Preparing for Renovation: A Podcast of "Angela's Wisdom"

Angela’s Wisdom, published at the 2001 Worldcon, was written by a mother and daughter. The daughter,- now 18, reads a story about the importance of literacy.

When you listen to the podcast episode you will hear that the producers Dave and Ben recorded a brief introduction (in addition to the usual AboutSF podcast intro) which includes information on RFF and information about the workshop at Renovation, the 2011 Worldcon.

The podcast and interviews are mentioned on the AboutSF website, too. There you can listen to the podcast, read more about the education workshop at Renovation from the AboutSF perspective, and then explore the many lessons and book reviews available on the site. You can also check out the AboutSF forum on science fiction.


Visit the podcast production site to get a link that can be used on Facebook, your website, email or your blog:

http://aboutsf.podomatic.com/entry/2011-04-23T11_33_40-07_00

A Message from Ben

"All of these more technical issues aside, what a wonderful story! I want to thank all of you so much for your great efforts and your willingness to share "Angela's Wisdom" with people through the AboutSF podcast. Also, I hope that the podcast episode will help to advertise the workshop at Renovation reno-teachingsf@renovationsf.org.

"So far this month we've had 231 new subscribers to the podcast, and I believe last month there were 180 new subscribers. Hopefully the podcast will encourage people to attend Renovation and to sign up for the workshop.

"Thanks again, to everyone, for all of your help!"

~ Ben Cartwright, Volunteer coordinator, AboutSF

Full details of the workshop program and information on how to register can be found at renovationsf.org/te achingsf.php
Sign-up for the workshop ends on June 30, 2011.

Additional information is at Reading4Future@gmail.com

About the Organizers

Reading for the Future, Inc (www.readingforfuture.com) is a grassroots volunteer organization whose aim is to help young people develop a love of reading and intellectual adventure through the vehicle of science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction.

AboutSF (http://www.aboutsf.com) is a resource center for speculative literature, science fiction, and education. It is a joint project of the University of Kansas, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Science Fiction Research Association, with generous support from Tor Books, The Heinlein Prize Trust, and several individual donors.

~written by Dave Anderson and Valerie Coskrey

Interview with Angela Lott, Co-author "Angela's Wisdom"

About "Angela's Wisdom"

"Angela's Wisdom" is a short story by Lynda Williams and daughter Angela Lott. It deals with the value of literacy and the experience of learning to read.

It was written when Angela was 8 years old and given to RFF a few years ago. Now it has been given to RFF, Inc. It will be used on the educational CD/DVD that will be given to the first 70 participants of the educator's workshop at Renovation.

I asked Angela to tell us about her memories of the story. Her responses confused me, so I asked Lynda Williams about how the story was written. She credits the story to both herself and her daughter because, "Angie doesn't remember 'co-writing' the story because her part in it was ad hoc. I constrained myself to working, word for word, with what she and Tegan actually said. I had to build the story around it."

Note: Questions were emailed to Angela in sets. Rest assured, I really did not rudely ask her loads of questions before listening for a response.

Valerie's Interview with Angela

Valerie: How did the short story come about? Who's idea was it? How old were you at the time of writing the story?

Angela Lott in 2011

Angela: I am not totally sure how this story came about. My best guess would be that it had something to do with my mother feeling like an alien while being totally immersed in the technical revolution. She was starting to doubt the need for written literature and since she is a very creative person she put the two together and created a story.

It was my mother’s idea as I was too young to be involved in writing it at the time. When this was written I was as young as I am in the story. As a matter of fact I believe that what is said and done in the story is actually what happened except for the fact that my mother wasn’t being controlled by an alien. She was just trying to act like one to get a reaction from her children. I have a vague memory of her asking us questions while recording it all on a tape recorder.

Valerie: How did you work together to get the story done? What process did you use to collaborate? Was it more or less challenging to work with your Mom on the story than it is to work with your lab partners at school? Was it weird working with your mom? Who had the most ideas about the story, you or your mom? What did you do to get around periods of writer's block? How many days or hours did it take to write the story?

Angela: As I have said in my previous answer I did not write the story. I was the inspirations while I was younger and recorded the story just a week or so ago. This means that my mother and I did not work together to make the story, but when we have worked on things together in the past I have always found it fun and easy to work with her. It is much easier to work with her than a school partner that you don’t know. I have only started writing within the last year and then only fan-fiction, which is writing with someone else’s character and/or within someone else’s universe. I am not sure how long it took my mother to write that story but since she is an experienced writer and the story is not long I can’t imagine that it took her very long.

