Lynne M. Thomas's Blog, page 25

Uncanny Magazine Issue 9 launches tomorrow!

Coming March 1, THE NINTH ISSUE OF UNCANNY MAGAZINE!!!

All of the content will be available in the eBook version on the day of release.

The free online content will be released in 2 stages- half on day of release and half on April 5.

Don’t forget eBook Subscriptions to Uncanny Magazine are available from Weightless Books, and you can support us on our Patreon.

Great news! eBook subscriptions are also now available through Amazon! Have the new issue of Uncanny Magazine sent directly to your Kindle device!

Cover

“Strange Companions” by Katy Shuttleworth

Editorial

“The Uncanny Valley” by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas (3/1)

Fiction

“Love Is Never Still” by Rachel Swirsky (3/1)

“The Shadow Collector” by Shveta Thakrar (3/1)

“Big Thrull and the Askin’ Man” by Max Gladstone (4/5)

“The Wolf and the Tower Unwoven” by Kelly Sandoval (4/5)

“The Artificial Bees” by Simon Guerrier (4/5)

Reprint

“Just Another Future Song” by Daryl Gregory (3/1)

Nonfiction

“Men of Their Times” by Jim C. Hines (3/1)

“Furry Fandom” by Kyell Gold (3/1)

“The Transmigration of George R. R. Martin” by Javier Grillo–Marxuach (4/5)

“Closing the Gap: The Blurring of Fan and Professional” by Mark Oshiro (4/5)

Poetry

“Fox Girl Cycle 1” by C. S. E. Cooney (3/1)

“The Book of Forgetting” by Jennifer Crow (4/5)

“god–date” by Brandon O’Brien (4/5)

Interviews

Rachel Swirsky interviewed by Deborah Stanish (3/1)

Simon Guerrier interviewed by Deborah Stanish (4/5)

Podcast 9A (3/1)

“The Shadow Collector” by Shveta Thakrar, as read by Amal El-Mohtar

“Fox Girl Cycle 1” by C. S. E. Cooney, as read by Erika Ensign

Deborah Stanish interviews Shveta Thakrar

Podcast 9B (4/5)

“Big Thrull and the Askin’ Man” by Max Gladstone, as read by Heath Miller

“The Book of Forgetting” by Jennifer Crow, as read by Erika Ensign

Deborah Stanish interviews Max Gladstone

An Imaginary Dialogue in My Head About Academic Journal Publishing [rant]

An imaginary dialogue has been rolling in my brain for a little bit, prompted in part by a rhetorical question by Nancy Sims on twitter.

Yes, yes, “expensive journals drive academics to break copyright law.” WhyTF doesn’t this drive ’em to STOP SIGNING OVER THEIR COPYRIGHTS?

— Nancy Sims (@CopyrightLibn) February 21, 2016

This was prompted by the current furor over Sci-Hub, which uses “donated” credentials to share PDFs of research with scholars who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them.

Academic authors have signed away their copyrights to the publishers, which means the authors no longer control access to their own work.

The reason they don’t have access is because their libraries can’t afford to subscribe to the journals in which they are publishing their work.

The reason their libraries can’t afford to subscribe to them is because, in a nutshell, academics (who mostly work for non-profits) provide free (or close to free) labor (editorial, peer review, etc.) to for-profit publishers who then turn around and sell their work back to libraries at a significant markup. (More explanation from Scientific American for the curious, and this is only one tiny part of the literature).

Librarians have, for quite a while now, been trying to promote Open Access journals as an alternative. Every time this comes up, I have this dialogue in my head with faculty resistant to changing the way that we work (I, too, am faculty, on my campus). So I thought I’d write it down, as it is, in part, related to the audience questions I got when I spoke about Open Access at Governor’s State a couple of years ago.

Common objections I’ve heard:

But How Can I Get Published If I Don’t Sign The Publisher’s Contract?

Publisher contracts (like ANY contracts) are not set in stone. Don’t just sign the boilerplate, if it doesn’t allow for open access of some kind.  SPARC provides LOTS of info about this for authors.

