James S.A. Corey's Blog, page 12
September 3, 2012
A few thoughts on losing the Hugo
I am back home after Worldcon. It was a great weekend. I am very glad I went, and I’m very glad to be home. There are a lot of people who are very dear to me who I got to see and spend time with, and some conversations that may, I think, shape some largish part of my day-to-day life for years to come.
As you’ll have heard by now, Jo Walton’s love letter to fandom Among Others won the best novel Hugo, beating out Embassytown which beat out Leviathan Wakes. I wanted to say a couple words about that.
First: I am and have been a squeeing Jo Walton fan ever since I read Farthing. I read Among Others aloud to my Darling Wife, and I think it’s a lovely book. When Jo won the award, I couldn’t stop grinning for her. Hell, I’m still smiling about it now.
Second: I am proud and delighted to be mentioned in the same breath with the other authors who were on the ballot, and in the angry grumbling about how close the nomination count was. (Leviathan Wakes squeaked on. I mean *squeaked*.)
Third: This is all fun, and none of it matters. No one who loved Embassytown should love it less because it got a few less votes than Among Others. No one who admires Charlie Stross is going to turn away from him because he was a couple nominating votes shy of the short-list this time.
Literary awards are a beautiful kind of nonsense, and I was delighted to be swept up in that dream for a little while, and I’m delighted to wake back up from it. I love my community with all its little triumphs and its occasional hilarious failures of grace. I love all the folks who are grumpy because we didn’t win, and I love all the folks who were grumpy that we were nominated in the first place. I am delighted for Jo and for all the other winners. I appreciate all the time and attention that people have put into this lovely little event, and who will again next year as well. Really, it was a delight to come and play.
But now I am home. I have deadlines and bills and dishes, and this part? It’s actually the part that I love.
Thank you all for being part of this. I will be a bit scarce for the next couple of weeks, playing catch-up and all. And I hope to have more news soon.
August 20, 2012
A Worldcon Clarification
Because it came up elsewhere:
Yes, I am only appearing on one panel at Worldcon. No, it is not because I was unwilling to do more. If you check out how much I’m doing at Bubonicon this weekend, you’ll see it’s much more than one panel.
I ain’t saying success won’t spoil me, just that I’m holding out for more success before I get all spoilt. :)
August 15, 2012
Caliban Speaks!
Which is to say Audible.com has Caliban’s War as an audiobook releasing today, complete with Jefferson May.
August 14, 2012
Valente, von Trier, and Obstructions
So it happened like this. A few years back I was at Walter Jon Williams’ Rio Hondo Workshop with Catherynne Valente. Now I’d just read her Orphan’s Tales books, and had been delighted and blown away. Structurally there were (and are) some of the prettiest, most elegant books I’ve ever seen. Reading them was like watching some gorgeous clockwork move through a predetermined and unpredictable course. I’m a hard sell for books these days, but I loved those. Working with her at the workshop was a real treat.
“Out of limitations comes creativity.” — Debbie Allen
In the course of the week, she brought up a film I hadn’t heard of before. The Five Obstructions. It’s a documentary of sorts by Lars von Trier.
So yeah. Lars vor Trier. Lemme tell you about me and Lars von Trier. The first time I came across him, I was living on Staten Island and working in Manhattan. The Angelika is this wonderful little movie house on the edge of Soho, and it showed films that weren’t on anyplace else. My fiance at the time (not my wife now — long story) and I went there to see something called The Kingdom. I knew pretty much nothing about it. It turned out to be four episodes of a Danish miniseries directed by this fella named Lars von Trier. It was grim and it was horrific and it was funny as hell. The production looked like it had been done with no money, and the editing jerked and jumped. The special effects were minimalist and surprisingly effective. I loved it, and declared myself a lifelong von Trier fan.
It took Lars years to talk me out of that, but he managed. I sat through Breaking the Waves, which I almost couldn’t watch because of the Blair Witch-level of unsteady camerawork. I watch Zentropa, which I tried hard to love and managed almost up to the end. I read his Dogme95 manifesto and wasn’t particularly impressed. When Dancer in the Dark came out . . . honestly, I just didn’t have it in me. The films he’s done since, I’ve just taken a pass on. Antichrist. Melancholia. Nah, man. I’m done.
Except The Five Obstructions. Because it’s freaking brilliant.
In it, von Trier gets this other director – Jorgen Leth — to remake a surrealistic short film that he made (The Perfect Human) five times with a different set of rules every time. And, because Lars von Trier is a cruel bastard, the rules were hard. So for instance, one time, Leth had to remake the film 1) in Cuba, 2) with no set, 3) answering all the rhetorical questions from the original film (and okay, none of those sound so hard, but wait for it . . . ), and 4) with no cut in the film longer than 12 frames. And that’s the easy one. It gets worse form there.
But the thing is, Leth does it. And he gets better. Every version of the film is better and more interesting than the original, and watching Leth overcome the problems set out for him is one of the most profound things I’ve ever seen about creativity and boundaries. I love that film.
Which brings me back to Cat Valente.
