Michael Swanwick's Blog, page 219
July 15, 2011
The Living Vegetative Dead
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Long-time readers of this blog will be completely gobsmacked to learn that I'm on the road again. This time I'm off to Burlington, Massachusetts for a convention. If you're going to be there, you already know which one.
But if you don't know, that means you won't be there, so it'll do you no good to learn that I'll be handing out the last of a set of four signed-and-numbered limited edition chapbooks chronicling the Swiss adventures of Darger & Surplus, The Nature of Mirrors . This being a reader-y kind of a con, I suspect they'll go fast.
And it's a good thing I'll be out of town, too, because . . .
It appears that Philadelphia has been overrun by zombie topiary animals! The above lion being a perfect example. Even impaling them seems to have no effect.
Really, this whole mash-up thing has gone too far.
*
Long-time readers of this blog will be completely gobsmacked to learn that I'm on the road again. This time I'm off to Burlington, Massachusetts for a convention. If you're going to be there, you already know which one.
But if you don't know, that means you won't be there, so it'll do you no good to learn that I'll be handing out the last of a set of four signed-and-numbered limited edition chapbooks chronicling the Swiss adventures of Darger & Surplus, The Nature of Mirrors . This being a reader-y kind of a con, I suspect they'll go fast.
And it's a good thing I'll be out of town, too, because . . .
It appears that Philadelphia has been overrun by zombie topiary animals! The above lion being a perfect example. Even impaling them seems to have no effect.
Really, this whole mash-up thing has gone too far.
*
July 14, 2011
The Dala Horse & Three from Asimov's
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I'm in virtual print again! I know it's silly to feel so happy about it when Dancing With Bears is on the bookstore shelves in hardcover. But I am nonetheless. "The Dala Horse" just went up at Tor.com with a beautiful illo by Julie Dillon.
It's a sign of how little attention I pay to the business side of things that earlier I reported it would be available in e-book format without realizing that it would also be posted on the Tor.com site. If anybody who pre-ordered a copy is irate at me for this, let me know. It wasn't an effort to squeeze a few extra shekels out of people, but my habitual disorganization that was responsible. This is why I have an agent to handle my books.
You can read "The Dala Horse" here.
And speaking of Philadelphia writers . . .
The esteemed Tom Purdom has just created another mini-collection ebook titled Three From Asimov's, because it comprises three novelettes that were originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction . Here's how he describes it:
Tom is a terrific writer and the mini-c is only three bucks. So those of you who are tech savvy may well want to buy it. On sale, Tom tells me, for the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook.
And speaking of great deals in short fiction . . .
I'll probably be blogging this tomorrow, but what the heck. I'm going to be at Readercon over the weekend, and giving away copies of a small and very collectable signed-and-numbered limited edition chapbook, The Nature of Mirrors . If you're going to be at the con, just task for one and I'll give it to you. It's that simple.
*
I'm in virtual print again! I know it's silly to feel so happy about it when Dancing With Bears is on the bookstore shelves in hardcover. But I am nonetheless. "The Dala Horse" just went up at Tor.com with a beautiful illo by Julie Dillon.
It's a sign of how little attention I pay to the business side of things that earlier I reported it would be available in e-book format without realizing that it would also be posted on the Tor.com site. If anybody who pre-ordered a copy is irate at me for this, let me know. It wasn't an effort to squeeze a few extra shekels out of people, but my habitual disorganization that was responsible. This is why I have an agent to handle my books.
You can read "The Dala Horse" here.
And speaking of Philadelphia writers . . .
The esteemed Tom Purdom has just created another mini-collection ebook titled Three From Asimov's, because it comprises three novelettes that were originally published in Asimov's Science Fiction . Here's how he describes it:
"The Path of the Transgressor" received great reviews from both the Locus Magazine short fiction reviewers. It's an action story that centers on the relationship between an animal behavior researcher and his made-to-order wife. "Research Project" is a first contact story about herbivorous aliens who land on Mars; it presents the story of one of the aliens, as told by a human researcher, as read by a nine year old girl who is reading it on an advanced ereader. "Civilians" is the last of the three "military brat" stories I discuss in the second part of my library memoir WHEN I WAS WRITING (also available on the Nook and the Kindle). The civilian members of several military families are caught in a violent situation and forced to decide if they're going to act like soldiers or civilians.
Tom is a terrific writer and the mini-c is only three bucks. So those of you who are tech savvy may well want to buy it. On sale, Tom tells me, for the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook.
And speaking of great deals in short fiction . . .
