Matt Moore's Blog, page 21

Are the changes to the Wall on Facebook a ploy to attract attention?

It's no surprise that Facebook has (once again) rolled out major changes to its Wall. And again, people are up in arms. It's understandable—just when you figured out how everything fits together, Zuckerberg & Co. go and change it.

Now, I'm not going to talk about these changes—plenty of other posts already cover this. This post asks a simple question: Is this change a ploy by Zuckerberg to attract attention?

All summer, we've been gushing, criticising, exploring and opining about Google Plus. I can't help but wonder if the crew at Palo Alto got a bit miffed at all this coverage (about what is still an unproven and fledging service) and decided they wanted the focus back on them.

So, they rolled out a major change, knowing it would provoke some backlash, but any coverage is better than being relegated to secondary status by Big G.

Zuckerberg has proven himself a smart, shrewd and cocky guy. No doubt these changes to how the Wall organizes posts are in response to the innovative options Circles offers its users. But the way in which it was done suggests a deeper (and, let's admit, very clever) motive.

What do you all think?

Why I wrote "Touch the Sky, They Say"

Thanks to everyone who's voted for "Touch the Sky, They Say" in the 2011 Aurora Awards. It means a lot. If you haven't voted, you can do so up until October 15. I've posted details on how to vote.

That enough of you took the time to nominate it and shared your thoughts on this blog and the AE site moved me. So, I want to share a little bit about why this nomination—and this story—is important to me.

One of my best stories

I consider "Touch the Sky, They Say" one of my best works. Quiet, subtle, with some strong themes and all told in very few words. A lot of my short fiction runs in the 5,000 to 8,000 word range, so I was glad I could tell a complete story in less than 1,000 words (considering my opinions on flash fiction).

And I can't take offense at some criticism it's received about being too short—not really a story but a scene—or the plausibility of the world falling apart under scrutiny. Although I could debate both points, as an author I present my work and accept the criticism graciously because these critics took the time to read, ponder and analyze the story.

Personal connection

"Touch the Sky, They Say" was the first story I wrote after my mother's death in May 2010… though I did not appreciate the effect her passing had on the story until later.

The origin for the story came during the summer of 2010 while riding the bus home from work. I overheard a woman talking about a new job she was considering, but it would mean travel, late nights and time away from her young children. That got me thinking about the glass ceiling: could a literal glass ceiling be used as a speculative element in a short story? By the time I got off the bus, the glass ceiling had become a grey, fallen sky trapping us all. By the time I got home and walked my dogs, I had my main character in mind and the crisis he/she would be facing in this grey new world (the original title of the story, by the way).

Sitting in my backyard, I hammered out a quick draft on my laptop, gave it a polish and sent it to my writers group, the East Block Irregulars, for critique.

What the story is really about

It wasn't until after their critique that I started looking at the story critically and saw how much of my emotional situation I'd put into the story. Ideas of depression, giving up, wanting to have something back that you've lost—it all came from what I was feeling, but not willing to admit to myself. Every character in this story—even the staffer who announces that time is up— is suffering through something and is on that platform contemplating giving in.

Luckily, the story ends with something else I'd been feeling: not giving up, moving forward, dealing with your situation. The main character and the kid with the spiky hair resist the angry looks from those who have given up and resent their determination.

If there's something I want people to take away from this story, it's that lesson—don't ever give up because it's hard or others have thrown in the towel.

A peek behind the curtain

So, at the risk of being too personal, that's why this story and nomination matter to me. My mom has always been supportive of my writing. Something good (the story) came from the mix of emotions I went through after her death. And I hope this story has had an effect on its readers: to not give up, not give in, and keep fighting for what they want when others have taken the easy way out and given in.

I won't beg or use some gimmicky "Do it for my mom" cliché. But I will say if you liked what the story is about and dig what I'm trying get across, please give it your vote.

Thanks.

Follow-Up Review: The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour

While I stand by my initial reaction to The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour, now that I have seen the other episodes I can't recommend this series. All the potential that this show held never paid off.

The surrealist nature of the first show seems to have been abandoned, preferring a more absurdist approach of throwing the variety of characters into various combinations, seeing what kind of laughs can be gotten. While this style of storytelling worked for Trailer Park Boys, it doesn't here. Trailer Park Boys was grounded in a reality of everyday banality, making the outrageous situations all the more amusing. The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour is so far removed from reality, we have no frame of reference to see what is out of proportion, and thus humour is lost.

