under the covers

ArmadilloCon is just like any other literary convention: It just happens to be about science fiction, fantasy and interstitial literature. The three-day convention (see our advance coverage here) wrapped up Sunday, and the emphasis was often on the practical side of writing and getting published. It's events like this that firmly debunk the trite and tedious stereotype that science-fiction enthusiasts are a virginal male hive-mind entity that has never done anything outside of their parents' cellar. Take the all-female fantasy-romance panel or the fact that over half the writers on the Forever Wars panel about military science fiction were actually former service personel (including Dave Duggins, guest of honor Joe Haldeman and local author Elizabeth Moon) as proof of that. The H.P. Lovecraft discussion on Saturday night kind of degenerated into a moderator's worst nightmare, where the audience knew more than the panelees (although, to be fair, there were several published Lovecraft essayists in the crowd.) But a recurrent theme was the interplay between genre literature and other media, most especially film. The quick synopsis? Big money, big money, no whammy. Read More | Comment »

With Austin's homegrown science fiction literature gathering ArmadilloCon hitting the big 30 this weekend (read our coverage here), it's going to be a time for swapping stories. Co-Chair Kirk Baty had one to share about one of the con's more famous alumni. "I was flying in from New England," said Baty, "And I hadn't seen (panelist) John Quarterman in while, and we met on the Friday evening." Baty being a computer chip designer and Quarterman being the founder of the Texas ISP Association, they got to talking tech shop. After a while, they noticed they had been joined by a silent acquaintance. "William Gibson is standing right there next to the two of us. We figured he'd interrupt if he wanted anything." Read More | Comment »

If you're a teen girl, or you used to be a teen girl, or maybe once upon a time you dated a teen girl, or mothered one, then you know it can be a terrifying, isolating experience, full of mixed messages and fumbling boys undone by a bra snap. Sometimes you just want to feel like you're not alone, and that's where PaperDolls Magazine comes in.

With an admirable mission statement that pledges to not use girls "to sell products," the ad-free online magazine aims to cover "everything from health and sex, to media and art, to fashion and DIY projects." It was started by locals Jordi Finlay, Erin Gentry, and former Austinite (and much-missed Chronicle proofreader) Sofia Resnick.

Two-thirds of that equation will be at the PaperDolls launch party on July 26 at Ruta Maya from 6-9pm. They're advertising bands, a craft table, and free haircuts (really? 'cause that's kind of awesome). Event info can be found here, and you can check out the first issue of PaperDolls here when it goes live in August. Read More | Comment »

Austin lost a native daughter and rising star last week when Shannon Leigh Lewis, age 20, died from injuries sustained during a cave diving accident in Florida. As a talented teenaged writer, Shannon Leigh turned performer when she and her mother, music professor Sheila Siobhan, began making the Austin poetry slam rounds. The two met slam master Ron Horne and the Texas Youth Word Collective was born. Shannon dazzled audiences at the Brave New Voices youth poetry slam festival, and snippets of her performances can be seen in Carl Brown’s moving documentary, 2nd Verse. She appeared in the sixth season of Russell Simmons' HBO series Def Poetry Jam, and last year came in third among individuals at the National Poetry Slam. (Shannon was profiled here in the Chronicle prior to the 2007 Nationals held in Austin.) Shannon had been a college student in Atlanta at the time of her accident on June 14. During her dive at Ginnie Springs in Florida, something went horribly wrong. She indicated to her partners that she was experiencing some discomfort and would return to the surface to investigate. What happened after that is a mystery, as she was discovered unconscious by a diving instructor, Mike Woods, while he and his wife were preparing to float down the Sante Fe River. Woods signaled to another diver, Steven Howe, and along with a doctor who’d been staying in the area, the group was able to bring Shannon to the surface, clear her lungs of water and bring back her pulse. She had been in critical condition at Shands HealthCare, University of Florida in Gainesville until she passed away in her sleep on June 30. Read More | Comment »

Since those halcyon days of deep-pocketed patrons are long gone, struggling writers typically have to make do with the occasional grant or free lit mag subscriptions. But for the lucky few – three so far – there's the pinch-me-I'm-dreaming Keene Prize for Literature, a not-uncontroversial $50,000 jackpot delivered annually to one University of Texas student or recent graduate. (In its two previous years of existence, the award amounted to $90,000, the world's largest student prize; this year, the top dog gets $50,000, while another $50,000 is divided between three finalists.) The 2008 Keene Prize for Literature goes to playwright George Brant, who was previously a finalist in 2006 and is a recent graduate of UT's Michener Center for Writers. In fact, all of this year's finalists are either current Michener students or recent grads, and all the Keene Prize winners since its inception in 2006 have been culled from the Michener Center ranks. I got nothing but love for the Michener Center (MCW '06, holla), but I do understand others' frustration at the mighty Michener's absolute dominance – one expressed by Seth Harp, a former economics major and the lone undergraduate finalist in 2006, in an impassioned 2007 Op-Ed in The Daily Texan titled "Give non-Michener writers a chance": "If an undergraduate ever wins, I vow to read James A. Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" aloud, in its entirety, from the top of the Tower, clad only in this editorial." See ya next year, maybe? Full press release after the break: Read More | Comment »

