Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Conventions:
DragonCon will convert to an online convention in 2020.
Books and Writing:
Verso and Feminist Press are turning 50.
Nerds of a Feather interviews Hugo fan artist nominee Iain J Clark.
Mary Robinette Kowal hosted Brandon McNulty who talks about his new book, Bad Parts.
NPR really likes Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s new horror novel, Mexican Gothic.
Horror fans, you are more psychologically resilient than the norm! Yay, you.
Next week Audible drops an audio-book version of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. Does this seem odd to anyone but me? Anyway, here’s the trailer.
Speaking of comics, Titan Comics released the last of the V.E. Schwab series The Steel Prince.
If you haven’t read Victor LaValle’s haunting novella “The Ballad of Black Tom,” Tor.com is offering an excerpt. I definitely recommend the excerpt and the entire story.
Publishers Weekly has a nice article acknowledging Humble Bundle and its fundraising achievements.
TV:
SyFy discusses TNT’s Snowpiercer.
New Yorker magazine takes a, wow, kind of intellectual look at Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers.
Internet:
I laughed when I saw this headline because I thought of the Nigerian prince emails. This guy was a far more serious, and successful, fraudster.
The scandals surrounding Ed Kramer are like zombies. They just won’t die. Kramer has resuscitated this one by suing for libel. The story is convoluted. Kramer is a registered sex offender who was allowed to take a type “first offender” plea. He was sentenced as if guilty but if he completes all the components of the sentence, the charge is taken off his record. Thus, he will be technically not “convicted.” A third party who is running against the judge who is being tried for computer trespass (with Kramer) accused the judge of consorting with “a convicted sex offender” in a campaign ad, and thus, this round of scandal was unleashed. Kramer is of interest to the genre because a long time ago he helped cofound Dragon Con. He has not been associated with Dragon Con since 2013.
Science:
Human brains make different connections than other mammals, even other primates. Not that surprising, but an interesting article.
Tech:
Say goodbye to Adobe Flash Player, which will be officially retired the end of this year.
I didn’t think smartwatches were even a thing anymore, but Qulacomm has come out with a new smartwatch chip, so I guess they are. I like the name.
Earth:
Did a volcanic eruption in 43 BCE in what is now Alaska cause crop failure in Egypt and Rome, leading to political turmoil? A good case can be made for that scenario.
Video:
Voces 8 sings Shenandoah. It’s nearly 4 minutes long.
I think the Sandman thing is going to be an audio drama, not an audiobook. But I get what you’re saying, haha.
I hadn’t heard of Voces8 before, but I really loved this rendition of Shenandoah. That lovely high soprano voice just rings in the air as they sing — just beautiful!