Friends, a crazy thing has happened. I have been nominated (along with fellow editors Catherynne M. Valente and Lynne M. Thomas) for a Hugo Award. Specifically, Apex Magazine and the three of us have been nominated in the category of Best Semiprozine.
A complete list of nominees can be found here. A lot of personal favorites made the ballot. Several good friends also made the ballot. A lot of them I’ve published in at some point. My favorite television show, Community, made the ballot for their “Remedial Chaos Theory” episode. Being nominated for the same award as Community makes me giddy.
Back in college, when I was a young buck with a lot more hair and a lot less weight, my friends and I often discussed how awesome it would be to win a Hugo. We were all big science fiction fans, and many of the books we read had “Hugo Winner” or “Hugo Nominee” stamped on their covers. Now I run and help edit a science fiction magazine that can bear that same mark. It is quite surreal. Even more surreal… this is the one award nomination/recognition I’ve received that caused my parents’ faces to light up with true delight since they had heard of the Hugo Awards.
I doubt I could effectively describe how grateful I am for the nomination. Instead, I’m going to give everyone reading a virtual high five and hope to see you Chicago at Worldcon!
Tomorrow is the first annual Lexington Comic & Toy Convention. It’s being held downtown in convention center adjacent to Rupp Arena from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. I will be there running a table, representing Apex Publications and selling books by authors such as Maurice Broaddus, Sara M. Harvey, and Jennifer Pelland.
I can tell you want to attend.
There is not a person alive who doesn’t like toys. Even a grumpy old man will pick up something like a Mr. Potato Head and dance it around and do a little make believe.
There is no challenging this assertion. It is as true as 1+1 – 2 (never mind that math theorists can prove otherwise).
I’d wager a good portion of you dig comics. Or movies based on comics.
What about books? Books filled with science fiction, fantasy, and other wonders? Like it or not, you like those, too. Especially books that has an alien head on their spine.
There will be famous people there, including the Pink Power Ranger!
I have the honor and privilege of being a guest on the Accents Radio show on WRFL here in Lexington today at 2pm-4pm. The show is about the literary arts. Today’s show will have a special focus on international science fiction… and hey, I’m publishing an anthology filled with international science fiction, so I’m the perfect guest!
THE perfect guest.
I’m actually quite nervous. The show is live. And this is my first time on an over-the-airwaves radio program (I’ve done plenty of podcasts and internet radio). I’m certain my accent will thicken and every single time I say ‘horror’ it will sound like ‘whore’.
If you’re in Lexington, tune to 88.1 WRFL on your radio. If you’re online and like to listen, go here at 2 p.m.: http://wrfl.fm/home
If you love me, you would watch COMMUNITY tonight on NBC at 8 p.m.
Back in the early 2000s, I missed the big “Save Arrested Development” push that happened. Sadly, I’m afraid to admit, I just wasn’t into the show back then. I did gain my senses back and realized the error of my ways after watching all three seasons on Netflix. Holy crap, that show was awesome!
And, now, I live with this lifelong guilt knowing that my indifference to such a great television show helped push it into cancellation. The guilt has caused me ulcers, hair loss, and an overarching grouchy attitude that never goes away anymore.
This, my friends, will happen to you if COMMUNITY gets cancelled and you did nothing about it.
But what can I, one little human bean, do to make a difference?
Easy. Watch the show.
Being a huge FAN BOY of Jeff, Britta, Abed, Troy, Shirley, Pierce, Annie (mmm, Annie), and sometimes Chang, I have a vested interest in your guilty conscience. Watching my favorite show will help its ratings, increasing the likelihood it is picked up for a fourth season. Meaning I will be a happy-jack for another year (overarching grouchy attitude notwithstanding). The side benefit is that you will have 30 minutes of true television delight.
Sure, it comes on at 8 p.m., the same time as The Big Bang Theory, which is a fine show (despite the overwrought geek and nerd cliches). But that show gets 15 million viewers and is not in danger of walking the plank. DVR comes in handy in these situations. If you don’t have a DVR, let TBBT have a breather on the bench and try Jeff Winger and the gang.
So, I plead with you from the deepest pits of personal self interest–watch COMMUNITY. Don’t let it die like I helped let Arrested Development rot away into oblivion.
