I spent a marvelous Friday evening at the ever delightful Sola Coffee Café with two of my sons listening to the dulcet tones of Janelle True. She opened up with a well-chosen Norah Jones classic “Don’t Know Why.” It epitomizes the way she covers songs: while hinting at Norah Jones’s sound, the ebb and flow of rhythm and phrasing emphasis is all her own with an undercurrent of quiet power. As you listen to Ms. True sing, you hear her passion come through. Often her own songs are based on either an experience or her processing through the emotions from her experience. Whether it’s goodbye to her old life or recognizing the challenges of marching to a different drummer, the emotional intensity comes through. She is never afraid to wax a cappella or to pull back and let the quiet shine through. She brings to bear the right vocal tools at just the right time to express meaning and motion. She does all of this at Sola which, while lovely, is not a concert hall. Meals are being had, conversations are progressing and patrons are moving about. All relatively quietly and respectively, but it can still be a bit distracting.
The evening was a treasure trove of her original songs from Swept Away and Painted Pianos as well as covering well-known morsels including multiple Norah Jones and Birdy songs with a couple new ones thrown in. Indeed, she even mashed up a little Norah Jones “Come Away With Me” and Birdy (Bob Ivers) “Skinny Love.”
Ms. True wandered between keyboard and guitar as she wandered between original contemporary Christian works, contemporary covers and some classics such as “Stand By Me,” “My Funny Valentine,” “L.O.V.E” and “Love Me Tender.” One of the reasons I love to hear standards sung (besides the fact that they’re great and, hence, standards) is that it allows me to see how artists handle well-known material as well as providing an opportunity of separating their singing ability from the material; you don’t love the singer merely because you love the song. Ms. True handles the standards in her own inimitable way while clearly honoring the original. Here’s a little taste of that (from another concert) with “My Funny Valentine:”
Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. If you have an opportunity to hear Janelle True live, take it. While her passion and power are communicated through her recorded work, it is more visceral live.
Writer’s Nook @ Sola Cafe
I also had an opportunity to have a little Q&A with Ms. True, but that interview, my friends, is for another post :) Just to appease you a bit, here’s “Lost at Sea” from Swept Away:
I had the privilege of interviewing Rysa Walker, author of the Chronos Chronicles Series which include previously reviewed Timeboundreviewed here and Time’s Edgereviewed here. Our discussion ranged over the books, writing and publishing. We’ll break these into two parts. The first part focuses on the books and the second part focuses on publishing and, in particular, some of the controversy around Amazon’s relations with authors and the rest of the publishing industry. Nicely enough, this interview came the day after Hatchette and Amazon came to an agreement.
Interview with Rysa Walker – Part I The Chronos Chronicles
Interview with Rysa Walker – Part 2 Publishing and Amazon
Thanks to Rysa for discussing her writing, books and experience in today’s volatile publishing world.
I had an opportunity to dive deeper into the story behind Next and the Manga Bible Story series. P. Scott Cummins, Chief Marketing Officer at Next, took some time out of his busy schedule to give us some insight. (And, no, he didn’t just win Season 12 of Hell’s Kitchen; that’s Scott Cummings.) If you haven’t heard about Next Manga yet, see
1. How did NEXT Manga get started? What was the driving force behind delivering Bible stories in manga form?
Our founder Roald Lidal has been active in Bible ministry for many years based out of Tokyo. As a publisher, he could see the growth in graphic novel sales, and through prayer saw clearly that this was a place where the word of God was needed.
2. How did you get involved? What drew you into this?
Next is a non profit social enterprise organization with a “one4one” model, meaning that we partner with many other organizations to reach people around the world who would not ever be able to buy, for example, a Bible story for themselves. Social enterprise, particularly by those encouraging one another with the Good News of Jesus Christ, is a passion for our family. Several of those involved with the non profit management side of the Next ministry are effectively a small group at our church in Seattle. It was pretty natural for our family to get involved.
3. What are a couple of your favorite stories and why?
Oh that’s a tough question, like picking a favorite child! I often break out the manga when on airplane flights. Once I was reading Manga Messiah, and during the recounting of the passion, I noticed a woman across from me was also reading along and had tears in her eyes. I gave her the book! I notice that the trailer for the upcoming movie about Moses directed by Ridley Scott could be a “book trailer” for the close of Manga Mutiny and beginning of Manga Melech. But it is hard to top Manga Metamorphosis for power-packed excitement and instruction in the Christian life – Barnabas, Silas, the tent-makers Priscilla and Aquila, on and on. Its the book in the series that Pastors tell me they turn to when working on preaching points, which is quite an honor!
