Dr. Phil's Dreamwidth Journal

In The Time Honored Traditions Of April The Oncest

We give you the April Fool's Collection for 2012:

LocusOnline had two stories:

"Dirtiest Nebula Campaign since 2015," says SFWA President
-- Sunday 1 April 2012 @ 11:20 am PDT by Paoli du Flippi -- DATELINE: Hollywood, March 1, 2018 -- This year's campaigning for the coveted Nebula Award given by the Super Fantastika Writers of America has been marked by "lies, disinformation, nasty tricks, vicious personal slurs, impossible promises, bribes and actual physical assaults," says SFWA President Jennifer Lawrence, in a recent interview conducted during a bit of downtime on the Tinseltown set where she is finishing the filming of The Hunger Games VI: Daughter of Katniss versus the Borg: The Mashup Reboot, based on the polymath star's own novel that earned her admission to SFWA and its presidency in the first place...

Margaret Atwood Launches New SF Magazine
-- Sunday 1 April 2012 @ 11:09 am PDT by L. Ron Creepweans -- Toronto: Today Booker Prize-winning novelist Margaret Atwood announced that she was launching a new science fiction magazine, Loquacious Cephalopod...

And Tor.com had two as well:
Mary Robinette Kowal pens an exhaustive essay
-- Sword and Sensibility: Conan Creator Robert E. Howard's Lesser Known Collaboration...

Covers Revealed for John Scalzi’s Manga Fantasy Trilogy
-- The Shadow War of the Night Dragon series by John Scalzi...
(Truly inspired artwork -- John rhapsodizes here.)

And then there's the British Library:
Unicorn Cookbook Found at the British Library
-- 01 April 2012 A long-lost medieval cookbook, containing recipes for hedgehogs, blackbirds and even unicorns, has been discovered at the British Library. Professor Brian Trump of the British Medieval Cookbook Project described the find as near-miraculous. "We've been hunting for this book for years. The moment I first set my eyes on it was spine-tingling." ...

And other assorted writerly personnel:

My favorite Roman comic artist has an Exciting new project in the works
-- 1st-Apr-2012 01:40 pm Your humble artist fell off the thrice-weekly schedule, and even the sketch-of-the-day updates, because of intense work on a new Great Big Project. All those pages and character designs from Big Project have to be put to some sort of use, and it's such an easy step from the genteel plantations of the south to the humid jungles of South America-just add more water and alligators and/or crocodiles. So those pages are being recycled into a completely genteel story about a young lady explorer of the alternate-steampunk 19th century travelling through monster-infested swampland who encounters a hidden tribe of love-starved octopus-men, as one does. True romance ensues...

Jay Lake goes for A change of direction
-- 2012-04-01 07:46 I'm redirecting my efforts toward something that better reflects the current circumstances of my life, and offers me a greater shot at economic success. From now on, I'm going to be writing nurse romances...

Mary Robinette Kowal is a pen name
-- Sun 1 Apr '12 My actual name is Stephen Harrison. I teach history at Vanderbilt and am getting my PhD, and yes, I am a man. The woman that you have met at some conventions is my sister. I hired her to be "Mary the writer." ...

Diana Rowland is "utterly thrilled to announce that my agent has sold stage rights to Andrew Lloyd Webber for my White Trash Zombie series!"
-- Facebook Yesterday at 6:20am My Life as a White Trash Zombie: The Musical! will be produced and directed by Webber, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, of Wicked fame. Current casting includes Kristin Chenoweth as Angel, Hugh Jackman as Marcus Ivanov, and Tom Wopat as Angel’s dad...

And the March 32nd Review would not be complete without some newfangled can't-live-without-it invention
-- Apr. 1st, 2012 at 11:07 AM As readers of this blog know, I'm a great believer in technological innovation. So great is my belief, in fact, that I dabble in inventions for the betterment of mankind. And now I've found it. The ultimate tool for authors with writer's cramp! Bow down in awe as I introduce: The self-signing book...

And, of course, Google had their piece on the Google Autonomous Driving NASCAR racing car. (snert!)

I'm sure there are others, and I'll update when I run across them. But these have been archived by Yours Truly so that the guilty cannot claim innocence later -- and these are certainly enough to entertain you for now. (grin)

Oh, And Dammit:

My posting on 1 April 2012 is totally legitimate (DW)! There really is a new and proper military SF story up on GigaNotoSaurus for you to read.

