The Catholic Geek: Honor at Stake and Sad Puppies Bite Back 01/31 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts

The Catholic Geek: Honor at Stake and Sad Puppies Bite Back 01/31 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts:

Host Declan Finn flies solo for the first time-- deliberately-- in this prerecorded episode. Sorry folks, no chat room or call ins tonight. During tonight's broadcast, Finn will discuss the latest in Sad Puppies and the Hugos, and do select readings from his Sad Puppy nominated works, Sad Puppies Bite Back and Honor at Stake.

Hugo Nominations upcoming (also, Amaranthe - Razorblade)

Item the first.

Hugo nominations start around Feb 5.  So, get your licks in now at SadPuppies4.org, and tell them about your favorite author(s) in science fiction and fantasy from 2015.  Don't forget that this includes categories like film, fanzines (like blogs) best fan writing and best related work (like Sad Puppies Bite Back could be), novels, etc.

No, I'm not subtle. I'll stop. I promise ... right after I'm told that I didn't even get a Hugo nomination. Then I'll stop. Honest.

Though, right now, I'm still wrapping my brain around getting looked at twice for Best Novel in SP4 -- heck, I knew SPBB would be a contender, but Honor At Stake? Not so much.

Anyway, be warned.....

There be Puppy Kickers ahead.....

Fisking Tor's Racist Counter

Liz Bourke is my favorite punching bag at Tor.  Why? Because she is such a tool, it's not even funny.

I've gone a few rounds with her before, on women in military science fiction, and on strong women characters.  The short version is that she never learns.

And then there's this piece of stupid.

There’s a counter in my head. Imagine a tiny recording demon, making marks in its ledger, constantly alert.

Yes, but he's not an accountant, otherwise your economic theory would be better.

There’s a counter in my head, and I can’t turn it off.

When it goes off, will your head explode?

It counts women present in a narrative. It counts people who aren’t men. It counts queer representation. It counts—although somewhat less strictly, due to the blinkers of its upbringing—the presence of people who aren’t white, or who aren’t able-bodied. It counts up roles. It compares and contrasts roles. It counts incidences where things follow a trend, and where they diverge. It recognises patterns. Dead women. Sexual objects. Motivating objects. Objectified. Tragic queerness. Queerness-as-a-phase. Women sidelined. Elided. Present but only significant for how they relate to a white able-bodied cisgender man.

And I'm certain that your random emphasis of words doesn't at all help.

If you're only reading books with white male protagonists ... maybe you should read some Baen books. Sarah Hoyt, Larry Correia, or John Ringo's Princess of Wands. I find Kratman's Amazon Legion an interesting concept for women in military scifi.

How about a nice Honor Harrington?

Hey! I got it! You should watch Ender's Game, because there were multiple Indian and Muslim characters in that one, and as we all know, those two make up 2 billion people on planet Earth. Go what Ender's Game.

Sad Puppy Best novel is....

So, someone did a breakdown of how the Sad Puppy 4 counts are going thus far.

Right now, best novel looks like this.

Now, it's one thing to be in the top ten, which is surprising enough -- and for which I thank my enthusiastic fan base, I'm seriously shocked -- but it's another thing to be in the top five.

And no, for those of you wondering, I'm not beating out Correia or Ringo because I'm better than they are, but because they've stated that they don't want a Hugo, and would reject one if offered. So, count on their readers knowing that and thinking "Nah, I'm not going to bother them."

I'm not shocked that I beat Ancillary Mercy because, well, Ann Leckie is enjoyed by the Puppy Kicker crowd, and I suspect that some of them figured "Hey, we can manipulate the Puppies! Yaaaay."  I may be wrong, but most of my friends and acquaintances couldn't get through her books. Just listen to any of my radio shows with Tom Knighton.

While I have not read Nethereal, and cannot comment on it, I am shocked that I'm above Jim Butcher.

It occurs to me as I write this that I'm even shocked that I'm on the same list as Ringo, Correia, Butcher, Wright, Stephenson and Williamson.

Heck, I'm surprised I'm even allowed on this list.

Welcome to science fiction, truly, the great equalizer.  Huh.

Oh well, here's where the fun starts. If this keeps up, I'll be marked for slander and libel all over the internet.  So, please, by all means, anyone who hasn't voted yet, please do feel free to cast a vote for me.

Because as I've said before to the Puppy Kickers...

Within Temptation - Covered By Roses (lyric video)

The Catholic Geek: Chasing Freedom 01/24 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts

The Catholic Geek: Chasing Freedom 01/24 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts:



Host Declan Finn has Marina Fontaine discussing her dystopian novel 'Chasing Freedom.' At long last, a dystopia that's not depressing.

Marina Fontaine is an immigrant from the former Soviet Union, a proud American and an unrepentant book addict. Because of her background, Marina especially appreciates an opportunity to discover, share and support pro-freedom art in all its forms. She is a co-founder of Conservative-Libertarian Fiction Alliance group on Facebook, runs Small Government Book Fan Club on Goodreads and has a blog on Liberty Island. Marina lives in New Jersey with her very supportive husband, three children and four guinea pigs, working as an accountant by day and an aspiring writer by night.

Music Blog: The Seraphs, by Cruxshadows

Yeah, so this one is fun.

Pardon me, I have to get back to writing now.

Set to Kill, chapter 1

I've banged out about 2,000 words on Set to Kill.

Have a quick look at some of them.

Yes, some of them. I'm not going to show you the ENTIRE book... And I haven't written it all yet.

But just to show you that I'm doing something.

Movie night: The Detective

So, item one, obviously, the radio show did not go off as planned. I couldn't log into the system, and by the time it was up and running, the show would pretty much be done with.

Anyway, just to make my life easy for five minutes, I'm going to show you a movie. For free.

If you've never heard of GK Chesterton's Father Brown ... have you been living under a rock? Before there was Father Dowling (and you've at least heard of that one, haven't you?) there was Father Brown, created by Chesterton out of thin air.

While there have been some attempts at Father Brown (the most recent evoking the most homicidal reaction from me), this is probably the best. Not because of the accuracy of the scripts to the stories (for that you want the Father Brown as done by Kenneth More) but because of the best execution of character, done by Alec Guiness.

And it's for free on YouTube.

Enjoy

The Catholic Geek: Creating Evil, with Page Zaplendam

The Catholic Geek: Creating Evil, with Page Zaplendam: Page Zaplendam, author of Order of the Blood, discusses development of evil in novels, with host Declan Finn.

They'll discuss vampires, self publishing, female leads in fiction, fandom, and fantasy/scifi in general. Order of the Blood: The Unofficial Chronicles of John Grissom is currently free for kindle purchase on Amazon.com.

If you're interested in a softcover copy, you can enter the Giveaway for Order of the Blood until January 18th on Goodreads.com. Fans can chat with Page Zaplendam on FB, Twitter, or on her website, pagezaplendam.com.