Convention standards… In the beginning Having spent most of my life enjoying science fiction and fantasy with little if any awareness of ‘fandom’ and the …
Essays
Living in the future: conventions
Anyone would think that I’d been talking to Armageddon organisers in my campaign to bring conventions into the future. I’ve talked to whomever would listen …
Community vs Competition
Community vs Competition: using World of Warcraft & Guild Wars 2 as analogies In his non-fiction book Turning Point social researcher Hugh Mackay talks about Australians’ nostalgia …
Book titles and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
As Lord Dark Matter the onimpotent webmaster and editor of Dark Matter the zine with an index of book reviews, I have come to loathe, detest, rant and rave …
Mobile apps adverts should tell consumers what they do: seriously?!
This article from venturebeat.com says that advertisements for mobile apps should tell consumers what the apps do. Seriously?! Gilad de Vries wrote a whole article telling …
Meta-Muse-ill
This morning on the twitters, Erica Hayes asked, ‘Why must all female villains be superior smart-asses? Can’t we have some real people?’ We went on …
fanzine vs semi-prozine
‘Is this a thing?’ I hear you ask. ‘Yes, it is,’ I reply with a world-weary air. I was perplexed at first but I’ve done …
Homophobic Hypocrisy
Lately there has been a lot of discussion in social media about homosexuality and equal rights particularly pertaining to the right to marry. I’ve been …
Judging a book by its cover
Note: some of the covers to which I refer are missing. That’s because the publishers have either changed the url for the images or they’ve …
Shades of sex (50 Shades of Grey)
If you haven’t been living under a rock lately, you’re aware of the new ‘must read’ book, 50 Shades of Grey, a novel about a …
Don’t be a dick – dealing with dorks.
Yesterday I was on Twitter when I saw Wil Wheaton telling off someone who had obviously been attacking Felicia Day. This morning the ripples are …
Misogyny in screenwriting
Angriest posted a short blog about Aaron Sorkin, with links. It’s this article by Sarah Nicole Prickett that showcased fundamental problems with a lot of …
Blogging for gold
This article on Mummy bloggers debunks a whole heap of myths. I’d like to state for the record that I don’t get paid for anything …
Fanzine versus Podcast
by Nalini Haynes Note: this article was written and published in Dark Matter fanzine issue 8, nearly two months before Kathryn Linge approached me about …
House of Comarre
a review by Evie Kendal The House of Comarre series is best described as a near-future, gothic urban paranormal romance fantasy series. Set in 2067, the …