* Overheard in the Store:
"I had a REALLY long week yesterday."
"My toast was 'To 2019 - may it be a great year for schadenfreude!'"
"I like your name!"
"Thanks, I got it for my birthday."
"It's one of those fundamental rules: if you're lit, don't light things."
* Overheard at Mission Police Station:
"I'm here to get my sh*t back."
"What sh*t is that, Sir?"
"My sh*t that got taken away from me."
"Under what circumstances was your sh*t taken away, Sir?"
"When I was arrested."
"Oh. Hang on for a minute."
* Octavia Butler's groundbreaking classic Parable duology is set to be reprinted with gorgeous new covers and a foreword from N.K. Jemisin, which you can read at the link below. Feel free to preorder by emailing office@borderlands-books.com! https://ew.com/books/2019/02/25/parable-octavia-butler-reissue/
* N.K. Jemisin also sat down with Studio 360, where she spoke about her new collection of short stories and her own approach to writing. Listen here: https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-02-28/nk-jemisin-and-unspoken-politics-speculative-fiction
* Well it's only going to be 25 years until we get to start messing up the Moon the way we did the Earth. Yay? http://www.mining.com/mining-moon-ready-lift-off-2025/
* There are rumors that the 2019 CW Arrowverse crossover will lead to the cancellation of "Arrow" (meh) and "Legends of Tomorrow" (WHAT?! How. Dare. You.) They are only rumors for now, though. http://sciencefiction.com/2019/02/26/rumor-mill-cw-may-cancel-arrow-andor-legends-tomorrow-crisis-infinite-earths/
* When you name things in space, there are a whole list of rules about what things have to be named after. Like the fact that everything on Io is named after something associated with fire, volcano or Dante's Inferno. Who makes up these rules? The International Astronomical Union. Check out more here! https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/02/26/bizarre-brilliant-rules-naming-new-stuff-space/?utm_term=.445823c04a29
* Lillian Li is publishing her first book, but her first writing experience? Well, Harry Potter fanfiction of course! https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/number-one-chinese-restaurant-book
* WiFi brain hacking! https://www.inverse.com/article/53699-brain-neural-engineering-neurological-disorders-hacking-the-brain
* If you've read DUNE you probably already know the answer to the question "Why is this novel so hard to film?!", but it's always fun to see people run through it. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/dune-versus-hollywood-frank-herberts-spicy-sci-fi-saga-hard/
* On the Rick Owens runway, aliens ("Star Trek" rubber-face aliens, but aliens) met fashion, and it was great! https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/03/01/rick-owens-turned-his-models-into-aliens-oddballs-they-looked-so-glamorous/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.243b9c02fc79
* Unfortunately if you weren't in Arizona, you probably missed the Afrofuturism festival they held this month. However, there's a Q&A with some of the basics if you've always wondered what Afrofuturism was. https://asunow.asu.edu/20190206-discoveries-afrofuturism-explores-science-fiction-rooted-past
* Rumors are that "Aquaman 2" will feature the team that Aquaman was a part of previous to The Justice League -- The Others who each wield an Atlantean object. http://sciencefiction.com/2019/03/01/rumor-mill-aquaman-2-will-introduce-others/
* There are some movies that should never be touched or rebooted, and then there are the campy classics that just beg to be driven into the ground. "Critters" is of the latter category. http://sciencefiction.com/2019/03/01/shudder-released-first-trailer-critters-new-binge/
* Almost as a companion to the Karin Lowachee story about human/AI interaction <https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/4/18139371/karin-lowachee-sci-fi-story-video-seimei-ai-better-worlds>, here is an article telling us to ignore science-fiction: that AI isn't out to get us. Which first means they haven't read as broadly as they thought, and second that Lowachee is a visionary! https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/02/ignore-the-science-fiction-ai-isnt-out-to-get-us/
"History is 'the closest thing we have to science fiction,' says historian Jose Raymund Canoy." If that first line didn't make you want to read this whole article then. . . . you're probably not that interested in history. But for those who are check out this article: https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/sunday-life/2019/02/24/1896144/historian-who-says-history-science-fiction
* There has been a lot of talk about how Chinese speculative fiction has been growing and has a new perspective on genre fiction. Here's an article on how Chinese science fiction is exploring dystopias. https://www.newstatesman.com/chinese-science-fiction-dystopia-liu-cixin-triology
* The Mad Scientist Initiative, which is something that would inspire less terror and more joy if they weren't part of the military, is holding a short story contest about war in the year 2030. Check out details here: https://www.dailypress.com/news/military/dp-nws-army-mad-scientist-20190125-story.html
* Mahershala Ali, who just took home an Academy Award, has signed on to play the lead in a science-fiction movie written by the co-writers of "A Quiet Place". http://sciencefiction.com/2019/02/28/academy-award-winner-mahershala-ali-will-headline-sci-fi-movie-sovereign-quiet-place-writers-stranger-things-producers/
* Creating a suggestion matrix based on 100 years of of science-fiction which can analyze trends and suggest things you would not normally consider sounds amazing! https://www.wired.com/story/infoporn-100-years-of-sci-fi-explored/
* If you have not watched Netflix's adaptation of the comic book series "The Umbrella Academy", get on it! Then check out this article on the six questions the first season left us with. http://collider.com/the-umbrella-academy-netflix-questions
* SYFY FANGRRLS is doing a special limited podcast called Forgotten Women of Genre to explore women's contributions to genre. Their first subject is Melissa Mathison, the woman who wrote the "ET" screenplay. There will be a new subject every day for the month, so check it out. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/forgotten-women-of-genre-melissa-mathison
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Award News
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*The Tiptree Fellows for 2018 have been announced as Vida Cruz and Ana Hurtado. Congratulations! https://tiptree.org/tiptree-fellowships/2018-tiptree-fellowships
* The 2018 Aurealis Awards, which celebrate Australian speculative fiction, have released their shortlist. https://aurealisawards.org/2019/02/20/2018-aurealis-awards-shortlist-announcement/
* The Horror Writers Association has revealed the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards. The graphic novel category looks especially good this year. http://horror.org/2018-bram-stoker-awards-final-ballot/
* The finalists for the Nebula Awards have been announced, and they include the marvelous Mary Robinette Kowal, as well as Sam J. Miller, P. Djèlí Clark, and others. Check out the full list here: https://nebulas.sfwa.org/2018-nebula-finalists-announced/
* NESFA, The New England Science Fiction Association, has announced that the Skylark Award (presented to someone, who, in the opinion of the membership, has contributed significantly to science fiction) has been awarded to Melissa Snodgrass. They have also presented the Gaughan (for emerging artist) to Nicolas Delort. https://www.nesfa.org/awards/skylark.html and https://www.nesfa.org/awards/gaughan.html
* The Baltimore Science Fiction Society has listed the finalists for the 2019 Compton Crook Award! Nominees include S.A. Chakraborty, R. F. Kuang, Rebecca Roanhorse and more. http://www.bsfs.org/CCA/bsfsccnu2014.htm
* The British Science Fiction Association has listed the finalists for this year's BSFA Awards. https://bsfa.co.uk/awards-shortlist/
* Head over and check out the amazing art that's been nominated for the Spectrum Awards! They run the gamut in tone and material but are all interesting. http://spectrumfantasticart.com/blog/2019/02/18/spectrum-26-awards-nominations/
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