Michael Swanwick's Blog, page 24

"All The Light You See Is From the Past"

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Here's a surprising thing to see atop a beer distributor on Girard Avenue, here in Philadelphia.  It's a jittery set of lights reading: ALL THE LIGHT YOU SEE IS FROM THE PAST. It's that rapid staccato flashing that gives it  a sinister cast. 

It's art, of course. And it seems to be malfunctioning. Or maybe it's just because we drove by before the second sentence cycled though and the light turned itself off.

Either way, the artist is Alicia Eggert.  You can read her explanation here.

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 27

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 26

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 25

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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And the Toastmaster for the 2024 World Fantasy Convention Is...

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Well, this comes as a surprise.

I've been invited to be the Toastmaster at 2024 World Fantasy Convention in Niagara Falls, NY October 17-20, 2024. And, having been asked, I of course said yes.

I've only been to Niagara Falls once in my lifetime and, funny story, I...

But I think I'll save that for the toastmaster gig.

You can find much more info about the WFC, almost all of it not involving me, here.

 

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 24

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 23

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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Your First Hugo Acceptance Speech

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So Richard Man just won a Hugo Award for Best Artist in Chengdu. Making him the first photographer ever to win a Hugo and the first human being ever to win a Hugo in China. Wow. Great! Kudos! Holy cow. Wanna guess his friends' reaction?

Over and over, they said: "Aren't you glad we talked you into writing an acceptance speech?"

He was and he did and he didn't read it because he knew what it said and could speak from the heart. Which proves the necessity of the speech.

I'm talking to you here, Gonnabe Writer. One day you're  going to be up for your first award and you're going to think: "No way. Not gonna happen. I'll just feel silly if I write a speech."

I've been there. My first two published stories were on the Nebula ballot. No way I could possibly win. Gardner Dozois said, "Write one anyway." So I did.

I lost.

Year after year (not every year, but close enough), I was nominated, wrote a speech, and lost. Marianne Porter,  my wife, once wonked the stats and established that I had lost more Hugos and Nebulas for fiction than anyone else. (Connie Willis, it has to be said, was nominated many more times than I was, but lost out on the loser competition by winning so many that she is winningest writer ever on the Hugo-and-Nebula front.)

Do I regret those speeches?

Only in one sense. I didn't keep them in a file. If I had, when I eventually won my Nebula, I could have stitched them together with chatty rhetoric and had a charmingly modest essay to give to a fanzine.

But here's the thing. Awards are unpredictable. I might  have won at any time. I know people who have won at their first at-bat. And if I had and if I hadn't written a speech, it would have been deer in the headlights time. You stand up there in the bright lights and a roomful of people you respect are applauding their hearts out and your mind goes blank. "Um..." you say, and you forget that your editor and your agent are expecting a shout-out. So you say something stupid that will make you cringe for the rest of your life.

Don't do that.

Write the speech.

End of lecture. Go thou and sin no more.

Above: Richard Man's actual Hugo. Gotta say it's pretty cool.

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 22

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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Under A Harvest Moon - Part 21

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CONTINUED TOMORROW

And while you're here . . .

I'm looking for pithy statements to write upon leaves. Summations, observations, wit--you name it. Post your sentence below and let me know if you'd rather your contribution be credited to "Anonymous." I'll leaf-write, photograph, and post the thirty-one best next October.

(If you're unable to post here, you can write me at miswanwick@aol.com)

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