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Tweeting Goblin and Other Stuff
1. Jig now has his own Twitter account at @JigDragonslayer. I don’t know how often I’ll be updating, but I figure it should be fun.
2. Borders has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Scalzi writes about it here. Scrivener’s Error (publishing lawyer) gives his take here. My agent, who has been following the Borders situation quite closely, weighs in here.
3. I appear to have reached an agreement with an artist for the cover of Goblin Tales. At this point, barring any random crises, I’m hopeful that the e-book will be finalized and on sale within the next few weeks.
4. Abandoned Victorian house, with tree, in LEGO. Mike Doyle spent 450 hours putting this together. Click the pic for photos, or check out Mike’s blog for more on the building of this model.
Rape in the Media
I’m talking about sexual assault and the coverage of rape in the media. Both the description of rape and the victim-blaming in the reporting are likely to be anger-inducing and/or triggering for some readers.
Shadesong pointed out two very different news stories about CBS reporter Lara Logan, who was separated from her crew and repeatedly raped during the protests in Egypt. The difference between the CBS News report and the LA Weekly report is obvious from the images chosen for each story.
For CBS, Logan was one of their own. Not a sexual object but a human being, a colleague. They present the facts in a concise article. Logan was reporting on the celebration in Tahrir Square. She was separated from her crew. She was raped and beaten before being rescued by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. The story concludes with, “There will be no further comment from CBS News and correspondent Logan and her family respectfully request privacy at this time.”
Contrast this with Simone Wilson’s “report” in LA Weekly. “South African TV journalist Lara Logan, known for her shocking good looks and ballsy knack for pushing her way to the heart of the action, was brutally and repeatedly raped…”
Wilson emphasises Logan’s appearance, calling her “the gutsy stunner” or referring to “her Hollywood good looks,” while at the same time sensationalizing/sexualizing the rape with phrasing like, “…Egyptian protesters apparently consummated their newfound independence by sexually assaulting the blonde reporter.” (Emphasis added.)
Of course, it was really Logan’s fault, because she should have known better, right? Wilson brings up an Esquire interview in which Logan was called “insane” for wanting to return to Egypt. (Um … she’s a reporter. This is her job. Would a male reporter be similarly criticized for choosing to report in Egypt?)
No report of rape would be complete without an attack on the victim’s sex life. The longest quote in Wilson’s article is reserved, not for anything to do with rape, but for an excerpt from a New York Post article from 2008 about Logan’s sexual history in which she’s called a “sultry” “home-wrecker,” a lurid piece which sounds more like the setup for an erotic romance than actual reporting.
The pathetic thing is how normal this is. This is how rapes are reported in this country. Sensationalized and sexualized, deliberately playing into readers’ rape fantasies. (Why else would Wilson include the following quote from Mofo Politics: “OMG if I were her captors and there were no sanctions for doing so? I would totally rape her.”)
This is the story we tell, again and again — that rape is about sexually attractive women getting what they deserve, for being sluts or for being unavailable or for just being where women don’t belong. This is how we treat survivors of rape, blaming them and sexualizing/fetishizing what they’ve been through. This is how we encourage rapists, fantasizing and justifying the act of rape.
The next time someone asks what “rape culture” means, tell them to go read LA Weekly.
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ETA: For those wondering if there’s anything they can do, Laura Anne Gilman writes:
I just wrote a rather scathing letter directly to the reporter, via the newspaper’s website.
“…Well played. I’m sure you’ll get a Pulitizer for that. Or maybe a Penthouse award. It’s clear which one you were going for…”
I encourage others to do the same. And cc the publisher of the newspaper while you’re at it.
E-book 2: Electric Jig
For those of you wanting the next update on Goldfish Dreams [B&N | Amazon], I checked the numbers, and it’s selling 1-2 copies per week. I.e., still not king. So I figured I’d try something else. Review copies of an e-book cost me nothing but the time it takes to send an e-mail, right? If you’re a reviewer and would be interested in a review copy of Goldfish Dreams, (epub or mobi format), please let me know. I figure I’ll start by giving away a dozen or so copies and we’ll see what happens.
In the meantime, the e-book experiment continues! I’ve downloaded a copy of Sigil and have been playing around with creating my own epub files, both by working with the software and by reverse engineering the work Steven Saus did for me converting Goldfish Dreams.
I’ve created and uploaded the sample chapter of The Snow Queen’s Shadow as an epub file here. To those of you with e-book readers who want to check it out, please let me know if you run into any trouble with the file or formatting. I tested it in iBooks on my phone, and it turned out fairly well, but I’d love to hear how it does on other platforms.
