sfwa [sfwa_admin]

Dear SFWA members,

Today, SFWA President Russell Davis has posted the most recent iteration of the new draft bylaws for SFWA, the review of the membership. Please log in to to the Discussion Forums to download a copy of the draft and give us your feedback.

At the same time the membership is reviewing this, we will be asking our legal counsel in both Colorado and an associated office in California, to review the document as well.

Members have until February 1, 2010, to review these bylaws, ask questions, make comments, bring up concerns, etc. On that date, the Board will resume discussions based on the feedback from members and counsel, and will move to draft a final set of bylaws which is the one that the members will be asked to vote on.

Please give us your comments at the Discussion Forums

Mirrored from SFWA | Comment at SFWA

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/afrobella/GpUL/~3/B2mErOlI5ek/

http://www.afrobella.com/?p=2054

I’d definitely love the five golden rings, but the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts? You can keep em!
What would you even do with all those maids-a-milking and lords-a-leaping, not to mention all those birds?

This holiday season, there’s a new spin on the classic holiday song. Instead of 12 Days of Christmas, The Body Shop is offering 12 Days of Giveaways. And I’m day #9!

Do you wanna win a specially packaged prize set of bath and body goodies valued at least $100? Or enter to win $1200 of The Body Shop’s finest offerings?

Of course you do!

The prize package you can win right here by leaving a comment is truly delish. It includes:

Merry Cranberry Body Butter
Merry Cranberry Lip Balm
Nutmeg & Vanilla Body Butter
Nutmeg & Vanilla Body Scrub
Nutmeg & Vanilla Lip Balm
Black Velvet Apricot Body Butter
Black Velvet Apricot Shower Nectar
Black Velvet Apricot Lip Balm
and the Merry Aromas holiday reed diffuser gift pack.

That nutmeg and vanilla stuff sounds DELICIOUS and the Black Velvet Apricot — to die for!

One lucky winner from the United States will win this wicked prize pack. All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me: which fragrance best describes your holiday style? What makes you a Merry Cranberry chica, a Black Velvet Apricot bella, or a Nutmeg and Vanilla mama? I love knowing how you celebrate the season! I’ll close these comments on Friday morning and choose a winner at random.

Don’t forget to click here to enter for the grand prize of $1,200 worth of Body Shop products!

Good luck, bellas!!

Related posts:

1. It’s the Body Shop Scavenger Hunt!
2. The Body Shop Scavenger Hunt Winner Is…
3. 5 New Fave Body Washes

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2009/12/09/judge-sn-in-the-flesh-tge-review-in-realms-of-fantasy/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=9321

Subterranean Press zipped over to me a couple of early copies of the “Judge Sn Goes Golfing” chapbook so I could pet them and love them and rub my scent all over them (okay, that last bit was more than you needed to know), and I have to say I am delighted with how they’ve turned out. They look great, and by “great” I mean holy cow look at me I got a story illustrated by Gahan Wilson. In collaboration terms that’s a little like having Eddie Van Halen drop by your home studio to give song chorus you’ve been working on a little extra push. I’m so happy I could just plotz. You’ll know what I mean when you get it.

This reminds me that I’ve had a couple of questions about the length of “Judge Sn.” It’s 32 pages plus the cover, which is signed by me on the inside back. It’s the sort of thing designed specifically for fans and collectors, rather than the general public, which is why there’s a limited number of them out there. I think it’s worth the cost, but then I would. Heck, I think it’s worth it for the Gahan Wilson illustrations alone. Have I mentioned how geeked out I am about them? Well, I am.

Moving from “Judge Sn” to The God Engines, Paul Witcover reviewed TGE in the February Realms of Fantasy magazine (out now at news stands). I won’t reprint the whole thing here — hey, go buy a copy of the magazine, man — but here’s a nice pull quote:

[G]rippingly dark and subversive… though The God Engines is indisputably a work of fantasy, it is simultaneously a brutal critique of fantasy, a searing evisceration of the valuation of blind faith and magical thinking that underlies so much of the genre, at least at its most popular and mindless.

