Nick Mamatas's Blog, page 10
May 3, 2016
HANZAI JAPAN is a Locus Award finalist
Pleased that Hanzai Japan is a finalist for the Locus Award in the Best Anthology category.
Check it out, and congrats to all the nominees!
Check it out, and congrats to all the nominees!
May 2, 2016
Some updates
Was away this weekend and the dog took a turn for the worse, but recovered partially. We nearly euthanized her as she wasn't eating even human-grade food while I was gone, but my return and her "farewell trip" to a local nature park perked her up so much that we're just switching medications. She was spry yesterday and today, though is pretty incontinent now. Maybe she'll see the summer?
Opie didn't quite master the Greek Easter egg-cracking game of tsougrisma yesterday, but he had fun. Next year!
Part of why I was away was to quickly attend the Edgar Awards in NYC on Thursday night—now it can be revealed, I suppose, that I was a juror in the YA category. These five really stood out from the pack—there were perhaps another five that could have gone on a long list. I'll just say that if I never read a YA novel with one corpse parent and one drunk parent again, it'll be too soon. I did want to briefly hype each of the nominees though:
Endangered by Lamar Giles: fun, contemporary mystery about an anxious mixed-race kid (with an intact family!) whose interest in photography and being a jerk to everyone gets her into a lot of trouble. Loved that the protagonist wasn't so squeaky clean; loved the look at the post-flickr digital photography underground, so much fun. This one reads a bit younger than the others in the category, so get it for a kid!
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis: The winner! Super-dark historical; brilliant little sleuth pair. If YA wasn't so huge, it probably would have had one more explicit scene and been published as adult fiction. Mental hospitals, incest, fuck-the-law, rich assholes, undiagnosed Spectrum disorders! Read it!
The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury: Extremely daring. It looks like a fantasy novel. The characters believe their imaginary kingdom to be a magical land where the gods are close. And yet...it's crime novel. This is a mystery novel. I was so pleased in these days of cookie-cutter categories to see a real leap between categories in a way utterly hidden by the marketing information and production. (The sequel, which I picked up as an ARC, changes things yet again, so it's even more daring!)
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma: Innovative story of crime, punishment, and prison life. Loved the POV mixing—first-person plural for an opening riot; other POVs and perspectives shifting and sliding throughout—the close examination of sexual and class anxiety among girls; and the brutal fucking murders. Yeah!
Ask the Dark by Henry Turner: Great anti-hero, great voice, rural working-class community devastated by the last decades of the economy, good mystery, very creepy, lots of dark fun.
Any of these books could have won; it really is an honor to be nominated sometimes. I also found that I have a taste for jury work, and would be eager to try it again.
I was pleased to wake up to a nice review of The Last Weekend over at Strange Horizons. Lots of quotes from the text, which is SH style these days, and extensive discussion of the plot, including the ending. It reads, in part, Nick Mamatas is at his best here, questioning authority and dishing out severe criticism to everyone from derivative horror writers via the U.S. bureaucracy and its policies, to your common, everyday sheeple—while providing dark, noir-ish entertainment. Hope you all find it persuasive.
And speaking of persuasion, it is three months till street date for I Am Providence.
As mentioned previously, perhaps to the point of exhaustion, I Am Providence has an escalator clause. If 5000 copies of the book ship in the first thirty days of release, I get an extra $2000.
I want an extra $2000.
So if you were planning on buying a paper copy, please pre-order it now from a place very very likely to actually fulfill that order (Amazon, bn.com, or Powells.com) immediately upon publication on August 2nd. After all, my publisher, Skyhorse, wants to sell a lot of copies too, but their margins would be much better if they shipped 4999 copies in the first thirty days, and then one on September 4th. So pre-ordering from an online venue with guaranteed ship and price dates is a good way to help me bridge any gaps the publisher may wish to try to create.
Also, the more pre-orders, the more likely amazon will increase the discount and bn.com will follow suit, so you're helping yourself out too. These big etailers don't charge one's account until the book ships.
Thanks!
Opie didn't quite master the Greek Easter egg-cracking game of tsougrisma yesterday, but he had fun. Next year!
