Month: March 2011

Reading Is Fundamental

A lot of my reading last week, when I’ve gotten to it, has been a lot of non-fiction.  But that’s not why you’re here.   You want to know what fiction I’ve read.  Basically, I let myself get carried away with the remainder of Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumière…

“A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens” is a cross between the Twilight Zone episode “Long Distance Call” and Etgar Keret’s vision of the underworld in his story “Kneller’s Happy Campers,” the way only Lalumière can do it. Ending seemed a bit too pat for me, IMO. 4 out of 5.

“A Visit to the Optometrist” obviously had an instant familiarity, after having read “The Ethical Treatment of Meat.”  While I didn’t dig the plotline itself, I loved the idea behind it, namely the competing forces at work.  So, 5 out of 5.

“Roman Predator’s Chimeric Odyssey” is the second thing in almost as many weeks to remind me of Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend, the first being the discussion over said anime I had on the Functional Nerds podcast. There was probably a little too much going on in it for me. 4 out of 5.

“Destroyer of Worlds” shows that Lalumière and I definitely have read the same comic books. I have no doubt the pictures in my head and those in his were the same. 4 out of 5.

“This Is the Ice Age” is where Lalumière the best job writing the setting, IMO.  The ending didn’t really work for me, though.  It seemed a bit of a let-down after how well the tension was built.  4 out of 5.

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I’m going to have to add this collection to my list of goodreads reviews I’m behind on, now.

    “The pain will be written on every page in tears…”

    I rarely engage in these writerly literary debates you see on just about every damn social network a writer can be on.  You know the ones: Outlining vs. pantsing.  Writing for money or writing for “Art?”  Literary vs. genre.  Start your online author platform now or later?  Great taste!  Less filling!

    Only two of these sorts of issues have gotten me thinking.  I’ve settled one of them, at least in my mind: I’ll never feel sorry for anyone who got skewered on QueryFail and Slushpile Hell. Because (a) I’m more than happy to learn from their mistakes and (b) You want to NOT be skewered on there?  Then STFU and read submission guidelines, you f**king child!

    Whew.  Now that’s out of the way, I can move on to the second thing…

    And when I write the book about my love
    It’ll be a pop publication, tougher than tough
    When I get down on the pages all I missed
    It will shoot to the top of the best-sellers list
    When I write the book about my love

    -Nick Lowe, “When I Write the Book

    But when I write the book… where will I be able to sell it?

    I won’t bother linking to the plethora of blogs and articles about the death of the book store.  First, the indie book store.  Then, the big box book store.  Because of e-readers.  Or, because people don’t read.  Or, because indies and big-boxes would eat each other. Who knows?

    I, apparently, live in a town that could not only lose one of its major independent book stores (which is actually going to be resurrected… again), but also lost its Borders.  We still have a Barnes and Noble, but for how long?

    R.I.P. Borders #507

    More importantly, to what extent am I to blame?  Oh, sure, I know I couldn’t have bought enough books from either place to have saved them.  I mean, my attitude. 

    Peep this: I was drooling to get my hands on a copy of Karen Joy Fowler’s latest collection, What I Didn’t See and Other Stories.  My local indie bookstore had it–it’d been my go-to for most of the fantasy/slipstream books I’ve ever wanted. Found out Borders had a copy, too.

    But I’d gotten myself a Nook for the holidays.  My intention was to subscribe to all the ‘zines I’d ever wanted to subscribe to–most of them are in .epub format these days.  But, so was What I Didn’t See.  So I caved.  I took consolation in the fact that at least I was ordering the collection from Weightless Books rather than, say, B&N.  But still.

    Maybe I’m just moving with the times, watching the end of an era.

    Reading Is Fundamental

    I know I read a few things since the last entry, but I lost track. I have no other excuses–just saying that life happens and is actually continuing to happen.  (Cryptic, I know.  Sorry.)  Still, the only way out is through, and I need to get back on track with things like writing and reading, and talking about what I’m reading.

