Book View Café, the Internet's only professional author cooperative, announces the creation of Book View Press. Book View Press will expand the Café authors' mission of bringing the best online fiction to the readers by bringing new work ready-to-read on the most popular ebook devices, including the Amazon Kindle, the Sony eReader and a variety of cell phones.
This group of award-winning and best-selling authors is launching their new press with a its first science fiction anthology: ROCKET BOY AND THE GEEK GIRLS. A collection of rare reprints, hard-to-find favorites and bold new tales by some of SFs finest authors including Vonda N. McIntyre, Katherine Kerr, Judith Tarr, P.R. Frost, Patricia G. Nagle, Amy Sterling Casil, and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff.
Rocket Boy and the Geek Girls is available at http://bit.ly/rgr4K for the Kindle version and http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/BV
To celebrate the launch of Rocket Boy, BVC is holding a TwitterFic contest. For details visit the BVC website: http://www.bookviewcafe.com
For info contact: info@bookviewcafe.com
"Fasten your seatbelts and brace your tentacles. These all-star tales of epic wonder from the genre's masters will sizzle through your mind like a spaceship on re-entry burn." --Dave Willilams, author The Burning Sky
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This has been a message from your friendly neighborhood Geek Girl.
- Mood:
chipper - Music:Alex, noodling out on the deck
I posted this to my weekly blog on Book View Cafe, too and had to note, for those who've been following my Star Wars blog that, no, it's not about Star Wars. It is about FilkContinental at which Jeff and I were Guests of Honor this year. The trip was recent enough (we got back last Friday) that I am still waking up at 3 AM feeling as if I should be doing something other than sleeping.
FilkContinental, for those who don't know, is THE European filk music convention. It's held every year at Castle Fruesberg—now a very nice youth hostel on a hill high above Kirchen, Germany. The picture at left is the front gate of the castle before Katy MacDonald parked our overloaded, Mercedes rental SUV in front of it. Sort of a modern take on a pack horse, I guess. Below is a shot of the inner courtyard.
When we arrived, a group of middle-schoolers was having a last romp through the courtyard and corridors. It was like being at Hogwarts the day before Christmas break (except that the staircases, thank God, stayed put ... at least until around midnight, when everything seemed to wobble a bit :)). They even had their own versions of Severus Snape and Professor McGonigall watching over them and looking ... well, exhausted.
Most of you know what filk is. For those who don't, let me quote NIck Smith, music programming maven for LosCon (a gencon held over Thanksgiving weekend in LA): “Well, it's sort of like folk music. It is a mixture of song parodies and original music, humorous and serious, about subjects like science fiction, fantasy, computers, cats, politics, the space program, books, movies, TV shows, love, war, death. . . Filk music started off forty or fifty years ago, at science fiction conventions, where people got together late at night to have good old-fashioned folk music song circles. Well, late night circles being what they are, some folks got a little silly and started singing song parodies about their favorite SF books and authors. Fans started writing song parodies about themselves or each other. Some started composing serious songs about favorite topics. Some authors started composing original songs for their books. If the author didn't list a tune, fans made up one. Sometimes two. Sometimes several.”
There are filk songs for just about every SF topic and work. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5 etc. There are dealer tables at every convention where fans can buy filk CDs, and there is even a filkish “Grammy” award called the Pegasus with which Jeff and I have been honored twice—once for best parody ("Knight's in White Satin") and best performer.
We have a sort of rock and roll take on filk. We take classic rock favorites such as “Hotel California,” “Nights in White Satin,” and “Come Together,” and put them through the amazing machine that is my husband’s brain. They come out on the other side as “Hotel Dealer Floor,” “Knight’s in White Satin” and “Come to Mordor.” These are included on our filk albums RetroRocket Science and Aliens Ate My Homework and they are the reason we got invited to Germany in the first place.
We got really cool badges that looked just like the cover of our most recent non-parody album, Möbius Street, and were warmly welcomed in all ways by the very loving European filkers. We did two hour-long concerts that were a mix of our parody and non-parody music (aka “the serious stuff”) and I have to say, we’ve never done so many encores. It was fabulous. Another US musician, Nancy Louise Freeman, was there, so we combined on stage to do her brilliant “Leather Pants of Evil” (a Buffy the Vampire filk that is covered on the Harmony Heifers CD.)
I go to be part of a barbershop choir led by the intrepid and lovable Steve MacDonald (aka Stevie Mac, aka SMac). We sang parodies of “Shenandoah” (“Anduin”) and “Tell Me Why” (same title, lyrics from the POV of a Slytherin alumnus explaining why the other houses at Hogwarts suck.) And I did a late night reading of “The Accumulating Man”—which is my story for BVC Press’s soon-to-be-released steampunk antho, Shadow Conspiracy. (I'm going to read from the same work for the upcoming World Fantasy Convention this coming weekend).
Jeff did a couple of parody writing and guitar workshops that were well-attended and great fun (even at 9 AM after being up singing until the wee hours), and we offered a special preview CD of our next parody album (Jeff & Maya’s Grated Hits) as an item for the Interfilk auction. This fund-raiser is a special feature of every filk convention. It’s how the filkish community raises money to send musicians around the world to share their music with other regions.
