A Further Crawl Into My Hermitage
Posted on September 12, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 21 Comments
Just as a head’s up for folks: I just put up an autoresponder on my e-mail letting people know that for the rest of the month until October 8, the chance of me responding to anything that’s not directly business-related (and specifically, business-related to the things I currently have on deadline) is likely to be responded to late or not at all, on account that holy crap I have some gnarly deadlines, and at this point I need to make sure the people what give me money for my brain emanations are actually getting what they’re supposed to get, which means focus. So, really, if you are reading this and were planning to send me any kind of e-mail at all — including requests for blurbs or new work — please consider waiting until I finally scrawl here that my work is done. When you see post “Yay! The Human Division is in the bag!” then it’s e-mailing time.
(The sole exception to this: Big Idea queries. I’m still taking them but will also probably respond late to them, so don’t panic if you don’t hear from me immediately.)
(Also, please don’t send me an e-mail just to get the autoresponse. One, it just restates what I posted here. Two, really?)
This is also the point where I sheepishly admit that the now-stated policy is in fact the same policy I’ve been using since I left for Chicon 7, I just forgot to tell anyone about it once I got back, so now I have a very large amount of unresponded-to mail — some from people who I am very fond of! — which is causing me to be awash with guilt. I’ll get to some of it, I swear. Maybe.
The good news: Work is coming along nicely so you will get some pretty tasty new fiction at the end of it. The bad news, such as it is, will be that until it’s done I will be progressively less responsive to the world, which includes here and you. Again, gotta take care of obligations. You know how it is, and if you don’t, well, I still have to do it anyway.
Write like the wind! At least you haven’t left us stranded in the midst of a seven volume epic.
Hope your time is super productive.
May your pen be ever full of ink.
May your keyboard always be unsticky.
May your internet always be connected.
May your hardrive be uncorruptible.
May your processor never overheat.
And may your software never crash.
Now write! Write like there’s thunder in your heart.
I had thunder in my heart once. Gargled with warm, salty water and it went away like *that*.
Greg: I like that. May I steal that? :-)
I wish I had your discipline. I’m glad you do.
I’m pretty sure I stole it myself (though I can’t recall where), so be my guest.
You’re the one who had to make the goat jokes.
And just don’t make us petition Paul and Storm to pen a “Write Like the Wind” song about you.
Jennifer, if you promise to only use your powers for good, then sure, use it all you want.
;)
You know. I really think Scalzi should manage his schedule so that in the future no deadlines happen during the last two months before elections, then he would be able to make interesting, snarky, perceptive, controversial, etc commentary as it goes along. This schedule of his is interfering with my enjoyment of the internet. And it’s all about me.
Because my brain is helpy like a helpy thing, it of course suggested that all e-mails to Scalzi be accompanied by money (presumably via Paypal), i.e. giving him money for the brain emanation of his reply.
Crud! I just got this urgent email from this bank official in Lagos who has a really sweet deal for you. Seems some prince “died while in possesion of 14 miilion US dallars” which is now sort of lost in the confusion. If you just help him get it out of the country he will split it with you!
How can you ignore an email like that?
I’d also like to further Itsathought’s comment by suggesting you quit letting these so-called “dead lines” interfere with your real life’s work, entertaining us here on your blog.
But if we email you, and get your autoresponder, doesn’t that mean we can now claim to have corresponded with you? Think of the internet points!
is it common for writers to get massive numbers of emails? I am guessing that most of it is fan mail related to his books or his website. Or am I wrong on this? I also have no idea what is involved with SFWA and no idea how much time that job takes.
john could always get an unpaid intern to handle his mail. He could promise to give him an acknowledgement in a future book and state that he was a pivotal editor. Then the kid could put it on his resume that he edited one of his books?
“john could always get an unpaid intern to handle his mail.”
If I were going to make someone work for me, I would pay them for their work.
One of the differences between a repub and a democrat.
I hope John saw that massive spam bomb that was set off in his site. I think they noticed he said he was busy.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/24/Go_Dog_Go.jpg
Xopher:
Yeah, I got roughly 3,000 pieces of spam from the same ‘bot today. I cleared them out.
I know you are busy, but I still need just a short 30 minutes of your time to explain to you the benefits of becoming an Amway representative.
I wish I could get the people who write and deploy those bots in a room and bang them on the head with gavels until they repent and turn to good. Or just, you know, fall unconscious.