K. Tempest Bradford

First, a reminder. Hugo nominations close this Friday. If you are eligible to nominate, you should. You can nominate if you were a member of last year’s WorldCon or if you are a member of this year’s already. If you don’t know how to nominate, go here.

That said.

There were many fine stories and novels and novelettes and such published last year. I hope that if you read one you liked you will nominate it. Even if you didn’t read every story ever, you should nominate. And, if you are so inclined, I would not object to you nominating one of my stories.

I am not smooth at all, but whatever.

If I were to choose one story that I would ask people to consider it would be Elan Vital from Sybil’s Garage no 6. I personally think it’s the best short story of mine published last year, though I am excessively fond of Enmity and Different Day as well. It’s up to you to make that choice.

Also, I am eligable for Fan Writer. Just so you know.

Now I will stop my shameless plugging and get back to my regularly scheduled programming.

March 9th, 2010 | Tags: awards, hugo awards | Category: My Fiction | Comments (1)

Forgot to mention on Friday that over on Laptop Magazine there’s a fun post where I ask seven science fiction authors to name tech or software that makes them feel like they’re living in the future. I’m sure you can predict how many will say the iPhone, but not all of them did.

My own answer is similar, though for me it’s smartphones in general. Being able to check my bank balance, transfer money, locate nearby restaurants, get turn-by-turn directions to my destination plus play some games all on one device? Yes, please.

Check out the post here. (Why yes, that does seem awfully familiar to Mind Melds. However, we’re not always going to ask genre people questions.) And comment!  Commenting is love.

March 7th, 2010 | Category: Elsewhere on the Internets | Leave a comment

One of the eReaders I talked about a few weeks ago in my long post (which you need to read if you’re a writer, editor, or publisher) is now out. The enTourage eDGe dual screen eReader/Tablet has been extensively reviewed over at Laptop Magazine. Check itout, especially if you’re a student. It’s pretty cool, though needs some updates before it’s as useful as the company intends.

By the way, that title is not a typo. Random capitalization seems to be the norm in tech these days.

March 4th, 2010 | Tags: ebooks, Entourage eDGe, ereader, tech stuff | Category: Elsewhere on the Internets | Leave a comment

Today’s burning question: if you wish to attract a sparkling vampire to your bed, does your nether region need to sparkle, too?

The answer may lie here, my friends. Do NOT click if you are not somewhere you can laugh really loud for a while. Or someplace that might object to shiny vaginas.

February 25th, 2010 | Tags: genetalia, OMGWTFBBQ, things women do to themselves, twilight | Category: Elsewhere on the Internets | Comments (2)

Oddly, I haven’t seen too many reviews of EV 17/18, which is a sadness! But apparently Tangent Online did a review of the entire issue, including my story Enmity. Check it:

…a cerebral exploration of the creation story, spanning ancient Greek mythology, Christianity, and probably some other sources I haven’t picked up on too.

…Now, my knowledge of classical civilisation is limited at best, so it took a great deal of Wikipedia research even vaguely to understand what was going on here. Poor Eurydice goes from creator of the world, to Adam’s Eve and back again. She dies, lives, creates and destroys, all with little idea of who or what she really is, and by the end of it all I felt just as mixed up as Eurydice herself. In that sense, Bradford did well to carry me through the narrative as well as she did, but there is no real plot to speak of. I think the ‘point’ of this piece is to portray the eternal, cyclical relationship between good and evil, and to demonstrate how it transcends theology.

My intent was less good and evil but women and men. Perhaps I tripped over my own subconscious there.

People often run up against the same issue the reviewer did when it comes to my mythpunkish stories — I pack in a lot of mythology, some recognizable by folks with a passing knowledge, some not. Apparently my target audience consists of people who have not only read a lot of mythology and folklore from various ancient civilizations but who’ve also delved into the cultural forces that shaped those mythologies and, perhaps, have also done some research into how folklore and mythology change as the socio-cultural landscape of a region or a people change.

In other words, me, Veronica Schanoes, and Helen Pilinovsky. It’s a narrow audience.