4. What impact of the series has you seen? Any stories that exemplify the power of sharing the gospel in this format.
5. Any stories of those driven to a deeper reading of the Bible through these stories?
These questions really go together, and its been amazing. With translations in over twenty five languages (and growing, rapidly) and over five million in print, we constantly receive stories that are so encouraging. Young children not only learning to read from the books, but then receiving Christ into their lives and then immediately telling the Good News to others, and full of questions – wanting to read the Bible with their pastors and go deeper in relationship with God. From youth pastors around the world we have heard that they were introduced to the series by the kids themselves, who then want their help to get into the global youth culture anime scene and participate in cosplay in order to act out the stories of the Bible. Pastors telling us how amazing this is, how they are literally running to keep up with this excitement.
6. How would you respond to those who suggest that manga (or any graphic novel format) is inappropriate for Bible stories?
It never really happened much, and now hardly at all. We love all of the ministries involved in this scene – the new graphic novel project from Ravi Zacharias for example, and others like the Action Bible, which is very cool and done Marvel Comics style. More and more folks are learning that the graphic novel format is the most popular form of publishing in the world. Western style comic characters dominate popular culture in movies, but manga is actually more popular worldwide. Many people are visual learners – they really appreciate how reading our series subsequently helps them with comprehension of stories and concepts from the Bible, and helps them deepen their faith. In North America, Christians are increasingly aware that anime conventions (and cosplay) are hugely popular – and are delighted to learn that the Next Manga series is in that scene – as well as ministries like Jesus Otaku.
7. What goals do you have for Next?
As a non profit ministry with a one4one business model, we are passionate about working with translation ministries around the world to bring the series to more and more people around the world. We need to partner in order to do that, and we love that. Its logistically challenging and a huge financial mountain to climb – but its what we are called to do and we love it. No other ministry has ever been this deep into global youth culture, social media and outreach in more languages with stories from the Bible in the world’s most popular publishing format – all the while working hard to give one away for every one they sell. In order to do that we have to go more and more to scale – which means becoming ever more customer-focused and market-driven. And if churches want to get together, or foundations, or ministries – to help us move container loads to the unreached, give me a call!
8. Any upcoming projects you would like to share?
In a couple of months we will release Manga Messiah in eBook format (Kindle and Nook) which will allow readers to access the series on virtually any device. You heard that here first!
9. I saw that y’all have had concerted drives to deliver content in Japan including encouraging those in Fukushima impacted by the disaster there. How has the work there been received?
The Next Manga series tells God’s story of love for His people, and presents His grace, forgiveness and comfort in our times of trial. To present that through authentic manga from people in their own country has been huge for people in Japan. We were honored to participate in care teams in disaster affected areas.
10. What does delivery of Bible stories in manga position you to do what you may have difficulty doing if delivered in a more traditional manner?
We have been very privileged to see how presenting the Good News to people through the graphic novel format and as authentic Japanese style manga -from the young to very old and everyone in between, has meant they want to interact: Kids start reading it aloud to younger kids, and even more kids then start acting it out street theater style as it is being read. Manga is very conducive to sharing. And we all know that to be ‘shown’ something is easier than just simply being ‘told’ – so we are humbled and thankful to see what so many are doing in response to hearing the Good News of the Bible in this way.
Scott, thanks for taking time to give a bit deeper look into Next and the Manga Bible series.
For those of you who may wish to become more involved, you have lots of ways to contact Next:
This is really a delightful story where the author uses a waiting room for your next life to deal with issues of love, life and existence within the context of a couple who are separated by an early death. This isn’t intended to be a theological treatise or an argument for reincarnation, rather it provides a nice narrative framework to reflect on these issues within the story arc. For a little more formal description.
Jude and Nina are the epitome of that whole raw, unflinching love thing that most people are jealous of. That is, until Jude dies and wakes up in The Waiting Room, surrounded by other souls who are all waiting to pass over into their next life. But unlike those souls, Jude’s name is never called by the mysterious “receptionist”. He waits, watching Nina out of giant windows. He’s waiting for her. What is this place? How long will he wait? And what will happen when and if Nina does join him? The Waiting Room is a story of not just love, but of faith, predestination, and philosophy, friendship and self-actualization, of waiting.
