Just Reviewed Katharine Eliska Kimbriel’s “Kindred Rites” at SBR
Folks, if you’re looking for an excellent young adult dark fantasy to read — one steeped in authenticity, that’s set in the 19th Century and is part of a subset of alternate histories now being called “frontier fiction” — you owe it to yourself to check out Katharine Eliska Kimbriel’s KINDRED RITES, which I reviewed tonight over at Shiny Book Review (SBR for short, as always).
Note that I enjoyed this book so much, I’ve reviewed it before the e-book edition is officially out. I found it to be one of the best, life-affirming fantasy novels I’ve ever read. Alfreda “Allie” Sorensson is the best type of heroine — she depends on her wits as much as her magic, she’s caring and compassionate yet is also no-nonsense in her approach to life — and kids of all ages should love this novel.
KINDRED RITES is an excellent book to read on a cold, winter’s night . . . or any night. So go discover this impressive book for yourself just as soon as the e-book edition is available for sale, OK?
Best of all, I’ve been reliably informed by Ms. Kimbriel that book three in Allie’s series (now being called the “Night Calls” series after the first book of Allie’s tale, NIGHT CALLS) is underway.
I can’t wait.
A-Rod, MLB, and PED Suspensions
Folks, over the last week or so, I’ve been riveted by the current contretemps over Major League Baseball’s suspension of New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (“A-Rod”) being upheld by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz . . . albeit not for the 211 games MLB wanted. Instead of 211 games, Horowitz reduced the suspension to 162 games — the length of a major league season — and further said that if the Yankees make the playoffs next year, Rodriguez would be ineligible for that as well.
I’ve written extensively in the past about Ryan Braun’s struggle with MLB over the same issues (go here, here and here for the three latest blogs on the subject), so if you’ve read my blog before, you know what I’m about to say.
But in case you haven’t, here goes:
I don’t approve of what MLB has done in paying off witnesses like Anthony “Tony” Bosch. I don’t approve of MLB purchasing stolen documents, either. And while I don’t approve of performance-enhancing drugs in the main, I think it’s wrong for MLB to go after one person — whether it’s Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, or anyone else — with so much vigor that they’re willing to do practically anything to “get their man.”
Stooping to the defense of “we’ll do anything necessary to stomp out PEDs” is not good enough. It’s a witch hunt, just as Rodriguez has said on many occasions. And I think Hardball Talk’s Craig Calcaterra was right when he said:
. . . I would not, if I were running Major League Baseball, have permitted my investigators to purchase the stolen Biogenesis documents. Maybe that costs me valuable information. Maybe that blows my case entirely. But I see no end result, including the possible failure to punish A-Rod, that is worth an organization under my command breaking the law, which I believe happened in this case. I also do my best to get better sourcing for the information my investigators obtained than guys named, simply, “Bobby.”
Even with the knowledge that Rodriguez could’ve and perhaps should’ve taken a much lesser suspension last spring (he apparently was offered a fifty-game suspension, this being the standard length for a first-time offender), I still believe that MLB’s actions were completely and utterly absurd — not to mention wrong.
That the World Anti-Doping Agency has come out in favor of the tactics behind the Rodriguez suspension only adds fuel to the fire. As discussed in this article from A.J. Cassavell over at MLB.com:
“The ‘clear and convincing evidence’ found by arbitrator Horowitz in this case proves that non-analytical methods have an increasingly important role to play in uncovering those athletes who have breached anti-doping rules,” (WADA President) Reedie said. “Sharing information and intelligence is something WADA continues to encourage its own stakeholders to do in order to help protect the rights of the clean athlete.”
Um, even when “non-analytical methods” include intimidating and browbeating witnesses in the court of public opinion, then paying the very witnesses MLB just spent a fortune to vilify? Even when MLB is buying stolen documents of unknown veracity, then using them to back up their claims that the athlete in question — in this case, Alex Rodriguez — is guilty as sin of using PEDs?
How could any of those things ever be right, regardless of what Rodriguez actually did while a patron of Bosch’s Biogenesis clinic?
Granted, MLB wants to rid the game of PEDs — but why do it this way?
