incipit vita nova

Nancy Etchemendy and the Roots of Modern Publishing

This is another guest post from Alan Rodgers

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On another service, my friend, Nancy Etchemendy, made a very interesting response to my last post. This is a response to her.

I think you're missing something something important. Distribution is mutable -- nothing that was big enough to be a rule of distribution has lasted more than 15 years, in my observation. And to understand what we've got now, it's pretty much necessary to understand what came before it.

Turn the clock back.

In 1930, there were two separate distribution systems in this country, for two different sorts of written products:

One handled newspapers and magazines.

One handled hardcover books, and a few odd things like Penguin paperbacks, that were basically sold just like the hardcovers.

Somewhere between 1940 and 1950 (remember, WWII is in there, which did a lot of weird things) somebody looked up and said, gee, I could publish books with soft covers and distribute them just like magazines! -- And boy, was that true. Books did so well that they pretty well obliterated the pulp magazine that had dominated that arm of the distribution network for generations.

How long it took paperbacks to also be stocked in bookstores, I can't say, but it was fast enough that I never heard of it happening; that's to say, nobody I know remembers a paperback that bookstores couldn't easily order.

Still, bookstores weren't the point with rack-sized paperbacks, not at first. Wholesale distribution was. They used to get wholesale numbers that you and I can't imagine.

Then the chains came on-line in the 1970s, and suddenly people were buying their books from them, and they ordered through the bookstore distribution network -- they were bookstores, of course.

Then, in the early 90s, somebody invented the superstore. That blew away the chain-bookstore stores, to a large extent, and lots and lots of competing bookstores all over the country.

And over the next decade, the superstores realized that kids' books were best handled in a walled-off (or nearly walled-off) section of the store -- almost a store within the store.

That pulled the kids mostly out of the SF section. And left the people still selling work there -- in, well, an odd position. It's certainly wrecked a lot of careers. I don't think that, say, my friend David Brin realizes to this day what his problem is -- and I don't think he'd be comfortable writing for editors who have to tell sales reps who have to tell the people who order the books when he does something potty mouthed.

But that's where the people who order his books have gone.

There've been shifts and changes to genres and sorts of books (adult, non-bestselling horror is still trying to figure out how to recover from the near-destruction of the wholesale distribution network: horror is a wholesale product -- that is, it does well in the few newsstands and drugstores that still have wholesale book racks, but really doesn't belong in that labelled horror section in the superstores . . . it's more the sort of thing you buy on impulse than by going and looking for it) all throughout the process I describe.

YA was down to tiny numbers in 1990.

It's doing peachy now that it's got stores of its own all over America.

So, to your point, Nancy: yeah, the SF sections are going away. Or, at least, they'll soon be moving so little that they'll be seriously curtailed.

Is the basic impulse toward fantastic fiction going away? -- No, of course not. It's just mutating into greasy kid stuff.

Jamie Neale: No Chris McCandless

Lost in the Australian wilderness for twelve days, 19-year old Jamie Neale seems to have turned a vacation from the UK to Australia into a survival adventure.

Jamie is currently resting with relatives in Perth, after nearly two weeks lost and wandering in the Blue Mountains of Australia.  It might be 80 degrees as I'm typing right now in Southern California (by the ocean), but down-under, it's winter.

According to Jamie, who is enduring criticism that he accepted $200,000 Australian dollars to appear on the Australian edition of "60 Minutes," he left for a hike on July 3rd carrying two rolls and a small bottle of water.  He did not take his cell phone, apparently no backpack, wore only light clothing, and had no other survival equipment.  Jamie then proceeded to wander around the Australian mountains encountering leeches and other nasties, and eating bugs and seeds, for the better part of the next two weeks.

First off, the Blue Mountains are a tourist area, and do have villages, attractions and accommodations.  Located in New South Wales, the mountains are approximately 50-60 miles from Sydney.  The backcountry looks pretty spectacular, with gorges, a blue haze that gives the mountains their name, and numerous rivers and forested areas.  It looks like the Blue Mountains are a great place for backpacking, hiking and canyoning ("canyoneering" to us in the US).  In Australia, they call it "bushwalking," tramping or trekking.