Still, I’m glad the reviewer liked it despite the confusion. Though I wonder why she objects to the line “Rape is a metaphor. And it also is not”? There’s more to the review, so click over and read the rest. And, if you haven’t read the story yet, it exists online.

February 18th, 2010 | Tags: Electric Velocipede, Enmity, reviews | Category: Publications, Reviews | Comments (2)

Read Cat Valente’s post. Or, if you are lazy, here’s the takeaway:

No one goes around suggesting that everyone should become their own autonomous cheesemakers and cheering the death of the cheese industry. Why? Because that would result in a lot of shitty cheese.

Exactly.

February 4th, 2010 | Tags: Catherynne M. Valente, ebooks, eReaders | Category: Elsewhere on the Internets, Publishing, Technology | Comments (2)

I’m a little surprised that a respectable news outlet like Business Insider puts up with screeds the likes of which Henry Blodget spewed all over Silicon Alley the other day. It’s shocking to me that not only is the post chock full of whiny, entitled, angry foot stomping, but also wrong information. I know blog posts aren’t fact checked or anything, but hasn’t someone come along from higher up in the editorial chain to even question the bullshit he just dumped all over a supposed business site?

First, the cost to make an eBook — whether you’re just publishing an eBook or one alongside print books — is not “pretty much zero”. It’s just not. Second, if Macmillan, or any other major publisher collapses, someone else is not just going to pick up and publish the books they can’t and someone else isn’t going to just hire all the people that would put out of work. And that someone else is definitely not going to be Amazon. Because, despite the Digital Publishing Platform and Amazon Shorts, Amazon is not a publisher in the way Macmillan is a publisher.

Amazon as publishing entity is about on the same level as iUniverse, Lulu, and anyone with a blog and a decent shopping cart system. I could start selling eBooks tomorrow and those eBooks may even be written by someone who is not me. That doesn’t make me a publisher^[1].

But then that is part of the problem with Henry’s post — he doesn’t understand, at all, what it is publishers do, what Amazon does, and how all of these issues affect writers and consumers. Yes, an consumers. Henry says “we” don’t want to pay $15 for an eBook. Fine. Then “we” won’t. Consumers will spend what they spend any way they choose to spend it. If Macmillan or anyone else wants to price their books high then find out down the line that it means fewer sales, how does that hurt Henry or the rest of us?

Oh right, because then Henry can’t get what he wants when he wants it at the price he wants it. And for some reason he can’t just not buy an eBook, he wants to insist that eBooks sell at the price he’s willing to pay for it. Fine, I insist that the Kindle cost only $9.99 so that I don’t have to spend so much on it. What’s that you say? Amazon has to cover the cost of manufacturing and designing and maintaining and updating the Kindle? I don’t fucking care, do you understand? I want what I want when I want it at the price I demand.

Also, I want a pony.

Look, the idea that books, even electronic versions of books, are easy and free and don’t cost anything and amount to just a bunch of bits is, #1: stupid and: #2 dangerous. The idea that you can toss aside the fact that someone worked very hard to write that book (in most cases) and some other people took the time to edit, proofread, copyedit, design, market and promote that book is in essence saying that none of those people matter. If you really think that, you probably: #1: don’t read very many books, #2: have never met a writer or anyone involved in book publishing, #3: place a poor value on art and entertainment, #4: should be shoved off the nearest cliff.

Just try reading only self-published books for a year or two and then come tell me how all those people aren’t necessary. You will likely find a well-written, awesome book, maybe even two. Only if you read more than 100, though. Have fun reading 100 really shitty books, I’ll be over here laughing at you.

Finally, Henry, don’t even try to pretend like what Amazon is doing is good for writers. Just don’t. Because you’re wrong. You act like by giving publishers less money Amazon is somehow giving authors more. How exactly do you think this whole money flow works, son? If Amazon sells a book for $5 and they take 50%, that means $2.50 goes to the publisher. The publisher THEN pays the writer out of that $2.50. The publisher is going to get a larger chunk of that money than they give the writer, but in the end everyone but Amazon gets less.

