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Randomness for 9/7

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1) Author believes publishers ghettoize women readers and writers.

2) The Herald-Sun takes a necessary step. Has there been any doubt that this was coming, and had been coming for a long time?

3) Steam Trek, a parody. Video. Funny and cute. This is what people do when they turn off their TVs.

4) The Book Depository becomes even cooler than you thought possible. Live global tracking of book buying.

5) Common myths about good study habits, and how people (not just kids) learn.

6) Part of the 2008 economic meltdown explained in comic form.

7) This may look like a fake commercial from a horror movie, but it’s a real toy ad from the 1970’s. Prepare to feel your skin crawl. Video.

This is me.

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This post by Ally Carter comes at just the right time, because I’m having a bought of the crazies myself. Mine are probably not like yours–I tend to become quiet, lie in darkened bedrooms, and mutter to myself about all the ways I’ve screwed up.

I’m not fishing for encouragement; I’ve said before that encouragement makes me uncomfortable. Still, I’m going to have to come to some kind of balance, or work out a way to put marketing and sales out of my mind. I’ll find success the way every other writer does: by writing books people want to read.

It’s not going to happen by looking at Twitter traffic, or by skimming the Random House bestsellers to see where my book is rated, or by checking Amazon.com sales rankings, or any of that. I just have to work on my next book.

I blog prolificly!

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Have you ever wondered what I sound like? Expecting a deep, rich voice? A high, shrieking voice?

Well, you can listen to the Seattle Geekly podcast right here and listen to an interview with me. Secrets are revealed! I talk about book 3! Even better (from my POV) they say why they think my books are good.

I only wish I knew how they digitally altered my voice, because there’s no way I really, truly sound like that. I mean, I can hear myself inside my own head, right? Right?

Randomness for 9/2

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1) Blind soccer championships, 2010. Video.

2) Gail Simone wants the comics industry to open their eyes.

3) Paul Krugman notices that Trantor is less dense than the state of New Jersey. That doesn’t even include all those Jersey Devils.

4) Normally, I’m not someone who laughs a crotch-kicks, but this sketch gallery of Batman being hit in the balls is pretty funny, even if just for the facial expressions.

5) What it’s like to be captured by Somali pirates. I put this here mainly for myself, so I can read it later.

6) “You don’t have to read my book to be my friend.”

7) Getting out of jury duty via Facebook.

I have web presence!

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This morning my wonderful wife made a fancy breakfast for me. Soon I’ll be heading out into the rain and bluster to visit local book stores so I can sign copies of my books (and “encourage” the staff to move the books onto the shelves).

But! Things I have written have appeared at various online spaces today. On the very same day my book comes out! What a coincidence! Here’s a quick list of where I am today:

My Big Idea essay on John Scalzi’s “Whatever” blog, in which I talk about the pernicious influence of film/TV media on otherworldly creatures in prose fiction.

My editor at Del Rey talks about the process of telling an author that their work needs major changes. Inexplicably, she uses Game of Cages (and me) as an example, and she titled the post “Mudwrestling with authors.”

At SciFiBookshelf.com, I talk (briefly) about the process of writing this book. In other words, you hear about the mudwrestling from the author’s point of view!

I am interviewed at Fiction Kingdom. Curious about what music I listen to while I write? Want to see me dodge questions (in this case, about series-spoilers) like a politician with a hangover? Check it out.

I’ll be hitting the bus stop soon so I won’t be able to respond to comments for a while. I hope you all have a great day, and more importantly, I hope I have a great day.

Home page

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I’ve been told that the best home page a writer can show is the one that displays their books (along with synopsis, blurbs, links to sample chapters and buy links); rather than force people to click through a couple of links to buy a book, they can do so right at the front.

So I’ve redesigned my front page and I linked it to the style.css file that governs my blog. Now the front page looks like the rest of my site.

Mostly. I need to set my name so it comes up next to the photo and I want to eliminate the white space beneath the picture. I also want to reduce the size of the picture.

