#106
April 14, 2007
From: Sarah
Sarah
Thanks very much for sending this. I don't know whether to laugh or pound my head against the wall: it's the perfect demonstration of how hard it can be to make people hear (literally, metaphorically...). Of course I hope I'd be one of the people who stopped, but maybe not—it's so easy to hurry by beauty and skill when it's offered in passing, when it's not ritualized by setting. When art is offered out of context, it makes a lot of people nervous and grumpy. It's weird that our culture is so monetized that we regard freely-offered public performance with suspicion: after all, no one's making anyone listen, and no one's making anyone pay.
I wish the economics of art were different, both for artist and audience. And I think those economics are changing. Anyone keeping up with the music industry (a giant rollercoaster ride these days) knows that MySpace and P2P and recent developments about payola and royalty payments are changing the ways that people make a living with music (artists, distributors, broadcasters, promoters, labels... everyone's world is different today). In February 2009, there will be no more analog television. Nineteen screenwriters are changing how writers play in the Hollywood sandbox. And what will happen in publishing? I don't know, it's a mystery, but I'm confident it won't be business as usual.
As long as we don't all end up like Strad... for those of you not familiar with my short fiction, she is the protagonist of Strings (read more about the story here). Strings is the lead story in Dangerous Space, which I'm delighted to say is now available from Aqueduct Press at a reduced price through June 15 (the official release date). If you'd like a personalized copy, you can order one now from University Books.
The collection will be available at your local bookstore and at the usual online outlets closer to the release date—that date is set based on distribution logistics and on the lead time for reviews. But since Aqueduct has the books in stock, and University Books is right here in Seattle, anyone who chooses can get Dangerous Space now.
I hope people will enjoy the collection, and that some of you will want to talk about it over a virtual pint. There's always room at the table.
Cheers.
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Kelley I'm so glad you've found excitement in your writing again. I hope to read Dangerous Space very soon. This screen writing sounds exciting, will anything you've written be available to watch in the foreseeable future? It would be so cool to be reading credits and see your name as the screen writer.
What sort of things are you going to be doing in that area?
Sly
Thank you, Sly. I'm glad too. And as you'll see above, you can read Dangerous Space anytime you want (says the writer, with a grin).
And I agree, it would be totally cool to see my name credited as a screenwriter. I'm working on it. I'm not ready to get specific about ideas yet, but they are starting to stack up in my mental airspace the way that fiction ideas do. Gods, will I be getting up at 4 AM for the rest of my life just because writing won't let me sleep?
I'll keep you posted.
