Archive for February 2012
Going on hiatus
February 19, 2012
Hello all,
I’m putting the site on a brief hiatus, as I’m in the process of re-branding and switching to a new domain name. This site will soon redirect to a new domain name, but most of the content and blog posts will be as they are now. This should take a few weeks at the most.
Thanks for your patience!
There’s more than just books, you know!
February 12, 2012
A lot of my most recent blog posts have centred on long-form writing like novels, memoirs, and how-to books. The reading challenge I’m doing is being monitored through Goodreads, and that site tends to consider the long-form book the primary unit of reading/writing measurement. It’s a major goal of mine this year to read at least 40 books and write reviews for all of them.
However,the world of fantasy and sci-fi literature contains much more than just novels! There are short stories in magazines, and a surprisingly vast array of podcasts too. So in the interest of showing that there is way more out there than just books (print or digital), I want to list off some of the short stories that I’ve read or listened to recently. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but I know that it could become exhaustive if I decided to subscribe to at least half of the fantasy and sci-fi magazines I know of.
These lists are of stories I’ve enjoyed recently. The titles in bold are my favourites.
Source: Podcastle
I started listening to all 3 Escape Artist podcasts (including Escape Pod and Pseudopod, listed below) about 2 months ago, and have been burrowing through their archives since then. I enjoy all 3 podcasts because I think they all showcase quality writing, but I think Podcastle wins out because they have the most seamless combination of introductory music, hosting, feedback, and storycraft.
- Household Spirits, by C.S.E. Cooney
- Gone Daddy Gone, by Josh Rountree
- The Landholders No Longer Carry Swords, by Patricia Russo
- A Hunter’s Ode to His Bait, by Carrie Vaughn
- Five Rules for Commuting to the Underworld, by Merrie Haskell
- Stereogram of the Gray Fort, in the Days of Her Glory, by Paul M. Berger
- Zauberschrift, by David D. Levine
- The Duke of Vertumn’s Fingerling, by Elizabeth Carroll
- Doors, by Rajan Khanna
- Who in Mortal Chains, by Claire Humphrey
- The Parable of the Shower, by Leah Bobet
- Middle Aged Weirdo in a Cadillac, by George R. Galuschak
- Braiding the Ghosts, by C.S.E. Cooney
- The Gateway of the Monster, by William Hope Hodgson
- The Witch’s Second Daughter, by Marissa K. Lingen
- Still Small Voice, by Ben Burgis
- Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar Pirates of Sarskoe, by Garth Nix
Source: Escape Pod
This podcast needs only three words of introduction: Mur Fucking Lafferty. I’ve gone on and on before about I Should be Writing, but it is so incredibly comforting to hear her voice whenever she hosts or reads. I find that whatever the story is, her voice is so versatile and engaging that I nearly always enjoy what she reads, regardless of topic. Plus, it’s introductory music is pretty rockin’.
- Future Perfect, by LaShawn M. Wanak
- Shannon’s Law, by Cory Doctorow
- A Small Matter, Really, by Monte Cook
- For Want of a Nail, Mary Robinette Kowal
- Amaryllis, by Carrie Vaughn
- The Things, by Peter Watts
- Union Dues – Sidekicks in Stockholm, by Jeffrey R. DeRego
- Midnight Blue, by Will McIntosh
- Soulmates, by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn
- Kill Me, by Vylar Kaftan
- Playing Doctor, by Robert T. Jeschonek
- Movement, by Nancy Fulda
- Honor Killing, by Ray Tabler
- Chicken Noodle Gravity, by J. Daniel Sawyer
Source: Pseudopod
Pseudopod has been sort of the odd duck out. Podcastle does fantasy stories, and Escape Pod does sci-fi stories. But rarely do I mention horror, although all three genres mix and comingle, and are in some ways indistinguishable from each other. A Holy Trinity of genre fiction, if you will. Pseudopod’s stories are good, but of the three, I find the non-story elements of the podcast to be the least engaging.
