“It’s full of blue-arsed Barbie dolls trying to catch rubber turkeys. It was the most gorgeous pile of nonsense I have ever seen.”
via Ansible.
Progress
StandardI mailed the galleys for Game of Cages back to Del Rey this morning. Done!
… until I get a call to go over the pages one more time. this time I was less dumb and I scanned the whole galley before I mailed it, so if when the call comes, I’ll be looking at the correct text. By the way, individually scanning every page on a flat bed scanner? Takes a while. Yeah, I realize they make home scanners with automatic document feeders, but I’m pinching pennies at the moment.
What that means is that I got to spend this morning working on Man Bites World again. At this point, all the easy stuff is fixed along with some of the not-so-easy stuff. The really hard stuff? A couple of those decisions still have to be made.
Oh! Just writing out this post made me realize how I can fix one of those broken plot points. I’m going to take some notes and then head home.
The problem with giving up TV is that you don’t have TV anymore.
StandardSo, I told my wife I needed to do some scanning tonight so I could mail back my galleys tomorrow. Fine, fine, she answered. We had dinner and the boy made me play the Lego Indiana Jones levels he created.
After that, they started putting on their jackets.
“We’re going to the pub on the corner to watch the Olympics.”
“What? You’re leaving?”
“I’m having a milkshake!”
“Well, I don’t know if they have milkshakes there–”
“Mom, they do!”
“But we’re going to watch the opening ceremonies. I don’t know how long we’ll stay.”
They put on their jackets. The boy refused–three times–to change from his shorts into long pants. My wife shrugged, apologized, and said “This will give you a chance to work.” Then they left.
So I’m sitting here in this empty apartment. It’s quiet. Jesus, it’s never quiet around here. I should be relaxing and enjoying the solitude. I love solitude. But the truth is that I already miss them.
Google Buzz = Evil
StandardMaybe I should have used the subject line “Google Buzz: Santa’s gift to stalkers and abusive ex-husbands.
Regime Change in Iran?
StandardThings have been pretty busy lately. I’m finishing up the galleys for Game of Cages and itching to get back to Man Bites World. Not to mention coming up with a new title for the latter. (I came up with one I really, really liked, but it turns out to be the title of a pair of unrelated-to-each-other non-fiction books, one of which is forty years old and still in print. ::shrugs::)
So, busy. And that means I haven’t had time or mental energy to follow important news stories. I haven’t looked at a single image or video of the devastation in Haiti. I haven’t sat down and teased out the differing reasons Portugal, Spain and Greece are struggling with economic collapse. And I haven’t been following the renewed Green Movement protests in Iran.
I have had the emotional resources for more minor stories: The Amazon.com/Macmillan confrontation exploded all over my blog list, and I stuck with that story throughout the week. And yeah, it was important to the people involved, but not Haiti-important–the stakes in the conflict were not going to send me into a fit of misery. (And let’s not get started on the way Democrats, including Obama, have fucked up on health care reform.)
But still, we can’t shut our eyes to the rest of the world, which is why I wanted to post this: Marc Lynch on the latest Green Movement protests in Iran. It appears that regime change in Iran is a long, long shot at this point. The government has consolidated its hold on the country through force of arms and the shutdown of communications technology, and there’s not much we can do about it besides what we’re already doing.
Randomness for 2/11
Standard1) Jessa Crispin, editor and founder of Bookslut.com, writes a largely critical article about Jeff VanderMeer’s Booklife. As a response, VanderMeer interviews her on his blog. Now THAT is a smart response to a negative writeup.
2) Peter Osnos on Macmillan vs. Amazon.com.
3) An important chart for urban fantasists.
4) Weird stalker calls, and how to end a story on a dramatic note.
5) Jimmy Dean’s iPhone accessories.
6) Polls show that 70% of Americans support allowing “gay men and lesbians” to serve in the military, but only 59% support allowing “homosexuals” to serve. Rational actors? I don’t think so.
7) Anne Rice to release a “Vook.” FYI Perez Hilton loved it.
Very important announcement
StandardI will not be going to see that werewolf movie premiering this weekend. Werewolves freak me out (which is why they appear in the Twenty Palaces universe when pretty much no other “classic”/folklore creatures will be) and I do not want to see a movie where people get torn apart and eaten.
That’s right, I skip zombie movies, too. (Give me unicorns anyday).
Maybe I’ll see it someday, on the smallest screen possible… like my wife’s iPod Classic.
Meanwhile, here’s a fun list of classic werewolf movies.
“None of this is secret.”
StandardRachel Maddow on hypocrisy in the GOP: Naming names.
This is why I despair for my country.
Well don’t I feel all special
StandardNow that I’ve joined SFWA, I can follow the Nebula Awards nominations, tracking them as they pile up. It’s like a horse race, but the people involved move very slowly.
In case anyone asks, I’m not on there, of course, and I didn’t expect to be. I’m also not asking people to nominate my book or whatever. I’m not writing the sort of work that wins awards, and I won’t be any time soon. It’s not a concern. In fact, I posted my joke bio on the Campbell Award page. I won’t win and I don’t care.
One thing I *do* care about is that I haven’t nominated anyone yet. I’ve only read one new sf/f novel this year–I’ve bought a bunch, but only read one. It’s already near the front of the pack, but maybe my nom would do it some good.
But is that fair? My sample size is one–shouldn’t I keep out of the whole mess? There may be ten or twelve novels that deserve the award more, but how would I know? I’m still reading mystery novels from the sixties and Planet Hulk.
So, should a person nominate books for an award if they’re not well read in the field?
Things that are annoying
StandardLet’s add something to the long list:
When I scan a document I have to lay it in portrait mode, even though the page is printed landscape. I scan it, rotate it appropriately and save it.
Sounds sensible, right?
Except this morning, after 80-some pages, I discovered that rotating it to landscape mode was cutting off the margins of the page. You know, where all my hand-written corrections were.
Dear software designers: wtf?