Which brings me to the institution at the heart of the filk convention: the Circle.
Yeah, the panels are great, the concerts are amazing, and the auction is a real hoot, but the heart of any filk gathering is the Circle. This is where we fill a room with people and instruments and sing to each other, and with each other, until the cows and chickens have come home to roost. There is often a collection of chocolate and other edibles in the middle of the room. (Because singing consumes massive amounts of calories, don't ya know.) There can be guitars, recorders, banjos, harps, fiddles, flutes, mandolins and rhythm instruments of all kinds. The songs are funny, sad, thought-provoking, life-affirming and sometimes groan-worthy. A lovely musical stew—just add harmony, mix well and by the end of the con, you have a family.
Filk is why most of my best friends live in other states and other countries and why every convention is a homecoming of sorts.
Some of you may wonder where the word "filk" came from. It was a typo. An accident. A simple slip of the finger to make an “o” and “i.” To my mind, it was one of the happiest accidents ever.
Ciao!
- Location:My living room
- Mood:
loved - Music:Anduin (playing in my head)
Wheee! Here it is — the cover for the first eBook publication from Book View Cafe Press: ROCKET BOY AND THE GEEK GIRLS!Ain't it geeky?
It is full of stories from the Geek Girls. Our real-life Rocket Boy—aka, Igor—is doing the layouts for our various e-releases. Igor, by the way, is the alter-ego of Steven Harper Piziks who, so far, is the sole male member of the BVC team. (And a fine team-member he is, too!)
Here's the lineup:
It was also edited by Phyllis (Irene) Radord and moi, proofed by other able members of the team and, of course, set up for a bunch of formats by the aforementioned Igor.
We're planning to offer a variety of downloadable formats including Kindle, Mobi, and PDF. And, if it's wildly popular, who knows? Maybe we'll release a print version. I mean, really, wouldn't that adorable rocket boy make a great mass market paperback cover?
My contribution to the anthology is a humorous look at first contact. I love first contact stories and this is definitely one of my favorites. It tells what happens when a teenaged alien crash lands on Earth and has to get a job in order to finance repairs on his ship.
As I said, this is the first release planned by BVC Press. We're also ramping up to release a fantasy anthology, an anthology of articles and workshops on writing that will be edited by myself and Pati Nagle and of course, the BIG ONE—our original steampunk anthology, THE SHADOW CONSPIRACY.
I have the privilege of leading off with a story entitled "The Accumulating Man" that is based on an idea I had for a novel about Mary Shelley and her writing of FRANKENSTEIN. It turned out to be a perfect beginning for the Conspiracy saga.
Wanna know more about the project? Here's a link to a thumbnail sketch of Conspiracy contents.
Ciao!
- Location:My cozy office
- Mood: jubilant
- Music:Alistair Frazier, Labyrinth
Below is a news article from the Baha'i News Service. It follows a week after the last notice we received that said the trial of the Yaran (the appointed guiding body of Baha'is in Iran whose members were arrested over a year ago) had been set for August 18. Now, on August 17, we are informed that the trial date has been moved again to October 18.
I respectfully request that my friends and casual readers alike please read this article and my commentary that follows.
GENEVA — The trial of seven Baha’i leaders imprisoned in Iran has been postponed until October 18, 2009, the Baha’i International Community learned today.
According to Diane Ala’i, the Baha’i International Community representative to the United Nations in Geneva, following a request for postponement of the trial from Mr. Hadi Elsmaielzadeh and Ms. Mahnaz Parakand — attorneys from the Defenders of Human Rights Center who are representing the seven Baha’is — the court has decided to delay the hearing for two months.
Two senior members of the legal team, Nobel laureate Mrs. Shirin Ebadi and Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani, were unable to attend the hearing as Mrs. Ebadi is out of the country and Mr. Soltani is in prison, having been detained on June 16, 2009 in the wake of the civil unrest following the presidential election in Iran.
“Our hope now is that our seven innocent co-religionists will be released on bail,” said Ms. Ala’i.
Official Iranian news accounts have said the seven are to be accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic republic.”
The Baha’i International Community categorically rejects all charges against the seven, stating that they are held solely because of religious persecution.
- Read the full article from Baha’i World News Service
- Read coverage from Reuters and Washington TV.
Now, it's true that Roxanne Saberi was freed when things looked most dire for her. But Ms. Saberi is an American citizen. She was housed with one of the Baháí women in Evin prison, and since her release, has spoken out in support of the imprisoned Bahá'ís. So, given the international pressure, many of you would think that we might have high hopes for just such an outcome, especially since there seems to be some reluctance to bring the Bahá'ís to trial. (This is the third post-ponement.) But there's something you need to understand. We have been here before.
