Another Experiment: Not Waving

The internet offers all kinds of ways to distribute writing. I've already put up free copies of this novel I wrote way back when I lived in Los Angeles. This is the one that an agent called "too relentlessly dark". Feh! Just because its title comes from a Stevie Smith poem about someone drowning -- ah well, some people don't respond well to mordant humor. The cover photo I took in New Orleans, when Wendy and I were wandering around. Hee -- still love that picture.

We'll see. I've put it up for sale as an ebook on Scribd. Just curious. I did try to make it more attractive than the freebie version at Feedbooks; I actually did some copyediting, added a cover and wrote an afterword about looking back at that time that seems so long ago. I gave it the modest price of $2.99, out of which Scribd takes a 20% commission + 25¢ for processing.  I may put up a few other things, eventually. It doesn't cost anything to try except the time spent preparing documents and yesterday seemed like a day to edit rather than write.

Not Waving

Mystery at Pi-Con

I made a quick jaunt to Pi-Con yesterday to join in a Broad Universe Rapid-fire Reading. The reading went well, but there weren't too many sales at the book party after despite the chili (thanks, Aradia!) and the trifle (Kaynak, did you make that?). Nonetheless it was fun to see folks again and the reading went well. Morven took pictures, so when she gets them up, I'll post a link.

In the parking near the dumpster was this semi-circle of chairs. There were some papers on the seats, but I didn't go up and look at them. I suppose I preferred to imagine the reasons they were arranged thus.

What's your guess?

Reviewed: PELZMANTEL

The Pagan and The Pen has reviewed Pelzmantel. I'm pleased they liked it enough to give it four tarot cards, too. I recommended my editor send a copy there because I know their sensibilities are in sync with mine and they gave such a nice review of Unikirja, too. From their review:

K. A. Laity is a wonderful storyteller. She does a great job of immersing the reader into the world that she has built. I truly enjoyed losing myself in the lives of these characters making me feel like a young child again listening to the fantastical bedtime Fairy tales of witches and castles and dreaming of being a Princess myself...

Read the rest on their site -- and consider leaving a comment. Reviewers like to know their work is being read, too.

I'm off to Pi-Con today; I'm doing a rapid-fire reading with the Broads of Broad Universe. We're doing a book signing party afterward, too. If you're anywhere near Enfield, CT stop in and say hi!

Publications: Encyclopedia of the Vampire

Where are my minions? Surely they would have reminded me that I had forgotten about the two essays I have written for the Encyclopedia of the Vampire, which apparently comes out this November (which I hope means I will finally get paid for writing them :-)





Doubtless this is going to be one of those expensive library tomes (though not as expensive as some of the encyclopedias for which I've written), which means you might suggest your library get it, so you can check it out and read my essays on The Gilda Stories and the "Vampire Lifestyle" -- and of course all the other fabulous essays. The collection was edited by S. T. Joshi, so if you've enjoyed his other such collections, doubtless you will enjoy this one as well.

Bopping through the Biltmore

The Relax and How to Get It

Squeak shows us how it's done: just kick back and let your troubles find their own way home. We've had a hard weekend of watching movies, eating, drinking and talking. Today we're off to the Biltmore; should be interesting.

Now, everybody canteloupe dance!

Carolina with the Cats

Only missing Squeak: in order, this is Hemi, Stinky, Spike and Cassidy.

BitchBuzz: The Whiteboard Meme

My latest column on this week's internet wildfire:

Why the "White Board Girl" Meme Was So Popular

By K.A. Laity

The link that launched a million laughs has, perhaps predictably, been exposed as a hoax. The Gawker gleefully "exposed" the pranksters and a lot of #HOPA tweets were predictably misogynist in their tone as they slapped down a woman who was presumably too ready to declare herself attractive (how dare she!).

This focus on the pranking and suckering misses the point: why it spread like wildfire across the world. It spread so fast that traditional social media trend watchers were way behind the dozens of women (repeated globally) who all sent it to each other...

Read the rest: http://news.bitchbuzz.com/why-the-white-board-girl-meme-was-so-popular.html#ixzz0wQKXyKNm

I'm off to North Carolina tomorrow morning for some r-n-r with Susan and Mildred -- and Ron and Birdie and all the kitties. Well, not quite all the kitties: Susan lost Chelsea this week. She was nearly nineteen. Her health had just became too frail. I think many of you know the pain of losing these little friends who are such a big part of our lives. I will miss her. My heart goes out to Susan.

Publication: Wild Desire

My essay on Johanna Sinisalo's Troll: A Love Story is up on the new magazine for the Mythic Imagination Institute. "Wild Desire" was originally a conference paper given at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts a few years back.




Here's a snippet:

Wild Desire: Gendering the Other in Sinisalo's Troll: A Love Story
by K. A. Laity

Trolls have long had a firm grip on the Finnish imagination. While written records do not reach far enough back to find its roots, no doubt the traditions of folk religion play a role. As Matti Salo has argued, it "recognized no sharp distinction between the natural and supernatural" and the world was seen to be peopled with a variety of gods, spirits and creatures. Things may not have changed as much in the twenty-first century as you might be tempted to believe. As Johanna Sinisalo writes in her introduction to the Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy, "To this day, Finns live in a very sparsely populated country, surrounded by lakes and large expanses of forest. Every Finn appears to have very close, personal ties to nature. In Finland culture and nature do not struggle against one another, they are not mutually exclusive, they merge and influence one another" (9). That unique creature, the troll, seems to spring from this melding of nature and culture, realism and fantasy. Perhaps the greatest flowering of troll love erupted in the mid-twentieth century, embracing Tove Jansson's Moomin family and their often melancholy young son Moomintroll. While the robust attendance at Moominworld in Naantali would seem to suggest that everyone loves trolls, the realities of that affection have remained entirely fantastical until recently...

Read the rest and explore the wonders of the Mythic Institute.

Thank You, Boojums!

It doesn't take much to make me smile. Just a thoughtful little thing like this:

Yep, it's a lovely congratulatory post card of a Polly Thayer painting from my pals and affixed to the back? A ticket stub from a performance of Good Evening with my idol, Peter Cook and (my almost idol) Dudley Moore. As you can see from the note, it was found in a library book (I love how so many of my friends work in libraries) about Russian icons (?!).

