David Anthony Durham's Blog, page 43
November 3, 2010
Editorial Boob
I didn't make it to this year's World Fantasy, a fact which quite depresses me mightily.
Jim C Hines spent some time talking about good stuff about the con, but he's also just posted about a not so good aspect of it: incidents of sexual harassment. Worth a read.
Jim C Hines spent some time talking about good stuff about the con, but he's also just posted about a not so good aspect of it: incidents of sexual harassment. Worth a read.
November 2, 2010
Heros
A little piece I wrote for Elbakin.net went up recently. This is me singing the praises of Ursula K LeGuin again. In French.I love it when I do that...
October 29, 2010
Acacia 3 Update
I've been quiet about how the third Acacia book is going only because it's such a long process and most of it, unfortunately, is lonely business. You can be assured that I've had my head down working on it, though. These past few months it's taken over as the fabric of my waking and sleeping hours. Honestly, I'm with it always, and it's with me always.
We've become very intimate.
That doesn't mean I'm done, but this week has seen things step a little closer. I've agreed to float the first 400 pages to my editor as a partial delivery. He's going to start working on it, and kick the pre-publication machine into production. I've agreed to have the rest of the book to him before Christmas. What this means is that I'm still officially on track for a Fall 2011 publication. I know, that's still a year away. Sorry. It's not, however, late. That was always the planned pub-date, and I'm very relieved that we're on track for it.
This doesn't, of course, mean that things couldn't still go wrong. Lots of things could go wrong, starting with my editor thinking the book is a stinker. One never knows. One really never knows...
I take some solace from the fact that my wife has read most of the book and thinks I'm getting the job done. And my kids have heard portions of it and haven't balked yet. So early signs are good.
I may even know the title of it now, but I'm holding off on disclosing it yet. Let's see if it sticks as the editorial process starts.
Wish me luck!
We've become very intimate.
That doesn't mean I'm done, but this week has seen things step a little closer. I've agreed to float the first 400 pages to my editor as a partial delivery. He's going to start working on it, and kick the pre-publication machine into production. I've agreed to have the rest of the book to him before Christmas. What this means is that I'm still officially on track for a Fall 2011 publication. I know, that's still a year away. Sorry. It's not, however, late. That was always the planned pub-date, and I'm very relieved that we're on track for it.
This doesn't, of course, mean that things couldn't still go wrong. Lots of things could go wrong, starting with my editor thinking the book is a stinker. One never knows. One really never knows...
I take some solace from the fact that my wife has read most of the book and thinks I'm getting the job done. And my kids have heard portions of it and haven't balked yet. So early signs are good.
I may even know the title of it now, but I'm holding off on disclosing it yet. Let's see if it sticks as the editorial process starts.
Wish me luck!
October 27, 2010
Blog Love
I just noticed a nice Acacia: The War with the Mein review at ielerol's Interfacing blog.
Smart review. Glad she liked it.
Nice blog in general, really...
Smart review. Glad she liked it.
Nice blog in general, really...
October 26, 2010
Homeschooled Girl Makes Good On Her First In-School Quiz
That was actually the headline here in the Durham household a few weeks back. You see, for the first time in five years our kids, Maya and Sage, are attending the local primary school. Previously, we'd been homeschooling them. We enjoyed it very much, were challenged by it, always said we'd only do it so long as it worked for us all. This fall Gudrun and I decided that we couldn't put as much time into it as we should, so we proposed that the kids go back to school.
They agreed, and a couple months in things are going wonderfully. The adjustment has been fairly seamless, as we figured it would be. Just so you know, homeschooling doesn't need to mean that the kids are locked in a cabin in the woods getting only their parents' warped interpretation of the world. In fact, we'd always been very social with the way we homeschooled, with lots of outside classes, music and martial arts, nature studies and writing and gymnastics and lots of friends in a large network of other homeschooling families. The kids had always been socialized, so going to school wasn't a shock. It's just different.