Part of why I was away was to quickly attend the Edgar Awards in NYC on Thursday night—now it can be revealed, I suppose, that I was a juror in the YA category. These five really stood out from the pack—there were perhaps another five that could have gone on a long list. I'll just say that if I never read a YA novel with one corpse parent and one drunk parent again, it'll be too soon. I did want to briefly hype each of the nominees though:
Endangered by Lamar Giles: fun, contemporary mystery about an anxious mixed-race kid (with an intact family!) whose interest in photography and being a jerk to everyone gets her into a lot of trouble. Loved that the protagonist wasn't so squeaky clean; loved the look at the post-flickr digital photography underground, so much fun. This one reads a bit younger than the others in the category, so get it for a kid!
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis: The winner! Super-dark historical; brilliant little sleuth pair. If YA wasn't so huge, it probably would have had one more explicit scene and been published as adult fiction. Mental hospitals, incest, fuck-the-law, rich assholes, undiagnosed Spectrum disorders! Read it!
The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury: Extremely daring. It looks like a fantasy novel. The characters believe their imaginary kingdom to be a magical land where the gods are close. And yet...it's crime novel. This is a mystery novel. I was so pleased in these days of cookie-cutter categories to see a real leap between categories in a way utterly hidden by the marketing information and production. (The sequel, which I picked up as an ARC, changes things yet again, so it's even more daring!)
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma: Innovative story of crime, punishment, and prison life. Loved the POV mixing—first-person plural for an opening riot; other POVs and perspectives shifting and sliding throughout—the close examination of sexual and class anxiety among girls; and the brutal fucking murders. Yeah!
Ask the Dark by Henry Turner: Great anti-hero, great voice, rural working-class community devastated by the last decades of the economy, good mystery, very creepy, lots of dark fun.
Any of these books could have won; it really is an honor to be nominated sometimes. I also found that I have a taste for jury work, and would be eager to try it again.
I was pleased to wake up to a nice review of The Last Weekend over at Strange Horizons. Lots of quotes from the text, which is SH style these days, and extensive discussion of the plot, including the ending. It reads, in part, Nick Mamatas is at his best here, questioning authority and dishing out severe criticism to everyone from derivative horror writers via the U.S. bureaucracy and its policies, to your common, everyday sheeple—while providing dark, noir-ish entertainment. Hope you all find it persuasive.
And speaking of persuasion, it is three months till street date for I Am Providence.
As mentioned previously, perhaps to the point of exhaustion, I Am Providence has an escalator clause. If 5000 copies of the book ship in the first thirty days of release, I get an extra $2000.
I want an extra $2000.
So if you were planning on buying a paper copy, please pre-order it now from a place very very likely to actually fulfill that order (Amazon, bn.com, or Powells.com) immediately upon publication on August 2nd. After all, my publisher, Skyhorse, wants to sell a lot of copies too, but their margins would be much better if they shipped 4999 copies in the first thirty days, and then one on September 4th. So pre-ordering from an online venue with guaranteed ship and price dates is a good way to help me bridge any gaps the publisher may wish to try to create.
Also, the more pre-orders, the more likely amazon will increase the discount and bn.com will follow suit, so you're helping yourself out too. These big etailers don't charge one's account until the book ships.
Thanks!
April 26, 2016
April 22, 2016
Attention Illiterates—Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Nyarlathotep on Pseudopod!
Enough dreariness, here's some freeeee entertainment, and you won't even have to engage your eye-holes.
The latest episode of Pseudopod is up, and its feature recording is my short Lovecraftian science fiction story Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Nyarlathotep!
The story originally appeared in the anthology Future Lovecraft back in, gosh, 2011!
Anyway, check it out. Spread it around. You know how the Internet works.
The latest episode of Pseudopod is up, and its feature recording is my short Lovecraftian science fiction story Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Nyarlathotep!
The story originally appeared in the anthology Future Lovecraft back in, gosh, 2011!
Anyway, check it out. Spread it around. You know how the Internet works.
April 21, 2016
Prince
Bad death day.
Get your flu shots.
Get your flu shots.
Philip Edward Kaldon, RIP
I am so sorry to hear of the death of writer, physicist, and long-term LJite
dr_phil_physics
Oh geez, his last post reads, in part: Congestion mostly gone, the big globs of green phlegm are gone, but I still have a cough every few hours. Feeling better. Still getting lots of sleep.
