Sluice Issue #20

Sluice  | Arthur H. Manners

Writerly news and links to cool stuff

Issue #20

Hey friends!This is my first newsletter issue since March 2022. Eek! Almost two years. It's been a busy time, but I'm finally in a position to revive this thing. I'm not promising anything regular, but I'll aim for something like once a month.Let's get caught up on interesting stuff I found since last time.

This Week's Recommendations

1. Film soundtrack: My favourite film of 2023 was Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, a mind-blowing sequel to first instalment featuring Miles Morales as Spiderman, Into the Spider-verse. Not only is the film the culmination of every art form at peak performance (animation, sound design, voice acting, direction, writing, music), it's also one of the only sequels I can name that was better than the first (poo-poo to those who say otherwise). What's stuck with me most is the soundtrack, and I want to share this demo with the composer, Daniel Pemberton, who goes through the process of constructing a piece of the score with child-like enthusiasm.

2. Book:The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss. A much-needed salve for lovers of the Kingkiller Chronicles. The second book came out over twelve years ago, and the final instalment is still a way off, but this novella about Bast's adventures is a joy in the meantime.

3. Film:Nine Days. A film that didn't make much of a splash, but I loved it. A group of potential souls interview over nine days for the chance to be born. The story follows the interviewer, Will (played by Winston Duke), as he is forced to choose between them for the single available slot.

4. Artist's blog:Craft Talk, Jami Attenberg's blog on creative writing. Jami has been running her summer program "1000 words of summer" for several years now, where she encourages writers of all walk of life to write 1000 words a day for one month. She's just released a companion book, which you can preorder now.

5. Book:Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Another fantasy read, and fans of the genre will need no introduction. I've just gotten to this book recently, and the slim little thing blew me away.

Writing News

• Writers of the Future award: I won a thing. The Writers of the Future award was set up in the US 40 years ago, and has been running every year, selecting a dozen stories in science fiction and fantasy from promising new writers. I was flabbergasted to be a winner in 2023, and had the privilege of collecting the award on stage in Los Angeles. I also got to meet some great fellow writers at a week-long workshop. See below for links to the story, The Withering Sky.

• New stories: 2023 was my first solid year of writing successes. I had four stories published. Two of them are available already. One's in the form of a book you can buy, and the other in the form of a podcast episode you can listen to for free:

  • The Withering Sky: "When I said I’d do anything to pay off my debts and get back home to Earth, I didn’t mean survey a derelict spaceship at the edge of the solar system—but here I am." Available from all major book retailers. Available to buy in paperback at Bookshop.org (supporting small booksellers) or any major retailer in paperback or ebook. 

  • Rusty Sue: A post-apocalyptic Western story following the mercenary Mash and his robot protector Gen, when they take on a job to defuse a senile AI guarding a nuclear warhead. Listen now over at Drabblecast. Also available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn and more (see Drabblecast's page for links).

General Life Updates

There have been a lot of changes in life over the last couple years. I graduated with my PhD, I got a job, all sorts of health problems came up, we bought a house, jobs were switched or left. Anxiety went from a nuisance to a constant gremlin on my shoulder, and I'm actively working on managing and embracing that part of myself.Naturally, none of that matters compared to the fact that we got a cat. None of our problems stood up to her. She's our little diva, nightly entertainment, and mental heath guardian (and secretly a ninja).Here's a photo of Rolo. Look at her, the little poser.

Until next time, be good.

Best regards,

Art

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