Review of The Waiting Room:
The Waiting Room is a delightful novel in which the author conducts a thought experiment played out in the lives of a couple. Think of the book as a story (and various sub-stories) around a bunch of “what ifs,” kind of like what if you were stuck on a deserted island, which three books would you take [I’m thinking “How to build a boat in three easy steps”, “Swiss Family Robinson”, and the Bible, because I want to read a lot more than three books.] For The Waiting Room, it’s “what if we had a beginning life after which you reentered the world in another time (possibly), another context (family, country, race) and yet you found the love of your live(s)? What happens with the two who became one? What’s important about what you do in each life (there is no carried-over Kharma and you don’t remember your previous lives in the midst of living a new one.)
The Waiting Room is primarily a story of love; yes, the love of a couple but also about people learning to love, recognizing love, nurturing love and the primacy of love. It, as the song goes, makes the world go around. As we follow this couple, we see the impact of their love for each other on their lives, the deaths, their new lives, those around them and even the waiting process between lives. This premise allows Ms. Kaye to strip away what isn’t essential to our identities and our lives. As we follow this reincarnation process, we see that Jude becomes a new person in this next life but it’s Jude in this new form. What makes him Jude? He has a new name, look, family, attributes (now blind and black from sighted and white)? Ms. Kaye seems to suggest that what makes the new person still Jude is how he loves, his moral character and being a guy. Everything else can change, but those remain constant.
Along with thinking about what makes you, you, she reflects on what gives us significance. What, in other words, is worth pursuing and has impact on us and the world around us? That, my friend, is love. All that we do hinges on love. I don’t just mean romantic love (though that’s definitely included) but our relationships, our work and our relationship to our environment. Through a series of vignettes of Jude and Nina’s lives, it becomes apparent that if you pursue some task or thing as a higher priority than others (spouse, family, friends or neighbors), then the significance (and peace) of your life diminishes. So, while work is important, it’s how and why we do what we do more than what we do. For example, in one life, Nina is a baker. She really pursues that passion and builds a successful business. It is successful largely because it is one context in which she expresses love. In another context there is a seriously failed Thanksgiving dinner for a broken family; they love money more than each other. I dare not go any further in fear of giving too much away, but look for love or the lack thereof and see what happens.
Please note that this is not, as I indicated above, a philosophical or theology treatise. This is a novel using a paranormal twist to conduct a thought experiment in the context of story. The story is a good one. Every time I thought I knew where Ms. Kaye was going to go in the next lives lived out, I was wrong. Even the way people wait changes throughout the story. Jude and Nina are not perfect. All questions are not answered, but going through their lives is a terrific and entertaining way to explore those questions. Ms. Kaye does a beautiful job with the characters who people her story; I really came to love Jude and Nina (even in their various incarnations). I also came to love the curmudgeonly manager of the Waiting Room (Ruth) as well as others. So just as a pure story, it’s fun – what’s going to happen to Jude and Nina in the next iteration of their lives? – what will they be like? – how will the Waiting Room change will they return from the land of the living?
So I commend Ms. Kaye’s debut novel to your reading for a great story that’s also thought provoking. I look forward to Ms. Kaye’s future work. Top
Q&A on life as an author
1. Who was most influential on your love of books and writing? What pushed you over the edge to take the dive into writing a book?
My mom really got me into reading when I was little- I’ve thanked her for that a million times! As for writing, I really owe a lot to a few supportive English teachers I had. I always knew I wanted to write a book one day, but I guess what really pushed me was the whole concept of this room. Once you have an idea in your mind that won’t leave you alone- that’s when you know you need to write!
2. What do you find the hardest and (comparatively speaking) easiest aspect of writing?
I think the easiest part is finding inspiration- every time I meed someone new, I immediately want to create a character around them! The hardest part is finding time. Most writers have full-time jobs outside of writing and it seems impossible sometimes to set aside time for writing.
3. Being married to an 8th grade English teacher, I have some insight into how challenging your schedule is. How do you work in your writing in the midst of grading, lesson prep and other school activities?
Wow, I didn’t know that! Hats off to her! 8th graders are no easy task haha Like I said in question #2, it’s definitely difficult. I’ve worked out a system in which I do ALL my work in my classroom (during my planning period, during my lunch, before/after school) and then when I come home, I have the whole night to decide whether or not I want to squeeze in writing. Sometimes, dinner and Netflix win the fight.
