SandF #5.9 (Torture Cinema Meets Jason X) is Live!

I'll let the description for the new episode do all the talking:

You voted for it, so we have to watch it. Today is our super special Halloween edition of Torture Cinema...and we're watching Jason X, one of those awful science fiction horror flicks. Thanks, guys. We love you too. 

But to make things a little more interesting, we've decided to start including a little acting into this feature. Every Torture Cinema episode will feature a special one act play, in which we re-enact a scene from the movie in question. Granted, our acting is about as bad as the movies we have to watch, but at least we're funny, right? We hope you enjoy it!

If that sounds like something for you, then click through and download the episode!

Promo Bits: Ashes of the Black Frost by Chris Evans

It's time for a little bit of love for someone's book.  This time it's for Ashes of the Black Frost by Chris Evans, which is one of those Iron Elves books.  If you've read his books before, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of them.

Here goes:

SandF #5.8 (Interview w/ Diana Rowland) is Live!

Our latest author interview is up for your enjoyment.  This week, urban fantasy author Diana Rowland joins us to talk about some really bizarre stuff.  Such as:  morgues and their smells, substance abuse and zombies, etc.

Feel free to check out the episode here.

Dear Rick Scott: Your (Anti)Education Plan Stinks

(You'll all have to excuse me while I rant about something political on this blog.)

If you haven't heard already, Rick Scott, the governor of Florida (where I live), announced his intention to change the Floridian university system by shifting funding away from the humanities towards "job creating" STEM majors.*  Plenty of folks have poked fun at him for singling out anthropologists (for having degrees in nifty fields, but which (apparently) do little for society).**  But I'd like to talk about a different problem:  Scott's assumption that STEM majors will create jobs or assure graduates that they will be able to find them.  I'll set aside, for the moment, that his program would likely affect me personally, since I am an English major in a field that would inevitably be cut.

To start things off, STEM majors don't produce jobs.  True, putting more funding into those majors will mean hiring more teachers, which would create some jobs, but this is counteracted by all those teachers in other fields who would likely get fired as a result of the budget shifts.  Scott's plan would do little more than produce more graduates in fields that are already overwhelmed with graduates.  There aren't enough jobs in the sciences to begin with.  When graduates in any field aren't able to get jobs in or relevant to their field, it's ridiculous to assume that producing more

Classtime: Your Genre Recommendations

Originally posted on Google+, but equally relevant here:

Need recommendations from you all. I'm teaching a course called Writing About Postcolonialism and Genre Fiction and I want to couple the postco genre text with a short, representative example of the literary tradition in a particular genre. So, I'm asking you for your recommendations and opinions. I've got a lot of things in mind, but I haven't read everything and it's possible there's a perfect story that I don't know about...which you have read.

This is what I'm looking for (short fiction, novelettes, novellas, but no novels if possible):

• Golden Age or Pulp Era Space Opera (the high octane kind of stuff that best represents SF of the period) 
• Medical Thriller 
• General Thriller 
• Crime or Detective Mystery 
• Fairytale (perhaps a specific Western tradition, or specific tales) 
• Dystopia 
• Noir 

Right now, I'm considering things like Smith's Lensman Series, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Shorts, some of Poul Anderson's shorts, and selections from Grimm's fairytales (among other things).

That's a lot of genres, I know. I just want to saturate my head with as many possibilities so I can find the perfect combo for this class. Crowd sourcing literature classes FTW!

(A quick clarification: I'm not looking for contemporary examples, as much of the texts I'm using on the postco side are from the last 40ish years. I want to show how they arise from a solid literary genre tradition, if that makes sense.)

Thanks!

I'm Not Disappeared (Updatery)

For the record, I haven't disappeared.  Nor have I quit doing all the stuff I like doing, such as reviewing books, writing, and so on.  Rather, I've been doing worrying or thinking intensely about the following:

• My upcoming paper presentation for the English Graduate Organization Annual Conference (entitled "“Escaping Apartheid: The Speculative Renaissance in South Africa”).  I've got a week.  Yikes.
  
• My paper and abstract for the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, which is held in Orlando every year.  China Mieville will be guest of honor, though he likely won't attend any of my panels as I am not in his fields of interest.  But you never know.  The paper is on Kage Baker's The House of the Stag (a rewrite of a previous paper).
  
• The class I am teaching next semester called "Writing About Postcolonialism and Genre Fiction," in which I will be teaching students about the rise of genres like science fiction and fantasy (and their connection to the formations of empire) and how writers from the postcolony use such genres (including mystery, magical realism, etc.) to interrogate empire.  I'm going to teach some Tobias S. Buckell, Nalo Hopkinson, Amos Tutuola, Amitav Ghosh, Salman Rushdie, Lauren Beukes, Nadine Gordimer, and many others.  It should be fun.
  
