Curtis C. Chen's Blog, page 10

I applied to Clarion West SIX TIMES

Applications for the Clarion West Summer Six-Week Writers Workshop in Seattle are now open. If you apply before February 10th, the fee is only $30; it goes up to $50 after that date. The last day to apply is March 1st. This year's instructors are Paul Park, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Bear, N. K. Jemisin, Sheila Williams, and Geoff Ryman.

As the title of this post says, I applied to CW six times (every year starting in 2008, only skipping 2012 because of WarTron) before I attended the work...

I Will Be at Some Conventions This Year

(Wow, has it really been a whole month since my last blog post here? I'm a terrible person.)

If you're a SF/F convention-goer, here are some 2016 events I'm definitely attending and which I would recommend to any fan:

Norwescon 39 (March) - my kick-ass agent Sam Morgan will be thereWestercon 69 (July) - I volunteered to be Scalzi's GOH liaison, so get used to hearing me say "COKE ZERO OR GTFO"Worldcon 74: MidAmeriCon II (August) - everything's up to date in Kansas CityOryCon 38 (November) - dow...

MEOWY XMAS

This year, D and I switched from hand-writing all our holiday cards to drop-shipping pre-printed postcards. It forced us to write more concisely about the past year, but we're very happy with the results:


If you wanted a card from us but didn't get one, we apologize! Please send us your current mailing address and we'll make sure you're on the list for next year.

Tonight is #DieHardEve

ETA (1:00 PM): MOAR commentators, and embedded Twitter search results :)

Tonight, starting at 9:30 PM Pacific Time, you're invited to our first ever...

Christmas Eve DIE HARD livetweet extravaganza!

Search for #DieHardEve on Twitter to see commentary from various Portlandians, including:
Mindy BardonRobin CatesbyCurtis ChenDC Drunk AudienceMary-LynnJDMaria FisherTaylor FisherAubreyJustin...and you, dear viewer, are also invited to contribute! Feel free to jump in using the hashtag #DieHardEve if...

'Tis the Season

And here's a scientific carol for you:


https://youtu.be/J0NXY89WsxY

(H/T Andrea Phillips on Twitter)

I Am Eligible for Some Awards or Something

Hello, readers! I know, it's been a while since I actually wrote one of these Wednesday blog posts. I've been working on other writing projects lately (like my first novel) and have also started an author newsletter which will eventually be archived on my other, theoretically more professional web site. (Stop laughing.) But for now, I'm still pushing some content into this space.

So we're coming to the end of 2015, and writers are starting to post lists of their award-eligible works. Nominatio...

My OryCon 37 Schedule

Hey science fiction and fantasy lovers in or near Portland, Oregon! It's that time of year again: time for OryCon!

This Friday through Sunday, hundreds (if not thousands) of fans will gather at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront for a variety of fannish activities and events. Come find out who wins the Endeavour Award this year, check out the Costume Contest, or catch a reading by your favorite author. There's plenty to see and do!

Here's where you can find me this weekend (when I'm not...

#42Movies Post-Mortem

It is a testament to the insignificance of this blog that not one reader complained about my film selections over the last few weeks. :) Or maybe I was just very clear at the start of 42 Moves in 21 Days that these were going to be movies that had personal significance to me, and not necessarily paragons of cinematic virtue.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll leave you with one final double feature, and two discussion questions after the trailers:


https://youtu.be/sIPL8Yb25T4


https://youtu.be/...

#42Movies, Day 21: Puzzle Hunts

This is not a clue. OR IS IT? No, it's not. Swearsies:

Midnight Madness (1980)
and
The Game (1997)

Hints and solution after the trailers. j/k! ;)


https://youtu.be/gLusAy-aOJY


https://youtu.be/dLauqDChQGs

For the record, that trailer for Midnight Madness is terrible and tells you nothing about the movie. This clip is more revealing, but still not very informative. And I have to imagine it's not because the distributor wanted to be mysterious about the content; I'm sure it's because they weren't sure...

#42Movies, Day 20: Emily Blunt's Time Machine

She's a brick house. As shown here:

Looper (2012)
and
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Let it all hang out after the trailers.


https://youtu.be/2iQuhsmtfHw


https://youtu.be/yUmSVcttXnI

Here's what you're going to do. You're going to do a double feature of these two amazing films, back to back. First watch Looper, in which Emily Blunt's character has a smaller but still pivotal role; then watch Edge of Tomorrow, where she gets to play a motherfucking badass. Seriously: even though it's William Cage's story, Rita Vrataski is the hero. (Yes, hero. Not "heroine." HERO. The myth leaves something to be desired—as does Shakespeare's homage—but "Hero" is a woman's name. DEAL WITH IT.)

And when you're done with all that, feel free to deploy this animated GIF liberally on social media:



YOU'RE WELCOME.

(See also: fuckyeahsamanthacarter.tumblr.com)