Martha Wells's Blog, page 138
March 2, 2013
Martha's Plumbing Adventure Part 3
So, here we are. When the first plumber came on Thursday, he said basically that the first thing they wanted to try was to dig down to the pipe from outside, because the other option was to cut it off and re-route it, and that would be very invasive. Actually, he said, "that would be...very invasive."
We ended up having to go with option 2, very invasive. First they pulled the panel off the weird plumbing column while we (or at least me) hoped the leak would magically appear in the easiest spot to get to it, but it did not. Then they had to cut two holes in the walls (one under the kitchen sink and one under the half bath sink) to find the manifold. (One of the best things I think you could have in this kind of disaster is a plumbing map of your house - this house is about 44-45 years old, and they did things differently back then. They were wildly original about building things, let's say.) They thought they could just re-route the new pipe through the ceiling where it should have been in the first place, but then they realized the joists were installed in such a way (a non-standard, bizarre way) as to render this impossible.
Seriously, it was like every time they came up with a plan, the house morphed to stop them. So they are having to cut a pathway of holes across the living room ceiling toward the half-bath. I've posted photos on Tumblr:
Share My Pain Visually
And it's worse
They didn't finish last night, but they did fix it so we have hot and cold water in the kitchen and the one other bathroom. We just can't use the master bath, which is not that big a deal, though we are assured that if anybody turns a faucet or anything else in there Terrible Things Will Happen.
We ended up having to go with option 2, very invasive. First they pulled the panel off the weird plumbing column while we (or at least me) hoped the leak would magically appear in the easiest spot to get to it, but it did not. Then they had to cut two holes in the walls (one under the kitchen sink and one under the half bath sink) to find the manifold. (One of the best things I think you could have in this kind of disaster is a plumbing map of your house - this house is about 44-45 years old, and they did things differently back then. They were wildly original about building things, let's say.) They thought they could just re-route the new pipe through the ceiling where it should have been in the first place, but then they realized the joists were installed in such a way (a non-standard, bizarre way) as to render this impossible.
Seriously, it was like every time they came up with a plan, the house morphed to stop them. So they are having to cut a pathway of holes across the living room ceiling toward the half-bath. I've posted photos on Tumblr:
Share My Pain Visually
And it's worse
They didn't finish last night, but they did fix it so we have hot and cold water in the kitchen and the one other bathroom. We just can't use the master bath, which is not that big a deal, though we are assured that if anybody turns a faucet or anything else in there Terrible Things Will Happen.
March 1, 2013
Martha's Plumbing Adventure Part 2
They dug up the outside corner of the house but can't get to the pipe from there. They are now pulling the wall open. I called the insurance to make a claim, but it all depends on whether the adjuster decides it was a result of the foundation repair or not. So we may just be screwed.
:primal scream:
:primal scream:
February 28, 2013
Martha's Plumbing Adventure Part 1
So, for the past couple of days I kept thinking I could hear water running when no water was turned on. I walked all around the house, inside and out, and kept telling myself it was an outside faucet that hadn't been turned off all the way, or a toilet that was running just a little, or the water heater filling. Then this afternoon it was loud enough that I could trace it to the far back corner of the house, where there is a weird plumbing stack to accommodate weird plumbing from the upstairs bathroom that's just installed in a weird way. (We had to have it fixed once before, when one of the pipes in it corroded and started to leak.)
I could hear the water running in it, and the carpet in the living room right next to it felt oddly warm. (One of the odd things I had noticed in the past couple of days was that our hot water, which usually takes forever to show up, as it apparently has to tour the whole house before it gets to an actual faucet, was arriving at its destination really quickly.) I went outside and stuck my hand in the loose foundation dirt, and it felt damp. So I called the plumbers.
This is the same plumbing company that has worked on our house since we moved in around fifteen years ago. (I think the guy who is the supervisor now was the first one to work on our sinks.) So in the first place, it was nice to have someone take me seriously when I call and say I hear mysterious water running in the walls but only have vague suspicions about where it's going. Two guys show up, listen to the tiles in the shower, and immediately confirm I'm not crazy. They turn the hot water heater off (which is extremely easy to do -- I guess they figure the lever should be easy to grab in an emergency) and the running water noise stops.
Me: Uh oh.
Main plumber: Yes, ma'am.
So we go outside to the suspicious corner and he sends the other guy for a shovel and then he sticks it into the dirt. Dirt which is, not far under the surface, mud. Warm mud, bathed in nice hot water.
Main plumber: There it is.
Me: Augh
Main plumber: Yes, ma'am.
It wasn't leaking when the foundation guys finished last week, so the theory is that the pipe may have been in bad shape and was made worse by all the shaking, and the leak just gradually got larger and larger. So after calling the office and talking about it, they decided to try digging down first and seeing if they can get to the pipe from the outside. (The dirt is so loose, it actually shouldn't take long to do this.) If they can't get to it from there, they have to go in through the living room wall.
So this is going to be interesting. The foundation company isn't liable for this kind of damage (especially since it didn't show up until a week later. And there's some suspicious paint puckering on the living room ceiling that might indicate there had already been some moisture from a very tiny slow leak long before they started.) and I'm not sure if our homeowner's insurance will cover it. I don't know how much it's going to cost but I know I didn't budget for it.
So basically if you were ever thinking about getting one of my reprint books (The Element of Fire, City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite or The Death of the Necromancer) on Kindle, Nook or Kobo, this would be a good time.
And we have to keep our hot water mostly turned off, so I really wish I had done things like ran the dishwasher, did the laundry, and took a shower before I found out about this.
I could hear the water running in it, and the carpet in the living room right next to it felt oddly warm. (One of the odd things I had noticed in the past couple of days was that our hot water, which usually takes forever to show up, as it apparently has to tour the whole house before it gets to an actual faucet, was arriving at its destination really quickly.) I went outside and stuck my hand in the loose foundation dirt, and it felt damp. So I called the plumbers.
This is the same plumbing company that has worked on our house since we moved in around fifteen years ago. (I think the guy who is the supervisor now was the first one to work on our sinks.) So in the first place, it was nice to have someone take me seriously when I call and say I hear mysterious water running in the walls but only have vague suspicions about where it's going. Two guys show up, listen to the tiles in the shower, and immediately confirm I'm not crazy. They turn the hot water heater off (which is extremely easy to do -- I guess they figure the lever should be easy to grab in an emergency) and the running water noise stops.
Me: Uh oh.
Main plumber: Yes, ma'am.
So we go outside to the suspicious corner and he sends the other guy for a shovel and then he sticks it into the dirt. Dirt which is, not far under the surface, mud. Warm mud, bathed in nice hot water.
Main plumber: There it is.
Me: Augh
Main plumber: Yes, ma'am.
It wasn't leaking when the foundation guys finished last week, so the theory is that the pipe may have been in bad shape and was made worse by all the shaking, and the leak just gradually got larger and larger. So after calling the office and talking about it, they decided to try digging down first and seeing if they can get to the pipe from the outside. (The dirt is so loose, it actually shouldn't take long to do this.) If they can't get to it from there, they have to go in through the living room wall.
So this is going to be interesting. The foundation company isn't liable for this kind of damage (especially since it didn't show up until a week later. And there's some suspicious paint puckering on the living room ceiling that might indicate there had already been some moisture from a very tiny slow leak long before they started.) and I'm not sure if our homeowner's insurance will cover it. I don't know how much it's going to cost but I know I didn't budget for it.
So basically if you were ever thinking about getting one of my reprint books (The Element of Fire, City of Bones, Wheel of the Infinite or The Death of the Necromancer) on Kindle, Nook or Kobo, this would be a good time.
And we have to keep our hot water mostly turned off, so I really wish I had done things like ran the dishwasher, did the laundry, and took a shower before I found out about this.
Links, Books, and Places
Thursday! I planted tomatoes earlier this week, so naturally now it's going to freeze this weekend.
* The feminist SF anthology I'm in, The Other Half of the Sky, got a great Publishers Weekly review. It will be out in April, in paperback and ebook.