Back in the 1980's when I was a young Bahá'í, the Revolutionary Government of Iran arrested the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahai's of Iran and placed them in Evin prison. You see, they thought that because other religious institutions formed a hierarchy that ruled the faithful, the Bahá'í Faith must surely be the same. If they only cut off the "head" of the thing, it would die. What they didn't realize is that the Bahá'í administration doesn't function that way. The institutions are NOT rulers, they are elected "leaders" (for want of a better word) and if you remove them, more will simply arise to take their place through the simple expediency of election.
This is what happened back on August 20, 1980. The National Assembly was arrested and disappeared. It was replaced through the election of a new NSA. The Iranian government then arrested and executed eight members of that nine member body as well. A friend of mine lost her father to that round of executions. A year and a half later, the international Baha'i community was horrified at the discovery of the death certificates of the original National Assembly arrested in 1980. They had been secretly executed in the basement of Evin prison—the same prison that now houses the Yaran. This, in spite of the international outcry at the time for the other cruelties the Bahá'ís of Iran were suffering.
What sort of cruelties? If you've read accounts of Dark Ages pogroms and inquisitions you have some idea of the sort of cruelties I'm talking about. And no, I am not exaggerating. But this is not Dark Ages Europe. This is the 21st century. This is a century we enter KNOWING that science has proved what Bahá'u'lláh wrote over a century ago, that mankind is one family. This—the oneness of the human race—is one of the dangerous ideas with which Bahá'ís are insulting the religous sanctities of the Iranian leadership.
So, you see, we have good reason to be concerned for the Bahá'ís in Evin prison (there are over 30 now) and wonder if their families will ever see them again.
I need to make one further comment before I go. I was just at the Association of Baha'i Studies conference in Washington DC and several speakers—Bahá'í and Muslim—gave presentations about the situation in Iran. Among the literature I brought back from the conference was a letter from the last National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Iran announcing their dissolution in obedience to the Iranian government's criminalizing Bahá'í institutions because of their anti-government activities. In the letter, the NSA secretary asked a pertinent question: If the Baha'is are really guilty of all the sins and crimes they stand accused of, how is it that a simple recanting of their faith can return them to full and welcome membership in Iranian society? What act of espionage or conspiracy could be cancelled out merely by a recantation of faith?
So, you're thinking, why tell me this when there's nothing I can do to help? You can do something to help. You can contact your government representatives and respectfully request that they keep the plight of the Bahá'ís and other beleaguered souls in Iran on the front burner and that they pursue any opportunity to further the equalization of human rights in that country.
You can also pray, if you're so inclined. Heck, pray if you're not so inclined. You never know...
- Location:My living room
- Mood: hopeful
- Music:Lights and Suns
C.F. Bentley Twitter Fic Contest at BookViewCafe.com
To celebrate the release of C.F. Bentley's book Enigma, BookViewCafe.com (BVC) will be holding its fourth twitter fic contest August 11 through13. BVC members Phyllis Irene Radford, Jennifer Stevenson, and Sarah Zettel will be judging the contest. First place will win a signed
hardcover copy of Enigma. Second place winner will receive a paperback copy of Harmony, the first book in the series.
The theme of the contest is: "Spiders and Space Stations."
Rules are online at http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/BV
The contest will be held at BVC's Twitter site: http://twitter.com/bookviewcafe/
BVC's wildly successful first three twitter fic contests were held earlier this year in celebration of member Pati Nagle's release of The
Betrayal, P.R. Frost's release of Faery Moon, and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhof's release of Laldasa: Beloved Slave.
Enigma continues the story of Jake and Sissy seeking a peaceful way to bring Harmony back into galactic society.
C.F. Bentley is the pen name of BVC member Phyllis Irene Radford. Visit Phyl's bookshelf to read some of her free fiction posted at the Book View Cafe.
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We just inducted Seanan McGuire into our ranks last week, so you can go to Seanan's Bookshelf page to read her first BVC story - "Anthony's Vampire." And don't forget to run out to your local bookstore and buy her first novel, Rosemary and Rue.Book View Cafe is going to be adding some more new members in the near future. I can't tell you who they are yet—it's a secret. But I'm impressed.
In other news;
Tomorrow I'm off to Washington, DC for the annual Association of Baha'i Studies Conference where I and my cohort will be giving a presentation entitled: Secularism, Evangelism and Progressive Revelation: a Conversation.
And I came home from a study group last night to find my husband and son in the recording studio recording one of Alex's songs! I am excited by this because I think my son is a fantastic songwriter and singer and guitarist and I want everyone to know this because I'm his mom and I couldn't be prouder of my kid. In fact, I'm proud of all my kids:
Alex got straight As this past semester.
Kris got straight As AND aced her AP history test (100%)
Amanda is going from kindergarten into second grade this year.
Am I going to be insufferable about my kids' obvious intention to take over the world (bw-ha-ha). No, but I will brag a little. :)
- Location:My office
- Mood: chipper
I often feel like one of those little hamster characters you see chugging away in their exer-thingie. I'm always scrambling for time in which to do things, but there's always SO much to do and I feel as if I'm just not getting anywhere at all ...
And yet...
When I look back at one of those weeks in which I felt constantly behind schedule with a sniggering Imp of the Impossible leering over my shoulder, I am amazed to find out that ONCE AGAIN, I have done SOMETHING.