But How Will I Get Tenure/Promoted If I Don’t Publish In The Expensive Journals?

SHORT TERM: There are plenty of Open Access journals and subject based repositories full of excellent peer reviewed research. You could join your colleagues there.

LONGER TERM: We need to update our promotion & tenure documents so that we get appropriate credit for open access work. There is nothing stopping us from adding reputable open access journals to our “approved” lists, or from encouraging open access publishing through a departmental or university-wide mandate. We came up with those guidelines; we have the power to change them. Heck, we could make open access articles worth more credit than non-open articles if we wanted. (And we should consider it, given that they have demonstrably higher impact factors.) The best way to do that? Already tenured? Do your junior colleagues a favor and serve on the T&P bylaws committee and advocate for those changes. 

But How Do I Know If These Open Access Journals Are Any Good?

Check the Directory of Open Access Journals. Look for members of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association which has a code of ethics and a Think. Check. Submit. website that helps you figure out if journals are any good.

Still don’t trust it? Start your own open access journal using open access software. Invite colleagues you trust. Create the standards you want to see.

But Who Will Pay The Open Access Publishing Fees?

That local answer will vary. The good news is that the vast majority of open access journals have no fees; those fees that do exist need not be paid out of pocket.

If you are in a field that is grant dependent, write open access fees into your grant budgets as line items. All of the major national funding agencies encourage open access publishing (NSF, for example), and require data management plans.

Alternately, advocate for an open access publishing fund on your campus (NIU has one, for example) through your libraries or your provost’s office. Your library may have been pushing for this already; have you checked?

But What About Unintended Consequences?

Every choice has unintended consequences. The current unsustainable journal funding model we are in is a direct result of unexpected consequences (academia didn’t seem to expect the for-profit industry to gobble up all those journals and sell them back at a ridiculous premium, did we?).

So, what’s the harm in at least trying something different? Right now, we can’t afford to keep going forward in the same direction.

Okay? Okay.

New Verity! EMERGENCY EXTRA! Moffat Says Goodbye, Chibnall Says Hello

Schedule be damned! When there’s Doctor Who news this big, we throw gently set the spreadsheet aside. Join Deb, Erika, and Tansy as we talk about our feelings upon hearing Steven Moffat will be stepping down after season 10. And just as importantly, we discuss our hopes and fears for the Chris Chibnall era to come. Of course, the news that we won’t have any new Doctor Who until the Christmas special is quite something as well. We’ve got sadness and joy, hope and fear, excitement and meh.

What about you? What was your reaction to all the news? Let us know in the comments!

^E

Bonus link:

Erika’s tweet in the Radio Times

Download or listen now (runtime 38:33)  Audio Player

New Directions for Special Collections: Cover reveal!

New Directions for Special Collections: An Anthology of Practice

*breathes into paper bag*

5 Things Make an Update Post

Back from #confusionsf, where an epic time was had. I got to meet new folks, all of my panels were excellent and interesting and well moderated, and I participated in a Hamilton sing-along. So, a win all round, really. I’m saddened to report that the chocolate chip cookies WITH raisins were the more popular choice. What is WRONG with people?
Hamilton. Yup. I’m on the bandwagon. I am earwormed. I am quoting. A lot. Sorry. It’s a reasonably energetic distraction from…
Program prioritization, which is in full swing. I’m reading and scoring ~20 programs per week, in preparation for a weekly 4 hour meeting. It is grueling, not gonna lie. On the bright side, I’m learning gobs about things I didn’t know existed on campus, and my committee colleagues are all focused, and working in good faith on a rather tight timeline. I wouldn’t call this fun, but the necessary work is being done in the most conscientious manner possible.
New Directions for Special Collections is so close to submission! We have 2 final essays getting one last polish — all of the rest are DONE — and we are in the gathering contractual paperwork from authors stage. Once that’s in, we’ll be able to announce the table of contents. The book should be out this fall, as expected and contracted. \o/
Verity! continues on with our Year of Firsts. I’m still parsing the Chris Chibnall news, and I don’t have an opinion yet beyond “yes, he’s a perfectly logical administrative choice given his track record of producing successful shows on time and on budget” and I’m looking forward to watching fandom discuss this video.

