cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/520364

> > > > > > It rains a lot, up here; there are winter days when it doesn’t really get light at all, only a bright, indeterminate gray. But then there are days when it’s like they whip aside a curtain to flash you three minutes of sunlit, suspended mountain, the trademark at the start of God’s own movie. It was like that the day her agents phoned, from deep in the heart of their mirrored pyramid on Beverly Boulevard, to tell me she’d merged with the net, crossed over for good, that Kings of Sleep was going triple-platinum. I’d edited most of Kings, done the brain-map work and gone over it all with the fast-wipe module, so I was in line for a share of royalties. > > > > > > > > No, I said, no. Then yes, yes, and hung up on them. Got my jacket and took the stairs three at a time, straight out to the nearest bar and an eight-hour blackout that ended on a concrete ledge two meters above midnight. False Creek water. City lights, that same gray bowl of sky smaller now, illuminated by neon and mercury-vapor arcs. And it was snowing, big flakes but not many, and when they touched black water, they were gone, no trace at all. I looked down at my feet and saw my toes clear of the edge of concrete, the water between them. I was wearing Japanese shoes, new and expensive, glove-leather Ginza monkey boots with rubber-capped toes. I stood there for a long time before I took that first step back. > > > > > > > > Because she was dead, and I’d let her go. Because, now, she was immortal, and I’d helped her get that way. And because I knew she’d phone me, in the morning. > > > > > > > > * William Gibson, The Winter Market > > > > > > Alternative links and file formats available from Anna's pirate cantina

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/371761

> A list of over 200 gaming systems available in various free formats, classified as follows: > > * Open Source > * Free > * Retroclones > * Quickstarts > * System Reference Documents > * Card Games

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/371761

> A list of over 200 gaming systems available in various free formats, classified as follows: > > * Open Source > * Free > * Retroclones > * Quickstarts > * System Reference Documents > * Card Games

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/350254

> > > > > > The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, often shortened to Buckaroo Banzai, is a 1984 American science fiction film produced and directed by W.D. Richter and written by Earl Mac Rauch. It stars Peter Weller in the title role, with Ellen Barkin, John Lithgow, Jeff Goldblum, and Christopher Lloyd. The supporting cast includes Lewis Smith, Rosalind Cash, Clancy Brown, Pepe Serna, Robert Ito, Vincent Schiavelli, Dan Hedaya, Jonathan Banks, John Ashton, Carl Lumbly and Ronald Lacey. > > > > > > > > The film centers upon the efforts of the polymath Dr. Buckaroo Banzai, a physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rock star, to save the world by defeating a band of inter-dimensional aliens called Red Lectroids from Planet 10. The film is a cross between the action-adventure and science fiction film genres and also includes elements of comedy and romance. > > > > > > > > After screenwriter W.D. Richter hired novelist Earl Mac Rauch to develop a screenplay of Mac Rauch's new character, Buckaroo Banzai, Richter teamed with producer Neil Canton to pitch the script to MGM/UA studio chief David Begelman, who took it to 20th Century Fox to make the film. Box office figures were low and less than half of the film's production costs were recovered. Some critics were put off by the complicated plot, although Pauline Kael enjoyed the film and Vincent Canby called it "pure, nutty fun." Buckaroo Banzai has been adapted for books, comics, and a video game and has attracted a loyal cult following. > > > > > > Wikipedia > > --- > Just in case the link doesn't cross post

