WTF Authors AGAIN

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
WTF Authors AGAIN

Authors… what the hell is going on? I would say that Twitter has made you insane, but I know some of you have been bringing the foolishness for a while, so obviously it’s not new media that is causing you to act out like a 10-year-old on too much sugar.

Alice Hoffman, get your butt off the internet before you embarrass yourself any further! Posting a critic’s phone number on Twitter? NO. *smacks on nose with paper* Bad author!

Ayelet Waldman, stop damning your critics to hell. It doesn’t reflect well on you. See above about 10-year-olds.

Again, I know that criticism hurts. And hey, complain about your critics all you like… in private to your friends. That’s what I do. That’s what most sensible people do. Your friends will tell you that the critic is an ass and you’ll feel better. But telling it to the world? Just makes you look like an ass.

Readercon

By:  TempestEvents
Readercon

I’ll be attending Readercon in a couple of weekends and this time I’m on a bit of programming. If you’d like to find/stalk me, here’s the deets:

Friday, 3PM — VT: Interfictions 2 Group Reading
Delia Sherman (host) with Amelia Beamer, K. Tempest Bradford, Matthew Cheney, F. Brett Cox, Michael DeLuca, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Shira Lipkin, Rachel Pollack, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine
Readings from Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing, edited by host Sherman and Christopher Barzak and forthcoming in the fall from Small Beer Press under the auspices of the Interstitial Arts Foundation.

Friday, 5PM — Salon E: Off Color
K. Tempest Bradford, David Anthony Durham (L), Eileen Gunn, Anil Menon, Cecilia Tan
At various sf conventions, we’ve been to more than one panel during which the panelists try to figure out why there seem to be so few writers of color in the field. As an alternative, we have invited several panelists to discuss what an sf field more enticing to writers of color might look like.

Friday, 8PM — ME/ CT: Annual Interstitial Arts (IAF) Town Meeting
Ellen Kushner with discussion by Liz Gorinsky, Theodora Goss, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Shira Lipkin, Delia Sherman, John Shirley, Sarah Smith, Catherynne M. Valente
Note: I’m not officially on this but will be there talking about the auction and salons and such.
Interstitial Art falls in the interstices of recognized genres. The Interstitial Arts Foundation is a group of “Artists Without Borders” fighting the Balkanization of art. They celebrate work that crosses or straddles the borders between media, the borders between genres, the borders between “high art” and popular culture. They are not opposed to mainstream fiction or genre fiction, nor are they seeking to create a new category. They are just particularly excited by border-crossing fiction (and music and art), and want to support the creation of such works and to establish better ways of engaging with them. The IAF has had a presence at Readercon from its beginning. In 2007, in cooperation with Small Beer Press, the IAF published Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing edited by Delia Sherman and Theodora Goss, and in fall 2009 they will present Interfictions 2, edited by Delia Sherman and Christopher Barzak. They are also doing a lot with visual arts. Interstitial Arts is an idea, a conversation, not a hard-and-fast definition-and it’s a conversation you are invited to join.

Saturday, Noon — VT: Federations Group Reading
John Joseph Adams (host) with K. Tempest Bradford, Robert J. Sawyer, Allen Steele, Catherynne M. Valente,
Genevieve Valentine

Sunday, 11AM, Maine/Connecticut: The Future of Magazines, Part 2 (Online) — (part 1 is at 10AM)
K. Tempest Bradford, Neil Clarke, Robert Killheffer, Mary Robinette Kowal (L), Matthew Kressel, Sean Wallace
Are print magazines doomed? (Heck, if newspapers can’t make it …) Or will they survive in their tiny niches? Are there ways to make them more viable? Is that even worth the bother? After all, online magazines are now easy and relatively inexpensive to start — are they the answer?

Pay to Play?

By:  TempestElsewhere on the Internets
Pay to Play?

Got a heads up on a new online workshop for genre writers run by F&SF. It’s got a limited membership right now to work out the kinks, but should be open to everyone soon. According to Gordon van Gelder, Gardner Dozois is going to be “running the show”, which I assume means he’s going to provide professional crits of some or all stories. Additionally, Gardner will choose 3 stories every year to be pubbed in F&SF. So if you’re dying to be in the pages of that magazine and also dying to get your story critted by the likes of Dozois, then the F&SF workshop may be for you.

However, it’s not free.

Nor would I expect it to be. However, some have raised the question of whether this is pay to play. You give the workshop money and then Gardner gets you into F&SF. Well, three of you a year.

Mind, the workshop guarantees nothing. Also, you’re free to submit stories from the workshop in the regular way. So I wouldn’t say that pay to play directly applies. But I can understand why people would find the concept a mite shady.

Thoughts?

2009 Write-a-thon: Week 1

By:  TempestWrite-a-thon
2009 Write-a-thon: Week 1

Sorry this update is so late. Had sporadic Internet for the past few days, so I spent what little time I had doing mostly work stuff.