Things were pretty cold for Jamie, with temperatures in the low 30's (Fahrenheit) during his days in the wilderness.  Mostly, it seems, Jamie's challenges were due to the lack of food, and his lack of appropriate clothing, as it seems he must have been able to locate enough water to get by.  Of course, if Australia's backcountry water is anything like it is here, Jamie probably picked up some giardia and will lose a little more weight before he starts building his health back up again.

It should go without saying that two rolls and a small water bottle aren't equivalent to Chris McCandless' 10-pound bag of rice, rifle, and other, admittedly inadequate equipment.  The Blue Mountains also don't sound as daunting as the central Alaskan wilderness at any time of year.  

So, Jamie got $200,000 Australian dollars for telling a similar story to being lost in the Sespe for 12 days, I'm guessing.  He's lucky to be alive - but by the same token, he is neither Chris McCandless or Aron Ralston.  Aron is the climber and backpacker who got his hand stuck under a boulder in Blue John Canyon in Utah in 2003, and who saved himself by amputating the hand with - I think - his utility tool that was pretty dull by the time he did it.  As to Jamie - he was lucky to have been found by two hikers with supplies by the time they did locate him and get him to safety.

Snape Hath Been Shortchanged

I saw the new Harry Potter movie yesterday.  While I enjoyed it greatly, I think it would be very confusing for moviegoers who haven't read the books - and I know they're out there.  One would have no idea of what was going on with Snape.  And even more -- I don't think the average moviegoer would particularly "get" the meaning of Snape being the "Half-Blood Prince."

One reviewer even mentioned that they could see what was going on in Snape's eyes, thereby making a magnificent performance.  I spent a great deal of time there above, creating the anguished look - after all, even though I'm not the die-hard Harry Potter fan, with each sentence of each book memorized, I was quite certain "Snape Good" after the end of the book Half-Blood Prince.  I can't say that it was any particular genius on my part; simply a by-product of being an INFJ.  We are not easy to fool (not to say it cannot be done - and such antics are quite tragic).

If you enjoy the Harry Potter characters, friendships and stories, you will certainly enjoy Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.  The film did a super job with the Slughorn situation, and Jim Broadbent, a wonderful actor, was a great Slughorn.  I thought the Slughorn dinner parties were perfect, and the Slughorn shame at giving in to young Tom Riddle (in the films - AKA "Damien Son of Omen" Riddle) was ideal. 

But Snape was even more of a no-show in this film than in some of the other earlier films.  I read somewhere that J.K. Rowling had revealed to Alan Rickman, and only to Alan Rickman, Snape's secret Dickensian motivation for all of his double-dealings and complex actions.  Well, yeah, and for what reason?  Because the Half-Blood Prince is onscreen for like 3 minutes in the whole long movie!  At the end, he blurts that Harry can't use his own curses against him, because "I'm the Half-Blood Prince."  So, I hope people can see what I mean when I say that people who've only seen the movies will be well-led to think "Snape Bad."  It looks like Snape purposely wants to save Draco just in order to be able to kill Dumbledore, with no small measure of "Impress the Dark Lord with my sycophantic brilliance and shut that screeching banshee Bellatrix up already!"  At the end, inexplicably, Harry is wandering below Dumbledore's eyrie as the Deatheaters close in, and Snape suddenly pops up and hushes Harry, then leaps upstairs, pushing Draco aside and killing Dumbledore with the unforgiveable curse.

In the book, which I should admit right now is my favorite Harry Potter book due to the remarkably similar feel to David Copperfield, the initial scene where Snape vows to Narcissa Malfoy that he will save Draco from a certain horrible fate, was the scene which convinced me "Snape Good," a position from which I could not be moved until the release of the last book, in which my solid conviction was wholly-vindicated.  It helps to have read every last word Dickens ever wrote in these things; I do understand people who state that the Harry Potter books have Tom Brown's School Days all over them.  Well, yeah, somewhat.  But the story movement and character friendships and revelations and "questing journey" and character names more memorable than even Dickens - is Dick-Ens.  All Dickens, All the Time, Dick-Ens.