The whole review is actually very interesting (albeit with spoilers, which I suspect are unavoidable with this particular work), so check it out if you can.

stephanieburgis

• Sarah Dessen's Just Listen: beautiful, intense and deeply romantic. Something terrible happened to Annabel Greene this summer, and now she has to learn how to heal...with the help of my very favorite romantic hero of the year, Owen Armstrong. I loved this book so, so much. I only discovered Sarah Dessen as an author this past January, but after I read Just Listen, she became one of my favorite YA authors in the world. I love pretty much all of her books (and if you're looking for a lighter YA read, I'd recommend This Lullaby instead, which is a funny, snarky romantic comedy with an edge)...but Just Listen remains my very favorite of all her books, and one of my favorite novels ever. (YA)


• Maureen Johnson's Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes: funny, quirky, emotionally true, and full of the sheer joy of world travel and exploration. Maureen Johnson was another author I only discovered this year, but I'm so glad I did. She's my very favorite comic YA author now, partly because there's always such a deep layer of emotion underneath the zany comedy. This book brought back to me all the joy and fear and excitement of going abroad on your own for the first time, and I loved every bit of it. (YA)


• Lisa Mantchev's Eyes Like Stars: SO much fun! This novel is just bursting with joy and passion and imagination. Seventeen-year-old Bertie Shakespeare Smith lives in a magical theater where her sidekicks are the trouble-making fairies from A Midsummer Night's Dream, her maybe-could-be-boyfriend is a sweet, sexy pirate, and her nemesis - or is he actually her true love? - is Ariel, the trapped elemental from The Tempest. It's wildly inventive, funny, and romantic, and I loved it. (YA)


• Linda Urban's A Crooked Kind of Perfect: sweet, wacky, laugh-out-loud funny and full of heart. Eleven-year-old Zoe dreams of playing the piano at Carnegie Hall - but her father gets painfully nervous outside their own house, and when he comes back from his musical shopping expedition, he isn't exactly bringing her a piano... ;) If you liked the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" (I did), then you will LOVE this book. (MG)


• Jo Knowles's Jumping Off Swings: beautiful, heartbreaking, and true. When one teenage girl becomes pregnant, her whole circle of friends find their lives changed forever. The characters were so real, their choices so heartbreakingly difficult... I cried and cried, but it was SO worth it - and there's real light and hope in here as well as sadness. I usually don't like "issues novels", but I really loved this book and plan to re-read it many times. (YA)


• Ysabeau Wilce's Flora's Dare: funny, wild, magical, and heartwrenching. This book won the Andre Norton Award this year, and oh, did it deserve it! I loved Book 1 in this series (Flora Segunda), but Flora's Dare just completely blew me away! It was even tighter, even more magical, and it was full of truly astonishing family revelations. It mingled fun, rich fantasy world-building with deep emotions. This is Book 2 in the series, but it stands alone beautifully - you don't need to have read Book 1 to enjoy it. (MG)


• Sarah Prineas's Magic Thief: Lost: magical, exciting, and pure fun! Again, this is Book 2 in a series, but you don't need to read Book 1 to enjoy Book 2. Conn is one of my favorite heroes in kids' fantasy: smart, sharp, and funny in a perfectly understated way. Book 1 showed Conn discovering his own magic powers and his ties to the city he was born in; Book 2 takes him far out of his comfort zone, separated from his magic and his city, and forces him to fly. It's full of magic and adventure, and I can't imagine any fantasy-loving kids not loving it. (MG)

sophiaserpentia

One of Atkinson’s most memorable patients was Janet S., a bright, funny 25-year-old who weighed 348 pounds when she finally made her way to U.C.L.A. in 1975. In exchange for agreeing to be hospitalized for three months so scientists could study them, Janet and the other obese research subjects (30 in all) each received a free intestinal bypass. During the three months of presurgical study, the dietitian on the research team calculated how many calories it should take for a 5-foot-6-inch woman like Janet to maintain a weight of 348. They fed her exactly that many calories — no more, no less. She dutifully ate what she was told, and she gained 12 pounds in two weeks — almost a pound a day.

“I don’t think I’d ever gained that much weight that quickly,” recalled Janet, who asked me not to use her full name because she didn’t want people to know how fat she had once been. The doctors accused her of sneaking snacks into the hospital. “But I told them, ‘I’m gaining weight because you’re feeding me a tremendous amount of food!’”

from Fat Factors

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/makerbot_video.html

Radar Nineteen on Babelgum did a really nice video about MakerBot Industries, suitable for even non-technical audiences.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/12/paralllel_video_projector.html

Did the transition to digital TV make you nostalgic for the analog recording days of your? Then why not go full-out and create an entirely analog camera using a mess of wires, individual sensors, and light bulbs arranged to make a screen. This is exactly what Gebhard Sengmüller has done with his installation A parallel image. With 2500 photocells forming the sensor, and 2500 light bulbs making the display, it is truly a thing to behold. [via hackaday]

http://cuteoverload.com/2009/12/09/we-have-now-passed-ridiculous-next-stop-absurd/

http://cuteoverload.com/?p=36084

Let me guess. You’re making a Bundt cake.

Harebrained submission, Emily B.

