reasons i suck

The obligatory Turkey Day post

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The pies have been made, the dishwasher has been unloaded, loaded and then run again, the coffee has brewed, and it’s snowing. Thanksgiving! (for Americans, at least) Me, I’m about to go do today’s pages before I get together with the family for cooking, eating and watching some old movie (up this year: Errol Flynn’s THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD–and didn’t my 8yo roll his eyes when he saw that DVD cover.)

But it’s a time to take note of those things we’re thankful for. Me, I’m a guy who thinks about thankfulness and gratitude all year long; in a sense, I obsess over it. I’m always measuring my debt to those who are kind to me or who love me, and I’m constantly trying to pay back. However, today is a day when those feelings are normal, so I’m going to indulge, especially since I have something new to add this year.

First I’m thankful for my family. Nothing is ever going to trump that. If aliens came down in space ships and gave the world free energy machines, pills that heal knee injuries, and cameras that never took a picture of a politician with their mouth closed, I’d still be more amazed that my wife not only puts up with me and all my craziness, but agreed to have our child.

But for the first time I have something new to add to the list. Maybe I should have said this last year, but I was still kinda dizzy from publishing that first novel. I’m thankful for all the folks who read my books, enjoy them, and recommend them to their friends. It’s a tough economy right now, and a lot of new series are struggling or have already been cancelled. The Twenty Palaces books still have a chance to continue, though, and that’s because the readers have been so great.

So thank you for reading and spreading the word.

The menu for today is pretty traditional: Filling but unhealthy breakfast, then cut vegetables with dip, along with pickles and such. For dinner: brined turkey, sausage stuffing (I ground the sausage myself), giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, roast asparagus, cranberry sauce, honey-glazed onions. If I’m lucky, the boy will try–just try–the turkey and cranberry sauce. We also have some nice wines to enjoy after dinner with Errol and sweet potato and/or apple pie.

And finally! I’m am thankful to the guys at Wyrd and all the folks doing great work on the book trailer. And because I can’t resist, one more image. This time, it’s not a photo taken on set; it’s an actual frame grab from one of the shots, showing Ray throwing his ghost knife.

Frame grab--Ray throwing ghost knife

Damn. Now that’s Ray Lilly.

Here’s a photo of me with Annalise Powliss.

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Day two of the shoot was much more sedate. Not a lot of night shooting and there was no running pell mell along an insanely steep slope. Unfortunately, heavy rains postponed a shot of Annalise throwing a green ribbon and burning a guy down to his bones. You can probably guess how much I’d have wanted to see that. Instead they got shots of Charles Hammer breathing fire, Ray’s iron gate spell activating, and Ray and Catherine fleeing from a bunch of Washaway pets.

I got to play one of the Washaway pets. I feel like Alfred Hitchcock. :-) The only problem was that I was advancing with the other pets toward Ray Lilly, and when he pulled back and threw the ghost knife at us, I busted out a huge grin. Couldn’t help it. I don’t think it mattered because the shot wasn’t the keeper the director was looking for, but I had to remind myself to have fun on the inside only. Inside only!

I’m sorry I can’t stay for tomorrow’s shots, which will include some effects shots of characters going through windows and other fun. It’ll also be the first call for actors playing characters from Circle of Enemies who I would have loved to meet and get pictures taken with. The characters’ names won’t mean anything to you guys because the book isn’t scheduled until next summer, but Wyrd has been doing such a great job that I wanted to see how they handled things.

As for myself, I’m holding up pretty well, pain-wise. My left leg is pretty swollen, but the aching has gone way down. And as much as I wish I could hang out for the third day of the shoot, I miss my son and my wife. It’ll be good to see them again (and get back on a sensible schedule so I can get back to writing. Jesus, these film people never sleep). Hopefully, once I get back to my real life I can start responding to comments, answering email, the whole deal.

I’ll put the picture of me and “Annalise” behind a cut, but you can see more at the set. Continue reading

Here’s a photo of me with Ray Lilly.

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Got back from yesterday’s shoot at nearly one a.m. and now I’m about to head out again. Last night I met the actors who are playing Ray and Catherine Little, and they were both great people. Poor Marisol Acosta didn’t have much more to do but run through the woods from a glowing light overhead, but Jim Freivogel had a brief little scene where Ray cuts through the gate of a lock with his ghost knife, and wow is it more involved to shoot that then to say “Ray approaches the gate and cuts through the lock with his ghost knife.”

Marisol is much better-looking and ten times kinder than Catherine is in the book, but just as smart. I was lucky enough to have a chance to talk to her for a while. I linked to a picture of Jim earlier and many people thought he was much more handsome than they’d pictured Ray, but he seemed spot on to me: he’s tough, slender, very physical, and has great intention. I’ll put the photo behind a cut, but you can also see that he’s a good-looking dude, and not just because he’s standing next to me.

Today I meet the actress playing Annalise, although heavy downpours mean they can’t shoot an outdoor scene of her killing a guy. I hope to get a picture w/ her in full wardrobe and costume, just as I did with Ray and Catherine.

As for me: we left the house at 8am yesterday and returned at nearly 1 am. It’s now 7:30 and we’re about to head out again. I’m tired but my pain is at reasonable levels.

And now, the picture of me and Ray: Continue reading

L.A. followup

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I’m here in L.A. Wifi is spotty and I don’t expect to have a lot of computer time. I can barely keep up with my emails, let alone read anyone’s blogs.

I spent much of the day talking about what Annalise’s tattoos will look like, and looking over the many copies of the ghost knife the prop guy made. Also Annalise’s ribbons.

Tomorrow is the first day of shooting, and they expect things to run very late. I expect to push myself very hard as money guy/production assistant’s assistant.

