Just in case you haven’t seen it. Here is the beautiful trailer of “Where the Wild Things Are” chock full of fantastic body puppetry and animatronic goodness.

According to Jay Garmon, of Tech Republic, I’m one of “50 top-shelf geeks to be found on Twitter.” This amuses me.

via 50 ubergeeks worth following on Twitter.

Really, this doesn’t need anymore intro than the title.

via SF Signal

We’re having a conversation on puptcrit (Puppet Critique), which is a listserver for puppeteers, about scripting for puppet theater. One of the major problems with writing for puppet theater is that it is a very specific and different skill set from writing for live actors. I don’t write the scripts for our shows, because that’s not where my skills lie. It’s totally different from fiction.

Puppets can do things that actors can’t as well as having limitations that actors don’t.  In the course of the conversation, I talked about the importance of finding a playwright who understands, or is willing to learn, about writing for puppet theater.

Frequently, a show is largely non-verbal.  The question came up: How do you script a non-verbal show?

In response, I wrote:

Heh.

Okay, so that thing I said earlier about that I don’t write for stage?  My one play was non-verbal and was awarded an UNIMA Citation.  The reason I bring it up now is that several years ago, we did an experiment with MUM Puppet Theater and shipped them our script and puppets.  By all accounts, the show had the same impact on the audience as our original play did.

The way I did it was that I scripted the characters’ intentions AND their actions. My feeling is that body language is a non-verbal expression of what a character is thinking and feeling. So writing, “Character picks up rock” tells you what happens, but the way you pick up a rock if you’re planning on killing someone is different from if you think it’s pretty. It might be body language, but it is still language.

Since I can’t attach things to posts on puptcrit, I told everyone that I’d post it here.  Sorry non-puppet folks, for dropping you into the middle of a larger conversation.

Here is the 1993 script for “Old Man Who Made Trees Blossom.”

I have three version of Evil Robot Monkey to offer for your consideration as one of the Hugo nominees for Short Story.  It was originally published in the Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, vol. 2 edited by George Mann.

You may download a .pdf in the form of a mini-chapbook, illustrated by me. I do layout the way other people doodle and made this while I was waiting for the announcement to go live.

Or you could listen to me read it. Six minutes of science-fiction.

Evil Robot Monkey, by Mary Robinette Kowal

Edited to add: Andrew Neely very kindly converted the audio to an M4B (iTunes audiobook) version.

Or, you can skip after the cut and read the story right here.

Continue reading Evil Robot Monkey

• 11:26 I’ve added a set of stone wings to my to do list. In these economic times, thank God I have puppetry to fall back on. #
• 12:00 The box of entrails will now be a cigar tray of entrails. No steaming, no dripping. #
• 12:29 In the basement at Barnard, pulling props from stock. I love it when a theater has an organized prop room. #

Of the awards given at WorldCon this year, the one I’m watching with the most interest (aside from short stories) is the Campbell. Since, by lucky chance, I’ve met all but one of this year’s crop of Campbell nominees, I decided to introduce them to you via a series of interviews.  I’ll post one each Monday for the next five weeks.

To start you off, meet David Anthony Durham, whose birthday it is today.

David Anthony Durham is the author of the fantasy novel Acacia: The War With The Mein (2007, Doubleday/Anchor), as well as the historical novels Pride of Carthage (2005. Doubleday/Anchor), Walk Through Darkness (2002, Doubleday/Anchor) and Gabriel’s Story (2001, Doubleday/Anchor). His novels have been published in the UK and in French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Swedish versions. Three of his novels are currently under option for development as feature films. The Other Lands, the sequel to Acacia, comes out in September 2009. David is a two time John W Campbell Award Finalist for Best New Writer.

So what did you do when you were notified about the nomination?
I skipped through the house and informed my kids, who were having a story read to them by their mother. They all take such things rather calmly. They just sort of looked at me, smiling politely and making noises. I wanted more. So I pointed out the fact that we’re all going to Montreal for Anticipation, which is even more… um, filled with anticipation now. They nodded and seemed a little more engaged. Then I mentioned that Neil Gaiman would be there. That sealed it. We all did happy dances, which was rather nice.

How long have you been writing?
I have  journal from eight grade that I filled with stories of warrior turtles with battle axes. I say in that journal that I’m going to be a writer. I did forget that for a while, and flailed around with other art forms and aspirations, but I’d gotten serious by college. By the time I was a sophomore I’d focused on writing again, and never stopped.

Can you point to any ways in which your time living abroad has influenced your writing?
I met the woman that became my wife and the mother of my children. That’s influenced everything.