Including the fact that it includes quizzes! Maya, our sixth grader, had her first quiz a couple weeks ago. It was a combination quiz. One part was about identifying key cities/places on a blank map of Ancient Greece. The second part, should they accept the challenge, was to also make it a spelling test, wherein they located the sites presented to them verbally, so that they had to get the spelling correct as well.
The result? Perfection. Maya got 20 out of 20, all identified and spelled correctly.
That's not a C on the paper. It's a check mark! How did she study for it? Oh, with a little bit of home school cut and pasting and improvisation I'm glad to say...
She's also making a name for herself as a manga artist. Apparently, she does personalized drawings for 25 cents a pop. Stuff like this:
I'm thinking she needs to up her asking price.
They agreed, and a couple months in things are going wonderfully. The adjustment has been fairly seamless, as we figured it would be. Just so you know, homeschooling doesn't need to mean that the kids are locked in a cabin in the woods getting only their parents' warped interpretation of the world. In fact, we'd always been very social with the way we homeschooled, with lots of outside classes, music and martial arts, nature studies and writing and gymnastics and lots of friends in a large network of other homeschooling families. The kids had always been socialized, so going to school wasn't a shock. It's just different.Including the fact that it includes quizzes! Maya, our sixth grader, had her first quiz a couple weeks ago. It was a combination quiz. One part was about identifying key cities/places on a blank map of Ancient Greece. The second part, should they accept the challenge, was to also make it a spelling test, wherein they located the sites presented to them verbally, so that they had to get the spelling correct as well.
The result? Perfection. Maya got 20 out of 20, all identified and spelled correctly.
That's not a C on the paper. It's a check mark! How did she study for it? Oh, with a little bit of home school cut and pasting and improvisation I'm glad to say...She's also making a name for herself as a manga artist. Apparently, she does personalized drawings for 25 cents a pop. Stuff like this:
I'm thinking she needs to up her asking price.
October 21, 2010
Like Opera?
I've come to realize I'm a fan of space opera.
Why does that feel like a confession? It shouldn't. The stuff I'm talking about is inventive and intelligent, engaging with serious issues at the same time as it's adventuresome fun. Maybe it's just the name. Opera. Soap Opera. Space Opera. Not, for me, the same thing.
I've mentioned before that I've enjoyed novels like Peter F. Hamilton's The Dreaming Void (The Void Trilogy), and John Scalzi's Old Man's War, and Bright of the Sky (Book 1 of The Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon, and I may have mentioned digging Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Realizing that I have good things to say about Iain M Banks' The Algebraist and Alastair Reynolds' Chasm City (Revelation Space)…
Well, I'm seeing a trend here.
Are all these things Space Opera? I don't know, but I'm thinking so. What they have in common is that they combine elements of science fiction interplanetary travel and theoretic possibilities with adventure on a grand scale. For a while, I thought of them as books that read like epic fantasy, but that were set in space. I guess the Dune novels would fit into this category too. I'm not sure where the boundary begins and ends, although I know it when I bump up against it.
For example, I read Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) recently. That's got adventure and romance off planet, but it's different. It's chained to our known world realities and near possibilities in a way that space opera isn't really.
So what do I enjoy about these novels? Depends on the book, of course. A big part of it comes down to the combination of fine writing, with interesting characterization and thematic weight, combined with pure flights of the imagination. That's a feature of good fantasy too, but only a handful of fantasy authors engage me intellectually - which is part of the attraction to these operatic authors. It's sharp, fun, sometimes scary stuff.
Just thought I'd mention it.
Why does that feel like a confession? It shouldn't. The stuff I'm talking about is inventive and intelligent, engaging with serious issues at the same time as it's adventuresome fun. Maybe it's just the name. Opera. Soap Opera. Space Opera. Not, for me, the same thing.I've mentioned before that I've enjoyed novels like Peter F. Hamilton's The Dreaming Void (The Void Trilogy), and John Scalzi's Old Man's War, and Bright of the Sky (Book 1 of The Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon, and I may have mentioned digging Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Realizing that I have good things to say about Iain M Banks' The Algebraist and Alastair Reynolds' Chasm City (Revelation Space)…
Well, I'm seeing a trend here.
