Posts
Casual Fridays: The Week of Living SFnally
It's been a packed week. Last Saturday was Picocon at Imperial College, which was, as always, small but perfectly formed. I went along out of a pressing sense of need, wanting to huddle with my fellows in genre like we were a group of otters (no, I can't find out what the proper collective noun is). I get like that sometimes, when I feel distant from my peers. And the controversies of the week before had left me feeling that distance. Picocon has a real lecture theatre, the acoustics a luxury compared to the usual convention space, and guests Justina Robson, Adrian Tchaikovsky and Tricia Sullivan made good use of it. I spent something like six hours in the bar, chatting and chatting, and by the end of it felt pretty centered in my genre again (well, that's one way to put it). Then I joined Justina and Adrian's team for a ridiculously hard quiz (I contributed little of note, we came third) and train problems meant I failed to get back in time to record the new edition of The SF Squeecast, so in terms of genre-friend-hanging-out-with: swings and roundabouts.
Monday brought lunch with my editor. Just those words are enough to please me. That I have an editor at all is sheer pleasure, and something I don't take for granted. We talked about the current novel, and about plans for books to come. It's not often in the business these days that you get the chance to indulge in such blue sky thinking. I was challenged and encouraged (and really well fed). I like my editor.
On Wednesday I was in town again, this time for Liz Williams' appearance at the monthly BSFA open meeting. Liz was interviewed by Ian Whates, and performed splendidly. She, like me, often finds herself having to square a mystical world view with a rationalist one. I bought a copy of her non-fiction Diary of a Witchcraft Shop. (The shop Liz runs in Glastonbury is as mad a world as you expect it to be, and then some.) And once again, I got to huddle with my SF otters. I have a friend, it turns out, who wears a quote from 'Sympathy for the Devil' on the soles of his shoes, a true modern dandy.
And on Thursday, there was yet more, as I went along to the inaugural Science Fiction Social at the Gower Street branch of Waterstones. These events are an idea of Clarke Award organiser Tom Hunter and the gang from Pornokitsch, basically a single panel, with a lot of audience interaction and wine. Nick Harkaway, Gillian Redfern and Jared Porno talked about the different shapes of award systems within the genre, and not only was every seat taken, but the spaces around were filled with people craning their necks. Meaning, unfortunately, that those who'd come to the Law Department of Waterstones that evening seeking knowledge of Torts or Shipping Regulations were out of luck. Nick (in a splendid Vivienne Westwood jacket that I craved on sight... is this dandyish the impact of cosplay on the mainstream SF audience?) was literally standing in the way of Civil Rights. The great and the good of genre were once more in attendance, and... bloody hell, weren't they all getting as tired as I was? I journeyed across town to meet up with a gang of UK Comickers who'd assembled to welcome US artist Kevin Maguire, had a chat with Si Spurrier and Kieron Gillen, they hauled myself all the way back to the Marlborough pub, where, I was told, the Social was still continuing. Indeed, it was still in full swing, bigger that at the shop even, right up until last orders. 'Hip check!' yelled Jenni Hill, commissioning editor for Orbit, who does Roller Derby, nearly breaking one of mine with one of hers. Don't these people need sleep?
During this time, I have also, incredibly, been working, finishing up the first arc of Saucer Country (it's called 'Run'), chipping away at an article for Vector about London (tied in with my upcoming London-set urban fantasy novel), and finishing the plotting on a new project, working with a friend, in a medium I haven't dabbled in before.
On the suggestion of Sophie Aldred, I've also taken up as my Lenten sacrifice this year the idea of doing a Random Act of Kindness every day. This means that I will have to get out of the house even more, since doing such things for my wife seemingly doesn't count. It would have been far kinder to my own body had I chosen to go without beer.
In short: frigging hell, I'm knackered.
In other news...
Down the Tubes is running a series of creator tributes, celebrating the 35th birthday of 2000AD. Mine can be found here.
