TED's latest initiative, Lessons Worth Sharing, proposes to take the best lectures by the best lecturers, and animate them. This is a pretty neat idea, as illustrated by the short video explaining the concept. I am grateful to Nicola Simmoms for bringing this initiative to the attention of the online forum for Society of Teaching and Learning In Higher Education, to which I subscribe. In subsequent discussion, another member of the forum made the comment, "I cannot fathom a down side".
I agree that it is hard not to love anything connected with TED. But, um: being a sociologist, I can pretty much find the latent dysfunction of anything….
The subtle catch with the implementation of the best lecture concept is that each "lesson" is restricted to be ten minutes or under. So we get the best teachers, animate their ten minute lecture and post it as an example of great teaching. This then becomes the gold standard of teaching, against which all of lecturers are now going to be judged by their students. But one cannot reduce teaching to 10 minutes of lecture.
Sound Bite Thinking
Some concepts take longer than 10 minutes to develop. The bulleted points of web pages and powerpoint presentations, or the trend towards fast-cutting video, have already eroded our students attention spans, and sapped their patience for sustained argument. But many subtle ideas require students to really think their way through complicated, even convoluted arguments. Bringing data to bear on a problem, for example, allowing students to shift through and understand that data, requires more than 10 minutes. If TED implies to students (and instructors) that ten minutes is the longest tolerable length for lecture, I'm not convinced that that approach is necessarily going to promote critical thinking or sustained engagement.
Entertainment vs Engagement
I love the idea of someone animating my lectures…though my particular subject matter (say, the construction of multiple-choice test questions) may not always lend itself to that medium. But the problem here is that animated lectures are entertaining and perpetuate the idea that learning always should always be fun and effortless. Just as Sesame Street taught a generation of children that learning is fun -- with the unfortunate corollary that school should be likewise always be fun, and that if one's teacher isn't as entertaining as Kermit the Frog, one should change the channel -- there is a danger that viewers will expect their own instructors to be as entertaining as a TED Video.
This is a wrong idea: lots of what we have to do to achieve our learning goals is not fun. Practicing scales on the piano, learning the times table, reading scholarly articles, are inherently tedious but nonetheless necessary tasks. Instructors who focus on entertaining their students may do well in course evaluations, but it is not clear that their courses contain any actual content.
I work hard to make my classes engaging, but that is a very different matter than being entertaining. I hope that my passion for my subject shows through, and that at least some of my students catch something of that same enthusiasm, even as they engage in those activities that include an element of drudgery.
This is not to suggest that one should turn off Sesame Street or block TED video: obviously, the Lessons Worth Sharing initiative is producing a marvelous resource of which we should all avail ourselves. What I am suggesting is that we need to be aware that this is a medium we should exploit but not necessarily attempt to emulate in our own classrooms. It is not necessary, or even desirable, that we all start breaking our lectures into ten minute segments or hire animators.
Whose Knowledge?
I'm sure TED talks will cover all the great ideas of science, etc. But what about the social sciences, humanities, and so on? The whole point of having local campuses (besides allowing students direct access to instructors), is that we may not all agree with, say, American supply-side economics. Whose vetting what goes on TED's channel? Who is in charge of social construction of what constitutes really cool knowledge? Is TED going to include the lunatic fringe? Only the Mainstream? Is Somoa or Alberta going to see their ideas reflected on TED, or only America content? (TED hasn't done a bad job in the past of bringing speakers from around the world, so perhaps this need not be an immediate concern...but what we're watching bears watching.)
Contextualization
Another problem with crowd sourcing lectures is that without the larger context of a program of studies, concepts are presented out of order, without important qualifications, and without the necessary links/connections being drawn for the audience. Again, the TED Lessons might be a fabulous supplementary resource for teachers around the world, and for individuals seeking clarification of particular concepts, but it is important to understand that this is not sufficient to serve as a stand alone replacement for schooling. I do not say that TED has ever claimed that it would be, only that others will invariably ask, "Why can't it all be like this" and contextualization is part of the answer.