Are all these things Space Opera? I don't know, but I'm thinking so. What they have in common is that they combine elements of science fiction interplanetary travel and theoretic possibilities with adventure on a grand scale. For a while, I thought of them as books that read like epic fantasy, but that were set in space. I guess the Dune novels would fit into this category too. I'm not sure where the boundary begins and ends, although I know it when I bump up against it.
For example, I read Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars (Mars Trilogy) recently. That's got adventure and romance off planet, but it's different. It's chained to our known world realities and near possibilities in a way that space opera isn't really.
So what do I enjoy about these novels? Depends on the book, of course. A big part of it comes down to the combination of fine writing, with interesting characterization and thematic weight, combined with pure flights of the imagination. That's a feature of good fantasy too, but only a handful of fantasy authors engage me intellectually - which is part of the attraction to these operatic authors. It's sharp, fun, sometimes scary stuff.Just thought I'd mention it.
October 19, 2010
Two Reviews
Daniel A. Rabuzzi has posted a terrific review of The Other Lands at Lobster and Canary.
And Allan Fisher has given Acacia wonderful treatment at the UK site Fantasy Book Review.
Very pleased by both of them.
And Allan Fisher has given Acacia wonderful treatment at the UK site Fantasy Book Review.
Very pleased by both of them.
October 15, 2010
Soup Revelation
My wife just revealed something to me. She said, "I don't like having soup for dinner."
She said, "I like it for lunch, but not for dinner. It makes me angry."
Twelve years of marriage, but there's still so much to learn…
She said, "I like it for lunch, but not for dinner. It makes me angry."
Twelve years of marriage, but there's still so much to learn…
October 13, 2010
National Book Award Finalists
Another bit of award news. This year's National Book Award Finalists have just been announced.
Peter Carey, Parrot and Olivier in America
Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule
Nicole Krauss, Great House
Lionel Shriver, So Much for That
Karen Tei Yamashita, I Hotel
I've read earlier novels by Carey and Krauss, but the others are new to me.
More info HERE if you want it.
(http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2010.html)
Peter Carey, Parrot and Olivier in America
Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule
Nicole Krauss, Great House
Lionel Shriver, So Much for That
Karen Tei Yamashita, I Hotel
I've read earlier novels by Carey and Krauss, but the others are new to me.
More info HERE if you want it.
(http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2010.html)
October 10, 2010
Elbakin.net représente le visage de la Fantasy en France !
Well, it is, isn't it? According to me, in French, it does. I quote myself:
"Dix ans? C'est merveilleux. J'espère que vous aurez encore dix ans de plus et beaucoup d'autres encore! Personnellement, je ne peux imaginer publier un roman de fantasy en france sans Elbakin.net. Le site a été particulièrement favorable à l'égard de mes romans à l'occasion de leur sortie. En visitant régulièrement le site, j'ai acquis une certaine compréhension du marché de la fantasy en France. Pour moi, Elbakin.net représente le visage de la Fantasy en France!"
Yep. That's what I said.
Original to found HERE.
(http://www.elbakin.net/Les-10-ans-d-E...)
"Dix ans? C'est merveilleux. J'espère que vous aurez encore dix ans de plus et beaucoup d'autres encore! Personnellement, je ne peux imaginer publier un roman de fantasy en france sans Elbakin.net. Le site a été particulièrement favorable à l'égard de mes romans à l'occasion de leur sortie. En visitant régulièrement le site, j'ai acquis une certaine compréhension du marché de la fantasy en France. Pour moi, Elbakin.net représente le visage de la Fantasy en France!"
Yep. That's what I said.
Original to found HERE.
(http://www.elbakin.net/Les-10-ans-d-E...)
