SciFi & Fantasy Novels

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  • Short film GodMachine reunites Robert Leeshock and Von Flores

    SFScope
    15 May 2012 | 1:50 pm
    Robert Leeshock and Von Flores, who last appeared on-screen in Earth: Final Conflict, co-star in the new short film GodMachine, which may be the beginning of...

  • Auto-caption fail: Kardashian sex tape grandmas

    Vicious Imagery
    DAVID BISHOP
    1 May 2012 | 2:47 am
    That video of grandmas watching the Kardashian sex tape is great. [Don't worry, no Kardashians - or sex tape - are visible in this clip.] But here's what YouTube auto-captioning decides they are saying... Enjoy!

  • Nexus Graphica: a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams

    SF Site
    3 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    Mark London Williams was lucky enough to see Avengers on the Disney lot somewhere in early/mid- April. The film's a lot of fun, the set pieces are terrific (the battle scenes have a nice logic to them -- in, of course, a "superhero movie" way -- as well as a good sense of staging and physical space, which is rare enough in action films these days), the banter between superheroes is good and it's the best Hulk movie yet made.

  • The Effect She Can Have

    SF Novelists
    Marie Brennan
    16 May 2012 | 5:00 am
    She has no idea. The effect she can have. There were a number of things that struck me in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (which I only got around to reading just last month — yeah, I’m behind the curve), but that line had particular resonance. It’s Peeta, Katniss’ fellow tribute, talking to their mentor Haymitch — and the topic is Katniss. The effect she can have. The narrative tells us (and shows us) repeatedly that Katniss is not conventionally likeable. She can’t relax for the camera or play nice in the ways girls are expected to. But when…

  • First Energia Launch Attempt -- And, Atlantis Flies to Mir

    The GrayMan Forum - Blogs
    Gray Rinehart
    15 May 2012 | 4:59 am
    Twenty-five years ago today -- May 15, 1987 -- the USSR launched its first Energia rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (Energia-Polyus, prior to being raised for launch. Image from the Buran-Energia site.) The Energia was a heavy-lift booster built by the Soviet Union to launch their "Buran" space shuttle. On its maiden flight with the Polyus upper stage instead of Buran, the Energia performed as intended but the upper stage did not place the payload in orbit. According to the Wikipedia entry: The Soviets had originally announced that the launch as a successful sub-orbital test of…
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    SF Site

  • Nexus Graphica: a column by Rick Klaw and Mark London Williams

    3 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    Mark London Williams was lucky enough to see Avengers on the Disney lot somewhere in early/mid- April. The film's a lot of fun, the set pieces are terrific (the battle scenes have a nice logic to them -- in, of course, a "superhero movie" way -- as well as a good sense of staging and physical space, which is rare enough in action films these days), the banter between superheroes is good and it's the best Hulk movie yet made.

  • War in Heaven by Gavin Smith

    1 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    War in Heaven is the sequel to Veteran, and includes a few pages to explain what has gone before, then it's back down the rabbit hole that is the author's plot. Veteran was a moody shooter's paradise, boasting an attitude like a Rottweiler with toothache. The follow up continues right where things left off, and maintains the style. Yes, there are some moments of humour, but these are slight and of an acquired taste. His technique is to keep hurling material at the reader, trebuchet style, never letting up.

  • New Arrivals compiled by Neil Walsh

    1 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    New and forthcoming books this time include the latest from Jonathan Carroll, Mark Chadbourn, Ari Marmell, Karen Marie Moning, Christopher Moore, and many others.

  • Dadaoism (An Anthology) edited by Justin Isis and Quentin S. Crisp

    1 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    According to one of the editors, the term "dadaoism" is a portmanteau of "dadaism" and "daoism." Fine enough, but we're not any wiser. Having now read the anthology, which includes a total of twenty-six contributions (short stories, novellas, poems) Mario's own feeling is that "dadaoism" is another synonym for "weirdness." The book features a bunch of weird material and what really matters to most is whether it's valuable stuff or not. Weird fiction, per se, is neither good nor bad.

  • Unchained by Sharon Ashwood

    1 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    With a custody battle coming up, Ashe Carver, monster killer, has switched from stakes to a job at the public library. But fate has other things in mind. Ashe find herself chasing a demon rabbit that escaped from the supernatural castle along with Captain Reynard, one of the castle's guards. But there's more than that going on here. Someone has stolen Reynard's soul, part of what bound him to the castle; a vampire king wants to impregnate Ashe since her sister, Holly, had a vampire's baby; and there's a dark fae prince who seems to have his finger in every pot.
 
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    SF Novelists

  • The Effect She Can Have

    Marie Brennan
    16 May 2012 | 5:00 am
    She has no idea. The effect she can have. There were a number of things that struck me in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (which I only got around to reading just last month — yeah, I’m behind the curve), but that line had particular resonance. It’s Peeta, Katniss’ fellow tribute, talking to their mentor Haymitch — and the topic is Katniss. The effect she can have. The narrative tells us (and shows us) repeatedly that Katniss is not conventionally likeable. She can’t relax for the camera or play nice in the ways girls are expected to. But when…

  • Who Was the First Kickass Heroine?

    S.C. Butler
    15 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    I ask the question not because I’m writing an essay, or because my latest heroine is going to reference all the great KHs of the past, but because I’m curious. And because I’m lazy. So why not ask the group mind here at SFNovelists? I’ve done a little googling. There are several lists in Wikipedia (List of Female Action Heroes, Women Warriors in History), and a lot of Top Ten Kickass Heroine lists from many, many bloggers. Except for historical examples, almost all the women listed are from the last fifty years, (the last thirty, really), especially the top ten lists. But what about…

  • Call Me A Rebel (Or, My Life As A Novella-ist)

    Mindy Klasky
    1 May 2012 | 10:29 am
    I know that this website is hosted by SFNovelists.  I know that, by definition, we focus on novels around here, on full-length speculative fiction.  And for all of my writing career, I’ve been a novelist. But last month, I branched out a little bit.  I published my first novella, Capitol Magic. This wasn’t my first short fiction.  I have published two — count ‘em, two — short stories.  (Staying true to form, I expanded one of those into Darkbeast, the novel that will be out, as by Morgan Keyes, in late August.) So, why did this leopard change her spots?

  • The Skill List Project: Fight Pacing

    James Alan Gardner
    29 Apr 2012 | 8:41 am
    This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I talked about fight scene basics. The post got several thought-filled comments from knowledgeable writers/fight savants, and I urge all you readers to check them out. (Thanks, commenters, for sharing your expertise!) A summary won’t do the comments justice, but I want to extract two important points to emphasize: Fight scenes should serve some purpose within the story besides just being loud. Have a definite…

  • Characters Striking Out On Their Own

    David B. Coe
    23 Apr 2012 | 6:00 am
    I’ve written before about how my characters sometimes surprise me, doing or saying things that I had not anticipated. At times they have subtly steered by narrative in directions I hadn’t anticipated; on occasion they have taken my books in radically new directions, rendering useless outlines for the the second half of a novel, or even for subsequent volumes in a series. Now some people will point out that since my characters are products of my imagination, they don’t really do anything. I do this to myself and then I blame my characters. It may happen in my subconscious, I might not be…
 
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    The GrayMan Forum - Blogs

  • First Energia Launch Attempt -- And, Atlantis Flies to Mir

    Gray Rinehart
    15 May 2012 | 4:59 am
    Twenty-five years ago today -- May 15, 1987 -- the USSR launched its first Energia rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (Energia-Polyus, prior to being raised for launch. Image from the Buran-Energia site.) The Energia was a heavy-lift booster built by the Soviet Union to launch their "Buran" space shuttle. On its maiden flight with the Polyus upper stage instead of Buran, the Energia performed as intended but the upper stage did not place the payload in orbit. According to the Wikipedia entry: The Soviets had originally announced that the launch as a successful sub-orbital test of…

  • First Inhabitants of Salyut-7

    Gray Rinehart
    13 May 2012 | 6:11 am
    Thirty years ago today -- May 13, 1982 -- the USSR launched a Soyuz-T from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the first crew to their newest space station. (Salyut-7. At bottom, a Soyuz vehicle is docked with the station. USSR image from Wikimedia Commons.) Mission Soyuz T-5 launched on (of course) a Soyuz rocket, carrying cosmonauts Anatoli N. Berezovoy and Valentin V. Lebedev. As noted on the Wikipedia page, it was the first mission to the Salyut 7 space station, which had only been launched a few weeks earlier.

  • Analog's July/August Issue

    Gray Rinehart
    10 May 2012 | 6:15 am
    I've had my copy for a couple of weeks, but the new issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact that includes my short story, "The Song of Uullioll," should be available on newsstands soon. (So to speak; I don't suppose there are many actual newsstands anymore.) Yesterday the good folks over at SF Scope posted the table of contents for the issue.

  • Mark of the Shuttle Era: Satellite Capture & Repair

    Gray Rinehart
    7 May 2012 | 4:36 am
    Twenty years ago today -- May 7, 1992 -- Space Shuttle Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center on a mission to rendezvous with the Intelsat VI satellite. (Three mission specialists work on the Intelsat VI satellite. STS-49 marked the first three-astronaut EVA. NASA image.) STS-49 was the maiden flight of Endeavour, and included astronauts Daniel C. Brandenstein, Kevin P. Chilton, Richard J. Hieb, Bruce E. Melnick, Pierre J. Thuot, Kathryn C. Thornton, and Thomas D. Akers. Their mission was to retrieve the Intelsat VI satellite, which had been stranded in orbit since March 1990, and…

  • Star Wars Day Space History ...

    Gray Rinehart
    4 May 2012 | 11:51 am
    ... from our little part of this galaxy, not that long ago. Forty-five years ago today -- May 4, 1967 -- an Atlas Agena rocket launched from Cape Canaveral carrying the Lunar Orbiter 4 on its mission to the Moon. Because the previous three Lunar Orbiters had "completed the required needs for Apollo mapping and site selection," NASA tasked this fourth orbiter to "perform a broad systematic photographic survey of lunar surface features in order to increase the scientific knowledge of their nature, origin, and processes, and to serve as a basis for selecting sites for more…
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    Eric James Stone

  • My lecture to Brandon Sanderson’s class

    Eric James Stone
    15 May 2012 | 8:35 am
    Brandon Sanderson teaches a creative writing class at BYU, and last semester I had the opportunity to give a guest lecture on the subject of writing short stories. A video recording of the lecture is now available on YouTube:

  • The Avengers vs. The Dark Knight vs. X2: X-Men United

    Eric James Stone
    14 May 2012 | 9:35 am
    I saw The Avengers a few days ago, and I thought it was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it had a few plot holes the size of the Incredible Hulk. A while back, when The Dark Knight was all the rage, I wrote up a little comparison On the Codex Writers forum between that film and X2: X-Men United, which I consider to be the best comic-book superhero movie ever. I updated it after seeing The Avengers, and now I’ve turned it into the chart below. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE MOVIES ARE PRESENT! The Dark Knight X2: X-Men United The Avengers Acting I will grant that Heath Ledger’s…

  • Balloon – воздушный шар

    Eric James Stone
    11 May 2012 | 8:08 am
    This week’s Russian pop song: “Balloon” by Mr. Credo. (The version I usually listen to is a remix of this that mostly features the chorus.) Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and lyricstranslate.com): The balloon, The air in the sense of like my fantasy, He hangs between heaven and earth, How often do I hang out Flying in the astral world, gliding over the clouds And heading to nowhere I want to reach the depths of consciousness But the fear, all broken off, as always. Fear of excess weight, With his soul, I will cast him as ballast Let this step,…

  • Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

    Eric James Stone
    8 May 2012 | 7:42 pm
    Pretty much everyone who meets her is, of course. But what I’m actually referring to is the new fairy-tale novel Enchanted, which was written by my friend Alethea Kontis, author of the Alpha-Oops picture books. Way back in 2005, I participated in a fairy-tale-writing contest on the Codex Writers forum.  Through various skulduggerous means I managed to take first place with my story “Bird-Dropping and Sunday.”  Alethea came in third place with her story “Sunday.”  She later sold that story to Realms of Fantasy magazine. But she didn’t stop there. She…

  • Stars Await Us – Звезды нас ждут

    Eric James Stone
    4 May 2012 | 2:20 pm
    This week’s video of still another of my favorite Russian pop songs: “Stars Await Us” by Mirage. (The version I listen to is by Tsvetnoye Kino featuring Milena, but the two versions are very similar, and I couldn’t find a real music video for the other.) Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and nomorelyrics.net): Night. Closed the last sheet. We alone in the world – you and I, In your hand is my hand. You have a chance given only once. We will give the world the best, That took care of us for centuries. Chorus: Together, we are not…
 
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    Fabianspace

  • Promo Day May 19 - Learn About Marketing

    14 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    (Jo Linsdell is a friend of mine-- a neat lady and a great marketer.  I know several of the presenters, too.  This is well worth your time.)Promo day is an annual event for people in the writing industry dedicated to promoting, networking and learning. This years event will take place on Saturday 19th May 2012 at the brand new website www.PromoDay.infoThe online event organized by Jo Linsdell has evolved since its humble begins on the writers personal website and grown into a world recognized event attracting thousands of visitors from around the globe.The 2012 event promises to be…

  • My Novel's Journey--on Hold. Bad week

    10 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    Been a bad week, and I had a long blog about all the stuff, good as well as bad, that happened.  Then I erased it because really, with all the good things in my life, I should not be whining.  So, this is and isn't' a novel's journey, but here are the good things going on in my writing life:1.  Twilight Times is going to re-release Infinite Space, Infinite God I with a new cover!  If you'd like to get one with the old cover--soon to be a collector item, I'm sure!--e-mail me instead of going to some Amazon third part who wants an outrageous sum.  I have 40 copies left…

  • Housekeeping for Writers Boot Camp

    7 May 2012 | 12:29 am
    When I was little, my mother used to make beautiful crafts.  This was the 70s and refrigerator peacocks were the thing and she'd spend hours gluing on sequins and feathers.  They looked something like this, only about 18 inches long.Once in a while, she'd sell them to friends for the cost of materials, but whenever someone asked her why she didn't go into business, she'd say, "Oh, I like doing it, but they take too much time.  I'd never get paid enough for the all the work I put in, so I'd rather give them away at cost."  As a child, I didn't understand that.Today, I think…

  • My Novel's Journey: Gapman: Getting back on the horse

    3 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    It seems oddly appropriate that with the Avengers movie coming out, I would finally be starting my own superhero novel, Gapman.  Like Live and Let Fly, Gapman is a spoof set in the DragonEye, PI universe. Ronnie Engleson, a mild-mannered entertainment reporter, visits the set of a superhero play happening in Faerie, where he falls into a vat of magically created toxic waste, gets bitten by a radioactive pixie, and is struck by lightning while crossing the Interdimensional Gap.  The next day, he wakes up with superpowers.Superpowers, of course, do not always mean super-effectiveness,…

  • Catholic Family Fun By Sarah A. Reinhard

    29 Apr 2012 | 8:03 am
    Icon by Amber Fabian, http://amberfabian.deviantart.com/gallery/Today, I'm pleased to host my friend, Sarah Reinhard, on her Catholic Family Fun book tour.  Sarah absolutely embraces every word in her title.  My favorite memory of her is from the Catholic Writers Conference Live/Catholic Marketing network Tradeshow.  She was running all around the trade show, having a complete squee-fest over meeting all the well known Catholic writers, speakers, and priests.  We're talking "screaming fangirl-please hold my baby so I can get a picture of you and him for posterity"…
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    James Maxey - Jawbone of an Ass

  • Yesterday's Progress Toward Legalizing Gay Marriage

    9 May 2012 | 8:08 am
    So, gay marriage advocates had a bad day in North Carolina yesterday. Or did they? Roughly 40% of voters came out and voted against an amendment to ban same-sex unions. 40% acceptance is a pretty amazing figure considering that 30 years ago, if there had been google, and if you'd googled the phrase "same sex marriage" you would have gotten probably zero hits. The idea was not only not being

  • Why Gay Marriage is Good for Straight People

    7 May 2012 | 8:53 pm
    Tomorrow in North Carolina, we go to the polls to vote on an anti-gay marriage amendment that would prevent the state or any business within the state from recognizing same sex marriage or even civil unions. Gay marriage is already illegal by statute. The amendment, say defenders, is to keep activist judges from imposing gay marriage on the state against the will of the people. I'm going to be

  • A good day to buy stock at Home Depot

    11 Apr 2012 | 6:24 am
    Cheryl and I have decided it's time to rescue the US economy. We've just helped clear the glut of houses on the market by purchasing a new home. Even better, we purchased a new home with many thousands of dollars of repairs needed. Woo!Seriously, the list of repairs was daunting. The place needs a new furnace, a new water heater, new floors in three rooms, new doors, new appliances, new gutters,

  • Name Calling as Political Debate

    2 Apr 2012 | 5:39 pm
    I have a story in the latest Intergalactic Medicine Show anthology. If you follow the link, you will find in the customer reviews a one star review titled, "Buy this book to show your support of homophobic bigotry." In the review itself, Card is called vile and hateful, and the review ends with the suggestions that readers might also enjoy "The Adolf Hitler Anthology of Aryan Adventure."A comment

  • The Oil Debate Continues

    17 Mar 2012 | 10:13 am
    Since I wrote my essay on why politicians should resist manipulating the price of gasoline, pretty much every op-ed article of the last week has focused on the topic. I'm glad I have such influence on the national debate.The most amusing claim I've heard this week is that President Obama has intentionally decieved the public as to how much oil the US has, creating a "myth of scarcity." The chart
 
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    KRAD's Inaccurate Guide to Life

  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "The Mind's Eye"

    15 May 2012 | 1:11 pm
    The Klingon-Romulan-Federation intrigue continues, as La Forge gets trapped in an homage to The Manchurian Candidate. The TNG Rewatch looks at things through "The Mind's Eye."An excerpt:Troi sees La Forge upon his return from the Romulan ship, and views him as more relaxed than she ever saw him. She pushes him to reveal what he did on Risa, and La Forge lists a whole mess of things we know he didn’t do, like play chess, walk, swim, eat, and spend time with a woman named Jonek. Troi’s pushing for details on what he did comes across a lot more as a friend fishing for gossip than a counselor…

  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "The Host"

    15 May 2012 | 8:07 am
    Belatedly, as this went up last Friday: Crusher falls in love with a guy who turns out to be more than expected, Riker gets to be a host for a symbiont, and Marvin Rush gets to shoot a Crusher-centric episode while Gates McFadden is pregnant, as the TNG Rewatch plays "The Host."An excerpt:Finally, there’s the most controversial element of the show, which is the ending. Several have accused the ending of being homophobic at worst, insensitive to a non-heterosexual point of view at best. What leaves a bad taste in my mouth watching it is the way Crusher universalizes it: it’s a “human”…

  • progress....

    14 May 2012 | 11:57 pm
    Got 3360 words of Leverage: The Zoo Job done, bringing me to the end of Chapter 3. Included is a brief flashback to Eliot's time working for Damien Moreau.An excerpt:Eliot Spencer looked very carefully at the two men who were pacing back and forth in front of Aloyisius Mbenga's mansion on the outskirts of Malani City as he got out of the rental car with Damien Moreau. The men wore the uniforms of the Malani Royal Army, in service to King Lionel.Moreau nodded at the driver, who kept the car running, but grabbed a copy of the International Herald Tribune and started flipping through it.Eliot…

  • The Chronic Rift Spotlight: Summer Movie Alternatives -- plus network update!

    14 May 2012 | 3:56 pm
    Our new spotlight episode is about Summer Movie Alternatives. Hosted by The Weekly Podioplex's Michael Falkner, we provide some movies for those of you who are blockbustered out or just want to avoid the crowds thronging to The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, or Brave.Also there are some new podcasts on The Chronic Rift Network that you should be aware of:---The Cardboard Jungle. Our latest podcast stars Anthony Racano and Paul Leoncavallo and focuses on board and card games. The inaugural episode introduces the hosts and has, not one, but two contests!---The Weekly Podioplex. Amazingly,…

  • Monday music: Leadbelly part 1

    14 May 2012 | 10:49 am
    Huddie Ledbetter -- better known as Leadbelly -- was one of the most influential blues musicians. You've probably heard his music without even knowing it -- "Goodnight Irene," "Midnight Special," and "Black Betty" are probably the most famous -- and he had a huge impact on so many blues and rock musicians.....Here's one of my favorites of his, "Linin' Track."
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    Robert J. Sawyer

  • Texas Public Radio interview

    Rob
    8 May 2012 | 2:59 pm
    A fabulous 18-minute Texas Public Radio interivew with me about Triggers, conducted by the masterful Dan Skinner, is online here. Give it a listen! Texas Public Radio describes the interview thusly:When you talk about finding your soul mate, quantum entanglement is probably something you didn’t think about when searching for that individual who would “complete” you. But in the science fiction novel Triggers, by Robert J. Sawyer, the notion of quantum entanglement plays a role in the story. President Jerrison is delivering a speech when he is shot. He’s taken to a hospital where…

  • 30 years ago: working at Bakka

    Rob
    8 May 2012 | 2:28 pm
    Pictured: Dune author Frank Herbert and Bakka owner John Rose, outside of Bakka’s old 282 Queen Street West location in Toronto, where Robert J. Sawyer worked in 1982; Bakka was named for “the weeper who mourns for all mankind” from Dune. Photo by Tom Robe from 1981. Just about exactly thirty years ago, I started the best summer job I ever had. I worked at Bakka, the science-fiction bookstore in Toronto, for four months in the summer of 1982. What an education in bookselling! Here are some of my memories of that time (from a 10,000-word autobiography of me from 2002 that…

  • Triggers reviews including Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly

    Rob
    21 Apr 2012 | 11:45 am
    Reviews for Triggers by Robert J. Sawyer: “Hugo- and Nebula-award-winning science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer returns with a new hard science fiction novel which pulls together elements of a gripping political thriller with cutting edge psychological insights to create a story that works on many levels. Triggers has the pacing of an episode of 24 and the philosophical sensibilities of an Isaac Asimov novel, so any readers who were introduced to Sawyer through his television series FlashForward will find it particularly interesting.” –Andrew Zimmerman Jones in Black Gate…

  • Triggers a Maclean’s and Globe and Mail Bestseller

    Rob
    21 Apr 2012 | 11:37 am
    Triggers debuted at #8 on the Fiction bestsellers list in Maclean’s: Canada’s National Newsmagazine in its first week out (list published April 12), and has moved up to #7 in its second week (list published April 19). And it debuted at #7 on the Canadian Fiction bestsellers list in The Globe and Mail: Canada’s National Newspaper (list published April 14). These are the two principal bestsellers lists in Canada; Triggers is a bona fide national top-ten mainstream bestseller in Canada. Robert J. Sawyer online:Website • Facebook • Twitter • Newsgroup • Email

  • Edmonton event is at 7:00 p.m. …

    Rob
    8 Apr 2012 | 4:47 pm
    … not 7:30 p.m., as incorrectly reported in a few places. The event for TRIGGERS takes place this Wednesday, April 11, at Audreys, 10702 Jasper Ave. NW, Edmonton at 7:00 p.m. Free; everybody welcome.
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    Whatever

  • A Child’s Treasury of Deletions

    John Scalzi
    16 May 2012 | 5:00 am
    Yesterday’s post garnered 800 comments before I put it to bed and I ended up deleting a record number of comments out of it, largely from presumably straight white men enraged at the idea their life doesn’t necessarily suck as much as other folks’ and/or because they ate lead paint chips as children and have impulse control issues (plus a couple from other, calmer folks following up on posts I later deleted, so theirs needed to be deleted too). Whatever the reason, I thought it would be fun to post a compendium of Malletings here for your enjoyment. So without further ado:…

  • Redshirts Back Cover, Library Journal Review, A Plea to Reviewers

    John Scalzi
    15 May 2012 | 2:00 pm
    We’re three weeks out from the release of Redshirts, and I just got my boxes o’ author copies, so now is a fine time, I think, to show you the back cover, which has lovely blurbs for the book from Joe Hill, Pat Rothfuss, Melinda Snodgrass and Lev Grossman. They are all very kind, and also what I love about each of these is that they bring home the point that, hey! This book is funny! This is actually important to me, for reasons I plan to go on about at length in a future entry. But in the meantime, thanks Joe and Pat and Melinda and Lev. Glad you liked it. Also in the liking…

  • Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is

    John Scalzi
    15 May 2012 | 10:49 am
    I’ve been thinking of a way to explain to straight white men how life works for them, without invoking the dreaded word “privilege,” to which they react like vampires being fed a garlic tart at high noon. It’s not that the word “privilege” is incorrect, it’s that it’s not their word. When confronted with “privilege,” they fiddle with the word itself, and haul out the dictionaries and find every possible way to talk about the word but not any of the things the word signifies. So, the challenge: how to get across the ideas bound up in…

  • The Big Idea: Garth Nix

    John Scalzi
    15 May 2012 | 7:50 am
    Not every book has a predictable genesis. Indeed, A Confusion of Princes, the latest novel by Garth Nix, is one of those whose beginning is best described as a series of detours, resulting in a book. Come, walk with Nix as he retraces his steps to get to the published work. GARTH NIX: I’m not sure any of my novels have any one big idea. I like the concept of a humongous idea striking suddenly, after months or possibly years of lying around doing not much at all, allied with the popular belief that post-lightning all you have to do is retreat to a darkened room and bash out the words, a kind…

  • BuzzFeed Catches Up With What I’ve Been Saying For a Couple of Years Now

    John Scalzi
    14 May 2012 | 9:04 pm
    Saladin Ahmed and Jonathan Coulton: Separated at birth. Seriously, I know them both, and it’s uncanny. Although Saladin is the slightly more compact version. Even so.
 
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    Magical Words

  • Top Ten (Okay Eleven) Things You Should Know About Your Own Book, Part Four

    Faith Hunter
    16 May 2012 | 5:00 am
    I’ve been talking recently—well, I guess recently is a bit confusing as I’ve had so many weeks off—but I’ve been covering questions we writers can ask ourselves about our own book to understand it... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • You Are What You Read

    Misty Massey
    15 May 2012 | 5:13 am
    When I was a kid, I loved to pretend I was someone special.  Yes, I know, we’re all special, but that’s not quite what I’m going for here.  One summer we visited the Outer Banks of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

  • Cheerleaders

    Lucienne Diver
    14 May 2012 | 8:02 am
    That’s right, I’m talking about cheerleaders.  Not the ones who wear short skirts and build human pyramids, but the ones who sometimes keep us going.  Ernest Hemingway said, “There is nothing to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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    Chrysalis

  • Awards Weekend Collectors' Anthology

    14 May 2012 | 12:25 pm
    It's not often that you can collect autographs from eleven different authors in one day. Especially when five of those authors are 2012 Nebula nominees, one is an AML Award winner, and one is a NYT Bestselling Author.But this Friday, May 18, it will be possible in Arlington.The Awards Weekend Collector's Edition is an anthology composed of work by 11 authors who will be in attendance at the Nebulas. This means that it's possible for enthusiasts to get an 'autographing blackout' by collecting signatures from every author in the anthology. Oh yeah, and the stories are pretty good, too.The…

  • Autographing Session in Arlington, VA

    12 May 2012 | 3:22 pm
    As part of the 2012 Nebula Awards Weekend, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America is hosting a group autographing session. It's open to the public and there's no fee to enter. There will be about thirty professional authors in attendance, and their books will be available for purchase on site.If you happen to collect autographed books, this event is a great way to get a bunch of them all at once. And if you happen to like chatting with published authors, this event is great for that, too. A lot of us will be there early and will stay late, and we're generally happy to chat for a…

  • Pre-Nebula Panic

    12 May 2012 | 11:28 am
    I'm flying across the Atlantic ocean in three days. I feel like some Disney heroine with a double-life, sending her kids off to school and then heading off to glamorous occasions.During the days before trips like this, I never want to go. I worry about the kids. I worry that my online friends will hate me once they meet me in person. I worry that it's all a self-indulgent waste of money. I worry that I haven't spent enough money to make it a valid business venture. I worry that I'll drop dinner on my pretty Banquet dress. I wonder whether I'll even be able to get all that fabric tucked away…

  • 5 May 2012 | 4:50 am

    5 May 2012 | 4:50 am
    Thursday was my husband and my's tenth wedding anniversary. We took the kids canoeing to a beach on the far shore of the river. A fabulous time was had by all.I don't blog about my husband much, mostly because he tends to be the solution to my problems rather than the cause. Ironically, as a teenager, I did not believe that there was such a thing as a perfect marriage. I have never been happier to be proven wrong.

  • Elevator Pitches

    4 May 2012 | 5:03 am
    First -- THANK YOU EVERYONE who commented on the cover quiz. Left to my own devices, I probably would have gone for the one on the right, and that clearly is not the best choice in this case. You guys rock, and I'm glad I have you.Second -- Since you've all listened to me ramble about Ye Aggravating Novel on so many occassions, I thought you might like to hear the elevator pitch we pounded out at the Villa Diodati workshop. (An elevator pitch, for those who may not know, is a brief, tantalizing description of one's book. There's an excellent Writing Excuses podcast that describes pitching in…
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    No Fear of the Future

  • Science Fiction in the Edgelands

    Chris N. Brown
    7 May 2012 | 7:03 am
    My essay "Science Fiction in the Edgelands" is up—online and in the April print issue—at The New York Review of Science Fiction. NYRSF is one of my very favorite publications. Editor David Hartwell has been using it as a forum for the very best sf criticism for the past 24 years (with immense help from his colleagues Kevin Maroney, Alex Donald, Kris Dikeman, Avram Grumer, and Samuel R. Delany). NYRSF was pretty much exclusively print until they ran into printer problems last year, leading the very exciting result that they are transitioning to electronic publication. As part of this…

  • ¡Tiene que luchar por su derecho a enfiestarse!

    Chris N. Brown
    5 May 2012 | 9:26 am
    In the past couple of months, a new billboard has appeared around Austin advertising Indio Beer, a new entrant to the US market. An Aztec warrior emerges from the jungle: "COMING PRONTO." (See above pic from Lamar Boulevard, courtesy of The Marcos Kirsch Experience.) Since I don't really watch television, I have to rely on billboards as one of my principal commercial cultural barometers. Billboards during the bust have become heavily focused on selling capitalism's cheapest and most proletarian anesthetic—beer (along with healthy doses of tequila and spirits with a Caribbean theme, often…

  • Baffling Wonders of the 21st Century

    Chris N. Brown
    23 Apr 2012 | 10:00 am
    [Pic: MMA fighter Nick Newell, via Carbonated.tv]The other day the New York Times ran a story about amputee mixed martial arts fighters. A few weeks earlier, the Sunday magazine featured a profile of Oscar Pistorius, the South African amputee sprinter, and the question of whether he is disadvantaged or advantaged by his disability and the prosthetic blades that let him run 400 meters in 45 seconds. Establishment examinations of the unique capabilities of a legless wrestler, and the awesome physics of a bionic runner, evidence the 21st century's evolution of very different ways of thinking…

  • Web-@nywhere: A look at the near future of the recent past

    Matthew Bey
    15 Apr 2012 | 6:22 pm
    About a month ago, a coworker bought a number of archaic digital watches for everyone in the office. He found them in the bargain bin of a thrift store in Waxahachie, and since they cost about a buck each, he thought they would be a fun gag gift. With replacement batteries I ordered online for $1.50 each, we managed to get the watches working again. But these are no ordinary wrist-watches. These are Web-@nywhere personal computation devices, a conceptual waypoint between the calculator watch of the 80s and the first smart phones of the mid-noughts. It has an LCD graphic display with a…

  • You sunk my littoral combat trimaran!

    Chris N. Brown
    6 Apr 2012 | 10:27 am
    The front page of this morning's New York Times has a stroke piece about the Navy's new combat vessels that reads like a page from the technical manual of Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds!. It even includes a cross section in the style of a Silver Age comic, with a sidebar explaining how different modules can be installed onboard for different missions. Like maybe Thunderbird 4!Sure, the story goes through the motions of presenting some kernels of serious political analysis, noting the debate about how many $700 million littoral interceptors we might really need, and the annoying questions about…
 
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    pat esden

  • Revision Links for Inspiration and Fun

    7 May 2012 | 5:30 pm
    When I need to clean out the cobwebs and dust off the brain cells, I do a bit of focused internet cruising. Here are some links to posts and tools designed to rekindle your energy during revision or inspire you to look at your story from a new angle . . .  if you'd like to check out the rest of my post, it's over on my sister bloghttp://fivecuriosities.blogspot.com/2012/05/revision-links-for-inspiration-and-fun.html(warning the post does include a cute lion video at the end )

  • Taking your writing to the next level: Marketability

    1 May 2012 | 4:41 pm
    Over the years I’ve spent a great deal of time fretting about how to move my writing to the next level. I usually attempt to do this by taking a class which will address a specific problem area or with focused reading. I don’t recall ever knowing the exact moment when the jump to the next level occurred. That was, until ten days ago during a query critique at NE SCBWI.Deep in my gut I might have suspected how I could strengthen my writing. And I did have specific questions I wanted to ask during my critique. But it still surprised me how the answer hit home and effected how I…

  • I've Been Tagged: The 7-7-7 Challenge

    16 Apr 2012 | 9:40 am
    Over the weekend I was tagged by my writing friend, Lora Rivera, http://lorariverainsidewriting.blogspot.com/ --if you have a moment, check out her 7 sentence post. She has a wonderful gothic brewing. The 7-7-7 Challenge:Flip to page 77 or page 7 of your current WIP. Find line 7.Post the 7 sentences that follow.Tag 7 more writers.One of my goals for this past weekend was to work on a specific character. The challenge sentences happened to be a setting description which involves that same character. So I posted my quick revision, not polished, but not the old draft either. My WIP is a YA…

  • April at The Cabinet: Tossing Out Old Writing Habits

    11 Apr 2012 | 8:25 am
    Throwing Out the Kitchen Sink By Suzanne Warr April's theme is house-keeping the writer's way here on the Cabinet, which some of you may think means no house-keeping at all! lol Thank goodness we're not talking about organizing your closet and decluttering your kitchen--my personal take on that sort of thing is leave it til the next move or the next flood, which I guess is one reason to be thankful I've always moved so much!No, this theme deals with de-cluttering your writing life and tossing out those old habits that are standing in your way. Here we are in April, the fourth month...how are…

  • Happy Easter to One and All

    6 Apr 2012 | 1:54 pm
    I'm poking my head out of the revision den and the flower shop to wish everyone a wonderful Easter!
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    SF Novelists

  • The Effect She Can Have

    Marie Brennan
    16 May 2012 | 5:00 am
    She has no idea. The effect she can have. There were a number of things that struck me in Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (which I only got around to reading just last month — yeah, I’m behind the curve), but that line had particular resonance. It’s Peeta, Katniss’ fellow tribute, talking to their mentor Haymitch — and the topic is Katniss. The effect she can have. The narrative tells us (and shows us) repeatedly that Katniss is not conventionally likeable. She can’t relax for the camera or play nice in the ways girls are expected to. But when…

  • Who Was the First Kickass Heroine?

    S.C. Butler
    15 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    I ask the question not because I’m writing an essay, or because my latest heroine is going to reference all the great KHs of the past, but because I’m curious. And because I’m lazy. So why not ask the group mind here at SFNovelists? I’ve done a little googling. There are several lists in Wikipedia (List of Female Action Heroes, Women Warriors in History), and a lot of Top Ten Kickass Heroine lists from many, many bloggers. Except for historical examples, almost all the women listed are from the last fifty years, (the last thirty, really), especially the top ten lists. But what about…

  • Call Me A Rebel (Or, My Life As A Novella-ist)

    Mindy Klasky
    1 May 2012 | 10:29 am
    I know that this website is hosted by SFNovelists.  I know that, by definition, we focus on novels around here, on full-length speculative fiction.  And for all of my writing career, I’ve been a novelist. But last month, I branched out a little bit.  I published my first novella, Capitol Magic. This wasn’t my first short fiction.  I have published two — count ‘em, two — short stories.  (Staying true to form, I expanded one of those into Darkbeast, the novel that will be out, as by Morgan Keyes, in late August.) So, why did this leopard change her spots?

  • The Skill List Project: Fight Pacing

    James Alan Gardner
    29 Apr 2012 | 8:41 am
    This is another post in The Skill List Project: an attempt to list all the skills involved in writing and selling fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. Last time, I talked about fight scene basics. The post got several thought-filled comments from knowledgeable writers/fight savants, and I urge all you readers to check them out. (Thanks, commenters, for sharing your expertise!) A summary won’t do the comments justice, but I want to extract two important points to emphasize: Fight scenes should serve some purpose within the story besides just being loud. Have a definite…

  • Characters Striking Out On Their Own

    David B. Coe
    23 Apr 2012 | 6:00 am
    I’ve written before about how my characters sometimes surprise me, doing or saying things that I had not anticipated. At times they have subtly steered by narrative in directions I hadn’t anticipated; on occasion they have taken my books in radically new directions, rendering useless outlines for the the second half of a novel, or even for subsequent volumes in a series. Now some people will point out that since my characters are products of my imagination, they don’t really do anything. I do this to myself and then I blame my characters. It may happen in my subconscious, I might not be…
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    Something Wicked

  • The Zone

    Angie Fox
    15 May 2012 | 8:38 pm
    So today I had the coolest writing session - I basically forgot about everything but the story for hours. It doesn't always happen that way, to get in the zone, and it was a lot of fun. And it started me thinking about my brother and how when he runs, he gets into that same kind of rhythm, where you forget were you are and just focus on the moment. It's a neat place to be.I only wish I could do it while running. My latest attempts at getting ready for the Run for Your Lives Zombie 5k basically consist of me, half-bent over and panting after the first mile, then making deals with myself to…

  • Darkness Surrendered Release Party & Giveaway!

    Stephanie Rowe
    13 May 2012 | 8:12 pm
    I'm so excited! Darkness Surrendered, the third book in my new Primal Heat trilogy is finally here, and I'm giving away prizes to celebrate! This trilogy has been an exhilerating ride for me, putting out the three books in back-to-back-to-back months! Reader reaction has been amazing, with so many people falling in love with the awesome, tortured Caldyon warriors of the Order of the Blade.  I'm thrilled to announce that the series will be continuing with Darkness Reborn, coming this summer. After launching the Order of the Blade series with the trilogy, the rest of the books will be…

  • Coveted Winner!

    Angie Fox
    10 May 2012 | 9:57 pm
    Hey all - the random number generator has spoken and the winner of Coveted is BW. Congrats! Email me at angie@ angie fox.com (no spaces) and I'll get that book out to you!

  • 9 May 2012 | 11:46 am

    Casey
    9 May 2012 | 11:46 am
    Coming up this weekend, the Ohioana Book Festival, and I've got plenty to do leading up to the event.  This year, I'm one of the Festival's Featured Authors and I'm heading down to Columbus, Ohio on Thursday to start the festivities.Tomorrow (Thursday) from 11-noon, I'll be a guest on an WOSU radio program and then in the evening, I'll be signing both my Pepper Martin and my Button Box mysteries at the B&N at Lennox Square from 6-8.Saturday, the Festival start at 10 and goes until 4:30.  Lots of authors, lots of panels and interviews and programs.  The Festival is free and…

  • Coveted book giveaway!

    Angie Fox
    8 May 2012 | 10:30 pm
    You know, I try to be smooth. I try to look like I have it all together, that I know what's going on every day and heck - that I always know what day it is. But today? Well, you've found me out.Despite writing all morning on a super sekrit project (hope to tell you about it soon), then playing copious amounts of Words With Friends in the afternoon (it's crack for wordies like me), I just now realized that I didn't blog today.Bad, bad Angie. But hey, even though I'm not all that smooth, I do have lots of books in my office. Uh huh - I saw you perk up. Post below and tell me what you tend to…
 
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    theinferior4+1

  • New Review at B&NR

    theinferior4+1
    15 May 2012 | 11:01 am
    I look at a classic Japanese SF novel:http://bnreview.barnesandnoble.com/t5/In-the-Margin/Death-Sentences/ba-p/7847

  • New Review at LOCUS ONLINE

    theinferior4+1
    11 May 2012 | 5:03 pm
    I examine a fine new book about SF films:http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/2012/05/paul-di-filippo-reviews-gary-westfahl/

  • More Bonnie

    ljgoldstein
    11 May 2012 | 12:21 pm
    It's taken a while, but Bonnie has finally figured out that she's going to stay here, and that she should probably start paying attention to those two people who keep filling her food bowl.  (Doug and I figured out that she's had at least three homes so far, including the pound, and maybe even four.)  So she's learned "Come" (most of the time) and "Fetch" and she doesn't nibble on me anymore, or try to jump on the furniture.On the other hand, she's still rambunctious.  We went to the vet the other day, and she jumped up with all four…

  • Window Full of Flowers

    theinferior4+1
    11 May 2012 | 9:29 am

  • Joe Kubert Tuckerized

    theinferior4+1
    10 May 2012 | 9:01 am
    http://www.amazon.com/Archie-Archives-Volume-5-Various/dp/1595828575/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336658227&sr=8-1This latest volume of the Archie Archives features an Easter Egg tribute to another artist of the period, Joe Kubert, a titanic figure in the field and still going strong. Kubert's first pro work had appeared just three years prior to this 1945 Archie story.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_KubertThis act of using a pal's name in your story is commonly called Tuckerization, BTW:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuckerization
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    Wyrdsmiths

  • Weather Report

    Eleanor
    15 May 2012 | 5:10 pm
    A lovely day. Bright and clear and warm with a slight coolness in the wind. There are people sculling on the river, people biycling and walking. Flowers are blooming. Birds are singing. I got some writing done.