Good teaching is more than lectures
Good teaching has to be more than lecturing. I'm good with having a large resource of fabulous 10 minute introductions to big ideas available to my classes…but that does rather imply that the classroom instructors will be left with doing all the boring bits with their students. Students will therefore be inclined to make invidious comparisons between the fabulous animated lectures available online, and the dreary classes they have to endure on campus....
TED: Lessons Worth Sharing
But, you know, just saying.
Mostly, the TED initiative looks pretty cool to me.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
Mary Runté Awarded Woman of Distinction
Excerpted from the Feb 13, 2012 University of Lethbridge Notices Board:
The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards recognize outstanding women who live and work in Southern Alberta.
Through a competitive process, the honourees are chosen from a group of nominations. The awards are based on the candidate’s accomplishments, commitment and leadership.
The Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony is a wonderful venue to showcase the talent and leadership of women in Southern Alberta. Women honoured have been trailblazers, entrepreneurs, innovators, social advocates, and volunteers.
Mary Runte: Woman of Distinction in the Spirit of Women category.
Mary Runté has a Ph.D. in Management from St. Mary's University and an MBA from York. She is an Associate Professor of Strategy and the Director of Social Responsibility in the Faculty of Management at the University of Lethbridge.
Previously, Mary worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations, including Eastside Young Moms and the Society of Special Needs Adoptive Parents (SNAP). Gender inequity, work-family balance, social responsibility and business ethics are her particular areas of interest and research, having numerous publications and having received major research grants to study these issues.
Mary was honoured as distinguished speaker for the Work-Life Conference at the University of Ochanamizu, Tokyo, Japan in 2007. She is the founding Division Chair for the Social Responsibility Interest Group of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada.
Her tireless support of her students, especially female students in non-traditional fields, and her one-on-one mentoring throughout their academic careers is done on a volunteer basis. She is an incredible role model for students and colleagues alike as she advocates ceaselessly for ethical and principled business behaviour.
================================================================
From the Lethbridge Hearld, Monday, Feb 13, 2012.:
Runté credits her daughters as her inspiration to connect with other women.
"They are very different, unique souls, and to just be able to see that and to recognize that is one of the greatest honours I have in life; to be able to nurture that and allow it to grow without interference, but with support," she said. "And I say that with my students as well. Male and female, sometimes what they need is just to be noticed."
Runte is known for tirelessly supporting her pupils, particularly female students studying non-traditional fields, as well as her volunteer one-on-one mentoring.
"It's really validating when people notice something that you do simply because it's what you do," she said of winning the award.
========================================================
I am incredibly proud of Mary. I of course was aware of the impact she was having before the award, but it's nice to see her get some recognition for the work that she does.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
Hugo
Brilliant movie. I especially recommend the 3D version: excellent use of 3D effects without being cheesy. The casting was excellent, the direction flawless, and the spirit of the book could not have been better realized. An excellent adventure story with a payoff of understanding the origin of film. I took my 13 yr old and she loved the film as much as I and it initiated a great conversation on the history of the movies. Anyone remotely interested in the movies as an art form HAS to see this movie; everyone else should enjoy a really superb movie about a young boy's quest and the little side stories about life and love in the Paris railway station.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Split Decision
I am eligible for one of the 2012 Aurora Awards --Canada's top awards for Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy--in the category, "Best Short Form Work in English," for my short story, "Split Decision" in Tesseracts 15: A case of Quite Curious Tales
The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2012, and the five works with the most nominations will be on the ballot. Only members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association can nominate or vote ($10 fee). You can nominate 3 works in each category. For a list of all eligible entries, check out 2011 Canadian SF or the Canadian SF Works Database.
If you liked "Split Decision" please consider nominating it. (Though with that title, you just know the best it could do is a tie!)
The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2012, and the five works with the most nominations will be on the ballot. Only members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association can nominate or vote ($10 fee). You can nominate 3 works in each category. For a list of all eligible entries, check out 2011 Canadian SF or the Canadian SF Works Database.
