Last week has been rather eventful, what with yet another school shooting and the most recent round of Mueller indictments. On the good side of the equation, the movie Black Panther has soared past all the predictions of its box office intake. (YES!!!) That said, there's a lot out there to discuss. Let's get started, shall we?
Angela Basset OFMG! It's so great to see her on the screen again. I adore her. And how psyched am I to see black women portrayed as warriors and generals? SUPER PSYCHED! GIVE ME MORE WOMEN IN THESE TYPES OF ROLES, PLEASE! That's two movies featuring non-sexualized warrior women within a year of one another. I'm so happy! More women of Wakanda! More women of Themyscira! Yayayayyay!
Okay, now for the links. :)
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Good morning, y'all. Are you ready for some righteous anger? Let's do this thing. First up, today's video.
Be careful out there, bats and ghouls and all monsters in between. This one is a beast. Dane brought it home. One day I was perfectly fine and the next it hit me like a runaway freight train. I was only able to remain awake for thirty minutes at a time and then would pass out for three hours. I didn't want to eat. And when I did, I puked. And the coughing and the body aches... That's why you haven't heard from me. My brain still hasn't recovered. Everything will go back to normal next week. I'm seeing the end of it, thank the gods. But...yeah. Don't get this. Dane and I planned on getting a flu shot. We'd even seriously discussed when but the flu took us out before we acted. Grrr.
Anyway, sorry I don't have much else to say today. Except that I've been binging Downton Abby and Altered Carbon and that's been mixing in my brain in interesting ways. LOL. Take care, y'all. My novel Blackthorne is on the Locus 2017 Recommended Reading List. I'm so very thrilled to have my work included among such SFF literary greats. It means a lot to me. The list is used for the Locus Awards. So, if you've read Blackthorne and enjoyed it, please take a few minutes over at the Locus site and give it and several of the other wonderful works listed a vote.[1] (If you have a favorite that isn't listed, you can write it in.) You don't have to be a subscriber to vote. So, why not vote and support your favorite writers?
Second (as announced on FB and Twitter), I'm extremely honored to be the 2018 Literary Guest of Honor at Luxcon in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg! The convention is April 14th and 15th. This is something I didn't think would ever really happen, and I'm thrilled to death. This will not only be my first time as a GOH but my first time on the European continent. More on that as details are pulled together. (You can also check out their FB page.) Okay. Now, back to writing. Deadline looms. And stuff. -------------------------------------------- [1] If you'd like suggestions, how about any (pick five in each category) of these? SF novels: Persepolis Rising, James S.A. Corey, The Stars Are Legion, Kameron Hurley, Provenance, Ann Leckie, Luna: Wolf Moon, Ian McDonald, The Last Good Man, Linda Nagata, Null States, Malka Older, The Wrong Stars, Tim Pratt, The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi, Empire Games, Charles Stross, Borne, Jeff VanderMeer Fantasy novels: The Stone in the Skull, Elizabeth Bear, City of Miracles, Robert Jackson Bennett, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, John Crowley, The House of Binding Thorns, Aliette de Bodard, The Ruin of Angels, Max Gladstone, Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory, An Unkindness of Magicians, Kat Howard, The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin, The River Bank, Kij Johnson, Jade City, Fonda Lee, A Tyranny of Queens, Foz Meadows, The Beautiful Ones, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Delirium Brief, Charles Stross, Creatures of Will and Temper, Molly Tanzer, Horizon, Fran Wilde YA: Before the Devil Breaks You, Libba Bray, In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, Stephanie Burgis, Sovereign, April Daniels, Buried Heart, Kate Elliott, Frogkisser!, Garth Nix, Akata Warrior, Nnedi Okorafor, Shadowhouse Fall, Daniel José Older, Want, Cindy Pon 1st Novels: Tropic of Kansas, Christopher Brown, Dreadnought, April Daniels, The Prey of Gods, Nicky Drayden, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss, The Art of Starving, Sam J. Miller Editors and authors listed in non-novel categories: Joe Monti, John Joseph Adams, Ellen Datlow, Jonathan Strahan, Peter S. Beagle, Sarah Gailey, Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Khaw, Ellen Klages, Seanan McGuire, Nnedi Okorafor, Sarah Pinsker, Christopher Rowe, Peter Straub, Cynthia Ward, Martha Wells, JY Yang, Charlie Jane Anders, Samuel R. Delany, Greg Egan, Maria Dahvana Headley, Mary Robinette Kowal, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Kelly Robson, Marie Brennan, Tobias S. Buckell, C.S.E. Cooney, Karen Joy Fowler, Darcie Little Badger, Maureen McHugh, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nisi Shawl, Carrie Vaughn, Caroline M. Yoachim, E. Lily Yu
Good morning, everyone. Ready for some righteous rage? Let's do this thing! Here is today's video.
