Publication alert! Strange Horizons has published my review of the first issue of Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro. DeConnick favorited my tweet about it, so I’m quietly squeeing to myself about that. You can read my review here, and you can (and really, really should) buy Bitch Planet wherever Image Comics are sold. Here’s a quick blurb from the SH review:
Bitch Planet tackles an overtly sexist cliché, as well as a grim reality for many women, and doesn’t flinch. De Landro’s art plays with campy elements of both exploitation films and sci-fi blockbusters, utilising bright splashes of color and layouts that hearken back to the story’s cinematic roots. And while the characters are larger-than-life, as befitting something titled Bitch Planet, De Landro draws them as imperfect and real. They’re hard women; they’re bitches.
I was hard-pressed not to just write “SHUT UP AND READ THIS” over and over. So… shut up and read Bitch Planet. It’s really good.
I’m currently at my mother’s house in Vermont on a much-needed vacation. On Friday, I’ll be heading to Arisia, a SFF con in Boston. I’m trying to meet up with a few friends in the area, and my mom and sister are coming down with me–though I haven’t successfully convinced them to come to Arisia–so it should be a good time. There’s gonna be a TECHNO CONTRA DANCE. This is the coolest, nerdiest thing I’ve ever heard of.
I spent some time mapping out all the deadlines I’d like to meet over the next 8 months. I’m working on stories for Far Orbit, Queers Destroy Science Fiction, and Long Hidden 2, which all have submission deadlines conveniently spaced one month apart. Later in the spring, I’ll be applying (again!) for the Working Class and Diverse World/Diverse Writer grants from the Speculative Fiction Foundation. And I’m still working towards having a novel drafted by my birthday in August.
On the non-fiction side of things, I owe The Future Fire a book review for Apex Publications’ War Stories, and can hopefully finish that in the next week or two. And I’m slowly plugging away on an essay about being a survivor of family abuse who takes martial arts. (It’s SO WEIRD sometimes.)
I currently have two reprints and three original pieces out on spec. Fireside Fiction will be reprinting my story “A Silly Love Story” later this month, and Tor.com will be publishing “The Shape of My Name” in March.
So I guess when I say I’m on vacation, I mean, “I’m working on things that are super exciting, and also watching Jeopardy with my family.” 2015 has been pretty good to me so far. Hope it’s been treating all of you just as well.
Nino Cipri 