WWWednesday: May 3, 2017

Awards:

John Langan’s novel The Fisherman won the Bram Stoker award for superior achievement in a novel. Haven, by Tom Deady won for best first novel, and that guy has the perfect last name for a horror writer. See all the winners here.

Books and Writing:

George R.R. Martin says his first published work was a fan letter he wrote to Marvel Comics when he was fourteen years old.  Here, as part of the History Channel’s Superheroes Decoded, he reads it aloud. My favorite sentence? “I cannot fathom how you could fit so much action into so few pages.”

I know I seem to be on a bit of a “reading fees—don’t pay them” kick lately but, hey! I don’t write the news; I just curate it. Mary Robinette Kowal adds her insights to the discussion. I like that she discusses why paying a fee to consult with an editor is acceptable at a conference.

The Guardian posted a collection of “writerly retreats.” I’m torn between complete awe and frothing envy.

Robyn Bennis, who wrote The Guns Above, wrote an article for Tor/Forge detailing the technology of mounting a cannon on an airship. You owe it to yourself to know this.

Readers of The Guardian shared their opinions on whether the comment, “The mess we inherited from Labour” is an iambic pentameter. No, really, they did. They’re British.

Grania Davis, a new wave writer, an editor and wife of Avram Davidson, passed away on April 28. This site lists her work.

Reality upended William Gibson’s light of fancy and his upcoming book, Agency, has now become alternate history. In his book, which will be released in January, Hillary Clinton was elected president. Sadly, we are the people left in the dystopian alternate timeline.  (Thanks to Ryan.)

Thanks to Kat for this brief,interesting history of vampire fiction, and the rise of Dracula.

This brief history of an imaginary white uber-race is interesting.

American Gods from Starz
(Ricky Whittle as Shadow)

Movies and TV:

Salon likes American Gods.

I had to include this article, “American Gods is Actually Pretty Canadian” because of its title.

Salon has an interview with Shawn Ashmore about his role in the new thriller Devil’s Gate. It’s not genre but I’m including it anyway. I read halfway through this thinking, “Oh, Salon, you’re so snobby, why aren’t you talking about Killjoys and Warehouse 13?” And then I realized that this article is about Shawn Ashmore, not his identical twin actor brother Aaron, who starred in those series (and is still in Killjoys).

Hubris:

If you were planning to write a dystopian, social-commentary survivalist-adventure book in which wealthy, privileged people are stranded on a remote island with inadequate water and food, no shelter and no phone chargers, you will have to work hard to come up with something worse than the real-life Fyre Festival.

Science and Technology:

Robots armed with 3D printers can build a building in a matter of hours, according to this LA Times article. Excellent news for people in disaster areas; not such great news for carpenters.

The TARDIS

And.. the TARDIS could be real? Mathematically. And I love that these physicists chose a name to form the acronym TARDIS.  Thanks for File 770 for both links.

Space:

Could Venus have volcanoes? Scientists thought this was impossible but now they are not so sure.

Earth:

One full minute of snow leopards snuggling, because you deserve it. Thanks to N.K Jemisin who posted this on her Twitter feed.