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Upcoming (and, whoops, prior) appearances: SFWA Nebula Conference and Readercon
So in keeping to true ridiculous form, I have both a conference I will be at and one I was just at. Let’s get the old one out of the way first–
SFWA‘s 2023 Nebula Conference Online was a hybrid event held in Anaheim, CA, and over Zoom, which is fortunate because I? Am not in Anaheim. The majority (or possibly all?) of the panels were recorded; you can still register and get access to them until…
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Readercon 2023 - Schedule
I’ll be at Readercon this weekend. If you want to catch me for a conversation, probably easiest to ambush me after one of these panels:
THURSDAY
Worldbuilding: From the Mundane to the Fantastic, Thursday, July 13, 2023, 9:00 PM EDT, Salon A
Some of the most beloved speculative fiction worlds have foundations based in the mundane. Examples include Stephen King's horror fiction, Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and works by William Gibson. These worlds are both recognizable and Other. What makes them so successful and memorable? Are there similar worlds that tried and failed? What can authors learn from these worlds when creating their own?
FRIDAY
Meet the Pros(e) Party, Friday, July 14, 2023, 10:30 PM EDT, Salon 4
SATURDAY
Celebration and (Mis)Interpretation, Saturday, July 15, 2023, 2:00 PM EDT, Salon 4
Every now and then a book will explode in popularity among exactly the people its author meant to malign. What does it mean for a work when it is praised for supporting everything it stands against? Are the readers (always or ever) wrong? How do authors navigate acquiring fandoms that they meant to condemn?
SUNDAY
Celebrating Speller's Editorial Impact on SF/F, Sunday, July 16, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT, Salon B
As an editor for multiple presses, a prolific critic, and a passionate advocate for the field, Maureen Kincaid Speller was instrumental in promoting and sustaining the speculative fiction scene in the UK and beyond. From her reviews and essays to her convention committee work, she amplified the voices of emerging SF/F authors and encouraged critical discourse. In this panel, we'll explore Speller's influence on the field and discuss the ways her efforts have shaped the world of science fiction and fantasy.
BookTok and Bookstagram: Reading Culture on Social Media, Sunday, July 16, 2023, 1:00 PM EDT, Salon A
Recent years have seen an explosion in the influence of social media communities, often made up of hobbyists rather than professionals, in the publishing market. How does influencer marketing affect the industry? How are authors and editors thinking about these communities?
It is also very possible I will be doing some karaoke and/or jamming more generally. If you hear keyboards and singing, reasonable odds I’m near where that sound is.
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Good morning ☀️You might have heard, I'll be joining an incredible author lineup for 4 days of bookish fun with some pretty amazing readers at Literary Love Savanna this July. I hope you can make it! I plan on having exclusive swag, limited edition paperbacks, plus a 6ft photo op! A couple of us attending authors decided to introduce ourselves by promoting our books in this awesome #bookfair! Check it out: https://books.bookfunnel.com/lls2023sales/3ke2k1c3e5 #lls #readercon #authorsigning #bookcon #savannah #cdgorribooks https://www.instagram.com/p/CpPm6svul43/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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There is so much to talk about with this article. So much. In this post I want to focus on a specific part of it: the reactions of Lindelof and Cuse to what the writers and actors experienced. Here are several quotes [emphasis mine].
“What can I say? Other than it breaks my heart that that was Harold [Perrineau's] experience,” replied Lindelof, who said he did not recall “ever” saying that. “And I’ll just cede that the events that you’re describing happened 17 years ago, and I don’t know why anybody would make that up about me.”
Lindelof told me he didn’t remember any negative incident with an editor, adding that he seeks out input from collaborators and that he’s “never threatened anyone’s career.” Lindelof also said he had no recollection of anything Hsu Taylor said about events connected to “Ab Aeterno.” He said she was a “great writer who executed at a high level” and he’s “stricken” that she was made to feel the way she felt at that time.
