For this next semester, I had a ridiculously hard (yet pleasing!) schedule lined up:

M/W  12:00-13:15    Shakespeare: Earlier Work
M/W  13:30-14:45    Chaucer
M/W  17:30-18:45    Folkore

Alas, the Chaucer class has been cancelled! This is most displeasing. I need to take another pre-1800's class, but there's nothing else available fitting that description on M/W.

(Each semester, I try to schedule all my classes on the same two days. This minimizes the amount of gas I must expend driving to university each week, opens up my schedule in terms of a part-time job, and also makes my car available more often to my husband. We're a single-car household at the moment.)

Send hope my way that I might be able to scare up a directed research, potentially on Victorian literature!* Please?

Soon, I should make those posts looking back on my first year of graduate school and discussing my shift of interest to Victorian studies.


* I know that Victorian literature also does not fit the description of "pre-1800," but it's my specialization! So it'd count as an elective and I could hopefully finish up my pre-1800 requirement in the Spring. There are no other classes available on M/W that would make a useful elective, either.

Jennifer Brozek offering chance at Grant's Pass goodies for the price of a link: Grant's Pass is a book full of post-apocalyptic fiction by the likes of Cherie Priest, Jay Lake, and Seanan McGuire. It promises to be amazing and early reviews are confirming this (as you can see at the link above). Check out the book trailer and, if moved, pre-order your copy!

Jennifer Jackson (Agent) giving away books by Ekaterina Sedia, Elizabeth Bear, Cherie Priest, and more: In celebration of being an agent for sixteen years, Jennifer Jackson is playing the Hobbit and giving away several books by her clients! All you have to do is leave a comment of 20 words or more, noting a book by one of her clients that you've read and your opinion thereon. Leave the comment at her entry linked above and you'll be entered in the drawing.

Seanan McGuire giving away an ARC of Rosemary and Rue for the best LOLpic: Visit the link to find out what sort of LOLpics are being accepted, then make one that's clever and hilarious! You might be chosen to win one of the best urban fantasy books forthcoming in September. (Seriously: cranky P.I. + half-faerie baggage + not being able to escape Faerie politics = awesome reading.)

M.C.A. Hogarth having a Summer Art Sale, including artwork from her lately-released The Admonishments of Kherishdar: Hogarth is selling some fantastic prints and amazing originals for remarkable prices! She's also offering a selection of postcard-sized prints for $10 and bookmarks for $6. Visit the link above to check out the sale.

As you know, I recently reviewed Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey (on sale 05/29/2009, though I hear some places have been shipping it early). My review began:

"Fans of Jacqueline Carey will be pleasantly surprised, I think, by her latest offering and its inherent divergence from her usual style. There is nothing of the lush language and sensuous worldbuilding of the Kushiel's Legacy series here, nor any of the tragic melancholia and subverted fantasy tropes of The Sundering duology. No, Santa Olivia is the essence of the desert: sparse, bright, gritty, and full of visions that might mean hope or death.

Santa Olivia is set in an analogue of our world. It's almost identical to our current time, except a terrible pandemic has devastated the human population (at least in America and Mexico) and led to a military cordon being established along the border of Texas and Mexico. The cordon is a sort of no-man's-land, with the small town of Santa Olivia and its citizens unwilling to forsake their homes having been converted into Outpost No. 12, a settlement serving the soldiers from the nearby United States' military base established to police the cordon. Life is hard and hopeless for the citizens of Outpost; there are no civilian police, but gangs tolerated by the MP keep things in a grim semblance of order and arrange nightlife for the soldiers. There are barely enough necessities to go around for Outpost's denizens, much less amenities or distractions. There's no escape: no one from Outpost is allowed to leave, and its uncertain whether anyone outside of the military base knows they're still there." [Read the rest of my review here.]

Well, the publisher is permitting me to give away my copy of the Santa Olivia ARC in a random drawing on this journal! 

