Jay Lake: Writer

[links] Link salad is walking on sunshine

Hot sauce that can kill — This hot sauce has got a license to kill, and it’s not afraid to use it. (Thanks to .)

“Skyquake” — Huh? WTF? Is this a Sign of the End Times or what?

Wheel Motors to Drive Dutch Buses

When computers address the Almighty — Uh huh. (Thanks to .)

The World as Seen from Chang’an Street

?otD: Where’s the winter in Winter Park?

3/23/2009
Body movement: 40 minute suburban walk
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Push of the Sky by Camille Alexa

Tags: cars, Food, Links, Personal, Politics, Religion, Tech, weird

Posted: 2:25 am Mon March 23 2009 | Comments(1) |

[personal] Open dinner in Dallas, TX March 25th (repost)

Barring a last minute change in business travel plans, I will be free for dinner in Dallas on the night of Wednesday, March 25th. I plan to be at:

Chuy's Dallas
4544 McKinney Ave at Knox-Henderson [ Google Maps ]
Dallas, TX 75205
(214) 559-2489

I should be there around 6:00 pm that day. It’ll be a JayCon Lite — open dinner, if you’re around and interested, come on by. Probably it would help if I had tentative RSVPs here in comments or via email, so if it gets bigger than 4-6 people I can be properly prepared to annoy the host.

Tags: Food, Personal, Texas, Travel

Posted: 2:20 am Mon March 23 2009 | Comments(0) |

[conventions] A bit more ICFA

Yesterday went swimmingly. Including, well, a bit of swimming. Morning walk, a bunch of social time, skimming the book rooms, drinking by the pool, a decently-fed concluding banquet, drinking by the pool. Did I mention drinking by the pool? I think there was programming going on somewhere.

Stumbled to bed around 1 am, got up to go for another long walk with , and D—. Much birdlife, including a nesting pair of falcons seen pretty close as they cussed at us. Managed to crash the Locus breakfast for the second day in a row, wherein bad limericks were perpetrated at length and the possible rhymes for “Wolfe” much discussed. Off to pick my rent car shortly, attending the dead dog lunch here, then away to Winter Park for dinner with my sponsors for the writer-in-residence gig I’m doing the next two days.

You all play nice. I’ll be around.

Tags: Conventions, Travel

Posted: 6:54 am Sun March 22 2009 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad has a sunny day, sweeping the clouds away

File 770 on the METAtropolis Hugo nomination

Pub is closed by Monty Python hand grenade — (Thanks to .)

Orbitron Apocalypto — Hod rod journalism and high weirdness. Great slice-of-culture narrative. (Thanks to .)

The Seven Nations of Political Talk — Who listens to whom in political commentary.

George Will, climate change and the disingenuousness of conservative dialectic

?otD: Badges? Badges?

3/22/2009
Body movement: 10 minute stretch in gym, 50 minute walk in meadows
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville

Tags: Awards, cars, Culture, Funny, Links, Personal, Politics, Publishing

Posted: 6:50 am Sun March 22 2009 | Comments(1) |

[conventions] Doing the ICFA

I’m at ICFA, more or less by accident. (Managed to slide it into a business trip, so I dropped in.) Spent yesterday afternoon finishing revisions so I could turn in Pinion [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ].

Made it to the bar in time to hang out with the Tachyon boys, then off to a rather nice Japanese dinner with , , Chris Barzak and his sweetie, Russel Letson and Deanna Hoak. This was followed by a David Hartwell party, then hot tubbing and booze. Possibly :: koff :: koff :: at the same time, though by morning’s sober light I would not swear to it.

Up at a silly hour this morning for some gym time and a long walk in the meadows behind this hotel. (Which are freaking huge.) I then horned in on the Locus breakfast with a cast of dozen, and will be down for the ICFA photo later. Not sure what else, but definitely the banquet tonight!

Having a blast, to be sure.

Tags: Conventions, Personal, Travel

Posted: 6:22 am Sat March 21 2009 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad falls to the ground with a high, lonesome sound

SCI FI president Dave Howe answers your Syfy questions — (Thanks to my brother.)

Huge helicopters — From Dark Roasted Blend.

Advertising posters from the 1950s — Mmmm.

Keith Olbermann on bailed out banks — (Thanks to .)

?otD: What is that bright, shining light, anyway?

3/21/2009
Body movement: 15 minute stretch in gym and pool, 40 minute walk in meadows
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Watchmen by Alan Moore etc.

Tags: Cool, Culture, Links, Personal, Politics, Publishing, Tech

Posted: 6:15 am Sat March 21 2009 | Comments(1) |

[writing] Progris riport, day 17, revising Pinion

Between travel preparation, the Omaha Beach Party, and Hugo fever, yesterday was a lost day for Pinion. However, today I have finalized the draft at 162,800 words, 300 words over my most recent estimated turn-in length. This is not the draft for formal acceptance, this is the draft for editorial review, which will lead to a change letter around the end of April from , and that will drive my draft for formal acceptance.

Today I handled the last of the fix-it notes, did some careful spellchecking, went on several crutch word hunts, and generally got it nailed down. How ready is this book for prime time? I’ll have to ask — she’s the editor. I’m just the writer, I don’t know nothing…

Off to first readers now, as well as and .

Tags: Books, Pinion, Tourbillion, Writing

Posted: 9:16 pm Fri March 20 2009 | Comments(2) |

[conventions] ICFA

I shall be at ICFA starting late today, through midday Sunday or so. See some, all or none of you there in Orlando!

Tags: Conventions, Personal, Travel

Posted: 12:40 am Fri March 20 2009 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad flies off to ICFA

In which I am one-fifth of a Hugo nominee: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]

Why Publishing Should Send Fruit-Baskets to Google — I.G. Frederick points out that Cory Doctorow has the opposite reaction to mine. [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] Wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong!

talks about — With bonus cartoon action. Heh.

Zeppelins r Us — Choose “Led Zeppelin” and “Massive” and “On.” Trust in this, as I did.

APOD is even cooler than usual

The propagation of false news in wartime.

?otD: Where do Hugo?

3/20/2009
Body movement: n/a (travel day)
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (travel day)
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Watchmen by Alan Moore etc.

Tags: Awards, Cool, Funny, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Publishing, Science, Writing

Posted: 12:28 am Fri March 20 2009 | Comments(0) |

[cancer|awards] Hugos

METAtropolis by John Scalzi, ed. Written by: Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell and Karl Schroeder (Audible Inc) has been nominated for the Hugo in the category of Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form. We believe it’s the first audiobook ever nominated for a Hugo.

This is very special to me because my novella in METAtropolis, “In the Forests of the Night”, is the first piece I wrote when recovering from cancer surgery. It’s the piece that scared the hell out of me, because until I’d written the story, I didn’t know if I still had “it” as a writer. It’s also the piece I was struggling to work on when I very first met .

Thank you Steve Feldberg of audible.com and John Scalzi for moving the deadline after I got sick so I could stay in the project. Thank you Elizabeth Bear, Toby Buckell and Karl Schroeder for putting up with my flakiness. And my special thanks to everyone who nominated METAtropolis.

Because that story is testament to my kicking cancer’s ass.

Tags: Awards, Calendula, Cancer, Personal, stories

Posted: 5:36 pm Thu March 19 2009 | Comments(4) |