Because there is another way, and that way is called education. If you let all the players know exactly what these various banned substances do in the body — if they’re truly deleterious in their effects — that should take care of a good part of it.
And maybe that’s all MLB can do. Because as broadcaster Keith Olbermann has said many times, there will never be a way to remove everything considered a “performance enhancer.” (KO has famously referred to an player who was known to have taken monkey testosterone — back in the 1890s.)
Years ago, baseball players took amphetamines to cope with the rigors of a 162-game season, and no one blinked an eye. Then, some players coped with the same rigors of a 162-game season by taking steroids — legal and illegal — because that was the only way they knew to keep their bodies in shape to play. (Note that the first player who admitted he took a steroid — a then-legal steroid called androstenedione — was Mark McGwire, who had well-known back problems.) Finally, some players — such as the recently-retired Andy Pettite — admitted using human growth hormone (HGH) in order to recover from injuries faster.
Now, all three of those substances are banned from baseball — though there are some workarounds for amphetamines in small doses with a doctor’s prescription. (For example, some baseball players have been approved to have Adderall to treat ADHD and/or narcolepsy; Adderall is a stimulant.)
Considering MLB’s current zeal and their scorched-earth philosophy when it comes to PEDs, will energy drinks that give players a natural “high” be banned next?
Don’t laugh. The World Baseball Classic banned albuterol because it helps asthmatic athletes breathe, so it obviously gives asthmatic athletes an unfair advantage. (I hope you can see my eye-roll from there.) And MLB has banned certain types of over-the-counter cold medicines, mostly because they contain a small dose of some form of stimulant.
All I know is this: Shaming people into doing something never works. MLB needs to educate the players in order to keep them away from PEDs, rather than shame them.
Maybe then, they’d actually get what they want — a PED-free game. And they’d not look so much like villains in the process.
U.S. Figure Skating Assn. Places Ashley Wagner on 2014 Olympic Team Despite Dismal 4th Place Finish at Nationals
Folks, right now I’m glad I write a blog where headline length is flexible. Because as you see, what just happened a few, short hours ago would strain the limits of most normal newspaper headlines — former United States champion Ashley Wagner, who finished way behind the top three finishers last night at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, was placed on the Olympic Team anyway and is going to Sochi.
Here’s what happened last night during the Ladies Long Program at the United States Figure Skating Championships in Boston — 18-year-old Gracie Gold won the gold medal with a technically challenging routine, 15-year-old Polina Edmunds won the silver medal with perhaps the most difficult routine, and 20-year-old Mirai Nagasu won the bronze medal in a complete upset. Heavily favored Ashley Wagner, a two-time national champion, finished fourth due to two major falls and under-rotating two other triple jumps instead.**
Usually, when there are three spots on the Olympic Team, the top three at the U.S. Nationals are the people who end up going. However, in this case, that did not happen.
Take a look at the point totals for these four women:
- Gracie Gold — 211.69
- Polina Edmunds — 193.63
- Mirai Nagasu — 190.74
- Ashley Wagner — 182.74
In particular, the difference between Edmunds in second place and Nagasu in third was only about three points. Edmunds competed in her very first senior-level event last night in Boston, and while she was impressive, it’s hard to believe she can duplicate her efforts in Sochi. (Mind you, I’d like her to do so — I felt she was light on her feet and had a good, musical style, to boot. But the reason Tara Lipinski’s 1998 Olympic gold medal is still celebrated so many years later is because what Lipinski did at the age of fifteen is rare.)
The U.S. Figure Skating Association thus had a choice: Were they going to name Wagner, who has been heavily promoted in NBC TV advertising? Were they going to name Nagasu, who despite not having a coach (an extreme rarity in elite figure skating) did exceptionally well? Were they going to confirm Edmunds despite her lack of international experience at the senior level?
In other words, the only lock here was Gracie Gold. She won the national championships, fair and square. She has international experience. She was going to Sochi, but everyone else was in doubt.
So when the USFSA decided to name Gold, Edmunds, and Wagner, at least a few eyebrows were raised.