If you liked "Split Decision" please consider nominating it. (Though with that title, you just know the best it could do is a tie!)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
Engine of Recall
The Engine of Recall by Karl SchroederMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Schroeder makes my list of top ten authors, so I've been meaning to read this collection for some time. I tend to prefer novels to short stories for bed time reading, and I'd already read several of these when they first came out, including one I'd published myself as co-editor of Tesseracts 5 (and was subsequently reprinted in David Hartwell's anthology The Hard SF Renaissance) -- I like to think I was one of the editors that 'discovered' Schroeder, though that's pure pretension on my part--so hadn't got around to the collection. For one thing, I knew that they would be more downbeat than the novels, and that turned out to be true. His novels all have (relatively) happy endings. And I guess that is sort of true of the stories in the collection, though its the 'get-to=live-another=day,-not-quite-as-bad-as-it-could-have-been' Canadian-style endings here, rather than the 'achieved-our-goals' American-style happy endings. But for all that the stories tend towards the somber, I really enjoyed the book. The writing is excellent, his ideas are original, and its refreshing to read the Canadian version of the genre. And it's interesting to look at the evolution of Schroeder's writing: the man is a genius, one of the best hard SF writers around, so well worth reading his entire cannon. I look forward to his next collection.
View all my reviews
Donald Barr
Donald Barr was a significant figure in American post-secondary education, having been a professor, Dean, and author of Who Pushed Humpty Dumpty? Dilemmas in American Education (1971) a major book in the 1970s. He also wrote two SF novels near the end of his career, so he's a bit of a role model for me.
His first novel, Space Relations: A Slightly Gothic Interplanetary Tale is one of my favorites. I've just finished rereading it for the third time, and I almost never re-read novels. But his is one of the novels that comes closest to the one I'm trying to write myself. Having re-read my way through the Miles Vorkosigan series (which stands up very well to rereading) and as much of the Retief and Stainless Steel Rat and Agent of Vega books as I could stand (not nearly as good as my 15-year-old self remembered them), Space Relations was the last of the novels that heavily influenced my own first attempt at novel-writing.
Space Relations is the story of a very minor diplomat who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, but ultimately thinks his way through to escape. But it's way better than that summary makes it sound. It's clever and funny and sexy; an adult version of The Stainless Steel Rat or Retief, and the spy stuff is a lot better because, did I mention, Barr was also a former intelligence officer in the OSS.
What I learned from Space Relations is the importance of not explaining everything at the moment it happens. There's one rather clever bit of action early on in which the hero initiates a bit of a scene: the other characters (and the reader) assume he is just being a bit of a wise-ass out to annoy his captors, but about 15 chapters later the hero explains that this was a key turning point for him because it gave him the information he needed to escape. I've remembered that scene ever since I first read it 25 years ago. And I have therefore resisted the temptation to explain everything as it happens in my own novel, and I'm quite proud of a couple of bits where the reader doesn't get to know what's going on until later. Connie Willis is the other master of the same technique.
In contrast, I've had three manuscripts across my desk in the last three months in which the first-time novelists have answered the protagoists' questions within pages -- sometimes within paragraphs -- of their having posed them. How mysterious is a mystery that lasts three paragraphs? In each case I have had to point out to the authors that there is no tension in a puzzle that is solved the instant it is introduced. The contrast between these newbies and Barr's first novel made a very strong impression on me.
Unfortunately, Barr's second novel, A Planet in Arms is nowhere as good. I re-read it again too, in my enthusiasm for Space Relations, but now wish I hadn't. A Planet in Arms is much darker: the characters are less sympathetic, much of the action is unpleasantly gruesome, and Barr projects his American cold war politics a 1000 years into the future which is just embarrassing. Large portions of the novel drag as the 'action' slows to debates in the legislature -- more projection of American politics and stereotypical communist villians. In contrast to Space Relations' careful development of a single protagonist, the pov in Planet in Arms is fragmented between a half dozen characters -- the characters serve to tell the story of the revolution rather than allowing the revolution to motivate the actions of some character. I don't feel revolution makes for a good character. To be fair, there are still some (albeit dark) comedic bits, and the spy action is informative, so the book isn't awful...but no Space Relations.
Space Relations: worth seeking out, but it's a one-off.
