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In which I eat fried dough and talk to men in tweed

Mar 21st, 2013 by

I guess I get more motivated to blog in a country where Facebook is blocked. FB is good for many things, but certainly not for things like blogging, at least not for me. Here’s hoping it’ll get me into a habit of updating this more regularly, now that I have actual readers and stuff.

I’m fortunate to have a guide in Beijing, which means I get to see the less touristy stuff. Esther, a lovely New Yorker who speaks both Mandarin and English, navigated me through the older parts of town yesterday. I got to try some very interesting street food (it seems to be all about the fried dough and stuff dipped in sugar. I have yet to try the red bean drink, but I suspect it’d make me fart like a bear), visit some well-hidden markets (Chinese cheesecake photos from the 60′s!) and find out more about local history. Tagging along with someone who knows the place makes all the difference – there’s so much I’d miss without access to the language.

Wednesday evening I was in an informal conversation (can’t say panel, there was no table and no actual debate) with Slovenian author Andrej Blatnik and Polish author and translator Jacek Dehnel, which was a lot of fun: talking about the art of short stories. Blatnik writes really REALLY short stories, which is fascinating. For his most recent project, his word limit was what would fit on his screen, I think it was 2200 characters or somesuch. Danel (who is also the most stylish guest of the entire festival in tweed, hat and cane) seems to be insanely productive, with novels, short story cycles and translations – will have to check his stuff out.

Looking forward to tomorrow and a talk with Chinese SF author Fei Dao. It’ll be interesting to hear how he navigates the minefield of governmental censorship; as I understand it, fantastic fiction isn’t very popular with the powers that be.

That last part is of course a huge point of interest, and part of why I’m here – to meet people who live under these conditions and find out what it’s like. The art of writing and publishing seems like a very careful dance between what the author needs to say and what the author is allowed to say. Different publishers have different standards; what one publisher will refuse to print, another publisher will happily allow. Things are apparently getting better, according to people I’ve talked to, but it’s a very complicated process. And for me, it’s a much-needed reminder to be grateful I live in a country with free speech.

Posted in English | 10 Comments »

Beijing!

Mar 20th, 2013 by

Hey, I’m in China!

When I woke up it had been snowing during the night. Outside my window, a woman has put a bright orange umbrella down at the foot of a tree and is taking photos of it. My hotel room is a functionalist dream with no visible drawers or cabinets. I spent an hour in the supermarket just looking at things (this is my favourite pastime when in another country: slowly wandering through supermarkets, looking at stuff. My husband thinks I’m crazy. I see it as an anthropological field study).

The Bookworm is an absolutely lovely place: it has that slightly shabby, lived-in and cosy feel that makes you want to stay forever, just sit there and read books. The organizers are just a lovely bunch of people; you can tell this is really a labor of love. Tonight at 8PM I’ll be chatting with two other writers about short stories. Given the atmosphere of the Bookworm, this will be a great couple of days.

Also: dumpling timer starts now.

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Off to see the bookworms

Mar 18th, 2013 by

Right then. I’m off to the Beijing Bookworm Festival in China, so wish me luck.

If you’re actually going to the festival, here’s where I’ll be present. The panels are all at the Bookworm, the morning read at Opposite House.

Wednesday March 20, 20:00 Very short stories with Andrej Blatnik and Jacek Dehnel

Thursday March 21, 08.00 Morning read

Friday, March 22, 18:00 In conversation with Fei Dao on writing fantasy & science fiction

 

 

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A very sad goat and an honorable mention

Mar 6th, 2013 by

My story “I Have Placed My Sickness Upon You” is now available at Strange Horizons, both in text form and as a podcast. Major props to Strange Horizons for offering a reading of the story right away; it’s great to be able to ping friends and fans who for various reasons can’t read it. However there are complaints from readers that the story made them very sad.

I’m sorry about the goat, people.

I’m also very happy be on the honor list for the Tiptree Award! This year’s winners were two monumentally great books by Caitlín Kiernan and Kiini Ibura Salaam, and the honor list is populated by some very impressive names and stories. I’m truly honored to be in such company. The Tiptree Award is one of the most important ones out there, and getting a mention here means a lot.

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Excerpt: Skipper, tourists, jellyfish

Mar 4th, 2013 by

There be new stories coming up in Strange Horizons (March), Tor.com (April), Lightspeed and Shadows and Tall Trees (both a little later). Until then, here’s an excerpt from a current project, for your delight and titillation.

“Observe,” says Skipper and points at a spot in the wall that seems to glow with its own light. “Do you know what this is? Anyone?”

