A Rare (hah!) Political Post

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Hey, Americans! Vote today, please!

Oh, and for you folks in Washington state, usually I write something like “It doesn’t matter who you support, as long as you stay informed and take part,” but for this year, fuck that. I really want WA residents to check “Approve” on Ref. 71 to affirm domestic partnership rights for gay couples.

One day our grandkids will shake their heads in dismay that we had to actually vote on whether we’d approve human rights for all our citizens. Help us move more quickly into the fair, decent, honorable future we know is coming. Approve 71 and get your ballot in the mail before deadline.

And while we’re at it, let’s send Tim Eyman’s Initiative 1033 down to defeat, too. I’m more than happy to have California residents move up here; I’m less sanguine about importing their political gridlock and debt-crippled state government.

VOTE!

Three more random things

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First of all, thank you, everyone, for the kind words on yesterday’s post. I couldn’t be more thrilled about making Publishers Weekly’s Best of 2009 list. And thank you also to everyone who posted and tweeted about it to spread the word.

I sent an email to KUOW, our local NPR station, to let them know that two Seattle locals were on the list for sf/f books, but I’m sure nothing will come of that. Later, I’ll email a couple of reviewers to let them know, too, in case they want to include that in the interviews/reviews/whatever.

Then I’m going to stop thinking about it. No, really, I am. Man Bites World needs my attention, and I’m working on a tricky bit at the moment.

Second thing: Del Rey has posted the first chapter of Child of Fire on Scribd. This is nicer version than the one on my website, since it includes the cover art and the pages look just the way they do in the physical book. All that book design-y goodness.

Finally, a question (my Google Fu is weak): There’s a certain type of belt I need to write about, but I can’t find the name of it online. I can find pictures, but not the actual name (and I’m pretty sure the answer isn’t “bomber belt.” Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Reviews of Child of Fire part 3

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I should probably save this until I have more, but what the heck. Link roundup: Continue reading

Randomness for 11/3

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1) Gore Vidal can go fuck himself.

“So what’s your take on Polanski, this many years later?

I really don’t give a fuck. Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she’s been taken advantage of?”

via bookslut

2) Malcolm Gladwell: Football, dogfighting and brain damage. I don’t think I’m going to be able to watch football in the same way again. Actually, I’m thinking of giving it up entirely.

3) On a slightly lighter note: America pays more for its health care, in convenient chart form. The interesting thing about this is that people say Medicare spending is unsustainable, and also that they don’t pay enough for doctors et al to keep their doors open. Aside from the fact that those two are pretty much contradictory, it’s instructive to see how much more money Medicare spends than foreign payors.

4) Now for something upbeat: Writer Carrie Vaughn: The Best Advice I Ever Got. How perfect the timing of this is for me!

5) And then there’s this: Supernatural collective nouns. via tnh’s particles.

Woo-hoo!

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ZOMG, Child of Fire just made the Publisher’s Weekly “Best Books of 2009” list!

Holy crap! I’m no longer wigged out about spending most of yesterday underneath the kitchen sink, fixing a leaky connection and scrubbing you don’t even want to know what. (I even dreamed about it, gah!)

Holy crap!!

::Does a little dance:: :D

Also, thank you to the folks who helped me with the cover copy of book two in my previous post. As soon as I stop floating around my living room, I’m having another go at that.

Please help

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I’m trying to come up with some back cover copy for Game of Cages. This is a little rough and a little too long, but what do you think?

In the wilds of the North Cascades, near a small town called Washaway, a secret high-stakes auction is taking place. A select wealthy few have gathered to bid on a captured extradimensional entity known as a predator.

The peers of the Twenty Palace Society, powerful sorcerers all, are dedicated to protecting the Earth by destroying predators–as well as anyone who would summon or possess one. Left unchecked, a single predator could scour the earth of all life. But none of the peers are near enough to raid the auction, so it falls to Ray Lilly, an expendable “wooden man” with a few stolen scraps of magic and an investigator with no magic at all to surveil the event and identify the winning bidder for later sanction.

They arrive too late. One of the losing bidders has released the predator in an act of sabotage and it has fled to the nearby town to feed. Now all the bidders are tearing apart the town, trying to capture the creature for themselves. And unknown to Ray, one of them is a powerful magician the society has been hunting for decades, and more dangerous than any single predator. Even worse, he’s taken notice of Ray, and knows who and what he is.

Can Ray and the investigator hold out until help arrives? Or will they, and the entire town, be swept away in the conflict of these terrible powers?

Any input would be appreciated.

Update: copy sent. Thanks for your help, everyone!

Randomness for 11/1

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1) New book explains why Tina Fey hates Sarah Palin. Apparently, they play different kinds of characters on TV.

2) The Ten Funniest People on Twitter. You’re welcome.

3) In *my* day we had to roll the dice ourselves… And we were happy to do it, too!

4) Free web games, with tips for winning them.

5) Nine questionable Batman toys. I’ve linked to the water pistol before, but the bath foam is even more disturbing.

MONK writer meets his readers

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“Is Monk ever going to get any?”

“You mean have sex?”

“Yes,” she said. She’d actually asked me the same question during the question-and-answer session but I guess my answer didn’t satisfy her.

“Well, the show is over, so no, I don’t think so.”

“What about in your books?”

I shook my head. “I just don’t see it.”

“I do,” she said. “Vividly.”

Weirdly, someone asked me about NaNoWriMo

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I won’t be taking part. I’m still editing Man Bites World (finished one of the difficult parts today) and I’ll have galleys for Game of Cages soon. After that, it’s new project time, so I’ll have brainstorming and outlining to do. I may not write another word of rough draft until Christmas.

However, even if I weren’t knee-deep in edits, I’d probably skip it. I’ve never joined in and probably never will.

Happy Halloween!

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House Haunted By Tortured Souls Of Current Residents

“HARTFORD, MI—On the outside it may look like any other home, but within the walls of 6535 Maple Ave. lies a terrifying secret: Every night, when the sun goes down and the moon comes out, this suburban bungalow is haunted by the restless, tormented souls of its current residents, the Davidson family.”