L Jagi Lamplighter is taking recommendations for a list of superversive books over at superversivesf. The idea is to create a resource for people to find excellent and superversive stories they may not have heard about before, and introduce worthy works to new audiences. If you have any you would like to suggest for consideration, head on over there and add your recommendations in the comments.
The Forbidden Thoughts Launch party will begin at 2pm Eastern time, or just under an hour after this is posted, featuring a large number of guests and almost all the contributors to the anthology, who will be appearing and leaving in stages. I will be making my appearance at around 3pm Eastern Time, with the whole event lasting well past 6 pm.
Click on the image below to head over to SuperversiveSF and follow the livestream:
The SuperversiveSF livestream for this month is to be a Launch Party for Forbidden Thoughts, starting at 2pm Eastern Time on Friday 20th January, and will feature as many contributors to the anthology as possible coming and going, plus some guests to discuss the stories. There is a possibility of Milo Yiannopolos making an appearance as well, though that is yet to be confirmed. The Livestream can be followed from here:
http://superversivesf.com/2017/01/17/forbidden-thoughts-launch-party/
*edit* oops, miscalculated the time, the title has been corrected.
The Conservative Libertarian Fiction Alliance is doing its January Booknado, featuring Forbidden Thoughts and other worthy titles
Stale, formulaic, establishment fiction cannot resist this gale-force gust of alternative storytelling. Why let Big Publishing’s cabal of easily-triggered Brooklynites decide what you get to …
Source: New books! Kindle deals! It’s the January CLFA Booknado!
Book Horde has some very positive things to say about Beyond the Mist, and heartily recommends it for a wide range of readers.
This is a good story, with great world-building, and subtle Christian themes. I really liked that I can read it strictly for the story, and later I can think about the moral themes and questions it raises.
You can read the whole review over here, or click the image below to take a look for yourself:
Listening to music can be therapeutic, soothing, invigorating, inspiring, heartbreaking, or depressing, much like reading or listening to a story. In fact Hans Zimmer once said that in all the music he composes his primary purpose is to tell a story, despite using no words. Listening to one of his most famous pieces (that accompanies one of the great movie endings of all time) inspired this little effort of mine below. In Zimmer’s piece, and the film, the hero is faced with a situation where all seems lost. He did everything he could, but all he has worked for has crumbled to dust before his eyes. He sees the situation for what it is, absorbs this devastating news, and yet he still finds the strength to keep going, even to sacrifice himself and his reputation to save people he will never meet, who will almost certainly never even know, let alone appreciate, what he did for them. He is able to do it quickly this time, because he’s done it before. In these respects, these few minutes are a microcosm of his entire heroic journey.
As the piece played I was struck by the ways in which it mirrored some of my own experiences (except it took me far longer to gather up the strength to keep going, and my behaviour has been far less heroic). It encourages me to keep going, to do better, to come closer to the good example set.
This is the power of story, of archetypes, of strong heroic characters, of good examples. Let us make more of them.
My piece set to Zimmer’s music can be found here, with the lyrics below that
I have known despair, and I will not promote it.
I have known pain, and I will not glorify it.
I have known false hope, and I will not encourage it.
I have known cowardice, and I will understand, but not praise it.
I have known self-loathing, and I will not romanticize it.
I have known brokenness, defeat, lostness, and yet emerged on the other side, not unscathed, but grown.
I have known failure, and I will learn from it.
I will defend the truth.
I will not abandon my allies.
I will keep learning, and admit when I am wrong.
I will advocate for genuine hope.
I will praise and strive to create beauty.
I will call for courage in matters great and small.
I will seek to repair the damage I have caused.
I will seek to restore friendships.
I will console those who suffer.
I will encourage those who feel they can’t go on, for I have walked that path.
The paperback version of Forbidden Thoughts went live this morning. Click the image below to order yourself a copy.
You are not supposed to read this book.
You are not supposed to think about reading this book
In fact, just plain thinking at all is not allowed.
You have been warned…
The Zwyckyverse 