Monthly Archives: December 2011

A Sci-Fi Fantasy Kind of Christmas

by Gail Z. Martin

If you’ve missed your invitation to the holiday dinner at Hogwarts, here are some seasonal selections that should warm every fennish heart.

Doctor Who Christmas Filk  https://youtu.be/OY3yJ7rCH8g

I Want a Doctor (Who) for Christmas https://youtu.be/gZnqLehMjtc

It’s Voldemort Outside https://chavelaque.blogspot.com/2005/12/harry-potter-christmas-filk-its.html

A Cthulhu Christmas Chorale https://www.khaosworks.org/filk/cthulhuxmas.html

I Saw ‘Nara Kissin’ Cap’n Mal https://squidge.org/~peja/cgi-bin/viewstory.php?skin=eFiction&sid=44271

A mash-up of fandom in “My Favorite Things: https://eeknight.livejournal.com/210981.html

Don’t forget A Christmas Carol—the version with JonLuc Picard (I mean Patrick Stewart).

Or, just pop your VHS copy of A Star Wars Christmas Special into your VCR and enjoy!

Enjoy!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Gail Z. Martin

The Way of Words

by

Crymsyn Hart

The English language never ceases to amaze me. Recently, I was browsing through the television channels, hoping to find something interesting to watch while I was writing. Instead, I was hit with the same commercial on two stations. It was nothing more than a store advertising different electronics, but they made a comparison to the word jam, one in the sense of the jelly you spread on toast and another meaning in regards to music. And it yet it also means to wedge something tightly between two surfaces.

There are many other words that have dual or multiple meanings that are spelled the same and others that are slightly different spelling, but still sound the same. Think of all those words. Then think of the poor author who has to use the right word, with the correct meaning, and hopefully the property spelling. Do you feel bad for us now? 🙂

As a reader, I take in what an author puts down on the page and hope to maybe pick up a word or two. As a writer, I find myself writing a sentence with the word that I desire to use, but I most of the time it never comes out. Think of it as having the word on the tip your tongue when you want to speak and just doesn’t work. Then, during the editing process, I am likely to find that perfect word. But sometimes, it evades me so I have to choose another that means the same.  And then the editor gets involved, and finds another word to use for you. It can all be very frustrating.

But that is the way of words.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Crymsyn Hart

Merry Winterstide to All

by Gail Z. Martin
If you’ve read any of my books, you know holiday celebrations in the differing traditions of the Winter Kingdoms are a big part of the story.  I had a lot of fun with this, but I also thought that readers could gain a lot of insight into characters and kingdoms by seeing how their celebrations differed.

Of course Winterstide is the mid-winter solstice, and in The Blood King, my main characters are in exile in Principality for the holidays.  While they’re guests of the king and invited to celebrate in style, there’s a lot of tension as they remember holidays past with loved ones who are now dead, and wonder whether or not they’ll live to see future holidays.  It’s also natural for the characters to reminisce about the foods and celebrations that they miss from back home, which is especially bittersweet because “home” has changed irrevocably for all of them.

Winterstide crops up again in Dark Haven, a year later.  The world has completely changed for all the characters, and most of them are celebrating in places and in ways they never thought possible just a year before.  Once again, Tris passes both his birthday and Winterstide away from home, this time, besieging a fortress.  Jonmarc discovers that vayash moru bring a whole new perspective on holidays.  But for all of them, Winterstide is a light in the darkness.

Wherever your holidays find you, I hope that there is light in the darkness.

 

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Gail Z. Martin

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

The Holidays

This is the time of year for many religious celebrations.  From Yule, to Hanukkah, to Christmas to Kwanzaa.  People of various religions observe some of their most deeply rooted traditions at this time of year. 

It brings me to a point that I want to make relative to paranormal research.  You have to honor and respect, as well as, possess a basic understanding of the beliefs of you clients.  This is especially true when trying to help in remediation of a situation where an entity is present.  I depend on a client’s strong faith and belief system, no matter what that may be, when assisting them in regaining control of their home or business where an unwanted spirit is present.

In that vein, I would like to wish all a Joyous Yule and observance of the Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and an empowered Kwanzaa.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Tina R. McSwain

Sci-Fi Takes a Holiday

by Gail Z. Martin

What are your favorite holidays in a Sci-Fi or Fantasy book, movie or show?  I’d love to know!

Some of the ones I remember—Babylon 5 did a great job with the holidays of different planets.  Lord of the Rings certainly had plenty of celebrations.  Independence Day (the movie) put a whole new spin on Independence Day (the holiday).  V for Vendetta (not really sci fi but can we stretch fantasy to include it?) did for Guy Fawkes Day what Independence Day did for July 4.

What am I missing?  What’s your favorite?

