All posts by Carl V. Anderson

Art/Photography

The Creative Act of Giving

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“The value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.”
~Albert Einstein

I do not share this sort of thing often here at Stainless Steel Droppings, but there are times when something comes along that you cannot help but share. The TalyaWren ‘Zine Project is one such thing. If you haven’t had the privilege of visiting the Omphaloskepsis website, you are missing out. “L” is a true kindred spirit. Her book and film reviews make me want to be a better writer and, unfortunately for her, often generate long rambling comments from me.

Last year “L” and her daughter “N” (do you feel like we are in an episode of Sesame Street?) created a marvelous little ‘zine as a ‘thank you’ gift for those who contributed to her fund-raising efforts to go on a German exchange program. I am always in the mood for supporting adventurous young people and was thrilled to help out and to receive last year’s ‘zine.

This year “L” and “N” decided to get others involved while at the same time making an impact in the lives of people in need. To that end I asked “L” to sit under the grilling interview lamp and answer a few questions about the latest TalyaWren ‘zine and what you can do to get your own copy…and perhaps win a cool prize in the bargain.

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Book Reviews, Fantasy

Neverwhere Group Read, The Conclusion

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(Image: A Gift from Old Bailey, Carl V., 2011)

It is with a touch of sadness–that satisfying yet melancholy feeling–that we say goodbye to Richard Mayhew and to Lady Door, to the Marquis de Carabas and to Old Bailey, to the two delightful villains Croup and Vandemar and to the world of London Below. It always pains me a bit to say farewell, after all these are friends of more than a decade who I have visited time and time again. The great pleasure of the written word is that you can actually return and visit your friends. With the passage of time you have changed, and so have they, and the discovery that despite those changes those friends continue to matter is one of the treasures of reading.

It was a great privilege to be able to go on this journey with Richard and Door with all of you. Some of you were returning for a repeat visit, such as I was, and others were taking this journey for the first time. Some of you were touched by the magic of Neverwhere, and others weren’t. This too is one of the treasures of reading–no two people experience the story in the same way.

I had decided that in lieu of specific questions this week, we would culminate this group read with each individual taking their own direction with what they wanted to share. I did suggest that I would be most curious to know how readers thoughts and feelings about particular characters were affected by the events in this final section of the book. Beyond that, let’s just chat about Neverwhere.

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Book Reviews, Fantasy, Young Adult

The Freedom Maze ~Delia Sherman

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The Freedom Maze is the story of thirteen-year old Sophie Fairchild Martineau, a girl on the verge of young adulthood growing up in the racially divided South of the early 1960’s. In the aftermath of her parents’ divorce, she is trundled off by her mother to spend the summer on what is left of the family estate in the Bayou. To say that she is unhappy about this state of affairs would be an understatement. With the awkwardness and emotional volatility that only adolescence can bring, Sophie’s situation becomes increasingly more intolerable. One of the few remnants of the estate’s plantation days is a maze, overgrown but still very enticing for a girl looking to have an adventure. That adventure begins in the form of a disembodied, enigmatic voice that later materializes as a Creature Sophie could not have dreamed up in her wildest imaginings. A rash wish born out of anger and frustration causes the Creature to intervene, sending Sophie back 100 years into her past. There she discovers a vibrant, working plantation and gets to experience first hand what slavery was like for both her ancestors and their slaves, for in this past Sophie Martineau is not welcomed as a member of the family, but is instead mistaken for a runaway slave.

By the description you might think this would be the kind of book a forty-something male who reads predominately science fiction and fantasy would not gravitate towards. And you would be correct. Curiosity got the better of this cat when Delia Sherman won the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy at the Nebula Awards ceremony on May 19th. That win propelled me to investigate The Freedom Maze, and something about the cover image and the idea drew me right in.

I was entranced. I had to go into that maze. What I found there was a doorway to a thoroughly satisfying, richly detailed adventure.

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Home

Two Decades

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I am old. I know you didn’t realize that (despite my reminding you ever so often), but I am. On this lovely Friday my daughter is no longer a teenager. She is 20 years old. Though hard to fathom, it was two decades ago in Tulsa, OK that I woke early to take my darling, very pregnant wife to the hospital, where we spent the best part of the day waiting on our little bundle of joy who was apparently in no big hurry to see the light of day. We were parents who wanted to be surprised, so we did not inquire about the sex of our child and instead prepared names for either. I had wanted a girl from the start and was convinced the whole time that a girl it would be. I could never settle on any boy names that I really liked and in the end was not overly concerned because I just knew that I knew that a girl was on the way. Even at the last the doctor said, “It’s going to be a boy”. Although it doesn’t happen nearly often enough, I love being right. 🙂

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Art/Photography

John Picacio: An Artist’s View of Spectrum Fantastic Art Live

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(Eddard Stark, copyright 2011, image created for 2012 A Song of Ice and Fire calendar)

John Picacio is an award-winning illustrator and quite possibly the most friendly person you will ever meet if you ever have the privilege of meeting him. I’ve corresponded with John on his website, through Facebook, and Twitter for a few years now as he is an artist whose work I admire. Late last year when I learned he would be attending the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event in May 2012, I immediately shot him a message that I would be tracking him down when the moment arrived.

That moment arrived minutes before the doors opened at the start of the event of May 18th, when I saw John walking down the hallway outside the main venue. In a moment of boldness I called out his first name and proceeded to introduce myself with a hand outstretched. John immediately identified me as the host of this blog and brushed off the handshake for a hearty embrace. That is John all over. As I wandered the convention floor I would see John embracing fans, giving them a pat on the shoulder, devoting his full attention to them and, if my personal experiences are any judge, making their day. That brief introduction emboldened me for the remainder of the weekend as I spent time not only conversing with John, but also with artists I’ve followed for decades and others whose work was new to me at the show.

John Picacio was an ambassador for the open, friendly interactions that would come to be the hallmark for this 3-day art extravaganza. I had such a strong emotional reaction to the event that I knew I would have to blog about it in shorter increments and one of the things I hoped to do was to offer a few artists the chance to share about their own personal experiences at the show. John Picacio was the natural choice to kick this off.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you John Picacio:

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