SciFi & Fantasy Novels

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    SF Site

  • Babylon 5.1: TV reviews by Rick Norwood

    1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    Rick has been thinking about the state of SF on TV and who writes the series. He also gives us a list of what SF is on TV in November.

  • Rundog by J.O. Quantaman

    1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    This a the story of a Norwegian/Japanese girl who escapes from sexual slavery to taken in and trained by ninja-enforcers for a utopian co-op. If that doesn't grab your interest, what if you learned it was self-published? But before you pass, read the first paragraph.

  • Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

    1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    The kingdoms of Hallandren and Idris have been estranged from one another for 300 years over political and religious differences. The kingdom of Hallandren is ostentatious, colorful and worships its "returned" as living gods. They make use of a biochromatic system of magic that utilizes colors along with their life force, which they refer to as Breath, to produce magical effects. In stark contrast, is the humble kingdom of Idris. They lead simple drab lives of devotion and do not believe in the using their breath to produce biochromatic magic and feel the Hallandren's use of breath to be…

  • Moxyland by Lauren Beukes

    1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    The gap between the haves and the have-nots has spread to a Grand Canyon sized gulf. Set in the near future of South Africa, it follows the interweaving story of four very different kinds of people. In each perspective, the person is somehow controlled or subsumed by the technology society has come to rely on, bringing to mind visions of how claustrophobic and wired life could eventually become.

  • Nekropolis by Tim Waggoner

    1 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    Matt Richter is good at doing favors for people. A former cop, he's good at finding things out and making people talk. He's also very, very dead. As the only self-willed zombie in the alternate dimension where the haven city of Nekropolis is built, he's something of an oddity even among the strange, weird, dangerous, and creepy citizens that make their home there.
 
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    Gray Man Writes

  • An Astronomer's Astronomer, and a New Space Telescope

    Gray Rinehart
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:23 am
    One hundred twenty years ago today in space history -- November 20, 1889 -- astronomer Edwin P. Hubble was born in Marshfield, Missouri. (Edwin Hubble, next to the Hooker Telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory. NASA image.) Hubble earned his B.S. in mathematics and astronomy at the University of Chicago in 1910, and studied law at Oxford University as one of the first Rhodes Scholars. He served briefly in World War I, and returned to earn his doctorate at the University of Chicago. He spent his entire professional career at the Mount Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles. Among his discoveries,…

  • Speaking of Chinese Space Ambitions...

    Gray Rinehart
    19 Nov 2009 | 3:27 am
    Ten years ago today in space history -- November 19, 1999 -- the People's Republic* of China launched an unmanned Shenzhou capsule on a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiquan launch center. The capsule was an enlarged version of the Russian Soyuz design, developed for a human space flight program originally known as "Project 921." According to SPACEWARN Bulletin 553, the vehicle "carried a mannequin for test purposes" and "parachuted down in Inner Mongolia after orbiting for 21 hours." The renamed Shenzhou program would successfully place a Chinese astronaut (a…

  • Searching the Cosmos for Background Radiation

    Gray Rinehart
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:05 am
    Twenty Years Ago -- November 18, 1989 -- the Cosmic Background Explorer, or COBE, was launched atop a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Here's the 20th anniversary press release. (Artist's depiction of the COBE spacecraft. NASA image.) And here's a link to another nice artist's conception of the spacecraft. COBE was designed to measure the microwave background radiation left from the early universe. COBE carried three instruments: Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE), to search for infrared background radiation Differential Microwave Radiometer (DMR), to map the cosmic…

  • World Speed Record: 7,000 MPH

    Gray Rinehart
    16 Nov 2009 | 2:57 am
    Five years ago today -- November 16, 2004 -- the X-43A hypersonic test vehicle broke the world speed record. (X-43A initial velocity was provided by a Pegasus rocket. NASA image.) Its scramjet engine accelerated it to mach 9.6, nearly 7,000 miles per hour. The record it broke was its own, of mach 6.8 (nearly 5,000 mph), set on a March 2004 flight. Of personal interest to me, a Pegasus rocket dropped from NASA's B-52 provided the initial thrust to get the X-43A up to the flight regime where the scramjet engine would work. (X-43A, Pegasus, and B-52 mothership. The X-43A is the small dark…

  • Mississippi Damned

    Gray Rinehart
    15 Nov 2009 | 4:55 pm
    This weekend's "proud papa" moment: seeing the movie MISSISSIPPI DAMNED -- for which my daughter Stephanie was the "Key Set Production Assistant" -- at the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington. It's a moving and sometimes disturbing portrait of a family trapped in cycles of poverty and abuse, and was filmed in the little town of Ahoskie, North Carolina. The acting was extremely good; for a sample, here's the YouTube trailer. The producers are looking for support to get the movie into theaters, but that probably won't happen until next year. Keep an eye out!
 
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    Genes and Demons

  • Last Post

    4 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am
    I always knew this blog was a temporary experiment. It's been a year and a half now, and the experiment has lasted a lot longer than I originally intended. While it's been a lot of fun, I realize that it's probably time to bring this journal to a close. Things are about to get very busy for me in some wonderful ways, and it's highly unlikely that I'll have much free time to blog. I did enjoy it though. If you've stopped by here over the last year and a half, thank you. :)Cut and pasted from March 19th, 2008:First Post!What you are reading, my friends, is a genuine, honest-to-goodness very…

  • Game writers interviewed

    2 Nov 2009 | 8:53 am
    Video game writers talk about the creative process. An excellent article.

  • Flu avoidence.

    30 Oct 2009 | 8:34 am
    I don't usually bother getting vaccinated against things like the flu. This is partially because I hate going to the doctor's, and partially because I don't tend to get sick anyway. (Injured yes, sick no.) It was different when I was a kid though. Looking back, it's like I was always sick, and often badly so. (I even had spinal meningitis once) I've often wondered if I can blame my adult good health on the fact that I've pretty much already caught everything.I've decided to get vaccinated against H1N1 though. My breathing is still not right from when I dropped the weights on my chest, and I'm…

  • Yet another post on my favorite gene

    28 Oct 2009 | 10:28 am
    Long-time readers of this blog know I have a fascination with the 7-repeat allele (7R) of the human dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4). I've written of it often and will no doubt continue to do so until this blog is prised from my cold, dead fingers. I make no apologies. In terms of genetics and cognition, this gene is where the rubber hits the road; it's been suggested to play a role in everything from personality to population movements-- and in addition to being of a more personal interest to me also sits at the center of two very different schools of scientific inquiry; the first into the nature…

  • I wonder what Carl Jung would say.

    28 Oct 2009 | 5:45 am
    That's two consecutive nights that I've dreamed of nuclear holocaust. I was standing on a hill, watching as Chicago disappeared into a fiery mushroom cloud. I was doing the math in my head, trying to figure out if I was close enough to die of radiation poisoning.
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    Eric James Stone

  • “Rejiggering the Thingamajig”

    Eric James Stone
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am
    My short story "Rejiggering the Thingamajig" (which happens to be my current favorite among my published stories) is now available in the January/February 2010 issue of Analog Science Fiction magazine.  The Orem Barnes & Noble had three copies when I checked. The teleport terminal had not been built with tyrannosaurus sapiens in mind. Resisting the urge to knock human-sized chairs about with her tail, Bokeerk squatted on the tile floor, folded the claws of her forelimbs together, and concentrated on her breathing.  Meditation would calm her nerves.  What should…

  • A new role and a new sale

    Eric James Stone
    2 Nov 2009 | 9:18 pm
    Edmund Schubert, the editor of Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, called me the day before I left for the World Fantasy Convention to offer me a position as assistant editor. After thinking about it for a day, I accepted.  I’ll mainly be helping to read stories submitted to the magazine, choosing which to pass along to Edmund. Since IGMS has been a very good market for me, I’m excited by the opportunity to work behind the scenes. On returning from the convention, I found an acceptance letter from Analog for my novelette “That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made.” …

  • “Accounting for Dragons” on Podcastle

    Eric James Stone
    16 Oct 2009 | 5:58 pm
    Apparently I never mentioned on my blog that the audio fantasy podcast PodCastle bought my story “Accounting for Dragons,” which first appeared in InterGalactic Medicine Show. Anyway, if you want to listen to the story, it’s here.  (It’s free.)  Steve Anderson did a great job with the reading.

  • Happy Release Day to Becca and John

    Eric James Stone
    13 Oct 2009 | 8:27 am
    Today is the release day for two first novels by good friends of mine: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and Servant of a Dark God by John Brown. Becca is one of my writing friends I’ve known the longest. She and I were in an online class together back in 2002 and then in an in-person writing group for a couple of years until she moved to Colorado.  I read the earliest version of the novel that would eventually become Hush, Hush—back before the character of Patch was a fallen angel—and I’ve always thought Becca had a great writing voice for Young Adult novels.  I also admire…

  • Debunking the Shroud of Turin

    Eric James Stone
    5 Oct 2009 | 9:05 pm
    Some scientists in Italy claim to have done so by showing how the image might have been produced using 14th-Century technology. Of course, there was no need to go to all that trouble. There’s a much more authoritative source which debunks the Shroud of Turin. From the Gospel According to St. John, Chapter 20: 6. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, 7. And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. [Emphasis added.] According to the Biblical account, the…
 
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    Fabianspace

  • Join me in writing Gapman! and editing Discovery

    16 Nov 2009 | 6:10 am
    Welcome back to FabianspaceAs many folks know, I gave up blogging for awhile. I wasn't enjoying it and it wasn't drawing people to my site or writing, so I decided to play with Twitter and forget about the blogsphere. Not sure why, but this month, I decided, "I'd like to try blogging again." One thing enjoyed in my blogging time was chronicling my adventures writing Live and Let Fly. I found it also motivated me to write, as I needed something to blog about. So I'm going to start again with regular writing and editing adventures. Hopefully, I can teach something as well.I have two projects…

  • An Author's Christmas Wish List

    12 Nov 2009 | 6:56 am
    It's time once again for my annual Author's Christmas Wish List. You can make any author in your life happy with these gifts--some of time, some of talent, and some of treasure. Authors, feel free to copy and paste this to your own blogs, slip under your spouse's pillow, or e-mail to those who never know what to get you. Friends of authors, imagine your friend wrote this. Gifts of Time:Take my book to a store and ask the owner to stock it* Mention to friends or user groups about my website, newsletter or blog* Babysit the kids so I can have a few quiet hours for writing* If I'm having a…

  • Bookstore Efforts Led to Book Signing Success

    9 Nov 2009 | 1:37 am
    I had a lovely book signing at Godspace, the Catholic bookstore in Thousand Oaks. I sold more books than I had in a long time.What did I do different? Not a single thing. In fact, I only had three days' notice. I have to credit the store owner, Claudia Satori. First, it was her grand opening, so that was a draw. People attended who were loyal to the store, friends of hers, or who came in for the other deals and the free cider and cupcakes.Second, another local author, Greg Stone, was there signing his new book, Taming the Wolf, which our local Franciscan priest, Father Joe, helped write.

  • Reviving my Blog

    8 Nov 2009 | 3:40 pm
    I've been giving blogging a lot of thought and have decided to try once blog for awhile, concentrating on writing and sci-fi/fantasy. Mainly, I will be blogging about the writing and editing process in my latest books. I may also tour a few books here, but they will be titles of my choosing and in my time.In the meantime, I'm thinking about monthly themes for Twitter. I had a lot of fun with 31 days of zombies. However, I'd like feedback. Is it too much? I'll try to stay away from popular themes this time.Please give me some feedback.

  • 4 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm

    4 Oct 2009 | 12:00 pm
    I'll be part of a virtual book tour for The Zombie Cookbook, edited by Kim Richards. I have two stories in it: "Wokking Dead," where zombies invade a Korean restaurant, and "My Big, Fat, Zombie wedding."It's the Zombie Cookbook Virtual Book tour! Check out the invasion schedule: October 5 Virtual Book Tour de Net www.virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com  info + tour schedule October 5 Midlist Writer http://www.midlistwriter.blogspot.com   review October 5 It Came From Ryan's Brain; Goodreads http://theorangemonkey.livejournal.com/ review October 5 Goodreads…
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    James Maxey

  • My Experience Buying a Casket Online

    17 Nov 2009 | 9:05 pm
    In a perfect world, everyone would be prepared for death. You'd have the funeral arrangements made in advance, the headstone selected and paid for, and the coffin purchased and stored, waiting for the right moment of use. In the real world, even when people have been in declining health for months or years, death still comes as a moment for which the survivors are usually ill prepared. A lot of

  • Obvious Truths I Finally Understand

    15 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am
    When Dad passed away earlier this month, I did what I could to help with the expenses by buying the coffin. I had to put it on a credit card, largely due to the fact that I've managed to reach the no longer youthful age of fourty-five pretty much flat broke. On paper, I look okay. With the 401k rebound of the last year and some aggressive debt repayment, plus the equity in my house, I'm nicely in

  • Sidney W. Maxey, Jr.

    8 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am
    Sidney W. Maxey, Jr.February 20, 1940 - November 7, 2009You were once a presence full of light upon this earth,and I am here to witness to your life and to its worth.--the Mountain Goats My father passed away yesterday a little more than a month after he suffered a severe heart attack. The days that followed were mostly spent in hospitals. There would be promising news one day, discouraging news

  • Be careful what you wish for

    28 Oct 2009 | 6:54 am
    The big development this week in the health care debate is that it looks like the senate will move ahead with a public option, i.e, a plan via which the federal government will offer medicaid or medicare like insurance to anyone willing to pay the premiums. Presumably, these premiums will be priced well below premiums of private insurers, since the government doesn't need to worry about running a

  • Early morning thoughts on money

    22 Oct 2009 | 9:18 pm
    I just got back from Washington, DC, where I stayed with my friend Mr. Cavin and his lovely bride Sunshine. They were courteous hosts for me and Cheryl, and we definitely saw parts of DC with them that we wouldn't have found on our own, like ass-kicking Ethiopian food, a trapeze school, and the Red Bull art exhibit at Union Station. (I think it was Union station... everything is a blur at this
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    Side-Show Freaks

  • Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show - issue 15 now available

    17 Nov 2009 | 8:48 am
    IGMS issue 15 - November 2009featuring..Body Languageby Mary Robinette Kowal(amazing cover art by Howard Lyon)Lo'ihi Risingby Geoff ColeAim for The Starsby Tom PendergrassReport of a Doubtful Creatureby Ian CreasySweet As Honeyby Bradley P. BeaulieuOrson Scott Card audio, readingTom Pendergrass's "Aim For The Stars"Darell Schweitzer's Interviews with the Fantastic: Vernor VingeTales For The Young and UnafraidGet Out of Gym For Free, by David Lubarcontinuing the serialization of OSC's collection of interlinked short stories with "Pagaent Wagon," from Folk of the Fringe

  • "Hunting Lodge" by Jon Crusoe, art by Walter Simon

    10 Nov 2009 | 1:44 pm
    THE RIGHT TO ARM BEARSby Jon CrusoeWhen two members of a predator species meet, they follow a specific pattern of behavior in dealing with each other. Animal behaviorists have recorded this for years.When members of two different predator species meet, unless one backs away, there’s usually a fight. And if both are evenly matched, it can mean mutual death.The question arises as to what would happen if the two species were both intelligent as well as evenly matched. Hopefully, they would both realize that a fight might just mean the end – the total end – of both species.Given that…

  • Winning the WSFA Small Press Award - by Greg Siewert

    9 Nov 2009 | 3:43 pm
    I found out I was a finalist for the WSFA small press award over the summer, but I didn’t hear that I’d won until two weeks before the ceremony. I’d made the decision not to go simply because I live in California and Washington D.C. is on the other side of the country. I’m a winemaker and when I got the call from Edmund Schubert, the editor for "InterGalactic Medicine Show," I was working for a consulting client who has a micro-winery; he makes Sauvignon Blanc in his converted car port. "I was wondering if you could write something else for me" Edmund said. I didn’t know what he…

  • Welcome to Two New IGMS Assistant Editors

    1 Nov 2009 | 10:51 am
    I'm very excited to announce the addition of two new assistant editors to the IGMS staff. My goal is to significantly improve the speed of the response times for all submissions, as well as increase our online/social networking presence. I also realized over this past summer (as I was recovering from surgery on my left shoulder) that things could get out of control pretty quickly, and with a second surgery coming up in a few weeks I wanted to make sure the magazine would keep moving forward even if I wasn't.Toward that end, I have hired Scott Roberts for one of the assistant editor positions.

  • Free IGMS Reading

    28 Oct 2009 | 6:56 pm
    Another hearty congratulations to Greg Siewert, whose story, "The Absence of Stars" won this year's WSFA award for Best Story of 2008. "The Absence of Stars" is a novelette that was published in two parts, in issues 10 and 11. Also, congratulations to James Maxey, whose story "Silent As Dust" from issue 7 was one of the other finalists for this year's award. James' story was also selected for inclusion in The Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction 2009 edited by Rich Horton. To celebrate, IGMS is making both of these stories free for everyone to read until the end of 2009. Dive in and enjoy!
 
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    Kathryn Cramer

  • My first custom fabric order

    Kathryn
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:23 am
    For a while, I have been wanting to produce fabric art that makes use of my photos, my artwork, and my kids' art. The other day, I happened across a site called Spoonflower that prints custom images on fabric. As a test, I have ordered a yard of the fabric above, created using a drawing of mine from 2001. I've also ordered a map that Peter drew as fabric. We'll see if it truly suits my purposes, but I am hopeful. I have some very specific projects in mind if it does. The test fabric design comes from this drawing of mine: My original intent had been to reproduce it as endpaper in a small…

  • Sleepy puppy

    Kathryn
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pm

  • Mourning for the Web I Lost

    Kathryn
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:19 am
    I wrote this meditation on Web 2.0 on Facebook this morning, but after posting it there, decided it deserved a broader audience. This morning there was a BBC article entitled,"Network sites 'need help buttons'." It begins,Major social networking websites have been criticised for not introducing a help button for children to report concerns about grooming and bullying. One of the things on my to-do list is to return a NY State Trooper's call regarding an Internet harassment complaint I filed with Essex County, NY a couple of months ago. Existing mechanisms take a long…

  • Puppy vs. Mechapuppy!

    Kathryn
    16 Nov 2009 | 6:27 am

  • Puppy at Home

    Kathryn
    13 Nov 2009 | 5:24 am
    Her name is Sunshine. She was born September 16, 2009. We got her yesterday from the North Country SPCA.
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    Keith R.A. DeCandido

  • Schott's Miscellany 19 November 2009

    20 Nov 2009 | 7:37 am
    In Geneva, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for the first time (1985)PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCEAccording to the U.S. Code, the Pledge of Allegiance should be made facing the flag, standing at attention, with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder. Those in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and salute. The Pledge of Allegiance is:I pledge allegiance to the Flagof the United States of Americaand to the Republic for which it stands,one Nation under God,…

  • Schott's Miscellany 18 November 2009

    19 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pm
    Ben-Hur premiered in New York (1959)GAMBLING CRUSADERSIn 1190, King Richard I and Philip of France jointly issued an edict regulating gambling with games of chance by members of the Christian crusading armies. No person under the rank of knight was permitted to play any game for money; knights and clergymen could play for stakes lower than 20 shillings per day and night; the monarchs could, naturally, play for whatever stakes they chose, but their attendants were restricted to stakes of 20 shillings. If any exceeded this sum, they were to be whipped, naked, through the ranks of the troops for…

  • she rides (again)!

    19 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pm
    Just turned in the second draft of Supernatural: Heart of the Dragon to my editors.Next up is an article for Star Trek: The Magazine, a Dragon Precinct short story for an anthology, and the next two Farscape scripts. Then I focus on some original work for a while.....

  • a compliment in someone else's review

    19 Nov 2009 | 12:56 pm
    Terilynn Shull wrote a review of Star Trek: Titan: Synthesis for the Airlock Alpha blog. While the review was mostly fulsome praise for jmswallow's fine novel, she was kind enough to take a moment to say something nice about me:Only once before have I ever felt that a true Trek fan had written an authorized Trek book – and that was Keith R.A. DeCandido’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation - Q&A.”Hey, I'll take it. *grin*

  • I never could get the hang of Thursdays....

    19 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am
    First I was awakened out of a sound sleep by my agent with bad news about a project. Then I went to take the recycling downstairs and got locked out of the house (the front door swung shut unexpectedly). A passer-by with a cell phone enabled me to call my landlord, who sent someone over right away, but it still took forever as I stood outside in a bathrobe and bare feet.Yeesh.Okay, back to revisions on Supernatural: Heart of the Dragon, which I'm fixin' to finish tonight....
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    Robert J. Sawyer

  • Singapore's The Straits Times on the novel and the TV show

    RobertJSawyer
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:03 am
    I love Singapore -- I was a guest at a writers' festival there in 2005. And now Singapore's The Straits Times has reviewed my novel FlashForward, comparing and contrasting it with the TV series based on it:In Sawyer's book, there are great swathes of physics, paragraphs on mathematics and philosophy and also musings about guilt and personal choice -- all of which give the reader something more meaty to think on.Sawyer's version of FlashForward is more philosophical, it's more complex and detailed. If you enjoy juicy technical science fiction rather than TV-land pap, go for Sawyer's version.

  • Jeffrey Combs as Edgar Allan Poe

    RobertJSawyer
    15 Nov 2009 | 12:41 am
    If you live in Los Angeles, go see the one-man play Nevermore starring Jeffrey Combs as Edgar Allan Poe; it's at the Steve Allen Theatre.People say I read my own fiction well, but I've never heard anyone do a better reading of a short story than Combs's rendition of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," which he does as part of this play.I've been to lots of poetry readins with Carolyn over the years, and I've never heard any poet do a better reading than the performance of "The Raven" Combs gives as part of this play.It's a tour de force; Combs is, by turns, funny, moving, frenetic, and melancholy;…

  • LASFS meeting

    RobertJSawyer
    14 Nov 2009 | 5:38 pm
    My friend Matthew Tepper, who took the picture above, reminded me that the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (which has its own way-cool clubhouse!) meets on Thursday nights, so this past Thursday, Carolyn and I attended their meeting, since we're in L.A. so I can work on FlashForward, the ABC TV series based on my novel of the same name.Our writing friends Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin, authors of The Unincorporated Man, were also there, as were old friends John DeChancie and Larry Niven. We all went out to dinner afterwards at the Coral Café. Larry said, "I envy you FlashForward" --…

  • In Los Angeles with the FlashForward staff writers

    RobertJSawyer
    14 Nov 2009 | 5:15 pm
    Having a blast in Los Angeles (have been here since Sunday November 8). Spent five days last week with the staff writers for FlashForward, the ABC TV series based on my novel of the same name. The show's current staff writers are (alphabetically): Scott Gimple, David S. Goyer, Ian Goldberg, Seth Hoffman, Barbara Nance, Quinton Peeples, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin, and Lisa Zwerling, and they're all terrific. It's been enormous fun watching them bounce ideas off each other, and getting to kick in some of my own. Also watched some of the filming of episodes 11 and 12 this past week (watching…

  • SciFi Wire / SciFi Weekly cancels all columns

    RobertJSawyer
    14 Nov 2009 | 4:52 pm
    Ten years ago, I pitched an idea for a monthly column to the SciFi Channel's SciFi Weekly. They didn't buy it, and I never got around to pitching it to anyone else. But even if they had bought it, I would have been out of work today; they just dismissed all their columnists because, apparently, online columns are "passé." See this story from Locus Online.Here's the pitch I made (by paper mail!) back on September 28, 1999; it would have been a hell of a column. :)Dear Craig:Back when he was editing Amazing Stories, George Scithers noted a fascinating fact. To his chagrin, far more…
 
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    John Scalzi

  • Writers’ Organizations to Harlequin: If You’re Not Going to Act Like a Real Publisher, We’re Not Going to Treat You Like One

    John Scalzi
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:59 am
    Someone at Harlequin, the big publisher of romance novels, figured out there was money to be made from all the people who so desperately want to say that they’re being published by Harlequin that they’d be willing to pay for it. Thus has the company started its own vanity publishing arm: It’s called Harlequin Horizons, where, if one is to judge from the Web site, lots of stock art women will be thrilled at the idea of paying between $600 and $3,500 to see their name in print. To further sucker entice yearnful unpublished romance writers, the site also notes “Harlequin…

  • Because Every Day Brings Joy

    John Scalzi
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:42 am
    Busted sump pump in the basement! Oh, joy. Fortunately, the folks to fix this will be here in a couple of hours. Then once its fixed we get to see what stuff has water damage. I think I may kill zombies until then.  

  • Bad Science Education In, Bad Science in Science Fiction Movies Out?

    John Scalzi
    19 Nov 2009 | 5:11 am
    In this week’s AMC column, I explain why better basic science education, while laudable and probably necessary in a larger sense, will almost certainly not improve the bad science one finds in most science fiction movies, like the most recent Star Trek flick (or indeed much of that series). I point out Star Trek primarily because it just came out on home video, but the problem isn’t confined to that series, to be sure. Check out my thinking on the topic, and then be sure to tell me what you think in the comments. Because a day without your comment is like a day without sunshine.

  • Oh My God

    John Scalzi
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:58 am
    It’s almost three o’clock and I haven’t updated yet today! I must have fallen down a well! WHY DIDN’T YOU COME RESCUE ME?!!?!!!??!?!??!?!???!

  • That Palin Book

    John Scalzi
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:29 pm
    I’ve been asked if I have any particular thoughts about Sarah Palin’s new book, and the short answer is no, not really; I haven’t read it, and I’m not going to be going out of my way to read it, either. It’ll get enough buyers, some of whom will even get through the thing. She’ll get along fine without me adding to her tally. Aside from this, there’s nothing about the dynamic around the release which I find terribly surprising. The reviews from mainstream outlets are generally negative and/or dismissive, and that’s good for Palin, as she can use…
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    Deep Genre

  • Contest #2 – 15 Days of Deverry

    Constance
    7 Nov 2009 | 6:46 am
    Open November 6 to 10.  Winner and runner-up will  be announced on November 11. Anyone, anywhere in the world, can enter.  Note the dates!  Entries that are submitted outside these dates will not be reviewed. Short essay (50 words or less) Winner gets an autographed hardback DAW edition of a Deverry novel Runner-up gets an autographed mass market paperback of a Deverry novel 1) Email your submission to deverry@deepgenre.com with the subject header Contest.   Only one entry per person – duplicate entries will be disqualified. 2) In the body of the email, put your full mailing…

  • Fifteen Days of Deverry Interviews: Writers and Creativity

    Sherwood Smith
    6 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am
    QUESTION: Let’s talk about the meta part of writing. When we were young, it was all about the story. As we get older, we not only look harder at the material, but at ourselves as writers. How have you changed as a writer? KIT: I hope, quite simply, that I’ve gotten better. I think I have. When I look at DAGGER- and DARKSPELL, I am bitterly aware of flaws that I don’t see in the later books. I’m not impressed with the craft in BRISTLING WOOD and DRAGON REVENANT, but at least it doesn’t make me cringe! By TIME OF EXILE I feel I was hitting my stride. One thing I do…

  • Rocket Boy, Geek Girls, and A New Publishing Venture

    Madeleine Robins
    2 Nov 2009 | 6:35 pm
    Almost a year ago a bunch of writers got together and, to borrow a line from some 1940s musicals, said, “Hey, we have a barn! Let’s put on a show.”  Translation: twenty or so of us decided that, with our various talents, our backlists, and our increasing concern about the shape of publishing and our place in it, we were going to try something new.  Thus, Book View Cafe was born: a website where readers can find short and long fiction by name authors, for free or for a nominal fee.  In the nearly one year since then, the Cafe has added some authors and gained almost 1500…

  • Halloween!

    Constance
    30 Oct 2009 | 7:50 pm

  • Interview with Kit

    Sherwood Smith
    28 Oct 2009 | 8:49 am
    Question: First, how does it feel to be done? Kit: Very very odd, and at root, anti-climactic, which is partly why I am so deeply pleased that you and my other friends are putting together this Deverry “party”. I finished the last of the page proofs and thought to myself, “Well, that’s over. No more Deverry.” And I had the neurotic feeling that no one would particularly care, either. But it was definitely time for the series to end. Because it -was- over. Even though on some theoretical level I could have followed the stories of various characters and of the…
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    Fangs, Fur and Fey

  • Squee! Good News!

    Linda Robertson
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:35 am
    Happy Friday everyone! I’m so excited—I’ve got TWO big news-bits to tell—and I have to share NOW so I can get back to my “happy dancing” so I can settle in for the java and get to work .First, I just signed the contract for the fourth installment of Persephone Alcmedi’s story! It will be called Arcane Circle. WOO-HOO!Second, somehow my publisher Simon & Schuster/Pocket/Juno has acted in that vast labyrinth known as Publishing-Things-that-Happen-though-I-Don’t-Understand-How and sold foreign rights of the first three Persephone books to a German publisher. How do you say…

  • FFF anniversary contest WINNERS!

    Jeaniene Frost
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:43 am
    Thanks so much to everyone who entered, blogged about, or otherwise spread the word about the Fangs, Fur, and Fey Happy 3-year blog Anniversary contest. We had 633 contest entries, but I know everyone’s anxious to learn who won what, so I’ll get right to it. For the Grand Prize winner of a Kindle , Randomizer was consulted and this is what it said:Research Randomizer Results1 Set of 1 Unique Numbers Per SetRange: From 1 to 633 -- UnsortedJob Status: Bottom of Form Set #1: <input ... >113 Entry number 113 was…Emma Faulkner! Congrats, Emma! Look for an email from FFF…

  • Last reminder for FFF Happy Anniversary contest!

    Jeaniene Frost
    12 Nov 2009 | 6:05 am
    CONTEST ENDS on the 13th, so if you haven't entered yet, time is running out!Fangs, Fur, and Fey is holding a Happy 3-year blog Anniversary contest!                   Here are the prizes:Grand Prize - One (1) lucky winner will receive a Kindle Reader, retailing for $259.00, more info here: ( http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Reading-Display-International-Generation/dp/B0015T963C/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1256770824&sr=8-1  ).Other prizes - Twenty-two…

  • Topic of the Week - An Army of One

    Jeri Smith-Ready
    11 Nov 2009 | 7:01 am
    In honor of Veterans Day/Remembrance Day, I came up with a new topic (last year we discussed weaponry).  How do we portray the military (and other large governmental units) in urban fantasy?In traditional/epic fantasy, fighting wars is usually considered a noble deed. Oftentimes, the alternative is annihilation of the heroes' people, their home, and All Things Good. But as in other matters of morality, war is more ambiguous in urban fantasy than it is in traditional fantasy.  Good and evil aren't always clearly delineated in our contemporary times, right?With its emphasis on the…

  • New Urban Fantasy comic up at Zuda Comics

    Michael Jasper
    9 Nov 2009 | 7:54 am
    Hello all. I had some news I wanted to share in the November newsletter, but due to the timing (we couldn't announce it anywhere 'til 11/2), I couldn't share my news there. If it's okay with everyone, I'd love to share it here, especially for people interested in new ways of publishing and how editors deal with slush.First, the big news: a comic I created with artist Niki Smith, “In Maps and Legends,” is live on the Zuda Comics site!Zuda is the online comics line from DC Comics, the same folks who brought us Batman, Superman, the Sandman, Justice League, Wonder Woman, and countless other…
 
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    Foul Papers

  • The Daily Show covers the latest war

    Shannan
    2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am
    The staffs of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report really do the most amazing things with argument-through-editing. I’m thinking of incorporating some of their techniques into my lectures the next time I teach. Here, Jon Stewart brilliantly skewers the supposed “war on FOX News.”

  • Joining the cult

    Shannan
    28 Oct 2009 | 6:00 am
    So I believe I left you with an iceberg analogy – something about stocking the life-boats before the next disaster? I’m going to have to say goodbye to that analogy now. There’s no way I can say all I want to say and make it nautical/survival-oriented and keep a straight face. Especially since the first change I made to make my life more disaster-resistant was joining an (organization) cult. I consider myself fairly creative, but even I can’t figure out a way to make that life-boat-relevant, so you’ll have to live with plain, old-fashioned exposition. I’m kind of embarrassed to…

  • I shoulda become a lighthouse keeper

    Shannan
    14 Sep 2009 | 6:00 am
    Graduation Yup, still crazy busy. Be back soon!

  • Here and gone again

    Shannan
    26 Aug 2009 | 6:00 am
    This has been one hella crazy week, folks. I have a couple of posts half written to build on my last one, but they’re not quite ready to see the light of day yet. So here I am waving hi and telling you I haven’t forgotten you, but it’ll probably be another few days before you get the rest of the story. Since you clicked on over, though, I figure you deserve a nerd-girl treat. Welcome to the life of a dissertator. Our desires are simple.

  • Iceberg ahead! Living between crises

    Shannan
    17 Aug 2009 | 6:00 am
    Image uploaded on April 5, 2006 by TerryMcTCrises are always lurking on the horizon, whether we see them coming or not. They’re sneaky, like icebergs. If you follow my twitter feed, you probably already know that earlier this month was the one year anniversary of my father’s death. It wasn’t a bad day, all things considered. I spent it with people who loved him, and we spent it remembering him. But this anniversary thing has had a profound effect on my month as a whole. I’ve been reflecting a lot on the way this last year turned out versus what I expected it to be on the morning of…
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    Magical Words

  • The Long on the Short

    Stuart Jaffe
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm
    Before I get started, I want to thank all the folks at Magical Words for the warm welcome.  Thanks.  I also want to let you all know that I’m at Philcon right now and have limited/no computer access, so my responses to any comments might not come until Monday.  Sorry about that, but I will respond.  Now on to business: Writing short stories can be every bit as artistically rewarding and frustrating as writing novels.  To do them well often takes a large commitment of time and energy, when it’s finished it never comes out as good as what was in your head, and then you get to…

  • Storytelling Tropes: Belief

    Catie Murphy
    19 Nov 2009 | 3:49 am
    I just caught a few minutes of one of my favorite early-season Smallville episodes, the one where Lex is split into Evil Lex and Good Lex, and Evil Lex utters the line, “You were right all along, Mr Kent. I am the villain of the piece.” (Actually, he says “story”, but he should have said “piece”.) It got me thinking about storytelling tropes, and the tragedy of characters–because in Smallville, Lex is a tragic character, and it is without question his story the first four or five seasons that makes the show worth watching. We all know how Clark Kent…

  • The Bloody Joy of Fishing and Writing

    Faith Hunter
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am
    I am on the road again (don’t let that tune get into your head). Hope this bloody thing posts properly. WARNING: the following is not for the vegans among us … or the squeamish … unless you look at becoming and remaining published as a life and death event, one that is vital to your own well being and sense of joy. Then you might want to read on anyway. Where was I? Oh yeah. Joy and fish. I used to fish. I liked going after big-mouth bass best, but catfish have a certain allure, especially as a metaphor to joy and writing. Joy is difficult for a commercial writer to find and hold onto,…
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    Nancy Fulda

  • Random Weirdness

    20 Nov 2009 | 6:37 am
    There is a word -- and I wish I could remember what it was -- that describes an advanced technology being used to imitate a more primitive technology. Rolling ticker tapes on web sites are a prime example.Example #2 is the way I keep my place during revisions. When I get to the end of my writing session, I type "BOOKMARK" into the manuscript. A simple text search gets me right back to my spot in the morning.So it turns out that I am using a multisyllabic phenomenon whose name I can't remember on a regular basis.

  • Why Host Writing Contest?

    17 Nov 2009 | 2:18 am
    Most of you know that AnthologyBuilder sponsored a writing contest this year. (The judges are still out on the finalists: results soon.)Of the marketing tools I've utilized, writing contests rank very near the top. Why?1. They attract attentionContests are fun, and nothing is quite as alluring as the prospect of shiny prizes. People will not only enter the contest, but will cheerfully tell their friends about it, link to it, and so forth.2. They encourage new visitorsMany marketing efforts are aimed at encouraging previous visitors to come back to the web site. Contests reach a new audience…

  • Salvaging

    28 Oct 2009 | 3:34 pm
    Six-year-old Alex has developed a keen interest in all things electrical; especially in taking them apart. So far we have dissected a flashlight, a hand microscope, a remote control caterpillar, and an electronic alien-in-a-car with a broken wheel. He squealed with glee when we connected the caterpillar motor to a battery and it started spinning. I find I enjoy both the time spent together and the excuse to get rid of items that I otherwise would have kept. It's hard for me to throw away electronic toys even if they have stopped functioning. This way, I can chalk their destruction up as a…

  • Randomness

    27 Oct 2009 | 12:37 pm
    Hexes and Tooth Decay is now up at Darwin's Evolutions.Toilet Paper Wedding Dresses. Gosh. Wow. I don't know whether to be entranced or appalled.Schlock Mercenary books can now be ordered from local game stores. Makes me wish I had one nearby so I could pester the manager to put more copies on the shelves.By the way, the bargain hunter in me just noticed that the Schlock Store has a clearance section. Just in case you're a cheapskate like me who cares more about the book's content than about whether the spine has a crease.

  • Does reading require more effort than watching a movie?

    17 Oct 2009 | 4:23 am
    The generally accepted knowledge -- at least among booklovers -- is that reading is a far more active experience than watching television because you have to imagine what everything looks like.I find myself wondering whether that's actually true.Books leave more room for the reader to visualize the situation, I'll concede that. But what about complex tasks like extrapolating characters' motives, predicting what they'll do next, or wondering what that mysterious man in the black overcoat is up to? Books often hand that information to you cut-and-dried, where as movie-watchers, unable to read…
 
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    No Fear of the Future

  • Guy de Bord's Wild Kingdom

    Chris Nakashima-Brown
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:10 am
    For some reason, whenever I walk in the woods, I find stuff like this. Which I am guessing is probably a 1967 Chevy Impala. Discovered as I emerged from tall marsh grass, flushing out a big heron who was rather annoyed I had interrupted his perch.It was found in the floodplain of the Lower Colorado River, about halfway between downtown Austin and the airport. When the water is low, acres of land that don't exist on any map appear, filled with unexpected psychogeographical Easter eggs like this. All the flotsam of a city like Austin that gets carried out of yards and construction sites and…

  • Genesis by Crumb

    Alexis Glynn Latner
    14 Nov 2009 | 5:47 pm
    The following appeared, with no article or additional background information, in the Belief/Religion section of the Houston Chronicle:"I used a lot of white-out, a lot of corrections when I tried to draw God."-Illustrator Robert Crumb, describing his four years of work on The Book of Genesis, quoted by USA TodayWho what? Could Illustrator Robert Crumb be the famed underground comix artist who drew Fritz the Cat, which was adapted into an X-rated movie? Yes, the very same Robert Crumb. He has just completed The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb. Religious eyebrows are being raised, but…

  • Feeling very estranged

    Chris Nakashima-Brown
    14 Nov 2009 | 10:22 am
    To my immense delight, the new issue of the New York Review of Science Fiction features my essay "Feeling Very Estranged: Science Fiction and Society in the Aftermath of the Twentieth Century." An earlier version of of the essay was presented as part of the symposium on "Mundos Paralelos" at the 2009 Festival de Mexico in el Centro Historico put together by author and critic Mauricio Montiel Figueiras and Festival director Jose Wolffer. The essay is my effort to synthesize much of my accumulated thinking on sf as the most highly evolved branch of the twentieth century project to produce a…

  • When Radagast attacks

    Chris Nakashima-Brown
    10 Nov 2009 | 7:11 am
    This vignette in yesterday's NYT backgrounder on the Fort Hood shooter really packed it in for me, describing Dr. Hasan as:"...a gentle, quiet, deeply sensitive man who once owned a bird that he fed by placing it in his mouth and allowing it to eat masticated food."Wow.It's like that 70s Bruce Dern loco Vietnam Vet meme never died, and has now branched out into weird new 21st century variations.Okay, time to turn on the tube and follow the latest lockdown from the Live at 5 choppercam.

  • Election results

    Alexis Glynn Latner
    9 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am
    Normally I don't radiate patriotic fervor - though I'm more inclined that way than I was a year ago last Tuesday. This year's election day was very special for me too. Because I recently relocated out of one of the small cities inside of Houston (it's kind of like an amoeba that has ingested small surrounding communities), I was able to vote in the Houston city elections. This came just in time for me to cast my vote for Annise Parker for Mayor of Houston. A few days having passed, there were thoughtful reflections in the Sunday newspaper. The newspaper, by the way, had endorsed both Annise…
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    Pat Esden

  • WORD HELP: What would a nickname be called in the 14th century?

    17 Nov 2009 | 5:13 am
    I don't need a nickname, but I need to know what one would have been called in the 14th century. It could even be a more recently used word that sounds less modern than nickname. It does need to be easy to understand when read quickly. I can see the end. SAH--66,000 words of 75,000.

  • Showers are Dangerous!

    12 Nov 2009 | 5:27 am
    When will I learn not to take a shower in the morning before work? Inspiration inevitably hits me and makes me late for work. Oh yeah, I’m the boss, but that doesn’t really matter, have to set a good example and all that junk.Today’s inspiration came in the form of one short sentence: They were there after Brannockburn. OMG. It belongs in a thread I’ve already tied. But it cinches that thread so perfectly and I don’t have to change another word in the entire manuscript.But why do I have to think of these things when I’m in a hurry?62,000 words.

  • Nonfiction Sale-yay!

    7 Nov 2009 | 9:04 am
      I sold another article to Vermont Bride Magazine. This one’s about wedding bouquet trends for 2010. I like writing trend articles because I get to talk to wholesalers and dress vendors about upcoming colors and styles. Not only does this help me with the article, but it also prepares me for my own consultations with brides. Speaking of which, I better run. I’ve got a bride coming in a few minutes to talk about the flowers for her July 2010 wedding. Sheesh, it’s time to start working on July already!

  • Freedom, Booyah! and Bats

    6 Nov 2009 | 5:18 am
    My husband left at midnight for his yearly Canadian vacation. Yay! I have eight days of writing freedom. Well, I still have my normal job to do, but no worrying about dinner or staying quiet because he goes to bed early--lots of loud music and tea. Best yet, I finished an updated outline and now have a final outline for the last chapters of SAH.By the way, I used to think I liked bats, but the last chapter I wrote made me realize how uncomfortable they make me.Here's a tease:Quickly, Ella pointed the MagLite's beam down the passageway to double check that she hadn’t…

  • Query Dissection

    4 Nov 2009 | 1:31 pm
    Mary Kole of Andrea Brown has begun announcing the winners of her query contest.  She will be posting and dissecting the winners (well their queries, that is) all week. Check it out. The queries will blow your socks off, and Mary Kole's comments are straightforward and insightful. http://kidlit.com/
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    Something Wicked

  • The big decision...names

    Lori Devoti
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:07 am
    As you probably know names are a big deal for authors. Some spend days searching for just the right one...the meaning has to be right, the sound has to be right (I had to change a name of a character from one book to another because my editor thought it was too feminine for a hero.), everything has to be right. And here at the Devoti household things are no different. We take picking names very seriously. Except we aren't naming characters or babies (Man, that was hard!) no we are naming dogs. Over the years my husband and I have named four dogs together. The first was an 120 pound Alaskan…

  • I'm Back!!!

    Shirley Damsgaard
    19 Nov 2009 | 3:26 am
    I'm back! The surgery went well and I'm home. A little on the sore side...I certainly won't be running any foot races anytime soon...but then again, I wasn't all that hot at foot races before the surgery!! Anyway, so far so good, and I expect to be back to normal (whatever that is! *g*) in a few weeks.However sitting for an extended period of time is a challenge, so this blog will be another short one. Just long enough to announce last week's winner of a signed copy of THE WITCH'S GRAVE! Linda Henderson. (Your granddaughter truly does sound like a miracle baby, Linda, and best wishes to her…

  • A Rose by Any Other Name

    Casey
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:45 am
    These are just too much fun not to share. Here are the winners of the Washington Post neologism contest in which readers were asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.8.

  • The truth about writers' spaces

    Angie Fox
    17 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am
    Last night, I was tooling around online and came across this article about "writers spaces." It talked about where writers write - and all of them wrote in these lovely, inspired, Pottery-Barn-would-be-jealous spaces that no mortal could design. Seriously. We're talking interior decorator spaces. I know I should have been impressed, but instead, I had to snarf out loud. Several times. Are these people writing or dickering around with their writers spaces?The article talked about this being the way to find your muse and "pour out your genius." And I'm not saying it doesn't work for some…

  • The Harvest

    Jess Granger
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:38 am
    As I was out raking leaves yesterday, and spreading them out as mulch over the new flowerbed, I got to thinking about the harvest.I think we've gotten away from the experience of the harvest a little with year round produce neatly packaged in nice little baggies in the grocery store. At one point, the stores you set to help you survive the winter were placed there by the hard work of your own hands.In the spring, new shoots held the promise of plenty and survival for the hard times, through summer, each plant became an embodiment of the care and sweat it took to grow them. And in the fall,…
 
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    Talking Squid

  • On stridency

    Chris Lawson
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pm
    There are, as readers should know, a large subsection of atheists who have fostered discord by making highly emotive statements critical of religion. Terms like militant and strident are often used against these atheists. A recent screed called certain common practices: 1. intrinsically evil 2. objectively wrong 3. essentially opposed to … proper human development. 4. diminishes the capacity for love 5. a grave injustice But this was not written by an atheist. It comes from a pastoral letter released this week by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. And this is not a rogue view. The…

  • Breaking news: Australia officially declared insane

    Chris Lawson
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:42 pm
    It’s been all Franz meets George this week. First up, a man’s conviction for raping a child is overturned when it turns out that he was 1000 km away at the time of the incident. The Australian Federal Police prosecuted Frederic Arthur Martens despite failing to check the evidence that he said would exonerate him. In fact they claimed they had checked and the evidence didn’t exist. The AFP then prevented Mr Martens from collecting the evidence himself by seeking bail conditions that made it impossible. Martens appealed his conviction while the task of collecting the evidence…

  • Always check the references

    Chris Lawson
    17 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pm
    New American recommendations on breast cancer screening have caused quite a stir by advising a reduced number of screening tests. Although controversial, the changes essentially bring the US recommendations into line with the recommendations in the rest of the world and the only real question is why has the US taken so long to follow? 1 On the whole, this new report is a major improvement and Talking Squid wholeheartedly approves of the move to incorporate better evidence in medical policy. But…there is clearly a less than reliable process at work in one aspect of the recommendations,…

  • Answers to recently asked questions

    Chris Lawson
    5 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am
    One of the delights of publishing a blog is seeing the strange hits that search engines send one’s way. Talking Squid attempts to answer some of the more unusual queries to enter our stats collector. Q: talking squid Yes, that’s us. Q: do millions of people have IQ 160 Take these calculations with a grain of salt, but an IQ of 160 is supposed to represent the top 0.00063% of the population. Out of the whole world that’s about 424,000 people, roughly the population of Portland, Oregon. That’s a lot of people, but not millions. Q: i want to make a toy squid So do I.

