“… All perfect light and promises.”

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I’ve been having a good couple of days on the writing-front. Starting on Saturday, Man Bites World has been coming together in a way that really makes me happy. The characters, the plot, all of it suddenly broke into a sprint. Even the long, talky conversation was working for me.[1]

But of course I knew yet another set of notes were coming for Everyone Loves Blue Dog, and I knew that the better things were going for book 3, the more likely book 2 would interrupt.

Well, things must have been doing even better than I thought, because the secret writing gremlins have not only arranged for the next round of revisions to hit today[2], but I’m also told I’ll be getting the page proofs for Child of Fire later this week.

Momentum is for breaking, I guess.

Still, the last couple days have been so good that I’m expecting to hit my weekly goal early. If so, I can take Saturday morning off (and sleep in!). Blessed, blessed sleep.

[1] My editor was curious how I was going to portray one of the antagonists, a guy who is planning wholesale destruction but still considers the protagonist his good friend. I’m hoping “Just because I plan to euthanize the world doesn’t mean I want to be a dick about it” covers that ground pretty well.

[2]The revision recommendations on ELBD do not include cutting my dark(ish) ending. Plenty of other work to do, though. We’ll see how the next draft is received.

A book and a show

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First the book: The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen.

For the first time ever, I was sitting on a bus reading this book, I looked over at the reader next to me (I’m an incorrigible book snoop) and she was reading the exact same book. I consider this scientific proof that the book is a bestseller.

And it deserves to be. It’s a historical thriller, and like a lot of genre books with a historical setting, it spends a lot of time establishing the time period before the story kicks in. But kick in it does. The two lead characters are more admirable than interesting, but some of the supporting cast get POV chapters.

The most interesting character here is the setting, ‘natch. The rough conditions in the maternity ward, the medical school classes, the filthy rooms where the poor had to live–yeah, it’s gross. But it was fascinating, too. And once the plot picked up speed, I couldn’t put it down.

And I hereby declare my book grouch period to be over.

Next is the show. Here is the trailer to the CGI anime series CatShitOne

and OMG, do not let your kids see that.

Well, *that’s* a relief!

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School headmaster insists that there are no vampires infesting the Boston Latin School.

Aren’t you glad that’s settled? I am.

ETA: Remember that “legs like quills” book I linked to a while back? Making Light does a thorough link farm on it.

Heh. “… her neck was a bottle of wine covered in dew and otters.”

Dear Book:

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If I want to make the characters to do something crazy and cool, please do not fight me on it. I am not interested in hearing that my ideas don’t make sense or that the characters would never do that. I have a word count goal to make for the day.

Or not.

Sincerely,
your author

Stupid video game…

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Question: Do you agree that Indiana Jones would never destroy priceless works of antiquity, even if it forwards the plot of a stupid computer game– Y/Y?

You know what helps my concentration? Distractions

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Let me be more specific: I’m sitting at a little table at Starbucks. One of the homeless guys from the neighborhood comes in and sits about three feet from me (it’s a small place) at about two-o’clock from me.

He’s wearing flip flops and his feet are filthy and covered with sores. He has two bags with him full of random crap, and he can’t seem to decide where to sit. He moves to a table, leaves his bag there when he moves to a comfy chair, spends about five minutes throwing wooden stirrers onto the chair opposite one at a time, then picks them up and throws them on the floor, then picks them up again and throws them onto a table.

Me, I’m deliberately not looking at him. Not when he’s standing at a corner scratching his back on the wall, not when he’s letting his feet dangle over the arm of the chair, not at all. He’s much too close to me for us to look at each other without engaging, and once that starts I’m never going to get anything done.

So I kept my eyes on my laptop screen. I kept my hands on the keyboard. And I met my goal for the day. Now I have to get a couple things done around the apartment and write enough to make yesterday’s goal, too. (eta: Done)

Two animations

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First one: No kids around? In the mood for some sick, disturbing humor? Watch Silence of the Lambs: The Musical animated with Legos.

Second one: Lots of kids around? Want to watch an amazing artistic and technical achievement? Watch an animation done entirely out of graffiti.

Actually, if you only have time for one, don’t miss that second one.

Links and Galleys

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First the links:

Writers, Do not call a publisher, even if you’re “calling on behalf of an agent”. ::Rolls eyes::

And, here’s a list you didn’t know you absolutely had to read: Twenty Ridiculous Complaints Made By Tourists. The first one, about the aroused elephant, is priceless.

From Failblog.org: Child safety: You’re doing it wrong.

From Failblog.org part 2: Is this really a bag of Doritos?

I love the serene look on the yellow guy’s face. Crotch-stomp=bliss.

Finally, Former Project Runway contestant charged with Assault for throwing a cat (among other things) at her sleeping boyfriend.

And now, galleys: I’m told that Del Rey will be printing over 500 bound galleys for Child of Fire, and 300 of them will be given away at San Diego Comic Con. They’ll also be the only fiction advance reader edition they’ll be giving away at the event. Pretty cool, thinks me.

Some people shouldn’t play computer games

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And I’m one of them.

Last night, I was playing “Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb” and I was trying to work my way through the Prague levels, which take place in a castle. Why is that bad? Because the character has to walk on high ledges, jump from one building to another, shimmy of chains, use his whip as a swing and generally get very very high.

Me, I don’t like the heights. I could barely watch the end of Peter Jackson’s version of KING KONG on my 19″ TV set because the image of the ape at the edge of that building made me nauseous.

And yeah, so did Indy. Several times, I had to jump out into the void and catch a chain, then swing back and forth and jump to catch another chain or a ledge by my fingertips. Then there were the fist- and gunfights on balconies.

Whenever someone fell, screaming all the way down, I got a knot in my stomach. And when it happened to Indy I had to walk away from the computer.

Some people shouldn’t play computer games.

TV channel has chance to be popular; can’t afford hang out with geeks anymore

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I’m sure this will be all over by the time I post it, but check it out.

Sci-Fi Channel to change it’s name to SyFy this summer.

No, that’s not The Onion. And today isn’t April 1st (I checked). Despite a double-digit increase in earnings, they really are changing the name because they think it’s been holding them back.

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

Mr. Brooks said that when people who say they don’t like science fiction enjoy a film like “Star Wars,” they don’t think it’s science fiction; they think it’s a good movie.

“We spent a lot of time in the ’90s trying to distance the network from science fiction, which is largely why it’s called Sci Fi,” Mr. Brooks said. “It’s somewhat cooler and better than the name ‘Science Fiction.’ But even the name Sci Fi is limiting.”

But wait! Turn off your outrage machine! There’s also this:

It also positions the brand for future growth by creating an ownable trademark that can travel easily with consumers across new media and nonlinear digital platforms, new international channels and extend into new business ventures.

That’s right. Hidden beside the bashing of its core audience (you know, people who like science fiction) is a smart business decision. They want a trademark they can paste onto projects in other media, including a long-rumored MMORPG (did I get that right?) that will tie in to a TV series.

They’re also planning to launch Syfy Games and Syfy Kids. I think they were smart to change the name. They’re going to have branding that is uniquely their own.

Although they should have gone with “Skiffy”.