eldritchhobbit

We are almost there, my friends!

The quote for today come from Neil Gaiman's oh-so-timely essay "Ghosts in the Machines" from Tor.com.

"We are gathered here at the final end of what Bradbury called the October Country: a state of mind as much as it is a time. All the harvests are in, the frost is on the ground, there’s mist in the crisp night air and it’s time to tell ghost stories....

"And then there was the one who said, in her cellphone’s voicemail message, sounding amused as she said it, that she was afraid she had been murdered, but to leave a message and she would get back to us.

"It wasn’t until we read the news, several days later, that we learned that she had indeed been murdered, apparently randomly and quite horribly.

"But then she did get back to each of the people who had left her a message. By phone, at first, leaving cellphone messages that sounded like someone whispering in a gale, muffled wet sounds that never quite resolved into words.

"Eventually, of course, she will return our calls in person."

Read the complete "Ghosts in the Machines" here.


Source.

I come bearing links I hope will be of interest and use...


Fundraisers for Worthwhile Charity Causes

• The wonderful historical fantasy author D.B. Jackson is spearheading a fundraiser and giveaway via FirstGiving for the Boston Foundation and the One Fund of Boston to help the city in the wake of the bombings. Learn more here.


• Fans of the brilliant Rupert Graves are celebrating his upcoming 50th birthday via JustGiving by raising funds for the charity of which he's patron, The Springboard Opportunity Group, which serves children across North Somerset who have disabilities and additional needs. Learn more here.

Kickstarter Projects with a Lovecraftian Focus (Thanks to wellinghall!)

• The H.P. Lovecraft Bronze Bust Project will erect a life size tribute to the iconic author in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. About time, right?


• Martin Wallace offers board a game based on Neil Gaiman's Lovecraftian-Holmes novella A Study in Emerald (which just so happens to be one of my very favorite stories!).

Two Keynote Talks Worth Watching on YouTube

• Neil Gaiman's Keynote Address from the 2013 London Book Fair’s Digital Minds Conference


• LeVar Burton's Keynote Address from the 2012 O’Reilly TOC Publishing/Technology Conference

Last but definitely not least...

MARK THIS DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR: 28 July, 2013!

You are invited to participate in an international, interactive science fiction convention... from the comfort of your own home! It will be action-packed, inexpensive, and most of all, FUN!

SofaCON: An Online International Science Fiction Convention

Join the crew of the Hugo Award winning StarShipSofa, their special guests, and friends from all over the world as a new tradition begins: SofaCON, An Online International Science Fiction Convention. This live, history-making event will focus on those who are creators, scholars, and fans of the best of speculative fiction. Over the years StarShipSofa has brought together a global community of science fiction lovers; it’s time for old and new Sofanauts alike to meet in a real-time, interactive virtual venue to celebrate the genre they love.

Meet stellar authors. Watch exclusive interviews and lectures. Ask questions and offer comments. Enjoy the SF convention experience from the comfort of your home. Don’t miss this inaugural event!

New information on guests, scheduling, and registration will be updated at the con's website regularly, and I'll also be posting more updates soon here! I hope you can join us.

Many thanks to everyone who took part in my poll on the "Vampire Novel of the Century." The poll is still open, if anyone else would like to take part.


In other news...

* As of the time I'm posting this, there are only three tickets left for my Sherlock and Science Fiction web lecture/Q&A on February 18. Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word about this event.

* I have an update about Star Trek and History, the collection edited by Nancy Reagin that will include my essay "If This Is the (Final) Frontier, Where Are the Natives?" Wiley Blackwell has slated it for April 8, 2013 publication, just ahead of the expected May 2013 release date of the new Star Trek film. Huzzah!

* R.I.P., Etta James, January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012. I was listening to her haunting cover of "Somewhere" only hours before I learned of her death. *moment of silence*

* Neil Gaiman's Sherlockian story "The Case of Death and Honey" (from A Study in Sherlock) has been nominated for an Edgar Award. (So, too, has an episode of the amazing Justified.)

* Previously I posted that China Glaze was releasing a new nail lacquer set in honor of The Hunger Games. Here is new information and detailed pictures of "Colours from the Capitol: The Hunger Games Collection."

* Lastly, my sweetheart gave me my Valentine's present early, a wonderful little netbook to make all my travels this spring/summer/fall far easier. (While I like tablets, they're not terribly useful/efficient for my purposes.) I just got a new "skin" to personalize it, and I'm quite tickled with what I found. To me, it looks like a cross between Conan Doyle's Dr. John Watson, looking off into the distance, and a refugee from H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds, contemplating the Martians.