Now it's finally arrived in the UK, we've been enjoying Grimm. The first episode I wasn't so keen on, though the 'supernatural creatures have modern social issues too' trope, so much a part of Angel, and used surprisingly little since, was welcome. But the second episode seemed to widen the world ten per cent in every direction, revealing some interesting background. The fact that this is a forest-based fantasy, rather than an urban one, makes it feel different. It's also photographed differently, with chocolate box colours obviously designed to remind us of fairy tales. I'm not so sure of the bedrock of the premise: 'fairy tales are warnings' is the most concrete way of expressing what's quite a vague idea, and it doesn't quite get there. But there's a freedom there too. We could see all sorts of creatures, and have their systems explained to us in new ways (rather than the 'roll for a supernatural creature and then for an exciting profession' school of urban fantasy). The second episode showed us that our hero intends to police, rather than slay, these creatures, seeking, to some extent, their cooperation, and the well-thought-out werebears told us that this isn't just going to be a hodge-podge of whatever the hell we like this week. I was also pleasantly surprised by (slightly more characterised than usual) Nice Black Partner and Wife Without A Connection To Work surviving the pilot. And there were some moments of extremity that one doesn't often find in genre television. All of this might be expected from Angel veteran David Greenwalt. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
Several of you will have scored points in our This Time Next Year game as the first couple of writers on the next season of Doctor Who have been announced, but I'll wait until the full line-up becomes clear and sort out all the points at once then, rather than bit by bit.
And I gather from my sources that if you watch The One Show tonight on BBC1, several comics folk will be in evidence. (And, as it turns out, some cake-baking friends of my mate Penny. What are the odds?) This is mainly because Stan Lee is in town for the London Super Comic Con. I'll be going along to that convention, spending some considerable time at my table, and helping to judge the cosplay contest, but I won't be appearing on the DC panel because, in the face of my Panel Parity Plan, the organisers decided the simplest course of action, rather than find an equal number of women who could talk on the panel in an informed way about DC Comics (there's no reason everyone on the panel has to work for the company) was to chuck me off it. I've considered a few responses to that, but I think in the end the most reasonable course of action is to go along and talk to people about the situation.
It's also the course of action that involves the least grandstanding from me. The placement of my ego in this plan has caused me a lot of soul-searching in the last couple of weeks. A wonderful woman of my acquaintance got in touch with what I can only describe as a life-changing email, and since then I've been trying (and sometimes failing) to point to women already working to achieve parity (and things like it) and making this much less about me, me, me. When the new female-led Fifty Fifty Festivals organisation is up and running (I'd link to it now, but there's only a placemarker website as yet) I'll basically become someone who works for them, and continually points people towards their work.
And on that subject, let me introduce today's guest, Adele Wearing, Programmer of the alt.fiction events for Writing East Midlands (WEM) and creator of the Un:Bound books blogzine. She's also one of the people behind the upcoming 50/50 gender parity for convention panels campaign. If you'd like to get in touch with her to help out with that, she tells me she can be found at hagelrat@googlemail.com or as @Hagelrat on Twitter. I think that's the best thing you can do to help with Panel Parity, and I'd especially encourage people who found my approach to be wrong-headed to communicate with her. Welcome, Adele...
This is my third year volunteering with Alt.Fiction and like any relationship, it’s evolved in that time. The first year I stepped in to record some small panels, added late into the programme. It was great fun to do and was wonderful to be able to put some panels up on the internet for people who couldn't make it. The second I did the same over two days and they were planned in from the start. This year, sadly, Alex who started and always ran the event stepped down. How could I resist? So I volunteered and took over the programming. I'm very glad I did.
It’s surprisingly easy to get drawn further into this event, it’s fun, friendly and always has a fantastic line up of genre writers and publishers. Scheduling is a challenge, but it's exciting to see it take shape and begin to make announcements.
We made some changes this year. Most obviously is the move to Leicester. The plan is that the event will move every year or two, between suitable East Midlands venues, giving new people the chance to try it out. We’ve also pared back the programme a little. I know it doesn’t look that way, but it really is less intense. Alt.Fiction has always had a strong social element and we’ve tried to make more room for that this year.
There is also an expansion occurring of what Alt.Fiction actually means, with games and TV writing being a little more evident this year, the mixed media strand being something we all want to strengthen in the future. Making a living as a writer is hard and there are opportunities out there not tied to novel form.
We've tried to be as representative as possible and have a good proportion of women on panels, as well as a mix of writers and expert fans to bring a blend of viewpoints and more discussion. At this point I want to make a personal pledge for 2013, on top of WEM's commitment to equality. While it is impossible to promise I will achieve 50/50 panels next year, because it will depend on who approaches and who accepts an invitation, I can pledge personally that I will approach as many women as men with invitations to participate under the 50/50 campaign.
So aside from the formal programme, what these things are really about for me is spending a weekend surrounded by people who share my passion for stories. Writers, publishers, fans, all spending a weekend sharing their knowledge, enthusiasm and company over a few drinks. Really it's the perfect way to spend a couple of days for a fan like me. It's absolutely the best reason to attend any genre event, because when else do you get to do that?
I started Un:Bound because I wanted to talk about books, in the last few years the book blogging community has exploded and I've found myself more and more drawn into the world of genre fiction. It's a good place to be.
