Hellions – not optimal

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Thus far the morning has consisted of coffee, breakfast, and ~1,400 words.

 

Fair.

 

            Not optimal, of course, but fair. ‘Optimal’ is running through an underground ice canyon with two fully-loaded hand cannons chasing a sizeable pack of plague-infested hellions. ‘Optimal’ is escaping death by leaping off the edge of the world with a solitary chute,  landing in an endless pool of rubies, sapphires, and Red Bull, and finding a glowing vial of Panacea for the world’s woes. ‘Optimal’ is health, wealth, inner peace, and a smile that can cut my head in half.

I’ll get there, but hey, training first, right?

This weekend I’m headed back up to Seattle to marry a couple of dear friends, and hang out with a few more. There will be dogs, too – dogs, games, shopping, and well, whatever the hell else goes along with those things. I may even get a Dr. Who episode or two in.       

Last weekend was Palm Springs, and San Diego. That right; I was on tour. But enough of that – I need another chute to pack, a Red Bull, and a few extra rounds. The hellions are staying up later and later as the year progresses.

 

           

Amazon Monetizes Fan-Fiction : WTF??


From the pages of Chuck Wendig : Amazon Monetizes Fan-Fiction : WTF??

All Your Fanfiction Belong To Us: What The Fuck Is Kindle Worlds?

Amazon is now monetizing fan-fiction.

I mean, I guess?

The press release (with scads more detail) is right here.

I am of two minds on this. Maybe three minds. MAYBE A ZILLION MINDS.

I’m generally pro-fanfic. Like, I know some authors get their browneyes puckered over other people splashing around in their kiddie pools, and I understand that gut-level reaction — but me, I think if you have an audience willing to write fan-fiction about your work, you’re pretty fucking lucky. And it’s always half understood that fan-fiction is fan-fiction. Non-canonical. Utterly apocryphal. Yeah, whatever, sure, Spike and Angel can fly the Serenity through the Stargate and they can fight Darkseid and 69 each other on a bed of glittery vampire dust.

Woo! No problem. High-five.

And this appears to be a way to sanction fan-fiction — it’s not like, Amazon deciding to just allow people to sell it wantonly. It appears to have author (or at least publisher) approval behind it. And authors get paid! I like when authors get paid. Because mouths! To feed!

So, my concern here isn’t actually financial — like, this isn’t theoretically that different from someone licensing your work and your world to, say, the comic book space. Or to an RPG or video game. Or even to film or TV. (Though the percentage here seems likely far less.)

The weird thing is what happens to that comfortable space that separated canonical from non-canonical. Like, one assumes that the fan-fic remains officially non-canonical — and yet, people are paying for it. And getting paid in return. Which lends a kind of intellectual and emotional legitimacy to it. And allows for a very weird thing to happen: it lets the licensed fan-fiction to become, in theory, bigger than the material that spawned it.

And even if it doesn’t become bigger it still grants it a kind of territory in the canonical space. Someone might read Book 3 of the Miriam Black series, The Cormorant, and say, “But this doesn’t refer to that time when she time-traveled back to the Old West in that novella, Booby Nuthatch.” And you’re like, “That wasn’t real, though, someone else wrote that.” But then they say: “I PAID FOR IT SO IT FELT REAL TO ME” and then they sob into your shoulder and you wonder suddenly how they got that close and should you call the police? Probably.

That’s a pretty serious shift in authorship and authenticity.

Which is breaking my brain right now.

How much say does an author get?

How much veto power does Amazon or the publisher get?

Does this place too much power in Amazon’s hands (HAHA TOO LATE)?

Or does this put more power back in the original author’s hands?

Does this further remove legitimacy from unpaid fan-fic?

Do these pantaloons make my thighs look fat?

WUZZA WOOZA FUZZY BUZZY.

Like, if I had to make a judgment, I’m 51% this being a good thing, 49% this being a THING I CANNOT WRAP MY HEAD AROUND FUCK IT I DON’T KNOW

*detonates the Internet with the push of a comical red button*

Anyway. Interesting. Say what you want about Amazon, but they’re some crafty-ass trilobites.