Take this past week for example. I had two chiropractor's appointments (or rather, Kris did), early evening devotions at the home of a new Baha'i, and a flu bug that rendered me so catatonic that I couldn't work in my office (the shady, perfectly climate controlled back deck of our house) and had to opt for the sofa and comfort TV (read HGTV, in my case). I kept pattering at the keyboard, all the while telling myself that I really OUGHT TO LIE DOWN and sleep (did I mention that the flu kept me awake all night?) and I was more surprised than you can imagine when I realized that I had:
- Written my Star Wars blog (A Padawan's Journal) on Book View Cafe.
- Gotten my weekly special published on Book View Cafe (Chapter 7 of LALDASA).
- Completed a ghost-screenplay and shipped it off to the client.
- Completed the first draft edit of a police thriller and shipped it off to the client.
- Completed two chapters of the Star Wars novel I'm working on.
- Put out several small fires in the Book View Cafe back office.
- Gotten Seanan McGuire's first story ready for publication (with able assistance from Vonda McIntyre.)
- Gotten an edit pass in on the epic fantasy series I'm ghosting for a client.
- Finished the Keynote slide presentation for the upcoming Association of Baha'i Studies Conference in Washington DC.
- Taken on a new editing contract.
- Learned to make bruschetta without burning the bread.
It seems that I do not notice I am actually DOING something unless I manage to FINISH that something while I'm paying attention. Ongoing work—processes, in other words—seem to ramble on with no sense of momentum. I realize I am bipolar in that way. Deep down inside I am a process-oriented creature by nature. I love the process of writing, for example. I love pottering about the BV Cafe, straightening up here and there. (So much more gratifying than housework, because at the Cafe things tend to stay relatively fixed once you've fixed them. At home, not so much. Dishes contiue to need washing and clothing will pile up in front of the washer no matter how many loads I've washed the week before.)
BUT, here's the deal—I'm also a child of this inane culture with its goal-oriented ways. It is a culture that says you haven't really DONE anything until you have finished it and (in small print) been paid for it. So as gratifying as it is that I crank out chapters of a novel, it DOES NOT COUNT until the check is in the mail.
I've decided that now that I've discerned this pernicious mindset, I'm going to try to eradicate it. I find I LIKE feeling as if I have accomplished something and in reality, anytime I sit down and patter at my keyboard, I DO accomplish something. So what if it was only annoying my congressperson or commenting on a comment to my blog, or telling anyone who's listening what I did this week? It's SOMETHING, by golly, and I DID IT.
So there. :P
- Location:My outdoor office
- Mood:
accomplished - Music:the gentle sound of tree saws as we lose the maple in our side yard (sigh)
So, who's this guy?
Those of you who own our Aliens Ate My Homework album know that this is the woebegone Cubbies fan from the album art for "We Are the Cubs Fans." He is also a designer of gaming software. His name is Ed and he was one of the creators of that old classic video game, Battle Zone.
Recently, Ed and his team designed a new game for the iPhone-iPod Touch called Tilt-a-Ball. It's a great little game — highly addictive — and sort of like Breakout on seriously dangerous steroids. It's been getting four-and five-star reviews at the iTunes store — so congratulations to Ed and company for a job well-done.
Here's the thing: if you purchase Tilt-a-Ball, you'll hear some zany music at the main menu. Sounds like a band of techno-pop squirrels on caffeine, but really, really cool. It goes with the game which is fast-paced and fun.
Well, that's Jeff's work. So, if you go out right now and buy Tilt-a-Ball, you'll not only have a really cool game to play, but you'll have Jeff's very first commercially available composition for video game. He's done a few titles and themes for the in-house use of a certain company that I used to work for, but this is his first commercial gig in the video game domain.
By the way, Tilt-a-Ball will set you back a whopping 99 cents. Such a deal!
In other news, we finished tracking scratch vocals for "Midichlorian Rhapsody" today. I find I like channeling Freddie Mercury.
Methinks I ought to be working...
- Location:My living room
- Mood:
restless - Music:Midichlorian Rhapsody
We will be posting regular updates on the progress of the project on the BVC blog, and on Twitter. We’ll also be providing sneak-peeks of the stories, interviews with the authors and other special previews.
The project will be edited by Phyllis Irene Radford with Laura Anne Gilman acting as Editor-in-Chief. The list of authors for THE SHADOW CONSPIRACY includes the heart of the BVC lineup:
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Amy Sterling
Sarah Zettel
Brenda Clough
Jennifer Stevenson
Kathi Kimbriel
Nancy Jane Moore
Pati Nagle
Sylvia Kelso
Phyl Radford
Judy Tarr
Sue Lange
Steven Piziks
Sarah Smith
Seanan McGuire
I'm signed on to do the opening story for the antho which is set in 1816 in France with a cast of well-known historical characters. More on this later.
On the musical front, Jeff and I have gotten most of the scratch tracks and some of the main vocals down for Midichlorian Rhapsody.
Lyric preview:
I see a little tin tea-kettle of a man.
