The H.G. Wells issue of Penumbra magazine is out, featuring my story ‘Colossus.’It’s a fun anthology and well worth checking out.
Books I’ve read in 2013, pt. 1
Sorry for my absence from this blog. It’s my unofficial goal to make this blog as boring as possible, but I promise that I am not trying to take any shortcuts by simply not posting. Sure, a dead blog is pretty boring, but the people of the internet deserve better than that. You deserve boring blog posts and boring updates! I promise to step things up.
So, in that spirit, here’s a list of books I’ve read so far in 2013.
Things I bought today
There’s a washer and dryer in my building, but it’s one of the most expensivein my city. It’s two dollars to put a load through the washer, another two loonies to put it through the dryer. That’s four dollars every time I want to do laundry! So today I got this:
Review: Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti
As part of World’s Without End’s ‘Women in Genre’ challenge I am reading a sci-fi or fantasy novel each month from an author I have never read before. For more information on the challenge visit Worlds Without End.
Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti
By Genevieve Valentine
There are parts of Mechanique I really enjoyed. There are lots of good lines, interesting characters, certain chapters that would work great on their own as short stories. But on a whole this book underwhelmed me. I like unconventional formats, so the fact that the narrative bounces around and that the point of view changes tense didn’t bother me. What did bother me was that I didn’t feel like it was used to great effect. We get told the same things over and over again in great detail, where’s other things (like why Stenos and Bird even want the wings) are left unexplained.
James White Award Shortlist
If you’ve read more than a couple of posts on this blog then you’ve probably deduced it is mainly a platform for self-promotion. So, with that in mind, why the post about the James White Award? Because I made the shortlist!
It’s fascinating to see the first 250 words of each of the shortlisted stories. Even though the stories have their differences, the elements that make for a good opening are present in each. It’s humbling to see my story listed there among them, and I am looking forward to seeing which story emerges from the thunderdome Eastercon as the winner. Best of luck to my fellow shortlisties.
On Project Runway and Clarion
This will probably not be the last post where I talk about ‘Project Runway.’
One of my goals for this year was to apply to both Clarion West and Clarion USD. I found out this week that I have not been accepted into either. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and a few daydreams about going on a giant robot rampage, or at least a bender that this town had never seen (I didn’t do either because I don’t have a giant robot, and because I was already drinking when I received the first rejection e-mail Thursday afternoon and I couldn’t work up the enthusiasm to keep going).
Review: Bitter Angels
While all the authors that I’ve read as part of the Women in Genre challenge have been new to me, this was my ‘random pick’ and therefore I went into ‘Bitter Angels’ even more blind than usual. To be honest, I probably wouldn’t have read this book if it hadn’t been randomly selected for me (I’m not a big fan of military sci-fi or even space opera). I enjoyed it, but it’s not enough to make me want to seek out more books like it.
Crowded Magazine #1 Review
Lois Tilton over at Locus has reviewed Crowded Magazine issue 1. Here’s what she has to say about my story:
“House Hunting” by Shannon Fay
The birdhouse that isn’t a birdhouse appears in the neighborhood and bites off Mr Easton’s finger. Of course he shouldn’t have tried to fill a birdhouse with birdseed. The homeless guy tells them it isn’t a birdhouse but “an ancient and primordial evil” that now has the taste for human flesh. Of course the residents don’t believe a homeless guy, except for five year old Mindy.
Also not original, but there are clever bits.
I’m still green enough that seeing a review of my work, any review, good or bad, is enough to make me grin. Plus, she said there were ‘clever bits.’ Awesome! Maybe I’ll see if I can make ‘Clever Bits’ my new nickname.