Simple enough, right? :) And now, those links...
I was listening to NPR a few days ago when the following article came on: Does Money Make You Mean? Listen to it all the way through. Done? Okay. The kicker for me was that even though the 'rich' player in the Monopoly game saw all the evidence that the game was rigged in their favor--only because they were lucky enough to win the coin toss, they still accredited their victory to their game-playing skills. Even Forbes grudgingly agrees to the study's conclusions that being wealthy makes people mean. And that just about says everything about Prosperity Doctrine that you ever needed to know.[1] Those articles also gut the myth of Trickle Down Economics.[2] But does the 'coin toss' really have that much of an effect long term? I mean, isn't the possibility of upward mobility the whole point of the American Dream? Read this: Rich Kid, Poor Kid: For 30 Years, Baltimore Study Tracked Who Gets Ahead. (The funny thing about that article is, even when Americans admit that reality indicates the American Dream is a fucking myth we still can't stop ourselves from coming up with that one in a million example. Nor can we seeming stop saying that "Hard work and traditional family" is a recipe for winning the American Dream lotto.) Guess what? Now that the income gap has widened to ever more drastic proportions in this country--that means upward mobility has been decreased with it. It's even harder for that one in a million ring-toss win. It's time to abandon the bullshit Victorian idea that the rich are just better people and deserving of massive wealth as the expense of the poor. We need to ditch the concept that punishing the poor is a good thing. Negative reinforcement doesn't work. There are years and years of psychological studies that prove it. It's time to tax the rich. It's time to force corporations to pay their taxes. These two groups are the reason we don't have enough government funding for social programs. The thing that made me feel a little better about all this is the knowledge that the rich can develop empathy. It's just difficult.[3] And we really need to stop telling ourselves the myth that if we work hard, be good, follow the rules the beneficent Capitalism Fairy™ will reward us. Capitalism sucks. It's a vile system that requires oppression in much the same way Feudalism does. It's time to try something different. What that will look like, I don't know at the moment. But I think it's time for the SFF community to start punting ideas out there. That is a way we can make change. Hell, if Star Trek can cause the invention of a flip phone, why not? Governmental systems are far more important. ----------------------------------------------
[1] For the record, the idea that God rewards the just with wealth isn't a new one. There is evidence (recorded in the Bible, even) that this nonsense existed from the start of Christianity. And before other groups get all righteous, I'd be willing to bet that attitude has existed since the first day someone decided there was a big shiny entity somewhere that could change the fate of the common person and explain why rich people were rich. [2] Frankly, I don't understand why we're still having conversations about whether that's a thing. Particularly after the state of Kansas crashed and burned. [3] It's been a long time since I was a Christian, but I seem to recall a Bible passage about how getting into the Kingdom of Heaven was more difficult for rich people.