  • Story and Plot

    Eleanor
    14 May 2012 | 1:46 pm
    LeGuin is writing about story telling over at the Book View Cafe blog. This first quote is from her: E.M.Forster had a low opinion of story. He said story is “The queen died and then the king died,” while plot is “The queen died and then the king died of grief.” To him, story is just “this happened and then this happened and then this happened,” a succession without connection; plot introduces connection or causality, therefore shape and form. Plot makes sense of story. I read this and realized that I was not entirely sure I could define either story or plot. So I checked an…

  • Friday Cat Blogging, In House Edition

    Kelly McCullough
    11 May 2012 | 11:35 am
    By request, the McCullough household cats on their own.Hep! I'z being devored by blanketszzzzzThinking napping thotsI'z doing the meditation of teh crossed feetzThese shins sure iz comfortable.Mind if I joins your nap coop?Nap coop!

  • More on Superheroes

    Eleanor
    11 May 2012 | 9:16 am
    From facebook and my blog. I am having to use the quote function to get paragraphs in the new version of blogger. Does anyone know another way? What I'm wondering about superhero comics and movies is -- what is the social and emotional content? What grabs and hold people? The simple answer is wish fulfillment fantasy. But that's not adequate. The situation is more complex. The four movies I've seen recently tell different kinds of stories. Yes, they all end in smash! bang! boom! kapow! But that's kind of like the ballet in an opera. You know you are going to have to sit through it, so you…

  • Obsession

    Eleanor
    9 May 2012 | 4:58 pm
    I am writing more about obsession over at my blog. Most of it is about The Avengers, the current focus of my current obsession.
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    Face of Chaos

  • Orion’s Children have arrived at Closed Circle!

    Lynn
    20 Apr 2012 | 9:51 pm
    I swore that there’d be no blogging until I a) got my Orion’s Children series ready for publication at Closed Circle and B) Finished the next (seemingly endless) section of Seeking North.  I’m halfway there… It’s taken far longer than I thought it would (The surprise isn’t that every ebook has display problems, . . . → Read More: Orion’s Children have arrived at Closed Circle!

  • Thieves’ World hits the Big Time…

    Lynn
    20 Feb 2012 | 9:16 am
    Jeopardy ran one of its College Tournaments last week and the $800 question on the Valentine’s Day show was…. Medicinal-sounding last name of Robert Lynn, whose fantasy works include “Thieves’ World” & “Myth Adventures” … and the answer was (of course) Aspirin (no points for spelling)  

  • Review: Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses

    Lynn
    5 Jan 2012 | 9:38 am
    Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses by Diane Duane My rating: 3 of 5 stars Part fantasy, part science fiction, and part police procedural this is a truly genre-straddling book. The parts don’t always blend as well as I would have liked. I came away thinking I would almost rather Duane had told . . . → Read More: Review: Stealing the Elf-King’s Roses

  • Review: Austenland

    Lynn
    18 Dec 2011 | 12:27 pm
    Austenland by Shannon Hale My rating: 1 of 5 stars I don’t expect A-plus historical accuracy in a chick-lit romance billed as an homage to an Austen obsession, but I was disappointed when the point-of-view character didn’t know the difference between a chamberpot and a bedpan. When I realized that the . . . → Read More: Review: Austenland

  • Review: Boneshaker

    Lynn
    6 Dec 2011 | 8:31 pm
    Boneshaker by Cherie Priest My rating: 3 of 5 stars I learned that Boneshaker is going to be made into a movie while reading the book. Oddly, I can envision the theme-park ride more easily than I can empathize with the characters. View all my reviews . . . → Read More: Review: Boneshaker
 
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    Joe Abercrombie

  • Whisky Deathmatch

    Joe Abercrombie
    13 May 2012 | 10:07 am
    By popular demand, I bring you WHISKY DEATHMATCH.  Two whiskies enter, one whisky leaves, that’s the essence of it. We begin with twelve contenders, which I’m going to pair up like against like according to origin and style.  That’ll give us six thrilling matches and six worthy winners, and I’m then going to let through my two favourite losers to give a field of eight.  Quarter finals, probably with some seeding, semi-finals, final, and there can be only one winner.  Like in that Highlander – except the contestants will actually be Scottish.  Thirteen…

  • Part the Third

    Joe Abercrombie
    10 May 2012 | 11:47 am
    So I’ve now got to the end of the third part in my first big pass through Red Country.  There was a lot less to do here than in the first two parts – just some tightening up, a few extra sequences to add in order to keep significant characters in mind, and a few sloppy scenes that needed some rewriting.  The fourth and fifth parts should need even less work to bring them up to snuff for the time being, and they’re relatively short anyway, so it shouldn’t be long until I have a single coherent draft!  Woo hoo!  What was I worrying about? At that point I’d…

  • The Heroes UK MMP

    Joe Abercrombie
    7 May 2012 | 4:52 pm
    A box full of UK mass market paperbacks of The Heroes have come through my door.  They look a little something like this: So a good deal smaller than the trade paperback, as one might expect, and though it has 611 pages rather than 502, about the same thickness.  Also a little bit paler, pretty much exactly the same colour as the Best Served Cold cover, in fact, for those afficionados of parchment tones among you (no need to be embarrassed about it).  Some tinkering on the blood spatter, a change to the design of the title (more commercial, was how it was explained to me).  And, of…

  • Whisky Galore

    Joe Abercrombie
    3 May 2012 | 8:10 am
    Ah, the simple pleasures.  I have for some time enjoyed a drop of the old single malt, but have done so in a pretty scattergun fashion.  So I figured that it was time to take things to the next level and remove all the fun from the business by really starting to identify what I like and what I don’t, hence: I had inherited an old bottle of Macallan from my grandad (1960 vintage), and thought it would be kind of worthless.  Imagine my surprise when I was able to trade it for a dozen serious bottles of scotch and still have some change left over!  So, from Islay – Ardbeg…

  • Best Served Cold Limited

    Joe Abercrombie
    30 Apr 2012 | 8:38 am
    For this post I think I shall step back and let Raymond Swanland kick your ass: The cover art for the limited edition of Best Served Cold from the ever wonderful Subterranean Press.  I’ve been a big admirer of Swanland for some time, but he’s gone for a slightly less fantastical, more realistic style than usual with this and I think it suits the book rather nicely.  Both numbered (limited to 500) and lettered (limited to 26) copies will include five black and white interior illustrations by the aforementioned Mr. Swanland, and from what I’ve seen of the roughs those will…
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    Dan Abnett

  • Free Comic Book Day -- Hypernaturals!

    Dan Abnett
    1 May 2012 | 5:44 am
    This Saturday, the 5th of May, it's Free Comic Book Day... a ridiculously simple reason to support your local comic book shop. Free comics! You see? The clue's in the title. Anyway...... one of the comics you'll be able to pick up for free this Saturday is The Hypernaturals, the new cosmic book Andy and I have created for Boom!We're really excited about this - which we developed at the invitation of the lovely people at Boom! It isn't just new characters we're inventing, it's a whole new universe. If you liked what we did with the Legion at DC, or cosmic books like Nova and the Guardians of…

  • About a book

    Dan Abnett
    9 Apr 2012 | 4:06 am
    Can anyone help me? I've been trying to identify a book that I read many years ago, and which I have a very vivid memory of - just not enough of a vivid memory to help pin down an author or title.It's SF, and I read it in the late seventies, or (at the very outside) the early eighties. It was probably a Gollancz book, because I borrowed it from the local mobile library, and the distinctive yellow hardback covers were a shibboleth of good SF. It was an epic book, and the part I remember (though the book was not just about this incident) was the construction of one or possibly two massive…

  • Suit up!

    Dan Abnett
    31 Mar 2012 | 10:23 am
    For your consideration this fine Saturday, the brand new anthology Armored, from Baen, which features brand new military SF short stories on the theme of power armour and mecha warriors. There's some serious writing firepower in this book, including Al Reynolds, Lauren Beukes, Sean Williams, Brandon Sanderson... Look, I tell you what, this is the link you need rather than me just blathering on about the book. It's a great deal more coherent and informative than me. It'll tell you about the contributors, about the content, and about how to get the book as a book or as an ebook. I bring it to…

  • Dead Classy

    Dan Abnett
    29 Mar 2012 | 10:52 am
    Mr I. N. J. Culbard and myself, along with colourist Patricia Mulvihill and letterer Travis Lanham, wish to thank everybody very much for the enthusiastic and positive reception that has been afforded to the first issue of our new publication - The New Deadwardians. The first issue was published this week, and it’s already prompted a very creditable reaction* We’re simply delighted with the response, as is our editor Will Dennis and everyone at Vertigo, and we hope you’ll stay along for the ride as the series continues, and maybe even spread the good word too. If the series is a…

  • Advance notice...

    Dan Abnett
    26 Mar 2012 | 8:40 am
    Just thought I'd mention this...Lots of fun to be had on the day, including the publication of "Stone", a comic project for Maidstone organised by the Grinning Demon, scripted by me, drawn by loads of local talent!
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    Ann Aguirre

  • Shiny Razorland Give-a-palooza

    Ann Aguirre
    25 Apr 2012 | 10:25 am
    First, the shiny: To celebrate my long-awaited cover reveal, I’m running an epic contest. Details below:   a Rafflecopter giveaway You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway. And that’s it, really. Just follow the instructions to enter. Winners will be announced on Cinco de Mayo. (And if you don’t win the ARC, you can always pre-order OUTPOST.) I’m so excited! I hope you guys love this cover as much as I do. I adore everything about it. ETA: Here’s a link to the free Razorland novella, Endurance, featuring Thimble & Stone, now on Heroes and…

  • The Last Jax Cover Reveal Ever

    Ann Aguirre
    13 Apr 2012 | 9:11 pm
    Typing those words made me a little sad. This is a bittersweet revelation, but I’m so happy for Jax, and so moved by all you readers who tell me how much you love her. Thank you for sticking with us through six books, but do come back for the Dread Queen series in 2013, okay? It’s a spinoff set in the Jax universe, so you won’t want to miss it. Now, without further ado, here’s the final Jax cover, my lovelies. Squee! Isn’t it AMAZING? Scott Fischer has done all my Jax covers, and he outdid himself on the last hurrah. This might be my favorite cover of the whole…

  • Corine Solomon Extravaganza

    Ann Aguirre
    4 Apr 2012 | 11:15 am
    If you’ve wanted to start this series, now’s the time. I’m giving away three sets of the first three books. That’s nine copies, three winners. Enter below. Simple! I’ll contact you on April 9th if you win, so make sure you use a valid email on your entry. a Rafflecopter giveaway You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.

  • Winner

    Ann Aguirre
    2 Apr 2012 | 8:12 am
    The signed copy of OUTPOST goes to: Madiha Assegaf   You have one week to email me. If you haven’t contacted me in that time, I will draw a new name. Congratulations! My email is ann.aguirre at gmail dot com.

  • YA Scavenger Hunt: Red Team Go!

    Ann Aguirre
    29 Mar 2012 | 1:00 pm
    Today kicks off a spring YA Scavenger Hunt, and there are tons of great prizes to be won. You decide how much effort to put into it, but the rewards will definitely be commensurate with the time you spend visiting various sites and gathering clues. There are three teams: RED, YELLOW, and BLUE. I’m on the RED team, myself. If at any point, you get stuck, there’s help here. Between all of us, there are a total of 60 books being given away. You can enter all three loops so you have a chance at all of them, or you can just do one team giveaway for a total of 20 books. Either way,…
 
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    Colleen Anderson

  • A Random Post About Random Events

    colleenanderson
    14 May 2012 | 2:46 pm
    Poised to begin. I’m always thinking about writing. Creative Commons: gnuckx, Flickr I’ve had an incredibly expensive and busy week, with no time to write or rant on the blog (besides the Fluevog review). So I’m just going to ramble about what’s going on with me, a rarity when it gets to general day-to-day stuff. About a month ago I put my back out. This is unfortunately a semi regular event for me. In the realm of symptoms for chronic myofascial pain syndrome is tight muscles that have forgotten how to relax, therefore causing trigger point nodules of pain. I also…

  • Fluevog Shoes: The Good, the Bad, the Dangerous?

    colleenanderson
    11 May 2012 | 1:08 pm
    An early Fluevog shoe with the square heel similar to the witch boots. John Fluevog is a local name in Vancouver. He began designing shoes in the early 70s and has gone on to international fame for avant garde designs. I used to own an early pair (80s) of Fluevog boots that I bought second hand. I called them my witch boots. They had a heel that sloped out to a square, a squared off pointy toe, a turnover cuff, and a big silver buckle on the front. Made of black suede with a thin, hard plastic sole, they weren’t the most comfortable or well made boots, and were actually a size too big…

  • BC Hydro Screws You and Trees

    colleenanderson
    2 May 2012 | 6:49 pm
    My car is the far right one, just before the mulcher mangles it but that doesn’t mean anything happened except passing the buck. I’m sure this will be of interest only to a select few, but it’s a tale with a lesson in futility, passing the buck, negligence and damage. In BC our electricity is handled by a company called BC Hydro, which once was provincially owned but now it’s not clear how much of it is privatized. They maintain the power grid, which includes checking power lines that lines ever street in their own unsightly web. One day last August, I came out of my…

  • Vanity Gone Too Far: Genital Bleaching

    colleenanderson
    30 Apr 2012 | 4:55 pm
    Perhaps a strategically placed flashlight would work just as well. From: newspitter.com I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you’re worrying about bleaching parts of your nether regions then you need to get your head out of those areas and go smell the flowers. And I mean that literally. Some of you might be wondering what I’m talking about. There has been a prevalence in recent years for some people to bleach their anuses. Yes, truly. It seems it was something that porn stars did to enhance an overall skin tone  for the camera. Where else are you going to…

  • Alberta Politics: Does the Wild Rose Have Bigger Thorns

    colleenanderson
    25 Apr 2012 | 5:24 pm
    I grew up in Alberta in a dyed true blue Conservative family. We voted Conservative, we thought Conservative. Like religion, we followed our parents. My brother, the eldest, was a young Conservative and became a member of parliament and minister under Peter Lougheed. He was considered a red Tory, a more liberal thinking Conservative. Alberta was so Conservative that Albertans could barely even recognize that other parties existed. I like to refer to Alberta politics and the way people vote as the lemmings of Alberta; they’ll follow their leader unthinkingly into water or the abyss.
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    Eleanor Arnason's Web Log

  • Weather Report

    Eleanor
    15 May 2012 | 5:09 pm
    A lovely day. Bright and clear and warm with a slight coolness in the wind. There are people sculling on the river, people biycling and walking. Flowers are blooming. Birds are singing. I got some writing done.

  • Story and Plot

    Eleanor
    14 May 2012 | 11:12 am
    LeGuin is writing about story telling over at the Book View Cafe blog. This first quote is from her:E.M.Forster had a low opinion of story. He said story is “The queen died and then the king died,” while plot is “The queen died and then the king died of grief.” To him, story is just “this happened and then this happened and then this happened,” a succession without connection; plot introduces connection or causality, therefore shape and form. Plot makes sense of story. I read this and realized that I was not entirely sure I could define either story or plot. So I checked an online…

  • Literary Fiction

    Eleanor
    12 May 2012 | 10:09 am
    From facebook:I used to argue that literary fiction tended to be (a) realistic and (b) depressing. The message was: life doesn't get any better than this. TINA, if you will. It's a good message for comfortable, upper middle class people who don't really want to change their lives. Popular fiction -- or mass fiction -- tends to be unrealistic will fulfillment. The message here is for the young and for working people, and it says: our lives are hard and we are angry; we dream of change, but realistic change isn't possible.The question is, what is realistic change? How do we build a new world?

  • More...

    Eleanor
    11 May 2012 | 9:23 am
    Some of the power comes from myth. Humans like stories about big guys beating monsters: Gilgamesh, Hercules, Thor... I think the Hero Twins in various Native American cultures are also examples, though I don't know them as well...

  • Superheros

    Eleanor
    11 May 2012 | 9:12 am
    What I'm wondering about superhero comics and movies is -- what is the social and emotional content? What grabs and hold people? The simple answer is wish fulfillment fantasy. But that's not adequate. The situation is more complex. The four movies I've seen recently tell different kinds of stories. Yes, they all end in smash! bang! boom! kapow! But that's kind of like the ballet in an opera. You know you are going to have to sit through it, so you grit your teeth. But the real story -- and the real joy -- is elsewhere.I enjoy the action in comic book movies more than the ballet in opera. I…
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    THE SKINNER

  • Orbus Audiobook

    Neal Asher
    9 May 2012 | 7:11 am
    Nice review of the Orbus audiobook here. But back to Orbus and a question: what should science fiction do? In Asher’s case his science fiction tells a great roller-coaster story and explores survival, genetics, societies, technology and other themes should be present in science-focused fiction. And he manages to show deep thinking without derailing the story he’s chosen to tell.

  • Bamboo and Zombies

    Neal Asher
    9 May 2012 | 7:02 am
    Thursday 3rd May I just had some fun with emails here, being able to receive them but unable to send them, so my apologies to those who have received late replies. It turns out to have been some sort of ‘port 25’ problem. I checked on the Virgin Media website for the settings of Live Mail and changed the port settings of my mail, which is virgin.net, to those of virginmedia.com, and that seems to have worked. Hopefully it’ll keep on working. The temperature here is climbing now which is nice but annoying because I’m spending most of my time working inside. When I’m not writing I’m…

  • From Geckos to Revans (with a rant on the way)

    Neal Asher
    2 May 2012 | 6:44 am
    Friday 27th April A few patches of mould lifted some paint in the ruin over the winter so yesterday I went in there to wire-brush those areas and paint them. I knew the ruin had a guest behind the fridge from when I went in there before, and it was still there when I moved the fridge for painting. The cheeky thing has been living in the evaporation tray at the back of it, doubtless for the warmth. I caught him to show Caroline then, when I’d finished the painting, I put him back. Better to have geckos living in your house rather than those visitors with rather more legs. Sunday 29th April…

  • Ants and Stoves

    Neal Asher
    28 Apr 2012 | 6:57 am
    Friday 20th April Penny Royal stands at 82750 words so I’m steadily climbing back to the point I’d reached before excising all that stuff about Tuppence. Again I’d hit a wall and that point where Raymond Chandler would walk in someone carrying a gun. And, as always happens, the answer when it came to me seemed blatantly obvious, almost preordained. In this case the man with a gun has been supplanted by a vengeful prador Father-Captain in a wartime dreadnought because, in the end, Penny Royal did not just have dealings with human beings. I just watched a delightful BBC news report about…

  • Chairs and Stuff

    Neal Asher
    19 Apr 2012 | 6:13 am
    Friday 6th April You would think, with all the problems Greece has, all the austerity, riots, wage freezes and sackings and people shooting themselves outside parliament, that there would be some effect on prices here. Things should be cheaper, and almost certainly they would be if Greece didn’t have that huge millstone round its neck called the Euro. Instead, everything is getting more expensive as the government sucks harder and shoves up business costs, and while the Greeks pursue their idiot inclination to screw the maximum money out of every sale rather than reducing prices to sell…
 
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    windupstories.com - fiction by paolo bacigalupi

  • THE DROWNED CITIES tour shedule

    Paolo
    19 Apr 2012 | 8:53 pm
    We’re getting down to the final details for The Drowned Cities tour of 2012. Between May 1 and May 13, I’m on the road. This is a list of public events that I’ll be doing in the environs of Denver, Boulder, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington DC. 2012 Tour Schedule Tuesday, May 1st @ 7:00pm Tattered Cover 9315 Dorchester Street Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 http://www.tatteredcover.com/event/presentation-booksigning-paolo-bacigalupi-drowned-cities Wednesday, May 2nd @ 6:30pm Boulder Book Store 1107 Pearl Street Boulder, CO 80302 http://www.boulderbookstore.net/…

  • THE DROWNED CITIES

    Paolo
    13 Mar 2012 | 4:27 pm
    My new novel, THE DROWNED CITIES, will be releasing on May 1st. It took me a long time to write this one, because I took some wrong turns before I figured out the story I wanted to write, but I’m very happy with the final outcome. Here’s the cover: And here’s the teaser copy: Soldier boys emerged from the darkness. Guns gleamed dully. Bullet bandoliers and scars draped their bare chests. Ugly brands scored their faces. She knew why these soldier boys had come. She knew what they sought, and she knew, too, that if they found it, her best friend would surely die. In a dark…

  • Speaking Event in Denver!

    Paolo
    13 Mar 2012 | 2:55 pm
    I’m still in the process of figuring out what my appearance and tour schedule will be as I start promoting THE DROWNED CITIES, but one event will actually be happening sooner. I’ve been invited to speak at Metropolitan State College of Denver, On Wednesday, April 4, 2012, from 11-12:15 in the Tivoli Turnhall. I’ll be reading from a couple of different works, and then also answering questions, and the event is free and open to the public, so if you’re free, come on down and heckle. Later in the day, from 2:30-4 pm I’ll be participating in more intimate Q&A in…

  • The Alchemist (and The Executioness) now available in ebook

    Paolo
    31 Dec 2011 | 11:37 am
    For those of you with an ebook reader, my novella “The Alchemist,” is now available in DRM-free ebook formats. “The Alchemist” originally started as a fun side project with my fellow author and friend, Tobias Buckell; we were both interested in writing something different from our normal work, and hadn’t tried writing fantasy before. We created the world together, and then each of us wrote a novella set in that shared world. Here’s the synopsis for the world: Magic has a price. But someone else will pay. Every time a spell is cast, a bit of bramble sprouts,…

  • SHIP BREAKER gets a new cover

    Paolo
    22 Sep 2011 | 2:07 pm
    The paperback release of SHIP BREAKER seems to be making its way into the wild, a little ahead of its official Oct. 3 release day. Here’s the new cover, with all its shiny medals, and a more adventure-oriented design. I quite like it.
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    Dar Kush

  • Working from the inside-out

    Steven Barnes
    15 May 2012 | 7:59 am
    The two workshops I'll be teaching in Wenatchee this weekend are1) The Hero's Journey and2) Writing the ThrillerI'm thinking that the definition of "Hero" is almost always someone who takes great risk for the potential of great benefit for his family or community. And that in the oldest stories of Heros there is almost always externalized risk and threat, with attendant action and dynamism. The Thriller writer has to understand that the genre is primarily defined by the dominant emotion you want the audience to experience: thrills. I mean, this isn't hugely complex: a romance wants to trigger…

  • Known unknowns

    Steven Barnes
    15 May 2012 | 7:56 am
    Today the most important thing I can do is get ready for my workshop in Wenatchee, Washington, teaching Thriller writing and the Hero's Journey. I don't know what I'm going to say, but I know how I'm going to prepare myself.Here's a quote from Think And Grow Rich about inventor Elmer R. Gates. "When Dr. Gates desired to draw upon...his Creative Imagination, he would go into (his) room, seat himself at the table, shut off the lights, and CONCENTRATE upon the KNOWN factors of the invention...until ideas began to "flash" into his mind in connection with the UNKNOWN factors of the invention."And…

  • Fractal Fitness

    Steven Barnes
    14 May 2012 | 10:26 am
    Today is a pivotal day. 1) I'm creating another piece of the puzzle for the Sexual Transmutation course. Very happy about that.2) Preparing for the Write on the River workshops this Saturday in Wenatchee. Have to have the presentation planned out, my hand-outs, and the equipment tested for recording the entire 3.5 hours. Stay tuned!3) I'm continuing my experimentation with what I call "Fractal Fitness"--and just wanted to touch on it here. The idea builds from the Five Minute Miracle concept--taking several short breaks during the day, totalling to five minutes daily. At some point I realized…

  • Softly, softly...

    Steven Barnes
    11 May 2012 | 7:43 am
    The film project I've been hinting about has moved to its next level--the producer and I have exchanged notes, and we've agreed on the potential restructuring. This is a critical time, with more weighing on the steps I take in the next month or two than any other comparable period of my life. I will need to be SUPER on-point.1) I have to be focused. That means meditating every morning, re-writing my goals, stopping five times a day to breathe and move.2) My head must be clear. That means reading Shakespeare daily "Macbeth"), reading Aristotle daily (the "Poetics" and "On The Soul"), using…

  • Back from Cali

    Steven Barnes
    9 May 2012 | 7:17 am
    Hi! I'm back from California, where it was a fabulous pleasure to see friends, relatives, and business connections, as well as AVENGERS and get lots of work done on about five different projects. Let's look at the way I nurtured body, mind, and heart on the road:1) Body. Practiced Intermittent Fasting on the road. Plenty of fluids (driving across a desert is dehydrating!) and was careful to seek out salads on my eating days. Cheated a few times: I admit that I love Jack In the Box, and can't get it in Georgia. Sue me. Got plenty of rest--napped whenever possible. Used my parallettes, which…
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    Max Barry

  • Why It Takes So Long

    24 Apr 2012 | 11:03 pm
    Why does it take a year for a book to go from a draft to bookstore shelves? Is it to build anticipation? Because publishers are modern-day Neanderthals, trying to make e-books by rubbing sticks together? Because authors are so precious? The correct answer is: yes! In more detail, it’s because this*: MONTH 1 The editor and the author kick things off by exchanging emails about how happy they are to be working with one another. The editor prepares an EDIT LETTER, which is a document describing how fantastic the book is, and how even more fantasticer it would be if the following thirty or…

  • I Have a New Book

    18 Apr 2012 | 1:35 am
    My fifth novel will be out in mid-2013. If you’re wondering how I manage this breakneck pace, with Machine Man gracing the shelves only last year, it’s because I haven’t been updating my web site or going on Twitter or Facebook. It’s amazing how much time that leaves. Also, I broke my usual pattern of following good novels with unpublishable ones. It’s a bold new strategy but I’m optimistic that it might just work out. The new book is Lexicon. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t want to know anything more, because you have already decided…

  • This Sentence is Already Too Long

    24 Feb 2012 | 7:00 pm
    Blogs are dying. Not this blog. I mean in general. This blog’s just fine. Okay, yes, it has been a little while since the last post, but that’s just because I was busy writing. Well. Rewriting. It’s like writing, only with less visible progress. With writing, you can feel reasonably assured that what you put on the page is better than what was there before. Not always! But mostly. Rewriting, though, you can spend a good six hours on a scene, sit back, and think, “Yep… that’s worse.” Anyway. Blogs are OUT. They’re too long. That’s the…

  • Video: Machine Man Book Reading

    21 Dec 2011 | 2:05 am
    A long video of a Machine Man book reading at Embiggen Books in Melbourne, Australia (October 2011).

  • Stating the Obvious: Actors

    21 Dec 2011 | 12:06 am
    Lately I’ve been feeling sympathy for actors. I never used to feel that. I used to think actors deserved NOTHING, because they’re already beautiful and adored. And people are swoon over how clever and cool they must be in real life, because apparently they improvised their best lines and YOU KNOW WHAT NO THEY DID NOT. They played the damn character that was written for them, that’s what they did. The alternative only gets play because people believe in their hearts that movies are real.* Essentially, I viewed actors as mindless automatons waiting to be filled with words.
 
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    throw another bear in the canoe

  • our prayers are always answered. that miracles can happen.

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    15 May 2012 | 3:54 pm
    I just had one of those labor-saving strokes of genius that I need to share with the world. Which is to say, the easiest method ever in the history of popovers.Here is my basic popover recipe:2 tablespoons solid fat (butter or animal fat (duck fat, mmm) or solid shortening)3 large eggs, at room temperature1 cup (250 ml) whole milk, at room temperature1 teaspoon salt1 1/2 teaspoons sugar1 cup (140 g) all purpose or white whole wheat flour1 tablespoon vital wheat glutenThis tactic assumes you own a wand blender and a wide-mouthed quart Mason jar and a microwave. If not, just make the…

  • life used to be so hard

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    14 May 2012 | 9:53 am
    invaderxan offers a beautiful artist's impression of sunset on Venus. With bonus rising evening star--Earth and its Moon, in this case.

  • but now there's evidence she's alive.

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    13 May 2012 | 7:58 pm
    So I'm finally catching up on the last three episodes of Criminal Minds. And damn, I really like "The Company."

  • the trigger that almost nobody wants to pull

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    10 May 2012 | 9:26 am
     For centuries, the wampyr has drifted from one place to another. From one life to another. It's 1962, and he's returned to New Amsterdam for the first time since he fled it on pain of death some sixty years before. On the eve of social revolution, on the cusp of a new way of life, he's nevertheless surrounded by inescapable reminders of who he used to be.For a thousand years, he's chosen to change rather than to die. Now, at last, he faces a different future....The capstone novella to the New Amsterdam sequence, ad eternum* will be shipping soon. It can be preordered here!The limited…

  • no sleep til brooklyn

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    10 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    3000 words today to finally put this damned overdue novelette to bed. Tomorrow, I give "Terrestrial Radio" a final revision pass and start my heavy research reading on "The Deeps of the Sky," which is a narrative in search of a conflict currently.There's a lot of ground to cover before I head out to WisCon. State of the Honeydew:2012:"The Death of Terrestrial Radio:" April 30, 2012</strike>"The Body of the Nation:" May 09, 2012Weird West story: June 1, 2012OWW EC Review: May 15, 2012"The Deeps of the Sky" (Hard SF adventure story): June 1, 2012OWW EC Review: June 15, 2012OWW…
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    Vicious Imagery

  • How NOT to spell the name Benedict Cumberbatch

    DAVID BISHOP
    9 May 2012 | 4:28 am
    Third paragraph down. Unbelievable error or utter genius from the Washington Post, you be the judge. Via @sstummeafp.

  • Genius: Orangutans who look like Boris Johnson

    DAVID BISHOP
    4 May 2012 | 1:19 pm
    After the joy of Otters who look like Benedict Cumberbatch and Koalas who look like David Mitchell, London mayor Boris Johnson [pending election results] gets the treatment - with orangutangs. See more gibbering clowns [and orangutans] here.

  • Auto-caption fail: Kardashian sex tape grandmas

    DAVID BISHOP
    1 May 2012 | 2:47 am
    That video of grandmas watching the Kardashian sex tape is great. [Don't worry, no Kardashians - or sex tape - are visible in this clip.] But here's what YouTube auto-captioning decides they are saying... Enjoy!

  • "Oh my Gawd!": Grandmas view Kardashian sextape

    DAVID BISHOP
    1 May 2012 | 12:26 am
    Don't worry, you don't see any Kardashians [or sex tape, for that matter] - just the grandmothers' priceless reactions. If you can, I highly recommend turning on the CC [Closed Captions] button. You might have to click OK several times to make it work, but the faulty translation adds an extra dimension to things. Via Oh, Edda.

  • Genius: Proof that all merchant bankers are evil

    DAVID BISHOP
    30 Apr 2012 | 2:07 pm
     Via Tim Danvers.
 
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    Gibberish

  • Friday Night Videos

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    11 May 2012 | 9:37 am
    Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show had a string of catchy hits, but never managed to earn the album sales or fan following they deserved. Maybe that's because their drunken stoner antics prevented people from taking them seriously. Or maybe the fact that they didn't write much of their own material in the era of singer-songwriters had the same effect. I don't know. What I do know is that the late, great Shel Silverstein wrote a whole heck of a lot of their songs, including the heartbreaking "Sylvia's Mother." This single, based on an actual incident Silverstein experienced in his younger days, is…

  • Chicken Ranch report no. 19

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    10 May 2012 | 10:42 am
    When is a writing report not a writing report? When there's damn little writing to actually report. This Marvin Zindler chapter has turned into a long, painful slog which shows no signs of easing up or indeed, ever ending. It's blown my time budget so far out of the water that there's no realistic hope of my finishing the first draft of the book by June 1, as has been my goal. There are quite a few reasons for this--not least of which is my habit of being a slow writer. But other obstacles have imposed themselves on me to make the task that much more challenging. Last week, The Wife was away…

  • Scarborough Faire

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    8 May 2012 | 10:36 pm
    Sunday the family and I paid a visit to Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie. We hadn't been in exactly 10 years, which is a shame, since prior to that I'd been an annual event for us. Scarborough holds a special place for us, since it was where I took The Wife on our first date. For a while I even had an annual pass and tromped around the grounds dressed up in my Herne the Hunter outfit. But once we moved from Temple to New Braunfels, the drive grew from 90 minutes to four hours. That's too far with a car full of impatient kids. So we stopped going. Until this year. My brother, Chris, now has a…

  • Friday Night Videos

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    4 May 2012 | 12:38 pm
    I just saw where Adam Yauch--better known by his stage name of "MCA"--of the Beastie Boys has died after a battle with cancer. My first inclination is to memorialize him with the video of "Fight for Your Right," since that was the song my generation listened to incessantly when the Beastie Boys hit it big. But it was a snarky satire that too many shallow poseurs took seriously, so the Beastie Boys grew to hate it and haven't actually performed it in decades. So instead, I offer this gloriously bizarre video for "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win", which doesn't focus on the music very much…

  • Chicken Ranch report no. 18

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    24 Apr 2012 | 11:00 pm
    During my trip to La Grange two weekends back, I met with local historian Gary McKee, who showed me something I'd never seen before: A 1970s-era pressing of a vinyl 45 single by a band called Man Mountain and the Green Slime Boys. Apparently they were a popular local draw at the Armadillo World Headquarters back in the day. Popular enough, it seems, for the 'Dillo to cut a live single of theirs, titled "The Ballad of the La Grange Chicken Ranch." McKee was kind enough to loan me his rare copy in my never-ending quest to uncover all things Chicken Ranch. I have to say, there's very little…
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    Gwenda Bond

  • Tuesday Hangovers

    Gwenda Bond
    15 May 2012 | 2:33 pm
    A nice piece in the Courier-Press about Ursula Nordstrom and Maurice Sendak's editorial relationship. A book a year is slacking? (*cries quietly*) A great post by Coe Booth over at the VCFA faculty blog, about the "fragile stage" when a project is new. (Via Cynthia Leitich Smith on twitter.) New study suggests readers engage in "experience-taking": "Kaufman and his co-author Lisa Libby of Ohio State University suspected that when people read a fictional story they vicariously experience their favorite character’s emotions, thoughts and beliefs in a process…

  • You Gotta Have Faith

    Gwenda Bond
    11 May 2012 | 2:39 pm
    I was honored to be polled by io9 on the following: Everbody loves a good dark, horrible fantasy. A misanthopic adventure, in which everybody is morally compromised, and we all live and die in the dirt. But every now and then, it's nice to read a fantasy novel in which people are, you know... good. So we decided to contact some of our favorite fantasy writers and editors, to get some recommendations for fantasy novels that are not just optimistic — but optimistic about human nature. This is just the first installment — we might have some more recommendations for you next week. Go…

  • Friday Hangovers

    Gwenda Bond
    11 May 2012 | 12:53 pm
    Let's close some tabs, shall we? Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret: "Don't break the chain." (This seems psychologically akin to keeping a word count diary to me--something I actually do find useful, particularly when I'm struggling with a project. Much less easy to goof off and not work for no good reason--other than that it's not going well, or is at a harder stage than usual, which are not good reasons--when I have to write down on that day "goofed off and didn't work for no good reason.") At NPR, the fascination with white horses:…

  • R.I.P.

    Gwenda Bond
    8 May 2012 | 8:48 am
    The great, cranky genius Maurice Sendak has died at age 83. Excerpt from a letter by Sendak's editor Ursula Nordstrom to a writer at the New Yorker on Where the Wild Things Are in 1964: You asked me how "revolutionary" Where the Wild Things Are is. There have been a good many fine picture books in the past. (Some by Margaret Wise Brown, and illustrated by one of two or three or four talented artists.) But I think Wild Things is the first complete work of art in the picture book field, conceived, written, illustrated, executed in entirety by one person of authentic genius. Most…

  • Organization Fu

    Gwenda Bond
    7 May 2012 | 3:31 pm
    Sometimes I need a weekend that's about putting things back into their boxes, about cleaning and prepping and, yes, organization. I think organization may be my superpower these days, or at least the only difference between feeling like things are under control and manageable or are off the rails and spinning into chaos. (Of course, my brand of organization likes to leave a little room for chaos. Things tend to get stale fast without it.) This is a summer of writing, both for me and Christopher. I don't know about you, but whenever I'm entering a big push on a project or…
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    Swan Tower

  • inadvertent internet bankruptcy

    Swan Tower
    14 May 2012 | 6:32 pm
    >_<I just closed Firefox with the intent of rebooting it, because I'd opened some things that were making it laggy.When I relaunched the program, it did not restore my tabs. Nor did it let me have the "Restore Previous Session" option. Nor did it list anything under "Recently Closed Tabs."They're just gone.Well, um, I guess that's one way to clear out my browser? I've managed to remember some of what I had open, but not all of it -- not by a long shot. Like, less than 50%. Some of the things I know I had open, I can't recreate well enough to pull them up in an address bar. The rest, I…

  • Costume sale! For a good cause!

    Swan Tower
    14 May 2012 | 12:48 pm
    My friend teleidoplex has won herself a place in Clarion West, which is totally awesome.But Clarion, regardless of direction, is kind of expensive -- and that is not so awesome.But! You can be awesome and help!In addition to being a writer of much talent, teleidoplex is a veteran costumer. (In fact, she's one of the people that infected me with the costuming bug when I started LARPing.) And she's created an eBay store to sell off some of her hoard of outfits, wigs, shoes, and more, with proceeds going toward paying her way to Clarion. Some of the stuff is very costume-y; other stuff is…

  • two short story sales

    Swan Tower
    8 May 2012 | 12:15 am
    And one of them is to a new (for me) market! Apex Magazine has picked up "Waiting for Beauty" (another one of my twisted fairy-tale retellings), and Beneath Ceaseless Skies has bought "The Ascent of Unreason" -- a new Driftwood story!No pub dates yet for either of those, but I'll let you know when they go live.

  • Malevolence

    Swan Tower
    7 May 2012 | 3:08 pm
    (The following post talks about The Avengers on its way to the actual point, but does not give spoilers.)Interestingly, one of the moments that has stayed with me the most strongly from The Avengers is the speech Loki flings at Black Widow.He has other Villain Speeches in the movie, of course. But this one stands out for its sheer, unbridled malevolence. He doesn't say those things out of megalomania or fraternal resentment or any other such understandable motivation; he says them because, quite simply, he wants to hurt her.I've said before that I tend to write antagonists more often than…

  • The Avengers

    Swan Tower
    6 May 2012 | 3:24 am
    I'm not usually much of a shipper (in the fanfic sense) . . . but I want ALL THE HAWKEYE/BLACK WIDOW FIC NOW.Ahem. Apart from me loving those two and wanting them to get their own movie, I thought The Avengers was quite excellent. Once I have it on DVD, I may well sit down and try to pick apart just how the writers managed to balance their script. Superhero movies have foundered before on the "too many heroes/villains" problem, but this one did a remarkable job of giving each character a meaningful role, without letting the pacing bog down in side tangents. It's helped, of course, by the fact…
 
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    Contrary Brin

  • Challenges for Future Generations: space, brain preservation and more!

    David Brin
    10 May 2012 | 8:02 pm
    Continuing in a space and science vein, let's reprise the topic from last time... only this time with another of my rambunctious-uppity videos. Are we ready, once again, to be a bold, dynamic people, ambitious and confident, ready to take on new challenges and new horizons? See Our Reborn Future in Space, my look at the ambitious proposal by Planetary Resources to mine asteroids for "trillions" in purported mineral wealth. How are these billionaires planning to obtain metals and fuel by mining nearby asteroids? Has the future finally arrived?Is it B.S. or not B.S.? In Part 2: Science or…

  • Is our time in outer space finally at-hand?

    David Brin
    2 May 2012 | 7:10 pm
    Last week it was asteroid mining, as Peter Diamandis and his partners showed us their bold new venture, Planetary Resources, aiming eventually to start harvesting trillions of dollars worth of materials that would then no longer have to be ripped out of Mother Earth.This glimpse of a vigorously bold and can-do future provoked The Daily Show's Jon Stewart to comment, "Do you know how rarely the news in 2012 looks and sounds how you thought news would look and sound like in 2012?"  to fervent approval from his audience. Having worked in this area 30 years ago, I was thrilled to see this…

  • Credit where it's due...

    David Brin
    28 Apr 2012 | 4:49 pm
    In a brief return to political matters...  What won’t the candidates be discussing during this election season? Campaign finance, surveillance, patent reform…are among a few issues that candidates are sure to avoid. What else....?  This mini-slide show shows just a few. In fact, the matters discussed at sciencedebate.org are (in my opinion) more important -- and here you can vote for the top science issues facing America in 2012.Put aside preconceptions. Give a read to this thoughtful interview from Rolling Stone to get a sense of where the President is coming from and how he…

  • Space Resources: Re-igniting a can-do spirit of ambition

    David Brin
    23 Apr 2012 | 1:50 pm
    It appears that a small cabal of the Good Billionaires -- those who got rich through innovation and who feel loyal to the future -- are about to to fund a new effort worth some excitement and attention. It aims at transforming not just our Earth -- but the whole solar system. And, along the way, this endeavor may help bootstrap us back into our natural condition... a species, nation and civilization that believes (again) in can-do ambition.Can that be achieved - while making us all rich - through asteroid mining? In its Tuesday announcement, Space exploration company Planetary Resources…

  • Is Technology offering Transparency...or Spying on us?