Little stub, big smile. Thank you, Boojums.

ADDENDUM per T'joey Zone:

Do mention Loree B found it...Cheryl said to post it...

i stuck it

Unikirja Book Trailer

Here's my new video, featuring the beautiful music of Ulla Suokko, whom I'll be celebrating this week over at The Women's League of Ale Drinkers, part of the month long festival of creative women. I'm trying to focus the rhetoric of these trailers on opening up the sometimes obscure titles of my books to give a sense of the flavor of the stories. You can tell me whether I'm succeeding.

I've kind of had the feeling lately of needing a dump truck to unload my head, so it's been good to work on a few things that use a different part of my brain. Some days just need to be without words.

Cover Me

With stunning speed, here's the cover already for my as-yet-unedited novel The Mangrove Legacy, forthcoming from Tease Publishing in November or December:

Thanks to the fabulous Stella Price, who is not only the art director for Tease, but was also the person who encouraged me to try submitting something to them. I love the background photo of the Gothic folly and the woman on the sofa kind of picks up on the theme of dreams. I loved writing all the surreal dream sequences. It's hard to capture all the aspects of this odd little tome, so I'm glad the cover included the tag line as well in order to convey the humour [or humor, Todd]. Now to update the web page, although that might have to wait as I have a large pile of neglected work in my office on campus that I really must get to...

BitchBuzz: Hate Cute

My latest column:

Mainstream Media Realize RomComs Hate Women

Suddenly everyone in the media seems to have noticed what women have been talking about for years: how rom-coms seem to really hate on women.

 The high profile story is Maureen Dowd's back-and-froth with social historian Sam Wasson about "Why romantic comedies now reek." It's a fairly entertaining exchange with highlights like Wasson saying, "Every time I see Jennifer Aniston’s or Jennifer Garner’s face I wince. Basically, every time I see someone named Jennifer." But they also get a few good points across, such as Dowd's suggestion that more female-run studios ought to have resulted in more female-positive films. Wasson laughs:

“Even the studios that are run by women aren’t run by women. They’re run by corporations, which are run by franchises. Unfortunately for us, Jennifer Aniston is a franchise. So is Katherine Heigl and Gerard Whatever-His-Name-Is, and even when their movies bomb, their franchise potential isn’t compromised because overseas markets, DVD sales and cable earn all the studio’s money back...The worst part of it is, from Hollywood’s point of view, it ain’t broke."

Read more: http://culture.bitchbuzz.com/mainstream-media-realize-romcoms-hate-women.html#ixzz0vmT9ndaW

There's a reason people still love and adore films like His Girl Friday, Philadelphia Story, The Lady Eve and Holiday: they're fun and funny. I guess writing romcoms that don't insult women is going to have to go on my list of things to do. What's your fave?

Contracted: The Mangrove Legacy

Good news! I sent off the contract this morning: Tease Publishing will be releasing The Mangrove Legacy in November or December of this year. Initially, it will be an ebook, but if sales are brisk enough, it may see print in 2011. Now I can reveal that the "author" of the book will be Kit Marlowe. Thanks again to the fabulous Stephanie Johnson for designing Kit's portrait, based on a photo of me and a very cool hat I found trawling the internet. Very Georgette Heyer, eh?

One of the immediate things this means is that I will have to refrain from posting the final chapters of the serial online. For those dedicated readers who have been with me the whole long haul, I will be happy to send you those chapters: just email me.  Your support all this time has meant so much to me. It's hard to believe I started this as a kind of lark almost four years ago! I was so afraid that I would not find time for fiction writing while I was frantically trying to publish as much academic work as possible to get out of Texas; a foolish fear (as so many are).  Writing about 500 words a week was painless; the story was light and fun. I just wanted to be amusing, playing with the Gothic narratives I enjoy and throwing in as many obscure references as I could get away with. I adore the characters. And four years later -- without considerable effort -- it's a 100,000 word novel.

Wow.

That's why I emphasize those wonderful words of Octavia Butler in "Furor scribendi" where she says the key concept is "persist": she was so right. I am capable of marathon sessions where I churn out thousands of words in a day, but that's not necessary. Baby steps will get you there, too.

So why the nom de plume? In the last year I've been doing a lot of research into the romance genre, thanks to a bunch of friends who work in that area. While it is the most reviled of genres, there's a lot good in it -- like the money! Yes, there are conventions -- there are conventions in academic writing, too and very strong conventions in the literary genres (disaffected suburbanite agonizes over relationships, doubts self, then has minor epiphany which may or may not change anything) -- but there's also a wide range possibilities. Just take a quick glance at all the different categories Harlequin has; the 'paranormal romance' field is little different from 'urban fantasy' these days. The lines are getting blurred. The only constant for romance is that happily ever after (HEA) or, increasingly, the happy for now (HFN) ending. We're so cynical these days. We'll accept all kinds of fantasy elements -- werewolves, vampires, steampunk Victorians -- but not a happy resolution! Oh no, never that. Well, except for the millions and millions of romance readers (and no, they're not all women).

So my nom de plume signals "this book is a romance": to a genre reader, it means "everything will turn out okay in the end." For my regular readers it still means it's the quirky stuff I write and if everything turns out all right in the end, it will nonetheless be a fun trip getting there. I'm still working on adapting my style to the genre; so far, I'm still erring too far on the side of quirky to get my foot in the very lucrative Harlequin/Mills & Boon door, but I will endeavour. Why? Because I would like the freedom of living off my writing and I am exploring many avenues to achieve that end.

And why this particular pseudonym? The original Kit Marlowe was of course the playwright who would have outshone Shakespeare had he lived (being far more daring and audacious). Less well known is Bette Davis' character from the movie Old Acquaintance -- a big fave of mine, based on the play by John Van Druten (of Bell, Book and Candle fame). Of course, Kit Marlowe is the "arty" writer while Miriam Hopkins' Millie Drake is the popular romance writer. What can I say? I'm perverse that way. One of the gratifying things is that the friendship between Kit and Millie outlasts rivalry and men. In fact, you can easily read the film as a coded lesbian narrative, with a lot of elements coming across as far campier to a modern audience than they would have done to most contemporary viewers, I suspect. Just look at the masculine way they dress Davis at the start in contrast to Hopkins' flounces and frills. The film was remade as Rich and Famous in 1981. It was George Cukor's last film and starred Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen. I also have a fondness for that film, though it's not as good. I do love the way Bergen, upon having her work called "trash" by her increasingly estranged husband, snarls to correct him that it's "successful trash!" Here's to success, however trashy.