- Lives, by John Grant
- Man Eat Man, by Mike Irwin
- On Being Mandy, by Sandra M. Odell
- Girls Gone Insane, by John Jasper Owens
- Association, by Eddie Borey
- Dearest Daughter, by Kate Marshall
- The Line, by Grady J. Gratt
- In Bloom, by Caspian Gray
- The 7 Garages of Kevin Simpson, by Alan Baxter
- Bruise for Bruise, by Robert Davies
- The Eater, by Michael J. DeLuca
- The Cord, by Chris Lewis Carter
- The Blood Garden, by Jesse Livingston
Source: Daily Science Fiction
I found out about DSF through a Facebook group that I’m part of. It’s always a pleasure to see a bite-sized piece of sci-fi or fantasy in my inbox every weekday morning. DSF also has a Facebook page, which provides a great venue for daily discussion.
- Inflection, by Tina Connolly
- Are You There? Are You Safe? Is the Flock Safe? by D. Robert Hamm
- Naughty or Nice? by James S. Dorr
- Ten Seconds, by Scott W. Baker
- Lists, by Annie Bellet
- Calling Down the Moon, by Diana Sherman
- Things Exist by Imitation of Numbers, by Benjamin Rosenbaum
- All or Nothing, by Nancy Fulda
- The Death and Rebirth of Anne Bonny, by Nancy Fulda
- +1, by James Luke Worrad
- The Long Con, by Megan R. Engelhardt
- Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Monkey, by Ruth Nestvold
2012 Reading challenge, book 4: On Writing
February 8, 2012
The name “Stephen King” has by now become a byword for “successful author.” He’s one of those authors, along with J.K. Rowling, that are always cited as the exception to the rule that most writers won’t be able to live solely off the fruits of their writing. He’s ubiquitous. In light of both this and my interest in fantasy and sci-fi, which often encroaches upon the borders of horror fiction, it might surprise you to learn that I didn’t read my first Stephen King book until nearly 4 years ago – that book was Insomnia and even he admits it was a muddled novel. So, what do I think of a book about writing, written by one of the titans of the industry? Let’s find out.
Title: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (10th Anniversary Edition)
Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Rating: 5 out of 5
About the book: Part memoir and part instructional manual, On Writing ties together King’s career as an author with more personal facets of his life. In an unusual move, the instructions about writing – arguably the biggest draw – are placed towards the end of the book, and On Writing instead devotes its first half to King’s childhood, adolescence, and attempts to break into the publishing world.
What I liked: From the start of this book, I felt that I was in the presence of someone who made me comfortable and welcome. More than that even, I felt a tremendous sense of self-assurance when I read it. King’s been there before, knows the pitfalls, and is happy to steer you around his memories with confidence. Every time I finished a section or chapter in this book, I told myself, “OK, it’s time to put the book down now.” And then, of their own accord, my eyes would snake down or over to the next page, and I would be held fast once again. This was, literally, the first book of the year that I could Just. Not. Put. Down.
Throughout the book, I got the sense that although writing was something he put effort into, he didn’t fall into the pretentious Byronic-hero hole that so many other authors, both beginning and established, fall victim to. (It’s a hole that I’m only now learning how to crawl out of.) Instead, he made it feel as natural, physical, and vital as chopping wood. If you have enough wood, your house stays warm. If you crank out enough words, you stay warm.
A lot of the time, I judge a book by how vividly I recall the images later, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t expunge from my mind the scene that King describes of having an ear infection as a child – one so intense that his eardrums had to be repeatedly lanced with a needle to drain the pus. I have tried and tried, with no avail, to stop imagining the looming needle coming closer to perforate my own eardrums. That is strong writing.
In the instructional section on writing, King unpacks the metaphor of a “writers’ toolbox” and runs with it. The advice inside is fairly commonplace – know your grammar, remove adverbs, etc – but they’re relayed in such a matter-of-fact manner that they acquire additional heft. He also provides an extremely useful glimpse into the revision process by including a “before and after” sample of his own writing, and then going step by step through the changes he made to tighten up his prose. Revision is an extremely important part of the writing process, but seldom is it actually demonstrated instead of discussed.
Besides all that, look at the cover. It’s got a Corgi on it! I love Corgis. Knowing that Stephen King owns them just makes him even more awesome in my book.
What I disliked: The length – it’s too short! I could easily have read another 200 pages. In particular, the move away from the memoir section was too abrupt, as it stopped nearly right after the acquisition of Carrie, his debut novel. King did write about his substance abuse problems, but I would have appreciated greater insight on what led him down that path and why he felt he needed to self-medicate. Yes, it’s not a topic that really lends itself to a discussion of the writing craft, but it is something that a lot of writers end up dealing with anyways.
