotting in jail. And how did they end up there? Well, it’s complicated, but it’s mostly because of this: they thought metal and witchcraft were cool.

There’s a follow up documentary (and a third one in the works), which updates the status of the West Memphis Three (as the convicted teens came to be known), and examines the actual physical evidence found at the crime scene. What’s funny (or sad) about it is that it confirms what seemed obvious to me even without all the extra detail. The police’s case indicates that the kids were murdered in the woods in Robin Hood Hills, where they were found, but it was immediately clear to even an untrained investigator like me that it was simply a dump site and not the murder scene. A forensics expert confirms this in the sequel, and shows other evidence not previously disclosed in the documentary: namely that one of the victims had bite marks on him. And oh yeah, the creepy and obviously unbalanced step-father of one of the victims just happened to have all his teeth removed at some point (when and how varies, depending on when you ask him–he’s provided several different stories).

In any case, it’s riveting stuff, though prepare to be outraged before viewing it. You can read more about the West Memphis Three and the case on the Free the West Memphis Three website.

On a lighter, but related note, in the documentary, the crazy step-father at one point says on camera, as if addressing the West Memphis Three: “The day you die, every year on May 5 I’m gonna come to your grave, I’m gonna spit on you, I’m gonna curse the day you were born, and I’m sure while I’m standin’ there I’m gonna have to let go of some other bodily functions on your grave!”

Well that little snippet was used at the start of some metal song, and now for the life of me I can think of what it was, or what band it was. When I first heard the song, I had no idea of the significance of that as an epigraph, so now I’m curious to go back and read the lyrics to see how deep the song actually is. Anyone have any idea what song that’s from?

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So, as I indicated in my previous teaser post, Readercon was awesome.  Gordon rented a big minivan and drove a bunch of locals up there.  In the van were me, Gordon, Doug Cohen, Chris Barzak, Rick Bowes, and Konrad (a Polish translator and scholar; not actually a local, but he’s temporarily local).  On the drive up, it was like we had our own mini-con going on, as we chatted pretty much nonstop about the genre.  The only thing dampening our enthusiasm was the fact that the gas gauge on the rental was malfunctioning, and so we never really knew how much gas we had.  In transit, Doug delighted us all with the first verse of his rap, “Spittin’.”  I’m not much of a rap fan, but I dug it; his wordplay is undeniably clever.  Konrad seemed rather astounded by the whole thing, and treated us to a few lines of Polish rap.

[Since this post is crazy long, I’ll post the rest in the extended entry.]

(more…)

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Doug Cohen

Originally uploaded by slushgod.

Just a quick note to say Readercon was AWESOME! I’ll post a more detailed report soon. Meanwhile, enjoy this picture of Doug sitting on a very little bench (and feel free to go enjoy the other photos too).

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Chris Cevasco

Originally uploaded by slushgod.

At the June KGB, a bunch of my friends and I presented Chris Cevasco with this “Good Luck at Clarion” gift. We kept the photos secret until now, so that his Clarion buddies wouldn’t see the shirt before he unveiled it at the workshop. But now that it’s been unveiled (and he’s been savaged), I figured it was time to share. Here’s another one.

And what’s that you say?  You would like to get yourself one of those shirts?  Well, due to popular demand, I’ve set up a Spreadshirt.com shop where you can buy one just like it.  Now available in a wide variety of colors and styles!  Go shop!  Come on, you know you want one.

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This just in: John Langan has informed me that since he was not given a reading slot at Readercon, he plans to hold a guerilla reading, featuring both him and his fellow F&SF contributor Laird Barron (in which, I imagine, they will compete to see who can instill more nightmarish imagery in the as-yet-unformed dreams of the audience). Room and time are unknown, so be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for details!

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Ahoy Matey!

Originally uploaded by slushgod.

Look, it’s me in my pirate regalia.

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We paid out cash money for the following this month: a literary, somewhat anti-literature fantasy from William Browning Spencer (returning to the pages of F&SF after too long an absence!); another new story from the prolific Robert Reed (perhaps his best since “The Sleeping Woman”); a new Gaunt & Bone adventure from Chris Willrich; a sequel of sorts to “The Tribes of Bela” by Albert Cowdrey; a cyberpunk crime story from Alexander Jablokov; and an unorthodox tale of the Red Planet from Ruth Nestvold.

All this, plus: a new slush survivor, by the name of S.L. Gilbow, who debuts with a “Lottery”-esque tale of social SF; and…the F&SF debut of Susanna Clarke, author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, who will grace our pages (in the December issue) with a tale of John Uskglass.

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An announcement: I’ll be guest-editing the Summer 2007 issue of Shimmer!  Here’s some verbiage from Shimmer‘s website:

Pirates! The word evokes the high seas, deep space and bootleg software. Be honest, who hasn’t wanted to be a pirate? Think of plunder, booty — Avast!

The MS Shimmer has been captured by the Dred Pirate John Joseph Adams, first-mate of the Fantasy & Science Fiction. For the Summer 2007 issue, our pages will be filled with pirate stories. What better way to celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day?

What kind of pirates? All kinds — fantasy, science fiction, contemporary, historical, futuristic, high seas, deep space — if it’s got pirates and it’s speculative fiction, Captain Adams wants it. The usual Shimmer guidelines apply, but with pirates.

Bring us your pirate stories for Summer 2007, the Pirate Issue.

Submission porthole: December 1, 2006-January 31, 2007.

Send submissions to submissions@shimmerzine.com with “Pirate Submission: Title” in the subject line.

Links

Ye scurvy sea-dogs need some inspirin’? Here are some links to get ye started.

Watch the History Channel’s series on pirates, beginning July 9.

Can’t think of a name for your pirate vessel? Check out this pirate ship name generator.

Read some sobering information on the connection between pirates and global warming in this Open Letter to Kansas School Board.

Brush up on your pirate words and phrases.

And don’t forget Bloodthirsty Pirate Tales.

If we be missin’ some links, or if ye have more questions, fire a cannon over our fo’c’s’le at midnight, or send e-mail to info@shimmerzine.com.

Arr!

ETA May 23, 2019: The internet is forever, and thus 13 years after posting this, this page was made useful by a teacher doing a lesson on pirates. One of the students discovered an interesting page on pirate dentistry, and thought it would be a good addition to this list of pirate facts, and I thought that was super cute that she thought to ask the teacher to alert me to the link, so I’m dutifully adding it to this repository of pirate facts.

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