Take a look at this article from Yahoo Sportswriter Martin Rogers:
Ashley Wagner was controversially named to the United States women’s Olympic team on Sunday despite her disappointing fourth-place finish at the U.S. Championships this weekend.
Wagner, the two-time U.S. champion and fifth-place finisher in the World Championships, was awarded the third spot on the roster just hours after being highly critical of her own effort at TD Garden, where the Nationals typically serve as the de facto Olympic trials.
Vancouver Olympian Mirai Nagasu finished third here but will miss out on Sochi, as Gracie Gold, 18, and Polina Edmunds, 15, were awarded the first two spots.
In previous years, the finishing order at the Nationals has generally been used to select the squad, with the only changes coming as a result of injury.
Rogers’ point is that Wagner finished fourth, so she doesn’t deserve to go.
Here’s an opposing view from internationally respected sportswriter Christine Brennan in an article written for USA Today last evening before the official selections were announced:
Ashley Wagner did not skate well Thursday night in the women’s short program at the U.S. figure skating Olympic trials, and she was even worse Saturday night, falling twice.
Still, U.S. Figure Skating should send her to the Sochi Olympic Games . . . One competition, even as big an event as the U.S. nationals, should not mar the best international resume among U.S. women over the past two years . . .
Here’s why the 22-year-old Wagner deserves to go even though she performed poorly here:
She was the two-time defending national champion who has by far the most impressive resume of the bunch. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Grand Prix Final and the bronze at last month’s 2013 Grand Prix Final. These are prestigious, important international events. She has finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at the last two world championships — the best of any American. New national champion Gracie Gold was sixth, right behind Wagner, at the 2013 worlds.
It should be noted that Wagner’s and Gold’s placements there earned the United States the third spot for the Olympic Games, the spot Wagner presumably would fill.
(Note: Ellipses and emphasis added by BC)
So Brennan’s contention is that Wagner is the most consistent of the U.S. ladies — something I firmly agree with — and that as Wagner was part of the reason why the U.S. got three spots in the first place, Wagner should represent the U.S.
My point is a little different, though. I’m not saying Wagner shouldn’t go. I’m saying Edmunds shouldn’t go, mostly because Edmunds has never before skated in a senior event. She may be the next Tara Lipinski, as she herself alluded to last night in NBC’s figure skating coverage — or she could be a huge bust.
Whereas Nagasu finished fourth in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, has proven herself as a figure skater despite all her recent inconsistency (much less her volatility in not currently having a coach), and more to the point is a bit older, besides.
So if you must pick between these four women — a strong supposition — you have consistent skaters in Gold and Wagner, and the biggest wild card extant in either Edmunds or Nagasu.
The USFSA picked Edmunds due to her youth. They figure she will improve. She also speaks Russian, has Russian family members, and probably will get more out of the trip on a personal level than Nagasu — all good.
But I still don’t like what the USFSA did. I think if they were bound and determined to pick Edmunds, they should’ve picked Nagasu as well even though it would’ve really upset the apple cart with NBC (not to mention Wagner, who’s highly regarded in the figure skating community) because logically, it doesn’t scan well any other way.
Because of what the USFSA did today — and the way in which they did it — has reminded me yet again that in figure skating, it’s not what you do so much as who you know that determines our Olympic Team.
And that’s sad.
————–
**Under-rotating jumps, for non-figure skating fans, basically means this — the jumps looked like triples to the naked eye. Wagner attempted to jump cleanly, but instead of the jump grading out as a triple (with three rotations in the air), it instead was a gussied-up double (meaning it was an over-rotated double or an under-rotated triple). Jumps such as these are counted as double jumps rather than triple jumps and get less credit from the judges thereby; further, such under-rotated jumps often get downgraded on the second mark (what used to be called artistic impression) as well in something called “grade of execution.” (Clear as mud, right?)
Wisconsin’s Winter Weather Nightmare
Folks, the weather here is brutal. I do not say this lightly.
Currently, it’s -13 F with a wind chill factor of -45 F. These are the worst conditions I’ve seen in thirty-plus years in any part of the Midwest — and considering I used to live in Nebraska, where it often gets colder than Wisconsin during the winter, that’s saying something.