* Fantasy Book Critic: GUEST POST: Ten Reasons Why We Love The Fantasy Genre by A. E Marling
* Terrible Minds: Not Every Writer Wants To Be A Publisher
Things I have out, or that will be coming out:
* The Death of the Necromancer is now available on DRM-free ebook at Kobo (US and international), Kindle (US and all the international Kindles), and Barnes and Noble NookBook for US and UK. It's the second Ile-Rien book. The Element of Fire is the first, and it's available in ebook at all the same places, and also in a paperback edition. The last three Ile-Rien books (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, The Gate of Gods) are available in ebook but were put up by HarperCollins, the publisher, so I have no control over price, availability, DRM status, etc. There are also a few Ile-Rien stories free on my web site.
* Emilie and the Hollow World will be out on April 2.
* Untitled Star Wars Novel can be preordered on Amazon and will be out on October 29.
* I have an essay in Chicks Unravel Time, available now in paperback and ebook.
* The audiobook (and paperback and ebook) of The Siren Depths, the third Books of the Raksura is now available.
Places I will be:
* I will be teaching two classes at the DFW Writers Conference on May 4-5 in Hurst, Texas.
* I will be at LoneStarCon 3, the 71st Worldcon, in San Antonio, Texas on August 29 through September 2.
* The feminist SF anthology I'm in, The Other Half of the Sky, got a great Publishers Weekly review. It will be out in April, in paperback and ebook.
* Fantasy Book Critic: GUEST POST: Ten Reasons Why We Love The Fantasy Genre by A. E Marling
* Terrible Minds: Not Every Writer Wants To Be A Publisher
Things I have out, or that will be coming out:
* The Death of the Necromancer is now available on DRM-free ebook at Kobo (US and international), Kindle (US and all the international Kindles), and Barnes and Noble NookBook for US and UK. It's the second Ile-Rien book. The Element of Fire is the first, and it's available in ebook at all the same places, and also in a paperback edition. The last three Ile-Rien books (The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, The Gate of Gods) are available in ebook but were put up by HarperCollins, the publisher, so I have no control over price, availability, DRM status, etc. There are also a few Ile-Rien stories free on my web site.
* Emilie and the Hollow World will be out on April 2.
* Untitled Star Wars Novel can be preordered on Amazon and will be out on October 29.
* I have an essay in Chicks Unravel Time, available now in paperback and ebook.
* The audiobook (and paperback and ebook) of The Siren Depths, the third Books of the Raksura is now available.
Places I will be:
* I will be teaching two classes at the DFW Writers Conference on May 4-5 in Hurst, Texas.
* I will be at LoneStarCon 3, the 71st Worldcon, in San Antonio, Texas on August 29 through September 2.
February 26, 2013
We had a huge windstorm yesterday, which I staggered arou...
We had a huge windstorm yesterday, which I staggered around out in and planted tomatoes.
A few things I want to link to first:
Elaine Cunningham: Fantasy epics: "Boy Books?" The idea that women don't read or write fantasy is still going strong.
Judith Tarr: Winter Feed-a-Pony Sale Editing and Writing Mentoring, plus Camp Lipizzan
Think Progress: Why Seth MacFarlane and The Onion’s Jokes About Quvenzhané Wallis Are So Gross
Michele Sagara: Where is my outrage? Here. It's here.
***
There was new fan music by Peter Cline added to the Three Worlds Compendium! This is a song for Chime. (Scroll down to the bottom for the music. That's the page for all the Raksura short stories and fan art on my web site.)
***
Yesterday I picked a title for the sequel to Emilie and the Hollow World, which is the book I'm writing now, and the publisher really liked it, so it will be Emilie and the Sky World.
I've also gotten some really nice blurbs for Emilie and the Hollow World:
"A rollicking adventure yarn with plenty of heart - Emilie & the Hollow World shouldn't be missed."
-USA Today bestselling author Ann Aguirre
Emilie is the best kind of adventurer -- curious, courageous, stubborn, resourceful, and quick to make friends. I can't wait to see where she goes exploring next.
-Sharon Shinn
Martha Wells' Emilie and the Hollow World is a lovely little adventure story that brings a modern sensibility to a classic pulp trope, re-enlivening and re-envisioning it for a contemporary audience. The hollow world, the accidental stowaway, steamships, airships, the gentleman or gentlewoman adventurer--these are elements that would be at home in a story told in the thirties. The clever and competent young heroine on the other hand--well that's another story entirely, and one that Martha Wells handles beautifully. Unlike those thirties pulps, this a book you wouldn't be embarrassed to give a thirteen year old soccer player who can't see any reason she won't grow up to be a physicist and the next president of the United States. Deft writing and consummate storytelling make a classic story fresh again for a new audience. All in all, Emilie and the Hollow World is a ripping yarn for a modern audience.