She and I were talking about obstructions and creativity, and we agreed to try writing a series of stories with different sets of obstructions. Each of us would set the rules for the other. She went first giving me rules for a story. Her instructions went like this:
I have a set of four rules for you.
1. It cannot be set in this world. While I know you have written secondary world fantasy in your novels, every short story I read of yours, even the Cambist, is plausibly set in this world. It’s a comfortable place, full of characters we instinctively know–get out of it.
2. You are allowed 6 lines of dialogue in this story. You are over-reliant on it as a means of plot delivery and character development–I want you to find another way to get your characters to communicate and tell us who they are.
3. 1st person. I was tempted to require first person female protagonist, since I haven’t seen you do that, and feel free to do so, but right now, I just want you to get out of 3rd person limited/3rd person omniscient.
4. You’re ability to use “to be” verbs has been temporarily rescinded. No “am” no “was” no “were,” even with -ing verbs. I would have taken articles, but Heinlein did that already. To be verbs are not used colloquially in several languages, so this should lend an interesting lilt to your English–you love the transparent prose, and while it works for you most of the time, I want to see what you look like when you’re out of that comfort zone.
The rest is up to you. Good luck!
Well, I did it, I think. I may have fudged a little on that last one, but if I did, it wasn’t much. The result was a story called A Hunter in Arin-Qin, which has just gone up for folks to listen to over at Podcastle. There’s also a forum board for folks to comment on the story if they’re of a mind.
So if you’re in the mood and want to see how this one came together, go check it out. And also rent The Five Obstructions. And if you haven’t picked up and Catherynne Valente, you might should. She does some pretty damn interesting work.
August 10, 2012
Another Terrible Idea in Free Verse
The attacks are inevitable
and insure its survival
whatever the paperwork shows
whatever the paperwork shows.
Below all the mudslinging lies a real divide
We’re falling behind
whatever the paperwork shows
whatever the paperwork shows.
Half-truths and weak arguments
whatever the paperwork shows
what the numbers show
whatever the paperwork shows.
Four Pinocchios.
(All phrases in the above doggerel are taken directly from a Fareed Zakaria article and remixed, mostly as an in-joke with a former editor of mine. Continue walking, citizen. There’s nothing to see here.)
Where in the World is Daniel Abraham?
I’m going to be at Bubonicon in Albuquerque and Worldcon in Chicago by the end of the month. If any of y’all are in the vicinity, here’s what it looks like:
BUBONICON:
Friday, August 24:
7:30 PM 55 Minutes with Daniel Abraham (Reading)
9:30 PM PUMP UP THE VOLUME: WRITING BIG SCIENCE FICTION: D Abraham, M Cassutt, B Sanderson, WJ Williams. Moderator: S.M. Stirling
Saturday, August 25:
10 AM Panel # 8 – THE BUCKET LIST OF BOOKS FOR BEGINNERS
D Abraham, S Gwylan, S Krinard, J Saberhagen. Moderator: C. Willis
3 PM Panel #15 – ADAPTATION: FROM EXISTING STORY TO FILM SCRIPT/GRAPHIC NOVEL D Abraham, M Cassutt, S Phillips, M Snodgrass. Moderator: I. Tregillis
Sunday, August 26
10 AM Panel #18 – WHAT’S SPACE OPERA, DOC? THE FAT LADY’S NOT DONE SINGING S Broom, LJ Mixon, M Snodgrass, WJ Williams. Moderator: D. Abraham
Bubonicon also sports a mass autographing and an extra signing just for George and Brandon.
WORLDCON:
Saturday, September 1
3 PM Autographing session
Sunday, September 2
10 AM Clarion Call (Panel)
There was going to be a reading, but it was scheduled Monday morning about half an hour after I’m due at Midway airport, but if y’all are hanging out at the airport, I’d be happy to tell you a story.
So upshot? If you’d like to see me on stage talking with some of the most brilliant minds in the industry, come to Bubonicon. If you’d like to hang out with me at a bar or coffee shop, come to Worldcon.
August 9, 2012
Graveyard Child
Psst. Want to see the new MLN Hanover cover art?
“How much do you know about Jayné Heller?”
August 1, 2012
New Clarkesworld article up
“There’s a puzzle I don’t know the answer to, but the more I look around for it, the more I see it. Most of the time, it’s amusing. Sometimes it scares the crap out of me.
So, funny story. Back in 1998, I was at Clarion West. One of my classmates turned in a story about a woman who worked from home, writing up recipes for the local newspaper. The essential problem in the story was that the protagonist’s dog kept digging up space-time wormholes. It was a light, comic piece, and one I remember fondly. But we were there for a workshop, and critics have to criticize. We came together for the morning critique, and our comments were very consistent. We all loved the wormhole dog, but no one was willing to believe in a woman supporting herself writing recipes.”
The whole thing’s up at Clarkesworld.
July 9, 2012
Readercon!
Going to Readercon? So will I!
