Write Stuff: May 2017

Monday, May 29, 2017

#MisCon: author life and geekery

This past weekend (and actually today, Monday, too), has been the Missoula Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention, commonly known as MisCon. This is my third or forth year attending, and second (I think??) as a panelist. It's always a blast and this past year has been no exception. There's no shortage of great costumes (people are SO creative), wonderful other authors to chat with, and tons of writing workshops with super fun topics, and really a much needed boost on my part in terms of getting my writing mojo in gear for the summer.

This year, I got my schedule for the panels and did a little head scratching. Building a Better Monster? Writing the Future? Becoming Human? These were a few of the panels I've been on that left me going, "huh, very fun, but not what I was expecting." Then, while doing a signing, I ran into a former student who's now one of the organizers. She laughed and admitted that she'd been the one to put me on the panels, knowing about my anthropology and science background. (Gotta love being a professor in a small town--it takes no time at all before you have strange connections to everyone!)

Definitely had a blast talking about Building a Better Monster--especially as we ended up talking about how so many "monsters" are alone on their planets, or don't seem to exist within a normal ecosystems, and how to fix that. Totally made my nerdy heart happy. Plus, there were great other panelists and definitely lots of fun to be had with the audience.

I often find myself wishing this convention were a couple of times a year, though that would probably just exhaust me. Though, maybe that's just a sign that I need to attend more of them? :)

Have you been to a comic book or sci-fi/fantasy convention before? What did you think?

Picture Post: Adventures in Mexico City

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

This past week I've had the awesome pleasure of traveling to Mexico City to work with some fabulous people who work here:

This is the Instituto National de Medicina Genomica. Or, the National Institute of Genomic Medicine :) Talk about a work perk! This campus was awesome--sparking clean, fabulous labs, all sorts of great tech (there's nothing like high throughput sequencing machines to make yours truly geek out!). Seriously, this place was incredible. And the people were even more amazing. The lab here is chock full of some of the best researchers on the planet, six of whom I had the pleasure of working with extensively. I've never been treated so well anywhere else that I've traveled, either for work or personal.

We had one of the most amazing meals at this 300 year old Hacienda. Super fun!

The central place in Tlalpan--an older neighborhood in the city, where the priests used to go to rest. Now it's completely engulfed, but super cute to explore.

So I was trying to figure out why there was a minaret (or something that at least looked like such), in the middle of the city. No one knew, and guessed that someone just wanted to build one :)

I'm a *tad* bit addicted to cool murals and street art in all its forms. This was on the side of women's and children's center.

Church. Through the front gates because it was closed.

Mary, blessing the cars in the parking lot she guarded.

The National Museum of Anthropology. Which is, of course, the coolest place in the city. Spent a day in the back collections, looking at mummies and teeth that had been drilled to inlay turquoise, as well as the 1000's of skeletal remains. AKA, heaven.

And one last silly one from a menu from an Argentinian restaurant we went to. Meat Juice anyone? (Why, yes, I am sometimes ten years old, why'd ask? :)

Anyhow, just a few little highlights (and not the best photos--I've been a little busy this trip! Lots of cool work to do!) of a fabulous week in a country I love :)

Monday Musings: the end of the school year

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

It's been a while since I did a little update, so today I'm going to borrow Kelly Hashway's meme and do a quick post :)

I survived the end of the semester. Sometimes I wonder if that'll actually happen, or if at some point I will be buried by paperwork and emails in my office and not discovered until the forensic students have a new body to study. (Well now, that's a pleasant thought...lol!)
This year I had a Masters and Doctoral student finish. This is the fifth MA that I've been in charge of, and first doctorate that I've led. It's kind of amazing that anyone lets me do this, but my students have all been really successful and I am crazy proud of them!
The number of times I've been asked if I now get to relax over the summer is a big mind boggling. Um, NO. I have my research agenda that starts full steam on Monday at 6am. Of course, this is full of cool samples (mummies, vampires, and poop, oh my!), and lab work, and travel, but very little rest. But it'll be good. At least I don't have to try and work in the lab in heels and a dress like I do during the teaching year ;)
I also plan on getting some writing time in this summer. It's going to happen. Really. I just need to get myself into a better schedule.
And tenure packet due in the fall. *gulp*!