  • Margo Lanagan, Shaun Tan win World Fantasy Awards

    Chris Lawson
    2 Nov 2009 | 4:59 pm
    In parochial news, Margo Lanagan’s novel Tender Morsels tied with Jeffrey Ford’s The Shadow Year for Best Novel and Shaun Tan was awarded Best Artist at the World Fantasy Awards. Neither was at the ceremony to collect their awards. Shaun was too busy working on a film and Margo had decided to stay home on the argument that turning up to awards seemed to be the best way to lose them. Looks like she was right. Other winners: Ellen Asher and Jane Yolen for Life Achievement, Kij Johnson’s “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” for Best Short Story, Richard Bowes’s…
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    theinferior4+1

  • Ancient Murder

    theinferior4+1
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:31 am
    My pal Rory Raven has his second book just out, the true account of a sensational murder and trial from the early nineteenth century. I sense a rich lode of steampunk material here.Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/y9vv3ej

  • New Review at B&NR

    theinferior4+1
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:25 am
    Folks might enjoy my brief coverage of the popular science book THE BLACK HOLE WAR:http://tinyurl.com/yk8d26qPosted by Paul DiFi.

  • Not so inferior!

    paulwitcover
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am
    Just saw that DiFi is one of the new judges for the John W. Campbell Award. Congrats, Paul! If this keeps up, we may have to change the name of this blog. The Not-So-Inferior 4+1? The Somewhere-Along-The-Vast-Inferior/Superior-Spectrum 4+1?

  • Year's Best Fantasy 9

    ljgoldstein
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:59 pm
    Tor.com is going to post stories from _The Year's Best Fantasy 9_ every Friday, and they're starting tomorrow with my story "Reader's Guide" and stories by Jeffrey Ford and Al Michaud. The anthology is pretty good, actually. The winner, and by winner I mean "story by an author new to me, all of whose books I am now going to read," is Catherynne M. Valente's "A Buyer's Guide to Maps of Antarctica" -- it's beautifully evocative, and I'll try to remember to post here when it shows up on Tor's blog.

  • Bad Sex!

    lizhand
    19 Nov 2009 | 5:04 pm
    You know you've all been waiting for it, breasts heaving, lips parted, loins bedamped with — well, whatever: the annual Bad Sex in Fiction Awards. A lot of heavy hitters here — Phillip Roth, Paul Theroux, John Banville, Amos Oz, Nick Cave (Nick Cave?). But only one woman out of the whole lot??? Girls, we need to protest, NOW! I can only imagine that the judges, with their hoity-toity attitudes towards Literature, failed to read any Laurel K. Hamilton, who — let's face it — is a lioness among lions, a yoni among yobs, a steel-plated leather strap-on Eleven among multicolour Durexes.
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    Wyrdsmiths

  • RWA Rightly Decertifies Harlequin As A Pro Publisher

    Kelly McCullough
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:24 am
    The marvelous Jackie Kessler has the scoop. What she said.Updated:Add Kristin Nelson's take.And Making Light.Ashley Grayson. That one's going to sting.

  • Writing Related Link Salad

    Kelly McCullough
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:38 am
    A bunch of interesting things for writers on the web today.Via my friend Michael Thomas we have a discussion of the authorial income of one New York Times Best seller. Hint, it's not anywhere near as high as you would hope.Kristin Nelson is talking about Harlequin's new plan for a self-pubbed line under the heading: Exploitation or Empowerment. I am frankly appalled.My friend Greg Laden offers tongue in cheek help for writers block with a link to an academic sentence generator.The Scrivener's Error has a post showing that the Google books settlement version 2.0 doesn't look much better than…

  • Proposals and Series Vs. Standalone pt .1

    Kelly McCullough
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:52 am
    Part 1: The BlueprintOne of the bigger changes in my mental model of writing over the last five years is that I no longer loathe and fear synopses and proposals. In fact, I have actually come to enjoy writing them. In part this is a function of practice. I've done a lot of these at this point, something on the order of 30, and as with all writing tasks, it gets easier with repetition. But even more, I think it is because I've spent the last five years working in the WebMage world with all its interesting bugs and limitations.Now, don't get me wrong, I love WebMage and it's been enormous fun…

  • Monday morning WIP thread

    Kelly McCullough
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:10 am
    Manuscriptomancy for me this week with a side order of putting in the last counter. The trunk novel. How about y'all?

  • Smart Things

    Kelly McCullough
    15 Nov 2009 | 1:12 pm
    Spent the weekend doing smart things, i.e. laying around the lake place with friends, drinking lightly, eating good food, and crawling into the hot tub in between times. Also, hanging out on the web. From whence, three smart things:My friend Beth on defining success.Kristin Nelson on how non-compete clauses are being reworded to prevent you from exercising digital rights if you don't license them to your publisher.An interesting discussion on Steve Brust's blog about donate buttons and being an artist--most of the action is in the comment thread.
 
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    Joe Abercrombie

  • Best of 2009? Already?

    20 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am
    In what I trust shall be the first of many such appearances, Best Served Cold has been rated among the ten best sci-fi and fantasy releases of 2009.In other news, an interesting discussion about fantasy cover art over at A Dribble of Ink kicked off by responses to the latest Mass Market Cover for Mark Charan Newton's Nights of Villjamur. The comments include some insightful stuff from industry insider-types like Lou Anders (of Pyr, who publish the First Law in the US, and also happens to have a Chesley award for art direction), Lauren Panepinto (who designs the covers for Orbit, including…

  • USA BSC MMP

    11 Nov 2009 | 11:40 am
    See what I did there? Lauren Panepinto over at Orbit US have unveiled a new look for the Mass Market Paperback outing of Best Served Cold in the States which will be coming along in June next year, and it looks a little something like this:Oooooooh. Interesting departure. I have to say I much prefer this to the US Hardcover look which drew such ire from you all when it was unveiled back in February. This approach makes sense to me - I think it stands a good chance of bringing in readers who might otherwise not have picked up my stuff, I think it looks bold, tough, and uncompromising (kind of…

  • Uncharted 2

    5 Nov 2009 | 1:31 pm
    It doesn't feel like long ago at all I was talking of Uncharted, speaking of its high qualities and hoping it would be the start of a long and beautiful series. I really liked that game - not spectacularly original, but well implemented across the board, nicely plotted and bursting with charm. It seems like about a week later, and here's the sequel, and man, it's really, really good. Everyone's saying that - finally a reason to own a PS3 and yada, yada. But it really is good. Really good.There's the same mixture of exploration and rapid-fire gunplay, of mystery and quality voice acting, but…

  • The Shield Season 7

    28 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pm
    Ouch.I need to say that again. Ouch.I loved the first couple of series of the Shield. It was tough, hard, morally ambiguous in a way I hadn't really seen in cop shows before. Had a killer twist in the very first episode. And featured a superb, eye-poppingly angry and dangerous central performance from Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackie. "Are you the good cop or the bad cop?" a suspect asks him. "I'm a different kind of cop," he replies, before beating a confession out of him with a telephone directory. This was my kind of show.It's a bit of a shame in a way that it was rather eclipsed for me…

  • Swords and Dark Magic

    20 Oct 2009 | 2:26 pm
    So I've dropped a couple of hints that I'd have a short story in an anthology coming out next year. Its co-editor, the very wonderful Lou Anders, has now posted the table of contents so I feel free to reproduce it, because it is a doozy, and you are going to want a piece of this, oh yes you are:"Introduction: Check Your Dark Lord at the Door" - Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan "Goats of Glory" - Steven Erikson "Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company" - Glen Cook "Bloodsport" - Gene Wolfe "The Singing Spear" - James Enge "A Wizard of Wiscezan" - C.J. Cherryh "A Rich Full Week" - K. J. Parker "A…
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    Dan Abnett

  • "Caution: Unexpected honking"

    Dan Abnett
    15 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am
    So I’m sitting here, writing this, watching the finals of the Over 35 Bronze Man-Lady. I assume that’s hyphenated. It could be, at a pinch, a slash. And before you go all taste and decency on me, it’s a ballroom dancing competition, and Man-Lady is a category that simply denotes a man dancing with a lady. Unnecessary clarity, I feel, unless there are categories I don’t know about like Man-Rotary Washing Line or Gnu-Lady.Daughter B is taking part - she just won her third trophy. I’m sitting on the folding chairs with one eye on the dancefloor and my lap top in my lap. Outside in the…

  • I Hate Dan Abnett

    Dan Abnett
    22 Oct 2009 | 1:38 am
    Wonders will never cease. The marvelous Mark Charan Newton, author of "Villjamur", read "Triumff", and liked it so much that he has written a few words to inspire others to read it too. What a very fine chap he is. Take it away Mr Newton.Enough has been said about the plot already, so what I most of all want to add is this:I hate Dan Abnett. Why? Because having proved himself the king of noir-infused miltary SF, it takes quite a talent to move easily to something completely different - and this really is a triumffant leap in style. Such transitions really are difficult to pull off, and you…

  • Just a little reminder of dates for the Scottish tour!

    Dan Abnett
    14 Oct 2009 | 5:41 am

  • Something for the weekend.

    Dan Abnett
    9 Oct 2009 | 2:07 pm
    Forbidden Planet beckons, and Nik tells me that I've worked too much again, this week, what with more books in the mind-mill for AR and BL! So, this is just to say that we both admire Matthew Farrer beyond anything that we can adequately express in a couple of sentences. We are beyond delighted that he has read and reviewed "Triumff", and here are his thoughts.TRIUMFF - Her Majesty’s Hero, by Dan AbnettIt’s raining. It’s pouring. London is very much the worse for water, and as the little tour that opens Triumff shows you how bad things are there it also shows you what sort of London…

  • Forbidden Planet signing.

    Dan Abnett
    6 Oct 2009 | 2:40 am
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    Ann Aguirre

  • RWA has stones!

    Ann Aguirre
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:17 pm
    Romance Writers of America was informed of the new venture between Harlequin Enterprises and ASI Solutions to form Harlequin Horizons, a vanity/subsidy press. Many of you have asked the organization to state its position regarding this new development. As a matter of policy, we do not endorse any publisher’s business model. Our mission is the advancement of the professional interests of career-focused romance writers. One of your member benefits is the annual National Conference. RWA allocates select conference resources to non-subsidy/non-vanity presses that meet the eligibility…

  • Unreasonable Expectations

    Ann Aguirre
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pm
    So Harlequin Horizons. I debated on whether I should post about this. But sometimes I just can’t be silent. This is one of those times. I’m not with Harlequin. I have no dog in this fight. I’m not aspiring. I’m not interested in self-publishing or vanity publishers (this is an example of the latter). I’m not looking to sell anything at the moment. I have enough work to be going on with for quite a good while. That makes me pretty impartial, inasmuch as I can be. A traditional publisher going into vanity publishing bothers me. But here is why I am particularly…

  • Get your Aztec gear!

    Ann Aguirre
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    My fab assistant, Azteclady, has opened an Etsy shop. Make sure you stop by and check her out.

  • Faq update q: Do you ever sleep?

    Ann Aguirre
    12 Nov 2009 | 11:51 am
    New FAQ: Do you ever sleep? I actually get this one pretty often. The answer is yes. I sleep, generally from midnight to eight a.m., unless I’m up later, giggling maniacally with Moira Rogers (Bree & Donna) in IM. This happens about once a week. I compensate by sleeping later. But since I suspect this question has its roots in speculation regarding my productivity, I will elaborate. Yes, I’m prolific. I work a lot, I’d say forty to fifty hours a week. Here’s what my schedule looks like: If I’m drafting a book, I write for three hours in the morning. I…

  • Skin Tight excerpt

    Ann Aguirre
    10 Nov 2009 | 11:37 am
    People have gladdened me with their reaction to Foster. He’s the toughest hero I’ve ever written (in the sense that he’s closed and difficult), mostly because he feels he has nothing to live for. It’s not angst; it’s blackest despair. He was tough as hell to write, and I was over halfway through the book before his inner landscape lightened even a little bit. He will break your heart, and then kiss it better. We don’t call him BatPunisherMan for nothing. This is a year after their first encounter in Vegas. Without further ado, one of my favorite scenes:…
 
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    Colleen Anderson

  • Endangered Species Vs Cultural Tradition

    colleenanderson
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pm
    Our world is in trouble in a lot of ways and anyone, whether an individual or a government, who denies this is practicing the head in the sand technique. Overfishing has caused the closing of fisheries in numerous countries, caribou herds are threatened, whales are on the endangered list , rhinos and tigers and other large land mammals are in danger of extinction. The list of endangered or near extinct fauna is extensive. Not all are hunted by humans for food or trophyism but the ones that are hunted/farmed/fished for food run into more conflict. There are the people who make their…

  • Hospital Food

    colleenanderson
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:38 pm
    It’s been nearly two years since my friend Bear died. The hospital he was in, VGH in Vancouver, through unhygienic procedures infected him with C difficile. (He’s not the only person I know who received infections in the hospital: I know of two others who luckily didn’t lose their lives.) I’ve written about this before but I may not have gone into the quality of the food. Part of the healing process for any person involves several factors. One is getting rid of the infection/disease or removing /fixing the problem. However mental health also plays a big part in…

  • Starbucks and the Censored Mermaid

    colleenanderson
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:46 pm
    Anyone who lives on the West Coast knows of Starbucks, whether they drink coffee or not. Actually anyone may know of Starbucks because there are over 16,000 stores world wide. When the Seattle-based company first began the logo consisted of a twin-tailed siren or a melusine. One medieval version of the melusine at her bath.  The siren is another name for mermaids who lure sailors to their deaths upon the rocks of the tumultuous ocean. The melusine specifically refers to a mermaid with a bifurcated tail and is based on of a French legend of a woman called Melusine who lived with a man for…

  • Buy at Sears, But Only If You Want Attitude

    colleenanderson
    17 Nov 2009 | 11:35 am
    The first time I had problems with Sears, I eventually let it go even though I didn’t shop in the store for a year. In this day when there are so many stores, really it’s quality and service that make the difference. And so it is that I am not waiting for the three strikes you’re out. Two is enough. The first time, I was shopping in Sears (in Vancouver) and picking up a few skirts to try on. This woman comes up to me and snatches the skirts from my hand, saying “You’re dragging them on the floor and they’re getting all dirty.” I looked at her…

  • A Fairy Tale About Umberto

    colleenanderson
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:27 pm
    Here is a fairy tale about a man, let’s say an Italian man from Tuscany because Italians are known for cooking. Let’s say this man, we’ll call him Umberto because that’s a good, meaty Italian name, had learned to cook at his mama’s side (or at least eaten the savory tidbits) and had pulled himself up by his bootstraps. He had once been a busboy. Busboys are little better than slaves; they get paid but no one really respects them and so, like the grime of morsels left on the plates, Umberto held a piece of shame and anger in his heart.  Umberto worked hard in…
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    Eleanor Arnason

  • National Geographic Photo of the Day

    Eleanor
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:06 am
    The photo today is labeled Blue Lagoon. The steam rising suggests this is the famous Blue Lagoon in Iceland. So here the photo is, since I love most things Icelandic, though not the bankers and politicians who did so much damage to the Icelandic economy.

  • Morning in November

    Eleanor
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:38 am
    I got up late today, at eight. It's a gray, misty morning. We had no coffee in the house, so I went to a local coffee shop to buy half a pound of beans. Now I'm back home, listening to classicial music on the new radio.I will check the usual websites for jobs, then think about what to do next.

  • Meteors

    Eleanor
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:37 am
    Two comments from a thread on FireDogLake discussing hunger in America and the Leonid meteor shower currently taking place:Crystal clear here in central Texas. Much ambient light makes it about 2 visible meteors every 5 minutes. Still very cool...For us household income is down by more than half in the last 5 years. Both of us are under-employed and now, because of age, that is irreversible. Health insurance costs forced a choice late this year and now one of us is uninsured. Both of us are well and have between us seen a doctor only 3 times in the last 2 years. Insurance declined to pay for…

  • Hunger

    Eleanor
    16 Nov 2009 | 4:56 pm
    This is from today's New York Times, writing about an US Agriculture Department report that just came out:In its annual report on hunger, the department said that 17 million American households, or 14.6 percent of the total, “had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year.” That was an increase from 13 million households, or 11.1 percent, the previous year...Overall, one-third of all the families that are affected by hunger, or 6.7 million households, were classified as having very low food security, meaning that members of the household had too little to eat or…

  • Sick Leave

    Eleanor
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am
    I have just been on the fine public health blog Effect Measure, where I found this quote from the English paper The Independent: The United States is one of only five countries in the world without a national policy on paid sick leave, (Senator Chris) Dodd said."We're in the company - and I say this respectfully of these countries - of Lesotho, Liberia, Papua-New Guinea and Swaziland. Those countries and the United States are the five that don't have paid sick leave," Dodd said."Five nations, four of whom are struggling economies, barely surviving as nation-states, and the richest country in…
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    Neal Asher

  • Science Fiction Laser Beam Nonsense!

    Neal Asher
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:14 am
    This was passed onto me from my brother Bob. It's on Tom's Guide.In September, we reported that Boeing successfully defeated a ground target using its Advanced Tactical Laser aircraft. Now the company has shown its laser prowess again by tracking and destroying small, unmanned aerial vehicles in the air. A single laser beam, fired by the U.S. Air Force-sponsored Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments (MATRIX), shot down five UAVs at various ranges.Squids in space next maybe?

  • Oops!

    Neal Asher
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am
    This could be an elaborate hoax, deliberate spin, a deliberate attempt to get damaging information out before the Copenhagen climate conference. It could also be something likely to end up with the label Climategate...

  • My Books in America

    Neal Asher
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am
    A comment on the previous post is one I've been reading a lot from American readers. It is, apparently, difficult to obtain my books over there. The first reason for this is that Tor US doesn't publish them all, it's a shame, but what can I do?However, some while ago someone directed my attention to The Book Depository which states on its website Free worldwide delivery on every book. If you go on there and stick my name in the search you get most of my books, and they're even discounted. For example, you can buy a copy of Gridlinked, in its nice new cover, for £4.75 including postage and…

  • More Books!

    Neal Asher
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:47 am
    Having seen my previous post Dave Robotham tells me I may be biased as I am a huge fan of your books but I go out of my way to make sure we have all of your backlist in stock and sent me the picture below from a week ago to prove the point.Dave is the assistant manager of both branches of Waterstone's in Woking and tells me that since this picture The Engineer Recondition is back in stock as well as Runcible Tales, and that Cowl is flying off the shelves in its new jacket. So, if any of you reading this are in the Woking area, go buy books in Waterstones!

  • Books!

    Neal Asher
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:40 am
    Whilst down this way last summer my brother Bob took a photo in Waterstones in Chelmsford. He thought I might like it. The bugger knows me too damned well; of course I like it!
 
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    Steven Barnes

  • A Splinter of Truth

    Steven Barnes
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am
    In writing, sometimes I start with an idea and build outward. Sometimes I start with a character and ask what is most important to that character, or what would be the worst thing that could happen to him. And in other cases a writer can begin with a technological development, and ask whose life would be most strongly impacted (is that a real word?) by this development.ﾠThen...ask yourself where you, as a real live breathing human-type being, have experienced some similar change, similar development. How did you feel? Or have you ever observed someone experiencing some similar shift? What…

  • Procrastination

    Steven Barnes
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:31 am
    Some years back, I showed the Five Tibetans to Scott, and the first thing he did was deconstruct them. Apparently he applied the idea of moving in all six basic planes from a discipline called Shadow Yoga (and I wouldn't be surprised if he had input from other sources as well) and put the Tibetans in a re-arranged sequence, changed the protocol and added some missing motion (side to side and twisting) and created FlowFit. Extracted from FlowFit, the concept of Six Degrees of Freedom, something central to the CST approach, began to appear in his other work: PrasaraTacFit, and more. Now Coaches…

  • If you can't get a job...

    Steven Barnes
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am
    Does anyone know if previous Presidents met the Emperor? And how they responded? It seems to me that anyone who takes offense at Obama's bow is almost staggeringly ignorant of very typical Japanese behavior. Anyone ever seen a Japanese film, or anything at all? A little karate, where opponents bow before fighting? JeezeAnyone see the new "Prisoner"? I have to admit that I avoided it on broadcast, planning to catch it on DVD. My main complaint is that I heard a radio commercial, and Number Six uttered his immortal: "I am not a number! I am a man!"...with a whine. A whine. Good lord. In the…

  • Fascinating

    Steven Barnes
    15 Nov 2009 | 8:53 am
    Spending more time working with coaching clients is fascinating. Now that I've made this decision, it will be quite telling to see what affect it has on me psychologically.Tananarive is in Florida, taking care of her parents for a week. So Jason and I are having a Boy's Club for a while. Took him to the L.A. Zoo, and saw something horrific: out of the thousands of people there, I didn't see a single attractive body. This was blowing my mind. Everything was lumpy and chunky and squashed together, no one who could outrun a predator or run down a deer. Good lord. I was wondering if it was just…

  • Forward or Backward?

    Steven Barnes
    13 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am
    "One goes ahead, stands still, or goes backwards in life. One's object should be, of course, to go ahead..."The above quote from "Think And Grow Rich" helps explain why people don't want to set distinct goals and be held accountable for them. If you have clear goals expressed in continuous action, either you are hitting your mark, or you aren't. And in general, IF you can continue to look at those goals, and look at your measurements of action, you will move in the right direction.So what do people do? They refuse to balance their checkbook and evaluate their net worth. They won't have the…
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    Max Barry

  • Hollywood Wants a Piece of Charlie

    7 Nov 2009 | 2:35 am
    You were in Hollywood trade Bible Variety. No, really. True, you weren’t the main focus. The main focus was OH BY THE WAY THEY’RE MAKING A MACHINE MAN MOVIE. Well, when I say “making,” I mean “it’s in development.” And as we have learned, sometimes painfully, movies in development often do not make it out of development, at least not in our lifetimes. But still! This is a pretty amazing thing for a not-quite-finished experiment in fiction. “They” in this case is Mandalay Pictures, who do actually get stuff made, and who I think get this…

  • Machine Man Word Cloud

    28 Oct 2009 | 5:57 am
    I discovered a word cloud generator, so naturally enough I pasted Machine Man into it. It looks like this: Image courtesy wordle.net That’s pretty awesome. I love the big Lola. I’m disappointed “just” is so big, though. I have to stop using that. Possibly I am overdoing the similes, too, with a “like” of those dimensions. But the scattering of body parts is nice.

  • Big Brother Is Actually Not Watching You At All

    15 Oct 2009 | 4:06 pm
    Nine girls were trapped in a big house in Turkey, their every move filmed for the titalation of their captors. Not recently. This was about a month ago. I’m only mentioning it now because a month ago my brain wasn’t working. Back then, I just thought, “That… irony… blog.” That’s as far as I got. But I’m feeling better now, thanks for asking. So the interesting part is that the girls thought they were on Big Brother. According to reports: …the women were not abused or harassed sexually, but were told to fight each other, to wear bikinis,…

  • Zombies Are For Grown-Ups: Why Banning Video Games Makes Them More Violent

    11 Oct 2009 | 9:15 pm
    I’m a parent. I also like to slay zombies. Lately, my wife and I have spent nights side-by-side, mowing down hordes of gibbering undead with automatic weapons. Sometimes we blow them up with pipe bombs, or set them on fire. We don’t go looking for them. They rush at us out of darkened city alleys. They break through doors. It’s us or them. I’m talking of course about the computer game Left 4 Dead. It has a sequel, due out next month, which looks similar—so similar, in fact, there is a protest by Left 4 Dead fans that it should be a free update, not a new…

  • A Short Story Broke My Brain

    5 Oct 2009 | 2:13 am
    You might be wondering what happened to that live short story. I did it. I just haven’t written about it because I lost the ability to form coherent sentences. I knew it would be tough. Turning up at the Melbourne Writers Festival with a laptop, plugging into the big screen, and writing a short story from scratch while people watch: that’s not the recommended writing technique. I think that’s the opposite of what you’re supposed to do, which is something about forgetting the rest of the world exists. It’s hard to be creative and self-conscious. But that was half…
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    Christopher Barzak

  • Nebula time

    Christopher Barzak
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:46 pm
    Calling all speculative fiction writers and readers: The Nebula Award nomination period is now open! The rules have changed a lot this year, and I’m excited to see how those changes are reflected in the preliminary and final ballots. Alas, I’ve read almost nothing but books assigned for my MFA degree and my own students’ stories in the last year, and am woefully behind on many of the current sf releases, wondering now to vote.  So I’m calling on all of you (whoever’s out there reading this somewhat neglect blog) to please recommend your favorite short stories,…

  • Reviews of the new Interfictions

    Christopher Barzak
    11 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am
    Two really well done reviews of the new volume of Interfictions are out. First one from Strange Horizons: If anyone else feels like we’re still drowning in slipstream—or, rather, drowning in definitions of slipstream—this follow-up to the 2007 anthology Interfictions certainly won’t offer any easy answers to the question of what’s been going on lately with all this genre-bending stuff. What Interfictions 2 does offer is a set of stories that, if united by only the most tenuous thematic and generic threads, couldn’t be more worth reading. Indeed, the folks at Small…

  • When we are like Anne

    Christopher Barzak
    11 Nov 2009 | 12:38 am
    “Despite everything, I believe people are good at heart.” I’m so glad Anne Frank could believe this.  It’s a testament to her own goodness.  It is not a testament to human nature itself, though.  It tells us more about Anne than it does about ourselves. I don’t believe it.  I don’t attribute my disbelief to my own goodness, but to what I have seen of humanity, including what was going on around Anne, after the fact, and would like to say, You know what?  People are still very eager to do away with other people who are not like them. Anne, you are a…

  • Squirrel war looms on the horizon

    Christopher Barzak
    10 Nov 2009 | 9:22 am
    (AP) Several squirrels are barking at each other outside my upstairs window like military personnel.  If any of them turns out to be the jerk who was living in my attic a year and a half ago or so, and if he’s planning to launch a new attack, there will be war. Just sayin’.

  • A repeal

    Christopher Barzak
    4 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am
    I hereby repeal my obviously premature congratulations to the state of Maine, which I gave out all too naively this past May. Now, instead, I’d like to say good luck to those Mainers who want a better, inclusive, love-supporting culture in which to exist for their and their children’s futures. I feel sorry for everyone, even for those who voted in the spirit of exclusion and inequality.  I really do think they don’t understand what they are missing.  They see their decisions as a protection and defense, but all they are defending are walls that separate people, rather than…
 
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    Lee Battersby

  • NANO PROGRESS

    Lee Battersby...
    11 Nov 2009 | 1:06 am
    11 times 1667 equals 18 337.Which is rather more than the 13 717 words I've completed so far this month. I've had a couple of days away from the computer here and there, so my targets are down, but I've always been quicker towards the end of a project than I am at the start, so I'm not that worried. Nano is, of course, just a guide as far as I'm concerned. My object is to complete a saleable novel, not to complete 50000 words. But it is a good way of getting your arse applied to the seat, and I'm in dire need of that.I had 5 goals at the start of the year. Losing weight to 95 kilograms isn't…

  • ONE FOR THE FLIP SIDE

    Lee Battersby...
    11 Nov 2009 | 12:46 am
    Now, I know I've been rabbiting on about how brilliant life is in Mandurah, about the wonder of the foreshore, and the delights of seeing wild emus and kangaroos from the train on the way home, and the relaxed and happy lifestyle we've created for ourselves and the kids. So it's perhaps only fair that I present an anecdote to prove that all is not perfect in this Paradise by the southern beaches.Sunday night at the Silver Sands hotel drive through. The Liquorland down the road from us is closed.No beers on display in the tiny, pokey, bottleshop.Only a "staff only" sign on the freezer room…

  • THIRTEEN LOTS OF THREE

    Lee Battersby...
    11 Nov 2009 | 12:27 am
    I'm 39 today.We've kept it low-key this year. Lyn's faith is such that she's uncomfortable with making a fuss about birthdays, and whilst I take up the baton and organise the kid birthdays (My Facebook friends can tell you about how sweary I became recently whilst organising Connor's McDonald's party last week...) for myself, I'm not so fussed. I picked out my own present a month or so ago-- massive gag cartoon collections from Punch and The New Yorker-- and a certain level of skintness has meant that, rather than head out to dinner as is our normal wont, I'm about to be fed a massive plate…

  • SCENES FROM A MALL..... OR FROM A WRITING DAY, TAKE YOUR PICK

    Lee Battersby...
    1 Nov 2009 | 3:10 am
    The problem with being part of the internet generation: it makes the whole "You hang up, no you hang up..." part of the conversation look ludicrous! And they were never seen again: Four children who have never watched Blood Beach wander away to play while we work.Biffie! Pip! The view is over here, guys! No, really, I mean it. You hang up!

  • NANOWRIMO DAY ONE

    Lee Battersby...
    1 Nov 2009 | 2:51 am
    Day one of Nano completed, and a couple of hours down the foreshore with Lyn, her best friend Terri, and the sort of view out the cafe window that people in ludicrously large sunglasses who call themselves names like 'Pip' and 'Biffie' spend millions trying to find, and.... well, it's a start anyway. After over a year working on Corpse-Rat King, especially when I'm so close to the end, shifting gears to starting a fresh work that's so completely different is a wrench and a half, but I churned out some wordage, and, well, weeeeeeee.November's a birthday-heavy month and the desire of my…
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    Jes Battis

  • Trauma

    Jes Battis
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:52 pm
    EMT Tyler Briggs on Trauma comes out to his partner (after they end up at a Halloween party in the Castro.) Because NBC is sadly predictable, this show will probably be canceled. I agree that there is a glut of medical dramas at the moment, but come on, this is way better than Mercy.

  • Wicked Glee

    Jes Battis
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:57 pm
    Kurt and Rachel from Glee singing "Defying Gravity," from the musical Wicked. Chris Colfer the actor mentions in an Advocate interview that he told the show's creator Ryan Murphy about wanting to perform the song, and it was added to the show's narrative.

  • Dickson Film 1894

    Jes Battis
    3 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pm
    And an older, classier version, made for the late nineteenth-century kinetophone.

  • Torchwood Season One

    Jes Battis
    3 Nov 2009 | 6:21 pm
    Sigh.

  • OSI Book 3

    Jes Battis
    26 Oct 2009 | 9:48 am
    Inhuman Resources, Book 3 in the OSI series, is now available for pre-order from Amazon
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    Elizabeth Bear

  • things get damaged. things get broken.

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:33 pm
    Today involved writing a book review and getting a tooth filled. I can feel the left side of my face again, which is kind of nice, since there was a long period where all I could feel was the absence of the left side of my face.You don't realize you can feel your sinuses and your eye socket until you can't.I've had kind of a seriously cruddy fortnight. I think I'm just going to watch Gone Baby Gone and eat fresh bread and roasted garlic and drink about a gallon of tea. And think about how this book needs to be put together again.And then I'm going to start reading the next book I have to…

  • matociquala @ 2009-11-20T04:11:00

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:11 am
    Apparently, I can't sleep. Wonder what's up with that?Oh well. Maybe I can write a novel or something.

  • with the sunburned hands

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pm
    504 words on Grail today, and quitting here in a minute to meet friends for dinner.Something weird has happened, in that I appear to be writing an outline. I'm not sure I have actually outlined this extensively since By the Mountain Bound, which I pretty much knew scene-by-scene before I started writing it. This one, not so much detail, maybe, but it's starting to take shape in my head. I hope the weird POV thing I want to do works out--maybe I should write the backstory first, just to get that dispensed with, and then work on the front story. Or maybe I will just keep writing it in totally…

  • stare, delete comma, sigh, put comma in.

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:53 am
    Today, probably between 12:15 and 12:30, I will be interviewed by Barna Donovan on WSPC radio out of St. Peter's College for the show Culture Wars. (!) There appears to be a live feed on the website, if anybody wants to listen in.... In other news, I appear to have hit the portion of the draft that involves frowning at the pages a lot and waiting for the book's structure to reveal itself to me. Don't panic, this happens every time! Or many times, anyway--I write a hundred pages or so and then I have to stop and wait and stare mournfully at the book and play a lot of…

  • for the ladies

    it's a great life, if you don't weaken
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am
     On the job. Breakfast today is sesame steamed buns, and the tea today is coffee, which is technically a tisane. (Later there might be some Bush Tea.) Today's mug: bats of the Northeast. Books on the table are Kelly Gay's The Better Part of Darkness and The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton, a pseudonym for my beloved barbara_hambly (!!!!) featuring Abigail Adams as a detective. As some of you know, I adore Abigail Adams so much that she's the lead character in the only real alternate history story I will ever write. (That other stuff is contrafactual history, which…
 
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    John Birmingham

  • thementorclub updated the "Base" information on their profile

    19 Nov 2009 | 4:53 am
    thementorclub updated the "Base" information on their profile

  • six spd and candy are now friends

    19 Nov 2009 | 4:02 am
    six spd and candy are now friends

  • outwardly wrote on their own wire:

    19 Nov 2009 | 3:56 am
    outwardly wrote on their own wire: The famous Ebel watches I am a big watches fan, in all famous watches I like Ebel watches best, they are so classic and attractive, you can find more and more people wear them. For nearly a century, Ebel has been crafting some of the very finest Swiss watches. The company is unique in that it was [...]

  • bird wrote on their own wire:

    18 Nov 2009 | 10:35 pm
    bird wrote on their own wire: Church dont help often people pay a lot of taxes to church, but when people then are weak and in an helpless situation, nobody is helping them, because they help only rich people, who have enough.

  • Darkcloud wrote a new blog post: take the world, but give me Jesus

    18 Nov 2009 | 8:17 pm
    Darkcloud wrote a new blog post: take the world, but give me Jesus spending binge Nicolas Cage’s Former Business Manager Files Counter Suit, Claims Actor Went ‘On A Spending Binge Of Epic Proportions’ LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A former business manager for Nicolas Cage has filed a cross complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming the actor was already deeply in debt when he was hired by the star in [...]
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    David Bishop

  • 2001: A Who Odyssey - utterly ****ing genius

    David Bishop
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am

  • Fire up the kindle: eight of my novels go digital

    David Bishop
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:35 pm
    A few years back I wrote a bunch of books based on characters and concepts from iconic British comic 2000AD. [They were published by Games Workshop's Black Flame imprint, under license.] There were two Judge Dredd novels, three featuring Russian rogue Nikolai Dante, and a trilogy about vampires stalking the battlefields of WWII that was inspired by quirky serial Fiends of the Eastern Front.Black Flame shut down in 2006, and the book rights slowly reverted to Rebellion, the company that owns 2000AD. Now all eight of those novels have been re-issued in digital format for the Kindle e-reader.

  • And so I'm back [but not from outer space]

    David Bishop
    16 Nov 2009 | 12:17 am
    Phew. Been an action-packed couple of weeks, hence the lack of blog posting. After an unhappy month of travails I now have a shiny, new and fully functioning Mac with a ludicrously big screen. Yet to figure out 90% of the things it can do, but email and all my old programmes work so that'll do for now. No doubt I'll discover more soon.The week before last was a crazed runaround, doing a thousand things at once before going holiday. Had the pleasure of hosting a masterclass session with James Moran at what's now called ESSaMA - the Edinburgh Skillset Screen and Media Academy. Back when I was…

  • New Home Office rules ban graphic novelist

    David Bishop
    2 Nov 2009 | 1:03 am
    Comic artist Nikhil Singh, illustrator of the acclaimed graphic novelSalem Brownstone: All Along the Watchtowers has been held in South Africa for five months - unable to attend his own book launch - due to new Home Office rules that deem him 'underqualified'.South Africa-born Singh has been a resident of London for three years, but cannot return due to the Home Office's decision not to renew any Artists' Visas. This means international artists whose visas have expired must reapply for a Tier One Highly Skilled Worker Visa which cannot be obtained without a degree or similar proof of tertiary…

  • Art for Hearts charity auction

    David Bishop
    1 Nov 2009 | 2:05 am
    Normally I don't plug charity events on this blog unless they're to do with some form of cancer research [I've lost too many good people to the big C]. But this appeal from regular Vicious Imagery reader Ian Stacey sounds like a good cause to me... ART FOR HEARTSI’m currently organising an auction to raise funds for research done by the transplant team at Great Ormond Street Hospital. This is a cause very dear to my family - our son’s life was saved by a heart transplant four weeks after birth. The auction is original art and signed digital prints by children’s illustrators. I know this…
 
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    Jayme Lynn Blaschke

  • Friday Night Videos

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:15 am
    A bit of Ray Davies brilliance for the season, since we haven't had any Kinks-related content for quite a while. This live version of "Thanksgiving Day" is great--Ray's instincts on acoustic arrangements are always spot-on--but the studio version is even better, if you can believe it. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Drive safely next week!Previously on Friday Night Videos: Jet Screamer and the Violent Femmes.Now Playing: Dave Davies Rock Bottom: Live at the Bottom Line

  • Night shoot

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:57 pm
    I had a night shoot with the model Violet Grave tonight. She's done a bunch of goth work, and wanted something more glam for her portfolio. I've been following Dustin Diaz's photo blog, and wanted to try some nighttime strobist-style shots. Violet and I got together right after sundown, along with her son, and trouped about New Braunfels looking for the perfect shots. It's late, and I'm tired, but I think we got at least a few keepers. Here's the last shot we got right before the rains chased us indoors. Maybe I'll get the hang of this photography thing yet.Now Playing: The Kinks Kink…

  • So... the wedding

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:28 am
    I've said it before, but it bears repeating: If someone suggests that simultaneously being in a wedding, riding herd on three kids and photographing said wedding in an official capacity is a good idea... it isn't. Can't say as I recommend that degree of multitasking. It's Wednesday, and I'm still exhausted.The wedding itself was very nice. My brother John and his bride Tami were perfect hosts. More importantly, they enjoyed themselves. With all the stress they were under planning this thing in the months leading up to it, there was real concern they'd have a heart attack, mental breakdown or…

  • Friday Night Videos

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:18 am
    A little retro-future rock to set the mood for this fine Friday: Jet Screamer from The Jetsons doing his all-time classic "Eep Opp Ork Ah-Ah," a catchy ditty with lyrics penned by Elroy Jetson. And here's something to wrap your heads around--even though this wasn't a hit until the year 2062, the Violent Femmes actually covered the track in 1995. Give a listen: Previously on Friday Night Videos... Hall & Oates.Now Playing:

  • A question for journalists...

    Jayme Lynn Blaschke
    12 Nov 2009 | 2:43 pm
    Does anyone else out there find themselves compulsively correcting their typos, tense, capitalization and punctuation in emails, blog posts and even Facebook/Twitter updates? Even in informal communications where it shouldn't matter? Dear Lord, I can't even bring myself to "LOL" online with a straight face...Now Playing: Clandestine The Haunting
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    Gwenda Bond

  • WBBT Stop: Alan DeNiro

    Gwenda
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:03 am
    Alan DeNiro is a bit of a renaissance man, if there were lots of guys in the renaissance who wrote tremendously provocative poetry, short stories, and now-- with Total Oblivion, More or Less (Amazon|Indiebound)--novels. He's also an all-around great guy. I've known Alan and admired his work for years, and was delighted to invite him to drop by during the Winter Blog Blast Tour to talk about his debut novel, which just received a STARRED review from Booklist, and which I absolutely ADORED and can't recommend highly enough. Total Oblivion, More or Less follows 16-year-old…

  • WBBT Day Four

    Gwenda
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:07 pm
    (And be here tomorrow bright and early for an interview with the one, the only: Alan DeNiro!) Sy Montgomery (Part 2) at Chasing Ray Laini Taylor at Shelf Elf Jim DiBartolo at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast Amanda Marrone at Writing & Ruminating Thomas Randall at Bildungsroman Michael Hague at Fuse #8

  • WBBT Day Three

    Gwenda
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am
    Sy Montgomery (Part 1) at Chasing Ray Jacqui Robbins at Bildungsroman Sarwat Chadda at Finding Wonderland Cynthia Leitich Smith at HipWriterMama Beth Kephart at Shelf Elf Annie Barrows at Great Kid Books

  • WBBT Day Two

    Gwenda
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:23 am
    Ann Marie Fleming at Chasing Ray Laurie Faria Stolarz at Bildungsroman Patrick Carman at Miss Erin Jacqueline Kelly at HipWriterMama Dan Santat at Fuse #8 Nova Ren Suma at Shelf Elf

  • Bonnet Rippers!

    Gwenda
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:20 am
    That just may be my favorite subhead I've ever come up with, just so you know, referencing--of course--the Amish romance trend. My latest feature for Publishers Weekly, "Romancing the Recession," explores the health and diversity the romance category continues to enjoy during what are tough times for much of the rest of publishing.
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    Marie Brennan

  • since people appear to be confused . . .

    The Swan
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:20 am
    Let's take a quick moment to review the basic differences between trade publishing, self-publishing, and vanity publishing.In trade publishing (which is what the majority of the books on your shelves probably went through), you write a book, and the publisher pays you money for it. You retain copyright, and license some number of sub-rights to the publisher. They then pay other people for printing, cover art, copy-editing, etc, and when it's done they recoup those costs (hopefully) by selling the result to bookstores, who sell them to readers. You may be asked to contribute to marketing, or…

  • Nebula update

    The Swan
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:43 pm
    I didn't realize the transition to the new Nebula rules means stuff published after July 1st of last year is still eligible, so my list also includes "Kingspeaker" and "A Heretic by Degrees." (Possibly also "A Mask of Flesh," but it's right on the borderline, so I'm thinking no.) You can read or hear the first, and hear the second, in their entirety; details at those links.

  • on the topic of Nebulas

    The Swan
    18 Nov 2009 | 12:33 am
    If you're eligible to nominate for the Nebulas, you might be interested in an offer from Mike Allen, editor of Clockwork Phoenix 2: he'll provide a PDF review copy to any SFWA member who wants to give the anthology a look. (Details about halfway through that entry.)That antho, of course, has my story "Once a Goddess," which has been getting some very pleasing attention in reviews. Other stories of mine out this year are:"Letter Found in a Chest Belonging to the Marquis de Montseraille Following the Death of That Worthy Individual""Driftwood""Salt Feels No Pain""Tower in Moonlight""The Waking…

  • it begins

    The Swan
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:15 pm
    Okay, so, researching the Victorian book. I've decided my first priority is to come up with something to call it other than "the Victorian book."The simultaneous convenience and inconvenience of the Onyx Court books is that I know where to go looking for a title (period literature), but I have to go look. I can't just make one up. We therefore come to the first Request for Help of this round: what mid-Victorian literature should I read in search of a title?My preference is for poetry over prose, because it's more likely to have a short, evocative phrase that I can spin out; fiction…

  • Today on SF Novelists . . .

    The Swan
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm
    "A woman's place is not in the refrigerator."Comment over there.
 
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    David Brin

  • Re-allocating energy research... a lesson in capitalism

    David Brin
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:54 pm
    The Obama Administration, while pumping up funding and incentives to further develop hybrid vehicles, has slashed $100 million (60%) from the budget for George W. Bush’s preferred approach -- hydrogen fueled cars.  Of course, this is one more sign that we are being led by people who want America to succeed, and no longer by technological morons, determined to make every possible wrong decision.Why am I so fierce in my appraisal of so-called “hydrogen-power” -- despite my portraying it positively, in several stories and novels?  Because it cannot possibly help us in…

  • Well, at least science pushes on...

    David Brin
    15 Nov 2009 | 6:12 pm
    First some REALLY important news. Splash! NASA moon strikes found significant water. Having an abundance of water on the moon would make it easier to set up a base camp for astronauts by providing drinking water and the ingredients for rocket fuel.  No one could be more proud than I am, to see a great scientist's theory play out and be proved before the world. All the more so for a discovery as important as finding water on the moon (in deep-shaded craters at the south pole), which fact may help open the solar system to all humanity.  So let me brag right here that this possibility…

  • Name The Decade (of miserable whiners)?

    David Brin
    12 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pm
    Any NY Times readers, out there?  Let me know when an article appears, about naming the decade that’s about to end.  I was just interviewed for it, suggesting that the “Noughty Oughts” might signify what a zero-time it was, with America, especially, giving in to every bad habit of self-righteous, dogmatic whining - from both ends of the political spectrum - rather than facing the future with eager, ambitious level-headed, good-natured devotion to our problem-solving heritage.   Note the spelling distinction vs “Naughty Oughts” -- which would…

  • Contemptuous Memes Part II: "Cycles of History"

    David Brin
    1 Nov 2009 | 1:44 pm
     Last time we looked at one enticingly seductive mind trap that we all fall for, now and then -- because it (a) flatters our own egos and (b) nearly always seems so well-justifed.  Contempt for the Masses seems to come as naturally as breathing.  And you (or I) never happen to be one of the innumerable fools, out there.  You (or I) are in the know!  Now we'll move on to another silly notion that folks routinely seem to love to fall for. That history runs in patterns and even predictable cycles. Here's the second half of that infamous "Tytler Quotation" we…

  • Contempt for the Masses - a modern curse?

    David Brin
    28 Oct 2009 | 1:05 pm
    I want to riff upon some common drug-highs that most people partake-of.  One is the alluring condition of despising our pitiably stupid neighbors.  Another is the temptation to believe that history comes and goes in "cycles."first some news... Looking for something to help you through the long commute?  Or to listen-to while basking under the sunlamp?  Recorded Books has just issued the full book-on-tape version of BRIGHTNESS REEF read by George K Wilson.  This will soon be followed by INFINITY'S SHORE and HEAVEN'S REACH.    H+ asked…
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    Poppy Z. Brite

  • I Yam What I Yam

    Poppy Z. Brite
    13 Nov 2009 | 6:29 pm
    This link has the picture of Chris juggling sweet potatoes. Looking at it makes my heart all gooshy. I guess I must love him or something.

