So. Been a while, huh? Next time I feel bad that it takes me five years to write a book I can say "Yeah, but considering it takes me three and a half years to write a blog entry that's pretty good!"
Anyway, I do have news: Fall From Earth has been included in the Bundoran Buddies Sci-Fi Bundle, a Storybundle curated by Bundoran editor Hayden Trenholm and including, as well as other Bundoran books such as Ed Willett's Right to Know and Jennifer Rahn's The Cyanide Process, works by writers including Tanya Huff, Robert J. Sawyer, Matthew Hughes, Ramez Naam, and Madeline Ashby, as well as a brand-new collection of short stories by James Alan Gardner.
When Hayden (whose own books were among Bundoran's very first publications) took over from founding editor Virginia O'Dine, one of the things he changed was to narrow the line's focus to just science fiction, which the press's tagline calls "our conversation with the future." It's a good description for most of the books Bundoran's published since then, but I've sometimes wondered how well it really fit Fall From Earth. I've said before that I think there are two basic premises in SF/F -- "What if?" and "If this goes on..." -- and I've always leaned more towards the first. It's hard to draw a line between today and the generally undefined future-time in which a space opera like Fall From Earth is set, making it not so much a conversation with the future as a game of telephone.
Looking at the other books in the bundle, though, I wonder if maybe that's the point. Sure, we may not be about to make contact with an enigmatic alien civilization (though their space junk may be drifting through our solar system) but we face just as many problems communicating with each other, down here on Earth: a few hours spent on Twitter, for example, could easily convince you that people on different sides of the political spectrum are as mutually incomprehensible to each other as the aliens in Fall From Earth are to us. A lot of the questions in the book -- where we draw the outer limit of our definition of "humanity," how we deal with the centripetal effects of technology, how and when speech is action -- are ones we're facing right now, even if they're happening on our screens and in our living rooms rather than on alien planets.
So I guess Hayden was right and I was wrong (as usual). Calling something a conversation, after all, doesn't mean that everyone will agree on what was said, and maybe that's the point: every book, as John M. Ford said, "is three books... the one the writer intended, the one the reader expected, and the one that casts its shadow when the first two meet by moonlight."
The Bundoran Buddies Sci-Fi Bundle is available until January 30, 2019.
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Matthew Johnson
SF and fantasy writer Matthew Johnson. News, excerpts, updates, complaints. "Matthew Johnson's short stories have revealed as fresh and original a new voice as any in our field." Rich Horton, Locus
Friday, January 18, 2019
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Spoiler Space: "The Face of the Waters"
This story is why I listen to
my editors. It originally came from a dream I had in which someone
put a baby in the water, and the baby swam away like a fish. When I
woke up I went back and tried to rationalize the image, trying to
figure out why someone would make a baby able to breathe
water. I wanted to keep the story on Earth – there are plenty of
live-on-a-watery-planet stories already – so I thought about who,
throughout history, has had to leave their homes most often, and the
story unrolled fairly easily.
Except that when I sent the story to
Pete Butler, for the Triangulation: Taking Flight anthology,
he said that he liked the story but it was missing something, an
added dimension or complication to give it more depth. I thought
about that for a while and came up with the idea of the “ghost”
of Yonah’s son confronting him as the story went on. Suddenly there
was conflict in the story – between tradition and necessity, purity
and survival – and Pete bought it, saying I'd managed to make the
story read faster by adding word count. (There were two more quick
rounds of edits to make the opening punchier, as well, but that
change is basically what made the story work.)
So that’s why I listen to my
editors: they make my stories better.
Monday, August 17, 2015
Next week in Spokane
Yikes! Less than a week 'til Sasquan -- guess I'd better post my schedule:
Thursday: SFWA Board meeting all morning, but I'll be wandering around in the late afternoon and evening.
Friday:
11:00 - 11:45: Kaffee Klatsche in CC - 202A-KK1. You can sign up here or just show up.
1:30 - 2:00: Reading in CC - 301.
2:00 - 2:45: Managing Your Online Brand in CC - 401C with Jim Wright , Frank Catalano and Marah Searle-Kovacevic. On social media, are you a person or a brand? Do you handle interactions differently depending on what type of social media you're on? And what happens when you're involved in a brou-ha-ha? How is it different for a group and for an individual?
5:00 - 5:45: Autographing with Scott Lynch , Susan Palwick , Phyllis Irene Radford , Susan Forest , Tina Connolly , Ellen Datlow (whew!) in CC - Hall B.
Saturday:
10:00 - 10:45: From Middle Earth to Westeros: Fantasy Worldbuilding in CC - Integra Telecom Ballroom 100B with Pat Cadigan , Martha Wells, Michael Swanwick , Mary Soon Lee . Building a believable world, with believable geography, culture, and rules, is at least as important in fantasy as it is in SF. The panel looks at how to create fantasy worlds, citing examples of the good (and maybe the not so good).