The one thing that I've consistently pointed up about J.K. Rowling is that in all the ways that the Harry Potter books "feel" Dickensian, she has a skill in an area far exceeding Dickens, and in this, she may be the top author of all time.  I've never seen anyone plot so well as she, and keep it up for an entire series.  As Harry himself would say, "Brilliant."

So, Snape Good - Snape Bad is one of the linchpins of this massive plot.  To indicate crude-movie style that Snape right now is a bad guy, and whoops! later on - Fooled ya! is cheating the moviegoers.  They managed to thoroughly Slughorn out the Slughorn episode, and portray nearly all of that sad situation as well as the crucial horcrux information.  They fully-portrayed Ron's Lavender Brown debacle, Hermione's misery due to Lavender, and Ron's love potion chocolate misadventure.  They also cheated poor, sad Draco a bit, making him look like a patsy and a fool; never really dangerous.  Yes of course he was a patsy and a fool for cruel Voldemort - who only appears in this film as Damien Son of Omen Tom Riddle.  They had the phoenix flying around at the very end, and frankly - a lot of moviegoers won't necessarily recognize a "phoenix" unless it's shown dead first, then rising from flames, and then somebody explains it to somebody else. 

The folks that are making the films are probably immersed in the books to the point that they may not recognize what parts of the story viewers "ought to" see, and what parts can be edited out.  Translation of a huge book to film is never easy.  Many large parts are often left out, and the key is to choose exactly the right ones to include and to discard.  For such a grand saga, it is a little confusing that Lavender got left-in, every little bit, and Snape was left out of his own namesake story. 

As someone who'd gladly watch Snape salt and prepare toads for first-year students, it made me kind of sad. And they also shortchanged the Weasley brothers, and inexplicably burned down the Weasley house while Tonks and Lupin made a brief appearance. 

Tweet The Meat

Everybody using Twitter, please follow and support Tweet The Meat, an all-Twitter zine that features horror or dark fiction tales in 140 characters or fewer.  Tonight's feature means that I did, at last, publish the pudding in the refrigerator story.  Luther gets his 10 seconds of fame!  . . . the visit did not go well.

What is a Blog For?

As usual, through a weird series of interruptions and oddities, I saw an older post of Kathryn Cramer's regarding "What is a blog for?" 

This is Kathryn - like, for sure.

So, I still don't know "what a blog is for."  Kathryn's post gives 25 answers ca. 2006.  Today, those answers could well be "Stonehenge Blog 1.2" or something. 

There's a large snowy white egret outside having an "issue" of some type, being dramatically vocal.  Living by the Ballona wetlands, beautiful, large sea and estuary birds frequent my area all the time. In the city, there are millions of people who have no idea of the value of this natural area.  The Ballona wetlands are the last coastal estuary and wildlife preserve in Los Angeles County, and they are now only 25% of their original extent.  However, for the last 30 years, they have been protected and preserved.  I'm now in my second summer season and I see more wildlife this year than last, so these efforts are paying off.

Despite my youth experience working at the San Bernardino County Museum, I am anything but a bird expert (I don't know, having not been inside the building for a long time, but those kid paintings I did of birds and eggs might very well still be in the giant egg exhibit).  I can recognize basic types of birds, but have no idea about fine points of identification.  However, I'm pretty sure the terror fish birds are double-crested cormorants, due to the yellow coloration on their beaks.  I was able to recognize "cormorant" due to the unique shape of their beaks and moderate size (big to anybody who just sees pigeons, crows and finches on a daily basis).  A little Anna's hummingbird was coming around my patio fairly often, too, and I know from asking Gene the Bird Man about the tiny little eggs and freeze-dried bird bodies that Anna's is more a Mexican than a California bird.  I've seen and heard a number of doves, and also owls - of the smaller seaside variety. 