How in the world do you balance your job teaching, time with your family and writing novels?
Very poorly. I always knew I wanted to be a full time writer, but I’d trained a lot for teaching as well. When a series of good offers jobs came my way, I accepted. I had to give it a serious try, be a grown-up and all that. The last few years it’s felt a bit like I’ve been working three and a half jobs: novelist, Associate Professor in Cal State Fresno’s MFA program and as a part time faculty member of the Stonecoast MFA program. I didn’t “balance” these things. I just sort of swayed drunkenly between them. And time with the family has suffered too. I’m often at home, but just being in the space physically doesn’t mean I’m there for them in the way I want to be.  So…

Things are changing. I’ll be leaving my job at Cal State at the end of this semester. Next July we’ll arrive back at our house in the woods in Western Massachusetts (we’ve been renting it), and there I’ll primarily write, while also continuing to teach for Stonecoast. That’s become a special thing for me, as they have a Popular Fiction emphasis to their MFA. I can work with aspiring writers, but can do so with fantasy and sci-fi and crime and historical works as the focus. It’s great fun. It’s my hope that this move will get the balance back in our home life. And I plan on producing more fiction than ever before!

Is there a definable point when you realized that writing had changed from a hobby to an avocation?
It never felt like a hobby. From college on everything I wrote was in the service of becoming a publishing novelist. Took a bit longer than I expected – two unpublished novels, for example – but I was always serious about it.

What projects are you working on now?
I’ve finished the sequel to Acacia, called The Other Lands, which will come out in September. I’ll be doing some copy editing and doing various pre-publication stuff for it. My next book will be the third and final book in this trilogy. It picks up right where the second volume leaves off. So I’m kinda in between the two volumes just now. I’m also about to read the screenplay Andrew Grant has written for Acacia. It’s not exactly work – since I’m not actively participating in the writing – but it’ll be interesting to dabble in movie stuff.

What are you currently reading?
I spent much of February reading applications to both Cal State’s MFA Program and the Stonecoast MFA also. I’ve read LOTS of applications, all on a very short schedule. Yikes. Glad that’s behind me. I found some very promising student writers in there, but still…
In terms of fiction I have four books open at the moment. I’m reading Kay Kenyon’s Bright of the Sky and the first Wild Cards book. And I have Ekaterina’s The House of Discarded Dreams under my bed at the moment. I’ve been enjoying it for some time, but it’s gotten into that cycle where I never manage to finish it because things keep interrupting. Those are my pleasure/professional choices at the moment. I’m also reading The Bourne Identity as part of a Popular Fiction course I’m teaching at Cal State.

What is it about speculative fiction, in general, that most appeals to you?
Fantasy taught me to read, to dream, to travel in my mind. CS Lewis and Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin were hugely important to me. But then I spent a lot years in college and grad school focused on literary fiction. I don’t regret that, and literary fiction will always be important to me too, but… A few years ago I realized that I hadn’t been ENJOYING reading as much as I wanted to. And I “realized” this because despite the literary setting I was living in I kept seeking out speculative authors: Octavia Butler, Frank Herbert, Neal Stephenson, Neil Gaiman… I was choosing titles from different places than my literary colleagues, and I was really digging those places. I fell in love with reading again. Why exactly I can’t say, except that by nature I like to read novels that mix ideas and characters with imaginative journeys. I crave both, and speculative fiction provides both in great measure.

Thanks, David, and Happy Birthday!

As always, cons are both fun and exhausting.  Lunacon hit me particularly hard, not because of the pace while at the con, but because I opted to come home every night instead of staying at the hotel. On the face of it, this seems completely reasonable since home was only forty-five minutes away and I have longer commutes than that on a regular basis in the city.  In practice, however, it meant that I missed out on all the hanging out in the bar and unwinding that makes up much of con time.

Still, it was a fun con and it was nice to see the host of folks.  I particularly enjoyed stumbling onto the branch of MaltCon 09.3 surrounding Laura Anne Gilman. Next time, I will have to bring my own flask so I can share. Despite my complaints about travel, I did get to spend time in the bar with Chuck Gannon, Mike Kabonga, and Neal Clarke, of the Hugo-nominated Clarkesworld magazine, today before Rob whisked me back to the city on the bike. (By whisked, I mean, drove slowly through traffic.) I also met some lovely, lovely people including, but not limited to, Kate Baker,  Chris McMahon, Jill Friedman, Racheline Maltese and Tom Crosshill.

All in all, it was a good weekend.

• 23:59 I’m home for the night from Lunacon, which was fun. It feels weird to be coming back here instead of hanging out in the bar. #
• 00:20 Clearly I’m going to have to avoid the entire internet, particularly Twitter, until next week, when I get to see the season finale of BSG. #
• 09:16 There’s that sense on an unfamiliar train that I’ve missed my stop. Particularly when the last trip on the same line was express. #
• 12:03 We’re getting ready to start the gender balance in Fantasy panel. 4 women & 1 man. #
• 16:09 They’ve got a blood drive at Lunacon. I’m all signed up and ready to go. #
• 16:55 Hm. Real blood is signifcantly darker than stage blood, even when fresh. #
• 17:12 Listening to panel on making enduring fantasy worlds. Jim Minz, Chris McMahon, Ginjer Buchanon & Mercedes Lackey #
• 17:27 Mercedes Lackey: Involve all the senses. Figure out what is jarring and eliminate that. Smell is intimately related to memory. #

I have to say that seeing a vegetable garden go in at the White House makes me really happy.

via The White House – Blog Post – Spring Gardening.

