I’m participating in the Clarion West write-a-thon this year. Basically, I commit to produce a certain amount of writing during the 6 weeks that CW is running, and people can donate money to the workshop in my name. I’ve also added a small bonus prize (see the site).
This is my shameless request that you go to the site and sponsor me to support this incredible boot camp for future speculative fiction writers – even $5 would be awesome.
http://clarionwest.org/events/writeathon/RandyHenderson
I have in the past mentioned here and there my robot monkey army. However, it has come to my attention that several others have previously, or more famously, laid claim to robot monkey armies (most notably Mary Robinette Kowal).
Therefore, I hereby announce that I have ceased production on my robot monkey armies, and am now creating a MEERKAT ROBOT ARMY! BWAH-HA-HA-HAAaaaaaa (and so forth).
BEHOLD!
My Base is Well Protected by my Meer-Turret 1000
The Meerkatatat 1000 is Firepower at its most Firepowerfulest!
To go against this Meer-bot Army would be Meerkatastrophic!
This is a bit delayed as I’ve been non-stop busy since Norwescon, but here’s my post-con wrap up, and some photos of costumed geekery at its finest.
THURSDAY
Had my first reading. Went well I think. I didn’t forget to contain the incredible but chaotic powers that burn inside me and thus burst into multi-colored flames that consumed the entire convention. So, you know, that was good. A big thanks to everyone who showed up, especially the lovely artist Shelly Henderson who is not a big convention fan.
Kris Millering gave a nice reading of The Isthmus Variation (forthcoming in Beneath Ceaseless Skies).
At the bar, Shel and I sat next to a travelling whole-foods salesman from Alaska who was quite drunk and bought us drinks. He lives in the northernmost town in Alaska, and one of his popular products is seal oil, as in oil from seals, which apparently tastes like bad fish and Alaskan natives put on lots of food as a condiment — including things you wouldn’t think would taste great with seal oil, like berries. He gave a beautiful description of the northern lights as well, comparing them to a symphony in the sky that you hear though it doesn’t make a sound.
And lastly I was on a zombie panel with Jack Skillingstead, Daryl Gregory, and Anthony VanWinkle. Unfortunately, the con folks scheduled a zombie walk at the same time as our zombie panel, so the room wasn’t exactly packed (more like, “chips may settle in bag” kind of full). And the moderator was unable to make it, so I arrived to find myself moderator. But I had a good time nonetheless. Shelly asked a lot of great questions, I think just to show off how smart she is.
My riffs on the vampire and zombie trends went up at Fantasy Magazine:
Where Will the Vampire Trend End Up Next?
And My Real and Personal Zombie Fears
Went to a reading at the Seattle University Bookstore last night by authors CatRambo, Cherie Priest, and Jeff Vandermeer.
I found the evening inspiring as a writer. Cat’s stories from her book Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight sparked anew the desire in me to write stories that are fun and quirky, and reminded me that stories can pack a lot into few words (which I am taking as a personal challenge to write a couple of 2,000 word stories). Cherie’s introduction to Boneshaker made me appreciate the potential for mining local history and environments for story gold. Jeff’s reading of action scenes from Finch made me appreciate the importance of context and emotional stakes to make an action scene have real meaning and impact.
Jeff also just released a great book called Booklife on being a writer in the 21st century that talks about things like how to use social media to promote yourself, in addition to general advice backed up with real and useful examples.
In the Q&A afterwards, Jeff spoke on how he developed the mushroom-based technology of his fictional world. This, plus the clever unpredictable progression style of Cat’s stories, and Cherie’s twist on Pacific Northwest history, all reminded me and reinforced the value of those two magic words, "what if." What if you had a mushroom-based technology? What if Russia had tried to cash in on the gold rush rather than selling Alaska to the U.S.? What if color were banned? Thus are great stories born, by asking "what if" and then running with it.
After the reading, the authors and a group of us attendees and associates went for beers and snacks at a local pub. I got a couple of story ideas out of the conversations, and met some super-swell folks. There was much discussion of writing and publishing, and it is always nice to be surrounded by people who speak in the same language and idioms as yourself, and share the same key interests.
In short, if you are a writer, make sure to get out and support your fellow writers when you can, and engage in social interactions with other writers and genre enthusiasts outside of the interwebs. Check with your local bookstores and authors’ websites for upcoming events. It can be inspiring and recharging as well as just plain fun.
PS: I love that the three authors’ names together make "Priest Rambo Vandermeer" — I will definitely have this unholy priest appear in some future story of mine.
My non-fiction piece on the the film Surrogates, and the need for more scifi that makes you think, is up at Fantasy Magazine.
Fantasy Magazine » Surrogates: Sci Fiâ™s Power to Make You Go Hmmm
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My book review of Ken Scholes’ book “Canticle” is up at Fantasy Magazine.
Fantasy Magazine » Book Review: Canticle by Ken Scholes
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Another of my shiny non-fiction articles is up at Fantasy Magazine. Check yourself before you wreck yourself, fool!
Fantasy Magazine » How The World Will End
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John C Wright posted a strongly anti-homosexual rant on his blog. After reading the equally negative responses, I felt moved to write a response. When I have time, I may come back and clean this up a bit and add links to supporting evidence and such. But for now I just needed to get something down so it wouldn’t drive me crazy.
Mister Wright,
Your post and its resultant comments are really on two separate issues:
The nature of homosexuality, and
The extent to which media corporations should feel or be obliged to attempt fair and representational depictions of non-dominant groups (specifically homosexuals in this case).
Scalzi mentioned in a post that his brains today = pudding.
Which inspired the following response from me:
Author, relapsed sarcasm addict, Clarion West graduate, milkshake connoisseur, winner of Writers of the Future, and member of Dungeon Scrawlers.
Randy’s humorous contemporary fantasy series from TOR (US) and Titan (UK) includes:
Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free,
now available for purchase, reading, and use in questionable acts.
In this sequel to Randy Henderson's acclaimed debut novel, Finn Fancy Necromancy, Randy Henderson spins another tale full of adventure, magic, and laughs, exploring in more depth the magical world and characters introduced in the first book.
More info →
“… it’s an urban fantasy, one that takes place in and around present-day Seattle. But even though it deals with sinister magic and family tragedy, it counterbalances that darkness with something that’s become increasingly rare in fantasy fiction: laughs, laughs, and more laughs.” -- NPR
More info → 
She also pointed out that if more people had pudding for brains and were always thinking sweet and creamy thoughts then the world would be much better off than it is. And don’t even get me started on how awesome the accompanying whipped cream hairdo would look.
So careful lest you incite a flamewar over puddingFail …