tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80855772012-02-03T01:28:20.478Z... rantings, ravings and ramblings of strange fiction writer and carnival freak, Hal DuncanHal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.comBlogger7541100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-82099458087218955132012-02-03T01:19:00.002Z2012-02-03T01:28:20.484Z

Daleko, daleko temuDaleko, daleko temu żył sobie raz – a może dwa lub trzy razy – zabawkarz z piękną żoną i czarującą córką. Później żył sobie zabawkarz z czarującą córką. Później żył już tylko zabawkarz, sam po pogrzebie, gdy wszyscy żałobnicy już wyszli, ubrany w swój najlepszy czarny garnitur, siedział bez ruchu na zasłanym łóżku w zimnym pokoju, w cichym domu, po prostu siedział,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-24528388376175484142012-01-29T20:05:00.001Z2012-01-29T20:07:05.451Z

I decided to do a reading for your viewing pleasure.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-82428822132093370522012-01-24T16:04:00.002Z2012-01-24T16:14:29.303Z

The clue is in the title. Yes, the jury for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards are currently considering the various nominees, but in order to give prizes to the winners they need money. So, a fundraiser is afoot in which you can win prizes. I'm donating a signed copy of my poetry collection, Songs for the Devil and Death, and I note that Steve Berman of Lethe Press has donated a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-54868737185525861292012-01-23T01:45:00.002Z2012-01-23T01:55:49.686Z

At some point I'll probably pick up where I left off before Christmas with my ramblings about mnemes and semes and whatnot. There is a big post on memes sitting half-done in Scrivener. But at the moment, I'm sworn to get my shit together and finish the fucking novel. So needless to say I procrastinated and updated the "Online Fiction" links to include my story from the latest Cabinet des Fées, "

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-55663532838167371022012-01-03T01:22:00.003Z2012-01-03T02:36:10.443Z

Having returned from my annual Hogmanay jaunt with mates to a remote cottage -- in the wilds of Dumfries and Galloway this year -- I just thought a quick wee post was in order to say Happy New Year to yez all.Unfortunately, my MacBook seems to have become a boddhisatva with the end of the festive period, extinguishing all ego in the form of the letter "i," so emphasis on the wee. Oh, it survived

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-85599726902563873852011-12-24T01:18:00.002Z2011-12-24T01:34:05.463Z

The Philosophy of the ExperientialIn a previous entry, I kicked the notion of qualia around a bit and ended up with the notion of the aestheme, a term paralleling words such as phoneme or grapheme and basically decomposing to aesthetic morpheme. What with semes in the mix too, it looks like rhyme is the name of the game here, but hey, works for me. Besides, qualia sounds like a fucking Roman

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-11505842866398509832011-12-21T08:17:00.000Z2011-12-21T08:18:03.792Z

Seeing an acerbic comment on Twitter the other day on the "atheist faith" having religious features in the shape of apostolic figureheads and a persecution complex, part of me thinks I can appreciate a skepticism as regards some hardline proselytisers who scorn all doubt of their position being the only legitimate position. Part of me, on the other hand, is well aware that I am myself a fairly

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-19749032432336680822011-12-16T16:06:00.002Z2011-12-16T16:20:00.293Z

Once upon a time, there was a Big Bad Wolf, a cultivated guy, top hat and tails, but a bit of a cad, a cur, a bounder, not a bad sort per se, but of dubious scruples and instatiable appetites, a propensity for exotic narcotics and avante garde Swedish art magazines featuring young male cyclists in sundry stages of undress. He came to me, he did, in the bathroom mirror one day, saying, Where

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-75992486433671815682011-12-15T17:01:00.002Z2011-12-15T17:05:44.443Z

Position, Supposition and PresuppositionFor a while now I've been toying with the notion of what I call a suppositional logic, a model of reasoning protocols that doesn't so much drop the strictures of logic as thrashed out over the centuries as take a step back to consider that tradition in the context of natural language with its epistemic and alethic modalities, modalities of actuality and

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-308397157386411322011-12-14T01:32:00.001Z2011-12-14T01:34:07.085Z

Some Hypothetical HoojamaflipsSo the last few posts have taken swings at universals and objects, and out of that I've found myself fucking around with an idea of narrative as how we ideate sensation into entity -- which begs the question of just what sensation is. I guess that puts qualia next in the firing line, these hypothetical hoojamaflips in which the physicalist philosophy (where there are

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-47797477478779065212011-12-13T04:09:00.001Z2011-12-13T04:09:58.278Z

Narrative as Experience, Experience as NarrativeSo where to from here? (From here, here and here, that is, if you haven't been following along.) We've got substantia as a start point -- stuff actually instantiated within the frame of events, the flux of activity, material spatiotemporal reality. We've got the entire vocabulary of objects abandoned for one of collective entity as a conceit based

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-67142273746218849542011-12-12T07:05:00.000Z2011-12-12T07:06:00.900Z

Pixie Farts and ParticlesHmmm. I seem to be slowly drifting into a philosophical kitbashing mode here. This is what happens when you read too much of PKD's Exegesis (... so to speak. As if one could ever really read too much of the Exegesis. Feh!) Anyway, fuck it. Let's run with the whole freeform ontological jazz riff, see where we get to from Plato's Cave and an OOP-principled take on

