8 things make a post

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:

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.

Randomness for 11/9

1) I haven’t even seen this movie, just the trailer, and I already have my two word review: “Hot mess.” Video.

2) An insider’s take on AFM and the “shadow film industry.”

3) Meritocracy: it doesn’t work the way you expect. via James Nicoll

4) An 8-month old baby’s reaction to his cochlear implant. Video.

5) Teaching equality via the Socratic Method. Video. Gotta tell you, I love this one.

6) The Big List of RPG Plots.

7) This. Is. Hilarious. Our Valued Customers. (NSFW Language). No kidding, I keep going page after page through those comics and I can’t stop laughing. via Seattle Geekly.

Special bonus 8th thing! Watch this high school football play. Video. Jeez, there’s a whole self-help book in that somewhere, and it’s freaking hilarious.

Two things make a pretty awesome post

First, anyone who’s ever stood within earshot of me for more than 30 seconds has heard me say that Child of Fire was named to Publishers Weekly’s Best 100 Books of 2009 (hmm, the formatting for that page looks to have been borked at some point, possibly by a change in themes).

Well, Game of Cages didn’t make this years list, but Genreville editor Rose Fox did give it an honorable mention in the fantasy category.

A close but no cigar! Hey, I’m happy to make Miss Congeniality for a book where the protagonist lays into a crowd of people with a length of pipe. Thank you, Rose!

Second, the Twenty Palaces book trailer begins shooting in less than two weeks, and I have permission to link to the photo of the actor who’s been cast as Ray Lilly. Here he is.

What do you think? Does he look like your vision of the character?

Quote of the day: AFM report

“One of the strange things I noticed at one of the places upstairs were two different movies in different genres with the exact same cast, and seemingly the exact same basic location. At first I thought this might be a company trying to sell the same movie twice (not everyone at AFM is honest… actually, few are) but then I realized this was a cost cutting method by the producer. They hired the same cast – including stars – and crew and shot in the same locations for two different movies. They could light one room, shoot all of the scenes for *both* films at the same time, and not waste any time taking down and setting up lights. When the middle dropped out of the business leaving only low budget and big budget films, the medium budget people had to become creative.

In the lobby I bumped into a director I know, Rolfe, who was working on the film from hell… actually, the *films* from hell. He just shot 7 different movies for the same company at the same time. The scripts were written to use the same sets and same actors, so that if 4 of the films had scenes at a police station they could all be shot at the same time. Different actors in the ensemble might play the detective in differently films, and other actors might be suspects in different films, but he had to shoot all of the police station scenes at once… and all of the other locations that each of the films shared at the same time. An actor playing the cop in one film might play the killer in another and a witness in a third film and the District Attorney in a fourth. That actor would be doing costume changes all day, and doing lines from different films all day. I think the idea behind this was for the company to make a whole slate of films at the same time, and be able to sell all of the films *now*, instead of making 7 individual films and having for each to be made before they can sell it. Whatever the reason, Rolfe had to write over 600 pages of screenplays that all used the same locations – and that’s not an easy task. These are the things that we might have to do in the indie world as screenwriters – that kind of assignment may become more common.”

— Bill Martell

In which I delight myself by sending an email.

Yesterday, in the midst of all the usual family stuff, like washing the boy’s bedsheets to get the cracker crumbs out, sweeping the kitchen floor, cleaning the bathroom, and introducing my son to BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, I submitted a short story for the first time in three years.

First I polished it, then I checked the guidelines, then boom, out goes the email.

I don’t read as much short fiction as I used to, therefore I rarely write it. But it’s nice to have the time to focus on a side project once in a while.

Now back the the Auntie Mame Files.

Freedom report, day one

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.