    David Brin
    22 Apr 2012 | 6:18 pm
    A look at how technology enables greater transparency...but not always both ways:Google Goggles... or Project Glass... is finally announced.  See the official preview... and an amusing satire. These futuristic Goggles would project information directly in your field of vision, offering updates on the time, weather, map directions, road closures, upcoming appointments, names of colleagues, buildings, etc. You will be able to leave memos to yourself, send email to friends, read restaurant reviews and take/share photos or video (but can you do all this while walking?). Of course this is…
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    Dispatches from Tanganyika

  • Forest of Delusion

    Billy Martin
    15 May 2012 | 6:14 pm
    I've made a bunch of new stuff, but none of it is quite finished yet, so I've listed some regular books on eBay. This isn't just any old PZB auction week, though. No, this is Bidding Starts At $5 Week! The chapbooks Stay Awake and Crown of Thorns, as well as hardcover copies of Plastic Jesus, Wrong Things, Antediluvian Tales, and even the deluxe tenth anniversary edition of Lost Souls, are all available for opening bids of just $5. Besides blank journals, treasure boxes, and new covers for old books, I've also been making captions. Grey takes a photograph and writes a piece of prose to go…

  • Exquisite Corpse Edition of One

    Billy Martin
    14 May 2012 | 11:52 pm
    Since my "special edition" of Drawing Blood was well received, I'm working on a unique hardcover copy of Exquisite Corpse incorporating Grey's photos as well as other patterns and textures. It's bloody and decay-y, but (I think) kind of gorgeous.

  • No Can Talk

    Billy Martin
    14 May 2012 | 12:47 pm
    I'm sorry I haven't made a real entry in a while. There are things I want to talk about, but I've been feeling mostly non-verbal. I am making a lot of stuff, though. Images seem to rule my world right now.When people send me things from my wish list, I like to send them actual, physical thank-you notes. Unfortunately, Amazon no longer includes the gift-giver's mailing address, so I can't do that anymore. Instead, I offer a big public thank-you to Carl Kesner, Lisa Warner, Ed Stites, Jeremy Karass, and Kelly Wright for the lovely birthday gifts. Hope y'all see this. And not to drop hints, but…

  • More Blank Books

    Billy Martin
    8 May 2012 | 3:25 pm
    Also: blank book auctions ending this evening (the last two listings in the store).

  • Me & Grey: Blank Book Collaboration!

    Billy Martin
    7 May 2012 | 6:29 pm
    So back when I was making blank books a couple of years ago, one of my biggest problems was that I wanted to use photographic images in my collages, but didn't want to steal them from their creators or mess with getting dozens of permissions. Clearly the only solution was to start dating a photographer with a vast and gorgeous repository of images, especially if said images are homoerotic and/or set in New Orleans. When we met, I didn't even know Grey Cross was a photographer, let alone that he would inspire me to be creative again after years of lying fallow. But there was an immediate,…
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    A Bland and Deadly Courtesy

  • Scalzi’s Latest: But I didn’t get MY say!

    skzbrust
    16 May 2012 | 3:29 am
    John “Breathtakingly Brilliant” Scalzi has made another breathtakingly brilliant post.  At 800 comments and late at night, he finally said “Enough,” especially because everyone was repeating himself (and anyone who didn’t notice the non-sex-specific “he” in that sentence might have problems with this conversation).  Point is, I had something to say about it, and, after reading all 800 comments, no one said it.  So I will say it here. First, please read his post. Okay, when I say it is ‘breathtakingly brilliant,” I mean it, because it…

  • Fourth Street Fantasy Convention

    skzbrust
    15 May 2012 | 4:03 am
    This is a reminder to everyone who might be interested that Fourth Street Fantasy Convention is approaching.  For those who don’t know, this is a small convention (100+ people) heavily oriented toward writing and writers–I sort of made it up back in, I think, the late 80′s so I could hear smart people argue about problems I was having.  The theory is that anything that is about writing is also about reading; “How to Read Better” has always been an unstated discussion topic. What distinguishes Fourth Street from most conventions are two things: 1. A very high…

  • Casting the Whedoneseque Vlad TV show

    skzbrust
    11 May 2012 | 5:19 pm
    This from Twitter over the last few days.  We’ve decided that it should be an HBO or Showtime series, written, produced, and directed by Joss Whedon and his Usual Suspects, staring: Vlad: Alan Tudyk Loiosh: Robin Williams (I know he’s not a Whedonite.  But) Cawti: Summer Glau Sethra: Gina Torres Sticks: Nathan Fillion (the part would have to get much bigger) Daymar: Ron Glass (edited) Kragar: Sean Mehar Morrolan: James Marsters Aliera: Felicia Day Norathar: Eliza Dushku Zerika: Sarah Michelle Geller Lady Teldra:  Morena Baccarin Melestav: Adam Baldwin ETA Noish-pa: Anthony…

  • New post about the new post

    skzbrust
    8 May 2012 | 9:00 pm
    For several days, I’ve been feeling like I should post something, but nothing comes to mind.  What should I talk about? Oh, in case anyone missed it, I did a pod interview.  Tons of fun. Originally published at Words Words Words. Please leave any comments there.

  • Time to change the subject

    skzbrust
    14 Feb 2012 | 4:34 pm
    Seems the last conversation has a gotten a bit personal, so I thought I’d bring up something simple and non-controversial so we can all be polite to each other. What do you guys think about the Occupy Wall Street movement? Originally published at Words Words Words. Please leave any comments there.
 
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    Tobias Buckell Online

  • How I celebrated my 6th year freelanceiversary

    Tobias Buckell
    9 May 2012 | 11:49 pm
    Last year I celebrated my fifth year of freelancing (every May 9th I celebrate my freelanceiversary, the day I walked off away from doing 9-5 and to steering my own life). I’ve loved being a freelancer, and it has been a joyful thing. For the epic fifth year, I wanted to celebrate with a tattoo, but couldn’t budget for it. But for a couple of years, I’d been planning a tattoo. It would be a memento mori, to remind myself of how close I came to death more than once in 2008-2009, and it would celebrate my continued life as a freelancer, and it would also contain a quote that…

  • A still from the film adaptation of my short story All Her Children Fought

    Tobias Buckell
    8 May 2012 | 3:56 pm
    I mentioned that this last weekend my short story All Her Children Fought was being filmed in Ireland: All Her Children Fought will go into production in Rathdrum, Wicklow over the May Bank Holiday weekend. Directed by Patrick Ryan, the 15 minute drama explores the corruption and resilience of natural instincts in a future state of war. ‘The story has great resonance’ said Snugboro Films producer Liam Grant, ‘it deals with the forgotten details – how children grow up and how mothers cope rather than the spectacle of war on TV.’ Here are some very preliminary stills from the 15…

  • Writing writing writing

    Tobias Buckell
    7 May 2012 | 11:20 am
    Am bunkered down for the next week to finish writing The Apocalypse Ocean with many other fellow writers around me at Blue Heaven 2012. I’ll probably be quiet the next week, though I’ll natter on via twitter, no doubt. See you next week.

  • Can you franchise a western city into the developing world? Honduras is about to find out.

    Tobias Buckell
    4 May 2012 | 1:44 pm
    I find this endlessly fascinating, because every time I read and think about it, I come out the other side with a different opinion. To whit, a charter city in Honduras will be adopting the governance model of Canada: Honduras recently defined a new legal entity: la Región Especial de Desarrollo. A RED is an independent reform zone intended to offer jobs and safety to families who lack a good alternative; officials in the RED will be able to partner with foreign governments in critical areas such as policing, jurisprudence and transparency. By participating, Canada can lead an innovative…

  • American lifespan by county

    Tobias Buckell
    3 May 2012 | 8:06 pm
    Average life space in the US. A useful indicator of health/wealth and success of a country/governing area. But importantly, it’s done by county. Since I’ve moved to the US, as an outsider with many international friends, I sometimes have to act as ‘Speaker for Americans’ in explaining things. Most of my friends in Western non-US countries are flabbergasted by healthcare and how its run in the US (and now that I’m a freelancer and have also gone through the experience of a major issue with multiple hospital visits, and then had a visit it Canada to compare it to,…
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    Dark Roast

  • If coffee be the food of work, pour on.

    Emma Bull
    9 May 2012 | 1:58 pm
    Lots to do today! Lots 'n' lots! But first I had breakfast:That's Haralson apple pie with sharp Irish cheddar. (Because really, ice cream for breakfast is just not right. Besides, we didn't have any ice cream.)

  • Help Us Support Planned Parenthood

    Emma Bull
    4 May 2012 | 10:20 am
    Note from me: I was initially suspicious about this, since the notice below doesn't say how much of one's V-gift donation actually goes to Planned Parenthood. But I found the answer in the original post's comments: 100%. All the money you spend to shower your friends with Planned Parenthood v-gifts will go to Planned Parenthood.For those of you who don't approve of Planned Parenthood, your response is easy: Don't buy one of these. None of your LJ subscription money goes to PP. If you'd rather donate an equivalent amount to an adoption charity, or another organization providing inexpensive or…

  • Herbs

    Emma Bull
    30 Apr 2012 | 3:45 pm
    A new Shadow Unit DVD extra on roommates and patio gardening. Sort of.

  • More thoughts being provoked

    Emma Bull
    23 Apr 2012 | 12:14 pm
    New Scientist magazine asked pros in various fields what humans' most distinctive species characteristics are*. The articles make for fun reading, of course; but my first thought was that they're an interesting resource for fantasy and SF writers. When creating cultures in a fantasy world, or extrapolating the behavior of humans in the distant future, these are all cool things to consider and play with. And when imagining alien life, these could be nifty factors to meddle with, in the interest of, well, alienness.We play a lot, in many and complex ways.We ask "Why?" and use scientific methods…

  • So very me.

    Emma Bull
    16 Apr 2012 | 11:28 am
    Just in case you don't know me well, and would like a visual to help you understand me better.http://www.fluevog.com/code/?w%5B0%5D=gender%3Awomen&w%5B1%5D=attribute%3ABoot&p=27&pp=2&view=detail&colourID=3163Those of you who already know me will click that link and say, "Well, duh," or whatever expression you use at times like that. 
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    Stephanie Burgis

  • More Enchanted Chocolate

    Stephanie Burgis
    14 May 2012 | 5:37 am
    Last Monday I talked about how much I adore Sorcery and Cecilia; or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, and I posted a link to the first letter in the book, from Cecy in the country to Kate in Regency-era London (written by Patricia Wrede as the start to a letter game). As the second part of the Enchanted Chocolate Pot blog tour, here's the letter that Kate (a.k.a., Caroline Stevermer!) sent in reply.Oh, do I love this book! Just re-reading this letter made me happy.And all three books in the trilogy - Sorcery and Cecilia, The Grand Tour, and The Mislaid Magician - will be available as ebooks on…

  • Dancing in the Dark

    Stephanie Burgis
    11 May 2012 | 5:28 am
    My short story "Dancing in the Dark" was published today at Daily Science Fiction, where it's free to read online.I should say, as a note for Kat readers and parents, that this is a story written for adults, so although the narrator is a child, it's not MG fiction, and it does include strong language. Although every detail and character in this story is fictional, it is one of the most personal stories I've ever written. (I talked about that a bit last week, when the story was first sent out to Daily SF subscribers.) It means a lot to me to see it published now.Here's a quick snippet from the…

  • A happiness list

    Stephanie Burgis
    10 May 2012 | 10:21 am
    I'll be turning thirty-five at the end of this month, and in a nice piece of serendipity, I've seen various online friends posting about their own 35th birthdays lately. 35 is one of those numbers that feels irrationally like a milestone, though, and it doesn't help that - since this is M.E. Awareness week - I've read far too many articles this week about how M.E./CFS "ruins" lives. Ouch.(Note: I actually think it's great that those articles are being written! It's really important that people are talking publicly about the severity of the illness and the problems it causes, because it needs…

  • Magical book birthdays

    Stephanie Burgis
    8 May 2012 | 4:06 pm
    This is definitely my week for talking about books I love, because not one but two really wonderful MG fantasy novels come out today in America: Caitlen Rubino-Bradway's Ordinary Magic (the start of a fabulous new series) AND Ysabeau Wilce's Flora's Fury (the final book in an amazing trilogy)!As you may remember, I raved about Ordinary Magic here when I first read it a few months ago. Love, love, love! It's the first book in my very favorite new MG fantasy series, and I can't wait to see where the rest of the series goes!Ysabeau Wilce's Flora's Fury, on the other hand, is the final volume…

  • Enchanted Chocolate Pots and Books

    Stephanie Burgis
    7 May 2012 | 6:25 am
    In the spring of 2006, I was two chapters into writing my first Regency fantasy novel for kids, and it struck me - hadn't I heard of another Regency fantasy series, a YA one? I was pretty sure I remembered reading a glowing review in Locus for Caroline Stevermer and Patricia Wrede's Sorcery and Cecilia: or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot. So I ordered it, just to make sure I didn't repeat anything that had already been done......and I fell in love. Headlong, hopeless love with the humor, the magic, the setting, the romance, and most of all the voices of the two fabulous girls as they wrote back…
 
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    Mabfan's Musings

  • Brookline Patch Column: The Hows and the Whys

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    11 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    Questions, questions, questions! It seems that kids never stop asking questions.This week, in our The Brookline Parent column at Brookline Patch, gnomi examines the question of, well, questions. In The Hows and the Whys, she discusses the types of questions asked by Squeaker and Muffin, and how we respond to them.If you click on the link, you'll find the usual cute pictures of the girls (and if you click on the pictures, you'll find amusing captions.) But you'll also find out how the girls learned the word "incoming," and what happens if you ask someone with a science background (me) why it…

  • Brookline Patch Column: Nothing But the Tooth

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    27 Apr 2012 | 8:00 am
    In my The Brookline Parent column for Brookline Patch today, I look at the question of caring for toddler's teeth. As I note in the article, there's been an epidemic of tooth decay among toddlers. Fortunately, Muffin and Squeaker seem to be okay. If you read the article, you'll find out what we're doing and why I think it's a struggle for all parents to care for their kids' teeth in this day and age.So go read Nothing But the Tooth, for the video of Elmo singing about the importance of brushing your teeth, if for nothing else.

  • Brookline Town Election - One Week From Today

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    24 Apr 2012 | 9:06 am
    For those of you who live in Brookline, Massachusetts... (And for those of you who don't, but are interested anyway.)Next Tuesday, May 1, 2012, is Town Election Day in Brookline. As many of you know, I hold two elected offices in Brookline. I'm a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 12 and a Library Trustee for the whole town. My current term as a Town Meeting Member expires this year, and I'm in a contested race as we have 17 candidates running for the 15 seats. (Why so many? Due to redistricting because of the Census, all 15 seats are up this year, instead of the usual 5.)If you happen to live…

  • For a Friend Who Asked

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    12 Apr 2012 | 2:11 pm
    http://popfiend.livejournal.com/4492746.html

  • Brookline Patch Column: It Was, In Fact, Just About Enough For Us

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    12 Apr 2012 | 7:30 am
    Last year, for our The Brookline Parent column at Brookline Patch around this time, gnomi discussed Passover. In particular, in her column Four Answers for Two Toddlers, she discussed how we made Passover special for Muffin and Squeaker given that their bedtime was well before the seders began.Well, this year, the girls are one year older, and this time, we decided that they could deal with the later bedtime that comes with attending seder. For a special treat as we end the chol ha'moed, or intermediate days, of Passover, Brookline Patch is publishing Nomi's column one day early. It Was, In…
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    Grrl Still Kickin'

  • Celeb Fans Remember Artist Ralph McQuarrie

    Bonnie Burton
    16 May 2012 | 2:59 am
    words: Bonnie BurtonMarch 2012 marked the sad passing of conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie. The legendary conceptual artist not only inspired filmmaker George Lucas making Star Wars possible, but also other future directors, actors, screenwriters and more, not to mention millions of fans worldwide. I asked some of my favorite celebrity Star Wars fans what McQuarrie meant to them, as well as gathered the best celebs tweets that celebrated this one-of-a-kind artist.Read more about Ralph McQuarrie and his work on RalphMcQuarrie.com._____________________________________Star Wars Prequels Producer…

  • Creating R2-S2 (Steampunk R2-D2)

    Bonnie Burton
    16 May 2012 | 2:01 am
    When artist and animator I-Wei Huang builds robots he likes to mix his curiosity for electronics with his appreciation for the burgeoning genre of Steampunk. So when he recently unveiled his Steampunk R2-D2 known as R2-S2 (R2 Steam Too), fans and droid builders wanted to know more. Starwars.com's own Bonnie Burton tracked him down and picked his brain on how to turn everyone's favorite astromech into a Victorian-inspired machine.How do your skills as an animator help when you make these cool creations?Being an animator, you tend to see things in a different way, and can't help but notice…

  • From Twitter 05-14-2011

    Bonnie Burton
    15 May 2011 | 5:09 am
    00:19:00: RT @rainnwilson: Everytime u check into a hotel, stare at the clerk & say "I want the haunted room."00:19:21: RT @amy_geek: My review of The #StarWars Craft Book on Tor.com: http://bit.ly/mmXj4z00:55:39: RT @steven_moffat: To enjoy @neilhimself's wonderful Dr Who tonight, stay away from The Times. Explains the entire plot while claiming n ...01:03:46: @KRLgrrl: *have a face like POCKETFUL sunshine?01:20:33: @Jessicka: I heart you tons.01:24:02: @amy_geek @ArkhamAsylumDoc: you had me at "Cuban bakery!"01:49:04: @thegamerchick: I  you too!01:49:40: RT @DeathStarPR: He…

  • From Twitter 05-13-2011

    Bonnie Burton
    14 May 2011 | 5:08 am
    00:46:03: RT @FamousWomen: Worry often gives a small thing a great shadow. - Swedish Proverb00:59:10: RT @SFXmagazine: #Warehouse13 team planning steampunk spin-off starring female HG Wells http://bit.ly/metnYC01:08:55: @bergopolis: I'm definitely not doing whiskey shots as I write an #Eureka drinking game.01:11:19: @bergopolis: Honest! *hiccup*01:40:24: RT @redgirlsays: Every six hours, the NSA collects as much data as is stored in the entire Library of Congress. http://bit.ly/kOyOco02:35:16: @Ste_Doughty: more like a dewback!02:35:48: RT @GailSimone: Sometimes I sorta grab my chest and fall…

  • From Twitter 05-12-2011

    Bonnie Burton
    13 May 2011 | 5:14 am
    00:05:38: RT @treelobsters: Scooby Doo, Speed Buggy, Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman and Funky Phantom all in one episode? Yeah, I'm watching that. htt ...00:07:02: RT @laughingsquid: Dawn of the Dead Shopping Mall Floor Plan http://owl.li/4StL9 by @mattowenmatt #zombietalk00:15:39: @feliciaday @paulandstorm: Poor Clippy. He's the C-3PO of Word. Full of info that no one cares about.03:22:35: RT @starwars: RT @SunnyDiesel: If @starwars has taught me anything, it's to be afraid of tiny, fuzzy bear people.03:22:52: RT @rob_sheridan: Star Tours blew my mind as a kid, I'm excited for its upcoming…
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    Rachel Caine

  • BLACK DAWN - The last quote of the day!

    30 Apr 2012 | 11:32 am
    Counting down ...BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.Since the book launches tomorrow, here is the last quote ... and it's a humdinger, as we say in the Southern US. It's from Shane's POV. And it's a bit of ... a dream sequence, maybe? Or not? I CANNOT SAY. Hmmmm!--------------------------------“I’m glad you’re happy,” my father said. “You deserve to…

  • BLACK DAWN quote of the day - 2 more days left!

    28 Apr 2012 | 5:10 am
    Counting down ...BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.Now, on to the quote of the day! 2 more days to the OFFICIAL RELEASE! - So here's a bit of drama for you ...-----------------------------------Claire threaded her shotgun through the spokes on the valve and used it as a lever, careful to keep her hands far away from the trigger mechanism. With a deep,…

  • BLACK DAWN quote of the day #21

    27 Apr 2012 | 12:11 pm
    Counting down ...BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.Now, on to the quote of the day! WOW, I can't believe it, but we are only a mere 3 days from the official launch of BLACK DAWN in stores! So, to tide you over, here's a little something from the team, including Myrnin ... as they speed off in an appropriated armored…

  • BLACK DAWN - quotes of the day #19 and #20!

    26 Apr 2012 | 7:54 am
    Counting down ...BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.Now, on to the quote of the day! A twofer, because I had to miss yesterday (gale force winds, I'm on the OCEAN, don't judge, people!) ... first, an exchange between Shane and Naomi, and second, a little snippet of a big dramatic scene from Claire's POV!-----------------------------------FIRST:“Any idea of…

  • BLACK DAWN quote of the day #18

    24 Apr 2012 | 6:02 pm
    Counting down ...BLACK DAWN is coming to the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand on May 1! Check out the preorder links on your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Books A Million, Walmart, Waterstones UK, WH Smith UK, Whitcoulls New Zealand ... and many more fine retailers.Now, on to the quote of the day! Can Monica and Shane actually have a moment where they don't hate each other?-----------------------------------Monica shot her a swift, mercilessly piercing look. There was blood in her hair, Shane’s blood, drying in a stiffened patch.“News flash, preschool, nobody’s…
 
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    Pushing a Snake Up a Hill

  • "Love Rogo" Back in Print, Electronically Speaking

    Jeffrey A. Carver
    14 May 2012 | 2:53 pm
    My fourth short story, "Love Rogo," is about a lovable doglike creature from Betelgeuse who is a little too lovable for his owners' own good. It came out in 1977 in the anthology, Futurelove: a Science Fiction Triad, edited by Roger Elwood and published in hardcover by Bobbs-Merrill. There was no paperback edition, although the Science Fiction Book Club published their own low-cost hardcover. The other two authors in the book were Anne McCaffrey and Joan Hunter Holly; plus, there was an introduction by Gordon Dickson. It sobers me to note that I'm the only one still walking the Earth of that…

  • $160 Billion Damage to New York City!

    Jeffrey A. Carver
    11 May 2012 | 12:31 am
    That's the estimated cost for direct damage, economic impact, cleanup time, and loss of life resulting from the battle between our heroes and the minions of Loki, as depicted in the movie The Avengers. That's according to Kinetic Analysis Corp., a leading disaster-cost prediction and assessment firm, which studied the question for The Hollywood Reporter.Deciding who is liable for the damages could prove a more daunting task than rebuilding. Notes the report: "Most insurance policies have special provisions for acts of war, civil unrest or terrorism. Given the involvement of individuals…

  • I wish my Roombas could do this!

    Jeffrey A. Carver
    9 May 2012 | 1:14 am
    Especially the one I have to fix since it tried to sled down a flight of stairs on a piece of loose carpet. Here is the FirstLook, from iRobot. Watch on Youtube

  • The Avengers

    Jeffrey A. Carver
    7 May 2012 | 3:30 pm
    For once, we got to a movie right after it opened! Four rockets for us, and four for The Avengers! The whole family went to the theater on Saturday afternoon (to the 2D version), and we all came out  grinning. (Despite having to sit in the very front row, on the side.) The movie is absolutely great fun, with lots of good repartee, and you can enjoy it without knowing the Marvel Comics back story. If you liked Ironman, you'll like The Avengers. I was never really a Marvel Comics reader. I grew up with Superman and Batman, but by the time the Marvel universe hit its stride, I had stopped…

  • Our Nutcase Border Collie

    Jeffrey A. Carver
    7 May 2012 | 12:42 am
    Captain Jack is a border collie, at least in part, and he wants to herd. Man, does he want to herd. (Just ask Moonlight, our cat. You thought you couldn't herd cats? Tell it to Cap'n Jack.) He also seems to regard my dirty socks as part of his flock, because he's forever fishing them out of the laundry hamper and herding them out to the living room. He doesn't chew them, just puts them where they're supposed to be. Only my socks, not anyone else's.Maybe it's a control issue. We have several jumbo dog pillows -one in the living room, one in the bedroom, and one in my office in the finished…
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    incipit vita nova

  • Baby Avery Gene Therapy: More Real Every Day

    ASterling
    2 May 2012 | 5:56 pm
    People have learned about Spinal Muscular Atrophy through the amazing story of beautiful baby Avery Canahuati and her mom & dad's Bucket List for her. Little Avery passed away April 30 at only five months old. One of Avery's Bucket...

  • Art Talent: Robert Castillo & Ray Renooy, Amazing Artists

    ASterling
    20 Apr 2012 | 11:12 am
    I sometimes forget to update people on what I'm doing - I am working a LOT lately and very busy. Yesterday, I had cause to think about ultra-talented Robert Castillo, who drew a fantastic picture in memory (and by memory)...

  • Week's News: Tupac Hologram, Tawkify, Literary Orange

    ASterling
    17 Apr 2012 | 12:43 pm
    As seen in Imago, now in real life: Tupac Shakur performs at Coachella via hologram. It's not quite perfect, but he is "back from the other side." From Jezebel: a dating service that sounds simultaneously appalling and charming - Tawkify,...

  • "I'm Not Just the Fat Girl"

    ASterling
    2 Apr 2012 | 2:12 pm
    For some reason this a.m., looking into the false information that "Marilyn Monroe was a size 16," I came across Chrissy, the author of All My Jiggly Bits, and wanted to share her mini-documentary and some of her great thoughts...

  • New Covers: Outcasts and Godsfire

    ASterling
    23 Mar 2012 | 1:38 pm
    Outcasts, three stories by Vonda N. McIntyre (photo by Vonda's sister Carolyn). Godsfire by Cynthia Felice. Cynthia now has completely coordinated covers for all of her science fiction books back in print. Godsfire tells the story of Heao, a female...
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    The Mumpsimus

  • A Last Lexia

    Matthew Cheney
    14 May 2012 | 4:00 pm
    For various reasons, I've decided it's a good time to end my Strange Horizons column, Lexias. It began (untitled) on 7 February 2005, which means I've been writing it for more than seven years. I'm proud of the work that is there, and I don't want to dilute it or just keep repeating myself, so I've decided to switch things up a bit and move on to other projects (including occasional reviews for Strange Horizons; in fact, I was just trying to finish a new one when I checked to see if the column had been posted yet).Looking back through the archives to see if I could find any special…

  • "Genres Do Not Exist"

    Matthew Cheney
    11 May 2012 | 4:18 pm
    From a New Inquiry Q&A with Eileen Myles:What ‘bad’ genres did you grow up reading—science fiction, fairy tales, romance, etc.—or read as an adult?I resist the question entirely. I don’t think quotes ['...'] dispense with the idea of putting writing into good and bad genres. Let me say and I probably mean this in the most manifesto-ing way that genres don’t exist. They don’t exist at all. They serve the needs of marketing, of academic specialization, even as modes of work, but in terms of meaning or content or associative formations they are like traffic lights—not so…

  • Zero de Doom

    Matthew Cheney
    10 May 2012 | 10:39 pm
    Here's a new video essay I created, mixing elements of Jean Vigo's Zero de Conduit (1933) with Gregg Araki's The Doom Generation (1995), plus some words from Robin Wood and an anonymous reviewer of Vigo.Please note that the theatrical version of Doom Generation was rated R for "strong vicious violence, graphic sexuality, pervasive strong language and some drug use", and I used the unrated version, so if you have a weak stomach for graphic representations of violence, are aghast at the sight of naked bodies, and/or don't like the English language at its most crude and vulgar, you really,…

  • Blogging the Caine Prize 2012: "Bombay's Republic"

    Matthew Cheney
    9 May 2012 | 9:54 pm
    This is my first post in this year's Caine Prize for African Writing blogathon, organized by the ever-awesome Aaron Bady (Zunguzungu). Our participant numbers have grown exponentially this year, which is very exciting. If you don't remember from last year, the basic idea is that a bunch of us bloggery people write weekly posts about each of the short stories nominated for the Caine Prize, so helpfully provided in PDF form to anyone who wants to read them at the Caine Prize website. We will do our best to keep our posts updated with links to each others' posts, creating a giant hyperlinked…

  • Updated Fiction Page

    Matthew Cheney
    5 May 2012 | 8:31 am
    A quick site note: I've neglected to update the Fiction page on the blog here for some time, so I just did so. It now contains not just links to stories originally published online, but information about all the fiction I can remember publishing over the last 10 years or so.A couple old links were dead, and I found two stories completely available via Google Books ("The Lake" and "In Exile"), which made me very happy, because those are two of my personal favorites (which is to hint that reader reaction to them has been decidedly ... mixed...), and I had thought they were inaccessible and…
 
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    John Crowley Little and Big

  • Howdy neighbor

    John Crowley
    13 May 2012 | 5:23 am
    If it seems inconvenient or operose to look over the fence and wave to the lady in her garden, or exchange a few words in the elevator with the tenant next door, or swap news with the other locals shopping at the bakery or getting theri mail, here's the solution -- SOCIAL MEDIA!http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/on-nextdoorcom-social-networks-for-neighbors.html?ref=technology

  • O Canada

    John Crowley
    12 May 2012 | 8:28 pm
     I enjoyed my visit to Boreal, the Canadian Francophone SF/Fantasy convetnion in Quebec City.  The city (my first visit) could in its old center and river battlements be mistaken for a European city, but actually it doesn't feel the same.  Maybe because, old as it is, it's still actually new -- nothing older than 1600.  I attended a couple of panels with an English-whisperer at my side, and participated in one too, with several smart and funny speakers, including the guest authors Heloise Cote and Jeanne-Philippe Jaworski, whose work has of course not been…

  • Aurora borealis

    John Crowley
    30 Apr 2012 | 8:34 pm
    Hope it's not too late for anyone interested in coming that I'm going to be the guest and keynote speaker at Boreal in Quebec next weekend. That is, this weekend. Why con I never remekber to post these things in a timely fashion?

  • Your Next Book (Or Mine)

    John Crowley
    28 Apr 2012 | 2:57 pm
    From an article in the TLS about wild and rowdy 18th century London:"Fairs, spas (or "spaws"), gardens, gambling, drinking, prizefighting (including by women), cock-fighting, bear- and bull-baiting, and so on."Seems to me you could get a publisher's advance with a single paragraph about a book that stars a bare-knuckle female boxing champion, her trials and tribulations and successes as she meets opponents and kicks ass in Merry Olde England.  Actually I'm serious.  Wouldn't that be great?  The book could be inflammatory and the movie would be…

  • Hard Questions

    John Crowley
    25 Apr 2012 | 7:54 am
    You'll see on the left hand of this page the sites I visit or like -- they haven't been updated lately, and some may be gone -- but the  Perpetual Interview attached to the 25th Anniversary Edition is still happening, and I've lately posted answers to some surprisingly tough questions there; also posted from earlier are Harold Bloom's questions to me, and other inquiries.  
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    ellen datlow

  • A new interview with me about editing

    ellen datlow
    10 May 2012 | 7:42 pm
    Anna Kashina just interviewed me a few days ago about editing. What an anthology editor does--the process of what's involved in putting together a good anthology. The timing as it happens, is perfect, because I just read an unbelievably ignorant post by a self-titled "editor" who informs us: "The work is not hard. In fact, it takes very little time although one must be an able communicator. ... I can tell you that the time it takes to work on an anthology is negligible when compared to the time it takes for writers to contribute their stories. It mostly consists of waiting for the short…

  • Reading, discussion, signing of Poe with me, John Langan, & Laird Barron

    ellen datlow
    4 May 2012 | 11:31 am
    Tuesday May 8 6-7:30 pmBook Discussion: Poe, 19 New TalesLocation: Mount Vernon Public LibraryReading, book discussion,and book signing with Ellen Datlow, John Langan, andLaird Barron about the stories in Poe: 19 New Tales28 South First Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY (near the Mount Vernon East Metro NorthStation:Bet: East 1st.Street and 2nd. Street.)(914) 668-1840 x219 or x220http://tinyurl.com/bvck6ll

  • Karen Heuler and Victor LaValle read May 16 at KGB

    ellen datlow
    27 Apr 2012 | 9:23 am
    FANTASTIC FICTION at KGB reading series, hosts Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kresselpresent:Karen Heuler’s stories have been published in over 60 literary and speculative magazines, anthologies and “Year’s Best” collections, including the forthcoming The Year’s Best SF #17. Her most recent novel is The Made-up Man, published by Livingston PressChiZine Publications will publish her short story collection, The Inner City, early next year.&Victor LaValle's novel, Big Machine, won the Shirley Jackson Award, the American Book Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. His next novel, The Devil in…

  • Table of Contents for Hauntings

    ellen datlow
    24 Apr 2012 | 2:11 pm
    Here is the final table of contents for Hauntings, which is coming out in March from Tachyon.And here’s the cover http://www.tachyonpublications.com/book/Hauntings.html?Session_ID=new Table of Contents Eenie, Meenie, Ipsateenie Pat Cadigan Hunger: A Confession Dale Bailey Cargo E. Michael Lewis Delta Sly Honey Lucius Shepard Nothing Will Hurt You David Morrell The Ammonite Violin (Murder Ballad #4) Caitlín R. Kiernan Haunted Joyce Carol Oates The Have-Nots Elizabeth Hand Closing Time Neil Gaiman Anna F. Paul Wilson Mr. Fiddlehead Jonathan Carroll The Fooly Terry Dowling The Toll Paul…

  • The Shirley Jackson Award short list is out

    ellen datlow
    22 Apr 2012 | 6:52 pm
    So this was my big secret (the anthology part). I did not know how many stories from my various anthos were nominated--and am especially pleased that stories from a ya anthology made the cut, along with the anthology itself.I'm proud to have my work on the same ballot as the other anthologies nominated.Congratulations to all the nominees, thank you to the judges, and good luck to everyone. We are all winners for the next several months. The Shirley Jackson Award nomineesNOVEL The Devil All the Time, Donald Ray Pollock (Doubleday) The Dracula Papers, Reggie Oliver (Chômu Press) The Great…
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    PeterDavid.net

  • Online Identities, Part 2

    Corey Tacker
    14 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    Originally published April 18, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1222 (Editor’s note: Last week, Peter shared his online run-in with Flash Gordon and Wonder Girl, their online names changed to protect them from further embarrassment. This week: More online anecdotes.) I was on America Online late one night. It has been a bit easier to get on recently, perhaps because so many people have given up on the service that it’s made some more room. I ran into one of the actors from Babylon 5, hiding under a fake name. He ID’d himself to me since he knows my online name, and suggested we head…

  • R.I.P. Peter David

    Peter David
    11 May 2012 | 7:11 pm
    No, not me. A different one. And if you think some of my friends were startled to see my name at the top of an announcement that “Peter David” had died in a car crash, I gotta tell you it’s inCREDibly creepy to see your own name in that headline. The Peter David who has left us was an editor and writer at “The Economist,” and I actually spoken to him one time. You see, Mr. David had written a book called “Triumph in the Desert” about Operation Desert Storm. And a number of people had come up to me at conventions asking me to sign it. Even though the…

  • Let’s Get “Smash”-ed

    Peter David
    11 May 2012 | 1:29 pm
    Since it’s not exactly genre, we haven’t discussed the new series “SMASH” which will be wrapping up this coming Monday. So I figure, What the hell. Let’s do that. First of all, I’m kind of astounded that the series got on the air in the first place. It’s a show for which Kathleen and I are the target audience, and that’s NEVER a promising endeavor. The ratings for the Tonys indicate that the vast majority of America doesn’t give a damn about real Broadway, so why in the world would they be captivated by a TV series about made-up Broadway?

  • Online Identities, Part 1

    Peter David
    11 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    Originally published April 11, 1997, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1221 Once upon a time, one had to be face to face in order to have social intercourse. (Remember, kids, be careful when having social intercourse: When you talk to a person, it’s as if you’re talking to everyone that person ever spoke to.) Now, however, you have the solitude of computer terminals, and are able to hide behind fake names and even fake locations. And yet the anonymity can have curious and fascinating spin-offs. Herewith an intriguing anecdote of the new age of Isolinear Isolation. However I have changed the…

  • It’s About Bloody Time

    Peter David
    10 May 2012 | 10:57 am
    I’ve been saying for ages that I didn’t buy for a minute the notion that President Obama had any problems with gay marriage. Not for a moment did I think that a guy whose parents, less than half a century ago, would not have been allowed to marry in some states, would believe that legally keeping people apart who love each other was an acceptable way of doing things. But I think that he was concerned about the political backlash. Me, I think he should have said screw the backlash and just been honest. Then again, that’s easy for me to say, because I wouldn’t have had…
 
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    Stephen Dedman

  • I ATEN'T DEAD!

    Stephen Dedman
    27 Apr 2012 | 11:06 pm
    I've been marking assignments, which is not quite the same thing; for one thing, it's only temporary. I've also been breathing, washing, eating, sleeping, going to Swancon and other events, making plans to go to Continuum 8, donating to a Kickstarter project to revive the Shadowrun computer game, seeing a few movies, waiting and hoping (in vain, so far) for some sort of progress on the house-buying front, and even managing to do a little writing, though nowhere near enough.While this has been happening, Shadows Bite has been released as a Kindle e-book, Alison Bechdel's brought out a new…

  • For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality survey

    Stephen Dedman
    25 Mar 2012 | 4:48 am
    Originally posted by stephbg at For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality surveyOriginally posted by drhoz at For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality surveyOriginally posted by purrdence at For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality surveyOriginally posted by maharetr at For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality surveyOriginally posted by callistra at For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality survey - IMPORTANTOriginally posted by leecetheartist at For Aussies - House of Reps marriage equality survey - IMPORTANTOriginally posted by murasaki_1966 at For Aussies - House of…

  • On SOPA, piracy, copyright, etc.

    Stephen Dedman
    19 Jan 2012 | 12:58 am
    I've been wasting too much time arguing about these issues today, so I thought that rather than blacking out my dreamwidth and livejournal (i.e. making it look much the same as every day I don't blog, which is most of them), I'd state my position here.Writers, artists, actors, etc., have living expenses, and if they can't meet these through their art, they have to take other jobs, which mean they write/act/produce less, which leaves all of us poorer. Some entertainments are horrendously expensive to produce - opera, ballet, certain types of movie, etc. - and have to be paid for somehow. If we…

  • You know you're reading New Scientist too much...

    Stephen Dedman
    2 Jan 2012 | 9:36 pm
    when your first thought on hearing "Summertime/And the living is easy/Fish are jumping/And the cotton is high" is that maybe we shouldn't be adding frog and marijuana genes to our agricultural produce.Addendum:While waiting for a bus, I turned this into a brief filk:Summertime,And the living is easy.Fish are jumpingAnd the cotton is high.I blame the genesFrom kangaroos and marijuana:Monsanto's gone too far this time.

  • One of life's little mysteries...

    Stephen Dedman
    27 Dec 2011 | 11:33 pm
    may have been solved. While discussing movies over Christmas lunch, my mother told me how I'd come into the world: she'd gone into labour ahead of schedule while watching Psycho.
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    A.M. Dellamonica

  • The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat

    alyx
    14 May 2012 | 11:52 am
    I’ll tell you up front: this essay is really just a big pitch for putting some variety of tone in your fiction. Imagine a smooth downward line, the kind of thing you’d see on an easy ski hill or a kiddie slide. If your main character starts out a little discontented on page one and their situation eases ever so slowly downhill as things get worse–and I do see novels like this–a book can get fairly tiresome to read. No matter how interesting the slide is, four hundred pages of prose can be wearing if they are mostly all the same flavor, if the story moves at the same…

  • A smattering of Portland and Alberta pics

    alyx
    14 May 2012 | 8:56 am
    Alyx Dellamonica’s photostream on Flickr. An array of beauty – human, ungulate, feline. Originally published at A.M. Dellamonica. You can comment here or there.

  • Voicemail from the Parade of Death

    alyx
    10 May 2012 | 8:49 am
    An old friend of my family’s died the night before last. He and my mother were extremely close–she’s pretty shattered–and my father was rocked, I think, when I wrote him in China to tell him what had happened. Rick was in one of Bear’s earliest crop of drama students. My first memories of him are as a giant-sized guy who built sets in the theater where I spent a lot of my early childhood. He tolerated having a four-year-old underfoot pretty well; he came from a big family, with lots of sibs. Because he and his partner were tight with Barb, I’ve seen a bit…

  • Is Was #AmReading Caitlin Sweet – The Pattern Scars

    alyx
    7 May 2012 | 12:02 pm
    Technically, that should be wasreading, but so it goes. The Pattern Scars is black as pitch. It’s harsh, folks. And inventive, and beautifully written, and full of strength, sadness, beauty, and terror. It’s not a cozy bedtime story; it’s campfires in the haunted woods stuff. I really enjoyed it. It’s also up for an Aurora. If you’re gonna vote, have a look at this book. I had to reconstruct the books so far list of this year, because of the overall crazy-busy that’s been going on here, but I think this is all the novels. I’ll have a look for the…

  • Feline protest of Powell’s Reading

    alyx
    4 May 2012 | 12:30 pm
    I am very happy to say I’m going to be reading at Powell’s Books in Oregon (the Cedar Hills / Beaverton location) on Monday the 7th, at 7:00 p.m. This is a genuine bucket list item for me: here in the Pacific Northwest, Powell’s is pretty much mecca for bibliophiles, and I’ve always wanted to read there. When I am out and about in my Powell’s shirt, strangers ask, often in hushed tones if I’ve been there, and when I brag that I’ve even been part of the big post-Orycon group author signings at the store. . . well, they’re impressed. You must be a…
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    Cory Doctorow's craphound.com

  • Advance praise for Pirate Cinema

    Cory Doctorow
    14 May 2012 | 12:37 pm
    My next YA novel is Pirate Cinema, which hits stands on Oct 2. The book has been complete for a long time, and now is the part in its lifecycle where it is in ballistic flight, having been launched from my device with all the skill and concentration that I can muster, with nothing else for me to do until it arrives at its destination. It's a bit of a nailbiting interlude in the lifecycle of a writer, and that's why it was such a treat to read Daniel Kraus's starred review of it in the next Booklist. I don't think I'm supposed to quote the whole thing, so here are some highlights:…

  • The problem with nerd politics

    Cory Doctorow
    14 May 2012 | 10:47 am
    The Guardian

  • Nerd fatalism, nerd determinism: the problem with nerd politics

    Cory Doctorow
    14 May 2012 | 10:47 am
    My latest Guardian column is "The problem with nerd politics," and it discusses the twin evils of "nerd determinism" and "nerd fatalism" -- both convenient excuses for people who care about technology policy to avoid politics. In "nerd determinism," technologists dismiss dangerous and stupid political, legal and regulatory proposals on the grounds that they are technologically infeasible. Geeks who care about privacy dismiss broad wiretapping laws, easy lawful interception standards, and other networked surveillance on the grounds that they themselves can evade this surveillance. For example,…

  • Why the death of DRM would be good news for readers, writers and publishers

    Cory Doctorow
    14 May 2012 | 10:40 am
    Here's a podcast of my last Guardian column, Why the death of DRM would be good news for readers, writers and publishers: At the end of April, Tor Books, the world's largest science fiction publisher, and its UK sister company, Tor UK, announced that they would be eliminating digital rights management (DRM) from all of their ebooks by the summer. It was a seismic event in the history of the publishing industry. It's the beginning of the end for DRM, which are used by hardware manufacturers and publishers to limit the use of digital content after sale. That's good news, whether you're a…

  • Seattle library hides 1,000 books around town for young people to find

    Cory Doctorow
    11 May 2012 | 3:05 am
    The Seattle Public Library system's annual Summer Reading Program is called Century 22: Read the Future, and is tied in with the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair. Young people are encouraged to scour the city's landmarks for 1,000 books hidden throughout town, and then to re-hide them for other kids to find. Among the books in this summer's program is my own YA novel Little Brother, which is a source of utter delight for me.
 
