Monthly Archives: December 2011

Science Fiction, Politics and an Apology to Václav Havel

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Cora

Yesterday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il died aged 69, mourned by collective mass crying in his own country and largely unlamented elsewhere. We can only hope that this will improve the situation of the people of North Korea. There’s been … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, General | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Snow 2011

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Cora

Today we had the first snow of the winter. That is, we had some snow on Friday and Saturday as well, but it melted as soon as it hit the ground. Today, however, the snow actually reached the ground and … Continue reading →

Posted in General | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

A Surfeit of Salmon – and some links

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Cora

There are two things we’ve really had enough of this December. One is storms and rain. Here in Northern Germany, December is always a stormy month. I don’t even put any outdoors Christmas decorations up anymore, because in past years … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Links, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two December Deaths

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Cora

Yesterday, one of my favourite German actors, Walter Giller, died aged 84. I first encountered Walter Giller in the TV comedy show Locker vom Hocker in the late 1970s. Later I saw the young Walter Giller in many a harmless … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, General | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Short Stories versus Novels

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Cora

Writer Richard Parks shares his thoughts on the short stories versus novels issue, based on a panel at the 2002 World Fantasy Con. Jay Lake responds here. I agree with Richard Parks and Jay Lake that it’s useless for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Stormy December Linkdump

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Cora

At SF Signal, Daniel Abraham has written a letter from genre to mainstream. Quite amusing, even if it does read like a letter from a stalkerish ex-boyfriend. On a related note, at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books there is an interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Links, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Misfits Series 3, Episode 4

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Cora

So far I’ve enjoyed every episode of Misfits, some more than others. This is really the first episode I didn’t like. In fact, I held off watching it for several days, because the “Next time” trailer at the end of … Continue reading →

Posted in TV | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

And yet another plagiarism case

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Cora

Yet another plagiarism case has popped up, this time concerning uncanny similarities between Lenore Hart’s 2011 novel The Raven’s Bride and Cothburn O’Neal’s 1956 novel The Very Young Mrs. Poe. Both novels deal with Virginia Clemm, cousin and teenaged bride … Continue reading →

Posted in General, Links | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

My stand on KDP Select

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Cora

I’ve got a post over at the Pegasus Pulp blog about the whole KDP Select thing and my stand on it. Come on over and read it. In other links, Jay Lake has an interesting post about the challenges of … Continue reading →

Posted in Links | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Two Quick Links for an Advent Sunday

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Cora

Good news: Two more of the missing Doctor Who episodes from the 1960s have been found, namely episode 3 of the first Doctor story Galaxy Four, a story which was completely lost except for a brief clip, and episode 2 … Continue reading →

Posted in Links | Tagged , , | Leave a comment