Hey gang! Are you in the Portland area? What are you doing tomorrow night? No, no… don’t tell me. You’ll be at the Kennedy School to hear Nancy Kress, Ted Chiang, and Ursula K. Le Guin read as part of the SFWA Northwest Reading Series, right? Am I right? If you aren’t already planning on […]
Tuesday night: Nancy Kress, Ted Chiang and Ursula K. Le Guin read in Portland Read More »
Remember last month when I flew to Salt Lake City for the weekend? I can reveal the reason now. I’ve joined the Writing Excuses Podcast as a full-time member. So for a weekend, I was locked in a basement with Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. It was torture, I tell you. Torture! Having
Writing Excuses 6.1: Can Creativity be Taught? » Writing Excuses Read More »
One of the interesting things about dialogue is that you can convey a great deal of information with it. However, any given line can mean something totally different depending upon the context. The narrative provides the context through setting, pace, action, and internal motivation. For instance, take the phrase “What did you say?” By adding
Exercise: Using narration and context to shape dialogue Read More »
Technically, Friday was the first day of the con but since I got here on Thursday it feels like Day 2 for me. We started with the opening ceremonies which were short and simple. The various GoH’s introduced themselves and said, “hello” to the audience. Martin Young, the Toastmaster, gave me the straight line of
I’m at BayCon and I have to say they are treating me very nicely. Fresh fruit in my room. Dark chocolate. Mmm… Yesterday was lowkey. Tobi Schneider met me at the train station and took me around to get me oriented. I saw John Picacio, Artist GoH last night and we caught up. I also
I’m hopping on a train to Santa Clara TODAY for BayCon, where I’m one of their Guests of Honor. I’m looking forward to seeing the always fantastic art Goh John Picacio and to meeting Fan GoH Bobbie DuFault and Toastmaster Martin Young. I’ve got my schedule below, but wanted to point out a couple of
My BayCon GoH Schedule Read More »
I’m currently at the airport waiting for my flight home. My original flight was cancelled and the new one is delayed. The bonus is that it gives me time to blog for the first time this weekend. The Nebula Award weekend was great fun but busy. Since I was there as both a nominee and
A really truncated Nebula Weekend summary Read More »
RT @sfwa: Watch the Nebula Awards LIVE tonight! http://is.gd/be7UEp #
Updates for 2011-05-22 Read More »
Word you don't want the pilot to say, "I have some good news & some bad news…" We were held in the air for weather. #marygoround # I have 10 minutes to make my next flight and we aren't even at the terminal yet. Bets anyone? #marygoround # I just missed the connection and have
Updates for 2011-05-19 Read More »
Oh, the early. It hurts. #marygoround I'm up to catch the MAX to the airport on my way to D.C. for the Nebulas. # I caught the MAX to the airport with no problem. Aside from being up before the sun, that is. #marygoround # I'm through security with an upgrade to first class. Have
Updates for 2011-05-18 Read More »
Those folks who have been following me on Twitter, have probably seen some particularly gruesome puppet building posts. I haven’t told anyone what I’ve been building because it was SECRET. Now I can tell you. Last night, I went to Seattle to John Scalzi’s reading as one of the surprise guests he’d promised for this
Process Shots: Building Papa Fuzzy for John Scalzi – Pt. 1 Read More »
We've landed in Portland twenty minutes early. Have a drink! I'm going to meet @scalzi at his gate, now. #marygoround #
Updates for 2011-05-17 Read More »
For those reading along, I've finally posted the latest The Transfigured Lady chapter. http://bit.ly/k51tJY # All I have to do is put fur on his feet and then I can go to bed. So why am I surfing the internet instead? # Note: Fine hand-stitching and dirty martinis don't mix. Curse the need for hand/eye
Updates for 2011-05-16 Read More »
After a very productive and immersive weekend, I’m heading back to Portland today. John Scalzi is also flying into Portland within half an hour of me. Given our combined travel karmas, I fully expect the airport, and potentially, all of Portland to implode under the combined weight of Things That Go Wrong when we travel. I
I finally realized that the reason I was slowing down with the Transfigured Lady is that I had hit the 2/3rds mark. I seem to always need to stop and reread about here so that I can make sure that things are still moving along in the direction I want them to go. Even though
Chapter 21 of The Transfigured Lady is posted Read More »