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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 |
lj_maintenance
[ dwell ]
|
2:00p |
Network Maintenance: Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 04:00-06:00 UTC/GMT
On Saturday the 14th at 4AM UTC/GMT we will be upgrading the operating system of our network load balancers to a newer version, one that will allow us to use both CPUs! Nifty, because multiprocessing is nice. Since we have 2 load balancers, the plan is to upgrade 1 at a time, and there really should be very little impact to our website. Hopefully you won't notice a thing and I'll get to go back to the hotel and watch some wonderful late night infomercials. We've got a lot of exciting projects coming up for 2010 and we're hoping that we'll be able to deliver them all to you, that you will find it useful/cool/lovely and then you will use the site even more. Behind-the-scenes work like this will give us the capacity to handle the anticipated traffic, so expect a few more maintenance windows especially in the beginning of next year as we've got some neat ideas to improve performance around here! We had the recent 30-45 minute outage yesterday due to one of our logging databases filling up disk space -- not so great design coupled with my human error in handling the initial problem -- and it looks like we're going to finally have some resources to eliminate stuff like that. I can't wait! As usual, I will be updating status.livejournal.org before and after, just in case you are not able to reach our main website during the work. |
jpsorrow
|
11:15a |
Signing: "The Last Hurrah!"
It's my sad news to report that the local Waldenbooks, in the Oakdale Mall, is on the list of stores to be closed at the beginning of the new year. This is sad in more than one way--everyone hates to see a bookstore close--because this particular bookstore manager, April, has treated me and many other fellow authors with both respect and fan-glee. She has supported us by making certain that our books are on the shelf at the store AND, perhaps more importantly, talking the books up to her customers and making certain that they are in the hands of potential readers out there. I honestly can't believe the bookstore is closing. However, before the news of the closing hit the airwaves, we'd arranged for a holiday signing at the store. It's now become a "last hurrah!" signing, and we're hoping to make it a huge send-off not only for April but for all of the employees at the store who've helped push our books in the past. So if you're in the Binghamton area--or even within a reasonable driving distance--come by on December 5th from Noon-4pm and help us let April and the other employees know how much we appreciate all of their efforts over the years. We'd like this signing to be a huge success! In addition to having our books there to sign for either you OR as gifts for all of your friends, we'll be wrapping the books you intend to use as gifts as well. FREE GIFT WRAPPING!! By authors who may (or may not) know anything about gift wrapping!! That, in and of itself, will be a blast. *grin* I'm sure we'll also have some candy and other freebies to give away. We realize that not everyone is within even an unreasonable driving distance of Binghamton, NY. If you can't make it for whatever reason, you can still help us celebrate and thank April and the other bookstore employees by buying the books through the store and having them shipped to you (or someone else). April has graciously agreed to handle ordered copies in two different ways: you can either have the signed books shipped to a local Waldenbooks in your area so you can pick them up there, or April can ship them directly to you. For the second option, there will be no shipping cost (for shipments in the US), April will simply charge you for the books. For either of these options, send an email to fireun3@gmail.com with either the name of the town or city where the local Waldenbooks is located OR with where you'd like the books shipped. You should include what books you'd like by what author, how you want them signed, and (if they're shipping directly to you) if you want them wrapped. Here are the details of the signing if you think you can make it. Keep in mind that Christmas is inching ever closer. Ask yourself who on your gift list might enjoy some great fantasy novels! Signed even!
The "Last Hurrah!" Signing
Waldenbooks @ The Oakdale Mall
Reynolds Rd., Binghamton, NY
December 5th, 2009
Noon-4pm
Gift-wrapping available!
Featuring:
Patricia Bray; S.C. Butler
Barbara Campbell; Laura Anne Gilman
Jackie Kessler; Joshua Palmatier
Anton Strout
And if you aren't certain what books are up for grabs, here's a list of all of our books in print and available through the store: Patricia Bray: The Sword of Change series: Devlin's Luck, Devlin's Honor, Devlin's Justice; The Chronicles of Josan series: The First Betrayal, The Sea Change, The Final Sacrifice S.C. Butler: The Stoneways Trilogy: Reiffen's Choice, Queen Ferris, The Magicians' Daughter Barbara Campbell: The Trickster's Game series: Heartwood, Bloodstone, Foxfire Laura Anne Gilman: The Retrievers series: Staying Dead, Curse the Dark, Bring It On, Burning Bridges, Free Fall, Blood From Stone; The Vineart War series: Flesh and Fire Jackie Kessler: Hell on Earth series: Hell's Belles, The Road to Hell, Hotter Than Hell; Black and White (with Caitlin Kittredge) Joshua Palmatier: The Throne of Amenkor Trilogy: The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, The Vacant Throne Anton Strout: The Simon Canderous series: Dead To Me, Deader Still And there you go! A long list of great books to browse from. I hope to see you at the signing, but if you can't make it, definitely send April a message with what books you'd be interested in. Help support good booksellers! Us authors can't survive without them! |
walkertxkitty
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11:38a |
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danceswthcobras
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12:23a |
Can you pluck a five buck duck?
I sure can. A farmer on Craigslist needed to get rid of a whole flock of 15 prime 7 month old Muscovy ducks. So I made a deal with another local farmer to split the flock. She bought the ducks and is dealing with their housing and feeding, Rob and I will be doing all the processing, we split the yummies. At five bucks a duck, most of the costs of which the farmer is bearing, these guys are dressing out to under a dollar a pound for some amazing meat. We did four tonight and ate one at the farmhouse with fresh grown arugula greens and homemade applesauce from her trees. They had a bit less fat on them than I like, so she'll be finishing them on corn and then the rest will go in our respective freezers. Yum. Me likey duck. Current Mood:  tired |
| Monday, November 9th, 2009 |
jpsorrow
|
9:13p |
Book Review: "DAW's 30th Anniversary Anthology: Science Fiction"
DAW’s 30th Anniversary Anthology: Science FictionEdited by Elizabeth Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert Introduction by Betsy Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert: Normally I don’t find much of value in the introduction except perhaps the initial idea behind the anthology (which I then use to judge whether or not the authors stuck to that idea, deviated from it, or did something incredibly cool and unexpected with it). This time, though, the introduction actually gives you some incredibly interesting history on how DAW came to be and how it got to where it is right now, with Betsy and Sheila as editors. Perhaps this is more interesting to me than it would be to others, since I’m a DAW author myself, but I honestly think this introduction is as interesting, or more interesting, than some of the stories in the anthology (no offense to those authors). I’d definitely suggest reading it. The Home Front by Brian Stableford: This is kind of an economic story actually, set in the future. The world is being terrorized biologically speaking and we fight back using . . . potatoes. That makes the story sound silly and it’s much more serious than that, and in the end the story isn’t really about terrorism but how we as humans behave and react to terrorism (especially the biological kind, which can’t really be seen). An interesting story. Aboard the Beatitude by Brian W. Aldiss: OK, I have to admit that I . . . didn’t get this story. The Beatitude is a FTL ship and the story seems to be exploring some of the affects that FTL might induce on the crew and such. There are also some ambiguous moral issues brought up, since the crew of the ship needs exorbitant amounts of energy to work and it gets that energy by destroying worlds it passes in its flight, some of which are inhabited. But in the end, I just didn’t get the intent behind this story. It’s probably just that I’m not the reader it was intended for. Odd Job #213 by Ron Goulart: This story was simply fun! The idea is that two private investigators are hired by an android cat to find out what happened to its maker. Hilarity ensues in a tongue-in-cheek kind of serious way. However, reading this story I got the impression that the story wasn’t really meant for the short form and that it should have been developed more. I would like to have seen this as a novel. (And as an aside, there are books out there now, not by Ron Goulart, that are in the same vein as this story.) Agamemnon’s Run by Robert Sheckley: This was an interesting story about unnamed aliens that get us humans to act out old battles, myths, etc. We’re supposed to follow the “history” if we’re chosen to be one of the participants, especially the “named” participants, like Agamemnon. But they also like it if we can figure out how to change the outcomes. The idea was interesting, but I’m not sure that the story worked as a whole for me. It felt like it needed a little more development. Grubber by Neal Barrett, Jr.: This story was incredibly interesting, starting off with an alien creature. We end up experiencing this creatures growth to adulthood, through their rather alien eyes. Because of this, it’s a little hard to get into at first, because we’re seeing things through those alien eyes, but as you read you settle into the new perspective. A great story, in my opinion. The Sandman, the Tinman, and the Bettyb by C.J. Cherryh: And this was another great story. It begins with a man (the Sandman) alone on a ship watching a part of space that has little to no action in general. Of course, action ensues. It’s not “end of the universe” action—an ancient missile fired eons ago is heading toward a space station—but it doesn’t need to be for a short story. The efforts to stop the missile by the people that most of those on the station have forgotten or could care less about is spectacular. The Big Picture by Timothy Zahn: This was also a good story, about a man on a space station whose friend went “undercover” on the planet below and subsequently vanished. A reporter shows up to find out what happened. An interesting twist in the end, but it’s more about the man and his interactions with the reporter that are interesting to me. A Home for the Old Ones by Frederik Pohl: This story is obviously set in the world the Pohl created for his books, and there are some assumptions that the reader has already had a background in that universe. I haven’t read that, but the story was still enjoyable. My only problem with it is that it didn’t feel like it ended. I felt like this was a scene or backstory for