I know, I know! THIS IS SO LATE! But here it is, better late than never! As always, I’ll post a list of what I’ve read/watched over the past month, and in some cases, provide some commentary. If there’s anything you’re interested in or curious about, don’t hesitate to ask me in the comments, and I’ll be happy to talk further!
July wasn’t very ambitious reading-wise, sadly. My comic pile is suffering too, and I’m reading at Sunday driver levels of speed. But hey, I’m catching up on some great television, and also, some great movies.
So this is really, really different, and for two reasons.
1) This is a link to a song file on MySpace, and not a video. I did find some videos on YouTube, but they were either abbreviated versions of the song that lacked some of the instrumentation that really makes the song stick out, and/or they were tribute videos that I felt would be distracting from the lyrics of the song. One thing I hate about music videos is that they tend to tell you a story rather than letting you create your own story for the song, and since nothing appealed here, I decided to go a different route.
2) First Music Monday featuring a male vocalist! I don’t know why Tom McRae’s been on my brain lately, but I remember when I first discovered his music: back during the heyday of Alias fandom and a lot of its fan art pulled from McRae’s lyrics. A friend I made through Live Journal sent me a mix CD of his work, and when I decided to buy the albums, I discovered this song and freaking fell in love with it. There is one thing I can tell you about Tom McRae lyrics, and I don’t say this often because I don’t often pay ATTENTION to lyrics, but it’s this: they’re poetic, poignant, and thought-provoking.
So in lieu of a video, click the link below to visit My Space and click play on the song. Please. I’d love to hear your thoughts. And since there’s nothing for you to look at, I’ve pasted the lyrics below the link.
This week, I’m done posting Hugo-nominated stories from the 2014 ballot. Instead, I come with a story that I really, really wish was eligible for next year’s Hugo’s, but alas, it is not.
“Night’s Slow Poison” by Ann Leckie is set in the same world as her debut, Nebula-winning and Hugo-nominated novel, Ancillary Justice, but trust me when I say you need NO KNOWLEDGE of that book to read and enjoy this short story, which was originally published in 2012 by Electric Velocipede and reprinted in 2014 on Tor.com. Below, should you be so inclined, is the Tor.com link.
“Night’s Slow Poison” is from the same setting as Ancillary Justice, and tells a rich, claustrophobic story of a galactic voyage that forces one guardsmen to confront his uneasy family history through the lens of a passenger with his lost lover’s eyes.
When I remembered Ilya, I remembered Johnny Hollow. I popped in their debut album the other day for a refresher and I have to say, it’s no wonder I took to Lindsey Sterling’s music so quickly! The debut album is very abstract in some senses, but the music is moody and atmospheric, and when “Mary” started, I remembered how much I loved this song.
And of course, there’s no music video for this song. Johnny Hollow is one of the more interesting bands you’ve never heard of, but someone besides me has heard of the band, and took this song and made a fan video for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Be still my heart, because I enjoyed the hell out of that show when it was on.
If you’re not a fan of the show, that’s fine. Enjoy the music. If you are a fan of the show, prepare to geek out to how the lyrics fit. If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, prepare to see Lena Headey kick-ass as Sarah Connor before she was Cersei!
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
Are your Hugo ballots in? I hope so, because yesterday was the very last day and now all that’s left is waiting to see who wins what award!
In the meantime, here’s one more story from the 2014 Hugo Ballot to read, notably for those who haven’t read it yet. Technically a novelette, “The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling” by Ted Chiang was published by Subterranean Press Magazine in the Fall of 2013. Now that voting’s over, I can safely say that while this was a tight category, this story hit me and it hit me hard, so I want to make sure you get a chance to read it. All you have to do is click the link below!
Submission process: I’m still debating between the two suggested markets that I mentioned last week. The deadline is frustrating, even though the story is ready. I just have to pick the market I think the story is best suited for, right? But both have response times I’m not in love with, and while I’m definitely not in this to make money, the pay is rather meh. So I started hunting around on Ralan.com (thanks to Nancy at Picking Up the Pen for reminding me of this wonderful resource! I’d forgotten all about it!) and bookmarking markets I think would be potentially good: some are closed for submissions, which is fine, because I can read and do more research, but it makes me wonder: is it worth submitting to one of these two markets that I’m not sure about versus waiting for a submission window to a market that might actually fit? Heaven forbid that I don’t hear back from a previous submission and miss the window for a better-fitting market! I wish this story wasn’t so hard to place….