-Kelly McCullough, author of the WebMage and Fallen Blade series as well as the forthcoming YA School For Sidekicks: The Totally Secret Origin of Foxman Jr.
and I got this really nice review: Kindle-aholic's Book Pile:
As I read Wells' Emilie & the Hollow World, I felt like my childhood fantasies had sprung to life. A strange world at the center of the earth? Check. Magic? Check. Fantastical beings and monsters? Check. A young, smart heroine? Check plus!
I was giddy with nostalgic joy. I wish I had this book when I was younger. I am buying the print version to go in my kids' library. I devoured this book and loved every second. I also obviously must read more books by Martha Wells.
A few things I want to link to first:
Elaine Cunningham: Fantasy epics: "Boy Books?" The idea that women don't read or write fantasy is still going strong.
Judith Tarr: Winter Feed-a-Pony Sale Editing and Writing Mentoring, plus Camp Lipizzan
Think Progress: Why Seth MacFarlane and The Onion’s Jokes About Quvenzhané Wallis Are So Gross
Michele Sagara: Where is my outrage? Here. It's here.
***
There was new fan music by Peter Cline added to the Three Worlds Compendium! This is a song for Chime. (Scroll down to the bottom for the music. That's the page for all the Raksura short stories and fan art on my web site.)
***
Yesterday I picked a title for the sequel to Emilie and the Hollow World, which is the book I'm writing now, and the publisher really liked it, so it will be Emilie and the Sky World.
I've also gotten some really nice blurbs for Emilie and the Hollow World:
"A rollicking adventure yarn with plenty of heart - Emilie & the Hollow World shouldn't be missed."
-USA Today bestselling author Ann Aguirre
Emilie is the best kind of adventurer -- curious, courageous, stubborn, resourceful, and quick to make friends. I can't wait to see where she goes exploring next.
-Sharon Shinn
Martha Wells' Emilie and the Hollow World is a lovely little adventure story that brings a modern sensibility to a classic pulp trope, re-enlivening and re-envisioning it for a contemporary audience. The hollow world, the accidental stowaway, steamships, airships, the gentleman or gentlewoman adventurer--these are elements that would be at home in a story told in the thirties. The clever and competent young heroine on the other hand--well that's another story entirely, and one that Martha Wells handles beautifully. Unlike those thirties pulps, this a book you wouldn't be embarrassed to give a thirteen year old soccer player who can't see any reason she won't grow up to be a physicist and the next president of the United States. Deft writing and consummate storytelling make a classic story fresh again for a new audience. All in all, Emilie and the Hollow World is a ripping yarn for a modern audience.
-Kelly McCullough, author of the WebMage and Fallen Blade series as well as the forthcoming YA School For Sidekicks: The Totally Secret Origin of Foxman Jr.
and I got this really nice review: Kindle-aholic's Book Pile:
As I read Wells' Emilie & the Hollow World, I felt like my childhood fantasies had sprung to life. A strange world at the center of the earth? Check. Magic? Check. Fantastical beings and monsters? Check. A young, smart heroine? Check plus!
I was giddy with nostalgic joy. I wish I had this book when I was younger. I am buying the print version to go in my kids' library. I devoured this book and loved every second. I also obviously must read more books by Martha Wells.
February 25, 2013
Fantasy Fans: Where’s Your Outrage?If you didn’t know, so...
Fantasy Fans: Where’s Your Outrage?
If you didn’t know, something relevant to your genre happened last night. Beasts of the Southern Wild, a fantasy film I’ve been raving about, got nominated for four different Oscars — yeah, they didn’t win any last night, but getting nominated is still awesome. One of those nominations was for the film’s star, Quvenzhané Wallis, who also made history for being the youngest-ever Oscar nominee. She’s 9 years old.
Here’s the part that happened last night: half of Hollywood decided that it hated her.
