Phoebe North's Blog, page 14

What's with all the hand-wringing about the state of genre YA?

The SFSignal posted an article today about the lack of superheroes in YA by YA author KD McEntire:

Why is it that, with all this room for self-expression, with all this space for examining the nooks and crannies of the human (and non-human) condition alike, that you hardly ever see a single Young Adult title sporting a spandex-clad super human? Why are the epic battles that could be spun out between super-powered beings confined to the realm of sexy vampires and sultry witches? Do we really...

The Way that Light Touches a Girl

Mornings lately have been stunning, light-touched and warm. Since night comes so dark and so early, I want to hold on to that. I take pictures; walk through the yard; smell fire and the cool, sharp perfume of winter on the air.

I'm still a little bit absurdly in love with our new home. Driving through the mountains, the sky is bigger and hazier and more beautiful than it is anywhere I've ever lived–even Florida, land of the thunderheads. I ask Jordan why our ancestors didn't settle here, why i...

Holy Busy October, Batman!

Happy belated Hallowe'en, from your friend the Doctor (and his friend, the Doctor)!

If you've been wondering what I've been up to, the answer is: busy busy busy. Here's what I wrote this month:

At the Intergalactic Academy, I interviewed Karen Sandler, and wrote about the teens of Terra Nova.Also at the Intergalactic Academy, I reviewed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Circus Galacticus by  Deva Fagan, Crossed by Ally Condie, and The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix.At YA Highway, I...

Elsie and the Wild Boys

My short story, "Elsie and the Wild Boys," went live at the YA Review Network today! What's it about? Spooky woodland creatures, and an even spookier beast–high school. Check it out, and while you're there, check out their 2nd annual candy-cookie poem drive!

Fringe Returns to Form

I'm finally just about caught up on my post-VP television viewing (except for Terra Nova, which I'm considering dropping, because man, that show's a snooze and I already put in my time on V like the good SF fan that I am, and feel I should give myself a break sometimes, it's just television, et cetera). A few nights ago, Jordan and I tuned into "Subject 9," the latest episode of Fringe.

"Spooky," I said, about ten minutes in, when Walter Bishop watched a time-shifted video of Olivia being...

Viable Paradise XV Postmortem

I'm back from Viable Paradise. The experience altered me physically: I have a black eye, and that's probably the least interesting thing I got out of the experience.

I'm afraid I can't talk about it without being either raw or emotional, or possibly both. This is the sort of entry that I would usually reserve for embarrassed, locked livejournaling, but perhaps it will help someone else to share it–in a practical sense, I hope that it will convince other writers to apply for the workshop. In a ...

River Song Rewatch Report #2: Is the Official Timeline Accurate?

You know how I said yesterday that it would take me awhile to get through the River Song eps? Well, um, I watched enough episodes yesterday to get me roughly halfway through.

But I'm at a bit of an impasse now. For the life of me, I just can't figure out what happens next. This is one of those instances where I feel like we're missing a huge chunk of story here. It's compounded by the fact that the officially-sanctioned BBC video seems kind of, well, wrong.

The official video lays out her...

Steven Moffat, You're the Timey-Wimiest

Last night I started my second annual River-Song-chronology Doctor Who rewatch. If, after my last blog post about her, you doubt my love for River, I suspect that I'll have proved my adoration after this. Last year it was a simple task–eight or so hours of television. This year it's harder. River crosses her own timestream two and sometimes three times in an episode, which means I need to rewatch certain eps two or three times if I want to really grok her growth and development as a...

Review: The Delta Anomaly by Rick Barba

The Delta Anomaly by Rick Barba

Sometimes I feel like I need a whole 'nother set of review criteria for licensed novels. Books like Rick Barba's The Delta Anomaly are great examples of why. If you're into Star Trek, specifically the 2009 reboot, and if you want to subsume yourself in more of the same, then you'll adore The Delta Anomaly. But of course, non-Trekkies should probably look elsewhere.

The Delta Anomaly is one of several stories offered in this series about Kirk, Spock, Uhura, and...

Why River Song is Still My Girl

You've been warned, sweetie.

As you probably know, I've been worried about Doctor Who this season. Many of my concerns focused on female characters. Despite some very well-written episodes, the sexual politics felt a bit feminist fail to me. Now that the season's played out, I'm not sure if I can really revise my view of Amy. After all, one major plot resolution hinged on the Doctor deciding to call her by her married name–despite the fact that Amy herself has never stated a preference for...