Boba Fett, Boba Fett, was your father named Jango?
Clones and Dooku's lightning—
Very, very frightening me!
- Location:Tyra's House in Lancaster
- Mood: amused
- Music:Midichlorian Rhapsody
A number of people have asked us about the lyrics to one of the cuts on Mobius Street that is sung in Arabic.
Jeff (for reasons known only to Jeff) did not let me put an English descant on the piece (it's in my head, though), nor did he put either the Arabic or English lyrics in the album lyric sheet (which you can download as a gorgeous PDF file, by the way.)
So, here for your edification, are the lyrics for "Remover of Difficulties."
Arabic (transliterated and from memory 'cause I can't find the little piece of paper it's written on :=))
Halmen mufarajen gayru'llah
Qul sobhan Allah hov'allah
Kolon ebadun lahoo
Ba kolon bey amrehi qaemun.
English:
Is there any remover of difficulties save God?
Say, "Praised be God! He is God!
All are His servants and all abide by His bidding."
This is a prayer revealed by Ali-Muhammad (aka, the Báb), who, much like a 19th century John the Baptist, anticipated the advent of a Prophet He referred to as "Him Whom God shall make manifest." That pretty building to the right is the Shrine of the Báb, which is on Mount Carmel in Israel.
The melody is one I learned when I was a teenager from friends in Nevada City, California where I became a Bahá'í. I'd always thought it was a traditional Iranian melody until recentlly when we moved to San Jose and my Persian friends commented on how different my "western" version was. :=)
Ah well, maybe I just remembered it wrong. Anyway, it's now part of the Jeff and Maya musicsphere.
- Location:office
- Mood: cheerful
- Music:Mobius Street
To celebrate the release of Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's ebook Laldasa: Beloved Slave, BookViewCafe.com (BVC) will be holding its third twitter fic contest June 17 through June 19. Bohnhoff will be joined by BVC members Phyllis Irene Radford and Jennifer Stevenson to judge the entries. First place will win a pdf of Laldasa and signed copy of Bohnhoff's fifth novel, Magic Time: Angelfire. Second and third place winners will receive a copy of Angelfire.
The Theme of the contest is: "You got mystery/romance in my science fiction."
Rules are online at http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/BV
The contest will be held at BVC's Twitter site: http://twitter.com/bookviewcafe/
BVC's wildly successful first twitter fic contest was held in April in celebration of member Pati Nagle's release of “The Betrayal.” The second was held June 2nd to celebrate the release of “Faery Moon” by P. R. Frost.
Laldasa: Beloved Slave combines new worlds, old cultures, political intrigue, spiritual discovery and romance into a book-lover's curry.
Visit Bohnhoff's bookshelf at: http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Ma
And lest I forget, Book View Café is also welcoming new members to the fold. Steven Piziks, Sarah Smith and my bosom buddy Seanan McGuire. And don't forget to check out my Star Wars blog -- this week it's all about droids.
- Location:Office
- Mood:
crazy - Music:Take Me Out to the Ballgame
That's right, book lovers. Book View Cafe (http://www.BookViewCafe.com) is pleased to announce the addition of Judith Tarr to the roster of authors presenting work for free at its website. Tarr will be the second new author Book View Cafe has invited since its initial launch last November. Alma Alexander was added in May.
Tarr is the author of numerous fantasy and historical novels and stories including The Hound and the Falcon trilogy, World Fantasy Nominee Lord of the Two Lands, and most recently Queen of the Amazons and Bring Down the Sun. She also writes as Caitlin Brennan (The Mountain's Call and sequels from LUNA) and Kathleen Bryan (The Serpent and the Rose and sequels from Tor).
Tarr’s first offering at Book View Cafe will be her short story, “Classical Horses” which posted on Wednesday, June 10. “Classical Horses” was first published in the 1991 DAW anthology, Horse Fantastic, edited by Martin and Rosalind Greenberg.
Visit Judith Tarr’s Bookshelf at Book View Cafe.
And on a more personal note, Wednesday is also my day to post. I offer a short story "If It Ain't Broke" about where nano-tech and art meet, and the 14th in my Star Wars blog series. This week's Padawan's Journal entry is: How is a Star Wars Novel Like a Rollercoaster?
Enjoy!
- Location:My office
- Mood: chipper
- Music:Girl That's Never Been by Michelle Dockrey
Huzzah! Fans of science fiction, fantasy and general weirdness, the June issue of Jim Baen's Universe is on the eStands now and contains a story entitled "The Resident" by yours truly. (With fabulous illustration by Perry-Jayne Byron.)This is one of my favorite little stories because I did most of the work in my sleep. I did, in fact, dream this story from beginning to end. Or, well ... almost to the end.
Having so little real control over my waking hours, I am a shameless manipulator of my dreams. I direct those puppies like Saint Stephen of Spielberg directs his films.
This one was a doozy. Full special effects, sound, music, the works. But I pulled the plug (apt metaphor considering...) just short of the big finale so I could decide whether the end should be funny or horrific ... or both. (Bwa-ha-ha!)