Regarding the other allegations leveled at him and the show, Lindelof said he had no memory of the incidents and comments I related. He told me he was “shocked and appalled and surprised” by the incidents I described to him, and said more than once that he did not think anyone was making anything up. “I just can’t imagine that Carlton would’ve said something like that, or some of those attributions, some of those comments that you [shared]—I’m telling you, I swear, I have no recollection of those specific things. And that’s not me saying that they didn’t happen. I’m just saying that it’s literally baffling my brain—that they did happen and that I bore witness to them or that I said them. To think that they came out of my mouth or the mouths of people that I still consider friends is just not computing.”
I'm not going to quote Cuse's responses here because they all boil down to: "I don't remember doing/saying that" or "Nuh uh, that didn't happen!" which is... certainly a choice.
You're going to see a bunch of people siding with and empathizing with Lindelof and praising him for saying that what happened was wrong, etc., and I will push back every time I see it because of all those instances of him saying he doesn't recall and doesn't remember. I don't think he's lying. I do think it's indicative of an ongoing problem with him as a writer and showrunner and it needs to be called out.
I'm going to tell you a story that explains my point. Also putting it and my conclusions under a cut as this is long. Please do read.
Many years ago I became friends with a white woman writer in the SFF community who lived in NYC during some of the time I did. She knew many of the writers and editors in our community who also lived in NYC or nearby. At the time, the majority of these editors were white and most were men. She became particularly friendly with some of them.
A couple of years into our relationship we were at ReaderCon together. One day at the hotel bar I was sitting with this woman (we'll call her Karen for the purposes of this story) and two other BIPOC male authors who had both published multiple books at this point and were people that Karen felt were impressive and important. During the conversation someone (probably me?) brought up the online conversations/debates/fights currently happening about representation in the SFF genre and the way certain editors were part of the problem. I want to say this was even before RaceFail happened.
Karen revealed that she'd been talking to important people like Gordon van Gelder about the things I'd been saying online and how, well... the things I was saying were just crazy. Crazy things! I was acting so crazy.
I don't remember the exact phrasing, but I remember the repeated categorizing of me/my words as Crazy.
I also don't remember exactly what I said in response. I do remember how I felt in my body at that moment. I was suddenly flooded with, I think, adrenaline or something and I wanted to run away because otherwise I was going to start throwing things. I couldn't believe this person, who claimed to be my friend, was saying this to me.
I also remember that I felt trapped because I was in a booth and the two other writers were on either side of me so I couldn't just get up and leave. It turned out I didn't need to do that. Because immediately both of them were like: Hold up. Hold the EFF up.
They both pointed out to Karen that the things I brought up in those online discussions were real issues that did need addressing and that I wasn't crazy and the only reason she thought so was because I was a Black woman and when white people or even people perceived as being white said the same thigs I did, people in the community listened, so what the heck was even wrong with her.
I just sat there, pretty quiet, still trying to calm myself down while this all happened and also felt so very grateful for how these two guys (also friends) stood up for me without hesitating, without equivocating, without giving Karen an inch to continue to talk about me in such a way. I don't even know how that conversation ended or if I even talked to Karen again at the con. I did decide right then that I was going to pull back from our friendship because of it.
A year or so later I ended up having to have a conversation with Karen because of some nonsense she pulled at WisCon. In that conversation I mentioned the discussion we had at ReaderCon and how that truly affected my view of her, a person who was supposedly my friend and who constantly tried to say she was an ally to BIPOC. And that's when she said: What discussion?
At first I wasn't sure if she was feigning ignorance or not. The more we talked, the more I realized she wasn't. She didn't remember the incident. And in that talk I realized why: It didn't have that big of an impact on her.
Even with her being essentially told off by the other two, for her, having conversations where she casually parroted some white, male editor's racist and misogynistic view of me was of little note because she and the other people she spent a majority of time with were doing it all the time. It was just a Tuesday for her. And so after ReaderCon when she continually asked if I wanted to hang out or go on writing dates, she did so as if she had not said some absolutely egregious stuff to me weeks before. Again, to her: a Tuesday.
Having had more experience in life with certain kinds of racists, sexists, ableists, and bigots in general, I can say that this phenomenon was not specific to Karen. It is endemic with a certain kind of person who is devoted to the status quo/dominant paradigm.
