Monthly Archives: September 2012
The Big Idea: Amanda Carlson
Posted on September 19, 2012 7 Comments
Every author has a voice — and that voice expresses itself in ways that aren’t always considered conventional by those on the outside. This Amanda Carlson learned about her own writing voice, in the process of writing her urban fantasy novel, Full Blooded. Carlson gives voice to her revelation below. AMANDA CARLSON: It seems I’ve […]
How to Be a Good Commenter
Posted on September 18, 2012 182 Comments
One of the things I’m proud of here at Whatever is that the comment threads are usually actually worth reading, which is not always something you get with a site that has as many readers as this one does. Some of this is down to my moderation of the site, and my frequent malleting of […]
The Big Idea: Jay Kristoff
Posted on September 18, 2012 22 Comments
Is there anything new to say in the worlds(s) of steampunk? Perhaps, if you look beyond the usual settings and suspect. For Stormdancer, author Jay Kristoff broadened his horizons and listened to his dreams. this is what he came up with. JAY KRISTOFF: “Telepathic samurai girls and griffins in a Japanese-inspired steampunk dystopia.” That mouthful […]
Hey! I Don’t Have to Pay Income Tax!
Posted on September 18, 2012 334 Comments
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to […]
Public Appearances 2013, Or Lack Thereof
Posted on September 17, 2012 16 Comments
Just to have it out there in case people ask: My 2013 public appearance schedule is very sparse at the moment, by intention. I don’t know how many of you folks have been keeping track of these things like I do, but basically for the last three years I’ve had a travel schedule that meant […]
Capclave Calling
Posted on September 17, 2012 20 Comments
A reminder to all and sundry that in just a little under a month from this very day, I will be in the Washington, DC area for the purpose of being the Author Guest of Honor at Capclave, a fine and lovely science fiction and fantasy convention in Gaithersburg. At said convention, I will do […]
A Promise to Twitter Fulfilled, or, How I Ended Up Covered in Frosting by Roller Derby Girls on Neil Gaiman’s Lawn
Posted on September 16, 2012 71 Comments
First, the video, which explains why roller derby girls are covering me in frosting on Neil Gaiman’s lawn, and the subsequent photodocumentation. Stick around for the time-lapse photography! Second, the image, which illustrates everything. Three: The poster offer! Yes, indeed, you can get this awesome picture as a poster, via NeverWear.net. When you buy it, […]
Don’t Mind Me, I’m Just Testing Out Using a Keyboard With My iPad
Posted on September 16, 2012 30 Comments
Which is to say I am fiddling with technology again and seeing how it’s working. Obviously, so far, so good. In case you’re wondering, the keyboard I’m pairing with the iPad is the Mac keyboard at my desk, because it’s bluetooth capable and I just wanted to see how it wouldwork. I went ahead and ordered […]
Someone Who Speaks Russian Needs to Tell Me What’s Going On Here
Posted on September 16, 2012 43 Comments
I’m pretty sure it’s a review of Old Man’s War. It looks like it could be amusing. I can’t tell if it’s ultimately positive or not, but on the other hand, who cares? I like that someone put in this much effort.
Saturdays Are For Finishing Up Woefully Overdue Anthology Stories
Posted on September 15, 2012 26 Comments
Which is what I did with my Saturday, anyway. Yours might have been different. The story: Called “Muse of Fire” (yes, I know there was a Dan Simmons novella of the same name; no, it has no relation or resemblance to that; yes, it is vaguely related to the opening line of Henry V). Roughly […]
Steve Jobs Was Wrong
Posted on September 14, 2012 55 Comments
Yesterday, because I needed it for work*, and because my wife growls threateningly whenever I get near hers**, I went and got one of the latest iterations of the iPad. As advertised, it is a very lovely piece of kit; the retina screen is gorgeous to look at, the most recent iteration of iOS is perfectly […]
You Never Go Full McCain
Posted on September 14, 2012 179 Comments
Here’s the thing about Mitt Romney: He’s a Republican candidate for president in the unenviable bind of not being able to run on any sort of record at all. He’s tried to run on his record as a businessman, but that’s been no good. The Democrats have done a pretty effective job painting him as […]
The Big Idea: Sarah Beth Durst
Posted on September 14, 2012 11 Comments
Often times reading a book is the closest you can come to an experience without being there yourself. But can writing the book pull off the same sort of trick? Let’s ask Sarah Beth Durst, whose latest novel, Vessel, took shape at first because of a yearn to travel — or at the very least, […]
14 Years of Whatever, Plus Book Announcement
Posted on September 13, 2012 82 Comments
September 13, 1998 was the day I sat down to write the first Whatever entry, motivated by a desire to keep my column-writing skills sharp and also, let’s be honest about these things, to give myself a way to keep myself busy when my newly-launched freelance writing career hit its inevitable lulls. I had the […]
This is Exactly What Happens When I Pitch Television Shows
Posted on September 13, 2012 36 Comments
I mentioned on Twitter the other day that I had pitched some TV shows to TV show types in Hollywood. As things do on Twitter, things quickly spiraled out of control. And involved a goat. And that’s where Hijinks Ensue’s Joel Watson comes into with a cartoon retelling of my TV show adventures. Every word […]
The Big Idea: Sarah Rees Brennan
Posted on September 12, 2012 15 Comments
Look! A large, sinister manor! Filled with parapets and secret panels and whatnot! What sort of story shall we put in such a thing? Well, Sarah Rees Brennan knows, because there’s one in her latest novel, Unspoken. Draw up a Victorian-style chair next to the roaring fire in the large (and sinister!) hearth, and let […]
A Further Crawl Into My Hermitage
Posted on September 12, 2012 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 […]
Look, Everyone! It’s the Tuesday Mantis!
Posted on September 11, 2012 47 Comments
Because is it really a Tuesday without a picture of a mantis? I don’t think so, either. This one was on my rabbit hutch, about a half hour ago. This was shortly before it got exasperated with me and flew off, prompting both my wife and daughter to exclaim, in dismay, “THEY FLY?!?” Why, yes! […]
A Little Something I Wrote on Facebook Earlier Today
Posted on September 11, 2012 60 Comments
On my private account (i.e., the one I use for people I actually know in real life), not my public page: The closer we get to the election the more I am reminded just how incredibly awful Facebook is for communicating complex and in-depth political thought, and yet how perfect it is for reducing the […]
The Big Idea: Peter Adam Salomon
Posted on September 11, 2012 7 Comments
Very few people in the world are truly tabula rasa — a blank slate. So when you’re creating a character who is as close to one as can be, how do you keep it real… and compelling? That was Peter Adam Salomon’s task with Henry Franks. Sit down and find out how he did it. […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying