Review: Kathe Koja's The Cipher

Read Kathe Koja's The Cipher yesterday, which won the Bram Stoker in '91, among other awards, and was nominated for the Philip K. Dick. I mention the awards first because it will give you a clue as to the nature of the novel: intense, horrifying speculative fiction. Young Nicholas and his sometimes-girlfriend, Nakota, discover a black hole in the janitorial closet of his apartment building one night. Not too large, square-shaped, and black beyond black. Nakota is instantly fascinated, and while her fascination turns to obsession and becomes--extremely quickly--darker by degree, Nicholas is more or less along for the ride.

Until he accidentally touches it.

You're pulled into the story right away, dropped right into awful happenings, and Koja lets you know you're in for a roller coaster of terror. And then she makes good on it. Because of course, someone has to put things in it, someone must touch it, and the mystery and tension and horror can only grow, spiraling into sick, twisted desperation.

Ultimately, it's not about a black hole--it's about loneliness, about marginalization, about outsider culture, and about the darkness inside all of us. But except for the last couple of pages, you're never hit over the head with it. The Cipher could easily sit beside Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

If I've got a quibble, it's that I don't care for Koja's writing style. I previously read Under the Poppy, an alt-historical fiction that has some of these same themes, and I honestly hated it. But let me state that Koja has many fans, who adore her style, and find it "lush," "evocative," etc.

And be aware, it's a mindfuck. Big time. Made me have weird, weird dreams last night.

Bloodbond: Werewolves & Other Shapeshifters

Alban Lake Publishing accepted a short story from me, to be published in November of this year, for Bloodbond, a biannual magazine of werewolves, vampires and shapeshifters. I don't usually mention acceptances until the work is published, but I thought I'd mention Alban Lake because they not only are accepting work for Bloodbond, but for a number of other projects. In addition, they just had their awesome Scifaikuest 2014. I adore haiku, and the day I discovered it paired with SF was an amazing one.

For a while I was interested in werewolves. I wrote two stories. One is yet waiting. It's 8,000 words, but feels like the prologue to a longer story. It's about a scientist in a werewolf research facility, a sort of zoo/laboratory, where they are breeding the 'wolves. They've never had good luck with them--the pups die within months. But one pup is struggling to live, and the scientist is finding that he'd do just about anything to help him.

It has the feel of a prologue because I think the story is not the scientist's, but the pup's. How will he grow up? What will he think of the humans who imprisoned his pack, or the human who helped him? What will he do?

Have bloodthirsty thoughts today, dear ones.

Interlude now at 101 Fiction

Winter and Spring are not adversaries, not at all:

Interlude

Part of 101 Fiction's spring issue, meant to be read top to bottom, of which Interlude is the top. Absolutely lovely. Those who know me best, know that I prefer on top (so does Spring, fyi). Editor John Xero is simply the most clever.

While I loved the Winter issue, this is my favorite thus far. Thirteen incredible reads. Kymm Coveney's  Rapture is absolutely gorgeous. Gorgeous. But beauty abounds, so get thee to reading!

Review: Poe by J. Lincoln Fenn, winner of 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest

This year's deadline for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest is almost upon us: March 2, my dears. Time to finish that novel you've been working on and get it submitted by Saturday.

Or, if you think that's a tad outside your reach, you could read the winner of last year's contest in the SFF/Horror category, Poe by J. Lincoln Fenn.

I chose option two.

Poe is the story of Dimitri, a recent college grad working at a newspaper in a small town in New England, writing obituaries. His parents recently died in a fiery car crash, and he's stashed some of their belongings in a closet in his tiny apartment. One day, he finds his father's ring in one of the boxes. He puts it on and...

Ghosts. Spirits. Murder. Demons! A magical grid of evil numbers. Grimoires.

As the small town of New Goshen loses citizen after citizen, Dimitri must unravel the truth of what's going on, from why he woke in a morgue after having been submerged in an icy well for three hours and declared dead, to the unknown ghost who's leaving messages in magnetic poetry on his refrigerator, to who his parents really were.

I don't know what I expected from the contest, but I was somewhat surprised. Poe is a fairly deft mystery with solid writing, and the voice of Dimitri, the main character, is clear enough that you can picture him in your head. He's engaging, sometimes a knucklehead but bright enough, and he's much like any young guy in his twenties--a feat many writers would like to pull off, but usually don't. The mystery itself is twisty, and while it never truly scared or even thrilled me, I enjoyed figuring it out along with Dimitri.

If I had any criticisms, it's that the writer seems a bit enamored with shows like Supernatural and Buffy--hey, is that a bad thing? No, but I think the writer aspires to Joss Whedon-clever and falls a bit short, though the dialogue definitely is a cut above most books. And the motifs are a bit, "Seen that before." And, of course, our hero occasionally makes the dumb move that we just know we wouldn't make! Minor crits, though. Really. Overall, Poe is a fun read. As Publisher's Weekly called it, "gothic pop with a literate edge." Yep. Enjoy.

FML

Or maybe just, awww, the heck with my life. If you want to know what it's like to be me, read on.

