My Superpower: Arwen Elys Dayton (Seeker)
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 Arwen Elys Dayton to talk about how the power of temporary hyperdrive relates to Seeker. My new book, Seeker, is set in the near future in Scotland and Hong Kong. The teens in this story have spent years on a remote estate, undergoing often brutal training with some really interesting weapons. All of this is to become a Seeker, one who uses this special training and weaponry to make the world better and more fair — the characters look on their calling as something like a futuristic version of the Knights Templar, committed to doing what’s right. Naturally, as the author of this story, it would be awesome if I had a special ability with weapons or hand to hand combat or languages or anything related to the book. I would love to be one of my characters. I did watch a lot of Bruce Lee films as a kid; I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in the weapons section of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and I went to a very international high school, so I can swear in a lot of different languages…but unfortunately, I don’t think any of these traits rise to superpower level.
230. Celine Kiernan (a.k.a. the Ghost of Nimh) — Into the Grey (An Interview)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode230AnInterviewWCelineKiernan/SandF%20–%20Episode%20230%20–%20An%20Interview%20w%20Celine%20Kiernan.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSGhost children, night terrors, and mislabeled books, oh my! It’s been far too long since Celine Kiernan was last on our show. And that’s why we asked her back to discuss her novel, Into the Grey, which recently released in the United States. We discuss her influences, writing stories in a recent Irish past, 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 230 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Celine’s Website Celine’s Twitter Celine’s Books Into the Grey Our new intro music is “Time Flux” by Revolution Void (CC BY 3.0). Additional music from “Black Vortex” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. That’s all, folks! Thanks for listening. See you next week.
My Superpower: Tansy Rayner Roberts
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 Tansy Rayner Roberts to talk about how the power of Feminist Snark relates to Kaleidoscope. ————————————– My name is Tansy Rayner Roberts, and my superpower is Feminist Snark. Being a feminist with everyday access to the internet and a deep interest in superhero comics is pretty hard work at times. If it wasn’t for snark, I’d have set fire to my web browser long ago. But a sense of humour, sarcasm and an ability to communicate righteous fury through blogging can save the day. Luckily, I’m not the only one who harnesses my feminist snark for good rather than evil. When Starfire was turned into a personality-free sexbot in the New 52, David Willis of Shortpacked was there to make a point with a well-timed comic strip. When the idea of a female Thor rocketed through fandom (causing misogynist waves of disapproval in amongst the ‘hell yeahs’) Joss Whedon used the snarky hammer of sarcasm to cut through the nonsense. Gail Simone’s tweet stream, DC Women Kicking Ass on Tumblr, and the Mary Sue are all part of my support network. They are, in the words of Gail Simone, my She-vengers. The thing they all have in common? Feminist Snark as a superpower.
Mining the Genre Asteroid: Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin
A century and a half after Earth has been wrecked, humanity exists in two spheres. There are the hardscrabble colonies, where survival is the watchword, as man tries to live on alien, often unfriendly environments. The people are often poor, desperate and technologically backward. And then there are the Ships that travel the spaceways. Technologically advanced and relatively rich, the Ships have a strict regime for keeping themselves from being overpopulated. Every person who reaches their fourteenth birthday must train for an ordeal called the Trial.
Giveaway: James Dashner’s The Kill Order AND The Eye of Minds + Dashnerian Swag!
That’s right. We’ve got two books to give away this week as part of James Dashner’s blog tour for the paperback edition of The Kill Order. Entry is going to be super simple. All you need to do is answer this question in the comments OR via Twitter (@skiffyandfanty — use the hashtag #dashnerarmy) OR via email (skiffyandfanty[at]gmail[dot]com — use the subject line Dashner Giveaway): What is your favorite young adult fantasy or science fiction novel? So get your entries in right away. The giveaway will close on January 24th, 2014 (Friday). Winners will be announced on the following Monday. On top of that, Dashner’s Army is going to give away some swag (t-shirts, etc.) if they reach 1,000 members. Joining is pretty darn easy. You just need to go here and sign up!
186. Israeli Publishing and Translation w/ Didi Chanoch & Rani Graff (World SF Tour)
http://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFEpisode186IsraeliPublishingAndTranslation/SandF%20–%20Episode%20186%20–%20Israeli%20Publishing%20and%20Translation.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSThe World SF Tour begins…now! For our first episode, Julia and Shaun talked with Didi Chanoch and Rani Graff about translation, the publishing world in Israel, Israeli SF/F, 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 186 — Download (MP3) Show Notes: Graff Publishing Graff Publishing on Facebook YA Graff Books Didi’s About Page Didi’s Twitter Didi’s Blog Rani’s Facebook Rani’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.
