My Superpower and Mini-Interview: James Dashner
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 James Dashner to talk about how his power of movie watching relates to The Kill Order. ————————————————- Like any person (at least any nerdy person, which are the only ones I care about), I love superheroes. I love Superman. I love Spiderman. I love the X-Men. I even love Bruce Willis in Unbreakable. I love the dude who invented Mountain Dew and Abraham Lincoln. All superheroes. And yes, I am one myself. I know this may shock you, but it’s true. I, James Dashner, am a superhero. And now I will tell you what my secret power is. Are you ready? I’m really, especially, fantastically good at watching movies. That’s right. Make fun all you want, but I’m much better at it than you are. In fact, no one on the planet of Earth (I can’t vouch for those other planets we keep discovering) is as brilliantly brilliant at watching movies as I am. I can enjoy any movie on any level at any time. My biggest pet peeve in the world is this new thing where all the “smart” people on the Internet rip every single movie
183. Douglas Lain (a.k.a. Le Révolutionnaire) — Billy Moon (An Interview)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode183AnInterviewWDouglasLain/SandF%20–%20Episode%20183%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Douglas%20Lain.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSMagical realism, France, and revolutions, oh my! Author Douglas Lain joins Shaun, Stina, and David to discuss his new magical realist novel, Billy Moon. We cover 1968 France, the world of politics and genre, Winnie the Pooh, and so much more! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 183 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Douglas Lain’s Website Doug’s Books and Fiction Doug’s Twitter Diet Soap Podcast You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). Additional music from “Coffin Ships” by (Peter DiPhillips) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
The Disquieting Guest — A Panel on Horror Writing
Friday afternoon, I took part in a panel on horror writing organized by the Manitoba Writers’ Guild and hosted by the Arts and Cultural Industries Association of Manitoba. Chaired by Maurice Mierau, the panel consisted of Chadwick Ginther (author of the Norse urban fantasies Thunder Road and the recently-launched Tombstone Blues), Michael Rowe (in Winnipeg as part of the book tour for his ghost story Wild Fell) and myself. It was a very cozy setting to talk horror while a -30 C windchill howled outside, and while the event is fresh in my mind, I thought I’d touch on a couple points that came up in the discussion (and I thank Chris Borster for the idea of doing so). So here we go; any misrepresentations in the paraphrasing that
178. Emma Newman (a.k.a. Tea & Cake) — The Split Worlds Trilogy
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode178AnInterviewWEmmaNewman/SandF%20–%20Episode%20178%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Emma%20Newman.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSEmpires, the Fae, and cake, oh my! Emma Newman, author of The Split Worlds Trilogy, joins Paul and Shaun to discuss her novels, the mentality of empires, feminism in her work, history, and much more. We hope you enjoy the episode! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 178 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Emma’s Website Emma’s Twitter Emma’s Books Tea & Jeopardy Angry Robot Books You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
176. Sam Sykes at Worldcon (An Interview of Sorts)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode176SamSykesAtWorldcon/SandF%20–%20Episode%20176%20–%20Sam%20Sykes%20at%20Worldcon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGrimmy darky, monstrous spiders, and sexy Chewbaccas, oh my! Sam Sykes joins Shaun and Jen at Worldcon to talk about the rigidity of fantasy, grimdark, bucking trends, conventions, his work, and much more! We hope you enjoy the episode! Note: If you have iTunes and like this show, please give us a review on our iTunes page, or feel free to email us with your thoughts about the show! Here’s the episode (show notes are below): Episode 176 — Download (MP3) Show Notes Sam’s Website Sam’s Twitter You can also support this podcast by signing up for a one month free trial at Audible. Doing so helps us, gives you a change to try out Audible’s service, and brings joy to everyone. Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
LitBits: The Politics of Author/Work Separation
I’ve been thinking about this problem a lot recently, firstly for some obvious reasons (a certain movie) and secondly because of some of the things I’ve been discussing with my students in my American Literature course. And one of the questions that keeps coming up for me is this: how do we know when we have crossed the line by holding a writer accountable for the controversial things they write? As an example, I am currently teaching Lois-Ann Yamanaka’s Wild Meat and Bully Burgers. This particular novel is not all that controversial, though it certainly has its issues, but her later book, Blu’s Hanging, was the cause of much controversy in 1997/1998. The Asian American Studies National Book Award she received was later annulled after public outcry; many critics and academics have written about the incident since.[1] One of the problems Asian American (and other) critics had with the book was its representation of Filipinos in Hawai’i (they are dirty, morally questionable, violent, and/or pedophiles) and the complete absence of indigenous Hawaiians in the novel. Effectively, critics charged Yamanaka with failing to self-censor herself in a stereotypical context; in