Thanks, Adele, and particularly for that Panel Parity pledge. I look forward, as always, to this year's Alt.Fiction.
This week's selection of my favourite music is something I've loved ever since I first heard it, as a child, on Carl Sagan's Cosmos series (the soundtrack to which is very difficult to find). Then it was used to illustrate, with a suitable animation, the progress of evolution, and it still speaks to me of mathematical sequences, equations somehow working themselves out. It's a deliberate piece of art, but it feels to me as if it contains a knowledge of the systems underlying the natural world, of emergent behaviour, that it's a depiction of the regularity that can be created by non-sentient forces. Or perhaps it's just that the first time you encounter something fixes many things about how you always experience it after that.
Phew, we got to the end of that one safe and sound. I look forward to seeing some of you tomorrow. For, dear God, more socialising. Until then, Cheerio!
Monday brought lunch with my editor. Just those words are enough to please me. That I have an editor at all is sheer pleasure, and something I don't take for granted. We talked about the current novel, and about plans for books to come. It's not often in the business these days that you get the chance to indulge in such blue sky thinking. I was challenged and encouraged (and really well fed). I like my editor.
On Wednesday I was in town again, this time for Liz Williams' appearance at the monthly BSFA open meeting. Liz was interviewed by Ian Whates, and performed splendidly. She, like me, often finds herself having to square a mystical world view with a rationalist one. I bought a copy of her non-fiction Diary of a Witchcraft Shop. (The shop Liz runs in Glastonbury is as mad a world as you expect it to be, and then some.) And once again, I got to huddle with my SF otters. I have a friend, it turns out, who wears a quote from 'Sympathy for the Devil' on the soles of his shoes, a true modern dandy.
And on Thursday, there was yet more, as I went along to the inaugural Science Fiction Social at the Gower Street branch of Waterstones. These events are an idea of Clarke Award organiser Tom Hunter and the gang from Pornokitsch, basically a single panel, with a lot of audience interaction and wine. Nick Harkaway, Gillian Redfern and Jared Porno talked about the different shapes of award systems within the genre, and not only was every seat taken, but the spaces around were filled with people craning their necks. Meaning, unfortunately, that those who'd come to the Law Department of Waterstones that evening seeking knowledge of Torts or Shipping Regulations were out of luck. Nick (in a splendid Vivienne Westwood jacket that I craved on sight... is this dandyish the impact of cosplay on the mainstream SF audience?) was literally standing in the way of Civil Rights. The great and the good of genre were once more in attendance, and... bloody hell, weren't they all getting as tired as I was? I journeyed across town to meet up with a gang of UK Comickers who'd assembled to welcome US artist Kevin Maguire, had a chat with Si Spurrier and Kieron Gillen, they hauled myself all the way back to the Marlborough pub, where, I was told, the Social was still continuing. Indeed, it was still in full swing, bigger that at the shop even, right up until last orders. 'Hip check!' yelled Jenni Hill, commissioning editor for Orbit, who does Roller Derby, nearly breaking one of mine with one of hers. Don't these people need sleep?
During this time, I have also, incredibly, been working, finishing up the first arc of Saucer Country (it's called 'Run'), chipping away at an article for Vector about London (tied in with my upcoming London-set urban fantasy novel), and finishing the plotting on a new project, working with a friend, in a medium I haven't dabbled in before.
On the suggestion of Sophie Aldred, I've also taken up as my Lenten sacrifice this year the idea of doing a Random Act of Kindness every day. This means that I will have to get out of the house even more, since doing such things for my wife seemingly doesn't count. It would have been far kinder to my own body had I chosen to go without beer.
In short: frigging hell, I'm knackered.
In other news...
Down the Tubes is running a series of creator tributes, celebrating the 35th birthday of 2000AD. Mine can be found here.
Now it's finally arrived in the UK, we've been enjoying Grimm. The first episode I wasn't so keen on, though the 'supernatural creatures have modern social issues too' trope, so much a part of Angel, and used surprisingly little since, was welcome. But the second episode seemed to widen the world ten per cent in every direction, revealing some interesting background. The fact that this is a forest-based fantasy, rather than an urban one, makes it feel different. It's also photographed differently, with chocolate box colours obviously designed to remind us of fairy tales. I'm not so sure of the bedrock of the premise: 'fairy tales are warnings' is the most concrete way of expressing what's quite a vague idea, and it doesn't quite get there. But there's a freedom there too. We could see all sorts of creatures, and have their systems explained to us in new ways (rather than the 'roll for a supernatural creature and then for an exciting profession' school of urban fantasy). The second episode showed us that our hero intends to police, rather than slay, these creatures, seeking, to some extent, their cooperation, and the well-thought-out werebears told us that this isn't just going to be a hodge-podge of whatever the hell we like this week. I was also pleasantly surprised by (slightly more characterised than usual) Nice Black Partner and Wife Without A Connection To Work surviving the pilot. And there were some moments of extremity that one doesn't often find in genre television. All of this might be expected from Angel veteran David Greenwalt. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
Several of you will have scored points in our This Time Next Year game as the first couple of writers on the next season of Doctor Who have been announced, but I'll wait until the full line-up becomes clear and sort out all the points at once then, rather than bit by bit.
