Babel Clash

Today we segue from B-movies to the best in SF&F on TV. Rather than impose my favorites on you, I’m just going to make a list, and you’re going to tell me your favorites. But wait, there’s more! Not only must you pick a favorite show–you must also choose a favorite episode. Mind you, the shows you name must still be making new episodes now. I realize there’s a huge number of awesome SF&F shows in the past, but we’re not going there today. If we were, I’d certainly name BSG; I’m watching that right now. But alas, it has ended.

And here we go:

Supernatural
Vampire Diaries
Eureka
Flashforward
Sanctuary
Warehouse 13
Dollhouse
True Blood
Doctor Who
Torchwood*
Fringe
Ghost Whisperer
Smallville
Heroes
Stargate Universe

*put it on list as current, even though I’m not sure if it’s coming back

Those are all the shows I can think of. Which ones am I missing? You can add to the list by naming shows, but I’d also like you to name your favorite episode of the show you like best.

What are the best of the best?

Today I’m gonna talk about b-movies, specifically SFF films that have terrible scripts, bad acting, rotten effects, and somehow manage to be totally awesome. I have to confess I have a weakness for these things. I loved MST3K.

Recently, we watched a movie that introduced my 10 year old son to the idea of MST3King a movie. This wasn’t SFF, but it was hilarious nonetheless. It was a Mexican movie, filmed in the 70s, about two kids who run away from their parents because of a dog and they travel all over Mexico having these wacky adventures. This is hilarious because of the stuff that happens to the kids. They’re slapped, beaten, threatened with death, jump off a train, locked up by an insane policeman. They smoke, hit on ladies, and it’s just all around amazingly inappropriate. I watched the movie, just gobsmacked by how much our perceptions of what’s acceptable have changed. But then again, our parents let us run wild all summer long, as long as we were in the neighborhood. We ran in packs and played lawn darts. Things have unquestionably changed.

So my husband and I watched this movie with our son and we laughed until we cried, making up our own dialogue. The kid had so much fun he didn’t ask to get his Gameboy or go play Wii. We watched until the end, and it was such great interactive entertainment. Now I’m looking for our next movie to MST3K.

Anything with a lesser Baldwin is generally a good candidate. Plan 9 from Outer Space is a genius work for this purpose. We also watched Raptor Island with …wait for it… Lorenzo Lamas. That’s a mark of quality entertainment, I tell you. Andres and I MST3K’d that one, too.

What are your favorite SFF B-movies?

I did a quick poll on twitter to see what people wanted to talk about today and steampunk came up. Since I’m interested in this topic, I’ll be happy to discuss it. First, if you aren’t sure what that actually is, Katiebabs has a great series (three parts) discussing the various elements. It starts here. Feel free to go peruse that; I’ll wait. And here’s an excellent Wiki offering a list of steampunk works in various media sources.

Okay, now that we’re on the same page, Jess Rosen asks: What about struggling with adding steampunk to a novel without making it all steampunk. Doable?

That’s an interesting question, I think. Full disclosure here: I have a project with Anne Sowards right now that I’d call steampunk. Here’s the blurb I used in describing Bronze Gods:

Bronze Gods takes place a dark, lush dangerous world set in what we’d call fairy. Only “under the hill” isn’t the pastoral utopia it once was. Because there are fairly regular crossings (once every hundred years or so), our technology has gradually infiltrated the other world. So when steam ships go missing, well, that’s where they’ve gone. The original population, the Ferishers–what we’d call the Seelie and Unseelie–have long since interbred with the humans who crossed over. Now there are no pure bloods left, and there are noble houses formed on the basis of how much Ferisher blood is left in their lineage. Ferisher blood permits their human descendants to work small magics and cast glamours. The fey who refused to share their world with the interlopers fell into the Fade; their bodies withered and died, leaving them hungry, angry spirits that haunt the countryside. Some citizens can summon those spirits and use them to gain strength and power. In this book, there’s murder, mayhem, dark rituals, theatre, forbidden romance, a dark stranger who has been called the Lord of Spiders, a drug-addicted gray knight who works as a cop, and a genealogist who is cursed with sensing lies.