    From the 14th through the 20th, I actually read quite a bit…

    I finished up the last bit of Lightspeed Magazine 2:

    • “The Zeppelin Conductors’ Society Annual Gentlemen’s Ball” by Genevieve Valentine. So far, I’m 2 for 2 in never having read a Valentine story I didn’t like.
    • “…For a Single Yesterday” by George R.R. Martin. There’s a certain tier of SF/F writers that I just haven’t managed to read yet. Martin, De Lint, etc. Stories like this erode the consolation I take in the idea that I just can’t read everything.  5 out of 5 for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that if I hadn’t read in advance that the story was first published a mere two years after I was born, I might never have known.

    I started Objects of Worship by Claude Lalumière.  As of now, I’m actually almost done with it.  I can’t remember when I got through anyone’s short story collection this fast.  All I can say is that, a few personal quibbles aside, Lalumière’s writing definitely lives up to its hype.

    • “The Object of Worship.” Never before has the opening story of a collection blown me away like this. Wonderful!  5 out of 5.
    • “The Ethical Treatment of Meat” had its ups and downs for me.  4 out of 5, but only because the main conceit of the story started being teased so well and then, in expository dialogue, “Whoomp, there it is!”
    • “Hochelaga and Sons” definitely takes a page out of the Kavalier and Clay playbook. But only one. 4 out of 5.
    • “The Sea, at Bari” hits some really nice Lovecraftian notes, but is still very much its own story.  5 out of 5.
    • “The Darkness at the Heart of the World” seamlessly crams the main character’s entire mortal lifetime in a short-story. I’m astounded, to be honest.  5 out of 5.
    • “Spiderkid” does the same thing “Hochelaga” did, but in a completely different way.  4 out of 5.
    • “Njabo” is a master-class in how to write non-traditional family situations without hitting the reader over the head with “This is a Non-Traditional Family, Look at Me, Look at Me!!”  5 out of 5, even though I’m unsure if the ending of the story didn’t surprise me because the writing telegraphed it or because I chanced upon this article from io9 the same day I was reading this story.

    I bought the TPB of The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis a couple of weeks ago. In a sense, it was pretty senseless, since I have all four of the original books that make up The Collected Stories, though I’ve only read three. I hadn’t read Davis’s second collection, 1997’s Almost No Memory. I’m about ten pieces in. I won’t list or review them. Anyone who’s familiar with Davis’s work understands that the distinction between “story” and “prose poem” is so blurred–I just don’t feel qualified to comment on it, except to say that rarely do her pieces fail to resonate with me.

    “Going the Distance”

    I’ve missed a few writing- and reading-progress posts lately.  No excuses.  Just an explanation: Life, quite simply, happened.  There were happy- and not-so-happy things that led to exhaustion, a near-breakdown, and almost total radio- (read: internet) silence. 

    I’m a bit better, now.  I’m limping along.  My frustration tolerance is severely fried.  The slightest life setbacks–and there have been at least 2 per day, every day, for the past two weeks now–make me want to curl up into a ball. 

    But today, not so much.  Enough is enough.  I’m getting back on the horse.  Gotta go the distance, just like Rocky.  Although I’m doing it to a laid-back Menahan Street Band groove, rather than the full-on Bill Conti one.

    I lugged the laptop-formerly-known-as-my-desktop out to the writing spot.  This is the first time in almost three years I haven’t been hunched over a netbook.  I gotta say my back and neck feel better for it.  If I can just get a new battery for this beast (current battery holds absolutely no charge whatsoever), I might try this more often.  The screen is bigger (obviously) and I forgot just how much better the audio sounds.  I mention it only because this machine is helping me do something very important right now, namely get a global view of everything I have to catch up with.  Increased screen real estate makes that so much easier.

    My head’s a jumble right now, and having a mess of open text-files, sticky notes, and mind maps is helping me flush that jumble out of my head and into something I can later organize and act on.  Because it’s no use “going the distance” if you don’t even know where you are, let alone where you’re going.

    My Face Is Made for Podcasting

    Out today: the 49th episode of The Functional Nerds podcast, hosted by Patrick Hester and John Anealio , featuring Carrie Cuinn and me talking about Cthulhurotica, which of course degenerated, uh, led to discussions of tentacle pr0n, plushie C’thulhus, and Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend.

    Thanks again to Patrick and John for having us!

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