I'm not sayin' which it is. If you want to find out go to www.baens-universe.com and support the arts.
Which reminds me that if you want to find out what Ursula K. Le Guin does when she's not writing mind-boggling, award-winning fiction go to her bookshelf at the Book View Cafe and check out her cat and mouse comix. These include "Supermouse" and "Cat Tai Chi." You'll love 'em.
And while you're there, you can drop by and read my fiction and my Star Wars blogs at our blog site. Well, I guess I should go out and indulge in some shameless self-promotion on our websites.
A reminder: I'm releasing a new novel at the Café on June 17 and there will be a Twitterfic contest in conjunction with that on the theme "Ew! You got romance/mystery in my science fiction."
Off to shamelessly self-promote. :D
- Location:Office
- Mood:
bouncy - Music:X-Files theme
Don't get me wrong -- the Hyatt is a lovely hotel. The food options are better and there's always coffee.
BUT ...
Jeff and I attended our first filk at the Red Lion in 1995.
We became part of the filk community there, which means we met some of our dearest friends at the Red Lion.
He bought me my Taylor guitar at that BayCon, which means I first played the guitar (Clancy, by name) at the Red Lion.
We were there (or at least I was) when the hotel burned briefly and I had to battle determined security dudes to rescue Clancy from the dealer room.
We were there the night the fire alarms went off at 2AM resulting in one of Kanef's best filks.
In fact, speaking of filks, we wrote some ours in some of those rooms and we stayed up til the wee hours in the San Jose room for some of the best filk circles EVER.
So, though the new hotel is nice and all that, I miss the old Double-Red Lion Tree.
I was there once for a completely mundane meeting and it was the weirdest feeling in the world to see it sans Kingons and furries and jawas and Hogwarts students. It was QUIET, for one thing. Too quiet. And everywhere I looked, there were people in suits and shorts and Hawaiian shirts and fip-flops. I mean, talk about weird.
Where was the laughter? Where were the little knots of people who would suddenly burst into song or start reciting dialogue from The Princess Bride? Where were the Klingons?
I guess what I'm saying is, I miss the Red Tree, Double Lion :) and I think it misses us.
- Location:Living room
- Mood:
nostalgic
As some of you may know, Jeff and I and our family are members of the Bahá'í Faith.
Today, May 14, 2009, marks the one-year anniversary of the arrest and imprisonment of six of the seven members of the "Friends in Iran"—a group of Bahá'ís appointed by the Bahá'í world leadership to guide and protect the Bahá'í community in Iran, where they are not legally permitted to elect the institutions of the Faith as we do in most other countries.
Recently their families were informed of a new and fourth accusation lodged against them by the government, that of "spreading corruption on earth." This charge carries the threat of death under the penal code of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The other accusations are "espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities and propaganda against the Islamic Republic."
This is only the newest development in the situation involving the Bahá'ís in Iran who are routinely denied many of the civil rights their fellow Iranians take for granted, such as an education, property rights, the right to assemble for worship. The Bahá'ís of Iran have been without elected institutions for almost 20 years, since their nine-member National Spiritual Assembly was "disappeared." I have several personal friends with family in Iran, one lost her father to the purges that started with the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
There is an ongoing effort in the human rights community and in our own US Congress to do something to aid the Iranian Bahá'í community. If you feel so moved, we encourage you, dear friends, to petition your Congress Critters to continue to pursue the relief of the Bahá'ís from persecution.
I'd like you all to understand the irony of the charges against the Friends in Iran.
- They're charged with spying for Israel because they "take orders from Israel." Well in a sense that's true: the Universal House of Justice, the global guiding body of the Bahá'í Faith, is located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The irony is that the Israeli government does not allow local or national Bahá'í administrative bodies to function within its borders either.
- They're charged with propaganda against the Islamic Republic. One of the foremost laws of our Faith is that we refrain from partisan politics, abhorr acts of sedition, and obey our government. That is why there are no functioning elected Bahá'í institutions in Iran—the House of Justice disbanded them in obedience to the Iranian government. And, in fact, the Friends in Iran also offered to disband and reliquish its role in the Bahá'í community.
- They're charged with spreading corruption on earth. This is the essence of their Faith—which is also my Faith and Jeff's and our children's—"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." These are the words of Bahá'u'lláh, Prophet-Founder of the Bahá'i Faith. The entire purpose of the Faith is to work toward the establishment of peace through a recognition of the unity of mankind.
For more information about the situation you can also go to the Bahá'í World News Service, which publishes regular updates on the situation of the Bahá'ís of Iran and Egypt.
Thanks for listening, ya'll.
- Location:My office
- Mood: hopeful
- Music:The Eyes of All
I'm borrowing this from a post I just made to our music site, so if it looks familiar, that's why. This is an appeal for help for a dear, dear soul who's been a part of the filk community for years.
Peter S. Beagle — writer, songwriter, musician — needs help. He needs help because he has not been treated well or fairly by many of the people and organizations he’s done business with.
You can help.