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/6407593

> Link - From the nihilistic absurdity of Thomas Ligotti to the heavily science-fictional chills of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, the cosmic horror of today continues to tell tales of a vast, indifferent, and even carnivorous cosmos, through new lenses and fresh new perspectives. > > Here are a few of the best cosmic horror books from exciting writers new and old—both those who were writing before Lovecraft appeared on the scene, and those who have come after. > >What is cosmic horror? As a writer whose own work is often at least adjacent to the subgenre, it’s a question I’ve been asked in columns and podcasts and panel discussions more times than I can count. Sadly the answer, all too often, ends up sounding a lot like that old chestnut about pornography, that we “know it when we see it.” > >American writer H.P. Lovecraft, in one of his copious personal correspondences, summed it up as follows: “Now all my tales are based on the fundamental premise that common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large.” So, basically: Universe big; humans small. > >While he is often considered the godfather of cosmic horror, Lovecraft was far from the first person to practice the subgenre, a fact that he (frequently) attested to during his own lifetime. In fact, his nonfiction opus Supernatural Horror in Literature is a catalog of other writers who, in Lovecraft’s estimation, were doing fine work in the field before he came along. > >Nor did the tradition end when Lovecraft died. Plenty of other talents have carried cosmic horror into ever newer horizons, even as scientific reasoning—which forms much of the backbone of Lovecraft’s cosmicism—has advanced far beyond anything he was ever exposed to. > >Social justice, too, has advanced enough to cause readers to recognize Lovecraft’s own racism and xenophobia. > >From the nihilistic absurdity of Thomas Ligotti to the heavily science-fictional chills of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, the cosmic horror of today continues to tell tales of a vast, indifferent, and even carnivorous cosmos, through new lenses and fresh new perspectives. > >At the Mountains of Madness > >Sure, I just spent several paragraphs arguing that Lovecraft is far from the alpha and omega of cosmic horror. But this wouldn’t be much of a cosmic horror primer if we didn’t include at least one Lovecraft book. > >When it comes to classics of cosmic horror, they don’t come a lot more classic, or a lot more cosmic, than this timeless tale of arctic exploration and new vistas of human experience. It's equal parts a love letter to scientific exploration, and a horrified warning of the dangers inherent therein. > >The King in Yellow By Robert W. Chambers > >One of the things that makes Lovecraft’s work stand out in a crowded literary field is that—decades before the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Stephen King’s fictional version of a haunted Maine—his tales all occupy a shared universe, linked together by the names of beings, books, places, and people. Lovecraft wasn’t the first to do this, however. > >In fact, when Lovecraft was only five years old, Robert W. Chambers published The King in Yellow, a collection of tales linked together by the eponymous play and the similarly-named entity at its heart. > >The stories not only found their way into Lovecraft’s own Mythos, but that of plenty of other writers and artists over the years, including the creators of the HBO series, True Detective. > >The House on the Borderland By William Hope Hodgson > >British author William Hope Hodgson wrote across a wide variety of genres, and many of his best stories deal with the sea. However, perhaps his best-known and most cosmic work is this 1908 novel. > >It tells of two men on a fishing trip who find a journal in an old ruin which, in turn, tells the story of a recluse who lives alone with his sister and dog in the titular house, which has a sinister reputation and which seems to abut some sort of interdimensional nexus. > >Malpertuis By Jean Ray > >Often called the “Belgian Poe,” Jean Ray’s many, many, many stories and books (under an equally bewildering array of pseudonyms) were often pivotal in the European tradition of the fantastique in literature. > >But his tales of gothic, supernatural, and cosmic horror have been vanishingly hard to come by in English for some time, until the recent series of books from translator Scott Nicolay and Wakefield Press, which have begun to release many of the author’s tales in translation for the first time. > >Latest is the novel-length Malpertuis—which has previously been available in English, and was even adapted into a 1971 film featuring Orson Welles—a rare gem of gothic cosmicism begging to be rediscovered by a contemporary audience. > >Volk By David Nickle > >That’s enough dusty old cosmic horror, though. > >I said up above that plenty of contemporary authors have brought this tradition into the modern day, and this 2017 novel from David Nickle is an excellent example. > >Subtitled “A Novel of Radiant Abomination” and set during World War II, this sequel to Nickle’s Eutopia has been called “a critical and sharp demolition of Lovecraft’s own romanticization of eugenics” as well as “spooky as hell” by author Cory Doctorow. > >Cthulhu's Daughters By Silvia Moreno-Garcia & Paula R. Stiles > >Originally released as She Walks in Shadows, under which title it won a World Fantasy Award, this anthology of all-new fiction by women authors tackles Lovecraft’s complicated legacy and carries Lovecraftian cosmic horror into the modern day. > >It features tales by some