  • Green Goddess Review (For Real This Time)

    Poppy Z. Brite
    13 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am
    Here, after annoying web-based delays, is the Times-Picayune review of The Green Goddess. Three beans, which is what we expected. I believe the food deserves four, but the atmosphere and service aren't there yet, so it's a fair rating. Even better, restaurant critic Brett Anderson appears to get the inspiration behind Chris' cooking: The chef has logged more than enough time in restaurant kitchens to be excused for having lost enthusiasm for the craft. But if anything is clear after eating at The Green Goddess, it is that DeBarr still believes his chosen profession offers a life rich in…

  • Green Goddess Review

    Poppy Z. Brite
    13 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am
    There's an excellent 3-bean review of The Green Goddess in today's Times-Picayune, and I was going to link to it and comment on it here. Unfortunately, nola.com (the site that hosts the T-P online) is, as they say, borked. (Does that word mean what I think it means? Hope so.) Watch this space, as I expect they'll get it together eventually. For now, I will only say to my one true love: I told you to quit bothering with that stupid lemon parfait.

  • Amsterdam

    Poppy Z. Brite
    6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm
    I am going to make more time and effort to come here. It just makes me too happy not to. I love coming alone and will always treasure the memory of that first independent trip, but having Chris here with me is the best thing of all. I'm too tired and happy to go into specifics. Just walking around, hanging out together, seeing a couple of friends, eating lots of wonderful food (I've developed a taste for waffles on this trip - not American-style hot waffles with syrup but the crunchier Dutch ones you can eat hot or at room temperature, and that come coated in every permutation of chocolate,…

  • Happy Halloween!

    Poppy Z. Brite
    31 Oct 2009 | 5:11 pm
    Not doing much this year because I need to finish cleaning up. Housesitters arrive tomorrow, and we leave on Monday! I have the pumpkins lit, though, and am giving out candy. Frankie helped me greet the last bunch of kids. I picked him up for them to pet, and one of them -- ten years old at least -- said, "I never petted a cat before." This made me sad.If I'd known the smiley one was going to come out looking so much like Ernie, I'd have gotten a football-shaped pumpkin and made a Bert one too. Or is it just me?
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    Steven Brust

  • New blog post

    skzbrust
    13 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pm
    So, it's starting to look as if the automatic cross-posting from my blog to LJ is never going to be fixed. For now, I've decided to use a BFMI approach. New blog post here. Any discussion should take place there.

  • Wordpress Help?

    skzbrust
    11 Aug 2009 | 4:38 pm
       I'm still not having any luck getting my blog entries to show up here on LJ.  sleary had a suggestion for changing the crossposting plugin, which we tried, but no good.  I'm still getting the message "Something went wrong - -32300 : transport error - HTTP status code was not 200."Anyone know wordpress?

  • Texas Wisdom #7

    skzbrust
    22 Jul 2009 | 9:28 am
    “When I said you was s’posed to become one with the duck before you pull the trigger, I didn’t mean you was s’posed to shoot yourself.” – Billy-Bob Gautama Originally published at Words Words Words. Please leave any comments there.

  • Words Feed problem

    skzbrust
    17 Jul 2009 | 8:52 pm
    Apparently, my last several posts from my blog, Words Words Words, have not been appearing here--getting some sort of weird transport error.  Until we get this figured out, the RSS feed is still working at least.

  • TWoN Book 2 Chapter 3

    skzbrust
    5 Jul 2009 | 10:13 am
    This chapter deals with the accumulation of capital.  The second half of the chapter isn’t especially interesting to me, as it concerns itself with the way an individual might spend his capital (luxeries or production, and the kind of luxeries) and the effect this has on the capital of the nation.  Today, the issue is much more the degree of concentration of wealth in a few hands, and much less whether those with wealth spend it on feasts or expensive trinkets. The first half of the chapter is more interesting in terms of the economic laws.  On page 270 he writes: “There is one…
 
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    Tobias Buckell

  • Don’t panic: the words are still there

    Tobias Buckell
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:50 am
    Lucy Lou has a great webcomic about why we shouldn’t freak out about changes coming at us and just focus on the work itself. I think its particularly good advice. I’m thinking about ten years ago, when I first got into the field, everyone was freaking out and spending energy on webpages and how they were going to change novel writing forever. The energy could be spent keeping an eye on the prevailing winds and focusing on the craft itself. Telling a good story is something that will be useful no matter the medium. And people can transition if they value learning no matter where…

  • The hard truths of freelancing/writing

    Tobias Buckell
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:44 pm
    One of my favorite websites, WebWorkerDaily, featured a look at the negatives of being a freelancer today. Of course, they’re very much similar to the downsides of being a writer. The three things: Every Day Off Costs Money It’s true. If you ever meet writers, they’re always ‘on.’ Losing time to sickness costs me money. Vacation: lost money. WWD talks about the amazing thing that is two weeks off from your job. That’s something to miss, but what I mainly missed were sick days, as well as governmental protection due to losing large swathes of time off work…

  • 100 words is a 100 words

    Tobias Buckell
    13 Nov 2009 | 7:35 am
    Kameron Hurley writes about getting those daily words written, and gives a hat nod to the idea of just aiming for a small number of words that I wrote about here. It’s such a weird brain trick. When I first saw the idea, I sneered a little bit. I mean, c’mon, 100 words? WTF? But 100 words is 100 more words than you would have written if you sat down in front of the blank page and went, “Oh dear god I need to write 2,000 words today and I don’t even know where to frickin’ start,” and then pushed away from your desk and started cleaning something instead. Without a doubt, it’s…

  • Ain’t nothing but a gangsta baby

    Tobias Buckell
    12 Nov 2009 | 10:40 am
    My stepdad, who was a total help in looking after Thalia while I had Calli xrayed and so forth, snapped this pic of me in the doctor’s office when she got her first breathing treatment to help with her congestion and coughing. It cracks me up. Yes, my baby looks stoned and like she’s toking on a breathing treatment, with smoke coming out the other side.

  • Sick days!

    Tobias Buckell
    12 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am
    Since last week the girls have been struck with some new ailments, including another bout of ear infections, leaving them coughing and home with me, who’s fighting off a cold of some sort as well. After an exciting day Tuesday of Xrays and blood drawing, the girls are on antibiotics and breathing treatments, which they find teethingly fun. So this is day 4 of the girls spending time chillaxin’ in the crib (well, in their cribs when its nap time) with daddy. Needless to say, little writing has gotten done. But that’s okay, they’re getting better, and that’s…
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    Emma Bull

  • Wingsuit BASE jumping: Not risky enough.

    Coffee Em
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:29 am
    Well, at least not for some people.

  • Okay, I'm a vegetarian. But YIKES!

    Coffee Em
    8 Nov 2009 | 11:43 am
    Go here. And tell me you're not glad that's a limited edition. I know I am.

  • D'oh! Self-Promotion!

    Coffee Em
    7 Nov 2009 | 1:54 pm
    Boy, am I lame at it!The month of July was, well, Interesting, so I think I forgot to announce a totally terrific thing. Thanks to Tor Books, Bone Dance is back in print! (Oh, and in Canada, too!) I think that must be Theo on the cover, even though he's not wearing glasses; Sparrow looks very Hispanic/Native North American, as Frances points out at a rather tense moment in the book.I love Bone Dance, not least because it challenged so many things I hadn't realized I believed about genre. And I still want to run away to live with the Hoodoo Engineers.In other news, I miraculously Leave The…

  • Create or...don't.

    Coffee Em
    2 Nov 2009 | 6:25 pm
    Lots of good stuff in this essay: Justine Musk on why you might not want to put your art at the center of your life.

  • No Christmas videos before Halloween!

    Coffee Em
    30 Oct 2009 | 11:17 am
    But this one's different. Because, really, don't you need to start training now? Think how many relationships are riding on a good performance!
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    Stephanie Burgis

  • Almost-Thanksgiving

    Stephanie Burgis
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:06 am
    When you move to a foreign country, it's a real challenge to figure out which of your own traditions to keep, which to amend, and which to give up. Since I moved to the UK seven years ago, I've comfortably given up celebrating the Fourth of July. (Honestly, how would I celebrate it on my own anyway? Poor Maya is deathly afraid of fireworks, so we couldn't exactly hold a display in our back yard...) But there was one American-only holiday that I just couldn't give up.I first came to England as a PhD student at the University of Leeds, studying opera history.* I was one of four Americans in the…

  • Because I am a big geek...

    Stephanie Burgis
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pm
    When my editor sent me a proof jacket for A Most Improper Magick - that's a full test version of the paper outer cover that will wrap around the book itself - first I screamed out loud, and then...why, yes, then the cameras came out! I couldn't resist.But I owe Carrie Jones a big apology. I needed to find a hardcover book to test the cover, and it had to be 304 pages, the same page count as mine, so that the cover would fit. Need was the first one that fit the bill! So Carrie, I'm really, really sorry to have stolen the inside of your book for that one photo session......oh, who am I trying…

  • 16 months of short stories

    Stephanie Burgis
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:50 am
    SFWA has just opened its Nebula nomination period, and in response, a bunch of writers I know have been posting lists of their Nebula-eligible short stories.I feel totally, totally conflicted about this. On the one hand, it makes a lot of sense. On the other hand, the idea of doing it myself makes me feel very weird, insecure, and uncomfortable. However, I've made a recent resolution to start acting genuinely proud of the work I do, rather than talking it down out of some weird version of Midwestern politeness, so......Deep breath: here is the list, 16 months of my published short stories,…

  • Forests and Books

    Stephanie Burgis
    16 Nov 2009 | 4:28 am
    I have the coolest husband in the world. Yesterday, Patrick gathered up me and Maya and MrD and drove out of town. He didn't tell me where we were going. We talked happily in the car - I always love going out for day trips, and I was even happier because this one had the buzz of real adventure. And when I'm a passenger, I specifically love car trips into the unknown.We drove across the English border, then through England for a while. We drove past rivers and down rumbly dirt roads under low-hanging trees. And we finally ended up in the Forest of Dean, a beautiful old forest I'd never visited…

  • Castles and farewells

    Stephanie Burgis
    12 Nov 2009 | 2:11 pm
    There are a whole bunch of things I've been planning to write about here, but...well, it's 10pm, I'm awfully tired, and I'm already missing my brother Dave, who left this afternoon after a wonderful six-week visit. He helped us move house, he made both me and MrD fabulous omelettes, he watched "The Muppet Movie" with me and cooked so inventively that he actually persuaded me to like eggplant for the first time in my life...I love both of my brothers so much. It always hurts to say goodbye, even though this time, it's only for six months.So because I'm feeling nostalgic, this is going to be a…
 
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    Michael A. Burstein

  • Breakfast With Jeff VanderMeer

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:17 am
    About a week or so ago, I noticed that the Borders store next to my office building was advertising Jeff VanderMeer's appearance to promote his new novel Finch. Sadly, the event was scheduled for tonight, so there was no way I could attend and finally meet Jeff in person.However, Jeff happened to be staying in the area, so we met for breakfast. Michael A. Burstein, Jeff VanderMeer Photo copyright ©2009 by K.L. Bryant. (I know Jeff's eyes are closed in that one. I'll replace this later with the second photo, but that one is on my camera and not my phone, so I can't upload it as of yet.)It…

  • When Life Imitates Pop Business Book Titles

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:56 am
    So after a brief bookstore browse, I returned to my office and went to the refrigerator to put my lunch together. Which was difficult at first, because although my bread was where I had left it, the rest of my food wasn't.Someone had literally moved my cheese.

  • Brookline Town Meeting, Tuesday Night

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:41 am
    Last night, I attended the first session of Brookline's Special Town Meeting in my role as a Town Meeting Member from precinct 12. The Brookline TAB was live-blogging Town Meeting, and I decided to do so as well. I plan to do so again tonight, so if you're interested, you can follow on my Twitter feed (@mabfan) or watch my posts on Facebook, as they'll port over there automatically.I was fascinated by the fact that I was not the only one live-blogging. Selectman Jesse Mermell also tends to report from Town Meeting on her own Twitter feed (@jessemermell), and apparently there were a few…

  • Arnold Hatters Gone

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:32 am
    I just found out because I was recommending them to a friend that Arnold Hatters closed a few months ago.Arnold Hatters was my favorite haberdashery, with Worth & Worth a close second. I discovered Arnold Hatters a few years ago when Nomi located an Ivy cap for me (my cap style of choice). We ordered it from them over their website, and the next time I was in New York City, I visited the store and met the owners.They were a family-owned business. Father Arnold Rubin and sons Mark and Peter Rubin were true gentlemen. Many was the time Nomi and I would go there when on vacation so we could find…

  • Unpack Boxes for Food

    mabfan (Michael A. Burstein)
    4 Nov 2009 | 10:14 am
    Nomi and I have almost gotten the kids' room done, but we still have some boxes we need to unpack and sort through to finish setting up the room.Anyone willing to help us out this Sunday afternoon? We'll provide some sort of dinner afterwards...Edited to Add: We're looking at 1 pm to about 5 pm or so, with dinner after. We want to bring food in (either pizza or Chinese food), but it would help if someone coming had a car...
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    Bonnie Burton

  • Tweets for the Day

    Bonnie Burton
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:02 am
    Tweets for the Day10:55 Turn your Glitter to Litter! #Cats For Gold! is.gd/4YvkR # 11:00 The Great Jedi Hangover - bit.ly/2fGWQ8 #starwars #clonewars # 11:37 Auto-Tune the Ads: Sony. @jtimberlake & Peyton Manning. is.gd/4Z1ct #autotune # 12:07 RT @clubjade: #StarTrek: We "Khan't" tell you if Khan will be next. is.gd/4Z2UL # 13:11 Describe Your Favorite Bookstore and Win Free #scifi #Books via @io9! is.gd/4Z5Ek # 13:45 RT @Agent_M: Postal Service Cancels Letter To Santa Program! is.gd/4Z6v3 #XmasFail # 14:21 "Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars" Artist Tips! bit.ly/18ther (RT @starwars)…

  • Tweets for the Day

    Bonnie Burton
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am
    Tweets for the Day10:59 Adorkable Spider-man Alert! is.gd/4YaCk & is.gd/4YaDy #Marvel # 11:16 Jaxxon gets my vote every time! Viva la Green Rabbit! is.gd/4YbSc #StarWars #Hasbro # 11:27 Thanks to Ed Hardy I recognize morons right away - is.gd/4YcgY # 12:45 I made a "Real Following List" on #Twitter to bypass the new #RTfail feature & it works like a charm. # 12:47 #MightyBooshHaiku is.gd/4YfGl (RT @mrs_the_monarch) #mightyboosh # 14:14 #MightyBoosh talk live "Future Sailors: DVD, the upcoming film and tour bus squabbles! is.gd/4Yj4T & is.gd/4Yj3L # 14:43 Bacon-flavored envelopes!

  • Tweets for the Day

    Bonnie Burton
    18 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am
    Tweets for the Day11:01 Books for Book Lovers reviews my teen advice book "Girls Against Girls" is.gd/4RnTn # 11:32 Nevermind the #Buzzcocks with @Jupitusphillip & @NoelFielding11! is.gd/4XjFB # 11:45 RT @aplusk: May the Force be with you! bit.ly/3ZDHA6 #starwars # 11:56 RT @NathanFillion: The real Neil Patrick Harris is finally Twittering. This will be good! Follow @ActuallyNPH and explore the wonder! # 12:12 15 Things Worth Knowing About #Coffee! is.gd/4Ux1j # 15:00 In honor of Wookiee Life Day, behold this sweet Chewbacca Tattoo! is.gd/4XsKt #starwars # 15:05 To celebrate…

  • Tweets for the Day

    Bonnie Burton
    17 Nov 2009 | 1:02 am
    Tweets for the Day01:30 That's one serious-looking bunny! is.gd/4W5Cl #puppets #rabbit # 01:47 This is why you shouldn't let rabbits smoke - is.gd/4W6zW #puppets # 02:37 Koalas may go extinct in 30 years! is.gd/4W1cX #madscience # 10:58 RT @mattspringer At @alertnerd we're giving away 5 copies of Draw Star Wars: Clone Wars by @bonniegrrl! trunc.it/3bfhp #starwars # 11:12 VIDEO: This may be the funniest #CloneWars commentary from Dave Filoni ever. Viva la Shape Revolution! is.gd/4WtKC #starwars # 11:27 RT @AdrianneCurry: Loving the boys in uniform/armor ;) Married, NOT dead! @the_real_tk118…

  • Tweets for the Day

    Bonnie Burton
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:03 am
    Tweets for the Day01:04 RT @OKBJGM: given the choice between haircare or social justice, I choose the one I could never achieve naturally. # 01:30 Javi Grillo-Marxuach (@OKBJGM) reads from his script of "The Chronicle" at #writerswithdrinks! is.gd/4VpHG #themiddleman # 02:55 Time for sleep to dream of a tiny disco ball! twitpic.com/pm8fv # 14:26 RT @charliejane: my review of AMC's "the prisoner." shorter version: avoid avoid avoid io9.com/5404950 # 14:27 RT @feliciaday: HAHA! "Your child will be upset if you back over his/her skateboard, or him/her." #trafficschooltips # 16:19 Thanks to…
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    Rachel Caine

  • Bob the spider and other tales of terror

    4 Nov 2009 | 5:56 am
    So, if you're reading FADE OUT, you will encounter the character of Bob the spider. I like Bob. Bob is just ... cute.Well, I now have my very own Bob the spider. Not that I keep him as a pet, no, it's more that Bob is a giiiiiinormous orb spider -- seriously, his BODY is bigger than most entire spiders I've ever seen -- who's set up shop in the bush next to my driveway. Bob ambitiously built a web that stretched halfway into the driveway, the first day; we discussed, I amended his design with a stick, and he bounced up and down in his web and was visibly upset by my edits.But by golly, he's…

  • MV7 - FADE OUT - Quote of the Day!

    2 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am
    SO EXCITED! Tomorrow is THE RELEASE DAY for Fade out, and I am just on pins and needles. I always get so nervous before a book comes out, waiting for the responses to come back. I told you I'd give you some drama. Here's some with Myrnin!-------------------Myrnin sounded very weak; Claire could hardly believe it was really him. “I do love you. I always have. Please stop this. You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re not well. Let me help—” He broke off with a strangled gasp. Ada had just hurt him, and it took a lot to hurt Myrnin.

  • MV7 - FADE OUT QUOTE OF THE DAY

    1 Nov 2009 | 3:13 pm
    Happy Sunday! ONLY TWO MORE DAYS (for those who haven't already found FADE OUT on the shelves ...)----------------------“So,” Michael said, not looking up from the frets as he tried out a complicated new flood of sound, “I’m thinking of going electric. What do you think?” Claire sighed. “Eve dumped me. I’ve been best-friend dumped.” Michael’s playing stuttered, then smoothed out again. “Huh. I’m guessing that’s a no?”

  • MV7 - FADE OUT QUOTE OF THE DAY

    31 Oct 2009 | 7:49 am
    HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYBODY!You'd think I'd go as a vampire, right? No. I'll post a picture later. :) But I figured that I'd also feature for you something from the Morganville Fan Gallery ... A lovely anime-style Eve as the Avenging Angel of Caffine, courtesy of Anita (Warrior Goddess)!So ... in honor of that lovely work ... how about a little more Eve to set the mood? ----------------------------“I am the force that holds this lie of a town together,” Ada said, and glided closer, so close Claire could feel the cold chill generated by her image projection. “As far as Morganville is…

  • MV7 - FADE OUT - Quote of the Day!

    30 Oct 2009 | 10:06 am
    Just a breath less crazy than I was yesterday. Momentarily, anyway. So here's today's quote, and YAY, FADE OUT IS OFFICIALLY COUNTING DOWN: Official release is on November 3! -----------------------The house lights went down, and Michael walked onto the stage, to a sudden rush of applause, and he wasn't the Michael that Claire knew -- he wasn't the one who hung out in the living room and played video games and noodled around on his guitar and picked terrible westerns for movie night.This was someone else.Someone almost frightening, the way he grabbed and held the spotlight.
 
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    Amy Sterling Casil

  • Harlequin: Lost Horizons, Abandoned Readers?

    ASterling
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:13 pm
    It's not like I post this every day, but I am for the second year, the Treasurer of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. After discussion, SFWA has joined with the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the...

  • Art by Jasika Nicole

    ASterling
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:42 am
    The beautiful actress Jasika Nicole is a lot more than the quiet, self-contained character Astrid Farnsworth who deals with ultra-crazy, semi-tragic Walter Bishop (John Noble) on Fox's Fringe. Jasika is an artist as well as actress and singer. How do...

  • Why Are Vampires Romantic?

    ASterling
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pm
    Just, dang.

  • Loghorama

    ASterling
    15 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pm

  • Book View Cafe: One Year Anniversary

    ASterling
    15 Nov 2009 | 10:47 am
    Today is the first anniversary of Book View Cafe, which is now officially an author's cooperative. I agree with our founder Sarah Zettel - it's almost impossible to believe that a whole year has passed. Last year, I was posting...
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    Mark Chadbourn

  • The Sword Of Albion Cover

    MarkC
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:09 am
    Here’s a first look at the cover to the UK edition of the first Swords of Albion book, out from Bantam in April:

  • The Silver Skull Review

    MarkC
    17 Nov 2009 | 1:46 am
    The first reviews of The Silver Skull prior to its US publication are starting to trickle in. Here’s one from Geeks on Fire! – favourite book of the year so far. I’m happy with that. Also featured on: fantasyliterature.com. (Usual note: UK publication to follow with a UK-specific edit.)

  • Lord Of Silence Review

    MarkC
    14 Nov 2009 | 8:55 am
    A nice Lord of Silence review from Robert William Berg.

  • What Happens When We Die?

    MarkC
    12 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am
    “Traditionally, many of the major questions that mankind has faced have been tackled by philosophy or theology. However, in the last few centuries, science has gradually begun to seek, and has been able to provide to a certain extent, answers to such questions. One of the areas still eluding science’s grasp has been the question of what happens when we die, as well as the nature of the human mind and consciousness and their relationship with the brain.” A research project at medical centres across the UK, US and Europe is examining what happens to consciousness after we…

  • Swords Of Albion US Launch

    MarkC
    5 Nov 2009 | 9:59 am
    The Silver Skull US Edition It’s worth noting for US readers of this blog that the first Swords of Albion book is now available at the usual outlets across America. Elizabethan spies vs Faerie, in a line. UK readers have to wait a few weeks – and I hope they do wait. If everyone rushes to import the US edition, my UK publisher (Bantam) isn’t going to be very happy. It’ll be worth the wait – for once, the UK and US versions may be quite different. For one, the UK version probably won’t be called The Silver Skull (although that’s not yet definite).
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    Matthew Cheney

  • Writing Advice from Cormac McCarthy

    Matthew Cheney
    16 Nov 2009 | 6:41 am
    The Wall Street Journal just ran an excellent interview with the seldom-interviewed Cormac McCarthy, and I thought this advice was particularly sound:WSJ: The last five years have seemed very productive for you. Have there been fallow periods in your writing? CM: I don't think there's any rich period or fallow period. That's just a perception you get from what's published. Your busiest day might be watching some ants carrying bread crumbs. Someone asked Flannery O'Connor why she wrote, and she said, "Because I was good at it." And I think that's the right answer. If you're good at something…

  • Cat and Finch

    Matthew Cheney
    12 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pm
    Ms. P. Martha Moog thought about reading Finch, but decided against it when she discovered that the eponymous protagonist is not, in fact, a delectable bird. She very much liked the gun on the cover, though, and so dragged the book and one of our home decorations over the couch to spend some time with them. (She fancies herself a gun moll, I'm afraid. I keep having to confiscate her collection of Derringers.)

  • 11/11

    Matthew Cheney
    11 Nov 2009 | 8:35 am

  • "Revelations" in Sunday Salon

    Matthew Cheney
    9 Nov 2009 | 6:39 pm
    My latest story, "Revelations", is now live at the Sunday Salon webzine. I'm particularly happy with this for a few reasons -- first because my friend Nita Noveno, one of the editors, asked me to contribute, and it's always nice to be asked to contribute to something, but also, and especially, because the Sunday Salon website reaches toward some of my own ideals for ways literature and the world can encounter each other. It's a site worth exploring and supporting.Here's an excerpt from the story to entice you (or warn you away)--Olly and I spent much of our time together, though, because Olly…

  • What We Talk About When We Talk About What We Talk About When We Talk About

    Matthew Cheney
    9 Nov 2009 | 8:02 am
    Sorry, couldn't resist.Returning now to work on the aforementioned J.M. Coetzee essay, which is once again insisting on going in unexpected directions requiring more reading. (Paul de Man's "Autobiography as De-Facement" this morning. I know you're jealous.) No more blogging till it's done. Bad me.
 
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    John Crowley

  • Little Lessons from the Demi-masters, XI - Whatever

    John Crowley
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:01 am
    The Wall Street Journal compiles the weird writing processes of every novelist on earth (seemingly). online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740004574513463106012106.htmlYou could do very well by combining as many of these habits as you can -- write in the morning, beginning at 4 AM; before breakfast, after many hands of solitaire, on the edge of the tub; with a 7-foot board to paste your notes on, which you then paste onto your cut-up manuscript, then read into the computer while lying in bed, using voice-recognition software, in 14 point Courier font; write the first, or last, or second…

  • Little Lessons from the Masters X

    John Crowley
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:11 pm
    "The way to write is to throw your body at the mark when your arrows are spent." -- EmersonJohn Banville in the NYRB calls this the best bit of practical advice Emerson ever gave to anyone wishing to write. I will try to apply it, but I don't know if I see how it's done.

  • Of the Making (and Selling) of Books...

    John Crowley
    17 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pm
    L and I went to both the Boston Ephemera Show, looking through countless bins of postcards,menus, pamphlets, instructional and advertising booklets ("Radio Noise" -- how to keep appliances etc. from interfering with your radio) and the much more high end Antiquarian Book Fair. Both of us got a rare book appraised -- L. disappointed at the going value of her 1572 astrology text, but I amazed at the value suggested for my Berenice Abbot Greenwich Village book with photos, inscribed to my aunt, who lived at that time in a Village building shown in the book (so, just then, did I). Then we browsed…

  • Soem Versions of Pastoral

    John Crowley
    17 Nov 2009 | 4:55 pm
    I am not sure why I thought this sight along my daily walk was funny, and I'm not sure whether whatever It is that I think is funny comes across in the picture. .

  • Little Lessons from the Masters IX (I think)

    John Crowley
    12 Nov 2009 | 6:46 am
      "An artist should ruthlessly destroy his manuscripts after publication, lest they mislead academic mediocrities into thinking that it is possible to unravel the mysteries of genius by studying cancelled readings. In art, purpose and plan are nothing; only the results count."-- Vladimir NabokovQuoted by Alexander Hemon in his review of the new Nabokov fragment appearing now with publishers' brass band fronting.  www.slate.com/id/2235023/Of course Nabokov wasn't in the business of selling his drafts to collectors -- a nice source of income for those who need it.
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    Ellen Datlow

  • KGB and I'm a star!!!

    ellen datlow
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:57 pm
    Last night was KGB with Sarah Micklem and Alisa Kwitney (the latter, Bob Sheckley's daughter, someone I've known since she was 14 --although I can't remember, she says we met then). Both readers were excellent and the audience was appreciative--photos as soon as I get a few last ids sorted. Photos of the event Kimball Johnson, a filmmaker who was at World Fantasy and hoping to sell a genre series to a cable channel, interviewed me with a few of my Lovecraft Unbound contributors there. We made an appointment to film some more when they were coming to NYC to meet with publishers: Orbit and Tor.

  • Home sweet home

    ellen datlow
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:31 pm
    I got in the door by 10pm and have unpacked and gone through my mail. (although not logged in the books).Catching up with my lj friends I found this (to me) disturbing clip of three contortionists Ross Sisters :: Solid Potato Salad, c 1944via mckitterickMaybe it's just me, but I find it kind of icky.

  • Still fishin'

    ellen datlow
    14 Nov 2009 | 5:34 pm
    Yes; I'm still in Florida with my folks. Not doing much but hanging out, going out to meals and reading for Best Horror #2. Helped my mom get onto facebook, which means I need to be discreet (hi mom!) in case she actually reads it. The dial up is better than previously. I hope that by the time I'm here next they'll have wireless throughout the community. Right now, it's only in the clubhouse. The weather is gorgeous. Sunny, hot, cool in the shade. Eat your hearts out northerners :-).

  • Gone fishing

    ellen datlow
    10 Nov 2009 | 9:40 pm
    (not really, but going to Florida to see the folks, where it's still summer but the internet connection (dial up) sucks. So no messages please. Back online the 18th.)

  • Point Break and Imitation of Life (early version)

    ellen datlow
    7 Nov 2009 | 8:37 pm
    I was too sick to watch movies last night but did so tonight. Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break with Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, and Gary Busey. About 15 minutes too long, some gorgeous shots of surfing, interesting (but someone predictable) plot. It was not a bad way to spend almost two hours.And saw the earlier version or Imitation of Life with Claudette Colbert. Here's my post and the thread on the later version Imitation of Life .Some thoughts: although the guy doesn't overtly pressure Colbert to leave her job he does beg to take her away on his boat doing fish research, hence giving up her…
 
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    Stephen Dedman

  • "Well, I'm back," he said.

    Stephen Dedman
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:54 pm
    Returned home last night, to the news that I've sold Greek translation rights to 'Line of Defence' to Eleftherotypia.Not jet-lagged (only one hour time difference between Tokyo and here), but am still catching up: will write something resembling a trip report (with photos) later.

  • Tokyo!

    Stephen Dedman
    13 Nov 2009 | 6:18 pm
    Arrived safely last night. Off to Akihabara (Otaku Central) today, Harajuku tomorrow.

  • Writer's Block: Instant attraction

    Stephen Dedman
    9 Nov 2009 | 8:34 pm
    Do you think romantic chemistry is instant or evolving? Have you ever given someone a second (or third) chance and lived to regret it? Have you ever fallen in love with someone you didn't particularly like or desire at first? View 1113 Answers Evolving, but with moments of realization which count as punctuated equilibrium and are etched into memory.

  • The Raven has landed

    Stephen Dedman
    9 Nov 2009 | 8:19 pm
    after a dreadful flight (cue Beatles): turbulence, on a red-eye, with no leg-room and the obligatory crying baby. We're now in Hong Kong: photos and more story to follow.

  • Taking Off

    Stephen Dedman
    7 Nov 2009 | 1:28 am
    Flying out to Hong Kong tomorrow night to give some lectures, then to Tokyo for a short break, so I'm not likely to be online much for the next week (not that the difference will be immediately obvious to readers of this page, I admit).I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year, but I finished enough of the marking that I started writing a new story on Thursday. Today, though, was spent revising and updating my thesis for a publisher. I sent that off this afternoon, and also did the line-edits on my story 'Wetwork' for the Shadowrun anthology Spells & Chrome. Oddly enough, that does count as a day…
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    A.M. Dellamonica

  • True cat haiku, plus a couple of reminders

    alyx
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:16 am
    Shake of Minnow's head,cat spit hisses on the fire;she's drooly, this one. There's still a week left to qualify for the blog my book, win some mentoring contest.And, for Lower Mainlanders, VLGC is selling chocolate for the holiday season.

  • Today, so far...

    alyx
    18 Nov 2009 | 5:20 pm
    Brekkie! with my beloved Kelly and with Badger at the wonderful Cafe Vancouver.Activity: Swift walk home in a winter downpour, delighting in the indignation of the crows as the hail rattled their wee heads.Teaching: a couple hours of intense reading, thinking, and posting.Random surfing of Jane Lynch on Youtube, for the joy of it. I leave you to find your own Tube joy.Fiction and lunch: Two hours of draftage on DAUGHTERS OF ZEUSTyping: More crits, some e-mails, and of course the Nano wordage.Mentoring Gig: online training workshop which was both interesting and shorter than advertised.More…

  • Book Launch was fabulous!

    alyx
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:49 am
    The launch of INDIGO SPRINGS went so well! The choir sang beautifully, many wonderful people came, and the store eventually ran out of books. (Well, out of books by me at any rate.) I am so very fortunate in my circle of friends and supporters. If you attended or sent good wishes or otherwise contributed to the event or the novel, I thank you.The one thing I forgot to do yesterday was deputize someone to shoot pictures for me. But there were cameras a-flashing. If you got any good pics, I'd love a copy.

  • Buying bon-bons for the holidays?

    alyx
    17 Nov 2009 | 3:25 pm
    If you're local, VLGC is selling Purdy's chocolate. Details behind the cut:By purchasing Purdy's chocolates, either online or through me, you can help VLGC raise the funds that we need to operate... and ordering online is fast and easy! All you have to do is register as a member of the VLGC fundraising group.To register:1. Go to http://www.purdysgpp.com2. Click on 'Sign up as group member' at the bottom left of the screen3. Use the group number '21165'4. Fill in your contact information and create your own personal password.5. Browse Purdy's fabulous chocolate selection on their group…

  • Upcoming appearances...

    alyx
    16 Nov 2009 | 12:22 pm
    One last quick safety announcement for anyone coming to my book launch at the UBC Bookstore in Vancouver tomorrow. Don't go to the Point Gray Campus. You will be lonely, and (if the weather holds) cold and wet too! The launch is at the Downtown store, tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. I will read, sign books, answer questions and as an added bonus, VLGC will be putting in a much-appreciated appearance as musical guest.For those of you still hoping to get in on the draw for a $100 writer's mentoring package, details are here and the deadline is November 28th.I am also proud to announce that I'll be…
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    Marianne de Pierres

  • Write a review and win freebies

    mdep
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:50 pm
    OK, due to Mr Gecko not really writing a review, the competition to be the first to write a review for Mirror Space is still on. Must be posted at Parrish’s Patch (link from my website if you haven’t been to my messageboard before) though. Free book or Itunes voucher on offer.

  • Chaos Space reprint

    mdep
    19 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm
    Some of you might find it curious as to why I keep mentioning reprints. Simply, it’s because in SF it’s hard to sell enough copies to get reprints (unlike popular fantasy series). To me (anyway), its a big milestone to celebrate – the fact that the book is enduring and won’t be off the shelf in two years. Needless to say, I was delighted to get my Chaos Space reprint copy yesterday. To the point that I jigged. Momentous, considering the crooked state of my spine the last few weeks. *Reminder that I’ll be at Indooroopilly tomorrow, signing with Kylie Chan –…

  • Indooroopilly book signing

    mdep
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pm
    Kylie Chan and I will be at Angus and Robertson Indooroopilly this Saturday(21/11/09) from 11am to 1pm. I’ll be signing as both Marianne de Pierres and Marianne Delacourt. Come and make our day by dropping by… And don’t forget to sign up for all the silliness at the Parrish Plessis and Tara Sharp Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Parrish-Plessis-and-Tara-Sharp/168148911946?ref=mf

  • Transformation Space

    mdep
    15 Nov 2009 | 8:56 pm
    The core of the story is in place and I’m now re-reading; painting and prodding, kneading and dressing. Oh my, this is the fun bit. Today, Google Alert sent me a lovely comment from the SFF World forums, which said that ‘the Sentients of Orion series is becoming one of the best space operas out there fulfilling the promise of the first book in spades.’ That gave me legs for an extra hours work! Thank-you to the positivists – your karma will be richly rewarded.

  • Glue and things

    mdep
    13 Nov 2009 | 2:06 am
    If you're looking for a meta-posting software then try using Glue. The crew there are all really helpful and prompt, and it can save you a whole lot of time.Which will then give you more time to check your google alerts and find things to entertain you like this movie casting for the Parrish Plessis series.
 
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    Andy Duncan

  • Let's all scare the tourists

    Andy Duncan
    27 Oct 2009 | 6:47 pm
    The Haunted Arkansas site set up by the state Department of Parks & Tourism is a fine example of the Chamber of Commerce types nationwide embracing once-shunned local legends of ghosts and monsters -- because people like me will pay good money to see those places, even if no ghosts or monsters actually turn up. One term for this growth industry, "ectotourism," has been around for years, judging from this 1997 article in San Francisco's Examiner, but I don't much like the word. It looks like a typo for "ecotourism." We can do better.That not every Chamber of Commerce is thrilled with this…

  • Our correspondent in Shanghai

    Andy Duncan
    27 Oct 2009 | 6:26 pm
    Sydney's cousin Megan Wilkes, formerly of Harrisonburg, Va., moved to Shanghai this fall and is reporting on her adventures in a fine blog, with many photos, titled Anything Goes In China ... Almost. One thing that doesn't go, Megan reports in her first post, is any mention of the "3 T's." I quickly guessed what those were, and I bet you can, too.

  • "Never underestimate the power of a good story"

    Andy Duncan
    27 Oct 2009 | 6:13 pm
    Greg Frost alerted me to this fine commercial, via YouTube, for the French pay channel Canal+, a.k.a. "Canal Plus."

  • National Solar Tour 2009

    Andy Duncan
    2 Oct 2009 | 2:01 pm
    From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow -- Saturday, Oct. 3 -- our house will be part of the American Solar Energy Society's 14th annual National Solar Tour, coordinated locally by Big D Electric in Cumberland, Md. Details, including the specs of our system, are here. Y'all come!

  • Cat Rambo's new book

    Andy Duncan
    26 Sep 2009 | 4:10 pm
    This week the mailman brought a hardcover copy of Cat Rambo's new collection Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight (Paper Golem, $26 hardcover, $14 trade paper). On the front cover is a marvelous Carrie Ann Baade artwork; on the back cover are blurbs by other writers, including this one from me: "I am inspired, these days, by Cat Rambo, and after reading these stories, you will be, too."In between the covers is a fine collection, and I commend the book, the author and the publisher to your attention.Is this the first time I've been quoted in a cover blurb? Maybe so. The other blurbers, in…
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    Hal Duncan

  • The One Week Reminder...

    Hal Duncan
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:58 am
    ... since donations have tailed off, that the Scruffians Project is still going, three stories free to download now. We're only a couple of Guinness-worth from Story #4 being brought into the fray, so if you want more and haven't got round to chucking some dosh in the busker's hat, well, it wouldn't take a whole lot more to reach the secondary target for "How a Scruffian Starts Their Story".Just

  • Famous in Finland, Fixture in France

    Hal Duncan
    10 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am
    So, yeah, now that I'm back and settled, pretty much up to date with emails and suchlike, I finally get a chance to say, Finland and France were fucking awesome! Man, you shoulda been there. Or if you were... cheers! I had a fucking brilliant time.I arrived in Helsinki on the Wednesday night, got picked up at the airport by my Finnish translator, Nina Saikkonen, and knew we were going to hit

  • Review of Wilde Stories 2009

    Hal Duncan
    9 Nov 2009 | 5:48 am
    In which very nice things are said about me own contribution to Steve Berman's Best of Gay Speculative Fiction:... if you were to read down my annotated contents page you'd see a range of numbers between one and five, and then a heart and exclamation point against this title. There's a lot of strong writing in this collection, but Hal Duncan is my discovery of the volume ~ the author whose works

  • The Scruffians Project: An Alfabetcha of Scruffian Names

    Hal Duncan
    6 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am
    UPDATE: NEW STORY FOR SALEThe Story So FarIf you know the score, you can skip ahead to the New Release heading. If not...So I decided to try out an experiment in direct distribution: offer a story in pdf form to anyone who donated an amount at their discretion via PayPal; and should the story reach a target of two-thirds SFWA pro rates (five cents a word), said story would be put on general

  • BSC Review Column

    Hal Duncan
    5 Nov 2009 | 7:16 pm
    A bit later than the start-of-the-month date intended, (hey, I had drinking with Finns and French to do,) but better late then never, me latest column is now up at BSC Review.It's about vampires. This may have been a terrible mistake, but it's about vampires.
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    David Dvorkin

  • The system of male and female reverse!

    David
    10 Nov 2009 | 6:17 am
    I posted a while ago about Japanese advertisements for porno and/or dating sites showing up frequently in the comments section of an earlier blog post. For a change, I decided to enter the latest comment into the Google translation site and see what English resulted. Here it is: dating back to topic now! Do you have experience already? This site has a choice about adopting the system of male and female reverse Supporters hope. More financially successful woman is hungry for love that is rich. Now from the page of interest Oh, those hopeful supporters!

  • David’s Definitions for December 2009

    David
    22 Oct 2009 | 6:30 pm
    Moot To bring something up for discussion. At one time, moot could also refer to the discussion itself. This usage no longer survives in ordinary English, but it's still used in law school, where a moot court is a simulated court proceeding, part of the training of law students. Originally, a moot question was one that could be debated or was subject to argument. At some point in the 19th century, it came to mean a question that was no longer worth discussing, or one that had no practical application outside the realm of debate. The word traces back to 12th century England, when it referred…

  • Hate mail

    David
    19 Oct 2009 | 1:13 pm
    In response to this essay on our Web site: I read your mindless 'manifesto'  (sounds SO euro-for the people!) You liberals are such wandering and aimless idiots. Your ultimate goal is nothing short of eradication of all the moral values of TRUE Americans, those who pattern themselves after the original revolutionaries who established this great country.   Your only hope is in sheer numbers, since you fail miserably in moral fiber, original ideas and true partisanship.  You fools have no idea what it takes to build UP a country, only what it takes to tear one down. …

  • Basal on my shoulder

    David
    15 Oct 2009 | 5:11 pm
    Makes me unhappy. Basal on my shoulder Makes me frown. The song John Denver never sang. I have a basal carcinoma on my shoulder, which will be cut out on November 3. This might affect my weightlifting regimen. Such as it is. It’s supposed to be the least dangerous kind of skin cancer, fortunately. Once again, I wish I could go back in time and lecture my boy self about the sun and sunburn. Of course he wouldn’t have listened to some weird, old guy. Kids those days!

  • A Public Fine and Private Place

    David
    15 Oct 2009 | 6:46 am
    The story is now visible to the world at:http://theferalpages.com/issue1/?page_id=30
 
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    Kate Elliott

  • Fighting for Spawn

    Kate Elliott
    18 Nov 2009 | 1:04 am
    A post on SFFNovelists kind of about the role of mothers in story and film. Kind of.It was inspired by this post, A woman's place is not the refrigerator.

  • World Building

    Kate Elliott
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:29 pm
    Katharine Kerr, Sherwood Smith, and I are thinking of holding a discussion at Deep Genre (if we can get our act together) on the subject of world building, both for interested readers and for interested writers.So: what questions would you have? What things would you want discussed?

  • Home Again

    Kate Elliott
    13 Nov 2009 | 1:15 am
    Back home, although it's cool this evening here! How quickly we adjust . . .Various links, no particular order or theme.Belatedly for Veterans' Day: My Meeting with the President at Arlington.While in Oregon, we drove into the countryside for a visit to this long-time family favorite, Hazelnut Hill, a local family farm which sells hazelnuts (more properly called filberts in the Willamette Valley), almonds, walnuts, plain or roasted or covered with chocolate including milk, bittersweet, and hardcore dark, as well as chocolate covered berries, hazelnut toffee, and so on and so forth most…

  • Deverry: the narrator

    Kate Elliott
    11 Nov 2009 | 8:46 pm
    I talk about the narrator of the Deverry sequence (maybe not who you thought it was) in a post at 15 Days of Deverry.Gosh, I had a few more things to link to or mention, but I forgot. Tomorrow, back home at last.

  • Onward

    Kate Elliott
    9 Nov 2009 | 11:32 pm
    Has Cambyses' army been found at long last? Pretty incredible, if so, and the evidence is compelling.Also, utterly awesome new jacket has been acquired. So awesome my sister got one, too.
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    P. N. Elrod

  • Just thinkin'....

    P. N. Elrod
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:58 am
    .I've been a-thinkin', and yes, that is very dangerous, but I do it anyway.Lately I've been getting mail asking about some of my long out-of-print short stories. It got me wondering if you guys might be interested in having a select few of The Vampire Files tales together in a modest collection.They wouldn't be *reprints,* either, because as a writer I MUST tinker! They would be stories that I've added to, tweaked, polished, rewrote quite a bit, and/or expanded on.If I do this, it would be the same deal as The Devil You Know: a signed, numbered, archival paper, limited-edition sold only from…

  • AMC's The Prisoner reviewed. No spoilers, it was spoiled from the start.

    P. N. Elrod
    16 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pm
    Ugh. I don't care to do this, because I love Sir Ian McKellen. I do. He won me forever in the title role in Richard III, which every Shakespeare fan, and especially NON-Shakespeare fans, should see.But I am also a Patrick McGoohan fan, long before Sir Ian's talent surfaced on my event horizon.So I will get this out of the way by stating the AMC version of The Prisoner SUCKS SAND.There IS an awful lot of it in the story, after all. They did location shooting in the desert and by gawd, they're gonna get their money's worth by seeing to it every foot of it winds up on screen. Pretty, like that…

  • Getting organized!

    P. N. Elrod
    15 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pm
    I've finally accepted that I'm unable to work just *anywhere* like other writers with laptops. I envy those who can work undaunted by distracting circumstances. It is a wonderful thing to be able to do that, but I've lost the knack. Only rarely does it ever return. I *have* done coffee bar writing. When I had a roomie the other decade I HAD to get out of the house to write. That doesn't work any more. There are too many books in the store waiting to be browsed through, the chairs aren't comfy, the music over the speakers is rarely to my taste, sometimes the joint has a freaking TV running,…

  • Romantic Vets

    P. N. Elrod
    11 Nov 2009 | 8:46 am
    .Wish I could take credit for this, but I got the link through the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog.In honor of Veteran's Day, they spotlighted this website dedicated to women who served in the military, then got into writing!http://www.romvets.com/Please do check out the "Before and After" link at the top of the page to read about fascinating women who not only served their country but worked on the pen being mightier than the sword angle!It's focus is on romance writers, so left out is one of my favs, Elizabeth Moon, who served as a Marine in Vietnam in the 60s. For some great…

  • Check it out--a NEW Vampire Files audiobook!

    P. N. Elrod
    6 Nov 2009 | 11:26 pm
    .So this is what happens when I don't pay attention.  Blackstone Audio releases the second Vampire Files audiobook, LIFEBLOOD!Check out the nifty/cool cover!Listen to samples on the page!There is a chunk of irony here.  I found out about this one via a pirate download site.Yup. Before I have even gotten my author's copy from Blackstone, some pin-headed thieving MORON uploaded the book so he could either spread a computer virus or get points so he can download more porn into his useless, how-dare-you-breathe-my-air existence.He sure wasn't doing me any favors.  Whoever you are,…
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    James Enge

  • The Stars in Their Discourses

    17 Nov 2009 | 4:09 pm
    The headline for a TPM article today is "Things Get Messier Still at the Wash Times". I wasted a few moments wondering what the metaphor meant--how things could "get Messier"--by being dimly luminous, fuzzy, distant? Then I realized: oh, yeah more messy.Dimly luminous, fuzzy, distant: that's my cat in a bad mood. Maybe I should nickname him Messier.

