FeralRobots.net

This coming Tuesday, February 7 will be a "Thieves' Night" ("what can we steal from [William Gibson / Catherine Moore / insert name here...") discussion of two powerful stories: "The Winter Market" by William Gibson, and "No Woman Born" by Catherine Moore. Craig deLancey & Eric Scoles will facilitate.

The stories explore different aspects of the traditional SF questions about the nature and extent of humanity. In Gibson's story, a woman ravaged by congenital disease and drug abuse yearns for a chance to transcend her flesh. Moore's protagonist is a brilliant stage actress whose body is destroyed by fire and replaced with a marvellous metallic cyborg body, to which she somehow brings the illusion of human affect. Both stories are approached from the perspectives of men who admire them, and both have inspired a wide range of scholarly, critical response.

"The Winter Market" is a typically well-crafted early Gibson work, but like most of his work also functioning as a powerful narrative experiment. "No Woman Born" betrays some of the typical excesses of its time, but is arguably as thematically challenging as Gibson's work. 

"The Winter Market" is anthologized in Burning Chrome, which collects most of Gibson's short work and readily available at most decent bookstores and libraries and in many used book stores. (I recommend checking Rick's Recycled on Monroe.) You may also be able to find copy online.

"No Woman Born" is widely anthologized, but probably most readily available in print as part of The Best of C. L. Moore. Again, you may also find it online. 

This coming Tuesday, February 7 will be a "Thieves' Night" ("what can we steal from [William Gibson / Catherine Moore / insert name here...") discussion of two powerful stories: "The Winter Market" by William Gibson, and "No Woman Born" by Catherine Moore. Craig deLancey & Eric Scoles will facilitate.

Both stories are concerned with the essential questions of what it means to be human, explored through the conceits of mind-uploading (Gibson) and total-body-prosthesis (Moore).

"The Winter Market" is anthologized in Burning Chrome, which collects most of Gibson's short work and readily available at most decent bookstores and libraries and in many used book stores. (I recommend checking Rick's Recycled on Monroe.) You may also be able to find copy online.

"No Woman Born" is widely anthologized, but probably most readily available in print as part of The Best of C. L. Moore. Again, you may also find it online. 

This Tuesday, January 3, we're going to once again open the floor for people to read from their own work. Come prepared to read aloud the first 2 pages or about 500 words of something you're working on. (You don't need to read it yourself if you're shy -- someone will be happy to read it for you.) We will have a chance to offer brief, constructive feedback to each reader. We'll be meeting in the usual place: The Community Room at the Pittsford Barnes & Noble. 

Who gets to read? Anyone who gets there in time: I'll keep track of names and we'll try to get through at least 7 people. I'll be there at 7pm, greeting and taking names. The opportunity to read will be available to members and non-members alike -- so, please invite friends who are looking for some quick, simple feedback on their first pages. Or just anyone who likes to hear public readings.

What kind of thing should you bring to read? We are still a speculative fiction group, so be aware and let your friends know that's what people will be expecting to hear. Beyond that, and keeping in mind that it's a family environment, we won't be placing any constraints other than length.

We're going to start a little early, by our standards. To ensure that we have enough time to give feedback to each reader, we'll try to take care of any pre-meeting social business starting about 7:15. We'll start the readings at 7:30 promptly so we can have time to give feedback to each reader.

I hope you'll join us and invite your friends to do the same. Please feel free to share this with friends. Anyone with questions can feel free to contact me directly.

This Tuesday, January 3, we're going to once again open the floor for people to read from their own work. Come prepared to read aloud the first 2 pages or about 500 words of something you're working on, and then receive brief, constructive feedback. Come at 7pm to sign up — we'll get through at least the first 7 people. Reading will start promptly at 7:30.

Join us on Tuesday, November 1 as machinima artist and University of Rochester Professor Sarah Higley talks about Machinima: Films recorded using virtual performers, shot in virtual settings constructed in spaces such as Second Life, World of Warcraft, or other rich virtual environments. Sarah will provide examples from her own body of work and that of other machinima artists, as well as providing examples that don't work quite so well. 

Sarah (better known in some circles as 'Sally Caves') is a Professor of English at the University of Rochester, where she teaches and does research in medieval literature and language (amongh other things). She's also a respected author of fantasy and science fiction with a long-standing interest in virtual worlds, as exemplified by her most well-known creation, Star Trek: The Next Generation's 'Reg Barkley,' who becomes addicted to his own virtual realities. Her story "The Naked Girl" (published in 2034: Writing Rochester's Futures) explores similar territory, as citizens of a plauge-threatened world shift their social interactions into virtual realms and virtual personae. 

We'll meet starting at about 7:00pm in the Community Room at the Pittsford Barnes & Noble (3349 Monroe Avenue, Pittsford NY). Sarah will begin her talk at about 7:30pm.

Join us on Tuesday, November 1 as University of Rochester Professor (and machinima artist) Sarah Higley (better known in some circles as 'Sally Caves', creator of ST:TNG's 'Reg Barkley') talks about Machinima: Films recorded using virtual performers, shot in virtual settings constructed in spaces such as Second Life or World of Warcraft. Sarah will provide examples from her own work and that of other machinima artists, as well as providing examples that don't work quite so well. We'll meet starting at about 7:00pm in the Community Room at the Pittsford Barnes & Noble (3349 Monroe Avenue, Pittsford NY). Sarah will begin her talk at about 7:30pm.