abracanabra | Entries tagged with reading

Persephone Station by Stina Leicht (2021)
TBR Stack, Book 1 of 52

This is the cyberiest of cyberpunk, with an overlay of "first alien contact gone wrong." It reminded me quite strongly of CJ Cherryh's more action-driven SF, and of Pat Cadigan's steampunk work.

Set in the far future on a hostile alien planet and starring a rag-tag crew of enforcers that are as much family as they are battle-buddies... No, starring an immortal, nonbinary gangster don with secret enemies and allies... No, I take that back, the real star of the book is an empathetic AGI (artificial general intelligence) newly decanted into a biological body on a mission of mercy. Eventually all their different conflicts converge, and the ending was a satisfactory series of new beginnings.

Recommended.

Apparently there's another in the series?!? Different main characters, and it came out last year in 2023. Hey, this "52 Books in a Year" challenge was supposed to be *shrinking* my TBR stack!

I have a reading coming up at Dreamhaven in Minneapolis on October 4th! Be there or be...somewhere else.

Details:

On Wednesday, October 4, ABRA STAFFIN-WIEBE reads and holds a reception as part of the Speculations Reading Series, from 6:30-7:45 p.m. Abra Staffin-Wiebe is a science fiction author who loves futuristic fairy tales, cheerful horror, and dark science fiction. Dozens of her stories have appeared at award-winning publications including Tor.com, Escape Pod, and Fireside Magazine.

Bring a friend! There will be cookies and soda as well as giveaways during the reading. Afterwards, we usually adjourn to Parkway Pizza for some social time.

I have been attending so many virtual SFF conventions lately (right now I'm listening to a panel about contemporary Gothic fiction), and tomorrow I'll be sharing a reading with @LydaMorehouse (Does tagging even work on Dreamwidth? I'm out of practice. Let's find out.) and Pat Harrigan! And I just got my market list update out.

From the newsletter...

Thoughts in Passing

All these suddenly-online science fiction and fantasy conventions are a wonderful opportunity! But as a friend said to me today, the pro ("There's so much!") is also the con ("There's so much!"). I haven't found a good comprehensive, continually updated list of current virtual conventions yet. The closest is the Locus list: https://locusmag.com/conventions/ . It's a good list of conventions, but I advise clicking through to see what the convention is doing currently. Several conventions listed as canceled are doing something virtual instead. For example, this weekend I'm enjoying NASFic online: https://columbus2020nasfic.org

(Do you have a writing question? Send it to me, either by replying to this email or by using the comment form on my website, and it may get answered in the next newsletter.)

What I've been up to lately, writing-wise:

Preparing to do a reading at one of those virtual cons! Come to this free online event, enjoy some good stories, and see what happens when I discover that I can add video effects to a recorded reading. Did I tempt fate? Maybe. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

But seriously, I expect this to be a great reading, and the Q&A at the end offers the opportunity for some interesting discussions. Enjoy performances by science fiction, mystery, and fantasy authors as part of CONvergence Online. Free, but registration is required: https://convergence-con-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pCdcCtxXSXeW8v1SKEigmg

And if you're interested in learning more about how to do a reading yourself, consider this Part 1 of "How to Do a Reading." I'm presenting Part 2, a discussion of the nitty-gritty of preparing and performing a reading, in a couple of months.

Today's good things:

Being told that yes, Seward Co-op does sell paneer, they just hide it really well in the cheese section!! I am Very Excite about this.

Getting my new power cord and having my laptop successfully charge. I was quite worried that the laptop was dead.

Talking with people on my weekly Zoom social call. It helps.

Getting another steampunk author (Michael Merriam) for an upcoming panel.

Good things from previous days:

I started the day out feeling okay, with some energy and enthusiasm.

Free coffee, thanks to a filled punch card.

Theia cuddles.

Cleaning up one corner of Theia's bedroom. That was a BIG chore.

The kids' caterpillar started to move around again. I had honestly thought it was dead.

Phil found out about zoo camp.

Trader Joe's "mini samosas" (not real samosas, but yummy) and homemade lassi (tastes most authentic made with water, not milk)

Reading Accepting the Lance
Picking up House of Shattered Wings from the library.

