http://www.sandrewswann.com thoughts and opinions by author s. andrew swann Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you've followed my blog, you've seen me talk about our dog Truffles. Back during the summer, she was stricken with something, no one has yet diagnosed what, that weakened her until she was unable to walk. At first we thought it was neurological, but she was never ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/03/another-truffle-update.html Another quick tip while I'm buried in the middle of this novel: Tropes and clichés are a great tool with which to surprise your reader.  Wait, you might say, how can you possibly surprise the reader with a cliché? Well what exactly is a cliché? It is a situation ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/03/how-to-fake-out-your-readers.html Plot's one of my strong points as a writer.  That's brought home to me when I see reviews saying that the Apotheosis Trilogy is "tightly plotted."  To my POV that is amusing because it (and its predecessor, Hostile Takeover) are, for me at least, vast sprawling shaggy dog stories that ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/quick-rules-for-tightly-plotted-fiction.html Deep in writing deadlines and such, so here are some videos for you all: And equal time: And a bonus clip from across the pond; http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/rocking-out-with-potus.html I09 led me to a post by Ian Sales about the dreaded Info Dump: Unless the writer has chosen to use an outsider as a protagonist – a common trick in fantasy, but much less so in science fiction – the only way the reader is going to learn anything about ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/trash-picking-at-the-info-dump.html http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/godwinizing-climate-change.html If you missed it last night, I was on the Nightstalkers internet radio program.  I talked about werewolves, writing and Wolfbreed.  (Ain't I alliterative?) With the exception of one technical glitch with my phone (I think you can hear me swearing) it went well.  If you missed it, don't fret.  ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/me-babbling.html Remember Rollerball?  The original 1975 version with James Caan?  One of the interesting premises of the movie was the collapse of the nation-state in favor of the corporation.  That premise was somewhat prescient,  anticipating one of the main tropes of cyberpunk by almost a decade.  The idea is commonplace now, ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/will-the-nation-state-cease-to-exist.html Blogish Thing #1: The Amazon/Macmillan thing continues rolling on, making Amazon look more and more the villian to those of us who write for a living.  Reactions are varied, and I'd like to endorse Scalzi's call not to boycott, but to buy books from the affected authors. Also like Scalzi, I've ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/two-blogish-things.html Today I've a guest blog post up @ SciFiGuy.ca wherein I go and mull over my current obsessions on religion and space opera in the Apotheosis Trilogy. Can you write SF about religion? It’s an interesting question because when people tend to think of Religion and SF, it almost always in ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/we-interrupt-this-blog-to-bring-you-an-important-message.html Here we see the cover of the Blackstone Audio version of Wolfbreed coming out March 20th.  Much coolness, and it's interesting seeing a cover that's clearly influenced by Spectra's cover, yet different.  I can't wait to get this on my iPod. http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/audio-goodness-coming-in-march.html Zoe doesn't seem too impressed, but it may be because she can't read. If you want to buy it on-line, but you're pissed at Amazon's antics of late, you can buy it here. Or here. http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/heretics-is-out-today.html I recently read a rather interesting sfnal riff on Obama's state of the union speech, based on an administration reference to a "New Foundation": But I recall reading here or somewhere that Paul Krugman and several other leading economic and legal academic-policymakers had come to their professions wanting to be ... ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/02/one-of-the-most-dangerous-ideas-in-sf.html Well finally got to updating the counters for the WIP.  And I am now feeling the main issue that faces every writer with a day job, time.  There just isn't enough of it.  Once you take time for commuting, writing, taking care of the animals and the day job itself, ... http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/01/juggling.html Or so scary it's awesome. RAD OMEN - "Rad Anthem" from Nicholaus Goossen on Vimeo. From here. http://www.sandrewswann.com/blog/2010/01/so-awesome-it-is-scary.html