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-73879526210653229822011-12-09T02:17:00.002Z2011-12-09T03:01:37.580Z

Types, Properties and RelationsFollowing on from the previous post on Plato's allegory of the cave, I thought I'd dig a little deeper into the whole notion of the morphological realm -- the realm of forms -- in particular the so-called "problem of universals," the question curiously belaboured through the history of philosophy as to whether types like "human," properties like "redness," or

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-6856784072148716622011-12-08T03:42:00.001Z2011-12-08T03:45:32.528Z

Why then, good Plato -- my apologies... "Socrates" -- why then, it only need be asked if the prisoners' own shadows should not also be cast upon this cave wall before them, for surely the fire behind these men must shine its light upon their backs in just such a manner as it illuminates this unseen procession passing upon the walkway hidden behind them, where they cannot turn their heads to see,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-27919288862050124862011-12-02T19:23:00.000Z2011-12-02T19:26:16.879Z

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-64941816848678763132011-11-30T16:48:00.002Z2011-11-30T17:06:14.289Z

That G-Plan video, by the way, came courtesy of a literary friend, one Timothy J. Jarvis, who's currently engaged in an interesting project. As it says in the About section of his blog, Treatises on Dust:In 2001, an anonymous manuscript, entitled ‘The Legion Lost’, came into his hands. It evoked a shudder of the uncanny, for it describes fantastic events, but in such a way as to seem more

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-55291944644966449292011-11-26T00:11:00.001Z2011-11-26T00:13:18.903Z

The sadly missed G-Plan.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-14484104225544735112011-11-21T19:01:00.001Z2011-11-21T19:02:25.118Z

A reminder for Wednesday coming:WOUNDED KNEEHAL DUNCANANDREW RAYMOND DRENNANDE SELBYWhere?The 13th NoteWhen?8:30, Wednesday 23rd NovemberWhoWhatWhichHuh?To lazily quote the venue copy:WOUNDED KNEE - The much celebrated Wounded Knee is Drew Wright, a singer and experimental vocalist now based in Glasgow who has been active since 2004. Drawing from a variety of influences his music ranges from

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-37352568660917468012011-11-20T19:38:00.002Z2011-11-20T19:39:44.534Z

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-66903126785554678222011-11-18T20:30:00.002Z2011-11-18T20:58:38.820Z

Rereading PKD's "Cosmogony & Cosmology" essay, and Sutin's edit of the Exegisis, In Pursuit of Valis. Just started the new Jackson & Lethem edit. Having been bumped out of the latest novel project midway through draft 2 by a couple of outstanding MS critiques, birthday celebrations and sundry other interruptions, I reckoned this should be a good way to get back into the spirit, since the project

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-68414470196165158722011-11-09T04:26:00.003Z2011-11-09T05:11:26.346Z

Not just one but two -- count em, TWO -- evenings of spoken word shenanigans for THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan!! coming up this month, for them what's in Glasgow and inclined to pop out of an evening. First off, I'll be at:Where?The GarageWhen?8:00, Thursday 17th NovemberWhoWhatWhichHuh?Expect a Hal resplendent in top hat and tails. The somewhat scruffy top hat and tails of a rather dubious

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-10213325819977707102011-11-06T17:42:00.002Z2011-11-06T17:46:39.010Z

... looks pretty fucking cool.Nuff said.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-29394871688461433252011-10-25T02:30:00.002+01:002011-10-25T02:38:16.302+01:00

Over on Deborah Biancotti's blog, I was asked the question, How do you deal with creative exhaustion?I answered... and in a single paragraph! Unprecedented!Man, I'm getting so good at being concise these days. I've managed to boil the last few months-worth of waffle down to, like, three blog entries or something.*ahem*Well, I'm busy finishing the second draft of an actual novel, so I have a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-64212431521254004452011-10-21T17:06:00.002+01:002011-10-21T17:09:34.081+01:00

The Universal are apparently lousy fucking cancelling fuckers.The Eschaton has been relocated to McPhabbs.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-41672608693254465592011-10-13T23:40:00.003+01:002011-10-14T01:34:58.344+01:00

Yes, THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan!! shall be turning 40 on the 21st October, which is also, according to Harold Camping the END OF THE WORLD. Coincidence or Coming-of-Age? Providence or prophecy fulfilled in the ascension of The Antichrist Himself? Me, I can neither confirm nor deny that my mother's name is indeed Rosemary, or that my true name is in fact that adopted in loving tribute by the

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-7738337935425231582011-10-05T20:09:00.000+01:002011-10-05T20:10:27.586+01:00

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-38015097712168182902011-09-07T16:30:00.002+01:002011-09-07T17:40:16.021+01:00

So last night's Literary Death Match was a total blast. I headed through early with Paul Cockburn to avoid Scotrail's peak hour price hike, which meant time for a couple of pints in a pub round the corner, before grabbing another pint and a snack to line the stomach in the Voodoo Rooms. Where I met the charming Vikki Reilly, who was organising the Edinburgh event, and the equally charming Todd

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-44534245617185408842011-09-03T18:37:00.002+01:002011-09-03T18:45:34.927+01:00