I'd hope we'd have an understanding of who, what and why regarding the pirates, gangsters, superheroes, radio station DJ and the other characters played by Wells, Smith and Trembley, but it never came. Not to mention the show, in its last scene, seems to admit to the viewer it does not know how to end this story.

My biggest disappointment was John Dunsworth. Nothing short of brilliant as the tragic and flawed Jim Lahey on Trailer Park Boys, he is wasted as an armless pizza maker… or something like that.

All in all, The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour is talking loud, but not saying much.

"The Weak Son" Sold to Cast Macabre

Just learned Cast Macabre, a UK horror podcast, has purchased my ghost short "The Weak Son," which originally ran in Tesseracts Thirteen.

"The Weak Son" received a great review that will appear in Cemetery Dance, calling it "a welcome variation on the traditional ghost story, with an Alzheimerish twist of the tail."

Cast Macabre ran my psychological horror story "While Gabriel Slept" (cover art for that episode is at right) earlier this year. I've embedded the audio below:

Download "Touch the Sky, They Say" Podcast in MP3

To support my nominations in the 2011 Aurora Awards in the Best Short Story Category, I've created a downloadable podcast (MP3). You can download the MP3 (right click the link and select "Save as…") or listen below.

Find more options on my Podbean page or just read "Touch the Sky, They Say" on AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review.

Twitter vs Google+ for Realtime Search

Two weeks ago, I read on Hubspot that the missing Google Realtime Search would be returning soon, but powered by Google+ rather than Twitter.

Colour me suprised.

This got me thinking about Twitter vs. Google+ for realtime, what's-happening-now updates. Both integrate nicely into mobile apps, where you want someone tweeting or posting about up-to-the-instant events. Both are easy to update. But there is one big difference you can't igore.

140 characters forced you to focus

The biggest difference is length of the message. Twitter, of course, if famous for its 140 character limit. Google+, as far as I can tell, is unlimited. Sounds great at first, but how many times have you re-written a tweet to make it fit until only the essential keywords remained?

Twitter forces you to focus.

With unlimited space on Google+, you can  ramble as much as you want before making a point. For search, this could mean that unnecessary words will be competing with keywords in search results for what's happening at that moment.

Now, take a look at Twitscoop and sometimes the most random flotsam floats to the top, but Twitter's focused nature helps keywords come to the fore when they are in wide-spread use.

Saying more, less often on Google+

Plus, since Twitter needed you to be brief, people posted brief messages—"Just landed at the airport", "Was that an earthquake?", "Band just took the stage." But because you were saying less, you might tweet more often—"Building shaking. #scared", "Told to evacuate. Others coming out of other buildings.", "Sirens in downtown. Walking south." This constant stream of up-to-the-instant information allows a realtime search to determine what's happening.

So far, what I am seeing on Google+ are longer message but less frequently. It seems because you can say more, you will, but only when you have something more complex and lengthy to say. This "wait until I have something to say" attitude might not work well for realtime search.

Hashtags on Google+?

I don't know if Google took hashtags into consideration when ranking realtime search, but all but the most basic Twitter user understands their importance. The shorthand and syntax that evolved in Twitter's has not appeared in the more natural language on Google+. Since hashtags provide a great way to add context to a tweet, might Google+ be missing out on some semantic information that could fuel its search algorithms?

Review of my story "Ascension" on The Page of Reviews

Over on his Page of Reviews website, Adam Shaftoe has reviewed my latest story "Ascension" (which can be read on AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review).

Adam begins with:

What to say about Ascension? I suppose I could come out and say that it is the best piece of horror fiction that I've ever read.  Although, I've been told that a good reviewer is never supposed to be so direct in their praise as it may come off as being too obsequious.  But when a story works as well as this one does, there's really no need to be circuitous with the praise.

And ends with:

Matt Moore has proven his masterful talent in using flash fiction to create a rich and thoughtful world.  Ascension emphasises the living in "living dead" to create a unique demarcation from the established forms of zombie/horror fiction.  Now will somebody please give Mr. Moore a bucket of scotch, an empty room and a blank cheque so he can write a novel of this calibre.

In between, he discusses a lot of the issues and ideas I tried to put into this story… and even some I was not aware I had addressed.

Many thanks to Adam for his thorough, thoughtful review.

