Boosting the Signal apologies, general reminders, and upcoming dates

Some Boosting the Signal updates, folks.

First up, my profoundest apologies to Rhonda Garcia! I’d arranged with her to put up a post on May 30th, and completely spaced on getting it ready. So I’ll be getting a post ready for her ASAP, and y’all will be getting a special bonus Boosting the Signal post this weekend! Watch for that link to go up today!

Also, it came to my attention that I misspelled the name of Kimberley Long-Ewing, on her post here. Apologies to Kimberley as well!

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I also would like to note that for the next several weeks, Boosting the Signal posts are going to be somewhat erratic as I need to focus on writing Victory of the Hawk. On Friday June 13th in particular, I’m going to not have a post at all on the grounds that I get to have dental surgery. JOY OH GLEE!

However, I will have a post coming from author Emma Barry on June 20th. I don’t have anything scheduled for July, but I’ll have another one coming from Anna Kashina on August 8th–and THEN, I’ll have Chaz Brenchley on August 15th!

***

Although I’ve been a little erratic on getting these posts up, I’m greatly enjoying sharing them with you all. I’m particularly charmed by some of the more creative responses I’ve been seeing to the theme of “character goals”.

Once I get Victory of the Hawk written, I’ll look forward to resuming scheduling of posts. And I will be pestering authors I know to get me submissions! Stand by for more news on that as it happens!

I hope y’all are enjoying reading these as much as I’m posting them!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Boosting the Signal apologies, general reminders, and upcoming dates

Some Boosting the Signal updates, folks.

First up, my profoundest apologies to Rhonda Garcia! I’d arranged with her to put up a post on May 30th, and completely spaced on getting it ready. So I’ll be getting a post ready for her ASAP, and y’all will be getting a special bonus Boosting the Signal post this weekend! Watch for that link to go up today!

Also, it came to my attention that I misspelled the name of Kimberley Long-Ewing, on her post here. Apologies to Kimberley as well!

***

I also would like to note that for the next several weeks, Boosting the Signal posts are going to be somewhat erratic as I need to focus on writing Victory of the Hawk. On Friday June 13th in particular, I’m going to not have a post at all on the grounds that I get to have dental surgery. JOY OH GLEE!

However, I will have a post coming from author Emma Barry on June 20th. I don’t have anything scheduled for July, but I’ll have another one coming from Anna Kashina on August 8th–and THEN, I’ll have Chaz Brenchley on August 15th!

***

Although I’ve been a little erratic on getting these posts up, I’m greatly enjoying sharing them with you all. I’m particularly charmed by some of the more creative responses I’ve been seeing to the theme of “character goals”.

Once I get Victory of the Hawk written, I’ll look forward to resuming scheduling of posts. And I will be pestering authors I know to get me submissions! Stand by for more news on that as it happens!

I hope y’all are enjoying reading these as much as I’m posting them!

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Oh look, more snobbery about people reading the wrong things

While the SF/F genre’s been busy with yet another round of You Wimmens Are All Crazy, There’s No Sexism in Science Fiction, looks like Slate decided to put up an editorial rant about how adults who read YA should be ashamed of themselves. I’ve seen a unilateral reaction of “fuck you” directed at Slate, justifiably so.

I’m not going to link to the article because I’m not going to give it the click traffic; if you really want to read it, io9 does link to it in their excellent rebuttal.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–any form of “you’re reading the wrong things” snobbery is bullshit and it needs to stop. And in this particular case, people who roll their eyes and assume that YA novels are dumbed-down, simplistic crap just because they’re marketed to teenagers clearly has no actual working familiarity with the best that YA has to offer. It’s also dismissing the mastery that an author can bring to a story, in general. And while I’m not a regular reader of YA, I’m here to tell you: it’s rare that I’m compelled to plow through an entire trilogy as fast as I can cram the words into my head. But the Hunger Games books did that.

Also, two simple words: The Hobbit.

Sure, it’s not marketed as YA, but Tolkien absolutely intended children to be the primary audience for that story. And sure, it’s not nearly as complex and dark as The Lord of the Rings. But Tolkien lavished his love for the language all over that book, and turning up your nose at it just because “oh well, it’s intended for children, and I am a Mature Adult” means you miss out on a masterpiece.