  • Not Very Captivating

    15 Nov 2009 | 7:25 pm
    Re the new Prisoner: It's a thankless task to recreate a role originated by one of television's greatest, oddest actors in one of the greatest series of all time. So: no thanks to Jim Caviezel tonight. Ian McKellan was pleasantly sinister as Number 2, though.As my son pointed out, the stuff that doesn't echo the original is kind of interesting. When they fall into remake mode, it just reminds you how much better the original was.Somnolent pacing and very poorly motivated action in tonight's first two episodes. I might give it another look tomorrow, but unless it improves dramatically I doubt…

  • Saying What Needs to Be Said

    13 Nov 2009 | 11:55 am
    The bottom line is that when you’ve got a show with a lead who can’t act and is consistently shown up by her supporting cast and occasional guest stars, you have a problem. When you’ve got a show with a sketchy premise that does not live up to the responsibility of that premise but simply shows us the worst kind of people and then attempts to make us sympathize with them, you’ve got a problem. When the audience has to wait until season 2, episode 5 to see some decent writing, acting, and direction, you’ve got a problem. When television journalists insist that an audience owes it to…

  • And Now: This

    11 Nov 2009 | 10:12 pm
    Re tonight's Glee: I was a little shocked by the glimpse into Sue's backstory. It wouldn't be surprising for any other character on TV, but then she isn't. Some more somber narrative tones this episode, but a couple of great wheelchair numbers (including Artie's solo version of "Dancing with Myself"). Looking forward to the return of the "doe-eyed little harlot" and co. next week.

  • Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit

    11 Nov 2009 | 9:33 am
    ARMISTICE DAY, 1918by Robert GravesWhat's all this hubbub and yelling,       Commotion and scamper of feet,With ear-splitting clatter of kettles and cans,       Wild laughter down Mafeking Street?O, those are the kids whom we fought for       (You might think they'd been scoffing our rum)With flags that they waved when we marched off to war       In the rapture of bugle and drum.Now they'll hang Kaiser Bill from a lamp-post,       Von Tirpitz they'll hang from a…
 
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    Josh English

  • C'mon Google, Work With Me!

    Josh English
    11 Nov 2009 | 1:57 pm
     I think it's finally time to retire my old blogs, and it's not easy. I have six or seven of those things crawling around the web. Some haven't been touched in 3 years. I have several on Blogger, because I wanted to separate things by subject, which was in vogue at the time.  Blogger also didn't have the entry tagging abilities that LJ has and most of my writing friends are over here now, so I moved. Problem is, I can't seem to access my old accounts.It doesn't help that I have two (maybe even three) gmail accounts. I gave up on one because it was too generic and it seems…

  • Slow day, writing-wise

    Josh English
    7 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pm
     I am one of those writers that prewrites by running through things in a kind of monologue when I'm not actually writing, like when I'm trying to fall asleep or when I'm driving or when I'm half-watching TV. I finally hit that stage of the novel that I really haven't prewritten. I've only plotted it, and I'm finding the transitions are bit more difficult to smooth out than the earlier stuff. I'm also in the middle third of the novel, at least I've set up everything and now I have to play it out, and that's tougher for some writers. I may be one of them.But I  got more than…

  • NaNoWriMo. Day Five

    Josh English
    5 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am
    I'm not posting every day, because I'm writing (w00t!), and I'm feeling good about what I've written. This morning I got to write a statistics scene, and that got me thinking about my stats on this novel. I love stats, and it's a problem, because number crunching is really not that useful of a tool and yet I keep turning to it. This year I tried to rely only on the NaNoWriMo update page to keep track of my progress, and  there's a FaceBook app that will draw my daily progress on chart, so I managed to go four days without a spreadsheet. I made one yesterday. It's simple: Day, Word Count,…

  • NaNoWriMo begins

    Josh English
    1 Nov 2009 | 5:15 pm
    I am not convinced I have all of novel plotted out. In fact, I know I'm missing a few chunks, but I think I'll find a way to shove them into the plot where I need them.Today I wrote 3095 words. I have a small pile of 46 note cards. Each card isn't really a scene, but a plot beat. I could probably make them scenes, but that feels like padding in some cases. Three cards were consumed by the day's effort.While I was writing, I got hit with a few moments of "this is boring to write," I don't think it's boring to read. It's all inciting events and important to lay down the themes of the…

  • I'm a math guy, I should know better than to fall for this

    Josh English
    27 Oct 2009 | 5:18 pm
    We went shopping yesterday, and I foolishly decided to waste our weekly snack budget on the news Giant Cheeto Puff Things. Big mistake.First, like most people who grew up in suburbia in the 70's, I suffer from a delusion that cheese is a) day-glo orange and b) comes in powder form. Second, anyone who eats Cheezy-poofs of any kind eats them for this bizarre, simulated, "advanced food-like" product, not for the corn puff that might actually bring a skosh of nutrition to what is essentially an empty calorie. Okay, lots of empty calories.So why would I think GIANT CHEEZY POOFS…
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    Jennifer Fallon

  • The Nigerians are trying to scam me...

    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    I have discovered a new hobby. Trading on the international currency market. It's more addictive than playing the pokies (slot machines for my US readers), and rather more profitable, I have to say. So there I was, moving money around through a perfectly legitimate brokerage this morning (instead of writing - Bad Jenny) when the following popped up in my email: Senior Resident Representative in Nigeria 9 Hon. Justice Mohammed Bello St. Asokoro Abuja, Nigeria. Thomas Adeniran Executive Controller in Nigeria and Debt Reconciliation Officer Plot 39, Ozumba Victoria Island Lagos Nigeria.

  • Thursday's Movie Review - 2012

    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Roland Emmerich, who bought us Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow stretches the disaster movie envelope with 2012 to bring us the disaster movie to end all disaster movies. Built around the rather wobbly premise that because one itty-bitty millenia-long calendar carved into a remote Mayan temple stops on Dec 21, 2012, the world is going to end on that day, 2012 shows us the end of the world mostly through the eyes of not-very-successful author Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), who stumbles across the truth a heartbeat ahead of everyone else and then sets out to save his kids, his ex-wife…

  • Another UK reprint...

    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Been crazy busy lately, hence the erratic blogs... I'll tell you on December 1st what's going on. and my BIG NEWS. Until then, it's a secret. Kinda. But that doesn't seem to stop the UK reprints.  

  • Hasta la MS Vista, baby...

    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Windows 7 is out. One more computer to go, and my house will finally be free of Windows Vista, the crappiest OS ever to mangle a computer. Only slightly more disturbing is that I had to buy three copies, but decided to leave the other three computers running on XP alone, because they're chugging along quite well. It was then it dawned on me that I have 6 computers... And that's not counting the old one kicking about the back seat of my car that I'm not even sure is worth fixing. That is truly tragic. Good thing I own sheep.  

  • The end of the world as we know it...

    31 Dec 1969 | 4:00 pm
    Just saw 2012. OMG.... not a disaster movie cliche escaped unscathed... Absurd silliness. But fun:) I'll post the full review on Thursday.
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    Mick Farren

  • I DON’T USUALLY SAY A WORD ABOUT SCIENTOLOGY

    Mick
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:31 pm
    Here in Hollywood we don’t say anything bad about Scientology. Too many Hollywood stars on the roll of true believers. Too much sinister real estate over on Hollywood Boulevard just west of Sunset Junction. They are also too solid a part of local occult folklore, what with Hubbard hooked up with Jack Parsons, OTO, the Jet Propulsion Lab, the Process, and even Charlie Manson out on the

  • MORE ON HOW I WAS PHISHED

    Mick
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:27 pm
    Our pal Stephan writes on Facebook… "HACKER WARNING! There is a new way to hack your Facebook. A Notification will be sent to you that one of your friends has commented on your status, it will open a new page and tell you to re-enter your Facebook user name and password. The page looks just like the FB login page so be on the look out!! Repost this to your status to let your FaceBook

  • A COMMERCIAL

    Mick
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:21 pm
    “Will you buy Mick’s new book Zones of Chaos?”“Will it stop me being a poly-amatory, fur-wearing slut?”“I very much doubt that.”“How I get one?“Click here.”

  • 18 Nov 2009 | 7:20 pm

    Mick
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:20 pm

  • DOC WAS PHISHED!

    Mick
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:53 pm
    Late last night I was phished via Facebook. So, instead of posting, I’ve been clearing up the mess, changing passwords, running virus scans (and sleeping.) If the little bastards leave me alone, I should be back to normal tomorrow.The secret word is Decimate
 
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    Charles Coleman Finlay

  • The Physics of Writing

    C. C. Finlay
    10 Nov 2009 | 1:09 pm
    I'm working on a new theory of the Newtonian physics of writing...The law of writing inertia: A novel at rest persists in a state of rest unless acted upon by an external force. (I think that this is the most widely observed phenomenon in writing.)The second law of writing: Force equals wordcount times acceleration. The graph of this is commonly called a "deadline".The third law of writing: For every fiction there is an equal and opposite re-fiction. For example, if there is The Hobbit, eventually someone will inevitably write Goblin Quest. It's worth thinking about before you send your…

  • Buckeye Book Fair

    C. C. Finlay
    2 Nov 2009 | 6:39 am
    Heads up, book lovers in Ohio and surrounding states!The Buckeye Book Fair is this Saturday in the fair city of Wooster. A hundred authors all in one spot, and everything from kids books to genre to history to non-fiction. Yours truly will be one in a hundred.The event is organized by one of Ohio's truly exceptional independent book stores, the Wooster Book Company. And 10% of the revenues are donated to support non-profit literacy programs, public libraries, and books in schools.Come buy all your Christmas presents early. A signed set of the Traitor to the Crown books will make an excellent…

  • Even Legolas Couldn't Do This

    C. C. Finlay
    29 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm
    Her name is Lilia Stepanova. But her friends call her Awesome-sauce.

  • Where I Write

    C. C. Finlay
    29 Oct 2009 | 4:57 pm
    I had the chance to meet photographer Kyle Cassidy, aka kylecassidy today, which was neat for a couple reasons. First, Kyle is the author of Armed America: Portraits of Gun Owners in Their Homes. Some years ago I did work as a researcher for a book on the history of the Second Amendment, and one of the things I came away with is the understanding of how deeply embedded guns are across American culture and how none of the stereotypes -- good or bad -- apply. Kyle's book is a great illustration of that culture and that diversity. Awesome stuff. Don't take my word for it: go look for yourself.

  • QFT

    C. C. Finlay
    15 Oct 2009 | 5:57 pm
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    Lynn Flewelling

  • NR Movie Progress

    LynnF
    19 Nov 2009 | 7:35 am
    For those of you who may be new here, C-Squared Pictures is in the process of seeking financing for a mini series version of Luck in the Shadows. For updates, see their Face Book Page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Nightrunner-Series-Luck-in-the-Shadows/133833578541

  • White Road: The Final Step

    LynnF
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:47 am
    The galleys for WHITE ROAD just arrived! This is my last chance to catch and remove any mistakes. Time to get out the fine-toothed comb and sharp red pencil.

  • The Gospel of Tea

    LynnF
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am
    Book of the Leaf 1:13-1413 Yea, I say unto thee, thou shalt go forth unto the masses and spread word of the mighty, the awesome, and the most benevolent leaf, that they may be enlightened and know the everlasting and double steeped joy of the truth.14 And thou shall cast down the cheap bag as an abomination for all generations. Here endth the reading.Lynn, former lay reader

  • Tea and Brain Lock

    LynnF
    17 Nov 2009 | 4:37 pm
    Seregil is still balky, damn him! And Alec is no help whatsoever. At least I have a great tea to sip as I sit here glaring at the screen. Thunderbolt Tea's Risheehat Clonal Flowery SFTGFOP1 2009 Second Flush Darjeeling. It has all the sweetness of honey, clover, and rainwater, with almond undertones. Makes my mouth water as I drink it. Maybe I can work it into the book? You heard it here first, folks.Have I ever mentioned that my blood is 83.9% tea? Back to work. *grumble*

  • New Interview with Yours Truly

    LynnF
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:01 pm
    Paige Crutcher at the The Nashville Examiner did a nice interview with me. http://www.examiner.com/x-5640-Nashville-Authors-Examiner~y2009m11d16-Spotlighting-author-Lynn-Flewelling
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    Eric Flint

  • Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 09

    Drak Bibliophile
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 09 Chapter 3 “We must hurry,” said the blond woman. She seemed not much older than Vlad himself, and was extraordinarily beautiful. The door to his gilded cage swung invitingly open. The prince hesitated. “Who are you?” he asked. She curtseyed. “This is no time for formal presentations, Your Highness. But I am the Countess Elizabeth Bartholdy of Caedonia in Valahia, as well as of estates in other lesser places such as Catiche. I have come to save your life. I will explain once we are away from here.” It sounded tempting.

  • THE SORCERESS OF KARRES — Snippet 30

    Drak Bibliophile
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    THE SORCERESS OF KARRES — Snippet 30 Chapter 15 “Captain, he’s been sneaking around the ship. Trying his hand at lock-tickling,” said Vezzarn, disdainfully. “Even Missy Goth is better than he is.” Pausert raised his eyebrows. “What? Have you been teaching Goth your tricks?” “She asked me to,” said the old Spacer. “And you know, Captain, their little Wisdoms are hard to refuse.” “I suppose this means that you are teaching the Leewit too,” said Pausert dangerously. “Now look here, Vezzarn, I gave you…

  • THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE — Snippet 30

    Drak Bibliophile
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE — Snippet 30 Perhaps the Starsifters would allow them to sleep in her old quarters for just one more night. She lifted her head and gazed out the window. Blackness reigned. It was very late so they would not be there long. “Leave the receptacles,” she told Kajin as she tottered onto her weary legs. “We will appropriate an unused elian-house tomorrow and come back for them.” He went to the door, but then waited for her, as though she were the elder of the two. Too tired to argue sensho, she went through, passing all the wonderfully appointed…

  • THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE — Snippet 29

    Drak Bibliophile
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    THE CRUCIBLE OF EMPIRE — Snippet 29 Chapter 10 Jihan could not take her eyes from the screen. Both of her small hearts beat wildly. This was obviously a critical moment when the meeting’s potential had poised on the edge of proceeding either very well or very ill. “We propose an alliance of our two species against our common enemy, the Ekhat,” the Lleix said. Her movements were calm, yet her body betrayed itself. Much rode upon each word, and Jihan could read the import in every carefully restrained gesture. The stumpy Jao shifted into an oddly elaborate stance, arms…

  • THE SORCERESS OF KARRES — Snippet 29

    Drak Bibliophile
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    THE SORCERESS OF KARRES — Snippet 29 “I’ll have to get back,” whispered Pausert. “I have math to do. I need to have it done before Ma gets home.” “Give it another minute or two,” whispered Goth “You got your coat. Great!” “Yes, it would be nicer if I wasn’t itching like mad,” said Goth, scratching. “I just knew the name of the tree,” he said, defensively. “Didn’t know what it did. Or at least I didn’t remember.” “Well, at least I’ll have a coat to protect me, climbing…
 
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    Diana Pharaoh Francis

  • dancing through

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    19 Nov 2009 | 3:26 pm
    You may have noticed (or not) that I haven't been here for a few days. There are a few reasons for that, and mostly they involve writing, revising and teaching and cleaning up the house for my brother's family's visit. But mostly those first three. Class is going well and according to plan, though it seems there are students who don't really get the concept of attending and when you miss 2 classes out of 18, that's really quite a few. More than they can afford, likely. It's amazing how much we cover in a single day. I mean take today--we talked hook, we talked tone, we talked passive…

  • On a Sunday

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    15 Nov 2009 | 2:16 pm
    Yesterday the signing went well and was fun. I met the fabulous Susan Adrian and had a thoroughly good time talking to her. I sold some books and ate some chocolate--yes, I bring my own and give it away, and then partake--and the roads were pretty good despite the snow. Also got to see chkeyes , and forced her to buy books (hah, like force was necessary. Not my books, she has those, but other people's. . . . )This a.m. I took kids and puppies walking (husband is out elk hunting and I'm keeping my fingers crossed) and went to campus to fetch stuff for class tomorrow. Procrastinate, who me?

  • running in place

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:21 pm
    No real news on Jessica. She's in a coma and she was in for a procedure today that will help prevent blood clots. But I know no more than that. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and kind wishes. For those of you who know her and want to follow her progress, check here. The lovely and wonderful mythrana sent me goodies. (I am gloating). Here they are:andPurple fingerless gloves, purple socks, note paper and a bear! I'm stoked! (not to mention spoiled) Good to get in a week like this. Thank you mythrana !It snowed here the other day and now it's really cold. The fire is crackling in the…

  • updates

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    11 Nov 2009 | 6:27 pm
    The news for my friend is grim. She's in a coma. Apparently she was rearended and something in the car became a projectile that lodged in her frontal lobe. They operated, but the damage and swelling are described as the sort of injury that people don't typically recover from. My understanding is that she may never wake up or if she does, she may not be herself.When I heard this, I discovered that I had been in denial. I had just assumed that after surgery, she would be fine. So it was an absolute shock to hear otherwise. It's taken me hours to get my head around it. At first it just wouldn't…

  • unhappiness

    Diana Pharaoh Francis
    11 Nov 2009 | 1:04 pm
    A very good friend of mine, jessica_de_milo has been in a car accident and is in surgery right now. I believe her injuries are severe. Some of you know her and I wanted to let you know what's going on. And anyone who might be willing, please keep her in your prayers.
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    Dave Freer

  • Update on the move, dogs and cats

    davefreer
    14 Nov 2009 | 9:33 am
    (cross posted from the Bar for anyone who doesn't go there and doesnt follow Flinders family Freer) Writing is at what I hope will be a very temporary standstill. The movers arrive on Monday to pack our goods and chattels and of course the family rock ( http://flindersfreer.blogspot.com/2009/11/rock-part-1.html )Also on monday the people from Pets-en-transit are due to collect Roly (the Old English Sheepdog, with the infamous black nose) Pugsley and Wednesday (the Lab x dubious travelling salesman - Puggles is big, blond, thick, good-natured, and Wensie is the evil over-lady) and 3 of the…

  • An interesting graph

    davefreer
    13 Nov 2009 | 5:22 am
    http://labs.timesonline.co.uk/blog/2009/11/12/do-music-artists-do-better-in-a-world-with-illegal-file-sharing/I have often wondered just who the copyright protectors were trying to protect. After all the creators of the original material do recieve the smallest share. If the other sectors were really looking after our interests, not theirs, wouldn't the easy answer be just to give a bigger share to the creators?

  • Salute

    davefreer
    11 Nov 2009 | 9:55 am
    We raise a glass to the living and our dead. We've been clearing the backlog of stuff for the move. masses of old photographs. Men and women in uniform... 4 wars worth. I daresay there'll be some plonker out there who'll say they were imperial wars... But the world you might have had without their sacrifice was not a very pleasant one. And the little districts in little far off countries gave more - by ratio - than the great powers did. I stood at little memorial in the back of beyond in New Zealand. Beautifully kept... maybe 20 names in two wars. The same surnames repeated... In a sparsely…

  • Somali insanity

    davefreer
    7 Nov 2009 | 3:09 am
    http://www.news24.com/Content/Africa/News/965/0eacbed15c5e4324803a578d676cf315/06-11-2009-10-06/Somali_rebels_issue_aid_rules These people need help. I prescribe a lead injection between the eyes. (serverely affronted by this. People are starving, sick and all these arse-wipes can do is... set conditions to them being helped. They are a source of enduring shame to themselves, their so-called 'religion' and the human race.) Beggars cannot be choosers.

  • newnew

    davefreer
    5 Nov 2009 | 10:14 am
    www.NewNewForum.com if you have any bright ideas you want to talk about. It's run Dr Andrew Burt the founder of Critters.org as a reaction to his experience with old-boys club sites.http://savethedragons.nu has a write up there.
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    Allyn Gibson

  • On 2001: A Who Odyssey

    Allyn
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:28 am
    Imagine a world where Stanley Kubrick made Doctor Who’s “The Wheel in Space.” It’s not impossible. Kubrick was seriously impressed with the effects work in “The Daleks’ Master-Plan.” Imagine no more! 2001: A Who Odyssey. The Silver Carrier! The space station! The Tycho Excavation! The weird shit with the hotel room! The Star Child! It’s all here! I refuse to live in a world where this isn’t canon!

  • On Thoughts This Wednesday Morning

    Allyn
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:39 am
    Matt Frewer is coming to Farpoint! Okay, okay, many people are going to be geeking out that weekend over the winsome Felicia Day. But. Matt Frewer, people! Max Headroom! Sherlock Holmes! Doctor, Doctor! (Which so needs to be on DVD, dammit! I’d buy it. Right now!) Yes, I liked Frewer’s Holmes, from those four movies that a Canadian network did about ten years ago. No, I have no idea what Iceland’s Pledge of Allegiance is. Or even if Iceland has a Pledge of Allegiance. I keep thinking about Doctor Who’s “The Water of Mars,” which I mused on the other night.

  • On “The Waters of Mars”

    Allyn
    16 Nov 2009 | 7:05 pm
    So I’ve watched last night’s Doctor Who, “The Waters of Mars.” It’s slickly made. The effects work was especially nice. Graeme Harper acquitted himself well behind the camera. I loved the mention of the Ice Warriors. I thought it was incredibly boring. The plot is rather linear. The Doctor arrives at Bowie Base One on Mars (and yes, Virginia, there is life on Mars), has a geek moment, and then announces that he needs to bugger off. The twist, for once, is that the Doctor doesn’t want to get involved. And it’s not like events force him to get involved;…

  • On Logo-Making

    Allyn
    15 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pm
    A few days ago, I found a new font — Celtic Eels, styled on the Book of Kells — and I wondered what I could possibly use it for. This, naturally, set the wheels turning, and, unsurprisingly, I had an idea yesterday. I’d make a logo! For people who can’t make that out, it reads “P&GB.” What does that mean? And what’s the logo for? Well, that’s for me to know… and that’s about it. For the moment, anyway. In other words, I don’t have a frelling clue. Looks good, though. And I especially like how the boxes aren’t the…

  • On Political Surveys

    Allyn
    14 Nov 2009 | 3:13 pm
    Three months ago, I received a survey from the Heritage Foundation. They wanted input on how I (or rather, “Ms. Allyn Gibson,” as that was how the survey was addressed) felt about taxes. Specifically, they wanted to know how I felt about the sunseting of the Bush tax cuts over the next two years. I answered the survey. I mailed it back. I expected that my answers, which largely were in support of allowing the Bush tax cuts to sunset (because the damn things shouldn’t have been passed in the first place, and a big part of the reason for today’s financial mess is the…
 
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    Gary Gibson

  • Interview at Amazon UK

    gary gibson
    9 Nov 2009 | 8:20 am
    There's an interview with me over at Amazon.co.uk's 'Author Spotlight at the moment, if you fancy checking it out.

  • My publishing experiment, continued

    gary gibson
    8 Nov 2009 | 6:35 pm
    Several days ago, I wrote about an excellent unpublished novel by a writer I've known for nearly twenty years. Fergus Bannon finished his book just in time for real life to scupper any serious attempts at placing it with either an agent or a publisher. As a result it wound up forgotten in a drawer for a long, long time until I asked to see it. I liked it so much I was determined that it shouldn't simply vanish. And since Fergus has zero time or opportunity to do anything about it, I volunteered to try and get it out there in some way.Well, you can buy it now, from the online publishing site…

  • I go chop your dollar

    gary gibson
    31 Oct 2009 | 12:28 am
    While reading Misha Berry's fascinating book 'McMafia' on the globalisation of crime since the early Eighties, I discovered that Nigerian 419 scammers have their very own anthem 'I go chop your dollar' about the joys of conning rich suckers out of untold quantities of cash, most spectacularly Nelson Sakaguchi of a major Brazilian bank to the tune of $245 million dollars. Naturally, I just had to google it.Don't ask me what he's singing - I can't make out a word - but upon a further google, it becomes clear the lyrics refer to a certain exuberance on the part of some Nigerian con-artists come…

  • Playing around with online publishing ideas

    gary gibson
    29 Oct 2009 | 11:43 pm
    I'm thinking of trying a small publishing experiment when I have the time. First, some background.About twenty years ago, a fellow author, member of the Glasgow SF Writer's Circle (from whence came myself, Hal Duncan, William King and Michael Cobley amongst others) and one-time contributor to Interzone known as Fergus Bannon wrote a pretty decent sf thriller called Judgment.He sent it off to a couple of agents or publishers, got it sent back, then shelved it forever. He hasn't written anything since. There's nothing wrong with his writing - he'd been published, as I say, in Interzone, and I…

  • New post on BSCReview.com

    gary gibson
    29 Oct 2009 | 11:37 pm
    And this time it's a rant about DRM and ebooks and piracy. It started out as a post on a website, but a thousand words later I realised I had the solid bones of an actual article:"There are many pro writers out there worried by piracy, who see the internet as the greatest illegal intellectual land-grab of all time. Here’s the deal: if you’re worried enough to want to stop it, you’re not only going to have to stop people’s internet connections, you’re also going to have to ban photocopiers, computer scanners, OCR software, and computers. At the least. The vast majority of those books…
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    Laura Anne Gilman

  • *squeee* for Friday

    Laura Anne Gilman
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:33 am
    FLESH AND FIRE is on Library Journal's "Best Books of 2009" list!(thanks to Moshe F for the heads-up)

  • on Harlequin, sadly.

    Laura Anne Gilman
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:24 am
    Jackie Kessler breaks it down for you, so I don't have toSFWA's response:http://www.sfwa.org/2009/11/sfwa-statement-on-harlequins-self-publishing-imprint/RWA and MWR comments, via Pub Rants:http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/11/harlequin-news-flash.html----------------------As a Harlequin author and a SFWA member, I agree with my association's position on this. The establishment of a "pay-to-play" imprint damages the standing of the entire company in the eyes of both writers and readers, and cannot be condoned.I hate this. I hated it when my then-employer did something business-wise I strongly…

  • thus, and thus.

    Laura Anne Gilman
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:17 pm
    Well, I managed to get my minimum word count today, mainly by sneaking up on it. Stealth writing FTW. But minimum is not much to crow about. It was a good and useful transition scene, though, and got me through to the 10,000 point. I'm not displeased. I also took possession of the last shipment of wine from California. And yet, I still need to buy wine for Thanksgiving. I'm thinking something South American. I had thoughts about something I wanted to blog about...but I don't remember what it was. Am working on the agent-and-neurosis blog, though. Nothing to say about the "Harlequin Horizons"…

  • Is there anyone out there with nothing in their DVRs?

    Laura Anne Gilman
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:50 pm
    I need, hrm, two or three beta readers, willing to look over a short story and tell me if a certain something in it works.Familiarity with the Cosa Nostradamus useful but not essential. Members of Tabula Rasa willing to look at it again, also welcome.You do, however, have to be able to read and respond within 24 hours....volunteers rounded up, thanks!author w/ story -->

  • odd things with food #8754

    Laura Anne Gilman
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:19 pm
    Wanted veggies for dinner tonight, but not a salad, so I heated a pan w/ black sesame, caraway and 2 cloves sliced garlic, chopped some sweet peppers and shredded some red cabbage, quick-cooked them in pan until they were softened, then finished with a sprinkling of Vegeta, and served warm with crumbled feta. Colorful and tasty, quite filling, and except for the bit of Vegeta, all-healthy.Next time might try adding bits of shredded pork. hrm. Or maybe duck....
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    Shannon Hale

  • Totally rad flicks

    halespawn
    12 Nov 2009 | 9:06 pm
    East coasters, I'm headed out your way next week. (tangent: does anyone remember the show The Great Space Coaster? I can't remember anything about it but the song). I'll be in Baltimore, DC, and Philly. See my events page for...

  • Art from chaos

    halespawn
    10 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pm
    My two-year-old prefers me stinky and greasy. I know this because she finds ways to punish me anytime I take a shower. She pulls all the books off the shelves, empties clothes hampers, cleans out cupboards. Her favorite area of...

  • Punzie's tricks and treats

    halespawn
    5 Nov 2009 | 10:37 pm
    A movie I'd been looking forward to opens this weekend in NY, UT, CA, TX, FL, and MD. Gentlemen Broncos is the latest from the Hesses, who did Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, and this film focuses on a young...

  • Pumped up about a pumpkin

    halespawn
    3 Nov 2009 | 2:09 pm
    I'll be at All Tucked In bookstore in Bountiful, Utah this Thursday at 6 pm. While in DC, I filmed an interview with the wonderful Reading Rockets. These ladies are fabulous, and it's always so invigorating to meet people so...

  • The Secret (that there is none)

    halespawn
    30 Oct 2009 | 2:31 pm
    Nathan Hale's Yellowbelly is interviewing Dean (love of my life, apple of my eye) this week. Check it out--special Halloween episode! We're working hard to finish up Stage 1 of Der Secret Project before November. It takes up a lot...
 
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    M. John Harrison

  • pearlant notebook

    uzwi
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:04 am
    Complexity, weirdness, characterisations like little stained glass sideshows. Motives don’t need so much defining as presenting in action. Characters do things because they want to. That’s all we know. Equally, the text shows you something because it wants to. I see a book controlled by its own mood swings and emotional surfaces. But then I always do. A dead girl, six or seven years old, perhaps a cultivar like the one the shadow operators offered Seria Mau, saying: “I’ve got a little secret.”

  • heartbreaking search strings (1)

    uzwi
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:45 am
    what can i take to make me feel good

  • perdidos e achados

    uzwi
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am
    Granite boulders, Sintra, Portugal. Walking past a car, Sintra. Specialist roofer, Quinta da Regaleira. Detail of protection system using a fixed line & descenders. Rooftop doll, Bica, Lisbon. Lost & found, Lisbon Portela Airport.

  • under the dome

    uzwi
    13 Nov 2009 | 2:06 am
    My review of it may well be in the Grauniad tomorrow.

  • more great fantasy

    uzwi
    9 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm
    Watching: the first series of The Ren & Stimpy Show. C doesn’t get it. I’m not sure I get it myself anymore. What’s funny about watching the lungs of a badly-drawn psychotic chihuahua come out through his mouth ? I don’t know but I started laughing as I wrote that down. Ren & Stimpy’s enactment of “Robin Hoek & Maid Moron” is one of the great epic fantasies of our time, & should have been on the list. Off to Lisbon for a week tomorrow, back the following Tuesday. What’ll we do til then, Ren ?
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    Jess Hartley

  • In which we share the scare...

    jesshartley
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:26 am
    Instant Antagonists - Just Add Dice! Now available at FlamesRising.com and DriveThruRPG - the first in a series of complete antagonist packages suitable for any modern horror setting. Designed to be portable into any modern horror RPG - World of Darkness, Supernatural, Buffy, Unknown Armies, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, etc. Designed by a team of artists, writers and editors with decades of experience in horror or gaming, and now available to you for only $3.99. Instant Antagonist 1 - Selfish Succubus was written by Jess Hartley and features the art of Jeff Preston. Bring professional horror…

  • In which we are thrilled!

    jesshartley
    25 Oct 2009 | 1:00 pm
    THE ROOF IS DONE!For those of you who haven't been following along - The Viking and I bought our house here in Bisbee knowing it would need a new roof. We bought it in October of 07, just a few months after moving here. In October of 08, after comparing estimates from various roofing companies, we made the decision to re-roof the house ourselves. The decision was multi-fold.  The house is low (one story) and long (1950s ranch style). The roof pitch is very shallow, and even for folks who aren't crazy about heights, it's about the easiest roof you could imagine for…

  • In which we run a contest... no, no, wait... TWO contests!

    jesshartley
    19 Oct 2009 | 11:29 am
    One Geek to Another is Two Months Old! In 60 days, my online geek advice/etiquette column has gone from a passing thought to a syndicated column carried on several awesome websites and one fantastic magazine! And I couldn't have done it without your help! Many of you have taken the time to write in with your questions on geek etiquette, to suggest topics for One Geek columns, or to suggest geekalicious sites that might be interested in carrying One Geek to Another. I've been stunned by the awesome response, and as a way of saying thanks, I'm going to run a contest! Aw, why stop at one? Since…

  • In which we stay busy...

    jesshartley
    5 Oct 2009 | 7:51 am
    This is becoming a habit, this occasional blitz posting when I get a chance to breathe for a few minutes...One Geek to Another - My advice/etiquette column for geeks is doing great. We're now syndicated on two remote sites (Pen and Paper Games - www.penandpapergames.com and Ideology of Madness - http://ideologyofmadness.spookyouthouse.com/) as well as being featured in upcoming issues of Big Iron Vault (http://www.bigironvault.com/ - a quarterly gamer lifestyle magazine).  This week's issue addresses a letter from one of our readers about how to deal with pressure to take a relationship…

  • In which we are proud and pleased!

    jesshartley
    29 Sep 2009 | 9:29 am
    Want to write for games? Think your art is ready for professional publication? Long to be a part of the game industry, but not sure how to get your foot in the door? Freelance writer/editor/game creator Jess Hartley shares her secrets for using conventions as an entry point into the professional game industry.   This product was inspired by a series of articles presented on Jess' website to offer her experiences and advice to potential freelancers looking to make the best use of their time during the summer 2009 convention season.The response was overwhelming, and encouraged Jess to…
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    Sara M. Harvey

  • PRODUCTIVITY!

    Sara M. Harvey
    15 Nov 2009 | 9:35 pm
    Okay!This weekend I have managed to bring my new version of Music City up to 10k. I reused some stuff like the prologue and the chapter about Boston, but that was still about 5k of new material this weekend.By the end of the week, I should be up to the word count of the old version and can move forward with the plot.Thusfar I am roughly a tenth of the way into the book and a tenth of the way into the plot- working in side characters and much more setting and subplot. Versus the other version where I got about 25% through the plot at 15k and hit a wall because I did not like where anything was…

  • The going is sometimes slow

    Sara M. Harvey
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:04 am
    So I lost a bunch of steam for MUSIC CITY at about 15k. I just wasn't feeling it. I wasn't liking the main character. It just wasn't gelling for me.My husband, an awesome author in his own right, is really great for bouncing plot off of. We had a long talk about where I wanted to go with the story and worked backwards to the beginning and sorted out some plot.So things got a little reworked and rewritten and tweaked and torqued and things are going more smoothly now.Not that I have had any time to work on it since last week. Yay midterms. I have what I would consider the best Day Job in the…

  • Back in the swing...or swing and a miss?

    Sara M. Harvey
    10 Oct 2009 | 8:42 pm
    Life can be a cunning little minx. Especially with long-awaited honeymoon vacations in Ireland involved. I left a few days after I made my last post and returned about a week ago- 4 days of that spent dragging myself through jetlag and attempting to convince my body that we are in Tennessee now, not Ireland. A hard-won victory. And a bitter one at that because it means I am no longer in Ireland. Not that there's anything wrong with Tennessee, I love living in Nashville. It just isn't Ireland, savvy?So this weekend was the first attempt in almost a month to get back in the writing rhythm. So…

  • D'oh!

    Sara M. Harvey
    18 Sep 2009 | 11:58 am
    Oh, neglected blog is neglected.Let's see, since spewing my venom about Old Navy, they gave me my discount and a $20 gift cert. I see more shopping in my future. ^_^Plus, a shiny apology from a manager over their credit division.At school, midterms rolled into registration into finals and I am ded.Thusly, little work has been done on Music City.I am currently sitting at Crema, my coffeeshop of choice, staring out the front window from my favorite seat, watching clouds and traffic and trying to clear my mind enough to work on something. Had a busier morning than intended with much dog-drama-…

  • My email to Old Navy

    Sara M. Harvey
    2 Sep 2009 | 1:20 pm
    Dear Sir or Madam,I am writing in concern to the service I receiving calling the Old Navy card customer service line. I understand that they are technically a separate organization run by GE Money, but they are still representing your company and doing a great disservice to you.I have a busy and ever-changing schedule and I missed a payment on my card. This has happened very few times in the last several years that I have had this store card. I usually pay off my balance in full as soon as I get the notice that it has posted to my account.On Monday, August 31 at 10:48am, I got a call from a…
 
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    Angeline Hawkes

  • Hellnotes Review :Shades of Blood and Shadow

    angelinehawkes
    10 Nov 2009 | 10:16 am
    HELLNOTES has posted a fabulous review of my horror collection, Shades of Blood and Shadow.  Check it out.Shades of Blood and Shadow is intelligent horror, which doesn’t mean it sacrifices emotional punch. Angeline Hawkes knows when to go for the gut, the jugular, or the heart; she does it with restraint and timing. There is a sense of place and purpose in her writing. She strikes the right balance between the blood and the shadow.

  • Target Registry for Daniel Kiddo#3 and Pumpkin News

    angelinehawkes
    31 Oct 2009 | 10:30 am
    Good news! Daniel's paperwork is making its way through the Korean immigration system now. Barring any unexpected complications, we're looking at a probable arrival date of anywhere from 4 weeks to the end of December. The way things have been moving, we're hoping for somewhere around Thanksgiving! Many people have asked so, since his impending arrival now seems like it's ACTUALLY GOING TO HAPPEN instead of the waiting waiting waiting, I broke down and did a gift registry at TARGET.com. I'm assuming it shows up at the actual brick and mortar stores too. I haven't registered at…

  • Nostradamus' Fate & other Dark Prophecies anthology Announcement

    angelinehawkes
    11 Oct 2009 | 5:40 pm
    It's coming! My horror story, "Virgin of the Sun" will appear along with the other fabulous writers mentioned in the new Dark Regions Press anthology, Nostradamus' Fate and Other Dark Prophecies.Stay posted for release date and information.

  • It's Almost Halloween...hey! Where's your copy of Shades of Blood & Shadow??

    angelinehawkes
    11 Oct 2009 | 9:04 am
    It's almost Halloween....everyone needs a bit of fright on Halloween night! Shades of Blood and Shadow is just waiting to fill that void! Paperback's on Amazon. Hardback from the publisher. And, while I'm talking with you...in our adoption news, the next stage of the game we were waiting on, is now past. We received our I-600 application approval this week and are also logged into the National Visa Center! I'm hoping for more good news this week! Now we're waiting on the Korean Emigration Permit and to be logged out of the National Visa Center.Send those prayers and good thoughts and…

  • Shades of Blood and Shadow paperback and Other News

    angelinehawkes
    4 Oct 2009 | 1:12 pm
    Okay all of my crazed and fabulous readers! The paperback version of Shades of Blood and Shadow is now available on Amazon! It begins shipping very soon! Fabulous illustrations by the talented Tom Moran and 13 delicious tales of terror to tickle your fancy! JUST IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN and Samhain!  Here's the backcover copy: The palette of history and horror mingle in the hues of crimson blood and blackest death. The ghosts of the past mourn for lives unfinished, vengeance unfulfilled, and loves lost. The heart beats in a cacophony of anticipation and fear, echoing…
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    David Herter

  • Reviews and Reactions to October Dark

    David Herter
    26 Oct 2009 | 6:24 pm
    Highlights of the first wave. . ."Ambitious in scope and execution, October Dark is a love letter to Bradbury, Star Wars, Halloween, and the special effects masters of the cinema, most prominently Ray Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien, the latter a character in the story. Herter mixes fact, fiction, and fantasy seamlessly, and it's often difficult to separate the three. (I was fooled in many instances. For example, don't go searching for certain titles or you'll be greatly disappointed.) The more you know about the life and work of folks like O'Brien and Bradbury, the more enjoyment you'll get…

  • News and Interviews

    David Herter
    25 Oct 2009 | 8:35 am
    October Dark continues through post-production. Though it's already been distributed to twenty venues for review, via a slickly-produced ARC, the ms. hasn't been officially copy edited until now. While waiting for the results, I've been busy with discrete trimming and tightening (though in a couple instances, rather extensive final revision), and of course vetting the filmic details in the manuscript. OD is set to emerge sometime between Halloween and Christmas, appropriate since the book begins on Halloween and ends on Christmas. Meanwhile, I've received the amazingly cool introduction to…

  • From Brian Stableford's introduction to One Who Disappeared

    David Herter
    13 Oct 2009 | 7:44 pm
    "One Who Disappeared is the third volume of a trilogy, which began with On the Overgrown Path and continued in The Luminous Depths. There are, of course, numerous ways to concoct a trilogy; many are merely three-decker novels, others follow the N-shaped trajectory favored by script-writing theorists, in which a set-up phase is followed by a phase in which everything goes wrong, in order that the concluding phase can take the form of a soaring ascent. The most ambitious and most appropriate way to plan and build a trilogy, however, is the inverted pyramid."The inverted pyramid begins with a…

  • First Review of October Dark

    David Herter
    10 Oct 2009 | 2:40 pm
    From Library Journal. . . Herter, David. October Dark Earthling. Dec. 2009. c.560p. ISBN 978-0-9795054-7-8 $50This book has a distinctive premise. So-called movie magic is real, the special effects masters are its practitioners, and it’s the only thing protecting the world from unspeakable evil. The novel tracks back and forth between Halloween 1931 and that of 1977. For movie buffs, that year could only mean Star Wars, and the film plays a major role here. Amateur filmmakers Will Travers, 13, and his best friend, Jim, capture something on a roll of Super-8. Their search for answers leads…

  • A Terror-ific Offer

    David Herter
    8 Sep 2009 | 8:44 am
    October Dark — being a Halloween book — deserves a trick or a treat to mark the publication. I'm not quite sure which this one is. But here goes.To anyone nice enough to purchase a copy, I and Earthling Publications — upon request — will include an insanely scribbled-up manuscript page from October Dark. Marvel at the illegible scrawl. Compare your page to what's in the book (or have fun trying). Puzzle out that sentence curving along the corner of the paper. And what the hell did Herter mean by these arrows and stars and circles? Is that a grocery list on the bottom margin? What's…
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    Jim Hetley

  • Imponderables

    20 Nov 2009 | 8:12 am
    Does "Yngvi is a louse!" refute "Chekov's gun"?

  • Not *quite* soaked

    20 Nov 2009 | 8:09 am
    We had some light rain, then a break, so I tried to sneak my walk past the weather gods. "That trick never works."But we only got actual "rain" rain for about the last two blocks . . .Blue jeans drying over radiator now.

  • Dammit, he owes us more books . . .

    20 Nov 2009 | 6:46 am
    According to Ansible, Robert Holdstock is in hospital, seriously ill, but stable.(via mevennen )

  • Meanwhile, back at the not-swine flu . . .

    20 Nov 2009 | 5:58 am
    H1N1 vaccine still lagging in Maine, even for high-risk groups:www.bangordailynews.com/detail/130247.htmlFive flu deaths in Maine so far, all with pre-existing medical problems.

  • Gray incoming

    20 Nov 2009 | 5:51 am
    Started off with a bit of sunrise, now clouding up. Rain forecast for later. Probably will try to get neighborhood walk in first . . .No sign of Evil Aggressor Kitty yet this morning. Maybe evicting the shrew (no data on possible kill) had side-effects?
 