Getting the free Inventor Camp materials boxes, and being really impressed by them. The kids will be making flying robots!

Planning to do the virtual MIA family day. It feels good to have plans.

Story sale! I sold the reprint rights of "In Their Image" to After-Dinner Conversations

Come to my experimental SF performance tonight! Kieran's in downtown Mpls, doors at 8 PM, I'm performing after 9 PM.

Inspiration: chance operations, love and loss, many worlds hypothesis, alternate timelines, wave function collapse, and choice strategies.

http://www.wordsprout.org/the-not-so-silent-planet-a-speculative-open-mic.html

I *missed* Shadow Unit. Paranormal mystery meets serial killer profiling. Yum. ping.fm/RqSsx
Coworker: "Good morning!" My inner thought, grimly: it would be a better morning with cinnamon rolls. (It's true!)
Dear Literary Magazines, It is not rude to put your pay rates in your submission guidelines. No, really, it's not!
-- Sleep deprived past 3 days. Now, a nap in hopes of staying awake 'til the new decade.

GUD Magazine, a high-quality literary+genre publication, has switched over to a "Pay What You Will" model. Their PDF issues are available for purchase for a minimum of $.01. Interesting. I wish them luck, and I plan on digging out my wallet and buying an issue soon.

14:23 Put hair up in 2 twists again today. Becoming fond of this. Am also excessively cute! Makes me want to do cartwheels of victorious cuteness.
17:16 Phil, curling up on the couch: "Where is my plague blanket? Oh, there it is."
20:20 New Shadow Unit! 1/2 mystery, 1/4 horror, 1/4 SF, 100% your daily allowance of awesome. Serial fiction. *shadowunit.org

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Note from the editor

Merry Christmas! (Or other seasonal holiday of your choice.) Christmas Eve for me is a time to eat traditional foods, unwrap presents, and rejoice in not having to go in to work tomorrow. My belly is full of semmel, cherrymus, and blue cheese; I have more tea, coffee, and totes than I will use for at least a year; and for once the entirely unpredictable work schedule of my day job is firmly settled. Time to count my blessings and enjoy reading some holiday speculative fiction.
( Read more )

Steampunk is a peculiar beast of a sub-genre that seems to be getting more attention lately.

half_double has requested a list of such readings from me. It isn't a precisely pinned-down genre as yet. In many ways, I'd say it's more of an atmosphere or flavor than an "X,Y, and Z are present" sort of thing. Here are the elements that, in my opinion, flavor steampunk: steam-based technology, Victoriana, Victorian England, London, clockwork, mystery, fog and smog, brass devices, complexity, high density writing, social class structure as in the Victorian era, petticoats and waistcoats, fabulism, conspiracy, secret society etc. Lovecraftian influences are also often expressed in conjunction. Steampunk influences may be seen in science fiction or fantasy or both. There's also some weird steampunk/western thing going on, though I scowl in its general direction.

Books I have read and would recommend that share some/many of the above influences:
* The Difference Engine - William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
* The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic book - Alan Moore (comic book)
* Perdido Street Station (etc.) - China Mieville
* Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
* Sun of Suns - Karl Schroeder
* The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
* The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters - Gordon Dahlquist (this book I recommend anyway--it ate my brain for a while)
* His Dark Materials (trilogy) - Philip Pullman
* FreakAngels - Warren Ellis (Future post-apocalyptic, but strongly steampunk-influenced. Also available free on the web and pretty fantastic for serial reading! Here's where to start: http://www.freakangels.com/?p=23 [increment +1 for every week after this post that you follow that link])

Wikipedia has a pretty comprehensive list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_steampunk_works

A lot of steampunk has been written as short stories, so anthologies are not a bad way to go either if you're trying to understand the genre, though I won't recommend any particular one.

Other ways steampunk is being expressed are as a fashion choice (tattered petticoats and brass goggles, or clockwork devices made accessories) and as a make aesthetic (a keyboard painstakingly reshaped to resemble a Victorian typewriter, for example).

Edited to add: See also Steampod (http://steampod.org), a podcast of steampunk stories including classics.

