Lisa Stock did a fabulous job this afternoon. She has an acting background, but this was her first time reading her own work in public. I was very impressed, and the crowd (those dedicated souls who shook off the siren lure of the gorgeous weather outside) seemed to be too. Her tale, The Sun, involves a young woman who, like Little Red Riding Hood, sets out on a quest to deliver food to a neighbor, and who then becomes caught up in creepy and surreal encounters with a range of characters. Some of these characters, including one the young woman comes to call the Wolf, are doppelgangers of her lover. There’s also a young boy with ice blue eyes who may be a younger version of her lover, and who may or may not be real. Really cool stuff. In her comments afterward, Lisa mentioned that the Wolf has a large abdominal scar, as if Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother had been removed from his gut, but that the scar is actually from something else … something much more strange and surprising. Very intriguing. Of course the first question during the Q&A was, “Where did the Wolf’s scar come from?”, but Lisa just smiled sweetly and said, “You’ll have to read the book.”

I’m contemplating going to this:

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Why Genre Fiction?: Mystery! Science Fiction! Romance! Adventure!

Participants: Mary Bly (English)
Joanne Dobson (English)
Paul Levinson (Communication and Media)
Marleen S. Barr (Communication and Media)

Description: A two-hour panel discussion which includes readings from the participants’ mystery, romance, and science fiction novels. The event will include a booksigning, Q&A, and a reception.

Time, Place and Location: April 19, 6pm, South Lounge, Lincoln Center Campus, Fordham University 113 West 60th St. Free and open to the public

Today I’m off to see Lisa Stock read at the Spec Fic Fair in Manhattan. (See April 12th entry.)

I also have to prepare to teach my sf writing class tomorrow at the library. We’ll be reading and discussing fantasy-related poetry and reading excerpts from The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Dianna Wynne-Jones.

Some of the following lines are iambic and others are trochaic. Can you tell the difference?

The Lotos blooms below the barren peak,
The Lotos blows by every winding creek;
All day the wind breathes low with mellower tone;
Thro’ every hollow cave and alley lone
Round and round the spicy downs
the yellow Lotos-dust is blown.
We have had enough of action, and of motion we,
Roll’d to starboard, roll’d to larboard, when the surge was seething free,
Where the wallowing monster spouted his foam-fountains in the sea.
Let us swear an oath, and keep it with an equal mind,
In the hollow Lotos-land to live and lie reclined
On the hills like Gods together, careless of mankind …
Resting weary limbs at last on beds of asphodel.
Surely, surely, slumber is more sweet than toil, the shore
Than labor in the deep mid-ocean, wind and wave and oar;
O, rest ye, brother mariners, we will not wander more.

Had fun hanging out backstage at Conan O’Brien yesterday. I spent most of the time in the control room, which looks like NASA mission control, except I’d imagine that at NASA the big row of screens at the front of the room aren’t filled with graphics of George W., Schwarzenegger, and Michael Jackson (or maybe they are). I saw the script being constantly rewritten, then the flashcards being made. After the show I got to wander around on the set, which is unbelievably smaller than it looks on television. Last night I told a friend of mine that I’d been backstage, and she asked if I’d talked to Conan, and I had to admit that I never actually like … saw him. I’d sort of imagined backstage as like a dormitory lounge, but it’s actually a sprawling, labyrinthine network of rooms and hallways, so you’d really have to go searching to see anyone in particular. Though I was standing around in the hallway with musical guest Le Tigre for a bit.

This is cool. My friend Andrea, who works on the Conan O’Brien Show, just invited me to drop by the studio tomorrow and watch the taping from the control room.

More Lovecraft!

circehellene suggests Carel Struycken (dude who played Lurch in Addams Family) to play H.P. Lovecraft. (See previous entry.)

Last weekend at World Horror Con, Chris Cevasco and I started talking about whether H.P. Lovecraft had ever appeared as a character in a film (not that we could think of, but he should) and who might possibly play him, given his unusual physiognomy. The best casting choice I could come up with … Jake Busey.

This was kind of cool. Someone (it wasn’t me) mentioned me in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance

I’ll be in Manhattan on Sunday to see my new friend Lisa Stock read from her novelette “The Sun,” a magical realist tale that incorporates elements of Little Red Riding Hood. Her reading will be part of the Spec Fic Fair, 2 p.m. at the Spark Cafe & Art Center, 161 West 22nd Street near 7th Avenue. It’s free and open to anyone.

Tobias S. Buckell, a fellow writer and good friend, just interviewed me for his newsletter:
http://www.tobiasbuckell.com/archives/001521.html