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Bunnies, Disapproval

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/IMMD/~3/77jjmvr5H0c/

http://itmademyday.com/?p=2506

I saw a guy selling codpieces yelling “GET YOUR PROTECTIVE HEADGEAR HERE!” and rapping his crotch with his knuckles. IMMD

aliettedb

Stuff I’ve enjoyed recently: Apex has an awesomely creepy story by fellow VDer Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, “59 Beads”:

Air limousines floated by like ghosts in a night filled with a jangle of sounds. A mad juxtaposition of chords, wailing voices and crooned-out tunes mangled by the sound of honking horns, curses and the cries of the desperate filled the dark streets. Cordoba’s End, home to migrants and refugees.

After their parents succumbed to the rot, Pyn and Sienna wandered the streets of Cordoba. Together, they trekked the back side of the posh quarter. Ecstasy street, Ilona’s Oord, Sonatina’s Point, the words tasted as exotic and beautiful as the places themselves.

“You think we’ll ever be rich enough to live on High End?” Sienna asked.

“I don’t know,” Pyn said.

Read more over at Apex.

Rochita is also blogging over at Jeff Vandermeer’s blog on Writing from the Context of my Culture.

I’ve also been reading the anthology Federations by John Joseph Adams, which, while it contains many good stories, isn’t really my cup of tea–there are far too many stories focusing on the military or pseudo-military of the Federations to appeal to me. But I’ve found two gems so far, Yoon Ha Lee “Swanwatch”, about a poet exiled to a space station overlooking a black hole where people commit suicide, and tasked with turning their deaths into art. Very intriguing concept, and a sparse execution that works up to a punchy ending. In a, er, much different vein, “The One with the Interstellar Group Consciousness” by James Alan Gardner, is what would happen if Intergalactic civilisations developped a consciousness, and started looking for their soulmates using 21st-century dating techniques. Hilarious. Still have the Cat Valente story to read, which I’m looking forward to.

In the latest issue of Interzone, I enjoyed Colin Harvey’s “The Killing Streets”, which showcases his ability to depict believable scarce-resource futures with flawed yet sympathetic characters. Mordantly dark, well worth a look (and it almost made me miss my station, which is a sign of how engrossed I was). I also loved Lavie Tidhar’s “Funny Pages”, easily the best story in the issue, a fast and wry tale of Israeli super-heroes and super-villains (bonus points for relooking a particularly famous superhero as the Sabra–I didn’t catch the reference until fairly late in the story, but it was pretty funny when it came up).

Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard

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environment [musicdish]

Url: http://www.andyfraser.com
Sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63qIoGpnrl8

Los Angeles, CA - December 8, 2009 - Hannah Fraser, along with her sister Jasmine Fraser who both now work with their activist Rock N' Roll icon father Andy Fraser, is seen swimming with a giant whale pod in Fraser 's latest music video release "This is the Big One". The new song and video was produced to bring awareness of the urgent message of 'climate change' effecting the planet.

Rarely seen in the wild, footage in the video was captured during the filming of Hannah swimming with whales in Tonga, VAVA'U Island. "They were so incredibly graceful.. and it is such an amazing feeling when they are curious about us puny humans.. and decide to spend some time with us. It really drives home how insanely bizarre it is that anyone could kill these magnificent creatures", said Hannah.

View the video This is the Big One at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63qIoGpnrl8

Andy Fraser has contributed the song This is the Big One, as a worldwide copyright free download, for fellow activists to upload their event videos or pictures, post on YouTube, and win prizes, including an autographed custom guitar.

For complete details of the competition visit http://www.andyfraser.com/MakeADifferenceNow

50bookchallenge [misstreebc]

Closely bound up in the investigation, and complicating matters is Melisande, a woman for whom Runcorn has strong feelings, and whose difference in class and engagement to the man who is heading the investigation puts her out of Runcorn's league.

I really loved A Christmas Beginning, although it wasn't very cozy or Christmassy. I liked the characters, though, and found their psychology and motives to be pretty realistic and interesting. The interplay and connections between the characters was pretty fascinating as well.

I'm definitely going to be reading more of Anne Perry, in fact I have already requested two more of her Christmas books from the library, and if those are as good as this was, I'll be starting on the Monk series.

I enjoyed this book so much that I ended up having a look 'round Anne Perry's website, and found it interesting as well!