And I gather from my sources that if you watch The One Show tonight on BBC1, several comics folk will be in evidence. (And, as it turns out, some cake-baking friends of my mate Penny. What are the odds?) This is mainly because Stan Lee is in town for the London Super Comic Con. I'll be going along to that convention, spending some considerable time at my table, and helping to judge the cosplay contest, but I won't be appearing on the DC panel because, in the face of my Panel Parity Plan, the organisers decided the simplest course of action, rather than find an equal number of women who could talk on the panel in an informed way about DC Comics (there's no reason everyone on the panel has to work for the company) was to chuck me off it. I've considered a few responses to that, but I think in the end the most reasonable course of action is to go along and talk to people about the situation.
It's also the course of action that involves the least grandstanding from me. The placement of my ego in this plan has caused me a lot of soul-searching in the last couple of weeks. A wonderful woman of my acquaintance got in touch with what I can only describe as a life-changing email, and since then I've been trying (and sometimes failing) to point to women already working to achieve parity (and things like it) and making this much less about me, me, me. When the new female-led Fifty Fifty Festivals organisation is up and running (I'd link to it now, but there's only a placemarker website as yet) I'll basically become someone who works for them, and continually points people towards their work.
And on that subject, let me introduce today's guest, Adele Wearing, Programmer of the alt.fiction events for Writing East Midlands (WEM) and creator of the Un:Bound books blogzine. She's also one of the people behind the upcoming 50/50 gender parity for convention panels campaign. If you'd like to get in touch with her to help out with that, she tells me she can be found at hagelrat@googlemail.com or as @Hagelrat on Twitter. I think that's the best thing you can do to help with Panel Parity, and I'd especially encourage people who found my approach to be wrong-headed to communicate with her. Welcome, Adele...
This is my third year volunteering with Alt.Fiction and like any relationship, it’s evolved in that time. The first year I stepped in to record some small panels, added late into the programme. It was great fun to do and was wonderful to be able to put some panels up on the internet for people who couldn't make it. The second I did the same over two days and they were planned in from the start. This year, sadly, Alex who started and always ran the event stepped down. How could I resist? So I volunteered and took over the programming. I'm very glad I did.
It’s surprisingly easy to get drawn further into this event, it’s fun, friendly and always has a fantastic line up of genre writers and publishers. Scheduling is a challenge, but it's exciting to see it take shape and begin to make announcements.
We made some changes this year. Most obviously is the move to Leicester. The plan is that the event will move every year or two, between suitable East Midlands venues, giving new people the chance to try it out. We’ve also pared back the programme a little. I know it doesn’t look that way, but it really is less intense. Alt.Fiction has always had a strong social element and we’ve tried to make more room for that this year.
There is also an expansion occurring of what Alt.Fiction actually means, with games and TV writing being a little more evident this year, the mixed media strand being something we all want to strengthen in the future. Making a living as a writer is hard and there are opportunities out there not tied to novel form.
We've tried to be as representative as possible and have a good proportion of women on panels, as well as a mix of writers and expert fans to bring a blend of viewpoints and more discussion. At this point I want to make a personal pledge for 2013, on top of WEM's commitment to equality. While it is impossible to promise I will achieve 50/50 panels next year, because it will depend on who approaches and who accepts an invitation, I can pledge personally that I will approach as many women as men with invitations to participate under the 50/50 campaign.
So aside from the formal programme, what these things are really about for me is spending a weekend surrounded by people who share my passion for stories. Writers, publishers, fans, all spending a weekend sharing their knowledge, enthusiasm and company over a few drinks. Really it's the perfect way to spend a couple of days for a fan like me. It's absolutely the best reason to attend any genre event, because when else do you get to do that?
I started Un:Bound because I wanted to talk about books, in the last few years the book blogging community has exploded and I've found myself more and more drawn into the world of genre fiction. It's a good place to be.
Thanks, Adele, and particularly for that Panel Parity pledge. I look forward, as always, to this year's Alt.Fiction.