His first novel, Space Relations: A Slightly Gothic Interplanetary Tale is one of my favorites. I've just finished rereading it for the third time, and I almost never re-read novels. But his is one of the novels that comes closest to the one I'm trying to write myself. Having re-read my way through the Miles Vorkosigan series (which stands up very well to rereading) and as much of the Retief and Stainless Steel Rat and Agent of Vega books as I could stand (not nearly as good as my 15-year-old self remembered them), Space Relations was the last of the novels that heavily influenced my own first attempt at novel-writing.
Space Relations is the story of a very minor diplomat who is kidnapped and sold into slavery, but ultimately thinks his way through to escape. But it's way better than that summary makes it sound. It's clever and funny and sexy; an adult version of The Stainless Steel Rat or Retief, and the spy stuff is a lot better because, did I mention, Barr was also a former intelligence officer in the OSS.
What I learned from Space Relations is the importance of not explaining everything at the moment it happens. There's one rather clever bit of action early on in which the hero initiates a bit of a scene: the other characters (and the reader) assume he is just being a bit of a wise-ass out to annoy his captors, but about 15 chapters later the hero explains that this was a key turning point for him because it gave him the information he needed to escape. I've remembered that scene ever since I first read it 25 years ago. And I have therefore resisted the temptation to explain everything as it happens in my own novel, and I'm quite proud of a couple of bits where the reader doesn't get to know what's going on until later. Connie Willis is the other master of the same technique.
In contrast, I've had three manuscripts across my desk in the last three months in which the first-time novelists have answered the protagoists' questions within pages -- sometimes within paragraphs -- of their having posed them. How mysterious is a mystery that lasts three paragraphs? In each case I have had to point out to the authors that there is no tension in a puzzle that is solved the instant it is introduced. The contrast between these newbies and Barr's first novel made a very strong impression on me.
Unfortunately, Barr's second novel, A Planet in Arms is nowhere as good. I re-read it again too, in my enthusiasm for Space Relations, but now wish I hadn't. A Planet in Arms is much darker: the characters are less sympathetic, much of the action is unpleasantly gruesome, and Barr projects his American cold war politics a 1000 years into the future which is just embarrassing. Large portions of the novel drag as the 'action' slows to debates in the legislature -- more projection of American politics and stereotypical communist villians. In contrast to Space Relations' careful development of a single protagonist, the pov in Planet in Arms is fragmented between a half dozen characters -- the characters serve to tell the story of the revolution rather than allowing the revolution to motivate the actions of some character. I don't feel revolution makes for a good character. To be fair, there are still some (albeit dark) comedic bits, and the spy action is informative, so the book isn't awful...but no Space Relations.
Space Relations: worth seeking out, but it's a one-off.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Three Little Pigs Retold
Hilarious comedy routine by John Branyan on difference between Shakespeare's vocabulary and typical American's today. Worth a couple of minutes of your time. (Thanks to Lorina Stephens of Five River Books for the tip.)
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Interview with me
Interview with me and two other authors from the Tesseracts 15 anthology at Totally Tesseracts blog as part of Tess 15 launch.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Couple of good YouTubes
Morning Dew is unbelievably good photography of morning dew. Worth a look!
Murmuration of Starlings is astounding bit of nature photography.
What is kind of interesting about this last one is this is what happens when you give millions of people digital cameras. Murmuration of starlings is one of those things that you'd used to hear about but you couldn't really get because, okay, it's a bunch of birds flying around, but so? But you see it and you go, "what the heck is that?! Zowie!" and it knocks you over. It's like watching something from an SF movie. But catching that on camera is one of those rare things because you can't really predict it and you can't have a camera crew sitting around for a year waiting. But with 200 million digital cameras out there, sooner or later, some lucky amateur gets something like this.
The first video shows you what someone can do with talent and a really good camera.
Murmuration of Starlings is astounding bit of nature photography.
What is kind of interesting about this last one is this is what happens when you give millions of people digital cameras. Murmuration of starlings is one of those things that you'd used to hear about but you couldn't really get because, okay, it's a bunch of birds flying around, but so? But you see it and you go, "what the heck is that?! Zowie!" and it knocks you over. It's like watching something from an SF movie. But catching that on camera is one of those rare things because you can't really predict it and you can't have a camera crew sitting around for a year waiting. But with 200 million digital cameras out there, sooner or later, some lucky amateur gets something like this.
The first video shows you what someone can do with talent and a really good camera.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Word on the Street (Lethbridge)
Today was the Word on the Street Festival, the first iteration for Lethbridge. On the upside, it was nice to see some version of this national event in the city; on the downside, organization left something to be desired.
My primary complaint is that the contracted organizer seemed to miss that this was supposed to be about the written word. Three quarters of the booths and activities had some other focus: ethnic food, a roller derby booth, blood donors, jazz and country musicians, ethnic dancers, face painting, and so on. I get that the organizer was trying for a festive atmosphere with lots of interesting things happening, but it did rather end up feeling more like the random collection of tables/tents one gets at the weekly farmer's market than anything remotely related to the written word.
Furthermore, the logic of setting up a bandstand and installing a country singer at one end of the block while setting up poetry readings and meet-the-author events downwind along the same block of his city-blasting sound system escapes me. At one point Tigana and I walked past a choir of 20 or more singers whose lips appeared to be moving but from whom we could detect no sound, given the banshee wail of the country performer. What was the point of this arrangement? If I were the choir, I would have been supremely pissed to have been asked to perform under such inappropriate conditions. I know that we certainly didn't bother even trying to listen to the various author readings, for it was clearly a hopeless endeavour. Giving priority to the bandstand over the authors seems to rather severely miss the whole point of the exercise! Why weren't the authors given the bandstand sound system, and the musicians off in the corners, instead of the other way around?
And where were the literary activities? Face paint for the kids is all well and good, but where is the instant poetry booth, the magnetic poetry board, the graffiti wall, the improve group, the word-oriented kids activities? Or adult activities, for that matter? There was nothing to involve, engage the passerby that had anything to do with writing or reading -- clearly, the organizer didn't believe words would be enough and opted for Festival Filler instead.
And Tigana burst into laughter at the sight of the heavily advertized 'bouncy house for the kids' -- it was smaller by half than our own family's backyard version, purchased from Costco; it wasn't even the size of the entrance to the bouncy house at the house party we had attended the night before. For a city-wide event, advertizing a bouncy house as the main attraction for the kids, I think we imagined something bigger than a toddler's wading pool. It was embarrassing.
I have to give some credit for organizing skype conferences with various authors; but I know it embarrassed Mary to live in a community with so few writers we had to skype in speakers. And when I talked to a couple of writers I knew forlornly manning the autograph table and asked how sales of their books had been, one Edmonton author confessed she'd only sold one book, and that to the out of town author sitting next to her.
The University bookstore did an excellent job of profiling itself as somewhere to buy books other than texts, and they were good to have copies of all the featured authors available for sale. But I can't help wondering if they broke even on the deal....
I hope the event goes again next year...but I hope the organization is a little better.
My primary complaint is that the contracted organizer seemed to miss that this was supposed to be about the written word. Three quarters of the booths and activities had some other focus: ethnic food, a roller derby booth, blood donors, jazz and country musicians, ethnic dancers, face painting, and so on. I get that the organizer was trying for a festive atmosphere with lots of interesting things happening, but it did rather end up feeling more like the random collection of tables/tents one gets at the weekly farmer's market than anything remotely related to the written word.
Furthermore, the logic of setting up a bandstand and installing a country singer at one end of the block while setting up poetry readings and meet-the-author events downwind along the same block of his city-blasting sound system escapes me. At one point Tigana and I walked past a choir of 20 or more singers whose lips appeared to be moving but from whom we could detect no sound, given the banshee wail of the country performer. What was the point of this arrangement? If I were the choir, I would have been supremely pissed to have been asked to perform under such inappropriate conditions. I know that we certainly didn't bother even trying to listen to the various author readings, for it was clearly a hopeless endeavour. Giving priority to the bandstand over the authors seems to rather severely miss the whole point of the exercise! Why weren't the authors given the bandstand sound system, and the musicians off in the corners, instead of the other way around?
