On this day in 1866, miners in Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull, human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons, and elephants had co-existed. It was later revealed to be a hoax.
Henry Reuterdahl (1871-1925)
Writing, Editing, and Publishing
Publisher’s Weekly covers an evening with Neil Gaiman and Daniel Handler, speaking in an evening called “En Garde!” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Borderlands Bookstore, a store in San Francisco specializing in SFF, was under threat of closure, but thanks to an inventive sponsorship strategy by the store, it looks like it may be able to stay open for the rest of 2015.
Some great genre authors such as Margaret Atwood and Lemony Snicket will be participating in the 2015 Twitter Fiction Festival.
SFWA has announced the nominees for the Nebula, the Ray Bradbury, and the Andre Norton Awards. I’m excited to see Katherine Addison‘s The Goblin Emporer on here; it was one of my favorite books of 2014.
C.S. Lewis is not as well-known for his science fiction as his fantasy Narnia series, but one blogger says that Out of the Silent Planet deserves mention with other sci-fi greats such as Dune or Foundation.
Ben Bova writes for HuffPo about what “hard science fiction” is, defending it as one of the most realistic genres.
John Scalzi has worked with Subterranean Press in the past, and now he’s helping them raise money for Worldbuilders. The press now has a really great e-package up online, the Humble Bundle, and you can pay what you want.
This Roundtable Podcast episode, “The Changing Face of Storytelling,” examines how authors and readers are connecting through new models, such as e-readers, audiobooks, serial storytelling, etc. It features Cat Rambo, Joe Bonadonna, Michael A. Armstrong, and Janet and Chris Morris.
Film and Television
Achala Upendran writes about her favorite Disney princess, Jasmine, defending her as the most feminist of the Disney Renaissance women.
Jason Momoa, of Game of Thrones fame, has been cast as Aquaman in the upcoming Justice League movie. Check out his look here.
Internet Stuff
This is great; a Syrian man’s shattered jaw was replaced by one printed on a 3d printer.
io9 says that puya chilensis, or “the sheep-eating plant,” is the world’s most terrifying plant, but I think it’s the manchineel, which grows in the Everglades of Florida.
Stephen Hawking congratulated Eddie Redmayne on his Oscar win; Redmayne promises to bring his Oscar to Cambridge to show the famous physicist.
Featured Art:
Only one image this time, but Reuterdal painted this illustration for one of the earliest science fiction stories: Rudyard Kipling’s “A Story of 2000 AD.” Hey! That was 15 years ago! Where are my rocket boosters? Where are my power lacing shoes?
I was so glad the “sponsorship” idea worked for Borderlands, at least for one more calendar year. At a guess, I’d say San Francisco is a tough city in which to be a small business owner.
C. S. Lewis’s science fiction definitely deserves mention as part of the fundamental works of the genre.
Aren’t Daniel Handler and Lemony Snicket the same person?