It includes a link to the article on the Atlantic Wire: No One Liked The Onion's Quvenzhane Wallis 'Joke'
The Onion is a routinely funny, usually quick-witted satirical newspaper, but needless to say it did not go over well last night when they called the 9-year-old Oscar-nominee Quvenzhane Wallis the c-word.
Change.org: Demand an Apology From the Onion
If you didn’t know, something relevant to your genre happened last night. Beasts of the Southern Wild, a fantasy film I’ve been raving about, got nominated for four different Oscars — yeah, they didn’t win any last night, but getting nominated is still awesome. One of those nominations was for the film’s star, Quvenzhané Wallis, who also made history for being the youngest-ever Oscar nominee. She’s 9 years old.
Here’s the part that happened last night: half of Hollywood decided that it hated her.
It includes a link to the article on the Atlantic Wire: No One Liked The Onion's Quvenzhane Wallis 'Joke'
The Onion is a routinely funny, usually quick-witted satirical newspaper, but needless to say it did not go over well last night when they called the 9-year-old Oscar-nominee Quvenzhane Wallis the c-word.
Change.org: Demand an Apology From the Onion
February 24, 2013
Sherwood Forest Fair
ETA: Wow, Live Journal seems to have shrunk all my photos. For versions you can actually see, they're on my Tumblr here: http://marthawells.tumblr.com/post/43891987714/sherwood-forest-fair
We went to the Sherwood Forest Renaissance Fair (near Austin) yesterday, and had an excellent time. It was a great day, kind of cold in the morning but after that it warmed up just enough. The site is large and mostly wooded, and the trails through it are more suggestions than actual pathways, and there's so much room to wander around it never feels crowded.
We got there right after it opened and went and sat in the Hookah Bar and drank ginger chai and listened to one of the bands warming up. (It's basically a large tent set up on a platform, with a view of one of the main stages, with tables and chairs and rugs and cushions to sit on the floor, and also a drinks bar with all sorts of coffees and teas. Later in the day, once people start smoking hookahs, it's fun to be waiting for your drink and watch people who have never seen a real hookah bar in person walk in. It's sort of this growing incredulity, like "Oh my God WHAT IS GOING ON HERE oh look, they have cappuccino.")
This is the view from the Hookah bar
This is an older view of the front part, I don't think I've ever gotten a good picture of the whole thing, at least that I can find.
Food is a huge part of this fair, and they have some really good food, a lot of which is actually made on site, instead of being made earlier and heated up in microwaves. The steak on a stick place cooks steak and crepes to order, right there in front of you on a big fire. I had a mini loaf of bread and a mini chocolate cake shaped like a rose from the bakery, and a free sample of bread pudding with honey mead syrup, and a beef and mushroom crepe with potatoes and feta and pesto. We were too full when we passed the Jerusalem Cafe, which had kebobs and hummus and falafel and smelled absolutely wonderful.
Most of the stuff for sail is artisan crafts, and we bought handmade soap, hand lotion from a goat farm, a couple of spice mixes, grains of paradise in a really pretty bottle, a handwoven shawl-jacket just made on the loom in the tent, honey from someone's backyard in Austin, and a tie-dyed t-shirt, and Troyce bought me a carved bone moon-face.
Here's a few pictures. I have some more at the other tagged posts:
There are occasionally Weeping Angel problems at this fair.
We went to the Sherwood Forest Renaissance Fair (near Austin) yesterday, and had an excellent time. It was a great day, kind of cold in the morning but after that it warmed up just enough. The site is large and mostly wooded, and the trails through it are more suggestions than actual pathways, and there's so much room to wander around it never feels crowded.
We got there right after it opened and went and sat in the Hookah Bar and drank ginger chai and listened to one of the bands warming up. (It's basically a large tent set up on a platform, with a view of one of the main stages, with tables and chairs and rugs and cushions to sit on the floor, and also a drinks bar with all sorts of coffees and teas. Later in the day, once people start smoking hookahs, it's fun to be waiting for your drink and watch people who have never seen a real hookah bar in person walk in. It's sort of this growing incredulity, like "Oh my God WHAT IS GOING ON HERE oh look, they have cappuccino.")
This is the view from the Hookah bar
This is an older view of the front part, I don't think I've ever gotten a good picture of the whole thing, at least that I can find.