So when Lindelof says that he doesn't remember doing and saying these things, he's probably not lying. Because for him, it was business as usual, a Tuesday. Normalized on a number of levels. He was a fish in water and the water was composed of racist, sexist a-holes doing whatever they wanted because no one above them put a stop to it. And that is a problem even 20ish years later.
That Lindelof had to be told he did these things and that he, in all this time, has not reflected on them, not realized on his own that what he did was terrible, apologized, and worked his butt off to not only ensure the shows he runs do not have this atmosphere but to also throw every bit of work that he can to those writers (not necessarily on his shows, but others) is proof that it continues to be a problem. And that he has a lot of work to do to atone for all these things he can't remember--starting by doing a real deep dive into why he can't.
Cuse can't be saved. I suggest we introduce him to a nice oubliette.
#I'll note that the author of the piece called him out on his passive language and I very much appreciate that#Her whole book looks to be amazing and a wake up call and I hope everyone reads it#LOST#Damon Lindelof#Carlton Cuse#Carlton Cuse For Oubliette President#I feel justified in all of my critiques of LOST
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Welcome to Duck Prints Press
Duck Prints Press LLC is an independent publisher based in New York State. Our founding vision is to work with fancreators to publish their original work. We are particularly dedicated to working with queer authors and artists to publish stories featuring characters from across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. We were founded in January 2021. We're fan-owned, queer-owned, and dedicated to working with diverse creators, whether they be queer, disabled, bipoc, neurodiverse, or any combination of the above!
Current Projects
Anthology: Aether Beyond the Binary (aetherpunk settings, main characters outside the gender binary; the Kickstarter campaign to fund this ended, successful, on January 25th, 2024. We are currently working on fulfillment.)
The Twinned Trilogy by Tris Lawrence (f/f, m/m, and others, three-novel trilogy, modern with magic college setting; Kickstarter to (maybe) launch this winter - you can follow the campaign now!)
Pride Merchandise campaign featuring art by Pippin Peacock (six mythical creatures in each of eight pride colors, offered as die-cut stickers and enamel pins. Successfully crowdfunded! Currently working on fulfillment.)
Anthology: Many Hands: An Anthology of Polyamorous Erotica (what it says on the tin: poly erotica; Kickstarter tentatively scheduled for late spring, 2024)
Pride Bundles for Charity (we will repeat our Pride Bundle campaign from 2023, with new stories and new bundles. Included stories and benefiting charities are still to be decided).
Anthology: [untitled Best Of projects] (a project featuring stand-alone short stories previously published by Duck Prints Press; there will be two anthologies, one with general imprint titles and one with explicit imprint titles. Projected for a crowdfunding campaign in early summer of 2024)
Anthology: A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (what it says on the tin; art and fiction are currently in progress.)
Anthology: untitled General Imprint anthology (we tentatively expect to next open general recruitment to y'all in July or August of 2024; theme is not decided yet)
Monthly short stories are published to our website and our Patreon!
Short story bundles! Want to read lots of our stuff? Check out our story bundles! General Imprint Bundles | Explicit Imprint Bundles
Download our FREE ZINE with teasers, previews, information us, and more!
Come read with us - we host a low-key reading challenge on Storygraph, encouraging people to read more queer books!
Upcoming Conventions and Events
June 22nd: Toying Around Black Party (Main Street, Johnstown, NY)
July 7th: A Big Gay Market (Washington Park, Albany, NY)
July 11th - 14th: Readercon (Quincy, MA)
August 10th - 11th: Fandom Fest (Proctor's, Schenectady, NY)
August 17th - 18th: Flame Con (New York City, NY)
September 13th - 15th: Albacon (Clifton Park, NY)
Past Projects
Hockey Bois by A. L. Heard (m/m, modern sports setting, sloooooow burn romance; available on our website!)
Anthology: Aim For The Heart: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers" (what it says on the tin; available on our website!)
Many Drops Make a Stream by Adrian Harley (f/f, fantasy, novel; available on our website!)
