- I wish my company had letterhead this cool. [via]
- An in-depth interview with Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, Ted Sarandos about their recent deal with Warner Bros. I think this goes a long way to explaining the deal and why it’s ultimately a boon to Netflix subscribers. (As such, the interview is maybe only of interest to subscribers.) There’s been a lot of anger over the planned 28-day window between when DVDs go on sale and when they’ll be available for rent at Netflix. But I really don’t have a problem with it — not if it means more, and better streaming content and a greater likelihood that when a new release is available, there will actually be enough stock for me to get a copy.
- An interest Catch-22 of science fiction translations revealed:
Because it takes so long for English-language science fiction to get translated, people in non-English speaking countries are often reading books that are several years behind the current fashion in English speaking countries. They then write books in response to what they have read, but when those books are offered for translation into English the big publishers reject them as “old fashionedâ€. [via]
- For most authors, breaking 1,000 words wouldn’t seem like much. For Bruce Holland Rogers (who contributed to Kaleidotrope #3, by the way), it’s practically a novel!
- And finally, some truly beautiful papercraft [via]
kaleidotrope
So that’s Tuesday
Today was a little more Tuesday-ish than yesterday, but otherwise it was about the same.
I’ve started reading through slush again for Kaleidotrope and I’m starting to remember all the things I didn’t miss about it. Sometimes you come across a great story or poem — and the whole thing’s worth it just for that relatively small handful — but the great majority of submissions just don’t work, and often in the same predictable ways. Most are far for terrible; there’s just a lot of not-very-good stories being written. Still, as I noted on Twitter the other day, there are only two ways to get me to read your story all the way through: make it good, or make it really, really, really bad.
And yes, that means I don’t always read every story all the way through. I hope that doesn’t seem shocking or disrespectful. If it’s no good for the first four or five pages, who is going to read any further than that? I read a lot further than anyone subscribing to the zine would be expected to, given a story that doesn’t work, and I try to offer comments on when and how each one went wrong for me. I’ve rejected many stories I have read all the way through — some I’ve even re-read multiple times, and liked, but that for some reason just didn’t fit with the zine — but a lot of them lose me much earlier than that. I often start skimming. Sometimes that skimming convinces me to turn back, reconsider, look for ways to salvage the broken beginning. More often, though, it just crystallizes what’s broken about the entire thing. That’s just the reality of it, I’m afraid.
Of course, I’m also remembering all the things I missed about reading slush. Sturgeon’s Law isn’t really about the ninety percent of crud, after all. It’s about the ten percent that’s worth it.
Back to work
Today was my first day back at work since December 18 — which was itself a much shortened day, consisting mostly of our group’s holiday lunch and setting my away messages on phone and e-mail. That’s actually a shot of my cubicle up above on the right; true, that picture is from way back in March of last year, but there really hasn’t been a significant change to the layout (or clutter) since then, and certainly not in the time that I was away. I spent the morning going through e-mails, but most of the big projects I have in development are on hold until I receive feedback or manuscripts from authors. So it wasn’t the most exciting day back at work, but that’s probably a good thing. I feel like I had a really good vacation, just enough time off, but there’s no reason for a mad rush back into things.
Other than work, and easing back into that daily commute, today was pretty much uneventful. I opened Kaleidotrope back up to submissions again at the start of the new year, and the slush pile continues to build. Meanwhile, I finished my entry in Geist’s Postcard Contest and expect to mail it off tomorrow. It’s a short piece — there was a 500-word maximum — but I had fun with it.
I broke down and bought a copy of Season 2 of The Big Bang Theory on DVD this afternoon. (I had a leftover Borders gift card from the holidays.) It’s very quickly become one of my favorite shows. I also bought a copy of Monty Python: Almost The Truth, which so far doesn’t seem to be offering anything particularly new about the troupe — I have, after all, read this massive tome, among others — but does so in a very fun and engaging way. I’ve only watched the first episode so far, but it’s a really good introduction to how the whole silly thing got started.
And finally, I was also offered a chance to attend an invitation-only “historic event at Carnegie Hall” where I can acquire a Steinway piano “at substantially reduced prices.” They advise me to schedule my appointment early, since it’s “first call, first served,” and this “impressive selection of used and restored vertical and grand pianos” won’t last! I suspect I’m on their mailing list after my mother and I attended a taping of Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! in the Stern Auditorium. And it’s not like I’ve never “considered owning a fine piano.” But for now, I think I’ll pass.
Room with an interview
Kaleidotrope contributor (“The Blue Testament,” Oct. 2008) Marshall Payne was kind enough to interview me about the zine. I had a lot of fun with this and was really happy to sit for his weekly interview series. And I only sound the tiniest bit pretentious when I name-drop Faulkner.
ETA: Just a day later, I learned that Andrew Howard’s genuinely creepy story “Molting” (from the still available April 2008 issue) made the Honorable Mentions list for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year! Congratulations to Andrew!
Thursday various
With the schedule set, King plans to go on vacation until the end of the season. “There won’t be any changes, since CreSyFy has a rule against things evolving,” King explained.
Evolution of The Martian Chronicles cover. I think the 1950 (original?) cover is my favorite, although a battered copy of the 1984 version is what I own. Though I’d love a copy of the new one. [via]