Note from Valerie: Angela recently recorded the story as a pod-cast to be distributed at Renovations.

Valerie: What do your friends say about the story? What do they say about you as the co-author? What do you say to your friends about writing stories?

Angela: Most of my friends haven’t heard the story since it was written such a long time ago, and the ones who have probably haven’t thought much about it. I am not the co-author. I am the reader and the inspiration. Most of my friends have written stories but like me they write fan fiction. We talk about our plot lines sometimes and help each other by reading each other’s work and giving them feedback.

Valerie: Have you written other stories?

Angela: As I have said previously I have so far in my life only written stories in other people's universes except for one story that I wrote for my grade 12 history class. All of these stories are on both Fanfiction.net and DeviantArt.com. I have one in the Bones universe, one in the Harry Potter universe and one in the Torchwood universe. The original story I wrote for History is only on DeviantArt.

Note from Valerie: I used one link for both references. The Fanfiction.net links to all 3 stories and to Angela's DeviantArt home page using her online avatar JelloDVDs.

Valerie: What do you want to say to Young Adults about science fiction and fantasy?

Angela: The most important thing to me about Science Fiction and Fantasy is that it is the most creative and enlightening kind of fiction there is. You can learn from it and enjoy it. Science Fiction and Fantasy push the boundaries there by helping us to understand ourselves and our way of life better by taking us away from both ourselves and our way of life. By showing us through our own imagination that there is more to life than we know and that there is more in the universe than we can see.

Interview by Valerie Coskrey

At 18, Angela Lott has posted 4 short stories online along with numerous photos and photo collages. Start with the link to her FanFiction site to read 3 stories; and follow the link to her DeviantArt site for another story and numerous photo collages. Angela is on Facebook, where she posts several wonderful photo albums of both nature and people.

Lynda Williams is the original author of the Okal Rel Universe series, to which several other authors have contributed. She teachers writing and other subjects in Canada. Lynda is an active member of RFF and part of RFF, Inc.

Listen to the story "Angela's Wisdom" as read by Angela Lot in this podcast.

RFF and AboutSF Sponsor an Educational Workshop at WorldCon Renovation

Renovation, the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention
August 17-August 21, 2011

Press Release of Monday, April 18, 2011

-- Reno, Nevada, USA --
Want to build an alien or explore science fiction in the classroom?

Renovation, the 69th Worldcon, today announced "Teaching SF", a workshop for teachers, librarians and parents on how to use science fiction as a teaching tool.

Workshop speakers will include Renovation Guest of Honor Tim Powers, Peadar Ó Guilín, Mary Robinette Kowal, John DeChancie, Daniel M. Kimmel, Gary K. Wolfe, L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and G. David Nordley. The workshop is a collaborative effort, organized and presented by Reading for the Future, Inc, from a proposal by AboutSF at the University of Kansas.

The workshop will be held alongside Renovation in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, running from 9 a.m. to around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, August 17. Renovation members with full attending memberships can attend the TeachingSF workshop at no cost, but must sign up in advance as space is limited.

Adults who are not Renovation members may attend the workshop for a $40 fee; this fee includes a one-day pass to attend Renovation on Wednesday after the workshop. Young Adults (those aged 21 or under on the day of the workshop) may attend for a reduced fee of $25.

Full details of the workshop program and information on how to register can be found at www.renovationsf.org/teachingsf.php Sign-up for the workshop ends on June 30, 2011. Additional information is at Reading4Future@gmail.com

About the Organizers

Reading for the Future, Inc (www.readingforfuture.com)is a grassroots volunteer organization whose aim is to help young people develop a love of reading and intellectual adventure through the vehicle of science fiction, fantasy and speculative fiction.

AboutSF (http://www.aboutsf.com)is a resource center for speculative literature, science fiction, and education. It is a joint project of the University of Kansas, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the Science Fiction Research Association, with generous support from Tor Books, The Heinlein Prize Trust, and several individual donors.

