Ruthanna Emrys's Blog, page 2
January 7, 2018
Updated Arisia schedule
I've added a panel! Stories of Displacement, Saturday morning at 11:30, moderated by
![[personal profile]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1516856154i/24914556.png)
sovay
.
SFF of Resistance - Friday 8:30PM - Gillian Daniels, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Meredith Schwartz, Eric in the Elevator
In a time of rising authoritarianism around the world, many of us turn to stories as an escape from the grim parade of daily news. But there is more than escape in SFF, there are strategies, inspiration, and hope for a better, freer future. In this panel we will look at the stories that prepare us to face power, and show us the ways we might proceed.
Stories of Displacement - Saturday 11:30 AM - Sonya Taaffe, Kevin Turausky, Ruthanna Emrys, Alex Shvartzman, Steve Popkes
Our genre regularly examines war, famine, natural disaster, and other life shattering events that displace people from their homes. Too often, the stories skip over the lives of these people as they transition from their old lives into uncertainty. In this panel, we'll explore the stories that center on displaced people, examine how SFF portrays them, and discuss what stories can still do to illustrate the realities that displaced people in our own world face.
Fantasy That Speculates - Saturday 5:30PM - James Hailer, Victoria Sandbrook, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Debra Doyle
Fantasy lands such as Westeros or Stillness, with their dramatic variations in climate or seismic activity, provide a fertile ground for speculation within the story. The Stillness plans ahead and takes these factors into account; Westeros does not. Why? This panel will discuss speculation in fantasy, which stories are more speculative, and how fantasy can extrapolate from its premise.
Down With Grimdark, Up With... - Sunday 2:30PM - Sarah Weintraub, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Alexander Rowland, Terri Ash
Grimdark stories, ones that focus on darkness and angst, have been prevalent throughout SFF recently. However, many people are pushing for change, with suggestions such as Solarpunk, Genderpunk, and Hopepunk, ones that focus on a bright future. Solarpunk is focused on green energy and sustainability, whereas Hopepunk is about people choosing love over hate, and fighting for that possible bright future. Will these new genres will gain a foothold? What other "punks" do you see emerging in SFF?
SFF, Homage, and Transformation - Sunday 4PM - Ken Shneyer, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Greer Gilman, Will "SciFantasy" Frank
A vast majority of literature has homages to previous works - familiar tropes and nods to existing tales. Some stories, however, seem to be nothing other than things you’ve seen before. Our panelists will discuss the art of homage and transformation, and the ways in which the familiar can be remade into the startling.
Reading: Social Themes in SF&F - Monday 1PM - Ruthanna Emrys, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Leo d'Entremont
Authors will be reading their own original works which science fiction and fantasy which tackle contemporary social themes.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
sovay
.SFF of Resistance - Friday 8:30PM - Gillian Daniels, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Meredith Schwartz, Eric in the Elevator
In a time of rising authoritarianism around the world, many of us turn to stories as an escape from the grim parade of daily news. But there is more than escape in SFF, there are strategies, inspiration, and hope for a better, freer future. In this panel we will look at the stories that prepare us to face power, and show us the ways we might proceed.
Stories of Displacement - Saturday 11:30 AM - Sonya Taaffe, Kevin Turausky, Ruthanna Emrys, Alex Shvartzman, Steve Popkes
Our genre regularly examines war, famine, natural disaster, and other life shattering events that displace people from their homes. Too often, the stories skip over the lives of these people as they transition from their old lives into uncertainty. In this panel, we'll explore the stories that center on displaced people, examine how SFF portrays them, and discuss what stories can still do to illustrate the realities that displaced people in our own world face.
Fantasy That Speculates - Saturday 5:30PM - James Hailer, Victoria Sandbrook, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Debra Doyle
Fantasy lands such as Westeros or Stillness, with their dramatic variations in climate or seismic activity, provide a fertile ground for speculation within the story. The Stillness plans ahead and takes these factors into account; Westeros does not. Why? This panel will discuss speculation in fantasy, which stories are more speculative, and how fantasy can extrapolate from its premise.
Down With Grimdark, Up With... - Sunday 2:30PM - Sarah Weintraub, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Alexander Rowland, Terri Ash
Grimdark stories, ones that focus on darkness and angst, have been prevalent throughout SFF recently. However, many people are pushing for change, with suggestions such as Solarpunk, Genderpunk, and Hopepunk, ones that focus on a bright future. Solarpunk is focused on green energy and sustainability, whereas Hopepunk is about people choosing love over hate, and fighting for that possible bright future. Will these new genres will gain a foothold? What other "punks" do you see emerging in SFF?