Common sense tells me that where there are many birds, seemingly thriving, there must be a lot of life in general. I truly did see the pair of ringtail cats moving sinuously across the road into the reedy marsh last year.  Ringtail cats are rare and very precious.

So, for me, after about two and a half years, my blog is where I do near-daily "easy" writing.  I combine it with my personal interests, and use it to keep my chops where they should be - at the top of the game.  As we are writers in various "communities," such as the SF/F community, with which I have such a strange love-hate relationship, we all take various approaches.  My blog is exactly who I am.  I see no point, and have no desire, to pretend to be anything other than I am.  I connect to nature so that I can connect others to it via my blog posts.  As to my fiction projects, I suppose I'm moving back toward a type of discipline.  With the ups and downs of my fiction writing, this too is a strange feeling.  However, being able to have this daily dialog via the blog has definitely kept me connected.  And, oh now, to the Sublime.  Those at BVC are very excited about the hot possibilities of the steampunk anthology shortly to be announced.  To me - this means that I must write something about one of my other long-time interests and areas of study:  the Romantic era.  The world seems to have gotten out of the Ada Lovelace era steampunk keyboards and etched Altoid tins.  That is not, of course, at all what I see.

What we have today, is a very strange way to connect to each other.  I think it encourages broader and shallower connections, whereas in Ada Lovelace's day, one came to know the people that one knew, far better.  Even such secretive INFJ's such as myself would well be revealed to their intimates, eventually, in the 1840's.  But the things we have today - are the things we have today.  And that's what blogs are for.

Burn Notice: Coolest Show on TV

One of my favorite TV shows right now is Burn Notice, which is now in its third season on the USA network.  USA's motto is "characters welcome," and this show fits that description perfectly.

The Burn Notice team is apparently going to be at Comic-Con in San Diego next weekend, if you're up to braving the crowds (the event itself is sold out - but you knew that, right?).  Driving in downtown San Diego during this event is truly a sight to behold.  I went down last year and had dinner and some cocktails with "business associates" as Michael Westen would put it.  This event is so ginormous and all-encompassing that the Burn Notice panel is scheduled for Thursday afternoon from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.!  Actors from the show that will be on the panel include Bruce Campbell (gotta link to his website - hilarious and brilliant!), Seth Peterson, who is Michael's brother Nate, and Ben Shenkman, who is new to the viewing audience as of last night, but who must be a new regular character, a sleazy "agent to the spies" named Strickler.  Executive producer and show creator Matt Nix will also be there.  According to Sam Axe (Bruce Campbell), Burn Notice is the #1 show on cable television for the second season in a row.

 

So, here is a lovely picture of Jeffrey Donovan, the talented actor who plays the burned hero spy, Michael Westen. 

What can I say about this show?  I want the whole team to reap the best financial and professional rewards and have a long, successful run, because Burn Notice is a great, great show.  It has the perfect mix of action, emotion, humor and "something new every show."  What other show, in 42-44 minutes, gives viewers plenty of legitimate laughs, teary and emotional moments, and suspenseful action - and also learn new spycraft every week?   

My favorite thing about Burn Notice isn't the Miami locations, isn't the successful formula of "Michael's client" ("I'll see what I can do"), and isn't even the "how to" spycraft narration.  It's the relationship between the three main characters - Michael Westen the burned spy, Fiona Glenanne his "former" girlfriend, and Sam Axe, a former Navy Seal and lover of fine alcohol and wealthy ladies and Michael's good friend. 

However the chemistry came together, from the creative spark to the writing to the casting and direction, and then to the performances, these three are just a blast to watch.  Burn Notice isn't the most realistic of shows, but it has verisimilitude.  Realistically, the situations of danger and these three rescuing each other (well, usually it's Fee and Sam rescuing Michael, as it was last night), have emotional truth.  Most of all, they make you wish you had friends like that.

