And a splendid time it was. Lots of music -- I had three concerts, and I think they all went pretty well. Many good folks -- I got in a lot of excellent conversation and hanging out and some really great hugs from several beautiful women. I got to hang out with both Steve Jackson and his lady Monica Stephens. I spent time with adorable kids, including Will, who apparently is pretty shy but he came right up and started strumming my guitar so I held chords for him so he was playing scary mood music and then I sang "500 Hats" and he gave me a big hug. And especially Beth, whose parents have called her "Destroyer of Worlds" for years so she thought I'd written that song about her, and it was her favorite until she heard "I Had A Shoggoth" this weekend. Dr. Osborn was there, and the Atlanta Radio Theater Company And Toni K. Weisskopf said she liked my work, and my words.

Yeah.

Thanks to Randy and Diane, and Sally Kobee, and tcgtrf and ladycheron, and thatcrazycajun who I simply do not spend enough time with, and so very many other people -- what a great buncha folks. Thanks and extra hugs to B.J. and Beth Willinger, who I hadn't seen in years. Many, MANY thanks to Uncle Timmy, Kerry Gilley, Melvin, Brandy, and everybody on the staff. And special ultra extra mega-thanks to the remarkable, indispensable Derek Spraker, who just took care of everything I needed with grace and a smile and some frickin' fine barbecue.

And now, this week. A commission job to finish, my Mom comes in from Arizona tomorrow, I've got two nieces' birthdays coming up, and there's Art Fair to avoid.

How are you doin'?

Tactile Topography — Oooh, cool. (Snurched from Interrupting Gelastic Jew.)

A methodology for creating new ideas — More art blogging, but with specific applicability to writing. (Snurched from Drawn!.)

WHO says new flu "unstoppable", calls for vaccine — Hmm.

The Avastin Paradox — Of interest to me because this is one of the drugs proposed for my upcoming chemotherapy.

When the Fugitive Is a Family Member — Interesting stuff. I find myself pretty hard line on this, in terms of not thinking family members should be sheltered from prosecution.

?otD: Coffee, tea or me?

---

7/14/2009
Body movement: 65 minute suburban walk (Big Papio Trail in Omaha)
This morning's weigh-in: n/a (travelling)
Currently reading: Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

Originally published at jlake.com.

Ted Chiang, "Exhalation," Eclipse Two - I found this a precise, interesting piece of science fiction surrealism, though I didn't love it as much as many of my fellow LSS readers. The tone was a little too clinical for my tastes, and there wasn't enough of a sense of human character (this is the same thing I struggle with when it comes to Ursula Le Guin, while everyone around me is raving enthusiastically). The imagery of the story, however, is powerful and memorable.

Veronica Schanoes, "Lily Glass," Strange Horizons - a lovely literary take on Snow White via the mythology of the golden age of Hollywood. One of the most interesting versions of the wicked queen/Snow White dynamic I've read, with a strong role for the absent king/neglectful father.

Eugene Fischer - "Husbandry," Strange Horizons - a fascinating, gruelling look at a man attempting to care for his wife as she descends into the fog of early onset Alzheimers. This personal tragedy is balanced with the very creepy element of this particular world - animals (and, it is implied, people) who die do not stop moving... the comparison between the zombie animals of the protagonist's professional life (he is a vet) and the mental debilitation of his wife makes for a very powerful story.

Eugie Foster, "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" Interzone #220 - a really engrossing otherworld fantasy. The protagonist belongs to a world where no one exists except when they wear one of their many beautifully-crafted masks, each of which confers a different personality and lifestyle upon the wearer. Through the eyes of the protagonist we see the complex society open like a flower and then slowly crumble apart as his/her eyes are opened to the murkier truths behind the beauty.

Cecil Castellucci, "Baby in the Basket" Strange Horizons - a story of anomalies and a time revolution, told through the domestic details of a woman suffering from one very specific time anomaly - a baby who regularly appears on her doorstep, always the same age, needing someone to care for it.

Tim Pratt, "Her Voice in a Bottle," Subterranean Magazine (winter) - a gentle, intriguing story using one of my guilty pleasure favourite writing techniques - when the author puts themselves (or a very recognisable version of themselves) into the story. This false slice of autobiography is about lost (not quite found) love, and includes some nice meta commentary about the writing techniques being toyed with.

arkiebrat/arkiewriter, happy birthday!

