Jim C. Hines's Blog, page 131

Lego Hogwarts

Alice Finch built Hogwarts out of LEGO. To minifig scale. With scenes from the various books/movies.

The whole thing uses close to half a million bricks, and took twelve months to put together.

There were other things I wanted to blog about, but instead I’m just going to stare at the full photoset for a while…

Declining a Hugo Nom

The deadline for Hugo Award nominations is March 10. (Which reminds me, I’ve got to finish getting my list of stuff-I-think-deserves-shiny-rocketships together.)

Last week, a friend mentioned that they were seeing posts on Twitter encouraging folks to nominate me for Best Fan Artist, based on the cover poses I’ve done.

I wasn’t expecting that. Thank you so much. It means a great deal to see how much people appreciate the whole cover pose project.

But I’m conflicted. The cover pics certainly seem to qualify as fan art, and they were done in 2012, so to my mind this would be a perfectly valid nomination. And I’ve got to say, winning a Hugo last year was amazing. It was one of the best moments of my life, and something I’d love to do again someday.

At the same time, even though the Hugo I received in Chicago was technically for my blog work in 2011, I’d be deluding myself to think the popularity of the cover poses wasn’t a factor. Accepting a nomination for Fan Artist would feel like I was trying to cash in twice for the same project.

Basically, the idea makes me uncomfortable. I won’t tell you who to nominate, but I will say that in the unlikely chance that I made the ballot for Best Fan Artist, I would decline the nomination.

Of course, if you wanted to nominate Libriomancer for Best Novel, that would be awesome and I’d love you forever. But when it comes to Best Fan Artist, it just doesn’t feel right. You honored me last year for my fan writing, and I can’t thank you enough for that. But there are are too many skilled, hard-working artists who deserve to be on that ballot this year.

In fact, if you have any thoughts on who should get a nod for Best Fan Artist or Writer this year, please share names and links in the comments.

Thank you.

Nebula Voters HATE WHITE DUDES!!!

SF Signal posted the Nebula Award Finalists yesterday, with links to lots of free fiction. (Huge congratulations to all the nominees, by the way.) I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the diversity of the nominees this year. Rose Fox did a breakdown over at Genreville.

So of course it didn’t take long for someone to pop up in the SF Signal comments to say:

Sure is a huge slant towards women and the non white male. If we don’t start counteracting all the relentless one sided articles soon. Then SF is going to look a lot like the Romance Genre. And the funny thing is there wasn’t even a fight.

Thats my Counterpoint Mirror to todays Half Truths(its the other half that will complete you)

Another commenter jumped in to say how girly the list was, and to talk about how he reads a very broad and diverse range of male authors.

I wish I was making that up.

(He did concede that he’d be willing to check out Mary Robinette Kowal’s book, though. I assume it’s because she’s proven her manliness credentials.)

The fact that there are dumbasses on the internet should come as no surprise to anyone. And plenty of folks have been happily mocking the clueless trolls. But maybe we’re not giving the poor troll enough credit.

Sure, he packs an impressive amount of idiocy into a single comment. But what if it’s not just a dude who doesn’t want women and non-white folks in his genre, with a bonus scoop of “Romance is icky!!!” What if, instead of being a dumbass, he’s trying to make a sneakier point?

After all, some of us have complained time and again when we see an awards ballot or anthology list dominated by white men. If I mock these commenters for complaining about a list dominated by…um…well, people who aren’t white men, then I’M A FLAMING HYPOCRITE AND MY ENTIRE SOAP BOX WILL COLLAPSE UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MY DOUBLE-STANDARDS!

Why, if this was his devious plan all along, then we the PC Thought Police of Doom have DRASTICALLY underestimated our opposition! This isn’t a clueless, sexist, racist dumbass after all! This is a Moriarty-type genius of–

No, wait, sorry. My bad. Still a clueless, sexist, racist dumbass. Tell you what, dude–when you can demonstrate a pattern of historical discrimination against white male authors, if you can show how we’re persistently under-reviewed, under-nominated for awards, underrepresented in “Best of” anthologies, then we’ll talk.

In the meantime, my condolences to the good folks at SF Signal. It’s never fun when the neighbor’s ill-behaved dog shows up to take a dump in your yard.

ETA: Changed the title because penis =/= dude. My apologies. Dammit, I’m supposed to be smarter than that.

