Currently listening to a program about this book: The Power of Habit
I’m a guy who needs to change his habits.
If you want to listen to the program (it’s free) you can do it here.
Randomness for 3/17
Standard1) The best of the worst of online fashion.
2) Horrible things donated to Goodwill. Absolutely NSFW.
3) Exposed to D&D Early in Life? A flowchart
4) Fan-made “Bella’s womb” made of felt. Of course it has a mutant fetus inside. Of course it does.
5) Japanese skater does parkour with his board. Video. Pretty amazing.
6) Camping tents that look like food. Call me when they make a tent that looks like something a bear wouldn’t want to bite.
Round 2 of the Cage Match is over
StandardAdded later: Apparently they are declaring Ray the winner because he was ahead at 5 but the voting was mistakenly not closed. I… er… I think I’m going to skip the comments over there. (Who am I kidding?)
And Tyrion Lannister defeated Ray Lilly, just as my writeup suggested. I’ll admit that it was closer than I expected, 50.15% to 49.85% out of nearly three thousand votes, which comes to a narrow nine-vote margin of victory.
Of course, one of those nine votes was mine. I’m pleased to see Tyrion move on to the next round. Love that character.
Thanks to everyone who made this fun, and thanks especially to David Pomerico and all the other folks at Suvudu who are putting so much time and energy into this game.
Back to my book.
Five things make a post
Standard1) I’ve asked my agency to accept an offer from a Polish publisher to do a Polish edition of Child of Fire. Awesome! Never let anyone tell you that agents are unnecessary.
2) Netflix Streaming seems to promise a great deal, but I can’t pretend to be happy that the shows continually stop to rebuffer. It took 35 minutes to watch a 20-minute cartoon.
3) This small town will get a grant to cover 60% of the cost of a new library if they can raise the other 40% themselves. Can you help? Video.
4) Like many Americans, I’m not terribly happy with the current state of the GOP, but one thing I do like is the protracted primary process. I’m pleased to see so many candidates sticking it out and going from state to state. Why? Super PAC stimulus. Ad buys, sign printing, mailings, the whole thing, millions of dollars from a handful of extremely conservative millionaires are being poured into each state’s economy as the campaigns move from one to another. I may not like the message conservative candidates have been promoting, but I like watching them spend their cash.
5) Regarding the Suvudu.com cage matches, I’ve made a difficult decision: even if Ray Lilly wins, I’m not going to write the next round. Honestly, I just can’t. I’m struggling too much with my new book to let my attention be divided and that’s where I have to put my energy. I’m 96K words into it; I gotta get this done. On top of that I have more than a few demands on my personal time.
So, vote for Ray if you want but don’t vote to see another writeup from me. The cage matches are fun but I can’t afford to play any more.
John Carter, Bladder-buster of Mars
StandardSaw JOHN CARTER yesterday with my son and not only did I like it, I walked out of the theater aching to write some sword-and-planet. I’d always wanted to read some Leigh Brackett, and that would be a fantastic excuse.
Still, it’s strange to see this movie dumped in the post-Oscars garbage pail release schedule and to read the NYTimes dumping on it unseen. I understand that some people have no interest in the genre, and the pseudo-insider “Hollywood spent lots of money on a flop!” articles are incredibly easy to write, but come on! This was a lot of fun.
I picked up the book two years ago because it was the most interesting option at an in-store Espresso Book Machine (video) but I never got around to reading it. Seeing this movie bumps it up my list.
Thing is, the movie is so freaking romantic: a dying world, interplanetary love, forbidden compassion, open-air “planes”, a cowboy with a tragic past, warring city-states, mysterious tombs, swords and armor dueling, ancient ruins, secret temples, mysterious villains behind the villain… the whole thing is really well put together. My bladder nearly burst because I just had to stay for the whole thing.
Damn it’s a good movie. You should see it in the theater if you can.
Silence falls
StandardI’m really sorry, folks, but I’m turning off comments on my main blog again. I cleared my spam trap last night and when I woke up it was full again. You guys don’t see it because Akismet works pretty well, but occasionally it hoovers up a real comment and I don’t have time to search for ham in the trap.
Folks can respond to me on Twitter and LiveJournal, and I’m thinking of creating a Facebook fan page where people could interact without all the bullshit.
Sorry, but time is precious and I have to hoard it.
updated to clarify this is my WordPress blog on my main website I’m talking about.
The Death of Ray Lilly
StandardRound two of the Suvudu.com Cage Match is now live!
This time the writeup is a bit long–nearly four thousand words–so you guys know you’re getting your no-money’s worth. But… what’s up with that subject line? Is that pessimism about the outcome of the match? Or is that a spoiler?? Click through to find out the truth!
SEE Tyrion’s deadly plan!
SEE the mysterious, unexpected foe Ray uses his ghost knife against!
SEE a secret from Annalise’s past… and her present!!!
Anyway, the cage match writeups are in third-person so you know they aren’t canon, because that’s a thing I just made up. Publishing is Calvinball, you know. Also, Tyrion Lannister is probably my favorite character from the last 15-some years. I was seriously pleased by the chance to write him (hence the length of the piece) and–admission time–I voted for him, too. Not canon, guys! Seriously!
Finally, if you’re new to the Twenty Palaces books and just dropping by one of my sites for the first time, a warning: the writeup was fun and (hopefully) funny but the books are much darker. Instead of action-comedies, they’re more like action-tragedies. Check out the free sample chapters I link to in my website; I don’t want lovers of light comedy to feel like they’ve been misled.
Have fun, you guys.
Creativity Project part 2
StandardAs a reminder, these posts are a response to this article in Psychology Today: Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking. Not that I think it needs a response, but because it provides a decent jumping off point.
I’m bundling points 2 and 3 together and dispensing with them quickly. Not because they aren’t important, but because they’re easy.
2. Creative thinking is work
What’s this? Coming out in favor of working hard? What a bold position to take!
Not that hard work isn’t important. Of course it is. The author of the article is correct when he says that being creative isn’t a matter of simply having great ideas fall into your lap like flakes of dandruff. So it’s true and it’s easy to say; creativity takes focussed effort.
But what kind? It’s one thing to say: “You must work hard.” That is the easiest thing in the world to type out, because it confirms so many of our own prejudices. It’s the kind of thinking that runs neatly inside the cultural groove and it quickly becomes a “My Favorite Argument” (quick def: an assertion someone feels so comfortable with that they use it to redirect new or unusual discussions toward a dispute where they already feel they have a solid argument).
But how can we manage our creative work so it’s effective and productive? Continue reading
Why yes, I would like an end to time switching
StandardOne thing the video glosses over: how many lives it takes.
Ray Lilly vs Tyrion Lannister
StandardYesterday I wrote and turned in the Suvudu.com Cage Match between Tyrion and Ray, and I think you guys will be a little surprised at what I did with it. It was long, though.
Anyway, to my surprise it took me all day. I gave up one of my prime writing days for it, a day when I’m supposed to be finishing 2K words on A Blessing Of Monsters, so that’s bad.
And after this next cage match wraps up, I’m going to be turning off comments on the blog globally. The spam is just wasting my time and having my time wasted drives me crazy.