Martha Wells's Blog, page 148
October 9, 2012
Links
It's Tuesday again. That's about all I've got right now.
***
There are only five more days in the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Ballou SR High School. Only around 100 books have been purchased for the school library off the wishlist, and there are a lot of books on sale or at only $9.95. Many of them are sequels to or the last book in a trilogy that the school already has.
***
NYT: New Zealand's Hobbit Trail Years ago, back when I had a day job, I went to New Zealand with a friend and among all the other touring, we did one of the tours that took you to some of the sites that had been used in Lord of the Rings around Queenstown. It was gorgeous. When we were in Auckland, she actually went to Hobbiton, but it was a really long bus ride, so I stayed in the city with friends and we went to the zoo, and did some shopping, and accidentally found the store owned by the weavers who did the cloaks and some other weaving for the movie.
***
New Kindle novella from fantasy writer Robin Wayne Bailey: Payday
Davy sensed something in the air that night when he and his lover, Jake, left the bar. Something in the wind. Something wrong. Yet, with Jake at his side, he felt safe, loved, and protected.
Four teenagers armed with baseball bats and crowbars changed all that. Now, Davy lies paralyzed in a hospital, Jake lies dead, and a gang of spoiled boys think they're home free. They couldn't be more wrong. When innocent blood is spilled, there will be Hell to Pay.
From the mind of Robin Wayne Bailey, Nebula Award nominee and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, comes this moving tale of terror and revenge and love that survives even after death. A long-established author of science fiction and fantasy, Bailey now proves himself a master of horror, as well.
***
Help writer Tom Piccirilli after his cancer surgery by buying his ebooks.
***
There are only five more days in the Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Ballou SR High School. Only around 100 books have been purchased for the school library off the wishlist, and there are a lot of books on sale or at only $9.95. Many of them are sequels to or the last book in a trilogy that the school already has.
***
NYT: New Zealand's Hobbit Trail Years ago, back when I had a day job, I went to New Zealand with a friend and among all the other touring, we did one of the tours that took you to some of the sites that had been used in Lord of the Rings around Queenstown. It was gorgeous. When we were in Auckland, she actually went to Hobbiton, but it was a really long bus ride, so I stayed in the city with friends and we went to the zoo, and did some shopping, and accidentally found the store owned by the weavers who did the cloaks and some other weaving for the movie.
***
New Kindle novella from fantasy writer Robin Wayne Bailey: Payday
Davy sensed something in the air that night when he and his lover, Jake, left the bar. Something in the wind. Something wrong. Yet, with Jake at his side, he felt safe, loved, and protected.
Four teenagers armed with baseball bats and crowbars changed all that. Now, Davy lies paralyzed in a hospital, Jake lies dead, and a gang of spoiled boys think they're home free. They couldn't be more wrong. When innocent blood is spilled, there will be Hell to Pay.
From the mind of Robin Wayne Bailey, Nebula Award nominee and former president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, comes this moving tale of terror and revenge and love that survives even after death. A long-established author of science fiction and fantasy, Bailey now proves himself a master of horror, as well.
***
Help writer Tom Piccirilli after his cancer surgery by buying his ebooks.
October 7, 2012
October!
It's October and suddenly it's gray and cold (cool, in the 50s) here. Of course, later this week it'll be back to the 80s, but it's kind of nice while it lasts. (Except for the horrific effect on my sinuses.) It always makes me want to watch black and white 40s/early 50s horror movies on TCM, but today TCM is failing to cooperate.
They did show some the other day, and the trick to picking them is finding the ones that are still fun and cheesy but not so awful that you need Mystery Science Theater 3000 to help you get through them. The ones that have a real delight in telling a fun yet scary story.
William Castle movies are usually a safe bet for cheestastic fun. Early on, he did The Whistler series and the Crime Doctor series but I always felt his top fun scary movies were The Tingler and The House on Haunted Hill. He also did the original 13 Ghosts but that one I just didn't feel was as good. It didn't have Vincent Price, which is always a disadvantage.