And where were the literary activities? Face paint for the kids is all well and good, but where is the instant poetry booth, the magnetic poetry board, the graffiti wall, the improve group, the word-oriented kids activities? Or adult activities, for that matter? There was nothing to involve, engage the passerby that had anything to do with writing or reading -- clearly, the organizer didn't believe words would be enough and opted for Festival Filler instead.
And Tigana burst into laughter at the sight of the heavily advertized 'bouncy house for the kids' -- it was smaller by half than our own family's backyard version, purchased from Costco; it wasn't even the size of the entrance to the bouncy house at the house party we had attended the night before. For a city-wide event, advertizing a bouncy house as the main attraction for the kids, I think we imagined something bigger than a toddler's wading pool. It was embarrassing.
I have to give some credit for organizing skype conferences with various authors; but I know it embarrassed Mary to live in a community with so few writers we had to skype in speakers. And when I talked to a couple of writers I knew forlornly manning the autograph table and asked how sales of their books had been, one Edmonton author confessed she'd only sold one book, and that to the out of town author sitting next to her.
The University bookstore did an excellent job of profiling itself as somewhere to buy books other than texts, and they were good to have copies of all the featured authors available for sale. But I can't help wondering if they broke even on the deal....
I hope the event goes again next year...but I hope the organization is a little better.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Interview on Editing
Interview with me on editing by Mike Plested on his regular Get Published podcast.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Quote of the Week
If I rave about a book I love and I have it with me, I am absolutely not going to give it to you. If I love it that much, I am going to keep it. And if I love it even more than that, the thought of you even borrowing it and maybe smudging up the dust jacket and cracking the spine makes me throw up a little in my mouth. So buy your own copy. Or pirate it.
-Sandra Kasturi, publisher, editor, poet.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Nut Allergies
Life is good.
Went to the specialist in Calgary, after an 18 month wait, and was cleared of suspicion of nut allergies. I had been suffering from hives for several months, and correlation with consumption of almonds/marzipan was sufficiently compelling for my doctor to order me to stop eating all nuts and to carry an epipen with me at all times. The hives vanished the second I stopped eating nuts; the one episode of hives I had after that, when I went back through every thing I had eaten that day, I found a "may contain traces of almonds" label, so that freaked me out a little -- if mere traces of almonds could now trigger the reaction, strongly suggested that problem was escalating. So I went 18 months without eating any tree nuts. Which I discovered are in everything everywhere. Indeed, "almonds are the new peanuts", peanut allergies being sufficiently widespread and scary that a lot of places (schools, cruise ships, many restaurants) have simply banded them, often replacing them in recipes with almonds.
Besides having to avoid a lot of my favorite dishes, I was constantly annoyed by packaged foods with the "may contain traces of" warning labels, since the legal department insists on putting that warning on everything, whether or not there is actually any chance of contamination. A colleague passed me a research article on a study into what the variations in the wording of these warnings meant (did "processed on the same equipment that processes peanuts and tree nuts" imply more or less danger than "may contain traces of", etc.) and the researchers concluded that all the warnings were meaningless legalese. Basically, if you have allergies, you shouldn't eat processed foods.
But tests proved I'm good to go. I'm not allergic to anything I was tested for. The hives were just random outbreaks caused by underlying thyroid issue, which I already knew about and which is not serious.
So life is good!
Went to the specialist in Calgary, after an 18 month wait, and was cleared of suspicion of nut allergies. I had been suffering from hives for several months, and correlation with consumption of almonds/marzipan was sufficiently compelling for my doctor to order me to stop eating all nuts and to carry an epipen with me at all times. The hives vanished the second I stopped eating nuts; the one episode of hives I had after that, when I went back through every thing I had eaten that day, I found a "may contain traces of almonds" label, so that freaked me out a little -- if mere traces of almonds could now trigger the reaction, strongly suggested that problem was escalating. So I went 18 months without eating any tree nuts. Which I discovered are in everything everywhere. Indeed, "almonds are the new peanuts", peanut allergies being sufficiently widespread and scary that a lot of places (schools, cruise ships, many restaurants) have simply banded them, often replacing them in recipes with almonds.
