Looking Back at 2014 (a.k.a. Navel-Gazing)
It's time for one of those end-of-the-year stocktaking posts. This is more for my benefit than anything else. What have I accomplished this year?
This year I have...
- Taught three graduate courses for Mythgard Institute -- "The Gothic Tradition," "Taking Harry Potter Seriously," and "Science Fiction, Part I: From Modern Beginnings to the Golden Age" -- and taught undergraduate and graduate versions of two courses for Lenoir-Rhyne University: "Native American Experience" and "Monsters and Mad Science."
- Given lectures in four states and two countries, including North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania in the United States and London in England. (In the process, I was privileged to be a part of amazing events, such as Loncon 3/Worldcon and A Long-Expected Party 3.)
- Published two works, "Not Your Parents’ Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong" in Reason and the Foreword to Stephen A. Babb's The Lay of Lirazel.
- Contributed eleven "Looking Back on Genre History" segments and three dramatic readings to the podcast StarShipSofavia my author's page on Goodreads) the following books.
Read (or Re-Read) in 2014
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: War of the Worlds by Manly W. Wellman and Wade Wellman (1975)
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764)
Victorian Villainy by Michael Kurland (2013)
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (2004)
Death Without Company by Craig Johnson (2006)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)
The Vampyre by John Polidori (1819)
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1871)
Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula by Stephen Seitz (2007)
"Pause Time" by Mary Soon Lee (2000)
Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson (2007)
Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson (2008)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (1993)
War Dances by Sherman Alexie (2009)
Dark Horse by Craig Johnson (2009)
Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson (2010)
"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire" by Neil Gaiman (2004)
“Number 73 Glad Avenue” by Suzanne J. Willis (2013)
The Man Who Hunted Jack The Ripper: Edmund Reid, Victorian Detective by Nicholas Connell and Stewart P. Evans (2010)
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (2013)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (2012)
Jack the Ripper: The Forgotten Victims by Paul Begg and John Bennett (2014)
Divergent by Veronica Roth (2011)
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson (2011)
What I Was by Meg Rosoff (2007)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
Amphigorey: Fifteen Books by Edward Gorey by Edward Gorey (1972)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)
The Professionals by Bob Rocca (2009)
"Operation Impossible" by Brian Clemens (1969)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (2008)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (2003)
As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson (2012)
A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson (2013)
Secret Commissions: An Anthology of Victorian Investigative Journalism edited by Stephen Donovan and Matthew Rubery (2012)
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (2014)
Any Other Name by Craig Johnson (2014)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (2009)
Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson (2013)
Sherlock Holmes: In His Own Words and in the Words of Those Who Knew Him by Barry Day (2003)
London: A Short History of the Greatest City in the Western World by Robert O. Bucholz (2009)
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (2011)
Ripper Hunter: Abberline and the Whitechapel Murders by M.J. Trow (2012)
Where the Jungle Ends by Ken Blake (1978)
The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis by Thomas Goetz (2014)
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (2008)
"Eastward Ho!" by William Tenn (1958)
The Devil's Workshop by Alex Grecian (2014)
Jack the Ripper: The 21st Century Investigation by Trevor Marriott (2005)
Long Shot by Ken Blake (1978)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1968)
Stake Out by Ken Blake (1978)
Reanimators by Pete Rawlik (2013)
The Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle (1923)
The Truth Is a Cave in the Dark Mountains by Neil Gaiman (2010)
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (1847)
This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (2012)
Conversion by Katherine Howe (2014)
Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander H. Key (1968)
The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory by Jesse Walker (2012)
The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock by Lucy Worsley (2014)
Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson (2014)
Redeemed by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast (2014)
The Bank Holiday Murders: The True Story of the First Whitechapel Murders by Tom Wescott (2014)
A Study in Terror by by Ellery Queen and Paul W. Fairman (1966)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962)
H.P. Lovecraft: Nightmare Countries (The Master of Cosmic Horror) by S.T. Joshi (2012)
Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living by Paul Collins (2014)
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (2013)
The Martian by Andy Weir (2012)
“Cycles” by Stephen V. Ramey (2010)
The Curious Case of H. P. Lovecraft by Paul Roland (2014)
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes (2005)
Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals by Elizabeth A. Murray (2014)
Lives in Ruins: Archeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson (2014)
That Ain't Right: Historical Accounts of the Miskatonic Valley edited by Dawn Vogel and Jeremy Zimmerman (2014)
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar (2013)
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951)
That about sums it up.
Looking ahead, in Spring 2015 I will be...
- Teaching "Science Fiction, Part II: From the New Wave to Tomorrow" for Mythgard Institute and "Witch Hunts, Conspiracy Theories, and U.S. Society" for Lenoir-Rhyne University.
- Participating as an author/scholar guest in two science fiction conventions, SofaCON 2 and ConCarolinas.
- Teaching a free, two-weekend intense seminar -- "The Dystopian Tradition: What Worlds Gone Wrong Can Teach Us" -- open to undergraduate and graduate students from all institutions.
- Participating as a guest speaker in the McConnell Center Speaker Series at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here's to the new year!
This year I have...
- Taught three graduate courses for Mythgard Institute -- "The Gothic Tradition," "Taking Harry Potter Seriously," and "Science Fiction, Part I: From Modern Beginnings to the Golden Age" -- and taught undergraduate and graduate versions of two courses for Lenoir-Rhyne University: "Native American Experience" and "Monsters and Mad Science."