something that happened in the previous books that those who’ve read it would be interested in and would see where it “fit” into that universe . . . but for someone like me who hasn’t read the previous stuff . . . it just doesn’t feel whole. Not With a Whimper, Either by Tad Williams: An interesting story here that will make you look at your computer and your chat sessions and IMs and boards and such in a different light. I generally like Tad Williams’ work and this was no exception. It’s written entirely as a chat session on a board between . . . well, geeks . . . and something else. It takes a little while to get used to the format and such, but definitely an enjoyable read. The Black Wall of Jerusalem by Ian Watson: This one got off to a rocky start for me. The first few sections were just confusing and I couldn’t get into the story. But then it settled and I found myself wondering about this Black Wall and such. The group and the main character of the story ended up being much more interesting than I’d originally thought, and the idea behind the Black Wall also intriguing. I felt there could be more done with this Wall . . . and what was behind it. Station Ganymede by Charles L. Harness: This story was instantly engaging, with a father and son conflict being played out on a station investigating and doing research over Jupiter. The science was interesting, if a little “soft” in some aspects. The action was predictable (I could see the shape of the story once the key element was introduced) but it was still highly enjoyable. And the relationship changes in the two main characters were perfect, I thought. Downtime by C.S. Friedman: An intensely interesting story, with an idea regarding where our near future society could be going with some of our technology that’s both subtly horrifying and instantly controversial. I like the fact that C.S. Friedman presents us with both sides of the controversy and idea and, in the end, doesn’t leave us with a nice solid “answer” to the problem. You can see both sides of the human element to the science—why some would hate and fear the technology and the laws that surround it, and others (those on the receiving end) would . . . well, at least appreciate it. I can see this as something our society may have to contend with shortly. Although I’m not sure that the laws in the story that arise around the technology would actually get passed by us. I guess we’ll see, won’t we? Burning Bridges by Charles Ingrid: This story takes us to a new world and culture and is really a kind of spy/action story, the main character attempting to clear a blood debt, although he’s being forced into it by some rather nasty individuals. The real question is who’s playing who, and who really has the upper hand. Based on the intro, this is set in a world that readers of Charles Ingrid will recognize. Perhaps they’d recognize the main character as well. I haven’t read any of Charles Ingrid’s novels, so this was a brand new world for me, and I found it intriguing. In fact, when I finished, I announced to the world in general that, “I think I’ll have to get some of Charles Ingrid’s books.” *grin* I’d certainly like to learn more about this world. Words by Cheryl J. Franklin: I’ve never read anything by Cheryl J. Franklin, although I think I have one of her books on my TBR stack. So this was my first introduction to her writing. This is a story about an unsocial security systems specialist who helps out the police and on one particular case she is forced to be a little more social than normal when she takes in the victim’s cat. It’s a nice story with a rather uneasy commentary on how we view our own pets . . . and perhaps how they view us. Read Only Memory by eluki bes shahar: I’ve never read anything by this author either and by the intro it seems this story is an introduction to the world she uses in her books. Some of the references I didn’t get, but the story itself was easy to follow. Essentially, the main character is drawn into middle of a dangerous game of power and archeology over an artifact called a Library. But the books in this Library aren’t what they seem . . . and neither is the main character. Sunseeker by Kate Elliott: This story is set in the Jaran universe, although it’s set on Earth. The base story is about a solar ship called the Sunseeker and the group of spoiled young adults from various wealthy families that travel around in it for promotional purposes for the solar array that powers it. But when the ship lands to see an archeological site, it’s attacked. But the REAL story is about one of the young adults and her relationship with her father. The Heavens Fall by S. Andrew Swann: This is a rather interesting story about a form of punishment called “empathy treatment” that, in the near future, is used to punish convicted criminals. The idea is to force them to relive their victim’s last moments as if they were the victim themselves. Of course, this punishment has some flaws and in this particular story goes horribly wrong. A nice cautionary tale about a seemingly simple and “harmless” technology and how it could be misused. Passage to Shola by Lisanne Norman: I’ve never read anything by Lisanne Norman and this story introduces you to her world. The main characters are actually aliens here, with Humans being a minority species, with the ability to psychically bond to other alien species. In this story, a bonded Human and alien at the teen age are being