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    Jim C. Hines

  • DV Book Drive

    Jim C. Hines
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:31 am
    For several years now, I’ve run a book drive around the holidays to collect books for a local domestic violence shelter. On Tuesday, I wrote briefly about the value of books and stories as an escape, however temporary.  Going to a domestic violence shelter is never an easy choice.  It can be even harder around the holidays, especially if you have children.  It’s hard to think about presents when you’re worried about your safety and trying to figure out how to start your life over from scratch. To my author friends, if you would be willing to donate one or more autographed…

  • The Nebula Thing

    Jim C. Hines
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am
    • Still taking title suggestions for the mock urban fantasy cover contest. And for anyone who missed it, that entry inspired Paul Abbamondi to do his own urban fantasy mock-up with Jig in a traditional cover pose. Click to view the awesomeness. So Nebula recommendations are now open for all works published from July 1, 2008 through the end of this year. I was actually surprised to see how much I had that qualified. Being the trend-following guy I am, I figured what the heck. Novels: The Mermaid’s Madness [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] The Stepsister Scheme [Amazon | B&N |…

  • Mock Cover Contest

    Jim C. Hines
    16 Nov 2009 | 5:31 am
    Windycon was a great deal of fun, as always.  Got to meet some new folks and catch up with friends … I didn’t have much programming, so in a lot of ways this one turned into a social con for me.  Many hugs, lots of hanging out chatting in the lobby and elsewhere.  Met some new fans, but managed to keep the ego from getting too swollen (despite certain people’s best efforts). All in all, a good way to spend a weekend. I learned that the steampunk theme brings out a lot of costumers, which was fun to see.  Got to hear Tom Smith in concert, ate way too much food, and made…

  • Windycon Schedule Tweak and Friday LEGO

    Jim C. Hines
    13 Nov 2009 | 7:46 am
    • Looking at my schedule for this weekend more closely, I’m doing the writing workshop at the same time as the DAW vs. Baen panel, so unless we have last-minute dropouts from the workshop, it looks like I’ll be missing that panel.  I’m sad about this, because it had the potential to be … well, lively, if nothing else. • Since I am doing the “What Kids are Reading” panel on Sunday, I thought I’d open things up to suggestions.  What do you think are the must-read kid titles of 2009?  I’ve got some ideas, but there’s always room for…

  • Updatery

    Jim C. Hines
    12 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am
    • First off, a quote from author C. C. Finlay: “The third law of writing: For every fiction there is an equal and opposite re-fiction. For example, if there is The Hobbit, eventually someone will inevitably write Goblin Quest.”  I am much amused. • The SF/F Humor Roundup is up to 22 short stories and 12 novels.  So far, so good!  I’m working on guidelines to try to cut down on blatant self-promotion.  I don’t mind authors recommending their own work, but I don’t want a list of 30 stories from every online nook and cranny.  I’m thinking of limiting…
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    M.K. Hobson

  • An embarrassment of bookly riches

    M.K. Hobson
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:56 pm
    Today’s mail brought quite a lovely shower of books, as I got a delivery from Amazon.com and one from PS Publishing. The PS Publishing one contained my contributor’s copies for Postscripts 19, “The Enemy of the Good” and man, are they pretty. Amazing quality binding, paper, art, everything. And I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a story appear in a hardcover! Woo! My Amazon shipment contained “Indigo Springs,” by A.M. Dellamonica, which I’m going to begin to read immediately if not sooner. I also got “Hetty: The Genius and…

  • My sister is on strike

    M.K. Hobson
    17 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am
    My sister, who’s a grad student and TA at the University of Illinois, is on strike. The issue, as I understand it, is that the University Administrators are making threatening gestures towards tuition wavers (specifically out-of-state tuition waivers, which my sister gets). Shame on you, UI! You pay these kids peanuts to do much of the real teaching work while charging your students up the wazoo for their degree. And when it comes time to save a few bucks, who do you shaft? THE WORKERS! Oh, and not for nothin’, but this looks like a pretty fun strike, what with the drumming…

  • Mandatory Nebula Post

    M.K. Hobson
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pm
    The authorities have notified me, via certified mail delivered by a jackbooted thug with shifty eyes, that I must let folks know what work I have available for this year’s Nebula consideration. Believe me, this is only the bayonette pressing between my shoulderblades talking. 1) Novelette, “The Warlock and the Man of the Word”, Postscripts 19, published November 2009. I don’t think many people have read this, but hopefully it’ll get a few lookie-loos before February. Peter Crowther and Nick Gevers called this one “Brilliant.” But then, they kind of…

  • A satisfactory cockatrice

    M.K. Hobson
    15 Nov 2009 | 12:58 pm
    As mythological creatures go, I’ve always had a soft spot for cockatrices (or is it cockatrixes in the plural? I have no idea.) This is because I think roosters are incredibly pretty, and adding a snakey tail to just about anything makes it even prettier, except kittens. Or wait, maybe a kitten with a snakey tail would look prettier. I’ll have to toddle off to my lab to run some experiments on that. Anyway, this brings me to my problem. I couldn’t find any satisfactory Victorian engravings of a cockatrice for my bookplate project (of which I’ll write more at a future…

  • … And yea, the Goodwill Gods blessed her bountifully

    M.K. Hobson
    14 Nov 2009 | 1:13 pm
    I had an epic Goodwill spree last evening that resulted in three excellent (well, excellent to ME) scores: 1) Little Wooden Box. I collect little old wooden boxes to keep things in around my office, and needed another one to hold all my eCig paraphernalia. And I scored the cutest little old cedar wooden art box with brass fittings for $2.99. Usually, this kind of find would be the extent of my Goodwill fortune. But there was to be more. MUCH more. 2) Pretty Japanese Fan. Anyone who saw me at WFC (or even just saw pictures) saw my poor battered abused Japanese fan—the one with silver on one…
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    Paul Hutchinson

  • in which i go aht west

    hutch0
    6 Nov 2009 | 5:42 pm
    I don't get out to West London for work very often. Partly because it's a drag to get there and back from the office, and partly because there isn't very much `there' there. I did recently do a piece for the London Diary about the fiftieth birthday of the Chiswick Flyover, but I cobbled it together from published sources and what I've seen from the car. You'd be surprised at how much journalism is done by remote control these days. The one place in West London I seem to go to quite a lot is the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, mainly because half the office seems to be on their mailing list and…

  • kuron

    hutch0
    1 Nov 2009 | 9:57 am
    I just want to say many thanks to everyone for their best wishes; it really is very kind of you all. Things have been quite strange here since last weekend. He'd been with us for the best part of ten years, and I keep expecting to hear him howling for something or other, or find him sitting on the bed in the morning. It's still hard to say how Dougal and Kasia are taking it. Kuron and Dougal came to us together - they were presents bought for the daughter of one of Bogna's co-workers by her boyfriend, and when the couple split up the kittens went home with her. Her father didn't like cats at…

  • lionel davidson

    hutch0
    1 Nov 2009 | 9:21 am
    Most of you will probably never have heard of Lionel Davidson, who died a few days ago aged 87, and that's a shame, because he was an absolutely cracking writer. His last novel, Kolymsky Heights, is far and away one of the best thrillers I've ever read. It seems to me that, though his fans and the critics were well-aware of his considerable strengths as a writer, he never received the success and public acclaim he deserved. But he was very, very, very good.

  • another dispatch from the islands of lost feet

    hutch0
    1 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am
    After quite a while without any activity, it seems that things are jumping again on the Sneaker Coast, with another disarticulated foot being found in a sneaker on a beach in British Columbia. This makes seven, one of which has been identified and four of which have been matched up into two pairs. The Telegraph covered this most recent discovery, and miscounted, saying the latest foot is the eighth. It seems, though, that this is not over yet.

  • rotten boroughs

    hutch0
    1 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am
    I'd like you to imagine for a moment, if you will, that you work for a company that makes left-handed blivets. It's a big company and you've been there quite a while and you've risen to management level.You've been scrupulously careful with your taxes all the time you've been with BlivetCorp. You've stayed within the rules the whole time. Of course, you're allowed to claim various business expenses against tax, but when you've done that you've always checked first with the company accountant and, if necessary, with HM Revenue & Customs. You did that when you bought your new three-piece suite.
 
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    Alexander Irvine

  • If France Plays Algeria in the World Cup...

    Alex Irvine
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:10 pm
    Because of this abominable series of actions (on Thierry Henry's part) and inactions (on the part of the officiating crew who missed two handballs and a clear offsides), France is in the World Cup.Because of their gutty playoff win against Egypt in Egypt's favored neutral site in the Sudan, Algeria is in the World Cup too.What if they play each other? Wars, massacres, the legacy of colonialism, repression, current racial tensions in France's larger cities, the ghosts of Algerian-born French players from Zidane all the way back to Villaplane...all of it adds up to what would be maybe the most…

  • 2010: Anno Iron Man (For Me, Anyway)

    Alex Irvine
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:47 pm
    In this upcoming World Cup year, I have (in addition to a bunch of other stuff including D&D and Transformers novels, as well as original stories) three Iron Man projects coming out. First comes Iron Man: Virus, coming at the end of January: In the clear blue skies above Long Island, two airplanes collide. Tony Stark watches the scene in horror and wishes he had the technology that is almost within his reach—a new hyperintelligent instant control system that could have given the aircraft advance warning. But Stark, an obsessive, increasingly troubled recluse, doesn’t know that his…

  • Soccer Players and Totalitarianism

    Alex Irvine
    17 Nov 2009 | 6:47 pm
    For a while I was convinced that the story of Joe Gaetjens, who scored the only goal in the US' famous 1-0 victory over England at the 1950 World Cup and then later died at the hands of Papa Doc Duvalier and/or the Tonton Macoutes, was just about the most interesting soccer biography around.But this Guardian remembrance of Algerian (pied noir?) French soccer pioneer-turned-savage Nazi collaborator is really something else. Meet Alex Villaplane.

  • Batman: Inferno Audiobook

    Alex Irvine
    17 Nov 2009 | 11:08 am
    I haven't listened to the whole thing yet, but this audio version of Batman: Inferno is a blast so far. Makes the commute fly by; if you don't believe me, listen to a sample. (Also kind of makes me want to write other Batman stuff, especially if I get to play with the Joker again...)

  • Cormac McCarthy's Understanding of Short Fiction Is Kind of Different Than Mine

    Alex Irvine
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:23 am
    In this conversation with the Wall Street Journal (mostly about the upcoming movie based on his novel The Road*), Cormac McCarthy says, "I'm not interested in writing short stories. Anything that doesn't take years of your life and drive you to suicide hardly seems worth doing."I don't know about you, but I read that part and immediately thought about all of the short stories I've worked on over years of my life, and by which I have been driven to (if not suicide) maddened distraction. And then I thought, Yeesh. McCarthy, you don't know nothing about short stories.The Road is a fine, fine…
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    Ben Jeapes

  • A proud godfather

    Ben
    16 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am
    I'm going to have to do a couple of weeks as a snake-handling Pentecostal to get it out of my system. Last week, a requiem mass with smells, bells and Latin. Last night a confirmation service with robes, choir and of course a bishop all mitred and croziered up. I'm just not used to all this high church.But what a lovely service it was: formal but friendly, exactly as long as it needed to be and with a large element of personal pride. Yes, on Remembrance Day 1995 I became a godfather for the first time. Fourteen years and one week later I formally discharged that obligation. In the intervening…

  • And all that I knew was the hole in my ceiling letting out water

    Ben
    11 Nov 2009 | 11:39 pm
    I like to think (and I probably flatter myself) that I don't make many mistakes, but I have to admit that when I do they are ones to remember.The great flood of October 09 was the crashing opening note of a symphony that goes on to this day, though I do feel it's in its final movement. The builders performing extreme renovation on the flat above us have never failed to entertain. Next they did something (and we're still not sure what, and that includes them) to divert rain water through a hole in the roof, down one of their walls and into our living room. That does seem to have improved…

  • Requiem for Jennifer

    Ben
    7 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am
    I didn't know Jennifer Swift that well but I knew her well enough to be sad to hear she had died. I must have first met her at a convention but I already knew the name from her stories in Interzone. She was Christian, she lived in Oxford, she wrote sf and she liked C.S. Lewis – obviously we were going to get on. Thanks to her I even got to give a talk at the C.S. Lewis society: Lewis was quite strongly opposed to space exploration, but I humbly proposed a few takes on the topic through the lens of science fiction that he might have approved of.We developed an annual tradition in which she…

  • 22 not out

    Ben
    3 Nov 2009 | 5:24 am
    Twenty two years ago today, 3 November 1987 (a Tuesday), I started my first real job. As I'm now 44 that means I have been working for half my life. (This ignores the fact that I was then 22.75, give or take, so the second half will be completed when I'm 45.5, next August.)I knew I wanted to get into publishing in some way, even though I didn't know much about it. I knew that adverts with bold headings like "BREAK INTO PUBLISHING!" were actually aimed at getting cold calling fodder in to work on business directories, so they were to be avoided, as was anything to do with Foyles (its act has…

  • News of the screws

    Ben
    2 Nov 2009 | 1:52 pm
    The door of a kitchen cupboard came away in Best Beloved's hand. Diagnosis was easy, the cure even easier. The two screws that hold it to the top hinge had worked loose and didn't grip the wood. They just went round and round and round. It wasn't hard to find two similar screws in the jam jar full of loose screws left over from this job and that: similar but longer, so they do actually dig into the wood but not so long that they go all the way through.Job done.Yet now I find myself thinking of that jam jar. I have never consciously cultivated a screw collection, but there the jar is, full of…
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    Trent Jamieson

  • These next two weeks

    Trent Jamieson
    13 Nov 2009 | 3:46 pm
    are nose to the grindstone sort of weeks. I'm close to finishing book two, which has been a perilous and fun endeavour, and I reckon isn't a bad book at all, and may even be a good book in which bad things happen.I spent the last two days in Sydney which was great fun. Firstly the launch of X6 of which Cat Sparks writes about here. I got to feel all authorly and hang out with some of my favourite people, all of whom I count myself lucky to call friends. Even if Terry Dowling makes me feel tongue-tied, I mean, Terry Dowling! I've been reading him since I was a teen - so of course I forgot to…

  • I work at

    Trent Jamieson
    9 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am
    Avid Reader, which may just be one of the best bookstores in the world. I love it there, and it's about my only solid social interaction and break from writing book two (almost there by the way, I don't do word counts here much, because they're dull and that usually doesn't inspire me, but fill me instead with some sort of existential word countish dread, and I start dreaming that I'm being chased by numbers, and stories aren't really numbers, well not that often*). Sure I work Sundays and, sure I have to get up around six in the am to get to work (yes there is a 6am on a Sunday Morning, I…

  • A Link of Neatness

    Trent Jamieson
    5 Nov 2009 | 4:28 am
    Storms have raced through Brisbane. We missed the worst of them here, though the lightning was spectacular.I've had a slowish day writing wise. Just a bit under six hundred words, but they were important words. I'm glad I took it easy, I'm actually quite anxious to hit the novel tomorrow. I've that deep desire to push ahead and take my characters with me, which I certainly didn't have today - though I now have a relatively clean fishpond, and a replacement pump for the one that died*. So, hey, the fish are winners and I'm hungry to write.Talking of writing there's a fab interview with Angela…

  • Oh, and I'll also be doing this

    Trent Jamieson
    1 Nov 2009 | 5:57 am
    Digital Pizza7-9pm Tuesday 3 November - A cross-platform Writing Race with beginner, emerging and published authors. Held simultaneously at QWC and AWMonline, come on your own or grab your writing buddy, and join in this fun and productive casual writing group to boost your NaNoWriMo word count or just get your Write On for 2009!Special guests: Writing Race Captain Kim Wilkins, online Captain Trent JamiesonTo get involved in Digital Pizza at QWC, call to book on 07 3839 1243(cost: $10 on the door, towards pizza and goodies).

  • Wake up, Trent!

    Trent Jamieson
    1 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am
    It's been a while since I've updated this blogs details. I mean, I didn't even have a link to Orbit in my linkage section, nor a reference to the Death Works books in my bio. Now that's just not on, I mean, talk about shooting yourself in the foot!So, just in case you don't know. I have novels coming out in the next eighteen months. Three of them. They're about Death. Death in Australia. They're fast, they're funny, and people die in them. Lots of people. You can't write about Death, and not have death - well, you could I suppose, actually that would be a story in itself. They also contain;…
 
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    Vylar Kaftan

  • Myers-Briggs types

    Vylar
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am
    What’s your Myers-Briggs type? I’m an ENFJ, sometimes called “the Mentor”, but I prefer “the Televangelist”.  Come on, you can see me leading a cult, can’t you?

  • Thanksgiving OCD letter

    Vylar
    19 Nov 2009 | 4:39 pm
    Friends and I are debating whether this letter is real or not.  I’m leaning towards yes, it’s real.  It’s just bizarre enough to be true, if that makes sense. Quick, weigh the potatoes on a postage meter to make sure they’re right!

  • Late night question

    Vylar
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:37 pm
    I wonder if succubus parents sometimes yell at their daughters on school mornings. “Young lady, you are NOT leaving this house until you’re dressed like a slut!”

  • Well, this is miserable.

    Vylar
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:52 am
    Shannon and I both had a cold last week that hit us hard. Lots of sleeping and tea seemed to fix it; he got it worse than I did. It seemed like I got it first and gave it to him, given the timing of things. Now we’re sick AGAIN. With a different cold. He got this one yesterday and passed it to me. So we’re both home, totally sick. I dragged myself to the store for chicken soup. Once again, he’s got it worse than I do. Definitely a very different cold, and this one is even nastier. Man, this sucks. At least it’s not swine flu.

  • Photos from Afghanistan

    Vylar
    15 Nov 2009 | 3:49 pm
    A friend pointed me to this set of photos from the war in Afghanistan. Truly amazing.  Many of these are brilliant, but I think the most striking one shows all the soldiers sleeping in their fighting-holes… but it looks like they’re lying in graves.  The children playing in terrible conditions–prison, refugee camps, wherever they were–also stayed with me for a long time. For people like me who’ve never seen combat, these pics drove home to me how ugly battle really is and how dangerous the conditions are.  I can’t even imagine myself in battle; I just…
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    Nicholas Kaufmann

  • Well, That Was Quick

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am
    The saga of Harlequin Horizons continues to unfold like the world's most compelling soap opera!After the Romance Writers of America (RWA) applied an almost instantaneous smackdown yesterday, the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) came down hard and fast too, sending Harlequin a strongly worded letter and detailing in a public statement the consequences that might befall Harlequin if they continue down this road:If MWA and Harlequin are unable to reach an agreement, MWA will take appropriate action which may include removing Harlequin from the list of MWA approved publishers, declining future…

  • The Harlequin Horizons Saga Continues

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:21 am
    It seems like every morning there's newer and more fabulous information to share about Harlequin's bone-headed vanity-publishing plan, Harlequin Horizons. For some background on this story if you're new to this blog, check here and here.But today's news is actually good news. Or rather, awesome news! And it comes from the Romance Writers of America (RWA), whom I now love with a passion (no pun intended). In response to the Harlequin Horizons program, the RWA released this statement:Dear Members:Romance Writers of America was informed of the new venture between Harlequin Enterprises and ASI…

  • This Is Too Much Fun

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:46 am
    I made another one:

  • I Made This Just For You!

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:27 am
    I found a place online where you can make your own motivational posters, so I made this one. Enjoy!

  • More Ways Harlequin Horizons Will Rip You Off

    International Bon Vivant and Raconteur
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:24 am
    So I visited the Harlequin Horizons website to see what services they offer for your money. Most of it is the usual: editorial services, internet marketing, advertising. And then I found this.Harlequin Horizons charges $20,000 for a "Hollywood" style book trailer!$20,000!Seriously, this is just looking worse and worse. Always remember, folks, money flows to the writer. Anything else is just a scam designed to separate you from your hard-earned cash.
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    Caitlin Kiernan

  • Howard Hughes Contemplates the Next Two Months

    greygirlbeast
    20 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am
    Yesterday, I managed to do 1,107 words on "Teratophobia," though the story seems to be going somewhere I'd not expected, and so I'm thinking it may have to be retitled.And I have some other news, which isn't exactly huge news, but is fairly cool. However, I do not think I am yet at liberty to relay it. Maybe in the next day or two, once my agent says I can.Mostly, I'm sort of working overtime to stave off a crushing sense of dread, as I contemplate what December and January are going to be like:December:* Begin Blood Oranges (working title)* Write short story for Robert Silverberg tribute…

  • Me, I just call her the skanky lunatic hellbitch, but...

    greygirlbeast
    19 Nov 2009 | 1:56 pm
    I haven't done a poll in a while. This one grew out of a Twitter exchange earlier today:View Poll: Bible Spice or Caribou Barbie?

  • "Close your eyes, clear your heart, and cut the cord."

    greygirlbeast
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:46 am
    Last night, I got word from my agent that my editor at Penguin likes the proposal for Blood Oranges (working title) quite a lot. So, it seems I have one less thing to worry about. Now, I just have to get the book written.The insomnia came again last night, but I resisted the urge to take Ambien.But, as for yesterday...I didn't get anything written. The insomnia and the effects of the Ambien conspired to muddle my head, and I decided it would be better to spend the day on research, instead. So, we drove down to Green Hill, just west of Moonstone Beach. Green Hill is the setting for…

  • Howard Hughes Forgets How to Sleep (and Stuff).

    greygirlbeast
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:01 am
    Last night, just before she fell asleep, Spooky said, "I want a hamster named Bilbo Baggins." And so I blame her for my inability to sleep last night. How is anyone supposed to have a restful night after hearing something like that, I ask you? Anyway, sometime around 3:30 a.m., I finally gave up and took half an Ambien, and about an hour later, I finally dozed off. I slept fitfully, got up at 10:30, and am not even a little bit awake at this moment.But...Yesterday, I wrote 1,093 words on "Teratophobia." It will be appearing in the next issue of Sirenia Digest, which happens to be #48.Ellen…

  • Okay, yeah, usually I don't do cute...but...

    greygirlbeast
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:04 pm
    ...I'm not beyond making the rare exception.
 
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    Crawford Kilian

  • Ken Auletta's media maxims

    Crof
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:47 am
    Having recently completed a book about how Google has changed everything, Ken Auletta has published a cut chapter as an online stand-alone: Media Maxims. Very much worth reading and pondering.

  • Is Cory Doctorow the future of webwriting?

    Crof
    15 Nov 2009 | 3:07 pm
    Via the Globe and Mail: Meet publishers' enemy No. 1: Cory Doctorow. Excerpt:The traditional publishing industry's worst nightmare arrived in Toronto this week when science-fiction author Cory Doctorow addressed the TD National Reading Summit on the burning question of “How to Destroy the Book.”  As one of the world's most successful bloggers, a writer who freely gives away his work as well as selling it – and not least, a genuine expert in the suddenly fraught world of international copyright – this Toronto-born phenom knows as much about wrecking traditional…

  • 'Fakeosphere' latest Web trap for consumers

    Crof
    5 Nov 2009 | 12:12 pm
    Via Jerz's Literacy Weblog: 'Fakeosphere' latest Web trap for consumers. Bogus blogs are now being used as advertising gimmicks.I've seen a few in Flublogia, where some sites are clearly trying to part visitors from their money in exchange for "cures" for H1N1 and other ailments.

  • The Fake AP Stylebook

    Crof
    5 Nov 2009 | 9:31 am
    Anyone who writes for the online news media will welcome the Fake AP Stylebook (FakeAPStylebook) on Twitter. This may be the best collective translation effort since the committee that produced the King James Bible.Now we can await web text that rigorously follows the new style.

  • Happy birthday, Internet

    Crof
    29 Oct 2009 | 9:46 pm
    Via the Globe and Mail: The Web at 40: How the world got wired. Excerpt:Oct. 29, 1969, 10:30 p.m., Pacific Time The Internet is born ... and promptly crashes. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency were trying to figure out a way to combine physically distant computers into one virtual network. Exactly 40 years ago today, the first such network - called Arpanet - was established between machines at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute. The first message transmitted was supposed to be the word…
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    Kevin Killiany

  • 11/19 declaration by the President on the need for universal public health care

    kvaadk
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am
    "We should resolve now that the health of this nation is a national concern. That financial barriers in the way of attaining health shall be removed. That the health of all its citizens deserves the help of all the nation."-- President Harry Truman, November 19, 1945.

  • Zazzle does the right thing

    kvaadk
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:59 am
    As I mentioned back in this post right-wing extremists were marketing items emblazoned with a Biblical passage in which David called for the downfall and death of a leader as a "humorous" expression of how they felt about President Obama. In that post were links to examples of these products for sale on the internet marketplace Zazzle. I have no doubt that these items are still available from various ideological sites, but Zazzle had pulled all of them from their virtual shelves and released a statement that says in part:Zazzle puts great value on its Marketplace as a forum for discussion and…

  • And everyone knows this now ... (a meme popfiend did not make me take)

    kvaadk
    19 Nov 2009 | 5:34 am
    Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...Pure Nerd78 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 35% DorkFor The Record:A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits…

  • Hiding hate behind faith must stop now.

    kvaadk
    18 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am
    The "Christian" Taliban and their "Psalm 109:8" call for the assassination fo President Obama.The Scriptures Christians call the Old Testament are not, strictly speaking, Christian. They are the soil from which Christianity sprang. The Christian Scriptures are the accounts of Christ's life, the historical account of the Christian community after his ascension, the instructional and meditative letters, and the final revelation. However, because they provide both context and foundation, the books of the Old Testament are included in the Christian canon.A key cornerstone, an essential, precept,…

  • Internet in China

    kvaadk
    17 Nov 2009 | 2:23 pm
    I mentioned a few posts ago that I have become a fan of chinaSMACK I, being me, began a dialog of sorts with one of chinaSMACK's primary, and I think founding, translators, a person with the screen name "Fauna." I asked her(?) about the Netizen response to President Obama's town hall meeting.She sent me a selection of links which led to English-language sites and translation blogs. Fascinating reading. (Yes, I will be working Saturday to make up the time I lost reading Chinese blogs at the office today.)I particularly appreciated the insights of Yang Hengjun, who…
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    Mindy Klasky

  • What I've Read

    Mindy Klasky
    20 Nov 2009 | 10:16 am
    Wow. I used to update my "bookshelf", the list of what I've read, on a monthly basis. Then, I was ashamed by my slow reading rate, so I started updating every couple of months. Then, I got busy, with the rush of constant deadlines from the end of the summer till now. So, um, here's a really belated update to what I've been reading.As always, this is not a complete list - I don't bother keeping track of the novels that don't make it to 50 pages. In the past several months, there were a lot of those - a combination of my having picked up books at RWA that I intended to read for very…

  • Old Friends, Good Times

    Mindy Klasky
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am
    Last night, I did a reading for the Law Librarians Society of DC. Amid home baked mini-quiches, cheese plates of the gods, cookies, etc., I caught up with my librarian friends and read the first chapter of HOW NOT TO MAKE A WISH.I had a grand time. I truly love the camaraderie of librarians, the willingness to learn new things, the courteous exchange of ideas. That community is the ONLY thing I miss about working full-time in a traditional office job.On the home front, I just broke 25K in the Super Secret Project that really, truly is not a NaNoWriMo novel, no matter what its target length…

  • Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

    Mindy Klasky
    17 Nov 2009 | 11:13 am
    1. Thank you, o diamond commenters! I think my girl has a ring that will make her proud!2. Glucosamine is the supplement of the gods. Three weeks ago, I was holding on to the counter every time I needed to stand or sit in a chair. Today, I was crawling around on my knees, changing air filters like nobody's business!3. The cats don't like the squirrels outside my office window. They really don't like the *mating* squirrels outside my office window.4. I'm not actually participating in Nano, but I may complete 50K by the end of the month. Despite starting on 11/12. And despite having family…

  • Her Love

    Mindy Klasky
    16 Nov 2009 | 1:51 pm
    OK. Confession time, here. I never spent a second in my life imagining what my engagement ring would look like. Mark and I found the perfect ring at a craft fair (water sapphire set in gold), bought it for low three-figures, and I've never looked back.One of the characters in Super Secret Project, however, has just been proposed to. She is a simple, straightforward, every day sort of gal. Money is not an object for the ring. It must have at least one diamond of notable size. (Yeah, I'm fully aware of the political implications of diamond engagement rings; suffice to say that my characters are…

  • Guest Blogging - Heidi Betts

    Mindy Klasky
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:18 am
    Today, next Monday, and the Monday following, I am blogging over at Heidi Betts' site: http://www.heidibetts.com/wipsandchains/2009/11/16/meet-mindy-klasky/Heidi is a really fun author who splits her time between sassy single title romance (her most recent series includes KNITTING - how cool is that?!?) and category romance (she writes really hot Silhouette Desires.) Her blog has more animated icons than you've ever seen in one place, and she calls herself a dominatrix, even though she spends a whole lot of her time rescuing kitties by the side of the road and fund-raising for animal…
 
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    E. E. Knight

  • Best of Hubble

    E. E. Knight
    19 Nov 2009 | 5:02 pm
    Space. The Final Frontier. One of the few things I'd rather look at than tits...http://www.chilloutpoint.com/featured/space-images-the-best-of-hubbles-shots.html

  • Kaufmann: the scam is afoot!

    E. E. Knight
    18 Nov 2009 | 8:22 am
    The always-entertaining nick_kaufmann is exposing a new writer's scam here with an appalling follow-up here.Perhaps there is more money to be made in bilking starry-eyed amateurs than in publishing interesting stories. But that doesn't mean the practice shouldn't be fought.

  • Good news for me

    E. E. Knight
    17 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am
    Men married to smart women live longer:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6872519.ece

  • Ave atque vale, Mr. Woodward

    E. E. Knight
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:13 am
    Edward Woodward is dead at 79.A classy Brit actor who spent most of his screen time in supporting actor roles, he's probably most famous for Breaker Morant, which, with Judgement At Nuremberg, vies for the title of greatest military courtroom drama ever.I first saw him in the Callan series in the 70s (which you really had to hunt for on PBS over here), a story of a veteran Cold War agent. It was very film noir meets John le Carré, but I liked Callan. He had a moral code, yet you totally believed his moments (and they did just last a fatal second or two) of cold ruthlessness. It was also…

  • Windycon

    E. E. Knight
    15 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pm
    It was a typical Windycon in every respect but one. I've never seen so many theme-related costumes. The Steampunk crowd showed up wearing their colors ("steampunk is the Goths discovering brown") in force.Saw many LJ friends, favorite vendors, and the Writers Workshop was another success. Had a nice break when we were invited for high tea with a few other aeronauts, courtesy of Lord (disputed) "Boom Boom" McCallister and associates.Our family unit, fresh off the ZeppelinChats raided my closet quite effectively at the last minute.(not for the skirt and don't believe anyone who tells you…
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    Mary Robinette Kowal

  • Hansjürgen Fettig interview

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:50 am
    Holy cow! Puppeteers will know exactly why I just flipped, but I’ve found a video of Hansjürgen Fettig demonstrating his puppets. I’ve used his book as one of my puppet building bibles for years and seen the figures in exhibition but until this moment have never seen one in motion. Oh. My. God. I have never wished to speak French more than I do right now.

  • AMC – The Ten Deadliest Monsters in Fantasy

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:43 pm
    What do we love about Fantasy? The monsters. Fantasy has a lot of monsters. Sure, they turn up in science fiction from time to time, but nuclear mutations aside, enormous beasties are typically the result of imagination — and fantasy has the lock-down on sheer ferocity. Monsters make a ready conflict for the hero, and raise the stakes in ways that no mere human villain can. The question remains: Which beastie is the most deadly? Go on. Tell me which ones I missed. via AMC – Blogs – SciFi Scanner – Mary Robinette Kowal – The Ten Deadliest Monsters in Fantasy.

  • Fan mail!

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm
    You know, I just got a piece of fan mail — actual hard copy, through the postal service fan mail — for my work as Secretary of SFWA.  This has totally made my day.  People say this is a thankless job and they are just wrong.

  • On being Mrs. Kowal

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    16 Nov 2009 | 11:04 pm
    I spent the day teaching puppetry up in Fremont at James Leitch Elementary. One of the interesting things about schools is that they all have different name structures for the teachers. In some I’m Mary, usually Miss Mary, and sometimes Mrs. Kowal. I always use the married version of the honorific when I’m filling out forms but it’s exceedingly rare to actually have someone call me “Mrs. Kowal.”  It feels a little like I’m pretending to be a grownup. All of this is percolating around in my head because Rob and I are celebrating our eighth anniversary this…

  • Walking, Dining, Reading

    Mary Robinette Kowal
    15 Nov 2009 | 9:57 pm
    Rob and I spent yesterday bumming around San Fransisco, interspersed with me doing drawings for a potential gig and prepping for the Nebula Nomination period to open at SFWA. The sweet boy has been endlessly patient with me. In the evening we joined the SF in SF group at Henry’s Hunan for dinner. It was like KGB in reverse in that Chinese food preceded the meal. Seeing Cheryl Morgan, Jeff Vandermeer, Jacob Weisman and the rest of the gang was a lot of fun. Then I was off to Writers with Drinks in the Mission. Oh, my goodness. What. Fun. Charlie Jane Anders absolutely rocks as a hostess…
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    Nancy Kress

  • Numbers

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:06 am
    Author Lynn Viehl has, for the second time, posted her sales and income figures for her novel TWILIGHT FALL on-line (http://www.straightgoods.ca/2009/ViewBrief.cfm?Ref=187&Cookies=yes). TWILIGHT FALL was a paperback original that spent a few weeks on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list in the paperback division. It has now gone through two royalty periods, and Viehl has posted both actual statements. She's brave to do this, since most writers do not share their numbers and would feel more comfortable discussing their sex life, drug history, or criminal records than their incomes.Viehl is…

  • Real Estate

    18 Nov 2009 | 8:08 am
    I am selling a house. This is a bad time of year to be selling a house, and a bad market to be selling a house, and to make it worse, three of the twelve houses on my road are for sale at the same time. This is not the result of foreclosure or a suddenly discovered toxic dump, although it does give prospective buyers the impression that people are fleeing en masse from Mallards Landing. In fact, one sale is due to a divorce, one to a newly perceived need to own a barn, and one (mine) to a cross-country move.On the plus side of selling right now is a bill passed by Congress to not only extend…

  • Book Problem

    13 Nov 2009 | 8:35 am
    I have a book problem, and I'm hoping someone out there has a solution. I am moving to Seattle (that's not the problem). Like most authors, when my hardcover books were remaindered by their publishers, I bought up a few hundred copies of each. New authors, especially, tend to get over-enthusiastic about this. So did my late husband, Charles Sheffield. As a result, my basement is full of literally, thousands of books that I do NOT want to ship to Seattle. I want to get them into the hands of readers. But how?I have some donated to libraries and sold some at local used bookstores. But there are…

  • Cranky at the Movies

    12 Nov 2009 | 4:02 am
    A few days ago I saw the new Coen brothers' movie, A SERIOUS MAN. Its effect on me was serious: It set me thinking about expectations in fiction plus the experience of reading/viewing it.A SERIOUS MAN is based on the Bible book of Job, sort of. (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD) Arthur is a nebbish to an extreme degree; he is pushed around by his wife, his wife's lover, his kids, his deadbeat brother, his macho neighbor, and his students at the college where he teaches and is up for tenure. But he tries to do the right thing. A student failing his physics class (the kid can't do mathematics) tries to…

  • Astronomicon

    8 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am
    Yesterday I attended a local con in Rochester, NY: Astronomicon. Guest of Honor was Mike Resnick, and his GOH speech was hilarious. He talked about past Worldcons, including the one where the Hugo bases had arrived in time for the ceremony but not the metal rocket ships which screw onto the bases. R.A. Lafferty won one. Later Mike and friends found him crawling under the table, very drunk, saying plaintively, "I think I might have won a Hugo, but i lost part of it!"I did three panels, including one on "Alien Languages" and one of technology that SF promised us but which has not yet arrived…
 
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    Margo Lanagan

  • YALSA Best Books list

    17 Nov 2009 | 11:22 pm
    Tender Morsels didn't make the Top Ten, but it did make the main list.(via Perry at Matilda)

  • About women's work, particularly their writing work

    11 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pm
    Here. Yes.Three other depressing stories: Sheng Keyi's story (trans. Eric Abrahamsen) 'An Inexperienced World' in the latest HEAT (the beginning of which is available, Jonathan points out in the comments, online—thanks, Jonathan!). Something depressing about this being the first item in the issue, but mainly it's the story itself. It's about a women 'well past thirty and possessed of a certain experience of life', which suggests to me that the author might well be under thirty ('born in the 1970s' says an online bio) or just on the cusp of it. I seem to have recently read quite a lot of…

  • Sydneysiders, particularly of the Inner West!

    11 Nov 2009 | 2:50 am
    Tomorrow night (Thursday, that is) at Berkelouw's Books in Norton Street, Leichhardt, Richard Harland will be doing the honours and launching the Keith Stevenson-edited novella collection X6, from Coeur de Lion. ALL SIX of the authors AND the Editor Himself will be there, so if you want a fully signed copy of X6, tomorrow night's the night to get it.The shenanigans start at around 7pm. Some of us will read, some of us will natter, and some will just stand about looking enigmatic. God knows what Richard will do—possibly fouettés or backflips, or a little mime.

  • It's almost as if I was there!

    10 Nov 2009 | 12:57 am
    Hey, look here! It's me giving my Printz Honor speech, back in July! So weird to watch yourself like this. Daniel Kraus, author of a splendid YA novel, The Monster Variations, filmed it.

  • I'm rather pleased...

    8 Nov 2009 | 2:01 am
    ...to be no. 79 on the list of Top 50 Australian Blogs for Writers. It's nice to be anywhere on that list, eh.
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    Justine Larbalestier

  • NaNo Tip No. 20: Don’t Wait for the Muse to Strike

    Justine
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:25 am
    It’s day twenty and I’ve seen some talk on NaNoNoWriMo blogs of muses showing up or, more often, not. I’m sure for some of you muses are a very useful metaphor for your creative process. However, sitting on your arse waiting for them to show up? Frequently not a good approach to actual writing. “Oh noes! My muse is not here! I cannot write! Instead I will play Left 4 Dead 2 until muse shows up.” This method will leave you with kickarse zombie killing skills but will not be much chop when it comes to, you know, writing. Now, I’m not a very spiritual or…

  • Liar Question

    Justine
    19 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pm
    I keep being asked the same basic question about Liar so I thought that I would answer it here before pushing it across to the Liar FAQ. My answer is not a spoiler as it touches on stuff that is revealed in the first few pages. The question is: Q: What do I know is true that Micah tells us? A: It’s not straight forward for me to answer this question. What I thought I knew about Micah changed as I wrote the book. But I can tell you that all Micah’s fundamentals are absolutely true. Her race, her age, her gender, her neighbourhood—she is from the East Village of New York City,…

  • NaNo Tip No. 18: Breaking with Stereotypes

    Justine
    18 Nov 2009 | 11:42 am
    Yesterday’s post led to Kilks suggesting that I base a NaNo tip on it, which I am now doing. One of the biggest flaws in beginner writing is a reliance on stereotypes and cliches which produces characters who never come to life because they lack verisimilitude. The female protag faints and is afraid of spiders. The male one is brave and strong. Or vice versa. And that’s all there is to them. They’re thinner than paper. What do I mean by a stereotype? Let’s look at one that frequently shows up in US teen movies and books: the dumb jock. Now am I saying that you…

  • Blank Page Heroine

    Justine
    17 Nov 2009 | 4:19 pm
    Recently, the brilliant Sarah Rees Brennan talked about her love of romance and reviewed a few in her inimitable style.1 She mentioned in passing her least favourite kind of heroine: I truly hate the Blank Page Heroine. She is in a lot of books—I don’t mean to pick on romance, because sadly I have seen her in every genre, including my own—and sometimes she seems to be there as a match for the hero who won’t bother him with things like ‘hobbies’ and ‘opinions.’ Sometimes she is carefully featureless (still missing those pesky hobbies and…

  • NaNo Tip No. 16: Edit as You Go

    Justine
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:51 am
    I know I wrote a whole tip telling you to ease up on yourself and expect badness in your first draft. I encouraged you to just pound it out and leave the editing till later. Sadly, that doesn’t work for every writer. Nor does it work for every book. Although I bashed out a crappy zero draft for the majority of my books, I wrote Liar editing as I went. I don’t think it would have worked to have written it any other way. I wrote Liar scene by scene. Working on each one until it was polished and gleaming and then, and only then, moving on to the next one. The scenes in Liar are…
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    Richard Larson

  • Interfictions Reading

    Richard Larson
    9 Nov 2009 | 7:23 am
    On Friday night I attended a presentation at Housing Works by the Interstitial Arts Foundation showcasing some of the stories from the recent anthology, Interfictions 2, edited by Chris Barzak and Delia Sherman. I say "presentation" rather than "reading" because, well, the nature of the "interstitial" movement is such that the arts are sort of stitched together to create an altogether new type of work; in this case, it was the reading of a text, often combined with some sort of dramatic performance, set to live music (conducted, as it were, by Brian Francis…

  • Madness!

    Richard Larson
    6 Nov 2009 | 9:30 am
    From "The Madness of Art," by Joyce Carol Oates: Those of us (how many of us!) who have given our souls to the activity of writing are obviously engaged in a lifelong quest. Perhaps, though we experience ourselves as individuals, our art is communal, like our language and our histories. We write in order not just to be read, but to read -- texts not yet written, which only we can bring into being. Is this quest quixotic, perverse, or utterly natural? Normal? Do we have any choice? Henry James, one of our exemplary beings who understood the lure of the grotesque, the skull beneath…

  • Architecture and Evelyn Waugh

    Richard Larson
    4 Nov 2009 | 8:07 am
    In Evelyn Waugh's Helena, when the titular character first explores the world outside of her kingdom, she does so with a learned enthusiasm for discovery; "so foreign, the gate to a new life, the starting point of the road ... to Rome, and whither beyond" (p. 44). But as her ambitious new hsuband, Constantius, explains to her the plans for a wall around the Roman empire, she realizes that the world outside is just more of the same. "Must there always be a wall?" she asks (p. 47), to which Constantius answers: "... I love the wall. Think of it,…

  • Review of House of Windows and Slights

    Richard Larson
    19 Oct 2009 | 2:05 pm
    My review of John Langan's House of Windows and Kaaron Warren's Slights, two solid debut horror novels, is now up at Strange Horizons.

  • Writing New Things:

    Richard Larson
    16 Oct 2009 | 1:39 pm
    When it became clear to me I might finish my first novel I was already thinking that I wanted my second one to be as different as possible from my first. Then I wanted my third to be as different as possible from my second. Mainly because— not because of ambition— I just didn't like the idea of always writing the same novel. There are authors I love who always write the same novel, like Ernest Hemingway or Cormac McCarthy. I mean they might not feel that way, Hemingway might have been like, what are you talking about? But from an aesthetic point of view, he was writing the same book…
 
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    William Leisner

  • Counting blessings

    1 Nov 2009 | 9:02 pm
    Sometimes, even when the universe kicks you, it exercises some restraint.On Saturday, in an effort to avoid the apartment complex rugrats thumping up and down the halls knocking on doors, I decided I would head up to Half Price Books and see if there had been any cool additions to their stock since last week. Driving along on the highway, I notice something in the road ahead, that from a distance initially looked like a shallow pothole. Once I got close enough -- i.e. too close -- I realize that it's actually a hefty chunk of concrete. "Oh, I probably don't want to drive directly over that,"…

  • Poetry Spam Slam

    29 Oct 2009 | 5:37 pm
    This showed up in my email this afternoon. I have no idea what it means, or what it's trying to sell, but I still thought it needed to be shared. Dig it:Despotism was unknown, and even the chieftain, in the proper sense of the word, had no existence.Hello, i am Ursula ConnellyTry it for the well-beingYou have not yet seen my husband. Oh, you damned dandies. Deep, man. Deep.

  • Say Uncle V

    12 Oct 2009 | 9:53 am
    Welcome to the world, Kyle William, born this morning to my sister Teri and her husband Steve, their third child and first son.

  • Did I Fall Asleep? Yep, I Sure Did...

    26 Sep 2009 | 9:10 am
    I was one of those folks who, earlier this year, both looked forward to Joss Whedon's new SF series, and dreaded Fox's inevitable cancellation of the show before its time. Then I watched the first few episodes of Dollhouse, and wasn't particularly taken by it. But, I knew that the Fox suits, in their infinite wisdom, had dictated changes to the pilot and early episodes, and read online that after episode six, things would shift. So, I decided to stick it out. And while there were some interesting bits and pieces in those later episodes, they were just bits and pieces, not enough to overcome…

  • Ego-Boost

    21 Sep 2009 | 7:19 pm
    defcons_treklit has posted a new review of Losing the Peace at Unreality SF, and it's another good'un! Money quote:Overall, a strong novel and a good comeback for TNG-branded novels after the decidedly sub-par Greater Than the Sum. After A Less Perfect Union and Losing the Peace, I certainly look forward to more novels by William Leisner. Woo and hoo!
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    Edward M. Lerner

  • Feel the chemistry

    19 Nov 2009 | 6:50 am
    November's theme at the Year of Science is chemistry. Good stuff, chemistry. You won't hear me complaining this month about wishy-washy, politically correct themes. This is science.(But not, IIRC, the stuff of much SF. I'm hard-pressed to think of a single chemistry-centric SF novel. Can anyone out there suggest some?)  And chemistry is the basis for indispensable technology. Think of DuPont (and countless others) bringing us Better Living through Chemistry. Where would we be -- no irony intended, if you should wonder -- sans (to name a few chemical products) preservatives, plastics,…

  • Destroyer of Worlds

    10 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am
    Fair warning: this is a commercial announcement. (But likely my last for a while. Gotta refill the pipeline.)  Destroyer of Worlds, released today, is a far-future space epic. It's also my latest/third collaboration with Larry Niven -- all part of our Fleet of Worlds series.Destroyer, like our earlier books, deals with Puppeteer manipulations -- these aliens are aptly named for more than their appearance. And the afraid-of-everything Puppeteers have more than ever to fear, because on the horizon looms another, particularly scary, alien species: the Pak.(That brings us to our second cover…

  • Trope-ing the light fantastic (Earths)

    6 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am
    That's Earths, plural. Obviously Earth itself exists and can hardly be a trope.But what about the many Earthlike planets in SF?  (How often does the starship Enterprise encounter a solar system without an "M class" planet or moon?) Are Earthlike worlds realistic or a trope? Our native solar system has but one Earth, of course. Real-life searches for extrasolar planets best spot large, massive, and close-to-their-primary objects. The observational methods are not yet sensitive enough to spot Earthlike planets (see current list of extrasolar planets here).  IIRC, the smallest…

  • Future shlock

    3 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am
    Today is Election Day in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Yup, we're one of the two states -- not, you will note, that we call ourselves a state -- with regularly scheduled statewide elections this year. (New Jersey is the second.) In theory that's so state elections go unaffected by national political tides. The Law of Unintended Consequences remaining in force, it really means the national political parties focus on these two states, making the electoral process here (a) a referendum on the national balance of political power and (b) a dry run for methods to be tried in the following…

  • Are we alone? How about now?

    29 Oct 2009 | 2:30 pm
    How does life emerge from lifelessness?  How does intelligence emerge from totally instinctive life? Science's answer to both questions has been, "don't (yet) know."There's a business-school axiom, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." The scientific version is, in essence, "If you can't reproduce it, you don't understand it." Or, at least, you can't know that you understand it. And so, synthetic biologists want to move from describing what nature has offered to building organisms from scratch. When we can build cells totally from inanimate material (and assemble DNA, not…
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    David Levine

  • The view from my front porch

    17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm
    Big sewer project in my neighborhood. Today they are working on the line connecting my house to the street. Between the thud-bang-scrape that makes the dishes in the kitchen cabinets rattle and the BEEP BEEP BEEP of machines backing up it can be kind of hard to think. But still, it's good to have sewers! Without sewers there is no civilization.

