Liz Argall

During the Karen Axness Memorial Panel: Women Writers You’ve Probably Never Heard Of  at Wiscon I promised to add every book recommended to my Wiscon2013SFF Goodreads list. This list contains all the suggestions made while I was preparing, plus everything from the panel, plus a little extra. I saw Sofia Samatar had put together a reading list from the Contemporary Fantasy and Science Fiction from the Muslim World panel and I just had to add women from that :-). Go to Sofia Samatar’s blog to read her full list (with images of book covers and everything).

I hope they’re useful!

@SFWApro

regarding unacceptable behavior. Contains fierce, but entirely safe for work language.

And please watch before reading my words. I think the video is important… hopefully for obvious reasons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QaqpoeVgr8U

Moral courage is important to me. …

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Mermaid’s Hook is now live at Podcastle! Woohoo!

A magnificent introduction by Ann Leckie, a dreamy reading by Julia Rios plus some lovely end notes by Dave Thompson. Kinda funny, but I think I needed to hear my own words today (even if loving and caring can be a painful thing).

It’s rated R, for disturbing imagery. I hadn’t expected an R rating!  I feel mildly chuffed – also a bit weird, ’cause I can easily imagine studying a story like this in primary school! Thanks Leslie, thanks AME. I’m sure studying marine biology from a young age helped me write this story.

I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for bringing it to the world of audio, PodCastle.

#SFWApro

If this image puzzles you, you might find my post about writing this story useful

Since coming to America from Australia I’ve really missed an active reconciliation culture. There are many awesome activist things that happen here, but reconciliation is something that it’s important to me. It’s like breathing, it’s a fundamental part of the country that is inside me and the land I belong to. Sometimes it’s hard to talk about, fundamental things are like that. I end up having these long, complex conversations that are probably mystifying at the other end.  There’s still a part of me that feels empty when a meeting starts and there’s no acknowledgement of country, no respect paid to traditional custodians, the history and cost that gave us the opportunity to meet. …

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Substantial additions have been made to that blog post. You might like them.

Primary school kids are cool.

You are cool.

I am a member of SFWA, but I do not hold office. In this blog post I will refer to SFWA as we or us, that’s my SFWA, the reason I am a member of SFWA, a SFWA I share with other members and will fight for.

Dear people who have criticized SFWA, members* and non-members.

Thank you for your disappointment, your outrage, your eloquence, your passion around the Bulletin debacle. By taking the time to articulate your disappointment you help make SFWA a better organization. I know I am not the only SFWA member who has been following SFWA posts on twitter, paying attention to what happens on facebook, reading many many blog posts and participating in conversations in the SFWA forums**.

Your outrage helps us effect change. …

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Comic 130! Comic 130!!!!!!! I promised I would make 130 comics by June 23 and I did it!

For a bit I was drawing a comic every day and zooming ahead like a machine, then (just as a wise writer told me this was probably not a good long term strategy) my drawing fell over and I did close to nothing for two months. I hoisted myself back into the saddle and with more than a little fear in my eyes I’ve successfully put out one comic every two days.

We have ARRIVED!… but I don’t think we’re there yet, I think we’ll keep going. I think there’s a mountain over there that looks interesting. I think there’s a cardboard box with something scary inside. I think I don’t know what the road ahead looks like, but I’d like you to share it with me and I hope we’ll make some cool discoveries together.

If you have ideas about promotion, merchandise, cool things you’d like to see, please let me know.

Every year I’ve participated in the Clarion Write-a-thon – a six week, try to push yourself creatively to raise money for a good cause. Every year I’ve met great people, re-connected with friends, made art and told stories I never would have without the desperation of this challenge.

There’s a poem that I wrote standing on one foot that is better for the physical intensity of that challenge. Another poem that came out of my love letters to inanimate object series is now a crowd favorite at my readings, a poem that has caused people to discover that they actually like poetry. It’s a challenge that gave me permission to bring art back into my life as a regular, shared practice (something I’ll write about more in a few days).

I’ve signed up for the 2013 edition and I’m pretty excited by the new cute badges you can unlock!!! I’m kinda a sucker for them and it’s made me fill in my profile a bit more than I intended, just so I could see what happened after happy waggy puppy dogs.

This is my profile. Signups are now open and this year’s challenge begins on June 23. I’d love it if you could join me.