[links] Link salad gets tooled up for chemo
asks for an SF/F reading list [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] — The response in comments has been fantastic. Worth perusing.
A reader reacts to Trial of Flowers — Objects (accurately) to the lack of female characters.
Don’t Ask Me Where I Get My Ideas — Howard Tayler explains it all for you as cogently as I’ve ever seen it done. Plus he’s the Schlock Mercenary guy, which makes him doubly cool. Some of the best long-form SF out there. Buy the books, or hit the Web archives from strip number one. Absolutely worth your time.
I want to see you fly your airship — A challenge from Steampunk Flugtag Flying Olympics.
Watch Man-Controlled Bacteria Build a Nanoscale Pyramid — They buried the lede: [I]n the future, they’ll use that same technique to create a bacterial propulsion system for larger nanobots. Booyah!
Conservatives reject Frum-ism — What you’re seeing here is the tension between being a conservative and being a Republican. It’s not that you can’t be both at the same time, but that you have to know which wins when ideological push comes to electoral shove
Is There A Majority for Health Care Repeal? Not Really — Conservative commentator Daniel Larison on the wishful thinking of Republic rhetoric about HCR repeal. Also, could we just put a bullet in the “America is a center-right nation” meme, please? It’s grown damned silly, not to mention as deeply counterfactual as most cherished Republican memes.
An Open Letter to Conservatives — Oh, yeah. (Thanks to .)
Big Fucking Deal — Hahahah. And because you know, dropping the F-bomb on live mic is every bit as bad as death threats, which aren’t the GOP’s fault anyway. (Thanks to .)
?otD: Do you know how the needle feels sliding into your chest?
3/26/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Body movement: 30 minutes on stationary bike
Hours slept: 7.0 (interrupted)
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 2/10
Currently reading: [between books]
Tags: Books, Child, healthcare, Links, Personal, Politics, Process, reviews, Science, Trial, Videos, weird, Writing
Posted: 4:14 am Fri March 26 2010 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad wakes up grumpy and tired
A reader reacts to Trial of Flowers
19th-century industrial spy stole No. 1 drink — Huh. I want to read this. (Via @mattstaggs.)
is snarky about PowerPoint
Black Holes, Starships and the Cosmos — A Big Idea post from Centauri Dreams. Though my favorite bit was this triviatum: To produce as much energy as a 100 watt light-bulb a black hole needs to mass 1.9 trillion tons.
A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain — Duh. I’m astonished that ADM didn’t have this study quashed.
The Final Health Care Vote and What it Really Means — Robert Reich on the political heritage of HCR.
Fear Strikes Out — on One side, the closing argument was an appeal to our better angels, urging politicians to do what is right, even if it hurts their careers; on the other side, callous cynicism. The GOP never opposed HCR on the merits, that I can tell, despite lip service to the contrary.
The Misinformed Tea Party Movement — For an antitax group, they don’t know much about taxes. Um, yeah.
The GOP’s newfound love of public opinion — I’m not making an argument about whether public opinion should or should not dictate outcomes; the point is about those who are wildly inconsistent in their advocacy on that issue. Inconsistent? The GOP, standard bearers of principled consistency and keepers of America’s moral compass? No!
McCain Comments Confirm That Republicans Plan To Stand On The Sidelines And Do Nothing — I love this response from Senate Majority Leader Reid. For someone who campaigned on ‘Country First’ and claims to take great pride in bipartisanship, it’s absolutely bizarre for Senator McCain to tell the American people he is going to take his ball and go home until the next election,
Wondermark reviews conservatie logic on healthcare — Hahahahah.
The constituency for repeal — Daniel Larison on Republican promises to repeal HCR, and the myth of a public opposition.
Stepping off the narrow path of reality — How adopting counterfactuals leads to further idiocy. This exactly why I rail so much against Creationism and Intelligent Design in schools. Oddly, This Modern World takes on the very same question this week. Just because you believe it doesn’t mean it’s true.
?otD: Where oh where has my little dog gone?
3/23/2010
Writing time yesterday: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Body movement: 30 minutes
Hours slept: 6.0 (lousy)
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a (forgot)
Yesterday’s chemo stress index: 4/10 (but still sick)
Currently reading: [between books]
Tags: Books, Cool, Food, Funny, healthcare, Links, Personal, Politics, reviews, Science, Trial
Posted: 4:25 am Tue March 23 2010 | Comments(1) |
[links] Link salad pops another lactase tab
A reader reacts to Trial of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Nobles | Borders ] — Loved the book, not so sure she recommends it. I take her point. Heh.
Fairwood Press announces The Specific Gravity of Grief — A cancer novella, coming out in a limited edition.
Avatar: Film making and human destiny Part I and Part II — Centauri Dreams with some interesting analysis from a scientific and cultural perspective.
