The day I finished the final polish of Scars of Kinship (aka New Moon’s Giant Cock, etc) I also went to a gallery opening. The exhibit featured three artists who all think about people in places, which was incredibly appropriate for a fiction writer. Laura St Pierre’s art was the most affecting for me: not only were each of the pieces similar to short stories in their depiction of a person in a place with a problem, but the setting was Grande Prairie, a place where I spent a fair bit of time during my formative years–and the problem I had there was similar to the problem her character has. Grande Prairie is a rich but very transient city. People move there for jobs: oil industry or forestry industry, for example. Jobs in these fields are very tough. Physically, they beat the crap out of you. Emotionally, they isolate you, and they make you depend on a tiny group of comrades, which means you can lose perspective pretty thoroughly. You can’t stay connected to the wider culture when you’re living in the bush and you see town one night in five weeks and the only place that will take your […]
March issue of Ideomancer!
…is here for you to enjoy. Other awesome things in the pillow book of March: One has unused vacation days and a plan to spend them writing in coffee shops. One has tickets to an all-girl fight card. One’s arms are bruised by kettlebells. One’s neighbour, who is a cat, leaves the house after the long winter shut in, and greets one from the doorstep. […]
In which I discuss my career to date
This is my second year of eligibility for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (awarded to writers who are in the first two years of their careers, dating from their first professional sale). I am fairly unlikely to be nominated, since my career to date has been somewhat sparse. I can, however, hope that eligibility in itself will drive a few more people to read the work of mine that is available online, and maybe remember my name next time they see it (likely in Strange Horizons in spring). I can also goggle at some of the other people who are eligible this year. Rachel Manija Brown, who wrote the wonderful memoir All the Fishes Come Home to Roost. Nicole Kornher-Stace, whose story “The Raccoon’s Daughter” came out a week before mine in Fantasy Magazine and completely overshadowed it, in the best possible way. Amal El-Mohtar, who gave a very lovely and memorable poetry reading while standing on someone’s hotel-room bed at Readercon. Also, my fellow Viable Paradise students. From my year, Tiffani Angus and Christian Klaver. From other years, George Galuschak, Ferrett Steinmetz, and possibly other people I haven’t happened across yet. Obviously the workshop has […]
In lieu of talking about Readercon yet…
…I was thinking about this story today: “Swan Song” by Joanne Merriam. I read it quite a while ago, and the fact that I’m still thinking about it is a testament to its power. So: go read it. (Except for you, Mom, because it’s sad.) I’m going to post tons about Readercon, really, I just haven’t got my head around it yet. It was one of those things where each day felt like a week. At one point I laughed so hard that my face twitched uncontrollably for a half-hour afterward; at another point Andrea Hairston made me cry. I met so many people I’d only encountered in print or online before; I reconnected with some of my awesome Viable Paradise classmates and instructors; and I came away with a reading list many pages long. Definitely going back. […]
Ideomancer June Issue
Ideomancer‘s June issue is up today. It includes, as always, reviews, poetry, and brilliant stories. “Saint Stephen Street” by Ilan Lerman is a quietly devastating look at a world slipping away. Lon Prater’s “The Atrocities of King George” adds vampires to a historical moment and comes up with an answer wholly different from the amusing mashups we’ve recently seen. Megan Arkenberg’s “The Copperroof War” untangles the threads of a court intrigue starting from its violent end. Read, enjoy, and spread the word. […]
Ideomancer March issue!
Ideomancer has a new issue, and a new design, which I think is even cooler than before. Stories, poetry and reviews; writers we found first; and a new feature called “Atlas of the Imagination”. Also, if you want to wear your heart on your sleeve (or on your boobs, like me?), we have t-shirts and things! (Admittedly, this may not be the best ever product shot. What can I say–my modeling career consisted of a single church fashion show, when I was thirteen. Hey… you may not be able to see my face, but I’m smiling with great enthusiasm!) […]
The Met, the Plaza, Assouline and Andrew Kaufman
In New York last week, I went to the Met, where one cannot photograph the art, but can photograph the blossoms and the ceiling. It was mainly a business trip, but when one has been doing the same job as long as I have, business and pleasure become irretrievably mingled. I visited my friend Helen at the Assouline bookstore in the Plaza Hotel, which is one of those places where culture and myth and aspiration and art all collide in alchemical perfection. We had a glass of wine and talked about A.S. Byatt and watched the carriages on the southern edge of Central Park. I wanted to buy an ostrich egg, or a bronze bust. When I came home, I went to hear Andrew Kaufman interviewed about his second novel, The Waterproof Bible. We’re friends; I’ve had the pleasure of hearing about this novel before; but it’s quite different now that the novel is an object, a thing that exists on its own independent of Andrew’s creative mind or the kind of conversation that happens between writers. One thing that struck me is that Andrew now knows the theme of this novel, in a way that I don’t think he […]
The awesomeness of other people
I read this story before the holidays and I keep thinking about it: “Beautiful White Bodies”, by Alice Sola Kim. Links: part 1, part 2. It’s political, it’s personal, and it doesn’t oversimplify. I enjoyed it a lot. […]