Week 1 went well. I revised a very short story (and made it longer in the process) and have now sent it off to Clarkesworld. It’s called Embodied and is actually one of my newest stories. This week I’m working on the water aliens story, which technically dates back to Clarion West. Something old, something new.

That’s pretty much it :)

NYC Outing: Twelfth Night in the Park

By:  TempestGeekitude

Once again it is time to get up at ass o’clock in the morning to sit in line for tickets to one of the best free Shakespeare productions in the city. The first play this summer is Twelfth Night, and you know I’m excited since it’s my very favorite play. I’m not real down with Anne Hathaway, but Audra MacDonald is enough to erase all doubts and hesitations.

I’m going to be in line on Wednesday July 8th at 5am with Nora. If you want to join me, you’ll have maybe a 30 minute grace period before people would complain about you joining us. Please do, though! Sitting in line is never tiresome if you have friends around, picnic food, and music! (also a chair… and an umbrella. I’m an old hand.)

If you think you’ll come, comment! I’ll email you my cell #.

New Reviews of Sybil’s Garage 6

By:  TempestMy Fiction
New Reviews of Sybil's Garage 6

Charles Tan has a short review of SG6 wherein he mentions my story as one of his favorites:

“Elan Vital” by K. Tempest Bradford manages to cram a lot in this relatively short piece. While the science fiction aspects and ramifications might appeal to genre readers, what drew me to this story is how Bradford attaches a human component to the narrative and everything else grows out of that. Her protagonist is not only sympathetic but her unique situation could only have been pulled off in the medium of prose. For example, if this were a comic or a TV episode, part of the tension would have been tipped off too early, and a pivotal scene would have lost much of its momentum. But as it is, the chronology is just right, and Bradford crafts a story with emotional resonance.

Fantasy Magazine also gave us an awesome review!

Women of Color in SF/F/H Reading

By:  TempestReadings

Continuing in the tradition of wild unicorn-ness, I’m doing a reading and discussion in NYC at Bluestockings bookstore with Linda Addision, N. K. Jemisin, and Alaya Dawn Johnson all about POC and SFF. In case you’re not aware, all of us are some fabulous black women who write spec fic. The reading will last an hour, the discussion will last as long as there’s something to discuss, and then those of us who don’t have jobs will go out and eat afterwards. There will also be books and zines with our writing for sale, if you enjoy such things. If you’re in the area, please join us!  Deets:

What: Diaspora of the Fantastic: Black Women Writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror – Reading & Discussion

When: July 30th, 7PM

Where: Bluestockings Books, 172 Allen Street (1 block south of Houston), NYC

Will You Be There?

By:  TempestGeekitude

In Our Darkest Hour
In My Deepest Despair
Will You Still Care?
Will You Be There?
In My Trials
And My Tribulations
Through Our Doubts
And Frustrations
In My Violence
In My Turbulence
Through My Fear
And My Confessions
In My Anguish And My Pain
Through My Joy And My Sorrow
And The Promise Of Another Tomorrow
I’ll Never Let You Part
For You’re Always In My Heart.

On Michael Jackson

By:  TempestRants
On Michael Jackson

I have some things to say about Michael over on the ABW, so check it out if you’re interested in another remembrance. If not, here’s another take on things: It’s not even been 24 hours and I am already sick to death of people saying things like, “Instead of everyone mourning Michael Jackson they should worry about Iran/blood diamonds/starving children in Africa/whatever other something that is important.”

Now, I certainly feel that the latest antics of celebrities does not merit 24 hour news coverage; but people, someone died. And whether you were a fan or not, liked him or not, recognize that he was an important person and therefore his death means something. Plus, it’s not as if everyone has forgotten everything that’s going down in the world, it’s just that this particular news story is going to take precedence for a bit.

So, chill the fuck out people who are worried about Iran/blood diamonds/starving children, or a host of other important issues, some of which most people ignore all the time. The news cycle s a 24 hour one, and they can’t fill all 24 hours with MJ. Iran will get covered, especially if something impotant happens, other stories will get covered if something important happens. Being nasty about someone’s death doesn’t make you a saint, it just makes you kind of an ass.

Interfictions Auction & Music Project

By:  TempestShiny Things
Interfictions Auction & Music Project

I know I mentioned the Interfictions Auction here a while ago but there have been some new developments which allow me to mention it again. I’m tricksy.

First thing is to remind people that, though this auction is mainly to benefit Interfictions 2, we’re accepting creations based on stories from the first anthology, too. We’re not offering to send free stories, but you can always buy it (tricksy!).  If you’re interested, let us know here.

Second thing is that we have a separate but related initiative: The Interfictions Music Project. Since auctioning music doesn’t make much sense, we’re going to sell music, instead. Same deal as with the auction: musicians can base songs or mixes on any story from Interfictions 1 or 2 (they can request an advance story from IF2). We’ll sell the music as downloads during the auction. If we get enough, we’ll create an EP or LP. More details and sign-up form is here.

Click and pass it on!