10-23-09: An Interview with Claire Light at SF in SF / Litquake on October 10, 2009
"The way that writers of color use science fiction is very different..." — Claire Light
Claire Light is a smart, no-nonsense woman who knows her stuff — and can process it into wonderful science fiction. When I spoke to her at SF in SF on / Litquake on October 10, 2009, what I wanted to know about was the "Carl Brandon Society." Turns out that they'd just taken a major step.
Yes, I'd done my research — I had a few clues about Carl Brandon, and listeners who heard the panel discussion should as well. But hearing the story told by a writer and member of the board is a very different experience from reading about it on the web. Moreover, she tells me stuff you can't really easily find out. Here's the prescription to cure a lack of knowledge about Carl Brandon. First, follow this link to the MP3 audio file of my interview with Claire Light, then once you;ve got the substantive background, give their website, carlbrandon.org, a visit.
10-22-09: Marta Acosta Interviewed at SF in SF / Litquake on October 10, 2009 :
"I think you can connect more with people when you make them laugh..." — Marta Acosta
When you met Marta Acosta, you're probably going to rapidly find yourself thinking, you know, I think I'd enjoy just about anything this author would write. Acosta speaks with such conviction about humor and writing that one cannot help but be buoyed by her enthusiasm.
Really: had you showed me a "Casa Dracula" novel in the bookstore, I probably would have said, "No thanks." This is a perfect example of why you want to attend gigs like SF in SF, because when you meet an author, you get a very different picture of a work that might not be particularly well-packaged — or that, if it were — you might not think would be your cuppa. So follow this enthusiastic recommendation to this enthusiastic conversation by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
10-21-09: Jewell Gomez at SF in SF / Litquake on October 10, 2009 :
"So first, I decided, OK, I'll get rid of the Christian mythology ...." — Jewell Gomez
I had an absolute blast talking with Jewell Gomez at SF in SF on October 10, 2009; she's the perfect example of why I enjoy these outings so much. And I suspect that this interview is going lead a lot of readers to pick up her book, 'The Golda Stories.'
Gomez clearly experiences so much joy in her writing, and so much fun as you will hear in this interview that it is certain her fiction will be equally enjoyable — and you already have a reading to convince you of this. Writing is, after all, all about voice. This is a voice you'll definitely want to hear, and voice to which I shall refer you to not just once in this paragraph but twice, to make sure that you follow this link to the MP3 audio file.
10-20-09: Saturday, October 10, 2009 SF in SF / Litquake Panel : Jewell Gomez, Marta Acosta, and Claire Light Moderated by Terry Bisson
Looking for a science fiction convention that meets once monthly and offers just one reading, one panel, comfortable seating and a bar? I can't imagine anything more ideal, really, none of the usual running about from one back-killing chair to another. But that's SF in SF, even when it’s also part of Litquake.
The panel on Saturday, October 10, 2009, was no exception, except that there were three authors rather than the usual two. Jewell Gomez, Marta Acosta, and Claire Light moderated by Terry Bisson proved to be as entertaining as you might expect, offering a variety of opinions and experiences with regards to the topic of "Color Me SF: The Science Fiction Worlds of Octavia Butler and Carl Brandon." We got the lowdown on Carl Brandon, the challenges faced by people of color writing speculative fiction — SF, horror and fantasy — and lots of fascinating anecdotes about Octavia Butler. Here's your link to the P3 audio file.
10-19-09: A 2009 Interview with Max Brooks
"Every day is a fight, you've got to get up and you've got to feel optimistic." — Max Brooks
I spoke to Max Brooks at NPR West in Los Angeles, after a mad drive down from San Francisco the night before. Having been told so much about the book by so many people, I had really tempered my expectations. Generally, when someone tells me about a horror novel, it's because said novel is particularly grisly. I liked 'The Books of Blood' a lot — but I don’t want every book to be a book of blood. Also, as far as monsters go, zombies are my least favorite. So heading into my Max Brooks reading binge, I wasn't expecting a lot beyond gore, violence and a fairly fast-paced work.
I was shocked to discover that there was not much gore in Brooks' work, and that the horror did not devolve from the fear of the zombies so much as Brooks' outstanding portrayal of the effects of a world-wide plague. And talking to him, I discovered a writer who was fiercely practical, a writer who was interested in people, not monsters. Moreover, Brooks is a superb speaker. You can hear just how superb by following this link to the MP3 audio file of our conversation.
New to the Agony Column
02-01-12: Commentary : Stan Lee Splashes 'Stan Lee's How to Write Comics' and 'Stan Lee's How to Draw Comics' : Lessons in the Form, From the Master
01-23-12: Commentary : Sara Paretsky Nails 'Breakdown' : The Machine Stops
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Interview with Sara Paretsky : "Everything in a courtroom is a story; it's not justice, it's combating narratives."
01-18-12: Commentary : Téa Obreht Conjures 'The Tiger's Wife' : The Grammar of Vision
01-13-12: Commentary : Hard Case Subterranean Block : Not from Bob's Basement Tapes
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2012 Phone Interview with Lisa Randall : "...there seems to be some evidence, especially from one of the experiments."
01-10-12: Commentary : Archive Review: Terry D'Auray Catches Lawrence Block and 'The Burglar on the Prowl' : "A show well worth the price of a ticket."
12-29-11: Commentary : My Life in the Bush of Books : Island of Vice by Richard Zacks, Iago by David Snodin, The Coincidence Engine by Sam Leith and The Dipatcher by Ryan David Jahn
12-21-11: Commentary : Cold Hand in Mine by Robert Aickman : From the Seedy to the Sublime
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Three Books with Alan Cheuse : 'Kill Bin Laden' ; Ryu Mitsuse, '10 Billion Days and 100 Billion Nights' ; Michael Crichton and Richard Preston, 'Micro'
12-20-11: Commentary : David Blackbourn Visits 'Marpingen: Apparitions of the Virgin Mary in a Nineteenth-Century German Village' : Externalizing a Culture Clash
12-15-11: Commentary : Ayize Jama-Everett Reveals 'The Liminal People' : The Powers That Be
Agony Column Podcast News Report : The Agony Column Live with Lisa Goldstein and Ayize Jama-Everett, and music by Fenyang Smith, December 10, 2011 : "... let's look at what happens if people have abilities that other people don't have ..."
11-28-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Scott Wallace : "Within months of first contact, these groups experience a huge die-off."
11-22-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Charles Frazier, Part Two : "It's not me telling you, there's this storyteller voice."
11-21-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Charles Frazier : "If we're going in the wrong direction, we could turn around and go back."
11-17-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Gianni Mola : "The only way you can learn, I told them, is to watch me cook it."
11-11-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Karl Marlantes : "...the way I "think" about things, with quotes around think, is I tend to write them down..."
10-31-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Colson Whitehead : "In the Apocalypse, somebody's gonna have to do the grunt work..."
10-17-11: Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2011 Interview with Russell Banks : "They are in a sense, permanently marked and thrown into this darkness..."