Brian over at The New Author blog got me curious... if you could describe your writing in one word, what word would that be?

Mine is organic. Tell me yours. Come on, don't be shy. We're all heroes here.

Forgive me LJ, for it has been... wow, three days since my last post. I've been Twittering and FBing via the phone, but not so much with the actual updates.

This "having a life" thing, it's messing with my blogging! Oh well.

tl;dr version: Handed in a book. Got back major revisions letter on a book (not unexpected but still argh-making). Went to a wine tasting. Got interviewed for a magazine to be named later. Went to many street fairs, walked many city miles, and sunburned my nose. *ow* Went to the Museum of Natural History. Got interviewed for GalleyCat (and got passingly inebriated with my editor, which is what publishing's all about). Corresponded with far-flung friends. Made summer pesto. *yum* Hung out with non-writer friends and didn't talk about work At All.

And by now all of you know about Charlie Brown's death. Lord knows Charlie and I didn't agree all the time (read: most of the time) but he was a major figure on the SF publishing world for a long time, and his passing leaves a definite vacant space. Still, if you have to go, then falling asleep on a plane home from a conventions/trip, never having to worry about what they've done with your luggage, is a pretty good way to do it.


And that's all I got. Suppose, since the birds and the cats and I are all awake, might as well start in on the day....

My eyes were bugging out. 

I will bet you cash money that THIS GUY never thought in a million a thousand two thousand years he would get a CT scan.  He looks rather surprised lying there, don't you think?  :)

Chalk one up for the Romance genre, while I do a smug, happy dance. :D

I really want to know when people are going to stop treating Sci-Fi/Fantasy like some illegitimate, illiterate thing left on their doorstep in a basket. And when black writers will finally be left to pen whatever drives us, rather than the genres and characters we're "supposed" to write. :(

...Father, for I have sinned. It has been three whole days since my last confession, and I did indeed have three days off this book.

It is not impossible that perhaps I should take days off more often, or at least that I should learn not to be scared of them. The world doesn't end; specifically, this created world in my head doesn't disappear in a puff of taupe smoke. All the people are still there, still angsty. Biao is still a bad man, trying to do good things for altogether reprehensible reasons.

So:

64276 / 150000 words. 42.9% done!

At close of play last night, I was 0.1% behind my target. And today I have to do medical things all morning, so I may slip further behind: not sure how much work I can get done. And tomorrow may be difficult, too.

Still. World not ended yet. I am, in fact, still king.

Everything I dislike, sucks. Even if you like it. So there.

[from ShelfAwareness http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz2950891Biz8365787 ]Okay, there goes ANY chance I'd ever want a Kindle...

Now live over at SF Site:
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Outcast by Aaron Allston
Monster by A. Lee Martinez

Over at The Green Man Review:
Pure Blood by Caitlin Kittredge
Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge
Black and White by Caitlin Kittredge and Jackie Kessler
Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead
Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake
Phenomenal Girl 5 by A.J. Menden
Night Shift by Lilith Saintcrow

Several of the Green Man ones went misplaced for a few months, and turned up recently. I blame the Internet gnomes, as usual.

In other news... all goes well. Carry on.

So tomorrow is the incoming travel day for Launch Pad.  I’m excited, nervous, and overworked, as usual.  It always seems to come out great.  I have some more details to prepare tonight and tomorrow, however.  Got a few links to share tonight, quickly…

I’m kind of pissed at issues being discussed like the ones I’m going to link to.  Fear of girls at Comic-con, and over here, too.  Yeah, let’s make it an issue and scare away people, male and female, from an event they might enjoy.  Stop making fights.  Stop being elite.  Stop telling people others are elite.  Stop stereotyping in this mindless, unhelpful way.

Punctuated evolution for aliens? Maybe.  I’m in general distrustful of anyone who extrapolates based on samples of one, and expects to be taken seriously.  Earth might be rare.  Earth might be typical.  We can study the issue and get some idea, eventually.  Right now, we sure don’t know.  [Thanks Travis for the story, and the ones below...]

Vast majority of scientists think that the Bush administration suppressed research.  I kind of hate how it’s portrayed as a poll result, because it’s fact.  They did.  Expressed as here, it sounds like an opinion, one that can be disagreed with.  Stupid media.  Then that opinion gets tied to another poll question about the political background as scientists — only six percent of scientists identify as Republican.  Scientists are all too human, but the methodology of science is designed to remove personal bias from its ultimate findings.  Facts are facts, and evidence is evidence.

