Locus Review Now Up

I added a direct link to John Langan's flattering Locus review of Experimental Film, which they've now put up on the Web, possibly because of me winning the SJA. You'll find it in the side column, or here: http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2016/07/john-langan-reviews-gemma-files/

Litreactor

By the way, this is also the third year in a row that I've been asked to teach my course about writing what you fear--still cunningly entitled Write What You Fear--at Litreactor. It starts October 18, 2016, so if you've got the money and you're interested in getting feedback from me, please do sign up. The deets are here (https://litreactor.com/classes/write-what-you-fear).

My Cup of Stars

So: as you may or may not have heard, Experimental Film won the 2015 Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novel. I also came home from Readercon to discover I'd made the Sunburst Award shortlist, in the Adult Fiction category. It's been a pretty good weekend, all told.;)

This is the text of my acceptance speech, which I scribbled down about five minutes into the ceremony:

"Somebody asked me last night [it was Dale Bailey], how long did this book take to write? And I said sort of four years and sort of four months...but really, I think in a lot of ways it's a book I've been rehearsing and preparing for all of my life. It's also very personal in a way that all my other work isn't, necessarily, so for it to be received with such grace and enthusiasm has been staggering. None of this would be possible without my friend, my family, my husband and my son. I'd like to thank ChiZine Publications and the ladies of the Bellefire Club, who mothered this book into existence, and every movie I've ever viewed or reviewed. I'd also like to thank Canada, cold land of identity disorders, the source of all my neuroses and whatever power I derive from them. When I first got word of this nomination, I thought that if I could win just one award, I'd want it to be this one. Thank you all for letting me live my dream. As Eleanor [from The Haunting of Hill House] might say, I got my cup of stars."

Those of you who'd prefer to watch me fumble my way through it while looking like a tank in a dress can access Scott Edelman's Periscope video (vine?), here: https://www.periscope.tv/w/1jMKgnBDlBPxL

Readercon!

...is where I'll be, as of tomorrow afternoon. My schedule, for those who might be attending:

Thursday July 07
8:00 PM C The Works of Clark Ashton Smith. Michael Cisco, Gemma Files, Lila Garrott, Tim Powers, Darrell Schweitzer. It has been over a century since Clark Ashton Smith's first publications, when his first book of poetry appeared in 1912. He was something of a prodigy in those days, nineteen years old and being heralded by newspapers in California as a newly discovered genius, the Keats of the Sierras. He became acquainted with Lovecraft when Lovecraft wrote Smith a fan letter. We honor (and read) Clark Ashton Smith today precisely because he is unique. He spoke to us in a voice like no other, and he gave us visions of strangeness like no other. He was out of step with his times and proud of it. Join our panelists for a discussion of the works of the most recent winner of the Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award.

9:00 PM 5 The Life and Times of Mary Sue . Gillian Daniels, Gemma Files, Ben Francisco, Barbara Krasnoff (moderator), Natalie Luhrs. New Republic senior editor Jeet Heer wrote, in a short Twitter essay about Mary Sues, "The popularity of the term 'Mary Sue' really says everything you need to know about sexism in fandom/nerdom." Instead of unpacking the concept of Mary Sue, we'd like to zero in on the troubled history of this term, why it's troubled, and how better to talk about "self-insertion" in fiction without the sexism.

Friday July 08
3:00 PM AT Autographs. C.S.E. Cooney, Gemma Files.


8:00 PM A Reading: Gemma Files. Gemma Files. Gemma Files reads from an upcoming novella "Coffle."


Saturday July 09
11:00 AM CL Kaffeeklatsch. Samuel Delany, Gemma Files.

Sunday July 10
1:00 PM 5 Tanith Lee - A Retrospective. Mike Allen, Gemma Files, Lila Garrott, Theodora Goss (leader), Sonya Taaffe. Tanith Lee authored over 90 novels and 300 short stories, a children's picture book, poems, and television episodes. In 1980, she became the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award best novel award, for her book Death's Master. Yet in 2010, Tanith Lee mentioned she was still writing novels, and consistently publishing short stories, but publishers were not interested in her longer works. Lee's impact on the genres that make up slipstream fiction was significant. What leads a publisher to look at works from an influential, established writer and decide they are not worth the shelf space? How can we keep Lee in print, and in people's minds?

Hope to see at least some of you there!