Here's how to enter:

If Santa Olivia sounds like a book you'd enjoy, comment on this entry with two items:
1. Answer the following question using my review: What is the group of Orphans called that Loup cavorts with?
2. Promise me that you'll review the book yourself, once you've read it! And comment back here so I can see your review at that time. (Your review doesn't need to be long or elaborate-- a couple of sentences of reaction are fine.)

That's it! You'll be able to enter through next Monday (May 25th), 9 PM EST. I'll draw the winner Monday night.

(Also, please feel free to promote this give-away on your journals. I'd like to spread it far and wide.)

This week at Green Man Review sees the publication of two reviews by me. The first up for review is the fantastic book The Secret History of Giants by Ari Berk:

"Anyone first laying eyes on The Secret History of Giants must surely exclaim as I did: "What a charming little volume!" From its textured cover featuring an intriguing root-bedecked giant face (with a serious reflective gleam in his eye) to its earth-toned tassel, this is a book meant to enchant and captivate.

The marvelous nature of this book continues on its title page, where The Secret History of Giants is given the subtitle Codex Giganticum and author Ari Berk is described as "Magister and Scribe." Yes, indeed, the book's conceit is that it reads as if it truly were a secret historical document chronicling the affairs and natures of giants. This is not merely a collection of folklore and fairy tales about giants from around the world. Instead, this is a fully immersive experience: a text woven into a mythological whole cloth from the worldly and diverse fibers of myth, legend, folklore, fairy tale and imagination." [Read the rest of the review at this link.]

Thank you to the editors at Green Man Review for awarding the above review an Excellence in Writing Award!

The second review looks at Jacqueline Carey's latest departure from high fantasy in the form of Santa Olivia, an urban fantasy exploring the superhero concept:

"Fans of Jacqueline Carey will be pleasantly surprised, I think, by her latest offering and its inherent divergence from her usual style. There is nothing of the lush language and sensuous worldbuilding of the Kushiel's Legacy series here, nor any of the tragic melancholia and subverted fantasy tropes of The Sundering duology. No, Santa Olivia is the essence of the desert: sparse, bright, gritty, and full of visions that might mean hope or death.

Santa Olivia is set in an analogue of our world. It's almost identical to our current time, except a terrible pandemic has devastated the human population (at least in America and Mexico) and led to a military cordon being established along the border of Texas and Mexico. The cordon is a sort of no-man's-land, with the small town of Santa Olivia and its citizens unwilling to forsake their homes having been converted into Outpost No. 12, a settlement serving the soldiers from the nearby United States' military base established to police the cordon. Life is hard and hopeless for the citizens of Outpost; there are no civilian police, but gangs tolerated by the MP keep things in a grim semblance of order and arrange nightlife for the soldiers. There are barely enough necessities to go around for Outpost's denizens, much less amenities or distractions. There's no escape: no one from Outpost is allowed to leave, and its uncertain whether anyone outside of the military base knows they're still there." [Read the rest of the review at this link.]

Although the tenth anniversary edition is the first Mythic Delirium volume I've ever read, I've long been aware of the publication by reputation: many poems have appeared in Mythic Delirium (or related titles edited also by Mike Allen) that have later been nominated for the SFWA's Rhysling Awards or been honored in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (2007), such as "The Descent of the Corn-Queen of the Midwest" by Catherynne M. Valente, "Songs for an Ancient City" by Amal El-Mohtar, and "To the River" by Jessica Paige Wick. One poem even recently won a Rhysling: "Eating Light" by F.J. Bergmann in 2008 (short poem category). (By clicking on those links, you can hear the poems read, often by the poet. Amal El-Mohtar's poetry is an especially sensuous delight when read by herself.)

Besides Mythic Delirium having such a solid pedigree, I've been intrigued by the poetry journal due to its ideological conceit: while the submission guidelines advertise that the journal publishes "science fiction, fantasy, horror, surreal, and cross-genre poetry," if the featured poems I've read on the website and the contents of Mythic Delirium #20 are anything to go by, all poems published therein exhibit some kind of world- or myth-building. All of these poems are about the way we create the larger world or the nuances of our inner worlds or the intersection of multiple personal worldviews.