You can’t paint the publisher as an evil entity who should get less money without saying that the writer will get less money, too, because that is what will happen. So stop trying to pretend like you’re on our side.

The side you’re on is the entitled asshole side, and that’s not a side most people would want to publicly associate with. You’re not even on the consumer’s side, because consumers have a wide array of choices, and one of those choices is not to buy things. People who bought Kindles already narrowed their choices to just Amazon, which is fine, but don’t then whine and cry when you can’t get cheap books for your expensive eReader. If you somehow feel it’s not fair that you paid so much money for the thing and yet still have to pay money for the books, I have two words for you: Google Books. And I have two more: Project Gutenberg.

Those aren’t good enough for you? Tough. Can’t get that new Stephen King release for just $10? Neither can those who buy it in hardback. Ever think that maybe your major problem is not that someone wants to sell an eBook for the outrageous price of $15 but rather that you are completely unaware of how minor a thing the price of a luxury item is when compared to the damage entitled people like you do to those who actually worked hard to create that item? Never given that any thought, huh?

Why am I not surprised?

(P. S. Will someone please stop folks who are supposedly “insiders” in Silicon Valley from acting as if the eBook reading landscape is Kindle and iPad only? I mean, really, how ignorant can one be?)

Footnotes

1. And can I also point out that writers who sell their books to major publishing houses do not hire freelance editors unless they hired said editor before they sold the book in order to make it good enough for the publishing house, which is really not the same thing at all as saying that writers can just go it alone on this whole publishing thing. What moron farm did you wander off of, Henry?[↩]

February 3rd, 2010 | Tags: Amazon, ebooks, eReaders, Henry Blodget, Kindle, people who don't know what they're talkign about, Silicon Alley Wanker, waving your ass in public, why god why, writers are people too | Category: Publishing, Rants, Technology | Comments (16)

John Sclazi has an excellent post about supporting the authors affected by this whole Macmillan/Amazon war by buying their books, then he goes on to list many fine places one can purchase said books both online and in real life.

I realized upon reading this that, in my last post, I hadn’t mentioned some good places to buy eBooks that aren’t attached to specific readers and are also worth looking in to if you’re an author or other publishing entity. I don’t know about all of them, so if you know of some I missed, please let me know in the comments.

The American Bookseller’s Association has made it easy for independent booksellers to create an eBook store through their IndieCommerce initiative. Hundreds of stores have taken advantage of it, and I believe Powell’s books is one of them. They definitely have an eBook store. You can find eBooks on IndieBound as well. If you have a favorite bookstore and they have a website, it’s worth checking it to see if they offer eBooks. WebScription.net is Baen’s eBookstore, though they sell non-Baen’s books there.

Like I said, if you know of any others, please let us know in the comments.

February 2nd, 2010 | Tags: Amazon, eBook store, ebooks, eReaders | Category: Geekitude, Technology | Leave a comment

I would normally post something like this on my tech blog, but I feel like this is more of a writer issue than a tech issue, though tech is a big part of why I’m writing this post. I’ve been pondering this for a long time — and a few inklings have come out in past posts — but the recent resurgence of AmazonFail and the reactions to it made me think it was a good time to share my thoughts on this.

As many of you know, I work for a technology magazine and part of my job is to keep up on news about gadgets and another part is actually reviewing them. Because I have interest in books and am a fiction writer besides, I ended up as the go-to person for eReaders. Last month I covered eReaders at the Consumer Electronics Show and got to see several devices that will be on the market in the next few weeks and months. I must say, there are a LOT of eReaders out there, folks.

To go along with these eReaders, many companies are also setting up online bookstores, kind of like Sony did back in the day. However, there are some differences in the way things are now. First, almost every device coming to market will have the ability to read EPUB books. EPUB is becoming the standard eBook format (spearheaded by Sony), thus the books you want should be readable on the Nook or the iRiver Story or the Alex eReader regardless of where you buy them. In theory.