More Jane Quiet!

Drop by the Jane Quiet site to see the new developments -- gotta get back to work on that script! Elena's catching up to me.

New Journal!

I'm really pleased to announce that the Women's League of Ale Drinkers has decided to start a journal to share with the world the fabulous women who support the League.  You can see the details over at the League's site, but here's a precis:

And that is the mandate of the new journal for the Women's League of Ale Drinkers, for which Vicky will serve as editor. We seek only work that meets these criteria, the output of creative women who may feel that their vision and passion has been overlooked elsewhere, that their daring has brought only disapproving stares, that their humour has met with stony silence. We delight in work that crosses traditional genres.

We do not ask for your credentials, awards or publications. We ask for your heartfelt work -- writing in RTF files, art in JPGs, music and video via links. We ask that you tell us why the piece embodies your reason to live, to breathe -- what the work means to you, even why you think it may not have received an audience before...


 Read the rest over at the League, where you can also enjoy a celebration of the fabulous Stephanie Johnson, featuring her fabulous designs for Smoking Ants Records.

I have some good news to pass along but I will wait until I have signed the contract. Of course, I was already celebrating because I got the Fulbright application done (whew!). Of course it will be months before I know anything, but it's in and I gave it my best shot. That's all you can do, eh?

Advertisements for Myself

I'm beginning to doubt their usefulness and they seem to cause nothing but headaches in the making, yet here I go again: a general book trailer using my new "branding" concept, as developed in conversation on this blog: hard to spell, easy to read!








The music is courtesy of my friend Gerry Luoma Henkel, who built my first kantele, Louhi. Gerry makes amazing instruments and beautiful music; not surprisingly, he tells me some of his music is going to be be featured in a play as well as in a movie being made in Australia. I'm lucky to have so many talented people around me. When I ordered my kantele from Gerry, he even included a videotape that he had made to show me the basics and how to tune it. It was a big help! Kanteles are easy to play and have a gorgeous and soothing sound. Everyone should have one!

Today I will be heading off to MassMOCA for the Bang on Can marathon. After having my head down over work all week, it will be a nice change to empty my head of words and just listen to the music. And not thinking about things I wish I had done...

BitchBuzz: Joan Rivers

My latest column:

Still making the rounds slowly is the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work. Do yourself a favour and check it out. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: argh, the red carpet embarrassments! Criminy, Celebrity Apprentice?! And yikes, the plastic surgery.

True enough; no argument here. But if you have any inkling of what a tough gig comedy is and triply so for a female, you will march yourself and all your friends to the theatre to see what that really means. You'll come away with a very different attitude.

You see, Rivers knows exactly what she's doing and she knows what you think, too. She just doesn't care. Her work is her focus, or rather "the career" which her daughter Melissa says, she one day recognized as her "sibling" in the family that they all took care of....

Read more the rest at BBHQ.

Sorry I've not been more voluble this week; some deadlines are killing me and a few other things hanging over my head that I need to deal with somehow. All shall be well (keep repeating that).

Theatre Round-Up

I've been lucky enough to have some great theatre outings in the last few weeks, but I've been short on time to talk about them. I slipped off to Massachusetts to visit Shakespeare & Co and catch both The Comedy of Errors and Richard III. The former was in the Bernstein Theatre with the troupe of interns. They had a circus theme which fit the wacky mix-ups well. I always find it fascinating to see the creative ways companies adjust to small spaces and small casts. They even employed a dressmaker's dummy for one of the characters because the actor had to play two parts in the climactic scene. Great fun.

Richard III was still in previews, so the director reminded us that things were still in flux. I had a seat up on the side hanging over the stage (yes, already a hot ticket in previews) and so I ended up having to move aside during the scene where Richard pretends to eschew the crown a few times before 'reluctantly' accepting it. He and his entourage leaned over the balcony to the crowd below.  They whipped up the audience response so we were all cheering for Richard, thus complicit in the events. A good technique.  John Douglas Thompson made for an energetic villain, but one of the things that really came out of this production was a clear image of the women who were ignored and pushed aside by these nakedly ambitious men. The first scene with Anne really makes or breaks the play -- we have to believe that this monster can charm -- and it came off beautifully. Terrific cast and much glorious mayhem.

One of the things that helps me miss London a little less is the wonderful NT Live broadcasts. This time around it was London Assurance, which I hadn't managed to see while I was there. The broadcasts give you the feeling of being in the theatre, but also the close interaction zooming cameras allow. I am soooo grateful The Spectrum is participating in the project. The play is a HOOT. I knew nothing about Dion Boucicault, the 19th century Irish playwright, but this was a terrifically funny farce. Stars Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw were just loving every minute of their over-the-top roles; the entire cast was superb, even when the part wasn't enormous, like Nick Sampson as the gentleman's valet Cool. And what a delight to see Richard Briers! The performance was sold out, so they broadcast the play outside the NT on the "grass" (the astroturfed area where the giant furniture usually sits in the summer time) and the cast ran out to take a bow there at the end as well. Sheer delight.

Then the other day was a quick trip up to Saratoga Springs for Shakespeare in the Park. My theatre buddy Ron and I were looking forward to Hamlet, but I was also looking forward to some barbecue at PJ's as it had been ages since I'd had any -- yum! Oh, their ribs and all the sauces. Mmmmm. And the play was much fun, too. It took me a little while to warm up to the Hamlet (who sounded more like he was a lost Belushi brother than a Dane) but most of the rest of the cast was good and there were some interesting choices in staging, like having the ghost return at the end to help Claudius meet his end. Timing was good, too; the play finished just as the mosquitoes began to make themselves known. It was a slimmed down production, but the cuts didn't feel too drastic (unsurprisingly, no Fortinbras at the end).

I'm crazy busy with some expected and unexpected deadlines this week, but I'm already trying to figure out when I can make it back to Shakespeare & Co for The Winter's Tale. They're doing some Stoppard this fall, too, so hurrah.

Imagining the Worst

Rather Predictable That

Friday's Forgotten Books: You Can't Do Both

I read this novel in England this summer; I've been on a bit of an Amis kick, filling in missing volumes while I mull over the overall effect of this pursuit. Projects tends to develop this way; I get obsessed about something, immerse myself in it, then when the time is right, chuck it all away and write. I'm also knee-deep in Angela Carter, so I can't really explain how they intertwine (could two people be less likely to intertwine?).

You Can't Do Both tells the story of Robin Davies, who lives in a south London suburb, winds up going to Oxford and then the Second World War and eventually into the adventure that is marriage, though not on purpose.  Davies' father is a weird amalgamation of strident atheism and puritanical control. His mother offers a sometime refuge against his father's rigidity, but without much substantial help. When at last he's freed of his stifling suburban home, he tries to live up to his fevered sexual dreams but encounters the realities of women who are likewise a bundle of eagerness, confusion and contradictions.

Amis plays this for some wonderful laughs, no surprise. But he also carefully details the way that the misogynist tendencies develop from these encounters. Women are denying him the one thing he must have. As Richard Bradford suggests in Lucky Him, this novel comes much closer to the truth of Amis' life than his memoirs, a highly fanciful selection of events and memories. There is a sensitive and moving depiction of a friend of Robin's who turns out to be gay which makes plain the costs and dangers of that identity in the not so distant past. You'll also find an evocation of what the Oxford days with Larkin might have been like and the awkward development of his first marriage, grown out of an uncertain alliance that quickly developed into habit because of the sexual connection, then threatened by pregnancy.

Davies never ends up being likeable exactly; by the end, he's distinctly unlikeable. But the dissection is fascinating and if not really an apology, it does seem to offer a bit of an explanation for how Amis became what he was. And at his best, that was a lot.

Now to get hold of a copy of Colonel Sun...

See the round-up of other neglected tomes over at Patti Abbott's blog.

eBooks: No longer the future

They're the PRESENT!

Yeah, Mashable has a story about how Kindle books are outselling hardcovers on Amazon and the L. A. Times has a long article on how ebooks are transforming the reading experience. Even most authors are prepared for the need to push the various electronic editions, but we're still figuring out the best ways to do that -- how do you promote without a physical object? That intangibility gives a lot of people discomfort.

I was supposed to be interviewed on the topic today, but the video interview became a telephone interview because of "breaking news" (I was relieved: haven't had a haircut since leaving for England) and now it seems to have been put off at least until tomorrow if not indefinitely. So I'll share my idea for a good quote:  I'm sure when Gutenberg printed his first bibles, there were doubtless people who said, "Well that's interesting, but I'm never going to give up my vellum.  It's painstakingly created by monks over months and sometimes year, with great attention to detail. Each one is individually written in the hand of the scribe and decorated with charming marginalia."

True enough, Gutenberg probably said. However, you can have this one right away. All of you. And for much less money.

Sure, there will continue to be printed books for a very long time. There will even continue to be handmade books for a long time. The digital revolution, though, has already happened. Jump on the wave to ride it or let it wash over you for now. But the wave is here. Like digital downloads of music, kids already born will consider it the norm. That's change.

UPDATE: I talked to the reporter today, although the story had already been recorded (which aired today; it's the second video that cycles up).  We chatted for a bit and she was intrigued by a number of things I brought up about my experiences teaching New Media and having both print and ebooks to promote. My BitchBuzz column this week is an expansion of this topic.

Necon is: Mini-Golf

I got my best ever score: 43! It was only one point off the winning score, although there were I think four people who all got 42, so I probably won't win a medal. But we sure had some fun! Phil and Anya were entertaining, as always.










Tonight, the traditional game show and the traditional talent show have been mashed together. No one's quite sure what will happen. Afterward, we'll have the roast. As usual, not a peep about who might be the victim -- erm, honoree.

Review of UNIKIRJA

I don't think I remembered to post this before. My review from the Finnish North American Literature Association (FinNALA) by Beth Virtanen:

K. A. Laity’s Unikirja, Dream Book, is written in a pastiche of genres on a single theme, Finnishness and daily life. Laity uses poetry, prose and drama to capture Finnishness in mythic and modern contexts. In doing so, she draws on folklore, the Kalevala, the Kanteletar, and even traveling in Finland as inspiration for these wonderful stories. 

In the section focusing on the Mythic, Laity draws on Runos 3 to 5 of the Kalevala for a short story titled “Aino” in which she draws on the epic tale to focus on “women’s experiences of the world—an aspect so often missing from the original Kalevala stories’, she says. From the theme of incoming Christianity, Laity reimagines the killing of Bishop Henry as committed by Lalli and not his wife. She retells the story from the wife’s perspective as she has “to live with her husband’s crime and her own silence about the truth.” In this retelling, Laity broaches a subject central to issues of women, that of silence. In this section she also “indulges,” as she says, the Gothic as well.

The mythic is as present in the Modern tales as it is in those of the previous section, but here the settings are modern, thus allowing for a different emphasis and turn of events. In the modern section, she deals with the myth of werewolves in “Vironsusi,” asking what it would be like to be one. She explores themes of magic from the Kalevala as she creates a modern’ hiker’s response to Vipunen, the giant turned to a mountain, in the story of the same name. The invigoration of women’s allure and sensuality through a sauna ritual  is the focal point of “Raising Lempi,” and Vainämöinen’s bad luck with women the theme addressed in “Kantele.”  This section closes with a play, “Lumottu,” which means Enchanted, that places an immigrant family in the heart of myth and magic.

In this book, K. A. Laity’s efforts make Finnish mythology and folklore relevant today in ways that resonate with the modern reader. She mates myth and womanhood exquisitely. In short, her work is fabulous. The text is by Aino Press of New York. Find it at www.aino-press.com. Buy it.  

Nice, eh? Be sure to stop by and see all the wonders they have at FinNALA and their literary magazine KIPPIS! (yes, I'm in one issue). I'm off at Necon, which I hope means I'm having fun.

BitchBuzz: Old Spice

[yes, I am up this early -- again]

Doing Online the Right Way: Old Spice

By K.A. Laity

We're so accustomed to ill-conceived ad campaigns that make us wince, it's a genuine pleasure to find one that not only proves successful, but give plenty of laughs as well.

I'm sure many of you remember the Old Spice commercials featuring the hunky Isaiah Mustafa. The initial commercial caused as much controversy as delight, striking many viewers as a little too over the top, and subsequent adverts employed more subtle attempts to pitch Mustafa's glistening torso as both appealing to women and more gently raising the bar for the men.
Old Spice has its own YouTube channel, but more importantly, it's got its own Twitter feed as well. In recent days their inventive use of the two social media streams has exploded across the net.

Old Spice's tweets vary from encouragement to those who fail to live up to the ideal ("Mr. @caseyayers, do not get discouraged. You're swan dive will come with time.") and friendly banter ("Hello @Rushton2. Your tweet reminded me of the summer I spent off the stormy coast of Tibet."), but by far the most effective tweets have been those that led to videos made for other tweeters
("Are you a baby with muscle-structure of a man @MrBabyMan?")...

Read more: http://tech.bitchbuzz.com/doing-online-the-right-way-old-spice.html#ixzz0tkJjYKG6 and see all the videos I've linked to, including (sob!) his farewell. Silver fish hand catch!

I'm off to Necon this afternoon; it's the 30th anniversary year, so not sure who might show up. Looking forward to seeing a few friends I only see there. And as usual, I'm using the trip to stop by and see folks in Connecticut: lunching with the fabulous QoE and stopping by the Steier homestead. Don't know if there's wifi. If there is, doubtless I'll use it. If not, see you Monday.

Wet Cat

And again, I have more reasons to curse the squirrels. They're back -- and they've brought fleas. Argh.

New Jane Quiet

Elena's been drawing again!

How I Went to Readercon and Became a Broad

No, cat milk has nothing to do with my time at Readercon. I stopped in the pet store to get some flea spray (sigh) and a new tag for Kipper. When I saw this, I kept picturing a very low stool ;-) and couldn't stop giggling.

Readercon was a busy time: right away Thursday night. I was an "extra discussant" for Barry Longyear's "Imagine or Die" panel. Unfortunately, I didn't get much of a chance to add anything, so it was a bit frustrating. That night I stayed with pal Michael Draine (thanks!) and we had time to chat that night and over breakfast at Bickford's.

Friday I ran into Liz Hand right away at "The Fiction of A. Merritt" panel, which did its best to resurrect the career of this now sadly neglected writer. I made sure to tell Liz I had a copy of my book for her (since she was so nice to write me that lovely intro to Pelzmantel), but I couldn't give it to her until after my reading.

Next I had to run off for the reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream; in the first hour, I played Peter Quince. It was quite delightful and fun, not least for Faye's fabulous fairy singing. I ran out for the next hour to catch the "New England: At Home to the Unheimlich?" discussion which ranged far beyond New England to explore Southern Gothic and even European influences. Then it was back to the Bard. I was pleased to play Puck; not so many lines in the last act, but I did get to end the play. The play within the play certainly led to a lot of laughter. Much fun.

Cecilia Tan led a great discussion on how ebooks and ebook readers are changing the shape of publishing but also the habits of readers. It was one of those panels that could have easily gone on much longer. Much fun to hear Liz read from her forthcoming Available Dark, the sequel or continuation of Generation Loss. This narrative heads off to Finland and Iceland, so you know I'm eager to read it!  The last event of the day was the "Meet the Pros(e) Party" where writers give out stickers with a line of their prose on it. Fun idea.

Saturday morning kicked off with the Broad Universe Group Reading. I had known a few Broads before, but after seeing the fun of the reading and chatting with Morven and Inanna, I decided I really needed to join. The difficulties of promotion are hard and it's no fun on your own. worrying whether anyone will come to your reading that afternoon at Readercon :-/ as some might do. If you're Liz Hand, you don't have to worry about those things. Her talk on "Crypto-Aviation" was standing room only. Many people looked in and decided not to join the throng. They missed out! It was great fun not only seeing the bizarre models, but also hearing about her adventures working for the Smithsonian.

The Fan Fiction panel was a lot of fun. I really can't understand writers who get upset at fanfic -- it seems like a wonderful compliment and likely to increase a book, series or film's reputation. Yes, it can act as a criticism, but no one's immune from that. A few of the writers, like Victoria Janssen, have gone on to write professionally. It can be a good training ground! After that, I had my reading in the afternoon: I played my kantele and read from the zombie western. Small audience, but at least I had one!

The Nalo Hopkinson interview was wonderful: interesting, entertaining and ultimately, very moving -- hard to hear again the tragedy of Octavia Butler's unexpected death, worse to hear that Hopkinson herself has been homeless and living hand to mouth for the last two years. Illness without insurance: the shame of this nation is that it does not offer simple health care to all.

Saturday night is the traditional Bad Prose Competition. Silliness and fun, and a whole lot of bad writing (on purpose). Hands down, the Readercon book I'm most looking forward to is by second place finisher in the contest, Mary Robinette Kowal. The most amazing thing -- in part -- is that this paranormal Regency is coming out from Tor:




Sunday was the town meeting for the Interstitial Arts Foundation, the Shirley Jackson Awards and then my final panel on Sex and Gender in F&SF. Despite being the last session of the day, we had a lively discussion and much (cordial!) disagreement and questions from the audience. I will propose a continuation for next year!

Thursday I'm off to Necon. Crazy.

Workshop & Readercon

I'll be running a two-hour workshop at East Line Books, the lovely Robyn Ringler's store, on Saturday July 24th up in Clifton Park. The cost will be $35. Here's the description:

Sticking with It: Writing with a Full Time Job

How to find the motivation and discipline to keep writing when you have a full time job -- and a family, relationship, or *life*! Everyone has a great idea for a story. Why do so few people ever write that story? Sure, part of the equation is discipline, but there's also juggling different kinds of tasks, finding your writing space and luring the muse to your side when you finally find that time. This workshop will give you techniques to harness your time, wrangle your muse and still keep on speaking terms with your family and friends.

