Author name: shaunduke

Dr. Shaun Duke is an instructor at DMACC and the Director of the Portolan Project at the Speculative Literature Foundation. He received his M.A. and Ph.D in English from the University of Florida and a B.A. in Modern Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He studies science fiction, digital fan cultures, Caribbean literature, literary canons, postcolonialism, and digital rhetoric. In addition to his academic work, he wears many hats. He is a writer of genre fiction and a freelance editor at The Duke of Editing. His fiction has appeared in Curiouser Magazine, Stupefying Stories, and elsewhere. He also hosts and produces The Skiffy and Fanty Show, a four-time Hugo Award finalist podcast dedicated to examining the literary, cinematic, and cultural world of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His podcast work has sent him around the world to participate in conventions, conduct interviews, and more. When he's not podcasting, he can be found on his Twitch channel, AlphabetStreams, or Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, and other social media places.

Blog Posts

My Superpower: Geoffrey Girard

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My Superpower is a regular guest column on the Skiffy and Fanty blog where authors and creators tell us about one weird skill, neat trick, highly specialized cybernetic upgrade, or other superpower they have, and how it helped (or hindered!) their creative process as they built their project. Today we welcome Geoffrey Girard to talk about how his Supreme Strategic Suspicions relate to Cain’s Blood… In Cain’s Blood, the teenaged clones of infamous serial killers (Bundy, Gacy, Berokowitz, Dahmer, etc.) cause all sorts of nasty havoc. I was somewhat puzzled by early reviews that focused on how “dark and violent” the book is. I’d never really thought about that. I just wrote about what might happen next, the most-likely thing in a given situation.  When Scott Smith, the author of The Ruins, called the book “very dark,” I didn’t think much of that either, until I watched The Ruins for the first time in years and thought: “THIS guy thinks I’m dark!” It was the first time I stopped to consider what I’d ultimately created. And How.

Blog Posts

Confessions of a Comics Junkie: Rooting for the Underdog (or, Characters Marvel Forgot to Love)

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Readers of my personal blog will recall that I recently got back into comic books.  And by “got back into” I mean “I now have almost three long boxes full of comics.”[1]  It’s an obsession.  So sue me. One of the things that has been most interesting to me on this journey back into comics is discovering how much has changed since I was a lax reader in the 90s.  I don’t mean in terms of the narratives, mind you (though those have changed, too), but rather in terms of the characters who have stuck around, moved to the background, or (supposedly) left us for good.[2]  Things have really changed. The most alarming change for me was the realization that some of the characters I loved as a kid have since taken a sideline to more “popular” folks.  Oh, hell, let’s face it.  The characters I liked as a kid, and the characters I have since started to cling to in the now, will never be as popular as Wolverine or Batman or Captain America or Iron Man or most of the folks gracing our movie screens these days.  They are, and probably always have been or will be, the underdogs.  But they’re also the characters for which I can’t help rooting.

Blog Posts

Interview with Zachary Jernigan (conducted by Paul Weimer)

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Zachary Jernigan is a quarter-Hungarian, typically shaven-headed male writer of fantasy and science fiction. His short stories have appeared in a variety of places, including Asimov’s Science Fiction, Crossed Genres, and Escape Pod. No Return, his first novel, comes out March 5th, 2013 from Night Shade Books. He kindly agreed to let Paul Weimer ask him some questions. Paul Weimer:  Who is Zachary Jernigan? Zachary Jernigan:  Zachary Jernigan is an entrepreneurial mastermind, founder of twelve successful Arizona fried chicken restaurants. Okay, that’s not even slightly true. Sorry for attempting to deceive you. I, Zachary (Zack) Jernigan, am not even slightly entrepreneurial, as my bank statements will reveal–though I do like friend chicken. In fact, I like anything fried. You could fry a sock and I’d probably eat it. The proof of this is in my waistline. When I’m not eating fried foods (and articles of clothing), making playlists on iTunes, or playing Mario Kart, I write science fiction and fantasy, both in the short and long forms. Since 2009, my short stories have appeared in such places as Asimov’s, Crossed Genres, Murky Depths, and Escape Pod. My

Question of the Week

? of the Week: What do you think of the Nebula Awards finalists?

