Eugene Fischer

Reading 2016: April

OnlyOnes

April was an overwhelmingly busy month, and I only finished one book. But what a book it was.

  1. The Only Ones by Carola Dibbell – I had been recommended this book by enough people I trust that I already owned a copy when the Tiptree Honor list came out, with Dibbell’s novel featured. That was enough to bump it up to the top of the stack. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in years, tackling favorite themes like the compromises of parenthood, or the intersection of biology and identity, with such an assured voice and a slow-burn thoroughness that I was left in awe. My envy that someone else wrote this book instead of me is surpassed only by my gratitude that it exists at all. This is Dibbell’s debut novel, and it’s perfect. I feel honored to share an award list with her. I’m on to my next book now, but I keep being tempted to put it down and read The Only Ones again from the beginning. It’s that good.

Reading 2016: March

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The start of April was so busy, I forgot to ever post this.

  1. Hawkeye vol. 2 by Matt Fraction and David Aja – The conclusion to their run on the title. The deaf issue was really amazing, but it had been too long since I’d read the previous volume to remember some of the identities in Kate’s branch of the story, and I just muddled forward rather than going back to review. Not having ever been a Marvel reader or knowing there was precedent, I was legit surprised when Clint Barton was deafened.
  2. Miracleman: The Golden Age by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham – My first time reading Gaiman’s contribution to the title. He followed up the mythic grandeur of Moore’s conclusion in probably the only way that would work: by telling a series of small, human stories in a still-fresh utopia. It lets the story take a breath, builds room for new kinds of narrative consequence to form, which we perhaps see only the very beginning of in this volume. I look forward to seeing the arc completed.
  3. The Anatomy of Melancholy by Joey Comeau and Emily Horne – The Kickstarted best-of book for A Softer World, which I will miss. Every page made me want to claim the words as my own and pretend to be cleverer than I really am.
  4. Hugo and Nebula Award Winners from Asimov’s Science Fiction edited by Sheila Williams – I picked this out of my parents’ library to read after “The New Mother” was nominated for a Nebula. It has a lot of old favorites, like “Speech Sounds” by Octavia Butler, “Bears Discover Fire” by Terry Bisson, and “Beggars in Spain” by Nancy Kress. I think my favorite story here that I hadn’t read before was “Barnacle Bill the Spacer” by Lucious Shepard.
  5. The New and Improved Romie Futch by Julia Elliott – I’d been looking forward to Elliott’s debut novel ever since I read her debut collection The Wilds last year, and it did not disappoint. It’s a story of artificial intelligence enhancement, in conversation with Flowers for Algernon and Camp Concentration, but with a southern gothic humor and occasional satirical edge that I found delightful. I nominated it for a Hugo award which it will certainly not win because it isn’t well-known enough within the genre. But on merits it deserves that kind of attention.

My WisCon 40 Schedule

The Conquest of the Moon: a story of the Bayouda

For the very first time in years of WisCon attendance, this year I’m a scheduled program participant. All of my previous stints at the front of a WisCon room have been cases of standing in for missing folks. Here’s my schedule.

No One May Ever Have The Same Knowledge Again – Friday, 4:00-5:15, Conference 2. “Works of fiction rigorously documented by Meghan McCarron, Jen Volant, and Eugene Fischer (current Tiptree Award co-winner)”

Exposition in SF/F – Sunday, 2:30-3:45, Conference 5. “From ‘infodump’ to ‘the edges of ideas,’ readers and writers of science fiction and fantasy have a number of ways to describe exposition. But how do we actually *write* it? What’s the difference between an ‘infodump’ and a well-written description? What does ‘show, don’t tell’ actually mean? What are the specific exposition challenges that we face as writers of speculative fiction–and how do we solve them?”

How Does One Write Near Future SF? – Sunday, 4:00-5:15, University C. “We are looking at global warming, resource wars, the migration of large numbers of people, a fragile world economic system and a world political system that seems unable to deal seriously with real problems. How does a writer extrapolate from this mess into the future?”

