Business Time – Many Paths up the Mountain
This last weekend, I was at BaltiCon in Hunt Valley, MD. I had the pleasure of being on a number of business/business of writing panels, and I noticed something very cool that I wanted to loop back around to talk about. In one of the panels, I was the only traditionally-published author out of a group of five, but there was no animosity, no rancor, no posturing. It was five creatives who had all taken different paths to getting their work out into the world. It is my hope that we’re at a place where writers and creators looking to work in the SF/F prose field can approach the business with open eyes and a sense of freedom — of possibility. There are many paths up the mountain, and as many ways of having a career as there are authors (and considering how some authors reboot their careers, there may be more ways than there are creators). It’s not just Traditional and indie/self-publishing — there are a hundred gradations and combinations. Here are just a few:
Languages Matter: Some Thoughts on Language and Dialect
I want to expand on what I have written in my essay, “Languages, Dialects and Accents: Why Our Voices Matter.” Much has been said about the use of dialect in science fiction and the outcry that follows. I would like to see more of such discussions because we have been shying away from issues that really matter to us. Perhaps, it is the shift from white Anglo science fiction to a more international/world science fiction that has started the ball rolling. For a long time, the world has been white, male and painfully Anglo-centric, not to mention US-centric. Now we have new voices coming into the song, and some are naturally reacting rather angrily, I would say. Why are we fixating on English – and for that matter, proper grammatical English English? Let’s not bring in the American versus British spelling argument. Let’s talk about English. Why do we insist SFF writers write in English? Probably because science fiction, at the moment, is dominated by the Americans and the British? Bear in mind that science fiction is also written in Mandarin Chinese, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Bahasa. Why does English have so much hegemony in the SFF-sphere?
205. Mary Anne Mohanraj & Cecilia Tan at ICFA (An Interview) #WorldSFTour
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode205MaryAnneMohanrajAndCeciliaTanAtICFA/SandF%20–%20Episode%20205%20–%20Mary%20Anne%20Mohanraj%20and%20Cecilia%20Tan%20at%20ICFA.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSri Lanka, erotica, and world sf futures, oh my! Mary Anne Mohanraj and Cecilia Tan join Julia and Shaun at ICFA to discuss a whole lot of amazing things. We cover the history of Circlet Press, the nature of erotic sf/f, Mary’s incredible The Stars Change, Sri Lankan politics, sexuality and genre, immigration from South Asia and assimilation in the West, 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 205 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Mary Anne’s Website Mary Anne’s Books Mary Anne’s Twitter Cecilia’s Website Cecilia’s Books Cecilia’s Twitter Circlet Press 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.
Language in the Written Word
The Philippines is home to more than a hundred languages (and that’s not counting the number of dialects). But there are only two official languages in the country: English and Filipino. The official languages, especially Filipino (a lot of which is based on the Tagalog language), is always the subject of debate. And both languages are arguably the products of a dominant culture enforcing its will on another: the former by Americans and the second by what could be considered the “mainland” in the Philippines, Manila. In schools, we are taught to be fluent in one language or the other, but the mingling of both languages is discouraged (and in most cases, will count as an error). In English class, we’re not allowed to use Filipino. In Filipino class, we’re not allowed to use English. And yet, both Filipino and English are inevitably used in both classes. In actual practice, the mingling of several languages is the norm. For those who can speak both languages, this is usually called Tag-lish. In my community, since I am also ethnically Chinese, our variation is Chi-tag-lish, as we mix our version of Chinese (usually Hokkien) with Filipino and English. This phenomenon is not unique to the Philippines, and other countries will have their own variations. Take Singapore and Singlish, for example.
My Superpower: James L. Sutter
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 L. Sutter to talk about how the power of talking about the important things relates to The Redemption Engine. —————————————— When asked what my superpower is, I’d usually talk about sneezomancy. For reasons unbeknownst to me, my sneezes are a reliable indicator of my general health. One sneeze means I’m getting sick. Two sneezes means I’m fine. Three or more sneezes means “wow, it’s dusty in here!” Not exactly the sort of thing that gets one onto the X-Men, right? So in getting ready for this article, I started rifling frantically through other powers. The ability to bend my thumb back, like, really far. The ability to eat several pounds of blueberries in a sitting without Serious Gastronomic Distress. The ability to consistently hit the high note in “Take On Me.” And then I realized that I actually have a superpower that permeates every aspect of my life. I can talk to people about things that matter. In fact, I adore it.
204. Caribbean SF w/ Karen Lord, Tobias Buckell, and Stephanie Saulter — #WorldSFTour
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode204CaribbeanSF/SandF%20–%20Episode%20204%20–%20Caribbean%20SF.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSHistories, languages, and micro-states, oh my! Authors Tobias Buckell, Stephanie Saulter, and Karen Lord join Julia and Shaun for an in-depth but wholly unfinished discussion about Caribbean sf. We cover the sf/f community in the Caribbean, Caribbean literature and culture, growing up in the Caribbean (and living abroad), 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 204 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Tobias’ Website Tobias’ Books Tobias’ Twitter Tor Books “I was recently invoked by The Abyss and Apex, and would like to talk to you about me, dialect, and Caribbean stories” by Tobias Buckell Stephanie’s Website Stephanie’s Books Stephanie’s Twitter Jo Fletcher Books Karen’s Website (books and podcasts are listed on the right hand side!) Karen’s Twitter Small Beer Press 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.