SFF, Homage, and Transformation - Sunday 4PM - Ken Shneyer, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Greer Gilman, Will "SciFantasy" Frank
A vast majority of literature has homages to previous works - familiar tropes and nods to existing tales. Some stories, however, seem to be nothing other than things you’ve seen before. Our panelists will discuss the art of homage and transformation, and the ways in which the familiar can be remade into the startling.
Reading: Social Themes in SF&F - Monday 1PM - Ruthanna Emrys, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Leo d'Entremont
Authors will be reading their own original works which science fiction and fantasy which tackle contemporary social themes.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
December 27, 2017
Arisia schedule
I'll be at Arisia, in Boston on Martin Luther King Day weekend!
SFF of Resistance - Friday 8:30PM - Gillian Daniels, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Meredith Schwartz, Eric in the Elevator
In a time of rising authoritarianism around the world, many of us turn to stories as an escape from the grim parade of daily news. But there is more than escape in SFF, there are strategies, inspiration, and hope for a better, freer future. In this panel we will look at the stories that prepare us to face power, and show us the ways we might proceed.
Fantasy That Speculates - Saturday 5:30PM - James Hailer, Victoria Sandbrook, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Debra Doyle
Fantasy lands such as Westeros or Stillness, with their dramatic variations in climate or seismic activity, provide a fertile ground for speculation within the story. The Stillness plans ahead and takes these factors into account; Westeros does not. Why? This panel will discuss speculation in fantasy, which stories are more speculative, and how fantasy can extrapolate from its premise.
Down With Grimdark, Up With... - Sunday 2:30PM - Sarah Weintraub, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Alexander Rowland, Terri Ash
Grimdark stories, ones that focus on darkness and angst, have been prevalent throughout SFF recently. However, many people are pushing for change, with suggestions such as Solarpunk, Genderpunk, and Hopepunk, ones that focus on a bright future. Solarpunk is focused on green energy and sustainability, whereas Hopepunk is about people choosing love over hate, and fighting for that possible bright future. Will these new genres will gain a foothold? What other "punks" do you see emerging in SFF?
SFF, Homage, and Transformation - Sunday 4PM - Ken Shneyer, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Greer Gilman, Will "SciFantasy" Frank
A vast majority of literature has homages to previous works - familiar tropes and nods to existing tales. Some stories, however, seem to be nothing other than things you’ve seen before. Our panelists will discuss the art of homage and transformation, and the ways in which the familiar can be remade into the startling.
Reading: Social Themes in SF&F - Monday 1PM - Ruthanna Emrys, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Leo d'Entremont
Authors will be reading their own original works which science fiction and fantasy which tackle contemporary social themes.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
SFF of Resistance - Friday 8:30PM - Gillian Daniels, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Meredith Schwartz, Eric in the Elevator
In a time of rising authoritarianism around the world, many of us turn to stories as an escape from the grim parade of daily news. But there is more than escape in SFF, there are strategies, inspiration, and hope for a better, freer future. In this panel we will look at the stories that prepare us to face power, and show us the ways we might proceed.
Fantasy That Speculates - Saturday 5:30PM - James Hailer, Victoria Sandbrook, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Debra Doyle
Fantasy lands such as Westeros or Stillness, with their dramatic variations in climate or seismic activity, provide a fertile ground for speculation within the story. The Stillness plans ahead and takes these factors into account; Westeros does not. Why? This panel will discuss speculation in fantasy, which stories are more speculative, and how fantasy can extrapolate from its premise.
Down With Grimdark, Up With... - Sunday 2:30PM - Sarah Weintraub, T.X. Watson, Ruthanna Emrys, Alexander Rowland, Terri Ash
Grimdark stories, ones that focus on darkness and angst, have been prevalent throughout SFF recently. However, many people are pushing for change, with suggestions such as Solarpunk, Genderpunk, and Hopepunk, ones that focus on a bright future. Solarpunk is focused on green energy and sustainability, whereas Hopepunk is about people choosing love over hate, and fighting for that possible bright future. Will these new genres will gain a foothold? What other "punks" do you see emerging in SFF?