Food is a huge part of this fair, and they have some really good food, a lot of which is actually made on site, instead of being made earlier and heated up in microwaves. The steak on a stick place cooks steak and crepes to order, right there in front of you on a big fire. I had a mini loaf of bread and a mini chocolate cake shaped like a rose from the bakery, and a free sample of bread pudding with honey mead syrup, and a beef and mushroom crepe with potatoes and feta and pesto. We were too full when we passed the Jerusalem Cafe, which had kebobs and hummus and falafel and smelled absolutely wonderful.
Most of the stuff for sail is artisan crafts, and we bought handmade soap, hand lotion from a goat farm, a couple of spice mixes, grains of paradise in a really pretty bottle, a handwoven shawl-jacket just made on the loom in the tent, honey from someone's backyard in Austin, and a tie-dyed t-shirt, and Troyce bought me a carved bone moon-face.
Here's a few pictures. I have some more at the other tagged posts:
There are occasionally Weeping Angel problems at this fair.
February 22, 2013
Untitled Leia Novel
I wanted to go ahead and post about this before I forget: my currently untitled Leia Star Wars novel has been set to come out on October 29, 2013. (It was on November 5, and has just been moved up, so this date may change too.)
You can already preorder it, title-less, cover-less, description-less, on Amazon and sort of at Barnes and Noble.
You can already preorder it, title-less, cover-less, description-less, on Amazon and sort of at Barnes and Noble.
Friday
We had a huge rain squall late yesterday morning. It was kind of cool. I have a friend coming in to visit this weekend, so I need to get some writing done this morning, and I realize I have to go now because I hear cats downstairs trying to open cabinets.
***
If you didn't see it earlier, The Death of the Necromancer officially became an ebook and is available DRM-free from a variety of places, and The Siren Depths was released in audiobook, and is now up on Amazon and iTunes (scroll down for the audiobooks).
***
* The Con or Bust Fundraiser auction is ending this weekend on Sunday, February 24. Con or Bust helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions.
There are still tons of cool fun things to bid on and more that have been recently added. Signed books and ARCs, role-playing games, pretty knitted things, baked goods, jewelry, critiques, graphic novels, and more.
I've entered Signed copies of the three Books of the Raksura in trade paperback: The Cloud Roads, The Serpent Sea, and The Siren Depths.
***
If you didn't see it earlier, The Death of the Necromancer officially became an ebook and is available DRM-free from a variety of places, and The Siren Depths was released in audiobook, and is now up on Amazon and iTunes (scroll down for the audiobooks).
***
* The Con or Bust Fundraiser auction is ending this weekend on Sunday, February 24. Con or Bust helps people of color/non-white people attend SFF conventions.
There are still tons of cool fun things to bid on and more that have been recently added. Signed books and ARCs, role-playing games, pretty knitted things, baked goods, jewelry, critiques, graphic novels, and more.
I've entered Signed copies of the three Books of the Raksura in trade paperback: The Cloud Roads, The Serpent Sea, and The Siren Depths.
February 21, 2013
Links and Book Recs
* The 2012 Nebula and Andre Norton Award Nominees were Announced. Congrats to all the nominees!
* Nerd's Eye View: Once I Traveled Alone Sarai Sierra, a 33 year old woman from New York City, was killed in Istanbul while traveling alone. When NBC news posted the story, commenters responded that women should not travel alone. That men should not murder did not seem to be part of the equation.
* Karen Lord: Writer From Another Culture Culture resembles light. It is only invisible in a vacuum (the deep darkness of space), and it reveals itself by illuminating whatever it touches (the brightness of dust motes in a ray of sunlight). Most authors write in a vacuum, immersed in the familiar, the commonplace, drenched in culture so pervasive that it can only be noticed when it is bouncing off foreign objects. Words are the medium, and so language is the first foreign object illuminated. I'm always fascinated at the editing process between American English, British English, and Caribbean English. The American publishers convert my spelling; the British publishers check my grammar, and some words and phrases I avoid completely because the likelihood of misunderstanding is too great. I write imaginary worlds with their own dialect and slang, which makes editing even more interesting.
* IO9: How One Man's Lies Almost Destroyed the Comics Industry His bestselling 1954 book The Seduction of the Innocent convinced parents and politicians alike that comics were a direct cause of violence, drug use, and homosexuality among young people. It led to the restrictive editorial code issued by the Comics Magazine Association of America, and a national movement to keep comics away from children and teens.