Dr. Phil

The March 32nd Report -- Yet Again

Who schedules a major test on April 1st? Why Dr. Phil does! As my noon class was struggling with Exam 3, I did a quick check to see if LocusOnline had their news stories up yet. They did!

-- 2010: News Summary of the Year To Date
Thu 1 Apr 12:01 am Cory Doctorow has had a busy year. First there was his ill-fated attempt to write in real-time on the Internet...
-- Google to Digitize Lost Library of Alexandria
Thu 1 Apr 12:01 am Google Books Exec Dan Clancy: "Google simply had to invent a practical means of time travel, which we can now reveal to the public..."
-- Doctorow and Stross to Write Authorized Sequel to Atlas Shrugged
Thu 1 Apr 12:01 am "We realized that both of us shared one important trait with Ayn Rand: all three of us really, really like money..."
-- Tachyon Publications Announces First Annual Make-a-Genre Contest
Thu 1 Apr 12:01 am Contestants must submit a table of contents and a persuasive essay to be used as their anthology's introduction...

And Speaking Of, Uh, Google

If it's still today, fire up Google. Otherwise, you can always jump to the story.

Also there's this link, to Google Labs latest update to Google Maps, where we learn that "Today our esteemed team of physicists from Google are proud to announce that they have discovered an extra dimension in our universe." And, why Yes, I did have a pair of "cutting-edge red-cyan glasses" in my technology bag. Why wouldn't I? (And they DID work, so there. Pthhhbt!)

Dr. Phil

Well, We Knew It Was Coming... To An End

Last month I mentioned that The Internet Review of Science Fiction was going to end its run with the February 2010 issue. Alas, that day has come. But it's still worth checking out IROSF, since there is still a February 2010 issue.

Of course, any magazine worthy of the title "Review" should contain reviews -- and IROSF did. Both in terms of current short fiction and analytical and retrospective discussions of science fiction. I think what I was anticipating missing most was Lois Tilton's short fiction review column. But...

Despair not, gentle reader, we knew that a reviewer of Lois' caliber would not languish in obscurity. Henceforward, her reviews can be found at Locus Online. We all congratulate Lois for this transition, and look forward to her future efforts.

Locus magazine already has lots of reviews in its pages -- Lois Tilton's comments will provide them with another set of reviews in the online pages.

Then again there's the case of Kristine Kathryn Rusch, whose column is entitled "Here We Go Again" this month:

I'm going to write two essays like this in two months. This is the first; the second is for my column in Baen's Universe. Both magazines are going away, both for different reasons.

If I were the pessimistic sort, I'd think I'll never work again. Or that internet magazines are doomed. Or that magazines in general are doomed. Or that writing is doomed.

But as anyone who has read this column through its first incarnation in Æon and now here at IROSF knows, I'm a realist. I know magazines come and go, markets come and go, and that's normal.

How normal? Consider Ellen Datlow's comment posted to Kristine's column:

Hi Kris,

Actually Baen's Universe was not "one of the first online magazines to pay well and get excellent fiction;"-not by a long shot.

Maybe the 5th?

OMNI Online,
Event Horizon
SCIFICTION
Strange Horizons

Those were the first.
Cheers
Ellen

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of that argument. (grin)

A Last Hurrah -- And Three Cheers For The Folks At IROSF

So let us raise the metaphorical glass in praise of IROSF and all those who contributed. Though this venue will fall silent with new content, we can hope that the years of content for IROSF will continue to be a resource for some time to come. And those who wrote columns will surely, as others have noted, write again.

Dr. Phil

Review Coming

I've made some comments on Facebook regarding ABC's so-called SF show Defying Gravity and I've been meaning to post about that here.

In the meantime, I just saw an episode of Stargate: Atlantis, "The Game", on the so-called Syfy Channel. And I realized that the young woman with the blond hair looked an awful lot like the Zoe Barnes character on Defying Gravity. So I did a quick Wikipedia search and lo and behold -- it is Laura Harris. She was also Daisy on the disarmingly charming series Dead Like Me, among other shows. Interesting.

And Reviews Past

I wrote about District 9 here. I'd meant to make more comments, especially as I had forgotten to make what I thought was a pithy comment, comparing the movie more to Black Hawk Down, than Alien Nation. Well, turns out I don't have to. Howard Waldrop and Lawrence Person's review of District 9 on LocusOnline made it for me. Great minds think alike? (grin)

The way things go pear-shaped is totally convincing because the situation was already totally screwed up in place where no one really seems to be in charge, less Alien Nation than Black Hawk Down.