FB Report: Lots of Links on Speculative Fiction -- 4/11//11

Reading For the Future Nothing I can think of to add here :)
Liking science fiction and fantasy makes you a genius | Graham Edwards Online
http://grahamedwardsonline.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/liking-science-fiction-and-fantasy-makes-you-a-genius/
grahamedwardsonline.wordpress.com
A lot of people are unbearably snooty about genre fiction – especially SF, fantasy and horror. I’m not the first to remark on this – the debate rages daily across the interwebs. But I think I’ve finally worked out why there are so many folk who feel this way.
[4/8/11]

Reading For the Future Paul Levinson talks about George Melies, Hugo Gernsback, Ray Bradbury, William Gibson, and everything in between in this 2002 interview.
Paul Levinson: Evolution of Science Fiction | Scifi Picks
http://www.scifipicks.com/2011/04/06/paul-levinson-evolution-of-science-fiction/
www.scifipicks.com
My 6-minute tour of the history of science fiction, from Mary Shelley through HG Wells all the way to the 21st century.
[4/7/11]

Reading For the Future This link offers activities and ideas for a number of books, SF and others. There should be enough SF here to warrant a look see. All ages.
CanTeach: English Language Arts: Novel & Picture Book Activities - Specific Novel & Picture Book Act
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/novel11.html
www.canteach.ca
CanTeach contains online resources for educators, including lesson plans, links, discussion lists, and more!
[4/6/11]

Reading For the Future
Chronicles of Narnia Unit Study
http://narniaunitstudy.tripod.com/
narniaunitstudy.tripod.com
[4/5/11]

Reading For the Future Free online books library for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast. Absolutely FREE online books - Thousands of novels, poems, stories - Easy to read books online.
"We've made some changes so that you can catalog your entire personal library on Read Print! We still feature thousands of online books, but you can now keep track... of everything you've ever read or want to read in one convenient place."
Online Books, Poems, Short Stories - Read Print Library
http://www.readprint.com/
www.readprint.com
A free online library, Read Print puts thousands of online books at your fingertips.
[4/6/11]

Reading For the Future
Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP3c1h8v2ZQ
www.youtube.com
Short lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on the 'simple shapes of stories.'
[4/4/11]

Reading For the Future I wanted to share this website with the teachers and the writers here. It's a bit scary - people are willing to write, even ghost write, well researched, 400-500 unique content for only five dollars.
I see a bad trend here ~Cie
Writing related services people are willing to do for $5
http://www.fiverr.com/categories/writing/order/rating/pages/1
www.fiverr.com
Writing related services Fiverr users are willing to do for $5: writing, script, screenplay, proofing and more!
[3/30/11]
Comments:
Sandra Fogler Yeah, because written language, like all other language - already destroyed - is now OFFICIALLY on the auction block for five bucks. In addition to the issue of academic dishonesty, this is also reflective of a horrible economy, that five bucks gets you a paper.
[3/30/11]
Reading For the Future Yes
My main point. Thank you.
[3/30/11]

Reading For the Future Very glad to hear Neil Gaiman say people should try her books. She is my very favourite YA author (with apologies to all my writer friends).
Even when you know it might come, it is sad. Even sadder to think of all the books she still had not yet written. ~Cie
Neil Gaiman's Journal: Being Alive. Mostly about Diana.
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/03/being-alive.html
journal.neilgaiman.com
Diana's been my friend since about 1985, but I was a fan of hers since I read Charmed Life in about 1978, aged 18. I've loved being her friend, and I'm pretty sure she loved being my friend. She was the funniest, wisest, fiercest, sharpest person I've known, a witchy and wonderful woman, intensely p...
[3/27/11]

From Other Walls

David Brin The implicit assumption in most fantasy is that the form of governance that ruled most human societies since the discovery of grain must always govern us. Science fiction, in sharp contrast, considers the possibility of learning and change.
The Difference between Science Fiction and Fantasy | Contrary Brin
http://davidbrin.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/the-difference-between-science-fiction-and-fantasy/
davidbrin.wordpress.com
Why are SF and Fantasy so often grouped together? Obviously, because they share readership and so are well placed together in book stores. And… heck… some of us write both! Still, there are very real differences.
[4/9/11]

Astrid Bear My piece on Dominic Flandry is up at Baen Books' site. They asked me to write it in conjunction with the publication of the last volume of the Technic Civilization collections, FLANDRY'S LEGACY.
A Midsummer Night's Flandry by Astrid Anderson Bear - Baen Books
http://baen.com/MidsummerFlandry.asp
baen.com
So I found myself plunged into the world of the dashing, clever, love-them-and-leave-them Dominic Flandry, determined warrior fighting against the forces of the Long Night. “Wow!” I remember thinking. “This stuff is pretty good!” And so I read all the Flandry there was, that summer, and moved on to
[4/7/11]

Donna Barr via Moe Labelle I'm not a well person. It's the LAST sentence had me cackling like Harry Secombe.
Harlan Ellison on God
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le-vDxmIKOI&feature=related
www.youtube.com
The writer Harlan Ellison discusses his views on god and religion in the documentary 'Harlan Ellison: Dreams With Sharp Teeth.
[4/7/11]