The logistics of this are a bit gray right now — for instance, it’s not clear if you can buy a book from Sony then load it on the Nook, or buy a book from Barnes & Noble then load it on the Alex. I chalk this up to the general messiness in the eBook area at the moment. Eventually these issues are going to have to be sorted out. In the meantime, a lot of the smaller eReader vendors/eBook sellers are touting that the titles you buy from them can be read on any device, though they’d be happy to sell you their own.

Contrast this with Amazon, whose eBook format is proprietary and therefore can only be read by Kindles and Kindle apps for smartphones and computers. If a Kindle owner decides they like the Nook better, they can say goodbye to their eBook collection. To be fair to Amazon (I know, I know, but bear with me) this was status quo for a long time in the eBook world. Sony only recently started selling EPUB books — before they had their own format for their own readers. And the EPUB as universal format is a fairly new movement. So naturally newer eReaders are poised to take advantage of it.

Regardless of what Amazon is doing, the rest of the industry, including Apple, is going with EPUB and building their own online eBookstores to sell them. Will all of these individual stores survive? Most likely not, especially if the devices they’re attached to don’t do well. It also depends on what the DRM situation is with books bought from bigger players like B&N. But I’m sure eventually some eBook selling entity will arise from all of this and become the default store multiple devices attach themselves to. iBook might be that store, or something scrappier will come along.

So, why is all of this important to you, the folks reading this who are likely to be writers and/or book industry professionals? It’s important because a big part of the future of eBooks isn’t being shaped by publishers and booksellers wrangling with each other over percentages, it’s going to be driven by the devices consumers choose to consume the books.

While I do not agree that the iPad will CHANGE EVERYTHING ZOMG and that it will destroy all stupid eReaders^[1], there are plenty of devices and technologies on the horizon that could change the landscape drastically within the next year or two. I’m talking way cooler than the iPad (and much more useful). Here’s a really brief overview:

Footnotes

1. The reasons for this are many, but it boils down to this: eInk screens were invented for a reason. And no matter how much some people think it won’t be a big deal to read a book on an LCD screen because they spend all day in front of one, I bet they change their tune the first time they attempt reading full screen black text on a white background and nothing else.[↩]

February 2nd, 2010 | Tags: Adam tablet, Alex eReader, Amazon, Apple, ebooks, Entourage eDGe, eReaders, iBook, iPad, Kindle, mirasol display, Nook, Notion Ink, Pixel Qi, Qualcomm, Sony Reader, tablets, touchscreen tablets | Category: Geekitude, Publishing, Technology | Comments (11)

Last week I covered the consumer electronics show with my co-workers which was awesome but also completely tiring. We’d be up until 1 or 2 in the morning writing posts then get up early to attend press conferences, go to meetings, walk the floor looking for cool stuff, and try to grab food and rest when we could.

I only survived because I kept getting those small bottles of energy drinks. They kept me going but made it so I completely exhausted myself by the end of the week. Monday I slept 12 hours then I stayed up all night to catch up on work. Thursday I was up until 4 am doing work. Friday I stayed up all night so I wouldn’t miss being on Hour of the Wolf.

I have never been so exhausted in my life.

Good thing I have no more free energy drinks to tempt me. I had the last one Friday night.

January 17th, 2010 | Category: General | Comments (2)

I’ve had this swirling around in my head since the last Dollhouse episode aired but haven’t had a chance to make it solid, so I want to discuss. I’ve been thinking about the whole concept of Echo being “special” and how this keeps being repeated over and over and hammered in, but we’re never really given a reason why. The show upped the ante with the recent revelation that Caroline (the pre-Echo) did something horrible to this Bennett individual which caused her to lose functionality in her arm and also to hold a very deep grudge. Bennett said something about how Caroline always charmed people and such, and that inate awesomeness apparently still comes through even though she’s Echo.

Thing is, I really just don’t buy this.

Not even just because Eliza Dushku’s acting doesn’t convey all this awesomeness terribly well. Beyond that, this whole concept feels really contrived and pushed on us by the writers instead of something the audience actually experiences. It’s very much like a Mary Sue plot, but whose Mary Sue is Echo?