By way of Nick Mamatas here's a link to an article about "literary" writers turning to "genre" fiction that, for a change, doesn't make me want to stick knitting needles up my nose and jiggle them until my prefrontal cortex dribbles out my nostrils: Once upon a time, genre was treated as almost a different industry from literary fiction, ignored by critics, sneered at by literary writers,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-90877012355517477272011-08-26T16:04:00.003+01:002011-08-26T16:33:45.669+01:00

Anyone who isn't all Edinburghed out after the Fringe: I'll be through on the 6th of September in the Voodoo Rooms for Literary Death Match. Which is to say, I'll be going mano-a-mano against another writer (Doug Johnstone, Sophie Cooke or Katerina Vasiliou), slugging it out in the medium of spoken word, hoping to make it to the decider round which, by the sounds of it, could be anything from a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-68826512982382210732011-08-22T18:47:00.000+01:002011-08-22T18:49:16.124+01:00

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A scene: The floor now, all our hands, the cups -- all clean. With garland blooms one servant crowns our heads; The other passes perfume dish of myrrh. With mixing bowl, the jar sits, wine honey-sweet As its aroma, blossoms, in our midst. Frankincense also scents the room, and see: Springwater for the wine, fresh, pure and cold,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-10651897812207752162011-08-15T15:55:00.002+01:002011-08-18T16:13:48.193+01:00

You may have heard of the UK lawsuit where a judge just awarded £65,000 to a writer wronged by a review. Long story short, Sarah Thornton’s book, Seven Days in the Art World, was reviewed in the Daily Torygraph by Lynn Barber, one of the people she interviewed for it. In her takedown of the book, Barber explicitly said she couldn’t trust Thornton’s claims regarding her rigorous research. Why

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-67523104359275065132011-08-12T16:16:00.007+01:002011-08-13T18:00:19.873+01:00

Over at The Mumpsimus, Matt Cheney links to an article of his on the 25th anniversary of the movie, Stand By Me. He writes of how no film "had ever seemed more real to [him], more true, more beautiful," recalls listening to the soundtrack and his dad's old 45s from the same era, muses on how the death of River Phoenix now shades the ending, on the "naked artificiality" he appreciates now in a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-15573452741492881942011-08-09T16:34:00.003+01:002011-08-09T17:00:41.016+01:00

On Saturday I had a book launch! I read my book! I did out loud though, or it would have been boring for everyone else. I gesticulated! Usually more wildly than that. That might have been the "being fellated" gesticulation during "Sonnets for Kouroi Old and New." People listened! I took my jacket off cause it was hot cause there was so many people listening! They didn't have to listen

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-90850672892104917152011-07-30T15:05:00.002+01:002011-07-30T15:18:11.778+01:00

... has a relaunched website, as part of the transition from print to online zine. And John Klima has started posting some fiction flashbacks, one being to my very own "The Chiaroscurist." Quoth John:Many years ago, in 2004, I got annoyed with a spelling bee. It was what the bee used when a contestant asked for the word to be used in a sentence: “the autochthonal fauna of Australia includes the

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-52800159091145526192011-07-25T13:35:00.001+01:002011-07-25T13:36:36.678+01:00

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-80831241593875799502011-07-23T21:28:00.002+01:002011-07-23T21:32:08.620+01:00

Obrazy ich Pragnienia– Oka Wejrzenie – powiedziała Flashjackowi wnuczka brata jego dziadka (przybrana), Pebbleskip – to miejsce, w którym ludzie przechowują Obrazy swojego Pragnienia, czyli wszystkie rzeczy, na których najbardziej im zależy, na widok których odebrało im mowę. Na przykład malowidło czy rzeźbę, skrzynię pełną złota i klejnotów, albo walizkę pełną tysiąc-jakichkolwiek banknotów

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-58378902437318008232011-07-18T15:17:00.004+01:002011-07-18T15:26:33.035+01:00

is now available from Papaveria Press:Table of Contents Lucifer RisenFrom the Fragments of HeraklitosWakeSonnet 14Sonnet 15Sonnets for Kouroi Old and NewSonnet 28Sonnet 29AmoricaSonnet 42Sonnet 43Still LivesSonnet 56The Rock of Carrion’s KingsSonnet 70Sonnet 71Sonnets for OrpheusSonnet 84Sonnet 85The Fiddler and the DogsThe Lucifer Cantos

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-53944252752890381032011-07-02T13:47:00.003+01:002011-07-02T13:54:03.359+01:00

Bartosz Szczyżański: Jak ważną rolę w twoich tekstach odgrywa kompozycja? Zarówno w Welinie, jak i w Atramencie budowa cechowała się dużą regularnością, bez mała matematyczną precyzją. Taki rygor pomaga czy raczej przeszkadza w pisaniu?Hal Duncan: Tak, uważam swoje kreacje za obłożone wieloma formalnymi ograniczeniami. W Welinie oraz Atramencie regularność była odbiciem konceptu Księgi wszystkich

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-30281948342522000432011-06-16T16:03:00.002+01:002011-06-16T16:15:02.467+01:00