Happy Monday, y'all. I hope everything is going well for you so far and that the week ahead brings wonderful things. And now for some righteous anger to add fuel to that caffeine you've consumed to get your day started. (Or to take place of the caffeine you didn't. ;))
Confession time: even though I marched last year, I didn't attend the Women's March this year. My new novel is due to the editor next month and I opted to stay home and work on it. Since it's a Feminist SF novel, I figured it was appropriate for me to focus on getting the work done vs. being seen at a march. Mind you, both acts are important--and American women, if you march you have to vote. Holy crap, do we need you to vote. (And remember that local elections are more important than presidential elections. They'll directly affect you and yours.) Anyway, I feel a little guilty about that and perhaps I shouldn't, but I'm an ex-Catholic. It goes with the territory. In any case...I don't own a pussy hat. Hey, I think they're cute. I'd wear one in a heartbeat if it were a color that didn't instantly feel more than a bit racist. And then there's the other problem: not all women have vaginas. Those who don't have voices that matter too, and in fact, the movement can benefit greatly from trans women's perspectives. That is the biggest reason of all for not selecting a vagina as the symbol of the women's movement. None of us are free as long as one of our sisters isn't free. Remember that. And now...the video portion of our morning. :) There's been another dust-up as it were in SFF circles. File 770 does a better job of reporting the mess than I could. (Well, better in that I'm not interested in wasting the time typing it all out.) That said, one of the things that stuck with me was, once again, this statement that "We feel it is time to return to SFF stories, films, shows and games that allow the reader/viewer/player to escape the real world - as it used to be." Alexandra Rowland had an excellent response to those last five words. She used one of the best examples possible to make her point: maybe the reason you're not experiencing the "wonder" in SF any longer is because you've grown up? Reading is an interactive experience. This is a big part of what makes literature an art form. Writers don't get to dictate your experience of their work. We've never had that level of control--even if sometimes we wish we did.[1] A literary work is always one part what the reader brings to the piece. Readers aren't passive. Reading engages the imagination. If the piece you're reading doesn't do this, the piece in question has failed in its job. That's the definition of interactive. So, if you're missing a sense of wonder from all modern SFF, then maybe it's time for some self-examination? As a therapist once told me: "If every relationship is a failed relationship, maybe it's time to have a look at the common denominator in all those relationships." Hint: the biggest common factor is yourself. So, maybe it's time to admit that maybe the lack of wonder isn't the author's fault? Because no author, no matter how talented or how powerful the work, can give you back your childhood. And that's what pops to mind every single time I see a white man (and let's face it, it's always white men) say they miss the sense of wonder in the original [fill in the blank media property]. Every. Time. -----------------------------------
[1] Trust me. That's honestly a thing.
This blog is going to stop updating on Wednesdays. I made a deal with my self that I'd work on writing more stories and less random stuff for free. This is a good thing for you, Dear Reader, because I'll have fewer days where I have nothing much to say. :) Seriously, coming up with anything new to say some days is very difficult. My life simply isn't that interesting. And every post can't be about Feminism. That's exhausting. Although, today's post is going to be about song lyrics. Specifically, Jack White's Connected By Love. Because this morning I turned on Spotify and it played the first few lines of the song and I almost immediately wanted to punch Jack White in the nuts.
But first read this article: #MeToo isn’t enough. Now women need to get ugly. It'll explain the cultural mindset of women at this moment. Now, read this article about Toxic Masculinity and Emotional Labor: Why Women Are Tired: The Price of Unpaid Emotional Labor. The deal is this: emotions are a vital, necessary aspect of being human. People cannot exist without them. Touch--casual touch, even, like hugs from friends--is a physical need. It is possible to die from a lack of touch. (see this experiment with monkeys and wire mesh/cloth mothers.) Now, have a look at this:
Also, have a look at this Tumblr article about Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. And lastly, watch this interview.
With all of that in mind, I think I can finally understand why men feel so very deeply the need for a woman in their lives--so much so that they're willing to go to any length, even to the point of enslavement or rape, to get what they need. It explains the abuse and the entitlement. It explains so, so much. It doesn't excuse it. Not. One. Bit. But now I see how things got this way. It needs to change for Men's sake as well as for Women's. So, now let's get back to that Jack White song. Here are the lyrics:
Today is Martin Luther King Day in the US. It's the day when we celebrate a great man. It's also the day when white people all across the nation share memes--a lot of which are bullshit. No. King wasn't a Republican. He also wasn't a Feminist. He was a human being and human beings have flaws.
Today's videos:
That is a great video right there. I've always loved the Jedi because I saw them as samurai/monks. I like samurai movies. So, I basically ignored all the "don't have any feelings" crap because Obi Wan does say, "Search out with your feelings." You can't do that if you don't have any. Anyway, this video explains the confusing conversation I had at Best Buy over the holidays with a couple of young male geeks. They said they were all about the Sith. I said fuck that. I'm for the jedi. And they came back with "We want to have feels. So, fuck Jedi." And I said, "Temper tantrums are feels, sure. But they're not useful adult feels or useful adult means of handling feels." And we were at a standoff. Heh. Anyway, it's a great video about toxic masculinity within Star Wars. Here's more on that discussion.
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