Final Stretch and Cover Pose Gallery

[image error]Codex Born [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is due to my editor in nine days. I finished draft 4 on the 13th, and have been working through draft 4.1 to fit the final plot pieces into place, flesh out missing descriptions and transitions, and add a Firefly reference.

Most of my free time and energy is going into this last revision, which means blogging will be lighter than usual.

I’m happy with how this book has turned out. I’m amazed at how much it’s changed from the very first draft. I think it does a nice job of continuing the themes and ideas of the first book, and I’m hopeful that readers will get the same sense of excitement and wonder and fun.

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Several people asked if there was a way to see all of the cover poses I’d done in a single spot. Well, there is now! I’ll be adding more to that page eventually, but for now, it has links to all of the blog posts as well as a link to the Flickr gallery containing all of the poses.

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Oh, and I’m almost finished reading The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. This is a beautifully told story, and has cost me much-needed sleep these past few nights. And I’m not just saying that because GOBLINS!

I believe this one comes out in 2014. I’ll be putting a review together to go up closer to the release date.

Running for SFWA Office (but NOT President)

After a great deal of thought, discussion with my family, and a good, hard look at my schedule and priorities, I just posted the following in the discussion forums of the Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America.

One way or another, I hope members will vote in the upcoming election. Because if there are no votes, I think the bylaws state that Lee and I have to fight some sort of a duel. Something about rubber chickens and key lime pie…

—

Jim C. Hines

Platform Statement for South/Central Regional Director

I joined SFWA as an associate member in 2001, and upgraded to active as soon as I made that third short fiction sale. SFWA wasn’t only a goal and a source of validation, but also a valuable resource. Even before that first qualifying sale, I followed Writer Beware religiously. I have no doubt that SFWA saved me from a number of mistakes in those early years. Later, I learned about the Emergency Medical Fund, got first-hand experience with the Grievance Committee, and watched SFWA promote an industry-wide change in “professional” short fiction rates.

I’ve served on SFWA’s exploratory copyright committee, assisted with the drafting of a potential harassment policy, and volunteered at the SFWA table at Worldcon, but after twelve years, I’d like to give more back to the organization by serving as South/Central Regional Director.

First and foremost, I believe a Regional Director must listen to and represent the membership. I’ve been very active with the SF/F community, particularly working writers, both those who are members of SFWA and those who qualify but, for a variety of reasons, have chosen not to join the organization. I believe my online platform will make me accessible to our members, and give me a platform to hear and respond to their concerns.

I would like to see SFWA continue to move forward. To me, the biggest priority is to complete the reincorporation process. I would also like to see SFWA reach out to those eligible writers who have turned away, believing—rightfully or wrongfully—that we have nothing to offer, or that we’re too narrow in the writers we welcome and celebrate in our ranks.

As an author, I’ve published more than 40 short stories, and my ninth novel from DAW will be out later this year. I was honored with a Hugo award last year for my online writing about the SF/F community. (And yes, I’m the guy who did those half-naked cover poses to try to promote discussions of sexism in the genre.)

In my day job as a manager working for the State of Michigan, I’ve received a crash course in managing priorities, responding to multiple demands on my time, and reviewing input from a variety of often contradictory sources. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve learned how to keep good ideas from stagnating, and to do the work to push those good ideas forward.

I have nothing but respect and gratitude for Lee Martindale and the work she’s done for SFWA. But I also think the membership is better served when there are multiple candidates, and I believe I have a lot to offer the organization.

I would appreciate your vote for South/Central Regional Director. But more importantly, I hope you’ll vote, period.

Dragon Winners

Most of my energy is currently going into Codex Born (due to my editor on March 1), and a few other projects. So instead of a blog post today, I’m going to pick some winners to receive autographed copies of Marie Brennan’s A Natural History of Dragons [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].

There were well over a hundred entries, providing entertaining and occasionally disturbing blurbs for Mary’s Angels. But the fickle hand of Random.org has spoken, and has smiled upon the following three people:

4th Guy
RedSonja
beccastareyes

I’ve notified the winners by email, so if you’re one of these three people and you haven’t heard from me, leave a comment and let me know how best to get in touch.

For the rest of you, go get the book and read it anyway, because it’s good.

As for me, I’ve got to get back to that scene where Darth Vader cuts off Isaac Vainio’s hand, and then Smudge crawls up under Vader’s mask. Good times…

How To Train Your Dragon

[image error]I’ve wanted to talk about How to Train Your Dragon for a while now, and last week’s review of Merrie Haskell’s Handbook for Dragon Slayers and the resulting comments about disability in fiction made me finally sit my butt down to do it.