Saab and Saab — A J21 aircraft and a Model 92 auto.
Ghost Depot: 1905 — Shorpy with an interesting piece of railroad photography.
“I Don’t Believe in Global Warming” — Hahaha.
SMBC on faith and reason — Heh. Not unlike some of my own comments, except in handy comic form.
Christianity’s role in history of U.S. at issue — More on the Christianist Texas textbook selection nonsense. John Fea, a history professor at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, a Christian institution [said], “They are not experts on social studies and history. Neither of them are trained in history. They are preachers who use the past and history as a means of promoting a political agenda in the present.” Huh. Good for Professor Fea.
?otD: Milk or cheese?
1/17/2009
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 6.0
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a
Currently reading:
Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
Tags: Books, Gravity, Links, Movies, Personal, Photos, Politics, Publishing, Religion, reviews, stories, Tech, trains, Trial
Posted: 5:58 am Sun January 17 2010 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad lives in a house in the sky
A reader reacts to Trial of Flowers
A reader reacts to Metatropolis
Penny Arcade on Herman Melville — I think my brain is broken now.
Photo prayers — A lovely site. (Via Bill M.)
Parabolic days ahead — The subtitle on this sign is even weirder.
The Tet Zoo guide to the creatures of Avatar — A working biologist looks carefully at the movie. Lengthy, cool post.
Chinese farmer builds robot army — I, for one, welcome our new mechanical overlords.
The Rehabilitation Of Joseph McCarthy? Texas Textbooks Process Grinds On — Confidential to conservative America: When one of your cultural heroes is a vile, prevaricating, power-hungry manipulative drunk who was one of the most destructive political figures of his era, you might want to re-examine your principles.
The Manimal Prize — More on the power of pink unicorns, and perhaps the sociology of poverty. (Via private message, thanks to my tipster.)
Hullabaloo on Pat Robertson — This ties in exactly to what I’ve been saying about the privileging of Christianity in American society. Remember: this man used to call up the fucking president of the United States. And he got through. And the president listened to him. You ever had that kind of access to power? Got it now? (This in the context of Robertson’s flatly insane Christianist remarks on the Haiti disaster.)
?otD: George or Jane?
1/15/2009
Body movement: 60 minute suburban walk
Hours slept: 7.0
This morning’s weigh-in: 225.0
Currently reading:
Bangkok 8 by John Burdett
Tags: Books, Cool, Funny, Language, Links, Movies, Personal, Photos, Politics, Religion, reviews, sience, Trial, weird
Posted: 5:37 am Fri January 15 2010 | Comments(0) |
[process] A few comments on acceptances and rejections
Yesterday afternoon, I sent a story to market. Yesterday evening, it was accepted. (No formal announcement yet, because I don’t have the all-clear from the editor, but I will soon.) I tweeted both events more or less in realtime, which sparked some questions.
Likewise, I mentioned recently on my blog that my acceptance rate was a function of the terrain of my career. That also sparked some questions.
So here’s a little analysis from the point of view of an author who’s transitioning from early career to mid-career. Since the beginning of 2008, I have sold 25 pieces of short fiction solo, and eight collaboratively, six with and two with . In that same time, I have received 30 solo rejections, and four collaborative rejections.
A preliminary look at the data suggests my self-cited 1:3 ratio of acceptances to rejections was in fact pessimistic. Looking only at my solo work, my ratio is slightly worse than 1:1. 1:3, I now realize, is my lifetime ratio. Also, these days, with rare exceptions, almost everything I write sells by the second submittal.
However, these statistics are significantly colored by the fact that I largely write short fiction to invitation. I believe I only wrote two spec pieces in 2007 and 2008 combined. I’ve written more spec pieces this year, about four, but almost entirely as a function of doing exploratory backstory or character development for my several novel continuities — Green, Mainspring and Flowers have all seen spec shorts written. (The collaborative work tends more to being spec, because the impulse that drives it somewhat different.)
So even my 1:1.2 ratio of acceptances to rejections reflects the fact that relatively few of my stories enter open slush. I still get rejected from invited markets about 1 out of every 3 or 4 times, for the very same reasons open slush gets rejected. Suitability, level of craft, editorial/reader appeal, too close to other work already acquired, wrong length, phase of the moon, etc. On the flip side, sometimes I’ll send an editor two, three or four stories on an invite, and suggest they pick the one they like. (I don’t recommend doing that unless you know the editor’s process rather well, or have queried that this is acceptable.) By definition, I’m creating rejections when I follow that pattern.
All of this is very different from five or six years ago, when the vast majority of my submittals were throwing it over the wall into open slush, and hoping to make a hit. The meaning of my rejections has changed considerably, along with the pattern and significance of my submittals. Of course, it has never hurt that my particular psychology is such that rejections don’t stress me much in any case. They’re just another form of editorial response, I note and file them, then do something else.
