Michael Swanwick's Blog, page 107

Inspirational Quote du Jour

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Look what Marianne found! A website called quotefancy has turned a handful of quotes from me (and a very odd handful they are, too!) into inspirational wallpaper. Up above is a handful of words I'm proud to have put together.

You can find the quotes here. Or just go to quotefancy.com and poke around.


And speaking of mythological geography...

As always, I'm on the road again.

Marianne and I are going Down the Shore, as we say in Philly, for an inactivity-filled week at Undisclosed Location. (Motto: Where Nothing Can Ever Happen -- And Usually Doesn't.) Leaving the house in the care of My Son the Black Belt and ourTrained Attack Cat.

I expect to continue blogging while on vacation. But I can't guarantee anything. I've got a lot of doing nothing to catch up on.


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This Glitterati Life -- Part 31,473

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This appears to be the reading season. On Sunday, I made what may be my last public appearance to promote Not So Much, Said the Cat. Which is, as you know, my newest and most lavishly-praised collection of short fiction. The reading was in Wayne, PA at Main Point Books. This is a really lovely independent bookstore, which I celebrated by buying a book (Cixin Liu's  Death's End, as it happens).

I read a story, answered questions, chatted with patrons (some of them friends it was good to see again), and autographed books.

Then, yesterday, I went to the downtown Barnes & Noble to see Fran Wilde and Chuck Wendig read from their latest books, answer questions, chat with patrons (some of them friends), and autograph books.

Book events are, with rare exceptions, free and pleasant entertainments. I encourage you to attend as
many as you can. And remember that if you get a book autographed, it increases its value as a collectable if you ask the author to add the date -- but only on the year of first publication or on a date when the author does something significant like win a major award or commit suicide.

I always tell my friends that if if they ever find me signing and dating all my old books, they should buy me a drink and try to cheer me up.


And if you can read Hungarian...

I got quite a lovely review (even when viewed through the lens of Google Translate) from SF Mag.  You can read it here.


Above: There I am, reading. As is traditional, I have taken off my shoes.

Above right: Fran Wilde and Chuck Wendig. As befits rebellious youth, they performed their readings completely shod. They'll grow out of it.


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My Geek's Guide to the Galaxy Interview

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For everything there is a season and as we move gratefully into autumn, the promotional season for Not So Much, Said the Cat is drawing to a close. And what better way to close out the season than with a good long interview at Geek's Guide to the Galaxy?

The interview focuses on the collection, but it covers a lot of ground along the way. Here's an excerpt:

“I have one story which I began in 1973 and I still haven’t finished it. … I wrote a story with William Gibson back in the early ’80s, called ‘Dogfight.’ We did the ‘hot typewriter method,’ which is where you hold onto the story for a month, and during that month you can make any changes whatsoever—you can change the main character’s gender, you can change the plot, you can change anything. And then at the end of the month you send it to the other person. … So there were things that I put into the story that Bill Gibson just took out. He’d send it back to me, and I’d put that thing back in and send it to him, and he would take it out again. … And when the story was done, I had a number of things that he had taken out, and I came up with a different idea for a story and I started writing it. … And I have not found the central plot of it yet. It’s a story called ‘Robot.’ So that’s about 33 years old, that story.”

You can hear it here or read parts of it here.


And speaking of closing out the season...

My final public appearance promoting the book was also my first such in the Philadelphia area. It was held yesterday at Main Point Books in Wayne. It was a very pleasant event and I ran into some old friends there.

Main Point Books moved recently, and their new store is beautiful. If you're in the area, I encourage you to stop by and read a book. I bought Death's End by Cixin Liu. Because I wouldn't tell you to do something I wouldn't do myself.


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Art-in-a-Box

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The world, as Robert Lewis Stevenson famously said, is full of a number of things...

Today, I am happy as kings because Marianne gave me a reproduction of Marcel Duchamp's "Boîte-en-valise."

The original "box-in-a-valise" was a museum in a box, containing miniatures or reproductions of all of Duchamp's most famous works. It was created in the 1940s and Duchamp eventually made (with the help pf Joseph Cornell) and sold some 300 of them.

Duchamp is best known, perhaps, for signing a urinal and submitting it to a major art exhibition under the title "Fountain," an act widely taken as establishing that art was anything an artist said it was. (To my mind, it would have been a far more subversive act had he signed the urinal with his own name rather than a scrawled "R. Mutt," but that chapter of the art history books has already been written.) But  " Boîte-en-valise" was a shrewder response to the artistic winds of his times.