Last year I edited a woefully under-appreciated zombie anthology titled The Zombie Feed, Vol. 1. Maybe I exaggerate. It did receive tons of positive reviews, but it never caught much traction with readers. I suspect the lack of any “bankable” names has played a role in this, but those who took a chance on the book were rewarded with some amazing stories by soon-to-be-stars like Maggie Slatter, Kristin Dearborn (who just sold her first novel), Daniel I. Russell, Monica Valentinelli, and Danger Slater.
So… you can imagine how pleased I was to find that the anthology was nominated for a Dead Letter Award for Best Zombie Anthology.
The award is voted by fans. I encourage you to go vote for TZF V1 and help my unloved undead antho pick up some recognition.
I don’t think I can divulge details just yet, but I found out one of the antho stories will be reprinted in a major reprint anthology. A double whammy of love!
When January 1st rolled around, one of my personal goals was to give this blog and website my due attention. That meant doing at least two posts a week with substance (posts that are more than “Buy my shit”). I would write about subjects people might be interested in such as the inner workings of the publishing business, tips for writers, etc.
A quick look at my posting history will tell you how that’s worked out for me.
The frustrating thing about the ongoing blog silence is that I have many, many topics I want to discuss. I’m just dying to force my opinions on whoever stumbles upon A Writers Vanity. Not only that, but I’ve been doing stuff. Fun stuff, like being the guest presenter at the Indiana Horror Writers Retreat. I was recently interviewed for the Beaucoup Pop podcast. I’ve published some awesome new books (say what, Jen Pelland?).
Lana Del Rey’s debut album has finally arrived. I say ‘finally’ as the marketing engine behind Del Rey has been working overtime for several months that culminated with an appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Now that the album, titled Born to Die, is here does it live up to the grandiose expectations built by the same machine that landed her on SNL?
Pretty much, yes.
By now, most people know of Lana Del Rey’s recent public image troubles. The internet dropped a load of fetid schadenfreude on Twitter and the blog-o-sphere due to her poor live SNL performances (click through to watch one of them). Inexplicably, celebrities piled on. For example, Brian Williams, the face and voice of NBC news, felt compelled to make fun of her performance in an email to the website Gawker.
All this hub-bub over a nervous woman’s shaky performance piqued my interest in her music. I trawled YouTube to find more. What I found instantly mesmerized me. Her look and sound appeal to my wistful nature. For many of the same reasons I dig the look of the film LA Confidential, I like Lana Del Rey’s persona. Critics bemoan the artificiality of it all. I bemoan the hypocrisy of such criticism. She’s constructed a personality to fit the music. This is the same tactic used by popular acts such as Madonna and Lady Gaga.
I also enjoy the smoky lounge singer voice she affects through most of the album’s songs. If you like the singing of such a voice, then you will like Born to Die.
Having bought into the Lana Del Rey scene, I’d been quite disappointed if the album ended up sucking. I’m not a music expert, but I’ll go out on a limb here and say that this album is quite good.
Despite the nostalgic feel many of the songs evoke, there is a strong sense of youthfulness and light mocking peppered throughout. The song “National Anthem” focuses on America’s obsession with wealth. It’s catchy and silly. “Radio” plays like an Avril Lavigne song that doesn’t take itself too seriously. “Lolita” appears to be poking fun at our obsession of youth and pop princesses (though she’s obviously using this same obsession to build her own success).
“Video Games”, the one song you might have heard already (it’s been receiving heavy rotation on the radio), with it’s tickling dreamy harp-sound, is a song of love lost. It is a song of remembering better times. The drum march played in the last half of the song could be thought of as a metaphor that time marches on for all of us.
“Blue Jeans”, one of my favorites, seems to be a straight up appreciation of the 1950s. The lyrics calls out James Dean. White T-shirts. Etc. The twanging guitar intertwined with a slightly bizarre and rhythmic sample gives the old-timey wistfulness a modern sound.
Way above and beyond anything else, my favorite song is “Off to the Races.” The song is the strongest lyrically, and Del Rey’s range is tested as she moves from husky lounge singer to playful, squeaky ingenue in quick succession.