There's also Val Lewton, whose movies were in the early 40s and tend to be more serious and not fun, but are definitely worth watching. He was Russian and went more for mystery/psychological horror than haunted house type scares. He's known for Cat People but I always thought The Leopard Man, set in New Mexico, was much scarier and a better story and mystery. It has some incredibly tense scenes that pretty much rival anything being made at the time. (Note: the titles were forced on him by the studio and have little to do with the content of the movie.)
One of my favorites is Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon, which is from 1957 and was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who also directed some of Val Lewton's best movies. It's from an M.R. James short story, and it's a mystery plot with a strong supernatural element, with a psychologist trying to discover who is committing apparently cult-related murders.
There's also the Spanish version of the original 1931 Dracula, which was filmed at the same time as the English language version, on the same sets, but with different actors and a much, much better director. (the English version of Dracula is still good, but the director didn't go to the trouble to move the camera much (the early sound cameras were much bigger than the silent cameras and hard to move, which is why some early sound remakes of silent movies tend to look weirdly static compared to the originals -- Kenneth Brannagh narrates a great documentary that talks about this, called Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood)
And one of my other favorites which is hard to find is Mark of the Vampire from 1935. It's a sound version with the same basic story of the famous lost silent London After Midnight (1927) (which despite what the TV series White Chapel said will not kill you or turn you into a serial murderer and the print of it they were supposedly casually screwing around with would have been worth a crapload of money) though with different characters. It's also a mystery, and seems like a typical cheesy vampire story -- until the end, when suddenly it's awesome.
Beast with Five Fingers is also a good bet, more fun, more cheesy than Lewton, but not quite to Castle's nutty peak. It's from 1946 and starred Peter Lorre. It's set in Italy, and again the title doesn't really convey what the movie is about.
And if you already like these kinds of movies, you must watch The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
eldritchhobbit
is doing her Halloween Countdown, with links to stories, audio files, (including James Earl Jones reading The Raven, articles and more great scary stuff.
They did show some the other day, and the trick to picking them is finding the ones that are still fun and cheesy but not so awful that you need Mystery Science Theater 3000 to help you get through them. The ones that have a real delight in telling a fun yet scary story.
William Castle movies are usually a safe bet for cheestastic fun. Early on, he did The Whistler series and the Crime Doctor series but I always felt his top fun scary movies were The Tingler and The House on Haunted Hill. He also did the original 13 Ghosts but that one I just didn't feel was as good. It didn't have Vincent Price, which is always a disadvantage.
There's also Val Lewton, whose movies were in the early 40s and tend to be more serious and not fun, but are definitely worth watching. He was Russian and went more for mystery/psychological horror than haunted house type scares. He's known for Cat People but I always thought The Leopard Man, set in New Mexico, was much scarier and a better story and mystery. It has some incredibly tense scenes that pretty much rival anything being made at the time. (Note: the titles were forced on him by the studio and have little to do with the content of the movie.)
One of my favorites is Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon, which is from 1957 and was directed by Jacques Tourneur, who also directed some of Val Lewton's best movies. It's from an M.R. James short story, and it's a mystery plot with a strong supernatural element, with a psychologist trying to discover who is committing apparently cult-related murders.
There's also the Spanish version of the original 1931 Dracula, which was filmed at the same time as the English language version, on the same sets, but with different actors and a much, much better director. (the English version of Dracula is still good, but the director didn't go to the trouble to move the camera much (the early sound cameras were much bigger than the silent cameras and hard to move, which is why some early sound remakes of silent movies tend to look weirdly static compared to the originals -- Kenneth Brannagh narrates a great documentary that talks about this, called Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood)
And one of my other favorites which is hard to find is Mark of the Vampire from 1935. It's a sound version with the same basic story of the famous lost silent London After Midnight (1927) (which despite what the TV series White Chapel said will not kill you or turn you into a serial murderer and the print of it they were supposedly casually screwing around with would have been worth a crapload of money) though with different characters. It's also a mystery, and seems like a typical cheesy vampire story -- until the end, when suddenly it's awesome.
Beast with Five Fingers is also a good bet, more fun, more cheesy than Lewton, but not quite to Castle's nutty peak. It's from 1946 and starred Peter Lorre. It's set in Italy, and again the title doesn't really convey what the movie is about.
