The Rose's Grove

Just finished the first panel of the "test" lantern, painting the glass with Gallery Glass in amber. Now I'm going to be staring at it for the next few hours, wondering what it will come out looking like...

In other news, our big actual book release over at Royal Archivist is THIS WEDNESDAY, OMG. 90+ pages, full-color illustration, cover art by Julie Dillon (and I am still so in love with that cover...) - and this one includes lifetime updates to the guidebook and its expansions. Which is a huge deal, as we're always doing something! We're still editing and adding to this one up to the minute (...well, a few hours ago, for me, but I know I've got a few more sections coming at me, still!). Super exciting. Lots of really interesting worlds and concepts are coming out, and it seems like every time I get a section there's something new that makes me go "oh, cool!" ♥

So, in the process of twiddling about with the outline for a possible novel that I've been thinking about (or, in the case of today, staring blankly at in between sneezing fits...), I noticed that my Inner Editor and I are having a little fight about something, and that the general world of sci-fi around me isn't helping much. So I appeal to you, f-list, for your opinions on these things.

Aliens in sci-fi - over and done, just over-done, or just not especially 'in' right now? Or, you know, am I just hanging out in the wrong corners of sci-fi lately?

I ask because I can't help but notice that the majority of sci-fi that I've seen or read lately (and keep in mind, I have a chronic problem with not keeping up on current trends as well as I'd like) tends to forego any kind of aliens in favor of humans alone in the universe, doing our thing. Which, okay, great. Love it. It's very interesting. But... I kind of miss the sci-fi of my childhood, sometimes? With aliens? *Points at icon* And as much as I was underwhelmed by the time all the hype was through, Avatar was a pretty clear example that this kind of thing is not totally unappreciated by contemporary audiences, either, right? But the only other recent time I've run across aliens in anything was watching The Boy play the Mass Effect series... and giddily loving every minute of it because it reminded me of my sci-fi roots, damn it. ♥

So why do I feel like the instant I start to consider including aliens in my universe, I'm turning it into a bad space opera? Overactive guilt complex? Obsessive terror of vomiting all my childhood sci-fi pet-loves (what is the opposite of pet peeve?) all over my would-be novel in such a way as to make it utter crap? An unspoken acceptance of the lit-fic nonsense that says that sci-fi and fantasy can only be good and literary and serious if it includes only the faintest twinges of anything we don't see in modern life?

...I'm placing my bet on that last one, with a few shades of the others, myself. But talk to me, oh f-list. What do you think about this subject?

The cats insist that they're starving, and now it actually is almost their dinner time, so I'd better disentangle myself from the blankets and go feed them.

Frederick Pohl has apparently decided that Now Is The Time... for him to really let loose and rant about Robert Heinlein.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what the fuck this is about, but it's damned interesting in a "dear god, I didn't think I'd see this sort of shit from professionals, and by the way I wonder how long it'll take to make Fandom_Wank." Does it count for Fandom_Wank if it's professionals? I mean, professionals not bitching about their fans? o_O

My bad, I neglected the links to the other posts in the series. That's the most recent so far (I think) though it's 'to be continued.'

Altogether, all I can say is that it's a very odd collection of entries to link-hop across.

Spreading the word from a link via seachanges: Dr Peter Watts, Canadian Sci-Fi Author, Beaten and Arrested and US/Canadian Border. He's been released on bail, now, but will be called back to court in Michigan, and has been charged with felony assault of an officer.

So far, I'm not seeing any mainstream media picking up on this. I'm sure we'll get more details as they come out. Personally, I'm not familiar with this gentleman, but if his statements regarding what happened are true, this is a horribly appalling situation.

Further comments over on Making Light. It is deeply strange that someone would be searched leaving the US (in my experience, they don't give a damn if you're going elsewhere...). I don't know what the hell to make of this - I'm hesitant to give an automatic "he couldn't possibly have done anything," given that I don't know the guy and that it's easy to get freaked out and riled by those kinds of situations, and escalation quickly follows. But in whatever case, the whole thing is extremely disturbing, and I feel very badly for Watts.

A Pay-Pal donation system has been set up to help out with legal fees for the case - see the first link in this entry if you'd like to help.

You have so got to be kidding me...

Found in my Gmail ads this morning: Quantum Jumping: The Inter-Dimensional Quest for a Better You. "Are You Ready to Jump Into Other Dimensions? Warning: For the True Seeker Only."

So... Are they banking on no one remembering Quantum Leap, or are they hoping it will boost their revenue? Because if the latter is a sound marketing system, I have a religious system based on a savior traveling the universe in a blue phonebox that I'd like to sell you...

And no, before you ask, they don't appear to mean this as fiction. Oh dear.