interesting things

Nebula Awards

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The Nebula Award nominees are here.

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via Jet Reid Lit Agency

Federal Stimulus

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Independent economic analysts–organizations unaffiliated with the White House or the national Democratic party–have put forward their conclusions on the federal stimulus bill.

It has worked, and will continue to work.

Just look at the outside evaluations of the stimulus. Perhaps the best-known economic research firms are IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. They all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.

But those aren’t the sound bites you hear in the media, are they?

Randomness for 2/16

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1) Garry Marshal, keeping it classy: “But two things I’m sure audiences all over the world understand: prostitutes and love.”

2) [Broken link deleted]

3) John Mayer: shithead.

4) I’m proud to say I fit within nine of the categories on this sign, or I would have in the past. How many can you claim?

5) Now for something equally stupid but much less hurtful, a thoughtful dissection of the infamous first edition Fiend Folio. Here’s part two. I have a bit of a D&D theme this week.

6) Real life is cooler than fiction could ever be.

7) Christopher Bird on the Captain America/Tea Party kerfuffle.

Regime Change in Iran?

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Things 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

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1) 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.

Randomness for 2/7

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1) Anthony Bourdain schooled by 10-year-old.

2) MANBABIES!! I had nightmares because of that site, so you should, too.

3) Available at Booksellers Everywhere Except Amazon. Macmillan takes out a full page ad in the NY Times.

4) A defense of Elizabeth Gilbert. I loved reading this. I’m not someone looking to read Gilbert’s books, but I’m also not all that keen to hear her being held to a different standard than male authors, or to be cut down because she decided she was going to live a different sort of life.

5) The differences between indie authors and indie musicians. Related: The difference between the music industry and trade publishing.

6) Stop motion with shadow art. I’m torn between my admiration for the artistry and the cheesy anime subject matter. Also, did they have to countdown the filenames?

7) Jerry Pournelle remembers those who lost their lives in the Challenger disaster. I almost wish I read his books, so I could swear never again. Almost.

More Amazon.comFail

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Jeff Vandermeer posted about the sense of entitlement many ebook readers show in the comment sections of the Macmillan/Amazon.com threads that have popped up since last week. Take a look; it’s an interesting piece.

One thing I think he’s missing is the anger and resentment of self-proclaimed indie authors, who seize on any opportunity to lambaste large NY publishers and their many, many rejection letters. The common indie author shouts of “Last century’s business model!” and “Useless middlemen!” and “Getting between authors and readers!” have been rhetorical weapons the 9.99 Boycotters have snatched up and brandished with gusto.

In the meantime, I’ve disabled the Amazon.com links in the sidebar of my blog. I’ll reinstate them when Boneshaker (and other Tor titles) are restored. It won’t mean much to the Big River Flowing Through All Those Tubes, but it’s what I can do at the moment.

Last, there are four entries in the Valentine’s contest (although not all of them are on the correct post). I’ll be listing my top three tonight sometime after dinner. Last chance to enter!

Randomness for 2/2

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1) Darth Vader – James Earl Jones = David Prowse in a plastic mask reading Vader’s lines on set. I can’t help but laugh when I hear him say “I want those plans!” via Keith Calder

2) An officer shoots and kills a criminal, in the officer’s own words.

3) Every news report must be structured like this. via madrobins

4) Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist posts a promotional excerpt of a new GRRM story in an upcoming anthology, and the comments explode with butt-hurt Song of Ice and Fire fans complaining about the delay in the latest book. Normally I suggest skipping comments, but here the comments are delicious. I’m sure someone out there has already made a ASOIAF/DOWNFALL spoof, yeah?

5) The Scale of the Universe. It’s beautiful. It’s like church for atheists.

6) “Will they follow in the lusty steps of their forebears, the Golden Girls?” The nuttiest conservative Christian rant on gays I’ve seen in a while. The author, who apparently has a slight problem with gays who won’t read the articles he emails to them, thinks The Golden Girls sitcom turned a generation of young men into homosexuals, and it’s so wacky (and quotable! “Personally, I do not look forward to the day when we’re having moral debates about robot sex, gay jetpacks or houseplant marriage”) that there were points where I was sure it was satire. Or irrational hate. Or maybe satire again. No, that’s just more hate. Then I saw the link at the bottom to The Dark Underside of America’s Obsession with Cat Ownership and I swear I have no idea what to think (except: “Gay jetpacks?? I’ll take two!”) via Jay Lake.

7) More Macmillan vs. Amazon.com, discussed on Absolute Write. It’s an 8-page thread as of the time of this posting, but very informative. It’s also pretty easy to tell who are the knowledgeable voices and who aren’t. You even get to see an example of mansplaining with the wild (which is so incredibly rare, I know).

Welcome to February, the month with the most wonderful holiday of all

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Now that the Macmillan/Amazon.com fight is over (supposedly, since none of the Tor novels I look at on their site are available) we can focus on the greatest, most hated holiday of all.

Valentine’s Day.

It’s only two weeks away, and it’s justifiably hated by single people. People in love can spend a couple of bucks (or even better, some time and thought) to come up with something nice for their loved ones–which they ought to be doing year round anyway, but never mind. For people who are single but don’t want to be, it can be the loneliest day of the year. Believe me. I remember.

For you singletons, happy or un-, I have a gift. Actually, I have a contest! Here’s how it will work: Post a story, either in the main blog or on LiveJournal (sorry, Facebook people, but you have to go to the blog to enter), of the worst, most pathetic true tale of dating hell you can come up with. Rape, murder and pedophilia are off limits–those stories are hard for me to bear. Everything else will be fair game. You an enter as many times as you like.

On, let’s say, Thursday, I’ll link to all the stories and choose my favorite three (assuming I get that many) and let you readers choose the winner.

The prize will be a copy of Child of Fire, of course. Single folks will be able to shut out the tawdry pink hearts and chocolates with the nasty cherries inside and read a romance-free book about shadowy killers, a disintegrating community, and cleansing rage. Yeah, you heard right. Cleansing, cleansing rage.

Of course, you don’t have to be single or lonely to enter. Everyone is welcome, although if you win the book and you already have someone in your life who will be treating you special on that day, maybe you can give it to someone else who might enjoy it (and I’ll leave it up to your judgement whether you tell them why or not.

Let the stories begin!