I love this movie. I love the story, I love the message and themes, I love the humor … there’s very little it gets wrong, in my opinion. I would have appreciated more female characters, but even there, as I understand it, the movie improves on the source material.

The story is pretty straightforward. Hiccup is basically a nerd among Vikings. He works as an apprentice to the village blacksmith, but he lacks the physical strength and battle prowess of his fellow Vikings, and is more interested in gadgets and inventions that don’t always work. Oh, and his village is constantly fighting off dragons.

I’m rather fond of Jay Baruchel, the actor who voices Hiccup. He’s got a very distinctive voice, and his sardonic and often self-deprecating tone works for me.

During one dragon raid, Hiccup manages to shoot down a Night Fury, the deadliest breed of dragons. The Night Fury’s tail is crippled, leaving it unable to fly. Hiccup tracks where the dragon fell, planning to finish it off and prove himself, but he can’t do it. Instead, he studies and slowly befriends the dragon, which he names Toothless (because Night Furies have retractable teeth).

Toothless is awesome. The expressiveness and humor the animators capture in every scene is amazing. This dragon, who never says a word, is a better actor and character than most humans. I love the details, whether it’s watching him scorch a circle and turn around before settling down to sleep, or the obvious love and loyalty he develops for Hiccup. (Love and loyalty which are returned in full.)

Some of what follows is predictable, of course. Hiccup uses his secret dragon knowledge to impress the other Vikings and improve his standing, only to fall when the truth comes out. There’s a low-key romantic thing between Hiccup and Astrid. The dragons turn out to be more than simple livestock thieves, and there’s a big old battle at the end. While the twists aren’t entirely original, they’re well done and engaging.

But one of the things I most respect about this movie is how it handles disability.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The blacksmith, Gobber, has lost an arm and a leg, and the movie does the “Look at all the cool weapons and toys I can plug into my wrist” bit with his character. But with Toothless and later Hiccup, it’s presented seriously, without either minimizing the pain and the work or going overboard with Very Important Messages About Overcoming Adversity.

You see Toothless’ frustration and fear when he’s unable to fly, and an admittedly condensed process of Hiccup building and fitting the prosthetic tail, then the two of them learning to use it to fly together.

But what really works for me comes after the final battle. Hiccup is injured and loses his leg. You see him awaken back home in his own bed, start to sit up, and realize what’s happened to him. He has a wood-and-iron leg now, built by Gobber.

Skinny though he might be, Hiccup is still a Viking, so you’re not going to get a lot of outward grief. But you see the sadness and loss in those few seconds before he stands. He takes one step and starts to fall, only to have Toothless dart in to catch him. The two of them together make their way toward the door, giving the viewer a silhouetted shot of Hiccup’s new foot and Toothless’ prosthetic tail. The whole sequence is less than a minute long, but it’s one of my favorite scenes of the whole movie.

Short version: It’s a very well-written and visually entertaining movie. Y’all should watch it.

Let There Be Links

Returning to a Review; Not a Spoiler Warning: After reading my review of The Dragon Slayer’s Handbook, author Merrie Haskell blogged about why she chose to write a heroine with a clubfoot, and why Tilda does not get magically healed at the end of the book.

The World SF Travel Fund: This project was started in 2011 with the goal of helping one or two international persons to get to a major SF/F event. As of this morning, they’ve met their $3000 goal, which funds the project for the next two years. But there’s 10 days left, and wouldn’t it be awesome to see it hit at least $4500 and provide them with a bonus year? The rewards are great, too. Donate $10, and you’ll get the e-books of the Apex Book of World SF, volumes 1 and 2.

Con or Bust Auction Begins Saturday, February 9: “Con or Bust helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions.” You can read more about the founding and history of the project on their About us page. Items up for auction includes books, critiques, Green Tea Yoda Oreo cookies, and much more.

Weregeek, a web comic, talked about the Hawkeye Initiative yesterday and suggested that someone should do something similar for fantasy RPG art. Hm…

What do you think of John Scalzi’s new tattoo? Okay, so maybe I Photoshopped it. For background and better picture of Gamma Rabbit, see John’s post here. I’m impressed and amazed at how effectively he’s taken a rather irksome annoyance and transformed it into a fundraiser which has drawn international attention and brought in more than $50,000 in pledges for causes such as RAINN, NAACP, Emily’s List, and Human Rights Campaign. Think we can convince him to get the tattoo for real if the pledges hit $100K?

Some friends of mine are Kickstarting Glitter & Madness: The Speculative Nightclub Anthology, a collection to be filled with “Roller Derby, nightclubs, glam aliens, (literal) party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, debauchery” and more. If they meet their fundraising goal, you’ll get stories from Amal El-Mohtar, Diana Rowland, Sofia Samatar, Tim Pratt, and many more. Including a 16,000 word InCryptid novella from Seanan McGuire!

Finally, Darth Maul would like you to know that he is awesome. (I’ve had this stuck in my head ever since we watched the whole LEGO Star Wars “Empire Strikes Out” show over the weekend.)

Handbook for Dragon Slayers, by Merrie Haskell

I reviewed Merrie Haskell’s first book about a year ago. The Princess Curse was a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, meaning Haskell has officially usurped me as Head of the Michigan Fairy Tale Princess Mafia. At ConFusion last month, she was kind enough to give me a copy of her new book Handbook for Dragon Slayers [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], which comes out at the end of May.

This is a middle grade title about Tilda, a young princess who’s much more interested in writing her own book than she is in being a princess. Particularly given how little her people seem to like her. Born with a deformed leg that requires her to use a cane to get around, she often finds herself the target of whispers and gossip and general nastiness. So when the bad guy sets out to steal her lands and title, Tilda considers it no real loss.

I haven’t done a lot of middle grade reading–something I need to remedy–but Handbook follows the pattern I’ve seen of focusing more on internal conflicts and development than external plot. An “adult” novel would generally focus more on the central conflict between Tilda and the would-be usurper. Whereas this novel jumps around a bit more, plotwise, in order to show us how Tilda grows and changes. The story includes a pair of would-be dragon slayers, Elysian horses, the Wild Hunt, evil magic, and perhaps my favorite bit character, Curschin the dragon.

I appreciated the way Haskell addressed Tilda’s handicap, neither shying away from the pain and complications it presented, nor trying to give us a feel-good Message about overcoming disability. My wife has been dealing with chronic pain for many years, and often requires a cane to get around, so Tilda’s struggle felt familiar. But this wasn’t a book about a disabled character; it was a book about a character who happened to have a disability.

There were  a few points where I stumbled. The book doesn’t exactly take place in our world, but there are references to Plato and Christmas, things that were just discordant enough to bump me out of the story. There were also one or two plot points that seemed a little too convenient or unexplained. The story about the girl who wants desperately to be a writer could easily become self-indulgent, but Haskell manages it well, focusing on the character’s love and excitement and never slipping into “Writers are awesome!” or inside jokes/commentary.

Overall, this was a quick and enjoyable read, with a range of good, strong characters both male and female.

Handbook for Dragon Slayers has the official approval of the ex-head of the Princess Mafia.

Book Giveaway: A Natural History of Dragons

I know I haven’t even mailed out the book from my last giveaway yet, but I couldn’t help it! I had to give out more free books. Because that’s just how I roll!

Okay, what really happened is that a while back I had the chance to read Marie Brennan’s new book A Natural History of Dragons [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. I loved it, and was happy to provide a blurb. Tor recently offered me a finished copy as a way of saying thank you, which was very nice of them. To which I responded, “Yes please, and if you felt like sending me an extra copy, I’ll give one away on my blog.”

They sent me four.

I’m a-keeping one for myself, but the other three are up for grabs.

And just to make things more exciting, these are autographed copies! Not autographed by Brennan, though. And let’s be honest, we authors sign a lot of our books, especially during release month. So there will probably be plenty of author-signed copies out there. But these three books are the ONLY COPIES with MY autograph! Go ahead and look, it’s right there on the back cover by my blurb!

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[image error]In keeping with the theme, all you have to do to enter the giveaway is write a blurb for the not-actually-written book Mary’s Angels and leave it in the comments. If you’re unfamiliar with this masterpiece or need a reminder, click here for the cover art. Your blurb should be silly, and can be as positive or negative as you’d like. (Though I know you can do better than “Oh, I’m blind” and “Brain bleach!”)

Everyone can enter, no matter where you’re located, and I’ll pick three winners at random next week.

I’ll close with the official publisher’s description:

You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon’s presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one’s life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.

I liked this book a lot. Lady Trent is a great character, the memoir structure works really well, and as a bonus, you get interior illustrations by Todd Lockwood. If you don’t win, you should check it out anyway.