Erik Owomoyela

Writing

Anthology!

Bloodchildren, edited by Nisi ShawlI’ve been using a lot of exclamation points lately. I think it’s justified.

Readers of this blog may be aware that I had the fortune to attend the Clarion West Writers Workshop back in 2010. That, plus my subsequent relocation to Seattle and general career change, was possible in no small part thanks to the Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship, which has sponsored the attendance of some outstanding writers of color. And also me.

Bloodchildren, the anthology I mentioned up in the title, is a fundraiser for that scholarship fund, featuring stories by all 11 of the scholarship’s recipients so far (including me) and edited by Nisi Shawl. I’m told it’s quite good.

It’s also my first fiction publication, which is kind of exciting and very intimidating.

One of the best things about Clarion West was that it exposed me to an incredible variety of writers, with more diversity in age, race, background, interests and writing styles than I’ve encountered before or since. Programs like the Butler scholarship help to make that possible; it’s a great way to carry on Octavia Butler’s lifelong dedication to undertold stories and perspectives, and I’d like to think I’d be a fan even if I hadn’t directly benefited from it.

Incidentally, Clarion West (and its sister program, Clarion in San Diego) is accepting applications for the 2013 summer workshop. Just saying.

January 9, 2013 Writing, Read more >

How Weird Tales did everything wrong

How far we've come.By all rights, Saving The Pearls: Defending Eden should not have been anything I needed to spend time thinking about. The problem with self-published books is that there’s no reliable means of gauging quality, so I generally don’t pay attention to them unless they’ve been recommended by someone I trust, or they took a title I wanted to use. The literary world would really benefit from some sort of comprehensive system to gauge the quality of self-published work, but until then, I have plenty of other books that I haven’t had time to read.

Then Weird Tales went and made this a story about how not to run a magazine.

It’s hard to find any aspect of this controversy that Weird Tales managed to handle well. First, the editor goes out of his way to get involved in what was already a building online controversy over an obviously touchy issue — not just by defending the book on Weird Tales‘ blog, but by promising to publish its first chapter in America’s Oldest Fantasy Magazine. Then, once the backlash happens, his (co-)publisher decides that the best way to save the magazine is by throwing its editor under a bus.

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August 22, 2012 Writing Read more >

Beyond Good and Evil

My final Norwescon panel was kind of an odd one. It was a late addition to the schedule, so the only way for people to find out about it was from word of mouth or just walking by the room and poking your head in. (In retrospect I could have tweeted about it or something. I should have checked to see if there was a panel on self-promotion.) It also took a look at fantasy — interesting ground for me, as I haven’t been primarily a fantasy reader since I was a kid getting bedtime stories from my mom. (My mom was reading The Lord of the Rings to me in preschool. I had kind of an awesome childhood.)

One of the unsettling things about The Lord of the Rings and other fantasies of this type is that the Orcs and Dark Lords are flat, 2-dimensional evil characters with no hope of redemption.  Is there an argument for making things at least somewhat black and white?  If we reject the 100% evil creatures, what do we use for the all-encompassing threat?

My short answer was to say I think The Lord of the Rings is a problem only insofar as people take the wrong lessons from it.

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April 24, 2011 Writing, Read more >

Writing Sci-Fi If You Don’t Know Science

That’s not actually the title of my next Norwescon panel, and the difference is an important one.  In fact, I’ll be answering the question, “Can You Write Hard SF Without a Science Background?” And the description complicates the issue even more.

Is it easier to write a hard science fiction story if you have the technical or science background, or does it get in the way?  How do you fold in the science without making it an info dump?

My simple answer is that yes, you can write hard SF without a science background, and I don’t have a frame of reference to say whether it’s easier if you have one. But — allowing for differences between individuals — I’d guess not.

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April 22, 2011 Writing Read more >

Supernatural vs. Sci-Fi: Fight!

Well, I didn’t get run out of town last night, so Norwesconers (that’s a word now) can find me at yet another panel tonight. This one’s on Supernatural versus science fiction, the epic struggle of our times:

More and more, the entertainment industry is producing television shows and films that are supernatural in nature, but are calling them science fiction. Are they really? Or is the industry “copping out” and trying to get around having to come up with legitimate science fiction shows? Why are the directors and writers skirting around the science issues instead of addressing them?

What do I think? Well, it’s complicated.

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April 22, 2011 Writing Read more >

Who’s on first!

Couldn’t resist.  My first panel for Norwescon this year will take a look at how Series Five of Doctor Who compares to Series One through Four, and the 26 seasons that came before it. Summary: I’m not sure I’d say the new series is returning to the traditional mode, but it is a departure from the Russel T Davies years — and, in my view, a welcome one.

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April 21, 2011 Writing, Read more >

I think about Star Trek a lot.

So I’ll be sitting in on a few panels for this year’s Norwescon, starting with two tonight — one on the future of Star Trek, and one on the present of Doctor Who. Given the likely odds I’ll become completely tongue tied when I have to actually talk in front of people, I figured I’d outline my thoughts here for you.

First off, here’s my assessment of Star Trek after the jump. Short version: I’m cautiously optimistic.

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April 21, 2011 Writing, Read more >