Craig Laurance Gidney's Blog, page 70

My schedule at the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival on June 23-25

Saturday, June 25, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Day of Readings, Panels & Workshops at Decatur Public Library

11 a.m. to noon: Brunch in the lobby

11 a.m. Social Media Panel: Collin Kelley, Karen Head, Stan Fong

12 p.m. Publishing Panel: Bryan Borland, Craig Gidney, Philip Rafshoon

1 p.m. Film Panel: Andy Ditzler, Alex Arias, Taryn Crenshaw, Jim Farmer

2 p.m. Fiction Panel: Daniel Allex Cox, Craig Gidney, Collin Kelley

2 p.m. Poetry Reading: Akinfe Fatou, Bryan Borland

3 p.m. Diversity in Literature: Kerrie Cotton Williams, Akinfe Fatou, Bucky Motter, Charone Padgett, Craig Gidney

4 p.m. Poetry Workshop: Akinfe Fatou

4 p.m. Fiction Reading: Daniel Allen Cox, Megan Volpert, Daniel Black

Where I'll Be: May and June

I will be attending the Nebula Award Weekend at the end of May, since it is in my hometown.

And I will be representing Lethe Press at the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival.

Gears of the City by Felix Gilman

Gears of the City by Felix Gilman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This sprawling novel is a mess–full of dark magic, horror and bits of beauty. It has a plot that is rather vague and hazy. The structure shifts and changes, like the city it describes. At its best, Gears Of The City mixes the high gothic style of Mervyn Peake with the fever dream surrealism of Lautremont's Maldoror. There are times when Gilman's invention overpowers his storytelling skill, and some of the characterization is weak. But the overheated, imagistic prose keeps the dark marvels coming.

View all my reviews

Review: Greyglass by Tanith Lee

Greyglass is a small, quirky book. Not quite a ghost story and not quite a character study novel. It has elements of Gothic literature and moments of offbeat, distinctly British humor. In many ways, it reminds of uncategorizable novels of Jonathan Carroll or Jeanette Winterson but with its own unique flavor. The supernatural element–the seemingly sentient house–while integral to the plot, reflects the disturbed mother-daughter relationships that are at the heart of this novel.
While there are men in the novel, it mostly explores female bonds–familial, friendship, love, betrayal and even hate. It moves quickly for a mostly interior novel, mostly due to the exquisitely crafted language.

New Craig Gidney Interview at the Hathor Legacy!

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by the Hathor Legacy byMaria Velazquez.  You can read the interview I did here.  Also, read the rest of site–HL covers genre fiction through the filters of feminism and race theory.

Reading Group

Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories will be the February selection for California Men's Gatherings book club in Los Angeles.

I feel so honored!

Information is here:  http://www.thecmg.org/V5/021111SC.asp

From Where We Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth

I have two stories in the forthcoming anthology From Where We Sit:  Black Writers Write Black Youth (Edited by Victoria A. Brownworth).  The allegorical "Circus Boy Without A Safety Net," and the darker tale of sexual abuse, "Bereft."  The book comes out in February.

Icarus 7: Winter 2010

I acquired 3 stories printed in the forthcoming issue of Icarus:  The Magazine of Gay Speculative Fiction.  I'd be awfully happy if you bought the magazine–or subscription!

The seventh issue of Icarus released next week: Winter 2010 has several stories that will contribute to your shivers, of delight and dread. Hauntology is a genre of music that combines voices from obsolete recording technology with modern electronics. "Lonesome Road," by Matt Cheney, is almost a literary version of hauntology, a different kind of ghost story—postmodern, but chilling all the same. Distant voices also play a role in Sunny Morvaine's "The Shapes of Shadows," a mysterious tale of alien technology. Esoteric knowledge, lust and revenge spill through the pages of Alejandro Omidsalar's "Abbadon's First Rule," a tale of horror and black comedy. And "Bargain Books" asks the question, is invisibility a blessing or a curse for gays? "Blue Moon," this issue's poem, shows that mothers don't always know best. Hal Duncan is one of my favorite authors. Every time he publishes a short story, the field of gay speculative fiction is that much richer. So we hope you take some delight in Craig Gidney's interview with the man.

Sea, Swallow Me reviewed in Australia!

The Small Tapestry, a publication of Australia's Pagan Awareness Network, has printed a review of Sea, Swallow Me & Other Stories.  Thanks to singer/songwriter Louisa John-Krol for doing the review!

Some authors I met at Orycon32–and their books.

Click to view slideshow.