1:00 - 3:00: SFWA Business Meeting in CC - 300B.
#SFWAPro
Thursday: SFWA Board meeting all morning, but I'll be wandering around in the late afternoon and evening.
Friday:
11:00 - 11:45: Kaffee Klatsche in CC - 202A-KK1. You can sign up here or just show up.
1:30 - 2:00: Reading in CC - 301.
2:00 - 2:45: Managing Your Online Brand in CC - 401C with Jim Wright , Frank Catalano and Marah Searle-Kovacevic. On social media, are you a person or a brand? Do you handle interactions differently depending on what type of social media you're on? And what happens when you're involved in a brou-ha-ha? How is it different for a group and for an individual?
5:00 - 5:45: Autographing with Scott Lynch , Susan Palwick , Phyllis Irene Radford , Susan Forest , Tina Connolly , Ellen Datlow (whew!) in CC - Hall B.
Saturday:
10:00 - 10:45: From Middle Earth to Westeros: Fantasy Worldbuilding in CC - Integra Telecom Ballroom 100B with Pat Cadigan , Martha Wells, Michael Swanwick , Mary Soon Lee . Building a believable world, with believable geography, culture, and rules, is at least as important in fantasy as it is in SF. The panel looks at how to create fantasy worlds, citing examples of the good (and maybe the not so good).
1:00 - 3:00: SFWA Business Meeting in CC - 300B.
#SFWAPro
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Speculation and Imagination
Two bits of news for now: first, Derek Newman-Stille has posted an episode of his Speculating Canada podcast in which he discusses my collection Irregular Verbs and Other Stories. Derek's got lots of interesting things to say as he examines "cultural interactions, language, aging, and other ideas of change" in the stories.
Second, one of those stories -- "What You Couldn't Leave Behind" -- will be included in Imaginarium 4: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. We were actually discussing which of this year's stories would go in right up to the announcement, eventually picking that one in part because it's the shortest -- it's going to be a massive book:
Introduction
Margaret Atwood
Bamboozled
Kelley Armstrong
Witch I
Courtney Bates-Hardy
Witch II
Courney Bates-Hardy
The Smut Story
Greg Bechtel
Kafka’s Notebooks
Jocko Benoit
The Full Lazenby
Jeremy Butler
Wendigo Nights
Siobhan Carroll
A Spell for Rebuilding Your Lover Out of Snow
Peter Chiykowski
Túshūguăn
Eric Choi
Jelly and the D-Machine
Suzanne Church
The Perfect Library
David Clink
The Colour of Paradox
A.M. Dellamonica
The Man Who Sold the Moon
Cory Doctorow
Brains, Brains, Brains
Puneet Dutt
The Lonely Sea in the Sky
Amal El-Mohtar
A Wish from a Bone
Gemma Files
We Be Naked
Zsuzsi Gartner
The God of Lost Things
Neile Graham
The Lark, The Peat The Star, and Our Time
Neile Graham
Chant for Summer Darkness in Northwest Climes
Neile Graham
The Beat that Billie Bore
Lisa L. Hannett
The Trial of the Beekeeper
Shivaun Hoad
Self-Portrait as Bilbo Baggins
Ada Hoffmann
The Parable of the Supervillain
Ada Hoffmann
The Mermaid at Seaworld
Ada Hoffmann
Left Foot, Right
Nalo Hopkinson
Return to Bear Creek
Louisa Howerow
The Inn of the Seven Blessings
Matthew Hughes
What You Couldn’t Leave Behind
Matthew Johnson
Hollywood North
Michael Libling
Sideshow
Catherine MacLeod
Aversions
Helen Marshall
Death and the Girl from Pi Delta Zeta
Helen Marshall
You’re a Winner
Matt Moore
Man in Blue Overcoat
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Exorcist: A Love Story
David Nickle
Hereditary Delusions
Rhonda Parrish
Marotte
Tony Pi
Charlemagne and Florent
Ranylt Richildis
Standard Deviant
Holly Schofield
The Tun
Trevor Shikaze
Demoted
Kate Story
The Snows of Yesteryear
Jean-Louis Trudel
Giants
Peter Watts
From Stone and Bone, From Earth and Sky
A.C. Wise
Outside Heavenly
Rio Youers
Second, one of those stories -- "What You Couldn't Leave Behind" -- will be included in Imaginarium 4: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. We were actually discussing which of this year's stories would go in right up to the announcement, eventually picking that one in part because it's the shortest -- it's going to be a massive book:
Margaret Atwood
Kelley Armstrong
Courtney Bates-Hardy
Courney Bates-Hardy
Greg Bechtel
Jocko Benoit
Jeremy Butler
Siobhan Carroll
Peter Chiykowski
Eric Choi
Suzanne Church
David Clink
A.M. Dellamonica
Cory Doctorow
Puneet Dutt
Amal El-Mohtar
Gemma Files
Zsuzsi Gartner
Neile Graham
Neile Graham
Neile Graham
Lisa L. Hannett
Shivaun Hoad
Ada Hoffmann
Ada Hoffmann
Ada Hoffmann
Nalo Hopkinson
Louisa Howerow
Matthew Hughes
Matthew Johnson
Michael Libling
Catherine MacLeod
Helen Marshall
Helen Marshall
Matt Moore
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
David Nickle
Rhonda Parrish
Tony Pi
Ranylt Richildis
Holly Schofield
Trevor Shikaze
Kate Story
Jean-Louis Trudel
Peter Watts
A.C. Wise
Rio Youers
I haven't done a "Spoiler Space" in a while, but here -- from almost exactly a year ago -- is the piece I did on "What You Couldn't Leave Behind."