Because you see, once I get all of the bugs worked out, I can take the next step in my e-book journey. I was thinking that it might be nice to do a little e-pubbed collection of my goblin-related stories. It would be five short stories, probably priced at either $2.99 or $3.99, called Goblin Tales.
One criticism of my experiment with Goldfish Dreams has been that it’s a mainstream novel, and I haven’t built an audience in that area, so naturally sales aren’t as good. Short fiction collections don’t tend to sell as well as novels, but Jig and company are in many ways the foundation of my career, so I suspect I’ve got more of an audience for goblin stories.
What do you think? Goblin Tales: Best Idea Ever, Utter Waste of Time, or Other?
Snow Queen Preview
Random.org has picked two winners from last week’s contest. After counting up all the commenters on LJ, DW, and the main blog…
epeeblade wins a copy of Goblin Quest [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] for suggesting Goblins vs. Klingons.
Jennifer wins a copy of Stepsister Scheme [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. She suggested Goblins vs. Digi (who I believe is the little LEGO-Spaceman-looking guy here).
I loved this contest. People came up with some wonderfully fun suggestions, and if you haven’t read them, you could do far worse than to click over and see who the goblins should face in their next adventure.
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I’ve posted the first chapter of The Snow Queen’s Shadow [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] in PDF format here. Go forth and sample, if you wish.
I’m planning to get an epub version posted in the next day or so as well. I’m using this as practice for doing my own e-book conversion. PDF is a pretty universal format, but I figured some readers would prefer epub.
And … that’s all I’ve got for today. Enjoy!
Health Care
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 46 million people without health insurance living in the United States as of 2009. From the same report, roughly 30% of people with health insurance are covered by a government program.
In 2007, life expectancy in the United States ranked 42nd in the world. “Researchers said several factors have contributed to the United States falling behind other industrialized nations. A major one is that 45 million Americans lack health insurance, while Canada and many European countries have universal health care.” (Other factors include obesity, racial disparities, and higher infant mortality.)
A PBS Frontline report compares health care in the U.S. to Japan, Switzerland, Germany, and the U.K. The report finds that the U.S. spends more of its GDP on health care, yet we have the lowest life expectancy and the highest infant mortality rate.
I linked last week to the story of author Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack. There’s a very good chance that she could have survived, but she was one of those 46 million without health insurance. The treatment that might have saved her life would likely have bankrupted her.
More than sixty percent of U.S. bankruptcies are due to medical expenses. The article notes that roughly 3/4 of those being bankrupted actually had health insurance, “but many of them were bankrupted anyway because there were gaps in their coverage like co-payments and deductibles and uncovered services.” Others lost their jobs and benefits as a result of health-related issues.
People are terrified that “socialized” medicine is going to destroy the country. Yet a 2010 study comparing health care in the U.S. and other nations found that “Britain, whose nationalized healthcare system was widely derided by opponents of U.S. healthcare reform, ranks first in quality while the Netherlands ranked first overall on all scores.” This despite the fact that we in the U.S. spend more than twice as much, per person, as any of the other nations studied. (Author Liz Williams describes her first-hand experiences with U.K. health care here.)
Basically, many of these countries with evil, scary, government-run health care appear to be kicking our ass when it comes to actually taking care of their people.
Over the past few years, I’ve heard some groups arguing that the U.S. is or should be a Christian nation. Wasn’t Christ the guy who commanded his followers to love and care for the poor? “It is estimated that the changes made by the [Health Care Reform] law will result in 16 million additional individuals enrolling in the Medicaid program.” (See Stephen Colbert for more on America’s Christian attitudes toward the poor.)
I don’t get it. I don’t understand the fear. I don’t understand the greed. No health care system is or ever will be perfect, but we could do so much better. Instead, health insurance companies rake in billions in profits while an estimated “68 adults under age 65 die every day because they don’t have coverage.” (Emphasis added.)
Our current health care reform has much room for improvement. But for God’s sake, can we please try to move forward and make things better instead of fighting so damned hard to move backward?
Discussion and debate are welcome, as always.
Active vs. Passive
I got me some cover flats for Snow Queen on Saturday. So naturally, much of that day was spent scanning and uploading to my various sites … turns out I have a lot of ’em. Go figure. Anyway, click the thumbnail for a larger version.
Speaking of things princess, stormsdotter sent me pics of the sweet Talia costume she made. Not only that, but she immediately went out and kicked Batman’s ass, because that’s what you do when you have a Talia costume. Check ’em out!