In other words, tips I've learned about being productive when you have a lot of things to do, while still managing to maintain a certain amount of laziness ;-)

This afternoon I'm off to Readercon; panels don't start until 8pm. Right at the start I wish I could be in two places at once. Sigh! It's always the way. There's either too many things going on or nothing. I'm hemming and hawing on whether to bring a kantele for the reading. If no one shows up for the reading, I can at least play some pretty music.

Who is Kit Marlowe?

My Readercon Schedule

Readercon 21 Participant Schedule: K. A. Laity

•Thursday 8:00 PM, Salon G: Talk / Discussion (90 min.)

Imagine or Die.
Barry B. Longyear with discussion by Lauren P. Burka, Gemma Files, Elaine Isaak, Mary Robinette Kowal, K. A. Laity, Resa Nelson.

A writer without a working imagination is stymied. We'll take about the care and feeding of imagination, how to unleash it and let it run.

•Friday 12:00 Noon, RI: Event (60 min.)

A Dramatic Reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Acts I & II.
Inanna Arthen, Ron Drummond, Greer Gilman, Adam Golaski, Caitlin R. Kiernan, K. A. Laity, John Langan, Shira Lipkin, Faye Ringel, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Eric M. Van. Update: I will be playing Quince.

[I'm skipping out at 1pm to go to Faye's panel]

•Friday 2:00 PM, RI: Event (60 min.)

A Dramatic Reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Acts IV & V.
Inanna Arthen, Ron Drummond, Scott Edelman, Jim Freund, Greer Gilman, Adam Golaski, Walter H. Hunt, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Mary Robinette Kowal, K. A. Laity, John Langan, Faye Ringel, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Sonya Taaffe, Eric M. Van. Update: I will be Puck :-D

•Friday 4:00 PM, ME/ CT: Talk / Discussion (60 min.)

How Electrons have Changed Writing and Reading.
Cecilia Tan with discussion by Inanna Arthen, Leah Bobet, K. Tempest Bradford, Barbara Krasnoff, K. A. Laity.

Ebooks, the Internet, social media networks, Paypal  --  have these really changed the writer/reader relationship forever? Not surprisingly, sf readers are early adopters of new tech and sf publishers are leading the way in new content delivery. Is it really possible with new tech for a writer to cut out the publisher and still make a living? Is the writer who wants to "just write" doomed to obscurity now? Writers, what forays into the new frontier of electronic publishing have you made and what did you find out there in the wild lands? Readers, what have you enjoyed and sought out, what would you welcome?

•Friday 10:15 PM, The Meet the Pros(e) Party

•Saturday 3:30 PM, VT: Reading (30 min.)

Reading excerpts from her novel Pelzmantel and Unikirja [or hey, I could just read the zombie western! I'll take a vote from the audience if there is one; if there isn't an audience, to the bar we go!]

•Sunday 2:00 PM, Salon F: Panel

It Is, It Is, It Really Is Fiction: Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary F&SF.
Caitlin R. Kiernan, K. A. Laity (L), Shariann Lewitt, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Catherynne M. Valente.      ** Leader (Participant / Moderator) **

Over forty years have passed since words like "frelk" and "kemmer" became part of the literature, and nearly twenty since the establishment of the Tiptree Awards -- if we have not reached the gender-fluid futures of Tanith Lee's Don't Bite the Sun or Theodore Sturgeon's Venus Plus X, where are the contemporary explorations of sexuality that is genuinely other? As it is inconceivable that there is an upper limit to the polymorphously perverse (and indeed, the internet disproves this theory on a regular basis) and on the understanding that one reader's speculative fiction may be another's day-to-day routine, we ask our panelists to consider the sexual state of the field, whether it be Simon Logan's fetishcore fiction, the transformative erotica of Caitlin R. Kiernan, or the distinct possibility that the appeal of the modern vampire is merely necrophilia with better conversation.

Leaving London

I knew it wasn't going to be easy leaving London, but I wasn't quite prepared for the way it did happen. It was meant to be simple: tube to Bank, DLR to London City Airport. My cheap flight took me from London to Amsterdam to NYC and then Albany. Not a day I was looking forward to by any means, but prices this summer were horrendous and my hopes to get the trip paid for by leading students didn't happen.

I'd never been to City Airport; I've been to Heathrow many times, Gatwick a few and even Stansted, though I've never actually flown out of it. The light rail went direct to the airport terminal, so it ought to have been easy. After waking up at four, afraid I'd miss my alarm at five, I rolled out and got ready. There was plenty of time and hardly anyone about so early. Smooth sailing on the tube and fortunately, steps down to get to the DLR. The train waiting was for Lewiston, but the next one went to the airport.

However, the train that was sitting there suddenly shut down and everybody got out. What? No DLR today, some kind of problem, the man said. So how to get to the airport? Back to London Bridge, change to the Jubilee line, go to Canning Town... and then what?! Argh, time for a taxi. I was fortunate to have help or I never would have got my one bag, full of six weeks of clothes and presents, up the many stairs. Panic setting in, but actually it didn't take too long for a cab to come along.

The fare ended up being over £20 (ouch) but I suppose it might have been more to Heathrow. City Airport is quite small, so I should be forgiven for thinking it might be easy to get through security quickly. Ha! In the end I had to take everything out of my carry on and my 'suspicious' items had to be scanned again -- yes, that dangerous tea towel and my jewelry case. Reassembling everything at least killed the time waiting in the lounge. The small jet was packed to capacity, at least a third of which was a Chinese tour group of Chinese almost all women.

We had begun our descent into Amsterdam and of course, the seat belt sign was on, but a few of the tour group decided to get up to use the toilets. Suddenly the plane rolled swiftly to the left and just as swiftly to the right. I'd never felt anything quite like that. The little Chinese women went flying. Fortunately no one got hurt. The pilot explained, once we were on the ground, that we had hit the wake of another flight. We should have cleared it easily, but the wind carried it up. Bizarre.

