Friday Links When It Sizzles
Some personal links first: I made a reprint sale to Beyond Binary, an anthology of genderqueer SF, edited by Brit Mandelo for Lethe Press. I'm super excited about it, not only to be a Lethe Press author now, but also to share a TOC with such amazing writers as Nalo Hopkinson, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Catherynne Valente and Sandra McDonald. The story in question is "Prosperine When It Sizzles," which first appeared in shared world anthology New Ceres Nights. I have a soft spot for M. Pepin and La Duchesse, so delighted to see that story get a wider audience.
Also I've been meaning to link for ages that my story, "Taking Leaves," which was one of the winners of the Love2Read competition of fiction about reading disabilities, now has an audio version available. You can listen by streaming it from the site.
A new Hark, a Vagrant! is always cause for celebration, but this one is especially pertinent and awesome this week because it's all about Wonder Woman. Kate Beaton is a cynical genius.
Bluemilk often writes wonderfully about parenthood and feminism, and this post about crying babies on aeroplanes struck a chord with me. There really are two kinds of people, those who have empathy for parents struggling with noisy children/babies in public, and those who don't. Often, sadly, that empathy can depend on how personally close you are to the experience of trying to function with small children in public.
This essay about the growing phenomenon of women cosplaying femme versions of the Doctor is fascinating, with some great pics. I find this particular aspect of fandom close to my heart because my daughter came up with it independently, playing Matt Smith's Doctor in the playground (sometimes with male friends as companions and the Master, though on one notable occasion she had corralled four other girls to play River Song, Melody Pond, Amy Pond & young Amelia OH HELL YES that's my girl) and back in July kept her bedroom tidy for a whole month in order to earn a red bowtie for herself.
Speaking of adorable, Tiny Titans recently took on that mysterious purple woman who appears in the background of all the new 52 titles at DC – this interview with the men who write & draw Tiny Titans is fabulous and makes it clear why the comic is so damn good. They love what they are doing, they respect their kid & adult readers, and they are having SO MUCH FUN. I can highly recommend Tiny Titans trades as Christmas presents for the geek kids in your life.
Nicola Griffith talks about the 'showrooming' practice of online shoppers browsing real bookstores and then buying the product elsewhere – and about how this is something the bookselling industry should be using. I am reminded just a bit of a certain short story I wrote for Sprawl which depicts a possible future of bookselling for busy parents. Never mind the charming book professional who flatters you at the door and finds you the books you didn't know you wanted to buy… if you want someone like me to browse books anywhere other than my laptop, you're gonna have to provide entertainment for my kids.
Also, a very cute post on Tor about the history of the portrayal of futuristic books in science fiction.