So I think I will survive.
May his memory be eternal.
dr_phil_physics
Oh geez, his last post reads, in part: Congestion mostly gone, the big globs of green phlegm are gone, but I still have a cough every few hours. Feeling better. Still getting lots of sleep.
So I think I will survive.
May his memory be eternal.
April 20, 2016
Two Weird Bits
At ICFA, someone acquired and read, overnight, a copy of The Last Weekend, and the next day wanted to ask me about my life as a young person in Youngstown, Ohio, a place I have never even visited.
And then, this week, this happened, with regards to my Long Island story about the Ricky Kasso murder from Phantom, "A Stain on the Stone":
This was weirder, given than Phantom is obviously a horror anthology, and many of the surrounding stories are supernatural. And then continuing to ask even about side characters...
I expect I'll get a lot more of this sort of thing when I Am Providence comes out this summer. "How did you write the book if you were killed last year at that convention...?"
And then, this week, this happened, with regards to my Long Island story about the Ricky Kasso murder from Phantom, "A Stain on the Stone":
This was weirder, given than Phantom is obviously a horror anthology, and many of the surrounding stories are supernatural. And then continuing to ask even about side characters...
I expect I'll get a lot more of this sort of thing when I Am Providence comes out this summer. "How did you write the book if you were killed last year at that convention...?"
April 14, 2016
David A. Riley
UPDATE:
David A. Riley has stepped down from the HWA jury.
You may remember last year, when everyone found out that David A. Riley, a British writer and editor, was a long-time member of the fascist National Front in the United Kingdom, and that he continued to be a participant in fascist politics well into the 2000s. Now he has been appointed to the anthology jury for the Bram Stoker Awards. I wrote the below on my Facebook yesterday:
Some notes on the recent drama in the Horror Writers Association (of which I am no longer a member) and their appointment of fascist David A Riley to the award jury. This is a public post. My FB is not normally public.
1. No-platforming. This has become widely misunderstood as militant liberals have generalized a particular radical practice—the demand to keep fascists from having a public platform at events and within organizations. One can and should no-platform fascists for the simple reason that fascism is a totalizing and universally negating political philosophy—it cannot prosper without the destruction of all points of view via political violence. Even Stalinist and Maoist Communism, say all the horrifying and accurate things about it you can, is self-protective—that is, it can adapt to diplomatic needs, introduce or quash markets internally etc. There is still a core of "dialectic"—a philosophy based on change. (Thus China going from economic backwater to central driver of the world economic system in a generation while still putatively remaining "communist".) Fascism is based on achieving a certain transhistorical perfection, which is impossible and inherently anti-rational, and thus it not only can broke no diplomacy/debate, it cannot even keep itself stable. It destroys everything, including ultimately itself (and takes plenty of people with it when it collapses). THAT is why it must be kept from growing.
1a. Liberals confuse this idea with a broader idea that unpleasant people are unpleasant and thus should be excluded from pleasant activities. This is the core of the slippery slope arguments around no-platforming. If the answer to "Where does it end?" isn't "Where it begins; with fascism", the argument to no-platform will never be consistently won, especially in groups like HWA, which have intrinsic and correct allegiances to freedom of expression and diversity of thought. The sad fact of this political juncture is that neither the mainstream liberal or conservative factions are interested in free expression—only the smarter elements of the far left and the less stupid bits of the libertarian right are. Fascism is a particular and singular exception, and even then, the state should not be involved in limiting speech—it's up to activists to militantly defend creative milieux against fascism.
2. Specific HWA claim: "discrimination based on political views" is "specifically illegal in a number of U.S. states."
a. doubtful this applies to groups like HWA, and volunteer positions like award jury member. Some states don't allow *workplaces* to discriminate based on political affiliation. HWA members should ask for exact statute or case law; I suspect none will be forthcoming. Non-profits of HWA's sort are barred from some forms political activity, not from internal decisions.
b. HWA's ability to appoint jury members is necessarily accompanied by its ability to remove jury members *without* giving a reason. If one cannot remove David A. Riley because he is a fascist, one can remove him because it is Wednesday.
c. What's Riley going to do? Sue? From England? For no damages? (What damage is suffered by not being allowed to volunteer without compensation?) To get his volunteer not-a-job back before the end of the year when it is already April?
