[  Mood: Happy ]
Barak Obama is a political superstar and friend of Oprah. He is also a published author. The Audacity of Hope is his second book.

The book is divided into two parts. Part one includes an overview of the American political landscape and a the US Constitution. Part two lays out Barak’s political philosophy.

I found the book fascinating and quite a good read. I know there are many who find Barak an oportunist and two faced, but I found that Obama was trying to walk a very thin line. He was trying to explain his beliefs but understand why the other side feels the way they do. In essence, he is attempting to widen the tent, arguing for a return to the time of bipartisan co-operation, when things actually got done in Washington. This is in contrast to what happens now, where the sides pick positions and do not play well together.

There is a tendancy to portray Barak as a messianic saviour, or as the radical rightwing loonies believe, the antichrist. I think this comes from the fact that he is preaching hope, unlike the overtly negative campaigns of the past. The Premiere of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty did that up here, and defeated a right wing, conservative government hands down. People, especially Generations X and Digital, are tired of the idiological nastiness. They want hope, that they can change the world, that we can get along, that we can have a better life.

Esentially, this is what Barak is selling. You can debate his sincerity, as you can debate the sincerity of any politician, but you can not deny the appeal of the message to a battle weary public.

I would encourage you to read this book. It is good to know what a man thinks.

On Thursday night, I am moderating this panel for the Writers’ League of Texas:

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga, & Graphic Novels

One of the hottest areas in publishing is comics, graphic novels, and manga. Paul Benjamin heads up a panel of writers and artists in the field to offer an insider’s look at the popular art form and the creative process. Panelists include Scott Kolins, Alan Porter, Tony Salvaggio, and Matt Sturges, and “Geeks With Books” columnist Rick Klaw will moderate.

August 21, 2008 7:30PM
Spiderhouse
2908 Fruth, Austin, TX

Hope to see everyone in the Austin area there!

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Happy ]
I have just finished Barak Obama’s The Audacity of Hope and I will do a quick reveiw later. Right now I want to capture some of the quotes that made me pause and think.

"All the money in the world won’t boost student achievement if parents make no effort to instill in their children the values of hard work and delayed gratification. But when we as a society pretend that poor children will fulfill their potential in dilapidated, unsafe schools with outdated equipment and teachers who aren’t trained in the subjects they teach, we are perpetrating, a lie on these children, and on ourselves."

"Justice Louis Brandeis once said: that in a democracy, the most important office is the office of citizen."

About the Right wanting the law to restrict gay marriage.
"I find such a position troublesome, particularly in a society in which Christian men and women have been known to engage in adultery or other violations of their faith without civil penalty."

On race and the inequalities in America
"The danger will come if we fail to recognize the humanity of Cristina and her family – if we withhold from them the rights and opportunities that we take for granted and tolerate the hypocrisy of a servant class in our midst;"

"America’s early leaders cautioned against idealistic attempts to export our way of life; according to John Quincy Adams, America should not go ‘abroad in search of monsters to destroy’ nor ‘become the dictatress of the world."

Armadillocon XXX with Guest of Honor John Scalzi and Special Guest Joe Haldeman starts today. As usual I’m on several panels.

Interstitial Fiction
Fri 9:00 PM-10:00 PM deZavala
Denton, Klaw, Person, Richerson, Trimm*
A lot of recent fiction falls between the cracks of genre. There have been anthologies devoted to it, and now there is the Interstitial Arts Foundation. The most recent Nebula-winning novel falls into this category. What are the essential works and authors, and is this a full-fledged literary movement?

What You Should Have Read
Sat 2:00 PM-3:00 PM deWitt
Dimond*, Hevelin, Klaw, Marin, W. Siros, S. Williams
Our distinguished panel of writers, editors, and book-sellers discuss their take on the most important, influential, and enjoyable books and stories of the year.

Reading
Sat 6:30 PM-7:00 PM Robertson
Rick Klaw

Metafiction in Comics
Sat 9:00 PM-10:00 PM deZavala
Benjamin, Blaschke, Klaw*, Porter, Potter
Metafiction has a long and rich history in comic books and graphic novels. Recent works such as Dr. 13, Nextwave, Scott Pilgrim and Ambush Bug have ushered in a new era for this insightful and entertaining storytelling method. What are some of the best examples, why do writers & artists use this method, and why has it become so popular?

Movies
Sun Noon-1:00 PM deWitt
Klaw, Leicht, Miles, Scalzi, Person, M. Williams*
This has been a booming year for science fiction, comic book, and fantasy movies. Our panelists tell us which ones you should have seen, and which you can safely avoid. Of course, they’ll probably talk about movies of the past as well.

Autographing
Sun 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Dealers’ Room
Anderson, Klaw

RevSF editors (past and present) Matthew Bey, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Mark Finn, Alan Porter and Steve Wilson will also be there. Stop by and say howdy!

Speaking of Armadillocon… was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Amused ]
[ Currently: Guess ]
I like it when an author is willing to shake things up in an ongoing series. It keeps the sreies fresh. Don’t do it and you in danger of becoming Janet Evanovich or Murder She Wrote.

So when I read book three of the Sookie Sackhouse series I was pleasantly surprised. Sookie’s boyfriend, Bill the vampire, has disappeared and she is asked to find him. In doing so, she discovers that he may have been cheating her. Sookie channels her anger into looking for him and flirting with a werewolf. In addition she fends off the advances of Eric, the master vampire of the area.

Good stuff, and the ending shows the strength of character that Sookie must have to be attractive to so many men.

I am quoted in Richard Whittaker’s excellent Austin Chronicle article about Armadillocon‘s 30th anniversary.

Article about Armadillocon was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Silly ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
I will admit now that I had never read this coomic before. I managed to secure a copy of this graphic novel from the Biblio.

Wow!

It is rare you come across something so breath-takingly original. Yes, the concept reads like a bad fanfic story, but it works. By dipping into characters that are familiar, yet distant, Moore is able to quickly build a mythos that we buy into. (I particularly enjoyed a panel with a previous incarnation of the League.)

The characters are rich and illustrations evoke the Victorian era. I love, love, love the litlle "tune in tomorrow" blurbs at the end of each episode. They are reminiscent of the penny dreadful novels of the Victorian era.

I have already requested number two. I am a fan.

I’m a little dubious…

Soon after the publication of my anthology The Big Bigfoot Book, I was flooded with letters, cards, and clippings making much the same claims as described above.

(Thanks to Mark London Williams for sharing this with me.)

Bigfoot Trackers Claim They’ve Found Their Prey was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Lore Sjöberg in his excellent Alt Text blog offers up some helpful advice to new writers in the internet age.

A cat on cantaloupe?

How to Get Published and Avoid Alien Bloodsuckers was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Waiting for breakfast ]
For a Few Demons More finds our heroine, Rachel Morgan dealing with the aftermath of Kisten’s death, as well as visits from Al, the demon who she had imprisoned at the end of the last book. The authorities think she is summoning demons, so she needs to find out who is before they close in. There’s a new vampire boss running things and he is more than just a little interested in Ivy and Rachel’s relationship. Twist into that Trent wanting her to go into the Everafter to get a piece of Elven DNA, and you have a mess of biblical proportions.

Kim Harrison has created an amazing alternate history with her Hollows series. Rachel is a gutsy, believable heroine. The secondary characters are rich and three-dimentional.

Harrison is not an author who is afraid to shake things up, kill charaters off or flip charaters’ allegiences. This book gives us an insight into Rachel’s family history and what exactly Trent’s dad did to her DNA when she was a child. It also sets up a couple of upcoming plotlines for future novels.

This one is worth the effort. Go get it.