This is the cover for the poetry collection coming from Papaveria in July, in a nice paperback edition that won't break the bank. Contains Sonnets for Orpheus, The Lucifer Cantos and more... such as the somewhat ribald (i.e. downright filthy) Sonnets for Kouroi Old and New, for example, which some of you Glaswegians out there may have seen me perform in various venues.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-91180512567067091122011-06-15T17:19:00.004+01:002011-06-15T17:40:39.519+01:00

News #1: Yep, the latest Icarus is now out, with a story by yours truly, "Broken Hearts in Bullet Time," in which the irrepressible -- literally; I've tried but they refuse not to be written about -- Jack and Puck wreak havoc in the interstices of Casablanca.Click the linkee above to order it via Magcloud or go to Wizard's Tower Press for the e-version.And the *AND*...?News #2: If you're signed

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-35969902551189327732011-06-14T14:45:00.002+01:002011-06-14T14:51:18.518+01:00

Just a quick note to let any Polish readers out there know that I'll be over at Dni Fantastyki in Wroclaw, 24th-26th June. Don't know what my schedule is yet, but look for me wherever the beer is at. Or the Żubrówka vodka. Mmmmm, bison grass.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-32163126655929251882011-06-13T14:53:00.001+01:002011-06-13T14:54:15.790+01:00

But what I really want to know is: when did Dean and Sam find time to learn the cello in between ganking demons?

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-999805134348289292011-06-09T15:04:00.000+01:002011-06-09T15:05:31.673+01:00

So the 21st of May came and went without a whiff of the Rapture, nary a hint of Moby Douche, the Great White Fail, breaching the firmament above. No star called Wormwood fallen from the sky, turning a third of the waters to tasty absinthe. No angels treading the wine gums of the wrath of the Lord. Not a peep of New Jerusalem on the early warning radar. Instead here we are, still in New Sodom,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-2264672402654133572011-06-09T06:57:00.002+01:002011-06-09T07:02:00.575+01:00

Thirty one days in Alef, Daleth,Zayin, Yod and Mem,Thirty one days in Ayin tooAnd Qof and Tav. And then?All of the rest have thirty days,But one year every fiveThere's three more daysFor us all to playCause the leapfest has arrived!(Trad.)

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-42887694625324422002011-05-27T16:26:00.002+01:002011-05-27T16:47:15.088+01:00

Congratulations to Sandra McDonald, who just nabbed herself a Lambda Award for her collection, Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories. Which is, I might note, available as an ebook from Wizard's Tower Press.Now, what was it I said about this book when Steve Berman sent me an ARC on the off-chance of a blurb? Oh, yeah, it was:''In that grand tradition of the fantastic that runs from Ray Bradbury

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-191069124381837062011-05-24T20:29:00.002+01:002011-05-24T20:36:15.082+01:00

Just in. Figured it was as easy to give you the whole thing as to quote.***Finalists for the 2011 SF&F Translation AwardsThe Association for the Recognition of Excellence in Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation (ARESFFT) is delighted to announce the finalists for the 2011 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards (for works published in 2010). There are two categories: Long Form and Short

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-38290090842541464082011-05-24T19:54:00.002+01:002011-05-24T20:08:33.553+01:00

Via this thoughtful post by Juliette Wade on architecture in worldscape, I discovered some awesome images by Sergey Larenkov, palimpsesting photos of the same scene from WWII and the present day.Note that there's more (like the image above) under the cut on a couple of the entries. All very cool.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-26056024726059474802011-05-19T18:58:00.002+01:002011-05-19T19:04:59.472+01:00

Now available for pre-order from Small Beer Press:No. 10 in the Small Beer Press chapbook series is An A-Z of the Fantastic City. Compiled and Arranged by Hal Duncan and illustrated by Eric Schaller it also features an introduction by noted academic Henry V. Duncan.Table of ContentsToward a Geological Methodology in the Cartography of Fantasia: An Address to the 31st International Symposium on

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-81677022448133943512011-05-16T19:25:00.002+01:002011-05-16T19:37:01.189+01:00

A wee piece of awesome news: my story, "The Behold of the Eye" just picked up a Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Short Fiction. Which is awesomesox in part because it's great to see the LGBT community respond to it and in part because it's one of my favourite (and most personal) stories. You can read it online at Lone Star Stories, where it was first published. You can pick up a copy in Wilde

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-37214622887204848042011-05-15T19:18:00.002+01:002011-05-15T19:29:04.136+01:00

Have you missed the fact that Jeff Vandermeer has been blogging like crazy about the Finnish SF/F scene, doing features on Amazon, interviewing writers and editors, you name it? Did you miss, perchance, in particular his SF Signal interview with Toni Jerman, editor of Tähtivaeltaja and all-round rock 'n' roll motherfucker? Did you?Well, go on then. Click the links. Find out about the Tallahassee

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-87164795255804593062011-05-08T15:47:00.002+01:002011-05-08T16:05:22.133+01:00

Turns out that interview I did a whiles back with the lovely folks at GetFanged.com is no longer available outside the community. Fear not though! They did say, feel free to make it available to yer readers however; so, since I've been asked about it, and since I really liked the questions they came up with, I'm happy to oblige.So, here we goes:1) The concepts (and consequences) of mythology and

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-68322357626317442652011-05-06T15:22:00.002+01:002011-05-06T15:34:51.372+01:00

