Here’s some background. There’s this little comedy show about current events, you might have heard of it, it’s called the Daily Show. There’s also this sotra-kinda-wants-to-be-a-cable-news-network-when-it-grows-up called CNBC. Now, if you’re asked to appear as a guest on the Daily Show, as Mr. Rick Santelli was, after going on a Read more…
First off, I’m exceeding my prior stated goal of 20K by today, hitting 24K as of this writing. Go me! Second off, I got my highest-profile internet review to-date on Prophets on io9. Go me, squared!
A comment responding to my Big Idea post on Whatever led me to thinking about the sfnal concept of the Singularity. It seems quite popular to dis the concept. in fact, outside some Transhumanist circles, it seems that twice as many electrons are used on the interwebs to dismiss the concept than are used to promote it, or even defend it. There is an irony to this, as the Internet itself is a form of Singularity.
These are a pair of concepts that tend to hound beginning writers, especially beginning writers who come from an academic environment. This is largely due to the fact, I think, that a lot of higher education, even of writers, is less about writing than it is about reading. Colleges spend a lot more time on analysis of fiction than it does on its creation, after all it’s a lot easier to teach in a systematic fashion. But the tools one brings to bear in understanding what someone has written are much different than what you use to write something. Theme and symbolism are two such tools. Wielding these twin swords, a talented person can take a novel and dissect it like a chef at a Japanese steakhouse, leading to all sorts of insights. . . But you need to remember something, that as a writer in this instance you’re not the chef, you’re the cow.
If you noticed the counters, I’m off to a fair start on Wolfbreed II. I’m just short of 14K words as I write this, which is a good thing, because I am up on a deadline here. The other reason this is a good thing is when I’m writing hot, Read more…
I’ve always been a sucker for dark themes in music. I’ve lately been listening to a band called The Birthday Massacre, which you can guess from the name, fit the bill to a T. Sorta what might happen if Ed Gorey started an 80s new wave band.
Ok, they aren’t really mugging churches and pocketing from the collection plate, or hitting foster kids up for their lunch money. That would be wrong. That kind of behavior is only appropriate when you do it to rich folks. Rich folks, in this case, being those making 250K a year. Read more…
ADDENDUM: Not only does the book come out today, but John Scalzi decided to post my contribution to his Big Idea feature today as well. Other than a sprained ankle, today is made of win. Prophets officially goes on sale today. Also, in addition to my copies showing up, I Read more…
You may remember that, upon selling the first book of the Wolfbreed series to Bantam, I had titled it, simply Wolfbreed. You may also recall that Bantam asked me to change the title. So, after much debate, I came up with Lilly’s Song. We’re all happy. Now, apparently some shifts Read more…