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    Notes From The Geek Show

  • BFS Awards Shortlist

    Hal Duncan
    7 May 2012 | 2:08 pm
    The British Fantasy Society is pleased to announce the shortlist for the 2012 British Fantasy Awards. Determined by the 952 recommendations from BFS members and FantasyCon attendees and overseen by the BFS Award Jury, the shortlist is: Novel:   The Heroes; Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz) 11.22.63; Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton) Cyber Circus; Kim Lakin-Smith (NewCon Press) A Dance with Dragons;

  • Coming Events

    Hal Duncan
    6 May 2012 | 8:14 am
    As part of the Southside Film Festival, I'll be at a screening of the Scottish BAFTA-nominated Ballads of the Book documentary, as made by my good mates, Margaret Shankland, Claire McCluskey and Julie McCrone. I believe I'll be doing a wee reading at some point, and joining Mags, Claire and Julie for a Q&A session after the screening. Should be loadsa fun, not least cause none of them have done

  • My Favourite Monster

    Hal Duncan
    23 Apr 2012 | 3:17 pm
    At Weird Fiction Review, a full version of the "Favourite Monster" piece: I have to go with a classic, Frankenstein’s monster, because Shelley’s creature doesn’t just exemplify monstrosity, it interrogates it. What makes it visually monstrous is not a matter of cheap gimmickry. Shelley doesn’t just snatch features from the animal world that naturally freak us out — mandibles, pincers, horns,

  • The Built World

    Hal Duncan
    20 Apr 2012 | 5:51 pm
    You begin with the barricades set around the lot, the territorial claim staked by delimitation, plywood hoardings in a neat rectangle, right-angled as a blank page in a book, stockading this city-block where reality has been bulldozed, the rubble of actualities cleared away, a hole in the experiential earth gouged for foundations to be laid. Erasure and enclosure is how you begin, every

  • Story at Subterranean Press

    Hal Duncan
    16 Apr 2012 | 7:01 pm
    Sic Him, Hellhound! Kill! Kill!1.I wake curled up at the foot of the bed again, back snugged tight into the crook of my boy’s legs –tight enough to be on top of them really. He groans, slaps the alarm clock off, tries to pull the quilt over his head. Doesn’t work with me weighing it down, clambering up to lick his face. –Get up, I say. Get up get up get up. He shoves me away. –Get down, he
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    A Blister to My Eye

  • If I were to run for Colorado governor

    David
    11 May 2012 | 12:14 pm
    I’d lose in a landslide, because my platform would be: Free healthcare for everyone except the rich (ETR) State pension for everyone ETR Free ETR high-speed rail everywhere Good cops No doofuses on the bench No religion in state government and no hidden subsidies for churches A fence around El Paso County (with some way of letting good people out — and in, if they insist). Garden of the Gods would be accessible, however. Gay marriage No state- or city-level war on drugs, alcohol, porn, prostitution, or any other victimless crimes, and no cooperation with the Feds for the same Lots of…

  • The Girlfriend on Your Desk

    David
    7 May 2012 | 2:39 pm
    In the 1980s, I was working at an oil and gas software company in Denver. We programmed in Fortran (ah! beloved language!) on DEC-20s (ah! beloved mini!). We used IBM PCs, but at that time only as dumb terminals. A coworker brought her new toy in to show us. It was the first version of Apple’s Macintosh computer — a funny, boxlike little thing with a black-and-white screen on which were displayed cute icons instead of the command line we were all used to. We gathered around and made comments ranging from skeptical to admiring. I don’t remember how much she said she had paid for it, but…

  • A Singular Prophecy

    David
    19 Mar 2012 | 10:39 pm
    A Singular Prophecy Gary Raham Biostration, 2012 70 million years ago, an alien race, fleeing the destruction of their world, landed on Earth. Here they would recreate the world they had lost. Unfortunately for them, Late Cretaceous Earth was a fiendishly hostile place, and it destroyed them. That is, it destroyed their bodies. Before they died, they used their technology to preserve their personalities in anticipation of the evolution of a more hospitable environment. In our own time, a young paleontologist on a dig pries a sphere from the midst of fossil dinosaur bones and suddenly finds…

  • The Arm and Flanagan

    David
    21 Feb 2012 | 7:44 pm
    My latest fiction publication. I'm putting it out as an e-book on Amazon, etc. It's a novella or a very long story, or something like that. A mixture of suspense and sf, and hopefully Twilight Zoneish. It's just over 13,000 words. Publishing fiction of this length is something new for me. You can't charge less than 99 cents on Amazon, and I have no idea how people feel about paying a dollar for something of that length. So far, The Arm and Flanagan is available in Kindle format on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007BQDG48), and also on Smashwords in various formats. It will be showing up in…

  • Steve Weddle eviscerates Jonathan Franzen

    David
    31 Jan 2012 | 11:24 am
    Well done, Mr. Weddle. http://dosomedamage.blogspot.com/2012/01/franzen-gets-it-wrong.html
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    But Enough About Me!

  • Guest Post: LOOKING FOR THE WOMEN (IN ANCIENT ROME)

    Kate Elliott
    16 May 2012 | 2:34 am
    Recently there’s been a great deal of discussion on the topic of whether women did actually exist in “historical times,” by which I mean to say that all too often “common knowledge” of what women’s roles were in historical periods is a mythology. If writers and readers base their expectations of women in fantasy fiction on these erroneous stereotypes, then not only is our literature and our reading the poorer for it but it is also getting it wrong. Today I offer a guest post by Australian writer Tansy Rayner Roberts on this very (and very important)…

  • Guest Post: Decolonizing as an SF Writer

    Kate Elliott
    14 May 2012 | 1:50 am
    I started online on GEnie many years ago. The GEnie bulletin board gave me a chance to meet with my friends and get to know new people (many of whom have since become my friends) online when otherwise I would never have been able to regularly interact with so many people in my writing/reading community. The online world has changed considerably since that time. Now I’m on both Facebook and Twitter, as well as my live journal and wordpress blog (two platforms, same content).  Facebook and Twitter especially have allowed me to make contact with writers and readers around the world, and I…

  • Cold Steel: Stage Two

    Kate Elliott
    12 May 2012 | 1:39 am
    On April 17 I finished a draft of COLD STEEL. I just spent the last month revising that extremely imperfect draft and sent a revised draft to my editor last night (May 10). She will read through it and beat me over the head until I revise it more (that’s her job). If she accepts the revisions I make to her direction, then I’ll be able to announce a confirmed publication date. However, due to how long it has taken me to write the novel, I can sadly say that it will not be out in 2012. My apologies for the delay. Partly the book was simply very hard to write, and partly we had a death in my…

  • Helen Lowe Guest Post Giveaway Winners

    Kate Elliott
    3 May 2012 | 2:11 pm
    Last week, Helen Lowe wrote a lovely guest post on World Building, which included a giveaway both of her books and mine.   The winners were chosen by a random number generator from the comments both on wordpress blog and on livejournal (where it is mirrored).   The winners are: - TeriC wins the Heir/ Crossroad 1 or Spiritwalker 1 set - Jeff wins the Gathering / Crossroad 2 or Spiritwalker 2 set Contact me to collect your books! Congrats to the winners and our thanks to all of you who left comments. Also, my thanks again to Helen for joining us. Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.

  • Looking for women in historically-based fantasy worlds

    Kate Elliott
    27 Apr 2012 | 2:52 am
    This post is slightly adapted from a conversation I held with Ken Scholes on (now defunct) Babel Clash in September 2009. I was inspired to dig up the old post from a reference to it made in another September 2009 post by Aliette de Bodard on Female protagonists in historical fantasy, which she had reason to refer to today on Twitter. de Bodard’s post is just as fresh and important today as it was then, as alas this subject comes up with discouraging regularity. I wanted to talk about how writers can try to find a way out of the assumptions they may be bringing to the table when…
 
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    Mirror of Ambrose

  • Roming Again

    11 May 2012 | 12:51 pm
    Having gotten married and having moved all our worldly possessions to one flammable location, and placed them under the protection of a pair of fire-breathing slavering beasts and a gang of meth-addled bikers, Diana and I flew off to Italy for a few weeks of workingvacationmoon. I always give the customs people at Amsterdam a good laugh. Last year it was my underwear. This year they were curious about an electrical device cunningly hidden in my copy of Norwich’s History of Venice. I guess it looked suspicious on the x-ray when they saw I had a flat electronic device, about the size of a…

  • Moved to be moody, and moody to be moved

    7 May 2012 | 6:33 pm
    THE SIXTEEN STAGES OF MOVING 1. I want to move. 2. I hate to move. 3. I ought to move. 4. I hate to move. 5. I have to move. 6. Find a place to move to. 7. I will pack up my things. Tomorrow, sometime. Or the day after. 8. Oh. I move tomorrow. I guess it’s time to pack. 9. So. Many. Boxes. Of. Books. 10. I hate to move. 11. How important is a cleaning deposit, anyway? 12. Ow. 13. I hate to move. 14. Moved. 15. I’m glad I moved. 15b. But I am never moving again. 15c. And next time I’ll do it so cunningly that there will be no stress whatsoever. 16. I want to move. [Originally…

  • Make Womb! Make Womb!

    3 Apr 2012 | 12:35 am
    As fate and my innamorata would have it, I watched (within the space of a few days) two movies based on old Ira Levin novels: The Stepford Wives and Rosemary’s Baby. It seems crazy to give a spoiler alert about movies a couple generations old, so I’ll cut to the chase. Both stories end with the main character, a woman, happily at home in the heart of her family, and in an extended and supportive community. In other words, these are nightmares. Do the stories need to be told? In Rosemary’s Baby, Rosemary (played by an infantile Mia Farrow) and her husband Guy (a snakelike…

  • Bath of the Titans

    1 Apr 2012 | 1:06 pm
    On Friday evening I set out with an intrepid band to see The Maltese Falcon on the big screen at the Valentine theater in the big town of Toledo. Through a set of hilarious circumstances we ended up eating dinner at the Burger Bar, where prettty good burgers were eaten but no Maltese falcons were seen. Later, still craving a cinematic fix, we mistreated ourselves to Wrath of the Titans. My bathetic reactions after the jump. Wrath of the Titans was not as bad as I feared it would be, but it’s a long way from being genuinely good. Others have assessed the movie’s rich treasury of…

  • A Proclamation

    21 Feb 2012 | 9:42 am
    “All citizens take notice that Carnival is decreed for tonight. Turn back the clock. There will be music, dancing, happiness at the Carnival. By order.” [Originally published at Ambrose & Elsewhere. Comments there are closed due to spambery--but not here on LiveJournal. You can also reach me on Twitter, or on Facebook.]
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    The Incomplete Blog

  • Negative Space in Art

    Josh English
    13 May 2012 | 10:01 am
    Listening to a piece on Jazz on NPR. They talk about the importance of the spaces between the notes. I remember similar lessons in art school about the importance of negative space.And then I think about some literary novels I've read, novels that seemed to talk around issues and point to a characters motivation through tertiary consequences of that emotion, and I just couldn't see these as great stories. I think the problem was too much negative space.Of course if I had more time, I may be able to write more on negative space, art, and writing. Let me think on it.

  • [Math] [Code] Project Euler and Fibonacci

    Josh English
    5 May 2012 | 5:49 pm
    Consider this an exercise in frustration.I know I'm not stupid but some things just have my stymied.For example, in Project Euler Problem 104, I need to find some very large numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.  Reportedly, the number I'm looking for is over 68,000 digits long. That's going to be difficult to brute force my way to a number that large. I only need to worry about the first nine digits, and the last nine digits, according to the problem.Supposedly, this is possible because we can calculate the nth Fibonacci number using phi. Here is the source of my…

  • Unnecessary Politics

    Josh English
    25 Apr 2012 | 2:34 pm
    It's now a well-known fact that I sing in the choir at my church. This is the same choir that was rehearsing, and Brian Teirney left late from, on the night he was shot. In reading the news reports about "A Song for Brian," a charity concert a bunch of musicians put together to help Brian out, there was a comment along the lines of "This is how it should work: People getting together to help each other out, with no government interference."That comment ticked me off. Here's why:The reason so many people were able to put together so much awesome music and raise…

  • Good Friday, or "I think I'm experiencing an emotion."

    Josh English
    6 Apr 2012 | 11:41 pm
    Holy week is supposed to a spiritual and emotional roller coaster. Most years, for me, its an exhausting voice-busting marathon. This year has been different. My immediate boss at work has been sick, so I've felt the to-dos piling up and every task has become a battle and in the middle of putting out one fire two more pop up like a damned capitalist hydra and and and and and. Then, at church, we've been involved in helping make sure that things get done, and because I'm that kind of Episcopalian that means getting things done right.Tonight I volunteered to carry the cross…

  • Recap, a story

    Josh English
    25 Mar 2012 | 3:38 pm
    Recapby Joshua R. EnglishThe story so far. There isn't much of one, except for the title that implies something has gone on before, and of course something has. It's called the universe, but that's a bit much for every writer other than Michener so we'll start somewhere else, somewhere closer to the actual story, and that is the reader.The reader speaks English. That's all we can really say about it because this story is being written in English. Man, woman, other, old, young, on line or in faded photocopy tucked into a dusty tome of a university library, are all unknowns…
 
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    Talk in the Shadows

  • Ahhhhhhhhh!

    LynnF
    15 May 2012 | 6:07 pm

  • Today's Best Typo

    LynnF
    15 May 2012 | 5:41 pm
    “It’s stacked with mountain trout, my lord. Good fishing in that pond, and a tasty catch, if you care for fish."Stacks of trout. Yum!I'm also using the word "muscular" a lot lately. Where's that Thesaurus?

  • Tick tick tick

    LynnF
    15 May 2012 | 4:38 pm
    Thirteen days.

  • Sherlock: Scandal in Belgravia, uncut version

    LynnF
    15 May 2012 | 4:07 pm
    OK, yes, I am obsessed. Watched the uncut version over lunch.The cuts were much more noticeable in this episode. Interesting that they were almost entirely speculations on Sherlock's sexuality, or lack thereof. And how could they cut "The Speckled Blond"!!!??? Too funny. Also caught an allusion to "The Illustrious Client."Truly one of the best episodes ever. I've watched it . . . It's all a blur, Detective Inspector. I lost count. ;-)Back to work now, until I become obsessed with next week's episode!

  • Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville Second viewing

    LynnF
    15 May 2012 | 2:01 pm
    I downloaded the uncut version from iTunes (bless 'em!) and watched it again. The combination of the extra five minutes business, lowered expectations, and knowing what was going on to catch the little details made it much more enjoyable. The scene with John trapped in the lab came together much better. I don't know if I missed the business with the sugar, or parts of it were cut from the PBS showing, but it hung together this time.Sherlock experimenting on John still leaves a bad taste. In the Canon Watson remarks that he could imagine Holmes slipping him a bit of "some vegetable alkaloid"…
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    Eric Flint's place on the web

  • 1636 The Kremlin Games – Snippet 39

    Drak Bibliophile
    16 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    1636 The Kremlin Games – Snippet 39 Chapter 32 The Kremlin April, 1633 “Death and taxes,” Bernie muttered as he fell into the chair. “I’d really prefer a visit from the tax man.” It was April 15 and Bernie was in the Kremlin. Not because he was really needed but because he was the up-timer and the Muscovites believed that his presence was a shield against the slow fever. Typhoid, that was, in up-timer English. So he went through the hospices where the people who had gotten typhoid fever this spring were being treated with down-time made Gatorade. At least…

  • War Maid’s Choice – Snippet 26

    Drak Bibliophile
    16 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    War Maid’s Choice – Snippet 26 Chapter Seven I really hate this, Shahana Lillinarafressa thought moodily as the right leaf of Thalar Keep’s heavy wooden gates swung open at her approach, and the fact that her own fair-mindedness told her she was being unreasonable only made her mood even worse. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter, and since that was true, she was determined to discharge her duty well. However badly it set her teeth on edge. Her mail jingled as her horse trotted through the gatehouse entry tunnel, hooves noisy on the pavement,…

  • War Maid’s Choice – Snippet 25

    Drak Bibliophile
    14 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    War Maid’s Choice – Snippet 25 “You’ll do fine. And you’ll have Vaijon along to help out, once we get back from Sothōfalas.” “Isn’t that about like saying the tinder will have a spark along to help it out, Milord?” Brandark inquired. “You’re welcome to come along yourself, Brandark,” Vaijon invited, but the Bloody Sword shook his head quickly. “I appreciate the invitation — really, I do — but I’m afraid I don’t remember having lost anything on the Ghoul Moor.” The others laughed,…

  • Midst Toil And Tribulation – Snippet 10

    Drak Bibliophile
    14 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    Midst Toil And Tribulation – Snippet 10 Lots of luck with that, Cahnyr thought dryly. It was a matter to which he’d given quite a lot of thought — and devoted much of his effort — during his own exile in Siddar City. Whatever they may want, in the end they’re going to have to choose between finding a way home to Zion or accepting the unavoidable conclusion of the steps they’ve already taken. And the truth is that the Charisians’ve been right from the very beginning. The Group of Four may be the ones twisting and perverting Mother Church at this…

  • 1636 The Kremlin Games – Snippet 38

    Drak Bibliophile
    14 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    1636 The Kremlin Games – Snippet 38 Chapter 31 Grantville March 1633 Vladimir was running late. He had just about given up on doing his own research. There wasn’t time. There wasn’t really even enough time to provide supervision of the researchers. Not with the sources Francisco Nasi pointed out to him. Yet here he was, because someone in Russia had found something about mica capacitors and wanted to know more because apparently Russia had the best mica in the world. At least, so he was told. He was looking around trying to decide where to start, when he heard a voice.
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    Mad Libs

  • of color

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    14 May 2012 | 8:17 pm
    Kate Elliot posted an essay today called Decolonizing as an SF Writer by Rochita Loenen-Luiz. The subject is one that’s interesting to me because a lot of my dissertation and research has dealt with colonization/postcolonization/neocolonization. I think colonization is the most shaping force on all societies in the world. But what it made me think about today was black people. You might ask why. The subject came up with my children. They were talking about the civil war, and then my son says, “I call black people African-Americans.” I said, that makes sense, but you realize…

  • sparkling

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    11 May 2012 | 11:11 pm
    The house is clean. Well, you know, as it gets. It’s pretty sparkly to be honest and I even got some flowers planted. We might get a freeze tonight, so hope they survive. We have two appointments scheduled for tomorrow. I’m really hoping they go well and we get a good offer. Hear that universe? Please? I’m thinking that I would never want to work on a crab boat (comment brought to you courtesy of The Deadliest Catch). I’m too much a wimp. Plus I’m betting I’d be barfing much of the time. You know, when I wasn’t being washed overboard. I have some…

  • Bird Neepery

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    9 May 2012 | 6:22 pm
    There is a hawk cam at the University of Wisconsin Madison. You can see the mother (at least I’m supposing it’s the mother) and three babies (are they called eyases?). It is so very cool. Go look. Two different lookers are coming to check out our house this weekend. Send buy vibes, would you? The curtains did not fall down last night. I consider this a good thing. Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

  • adulthood rite

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    8 May 2012 | 9:27 pm
    Today I used power tools. Yeah, I know, big deal. But usually when we do things to the house, the man is here to do most of the power tool stuff, but also to confidently make holes in walls and so on. But today it was all me and my mom. It was taking down old curtains and rods and hanging new ones. Yeah, not that tough, but I had to drill holes and put up the brackets and hang everything. And I did it right. It looks nice and I’m happy. Accomplished. I also did a bunch of other housework. The darned maid never wants to work. She just wants to sit on the couch and be lazy and write stuff…

  • The learning

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    7 May 2012 | 11:02 pm
    What I learned today at Costco: if there’s a little star/asterisk thing in the right upper corner of a price sign, it means that that product is almost out of stock and they won’t be getting it in again real soon. Who knew? Also, tomorrow I will be installing new curtains/rods and such, with the help of my mom. This may be entertaining. Most entertaining will be my dad’s “help,” which will come in the guise of telling us exactly what to do, because he can’t get on the ladder to do it himself, though I wouldn’t put it past him to try. This will be fun.
 
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    Allyn Gibson

  • On Kirill Yeskov’s The Last Ringbearer

    Allyn
    15 May 2012 | 9:43 pm
    A few months ago on a bulletin board I was drawn into a somewhat tedious argument over what, exactly, pipeweed is in The Lord of the Rings.  My sparring partner argued that pipeweed was clearly tobacco, Tolkien said so, and that, cleraly, was that. The problem with the identification of pipeweed with tobacco, I said, was this: Middle-Earth is not a fantasy world.  Instead, Middle-Earth is our world, albeit in a far-distant past that is no longer remembered, and The Lord of the Rings is not a novel but is instead a written account, a memoir even, by some of the participants in the…

  • On Final Thoughts on North Carolina’s Amendment One

    Allyn
    9 May 2012 | 10:53 am
    Some final thoughts on North Carolina and Amendment One.  (Previous comments here and here.) I know that many of the people who voted in favor of Amendment One did so on religious grounds.  They feel that homosexuality is incompatible with their religious beliefs because it is condemned in the text of the Bible. But I would ask them. Why? Of everything that the Bible says, of everything that Christianity teaches, why that? What part of “Love thy neighbor as thyself” (Mark 12:31) did you not understand? What part of “Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three;…

  • On My Instant Reaction to Amendment One

    Allyn
    8 May 2012 | 8:42 pm
    This morning I wrote about Amendment One, a Constitutional amendment in North Carolina that was up for a vote on election day that would outlaw same-sex marriage and any heterosexual arrangement that wasn’t marriage.  I implored people to vote against its passage, and I won’t recap what I said there; just read it for yourself if interested. To my disappointment and disgust, North Carolina decided today overwhelmingly to enshrine homophobia and misogyny into their state’s fundamental charter by passing Amendment One.  At this writing, it looks like by a twenty-point…

  • On North Carolina’s Amendment One

    Allyn
    8 May 2012 | 6:41 am
    Many states are going to the polls today.  Dick Lugar’s career is likely to end today in Indiana as the crazy wing of the Republican Party turns him out in a primary.  And North Carolina votes on Amendment One. Yesterday, I was invited to an after-election party in Raleigh by one of the anti-Amendment One forces.  Amendment One seeks to enshrine a same-sex marriage ban in the state’s constitution, even though North Carolina already has a law on the books that outlaws same-sex marriage.  There’s nothing insufficient about the law for the purpose, the state…

  • On Musing about Beowulf and Its Culture

    Allyn
    5 May 2012 | 6:31 pm
    This morning, while I was listening to Scott Simon on NPR’s Weekend Edition and waiting for the coffee to kick in, I saw that a friend posted a question on Facebook about Beowulf. No, not the Robert Zemekis film.  The Anglo-Saxon epic poem on which the Zemekis film was based. What, he wanted to know, was the significance of Beowulf’s cursed treasure.  In symbolic terms. I admit, I had to turn to the Googles.  I didn’t remember a “cursed treasure” in Beowulf, but, with the help of sites like this, twenty-plus-year-old memories came flooding back. To…
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    White Screen of Despair

  • I'm a museum exhibit, in the Scottish National Library.

    Gary Gibson
    19 Apr 2012 | 4:11 pm
    I'd heard a few weeks ago about an exhibit in the Scottish National Library in Edinburgh, but had not at first been aware that I formed part of it. The exhibit - in glass cases, just to the right of the entrance to the SNL near the city centre - is meant to celebrate science fiction as part of Scotland's national heritage, and rightly so. Behind glass this afternoon, on a visit there, I saw not only work by myself but many others, mostly the usual suspects - Ken MacLeod, Charlie Stross, Richard Morgan and Michael Cobley (although only one of them is actually Scottish) - but also a few…

  • Recommended Reading for Writers

    Gary Gibson
    28 Mar 2012 | 7:01 am
    I've posted another guest blog over at Writers Workshop on writing. This time, it's on recommended reading about writing for writers: One of the things you learn when you become a professional writer is that you never stop learning, and while I still learn much from reading novels with a writerly mind,  I do still, even several books into a career, buy and read books about writing. It helps me actively think about the process of writing, and it’s often a good way to psyche myself up for a day’s work. And it’s not just books I read; there are vast online resources related to writing…

  • Mojo

    Gary Gibson
    26 Mar 2012 | 3:52 pm
    I'd like to say I've been enjoying the sudden burst of summery weather up here in Scotland, but unfortunately I'm having to stay indoors a fair bit of the time. I've been getting UV treatment three times a week for dermatitis, and while my skin is clearing up a treat, it means I have to try and avoid the sun. I'd hoped once the weather got better I might be able to head out and do some cycling - by far my preferred mode of exercise - but I suspect that might wind up with me overdosing on the sunlight. Which is fine, if you're a writer, and therefore given to being squirrelled away and, eh,…

  • BIAJ Release: Duncan Lunan

    Gary Gibson
    22 Mar 2012 | 9:08 am
    I'm beginning to think it makes sense to just keep details of BIAJ releases here on my own blog, instead of going to the trouble of trying to maintain an entirely separate blog/web site. Really, it's long past the time I should actually spend some money and set up an actual web site incorporating the blog - most probably on Wordpress, if I can ever actually figure out how the damn thing works... Anyway. The newest release is by Duncan Lunan, another Scottish writer. Here's the bumf: Four linked novellas and several short stories all dealing with time travel, by the author of the runaway…

  • Writing post: Internal/External Conflict

    Gary Gibson
    22 Mar 2012 | 6:28 am
    I've just posted my second article on writing techniques over at the Writer's Workshop blog. This time, it's all about internal vs. external conflict: Broadly speaking, the distinction between literary and commercial fiction is this: literary fiction deals in internalised conflict – fear, jealousy, greed, desire for power or revenge, thwarted love and so on. It’s these internal conflicts, after all, that are the cause of so many of the great tragedies that characterise the human race – wars of religion, of power, of survival. In Greek myth, the entire Trojan War took place because Paris…
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    Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

  • suricattus @ 2012-05-15T22:52:00

    Laura Anne Gilman
    15 May 2012 | 4:52 pm
    Checking in briefly to say that Kari la_marquise_de_ and I and the rest of our crew have arrived safely in Spain and are having a lovely (if rather hot) time.And yes, Chaz, I am taking my responsibilities as Replacement Chaz quite seriously. Well, except when I'm not.

  • And…She’s Off.

    Laura Anne Gilman
    9 May 2012 | 7:52 pm
    On vacation, that is. Almost two weeks of Away. No laptop. No deadlines. No hours at the desk, beating my head against the wall.Refilling the well, is what I'm doing. Sightseeing and seeing friends, and reading books I didn't write, and eating meals I don't cook and...ok, there's going to be some work. The brain doesn't just shut off like that. But it's FUN work. And only an hour or so a day max. I have been So Informed. :-)I may appear on Twitter, occasionally (@LAGilman). There may be some Foreign Correspondent Blogging on BookView Cafe. Otherwise...radio silence for…

  • This is Not A Review

    Laura Anne Gilman
    8 May 2012 | 12:00 am
    Because, like others, having seen Avengers, all I can say is "really fun movie really well done and let's go see it again, shall we?"OK, there's more that can be said* but right now: that was a really fun movie well-done.And i will be terribly disappointed, come the DVD release, if there are no outtakes. Mmmjustsaying.*discussion of Banner's manifestation-of-anger psyche; the use of names rather than codenames to humanize the characters; Joss HAS to kill someone it's in his contract; Pepper rocks; three strong female characters each completely different from the…

  • The sole meh in the plan...

    Laura Anne Gilman
    7 May 2012 | 11:29 am
    I hate car services. I've had them fail/show up late often enough to never feel comfortable taking one to the airport. But the only other option is mass transit which would require me to be out of the house at....5AM on Thursday, for a (7:30am check-in) 9:30 flight.Meh.(JFK Airport is the furthest-away, least convenient airport for me. They also happened to have the best flight. Meh.)(and oh joy, yhere's an AirTrain advisory for that period, too)I may just not go to sleep Wednesday night. That way I'll be pretty assured of crashing at a reasonable hour once I reach the UK.... right?

  • Getting a Jump on the (Foreshortened) Week (and next)

    Laura Anne Gilman
    6 May 2012 | 1:19 pm
    Carried over from last week- return phone calls (no, seriously this time)New Stuff- update freelance contract (wow, things have changed since 2004. "Printing costs?" What're those?)- daily wordcount on FIXED (3/3)- daily word count on M2G (2/3)- send revised proposals to Madame Agent (postponed until I get back)- send section to Alpha Readers- print out Operation Oy for taking-with- prep cat-sitters (and cats)- clean apartment- all the last minute things- pack- goPlan to Do On Vacation- polish up "A Town Called Flood"- poke at "Untitled Kickstarter Bonus Story #1"- mark up and revise the…
 
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    BobGreenberger.com

  • Back to School

    Bob Greenberger
    10 May 2012 | 4:06 pm
    No one likes to admit they are flawed or to admit to failure. Yet, one has led to the other and I find myself in need of repeating my student teaching before being certified. This is a crushing decision since it delays my ability to find paying work as an educator until 2013 and requires, in some ways, starting fresh. My advisor, in association with my cooperating teachers, have concluded that the identified areas of weakness were not improved enough to give them the confidence I am ready for the classroom. The problems with my unit design and ability to pose three levels of questioning and…

  • My Ruminations on The Avengers

    Bob Greenberger
    7 May 2012 | 9:02 pm
    Yes, The Avengers is an incredibly enjoyable movie that has crossed over from making the diehard Marvel zombies giddy to include the far more casual fan who may know the characters only from the previous films. The press today is filled with news that the official domestic weekend gross of $200.7 million is a record, one of many the feature has justifiably earned over the last few weeks. There’s no reason to think the movie will not continue to set records as it hurtles towards the $1 billion mark. The major success not being discussed is that for the first time, four franchises have been…

  • The Waiting has Begun

    Bob Greenberger
    3 May 2012 | 1:21 pm
    I am waiting for my final grade from my advisor, which is not due until next Thursday. I am waiting for schools that have openings to begin scheduling interviews. I am waiting to see what my next step will be. Meantime, the final three days were a rush of wrapping things up. I finally got to observe a handful of conferences between my cooperating teacher and the World Lit students. I was somewhat surprised to see how many were barely 1/3 of the way through their 600 page reading requirement. It’s definitely going to be a struggle for some to do a good job while playing beat the clock. On my…

  • The Last Full Week of Teaching

    Bob Greenberger
    29 Apr 2012 | 10:59 am
    My last full week as a student teacher has certainly been a mixed assortment of activities. The seniors have been diligently reading their books in World Lit Seminar and every 50 pages or so are obligated to write a journal essay. Every day this week I have been taking a handful of kids to the Learning Connections room or the library to work at a terminal and I would be charged with watching over them, but also getting a chance to do some more reading. With three weeks to go before their rough drafts are due, the kids are grumbling about the amount of formal journal writing and reading…

  • I Heard Them on the Radio

    Bob Greenberger
    27 Apr 2012 | 7:23 am
    I grew up listening to voices. According to my mother and my own dim memories, growing up in Fresh Meadows, I would be done at the playground around 4 p.m. and be taken back to our apartment in time for me to watch Ðìçk Clark and American Bandstand. Back then, the show was aired daily and I was apparently fascinated by the music and the dancing. After moving to Long Island, I went to sleep with a transistor radio playing (much as my mother used) and the station was set to WNBC, which then was a talk radio format and every night I listened to host Brad Crandall. One night, I…
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    squeetus

  • Where are all the moms?

    Shannon Hale
    14 May 2012 | 2:55 pm
    Here's a discussion I've been meaning to write for a while, requested by commenters. A few years ago, I read a Horn Book article about the lack of mothers in fairy tales and books, and it mentioned, among others, Princess Academy. The article's writer (I'm embarrassed I can't remember who) challenged herself to change that and write a book where the protagonist's mother was a present, strong character. She talked about her work and how she had to scrap it. In a story, it's just impossible for a child/teen to have any adventures, to grow on his/her own with a…

  • Are you hardcore?

    Shannon Hale
    9 May 2012 | 11:16 am
    In college I went on a study abroad to Mexico. My two American housemates found a local gym and bought a temporary membership because their boyfriends told them, "You'd better not come back fat." I didn't have a boyfriend, but I was bored, so I joined them. It was there that I first discovered running.There was a small indoor track. I thought I'd try out a few laps, convinced I wasn't capable of anything more. But after a week, I realized I had more in me, so I went a few minutes more. And more. Suddenly I was running for forty-five minutes straight, amazed by…

  • An ARC winner speaks

    Shannon Hale
    7 May 2012 | 3:05 pm
    You may recall when I had the first contest for PALACE OF STONE, I said, "If you win, you are required to read the book and email me about how much you liked it. That's right--REQUIRED! You are NOT allowed to dislike this book!" Well, the first of the winners has responded, and she was very good at following instructions. We can only guess if she truly means it or just fears me (I'm scary), but I'm going to post the non-spoilery parts of her email here because it made me so happy. "No surprise, I loved it.  I’ll admit I wondered about the sequel since Princess…

  • What did you learn at the princess academy?

    Shannon Hale
    4 May 2012 | 11:14 am
    Winners! Winners! Wow, the 2nd guesser got it all right only 9 minutes after I posted. And I thought it would be so hard. SORA! 1. English-UK2. Indonesian3. English-UK4. Japanese5. Dutch6. Hungarian7. Korean8. Spanish9. French10. fan art by CrownJewel11. Indonesian12. Turkish13. Vietnamese14. Korean Here's where things get freaky. Using the random number generator, the random winner was: Q. Yes that's right, the same gal who correctly guessed the last contest and already won an ARC. I don't think she meant to enter. She wasn't guessing, just wishing everyone luck. So…

  • The international Goose Girl

    Shannon Hale
    1 May 2012 | 8:00 pm
    I'm making this one a contest too, since I have more ARCs to giveaway. I feel so rich! I usually get maybe two ARCs. Okay, the first person to correctly name each language or country of publication wins an ARC of Palace of Stone. Also one random commenter will win an ARC (chosen via a random number generator). PS. I changed the file names so no help there! Just to keep things interesting, ONE of these is not a real cover but fan art. Some of these images are quite low quality, sorry I don't have any better. Illegibility will make this contest even harder! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
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    the m john harrison blog

  • 15 May 2012 | 5:49 am

    uzwi
    15 May 2012 | 5:49 am

  • drowning the clock

    uzwi
    14 May 2012 | 5:59 am
    Every other night between midnight & three, I take my hard drives to the river. I turn right out of the house, then immediately right again, past magnolia, past wisteria. Barnes is empty. Maybe there are a few high clouds. A bit of moon the texture of fish skin. Maybe it’s snowing on a raw wind. Maybe the wind is blowing up from the river along Cleveland Gardens; maybe down towards it. Maybe it’s an August night, soft warm air more like Valencia than London. Anyway, walking is easy. It’s like a kind of floating, at least until the river front, the station, the dark brick…

  • urban vertical 1991

    uzwi
    13 May 2012 | 6:07 am
    Orange overalls daubed with sealants hang from a loose cable at the back of the power-tool room. From there you go up in a lift like a ribbed steel coffin smelling faintly of disinfectant. Roof access: pull-down steel ladder, counterweighted trap door. The drop is set up from ring bolts placed at regular intervals along the flat roof, the load spread over two or three bolts with clove-hitches. These bolts were part of a suspension-system for window cleaning cradles, unused because it didn’t get the approval of the insurance companies. Lightning conductors: a flat copper strip runs all…

  • heart sounds & bruits

    uzwi
    12 May 2012 | 4:46 am
    With its low ceiling, panelled walls and red velvet sofa, the lounge at Dunford Bridge was like the lounge of some comfortable country hotel. It was full of indoor plants which Pam had planted in brass jugs, casseroles, bits of terra cotta balanced on tall awkward wooden stands, even a coal scuttle made of some orange-blonde wood– “Anything,” Lucas pretended to complain, “but proper pots.” Every evening Pam’s footsteps would go tap-tapping restlessly across the polished wood-block floor, as, increasingly nervous, she looked for something to do. She rustled…

  • mexico 2009

    uzwi
    11 May 2012 | 5:40 am
    I’ve lost the notes for these, but the second one down shows Chris N. Brown & Chris Priest, in a room; the fourth shows CP scoping it out in DF; & the last two were taken by Cath Phillips.
 
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    Glenn Hauman: View From Above

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-05-13

    Glenn Hauman
    13 May 2012 | 1:30 pm
    Why ‘the sex life of the screwworm’ deserves taxpayer dollars. (I always wanted to tweet that headline.) http://t.co/UXlyIQQU # Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-05-13

    Glenn Hauman
    13 May 2012 | 1:30 pm
    Why ‘the sex life of the screwworm’ deserves taxpayer dollars. (I always wanted to tweet that headline.) http://t.co/UXlyIQQU # Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Twitter Updates for 2012-05-07

    Glenn Hauman
    7 May 2012 | 12:30 pm
    Why ‘the sex life of the screwworm’ deserves taxpayer dollars. (I always wanted to tweet that headline.) http://t.co/UXlyIQQU # Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Twitter Updates for 2012-05-07

    Glenn Hauman
    7 May 2012 | 12:30 pm
    Why ‘the sex life of the screwworm’ deserves taxpayer dollars. (I always wanted to tweet that headline.) http://t.co/UXlyIQQU # Powered by Twitter Tools

  • Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-04-29

    Glenn Hauman
    29 Apr 2012 | 1:30 pm
    What was that Commandment about "Thou Shall Not Steal"?: http://t.co/g345ivRJ # Six years, sixty feet to go… http://t.co/r2ZinPG2 # Powered by Twitter Tools
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    Something to Talk About

  • Make Something Useful Monday: Spiced Apple Rings

    angelinehawkes
    7 May 2012 | 9:40 am
    Make Something Useful  Monday: Spiced Apple RingsNumerous “homecooking” style restaurants serve these red, luscious confections. Some people refer to Spiced Apples as Candied Apples or Cinnamon Apples. Whichever name you recognize them by, these red, syrupy apple slices are a yummy dessert by themselves or served as an ice cream or pie topping. I have even seen spiced apples chopped into chunks and used as pie filling. For speed, I usually end up cutting mine into chunks or pieces rather than rings. I have had some problems locating the necessary little red cinnamon candies…

  • Friday Fellow Writer Spotlight: David Hardy

    angelinehawkes
    4 May 2012 | 2:18 pm
    Friday Fellow Writer Spotlight: David HardyBe sure to pick up a copy of David Hardy's new e-book,Crazy Greta from Musa Publishing. A great tale of intermingled history and fantasy, Crazy Greta will keep you on the edge of your digital seat.About the book:One woman against Death, Hell, and Heaven.As the Netherlands descends into the chaos of religious and political civil war, Crazy Greta runs her tavern, keeping order among the drinkers with her skillet. But when the Dead rise from their graves to slaughter the living, Greta faces a far greater challenge. Crazy Greta’s journeys take…

  • 25% off OUT OF THE GARDEN by Angeline Hawkes

    angelinehawkes
    3 May 2012 | 2:26 pm
    Use the coupon code Spring25 for 25% off all in stock items at Bad Moon Books!May I suggest some vicious Sword and Sorcery action?OUT OF THE GARDEN AND OTHER TALES OF THE BARBARIAN KABAR OF EL HAZZAR by Angeline HawkesThrough brutal landscapes and savage places, the barbarian Kabar of El Hazzar travels an ancient land full of witchery, forces of darkness and foul creatures. What makes a man? Is it wealth, customs and lineage; or is it the weapon in his hand and the courage in his heart? Cold steel meets hot flesh as Kabar fights, conquers and loves his way through primitive and ruthless…

  • SORROW CREEK available for PreOrder or NOW for Digital Books!

    angelinehawkes
    9 Apr 2012 | 2:55 pm
    SORROW CREEK, our new Fulbright & Hawkes novella, is available for Preorder as a hardcover or purchase NOW in digital format. Don't miss the Voodoo Madness!Kindle version here: http://www.amazon.com/Sorrow-Creek-ebook/dp/B007QLYH78/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334001193&sr=8-1

  • Writing Wednesday: Various Updates

    angelinehawkes
    4 Apr 2012 | 12:54 pm
    **Check out the new and improved Fulbright & Hawkes website. Sign up for our newsletter, connect with us on Twitter, subscribe via RSS, whatever works for you!** Snag a hardcover copy of BLACK MERCY FALLS for only $12.50 during the Delirium Books clearance sale of last year's titles!** Grab a copy of my 394-page sword & sorcery/heroic fantasy collection at Bad Moon Books today! Kabar of El Hazzar invites you to join him on his journey. Or don't. Either way he rides. Ready your sword and join Kabar of El Hazzar on Facebook. "Like" his page to learn about the mythical…
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    Simon Haynes

  • Been Quiet

    Simon Haynes
    22 Apr 2012 | 10:21 pm
    You probably noticed this has gone a bit quiet, but that's because publishing Hal Junior took a tremendous amount of effort. Once you launch your babies into the world you tend to focus on other projects for a while. In my case, first it was another edit of Hal 5, and now it's the Hal Spacejock PC game.My favourite PC games are classics like Transport Tycoon or Minecraft, where you start with a blank slate and create whatever you want. Graphics are not important. For me, it's all about the open-ended challenge.Blockbuster games are released like movies or books, where they have to be perfect…

  • Merry Christmas!

