Years ago, in a galaxy far far away...
No!
Stop me before I puke out literary wastage!
Once upon a time...before there was the insidious notion of "genre," people used to write stuff...some of it was good stuff and some of it was crap stuff. But it was writing -- and they didn't know into what "genre" it fit. That's because they know about this extra crispy confection of a term.
Oh, sure! Today....when we write stuff, if we're lucky, if we love what we're doing, and if we don't bother reading literary critics, we don't pay any attention to this "stuff-classification" either -- we just write!
Think about it: if you were asked to come up with some writers that you really liked, writers that you enjoyed, writers that you thought were good [No...wait...forget about this last thing! If you think they are "good" you've stopped enjoying them. They may be good -- but that's totally beside the point.], I bet "genre" is not even a teeny tiny itsy bitsy consideration.
Here's a few of mine: Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain, Bram Stoker, John Steinbeck, Leon Uris, Kurt Vonnegut, Susan Sontag and Gore Vidal.
I write alternate history/time travel/first contact stuff....!?
Go figure!
Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sci-fi. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Beware! The Sha'Daa is coming!
The Sha'Daa: Tales of the Apocalypse by Michael Hanson is on it's way and scheduled for official release on May 1, 2009 but you can pre-order copies now by visiting this page:
www.cyberwizardproductions.com/altered/shadaa.html
The Sha’Daa has its dark, eerie, terrifying roots anchored deep in the soil of fictional horror and mythic apocrypha. The end-of-days is a concept reinvented multiple times by each generation of writers with every new century, and our own 21st is no exception. We offer up this humble tribute to those who came before us.
A gruesome shout out is given for Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, F. Paul Wilson, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Brian Lumley, Homer, Arthur Conan Doyle, and all the rest who have given us reason to fear the night.
Be warned. The Sha’Daa is coming.
"Even in a field that prides itself upon being unique, Sha’Daa: Tales of the Apocalypse, is a most unusual book...a world visited by hideous things every ten thousand years...stories ranging from those involving Greek and Norse mythology, to one about video-gaming warriors...it's a hell of a book." - Mike Resnick
From The Dive by Ed McKeown:
As I met Johnney's gaze, the tunnel around me faded and I felt as if I was floating in air. A gray fog enveloped me, then a few seconds later images appeared below. With a shock, I realized I was floating over an immense stone city. A ghastly, greenish light emanated from walls of the buildings, pallid and somehow unclean. A foul odor wafted from it. Foul even by the standards of sewer workers.
I drifted down and then... I saw them. And I frantically prayed to the Virgin that they did not see me. Things shuffled and lurched through the ghost-lit streets, hideous horned-and-tailed things. Some had green, leathery-looking skin, while others walked upright like men, yet had heads like alligators.
“They see you not,” Johnny whispered in my ears, “because you are not. Long ago this place ended. Many of your kind died in its walls as a sacrifice... as food... as entertainment... for these.”
I whipped my head around and searched frantically for him, but he was invisible.
“Dread Falkaya this was,” Johnny’s theatrical whisper continued. “Once linked to your world. Those that lived here feasted on your distant ancestors. Sometimes they did worse, mating with them to produce demonic half-breeds. Some humans they broke the souls of and made them into the Shadalka: servants of demons. The Shadalka seek to outdo their masters in cruelty. Because they are part human, they can cross more easily to your world.”
From The Way of the Warrior by Arthur Sanchez
The General chuckled. "A true warrior is ever vigilant. We've been watching your kind since before you lived in caves. I know about video games. Let us begin!" Shinzo gulped hard.
Two-player games are different than playing the computer. There isn't as much finesse. A player chooses an avatar and tries to use its strengths while protecting against its weaknesses. Shinzo chose a fighter who was fast and precise. That came at the cost of strength and endurance. General Kra'tchaz' chose a fighter with limited mobility but a devastating punch. I guess, Shinzo thought, people stick to what they know.
Shinzo wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants and held his controller pad. General Kra'tchaz' stared at the screen. He looked as immobile as a house. "Let's do it," Shinzo said.
