Liz Argall

I spent the afternoon at a school talking to super smart 4th graders about comics and art and stories. They asked really good questions and had terrific imaginations.

It was a lot of fun.

If you came here looking for advice on how to look cool in primary school (for boys or girls)… well chances are you probably are already cool, even if your classmates or other people around you don’t see it… or maybe see it but aren’t very good at telling you they see it… or they might even tell you, but it’s hard to notice because negative stuff can hurt so much.

The classroom I visited was full of kids I think were cool. Quiet shy kids trying to figure out how to say stuff that meant a lot to them are cool, loud boisterous kids all over the place are cool, musical kids, athletic kids, writing kids, drawing kids, thinking kids, scared kids. Every kid in that classroom was cool and if I have one regret it’s that I didn’t get to spend more time with each of them. There wasn’t time to get to know each unique person.

It’s easy to worry about fitting in, or feeling not seen, or seen in the wrong way. There’s no magical formula to being cool. I wasn’t cool in primary school, but I did work hard at being the best possible me I could be and find my own way. People seem to think I’m cool now and it’s a little confusing.

1) Say nice things to yourself. Amy Poehler has some good advice, for girls or boys (she has lots of other good advice too).

2) Know lots of people worry about things, lose sleep, cry, feel alone, and it’s ok to talk about it.  This read pretty true for me, it might read pretty true for you.

3) If you get a website address and put http://cat. at the beginning and .meowbify.com/ all the images on that website will turn into animated giffs of kittens. That’s pretty cool.

Here’s an example, this is my web comic website: http://www.thingswithout.com/

This is my web comic website meowbified http://cat.www.thingswithout.com.meowbify.com/

4) Learning circus skills can be fun, look cool (even if people don’t appreciate it now, people will appreciate it later) and learning to juggle can be difficult and frustrating, but good for your brain. I haven’t learned how to juggle, but I can twirl sticks and play spoons. I remember a cool kid at my school who could balance things on his nose. Find the circus skills that work for you. There are classes or you can teach yourself.

5) Also, hexaflexagons are cool.

I’ve recently taken to drawing during readings. I find it helps me stay alert and remember the key moments of the story. The drawings don’t have to be good, I just have to do them.

Drawing on the iPad has been freeing, it creates less mess, the smooth texture of stylus on glass is less distracting pencil or pen and there’s a sense of infinite canvas within a constrained ratio. I don’t feel like I’m wasting paper if I do a bad drawing or get bored and want to move on. I just make the layer I was drawing on invisible and create a fresh new layer to draw on.

Sometimes I find pleasing juxtapositions between the layers and merge me after the reading, making a new work that is the synthesis of several authors and stories.

During dinner on Saturday night I spent about half an hour trying to write a poem about the Tick, in response to a spontaneous challenge (dinner was full of superhero poetry). The Tick is such a profound entity that I ended up creating a visual poem. It was fun to generate a series of icons that tried to express some of the Tick’s square chinned surrealism. It’s possible that drawing might turn up somewhere, but it might not.

My favorite doodle of the convention was drawn during Jo Walton’s guest of honor speech. 

I love Jo’s elliptical talks of synthesis. Caring about characters, tools and tricks and not tricks, because who wants to manipulate the reader, what an effective manipulation!

Her talks are a process and a conversation that illuminate complimentary and contradictory facets of this wonderful world of writing.

Wiscon, the fab feminist fiction festival on matters speculative, interstitial and intersectional, is done for another year.

I’m in the airport at O’Hare and my flight boards in 10 minutes, but here’s the initial links I promised to folks during the Karen Axness panel.

Blog post wherein I ask for help around books to read and female writers to pay attention to. The comments section is FULL of excellent suggestions.

Twitter hashtags to pay attention to if you want book suggestions #womeningenre #womentoread

Comic Rocket. Amazing tool for keeping track of webcomics that maximizes benefit to the creators you love (RSS feeds are convenient, but not always the best for the creators in terms of web page hits) and helps you find other good comics. If you feel like keeping track of my webcomic through this tool you can do so here.

Information on Coverflip and what next?

The Goodreads list I put together in preparation for the panel. I will be adding to it when I get a moment to breathe.

Betsy Nails didn’t go to The Big O, but a certain Ichabod ‘splain had her announcing debut.
Not all has been uploaded, but this is what’s available so far.

Friday:
Arizona vs Sin City, first announcing gig ever! With the fabulous Fragglepuss the Chaste.

Humboldt vs Treasure Valley, with sophisticated man of mystery Phil Dirt

Saturday:
Lane vs Arizona with Phil Dirt again. Track 1 had its own live stream, so you won’t hear my words, but you will see Mike reffing

Sunday
Silicon Valley vs Slaughter County with .00 Buck. A bout with 100% more nso dancing and at one point I might have serenaded .00 Buck!

Wasach vs Victorian Roller Derby League with John Masterati
…. has not yet been uploaded!!! Soon, I am sure. What an honor to be part of this bout. I was a little bit terrified, but hopefully I did alright by my countrywomen.

Falling Leaves will be appearing in Apex Magazine!

If you’ve read (or heard at Pseudopod OR Dark Fictions) my story a Study in Flesh and Mind, the setting might be a little familiar.

Chances are you won’t actually get to read it until 2014, but I’m super happy that Apex accepted and it’s a joy to work with such smart, caring editors.