The Story So FarUp to date? OK, so, taking Martin's comment in chunks:On Dates and DebtsI don't think it is wrong (or even controversial) to suggest the relationship the between artist and consumer is far more transactional than that between potential sexual partners.Not at all. That's why I'm cutting straight to the chase in terms of the intersection of commerce and leisure and talking about the

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-3408895341874013032011-05-05T19:14:00.002+01:002011-05-05T19:27:38.231+01:00

Over on The Speculative Scotsman, Niall Alexander posts about the whole thing with George R. R. Martin's delays, the fan backlash thereof, and the deal with the devil involved in suchlike projects. Me, I think Neil Gaiman said it pretty succinctly, but sadly, people still don't seem to get the whole "not your bitch" thing. So the first response, from Martin Lewis, drives me to try... turning that

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-60112615754439294582011-04-22T14:45:00.004+01:002011-04-22T14:57:11.273+01:00

While, as I do believe, Mr Williamson is off at Eastercon, I thought I'd give some pimpage for the new e-book edition of his short story collection, The Ephemera. As Neil says:Even if you bought the book first time round, we thought we might be able to persuade you to take another look at it by adding some interesting new material, including:- lovely new cover art by Vincent Chong- a fab new

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-90740325956225550942011-04-07T16:48:00.002+01:002011-04-07T16:50:03.324+01:00

The appetence for alterity… The desire for Diversity Victor Segalen called it in his posthumous, fragmentary Essai sur l’exotisme. I prefer my terms, for the sense of affinity versus lust, deviance versus variety. And I’m not one for the pomp of concepts rendered as proper nouns, unless in a metaphor of domain — the ghetto of Genre, the city of Writing. But what Segalen’s suggesting is

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-57526059669777204582011-04-05T18:05:00.000+01:002011-04-05T18:06:38.173+01:00

Saw this on Queerty and thought it was excellent:

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-6819942164212321232011-04-04T01:05:00.005+01:002011-06-04T15:20:10.897+01:00

The very nice people over at GetFanged.Com invited me to do an interview a couple of weeks ago, asked me some damn fine questions too. The result, of typically Duncanian length, is now up on their (log-in required) site, but also usefully up on their Facebook page and on their wordpress blog. So if you fancy reading my thoughts on archetypes and personal semiotics, the evolution of the vampire

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-49723147313042599752011-03-30T21:32:00.003+01:002011-03-30T21:54:04.397+01:00

You want to be reading N.K. Jemison's open letter to Hollywood, if you haven't already. The truth be spoken.But, hey, if yer fed up with all my kvetching about segregaton, on the plus side, in terms of international cinema, we have this news:Malaysia’s first ever gay themed movie has hit the ground running, becoming a box office hit in its homeland and earning back its production costs in less

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-22329318881067433662011-03-30T16:37:00.002+01:002011-03-30T16:48:52.804+01:00

Awesomeness! I am, it seems, up for the Tähtivaeltaja award again this year! I feel almost guilty about keeping my fingers crossed for this one, cause it's just being greedy. But, hey, I'm not really known for my self-control, am I? Anyways, congrats to the other nominees:Herran tarhurit (The Year of the Flood) by Margaret Atwood (Otava)Description of an apocalypse of biblical proportions that

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-69792773915417043762011-03-29T19:59:00.002+01:002011-03-29T20:09:58.819+01:00

Over on his blog, Neil Williamson confesses that he just doesn't get steampunk, invites people to explain what he's missing. My own glib response when the GSFWC email list was chatting about this was that it all comes from too many viewings of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in childhood. Glib as that is though, there's a serious point, so I ended up going into it a bit more on his post. Figured I'd

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-79612905014864587512011-03-23T17:25:00.005Z2011-03-23T17:49:52.027Z

Memo to all students:Sorry, kids, but for unavoidable personal reasons I was distracted when marking your papers, so I only really checked 50 out of the 100 questions. Some of you did pretty well though (I guess.) At least one of you got 45 of those 50 right, so if we made allowances for my failure to pay attention, that would probably be, like, 90% -- 4.5 stars out of 5. (Well done, Hannu!)But,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-66948879089950144342011-03-21T20:50:00.001Z2011-03-21T20:50:17.287Z

East Bloc Love Trailer from Logan Mucha on Vimeo.

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-30058077153697167482011-03-21T01:53:00.002Z2011-03-21T02:10:49.731Z

Thought I'd link the SFWA blog thing again, since the last few days I've been responding (at my usual length) to a few comments there. So here's a wee quote, a parable of sorts, then some further thoughts:Imagine a kindergarten teacher telling the children in her care a story every afternoon, a story of fabulous adventures by a group of kids in some wonderful Neverland. For characters in this

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-11622534463863276622011-03-17T19:19:00.002Z2011-03-17T20:53:11.846Z

I found this via N.K. Jemisin's blog, which you should go read for her own comments on it. What Dwayne McDuffie says is striking to me in a number of ways. Listen:So what's this Rule of Three? McDuffie: "In popular entertainment, if there are three black people in it, it is a black product."This points to an interesting reality that flies in the face of the rhetoric of the segregationists --

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-1319210591789526702011-03-16T18:20:00.003Z2011-03-16T20:48:41.508Z