of the leading voices in contemporary weird and cosmic horror including Molly Tanzer, Wendy N. Wagner, Selena Chambers, Nadia Bulkin, Gemma Files, Premee Mohamed, Angela Slatter, and many others! > >The Fisherman By John Langan > >This modern-day epic of cosmic horror won a Bram Stoker award. The book is an absolute jaw-dropper, mashing together a wide array of literary elements and styles into a novel that feels at once timeless, classic, and modern. > >The cosmic vistas are as unforgettable as anything that has delved into the borderlands (not to put too fine a point on it) of human experience since Hodgson’s House on the Borderland. > >(Full disclosure, Word Horde—who published this volume—also published several of my collections, but I don’t get any kind of kickbacks or anything for recommending this. I just love John Langan’s work.) > >The Secret of Ventriloquism By Jon Padgett > >Up above, I mentioned Thomas Ligotti, some of whose best-known works of cosmic nihilism have recently been released under the Penguin Classics imprint. For something in the Ligottian vein from a newer but equally exciting voice, check out Jon Padgett’s debut collection. > >Padgett was not only in charge of the Thomas Ligotti fan site for many years, making him something of an expert in this brand of intoxicating cosmic horror, but he’s also a lapsed ventriloquist, so you just know he’s got some creepy stuff up his sleeve. > >Annihalation by Jeff VanderMeer > >Fans of the cosmic horror film genre might be familiar with the critically acclaimed film adaptation starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac, but the book is even better. Winner of the 2014 Nebula Award for Best Novel, Annihilation tells the story of Area X, which has been cut off from the rest of civilization. Every expedition into Area X has ended with wildly different ends. The first group to return spoke of an Edenic landscape, but many of the groups who followed died along the way. > >The group readers see in Annihilation, which is the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, is the 12th expedition. The group is made up of four women tasked with mapping and observing Area X. They know to be on their guard, but nothing could have prepared them for the discoveries they make (and the surprises that follow them into Area X). > >The Immaculate Void by Brian Hodge > >Even the gods have reason to fear in Brian Hodge's The Immaculate Void. Told in dueling points of view and timelines, the story follows Daphne and her brother Tanner. Due to Daphne's childhood trauma, she's a pro at running away and disappearing. Tanner has plenty of practice at catching her, but this time, something's different. This time, it's not just about what (or who) is missing, it's about what terrifying presence has decided to make its presence felt at last. > >Perhaps the real horror story involved with The Immaculate Void, however, is in trying to find a copy to read. On his blog, Hodge says that difficulties with his publisher have led to the book's scarcity. You probably can't just go into a bookstore and find a copy. Currently, the best means of procuring the work are by trying the audiobook (link above) or by contacting the author directly. > >Chills By Mary SanGiovanni > >Look, sometimes cosmic horror can get a little … esoteric. Every now and then you just want a nice, quiet story about a bunch of ritual murders in a small Connecticut town caught in the grips of a snowstorm, as cultists attempt to call up unspeakable things beyond human understanding. It’s okay. We’ve all been there. > >Fortunately, Mary SanGiovanni, whose work F. Paul Wilson has called “a feast of both visceral and existential horror,” has us all covered with this police procedural meets occult crime tale. > >It takes advantage of the snowbound isolation, paranoia, and claustrophobia that was used to such beautiful effect in John Carpenter’s The Thing. > >The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch > >Here's what The New Yorker's review had to say about The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch: "I like to be freaked out and mystified simultaneously. The Gone World, a gory time-travel thriller, does both in surprising ways....Inception meets True Detective, but it also contains elements of Solaris, Interstellar, Twin Peaks, Minority Report, and even Stargate. To all this, it adds some innovative time-travel shenanigans." > >While those are some amazing comparisons for any book, bestselling author Blake Crouch's praise of The Gone World is even more impressive. “I promise you have never read a story like this.” > >The novel follows Shannon Moss, who is part of a clandestine division of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. When a Navy SEAL's family goes missing in western Pennsylvania, Moss is assigned to investigate the crime. Things only get weirder when she discovers that the missing SEAL was an astronaut whose ship is assumed to be lost in Deep Time. The novel plays with both epic scale and intimate, human moments in a way that can be unusual (and powerful) for cosmic horror. > >Uzumaki By Junji Ito > >Lots of incredible cosmic horror has been finding its way into sequential art in the last few decades, and no list of contemporary cosmic horror would be complete without the work of Japanese manga creator Junji Ito. > >Possibly his magnum opus—and in many ways his most cosmic tale to date—is this bizarre and haunting tale of a small town that becomes slowly obsessed with the shape of the spiral, a shape that seems to bend not only the minds of the townspeople, but the fabric of reality itself.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/517301