  • Because of course you will take the bus to Salzburger Hochthron

    15 Nov 2009 | 11:02 pm
    Based on the presence on my iPhone of the application Peak.ar (which tells you the names of nearby mountain peaks), the App Store's Genius feature recommended an application called qando. The description of which was in German, but I have enough of the language to puzzle out that it's a bus and train schedule app... for Vienna.Well, Peak.ar is from an Austrian company...Screen shot above from Peak.ar on our recent trip to Albuquerque

  • Question for seat-of-the-pants writers

    14 Nov 2009 | 10:29 am
    So, in the shower this morning my plot-focused brain handed me the direction it thinks the current story should have been going all along. The change would simply eliminate the mystery that's been driving the main character so far -- a mystery that I don't yet have a solution for -- replacing it with a different motivation for the main character's actions up until now, and providing a nice tidy ending. (This is the way my brain usually works: setting first, then ending, then characters.)At this point I have about half of a draft, maybe two-thirds, and I could fairly easily change it to work…

  • Tidbits

    13 Nov 2009 | 9:16 am
    Word count: 3690 | Since last entry: 1502 Still plugging away on the YA fantasy. I feel my brain trying to impose plot, but I'm trying to continue just driving where my headlights can see. holyoutlaw posted a video of a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, happy dog (ETA: fixed link), to which I commented "I have never before heard Doppler shift on a squeeky toy." For this feat of scientific detection I have been named an Improbable Research Investigator. (Thanx to gerisullivan for the tip.) I received a fat envelope from F&SF, which I tore open with…

  • All hail the Sucky First Draft

    10 Nov 2009 | 11:13 am
    Word count: 2188 | Since last entry: 2188 After far too many weeks of research, noodling, and outlining, none of which seemed to be going anywhere, I decided to adopt a new strategy: just start writing. I'm driving cross-country in the dark with no map, no destination, and no visibility beyond the reach of my headlights. It feels weird and I can see plenty of problems in what I've written so far, which I know will have to be heavily edited when I'm done, but at least I'm putting down words and it feels good. This is an unusual writing strategy for me, but for the moment it seems to be…
 
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    Paul Levinson

  • Bones 5.8: Booth's "Pops"

    20 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am
    An endearing episode 5.8 of Bones last night, with a winning performance by Ralph Waite, who continues a sterling career in his senior years. On Bones, he plays Booth's grandfather - "Pops" - who raised Booth and his brother after Pops evicted their father from their lives. Booth's father had been beating him.As in most of the episodes this season, the best story is in these personal interludes and not the skeletal puzzle at hand. Pops sees what every viewer and everyone other than Bones and Booth see - that they're right for each other, and time's winged chariot is hurrying near (I always…

  • Fringe 2.8: The Eternal Bald Observers

    20 Nov 2009 | 7:25 am
    Fringe really hit its stride last night, with an episode 2.8 not just about the Eternal Bald Observer, who we've been wanting to know more about, but the Eternal Bald Observers. It was a superb standalone story, with intellectual verve and real heart, and also moved the central story of Peter and Walter importantly along.The Observers are indeed in effect eternal - I first called the Observer Eternal Bald when he was first introduced in episode 1.4 last year, as a way of pointing out that science fiction often seems to have an Observer who is bald and around for a long time - but last night…

  • FlashForward 1.9: Shelter From the Storm

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:12 pm
    Ain't it good to hear Dylan's "Shelter from the Storm," and see him sing it in a vid? This was the theme song and the theme of tonight's FlashForward 1.9, which peeled back a little more of the paradox of the story to reveal ... more fine paradox, and a mystery tramp, too.Bryce goes to Japan to find Keiko, the Japanese roboticist and lover of Hendrix and Dylan, aka the woman he saw and found and knew he loved - and she him - in his flashforward. Significantly - a very important insight into flashforward business here - Bryce knows in his April 2010 flashforward that he has been searching for…

  • V 1.3: Multiple Twists and Lizard Visions

    17 Nov 2009 | 6:33 pm
    The Visitors got visas in 1.3 tonight, and the twists and surprise identities continue to abound.1. Erica stops a human from killing Marcus (Anna's top adviser), but it turns out the would-be assassin is a Visitor. They apparently were testing our (human) willingness to protect the Visitors, or perhaps even just Erica's.2. Ryan goes to see another fifth columnist - a Visitor on our side - who tries (unsuccessfully) to turn Ryan into the Visitors.3. Up on the ship, Erica's partner, unpeeled as a Visitor at the end of episode 1, has trouble remembering how he got nearly killed. Just as he…

  • Lie to Me 2.7: The Redeeming of Loker

    17 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm
    Eli Loker (Brendan Hines), one of the best characters on Lie to Me, in which all of the central characters are outstanding, has been in Lightman's dog house since the middle of the first (last year's) season, when Loker alerted the Security Exchange Commission about the results of a case he was working on. Lightman nearly fired Loker, settled for demoting him to a lowly unpaid intern, with an injunction that Loker needed to show he could really "contribute" to the organization.In last night's 2.7, Loker did just that - in a way that lost the Lightman group almost two million of much needed…
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    Holly Lisle

  • The Girl Behind Curtain Number #3

    Holly Lisle
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:13 pm
    So I finished the second scene/ chapter of Talysmana. I went waaaay over budget with my word count for the day, writing 1086 words. (If you’re playing Write A Book With Me and matching me for words, stop at 500, and I’m sorry about the overrun.) But I got the scene. I found out [...]

  • Fractured skull, concussion, cracked ribs, and strangulation marks

    Holly Lisle
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:53 pm
    Interesting writing tonight, as I discovered more about what happened to Kettan that she doesn’t remember, and more about why it might have happened. I’ll finish this scene tomorrow and post it to the mailing list on the TalysMana website. Nate has definitely put himself deep in the ‘bad boyfriend’ zone. I don’t like [...]

  • ER, With A Side Of Law

    Holly Lisle
    17 Nov 2009 | 10:18 pm
    Kettan, in the ER, explains to the cops the trouble her boyfriend Nate has been having the past year. 530 words, and the trouble he’s been having isn’t quite what I imagined when I started writing the scene. It’s a lot less obvious and a lot more interesting. Two more working nights and I’ll have scene [...]

  • TalysMana: The first scene has gone live.

    Holly Lisle
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm
    I got WAY carried away tonight. Wrote over 1500 words on TalysMana. TalysMana is the novel I’m giving away in its entirety, one scene at a time, as I write it. And the first scene (over 2000 words long), is now available. If you’d like to read the whole novel for free, and [...]

  • A girl wakes up naked…

    Holly Lisle
    15 Nov 2009 | 8:51 pm
    My main character in TalysMana wakes up to discover that she has been unconscious on the floor for three days, everything she owns has been stolen, she has no memory of what happened, and thugs are standing over her debating “getting rid of the body” versus just getting out of the place and leaving her [...]
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    L. Lee Lowe

  • You should ask Wallace

    llowe
    20 Nov 2009 | 3:38 am
    When Ioan isn’t busy recording Corvus, you can find him playing Alfred Russel Wallace, the lesser known co-discoverer of natural selection. Next year there’ll be repeat performances of the one-man show, plus an extensive school tour from September to December. He will also be lecturing at university and filming several other roles. I consider myself unbelievably [...]

  • A new interview

    llowe
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:10 am
    Hadrien Gardeur of Feedbooks is intervewing several of their self-published writers for his blog. My contribution is available here.

  • Wallace Stevens on difficulty in poetry

    llowe
    2 Oct 2009 | 9:53 am
    ‘Sometimes, when I am writing a thing, it is complete in my own mind; I write it in my own way and don’t care what happens. I don’t mean to say that I am deliberately obscure, but I do mean to say that, when the thing has been put down and is complete to my [...]

  • September

    llowe
    23 Sep 2009 | 11:59 am
    Cool weather and mellow light – my mind returns to the maple leaves my parents would rake to the roadside and eventually burn, no antipollution by-laws back then, returns also to the delight my sister and I would take in leaping into the enormous piles. My father, hardly the most patient of men, seemed himself [...]

  • Welcome to my new website!

    llowe
    14 Aug 2009 | 1:46 am
    Yup. It’s finally up and running after years of promising myself to consolidate everything in one place. First of all, huge thanks go to Chris for all his work on the site—and patience with my endless dithering. If you want to hear some really colourful swearing, just ask him how many colour changes the headers [...]
 
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    Jason Erik Lundberg

  • since everyone else is doing it...

    17 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am
    My Nebula-eligible fiction for this current cycle (not that I think any of it has even the slimmest change to get nominated, but hey, if you're in SFWA and feel like throwing a little love my way, I certainly wouldn't mind):"Stuck" (short story), Farrago's Wainscot, July 2008"The Apokalypsis Pentaptych" (short story), Qarrtsiluni, December 2008"The Time Traveler's Son" (short story), Papaveria Press, December 2008 (RTF available to Nebula voters)"In Jurong" (novelette), Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, November 2009I have left off my Daily Cabal entries, because, much as I love writing…

  • appeal for a sold book (updated)

    3 Nov 2009 | 10:42 pm
    Before Janet and I moved to Singapore in March 2007, I sold or gave away almost a thousand of my books to lighten the load and set free the ones I didn't think I would read again. More than a few of them I have regretted letting go, and every so often I reach for a book I think I still own. However, I find myself now really missing my copy of The Norton Book of Science Fiction (edited by Ursula K. Le Guin and Brian Attebery), especially as I have been given the task of constructing the six-week science fiction unit for Secondary Two Language Arts next year. It was the main text used for my…

  • new fiction: in jurong

    31 Oct 2009 | 9:20 pm
    Yesterday I tweeted that my novelette "In Jurong," had sold to Quarterly Literary Review Singapore. What I didn't mention is how completely surprised I was to sell it to them; it's very obviously a fantasy (whereas QLRS, being a respectable literary review, seems to normally only publish mimetic fiction, although I haven't read every issue, so I may be wrong about that), not to mention that it's told in second-person POV, which is tough sell anywhere. But the story does have local appeal (it's basically an alternate world where the Jurong Birdpark has taken over all of Singapore), and they…

  • new fiction: the world, under

    28 Oct 2009 | 5:25 pm
    My latest contribution to The Daily Cabal has gone up today, called "The World, Under."I wrote this story grenade the night that Janet gave birth to our daughter Anya. Taking Tim Pratt's own experience with the birth of his son River as inspiration, I wanted to see if I could still write a coherent narrative on very little sleep. I guess whether it's coherent or not is up to you, the reader, but I think it works. It's the setup for the larger story to come, but hopefully it still reads well on its own.This piece marks my first conscious attempt at continuing a series (prologued by "Mini…

  • rejected hint fiction

    20 Oct 2009 | 11:09 pm
    I submitted the following pieces to the forthcoming Hint Fiction anthology edited by Robert Swartwood and published by Norton, but sadly none of them got picked up. Still, I think they're not bad, and at least they're very short, so here you go:ESSENCEThe bomoh sold me the Essence of Chicken, but it transfigured me into one of his clucking brood. I just wanted to ace my exams.HIDDEN IN THE LEAVESI stared into the dark center of the banyan tree, and the arboreal spirit awoke and followed me home. We chatted. It liked my lemonade.BUDDHA'S TOOTHI placed the Buddha's tooth in my mouth, expecting…
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    Nick Mamatas

  • Friday Quick Notes

    20 Nov 2009 | 8:23 am
    A year of Poe bicentennial profiteering (January, April—I have no idea where they got that thumbnail, btw, or that the article was even online till just now) is complete with the release of Weird Tales #354, which includes my essay "Tell-Tale Homes", on Poe's frequent moves up and down the East Coast. Amusingly, to me anyway, this essay was written first and then after months of hearing nothing, cannibalized for the other pieces. Then, right before WFC, I heard that the special Poe issue —which contains Poe essays by Alethea Kontis, Cherie Priest, and others—was…

  • And now, your moment of Zen

    19 Nov 2009 | 7:59 am

  • Happy Thankswrecking!

    18 Nov 2009 | 2:29 pm
    The Cake Wrecks lady didn't take my last picture, so I'll just offer these two holiday-themed cake wrecks to the public at large. Note: both are cupcake cakes!Here's the traditional Thanksgiving prairie dog emerging out of the shimmering rainbow vortex of light that leads to a dimension otherwise only accessible via LSD:And here's a prolapsed rectum, typical of Thanksgiving given American eating habits:Enjoy!

  • Everyone excited about the awesome new Twilight saga movie?

    18 Nov 2009 | 7:48 am
    Me, I'm Team Lipbite all the way!Also, why is a novel series about three people spending fewer than ten years in a dumpy little town a "saga" anyway?

  • Help us to help you

    17 Nov 2009 | 11:19 am
    We're writing a romance novel here in the comments of this post.We'd like to finish by the end of the day. Feel free to chime in. And bring in some sexy vampires.
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    George R.R. Martin

  • Alone in London

    7 Nov 2009 | 2:37 pm
    Parris will soon be on her way home to take care of the cats, before they start rioting and have wild parties. So I'm pressing on by myself. Arrived in London a few hours ago. Signing at Forbidden Planet on the 11th.

  • Dublin Days

    6 Nov 2009 | 3:57 am
    And here we are in Dublin. Ireland has been exciting but exhausting. We had a huge turnout last night for the signing at Eason's, with a queue that seemed to go on forever, but I finally scrawled everyone into submission, and afterwards I signed all the stock as well. If you missed the signing, or happen to live a thousand leagues away, you can still get an autographed copy of the SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH hardcover or any of the Ice & Fire paperbacks by phoning, emailing, or dropping by Eason's on O'Connell Street. They even have a few trade paperbacks of DREAMSONGS.Afterwards we adjourned to…

  • Belfast At Last

    1 Nov 2009 | 10:55 am
    Late, wet, and bedraggled, but I'm here.Tomorrow heads will roll. Well, one head, at least.

  • Moving On

    28 Oct 2009 | 7:20 am
    The Scottish filming is done, and cast and crew are packing up today for the big move to Belfast and its Paint Hall, where the shoot will resume. So far, so good.Parris and I are moving on as well. She'll be headed over to Ireland tomorrow to spend Samhaim with friends, while I linger here in Scotland a few more days to visit with Lisa Tuttle. We converge again in Belfast in November. Today we swung by the HarperCollins warehouse outside Glasgow, where I signed five hundred hardcovers of SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH. Ask for one at your favorite UK bookstore, they will be going all over the…

  • Feeling Guilty

    26 Oct 2009 | 12:50 am
    I've met Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner (and their charming moms). They're terrific, bright and beautiful and bursting with enthusiasm, excited to be a part of this.And now I'm having pangs of guilt about all the horrors that they're going to have to go through in the months and years to come, thanks to me.I'm going to have to rewrite the books so only nice things happen to Arya and Sansa. Might change the story some.Also ran into Ron Donachie, Jennfier Ehle, and Kit Harington, and all of them were great The rest of the cast is around here somewhere too, but we haven't bumped into them…
 
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    J.M. McDermott

  • 18 Nov 2009 | 8:05 pm

    18 Nov 2009 | 8:05 pm
    No one ever tells the truth about the BuddhaHe was a prince from the east, of courseHe sat under a tree, of courseHe saw suffering in the world, of courseHis father rose to power with a magic lampThree wishes... the third for a mighty son,a cunning son, a brave son, a glorious leader of menSo mighty was the son, that he slipped away in the night withthe concubine that had spent all her wishes on youth and beautyand the magic lamp. Under trees, they went, becausethe mangroves shadowed them from the harem guardsthe water at the feet of the mangroves hid their sandals.They would not waste his…

  • Epic Fail Night, a.k.a. This is all my sister's fault

    17 Nov 2009 | 4:33 am
    Whilst driving home from work, my phone rang. It was my sister. She sounded somewhat excited about something, but I told her I was driving and I'd call her back when I got to my apartment. She said she'd call Mom, and call me back. She called me again when I was almost home, and I said, "Hey, almost home, still driving, call you back!" I'm thinking something, like, serious must be up. I park the car. I turn off the engine. I immediately call my sister back, in the car.It's not serious. She's just excited about something she's doing at law school.I'm relieved it's nothing serious. I tell her…

  • Year's Best List

    10 Nov 2009 | 5:39 am
    I had an eclectic reading year, with many books that are not current. (I'm measuring my year by November last year, by the way... Apparently the Book Year ends in January.)In no particular order (don't believe the numbers!) my favorite books read this year were 1) Finch by Jeff VanderMeer2) Drood by Dan Simmmons3) Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand4) Getting to Know You by David Marusek5) No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July6) Gears of the City by Felix Gilman7) Palimpsest by Catherynne Valente8) Returning My Sister's Face by Eugie Foster9) Elegy on a Toy Piano by Dean Young10)…

  • When The Wall Came Tumbling Down

    9 Nov 2009 | 10:08 am
    I may be a little late, but reading about all these retrospectives of walls falling and stuff tumbling down and what really happened, or what didn't really happen, etc., etc., I am left with just one thing to add.When I was in East Berlin a couple years back, I met the military officer in charge in Berlin, at the Wall that night who - when faced with confusion and silence from his superiors - gave the command that changed history. Do not shoot. Let the people through to West Berlin.I wrote about it here:http://jmmcdermott.blogspot.com/2007/03/peace-also-happiness-is-possible-if-you.htmlI have…

  • Thought Balloon

    9 Nov 2009 | 9:41 am
    I am very happy that Cat Valente is safely on her honeymoon, but I am left with this depressing thought in the aftermath.Is the only way to get honesty and appropriate customer service from large corporations through either luck, or the assistance of a large tribe?I keep my little kerfluffles off the wires, for the most part. (If only because none of them escalate to the point of awful that Ms Valente experienced on her Honeymoon of all things! Goodness!)Yet, I wonder if social media is the only way to hold these companies truly accountable if that isn't a sign that something is genuinely…
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    Robin McKinley

  • Fangirl

    Robin
    19 Nov 2009 | 6:07 pm
     Squeeeeee.             I have a mad friend.  Well, I have several mad friends.*  This particular mad friend is a major goer to concerts of folk and Celtic music, and we bonded a while ago over the fact that Steeleye Span rules.**  I think it was last year that I missed dragging Peter to a relatively local Steeleye concert by not finding out about it till something like three days after it happened.***  Major ratbags.  Major bulging purulent ratbags.             So this year Fiona rang me up a couple of months ago and said, hi.  Steeleye Span is going to be…

  • Photos and Guest Posts

    Robin
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:41 pm
    Blogmom suggested a spiffy new way of dealing with Wordpress’ bad attitude toward photos, which bad attitude sometimes results in making potential guest posters crazy which from my perspective is seriously counterproductive. So here’s the new system.  When Wordpress pitches a hissy fit, you get a teaser, like the following, and a pdf.  I would rather have it all here on the blog, which is what we’ll continue to do when possible.  But when it isn’t possible, a pdf means you can still have the guest post.  And I can still have the night off.  And everybody leaves…

  • Guest Post by Susan in Melbourne, Australia

    Guest
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:41 pm
    Strelitzia A Southern Hemisphere Garden I have enjoyed reading guest blogs about other people’s gardens in the northern hemisphere, and thought that you may be interested in the story of a garden down here in the south. It’s a very ordinary garden, on an ordinary sized suburban block in Melbourne, which is the capital city of Victoria. The motto on the car license plates used to be ‘Victoria: the garden state’, but as the drought that has been with us now for over 10 years tightened its grip, that motto quietly disappeared*. Which is not to say that Victorians have given…

  • The Day After the Night Before

    Robin
    17 Nov 2009 | 3:01 pm
    First a few leftovers from last night.*             First:  cutest birthday present.**   The music stand is obviously more crucial to my development as an artist*** but a girl also needs cute. Second:  Dog Sculpture.  You cannot, even if you look at it in close up, see how very peculiar Chaos’ posture is in the first photo of all of us on the sofa.  This is his what I call Dog Sculpture because of the way he glues his head to his shoulder, like those graceful but anatomically incorrect sculptures of curled-up creatures made out of natural materials like a lump of rock or a…

  • Ploughed *

    Robin
    16 Nov 2009 | 4:38 pm
    Happy Birthday to meeeeeee.  Yes, PEGASUS went off this morning.**  Well, this afternoon.  I started my birthday by going to bed late and getting up later, and then discovering there wasn’t enough petrol to get me to my voice lesson tomorrow, so hellhounds and I went farther afield than planned today to buy Wolfgang some fossil fuel.  Then down to the mews for presents.             Given how cranky Wordpress is about photos, I may have to have two entries tonight.  If your monitor explodes, I’m very sorry. My, my, my, what can it be.  (Regular blog readers who keep notes…
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    Karen Miller

  • Reluctant Mage -- is done!

    14 Nov 2009 | 9:34 pm
    Holy guacamole, Batman.It's done.Well, you know, not done done. It's up for a rewrite next, after I've rewritten Siege. But it's done, it's a book, it's a lot of words with more to come. It'll end up about the same length or a smidgin longer than Prodigal Mage. But that story is told now. And I think I'm reasonably happy.I have written 5 novels this year. There were times when I seriously doubted I could do it. But I've done it. As I said, I have 2 to rewrite between now and the new year. That's not a problem. Rewriting is playtime. Rewriting is the reward for the utter agony that is the…

  • Reluctant Mage wordcount

    14 Nov 2009 | 1:54 am
    And here's another one. Now I'm going to take a break, have a nap, then dive into the finishing stretch.123150 / 130000 words. 95% done!And because at no time have I needed a giggle more ...see more Lolcats and funny pictures

  • Reluctant Mage wordcount

    13 Nov 2009 | 5:02 pm
    So I have this airbed thing. It's brilliant. It's got a power pump to blow it up. Right now it's on my living room floor. I catch a couple of hours sleep, write till I can't keep my eyes open, nap again, start writing. So far it seems to be working. Ah, yes, the glamorous life of a novelist. *g*Here's the progress:117801 / 130000 words. 91% done!Keep lighting those candles for me!

  • Reluctant Mage wordcount

    13 Nov 2009 | 1:10 am
    And let us cue 48 hours of upcoming hell, shall we?Here we go.112395 / 130000 words. 86% done!

  • Reluctant Mage wordcount

    12 Nov 2009 | 2:59 am
    Now that the globetrotting parents have returned (Vietnam this time) I've palmed Wilson off onto my poor mother for a few days so I can hunker down and get to the finishing line on this sucker. I've got some momentum going. It's pretty bare bonesy but the shape is basically there.Here we are:106972 / 130000 words. 82% done!And again, I'll take an hour's break and get back to it to maybe get another half chapter done tonight.Oh yes ... and this is exactly why I sent Wilson to grandma ...see more dog and puppy pictures
 
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    Sarah Monette

  • seen today on the internet

    19 Nov 2009 | 12:29 pm
    1. Jackie Kessler explains Harlequin's disingenuous new venture: Harlequin Horizons. The RWA rocks.2. This is a beautiful website about Kirkbride Plan buildings.3. via matociquala, underwater hydrogen sulfide river.

  • There should have been a sixth thing yesterday

    19 Nov 2009 | 11:23 am
    which is, thank you all very much for the good wishes and congratulations and commiserations about this complicated moment in my publishing career. It helps a lot to be reminded that actual readers do want my next book.Got to 60,000 words yesterday; already at 60,500 today. Excelsior!

  • 5 Things

    18 Nov 2009 | 7:10 pm
    1. I reached 60,000 words on the goblin book today, and most of the rest of it is spinning its armature in my head, like weird cyborg nano-spiders and maybe I'd better just abandon that metaphor right there.2. It is finally November here, cold and dark and rainy. Secretly, I like this kind of weather.3. So last year, the entirely cromulent Pat Rothfuss did a huge auction-type thing to benefit Heifer International. This year, he's going to do it again, which I mention because (a.) hey, heads up, especially though by no means exclusively to Rothfuss fans, since I understand there is to be lots…

  • Announcement

    13 Nov 2009 | 8:44 am
    Happy Friday the Thirteenth!I have an announcement: my next book (working title, The Goblin Emperor) will be published by a new publisher under a different name.As You Know, O Internet-Bob, my sales with Ace were disappointing, which resulted in Ace deciding they did not want to publish me any longer. It also resulted in those disappointing sales figures being irretrievably associated with my name in the computers of the big chain book-buyers. And that, in turn, means that those big chain book-buyers--who are the people publishers have to sell to (Remember that. Everything makes more sense if…

  • Storytellers Unplugged for November

    7 Nov 2009 | 11:36 am
    Another Q&A session.One of the questions is a spoiler for the end of Corambis, so I'm going to stick it behind a cut-tag.Q:Why did you decide to have Felix and Mildmay live in a lighthouse? Lighthouses are quite famous for stairs, and Mildmay is quite famous for his trouble with stairs.A: Actually, the lighthouse of Grimglass is part of the Warden's castle, so there's no reason Felix's post as lighthouse-keeper would mean that Mildmay has to live at the top of the tower. I don't know exactly what their domestic arrangements are going to be, but Mildmay isn't going to have to climb any stairs…
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    Elizabeth Moon

  • Friday

    20 Nov 2009 | 10:08 am
    In the night, a thunderstorm wandered by and behind it came steady rain. Quite a bit. I'm hoping the groundwater doesn't rise to the point where the toilets misbehave again.We finished up the hindquarter of lamb yesterday--Michael really REALLY likes lamb, it turns out. We have only to mention that there's a hunk of lamb in the oven and he starts haunting the kitchen here--is it ready yet? I'm really pleased with my "new" (no doubt not new but I hadn't heard of it before) use of a canned chipotle diced tomato combo (also has onions and garlic) to put with lamb and potatoes. Works as…

  • From Twitter 11-19-2009

    20 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am
    08:00:05: Woke up with a word I couldn't think of yesterday in my forebrain, and Purcell ringing in my ears. Minds are truly strange.20:16:49: Wondering about Harlequin Publishing's rip-off scheme? http://www.jackiekessler.com/blog/2009/11/19/harlequin-horizons-versus-rwa/Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

  • From Twitter 11-18-2009

    19 Nov 2009 | 1:01 am
    09:37:16: Editor pointed me to another online venue and suggested I join. Like I needed another way to lose hours online!09:40:11: http://www.sffworld.com/ being the venue in question.11:04:17: Unhappy honeybee in the study leads to nervous writer. Bee wanted to stay in, rejected suggestion to flee outside. Alas for bee.11:04:56: Back to marking Messiah score.22:47:08: Voice lesson and Messiah rehearsal both great! But 3.5 hours of singing is tiring.Tweets copied by twittinesis.com

  • On Wings of Song

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:15 pm
    In the past week I've fixed one vowel (closing off my "o" too soon) but another is being difficult. My eyebrows are so far untameable and jerk upward when I sing higher notes, despite my stern silent orders to them to Hold Still. The jaw, however, if held firmly by one hand, wiggles less. What, you wonder (if you aren't another singer) does this have to do with singing? Lots, according to my voice coach, because unnecessary and unwanted twitches and jerks indicate tension, and tension is Bad. Tension disturbs the instrument and can make icky sounds where the vocal cords aren't doing…

  • Problems in Electronic-land

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am
    I'm not sure which change to blame, but something's gone screwy--not yet fatally screwy, but screwy enough to be seriously annoying--in my browser--and to some extent mail client. The first thing I noticed was the that 80 Acres blog started getting hundreds, not a few, spams. That's remote from here...but why? Why would a nature blog start getting a ton of spam? Well, I'd applied to Nature Blogs Network to have 80 Acres Online included in their list. So maybe one of the people visiting there had a virus or trojan or something? In the meantime, I upgraded to AVG 9, which slowed things down for…
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    Lyda Morehouse

  • General Updatery

    12 Nov 2009 | 8:40 am
    I'm at my favorite coffee shop today because today is Thursday, and Thursday is my busy day.First of all, it's always recycling. It's also fish tank changing day. Thursday is the day that I volunteer to stuff folders at Mason's school, as well. Tonight is Wyrdsmiths, which means that soon I need to go home find the handouts from last week, read and critique them, AND print out what I'm going to hand out tonight. By chance this evening is also a meeting for parents, etc., of gifted students and I agreed to go to that since it's downtown and they're going to provide my dinner (and it gets done…

  • Of course, NOW I'm Self-Conscious

    10 Nov 2009 | 8:36 am
    I woke up grumpy, despite the sunshine. Grumpy and vaguely restless. I took care of some of the restlessness by cleaning up my office/the computer room a bit. I don't know about you, but I accumulate a lot of paper. Alas, some of it could be considered "important" so I can't quite just toss it in the bin. This leads to a lot of clutter. So I sorted and boxed up some of it for eventual transfer to the archives (don't laugh, I have one!)Anyway, I can't get too comfy. I have to go schlep Shawn to her dental appointment. (We're a one car family.)

  • Weekend Report

    9 Nov 2009 | 9:47 am
    Declaimer: anyone coming here after seeing this blog listed in the Pioneer Press article, please note this is my *journal*. I write about myself. Self-indulgently. And my kids. My cats. My fish. I am NOT INTERESTING. These posts have no point, no entertainment value. If you're looking for that, go elsewhere.That being said, here's my blog:---------------A full weekend, my friends. Friday, Shawn took the day off, and we had a date day, though it ended up mostly a drive around town kind of day. We got her haircut in Edina, drove to Roseville for lunch at our guilty pleasure: Red Lobster. Then,…

  • Last Frontier of Human Rights... The Toilet

    5 Nov 2009 | 8:36 am
    My favorite coffee shop is in a mall and thus, doesn't have a public toilet of its very own. The women's bathroom has been under construction for several days now. The nearest alternative requires leaving the building and going to a gas station or a book store. Or... braving the toilet of the opposite sex.I've always found the insistence that men and women have separate bathrooms a strange relic of some distant past. Not unlike "Colored Only" except that's a REALLY BAD ANALOGY. But listen for a second: I know you guys like your urinals, but, you don't NEED them. Stalls provide privacy for…

  • Let out early for good behavior

    4 Nov 2009 | 8:56 am
    Today is an early release day for Mason. I'm hoping the weather will turn nicer and we can finish raking up the leaves that my tardy Maple tree finally dumped on our front yard. I suspect he will also attempt to talk me into heading out to a Barnes & Noble or a HPB to look for Goosebumps, which is what he wants to spend some of his gift money on. (Money for my German sales came, and we each get a little moola to spend on totally frivolous things. I should probably not have offered books, as we generally buy Mason whatever books he wants, but I said it. And, as you know, Bob, once a parent…
 
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    Nina Munteanu

  • The Nordstrom Way: The K-Selected Model of Doing Business

    SF Girl
    18 Nov 2009 | 6:45 pm
    “I come from the land of Nordstrom customer service,” blogger and author Kimmelin Hull tells us. “There were stories about people bringing in pairs of shoes that were years old, in poor shape, and definitely not from Nordstrom. They approached the sales desk and demanded a refund for the shoes they no longer cared for. They got what they asked for.” Nordstrom refunds items at any time purchased from any Nordstrom store. And sometimes even from another store!Everyone has his or her own story to share, but I like this one: it took place at the Anchorage store soon after Nordstrom’s…

  • What is NaNoWriMo and Why Should I Care?

    SF Girl
    13 Nov 2009 | 9:21 pm
    NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Professional and amateur writers from all over the world come together every November to write a designated amount over a 30 day period. “National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.” Anything over 40,000 words is a novel according to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. “Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program…

  • The Somerset Collection: Toulouse Gets Lost in Detroit

    SF Girl
    7 Nov 2009 | 7:34 pm
    “Toulouse lost? EEK!” you say. What happened? Some of you might also recall that this isn't the first time I "lost" Toulouse. There was the other liquor store incident in Louisville, Kentucky... Well, as some of you know I am on the road again, marketing my fiction writing guide The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now! to schools, colleges and universities (know of one that could use my book?) across North America. My travels took me through several universities like Guelph University, York University, University of Toronto, University of Chicago, Purdue University, Notre Dame and…

  • You’re Less Likely to Get Sick If You Actively Socialize

    SF Girl
    3 Nov 2009 | 5:39 pm
    Isn’t that an oxymoron? More sociable people are more exposed to germs, after all. Yet a study by Sheldon Cohen and his colleagues published in Psychological Science (2003) showed that less sociable people caught colds more often than those who socialized. While that doesn’t follow the straight logic of exposure, it sheds light on the concept of mind-body dualism and the link between physical and mental health. People who socialize have a social identity, possibly multiple social identities, which seems to make them more resilient.“Belonging to social groups and networks appears to be…

  • Three Mistakes Not to Make When Crossing the Border

    SF Girl
    27 Oct 2009 | 7:16 pm
    I wasn’t long back from my month-long sojourn out of province and country when I had to cross the border yet again into the United States on a mailing errand. I thought nothing of it, as I grabbed my passport and the package I was taking across the border to send to a bookstore in the United States because I was strapped for time and I knew it would take a bazillion days to get across the border via the traditional carriers. Well, I should have known better. My Karmic relationship with borders verges on dangerous at best. That day, I foolishly wore my new tie-dye t-shirt, donned my pilot…
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    C.E. Murphy

  • pack pack pack

    18 Nov 2009 | 3:58 am
    clothes are packed. toiletries are packed. netbook is packed. kitchen is clean. laundry is done. sheets are changed. reservation sheets are printed. passports are packed. stack of books is increasing. camera is packed. shopping list for parents is written. *thinks* arright, well, we have the passports and the reservation stuff, anything beyond that can be replaced. hidey ho! miles to Minas Tirith: 64.6 (x-posted from the essential kit)

  • repeating myself

    16 Nov 2009 | 10:54 am
    I once more point people at my environmentalism temper tantrum, mostly because it’s faster than typing it all out again. Triggered this time by - the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas failing to have the balls to do what needs doing, ie, a total ban on tuna fishing for years to come. Yes, I get the impact of that on ordinary fishermen, I am from a fishing community myself, and frankly it’s not Joe Bob with his single boat that’s the problem, it’s huge conglomeration fleets and giant ships sponsored by corporations, but none of that…

  • On vacation

    13 Nov 2009 | 2:27 pm
    Catie is on vacation. If you need to contact her, please leave a message at the tone. *BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP* TRUTHSEEKER revisions are done and delivered. “Cairn Dancer” revisions are done and delivered. “Perchance to Dream” revisions are not done, but are so minor I won’t count them against my vacation. I am now officially On Vacation until the 7th of December. Yay! Also yay: I got paid yesterday, and am once more extremely grateful for all my readers. In honor of you, Ted and I had a real life Date Night where we went to a movie in the evening and then went out to…

  • Anchorage booksigning FAIL

    12 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am
    I have been unable to arrange a book signing in Anchorage. Instead, Ted and I decided that rather than try to make a dozen different meet-up arrangements, we would plonk ourselves down at the Kaladi Brothers coffee shop next to Title Wave Books on Northern Lights Blvd, and hope that people come to us. We’ll be there from about 1:30pm on Tuesday, December 1st up until the point where we decide to go somewhere else to eat dinner. Our movements will be trackable via this blog, Twitter, and Facebook, and should be fairly up-to-the-minute, since I’ll be carrying my netbook with me on…

  • I am told…

    11 Nov 2009 | 10:04 am
    …by a reliable source (twitter) that several of the Walker Papers are at half price at Audible.com. I went and got a flu shot today, because we’ll be spending 30+ hours in a metal tube with dry recycled air over the next few weeks. The nurse said, as they’re inclined to, “This will feel like a sharp pinch.” I dunno. I’ve pretty much always thought it didn’t feel anything like a pinch, but that it feels a lot like somebody sticking a needle into your arm. :) I was beginning to think today was going to be another “you spent four hours working and…
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    Derryl Murphy

  • More Photographs of What We Do Wrong

    15 Nov 2009 | 10:52 am
    The other day I had posted a piece that mentioned W. Eugene Smith. Today I'm bringing to you photos of Chinese pollution that brought the photographer the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography. Just ignore the angry and racist comments at the end.

  • The More Things Change...

    12 Nov 2009 | 7:33 pm
    Years ago, W. Eugene Smith did a photo essay at a place in Japan called Minimata, the most famous photo of which is this one. For his efforts taking those photos, Smith was beaten to a pulp by company goons, the end result being his incapacitation and death.Seeing photos of what The Big Picture is calling "Kazakhstan's radioactive legacy" reminds me of Minimata in so many ways, although without the goons, thank goodness.The shots are a horrible reminder of what we do to each other in so many incredible ways. That said, though, the shots are even more a reminder of the beauty of humanity and…

  • Going, going...

    2 Nov 2009 | 8:21 pm
    The IUCN releases their new Red List of Threatened Species, which is as unhappy a thing as you can possibly read. But an important thing to read, too, so don't avoid it because you want to pretend you're allowed to feel good about your own species (unless you're, say, a penguin who is reading this).

  • A Call to Arms

    18 Oct 2009 | 7:55 pm
    Nicola Griffith posts a horrible and sad story about a woman and her children who were denied access to her dying spouse, all because they were lesbians and they happened to be in an "anti-gay city and state."Here's my take: gay marriage won't even have a chance to "ruin" so-called "traditional" marriage because traditionalists (and three guesses just who I'm talking about here) will do there level best to ruin the gay marriages first. The death of Lisa Pond and the treatment of her spouse and children are an awful, avoidable loss, but when you get to the bigger picture (saying that knowing…

  • Nobody Can Toss Out an Insult Like the Brits

    16 Oct 2009 | 4:16 pm
    And I mean nobody:"It's like gazing through a horrid little window into an awesome universe of pure blockheaded spite. Spiralling galaxies of ignorance roll majestically against a backdrop of what looks like dark prejudice, dotted hither and thither with winking stars of snide innuendo."And a well-deserved insult it is, too. You may not be familiar with the story of the tragic death of Stephen Gately, but if you're curious about what brought on this diatribe, do go check it out.Update: Lots of furor over the original column. Which I won't link to.
 
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    Vera Nazarian

  • Quiz - Which Austen Heroine Are You?

    18 Nov 2009 | 4:36 pm
    Well... it appears I am... Take the Quiz here!I like that, I think it's pretty accurate. She really is the most sensible of the ladies of Austen. :-)

  • MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES - Finally, it's DONE!

    17 Nov 2009 | 1:28 am
    ...Oh. My. God.I just finished, and uploaded the book files for Mansfield Park and Mummies.*collapsing now*Forgot to mention, the book took me from July 21, 2009 to November 16, 2009, from idea to completion, to write, and it is dedicated to Janet Chui marrael for giving me the mummies idea!

  • MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES - Now, A Cover!

    9 Nov 2009 | 11:31 pm
    At last!It's coming literally in a matter of daysfrom the Curiosities imprint of Norilana Books! I don't have an actual release date because I am still proofreading the book and have other people looking at it before I plunge into the final polish revision.MANSFIELD PARK AND MUMMIES: Monster Mayhem, Matrimony, Ancient Curses, True Love,and Other Dire Delights by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian

  • Musings on Fantasy... Interview with Dave Smeds

    5 Nov 2009 | 4:27 am
    ...Here's a very interesting interview with fantasy author Dave Smeds.On Fantasy:"Why write it? The decision springs not only from affection and the pleasure I take in reading fantasy, but from the desire not to be subject to the limitations of other forms of literature. Whether it is mainstream literature or science fiction or horror or contemporary fantasy, there’s a formula in place that restrains one’s creativity. I call the formula “self-expression.” At some level, the author works from a personal place, putting down in words their own particular view of the world, revealing…

  • THE CAPTAIN'S WITCH is Here! :-)

    3 Nov 2009 | 8:34 am
    It's here!The Captain's Witch by Rosemary Hawley JarmanA a stunning, erotic, dark epic fantasy of true love and immortal evil... More over at norilanabooks...
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    Eric Nylund

  • Sparkly

    12 Nov 2009 | 7:56 am

  • Birthday

    3 Nov 2009 | 3:52 am
    My 45th birthday is coming up. Yes, I’m middle aged.I’m lucky to have so many friends asking what they can get me.I’m especially blessed this year to be in a place where I already have almost everything I’ve ever wanted.Please (really!) don’t get me anything—if you want to get me something, it would mean a great deal more to me if you gave to my favorite charity: Child’s Play.Even if you want to get me a card—just donate the $4.00 you’d spend on card and postage to Child’s Play. They make it easy via PayPal or direct Amazon wish list to your local hospital. Even a tiny bit…

  • Mass Market Proofs

    24 Oct 2009 | 7:01 am
    I got the proof pages for the mass-market version of Mortal Coils a few days ago. This is the stage where I go through and look for errors and omissions in the text and correct them.Extra special thanks to people who have emailed me any typos they’ve spotted! It’s a huge help.I like the font treatment on the pages: More Victorian, less Gothic.Everything is in this mass-market edition that was in the original trade, including the reader’s study questions--and there’s a teaser chapter at the end from All That Lives Must Die, so you can get an advance sneak look at what will be happening…

  • Super Quick Update

    10 Oct 2009 | 2:37 pm
    Apologies for the lack of blogging, but life got busy (even by my standards) and regular blogging got shoved down on my list of things to do right near “Learn Esperanto.”Ok, so in no particular order...1. Edits are done on ALL THAT LIVES MUST DIE. Yay!2. A sneak peak at the mass market cover for MORTAL COILS is up on Barnes & Noble.3. The collected trade edition of Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War is coming out soon, too.More updates as soon as I catch my breath!

  • Marvel Merger

    31 Aug 2009 | 7:11 am
    I’m still wondering if this isn’t just an elaborate hoax...Still, although no one I know saw THIS coming—it seems obvious in hindsight.
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    James A. Owen

  • Santa Monica Bound!!!

    19 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am
    Tonight, an event at Every Picture Tells A Story: http://www.everypicture.com/news/134/1/james-a.-owen-in-person!.html

  • Pasadena Bound!!!

    18 Nov 2009 | 7:01 am
    A profound Thank You to Mysterious Galaxy and my friends old and new who came to the signing. And the school visits was GREAT. 5th and 6th graders are full of awesome and win. Tonight: Vroman's!!!

  • San Diego Bound!

    17 Nov 2009 | 8:11 am
    http://mysteriousgalaxy.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp;jsessionid=backsllHblcj37aO_5cus?s=storeevents&eventId=432184

  • In SoCal and Loving it

    16 Nov 2009 | 8:49 am
    Saturday at the Faerie Fest and at Changing Hands went bonkers good... for the first time, ever, I had to go to the hotel after and actually ice my shoulder (from drawing). LOTS of happy fans....Lots of school visits planned - then at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego tomorrow; Vroman's in Pasadena on Wednesday; Every Picture Tells A Story in Santa Monica on Thursday, and Whale of a Tale in Irvine on Friday.

  • Minor Tour Update

    14 Nov 2009 | 8:18 am
    Kalamazoo is full of book awesome and literary win.Today: The Phoenix Faerie Festival (with pals Janette Rallison, Janni Lee Simner, and Aprilynne Pike), then the SECOND book launch event at Changing Hands Bookstore. It's practically a day off!Tomorrow: SoCal, and the biggest week of the book tour.
 
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    Philip Palmer

  • On 2012

    Philip Palmer
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:01 am
    Roland Emmerich has just announced his new movie project - a disaster movie in which THE ENTIRE DAMNED SOLAR SYSTEM falls to pieces, spectacularly, and only a handful of A List Hollywood actors survive, floating on a plank in empty space.  This is the only way he could top 2012, a disaster movie which features the end of the world, in astonishing graphic detail.  A supermarket splits in half; cities fall into the sea; the South Pole moves to Minnesota; and Everest looms in the middle of an ocean. It's a great spectacle, but it's also a classic example of a Hollywood movie built by story…

  • On Space Art

    Philip Palmer
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:39 am
    I just had a very nice email from a 'space artist' called Brian Smallwood, who has just read and loved Red Claw. Check out these amazing images on his website, here.

  • Forbidden Planet

    Philip Palmer
    12 Nov 2009 | 2:18 am
    I had a delightful morning in Forbidden Planet earlier this week, signing copies of Red Claw.  (They've sold quite a few, but there are still plenty left!) This shop really is nerd heaven, isn't it? And the manager assured me that he and all his staff are indentured to the shop - all their wages are spent buying books and graphic novels, and they rely on the kindness of strangers for food and suchlike.

  • On Balance

    Philip Palmer
    12 Nov 2009 | 2:15 am
    Here's a lovely short film, sent to me by one of my screenwriting students, which shows the perils of, er, living on a rectangle in the middle of space.

  • No Waste of Time

    Philip Palmer
    5 Nov 2009 | 1:34 am
    I've been meaning to write a blog about the A Space of Waste? debate I attended at Greenwich Observatory, as part of the Sci-Fi London event.  It was a terrific night - we held the panel debate in the library of the new Observatory, a beautiful galleried room just under the dome.  There were brass telescopes and helioscopes (is there such a thing? did I just make it up) in glass cupboards, surrounded by walls of books; and all in all, it was bibliophile and steam punk heaven. Paul McAuley gave a wonderful and learned talk about the solar system, illustrated with the most amazing slides. …
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    Susan Palwick

  • Good Shift

    14 Nov 2009 | 5:08 pm
    I had a long but very satisfying shift at the hospital today. It started off, I have to admit, with an act of cowardice: when I walked in, I saw a nurse trying to deal with an irate patient in the hallway. That's the kind of situation where I'm supposed to step in and calm everybody down, but I just wasn't up to it first thing in the morning. As I watched, the nurse managed to get the patient back into bed, and I thought, "I'll start with another room, and if this situation's still a problem after that, I'll step in."I chose my other room randomly but well, since I wound up spending…

  • Belated-Birthday Kitty!

    14 Nov 2009 | 4:36 pm
    Last Wednesday, in addition to being our wedding anniversary, was an even more important occasion: Bali's birthday! He's now three years old. This is a file photo of him, as he wouldn't stay still today for the camera. He was punishing me, no doubt.How could I have forgotten his birthday? I'm a bad cat mother! Bali, I hope you'll forgive me.(Says Sir Balthazar: "Will forgive for food. Open can, foolish human!")Speaking of the cats, I think Harley's beginning to actively enjoy getting his teeth brushed. He always acts a bit spooked when I come at him with the toothbrush, but then he opens his…

  • Happy Anniversary to Us!

    11 Nov 2009 | 10:36 pm
    Twenty years ago today, Gary and I met, and fourteen years ago today, we married.We're both looking forward to the next twenty years. Go, us!

  • Progress and Decline

    10 Nov 2009 | 8:26 pm
    At this week's fiddle lesson I started learning Oh Those Britches Full of Stitches, here played much more ably by someone who's only had three lessons than I can play it yet. Oh well! This marks my first official foray onto the D string, although I've been playing it in secret almost since the beginning.Charlene is also trying to teach me the correct bowing technique for "Egan's Polka," which right now is very difficult. I'm used to one bowstroke per note, so playing several notes on one stroke is new and confusing. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it after a few more days of practice, though.In…

  • Coupla Anniversaries

    9 Nov 2009 | 8:11 pm
    Today is, of course, the twentieth anniversary of when the Berlin Wall fell. Talking to my fiction workshop this afternoon, I realized that it's also the twenty-fifth anniversary of my first fiction sale, of a story called "The Woman Who Saved the World," to Shawna McCarthy at Asimov's.I was still living at home then, since my mother was very supportive of my working part-time so I could spend more time on writing. She was the one who'd proposed the arrangement, in fact, after my first full-time job after college reduced me to tears every night. That was only partly because of the lack of…
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    Jennifer Pelland

  • I may be just about done with this iteration of Chameleon

    18 Nov 2009 | 4:37 am
    I sat down and poked at Chameleon a little more last night, and it looks like there are only two or three more notes I still need to address. They're not wee notes by any stretch of the imagination, but they're fairly discrete notes, in that they each deal with fairly small sections of the book. The next one on the list only applies to one character who appears in one chapter, and there's another one that has to deal with how the climactic scene unfolds. Hell, I might even be done with this before the weekend is out.When I pass it back to my agent, I'm also going to give him a list of good…

  • Fare-thee-well, Palm

    16 Nov 2009 | 2:51 pm
    My old Palm Z22 has the battery life of a gnat at this point, so I went to the Palm web site to see what I could replace it with, and all they sell are phones now. Feh.So I think I may have to bite the bullet and upgrade my cell phone to a PDA/Smartphone. I have Verizon, and am not particularly interested in switching plans as they've got really good coverage. Any suggestions for a good Verizon-supported PDA/Smartphone that can be synched with my computer, will import my Palm data, and which won't randomly call people if I lean my purse against something and the keys get pushed? (I am so…

  • Raks Spooki - tonight!

