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Month: July 2010

Thinking about it

Thinking about it

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193350027102lzzzzzzz193350032802lzzzzzzzFor all those recovering English majors interested in science fiction criticism, you might want to check out Paul Kincaid’s review of Cheek by Jowl by Ursula K Le Guin and Imagination/Space by Gwyneth Jones.

Also in last week’s Strange Horizons is the always erudite though sometimes unfathomable critic John Clulte’s Scores column, a comparison and contrast between Cory Doctorow and Robert Heinlein.

Also, you can read one critic’s assessment (Niall Harrison) of another critic’s (Gary K. Wolfe) collection of reviews here.

Time Magazine selects Swords & Dark Magic as a Summer Page-Turner

Time Magazine selects Swords & Dark Magic as a Summer Page-Turner

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swordssorcery1Lou Anders reports that Time columnist Lev Grossman has selected his new anthology Swords & Dark Magic as one of two recommended “Summer Page Turners” in the July 12th issue.

The article, appearing on the stands this week, is “Page Turners: The Summer’s Hot Writers on What’s on their Nightstand, Kindle or Beach Chair.” Lev Grossman, Time magazine columnist and author of the fantasy novel The Magician, selected Swords & Dark Magic as one of two recommendations, saying:

Fantasy is going through an explosion of creativity.  Two new anthologies showcase the best of it: Stories: All-New Tales, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, and Swords & Dark Magic, edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders.

Swords & Dark Magic was published by Eos on June 22, and is edited by Anders and Jonathan Strahan. Jason Waltz reviewed it for Black Gate here.

Congratulations to Lou and Jonathan on the great press.  Good to see the new breed of sword & sorcery getting some national attention.

Dracula: From Script to Screen

Dracula: From Script to Screen

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dracula_1931aDracula by Bram Stoker frequently vies with The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett as my favorite book.

Both stories are archetypes of their genres and despite endless imitations, almost every attempt to emulate the originals falls wide of the margin.

The current vogue for Twilight and its many imitations may be the worst misinterpretation of Stoker’s classic yet, despite its enviable success among pre-pubescent girls (and their emotional equals). The ignorance of most Twilight fans as to how their heroine earned her first name led me to revisit the seminal Universal Horror, Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931) starring Bela Lugosi in an iconic performance that did much to secure Stoker’s novel its hard-won place of acceptance as a literary classic.

The resulting film owed much to the stage plays which took the West End and Broadway by storm during the Roaring Twenties.

Film historian David Skal has gifted the world with several excellent books and DVD bonus features and commentaries chronicling this once untapped goldmine’s transition from page to stage to screen.

Film buff Philip J. Riley has done one better (actually twice better) by sharing with film lovers not one, but two volumes collecting the various story treatments and screenplay drafts that were languishing in Universal’s files for decades.

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Climbing Aboard the Dragon: Three Paths To a Story

Climbing Aboard the Dragon: Three Paths To a Story

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“There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, and every single one of them is right.”
— Rudyard Kipling

Get out the map...Okay, writers. Let’s say you have a short story idea or two, but you don’t know the best way to write it. Some sage writers with some sales under their belts tell you that you Must Outline. Other wisened authors tell you to just, “Go where the story takes you,” that you shouldn’t outline at all.

So what’s a new writer to do? Who’s right?

Well, they all are, of course. They’re right about what works for them.

You have to figure out what works best for you.

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Goth Chick News: Boo To You Too!

Goth Chick News: Boo To You Too!

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boo2“Clowns, without a doubt.”

A few days ago I walked into a lunch conversation between my co-workers, who apparently started out discussing irrational fears their young children had.

This topic then morphed into the seemingly ridiculous fears that had followed these seemingly rational grown-ups into adulthood; not phobias per se, but “gives-me-nightmares” terrors.

The guy talking was a 30-something software engineer, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was in no way joking.

“Ronald McDonald and Pennywise are the absolute worst.”

Now, I totally get the whole “fear of clowns” thing, because clowns show up in quite a few horror movies such as IT and Poltergeist, and though the Pennywise reference did remind me that the best scenes of the otherwise fairly cheesey movie IT were indeed the ones with the murderous clown, I’m not particularly freaked out by them on the whole.

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