None of the tourists speak. Skipper scratches at the ice with his finger. It’s surprisingly porous: before long, his nail has punctured the surface and whatever it is that makes the glow pours into his hand. It looks vaguely like a cross between a jellyfish and a starfish, its greenish luminescence faintly lighting Skipper’s face from below.

”Those jellyfish I showed you from the boat, right,” and he makes a stabbing motion with his other hand, like with his boathook, ”this is another part of its life cycle. They attach themselves at the bottom of the icebergs, see, and kind of seep up through the ice. If I hadn’t taken this little thing out, she’d have made it all the way up to the top. It’d have taken her, oh … a year or so.”

Ninni thinks of a year, two years, pushing herself up through solid ice, and has to remind herself to breathe.

”And then?” someone says, a little man with the most expensive ski suit of them all.

”And then she’s gourmet food for the seagulls.”

”That’s it?” Ninni says. ”There must be some point to it.”

”Of course,” Skipper replies. ”She lays eggs in there, and then the seagull shits out new little jellyfish babies into the ocean.”

 

 

 

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Författarsamtal på Skånskan den 7/3

Feb 26th, 2013 by

Den som är i Malmö i början av mars kan se mig och Nene Ormes gagga om andra världar tillsammans med Gunilla Wedding från Skånska dagbladets kulturredaktion. Anmälan görs i förväg (men det kostar ingenting) här.

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An award! A list! A LARP!

Feb 7th, 2013 by

The events of the past week can only be described thus: the universe is a large, enthusiastic Afghan dog, and it’s licking me in the face – actually kind of slobbering all over it.

Earlier in the week, I found out I was on the Locus 2012 recommended reading list along with a number of distinguished authors – 2012 was a great year for books and stories, and I’m very happy to be counted among them.

As if that wasn’t enough, I’ve won the Crawford Award which is “designated for an exceptionally promising writer whose first fantasy book was published the preceding year.” The shortlist for the award is nothing short of fabulous: Rachel Hartman for her novel Seraphina (which I grabbed at World Fantasy and absolutely loved), Saladin Ahmed for Throne of the Crescent Moon, Roz Kaveney forRituals and Kiini Ibura Salaam for Ancient, Ancient. It’s an honor to be in that kind of company.

So, how to celebrate? With editing of course.

And by joining the writing crew on The Monitor Celestra, a Battlestar Galactica LARP that will be nothing short of amazing. 360 degrees of immersion, gritty realism, amazing dramaturgy, all brought to you on an actual battleship. It’s great to return to writing characters for a while, something I used to specialize in. For those not familiar with Nordic LARP, we’re talking about hyper-immersive, realistic and full-contact play focused entirely on storytelling. More about the style can be found here.

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Pavlov’s writer

Jan 9th, 2013 by

Like a Pavlovian dog (without the drooling), I condition myself into various states for various pieces of fiction. Usually, one or two albums playing over and over again while working on a story. The programming for the upcoming stories in 2013 went something like this -

“Sing” – Tor.com sometime during the first half of 2013
This Mortal Coil: Filigree and Shadow and Blood

“A Fine Show on the Abyssal Plain” – Lightspeed Magazine, first half of 2013
Björk: Homogenic and the Carnivale soundtrack by Jeff Beal

“I Have Placed My Sickness Upon You” – Strange Horizons, March 2013
I wrote this one more than a year ago, so honestly can’t remember. A year ago it would have been a lot of Florence & the Machine, Rachid Taha or Kate Bush. I binged on Kate Bush until I couldn’t stand her voice anymore.

“Culte des Goules” – The Starry Wisdom Library, second half of 2013
Jarboe: Sacrificial Cake and Anna von Hausswolff’s Ceremony

Of course I ruin these albums for myself for a while afterward. Collateral damage. Right now, I’m working on a longer project that requires Fever Ray.

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Old year, new year

Jan 2nd, 2013 by

2012 was a splendid year. Maybe more so than I’d expected, to put it mildly.

Best of all, I got married to the fantastic guy who’s shared my life for seven years. That, of course, tops everything. That’s all the personal detail I’m going to go into, so on to the writerly stuff.

The first half of the year was all about finishing and editing Amatka and Jagannath. Two scripts at the same time was hard work – I even ended up giving myself inflamed finger joints – but worth it. The second half, they both took off, especially the collection. Both have received so much acclaim it’s ridiculous. I hoped for nice reviews, but this is beyond anything I’d imagined. Still digesting that part. So, good year. Hectic, but good.

So what about 2013? On the English side, I have some new stories coming up in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed Magazine and the anthology The Starry Wisdom Library, plus another couple of sales I’ll be able to brag about shortly. My story “Reindeer Mountain” from Jagannath is included in Jonathan Strahan’s The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, which is out in March.