#SFWAPro
#SFWAPro
Friday, June 12, 2015
Podcasts, mind melds and bowling balls
Two more little items up in the last couple of days: first, I've done another Mind Meld at SFSignal, this time talking about my favourite SF/F novel that's less than 350 pages. Those who have been around here a while will get no points for guessing what I picked.
Second, I did a very fun podcast to promote The Year's Best Military SF and Space Opera, in which I got to discuss my story along with editor David Afsharirad and fellow contributors Linda Nagata, Michael Z. Williamson, David D. Levine and friend and fellow Ottawan Derek Kunsken. I actually recorded my part during a visit to a bowling alley, which accounts for some of the odd noises in the background.
#SFWAPro
Second, I did a very fun podcast to promote The Year's Best Military SF and Space Opera, in which I got to discuss my story along with editor David Afsharirad and fellow contributors Linda Nagata, Michael Z. Williamson, David D. Levine and friend and fellow Ottawan Derek Kunsken. I actually recorded my part during a visit to a bowling alley, which accounts for some of the odd noises in the background.
#SFWAPro
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Suns bursting in air
Very cool: Irregular Verbs and Other Stories made the Sunburst Award longlist. Even cooler: the names of the other books on the list, including Pastoral by Andre Alexis, Consumed by David Cronenberg (!), Gifts for the One Who Comes After by friend-and-intro-writer Helen Marshall, Head Full of Mountains Brent Hayward, Knife Fight by David Nickle, The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King, Lockstep by Karl Schroeder, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, All My Real Children by Jo Walton, Echopraxia by Peter Watts... well, it is a long list!
Of course the quality of those other books mean mine is a lot less likely to be on the short list, never mind win the prize, but all things considered I'd rather be an also-ran on a slate of really great books than, well...
#SFWAPro
Of course the quality of those other books mean mine is a lot less likely to be on the short list, never mind win the prize, but all things considered I'd rather be an also-ran on a slate of really great books than, well...
#SFWAPro
Friday, May 29, 2015
Nebulae aborning
And lo, there came a programming schedule for the Nebulas!
The whole program is here and you should take a look, because it's pretty darn cool. Here's what I'm doing:
Friday
2:00 - 3:00
What SFWA Can Do For You— Panelists discuss various programs SFWA has for authors and how you can get the most out of your membership. With Kate Baker, Lee Martindale, Sarah Pinsker, and Bud Sparhawk
Salon 9
Saturday
3:00 - 4:00
Disability and Narrative: Disabled characters are often omitted from science fiction and fantasy. Many of those that do appear are characterized through the use of stereotypes and tropes Panelists will discuss existing representations of disability, both positive and negative, and talk about ways to accurately research and engage with disabled characters. With Walt Boyes, Annalee Flower Horne, Lynne Thomas and Lee Martindale
Salon 8
Sunday
2:00 - 3:00
#SFWAPro
The whole program is here and you should take a look, because it's pretty darn cool. Here's what I'm doing:
Friday
2:00 - 3:00
What SFWA Can Do For You— Panelists discuss various programs SFWA has for authors and how you can get the most out of your membership. With Kate Baker, Lee Martindale, Sarah Pinsker, and Bud Sparhawk
Salon 9
8:00-9:30
Mass Autographing
Exhibit Hall, (Fourth Floor)
3:00 - 4:00
Disability and Narrative: Disabled characters are often omitted from science fiction and fantasy. Many of those that do appear are characterized through the use of stereotypes and tropes Panelists will discuss existing representations of disability, both positive and negative, and talk about ways to accurately research and engage with disabled characters. With Walt Boyes, Annalee Flower Horne, Lynne Thomas and Lee Martindale
Salon 8
Sunday
2:00 - 3:00
Colonialism, Cultural Appropriation and Fairy Tales–Before writing begins, a writer can find themselves already in trouble when the idea at the core of their story is problematic. This panel will discuss how to spot trouble before you even begin writing by looking at historical examples of colonialism, cultural appropriation, and fairy tales and the narrative challenges associated with them. With Mary Anne Mohanraj and Rachel Swirsky
Salon 8
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