An artist I know likes to say that the history of art in the 20th Century is all a hysterical reaction to the inventions of photography and mass-produced images. Who needs a Courbet when an Instamatic and a willing subject will get you the same results at a fraction of the cost? Why spend a fortune on an original Paul Émile Chabas when a mail-order poster looks just as good? 

This explains a lot of things, including landscape art, performance art, and the flight from representation. 

Duchamp, more canny than most, embraced the mass-production of art -- to a degree. It was a shrewd move.

And there's no getting around the fact that the box is a fun little toy to play with.



Above: There it is, the distinguished thing. Not the miniature "Fountain" at the lower left.

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SUNDAY! At Main Point Books!!!

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The promotional season for my newest and most highly-praised collection, Not So Much, Said the Cat , is drawing to an end. So what better time for my Philadelphia area book launch?

Authors of my generation are notoriously bad at self-promotion. So here's how the good people at Tachyon Publications put it:
Join five-time Hugo Award-winner Michael Swanwick in celebration of his new collection NOT SO MUCH, SAID THE CAT at Main Point Books (Wayne, PA) on Sunday, September 25 at 4:00 PM.Main Point Books is a terrific bookstore and they've just moved into their new digs in Wayne. So this is your chance to scope 'em out, hear something from my collection, and decide if if's something you need to buy or not.
Told ya I'm lousy at self-promotion.

And since you're in the mood for an interview...
In just two days, you'll be able to hear me on Geek's Guide to the Galaxy . I was interviewed at length about the new collection. 
You can find the link here. Or just go to the webpage here and poke around. It's a very cool site.

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Lexicon Under Construction

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I am busily beavering away at The Iron Dragon's Mother these days. So I don't have a lot of news to report, except things like:

I moved my fingers on the keyboard a lot today.

More keyboard action.

Yep. Still writing.

But if you want to get a sense of what I'm up to, maybe the following partial lexicon will help. As I write, I keep a list of neologisms, proper names, and odd words as an aid to the eventual proofreader. Also to make sure I remain consistent.

Here's where the word-hoard stands at present:

A
the Abyssthe AcademyAerthAerugoAleister CrowleyAlqualondëthe AmberwineLieutenant AntheaAshling AstarteAtil-KhazaranAtlanteanAurvang Hogback, Shorty (a red dwarf)Averno

B
bansheesbasiliskbat-ridersthe Battle of ZhouluBeltaineBen MorghBessie Long Gonebirth-gatethe Black Stonethe Bohemian coastBolshy Kitezhthe Book of Airthe Book of SteelBriannaBrocielande, Brocielandean (adj.)bullbeggar

C
Caitlin of House Sans Merci, Caitlin, KatibooCandlemas-daisiescentaursChâteau Sans MerciClever Gretchen, GretchenCockaygnethe Conquest of PenthesileaCorpse-Eater Squadroncrone, cronescyborg hounds

D
Daughter of NightDaughters of LilithDeclaration of Corruptionthe Dogger Bankthe DowagerDunvegan, the flag ofDvārakā

E
EidumElektra, daughter of Olympia, daughter of Hephaesta, of the line of Hekateelf, elf-lady, full-elventhe EmpyreanEsmeEve, Mother EveEvoethe Examiner

F
feriers Fingolfinrhod, Rod, Roddie, Fin-finFionaWing Commander Firedrakefire-giantessfire spiritsfire-wormsDame Fortuna

G
the GardenGatling gunGdanskgeasgendarmeriegillyflowersLouise Glückthe Governance of BabylonGretchen, Clever Gretchen [not Gretel!]GraywandGrimalkathe Guardian of the Gategwisin

H
haintsthe Hanged GodHansheavenreichLady HelHelen V.Helheimhex-househex-wordhippocampHer Absent Majesty’s Dragon Corpshobshob-lanternshorned-god’s paintbrushthe horns of ElflandHot-Box Hannahhulderhumble-bees

I
the Industrial RevolutionInnis ThuleInnis Thule AFB
J
jack rollerjungle buzzard

K
Kawasaki Fūjin Kernunnoskobold, kobold’s carry
L
LemurianLion CityLlys HeligLooshthe Lords of the Forge the Lords of the Rails, a Lady of the RailsLucius Shepardthe Lurker Withinlux aeterna
M
Maevemagic, magick, magickal, magicks (depending on usage) Meririm PhosphorosMerylMonocornmoondust  Mother EveMother Sunshine  
N
naginisFata Narcisse of House SyrinxNettlesweet Underwood, Nettienightmare  Nuit de Crystal

