What Makes a Project a “Passion Project”?

What Makes a Project a “Passion Project”?

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For me, a passion project is something that could not be sold in a traditional sense to the mainstream market, but you want — need — to create it anyway. Dear Penpal, Belgium 1980 is the kind of project that I could not sell to a traditional publication house despite it being a middle grade-appropriate cozy ghost story. Partly because it is told in 24 physical letters. Partly because while it is middle grade-appropriate, its ephemeral nature and subject matter will appeal to a broad range of ages — which makes it hard for any marketing department to categorize.

It’s not just a ghost story. Nor is it just a story of a Gen-X, latchkey kid trying to survive in a foreign country. Nor is it just a story about the importance of family (especially a military family) and the power of friendship. It is a project that defies conventional age, topic, and multimedia barriers.

For this passion project, the questions I get most often are: “Why physical letters?” and “Why Belgium in 1980?”

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A to Z Reviews: “The Well-Oiled Machine,” by H.B. Fyfe

A to Z Reviews: “The Well-Oiled Machine,” by H.B. Fyfe

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A to Z Reviews

H.B. Fyfe published “The Well-Oiled Machine” in the December 1950 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the story demonstrates a forward thinking that explores the use of computers and artificial intelligence in the workplace, although in Fyfe’s story, the editor, William Moran (also referred to as Ed, since he is the editor), has a staff of robots rather than networked AIs or computers.

Moran is the editor of Stupendous Stories, a magazine that publishes science fiction adventure stories. As far as the story indicates, Moran is also the only human employee of the company. Before stories get to his desk, a robot known as Sinner writes up synopses (synopses) of the stories for Moran to review. Moran than decides which stories to read based on those briefs and sends the stories to Liar (a linotype robot) to be laid out. Advertising is handled by Adder, the art department is run by Arty, and for good measure, there is a repair robot known as Doc.

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Goth Chick News Interviews Rick Styczynski, Actor In Terrifier 2 and Owner of 13X Studios

Goth Chick News Interviews Rick Styczynski, Actor In Terrifier 2 and Owner of 13X Studios

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Rick Styczynski, owner of 13X Studios and star of Terrifier 2 was one of our favorite people we met last November at the Days of the Dead convention. He was manning his booth of custom Jason hockey masks, which if like me you had a few Friday the 13th fans on your gift list, was reason enough to stop for a chat.

Styczynski’s creativity is impressive, and it wasn’t too far into opening night of DotD before his booth was several people deep and he was doing a brisk business. However, we were lucky enough to meet him before the doors opened and learn that he had a part in the indie franchise Terrifier, specifically in the second installment, Terrifier 2, which was released in 2022. Styczynski was more than happy to chat about his art and his acting and was super grateful and welcoming to all the fans we heard him talking to later in the day.

I knew then that I needed to know more about him. So, though our respective schedules meant it took a while for us to connect, I am pleased to now have the chance to introduce you to Rick Styczynski, star of Terrifier 2 and owner of 13X Studios.

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A Reckless and Unwarranted Speculation on the Origin of a Great Science Fiction Story

A Reckless and Unwarranted Speculation on the Origin of a Great Science Fiction Story

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Alice (James Tiptree Jr.) Sheldon

For many writers, asking them the apparently innocent question, “where do you get your ideas?” is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. (Watch the Harlan Ellison documentary Dreams with Sharp Teeth for a great example; at the very thought of someone posing that question, Ellison goes from zero to apoplexy in 1.2 seconds. I know — Harlan Ellison, but still…)

Nevertheless, as a humble reader to whom the mysteries of creative writing are forever veiled, it’s a question that I’m curious about. Having never met Alice (James Tiptree Jr.) Sheldon, I have no idea how she would have reacted to the question, and I’ll never find out, as she died in 1987… but I think I know the answer for one of her stories, at least.

Alice Sheldon (under the whimsical pseudonym that she and her husband cooked up) was a science fiction writer without peer, and her novella A Momentary Taste of Being, which first appeared in 1975 in the Robert Silverberg-edited anthology The New Atlantis (and later in her own collection Star Songs of an Old Primate and the “Essential Tiptree” anthology Her Smoke Rose Up Forever, which you should buy immediately, forgoing food and rent if necessary), is one of her greatest stories, a radical premise pushed to its absolute limits… and I believe I know where that wild premise came from.

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The “AI Revolution” Problem

The “AI Revolution” Problem

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Image by Thomas Meier from Pixabay. Pixabay has a policy of disclosing AI images. This did not have the indicator that it was AI.

Good afterevenmorn (whenever you’re reading this!)

I’d like to talk about AI. I can hear your collective groans. I’m quite annoyed by the subject, too, but perhaps for different reasons. Still, let’s talk AI from the perspective of an actual writer (struggling, but still a writer).

The news has been filled with nothing but discussions of AI in creative spaces… or, at least, that’s what my news feed has been full of. It’s as if all of the various algorithms are doing their darnedest to keep me as depressed as possible… stupid AI, but I digress. I’m sure you’re all quite familiar with the chime of the bells of doom that creatives have been ringing since AI reared its head in our spaces. There is considerable debate raging all over the internet about where AI fits, where it doesn’t and why or why not. Many authors are feeling threatened, and not without reason. There are a myriad of reasons why. Let’s explore just a couple.

