Sarah Monette's Blog, page 102

another PSA

con_or_bust is an LJ community devoted to helping fans of color/non-white fans get to Wiscon. accessiblehouse is an LJ community devoted to helping jbru and his partner keep their house, which has been extensively renovated in order to accommodate his partner's disabilities. Both communities are running auctions with many nifty items available, and I have a question: if I were to put up for auction two complete signed sets--one in each auction--of the hardbacks of the Doctrine of Labyrinths (Mé

living in the future? I love it.

The Chinese translator of Mélusine has joined LiveJournal as 214314 specifically in the hopes of being able to talk to readers and writers who are native English speakers. So, you know, go say hi! And if you have questions about the process of translating Mélusine, 214314 has expressed willingness to talk about it, which is very cool.

Waterlog

TIME: 24 min.
DISTANCE: 2.5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 187.2
DISTRACTION: the first half of "The Yellow Scarf Affair"
NOTES: Why must it ALWAYS be a Thuggee cult? (Steven Spielberg, I am so looking at you.)
SHIRE RECKONING: Midgewater Marshes. Good thing this is imaginary, or I'd be eaten alive by now.

a note on Nazi terminology

One of the issues that greatly exercised the Nazis as they expanded their Lebensraum eastward was the fate of the Volksdeutsch, the "ethnic Germans" of Poland, Volhynia, Ukraine, and other regions of eastern Europe which were variously part of the Soviet Union and of the "successor states" created after World War I. The Nazis were just as eager--if not more so--to move these "ethnic Germans" into the Reich as they were to move the Jews out of it; it was one of Himmler's particular hobby horses,

if I may say so, EEE!

The first copy of Corambis arrived this morning, courtesy of the FedEx ninja. I've put it on the shelf with the other three where, I have to say, it looks fabulous.

Sometime between now and April 7, therefore, more copies of Corambis will show up in bookstores. I wish I could give you more precise information than that, but I can't. Official publication dates, like the Pirates' Code, are more guidelines than actual rules unless you are J. K. Rowling, which I most certainly am not.

(EEE!)

Corambis ARC reaction shot

ravelqueen blogs about winning and reading the ARC of Corambis. There are a few EXTREMELY MILD spoilers--nothing relating to the plot.

(N.b., ravelqueen is German, so please don't be snippy about her English.)

Thank you, ravelqueen!

Odyssey Con GoH switcheroo

So Tobias Buckell was a GoH at Odd Con this year, but has had to bow out, due to impending twins. (I think this is an excellent reason to miss a GoH appearance--not only is it inarguable, it's happy!) However, Patrick Rothfuss has agreed to take his place.

The other GoHs, Emma Bull ( coffeeem) and Georgie Schnobrich (as far as I know, Georgie does not maintain a web presence), are still attending as scheduled.

As I said in my earlier con-going post, I will be at Odd Con. I'm even reprising last yea

some links

The fabulous Mary Anne Mohanraj has two excellent posts on John Scalzi's blog. She also links to Ampersand's post on How Not To Be Insane When Accused of Racism (which is, please note, from 2005).

rydra_wong is compiling authoritative link lists of posts about this debate on racism and cultural appropriation.

Waterlog

TIME: 49 min.
DISTANCE: 5.3 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 184.7 mi.
DISTRACTION: "The Fiddlesticks Affair"
NOTES: The homoerotic subtext in the blackmail scene is really not so much with the sub. Which lends a nasty sting to Illya's remark about once having been a gentleman.
SHIRE RECKONING: Midgewater Marshes.
I could have done without the insomnia chaser. :P

the problem of genre & sffh

I want to talk for a minute about why "genre" is the wrong word for science fiction and fantasy--though not necessarily the wrong word for horror. And how that makes the whole question of genre vis-a-vis sffh so damn complicated.

I'm sure I've said most of this before, probably more than once, so here's a cut tag for those of you who don't want to sit through it again.



Okay. Step 1, a definition: what is a genre?

(Step 1a: "genre" is not the same as "marketing category." "Marketing category" tells