Tag Archives: science fiction

Jack Wright in D.C., Twain and Faulkner at ALA

Posted on May 22, 2014 by nathanielwms

I spent most of Wednesday reading two Jack Wright dime novels at the Library of Congress.  Both are great examples of proto-science fiction that imagines inventors making a difference in real-world affairs. In “Running the Blockade; or, Jack Wright Helping the Cuban … Continue reading →

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Story Sold to Abyss & Apex

Posted on April 16, 2014 by nathanielwms

Last week, the awesome online science fiction magazine, Abyss & Apex, accepted some of my fiction.  My short story—”Have You Seen Lucky?”—will appear on their site in 2015. I am thrilled.  I will post a link when it is released. … Continue reading →

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Scott Westerfeld & Justine Larbalestier Interview is Out

Posted on April 8, 2014 by nathanielwms

The interview Laurie Glover and I did with YA science-fiction giants Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier is now out. It appears in the Spring 2014 issue of Writing on the Edge (WOE), pages 96-106.  It’s not available online, so Larbalestier/Westerfeld … Continue reading →

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Forthcoming Westerfeld and Labalestier Interview

Posted on February 24, 2014 by nathanielwms

Last week, Laurie Glover and I interviewed authors Scott Westerfeld and Justine Labalestier for UC Davis’s interdisciplinary writing journal, Writing on the Edge.  I’ve been transcribing and editing for the past few days with a February 28th deadline. We discussed … Continue reading →

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Short Story Sold

Posted on November 20, 2013 by nathanielwms

This morning, I received an acceptance letter from the editors at Perihelion Science Fiction accepting my short story, “Eyesores,” for publication. Perihelion is a great fiction site with an emphasis on hard SF. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t … Continue reading →

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Wild, Wild West and Steampunk Movies

Posted on November 10, 2013 by nathanielwms

I just made 13 first-year university students watch the 1999 film version of Wild, Wild West, starring Will Smith and Salma Hayek, and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.  I feel sort of guilty. It’s a bad film.  Even Roland Barthes would … Continue reading →

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Generation Y, Sci-Fi, Genres, and Nostalgia

Posted on September 19, 2013 by nathanielwms

Two articles were all over Facebook yesterday and they seem really connected to me. One is Junot Díaz’s Salon interview that (despite a sensationalized title) has some excellent things to say about literary genre. The other is a clever essay … Continue reading →

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Johnny Cash: Science Fiction Author

Posted on August 16, 2013 by nathanielwms

As I’ve said here before, the connections between science fiction and 20th-century popular music run very deep. If you’re a fan of both, you find yourself becoming the jelly in a giant nostalgia sandwich.  Want an example? This week, Cracked.com … Continue reading →

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Going to Worldcon in San Antonio (+Retrofuturist Listmania)

Posted on August 1, 2013 by nathanielwms

Big announcement: I’m going to be able to attend the World SF in San Antonio.  I’ll be helping the current AboutSF coordinators, Meagan Kane and Mackenzie VanBeest, put on the AboutSF Teaching Workshop on Labor Day (Monday, last day of … Continue reading →

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Secret Origins: Mark Twain, Profanity, and Science Fiction

Posted on July 25, 2013 by nathanielwms

Yesterday, I posted the following Mark Twain quote on Facebook: “Profanity is more necessary to me than is immunity from colds.” I came across the actual letter where Twain scribbled this comment earlier this week using the awesome online archive … Continue reading →

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Portrait of the “Artist” as a Young Fan

Posted on July 12, 2013 by nathanielwms

Here’s a foray into personal sci-fi nostalgia.  The books in the fuzzy picture below were boxed in my parents’ basement.  Some of them even have tags from a garage sale that never happened while I was away at college. Collectively, … Continue reading →

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Final Exam Questions: Steampunk, Nostalgia, SF Novels

Posted on June 12, 2013 by nathanielwms

Because it’s finals week at UC Davis, I thought I’d go ahead and publicly post the final exam questions from last quarter’s novels class on nostalgia and desiderium.  Here’s a taste of the questions I asked.  Students could write about … Continue reading →

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Goonan’s In War Times: SF Nostalgia and Lost Jazz Giants

Posted on June 6, 2013 by nathanielwms

Kathleen Ann Goonan’s In War Times (2007)  is a splendid book, and in many ways it represented the culmination of all the threads my Topics in the Novel class considered: nostalgia, science fiction, jazz, comic books, history-as-pastiche, youth rebellion, time … Continue reading →

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Steampunk Dogs – ConQuesT and ASLE

Posted on May 24, 2013 by nathanielwms

Dogs in Old-Time Science Fiction.  That’s what my next two weeks will be about. On Sunday the 26th, I’m giving a fiction reading at ConQuesT (the Kansas City Science Fiction Convention) that will include my “steampunk dog” tale.  It’s a … Continue reading →

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Appearances at ConQuesT

Posted on May 11, 2013 by nathanielwms

I have some final scheduling for ConQuest, the Kansas City Science Fiction Convention.  I’ll be on panels for Hadley Rille Books and AboutSF.  My fiction reading is at 4:00-4:30 p.m. EST on Sunday the 26th.  (That’s right after the Charity … Continue reading →

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Buddy Holly, Woody Guthrie, and Alternate History SF

Posted on May 7, 2013 by nathanielwms

Quite possibly the best record review I ever read was an alternate history tale in disguise. I’ve spent a decent chunk of free time scouring the online archives of the great Americana magazine No Depression trying to find a reprint … Continue reading →

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SF Fandom Birthed Rock Journalism (Remembering Paul Williams)

Posted on March 29, 2013 by nathanielwms

I just learned that rock critic and science-fiction researcher Paul Williams passed away Wednesday.  Anyone looking for an example of how science fiction fandom helped create rock n’ roll journalism, look no further than the first half of this interview … Continue reading →

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Buddy Holly, Bradley Denton, and Bahktin

Posted on March 15, 2013 by nathanielwms

I’m almost reluctant to write about Brad Denton’s Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede because I’ll be talking about it in my Eaton Science Fiction Conference paper on retro-futurism and nostalgia.  Instead of covering that material here, I … Continue reading →

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George Lucas and Pavement: My Imaginary California

Posted on March 5, 2013 by nathanielwms

When I started dating a girl from the Sacramento Valley, there were only two northern California towns I really knew and cared about. One was Stockton, the town that produced the great band Pavement.  “Cesspool,” the people who’d been there … Continue reading →

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Howard Waldrop Saves the Day!

Posted on February 25, 2013 by nathanielwms

If you know Howard Waldrop’s classic short story “Save a Place in the Lifeboat for Me,” (from his collection, Howard Who?) you know it pulls off a sci-fi/magical-realist blend of the Golden Age of Hollywood and the “Day the Music … Continue reading →

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A Kansas City Labrick in California, Part 2 (Sci-Fi edition)

Posted on January 18, 2013 by nathanielwms

Two days after teaching Tom Sawyer (see Part 1), I find myself writing a grant proposal to visit libraries with Twain collections.  So, I’m thinking about him in the scope of my research, not just as a fan or a … Continue reading →

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You Sell Wonderment?

Posted on December 25, 2012 by nathanielwms

I write (mostly) speculative fiction, and I’ve taught science fiction classes at University of California, Davis, including a “Nostalgia and Desiderium” novels class covering pop music and science fiction tropes.  I will intermittently post material that encompasses those endeavors. Posts usually cover one or more … Continue reading →

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