- Given lectures in four states and two countries, including North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania in the United States and London in England. (In the process, I was privileged to be a part of amazing events, such as Loncon 3/Worldcon and A Long-Expected Party 3.)
- Published two works, "Not Your Parents’ Dystopias: Millennial Fondness for Worlds Gone Wrong" in Reason and the Foreword to Stephen A. Babb's The Lay of Lirazel.
- Contributed eleven "Looking Back on Genre History" segments and three dramatic readings to the podcast StarShipSofavia my author's page on Goodreads) the following books.
Read (or Re-Read) in 2014
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: War of the Worlds by Manly W. Wellman and Wade Wellman (1975)
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764)
Victorian Villainy by Michael Kurland (2013)
The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson (2004)
Death Without Company by Craig Johnson (2006)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)
The Vampyre by John Polidori (1819)
Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1871)
Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula by Stephen Seitz (2007)
"Pause Time" by Mary Soon Lee (2000)
Kindness Goes Unpunished by Craig Johnson (2007)
Another Man's Moccasins by Craig Johnson (2008)
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (1993)
War Dances by Sherman Alexie (2009)
Dark Horse by Craig Johnson (2009)
Junkyard Dogs by Craig Johnson (2010)
"Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Nameless House of the Night of Dread Desire" by Neil Gaiman (2004)
“Number 73 Glad Avenue” by Suzanne J. Willis (2013)
The Man Who Hunted Jack The Ripper: Edmund Reid, Victorian Detective by Nicholas Connell and Stewart P. Evans (2010)
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (2013)
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling (2012)
Jack the Ripper: The Forgotten Victims by Paul Begg and John Bennett (2014)
Divergent by Veronica Roth (2011)
Hell is Empty by Craig Johnson (2011)
What I Was by Meg Rosoff (2007)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (1997)
Amphigorey: Fifteen Books by Edward Gorey by Edward Gorey (1972)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (1998)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)
The Professionals by Bob Rocca (2009)
"Operation Impossible" by Brian Clemens (1969)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (2000)
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling (2008)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling (2003)
As the Crow Flies by Craig Johnson (2012)
A Serpent's Tooth by Craig Johnson (2013)
Secret Commissions: An Anthology of Victorian Investigative Journalism edited by Stephen Donovan and Matthew Rubery (2012)
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (2014)
Any Other Name by Craig Johnson (2014)
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (2009)
Spirit of Steamboat by Craig Johnson (2013)
Sherlock Holmes: In His Own Words and in the Words of Those Who Knew Him by Barry Day (2003)
London: A Short History of the Greatest City in the Western World by Robert O. Bucholz (2009)
The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (2011)
Ripper Hunter: Abberline and the Whitechapel Murders by M.J. Trow (2012)
Where the Jungle Ends by Ken Blake (1978)
The Remedy: Robert Koch, Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Quest to Cure Tuberculosis by Thomas Goetz (2014)
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (2008)
"Eastward Ho!" by William Tenn (1958)
The Devil's Workshop by Alex Grecian (2014)
Jack the Ripper: The 21st Century Investigation by Trevor Marriott (2005)
Long Shot by Ken Blake (1978)
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1968)
Stake Out by Ken Blake (1978)
Reanimators by Pete Rawlik (2013)
The Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle (1923)
The Truth Is a Cave in the Dark Mountains by Neil Gaiman (2010)
Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (1847)
This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (2012)
Conversion by Katherine Howe (2014)
Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander H. Key (1968)
The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory by Jesse Walker (2012)
The Art of the English Murder: From Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock by Lucy Worsley (2014)
Wait for Signs: Twelve Longmire Stories by Craig Johnson (2014)
Redeemed by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast (2014)
The Bank Holiday Murders: The True Story of the First Whitechapel Murders by Tom Wescott (2014)
A Study in Terror by by Ellery Queen and Paul W. Fairman (1966)
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962)
H.P. Lovecraft: Nightmare Countries (The Master of Cosmic Horror) by S.T. Joshi (2012)
Edgar Allan Poe: The Fever Called Living by Paul Collins (2014)
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (2013)
The Martian by Andy Weir (2012)
“Cycles” by Stephen V. Ramey (2010)
The Curious Case of H. P. Lovecraft by Paul Roland (2014)
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes (2005)
Forensic History: Crimes, Frauds, and Scandals by Elizabeth A. Murray (2014)
Lives in Ruins: Archeologists and the Seductive Lure of Human Rubble by Marilyn Johnson (2014)
That Ain't Right: Historical Accounts of the Miskatonic Valley edited by Dawn Vogel and Jeremy Zimmerman (2014)
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar (2013)
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951)
That about sums it up.
Looking ahead, in Spring 2015 I will be...
- Teaching "Science Fiction, Part II: From the New Wave to Tomorrow" for Mythgard Institute and "Witch Hunts, Conspiracy Theories, and U.S. Society" for Lenoir-Rhyne University.
- Participating as an author/scholar guest in two science fiction conventions, SofaCON 2 and ConCarolinas.
- Teaching a free, two-weekend intense seminar -- "The Dystopian Tradition: What Worlds Gone Wrong Can Teach Us" -- open to undergraduate and graduate students from all institutions.
- Participating as a guest speaker in the McConnell Center Speaker Series at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky.
Here's to the new year!