Others have pointed out, too, that YA gets a lot of shit because of more than a little sexism, too. A lot of YA authors are female. A lot of YA readers are female. It’s not a coincidence that “YA is simplistic claptrap for children” goes hand in hand with “women write YA because they can’t write real science fiction”.

At the end of the day, though, it still all boils down to “Hey you, you over there, you are reading the WRONG THINGS, and now I’m going to appoint myself the arbiter of your reading choices”.

I’m tired beyond belief of this. Literature readers sneer at genre readers. Male authors sneer at female authors. Male readers sneer at female readers. SF/F sneers at romance–hell, everybody sneers at romance, and boy howdy am I sick of that in particular. Now we’ve got sneering at people for reading books because of a mistaken idea that “marketed for a young audience” equals “claptrap”.

The other two words I’ve got for that: “fuck you”.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Oh look, more snobbery about people reading the wrong things

While the SF/F genre’s been busy with yet another round of You Wimmens Are All Crazy, There’s No Sexism in Science Fiction, looks like Slate decided to put up an editorial rant about how adults who read YA should be ashamed of themselves. I’ve seen a unilateral reaction of “fuck you” directed at Slate, justifiably so.

I’m not going to link to the article because I’m not going to give it the click traffic; if you really want to read it, io9 does link to it in their excellent rebuttal.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–any form of “you’re reading the wrong things” snobbery is bullshit and it needs to stop. And in this particular case, people who roll their eyes and assume that YA novels are dumbed-down, simplistic crap just because they’re marketed to teenagers clearly has no actual working familiarity with the best that YA has to offer. It’s also dismissing the mastery that an author can bring to a story, in general. And while I’m not a regular reader of YA, I’m here to tell you: it’s rare that I’m compelled to plow through an entire trilogy as fast as I can cram the words into my head. But the Hunger Games books did that.

Also, two simple words: The Hobbit.

Sure, it’s not marketed as YA, but Tolkien absolutely intended children to be the primary audience for that story. And sure, it’s not nearly as complex and dark as The Lord of the Rings. But Tolkien lavished his love for the language all over that book, and turning up your nose at it just because “oh well, it’s intended for children, and I am a Mature Adult” means you miss out on a masterpiece.

Others have pointed out, too, that YA gets a lot of shit because of more than a little sexism, too. A lot of YA authors are female. A lot of YA readers are female. It’s not a coincidence that “YA is simplistic claptrap for children” goes hand in hand with “women write YA because they can’t write real science fiction”.

At the end of the day, though, it still all boils down to “Hey you, you over there, you are reading the WRONG THINGS, and now I’m going to appoint myself the arbiter of your reading choices”.

I’m tired beyond belief of this. Literature readers sneer at genre readers. Male authors sneer at female authors. Male readers sneer at female readers. SF/F sneers at romance–hell, everybody sneers at romance, and boy howdy am I sick of that in particular. Now we’ve got sneering at people for reading books because of a mistaken idea that “marketed for a young audience” equals “claptrap”.

The other two words I’ve got for that: “fuck you”.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Boosting the Signal: Lex Talionis, by R.S.A. Garcia

R.S.A. Garcia comes to me by way of Anna Kashina, who was one of the first authors I featured on Boosting the Signal. Anna is however also one of the primary movers and shakers with Dragonwell Publishing, and Lex Talionis is a new SF/mystery release from Dragonwell.

And, now that I’ve read this piece from the book’s main character’s POV, I gotta say, I’m intrigued! It’s official! And thinking I need to read this book just to see her mow down her enemies. Because after all, you don’t get much more basic or elemental a goal than revenge.

Lex Talionis

I would introduce myself, but I don’t know my name.

My life began a couple of weeks ago, when I died in the Emergency Room of the Mathis Clinic on the planet Serron. My doctor, Colin Mayfeld, was about to write his final report when a little humanoid alien broke into the room, sat on my chest and brought me back with one touch.

I don’t remember any of it.

I don’t remember being in an alley near Bradley spaceport, even though that’s where I was found, barely alive but still breathing. An unconscious girl in a bloody spacesuit, with no ID chit.