Epic CONfusion schedule!

We will be attending our very first Epic CONfusion this year!

BEHOLD, THE SCHEDULE OF THOMAS-BASED PANELING:

Saturday 10:00 AM Anthologies as Advocacy (Isle Royale)

All fiction is in some way political and science fiction and fantasy have a healthy tradition of anthologies that seek to open up space for new voices and new conversations. To what extent do an anthology’s political goals interact with other editorial considerations? And how are such books received and reviewed by the field — both politically, and aesthetically?

Michael J. DeLuca, Yanni Kuznia, Mari Brighe, Kelley Armstrong (M), Michael Damian Thomas

Saturday 11:00:00 AM Bad Girls Just Want Good Stories (Isle Royale)

Let’s talk about anti-heroines and the positives and negatives of the flawed female character archetype. Is the flawed female character becoming the new strong female character? Is this yet another one-note character type masquerading as diverse representations of women? What’s the line between an anti-heroine and a villain?
Merrie Haskell, Mari Brighe, Lynne M. Thomas, Navah Wolfe, Sarah Gibbons

Saturday 1:00:00 PM Adapting Science Fiction and Fantasy (Charlevoix)

Adapting beloved (and not so beloved) genre into other mediums (adapting books to screen, comics based on TV and media properties (Dr. Who, the new Star Wars comics, Mad Max, novelizations of films and tie-in

David M. Stein,  Michael R. Underwood (M), Lynne M. Thomas, Matt Pearson

Saturday 5:00:00 PM Generations of Genre (Isle Royale)

For one reader, “traditional fantasy” is pre-Tolkienian, pre-genre, sui-generis works; for another, it’s Forgotten Realms and David Eddings. Equally, for one reader The Hunger Games is a young adult dystopia, while for another it’s science fiction. Can the evolution of such terms be mapped onto changing demographics — is there such a thing as GenX fantasy, or Baby Boomer science fiction? And do any terms retain their currency, and describe common ground across generations?

Laura Resnick, Steve Buchheit, Lynne M. Thomas, Max Gladstone, Stina Leicht

Saturday 5:o0:00 PM LOLCats, Wols, and Watch Me: Pop Culture in SFF? (Keweenaw)

Pop-culture is ever evolving and fiction often hides behind a desire to be “timeless”. However, pop-culture is an increasing influence on our lives, particularly among young people. How can these modern phenomena be used to make science fiction and fantasy more relevant to today’s readers? Why don’t we see more created popular culture within invented worlds?

Ferrett Steinmetz, Amy Sundberg, Michael Damian Thomas, Sunil Patel, Adam Rakunas

Saturday 8:00:00 PM Professional Wrestling as Genre Fiction (Saugatuck)

From the force choke to the choke slam, from power armor to power bomb, the story telling within professional wrestling is not dissimilar from the hyperbolic nature of science fiction and fantasy. What can professionalwrestling teach us about writing and committing to a story?
Carl Engle-Laird, Merrie Haskell, Dave Hogg, Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomas (M)

Sunday 11:00:00 AM The Vocabulary of Criticism (Isle Royale)

Prose Style, Voice, and Narrative Structure: does anyone care? These terms are often thrown around, but what do they really mean? And more importantly how should a reader translate them in to something useful for evaluating what they read?

Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Scott H. Andrews, Amal El-Mohtar, Carl Engle-Laird (M), Lynne M. Thomas

Sunday 11:00:00 AM Editorially Speaking (Charlevoix)
Come hear from working editors in the science fiction and fantasy field about what the role an editor plays in bringing a manuscript from submission to publication. What trends are editors seeing in the field and what do they want to see in the coming years?

