I got on the train with no further mishaps and was rewarded by getting to sit next to the lovely and talented Andrea Kail on my way up. Granted, I spent about half the trip sleeping, but the conversation prior to that was great. It was hard to cross the lobby without running into someone […]
Today started with me sleeping through my alarm, though waking up in enough time to make the 8:15 train to Saratoga if I hurried. I ran out the door, struggling along with pounds of Shimmer magazines in my backpack, and came down to the steps of the subway station just as the train I needed
World Fantasy and Dead Dogs Read More »
Solaris has purchased my short story “Evil Robot Monkey” for The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Volume 2. I couldn’t be more pleased. I had a long chat with the Solaris gentlemen, George Mann and Christian Dunn, at Readercon about robot monkeys. It was bar conversation, but I just happened to have this short
Sold! – “Evil Robot Monkey” to Solaris Read More »
Charles Stross has some excellent advice on Readings. Check it out. A friend, who recently sold her first novel, wrote to me paraphrased: “help I’m supposed to be giving a reading from my work at a science fiction convention. What do I do?” Readings, like signings, are one of the epiphenomena of writing: not a
Charlies Diary: Tools of the Trade: Readings Read More »
My wonderful, wonderful husband made the boxes go away while I was at Readercon. Well, not all of them, but all the unpacked ones that were taking up ginourmous amounts of space. We still have the records and books in boxes, but I know feel like I can safely invite someone into the apartment without
Home from Readercon Read More »
Oh. I am inspired and jealous of Aparna Rao’s skills. She’s taken an Olivetti typewriter and wired it so that it sends emails. You type, it appears on a piece of paper and when you pull the paper out, it sends. In collaboration with Mathias Dalhström, 22 Pop was inspired by my mother’s own fruitless
Typewriter sends email Read More »
So, Iceland is back on the table again. Potentially, Rob would be going there on May 1, I would be moving to NYC on the 7th, arriving about the 17th, partially unpacking and then joining him in Iceland for six months. Or not. It’s also possible that we won’t go to Iceland at all. Or
Complications and Norwescon Read More »
I arrived safely and Chrissy took me off to get sushi before we met up with Spencer and went to the convention. As I suspected, I’m running into loads of friends plus meeting new and very interesting people. Alas. It is late and my brain is mush so I’m going to go to bed rather
I’m heading out to catch a train up to Seattle where I will be greeted by Chrissy “Great-With-Child” Ellsworth, one of Shimmer‘s very talented artists, and whisked off to the convention. I’m looking forward to hanging with her and Spencer and the other fine writerly folks I know. Some of whom I’ve only met online.
While I’m posting free fiction, I’d also like to say why I generally don’t. I’ve been a puppeteer, professionally, since 1989. When I first started out, I did some freebies for exposure and you know what? I didn’t get a single gig from any of those. I have yet to see a venue that offered
Submitting to non-paying venues Read More »
Mental note: Do not have a voice lesson on the same day as booked to record a chapter of audio fiction. On the other hand, the vocal fatigue probably helped my male characters sound a little deeper. Actually, the voice lesson was interesting today. We were working on “Summertime” and at the end of it
Early on, I talked about the importance of selecting the right piece for a reading. Some pieces of fiction naturally lend themselves to being read aloud, while others are meant to stay on the page. In John Scalzi’s The Sagan Diary, I ran smack into that difference. Scalzi asked me to read the preface, which
Reading Aloud 14: Stumbling and the Sagan Diary Read More »
For some reason, writers can’t seem to get together without calling it a con. I guess so we can write it off. Tonight, Ken Scholes invited a slew of writers down to the Barley Mill Pub to meet Aimee Amodio, who is every bit as funny and delightful as Ken promised. So nice when a
I biked down to Hawthorne to have lunch with Jay Lake, so that he could sign the limited edition chapbooks of his story Christmas Season. The wind was pretty ferocious and it was like biking uphill the whole way there, which was frustrating, since that’s the downhill direction. By the time I got home, two
The speed of blogging and oral story-telling Read More »
More than survived, really. I had a great time, although I was a little stressed juggling some transit issues. Rob and I had made the decision before going to Iceland, that we would sell the car and try being carless when we came back. What this weekend has taught me is that carless is fine