Karl Schroeder
Feb 06, 2008
Okay, THIS is bragging
Locus has listed every one of my books in the top two-dozen for its publication year; so why am I still struggling to establish myself?
I just received the February edition of Locus magazine, and lo and behold Queen of Candesce has made their Recommended Reading list for 2007. It's one of 28, as usual--a little over two dozen science fiction books that this industry mag recommends, out of approximately 250 published last year.
Of course this is great--but here's the thing: every one of my novels has made this list.
My books regularly make various top-ten lists, but this list is important because it's some of the genre's chief reviewers and critics weighing in. I believe, since we're up to five in a row, that I can sense a trend here. And you'd think it would be a good sign--but nothing in publishing is easy to interpret. I still feel like the best-kept secret in SF; I mean, if I'm so shit-hot, why is it that not a single one of my books has gone into a second printing? If every one of my novels since the year 2000 has hit the top-ten recommendation lists, why do I still get invited to participate in convention panels for new and first-time authors? Why am I not on the top-ten sales lists?
It could be I have a face only a reviewer could love. --And mind you, I'm not complaining because, after all, I am being regularly published. My fantasies of being a science fiction writer are getting indulged by the real world.
Maybe, in the end, that's as good as it needs to get.
. . .Naaaaaaw. I still want that bestseller.
Feb 04, 2008
I'm writing short stories again
Toby Buckell and I have just sold one; another comes out next month
Kickass space opera master Toby Buckell and I just blitzed a story ("Mitigation") and sold it to Pyr's next anthology, Fast Forward 2. It's a gonzo, post-cyberpunk romp through an open arctic ocean about twenty years hence.
Also, my short story "Book, Theatre, and Wheel", will appear in the Solaris Book of New SF #2, which will be on sale in March! (Actually, you can order it now; it'll be in the stores in March.)
These are both going to be fantastic anthologies, featuring some of the finest of the current generation of SF writers (and, for some reason, me). They're also triumphal examples of the new generation of SF publishing houses--neither big presses nor small houses, but something in between: medium-sized publishers, an animal that was never able to survive in the wild before. Both Pyr and Solaris are surviving--and thriving!--which signals a new era of choice and flexibility for both readers and authors. All in all, a very good time for science fiction.
Feb 03, 2008
My Boskone Schedule
What I'll be up to in Boston next weekend
These are preliminary items; I'm likely to have some stuff added for Sunday as well. Also, readings, signings, and Kaffeeklatsches are not yet scheduled so you can expect some action there too.
- Frida 6pm
Applied SF: Using SF in the Real World
Karl Schroeder
When he's not writing science fiction, Karl Schroeder is a consulting futurist for government and industry. Sounds like a perfect job? Hear all about it!
- Satur 10am
Building a Great Battle
James D. Macdonald, Tamora Pierce, Karl Schroeder
Whether it takes place in the expanse of space, an open field, or a dark street, what brings a great battle to life on the page? How must a writer manage pace and description so the reader gets a sense of the action? - Satur 12 noon The Appeal of the Lawless Elite
Alexander Jablokov
Beth Meacham
Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Paul Park
Karl Schroeder
Editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden has said, "Much of the genre works by appealing to our wish that the world s extra-legal violence be under the control of the kind of smart people we admire. The Second Foundation and the X-Men -- and, for that matter, the Scooby Gang and the Laundry -- are all, to some extent, basically the Ku Klux Klan, except that the extrajudicial violence they carry out is (we re assured) merited and just." Discuss. - Satur 2pm
Who'd'a Thunk It? Unexpected Uses of Technology Tobias
Buckell
Chad Orzel
Karl Schroeder
Charles Stross Numerous technologies wind up getting used for quite different purposes than their originators expected. Consider dynamite, bubble wrap, speed trap radar, screensavers, the Internet's massive if not main use as a conduit for pornography, and laser pointer cat toys. What other example suggest themselves? Does this phenomenon make basic research more desirable, or less? Is it ever discussed in SF? Consider some of the great SFnal inventions (the hyperdrive, AIs, cyperspace, anti-gravity, boosterspice, positronic robots, personal force fields). Can you extrapolate some unexpected uses for them? - Sunday sometime (not fixed yet): Space War: How Would It Really Be Waged -- and
Why?
(Pretty much what it says: Say we have a Galactic Empire or a hostile Mars or whatever. Take a realistic look at space warfare.) - Also Sunday Global Warming: The Realities
(The idea is not to debate whether or not it's real - of course it is -- but to take a scientific look at some of the more inflated claims and at some of the possible solutions.)
Welcome Poesy!
There's a new Doctorow to contend with
Cory's announced the birth of his daughter, fittingly enough, on boingboing. Apparently mother and child are doing fine. No word on the state of the father.
Janice and I send our best wishes to you, man. You're gonna have a blast!
Feb 02, 2008
Second Life success
Had a great time in Second Life, and met a bunch of very nice people
The interview with Mitch Wagner went very well. I took the photo below as the amphitheatre was filling up; there were lots of people there and Mitch and I had no trouble finding things to talk about for an hour. Mitch was particularly interested in my foresight activities, so we talked about how that works, and about the upcoming "scibarcamp" I'm helping organize here in Toronto.
I was hugely impressed by how helpful and polite people were. No griefers in this crowd! A lot of people hung around after the formal interview; I apologize for not finding the chat window in time (I'm new to the Second Life interface) so I'm afraid I missed a lot of questions. But nobody got impatient with me.
I'm impressed; and I'll be back.
Feb 01, 2008
Reminder - Second Life Interview Today
It's GridTalk time on Dr. Dobb's Island, 12:00 sharp (pacific)
Mitch and I have been going over our talking points, and we're going to cover the gamut from my work in foresight studies to how the world of Virga came to exist. We may even discuss the very first MORPG I worked on--way back in 1982!