    Simon Haynes
    23 Dec 2011 | 10:00 pm
    I hope everyone has a safe holiday season and a prosperous and productive 2012.As a special pressie from me, Hal Junior: The Secret Signal (Kindle ebook) will be free on Christmas Day (US time zone) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005L632RGIf you don't have a Kindle there's always the free Kindle reader app for PC, Mac, smartphones and iThings.Might keep the kids quiet for a couple of hours after Christmas lunch ;-)

  • Hal Spacejock 5: Legacy publication date

    Simon Haynes
    17 Nov 2011 | 1:58 am
    Earlier today I posted to the Hal Spacejock mailing list, announcing several publication dates. I intend to stick with these, and revealing a deadline in public should do the trick.First, I'm happy to report that I've finished the first draft of Hal Spacejock 5: Legacy. It still needs editing and polishing, but I'm aimingfor a January/February 2012 release.I've also finished the first draft of Hal Junior 2: The Missing Case. This one should be out in April/May 2012.I'm currently working on the first draft of Hal Spacejock 6: Safe Art, which is slated for release in June/July 2012.Hal…

  • Release-a-thon part 2

    Simon Haynes
    14 Nov 2011 | 8:44 am
    This is the second batch of shorts I posted to Amazon today, priced at 99c each. Sleight of Hand was published in Potato Monkey issue 1, back in 2000/2001. The other two have never seen the light of day. (And neither will I, once all those epic fantasy authors get hold of me ...)Sleight of HandAfter a cosy meal, the protagonist retires to his host's workshop for an after-dinner drink ... and becomes the unwitting subject of an experiment.Thonn DayLike The Desolator, every time I write a fantasy tale it comes out as a gigantic p-ss-take on the genre. Farm boy ... check. Forbidden Magick ...

  • Release-a-thon

    Simon Haynes
    14 Nov 2011 | 2:17 am
    It's the middle of NaNoWriMo, so what better way to spend two whole writing days than ... editing six short stories into shape, coming up with covers for each one, and publishing them on Amazon Kindle?I blame Pauline Nolet, proofreader extraordinaire, who nagged me on Twitter after I happened to mention the unfinished short stories cluttering up my hard drive.Anyway, the first three are available now for the Kindle minimum price of 99c each. None have ever been published before.Off CourseAn alien invasion fleet picks the wrong golf course.UpdownSocial services call on ten-year-old Daniel,…
 
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    David Herter Novelist

  • New Espresso Editions Now Available

    David Herter
    1 May 2012 | 10:27 pm
     Espresso Book Guru Vlad Verano has cranked up his formidable machine and created new physical softcover editions of On The Overgrown Path and The Luminous Depths.  These are NEW editions, available for easy purchase in these United States, adorned with beautiful covers by VV, and containing revised and―in the case of On the Overgrown Path―expanded texts.  With a few clicks of the mouse, you can order them from Third Place Press, and via the links provided above.  (Or, if you're in the Seattle area, stop by Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park). 

  • On the Overgrown Path and The Luminous Depths Now Available on Nook

    David Herter
    9 Apr 2012 | 9:47 pm
    I think the headline says it all. 

  • Kindle Titles Up; Nook Coming Soon

    David Herter
    19 Mar 2012 | 12:16 am
    Now available on Kindle: Ceres Storm The Archival Edition"Long ago, long before Dayblown Phobos was born, before the Ceres Storm and the Whirlwinds, from which time fled to us with hands across its eyes..."In the far future on a radically transformed Mars, a boy named Daric is swept up in the designs of the fabled Hesiarch, one man who is now many, battling each other while working to reassert their influence on the post-human solar system. First published to acclaim in 2000, Ceres Storm is a science fiction adventure in the pyrotechnic tradition of Alfred Bester’s The Stars My…

  • In Stock Now!

    David Herter
    18 Mar 2012 | 4:55 am
    My new novel One Who Disappeared has been the Featured Book on PS Publishing's Main Page for several days now! (And they've published a zillion books recently). Here's a screenshot:

  • Gene Wolfe's Top Ten

    David Herter
    17 Mar 2012 | 3:32 pm
    Today the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame is honoring Gene Wolfe, my favorite writer.  Mr. Wolfe taught the sixth and final week at my Clarion West workshop, and the experience had a profound influence on my writing.I recently unearthed the battered notebook from those days, in which I rather obsessively jotted down every cool thing he said. So, in honor of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame awarding him for an outstanding lifetime contribution to literature, here are my top ten favorite things said in class by Gene Wolfe at Clarion West…
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    People are strange, when you're a stranger . . .

  • Tuesday floral report

    15 May 2012 | 2:46 pm
    First rhodora blossoms out in the bog.  Lilacs getting serious, azaleas getting done, maybe bunchberry in the woods.  Something white and low-growing, anyway.  Leaves are starting to fill in the tree skeletons of winter.Not-roadkill, but maybe prospecting, a turkey vulture soaring near my water stop.  Later, not-roadkill, an adult snapping turtle (12" or so shell) by the road through the bog.  Turtle was aimed away from the road surface, so I pedaled on.Windy*, some sun, not raining, so I got out on the bike.  Take what you can get.15.28 miles, 1:14:10*gusts…

  • More drippy

    15 May 2012 | 7:19 am
    Gray morning, alternating rain with just damp.  Air temperature 52 F, dew point 51, light southish wind with gusts.  We're supposed to see the backside of this on maybe Thursday . . .Still need to drum up sales and reviews on the book, people.  Five star review on Barnes & Noble  (The "next-door neighbor" bit is stretching it -- we live in the same state . . .):***Bought the eBook on the recommendation of author Sharon Lee (who happens to be James A. Burton's next-door neighbor). Read it in a single sitting; enjoyed it tremendously! The characters are…

  • Another semi-dawn

    14 May 2012 | 6:49 am
    Gray, but some blue.  Air temperature 49 F, dew point 45, wind NNE 5 mph, mostly cloudy.  Showers supposed to move in later.Speaking of "moving in" -- saw a mockingbird on a wire, then saw another one.  Second had dried grass in its beak.  First one, and then the second, flew across the street and then transferred into a cedar in front of an office there.  Rites of spring.State legislature and governor are proposing to defund Head Start programs.  I refer to this maneuver as "Eating the seed corn."Politics.

  • Sunday floral report

    13 May 2012 | 1:36 pm
    Showers passed over us, no lamb's blood required.  Got out on the bike.  Wild blueberries blooming on the roadside, may have seen the first yellow hawkweed of the year.  Or not -- difficult to sort all the yellows out, dandelions and mustard and coltsfoot and such, at bicycle botany speeds.No notable wildlife, no roadkill.15.27 miles, 1:12:14

  • Gray

    13 May 2012 | 5:43 am
    Air temperature 49 F, dew point 41, calm, overcast.  We're supposed to get sun and warm today, unless we've moved into northern Maine, in which case showers.  At this point, weather radar seems to be showing northern Maine as far south as Augusta . . .Happy "Mothers Day" to those of you with happy-making mothers.  To those who had less desirable versions, happy Spontaneous Generation Day.  I will head outside shortly, to pick the traditional Dandelion Bouquet for Wife.If, and I repeat IF, the promised sunshine arrives, I may attempt another bike ride.
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    Jim C. Hines

  • Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor

    Jim C. Hines
    15 May 2012 | 8:30 am
    Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] won the 2011 World Fantasy Award for best novel and made a number of other award shortlists and “Best of the Year” lists. This is a powerful book, one that looks unflinchingly at issues like rape and genocide, slavery and female circumcision. Unlike many books I’ve read, Okorafor’s approach never felt exploitative; she writes honestly. The book is sometimes brutal and sometimes beautiful and occasionally both at once. The book is set in post-apocalyptic Africa, and tells the story of…

  • Campbell Interview: Karen Lord

    Jim C. Hines
    14 May 2012 | 8:31 am
    Today we have the fifth and final interview with the finalists for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. You can read them all by clicking the Campbell Award tag. Please welcome Karen Lord, who writes about trickster spiders and is therefore extra-awesome. 1) In exactly 26 words, who is Karen Lord? Lover of paradox finding dreams in reality and reality in dreams, freedom in rules and order in chaos and now, as a writer, play in work. 2) Tell us about the kind of fiction you write, and where we can find some of it! I write speculative fiction, by which I mean fiction that contains…

  • Friday Stuff

    Jim C. Hines
    11 May 2012 | 8:30 am
    1. I’ll be at the Westland Public Library tomorrow as part of their Local Authors Fair. At 11:00, I’m giving a presentation on “Publishing with the Big Wigs.” Details here. 2. Raechel Henderson has been reviving Eggplant Literary Productions. Raechel was one of the first editors to buy my stuff, so I’m excited to see this. She’s doing a kickstarter for Spellbound, a children’s fantasy magazine. A pledge of $5 earns an electronic sampler that includes my story “Like Father, Like Daughter,” a sequel to my Writers of the Future tale…

  • Criticizing our Fandoms

    Jim C. Hines
    10 May 2012 | 11:07 am
    I want to start by thanking people for their contributions to the discussion on Avengers and Black Widow. While I don’t expect or want everyone to agree with me, and I didn’t agree with everything that came up in the comments, you gave me a lot to think about and helped me to refine some of my thoughts and reactions to the film. That was a weird discussion for me. Again and again, I found myself talking about the bits of the film I found problematic. After a while, I started feeling like I was just hating on a movie I generally loved. (Overall, I’d rank it as one of the best…

  • Campbell Interview: Stina Leicht

    Jim C. Hines
    9 May 2012 | 8:30 am
    This is the fourth of my interviews with the finalists for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. You can read all of the interviews by clicking the Campbell Award tag. Today we have author Stina Leicht, whose interview includes the immortal phrase, “…kick Snork ass.” 1) In exactly 27 words, who is Stina Leicht? I’m a perky goth with technicolor hair, sometimes known as the acorn of death. I’ve a light and a dark side. “Driven,” “perceptive,” and “serious” also apply. 2) Tell us about the kind of fiction you write, and where…
 
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    The voices in my head don't think they're imaginary

  • Kickstarters I’m Backing

    M.K. Hobson
    15 May 2012 | 11:10 am
    I like doing this so much I’m going to make it a regular weekly feature! Here are this week’s projects, listed in order of urgency. They’re all incredible but I’d like to call your particular attention to the Reading With Pictures project, as it is VERY close to goal, VERY short on time, and has a VERY worthy mission. I hope you’ll have a look! Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there.

  • What is running a Kickstarter really like?

    M.K. Hobson
    14 May 2012 | 2:49 pm
    At 11:59 p.m. last night my Kickstarter came to a successful conclusion. We not only met but significantly exceeded our funding goal, and honestly, I am still kind of in shock about the whole thing. While the experience is still fresh in my mind, I thought I’d try to come up with an accurate metaphor for what running a Kickstarter is like, and I’m down to three contenders: Running a Kickstarter is either like: A non-stop 24-hour cross-country road trip in a parade float that you made yourself (with baling wire and crepe paper from the dollar store) fueled by frantic tap-dancing…

  • Just over 24 hours left …

    M.K. Hobson
    12 May 2012 | 11:11 pm
    And we are almost 20% over goal! People, that is INCREDIBLE! I couldn’t be more grateful, or more stunned. As we approach the campaign’s final day, I wanted to let everyone know that even if you don’t get the chance to back this Kickstarter, you need have no fear, as most of the rewards will eventually be available to non-backers. Backers, of course, will get them first—but the ebooks, trade paperbacks, stories, etc., will all be available to the general public before the end of 2012. There is, however, one thing that ONLY backers can get. And that is the GOLD version of…

  • Marketing, publicity, advertising, and more

    M.K. Hobson
    12 May 2012 | 6:57 pm
    This is the second post in which I am answering questions sent to me by local author Amanda A. Allen. This time, they’re about publicity, advertising, conventions, and other marketing-type topics. And as I mentioned in the first post, if you have any questions you’d like answered, please leave them in the comments below! May I ask what you plan to do for promotion? I’ve read of so many different ways to draw in readers. I suppose that conventions and such are an obvious way. Conventions are great for meeting other industry professionals and hanging out with your friends.

  • Whew! Now what? Stretch goal!

    M.K. Hobson
    10 May 2012 | 12:16 pm
    So, after hitting 100% on my Kickstarter last night (and completing the uber-cute puppy thank you video that required quite a bit more editing than my slapdash vlogs usually do) I just collapsed. I wasn’t aware just how much tension I was holding about the Kickstarter’s outcome. I can only compare the relief of hitting my funding target to the pleasure of removing a tight-laced corset. I feel confident that at least  half of my readers have worn a corset at some point (given what I know about my readers) but if you haven’t, it is pure bliss. It is worth wearing a corset…
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    Ben's Blog

  • Benology

    Ben
    30 Apr 2012 | 7:59 am
    This is another one of those posts that are more for honour's sake than anything else. Otherwise April 2012 would be an unrecorded blank. Two deaths, one funeral and sundry other factors have made it a quite ridiculously busy month - though not so much that I couldn't get 15,000 words of the WIP wrote.So for something to do, here's one of those quizzes that were all the rage a few years ago. You hardly see them nowadays because probably everyone's gone over to Facebook. Without further ado, pinched from far too many places on the internet to attribute the…

  • Putting my back into it

    Ben
    19 Mar 2012 | 8:32 am
    Anyone remember the case of British Chiropractic Association vs Simon Singh? The former were suing the latter because they alleged his critique of the claims they made for chiropractic had crossed the line into defamation. Personally I was for Simon Singh, on the grounds that (a) the plaintiffs were big enough to take it and (b) science is not determined by running to the courts boo-hooing because the nasty man said something rude. If you’re rich enough to hire enough lawyers to sue the other guy into the ground, that’s probably a good sign that you don’t actually need to.Let me be…

  • The Economist meets evangelicals

    Ben
    9 Mar 2012 | 7:07 am
    The Economist has published an article titled Hot and bothered: The rise of evangelicalism is shaking up the established church. It's evenly reported and balanced yet still begs the question: "um, why now?", because not a single thing in it is new or in any way newsworthy.But still, as it's here ...For all the impression it gives that the reporter might have picked up an old Alpha leaflet and decided to write the story as though it's breaking news, it is absolutely not a scare-mongering "look out, the Christian Right are coming!" article. Nor is it the kind of Radio 4 report you get, warning…

  • Bill

    Ben
    5 Mar 2012 | 8:05 am
    There are probably two main reasons a guy might go to his old housemaster’s memorial service. One would be to make sure they really did nail the coffin lid down before burning him. I’m very glad to say I went for the other reason – to say goodbye and pay my respects to a man who made a huge impression in my life. To judge from the packed abbey last Saturday, he did that in a lot of other lives too.Bill Cooper was housemaster of Westcott House, Sherborne School, from 1966-1981, meaning he stood down at the end of my O-level year. As a young man he was a gifted athlete and sportsman, a…

  • The Bens 2012

    Ben
    22 Feb 2012 | 7:41 am
    I really must blog more. A time-, soul- and hope-consuming freelance project is drawing thankfully to an end so hopefully there’ll be more time after that …Meanwhile, the Bens 2012 have been announced, for various classes of movie watched by Ben in 2011. The motto of the Ben Academy is it’s not what it’s about, it’s how it’s about it (or as Google Translates assures me, circa quod non est suus, suus est de modo.Best movie:The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest The King's Speech The Social Network And the winner has to be The Girl. The entire Millennium trilogy was energetic,…
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    Vylar Kaftan

  • Just like finals week

    Vylar
    13 May 2012 | 12:32 pm
    Does anyone else find that the week or two before WisCon is absolutely packed with writing things they have to get done? I’m not sure if it’s something about the time of year, or some subconscious urge to feel like I “did something” right before the con.

  • New pro-paying horror market edited by JJA

    Vylar
    7 May 2012 | 1:31 pm
    John Joseph Adams and Creeping Hemlock Press are working on launching Nightmare Magazine, a new horror publication paying at least 5 cents a word. They have a Kickstarter where you can help fund them and/or subscribe in advance. They also have a statement about welcoming diverse submissions. The project shows a lot of promise and I’m definitely supporting it.

  • Social writing

    Vylar
    30 Apr 2012 | 6:57 pm
    Today I alternated research note-taking with socializing in a chatroom of writers. And we did a few “word wars” where we all focused on work for a period of time, then treated ourselves to chats. It’s amazing how much I can get done that way. I _love_ social writing and wish I had more opportunities to do it. I even like sitting in the same room with people who are all writing. I love Nanowrimo write-ins and things like that. I’m far more social than the average writer-bear.

  • Testing.

    Vylar
    26 Apr 2012 | 11:33 am
    Something is going weird with the cross-posting between my blog and LJ. Let me see if this works… (no need to respond unless you have a totally smartassed witty comment that will make me laugh)

  • Seeking Captain Random will be in Interzone

    Vylar
    26 Apr 2012 | 11:22 am
    Editor Andy Cox tells me that “Seeking Captain Random” will be in the issue that’s mailed in early May. I’m really glad to see this story in publication; it was one of the last to be released from Realms of Fantasy, and the artwork was already done. Interzone was happy to buy the artwork, so this is the picture that was originally going to appear with the story. I like it.
 
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    Nicholas Kaufmann's Journal

  • A Publishing Horror Story

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    14 May 2012 | 6:08 pm
    And the horror micropress shits all over itself again, once again proving how little they actually care about the genre or its writers. Read this account of unbelievably shoddy treatment of an author by Undead Press. I’d already suspected Undead Press wasn’t worth working with just from looking at their website and their output, but now, thanks to one brave author speaking out, we all know they’re to be avoided at all goddamn costs. Originally published at Nicholas Kaufmann. You can comment here or there.

  • Awake, Put to Sleep

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    14 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    NBC has canceled their new drama Awake. It’s too bad. I think Awake was the only new program from the past season I was still watching. (Terra Nova, Persons of Interest, Grimm, and Once Upon a Time all got dumped from your faithful TV Nerd’s schedule pretty quickly in yet another lackluster TV season.) However, I suspect the reason I liked Awake so much may be the same reason it didn’t take off with viewers. It was slow and overly thoughtful, but most importantly, it didn’t have a mythology. In the story of a man shuffling between two realities, one where his son…

  • Happy Mother’s Day

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    13 May 2012 | 7:24 am
    The alien queen would like to wish all you moms out there a happy Egg-Laying Day Mother’s Day! Here’s hoping no crazy, flamethrower-toting Earth women come to mess everything up! Originally published at Nicholas Kaufmann. You can comment here or there.

  • I Have Reached the Apex

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    10 May 2012 | 7:18 am
    I had chocolate-covered bacon last night. It’s all downhill from here. Originally published at Nicholas Kaufmann. You can comment here or there.

  • Monsters in the Movies

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    9 May 2012 | 8:57 am
    When I was a kid, I loved monster movies. Every Sunday morning, a local TV station would show Abbott & Costello movies, all of which I loved, but my favorites were always the ones with monsters in them: Hold That Ghost, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. I have fond memories of birthday parties spent renting monster movies on 8mm film from the library: Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, Gamera, Rodan, King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, The Mummy. And equally…
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    Dear Sweet Filthy World

  • "At least we now both have a story to tell."

    greygirlbeast
    14 May 2012 | 12:16 pm
    I do adore waking up and immediately discovering that the world is even more angrifying than when I went to sleep. Wait, no. That's not right. I don't find things worse upon waking. I'm not that goddamn naïve. I wake up, look at CNN.com, and get a face full of humanity. Which really puts the fault on me for looking, as humanity cannot be expected not to be angrifying. Like the woman on that Time cover (by her own leave). Attachment fucking "parenting"? Yes, Virginia, humans are the only mammals too stupid to know when to wean. Or, worse still, the crazy shit black pastors are saying to…

  • "I just sit by and let you fight your secret war."

    greygirlbeast
    13 May 2012 | 8:04 pm
    One day soon, maybe tomorrow, I'll sit down and write a real "this-is-what-I've-been-doing" entry. But for now, just a reminder that we have the very special Alabaster auction up, and the clock's ticking. Please have a look. This is letter F of the limited edition ("F" is for Flammarion!), and we rarely offer the limiteds of this book. Much less do we offer them with a one-of-a-kind prop from Les Fleurs Empoisonnees.One day, someone will actually solve the mystery of Miss Aramat Drawdes. Maybe. There are secrets and scars and personal demons I show all the world, but keep entirely to…

  • "And though your skin's sheet white, and your arms carry scars..."

    greygirlbeast
    11 May 2012 | 12:00 pm
    Here in Providence, it may be that Cold Spring is sliding towards the chilly beginnings of summer. We have some sun today, some sun, but still some clouds, too. Maybe mostly clouds. It's about 61˚F out there, and I have the office window open a crack. Just a crack, to let in some fresh air. But I have to keep the space heater running, or the temperature in here will plunge (my window faces west, and so is presently still in shadow).---Sirenia Digest #77 went out to subscribers this ayem. You should have it by now (unless, you're not a subscriber, but that's easy to fix).And Aunt Beast's Salt…

  • "And though your skin's sheet white and your arms carry scars..."

    greygirlbeast
    10 May 2012 | 11:58 am
    I'm listening to Keaton Henson's album. It's a beautiful thing. Utterly fucking beautiful. My thanks to whoever was kind enough to send it to me. Outside, the sun is coming and going, and the ceiling of clouds has, mercifully, been shattered. It's only 57˚F right now, and it likely won't go higher than 66˚F, and, even here in Providence, this is a paltry excuse for May (ironically, we've had a warmer than average year so far, overall). I'm looking towards Saturday, when we may reach the mid seventies with sun. If so, I will not stay inside, and the work be damned.----Yesterday, for the…

  • R.I.P. Maurice Sendak, and thank you, Mr. President

    greygirlbeast
    9 May 2012 | 8:11 pm
    Last night, I meant to make what would have been a somewhat simple entry. We woke yesterday morning to the news that Maurice Sendak had died, which hit both Spooky and me pretty hard. His beautiful, brilliant work was so important to both our childhoods. And, I don't know, I think some part of me fantasized I'd one day be able to tell him that in person. As with Edward Gorey and Doctor Seuss and so many others, this was not to be, and so it goes.And, in the news of Sendak's death, we learned that he was gay, and that he'd been with his partner for fifty years. Sendak is quoted as having said,…
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    Mindy Klasky - Virtual Cocktails

  • Garth Nix — A Confusion of Princes

    Mindy Klasky
    15 May 2012 | 5:03 am
    One of the best things about writing is that I get to read.  Sometimes, I get to read ARCs (Advance Readers Copies) of books by my favorite authors.  Every once in a while, I get one of those ARCs that makes me jump up and down with excitement.  And once in a blue moon, I get an ARC by a favorite author that makes me jump up and down and then stay up all night, reading the book in one giant gulp. That, dear reader, was my fate when I received an ARC of Garth Nix’s A Confusion of Princes.  The book is out in stores today, so you can join in the fun. Here are the first two…

  • To Trunk or Not To Trunk?

    Mindy Klasky
    11 May 2012 | 5:00 am
    A recent article in Romance Writers Report discussed “under the bed” manuscripts (what I would call “trunked” manuscripts – as in, stored in a trunk).  The article pointed out that many authors are publishing their trunked works, using the wonders of Amazon, B&N, and other purveyors of ebooks to reach the audience that their treasured never-sold manuscripts had not yet found. I have five trunked novels — two traditional fantasy, two category romance, and one mystery.  I’ve fiddled with one of the fantasy novels off and on over the years —…

  • Magical Words – Incognito Introvert

    Mindy Klasky
    9 May 2012 | 10:21 am
    I’m over at Magical Words today, writing about how I disguise my inner introvert when I have to take her out in public: http://www.magicalwords.net/mindy-klasky/incognito-introvert/ Stop by and comment (and share your own experiences as an introvert or extrovert or someone in between!) Mindy, ducking back into writing… Mirrored from Mindy Klasky, Author.

  • Found It!

    Mindy Klasky
    8 May 2012 | 12:53 pm
    After two days of poking and prodding and trying to come up with the perfect first sentence for PLEASANT VALLEY, I have it:  It’s not my fault. Yeah.  It’s only four words.  But when Ashley said them to me, I suddenly understood exactly how to start this thing. Pardon me.  I’m off to write… Mindy, already out the door   Mirrored from Mindy Klasky, Author.

  • Pleasant Passions: Book Research

    Mindy Klasky
    2 May 2012 | 2:32 pm
    I’m stringing together the outline for a new book, in a new genre (contemporary YA, with no paranormal element), temporarily called PLEASANT VALLEY, USA.  As with all books, this one cries out for some basic research, so that I can define the parameters of the story. In the past week, I’ve researched the following items (in no particular order): Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Timeline of the Columbine shootings Process for procuring production rights of plays through Samuel French Acclaimed college baseball programs Pink slime Daily calendar of my local high…
 
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    Mary Robinette Kowal

  • Writing Excuses 7.20: Cathartic Horror » Writing Excuses

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    15 May 2012 | 6:13 pm
    Michael R. Collings and his son Michaelbrent Collings join us live at UVU to talk with us about cathartic horror. In particular, we talk about how the catharsis is part of what makes horror such a delightful genre. Michael leads with an example from his own writing, a novel called The Slab. Brandon talks about the physiological response, and Mary compares the cautionary aspects of horror to the early (read: pre-Disney) fairy tales. Dan cautions us against didacticism, and explains about how the underlying story is usually quite different from what’s on the page. Michaelbrent further…

  • My new container garden

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    14 May 2012 | 4:19 pm
    I took a break from unpacking today to do a little gardening. It’s been about four years since I lived somewhere that gardening was feasible. Our balcony gets good light, plus came with two planters on the balcony. This is one of the two. I’ve filled them with edibles. There are two types of cherry tomatoes, a compact “Yummy Mix” pepper plant, oracle, nasturtiums, rosemary, and sorrel. The oracle is the purple plant which is apparently a Pacific Northwest Native that tastes like spinach and is very nutritious. It’s also pretty, so, bonus. As the season moves on,…

  • Heading to Houston — reading today

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    12 May 2012 | 7:58 am
    I’m flying into Houston today to read from Glamour in Glass at Murder by the Book. I will have the tiny little puppet show, temporary tattoos of the missing first line, and I’ll be in Regency costume. Will I see you there?

  • Our new dining room.

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    10 May 2012 | 9:29 am
    In case you’re wondering why I’ve been scarce, we’re still very much in the throes of unpacking. To tide you over until I emerge from all of the cardboard, here’s our dining room, with the remaining boxes carefully cropped out of the photo. The swinging door leads to the kitchen. You can just see the bathroom and the guestroom/Rob’s office off of the kitchen. I say Rob’s office, but it is currently the cardboard storeroom where the majority of the boxes are. Soon, though. Soon, it will be free of cardboard. Allow me to also remind you that I’ll be in…

  • Ta da! A Chicago mailing address

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    7 May 2012 | 9:23 pm
    Not only have I returned safely from Mo*Con, I also have a Chicago mailing address. I must really live here now. Mary Robinette Kowal P.O. Box 221298 Chicago, IL 60622
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    Nancy's Blog

  • SF Ladies Lunch

    13 May 2012 | 5:14 pm
    Yesterday was the Second Annual Science Fiction Ladies Lunch at my apartment in Seattle.  Everyone had a lovely time (at least, I did, and they said they did).  We exchanged industry information, gossip, and updates on what everyone is doing.  From left to right around the table (although not everyone, alas, is equally visible -- I'm not a very good photographer):  Eileen Gunn, Leslie Howle, Elizabeth Bourne, Janet Freeman-Daily, Brenda Cooper, Vonda McIntyre, Louise Marley, Nisi Shawl, Kelley Eskridge, Nicola Griffith.  Out of town: Timmi DuChamp and Cat Rambo. 

  • Reviewers

    6 May 2012 | 1:14 pm
    Last year I was on a panel with four people who write review columns.  It was a cordial panel but the contention was there, beneath the polite acknowledgements of each other's basic worth.  Reviewers are usually regarded by writers with the same wariness that timid children regard strange dogs: Will it bite me?  Like me?  Ignore me? Is it safe to approach?Since I have had two books come out in the last two months, I have had a ton of reviews.  Most, I'm glad to say, have been favorable.  But reviews do more than label a book "good" or "bad."  They can also…

  • Happy at the Movies

    4 May 2012 | 5:19 pm
    Who would have thought you could make a gripping movie about the rivalry of two Talmudic scholars?  It doesn't seem a promising subject, to say the least.  But the idie Israeli film (in Hebrew, with English subtitles) FOOTNOTE does just that.The movie stars two actors I never heard of, Shlomo Bar'aba and Lior Ashkenzai, who play father and son, both scholars at a major university.  The father, whose work of thirty years was scooped before publication by someone else, has been reduced to a footnote in Talmudic history.  The son is a scholarly success.  The movie…

  • Story Collection

    1 May 2012 | 5:28 pm
    Last week Small Beer Press published my most recent collection of stories, FOUNTAIN OF AGE AND OTHER STORIES.  The collection includes a few award winners (the title story won a Nebula and "The Erdmann Nexus" a Hugo), as well as seven other stories.  My own favorite is one that hardly anybody else liked: "The Kindness of Strangers."  Sometimes an author's taste doesn't jibe with readers' preferences.If I had my choice, I would write only short stories and novellas.  They are my favorite form.  However, novels are what pay the bills -- the facts of life in…

  • Kurt and Me

    29 Apr 2012 | 10:04 am
    Are there rules for writing?  No, not in the sense of strictures that you must follow or your piece will collapse like wet tissue (always, of course, with the exception of using the comma of address :)  The usual word is "guidelines," but I prefer a term borrowed from business: "best practices."  Which means: "This worked for our company and led to increased profit, so go the hell ahead and emulate us."Recently I was pleased to find that Kurt Vonnegut and I share similar best practices.  He left a list of eight pieces of advice for aspiring fiction writers, most (although…
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    Justine Larbalestier

  • You don’t have to read my books

    Justine
    9 May 2012 | 9:40 pm
    To my friends, acquaintances & family: you do not have to read my books! Truly. My being a writer is not meant to oppress you in any way! Read what you want or don’t want. Forget I write books at all! Be free! Okay, scratch that, family, you do have to! But everyone else is in the clear. Reading an entire book is a big time commitment. And the older you get the more painfully aware you become that you are not going to be able to read all the books you want to before you die. It’s a very long time since I finished a book I wasn’t enjoying. If it’s not grabbing me…

  • Team Human Fanart

    Justine
    28 Apr 2012 | 6:10 pm
    Team Human has its first piece of fan art and it hasn’t even been published yet! I am beside myself with excitement. Seriously, I screamed when Sarah Rees Brennan tweeted it. Unlike many of my YA author friends, my books do not attract a lot of fan art. It would be more accurate to say that they attract almost no fan art at all. Seriously click on the fan art category for this blog and see how little there is. Now go over to Scott’s blog and check out his Fan Art Fridays. Or check out the paucity on deviantART.1 I’ve put it below the cut because it’s spoilery and if…

  • A Story What I Wrote in My Late Teens! Avert Thine Eyes! Run for the Hills!

    Justine
    25 Apr 2012 | 5:08 pm
    Below is a story that I wrote in my late teens. I remember the day I finished it. I was so full of joy and pride in my genius. It was the best story I had ever written. (True fact. I was rubbish back then.) Maybe even the best story anyone had ever written! Or, so, I thought on the day I finished it. I don’t remember whether I sent it anywhere to be published. I do remember that at some point, not that long after finishing it, I decided it was, in fact, the worst story ever written and consigned it to the “this is crap” file. It is pretty awful. But more in a bad-boring than…

  • I’ll Know I’ve Made it as a Writer When . . .

    Justine
    26 Mar 2012 | 7:57 pm
    . . . I finish a whole manuscript. . . . I learn how to rewrite that whole manuscript. . . . I get five/ten/fifteen/one hundred/etc rejection letters from real-life agents. . . . I knuckle down and rewrite the book again. And again. And again. Etc. . . . I get a request for the whole manuscript from a real-life agent. . . . I get an agent. . . . I get five rejections from publishers. . . . I get ten rejections from publishers. (Would you believe twenty rejections? How about thirty? One hundred? One thousand? One million?) . . . I start writing my second/third/fourth/fifth/etc book despite the…

  • Why I Cannot Write a Novel With Voice Recognition Software (Updated x 3)

    Justine
    16 Feb 2012 | 3:42 pm
    Every time I mention my RSI people suggest that I use voice recognition software. I do use it. And though I hate it I know that it has transformed gazillions of people’s lives. There are people who literally could not write without it. For them VRS is a wonderful transformative thing. Bless, voice recognition software! I am well aware that what VRS is trying to do is unbelievably complicated. Recognising spoken language and reproducing it as written language is crazy hard.1 The way we make sense of what someone says is not just about recognising sounds. We humans (and other sentient…
 
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    If You Like That Sort Of Thing

  • On writing for children:

    Richard Larson
    9 May 2012 | 10:25 am
    Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious — and what is too often overlooked — is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the…

  • Beyond Binary!

    Richard Larson
    17 Apr 2012 | 12:50 pm
    I'm late to announce this, but Beyond Binary was released early! You can now buy it at all the usual places--and with stories by Cat Valente, Kelly Eskridge, Nalo Hopkinson, Delia Sherman, and many other amazing writers, it's a worthy investment not only for your entertainment (these are science fiction stories, after all) but for the promotion of queer fiction and the community of writers working to break down barriers of gender and sexuality. Buy a copy today!

  • Necessary reading:

    Richard Larson
    17 Apr 2012 | 11:08 am
    Roxane Gay on The Hunger Games: I learned a long time ago that life often introduces young people to situations they are in no way prepared for, even good girls, lucky girls who want for nothing. Sometimes, when you least expect it, you become the girl in the woods. You lose your name because another one is forced on you. You think you are alone until you find books about girls like you. Salvation is certainly among the reasons I read. Reading and writing have always pulled me out of the darkest experiences in my life. Stories have given me a place in which to lose myself. They have allowed…

  • A good review!

    Richard Larson
    31 Mar 2012 | 1:18 pm
    Charlie Jane Anders, reviewing over at io9, enjoyed her reading of Beyond Binary, and singled out my story for mention: "...a lot of the best stories in this book have an undercurrent of menace, of the fear of losing yourself — like "Ghost Party" by Richard Larson, in which the threat of becoming a ghost is sort of a metaphor for surrendering your selfhood and being taken over, claimed, owned." Very happy, especially as I'm considering expanding the story into something bigger...

  • ... in which I write about THE HUNGER GAMES:

    Richard Larson
    20 Mar 2012 | 12:40 pm
    Typically, the main element missing in film adaptations of novels—specifically those written in the first person, such as Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games—is the inevitable intimacy we develop with the story's narrator, which we take for granted in our experience of the text and only notice when experiencing the same story without such privileged access. When a character's most private thoughts are perpetually available to the reader, the resulting experience is at once more sensual and more narrow than its cinematic counterpart, our window to the world only as large as a…
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    SF and Nonsense

  • Beyond this point (hopefully) be Dragons

    15 May 2012 | 9:02 am
    In the post-Shuttle era, as you will recall, the US has no way to deliver cargo or astronauts to the International Space Station (which, despite its name, was mostly designed and paid for by NASA). I've vented in this blog more than once (as in "Move 'em on. Head 'em out. Rawhide!" and "Crocodile cheers") about retiring the Shuttle before a replacement spacecraft was at hand.How does stuff get to the ISS? Some cargo arrives on the soon-to-be-discontinued EU automated transfer vehicle. The remaining cargo and all crew reaches the ISS by writing large checks to the Russians.  More than a…

  • Tech dispatches from the Department of "D'oh"

    8 May 2012 | 8:38 am
    As Japan slowly recovers from last year's natural disaster ("It's the tsunami, stupid"), that country -- by popular demand -- is about to inflict more hardship on itself.Nothing but a bit of steam ...How so? Via the shutdown of all nuclear power in the country. That's fifty reactors, which not long ago provided almost thirty percent of the nation's electrical power. IMO, that's quite the overreaction to the (unprecedented) earthquake-plus-tsunami damage to a cluster of four reactors.Oddly enough, it happens that choices have consequences. And so "Nuclear-free Japan braces for severe power…

  • Eclectomania

    1 May 2012 | 9:01 am
    Dunno that that's a real word, but it should be. If enough of you pass it on, it will be.Buy a Kindle (Beauty not included)All of today's eclectic topics are writing-centric. We'll start with "Sci-fi publisher announces Tor and Forge will go DRM-free with all e-book titles." Tor has published the majority of my titles, so if DRM is an issue for you ... hang in there.And in other breaking news: "Microsoft buys stake in Barnes and Noble’s Nook e-reader." Maybe there will be longterm competition in ereaders despite the DoJ's best efforts. Last October, I posted (see "Inspiration") on the…

  • Move 'em on. Head 'em out. Rawhide!