And if you already like these kinds of movies, you must watch The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
eldritchhobbit
is doing her Halloween Countdown, with links to stories, audio files, (including James Earl Jones reading The Raven, articles and more great scary stuff.
October 5, 2012
Libraries and Oxygen
Thinking about libraries, and how incredibly vital they were to me as a kid. There was a library relatively close to our house, but it was tiny, run by River Oaks which was a small town/suburb of Fort Worth. It wasn't until we started driving across town to one of the large branches of the Fort Worth Public Library that I really got access to a lot of books. I did not have a very good time as a kid, and books kept me from going crazy, made life bearable. For me, having access to books was like having access to oxygen. I remember feeling the terror that I might run out before I could get my parents to take me back to the library.
Even today, walking into a library, I still get an echo of that feeling of relief and escape.
The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Ballou SR High School Library is still going! Lots of books left on the wishlist that are on sale or at 9.95. That's pretty cheap for a book that's going to be read over and over again by lots of different kids. The school has requested lots of manga, too.
Links:
There's a review/guest post about the Raksura books on Diana Pharoah Francis' blog
What She Might Think: Summer Library Series: All Sorts of Freedom by Juliet E. McKenna
What I read was up to me. This wasn’t the school library with its teacher-approved selection or English class limiting me to the latest books in the reading scheme.
Juliet E. McKenna has also just reprinted her first novel, originally published in 1997, as an ebook. It's The Thief's Gamble, the first tale of Einarinn.
Booktrust: The (literary) heroes who saved me
For Children's Book Week, author Stephanie Burgis writes about the fictional heroes who helped to see her through even the most difficult times
Photography Fundraiser: 10-4-2012 Update: Photos for sale Buy a gorgeous photo and help someone raise money for a replacement camera.
Even today, walking into a library, I still get an echo of that feeling of relief and escape.
The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Ballou SR High School Library is still going! Lots of books left on the wishlist that are on sale or at 9.95. That's pretty cheap for a book that's going to be read over and over again by lots of different kids. The school has requested lots of manga, too.
Links:
There's a review/guest post about the Raksura books on Diana Pharoah Francis' blog
What She Might Think: Summer Library Series: All Sorts of Freedom by Juliet E. McKenna
What I read was up to me. This wasn’t the school library with its teacher-approved selection or English class limiting me to the latest books in the reading scheme.
Juliet E. McKenna has also just reprinted her first novel, originally published in 1997, as an ebook. It's The Thief's Gamble, the first tale of Einarinn.
Booktrust: The (literary) heroes who saved me
For Children's Book Week, author Stephanie Burgis writes about the fictional heroes who helped to see her through even the most difficult times
Photography Fundraiser: 10-4-2012 Update: Photos for sale Buy a gorgeous photo and help someone raise money for a replacement camera.
October 3, 2012
Author Tom Piccirilli was diagnosed with a brain tumor la...
Author Tom Piccirilli was diagnosed with a brain tumor last week and had to have immediate surgery. Now he has to have at least two weeks in ICU, and will probably have a long recovery ahead. His insurance situation is precarious and his wife may have to quit her job to take care of him once he is out of the hospital. A fundraiser has been set up on indegogo to help with his medical bills, and literally any amount you can donate will help. If a lot of people contribute even a small amount, it adds up quickly. The link to the fundraiser is here.
And Laura Anne Gilman (
suricattus
) adds: For the rest of 2012, ChiZine Publications is generously donating all proceeds from e-book sales of his novella Every Shallow Cut directly to him for his medical expenses, and Crossroad Press will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of all Tom Piccirilli titles to the author directly.
So you can help out plus get some great horror to read during Halloween!
***
Link:
Wormhole Riders: Destination Truth's Top Ten Scary Moments (there's a short sound file that plays at the beginning, so if you're at work, turn down your sound)
And Laura Anne Gilman (
suricattus
) adds: For the rest of 2012, ChiZine Publications is generously donating all proceeds from e-book sales of his novella Every Shallow Cut directly to him for his medical expenses, and Crossroad Press will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of all Tom Piccirilli titles to the author directly. So you can help out plus get some great horror to read during Halloween!