> > > > > > During her many years of teaching introduction to fiction courses, Ann Charters developed an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom. She also discovered that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. > > > > > > > > Accordingly, her choice of fiction in the first edition of her The Story and Its Writer was as notable for its student appeal as it was for its quality and range. And to complement these stories, she introduced a lasting innovation: an array of the writers' own commentaries on the craft and traditions of the short story. > > > > > > > > In subsequent editions her sense of what works was confirmed as the book evolved into the most comprehensive, diverse-- and bestselling -- introduction to fiction anthology. Instructors rely on Ann Charters' ability to assemble an authoritative and teachable anthology, and anticipate each edition's selection of new writers and stories. > > > > > > --- > > This is the (somewhat) abridged version of the 2nd edition in PDF format. This book is a staple of creative writing courses, and is provided here for the benefit of starving students. > > There are many other editions and file formats available over at Anna's pirate cantina if you're looking for the one your professor is teaching from.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/517301

> > > > > > During her many years of teaching introduction to fiction courses, Ann Charters developed an acute sense of which stories work most effectively in the classroom. She also discovered that writers, not editors, have the most interesting and useful things to say about the making and the meaning of fiction. > > > > > > > > Accordingly, her choice of fiction in the first edition of her The Story and Its Writer was as notable for its student appeal as it was for its quality and range. And to complement these stories, she introduced a lasting innovation: an array of the writers' own commentaries on the craft and traditions of the short story. > > > > > > > > In subsequent editions her sense of what works was confirmed as the book evolved into the most comprehensive, diverse-- and bestselling -- introduction to fiction anthology. Instructors rely on Ann Charters' ability to assemble an authoritative and teachable anthology, and anticipate each edition's selection of new writers and stories. > > > > > > --- > > This is the (somewhat) abridged version of the 2nd edition in PDF format. This book is a staple of creative writing courses, and is provided here for the benefit of starving students. > > There are many other editions and file formats available over at Anna's pirate cantina if you're looking for the one your professor is teaching from.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/513056