    24 Apr 2012 | 7:43 am
    You got it: a round-up post. Three newsworthy (not to mention, eclectic) observations on matters of science and technology ...Circuses (we're out of bread)Last May I ranted about the slow, lingering death of any American space program (see "Crocodile cheers"). In particular, I admitted, "I've progressed from bemused to troubled to angry at the spate of breathless headlines heralding some 'final' activity of a space shuttle." Last week saw new breathless coverage about the Washington DC flyover bringing the shuttle Discovery to its final resting place at the Smithsonian.Syndicated columnist…

  • Contrariwise

    17 Apr 2012 | 8:41 am
    From Through the Looking Glass:Alice meets the twins"I know what you're thinking about," said Tweedledum; "but it isn't so, nohow.""Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic." And so to publishing, economics (aka, "the dismal science"), public policy, and Through the Looking Glass (aka, world-class) examples of  (il)logicToday's post deals with what must be for any author among the biggest news items of recent days. To wit: the federal lawsuit brought against Apple and five major book…
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    The Days Are Just Packed

  • Three Days in Berlin

    15 May 2012 | 2:27 pm
    Word count: 0 Step count: 8309 + 13,055 + 11,575 Sunday 5/13 Awoke in Dresden, had another fabulous Hildegard von Bingen breakfast, and had the hotel van take us to the train station. In the bathroom at the station, a guy in full plate armor came clanking out of the next stall, no shit swear to God. We bought baguettes at Crobag (Croissant + Baguette -- ugly name, pretty good sandwiches) to eat on the train. Then... Berlin! The Berlin Hauptbahnhof (main train station) is huge, modern, multi-level, shiny, crowded -- this is The Big City! We're hearing a lot more languages and accents and…

  • Dresden

    13 May 2012 | 7:36 am
    Word count: 0 Step count: 11,370 Our Dresden hotel, the Hotel Privat (AKA Das Hotel Nichtrauscher AKA The Non-Smoking Hotel) is lovely in every way except that it is a little further away from the city center than our previous hotels -- a bit of a hike to the nearest tram stop, and that tram doesn't connect directly to much of anything. But it has the best breakfast spread we've seen yet, including American-style bacon, 2 kinds of scrambled eggs, 3 kinds of sausage, lox, chocolate quark (yummy), and Hildegard von Bingen's Dinkel-Habermus (hot spelt cereal) with a selection of toppings…

  • Photos from Prague

    11 May 2012 | 2:59 pm

  • Two and a half days in Prague, half a day in Dresden

    11 May 2012 | 2:30 pm
    Word count: 0 Step count: 12,206 + 13,417 + 10,432 Circumstances have militated against blogging for the last couple of days, so this will be a rather scattered catch-up post. The other day at dinner we recognized the song that was playing, something in English, but couldn't quite place the singer. I used the Shazam app on my phone to identify it: Andy Williams. For the entire rest of that dinner we were treated to Andy Williams covers of such entirely inappropriate sixties classics as "Killing Me Softly" and "Fire and Rain." Kind of head-'splodey. We have seen a lot of castles in the last…

  • Prague Castle

    8 May 2012 | 4:16 pm
    Word count: 0 Step count: 16,958 For the first day or so after we arrived in Prague, I felt as though we had entered another country (probably Poland) and that we needed to use a different language or change money or something. But no, it's still the Czech Republic. Though I still speak very little Czech, I can say yes, no, please, thank you, and hello, and I'm beginning to recognize many common words like danger, exit, menu, and potato. And, as is typical for me, my accent is much better than my vocabulary or comprehension. It really makes me cringe when I hear American voices right now,…
 
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    Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

  • Bones Season 7 Finale: Suspect Bones

    14 May 2012 | 11:43 pm
    One of the important things to always bear in mind about Bones is that although Bones is a genius, she's not the only genius in the world.  And when an evil genius takes umbrage at Bones, that genius can do a lot of damage.   In the past, the contest between Bones, Booth, and the gang versus the evil genius have made for some of the very best groups of shows.  Tonight's episode, which starts a story that will  continue beyond this season's finale, seems destined to continue that fine tradition.This season finale is also the finale, at the same time, for another group…

  • Mad Men 5.9: Don's Creativity

    14 May 2012 | 3:25 pm
    The biggest deal in Mad Men 5.9 last night was the pair of ads that our band of merry mad men and woman were working up for another new client, Snoball - the coconut pink marshmallow chocolate cake whipped cream (from outside to inside) concoction that you could bliss you out with on sugar with a just few bites if you weren't careful.Anyway, Peggy's idea of three men lost in the desert, two dreaming of water, the third dreaming of the dessert, is knocked out in the first meeting.  I actually like that better than Ginsberg's idea of throwing a snoball in an authority's face, but that…

  • Fringe Season 4 Finale: Death and Life

    12 May 2012 | 8:32 am
    The Fringe Season 4 finale promised to answer some big questions and it did.   We see how September got shot, and, even more important, that his dire words to Olivia that she dies in all possible futures is true.But, of course, she doesn't die, and therein resides a couple of problems with this episode.  Not that I wanted her to die - quite the opposite - or that something in the story if truly followed obliged her to die. No, it was rather the way she died and then didn't die that didn't work.  Shot point blank in the head by Walter - a powerful scene - but Walter is able…

  • Bones 7.12: The Corpse is Hanson

    7 May 2012 | 11:47 pm
    Yes, the corpse was Hanson on tonight's hilarious Bones 7.12 - not Hart Hanson, the brains behind the real Bones, but Hanson Stephens, fictitious head producer of the fictitious Bone of Contention movie based on Temperance Brennan's characters.  Given that the real Bones is based on Kathy Reichs' characters - that is, a real human being writer's characters, in contrast to Temperance, who of course is fictitious, too - not to mention that Stephen Nathan is a real producer of the real Bones - tonight's episode was one fine meta-meta-show indeed.  Bertrand Russell would have been…

  • Mad Men 5.8: Mad Man and Gilmore Girl

    7 May 2012 | 11:12 am
    Two fine stories on Mad Men 5.8 last night -Megan, after a great run in the "beans, beans, the musical fruit" and new Cool Whip campaigns, decides to quit her job in advertising!   Her heart and soul are in acting.   One round of applause from an audience is worth all the Heinz beans accolades in the world.   Peggy tries to talk her out of it - which makes sense, given that for Peggy the advertising work is the job of a lifetime.  Don is understanding - he'll miss the sexual energy in the office, for sure, but he'll have a happier Megan at home, and he does have…
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    Holly Lisle: Official Author HomepageHolly Lisle: Official Author Homepage

  • Friday Snippet: HTCB — An Innocent Bit of Deception

    Holly
    11 May 2012 | 6:00 am
    Cady in Hunting the Corrigan's BloodMy mind twisted like a pretzel as I started working my way through the Law of Unintended Consequences while writing Cady and Badger in Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood. People were trying to kill her, her employer was overpaying her for reasons she didn’t find entirely convincing, and her built-in spy-cam had given her information that only made everything else more confusing. Enter some new information that REALLY fouled things up…and an innocent bit of deception on Cady and Badger’s part that is going to have a hellish backlash. I…

  • Struggling with an Alternative for PayPal Users

    Holly
    8 May 2012 | 1:02 pm
    I’ve had a number of folks from countries outside the US who have contacted me to ask me how I’m going to make either my novels or my courses available to readers or students who don’t have access to Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com or the Apple Store or CreateSpace. What these folks have all had in common is their ability to buy via PayPal (and thus to use Smashwords). I promised to re-investigate Smashwords, and it remains as bad a deal for writers as it was before. I think I’ve come up with a workable alternative, but it will be a lot of work for me, so before I…

  • Friday Snippet: HTCB — Meet Cady

    Holly
    4 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    Cady in Hunting the Corrigan's BloodI realized that, because of the small printing HUNTING THE CORRIGAN’S BLOOD got when it came out in 1997, and the fact that it sold through its initial printing in about four months and then was never reprinted, even most of the folks who read my other books have not had a chance to read this book. So even though it’s a reprint, I’m going to treat it like a new release, and give you some snippets from it over the next several weeks. And when I bring it out on the multiple platforms with its new Afterword and the first chapter from…

  • Friday Snippet: Warpaint … Cady’s Back

    Holly
    27 Apr 2012 | 7:00 am
    This is the first draft intro to WARPAINT, the second Cadence Drake novel. (As with all snippets, I’m posting these as I’m writing the novel, so while this is what I have at the moment, if I come up with something in revision I like better, no snippet is guaranteed to see the light of publication.) But right now, I like this. NOTICE: This material is copyrighted, unchecked raw first draft, probably buggy. Please don’t post typos or corrections (I do my edits at the end of the first draft of the project and will not see your comments when I revise). This material may not…

  • Urchin King: An Interview with Author Katharina Gerlach

    Holly
    20 Apr 2012 | 6:00 am
    Urchin King, by Katharina Gerlach(First, I’d like to mention something the author left out of the interview. Urchin King — formerly known as Thicker Than Water — reached the shortlist of the 2010 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer Contest (the only non-US title on the list.) Holly: In a single sentence of thirty words or less, describe your main story, hero, conflict, and why my readers will love your book. Katharina: As second born twin, street-urchin Paul should be dead, but instead he takes his challenged brother’s place and battles the lawmaker’s soul-devouring…
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    l. lee lowe » Journal

  • Snow Leopard

    llowe
    19 Apr 2012 | 8:20 am
    photo courtesy of Snow Leopard Trust My short story Snow Leopard is now available online. Please note that the quotation in the text is from Mark Kurlansky’s book Salt.

  • Putting my head above the parapet

    llowe
    31 Mar 2012 | 4:03 am
    Thanks to Cally Philips for her comment, which makes me sound more daring than I am in this guest post. photo acknowledgement

  • The quest for the e-weird

    llowe
    11 Mar 2012 | 6:32 am
    Writer and journalist Damien G. Walter has embarked on a courageous month-long quest to find independently published weird e-fiction. However – and you are quite welcome to call me a naive fool for thinking this – I believe that in this festering compost heap of discarded dreams, the fertile seeds of human imagination must lie [...]

  • Ioan Hefin 2011

    llowe
    11 Mar 2012 | 6:03 am
    Corvus remains available as MP3 podcasts, narrated by the wonderful Welsh actor Ioan Hefin. I’m in the process of updating Ioan’s current biography on the Corvus title page – and eventually there’ll be some new photos too – but as a way of archiving previous information, each year I’ll post the past year’s text. Here [...]

  • Merry-Go-Round

    llowe
    18 Feb 2012 | 2:23 pm
    Merry-Go-Round Trailer from esther löwe on Vimeo. The trailer for my daughter Esther’s latest film.
 
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    Nathalie Mallet's Blog

  • The Avengers

    3 May 2012 | 7:54 am
    Can't wait to see it!

  • Busy bee

    2 May 2012 | 3:03 pm
    I’ve been rather busy lately. I just finished the last small revisions suggested by my agent. There were three rounds of revisions in all. As a result, the novel has been greatly improved. The characters have more depth, and the plot is much tighter, this without losing the essence of the story. For this, I have to thank my wonderful, sharp-eyed, agent, who has absolute faith in me as a writer, and is totally in love with this book, and doesn’t want to send the manuscript out until she knows she had done everything in her power to make it as perfect as possible. Yay! At the same time,…

  • I won!

    28 Apr 2012 | 9:26 am
    Last night, I went to the 2012 Prince George Regional Arts and Cultural Awards evening because I was one of the nominees in the fiction category along with Lynda William and Heather Mantler, and to my surprise I won. Sweet! :-D

  • Update part two

    17 Apr 2012 | 8:21 am
    As promised, here’s some more news. I’ll start with the biggest one. Drum roll! I am thrilled to announce that I am now represented by Thao Le of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Yay! :-D Thao is absolutely lovely and great to work with. I love her enthusiasm and professionalism. Plus, she has a very good editorial eye.I was signed over a humorous science fiction project originally titled Special Delivery. Thao loved the tongue-in-cheek feel of the story and really connected with its main character Jessie. She also recognized that the story had some weaknesses and needed work,…

  • Sony releases new stupid piece of #%$#%

    16 Apr 2012 | 8:21 am
    LOL!
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    Nick Mamatas

  • Presented without comment

    15 May 2012 | 7:06 pm
    I want to take Margaret Atwood and that space whale rape story guy and bang their heads together until they love each other. And then they wouldn't write so much!

  • Buy me! THE FUTURE IS JAPANESE out today.

    15 May 2012 | 10:42 am
    Today is the official release date for The Future is Japanese, an anthology I co-edited with Masumi Washington for Team Rocket! It sure looks neat, see?It's the first Haikasoru title with original content by both Japanese and non-Japanese writers. That is to say some of the stories are appearing in translation before they appear in Japanese. Plus, we have new stories from Bruce Sterling, Catherynne Valente, Pat Cadigan, David Moles, Ken Liu, Ekaterina Sedia, Rachel Swirsky, and the triumphant return of Felicity Savage!Our Japanese authors include Hideyuki Kikuchi (Vampire Hunter D!), Project…

  • The Internet Always Forgets

    14 May 2012 | 4:33 pm
    The horror micropress strikes again, adding a typographical error to a title ("She Make's Me Smile"), adding extra rapeyness to a story, giving a gender-neutral character a gender, and then publishing the piece without going over the changes with the writer.And then the publisher writes on the contract, it clearly says publisher has the right to EDIT work. you signed it. are you saying you are a dishonest and immoral person and will now try to deny you signed the contract? well i have a copy right hereand as for the story. the editor had a hard time with it, it was very rough and he did alot…

  • Won't Something Happen Already?

    14 May 2012 | 10:39 am
    It's been that sort of month. A "We'll Get Back To You Soon" sort of month, where soon means after all the staples are stapled and then removed, the Post-it notes alphabetized and a special memo sent around for explaining how to integrate blank Post-Its into the alphabetical files, and then someone forgets to pay their own phone bill so they certainly can't call you back.But a few things have been happening. Here's me, on the cover of Locus:I was the second interview. The magazine's been out for half a month, and except for one Twitter comment and some talk of the appealing(?) cover ("The new…

  • Kindle Kwality

    11 May 2012 | 2:30 am
    How did Brainard Carey do it?Well, to read this tiny article/advertisement for his mentorship services, Carey got his art into the Whitney Biennial by...wait for ithold your breath!writing a letter and including a video of some of his art in the package. You know, what pretty much anyone not invited to the biennial might do. He sent the package to a couple of different people associated with the Biennial, mainly because he didn't know who to send it to the first time he did it. That's the level of advice in this brief ebook. "How did I get my awesome job? I applied for it. And I made sure I…
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    Not A Blog

  • Game of Thrones RPG

    15 May 2012 | 1:07 pm
    Cyanide http://www.cyanide-studio.com/games/got/ has released their new Game of Thrones Role Playing Game today, on Xbox, PlayStation 3, and PC. I'm excited because this has been a long journey, from concept art and story outlines, to the demo I was shown a year ago, to what is now a complete game getting some positive notice http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/04/24/five-reasons-cyanides-game-of-thrones-rpg-actually-looks-pretty-awesome/I admit, I haven't played a lot of the newer games, but I liked the look of the demo a lot. The armor is battered, the weapons are scarred, and the…

  • Speaking of Limited Editions...

    12 May 2012 | 4:25 pm
    (Which we were, a couple posts down)... Subterranean Press will soon be published a new signed, limited, slipcased limited edition of my first novel, DYING OF THE LIGHT, lavishly illustrated by the amazing Tom Kidd.You can order your own copy from the SubPress website, here:http://www.subterraneanpress.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=martin10&Category_Code=PRE&Product_Count=24Also, Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is giving away a copy for FREE in one of their contests. To enter, go here:http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.ca/2012/05/win-copy-of-limited-edition-of-george-r.htmlGood luck to…

  • Odds and Ends

    12 May 2012 | 2:12 am
    I have been buried in work since getting back from England and Portugal. So much stuff piles up when I am away for any length of time, and there are only so many hours in the day. There were a number of subjects I wanted to make long Not A Blog posts about... but the time just wasn't there, and I needed my energy for other things.Anyway, it's too late to do the posts now, but let me at least touch on a number of the things I would have talked about at length, if I had found the time.The Hugos. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS made the Hugo shortlist for Best Novel. I am very pleased by that. DANCE has…

  • Limited Editions

    5 May 2012 | 5:26 pm
    From time to time I get emails from readers wanting to know how they can purchase copies of the signed, illustrated limited editions of the Ice & Fire books published by Meisha Merlin and Subterranean. The short answer is, they can't. Those were limited editions, they were fully subscribed, Meisha Merlin is out of business, and SubPress has no extra copies for sale.(Yes, I have a few extra copies myself, but they are not for sale).However, I've just happened to notice that there are presently not one but two (2!) sets of said limited up for bid on ebay. These are the numbered editions (not…

  • Dark Sword Does Jon & Arya

    3 May 2012 | 4:02 pm
    Here's a great new 54mm release from my friends at Dark Sword Miniatures: a Winterfell set with Jon Snow and Arya Starrk, before time and chance sent them on their separate paths.The sculpts are from the incomparable Tom Meier.For more shots of this set, and a lot of other great miniatures in the Ice & Fire range (not to mention the ranges based on the art of Jim Elmore, Keith Parkinson, etc), visit Dark Sword's own website at http://darkswordminiatures.com/
 
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    Welcome to the Maze

  • And... Done!

    11 May 2012 | 6:56 am
    That's it, folks!  One week of free eBooks is over!I'm going to check the timestamp on the folks who e-mailed me, and see if it was before midnight, or after, when they e-mailed me. And, there are no more free eBooks available.Fortunately for you, the titles are still available for sale, and at numerous libraries across America! You could pick up an inexpensive used copy, a new copy straight from Amazon, or even a free copy from your local library!And, if you enjoyed the free eBook, please do consider picking up one of my other works, and please do consider telling others about the…

  • Other Works Available

    8 May 2012 | 11:59 am
    Howdy all,I'm very pleased with the giveaway going on for a couple more days. But, one recurring theme has been surprise by folks who didn't realize I had another thing out and for sale. Another recurring theme has been folks looking for an opportunity to "tip" me, which is great, but doesn't reward my publishing partners who are a huge part of my success.So, I thought I would take a moment to mention some of the things that I have out right now.Beyond Dogsland, there is the audiobook of LAST DRAGON: http://iambik.com/books/last-dragon-by-jm-mcdermott/For fans of LAST DRAGON, I think you…

  • Free eBooks of the first two novels of the Dogsland Trilogy

    4 May 2012 | 12:11 pm
    Just what the title says. Anyone who doesn't already have one can drop me a line and receive one or both.drop me a line at sankgreall(a)gmail(dot)comOffer good until next Friday.

  • Light Blogging, Heavy Reading

    24 Apr 2012 | 8:37 am
    So, I haven't been blogging quite regular-like, except for the occasional announcement, and it is probably time for one of those "Why haven't I been blogging" posts that seem to prop up from time to time.Well, I'm busy. Very busy.Between my imminent wedding, trying to locate better housing, and my attempts to write, read, etc. I have been preoccupied with things-not-blogging.But, I would like to take a moment to mention a few books I've read recently that I thought were the Bees' Knees.Ralph Ellison is a hard writer to ignore, and his subject matter is the sort of stuff that takes on new…

  • Last Dragon Now in Audio!

    23 Apr 2012 | 5:07 pm
    Iambik has released, at last, the Audio version of LAST DRAGON for your listening pleasure, narrated by Cori Samuels.Here is a link to the spot in the catalog where one could, if one were so inclined, pick up the audio edition of LAST DRAGON!http://iambik.com/books/last-dragon-by-jm-mcdermott/This is my first audio book, and I am much very pleased about this. Please, feel free to spread the word!
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    Robin McKinley

  • New Thing, 10

    Robin
    15 May 2012 | 6:46 pm
      TEN  Very briefly I considered saying Katie or Katherine or Klytemnestra.  No.  I was getting enough of a new life as it was, without adding a drastic name change.  Besides, my name was on my books, although I could probably claim it was an alias.  “Kes,” I said, and hesitated again.  “Short for Kestrel.  My mother breeds dogs and she was in her birds of prey phase when I was born.”               Billie laid two menus down on the table between us and said, “Specials on the chalkboard.  The pork chops are really good.  Ryuu made the applesauce today.”…

  • Writery things

    Robin
    14 May 2012 | 7:15 pm
        In the first place:   http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s320x320/423615_272724886138698_100002035654088_610973_443590055_n.jpg  Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee.  (Peter’s publishing daughter sent me this.)  Okay.  That was your light relief.  Now, in the second place, a lot of you will have seen this already, including anyone who follows me on Twitter:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/in-e-reader-age-of-writers-cramp-a-book-a-year-is-slacking.html?_r=1 The headline reads:  In E-Reader Age of Writer’s Cramp*, a Book a Year is Slacking.  And any…

  • My life as a bell ringer . . .

    Robin
    13 May 2012 | 7:03 pm
      IS NOT OVER.  You will be glad to hear.  Well.  You are probably blinking slightly, having not realised there might be a question that it was over.  Let me repeat:  last Wednesday’s practise was really, really, reallybad.  Bad bad.  Bad to the bone.  B-b-b-b-bad.  I’d been planning to go to the pub after and . . . I told you I ran out of there.  I ran out of there because I couldn’t face the rest of them.  Granted I’m a trifle thin skinned about things.  Still.  It was bad.  And I really did come home and wail and moan and wring my hands and consider spending more…

  • The Odyssey, part two — guest post by Corellia

    Robin
    12 May 2012 | 6:49 pm
      The problems began when I got to Bergen.  I first got lost (I had to call my sister who went online and found out where I was and how to get to the boat I was supposed to take), and then I found out that I had looked at the wrong schedule for the boat. There was no boat on Saturday afternoon. Now, this is the problem with having such travel anxiety that you can hardly see straight. You’re sure to get at least some of your planning wrong. Read more (PDF): The Odyssey, Part Two.    

  • New Thing, 9

    Robin
    11 May 2012 | 6:45 pm
      The Story So Far…  NINE    At home—I mean, back in the city—I’m one of these people who comes up from the subway and invariably turns in the wrong direction, even if I’d done the exact same thing last week and the week before.  And the year before.  What I learn from my mistakes is that I keep making the same ones.  It’s six blocks from the subway stop to my editor’s office at Dirigible Books.  I usually made it in twelve.  On a good day, ten.             I took a deep breath as I paused on the sidewalk at the edge of the Friendly Campfire parking…
 
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    Karen's musings

  • Interview and giveaway!

    10 May 2012 | 11:48 pm
    New interview up with me at The Qwillery, with the bonus of a giveaway! Do check it out!

  • I love my publisher!

    2 May 2012 | 9:04 pm
    I've said it before and I'll say it again: I truly, madly and deeply love my publisher, Orbit. When I got back from lunch with my parents the other day -- Mum's birthday and a bon voyage as they go romping around Europe for a couple of months -- there was the most ginormous and gorgeous bouquet of flowers on my doorstep. A woo hoo from Orbit, to celebrate my first book with them, lock, stock and barrel. It was a real poke in the eye for them too, Wizard Undercover, since I was sick all last year and that took a horrible toll on my deadlines. But they were supportive and fabulous and I owe…

  • New Releases!

    2 May 2012 | 8:56 pm
    So, Wizard Undercover is now out in Australia/NZ, the US and the UK, as a paperback and in ebook format. Please check with your trusty local bookseller, or your favourite online site. And if you do read, and enjoy, please spread the word! The only way to guarantee more adventures with Gerald and Co. is if the series sells. This is the harsh reality of publishing, folks.Also out is the US/UK Is the paperback edition of A Blight of Mages. It's also an ebook in those territories. Again, if you do read and enjoy, please say so. Nothing helps an author more than some nice word of mouth.It goes…

  • Really? Really? Wow!

    24 Apr 2012 | 12:11 am
    This is going to date me, but I don't care. *g*LA Law is finally releasing on DVD. The groundbreaking '80s ensemble drama that launched the careers of Steven Bochco and Jimmy Smits, to name but a few. Yes, the clothes are mindboggling. But the writing is great. And so is Jimmy Smits' diamond earing.Wheeeee!

  • Prize winners ...

    19 Apr 2012 | 6:43 pm
    Guys, I'm still waiting to hear from Julia Court, Todd Campbell and Agatha Manigo. Please contact me via the website, www.karenmiller.net, so I can send you Wizard Undercover.
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    Notes from the Labyrinth

  • A cautionary tale

    12 May 2012 | 9:08 am
    So, basically, all I want out of a toothbrush is that it will clean my teeth. I have no brand loyalty, I don't care about fancy bristles or contours, I just want a goddamn toothbrush so my teeth don't rot and fall out of my head. Okay?I went to brush my teeth this morning and noticed that my toothbrush looked like a dandelion clock. Aha! says I. The last time I was at Walgreens, I thought to purchase a new toothbrush. So I fished it out of the bag where it was reposing with the cough drops . . . and discovered that the manufacturer felt it necessary to package the toothbrush so impregnably…

  • Eve tempted Adam with an apple, you know I ain't going for that

    7 May 2012 | 7:38 pm
    1. We have a new car. The elderly psychotic Swedish car had devolved into panic attacks (the car started setting the car alarm off randomly--and silently, so it was like panic attacks IN MIME) and we finally just said fuck it, and bought a new (used) 2009 Subaru Forester. With all-wheel drive, which I am going to be loving come next winter, I tell you what.2. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a hawk cam, which as I type this is showing three fluffy baby hawks. (Ooh, and a parent just showed up with a small dead thing. Rock on.)3. And speaking of fluffy!cams: Kitten Cam! (via…

  • 5 things

    3 May 2012 | 6:38 pm
    1. You know the faces people make when they're about to sneeze? Horses do that, too.2. Sold "Coyote Gets His Own Back" to Apex Magazine & reprint rights for "The Watcher in the Corners" to Ghosts: Recent Hauntings, edited by Paula Guran.3. Also, because I failed abysmally to blog on the actual launch day, Chicks Dig Comics is out! I contributed an essay on revenge tragedy and Sandman.4. If arthropods give you a wiggins, DO NOT CLICK THROUGH to the story about the Cincinnati Zoo's Emperor Scorpion and her twenty-five babies. Seriously. Don't. Instead, may I suggest Point Defiance Zoo's…

  • UBC: 3 books about crime in London, 1790-1888

    28 Apr 2012 | 11:35 am
    Bondeson, Jan. The London Monster: A Sanguinary Tale. 2001. N.p.: Da Capo Press, 2002.James, P. D., and T. A. Critchley. The Maul and the Pear Tree. 1971. N.p.: Warner Books, 2002.Jakubowski, Maxim, and Nathan Braund. The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. 1999. 2nd ed. London: Robinson-Constable & Robinson Ltd., 2008.These books made an inadvertent trio, which actually was interesting for the chance it gave to watch the evolution of London's police force, from The London Monster, where all detection & apprehension was down to private citizens, through the muddle of overlapping jurisdictions in…

  • UBC: The Old Lie

    10 Apr 2012 | 1:47 pm
    Parker, Peter. The Old Lie: The Great War and the Public School Ethos. 1987. London: Hambledon Continuum, n.d.Home sick with a nasty hacking cough (and good LORD the prescription cough syrup is nasty--it's like drinking a teaspoon's worth of cough-syrup flavored honey), and finished reading Peter Parker's The Old Lie.The Old Lie is about World War I and British public schools, more specifically about the way in which the public schools created an officer caste that believed the greatest achievement possible for them was to die young in battle. (Apply the words "glory" and "heroism" and…
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    MoonScape

  • Eye to Eye of Patridge

    12 May 2012 | 11:31 am
     I'm now working on my third pair of socks, this one the same yarn (Ella rae Classic, 100% wool) but bright green, and I'm still tinkering with the design.   (For instance, this pair has a four stitch decrease spread around four needles  just below the cuff ribbing.)    For the heel flap, I decided to go with one of the "reinforcing" stitches, and went with Eye of Pigeon just because I hadn't seen it before.   Turns out it's kind of a finicky thing (for someone who likes to knit in a rhythm and just rock along thinking of…

  • Gay Marriage

    10 May 2012 | 7:09 pm
    I've posted before about my stand on gay marriage; I've argued for the acceptance of gay marriage in church...and I think it's another of those issues which should never have become a political issue anyway.  I opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, wrote to my Congresscritters (to no avail, as usual), and so far expressing my opinion has had no effect at all.But here I am again.  Saying the same things again, with emphasis.  And congratulating President Obama for coming out in favor of legalizing gay marriage.   I am appalled at the continued efforts to…

  • Political Mythology: The Greatest Generation

    6 May 2012 | 9:35 pm
    David Dewhurst, a Texas Republican who would like to be the chosen candidate to take over Kay Bailey-Hutchinson's seat in the U.S. Senate, is running an ad on TV which epitomizes the mythology of the Greatest Generation.   The Greatest Generation, he says, made this nation great and made it rich, but the next generation bankrupted it by demanding handouts and this is the source of the huge deficit that now must be reduced by everyone tightening their belts.   (Just as a side note:  he does not mean rich people must tighten their belts--he means those who depend…

  • Triumph and....Not Quite

    1 May 2012 | 4:47 pm
    Blue One, the second pair of socks I ever knit, is now off the needles, but not yet ready to wear, thanks to...um...some errors.However, it's been on my feet for an hour now:If you think there's something odd about the toes, and notice dangling strands of yarn...you're right.    I grafted (Kitchener stitch) the toes, but...I can't get the loopy bits to agree to snug down.  Not sure why.  Aside from that,  some parts of the socks are still a little large:But until I get the loopy/bulky  toes fixed, I can't wear this pair for real walking,…

  • Blue One Progress

    26 Apr 2012 | 12:07 pm
    Quietly, in the background, in spare moments here and there, and the occasional half-hour in the recliner, the blue socks have continued to grow.   They're now past gussets and onto the straight part of the foot (but not far onto it.)  Gussets clearly visible between heel flap, bottom, and top of foot.  Since I'm making the pattern for socks for myself from scratch, I try the socks on multiple times during their growth...and for this pair, compare the feel of the first pair to this pair.  I wanted the socks to fit somewhat closer but not tightly.  …
 
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    Day in the Life of an Idiot

  • OMG. The Garden!

    14 May 2012 | 12:52 pm
    I almost feel like that's all I need to say:  "OMG. The Garden."  But, I suppose it needs a little explanation. Shawn took the day off Friday and we took our semi-annual trip out to Shady Acre's Herb Farm.  You wouldn't think we'd need to go so often, but I'll tell you the truth.  I'm a terrible gardener.  Also, the spot we originally chose to be our herb garden has gone from partly sunny to ENTIRELY shaded.  So, over the next several years, Shawn and I are hoping to transform that garden into a contemplative, Japanese-style…

  • This Should've Been Your Up-Sell, Sensei

    9 May 2012 | 8:56 am
    This weekend, while Mason and I were up at the cabin, it was very rainy. We decided that the best way to spend a lazy, rainy day was watching a little more Bleach. Imagine my surprise when we came across this scene: In which Kenpachi Zaraki decides that he can no longer fight in his usual wild (though massively affective) style. Instead, he has to use the one form that the Head Captain insisted he learn. Guess what it is? It's dropping the f**king sword, just like we did over and over in bokken class. Seriously. Now, if sensei Jon had said to me, "You know, Kenpachi uses this to defeat an…

  • Needs More Loki

    8 May 2012 | 5:42 pm
    I finally saw "The Avengers" last night with the usual crew.  Stop now if you haven't see it.  I know, I know, I could put this under the LJ cut, but I'm lazy and I don't want to.  If you haven't seen it and you don't want spoilers:  AVERT YOUR EYES.Okay, so there were a lot of squees from the nerd herd about this movie when it first opened.  Thus, I ended up having a lot of expectations going in.  Plus, all the previous movies more than met my expectations.  And, in the case of "Thor" easily surpassed them. So...

  • You Were a Good Fish, Bob.

    7 May 2012 | 11:36 am
    Alas, it seems that in order to make room for my new Renji art, I've gotten rid of the little image of the jumping shark to let you all know that I am writing about my fish obsession.  Imagine it there, and skip if you are bored by stories of fish.This last weekend my family and I were invited to a friend's cabin.  We had an excellent time, though this is a bumper crop year for TICKS.  Mason must have pulled a half dozen off himself nearly every day. (I must not smell right or be too cold.  I didn't even find one.)  However, it was so thick with them…

  • A Cannon Pairing?

    3 May 2012 | 12:16 pm
    I have to interrupt our regularly scheduled program to blather on at great length about Bleach for a moment. So, as some of you know, I've already confessed to writing a great deal of fanfic in this universe, and I'm particularly fond of slashing Byakuya/Renji.Well, the other day when Mason and I were in our favorite Barnes & Noble, I picked up BLEACH: SOULS, the official character guide. It's really not much more than a retread of the Soul Society arc, with only very little extra information thrown in among all the review. (I did manage to find out, for instance, that…
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    The Alien Next Door

  • Moving From Prosaic to Spectacular

    SF Girl
    3 May 2012 | 2:01 am
    What makes some writing stunning and other writing lackluster? Mostly, it’s the language—the words—you use. And, it isn’t just what words you use; it’s how you use them. Here are a few things you need to consider when translating your work into something that “sings”. Use Active Verbs and Reduce Modifiers Many writers, not just beginners, slide into the pattern of using passive and weak verbs (e.g., were, was, being, etc.). Then they add a modifier to strengthen it. It doesn’t. Actively look for strong, vivid verbs. This is the key to good writing. Active and powerful verbs…

  • Importance of Setting in a Novel

    SF Girl
    12 Apr 2012 | 12:26 am
    Create memorable settings using time, place and circumstance. Setting grounds your writing in the reality of place and depicts the theme of your story through powerful metaphor. Without setting, characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care. Without a place there is no story. Setting serves multipurpose roles in story. It helps with plot, determines and describes character and gives metaphoric links to theme. Setting, like the force in Star Wars, provides a landscape that binds everything into context and meaning. Place Your Story…

  • Thrive: What on Earth Will it Take

    SF Girl
    6 Apr 2012 | 2:45 pm
    Happy Easter! Jesus gave his life so that humanity could THRIVE in peace, harmony, compassion and love on a planet itself thriving in a living intelligent universe. This is my Easter message for you. Enjoy and God Bless...

  • Nominate for Artistic Achievement in the Auroros

    SF Girl
    16 Mar 2012 | 7:02 pm
    You have until March 31, 2012 to nominate eligible works by Canadian artists (writers, fine artists and creative fans) in the publishing of science fiction, fantasy and horror. If you are a Canadian, please consider nominating your fellow Canadian artists. It might be a little late to nominate written works you haven't yet read. But the advantage of the ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT category is that you just have to look at the artwork to make your choice. So, here are the eligible artworks of five Canadian artists and cover designers who are currently eligible…

  • Should You Judge a Book by its Cover?

    SF Girl
    1 Mar 2012 | 2:07 am
    Most readers—me included—will pick a book off the bookstore shelf because its cover interests us: the title intrigues; the cover illustration attracts; the author’s name is one we trust. If you don’t know the author of the book, the nature—and implied promise—of the cover becomes even more important. If the book does not deliver on the promise of the cover, it will fail with many readers despite its intrinsic value. A broken promise is still a broken promise. I say cover, not necessarily the back jacket blurb, because the front cover is our first and most potent introduction to…
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    the essential kit

  • Your excuses are invalid.

    15 May 2012 | 10:02 am
    Dear Self: Lance Armstrong’s wonderful pep talk in Dodgeball ought to be enough to get anybody’s lazy ass out of bed and off to a workout (or whatever), but since that seems to be failing, let me emphasize heavily that your excuses are invalid. Love, Me (x-posted from the essential kit)

  • cake story: success :)

    14 May 2012 | 8:26 am
    I dropped by the butchers today to ask if they’d liked the cake. They had; yer man who’d asked for it said it had been devoured and they’d all but eaten the tin. Fighting each other off, they were, he said, and he said to the fellow who was getting me my order, “This is the lady who brought the cake!” And the fellow’s eyes got wide and he said, “It was gorgeous!” So that was great fun. And I said I had another throw-away tin so perhaps I’d have to make them another cake, and yer man, the first fellow, said, “If you must…”…

  • things, post

    11 May 2012 | 9:38 am
    - post printer on jumbletown - answer cover art email - call brady - do dishes I’m feeling sort of sorry for poor cover artists who have to work with me directly, because I’m terribly finicky. OTOH, Tara O’Shea found an amazing model for the OLD RACES: ORIGINS e-book collection cover, and has made a gorgeous, gorgeous cover for it (which I am finicking about :)). I am so very glad for the Magick 4 Terri auction that introduced me to Tara, ’cause I am SO HAPPY with the covers she’s doing. Yay! A Twitter discussion just now made me go scour the intartubes to see if…

  • Baba Yaga’s Daughter!

    9 May 2012 | 3:41 am
    eee eee eee YAY SQUEE yesterday Subterranean Press said the BABA YAGA’S DAUGHTER advanced reader copies were shipping! You’ve pre-ordered your copy, right? ’cause it’s going to be SUPER PRETTY and, er, well, I rather like the stories in it too. This book is a hidden history of the Old Races, following the stories of Baba Yaga’s Daughter and of Vanessa Grey as they use and are used by the Old Races’ greatest rivals: dragonlord Janx and master vampire Daisani. Trust me: if I ever write more books in the Old Races universe, you’re going to want to have…

  • Sanity prevails.

    7 May 2012 | 12:38 pm
    Sort of, anyway. Every once in a while* I must remind myself that I do not have to do All The Things All The Time. And sometimes I must say No Stop Don’t Take On Any More Projects, Because Otherwise Your Head Will Explode. So in a momentary fit of sanity prevailing, I declare myself full-up of projects for the next 18 months. Not taking any new ones on**. This does not, of course, include projects on proposal which may sell, or the ones you guys don’t yet know about, of which there are at least three. But beyond that, yeah. Sanity Must Prevail. Dammit. :) *by which i mean…
 
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    Norilana

  • The Witch is Free Today! ... and for the Next 5 Days!

    18 Apr 2012 | 5:57 pm
    TODAY! Get it for FREE until Midnight, Sunday 22nd! . . .A delightful and humorous period fantasy!"The Witch Who Made Adjustments"by Vera NazarianKindle Ebook Edition:Download Now, for FREE!Click here to download on Amazon KindleBut... don't wait!When the clock strikes midnight on Sunday, April 22, it will be too late, and FREE will turn into a pumpkin!...

  • FREE Starting Today - 5 days! - NORTHANGER on Kindle!

    23 Jan 2012 | 6:16 pm
    TODAY! Get it for FREE until Midnight, Friday 27th! . . .A hilarious and romantic Jane Austen fantasy parody!"Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons"by Jane Austen and Vera NazarianKindle Ebook Edition:Download Now, for FREE!Click here to download on Amazon KindleBut... don't wait!When the clock strikes midnight on Friday, January 27, it will be too late, and FREE will turn into a pumpkin!...

  • FREE Starting Today - 5 days! - OLD FARTS on Kindle!

    21 Jan 2012 | 4:59 am
    TODAY! Get it for FREE until Midnight, Wednesday 25th! . . .This very short story packs a very literary punch."Old Farts"by Vera NazarianKindle Ebook Edition:Download Now, for FREE!Click here to download on Amazon KindleBut... don't wait!When the clock strikes midnight on Wednesday, January 25, it will be too late, and FREE will turn into a pumpkin!...

  • FREE Today! - DREAMS of the COMPASS ROSE on Amazon Kindle

    19 Jan 2012 | 5:09 pm
    TODAY! Get it for FREE until Midnight! . . .A critically acclaimed mythic fantasy... in the vein of The One Thousand and One NightsDreams of the Compass Roseby Vera NazarianKindle Ebook Edition:Download Now, for FREE!Click here to download on Amazon KindleBut... don't wait!When the clock strikes midnight, it will be too late, and FREE will turn into a pumpkin!...

  • Yo!... Win a Kindle Fire!

    2 Dec 2011 | 2:53 pm
    Wanna win a Kindle Fire tablet? Only 3 Days Left! Enter the Kindle Fire Giveaway, sponsored by me on Kindle Nation Daily... and while you're there, for $2.99 -- the price of a loaf of bread -- why not pick up a copy of Lords of Rainbow?
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    Terri's So-Called Screwball Life

  • Here she goes again!

    1 May 2012 | 1:27 pm
    I'm doing the National Alliance on Mental Illness walk again this year. I evaluated my ability to walk a long distance this weekend after the tailbone injury just under 2 weeks ago, and I think I can do it. If you're interested in sponsoring me: Here is the link to my walker page.Any sponsorship would be tremendously appreciated. Because I have 3 jobs, I don't have the time to volunteer with the organization as I'd hoped. I do, however, have plenty of time for an annual walk. I understand if you can't help. The economy is still in the toilet, and everything's tight all over, but I appreciate…

  • Walking in support of the National Alliance on Mental Illness

    13 Apr 2011 | 1:01 pm
    Guess who's doing her first charity walk in about 15 years?As many of the regular readers of the more private blog know, I'm someone who's been battling depression and anxiety for pretty much my entire life. About five years or so ago, I finally got past the fear and got the help I needed. That resulted in a diagnosis of Major Depression coupled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It took me a bit, but I realized that if I could be that frightened of going to a doctor, then others had to be, too. Nobody should be afraid of seeking medical help if they're in a position where they need it, no…

  • I can do this, but I need your help, please.

    21 Feb 2011 | 8:25 pm
    The Peerbackers page for Loose Canon is up and running! Any pledge welcomed, all retweets, reposts and passing the word appreciated more than I can possibly say. Can't do crowdfunding without the crowd. It's important to me to be able to hit the ground able to pay my authors properly. If I'm going to do this, I don't want to do it halfway. I'm putting money back as quickly and as much as I can, but that isn't enough to bring this to life. So, I turn to you all. If you can help, please pledge. If not, please pass the link on to your readers. I appreciate it. Thank you for all of your help! I'm…

  • PUBLIC--For your holiday shopping needs

    1 Dec 2010 | 10:04 pm
    My bookroom cleaning can be your benefit this year. :)I've decided to make the following (some hard to find these days) copies of my work from my own stock available for sale this holiday season:NEW BLOOD, edited by Diane Raetz and Patrick Thomas, featuring "Love and Other Excuses", the VERY FIRST published story in my original Realms Next Door universe. Historical dark fantasy involving Tuscany, a vineyard, and an exploration of love. It's never easy, no matter what time you live in. And did I mention the vampires? And let's not forget the Mafia. You want to know what I'm really about…

  • PUBLIC--Shore Leave schedule!

    5 Jul 2010 | 7:23 pm
    My schedule for Shore Leave this coming weekend:FRIDAY:The Future of Small Press--7:00 p.m., Salon A with Roberta Rogow and Gerri LeanAtlantis: Weir Outta Here--8:00 p.m., Derby (no, I did not come up with the panel name)Meet the Pros--10-?--Hunt/Valley corridor (don't forget the NEW BLOOD contest, kiddies!)SATURDAYDoctor Who: Smith and Steve--11:00 a.m., Salon A with Allyn Gibson, Kath David, and just about every bloody Whovian I knowEureka--2:00 p.m., Belmont with Aaron Rosenberg (expect lots of Tess fangoobering here, because I am at my heart a Jaime Ray Newman fan)Magic, Myth and…
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    The Wonder Cabinet

  • The second volume of THE MEDITATIONS is now available!!

    14 May 2012 | 5:29 pm
    The followup to DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS, Book II of The Meditations, THE BARBIZON DIARIES – A Meditation on Will, Purpose, and the Value Of Stories is now available for sale at the Coppervale Marketplace, and will very shortly be up at Amazon and B&N.com. It is gorgeous, moving, inspiring, and wrenching, in all the best ways. Early readers have already responded with five-star reviews at Goodreads. This is the trio: pdf, epub, and mobi, all in one zipped file, so you can read it on any device. All the DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS Kickstarter supporters will either be sent one directly,…

  • Something worth noting - and remembering

    24 Apr 2012 | 2:15 pm
    From the end of chapter nine of DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS: "Some people see what I chose to do as 'enduring', but I think the idea of 'enduring to the end' is a terrible philosophy, and an awful way to live one's life. How you spend your days is how you live your life - and if you're spending them 'enduring' anything then you're doing it wrong. I feel the same way about regret. If everything in the past has value, then there's no reason for regret, ever. With no regret, and no fear, there's nothing left but possibility, and joy - and the…

  • Free DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS - for just a little longer

    20 Feb 2012 | 6:02 pm
    We're getting close to 2000 downloads of the Drawing out the Dragons ebook. Some people have gotten the mistaken impression that it involves drawing dragons, which it does - but only slightly. What its really about is overcoming the obstacles and challenges we all face so that you can lead an extraordinary life. Everyone finds something different in it - have a look, and pass along the link. You'll be glad you did.http://coppervaleinternational.com/make-today-extraordinary/

  • One. Day.

