May (c) Redgoldsparks Press
This week’s word for Wednesday comes courtesy of Terry. It is nefilibata (Neh-FE-lee-BA-ta), from the Portuguese, meaning “cloud walker;” someone who is a dreamer, living in a world of imagination. The Oxford Dictionary site defines it both as “dreamer; idealist,” and also as “an affected writer.” (Snort.) It’s a lovely word. Thanks, Terry!
Books and Writing
Locus published its 2015 Recommended Reading list, just in time to prepare for Hugo nominations. It is a comprehensive list that includes art books and non-fiction, which fit into categories of Best Related Works.
The rediscovered Beatrix Potter novel is due out in the fall of 2016.
Kameron Hurley uses her blog to share some facts and insights into contracts, and the publishers’ view of future rights. This is very useful information.
She also wrote about the convention experience. I have done public speaking and worked with people most of my adult life, but I am still shy, and conventions heighten my anxiety. Hurley’s talk of “opening the circle” was positive and reassuring.
Tor.com is offering some of its best short fiction of 2015 free here. Thanks to Jana for this bonanza!
Arwen Curry (I wonder if her parents were Tolkien fans) is working on a documentary about Ursula K. LeGuin. Sf Signal interviewed Curry. I included a link to the Kickstarter. This sounds like a fantastic project, and we need it now.
Writers will relate to Aidan Doyle’s “hierarchy of self-doubt.” (“Why aren’t my stories as good as Ted Chiang’s?” appears more than once on the list… as it should!) (Via File 770.)
Night Driving (c) Maia Kobabe
Internet
Pierce Brown, author of the RED RISING series, hosted an AMA on Reddit. He talks about the best advice he would give himself if he could go back in time, writing routines, and his naming conventions, among other things.
Robot 6 gives us an article explaining how NOT to present awards. At the Angouleme International Comics Festival in France, Richard Gaitet called out nine winners and actually gave them awards. Many of the winners were already tweeting their delight when two women appeared on the podium, explained that the “faux awards” were a joke, and presented the real Fauves to completely different people.
Many people did not see the humor. The Festival posted a “defensive” response decrying the “tyranny of Twitter,” to which I say, “Welcome to the twenty-first century.” (Via File 770.) In an update, Gaitet has apologized for the joke, naming each victim in his apology.
On Pottermore, J.K. Rowling posted some information about other Wizarding schools, including the North American one. No, it’s not Brakebills. “Ilvermorny” is a very pretty name. (H/T to Terry and Ryan.)
Thanks to Ryan for George Orwell’s inflexible rules for a nice cup of tea. According to Wikipedia, this first appeared on January 12, 1946 in The London Standard.
Full disclosure; I worked with Brian Fies’s wife Karen and I consider the entire Fies family to be my friends. With that out of the way, here is a link to Brian’s Eisner-nominated webcomic The Last Mechanical Monster. Brian has already won an Eisner for his first comic Mom’s Cancer. I hope you enjoy The Last Mechanical Monster.
Games
Gamasutra discusses brutalist architecture (that’s a category, not a derogatory description) in video games. I love the sub-heading to this article; “These people have sinned and must be punished!” (Via Critical Distance.)
Movies and Television
Collider provides the first international trailer for Batman versus Superman., which, as they point out, looks a lot like the national trailer. Is it wrong to like Lex Luthor in these trailers? Because I kinda do.
AV Club reviews the second episode of The Magicians. I liked it better than the pilot and I didn’t figure out why until I read their review. Caution; spoilers of the ep, and possibly of the books if you haven’t read them.
Space
Scientists have announced that they believe they have discovered another planet in our solar system. This Neptune-sized planet is assumed to exist because of distinctive orbits of several other objects. And here’s still more about “Planet X,” from Science Magazine online. This is a lively article, but the remark about “killing Pluto?” That is uncalled for, sir. Uncalled for!
Discover Magazine provides a beautiful model of our magnetic star.
Kaylee (c) Redgoldsparks Press
Earth
This article talks about a study that measures what many dog owners would tell you they already knew; dogs can differentiate emotion… in humans. In other words, dogs recognize emotions in different species. It’s short and a little simplistic, but a nice article.
Art
This week’s artist is named Maia Kobabe, and I met her at LumaCon in Petaluma, CA, last Saturday. Kobabe is the author of The Thief’s Tale and also does some nice Sherlock graphic fan fiction as well as some other projects. I like the grace of her work and I’m anticipating getting into The Thief’s Tale (I bought the first two chapters). Her work can be seen here and is for sale in her Etsy shop.
“Nefilibata”…excellent word! Seems a bit similar to the word “luftmensch,” which has worked its way into Webster’s although it is derived from Yiddish….
“Cloudman?”
“An impractical, contemplative person….”
Poor Pluto. :( I still hold out hope that someday it’ll be reclassified as an actual planet.
Also, of course dogs can differentiate emotions in humans! Did the study consist of “spend five minutes with a dog and observe its reactions to you”?