4. What aspects of self-publishing do you love? Which ones do you find the most difficult?
I love the fact that I have complete creative control. I hate the fact that I have to market all by myself…it’s been time-consuming to say the least.
5. What’s been the most interesting reaction to The Waiting Room?
I was shocked to find out that many people assumed this was the first book in a trilogy or series…that was never my intention!
6. Do you identify with any of your characters?
Definitely. I think a piece of me shines through a few of them. Nina is an English teacher, like me. Jude is extremely sarcastic, like me! Alondra writes mediocre poetry at night, like me… haha I could go on and on.
7. Did working on The Waiting Room influence any of your real world thinking/choices?
It definitely made me question religion, spirituality, philosophy…more than I ever have before. I really dove into the age-old question of what happens after we die?
8. It appears that, at least in The Waiting Room, our essential qualities are how we love, our moral character and, possibly our gender. Even what we think of as personality seem to differ for some, but not for others. Pretty much everything else, race, religion, career and country can all change and it’s still the same you going through one door and returning through the other. Do you think that’s an accurate reflection of the essential qualities of a person? In others, what makes Nina and Deb the same person?
I do think our morals, our ethics, our “being” if you will, are what truly make us who we are. Obviously, in the present day world we live in, our race/career/religion/country play a huge role in how we’re perceived, how we’re treated, and how we live our lives. But when it comes down to our souls? In The Waiting Room, these things are trivial, as I think it should be if there is a Heaven or an afterlife of any kind. The most important thing is our hearts…and how we use them!
9. So I’m on the tail-end of the blog tour. How has it been for you?
I’m loving it! I have a new obsession with WordPress and fellow bloggers. We indie authors live for people like you, who are willing to help us spread the word!
10. Do you have any active projects underway? Anything you can share?
I had started a new novel about a year ago. I only have one chapter written. It’s realistic fiction, no fantasy/paranormal element like The Waiting Room. I’m not sure how I feel about it. Now that I’ve published this novel, I think I’d like to stay in the realm of realistic with a twist of fantasy/paranormal.
Bonus question: this is none of our business, but are you still with the guy who inspired the poem you wrote that, in turn, inspired the book? How did he respond to the book?
Haha, great bonus question! We actually broke up as I was finishing the novel. That definitely plunged me into a ferocious few months of writing and wrapping up the book. I’ve known him since pre-school and we’re still friends today. He just ordered his copy of the novel so we’ll see how he reacts haha it’s definitely a bit strange
Book Excerpt
Actually, I’m going to cheat a little here and refer you to David Franklin’s excellent site (how can you not love an asker of wrong questions from the Kingdom of Wessex?), The Wessex Literary Review in which he posts an except from Chapter 2 of The Waiting Room.
An informal interview with the author on the book itself****NOTE, THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THE INTERVIEW -Think of this as questions if the author came to your book club. Don’t listen until you’ve read the book.****
Alysha Kaye was born in San Marcos, TX, where she also received her BA in Creative Writing from Texas State University. She worked in marketing for a brief and terrible cubicle-soul-sucking time until she was accepted into Teach for America and promptly moved to Oahu. She taught 7th grade English in Aiea for two years and also received her Masters in Education from University of Hawaii. She now teaches in Austin, TX and tries to squeeze in as much writing as possible between lesson planning. She dreamt about The Waiting Room once, and offhandedly wrote her boyfriend a love poem about waiting for him after death. Somehow, that became a novel.
This is really a delightful story where the author uses a waiting room for your next life to deal with issues of love, life and existence within the context of a couple who are separated by an early death. This isn’t intended to be a theological treatise or an argument for reincarnation, rather it provides a nice narrative framework to address these issues within the story arc. For a little more formal description.
Jude and Nina are the epitome of that whole raw, unflinching love thing that most people are jealous of. That is, until Jude dies and wakes up in The Waiting Room, surrounded by other souls who are all waiting to pass over into their next life. But unlike those souls, Jude’s name is never called by the mysterious “receptionist”. He waits, watching Nina out of giant windows. He’s waiting for her. What is this place? How long will he wait? And what will happen when and if Nina does join him? The Waiting Room is a story of not just love, but of faith, predestination, and philosophy, friendship and self-actualization, of waiting.
Author Alysha Kaye
This will include an interview, review and more. The tour will be 7/10 – 7/17; see http://alyshakaye.wordpress.com/2014/07/07/710-717-blog-tour/ for details as well a number of other delightful blogs participating. I’ll be coming right on the tail end of the tour, 7/18; that’s right, I’m the caboose sneaking in on the end.
For more on Ms. Kaye:
Alysha Kaye’s Blog
Alysha Kaye’s Facebook page
Alysha Kaye’s Twitter Page
About the author:
Alysha Kaye was born in San Marcos, TX, where she also received her BA in Creative Writing from Texas State University. She worked in marketing for a brief and terrible cubicle-soul-sucking time until she was accepted into Teach for America and promptly moved to Oahu. She taught 7th grade English in Aiea for two years and also received her Masters in Education from University of Hawaii. She now teaches in Austin, TX and tries to squeeze in as much writing as possible between lesson planning. She dreamt about The Waiting Room once, and offhandedly wrote her boyfriend a love poem about waiting for him after death. Somehow, that became a novel.
I’m excited to share a little teaser into my interviewwith Gabielle de Cuir and Stefan Rudnicki. Tomorrow, Ms. du Cuir’s reading of Too Far by Fredric Brown will be up on the post: Spoken Freely 2014 – Summer Shorts. Mr. Rudnicki’s reading of Fredric Brown’s Man of Distinction will be available Saturday. So come by each day for the updated post. Their graciousness extended not only to being patient and wonderful guests on my blog but also creating this little trailer:
Joe Frazier at Joe’s Geek Fest speaks with Stefan Rudnicki and Gabrielle de Cuir of Skyboat Media about their interview for GOING PUBLIC 2014 June is Audiobook Month which benefits ProLitercay. For more information go to https://joesgeekfest.wordpress.com/ or http://www.skyboatmedia.com.
The entire collection Summer Shorts ’14 is available at Tantor Media. Fredric Brown’s short story collection, Honeymoon in Hell, from which these two selections are taken is available at Audible, Blackstone and Barnes & Noble and other stores.
Mr. Hennig recently moved with his wife and three young children from Rura Penthe, er, Rochester, NY to Seattle. Leigh works as a network engineer by day, and when he’s not working on Bastion in the night, he’s writing his own short stories as well. He’s also an avid soccer fanatic (center back for his Tuesday night team — a defensive rock, and about as fast as one as well) and is probably more dedicated to Arsenal than the Pope is to Jesus.
1. Why start a SciFi magazine now (2014)? What are the benefits and challenges of bringing to life a SciFi magazine now?
I love science fiction, short stories, writing, and any combination of those. I wanted to do something that mattered to people — both to writers, and readers. There’s a demand for new content, which is why markets exist that publish new stories every day. While the demand is there, I’m not confident the supply is. I’m doing my own small part to help fix that. From an author’s perspective, it’s a real challenge to get your work published and to gain recognition. One more (paying) publication out there and available to writers can only be a good thing.
For me the biggest reward is coming across fantastic stories that other publications either didn’t receive, or passed over. It’s almost like being a prospector and finding gold. You get excited for that, and I’m very proud of the stories we’ve published. I enjoy working with the authors and even getting to know them. Naturally I’m also very pleased to receive a good review, because it means that our readers are happy, which really is the ultimate goal: providing entertainment for readers. As far as challenges, right now the biggest among those is simply growing our readership. We’re new, so not a lot of people know about us. Getting the word out there and getting people to pick up a copy is easily the biggest problem we’re facing.
2. What’s unique about Bastion?
We’re a contributor focused publication. For the most part, when you send your work out to be considered for publication, you can wait weeks or months before you get a response, and when you finally do, it’s a form rejection. We provide meaningful feedback on every story reviewed in a reasonable amount of time —usually within a week. As we grow and receive more submissions, we’re going to do everything we can to make sure we maintain that personal touch. The second difference is that we focus on only one thing: science fiction short stories. We don’t have interviews, podcasts, reviews, non-fiction, poems, art, or anything else. You also won’t find any advertising on our site, or in our magazine. Clean and uncut. No distractions. By not fracturing among other formats or genres, we’re able to provide a more focused offering. Like a good story, we want to get our readers as close to the action as possible.
3. Why do you love the short story format? What’s great about short stories from a readers, writers and publishers perspective. Why focus on SciFi?