> > The Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival returns for 2023 with 135 films selected for screening October 9 through the 15th. SciFi fans from around the world are welcomed to join this one-of-a-kind event as all films will be made available online for streaming and rating through Brooklyn SciFi's Netflix style festival platform. This year we are proud to select the best films from independent filmmakers representing 26 countries, including first-time filmmakers and industry veterans alike. Classic SciFi themes of time travel, malevolent and friendly robots, clones, space travel, and aliens are well represented along with a renewed focus on A.I. appropriately including some of the festivals first A.I. generated content. U.F.O. fans are sure to enjoy several documentaries delving into extraterrestrial visitors including Accidental Truth - UFO Revelations narrated by actor Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, Stranger Things). > > > > > > > > > > "When the headlines are filled with stories of A.I., dystopian climate change, and UFOs, it's hard to deny we're living in a SciFi future. Let us be your guide." > > — Michael Brown, Executive Director - Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival > > > > > > > > > > > > Categories include Live Action Short Films, Animation, Comedy SciFi, SciFi Documentary, Feature Films, Student Films and Young Filmmakers. The complete listing of selected films is available online at the BrooklynSciFiFilmFest.com website. The Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival is kicking off its fourth season this year on October 9th and will stream online through October 15th. There will be special events each night as well as watch parties, voting, panels, and the return of the 4th season of our curated film series The Sixth Borough featuring three outrages dystopian SciFi tales each episode. Think of it as the Black Mirror or Twilight Zone of independent SciFi.
> > > > > Online and In-Person Events > > > > > > > > Events include a Best of Brooklyn screening of 12 Brooklyn-based SciFi short films at Stuart Cinema Cafe in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on October 11th. Animation Exploration night with a panel of 10 animators followed by an evening of films available online on October 12th, a 10th Anniversary online screening of the feature film Computer Chess by director Andrew Bujalski October 13th, and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in-theater event and after party in Brooklyn on On Saturday October 14th, where we will feature a program of select short films and announce awards in each category. Tickets are available on Eventbrite or from the Brooklyn SciFi website at brooklynscififilmfest.com. > > > > > > > > Filmmakers will be recognized in the following categories: > > > > > > > > Best Feature Film - Awarded to the best feature length entry selected by our committee. > > > > > > > > Best Live Action Short Film - Awarded to the best live action (non-animated) short film (30 minutes or less) selected by our committee. > > > > > > > > Best Animated Short Film - Awarded to the best animated (non-live action) short film (30 minutes or less) selected by our committee. > > > > > > > > Best Comedy SciFi Short Film – Awarded to the best SciFi comedy short film across all ages and groups.
> > > > > > > > > Best Student Short Film - Awarded to filmmakers between the ages of 18 and 26, and currently attending a film program at a recognized college, university, or certificate program. > > > > > > > > Best Young Filmmakers Award - Awarded to filmmakers under the age of 18, with recognition according to age and/or grade level (depending on number of entries). > > > > > > > > Best In Brooklyn - Awarded to the best entry shot in Brooklyn or directed by a Brooklyn-based filmmaker. > > > > > > > > Peoples Choice Award - Recognition to the film that receives the most viewer upvotes. Attendees of the festival cast votes for their favorite film to determine the winner. > > > > > > > > More About the Brooklyn Scifi Film Festival > > > > > > > > Born from a DIY spirit, the BSFFF is committed to being a place of inclusiveness. From its inception, the team behind the BSFFF knew they wanted to create an event that was open to anyone with the passion and determination to get their film made. “Unlike established festivals, which have acceptance rates that resemble the Ivy League, the Brooklyn SciFi Film Festival is a non-elitist home for indie filmmakers everywhere,” said Michael Brown, the co-founder and executive director of BSFFF. “It is, in that sense, the film festival for the people.” > > > > > > --- > > Hat tip to @inkican for his post on @scifi that gave me the heads up on the festival.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/509859

> > > > > > At dawn he arose and stepped out onto the patio for his first look at Alexandria, the one city he had not yet seen. That year the five cities were Chang-an, Asgard, New Chicago, Timbuctoo, Alexandria: the usual mix of eras, cultures, realities. He and Gioia, making the long flight from Asgard in the distant north the night before, had arrived late, well after sundown, and gone straight to bed. Now, by the gentle apricot-hued morning light, the fierce spires and battlements of Asgard seemed merely something he had dreamed. > > > > > > > > The rumor was that Asgard’s moment was finished, anyway. In a little while, he had heard, they were going to tear it down and replace it, elsewhere, with Mohenjo-daro. Though there were never more than five cities, they changed constantly. He could remember a time when they had had Rome of the Caesars instead of Chang-an, and Rio de Janeiro rather than Alexandria. These people saw no point in keeping anything very long. > > > > > > > > * from Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg, on page 178 > > > > > > Alternative file formats > > Wikipedia on the anthologies

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/403415

> > > > > > The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten), who arrives in the city to accept a job with his friend Harry Lime (Welles), only to learn that Lime has died. Viewing his death as suspicious, Martins elects to stay in Vienna and investigate the matter. > > > > > > > > The atmospheric use of black-and-white expressionist cinematography by Robert Krasker, with harsh lighting and largely subtle "Dutch angle" camera technique, is a major feature of The Third Man. Combined with the iconic theme music by zither player Anton Karas, seedy locations and acclaimed performances from the cast, the style evokes the atmosphere of an exhausted, cynical post-war Vienna at the start of the Cold War. > > > > > > > > Greene wrote the novella of the same name as preparation for the screenplay. Karas's title composition "The Third Man Theme" topped the international music charts in 1950, bringing the previously unknown performer international fame; the theme would also inspire Nino Rota's principal melody in La Dolce Vita (1960).[citation needed] The Third Man is considered one of the greatest films of all time, celebrated for its acting, musical score and atmospheric cinematography.[5] > > > > > > > > In 1999, the British Film Institute voted The Third Man the greatest British film of all time. In 2011, a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out ranked it the second best British film ever. > > > > > > Wikipedia