To Drive the Hundred Miles by Alec J. Marsh (m/f, explicit novella, trans male main character; available on our website!)
Anthology: Add Magic to Taste (fluffy queer relationships at magical coffee shops, tea shops, and the like; available on our website!)
Anthology: And Seek (Not) to Alter Me: Queer Fanworks Inspired by William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" (what it says on the tin; available on our website!)
Anthology: She Wears the Midnight Crown (f/f stories set at unusual and creative masquerades; available on our website!)
Anthology: He Bears the Cape of Stars (m/m stories set at unusual and creative masquerades; available on our website!)
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#duck prints press#hey look an updated pinned post#i've only needed to do this for like two years oops
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9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better:
from @measured-words!
3 ships I like: I don't think these will be a surprise based on the volume of my reblogs:
Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian, The Untamed (specifically the show; I still haven't read the novel);
Hua Cheng/Xie Lian, Tian Guan Ci Fu by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (a.k.a. TGCF a.k.a. Heaven Official's Blessing; I'm behind on the donghua and haven't read the manhua but I don't believe there's any particular reason to distinguish adaptations at present);
Gideon/Harrow, The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir. Unlike the other two, this is an ongoing work and not a romance, so I am not particularly holding out hope for a happy ending. That's okay! It'll be the right ending, and that's more important. (I'd say, and we'll always have fic, but I haven't had much fic-reading urge for this series. Who knows what'll happen when it's over, of course.)
First ship ever: this is a surprisingly tough one! Of the important books of my childhood and adolescence, some of them had romantic relationships, but I never really wanted to bang the characters together like dolls and say "Now kiss!", which is what shipping feels like to me. (You'd think there'd be something in Mercedes Lackey but mostly I wanted various characters/a nap.) I did get mushy over the very early, as in the first book, Lan/Nynaeve scenes in The Wheel of Time, which I think predates anything else that comes to mind?
Last song I heard: unfortunately the talus battle music from Tears of the Kingdom is stuck in my head, which is driving out all else.
Favorite childhood book: well, not to be a complete nerd or anything, but I did use to check out the three paperback volumes of The Lord of the Rings every year in elementary when we went to Vermont on vacation, so.
Currently reading: nominally re-reading TGCF along with folks on Mastodon, but I am of course behind. I have three Naomi Mitchison books in (gasp!) paper to read, as she is Memorial Guest of Honor at Readercon this year; The Conquered is due back the soonest so that's theoretically next. In practice I have a very busy few weeks coming up and the answer is probably "some comfort fic rereads."
Currently watching: the TGCF donghua. I rewatched S1 on mute at 1.5 speed (sorry, I know) and have seen precisely one episode of S2.
Currently consuming: water?
Currently craving: pectin jelly beans, which used to be available around this time of year but Russell Stover has apparently stopped making them. There are candy shops on the Internet that sell them but I'm not sure I want to go that far.
Tagging people on Tumblr terrifies me, so please chime in anyone who likes!
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I’ll be competing Thursday against 3 other writers in this Lit Crawl event at @pandygamesma organized by Readercon ! (at Pandemonium Books & Games) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeecEkpv8Ms/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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Looking back at my list of books I read in 2023 (32 per my list on goodreads), my most read authors this year were T Kingfisher (5) and Victoria Goddard (only 3? must not be counting the rereads). Shortest and longest books belong to Goddard, who writes at two volumes. Outside of them, i also enjoyed To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Blackgoose, the Sandman in audio format, and Station Eternity by Lafferty. Man, I was harsh on my reviews this year,
Overall, the number of books I've read the past couple years is significantly decreased, 30s vs 50s. But that's okay, because it's just a hobby. (I think the internet/fanfic/computer games take up more time; also I've been trying to get in more exercise, and doing some spinning as well)
Maybe I should try to read some nonfiction for 2024? Let's be honest, I still have at least four books out right now on my wishlist, and still a dozen books from readercon and boskone that I want to get to.
