Reading: Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb(bum)
Music: John Hartford
TV/Movie: Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro
Link o' the Day: Ding!

A couple of days ago in the "Reading" header at the top of this post (as today) I mention that I'm reading Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb(bum). Obviously there is no "bum" at the end of her name, but re-reading this--I'm thinking maybe it's not so out of place.

She wrote two mysteries using SF fandom as it's setting--this one, and Zombies of the Gene Pool. Both books work well as mysteries, and I can't fault her writing style overmuch. But I'm still very bothered by how she treats fandom. She seems to hold it, and fans in general, in high contempt, which makes reading these books a bizarre experience. The nearest I can explain it is... imagine you're watching a movie and the person sitting next to you keeps cracking mean jokes and snide comments, which are very distracting, and the person sitting next to you turns out to be the movie's director.

I mean... I love the setting, but despise how McCrumb portrays it. Supposedly she bases her fan knowledge on visiting a small local convention, and her husband's wargaming buddies. It's like she researched the Mona Lisa by looking at it briefly through a cardboard tube--and didn't think much of the painting to begin with. It's no wonder that she never wrote more books using this setting, and that she now distances herself from them.

My question is... why is this my third or fourth reading?

Maybe it's because I don't see enough stories that use fandom as a setting. The only others I can think of is Barry Malzberg's Gather In the Hall of Giants and the anthology Alternate Skiffy edited by Mike Resnick and Patrick Neilsen Hayden.

Fandom seems like such a ripe setting for good stories. Unfortunately, I can't think of any right now. Maybe I will, eventually, but geez.

Makes me wonder. Granted, her portrayals aren't necessarily inaccurate (all the time) but they are incomplete and taken out of context. Held up for ridicule by non-fen.

I'll finish reading the books. they're already paid for, and they aren't total trash. But I'll continue shaking my head as I do so, and wonder to myself what some unthinking fan must have done to her to make her so hostile.

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Or maybe I'm reading too much into it.

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I've begun the laborious task of updating my web pages. I make no promises or predictions as to when the new pages will be unveiled, but I've just rewritten a couple of the pages. One of them hadn't been updates in six years!

So it's time to do something about that.

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Speaking of fandom, I've been trying to catch up with what's been going on in the fanzine world. It's good to see people are still cranking these things out regularly.

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Today's link goes to another webcomic... and in this case, another webcomic about World of Warcraft. I give you... Ding!, a webcomic by the creator of PVP, Scott Kurtz. There are only 22 or so comics up so far. But Kurtz promises to update twice a week. Start at the beginning if you can/ You won't regret it.

Cheers!