transported to a new city by the main character . . . and things go horribly wrong when their ship is hijacked by a vicious—and hungry—alien. Prism by Julie E. Czerneda: This is another story in which the main character is an alien so far removed from human that, at times, it can be hard to understand and follow her. Julie E. Czerneda is very good at getting across the alien-ness though, probably because of her biological background. Here, we meet two bizarre alien creatures, although the real story is about one of the creatures growing from childhood to the beginnings of adulthood. Overall, I thought this anthology was stronger than the companion fantasy anthology I’ve already reviewed. I’ve bolded the two titles that I thought were the strongest in this anthology, but I have to say that nearly all of the stories were interesting and well-written. One of the strongest of the DAW anthologies I’ve read so far. |
| Sunday, November 8th, 2009 |
jpsorrow
|
6:48p |
Movie Review: "The Men Who Stare At Goats"
Patricia Bray and I just went to see this movie, starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, and goats. I thought it was a great, fun movie, with lots of in jokes regarding SF and the SF/geek world. Lots and lots of lines and situations that made both Patricia and I totally crack up. Based on the reaction of the other people in the theater though . . . we were enjoying it far more than they were. I'm sure a good chunk of them were wondering what we were laughing about. And I really think it came down to the fact that we were SF geeks and SF writers, so knew all of the references and innuendos, probably at their deepest levels. Was it a spectacular movie? No. Was it fun? Yes. Much slapping of the head, shaking of the head, smiling, and genuine laughter. The SF group out there will likely enjoy it more than most. Waste of time? Definitely not. After yesterday's little adventure in signing, this was a nice little relaxer. *grin* AND THERE WERE GOATS!!! |
jpsorrow
|
8:30a |
The First Sign of The Apocalypse
So, the signing yesterday was a complete disaster for the most part, having nothing to do with us, the authors, or the bookstore itself. Basically what happened was, we get to the bookstore. The books are out, tables set up, CRM there to greet us, etc. We settled into the store, all of the authors arriving, and start the selling. At first, it looks like it's going to be dead, since there aren't many customers and none of them seem interested in fantasy. But then things start to pick up. We're making some sales, chatting with the influx of people, being entertaining . . . And then the lights went out. Emergency lights came on, but the registers are down, so no one can buy anything. We all automatically assume that the lights will be back on momentarily, so we continue on our merry "buy my books" way, but after a while, still no lights. Word is that the entire section has no power. We start making jokes about the zombie apocalypse. After much longer, still no power. Word comes in that there's been a fire at the Outback (someone ordered a Bloomin' Onion) and in the attempt to control the fire the power to the local grid was cut. The bookstore starts telling people before they even come into the store that there is no power and they can't check out, so two thirds of the potential customers aren't even seeing us at the store. We are managing to sell some copies to those that come in, but they can't actually buy them, they have to put them on layaway behind the counter and come pick them up later. (For a brief moment, the staff was allowed to do some cash sales even without power, but that didn't last long.) We were supposed to stay until 4pm, but when it had been over two hours without power and it hit 3pm, we decided to call it quits. We signed everything they had in the store, so if you're in the area and want signed copies either for you or for gifts for the holidays, please feel free to stop on by and pick some of them up. The staff was great in the face of adversity and it really sucks that the power went out. Considering how much we sold with the power out, it makes me wonder how many we COULD have sold if everything had been running normally. |
| Saturday, November 7th, 2009 |
jpsorrow
|
10:51p |
The Cover Art Post
And here's the cover art, for those that didn't click the link earlier. I give you, the German translation of The Vacant Throne, retitled Die Kaempferin. Gaze upon the awesome:
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jpsorrow
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8:04a |
Signing in Ledgewood, NJ TODAY!
SIGNING! *signing signing signing*
November 7th, 2009
Noon-4pm
Barnes & Noble
Ledgewood Mall
375 Route 10 E
Ledgewood, NJ 07852
973-252-9300
***
with authors
Patricia Bray; S.C. Butler
Barbara Campbell; Laura Anne Gilman
Jackie Kessler; Joshua Palmatier
Anton Strout
|
| Friday, November 6th, 2009 |
jpsorrow
|
9:56p |
Cover Art!!
So, they've posted the cover art for the German translation of "The Vacant Throne," called Die Kaempferin, over here. Once I get my hands on a jpg file, I'll post it, but for now you can follow the link. I am so freaking in love with the German covers to these books. Love, love, love them. |
walkertxkitty
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2:15p |
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jpsorrow
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1:42p |
Breaking News!