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/497764

> > > > > > In spite of its ominous literary associations, 1984 proved to be a rather quiet year for SF. There were no major scandals like 1983’s infamous Great Timescape Fiasco, no SF lines driven into oblivion by corporate greed and shortsightedness, no major editorial shakeups … but if you looked closely enough, in the right places, you could see the foundations of the genre’s future for the next decade or so being quietly laid down. > > > > > > > > * from the introduction by Dozios > > > > > > Alternative formats available here

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/491274

> > > > > > Here's the cream of the crop: short stories, novelettes, novellas by science fiction writers already well known and awarded for their high-quality work in science fiction. These are writers like Poul Anderson, Joe Haldeman, Tanith Lee, George R. R. Martin, Robert Silverberg, James Tiptree, Jr, Vernor Vinge and Gene Wolfe. > > > > > > > > Here also are writers who are newer to the field, but just as excellent, including high-powered talents such as Greg Bear, Jack Dann, Jack McDevitt, Pat Murphy, John Kessel, Rand B. Lee, Pat Cadigan, Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling, and Dan Simmons. Altogether there are 250,000 words of great science fiction; twenty-five stories by twenty- four authors. These are the stories that will be nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards this year, the stories that years from now people will still be talking about. > > > > > > --- > > > > > > > The Year's Best Science Fiction was a series of science fiction anthologies edited by American Gardner Dozois until his death in 2018. The series, which is unrelated to the similarly titled and themed Year's Best SF, was published by St. Martin's Griffin. The collections were produced annually for 35 years starting in 1984. > > > > > > Wikipedia

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/423678

> CW: They killed Fritz! Nazi mutants watching lots of Nazi propaganda. Elves with PTSD. Nuclear Armageddon. Pajama wearing assassins. Fairies of the night wearing near nothing. Evil Nazi wizard who skipped arm day. > > > > > > > Wizards is a 1977 American animated post-apocalyptic science fantasy film written, directed and produced by Ralph Bakshi and distributed by 20th Century-Fox. The film follows a battle between two wizards of opposing powers, one representing the forces of magic and the other representing the forces of technology. > > > > > > > > The film is notable for being the first fantasy film by Bakshi, a filmmaker who was previously known only for "urban films" such as Fritz the Cat, Heavy Traffic and Coonskin. The film grossed US$9 million theatrically with a $2 million budget. > > > > > > Wikipedia

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/302450

> Discover thousands of free online courses, audio books, movies, textbooks, eBooks, language lessons, and more.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/296919

> Minimalist, federated, self-hosted blogging platform. Posted here as a tool for our creatives looking for alternative methods to publish their work on the Fediverse. > > A salute to @andromedusgalacticus for the link.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/269165

> Free guides, podcasts and interviews about writing. Featuring Margaret Atwood, Nicci French, Tim Clare, Elizabeth Haynes, Mark Dawson, Joanna Penn and more!

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/429137

> > > > > > Shadow libraries, sometimes called pirate libraries, consist of texts aggregated outside the legal framework of copyright. > > > > > > > > Today's pirate libraries have their roots in the work of Russian academics to digitize texts in the 1990s. Scholars in that part of the world had long had a thriving practice of passing literature and scientific information underground, in opposition to government censorship—part of the samizdat culture, in which banned documents were copied and passed hand to hand through illicit channels. Those first digital collections were passed freely around, but when their creators started running into problems with copyright, their collections “retreated from the public view," writes Balázs Bodó, a piracy researcher based at the University of Amsterdam. "The text collections were far too valuable to simply delete," he writes, and instead migrated to "closed, membership-only FTP servers." > > > > > > > > More recently, though, those collections have moved online, where they are available to anyone who knows where to look. > > > > > > > > The purpose of this site, then, is to have all these libraries at our fingertips when in need of a certain text or book. > > > > > > > > As Aaron Swartz put it: > > > > > > > > "Information is power. But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves." > > > > > > > > We need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world. We need to take stuff that's out of copyright and add it to the archive. We need to buy secret databases and put them on the Web. We need to download scientific journals and upload them to file sharing networks. We need to fight for Guerilla Open Access. > > > > > > > > With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge — we'll make it a thing of the past. Will you join us? > > > > > > > > Read the full text of the Guerilla Open Access Manifesto > > > >