So I’m not done fiddling with it, but I’m kinda married to the plain white page. What do you think? Anything I should change? Anything that doesn’t work for you? All advice welcome.

When I want to feel virtuous, I think about my backup system

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Yeah, I’m a computer backer upper, and I’m damn happy, too. The first few times I lost files–always a few day’s work, never an entire project, thank Pikachu–I thought “I should back up more in the future.”

And I would be diligent about it… for a while. But I’m a lazy bastard, so what I really needed was an automated system. Which I did. (Ask me about my backup protocol!)

First, I do my writing on my laptop. There’s an 8GB travel drive on a lanyard around my neck, so whenever I finish a day’s work I copy the changed files to there. Those files (plus a number of family/kiddie pics) are as safe as I am.

I also copy the files to my dropbox folder. Dropbox is not only an online backup service, it syncs files with my home computer. As soon as I have a wifi connection, Dropbox copies the updated file to their server, then downloads it to my desktop computer at home.

Copying the files to those two places is the only part of this I have to remember to do. It takes less than 20 seconds, which is apparently just on the correct side of onerous for my lazy self.

Dropbox gives me 2GB for free (plus a little extra I get for referrals–anyone want a free backup and sync service? Lemme know)

Once the file is on my desktop, Time Machine automatically backs it up to the 2TB external hard drive on my desk. I also have Mozy, which, for five bucks a month, backs up everything in my dropbox folder plus all our family photos and home movies.

That’s two external hard drives, two online servers, and two computers. Excessive? Maybe. But to me it feels like virtue.

This is my sad face, indie bookstore edition

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Everyday this month, I’ve posted about a book giveaway, and I’ve included a link to indiebound.org’s listing of Game of Cages every day. In fact, I’ve had a link in the sidebar of my blog for months.

And while I’ve had dozens of click-throughs, no one has bought a book from them.

My bookstore-loving brain is hoping that those sales will show after the book is officially published (which is 8/31–only two weeks away OMG), but come on, Child of Fire has been out since the end of last September, nearly 11 months ago, and no one has ordered that, either.

It’s sad to say that those links aren’t working for me, as much as I’d like them too. I’ll check the affiliate stats again in September, but it looks like I’ll be dropping those links from my site. Which is too bad; I’ve ordered books through indiebound, and it’s a good system.

Randomness for 8/16

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1) Wikipedia’s lamest edit wars.

2) Redesigned book covers.

3) A Star Wars Kid for the new age: HALO KID! Video.

4) Our Daughter Isn’t a Selfish Brat; Your Son Just Hasn’t Read
Atlas Shrugged. “When little Aiden toddled up our daughter Johanna and asked to play with her Elmo ball, he was, admittedly, very sweet and polite. I think his exact words were, “Have a ball, peas [sic]?” And I’m sure you were very proud of him for using his manners. To be sure, I was equally proud when Johanna yelled, “No! Looter!” right in his looter face, and then only marginally less proud when she sort of shoved him.”

5) How to recognize a card skimmer at your ATM. via Mary Catelli

6) How good do you have to be to win the World Yo-Yo Championships? Watch and find out. Video.

7) The history of Aquaman, explained.

Today in day-job land…

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Today I’m not going to be in the office. I have to report to another building across the city for training in some new software program we’re supposed to use in our new jobs.

Not that we’ve been hired for new jobs. They still have us in the dark on who will get hired and who won’t. I’m pretty sure I’ll have a job come Halloween, but no one in authority will confirm it for anyone.

I imagine that, if I act confused or unable to handle the new software, I won’t be offered a position in the new department; I’m looking at the training we’re getting today as part of the interview process. Never mind that I haven’t shaved in days–we can go to an “interview” with a few days’ growth, yeah?

Anyway, I don’t expect to be online much today. No twitter, LJ or blog comments. I’ll catch up to email during lunch and later this evening. Have a great day.