I don’t remember talking to the alien when it brought me back, but Dr. Mayfeld says I did. The funny thing is, he says I didn’t speak Universal—I spoke Latin. And I asked the alien for help.

I’ll have to take his word for it. About what I said, that is, not about speaking Latin. I know I can speak Latin because I have had the same phrase going round and round in my head since I was able to make a coherent thought.

Lex Talionis. The law of retaliation—of revenge.

That’s the other thing I know.

I want revenge.

Someone killed me. Someone beat me, tortured me, raped me and left me for dead in an alley. Someone is walking around out there thinking I’m gone and never coming back. Some bastard thinks my story is over.

Well, it’s not over.

I’m not an ordinary girl. I’m healing faster than Dr. Mayfeld expected. I’m getting better every day. It’s because I’m an N-gene. I was genetically engineered in vitro to be smarter, stronger, faster. Whoever did this to me might have over-powered me once, but they’re never going to get that chance again.

I’ve given myself a name—Lex. And I have help. The alien that saved me can’t speak, but it’s still with me. I think it knows something. I think it can help me remember.

Dr. Mayfeld is doing what he can too. He has friends who might be able to assist the Troopers as they investigate the attack on me. There are ways to work on getting my memory back. He’s going to do whatever it takes to help. I don’t know why he cares. But he does.

I only care about a few things right now. I care about remembering my past. I care about being fully healed. And I care about finding who did this to me.

Because when I do find them, I’m going to make them wish to all the Gods in all the galaxies that they had killed me right the first time.

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Dragonwell Publishing

Follow the Author On: Official Site | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Boosting the Signal: Lex Talionis, by R.S.A. Garcia

R.S.A. Garcia comes to me by way of Anna Kashina, who was one of the first authors I featured on Boosting the Signal. Anna is however also one of the primary movers and shakers with Dragonwell Publishing, and Lex Talionis is a new SF/mystery release from Dragonwell.

And, now that I’ve read this piece from the book’s main character’s POV, I gotta say, I’m intrigued! It’s official! And thinking I need to read this book just to see her mow down her enemies. Because after all, you don’t get much more basic or elemental a goal than revenge.

Lex Talionis

I would introduce myself, but I don’t know my name.

My life began a couple of weeks ago, when I died in the Emergency Room of the Mathis Clinic on the planet Serron. My doctor, Colin Mayfeld, was about to write his final report when a little humanoid alien broke into the room, sat on my chest and brought me back with one touch.

I don’t remember any of it.

I don’t remember being in an alley near Bradley spaceport, even though that’s where I was found, barely alive but still breathing. An unconscious girl in a bloody spacesuit, with no ID chit.

I don’t remember talking to the alien when it brought me back, but Dr. Mayfeld says I did. The funny thing is, he says I didn’t speak Universal—I spoke Latin. And I asked the alien for help.

I’ll have to take his word for it. About what I said, that is, not about speaking Latin. I know I can speak Latin because I have had the same phrase going round and round in my head since I was able to make a coherent thought.

Lex Talionis. The law of retaliation—of revenge.

That’s the other thing I know.

I want revenge.

Someone killed me. Someone beat me, tortured me, raped me and left me for dead in an alley. Someone is walking around out there thinking I’m gone and never coming back. Some bastard thinks my story is over.

Well, it’s not over.

I’m not an ordinary girl. I’m healing faster than Dr. Mayfeld expected. I’m getting better every day. It’s because I’m an N-gene. I was genetically engineered in vitro to be smarter, stronger, faster. Whoever did this to me might have over-powered me once, but they’re never going to get that chance again.

I’ve given myself a name—Lex. And I have help. The alien that saved me can’t speak, but it’s still with me. I think it knows something. I think it can help me remember.

Dr. Mayfeld is doing what he can too. He has friends who might be able to assist the Troopers as they investigate the attack on me. There are ways to work on getting my memory back. He’s going to do whatever it takes to help. I don’t know why he cares. But he does.

I only care about a few things right now. I care about remembering my past. I care about being fully healed. And I care about finding who did this to me.

Because when I do find them, I’m going to make them wish to all the Gods in all the galaxies that they had killed me right the first time.

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Dragonwell Publishing

Follow the Author On: Official Site | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.