The Amsterdam airport is huge! If you want tulips, you can get them. I nearly missed my connecting flight because my phone didn't pick up the local time and I was an hour behind, strolling along thinking I had all the time in the world, until I saw the listing which said it was boarding now. Oops! The flight on the whole was good: KLM treats you a lot better than the American airlines, including the food and drinks. The flight back always seems endless, but we got a little surprise a couple hours before landing. There was turbulence off and on, nothing much, but all of the sudden there was a huge thump that sounded like we had hit something.

Guess what? As the pilot told us right away, we had hit the wake of another plane ("if you look out the window behind us you should be able to see..."). What're the odds? From the relative luxury of KLM I headed next to purgatory: terminal 2 at JFK, the one that's so run down they don't have a recording of all the things you need to do at security (yes, I had to go through passport control and customs and back through security), they have a guy repeating over and over and over the requirements. Fun!

Well, it could be worse.

A lot to get caught up on, but it's hard to keep from wishing I were back in England. Sigh.

Returned

Here's the endlessly crying Kipper and the new giant size Pelzmantel cover. Much cleaning to do...

The Scottish Play, the Russian Play and Lowe in Basingstoke

Ah, it's always fun to hit the Globe; I had missed their Macbeth earlier, so was glad to have a chance to catch it before it ended. The staging was a bit more elaborate than the usual plain stage: there was a double ring with chains and drapery over the stage, and a kind of bib stretching out from the stage itself, which had holes cut in it to allow the mostly young groundlings to put their heads through. It also allowed the three witches (pictured left) to sneak up behind them and make them shriek. This set the tone: it was a gruesomely bloody production that emphasized the violence. I liked that the witches were always around, so you had more of a sense of their orchestrating all the events. A very enjoyable production that seldom lagged.

Another stop at the NT is hard to resist when they have the Travelx £10 tickets. I had already seen the set for Mikhail Bulgakov's The White Guard during the back stage tour and was looking forward to seeing it in action. I had no idea that there were a few sets between which the action switched. The main location, the Turbin's home, was a wonderful evocation of early 20th century Russia, but I had no idea how quickly the entire set could roll away and be replaced with succeeding sets, even an underground bunker. Bulgakov's play deals with the horrors of war and its pointlessness, but with a great deal of humour and tenderness as well as anger. Very enjoyable. Even more enjoyable was coming out of the theatre in the midst of the England-Slovenia match, so the streets were completely empty and there was no traffic to fight while cycling through Waterloo. Whoo hoo!

Thursday was Basingstoke and Nick Lowe. His opening act was part of his band: Geraint Watkins. The good-natured singer and keyboardist ambled through a few songs accompanied by clarinet and saxophonist Martin Willing (I think?) that really pleased the audience. Later Lowe dueted with Watkins on "Only a Rose." Lowe was his usual low key self with the big shock of white hair and thick horn-rimmed glasses. He hit songs old and new like the yearning "Long Limbed Girl" and "I Trained Her to Love Me" (which he called "evil") from At My Age and older songs like acoustic versions of "Heart" and "The Beast in Me" as well as a really romping version of "I Knew the Bride" and wonderfully moving rendition of "What's so Funny 'bout Peace Love and Understanding?" Wonderful show -- worth the trip!

Yesterday, of course, was the disastrous loss of the England team, or as the Express headline I saw on the Tube said, "YOU LET YOUR COUNTRY DOWN." Worse, I lost £10 betting on them and Germany was just a much much better team. At least I got treated to a drink to make up for losing :-)

It's outrageously hot in London. I cam back in the middle of the afternoon and took a bath I felt so grotty. Where are my grey skies and cool breezes?

Fairy Tales with Cate Masters

Join me at fellow writer Cate Masters' blog to talk about fairy tales: what's your fave and why? Yes, of course -- this is another chance to talk about PELZMANTEL!

By the by, because a few people have asked: if you are not within signing distance, send me your address and I will be happy to send you one of the promo postcards signed that you can tuck into your book.

Of course, if I end up anywhere near you, I can replace that with a real signature :-D

By the by: Nick Lowe was WONDERFUL!! of course :-D

On Tour

I'm off to Basingstoke to see Nick Lowe tonight; I'm also going to be the featured writer at Cate Masters' blog tomorrow, talking about Pelzmantel, so be sure to stop by and say hello. The difficult task for all writers is getting the word out: I need all the help I can get!

Zombie Land

I came out of The White Guard today, hopped on my bike and thought I had landed in 28 Days Later. I had misgivings about the Waterloo roundabout, always an insane mess of cars, bikes and other vehicles and there was --

no one.

I have never seen the streets of London so empty (at least not since the zombie flick). Yeah, it was the England v Slovenia match of the World Cup. I cycled off to meet a friend at the Black Prince, where we had a beer before the crowds started gathering for the next match (Germany v Ghana). Who knew there were so many Germans in south London? They came to the Black Prince because "the other German pub was full." Har!

Reviews of the Russian play and the Scottish one to come --

A Dandy, Van and Rude Britannia

No time for anything but a quick recap in reverse time order: last night saw Dandy in the Underworld, the one man play at the Soho Theatre about Sebastian Horsley. It was quite good and alternately funny and sad, particularly with the fact of his death last week hanging over the production -- though Horsley was apparently delighted by the play based on his autobiography of the same name. With Soho likely to go the same way as Times Square as the forces of gentrification take hold, it's sad to think Horsley may be the last of the true eccentrics of the city. We stopped by his building which is just around the corner on Meard Street, still bearing its famous sign. Flowers, especially his beloved sunflowers, were gathered in remembrance, often with accompanying cards speaking to the fondness people had for his flamboyant life.

Saturday was the Rude Britannia exhibit at the Tate Britain, which was very fun, although as Brad said, it could have used a lot more cartoons. There was a lot of fun stuff along with the expected Gillrays and Hogarths, including GIANT versions of Viz pages, Roger Mellie offering the text for the art, an anvil hanging over a doorway and perhaps my fave, Eddie Adams' recreations of famous incendiary photojournalist shots with old age pensioners (think Ruby, napalm, the Viet Cong execution). Morbidly funny. I was surprised to see that the Ally Sloper offerings were courtesy of pal Roger Sabin. I texted him, "You're in the Tate!" Hee hee.

