May 2013
3 posts
Cameron Esposito: Tell your rape jokes. Expect to... →
cameronesposito:
Seems like every 6 months or so - maybe once a year - there is a debate about rape jokes. Here’s how it goes:
A dude tells jokes about rape or deals with hecklers in way that includes rape. A woman hears these jokes or is the heckler. She publicly states that she is upset or didn’t like the joke…
January 2013
1 post
“Paul did me the great compliment of sending me this piece before it went public,...”
– Community Voices: Paul Czege’s Five Important Acts For Unlocking Your Creativity
December 2012
2 posts
August 2012
9 posts
5 tags
Interview with a Wendigo, on the release of...
For those of you living under a rock, Chuck Wendig (one of the hardest working writers I know) has a new book coming out today: Mockingbird, sequel to Blackbirds, which I reviewed here not so very long ago, because I’m a bit slow on the uptake.
But THIS time, I actually got in with the cool kids and finagled a sit-down with Chuck to talk about his work in advance, so I could could share it...
1 tag
An Open Plea: Save Hidden Things from Harriet
Hi guys.
As most of you are aware, the Hidden Things ARC has been out for awhile, and the book has been earning reviews from many legitimate, intelligent people and institutions, including the Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and a number of independent reviewers with good reputations. The most recent review that came in is by Bill Capossere at FantasyLiterature.com; I like it especially because...
4 tags
My Reddit "Ask Me Anything" Is Today!
Like the title says, today (well, at 7pm central) I will be on Reddit answering All The Things during an AMA or “Ask Me Anything.”
The basic idea is quite simple. I make a post to start things off, the ENTIRE INTERNET shows up and asks me stuff, and this evening I answer their questions.
If you have a Reddit account, I’d encourage you to drop in and ask something (because five...
4 tags
The Story of the Spindle, part of the...
My interview with Chuck Wendig is up at Terribleminds, and as part of that interview, he asked me for a story “as long or as short as you like.”
Mine ran kind of long. Ahem. (It’s not my fault! He said!)
ANYWAY, in order to prevent reader attention from drifting down the Waverly River, Chuck and I agreed that I’d host the whole story here, so he could focus on the more...
2 tags
Hidden Things excerpt and author's Introduction is...
I’ve been waiting for this ever since I wrote it, but my personal introduction for Hidden Things is now up on Harper Voyager Books, and with it, an introductory excerpt from the book.
I never thought of Hidden Things as urban fantasy (which is the way it’s often characterized) because ‘urban’ doesn’t really come into it very much, and it didn’t seem to have any of the trappings I...
2 tags
Recent Hidden Things Reviews
Hidden Things is out today! Here are the latest reviews (that I know of — if you spot one I missed, let me know). Let’s see what people are saying…
Kirkus Reviews, notorious purveyors of the cutting one-liner, gave the book a pretty terrific review, calling it “agreeably creepy” (which makes me smile) and Calliope a “clever, determined, dauntless...
J.R. Blackwell: The Hidden Step →
jrblackwell:
There is a hidden step in every creative project that no one talks about. The Hidden Step. This is because it’s not a step you do, but a step that happens to you. It has happened to me in every significant project I’ve ever undertaken. Anything I’ve done that’s been worth doing. Anything that has…
2 tags
Hidden Things Release Week News
So Hidden Things officially releases tomorrow — I’ve gotten a lot of messages from people telling me that they’ve gotten notification their preorders are on the way, which is both very scary and very exciting. There have been quite a few reviews posted already (more on that in another post), but obviously that doesn’t compare to the number of people about to put their...
3 tags
Hidden Things Cover Design Contest
So, as a lead in to this, let’s take a look at the cover of Hidden Things. Because I want to.
[caption id=”” align=”aligncenter” width=”383” caption=”Is she not lovely?”][/caption]
Now, it’s hardly a secret that I love this cover, in part because I had a lot of input into the sort of elements I thought should go into the thing. My...
July 2012
4 posts
2 tags
Hidden Things Slightly-less-Extreme Word-finder...
I’m still fighting a Montezuma-grade case of ComicCon Crud, but I’ve staggered away from the sickbed long enough to right this wrong.
You see, I kind of stumped everyone with the wordfinder puzzle.
For those that need reminding, I once designed a title page for Hidden Things, inspired by a scene in the book. For reasons that remain an utter mystery, Harper actually decided to use it...