Some convention appearances lined up: In late March I’ll be a guest at The Bookworm Literary Festival in Beijing, China, which I’m very excited about. I’m also the Swedish author guest of honor at the next Swecon, Fantastika 2013.

Lastly, the Polish absurdist noir film Kim jest Arvid Pekon?, based on my short story “Who is Arvid Pekon?” will premiere at the Gothenburg Film Festival this month. It’ll be screened at film festivals around the world this year, so keep an eye out.

As for new projects, I’m working on an English translation of Amatka. Time will tell if I’ll end up translating all of it or if another translator will take over, which would save me a lot of time. Some new short stories are also in the works. I also have a couple of new Swedish projects not ready to be revealed just yet, but suffice to say I’ll be exploring a new format, and it’ll be awesome.

Posted in English, Writing | 6 Comments »

En kopp slätvispad torsk

Dec 27th, 2012 by

“Det är som med livet. Man sitter där med ett par orangutangtrosor fast man egentligen ville ha en kopp slätvispad torsk.” – Sofia Nordin

Jag har inte bloggat på ett tag, så jag inleder med en rekapitulation av en diskussion om det viktigaste här i livet. Det handlar naturligtvis om kalsonger och besvikelse. Låt mig förklara:

Jag fikade lite med Janetta och Sofia. Vi kom in på att diskutera detta med lajvkläder, via “hur kallt är det att lajva på ett slagskepp?”. Jag skröt om min kaftan i jakull (i alla fall hade Sy-Åke i Sundbyberg försäkrat att det var jakull när jag köpte tyget, och Åke litar man ju på). Sofia eller Janetta (minns inte vem) kontrade med att ull från orangutang egentligen måste vara det absolut bästa och varmaste. Men man kan ju knappast raka en orangutang, sade jag, de kan ju slita huvudet av en utan någon större ansträngning. Janetta menade att det inte är fråga om att raka, men att försiktigt kamma loss under-ullen. Orangutangen måste naturligtvis distraheras under tiden, med kasperteater el.dyl. (“Orangutanger har nära till sina känslor, så inget som gör dem för uppspelta eller arga. Då blir det jobbigt för kammaren. Om luggning uppstår vid kamningen.”) Orangutangen tittar på teater, ens kompanjon kammar orangutangen. Så får man ull, och kan spinna till orangutangkalsonger.

Sedan kom det upp att SF-bokhandeln har kaffeburkar med Mårran-motiv. De finns där, men under disk. Man måste fråga efter dem på rätt sätt (det involverade, vad jag kunde förstå på de andra, knackande i disken och kodfraser). Frågar man efter dem på fel sätt langar expediten fram fel grej … till exempel ett par orangutangkalsonger. Eller en fuktig torsk, sade någon. Men det är väl bättre än en torr torsk? Tanken på en kopp slätvispad torsk uppstod. En kopp helt full med alldeles slät torsk, ända upp till kanten.

Hur som helst. Enligt detta system på SF-bokhandeln är det inte säkert att man får det man själv är ute efter, om man beställer fel. Det kan bli så att kunden till höger eller vänster om en får saken istället, och om de inte vill byta med en … då är det ju kört. Slutsats: den som frågar efter Mårran-kaffeburken på fel sätt när de går till SF-bokhandeln, riskerar att få ett par orangutangkalsonger medan kunden bredvid får burken istället, eller kanske koppen med slätvispad torsk. Och så blir ingen nöjd. Än värre är det ju när man egentligen har bett om torsken men får kalsongerna istället. Och så är det ibland med livet.

Sofias efterhandsinstick om saken på Facebook:

Ibland? Det är ju livets själva essens, liksom. Man ba’: Ursäkta kan jag få en kopp te? Och så får man Yellow label. Eller så ber man om att bli miljonär och det slutar ändå med att man går runt där i sina fultrosor från 1988 för de är ju faktiskt inte helt trasiga ännu. Men man kan ju alltid gömma Yellow label-påsarna i Mårranburken och skriva FIN-TE utanpå, och säga till folk att man minsann har kallisånger av finaste orangutangull, för det är ju ändå ingen som vill titta efter. (Det är det här vi ar Facebook till. Det är vår Mårranburk. Och forumet för att ropa om orangutangtrosor.)

Alltså, ja. Det finns inget mer att tillägga. Så är det. Gott nytt år.

(Not: kaftanen finns kvar någonstans. Slagskeppet är förstås inget slagskepp, det är vårt civilnamn på det skepp i Göteborg där Battlestar Galactica-lajvet Celestra kommer att sättas upp. Personalen på SF-bokhandeln kan förväntas dementera det jag sagt ovan.)

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