I’m heading for Lunacon . Will I see some of you there?

Friday
How to Avoid Publishing Scams 6:00 PM (Brundage B)
Warning signs, what to ask, and what to look out for.
Participants: Sean P. Fodera[M], Mary Robinette Kowal, Joshua Palmatier, Ian Randal Strock,

The Worst Advice I Ever Got? 7:00 PM (Brundage B)
About writing. About critiquing. About the publishing business. About marketing.
Participants: Barbara Campbell[M], Mary Robinette Kowal, Nick Pollotta, Shane Tourtellotte, Michael A. Ventrella,

Saturday
Sports and Fantasy 1:00 (Brundage A)
SF is filled with sports and games, but fantasy isn’t (quiddich being a conspicuous exception). How come everyone in the future is involved in physical activities, but no one in fantasy seems to have extracurricular hobbies when they’re not dragon slaying or wenching? Why aren’t there more Robin Hood style town archery contests or Tom Brown’s Schooldays style contests between villages?
Participants: Pauline Alama[M], Alma Alexander, Sam Butler, Mary Robinette Kowal, Chuck Rothman,

Gender Balance in Fantasy 12:00 PM (Grand Center)
We’ve come a long way from the days when it didn’t occur to Tolkien to put any female characters in The Hobbit. Nowadays, the perky girl protagonist is as much a staple of the genre as the pig boy who’s destined to be king. Have we reached a good balance, or are we just creating new cliches?
Participants: Alma Alexander[M], Esther Friesner, Daniel Hoyt, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mercedes Lackey,

Sunday
Reading 12:30 – (Elija Budd)
A chapter of Shades of Milk and Honey OR a new short story, depending on audience choice.

This week’s AMC column looks at the difference between stage magic and real magic.

I spent a season working as a stage magician’s assistant. I wasn’t doing much magic, mind you, but it was enough to make me absolutely fascinated. One of the things he taught me was that If you know how it’s done, it’s a trick. If you don’t, it’s magic. I’ve been thinking about that lately in the context of fantasy movies, and how the rules of these different magical worlds tend to intermingle. Often we know what the rules are governing the use of magic, but we never really know how it is done. What happens when stage magic and fantasy meet? How do you draw the line between sorcery and sleight of hand?

Swing by and join the conversation about real magic versus stage magic..

Here’s another post that you’re reading days and days after I write it.

Short form:

My story, “Evil Robot Monkey” has been nominated for a Hugo!

!!!!

Longform:

Jodi and I had a show last Thursday night and went out afterwards with his sweetie, Sam, to hang and celebrate that it went pretty darn well. About 10:30, I pulled out my G1 to check the time and it was open to email.

The top message had the subject line, “Contact: Hugo Nomination.”

Jodi and Sam ceased to exist for a moment (Sorry, fellows) and I opened the email. As I read it, a grin spread across my face and I looked up, totally cutting Sam off. “Gentlemen, I’ve just been nominated for a Hugo.”

None of us could shriek but they were as appropriately enthusiastic as a girl could wish. I know we talked about other things afterwards, but my head was totally wrapped up in HUGO!

Holy cow! My story. A Hugo nominee!!!!

And I have to keep it a secret. Do you have any idea how painful it is to hang out with SF folks when you’re holding in something like this? I’m distracting myself by shopping for a dress. I think that’s reasonable, don’t you?

This week is just astonishingly packed.  In a nutshell, I had a meeting about crows and entrails on Monday. Tuesday was my writer’s group, plus dinner with a friend from out of town, plus the arrival of Alma Alexander whose staying with us for a couple days. Wednesday was work then KGB Fantastic Reading. Tomorrow I’m having a writing date with N.K. Jemison and then my wonder-agent Jenn Jackson is stopping by for dinner and a sleepover. Friday I go to Lunacon and an entirely different friend comes to stay with us for about a week, while a pair of friends is also in town and raring for some social time.

Don’t be surprised if the blogging is a little light for the next week.

In the world of real life is freaky, check out the olm, which even has a name suited for a fantasy.

The olm is a Europe’s only cave adapted vertebrate, and has numerous adaptations for an underground life. Olms hunt their prey in the absolute dark and have developed a powerful sensory system of smell, taste, hearing and electrosensitivity. Olms are pale and sightless, although their skin-covered eyes are still light sensitive. They are an entirely aquatic species that can survive without food for up to 10 years and live to an age of 58 or more. Part of an ancient lineage of amphibians evolving independently for 190 million years, this species is now threatened by pollution and habitat disturbance. A small subpopulation of “black olms” may be a separate species requiring additional protection.

via EDGE :: Amphibian Species Information.