Though Wertham claimed his evidence came from thousands of case studies, it turns out that he was lying. A new investigation of Wertham's papers by University of Illinois information studies professor Carol Tilley has revealed that the psychiatrist fabricated, exaggerated, and selectively edited his data to bolster his argument that comics caused antisocial behavior. Here is what Tilley discovered, and why it still matters today.
Recs:
* Poem: In Your Despair, Be Mindful by C.S.E. Cooney
friend, in your despair
remember and be mindful
the torment of our work
shall also bless us
* New YA: Bereft by Craig Laurence Gidney
Rafael Fannen is a 14-year old boy who has won a minority scholarship to Our Lady of the Woods, an all male Catholic college preparatory school. Winning the scholarship quickly turns into a nightmare, as Rafe has to deal with the racism of his fellow students. Things quickly spin out of control when he is targeted by a vicious bully.
"Gidney has crafted a beautifully assured and insightful debut novel detailing the heightened surreality and emotionalism of teenage life. This book is full of heartbreak, humor, and most importantly a deep humane sense of empathy."--William Johnson, editor, Lambda Literary Review and publisher of Mary Literary Quarterly
* The new cover for Linda Nagata's reprint of her novel Memory is gorgeous
* I'm really enjoying Bones of the Old Ones by Howard Andrew Jones, the new Dabir and Asim fantasy/adventure/mystery set in the 8th century Muslim caliphate.
* Nerd's Eye View: Once I Traveled Alone Sarai Sierra, a 33 year old woman from New York City, was killed in Istanbul while traveling alone. When NBC news posted the story, commenters responded that women should not travel alone. That men should not murder did not seem to be part of the equation.
* Karen Lord: Writer From Another Culture Culture resembles light. It is only invisible in a vacuum (the deep darkness of space), and it reveals itself by illuminating whatever it touches (the brightness of dust motes in a ray of sunlight). Most authors write in a vacuum, immersed in the familiar, the commonplace, drenched in culture so pervasive that it can only be noticed when it is bouncing off foreign objects. Words are the medium, and so language is the first foreign object illuminated. I'm always fascinated at the editing process between American English, British English, and Caribbean English. The American publishers convert my spelling; the British publishers check my grammar, and some words and phrases I avoid completely because the likelihood of misunderstanding is too great. I write imaginary worlds with their own dialect and slang, which makes editing even more interesting.
* IO9: How One Man's Lies Almost Destroyed the Comics Industry His bestselling 1954 book The Seduction of the Innocent convinced parents and politicians alike that comics were a direct cause of violence, drug use, and homosexuality among young people. It led to the restrictive editorial code issued by the Comics Magazine Association of America, and a national movement to keep comics away from children and teens.
Though Wertham claimed his evidence came from thousands of case studies, it turns out that he was lying. A new investigation of Wertham's papers by University of Illinois information studies professor Carol Tilley has revealed that the psychiatrist fabricated, exaggerated, and selectively edited his data to bolster his argument that comics caused antisocial behavior. Here is what Tilley discovered, and why it still matters today.
Recs:
* Poem: In Your Despair, Be Mindful by C.S.E. Cooney
friend, in your despair
remember and be mindful
the torment of our work
shall also bless us
* New YA: Bereft by Craig Laurence Gidney
Rafael Fannen is a 14-year old boy who has won a minority scholarship to Our Lady of the Woods, an all male Catholic college preparatory school. Winning the scholarship quickly turns into a nightmare, as Rafe has to deal with the racism of his fellow students. Things quickly spin out of control when he is targeted by a vicious bully.
"Gidney has crafted a beautifully assured and insightful debut novel detailing the heightened surreality and emotionalism of teenage life. This book is full of heartbreak, humor, and most importantly a deep humane sense of empathy."--William Johnson, editor, Lambda Literary Review and publisher of Mary Literary Quarterly
* The new cover for Linda Nagata's reprint of her novel Memory is gorgeous
* I'm really enjoying Bones of the Old Ones by Howard Andrew Jones, the new Dabir and Asim fantasy/adventure/mystery set in the 8th century Muslim caliphate.