And I should have been asleep two hours ago. G’night. I expect to post again in a couple of days.

8 things make a post

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1) In a few hours I’ll be flying to Los Angeles (and hopefully collecting a complimentary TSA handjob) for a short weekend jaunt. My book trailer is shooting this weekend. I won’t be there for all of it–I have to return to Seattle Sunday morning to do the parent thing–but I’ll see two days out of three, meet the actors, hang out on the set, eat the food (“You paid for it.”), and so on. I expect to be helping out, too, moving stuff or holding bounce cards, except…

2) My pain levels have been startlingly high lately. I’m not sure what to make of it. My legs were feeling better for a while there, but suddenly they’ve been aching almost constantly and my knee wakes me up in the middle of the night. Hopefully, they’ll have someplace for me to sit if I need it. I’m packing Tylenol.

3) I’m also packing my camera. Expect pics.

4) A signed copy of Child of Fire and Game of Cages are available on Patrick Rothfuss’s blog for his annual charity auction. Check it out. There are a metric butt-load of great books available there, and not only in that one post. I wish I could be one of those authors who contributes 25 signed hardcovers but, you know…

5) The new Green Lantern trailer looks pretty bad. I say this as someone who always thought GL was kind of an interesting idea, but never understood the enduring appeal.

6) My SFWA Handbook arrived… barely. Check out this envelope:

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Yikes. That book wanted to be free!

I’ve skimmed the book trying to find articles of interest and it doesn’t seem that there’s much there. No big.

7) As I mentioned before, I’m not online as much as I used to be now that I don’t have a day job. Poor neglected blog! ::pets blog:: I’m on Twitter less and reading other blogs less. On the up side, more writing is getting done. So that’s all to the good, right?

8) Should I bring copies of my books to L.A. with me? I don’t have much space in my carryon.

Out comes the bicycle

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Two years ago when I was picking out components for my new bicycle, I had several seats to choose from: The Glide Rider, the Tush Cushion, and the Prostate Bombarder. For the life of me, I can’t remember why I made the choice I did.

But! Now that my job is gone my bus pass is gone, too, so out comes the bike. Yesterday was my first actual pedal ride to the gym (in the dark, ‘natch, because of the time change) and it felt more than a little like punishment. Too bad we’re in a recession or I’d pressure the city to repave those bike paths. Still, it’s good to have worked out (tense choice deliberate), and afterwards I was a couple blocks from my regular Starbucks and library, letting me to a little post-exercise writing. I even met my daily goal and returned home well before my wife had to leave for work.

The downside of all this is that yesterday, for the first time in years–and I wasn’t planning to talk about this, but I’m all about the honesty–I wore sweat pants outside my home.

Yeah, it’s true. Not even a week after I left my job and I’ve already surrendered to fashion lameness. By Christmas I expect to be lazing around the coffee shop all day wearing a green velour track suit with my face half-shaved because I got bored partway through. It’s inevitable.

I’m not online all that much, though. Sorry if I’m not commenting on your posts–I’m falling way behind in my reading.

Things are good. Today or tomorrow I’m hoping to have the boy snap a photo of me in my new home office dress code. I’m sure it would make my former co-workers burn with jealousy.

It comes with every new job…

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The stress dream. I have never in my life started a new job without having a nightmare about it first. Becoming a full time writer/house spouse? No different.

Last night I dreamed that my wife had kicked me out and I’d had to go back east to live. I didn’t see my son for a long time, she’d taken in new roommates to pay the bills, etc. She’d reluctantly agreed to take me back just as I woke up, so I suppose my nightmare had a happy ending.

I forgave her over breakfast. :)

Freedom report, day one

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I’m very mildly hung over from the two 22-oz beers I drank last night. Lindsey and Noelle, if you’re reading this, thank you again for those excellent going away gifts. They were complex, rich, and delicious, even if they did give me a bit of a headache today. I don’t want to think about how I’d feel if I hadn’t spread them out over four hours. At least I still have an area of my life where I can legitimately call myself a “lightweight.”

The whole family sat down to watch THE SECRET OF KELLS last night. My wife and son had no idea what to expect, but they were just as blown away as I’d expected them to be. Gorgeous movie. Highly recommended.

Also last night, I talked with the filmmakers making the book trailer. They received my drawing of the ghost knife sigil just fine, and I’ll post a link to imdb page for the actor playing Ray Lilly when they give me permission.

This morning I slept in until the late, late hour of 6:30 am. Luxury! I mailed off the last copies of GAME OF CAGES that I owed folks, and sent one each of my books to Pat Rothfuss for his charity auction. If you have something to donate, please consider doing so. It’s a good cause.

Then I did a bit of writing… but not much, because I’m enjoying this weekend. Next, I’m going to check out my library books and head out to meet a college buddy I barely ever see for a late lunch.

Hope you guys are having a day that’s just as nice.

In which I gag

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It’s Halloween, so I pulled one of these off the shelf (the one on the left). I peeled the foil and discovered it was a screw cap, not a cork. Opened it anyway. It’s bad, but what the hell, I drink bad red wine all the time.

Then I got to the bottom of the bottle and gagged on the “solids” there. I don’t know what the hell it was, but it was grit and chunks and whoa did I come close to chunking right into my sink.

Thank you, R Wines of Eastwood, Australia and importer The Grateful Palate of Oxnard, California, for bringing some real horror to my Halloween. The slogan on your bottle (“It’s Just Wrong”) was accurate on more levels that I would ever have expected.

FREEDOM! HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE FREEDOM!!!

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This morning, I gave my two-week’s notice at my day job. No, I don’t have anything new lined up, but I expect things will be fine.

More time for writing, family, exercise and life. A reduction in income that will not bankrupt us. I’m for it.