If you haven’t read John Scalzi’s blog post about sci fi holiday specials, it’s definitely worth a read.  And yeah, we all watched the Star Wars Holiday Special, don’t try to deny it! https://www.filmcritic.com/features/2011/12/truly-terrible-science-fiction-film-holiday-specials/

Scalzi suggests some not-yet-but-could-be sci-fi holiday specials, but I bet you can think of others.  What would you like to see?

Let’s be right up front here—Christmas does focus on a chubby red alien in a UFO  (yeah, eight tiny reindeer…sure).

Here’s one:  Unification Day Pub Crawl.  This is for all the Browncoats who seem to find themselves in a bar on U-Day.

Ok, by now we’ve all seen Rudolph a gazillion times as well as the Grinch.  So what are your favorite holiday specials or stories?  Bonus points for the unusual and the obscure.

Mine—the book How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Reiss.

Here’s a link to a list of 16 holiday themed Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories:  https://bryanthomasschmidt.net/2011/12/05/16-holiday-themed-science-fiction-and-fantasy-stories/

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Gail Z. Martin

The Transliterated, Translated, and Transatlantic Vampire

BY J. F. Lewis  

 
You can’t use the F-word in Italian. 
   
Not the way we do it in American English. In English, we can have our characters drop the F bomb in all sorts of creative ways. They can apply it to a cellphone when the bleeping thing doesn’t have a signal. They can use it when talking about the best bleeping pizza they’ve ever smelled… They can ever threaten to bleep somebody up or use it a verbal bleeping punctuation.  
 
All sorts of ways. But (again), not in Italian.  
 
In Italian, one can (apparently) only use the F-bomb when one actually means the activity, but that, as far as my limited knowledge of the language goes, is all. Which means that Eric, the memory deficient vampire and lead protagonist of my Void City novels (and head potty mouth, too), is translated into Italian, he tends to “damn” things instead.  
 
 
(Evil authorial aside: And in Italian, Eric gets footnotes. Ha! 🙂 When I first saw that, I smiled bigger than you can believe.)  
 
 
Looking a the French version, I noticed similar differences. In neither French nor Italian, do they appear to use quotations marks. Instead, they use << >>.  
 
 
<< Burned: A Void City Novel comes out January 31, 2011,>> the author said aloud to himself so he would have an opportunity to demonstrate the wacky non-quotation marks. <<How funky are these brackets?>>
 
 
The titles changed, too. In Italian, STAKED became “Caccia al Vampiro” which I think translates roughly to VAMPIRE HUNT. In French, STAKED became “Un Pieu dans le Coeur” or A STAKE THROUGH THE HEART, while ReVAMPED turned into “Le Vampire et le Meilleur” which may mean THE IMPROVED VAMPIRE or THE BEST VAMPIRE… To be honest, I’m not sure.  
 
 
So the next time you click Google Translate and are informed that those toothpicks are “Not to be used for the other use”, remember how cool it is that we can get even those kind of rudimentary (and getting better every day) translations. Think about all the hard work translators do to take an author’s words, and make them, not just comprehensible in another language, but to try and preserve the style and the narrative voice.

Leave a Comment

Filed under J.F. Lewis

Paranormally Speaking

By Tina R. McSwain

A Note to My Readers

The Paranormally Speaking section has been somewhat of a ghost itself as of late.  The reason, my Mother has been in the hospital and now in a nursing home.  This has been quite the learning experience for me.  Dealing with social workers, case managers, nurses, doctors, CNAs, dietitians, directors, physical therapists, transportation specialist.  I was not aware of how many separate people would be involved in my Mother’s care and rehabilitation.

I am happy to say, she is doing well, steadily improving, and I am back at writing this Blog for your information and enjoyment.

And, on that note, there is a Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse on Saturday.  Does this increase paranormal activity?  Many believe so.  It is usually reported by many sources that three days before, during, and up to three days after a Full Moon, paranormal activity and ghostly manifestations appear to be on the rise.

I plan to be in an old, creepy, and supposedly haunted location to find out.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Twelve Days of Writing Over the Holiday

by Gail Z. Martin

We all love the holidays, but how in the sam hill do you get a book written with a house full of guests and a mouth full of eggnog?

I mean, peace on earth and goodwill toward men is fine and dandy, but publishing is a business, for cryin’ out loud!  We’ve got deadlines, people!