Yanni Kuznia, DongWon Song (M), Michael Damian Thomas, Navah Wolfe, Miriam Weinberg

Sunday 1:00:00 PM Fragmented Fandoms (Keweenaw)
Before 1990, computer geeks tended to be the fans online, and fandom tended to be a little more fragmented (fanzine fans/con fans/gamers/readers). Now that almost every fan has an online presence, are we more fragmented or less?
Joel Zakem, Steve Drew, Michael Damian Thomas, Michael Lee, Pablo Vazquez

5 Things Make an Updatery Thursday Post

*emerges from the haze of vacation* I was mostly offline over the holidays, which was a good thing. Now is the time on Sprockets when we get up 2 hours earlier and attempt to hit the ground running!

New Uncanny Magazine Issue 8 is out! Part 1 is live on the website, and you can purchase the full issue at fine retailers everywhere. Better yet, subscribe or contribute to our Patreon! That’s how we keep the Space Unicorn Ranger Corps in fighting shape!
New Verity! Extra, announcing this year’s theme! A Year of Firsts, in which we will be looking at lots of “firsts” for the series, which plausibly includes me consuming some New Adventures novels in the not-so-distant future…All of Michael’s collecting over the years will come in VERY handy as I have access to LOTS of cool firsts right in the house!
New Directions in Special Collections (the book formerly known as The 21st Century Special Collections Reader) is still chugging along. We have all of our essays in hand in SOME form, and are working on polishing, etc. Beth is meeting with our editor at Midwinter.
I’m now in the Program Prioritization process segment of the winter. I have 20 programs to assess every week from now until the end of March. So if I’m absentee from the internet, you know why.
Caitlin LOVED Star Wars: The Force Awakens. LOVED. She is very clear that Rey is the best thing ever.

New Verity! Season 9 wrapup! Party Like It’s Season #9

It’s always a party when we have all six Verities in the house! Join Deb, Erika, Katrina, Liz, Lynne, and Tansy as we squee and muse and generally chat about series 9. It’s tons of fun and less chaotic than you might expect. And as always, we veer into thinky territory as we discuss whether this season really is the most feminist of newWho (or whether it’s really feminist at all). There’s lots to cover, and we enjoy the heck out of covering it.

What did you think of series 9? Where do you weigh in on the question of this series’ feminism? What do you think of Clara’s arc? The hybrid (or lack thereof)? Let us know in the comments!

And don’t forget to enter our Big Finish giveaway!

^E

Download or listen now (runtime 1:27:50) Audio Player

ICYMI: New Verity! Ep 98: Hell Bent out of Shape

Series 9 has come to a close with quite a bang. Join Deb, Erika, Katrina, and Lynne as we break down Clara’s end, the Doctor’s homecoming, gender-flipped regenerations, elegant storytelling, season-ending spectacle, and much more. There’s a healthy amount of squee and flail, but not everyone is in hyper-happy mode, so it’s a more balanced podcast than you might expect.

How did you feel about the final installment of S9? Was it everything you’d hoped for and more? Did it leave you wanting? Did it just confuse you? Let us know in the comments!

^E

Also covered:

Lynne eagerly anticipates new DW tat:

Missy in purple!
8 from “Night of the Doctor”!


Kat

listens to an uninterrupted track of Capaldi playing Clara’s theme!
guests on Doctor Who Mostly Harmless Cutaway talking about “Face the Raven” and “Heaven Sent”!


Erika’s heart is warmed by the Twitter reaction to “Hell Bent”!
Deb

inspires a t-shirt about Con Philosophy! (Proceeds go to RAINN.)
looks forward to the BBC book Legends of Ashildr !

Bonus links:

Philippines Pantene commercial

“Not like other girls” trope

Download or listen now (runtime 1:22:39) Audio Player

New Verity! Episode 97: Stairway to Heaven Sent

It’s another LIVE edition of Verity! Join Erika and Lynne, live from Chicago TARDIS, as we cover “Heaven Sent”, Doctor Who’s very first one-man-show! We watched it a the con, which made it even more special.

What did you think of Capaldi’s very-nearly-solo effort? Let us know in the comments!

^E

 

Download or listen now (runtime 52:25) Audio Player