Category Archives: Books

Literature and capitalism, the trouble with romances, yet more gender bias in SFF, good writing advice and some dentistry, too, for good measure

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Cora

I had to take my Dad to the dentist today and pick him up again. He is getting implants, which were inserted under general anaesthesia, so he couldn’t drive. He was pretty woozy afterwards – I very much had to … Continue reading →

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Talk like a pirate, vote like a pirate, read like a pirate

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Cora

Arr, it be International Talk like a Pirate Day and at least in Germany, pirates have gone respectable and even entered the Berlin city parliament, as I blogged yesterday. As for our political pirates, Der Spiegel, National Public Radio and … Continue reading →

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New Release: Hostage to Passion

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Cora

Over all the other craziness, I almost forgot to post that I have a new e-book available, a novelette called Hostage to Passion. It didn’t hurt sales, though, since I already sold two copies without any advertising whatsoever. This story … Continue reading →

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More on the GLBT YA issue

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Cora

There have been some new developments in the discussion about YA fiction with GLBT characters. In the past few days, there have been several great posts in response to Sherwood Smith’s and Rachel Manija Brown’s original post at Publisher Weekly‘s … Continue reading →

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Why young adult fiction needs more gay characters – and more diversity in general

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Cora

Since Orson Scott Card has rewritten Hamlet with bonus homophobia, Ben Peek is now suggesting rewriting Ender’s Game with bonus homosexuality. In addition to making me smile, Ben Peek’s post also touches on the one thing that shocked me most … Continue reading →

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Best Books by Women and Local Election Results

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Cora

Charles Stross asks his readers which is the most important book of the twenty-first century so far and disqualifies all male authors. The responses are both interesting and sad. First of all, a lot of people seem to have misread … Continue reading →

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GLBT books, vintage pulp heroes, more genre versus literary fiction and bad author blogging advice

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Cora

By now, you’ve probably all heard about Orson Scott Card’s stunningly homophobic Hamlet retelling. In case you didn’t, here is the review at Rain Taxi that kicked off the controversy. Because arguing with or yelling at Orson Scott Card doesn’t … Continue reading →

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Three Anniversaries

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Cora

Exactly fifty years ago today (okay, yesterday, since I didn’t get the post up before midnight), on September 8, 1961, Unternehmen Stardust, the first issue of the German science fiction “Romanheft” Perry Rhodan appeared, in which US-astronaut Perry Rhodan with … Continue reading →

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Two Quick Links

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Cora

I’m tired tonight, because I was out all evening long. So here’s just some links for today: At the Book View Café, Shannon Donnelly discusses what makes characters real. The 2011 Booker Prize shortlist has been announced. The list is … Continue reading →

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Hot Topic Discussion Round-up

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Cora

There’s definitely something in the air regarding discussions about diversity as well as non-US and non-Western POVs in the SFF genre, for here is a guest post by Elizabeth Bear at Charles Stross’ blog discussing how the singularity is a … Continue reading →

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