So for all those authors who are juggling their work on the next great American novel with festivities, here are twelve ideas to keep you going:

  • When everyone else goes a’wassailing, stay home and write.
  • Put the kids to bed early on Christmas Eve (use the Santa excuse) and stay up late writing
  • Everyone else will go to bed at 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day.  You’ve got at least seven hours of peace and quiet until they get back up.
  • Do your Christmas shopping via the Internet and use the time you aren’t at the mall to catch up on your novel.
  • Skip writing the family Christmas card letter and get another page or two done on your manuscript.
  • Post a holiday blog instead of sending Christmas cards and use the time you would have spent licking envelopes on your manuscript.
  • Ask Santa for an extension on your deadline.
  • Interview Santa for an expose—after all, he knows who’s been naughty or nice.
  • Use rejection letters to kindle a good chestnut-roasting fire.
  • Ask Santa for an iTunes gift card so you can stock up on writing apps for your smart phone.
  • Recognize the role writers have played in our holiday celebrations.  Without advertising copywriters, there wouldn’t be Rudolph (Montgomery Ward) or Santa as we know him (Coca Cola).  Or the ghost of Christmas Past (Dickens).
  • If all else fails, knock back a shot of Christmas spirit and keep on typing!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Books, Gail Z. Martin

Tis The Season

by

Crymsyn Hart

It’s getting close to Christmas. Snow has blanketed part of the country, but in my neck of the woods, all we are getting is rain. It’s fifty degrees outside and balmy. It just doesn’t feel like the holidays are upon us. Lights twinkle in windows and wreathes adorn doors. Some cars sport antlers and displays of lights are numerous around neighborhoods. The next town over from me lights up all of main street and shuts down the main road by my house because they get so many visitors every year. Stores are in full swing for the holidays and families are hearing up to travel or make plans for their holiday plans.

I’ve done all my shopping and wrapped all my presents. My small purple tree is up and decorated with Looney Tune characters ornaments. Hubby has started to get into the spirit. For him that is a huge step. The dogs have already poked their noses into my tree searching for food or something they find appetizing. Of course their presents are stowed away where they can’t find them until the big day.

With all the holidays, come holiday books. The publishers as well as the stores start early putting them out before Thanksgiving. I don’t normally write the holiday stuff, but this year I had a great idea that centered around making meatballs. And behold, a book had evolved that I had no idea where it would come from. But that happens a lot. I plan one thing and then something else pops up. That seems to be the way with life. You never know what you’re going to get. Tis the season to share and bring holiday cheer where you can. Whether you get there by making meatballs, being with your friends, or finding yourself delving into an intriguing story.

How do the holidays play a role in your life? Do you celebrate? Do you cook or go over a friend’s house?

Leave a Comment

Filed under Crymsyn Hart

The Challenge of Short Stories

by Gail Z. Martin

This year during my Days of the Dead online tour, I included excerpts to four of my short stories.  They are set in a completely separate world from my novels, and are written in first-person, rather than multiple viewpoints as with the books.

They also represent a real leap of faith for me, as I came to writing short stories after I was already published for novels—big, fat novels.  After fulfilling a contractual obligation to write 145,000 words, needing to write only 8,000 – 10,000 seemed a lot harder.  I’d never written first-person voice before, either.  But, as happens with many (if not most) anthologies, my friends—the anthology editor and fellow contributing authors—prevailed on me to give it a shot.

I was pleasantly surprised, and the stories were accepted, so I guess it went well.  And I found out that, for all the initial terror, it was also fun.  I’m hoping to contribute to a couple of anthologies a year, and to keep fleshing out the new world I’ve begun to explore.

I’ve also started to read more anthologies, which is also something new for me.  I loved Home Improvement: Undead Edition, which hit me just as we were remodeling my dad’s house.  Here are some anthologies that feature work by many of my writer friends for your short story bookshelf:  The Bad-Ass Fairies series, edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail; Writers for Relief, edited by Davey Beauchamp; Tales of Fortannis: a Bard’s Eye View, edited by Michael A. Ventrella; After Hours: Tales from Ur-Bar, edited by Joshua Palmatier and Patricia Bray; and Blood and Devotion.

You can find my short stories in the Rum & Runestones anthology from DragonMoon Press, in The Bitten Word from NewCon Press, in the upcoming Spells & Swashbucklers from DragonMoon Press (2012) and a yet-unnamed UK anthology coming out next Fall.

And in case you missed them during the tour, here are the links to my short story excerpts:

An excerpt from my short story, “The Low Road”, coming in Spells and Swashbucklers from DragonMoon Press https://www.4shared.com/document/CQ5Af400/An_Excerpt_from_The_Low_Road_b.html

An excerpt from my short story “Steer a Pale Course” in Rum and Runestones from DragonMoon Press https://www.4shared.com/document/7YXNnm42/An_excerpt_from_Steer_a_Pale_C.html

An excerpt from my short story “Among the Shoals” in an upcoming UK anthology https://www.4shared.com/document/e5deWqV_/An_Excerpt_from_Among_the_Shoa.html

An excerpt from my short story “Vanities” in The Bitten Word anthology from NewCon Press https://www.4shared.com/document/aA6cz–z/An_Excerpt_from_Vanities_by_Ga.html

Enjoy!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Gail Z. Martin