Big Fisch's Questions

[callistra]

 1) You are one of the reviewers for the Not If You Were The Last Short
 Story On Earth project. The stated goal of this group is to attempt to
 read every SF short story published. Are you insane?

Yes. Yes, yes, and Yes.

 2) Have you noticed any trends developing in the short story market? ie
 genres favoured, overall quality, political correctness or lack thereof?

There's a lot of perfectly inoffensive, non-risky stuff being published, and quite frankly I too am over the whole "DV means something" thread that sometimes seems so common. Our best story to date tackled some risky themes, and I was worried was going to end in a completely unsatisfactory manner - but even if it had, I think we'd all still remember it. I am also starting to think SF is being in love with concepts and ideas, and Romance is character driven (or Space Opera, which is often used as a romantic genre SF) . And I am discovering I like characters more than I do concepts.

 3) What are the magazines you think are worth subscribing to or following online? I don't think I have read enough yet to give you an answer, but it looks like I'll probably buy that book we all like but can't talk about until March.

 4) What do you think about the recent spate of authors bemoaning reviews
 that they've disagreed with? What do you think about this practice, and
 when does professionalism outweigh a right of reply? I think that there's a huge division between public and private, and that spaces like LJs, blogs, and even Facebook blur that line, and people sometimes forget about their audience until after the teacup is broken. I think every one has the right to reply, but I think there's a difference between a reply and a bitchfest. For me, bitchfests are verbal only. I think it's a good way for me to live. :-)

 5) If you could get any author to write a novel or short story
 specifically for your bookshelf, who would you pick and what masterpiece
 would you request that they write for you? Robin McKinley and she can write my damned first novel for me. But then she might have to write the other four again to make them all up to the same sort of standard. :-)

Comments

[babalon-93.livejournal.com]

great set of questions :)

what do you mean by 'the whole "DV means something" thread'? I have heard mention of this before, but I am out of the loop and not sure quite what this means. Do you mean there are currently lots and lots of stories about domestic violence and it is becoming boring? Or do you mean lots of stories alluding to it meaning something in particular?

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I think it was probably mostly the horror stuff I was reading, and just DV was being used for emotional content in lieu of, I don't know, actual emotional content. I guess it's just presented so often that I don't even register it as anything other than annoying any more.

It's just ... never challenged in interesting ways. It's just presented on a platter, OMG the awfulness, but there's no critique, no challenge, no risk. It sometimes seems like it's a hot button every one likes to push, but no one makes it a worthwhile push.

[babalon-93.livejournal.com]

That is really interesting (I mean, it doesn't sound like the stories are all that interesting, but the phenomena is interesting in a cultural sense).

[mynxii.livejournal.com]

That's a really interesting point...

[mynxii.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about this too...

[callistra.livejournal.com]

I already answered! Ten minutes before you posted
:-)

[mynxii.livejournal.com]

I hadn't gotten that far - looking now :P