This week's selection of my favourite music is something I've loved ever since I first heard it, as a child, on Carl Sagan's Cosmos series (the soundtrack to which is very difficult to find). Then it was used to illustrate, with a suitable animation, the progress of evolution, and it still speaks to me of mathematical sequences, equations somehow working themselves out. It's a deliberate piece of art, but it feels to me as if it contains a knowledge of the systems underlying the natural world, of emergent behaviour, that it's a depiction of the regularity that can be created by non-sentient forces. Or perhaps it's just that the first time you encounter something fixes many things about how you always experience it after that.
Phew, we got to the end of that one safe and sound. I look forward to seeing some of you tomorrow. For, dear God, more socialising. Until then, Cheerio!
Labels:
Adrian Tchaikovsky,
Alt.Fiction,
Grimm,
Justina Robson,
Liz Williams,
Pachelbel,
Panel Parity,
Picocon,
Saucer Country,
Science Fiction Social,
Tricia Sullivan
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I went along out of a pressing sense of need, wanting to huddle with my fellows in genre like we were a group of otters
I get that feeling a lot about fannishness. It's just so nice to spend time with people who speak the same language. Also about lesbians, and Christians. I wonder if there's a Christian Lesbian Fancon. :)
I like that Grimm is filmed in Oregon, not Vancouver. With Once Upon a Time in Vancouver, I think that another Hollywood North fantasy show would start to undercut on my suspension of disbelief. As it is, pretending West Van is Maine, and the reuse of every location every sf/f show in the last thirty years has used to death (and that I used to live around), is starting to wear thin.
in the face of my Panel Parity Plan, the organisers decided the simplest course of action, rather than find an equal number of women who could talk on the panel in an informed way about DC Comics... was to chuck me off it.
This makes me feel really sad. I'm sorry it happened to you.
I'll basically become someone who works for them, and continually points people towards their work.
But you will be continuing the panel parity thing you're already doing, yes?
Have never been to Liz's shop in Glastonbury but her book about it is an excellent read. Enjoy!
Rather disappointed in the organisers reaction. Seems punitive and reactionary to me. Sure you might have put them on edge but a chat with you, a press release stating the reasons why it would be difficult to organise this year, a commitment to gender parity would have been an ideal way to go.
Muc: if there is a Christian lesbian fancon, let me know so I can link! I will indeed be continuing the Panel Parity campaign, just trying not to make it about me announcing things. Viv: I haven't been either (actually, I think I may have before I knew Liz), but now I want to. Sean: to give them their due, they did only have 12 days' notice. But yeah, it's a blunt response to a blunt instrument.
Paul, the response I wrote out while role-playing the hard working organisers at Comicon:
"Mr Cornell,
I note with interest and a little dismay your Panel Parity plan. The committee has discussed the issues that brought about this proposed course of action from you and we ask that you do not proceed.
We agree that something should be done to address gender parity at our conventions, the panel’s make up was an oversight. To change it this year, at such short notice would be difficult and disruptive.
We are open to suggestions about how we might improve gender parity next year and would appreciate, your suggestions.
Warmest regards
P.R. Monky"
Much less disruptive and took me about two minutes. It of course assumes that they see something wrong with gender imbalance.
I, at first, thought the panel parity idea was a 'load of nonsense fraught with problems'.
Now I've come round to thinking it's a 'very good idea that will have barriers/problems in its way, but is still worth pursuing'.
It's time for men to get their act together and get serious about equal opportunities/feminism. You're helping, cajoling and empowering men in comics to do that.
I'm impressed.
In short, well done and don't be so hard on yourself!
And thank you, for making me think and challenging my assumptions about society and direct action.
I owe you a pint!
Matt Badham
Sean: well, we did have a bit of back and forth, and they said things like 'could you sit a little distance from the panel?' But what they wouldn't do is add women to it, and they didn't talk about next year. Matt: thank you very much. That's kind of how I feel about it myself, that it was about my assumptions being challenged.
Paul,
Ah well that's a little disappointing then.
Thanks for your efforts. Some may have regarded it as a bit of a stunt but now the ball's in their court. The longer they leave the situation as it is, the worse it looks for them. I fear though its only when $ are threatened that they will worry.
Perhaps your efforts can be directed at getting other panel members on side. If all panel members begin asking questions about the gender make up then, they might get the message. But perhaps I underestimate the support amongst big names at commercial events.
a group of otters
According to Wikipedia:
The collective nouns for otters are bevy, family, lodge or romp, ... or when in water, raft.
Sean: well, after Si Spurrier hopped off a panel there, and Tammy Taylor replaced him, I think everyone will start to wonder about who'll do it next. More on that on Friday. Tony: I like 'romp'!