Tags: Books, Calendula, Green, Mainspring, Personal, Process, stories, Trial, Writing
Posted: 6:02 am Tue October 06 2009 | Comments(2) |
[links] Link salad gropes its way into Sunday morning, gets slapped
Sacramento Book Review likes Green [ Powell's | Amazon
| Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Borders ]
The New Yorker on “Seven Essential Fantasy Reads” — Which I found via this blog post from Dazed Rambling with some alternative recommendations, including my own Trial of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon | Barnes & Nobles | Borders ].
Holey Smokestack: 1865 — Shorpy with an odd bit of American naval history.
The Burden of Debt — Paul Krugman continues to be smart about the deficit.
The Edge of the American West on conservative accusations of liberal “royalism” — Ummm…Bush? Anyone? Once again the conservative mindset betrays itself spectacularly.
?otD: Do zombies experience tooth decay?
8/30/2009
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.25
This morning’s weigh-in: 232.4
Currently reading:
The Real Wizard of Oz by Rebecca Loncraine;
Acacia by David Anthony Durham
Tags: Books, Green, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, reviews, Trial
Posted: 4:56 am Sun August 30 2009 | Comments(3) |
[writing] The quarter just ended
First quarter of 2009 has been interesting from a writing perspective.
Sold three solo stories (one flash, one short, one novella) and two co-authored with (one short, one novelette). Ten short fiction rejections.
Sold three stories in reprint, along with Polish rights to Trial of Flowers.
40,900 words of new short fiction (one novella, one novelette, three short stories).
Revised Pinion and delivered it to Tor for editorial review.
Delivered The Sky That Wraps to Subterranean for pre-production.
Extended The Heart of the Beast from ‘s outline and partial, including 50,100 new words. Back to him for revision.
Outlined Endurance from scratch, twice.
Wrote the foreword for ‘s Push of the Sky.
Made the Hugo ballot, sort of, as an explanatory note to the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form nomination for METAtropolis.
Plus a bunch of blog posts, twittering, miscellanous blurbage, nonfiction writing and Ghu knows what else.
How was your writing year so far?
Tags: Awards, Beast, Books, Calendula, Endurance, Fiction, Pinion, Process, stories, Trial, Writing
Posted: 6:14 pm Wed April 01 2009 | Comments(0) |
[sale] Polish rights to Trial of Flowers
I am pleased to announce that my agent, the mighty , has informed me that Polish publisher MAG Jacek Rodek has made an offer for the Polish rights to my 2006 novel Trial of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon ].
Tags: Books, Sale, Trial
Posted: 6:10 pm Wed February 18 2009 | Comments(0) |
[links] Link salad for a hump day
I’ll be closing the Caption Contest Voting Poll in the next day or so — Vote if you haven’t yet.
A Romanian (I think) review of Trial of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon ]
More crazy logistics from Dark Roasted Blend — Highly entertaining photos, for the most part.
Earth-mass Exoplanets and Their Uses — Centauri Dreams with more on exoplanets.
APOD with a stunning photo of a lenticular cloud
Inauguration Day From Space — (Thanks to .)
Why the Ideological Melting Pot Is Getting So Lumpy — I’m not sure I buy this thesis, partly because there’s some serious false equivalency going on in this article, but it’s still interesting. (Thanks to .)
Rejecting Bush Era, Reclaiming Values — The New York Times on Obama’s Inaugural speech. I heard it this way, too, as a strong and relatively detailed refutation of the disastrous missteps of the Bush administration and conservative rule in general.
?otD: Was the walrus Paul?
1/21/2009
Body movement: 40 minute ride on stationary bike
This morning’s weigh-in: n/a
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville
Tags: Contests, Funny, Links, Personal, Politics, Polls, reviews, Science, Trial
Posted: 4:07 am Wed January 21 2009 | Comments(3) |
[links] Link salad for the first Saturday of a bright new year
A reader reacts to Trial of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon ] — And of course, Madness of Flowers [ Powell's | Amazon ] will be out shortly.
Dilbert on the cold stench of death
Norman Bel Geddes Airliner #4 — This has always been one of my favorite examples of Big Science era design.
The New Motor, or the Steam-Powered Messiah — Pulled from Dark Roasted Blend‘s own best of 2008. Mmm. Steampunky goodness.
Gems Point to Comet as Answer to Ancient Riddle — Nanodiamonds. Coooool.
?otD: How low can you go?
1/3/2009
Body movement: 40 minute ride on the stationary bike
This morning’s weigh-in: 220.6
Currently reading: The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade by Herman Melville; Norse Code by Greg van Eekhout
Tags: Books, Cool, Culture, Funny, Links, Madness, Personal, reviews, Science, Trial
Posted: 7:11 am Sat January 03 2009 | Comments(0) |
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