SFF, Homage, and Transformation - Sunday 4PM - Ken Shneyer, Ruthanna Emrys, V.E. Schwab, Greer Gilman, Will "SciFantasy" Frank
A vast majority of literature has homages to previous works - familiar tropes and nods to existing tales. Some stories, however, seem to be nothing other than things you’ve seen before. Our panelists will discuss the art of homage and transformation, and the ways in which the familiar can be remade into the startling.
Reading: Social Themes in SF&F - Monday 1PM - Ruthanna Emrys, Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Leo d'Entremont
Authors will be reading their own original works which science fiction and fantasy which tackle contemporary social themes.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
The Last Jedi - Coming of Age
My favorite thing about The Last Jedi--well, one of my favorite things--
is the way the movie doesn't do the obvious, annoying thing with Kylo and Rey, and yet makes it totally plausible that things could have gone that way if everyone involved had made different choices. The two really do have massive chemistry. When they talk, when they fight side by side, it's obvious that they work well together and compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses. (Which is a trick, given the vastness of Kylo's weaknesses.) There was legitimately a moment, right after that fight scene, when I believed that Rey might take Kylo up on his offer, not because she would willingly give in to the Dark Side, but because she wouldn't be able to resist the collaboration and would convince herself that it was the best chance to turn him. And there was legitimately a moment when I thought Kylo might turn, because he couldn't resist the collaboration.
Yet instead of either of them giving in to that chemistry, Rey chooses actively to keep being good in the best way she knows how, and Kylo actively chooses to be evil. And the movie makes clear that both of them are capable of changing, and that being good or evil is a choice that they both make every moment. By implication, it's a choice that everyone makes every moment--but the thing that makes them hero and villain respectively is that they are, in every moment, choosing consciously and deliberately.
Supporting this dynamic, Rey and Kylo also have mirror-image coming of age arcs. Rey learns that her role is not to retrieve or redeem the chosen one, but to be the hero in her own right. Kylo learns that he can be more than a jumped-up henchman with scary tantrums. Rey admits that her power comes not from an exciting bloodline but from her own potential, and gathers chosen parents and mentors that she can trust. Kylo rejects the shade of his grandfather and destroys his one remaining father figure, to become the best evil overlord he's capable of being rather than stomping around in someone else's shoes/mask. It makes the otherwise familiar hero-comes-into-their-own arc more interesting and meaningful.
And it ensures that, whatever happens in the next episode, we'll know that it's not just a result of destinies, but of choices.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
is the way the movie doesn't do the obvious, annoying thing with Kylo and Rey, and yet makes it totally plausible that things could have gone that way if everyone involved had made different choices. The two really do have massive chemistry. When they talk, when they fight side by side, it's obvious that they work well together and compliment each other's strengths and weaknesses. (Which is a trick, given the vastness of Kylo's weaknesses.) There was legitimately a moment, right after that fight scene, when I believed that Rey might take Kylo up on his offer, not because she would willingly give in to the Dark Side, but because she wouldn't be able to resist the collaboration and would convince herself that it was the best chance to turn him. And there was legitimately a moment when I thought Kylo might turn, because he couldn't resist the collaboration.
Yet instead of either of them giving in to that chemistry, Rey chooses actively to keep being good in the best way she knows how, and Kylo actively chooses to be evil. And the movie makes clear that both of them are capable of changing, and that being good or evil is a choice that they both make every moment. By implication, it's a choice that everyone makes every moment--but the thing that makes them hero and villain respectively is that they are, in every moment, choosing consciously and deliberately.
Supporting this dynamic, Rey and Kylo also have mirror-image coming of age arcs. Rey learns that her role is not to retrieve or redeem the chosen one, but to be the hero in her own right. Kylo learns that he can be more than a jumped-up henchman with scary tantrums. Rey admits that her power comes not from an exciting bloodline but from her own potential, and gathers chosen parents and mentors that she can trust. Kylo rejects the shade of his grandfather and destroys his one remaining father figure, to become the best evil overlord he's capable of being rather than stomping around in someone else's shoes/mask. It makes the otherwise familiar hero-comes-into-their-own arc more interesting and meaningful.
And it ensures that, whatever happens in the next episode, we'll know that it's not just a result of destinies, but of choices.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
December 21, 2017
Winter Tide
In Innsmouth, of course, they appreciate long nights:
We walked down to the boundary of the waves, where the cool and giving sand turned hard and damp. Charlie’s night vision was poor, but he followed readily and crouched beside me, careful not to put too much weight on his knee. He winced only a little when a rivulet washed over
his bare feet.