After the dentist—six month cleaning, performed with an ice pick—I went to Barnes & Noble, looking for books about pirates in the bargain section. Got jittery going in—hadn't been there in a while so was unfamiliar with the layout, felt like all eyes were on me, felt like I was being judged by whatever item I was looking at. Tried looking at Super Mario chess sets (really???)  to show how geeky I am (honestly, I love Super Mario, but I couldn't care less), and tried not looking at books about how one knows if one's cat is planning to kill oneself. Can't go into SFF section without feeling like an impostor, even though it's 95% of what I read. Forty-something year old woman, dressed decent, clean, mature(ish). Like I must be a spy. Or if they don't think I'm a spy, then they think I'm some sort of immature, childish person. Emotionally, mentally undeveloped. Because I'm in the SFF section.

Can't win no matter where I'm looking (except online!). New Age section = I'm sort of loopy hippy. Graphic novels = again with the "How old are you?" Humor = well, you get the picture. So I can't find books in the bargain section, and I'm about to leave, while feeling like they're watching me because I don't have anything and maybe I stole something, and what do I see in the first row of bargain books? Two books on pirates. Right there when I walked in. What an idiot. Disappointed at the lack of color pictures taking up whole pages, but it's fine. Got those and a BBT bookmark, Sheldon saying, "That's my spot!" Which is hilarious for a bookmark. Cashier tries to sell me their rewards program and a stuffed bunny and I have to mumble, "No, thanks," while looking down at the counter.

Next go to Ulta, because I saw they carry IT brand cosmetics online. Couldn't find them in store. Walked around the premium cosmetics sections jittery. Asked if I need help and I did, but what do I say? "No, just looking." Felt like all eyes were on me, like I'm being judged—I can't afford the cosmetics, or I shouldn't buy them because I'm so ugly, or I'm not that ugly but I obviously can't apply make-up. That sort of thing.

Wandered into cheaper, drugstore cosmetics, where I felt more comfortable. Saw they had a sale. After a while, got into the whole thing, loved shopping for stuff. Got two items. Would have bought a third but I didn't know if it was on sale and was afraid to ask. So take the two items up, they ask if I have an Ulta member card and I do but I haven't used it in so long, I'm afraid if I pull it out they'll say, That's an ooooooold card! And they'll know I haven't shopped there in forever. Which would make me somehow a bad person. So I say no, I don't have a card, and they ring me up and without the card I don't get the sale price, and instead of saying something then like, "Oh, I just remembered I do have a card!", I pay the full price on my two cosmetics and leave, defeated.

Defeated sometimes sums up my existence.

Rejected stories, defeated by mundane, impersonal interactions in stores, and I blew up the stick of butter in the microwave when I attempted to melt it half an hour ago.

Oh, life.

On the flip side: two pieces will be appearing in March (thank you, dear editors!), and while perusing the pirate books when I got home, got inspiration I needed for my book. Which is at 20,000 words. Which crushed me when I first added it up, thinking I was at, like, 40 or 50,000. But still. I somewhat have a book. 

Online and in person, I try to portray a nice, friendly, confident person. Helpful. Kind. But the truth is that I am a seething nest of nauseous snakes, wound in a slithery ball of insecurity. If you are too, then high five, friend. *clink* That's our beers tapping each other in salute.

Signing off,

RS

Honey Bears! They've got a heart on for you!

I'm a dog groomer. Besides grooming, our shop sells products, such as homemade dog cookies. We recently got an order of Valentine's Day cookies. I thought I was the only one who thought the "honey bears" were a bit... interesting. So I took a picture and sent it to Cake Wrecks, and guess what? They're featured in today's Valentine's Day post!

Meet the Vag-abonds!

Seriously, I was the only one who saw it. Even pointing it out to others, they kind of stared for a minute and I had to graphically describe why they're "wrong." Thank god that Jen & Crew from CW are out there, so I know I'm not the only one with... imagination. Yeah. Imagination.

Well, that just makes my Valentine's Day complete.

Enjoy your VD, everybody!

Review: Lysistrata of Mars by Tory Hoke

Strange Horizons has a fab one this week: Lysistrata of Mars by Tory Hoke. Kay (let's call her Neon... or Diamond) is about to get evicted from her apartment in Tower Twelve, but that's okay because New Plymouth on Mars is nothing if not just the place for a girl of few skills and a matching set of underwear. After taking a job pole dancing (hey--everybody's got to make a living), she finds things are all right. No real friends, enough money to get by, but she's hanging in there.

Until a Sigma 9 comes to visit the Club and really, really, really likes the way she scratches his head. And Kay lets him know that she has limits, dammit.

Chaos ensues, and if you think the sharp wit and quick pace are ever gonna give up, you would be wrong, dear one. Hoke's got style and flash and substance. Loved this one.

The last Strange Horizons story that I loved this much was, as you may recall, Rachael Ack's Significant Figures, in which Stephen's waffle iron attempts to tell him something very important. What you should take from this is: female SFF writers rock.

Enjoy your day, and remember: aliens are people too. Which means they can be complete douchebags.



*Ahem. Excuse me. I forgot to tell you that LoM is particularly NSFW. I mean, the language itself isn't graphic, and, well... Listen, it's NSFW. So read it now before you go in.