Had fun last night at a Glasgow cabaret night, The Not So Secret Society, held in the rather swanky surroundings of the Art Club, a private member's club for artists -- posh! Even apart from showing support for some friends, in the shape of San Fran & the Siscos and Miss Leggy Pee & Charlie, I was most up for it. On the bill were The Creative Martyrs (awesome, as I knew already,) and a Tom Waits

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-28854900444194098642011-03-16T16:18:00.002Z2011-03-16T16:26:58.775Z

I have been mindmelded. They asked me, "If you had the power, what would your ideal SF television show look like?" After my initial thought, "Just bring back Stargate Universe," I figured I might as well have fun with my imaginary empowerment:OK, here's the series I'd be showrunner for if anyone was crazy enough to let me: Hellhound, I call it. Think The Littlest Hobo meets Fear and Loathing in

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-1060783956689496262011-03-15T03:31:00.005Z2011-03-15T03:57:09.233Z

Apparently blog posts are like buses. Ye wait all of February for one to come along and then March turns into a blogstravaganza! But this is just a wee quickie to give you the Table of Contents for Wilde Stories 2011, which is a bumper edition this year, it seems, to celebrate Lethe Press's 10th Anniversary. Many happy returns, I say, and all the best for the next ten years!Anyways, here's this

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-92022616913599945892011-03-14T19:05:00.003Z2011-03-14T22:55:53.698Z

You know that Guardian article I tore into the other week? The flipside of Mullan's abjection of "genre fiction" is, of course, our tendency to project balderdash and piffle at the drop of a hat. For instance, a quote from this Sunday Herald interview with Kazuo Ishiguro has apparently been doing the rounds. Speaking about a younger generation's attitude to science fiction, he says:“It’s almost

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-51418940499376718122011-03-12T17:12:00.003Z2011-03-12T18:49:36.812Z

As well as the SFWA front page and LiveJournal, I'm told, that post was also mirrored over at the SFWA Facebook page. I had a quick look and saw some valiant efforts to explain the very simple argument to commenters not getting it big time. I don't know if I can comment myself as a non-user, but to be honest, my dislike for Facebook means I'm not even going to check. But, there was one somewhat

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-13071606832632276852011-03-10T17:56:00.002Z2011-03-10T18:01:52.875Z

In a post over on March Charan Newton's blog the other week, I posted a comment on segregation in the media. Most gratifyingly, the SFWA Blog asked if I'd let them run it as a guest post. Naturally, I was delighted to do so. So, it's up now on the main SFWA site and on the SFWA community LiveJournal. The former seems to have accrued more comments, so I'll point you there with the excerpt:“Does it

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-63022761978543573442011-03-08T14:00:00.002Z2011-03-08T14:38:13.212Z

In case you're a reader of the pertinent language, Czech portal, Topzine.cz has my story, "Styx Water and a Sippy Cup," up for you to read, along with an interview in 2 parts:Part OnePart TwoThose of you who don't read Czech though... fear not! My latest Notes from New Sodom column is up at BSC Review. And touches on some of the themes most recently addressed in the last couple of entries here:It

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-5760809764197620612011-03-01T03:10:00.003Z2011-03-01T05:28:34.385Z

Or as Jeff VanderMeer puts it, Style is Story is StyleMeanwhile, over on that Guardian piece I carry on the argument about the political import of those words. To some, it seems, the racism analogy is "cheap, in poor taste and absurdly self-regarding." Not wrong, just improper. But then why bother arguing when you can just Edward Woodward the Geek Show freakshow into that motherfuckingly massive

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-36463584110874483622011-02-27T13:28:00.002Z2011-02-27T13:47:27.811Z

By way of M. John Harrison, who also has some choice words to say, I see John Mullan in the Guardian blathering of how...The growth of British literary fiction has been one of the most extraordinary publishing phenomena of recent decades. Not everyone has been pleased. The label "literary fiction" is often used disparagingly, as if "literary" were synonymous with "pretentious" or "plot-free".

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-27249022265621032862011-02-23T16:58:00.002Z2011-02-23T17:23:11.892Z

So, as you can probably guess from the dearth of posts here, I've been a but busy for blogging. I'm still a bit busy for blogging, but I reckoned I should really give y'all a heads-up for something. If you live in the Glasgow area and are a comics fan, you'll have heard of Plan B Books, Glasgow's new graphic novel shop, yes? Well, as you'll see, if you click through the link, on this Saturday

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-72644631946004231602011-02-08T04:06:00.001Z2011-02-08T04:08:36.330Z

On Monsters:This is not a review. If you want to know whether I think director Gareth Edwards’s debut feature Monsters is worth seeing, I do. Go see it. But this isn’t about how good I think it is, and why; it’s about what the film’s doing, how this strange fiction (the specific example and the form in general) works. Whether it works well or not, for you or me — I don’t give a shit. More than

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-59282905200530248612011-01-08T18:15:00.002Z2011-01-08T18:21:01.411Z

Cool to see another sometime member of the GSFWC, Eliza Chan, getting a publication in Fantasy Magazine, with a great wee story, "The Boy Made Stars":Motoki was fifteen when he accidentally created stars. Before this time, the night’s sky had always been ebony black, and the white glow of the moon had looked like a cheap spotlight left there by a film studio in liquidation. People rarely