Championship Bout for the home teams tomorrow!!! eee!!! I’ll be there in my labcoat (penalty box and score keeping). There are still tickets available, so you can be there too :-)

And a new highlights reel with some big hits, including a ref take down.

See you at the after party?

In news that is rad, PodCastle will be doing an audio version of Mermaid’s Hook (you can hook your eyeball-meats into the text version over at Apex Magazine).

You might recall the awesome audio version they did of The Rugged Track (my Roller Derby Fairytale), so as you can imagine I’m quite excited to have a second story with such marvelous people. I wonder who will read my story? It’s a little bit scary and a little bit marvelous to hear someone else breathe life into your work.

edit: oop! And I’m reminded I never posted a link on my website to this wonderful review. Mermaid’s Hook listed as one of the best online stories in February and March at I09.

edit edit: And apologies for lack of clarity. I’m announcing a sale, not a story going live. I don’t know when Mermaid’s Hook will be available to do the kissing, just that it will be able to kiss your ear-meats at PodCastle in the near future.

When I get professionally jealous it’s often an exciting thing. “Wow! I never thought of doing that, that’s amazing!” But excitement can turn into sad feelings… “I don’t know if I’ll ever be awesome, eloquent and organized enough to use a moment in front of doorknockers to do the sort of tight exposition, character development and micro-tension that’s now sucking me through this book.”

Fortunately these moments of wonder/jealousy/despair are the perfect place to find a writing exercise. I’m going to try to do this exercise more often. I think it will make me think about language more, find unexpected angles and, most importantly, keep me playing. I think I’ve encountered this exercise in a few places, but Bruce Holland Rogers teaching an online Odyssey class really made it stick in my head.

The Exercise

Step 1: stumble across or remember a bit of writing/opening pages where you thought “damn, I wish I’d written that.”

Step 2: Set timer for 5 minutes. Starting at page 1/beginning of chapter/scene, type up a copy of those words.

Step 3: Set timer for 15 minutes. Looking at the words you just typed, focusing in at the sentence level structure write fresh sentences, but alter the meaning (or better yet, reverse it).

My example:

Step 1: Read Ironskin by Tina Connolly. Feel a twinge of jealousy, but move on to pride, happiness, admiration and longing.

Step 2: Set timer to 5 minutes and type like the wind!… there may be typos.

Ironskin, Chapter 1/ A House Cracked and Torn.
By Tina Connolly

The moor was grey, battlefield grey. It had been five years since the last fey was seen, but out here Jane could almost imagine the Great War still raged on. Grey mist drifted through the blackened trees, recalling the smoke from the crematory kilns. That was a constant smell in the last months of the war.

Jane smoothed her old pea coat, shook the nerves and fatigue from her gloved hands. She’d been up since dawn, rattling through the frostbitten February morning on smoky iron train and lurching motorcar, until now she stood alone on the moor, looking up at an ink black manor house that disappeared into the grey sky.

The manor had been darkly beautiful once, full of odd minarets, fanciful gargoyles, and carved birds and beast.
A chill ran down her spine as she studied the design of the house. You didn’t have to be an architecture student to recognized who had drawn up the plans for it. It was clear in the imprint of every tower and flying buttress, clear in the intricate blue glass windows, clear in the way the gargoyles seemed to ready their wings to swoop down on you.

The fey had designed this.

The frothy structures were still perfect on the south end of the building, on the carriage house. On the north the house had war damage. It had been bombed, and now only the skeleton remained, the scraggly back structure sharp and jagged, mocking its former grace and charm.

Just like me, Jane thought, Just like me.

The iron mask on her face was cold in the chill air. She wrapped her veil more tightly around her face, tucked the ends into the ends into the worn wool coat. Helen’s best, but her sister would have better soon enough.

*beep* *beep* *beep*  finish the sentence I’m typing and reset the timer.

Step 3: I thought about writing something with a fresh concept, but I’ve also been wanting to rework my novel, make it juicier, more emotionally vivid. Doing this kind of exercise to look at something I’ve “finished” is a first for me.  I took Tina’s alternative history Bronte post World War with the Fey and reversed many things to make a near future first contact science fiction.

New Scent of Memory fragment
by Liz Argall

The mountains reached for the sky, chasing the stars. It had been six months, she prided herself on no longer knowing the number of days, since Ambassador Hodge had been abducted by angry teens with AK47s, but when she looked at East Island she could not help but wonder what secrets its jagged hills hid. The chopper tilted and lurched, her body froze as it remembered her evacuation, stumbling down the mountain, whisked up and away to a debriefing that exchanged numbness for terror and blame. The pilot smoked apple scented cigarettes, she tried not to hate him for the sharp reminder.

Kristen pressed the headset against her ear, reassured by its muffling presence.

*beep* *beep* 15 mins already? But I want to keep writing. I love how the landscape and senses are doing more work. I like the way Kristen’s PTSD is influencing description and the opening line evokes astronomy and promises the stars. Reset the timer, I’ll keep going!

I’ve been trying to find other ways into my text and make it resonant. I’m pleased with the different angle and the words I never would have found if I hadn’t be joyfully jealous… although perhaps jealousy isn’t really the right word.

Pangfully admiring? Yes I like that, a hunger pang to be a better writer, a bit painful, quite delicious, and a call to action. I took what made me hungry and ate it! Nom nom nom.

I’ll be at the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum 5-8pm tonight. Rat City will be sharing the derby love during the Art of Computer Games exhibit. If you’re in town you might want to enjoy the late close as well as play a bunch of cool games.