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/485321

> > > > > > In the early nineties (it might have been 1992, but it’s hard to remember when you’re having a good time) I joined a rock-and-roll band composed mostly of writers. The Rock Bottom Remainders were the brainchild of Kathi Kamen Goldmark, a book publicist and musician from San Francisco. The group included Dave Barry on lead guitar, Ridley Pearson on bass, Barbara Kingsolver on keyboards, Robert Fulghum on mandolin, and me on rhythm guitar. There was also a trio of “chick singers,” à la the Dixie Cups, made up (usually) of Kathi, Tad Bartimus, and Amy Tan. > > > > > > > > The group was intended as a one-shot deal—we would play two shows at the American Booksellers Convention, get a few laughs, recapture our misspent youth for three or four hours, then go our separate ways. > > > > > > > > It didn’t happen that way, because the group never quite broke up. We found that we liked playing together too much to quit, and with a couple of “ringer” musicians on sax and drums (plus, in the early days, our musical guru, Al Kooper, at the heart of the group), we sounded pretty good. You’d pay to hear us. Not a lot, not U2 or E Street Band prices, but maybe what the oldtimers call “roadhouse money.” We took the group on tour, wrote a book about it (my wife took the photos and danced whenever the spirit took her, which was quite often), and continue to play now and then, sometimes as The Remainders, sometimes as Raymond Burr’s Legs. The personnel comes and goes—columnist Mitch Albom has replaced Barbara on keyboards, and Al doesn’t play with the group anymore ‘cause he and Kathi don’t get along—but the core has remained Kathi, Amy, Ridley, Dave, Mitch Albom, and me . . . . plus Josh Kelly on drums and Erasmo Paolo on sax. > > > > > > > > We do it for the music, but we also do it for the companionship. We like each other, and we like having a chance to talk sometimes about the real job, the day job people are always telling us not to quit. We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don’t know. > > > > > > > > One night while we were eating Chinese before a gig in Miami Beach, I asked Amy if there was any one question she was never asked during the Q-and-A that follows almost every writer’s talk—that question you never get to answer when you’re standing in front of a group of author-struck fans and pretending you don’t put your pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. > > > > > > > > Amy paused, thinking it over very carefully, and then said: “No one ever asks about the language.” > > > > > > > > I owe an immense debt of gratitude to her for saying that. I had been playing with the idea of writing a little book about writing for a year or more at that time, but had held back because I didn’t trust my own motivations— why did I want to write about writing? What made me think I had anything worth saying? > > > > > > > > The easy answer is that someone who has sold as many books of fiction as I have must have something worthwhile to say about writing it, but the easy answer isn’t always the truth. Colonel Sanders sold a hell of a lot of fried chicken, but I’m not sure anyone wants to know how he made it. If I was going to be presumptuous enough to tell people how to write, I felt there had to be a better reason than my popular success. Put another way, I didn’t want to write a book, even a short one like this, that would leave me feeling like either a literary gasbag or a transcendental asshole. There are enough of those books—and those writers —on the market already, thanks. > > > > > > > > But Amy was right: nobody ever asks about the language. They ask the DeLillos and the Updikes and the Styrons, but they don’t ask popular novelists. > > > > > > > > Yet many of us proles also care about the language, in our humble way, and care passionately about the art and craft of telling stories on paper. What follows is an attempt to put down, briefly and simply, how I came to the craft, what I know about it now, and how it’s done. It’s about the day job; it’s about the language. > > > > > > > > This book is dedicated to Amy Tan, who told me in a very simple and direct way that it was okay to write it. > > > > > > --- > > Posted free to Simon & Schusters mailing list a long time ago, provided here as a service to those unable to afford their own copy. > > Stephen King's website is here if you'd like to check out his new releases.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/485321

