eldritchhobbit

Blech! Very sick here. So many are! The ick is making the rounds. 'Tis the season, I suppose. My husband is two weeks into it and he still has little voice and lots of coughing. I'm just in week one, full of antibiotics. Joy! /Whinging

I hope all of you are well, my friends!

Here are several cool Calls for Papers for anyone so inclined:
* "Special Edition of Fantastika Journal" (incorporates the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror, but can also include alternative histories, steampunk, young adult fiction, or any other imaginative space)
* "Representing Rural Women"
* "Stranger Things: Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence"
* "Science Fiction Beyond the Western Canon"

Most of all, I just want to share the news about an amazing and inspiring project created by StarShipSofa's Districts of Wonders network, one I'm deeply honored to be a part of: Everyone: Worlds Without Walls, a speculative fiction anthology of new and diverse voices from around the globe. I invite you to check it out!

A lot has been going on here, but pretty much everything pales beside the specter of the Western North Carolina wildfires. What's happening to the Blue Ridge Mountains and the wildlife there is absolutely tragic, and the heroism of the men and women fighting the flames cannot be overstated. We're currently in what's been classified as a Red Zone for "unhealthy" air quality due to the smoke and ash.


In happier news...

- I was interviewed for this article by Tiffany Gee Lewis of The Deseret News: The Cultural Impacts of Harry Potter on the Next Generation."

- My latest "Looking Back on Genre History" segment, which focuses on the work of Sheri S. Tepper, is up on the new episode of StarShipSofa here. If you listen, I hope you enjoy!

- Here are a few Calls for Papers that may be of interest.
--- Medicine and Mystery: The Dark Side of Science in Victorian Fiction
--- Serenity: Essays on Joss Whedon’s "Big Damn Movie"
--- At the Mercy of Monsters: Essays on the Rise of Supernatural Procedural Dramas


Lastly, on my trip to speak in D.C. a couple of weeks ago, I stopped off at one of my favorite places in the world, The Poe Museum. Here's Poe in the Poe Shrine, with the morning's pennies left by visitors.

ConCarolinas was terrific. I wanted to give this gentleman all the lightsabers. All the lightsabers, I say!



For your reading enjoyment: "The Dark, Dystopian Novel That Should Be at the Top of Your 2016 Reading List."

Last but not least, here are some recent Calls for Papers that might be of interest:
* Clio: A Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History
* Bridging the Solitudes: Essays on Canadian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
* Afrofuturism in Time and Space
* Victorian Education and the Periodical Press
* Science Fiction and Theatre
* Women in STEM on TV

Here's one more call for papers I had to share! The editor is a dear friend of mine, and I'm very excited about this volume. I hope some of you will consider submitting abstracts for it.

Call for Papers: Essays in Virtual Dark Tourism

“Call it a pilgrimage, perhaps.”
- Vintage Season

Dark Tourism studies are expanding as scholars, largely from public history fields, have become interested in the phenomenon of thanatourism: people’s fascination with traveling to places that have witnessed death or that recreate sites of calamity, war, and destruction. Ranging from the absurd and comical to the profoundly moving, these sites connect people to the past in tangible ways through objects, spaces, exhibits, and dramatic recreation.



The desire to journey to dark places of the past also extends to the realm of the imagination. Artists, writers, filmmakers, and designers of video games (among others) have created virtual Dark Tourism experiences for armchair travelers by having people participate in imaginary voyages to lands and times where terrible acts have occurred.

( Read more. )

* From the Edgar Allan Poe Museum: Are you a writer who has been inspired by Poe? Send us your poetry and flash fiction that demonstrate his influence, whether you’ve been inspired by Poe’s use of the grotesque, his theory of the unified effect, or his pioneering work in science fiction and the detective story. No matter what he wrote, Poe imbued his work with a relentless creative spirit—that’s what we’re hoping to find in your submissions. Learn more here.

* From Simon & Schuster: In celebration of Star Trek’s 50th anniversary in 2016, publisher Simon & Schuster is bringing back the popular fan fiction writing contest, Strange New Worlds! Here is your unique opportunity to present to this world and beyond that special Star Trek story that has never been told. Learn more here.

* From Apex Publications: Announcing the open call for submissions for the upcoming Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling anthology. This collection is edited by Monica Valentinelli and Jaym Gates, and will be coming in 2016 from Apex Publications. There have been quite a few discussions in science fiction and fantasy addressing the idea of tropes and cliches, from whether they’re good or bad to how they change over time. Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling is a collection of stories that aims to subvert many of the popular tropes and cliches to show them in a new light. Each story in our collection will be an author’s creative examination of a specific trope that is prevalent in science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Examples of tropes include some well-defined character tropes, but also storytelling tropes that lazily incorporate race, gender, religion, etc. Learn more here.

* Also from Apex Publications: Apex Publications seeks submissions for Undead: A Poetry Anthology of Ghouls, Ghosts, and More. Editors Bianca Lynne Spriggs (Apex Magazine’s poetry editor) and Katerina Stoykova-Klemer welcome your specters, apparitions, zombies, wraiths, phantoms, thought forms and anything (or anyone) animate but no longer living. Learn more here.