I had been meaning to order an issue of Mythic Delirium for some time before #20 came out, but never found the right moment when memory and finances were properly aligned in order to do so (for the quality, it's really not expensive-- a one year subscription is $9). Of course, then Mike Allen excitedly announced that Neil Gaiman had sold Mythic Delirium a poem and would be appearing in the tenth anniversary issue. Being the unrepentant fan of Neil Gaiman's work that I am, this event rather galvanized me into securing a copy.

What I discovered was an unmitigatedly solid poetry collection; I also discovered that Neil's poem is not at all one of the best pieces in there, which led me to discover a vague sense of shame in relying on a Big Favorite Name to prompt me into securing a poetry journal I knew would more than likely be good. Of course, then I decided that if it took a Big Favorite Name with an Average Poem to draw in a vaster audience who would then discover a repository of good "off-beat and speculative poetry"--well, then, no harm done. In fact, plenty of good done! 

I wasn't totally blown away by any of the poems in Mythic Delirium #20, but I was rather delighted and pleasantly surprised by more than half the table of contents: not a bad ratio when you're talking about 25 disparate poems. To hit a few high points: I found Erin Hoffman's "Beauty Sleep" to be a compelling recreation of the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale, although a jarring word or two kept me from completely falling into her vision. "Hoyle's Baking Instructions" by F.J. Bergman was an intoxicating mess: either baking instructions, or instructions on how to gamble, or instructions on how to seduce a man... I'm not sure, which is both its winning and its losing card. It's just slightly too schizophrenic to be completely cohesive. Catherine Knutsson's "swansong" captivated me with its wing-beating lines, and "Millenial Mass" by G.O. Clark comes with a truly transfixing image at the end. David T. Manning both pleased and frustrated me with his "The Next Station": there's too much story there to stop with one poem! And while I found the characters intriguing and the accompanying illustration by Paula Friedlander evocative, I wasn't as engrossed by Amal El-Mohtar and Jessica Paige Wick's "Apple Jack Tangles the Maidy Lac with a Red, Red Ribbon" as I hoped to be. I think this is one poem that would be most impressive when read aloud, in character.

The rest of my list of favorites from Mythic Delirium #20 encompasses "Journeying" by Adrienne J. Odasso, "Hellawes" by Georgette Perry, "Klabautermann" by J.C. Runolfson, "From Dr. Owen's Obit" by Rolli, "From Dr. Owen's Journal (Unpublished)" by Rolli, "Last Gift from the Eldest" by Danny Adams, and "Myth" by Kim Malinowski. 

I found the remainder of the collection to be solidly average, with two exceptions: Sonya Taaffe's "Zeitgeber" was disappointing in its inability to achieve any sort of poetic resonance, the densely-rendered lines crouching on the page. And Darrell Schweitzer's "What If I Were Secretly the Phoenix?" fails to transcend the suggested mediocrity of its cinder-characterized main subject.

Another aspect of Mythic Delirium #20 that impressed me was its engagement with interior art: it featured seven illustrations specifically commissioned to accompany the poems. One of these illustrations - a star-inflicted, anatomically-correct heart - was even hand-colored by the artist Tim Mullins. Mullins' other illustration (see link below) and cover art for the issue are equally well done. I've already commented above on the powerful silhouette work of Paula Friedlander, and how one of her illustrations perfectly captured the tone of "Apple Jack Tangles the Maidy Lac with a Red, Red Ribbon."  Daniel Trout nicely depicted a forlorn sorceress of perilous ease in one of his illustrations, while Don Eaves and Terrence Mollendor disturbingly communicated the true insanity of the Astronaut Asylum in theirs (oh, "In the Astronaut Asylum" was a long poem by Kendall Evans and Samantha Henderson I so very much wanted to like more than I did).

In the end, I find myself most certainly sold on Mythic Delirium. Time to count up my pennies and purchase a proper subscription!