I glanced up and down the beach and satisfied myself that we were alone. At this time of night, at this time of year, it was a safe gamble that no one would join us.
I began tracing symbols in the sand with my finger. Charlie helped. I rarely had to correct him; by this point even he knew the basic sigils by touch. You must understand them as part of yourself, no more needing sight to make them do your bidding than you would to move your own legs.
Outward- facing spells had been harder for me, of late. To look at my own body and blood was easy enough, but the world did not invite
close examination. Still, I forced my mind into the sand, into the salt and the water, into the clouds that sped above them. I felt Charlie’s strength flowing into my own, but the wind tore at my mind as it had not at my body, pressing me into my skull. I pushed back, gasping as I struggled to hold my course and my intentions for the night.
And it wasn’t working. The clouds were a distant shiver in my thoughts, nothing I could grasp or change. The wind was an indifferent opponent, fierce and strong. I fell back into my body with cheeks stung by salt.
Charlie still sat beside me, eyes closed in concentration. I touched him, and they flew open.
“It’s no good,” I said.
“Giving up so soon?”
I shivered, not with cold but with shame. As a child we had the archpriests for this. Not a half- trained man of the air and me, dependent on distant memories and a few scavenged books. “I can’t get through the wind.”
He tilted his head back. “I know De Anima likes to talk about ‘the great war of the elements,’ but I’ve been wondering— should it really be through? When we practice other spells, at the store . . . I know these arts aren’t always terribly intuitive, but ‘through’ doesn’t seem right. When we’re working on the Inner Sea, or practicing healing, you always tell me that you can’t fght your own blood.”
I blinked, stared at him a long moment—at once proud of my student, and embarrassed at my own lapse. My eyes felt heavy, full of things I needed to see. “Right. Let’s find out where the wind takes us.”
I closed my eyes again, and rather than focusing on De Anima’s medieval metaphors, cast myself through the symbols and into the wind. This time I didn’t try to direct it, didn’t force on it my desires and expectations and memories. And I felt my mind lifted, tossed and twisted— whirled up into the misty tendrils of the clouds, and I could taste them and breathe them and wrap them around me, and I remembered that I had something to tell them.
I knelt on the strand, waves soaking my skirt, and gazed with pleasure and fear as the clouds spiraled, streaming away from the sky above us, and through that eye the starlight poured in.
“Oh,” said Charlie. And then, “What now?”
“Now,” I murmured, “we watch the universe. And tell stories, and seek signs, and share what has been hidden in our own lives.
May the darkness, and the stars that shine through it, bring you solace and insight.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
We walked down to the boundary of the waves, where the cool and giving sand turned hard and damp. Charlie’s night vision was poor, but he followed readily and crouched beside me, careful not to put too much weight on his knee. He winced only a little when a rivulet washed over
his bare feet.
I glanced up and down the beach and satisfied myself that we were alone. At this time of night, at this time of year, it was a safe gamble that no one would join us.
I began tracing symbols in the sand with my finger. Charlie helped. I rarely had to correct him; by this point even he knew the basic sigils by touch. You must understand them as part of yourself, no more needing sight to make them do your bidding than you would to move your own legs.
Outward- facing spells had been harder for me, of late. To look at my own body and blood was easy enough, but the world did not invite
close examination. Still, I forced my mind into the sand, into the salt and the water, into the clouds that sped above them. I felt Charlie’s strength flowing into my own, but the wind tore at my mind as it had not at my body, pressing me into my skull. I pushed back, gasping as I struggled to hold my course and my intentions for the night.
And it wasn’t working. The clouds were a distant shiver in my thoughts, nothing I could grasp or change. The wind was an indifferent opponent, fierce and strong. I fell back into my body with cheeks stung by salt.
Charlie still sat beside me, eyes closed in concentration. I touched him, and they flew open.
“It’s no good,” I said.
“Giving up so soon?”
I shivered, not with cold but with shame. As a child we had the archpriests for this. Not a half- trained man of the air and me, dependent on distant memories and a few scavenged books. “I can’t get through the wind.”
He tilted his head back. “I know De Anima likes to talk about ‘the great war of the elements,’ but I’ve been wondering— should it really be through? When we practice other spells, at the store . . . I know these arts aren’t always terribly intuitive, but ‘through’ doesn’t seem right. When we’re working on the Inner Sea, or practicing healing, you always tell me that you can’t fght your own blood.”