***
Link:
Wormhole Riders: Destination Truth's Top Ten Scary Moments (there's a short sound file that plays at the beginning, so if you're at work, turn down your sound)
October 2, 2012
Links
Had a great Saturday going to a friend's wedding. People in the family had made hundreds of origami paper cranes to decorate the tables with during the reception, and it was pretty awesome. We also got rain Friday night, all day Saturday and some Sunday morning, which we still badly need. Since then it's been a bit cooler, too. Then on Sunday Jack got into the pantry and flung to the floor and broke open a large plastic container of cat food, and I pulled something in my back apparently while I was yelling at him. So that wasn't fun.
Fantasy novels I have highly recommended in the past are cheap or free:
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin is $1.99 on Kindle US!
The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer is free on Kindle US!
More Free:
Black Gate Magazine is now posting free fiction online: a teaser and about the author and The Duelist by Jason E. Thummel.
GoodReads giveaway drawing for The Serpent Sea This will be taking entries all through October. In November, the giveaway drawing for The Siren Depths will start.
If you didn't see it yesterday, my post on the Ballou SR High School Book Fair.
Fantasy novels I have highly recommended in the past are cheap or free:
The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin is $1.99 on Kindle US!
The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer is free on Kindle US!
More Free:
Black Gate Magazine is now posting free fiction online: a teaser and about the author and The Duelist by Jason E. Thummel.
GoodReads giveaway drawing for The Serpent Sea This will be taking entries all through October. In November, the giveaway drawing for The Siren Depths will start.
If you didn't see it yesterday, my post on the Ballou SR High School Book Fair.
October 1, 2012
Ballou SR High School Library Book Fair
A few years ago I discovered that I love book fairs for school libraries. There's something about buying books for kids and libraries that I can't get enough of. I mean, I'm addicted to them and have to restrain myself from spending way too much money. If I was rich, they would need a truck to ship the number of books I would buy for a school library.
The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Ballou SR High School Library has started. The link to the library's wishlist at Powell's and the shipping address of the school's librarian is in the link. When you purchase the books, Powell's will prompt you to check them off the wishlist.
we were already planning to return to Ballou but the news that libraries in particular were facing major cost cutting measures in the city has just strengthened our commitment. When we began with Ballou in 2011 there were just over 1,500 books in the library, or 1.25 for each of the nearly 1,200 students. Now, they have 5,484 which means we are about a third of the way to our goal of meeting the ALA standard of eleven books for each student. The three book fairs for Ballou to date have resulted in over 1,000 books bought from Powells Books and many others donated directly to the school through the publicity we have helped generate. Now, we are back to Ballou for another round of gift giving from a list of 450+ great new books that has us all really excited.
There are lots of SF/F, manga, and non-fiction on the list. So far (I say so far because I don't know how long I can hold off on a second order) I've sent The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson, Adaptation by Malinda Lo, No Boyz Allowed by Ni-ni Simone, 2 Days by L.B. Tillit, The Stranger by Anne E. Schraff, and Detective Conan #2.
If you can't afford to contribute a book from the list, please pass the info on. You never know, someone on your friend's list might be rich and want to buy a truckload of books.
The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Ballou SR High School Library has started. The link to the library's wishlist at Powell's and the shipping address of the school's librarian is in the link. When you purchase the books, Powell's will prompt you to check them off the wishlist.
we were already planning to return to Ballou but the news that libraries in particular were facing major cost cutting measures in the city has just strengthened our commitment. When we began with Ballou in 2011 there were just over 1,500 books in the library, or 1.25 for each of the nearly 1,200 students. Now, they have 5,484 which means we are about a third of the way to our goal of meeting the ALA standard of eleven books for each student. The three book fairs for Ballou to date have resulted in over 1,000 books bought from Powells Books and many others donated directly to the school through the publicity we have helped generate. Now, we are back to Ballou for another round of gift giving from a list of 450+ great new books that has us all really excited.
