The World in the Satin Bag Details

Does the Genre Tag Matter?
2008-05-09 07:34:00
I recently came upon an article featuring Michael Chabon and Jeffrey Ford in which both authors gave some reasons as to why tagging fiction with certain genre tags isn't really that important. Chabon states that, "the people it matters the least to are the ones who are doing it. In so many other artistic mediums, it's not weird at all." This got me thinking about whether or not tagging novels within certain genres really matters and I'll send the question in the direction of the reader as well. To me it seems like this is a difficult question to answer. To a certain extent the genre tags are important. They help book stores figure out where to put things and are great for categorizing in libraries and online. I think the question applies, however, to the growing number of works that don't really sit into any one genre. Take Zoran Zivkovic's work. His work is highly literary, in my opinion, but there is a lot of that "fantastic" element within each story, some more so than othe ...

Aww, the Bachelor Life
2008-05-08 03:46:00
There are great advantages to being on your own. One of the best ones is that I don't have to fight anyone over the toy in the cereal box. That's right, it's all mine.What is that in my hand? Well it's certainly not a razor, because why would I be flashing around a razor instead of shaving off my rather rugged-man beard? That is a plastic, light-up Indiana Jones spoon that I managed to procure in a box of Cocoa Krispies. Another benefit is that I can eat all the cereal I want and my brother can steal the good stuff.Oh and I'm fairly certain I will become a green tea junkie.Yeah. Green tea is good. ...

How to Tell When the Religious Right Has Lost Its Damn Mind
2008-05-07 03:04:00
Really? Are you sh*tin' me?Since when has doing a magic TRICK been considered wizardry? Alternately, how far backwards have we gone when someone can be fired for doing something as silly as making a toothpick disappear and reappear? He did a circus trick...who gives a flying fig?So if you can't tell, this is a prime example of why the religious right has completely gone off the deep end. This guy should sue. ...

Interview w/ Dave A. Law
2008-05-06 21:06:00
Thanks very much to Mr. Law for doing this interview with me. You can find check out my review of The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction here.First, tell us a little about yourself and your relation to the speculative fiction field--a little history if you will.From my earliest memory I always wanted to be a scientist and from that grew a love of science fiction. In my teens I got interested in writing and at eighteen I was working as an editor/writer/letterer for a comic book company formed with some friends that I helped run but got nowhere. I went on to write and edit (as well as help run) a variety of comic book companies over the years. I started my own SF zine but couldn’t get it off the ground in the traditional format, so this eventually revised the format to an eZine that I ran for a few years. I got married, finally received my science degree and have been working as a software developer ever since. In more recent past I have been co-running an ePublisher, Virtual ...

SF Crowsnest Nabs Another!
2008-05-06 19:00:00
I'm a little late with this news, but SF Crowsnest nabbed another of my interviews to put in their latest issue (May 2008, #174). You can check that out here if you haven't read the interview with Mr. Melko yet.(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

I Hate CNN
2008-05-03 18:14:00
Why? Because of this article. What it's attempting to do is make it seem like Americans are being pathetic babies about the gas price thing. What's the problem with that? Well, first off they say in the article that the prices shown don't reflect wages...so my question is this: how can you presume to know whether Americans really don't have anything to bitch about if you aren't even taking into account the difference in wages from country to country? My girlfriend is from England, so I decided to use that as a basis, since it is often said that England has such ridiculous prices for gas (or petrol, if you will).Minimum wage in England is about 5.60 pounds. Roughly converted to U.S. dollars, that is $11.20. That's MINIMUM wage. For most states in the U.S. minimum wage is well under $7.00 (all these are based on hourly wages). Some states the minimum wage is still under $6. So, when CNN tells us that gas is about $8.36 per gallon in the UK we're supposed to think, "Wow, they'r ...