If anyone had a bucket of scotch they want to donate, contact me using the links at right.

Please Vote for "Touch the Sky, They Say" in the Aurora Awards

I'm very pleased to announce voting has started for the 2011 Prix Aurora Awards, which recognize the best in Canadian English language novels, short stories, poetry, artwork and more.

My short story "Touch the Sky, They Say" (which you can read for free by following the link) has been nominated in the Best English Short Story category. Thanks to all of you who nominated my story!

Now, I'm asking for your help again in voting for me.

How to vote in the Auroras

The Aurora Award

First, voting is open to all Canadian citizens and permanent residents. Next, there is a $5.50 fee to vote, which goes toward the administration of the awards and their creation.

(I hope I didn't just lose a whole bunch of readers right there. Still with me?)

To vote, you must register on the Aurora site. Go to http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/Membership/ and click the "Become Society Member" button at the bottom of the page. Registration is free.

If you sent in a nomination for the Auroras, you are already registered. You would  have received a four digit society number when you registered. Search your inbox for an email titled "Registration Confirmation" from Aurora Awards (info@prixaurorawards.ca).

Once you have your society number, go back to http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/Membership/ and login with the number and email address you used at registration.

At the bottom of the next page, you will see a "Buy Now" button, which will take you to a page where you can pay the $5.50 fee via PayPal or credit card. Once paid, you will be taken to the ballot.

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SFContario Logo

However, if you have registered for SFContario (and therefore Canvention, the event where the Auroras are presented), this fee will be waived and you will see a "Vote now!" link.

The Ballot

The ballot allows you to rank order your votes. "Touch the Sky, They Say" is the fourth option in the second section ("Best Short Fiction — English"). You enter your vote in the box next to each entry. So, please enter "1″ for "Touch the Sky, They Say." (And please consider supporting my friends Hayden Trenholm and Suzanne Church in the same category.)

Even if you liked another story more than mine, please rank "Touch the Sky, They Say" as your second or third choice. The Auroras work on an Alternate Vote System, where second and third place votes can count if the winning entry on the first ballot does not win at least 50% of the votes.

There are nine categories this year, with a number of great writers and artists. If you are fan of Canadian SFF, maybe take a look at the nominees and give their work a read. You might find some others deservi

ng of your vote.

Please note, you cannot go back to change your vote. Once you submit your ballot, that's it.

Voting is open until October 15, 2011. 

Once I've voted… now what?

Once voting closes, the awards committee will tabulate the votes and announce the winner Sunday, November 20 at SFContario, a science fiction convention in Toronto from November 18–20.

I will be there and make sure to bring you the results as soon as I can.

New sci-fi/horror story "Ascension" available on AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review

My short and intense story "Ascension" is now up and available on AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review.

A different take on an old horror trope, it asks the question: What if an apocalyptic scenario we've seen 1000 times is actually something wonderful? At 700 words, it's a fast read and I hope you enjoy it. If you do, please leave comments on the AE site.

A little sampler to get you going:

—Dear God, they're everywhere—

Limping. Can't remember how long. Can't think straight. This dull, distant pain in my leg. Sirens. Something's burning?

—Can't believe—

Everywhere, people are running. Streaming between cars, trying to get away. Some lurch, limbs twitching. Bodies lay still on the asphalt, bleeding. And others …

—oh-god-oh-god-oh-god-oh-god—

Oh god.

Others feed.

This is my second appearance in AE. They ran my Aurora-nominated short story "Touch the Sky, They Say" back in November 2010.

Review: Cowboys & Aliens

Adam Shaftoe has posted my review of Cowboys & Aliens over on his Page of Reviews website. A quick preview:

Alien exploitation of Earth's natural resources as a metaphor for the white conquest of Native American cultures. A blending of the American Western and Science Fiction themes of utopian visions, including the sacrifices needed to achieve them. An eye-popping cinematic blend of science fiction's wondrous visuals and the sweeping vistas of a Western.

Cowboys & Aliens is none of these things.

What is it is? A fun romp. Just don't think too much about it.

Adam has also posted reviews of my short stories "Full Moon Hill" and "Touch the Sky, They Say" and we got together to do an interview not to long ago.

The front door of his site can be found at http://www.pageofreviews.com/.

Many thanks to Ken Berndt and The Comic Book Shoppe for the free pass that got me in to see this movie before its release!