Writing: I didn’t fail quite so badly. I brainstormed my UF free-write with a novel idea I’d had a few years ago to see how things lined up and came up with some interesting ideas, but I’m still chewing on it. And after watching The Conjuring, I was struck with an idea that may work for a short story, so I spent Monday night chasing that particular rabbit and made notes for it on Tuesday. It’s promising, but I’m taking my time.
I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to remember Poe. I feel in love with her music when listening to her second album, Haunted. Fun fact: the music on this album is inspired by Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves. Funner fact: Poe is Mark Z. Danielewski’s sister.
While I still haven’t gotten through House of Leaves, I adore this album. It’s got so many great songs, though it was difficult to pick one because some songs end or begin with instrumental/creepy interludes. I ended up picking the title track simply because it’s the most obviously inspired song from House of Leaves and because it’s awesome.
Of course, there are so many awesome songs on this album.
A note about this video: there is no official video for this song, so I found something on YouTube that would suffice. The video I found is rather impressive: it looks like it’s set to some kind of gameplay. Interesting.
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
This week brings another short story from the 2014 Hugo Ballot, so while I’m at it: if you’re registered to vote, remember July 31st is the last day to get your votes in, so don’t delay!
For those of you who aren’t voting, but are still curious about the nominees, may I present to you John Chu’s “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere.” Published by Tor.com on February 20, 2013, I have to say it’s another piece (much like A.M. Dellamonica’s “The Color Paradox”) that left me begging for more. Suffice to say, between that and the fact it’s been nominated for a Hugo, it’s definitely worth the read. 🙂 Just click the link below to go to Tor.com’s website!
In the near future water falls from the sky whenever someone lies (either a mist or a torrential flood depending on the intensity of the lie). This makes life difficult for Matt as he maneuvers the marriage question with his lover and how best to “come out” to his traditional Chinese parents.
No writing. Let’s just get that out of the way. I’ve been very, let’s just say…. emotional.
But I did hear back from the magazine I submitted my short story to. The answer is no, short and sweet. And the trouble is, I’m running out of markets: I pulled up my Excel spreadsheet and reviewed all of the places I’ve submitted this piece, all of which I thought would make great homes, but all of which I’ve been rejected from.* So I rallied on Facebook and asked for suggestions. Thanks to that, I discovered two potential markets: both have submission periods that end on July 31st. One doesn’t pay save for a contributor copy of the mag but is very prestigious, and the other pays, but I’m not sure if it’s a professional market or not. Oh, and both take ninety days to get back to me. So I need to do some sampling, make sure I have my arms wrapped around both markets, and pick one (all while trying to get my Hugo votes in by, you guessed it, the 31st).
This time next week, I should know where I’m sending my short story next. I also need to get back on the saddle, writing-wise, even if I’m not pursuing the free-write UF I’ve been tinkering with. We’ll see.
* = Yeah, I’m ending sentences with propositions. Deal with it, yo.
And now, for something completely different. In the past few weeks I’ve been doing a kind of rock progression, culminating in a heavy metal band fronted with a female singer. So far, all the all the songs featured on Music Monday have been female voices, and this week is no different in that regard.
But this. This is different. This is a band that I heard playing while visiting a local music store years and years ago and the music literally haunted me. I wrote down the name of the album and the band name but didn’t get the CD. At the time, I just couldn’t afford it. But I never forgot the haunting melodies, so I eventually caved.
Meet Ilya and their debut album, Poise is the Greater Architect. Not to be confused with other bands/singers of the same name. You can get the right one by visiting their Facebook page here. The song I’m sharing, “BPD,” is just one of many that caught my ear that day. There’s no actual video associated here, so just sit back and listen and see if it haunts you too.
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Sound off below!
Reminder: Music Monday is about the music, not the videos. Videos are just the medium I’m using to share the music, and some videos aren’t actually videos at all. Enjoy the songs, but if YouTube forces you to watch some sort of advertisement before you can get to the music, please be patient.
Calico Writes 