Read his newsletter The Raven, for a start and find out about his new 52/50 Project in which Peter has committed to writing 52 original poems or song lyrics, one per week, for a whole year. Peter says that the money from 52/50 subscriptions paid most of his rent last month.
Then you can subscribe to the 52/50 or buy one (or more) of his books or his music CD. You can do either (or both) by going to www.conlanpress.com and clicking the Big Blue Order Button. Peter’s books make wonderful gifts, by the way, and I also heartily recommend his music.
Please do this sometime in the next month, Peter will appreciate it very much. Oh, and spread the word.
- Mood: touched
Oy! I wish I was there right now, 'cause Gerry and Sandy Tyra are this year's guests and I don't get to see them nearly often enough. Of course, they are taking the train up from Palmdale later in the month to visit us, but still...
Right now, I'm getting geared up for Baycon, first gencon of the year for me. After that we've got... well, an regular Oktoberfest of cons. Filkcontinental, the Baha'i Music Industry weekend two weeks after that and World Fantasy Convention, which is in San Jose this year. And somehow, somewhere, we need to find someone to take care of our girls while we're in Germany. Eeeeeee!
Gotta find time to update the website too.Fat chance of that. (Singing: Send in the clones. There should be clones. I wish they were heeeeere.)
My Star Wars blog has garnered a lot of readers -- the fan sites are linking to it too, which is cool. I talk about that in my Wednesday blog -- the cascade effect of Star Wars fandom. Here's a little preview: Michael Reaves sent me this little guy:
Say hello to I-Five (short for I-5YQ). He is the "star" of a series of Michael's books covering a span of about twenty years. Even though he has appeared only in books and never in movies or cartoons or video games, I-Five has become such a memorable and popular character (and a darned clever way to tie stories together over decades), that Hasbro has made an action figure out of him.
I want one!
I gotta say, too, Five was fun to write. I know he's a Star Wars style droid, and probably ought to snooty and British, but honestly, whenever I "hear" him talk, I hear Rene Auberjonois' voice.
See the resemblance?
Huh ... I think I just thought of something to blog about ... how a writer sees her characters as opposed to how the readers and fans see them.
Which reminds me -- anyone see Nathan Fillion's new series, Castle? We've been Tivoing and watching it. Not only is it funny and engaging (with actual plot twists), but it pretty realistically conveys the way most writers I know look at the world -- as a 24/7 research lab. Rick Castle's reaction to murder scenes and mayhem perfectly captures the schizoid attitude -- "This is really horrible!" / "This is really fascinating." And Nathan Fillion is ... well, he's Nathan Fillion -- what can I say?
Anyhoo, I have other news on the Star Wars front, but I think it can wait till next time... Cheers!
- Location:my living room
- Mood: bouncy
- Music:Send in the Clones
Seriously, that's what it felt like -- Consonance, I mean. Filk convention / relaxicon extraordinaire. I literally had several of my best friends on the whole planet in one place for an entire weekend. How often does that happen? (Well, if I'm lucky, roughly once a year). Special treats this year were the presence of Sandy and Gerry Tyra, whom we finally managed to extract from Texas with the help of the Lockheed Corporation, my bestest friend Vern McCrea, and the ubiquitous Debbie Ohi -- who, by the way, set Jeff up for an act of revenge against Michelle Dockrey (Vixy) for the most insignificant of reasons.
I mean, really, the whole thing at OVFF with the Barracuda parody (Vixy noted that "Debbie Ohi" scans perfectly to the word "barracuda") was hardly sufficient reason for what Debbie and Jeff did to Red Right Hand (and Vixy). And as if that were not evil enough, Debbie then attempted to portray my DH as the mastermind behind this hilarious -- er, I mean heinous -- act of parody.
Hm. I think that means it's Jeff's turn to take revenge -- but against whom?
Anyway, notably missing and missed this year at Consonance was Filk Mamma Colleen Savitzky who was still in the hospital after major surgery. Reports are that she is being allowed to consume real food and will begin intensive physical therapy this week. Her proxy at the con was a sufficient amount of Barefoot coffee to fuel the entire assemblage for three days, and the inevitable first aid kit -- aka, the tea chest. Thank you, Colleen, the Lapsong Souchang was inspiring, your husband was lovable and entertaining as always, and your children were magnificent. Now, see that this hospital thingie doesn't happen again.
Soooooo, I sang and laughed and had a wonderful time with my dearest friends (minus one) and now I have to come down from the high and get back to "real" life: kids to school, writing projects, trying to write, edit, and promote books and music, do yardwork, wash dishes, etc, etc.. (Send in the clones!)
And what a plateful I came home to -- a ghostrewrite, three major edits, a critique, a new Star Wars novel and a weekly blog. I am NOT complaining. I just wish I was one of those ultra-organized types (which I have pretended to be on occasion with varying degrees of success) that could keep all the different bits straight.
To help me keep at least some of it straight, I hope to start blogging in my Wednesday spot on Book View Cafe about the experience of working in the Star Wars universe. That is, if I can do it in such a way that I do not release state secrets. :) Wiating to hear from my editor on that.
Ciao!