Consider, please, that right now it’s warmer in Idaho than it is in Wisconsin. And that almost never happens.
This weather is not conducive toward much, I’m afraid. I’m trying to work, but am worried the power will go out. If it does, everyone in the outage area will be in deep trouble, as unlike our ancestors, we do not have wood-fired stoves or even pot-bellied stoves . . . we only have electric and gas stoves, which are much more dependent on external infrastructure than I like to contemplate under the circumstances.
Years ago, when I moved to Colorado with my ex-husband due to his military service, I was delighted to find that most Colorado apartments include fireplaces as a matter of course. That meant in a power outage, we’d not be in danger of cold. And even without a power outage, firelight is both calming and comforting, so it was definitely an excellent thing to have.
In Wisconsin, it’s very rare to find fireplaces included in apartments or homes unless you’re talking about someone very, very wealthy (which I’m not). But I’m betting many people — not just me — are wishing they had a fireplace right now, because the temperatures outside are so bad that everyone’s being advised to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.
Now, what does this mean in practical terms? It means that I’m sitting inside a house that’s struggling to keep the temperature up high enough to sustain human life, along with nearly every other home and apartment in the Midwest. And the resulting power drain has to be straining the electric company’s ability to cope.
This is why the following sentence keeps coming to mind:
WELCOME TO WISCONSIN’S WINTER WEATHER NIGHTMARE . . . ENJOY YOUR STAY!
Sent the baseball story to F&SF
Folks, I’m glad that editor C.C. Finlay said in his post announcing his guest editorship for the July/August issue of the greatly respected Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF for short) that he wanted to see some humor, because that’s what I do best. And after first readying the other story for F&SF (all I can tell you is that it’s science fiction, as that one’s off to the Writers of the Future contest, as I said before), I wasn’t sure what I could polish up in time to send, under the circumstances.
Then I remembered the baseball story.
I wrote the baseball story a couple of years ago for a humor anthology. It didn’t work for the editor of that anthology, possibly because it was shorter than I’d envisioned and cut it down to fit the anthology requirements. But once I’d fleshed it out, I sent it to a few of my writer-friends . . . and they laughed.
Mission accomplished, right?
Well, partially. You still have to make sure you send in a clean manuscript, which is why the “dusting and polishing” phase is mandatory, and you have to make sure you conform to whatever the formatting is the editor in question wants.
Here, that was not onerous; the editor wanted more-or-less standard formatting (double-spaced, Times New Roman or another font that’s unobtrusive, identifying marks as appropriate in case the story is printed out and the pages get separated, etc.). But sometimes it can be really interesting to get to that last phase — for example, if an editor wants a single-spaced manuscript with underlines around italics (yes, I’ve seen this, and as it’s actually how I tend to write e-mail because I’ve been writing e-mail since the Internet was first popularized — don’t tell anyone I’m actually that old, will you?), you have to give the editor what he wants or you have zero shot to sell a story to him.
(Or her.)
Anyway, the baseball story is off — and in case you’re wondering, it’s because of working on not one but two stories this past week that I wasn’t able to review anything over at Shiny Book Review. So do look for a book review (or maybe two, if I’m feeling ambitious) late next week . . . just in time for the deep freeze gripping much of the United States (and most definitely my home state of Wisconsin) to ease up a trifle.
So if you live anywhere in the frigid zone, do what I plan to do: Stay home, put up your feet, watch the Green Bay Packers game later today, then read several good books. That’s by far your safest option . . .
. . . but if you must go out, be sensible and have an emergency kit along for the ride (at bare minimum, the kit should include a blanket, some water, and some food in case of emergencies; if you have a candle, bring that along as well).
Chris Kluwe, Aaron Rodgers, LGBT Advocacy and the NFL
This was an odd week in the National Football League, wasn’t it?
First we had Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers come out and state emphatically for the record, “I really, really like women” in response to some Internet rumors regarding Rodgers’ sexuality. This was completely unprecedented, especially considering the fact his team is preparing for a huge playoff game this Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers — a team that beat the Packers, 34-28, earlier this season in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.