Friday night was the wonderful concert, another part of the Meltdown Festival curated by Richard Thompson. The opening band Clare and the Reasons were quite delightful. Headliner Van Dyke Parks came out to play the lovely Harry Nilsson song "He Needs Me" from the Popeye soundtrack, where Parks was musical arranger (and played the piano player on film). Thompson introduced Parks' solo set -- clearly they are old friends -- as being like "Mark Twain if he could sing". Lots of old friends apparently turned up for the show. Parks is a legend among musicians, but not well known to the general public. He has an unusual style and was quite jokey and relaxed. Hard to describe but wonderful to enjoy. Parks clearly felt gratified by the enthusiastic audience in the end, hopping out into the audience to shake hands and soak up the love. Wonderful!

Meanwhile the vuvuzelas fill London with their hum. Every pub is filled with flags -- mostly England flags, but considering the broad swath of people in this city, you'll find fans for every team cheering loudly. You can't help but be caught up in it enough to know who's doing well and what calls have been decried. Summer in England. Hope everyone had a great solstice yesterday and made the most of the longest day.

Pelzmantel Book Trailer

BitchBuzz: Shakespeare Lunch

My latest column for BitchBuzz takes up another theatre experience:

Shakespeare for Lunch at the Bridewell Theatre

If you like your Bard on the light side, C Company and the Bridewell Theatre offer you the chance for a taste of the Elizabethan drama cut down for lunchtime viewing in the intimate surroundings of the tiny theatre. Tucked behind the historic St Bride's Church just off Fleet street, it's a magical little spot. Eat a sandwich in the churchyard, then pop down into the bar for a matinée drink before the performance starts.
This month it's Cymbeline, Shakespeare's confection about lovers parted, tokens given and true love bedeviled by the envious and unloved. Director Susan Bracken has a tight team of players who whip round the kerchief-sized stage with quick efficiency despite the constant changes. The entire cavalcade of characters is played by a cast of just four. Kate Brazel-Wood's simple but clever set makes it possible to change locations visually with only a small effect (which inevitably provokes laughter) while keeping the central conceit of a bedtime story believably present...

Read the rest at BBHQ: http://culture.bitchbuzz.com/shakespeare-for-lunch-at-the-bridewell-theatre.html#ixzz0rC9K0Imx

Van Dyke Parks tonight at another Meltdown event; if all goes according to plan, Rude Britannia tomorrow. I should be working on my press release, but I may need to wander around town for a bit (always, always).

PELZMANTEL Publication & Review Copies

Yes, it's true! Pelzmantel is available for order (or should be any minute now) at Immanion. Let the champagne corks fly! Or perhaps prosecco, as I prefer the Italian sparkler to the French. Whoohoo!

I'll be doing signings and cons next month in the States. Not sure I have time to put something together here. We shall see -- pop up book signing, anyone?!

If you bought the original edition, let me tempt you with some of the extras. Not only is there a brand new introduction by the wonderful Liz Hand, but there are also three additional stories included, one which I can assure none of you has seen. I've also written an introductory overview to medieval magic which shows how much of the story is drawn from real magic from the Middle Ages.

After all, it would be worth buying just to have the lovely cover by Ruby! I do still think it's utterly gorgeous. I am so very pleased with everything at Immanion; Storm has been wonderful to work with -- insightful, too!

Don't forget: if you're short on money, why not ask your local library to order a copy?

One thing I could use some suggestions for: places to send review copies. I know a few of the top of my head that would be good, but feel free to suggest what you think would be the best places to have it considered. Many thanks!

Time

I woke up with this song in my head. Tick, tick, tick; is it already the middle of June? Must find a way to stay here...

Weekend fun with the Brookses: Sophie and I played footie in the back garden because the air is full of World Cup fever here. Yes, we even watched the England-US match (very poor!); well, Liz and I drank some wine and giggled a lot while Brad watched it. Fun!

Double BitchBuzz: Tea and Fairy Tales

Busy week and I'm making good use of it! Two extra columns:

Fox's New Biscuit and Tea Tasting Guide

"I prefer a nice cup of tea to sex." - Boy George
What could need less thought than your tea and biscuit? Kettle on, package open, insert in mouth. Well, Fox's Biscuits wants you to reconsider everything and to get you to approach tea and biscuit combinations as if you were pairing wine with your dinner. I had my doubts, but I have to say I was won over.
Pearl Lowe hosted the tea party to launch Fox's new Biscuit and Tea Tasting guide, adding a touch of her particular style to the event, but it was the surprise appearance of notorious tea lover Boy George that really brought the point home: some people are just fanatical about tea. And why not? There's no indulgence quite as comforting as a big tea party. Add a little Buck Fizz if anyone feels like they're being deprived somehow...

Read more: http://home.bitchbuzz.com/foxs-new-biscuit-and-tea-tasting-guide.html#ixzz0qdBiGCcM

Joan Jonas's "The Juniper Tree" Exhibition

Joan Jonas ignites the resonant power of the fairy tale in her installation The Juniper Tree at the Tate Modern. What is it about the magic of "once upon a time" that seems so well suited to echo the tangled webs of female existence? Whatever it is, Jonas has harvested it for this piece, which memorializes a performance piece she has presented in various forms since its debut at the ICA in Philadelphia back in 1976, although like all her productions, she considers this to be a "work in progress" yet. While a static version of a performance piece may not sound ideal, as Jonas herself puts it, it captures "the shifting nature between performance, memory, and physical presence." Think of it as a 3-D scrapbook...

Read more: http://culture.bitchbuzz.com/joan-jonass-the-juniper-tree-exhibition.html#ixzz0qdBvG2QG

Check the two pieces out and be sure to retweet or post on Facebook if you want to help share them. The Jonas installation has inspired an idea for a play which I'm pecking away at while I work on ten other things (as usual). And no, Robert -- she's not related to the Jonas Brothers as far as I know.

Yesterday went to the new exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery, but I found it rather disappointing and uninspired. The only pieces I liked much were paintings by Sigrid Holmwood and Ged Quinn. I was hoping for more.

Off to the wild west today (Hanwell, that is). Fun!