I'll probably be blogging this tomorrow, but what the heck. I'm going to be at Readercon over the weekend, and giving away copies of a small and very collectable signed-and-numbered limited edition chapbook, The Nature of Mirrors . If you're going to be at the con, just task for one and I'll give it to you. It's that simple.
*
Scribbledehobbledehoyden: The Magpie's Eye: Page 136
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April 6, 2009
A Prayer for Atheists:
*
April 6, 2009
A Prayer for Atheists:
We who seek peace
And know better
Who serve a God
We don't believe in
And hope against hope
For what cannot be
Pray to thee, O Great Not Here
That we may be wrong
And not as we fear.
*
July 13, 2011
Exoplanets App
.
Okay, this is just cool. In August, Farrar, Straus & Giroux is going to publish Scientific American's Journey to the Exoplanets as an app/book, which is a form so new it apparently hasn't been properly named yet.
Exoplanets are, of course, those newly discovered worlds orbiting stars other than our own. The project was originally pitched as a giant illustrated print book. The final version, which has text by Edward Bell and illustrations (including speculative renderings of some of the exoplanets) by Ron Miller, also contains video and audio clips, as well as a "build your own planet" function.
It's coming in August. They haven't yet decided how much to charge for it. And you can visit the micro-site (another term I'd never heard before!) here.
The model for all this appears to be Theodore Gray's bestselling app/book The Elements: A Visual Exploration (click here). Which was not only also a physical book which you can read about here and buy in your local (independent, preferably, but whatever) bookstore, but also a wonderful interactive video display at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (click here) in Philadelphia.
Gray (or Theo, as some of us are entitled to refer to him) is the creator of the Wooden Periodic Table of the Elements (click here if you want to make yourself extremely happy) , for which he was one of the happy winner of the Ig Nobel Prize (click here). He also wrote the introduction to the print version of my own Periodic Table of Science Fiction (click here).
I used to tell people he'd written the intro and that if they knew who he was, they'd be very impressed. Then I'd tell who he was and they'd be very impressed. But it looks like he's catching up.
And don't forget . . .
Readercon is coming. I'll be bringing a bundle of The Nature of Mirrors chapbooks to give away to whoever would like one. Readercon being a pretty bookish event, and the chapbooks being a signed-and-numbered limited edition, I'm expecting to run out.
Above: Moon of the Methuselah by Ron Miller. From the forthcoming app/book. There are some 75 illos and diagrams in it, and this picture is pretty typical of Miller's work.
*
Okay, this is just cool. In August, Farrar, Straus & Giroux is going to publish Scientific American's Journey to the Exoplanets as an app/book, which is a form so new it apparently hasn't been properly named yet.
Exoplanets are, of course, those newly discovered worlds orbiting stars other than our own. The project was originally pitched as a giant illustrated print book. The final version, which has text by Edward Bell and illustrations (including speculative renderings of some of the exoplanets) by Ron Miller, also contains video and audio clips, as well as a "build your own planet" function.
It's coming in August. They haven't yet decided how much to charge for it. And you can visit the micro-site (another term I'd never heard before!) here.
The model for all this appears to be Theodore Gray's bestselling app/book The Elements: A Visual Exploration (click here). Which was not only also a physical book which you can read about here and buy in your local (independent, preferably, but whatever) bookstore, but also a wonderful interactive video display at the Chemical Heritage Foundation (click here) in Philadelphia.
Gray (or Theo, as some of us are entitled to refer to him) is the creator of the Wooden Periodic Table of the Elements (click here if you want to make yourself extremely happy) , for which he was one of the happy winner of the Ig Nobel Prize (click here). He also wrote the introduction to the print version of my own Periodic Table of Science Fiction (click here).
I used to tell people he'd written the intro and that if they knew who he was, they'd be very impressed. Then I'd tell who he was and they'd be very impressed. But it looks like he's catching up.
And don't forget . . .
Readercon is coming. I'll be bringing a bundle of The Nature of Mirrors chapbooks to give away to whoever would like one. Readercon being a pretty bookish event, and the chapbooks being a signed-and-numbered limited edition, I'm expecting to run out.
Above: Moon of the Methuselah by Ron Miller. From the forthcoming app/book. There are some 75 illos and diagrams in it, and this picture is pretty typical of Miller's work.
*
Scribbledehobbledehoyden: The Magpie's Eye: Page 135
.
In the melodrama woods, under a paper-mâché moon, he was lost among the stick trees.
Believe it or not, I wasn't being sarcastic about generic fantasy there. I was trying out words, looking to see if there was an interesting story to be told in that mode. I didn't find one. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be done.