Usually, when teams prepare for big games, the last thing any player wants to do is talk about anything except the upcoming game. Even major stars like Rodgers generally try to sublimate their own concerns during football season, most especially during the playoffs.
So Rodgers doing this was strange, to put it mildly, and created a minor furor.
But that was nothing compared to the furor that occurred once former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe’s story at Deadspin about how he believes was fired from the Vikings partially because they didn’t like his advocacy for gay rights was published.
Here’s a bit from Kluwe’s first person account if you don’t believe me:
Throughout the months of September, October, and November, Minnesota Vikings special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer would use homophobic language in my presence. He had not done so during minicamps or fall camp that year, nor had he done so during the 2011 season. He would ask me if I had written any letters defending “the gays” recently and denounce as disgusting the idea that two men would kiss, and he would constantly belittle or demean any idea of acceptance or tolerance. I tried to laugh these off while also responding with the notion that perhaps they were human beings who deserved to be treated as human beings. Mike Priefer also said on multiple occasions that I would wind up burning in hell with the gays, and that the only truth was Jesus Christ and the Bible. He said all this in a semi-joking tone, and I responded in kind, as I felt a yelling match with my coach over human rights would greatly diminish my chances of remaining employed. I felt uncomfortable each time Mike Priefer said these things.
Kluwe’s indictment is incendiary, but rings true from my perspective as a long-term fan of the NFL. But it’s a sad commentary on our life and times, isn’t it?
What irks me so much about both these stories is this: It doesn’t have to be this way. Not even in the NFL.
Seriously, Rodgers’ sexual orientation is no one else’s business. If he’s gay, bisexual, straight, Martian — who cares? He’s a football player and is paid to win games.
As for what Kluwe says, and how outspoken he’s been about saying it, again, who cares? He always was careful, as he points out in his article for Deadspin, to speak only for himself — not for the Vikings. And his own former team owner, Zygi Wilf, actually complimented Kluwe on Kluwe’s stance — so if the coaches had a problem with it, especially if Kluwe continued to perform well on the field, why?
Then, contrast the two above stories with this story about the 1993 Houston Oilers, which apparently had two openly gay players on the roster. No one cared, because they played good football. They were excellent teammates. And their sexual orientation was no one else’s business but theirs.
For all the progress we’ve made in the 21st Century regarding LGBT rights, it seems ridiculous that someone like Kluwe would be fired for his advocacy of same when in 1993, no one on the Oilers cared two figs about anyone’s sexual orientation.
If the 1993 Oilers could get it right, why can’t the 2013 Vikings?
And why, oh why, would any player (much less Rodgers) believe it’s more important to talk about his rumored sexual orientation than the job he’s being paid to do, preparing for this week’s football game?
Are these two stories part of a counter-reaction to the progress that’s been made regarding LGBT rights? Significantly, is it a backlash against Jason Collins, who came out as gay last year? Is it a backlash against soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Robbie Rogers, who’ve also come out as gay?
Is the NFL so afraid that one of its current players may come out as gay or bisexual that it’s imperative for Rodgers to interrupt his training regimen to insist that he “really likes women?”
And why couldn’t Kluwe find a job in the NFL as a punter despite being one of the better punters in the NFL for years? The NFL’s supposed to be a results-driven league, right?
Anyway, the crux of all three stories is this:
The 1993 Oilers were right. The 2013 Vikings were wrong. And Rodgers shouldn’t need to say anything about his sexual orientation, ’cause no one should care two flying figs providing he’s doing the job on the field.
Why the NFL doesn’t seem to understand this is beyond me.
Finished a New Story . . .
Happy New Year, everyone!
Now that I’ve gotten the good wishes out of the way, it’s time to talk turkey. I haven’t blogged much over the past ten days because of the holidays. I had to take some time off, because the pace of the last year, post-bronchitis anyway, was almost too hectic to be borne.
But for whatever reason, idle time and me just do not seem to go together. So I had the idea for a new story — well, new to me, anyway, as it’s based on an unfinished story of my late husband Michael — about a week ago. I adapted Michael’s story and used about 3,000 words of it, then wrote 6,000-plus words around it to make it all fit.
