In case you haven’t heard about this book, Accessing the Future is a new SFF anthology that explores “issues of disability (invisible and visible, physical and mental), and the intersectionality of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, and class—in both physical and virtual spaces.” The table of contents has just been announced, and I’m thrilled my short story “In Open Air” will be included.
Wolves of the Muddy Waters — a chronology
For those interested in lycanthropic continuity, I decided to write a short post about the linked werewolf stories I’ve been working on. I’d started focusing on short fiction between the last two drafts of my novel, which is now in the query trenches, and started building up a lot of tales about other characters in the world I’ve been working on.
I’m not sure what to call it as a series yet — though I’m leaning toward “Wolves of the Muddy Waters “ — but here’s the timeline for any readers interested in getting the whole picture. (This is not including finished stories that are out there on submission but haven’t found a home yet.)
If you prefer to avoid SPOILERS, then skip this and look at my writing credits here instead.
Wrestling With Gods on sale Feb. 2, TOC reveal
If you like speculative fiction that grapples with faith, religion and spirituality, and want to get it for a steal, there’s a sale on right now for Tesseracts 18: Wrestling With Gods. On Feb. 2 on Amazon, you can get it for 99 cents for the Kindle edition, readable on a Kindle or through the Kindle app.
Feb. 2 is also the date of the online table of contents reveal via Facebook. Janice Shoults from EDGE Publishing explains: “This is a very informal event where you can drop by and post a question, and learn more about the stories that are in this anthology. Authors will be there on and off during the day to take your questions about their stories, and about faith in science fiction. Everyone who posts will be entered into a draw.”
Metal Monday: AC/DC’s Rock or Bust
This review of Rock or Bust originally appeared in the Winnipeg Free Press, Dec. 4, 2014.
AC/DC: Rock or Bust (Columbia/Sony)
AC/DC may have a few problems (drummer Phil Rudd faces drug- and assault-related charges, and founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young has retired owing to dementia), but you’d never know it from Rock or Bust.
The top five other werewolf movies you should see
While there are many movies with werewolves in them, there are relatively few good ones in which the werewolf is the main character. Of those, the debate over which is best usually comes down to An American Werewolf in London or The Howling. (Traditionalists may also argue the case for 1941’s The Wolf Man.) Fine. But what about the other werewolf movies out there? Here are my favourite five.
Writing the way forward: speculative fiction and inclusion
There are a lot of ways to look at storytelling, but one of the crucial ways to look at it, in my view, is by who it includes. I think this is true of any genre, but since I write speculative fiction, that’s how I’m going to consider it here.
Some very talented writers have addressed this already. If you haven’t read what they have had to say, I’d highly recommend you read:
Daniel José Older: 12 Fundamentals of Writing “The Other”
N.K. Jemisin on Why I Think RaceFail Was The Bestest Thing Evar for SFF and more recently Your groundbreaking is not my groundbreaking
Malinda Lo: On Self-Rejection and Writing From a Marginalized Perspective
Derek Newman-Stille on SFF fandom, ableism and homophobia and transphobia: My Cane is Not a Costume, and an interview with Kathryn Allan on disability in science fiction
These are just a few of the people writing on these issues.