Reviewing Ethics: A Question For All
2008-05-03 02:48:00
I have a question that I think needs answering from more people than just myself (which is why I'm asking the question):Is it unethical for me to enter into contests on a blog I do reviews for even if I'm told it's okay by the owner of the blog?I ask this question because SQT of F & SF Lovin' Book Reviews often has some really good little contests for free books. As most of you know I do reviews for that blog. So, while SQT says that it's okay for me to enter, I feel some apprehension because I have a feeling that there is something unethical about it. Some part of me doesn't feel right about entering those contests because I get this sense that I shouldn't be entering seeing how I'm a member of the reviewing crew. What do you think on this issue? Am I just being silly?(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Rejection: To Lie With Spirit
2008-05-01 22:13:00
That's right, I have two rejections to update on. Well, technically this isn't a rejection, but my SF short about Mars that went to the Eaton Conference short story contest for UC students didn't get 1st or 2nd. Technically it didn't place at all, so, I'm basically it's rejected. I don't know if it was a close 2nd, or if it was all the way at the bottom, and probably never will know, but regardless, it's rejected and now off to Neo-opsis, who might like the story.Yeah. I like rejections.(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Movie Review: Resident Evil Extinction
2008-04-29 02:06:00
Having never been a fan of the game franchise (I think they're rather stupid myself, but that's because I like FPS games instead), I have always loved the film adaptations. Why? Because I love zombie movies, even ones like 28 Days Later where the "zombies" aren't really zombies (and actually all those Romero incarnations aren't truly zombie movies either--look it up...try Haiti). Regardless of what you might think about the games, the first Resident Evil flick was darn good. It managed to terrify the crap out of us with those zombie dogs and the truly frightening zombified people. We were able to forgive the makers for the poor CGI too, since those weird mutation things were sort of bad, but didn't take up the screen much.Then came Resident Evil 2 and those of us who liked the first movie were screaming "yes", right up until we saw and we were screaming "no". It seems that awesome cliff-hanger ending in the first film was turned into another relatively interesting idea that came ...

My Trip: Part Two (The First Half)
2008-04-25 20:30:00
For all your sakes, I'm going to leave out the exceedingly mushy stuff. You probably don't want to read about it, so I'm not going to bother you with it.Having arrived at Sheffield by train, I proceeded to collect my things while Lindsey, my girlfriend, stood outside wrapped in her warm jacket looking around for me in the windows. It was somewhat funny because as I lugged my heavy junk off the train she still didn't see me. So I snuck my way over and waved at her until she saw me. Then I got a hug for my efforts and all was well.A moment later and we were heading for her mother's car where her mother was waiting. I half expected there to be a confrontation of sorts, but there wasn't. This was good news of course (except the part where she was just putting on a happy face and instead was saying lots of horrible things about me behind my back, but so be it).So we left Sheffield, with Lindsey and I in the backseat holding hands and generally making other people sick (get over it, th ...

Psst!
2008-04-25 20:15:00
By the way, yes, I am back and alive. More to come on that subject later :P(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Short Hiatus
2008-04-17 02:09:00
I just wanted to let everyone know that I am going on a very brief hiatus from blogging. This is NOT permanent and will only last until around the middle of next week. Basically here is what's up:I'm moving and have to move this weekend.I'm behind on homework from trying to sell stuff off, get rid of stuff, find a place to move to, etc.I have contracted a wicked cold that is really eating me up right now and I think it's fair to everyone, including myself, to take a very short break to get over this and get my life in order.I've been struggling the last few weeks just trying to do my homework, move, sell stuff, and do writing. It's just a lot to take and now that I have this horrible cold I think I need to move away from a couple things to give myself a little breathing space until all things are situation.Again, this is not permanent. I'll be back next week (likely be wednesday).Thanks for your support and I look forward to coming back and writing again. I have lots of things lin ...

Movie Review: Fantastic Four and the Rise of the Silver Surfer
2008-04-13 18:30:00
I'm not a fan of Fantastic Four and never was. I saw the first movie on TV many years after it had already gone through theaters and made its run on DVD. The first film was, in a lot of ways, a poor excuse for a superhero movie and when I found out they were making a second, and saw the pictures of the Silver Surfer, I was prepared for ultimate suckage.Having said that, I can now say I was at least partially proven wrong on this film. Fantastic Four 2 is loads better than the first film. Where the first film failed, this one got it right. There is actually a progressive plot. The characters actually go from not doing a whole lot, to doing a little bit, to a bit more, and finally to the climax. The first film failed entirely on this point with the confrontation with Dr. Doom happening all the way at the end and the only other confrontations being personal ones between the characters. The writers for part two changed that so the confrontations between the characters happen alongs ...