You could say she’s Eliza’s since she is an Executive Producer and must have some say over plot elements. I don’t get that feeling, though. I feel like this is all coming from Whedon. That doesn’t disqualify this trope from being Mary Sue-ish (after all, Stephen Moffett just loves his female Mary Sues), but I wonder if something else is going on. Like, this is some weird male-centric fantasy that has the Mary Sue flavor but behind it is not some fantasy about being awesome and loved but a fantasy deeply centered in the male gaze and psyche.

Am I making sense? Are you seeing this, too? WTF is this all about? I am sure I’ve encountered all of this before but damned if I can remember a specific show, movie, or book.

December 30th, 2009 | Tags: Dollhouse, Joss Whedon, stupid fantasies, WTF Show | Category: Geekitude, Rants | Comments (16)

That headline will be massively funny to those who were up ’til all hours Sunday night at World Fantasy. For the rest of you:

Have you seen the video where the store employees show that the Face Tracking software on HP’s computers don’t track black faces? If you haven’t, go look now, it is really funny. When I saw that I wanted to test if it was true for other HP webcams, so I pulled a system from our testing lab and tried it out. The Face Tracker easily tracked me, but it also tracked a darker-skinned co-worker. I then turned the backlight correction off (which made the picture darker and more like the video linked above). The Face Tracker could no longer track my co-worker, but could still track me.

So forget the pencil test, the brown bag test, and the one-drop rule. Technology has given us a far better way to determine who is black in these times, and it is the Face Tracking algorithm in HP MediaCenters!

Aren’t you glad we live in the future? I am.

*facepalm*

Click here to see the video evidence of my shame.

December 22nd, 2009 | Tags: living in the future, my Irish ancestors would be proud, Technology | Category: Computers, Geekitude, Snark, Technology | Comments (6)

I’m about to sign a two-year lease on my apartment, finally admitting to myself that I’m here for good and no longer a roaming bohemian. It only took me four years, I feel very proud. :/ Anyway, my apartment still feels very apartmenty because I haven’t decorated — due to my thinking that I might vacate at any second! — and I’d like to change that. I can’t paint, which would be my first choice. I can drape fabric around, but I can’t afford to do so right now.

Side Rant: how is it every year I swear I’m not doing this Christmas overspending crap and then somehow I do? Stupid cookies.

Side Rant Correction: I didn’t actually spend that much on gifts as I didn’t have that much to spend, but I did overspend on lunch at work, a problem I’m still working on.

Anyway! The thing I’ve always done when wanting to make my house feel more like a home is put up art. When I left Texas in 2005 I left behind a LOT of art, so I hope to have enough money in January to get that shipped to me. That won’t be enough for the whole apartment, though. So here’s my wish for 2010:

I would like to cover my walls in awesome postcards and inexpensive, medium-sized art prints. I’m going to need help with the postcard bit, though! If you happen to have a cool postcard lying around with some beautiful art or funny message or something else awesome, and you don’t plan to put it on your wall, will you send it to me? And if you come across one at a museum or cafe or something between now and mid-February, please send me those, too! Make postcards of your own art or projects or events? Send ‘em! Funny notes on the back are encouraged.

The address to send is below. This P.O. Box only lasts until February, so send everything ya got before the 15th.

K. Bradford
P.O. Box 66
New York, NY 10018-9998

When all of the cards are in, I’ll take a picture of the result.

December 21st, 2009 | Tags: apartment dwelling, art | Category: News | Comments (3)

In a few hours the last of the Interfictions auctions will come to an end. Bidding closes on two around noon eastern time and then thereafter until around 7PM eastern. The last seven pieces are so beautiful and wonderful and amazing that I insist you bid! I’ve set a personal goal: I’d like to raise $400 with these last auctions, but that can only happen if you go and enter a minimum bid.

