|
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 …and I’m about to tick-off half of them. So let me get right to the point. If you’re one of those people that keeps the radio running while you pump gas: turn it off! Especially if you keep the radio turned up as loud as it will go. Chances are…whatever you’re listening to, I can’t stand it. And it’s darned discourteous to make me have to listen. (Yes, I pumped gas today…and had to listen to tripe that passes for music on some radio stations. Makes me grumpy, can you tell?) Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 There’s another five-star review on Amazon.com for Black Dragon, White Dragon. The review mentions my story — by (a minimalist) description, if not by name — as the reader’s favorite!
I know I’m a little late mentioning this. My writer friend Steve Southard pointed it out to me. I have to admit, as much as I like seeing good reviews, I don’t go looking for them… (Thanks, Steve!) The reviewer’s description doesn’t quite do my story justice. Read an excerpt here. Would you like to buy a copy? Saturday, May 9th, 2009 I received via email today my contract for Triangulation: Dark Glass. I’ll be signing it post-haste and winging it back to the Editor via snail mail Monday. “On the Path” will appear in July. Very exciting! Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 I’m always on the lookout for additional bookshelves. I’ve filled the ones I have and I’m (more likely than not) unable to cull enough books to keep status quo in the house. I think I’ve found my next purchase….and the beauty of these is that it’s hard to see the underlying structure when you’re looking at the shelves…I love the inherent cleverness here.   More information at the Bookshelf Blog (my new favorite hangout, I think.) Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 I was at George Washington University in Washington, DC, last night to see a performance of “The Crossroads,” written by L. Ron Hubbard. (GW is L. Ron’s alma mater.) The Crossroads was first published in Unknown Magazine in 1941. I mention this because I thought I was going to see a play…and what I experienced was more like a radio show: five actors standing in front of microphones, reading from dense text. John Goodwin, President of Galaxy Press, and last night’s MC, introduced The Crossroads by telling the audience the performance would be “a very unique experience.” I agree. All the actors gave superb performances, but John Mariano, in the roll of Eban, kept me on the edge of my seat. Mariano has acted in The Sopranos, West Wing and ER, but I’m more familiar with his work on Steven Spielberg’s: The Animaniacs. (Sadly, I realize in afterthought, what that statement must infer about my television habits…) And I have to mention that listening to Dion Graham, in the roll of Narrator, was just as exciting. He owns quite a mellifluous voice… Prior to the performance we were treated with a biography of L. Ron Hubbard by Gunhild Jacobs, Senior Vice President of Author Services, Inc., and an interesting view of L. Ron Hubbard’s life on the GW Campus by the Campus Archivist, G. David Anderson. Anderson put together quite a few fascinating tidbits from the GW archives. My favorite was a poignant exchange between L. Ron and a former professor. The event began with hors d’oeuvres and concluded with dessert, and all attendees received the gift of an L. Ron Hubbard reprint and some other goodies. (An obvious marketing ploy, as Galaxy Press is busy reprinting all of L. Ron’s “Golden Age” stories.) In all, it was classy and fun – if a bit disorganized. (Speakers rehearsed until a few moments after the performance was to begin; my name was not found on the attendance list, despite RSVP’ing; and, other writers I know who live in the area were not invited. Still, these are minor, and didn’t detract from the show.) It would have been nice to have the event coupled with the Writer’s of the Future Contest (since this year is the 25th Anniversary of the contest)…and Galaxy Press and Author’s Services, Inc. are closely related. It’s not often an opportunity presents itself to publicize the contest on the East Coast. I would have loved to pick the brains of some of the judges. Thursday, April 30th, 2009 It’s official! Today I received my final scheduling update for Balticon. I’m participating in four events:
I’m really looking forward to the Rapid Fire Reading. This is where I, and several other members of Broad Universe, get to read from something we’ve published or from works-in-progress. Because it’s “rapid fire,” the audience will hear only 5-7 minutes from each author. It gives several of us an opportunity to showcase our work and keeps listeners attentive because the subject matter changes frequently. All of the RFRs I’ve attended or participated in have played to packed rooms. At first I was leery about participated in the “High Noon” panel…but after doing a little research and giving myself a chance to think about it…I’ve decided I do have an opinion on the matter. I’m really looking forward to the discussion. I work with Social Media a lot with my day job — especially lately…but there are some very talented people on the panel who live and breathe by social media. It should be very informative for all who attend. The One-Liners panel should be very good, too. I’m hoping to learn as much during the panel as I’m able to contribute. Here’s my Balticon schedule. Click on the Index to poke around for more information….or go to the Balticon Home Page. Thursday, April 30th, 2009 Dispelling Myths about e-books I just came across a study about e-book usage in UK universities and it’s made me very excited, particularly because I’ve recently signed a contract with Eternal Press for my novella, Blood Soup, to be published in both print and e-format this September. More than 48,000 people answered the 2-part survey, making it the world’s largest e-book survey. (Wow!) Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) conducted the survey. JISC “supports education and research by promoting innovation in new technologies.” (And I suspect sells textbooks, but I don’t know that for certain…) According to their report (PDF), responses “point to a growing acceptance of e-books by the academic community, with both teaching staff and students making greater use of e-books…” I realize that academic usage doesn’t often correlate to recreational usage of books, but I can’t help thinking that at least some of those university students reading their texts on-line, and enjoying the experience, will find themselves picking up other reading materials (read: fiction) in electronic format. Some of the survey questions were general enough to relate to non-academic use:
Also, according the survey, “well over one-third of students (42.2 percent) had consulted at least three eBook titles in the month prior to the survey.” Here are a few other interesting findings:
Sounds like a lot of recreational reading! These students might have been reading text-books for school, but it seems to me like they’re also building their non-school e-book reading habits. You can read more about the survey at the JISC National e-books observatory project. Saturday, April 25th, 2009 I just got word that my story, On the Path, has been accepted for publication in the ParsecInk publication, Triangulation: Dark Glass. The anthology coincides with Confluence, Pittsburgh’s Science Fiction convention, July 24-26, 2009, so even though I’ve had some earlier acceptances this year…this story will be in print the soonest! Friday, April 24th, 2009
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 It seems I’m in good company. I’d started reading George Eliot’s Middlemarch a few days ago for my Project Fill in the Blanks. Moonrat over at Editorial Ass and others at the Project Fill in the Blanks Web site have decided to read it as a group through May and the first part of June. Join us! Join the Middlemay Madness! …and I’m off to Project Fill in the Blanks to officially sign up and add my list. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||