I’m always amazed at how many creative, talented, and funny people come out of the woodwork whenever there’s some kind of contest or challenge like the Fark Photoshop things or the “Make McCain Interesting” thing that Stephen Colbert started. I’ve watched far too many of these, but here are my favorites:
Seriously, my need for Scrivener is growing every day. But as there is no hope on the horizon for those of us with PC or Linux, I am seeking other alternatives. There isn’t much out there for Linux, which is the OS I really need it for. I do most of my writing on the eeepc and prefer something that will work on that to something for windows. I am also not interested in emulators. Well, scratch that–if a Mac emulator for Linux that worked was available, I would consider it. But emulators generally make me break out in hives.
I tried Writer’s Cafe for a while, but there is no atual word proessor within the program and that made it not as useful. And then at one point it lost a bunch of my data–I was done.
It occurred to me that there might be creative ways to use OpenOffice to get what I need. Essentially, I have a lot of information that I need to access quickly as I write — research notes and websites and names of things and some outline stuff. I need it organized in a good way so it’s easy to enter and find. I need it to me on my local disk cuz I can’t always get to the web and don’t always want to. I think notecards are awesome.
So, I need some organization advice, I guess. What is the best way to gather together all these disparate things in a computer environment that keeps the information I need handy so I don’t have to pause too long and get more writing done?
Working for a living is no fun.
Well, it is a little fun. But my new job is very intense and takes up a lot of time. It won’t always, but right now there are many Things To Do and I am doing many of them.
Why am I whining about this? Mainly because, due to this, I have less time to do things for Fantasy that I want to, including doing interviews of authors, actors, producers, etcetc. Yes, we are starting to do interviews of folks in the wider media now. And as much as I would like to get on the phone with Robert Picardo and ask hm what Kate Mulgrew is really like, I just do not have the time.
So, if anyone out there is interested in doing some interviews for Fantasy, email me asap. If you don’t have a lot of experience, don’t worry, I’ll assign you to the easier ones (author spotlights and artist profiles all start out with the same questions, then I’ll guide you through how I go about doing follow-ups based on them. It’s not hard to learn, you just have to be interested). If you have some or a lot of experience, then I’ll let you loose on authors and actors and such depending on your areas of interest and knowledge.
Gmail address: fantastictempest. Subject: Interviewer Applicant. In the body of the email just let me know if you have experience, if you’re more comfortable doing email, phone, or instant message interviews, and links to stuff you’ve done, if applicable.
We don’t pay interviewers (or anyone else) so I am indeed interested in folks who are looking to build up experience. You have to start somewhere, and I do have time to give guidance and advice and editorial oversight so that you’re not just flailing in the wind.
Last week at KGB I came down (almost) directly from work, so I had work clothes on. The shock on people’s faces at seeing me in something other than jeans and a t-shirt was hilarious. Nora actually said, “Oh Jesus what happened to you!?” and I believe Genevieve’s exact words were, “You’re secretly a call girl now, aren’t you?”
Do you see why I never bother to dress up? Sheesh.
Anyway, I did stop by my apartment to drop off my bags and laptop and decided to finally wear the lovely necklace you see around my neck for the first time. It was a gift from the very talented JoSelle Vanderhooft and is based on Black Feather. I nearly fainted from the vapors when she first gave it to me. And it looks just as awesome on as it does in my little hands.
Here are some more shots of me in my shocking state of prettiness. This will have to tide you all over for another year or so, cuz if the faces of surprise people pull is going to be normal, I might as well spare people heart attacks!
See more KGB photos here. All taken by Ellen Datlow.
Perhaps you should sign up for our newsletter. It goes out on Friday mornings, tells you about all the great content that went up that week, and also points you toward Blog for a Beer. Someday soon, there will be contests that only subscribers can enter. Doesn’t that sound fun? Subscribe!
Cuz I can’t tell you every week, now can I? I have stuff to do! Though I will say that the article on “The 99” is excellent and Naamen’s piece on Stargate: Atlantis almost made me want to watch it again…
Last week several family members forwarded me emails saying comedian Bernie Mac was dead. Generally, I don’t pay too much attention to mass forwards, but that caught my eye cuz I like Bernie a lot. But then I discovered that he was, in fact, NOT dead, and the emails going around were just weird rumors. Huh.
This morning I got another email saying Bernie was dead, so I decided to google the Bernie Mac Is Dead Rumor to point out to this person that, no, the dude is fine, only to discover that, this morning, he actually did die. (Source: CNN; Chicago CBS Affiliate) Unless this one is yet another hoax (and truly, if CNN is that lazy checking facts, they deserved to be hoaxed), I find this incredibly sad. Bernie Mac was a great comedian and actor.
But, if course, the SF writer in me was like: So what’s up with all the emails from the future? Almost 10 days ago someone out there wrote an email about Bernie being dead and passed it along. Psychic? Visitor from the future who got the dates mixed up? Jellybaby? If you’re going to spill the beans on tragedy from the future, can we get a look-see at the day after the election?
This week’s Blog For A Beer is a special IBARW edition. Readers of this blog may find J T Glover’s essay on Bias in American SF interesting and the BfaB post uses that as a jumping-off point. The crux is this:
…for those who would prefer a different SF: what do you want, and how are you going to get it? My frustration with Mr. Banker’s post was exceeded only by my curiosity. What sustainable alternative exists, now or in future, and how will it come about? Can it be created without alienating most of SF, and if not, does that matter? Even as the writer in me is most concerned with writing well and getting published, the reader in me wants both literary challenges and comfort food. The librarian in me believes that we must make room for everyone, whoever they are and whatever they believe, else we abandon the promise of speculative fiction.