• My oncology appointment on Monday.  I'm turning into a hypochondriac right now.  Every little change in my body makes me wonder whether I have some terrible new form of cancer, which is always a possibility for survivors of cancer.  It's stressing me out and all I want right now is for my cancer doctor to get some tests and tell me I'm a little overweight, have high natural cholesterol and asthma, but otherwise I'm a-OK.  Because paying for chemo, surgery, etc. etc. etc. is not something I can manage right now.  There's no way...
  
• The 70 students I am currently teaching (two classes of "Intro to College Writing" and one class of "Professional Communication").  Over the next 8 weeks, I will be busy busy busy.  But if I keep on top of things, I'll do just fine.
  
• The two papers I have to write this semester (one a short conference-length thing, and the other a full 20ish-page monster).  With all the work I'm doing, and all the personal stress, you can imagine what those papers look like on the other side of the hill:  a giant, paper-filled, ink-spewing monster!

I've got lots of other worries too, such as finishing WISB and some stories I've still got to write for the WISB project.  They're coming.  I'm drowning in work and having a hard time keeping it all together.  But I'll manage.

What's got you stressed or busy these days?

SandF Episode 5.7 (Interview w/ Lavie Tidhar) is Live!

The latest episode is here.  Jen and I talk to Lavie Tidhar about his latest book, Osama from PS Publishing, and some difficult topics like terrorism, 9/11, and Osama Bin Laden.  You definitely don't want to miss this one, folks!

The Magical Cylinder (of Doom) -- Plus a Free Book!

The first one to guess correctly what is inside this cylinder will win a book from me.  Something with science fiction and fantasy in it.  No joke.  Take a wild guess...

The Arts Are Amazing -- And Here's Why

I thought I'd share a little something I posted on the Google+ page for The Skiffy and Fanty Show.  Why?  Because I love the arts and the impassioned mini-rant I posted sums up how I feel about literature and film and music and other art forms.  Before you read it, though, ask yourself why you think the arts are so important.  What about reading books or listening to music or watching movies (etc.) makes the experience more than simple consumption?

Now here's my mini-rant:

Why Electronic Submissions Are Necessary

I asked on Google+ whether folks would be interested in this post.  A few people said they were, and so here I am telling you about why people like me (i.e., the poor) need electronic submissions.  For a different take on this issue, see Mari Ness' troubles with accessing a post office due to physical constraints.  My constraints are primarily financial.

I'm not going to pretend that I am the poorest person in the world.  Nor am I going to suggest that I cannot truly afford the occasional hard copy submission.  Anyone with the extra time can probably poke holes into my finances and find the money to pay for postage, whether by cutting out my social life (which isn't all that glorious to begin with) or making other kinds of sacrifices.  But it seems to me that poking holes doesn't really change the point, and it certainly doesn't change the fact that fewer and fewer markets refuse to accept electronic submissions.

In any case, here goes:

Science Fiction Dreams: What do you dream?

I usually don't remember my dreams.  But when I do, they are weird.  Take, for example, one of my more recent dreams:

For some strange reason, I and a bunch of friends -- whose faces I can't remember -- were transported by an unknown party to a semi-real replica of Earth somewhere in the vicinity of Cassiopeia.  I say semi-real replica because parts of the world that I was able to explore looked exactly like the hill my grandma lives on.  In any case, somehow we were sent to this planet, in which strange, tattooed humanoid people -- who refused to speak to humans -- drove around in camper trucks and Winnebagos.  And then there was the crazy lady in the tiny white Nissan truck.  I managed to flag her down and ask her for help and she explained to me that we should all watch out for the Green Nothings, the apparent villains of the dream.  And then she got on a motorcycle, drove off a cliff, and landed on top of a Winnebago half-submerged in the ocean, where a boat full of Pops and Fruitloops (among other brands of cereal) floated.

Is that not a weird dream?  I also dream about zombies.  Specifically, the zombie apocalypse, in which I, for some odd reason, become a bit of a hero due to my mad skills in zombie killing.

In any case, dreams are a wonderful way to come up with ideas for stories -- or at least to explore your subconscious brain, where crazy happens to live.  But the one thing I've always had trouble with is trying to understand why my dreams happen.  That is:  what sparks these little details?  Why did I dream about Green Nothings and biker chicks and Winnebagos?  I haven't thought about a Winnebago in years, as far as I can remember.  And I don't want one either.  And why Cassiopeia and a semi-real replica of Earth?  What crazy thing is behind all of this?

I don't know, and I'm sure you don't know either, but it makes one wonder...

So here's the deal:  I want to know what kind of crazy dreams you have had.  Leave a comment.  And if you know what my dream is about, leave a comment about that too!

Book Review: Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham (and Mark Buckingham)

Fantasies for young readers are almost always a joy to read.  I'm no sure what it is about such books.  Maybe it's to do with the whimsical style -- of which Down the Mysterly River has plenty -- or the adventures -- ditto.  Or maybe there's something else I haven't discovered yet.  In any case, Willingham's children's fantasy, Down the Mysterly River, is an exciting adventure story with a wonderful mixture of fairy tale and detective mystery.  Too bad I don't have kids to read this book to...

