A great piece from Angela Slatter on the writing life as a really big echo chamber – and how being with a smaller publisher and having to do a larger share of the book publicity is not the scariest thing in the world. (as Nicole mentions in the comments and I endorse wholeheartedly, being with a big publisher does NOT guarantee you any level of publicity support)
N.K. Jemisin talks about the misogyny & racism on Oscar’s night, as symbolised by (but not entirely represented by) That Tweet from the Onion: Fantasy Fans, Where’s Your Outrage?
Over at Tor.com in the Sleeps With Monsters column, Liz Bourke asks: Is Epic Fantasy Crushingly Conservative? As with many Tor posts there is some interesting discussion in the comments. I made a few which can be boiled down to ‘if Epic Fantasy is conservative, you’re reading too narrowly in the genre – check out some books by ladies.’
The legendary Mary Doria Russell on making a comeback after being dumped by her publisher. Sigh, it happens to us all, even the greats.
Over at Verity! Podcast, I talk with Erika, Deb and Liz about the Eighth Doctor, the TV movie, and how Doctor Who reinvented itself in the mid-90′s. For Fandom recs about the Eighth Doctor era, check out our companion post: Things We Like: The One With the Kiss Edition. Take particular note of the link to the Big Finish sale on the Lucie Miller Eighth Doctor Adventures – these are HEARTILY recommended by me, and the sale is a great deal, but the sale will be over by the time the second half of our podcast, talking about the Eighth Doctor in audio & other media, goes live.
Trust me on this. Lucie Miller is awesome. No matter what Liz says.
Dark Eyes, a new standalone season of stories with 8 and new Irish WWI nurse companion Molly O’Sullivan, is also on sale until the end of the weekend. HEARTILY RECOMMENDED BY ME.
Speaking of Verity, a conversation with several Veritesses & friends on Twitter yesterday led to me being QUITE TRAUMATISED ACTUALLY by Michael Thomas’s reveal that there is in this world (but mostly on YouTube and no I’m not linking to it) a dramatised sex scene of characters played by Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant from one of the Doctor Who-ish fanvids of the 90′s. Nooooo, you two are platonic always!
Liz made me feel oddly better with her new Pinterest board of Colin Baker pictures, none of which display him or his Doctor in any kind of compromising position, though there is a splendid array of moustaches from the 1970′s era.
If you’re up to date on Parks and Recreation (and 30 Rock), check out this great post about Liz Lemon, Leslie Knope, and what their relationships say about their feminism. Excellent analysis, and I love that Ben’s arc in P&R is being acknowledged for the great support he provides to Leslie’s career at the expense of his own, without him being mocked for it by the narrative. FEMINIST MEN ARE AWESOME AND THIS IS WHY PARKS AND REC IS ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS ON TV.
Brit Mandelo writes an open letter to Joanna Russ. It’s wonderful.
The Splendid Chaps podcast continue with their live shows here in Australia – the next one is in Adelaide. If you are in Adelaide and you love Doctor Who, this show is totally for you!
In closing, if you didn’t know about the Pulp-o-Mizer which allows you to create fancy fake pulp fiction covers for anything you like, then YOU’RE WELCOME.