Blogging, Patreon, Life: Thinking About Things...Publicly!

I originally posted the following on Google+, but I decided to crosspost it here to get input from folks who are subscribed to this blog.  Anywhoodles:

So, Patreon.  In the last week or so, I've been giving serious thought to using it, partly because my look back at my blogging work in 2014 made me realize how much attention has been diverted from it and partly because I know why so much of my attention has been diverted away from it:  financially, I have to work more just to meet basic needs (which aren't looking good this year, by the way -- thanks to having a job which doesn't provide dental!).  So, last year, I taught more classes to cover expenses (and to make it so I could travel a little bit) and to get some things I really need (honestly, having a car has made a lot of things in my life a lot easier).  So the blog got shoved back a bit.  I had the podcasting thing.  The blog could hold off.  The closest thing I had to "funding" this kind of thing was my trip to London for Worldcon. 

But I actually like blogging.  I like talking about sf/f movies and books.  When I'm not worried about work or unexpected medical bills, I'm excited to talk about the things that I love.  I just wish I could do more of that and less of the stuff that stresses me out. 

As such, I've been trying to figure out how I can correct this.  To reduce my teaching load so I can spend more time doing what I find produces less stress.  And right now, I'm seriously considering Patreon.  Not just for blogging, but for podcasting, too (not The Skiffy and Fanty Show, though; different stuff).  Creating content = yes, please. 

I suppose this is a kind of weird way to probe the folks who follow me on G+ on what they think of the idea.  If using that could mean producing more content (on my blog, on my G+ -- in blog or podcast form (or both)), would you consider supporting it?  Or is this just a really bad idea?

2014 in Review (Stats, Data, Yikes): A Lax Year

I'm a bit late to the party here, but I figured since I set so many goals for myself this year, I should actually talk about what my 2014 looked like in terms of blogging.  In brief:  2014 was not a particularly good year for me as a blogger, which isn't actually a surprise.  I've been a somewhat lax blogger for the past few years, in part because I've diverted so much of my attention to The Skiffy and Fanty Show and to Twitter conversations.  There has also been a fair amount of burnout from time to time, particularly when the blogging community started to tank a few years back (it seems to have stabilized now).  That said, looking at my statistics, it's clear where my blog fell off the train in 2014, which gives me insight into how I might improve the blog in 2015.

But in case you want the really long-winded version, here you go:

Gender, Non-Binary, and Things (or, the Likelihood of Failure)

As you may have heard, I changed my review guidelines so I could join my podcast, The Skiffy and Fanty Show, in its 2015 "Women and Non-Binary in SFF" theme.  This post isn't really about that so much as the related subject of life and getting things right.

Or, rather, getting things wrong and hoping for forgiveness.

Already, I can tell that my efforts to provide representation for women and non-binary folks is going to an informative journey through no fault of the people involved.  Learning is, after all, partly experiential, and so it's unlikely I can go through a year with such a clear focus without picking up on my own failings or picking up new behaviors, habits, concerns, dreams, aspirations, and so on.  I'm the type of person who finds something they love or care about, and then I start dreaming about all the ways I can do that thing, often knowing deep down that I won't be able to paint the whole picture with the resources on hand.  Ambitious to a fault, if you will, about the things that matter to me, or that I find I'm most passionate about.  Podcasting and issues of representation happen to be two of the things from which I currently derive the most joy.  Partly, that's because I find podcasting to be a great deal of fun -- reading books, watching movies, and hanging out with friends; what's not to love?

Review Guidelines Change for 2015: Call for Stuffs

As you may know, The Skiffy and Fanty Show, my magic podcast, is running a new theme throughout 2015:  women and non-binary in sf/f.  Given that most of what I read ends up on that show in some form or another and that I set a goal to review 50 books this year, I'm going to follow suit.

And so, the following changes will take effect as of today:

• For all of 2015, I will primarily review books by women or non-gendered individuals (or other variations therein).  Exceptions will be made here or there for certain writers whose work I simply adore.  What I read:
• Science fiction and fantasy (or anything that is vaguely fantastic; I appreciate what might be called "literary" fiction with a fantastic flourish)
• Novels marketed for adults, young adults, or middle grade readers (the latter two categories are never sent to me for some reason)
• Short fiction
• Other types of work will also be considered if they are related to sf/f in some way (biographies, academic books, essay collections, etc.).

That's pretty much it.  Simple.  To the point.

And on that note, this is my magic open call for people to send me their book things.  Novels, story collections, non-fiction books, etc.  Anything sent to my email will automatically be considered for The Skiffy and Fanty Show or its blog.

Bring it on!

My Top 12 Books Read in 2014

I said on Twitter that I would make this list because I had such a hard time picking a winner for the 2013/2014 WISB Awards.  Basically, this list is my guilt getting the better of me, because I love so many things and hate having to pick.

So, in no particular order (because I cannot rank these books without feeling as though I have committed a great atrocity against these authors), here are my top 12 books read in 2014:

Reader Entitlement Syndrome: Stacey Jay and the Windmill Full of Corpses

I would like to begin this post with a disclaimer:  what will follow is unlikely to be pleasant; it will be filled with profanity and angry ranting.  If that's not your thing, then you can find a happy home next door where ponies dance in the moonlight and authors get shit all over for no good fucking reason and just have to smile and take it because they're the modern equivalent of the court jester now.  Yeah.

So, if you didn't know that a thing happened over the last few days, then you should probably read this less angry post on Chuck Wendig's blog.  In short, due to poor sales, an author named Stacey Jay (author of Princess of Thorns) was let go by her publisher, Delacorte Press, and decided to start a Kickstarter for the sequel  to her novel.  Among the things she included in her target goal were funds for living expenses ($7,000, to be exact).  Apparently, some people really didn't like that, and even less so the idea that Jay might not release the novel if she couldn't reach her goal.  And so they threw a fit about it.  Jay eventually took down the Kickstarter and threw in the towel, saying she'd continue writing under other pen names.  And still more people threw a fit.

The 2013 and 2014 WISB Awards

It's been almost two years since I last posted my selections for the WISB Awards.  The 2013 Awards should have gone up in January of 2014, but I got a tad overwhelmed with podcasting, Hugo stuff, and academia.  Such is life!

But now the awards are back like a weird plague that never really goes away, but takes brief hiatuses to make you feel safe from its wicked grasp.

To make up for the absence of the awards last year, I'm going to double up this year, which makes this doubly hard, since I cannot fall to temptation by allowing myself to select best books or movies I enjoyed in 2014, even though I'm basically in love with so many things right now (new and old).

First, the rules:

• I must have consumed the item in 2013 or 2014.[1]
• No more than 3 runners up per category.
• I can drop or add categories as necessary.
• I will use "genre" to mean "science fiction and fantasy" in order to distinguish categories without using 3 extra words.

So, without further ado, here are the 2013 and 2014 WISB Awards: