Archive for Randy Henderson

Sponsor Me or (and?) these Fairies Suffer

June 26, 2011 / / No comments

Crying FairyI have caught 37 fairies in a jar.  Unless you sponsor me in the Clarion West writeathon, I will place the jar in front of a television playing nothing but Jersey Housewives.  Or, if you are not a fan of fairies, then IF you sponsor me I will force the fairies to read the Myspace breakup poetry of goth tweens. Basically, the more you sponsor me, the more you control the fates of these 37 fairies.

Oops.  Make that 36 fairies.  Our kitten is way too clever at getting that lid open.

The Clarion West writeathon is a fundraiser for the Clarion West workshop, a writing “boot camp” that helps to produce future writers of quality genre fiction so that you will have something to read and watch tomorrow that doesn’t suck.

So go to my page and click on the shiny DONATE button to sponsor me as I write stuff, and feel like a real patron of the arts.

http://clarionwest.org/events/writeathon/RandyHenderson

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Category: Clarion West / Tags:

Talking to the Dead

June 26, 2011 / / No comments

Talking to the DeadMy nonfiction article about real world necromancy, Talking to the Dead, is up at Fantasy Magazine. It was the first time they assigned me a topic (to align with the week’s excellent fiction) rather than me just writing whatever popped into my head, but it was fun to research nonetheless.

Fantasy Magazine recently changed editorial staff and approach to align more with their sister magazine Lightspeed. Among the changes is that they assign non-fiction pieces to specific writers (rather than writers proposing and submitting items) and, I am happy to say, even offer a bit o’ pay.
I am, however, always understanding of those magazines who do not pay, especially the younger ones. The publishing business is not a highly profitable or stable one in the best of times, and I always considered my nonfiction contributions more of a show of support for the market than a reason for the market to support me. Which is not to say I don’t think nonfiction writers deserve to be paid for their time and effort as much as anyone. Writers, like publishers, are often broke and unstable. Especially unstable 😉

Click Here to read the article.

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Category: Nonfiction Articles / Tags: ,

Less Interesting Books

May 26, 2011 / / 2 comments

Per the “lessinterestingbooks” meme, here’s my contribution:

The Dresden Tax Files.

The Slightly Peckish Games.

Anansi Boys Band.

Cattlefield Earth.

Ender’s Game of Candyland.

‎20,000 Leeks Under the Sea. Or 0.20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Memory, Sorrow, Myspace: Poem of Farewell.

Jonathon Strange & Mister Norrell’s Long Distance Calling Plan.

Journey to the Surface of the Earth.

The Name of the Wind is Blaine.

Holocene Park.

Contact Paper.

The Forever Peaceful Co-existence.

Rendezvous with Top Ramen.

Ringworm.

The Bourne Dream He Had Last Night But Can’t Really Remember But Will Tell You Anyway.

I, Roomba.

 

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Category: humor /

Let it Be Known, Clarion West Write-a-thon Approacheth

May 19, 2011 / / No comments

Clarion West Write-a-ThonStarting in late June, I will be channeling reality-altering energies in an attempt to discombobulate speculativentropic forces. There may be casualties, scandals, men weeping, women dancing, and spontaneous generation of new life that realizes its true purpose just before being turned into a new flavor of pudding. Won’t you sponsor the chaos?

All proceeds go to incubation pods for future speculative fiction writers (or financial assistance for Clarion West, I can never remember which):

http://clarionwest.net/events/writeathon/RandyHenderson

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Category: Clarion West, writing /

The Most Epicly Awesomest Story! Ever!!

May 16, 2011 / / No comments

My epic flash fiction tale about Framdar “The Slayer” Deathkiller, which I read as an example of writing so bad it is funny for the Norwescon panel “Bad Writing, No Cookie”, is now up at Every Day Fiction:

http://www.everydayfiction.com/the-most-epicly-awesomest-story-ever-by-randy-henderson/

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Category: fantasy, humor, writing /

Thor – Better than a Hammer to the Head

May 7, 2011 / / No comments

Doctor Horrible vs Thor
First, let me just say I wish I had the time and skill to video mash-up Doctor Horrible talking about The Hammer with scenes from Thor. But I made you this picture instead.

Thor was simple action movie fun.
I had hoped for more substance, with Kenneth Branagh directing and the gravitas and richness of the Norse mythology (never mind what Marvel did with it), but since I wasn’t counting on it I wasn’t terribly disappointed.

The one thing I did not like about the movie however was the “love” story. The real emotional drama was between Thor, Loki, and Odin (and could have been more so with Sif), and with Thor’s emotional growth and transformation. The tacked-on love story was unnecessary, and not believable. I hate when characters in a movie supposedly fall completely and truly in love with each other after a couple of brief conversations that are about as deep and meaningful as interactions with an ATM machine.

I am not against the concept of love at first sight, and certainly Branagh has worked with such concepts before given how often it happens in Shakespeare, but short of an excuse to make Thor’s decision near the end of the film have some kind of supposed emotional weight, it was not really required for the plot to work, and weakened the story as far as I was concerned. And it made the ending just sort of fizzle out on a lame note. Not saying it couldn’t have worked, and made the ending more powerful, but I get the feeling they cut out some of the development of that relationship to make room for more sweeping special effects.

Which, by the way, were way cool. I’ve been to Asgard, and they did a remarkably decent job of rendering it.

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Category: Comics, humor, movies /

Conan vs Kull (and not in a good way)

May 5, 2011 / / No comments

I know Robert E. Howard wrote both Kull and Conan, and the Kull movie took a lot from a Conan story, but does the new Conan movie really have to look like Kull the Conqueror II?  The first Arnie Conan was awesome and launched a wave of fantasy films (including, admittedly, a cheesy Conan sequel). But I have a sinking feeling this time they are skipping the awesome and going right to the cheese faster than a mouse who just quit modeling. And worse, it also reminded me of Uwe Boll’s “In the Name of the King.”

Crom, hear me, please let me be wrong.

VS

VS

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Category: fantasy, movies /

My Humble Beginnings

April 28, 2011 / / No comments

On this day, mine father, who was sent to earth from

Me and my little bro

Wow. I had a pocket protector BUILT IN to the shirt. I didn't have a chance.

his dying planet, did give virgin birth to a lotus flower, which did spring fully formed from his head, and out of which grew the Tree of Life, which was burned to ash, and that ash mixed with the blood of the Titans, and given the breath of life, and then dipped into the waters of Styx by mine mother, and thus was I born.  That’s still my story, and I’m sticking to it.

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Category: Uncategorized /

Post-Norwescon and a Flash Story Sale!

April 27, 2011 / / One comment

Randy and a Twi'lekThanks to friends old and new for a great weekend.  From “I love your amino acids” to a friend’s unforgettable body shot from the ample bosom of a vampire, from informative panels and enjoyable mixers to watching a Star Trek officer shake their bootay with a dark elf on the dance floor, it was entertaining on many levels.

 

My panels went great.  In addition to the Bad Writing and Crowns & Swords panels, I was added to a panel on Writer’s Block as well.  Thanks to everyone who attended.  We laughed, we cried, and hopefully the audience got their money’s worth.

 

In fact, my example of “writing so horrible it’s funny” that I whipped up for the Bad Writing, No Cookie panel was snatched up for publication by Every Day Fiction!  So while I said I would post Framdar’s thrilling adventure on my blog, that will have to wait until after it is published (likely in about a month).

 

See you all next year (if not sooner)!

 

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Category: writing /

Randy’s Norwescon Schedule

April 21, 2011 / / No comments

As of now I only have panels on Sunday (and am giving a critique on Friday), leaving me free to attend all my friends’ panels and readings and parties the rest of the weekend, which is kind of nice.

http://www.norwescon.org/

My Panels (drop on by):

Bad Writing, No Cookie

Sunday 11am           Cascade 5&6

What makes a piece of writing… bad? What makes it so bad it’s funny? (Think “Eye of Argon.”) What sort of stuff should you avoid in order to prevent your prose (inadvertently) becoming the next winner of the Bulwer-Lytton award? Can you write badly on purpose…and should you?

Cat Rambo, Alma Alexander, Caren Gussoff, Jordan Lapp, Randy Henderson

 

Crowns & Swords

Sunday 3pm Cascade 4

Countless novels have been set in the intertwined worlds of monarchy and fantasy, often involving epic battles.  Given that many fantasy novels are set in worlds drawn from medieval Europe, it’s no surprise to see so many stories based around monarchies – kings and queens, tyrannical emperors, and long-lost heirs to the throne. How much of fantasy’s appeal is grounded in this familiar setting, and how can this long-standing tradition be updated or refreshed; or should it be abandoned entirely?

Kris Millering, Randy Henderson, Kim Ritchie, Kevin Radthorne

 

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Category: Uncategorized /
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