I like the variety that short stories offer, and the concentrated dose of entertainment they provide. I liken short story authors to short distance sprinters. The talent, dedication, discipline, and training that all go into performing 100 meter dashes is no less than that of a marathon runner. It’s just different. Similarly, the short story format is challenging and rewarding in ways that are different than longer works like novels. Many famous and influential novelists throughout history were prolific short story writers themselves. Asimov, King, Salinger, Bradbury, Fitzgerald, the list is as long as you like. Short stories have helped to influence politics, society, entertainment, academia, and the literary world just about since writing became a thing. You can’t ignore that format. As for the focus on science fiction: it’s fascinating, thinking about what could be. At its best, science fiction helps prepare us for the next step in social and technological evolution. In 1968, during the episode of “Plato’s Stepchildren”, William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols wrote history by performing the first scripted interracial kiss on television. Star Trek was ahead of its time. Good science fiction is about being ahead of the times. Who wouldn’t want to be part of something like that, in their own small way?
4. Clearly design is important to you from the art work on your covers to the minimalist design of your magazine. How do you arrive at the design for the Bastion brand, if you will and for each issue?
Design shouldn’t get in the way. Keeping the site and magazine as distraction free helps with this. As for the art itself, I wanted to bring back memories from the golden age of science fiction. There was a lot of chaff then, as there is now, so don’t take me for being hopelessly lost in nostalgia, but many might consider that time period to be the roots of science fiction. I take a lot of inspiration from magazines like If, Galaxy, and Amazing Stories. My father read those magazines growing up, my grandfather read them. I read them. The art was important. It’s important now, as well. When you see something from Frank R. Paul, or Klaus Bürgle, it brings you back. If you’re a younger reader, maybe it brings you back to a place you’ve never been before. Isn’t that what fiction is all about? I think it’s just fantastic. The art of the time was, like the fiction behind it, forward thinking. Today, it’s classic. Our own covers have a more modern approach, but the site itself, and the art of our first issue, tells our readers something about what we’re about, and what we’re trying to do.
5. Where do you want Bastion to do in the next few years? Do you see yourself staying focused on SciFi?
My ultimate goal for Bastion is to become a qualifying market in the Science Fiction Writer’s Association. I want to be able to pay contributors a minimum of $0.06 per word. That’s a far cry from what I think they deserve, though. Used to be a decent writer could sustain himself from his writing. Not so much anymore, which is a shame. I’d like to pay more. I’d also like to be known for publishing high quality stuff, especially from authors who haven’t been published previously. Not for the sake of the magazine itself, but for our contributors. I’d like to be able to do all this without losing focus on how we got started: contributor oriented, with meaningful feedback in reasonable response times.
6. What’s your favorite part about being an editor?
Reading a story that blows you away, and knowing that you have to publish it and show it off. Even more so when it’s from a new author.
7. What’s your least favorite part?
Sending rejection letters. These are people’s babies, their hopes and hard work. I do not enjoy telling someone that despite all their effort, all their time, it just wasn’t good enough. That’s crushing. I’ve been on both sides of that fence.
8. Where do you see the future of SciFi going in all forms. Do you see more cross-over collaborations (film/book/magazine)?
I think short stories are starting to make more of a comeback, especially anthologies. I don’t know so much that the format is going to evolve — there’s writing, movies, television, graphic novels, comics, games, etc. The evolution of science fiction is going more toward content, rather than presentation. Good science fiction pushes boundaries. My hope is that there’s more work done, more stories written, which contribute to societal advancement. Equality for women, different races, and members of the LGBT community is an ongoing series of battles people fight today. Science fiction writers need to do their part. We know writing, and the short story format, is incredibly influential. Just as Kirk kissed Uhura back in 1968 for the first time on television, helping to fight racism and segregation, so too must science fiction today do its part in presenting the societies and cultures of tomorrow. A better society, and a better culture.
9. If there’s anything you could influence in publishing today, what would it be?
I wish I could publish more stories that involve different races and genders. I just don’t receive them. Firstly, it’s more interesting to have characters that aren’t you’re standard white middle aged American male. Secondly, there needs to be more representation in science fiction. Scott Ridley’s Ripley, the female protagonist in the Alien series, is probably one of my favorite characters of all time. Her character is written so well. She routinely stomps Colonial Marines, aliens, prison thugs, corporate henchmen, you name it. She has a mental and emotional toughness about her that is as dynamic and rugged as it is impressive. What makes Ripley such a good character is that she isn’t just a female version of Arnold Schwarzenegger, either. There’s complexity in her character. Subtleties and weaknesses, mistakes and flaws. I wish there was more of that being published.
10. What are you reading now? Who are some of your favorite up-and-coming authors?
In addition to the dozens and dozens of short stories I read for Bastion every week, for myself I’m reading The End is Nigh, an anthology of short stories about the world just before the apocalypse. It’s edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey. Quite good. I’m also reading Aliens, the official novelization of the movie, by Alan Dean Foster. The writing is average if I’m being honest, but I’m such a sucker and fan of the Alien franchise (we don’t talk about Resurrection, and only occasionally about the third one) that I couldn’t help myself. As far as upcoming authors: is it a cheating if I call out some of those we’ve published in Bastion? G. J. Brown, Gary Emmette Chandler, Kurt Bachard, David Austin, and Benjamin Sperduto are all authors you should be watching out for.
Thanks for spending time to do the interview with me. I enjoyed the first two issues and look forward to many more. I’m sure many will agree that once introduced to the joys of Sci Fi short stories in Bastion, they’ll want to subscribe to Bastion, or better yet subscribe and donate.
A nice interview with Bastion Magazine’s R. Leigh Hennig. Nice to see some real excitement for SciFi short stories! Look for my interview with Mr. Leigh Hennig tomorrow.
The other day I reviewed the second issue of a brand new short fiction magazine, Bastion Magazine. I was impressed by the quality of the short stories, but what was most remarkable was the sheer quantity of fiction the editor and staff insist on in each issue. Most of the stories are short, 5,000 words or less, but still, eight or nine in each issue? Great for the reader for sure, but that is a ton of work for any editorial team! I wanted to learn more about the magazine, and lucky for me, R. Leigh offered to tell me a bit about himself and answer a few of my questions!
R. Leigh Hennig recently moved with his wife and three young children from Rura Penthe, er, Rochester, NY to Seattle. Leigh works as a network engineer by day, and when he’s not working on Bastion in the night…
I’m delighted to have done a blogerview (OK, that’s a really lousy neologism for blog interview) with HollowCrownFans. If you don’t know who they are yet, they are two people who are all about making the Bard more accessible. If you haven’t participated in their popular #ShakespeareSunday, it’s typically a themed event where you tweet a quote related to a theme for that Sunday (FAQ). People are quite creative and pull quotes from some of the more esoteric corners of the Shakespearean canon. For me, the best part is simply participating with others actively interested in and sharing about the Bard.
-“Word Crown” in banner from tallforesttowers.tumblr.com
• When did you first form and who make up HollowCrownFans?
HollowCrownFans was formed in July of 2012, while The Hollow Crown was airing in the UK, though originally our twitter handle name was different. We consist of two admins who are both Shakespeare enthusiasts, one from the United Kingdom and the other from the United States. We met on Twitter during the infamous Wimbledon delay when Henry IV Part 1 was airing. If it hadn’t been for tennis, we may have never met! Our Brit admin was an extra in ‘Henry V’ so you could say we were very early adopters of the series.
• What was the impetus to form HollowCrownFans?
The original mission was to create a group big enough to petition the BBC to release on-set photos of the making of The Hollow Crown in a book format. So many beautiful photos were taken by Charlie Gray, Joss Barrett, and Nick Briggs that we felt a companion book to the series would be the perfect complement…and still do! [the petition]
• Is your reason for the group changing over time?
The scope of the group’s purpose has changed – obviously we’ve outgrown our original mission but our core values stay consistent through changes in focus or priorities: to make Shakespeare approachable and accessible to everyone. Shakespeare still has the stereotype of being incomprehensible and only accessible by a “cultural elite”. We believe, on the other hand, that Shakespeare is demonstrably a part of pop culture and can be enjoyed and appreciated by anyone – a point we try and prove every single day.
• HollowCrownFans seem to form a rallying point for people to share their interest in Shakespeare (and Tom). I know I’ve made connections through #ShakespeareSunday. What have you seen of this community forming around HollowCrownFans and shared interests? What role has #ShakespeareSunday had in building the community? How has it grown?