The Museum of Science Fiction, the world's first comprehensive science fiction museum, will publish an academic journal of science fiction using the University of Maryland's journal management system. The first issue of the Museum’s new Journal of Science Fiction will be launched in January of 2016 and will serve as a forum for scientists and academics from around the world to discuss science fiction, including recent trends in the genre, its influence on the modern world, and its prognostications of the future.

Greg Bear, member of Museum of Science Fiction’s Board of Advisors and Hugo award-winning science fiction author, said, “Science fiction as literature has real staying power and has been a huge influence on our modern world. It’s only fitting that we attempt to understand the cultural and mythic roots of our need for anticipation, adventure, and imagination.”

“We want readers everywhere to consider the science fiction genre they love from new angles. We want them to ask questions and to have fun doing so," said Monica Louzon, managing editor of the Museum’s new Journal of Science Fiction. “We’re encouraging anyone who considers themselves a science fiction scholar to send us their original articles, essays or book reviews for our first issue.”

The Journal of Science Fiction will be published online and freely accessible to everyone; no subscription or submission fees are required. The Museum’s Journal of Science Fiction welcomes original work from writers around the world, with an emphasis on the interdisciplinary and innovative aspects of science fiction. Issues will be published three times a year and each will feature between eight and twelve peer-reviewed academic articles as well as several book reviews and essays.

Submission information for The Journal of Science Fiction can be found here on the journal’s homepage at the University of Maryland.

Any journal-related questions can emailed to Monica Louzon, Managing Editor, at journal@museumofsciencefiction.org.

Here are some Calls for Papers that may be of interest:
- Special Issue of the Journal of Popular Film and Television on Sherlock Holmes Onscreen
- Monstrous Moral Messengers: Supernatural Figures in Children’s Picture Books & Early Readings
- Monsters, Demons and the Jewish Fantastic
- Journal of Dracula Studies

Here is some of the oldest film of London still in existence, including amazing old footage plus modern shots of the same locations today. This also features maps carefully researched to show where the camera was during different takes.

Happy early birthday wishes to angelinehawkes, idwoman, pseudoanorexic, vyrdolak, lyria_theringer, bistokidsfan77, catw, dragonrose1125, dduane, lexie_marie, jalara, theladyrose, elvenjoy, jan_u_wine, gondoriangirl, vivien529, and senket. May each of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!

Of possible interest!

* Critical Insights: The Hunger Games is a volume in a Grey House literature reference series. The target audience is undergraduate and advanced high school students seeking deeper insight into the primary work(s) and literary study in general. The essays will be divided into two sections: Critical Contexts, consisting of essays relevant to the cultural and historical context of the primary work(s), and Critical Readings, consisting of essays offering various interpretations of the work(s). More information is available here.

* Here is the Lovecraftian Call for Abstracts for this year's Dr. Henry Armitage Memorial Scholarship Symposium (previously the Emerging Scholarship Symposium) at NecronomiCon in Providence. In 2013, this symposium was one of the highlights of the convention, and we're excited to bring it back this year, bigger and better. Deadline for submission is May 23. All accepted presenters will receive a free convention pass and access to a special reception for guests. However, space is limited, so all submissions will undergo a review process. For the full CFA and more details, go here. (Thanks to ankh_hpl!)

These count as cool things:

- Here's a Call for Papers of potential interest: CFP: What Can We Expect from Joss Whedon?

- J. Michael Straczynski will be adapting Kim Stanley Robinson: "Babylon 5 creator heads back to TV to write the Red Mars series."

- Speaking of adaptations, has anyone watched the new Amazon Originals pilot of The Man in the High Castle, adapted from Philip K. Dick's novel? We give it two enthusiastic thumbs up! So does The Independent: "The Man in the High Castle: From the makers of The X-Files and Blade Runner, the Amazon pilot all sci-fi fans should watch."

Here are a couple of Calls for Papers that may be of interest.

- From Here to Hogwarts is a proposed interdisciplinary, multi-contributer volume born of the burgeoning field of Harry Potter Studies and the community of collaborators that is developing within the Southwest Popular/American Culture Association. Read more here.

- Joss Whedon's Comics: Essays on any aspect of Whedon’s comics are welcome. Read more here.


And here's a thoughtful piece on one of my favorite current television series, Longmire: "Longmire Shattering Expectations for Procedural Television."

An excerpt: "The legacy of the western frontiersman chases and embraces dominance: dominance over the land, over the indigenous Cheyenne and Lakota peoples, as well as over Longmire’s own family. It is a paternalistic legacy that honors an alpha-masculinity, whose power can only be maintained by dwarfing all others. Instead of fully embracing this tradition, Walt Longmire represents an alternative. He inherits only that which is noble within this tradition, while working to mend the callously inflicted wounds perpetrated by those that fully embrace it....

"We tend to forget that when perpetrators commit crimes, they take. When thieves rob they do not just take nice cars and expensive jewelry, but they often take from the identities of their victims, distort reality, invade memories, seize happiness, and hold it for ransom. Longmire explores the crippling sorrow of reconciling with such grief, and the value in seeking resolution."

Here, have a scene (in which the literature-loving Longmire gets his Iliad on).