    15 Nov 2009 | 10:18 am
    If you're near Arlington (Massachusetts) and want to see some really cool gothic bellydance (and me), come to Raks Spooki tonight!http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/4838934It's 7:00 to 10:00 at the Regent Theater, and proceeds to go Women for Women.

  • My Nebula-eligible work

    15 Nov 2009 | 10:13 am
    If I'm reading the new Nebula rules correctly, these stories of mine are eligible to be nominated in the short story category this year:"The Kennel Club," Helix, issue 9, July 2008 "Minya's Astral Angels," The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Three, February 2009 "Organ Nell," Apex Magazine, December 2, 2008 "...That Has Such People in It," Apex Magazine, July 6, 2009"'Til Death Do Us Part," Shock Totem, issue 1, July 2009 Not that I think any of them are particularly Nebula-worthy, but I figured I'd post the list in case people disagreed. I'll happily email a copy of "Minya's…

  • Stuff and things

    9 Nov 2009 | 8:03 pm
    I've been really bad about posting updates here. I've gotten used to the quick and lazy style of Facebook updates, alas. LiveJournal takes more effort. So here, in no particular order, are some updates.-I'm currently 3/4 of the way through stealthmuffin's next novel MS. It's definitely a worthy successor to the first two books in the series, and it's been an incredibly quick read. I think I'll be able to finish it tomorrow, at which point, I'll be able to clear my head and switch back over to my own stuff. I really want to get this revision of Chameleon off of my plate, as hopeless as I think…
 
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    Steve Perry

  • Anniversary

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:37 am
    Forty-three years she's been putting up with me. The woman is a saint ...

  • Again, Black Steel

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am
    Alan's new catalog is up. Click on the link, then the pictures, to see what he's offering.Christmas is coming ...

  • Poor Phishing

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:56 am
    These show up now and then, though my server's spam filter usually catches 'em. The first line offers a clue. The image looks pretty good at first glance. Until you read it:"Because of unusual number (sic) of invalid login attempts on your account, we had (sic) believe that their (sic) might be some security problems on your account."No shit?When you make three spelling and grammatical errors in the first line of your phish email, it doesn't make you look really clever. As inept as the U.S. banking system has been of late, I can't believe they have fallen quite this low ...Don't ever give…

  • A Quiet Night in the Recliner ...

    18 Nov 2009 | 3:42 pm
    Peaceable Kingdom: L. to R. -- Layla, Dianne, Ballou ...Back from the optometrist, eyes dilated, and things closer or farther away than the fixed focus are fuzzy, he said alliteratively. Been a couple years since I got new specs and I'm due. Between eyes, teeth, and oh, yeah, ears, I'm rapidly becoming the six million dollar Steve. I'm thinking about having a laser built into my right middle finger to emphasize my point to bad drivers ...Later, alligator.

  • Filmography

    17 Nov 2009 | 9:57 pm
    The IMDB -- International Movie Database -- has, I have just found, a list of my animation credits. Sort of ...Most of them are there. Most of them are collaborations -- with Reaves, Ted Pederson, even one with Steve Barnes. A few aren't listed -- no Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos. There are some I got credit for and didn't do -- and they also mixed me up with the guy who used to write for Thundercats, also named "Steve Perry." For the record, I didn't write any Thundercats.
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    Mike Philbin

  • Mike Philbin - Five Bizarro Novellas - reissued

    20 Nov 2009 | 2:15 pm
    As a special Christmas gift and for being such loyal readers of this blog over the years, I've just decided to re-issue Five Bizarro Novellas. These were a special limited edition of five art covers surrounding five original novellas. These insanely special novellas were issued without TITLE or AUTHOR, just the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Here are the luscious covers which link to the Storefront.

  • Al Gore - global warming lie - evidence emerges

    20 Nov 2009 | 11:37 am
    Climate sceptics claim leaked emails are evidence of collusion among scientists.Hundreds of private emails and documents allegedly exchanged between some of the world's leading climate scientists over the past 13 years have been stolen by hackers and leaked online, it emerged today.The computer files were apparently accessed earlier this week from servers at the UK's University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit, a world-renowned centre focused on the study of natural and anthropogenic climate change.Climate change sceptics who have studied the emails allege that they provide "smoking…

  • Obama's Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner

    20 Nov 2009 | 7:15 am
    Another CLASSIC from The Onion News Network. This time they report on the terrible malfunction of President Obama's home teleprompter. What, you didn't know he had one of these? Shirley Knot reporting.

  • Plane Stupid - Polar Bears messing up our streets.

    20 Nov 2009 | 12:42 am
    has the Mother advertising agency NO MORALS? I don't mean the fact of using polar bears falling to the ground with the background noise of a commercial jet, like was heard on 9-11. I don't mean the fact of using 9-11 FALLING MAN imagery. I don't even mean the fact of the gratuitous BLOOD AND GORE as the polar bears slam uncensored into our daily lives, much like the planes on 9-11 slammed into the World Trade Centre to usher in New World Order.No, what really pisses me off is that LIFE is starting to be measured in Carbon Units. Soon, you idiots will all be taxed on the amount of carbon you…

  • CERN: The Bottle to Bang

    20 Nov 2009 | 12:31 am
    I only put this here so show the sheer SCALE of the idiocy.hmm, protons that are 7,000 times HEAVIER than at rest? And you wallop them together? Laughing my ass off. This waste of resources is as insane as Corporate Wars instead of new hospitals and improved social architecture.
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    Tim Pratt

  • This is your 6:30 wake-up call. Have a great day in Oakland.

    14 Nov 2009 | 12:28 am
    Thus begins day three of my solo parenting sojourn, the Saturday edition: not with a bang but with a hollering toddler. I don't recall ordering the 6:30 a.m. scream wake-up call, but there it is. My lovely wife is off in New York visiting friends (and having lunch with my agent, something I haven't done in years!). It's only fair. I'll be abandoning her to visit friends in San Diego next weekend. I have a fun-filled day of running errands, playing in parks, and visiting the library planned. River had to go with me to the office on Thursday and Friday, so giving him lots of fun today seems…

  • Endings, Beginnings, and General Flailings

    26 Oct 2009 | 5:32 am
    Notes of some interest: Bone Shop is done, done, done. I think it turned out well, and I do plan to do a print/ebook/Kindle/audio version (with the help of some wonderful people who will be acknowledged and praised to the skies when the time comes). Details will be posted here, on the Bone Shop page, in the RSS feed, etc. etc. I'll miss writing it. Donations had trailed off in recent weeks (understandably!) but they were still trickling in at the rate of around $100 a week. In total the book has brought me nearly $4,000 so far, and I can't thank you enough, all who donated. You paid for my…

  • Bone Shop: Part Eighteen

    26 Oct 2009 | 12:46 am
    The final chapter. Chapter 18 In which endings, of a sort, are attained. Chapter 18 notes: Trivia and authorial blather

  • Bone Shop Part Seventeen

    19 Oct 2009 | 12:48 am
    The penultimate chapter! Chapter 17 In which Marla faces a monster, loses things and finds things, and runs for office. Plus the usual notes and such.

  • Copingly

    15 Oct 2009 | 7:01 am
    So it appears one consequence of finishing a book is that I'm blogging more. Those words gotta go somewhere, and fond as I am of twitter (quite fond), I might as well splash some wordage around here too. Herewith, some old school journaling-about-my-life. The state of things: still kinda dire. My wife has now been laid off for four months. We haven't completely burned through our savings, she's got unemployment money coming for a while yet, and I'm expecting a significant fraction of my year's writing income to arrive in the next few months, so we can keep the wolf from the apartment door…
 
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    Cherie Priest

  • Don’t forget

    18 Nov 2009 | 7:55 pm
    Over at Publishers Weekly - A three-part discussion of Boneshaker via the esteemed Genreville book club. Click through if you’ve read it, and feel free to chime in. If you haven’t read it yet and don’t care for spoilers, I recommend that you restrain yourself. Plot and Pacing Setting Characters I wish I had anything else entertaining to post about today, but not much is going on apart from errand-running and working … with a several-hour-long detour through a window-mold apocalypse. If you’re really interested in the minutia, feel free to watch my Twitter feed;…

  • November 16, 2009

    16 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pm
    Boneshaker discussion up at Publishers Weekly - Spoilers ahoy, for this is a bookclub discussion. Today’s subject matter is the plot and pacing, and I believe that tomorrow will tackle the setting. Please feel free to chime in if you’re interested; and as always, ping me if you have any questions (though I’ll stay out of the bookclub conversation unless I’m invited). Many, many thanks to the CCLaP - For that fine organization has written a positively epic review of Boneshaker. I take back everything I ever said about the Cubs. Shameless Nebula plug - I don’t…

  • variety pack

    15 Nov 2009 | 5:53 pm
    Today I went to the zoo with Ellen, Avi, and Avi’s husband Gordon. I took some pictures. My favorite is probably this one. People have been emailing to ask where to find copies of Boneshaker here in Seattle. Apparently it’s been selling out around town (which is a good thing), and people can’t find it (which is a bad thing). Let it now be known: both the Barnes & Noble locations at Pacific Place and Northgate are well stocked with copies, all of which are signed; and likewise, the University Book Store in the U-district has a stash of signed copies (at the moment, as of…

  • November 14, 2009

    14 Nov 2009 | 5:40 pm
    It’s been a busy few days over here, I tell you what. Thursday night was the big Boneshaker party at 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, and frankly, it was a blast. I’d had some concerns about turn-out and timing; but Ellen and Suezie rocked the house, Mark was a superlative MC, and a very nice B&N rep named Jessie was present (arranged by Psynde) to sell books. The event was truly a credit to these folks — to their organizational skillz and general awesomeness. You can see a few pictures here, including shots of yours truly with DJ Eternal Darkness, me and Psynde comparing…

  • November 11, 2009

    11 Nov 2009 | 5:10 pm
    And now for the recent stats for the fabulous urban fantasy adventure about a neurotic vampire/thief and her wealthy blind client, now with Bonus! Cuban drag queen and military intrigue: Project: Bloodshot New Words Written: 2060 (meh) Present Total Word Count: 70,032 words Goal: 95,000 words by December 12 Things Accomplished in Fiction: Finally wrapped up that scene. It’s a good scene, and important — but it felt like it took forever to write. I’m sure I’ll get around to the revisions and decide it’s either (a). awesome, or (b). terrible and needs to be cut…
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    Adam Roberts

  • Miscellaneous

    Adam Roberts
    19 Nov 2009 | 8:14 am
    Via this I discover this: London Evening Standard. The best books of the year: our reviewers name the titles that have meant the most to them over the past 12 months. FRANCIS SPUFFORD I spent this year finishing a book set in Russia, so I was all ready to delight in the charcoal-black satire of Adam Roberts's Soviet UFO novel Yellow Blue Tibia (Gollancz, £12.95), even before it was tipped as a worthier winner of the Booker than anything on the actual shortlist. May I not sound too Boraty as I say, in reply: 'nice!'. In other news, and also floated first on Twitter, this: FORBIDDEN PLANET and…

  • Seventh

    Adam Roberts
    6 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am
    Nice to chance upon this. Seven is a magic number, after all.

  • Scrooge screviews

    Adam Roberts
    31 Oct 2009 | 5:46 am
    What am I up to? Well, since you ask (and so politely, too) I'm going through another revision of New Model Army, this one occasioned by the characteristically insightful, incisive comments of my editor, Simon Spanton. A good editor is is more precious than jewels and his value is far above rubies or pearls: and Simon is one of the best editors in the business. One more week, and I'll have a final polish I'm happy with. Until then, I've been noting with pleasure a couple of zombie reviews. Hard, for instance, to think of a more elevating and honourable point of comparison than I'm Sorry I'll…

  • New Model Army cover art

    Adam Roberts
    19 Oct 2009 | 7:01 am
    This just in. Very cool, in an (appropriately, as it happens) stylish, neo-Mod quasi-fascistic sense.

  • Dickensian Zombies stagger into shops

    Adam Roberts
    15 Oct 2009 | 12:48 am
    I Am Scrooge is now available for purchase in shops that sell books. Buy a copy, or I'll eat your brains. I will do it, personally.
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    Madeleine E. Robins

  • Who Are We, Anyway?

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:29 am
    Periodically I note new names/LJ handles in the comments. And because I'm a curious sort, I wonder. So periodically I invite people to tell me who they are, if I know them in TRW, and how they got here.I'll start. I'm Madeleine. I live here, also in San Francisco, and I have a dog, two children, a husband, and a writing career.Anyone else? Seriously, I love to know about you guys.

  • Worldbuilding 101

    18 Nov 2009 | 8:30 am
    Over on Deep Genre, kateelliot, aberwyn and sartorias are talking about putting together a Worldbuilding Workshop, and I'm going to play too, since this is something I have a thought or two about. Anyone have any questions or subjects they're particularly interested in seeing covered?

  • Perfect Storm

    18 Nov 2009 | 7:48 am
    This Morning: the Plan:• The Spouse has to leave at 6am (or close to) for an early start at work.• Sarcasm Girl is arriving early in the AM because she has doctor appointments in the city.• Avocado wants to get up half an hour early (6:30) because she has a bit of leftover work to finish.• I will get up early from my bed of sleep and This Morning: the Monkey Wrenches:• The Spouse is indeed racketing around at Far To Early in the AM, but I slept through it more or less. • However, Sarcasm Girl called at 6:05 from the BART station downtown: she's thrown up, feels fainty. Can someone…

  • Science Time

    17 Nov 2009 | 9:35 am
    Because I am a master (mistress) of the little-bit-of-knowledge-about-a-whole-mess-of-stuff school of information, I love the Tuesday Science Times section, where they will tell me a bit about something and I can go off and find out more if I wish (or remember to). Today's roundup?Doctors are experimenting with spraying chemo drugs directly onto brain tumors--doing an end run around the blood brain barrier which prevents many chemo drugs from reaching the cancer they're meant to fight. This is really cool.Why, Roland Emmerich not withstanding, the world isn't going to end in 2012. As one of…

  • You Don't Know You Know Me But You Do

    16 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am
    Living with Mr. Ears (that is, my husband the sound geek recording engineer) I have learned many things. I already knew who Mel Blanc was when I married the Spouse, but there were other names I didn't know: Mae Questal, Arthur Q. Bryan, Sterling Holloway, Don Messick, June Foray, and Daws Butler. Daws Butler, in particular. He was the go-to-guy for voices at Hanna Barbera: Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Elroy Jetson. He was the voice of Snap (of the Rice Krispie commercials) and Capn' Crunch. He was Cecil to Stan Freberg's Beany, and worked with Freberg on his comedy albums…
 
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    Rudy Rucker

  • Taking a Break

    Rudy
    15 Nov 2009 | 8:57 am
    I’m going to take a break from blogging for a few weeks. Heading down the foggy road. I sent in version three of my autobiography to my publishers, and I’ve written a new outline for my novel, Jim and the Flims. And now I’m ready for a break from the computer. By the way, I took today’s pictures near the Skyline trail above Los Gatos and Saratoga. It’s good to get out into the woods and away from the keyboards.

  • “The Mummy,” 1932, with Boris Karloff

    Rudy
    14 Nov 2009 | 9:38 am
    Last night we watched the 1932 Boris Karloff film classic from Universal Pictures, The Mummy, I borrowed it from the library. Great, great film. And great research material for me, given my interest in spicing up the plot of Jim and the Flims with some Egyptian spells and a mummy. In the first scene, it’s 1922 (echoing Carter’s opening of King Tut’s tomb in 1922), and two archaeologists are in their field quarters, studying their haul. In the corner leans an open sarcophagus with Karloff mostly wrapped in mummy-bandages, and with a wonderfully wrinkled face. He’s the mummy of Imhotep,…

  • Hieroglyphs, Flimsy, DEVO and the Mandelbulb

    Rudy
    10 Nov 2009 | 11:31 am
    I’m thinking about Ancient Egypt for two reasons. For one thing, having seen the King Tut show , I’m thinking of bringing the mummy of Amenhotep into my novel, Jim and the Flims. And for another, I enjoyed my daughter Isabel’s re-invention of hieroglyphics in some of the panels of her graphic novel Unfurling . I’ll reproduce a couple more images from Isabel’s graphic novel today—if you’re in the San Francisco area, you can still go see the show this month—see Isabel’s Unfurling page for more info. Several years ago, I gave Isabel a book on hieroglyphics, and…

  • Unfurling — A 400 Foot Graphic Novel Scroll

    Rudy
    3 Nov 2009 | 9:19 am
    “Unfurling” is a graphic novel drawn on a scroll of paper by my daughter, Isabel Rucker, going on display from November 5-27, at the SOMArts gallery in San Francisco. [Tuesday night: A weary Isabel finishes mounting the show. The scroll is in three 150 foot rolls, mounted one above the other, held in place by wood stripping and protected by Mylar plastic.] “Unfurling” stretches over 400 feet long, is a foot high, and is drawn in black ink pen with watery washes. The comic panels vary in length (up to ten feet long) to mirror pauses, vast scenery, or thought patterns. Most of the…

  • Happy Halloween!

    Rudy
    31 Oct 2009 | 12:50 pm
    I’m celebrating Halloween at the World Fantasy Con in San Jose. It’s nice to see so many writer friends and to discuss our craft and biz. I talked about my paintings on a panel yesterday with some other writer-artists. [See my previous post for info about the Japanese paintings.] If you have too much fun, Emilio sent in a link to a “lifelogging” article about 22 “lifebox” tools, starting with the SenseCam, which takes a picture of just about every damned thing you see—it’s said to be “aimed at helping Alzheimer’s and dementia patients recall the events of their day.”…
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    Brian Ruckley

  • Moving Pictures on a Friday 1

    Brian Ruckley
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:54 am
    First in a potentially regular, but more likely irregular, unreliable and haphazard, series in which I get to post random bits of video - generally of a more or less sf or fantasy type - that have tickled my fancy for one reason or another. Exciting, huh?With or without commentary, by the way. This one without, since it's just a bit of fun that speaks for itself:Original is here, where if you dig around you might find a few details on how it was done.

  • I'm Baaaack ...

    Brian Ruckley
    7 Nov 2009 | 10:05 am
    Enough of this Autumnal blogging inactivity. Got to take baby steps back into the habit for fear of straining my moribund blogging muscles, of course, so just a couple of quick notes to start with:Czech edition of Winterbirth emerges blinking (and perhaps even bawling?) into the world, under the title ZROZENI ZIMY. It sports a distinctly striking cover - not sure who, if anyone, the specific characters are supposed to be, but they definitely look ... alarming. Tempted to think of them as some heavily-armoured version of Wain and Kanin, but who knows? Thanks to reader Martin for sending me a…

  • It's All About Me

    Brian Ruckley
    25 Sep 2009 | 4:46 am
    Further worrying evidence for the progressive contamination of the internet with me-related material.First, I do the interview thang at Moon Drenched Fables.Second, I do the fantasy casting for the movie-of-the-book thang at My Book the Movie. Not something I actually gave any thought to while writing the Godless World, but I think some of the casting possibilities I came up with are quite promising. And - I only realised after I'd finished - it's shaping up to be an all-Brit cast, which either means I'm terribly parochial or that we've got all the best actors. I incline towards the latter…

  • Odds and Ends from Around the Net

    Brian Ruckley
    28 Aug 2009 | 5:26 am
    A few choice items from internetland that caught my eye recently:My all-powerful editor and publisher, Tim Holman, the head honcho of Orbit, had started up a rather good blog - The Publisher Files - which has recently included some great stuff. First off there was graphic evidence for the intuitively obvious tendency of fantasy book covers to feature certain genre props with great (perhaps even monotonous?) regularity. Then, there's the still more interesting numerical analysis of the astonishing rise of urban fantasy in the US sf/f market. It's not often a distinct sub-genre comes from…

  • Edinburgh Meanderings

    Brian Ruckley
    12 Aug 2009 | 7:31 am
    I did virtually no specific research for The Godless World, but things are a bit different now. The Edinburgh Dead requires me to drag myself away from the computer now and again, and do some proper work. There is, incredible as it might seem, some stuff that - as far as I can tell, anyway - the internet does not yet know, which suits me just fine because I seriously like a bit of research: digging around in old books (courtesy of the excellent National Library of Scotland) or, as I was doing yesterday morning, descending into the bowels of Edinburgh City Chambers in search of the City…
 
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    Matt Ruff

  • Zoo note

    16 Nov 2009 | 9:02 am
    Lisa and I took advantage of a break in the rain on Saturday to hike up the hill to the Seattle Zoo. Despite it being a weekend the place was pretty empty, which we liked -- nothing like having your own private animal park to stroll around in. If you're in the area, and especially if you have a zoo pass, you may want to check it out. The snow leopard cubs (usually outside between noon and 3) are getting big, and you can just walk up and look at them now without waiting in line.

  • Stargate: SVU gets busy with the body-swapping

    11 Nov 2009 | 11:09 am
    Last Friday's Stargate had the first use of body-swapping technology as a plot complicator. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, they've got this alien device on the show that's kind of like a plug-in desktop Zen garden. You place a magic stone on top of this lighted box, and somebody somewhere else in the universe does the same thing, and just like that, you take control of their body and they take control of yours--until someone moves one of the stones.There are lots of interesting dramatic possibilities here, but judging from this week's show the producers haven't done a very…

  • V

    4 Nov 2009 | 7:54 am
    Good popcorn TV. Some random thoughts:* It's nice to see Elizabeth Mitchell, Alan Tudyk, and Morena Baccarin all getting work. I'm less crazy about the other characters so far.* I'm not sure if it's the haircut or what, but they did something to give Morena Baccarin just a hint of uncanny valley, and it's very effective. She's still gorgeous but I can totally buy that she's an evil reptilian who wants to eat my family and my pets.* The Syphillis Channel has been replaying episodes from the original series. Having seen it the first time around as a kid, I knew it would be cheesy, but damn...

  • The Day of the Triffids

    2 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am
    John Wyndham meets cute (overload):

  • The Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary

    28 Oct 2009 | 10:42 am
    Lisa enthuses over her newest research tool:Browsing this work feels strangely like time-travel. All the words from Old English to 2003—obsolete and current, including slang and dialect—have been extracted from the Oxford English Dictionary and organized by their meanings and dates of use. This places each word within its historical context, revealing how ideas and meanings emerged and the different ways they’ve been expressed through time. It took forty-four years to bring the HTOED to publication, overcoming what the editors politely describe as “a series of…
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    Nick Sagan

  • Galactic Watercooler Interview

    nicksagan
    9 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am
    Recently, Ann Druyan and I did a podcast interview with Galactic Watercooler: Ann Druyan and Nick Sagan give us a unique and heartfelt look into the origins of Cosmos and Contact — and what esteemed scientist, citizen, father, and husband Carl Sagan was really like. Heartfelt is right as I found myself moved by this interview and I thought Annie said some particularly beautiful things.  You can check it out here.

  • Return of the Sagan Pumpkin

    nicksagan
    31 Oct 2009 | 6:37 pm
    Mad genius Caleb P. tops last year's Sagan Pumpkin with this gorgeous creation. On this Halloween, the 4th anniversary of this blog, it's a weird and beautiful night here in Ithaca, New York. Very quiet, very dark. Hope you're having fun.

  • At The Airport Yesterday

    nicksagan
    10 Oct 2009 | 4:59 pm
    I had the good fortune to pick a line with a TSA security guard who was in an excellent mood, cheerful and friendly to everyone, which was perfect in that moment because it helped make the process of trudging through a crowded checkpoint that much less of a pain.  It's that part before you take off your shoes and get out your laptop for the security scan; it's where you show your ID and boarding pass, and they have you take off your sunglasses to make sure that you look like your picture.  When I handed over my ID, she noticed the last name and asked if I was related to…

  • A Glorious Dawn

    nicksagan
    25 Sep 2009 | 12:05 pm
    So, yeah, my dad put out a new music video.John Boswell over at Colorpulse Music is a mad genius, sampling both Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series into three minutes and thirty-four seconds of pure, concentrated awesomeness:  Love it, love it, love it.  Dad would have loved it, too.

  • Enjoying The Moment

    nicksagan
    25 Sep 2009 | 8:28 am
    Had a great birthday.  Celebrated with family and friends, and signed copies of Shrapnel: Arestia Rising over at Comics for Collectors.  Met fans of Shrapnel, fans of my Idlewild trilogy and fans of the Star Trek episodes I worked on.  A really good time.  Felt very fortunate and enjoyed a sense of relative harmony with the universe.   Existence and consciousness too often go taken for granted, but right now I'm feeling deeply appreciative.  Don't always feel that way, of course.  Some days I'm down.  Frustrated with the world or…
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    Brandon Sanderson

  • My magic duel against Jason

    20 Nov 2009 | 2:08 pm
    So, Jason is on Tor.com again, talking trash and showing off the huge numbers of cards he's been lent to build the perfect deck to kill me. If you're not aware of what's going on, tomorrow after my San Jose signing, I'll be having an epic set of Magic: The Gathering games against Jason Denzel (who runs Dragonmount, a Wheel of Time fan website). Read what he's said here and here. I haven't posted a lot about this because . . . well, I just haven't had time. I've been running, city to city, signing books. In fact, I can only do this update because my plane is delayed in Portland…

  • Hitting the West Coast

    17 Nov 2009 | 3:40 pm
    Peter here again. Brandon has less than a week left on his tour, the remaining stops all being on the west coast. If that's where you live, check the schedule to see when he'll be in your area—today's stop is at Vroman's in Pasadena at 7 p.m. This week's Writing Excuses podcast covers the business of writing comics, again with Jake Black filling in for Brandon (whose we-don't-ever-discuss-it stint writing the webcomic "American Bachelors with Mecha(s)" is not nearly as relevant as Jake Black's professional experience in the industry). In the most recent MISTBORN 3 annotations, Brandon…

  • Mistborn Minifigs Sale, Updates

    10 Nov 2009 | 4:34 pm
    Brandon's assistant Peter here again. Brandon is still out on the road; at this moment he's at the Joseph-Beth bookstore in Lexington KY, hopefully with a fully recovered voice. Tomorrow he'll be in my old stomping grounds at Books&Co. near Dayton OH. (I used to ride my bike 12 miles to their original store location almost every Saturday, though I still haven't been to their new location. Some of my family members may show up to bother Brandon tomorrow. If you see them, say hi for me.) A note about the Atlanta signings on Friday: There are actually two separate signings, one in Clarkston at…

  • #1

    7 Nov 2009 | 3:57 pm
    If you didn't hear the news, we got a call on Wednesday informing us that THE GATHERING STORM had hit the number one spot on the New York Times hardcover Best Seller list. This was accompanied by hitting number one on the independent bookseller's list and being the bestselling hardcover fiction book at Barnes & Noble and at Borders. (And at the last one, I believe, we were the overall #1 book regardless of genre, which is impressive.) We did, in fact, knock Dan Brown out of the #1 spot—by a wide margin. How do I feel? Relieved. When I first began this project, my largest fear by far was…

  • Updates, Signed Hardbacks

    3 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pm
    Today I did twelve phone interviews with radio shows, which was quite an experience. I thought I'd only be doing four or so, but radioland had other ideas. The interview I enjoyed most was the one for the Louie b. Free show—I'd post a link, but their archives seem to be down. If they ever come back up I'll let you know. Tomorrow I head to Washington D.C. for the next stop in my book tour for THE GATHERING STORM. If you're in the area, please drop by! For an idea of what my signings are like, check out the Storm Leader reports posted over at Dragonmount. There are also recordings of some…
 
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    William Shunn

  • Give me a long enough lever...

    11 Nov 2009 | 1:42 pm
    We're used to thinking of the movement of an object as homogeneous and instantaneous. In other words, for example, when I give a push to the fat end of my pool cue, the felted end moves at the same time to strike the cue ball.But I have a question—and I'm asking this because I'm curious about the answer, not because I know the answer. Let's say I had a pool cue that was 186,282 miles long. In other words, light would take a full second to travel from one end of it to the other. So, if I were to give my end of this pool cue a push, would the far end move simultaneously? Or would the…

  • What goes up must come down

    9 Nov 2009 | 12:43 pm
    Dear Miz Manorz,I find myself flush with discomfort, and I hope you'll give my predicament a swirl.At my shared workspace, a sign over the privy clearly requests that writers of the male persuasion put the seat down when finished, yet at least one of my upstanding colleagues consistently leaves it up. I'm about to flip my lid! It not just the effrontery that peeves me so. It's also the idea that my female colleagues, in toto, might judge me the culprit!In loo of direct accusation, please advise me how I might call this breach of manners to the men's attention without upsetting the honeypot.

  • Reading in Chicago, Tuesday, November 3rd

    26 Oct 2009 | 10:51 pm
    Hey, Chicagoans! I have a reading coming up just a week from today, Tuesday, November 3, 2009, as part of Chicago's Tuesday Funk Reading Series.I'll be appearing alongside Robert Duffer, Lynn Suh and Chris Sweet. It's my third time at Tuesday Funk, where I'll be reading another sequential installment from my memoir The Accidental Terrorist. The reading begins at 7:00 pm sharp upstairs at:Hopleaf Bar5148 N. Clark St.Chicago, IL 60660 That's just south of Foster, in the beating heart of beautiful Andersonville.Hopleaf is one of my very favorite bars in the world, specializing in Belgian ales…

  • That was The Week that was

    19 Oct 2009 | 12:42 pm
    To my dear former friends at The Week:I am highly annoyed by The Week's handling of my subscription. I received your magazine just fine for several months at my new address. Suddenly I realized that I had not received an issue for a few weeks. I checked my subscription status at your web site only to find that "the post office has notified us that the address we have listed on your subscription is incorrect."Well, that's ridiculous because mail—including, once upon a time, my subscription to The Week—gets to me at that address just fine.Nonetheless, knowing that the post office is…

  • Tiny dancer, on our wall

    16 Oct 2009 | 4:17 am
    A quick update about "Strong Medicine," tonight's fiction-and-dance event at Writers WorkSpace in Chicago. Due to unfortunate unavoidable circumstances, Asimina Chremos (the dance half of Microgig) will not be able to appear in person tonight. However, she will appear on video accompanied by live cello improvisation from Fred Lonberg-Holm, making the evening even more science-fictional than it was before. Don't miss it!We look forward to seeing you tonight at 7:00 pm at Writers WorkSpace, 5443 N. Broadway in Chicago. (Doors open 6:30.)For more information, please visit:…
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    Douglas Smith

  • Chimerascope: Ordering period (and free give-away) extended

    Douglas Smith
    1 Nov 2009 | 10:03 am
    ChiZine Publications has decided to go with a single release date for both the limited hardcover and the trade paperback editions of my new collection, Chimerascope, which means that the release date for the hardcover is being moved back to March 2010, to match the release of the trade paperback. They're also extending the ordering period for the hardcover to December 31, 2009. The limited, signed, and numbered hardcover edition is available only by pre-ordering it here.Read more

  • "Jigsaw" in Greek, apparently with nipples

    Douglas Smith
    23 Oct 2009 | 5:08 pm
    My story "Jigsaw" has been published in the Greek magazine, Ennea. Now, "Jigsaw" was originally written for Odyssey, a YA SF anthology edited by Julie Czerneda in 2004, and being YA, I'm fairly certain my story didn't inspire the cover shown here at the right. Ennea is a weekly comic magazine supplement to a major Greek newspaper that publishes an SF story in each issue.Read more

  • Spirit Dancing in Italy

    Douglas Smith
    17 Oct 2009 | 2:39 pm
    My first (and most published) story, "Spirit Dance," appeared in June this year translated into Italian in the long-running magazine, Robot (cover to the left, by Stephan Martiniere). Cool to be sharing cover credits with Lois McMaster Bujold and Robert Reed. This is the 18th appearance and 14th language for this little tale, which is encouraging, seeing that this story was the genesis for my just-completed novel. A French translation of this story won the Aurora in 2001. "Spirit Dance" was included in my collection, Impossibilia.Read more

  • Personal website for writers: a plug

    Douglas Smith
    17 Oct 2009 | 10:12 am
    Here's a plug for the gentleman (and friend) who hosts my web site here. Marcel Gagné, via his consulting company, Salmar Consulting, offers web sites for professional writers. Marcel hosts the sites on very fast servers, and they run under Drupal, which I personally have found to be powerful, flexible, and easy to use. I maintain the content and design of this entire site myself, with only a bare minimum knowledge of a few HTML codes. Check out the link above for more information.

  • "By Her Hand..." translated into Galician

    Douglas Smith
    14 Oct 2009 | 6:39 pm
    My short horror story, "By Her Hand, She Draws You Down," has been translated into Galician and published in the web zine, Nova Fantasia, accompanied by cool and creepy illos like the one to the right here. Twenty-four languages and counting.Read more
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    Greg van Eekhout

  • Kid vs. Squid listing at Amazon

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    I don't know why I think I have the right to grump about what other people post on their LJ's, especially when all I post any more is writing stuff. I wiped down all the kitchen counters yesterday, including beneath and behind the microwave. There was a lot of red onionskin down there. That wasn't writing-related.Last night at the coffee joint there were some super-duper old farts planning some kind of musical event, and they were going on and on about these dusty old songs from their youth, and of course the music they were talking about was stuff from my high school days. And, yeah, okay, I…

  • Nice kitty

    17 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am
    So much of writing is waiting. Waiting for checks, waiting for responses to submissions, waiting for paperwork, waiting for answers to questions. The part that's not waiting is working. Neither the waiting nor the working is easy, but the working, at least, feels like moving forward, rather than mucking about in the tar until the saber-toothed cat comes along, licking its chops. From Last

  • Two books one cup

    10 Nov 2009 | 8:35 pm
    I wrote. I read proofs. Ayup.From LastFrom Kid vs. Squid proofs

  • Hard work + talent = awesome

    8 Nov 2009 | 6:45 pm
    Asked on his blog when he started drawing, author/illustrator Adam Rex borrows and expands on Shaun Tan's answer to the same question: Nearly all kids draw for fun, and their drawings tell stories. We all start out as illustrators, and we all start at about the same age–as soon as we can work a crayon. Most people quit at about the same time too, in their tween years somewhere. I don’t know why people stop–are they distracted by organized sports or hobbies or the opposite sex? Do they stop simply because they aren’t good enough, and in these years we all abandon those activities at…

  • 8 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am

    8 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am
    Thanks for all the weight-training tips over at my last entry, you guys! The message that's resonating most with me is I should get at least a few sessions with an expert so I don't explode my own spine and rupture my spleen. That makes sense. My local YMCA has reasonably-priced sessions for beginners, so I'll probably go that route.What I'm looking for is something to do while I'm trying to find a new martial arts school, and I've been looking since May, when I decided my perfectly good kung fu school wasn't quite what I wanted. Watching my body slide back into its sedentary condition is…
 
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    Lisa Tuttle

  • mea culpa

    lisatuttle
    20 Nov 2009 | 1:52 pm
    I'm a bad bad person who never posts, yet people still, inexplicably, want to be my friends and read what I don't write!Must do better.In the meantime, I may as well admit that I've joined Facebook, where I use a more recent photo. If any of you would like to "friend" me there, please do.

  • Reading lists

    lisatuttle
    4 Aug 2009 | 5:43 am
    Looking through an old notebook, I found a list of the books I read in July 1979.  I confess, I don't remember much -- in some cases anything -- about most of them.  Here it is:So Much Blood by Simon BrettRaw Silk by Janet BurrowayCannibals and Kings by Marvin HarrisLove Kills by Dan GreenburgThere's Trouble Brewing by Nicholas BlakeThe Dragons of Eden by Carl SaganOur Lady of Pain by John BlackburnI, James McNeill Whistler by Lawrence WilliamsThe Key to Midnight by Leigh NicholsPicnic at Hanging Rock by Joan LindsayStrange Eons by Robert BlochThe Fly on the Wall by Tony…

  • Her Voice

    lisatuttle
    30 Jul 2009 | 9:38 am
    "Her voice was like old red velvet; it had extraordinary depth.  On the telephone it could be mistaken for a man's voice.""that throaty, deepish, wholly attractive voice""light, musical, with a throaty note, it was one of her great charms.""her unusually pleasing voice""low-pitched but electrifying""She was like somebody belonging to another world and I was entranced by her... She had a lovely musical voice, but even this did not alter the effect of not quite belonging to the world."Do you know who is being described,…

  • Marilyn French

    lisatuttle
    9 May 2009 | 4:52 am
    Listening to Radio Four this morning Iearned for the first time that Marilyn French had died. (A few days ago, aged 79)  The Today Programme had invited Sarah Dunant and Christina Odone to discuss the significance of French's most famous book, The Women's Room.  I was slightly apprehensive, expecting a typical & pointless argument about feminism between two women with differing politics, but was very pleasantly surprised by how sane and affirmative the comments were ... at one point the presenter (John Humphries? I can't remember) sort-of-jokingly complained that he wasn't…

  • sewing machines

    lisatuttle
    16 Apr 2009 | 12:35 pm
    I sure am sorry now that I gave away my old Singer sewing machine (untouched in nearly 20 years).  See "Sewing machine hoax hits S. Arabia.":  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7999168.stmFirst time I'd heard of this!
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    Catherynne M. Valente

  • So It Goes

    Mercury's Daughter
    19 Nov 2009 | 11:46 am
    I was going to friends-lock this, but decided against it. So here it is for all to read.The thing is, I don't really believe in friends-locking. The whole point of a blog, for me, is to live openly, declaratively. I find that a tremendously valuable thing for my personal development, to try hard not to be ashamed of anything I experience or feel or do. Filtering is great for some people--everyone chooses how to run their online space--but for me it is an admission of not being able to talk about something, which means not having the kind of online life I want, where I can talk about anything,…

  • Everything and Nothing

    Mercury's Daughter
    17 Nov 2009 | 12:04 pm
    I'm doing that thing where I feel like I can't post about anything until I post about the wedding, and the rest of the honeymoon. But I am also physically pretty messed up right now. I understand that my body needs recovery, which is possibly why I'm sleeping way more than usual, but I'm also waking up with a splitting headache that lasts for hours. And this morning, it's worse, since I'm getting hateful comments after AOL did an article about ExpediaFail. And then there's my foot.I suspect what happened is that I walked on it in heeled boots in St. Petersburg (I swear, all the women do, even…

  • Nebula Eligible Stuff

    Mercury's Daughter
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:38 am
    It's that time of year, when red velvet and white fluff are in season, when pine and mistletoe scent the air, when sleighbells jangle in the distance...and Nebula nominations open.Now, I've never been nominated for a Nebula. I've rarely even been suggested for one. But I thought I'd list the things I've written this year that are eligible, just in case any of you are SFWA members and want to vote for them. (Plus some little announcements toward the end!PalimpsestObviously, this would mean the most to me--Palimpsest was in many ways an orphaned novel, surrounded by lay-offs and championed not…

  • Rambling

    Mercury's Daughter
    12 Nov 2009 | 8:47 pm
    Here I am, with a hundred things to post about, the rest of St. Petersburg and the wedding and a new book...and I'm playing Mortal Kombat vs. DC and staying up while everyone else is in bed.I guess I'm having a bit of wedding withdrawal. For awhile there was so much to do that it could never get done, and then it was done and there were so many loved ones to spend time with that I could never spend time with them all, and then there was the honeymoon and it was all SO MUCH. And justbeast was there all day every day for two weeks, and now he's gone again, from very early to very late, working…

  • Two Things

    Mercury's Daughter
    12 Nov 2009 | 9:25 am
    One, I'm reading at the IAF Interfictions 2 reading tomorrow, 7:30 pm at The Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA. You all are coming, right? Because there's musical accompaniment and possibly an accordion. And Brian Francis Slattery (ZOMG.) Also my last trip to Boston for awhile as I burrow, sick of travel and with a novel due at the end of January (I don't even want to talk about it.)Two, I'm working on a trailer for Under in the Mere, and searching for music. I want something appropriate to Arthuriana without going full McKennitt, melancholic, probably, but not necessarily un-modern.
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    Greg van Eekhout

  • Kid vs. Squid listing at Amazon

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am
    I don't know why I think I have the right to grump about what other people post on their LJ's, especially when all I post any more is writing stuff. I wiped down all the kitchen counters yesterday, including beneath and behind the microwave. There was a lot of red onionskin down there. That wasn't writing-related.Last night at the coffee joint there were some super-duper old farts planning some kind of musical event, and they were going on and on about these dusty old songs from their youth, and of course the music they were talking about was stuff from my high school days. And, yeah, okay, I…

  • Nice kitty

    17 Nov 2009 | 10:59 am
    So much of writing is waiting. Waiting for checks, waiting for responses to submissions, waiting for paperwork, waiting for answers to questions. The part that's not waiting is working. Neither the waiting nor the working is easy, but the working, at least, feels like moving forward, rather than mucking about in the tar until the saber-toothed cat comes along, licking its chops. From Last

  • Two books one cup

    10 Nov 2009 | 8:35 pm
    I wrote. I read proofs. Ayup.From LastFrom Kid vs. Squid proofs

  • Hard work + talent = awesome

    8 Nov 2009 | 6:45 pm
    Asked on his blog when he started drawing, author/illustrator Adam Rex borrows and expands on Shaun Tan's answer to the same question: Nearly all kids draw for fun, and their drawings tell stories. We all start out as illustrators, and we all start at about the same age–as soon as we can work a crayon. Most people quit at about the same time too, in their tween years somewhere. I don’t know why people stop–are they distracted by organized sports or hobbies or the opposite sex? Do they stop simply because they aren’t good enough, and in these years we all abandon those activities at…

  • 8 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am

    8 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am
    Thanks for all the weight-training tips over at my last entry, you guys! The message that's resonating most with me is I should get at least a few sessions with an expert so I don't explode my own spine and rupture my spleen. That makes sense. My local YMCA has reasonably-priced sessions for beginners, so I'll probably go that route.What I'm looking for is something to do while I'm trying to find a new martial arts school, and I've been looking since May, when I decided my perfectly good kung fu school wasn't quite what I wanted. Watching my body slide back into its sedentary condition is…
 
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    Jeff VanderMeer

  • Recommending SFF Books – A Movement

    Mark C Newton
    20 Nov 2009 | 11:48 am
    The plan is simply this: to bring new readers into the SFF genre. We’re at a tipping point. Genre is invading the mainstream – or so many articles in newspapers and on television would have you believe, yet the book industry is always anxious at sales performances. It’s a tough environment out there, at the front line. It seems that each year there are scare stories about people reading fewer books. So I think we can certainly bring significantly more readers into the genre, and while we’re at it, tip genre more into mainstream culture. How? Well, Jeff’s site is…

  • Branded: The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

    Kameron Hurley
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:40 am
    Guest blogger Kameron Hurley does most of her ranting at her blog, Brutal Women. You can find  some of her recent fiction inYear’s Best SF 12, Strange Horizons, and EscapePod. She currently makes a living as a marketing and sales copywriter in Ohio, and has sold or nearly sold or sort of sold or is still in the process of selling a book called God’s War, which may or may not actually be published at some unspecified period from an as yet unspecified publisher. Stay tuned. Jay Lake recently made an observation about how copywriting differs from fiction writing. Copy doesn’t just convey…

  • Boston: MIT and Borders

    Jeff VanderMeer
    18 Nov 2009 | 10:23 pm
    Omnivoracious just ran two video interview pieces with me, one of which is reproduced above. Tomorrow I’m at MIT in the late afternoon giving a lecture, and then Friday night I’m at Borders in Boston reading with David Anthony Durham and Paul Tremblay….and I shall not sully great guest blogging with more of my nonsense for awhile.

  • National Book Awards Tonight–coverage

    Jeff VanderMeer
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:45 pm
    About to head off with Ann to the National Book Awards. I’ll be doing my coverage as comments to this post, as the easiest low-tech way to avoid any kind of interruption. Check there from about 7:30pm EST on.

  • How did you come to the SF genres?

    Jason Sanford
    18 Nov 2009 | 4:15 am
    Guest blogger Jason Sanford often rants on his website at www.jasonsanford.com. His fiction has been published in Interzone, Year’s Best SF 14, Analog, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Pindeldyboz, and other places, and has won the 2008 Interzone Readers’ Poll and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship. What first brought you to the speculative fiction genres? A few years ago I was talking with Mike Resnick at the Context convention. Upon learning I was from Alabama, he said it was his experience that most SF fans down South didn’t come to the genre through the traditional…
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    Edd Vick

  • Sandy

    eddvick
    19 Nov 2009 | 10:14 am
    My latest story for the Daily Cabal has gone live. We invite your comments at the site.

  • Can't Tell Your Gabber from Your Neurofunk Without a Program

    eddvick
    18 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm
    Here is a family tree of the various branches of electronic music. Via

  • Writing Apnea?

    eddvick
    12 Nov 2009 | 5:08 pm
    I have sleep apnea. That's where you stop breathing every once in a while while sleeping. I got tested, and evidently woke up a truly amazing number of times every hour. There are two types of sleep apnea, central (where something's going wrong in your central nervous system) and obstructive (where there's a problem with the architecture in the back of your mouth that means not enough air gets through).But enough about sleep apnea. What's this about writing apnea? It may be a case of tempest meeting teapot, but Huffington Post writer Linda Stone noticed that she and co-workers occasionally…

  • Arzach and Totoro

    eddvick
    11 Nov 2009 | 1:19 pm
    Via Chris Roberson, here is an interview with consummate artists Moebius and Miyazaki.