What are your thoughts, Oh Goggle-Eyed Readership?

Hey! Mass SF/F Signing! Tomorrow! San Jose! 5:30 - 7:30! With Me!

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Reblogged from Whatever:

Want to see literally dozens of SF/F writers in one place at one time? Who are there to sign books? For you?

Then come on down to the San Jose Hilton (300 Almaden Blvd), from 5:30 to 7:30pm tomorrow (Friday, May 17) for the SFWA Mass Signing. It's free and open to the public. Come see me! Not just me: Here are the some of the others signing books:

Read more… 167 more words

Ummm, so a Mass SF/F signing in San Jose tomorrow? Yes, please.

Brett – book I: TWM

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The Warded Man by Peter V. BrettTwo days ago, I finished Peter V. Brett‘s The Warded Man, and thought it was pretty darn good. The story concept is great (I’m actually curious how he came up with that and  long it took him to smooth out), and I thought he did a great job executing it.

The writing is solid, and, from what I’ve heard, it gets better with the next few books, which I’ve already decided to procure.  I believe the 3rd book is already out, but I often need to slow down. One book at a time. At some point, my good friend at Written Permission will send out one of her book reviews of it, and I’m sure she won’t be disappointed.

I don’t want to throw out any spoilers here, but the short and sweet bit of it is, if you’re looking for fairly strong fantasy, I would give The Warded Man a read. Brett writes well, and I think he knows where his strengths are and plays to them. He surely understands that his writing can get stronger and, having only read the first book, I’m sure it does.

Oh, and one of the things I love about the book is that Brett includes elements of sex in his fantasy. So often in fantasy, there’s only focus on the magic or the fighting, but when it comes to any romance in the narrative, it’s sort of ignored. C’mon! You want your readers to live in this world and believe it to be as real as the one they’re living in, right? Sex is just as much a part of life as death is. Taxes, finance, health care – all that shit’s in there, but not sex! I’m not saying it has to be pornographic; just let us know it’s there.

Peter, a solid book. Thanks for keeping me turning the pages.

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Dr. Miller, I presume.

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On Friday, May 10th 2013, my brother Jeremy graduated from medical school. A pretty hefty accomplishment, if you ask me. Even if you don’t ask me, it’s notable.

Jason, Jeremy, and I grew up together in Albuquerque, NM, and although I’m not biologically in the fraternal hood, they’ve adopted me as the third brother, and for that I’m ever grateful. Dammit! <<flaps hands up and down in front of face>> and I swore I wouldn’t cry!

But back to the whole graduating-from-medical-school thing. It’s something I’ve thought about (and I presume most people have at least once), but never has seemed fitting. When we first heard he had decided to go through with it, one of my initial questions was ‘why?’. Not that I didn’t think he could, of course; he’s a smart guy with a background solidly grounded in computer science. I wasn’t questioning his ability to absorb the material or make a career with. My question was aiming to understand the motive, as going through something that rigorous, generally speaking, requires some pretty staunch conviction, some purpose. I was curious as to what his was.

At the southern tip of Spain, near the small coastal town of Cádiz, travelers can have themselves ferried across the Strait of Gibraltar into Northern Africa (where, unbeknownst to many, the Spanish still retain a vestige of colonial expansion with the territory of Ceuta). Several years back, Jer had taken a trip through Europe, and stopped in Morocco for a stint. The only image I can associate with him in this place is a picture of his sad attempt at camel-riding. But, for Jer, there was more to it. He told me that it was from seeing the destitution of some of Morocco’s populous – the physical ailments, maladies, and  deformities from those in and outside the city, that he wanted to do something about it. He wanted to help people.

So, he did just what good medical students are supposed to do. He shut himself in an apartment at the edge of the University of New Mexico campus, jumped into the deep end of medical-science madness, and treaded water for four years. On Friday, we celebrate and congratulate him for making his way back to poolside. It’s just for a breather, though; we all know that. These are the waters in which Jer has chosen to swim and know, and we support the hell out of that.

Anyway, Jer, congratulations. You’re an inspiration to us all. We love you, brother.