Martha Wells's Blog, page 31

Worldbuilders Panel on December 11

Building a better world means doing so with intention. Join an amazing panel of authors, game designers, & creators to discuss inclusvity and accessibility in worldbuilding across geek disciplines.

Friday, December 11 Starting 11AM CT on http://twitch.tv/worldbuilders

with Martha Wells, Casey Lucas-Quaid, Jenn Lyons, Mike Selinker, S.B. Divya and moderator Jennifer Kretchmer.

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Untamed Blather

Blather about The Untamed on a Friday:


I think one thing that appeals to me about the TV series is that it was filmed all at one time, as one continuous 50 part story, rather than an episodic series. (Which it took me a while to figure this out because my brain is not what it used to be, but that's probably why so many episodes will "end" in the middle of scenes and then pick up again right where they left off in the next ep.) I like that that lets the series writing be incredibly tight, with everything you see being foreshadowing or building relationships between the characters or both. It makes it incredibly fun to rewatch, especially with someone who hasn't seen it yet. I got to watch parts of it with a friend who hadn't seen it before back in the summer, and we had so much fun cackling madly through the last ten or so episodes where things set up thirty to forty episodes ago start dropping like bombs.

I also love the stuff they added that wasn't in the book, it's plot-relevant, introduces apparently minor characters that become super important later, and builds the relationship and romance between the two main characters so much better. And I love that even with the censorship (it's a gay romance novel about people coming back from the dead, both of which are censored) it's clear it's a romance. And it's clear that people also come back from the dead. And the adventure, horror, and fantasy elements are awesome. It's also really funny when it's not ripping your heart out.

Probably my favorite A03 tag for it is "there was only one coffin."

( trigger warnings behind cut )

It's on Netflix (the translation is not great, and ruins a lot of the jokes and heavy emotional moments and makes it harder to pick up on the family relationships between the characters.) and Viki.com, a free or pay streaming service, and YouTube.

There are two follow-up movies, Fatal Journey and The Living Dead which I also adored.

Anyway, here's a very cute video to it using "I've Got a Theory" from the Buffy Musical: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27283843

And here's a couple of non-spoilery favorites:

Hold On I'm Coming: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25403338 (this one really encapsulates the romance)

Too Much: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27020149 (Yes, they really end up with a kid, who one of the two main characters claims that he gave birth to.)

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Worldbuilders Panel Dec 4

The creative universe of Star Trek is known for stories of hope, connectedness, and optimism. Join us for Elevensies Friday December 4, as we discuss how the science fiction we love can reflect and improve the way that we see our world. Starting at 11AM CT on http://twitch.tv/worldbuilders

Panelists will be Martha Wells, Benjamin C. Kinney, Dana Pellebon, Sarah Gulde, and Anthony Rapp.

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Podcast and Year in Review

An audio version of my new story "The Salt Witch" is available on the Uncanny Podcast, read by Erika Ensign https://uncannymagazine.com/article/uncanny-magazine-podcast-37b/ and there's an interview with me by co-editor Lynne M. Thomas


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It doesn't feel like I had a lot come out this year, but it turns out I did. Maybe because this year lasted a million years.


February-March

I wrote a chapter for Machina: Chapter 7 "This Facility has Gone 0 Days Without a Gray Goo Incident." The rest of the serial is by Fran Wilde, Malka Older, and Curtis C. Chen. https://www.serialbox.com/serials/machina


January

A mass market reprint of The Serpent Sea was released by Night Shade Books.

I had a short story "Obsolescence" in Take Us to A Better Place, published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It's a free anthology and you can get a copy here: https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2019/11/take-us-to-a-better-place-stories-coming-january-2020.html


February

Mass market paperback reprint of The Siren Depths, Night Shade Books.


May

Network Effect A Murderbot Novel, from Tor.com, in hardcover, audio narrated by Kevin R. Free, and ebook.

"Home: habitat, range, niche, territory," A Murderbot Diaries story. Tor.com


November

"The Salt Witch" in Uncanny Magazine #37. https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-salt-witch/

"Bespin Escape" From a Certain Point of View: Forty Stories Celebrating Forty Years of The Empire Strikes Back anthology fundraiser for First Book.


For award eligibilty, everything is eligible except the two Raksura reprint books. The Murderbot Diaries is also eligible for the Best Series Hugo Award now.

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The Salt Witch, the story I talked about in this post: ht...

The Salt Witch, the story I talked about in this post: https://marthawells.dreamwidth.org/543125.html is now online.

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New Story

I have a new fantasy story out in https://uncannymagazine.com/ and starting tomorrow (December 1) it will be free on their website. It's called The Salt Witch and it's about witches and ghosts and living with all the layers of history, personal history and the history of your world. It took me a year to write this story, and it's very personal to me, (the main character is named after one of my aunts). It came from living and spending a lot of time in places where you can see all the layers of history, and how they still affect the present, punctuated by hurricanes.

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Romancing the Runoff

The Romancing the Runoff auction for the Murderbot set is up: https://twitter.com/RomancingRunoff/status/1330916959005839360

This is a fundraiser to support voting organizations in Georgia. The auctions end tomorrow, November 24

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So All Systems Red won the Ignotus Award (the Spanish Hug...

So All Systems Red won the Ignotus Award (the Spanish Hugo) for best foreign story! It was translated by Carla B. Estruch. Yay! https://twitter.com/AEFCFT/status/1327711237606690819

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Subterranean Murderbot Art

Tommy Arnold is having a print sale of the artwork for the Subterranean edition of The Murderbot Diaries: https://www.tommyarnoldart.com/p/purchase_12.html

And he's posting some of the images on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TommyArnoldArt/status/1326194898274570242 https://twitter.com/TommyArnoldArt/status/1325857690350989317


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Also, Worldbuilders is gearing up for their annual charity fundraiser:

Check out Neil Gaiman, Hank Green, Team Unicorn, & kissing llamas in this supercut of some past Acts of Whimsy from Worldbuilders. It's December 1-15, Something to Look Forward to! #S2LF2 https://worldbuilders.org/blog/whimsy-supercut/

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WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!President Elect Biden...

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

President Elect Biden and Vice-President Harris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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