So I have some background in this. However, that said, I would actually caution against “adding steampunk elements” just because the market is hot. Unless you have a finished manuscript from the sub-genre that’s heating up, as I did, by the time you finish the book, they will have acquired all the steampunk they want, and the market will be turning to something else. By the time you hear about a trend, as a writer, chances are, it’s already passing, at least in terms of acquisitions.

I wouldn’t suggest trying to tailor a manuscript by shoehorning elements in to make it fit, at least superficially, the demand for steampunk. The elements are either integral to the plot, or they are not. I don’t think a book can be “a little bit steampunk”; it’s like being a little bit dead or a little bit pregnant. One either is, or isn’t.

You’re free to disagree with me, of course. Do you think a book can (or should, maybe that’s the better question) have steampunk elements without being all steampunk?

In comments on the gaming post, Shannon asked me about my best convention. I’m not going to tell that story here because I suspect I have a strange definition of best. Instead I’m going to tell a con story and invite y’all to share your best story as well, whether it’s funny, awesome, embarrassing or all of the above.

I had a friend in college; she was far more plugged in to this world than me. I hadn’t yet started gaming. But she was into gaming, SCA, and all of that. We met in Washington DC, weirdly enough, and found we both lived in Indiana. We stayed in touch, though we went to different colleges. Our freshman year, when I was home on break, she took me to my first SF con.

I was a little unsure about the whole business, but I totally knew who Nichelle Nichols was. I shook her hand and found her to be a very cool lady. I was less convinced about the huge lines for various comic book people and artists. I wandered through the dealer area and went to a few panels. I found myself very confused as to what I was supposed to be doing.

This wasn’t a big con, mind you. At some point I found myself standing with Debbie in a big group of people. They were all fawning on a middle-aged man wearing a rather outlandish scarf. The thing was super long and particolored; they were all hanging on his every word. I was standing there, rather bored by the whole thing, when the man glanced at me with a big smile. He reached out and shook my hand and then said, “I bet you want my autograph.”

I blinked at him and said, “Why?”

I had NO earthly idea who Tom Baker was at that time. He looked positively astonished. My friend dragged me away, totally chagrined and then tried to explain that he was Dr. Who, which led to a really hilarious Who’s on First type conversation.

Years later, I think about my younger self and cringe. Because now if I met Dr. Who at a con (albeit Eccleston or Tennant), I would so totally be among the crowd hanging on his every word. I blush when I think about 18 year old me, who knew so very little. It’s kind of an awesome but embarrassing memory.

What’s your best con story?

I’m afraid I have to disagree with Ilona. She likes turn-based games? And stuff where you build empires? Boooooooooring. OMG. I bet she played Civ! No. Way.

I tried Arcanum, and I never finished it. I wanted to love it. I didn’t. I did finish Oblivion. It wasn’t one of my favorites, though. Again, not enough NPC interaction to make me happy. For that, I tend to game-crush on Bioware and Black Isle. I’m waiting to see if Obsidian can earn my love, but with the way they wanked on the ending for KotOR2, so far, they’re on shaky ground.

As you can tell, I’m all about the RPGS. (That stands for role-playing games.)

Let me give you an overview of what my favorite games have been over the years. My love affair with games started a long freakin’ time ago with Eye of the Beholder. Then there was Planescape, which damn near broke my heart. I also played Dark Sun. From there I proceeded to Baldur’s Gate and Throne of Bhaal. Since then, I’ve discovered Neverwinter Nights (both 1 and 2), Jade Empire, Fallout 1 & 2, and the KotOR series. More recently, I’ve fallen in love with Fallout 3 and Mass Effect– which pretty much brings you to date.

I don’t love shooters. I’ve tried to like them, but they just don’t have enough story to keep me interested. Also, I hate timed missions.

Fallout 3 was a really cool blend of action and story. The ghoul NPC was just totally bad-ass. And Dogmeat was awesome too. Mass Effect also combined enough RP with the shooting to make me happy. Loved that one. I’ve played it through countless times.