On the other hand, I keep feeling like using the metaphor of one movie for another is just a shorthand. Surely I can write better reviews? Or maybe not.

WOTF XXV

Missing the fun at the Writers of the Future. Didn't win a place in the anthology this year, and I'm not yet important enough for them to invite me back. (double-power-grin) The good news is that the Event on Saturday night 29 August 2009 is being streamed live online. 8:30pm PDT = 11:30pm EDT.

We'll see if it works. (triple-word-score-grin)

Dr. Phil

It's The Second Of July

And that means new issues of three of my favorite non-fiction SF/F sources. Yeah, I've probably written about this before -- so are you reading these, too? What, not yet? Yeesh!

More Words And Pictures Than You Can Shake A Stick At

The July 2009 issue of Locus magazine arrived today. We didn't get any mail on the 1st, so I think our postal person must've been sitting by the side of the road reading my copy. (Actually, it comes in a sealed envelope so no one gets it before you do!) When I first started reading Locus, I'd see the coverage of events and cons and see all these pictures -- and I'd find out what my favorite authors look like. Now I look and see my friends. People I've seen or even done panels on at cons. People I've workshopped with or were instructors at workshops. What? Am I becoming an insider in the biz? No, probably not. But I know the insiders now. (grin) I keep recommending Locus both to new writers who want to know how it all works and to SF/F/H fans who want to read interviews and learn about who's who and what's coming.

You can get subscription information from LocusOnline. Really, it's a LOT of content and the one print magazine I receive that I devour from cover to cover the day it arrives. It seems like all magazines are suffering from subscription shrinkage and Locus is no different. But so many authors and publishers reference Locus that I don't know what we'd do without it. PLEASE give it a try. There are some stores which carry single copy sales, but not around here. (grin)

Online...

Then there's IROSF -- The Internet Review of Science Fiction. It's free right now, but you want to subscribe. Why? So you get a nifty little e-mail reminder at the beginning of the month reminding you that the new issue is up. Reviews and neat articles about people and sub-genres and history. Check it out here and also their cool logo gear at CafePress.

Speaking of you, our beloved readers, we wanted to point out that IROSF no longer requires a subscription to view—for now. We've been experimenting with ways to make our material more accessible, and this particular one has been a mixed blessing. More and more people are stopping by to read an article or two each month, but then there's the trouble of being forgotten about the following month. We'd like to invite you to sign up for the site, which is not only free, but also keeps you in the loop. You can comment on our forums and articles, becoming part of the conversation here. You'll also receive an email each month, letting you know that a new issue has come out. So take a moment and "subscribe." It's fun, you won't miss all the great stuff that's coming in August, and did I mention that it's free?

And Across The Universe

And then there's David Langford's legendary Ansible. If nothing else, this long running (July 2009 is the 264th monthly installment) U.K. e-fanzine will make you laugh. Thog's Master Class is legendary.

And now I've done my community service for the month -- and I'm going back to reading IROSF and Ansible... having already made one pass through Locus. (double-steal-grin)

Dr. Phil

Google Comes Through

Logging in this morning, it looks like so far nothing has happened with this Internet worm. Not that I wanted chaos created by bastards, mind you. But... If I find out it was all a ploy to get everyone to run Windows Update and install that stupid Windows Genuine Advantage program... Just sayin'.

But Google's Gmail had their annual contribution with Gmail Autopilot. Why bother responding to all that email when you can have Google do it for you?

And In Publishing News

Mrs. Dr. Phil found this announcement on the big publishing megamerger, "representing 63% of all scientific journals and consuming 99% of library budgets."

All yer eggs in one basket. What could possibly go wrong?

And For The Smart Young SF/F/H Set..

We have LocusOnline's Special Reports:

-- Greg Egan, Kelly Link Collaborate on Novel
-- Clarion Workshop Reality Show ***
-- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Sets Off Publishing Mashup Frenzy
-- Department of Education To Retire the Semicolon
-- Audrey Niffenegger Subject of Congressional Hearings
-- Final Sturgeon Volume Shatters Myths

*** - I've been proposing this for years. (grin) I mean while I was at the 2004 Clarion workshop I commented that Clarion was like Survivor except no one ever got voted off. That if we did add the conflict and the backstabbing and the TV cameras, maybe we'd get people interested in SF/F short stories again. Nah.

Yeah, and I did reset the posting date even though it is 00:44 hours EDT on the second now.

Dr. Phil