There are lots of SF/F, manga, and non-fiction on the list. So far (I say so far because I don't know how long I can hold off on a second order) I've sent The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson, Adaptation by Malinda Lo, No Boyz Allowed by Ni-ni Simone, 2 Days by L.B. Tillit, The Stranger by Anne E. Schraff, and Detective Conan #2.
If you can't afford to contribute a book from the list, please pass the info on. You never know, someone on your friend's list might be rich and want to buy a truckload of books.
September 28, 2012
More Books, Articles, and Jack
Good weather news: it is supposed to rain like crazy this weekend! Bad weather news: we're going to a friend's wedding on Saturday when the bulk of the rain is due to fall. Fortunately, it's not being held outside. I've really been looking forward to it, since he's a friend who we've known since he was a tiny baby and he is marrying a great person.
Jack has not lost his fascination with the laptop screen. He wants to lay with his head on the keyboard and watch it, and bite my fingers when I'm typing, and bat at any moving pictures on the screen. I try to discourage this by using a spray bottle and screaming.
Books:
Shadowlands by Violette Malan is out, a sequel to The Mirror Prince
Prince Cassandra dispatches Stormwolf, formerly a Hound but cured by his prince's magic and restored to the Rider he once was, to the Shadowlands to call home the People who remain refugees there. But Stormwolf finds the Hounds of the Wild Hunt now prey upon the souls of the humans, draining them of the magic which is the very lifeblood of the People. With the help of Valory Martin, a mortal psychic, Stormwolf must find the magic needed to defeat the Hunt before it's too late. Violette has the first chapter on her web site here (look up in the upper right hand corner under "sneak peek")
The full table of contents of Chicks Unravel Time has been posted! My article is "Donna Noble Saves the Universe." The book is up for preorder and will be out in the first week or so of November.
Articles:
No Evidence of Disease
A blogger describes his experience with a "friend" who faked cancer, just to get attention:
Being duped is humiliating. You backtrack and see how unconvincing the props and scenery look in the light of day. The storefronts turn out to have been cheap painted wood, the mountain landscape is just a flimsy canvas. But that feeling is normal. The lies only needed to be convincing in the moment, and their very audacity made them easy to sell.
Given a choice between thinking something is an odd coincidence, and deciding that your best friend's entire identity, down to the scar on her chest, has been constructed to deceive you; that she has gotten up every morning and shaved her head just to fuck with you, you are unlikely to choose door number two.
Smithsonian: The Great New England Vampire Panic
Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, farmers became convinced that their relatives were returning from the grave to feed on the living
Jack has not lost his fascination with the laptop screen. He wants to lay with his head on the keyboard and watch it, and bite my fingers when I'm typing, and bat at any moving pictures on the screen. I try to discourage this by using a spray bottle and screaming.
Books:
Shadowlands by Violette Malan is out, a sequel to The Mirror Prince
Prince Cassandra dispatches Stormwolf, formerly a Hound but cured by his prince's magic and restored to the Rider he once was, to the Shadowlands to call home the People who remain refugees there. But Stormwolf finds the Hounds of the Wild Hunt now prey upon the souls of the humans, draining them of the magic which is the very lifeblood of the People. With the help of Valory Martin, a mortal psychic, Stormwolf must find the magic needed to defeat the Hunt before it's too late. Violette has the first chapter on her web site here (look up in the upper right hand corner under "sneak peek")
The full table of contents of Chicks Unravel Time has been posted! My article is "Donna Noble Saves the Universe." The book is up for preorder and will be out in the first week or so of November.
Articles:
No Evidence of Disease
A blogger describes his experience with a "friend" who faked cancer, just to get attention:
Being duped is humiliating. You backtrack and see how unconvincing the props and scenery look in the light of day. The storefronts turn out to have been cheap painted wood, the mountain landscape is just a flimsy canvas. But that feeling is normal. The lies only needed to be convincing in the moment, and their very audacity made them easy to sell.
Given a choice between thinking something is an odd coincidence, and deciding that your best friend's entire identity, down to the scar on her chest, has been constructed to deceive you; that she has gotten up every morning and shaved her head just to fuck with you, you are unlikely to choose door number two.