I will also be at The Floomp on Saturday night, and the dessert salon and GOH speeches Sunday evening. Plus all the usual aimless floating around. Look forward to seeing everyone.

“The New Mother” is a Finalist for the Sturgeon Award

Sturgeon-trophy-sThe Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction seems to have sent out a press release today, because various editors began congratulating their authors, so I think it’s safe for me to announce that “The New Mother” is a finalist the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. SFSignal has a list of all the finalists. I found out I was a finalist on the same day I found out I had won the Tiptree Award, a surreal 24 hours in which I got a wave of wonderful news that I was unable to talk about publicly. I told my parents though, and they were perhaps even more excited that I’m a finalist for the Sturgeon Award than they were that I won the Tiptree. As I’ve mentioned before, they spent some time with Sturgeon when they were both in Lawrence, Kansas, and credit him with strengthening their then-nascent relationship. So it’s arguable that I owe Ted Sturgeon some credit for my existence, and it’s certain that I grew up reading him, often from copies of books signed with his “ask the next question” symbol memorialized on the Sturgeon Award permanent trophy. So this particular award has tremendous personal significance.

Further Thoughts on the Occasion of Winning the Tiptree Award

It’s been a few days, I’ve celebrated with my family, and my email is starting to seem like a vaguely manageable part of life again, so it’s time to get a few of my thoughts down in writing.

  • The news was a total shock. It’s not that I hadn’t considered the award; I thought, given the content, “The New Mother” had a reasonable shot at being on the long list, and if I was really lucky might even make the honor list. But a win seemed vanishingly unlikely. The Tiptree almost always goes to novels or short story collections, and the last time an individual work of short fiction won was 13 years ago. So when Tiptree Award jury chair Heather Whipple called me, important parts of my brain overloaded and I rambled disbelief into the phone for several minutes before remembering I was taking up the time of a stranger with a life of her own, and I should maybe let her get back to it someday. She was very gracious about my award-induced inability to function.
  • The last novella to win was John Kessel’s “Stories for Men” in 2002 (coincidentally, another cover story of an Asimov’s double issue). I love “Stories for Men,” and used to teach it in my science fiction writing courses at the University of Iowa. I told John as much in 2013, chatting in the SFWA suite at LoneStarCon 3. He told me that he was working on a sequel novel (which I’m still very much looking forward to), and asked me what I was working on. I described “The New Mother” as it then existed, and he said, “Sounds to me like you’re writing a Tiptree winner.” I took that as a generous and encouraging compliment, but never suspected it would reveal itself in time as a prophetic vision. The next time I run into John Kessel at a WorldCon, I’m going to ask him about lottery numbers.
  • I bought a new suit to wear to the ceremony, and, while I’m not sure what it will entail yet, I think I’m going to have to Floomp big this year.

“The New Mother” Won the Tiptree Award

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I’m overwhelmed to announce that “The New Mother” has won the 2015 James Tiptree, Jr. Literary Award, alongside the novel Lizard Radio by Pat Schmatz. In addition, I’m sharing an honor list and long list with so many writers and artists and critics I admire that I don’t even know where to start. Just click through the link, and look at all the wonderful work that the Tiptree jury have highlighted this year. I’m sure I’ll have more to say soon, but for now I’m just gobsmacked and grateful.

I peeled down her acid-washed jeans and unbuckled mine and we coupled on the floor in a narcissistic teenage frenzy, surrounded by images that not only immortalized her at the height of her nubile beauty but also attested to my own manly artistic genius, something that, if I played my cards right, would land me a future. I concentrated on the future, a red, fleshy blob pupating in the dark fluid like something in a mad scientist's incubator. I saw strange organs throbbing beneath its translucent shell. Saw the future bust from its chrysalis in scattering blazes of diamond light, winged and glistening, already flitting out the window, darting off toward the horizon before I could get a good look at it. –from The New and Improved Romie Futch by Julia Elliott