The official description is as follows: "A lone figure decked out in suit and bowler hat, is drawn to a mysterious, almost alien structure in the distance as a flock of silhouetted birds keeps watch, flying overhead, in this faded black and white grayscale design." I love it!

I'll be off tomorrow for StellarCon! I look forward to seeing some of you there. In the meantime, I have many links to share:

* StarShipSofa's episode with the nominees for this year's British Science Fiction Association Award for "Best Short Story" is now available, and it includes my narration of Aliette de Bodard's "The Shipmaker."

* The second of my two interviews with KosmosOnline Podcast, this one on the themes of liberty in Joss Whedon's Firefly and Serenity, is now available here.

* Underworld will be releasing a soundtrack album for Nick Dear's new Frankenstein play.

* March 4, 2011 marks the 130th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes's investigation of the "Lauriston Gardens Mystery," aka A Study in Scarlet. study130 is a new community celebrating A Study in Scarlet (and its modern incarnations, including Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" and the BBC's Sherlock episode "A Study in Pink").

* I thought this was a most interesting exchange regarding Helen Mirren's role in the latest version of The Tempest:
-- "On Prospero's Island" by Ursula K. Le Guin
-- in response, "As Weak as Women's Magic" by Athena Andreadis

* From Cthulhu Chick: "Wordcount for Lovecraft’s Favorite Words." "Hideous" FTW! (Thanks to wellinghall.)

* When oh when is the second series of Garrow's Law going to be available on US DVD? We inhaled the first series, and now we need more.

* Happy early birthday wishes to mizz_history! May you enjoy your day and a wonderful year to come.


"I consider that a man's brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things, so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it."
- Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle

** So NASA is holding a special televised news conference on Monday "to discuss the Chandra X-ray Observatory's discovery of an exceptional object in our cosmic neighborhood." Now that sounds interesting. Hmmm.


** Thanks to the brilliant Sherlock, I've decided to correct my heretofore scattershot and disorganized reading of Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes works by reading through them all in their original order of publication. I'm two novels into this project now and enjoying myself quite a bit. I'll probably use this as an excuse to revisit the Professor Challenger stories, too. (I love The Poison Belt!)

I wanted to ask you, my friends, for recommendations of Holmes pastiches. I know that the field is vast, and I want to sample the best (and leave the rest). I'm particularly interested in those that lean toward science fiction and speculative literature, as opposed to straight mystery. Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald" is one of my favorite short stories of all time, and I need to read all of Shadows over Baker Street. I've noted that Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Gaslight Grimoire, and Gaslight Grotesque all seem like good starting places. As for the subgenre of Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper fiction, I gather that Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson is the novel most respected by scholars of "Ripperology."

Do you have any suggestions for me?


** In other news, I'm quite intrigued by the new official trailer for 2011's Jane Eyre, starring Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench, and Alice in Wonderland's Mia Wasikowska as Jane. It looks like the film may emphasize the gothic aspects of the story, rather than just focusing on the period romance. If so, that's very refreshing. I look forward to seeing it.


** Happy early birthday wishes to adamantrealm, sneezythesquid, bibliotrope, and m_stiefvater. May you enjoy many happy returns of the day!


"I had no idea that such individuals exist outside of stories."
- Dr. Watson, A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle

Happy New Year's Eve! I'm sorry I've been quiet lately, but I've had a great deal on my professional plate. ('Tis the season.) I hope all is well with everyone.

Happy birthday to mamomo! May you have a wonderful day and a fantastic year to come.

In honor of the date, here is a quick meme:
( Favorites of 2006 )


A few recommendations...

* Since I made my comments on the title for the next Harry Potter novel, related posts have appeared elsewhere, including here, here, and here. (Be sure to check the list of links in the last one.)

* HogwartsProfessor.com has been redesigned and is hosting some fascinating discussions. I'm glad to see The Hidden Key to Harry Potter is being reissued in 2007.

* vulpine137 has posted a very useful "Beginner's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos."


And a couple of personal notes...

* My 50-minute interview on the "Writers on Writing" radio program (KUCI, Public Affairs Radio from the University of California at Irvine) from earlier this year is now online here. In this interview, I discuss The Magic Ring, The Trail of Tears and Indian Removal, and my other 2006 projects. (This interview is different than my previous half-hour interview on the "What Would Arwen Do?" radio program on the same station, which now is available for listening here.)

* I've created a "virtual office" for my classes, which at times will include open posts about required and recommended readings and such, here: dr_sturgis. I've also created a classroom blog for my upper-division seminar, hogwarts_at_bu, which will be a closed community for enrolled students only (although the links are visible to all).


Thank you, my friends, for helping to make my 2006 such a rewarding year. I am grateful for each and every one of you, and I wish you the very best in 2007.


Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.
- Henry Ward Beecher