My most anticipated releases are Jade Empire 2 (is this more than a myth?), Star Wars: the Old Republic, and Dragon Age. Oh, and I can’t forget about Mass Effect 2. But that’s not until 2010, I think. Cannot. Wait.

The next game I buy will be Dragon Age, no question. Unless I have my dates scrambled, it’s coming out November 30 in console form and I am so there. I’ll take a week off and just play the heck out of that one.

How do you guys feel? Empire-building, shooters, or RPGS? Have any of you ever done pen and paper gaming? Come on, ‘fess up. Strut your inner geek.

ETA: Ok, that does it. Another prize is in order. I’m giving away either CHICKS IN CHAINMAIL or GHOST by John Ringo.

Today you’re in for a special treat. About a month ago, I got my new cover for Hell Fire, but I saved it so I can unveil it here. This is the cover art for book two in my Corine Solomon series. I like the moodiness of it; they’ve stopped the car at twilight, near a spooky woods (I know the exact scene this represents–it’s near the start of the book), and Corine is understandably creeped out. Once you read it, you will so go, OMG, this is from the cover!

But if you compare it to other urban fantasy titles, you’ll find this is quite different. They went for a more realistic style; they also avoided using tatts or leather, which is cover art shorthand for urban fantasy these days. I’m a little concerned by that choice. While I appreciate they want to create a distinctive brand for me, I’m not sure how new readers are going to find me. People who know of me and know what I write will buy my books regardless. It’s the random browsers I want to reach. And they’re looking for women with tramp stamps, tattoos and leather pants. Never mind that doesn’t really represent the series–it doesn’t in other cases too. But maybe this makes me stand out from the crowd? I’m hoping that’s the case.

I really love Karen Chance’s covers. Patricia Briggs has gorgeous ones too. I think the message of my covers is: this is a different kind of urban fantasy. And that’s certainly true. I have no werewolves, vampires or fairies. I do have shades, wraiths, warlocks, sorcerers, witches, genetically gifted humans, demons, fallen angels, and nephilim. And I have characters, like Chance, whose background cannot be explained by any of the above. (Yes, I totally know what his deal is. But you’ll have to keep reading the series to find out.)

So would you guess this was urban fantasy, based on the art? Would it make you pick it up? Comment on the new cover, art trends in urban fantasy, and/or what you’d like to see for my Shady Lady cover (I have my own ideas since I know what happens in the book). And I’ll pre-order Hell Fire for one lucky random commenter.

People who don’t usually read SF have told me they read and enjoy my Jax series. They’ve also said they consider Jax to be a sub-genre they’d dub Futuristic Urban Fantasy, rather than romantic science fiction, like it says on the contract. That’s because Jax’s voice is much more in line with urban fantasy than anything I’ve ever read in SF.

I find this comparison intriguing and here’s why. Yesterday, we were talking about trends in urban fantasy, along with demons, werewolves, vampires and fairies, and now I’m wondering — can urban fantasy be futuristic? If so, does it have to be set on earth to be urban fantasy? Where is the line drawn?

Can you think of any examples (besides Jax) where the setting is futuristic? I’m looking for specific examples, like title and author. My example would be the Dead World (RED, SCARLET, CRIMSON) books by Jordan Summers. I’d call those futuristic urban fantasy. I’m curious what your criteria is and where the genre shifts. If you don’t think a futuristic could also be urban fantasy, explain why not.

I’ve noticed more Native American themes, but then, I’ve been reading the Walker Papers by C.E. Murphy, so I suppose that’s to be expected. In a most excellent shift, I’m seeing less of vampires as romantic leads and more of them as scary, bite-y monsters, which I completely dig. Kat Richardson’s vampires are not seductive in the least, and I can’t tell you how much that appeals to me. (Oh, wait, I just did.) My co-blogger, Ilona Andrews, made that choice as well.

The thing I’m wondering is whether demons are going to replace vampires as the paranormal beast du jour.  What do you think?