Expert boy scout Max "the Wolf" wakes up in a forest without any idea how he got there -- or any idea where "there" happens to be...  Soon Max discovers that this forest is part of a new world, inside of which a group of violent hunters known as the Blue Cutters seek out new lives to trim and prune into their "proper forms."  With his new (mysteriously talking) companions -- Banderbrock the warrior badger, Walden the less-than-spectacular-sheriff bear, and McTavish the monstrous

Discussion Dept. Vol 3: Military SF + Politics and Publishing Privileges the West

I've decided to rename the Complaint Dept. feature to Discussion Dept.  Why?  Because half the time I'm not really complaining about anything, and it seems silly to label something so negatively when really all I'm trying to do is open a bunch of topics to discussion.  So, from now on, this feature will be knowing as Discussion Dept., to which I hope you all will contribute.

The two discussion points begin below:

Discussion #1 -- Political:  What does it mean?
Jason Sanford recently had a column posted at SF Signal about the political controversy associated with Military SF.  Some of what he talks about is old news, but if you're unfamiliar with Military SF and its history, the article is well worth reading.

What I'm curious about, however, is Aliette de Bodard's response to Sanford's use of the term "political":

And the Winner of Awakenings is...

Mike Maski

You'll get a message from me soon!  Actually, since you don't have an email in your profile, I have no way to contact you.  So you've got 48 hours to send me an email to arconna[at]yahoo[dot]com with your address!

Thanks to all those who entered.  Better luck next time!

SandF #5.6 (The Hero's Journey w/ Jason Sanford) is Live!

I think the description on The Skiffy and Fanty Show explains things better than I could reiterate here:

Jason Sanford, who may be the greatest man with a southern accent to grace the Internet, joins us for an extensive discussion about heroes. Why do we love them? How have they changed in our lifetimes? What is a heroic act? We answer those questions and more, touching on everything from District 9 to Milk. The big question for all of you: Why do you love heroes and what is a heroic act to you?

If that sounds like something up your alley, go over and download the episode.  Anywho!

Upcoming Projects: South African Science Fiction and Kage Baker

I said at the beginning of this semester that I wasn't going to do any more academic conferences.  Part of that is because I don't want to spend any more money for travel expenses and the other part is because I want to start focusing on publications.

Well...so much for that idea.

In a few weeks, I will be presenting an essay on South African genre fiction at a local conference.  The essay focuses on contemporary SA SF, such as written work by Lauren Beukes and S. L. Grey and films like Neil Blomkamp's District 9.  Specifically, I am interested in the problem of interpretation.  One of the issues I see with how people read SA SF is that such readings are often overly simplistic.  It's too easy to read District 9 as a thinly-veiled allegory of Apartheid.  But doing so, in my mind, is reductive; it ignores the contemporary position of South Africa:  that is that SA is not an Apartheid State anymore; rather, it is a post-Apartheid State, and discussing contemporary literature should take that into account.  Every reference to racial tensions are, in my mind, more accurately applied to SA now than to SA as it was in a worse time.  That's not to say that talking about Apartheid is not relevant to interpretation or reading, just that reducing our reading experience to historical sensationalism presents problems for reception.

That's the first...

The second project I'm working on is not a sure thing -- yet.  A friend semi-invited me to contribute to a panel she is working on with another friend for the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) -- where China Mieville is Guest of Honor.  Their panel is focused on experiences of trauma and the "monster within," and I happen to have a paper that I've been meaning to rework that deals with those issues.  And the text in question?  Kage Baker's The House of the Stag.  In the original paper, I focused on the reconstruction of history and its impact on subjectivity in Baker's novel and Amitav Ghosh's In an Antique Land.  For this paper, I'm reconstructing the sections on Baker's novel in order to talk about how colonial trauma and exile lead to a different kind of internal acceptance -- if you've read the book, then you know that Gard adopts the narrative of the Dark Lord in order to find a "space" to exist within an extensive system of colonial exclusions.  Hopefully the paper will turn out well.  We'll see.

And there you go.  What are you working on (academic or otherwise)?

Book Review: Kangazang! by Terry Cooper (Audiobook)

(I must first apologize for the lateness of this review.  A series of personal disasters prevented me from writing this review.)

Doctor Who fans will be happy to know that Terry Cooper's Kangazang! is read by none other than Colin Baker -- the Sixth Doctor.  That alone made me excited to listen.  And boy did I have a lot of fun!  Kangazang! is a hilarious British scifi comedy with a wide range of amusing characters, hilarious jokes, and plenty of adventure.  To put it bluntly:  it would be a crime to ignore this book.

Kangazang! follows Jeff Spooner, an everyday British man who is down on his luck.  His life is dull, his girlfriend disrespectful, and his barber...an alien?  That's right.  Jeff discovers one day that Ray Scump, his eccentric and not-so-great businessman / barber, is an alien.  When Ray offers to take