And that was the theme of last night's show, directly.  Michael's new nemesis or pain-in-the-ass Strickler was introduced, after leaving an attractive gift basket of yogurt on the steps to Michael's loft.  Strickler informed Michael that a Chechnyan was in Miami looking to kill him and indicated that if Michael could find and kill the guy first, there'd be money in it for him.  Considering Michael's background, he had no idea WHICH Chechnyan it might have been.  Fiona, consuming the gift yogurt, told Michael that a gun-running associate of hers knew every type of Russian.  Fi couldn't say anything to him, however, as she'd diverted a couple of his weapon shipments. 

Shortly after Michael approached the tough-seeming business associate, Beck, the Chechnyans arrived in force and took both of them from the coffee shop where he'd approached Beck.  A "Most Dangerous Game" type of episode ensued, where Michael had to save himself and Beck from the ever-growing team of Chechnyans in the Everglades. 

As others have pointed up, this season of Burn Notice seems to be about the friendship of Michael, Fiona and Sam, and Michael's relationships with other characters - i.e. "making friends."  By the end of this episode, Michael had made a friend of Beck - a guy who'd announced to him, "I'm a businessman - I don't have any friends" shortly before the arrival of real enemies: the crazed Chechnyans.  This episode also featured the awesome Sharon Gless, Michael's mother Maddie, getting the location of the Chechnyans out of a sleazy pilot in a way that would have made her son proud. 

I wouldn't call myself the television expert, but I know enough to know that Burn Notice hits its marks from a story perspective perfectly.  Nobody can "script" the way that performers gel together or not - that's the actors' job.  It's a great cast, and the show also breaks rules with coolness as well.  Television is quite the formula, but supposed "no-nos" like the consistent narration of spycraft and announcement of new characters is used for both humor and good plot effect.  For example, when the villain showed up in the Glades, Beck said something about him being a hardass, and wondered if there was a Russian word for "hardass."  Instantly, the screen froze and it said "Chechnya - Без перевода (hardass)."  Look, don't quote me on that, and don't Google "Russian for Hardass" either.  It will probably be weeks before I stop receiving porno spam thanks to that little 1 second adventure.

I have to credit Matt Nix, series creator and writer (his job means that he is also the main writer) and the great cast and crew of Burn Notice for making the coolest show on TV right now.  And this entire - whatever it is - is owed to Steve Edwards of the Channel 11 morning news, because yesterday morning Steve, Jillian and Dorothy were discussing the Emmy nominations.  Jillian suggested a few shows that were good that didn't get nominated, and Steve said, "What about Burn Notice?"  Count on Steve to always get it right. 

Book View Cafe Reaches 1000 Members!

With many thousands of readers, Book View Cafe has reached an important milestone:  1,000 registered members, who are eligible to access special content, including premium content available nowhere else on the internet.

BVC also welcomed Sarah Smith as its newest member yesterday. 

It seems like such a long time since I was fooling around with images and banners, but it has still been less than a year!  Thanks especially to Sarah Zettel, Phyl Radford, Vonda McIntyre, Sue Lange, Maya Bohnhoff, Nancy Jane Moore, Laura Anne Gilman, and all of our other fantastic BVC members for the success we have all enjoyed.  What started as a funny suggestion has become something that so many readers can enjoy - more and more every day! 

Look forward for more exciting news about upcoming BVC projects - in particular, a high-concept project that has the creative stamp of Sarah, Laura Anne, and . . . well gee . . . I guess maybe me.

The Heat Death of SF

This is a guest post by Alan Rodgers, the Publisher and owner of Alan Rodgers Books/Aegypan Press. In the 1980's, Alan was assistant editor at Twilight Zone magazine and the editor of Night Cry. Alan is also author of a number of well-regarded, and some bestselling horror novels, including Fire, Night, Blood of the Children (his debut novel) and Bone Music. Alan has been a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for two decades, and also the Horror Writers of America (HWA). He has an abiding interest in fiction for young adults and children, from the 19th century to today.

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I wrote this semirant in response to a friend who was saying that the market for the printed word is going away.

It's not -- local Borders and B&N are both doing well.

But my friend mostly knows folks who buy for the SF section. And that is going away, I suspect.

