Author’s Big Mistake (or is it?)

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Way back in the misty dawn of 2010, the denizens of the Absolute Write fora (which is still an ongoing concern, but without me, because busy) folks used to talk about the ABM: the Author’s Big Mistake. What was it?

Responding to reviews.

Supposedly, arguing with readers who left reviews was one of the worst things an author could do, because no one ever changed their minds, no one was ever impressed, and it made the author look like a slow-motion train wreck. So much drama over one unhappy opinion!

Also:

Also, this guy and this guy.

Which leads to this review on the MilSF novella by [asshole author who self-Googles], called Big Boys Don’t Cry. Dude gets a negative review, dares the reader to lower it to one-star (which, if you have a bunch of five-stars, is better than the “meh” of a three-star review) and later goes all troll apoplectic on the reviewer.

Normally, I’d think the guy was being a fool, but in this case? Nope. [Asshole author who self-Googles] is busy marketing himself as an anti-feminist culture warrior; what better way to rally the troops than to have a public argument with someone on the other side? What better way to bring attention to his work than with a big, public stink?

(And yes, I know I’m “helping” him get more attention, but whatever. the author himself seems like a real creep, but maybe there are readers out there who would like it? Who knows.)

With books, you don’t need a huge readership to be a success. Even if badmouthing lefties drives away some potential readers, it will probably bring in even more on his side (plus, the ones he brings in are likely to be in his target audience). “So-and-so is being an asshole… for our side!”

Controversy! It’s not always a bad thing.

How to recognize when someone is drowning 2015

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Summer is about to start, so it’s time to repost my annual warning for 2015:

How to recognize when someone is drowning.

It’s not what you think. Before you take your kids or loved ones into the water, read this article.

Dudes Writing Rape Scenes

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I’ve been reading the Game of Thrones novels ever since I picked up the first one from a remainders table at the Jersey shore, and liking them pretty well. There are too many characters and the glossary doesn’t do a very good job helping me remember who’s who from one book to another (especially with years between the end of one book and the start of another) but I’m invested.

I don’t watch the show. Continue reading

Lendable library wifi hotspots

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File this under “Things that are cool”: thanks to a grant from Google, the Seattle Public Library is going to be lending people wifi hotspots that they can take home for three weeks, just like books. You can also renew them if no one else has a hold, just like books. Did you know that some 15% of the households in the Seattle area don’t have internet service? I didn’t.

Later this summer, they expect to have lendable laptops, too.

It makes me feel like an old fogey to say it, but I remember looking at the earliest laptops and thinking WTF is the point of THAT? Now I write all my fiction on one.

Anyway, this isn’t the first program in the country, but it’s a welcome addition. For people who are looking for a job or a place to live, the internet is vital. In fact, it’s so important for the public to be able to utilize it, it ought to be a public utility.

I hope it goes well.

Why is Frodo so mopey all the time? Paying attention and critical response

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It’s pretty common for readers to write reviews that get basic facts wrong.

It’s not surprising. If the reader doesn’t like the book, isn’t engaged with the characters or the plot, they start to skim. Skimming means they miss character motivations or plot details. Missing those details means the reader thinks the story is full of flaws, and lowers their interest further.

As an example, I read a review of Peter V. Brett’s The Warded Man that one of the main characters inexplicably became a great fighter even though he spent all his time studying in a library. The only problem with that assessment? The text explicitly states that he spent hours every day learning to fight. It’s right there in the book, but a skimming reader missed it, so it might as well not be.

Anyway, this is why I stop reading books when I find myself skimming. Continue reading

Randomness for 5/17

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1) 16-Year-Old Invents $5 Cell Phone Bike Charger And Shares The Instructions For Free.

2) Seven legendary artists drawing The Hobbit, imagined.

3) Sweden employs the “gay sailor” defense against Russian subs that encroach on their waters.

4) Chinese audiences stymied by Age of Ultron translated subtitles.

5) Animators use Grand Theft Auto: V animations to create a tribute to BREAKING BAD. Video. Pretty amazing.

6) Special gloves that you can’t take off… because the inside is covered with thorns.

7) What would a four-year-old girl like to see Wonder Woman do? This made me laugh with delight.

My kid buys a hat

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On Tuesday, I tweeted this:

We were at Target solely because there’s a Best Buy on the floor below, and he wanted to get a new headset for his computer without waiting for online delivery. And why not pop in to Target to see if he could replace his old Minecraft baseball cap?

He looked good in that fedora, but he went with a plain black cap instead. Then we got home and discovered the headset was fucked up.

His mom took him back there yesterday to return the headset for a new (more expensive! grr!) model, and while they were there, he decided to rethink that hat.

Picture posted with his permission: Continue reading

An interview with Aidan Moher about his new book, Tide of Shadows and Other Stories

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For a change of pace, today I’m interviewing Aidan Moher, the Hugo Award-winning editor of A Dribble of Ink, about his new book, Tide of Shadows and Other Stories. Let’s get right to it:

HC. Let’s make the first question an easy one: What’s the pitch for your new book?

AM. Tide of Shadows and Other Stories is my first short fiction collection. There are five stories in the collection—from a military SF set on board a galaxy-faring starship, to a whimsical romp through the Kingdom of Copperkettle Valley—and accompanying story notes. The stories are all vastly different from one another, and I think there’s something to please every type of genre reader.

HC. I see you’re self-publishing this book, a choice many of us have made for a wide variety of reasons. What made you decide to publish yourself?

AM. I took the long way around to self-publishing. Like a lot of readers and writers, I used to have a fairly negative opinion of self-publishing—I thought of it as a literary dumping ground, a place where the rejected and down-trodden ended up after trying valiantly to get someone to publish their work. I didn’t see that changing. I was wrong. Continue reading

Three posts about health, part three: I’m allergic to my own sweat

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Not a joke. If you google the phrase “I’m allergic to my own sweat” you come to a bunch of results that point you to what I have: cholinergic urticaria. “Cholinergic” referring to acetacholine, and “urticaria” which just means “hives.” What that means is that I break out in horrible red itchy hives whenever my body gets warm. Continue reading

Just plug yourself into this sinister dark lord: the power of cliches

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Lately, this map of Clichéa has been making the rounds of the internet, and getting a lot of laughs. Nervous laughs, sometimes. Continue reading