Keeping all of the plater spinning in my life is as crazy as ever. But, life is good. I've watched so many people struggle to find good academic jobs, which are so incredibly scarce, and I've seen way too many people struggling with depression, which is rampant in the halls of higher ed. I can't complain :)

#Inkripples: Fairy Tales and fun times

By: Meradeth Houston on 9:42 AM

#InkRipples is a themed meme hosted by Mary Waibel, Katie L. Carroll, and Kai Strand. We post on the first Monday of every month. If you would like to participate compose your own post regarding the theme of the month, include any of the images displayed on this page, and link back to their three blogs. Feel free to post whenever you want during the month, but be sure to include #inkripples when you promote so readers can find you. The idea is that we toss a word or idea into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There is no wrong interpretation.

Okay, so I'm going to buck the trend here a bit and admit something: I'm not a huge fairy tale person. I kind of hate most of them. They tend to be mysogynistic, cruel, and generally their roots are kind of terrifying. Maybe that's because I've read too many of the originals, and they're often a little O.O and kind of make you want to back away slowly.

Now, don't get me wrong, I've seen some great re-tellings where the story has been crafted to carry some of the elements of the original, but also have an awesome take on things. Mary Waibel (linked above) has a few of these, and I've caught some others. But in general, for me to really enjoy a fairy tale retelling, it's got to be different from the original in order for me to get into it. And this does not mean Disney.

Sorry, not to dog on Disney, because they have their place and I do enjoy the parks for their escapism (and I love a rollercoaster), but most Disney princesses, especially in the way they are pandered to young girls, make me kind of want to be ill. That was not me as a kid, and I am grateful to my mother for the thinking that I could be more. (True story: I was Peter Pan for Halloween for a couple of years. Not Mary, not Tinkerbell. I wanted a sword and to fly, haha!)

Now, there are some Disney princesses who have movies in which they are the force behind change, but then they are twisted into these costumes and tea parties and other things that turn my stomach when it comes to how they are used by the toy market. That bugs me. Can't the toy manufacturers come up with something a little less stereotypical for kids, both male and female? I know I'm not a parent, so I can't say what's right or wrong for individual kids, but the images I sometimes see make me be like "no wonder little girls don't think they'll be good scientists!"

Anyhow, enough of my rant. Just my two cents on the matter. What do YOU think about fairy tales?

After Reading: THE CHEMIST by Stephanie Meyer

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life.

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning.

Now, she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They’ve killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon.

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it’s her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.
Resolving to meet the threat head-on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of. (Goodreads)

Okay, so I'll admit, I was a little wary of this novel. I mean, the potential for really lousy science (and you all know how much that bugs me), and a love triangle, coupled with some potentially trite sappiness, kept in on my shelf for a few extra weeks. But then I decided to pick it up, and I'm quite glad I did! There were a couple of eye-roll-worthy science goofs, but for the most part, Meyer skates over them with enough ambiguity that they didn't take me out of the story. There wasn't a love triangle, and actually I was kinda shocked there was a love story at all. But I liked it :) And I loved the growth of the characters, their layers and depth, and especially the kick-ass heroine. Because Meyer hasn't really managed this before, but she really nailed it in this novel! It hit all the other points I've been enjoying lately: bioterrorism, spies, gov't intrigue, massive plans to uncover a nasty political plot. All of it was deeply enjoyed. Really, this novel read like someone completely different wrote in: there wasn't a trace of Twilight in there, imho, and while I enjoyed the Twilight books (mostly as a sugary treat that I knew wasn't good for me), this is a tight-paced novel that was just fun and interesting, and I'm going to stop gushing now. Go read it. It's great. Meyer has grown a ton as an author and it was totally worth it!

Have you read any of Meyer's work? What did you think?