Now I obviously know that budgets are tight and all, and I certainly don’t want you to bid more than you can afford. But I bet that you can afford one of those pieces at the current bid, so why not go try? You might be outbid, but that’s okay. You still took a chance! And don’t be afraid of outbidding others. If they want it, they’ll come back and claim it.

Here are my thoughts and favorite things about each of the pieces:

All Valentines are One Valentine — When I was taking pictures of this box my roommate came in and sat just starting at it for 30 minutes. It tends to capture people and engage them deeply. I particularly love the bits of story written on different parts of the mask. And, according to Shadesong, the text written on the blue part of the mask is actually fanfiction. Fanfiction, people! In mask form! The interplay between the parts of the mask, like slices of a person, with the colors and the text is so masterfully done  that I could just stare at it all day.

Gilded Cage — Cris completed this piece just a little while ago so we slid it in right at the end. She’d already photographed a bunch of the auction pieces yet still found time to do this. I’m so glad as I’m a huge fan of her necklaces (I own three!) and this is no exception. I’m also really, really glad that she chose Genevieve Valentine’s piece since that’s one of my favorites in IF2 (in the annex). The bees and the lock and the color of the beads so perfectly encapsulate the beauty and majesty and terror and pain the character experiences in the story. Plus, it’s just damn beautiful.

Berry Moon — I’m sad that we could never get pictures that truly do this skirt justice. It’s not only beautiful, but the material it’s made out of feels so damn GOOD. It’s a wrap skirt and can fit a variety of sizes because the final hole for the tie hasn’t been sewn in yet. The artist, Pam Noles, did that so whoever won could size it to their needs. She’ll even make the adjustment for you. If you’re a fan of wrap skirts, of purple, of beautiful clothes, or want to give someone a fabulous handmade and possibly unique gift, go bid now! I will throw a fit if it goes for less than $100.

Valentines — Yes, there were a lot of pieces based on this story, but this one is (I think) the only one that represents a collaboration between the artist and author. From the statement:

Shira Lipkin and I collaborated on this project, working together to record the story in as many different forms as possible: audio on cassette tape and CD, video on DVD, handwritten on parchment, computer printed on paper. I then shattered the disks, tore the paper, and cut the tape into small fragments and used one fragment from each medium in this piece…

People, do you realize how insanely cool that is? Pieces of story recorded, deconstructed, and made into wearable art. How is that not something you want to own?

A Chain of Memories — This charm necklace is yet another fantastic embodiment of Shadesong’s story and also includes bottles for storing messages. Plus, you can add your own charms to it over time, thus adding to the story, and wear it in several different ways. I love the idea that, by wearing this, you’re participating in the IF2 story and creating a new version of it simply by existing.

The Quiz — Handmade journals are always a hit with me. This one is small, too, so would easily fit in a pocket. Yes, I’m bidding on it. If I win, I’ve decided to write bizarre quiz questions inside it and get other people to write in answers. We’ll see what the end product looks like, but I bet it’ll be cool. Maybe I’ll auction that off next year. Just because I’m bidding and plan to do this cool thing doesn’t mean YOU cannot bid and do cool things with this piece. Make me work for it!

What He Said — This pendant says: “Maybe we can not belong together”. I want it just for that. Belonging is something I think all people crave, though in different degrees and in different ways. The IAF is about bringing together artists who don’t belong and giving them a sort of belonging while not trying to take away the good that can come from not belonging. If that makes sense. Art often arises from tensions, and being outside, being in-between, being liminal is a great source of tension. It also helps when you can be around people who get that and celebrate it. That’s what this pendant is: the IAF in jewelry form.

Click here to visit the auction site and bid. Seriously, I want to raise $400 today and you can all help. Last time I checked, current bids put us at $277 for the day. So just $123 to go!  Help us get there. Look at these with an eye toward something you’d like for yourself or for a friend or family member. Bid what you can and spread the word.

December 7th, 2009 | Tags: art, beautiful things, Interfictions 2, interfictions auction, Interstitial Arts Foundation, jewelry | Category: Elsewhere on the Internets, Jewelry, Shiny Things | Comments (3)