3. What's the harm? Editors and publishers submit work to the jury. One need not be HWA members to submit work. I've submitted stories by Japanese authors, and my Japanese anthologies as a whole, in past years. Why would I do that if I know that one of the members considers Asians to be necessarily inferior? I was also published in an anthology called CALEDONIA DREAMIN' with a theme of celebrating the Scots language, a few years ago—why submit work from that book to a juror who belongs to a group that believes that Scottish independence is a trick by EU "string-pullers" and "traitors" in Westminster, and that the Scots language is illegitimate? Fascists make bad jury members for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who ever noticed names like, oh, "Klein" on their bookshelves.
Just a few other notes:
Last year, Riley claimed initially that it was all an error, and that another HWA member, an American also named David Riley, was the baddie-fascist type. For this alone Riley could have been removed from HWA. Member directory abuse and bad-jacketing someone else as a fascist is clearly an expulsion-level offense. (A notorious fellow with schizophrenia was removed from membership after abusing the directory to find harassment targets some years ago, so there is precedent.)
I was asked if my framework would also suit Lambdaconf and the software person/fascist blogger Moldbug, over which there is some controversy. I had this to say:
The slight difference here is that Moldbug was going, supposedly, to talk only about programming. In this situation, Riley is tasked with expressing aesthetic judgment, and fascism is an aesthetic. I could conceivably see a way for Moldbug to not be no-platformed—perhaps allow him only to send a paper or presentation for a person not of his choosing to present—but with Riley, the job is basically "Bring all your varied thoughts to this task" and his varied thoughts are "Smash Asian immigrants for a White United Kingdom!"
But I should also say that I know nothing of software conferences. However, no-platforming is something that should only be done super-rarely, thus my formulating a way not to no-platform Moldbug's purely technical ideas.
Finally, I don't see a reason to go full all-member boycott as Brian Keene is. Boycotting HWA events/books/awards is fine, but I don't think it is worthwhile to treat every individual member as a locus for boycotting is appropriate in this case. It's easy enough to be a member of some group and have no idea what the heck is going on anyway.
ETA: Brian, in the comments, clarifies his position: he's only boycotting HWA-branded/themed events/books etc. not individual HWA members.
David A. Riley has stepped down from the HWA jury.
You may remember last year, when everyone found out that David A. Riley, a British writer and editor, was a long-time member of the fascist National Front in the United Kingdom, and that he continued to be a participant in fascist politics well into the 2000s. Now he has been appointed to the anthology jury for the Bram Stoker Awards. I wrote the below on my Facebook yesterday:
Some notes on the recent drama in the Horror Writers Association (of which I am no longer a member) and their appointment of fascist David A Riley to the award jury. This is a public post. My FB is not normally public.
1. No-platforming. This has become widely misunderstood as militant liberals have generalized a particular radical practice—the demand to keep fascists from having a public platform at events and within organizations. One can and should no-platform fascists for the simple reason that fascism is a totalizing and universally negating political philosophy—it cannot prosper without the destruction of all points of view via political violence. Even Stalinist and Maoist Communism, say all the horrifying and accurate things about it you can, is self-protective—that is, it can adapt to diplomatic needs, introduce or quash markets internally etc. There is still a core of "dialectic"—a philosophy based on change. (Thus China going from economic backwater to central driver of the world economic system in a generation while still putatively remaining "communist".) Fascism is based on achieving a certain transhistorical perfection, which is impossible and inherently anti-rational, and thus it not only can broke no diplomacy/debate, it cannot even keep itself stable. It destroys everything, including ultimately itself (and takes plenty of people with it when it collapses). THAT is why it must be kept from growing.
1a. Liberals confuse this idea with a broader idea that unpleasant people are unpleasant and thus should be excluded from pleasant activities. This is the core of the slippery slope arguments around no-platforming. If the answer to "Where does it end?" isn't "Where it begins; with fascism", the argument to no-platform will never be consistently won, especially in groups like HWA, which have intrinsic and correct allegiances to freedom of expression and diversity of thought. The sad fact of this political juncture is that neither the mainstream liberal or conservative factions are interested in free expression—only the smarter elements of the far left and the less stupid bits of the libertarian right are. Fascism is a particular and singular exception, and even then, the state should not be involved in limiting speech—it's up to activists to militantly defend creative milieux against fascism.