O
ogresOlousOlympia

P
Patek Tank AméricainePavlopetriPerditaPheiapoppetPort RoyalPower

Q
Queen Mab’s laceQuicksilver of House Carcassonne

R
Rabbit of House OneirosrattlerRavenRungholtrusalka

S
SaeftingheSamsāraSans Merci (Lord San Merci, Lady Sans Merci, Chateau Sans Merci, Charlotte of House Sans Merci, etc.)SaoirseSatie’s GnossiennessatyrsScythian lambthe Second Kentauroi War Shorty, Aurvang Hogbackthe Siege of Mount OthryssirensSnakesnow spritesold Spitespirit candlesurgeon-archimagesweetling  

T
TartessosThonis HeracleionthumblingstiantitanstoadflaxTylwyth Teg, Teggish (adj.)

U
Ultima ThuleUnicornsurym lens and thummyn stone

V
VelcroVeneta

W
the Wędrowiec Zmroku  white ladies (a flower)the White Ladieswoods-feyWord of PowerWorm (dragon)wyvern

Y
YsYsault

Z
Zmeya-Gorynchna, of the line of Zmeya-Goryschena, of the line of Gorgon, Zmeya-Gorynchna, 1108, the Worm, the dragon

The final list, I'm sure, will be much longer.
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Reasons To Be A Writer

.Actually, the list is extremely short. There are only two reasons anybody would want to be a writer.

Here they are:

1. There is no alternative. You absolutely have to be a writer -- and if you can't be a writer, you'll be a failed writer, one of those people who write every day of their lives and never get published.

2. You get to set your own schedule. If it's a hot, sunny day in September, you can just take off for the beach.

Speaking of which...

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Thinking Outside the Universe Box

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I was present, years ago, when Michael Dirda first visited Gardner Dozois' and Susan Casper's house. Michael examined the bookshelves and exclaimed, "Gardner, I don't think I've ever seen a collection of books looking so delightfully read!"

"I buys 'em to read 'em," Gardner replied.

Not all that long ago, Dragonstairs Press published Universe Boxes, a series of art assemblages containing a beautifully made stab-bound book of my novelette, "Universe Box." Each cigar box's contents were unique to that box (though some were common to all), they were quite reasonably priced as these things go, and only thirteen were made, of which ten were offered for sale.

Tres collectable.

But much in the spirit of Gardner Dozois, I writes 'em so people can read 'em. Particularly when a story is as much fun (it contains cosmic powers and giraffe wranglers) as this one turned out to be. So I resolved to sell it to one of the genre magazines just as soon as the collectable version sold out.

The Universe Boxes sold out in three and a half minutes.

So, long story short, I've sold "Universe Box" to Asimov's . Keep watching the skies! It'll show up one of these months.


Above: There it is, the distinguished thing. Credit for the boxes is equally split between Marianne and me; I wrote the story and she did everything else. That was a fun project.

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Portrait of a Leaf

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It's rushing the season, I know. But autumn is coming. And so...


Portrait of a Leaf
I planned to die young and leave a beautiful corpse. But when summer turned scorching, I did my small best to shade my comrades from the sun. This is the result.

But I do not complain. Others gave, and suffered, more. I did what I could. That's enough.


Above: Leaf, both text and image, copyright 2016 by Michael Swanwick. Today's post is a day late simply because I had no notion what to post. This happens, unfortunately.

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The Best Fourth-Hand Advice About Writing You'll Read Today

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In yesterday's New York Times , there was an article by movie-maker Mike Birbiglia titled "6 Tipes for Making It Small in Hollywood." I thought I'd pass on his Tip 2:

Don't worry about failing. There's a great video where Ira Glass explains that when you start in a few field, your work won't be as good as your taste. It will take years for your taste and the quality of your work to intersect. (If ever!) Failure is essential. There's no substitute for it. It's not just encouraged but required.

True that. I could name you dozens of promising writers who simply weren't willing to be terrible. But those names would mean nothing to you -- because they've never sold anything.

I could go on. But you get the message.


And for the numerate among us...

Yes, I know. My repeating advice from Barbigia which he repeats from Glass only makes it third-hand. But you don't imagine that Ira Glass came up with that himself, do you? I'm giving somebody the benefit of the doubt by not calling it hundred-and-ninety-third-hand advice. The author of Gilgamesh probably passed it on as something he'd come up with too.


Above: The Andromeda Galaxy in a composite photo of visible and IR light. From NASA, of course.

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