1 tag
ComicCon Wrap-up
So, I went to ComicCon, and it totally wiped me out.
Then I realized it was only Thursday, and I had three more days to go.
I’m still recovering from the event, but I wanted to get down a couple of thoughts and notes before I forgot them entirely, even if it’s just a basic list format.
The Good
The panel on Sunday was great fun. I can’t thank John Scalzi enough for his...
2 tags
Hidden Things: Here's that Two Bucks I Owe You
Those of you who’ve known me a long time know that I’m quite critical of any arguments that try to justify an ebook priced close to or exactly the same as a traditional print version of the same story. Yes, the story is the same, and the editing and formatting work is the same, and it’s entirely fair to want to see that cost recouped, but there is obviously no electronic...
7 tags
Contest Winner! Reviews! ComicCon Super-Special...
(Warning: I’ve got a bunch of use-em-or-lose-em exclamation points I needed to get up on the blog before they go stale. Seriously: leave them out too long and they start smelling like banana peels.)
Contest Winner!
Three cheers (and an ARC of Hidden Things) to The Original Edi for her submission to last week’s microfiction contest. In addition to the book, I’m also granting Edi...
June 2012
7 posts
3 tags
Hidden Things: The Microfiction Contest
I remember, when I was a kid, riding in a car with green, leathery seats that got very hot in the sun. The car was green as well, although a different shade, and it seems to the me of my memories that most of the cars back then were that color. It was a popular trend, or maybe my child perception was skewed.
At any rate, the car was green, the seats were green, it was summer, the sun was hot, and...
3 tags
Building Better Worlds: Thoughts on Prometheus
I grew up thirty miles from the closest town with a movie theater, a venue with one screen and a hundred and three seats, run by the same family that owned the drive-in (one of the only drive-ins still running in South Dakota, now owned by kids I went to high school with). They ran stuff like Goonies and Mannequin and Grease II. I remember the summer Gremlins came out — it was the only film...
1 tag
Hidden Things Giveaways and News-like Objects
I’m going to try to keep these kinds of posts down to once-a-week, so here’s everything going on with HIDDEN THINGS at this very moment.
Free Things
Are you on Goodreads? You are? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ABOUT IT? I’m a new arrival, but I kind of love it — I spent most my spare time this weekend scanning in books on my shelves, sticking pretty gold stars on those...
2 tags
Goodbye, Ray Bradbury
Death doesn’t exist. It never did, it never will. But we’ve drawn so many pictures of it, so many years, trying to pin it down, comprehend it, we’ve got to thinking of it as an entity, strangely alive and greedy. All it is, however, is a stopped watch, a loss, an end, a darkness. Nothing.
—Something Wicked This Way Comes
As I’ve mentioned, the county library in the...
1 tag
1 tag
Workspace
I posted a picture of a new chair to Twitter yesterday. Alongside the picture, I said:
Replaced ten year old home office chair with Something Fancy. Butt approves. Daytime standing desk doesn’t care.
(I know, riveting social media, right?)
In addition to the new (incredibly comfy, dangerously reclinable) chair, I removed the small “ladder” desk that Kate uses when she...
May 2012
8 posts
3 tags
Going to San Diego Comic Con?
Me too!
Stunted Fools, Scary-Ass Clowns, Enlightened Orangutans and other Devilish Charmers: Humor in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Time: Sunday, 7/15/12, 10:00a.m. - 11:00a.m.
Description: “The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.” And these authors’ pens are…very sharp. But, as The Hitchhiker’s Guide so sagely advises, DON’T PANIC. Humor...
2 tags
"Watch out for the Hidden Things..."
I actually started writing a completely different post today (another book review), and then realized that I really, really ought to start talking about some of the stuff going on with my book. (I’m actually fairly bad at the business side of publishing (or bad at business as publishing practices it, which is different). That’s a topic about which I can (and probably will) write a...
3 tags
Book Review: Blackbirds, by Chuck Wendig
I’m a sucker for amnesia stories.
You know the kind I’m talking about: Our hero wakes up in a hotel room with no memory of who he is or how he got there. There’s a pounding on the door, the landlord’s hollering that this week’s rent is due, the nameless protag opens the door, and the cops burst in, pinning him to the bed and reciting Miranda for the murder of so and...