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Terry Pratchett – A Modern-Day Fantasy Voltaire

Terry Pratchett – A Modern-Day Fantasy Voltaire

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March marked my tenth year of blogging here at Black Gate! Here was my very first post, on March 10, 2014. I’ve taken a few breaks, but I have posted almost every Monday morning for a decade!  And today is my birthday – pretty neat posting day for me.

Next week, my Doyle on Holmes series starts up and carries us through April and into early May. Had to fill in today with something. I finished up my re-read of the last ten books in Glen Cook’s Garrett, PI, series, and I have a post coming on that soon.

Still in ‘that kind of mood,’ I decided I needed a little Pratchett. We’ve got quite a few Terry Pratchett fans here at Black Gate, and you can find links to various posts on them, below. Since it’s been almost two years since I wrote about Pratchett, it’s high time I added a new essay.

I don’t have any interest in Tiffany Aching, and haven’t read those books. For me, they’re not really Discworld books. To each their own: they’re just not for me. Working from there, I have read everything but Raising Steam. I’ve set that aside, as Snuff was just okay, and Unseen Academicals was the first Discworld book I actually thought was bad. (I believe that his Alzheimer’s was so bad, that someone else – perhaps his daughter – wrote it from his notes. It’s the most un-Pratchett quality book of his I’ve read. Folks get offended by this. It’s how I feel. Disagree with me and move on. It’s fine.)

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The Horrors of Sam Moskowitz

The Horrors of Sam Moskowitz

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Horrors in Hiding, Horrors Unseen, and Horrors Unknown (Berkley Medallion, February 1973,
June 1974, and February 1976). Covers: Vincent Di Fate (x2), uncredited

A few years back I wrote a trio of Vintage Treasures pieces about a series of Berkley Medallion paperback horror anthologies from the mid-70s, all edited by Sam Moskowitz (with an assist from Alden H. Norton).

Horrors in Hiding (February 1973)
Horrors Unseen (June 1974)
Horrors Unknown (February 1976)

The last two were the final anthologies Moskowitz produced. I was planning to investigate one of Moskowitz’s classic science fiction anthologies this weekend — maybe Masterpieces of Science Fiction (1967), or Under the Moons of Mars (1970) — but by midnight Friday I was deep into a stack of his horror anthologies again. I’m mesmerized by those creepy covers, what can I tell you.

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Vernor Vinge, October 2, 1944 — March 20, 2024

Vernor Vinge, October 2, 1944 — March 20, 2024

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The Zones of Thought trilogy: A Fire Upon the Deep (Tor paperback reprint,
February 1993), A Deepness in the Sky (Tor, March 1999), The Children of the Sky
(Tor, October 2011). Covers by Boris Vallejo, Bob Eggleton, Stephan Martiniere

Vernor Vinge died on March 20, 2024, after several years suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. (I was aware that he had retired from writing, though I didn’t know about his illness, and part of me had hoped for one more novel or some more short fiction.) His last substantial work was the third Zones of Thought novel, The Children of the Sky, in 2011, though he did publish a couple of short-shorts in Nature, the last being “Legale” in 2017.

The first Vinge story I read must have been his first published story, “Apartness” (New Worlds, June 1965), a powerful indictment of South Africa’s apartheid regime via an ironic SF device. He continued to write occasional stories over the next few years. (His day job was as a Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, and he made significant contributions to those fields.)

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A to Z Review: “Bit by Bit,” by Karina Fabian

A to Z Review: “Bit by Bit,” by Karina Fabian

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A to Z Reviews

Karina Fabian published “Bit by Bit” in Daily Science Fiction in January, 2011 and it was subsequently reprinted in their massive first year’s collection, Not Just Rockets and Robots.

A root canal is bad enough, but it becomes even worse of Sally when the dentist’s drill broke off in her tooth. Rather than attempt to extract the broken off drill bit, the dentist elected to leave it inside the tooth (this is not recommended practice by the ADA). Almost immediately, Sally began hearing chirping sounds, which she understood to be an alien language.

Unable to understand what the aliens may have been saying, but understanding that the constant noise was annoying her and making life difficult, Sally attempted to have the drill bit removed, a procedure which was denied by her insurance company. Joining the aluminum hat brigade as a method to stop the signals from reaching her tooth, Sally found her job as a barista in jeopardy.

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Goth Chick News: Is Universal Finally Treating Its Iconic Catalog the Right Way?

Goth Chick News: Is Universal Finally Treating Its Iconic Catalog the Right Way?

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I’ve spent more words here than I care to count ranting about the atrocities Universal Studios has repeatedly tried to visit on its iconic monster movie catalog. I could dry heave every time I think about the whole Dark Universe debacle and the fact that we were this close to having a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde courtesy of Russell Crowe, a Van Helsing brought to you by Channing Tatum, Dwayne “the rock” Johnson as Wolfman, and (I can barely type this) Angelina Jolie recreating the Bride of Frankenstein. Literally, the only good thing I can say about the first step in this hellish march to mediocrity that was Tom Cruise in The Mummy (2017), is that its spectacular crash and burn lit fire to the entire concept.

But here we are in 2024 and a mere year away from the launch of Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park, part of which is a new “land” called – you guessed it – Dark Universe. Sources point to plans for the new park being in the works since the early 2000’s, and scuttling the big-budget remakes of their classic monster films meant Universal was left with a revenue gap that tied their new park property to their movie vault. The answer, when it finally started being talked about at Hollywood cocktail parties, is a classic example of the best ideas being the original ones.

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