Read the full essay and comment on it here.
We have two other pieces up this week that that fit into the theme. As I mentioned yesterday, there’s a clip of Ghetto Man roasting the Superfriends. Oh 1979, you were so crazy. Also, N K Jemisin’s really, really excellent review of the latest Temeraire book that illuminates some of the big themes Novik explores in the books and also ties in why her fanfic roots make the series so amazing. And there’s a reprint of Broken Mystic’s essay on Dust, a Muslim character in the X-Men comics.
I love my job.
The related post I promised. (Also part of IBARW) To recap, Ashok Banker posted about problems of bigotry is SF/F field. Said some very interesting and insightful things. He also quoted me, Tobias Buckell, N K Jemisin, and Micole talking about the Sanders thing and bigotry in general. He agrees with us, but has a quibble about our methodology:
Other American SF writers like K. Tempest Bradford have admitted that such bias exists, and have spoken out against it. Although their rants are invariably tempered with mention of the two or three SF editors they know and are working with who are definitely not racist or biased, because, how could they be, if they’re working with them? Punches are pulled, no doubt about it. And nobody seems to have the balls to really call a spade a spade–or, to use a less unfortunate turn of phrase, a white lily a white lily.
[…]
Writers like Bradford, Buckell, and others who have spoken out against racism are always cautious to do so in small measures, focussing their ire, often disproportionately, on individual cases like Sanders of Helix Magazine. This is understandable. These writers want to make a living in that field, and are undoubtedly afraid of antagonizing people they work with on a daily basis, or people they hope to work with someday.
No doubt, they also haven’t seen such bias openly exhibited by those fellow professionals and colleagues–not yet.
In a later response to me in comments (which I’ll post in full, below, as the first comment) Ashok went on to say:
I not only feel you pull your punches, I feel you don’t have the guts to name names and kick ass when it’s warranted, and the very fact that you’re still working within the field and associated with other professionals whom even you admit could be bigotted or racist or sexist in private, shows your naivete.
Just two weeks ago I had someone tell me that I go too far and write “crazy” things whenever I post about bigotry in the field. Also that if I would just moderate my tone a bit, people would listen to me. The person in question was white, Ashok is a POC. So essentially I’m too angry for one group and not angry enough for another.
I’m unsure how to feel about being the moderate here. It’s so not me.
I have two reasons for bringing this up. One is to record the exchange Ashok and I had on his blog, since the comments got shut down (yet were quoted from). But the more important one pertains to the different ways people view what I and other anti-racist activists in SF do and how effective it is.
Most POC and women have experienced the phenomenon of pointing out some instance of racism or sexism and being dismissed, then having a white person or a man come along, say the exact same thing we just said, and receiving not only credit for pointing it out, but a positive reaction. Or, even more fun, being told that people would listen to us if only we were less shrill or angry (or other gendered or race-based adjectives) about it all. “Look at [white person and/or man]!” they say. “He doesn’t go off the rails like you do!”
This is an oft-used tactic to dismiss what the POC or woman has to say, as Naamen educated us on in this post. I mean, why be all angry about bigotry, particularly that’s directed at you? Be sensible, polite, and reasonable about it so as to make the bigot comfortable, right?
If you buy that, stop reading right now. In fact, let’s not talk to each other again until you’ve gotten rid of that notion, okay? Because, seriously, the comfort of the bigot is not my concern, neither should it be yours.
I and other POC get this all the time from… well, I’ll let you guess.
As a friend recently had to point out to someone: yes, the word racist or sexist or bigot or related is very much a strong word that should not be tossed around lightly. We know that. Boy do we know it. That does not mean we should hesitate to use it when that is what is going on. No matter how twitchy that makes you, especially if the you is a person to whom a particular stripe of bigotry is not aimed. I’ve mentioned this before.
Even if you are a person who has experienced one kind of bigotry (for example: sexism but not racism) that does not mean you are completely immune to ignorance of how a particular bigotry works for other people. If you’re a white woman, even a feminist white woman who works hard for tolerance, you can still engage in or be blind to racism, unwittingly or not. And one manifestation of that is by claiming you can’t listen to an aggrieved party because of their tone.
I’m used to that aspect of the discussion, but not so much used to the other side, wherein I am not being tough enough on the SF/F field. I’m not entirely sure what more I could say, what language I could use to make my issues with the racism and sexism of particular people and parts of the whole community clearer. It’s certainly not easy for any author to say, “This editor and/or person in power is a bigot/engages in bigoted language or actions,” especially if the author is or hopes to work with that person. Because unless the author in question is a white man (and sometimes even if) there are repercussions.
Ashok points out in his post that he doesn’t care about or want to be published in any American markets or with American publishers, thus he can say what he wants. That’s fine. But I don’t think it’s at all fair to dismiss those of us who do as being too afraid to speak out. I can’t speak for Tobias or anyone else, but I am certainly not afraid to call a spade a spade, just ask Gordon van Gelder or Ron Moore. I suspect that Tobias isn’t, either, nor are other authors of color in this genre. Major example right here.
What you think of this push and pull? Do I and other authors who speak out about racism, sexism, and other bigotry in SF go too far or not far enough? Am I the moderate here? (scary…)
