On this day in 1789, the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, was published in Boston.
Harry Clarke illustration of Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood
Writing, Editing, and Publishing
The nominations for Hugo Awards are now open. On Such a Full Sea, an SF novel by Chang Rae Lee, has been nominated for a National Book Critic’s Circle award. And, I’m not sure how I missed this, but the Philip K. Dick Award nominees were announced, including Maplecroft by Cherie Priest.
In the essay collection Harry Potter and History, an essay by M.G. DuPree points out more sophistication and nuance to JK Rowling‘s invented spells. Check out a blurb from the essay here.
Jonathan Strahan shares the table of contents from the upcoming Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 9. Some great names and stories are on here, including several from the George R.R. Martin Rogues anthology, and some of my favorites from Monstrous Affections, the YA-focused anthology Kelly Link and Gavin Grant put out last year.
Kameron Hurley has another great essay about publishing and her position as an author with works that are self-published, put out by small presses, and picked up by larger publishers.
For The Guardian, Damien Walter wonders if science fiction is the religion of the 21st century.
I stumbled across the blog, “Where the Dog Star rages” a few weeks ago. The blogger behind it, Achala Upendran, writes about Taylor Swift, music videos, trashy tv shows, LOTR, Harry Potter, and lots of other pop cultural issues.that I find equally fascinating. This post, 4 Awesome Ideas for an Indian Fantasy Novel, is great; check her out.
Cinderella and her Wicked Stepsisters, by Henry Clarke
Movies and Television:
Max Gladstone from Tor.com compares Birdman to a muppet movie.
Eden Friedman, writing for HuffPo, reviews UK Channel 4’s Black Mirror, calling it “the best TV show you’re not watching.”
Natalie Chaidez, the showrunner for SyFy’s 12 Monkeys series, talks to io9 about what she has learned about writing.
Ryan Britt ponders why Interstellar didn’t get an Oscars nod, wondering if it has something to do with the fact that it’s one of the only SF movies where science is not the enemy.
This Japanese animated short film entitled “Small Garden” is adorable and weird. It was one of Vimeo’s staff picks recently.
The LIttle Mermaid, by Henry Clarke
Internet Stuff:
A teenage boy in Pittsburgh, Sahil Doshi, has invented a battery that generates electricity from CO2.
Apparently the Green Bay Packers love to play Settlers of Catan in the locker room. And now, because of them, all of Green Bay, WI, has picked up an interest in the game.
This GIF-based retelling of Harry Potter is probably the thing that made me the happiest this week. What if Hermione were the main character?
The Scientific American attempts to explain our fascination with zombies.
And finally, you know nothing, George R. R. Martin, . . . about horses.
Featured Art
Today we have more of Henry Clarke’s work, whose illustrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s work I featured last week. I love the detail and skill in the Little Mermaid illustration, but the colors in the others are so vibrant. Also, just a heads up, I’m teaching a fairy tale class this semester, so there might be a lot of fairy tale art coming up. Hope you’re ready.
I thought the horse column was delightful, and I was glad to see Chang Rae Lee’s name on the Book Critics’ Circle list.
Not having yet read A Song of Ice and Fire, but after reading the George R. R. Martin horse article, I have to ask… Did none of his editors correct the issues he brings up? Did people actually let the mistakes he made get through??
That article is satire. :)
The mark of a really well-written satire is that you can’t quite tell if it’s for real. GRRM succeeded!