- Location:my office
- Mood: nostalgic
- Music:She Plays Rock Band
BookViewCafe.com now offering ebooks!
Following their successful website launch, members of bookviewcafe.com (http://www.bookviewcafe.com) have started to release select titles of their work as ebooks. Previously most of the bookviewcafe offerings have been in the form of short stories or serialized, Internet-only novels.
"We received so many requests for downloadable versions of our work, we thought we'd better offer some ebooks," says Sue Lange, publicist for the site. "The move should prove to be pretty popular. People were purchasing ebooks as soon as we opened up the shop."
ebooks from Sarah Zettel and Maya Kathryn Bohnhoff were launched this week. Other BVC authors scheduled to release ebooks in the coming weeks include Brenda Clough, Laura Anne Gilman, Anne Harris, Phyllis Irene Radford, Vonda McIntyre, and Sue Lange.
The books will be available at the Book View Cafe site as well as the upcoming inaugural online science fiction convention, Flycon 2009 (http://community.livejournal.com/flycon2
Okay, so here's the personalized SQUEEE!
Yes, I have just posted my first never-before-published-in-its-entirety online novel at the Book View Cafe. The title is TACO DEL & THE FABLED TREE OF DESTINY and it chronicles the adventures of my diminutive "merlin" Taco Del in a future and very different San Francisco.
Here's the blurb: The little kingdom of Embarcadero is under siege. King Elvis wants to steal its secrets, mysterious outsiders want to expel its people and exploit its history, and an ancient and sinister Force threatens to devour their souls. Salvation rests on the slender shoulders of a young wizard named Taco Del and his unlikely allies -- a red-haired Chinese girl, a ghostly tribe of Mission Indians, and a small fir tree named Doug.
I got the inspiration for Taco from a dream that I had of a young guy silhouetted in the window of a hotel room, sitting in companionable silence with his fir tree. All i could tell from the dream was that this wasn't the incidental placement of a houseplant. The tree and the young man were family. My next contact with Del was when he suddenly started talking to me as I was driving home from work one day. The result of this (once I got home and grabbed a pen) was a 26,000 word novella that was published in Amazing Stories. My agent loved the story so much he begged me to write a novel about the characters (he didn't have to beg very hard) and the result of that was the novel that you can now purchase on Book View Cafe for far less than you'd pay for a paperback ($4.99 - such a deal!)
So, support your local writer! If you like fiction that falls a bit between the cracks, check out the preview of TACO and see if you like it.
(I hope you'll like it.) :)
- Location:my office
- Mood: hopeful
- Music:Theme from Zoboomafoo (Amanda's home sick)
And on this auspicious day, a box arrived upon my front porch delivered by a stalwart on (or in) a brown steed.
I opened said box and found therein a set of magical implements and herbs for the ceremonial brewing of tea.
There was a card within this beautiful container of magical items and the words "Happy Birthday" were written thereon but alas, no name to tell me what wizard or witch had sent the package.
I am puzzled -- nay, I am ferklempt -- for I wish, above all to know who has so appreciated my reverence for tea as to send me this magical present. . .
Yeah, yeah, I know -- the way I was going on about tea a couple of postings ago, a brain-dead sponge could have gotten the clue. But I don't know a single brain-dead sponge. I do know some wizards and witches, but I've only been able to eliminate two of them.
I feel like I'm in the middle of a whodunit: who sent Miranda Meltsteel, Wicked Witch of the West the mysterious box of tea?
Anybody? Anybody?
The tea, by the way, is delightful.
- Location:Office
- Mood: touched
- Music:You've Got Something to Hide
Meanwhile, Jeff has written several sassy parodies that we will be debuting at Consonance this year and one of which treads on semi-sacred territory in that it roasts the much-beloved song .... er, ahem, I can't say...
Writer me has just sold a story to Baen's Universe. (My first publication in the online magazine was "The Nature of Things" which also exists as a song, and which was reprinted in the BEST OF JIM BAEN'S UNIVERSE 2006) This was the easiest story I've ever written, I swear. I had this exceptionally vivid dream that ended just shy of a denouement. I wrote it down, added a suitable ending and there it is. Now, if you want to read this tale, you have to subscribe to the online magazine. And I'm not being more explicit about the story itself because I'm fairly convinced that if you knew I had dreams like this on a regular basis, you'd wonder what color the sky was on my planet or if I hadn't OD'd on Buffy and Brisco.
I don't know if I squeed about signing contracts to write a new Star Wars novel with Michael Reaves. It's going to be called HOLOSTAR and it's not about a hollow star. It's about a futurismic Madonna type who ... er, ahem, I can't say.... I can say that the novel is Jedi-free.
And speaking of reading I just read a really cool story at the Book View Cafe. It's called "Dawn's Early Light" and it's by Pati Nagle. Those of you who like .... er, ahem. I can't say... You'll just have to go read it for yourselves -- it's a free read.
Aside to Seanan: I think you'd like it a lot. :)
I need food....
- Location:On my way to the kitchen
- Mood:
hungry - Music:Hungry Like the Wolf
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