Note I’m not giving you too many details of this story. There’s a reason for that — I was attempting to send it to the Writers of the Future (WotF) contest in order to make one, final try.
Those of you who’ve read my blog for a while know full well I’ve been entering that contest for eleven solid years. I haven’t sent in a submission every single quarter, no. But every year, I’ve sent in at least one story.
And every time, my entry sunk like a stone.
This year, my story was ready at 11:50 p.m. on New Year’s Eve PST, which is the time zone of the WotF website. (Note that it was 1:55 a.m. New Year’s Day CST, in my own time zone.) So I went to the WotF website, and attempted to upload my file.
. . . but nothing happened.
Why? Well, the site had inexplicably decided to stop accepting submissions early. Usually, they will accept up until 11:59:59 p.m. PST (that is, eleven fifty-nine and fifty-nine seconds), but not this time.
So after all that work, my lovely 8600-word story (I pruned 1000 words on the advice of my long-suffering friend and first reader) didn’t end up getting sent.
Talk about frustration.
I did, of course, let WotF know that their site did something hinky and I wasn’t able to get my submission in through no fault of mine. But it’s like spitting in the wind. They’re most likely going to say that I can send the story in for the next quarter (once it opens; the site is still not up as of this hour, though normally it would be as the new quarter has started and submissions usually start right away at the stroke of 12:00:00 a.m. PST), so I should just do that.
But as the first half of ELFY should be out in early April (meaning it could be out by the end of March, as publication dates can be flexible on either end), I most likely will be ineligible.
So this was my last try . . . in more ways than one.
For those of you who’ve never submitted anything to WotF, you might be wondering why this is. I’m still a writer who most people don’t know about, I haven’t made many Science Fiction Writers of America-eligible sales (two, now, though the first was shared with Michael so it technically counted as half a sale), and I certainly could use the exposure and help that winning any prize in the WotF contest could bring.
But once you’ve published a novel — whether it’s self-publishing or traditional publishing — you are ineligible.
That’s why my niece, Jennifer Lunde, is ineligible; she self-published her novel PULSE through Lulu back in 2010. That’s one reason my friend Jason Cordova is ineligible, though he’s actually eligible to apply for the SFWA as he has at least six qualifying sales to his credit by my count, as Twilight Times Books — which is as reputable a small press as they come, and is now my professional home as well — published his novel CORRUPTOR in 2010.
But maybe there’s a silver lining in the fact I couldn’t get my story into the WotF contest.
The venerable magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF) has announced they’re going to have a guest editor, C.C. Finlay, for it’s July/August 2014 issue (details can be found here). Better still, Finlay will be accepting electronic submissions — a first for F&SF — between January 1 and January 14 of this month.
Mind you, F&SF has never been interested in anything I’ve sent them, just as WotF has never been interested, either. But it’s a New Year, I’m an optimist, and I believe my time is now.
So what are my plans at this point for my poor, beleaguered story? If WotF won’t accept it, I will send it to Mr. Finlay in the next few days.
Wish me luck?
Just Reviewed two of Stephanie Osborn’s Stories at SBR
Folks, I’m pleased to report that I reviewed two of Stephanie Osborn’s stories this evening, these being THE MORE THINGS CHANGE and EL VENGADOR to be exact. Please stroll on over to Shiny Book Review (SBR for short, as always) and take a look at tonight’s review.
And due to a brief conversation with Ms. Osborn just a few minutes ago, I learned that THE MORE THINGS CHANGE is currently priced only ninety-nine cents . . . but that price will go up at 12:00 a.m. PST to $1.99, then go up to its regular price ($2.99) at 12:00 p.m. PST. So if you’re in the mood for an interesting, well-researched and fun read about a plausible alien society with a solid, hard scientific background, you might want to go take a gander at THE MORE THINGS CHANGE.
And, of course, if you’re in the mood for some intelligent horror of the paranormal variety, you may well be intrigued by Ms. Osborn’s EL VENGADOR.
Thus ends tonight’s public service announcement.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 