SF/F Links: April Roundup (First Half)
2008-04-13 01:15:00
By the way, this is going to be long since I'm pulling links off my desktop and my laptop. So, get ready for a long list of SF/F related links!Universe TodayWant to know what happens when two black holes collide? What about three? Sound like science fiction? Yeah, they asked the same question too. It's not.Intel, being the cool company that they are, have begun devising ways to protect microchips from cosmic rays. Basically, the chips are going to be smart enough to go "hey, that's not right" and magically fix themselves--in theory.Want to read more about how all life on Earth is from outer space? So do I. Screw E.T. We're more interesting (well, not really, humanity is somewhat boring to me now).New images of an actual dust avalanche on Mars! Now all we need are skiers. And just to add to this I think a cute picture is needed: the little blue planet and its moon from Mars. I love this planet. We're so cool.Apparently Saturn's moon, Rhea, has rings. Who knew? I always t ...

Movie Review: Meet the Robinsons
2008-04-11 20:18:00
It's been a long time since Disney really got something right. With Enchanted hitting a lot of the right buttons and the Pixar lineup hitting all of them, it's really a treat when Disney simply gives you something quaint and likable.Meet the Robinsons is about a lot of things, but namely about the nature of family. Lewis is a semi-brilliant inventor who was left by his mother at an orphanage. By semi-brilliant I mean that he invents really cool things, but they pretty much always fail and cause mild disaster. But Lewis has little hope that he'll ever be adopted. Then a brilliant idea comes to him: what if he can make a machine that will allow him to remember his mother, and ultimately can find her to have a family again? But when things go horribly wrong, Lewis finds himself dragged into a world of the future by a young boy who needs Lewis' help to stop the Bowler Hat Guy from changing the past and destroying everything.The cliches are there. Yes, we have another story about an ...

Publishing the Youngins?
2008-04-10 07:03:00
Does anyone know what the legalities are of publishing minors (i.e. people under the age of 18)? I ask this because there is a possibility I might be working with several people who are not yet adults on a publishing basis and I am not 100% sure what sort of things I need to be aware of. The only thing that I am certain I need to do is have their parents co-sign on the publication contract.Is there anything else I need to be aware of? Do you know someone that might be able to answer this question?(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Movie Review: Jumper
2008-04-06 21:53:00
People have been giving this one mixed reviews ever since it came out. I got a chance to see it when I was in England, since some movies don't play there until some months after they've finished their run here, and I have to say that I rather liked it.The story: David is sort of your semi-geek/outcast who discovers that he has the ability to transport himself instantly to anywhere he wants to go. His abilities are initially triggered by a traumatic event--nearly drowning--but he learns quickly that he is able to control his abilities and soon leaves behind his old life, while everyone else thinks he's dead, by stealing money from a bank and "living it large".But there are some people who think David and others like him are wicked creations that should be destroyed. Soon, David finds himself in the middle of a battle that has been raging for hundreds of years as one secret group tries to exterminate another.The basic idea is pretty good. One thing that I think is a bonus for this m ...

SF/F Links: March/April Roundup
2008-04-06 02:57:00
A little delayed, but finally I have some links for you all. There are loads more, so I think I'm going to have to go with a weekly schedule so it doesn't pile up like it is doing now. In any case, here are the links:io9Things you can do to help create artificial intelligences! You'd be surprised what simple things there are that can help in that field. Stuff you might already do regularly.Post-apocalyptic scenes made out of food! I had a link similar to this from Listverse a long while back. This is in the same vein and amazing.Anyone wanting some advice on map-making should start looking at vector maps of things on other planets and moons in our solar system. Seriously, go to this vector map of a methane sea on Titan and see how cool extraterrestrial maps are!Six earth cities that will give us ideas on how to colonize Mars. This is pretty cool actually. Rather interesting when you look at it from a realistic perspective.The Navy announces a five-year plan to build laser blas ...