I blinked, stared at him a long moment—at once proud of my student, and embarrassed at my own lapse. My eyes felt heavy, full of things I needed to see. “Right. Let’s find out where the wind takes us.”
I closed my eyes again, and rather than focusing on De Anima’s medieval metaphors, cast myself through the symbols and into the wind. This time I didn’t try to direct it, didn’t force on it my desires and expectations and memories. And I felt my mind lifted, tossed and twisted— whirled up into the misty tendrils of the clouds, and I could taste them and breathe them and wrap them around me, and I remembered that I had something to tell them.
I knelt on the strand, waves soaking my skirt, and gazed with pleasure and fear as the clouds spiraled, streaming away from the sky above us, and through that eye the starlight poured in.
“Oh,” said Charlie. And then, “What now?”
“Now,” I murmured, “we watch the universe. And tell stories, and seek signs, and share what has been hidden in our own lives.
May the darkness, and the stars that shine through it, bring you solace and insight.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
December 16, 2017
Patreon Musings
For reasons having to do with my great hunger for deadlines, and for small writing prompts to get my brain in gear--and now that they seem to have sworn off idiocy for a while--I'm thinking about starting a Patreon. My schedule being what it is, I'm also thinking about cool things I could share that would be less time-consuming and more fun--something that will let me play around a little even when I'm ocean-deep in novel-writing, without actually causing me to miss novel-related deadlines. So rewards might include:
- Flash fiction and "cut scenes" for the Innsmouth Legacy and Tikanu settings.
- Custom sonnets
- Worldbuilding recipes
- Opportunities to provide prompts for all of the above
So... is this something folks would be interested in? Are there other rewards that would be more/additionally enticing?
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
- Flash fiction and "cut scenes" for the Innsmouth Legacy and Tikanu settings.
- Custom sonnets
- Worldbuilding recipes
- Opportunities to provide prompts for all of the above
So... is this something folks would be interested in? Are there other rewards that would be more/additionally enticing?
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
Update on Deep Roots
I've just finished the proof edits on Deep Roots, so we should be on track for July publication. The release date is currently set to July 9th. This is more appropriate than Winter Tide's April release date, since the story takes place during a muggy New York June. These are very seasonal books. I kind of wanted to have the first one come out in time for its titular holiday, but apparently December releases lose more sales to people not buying for themselves than they gain from holiday gift purchases.* The Science of Publishing!
Things that can be found in this book:The looming gentrification of InnsmouthOther-dimensional vistas of cosmic wonder and fear, and their nasty side effectsAwkward relativesTerrifying relativesThe looming threat of human extinctionAliens worried about the looming threat of human extinction, and eager to do something about itBagels and loxI've started on the first couple of chapters of Book 3, but don't yet have a contract. While I wait, I've been playing around with "What if the ancient language that drives men mad... was an area of academic study like any other?" If the woes of the world don't completely distract me, it'll be a novelette draft by the time I have official deadlines again.
*Winter Tide does, in fact, make a great Winter Tide gift--and it's also appropriate for other portions of the Great North American Festival to Combat SAD.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
Things that can be found in this book:The looming gentrification of InnsmouthOther-dimensional vistas of cosmic wonder and fear, and their nasty side effectsAwkward relativesTerrifying relativesThe looming threat of human extinctionAliens worried about the looming threat of human extinction, and eager to do something about itBagels and loxI've started on the first couple of chapters of Book 3, but don't yet have a contract. While I wait, I've been playing around with "What if the ancient language that drives men mad... was an area of academic study like any other?" If the woes of the world don't completely distract me, it'll be a novelette draft by the time I have official deadlines again.
*Winter Tide does, in fact, make a great Winter Tide gift--and it's also appropriate for other portions of the Great North American Festival to Combat SAD.
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
October 17, 2017
Winter Tide for free; Lovecraft Reread meanders; Deep Roots
I am currently suffering from a toddler plague which includes the delightful symptom of "malaise." That sounds more Victorian than it turns out to be in practice. At the moment I'm awake, yet don't have the energy to actually get out of bed or write anything substantial. Therefore, have some links:
Through noon on Friday, you can get a free e-book of Winter Tide by signing up for the Tor.com newsletter--I believe you can still get it if you're already a subscriber.
Over at the Lovecraft E-zine podcast, Anne M. Pillsworth and I talk about the Lovecraft Reread, our favorite weird fiction, and how to fangirl problematic things.