3 tags
Clarity
So this is my kid. Click for increased sugar intake.
Sean is pretty great. Born in late January, by November and early December of last year he was already picking up works like “ball” and “milk” and was a few days away (I felt) from the big ones like Mommy and Daddy.
Christmas came around and, with it, a whole lot of traveling. It seemed almost inevitable that at...
March 2012
3 posts
1 tag
The Tyranny of Style Guides: Let Us Not Be Slaves...
I want to be clear about something: I was (and am) a pretty poor student of grammar. I mean, yes: I understand it, and more importantly I understand its purpose. By and large I get it right in practice, but that’s as far as it goes; I can’t (for example) glibly define an independent clause, except to say this is one and you should be able to figure out the rest yourself.
Yet somehow,...
1 tag
Mass Effect, Creative License, and the Rights of...
This post is (thankfully) going to be shorter than yesterday’s. I wasn’t going to write another one on this topic at all, but there was a really good comment on yesterday’s post that led to a really long reply on my part — so long that I figured it would be better served as a post of its own.
The reason it’s interesting to me is because it has to do with the weird...
2 tags
Mass Effect, Tolkien, and Your Bullshit Artistic...
It may seem a bit odd that I’m posting this here rather than on my gaming-related blog, since it is about the Mass Effect game series and other related geekery. I debated where I should post it, but ultimately this is about writing as much or more than it’s about gaming, so here it is. Everything that follows is my opinion and, further, is infested with spoilers for both the Mass...
December 2011
4 posts
Life in a Wormhole: Agency #eveonline →
Strange kind of a day.
There’s a bit of a snafu when we get online, simply because a few of the things Gor expected to pick up in market simply aren’t available yet. Still, he picks up a couple of…
Life in a Wormhole: Preparing for Change... →
There’s a lot of interesting stuff happening in EvE, and in anticipation of some of the changes, most of he wormhole pilots have set out into known space to pick up supplies or to station…
Life in a Wormhole: Blowing Up Properly #eveonline →
The home system has been quiet this week (which is why I’ve been writing a few more guide-like things than normal), but one thing we did manage to accomplish was getting one of our old friends/new…
Life in a Wormhole: How Soon Can I Start?... →
In the past, I’ve written a fair bit about what you need to bring when you decide to move into a wormhole. That list is intended for an entire group heading into a class two or something similar,…
Life in a Wormhole: Too Long in the Wasteland... →
[Good album, by the way. James McMurtry. I recommend it.]
Yeah, I know it’s been a few weeks. Believe me when I say I’d rather be here — I’m still in lesbian with you, EvE, even when you…
November 2011
5 posts
Life in a Wormhole: Moa Constrictors #eveonline →
Once Em and I are back on line, she grabs her Onyx heavy interdictor and breaks several laws of physics to finish collapsing the connection between our wormhole and the one with the extremely…
2 tags
"Toss it in the Water"
Things have been a little quiet around here. Let me see if I can explain why:
[caption id=”attachment_3134” align=”aligncenter” width=”540” caption=”I am completely innocent. Don't listen to the old man.”][/caption]
I don’t want to imply that when you have a small human to take care of, you can’t get anything else done, but I (at...
Life in a Wormhole: Eager Defenders #eveonline →
Morning in the ‘hole, and with the wardec over and mining ops closing down, I’m ready to explore our connection to class-two wormhole space. Sounds great, except for the fact that our connection…
October 2011
14 posts
Life in a Wormhole: Things that are Harder than... →
I log in the next morning to find most of our pilots mobilizing for some kind of major operation.
Their plan is hazy, but their enthusiasm is clear.
After a few minutes, I’m able to…
Life in a Wormhole, Always Smaller than You... →
There are Germans in the adjoining class two system, but since I’m really just looking for a good exit to known space (and the Germans are going to sleep), we just ignore each other and I keep…
Life in a Wormhole: An Embarrassment of Riches... →
I get another message from my broker the next morning, telling me that the buyers are back online and still interested in buying the C4, so I send up a flare and meet Tira online.
Em and Cabbage…
Life in a Wormhole: Frontier Real-Estate... →
The wardec has ended as it often does: not with a bang, but a whimper.
In this case, the whimpering comes from me, wrestling with some serious server problems — stuff the keeps me offline for a…