Blood Gothic.
That's a fun little fantasy house, if I do say so myself.
*
In the melodrama woods, under a paper-mâché moon, he was lost among the stick trees.
Believe it or not, I wasn't being sarcastic about generic fantasy there. I was trying out words, looking to see if there was an interesting story to be told in that mode. I didn't find one. But that doesn't mean it couldn't be done.
Blood Gothic.
That's a fun little fantasy house, if I do say so myself.
*
July 12, 2011
The Classics Never Grow Old
.
Working today. So I thought I'd share this classic clip with you. Astronaut David Scott, commander of the Apollo 15 mission, performs a basic science demonstration.
The truth never grows old.
*
Working today. So I thought I'd share this classic clip with you. Astronaut David Scott, commander of the Apollo 15 mission, performs a basic science demonstration.
The truth never grows old.
*
Scribbledehobbledehoyden: The Magpie's Eye: Page 134
.
(Overheard at the movies)
Whatever I was watching when I wrote this, I was so little engaged that I decided to write down all the most banal lines of dialogue:
Oh, wait. According to the annotation on the side, it's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow . Which, let's be fair here, looked great.
*
(Overheard at the movies)
Whatever I was watching when I wrote this, I was so little engaged that I decided to write down all the most banal lines of dialogue:
Should I show you?
Yes.
Keep it close to your heart.
I've had them since I can remember.
Are you all right?
Yes, thank you.
Well, then I have something for you.
It is no magic -- truth is not always appearance.
I was bound by my oath of office to keep the secret.
He will not come out at all.
You must not excite yourself.
It's all true.
I ... saw him.
Gentlemen!
We thought you'd shot your bolt.
Who's with me?
Something must connect them.
[Something something] upstairs, between father and son.
I hear nothing.
Nor I.
Quicken pace!
When the other comes, I will hold him.
He comes now.
Follow the [something] trail.
We're leaving. We're leaving now.
Oh, wait. According to the annotation on the side, it's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow . Which, let's be fair here, looked great.
*
July 11, 2011
This Glitteratti Life (Part 5,287)
.
Sunday I jaunted up to Pleasantville, NY for David Hartwell's 70th Birthday celebration. In retrospect, it seems inevitable that there would be a belly dancer. Inevitable, too, that when beckoned to stand up and dance alongside her, he would come through.
So it was a very pleasant time. Most of which I spent talking with friends on various matters of interest. Here's a snippet of conversation with David himself:
Hartwell: It's strange that so many writers fail to understand the extraordinary power of the third person past tense. When last I taught at Clarion, all the students came to me, very aggrieved, and said, "He wanted us to only write in third person past tense!" I told them, "That's because it works! "
Me: (Thoughtfully, because this was something I'd never realized before) It works because it's the only voice that recognizes the existence of death, the only one that acknowledges that everyone and everything is constantly being swept away into oblivion.
So if there are any gonnabe writers reading this: Crowley, Hartwell, and I are as one on this: If you're going to write anything but third person past tense, you'd better have a very good reason for it.
Or, of course, be swept away into oblivion.
Above: Rather a blurry snapshot, I'm afraid. But quite an enjoyable afternoon.
*
Sunday I jaunted up to Pleasantville, NY for David Hartwell's 70th Birthday celebration. In retrospect, it seems inevitable that there would be a belly dancer. Inevitable, too, that when beckoned to stand up and dance alongside her, he would come through.
So it was a very pleasant time. Most of which I spent talking with friends on various matters of interest. Here's a snippet of conversation with David himself:
Hartwell: It's strange that so many writers fail to understand the extraordinary power of the third person past tense. When last I taught at Clarion, all the students came to me, very aggrieved, and said, "He wanted us to only write in third person past tense!" I told them, "That's because it works! "
Me: (Thoughtfully, because this was something I'd never realized before) It works because it's the only voice that recognizes the existence of death, the only one that acknowledges that everyone and everything is constantly being swept away into oblivion.
So if there are any gonnabe writers reading this: Crowley, Hartwell, and I are as one on this: If you're going to write anything but third person past tense, you'd better have a very good reason for it.
Or, of course, be swept away into oblivion.
Above: Rather a blurry snapshot, I'm afraid. But quite an enjoyable afternoon.
*
Scribbledehobbledehoyden: The Magpie's Eye: Page 134
.
There are movies that make sense. This is not one of them.
I have mercifully forgotten what movie I was watching when I wrote that.
*
There are movies that make sense. This is not one of them.
I have mercifully forgotten what movie I was watching when I wrote that.
*
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