At Orycon, we had a panel intended to produce a piece of collaborative fiction within the hour of programming. This involved substantial audience participation and some fairly whacky behavior. Panelists were Brenda Cooper, Jay Lake, Theresa Reed, Ken Scholes and Ray Vukcevich.
As promised at that event, here is the story posted for general approbation:
( The story... )
Posted: 4:21 pm Wed December 03 2008 | Comments(0) |
Now it can be told…
(Amusing stuff, at least in my opinion, but under a cut for medical TMI and reader mercy) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: 9:09 pm Tue December 02 2008 | Comments(4) |
After a rump session of the Fireside group tonight, HJ and I went to the Iron Horse for a quick, light dinner. He’s a pretty quiet guy, so it was nice to get to converse with him without the Olympic-class competitive talking that characterizes most writer gatherings.
I was laughing at myself as I got there, however, because I carried into the restaurant with me both my computer bag and the galleys of Green. This is because if I left them locked in the trunk — the Genre car is a convertible and I leave nothing that might look important or valuable to a meth-head in the passenger compartment, ever — and someone were to steal the car, the hassle of replacing the car would be a lot less than the hassle of re-marking up the manuscript and replacing the computer.
Which ought to tell you something about my priorities. And you should see me with a copy edited manuscript. Sooner I would part with my voolnerables than with a CEM.
Posted: 8:50 pm Tue December 02 2008 | Comments(1) |
Wondermark on Rudolph as R. Clement Moore fanfic
Asher at The Guru Handbook on grading and concurrency — I’m more interested in the grading model Asher cites as applied to writers, both in a workshop environment and as a critical tool in the published world. There certainly are books and stories which can be identified as “first wave” and “second wave” — I’m not so sure if the reviewer step is better reflected in the critical/critiquing apparatus or in another layer of writing.
My new word for the day: Abugida — Picked it up while reading this fascinating piece on textual analysis being used to investigate the Mumbai terrorist attacks. (Specifically, the comments section, which is very good on this post.) From an auctorial perspective, the whole thing is worth reading if you write fiction about multilingual societies.
Fuel-cell powered devices getting closer — Mmm. Multiday batteries.
Injuries and Deaths Due to Firearms in the Home — For every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides. (Thanks to swan_tower.)
From my cell I scent the reeking soul of US justice — Conrad Black writes from prison. (Thanks to danjite.)
Obama Birth Certificate Rears Its Head - Again — Mmm. I can smell the bipartisanship from all the way over here. Because there’s nothing Republicans love more than a good, enraging lie. Keeps the base energized, donchaknow. This is like Whitewater, it will never go away. (Thanks to lt260.)
Jones at NSC; Even knows French (Eat your Heart out Tom DeLay) — I’m posting this one mostly for the headline, which I find hilarious, but it’s also a discussion of Obama’s new National Security Advisor.
This Modern World with a brief (and sadly fictional) history of the past eight years
?otD: Why oh, why oh, why oh; did I ever leave Ohio?
12/02/08
Body movement: 30 minutes on stationary bike
This morning’s weigh-in: 220.8
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
Posted: 5:24 am Tue December 02 2008 | Comments(0) |
One more squib before I launch into my work day. This weekend, the_child decided my house wasn’t writerly enough. To effect the change she believes in, my daughter rearranged my living room and created an attractive and functional promotional display so that visitors to the house are greeted with an overview of my work as a writer. Photographs later, when time permits. She did a lovely job, and even set out some of my business cards. Kid’s a natural born publicist, I tell you.
In other news, I’ll be out for a minor medical procedure later this morning. Recovery time is expected to be nil — this is something I can drive myself home from — but if I’m feeling unexpectedly wonky this afternoon, there may be less blogging than my hypergraphic norm.
Posted: 7:00 am Mon December 01 2008 | Comments(0) |
Holiday weekend reacharound, for those of you who weren’t online much:
Here at this blog, we read Herman Melville so you don’t have to. [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
A writerly career meme: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
More wit and wisdom of the_child: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
Wisdom of Fred: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]
Plus the usual assorted bill of fare:
Lego safe — Um… (Thanks to willyumtx.)
Next Year In Birobidzhan? Stalin’s Siberian Zion — Strange Maps with a very odd bit of Jewish history.
Climate change juggernaut on the horizon, UN talks told — More liberal balderdash from the world scientific community and the pinko climate itself. Thank God we have the Republican party and its talk radio surrogates to keep us politically insulated from the inconvenience of reality.
A Handpicked Team for a Foreign Policy Shift — The New York Times on Obama’s foreign policy and national security team. …the United States has more members of military marching bands than foreign service officers. Because that’s what the War on Terror demands! The GOP, keeping you safer with clarinets.
The GOP’s McCarthy gene — Think Goldwater is the father of conservatism? Think again. A fairly cogent explanation of the profound cognitive dissonance between the GOP’s idealistic self-image and the party’s vicious behaviors. (Hat tip to Talking Points Memo.)