Rejection: Artemis
2008-04-05 06:22:00
Yup, I got a rejection notice today for Artemis from Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. So, tomorrow morning it's going off to somewhere else. Best of luck to it on its journey.(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Movie Review: The Last Mimzy
2008-04-04 18:57:00
During my long eleven hour flight to England (and the thirteen hours back) I had the opportunity to watch several movies from last year and I decided I'd do reviews of all of those movies here, since they are sf/f flicks and might be of interest to some of you who haven't seen them yet and are wondering whether they are worth your time. One of those films was The Last Mimzy.The Last Mimzy was a film I wanted to see in theaters last year, but missed. Now I'm glad I missed it. This is a poorly made film, which is sad considering the interesting story it is trying to tell, the relatively decent graphics, and the strong cast of adult actors. The story follows a pair of kids in Washington who find a mysterious alien box, inside of which is a stuffed bunny and some other nifty stuff. We're told from the start that this has something to do with saving the human race and the box is from the future (apparently the genetic structure of humans has become tainted and needs new genetic materia ...

Book Review Up: The Tales of Tanglewood by Scot Michael Kessman
2008-04-04 08:10:00
Another review! Check it out here! It's a cute little story for the younger folks. The review says it is all. Enjoy!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

My Trip: Part One (Over the Pond)
2008-04-03 21:55:00
As many of you are aware, or at least some of you are aware, I took a trip to England over spring break. This is a cross between an academic trip and a trip to visit my girlfriend, who happens to be a native (a term I find rather humorous). I said I would talk a bit about my trip, and so I shall, because that's what bloggers do I suppose (well, maybe only some bloggers).There are going to be quite a few gaps in the pictures, since I didn't catch everything. There's a logical reason for this: I was a little preoccupied with my lovely girlfriend. You'll simply have to forgive me for those gaps.The trip started from SFO (San Francisco International Airport). If you can't tell, that's in San Francisco, in California. Yeah. Hopefully that's blatantly obvious (here I'm sticking my tongue out of course). Now, one thing I have to say about airline travel is that there has never been a single case where I showed up early and barely made it to my flight. Nor has there been a case when ...

Book Review Up: Rolling Thunder by John Varley
2008-04-03 05:55:00
Just thought you all should know that my review of John Varley's Rolling Thunder can be found here! Hope you like it and give the book your consideration. It was a fun read and would recommend it!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Interview w/ Paul Melko
2008-04-02 01:18:00
Here you go! An interview with the author of Ten Sigmas, which I reviewed here. After an hour of formatting the text, since it was a little wonky for some unknown reason, it is ready for your viewing pleasure! Thanks again to Mr. Melko for his time and the great answers he gave to my questions!Thanks for doing this interview with me. First, could you tell us a little about yourself (your history as writer, etc.)?My fiction has been appearing in print since 1996. I've published dozens of stories and they've been translated into Spanish, Russian, Czech, Hungarian, and Romanian. My fiction has appeared in Asimov's SF, Strange Horizons, Talebones, Realms of Fantasy, and other places. My novella "The Walls of the Universe" was nominated for Nebula, Hugo, and Sturgeon Awards -- all in one year! -- and it won the Asimov's Readers Award for Best Novella. My first novel, Singularity's Ring, appeared in February of this year from Tor Books. My second novel, The Walls of the Universe, wil ...

Google Fool's Day and Some Other Funnies
2008-04-01 22:15:00
Google does it every year, and every year I'm amazing. This year they've propose a 100 year mission to establish a colony on mars called Virgle. How do they come up with these ideas? They're geniuses, that's how. It's Google. You can't go wrong with Google.The other funny is that apparently George W. Bush, our retarded President, and Tony Blair, who is at least only partially retarded, but clearly a genius in comparison to Bush, have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, at least according to the BBC. Now, either this is the most brilliant April Fool's joke EVER, or someone is really so stupid to think they deserve such a prestigious award. I'm hoping for the former, 'cause it's funny as all hell.Regularly blogging, writing, reading, etc. will resume by tomorrow and an interview should go up later tonight. Just so you all know. Thanks!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

I Have Returned
2008-03-31 03:22:00
This is just a quick note to let everyone know that I have returned safe and sound from cloudy old England. All went well and there will be a more adequate recap later on in the week. Right now I'm unpacking, putting all the stuff I acquired away, etc. For now, I'm just back and alive.Thanks to all the guest bloggers who managed to keep the activity alive around here. I appreciate it you guys!(Don't click the read more, there isn't any more after this!) ...