What we're seeing happening isn't so much the death of book publishing -- though that could happen -- as it is that SF is going away, pretty much the way horror did. Will it come back? Who knows! (Horror has been on a cycle for at least 120 years. But the western has been dead -- or close to it -- for a long long time.)

I think the whole field needs a reboot. Most of what's filling the SF shelves makes the garbage in my kitchen trash pail look like tasty treats.

I'm not exaggerating: Go into your local bookstore. The books on the SF shelves are getting dusty there!

Read a little. They should be dust!

But the stuff in my local YA section is still growing. Displays go out of what used to be a walled section; they've literally crossed out into the main store.

And what's published over there is interesting stuff.

Roald Dahl wrote both adult weird fiction -- stuff you might think of as horror or fantasy -- and for the kids' section. 

All the kids' stuff is in print, and most of it can be had at your local B&N. 

But the adult horrorish stuff is collectors' item material.

On the other hand: the editors who supply that part of the store don't know you. You don't know the writers, for the most part, and that whole section of the business might as well take place on Mars.

Chances are your agent doesn't know where to start with regard to these people. It's all pretty alien.

And the people who run the publishing companies don't want to pay huge money to writers of greasy kid stuff.

There's no SFWA over there.

Writer conferences are paying gigs. Run by professionals who make most of their living selling the secrets of the writers to those who'll never be able to write their way out of paper bags.

Appearances in schools are paying gigs!

Oh, and all these idjits who complain when their editors try to get them to refrain from pooping on the floor in the middle of a book for kids? When a writer does that sort of thing in a YA book, the publishers' reps have to warn libraries and bookstores of it.

The libraries don't order those books. And it makes a huge difference to one's income.

It's all too weird to digest.

-- Alan Rodgers

Alice In Gnarlyland

Thanks to Meredith, I was treated to Perez's commentary on the upcoming Tim Burton film version of Alice in Wonderland. I had a chitchat with Meredith as to who would be whom in such a film.

Whom could Johnny Depp play?  Why, as you see to the left - the Mad Hatter.  Duh!  The ever creepy Helena Bonham Carter is an unspeakable Queen of Hearts (with "heart" lips - go see Perez to see her). 

Anne Hathaway looks extremely cool as an all-white dressed and coiffed character that I can only think is "the White Rabbit" or something like that.  A beautiful actress named Mia Wasikowska is Alice.

According to Perez, they are all "trannylicious."  Luv u, Perez.

Beast of Gevaudan & Wolf Attacks

Earlier this year, I wrote a long story that some might think was "post-apocalyptic," called "To Love the Difficult."  The story features a wolf attack, and the hero becomes the hero by overcoming the wolf during this attack.

I did quite a bit of research on wolf attacks preparatory to writing the scene.  Wild Sentry has a lot of good information about wolves in general.  The most up-close I've been to a wolf wasn't a wolf at all, it was the maruading hybrid coyote who sized Badger up for a meal and found him wanting in Woodland Hills.

The hideous monstrosity to the left is a depiction of "The Beast of Gevaudan," a monster that terrorized 18th century France, killing more than 60 people.  Cited by some as the beginning of today's werewolf legends, one person has even suggested that the beast was a type of marten.  It seems to me that even the biggest marten would be too small to be the gigantic Beast of Gevaudan.  Another cryptozoologist suggests it may have been a mesonychid, which is a hoofed predator from the Eocene period (approx. 60-50 MYA). 

If you've been watching Primeval, you know exactly how the Beast of Gevaudon got from the Eocene into 18th Century France.

This bad boy is Andrewsarchus, the largest and most fearsome of the mesonychids.  He looks somewhat feline, even with those odd, semi-hooved feet.  However, Andrewsarchus and the other mesonychids are most closely-related to modern-day whales, not big cats or big canids like wolves.

It is true - no one has been killed by a wolf in North America for a very long time.  Even so, an attack by a big predator like that has to be a terrifying experience.  The story in which the hero faces a wolf attack will appear in Panverse 2 next year.  And don't forget, you can put dreadful monstrosities by me in your very own short fiction anthology care of Anthology Builder.