Tag: writing

Stormcloud sunset

overwhelmed by sarcasm

April 26, 2013

I was just briefly overwhelmed by sarcasm over on Twitter. Alastair Reynolds (whom I like very, very much) was commenting on stories he’s reading for (I think) a ‘zine, the first 3 of which he’s read have all been grim, dystopic, pessimistic near-future SF, and said, “Hey kids: you can do more than one thing with science fiction, you know?” But by that time the sarcasm had already seized me. I said, “So does this mean the hopeful aspect of my planned climate change trilogy is Right Out?” and it…

Continue Reading→

the essential kit

Magic & Manners: Chapter Two

April 23, 2013

With further apologies to Jane Austen, I present to you the second chapter of MAGIC & MANNERS, which is what happens when I get it into my head to wonder what PRIDE & PREJUDICE would be like if it was not a lack of wealth that beleaguered the Bennet sisters, but rather an excess of magic… Chapter One is here or here, if you want to read it on LJ. Chapter Two commences behind the cut. :)

the essential kit

EPIIIIIIIIIIC

April 22, 2013

I just finished reading Carol Berg’s THE DAEMON PRISM (which, like nearly everything Carol writes, is on my list of Favorite Books), and it got me to thinking about what makes epic work and what makes it work on a huge, international bestseller level. Carol’s epic fantasy usually focuses on a handful of people, rather than a cast of thousands, like (for example) GRRM. They’re very different storytelling styles and obviously bring different things to the table, both of which I find appealing in different ways. I wonder if one…

Continue Reading→

Mountain Echoes by CE Murphy

& that’s a wrap

April 16, 2013

Aaaaaaaaaand that’s a wrap: SHAMAN RISES went off to my editor yesterday afternoon, and now it’s all over but the revisions. I have one book left under contract and then I’m unemployed. :) I vacillate between relief and panic on that topic, of course. It does rather help knowing that if push comes to shove, I expect I could run a Kickstarter (perhaps for the 3rd Inheritors’ Cycle book) to cover my bases for a while. In the meantime, however, I do have a number of projects lined up–3 short…

Continue Reading→

the essential kit

Not this world.

April 7, 2013

Me, to Mom: Want to do some hired sitting this week? Mom: What book are you about to write now? Me: Just polishing up the last Walker Papers. NEXT week I get to write the Spirit of the Century novel for Fred Hicks/. Mom: In a *week*? Me: It’s only 60K. It is possible there is something wrong with me. (And also, no, I am not going to be writing a 60K novel in a week, although it’s *theoretically* possible. That theoretical world, however, is not this one. :))