Guest Post: When Does Fiction Become Unbelievable?
2008-03-28 17:41:00
Firstly, I'm honoured to guest post here, while, ahem, some people get to go away on holiday! ;) I struggled to think what to post about, and then I saw a film trailer...When does fiction become unbelievable?I haven't seen 10,000 BC yet, but I gather that the mammoths play a large part in the creation of the Ancient Egyptians' pyramids. Fine, I'll accept that: it's fiction, a ridiculous premise, but it sounds quite fun. A strange alternate history. What still bugs me is that the mammoths gallop at speeds of upwards of 60 kilometres per hour. What?! I can accept that they hung around several tens of thousands longer than in actual reality, but during that time, they also devised some way to motorise themselves?! Perhaps in hundreds of thousands of years worth of evolution, they developed little natural rubber wheels? Nooo.But in SFF, a certain suspension of disbelief is often required. In all imagination, really. We are quite prepared to accept the Chosen One, spoken of in prophecies wr ...

Guest Post: When Can I Call Myself a Writer?
2008-03-26 22:00:00
I used to think of myself as a writer, but not so much anymore. I don't know when this shift occurred, but I think it's when I left a career that had "writer" in the title.I graduated from college, more years ago than I'd like to admit, with a degree in Journalism. With that handy-dandy piece of paper I called myself a writer and proceeded to tell anyone who would listen that I was a writer in pursuit of a writing career. And for awhile that worked. I worked at a newspaper as a freelance writer for awhile. But since that was such a poor paying job I ended up in the advertising department selling space to anyone who'd pay our meagre fee. That got old fast and it wasn't long before I was on the job hunt again.Luckily I landed a job on a TV show as an Associate Producer. Now that was a job with a title that made it sound far grander than it was. Mostly I was a glorified assistant who very occasionally got to write script for some of the on-air segments. For the most part I really liked th ...

A Meme, Yup
2008-03-23 17:30:00
I saw this over at The Antick Musings of G. B. H. Hornswoggler and though, what the heck, I should do it to. By the way, anyone who reads this and has a blog is officially tagged. So, yeah.1. You have 50 dollars in your pocket. What do you do with it?I either deposit it in my bank account or spend it on books. Or both. Or I deposit it and use my credit card to pay for books.2. What is your most guilty pleasure?Good lord. I don't know. Maybe that I like Eragon, but not because I think it's a great book. Or maybe because I like My Chemical Romance. Does liking Queen count as a guilty pleasure? Cause I love Queen and Fleetwood Mac. Beyond that, I don't know. Oh, I like fruity drinks (you know, alcoholic beverages that are all fruity and get you labeled as "gay"). Yeah, I like those and I'm not afraid to admit it, but maybe that's not a guilty pleasure? Gah. I have no idea.3. Have you ever had anyone close to you die?I guess that depends on what "close" means. My grandfather ...

Oh Sweet NASA
2008-03-22 17:30:00
NASA does it right. Okay, maybe not, but for those of you interested in how space travel really looks right now you should watch this video of spaceflight STS-122 doing a pitch maneuver. The interesting thing about this is that space travel isn't all flying around and shooting off like we see in the movies. You remember Armageddon? The Bruce Willis flick that attempted to do what Deep Impact did right, but was more successful because it gave us a more flashy, exciting picture with oddball characters (albeit and unrealistic picture).Well, in that film we saw the two ships, which aren't that much different from what we see in the space shuttles today, take off at wild speeds, swooshing and zipping around as if they were in the air. While it was certainly beautiful to watch (who doesn't want to see spaceships going back and forth like we'd expect to see on Earth?) it was entirely unrealistic and, well, ridiculous. The space shuttles we have today are actually very cautious and there ...

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