At this point, it’s pretty clear that fortune cookie makers are carefully writing their fortunes so they’ll be funny when the reader adds “… in bed” to the end of it.
Hmph!
Randomness for 12/14
Standard1) So infuriating and depressing: What happened to Hope Witsell.
2) In a less awful note, Dominick Dunn: bestselling writer with appalling taste.
3) Comfortable interstellar travel
4) Terminator Offers Some Lessons for the Salvation of Your Novel
5) One thing that continually astonishes me about people is the way they leap to the defense of the powerful. Some seem to want to side with authority as a matter of habit. But before I could write about this–and about Dr. Peter Watts’s experience at the U.S./Canadian border–Jo Walton did it better than I ever could.
6) Frank Frazetta’s son smashes through the Frazetta museum with a backhoe to steal $20 million dollars worth of his father’s paintings. via James Nicoll
7) Joe Lieberman promises to filibuster health care reform. His current rational is that he’s against the expansion of Medicare. He had the opportunity to negotiate with Senators on this issue but refused to show up for those meetings. Of course, he previously supported the policy when he ran for VP. He doesn’t want to negotiate; he wants to obstruct. He’d previously opposed the public option for completely counterfactual reasons; in fact, he seemed about as knowledgeable on the subject as trolling conservative commenters on John Scalzi’s blog. Why did Connecticutters vote this asshole back in?
On the perils of being well-rested
StandardSaturday, I worked on Man Bites World. I had a good day, but I didn’t finish. Afterward, I met my family for dinner at a little Greek place and we caught two buses to Green Lake. Well, after three long, draining days of story revisions, I was a little too befuddled to appreciate the evening lights along the path around the lake, and the musicians (including a very large ukulele band playing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”). It was a long trip across town and there was, as usual, pain.
I returned home exhausted and slumped off to bed at 9pm. I woke up on Sunday at 7 am. Great, right?
Except I’m a night person. I keep an early schedule because of near-continual exhaustion, and without that exhaustion I can’t sleep. I was up until 3:30 last night. (What I should have done is more revision, but I knew if I started that I would never ever go to bed.)
Yay for a screwed up day! I strongly suspect I’ll be back on my old schedule tonight.
Huh.
StandardChild of Fire is on Google Books
Not the whole thing. Not a long, continuous piece, either. But a lot of it. I’m cool with that, I guess.
Very little is going on, but I’m a bit overwhelmed anyway. More details later.
I’m back in the Starbucks again
Standard… but I’m about to leave. The section I’m revising is going to come out much shorter now, which is a good thing, since I’m 11K over the word count I promised. It doesn’t matter in a substantial way, but it makes me less anxious.
But I’ll be getting up in about five minutes to head to the library for another interview, and this time it may be on video. Maybe not, but maybe. I shaved, just in case.
Nervous? Me? No!
Update: No video! Phew! It went pretty well, I think. I went fumble mouth once or twice, but it wasn’t too bad.
Writing marathon, day two.
StandardI’ve had my first pint of coffee, caught up on (most of) my email, and skimmed my LJ friends list (thank you f-list). I decided not to dabble in today’s internet outrage, mainly because I don’t see why this is a big deal. Publishers have always released hardbacks first, then other editions later. If readers want to pay less, they have to wait.
I certainly do. While I am no longer clinging desperately from a slender sapling over the Cliffs of Bankruptcy, I still can’t afford to buy hardbacks. Earlier this week, I rushed to the new books section of B&N to pick up a copy of A Young Man Without Magic
But for readers with the cash and the urgent desire to read now!, they can have the book in an expensive format.
As for e-books, it’s another format–and less profitable, too, especially since Amazon.com has been slashing prices so hard. Why is it such a shock that publishers are delaying their release? Various commenters in the linked post above claim that, if the e-book release is not the same day as the hardback, they will forget about it completely, which seems pretty doubtful to me. You also see the usual “I guess they want to encourage piracy!” statements, which isn’t worth addressing.
Also in the comments there, I believe I’ve seen the first instance in the historical record of a dedicated e-book reader stating that they would be willing to pay hardback prices for their e-books. Mark the date!
Jane at Dear Author thinks e-book buyers are “being punished” because of the ongoing price wars, which is not only wrong, but way too personal. Not being able to have the thing you want when you want it is not punishment.
It’s possible all this will change. It’s possible that someday movies will be released into movie theaters, on DVD, and on Netflix streaming on the same day. I guess. I’m just not particularly upset at having to wait for an edition I can afford, and I suspect that, in time, e-book audiences won’t be, either.
Added later: Or is it all about reining in Amazon.com?
Now, back to Man Bites World. I mentioned in a general way that yesterday was a productive day, but damn am I grateful for YouTube and its videos of “demonstration fires.” How did writers survive before the internet?
I still have fixes that need doing, but conceptually I think I have a handle on them. Now it’s just a matter of going through and addressing everything in square brackets (not to mention smooth out that prose. Christ.)
It’s 8pm
StandardAnd they’re about to kick us all out of the library.
That was a good day’s work.
Meanwhile, a hypothetical…
StandardIf you could change your own personality in one way, what would you change? Or would you not change a thing? Please answer here in comments or on your own blogs.
Personally, I would rather have a brain that derived mild pleasure/relaxation from moderate exercise. I’d be better off if I didn’t find it so tedious.
Here I am
StandardI’m sitting in Starbucks on a day when I’d normally be at Day Job. I’ve taken two days off this week to work on Man Bites World. Hopefully, I’ll have it close enough to done that I can send it to my agent on Saturday or Monday.
Research has been concluded (I hope). Internet squabble dabbled in.
Time to work.
RPG-7 Question
StandardHere’s something I haven’t been able to find out for myself: If person with an RPG-7 fired an anti-personnel grenade into an apartment, would it destroy the walls, floor and ceiling of the apartment? Would it blow out the windows of those other apartments?
I’m assuming it wouldn’t collapse the building.