The Short List of What Daniel’s Up To (quoted from the Readercon program guide, which also has all the cool stuff that I’m not personally doing, and is worth looking over, right?):
THURSDAY:
All the cool kids will be there. Oh, and we will too…
9:00 PM G Why Is Realistic Fiction Useful? Daniel Abraham, Nathan Ballingrud, Grant C. Carrington, Liz Gorinsky (leader), Alexander Jablokov. In a 2011 blog post, Harry Connolly wrote, “If I want to understand the horrors of war, the pain of divorce, the disappointment of seeing a business fail, I don’t need to read fiction. There’s non-fiction on that very subject…. So forget about justifying the utility of fantasy. How do people justify the utility of realism?” Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried distinguishes between “story truth” and “happening truth”; O’Brien feels that fictionalizing some aspects of his own experience makes them more universal. On the other hand, reality TV, Photoshop, and CGI have proven how blurry the line between fiction and non-fiction can be. How do we tease out these distinctions, and what is realistic fiction’s place in the literary landscape?
FRIDAY 11:00 AM RI How We Wrote the Expanse Series. Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck. Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, who collaborate under the name James S. A. Corey, discuss the writing of their mammoth space opera series.
1:00 PM RI Om Nom Nom de Plume. Daniel Abraham (leader), Francesca Forrest, Ty Franck, David G. Hartwell, Shawna McCarthy. The reasons a writer might take a pen name are well known. Less examined are how the use of a pseudonym affects what they write and how they write it, and how readers read it. Our panelists discuss both readerly and writerly approaches to pseudonymous work when the name behind the ‘nym is public (as with Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant, or Daniel Abraham/M.L.N. Hanover/half of James S. A. Corey) or when an author is publicly pseudonymous but no one knows who’s behind the curtain (as with K.J. Parker).
3:00 PM E Autographs. Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck, Joe Haldeman.
[DANIEL'S NOTE: Looking at something like that makes me understand that I had the choice, and I totally ate the blue pill. Don't wake me up, 'kay?]
SATURDAY:
10:00 AM VT Reading. Daniel Abraham, Ty Franck. Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham, aka James S.A. Corey, read “Pirates of Mars,” a short story in the Garder Dozois anthology Old Mars.
12:00 PM F Timeline Slippage. Daniel Abraham (leader), Suzy McKee Charnas, Daniel P. Dern, Marty Halpern, Steven Popkes. In a 2011 blog post discussing the reboot of the DC Universe, Daniel Abraham wrote, “History tends to be slower in imagined universes. As writers and readers, we resist changes there because we can, while change in the world defies us…. Like a tectonic fault, the tension from [the difference between the real world and the fictional timeline] builds up over the course of many issues or episodes or books or films. Slowly, it corrodes our suspension of disbelief, and it starts demanding a release.” He offered three options for this release: let heroes age and die in near-realtime, cultivate the reader’s “willful obliviousness” of the sort that lets Archie and Veronica stay in high school forever, or periodically modernize the setting and story. Why is the first almost unheard of, the second common, and the third likely to incur outrage? Are there other alternatives? And how does this connect with our love for retelling Shakespeare, Homer, and myth?
7:00 PM NH Reading. Daniel Abraham. Daniel Abraham reads from his epic fantasy series The Dagger and the Coin.
This picture will make more sense once you get there…
8:00 PM RI Book Covers Gone Wrong. Daniel Abraham, Liz Gorinsky, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Katherine MacLean, Lee Moyer (leader), Jacob Weisman. We all have book covers we love. But most of us have more than a few covers we really really… well, let’s just say we dislike them. We might even, say, mock them to their papery faces and bemoan the lost opportunities to our friends. Or we might be deeply underwhelmed with the cover choices of e-books and audio books. This is an opportunity to literally bring some of the worst offenders in for our consideration and distasteful delectation. Come alone (or in groups for safety) and bring a book. Moderated by cover artist Lee Moyer, who wants to make sure he’s never one of the bad guys.
SUNDAY:
10:00 AM F Uncanny Taxonomies. Daniel Abraham (leader), Ellen Datlow, Caitlín R. Kiernan, John Langan, Jeff VanderMeer. When considering the literatures of the uncanny—horror, dark fantasy, supernatural fiction, the weird, etc.—it can be difficult for a more casual reader to distinguish between the marketing-based labels and real differences in concern and approach. Moving away from common genre labels, our focus will be on the specific areas of uncanniness various authors have investigated in their writings. We will attempt to establish key commonalities and differences within and between their writings and other notable past and recent works. Possible topics include knowledge versus the unknowable, and the scope of possible knowledge; certainty and uncertainty, and the value of each; truth as power versus truth as horror; the body and the mind; the possibility or impossibility of metaphor; and the primacy of our world and the drive to transcend it, or to inhabit it more completely.
11:00 AM F Performing Books to Ourselves. Ellen Brody, Andy Duncan, James Patrick Kelly, Rosemary Kirstein, Ellen Kushner (leader). In a 2011 blog post, Daniel Abraham wrote, “Reading a book is a performance by an artist (the writer) for an audience (the reader).” But readers also perform works to themselves, imagining characters and settings and events, and perform works to others when reading aloud. In those cases, is the writer taking more of a directorial role, or is there a more complex synergy afoot, especially when we get into audiobooks, fiction podcasts, and other carefully produced performances? How does awareness of these layers of performance shape the ways that writers write and readers read?
