My second column at Locus Magazine is out now, though. Check out the little teaser image below the bump if you want to see what I’m reviewing this month. It’s still weird to see my name in a publication like Locus, because for so long that’s been the Big Name SFF Periodical for me. I was so happy when I could afford a print subscription two years ago, and to now see me is a bit surreal still. But also exciting. I turned in my edits for my third column, and I’m busily reading for my fourth. Onward!
I also filled out my interest survey for WisCon, which I hope to be attending in person this year. WisCon is my “home” convention, because I can drive to it and because it’s really one of the first places where I felt more at home in SFF. I mean, I’m still a very awkward weasel at any convention, and for the first two years my husband and I attended WisCon I don’t think we really talked to anyone, but there was still so much learning, so much to see and do. I really liked it. This year I’m unsure of what all I’ll get to do, but I hope I get assigned some panels. We’ll see. It really snuck up on me that there was the interest survey at all and I’m glad they pushed back the deadline because otherwise I would have missed it.
I’m also hoping to be at WorldCon in Chicago this year. I mean on that front, Hugo Nominations close in less than two weeks I think so I mean if you wanted to nominate me for things I am not being shy about that. Or…I mean, I’m trying not to be shy. There is certainly a part of me that is scared of being nominated again, in part because I do not do well in the final votes (of the 6 times I have been a finalist, I have placed last 3-4 times and second to last the other 2-3 times). But, you know, I also really do believe in what I do, and I am incredibly grateful for the times I’ve been nominated.
Otherwise, reading has been keeping me busy. I admit that I’ve fallen behind on reading the venues that I don’t cover for Locus. I need to dive back into a couple, and this month was a rather large one for releases across the board. This new arrangement has made me a bit less stressed about it, though. I’ve always held that there are stories that we just miss. Even me, with as much as I have read, have missed so many stories published. And that’s part of what makes for a good field. I do reject the idea that for the field to be healthy it should small enough that a person can experience it all. That’s ridiculous. I think that the field should always have room for surprises, and I’m happy that I get to move a bit more freely now and maybe find some of those. I’m still learning how that might work, but it’s rather freeing to experience.
In other news, this week sees the release of Xenocultivars, an anthology in which my flash story “A Lumberjack’s Guide to Dryad Spotting” is reprinted. It is a wonderful collection, and I review it in my April Locus column, so definitely look forward to that. Personally, I’m dealing with some extra stress at my non-profit, but a lot of is good stress. Just…a lot at the moment. Still, getting some hopefully important stuff done. Yay.
In media, Matt and I are still watching and tolerating Father Brown. It’s fine. On my own I did watch Centaurworld and the resolution to that made me tear up a bit. Now I’m back to watching Hilda as my alone watching show, and it continues to be fun and cute. Not sure what I’ll do after that, though. Hmm.
In reading, I’m deep into Cable-land in the X-titles (up to about 1993 in my attempt to read all the X-Men related content on Marvel Unlimited). It’s…better than I was expecting. I read Cable: Blood and Metal and it actually holds up rather well, especially because two-part series are rather rare. But it does a great job of showing Cable’s evolution from how he was introduced and how he acted in the early part of X-Force (the general, the warrior, the grim and gritty dude) to how he’s changed post X-Cutioner’s Song. He’s a bit softer now in that he cares more about people, and it’s nice to see. Now, between Cable and X-Force I’m catching up on a side of the X-Men franchise I never really got, and it’s (at the moment at least) pretty okay. I like that X-Force has everyone kind of paired off. James and Terry, Rictor and Shatterstar, Sam and Tabitha, Cable and Domino. I’m a little annoyed with how Feral is treated, and I suspect I know what happened with Sunspot and am not sure how to feel about it. But the return of Dani is exciting.
Oh, and the results from the Drun-X Reading Comi-X poll are in. After Wolverine Origins I'll be covering...Excalibur! So look forward to that. Below is a teaser of my planned reading order, just so you know how I'll be dividing it all up!
Anyway, that’s about it for now. Cheers!
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