Last night I had the pleasure of seeing “The Bully Pulpit,” a one-man play about the life of Theodore Roosevelt, with Ellen Datlow and Mary Robinette Kowal. The play, Mary informed me, was two hours long, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to listen to one man ramble on for that period. I can’t even listen to myself for that long.  As I examined the detailed set and listened to the dialog, my mind soon became enchanted with the costumes, the stage props (which Mary had a hand in), and the language. But by the end of the play I was totally won over.  I was moved. The gals with me got a little teary-eyed at the end, and I must admit I did too.

Michael Smith is superb actor.  There were times when I forgot he wasn’t Roosevelt himself.  He frequently interacts with the crowd, making subtle jokes and innuendos about “our current president…Woodrow Wilson.”  At one point, he even uses “begat” as an expletive.  (”Think about it for a minute; it’ll come to you,” he says.)  If you have the opportunity, I can’t recommend this play highly enough.  Here are some photos of the beautiful set.  Mary had a hand in acquiring and preparing most of these props.

After a long and arduous search, I finally found a new apartment. It’s right near Prospect Park in Brooklyn and it’s on this quiet, tree-lined street in a family-oriented neighborhood. I’ve been in Hoboken for six years and I’ve gotten used to certain things here, so it will be hard to say goodbye, but I’m looking forward to starting fresh in this new place. Not to mention my second bedroom which I will be using as an office. I hope my cat will like the new place, which I suppose is my subconscious wondering the same thing. Hmm. Cat as subconscious metaphor. I like that.

Last night, I went to the Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy reading yesterday at the usual NYRSF haunt. Rick Bowes and Carol Emshwiller read excellent stories, while Barry N. Marlzberg got stuck in traffic and never showed. The reading was followed by a good meal at the local pub where we dissected the plot(s) and theme(s) of Battlestar Galactica in Talmudic detail. My belief? The characters exist in our future.

Ellen Datlow and I were also talking about ways to attract readers outside of NY to read at the KGB Fantastic Fiction reading series. Part of the problem is that we just don’t know when authors will be in town. Outside of the NY Metro area, few people have heard of KGB, or know about its long and interesting history. I suggested that we spread the word far and wide; let people know the history of the organization and all the greats who have read there. So…

First the history: Terry Bisson and Alice K. Turner started the KGB Fantastic Fiction reading series in the late 1990s, attempting to bring together mainstream writers with writers of speculative fiction because, as Alice Turner says, “they are plowing exactly the same field.” Ellen Datlow took over for Alice K. Turner in 2000. Then Gavin J. Grant stepped in for Bisson in 2002. Matthew Kressel (me) took over for Gavin last month.

And, who has read at KGB? No less than:

Joyce Carol Oates, Lucius Shepard, Jeffrey Ford, Scott Westerfeld, Kelly Link, China Miéville, Nancy Kress, Jack McDevitt, Stewart O’Nan, James Patrick Kelly, Barry N. Marlzberg, Samuel (Chip) Delaney, Holly Black, Michael Swanwick, Kit Reed, Peter Straub, Andy Duncan, Richard Bowes, Catherynne Valente, Ellen Kushner, Jeff VanderMeer, Naomi Novik, Elizabeth Bear and a smörgåsbord of other talented authors.

Not bad, eh?

So, yeah, if you’re in NY on the third Wednesday of the month, you should come check it out. This month’s readers (on May 21st) are Jack O’Connell (The Resurrectionist) and Ekaterina Sedia (The Secret History of Moscow, Paper Cities, An Anthology of Urban Fantasy [editor]).

See all photos from our radio morning here

You must have a solid ego to have your story critiqued live on the air. I don’t mean a large head or pompous self-importance (though I’ve been accused of both at times). What I mean is this: I read my story to an audience, according to Jim Freund, that could be anywhere from zero to a hundred thousand or so. Maybe more. Probably less. Then, my writers group took turns placing my story through the paper shredder. Okay, they liked a lot of it, but they found many places for improvement. It’s always a reality check to the ego when you are in love with a story and your writers group points out its flaws. It’s another thing to have this done live on 99.5 FM WBAI with thousands of listeners. I do think, however, that my self-esteem is sufficiently strong to survive the blow. I just wish we had more time to discuss their opinions, because after, outside in the hallway, I had a eureka moment and realized how I could fix and improve the story.

Anyway, for those interested, you can listen to the mp3 stream here. The show doesn’t really get going until about 35 minutes in as it was fundraising time for WBAI, and Jim had to devote a lot of his time to that.

I think it’s about time for the UN to step into Myanmar to help the starving and sick survivors of last week’s cyclone. Certainly the government is doing next to nothing for its people. An international force led perhaps by the French might allay the fears of the local government that the US would use the assistance to interfere with the local government.

Clearly, whatever the world is doing for these survivors is not enough. If ever there was a chance for the UN to redeem itself as an international peacekeeping entity after the Iraq catastrophe, now would be the time.

Now, not only will I have my story ripped to shreds by my peers, but thousands of people could be listening. Scared? Me? No.