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Episode 547 - Christopher Brown
During Readercon weekend, Christopher Brown rejoined the show for our first conversation since the 2020 release of his novel Failed State. We talk about the nonfiction project he's working on, tentatively titled THE SECRET HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS, the surprising reach of his FIELD NOTES weekly newsletter, tribes' creation myths and how they manage to justify dominion over the land, why the outdoors is one of America's most segregated spaces, and why he thinks calling Washington, DC "The Swamp" is an insult to swamps. We get into the differences and similarities between his fiction and nature writing, the impact of Tesla and the Gigafactory on life in/around Austin, TX (esp. for its neighbors in unincorporated land), the tensions of child-rearing at a time of ecological disaster, what it means to read science fiction through nature-lens (esp. Annihilation and Neuromancer), the natural world's response to COVID lockdowns and capital's post-COVID snapback, and what it was like to vacation in South Padre Island, TX during the hottest week in history. Plus, we discuss the fun of coming back to Readercon, the old semi-hip days of psychogeography, our backup plans to bug out of the failed state, and plenty more. (And go listen to our past talks: 2018, 2019, 2020 + COVID Check-In) Follow Chris on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal and via our Substack
Check out the new episode of The Virtual Memories Show
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Upcoming appearance: Readercon (updated)!
My schedule for Readercon 32 is ready to go! As mentioned in an earlier post, it’s taking place July 13 – 16 at the Boston Quincy Marriott in Quincy, MA, with Guests of Honor Jeff VanderMeer and Justina Ireland. I absolutely recommend registering and attending if you can. Previous years’ schedules can be seen (and drooled over) here: https://readercon.org/readercon_past
I also have my first ever…
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2022 Shirley Jackson Award Winners
The 2022 Shirley Jackson Award winners were announced at Readercon 32.
#horror #books #shirleyjacksonaward
The 2022 Shirley Jackson Awards for outstanding achievement in horror, psychological suspense, and dark fantasy fiction have been announced. Congratulations to all the winners!
Novel
WINNER (TIE): The Devil Takes You Home, Gabino Iglesias (Mulholland)
WINNER (TIE): Where I End, Sophie White (Tramp)
Novella
WINNER: The Bone Lantern, Angela Slatter (PS)
Novelette
WINNER: What the Dead Know,…
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Eeeck!!! We are so excited to share this news. Past winners of the award include The Ballard of Black Tom by Victor LaValle and The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones "The Shirley Jackson Awards are literary awards named after Shirley Jackson in recognition of her legacy in writing. These awards for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic are presented at Readercon, an annual conference on imaginative literature.[1] Writing in Salon in 2010, Laura Miller noted, "The awards are only 3 years old, but have already proved a fitting tribute to a writer who roamed freely over similar ground and has never quite gotten the respect she deserves."[2]" source @Wikipedia Reposted from @tordotcompub Congratulations @teri.zin! Flowers for the Sea has won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella!🎉🎉 #shirleyjacksonawards #flowersforthesea #tordotcompublishing #tordotcompub #sff #tbr #tbrlist #bookish (at Sistah Scifi) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkrYOlkPiRp/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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solicitud por los 2k, felicitaciones por cierto.
Elizabeth Olsen x fem readercon #37 donde se estén divorciando (si quieres con una hija , si no, no hay problema) y sea super angustioso pero terminen juntos con un final feliz
Hi, thank you for the request. I don't feel comfortable writing about a divorce, but I will add elizabeth to prompt 37 and make it like where they're going through a rough patch. I hope my google translate translated your message correctly!
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Just a couple of queers cosplaying a couple of queers
My friend Elias is the Aziraphale one (”Hello, I am neat and tidy and made of right angles), and I’m the Crowley one (”I’ve never met a right angle in my life and I DON’T INTEND TO START NOW”)!
(We were at Readercon in Boston! Photo by my lovely editor Navah Wolfe)
#good omens#readercon#when i pitched this to elias i was like#we can just wear our normal clothes but with a tartan bowtie and a pair of sunglasses
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Best moment of Readercon so far is someone in the bar yelling “Suck it!” when the room fave won their tennis match and everyone else applauding.
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