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-62884277908505324492011-01-05T14:22:00.002Z2011-01-05T15:07:17.884Z

I'm currently faffing about, dealing with emails and stuff accrued while I was away for the annual Hogmanay Hootenanny in the wilds of interweb-free Scotland. Got a flat to be cleaned and work to be settled back into, so for now I'll just point you at an interesting post by Daniel Abraham, in part riffing off a conversation we had over dinner a couple of years back. For both of us, it seems, our

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-90722000790487830552010-12-28T02:53:00.005Z2010-12-28T04:12:37.845Z

I'm about to head off for Hogmanay shenanigans up North, so I thought I'd leave yez with a Christmas present from a reader, a couple of Vellum & Ink themed YouTube vids.First, Vellum:And Ink:I am, of course, well chuffed just to have someone dig the books enough to even do the whole YouTube mixvid thing for them; but I gotta say I also think they're pretty fucking nifty as book trailers. I'm

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-21283089626086198642010-12-21T05:38:00.003Z2010-12-21T06:46:55.828Z

So I got into an interesting discussion with Lynn Flewelling the other day, on Twitter, after I linked back to an old post on profanity. We got talking about the differences between UK and US usages of the word "cunt," but Twitter character limits don't really make it a good place for such talk, and while Lynn brought it up on her LiveJournal, I prefer to avoid the fracturing of nested comment

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-46919275335166193302010-12-17T15:02:00.003Z2010-12-17T15:07:28.893Z

A press release just in from Wizard's Tower Press:***Wizard’s Tower stocks Lethe press booksWizard’s Tower Pressinfo@wizardtowerpress.com http://wizardstowerpress.com/ http://www.wizardstowerbooks.com/ http://www.salonfutura.net/December 16th 2010Wizard’s Tower stocks Lethe press booksWizard’s Tower Press is pleased to announce that it will be stocking selected ebooks from Lethe Press in its

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-91501689131322147112010-12-13T16:34:00.002Z2010-12-13T16:36:30.978Z

Notes from New Sodom: The Kipple Foodstuff FactoryThe high-brow, high-class literati of the Bistro de Critique aren’t about to invite a bunch of what appear to be crack-addled whores and hustlers in red leather miniskirts or denim cut-offs to their cocktail parties. Just cause we all know the ghetto chic stylings and those who wear them well enough to tell the bohos from the hobos, don’t

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-27699892567267360982010-12-11T18:41:00.004Z2010-12-11T22:48:32.429Z

Zombies bore me. I've been trying to think just why The Walking Dead left me feeling so meh, whether it's the over-exposure of the trope or what. For sure, I was less than bowled over by the whole notion of an HBO zombie show, where others seemed to be getting awfully excited about it, so maybe it's just the overkill of shit like Pride and Prejudice With Zombies that's put me into a "get the fuck

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-25918154924390164122010-12-04T19:44:00.002Z2010-12-04T20:12:29.080Z

If you remember the Slab City scenes in VELLUM, my mate Craig Marnock from the GSFWC just sent me this link to a photographer based there. It's kinda cool, and even has the Jesus Hill.Via Mark Newton, more cool visuals of recycled robots.On another blog that easily keeps me as a regular reader, John Coulthart has a great entry on a current art "blasphemy" controversy.And the aspects of

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-72967184956640849402010-12-03T23:12:00.008Z2010-12-03T23:21:07.519Z

If I try to describe this it sounds cracked even to me, so I'm not going to bother.Part One:Part Two:

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-8082073234476919742010-11-26T16:26:00.003Z2010-11-26T16:41:11.408Z

Via Cheryl Morgan, a group of Seattle kids who're seriously kick-ass, tackling the whole shithouse of issues surrounding gender & sexuality head-on. I love their whole "identity can't be summed up in letters" attitude. As far as I'm concerned this is what being queer is all about. This is what New Sodom is all about; these kids are fricking building it:Reteaching Gender and Sexuality from PUT

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-70245335819345768582010-11-25T18:14:00.002Z2010-11-25T18:20:45.723Z

Having created a YouTube account for the It Gets Better video, I thought I might as well use it. So, here's me reading a wee poem I did as a riff on Wilfred Owen's "Dulce Et Decorum Est," picking up on some of the themes addressed in the previous vid. It's called "Nec Spe, Nec Metu," in reference to the motto inscribed on the knife of one of history's greatest fags, the artist Caravaggio -- "nec

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-53109752207891002032010-11-14T16:17:00.003Z2010-11-14T16:35:38.576Z

So, you may or may not have heard of the recent spate of teen suicides in the US, by kids who were suffering homophobic bullying, day in and day out, in high school. You may or may not have heard of Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project. Me, I think it's a damn fine idea and as THE.... Sodomite Hal Duncan!! I could hardly not join my voice to the chorus.So here's my entry -- with the colourful

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-37181951767944029252010-11-12T12:59:00.000Z2010-11-12T13:00:35.427Z

With The Cosmic Dead:

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-56589913801475662572010-11-03T18:42:00.001Z2010-11-03T18:45:10.226Z