2. Specific HWA claim: "discrimination based on political views" is "specifically illegal in a number of U.S. states."
a. doubtful this applies to groups like HWA, and volunteer positions like award jury member. Some states don't allow *workplaces* to discriminate based on political affiliation. HWA members should ask for exact statute or case law; I suspect none will be forthcoming. Non-profits of HWA's sort are barred from some forms political activity, not from internal decisions.
b. HWA's ability to appoint jury members is necessarily accompanied by its ability to remove jury members *without* giving a reason. If one cannot remove David A. Riley because he is a fascist, one can remove him because it is Wednesday.
c. What's Riley going to do? Sue? From England? For no damages? (What damage is suffered by not being allowed to volunteer without compensation?) To get his volunteer not-a-job back before the end of the year when it is already April?
3. What's the harm? Editors and publishers submit work to the jury. One need not be HWA members to submit work. I've submitted stories by Japanese authors, and my Japanese anthologies as a whole, in past years. Why would I do that if I know that one of the members considers Asians to be necessarily inferior? I was also published in an anthology called CALEDONIA DREAMIN' with a theme of celebrating the Scots language, a few years ago—why submit work from that book to a juror who belongs to a group that believes that Scottish independence is a trick by EU "string-pullers" and "traitors" in Westminster, and that the Scots language is illegitimate? Fascists make bad jury members for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who ever noticed names like, oh, "Klein" on their bookshelves.
Just a few other notes:
Last year, Riley claimed initially that it was all an error, and that another HWA member, an American also named David Riley, was the baddie-fascist type. For this alone Riley could have been removed from HWA. Member directory abuse and bad-jacketing someone else as a fascist is clearly an expulsion-level offense. (A notorious fellow with schizophrenia was removed from membership after abusing the directory to find harassment targets some years ago, so there is precedent.)
I was asked if my framework would also suit Lambdaconf and the software person/fascist blogger Moldbug, over which there is some controversy. I had this to say:
The slight difference here is that Moldbug was going, supposedly, to talk only about programming. In this situation, Riley is tasked with expressing aesthetic judgment, and fascism is an aesthetic. I could conceivably see a way for Moldbug to not be no-platformed—perhaps allow him only to send a paper or presentation for a person not of his choosing to present—but with Riley, the job is basically "Bring all your varied thoughts to this task" and his varied thoughts are "Smash Asian immigrants for a White United Kingdom!"
But I should also say that I know nothing of software conferences. However, no-platforming is something that should only be done super-rarely, thus my formulating a way not to no-platform Moldbug's purely technical ideas.
Finally, I don't see a reason to go full all-member boycott as Brian Keene is. Boycotting HWA events/books/awards is fine, but I don't think it is worthwhile to treat every individual member as a locus for boycotting is appropriate in this case. It's easy enough to be a member of some group and have no idea what the heck is going on anyway.
ETA: Brian, in the comments, clarifies his position: he's only boycotting HWA-branded/themed events/books etc. not individual HWA members.
April 13, 2016
Haven't updated in so long
Just busy with my life falling apart and all that! Anyway, I figure I'll write the most perverse update ever—did you know that Miley Cyrus actually released a good song? It's TRUE!
March 29, 2016
Book Stuff
Dog is still alive!
And I Am Providence ARCs are in the house!
Pre-order now for August release! (This will also help with cancer med pills for Kaz, btw.)
This discerning reader has my novelette "We Never Sleep" on her Hugo ballot. If you're looking for another novelette to add to your ballot, there's still time to read it right here.
Aaand, while we're clicking about, The Locus Award Poll closes in two weeks, which means that there is still time to read and thoughtfully consider my anthology with Masumi Washington, Hanzai Japan!
And I Am Providence ARCs are in the house!
Pre-order now for August release! (This will also help with cancer med pills for Kaz, btw.)
This discerning reader has my novelette "We Never Sleep" on her Hugo ballot. If you're looking for another novelette to add to your ballot, there's still time to read it right here.
Aaand, while we're clicking about, The Locus Award Poll closes in two weeks, which means that there is still time to read and thoughtfully consider my anthology with Masumi Washington, Hanzai Japan!
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