Relevant links:
Mythic Delirium website.
How a Mythic Delirium is assembled.
Listen to "Genesis" by Holly Dworken Cooley from Mythic Delirium #20 and see accompanying art by Daniel Trout.
Tim Mullins' illustration for Neil Gaiman's "Conjunctions."
selfavowedgeek's Rambling Not-Review of Mythic Delirium #20.
Cabinet des Fées' review of Mythic Delirium #20.
Charles Tan's review of Mythic Delirium #20 at Bibliophile Stalker.

Note to Neil Gaiman fans:
I know you want to know what Neil's poem is about. Here's an excerpt from Mike Allen's editorial that explains a bit:
"[Neil Gaiman's] poem 'Conjunctions' is, intriguingly, a companion piece to alternapunk singer Amanda Palmer's musical composition 'Trout Heart Replica,' both items apparently inspired by an extremely memorable visit to a trout farm."

Also, trivia about the title, from Neil's journal: "I was going to call my poem 'Trout Heart Replica' but when I told her that she said, 'You can't. That's what I called my song, and I got there first.' And she had."



Illustration by Paula Friedlander of "Apple Jack Tangles the Maidy Lac with a Red, Red Ribbon" above used with permission by the artist.

I am archiving my review of Ravens in the Library: Magic in the Bard's Name, edited by SatyrPhil Brucato and Sandra Buskirk at my website. That way, should anyone want to read it in one massive document, they may do so there.

I am also rounding up the links of my three-part review here so that they're compactly notated and to provide a place for visitors from my website to comment should they wish to do so.

RAVENS IN THE LIBRARY: Magic in the Bard's Name - A Review in Three Parts:

Part One, in which I cover the first half of the TOC.
Part Two, in which I finish the TOC and comment on the included lyrics.
Part Three, in which I comment upon the artwork, graphical design, and Brucato's introduction.

You guys remember Ravens in the Library, right? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, allow me to sum up: S.J. Tucker, traveling musician and fire-spinner extraordinaire, became terribly ill this past winter and had to undergo several very expensive medical procedures. Unfortunately, she did not have health insurance (which is the lamentable lot of many, many people in this country); what she did have, however, were amazing friends (writers, editors, and artists among them) and fans who created and bought a benefit anthology to assist her in paying off her medical debt.

Ravens in the Library is that anthology. It is a limited edition collection edited by SatyrPhil Brucato and Sandra Buskirk, available only until Tucker's medical expenses have been covered. This is my review: specifically, the third part. Click on the following links to read the prior sections of this review: [Part I] [Part II]

As important as the stories to Ravens in the Library is the artwork: visual artists were part of this community that came together and donated their pens and paints and finished art to the cause of rescuing S.J. Tucker from overwhelming medical debt. (Note: Although this anthology only evidenced the participation of editors, writers, and artists in the "Save our s00j !" campaign, you only have to visit the saveours00j community to discover how musicians, Tarot readers, knitters, balm-makers, etc. also bound together in support.)

James A. Owen (of Imaginarium Geographica and Starchild fame) turned out an awesome cover set for the anthology: his image of ravens cavorting in a library while books fly about captures the whimsy of the titular song beautifully. While his brother Jeremy colored the cover set in dark and appropriate hues accentuating James' penwork, even James' simple inked drawing is excellent in itself (as you can see paired with Tucker's song in the opening pages of the collection). Owen also provided an illustration for Valente's "The Ballad of the Sinister Mr. Mouth," perfectly capturing the menace and style of that macaw-headed pirate.

Bryan Syme, tattoo artist from Seattle, provided the playful yet macabre illustration "The Ominous Toaster" to accompany Neil Gaiman's story. A simple push-lever toaster lurks in the foreground, while a scene in stark black and white of dark and stormy night tropes (complete with murdered brother and raven-watching-a-writing-desk) blaze forth from the background. While Syme provides another three pieces for the anthology, this is the best and most evocative of the story it depicts.