  • The Other Walt

    eddvick
    8 Nov 2009 | 10:07 am
    Walt Kelly, that is. There's a lovely new blog devoted to his work, Whirled of Kelly. Sadly, the publication date of the first volume of Fantagraphics Complete Pogo keeps getting pushed back, but I really look forward to seeing it.
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    S. L. Viehl

  • No-Cost Ten

    Lynn Viehl
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Ten Things You Can Have for NothingFreeware caution: always scan free downloads of anything for bugs and other threats before dumping the programs into your hard drive.ALEX Personal Knowledge Base is "a very simple tool to organize your knowledge, notes, ideas and other information" (OS: Windows32/64, Linux32/64, OS X, Solaris, AIX and etc.)Eldy is "the first easy software dedicated to the elderly, from European Eldy’s non-profit organization. Eldy allows seniors use computers and enjoy the Internet revolution, by providing a software that allows easy access to all the most important…

  • Newsy Bits

    Lynn Viehl
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    NY Time bestselling author Bob Mayer has joined the line-up over at my group blog, Genreality, and his first post is already up. Google has this image search thing called Image Swirl that is currently in demo stage, but looks pretty neat; evidently it's set up to operate a bit like ThinkMap's Visual Thesaurus (link swiped from The Presurfer.)I'm going to be doing some blog renovations during the month of December, when I'll also be wrapping up my 2009 online art project, PBWindow. While I won't be posting every day after 12/31/09, I am going to keep the photoblog and post to it whenever I…

  • Mid-week NaNoPost

    Lynn Viehl
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    We've passed the mid-way mark of NaNoWriMo, and I really felt the burn this past week. The words were not interested in me or my novel and tried to avoid me. All the fun went out of town. I got mired down in scene after scene and slogged, slogged, slogged. If there was an Olympic slogging event, I think I would have qualified five times over.A couple of times my mercenary self (a bit like TssVar from StarDoc, but with more teeth) tried to reason with my writer self (a lot like an exhausted hamster lolling in a wheel, with less teeth.) The money-hungry lizard self kept asking, "Why keep doing…

  • Snow and Trees

    Lynn Viehl
    16 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    In addition to my NaNoNovel, I'm working on the third Kyndred book, and one major obstacle I have with this one is the setting for one of the early chapters of the novel: snow and trees, trees and snow. There are mountains (background) a road (lost early on) and one cargo truck (ditto) but that's about it. During the length of one chapter I have to move my characters through a setting in which there are no other people, vehicles, houses, towns or any sign of civilization.This is the sort of place I think of as a non-setting setting, and it's one of the toughest to write because it seems like…

  • NaNo Ten

    Lynn Viehl
    15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm
    Ten Things to Help with NaNoWriMoCustomize your anagrams with Wordsmith.org's Advanced Anagrams generator.Over at the forums on the NaNoWriMo site I found the quite excellent Big Scary Character Quiz '09, which gives you a long list of questions to answer in character.Another detailed character worksheet template: The Epiguide.com Fiction Writer's Character Chart.For those who need to make maps and have GIMP, here's a neat step-by-step tutorial on how to do it.If you want a common last name for your ordinary Joe, check out the Most Common Surnames in the U.S. using data from the 1990…
 
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    Jo Walton

  • Ur-story

    Jo Walton
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:57 pm
    I went last night with Z and A to the Montreal launch of Claude Lalumiere's collection Objects of Worship at Paragraphe. During the question period afterwards, Claude mentioned that he believed that all writers are trying to tell part of the ur-story, and sometimes they get closer than others. Afterwards, walking back to the metro Z disagreed with this idea at length -- and I have to say it isn't what I feel as if I'm doing either. "Anyway," Z concluded. "If there is an Ur story, it has to be Gilgamesh."

  • Recent Tor.com posts

    Jo Walton
    20 Nov 2009 | 7:23 am
    Noodles, self-help groups and airplane parts: things to avoid in making up fantasy names, Jhereg, Re-reading Dragaera, What is it with coffee?, Fred Pohl's The Way the Future Was.More Dragaera posts will be going up soon.In other interesting reading this week, Anne de Courcy's biography Snowdon about Tony Armstrong Jones is brilliant, as I'd expected. She is definitely my favourite biographer, she always gets the balance just right.

  • New coat! Well, also old coat.

    Jo Walton
    18 Nov 2009 | 2:33 pm
    One day in the autumn of 1996, I bought a five pound bus pass that, in those days, enabled one to take buses all over the north-west. Since Kendal had a shoe factory, it was cheaper to take the bus to Kendal to buy shoes than to buy shoes in Lancaster -- about half the price in fact. I did this -- I went to Kendal and bought a pair of sandals. Then I got on another bus and went to Keswick. Feeling a little chilly, I went into an army surplus store and bought a dark gray Swiss army surplus greatcoat for ten pounds. I hadn't been planning an expedition to buy a coat, but I felt smug that I had…

  • The Grief of Orpheus

    Jo Walton
    16 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am
    I just realized this wasn't actually online anywhere. I wrote it in January 2001.They may not call this music.This is the air of anger.This is refusal made palpable,cast in chords as bells are cast in bronze.Each step down is inexorable.This is the necessity of the lyre.Earth opens by the logic of these notes.I insist there is a way down;a long, tiled, sloping passagetowards the ferry, the waiting dog,the marble halls, the king, the queen,the seven hard rivers of hell.This theme everyone knows.Nobody has gone down alive;nobody has come back before.This time my willbending possibilitydemands…

  • Water on the moon

    Jo Walton
    15 Nov 2009 | 12:37 pm
    The moon answers me back, saying:No, you imagined that lonely goddessshining huntress of chilly nightsolitary sister to owls.I circle you all the time,night doesn't fall in my orbit,I dance with gravity. And as for water, well,haven't you noticed the tides?
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    Dayton Ward

  • 24, set in 1994?

    Dayton Ward
    20 Nov 2009 | 12:33 pm
    Courtesy of friend Ken Gagne over at Showbits.net, comes this parody/re-imagining of 24, with Jack Bauer and the rest of the CTU gang doing their thing...had the show been developed (and set!) in 1994.Showbits.net: Jack Bauer, 1994See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.Thanks, Ken!

  • TwitterLitter.

    Dayton Ward
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pm
    Annoying friends and strangers alike, 140 bytes at a time.06:59 I wake up and there's gobs of people RT'ing my smart-assed Twilight crack. Dear CBS: I'm ready for my sitcom now! # 10:25 Looks like @kevindilmore & I will be chatting live with @trekcast on Saturday as part of a Big Trek DVD event in Vegas. Details to follow! # 11:04 @Televixen I only watch porn for the articles. # 14:05 @julioangelortiz Re: "Last Stand" link - Thanks for the pimpin' However, the link doesn't seem to work & I get nada when I try to decode it # 14:46 @julioangelortiz Now it works. Maybe it was something…

  • TwitterLitter.

    Dayton Ward
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pm
    Annoying friends and strangers alike, 140 bytes at a time.07:57 Happy Hump Day, tweeps! Find someone special and share the Hump Day Love! (I always wanted to be a DJ.) # 07:58 Today's geek goodness: Lady Robitka T-shirt, courtesy of @janewiedlin. # 09:19 RT @Billbossa Best joke in the office: Mangino wasn't mad when he poked a player in the chest; he was checking to see if he was tender. # 09:23 Somebody please tell me there's a mashup or a fanfic where Blade goes after Edward. # 09:26 @dexterdouglas YES!!!! # 09:53 It's Weds, so you know what that means. #boobiewed! Find out what you can do…

  • #laststand, de-Twitterfied.

    Dayton Ward
    18 Nov 2009 | 7:53 pm
    Back on Halloween, I presented my flash-fiction story "Last Stand" as a series of tweets on Twitter. Each tweet was appended with the hashtag #laststand so folks could keep track of the feed I was conjuring. Since then, I've had a few requests to make the story available so that it could be read by normal people, without the hashtags and the need to read the feed in reverse chronological order. I've also asked about some kind of follow-up for Twitter, either a sequel to this story or something else entirely. I haven't had time to give that much thought, but I do have an idea or two…

  • TwitterLitter.

    Dayton Ward
    17 Nov 2009 | 9:55 pm
    Annoying friends and strangers alike, 140 bytes at a time.07:18 So, I have to send my Zune in for svc/replacement. Yay warranty! (1st person to say "Shoulda bought an iPod" gets my boot in their anus.) # 07:20 It's Tuesday and the weather's great here in KC. If you're a penguin. # 07:21 There's just a dusting of snow on the roads here in KC. Translation: City commuters will lose their damned minds this morning. # 07:22 Still plenty of good news, though! New Trek flick is out on DVD today! Can I get a "W00T!" from the geek community? # 07:25 @DamonS23 Re: iPod vs Zune - Yep, having the stores…
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    Martha Wells

  • 20 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am

    20 Nov 2009 | 6:55 am
    More from Jackie Kessler: The Day After: Harlequin Blinks Just because your book wasn’t good enough for Harlequin to pay you for it, that doesn’t mean it’s not good enough for you to pay us for it!ETA: A friend posted this link on Facebook, and it's great if you need to see something happy: A soldier's dog greets him when he returns from Afghanistan.

  • 19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

    19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm
    Couple of publishing links:Jackie Kessler explains in detail how Harlequin Horizons is a vanity press, not a self-publishing service: Harlequin Horizons versus the RWA:A-ha! Here’s a big clue that aspiring authors better have their eyes open. Yes, the press has the name “Harlequin” on it. But even though you may think this means you’re a legitimate Harlequin author, you’re not. Oh, and Harlequin won’t distribute Horizon books. Horizon books won’t appear “in stores next to your books.” Well, gosh, if you’ve written a romance, and you get it printed through Horizon, it…

  • 19 Nov 2009 | 6:45 am

    19 Nov 2009 | 6:45 am
    I'm hoping today is a better day than yesterday.Links:jimhines is doing his yearly book drive for a domestic violence shelter.Terrible Yellow Eyes a collection of fan art for Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things AreGargoyles, from all over the world.

  • 18 Nov 2009 | 6:47 am

    18 Nov 2009 | 6:47 am
    Found this link on Facebook: Ruins of Japan Photographs of abandoned buildings, theme parks, "love hotels," and ruins in Japan.Book Rejection Bingo Card I find this one kind of depressing. Like, lie down in a hole in the back yard and let someone shovel dirt over you, depressing.Speaking of depressing: Revised Google Book Search Settlement Filed

  • 16 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm

    16 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm
    My internet connection's been down for most of the day, so that's been a lovely source of irritation. Also, I think my bad shoulder is heading for another bout of badness, probably triggered by the cold front that came in last night; usually the weight-lifting aerobics makes it feel better, but this time not so much. But we had a great time at Renfair on Saturday. (I'll post some pictures whenever I can stay logged on long enough.) Among other things, we listened to a fabulous band called Wine and Alchemy, with a great bouzouki player. Their web site is here, and they've got some free music…
 
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    Dave Williams

  • China’s growing space power

    davejwilliams
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:58 pm
    Ah, the contrast between the U.S. and Chinese space programs. The Space Shuttle is due to be retired next year, even as budget pressures intensify for its Constellation/Ares successor.  Meanwhile, China continues to forge ahead with plans for a lunar rover by 2012, a manned space station by 2020, and a taikonaut on the Moon shortly after that.  It’s tempting to read this as a tale of two empires—one rising and the other in decline.  But I’ve got a funny feeling that should the Chinese actually get hardware onto the lunar surface, the U.S. space program might receive the…

  • When your gun says no

    davejwilliams
    17 Nov 2009 | 8:55 am
    I don’t know what’s cooler, a story about black box guns, or the fact that the title namechecks Judge Dredd. But what I do know is this.  Eventually there will be three types of guns: 1.  Legacy guns dating back to the age when guns didn’t contain tracking/override electronics. 2.  Federal-controlled guns whereby Uncle Sam gets to decide if you can have another shot. 3.  Hacked guns 2. and 3. of course will be tough to tell apart.  This is going to be fun. Originally published at autumnrain2110.com . You can comment here or there.

  • Water on the Moon

    davejwilliams
    14 Nov 2009 | 12:57 pm
    From today’s news. From THE MIRRORED HEAVENS: So at the end of Moon there’s a labyrinth. At the end of that labyrinth’s a chamber. That chamber wasn’t built by man. It’s been there since this rock cooled. It contains the most valuable thing in this world. “Water,” says Sarmax. He steps into the light. His armor looks pretty beat-up. It’s been burned almost black. He walks toward the ramp’s edge. “Come again?” says the Operative. “Water,” repeats Sarmax.  “Or should I say:  ice.” “My latest…

  • Brazil, the blackouts, and Russian nukes

    davejwilliams
    12 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am
    It takes an event like the Brazilian blackouts to bring home the banality of Twitter, where the event barely registered amidst the maelstrom of posts on New Moon and Captain Zeep. But the incidents can be seen as good evidence of just how rickety a lot of the developing world’s infrastructure is getting under the pressure of growth.  With its regional power status—and hosting of both the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016—Brazil will be more in the limelight than most, at least until the developed world starts sharing a similar problem.  At which point we’ll…

  • Happy Veterans Day

    davejwilliams
    11 Nov 2009 | 12:24 pm
    You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all: We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational. Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace. For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!" But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the guns begin to shoot; An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please; An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees! --Rudyard Kipling Originally published at autumnrain2110.com . You can comment here or there.
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    Lynda Williams

  • Alison Sinclair - Interview for Darkborn

    Lynda
    2 Nov 2009 | 7:33 pm
    Alison's new fantasy series is featured in her interview with Fantasy Book Critic. This is the first of her trilogy. She mentions Throne Price (2001) in the interview. The covers for her new series are gorgeous. And the series is based on a really original fantasy vision, and executed with all Alison's precision in world-building that she has demonstrated in her science fiction titles.The Okal Rel Universe is a science fiction phenomenon related to the ten novel series in progress called the Okal Rel Saga by author Lynda Williams published by Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing.

  • Kathleen's Book Club and Far Arena

    Lynda
    1 Nov 2009 | 11:29 am
    Feedback on reception of Part 5: Far Arena as the associated discussion questions I provided for it, by my cousin Kathleen's book club in the lower mainland.My book club was amazed to have an author in the family with book club questions. We had a great time with the book! Two feedback comments from them to you 1. They really feel the story would be well served as a TV program2. In the book, by starting mid-way thru the series, they would recommend: a genealogy of the main families; a map and a glossary. Thank you again for making this book so much fun for us. We really enjoyed it! Love…

  • Part 6: Avim's Oath last edit

    Lynda
    30 Oct 2009 | 6:54 am
    Sent my last edit, incorporating the work of editor Richard Jenzen, to Edge earlier this week. Release date is April 2010. In this book, Amel and Erien sort out how to share power ... "I do not want Amel sworn to me," Erien said, as hotly as he had ever spoken to his formidable sire. "I have saved him twice. I've paid the debt I owe him. And I have business of my own to get on with."Amel confronts new possibilities for his love life ... 'Of course, I can't child-gift to Vretla, Vrellish style, and become a respectably married Demish prince at the same time,' Amel realized, unwisely letting…

  • CNC Quesnel Welcomes me Friday Oct 23

    Lynda
    24 Oct 2009 | 4:53 pm
    Here's me (in the yellow shirt over black top, near the centre) Friday Oct 23, 2009 at the very nice welcome event held for me in the cafe area of Quesnel CNC Phase I building. I started as Associate Regional Director of CNC in Quesnel on Oct 13, which is why I've been a bit out of touch. Still working on getting two-way e-mail going in "the hovel" - the trailer where I'm living while Angela finishes up high school in Prince George. Surrounding me in the picture are staff and faculty who turned out for the snacks and wine, including my new boss Regional Director Bestsy Ives (blue sweater with…

  • Tanya Huff at Books and Company PG

    Lynda
    8 Oct 2009 | 8:39 am
    SF author Tanya Huff read and threatened the audience with cat stories when the questions flagged, Oct 7, 2009 at Books and Company in Prince George, B.C. I met and enjoyed a pre-reading chat with Rob Budde. Tanya read her classic bartender story from Space Inc. edited by Julie E. Czerneda. I recognized the anthology because Alison Sinclair had a doctor story in it. Tanya is seen here on the Books and Co stage mischievously signing a "Diving Book" that a guy in the audience jokingly offered up when Tanya declared she's sign anything. She penned him quite an opus while people with her books…
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    From the Horse's Mouth

  • A Star Is Born

    19 Nov 2009 | 9:19 am
    Our son was born last Monday morning. We named him Midas. Both he and his mother are fine. Words escape me to describe the joy of having brought this new life into the world.

  • Paul Evanby – De Scrypturist

    15 Nov 2009 | 5:33 am
    Out for a month now, the debut novel “De Scrypturist” by Paul Evanby should be required reading for all Dutch-language fantasy lovers. I have a single extra copy, signed by the author, which I will give away for free to the first reader who sends me the correct answer to the question I post at the end of this review. You know the awkward feeling when someone you know and like has created a work of art, and you are in a position to give your opinion about it? And what you really want to say is “try your hand at a different hobby”, but you don’t want to hurt the other’s feelings?

  • Accidental Timing

    28 Aug 2009 | 12:29 pm
    In a feature article on traffic safety this week, our newspaper quoted the statistic that 80% of car accidents happen in the first or the final five minutes of a trip. An odd lack of precision, that. I would think that the vast majority of car accidents happen in the final seconds of a trip.

  • Toby’s Found A Home

    25 Jul 2009 | 2:55 am
    The crowning piece of Good Stuff that happened to me yesterday was an email from Sniplits, informing me (after agonizing over the decision for 449 days*) that they would gladly buy my short story Dumb Son (or TSFKATT: The Story Formerly Known As Toby’s Trophies), for podcast publication. The tale of sweet, mentally challenged Toby, his predilection for Chinese dumplings, and his confrontation with a serial killer, is very dear to me, so I’m immensely happy that the story has found a home. Toby is my sixth story sold, my third audio sale, the second non-SF, non-fantasy, non-horror story,…

  • The Poisson Distribution of Good Stuff

    25 Jul 2009 | 2:42 am
    Every once in a while, Good Stuff accumulates in such great quantities on a single day that it threatens to short out the brain’s happiness center. Yesterday was such a day. The day was already a success when I managed to solve a problem at work that had been gnawing at my brain for months. The solution was neat, simple, robust, and working, and so by coffee time I already felt like I could take on the entire world. After coffee, an email came in. Michiel v/d Pol, the Dutch cartoonist who drew our wedding comic, wrote to let us know that he is able and willing to also design and draw the…
 
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    All quiet in France

  • Interzone and Black Static stories eligible for Nebulas

    19 Nov 2009 | 11:24 am
    I’ve just confirmed this with the SFWA Awards Rule Committee: Interzone and Black Static stories are eligible for the Nebulas, by virtue of their electronic publication through Fictionwise. So any magazine issue that was uploaded to Fictionwise during the nomination period is eligible. So, if you’ve always wanted to nominate cool stuff like Sarah L. Edwards’ poignant “Lady of the White-Spired City” (IZ 222), Al Robertson’s beautiful “Fishermen” (IZ 221), or Jeff Spock’s hilarious “Everything that Matters” (IZ 219), now’s…

  • Drumroll…

    18 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pm
    The cover art for Servant of the Underworld: Isn’t it full of awesome? (some stuff might shift around a bit, but overall it’s meant to be pretty much final) For the curious, the central design is lifted from the Calendar Stone. It represents the Sun God along with the Four Ages of the World, which makes it pretty appropriate for the book (I won’t say why because of spoilers). You can find explanations on the symbols here (scroll down a bit for the first ring). Now I’ll go and have that much delayed dinner… Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard Leave a comment at…

  • Various tidbits

    18 Nov 2009 | 11:41 am
    -“After the Fire” is now available as a podcast on StarShip Sofa, thanks to the concerted efforts of Tony C. Smith and Kate Baker. It sounds awesome, so I urge you to pop over and give it a quick listen. Also, check out the Wild Wild West retrospective, and the science news.</li> -Via Mark Pexton, the artist who did the awesomely creepy art for “Ys” in Interzone, another version of his illustration: Dark Goddess by ~Superego-Necropolis on deviantART I think this one is even creepier than the first. Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard Leave a comment at original…

  • Nebula eligible fiction

    17 Nov 2009 | 5:31 am
    OK, I suck at that shameless self-promotion stuff, but I figure I’ll just follow the movement, and write down the stuff I published that’s eligible for the Nebulas–in case anyone is interested. If you want to read any of the stories below that are not available online, feel free to contact me, and I’ll be glad to provide a copy (whether you’re a SFWA member or not). Novelettes “On Horizon’s Shores”, Intergalactic Medicine Show, issue 14, September 2009 (SF) “Healing Hands”, Fantastical Visions IV, July 2009 (Pseudo-Greek Fantasy)…

  • Busy week ahead (aka OMG…)

    16 Nov 2009 | 11:08 am
    My Servant of the Underworld proofs have just arrived, and I have a little over a week to check them. I think I’m going to be scarce on the internet this week… But, OMG, it looks like a real book. It’s both elating and scary (as in, oh dear, I can’t hide behind other TOC-mates anymore). The BF’s only complaint so far was a lack of cover art (which should arrive sometime in the week, I’m told. Another reason to be freaking out…) Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard Leave a comment at original post, or comment here.
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    Frothing at the Mouth

  • Black Orchid

    4 Nov 2009 | 3:21 pm
    The Theme and Variation audio anthology went live last week. My story went live today. You can hear it here.www.ricknovy.com

  • Theme and Variation

    16 Oct 2009 | 8:52 pm
    Here is the cover art for the Theme and Variation music-themed audio anthology. It contains my story Black Orchid. You can also listen to the promo, and hear the theme music composed and performed by Michelle M. Welch and Jack Mangan.www.ricknovy.com

  • Baby Picture

    14 Oct 2009 | 7:37 pm
    Aren't they adorable? Baby rye grass shoots. Aw!www.ricknovy.com

  • Signing

    10 Oct 2009 | 9:58 pm
    Here is a picture of me at Dog-Eared Pages book store in north Phoenix today. They held a local author signing and here I am sitting in front of a rack of Romance novels signing my science fiction.www.ricknovy.com

  • Novy MIRror #8

    10 Oct 2009 | 5:45 pm
    Click to Play Interview with Dani and Eytan Kollin, authors of "The Unincorporated Man."www.ricknovy.com
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    Mostly English

  • It's Philcon!

    20 Nov 2009 | 5:13 am
    I'm going to a con today. Yaaaaaaaay!November is always challenging, what with my innate competitiveness and the whole NaNoWriMo thing. This year has also had added stress at the day job, particularly this week. So, even though I'll have the added task of remembering to set aside writing time during the convention, I am going to wrap myself in the folds of a convention for the next two days, bask in the pleasure of conversations with colleague and old friends, and feed my ego by waxing profoundly (hey, stop laughing!) on panels. Oh, and I get to meet Cory Doctorow!So, I'll see you a Philcon!

  • Philcon Roomie?

    19 Nov 2009 | 2:56 pm
    It's probably too late to do anything about it, but I am still looking for a roommate for Philcon.I have a reservation for a room with two beds, non-smoking. So, anyone out there deciding to attend at the last minute (or possibly for just a day), give me buzz.

  • Nacho Man!

    19 Nov 2009 | 10:27 am
    Today, in honor of Jay Lake (aka jaylake), I will be having nachos. I encourage you to do the same.It's all about creating some resonance in the universe, you know?

  • That Nebula Nomination Thing

    19 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am
    Speaking as both a small press publisher, and someone who has much of his fiction published by small press publishers, when it comes to awards like the Nebulas I expect to eat a lot of sour grapes.There are a lot of great novels out this year, and while I might wish my first novel (which came from a small press) had a shot, I know there isn't a chance of that. So even if you're a big fan of the Amazing Conroy (for which, my thanks), please save your nominations and votes for people who have a real chance (e.g., Daniel Abraham and Karl Schroeder).However, I will proudly pimp "The Moment." This…

  • NaNoWriMo Update

    16 Nov 2009 | 5:58 pm
    I came home an hour early from ye olde Day Jobbe™, because I'm going to be working longer hours tomorrow and the next day (I'm attending a meeting of the Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health tomorrow, and running two training sessions on Wednesday). I used that time to lay down about a thousand words, and then went off to my pilates class. Today's session was a major breakthrough, and it's all going to get very interesting from here out. We have houseguests for the next two to four days (my sister-in-law and her partner are having their floors redone, so they're staying with us),…
 
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    Thus Sayeth the Lord

  • Nebula Eligible Short Story

    17 Nov 2009 | 9:12 am
    Originally posted at Thus Sayeth the Lord...FYI, my short story, End of the World Pool, published in May in Intergalactic Medicine Show, is eligible for the Nebula. If you’re a SFWA member, PLEASE nominate and vote for me! How’s that for self-promotion?  Straight forward, honest, and short.  I think I violated a rule or something.

  • I’m a Carny…

    2 Nov 2009 | 11:14 am
    Originally posted at Thus Sayeth the Lord...New Assistant Editors to Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. Toward that end, I have hired Scott Roberts for one of the assistant editor positions. His primary responsibilities will be setting up and maintaining an IGMS Facebook page, maintaining the IGMS blog, being active in the IGMS forum, and of course reading some of the submissions. Scott is a Writer’s of the Future winner, having attended their workshop and been published in their annual anthology. He is also a graduate of Uncle Orson’s Literary Boot Camp and has…

  • Science Fiction Writers Can’t Win

    7 Oct 2009 | 11:22 am
    Originally posted at Thus Sayeth the Lord... Linkfind from Ellen Datlow and Jay Lake. The gist of the article is some Sci-fi ghetto rumbling about how the genre gets no respect from the literati who use genre conventions in their literary masterpieces.  Margaret Atwood: “Science fiction is rockets, chemicals and talking squids in outer space,” Well…sure it is. Here’s where I diverge from the expected path that some other genre authors/editors are taking: I’m not outraged.  Sure, it’d be nice to have the Establishment’s respect.  Everyone wants to be…

  • Photo, and a Finish…

    27 Sep 2009 | 2:05 pm
    Originally posted at Thus Sayeth the Lord...First, this photo: I’m not sure HOW this tree got purple; it wasn’t purple when I was taking the picture.  It looks neat though, so I’m sharing with you. In other news, I finished a short story I’ve been working on for the past month or so last night.  It feels soooo good. Finishing– I recommend it highly.  It makes all the trauma of getting there worth it.  Well, almost.

  • Tent (well, high school auditorium) Revival– Mormon Style! Plus, a photo.

    20 Sep 2009 | 5:09 pm
    Originally posted at Thus Sayeth the Lord...This weekend, our congregation got together with thirteen other congregations in the area to meet, greet, and frustrate one another, and to listen to the counsel of some of leaders.  We call this Stake Conference; the ’stake’ part of it is supposed to evoke images of a great tent, being held in place by stakes.  The tent is the kingdom of God; and each Stake, or collection of congregations, does its part to make the tent wind-worthy. It was an edifying conference this time around. I usually (and stereotypically) reluctant beforehand,…
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    Cat Rambo

  • Win A Free Copy of EYES LIKE SKY AND COAL AND MOONLIGHT

    18 Nov 2009 | 9:53 am
    Clarkesworld is running a contest where you can win a copy of the collection.

  • Shilling

    16 Nov 2009 | 11:48 am
    A friend reminded me that it might be time to mention stories that are Nebula-eligible. Accordingly, I'd like to direct your attention to the following stories, which I think are particularly noteworthy:"Narrative of a Beast's Life," which appeared in both the December issue of Realms of Fantasy and the collection. Glad to send copies to anyone interested in reading for award consideration."The Mermaids Singing Each to Each," an sf story that appeared in the November issue of Clarkesworld."Ms. Liberty Gets a Haircut," a superhero story that appeared in October in…

  • My 45th Year in Retrospective

    13 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pm
    Tomorrow's my 46th birthday. I'm looking back over the last year, in which I learned and did a good bit. Here's some of the things on the list:I was the Author GoH at ConFusion in Michigan. It was an awesome con: I made a lot of new friends, got to spend time with some old ones, wore a sparkly dress, and got to tell some of my favorite stories.My collection, Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight, was published by Paper Golem Press. Like many things, this was an interesting learning process, and I thank Lawrence Schoen and Micheal Livingston for their patience and enthusiam, Mary Robinette…

  • My First Publication

    12 Nov 2009 | 6:25 pm
    This summer, while sorting through old papers while preparing to move my mother out here, I found my first publication. It's in a poetry anthology called FOR KIDS BY KIDS and I'm kinda surprised they picked such a morbid little poem from a ten year old. Here it is in its entirety:My Mother Got A JobMy mother got a job,Down at the TribuneWriting the obituaries.Maybe someday she will seeThat someone she knows has diedAnd she will put her head on the desk and cry.

  • Nice review

    11 Nov 2009 | 10:37 am
     Rich Horton's year-end wrap-up for Realms of Fantasy includes this:Three novelettes stood out for me. Adam Corbin Fusco's "Sails Above Greensea" (April)  is another of quite a few recent pieces about flying sailing ships (or balloons, as the case may be): here the conflict is between the two remaining city-sized Greatships on a nearly submerged world, the two ships captained by a father and his estranged son. "Digging for Paradise", by Ian Creasey (August), tells of a sorcerer who schemes to take a company into the very far future. The narrator must choose…
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    Discombobulated Pensivity in the Double-Wide of Life

  • Sometimes You Blog Because It's Been a Ridiculously Long Time Since You Last Blogged....

    16 Nov 2009 | 5:21 pm
    Yep. It's been a while.So what can I say quickly?The Canticle tour is nearly wrapped. I've hopes of hitting Bellingham still in January but nothing's confirmed. Canyon Way Bookstore in Newport on Saturday November 21 (at 2pm) is the next stop. We'll be there with the Itty-Bitties.I'm taking notes on Requiem now and just had a lovely refresher over here on 3 Act Dramatic Structure from a man whose TV writing I've watched quite a lot of. I like the 3 Act Structure and endeavor to use it. Requiem falls into the tail end of the second act and beginning of the third act for the Psalms of Isaak…

  • For Immediate Release....

    3 Nov 2009 | 2:23 pm
    So last night at the Mysterious Galaxy signing, nestled between Amazing Korean Food and getting my @ss handed to me in a Scrabble Duel with the First Captain of my Gypsy Fans, I learned something interesting.Seems there's been some debate, even on Wiki, about whether The Psalms of Isaak is five books or seven books.  Heh. About a week ago, something I wrote here ended up in a blog under the tag American Author Ken Scholes Nearly Finished with Antiphon, so that means folks must be reading.  So here it is:Five books:LamentationCanticleAntiphonRequiemHymnCanticle is out,…

  • World Fantasy Convention, San Jose

    31 Oct 2009 | 6:53 am
    Good morning world.  I'll be quick only because I have a breakfast appointment soonish.The convention is going Very Well Indeed.  I can't count how many people (some of you reading this, I suspect) who've come up and asked for me to sign books.  My reading Thursday may be the best attended ever -- some folks had to sit on the floor.  I read "One Small Step" in honor of my nephew Andrew, took some questions, hung out and chatted after.It's been a blur of handshakes and saying thank you to people who have bought and enjoyed the books.  The gratitude I'm…

  • Travels With Kate

    26 Oct 2009 | 4:19 am
    Yep, today I meet Kate Elliott for the second time.  We met in passing at Denvention and I feel already like I've known her a goodly while.  We spent some pleasant time in email and on the phone while doing our guest blogs at Babel Clash and I really respect her approach to writing and her twin-wrangling experience.  So today, we have our first road trip when I pick her up in Portland and we head north to Seattle.I'll be on the road from today forward -- all stops noted on the website appearances page.  I hope you'll come out and say "Hi."  I'll…

  • B&N Book Club

    15 Oct 2009 | 4:28 am
    Just a quick announcement that I'll be answering questions and joining in the discussions of CANTICLE and the Psalms of Isaak over here at the Fantasy and Science Fiction Book Club at Barnes and Noble.  I'm there until 10/26.  Come on by.  I'd particularly love it if some of you who are close to the series (first readers, etc) would drop by as well, time-permitting, to talk about your experience with the books.  The folks there are really great.  I had a blast when I was there for LAMENTATION.Tonight, Gafield Book Company at PLU! 
 
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    Princess Alethea Kontis

  • "The Monster & Mrs. Blake" now live at The Story Station

    9 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pm
    Drop on by The Story Station and check out one of my very favorite short stories -- "The Monster & Mrs. Blake."I was one of those kids with monsters under her bed (they looked a lot like the little guys in Critters), so I empathize with Jeremy. I also wrote it while my best friend Casey was pregnant with her first child and craving apples for no apparent reason...This was meant to be read aloud, so if you have the time -- and the children-- I encourage you to do so. And please...let me know what they think!And yes, the rumors are true -- this story has been optioned by Bamfer…

  • Call for Pannell Award Nominees

    4 Nov 2009 | 4:21 am
    Spread the word!! The Women's National Book Association wants to know about bookstores in the United States that excel at inspiring interest in reading, as well as creatively bringing books and young people together.  They will present the annual WNBA Pannell Award to two bookstores--one a general bookstore and one a children's speciality bookstore--at the 2010 BookExpo America.  Each recipient will receive a check for $1,000 and a framed piece of original art by a noted children's book illustrator. Nominated stores have the option of making their submissions to the Pannell…

  • Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

    2 Nov 2009 | 10:12 am
    His bones hit the stones with a crack as the guard shoved him to his knees. They weren't normal playing cards; they all had strange metric road signs on them. And they spoke French. "Brian Keene," said a terrible voice. A familiar voice. The burlap sack was ripped from his head. On the throne before him sat the most beautiful woman in the world. Her blood-chestnut hair fell in a shimmering cascade below her generous breasts. Her short red skirt revealed several miles of leg encased in several miles of black-and-white striped tights. The ruby platform slippers matched her dress, the…

  • Genre Chicks: Sarah Pinborough

    29 Oct 2009 | 1:34 pm
    Sarah Pinborough, the British Grace Kelly of the horror genre, is riding high--having just won a British Fantasy Award for her short story “Do You See”--and in a few weeks she is up for the World Fantasy Award for her short “Our Man in the Sudan.” Anyone who follows her on Twitter knows that she’s a jet-setting wine connoisseur who’s not afraid of getting down and dirty and telling it like it is. Sarah is completely adorable...and can scare the ever-living daylights out of you. I sent a “little birdy” Sarah’s way with a few fun questions…

  • HCH on Fictionwise

    27 Oct 2009 | 5:22 pm
    For those savvy tech people, Harlan County Horros is now available on Fictionwise. And they're having a big sale on horror right now, so it's only like three bucks. What are you waiting for? Go for it. What better way to get in the mood for Halloween?
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    Diana Rowland -- Writing, Life, and the Stuff in between

  • Gender roles

    The Diana
    16 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am
    As many of you know, I have a daughter (The Kid) in kindergarten. I do my best to raise her with the understanding and knowledge that she should not let gender define her choices or behavior. I repeatedly affirm to her that she can play any sport or hold any job she wants, and that being a girl or a boy makes no difference. She takes karate, she loves to run and chase, she adamantly prefers the “boy” toys at McDonalds, and she also enjoys making crafts and playing with dolls. I’ve been pleased that she seems to be developing into a nicely well-rounded individual,…

  • Giveaway giveaway update

    The Diana
    6 Nov 2009 | 8:05 am
    Abigail and Jennifer (Arceneaux), my emails don’t seem to be getting through to y’all, so if you’d please drop me an email with a snail mail adress in it, I’ll get those books out to you! email to diana [at] dianarowland [dot] com Thanks!

  • The winners of the giveaway giveaway!

    The Diana
    28 Oct 2009 | 6:19 am
    The completely randomly picked winners of a copy of Mark of the Demon to be read and then passed on are: Pia Veleno Zombie Joe Vicki Elaine G Jennifer (sorry, there was more than one Jennifer–this is the jenarceneaux one) Barbara Elness Jenn Abigail Hurray!! I’ll be sending an email out to the winners in just a few minutes, asking you to supply me with a mailing address. To the rest of you, thank you SO much for playing along and posting your terrific testimonials to the power of sharing books! Keep on lending!!

  • Dear child of mine,

    The Diana
    27 Oct 2009 | 8:10 am
    What I want to say to my daughter: My darling child: I know that there are many times when you don’t like or appreciate the decisions I make, or the rules I set forth, or the limits I place. I’m very sorry for this, but my job as a parent is to protect and nurture you and to prepare you for your future as best as I can. Sometimes I am attempting to protect you from risks and dangers that are tangible and immediate. Sometimes I am attempting to protect you from unpleasantness and peril that might happen in the future if you continue on a certain path of behavior. Sometimes I am attempting…

  • I’m going to be living at the post office soon

    The Diana
    26 Oct 2009 | 9:28 am
    Another giveaway, but this one’s going to be a little different. I have eight copies of Mark of the Demon to give away, but these are NOT going to be autographed copies. Instead, I’m asking that, after you finish reading it, you pass it along to someone who you think might enjoy it. And then ask them to pass it along when they finish it, etc. To enter, post a comment and give an example of a series or author you fell in love with after reading a book that was borrowed (from library, friend, relative, whatever.) Contest will close Wednesday morning (October 28th) as soon as…
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    Ami Chopine

  • Nanowrimo so far

    Ami Chopine
    4 Nov 2009 | 7:52 am
    Well, I haven’t signed up on the site, maybe I should, but I’m getting there. Finished my first story/chapter on Monday, but yesterday was writing group which took up 3 hours, but was still very useful. Will push through today with as much as I can.

  • I’ve got a secret

    Ami Chopine
    27 Oct 2009 | 3:43 pm
    Got really good news today that I can’t talk about just yet.

  • Old times

    Ami Chopine
    17 Oct 2009 | 7:30 pm
    Our X-box has a few retro games. Just heard a sound of nostalgia: Sega! That tone when you first turn on the Sega machine. The Sega was the first game console we ever bought. We purchased it shortly after we got married. We played Sonic the Hedgehog on it.

  • Political outburst

    Ami Chopine
    9 Oct 2009 | 9:34 am
    An idea for health care: If we’re going to go into economic crippling debt for this, maybe can we just bypass insurance companies and have the gov directly build clinics, pay for the education of docs who go into primary care, and pass tort reform? Then at least we’d have something more useful than profit bloated share holders when it all comes down. Oh, and another stim package? Why are they taxing us to save companies who, often because of unethical practices, can’t manage to make their business successful? Oh and guess what? Building clinics gives work to people =…

  • The Killers Concert

    Ami Chopine
    30 Sep 2009 | 9:07 am
     I’d said right after the concert was done that I would blog about it, so my oldest daughter has been waiting for this post. So I guess I must. It isn’t that I don’t want to write about it. It is just that I have had second thoughts about how much I want to say. Sometimes, writing about a thing can dilute it if we want to use the ideas somewhere else. And there are thoughts I want to express more in my fiction than in my blog. But there are a few thoughts. Watching Brandon Flowers up there on stage, I got a big dose of Artist. The feeling that he created, he performed, and…
 
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    My Name Means Flintstone

  • #RIAUnleashed – notes from “UX for the development minded”

    mynamemeansflintstone
    13 Nov 2009 | 2:21 pm
    The slides will probably do this more justice, but these are my notes: The presenter was Andy Powell from Universal Mind We are surrounded by great experiences – nice cars, satellite radio online service (pulsar), gourmet food delivered inexpensively…the iphone (which changed the way we view what a phone can do)…the movie Pulp fiction (ok this was [...]

  • #RIAUnleashed – notes from “keeping front end dependencies under control session”

    mynamemeansflintstone
    13 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am
    The real slides are going to be posted at some point by the coordinators, but just for my own sake here is what I typed as fast as possible 5 simple rules for better client performance  (these are yahoo’s recommendations) organize and plan location matters load a component smart and once maximized caching opportunities optimize, minify and compress Javascript over time you keep [...]

  • Windows 7 is pretty stable a week into it…here’s how I got there…

    mynamemeansflintstone
    31 Oct 2009 | 8:20 am
    I did my upgrade last week from that abysmal Vista 64 to Windows 7 64. First I’d like to recount how long it took. For that, I will show you my tweets from last Friday night/Saturday morning.  Let me say that I started the upgrade at about 10:30 PM on Friday night: @alexbarnett was [...]

  • 4A’s analysis of a marketing failure: Microsoft Zune

    mynamemeansflintstone
    29 Oct 2009 | 2:03 pm
    So I wrote this paper for my marketing management class.  Since this is my first marketing class, you’ll forgive my newbie look at a product.  But I thought it was a fun paper to write, so I’m sharing it.   Normally marketing talks about the 4P’s, our class has been studying the downstream affects of [...]

  • Apple Time Capsule

    mynamemeansflintstone
    22 Oct 2009 | 8:24 pm
    So as I tweeted tonight, I received my 1TB Apple Time Capsule today and installed it to replace my aging Linksys router and to capture my dream of having a network disk mounted that all my machines could use (and maybe do some backups).  The real reason is that I need to back up all [...]
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    David Mack

  • Review of The 4400: Promises Broken

    David Mack
    20 Nov 2009 | 9:18 am
    I was pleased to log on today to find waiting for me SciFiChick’s review of my novel The 4400: Promises Broken. Long story short: she dug it.  :D Here are what I think of as the “money quotes” — “David Mack and Pocket Books have finally given fans of the show the resolution we have been waiting [...]

  • Analog Tweets for 2009-11-19

    David Mack
    19 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm
    @jendaby – My guess is that it's due to the hard consonants. in reply to jendaby 17:58:10

  • 1st Review of Star Trek Vanguard: Precipice

    David Mack
    19 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm
    Over at the top-notch Star Trek news site TrekMovie.com, Robert Lyons has posted his review of my new Star Trek Vanguard novel, Precipice, which is scheduled to be released next Tuesday.  His review of the book was quite favorable; I hope it’s one that many of the book’s readers share. For the curious, here are my [...]

  • Analog Tweets for 2009-11-18

    David Mack
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm
    RT @TrekMovie Review of my newest novel, Star Trek Vanguard: Precipice – http://twurl.nl/qe2af5 ( Thanks, @DaytonWard ) 19:43:09

  • Analog Tweets for 2009-11-18

    David Mack
    18 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm
    @TrekMovie – Dayton just got to it first. I promise to pimp the review tomorrow, honest. in reply to TrekMovie 01:38:30
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    L. Lee Lowe

  • Chapter Fifteen

    llowe
    19 Nov 2009 | 4:09 pm
    By the end of a grey, rain-soaked week with little else except a minor incident over a teacher’s palmer to distract anyone, Laura had been asked about Owen so often that she’d become adept at matching the right phrase to the right face, the way you automatically select golden koi lipgloss for a plain black [...]

  • Chapter Fourteen

    llowe
    12 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pm
    The nightmarish sound of howling rousts Zach from sleep. At least two or three wolves, possibly more. The human brain is an archaeobiological site of ancestral adaptations, so that cognoscens no less than sapiens will freeze when the ground opens at their feet, recoil (or flee) at the sight of a snake. After his heartbeat [...]

  • Chapter Thirteen

    llowe
    5 Nov 2009 | 4:03 pm
    The division head waved Litchfield to a seat. ‘Coffee, Charles?’ Slade asked. ‘Thank you, no.’ He settled himself on the edge of the hide-upholstered chair. It never did to act as if they were having an awards-ceremony natter, despite his superior’s genial smile. Slade was active in local politics, and if Molly’s girlfriends could be believed, eyeing [...]

  • Chapter Twelve

    llowe
    29 Oct 2009 | 5:28 pm
    ‘What the hell have you been up to?’ With an angry set to his shoulders Lev tosses down his satchel and seizes the lamp off the floor. In a moment it’s burning brightly again, a stark light which accentuates the planes and angles of his face. But his examination is as skilful and sensitive as before, [...]

  • Chapter Eleven

    llowe
    22 Oct 2009 | 5:09 pm
    Ping. A sound like ice cracking underfoot. Laura drew the duvet up over her head but Max kept jumping onto frozen puddles in the potholed lane. Ping. Ping. ‘Stop it, Max. Let me sleep.’ Ping. Slowly she came awake. Her bedroom was dark, but a finger of moonlight lifted the hem of her curtains, traced a pale silvery [...]
 
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    Grasping for the Wind

  • Darra Update

    John Ottinger III
    20 Nov 2009 | 2:36 pm
    Just wanted to give everyone and update on how my mini-dachshund Darra is doing. She is excessively perky actually, back to her normal self – licking every exposed patch of skin till it is nearly raw. Her stitches have come out, she had a bath for the first time in six weeks and her hair is beginning to grow back in, slowly but surely. We are very pleased with the work the vet an surgeon did on Darra and although she won’t be totally healed for another three months, we think she is going to be okay. Do think about us, as a real test is coming up when she returns to meet my parents…

  • Blog Stuff: LinkedIn

    John Ottinger III
    20 Nov 2009 | 6:37 am
    For some time now, I have had a profile on LinkedIn. However, some of you may not know that, so I wanted to say so here, and ask for a favor. Since April, I have been unemployed. One of the tools I use for finding work is LinkedIn. I have included Grasping for the Wind and my “freelance writing” as professions on my profile. If you enjoy my work, I’d love for you to connect with me on LinkedIn and perhaps write a short recommendation on either my role as a freelance writer or Blogger at Grasping for the Wind. (I will be happy to reciprocate.) This will help my profile stand…

  • Cheap Fiction: GUD’s Pay What You Want

    John Ottinger III
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am
    GUD Magazine is having a pay what you want sale on pdf copies of their magazine. We’ve given you deals before, but nothing quite like this. Now’s the best time to get a PDF of any issue of GUD–for whatever price you like (minimum one US cent; though we don’t see a cent unless you pay more than 5 cents; and half the net of every sale goes back to our contributors. Help us bump their advances from semi-pro to earned-out pro rates? Every penny helps, and tell your friends! Related posts:Promo: Library Book SalesBBT Magazine is reborn! Plus free fiction!Top Shelf…

  • Free Fiction: Death Inc. by Edward Morris

    John Ottinger III
    20 Nov 2009 | 5:41 am
    From Mercury Retrograde Press: The first three installments of Death, Inc. by Edward Morris, Book Zero of his There Was a Crooked Man Series, are now available FREE at http://www.mercuryretrogradepress.com/Worlds/TWACM/DeathInc/index.asp We’re publishing this volume as a free web-serial, with a new installment every Friday; it will also be available in Trade Paper and the usual eBook formats when complete. Related posts:Free Fiction: There Was a Crooked Man by Edward MorrisFree Fiction: 50 Free Fantastic Fictions For FridayFree Fiction: Magic For Beginners by Kelly Link

  • Interview: J. C. Hutchins

    John Ottinger III
    19 Nov 2009 | 5:29 am
    J. C. Hutchins is the author of the 7th Son (my review) series of podcast novels, the first of which is now in available in print. Visit him at jchutchins.net for lots more episodes, Hutchins’ podcasts on writing and podcasting and lots of other fun promotional stuff, including an entirely FREE prequel to the novel now in stores. Grasping for the Wind: First off, I want to thank you for sending good juju out to my puppy Darra in your guest post. It is greatly appreciated. J. C. Hutchins: Oh, you’re welcome! My elderly cat Chester recently experienced some debilitating health issues,…
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