Monthly Archives: January 2005
Design Note
Posted on January 14, 2005 18 Comments
I’m pretty much done fiddling with the design of the Whatever for a while, so I hope you like the new design, which is clearly inspired by the artwork and color palette of Old Man’s War. I had liked the previous design quite a bit, but eventually the gray design got to me — I […]
More Details
Posted on January 14, 2005 18 Comments
A little more information about the hardcover version of Agent to the Stars (and it should be understood that all of this is very preliminary): * This is indeed going to be a limited-run edition. The current plan is for a print run of 1,000 copies, each of these copies numbered, as well as signed […]
Agent to the Stars: Sold
Posted on January 13, 2005 36 Comments
So, I sold Agent to the Stars to a publisher. But wait, I hear you say. Didn’t you say recently that you weren’t going to sell Agent to the Stars to a publisher? And now you have? Doesn’t that make you a dirty, dirty liar? Well, no. I said I wouldn’t actively try to sell […]
A Pan, For Your Pleasure
Posted on January 12, 2005 38 Comments
Here’s a fine negative review of Old Man’s War, in which the book is described as “smugly preachy… occasionally interrupted by tedious digressions into How Science Works,” and the clever alternate title of Elder’s Game is suggested. Just in case you’re wondering if I was only going to note the positive reviews here. The “smugly […]
Genre Advances
Posted on January 12, 2005 3 Comments
I know, I said I was submerging for a few days. But this is worth linking to for science fiction writers: SF Writer (and soon-to-be first time novelist) Tobias Buckell has created a form for SF/F writers to anonymously enter information on what the advance was for their first novel, and then for their most […]
Also
Posted on January 12, 2005 46 Comments
Submerging for the next three days (chapters to edit; pieces to write). Consider this an open thread to play in while I’m busy trying to salvage my writing career. Starter topic: Why aren’t there any words that rhyme with orange? Feel free to free-associate from there or ignore it entirely.
Celebrity Books
Posted on January 12, 2005 13 Comments
Before we get to the topic at hand, allow me to note the very nice review of OMW from Professor Bainbridge. Thank ye kindly, sir. Also, yes, I realize that I’ve been mostly writing about writing here recently, with only the occasional off-topic post to leaven the mix. This very much has to do with […]
Atom Feed
Posted on January 11, 2005 4 Comments
Christopher Davis notes in the comments to my last post that MT 3.11 generates an Atom feed automatically, which provides a full posting for people whose RSS readers accept Atom. And so it does; I checked. Since using the already-generating Atom feed is the path of least resistance, I’m putting up a link. Henceforth if […]
For the RSS Feed Subscribers
Posted on January 11, 2005 54 Comments
Evo Terra, host of the Dragon Page radio show, is trying to convince me to have my RSS feed include entire entries, not just excerpts, as part of his overall war on RSS excerpts. I’m neutral on this — I post 100-word excerpts because it’s enough to see what I’m getting at but not too […]
Briefly Noted
Posted on January 11, 2005 18 Comments
Another review of Old Man’s War here (also posted on the Amazon page for the book, as the reviewer, Harriet Klausner, is apparently the #1 ranked Amazon reviewer, in terms of volume); a more detailed version of the reviews (with stats) is here. It calls the book “a terrific tale of a belligerent future in […]
Short Works
Posted on January 11, 2005 11 Comments
Aaaah. Funny how sleep will get you back on track. Now then. I’ve been keeping up with the various reactions to Old Man’s War, like you do if you’re a novelist (especially a first-time novelist), and one of the most surprising compliments about the book, from my perspective at least, is that it’s short; phrases […]
Gaaaaaah
Posted on January 10, 2005 4 Comments
Up all night editing a chapter of Rough Guide to Science Fiction that I was previously quite unhappy with. Now happy enough with to send to editors. On to the next two chapters that I am quite unhappy with to re-edit them. Did I mention having a writing deadline in December is no damn good? […]
A Terrifying Moment of Personal Introspection
Posted on January 7, 2005 18 Comments
Balding? Check. Unshaven due to deadline? Check. Hand brace to avoid RSI? Check. Strange Horizons t-shirt? Check. Stack of anime DVDs? Check. Aggressively messy desk? Check. Geeked-out dual-monitor computer set-up complete with Web cam? Check. Glasses? Check. Haven’t seen anyone but family and pets in over a week? Check. Employing mediocre Photoshop talents to avoid […]
Word Processing
Posted on January 7, 2005 58 Comments
The Whatever has a fair share of visitors who are professional writers (and an equally fair share of visitors who could/will be pro writers, when/if the capricious gods of publishing align their stars in the correct configuration), so let me throw this out to y’all: As most of you know, I’m 35, and I started […]
Commenting Note
Posted on January 7, 2005 3 Comments
Just to let you all know, sometime soon — probably in the next week — I’m going to disable commenting for all threads previous to December 2004, in an attempt to minimize spammation. So if there’s something you want to say on any of the posts earlier than this, now’s the time.
OMW Availability
Posted on January 6, 2005 48 Comments
Here’s a not very cheering comment about the availability of Old Man’s War, from the editor of Locus Online: I’ve been on the lookout for the John Scalzi novel Old Man’s War for several weeks now, since I read Scalzi’s blog and he’s been crowing about its appearances at various retail outlets; and it sounds […]
Cover Art
Posted on January 5, 2005 12 Comments
Charlie Stross is showing off the cover to his upcoming novel Accelerando on his site, and it is indeed a most excellent cover. Being part of the super-secret writers cabal that I am (I could tell you more but then I’d have to remainder you), I’ve had a peek at the novel itself, which I […]
More Confederate Stupidity
Posted on January 4, 2005 83 Comments
I’ve noted before that one of the most fascinating things about Confederate sympathizers is how tortuously they will twist their tiny but ambitious intellects to suggest that the Confederacy was really about something more than a bunch of rich white people owning a bunch of poor black people, and managing to bamboozle a bunch of […]
Frank “Skeeter” Scalzi
Posted on January 4, 2005 13 Comments
I was cruising eBay, looking to see how quickly OMW would hit there (answer: pretty quickly, and why you would pay for an advance reader’s copy is beyond me), when I came across a completely egoless bit of Scalziania: An auction for the trading card of Frank “Skeeter” Scalzi, who played one season — actually, […]
Hard-Earned Wisdom
Posted on January 3, 2005 9 Comments
Today’s nugget of writing knowledge: December is a terrible time to have a book deadline. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. Updating here will likely be sporadic for a couple of weeks.
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying