The road stretches east. The ancient ruts are filled with dust. Tufts of yellowish grass rise up through the pebbles. The village remains out of sight for almost the entire walk, but the man counts his steps, just as he measures everything, and he knows exactly when he’ll arrive. The insects leave him be, while the lizards watch him from afar.
This convention was lovely for me–instead of burnt-out, I’m home now feeling smiley and rested. I had no panels to be on, no real schedule to keep, and I was always surrounded by beautiful, smart, funny, and generous friends. Like a geek spa, if you will, and just as humid.
One school of thought when it comes to Philippine fiction is that texts can only be classified as such if it includes either a) Filipino characters/setting or b) tackles Filipino social concerns…But that paradigm also limits one’s breadth of literature. Why write fantasy after all as that particular genre is deemed fanciful rather than practical?
Two years in the making, the forty minute film was shot for just $4,500. Actors, crew, prop makers, FX designers, makeup artists — upwards of one hundred and fifty fans — worked weeknights, weekends, and holidays without pay. Post production teams, across the globe, finished this labor of love through emails and online conferences. Their efforts have paid off.
Day two of Penguicon was the day of panels — I followed Mary Robinette Kowal to her first one: a podcasting panel where I met and geeked out girl-style over Escape Pod‘s Steve Eley. From there I hooked up with Danielle Friedman and networked by sneaking into the back of one on social networking.
After that, the con turned into that delightful haze of a Saturday night. There were still things to be seen – the Pirate Ship going down (the elevator) without its captain, John Scalzi dressed up as a pirate after denying he was going to do it, and a special room party held for my 40th birthday party. Actually, it might have been decorated for Scalzi’s 40th, but my party is traditionally on the first Saturday of May, so I decided it was for me.
OutlantaCon 3PM is a much more reasonable time for a panel, and my afternoon “Literature as Activism” one with writer/producer Andy Mangels and author J.M. McDermott was both better attended and more lively, with Andy Mangels providing insight into the obstacles he’s encountered in his efforts to introduce diversity into media owned properties such as [...]
Mama had believed enough to sacrifice her savings and emigrate here, all for the sake of her poor, insane, eight-year-old daughter. Mama had found a place on a map, a city that wouldn’t exist without air conditioning and irrigation. A place with no history.
May Madness Micro-Short and Graphic Contest Guidelines
Submission Window: Monday, May 4- Friday, May 22nd, midnight.
Choose a graphic image as a prompt then start writing! Story content should relate directly to the graphic of choice and should also follow the content guidelines as posted on our Fantasy Magazine guidelines page.
Each submission should accompany . . .
Joseph Carriker, particularly, had much intelligent and perceptive commentary to offer on the subject of horror: fear should help tell the story; the essence of horror is in making people uncomfortable–in opposition to the goal of people and civilization in general, seeking to become more comfortable in our environments; and that the use of violence in storytelling can serve to increase our humanity (rather than degrade it) by defining and illustrating that which is decent and desirable and that which is not.
