Hi all! Wow, it seems a while since I've done this. But reading has downright sucked recently. Aside from keeping (mostly) up on the blog I have gotten little done. But here, some links from around the internet before they get too old. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Jinn and Juice by Nicole Peeler (Nerds of a Feather, my score 7/10) - I did quite enjoy this one, which takes a more progressive and balanced look at consent in a paranormal romance story line that could have been problematic indeed. Not that it always succeeds, but it does try. And that's something.
Adventure Time OGN Vol 5. Graybles Schmaybles by Danielle Corsetto and Zachary Sterling (Goodreads, my score 3/5) - I really enjoy the AT OGNs and was just a bit disappointed that this one doesn't quite live up to the promise of the other volumes. Not a bad read, but not quite up to what I expect from these OGNs.
Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith (Kidsreads) - I found this book a bit of a disappointment. It does some interesting things but is all over the place in a way that I didn't think served the story. It also did some things that rather personally bothered me. Not that it's bad, just...well...
Return to Augie Hobble by Lane Smith (Goodreads, my score 2/5) - Here's the second review of the book and one that might get a little more distracted by my little annoyances. As it's all mine, I tend to be a little more direct. Or something like that. In any event, here's my second review of this...
So yeah. I'll have another review of Jinn and Juice to do at some point and I have to catch up on some Not For the Faint of Heart reviews, plus I just have to read more. It's really rather sad how bad a month May was for reading. Hoping that June will be loads better. Indeed. As always, thanks for reading!
Short(ish) Reviews of Speculative Short Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction. Word counts are approximate. Opinions are my own. (also, probably SPOILERS ABOUND!)
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Quick Thoughts - Back Into the Swing of Things
I'm back! Well, I guess I was never really "gone," but I mean that I'm back home after attending my second ever convention. WisCon is an interesting place, and as an attendee it is just so full of amazing people and ideas that it's strange to come home and have to process all of it. Part of it went completely as expected. Meaning I am shy and so I didn't really socialize much. I went to a ton of panels and readings and bought a lot of books that I am very excited to read (mostly next year). I have to say that Guest of Honor Alaya Dawn Johnson's speech was the highlight and had me blinking back tears because wow. But it's a lot to process. And that's what I want to write about today, not about the convention itself but about the experience of coming back.
I don't want to lose the excitement, the inspiration that last weekend filled me with. Something about being around so many people who are creative and engaged is that it's rather intoxicating. The world seems to open up and so many ideas come pouring into my head and I just want to do them all. Of course, then you get home and have to go back to work and discover that all the projects that you were working on before haven't cleared themselves away and are still sitting there, staring at you. And there is the danger then of the backlash. The crushing weight of knowing that you can't do everything when and how you want it. And you have to face that so many talented people are out there writing that your own stuff can seem…juvenile? Unimportant? I'm not sure, but it arrives and it sucks.
In truth, I'm not sure really how to maintain that contact high of being in such a freeing place. For me it might mean trying to take control more of my surroundings. It might mean trying to connect more with any actual people in my area. It might mean taking time to think and ponder before pushing back to work. But it also must mean getting back to work. Writing. Remembering why it's so great and why it lives and breathes and why I need to do it. It must mean at some point pushing past and through and starting something new. Something even better. Because one thing these situations do very well is convince me there is better and that I need to be a part of it. That I need to improve, and that I have a lot of room for that improvement.
And perhaps that is the best thing about WisCon. That it reminds me of why I started writing and that it reminds that I still have a long, long road to walk if I want to do it well. Also it prompts me to think in different ways, to think outside myself, which is always useful. There's such a rich diversity of views and experiences at WisCon. I will definitely be going again. And hey, maybe next time I'll try to be on a panel or something. Which would probably get me to talk to more than like three people. But for all that it is an amazing experience it does always leave me rather drained and directionless, which is super frustrating because while there I felt so…turned on.