I neglected to post here at the time, but the cover for Deep Roots and a short interview are up at The Verge. Deep Roots is coming out in July 2018, and contains creepy yet dangerously helpful aliens, Deep Ones attempting to navigate the New York City subway, and lots of takeout food. Awkward relatives and apocalyptic threats galore!
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
Through noon on Friday, you can get a free e-book of Winter Tide by signing up for the Tor.com newsletter--I believe you can still get it if you're already a subscriber.
Over at the Lovecraft E-zine podcast, Anne M. Pillsworth and I talk about the Lovecraft Reread, our favorite weird fiction, and how to fangirl problematic things.
I neglected to post here at the time, but the cover for Deep Roots and a short interview are up at The Verge. Deep Roots is coming out in July 2018, and contains creepy yet dangerously helpful aliens, Deep Ones attempting to navigate the New York City subway, and lots of takeout food. Awkward relatives and apocalyptic threats galore!
This post originally appeared at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... Comments are welcome both here and at https://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/12.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
September 2, 2017
Baltimore Book Festival
I have too much stuff going on to post about what's going on, so here, have my Baltimore Book Festival schedule:
Saturday 9/23
- 3PM: Signing with Sarah Pinsker
- 4PM: Turning Old Monsters Into New
Still scared of the Boogie Man? Our panel resurrects the monsters you grew up with, talks about all the monsters you grew up with, from fairy tales to urban fantasy to myths and legends and the thing underneath your bed, discuss how modern fiction is reinterpreting them. Authors: Scott Edelman, Ruthanna Emrys, Craig Laurance Gidney, Vivian Shaw, Ruth Vincent. Moderator: Scott H. Andrews
- 5PM: Beyond Stew and Replicators: Food in Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sensory details are the hallmark of great science fiction and fantasy, and nothing brings that home quite like the food! Join our panelists as they discuss what goes right and wrong with food in their favorite books. We guarantee you'll leave hungry—unless they start talking about soylent green.
Authors: Lara Elena Donnelly, Scott Edelman, Ruthanna Emrys, Lawrence M. Schoen, Fran Wilde. Moderator Denise Clemons.
Sunday 9/24
- 12PM: Politics, Resistance, & Speculative Fiction
Science fiction and fantasy have always been political, and have always used genre trappings to explore the here and now through the past and future. What does that look like in the current political climate? Authors: Lara Elena Donnelly, Ruthanna Emrys, Craig Laurance Gidney, Addison Gunn, Malka Older. Moderator: Scott H. Andrews - 2PM: Fantasy: It's Epic, it's Historic, it's Dark or Weird or High or Low or Urban
How are all of the categories of fantasy even the same genre? From dungeons to dragons to vampires in our midst, our panel will discuss what they love, what they write, and what you should be reading.Authors: DH AIie, Ruthanna Emrys, Craig Laurance Gidney, Jeremy M. Gottwig, Ilana C. Myer, Ruth Vincent. Moderator: Jon Skovron
All this takes place at the SFWA tent, and the full schedule is available here. The full line-up looks amazing.
Things going on, briefly:
- Anne and I posted our Necronomicon con report on Tor.com.
- Deep Roots has been sent off to production, which means I can finally switch from Editing mode to New Words mode. Tentative title for Book 3: Seas Rise Wild.
- Dear gods, there are a lot of small mammals in the Mysterious Manor House.
This post originally appeared at http://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/122.... Comments are welcome both here and at http://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/122.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
August 1, 2017
OutWrite and Necronomicon Schedules
I'll be at the OutWrite DC queer literature festival this coming Saturday. I'm on:
Love and Other Monsters: A Speculative Fiction Reading - 12 PM - Craig Gidney, Steve Berman, Rahul Kanakia, and Ruthanna Emrys
Beyond Gender in Speculative Fiction - 4 PM - Don Sakers, Craig Gidney, Rahul Kanakia, Michael M. Jones, Ruthanna Emrys, Lemur Rowlands, and Akiva Wolberg
The whole thing is free and takes place at the DC LGBT Center. In addition to the festival itself, I'll be joining the Outwrite Author's Corner panel at the Ask Rayceen Show, Wednesday night 8/2 (so probably tonight, by the time most of you read this), at the Human Rights Campaign. (I am definitely there even though not confirmed before the Facebook post went up. I checked.) In addition to geeky authors, there will also be a poetry slam and burlesque, making for a truly variable variety show.