> > > > > > In the early nineties (it might have been 1992, but it’s hard to remember when you’re having a good time) I joined a rock-and-roll band composed mostly of writers. The Rock Bottom Remainders were the brainchild of Kathi Kamen Goldmark, a book publicist and musician from San Francisco. The group included Dave Barry on lead guitar, Ridley Pearson on bass, Barbara Kingsolver on keyboards, Robert Fulghum on mandolin, and me on rhythm guitar. There was also a trio of “chick singers,” à la the Dixie Cups, made up (usually) of Kathi, Tad Bartimus, and Amy Tan. > > > > > > > > The group was intended as a one-shot deal—we would play two shows at the American Booksellers Convention, get a few laughs, recapture our misspent youth for three or four hours, then go our separate ways. > > > > > > > > It didn’t happen that way, because the group never quite broke up. We found that we liked playing together too much to quit, and with a couple of “ringer” musicians on sax and drums (plus, in the early days, our musical guru, Al Kooper, at the heart of the group), we sounded pretty good. You’d pay to hear us. Not a lot, not U2 or E Street Band prices, but maybe what the oldtimers call “roadhouse money.” We took the group on tour, wrote a book about it (my wife took the photos and danced whenever the spirit took her, which was quite often), and continue to play now and then, sometimes as The Remainders, sometimes as Raymond Burr’s Legs. The personnel comes and goes—columnist Mitch Albom has replaced Barbara on keyboards, and Al doesn’t play with the group anymore ‘cause he and Kathi don’t get along—but the core has remained Kathi, Amy, Ridley, Dave, Mitch Albom, and me . . . . plus Josh Kelly on drums and Erasmo Paolo on sax. > > > > > > > > We do it for the music, but we also do it for the companionship. We like each other, and we like having a chance to talk sometimes about the real job, the day job people are always telling us not to quit. We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don’t know. > > > > > > > > One night while we were eating Chinese before a gig in Miami Beach, I asked Amy if there was any one question she was never asked during the Q-and-A that follows almost every writer’s talk—that question you never get to answer when you’re standing in front of a group of author-struck fans and pretending you don’t put your pants on one leg at a time like everyone else. > > > > > > > > Amy paused, thinking it over very carefully, and then said: “No one ever asks about the language.” > > > > > > > > I owe an immense debt of gratitude to her for saying that. I had been playing with the idea of writing a little book about writing for a year or more at that time, but had held back because I didn’t trust my own motivations— why did I want to write about writing? What made me think I had anything worth saying? > > > > > > > > The easy answer is that someone who has sold as many books of fiction as I have must have something worthwhile to say about writing it, but the easy answer isn’t always the truth. Colonel Sanders sold a hell of a lot of fried chicken, but I’m not sure anyone wants to know how he made it. If I was going to be presumptuous enough to tell people how to write, I felt there had to be a better reason than my popular success. Put another way, I didn’t want to write a book, even a short one like this, that would leave me feeling like either a literary gasbag or a transcendental asshole. There are enough of those books—and those writers —on the market already, thanks. > > > > > > > > But Amy was right: nobody ever asks about the language. They ask the DeLillos and the Updikes and the Styrons, but they don’t ask popular novelists. > > > > > > > > Yet many of us proles also care about the language, in our humble way, and care passionately about the art and craft of telling stories on paper. What follows is an attempt to put down, briefly and simply, how I came to the craft, what I know about it now, and how it’s done. It’s about the day job; it’s about the language. > > > > > > > > This book is dedicated to Amy Tan, who told me in a very simple and direct way that it was okay to write it. > > > > > > --- > > Posted free to Simon & Schusters mailing list a long time ago, provided here as a service to those unable to afford their own copy. > > Stephen King's website is here if you'd like to check out his new releases.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/13thFloor/t/478961

> > > > > > It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history. With his symbolic helmet numbered 451 on his stolid head, and his eyes all orange flame with the thought of what came next, he flicked the igniter and the house jumped up in a gorging fire that burned the evening sky red and yellow and black. He strode in a swarm of fireflies. He wanted above all, like the old joke, to shove a marshmallow on a stick in the furnace, while the flapping pigeon-winged books died on the porch and lawn of the house. While the books went up in sparkling whirls and blew away on a wind turned dark with burning. > > > > > > Wikipedia