Because I am boring and can not spare the attention it takes to express a coherent opinion, here are some links:
1) [Deleted]
3) The NY Times on my favorite food. I’m almost afraid to read it.
4) This makes me want to hide under my desk, and it’s just a couple of pictures on a website. NB: that link is not for people who have issues with high places.
5) Gay sex decriminalized in New Delhi. Change may be slow, but it’s coming (so to speak).
Today was my not-birthday. As I mentioned earlier, my wife and I have the same birthday, and that sucks–somebody ends up doing the dishes on their special day. So I moved my day back a month.
I don’t much like cake, so I had my traditional (melon-free) fruit salad. My son bought me a new baster and my wife gave me the same gift I got for Christmas–permission to buy a rilly rilly nice computer when the G4 Mac Mini on my desk gives up the ghost.
At this point, I’m starting to hate my old computer. I glare at it when iPhoto lags or I can’t upload video from my camera–someday it will be dead, and with Apple Care expired I will get new very very soon.
I hope.
I also had market fresh nectarines for my snack breaks at work, and a beautiful steak with sauteed mushrooms for dinner. Nice. All I need to do to make this a perfect day would be to get to bed early.
Laptop seems fine. The book is ruined, though.
Shit. I went to the Starbucks across the street from day job, sat down with my laptop and coffee, and promptly spilled the whole thing over the table. Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott is soaked through and my computer kept flashing to a white screen.
I say again: Shit.
Now I’m sitting at my desk at the day job, with computer and book resting on the air conditioning vent beside me, drying out. ::fingers crossed:: Instead, I guess I’ll work on some of the publicity stuff I’m supposed to whip up by the end of the month, and thinkerate on the characters and plot.
Filmmakers are given a prop, a line of dialog, and whatever else and have to write, shoot and edit a film in 48 hours.
Here’s one written by a funny writer I know:
I was idly reading through Jim Butcher’s message boards when I came across a statement I hadn’t heard before. He said that epic fantasy, as a genre, has very good legs. That is, compared to other genres, it continues to sell fairly well long after publication date.
True? Not? What do you think?
I’m uncomfortable asking for favors, and when I’m uncomfortable, I preamble.
I don’t have an RSS feed. Every blog I follow is on my LiveJournal friends list. A couple years back, I had an author on there with a strong, interesting voice and outspoken opinions. We probably wouldn’t have gotten along in real life, but I enjoyed her LJ.
Then she made a post that (paraphrasing) suggested she expected people who were reading her LiveJournal (“for free”) should also buy her novels. I dropped her from my list immediately. See, I’d already read one or two of her books, and I didn’t care for them, but I was very interested in the way she talked about current events.
Anyway, I would never ask anyone reading this to buy my book. If it seems like the kind of thing you’d be interested in and you have the eight bucks, then cool. *I* certainly think it’s worth it, in my completely and thoroughly unbiased opinion, but what else would you expect me to say?
However, I would like to ask a favor (he said, 170-some words later): Today, June 29th, is exactly three months before the publish date of the Child of Fire. I just went over to my public library web site, clicked on the “Purchase Suggestion” link at the bottom of the page and asked them to order the book.
Would you please do the same at your local library?
Many of them have a way for you to do it online, and if you need to find the ISBN or other information, you can get it off Amazon.com at this link.
Every library in the country is scaling back their acquisition budgets, I know, but money is tight for readers, too. I’d love for my book to be available to them. And, of course, I’m a big fan of libraries in general.
Anyway, if you can take a few minutes to put in this request, I’d be grateful. Thanks.
So… this is weird.
Many times over the years I’ve seen authors publish their convention schedules. Well, here’s mine for the San Diego Comic-Con:
I’ll be on a panel on Thursday morning, 7/23, ten am, in Room 10. The title of the panel is “Escapist Fantasy” and I have a list of other authors who’ll be there, but I’m not sure if it’s 100% up to date.
Panelists: Juliet Blackwell (SECOND HAND SPIRITS); Marjorie Liu (DARKNESS CALLS); Jackie Kessler & Caitlin Kittredge (BLACK & WHITE); Diana Rowland (MARK OF THE DEMON); Sina Grace (CEDRIC HOLLOWS IN DIAL M for MAGIC); and Harry Connolly (CHILD OF FIRE).
Moderator: Maryelizabeth Hart, Mysterious Galaxy
That’s not all! I’ll also be signing ARCs of Child of Fire at the Del Rey/Spectra booth on Saturday, 7/25 from 11am to 11:30.
I promise nothing but nervous stammers and flop sweat! But if you want your book truly personalized, after I sign it, I’ll be happy to bite it hard enough to leave my one-of-a-kind tooth marks on the cover. How can you miss a chance like that?
I just did slightly more than three thousand words on Man Bites World. I know some writers do that every day, but I have never written so many words of prose in one day. That’s huge for me.
Book, you are annoying. Like golf. Like jigsaw puzzles. You are frustrating and impossible for days and days, and then suddenly you give a short term accomplishment. This is great! I think. And fun, too! I need to do this all the time!
But I know your sneaky ways. Tomorrow, you’re just as likely to be impossible again.
::shakes fist at laptop::
(They were good pages, too. I’m happy with them.)