On this day in 2012, the Pirate Party of Greece was founded. Sounds like a party I’d like to attend!
Harry Clarke illustrating Poe
Writing, Editing, and Publishing
Brian Staveley, writing for Tor.com, made my week when he posted this article about the differences between writing fantasy and poetry. In it, he advocates for getting characters out the door and on the road, not obsessing over details of food or clothing (or horses, or banners, or genealogy, or…). It’s one of my pet peeves in the fantasy genre and Staveley hits the nail on the head. Looking forward to more in this series of articles on writing. Oh, and Brian Staveley will be stopping here at Fantasy Literature tomorrow to talk about the challenge of writing a sequel to a successful debut novel.
Speaking of writing advice, Neil Gaiman had some good advice this week for anyone who wants to write, but hasn’t yet. Watch out–it turns into a story.
And once you’ve written your soon-to-be bestseller, how do you market it? The geniuses at SF Signal have put together a podcast entitled, “Everything You Wanted to Know About SF/F/H Book Publicity.”
A recent panel at the New York Public Library asked where the science fiction for younger readers is; one of the points of discussion acknowledged both the presence of and need for more global voices in middle-grade SF.
Last week I posted an article about women in LOTR which focused on justifying the Peter Jackson-created character, Tauriel. Katherine Addison has a different take on Tolkien’s women, categorizing them according to archetypes, and specifically teasing apart what Eowyn’s ultimate fate means for women in Middle Earth.
Ragnarok Publishers has acquired a new independent publisher, Angelic Knight Press, to serve as their paranormal/horror imprint. I look forward to seeing what they put out together!
Harry Clarke–the Pit and the Pendulum
Andy Weir, author of The Martian, is interviewed here in The Nautilus, talking about how he created a story out of science, and what impact the recent Mars discoveries have had on him.
Spoilers are never as exciting as I hope they will be. That being said, you may be interested in some news, drawn from some notes on a manuscript of George R. R. Martin‘s Dances with Dragons. It’s not big, but it’s . . . something?
If that left you cold, then how about this? Kareem Abdul Jabbar has written a novel about Mycroft Holmes. Betcha never expected to hear that combination of words, huh?
Movies and Television:
Eeeeeeeee … (continues shrieking, raising in pitch, until falling over and dying). It’s happening! It’s really happening! Okay, context: you may not know this about me, but I love musical theater. When I saw Wicked a few years ago, I was a sobbing, snotty mess at both the interval and the end. So . . . Hollywood is finally making a Wicked movie musical. Which, as I probably do not need to point out, is rather exciting to me. And don’t worry about missing a moment of the drama: I will continue to update you on the progress of the Wicked movie as it develops over the next 2 years. Whether you like it or not.
Back to normalcy … or as close as we’re likely to get from Guillermo Del Toro, who is creating a noir/Victorian-esque fantasy series for Amazon, entitled A Killing on Carnival Row.
Harry Clarke–Fall of the House of Usher
Internet Stuff:
This past week, John Scalzi live-tweeted watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was predictably hilarious.
An actor playing the Gaston character at Disney World became an Internet sensation recently as he interacted with visitors to the park. In this clip, he humbles a tourist in a push-up contest.
Less than a day to go on this Kickstarter for a new book explaining the science of H.P. Lovecraft. Donate today to help this become a reality!
Finally, a couple great art projects: Phil Noto puts a retro spin on Marvel characters, and Jim Kay shows us some of the illustrations he’s done for the illustrated HARRY POTTER books, forthcoming from Scholastic and Bloomsbury.
Featured Art: This week, Harry Clarke’s illustrations of Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Madness. Next week, Harry Clarke’s fairy tale illustrations.
Stavely hits the crude blackish-gray nail, forged from the ancient iron mined in the lost mines of the Dwarven Coalition during the eon of the Vast Convergence, right on its squarish head with his hammer, its own head forged from mythic star-metal, its haft carved from a branch of the First Oak by the Great Doodler, the first of the seven nearly-immortal Doodlers who have ruled the world since it first rose green and dripping from the vast Uber-Dosk ocean.
Seriously, I loved his article, and the title was perfect.
Nicely done, Marion!
Amazing. :D
Well played madam. Well played indeed.
“Kareem Abdul Jabbar has written a novel about Mycroft Holmes” sounds like a mad lib. (Or a Cards Against Humanity hand.) That said, I’m intrigued by the idea of former-professional athletes writing novels!
Right? I want to read it. Just that sentence is good enough marketing for me.
Whoever is in charge of marketing for this, if they put out any statement other than “Kareem Abdul Jabbar has written a novel about Mycroft Holmes,” is working too hard.
Exactly, Jana!