Ah … an afternoon grading 101 papers. What could be finer?
Well, a lot of things.
Most things, actually.
On the plus side, the papers are looking decent so far — not great, mostly Cs, but it’s early in the term. There’s time for things to get where they need to be ‘ere the end comes.
Beyond that, not much news. There’s a terrific two-part interview with Mary Robinette Kowal online at Strange Horizons. I’m rather fond of Mary, but I think I can still speak objectively in saying that she’s got some interesting things to say. Her reaction to why Science Fiction and Fantasy are perhaps “dwindling,” for instance, is absolutely, dead-on correct. And, by no little coincidence, I agree with her aims to fix it, which she has also outlined on her website:
It’s not that I think these magazines need to cater exclusively to teens, but all markets need to recognize that what their target demographic finds appealing changes as new generations grow into that demographic range. Fashions change and we, as a genre, aren’t keeping up with the times.