The Austin Public Library Foundation is a nonprofit that raises private funds to "help support and strengthen Austin's public libraries" – with priority number one being the proposed breaking-ground of a new Downtown library by winter 2011, with an eye toward opening in spring/summer of 2014. But multi-million dollar Central libraries that overlook Lady Bird Lake don't just build themselves, and that's where you come in. This weekend, APFL and new executive director Tim Staley host the annual fundraiser Texas Tales, and they've got a lovely-sounding evening at the Mexican American Cultural Center planned. Supper, sweets, and "Texas-inspired libations" (which we assume does not a six-pack of Lone Star per paying customer?) will accompany an evening of music by Jon Dee Graham, with an appearance by author Joe Nick Patoski and the emcee stylings of KVUE anchor Olga Campos. Tickets to the Saturday night event run $125; that includes a signed copy of Patoski's new book Willie Nelson: An Epic Life. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit the APFL's site here. Read More | Comment »

Austin author, Pulitzer Prize-winner, and terrorism expert Lawrence Wright (The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11) was interviewed in this past weekend's This American Life episode for a piece called "The Spy Who Bugged Me," in which Wright details, quite chillingly, how he discovered that his phone had been tapped under the Terrorist Surveillance Act. Information on how to sign up for the free podcast can be found here. Read More | Comment »

We haven't had a chance yet to look at local author Paul JJ Payack's A Million Words and Counting: How Global English Is Rewriting the World (published May 1 by Citadel), but we did spend some time bumming around his popular website LanguageMonitor.com. The site tracks buzzwords from realms political, pop cultural, and tech, as well as announces any new additions to the lexicon. According to the countdown clock, we're only 4,156 words away from hitting the million-word mark in the English language. The latest to be codified? Read More | Comment »

Shopping a book? Thinking about shopping a book? Thinking about someday writing a book that maybe eventually you might want to shop? Then you might want to take advantage of the 2008 Writers' League of Texas Agents & Editors Conference. It's the largest publishing conference in Texas (now in its 15th year of operation), with more than 400 authors, agents, and editors in attendance – including 23 different literary agencies and a whole host of media contacts, too – all eager to drop some knowledge on you about how to get your book out of the desk drawer and into the world at large. Preregistration is required to attend the conference, which runs June 20-22 at the Sheraton Austin Hotel (701 E. 11th St.). Registration's a bit pricey – $354 – but Writers' League members get a break at $309 (further incentive to join organization). Wanna know more? Check out writersleague.org. The conference schedule's already up online – panel topics include book promotion, buzz-building, revisions, and industry trends; other highlights include pitching sessions and a keynote address by Publishers Weekly Editor in Chief Sara Nelson. Read More | Comment »

For its inaugural Downtown Book Club at the Faulk Central Library, the Austin Public Library is one-upping your garden-variety book club by inviting the actual author to attend and engage in the conversation. With a lesser book, one might worry about the mix (awkward much?), but the book – The Flowers – is highly acclaimed – and the author – Dagoberto Gilb – is already an Austin institution. Here's some of what the Chron's Belinda Acosta had to say when The Flowers came out in February: "From the first measured words of Dagoberto Gilb's new novel to its final, heart-wrenching exclamation, Gilb takes readers through a journey that is both startling and inevitable... [Gilb] writes with enormous acuity, heart, and, most importantly, a deep respect for even the most unsavory of his characters and their deeds." The Downtown Book Club convenes Monday, June 2, at 7pm at the Faulk Central Library (800 Guadalupe St.). More info can be had by going here or by calling 512-974-7400. Read More | Comment »

When Austin-based author Stephanie Klein (Straight Up and Dirty) set out to memorialize her years at "fat camp" – first as a camper, later as a counselor – she had plenty of material to work with: namely, her childhood diaries, from which she quotes at length. Weight-obsessed and frequently wincing, Klein's diaries will touch a nerve with any woman who hasn't completely blocked out being a girl. Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp (out today) isn't a rah-rah kind of a book; while Klein comfortably skips between chatty and bracing (and sometimes exasperating), she's always brutally honest about her lifelong battle with her weight. Klein kicks off her book tour tonight at 7pm at BookPeople (603 N. Lamar) with a camp food buffet of hot dogs and s'mores. (Is this some skinny somebody's idea of a joke? Because it's sooooo not in the spirit of the book, unless BookPeople wants you to follow up the party with a weeklong bender of self-loathing and cabbage juice, or some other "miracle" diet directive.) She'll also appear at Barnes & Noble (1000 Research Blvd.) on June 29 from 3-4pm. Fun fact: The UK's Observer recently ranked her confessional blog, Greek Tragedy, as the 26th most powerful in the world. Read More | Comment »