So I'm home. I'm home and I have to find a way for that not to seem like such a disappointment. That back here life is still okay but difficult. That the Con was amazing but that working and writing continue. I have to find a way to get back up and face what needs facing despite wanting a month off of everything but writing. Because I can see no other way around it. I just want that to be life all the time. To be engaged like that and inspired and with so many people I can feel comfortable around. Because I like my town but it's not WisCon. Hell, there's not even a serious writing group here. But maybe that, too, will change. In any event, I'm back and my mind is racing and hopefully I can manage to catch at least some of this lightning in a bottle. Thanks for reading!
I don't want to lose the excitement, the inspiration that last weekend filled me with. Something about being around so many people who are creative and engaged is that it's rather intoxicating. The world seems to open up and so many ideas come pouring into my head and I just want to do them all. Of course, then you get home and have to go back to work and discover that all the projects that you were working on before haven't cleared themselves away and are still sitting there, staring at you. And there is the danger then of the backlash. The crushing weight of knowing that you can't do everything when and how you want it. And you have to face that so many talented people are out there writing that your own stuff can seem…juvenile? Unimportant? I'm not sure, but it arrives and it sucks.
In truth, I'm not sure really how to maintain that contact high of being in such a freeing place. For me it might mean trying to take control more of my surroundings. It might mean trying to connect more with any actual people in my area. It might mean taking time to think and ponder before pushing back to work. But it also must mean getting back to work. Writing. Remembering why it's so great and why it lives and breathes and why I need to do it. It must mean at some point pushing past and through and starting something new. Something even better. Because one thing these situations do very well is convince me there is better and that I need to be a part of it. That I need to improve, and that I have a lot of room for that improvement.
And perhaps that is the best thing about WisCon. That it reminds me of why I started writing and that it reminds that I still have a long, long road to walk if I want to do it well. Also it prompts me to think in different ways, to think outside myself, which is always useful. There's such a rich diversity of views and experiences at WisCon. I will definitely be going again. And hey, maybe next time I'll try to be on a panel or something. Which would probably get me to talk to more than like three people. But for all that it is an amazing experience it does always leave me rather drained and directionless, which is super frustrating because while there I felt so…turned on.
So I'm home. I'm home and I have to find a way for that not to seem like such a disappointment. That back here life is still okay but difficult. That the Con was amazing but that working and writing continue. I have to find a way to get back up and face what needs facing despite wanting a month off of everything but writing. Because I can see no other way around it. I just want that to be life all the time. To be engaged like that and inspired and with so many people I can feel comfortable around. Because I like my town but it's not WisCon. Hell, there's not even a serious writing group here. But maybe that, too, will change. In any event, I'm back and my mind is racing and hopefully I can manage to catch at least some of this lightning in a bottle. Thanks for reading!
All the best,\
Charles Payseur
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Quick Sips - Urban Fantasy #7
Urban Fantasy Magazine is out again with two stories that take very different tracks into Urban Fantasy. One is alt history and one is a more traditional "fantasy hiding beneath the surface" story with knights and wizards. Really, though, both stories look at privilege and power and loneliness and the power of one person to decide their fate. In quite different ways the stories nevertheless both tackle some pretty big issues while also being entertaining, which is always nice. So before I gush on some more, to the stories!
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Quick Sips - Lightspeed #60
So Lightspeed wins my "Came out with their longest story of the month in the last five days of the month" award (normally reserved for Tor but then, as I haven't read the Tor stories yet, might mean there will be two winners this month). Which, given I just got back from WisCon, means that I had to sort of rush to get it done in time. But I kid (because though it would be nice for all places to schedule their releases to suit me I don't expect it...yet). It's another month of quality stories that really showed a wide variation in kinds of stories. Nothing really feels similar, but it is all worth checking out in different ways. Including the stunning conclusion (I think) to the long-running Kaslo Chronicles. So let's get to it!
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| Art by Li Shuxing |
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Quick Sips - Terraform May 2015
Hi all! Not quite back home following WisCon but at least the last story of the month from Terraform is a good one. Not really as short as I'm used to for the publication, which is supposed to be under two thousand words but has two stories over three. But the talent on the site continues to impress and these stories really do deliver on a science fiction vision of some pressing concerns. Also, a science fiction Orpheus retelling (I'm a sucker for Orpheus retellings). So yeah, settle in and get ready for some short fiction reviews!
