Author name: SGJ

Evoluting

This is some cool stuff. And, I can see it being used as kind-of support for what I keep hearing: that we sapiens-types evolved not in a single push from heidelbergensis or so, but in both Africa and Asia from erectus. Just, as with these spiders, we ended up so much the same that we […]

Jaipur Literary Fest vids from the fall

Which I’m just now figuring out exist. This first one’s “On Cultural Appropriation,” with Anne Hillerman, Jovan Mays, Saikat Majumdar, and Yassmin Abdel-Mageid,  Laird Hunt moderating: And this one’s “Ancestral Cultures: Legacy of the First Nations,” with Crisosto Apache, Erika Wurth, and Janice Gould, Margaret Coel modding: Just became aware of these thanks to Bret Smith posting

Locus Poll

Voting’s open, and soon to close. Cool to be listed with so many good writers—cool for Mapping the Interior, anyway. I’m just the dude who wrote it. https://locusmag.com/2018-locus-poll-and-survey/

Literary Taxidermy

I’m one of these judges, in what looks to be a cool competition: https://literarytaxidermy.com

Heavy Day

I mean, like, literally. Each of these boxes are about fifty pounds, I’d guess: Also the other kind of heavy, though—the Back to the Future kind of heavy, except this is about the past: those are all my papers. Every manuscript, all my undergraduate and graduate files, a bit of teaching stuff, my PhD comps,

Daunserly Light

Yeah, Twitter, like everything else, is imperfect, but when you see it crowdsourcing like this—just random people dogpiling a question—then it’s a bit closer, anyway (also? been researching this stuff for a story, so, was lucky to stumble into this): What’s the weirdest thing you remember misunderstanding as a kid? I thought adultery meant “pretending

Ready Player One

This is kind of the music-only equivalent of Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, yes?   Just got word that I can finally share my rejected theme song from @readyplayerone. They went with Alan Silvestri’s theme, but I still want to thank Steven Spielberg & @WarnerBrosEnt for the wonderful opportunity. pic.twitter.com/aK32ZOUA16 — demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) March

Back Cover Copy

Strikes me that the reason a lot of novels start out so slowly is that they don’t take into account the version of the catalog copy on their back cover. That copy nearly always gives away the central conceit or trick or surprise of the novel, but the novel, pretending to itself that it exists

Psycho Cat

I think this will be only the second cat-related thing I’ve ever posted in all my internet years (before then, it was just leaving cat-related stuff on utility poles, I guess) (which I was a fiend for). The other is this Mapquest cat, whom I so completely identify with. This is maybe even cooler, though:

Bram Stoker Award for Mapping the Interior

Amazing-cool. So honored. Couldn’t be there this time around, but could follow along online, and with people texting. It starts here: Then a zoom in on the night’s proceedings: Then Rena Mason and Victor LaValle presenting for Mapping‘s category, long fiction: And here’s Paul Tremblay accepting, with Mackenzie Kiera behind the camera: Here’s a full

Bandanna land

haven’t seen one yet, but I keep hearing about these: Just had to show off my @nocturnalreads scarf inspired by #mongrels @SGJ72 #motherhorror #WEREWOLF pic.twitter.com/Zc4jyojV0L — Sadie Reads Them All (@SadieLouWho) March 1, 2018

On Good and Evil in Fiction

This makes me rethink and rethink and then reconsider: https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-pop-culture-obsessed-with-battles-between-good-and-evil  

Annihilator!

Well, Annihilation. But I like saying it like a monster truck, or a wrestler. Just caught it at the cineplex. It’s a good time. Here’s some un-spoilerfree bullet points on/about it, since I don’t really have any kind of thesis to build a proper write-up around: the skull-faced anteater bear does what the bear did

Cool spread of books . . .

Stephen Graham Jones is one of the great writers of his generation, and is not read and celebrated nearly as often as he deserves.#FF him on Twitter as well: @SGJ72 pic.twitter.com/Rs3tf2kEfU — Arinn Dembo (@Erinys) February 26, 2018

Jack Ketchum words

Thanks to Michael David Wilson for wrapping them up over at LitReactor. Especially “I figure if I don’t scare myself, if I don’t feel that dread of what’s coming up next, I probably won’t scare you.” https://litreactor.com/columns/celebrating-dallas-mayr-the-wisdom-of-jack-ketchum-1946-2018 

Oh, man

Thought I was just writing fiction in Sterling City, what with the giant chrome-eyed caterpillars and all, but, oops: Here’s how Sterling City starts out: So, you know, watch out for the jumbo-size caterpillars and all. In a few million years.

Mick Garris’s Post Mortem

I dial up John Carpenter every chance I get. Whether he’s tolerating the person asking questions or not—and of course he’s good with Garris—there’s always something to learn:

BookRiot Horror

Proud to be here as well: https://bookriot.com/2018/02/22/contemporary-horror-novels/ 

Publisher’s Weekly Native Novels listicle

Honored to be included, here. Thanks to Brandon Hobson for the inclusion: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/76129-10-essential-native-american-novels.html  

This is the Dream

Thanks to Paul Tremblay for the headsup. Original ‘Friday the 13th’ Filming Location Offering Overnight Camping Experience!

Yep

Truly, I get raked across the copyediting coals for exactly this so, so often. And? It’s not just Indian. In CJ Box’s books, there’s a lot of lip-pointing, a lot of chinning at stuff. Feels so right. Feels like the world I know. Which matters. First Nations man breaks 100-metre Lip Point record Thanks to

The Facebook

In a few thousands years, I figure the aliens that come to dig through humanity’s (many, many) relics will find a thin strata of light blue in these early-is 2000s: https://www.wired.com/story/inside-facebook-mark-zuckerberg-2-years-of-hell/  

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