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/EDgYheEO3gg/cafe-orzo-the-new-coffee-alternative-from-italy.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/cafe-orzo-the-new-coffee-alternative-from-italy.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/o7VoxWvdq14/bangladesh-reels-from-the-impact-of-climate-change.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/bangladesh-reels-from-the-impact-of-climate-change.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/NlS0HUMzu8Q/copenhagens-skeptic-tank.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/copenhagens-skeptic-tank.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/VWobugTozaI/self-cleaning-solar-panels-windows-supercapacitor-peptides-tel-aviv.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/self-cleaning-solar-panels-windows-supercapacitor-peptides-tel-aviv.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/-VXh4NdtSyg/burst-oil-pipeline-46000-gallons-alaska-worst-ever-spill.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/burst-oil-pipeline-46000-gallons-alaska-worst-ever-spill.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/8p5rJIz2iZQ/u2-responds-to-mars-criticism-with-an-offset-website-for-fans.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/u2-responds-to-mars-criticism-with-an-offset-website-for-fans.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/-BltOiOkaaw/poptech-pop-quiz-video-lina-srivastava.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/poptech-pop-quiz-video-lina-srivastava.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/o59dyXrr_t0/what-is-the-eus-position-on-a-legally-binding-agreement.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/what-is-the-eus-position-on-a-legally-binding-agreement.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/treehuggersite/~3/5mD8a0qUfbA/global-warming-not-the-only-thing-threatening-polar-bears.php

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/global-warming-not-the-only-thing-threatening-polar-bears.php?campaign=th_rss

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tfln/~3/bXa_yRNvn6M/56040

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tfln/~3/y6mFtsie_34/56039

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tfln/~3/gBzNZ-OpR2c/56038

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/tfln/~3/lIxH8I2hF90/56037

aliettedb

The January and February 2010 issue of Realms of Fantasy both turned up nearly simultaneously in my mailbox. The reason for the delay, insofar as I can ascertain, is that the January issue had been mauled in transit, resulting in a missing lower-right-hand corner that looked like it had been nibbled by rats (I’m pretty sure that’s not the explanation, but it did look very much like it). On the plus side, the February issue arrived in a neat USPS protected envelope, contained a folded check (which I almost lost when opening the issue, as I’m still not used to checks being folded half-inside the magazines), and, of course, my story “Melanie”, complete with illustration by Frank Wu.

w00t.

Here’s the obligatory teaser:

March in Paris: the trees in the school’s courtyard have bloomed in the mild weather, tumbles of white and pink flowers hanging just out of reach.

The boarders sit in small clutches under the arcades of building B, their notebooks open on their knees–making their last, frantic revisions before the competitive exams.

“Three weeks left,” Richard says, tapping his pen against a mathematical formula.

“Yeah,” Erwan says. He’s staring at the other students–all shining, all gorged with light: the light of numbers and curves, the endless dance of the formulas that rule the world. And, as it always does, his gaze fastens on Mélanie.

Meanwhile, I’ll be off to write some more Harbinger (regained the 2500 words I’d cut, plus some, bringing me to almost 46k. Also, the character with the longest-ever name has walked on-stage, and looks to be taking over the scene if not the plot).

Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard

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white_hart

Seth Lakeman, Oxford Town Hall. Spectacular venue, excellent gig (I am always enormously impressed by the way he can sing and accompany himself on the fiddle).

http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=58455

Henry Holt has graciously donated ten copies of Megan Crewe’s Give Up the Ghost to Tor.com! If you like YA and a good ghost story, check out the official blurb:

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance…

You may recognize Megan as a familiar face—she’s blogged on Tor.com, offering science fiction and fantasy reading guides, and drawing upon her background in psychology to talk about what makes a good story. Now you have a chance to get her book for free!

The Rules: To get this giveaway, all you need to do is comment (once—duplicates won’t count) on this post. The winner will be selected at random. You have until noon EST on Monday, December 14th, to comment here. Please check your e-mail on this day—you have 24 hours to respond before we select a new winner.

sfwa [sfwa_admin]

Resources

• Victoria Strauss: The Atlantic will sell short fiction on the Kindle & How publishing survived the Great Depression

Member News

• Aliette de Bodard: Get your Servant of the Underworld reading samples here
• Congratulations to Paolo Bacigalupi whose novel THE WINDUP GIRL is on TIME’s top ten novels of 2009!
• Check out Cindy Pon’s Indonesian cover for “Silver Phoenix.” It’s her first overseas cover.
• Congratulations to Alex Bledsoe whose novel BURN ME DEADLY is nominated for 2009’s “Best Urban Fantasy” award from RT.
• SFWA members, don’t forget you can add your readings and signings to the SFWA event calendar.

Industry News

• Huge Acquisitions Round Up: News about 14 novels acquired for Pyr Books
• Congratulations to the Knight Agency which has 14 authors up for RomanticTimes awards.
• Random House restructures Crown

Mirrored from SFWA | Comment at SFWA

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http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/to/~3/oUHMVAy7zXE/Court-Says-Fair-Use-May-Hold-In-Some-RIAA-Cases

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/to/~3/nMOuVAJvm9U/Adobe-Takes-On-Microsoft-Role-In-E-book-Market