Squidpunk Thoughts…

So, yes, Squidpunk is an April Fool’s joke, but one that we happened upon just in time, given Paul D’s scandalous send-up of us and Mr. Kincaid on Locus. We have, in effect, innoculated ourselves!

Of course, the sad fact remains–I’d love to do Squidpunk (Ann, stop looking at me that way!), but it would be a coffee table book including images from the many rich and various representations of squid by humans over the centuries, mixed in with a few short-short excerpts of various references to squid in nonfiction and fiction. Nothing like a fiction antho (shudder).

Check out all of the Locus pieces, including, ahem, the one about Bravo TV’s new Top Writer series, although I hope I understood “bunk bed” properly as being a two-tiered bed–two separate beds…

A serious question, then: Can one be devoted to a project and express skepticism about it at the same time? Probably not in the the eyes of the Binary, but we here at VanderCentral tend not to think in binary. Should a book be a closed system or a question? Can a book in the form of a question be a question you as the editor are still asking yourself? Depends on the book, doesn’t it? Which is another way of saying that it makes total sense for us to do something like New Weird and then parody ourselves for doing it. (Where all of this huffin’ and puffin’ was when Feeling Very Strange, Rewired, and New Space Opera, came out, I do not know.) Perhaps the strangest thing for me is the reversal–doing a couple of “movement” anthologies and having the same folks who disliked the Leviathan anthology series’ refusal to name and willingness to mix different kinds of things now advocating more or less what we advocated back then (and still advocate today). Still, in essential opposition to the idea of movements (unless they fit our sense of the universe, our comfort-level), wherever that opposition comes from, the genre balances itself. No harm there and no worries–most readers know what’s chaff and what’s wheat. If some of it still comes down to personalities and perceptions of intent, that’s a shame but unavoidable.

Moron Reviews…I Mean, More On Reviews

I keep adding other recent posts to the end of my Reviewing Book post. When I get around to it, there will be a new category on the drop-down menu to accommodate things like that post, the writing-a-novel-in-two-months post, etc. I’m fool enough to think if you have experience doing something, you should share that experience–I’ve learned enough from others and how-to books to know this–and then link to dissenting opinions and other approaches. Having a category creates a kind of clearinghouse for this type of “info” and will help me when I finally get around to compiling another nonfiction collection and a creative writing book. Perhaps I’ll title the category “Rules Made Fer Breakin’” just so there’s no confusion.

However, in the wake of writing that post, I have decided I will no longer comment on reviews of my books. I will post links, as I have in the past, to both negative and positive reviews. But as of today, I’m done commenting on any of it. Ancillary to this, I think I’m going to stop commenting on other people’s blogs from now on as well, as I had decided to do as a New Year’s resolution. We’ll see how that goes. It just begins to seem pointless in the grand scheme of things. I’d rather focus on my better self, which has to do with creating things.

A Welter of Projects

On another subject, I have to say that this year is as busy with projects as I can remember. I know there’s a kind of super-saturation that occurs from a reader’s standpoint, even, possibly, with regard to this blog. (My gawd–would VanderMeer just shut the f— up! Would he stop interviewing people? Would he stop being interviewed!?) All I can say is I’m working hard to provide a variety of posts on this blog, and that I believe strongly in all of these projects we’re doing, and that Ann and I are going to keep aggressively pursuing attention for them (although in different ways for each). When you have the opportunity for sustained creativity across a variety of areas, and you’re of the mindset that you never know when you’re going to get hit by a bus or forget to stop at a red light, it behooves you to keep grinding it out. I don’t believe it’s necessary to apologize for that, although I always get a few comments from people who apparently think it’s rude to be good at more than one thing.

Book Photos

Given the enthusiastic response to the book photo posts, I’m going to keep doing them. I think it’s funny, though, how many wished they were getting that many books a day. Well, wait until it’s you–you might rethink your position! We have a house completely inundated by books, and although I’m not complaining, it can be overwhelming at times. That said–no books received today! Just a rubber band in the post office box, and I’m not going to photograph it!

I’d also mention, definitely check out Rick Kleffel’s rolling book shelves! He’s the original!