If you’re up early on Saturday morning (5am actually), won’t you please listen to my writers group Altered Fluid critique my story live on WBAI 99.5 FM radio for Jim Freund’s Hour of the Wolf. I’ll be reading it live first. An audio stream is available here, and you can go there after to hear a recording of the show for those of you who wake long after the rooster.

Today, Mercurio D. Rivera is coming over and we are going to record a podcast of his excellent story, “The Scent of Their Arrival,” for Interzone. I will be recording the voice of the distraught human. Shouldn’t be too hard to emulate. I’m excited about it. A weekend of reading. Fun!

Just read the news that the death toll in Myanmar topped 22,000 today. How awful. Even worse, the local government is trying to keep foreign aid out. They are specifically blocking American organizations such as American Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. How despicable that they’d let politics get in the way of human lives, but such is human nature.

One of the organizations allowed in is UNICEF, and you can donate to them here.

Addendum: from what I understand, it’s the US who is blocking aid.  From the NY Times:

“The United States, which has led a drive for economic sanctions against Myanmar’s repressive regime, said it would also provide aid, but only if an American disaster team was invited into the country.

The policy was presented by the first lady, Laura Bush, , along with a lecture to the junta about human rights and disaster relief.”

The emphasis is mine.  Fucking Bushes.  Fucking fucking scum.

Bookgasm recently reviewed Paper Cities.  While the review was a mixed bag overall, they did have some nice things to say about a few stories.  Regarding Vylar Kaftan’s “Godivy,” they said:

“One of the better pieces — and completely demented subject matter — is Vylar Kaftan’s surreal “Godivy.” It’s about three stories, involving romantic overtures to a photocopier, a stripper, a mermaid and office-worker malaise so cleverly documented in The Office [TV series]. And it’s only three pages long! Brillant, and I could probably ramble about the meaning for several days, but it stands apart from the rest of the stories in its originality and ending. Kaftan’s a voice I want to hear more from.”

Of Greg van Eekhout’s “Ghost Market,” they said:

““Ghost Market” by Greg van Eekhout takes a nice parting shot at cheap celebrity. At least I think that’s what the meaning was. As with so many other stories in these anthology, the meaning seems deeper than the surface, functioning as metaphors for urban plight. Again, another short read, but compelling and to the point and fun to reread. “

And of Anna Tambour’s “The Age of Fish, Post-Flowers,” they said:

“Lastly, “The Age of Fish, Post-Flowers” by Anna Tambour is a wonderfully confusing look at a post-apocalyptic world, where the city has been invaded by giant worms. Yeah, pretty cool, right? The kinda monster story you’d stay up reading all night. Unfortunately — and this is by design — Tambour cleverly steers away from the usual horror to focus on the day-to-day boredom of leaving in the shadow of a nightmare. It’s interesting and witty, but stumbles. I’d buy Anna’s book if she would expand it 200 or 300 pages.”

Read the full review here.

Cat Rambo blogged recently about writing for themed anthologies or themed issues, and it got me thinking about my own writing.  Specifically, I’ve been working on stories recently for various anthologies.  One in particular for a themed fantasy market.  I’ve found it difficult to steer myself in themed directions.  Some part of me feels that I should be creative enough to fabricate any story given a specific impetus or spark.  But in reality I’ve discovered that my writing works best when it’s free and unbounded.

In college, I always found writing assignments tedious and boring when we were told, “Write A, B, and C about situation X.”  But when the instructions were purposefully vague or allowed for student creativity, I found I was much more adept at crafting the essay.  This was before I decided to write fiction, so I suppose there was some foreshadowing going on there.

When I’m working outside of all boundaries, my creative mind feels free to take the story anywhere.  And I think that’s what attracts me to genre fiction, that idea of potentiality, how the story could leap into another dimension at any time, and that this would be ok.  Themes can sometimes make me feel as if I’m writing with reins on, or that the end is visible before I begin to write.  And that’s no fun.  The goal for me is, when writing for a theme, is to find a gateway to the infinite.  To reframe the supposed “limits” of a theme into a potential for anything to happen, to find a place in the story where I can create freely and spawn my own sense of wonder.  I mean, if we’re not feeling wonder from our own stories then who are we writing for?

On May 10th, for those of you up at the ungodly hour of 5am, I will have the pleasure of reading my new story, “The Laggards of Terra” on Jim Freund’s radio show, Hour of the Wolf.  After the reading, my writers group, Altered Fluid, will critique the story on-air.  I’m a little nervous.

For those of you not awake at that time, the show will be available as an mp3 stream later in the day.

Bibliophile Stalker (Charles Tan) reviews Paper Cities.  He gives it a 4 out of 5 stars and says:

“The subtitle ‘an anthology of urban fantasy’ might lull readers into thinking this is a collection featuring supernatural horrors set in modern times (ala Buffy the Vampire Slayer) but it is precisely this book’s goal to wrestle back the meaning of the term into a wider, more general usage (and the title Paper Cities aptly fits the bill).”

Read the full review here.