He works with the editor, Brucato, to bring us his second illustration "Hind and Seek" accompanying the songs "Creature of the Wood" and "Daughter of the Glade." A satyr and a nymph play hide and seek around a tree in this very competent illustration full of movement and mischief. His next illustation, for Storm Constatine's "Built on Blood," is entirely too busy, especially when squeezed onto a 9x6 page next to the story. (Also, I'm unsure where the upside down blazing car with punk demonic protesters came from. I don't recall that scene in Constantine's story.) In some ways, his last illustration ("Best Friends") for Brucato's "Ravenous" attempts to convey the most emotion and yet comes across the flattest. The expression in the faery girl's eyes is almost vacant, while the lounging posture of the angsty hard-rocker belies the sincerity of her tears.

( Read the rest of the art reviews behind the cut... )

We are finally coming to the end of my surprisingly-thorough review of Ravens in the Library; I honestly had no idea it was going to be this long when I began composing the first part several days ago. There is only one section now that I wish to comment upon, and that is editor SatyrPhil Brucato's Introduction, "Voices, Magic, and Change."

This is a truly excellent introduction. It seeks to introduce you to S.J. Tucker, the brilliant musician and amazing person, and situate her in a generous and loving social context. It succeeds at this, but then goes beyond to address a truly heinous problem: the lack of affordable healthcare for so many across the United States, who don't necessarily have the same far-reaching and supportive community by which S.J. Tucker is blessed to be surrounded. Brucato illuminates this problem for us, then shouts forth a call to action: to be aware of each other, to be generous to each other, to take care of each other. Each other is all we have. I thank Brucato for his stirring words and I hope they warm the souls of those who read them... so that they, in turn, can spread that fire into the greater community, spreading love.


Other reviews of Ravens in the Library:
talkstowolves: Part I of my review. And Part II.
k_crow's review blurbs.
thewronghands' thoughts.
maverick_weirdo 's write-up.
jennifer_brozek's preliminary thoughts.
(Anyone know of any other reviews? Let me know and I'll add them here!)

You guys remember Ravens in the Library, right? If you're not sure what I'm talking about, allow me to sum up: S.J. Tucker, traveling musician and fire-spinner extraordinaire, became terribly ill this past winter and had to undergo several very expensive medical procedures. Unfortunately, she did not have health insurance (which is the lamentable lot of many, many people in this country); what she did have, however, were amazing friends (writers, editors, and artists among them) and fans who created and bought a benefit anthology to assist her in paying off her medical debt.

Ravens in the Library is that anthology. It is a limited edition collection edited by SatyrPhil Brucato and Sandra Buskirk, available only until Tucker's medical expenses have been covered. This is my review: specifically, the second part. If you missed the first part of the review (which covers the first half of the TOC), click here.

Before we get started with the rest of the TOC and the lyrics included in Ravens in the Library, I should tell you that this review has ended up even longer than I expected it to become! Therefore, you don't get my thoughts on the art, the book's design, or the Introduction today. I'll post those later this weekend, in Part III.

On to the stories! 

"Fortune," by Shira Lipkin.

This story hits on several of my favorite storytelling devices: Tarot cards and a mythological retelling (here, the Descent of Inanna). However, for some reason, the magical realism aspects didn't entirely mesh well with the terrifying, yes, but sadly all too typical narrative of the degradation and dissolution of a woman alone. However, in spite of that one complaint, this is a powerful recasting of the Inanna myth and Lipkin couldn't have picked a better back-drop than Vegas. Knowing that pieces of this story were autobiographical makes it linger all the more. This is the sixth tale original to this anthology.

( Read the rest of the reviews behind the cut... )



Return later this weekend for the remainder of the review! You'll find talk of Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, Theodore Black, Amy Brown, James A. Owen and more! 



Other reviews of Ravens in the Library:
talkstowolves: Part I of my review.
k_crow's review blurbs.
thewronghands' thoughts.
maverick_weirdo 's write-up.
jennifer_brozek's preliminary thoughts.
(Anyone know of any other reviews? Let me know and I'll add them here!)

I am fond of decks of cards: there's something powerful, to me, about a trim stack of stiff paper pieces bearing images, whether those images be spades and diamonds, illustrations drawn by Pamela Colman Smith, depictions of fairy tales, etc. Cards are things of chance and story, community and danger. Since I was a child, I have been especially drawn to cards of divination. Here's the thing, though: I don't believe that divinatory cards reveal the future. I believe that these cards have the power to reveal ourselves.