And now, on to today’s grammar lesson. I’m sure someone, somewhere, has made this joke before, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. (I assume I don’t need to tell people not to do the last one?)
ACTIVE VOICE:
Jim submitted his manuscript to the editor.
PASSIVE VOICE:
The manuscript was rejected.
PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE VOICE:
Dear editor,
I know you’re too busy with your bestsellers to actually read submissions from new writers. I appreciate that your unpaid intern was able to take thirty seconds to glance at the first page of my manuscript. Thanks for getting back to me after only three queries. A friend of mine didn’t hear back on his story at all, so I appreciate you responding in only two and a half years.
Thanks,
Jim
Random Questions
Why did Zazzle remove the 20 Neil Gaiman Facts T-shirt?
This was done as a result of a law regarding “rights of celebrity/publicity,” meaning it’s illegal to sell unsanctioned merchandise using the name or likeness of a celebrity. I’m working to get this straightened out.
Unsanctioned? But Gaiman tweeted and linked people to the shirt. Why did they still take it down? Why did they ignore the note you included stating that you had permission? Why did they cancel every order but didn’t bother to contact you until days later? Why did you have to send multiple e-mails to Zazzle before they’d respond? Why are they still not answering all of your questions?
Because they suck.
Is Star Wars fantasy or science fiction?
Who cares.
What the hell is “forcible rape” supposed to mean?
It’s shorthand for “I have no freaking clue about rape.” (Fortunately, the language of that particular bill is being changed.)
Why does the new “V” series suck so badly?
In the show, the Visitors are trying to find and destroy the human soul. In the real world, the network is trying to find and destroy the soul of its viewers.
Why haven’t you written about the death of author Melissa Mia Hall?
Because my current feelings are unprintable, and I need to work through my initial disgust and fury at the state of health care in this nation, and the people who fight so viciously against the idea that we should do better for all of our people.
Did you know you’re only 11 away from having 2000 Facebook friends?
2000 is a nice, round number, and is pleasing to my sense of mathematical aesthetics. 11 of you should friend me at once, so that I can win at Facebook.
Do you believe that science fiction/fantasy qualify as literature? What about romance? What about comics?
Yes, yes, and yes. Please go away and come back when you have something less asinine to argue about.
Story Sale and Book Giveaway
Contracts are signed, and the announcement has been made: I’ve sold my story “The Blue Corpse Corps” to the Dragon Moon Press anthology When the Hero Comes Home, edited by Ed Greenwood and Gabrielle Harbowy. The book should be out in August, and includes stories by Jay Lake, Erik Scott de Bie, Todd McCaffrey, Julie Kagawa, Marie Bilodeau, Eric Buchanan, and more.
I’m amused and flattered to note that I’ve become a selling point. The press release mentions that the book includes, “an all-new Jig the Goblin story by Jim C. Hines.” That’s pretty darn cool.
To celebrate, I’m giving away one copy each (autographed, of course) of Goblin Quest [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] and Stepsister Scheme [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].
“The Blue Corpse Corps” started with a comment on the blog about how fun it could be to do a goblins vs. zombies story. To enter the giveaway, just comment and suggest who the goblins should take on next. For example:
Goblins vs. My Little Ponies
Goblins vs. Doctor Who
Smudge vs. The Chipmunks
Make sure to specify which book you’re interested in: Stepsister or Goblin Quest. One entry per person, and anyone can enter (this is not a U.S. only contest). I’ll randomly select two winners next week.
Have fun!
In Which I Commit T-shirt
A number of people asked for a T-shirt version of the Apostrophe Ninja. I’ve gone one better.
I now have a Zazzle store, which includes a whopping four T-shirts, meaning you can go to work in Hineswear all week (providing you wear one shirt twice, or else call in sick on Friday). Each shirt comes from a blog post:
Apostrophe Ninja (Original post)
Writing: A Reality Check (Original post)
Distilling the Blogosphere (Original post)
20 Neil Gaiman Facts (Original post)
That’s right, after more than a year, I finally got the Neil Gaiman Facts shirt finished and posted for sale. All profits from the sale of that one go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Right now it’s just basic T-shirts. I redid the artwork on each comic in order to get higher-resolution versions that will come out correctly when the shirts are printed. I’ll probably end up posting more things in the store … at the very least, the Gaiman shirt should be available in black, right? I’ve also been asked to post a “Ferb is the 12th Doctor” shirt.