Interview with Chris Hitchens, author of God is Not Great.

Live in Portland?  Check out Trek in the Park.  I was pretty interested until I looked at the photos.  Looked a little too much like amateur stuff I’ve seen at cons.  Still, might be fun.  Anyone see it?

Casting speculation about Green Lantern.  Ugh.  I’m not excited:

Warner Bros. is about to decide who will wear the super-powered ring in “Green Lantern,” the studio’s latest DC Comics movie, and the race has narrowed to Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake.

Lantern has serious bomb potential, in my opinion.

Well, apparently even Superman IV, the Quest for Peace, had ten good points.

Are you a lonely zombie?  Try Zombie Harmony… Personally, I’m looking for a brainy girl.

Originally published at Mike Brotherton: SF Writer. You can comment here or there.

Sometimes, only sometimes German authorities live up to their efficiency image.
Sunday afternoon: branch falls off tree opposite our house revealing tree to be rotten.
Monday: Shannachie phones Office responsible of shrubs and parklands: the man in charge has already inspected the damage.
Tuesday morning 7:30. The worker come with their chainsaws. Tree is being taken down.

Poor tree. I feel so sorry for it. I realise itis a hazard. But we do not have so very many trees in this rather industrialised quarter of town. I love every single one and it hurts me to see it go.

Make sure you have your sound turned up for full zen experience.

And no, he still doesn’t have a name, though we are narrowing it down. :)

Originally published at jennreese.com. You can comment here or there.

It's been something of a week for nostalgia, particularly of the fhannish variety.  This is largely, but not entirely, due to some discussion on the mail list of the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society.  Old friends have passed away recently - Julie Hise and Ken Moore - and even older friends have resurfaced, either by phone or by email.  During one conversation, the National Fantasy Fan Federation came up.  The person with whom I was speaking assured me that the organizaiton was long defunct, and I let it go.  But with time on my hands tonight, I decided to google the N3F, as it was affectionately nick-named.  To my delight, I found that, far from being defunct, the organization is still running and maintains a website.



Founded in 1941 at the urging of Damon Knight, the N3F is one of the very oldest organizations for science fiction & fantasy fans.  My mentor and "grandfather," Bob Tucker, was president of the organization in 1943, and during his annual visits to my home, over bourbon and cigars, he told many tales of the "good 'ol days" of fandom, many of which mentioned the N3F.  Another of my dearest fan-friends, Martha Beck, was also a longtime member.  Indeed, their membership roles contained many notables - E.E. Evans, E.E. "Doc" Smith, Tom Manning, Forry Ackerman, David Keller, Robert Bloch, and a lot more.

One of their longtime activities is an annual short story contest for amateur writers, "amateur" being defined as no more than two previously published stories.  The first-place prize is $100.  This year's contest is being judged by Jeff Redmond, and the deadline is in December if anyone here wants to consider entering.  Check out the website for further details.

Mostly, I'm just totally charmed that the N3F is still around and functioning.  I registered tonight for their chat forums, and both Diana and I will probably join in the next week or so (as medical bills shake out).  Not that the dues are that much.  I'd be pleased and proud to be a member of any group that once included Bob Tucker.  After all, although I am a total science fiction professional, I'm also a total science fiction fan.  I wear my beanie with my head held high.

Check out this venerable fan organization at www.nfff.org

After months of not posting anything, Robert, aka rwglaub, is making some very interesting posts here on his LJ. They are well worth reading.

I'm still too stunned by the news of the death of Charles N. Brown, with whom I and hundreds of others spent time this weekend at Readercon, for coherent thought right now, so any words I have to say about him I'll share tomorrow. Right now, I'd rather let a few pictures speak.

Charlie and I (along with Jennifer Hall) spent Thanksgiving 2002 in Havana attending a Cuban science fiction convention. Here we are visiting Havana's Castillo de los Tres Santos Reyes Magnos del Morro and hamming it up during happier times.







Farewell, Charlie.

I've read all the warnings about the passive voice (mostly wise), but serious sentence level work has led me to conclude that the warnings do not go far enough.  What a writer really needs to keep an eye on is auxiliary verbs of all types.  They are useful for introducing shades of meaning, but the writer should stop and think whether that particular shade really works better than a simpler verb structure.

( Read more... )