Many people find it difficult to quiet their minds and just listen to the wisdom they usually possess beneath all the bullshit our everyday monkey minds throw at us. I know I've definitely been guilty of this: making personal decisions dramatic and confusing rather than trusting the decision I've already made but didn't want to face. I've asked the Tarot about my future because I was afraid, when all I needed to do was look at my past and my present to know what I should be doing.

And that's exactly what the Tarot and other decks helped me do: look inside, not to the future. The conjunction of cards, a random symbolic image: these things can have the same effect on our minds as an intuitively grasped Zen koan, shocking us into a new sense of understanding.

Several years ago, I encountered M.C.A. Hogarth's Balance Cards. Amazingly, this woman had developed her own deck of cards that perfectly meshed with my personal concepts of these things. From her website:
Well, the Balance Cards are certainly My Kind of Thing. However, they're not a deck of cards I can possess; rather, all of haikujaguar 's cards in the one deck of Balance Cards that exists are blank. When she reads, she pulls the labeled card and lets an image form in her mind for each person. The resulting readings can be startling and are always thought-provoking. And, if you desire to commission your card, she will paint you your specific ideological card.

As you can deduce, this method of reading can be exhausting. Yet haikujaguar  offers a monthly One Card Draw, where anyone can request one card for free through her Livejournal. You can even customize the question you want answered. While this monthly draw is usually sponsored by several people from the community, there is still an intense amount of generosity that goes into these One Card Draws. I am truly impressed and humbled each time haikujaguar  holds one.

I have benefited from her readings on several occasions. I have even commissioned a couple of cards, one of which is pictured with this entry. Both cards have proven very inspirational to me, helping me to hear myself when I needed it the most.

If you're interested in divination or just need a little help quieting your monkey mind, give M.C.A. Hogarth's Balance Cards a try. You can commission a private reading for a nominal fee or simply participate in the One Card Draw she's hosting tomorrow.

I'll see you there.

Artists! Creators! Various makers!

The time approaches for a new auction to benefit the Interstitial Arts Foundation! This Fall will see the publication of Interfictions 2, an anthology of interstitial writings-- pieces of art formed of words, but exploding the boundaries of story, poem, list, fiction, genre. No boundary is safe! Nor should we concern ourselves with the safety of such borders, for they are membranous things and meant to be liminal. (Great work has already been done in this area through Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writings and the auction of last summer inspired by the pieces therein.)

In last year's auction, readers and authors took the stories from Interfictions and rendered them in wearable art form. As I said before:

Through the alchemy of word and imagination and raw materials, Mia crafted evocative poem-pendants, Elizabeth Genco knotted intoxicating skeins of glittering black beads, Helen Pilinovsky invoked a terror of rats in black stick pearls, and so many others conceived of and brought into the world so many shiny things. Even I found myself moving to select beads, thread wire, and execute in necklace form the tale of a girl and her lost brothers.

This year, the Interstitial Arts Foundation is crossing their own previously-erected borders and opening the auction up to all manner of portable art! Fancy turning out a pendant, necklace, earrings, or other jewelry item? Fantastic! Delight in weaving fiber, knitting yarn, crocheting fancies? Brilliant! Maker of bags? Shaper of masks? Binder of books? Creator of paper? The IAF wants your beautiful wares inspired by the stories in Interfictions 2!

Now for the tricky part: the auction will run concurrently with the book's release. But never fear! Intrepid artists can still read stories beforehand so their art is well inspired: simply go to this website and cycle through until one of the story excerpts catches your fancy. Then fill out the form and soon you'll be shaping wire or clicking needles or heating metal as inspiration flits on the heels of prose.

Relevant reading:
The Interstitial Arts Foundation's press release.
The Call to Artists page where you can request a story.
The Interfictions 2 auction FAQ.
Read more about the intersitial arts on my journal.