Then the weekend of August 18th, I'll be in Providence for Necronomicon! I'm on:
Saturday 8/19, 10:30-11:45AM: LOVECRAFT REVISIONS – Grand Ballroom, Biltmore 17th Floor
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Love and Other Monsters: A Speculative Fiction Reading - 12 PM - Craig Gidney, Steve Berman, Rahul Kanakia, and Ruthanna Emrys
Beyond Gender in Speculative Fiction - 4 PM - Don Sakers, Craig Gidney, Rahul Kanakia, Michael M. Jones, Ruthanna Emrys, Lemur Rowlands, and Akiva Wolberg
The whole thing is free and takes place at the DC LGBT Center. In addition to the festival itself, I'll be joining the Outwrite Author's Corner panel at the Ask Rayceen Show, Wednesday night 8/2 (so probably tonight, by the time most of you read this), at the Human Rights Campaign. (I am definitely there even though not confirmed before the Facebook post went up. I checked.) In addition to geeky authors, there will also be a poetry slam and burlesque, making for a truly variable variety show.
Then the weekend of August 18th, I'll be in Providence for Necronomicon! I'm on:
Saturday 8/19, 10:30-11:45AM: LOVECRAFT REVISIONS – Grand Ballroom, Biltmore 17th Floor
They are the Rodney Dangerfields of Lovecraft’s work: the dreaded revisions! Consisting of stories edited and often completely rewritten by Lovecraft, they tend to be overlooked by many readers and scholars. Yet, Lovecraft’s work on his client’s stories elevated many of them from mere hackwork to excellent examples not only of his own prose and ideas but his philosophy as well. Hear why our panelists say that these revisions should not be passed over as ‘minor’ works.
Panelists: Peter Cannon (Moderator), Ruthanna Emrys, S.T. Joshi, Leslie Klinger, Steve Mariconda, Anne Pillsworth
Saturday 8/19, 6-7:15PM: THE KING IN YELLOW & ROBERT CHAMBERS – Omni 1
Thanks to a resurgence of interest via popular culture, this long-forgotten writer is better known than ever before. But what EXACTLY is “The King in Yellow” and why is it important? This panel discusses Chambers’ trail-blazing book, what effect it’s had on Lovecraftiana (if not Lovecraft himself) and weird fiction, and why it is gaining more readers today.
Panelists: Ruthanna Emrys, Alex Houstoun (Moderator), Rick Lai, Joe Pulver
Sunday 8/20, 4:30-5:45: THE FUTURE OF WEIRD FICTION and NECRONOMICON-PVD – Garden Room, Biltmore 2nd Floor
Join our panel of experts as they discuss the most vital Weird Fiction of today and the direction they see it moving towards in the future. The panel concludes with some thoughts on this year’s convention and future plans…
Panelists: s.j. bagley (moderator), Sam Cowan, Ellen Datlow, Ruthanna Emrys, Michael Kelly
John Jude Palencar, who painted the gorgeous cover for Winter Tide, will be the Artist Guest of Honor. No guarantees, but it's just possible there may be a sneak preview of the Deep Roots cover, which I'm not allowed to post yet but is likewise gorgeous.
There are plans for a reading as well--I thought we finally had a time nailed down, but it turned out to require co-location and/or time travel. That would only be possible if I were an ancient eldritch horror with powers beyond mortal ken, which of course I am definitely not.
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July 22, 2017
Five Things
I've been somewhat neglectful here. So, a low-stress post in which I don't try to go into anything in depth, because cramps, and because the summer's round of one-thing-after-another doesn't actually finish up for another month.
1) Readercon was awesome and a thing I want to go back to. I wasn't on program this year, which is something I want to change next year but on the other hand it was really nice to have one of the summer's Things be basically relaxing. I hung out with![[personal profile]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380840198i/3130798.png)
gaudior
and
rushthatspeaks
and
mrissa
and Greer, and had a useful lunch with my agent and editor, and picked up a large stack of books, and generally had a great time. And then read at Pandemonium after the con with Fran Wilde and Chris Sharp, and that was also great, and the large stack of books that I had to deconstruct in order to see the audience reduced quite satisfactorily by the end of the event.
2) I have my mostly-final schedules for Necronomicon and the Baltimore Book Festival, which I will post once they're final. I also know what I'm doing at the Outwrite queer literature festival, except that I can't find the time for my panel now, so that will be here later too. But it's in DC on August 5th and promises to be a fun time.