Juan Cole on Pakistani Reaganism — A very illuminating precis on the history of radical Islam in South Asia, and how much the current issues with the Taliban owe their roots to Reagan’s anti-Communist policies. Not news to most reality-based readers, but very well-explained. (Facts not valid for FOX News viewers.)
?otD: Who let the dogs out?
12/01/08
Body movement: 30 minutes on stationary bike
This morning’s weigh-in: 221.4
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
Posted: 6:12 am Mon December 01 2008 | Comments(0) |
Whilst reading The Confidence Man: His Masquerade, by Herman Melville, I continue to marvel at the shifts in literary style over time. Consider this sentence:
While the merchant, strange to say, opposed views so calm and impartial, and again, with some warmth, deplored the case of the unfortunate man, his companion, not without seriousness, checked him, saying, that this would never do; that, though but in the most exceptional case, to admit the existence of unmerited misery, more particularly if alleged to have been brought about by unhindered arts of the wicked, such an admission was, to say the least, not prudent; since, with some, it might unfavorably bias their most important persuasions
I have several observations here.
First of all, this is a typical sentence for Melville, at least in this book.
Second, I have probably written entire novel chapters with fewer commas than this single sentence. One imagines a mid-nineteenth century fire sale on punctuation. Try reading the damned thing aloud.
Third, if I turned a sentence like that it to Tor, editorial ninjas would come to my house and choke me to death with my own copy edit. To general approbation and good cheer, I should think.
Nonetheless, I soldier bravely onward, for like all fiction, ’tis not the bottle but the contents which makes the play.
Posted: 9:33 pm Sun November 30 2008 | Comments(3) |
Atomic Tarantula — Some very cool sf-themed wear.
Autoportraits — Finding expression in unlikely places. This is fairly amusing.
Honeywell’s Kitchen Computer remembered — A idea whose time never came, apparently. Still, there’s something wistful about this. (Thanks to danjite.)
Baconed yams — One of my favorite recipes in quite a while, courtesy of cthulhie, whom I don’t actually know, AFAIK. Worth the read just for the cooking instructions. Mmmm, bacon.
20 things to do with a haggis — Unintentional (I think) multicultural humor from the online archives of The Times. (Thanks to Scrivener’s Error.)
Poll riots erupt in Nigerian city — I spent my freshman year of high school (1978-1979) at a missionary boarding school in this city. (Thanks to my brother.)
?otD: Do you have Prince Albert in a can?
11/29/08
Body movement: 2 hour, 35 minute suburban walk
[Important safety tip: do not wear reading glasses for extended trail walking in the dark]
This morning’s weigh-in: 222.4
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
Posted: 10:58 am Sat November 29 2008 | Comments(0) |
Various tidbits from the_child of late.
On hearing Christmas music as we left Thanksgiving lunch with my parents at the Chart House: “Why aren’t we hearing Thanksgiving music? You, know, ‘Here’s the turkey, I just shot it…’”
On watching the movie Corpse Bride: “Yes! At last, a girl gets to save the day!”
“Why did you raise me without tv or videogames?” That led to a whole conversation about my theory of Producers and Consumers, after which she pointed out that her thumbs weren’t as fast on the controller as other kids’.
“If I could shapeshift, I’d turn into kenscholes. Well, no, that might be too much.”
“You don’t have all your book covers on your iPhone? That’s bad business for a writer.”
Also, when I was signing the limiteds of Cucurbital, she sat down with me, and without a word, began facing the books for me. Clearly she has been well-trained.
Posted: 4:45 pm Thu November 27 2008 | Comments(1) |
Top Ten Reasons Books Are Better Than Sex — (Snurched from Scrivener’s Error.)
musingaloud talks about the 12/08 issue of Realms of Fantasy — Including my story, “Achilles, Sulking in His Buick.”
Ancient eyes head for the light — Poetic and fascinating, a piece about precursors to eyes. IDiots will of course decline to note the dreaded transitional forms under discussion.
Brain reorganizes to make room for math — Some cool stuff on training the human mind and its meat machine. (Thanks to lt260.)
$450,000 Watch Features Real Moon Dust — Houston, do you read me? :: wants :: (Thanks to therinth.)
Astronomers Select Top Ten Most Amazing Pictures Taken by Hubble Space Telescope in Last 16 Years — (Thanks to danjite.)
Neil Armstrong’s parents on “I’ve Got a Secret” — Heh. (Thanks to sdn.)
It’s Like Taking Candy From a Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation — This is hilarious. Freelance culture jamming. (Thanks to willyumtx.)
Shorpy with online shopping, ca. 1950
Fareed Zakaria on living through history, and the hard realities of economics
Enter Hawks, Stage Right (Part 2) — A rather distressing piece on Obama’s rapid shift to the right on military policy, post-election. (Thanks to dirkcjelli.)
?otD: Houston, can you read me, or have I lost my mind?
11/25/08
Body movement: 30 minutes on stationary bike
This morning’s weigh-in: 222.4
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
Posted: 6:38 am Tue November 25 2008 | Comments(0) |
|