Blogging for Blackgate and social media

[alanajoli]

The big news of the day: I've started blogging about webcomics (and, soon, interactive fiction) for Black Gate, where I've previously been an occasional book reviewer. My first post is about Ursula Vernon's Hugo Award and Mythopoeic Fantasy Award winner Digger, which I loved and had fun getting to write about. Why am I over at Black Gate instead of just blogging here? They've got a great readership over there, and hopefully some of them will find their way over here to Myth, the Universe, and Everything -- and maybe decide to pick up the Redemption Trilogy when they're all finally released. It's a bit of marketing, a bit of fun, and hopefully a great fit for everyone involved.

As for my social media updates, I realized I don't have my Facebook page and Twitter on my website. This clearly must be remedied as I'm -- hopefully -- driving new folks over to Virgil and Beatrice. I'm also updating my Facebook page a lot more frequently than my blog -- every time one of my blog entries for Questia or Cengage Brain goes up, I post a notice on Facebook -- so if you're interested in my to-the-minute news, that's where you should find me.

Last thought for the day: every time I write about social media, using that phrase, the Common Shiner tune "Social Mediasochist" starts running through my head. It's catchy.

Comments

[shanna-s.livejournal.com]

If you're covering webcomics, might I put in a plug for one a friend of mine writes/draws? It's a humorous strip-style fantasy comic that plays with D&D tropes, Meatshield. http://www.meatshield.net/

I'm not a gamer, but I've read enough traditional fantasy to still find it hilarious.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

This is exactly what I hoped would happen when I decided to cover webcomics. :) A few that I've been reading regularly just finished, so I'm looking for some fun new ones! Thanks for the tip -- I'll check it out!

[mneme]

Digger! (diggerdiggerdiggerdigger)! I'll check out the review, but yeah, it's a good one to start with.

My faves, among the ones I read that aren't ubiquitous, are:

Chat: Demonic cute kitty cat attempts to meet(/romance?) angelic kitty cat.

Freefall: Hard SF comedy; a biologically created humanoid wolf is "stolen" from her colony ship, and hilarity ensues. Mostly, this involves one long arc about fixing her alien employer, and another (ongoing) about dealing with a massive robotic workforce who are becoming sentient, but still programmed to obey Asimov's Three Laws.

Gunnerkrigg Court: It's good?

Enjuhneer: Mostly on hiatus, but a lot of the strips are good; geek school comic.

ErfWorld: This probably counts as super-popular.

Namesakes: This probably doesn't. Fantasy; people like Alice (of Wonderland) and Dorothy (of Oz) have left legacies of people with their name and predisposed to go to the same places they did--but time marches on, and names are magic.

Skin Horse (by Shaenon Garrity + Jeffrey C. Wells, and set in the Narbonic universe): Black Ops social welfare for the genetically different.

[alanajoli.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, more good recommendations!

I read the first Gunnerkrigg Court print book, and I've been meaning to find more. I think you're right on ErfWorld, and I wasn't enough of a fan to follow it when it moved off of GiantITP, but it might be worth talking about in conjunction with OotS and Goblins Comic, since the three have had some interplay. And I *love* Namesake! I'm waiting for my hardcovers to arrive from the Kickstarter. :) It's definitely at the top of my list.

I'll check out the ones I haven't heard of before, thanks!

Have you been following Strong Female Protagonist? (http://strongfemaleprotagonist.com/) It's a superhero comic, so it's low on my priority list to write about for Black Gate, but it's been blowing me away with how it handles the idea of how one person can make a difference, but not by punching the bad guys. The recent arc about a super who regenerates effectively donating her body to medicine so that she can be the perfect organ donor -- and the main character of the story having trouble dealing with her friend's sacrifice -- was just brilliant.

[mneme]

The three do have a -bit- of interplay. I do think that ErfWorld has had some great moments, and the characters are a lot less flat/incomprehensible after the first arc.

I haven't hit SFP; have heard of it, but never followed links. May change that (when I have time).