Dear UK Publishers and Authors: We Want You…Bad!
We’ve recently added two lovely people who live in the UK to our team, and they’re interested in reviewing SF/F/H (or related) books from UK folks! (under the same guidelines listed for the podcast, of course. Read those here.). If you’re a UK publisher or author, big or small, and you’ve got a book coming out that you’d like to see reviewed, send an email to skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com! We’ll forward the information to our UK correspondents and see if they want to review it (then we’ll give you their address). So…what have you got for us? P.S.: The only downside is that they do not own e-readers at the moment. Print books only (hence why we’re focusing on publishers in the U.K. in this post).
? of the Week: The Next Doctor (Who)?
Blastr has listed 11 actors they believe would make great Doctors in the Doctor Who feature film set to come out…sometime in the future. But what we want to know is this: Which actor or actress do you think should play the Doctor in the movie? And why? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!
It’s the big turkey day here in the United States of America (or the big tofu day, depending on your diet), which means at least 50% of us will sit down with our annoying in-laws, the creepy uncle from seminary school, the weird twin cousins who always pick their noses at the table, the father who drinks himself into a stupor while watching football, and the mother who will eventually have a nervous breakdown after her fifth glass of wine. Needless to say, Thanksgiving is one of those “fun” holidays. But no Thanksgiving would be complete without saying thanks! So thank you all for listening to our show, reading our blog, and telling your friends about us. We really appreciate it! Without you, this should would be little more than two geeks babbling about stuff. So…thanks! May you have a wonderful dinner, wherever you are! P.S.: Monday’s episode will be a doozy…we’re reviewing Modelland by Tyra Banks. Trust me…it’s awful.
Join the Crew: We Want Contributors and Souls
The Skiffy and Fanty Show is changing. Sorta. We’ll keep doing the things you all love — interviewing amazing authors, discussing news and topics of interest to the SF/F/H community, and reviewing crappy movies (and books) selected (usually) by you — but we also want to expand. That’s where all of you come in. We’re looking to expand our content by adding contributors. What are we looking for? Reviewers We get a too many books for Jen and I to read, and that makes us feel bad. Really. That’s why we want to add some reviewers for the show. If you’re interested in getting a free book in exchange for a review, send us an email! So far, we’ve got one taker, but there are plenty more books to be read! We’re also interested in movie reviews. If you’re a nut for SF/F/H movies and want to review them here, we want you like a rodent wants a piece of cheese. Contributors Jen is running for President and I’m trying to get a PhD. so I can wear suits and bother undergraduates for the rest of my life. That means, with all our other online and real-life engagements, Jen and I can’t fill up this blog the way we’d like. And when it comes right down to it, we shouldn’t. You learn a lot about what we think by listening to the show. We want new voices. New ideas. New humorous reviews based on the book cover. New ?s of the Week. And even new features altogether. If you’ve got an idea, or if you’d like to occasionally blog about major things happening in the SF/F/H community, let us know. All it takes is your soul, two gallons of Red Stripe, and a pack of gum. See? We’re not that demanding… Guest Posts (from authors, filmmakers, etc.) We’re interested in guest posts for two reasons: 1) we can’t read or review everything we get in the “mail,” and 2) we think it’s a wonderful thing to hear what authors have to say about their interactions with the genre. As such, we’re interested in guest posts on all kinds of genre-related subjects. See the Contact page for more information on that. Those three things don’t really cover the range of possibilities — so if you have an idea and want to contribute it to this site, send us an email at skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com. Thanks for reading and listening! Here’s to a very interesting month-ish of 2011.
? of the Week: SF/F TV Netflix Should Bring Back?
The folks at Netflix are putting their hands in the production box and trying to bring back some favorite shows like Arrested Development. But as Gamma Squad notes: You know what, Netflix? There’s no SF in that mix; let us help you out. They’ve listed Firefly, Reaper, Pushing Daisies, and Justice League Unlimited. That’s an interesting list, but what we want to know is this: If Netflix could bring back any science fiction or fantasy television show, live action or animated, which one should they bring back and why? Me? I’d love to see Firefly come back, but I’m smart enough to know that a reboot in any form would be disastrous. How do you bring back a show when half the lovable characters are dead or changed for the good? I don’t know. I want a reboot so bad, but it will probably never happen… But there are other shows I’d love to see come back. It would be amazing to have someone reboot Space: Above and Beyond. Don’t start where they left off, but redo the entire concept a la Battlestar Galactica. Why? Because the show had so much potential when FOX produced it way back in the day. It was one of the few shows I’ve ever seen that took seriously the idea of an interstellar war. But it was flawed beyond reason. The series had a lot of bad writing, some mediocre acting, and undeveloped plot points (the conflicts between humanity proper and the two versions of synthetic life could have been developed with more fervor). So that’s what I would like to see get a reboot. For now. In a week, my mind might change… Now it’s your turn!
? of the Week: Is Amazon Devaluing Books?
Over at RT Book Reviews they’re wondering whether Amazon has an impact on how we value books. Amazon is the premiere source for cheap books, as we all know, but is its aggressive practices to make books cheaper and more accessible to consumers good for writers? From the article: But many authors and industry insiders worry that Amazon’s extremely low price scheme will end up devaluing authors’ work. Discussing Amazon’s low prices, Carina Press’ Angela James tweeted, “Don’t train readers to believe the full value of a book was in the paper it was printed on, not your creative content!” And author Moira Rogers replied via tweet, “Or the difference in prices between formats. I do think the devaluation of the story goes a lot deeper than e-books.” To piggy back onto their concerns, we’d like to know what you think. Is Amazon devaluing books or the creative process? Let us know in the comments.