Monday, May 25, 2015
Quick Sips - Nightmare #32
Two new stories grace this issue of Nightmare, and both very much live up to the horror name in the title of the magazine. Indeed, these two stories have the feel of different kinds of horror movie. The first is more of a Saw or Hostel-flavored story and the second is more of an Outbreak or other medical horror spiced tale. Both are interesting and intense and dark, but as I normally steer away from the torture-heavy movies like Saw I find that I might prefer the second story a bit more. But other readers will obviously have different preferences. So let's get to it.
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| Art by Vitaly Alexius |
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Quick Thoughts - WisCon Part 2
Okay so now it's Sunday. Right? I mean, time is really weird on weekends that have conventions, and even more so with the extra time off I took. But it should be Sunday now and Saturday was pretty awesome. I am convinced that the only thing keeping us from being bale to get an entire year's worth of books for the Bradford challenge here is that we don't have the money to spend all at once. As it is we are getting SO many good books. Just picked up Mothership yesterday and a new comic by the author of Dayblack. Also a past WisCon GoH book by Nisi Shawl. That said, the day was a little light for buying books as we did not visit any book stores, just finished up the places we wanted to go to at the vendor rooms.
And panels. Me and partner both went to Sex Positive SFF in the morning (we got out a bit late and missed the first timeslot...the perils of staying with friends not really close to the Con). That was quite interesting though. I some ways it would tie in a bit with the Future of Gender panel in some of the ideas that it would play with, especially trying to imagine how effective change would actually look like and thinking about how to get around all the problematic elements of sexy fun in books and such has to also walk with recognizing that sex positivity does not necessarily mean sexy to many people. After that it was out to the Farmer's Market for lunch and then back to it with three panels back to back. Or three things. The first I went to was the Alaya Dawn Johnson GoH reading which was amazing. Gay "zombie" romance story that was all the yes.
After that it was the Mixtape, which was also amazing and I got a whole list of artists to check out now. I'm weird with music, but I really like writing with music and sometimes directly inspired by music. So that was a really neat panel and I got to hear a lot of music that I never really was exposed to before. Very good times. And then was the Future of Gender in SFF panel which was interesting and was mostly dealing with genderqueer and trans visions of what a better future might look like. And then it was out to dinner (Japanese) to talk about everything (after a stroll through the vendor room and art show). And then drinking (but not too much) and sleeping (but woken up again by whiniest cat in the universe). Still, all told a really great experience. And now coffee and back to the Con!
All the best,
Charles Payseur
And panels. Me and partner both went to Sex Positive SFF in the morning (we got out a bit late and missed the first timeslot...the perils of staying with friends not really close to the Con). That was quite interesting though. I some ways it would tie in a bit with the Future of Gender panel in some of the ideas that it would play with, especially trying to imagine how effective change would actually look like and thinking about how to get around all the problematic elements of sexy fun in books and such has to also walk with recognizing that sex positivity does not necessarily mean sexy to many people. After that it was out to the Farmer's Market for lunch and then back to it with three panels back to back. Or three things. The first I went to was the Alaya Dawn Johnson GoH reading which was amazing. Gay "zombie" romance story that was all the yes.
After that it was the Mixtape, which was also amazing and I got a whole list of artists to check out now. I'm weird with music, but I really like writing with music and sometimes directly inspired by music. So that was a really neat panel and I got to hear a lot of music that I never really was exposed to before. Very good times. And then was the Future of Gender in SFF panel which was interesting and was mostly dealing with genderqueer and trans visions of what a better future might look like. And then it was out to dinner (Japanese) to talk about everything (after a stroll through the vendor room and art show). And then drinking (but not too much) and sleeping (but woken up again by whiniest cat in the universe). Still, all told a really great experience. And now coffee and back to the Con!
All the best,
Charles Payseur
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