09:26 For 2 hrs this morning, a squirrel chattered madly outside our window. Later we discovered a cat had been waiting below all the time. #
21:50 Spam subject line of the week: "challenge the dark knight when you are ready." #
21:52 Meandered around the Stone Arch art festival this PM. Mostly commercial arts & crafts, but some were good. ++Sweepstakes & free stuff. #
22:04 Downloaded sci-fi fiction podcasts from Escape Pod (escapepod.org/) and e-audiobooks through Mpls public library. Set for the week. #
23:07 CSA cookin': pea vine, salad greens, radish, & feta salad with cumin/dill dressing was not great. Not awful, but not great. #

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23:18 That earlier jott was "goats do roam" wine 1/2 off at Haskell's. #
23:20 Twins lost baseball game. Post-phys. therapy walking made knee hurt a lot, and dress shoes gave me 4 blisters. Also, stinky man ick. #
23:31 Whoa. I have so many photos to upload and sort through and try and do something with. ::runs and hides:: #
07:08 Yeesh. Woke up v. tired. Hope I can escape work early & nap. ::crosses fingers:: #
07:49 Suspect it's a bad sign that I've taken my first painkiller of the day before 8 AM. #
08:27 Want to see this: tinyurl.com/5t8wly (NYT.com) #
08:57 If a dog's wagging tail leans to the right, you're good. Useful info, via SciAm (tinyurl.com/4cxdpa). #
09:11 Writer's Digest--good tips on how to find time to write - tinyurl.com/5wnhxj #
09:35 Tor.com's free ebook-a-week program is teh awesome. + free Nebula nominees from fictionwise & I feel the need for an ebook reader. #
09:36 Spam: "Spring weaken your organism. Support it with vitamins." #
09:38 @ cvalenti re dog's tail - Their right. #
11:04 www.grilledcheeseinvitational.com/ #
11:19 Prosthetics has open-skull surgery test subjects. Yikes! tinyurl.com/6m4u2w (via \.) #
11:28 Wonder if I could write a romance novel...in a month...during work down-time? #
13:03 Ngg. For the umpteenth time, NgithOwl has underpaid me by $2/hr for a significant chunk of time. Snarl. #
13:14 Home. Step 1. Consolidate to-do list, master task list, floating scraps of paper, and "Action Needed" inbox items. #
13:20 Boy kitty is snuggling ferociously. I think he missed me when I was gone all the time. #
14:57 Happy. It is raining and cold outside, but I am snug at home. #
15:24 Dear girl cat, You are welcome to sit on my lap and purr, but please stop trying to lick my hands as I type! #
15:52 Poor husband has to work a double shift tonight! #
16:35 Grrr. V. annoyed that "Error 623" keeps popping up. #
16:39 Since my ride's working 2nd shift, think I will be staying home. And warm. Instead of gimping around all lonely and cold. #

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From Fictionwise:
"The Nebula Awards are among the most prestigious literary awards available, and are presented annually by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). The 2007 winners will be announced during the Nebula Awards Weekend, April 25-27 in Austin, TX. This year we kick off our promotion with The Story of Love by long-time Fictionwise author Vera Nazarian. Fictionwise will have new FREE nominated stories every week until the end of April."

This is a great way to read a bunch of very good science fiction and fantasy short stories. They do this every year. Very cool.

Fictionwise.com, provider of fine e-books, says, "The Nebula Awards are hosted by the Science Fiction Writers Association every spring, and each year Fictionwise promotes this special event by giving away preliminary ballot nominees for FREE!" They're starting with Journey Into the Kingdom by M. Rickert (click to read excerpt), and they'll keep giving one away a week. Pretty nifty, and a good way to catch up with what's being considered the best science fiction short stories being written.

Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Being the journal of an all-too-human writer, reader, and eater of deliciousness

Books Read: Persephone Station

Oct 4th Reading at Dreamhaven

CONvergence Reading and Other Virtual Convention Bits.

Paneer, Lazarus laptop (and caterpillar), and steampunk

Minneapolis Folks!

New Years Eve Treats

Pay What You Will

Details of the Day - Victoriously Cute

Spec the Halls Winners! Here, read this.

The Nature of Steampunk & Some Recommendations

Details of the Day

Twittered Today

Free Nebula Nominees

Free Nebula Award Nominees.

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April 2025

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