Besides having to avoid a lot of my favorite dishes, I was constantly annoyed by packaged foods with the "may contain traces of" warning labels, since the legal department insists on putting that warning on everything, whether or not there is actually any chance of contamination. A colleague passed me a research article on a study into what the variations in the wording of these warnings meant (did "processed on the same equipment that processes peanuts and tree nuts" imply more or less danger than "may contain traces of", etc.) and the researchers concluded that all the warnings were meaningless legalese. Basically, if you have allergies, you shouldn't eat processed foods.
But tests proved I'm good to go. I'm not allergic to anything I was tested for. The hives were just random outbreaks caused by underlying thyroid issue, which I already knew about and which is not serious.
So life is good!
Friday, August 19, 2011
Tesseracts 15 Launched
Robert Runté reading from "Split Decision" at Edge book launch, When Words Collide Festival, August 14, 2011 (Photo John Archer)
I was at the When Words Collide Festival in Calgary last weekend, where Edge publications launched their Tesseracts 15: A Case of Quite Curious Tales collection. As one of the contributors in attendance, I was asked to read a brief excerpt (the first 1/3) from my story. The readings were a wild success -- I can hardly wait to read the stories by the other authors who read excerpts, they were all exceptional -- and I was completely overwhelmed by the reaction to my own reading. I had hoped that my story was amusing, but had no idea that it could generate the gales of laughter with which it was greeted by the live audience. The publisher was apparently surprised too, because they approached me to do a second reading at their multiple book launch again the next day. I read the second 1/3 of my story, again generating a much stronger audience reaction than I would have ever believed possible. The audience for the Edge multiple launches was much bigger than that for the first reading, so the impact of having that many people 'getting' my humor was overwhelming for me. I have never done a public reading of anything I'd written before, so always thought of writing as a solitary and introspective act. You send stuff out there, but you never really know how people are reacting, even if they comment that they liked your story. Hearing their laughter live, is an entirely different experience. Equally gratifying are the tweets and emails I received following the festival telling me how much people had enjoyed the story, a couple even going so far as to say my reading was the highlight of the convention for them. Talk about validation! I could see public readings becoming quite addictive!
The avalanche of positive feedback for that story contrasts sharply with the invisibility of my role as editor. The books I edit for Five Rivers do acknowledge my role in the colophon, but I doubt that many people notice or care -- I can't imagine getting a congratulatory email saying "nice job editing on that book!" since it is by definition an invisible role. Audiences never get to see the before and after manuscripts, or alternate versions of the novel by a different editor (as one gets with directors and plays), so there is no basis upon which readers can judge what editors do. And it is even worse in the case of my growing freelance business (wwwSFeditor.ca), since most of the writers who come to me for coaching do not want anyone else to ever find out that they sought the help of a development editor. I feel I have had a major impact on the success of at least a couple of authors, but no one will ever know because the advice is always given in strictest confidence.
Given how much I enjoyed the positive public feedback I received this weekend, I may have to reconsider how much time I am devoting to editorial work verses my own writing. Though, editing does pay better, and I am really good at it. Hmm, maybe it's my day job I'll have to give up....
Though professoring is a pretty good gig too. Indeed, I've just received confirmation that I have been given the 2012-2013 year off teaching to write a textbook on student evaluation, so there is one book I will be writing for sure (and getting paid for). Now, to see if I can write a textbook that generates the same sort of positive feedback. (Well, I do intend to use a lot of humor -- god knows, the field could definitely use it. The other texts are all so uniformly boring!) Much as I enjoy teaching (comes with a live, captive audience) it will be wonderful to have time to write without feeling like I am stealing time from my family, students, or etc.
Anyway, can't wait to read the reviews of Tesseracts 15 when they come out...I just got my author's copy at the convention, so I haven't read it yet myself, but if the author readings this weekend were any indication, its one of the best YA collections in years, so should do extremely well. The publisher's table sold out of all the copies they had brought to the convention, so that is probably a good sign. The editor told me they had over 300 submissions, and that they just took the best of the best, so I am really looking forward to reading it. I am definitely in good company with this one!
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