I am agog

A.T. Campbell was kind enough to point out to me that my publisher, the University of Nebraska Press, bought the inside cover of the Apollocon program book to promote--among other titles--my book, Voices of Vision. In all honesty, I'd figured they'd forgotten all about my little book, so seeing effort on their part to market it (even though it came out in '05) makes me all giddy inside.

Needless to say, I'm polishing my proposal for the follow-up volume, Voices of Wonder, as I type this. Well, maybe not simultaneously, because that's physically impossible, but you get the idea.

Now Playing: R.E.M. Eponymous

Guess who I interviewed this weekend?

That'd be Allen Steele, the Apollocon GoH. Fun interview. Who knew rabid skunks could be so tenacious?

I'm back from Apollocon, obviously. Excellent convention. I took my camera and managed to piss off a whole lot of people with it. Still not improving on my Sturgeon's Law ratio of decent vs. crappy images though, so I'll have to continue working on my shooting skills. Will be posting images over at No Fear of the Future later, and will also give a more detailed convention report once I rectify this sleep deprivation I'm suffering from.

Now Playing: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass The Lonely Bull

Friday Night Videos

Ah, Sheena Easton. There's so much I could write about this Scottish singer and her career choices. But not right now. Suffice to say "Ice Out In The Rain" is my favorite song of hers, with a killer baseline and wonderfully understated vocals from (in my opinion) her best album by far. The accompanying video is also her most accomplished, a perfect marriage of style and mood. So naturally the song failed to chart, the album tanked and the future of entire career came into question. Ah well, no accounting for taste.



By the by, in the early 90s one of her former record companies released a "techno" remix of this song and overdubbed it to the original video. The results were pretty wretched, all things considered.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Laura Branigan.

Now Playing: Sheena Easton Madness, Money & Music

Apollocon 2008

Tomorrow I'm hie me over to Houston for Apollocon. This has become one of my favorite conventions of the year, and they always do a bang-up job. If you see some idiot (as George Carlin would say) puttering along at 45 mph on I-10, that'd just be me, trying to save gas money so I don't have to sell the kids off to medical researchers. Here's my schedule:

When You Don't Know What Else to Do, Throw a Dead Body In
Fri 9:00PM - 10:00PM Tucson
Steven Brust, C. J. Mills (M), Gail Dayton, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Jayme Lynn Blaschke
Panelists should discuss various tricks and devices for moving a story forward over unexpected plot hurdles and dry spots. Topics might include (but are not limited to):
Being willing to turn left when the map says right. The freedom planning to revise allows. Devices that can change the situation (deaths, births, letters from abroad, sudden discoveries, legacies, etc.). How to keep on track through dry spots and pump priming.

Comparing SF Lit & SF in other Media
Sat 10:00AM - 11:00AM Tucson
Tim Miller, Beverly A. Hale, Maureen McHugh, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Jayme
Lynn Blaschke (M)
Panelists discuss the differences between SF in literature and SF in other media. Topics might include (but are not limited to): Are there obvious differences and what are they? What are the other, less obvious differences? What influences these differences? How do the differences affect the audience and/or audience perception?

Readings: Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Steven Brust
Sat 11:00AM - 12:00PM Phoenix
Steven Brust, Jayme Lynn Blaschke 25 minute reading session in 50 minute shared slot (I'll probably read a section of "The Whale Below," forthcoming in Jeff & Ann VanderMeer's pirate anthology).

Besides Blood, Sweat, and Inspiration: What Does It Take to Be a Writer
Sat 1:00PM - 2:00PM Seattle II
Martha Wells, Bill Crider, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Gail Dayton, Maureen McHugh, C.
J. Mills (M)
A variant on Writing 101, this panel should explore some of the talents, personality traits, lifestyle factors, and circumstances that "make" a writer, or at least aid a writer's development.

The Portrayal of Texas and Texans in Spec Fic
Sat 4:00PM - 5:00PM Scottsdale
Scott Cupp, K. Hutson Price, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Lawrence Person, Bradley Denton, Derly N. Ramirez II (M)
Panelists discuss how speculative fiction portrays Texas and Texans. Topics might include (but are not restricted to): What works have Texas or Texans appeared in? Is "Texas" or "Texan" a cultural shorthand in our genres, and if so, for what? Is the treatment the same or different in fantasy, science fiction, and horror? Is the treatment in our genres different than in the mainstream?

Spec Fic, Social Networking, and the Blogosphere
Sun 10:00AM - 11:00AM Seattle I
Jayme Lynn Blaschke (M), J.M. McDermott, Thomas M. Wagner, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel
Panelists discuss the proposition that new and emergent technologies offer avenues for authors and publishers to lower the threshold of access to their readership, but it's a two-way street with potentially unexpected results for the field. Topics might include (but are not limited to): What opportunities do new and emergent technologies offer writers for promotion, audience interaction, and community development? What are the benefits and drawbacks of community development and audience interaction in the new online environments? Does the ease and speed of feedback change the nature of the writers process and product? Are social networking sites effective marketing tools? How do blogs, websites, and thing like book trailers interact? How do they work? How do they impact the author's primary work: writing?

Now Playing: Salsa Del Rio

Froggie!

I shot this little guy over at Aquarena during lunch. It was quite windy, so I had a difficult time framing it quite the way I wanted. This is one of the better images. Thought I'd share with you folks.



Now Playing: Sheena Easton Freedom

Jumper

Folks, my review for the DVD release of Jumper is now live over at RevolutionSF. What did I think of it? Well, here's a hint:

Listen up, kids: If a movie tie-in is better than the actual movie, you’ve entered serious red-flag territory.

Hmm, kinda cryptic there. I wonder to what I could be referring?

Now Playing: Sheena Easton Freedom

George Carlin

I'm still a little shocked at George Carlin's death. I hadn't known he'd been suffering heart problems for years, so from my perspective, he seemed in great health for a fellow his age. One thing I loved about him was the fact that he came across as so affable, even when he was holding forth with his glorious brand of caustic umbrage. Other people are posting tributes referencing his most famous bits, such as the "7 Dirty Words" or the like. I'd have liked to post the hilarious F-bomb sequence from his early 90s sitcom on FOX, but that doesn't seem to be online anywhere. So instead I'll present this obscure bit from early in his career--when he was still a buttoned-down, upright fellow--that just happens to be the first Carlin bit I ever heard. It's not caustic, but it's still funny: Wonderful WINO.



Now Playing: Sheena Easton Madness, Money & Music