Reading 2016: February

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  1. This Census-Taker by China Miéville – The first of his books that I’ve read since Embassytown, this short novel is a bit of a departure. It’s a study in voice and character that resists plot resolution in favor of mounting tonal stresses. Somewhat similar to Jeff VanderMeer’s Adaptation in that regard. And like that book, one I found pleasant enough while reading, but didn’t overly impress. I liked seeing a stylistic departure, though, even if it wasn’t my favorite thing of his I’ve read.
  2. Beasts & Children by Amy Parker – Amy is a friend from grad school, and her debut is a collection of linked short stories that look at caretaking as understood by children from their parents, parents toward their children, and humans toward animals. Each of these stories is strong on it’s own, but there’s a delightful momentum as you watch the main characters grow into adults, meet each other, face old problems from new angles with the weight of personal history behind them. The book gets better and better as it goes along.
  3. Private Citizens by Tony Tulathimutte – Another debut from a grad school friend. Tony’s novel has been getting deservedly glowing reviews all over the place, for its hyperliterate prose, its blistering satirical edge, and its photorealistic capturing of a familiar millennial mood. I read this straight through in less than a day, and then went back and re-read chapters that had lodged especially deeply.
  4. Sandman: Overture by Neil Gaiman, J. H. Williams III, Dave Stewart – Probably my favorite thing I’ve read by Neil Gaiman since The Graveyard Book, with typically astonishing art from J. H. Williams III. Made me want to go back and reread all of Sandman.
  5. Odd John by Olaf Stapeldon – I’m continually impressed with the breadth of Stapledon’s imagination, and how many of his ideas have since been reinvented and made cliche in ways he could never have anticipated. Odd John is the story of the birth, rearing, and death of a superhuman, perhaps an early member of one of the species of humanity described in Last and First Men. I found this book completely enjoyable right up until chapter 16, where there’s a huge knot of anthropological racism: a superhuman from Africa is characterized in ways that read to the modern eye as buffoonish stereotypes. The volume on such caricatures is turned down thereafter, but never quite goes to zero. It’s a shame, because the book is otherwise wonderful.

“The New Mother” nominated for a Nebula Award

I got the call a few days ago (they give you a call first in case you want to decline the nomination), but now it’s public knowledge: “The New Mother” has been nominated for best novella, on a list with some of the best fiction I read in the last year, and much more that I’m excited to discover. I’m profoundly grateful to all who nominated me, and to Sheila Williams, who believed in me enough to give me a twenty thousand word chunk of Asimov’s. That’s twenty thousand words of ink and paper, twenty thousand words she therefore didn’t give to someone else with fans and a reputation. It’s still hard to believe my imaginary people merited that. But I found out I was a finalist while I was finishing up a treatment for a television series based on the story, so you may yet get to see more of Tess and Judy.

I’m typing this from my parents’ house in San Antonio, where we’ll soon all go out for a celebratory meal. But this afternoon I’m sitting with a book from their library, one that came out when I was twelve. Two decades ago science fiction seemed a naturally occurring phenomenon, something to be admired from afar like a rainbow or mountain range. Now it’s a close, living thing, full of friends and colleagues. I’ve many goals yet unmet, but today it feels nice to turn around and look back at the path trailing into my childhood, appreciate how far I’ve come.

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Even More Kind Words About “The New Mother”

The nomination period for the Nebula awards closed a couple of days ago, and in the lead-up to that deadline many people said awfully nice things about my story.

  • Morgan Dhu reviewed it at length on her book blog, concluding that it’s, “A profoundly thoughtful, elegantly written work.”
  • John Chu included it in his “Stuff I want people to read” blog post.
  • Rachel Swirsky recommended it for Nebula consideration, saying it’s, “the best riff on ‘disappearing male’ stories I’ve ever seen, a smart story that accomplishes both literary and speculative goals in a sharp, well-characterized, traditionally ‘what if?’ SF way.”
  • Joseph Tomaras put it at the top of his list of tentative Nebula nominations.
  • Carmen Machado tweeted that it deserved a place on the ballot.
  • Aliette de Bodard helped spread the word on Twitter also.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to read “The New Mother,” and for sharing your appreciation. I’m really touched to see that it’s connecting with so many people.

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