From Talking Heads by Nancy Jackson
Professor Veronica "Ronny" Johns stared at her grandfather’s picture on the wall of her tidy study at Exeter University. He’d been everything to her as a child, after her parents died in a car crash. The resemblance between her tall, elegant grandfather and herself was clear in the reflection from the portrait's glass. The same long, straight nose, brown hair and dark brown eyes, the same gangling body that looked better on him than it did on her.
"But you left me something else, Gramps," she sighed. "You left me a terrible burden that even now I only half believe in. Perhaps we’re both mad." She turned back to her laptop, where she was working on the details of the Exeter University expedition to Easter Island. It was a long way from Devon, UK, to the Pacific.
www.cyberwizardproductions.com/altered/shadaa.html
The Sha’Daa has its dark, eerie, terrifying roots anchored deep in the soil of fictional horror and mythic apocrypha. The end-of-days is a concept reinvented multiple times by each generation of writers with every new century, and our own 21st is no exception. We offer up this humble tribute to those who came before us.
A gruesome shout out is given for Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Bloch, H.P. Lovecraft, F. Paul Wilson, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Brian Lumley, Homer, Arthur Conan Doyle, and all the rest who have given us reason to fear the night.
Be warned. The Sha’Daa is coming.
"Even in a field that prides itself upon being unique, Sha’Daa: Tales of the Apocalypse, is a most unusual book...a world visited by hideous things every ten thousand years...stories ranging from those involving Greek and Norse mythology, to one about video-gaming warriors...it's a hell of a book." - Mike Resnick
From The Dive by Ed McKeown:
As I met Johnney's gaze, the tunnel around me faded and I felt as if I was floating in air. A gray fog enveloped me, then a few seconds later images appeared below. With a shock, I realized I was floating over an immense stone city. A ghastly, greenish light emanated from walls of the buildings, pallid and somehow unclean. A foul odor wafted from it. Foul even by the standards of sewer workers.
I drifted down and then... I saw them. And I frantically prayed to the Virgin that they did not see me. Things shuffled and lurched through the ghost-lit streets, hideous horned-and-tailed things. Some had green, leathery-looking skin, while others walked upright like men, yet had heads like alligators.
“They see you not,” Johnny whispered in my ears, “because you are not. Long ago this place ended. Many of your kind died in its walls as a sacrifice... as food... as entertainment... for these.”
I whipped my head around and searched frantically for him, but he was invisible.
“Dread Falkaya this was,” Johnny’s theatrical whisper continued. “Once linked to your world. Those that lived here feasted on your distant ancestors. Sometimes they did worse, mating with them to produce demonic half-breeds. Some humans they broke the souls of and made them into the Shadalka: servants of demons. The Shadalka seek to outdo their masters in cruelty. Because they are part human, they can cross more easily to your world.”
From The Way of the Warrior by Arthur Sanchez
The General chuckled. "A true warrior is ever vigilant. We've been watching your kind since before you lived in caves. I know about video games. Let us begin!" Shinzo gulped hard.
Two-player games are different than playing the computer. There isn't as much finesse. A player chooses an avatar and tries to use its strengths while protecting against its weaknesses. Shinzo chose a fighter who was fast and precise. That came at the cost of strength and endurance. General Kra'tchaz' chose a fighter with limited mobility but a devastating punch. I guess, Shinzo thought, people stick to what they know.
Shinzo wiped the sweat from his hands on his pants and held his controller pad. General Kra'tchaz' stared at the screen. He looked as immobile as a house. "Let's do it," Shinzo said.
From Talking Heads by Nancy Jackson
Professor Veronica "Ronny" Johns stared at her grandfather’s picture on the wall of her tidy study at Exeter University. He’d been everything to her as a child, after her parents died in a car crash. The resemblance between her tall, elegant grandfather and herself was clear in the reflection from the portrait's glass. The same long, straight nose, brown hair and dark brown eyes, the same gangling body that looked better on him than it did on her.
"But you left me something else, Gramps," she sighed. "You left me a terrible burden that even now I only half believe in. Perhaps we’re both mad." She turned back to her laptop, where she was working on the details of the Exeter University expedition to Easter Island. It was a long way from Devon, UK, to the Pacific.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Back from FenCon
Abandoned Towers, in the person of Crystalwizard, spent Oct 3-5 roaming around at FenCon, handing out slips of paper with the magazine home page on them and taking in all the sights. We now present this overview of the con.
