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Mar 20

I Don’t Read SCIFI. I Read Speculative Literature.

I Don’t Read SCIFI. I Read Speculative Literature.

(Or How to Recruit Others Into the Club.)

If you have ever experienced the disdainful, vaguely bored glance that follows when you mention you favorite science fiction or fantasy story, I have the ultimate recruiting pitch. No doubt, if you are reading this you are already a fan. Star Trek is a popular outlet for many fans of this mode of storytelling, but it is only a start. Any true fan knows that science fiction and fantasy contain all types of stories, whether it is the traditional stories of Middle Earth, or the tales of Bradbury’s Mars, or even the more obscure selections of Kelly Link. The genres (I use the plural, because we all know they are two SEPARATE genres that happen to be bunched together as a stupid marketing ploy which doesn’t really make sense when you think about it, but oh well that’s the way it was made…) have something for everyone. And yet, you still get the LOOK. Usually, it happens during a conversation like this:

“So, what kind of books do you like to read?”

“Oh, I like science fiction/fantasy/horror.”

Pause. (Insert LOOK.) “Oh, I never got into that stuff. I like more serious literature.”

Ouch! That was you personality they just slammed! What do you do?

Well, don’t call it science fiction/fantasy/horror. Call it speculative literature. It’s a fancy title for the same thing. I learned that (along with many others) from reading Margaret Atwood. When people called her book The Handmaiden’s Tale science fiction, she turned it around and called it “speculative literature.” It sounds classy and sophisticated. Best of all most people don’t really know what it means.

There are some who are now raising their fist at the computer screen and saying, “There is nothing wrong with calling my favorite stuff scifi! I like it just the way it is and if I met someone who doesn’t understand, then too bad. No one is going to change me.”

I guess I agree to a point. The term is ingrained into our vocabulary and I’m not suggesting we get rid of it completely. But if we don’t offer the olive branch, or at least an alternative that provokes interest (because it doesn’t have a gut reaction when heard), how will there ever be any tolerance? We can’t get rid of the LOOK until those who give it understand that scifi is not fluff.

I like the term speculative literature mainly because it covers a wide variety of styles of writing. So many people are writing in different aspects of scifi that we need a better term. There are tons of others like “new wave fabulist”, “new weird”, and my personal favorite “slipstream”. And while they all take up their own space, “speculative literature” seems to be the most inclusive. It’s any story where there is some sort of speculation involved, whether that is picturing a future (good or bad) of mankind, an alternate reality, or next door neighbors that happen to be vampires. It also includes a lot of stories that are not typical, like The Handmaid’s Tale, or 1984. It’s hard for someone to give the LOOK to Frankenstein.

And once people start to understand that, they’ve been recruited onto your side.

Maybe they will never read Robert J. Sawyer, rush out to see the next movie about Kirk and Spock, or know the storyline of the next graphic novel series, but there will be a little more respect. They’ll understand that there is a history, a tradition, that has been going on for a while. These genres are not just about slapping a sword and an elf together in a forest, or what Earthlings will be like in five hundred years.

It’s about the same things that drive all other stories. Our hopes and our fears create this stuff. They mold and shape stories that incorporates the fantastic or science into something so far ranging that it takes us out of reality. But it is sophisticated enough to leave clues as to how we can see ourselves.

I, for one, think more people should realize this and I’m a recruiting fool.

That’s why I read (and write) speculative literature.

**Originally written for and published by roddenberry.com in August 2007.**

Mar 4

One Year

One year has passed.  Wow, time has gone by fast.  I’m supposed to be putting up my stories, but I just can’t seem to get on top of this.  Gearing up for my grad school application has been my focus.  But I WILL try to do better.  My brother keeps waiting for new stuff.  All I can say is oneday it will happen.

But I am glad that I have managed to put some stuff up, even if it is just my ramblings about my life and lack of postings.

Jan 23

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A new year…

Where has the time gone?  It’s been almost a year since I  got this blog and I still haven’t managed to put up any stories.  Well that is going to change.  I know. I know.  I’ve been saying the same thing over and over again, but I think this year will be different.

One reason is my head space.  After being furloughed last summer (and being bummed out in general about it), I decided to rethink where I am going in life.  Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to go back to school.  Grad school to be exact.  I never really thought I wanted to go.  Being a writer, you don’t have to get a degree.  You really just have to write and be diligent about it.  But after years of writing short stories, poems, and even a novel and not having even a nible, I think I just need to get out of my bubble.  I have taken community writing classes and been to festivals, but I fell as if I have used those places to their fullest.

So I went to an information session at a local college, and it seemed to be the next step.  I’m not looking to go to get published.  I want to go to be a better writer.  I think I need that push that only academics (and an expensive tuition check) can give me.  Plus I am excited about some of the classes.  I remember hearing something about older students going back to school and how they are more focused.  They know what they are there for and it shows in how they approach their classes.  I can see how that would apply to me.  Also, the program is designed for working adults so all classes are nights and weekends.  Perfect!

You know, a year ago I would have never thought about grad school.  But how quickly things change when one thing in your life does.  I got furloughed (with a pay cut), so I decided to get healthy.  Then I decided to get my writing career healthy.  Now I’m 30+ pounds lighter and thinking about my MA in writing. Not everything is perfect in my life, but things are getting better…  I think it will be a good 2010.  Happy New Year!

Oct 26

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Almost Ready…

So, things got busy.  Again.  A trip to Scranton, PA, a full schedule, and a tree trimmer, and I’m still forgetting to update this regularly.  But things are getting better.  Atleast, it didn’t take me six months to add something more.

On the new stuff front, I tried yoga a week ago.  I didn’t think I would like it, but wow was I wrong.  The only problem was that I bought a tape that wasn’t for beginners.  Everything was fine, until the instructor said to go from downward dog into the splits!

Yeah, I’m not that flexible yet.

Then she went into the crow pose and I had to just stand there in my living room shaking my head.  That is not going to happen anytime soon.  But the rest of the dvd was good.  It really stretched me out and any tightness I had was gone.  Sunday morning is officially yoga day.  I will just have to go back to the store and find one for beginners.  Denise Austin’s Yoga Burn  is a bit too advanced for me.

Working on a new story.  Hopefully, I will get it together and post one soon.  I know which one I want to put up first, I just have to make the time.  I realize now that writing is like exercising.  I will never find the time.  I have to make the time.

It’s funny… I’ve always known that, but suddenly it is now making sense.

 

 

Sep 27

New stuff coming soon!!

I haven’t forgotten about the site.  Things have been so crazy over the past few months.  Decided to go on a health kick and get fit.  So far I’m doing well, but sometimes it is hard!  I have a lot of work to do on my body and I have to get back into a regular writing schedule.

But I’m trying to get back on track.  I promise to post a story this week, and hopefully in the future, I will post one a month.  Now, I just have to decide what story should I post first…

Feb 25

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog!  I have created this forum for my friends and family to enjoy my fiction writing and poetry.  So please bookmark this page and check back often for news and great reading.

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