Remember when we told you last week about Austin Public Library's awesome and awesomely award-winning book cart drill team, the Bibliofiles? And remember how you felt when you watched the video and thought, "Well, this looks alright for grainy, faraway footage, but what I really want is to see that action live and in living color"? omigod it's your lucky day. Okay, actually Saturday is your lucky day. That's when the Bibliofiles do their book cart dance at the Monster Book Sale in the North Star Home Center (2209 West Anderson Lane). Added bonus – there's a monster book sale... videos, CDs, DVDs, too. All proceeds benefit APL. For more info, go here. UPDATE: We hear the Bibliofiles are set to perform at 2pm. Read More | Comment »

It's the stuff deprived-of-light writers dream of – getting away from the big city, nestling into a wooded enclave, and doing nothing but wordsmithing ... and maybe a little yard work. Welcome to the Dobie Paisano Fellowship. Well, not welcome to you, exactly, but certainly to the two latest fellowship winners, just announced today. The Ralph A. Johnston Fellowship goes to former Austinite Michael Erard, who held a crowd rapt at last year's Texas Book Festival, where he was promoting his first book, Um...: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean. The Jesse Jones Fellowship was awarded to Vanessa Ramos, a native El Pasoan who traffics in poetry, playwrighting, and creative nonfiction. Each writer will enjoy a monthslong stay at J. Frank Dobie's historic, 254-acre ranch, located to the west of Austin. If that sounds good to you – and, really, how could it not? – you can apply for the 2009-2010 fellowships come fall. Information and applications will be available on the web in October. Read More | Comment »

Looking for a short fiction fix? Look no further than the aptly titled American Short Fiction , with a fresh issue on stands now. The locally produced, nationally recognized magazine, which was founded in 1991 by current O'Henry Prize editor Laura Furman, went dormant in 1998, but it was revived in 2006 by local nonprofit Badgerdog Literary Publishing. Back with a bullet: The new issue, with a gorgeous Don Quixote cover, includes five new pieces, including an excerpt from UT prof Scott Blackwood's forthcoming novel We Agreed to Meet Just Here, which won the 2007 Associated Writing Programs Prize for Novel. (Call it his Austin swan song: After 23 years here, Scott leaves us this fall to be the Director of the MFA Creative Writing Program at Chicago's Roosevelt University.) We haven't had a chance to do much more than the thumb through the covers, but ASF Managing Editor Jill Meyers is especially keen on Ethan Rutherford's "The Peripatetic Coffin"; she calls it "a darkly funny piece about a young man who, after learning his girlfriend is likely headed to prison, finds consolation in charm school." Did we mention it's set on a Civil War-era submarine? The Spring/Summer issue of American Short Fiction is available now at BookPeople and other fine book-type establishments. Read More | Comment »

We recently ran a book review of political blogger and Austinite Amanda Marcotte's new book, It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments, but what we neglected to do was mention that you have two opportunities next week to meet the woman behind the blog. Marcotte will be at BookWoman (5501 N. Lamar Blvd. #A-105) on Wednesday, May 14, at 7pm for a reading and booksigning. The next day, she'll turn around and do it all over again, appearing at MonkeyWrench Books (110 E. North Loop) at 7pm. (And by the way, a happy belated birthday to Austin's favorite anarchist bookstore, which celebrated its sixth anniversary on April 27.) Here's some of what the Chron's Wells Dunbar had to say about Marcotte's book: "Ribald, bullshit-free, and empowering, it's perfect for feminists in training – and a great example of transitioning a blog's discrete observations, irritants, and outbursts into a satisfying whole." Read the whole review here. Read More | Comment »

So, as it turns out, our own Austin Public Library not only has a book cart drill team, but it officially has the “best book cart drill team in the state of Texas.” And what the hell is a book cart drill team, you ask? Well, it’s only the best vehicle discovered so far for dancing in formation with book carts, those rolling bookshelves you always see sitting around at the library. APL’s team, the Bibliofiles – made up of a handful of ladies with an apparent affinity for neon ties and hats shaped like books – won first place last month at the state championship book cart drill team competition, and they’ll now go on to represent Texas in the third annual Library Book Cart Drill Team World Championship. It bears repeating: world championship! But never mind all that. The point here is that video exists of the four minutes of glory that sent the Bibliofiles to the heights of book cart drill team achievement. I can’t decide what I admire more – that they thought to devise their hats-shaped-like-books so that they additionally have the capability to spin around, or that they so brazenly risk life and limb to dance on mobile carts in the name of literacy. Read More | Comment »