3) It's that time of year when we've finally set a date to pick up our new cow--longhorn this year, shared with the same two people I've been splitting cows with for a while now. They each take a quarter of the cow, my large family of mostly carnivores takes a half, and we all enjoy the discount that comes from buying a whole cow. But this means the freezer damn well has to be empty by mid-August, which means in turn that all the weird bits of the last cow, and other odds and ends that have filled the empty space as 500 pounds of meat gets down to the last couple of packages, need to get used up. Thus there's currently heart marinating in the fridge, rump roast in the slow cooker, and a large bag of miscellaneous poultry organs out to thaw. (We also have a lot of vegetables in the house, but they rarely get to the point of freezing. The Mysterious Manor House goes through a weekly CSA box pretty handily. Except for the rutabaga.)
4) Things I have loved lately: Theodora Goss's The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, which is about the daughters of Doctor Jekyl and Mister Hyde teaming up with Justine Frankenstein and Catherine Moreau and Beatrice Rappacini - together they fight crime and build a found family. And the whole thing is written up as a novel by Catherine, but everyone else is playing peanut gallery over her shoulder so she transcribes their objections and questions in little asides, and impatiently explains to them the literary conceits that she's using. Arrival, which I watched on a long plane flight and promptly moved to the top of my Hugo list for Dramatic Presentation Long Form, and I can't believe they actually managed to film that but they did.Jupiter Ascending, which I watched on the same long plane flight and adored in completely different ways: it's as delightful and cracktastic as everyone told you on Tumblr.
5) And now I need to put down Dreamwidth and go fix a small continuity error and an anachronism for the Winter Tide paperback.
This post originally appeared at http://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/122.... Comments are welcome both here and at http://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/122.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
1) Readercon was awesome and a thing I want to go back to. I wasn't on program this year, which is something I want to change next year but on the other hand it was really nice to have one of the summer's Things be basically relaxing. I hung out with
gaudior
and
rushthatspeaks
and
mrissa
and Greer, and had a useful lunch with my agent and editor, and picked up a large stack of books, and generally had a great time. And then read at Pandemonium after the con with Fran Wilde and Chris Sharp, and that was also great, and the large stack of books that I had to deconstruct in order to see the audience reduced quite satisfactorily by the end of the event.2) I have my mostly-final schedules for Necronomicon and the Baltimore Book Festival, which I will post once they're final. I also know what I'm doing at the Outwrite queer literature festival, except that I can't find the time for my panel now, so that will be here later too. But it's in DC on August 5th and promises to be a fun time.
3) It's that time of year when we've finally set a date to pick up our new cow--longhorn this year, shared with the same two people I've been splitting cows with for a while now. They each take a quarter of the cow, my large family of mostly carnivores takes a half, and we all enjoy the discount that comes from buying a whole cow. But this means the freezer damn well has to be empty by mid-August, which means in turn that all the weird bits of the last cow, and other odds and ends that have filled the empty space as 500 pounds of meat gets down to the last couple of packages, need to get used up. Thus there's currently heart marinating in the fridge, rump roast in the slow cooker, and a large bag of miscellaneous poultry organs out to thaw. (We also have a lot of vegetables in the house, but they rarely get to the point of freezing. The Mysterious Manor House goes through a weekly CSA box pretty handily. Except for the rutabaga.)
4) Things I have loved lately: Theodora Goss's The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, which is about the daughters of Doctor Jekyl and Mister Hyde teaming up with Justine Frankenstein and Catherine Moreau and Beatrice Rappacini - together they fight crime and build a found family. And the whole thing is written up as a novel by Catherine, but everyone else is playing peanut gallery over her shoulder so she transcribes their objections and questions in little asides, and impatiently explains to them the literary conceits that she's using. Arrival, which I watched on a long plane flight and promptly moved to the top of my Hugo list for Dramatic Presentation Long Form, and I can't believe they actually managed to film that but they did.Jupiter Ascending, which I watched on the same long plane flight and adored in completely different ways: it's as delightful and cracktastic as everyone told you on Tumblr.
5) And now I need to put down Dreamwidth and go fix a small continuity error and an anachronism for the Winter Tide paperback.
This post originally appeared at http://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/122.... Comments are welcome both here and at http://ashnistrike.dreamwidth.org/122.... There are
comments on Dreamwidth.
