Monthly Archives: February 2008

On Writers, Marriages, and NYC/LA/SF

Much not to my surprise, of the 10 pieces of advice I gave in the Unasked-For Advice to New Writers About Money, I’m getting quite a deal of push back on two of them: “Marry (or otherwise shack up with) someone sensible with money, who has a real job,” and “Unless you have a truly […]

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Represent!

My pal Colleen Lindsay has put out her shingle as an agent, specializing in “fantasy and science fiction, horror, paranormal romance, graphic novels, YA fiction, and pop culture.” And she’s looking for potential clients. Try not to completely smother her with your submissions, okay? It’s her first day. Maybe pace yourselves a bit. Also, you […]

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The Big Idea: Paul Melko

Paul Melko is another member of the Ohio SF/F Cabal (our motto: There’s More Of Us Than You Think™), and he’s just released his first novel, Singularity’s Ring, to a not inconsiderable amount of acclaim (“[A] superior debut… the ingenious character development and startling images and ideas are deeply satisfying” — Publishers Weekly). Some of […]

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In Musical News

The right album won Album of the Year last night at the Grammys. If you’ve not listened to River: The Joni Letters yet, you’re missing out. It’s such the right choice, in fact, that if Kanye West starts whining about how he didn’t win the category, someone needs to give him a nice hard slap […]

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Quick Note to Charles Stross

Dear Charlie:  Your new spam service may be mighty, but it just bounced back the reply e-mail I sent you as spam (specifially, it bounced it back with this technical notation: “PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 16): 552 spam”). Please ask them to let me in. I promise not to sell you any V1@gra.

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From the “Surprisingly Doesn’t Suck” Category

Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper. Tastes pretty much exactly like a chocolate-covered cherry, but, you know, carbonated. Yeah, that doesn’t sound appealing to me either, but I thought I would try it, and it really does work. I think it’s carbonated more than regular Dr. Pepper, which I think is key; I’m not a huge […]

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Unasked-For Advice to New Writers About Money

I made $164,000 last year from my writing. I’ve averaged more than $100,000 in writing income for the last ten years, which means, for those of you who don’t want to bother with the math, that I’ve made more than a million dollars from my writing in the last decade. In 2000, I wrote a […]

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Me at Three

Just in case you were wondering what I looked like back in my pre-school days: I’m the one not in the dress, thank you very much. The one in the dress is my sister Heather, who just sent me the picture, and tells me it’s from Mother’s Day in 1972. I have no memory of […]

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Obamomentum

Damn, the man swept. By big margins, too. The Clintons have to be twitchy right about now. But what’s really weird is that at the moment, it’s looking like Huckabee might sweep, too. The conservative wing of the GOP is saluting McCain with their middle fingers, looks like. Wheee! This is your place to comment […]

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Living With Linux, Day 2

Because I know you are all passionately interested. First, what I like: It’s nice to look at a screen and see it completely uncluttered. I’m actually less tense looking at my computer now. This was the desired result, so well done, me. Also, I like the idea of the multiple workspaces. Now, some of what […]

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How to Get an eBook of Old Man’s War — Free!

Every stinkin’ day, I get e-mail: When is the eBook version of Old Man’s War coming about? Because, you know [enter 500-word justification of the existence of ebooks, which I find ironic because I’ve only had Agent to Stars available as an ebook for, oh, nine years], and that’s why there should be an ebook […]

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One Step Further Down the Geek Path

I done installed Linux on my computer. Yes, merely Ubuntu, and it’s a dual boot, so I can suckle on Microsoft’s monopolistic teat whenever I wish or need to. Even so. I’m going to try using it as my work setup, i.e., the no-nonsense “I have things to write” OS, which I will keep intentionally […]

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Justine Larbalestier on Blurbs

The divine Ms. Larbalestier talks about the etiquette of asking people to blurb your work — and of telling other people who you’ve asked to blurb — over on her blog. Apparently, the proximate cause of the entry is that some of her writer friends have been on the receiving end of bad blurb manners, […]

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Failing in My Responsibilities as an American Consumer

Interesting thing I was talking with my friend about earlier in the day: I think I’m pretty much maxed out on the consumer level. I was trying to think of anything I really wanted to get for myself these days — not something I need, like pants or dishwasher soap or whatever, but something I […]

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