Arches, Quintuplet, and GC Star Clusters: Rough and Crowded Neighborhood at Galactic Center

• Ursula K. LeGuin reviews Jo Walton’s Among Others
• The My Little Jhereg and Lunch of Locke Lamora Bartender’s Guide
• So the Hugo nominations came out last weekend. I like that we’re seeing more diversity on the short list but I still think there’s a long way to go.
  • Can we stop talking about the Hugos now? There are some good points here and some not so good points–definitely some condescension towards female-identified nominees that obscures the excellent points about the fan writer and fanzine categories.
  • Hugo your own way
  • Hugo Nomination Reactions or Why the Fuck is this Controversial This includes a nice breakdown of what’s so problematic about my first link here.
  • And another perspective here from World SF
  • Bogi Takács crunches the numbers
• Adventure Kitten Gear!
• FUCK CANCER: Rest in Peace, Roger Ebert and A Personal Statement from Iain M. Banks And Jo Walton captures it perfectly: On the Impending Death of Iain Banks: “Go hug your friends, and sing, or paint, or write, / Now while we may, against impatient night.”
• Wealth, risk, and stuff
• NPR joins liberal attacks on disabled people
• Having fucked up shit vs. saying fucked up shit
• Trigger Warning
• Romero’s Wives and Women bring down the house at GDC.
• You Didn’t Make the Harlem Shake Go Viral–Corporations Did
• Ten Tips Guaranteed to Improve Your Startup Success
• Feminist is One Side of a Shape
• Carrie Cuin on Barbie, Burquas, April Fool’s Jokes, Writer’s Advice: Small Failures Hurt Us In Big Ways Yes, yes, yes. And yes.
• Ice Age Art and the Female Gaze
• April is: A Poem a Day for National Poetry Month (in the US)
• The other thing of note that’s been going on in SFnal circles is the sale of Night Shade Books’ assets.   My heart goes out to all the authors who have work caught up in this fiasco. This sucks on any number of levels and it’s a damn shame because Night Shade published some great books. I really dislike the strategy employed here–“if you want people to get their royalties, you’ll agree to these contract terms or else we might go into bankruptcy…” It’s troubling and I would urge anyone affected by this to talk to an attorney if possible.
  • Night Shade Books Pushes Asset Sale (PW link)
  • Another indie publisher on the ropes: Night Shade Books plans an asset sale (io9 link)
  • Justin at Staffer’s Book Review with an interesting analysis of what went wrong.
  • JABberwocky Literary with another analysis of the deal–this is seriously a must-read.
  • Michael A. Stackpole on why he’s passing–with more analysis.
  • Phil Foglio on the asset sale and contract changes–which he also thinks is a bad one.
  • A copy of the contract.
  • An open letter from Jeremy Lessen, co-owner of Night Shade Books.
  • Late addition! Kameron Hurley lays it out: Deal/No Deal: Writers Aren’t Totally Stupid

And because it is National Poetry Month (in the US), have a poem! By someone who is not American!

Punishment, Seamus Heaney

I can feel the tug
of the halter at the nape
of her neck, the wind
on her naked front.

It blows her nipples
to amber beads,
it shakes the frail rigging
of her ribs.

I can see her drowned
body in the bog,
the weighing stone,
the floating rods and boughs.

Under which at first
she was a barked sapling
that is dug up
oak-bone, brain-firkin:

her shaved head
like a stubble of black corn,
her blindfold a soiled bandage,
her noose a ring

to store
the memories of love.
Little adulteress,
before they punished you

you were flaxen-haired,
undernourished, and your
tar-black face was beautiful.
My poor scapegoat,

I almost love you
but would have cast, I know,
the stones of silence.
I am the artful voyeur

of your brain’s exposed
and darkened combs,
your muscles’ webbing
and all your numbered bones:

I who have stood dumb
when your betraying sisters,
cauled in tar,
wept by the railings,

who would connive
in civilized outrage
yet understand the exact
and tribal, intimate revenge.

I am endlessly fascinated by bog people: Tales from the Bog in which it is revealed that Windeby Girl (the body which was the inspiration for “Punishment”) was no girl and probably died of natural causes. SCIENCE.