“Paula Vogel is a playwright and teacher. She said circles rise together. Look around the table. This is your circle, or at least the start of it. If we do this right, these are the people who are going to rise along with you. This is spring training, and this is your team, and what we do here is prepare for the real work, which is what we do out there, together, once this is over. Everyone cool with that? All right, then. Let’s get to work.”
And then I congratulate myself about how wise I am and how everyone who hears me will be ennobled and enlightened and generally speaking have a better time of it. It’s a daydream. If it doesn’t gratify the ego, what’s the point, right?
But what I’m coming to realize is that circle isn’t something that stops. I’ve had a writing career long enough that I’ve accrued a few petty enmities. I’ve had fellow writers who have said deeply cruel things about me, and I’m sure there are some about whom I have been less that charitable. I’ve been up for a few awards, and I’ve hoped defeat for my fellow short-listers, and they have sometimes spoken ill of me.
But I have also, at one time and another, through accident or intention or some combination of the two, forged friendships with people who I admire, who have helped me—commercially and artistically—and who I hope I’ve been able to lift up too, if only a little bit.
I want to say that my generation of writers is a team too, that we’re all part of a great big circle that can inspire and encourage and push and challenge itself to new and glorious heights, but the fact is we’re humans. We’re a small industry, but we can’t all fit around a table. We’re fractious and mean and often very impressed with ourselves for exactly the reasons we should be a little embarrassed. I don’t think we’re unlike the rest of the world that way, at least.
I do believe that the opportunity is there, though. Even if it’s only in making a small circle, or keeping it for a short time, there is a virtue in finding and maintaining a team. A circle. The rest of the Paula Vogel quote goes like this: Find the people you want to work with, and work with them. It’s something I forget, especially in the apparent isolation of writing, but it’s the advice I would have given myself fifteen years ago. And I’d still be wise to take it now.
And that’s not just writing. That’s the world.
About the Author
Daniel Abraham is a writer of genre fiction with a dozen books in print and over thirty published short stories. His work has been nominated for the Nebula, World Fantasy, and Hugo Awards and has been awarded the International Horror Guild Award. He also writes as MLN Hanover and (with Ty Franck) as James S. A. Corey. He lives in the American Southwest.
Editor’s Desk:
Returning to the Scene of the Crime
Neil Clarke
It’s time to be honest—I was very nervous about heading back to Readercon last month. I know the convention had nothing to do with last year’s heart attack, but it was the scene of the crime. Still I persevered and was welcomed back by many friends, old and new. In the end I’m glad my family and I went. A small weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Fandom is an interesting place. Last year I noted how much support my family received from the Readercon community and this year, I’ve been thinking about how many of those positive stories are left unspoken. To that end I’d like to highlight the efforts of a group of people that I think deserve more attention: Operation Hammond (operationhammond.com). In their own words:
Operation Hammond is a non-profit organization of like-minded individuals within the anime, sci-fi, fantasy and pop culture convention community dedicated to bringing awareness of first aid, emergency preparedness and training to people who attend and staff anime, sci-fi, fantasy and pop culture conventions. The diversity and social dimensions of this social scene are unique. We are nerds helping nerds in times of need.
Our members and senior staff have the equipment, experience and know-how to effectively deal with medical emergencies, social needs and the unique requirements of those who attend pop culture events and conventions. We are a social medical organization. This means that we are able to carry out first aid, public safety and first responder duties at pop culture or fan events and conventions at the American Heart Association First Aid level.
Our members are trained and able to provide medical care and arrange transport for situations and injuries that require ambulance transfer to a hospital. Most of our members are EMTs, work in health care, veteran staffers of conventions and work in public service.
As someone who experienced a major medical event at a convention, I have to say that I found their presence at Readercon very reassuring. Yes, we should expect hotel staff to have basic emergency training, but response time from a trained professional can be critical. It is hard to beat having an EMT on-site and ready to act. Even if never called upon, these volunteers provide an extremely valuable service to our community and we should be proud to have people like this among our numbers. If you see them at a local convention, make sure you thank them for their service, and if you can, donate to their cause. We need more people like this.
Speaking of supporters, I was very pleased by the final results for my Kickstarter campaign for an original anthology of cyborg stories. I watched the final moments of the campaign from the Readercon dealer’s room and even met a few our backers in person. UPGRADED was fully-funded and then some. In the end, I had enough extra to add a few extra stories and pay our authors a bit more. I now have story commitments from Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Xia Jia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts and E. Lily Yu. Julie Dillon (this month’s cover artist) will provide the cover. I’m looking forward to filling the rest of the table of contents and working with such a fine set of authors.
I also used Readercon as an opportunity to launch our fourth Clarkesworld anthology: CLARKESWORLD: YEAR FOUR. It sold very well and is now available in ebook and trade paperback formats. Here’s what’s included in this volume:
CONTENTS
Introduction by Neil Clarke
Between Two Dragons by Yoon Ha Lee
The Cull by Robert Reed
The Mermaids Singing Each to Each by Cat Rambo
Of Melei, of Ulthar by Gord Sellar
Night, in Dark Perfection by Richard Parks
The Grandmother-Granddaughter Conspiracy by Marissa Lingen
Brief Candle by Jason K. Chapman
All the King’s Monsters by Megan Arkenberg
Torquing Vacuum by Jay Lake
The Language of the Whirlwind by Lavie Tidhar
A Sweet Calling by Tony Pi
Alone with Gandhari by Gord Sellar
The History Within Us by Matthew Kressel
January by Becca De La Rosa
Messenger by J.M. Sidorova
A Jar of Goodwill by Tobias S. Buckell
Futures in the Memories Market by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
My Father’s Singularity by Brenda Cooper
Beach Blanket Spaceship by Sandra McDonald
The Association of the Dead by Rahul Kanakia
Spar by Kij Johnson
Paper Cradle by Stephen Gaskell
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time by Catherynne M. Valente
The Things by Peter Watts
Clarkesworld Citizens—Official Census
About Clarkesworld
More details can be found at: neil-clarke.com/books/clarkesworld-year-four/
That’s all for this month. Most of the Clarkesworld team are heading off to Worldcon in San Antonio at the end of the August. Here’s hoping to see some of you there!
About the Author
Neil Clarke is the editor of Clarkesworld Magazine, owner of Wyrm Publishing and a 2013 Hugo Nominee for Best Editor (short form). He currently lives in NJ with his wife and two children.
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