The verdict: I originally gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Then I started reading Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and that book paled in comparison to this one so much that I retroactively bumped it up another star. Whenever I read this book, I felt I was in good hands. What better can be said about an author than that?
Next up: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
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Should eBooks have DRM?
February 4, 2012
I bought myself a Kobo Touch last year for Boxing Day, as I figured that reading eBooks would give me a better understanding of changes within the publishing industry. I chose the Kobo over other eReaders for a number of reasons, but I liked the fact that it supported ePub, the (current) industry format, and that you could expand your library by inserting a MicroSD card into the device. A homegrown alternative to Amazon could do all that and get excellent reviews from Wired in the process? Sign me up!
Once I started using the Kobo, though, Digital Rights Management (DRM) software reared its ugly head, and things weren’t so simple. Books bought through the Kobo store can’t be transferred onto a Micro SD card – instead, they are automatically stored on the Kobo eReader itself. The innate storage capacity of the Kobo Touch is 1 GB, which is good, but not great, hence the allure of being able to expand your library through the Micro SD.
However, books from the Kobo store are normally formatted with Adobe’s DRM, and the Micro SD can store eBooks only if the stored files contain no DRM at all. This means that I can’t save space on my Kobo by transferring Kobo’s ebooks to the card. Sure, I can delete the Kobo books once I’m done and then download them again for free if I wish, but that’s an unpleasant solution at best.
Isn’t having a huge number of books at your fingertips one of the biggest reasons why people buy eReaders? Maintaining a large collection is rather hard to do without the extra storage capacity the Micro SD provides, and the Micro SD card is incompatible with Kobo’s own store. This is critical to understand.
So, here we come to today. The next series of Canada Reads debates starts in a few days, and I haven’t read any of the books in the lineup. I want to read at least a few of them, so I researched what eBook options were available. Here are the results:
- All 5 books are available at the Kobo store
- One of those books, Carmen Aguirre’s Something Fierce, was available only from the Kobo store
- Two of those books, Ken Dryden’s The Game and Marina Nemat’s Prisoner of Tehran, were available for purchase from the publishers’ websites
- Wiley, publisher of The Game, explicitly stated on the purchase page that the eBook had Adobe DRM enabled
- Penguin, the publisher of Prisoner of Tehran, didn’t state whether the eBook had DRM, but a subsequent search of the site revealed that Penguin books do have DRM enabled
The result? I didn’t buy any of the five books promoted by Canada Reads, and placed eBook holds through the Toronto Public Library instead.
This evening I encountered something completely different. Quite by accident (thank you, Strange Horizons book reviews!) I stumbled upon The Bone Spindle published by Aqueduct Press. I hadn’t heard of either the book or the publisher, but the review was so intriguing that I bought the book once I found out that Aqueduct Press specialized in publishing feminist science fiction.
It turns out that Aqueduct Press sells ePub books without any sort of DRM. Finally, a publisher whose wares I could buy without using up my Kobo’s limited storage!
Poking around on Aqueduct’s blog led me to Fantasy Magazine (now merged with Lightspeed Magazine). And Lightspeed led me to Weightless Books. Let’s take a look at Weightless’ About page, shall we?
We sell DRM-free ebooks because we believe those who buy ebooks here should be able to move them around between their devices at will.
What we’re hoping to do here is to make this the first site to go to for interesting ebooks from independent presses.
Let’s go over that a bit more slowly:
- None of the books or magazine subscriptions that Weightless Books sells contain any DRM.
- They sell books from independent presses, meaning that the books have gone through some sort of editorial process before publication.
Weightless Books is okay with selling quality books without subjecting me to the anti-piracy hassle that traditional publishers would typically force down my throat? You mean to say that because of this policy, I can buy as many books as I want and store them without any fuss on my capacious Micro SD card? How amazing! It’s difficult to explain how much peril my credit card is in now.
Because of the lack of DRM on both sites, I bought both The Bone Spindle and a year-long subscription to Lightspeed Magazine. Those purchases cost just over $30 total. And it was precisely because of the existence of DRM software (and what DRM meant in terms of my eReader’s storage capacity) that I decided against buying bestselling books offered by the traditional publishing establishment.
This leads me to wonder: How many others are there like me with the same concerns about DRM, and how much do we represent in lost sales? More importantly, will publishers ever regard DRM software as a limiting factor in the way that I do?
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