    19 Feb 2012 | 3:09 pm
    The great Will Eisner once did a comics story that took place over ten minutes, and ended with the line, "What's ten minutes in a man's life?"It is, as it turned out in both the story and in many circumstances in the real world, very, very significant.Yesterday, I offered a free ebook of DRAWING OUT THE DRAGONS - A Meditation on Art, Destiny, and the Power of Choice, to everyone who chose to enter their name and address and click a download link. I stated as my goal that I would like to give away ONE THOUSAND books in twenty-four hours. And now, after just that ONE DAY, more…

  • On August 28, 2012...

    2 Feb 2012 | 1:58 pm
    …The penultimate adventure of the Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica will be loosed upon the world…
 
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    Philip Palmer's Debatable Spaces

  • The Bloody Red Baron

    Philip Palmer
    9 May 2012 | 2:21 am
    NB:  QUITE SOME TIME AGO I WROTE THIS BLOG ABOUT THE WONDERFUL NOVEL BY KIM NEWMAN, THE BLOODY RED BARON, WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS OUT OF PRINT. IT’S NOW BEEN REPRINTED BY TITAN BOOKS AND IS AVAILABLE AT ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES AND ON THAT AMAZON THING.  I”VE MET KIM A NUMBER OF TIMES SINCE READING THIS; HE’S A LOVELY MAN, A LEGENDARY FILM CRITIC, AND ONE OF THE FINEST SF/F WRITERS IN THE BUSINESS.  HE WRITES ABOUT EVIL, LIKE AN ANGEL. NOW FOLLOWS MY ORIGINAL BLOG:   If you are squeamish, stop reading this blog now. I mean NOW. Here goes.  Imagine you are in London in the…

  • Resurrection Engines

    Philip Palmer
    5 May 2012 | 7:27 am
    I absolutely love this cover! It’s  an anthology of steampunk stories edited by Scott Harrison, and I’m delighted to be part of it. For an account of the book and full list of writers, here’s Scott on his blogspot.

  • Red and Blued…

    Philip Palmer
    5 May 2012 | 7:19 am
      Series 1 of Red and Blue has been and gone…I’m thrilled with the response.  And the consensus seems to be that Tim Woodward (above) stole the show as former Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Shoreham, wargamer and people-manipulator.  Some people say he’s evil; I always saw him as the good guy. Just, well, ruthless about his objective; which is to make people think deeply and properly about what they are doing and how,  BEFORE they’re in a real-life war situation. The show was not without its controversy.  There were six complaints, which is five more than any…

  • TX: Hearts and Minds

    Philip Palmer
    11 Apr 2012 | 2:50 am
      Today is the broadcast date for Episode 1 of my new radio drama series RED AND BLUE.   This is a fast-talking drama about the world of military wargames – wars fought with words. Episode 1, Hearts and Minds, tells the story of a large scale military wargame featuring a major conflict between the Reds and the Blues, after the Reds have invaded Yellowland.  The Noirs, meanwhile, have secret plans of their own… Sounds wacky but our beloved military spend a huge amount of time and money rehearsing wars with such wargame scenarios; as my main character Bradley Shoreham  says…

  • SFF Song of the Week: Jaine Fenn

    Philip Palmer
    11 Apr 2012 | 2:41 am
    One of the busy-bee panellists at Eastercon last was Jaine Fenn, a delightful and greatly talented SF writer.  I met Jaine some time back when we shared a panel at the Sci Fi London Oktoberfest in Greenwich, in a room at the top of the observatory.   And I have fond memories of the time she turned up for the Gollancz Halloween party with actual fangs.  (Her teeth are fakes, the fangs are real, I’m sure of it.) And Jaine has chosen a quirky SFF Song of the Week for this site, which I hadn’t heard before, but which is now haunting me. (In fact I HAVE heard it before –…
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    Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good

  • Everything's Better with Lambs

    12 May 2012 | 7:46 pm
    My weaving and spinning guild meets once a month, in various locations.  Today we met at a farm north of Reno, just over the California line, where a woman named Doris raises sheep.  She had a twenty-one-baby lambing season this year, and had promised that we’d be able to bottlefeed lambs if we wanted to. (Note: click on any picture for a larger image.)My friend Sheila picked me up in her Prius and we set out; the farm’s a little remote, on a dirt road with tricky directions, so she was glad to have a navigator and I was glad to have a ride.  She’d picked up a bag of…

  • The Last Shift

    11 May 2012 | 7:32 pm
    Today I served my last shift as a volunteer lay ER chaplain.When I was there Monday, a letter was being written to spiritual-care volunteers explaining that the department was being cut because of the sale.  I never got that letter this week.  When I went in today, the letters were sitting unmailed on my supervisor’s desk, although he told me he’d called everyone to make sure they knew.  “It doesn’t say much,” he said with a sigh as he handed me mine, and indeed it doesn’t: thanks us for our service, explains that the department’s closing, instructs us to hand in…

  • End of an Era

    7 May 2012 | 6:53 pm
    1: BackgroundMy hospital has been sold.  All of the hospitals in this area – like so many hospitals across the country – are having terrible financial problems.  If my hospital hadn’t been sold, it would have had to close.  In everything else I say here, keep in mind that closure would have been worse.The sale’s been percolating for many months.  At one point, it looked like we’d be sold to a particular company: I got online and checked out the websites of the hospitals in their system, and a number of them had spiritual-care departments, and when I spoke to my…

  • Unexpected Shepherds

    29 Apr 2012 | 9:00 am
    Here's today's homily. The Gospel is John 10:11-18. After you read this, please do follow the link to the Times story and watch the video; it's disturbing, but also very moving. * As the video begins, we watch two men walking across a fenced field. The taller man, Secel Montgomery Sr., has put his arm protectively across the back of his companion, who asks in a puzzled voice, “Why are we here?”“Why are we here?” Secel says. “We’re going back to the building.”  “Oh. Where’s the building?”“That way.” Secel points with his free hand. “See that yellow building all…

  • Checking In

    9 Nov 2011 | 5:21 pm
    Hey, everybody. I just got e-mail from a worried blog reader who wondered what my absence here meant, and hoped I was okay.I'm fine! Actually, better than fine, since we're leaving for another cruise on Friday. Yay!I'm spending my time on Facebook these days because a) it gives me a sense of what my friends are up to and b) I get much more feedback there. If you're on FB too, please look for me. If you aren't on FB because you just never got around to it, think about joining: it's fun, and you don't have to spend vast amounts of time there. If you aren't on FB because you don't like it, I…
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    Jennifer Pelland

  • Woefully behind and no hope of catching up

    28 Apr 2012 | 10:28 am
    So I let myself get behind on LJ again, and gave up at the 130 mark. Ugh. Sorry if I missed anything major. I'd keep going, but I waste enough time online as it is, and I really need to get in some dance practice, damn it. I've been pretty lax at it of late, and I have to remember that there's no way to get good without putting in the hours. It can't all be costumes and performances. Not unless I want to become one of those stagnant dancers who everyone shakes their head at when they're not looking.I'm not writing much, either, but that's an entirely different issue. I'm going to try to spend…

  • On atheist grieving

    9 Apr 2012 | 10:30 pm
    (Cross-posted from Facebook.)In general, I'm very comfortable with my atheism, but the one place where I find it lacking in comparison to large-scale religions is when it comes to grief. And I don't mean the whole "I wish I could believe in an afterlife" thing -- I mean their established rituals of grief. When a Catholic relative dies, I know there'll be a service and a burial within a few days. I may find myself getting angry as the priest talks about eternal life and how I'll meet my loved one again, but I still draw great comfort from the ability to grieve with friends and family in a…

  • Machine stuff and the belly dance book launch

    13 Mar 2012 | 6:02 pm
    Firstly, my crazy "belly dance to Irish music in a bookstore" event is this Saturday:http://socialweb.net/Events/138260.lassoMachine's been getting more and more buzz of late, partly due to me writing a few guest essays:http://suvudu.com/2012/03/guest-essay-machine-author-jennifer-pelland-on-mechanical-immortality.htmlhttp://blog.outeralliance.org/archives/917(There's at least two more of those coming.)Also? I made io9:http://io9.com/5892369/in-machine-a-woman-deals-with-loss-in-a-world-of-biomechanical-immortalityThat doesn't suck at all :)

  • Belly dance! Irish music! Literature!

    22 Feb 2012 | 9:35 pm
    So, this St. Patrick's Day, I'm going to bellydance to Irish music in a green costume at Annie's Book Stop in Worcester to promote Machine. Why? Because I can.http://socialweb.net/Events/138260.lassoSee you there?

  • Boskone tomorrow!

    16 Feb 2012 | 6:33 am
    Boskone starts tomorrow. As a reminder, my schedule is here:http://jenwrites.livejournal.com/880294.htmlI've been a little under the weather, so there's a small chance I'll be skipping Friday, since I'm not on programming. You'll know I'm there once you see copies of Machine at the Broad Universe table. Saturday is my major programming day. I'll be reading in the morning and the evening, and will be on panels throughout the day in between.
 
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    Old Enough to Know Better

  • Another Good Day in the Writing Game

    15 May 2012 | 2:54 pm
    I went into the current book not knowing who the villain was going to be. I mean, had a pool of likely suspects, but I really had no idea which one was guilty. In traditional whodunnit mysteries,  you can lay false trails and red herrings every which way, but there are a couple things you must do to play fair with readers:You have to introduce the villain early enough to lay in real clues that point to him or her–no popping the bad guy out of hiding on the last page before the reveal. This is much easier to do if you know who did it; otherwise, you have to go back and add it into…

  • Rhoddy Blooms

    15 May 2012 | 12:40 pm
    Usually around Mother's Day, the rhoddy out front peaks. Here the rhododendron display for 2012 ...

  • Eagle Style

    15 May 2012 | 11:43 am
    Photo by Han Bouwmeester(Thanks to Nataraj)You know that a lot of martial arts use animals as their inspiration, right?Here's why ...

  • Guilty TV Pleasure of the Season: Smash!

    14 May 2012 | 4:13 pm
    This season's GP is Smash, a series that explores the behind-the-scenes goings-on of the genesis of a Broadway show. The idea is a musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe, and what goes into getting that idea from somebody's head onto a Broadway stage.It is a soap opera, pure and simple. Who is doing what, with whom, and to whom, the relationships, the characters, that's what the show is about. Nobody is all cardboard, there are all kinds of good and bad about all the main players. Even the most Goody Two-Shoes among them has a bit of a dark side, and ambition flows every which way ...It…

  • The Avengers: Quick Look

    12 May 2012 | 8:19 pm
    I finally got around to seeing it, week after it opened. Even so, the theater was relatively crowded. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out a lot of folks are going back to see it again. My son and I watched the 2D version and didn't miss the extra EFX at all. And I'd watch it another time on the big-screen, too. Best summer movie since the X-Men reboot, and it was a good thing, too. They have been sticking hints and previews into every Marvel movie for the last few years. Did they pay it off?Absolutely. Yeah, the story is thin, and the characters not really deep either,…
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    Mike Philbin's Free Planet blog

  • Former CIA agent - Robert David Steele - Free Planet Custodianism

    16 May 2012 | 2:16 am
    Powerful message from former C.I.A. agent Robert David Steele to all Americans."I'm a spy saying spying doesn't work. It's costing you $1.2billion A WEEK, to produce the President's DAILY BRIEF."Admittedly, this guy ISN'T a Free Planet Custodian - he's all about PROTECTING THE STATE, protecting the American Constitution and American interests at home and abroad - he could even still be employed by the CIA in an.oth.er subtle disinformation campaign. He has some great pat phrases that he spits out like a machine...He's undoubtedly a proponent of PROFIT-based Economies, the REAL RUINERS of our…

  • Freeloader Planet - what will you bring to the party, mankind?

    16 May 2012 | 1:30 am
    there's been what may be considered a MAJOR BACKLASH to the Free Planet idea from those who I thought were my allies in this quest to rid Planet Earth of Corporate Slavery, Profit and Tyranny. The basic argument is this, "Mike, you gotta give people something to do, you gotta give them structure. People need money. People need jobs. People need arbitrary lawsets to guide their moral fibre. Free Planet will fail because people will get too bored and/or too lazy and waste their time on the planet if everything is given to them." To which I say, "I'm not your Mommy. I'm not your Daddy. Do right…

  • HACK - Graham Johnson - Leveson Inquiry

    14 May 2012 | 3:17 am
    The day after Rebekah Brooks gave evidence at the Leveson Inquiry a former employee has described a culture of fear at the News of the World in which reporters routinely fabricated stories while she was deputy editor. Former investigative reporter Graham Johnson also claims other senior staff gave junior reporters the numbers of private investigators who went on to illegally obtain private documents. [source BBC]'I made up stories for News of the World' - Graham Johnsonre: 'culture of fear' - damn straight, anybody who's employed by the Corporate War Machine (that's anybody in politics, press…

  • did Lord of War VIKTOR BOUT have anything to do with 9/11?

    14 May 2012 | 2:10 am
    Russian air cargo businessman Viktor Bout convicted of alleged arms trafficking by the US says in an exclusive interview with RT that his case is purely political - and exposes America's justice system as one of a police state close to dictatorship. [source RT]In a turn of events, Dmitri Khalezov (Viktor Bout's friend and representative during the Thailand extradition event) who has gone public with his WORLD TRADE CENTRES 1, 2 and 7 BOMBED BY DEEP UNDERGROUND 150 KT NUCLEAR DETONATIONS ON SEPTEMBER 11TH 2001, suggests that the Russian lawyer sold Viktor Bout to the Americans by design, so…

  • the Whitehouse only exists inside your imagination

    13 May 2012 | 2:37 am
    is this guy saying, "We're all the same imaginary experience?"Plus, I like his youtubing style; you know, doing the dishes, music in the background, his own personal vibration, his contribution to THE REALITY of the internet."The only system that exists there is the energy of Nature," great quote."The government is an umbrella to hide the truth from the mantally enslaved," greater quote, Craig.
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    Tiny Godzilla

  • The Unfortunate Master Bath

    14 May 2012 | 7:13 pm
    The Unfortunate Master Bath is actually not the worst bathroom I, personally, have ever lived with. Far from it. My entire adult life, I've lived in dormitories and apartments - a good number of which might reasonably rate someplace high on the "shitty" scale, so in the grand scheme of things, it's really not all that bad. Therefore, to begin on a positive note: The UMB is a rather large bathroom (relative to my experience); it is open and clean, with Jack-and-Jill sinks; everything is in good working order, with no mold, mildew, or rust to be seen; it is adequately lit and ventilated, and…

  • Home Sweet Home

    13 May 2012 | 5:30 pm
    It's been a week since that last fluttering, passing update which announced our continued survival and indeed, our arrival in Tennessee. And now, for the first time in the last seven days, I actually have (a). a few minutes to sit here and play catch-up, and (b). something to sit upon, which is a not-altogether untrivial factor in my failure to blog.My husband and I have spent the last decade living in apartments smaller than 800 square feet (and sometimes as small as 430 sq. ft.), so you can safely deduce that we didn't have a lot of furniture to start with ... or, um ... any furniture…

  • Tennessee

    4 May 2012 | 8:34 pm
    We are safe. We are settling in. Things are still in state of havoc, but we're gradually imposing order. We have proper furniture ordered and arriving come Friday, we're looking into some paint for my office this weekend, and we are approaching Status: Unpacked - with hopes that we'll unlock that achievement tonight. Next on deck: Lawn/garden supplies, including but not limited to such diverse elements as a lawnmower and a porch swing; yanking out the carpet in the add-on area and swapping that out for hardwood (will try to get a quote next week); conquering the framing shop and getting some…

  • Wagons East

    27 Apr 2012 | 10:36 pm
    Tonight we're about 90% packed up. We'd be a bit farther along, but our apartment is so small that some things will just have to wait until the place is partially emptied. Can't un-flatten or fill any more boxes. We're just out of room. Of course, we're almost out of stuff to box, too. We don't really have that much; ten years of living in less than 800 sq. ft. has kept our worldly possessions to a relative minimum - and this time we're moving down three flights of stairs instead of up, thank God. Even so, I expect that tomorrow will suck. But then ... then we hit the road. And in 3-4 days,…

  • Back in Seattle

    20 Apr 2012 | 6:02 pm
    Had a most excellent time in Houston, of course, but the jaunt was an exhausting one - resulting in three back-to-back 12- to 14-hour travel/work days in a row, in another time zone. It'd be an understatement to confess that I'm a bit worn out. But it was good to see everyone - to hang with the usual suspects, and meet a few new ones. I even got to nab Joe in person for the first time ever, when he unexpectedly turned up on the convention floor to sign for an hour or two. I've known him online for ages, but had never actually been in the same room with him until this week - when I overheard…
 
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    www.AdamRoberts.com

  • Resurrection Engines

    Adam Roberts
    30 Apr 2012 | 5:23 am
    Nice cover! Who's inside? "The anthology will feature sixteen brand new stories from some of the most exciting names writing in genre fiction today, and will be Steampunk ‘reimaginings’ or ‘retellings’ of classic works of literary fiction. Below is a list of the authors contributing to the book, along with their chosen literary work. "Resurrection Engines: Sixteen Extraordinary Tales of Scientific Romance" will be published in hardback on June 30th, then released in paperback in time for Christmas!" 01 - Brian Herbert & Bruce Taylor (H.G. Wells) 02 - Lavie Tidhar (Alice in…

  • Martin Citywit

    Adam Roberts
    30 Mar 2012 | 6:56 am
    Captures my mood rather well at the moment, actually: artwork by the estimable Gary Northfield based on a short story of mine called 'Martin Citywit' which will be appearing in Pandemonium: Stories of the Smoke, a collection of SF shorts based on Dickens and edited by Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin. The book is out soon, and you should buy it, for a portion of proceeds will go to PEN, which is a very good cause. But more proximately, you should pop over to the Pornokitsch site right now and take part in the auction. Gary N. has very generously donated all the half-dozen illustrations he did…

  • Heman Chong

    Adam Roberts
    20 Mar 2012 | 11:58 am
    A friend sent me the link to the latest Rossi & Rossi exhibition: some splendid, beautiful canvases by Heman Chong, a snip at £2300, including the Headless and Snow images, below. Speaking as an author: I'm flattered to be included in such company, and to have provoked such fine art.

  • Vec-tor and the Snow-Dog

    Adam Roberts
    18 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am
    The new Vector is out; and the obscure music-related pun in this post title, up there, is my way of indicating that I've an article in it: 'On Science Fiction Music', pp22-28. Worth the price of admission on its own, I'd say.

  • PAN

    Adam Roberts
    16 Feb 2012 | 8:43 am
    Come along, why don't you? Saturday 25th Feb, Senate House in central London, from 2pm: entrance is free.
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    Running Air

  • Book View Café Reborn

    15 May 2012 | 10:48 pm
    If you have a minute, go check out Book View Café! Today we rolled out the New! Improved! bookstore. Easier to navigate, cleaner and better organized, plus, new bells and whistles (you can buy more than one book at a time! We can issue "coupons" for discounts! Joy!). And while you're there, check out ramblin_phyl's Guardian of the Freedom, released today.1763: all of Europe is at war with each other and the Turks are storming toward Vienna. The magical protection of Britain requires that Georgina Kirkwood, a potential Merlin, leave the secret Pendragon Society and disguise herself as man to…

  • Down to the Books

    14 May 2012 | 8:52 pm
    I have got everything on my non-writing ToDo list done except for the BVC book keeping, which is about half done (maybe 2/3 done).I'm going to have a glass of wine and watch the dog snore for a while. How about you?

  • The State of the Plates

    13 May 2012 | 1:12 pm
    Which fall mainly on the plain?A couple of weeks ago I listed the following:1) Two quilt squares to finish by May 8th (co-worker's wife is having twins; company tradition, each baby gets a quilt). Deadline etended to 5/142) Involved cool craft project, due May 15th. (More when it comes out of the Cone of Secrecy.) All done except for shipping it out tomorrow.3) BVC Royalties bookkeeping. Er. Um. Moving glacially, but moving.4) Transport all my BVC books from the old platform to the new one for the BVC bookstore. Preferably by Monday.5) Get The Spanish Marriage, the last of my Regencies, ready…

  • Be Very Afraid

    12 May 2012 | 11:10 am
    Anyone who has a kid has very likely been to a nursery-school age party where the kids did the Chicken Dance ("I don't wanna be a chicken, I don't wanna be a duck, so I shake my butt...")But this, which a co-worker showed me last week, is just so very wrong. No one over the age of 5 should be doing this without heavy lashings of irony. Plus: the losing battle the performers fight to keep those grins pasted on their faces is just...sad.Since I have had this running through my head for several days, I just thought I'd...share.

  • My House is Full of Teenagers

    11 May 2012 | 9:43 pm
    They're all nice kids, but they are loud.
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    Benjamin Rosenbaum

  • Under the Needle's Eye

    benrosen
    3 May 2012 | 5:54 am
    I just have to out myself as a former party clown.

  • Finished

    benrosen
    1 May 2012 | 6:50 am
    I'm done. The novel is out to critiquers (except those who wanted .mobi format -- I am still installing kindlegen,...

  • Almost there

    benrosen
    30 Apr 2012 | 3:59 am

  • More Second Draft Progress

    benrosen
    24 Apr 2012 | 9:52 am
    I have decided my drop-dead date is May 1st. At that point I send critiquers what I've got, even...

  • Second Draft Progress

    benrosen
    10 Apr 2012 | 6:08 am
    Boy, I really hope I can get this thing done in time for at least a couple of my...
 
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    UnCommonwealth

  • Listen up!

    Christopher
    2 May 2012 | 8:35 am
    Nifty. My story "Another Word For Map is Faith" is available as a podcast (you can also just listen to it through your browser) at the most excellent Podcastle website. Check it out, won't you?

  • Bibliographia

    Christopher
    19 Apr 2012 | 4:30 pm
    I'll figure out how to put this up as a permanent, linkable page or something around here sometime, but for now, since I was working it up for other reasons, here's my current bibliography for those who might be interested. At some point, I'll work in links to the stuff that's available online.   Novels Sandstorm, Wizards of the Coast, 2011. Collections Bittersweet Creek and Other Stories, Small Beer Press, 2003. Short Stories “The Contrary Gardener,” Eclipse Online, edited by Jonathan Strahan, forthcoming. “Nowhere Fast,” Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically…

  • Updates

    Christopher
    29 Mar 2012 | 9:46 am
    Here's some news on the family writing front for those of you who don't follow Gwenda and/or me on the social networking sites. My story "Another Word For Map is Faith" will be produced in audio by Podcastle in the near future. Another story, "Nowhere Fast," which originally appeared in the Candlewick anthology STEAMPUNK! will be reprinted in Ann VanderMeer's upcoming anthology, Steampunk Revolution. "The Contrary Gardner," originally announced as being published as part of Jonathan Strahan's Eclipse anthology series, still will be, sort of. There…

  • NOOK customer service

    Christopher
    8 Sep 2011 | 1:14 pm
    For what it's worth, I'm loving my NOOK Color. And the apps for Mac and PC are searchable. >Christopher: Initial Question/Comment: Is there a way to search the text of a book on my new Nook Color? For example, if I wanted to find every instance of the word "voluminous" in a novel I'm reading?  10:54:11 : System: Welcome to the Barnes & Noble Digital Chatroom.  10:54:11 : System: Michael has joined this session!  10:54:11 : System: Connected with Michael. Your Reference Number for this chat is 117370.

  • Book List, and a bit of news

    Christopher
    13 Aug 2011 | 12:38 pm
    As announced elsewhere already, I've just sold another short story. "The Contrary Gardener," which serves as a sort of companion piece to "The Voluntary State," will be in the next volume of Jonathan Strahan's Eclipse series of anthologies. I think the book will be out sometime in 2012, and I'll say more about it closer to publication time. I'm spending most of my time this summer working on my next novel, but my first semester as a graduate student in Eastern Kentucky University's MFA program will start in a week or so. The two courses I'm taking…
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    Rudy's Blog

  • William Craddock’s BE NOT CONTENT Now Out As Ebook!

    Rudy
    13 May 2012 | 8:48 pm
    I’m proud to announce that my Transreal Books publishing company has scored the coup of bringing William J. Craddock’s classic psychedelic novel back into availability. I reached an agreement with Craddock’s widow, and Be Not Content is now available as EPUB and MOBI Kindle format. Go to the Transreal Books page and you can get Craddock’s book directly from us, or via Amazon Kindle. Price is $6.50 for now, but it may go up soon. Note that used paperback copies of Be Not Content start at $90 and go rapidly upwards from there, with hardbacks in the $500 range. This book is one of the…

  • How to Make an Ebook #4. PLUS Full Ebook GUIDE

    Rudy
    11 May 2012 | 12:51 am
    This is the last of four blog posts on the topic of how to make your own ebooks. I have combined, expanded and revised these entries to make, fittingly, an ebook called How to Make An Ebook, available from Transreal Books. My How to Make An Ebook includes quite a bit of additional material, it’s more tightly organized, and it doesn’t include the perhaps too distracting photos that tend to clutter my blog posts! The EPUB and MOBI versions of How to Make An Ebook will be free on my Transreal Books site until May 17, 2012. After that I’ll be selling it for $1.95. But, like I…

  • How to Make Ebooks #3. Medium Level: Calibre & Sigil.

    Rudy
    4 May 2012 | 12:17 am
    [Note: I have combined, expanded and revised these four entries to make, fittingly, an ebook called How to Make An Ebook, available from Transreal Books.] Start Playing With Calibre I worked as a professor of computer science at San Jose State for about twenty years. I often taught software engineering classes in which I’d have my students carry out large programming projects. I liked to break the class into small teams and have each group create a videogame. One of the principles I tried to teach was this: “Don’t worry too much about making mistakes. To learn software engineering, you…

  • How to Make Ebooks #2. The Simpler Paths.

    Rudy
    23 Apr 2012 | 7:50 pm
    [Note: I have combined, expanded and revised these four entries to make, fittingly, an ebook called How to Make An Ebook, available from Transreal Books.] In my previous post, How to Make Ebooks #1: Getting Started, I talked about four levels of workflow for making your own ebooks, Simplest, Simple, Medium, and Advanced. Today I’ll talk about the Simplest and Simple levels. Much of this material carries over to the other levels as well. This is a lot of material for a blog post. Oh well. I’ll break it up with some photos. When I’m done with these posts, I’ll combine them into a single…

  • How to Make Ebooks #1. Getting Started.

    Rudy
    20 Apr 2012 | 3:11 pm
    [Note: I have combined, expanded and revised these four entries to make, fittingly, an ebook called How to Make An Ebook, available from Transreal Books.] I plan to put up a series of four posts about the topic of how to epublish books on your own. In these posts I’ll focus on doing it all yourself. I’m going to describe the specific series of steps that I’m taking to epublish my Transreal Books. Don’t take everything I say for gospel. There are many paths through the thickets of epub, and I’m only now beginning to find my way. I posted on this topic last fall, and revised that post…
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    Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  • Mid-Month Novel Excerpt: Thoroughly Kissed

    Kris
    15 May 2012 | 1:57 pm
    Once per month, I’ll publish an excerpt of one of my novels, and I hope you’ll be intrigued enough to buy the rest of the book.  I began this practice in February of 2011. Unlike the free fiction I put up every Monday, the novel excerpts will remain on the site.  If you want to read the opening to the previous fourteen novels, click here. This month, I’ve excerpted Thoroughly Kissed, which I wrote as Kristine Grayson. Sourcebooks will release Thoroughly Kissed in June. The storyline follows Utterly Charming, which I excerpted a few months ago. You don’t have to…

  • Free Fiction Monday: Valuables

    Kris
    14 May 2012 | 1:29 pm
    For his entire life, Willard Harrison envied Mrs. Rose Grenlauer, but never more than now. Willard lost his arm, his wife, and everything he owned to the Yankees. Now the Yankees hold Memphis, and he can’t do anything. Except think of Mrs. Rose Grenlauer, who escaped with her valuables into the wilds of Tennessee. Willard wants her valuables. Willard wants her life. And he means to get both. Shortlisted for The Best American Mysteries in 2001. “Valuables” by Edgar-nominee Kristine Kathryn Rusch is available for $2.99 (with bonus story) on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and in other…

  • The Business Rusch: A Short Post

    Kris
    10 May 2012 | 12:44 am
    The Business Rusch: A Short Post Kristine Kathryn Rusch   As most of you know, my website got hacked last week. In fact, all of my websites–and I have a few–got hacked. So I’ve been busy, even though I don’t have a lot to show for it. Dean and I hired a website security firm to clean up the mess, and to clean up our other sites. The firm will also monitor the website every four hours to make sure it doesn’t get hacked again. We have hired a second security firm to do the same thing, figuring redundancy is our best option. As of this writing, the warnings are…

  • Hacked Plus Free Fiction News

    Kris
    7 May 2012 | 2:18 pm
    For those of you showing up for Free Fiction Monday, I’m sorry to say there’s nothing new today. My website got hacked on Thursday. It was a particularly virulent attack, which made the site receive warnings from all kinds of places. If you clicked through those warnings, run your anti-virus software to make sure you didn’t get any nasty stuff on your own computer. I’m still not sure if the hack was deliberate, meaning targeted at me. I’m waiting for the security firm’s report. I’m not sure if they’ll know. I’ve been the subject of several…

  • The Business Rusch: Royalty Statement Update 2012

    Kris
    2 May 2012 | 11:24 pm
    The Business Rusch: Royalty Statement Update 2012 Kristine Kathryn Rusch   Over a year ago, I wrote a blog post about the fact that my e-book royalties from a couple of my traditional publishers looked wrong. Significantly wrong. After I posted that blog, dozens of writers contacted me with similar information. More disturbingly, some of these writers had evidence that their paper book royalties were also significantly wrong. Writers contacted their writers’ organizations. Agents got the news. Everyone in the industry, it seemed, read those blogs, and many of the…
 
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    Mistborn

  • Play the Mistborn Adventure Game with Me at Gen Con + Updates

    14 May 2012 | 4:39 pm
    There's a new ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation up. This one talks about chapter thirteen, when Alcatraz breaks out of the Librarians' holding cell. This week's Writing Excuses episode is another one that was recorded at Life, the Universe & Everything in front of a live audience. It's about writing carthartic horror and features Michael R. Collings and Michaelbrent Collings. Richard Allred sent me a recording of a Mistborn Adventure Game session that he did at Epic Puzzles & Games at the end of March. It's almost three hours long, but if you're curious about the gameplay, you…

  • More Creative Writing Lectures + Updates

    8 May 2012 | 1:00 pm
    The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers the chapter where Alcatraz gets tortured. Check it out. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode features Q&A with James Dashner at Life, the Universe & Everything. We cover the following audience-supplied questions: Why is the ARC of James's first book so different from the later books? How do you handle paragraph- and sentence-level edits? How do you plot your stories? How do you craft endings that are both satisfying, and leave the reader wanting more? What do you do when your compelling villain threatens to take over…

  • Class Lecture on Characterization + Updates

    30 Apr 2012 | 4:53 pm
    Right now I'm in Las Vegas for this year's edition of the Superstars Writing Seminar where I'm an instructor. I posted about this several times over the last few months, so I hope it's not a surprise to anyone! Hal-Con in Halifax, Nova Scotia has been added to my events calendar for October this year. I'm looking forward to meeting lots of Canadian readers! That should be my final convention for 2012, and then will come the book tour in January, which is in the planning stages. For my current schedule as it stands, see the previous link. The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode is…

  • Magic with Brandon and Dan: Avacyn Restored

    26 Apr 2012 | 12:16 pm
    Hey, all! This weekend is the Avacyn Restored prerelease, and as with the previous two sets, Dan and I are going to head up to Epic Puzzles & Games for their midnight release party. We're hoping you are all interested in playing with us again, because as long as we have a small crowd, Epic will rent us our own room to play in again. We won't be participating in the Helvault promotion, as that is a closed thing that only a certain number of people can join. (And I'm sure it's full already.) As is normal for us, we're kind of deciding this at the last minute. But it will still be fun. We'll…

  • Mary Robinette Kowal Signing in SLC Tonight

    25 Apr 2012 | 5:14 pm
    Just a quick note that my good friend and Writing Excuses cohost Mary Robinette Kowal will be appearing tonight in Salt Lake at Weller Book Works. This is Sam Weller's new store in Trolley Square, where there's actually parking unlike at their old location. Go see her and get your copy of GLAMOUR AND GLASS signed! Location: Weller Book Works 607 Trolley Square Salt Lake City, UT 801.328.2586 Reading, Signing, & Shadow Puppet Show 7:00 p.m. April 25, 2012
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    Inhuman Swill

  • Tuesday Funk likes 8 x 8

    14 May 2012 | 9:42 am
    A few weeks ago, Andrew Huff of Gapers Block issued a fascinating challenge to Tuesday Funk co-host William Shunn: to take a piece of original poster art by Chad Kouri and produce a piece of writing of between 1,500 and 2,500 words to accompany it.The resulting art/writing combo, along with seven other collaborations between artists and writers, will be on display and on sale at The Coop on May 18th. All the info is below. Hope to see you there, Funkers!8 x 8Friday, May 18, 20126:00 pm until 10:00 pmThe COOP | A co-working space in River North230 W Superior, 2F, Chicago, IL 60654In the spirit…

  • Video: Richard Chwedyk channels the dinosaur

    9 May 2012 | 9:17 am
    At our April Tuesday Funk reading, Nebula Award-winning author Richard Chwedyk shared with us the prologue of a novel written by a dinosaur who's a character in his ... um, hey, let's just let Rich explain!And if you enjoyed that, please join us on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 for more great readings from Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and L.A. Times Book Award recipient Alex Shakar. Be there!Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

  • Reminder: Submissions for our Worldcon edition due in two weeks

    7 May 2012 | 10:02 am
    Greetings, science fiction writers from around the world! This is a friendly reminder that Tuesday Funk wants you as a reader for our September 4th edition! With the 70th World Science Fiction Convention coming to Chicago from August 30 to September 3rd, we couldn't just sit back and not try to lure some of the best of today's speculative fiction writers into our cozy little lair, so here's the deal.We're looking for five writers to read for us on September 4th, the night after Worldcon ends. If you're a professionally published science fiction or fantasy writer who will be in town for…

  • Video: Mary Anne Mohanraj takes in "The Night Air"

    4 May 2012 | 9:27 am
    At our April Tuesday Funk reading, Mary Anne Mohanraj shared her (NSFW) short story "The Night Air," and it went a little something like this...And if you enjoyed that, please join us on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 for more great readings from Samantha Irby, Kristin Lueke, Dion Walton, Jennifer Schaefer, and L.A. Times Book Award recipient Alex Shakar. Be there!Crossposted from Tuesday Funk

  • May debriefing

    3 May 2012 | 10:28 am
    Good morning, Funkers! Your humble co-host regrets the tardiness of this debriefing, but (as you know if you were there) he very regrettably was unable to attend our 45th edition this past Tuesday evening. However, by all reports we hear that co-host Sara Ross Witt and substitute co-host Mare Swallow had the evening well in hand, and the readers were as fine as you have come to expect.In lieu of the usual play-by-play, let us present instead a gallery of photographs from the evening provided by local artist Kevin Swallow. Please enjoy this pictorial recap (click the photo to the right to get…
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    Rules for Anchorites

  • Where We Go From Here: Announcements Concerning Prester John and Night Shade Books

    Living for the Revel
    14 May 2012 | 8:37 am
    So this is one of those things where I’ve been quiet because there’s a lot going on. I’ve put off announcing this part of it, but for obvious reasons I can’t do that much longer. So here goes. Night Shade Books and I have parted ways. They will not be publishing the third book in the Dirge for Prester John series, and rights for The Habitation of the Blessed and The Folded World have reverted to me. I continue to think that Night Shade puts out wonderful books and I hope for their success. I did not take this step lightly. But their recent troubles have made our…

  • Too Smart for Kids: A Promise to the Readers of Fairyland

    Living for the Revel
    8 May 2012 | 9:24 am
    Today, the paperback edition of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland comes out. It’s also very nearly exactly Fairyland’s birthday: the big red book is one year old. So today I thought I would talk about the Thing. The Thing that gets criticized most often about Fairyland, the Thing I am called on to defend on panels and at conventions but have not written about online until now. It’s the idea that Fairyland is somehow “too smart for kids”, the words are too big, the folkloric references only comprehensible to adults. That I did not, in fact, write a book for children at…

  • New Book Sales: Two New Novels with Tor

    Living for the Revel
    24 Apr 2012 | 12:40 pm
    I am so excited that I can finally announce this! We’ve sold two new novels to Tor!I will tell you about them! One is a companion piece to Deathless, tentatively titled Matryoshka. This is not a sequel, but a side-by-side novel to complete what I’m calling the Leningrad Diptych. It is a retelling of Ivan and the Firebird set during the children’s evacuation of Leningrad. Some familiar faces will pop up, as in all Russian fairy tales, but it will be a story all its own. The gender-shifting trickster Grey Wolf, the Water of Life and Death, firebirds, valkyries, talking dolls…

  • Headed Across the Pond in May (Finland Trip)

    Living for the Revel
    10 Apr 2012 | 3:25 pm
    As some of you know, I’m the Guest of Honor for Acon 5 in Mariehamn, Finland. I am SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS. Also, my husband Dmitri is coming with me! This is awesome, as he rarely gets to accompany me on Fairyland adventures. After the con, we’re staying in Europe for about ten days to take advantage of, you know, being in Europe. We can stay in Finland, but we can also go elsewhere. We have not yet decided what “elsewhere” entails yet. Would any of our Euro/UK friends like to see us? We are very nice, and do not take up much space. Let us know, it may shape our…

  • Fairyland 2 Cover Joy

    Living for the Revel
    10 Apr 2012 | 9:01 am
    The ARCs arrived on my doorstep over the weekend. The illustrations are heartbreakingly amazing. The cover is…well. Just look. September has longed to return to Fairyland after her first adventure there. And when she finally does, she learns that its inhabitants have been losing their shadows–and their magic–to the world of Fairyland Below. This underworld has a new ruler: Halloween, the Hollow Queen, who is September’s shadow. And Halloween does not want to give Fairyland’s shadows back. Fans of Valente’s bestselling first Fairyland book will revel in the…
 
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    Writing and Snacks

  • The Bureau

    30 Apr 2012 | 10:59 am
    Another web-comic thingie: Crossposted from Greg van Eekhout. You can comment here or there.

  • Hi. How are you? I am fine, thank you.

    24 Apr 2012 | 8:28 pm
    Well, hey, there, people of the world, or at least subset of the world that reads my blog, which is admittedly a very small subset but, to me, the most important one. Really, I’m very much into you. So, what’s been going on ’round these parts? Much the usual, but I suppose I can drill down and find some specifics: 1. I’m well underway on Book 2 of the Osteomancer series, but I think I kinda went off the rails a couple of days ago, so I’m making adjustments. I’m expecting edits on Book 1 very soon now. 2. My last freelance job ended last month, and I just…

  • 11

    22 Apr 2012 | 3:46 pm
    Over the 11K mark now. This was the easiest part of the book.   Crossposted from Greg van Eekhout. You can comment here or there.

  • Faith

    20 Apr 2012 | 11:31 pm
    From Photo comicsOriginal cat photo by begauxm, distributed under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike Generic 2.0 Creative Commons License.

  • Act 1

    20 Apr 2012 | 5:18 pm
    10,000 words, end of Act 1. Act 2 is always where I screw up.   Crossposted from Greg van Eekhout. You can comment here or there.
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    Ecstatic Days

  • Entry Points into Fiction: Text Shows You How to Read It

    Jeff VanderMeer
    12 May 2012 | 10:25 am
    This post was written in solidarity with Booklifenow, which has been publishing lots of wonderful and unique content—check it out! I’ve been thinking a lot about the protocols of fiction in terms of story and novel beginnings, in part because of my own recent resurgence in writing fiction but also from reading Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312 (more on that later). Inherent in the idea of a beginning is a sense of what kind of story or mode of fiction you are about to enjoy (or hate). Some approaches to this riff off of the idea of formula, not necessarily in a bad way—it’s just as a…

  • HuffPo Posts Our List of 13 of The Weirdest

    Jeff VanderMeer
    11 May 2012 | 7:33 am
    Just a note that the Huffington Post has run a slideshow featuring our list of 13 of the weirdest stories written in the past century, from our anthology The Weird. It’s an impossible task, but I think everything on the list, from Leena Krohn to Amos Tutuola, Kelly Link to Clive Barker…is pretty darn weird. HuffPo Posts Our List of 13 of The Weirdest originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on May 11, 2012.

  • Release Week for The Weird Anthology: How You Can Help

    Jeff VanderMeer
    10 May 2012 | 9:47 am
    This week our anthology The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories is officially on sale. All this week we’re posting original content over at Weirdfictionreview.com, including an exclusive interview with the son of Amos Tutuola, fiction from Tutuola, an interview with Kathe Koja, Georg Heym’s iconic poetic short-short “The Dissection” and an essay on Heym by Gio Clairval, among other features. However, ever since the site debuted in November, we’ve been posting content related to the anthology, so check out the archives. How You Can Help! If you like weird fiction and want…

  • Taylor F. Lockwood’s New Death Cap Ale

    Jeff VanderMeer
    4 May 2012 | 5:28 pm
    Mushroom expert Taylor F. Lockwood has new plans afoot… Death Cap Ale…it only kills ye if you ye want it to… Taylor F. Lockwood’s New Death Cap Ale originally appeared on Ecstatic Days on May 4, 2012.