We are most proud of our community first and foremost! It has spawned “Twitter friends” meeting up for in various cities around the world to seeing Joss Whedon’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ or to London to see one of the many Shakespeare productions put on this year or traveling to filming locations as tourists. We’ve seen at least one romance come of a #ShakespeareSunday introduction. And very recently, we connected two actors in a prominent ITV series together on Twitter!
We are constantly amazed by how much the community grows. Every time we think we’ve plateaued something comes along to boost us up again. Our community is so diverse and we are tremendously proud of that. Followers include Shakespeare enthusiasts, students, academics, practitioners (i.e. actors and directors), and institutions. Networks, production companies, publicists, media outlets following as well. And we’d be terribly remiss if we didn’t say that we have the incredible support and passion of Tom Hiddleston’s fan base as one of the largest constituencies. All this diversity makes it exciting for us to create content that is of interest and relevant to that wildly diverse following.
by Kate Petrova.
• Where do see HollowCrownFans going in the next year or so? Where do you think your focus will lie?
The news of a second series of The Hollow Crown has breathed new and exciting life into our mission. We will be very focused on keeping up to date with the cast and production of that series and keeping our followers up to date on its progress. That’s something we didn’t have access to for the first series so we are working hard to get news out as it happens. We both definitely have some homework to do to get up to speed on the Henry VI’s and that journey will be shared with our followers.
• Do you see Benedict Cumberbatch’s role as Richard III bringing a new wave of interest and people (although clearly there is already a lot of shared fandom)?
The announcement of his casting in the role of Richard III immediately brought us a new wave of followers and interest. When first series of The Hollow Crown was cast, the two biggest leads (Ben Whishaw and Tom Hiddleston) were virtually unknowns. So given Benedict Cumberbatch is very much the buzz of Hollywood right now we’re very interested to see how this underwrites series 2’s popularity and anticipation.
• What’s the best part about HollowCrownFans?
The community without question. We learn so much from everyone and hope we help others learn too. It’s also been personally life changing for both of us, for so many reasons but it brought us together as great friends and you can’t put a price on that. We couldn’t do this if we weren’t great friends and a great team.
• What’s the biggest pain?
We have never had a bad day at HollowCrownFans so there are no great pains. The worst we can say is you can’t please everyone all of the time. Occasionally people are disappointed if we don’t take their suggestions or retweet them on #ShakespeareSunday but we do try our very best to never let anyone down.
• What kind of time do you spend keeping HollowCrownFans on Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr?
Because we’re on two continents we can provide coverage for news and engage activities for about 20 hours of a day if we wanted to!Sundayis our busiest day by far. We’ve never done time accounting but some days we do virtually nothing, and another day could be 4 hours of work! We work great as a team and we have loads of fun so whatever time we spend flies by.
by Lula Madison.
• What’s your most active channel?
Twitter is by far our most active channel, then Tumblr and then Facebook. We’ve found Twitter to be where our community lies, Tumblr is where we see the most interactions for photos or videos. Facebook is an area we are keen to be more active in but it seems our audience engages primarily on Twitter.
• Do you know anything about the demographics of your followers? What countries we come from? Age ranges?
We only know what Twitter bios tell us. We’ve never invested in any analytics. We do know that we have followers from every continent except Antarctica. The greatest concentration of followers are from the UK and the US by far. As for ages, we have young students following as well as grandparents. We couldn’t even hazard a guess at what age group is best represented!
Thanks to the folks at Hollow Crown Fans for taking time to do the interview but most especially for putting the effort into getting the word out that the Bard is approachable and relevant and for encouraging a community of those who love Shakespeare. Here’s to a shared love of the Bard and the craft of acting.
For a deeper dive into the series that started it all, here’s a look back at a king who grasped for power and handed his crown to the disenfranchised, a king grasping the crown to give it over to a wayward son and the son who became a warrior king par excellence:
– The Hollow Crown – Richard II – A Beautifully Quirky and Intentional Production http://wp.me/p2XCwQ-kj
– The Hollow Crown – Henry IV Part I – From Hal to Prince Henry, a delightful study of character http://wp.me/p2XCwQ-kY
– The Hollow Crown – Henry IV Part 2 – From Prince Henry to King Henry V http://wp.me/p2XCwQ-lK
– The Hollow Crown – Henry V – Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more http://wp.me/p2XCwQ-mb
…let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings; How some have been deposed; some slain in war, Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed; Some poison’d by their wives: some sleeping kill’d; All murder’d: for within the hollow crown That rounds the mortal temples of a king. Richard II