... answers the question, "What fantasy book or series is just as good, if not better, than The Lord of the Rings?"... Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast books, Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet, the short story collections of Jeff Ford or Kelly Link, if you allow them under the general term "books" -- these are my benchmarks of fantasy at its best. Ackroyd, Bulgakov, Carter, Delany -- there's a

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-40702537543385584172010-10-30T18:15:00.001+01:002010-10-30T18:17:55.735+01:00

A scene I wish I'd written, a scene I wish I could memorise for future use:

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-47575088811478799422010-10-26T20:38:00.002+01:002010-10-26T21:09:12.321+01:00

So, a while back I blogged about my idea for a high school movie, WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT, a gay retelling of Shakespeare's As You Like It -- with a little sample of the first few scenes in the completed screenplay. The finished thing was punted off, via my agent, in the direction of Hollywood, but alas 'twas not what his contact there was looking for. Bummer, as they say, but not a huge

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-40497108302518154792010-10-19T18:22:00.003+01:002010-10-19T18:43:28.682+01:00

A little good news in the shape of a Sekrit Projekt that can now be revealed, cause the contract's all signed and sent off: yes, after the bang-up job that Erzebet Yellowboy did with the limited editions of Sonnets for Orpheus and The Lucifer Cantos, I couldn't resist -- hell, I jumped at the chance -- when we started talking about the possibility of doing a full poetry collection as a trade

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-85046027284168846892010-10-18T17:37:00.002+01:002010-10-18T17:45:41.691+01:00

Yes, the latest Strange Horizons is sporting some of my strange fiction -- to wit, one "Styx Water and a Sippy Cup," which I'll say nothing of, leaving you to see for yourself. Oh, OK, I'll say that the first section is titled "Babycart at the River Styx" in tribute to the seminal series aka Lone Wolf and Cub aka Sword of Vengeance (neither of which titles are anywhere near as cool as Babycart at

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-33968748501274677602010-10-16T21:20:00.002+01:002010-10-16T22:19:49.041+01:00

Over at OF Blog of the Fallen, Larry asks, "What is fantasy?" Easy, I say. Needs a little technical jargon to explain it with precision, but basically all you need to start from is the way modal auxiliary verbs -- is, did, will, would, shall, should, can, could, may, might, must -- express opinions of fact (epistemic modality,) possibility (alethic modality,) duty (deontic modality,) or +/-

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-13275729703919719602010-10-13T14:35:00.002+01:002010-10-13T14:49:09.702+01:00

No SF novel ever won the Booker.Somebody, Somewhere, SomewhenIf you hang out long enough down in the ghetto of Genre, in the SF Café, eventually you’ll hear this axiom, or an axiom like it, muttered with a certain tone of harumph, a petulance in proportion to the wounded pride. Maybe you’ll say it yourself, sullen in your sense of injustice, disregard; I know I have. And whenever it’s spoken,

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-37464426283517697632010-10-08T03:07:00.002+01:002010-10-08T03:47:12.228+01:00

Talking of The Lucifer Cantos...So I was out at a gig last night -- The Cosmic Dead, The Wee Rogue, Ug!, and Pyramidion headlining. (Can't find a Myspace for Pyramidion, sadly.) I missed most of the second band -- singer/songwriter, actually -- but what I did hear sounded cool; sorry I didn't hear more indeed. Caught the rest though, and they were all stonkingly awesome. I was especially stoked

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-2311107334082526722010-10-05T12:18:00.002+01:002010-10-05T13:00:25.519+01:00

I arrived home from Finland yesterday, with a long, slow bus journey back from the airport, through pissing rain, to a pile of bleh-inducing bills. Thankfully, included also in the post that arrived while i was away was this little antidote to the post-jaunt blues:Yes, the limited edition of The Lucifer Cantos is now available from Papaveria Press! And a little beauty it is too. Black and red

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-68992102598556788922010-09-24T16:47:00.002+01:002010-09-24T17:01:58.446+01:00

While I beaver away on Assault! On Heaven! and leave this blog with tumbleweed rolling through it, it's perhaps ironic that this whistling emptiness is one of the things for which I'm nominated for a Last Bird Drink Head Award, for Gentle Advocacy (to which at least one comment has been, "Gentle?!") Anyway, yes, that's swellegant news (albeit last week's) so yay! And congrats to all the other

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-17506100829012996932010-09-08T12:51:00.000+01:002010-09-08T12:53:02.597+01:00

I’m not sure I’m the most logical person to invite to speak at an arts festival in Tallinn on the theme of “Would you love a robot?” But the invite came in, and I’m game for anything, so what the fuck, I figured; I’m sure I can think of something to say. And never one to let my opinionation dissipate into the ether, I thought I might as well share it with you all too...

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8085577.post-17672820755527930422010-09-07T14:54:00.001+01:002010-09-07T14:57:20.715+01:00

But as the swirl caused by the change of reality settled down, I saw myself at a desolate scene. The trees were so tall and tightened it was impossible to tell whether there was a sky above them or not. Thorny bushes fought for space with trunks and roots. And there were howls, snarls and roars not too far away. I was looking for Hal Duncan, but I was afraid to call him. I feared my shouting

Hal Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13834365984949577306noreply@blogger.com2