  • Hiking Lone Cone Trail: Ann’s Top Five Observations

    Jeff VanderMeer
    3 May 2012 | 9:55 pm
    Recently, we hiked the Lone Cone Trail up the mountain on Meares Island, near Tofino on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. You have to hire a boat to take you over to the island—on a wave-smashing ride—and it’s a very difficult trail, with a steep incline, and many times we didn’t even think we were on a trail—you couldn’t really tell trail from non-trail. It usually takes about five hours, but it took us over six due to the truly treacherous conditions—it was one muddy, aggressively ascending, tree-blocked, gully choked amazing experience. The craziest part…
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    Paperback Writer

  • Virtual Safeguards

    Lynn Viehl
    15 May 2012 | 11:00 pm
    I was putting together a proposal the other day when I realized something. Thanks to the internet, social media, e-readers, smart phones and digital cameras virtually all of my work has become, well, virtual. I'm sure it's the same for most of you. Technology allows us to communicate in an instant without paper or ink; in a sense we've all become electronic writers.Publishing also now conducts most of business with writers virtually; correspondence, contracts, manuscripts, cover art, copy-edits and even some galleys are created and worked on in electronic form. This is not a bad thing,…

  • Found at B&N

    Lynn Viehl
    14 May 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Over the weekend I got a chance to visit the big Barnes & Noble store in my region, and in the process found a trio of interesting things:Creative Journal Writing ~ the art and heart of reflection by Stephanie Dowrick: I have plenty of books on journal-making and journal art, but not too many on journal content, so this caught my eye immediately. I'm working my way through it slowly, but from what I've already read it's a bit like a journal coach, in that it helps you get started, gives you reasons to keep going and offers some interesting directions to follow. I like that writers who…

  • Build Your World Ten

    Lynn Viehl
    13 May 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Ten Things About World-BuildingStephanie Cottrell Bryant's 30 Days of World building tutorial can be read online or downloaded in several different formats, and covers a range of topics interesting to world builders.Denyse "Domynoe" Loeb's Alden.nu has five world-building outlines along with tons of other templates and lessons here.Evidently pantsers can world-build, too, just in reverse: Kat Zhang's Backwards Worldbuilding.Encyclopedia Mythica offers info and articles from A to Z on mythology, folklore and religion to help inspire and populate your fictional worlds.How to Draw Nice MapsKathy…

  • Wishing You

    Lynn Viehl
    12 May 2012 | 11:00 pm

  • Sub Ops

    Lynn Viehl
    11 May 2012 | 11:00 pm
    Got a trio of interesting sub ops for you guys today:Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing has an open call for their Urban Green Man anthology: For this anthology we seek fantastic stories involving the mythology of the Green Man in any form (which includes the Green Woman). While the mythology is predominantly European, the setting is not limited to that region. Also, stories MUST be Fantastical, ripe with the magic of the archetype. We want urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy; no science fiction or steampunk please. And while Jack in the Green, the horned god and many other myths…
 
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    Bluejo's Journal

  • Doing laundry on the last day of the world

    Jo Walton
    8 May 2012 | 7:16 pm
    Even if we never wear these shirts,lie on these sheets,eat off these tablecloths,they will still flap out bluebetween the buildings,an unexpected line of colourlike a grace note.(And should we live to bring them inthey will smell like fresh sunshine.)Happiness lies poised between eternityand the next moment.This shirt reaching out its wet arms to yesterday's wind and sun,now dryly embraces my arms.And every leek cut lengthways,every garlic clove chopped,every basil leafis both its own goodand the potential of a mealif the world goes on so long.Yes, we could die on any morning,slipping between…

  • Locus Award Nomination!

    Jo Walton
    1 May 2012 | 5:51 pm
    Among Others is one of the five finalists for the Locus Award in the Fantasy Category, the whole list is here.I don't think there's any question that A Dance With Dragons will win, but I'm seriously giving some consideration to going to Seattle to enjoy losing. I do think it's nice to be able to go to an award ceremony if at all possible. I loved Seattle when I was there in January, and I have friends I could stay with, and Amtrak is cheap and convenient. On the other hand I've already been away from home a lot this year, and maybe I should stay home and get some work done. Dithering about…

  • Home from Jo March's Europe

    Jo Walton
    30 Apr 2012 | 11:55 am
    I am home, having spent the last week walking my feet off in Florence and Rome. What I said about Florence last time still very much holds. This time I wasn't alone with Thrud but joined by Z and A and nineweaving and we all had a delightful time. I have bought a tapestry, and Z says that the only thing better than owning a tapestry is being aware that he will one day inherit a tapestry. He says he doesn't care if he never sees another Annunciation, but he loves Florence.At one point nineweaving and I were talking about Little Women and Jo March's desire to see Europe and I remembered…

  • Si

    Jo Walton
    29 Apr 2012 | 2:56 pm
    French is conditional,Italian is affirmative.

  • Number One Bestseller, FWIW

    Jo Walton
    13 Apr 2012 | 2:18 am
    So, Locus compile their own bestseller list, based on sales in independent bookstores with good SF sections and SF specialist bookstores. And they've just relased their figures for January, a month I spent exclusively travelling around the US signing books in stores like that. So this is a very specialised and limited sales triumph, and one that doesn't really represent a huge number of literal sales. All the same, it's nice for once to beat The Game of Thrones and The Hunger Games...
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    Martha Wells

  • Great News - sold two new YA novels!

    15 May 2012 | 8:26 am
    I have great news to announce: I sold 2 YA novels to Strange Chemistry! http://strangechemistrybooks.com/2012/05/15/announcing-martha-wells/The first book is Emilie and the Hollow World, to be published in August 2013, with a sequel to follow in Spring 2014. It’s a steampunkish fantasy adventure, set in a secondary world.YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I started writing Emilie in July 2009 when my husband was facing a lay off and The Cloud Roads had been on submission for about a year and still hadn’t sold. I finished it around December 2009, and it started out on its submission adventure around the…

  • The Siren Depths

    14 May 2012 | 7:44 am
    The Siren Depths, the third Books of the Raksura, (set after The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea) is up for preorder at Amazon. The preorder price isn't there yet, and there's no hurry since the book does not come out until December, but I thought I'd let people know. (Yes, there will be an ebook but it won't be out until December when the trade paperback comes out.)It will eventually be available for online ordering at Barnes and Noble, Powell's, Mysterious Galaxy, The Tattered Cover, Books-a-Million, Book Depository.com (free shipping worldwide), Waterstones UK, Book Depository.uk,…

  • Busy Weekend

    13 May 2012 | 7:27 am
    This turned into a busy weekend, that actually started on Thursday. One of our goddaughters graduated from the university this weekend (with two degrees, one in Wildlife and Fisheries Science and one in Zoology) so there was a lot of partying. I went to a graduation reception at the Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collection on Thursday afternoon, then we went out to dinner and the family came over. (To use our iron to decorate her mortar board hat for the graduation ceremony.) Then Friday a friend got off work early so we went to lunch and caught another showing of The Avengers, despite me…

  • 9 May 2012 | 9:05 am

    9 May 2012 | 9:05 am
    Saw the Avengers last night and loved it! And I managed to see it without being spoiled, yay! Which is pretty amazing, considering I've already been spoiled for movies like Star Trek which are still being filmed.A friend who is staying with us while she works in town arrived just in time to get flung into the car and we took off to the theater to meet two more friends. The 6:15 show was a little crowded for a Tuesday night, especially a Tuesday night in this town during finals week. But when we got out, there were lines all across the lobby, and ticket-buying lines across the parking lot. And…

  • 8 May 2012 | 7:33 am

    8 May 2012 | 7:33 am
    We had a huge storm last night, with a long power failure, and there have been storms in Austin and all around us in the past couple of days. This is actually a good thing, because it puts off the chance of wildfires again. Last year, we were surrounded by fires, with hundreds of acres of pine forest and hundreds of homes burned down. But last year it also stopped raining around early February, and this year we're still getting these storms now. I'm hoping for a summer where I don't get up every morning and check the fire map to see who we know might lose their house today and watch all the…
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    All quiet in France

  • More linky linky

    15 May 2012 | 10:55 am
    -International Science Fiction reprints my Xuya novelette “Butterfly, Falling at Dawn”. Check out the rest of their fiction, too: they focus on non-Western-Anglophone authors, and they’ve got pretty cool stuff up already, including nice non-fiction articles. -@requireshate, Joyce Chng, Rachel Swirsky, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Ekaterina Sedia and I engage in a discussion on non-Western SF. We tackle writing other cultures, exoticism, non-Western narratives: part 1, and part 2. Many thanks to Fabio Fernandes, Lavie Tidhar and Charles Tan for making this possible. requireshate: I…

  • Linky linky

    14 May 2012 | 10:00 am
    -Chimadanda Adchie on “The Danger of a Single Story”. I’d been linked to this before, but never actually read it. It’s ultra-interesting, fascinatingly argued; and touches on subjects like the vulnerability of people (esp. children) to the stories they consume, and the skewed balance of power in the depiction of cultures. -Charles Stross on “DRM and ebooks”. Lots of stuff to chew on. -Michael Moorcock’s “Starship Stormtroopers” on Reactionary SF. I don’t agree with everything, and I, uh, admit to never reading Heinlein, but…

  • Saturday update

    12 May 2012 | 4:33 am
    Didn’t post much this week because I’ve been fairly busy with RL stuff. Not least of which was that my writing laptop had the good taste to crash with the only copy of my Paris UF fantasy on its hard disk (I do have Dropbox; however, since the computer wouldn’t boot, it wouldn’t actually upload the file where I could recover). A tense night was spent poking at it to see if it would stop being grumpy; fortunately, my husband worked miracles yesterday night, while I was interviewing with Ben Love and Guillermo Velez for the First Million Words (really fun interview, btw,…

  • SFF as metaphor: aliens, vampires, foreigners and immigrants

    8 May 2012 | 10:29 am
    I was going to do a coherent blog post on this, but I just could never find a structure that would work. So I decided to follow twitter advice (thanks to Dave Bretton!), and take a baseball bat to my argumentation. Accordingly and for your reading pleasure, a series of disjointed observations on the use of aliens and supernatural creatures in SFF: -When you portray a group of funky-looking people with odd customs who either live on different planets, or try to integrate in a modern human society–whether you consciously want it or not, you’re bringing to mind real-life parallels.

  • Sale: “Immersion” to Clarkesworld

    5 May 2012 | 4:34 am
    OK, now that I’ve done the edits… Pleased to announce I’ve sold my Villa Diodati story “Immersion” to Clarkesworld for their June issue. It’s… er… my rant against globalisation, beauty standards and the uses and abuses of tourism and expatriation in non-Western countries. Also, it has a plot that centres around a Vietnamese restaurant and a dish of lemongrass chicken Thanks go to the Villa Diodati crew (Ruth Nestvold, Sylvia Spruck Wigley, Floris M Kleijne, Stephen Gaskell, John Olsen, Nancy Fulda); to Glen Mehn for volunteering to read it even…
 
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    Mostly English

  • Nebula Awards Weekend 2012

    15 May 2012 | 6:34 am
    Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there. Coming up on Thursday is the start of this year’s Nebula Awards Weekend. I expect to be kept pretty busy with an action packed few days complete with a tour of the Air and Space Museum, a workshop on e-book design, a presentation on memory (okay, I’ll be running that one), a mass signing, and more brilliant authors than you can count! Now, to be fair, part of the problem with counting all those authors may be due to their tendency to not cluster in any one place for too long that isn’t a bar, or just…

  • Eating Authors: John Brown

    14 May 2012 | 6:31 am
    Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there.</p> Hey there, nice to see you. You’re just in time for the latest installment of Eating Authors, the weekly blog feature that invites writers of speculative fiction to come on by and tell us all about their most memorable meals. Our guest this week is John Brown. John’s the author of an epic fantasy series being published by Tor Books. The first volume, Servant of a Dark God came out in 2009. Other books in the series, coming soon, include Curse of a Dark God and Dark God’s Glory. I don’t…

  • York in June: SF Saturday!

    13 May 2012 | 7:32 am
    Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there.</p> On June 16th, a little over a month from now, my wife and I will be heading out to the wilds of York, PA, where I will be participating in the glory that is known far and wide as Sci-Fi Saturday (clicking the graphic to the right will take you to the Facebook Event page where all the up-to-the-minute info can be found). The event takes place at the York Emporium, a huge bookstore located at 343 W. Market Street in York, PA. I’ll have a table there, and though there’ll be just the one of me…

  • Shameless Plug: Transtories (now an ebook)

    11 May 2012 | 2:31 pm
    Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there. Last October, I told you about Transtories the anthology from Aeon Press edited by the late Colin Harvey. Among many other fine works of fiction, it contains my story, “Yesterday’s Tastes,” which is another tale in the ongoing saga of the Amazing Conroy. I’m posting about it again because I recently heard from Aeon’s own Bob Neilson with the news that the electronic version of the anthology is now available. This is particularly exciting because the trade paperback version appears to be…

  • Eating Authors: Bradley P. Beaulieu

    7 May 2012 | 6:35 am
    Originally published at Lawrence M. Schoen. You can comment here or there.</p> Welcome once again to Eating Authors, the weekly blog feature that asks writers to reflect on their most memorable meals. Joining us today is another past winner of the Writers of the Future competition, Bradley P. Beaulieu. Brad’s one of those writers who has honed his craft not just from reading the works of others, but by actively studying with them. In addition to the celebrated Writers of the Future workshop, he’s also a graduate of such critical venues as Viable Paradise, Orson Scott…
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    The Urtaru Chronicles

  • At LSSC’12 in Boston for the next 3 days…

    Armen Chakmakjian
    13 May 2012 | 8:50 pm
    I’m going to be at the lean software and systems conference in Boston over the next 3 days…I might tweet about it…maybe I’ll see someone famous http://leansoftwaresystemsconferen2011.sched.org/mobile/?embed=true Filed under: Random

  • AAPL: So here’s a question for you business types…

    Armen Chakmakjian
    21 Mar 2012 | 7:27 pm
    I recently read that one of the reasons that Apple stock may only be trading at 12x forward earnings is because they don’t have a model with recurring revenues.  they get all their positive cash flow by acquisition. Hmmm…if what they are saying is that because apple doesn’t really sell software (or hardware) on some [...]

  • Urtaru – on Kindle – Free once again for a short time

    Armen Chakmakjian
    16 Mar 2012 | 6:41 pm
    I’m running another free promotion on the Kindle platform for my book.  It’s actually been running since yesterday and until Midnight tonight Pacific Standard Time! Free entertainment, such a deal!   http://www.amazon.com/Urtaru-The-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B001J6OV1S Filed under: Random

  • Who best represents all republicans is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma (Thanks Winston)

    Armen Chakmakjian
    10 Mar 2012 | 9:35 pm
    I thought this chart kinda funny.   So the main argument that both Newt and Rick make is that it’s obvious that the conservative base of the republican party would never elect Mitt, and that if you combine their polling, you see that Mr. Conservative would have 44% of the vote.  And if you add [...]

  • Shrouded in the mysteries of time musings…The Han dynasty in Armenia

    Armen Chakmakjian
    11 Feb 2012 | 11:03 pm
    So as we approach Feb 16th this year I was preparing my yearly sunday school lecture on Vartan Mamigonian. Vartan is the legendary leader of the rebel Armenian princes who fought for their right to practice christianity and not convert to Zoroastrianism in the 4th century. The Armenians as a people converted about 100 years [...]
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    Technology Information

  • Check Out The Cerritos Infinity Website

    12 May 2012 | 10:32 am
    What is in a website? A website is one of the biggest and most important marketing tools in this day and age. Why is this? This is because the internet is a hub of activity. When people want to find something, be it clothes, accessories, shoes, farming appliances or even a car, they go online. With...

  • Discrepancy Stuck between Business VoIP and Cloud PBX

    26 Mar 2012 | 12:56 pm
    Business VoIP – Assert above Internet Protocol (VoIP) is the latest machinery that offers RingCentral business voip enterprises an efficient telecommunication system at a relatively short expense. The prominent story of VoIP is its ability to transmit enunciate ended a data network. The...

  • Best Simple Phone It039s All you want Today

    12 Mar 2012 | 11:54 am
    Will not laugh when you see a straightforward cellular phone. It’s something is often a need rather than extra in comparison with Smartphones of today. Unless you know yet, a simple cellphone is really a greater option today particularly if while we’re talking about practicality,...

  • Making a Competent Onshore Business Strategy

    10 Mar 2012 | 9:14 pm
    Creating new business means beginning scratch and preparing to fight tooth and nail to succeed in your goals. The most recent trend of onshoring can be somewhat a lot like starting a new venture. After failing to gain success with offshore outsourcing, American companies are returning to build shop...

  • Contacting Ac Guildford Will make Life Better

    10 Mar 2012 | 2:11 am
    On account of the abnormal boost in temperature all over the world, its getting hard for website visitors to lead cozy lives. Gone are the types days if you felt a gentle warm breeze while strolling across the tranquil paths inside dewy morning. Though the present climatic conditions have worsened...
 
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    David Mack

  • My Award Is Here!

    David Mack
    7 May 2012 | 3:03 pm
    Miracle of miracles, my spiffy clear-acrylic Story of the Year Award for my novel Rise Like Lions arrived today in one piece from across the Atlantic Ocean. Getting a decent photo of it has been a challenge because its mirror-like surface and transparent material defy most attempts at flash photography, but I managed to snap [...]

  • The Music of Star Trek Vanguard

    David Mack
    30 Apr 2012 | 8:09 pm
    Hiya, Trek fans! Just a quick update. My friends at TrekRadio.net have informed me that as of today, last Monday’s special Internet radio presentation, The Music of Star Trek Vanguard, is now available for streaming playback via a special On Demand page at their website. If you missed the original netcast, I strongly encourage you [...]

  • Star Trek Vanguard Podcasts

    David Mack
    19 Apr 2012 | 10:18 pm
    At long last, the promised Star Trek Vanguard Authors’ Roundtable Podcast is live and available for download and streaming playback thanks to John S. Drew and Keith R.A. DeCandido at The Chronic Rift. This roughly hour-long discussion brings together the Vanguard series’ original editor, Marco Palmieri, myself, and fellow authors and creative partners Dayton Ward [...]

  • Chat w/me April 17 on TrekRadio.net

    David Mack
    16 Apr 2012 | 3:30 pm
    Newsflash, Sports Fans! On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, from 4PM-5PM ET (1PM-2PM PT), I will be chatting live via Skype with hosts Timewarp-DJ & Nydra at TrekRadio.net about my recent Star Trek novels Storming Heaven and Rise Like Lions, my drinking habits, random things that piss me off, and what new projects I have coming [...]

  • Rise Like Lions voted “Story of the Year”

    David Mack
    6 Apr 2012 | 6:06 pm
    I’m thrilled to be able to announce that my Star Trek Mirror Universe novel Rise Like Lions has been named Story of the Year in this years “Top of the Pulps” fan-nominated and fan-voted poll on Unreality-SF.net. This is my second time winning the Unreality-SF.net poll. (My first was in 2008, for my novel Star [...]
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    Grasping for the Wind

  • Geek Media Round-Up: May 15, 2012

    Pipedreamergrey
    15 May 2012 | 8:01 am
    Art 5 Rules for Comic-Con Cosplay Colossus of Hattin Papercraft Amazing Dragon Cake Black Widow cosplay [More and more] Mass Effect Cake Comics Interview: In an interview at ICv2, IDW Publishing CEO Ted Adams discusses the growth of digital comics to 10% of the publisher’s overall direct market sales, and how contrary to the expectations of some critics, print sales have actually increased 25% as digital sales soared. Top 5 Unsung Marvel Avengers Top 20 Avengers Comic Book Covers Film News: ‘Avengers’ on track for $1 billion worldwide … as ‘Avengers’…

  • [DVD REVIEW] Single-Handed Set 2

    John Ottinger III
    15 May 2012 | 7:01 am
    Actors: Owen McDonnell Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC Language: English Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.) Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Number of discs: 3 Rated: NR (Not Rated) Studio: Acorn Media DVD Release Date: March 27, 2012 Run Time: 364 minutes ASIN: B006JY3OH2 “You are the good cop/bad cop rolled into one.” – Mairead O’Sullivan, “A Cold Heaven” Single-Handed is the most excellent cop drama you have never heard of. Set in rural Ireland, the story follows the life and career of the honorable Jack Driscoll (Owen McDonnell) as he fights crime in Connemara.

  • Geek Media Round-Up: May 14, 2012

    Pipedreamergrey
    14 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    Art Fans of The Princess Bride will appreciate this design concept. Portal Cake is not a lie! Someone needs to make this into a real stained glass window Terrible Yellow Eyes: A papercraft tribute to the late Maurice Sendak Versus/Hearts is a playful project that combines two characters that strongly dislike each other into heart-shaped images. Comics Superman: Stuffy Boy Scout, or Charming Folk Hero? Film News: The second JJ Abrams Star Trek movie has wrapped production. Now, it’ll only take another six months to work in all of the requisite lens flares. Avengers 2 in the Works: 10…

  • Geek Media Round-Up: May 10, 2012

    Pipedreamergrey
    10 May 2012 | 8:00 am
    Art Lego Avengers Weapons Comics Interview: Bob Wayne and John Cunningham discuss DC’s Before Watchmen marketing strategies and the departure of Chris Roberson… sort of. 6 Ways Iron Man Is Objectively Better Than Batman makes a compelling argument. The 11 Best Supervillain Superpowers The 25 Greatest Avengers Stories, from Korvac’s Saga to Kang’s Dynasty Avengers, Assembled (and Visualized) What should we call this age of comics? How about the Electronic Age? Cross-Media Tara, Wesley and 13 other Joss Whedon deaths that broke our hearts. [Spoilers] Film Interview:…
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    SFX » | SFX

  • BLOG Bristol Comic Expo

    Stacy Whittle
    16 May 2012 | 3:13 am
    Stacy Whittle spent a weekend in Bristol getting all geeky over comics, and loved itRelated StoriesBLOGBUSTERS Avengers ReactionBLOG One Season And CancelledBLOGBUSTERS Dream Teams

  • Contagion Scripter For Planet Of The Apes Sequel

    Dave Golder
    16 May 2012 | 1:10 am
    Scott Z Burns to plan the apes’ take-over of the planetRelated StoriesExclusive The Amazing Spider-Man Footage for KAPOW!Being Human Series 5: “Bigger, Better, Bolder, Braver”Prometheus: Icky New TV TrailerDoctor Who’s Karen Gillan Auditions For Community (Sort Of)Hulk TV Series May Still Happen

  • Hulk TV Series May Still Happen

    Dave Golder
    16 May 2012 | 1:00 am
    ABC still considering Guillermo del Toro and David Eick-backed series for 2013Related StoriesBeing Human Series 5: “Bigger, Better, Bolder, Braver”Prometheus: Icky New TV TrailerDoctor Who’s Karen Gillan Auditions For Community (Sort Of)BLOGBUSTERS Dream TeamsContagion Scripter For Planet Of The Apes Sequel

  • True Blood Behind-The-Scenes Clip 3

    sfx
    16 May 2012 | 12:47 am
    The final part of our three-part behind-the-scenes look at season fourRelated StoriesSci-Fi & Fantasy Puppet MastersBLOG One Season And CancelledThis month’s SFXperts questionsThe Latest WISHLISTBeing Human Series 5: “Bigger, Better, Bolder, Braver”

  • BLOGBUSTERS Dream Teams

    Steven Ellis
    15 May 2012 | 11:50 pm
    The “To Me, My INSERT EMINENTLY MARKETABLE BRAND NAME HERE-Men! And Women!” editionRelated StoriesThe Amazing Spider-Man: 4-Minute PreviewBLOG One Season And CancelledExclusive The Amazing Spider-Man Footage for KAPOW!Hulk TV Series May Still HappenBLOG Bristol Comic Expo
 
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    SF Signal - A Speculative Fiction Blog

  • MIND MELD: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers That Should Be on Earth’s “First Contact” Team

    Paul Weimer
    16 May 2012 | 12:29 am
    [Do you have an idea for a future Mind Meld? Let us know!] In the Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle novel Footfall, as it is clear that the aliens are coming, the U.S. Government whisks away a bunch of fantasy and SF writers to an undisclosed location to wargame and plot out strategies and ideas about what the aliens are like, what they want and how the Earth should deal with them. I’ve always thought that was a brilliant conceit, and so my question for this week’s panelists is this: Q: The Aliens are coming, and the Secretary-General of the UN, taking a page from Footfall, has decided…

  • Crossing The Geek Streams: Amy Pond on Inspector Spacetime

    John DeNardo
    16 May 2012 | 12:15 am
    This is why I love the Internet: you have Karen Gillan, an actrees with eternal geek cred given her time on Doctor Who as Amy Pond, showing her appreciation for the Inspector Spacetime, Community‘s in-show ripoff of Doctor Who. Amy Pond on Community? Yes, please! [via Nerdist] Share/BookmarkRelated posts: REVIEW: The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer Geek With (Lots of) Books: Comic Geek Friday YouTube: Doctor Who Intro…SNES Style

  • Free SF/F/H Fiction for 5/16/2012

    Regan Wolfrom
    16 May 2012 | 12:14 am
    Written @AE: “Like Any Other Star” by Rich Larson [Science Fiction] @Daily Science Fiction: “One Childhood of Many” by Andrew S. Fuller [Fantasy] @Daily Science Fiction: “The Rush of the Wind and the Roar of the Engines, and the Call of the Open Road” by Lavie Tidhar [Science Fiction] @International Speculative Fiction: “Space Oddity” by Regina Catarino [Science Fiction] @International Speculative Fiction: “Butterfly, Falling at Dawn” by Aliette de Bodard [Science Fiction] @Lightspeed: “The Cross-Time Accountants Fail To Kill…

  • VIDEO: Roger Zelazny Reads BLOOD OF AMBER Excerpt “Loki 7281″

    John DeNardo
    16 May 2012 | 12:12 am
    David Barr Kirtley has discovered this gem of a video…and recording from the 1986 4th Street Fantasy Convention in Minneapolis, where this Roger Zelazny reading was recorded. It an exceprt from Blood of Amber called “Loki 7281“. Watch closely for Steven Brust at 1m 48s and 2m 14s and others I should recognize, but don’t. Share/BookmarkRelated posts: REVIEW: Last Defender of Camelot by Roger Zelazny Chaos and Amber REVIEW: Doorways in the Sand by Roger Zelazny

  • SF Tidbits for 5/16/12

    Charles Tan
    16 May 2012 | 12:05 am
    Interviews and Profiles Lightspeed (Jennifer Konieczny) interviews Kage Baker. Lightspeed (Robyn Lupo) interviews C.C. Finlay. Prime Books (Molly Tanzer) interviews Adam Callaway. John Scalzi’s The Big Idea: Garth Nix. World SF Non-Western SF Roundtable (Part 2). The Functional Nerds interviews Jeff Patterson and Paul Weimer (podcast). The Skiffy and Fantasy Show interviews Pavarti K. Tyler (podcast). Sword and Laser episode 100 (podcast). Horror Writers Association Blog interviews Megan Hart. Barnes & Noble interviews S.E. Hinton. Functioanl Nerds interviews Jeff Patterson and Paul…
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    The American Book of the Dead

  • Testaments

    Henry Baum
    7 May 2012 | 8:48 am
    Dan Savage is fighting the good fight. This can’t be said often enough. It’s not fundamentalism that’s the problem, it’s selective fundamentalism. If people were required to follow every law of the Bible, they’d stop being religious. The Old Testament is germane. Anti-gay Christian hypocrites—and not all Christians are anti-gay; not all Christians are hypocrites—are constantly citing passages in the Old Testament to justify their persecution of LGBT people. We are far likelier to hear about Leviticus 20:13 and Sodom & Gomorrah in an anti-gay sermon than…

  • What the Rise of Apocalyptic Thinking Tells Us About America

    Henry Baum
    29 Apr 2012 | 9:48 am
    How Apocalyptic Thinking Prevents Us from Taking Political Action By allowing the challenges of the 21st century to be hijacked by the apocalyptic storyline, we find ourselves awaiting a moment of clarity when the problems we must confront will become apparent to all — or when those challenges will magically disappear, like other failed prophecies about the end of the world. Yet the real challenges we must face are not future events that we imagine or dismiss through apocalyptic scenarios of collapse — they are existing trends. The evidence suggests that much of what we fear in…

  • Promo Bay

    Henry Baum
    17 Apr 2012 | 10:47 pm
    We’ll see.

  • Laura Poitras

    Henry Baum
    11 Apr 2012 | 1:40 pm
    U.S. filmmaker repeatedly detained at border Poitras’ work has been hampered, and continues to be hampered, by the constant harassment, invasive searches, and intimidation tactics to which she is routinely subjected whenever she re-enters her own country. Since the 2006 release of “My Country, My Country,” Poitras has left and re-entered the U.S. roughly 40 times. Virtually every timeduring that six-year-period that she has returned to the U.S., her plane has been met by DHS agents who stand at the airplane door or tarmac and inspect the passports of every de-planing passenger until…

  • Faith

    Henry Baum
    7 Apr 2012 | 12:28 pm
    Something I posted yesterday at Great Minds on God in response to this: Science is based on faith – you can have a “strong conviction” based on available evidence, but that evidence could easily be overturned. We’ve gone from Newton to Einstein to who knows where. Faith in God is less provable, but who’s to say we might not have an instrument a million years from now that can do that. The universe is uncertain, and humans are basically infants in the age of the universe. It is sane, then, to be motivated by faith, rather than certainty. This is not saying all…
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    Cidney Swanson

  • Book for You, Food for Kids

    cidney swanson
    6 May 2012 | 11:58 pm
    I'm very excited to announce a week of royalties donated to one of my favorite charities: Feeding America. As my readers know, the teens in my books eat--a lot. But not all children are so lucky, and Feeding America provides food for those who would otherwise go hungry.From now until May 12, I'll be donating the proceeds from the 9.99 sale of my trilogy set (about $7) to feed kids. (Click here.)Please visit Amazon.com to buy a copy for yourself, a mom in your life, or a friend--a week or so of reading for you, two weeks of food for a child in need.Thank you so much.PS I've included a sneak…

  • The One That Started It All

    cidney swanson
    20 Apr 2012 | 11:53 am
    How many of you own a copy of Maurice Sendak's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE? I own three. The one my parents got for me, the one I bought for my kids, and the one I bought (in an uninformed moment) for my children, in a French translation.WILD THINGS was the very first book I ever "bought." That is, I saw the title in the Scholastic SeeSaw flyer and chose it, out of all other books, as the One I Had To Have. I can look at the back cover and see that my parents handed over 95 cents for this acquisition--a lot of money when I was in first grade. It would've paid for milk in the cafeteria for a…

  • Ma'am, Step Away From the Pots & Pans

    cidney swanson
    6 Apr 2012 | 8:01 pm
    That is what I'm hoping someone says to me tonight after dinner. Sir Walter stopped by to share his centuries-old recipe for Cassoulet with me today, and all I can say is, this recipe is from the day of the full-time, live-in cook.(Not to mention, the full-time, live-in scullery maid. Wish I had me one about now.)So, yes, I made cassoulet and it has my entire house smelling like YUM, and I even baked a loaf of Will's Sourdough Bread to go alongside, cuz, you know, I hadn't dirtied enough dishes yet. *smiles*I got to thinking, though, as I prepared the six layers for this cassoulet, about the…

  • Signs of Spring

    cidney swanson
    29 Mar 2012 | 10:04 am
    We are still freezing our tushies off here in Oregon (mostly because it is a damp, wet, soggy cold), but there are some definite signs of spring around my house. Here they are, in no particular order:Daffodils, Crocuses (Croci?), and the hot pink Hyacinth I need to replant because it bugs me so close to my red front door.Household projects including ripping out old carpet and sanding/refinishing a beautiful wood floor. (Should have done that years ago.)I'm dreaming of summer. (Something I only allow myself to do after Equinox, TYVM.)I'm thinking of publishing an Official Ripple Trilogy…

  • Like Goat Cheese? Lucky You!

    cidney swanson
    15 Mar 2012 | 6:21 pm
    This is a great time to be a fan of goat cheese. It's showing up on menus everywhere and my fave specialty market (Trader Joes's) features something like 20 varieties. But not everyone likes goat cheese. Le sigh. Like me, for instance. However, my strong aversion to all-cheeses-goat came in handy recently when I got a less than admiring review of one of my books. Let me back-track a little.First, I'm just going to admit that I read every last Amazon review of my books. Now, I know that as writers, we're not supposed to obsess about what people think about our work. I know that we are…
 
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    The World in the Satin Bag

  • Film Crit Hulk on the New Yorker? Dumbest Thing of the Week...

    15 May 2012 | 8:48 pm
    (Originally on Google+; cross-posting to amuse myself.) Excuse me while I call this the dumbest thing to hit Geek culture all year that happens to not be some racist or sexist rant of doom. Seriously? Your idea of how the Hulk would speak is to give him remarkably sophisticated diction...but in ALL CAPS? Because ALL CAPS = The Hulk, right? Because The Hulk is a privileged white male teenager having a temper tantrum, but who is remarkably aware of himself as a literary cliche? Here's how the Hulk would assess Mark Ruffalo's performance in truth: Funny jokes. Smash good. That's about it.

  • The Preliminary PhD Reading List: Hard Times Ahead (or, Yay Caribbean Literature)

    14 May 2012 | 12:36 pm
    If you didn't know, I've been hard at work putting together my committee and reading list for my PhD exams, which I intend to take in March or April of next year.  The list will likely change in the next few weeks, given feedback from my director, but I thought you'd all like to see what I'm up to academically. For those that don't know, I am writing my PhD on the relationship between the Caribbean and the space of Empire (spatiality).  In particular, my work will be an attempt to conceptualize how Empire is spatially constructed and how such constructions are reflected in the…

  • Top 5 Science Fiction Mothers (in Film)

    13 May 2012 | 9:28 am
    In celebration of Mother's Day, I offer to you all my favorite science fiction mothers. There are a few lists of mothers in science fiction, but this will be one of the only lists that narrows things down specifically to heroines who are also mothers (of which there are very few) and who can be found in fim. I gave myself a few rules for the selection process: Heroine will be defined as a woman who achieves (or attempts to achieve) physical or intellectual goals either as an equal member in a group, a leader, or on her own. A mother will be defined as a woman who either gives birth to and…

  • Coming Soon: "Lendergross and Eaves"

    9 May 2012 | 11:00 am
    Collecting all the votes I received on my blog and on Young Writers Online, it seems folks want to see "Lendergross and Eaves" first (following closely by "Suckled at the Edge of Flesh").  Cool beans.  That gives me some direction and focus. And so, for your gentle reminder, here's the description (once more) of the upcoming WISB Short Story, "Lendergross and Eaves": Set in the same city as the previous story, and in roughly the same era.  The Anurians of Bifur live out their toad-like lives in the slums, eking out an existence while the city finds new ways to exploit them.

  • Book Review: Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery

    7 May 2012 | 1:11 pm
    Reviewing Slattery's Lost Everything will seem rather convenient in light of Elizabeth Bear's Clarkesworld post on the doom and gloom nature of SF.  How awful of me to love another work that makes us all sad and boo hoo inside!  Except Lost Everything isn't terribly boo hoo, unless the only thing you pay attention to is the central premise:  the United States has gone to pot -- global collapse, climate change, and civil war, along with the looming threat of an immense, monstrous storm that will supposedly destroy everything. But underneath that dark premise is something…
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    UFO Blogger : Uncover The UFO Truth

  • Olympic Attack : London Olympics 2012 False Flag Operation Clues Deciphered

    16 May 2012 | 4:16 am
    In past we had documented "Illuminati card game shows Japan earthquake was preplanned". Coming back to the latest development, before 9/11 and 7/7 there were clues in card games, comics, film and TV programmes, of the events that had later taken place. Similarly, the BBC has broadcasted a series imagining a nuclear explosion at the London Olympics. The series includes several clues that suggest that the 'Illuminati' are behind the making of the series and that therefore the events that the series imagines, are being planned to take place in the real world. There are also clues that suggest…

  • U.S. Police State : TSA Stopping and Conducting Searches on US Highways

    10 May 2012 | 2:41 pm
    On the name of Prevention of Terrorist activities, TSA starts stopping people on US highways without warrants or probable cause.   #Facts  Latest Underwear Bomber Works For CIA - CONFIRMED! http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3499283.htm Terrorist Plots, Hatched by F.B.I. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/opinion/sunday/terrorist-plots-helped-along-by-the-fbi.html

  • Secret Access - New Undebunkable UFO Documentary

    10 May 2012 | 10:30 am
    Some believe the earliest documentation of alien visitation to Earth exists in prehistoric cave paintings and petroglyphs, where drawings of strange humanoid figures feature distinctively non-human attributes and anatomy, including helmets and other accoutrements too advanced to be from the ancient world. Arguably, this is the first evidence in what would become a centuries-long worldwide enigma that has exploded into popular culture, but has yielded little tangible proof.  From the prehistoric drawings through the Roswell UFO incident reports of strange and unexplainable sightings in…

  • Best UFO Sightings Of April 2012

    9 May 2012 | 12:38 pm
    According to video poster, I put a lot of effort into researching each case in this video, however nobody's perfect, and there are bound to be a few videos in here that have been debunked or proven fake.But I ask you, to always keep your mind open. Just because someone has told you the video is fake, or there's a video out there explaining in minute detail why it is, don't let that change your mind about it. Until there is good solid evidence that is very believable stand by your own opinion. Don't let somebody else's opinion overshadow your own. UFO/Meteor Burns Up Over New Zealand …

  • Sun UFO - Jupiter Size Doughnut-shape Spaceship Photographed BY NASA - STEREO

    6 May 2012 | 1:15 pm
    Sun UFO - Jupiter Sized Doughnut-shaped Spaceship Photographed BY NASA - STEREO Earlier this week we had reported "Giant UFO Mothership Near The Sun Photographed By NASA SOHO" In past we had also documented : Earth Sized UFOs Using Our Sun As Stargate : Nassim Haramein Sun UFO : NASA Caught Doctoring Near Sun UFO Image - Red Handed ! NASA Spotted Another Near Sun UFO, This Time Its A Huge Sphere NASA Spotted Gigantic Triangle Shaped Coronal Hole In The Sun Sun Pyramid UFO - NASA Removed, Sun SOHO Picture Browser Webpage Now in another exciting development, on May 2, 2012  NASA STEREO…
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    Yellowed Perils

  • ‘Detective Fiction Weekly’ (Sept. 21, 1940)

    William
    1 May 2012 | 1:17 am
    We all know Chicago politics can be rough, but artist Emmett Watson has taken it to the extreme for this cover of Detective Fiction Weekly from Sept. 21, 1940. This is one of those covers that always makes me smile. It’s so outrageous. Watson was a regular contributor to the pulps in the 1930s and into the ’40s, with covers for DFW, Argosy, The Phantom Detective and others. His cover painting illustrates the story “Death Elects a Governor” by pulp stalwart Frank Gruber. I don’t have this pulp and haven’t read the story, so I can’t say how accurately…

  • Images from the past

    William
    19 Apr 2012 | 6:20 pm
    I hope that during your visits to ThePulp.Net you have had a chance to look at our gallery of pulp-era news stand photos. TPN introduced the gallery in late 1999, with four low-resolution photos from the 1930s. Since then I’ve been keeping my eye out for more and higher-quality photos of news stands displaying pulp magazines. It’s actually quite fun searching for photos of yesterday’s pulp racks, then trying to determine when the photo was taken. I’ve had some luck on eBay over the past couple of years. The latest addition to the collection is this photo of a young…

  • Ray Beam: 1932-2012

    William
    16 Apr 2012 | 7:50 pm
    Ray BeamScience-fiction and pulp fan Ray Beam Jr., who was a regular attendee at Pulpcon for many years, died Sunday, April 8, 2012, in Kokomo, Ind. Beam won the First Fandom Hall of Fame Award in 1993 and the Sam Moskowitz Archive Award in 2000. According to Curt Phillips on the PulpMags group at Yahoo, he was also “a fixture of Cincinnati fandom and MidwestCon.” A complete obituary can be found here.

  • Great Pulp Art: ‘The Shadow’ (Feb. 1, 1941)

    William
    11 Apr 2012 | 7:07 pm
    Today we introduce a new feature here on Yellowed Perils. This ongoing feature will showcase a piece of great pulp art, so I’m cleverly calling it Great Pulp Art. Kicking off is a great meta-cover by Graves Gladney for The Shadow story “The Wasp Returns” (Feb. 1, 1940). What makes it interesting is the self-referencing magazine stand that The Shadow takes cover behind. I’m not sure how well protected you would be by the two or three stacked pulps when the bullets fly. A newsstand does figure into the plot of “The Wasp Returns,” but there’s no gun…

  • It’s April, do you know where your pulp shows are?

    William
    5 Apr 2012 | 4:02 pm
    2012 is well under way, so the pulp convention season is starting up again. If you haven’t noticed, we keep an updated listing of upcoming Pulp Events on the front page of ThePulp.Net. It covers conventions, sales shows, exhibits and other pulp gatherings. The 33rd Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Collectors Show in Mission Hills, Calif., was March 25. It was my first time to attend. (We were in town for a family event, but I managed to zip over for about an hour Sunday morning.) As Laurie Powers noted, there were few pulps for sale this year. I didn’t find anything on my wants-list,…
 
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