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If you don’t know already, the Nebula Awards finalists were announced a little while ago.  It’s an interesting list, to say the least, and it has sparked some interesting responses across the blogosphere.  But what do you all think about the list?  Feel free to leave a comment. Here are our brief responses: Shaun Overall, I’m happy with the list, though there are certainly some anomalies there.  A lot of repeat names, some works that I didn’t think would make it to such a list anyway and a few things I saw coming from a mile away.  As others here will mention, there are an extraordinary amount of women and a fair shake of POCs here — something I can’t help appreciating because such things tend to drive certain people in this community up the wall. The only glaring omission is in a category that nobody really cares about anyway:  dramatic presentation.  For all its criticism of vision over substance, I find it difficult to understand why the genre community has completely neglected to include Cloud Atlas on the list.  If any film deserves genre’s recognition, it’s that one.  Such is life… Julia I’m quite excited about this year’s list. I think there is a wealth of strong work on the ballot. I look forward to seeing the winners, and I think that this year, no matter who wins, I’ll probably be really happy with the outcome. I would like to add that the fact that some people are being ridiculous and getting upset because non-white and non-male people are nominated makes me like this ballot even more. Paul I will be terse. I am very pleased by the Novel ballot. 4 out of the 6 are by women. An epic fantasy written by a woman, too. Interestingly, five of the six novel nominees are Fantasy, too. Only 2312 sits there defending SF. Adam I think it is one of the stronger lists of the past few years, especially in the short fiction categories. I would like to see more diversity in the short story category though, as far as the publications represented. Five out of the six stories come from either Lightspeed or Clarkesworld. Jen I’m *really* happy about this list of nominees – over half are women!! Yay women in SF&F! That’s about all I can reliably comment on though as I’ve only either read or watched 4 of the nominations. Now it’s your turn!

Question of the Week

? of the Week: What was your favorite novel in 2012 and why?

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No need for introductions.  You’ve got the question and fingers for typing.  So do some thinking and offer your responses in the comments below. To get things started, here are our answers: Shaun Who would have thought that I’d pick another “literary” SF novel, replete with intense character development, an extraordinarily rich near future world with a slice of the weird, and an unconventional narrative style?  Oh, right.  That’s normal for me.  And that’s why I’ve picked Lost Everything.  Brian Francis Slattery’s novel blew me away last year.  You could call it a “river novel” set in a near-apocalyptic future and get away with loose comparisons to Mark Twain and Cormac McCarthy — comparisons even I’ve made.  But I think there’s something more to Lost Everything.  The characters are complex and beautiful, the world terrifying and yet strangely enticing, and the narrative just slightly off kilter enough to make this more than just another “dystopia.”  The deeper I got into the book, the more intrigued I was by the characters and their way of viewing the world.  From houseboat scenes, savage war with no apparent end goal, and a mysterious super storm set on destroying everything, Lost Everything never ceased to amaze me.   It’s the kind of book only Slattery can write, but also the kind of book that SF desperately needs because it has a depth of “reality” that so many SF novels lack (perhaps because they are too focused on plot and action).  We’ll see if it makes any awards lists this year…

Question of the Week

Question of the Week: Which Doctor Who villain should be retired?

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We’re sure to get more of the classic villains in the final episodes of this season of Doctor Who.  Some of these have been with us since the beginning (or close enough) and haven’t had the same scary effect on audiences in the new incarnation of DW.  But should the makers of DW retire some of these classic villains? Or are some of the newer villains worse? That’s what we want to know.  If you were going to retire one a Doctor Who villain, who/what would it be and why? The comments are yours!

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