“I’m your little Scarlet,
starlet,
singing in the garden,
kiss me on my open mouth,
ready for your…”
Okay, maybe I’m colored by coy, flirty nature she sings this lyric, but the song is jaunty and hella fun. Sadly, there isn’t an official video for “Off to the Races”, which leads me to think it’ll never be a radio single. A shame, really, this song beats the hell out of most pop princess efforts we’re fed through the airwaves.
You can listen to the song below.
If you’ve stuck with me to this point in the review, I ask that you watch her sing “Video Games” on Letterman. She owns it. And good for her. Dave asks her if she can come back tomorrow… and the next day.
On September 4, 2011, I decided to take control of my health. All summer I’d felt like crap due to weight-related health issues such as high blood pressure and acid reflux. It slowed me down. I even had to take several weeks off from Apex stuff!
Apexus interruptus is serious business!
Anyway, the diet and exercise routine has went on for close to six months. I’ve lost 34 pounds. Gained some muscles. I should be in much better shape for convention season. Especially if I can shed another 24 pounds to reach my goal of 200 pounds.
In the meantime, I’ve become addicted to dieting and exercising. Not that either makes me feel good. It’s more about guilt. If I cheat and eat too much my stomach aches with guilt. If I miss the gym I toss and turn in bed out of guilt.
I’ve heard of people who grow addicted to working out. Not me. Every single workout I start out thinking there is no way I’ll endure a whole hour of weights and cardio. I go home exhausted wondering where the hell is the endorphin charge hiding.
I never thought guilt would be so damn powerful. To the dismay of family and friends, I seldom feel guilt for anything I do. Yet, the guilt is strong because I’ve dealt with more hunger, sore muscles, and too many random naked dudes in the gym locker room to let the pounds come back.
Parting shot. I have also learned too many dudes are too damn comfortable socializing while completely nude.
I must confess that I am pro-Tina Fey. In fact, I find her to be funny, smart, and quite pretty.
Yeah, I said you were pretty, Tina Fey. I know that pisses you off. You coming after me, ya New York City hard ass? I heard your rants and your lectures in Bossypants about your mono-brow, your freaky big toe that curves inward, and the disturbing stories of extra large maxi pads. You exposed the great big lie that are magazine photos. Between mark up artists and Photoshop, anyone can be made to look good. Wigs, make up, and good lighting works wonders for those on television.
You aren’t fooling me. You’re pretty. Deal with it.
I’ve finished reading (technically, listening) Bossypants, so pardon me if I’m feeling a bit empowered. Blame it on Tina Fey. As you might imagine from a person who has both stumbled upon and personally created much of her success, Fey’s force of nature personality jumps on top of the reader and slaps him/her around… especially if the reader is a him.
Bossypants is part feminist manifesto, part joke book, and part auto-biography. Like her NBC sitcom, 30 Rock, much of the material is hit or miss. However, two sections alone make the book worth the read. The first is when Fey answers “Fan Mail”, except that these fan letters are actually asinine anonymous website comments from the chickenshits we all know and love. Her level of snark and cutting humor had me in tears. The second was hilarious story she recounted about her honeymoon cruise.
While bringing the funny, Fey also gives us a peek into her Sarah Palin period, bring 30 Rock to life, her work with the Second City troupe in Chicago, and her adventures at SNL.
Unfortunately, about one-third of the book she dedicates to less interesting subjects. There is a lengthy chapter about just how awesome her daddy is. Heck, even Alec Baldwin and Lorne Michaels thought he was an impressive man. It’s good material for painting where Tina Fey gets her brains and personality, but in a book where she beats on the feminist drum loudly and proudly, it felt a bit out of place. Also, there is a chapter detailing her appearance. Literally, there is a section about her fat period, her skinny period, her mid-sized period, and on and on. Peppered throughout are non-joking nonsequitors with every last detail of why people should find her unattractive. I recognize that self-deprecation plays a large role in her humor, but I couldn’t find the funny in this case. Perhaps this isn’t a failure from Tina’s writing, just more a personal taste… humor can be so subjective.
The book drifts at times. Is it a self-help book? Is it a feminist bible? Is it an auto-biography? It’s a distraction, but not enough to be much of a bother.
The best part about buying the audio version of Bossypants is that Tina narrates. Tina Fey might not win a Best Actress Oscar anytime soon, but she is one hell of a performer.