Smithsonian: The Great New England Vampire Panic
Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, farmers became convinced that their relatives were returning from the grave to feed on the living
September 24, 2012
New Fan Art!
Got some lovely new fan art for the Raksura books! It's posted on the Books of the Raksura page here, or the direct link is here: Moon and Jade by
pentapus
pentapus
Celtic Music Festival
Sunday we went to the Celtic Music Festival at the Sherwood Forest Faire site. We had a great time, but of course, last weekend it was cool and gray and rainy, and basically perfect weather for something like this. But this weekend it was back to the 90s and dry. Not quite the surface of the sun, but maybe the surface of Mercury. It wasn't crowded though, and there's a lot of tree cover on the site.
We sat for a while at the harp stage, before being driven off by bees. (I'm not kidding.) She was playing songs written by Turlough O'Carolan and telling us a bit about his history. She also pointed out the two natural enemies of harpists at Celtic Music Festivals: bag pipers warming up, and the blacksmith, who working on something and the hammer hitting the metal was like a metronome that was just slightly off.
Romans, guarding the music festival.
The band "The Jig is Up" playing for the Austin Irish Dancing group.
There was much good food. I had a meat pie that was made on site, part of Beth's bratwurst, a strawberry smoothie, and spinach and feta crepes. We wanted to go to the place with the kebobs and hummus but were too full by that point. We bought some honey made in someone's backyard in Austin, and a bunch of handmade soap from three different vendors. Seriously, we bought a lot of soap.
I really needed the break, and I need to get to work, because even though I'm ahead of the schedule I made for myself, I'm still having all kinds of anxiety issues. (Anxiety dreams, waking up early thinking about what I need to do, etc.)
We sat for a while at the harp stage, before being driven off by bees. (I'm not kidding.) She was playing songs written by Turlough O'Carolan and telling us a bit about his history. She also pointed out the two natural enemies of harpists at Celtic Music Festivals: bag pipers warming up, and the blacksmith, who working on something and the hammer hitting the metal was like a metronome that was just slightly off.
Romans, guarding the music festival.
The band "The Jig is Up" playing for the Austin Irish Dancing group.
There was much good food. I had a meat pie that was made on site, part of Beth's bratwurst, a strawberry smoothie, and spinach and feta crepes. We wanted to go to the place with the kebobs and hummus but were too full by that point. We bought some honey made in someone's backyard in Austin, and a bunch of handmade soap from three different vendors. Seriously, we bought a lot of soap.
I really needed the break, and I need to get to work, because even though I'm ahead of the schedule I made for myself, I'm still having all kinds of anxiety issues. (Anxiety dreams, waking up early thinking about what I need to do, etc.)
September 21, 2012
Friday at Last
My allergies have been bad in the past couple of days, to which I add an achy back today. I'm really looking forward to the weekend.
The last GoodReads giveaway for The Cloud Roads will end on September 30. After that there will be one for The Serpent Sea all through October, and then In November the one for The Siren Depths will start.
I should be getting an ARC for The Siren Depths sometime soon, and once I do I'll hold a drawing for it in a post here.
I have a Pinterest board here for neat art I find.
Link I've been Meaning to Post:
Beautiful drawings of historical clothing from different groups all across China Beware NSFW ads along the side.
Judith Tarr is having a sale! Mentoring and Writing Teaching, Editing, and Various and Sundry Services
This is awesome: Xkcd: Click and Drag
The last GoodReads giveaway for The Cloud Roads will end on September 30. After that there will be one for The Serpent Sea all through October, and then In November the one for The Siren Depths will start.
I should be getting an ARC for The Siren Depths sometime soon, and once I do I'll hold a drawing for it in a post here.
I have a Pinterest board here for neat art I find.
Link I've been Meaning to Post:
Beautiful drawings of historical clothing from different groups all across China Beware NSFW ads along the side.
Judith Tarr is having a sale! Mentoring and Writing Teaching, Editing, and Various and Sundry Services
This is awesome: Xkcd: Click and Drag