Far too many panels to choose from, but that's a good thing. It did mean, however, that I wound up missing some I wanted to see, because I was doing something else I also wanted to do.
Jay Lake was one of the guests and he ran the FenCon short story workshop. I spoke to several of the authors who attended his workshop and they had happy, glowing things to report about his teaching, his critiquing and his professional manner. I had a chance to speak with him myself. He's both a great author and a great person. Professional, polite and humble. He fit himself right in with all the other con guests unlike some authors who are famous for walking around acting like they are above everyone else. He's also actively trying to improve things in the sci-fi industry to benefit all authors and that's something I can't applaud enough. Jay's got a number of things in print. Go buy his books.
Dr. Gregory Benford was also present. Guest of Honor and not what I expected a physicist to be like. Down to earth, funny, a regular guy who I wish I'd had more time to talk to. I did get to listen to his keynote address and found the information he presented fascinating. It sparked an idea for a story as well... now if I can just find the time to write it down.
This was FenCon 5 and the maturing showed. The con ran smooth (at least from a regular visitor perspective) and while everything was fun, the masquerade was a grand time. A number of interesting characters showed up on the costume stage. The unseelie court put in an appearance, a steampunk chick waltzed across the stage, a trio of pixies flitted about for a bit then turned dark and started bellydancing and a stormtrooper, wearing a kilt(!) strode out and demanded applause.
But the act that outshone all the others (in my personal opinion) was Admiral Adama. The man who played him could be almost a dead ringer for the actor in the series. He strode onto the stage and his voice rang out with a loud, clear "So say we all." The entire audience responded back. He captured everyone as he recited Adama's entire speech. Perfectly. I expected a standing ovation but there wasn't time. Each participant in only had a minute or so and he was off the stage as soon as the last "So say we all." was delivered. He did get a thunderous round of applause and he won first in one of the categories.
Many enjoyable discussions, interesting and fun filk music and lots of tasty munchies in the Con suite later, I'm home and exhausted. But it was a grand time and I can't wait for next year.
FenCon - Make plans to come to DFW and play
http://fencon.org/
Far too many panels to choose from, but that's a good thing. It did mean, however, that I wound up missing some I wanted to see, because I was doing something else I also wanted to do.
Jay Lake was one of the guests and he ran the FenCon short story workshop. I spoke to several of the authors who attended his workshop and they had happy, glowing things to report about his teaching, his critiquing and his professional manner. I had a chance to speak with him myself. He's both a great author and a great person. Professional, polite and humble. He fit himself right in with all the other con guests unlike some authors who are famous for walking around acting like they are above everyone else. He's also actively trying to improve things in the sci-fi industry to benefit all authors and that's something I can't applaud enough. Jay's got a number of things in print. Go buy his books.
Dr. Gregory Benford was also present. Guest of Honor and not what I expected a physicist to be like. Down to earth, funny, a regular guy who I wish I'd had more time to talk to. I did get to listen to his keynote address and found the information he presented fascinating. It sparked an idea for a story as well... now if I can just find the time to write it down.
This was FenCon 5 and the maturing showed. The con ran smooth (at least from a regular visitor perspective) and while everything was fun, the masquerade was a grand time. A number of interesting characters showed up on the costume stage. The unseelie court put in an appearance, a steampunk chick waltzed across the stage, a trio of pixies flitted about for a bit then turned dark and started bellydancing and a stormtrooper, wearing a kilt(!) strode out and demanded applause.
But the act that outshone all the others (in my personal opinion) was Admiral Adama. The man who played him could be almost a dead ringer for the actor in the series. He strode onto the stage and his voice rang out with a loud, clear "So say we all." The entire audience responded back. He captured everyone as he recited Adama's entire speech. Perfectly. I expected a standing ovation but there wasn't time. Each participant in only had a minute or so and he was off the stage as soon as the last "So say we all." was delivered. He did get a thunderous round of applause and he won first in one of the categories.
Many enjoyable discussions, interesting and fun filk music and lots of tasty munchies in the Con suite later, I'm home and exhausted. But it was a grand time and I can't wait for next year.
FenCon - Make plans to come to DFW and play
http://fencon.org/
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