I have just learned, through the publisher's webpage, that the German translation of The Vacant Throne will be . . . Die KampferinI have no idea what that means, and the "a" is supposed to have an umlaut over it, but I don't know how to do that. So apparently the Throne of Amenkor trilogy, in German, will be: Die AssassineDie Regentin and Die KampferinInteresting. Now cover posted for the third book yet, but I'll post it as soon as I can. The second book, Die Regentin, is scheduled for release in January, and it looks like the third, Die Kampferin, is set for the end of June. The first two links are to the Amazon.de pages, and the third is for the publisher's page. |
jpsorrow
|
12:39p |
Skewed Throne: Chapter 6
I got permission from my editor to post the first six chapters of my first novel, The Skewed Throne, the first book in the Throne of Amenkor series, over the course of six weeks . . . and this is the final week! The idea is to give readers a chance to read a significant portion of the book to decide whether or not they might like the book, and hopefully entice them into buying the book as well. Here's the sixth and final chapter to be posted online (along with the link to the first five as well). You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader ( free download here) in order to read it, since it's a pdf file. I found that it wouldn't open in AOL, but it does open in Explorer. It seems to work on most browsers actually. I'd appreciate it if you could post a link to this blog entry in your own blog or website or on Facebook, to help promote the postings of the chapters. Thanks! These are the actual page proofs from the book, if you're interested in seeing what those look like. Skewed Throne: Chapter OneSkewed Throne: Chapter TwoSkewed Throne: Chapter ThreeSkewed Throne: Chapter FourSkewed Throne: Chapter FiveSkewed Throne: Chapter SixI thought I should remention that all three of the books are available on Kindle now (where before only book 3 was available, which made no sense). Here are the links to the kindle versions: The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, and The Vacant Throne. Also, I'm currently running a few holiday specials, one for hardcovers and one for paperbacks: Hardcover Deal: You can buy all three hardcovers of the books for a total of $30! That includes shipping. Paperback Deal: You can buy all three paperbacks of the books for a total of $20! That includes shipping as well. If you're interested in any of these deals, contact me at jpalmatier@sff.net and we can arrange payment and get address info, etc. Individual hardcovers and paperbacks are available as well at $15 and $8 respectively (shipping included). Just let me know what you're interested in! All prices are for the US shipping only. I can give you a quote for international shipping if you get in touch with me. ********************* |
danceswthcobras
|
10:16a |
Please do not shop at Bath and Body Works
At least not until they clarify their discrimination policies and fire this manager instead. http://www.examiner.com/x-18484-Sacramento-Pagan-Spirituality-Examiner~y2009m10d26-A-boycott-against-Bath-and-Body-WorksGina Uberti, in this case is Wiccan and had been prior to hiring with this company. Every year for the last six years of her eight year employment, she would take the week of Sahmain off and head to Salem, Massachusetts to celebrate the holiday. Her leave had been approved almost a year prior to the incident.
In 2008, a new manager had been hired into Uberti’s store and had called Uberti to discuss why she was unavailable to her employers during her vacation. She also expressed her disappointment in the fact that Uberti would take a vacation during such a critical time in the company. Uberti informed her manager that the leave was approved almost a full year before. After her manager inquired as to why she would take that particular week off, Uberti disclosed her religious beliefs and explained what she believed and why October 31st was such an important holiday.
Her manager replied, “that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, let me ask you where your priorities should have been?” Uberti asked what was so ridiculous and was told, “Well, you will need a new career in your new year” and “I will be damned if I have a devil-worshipper on my team.” Uberti was fired shortly after the phone call.Because this is pending litigation, B&BW cannot say anything other than "no comment" until the case is resolved. However, I recommend going to their site and emailing them, if it be your will, to tell them that their Wiccan and Pagan customers will be withholding their custom until this matter is resolved in a just manner. http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/helpdesk/index.jsp?display=store&subdisplay=contact&isStoremanDriven=yes&stillHaveQuestion=yes Current Mood:  annoyed |
| Thursday, November 5th, 2009 |
danceswthcobras
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9:54p |
The Kitty And Dragon Can Cook Show: Farm Fresh Edition
Just a few miles north of Raleigh is some very nice farm country where people grow all kinds of luscious things. We stopped at one farm to buy huge bags of fresh arugula picked from one lady's farm garden, and when I mentioned I was going to grab a brace of ducks for dinner from another farm a bit up the road, we got to talking. The net result of that talking is that we are going to buy an entire flock of ducks, prime 7 month old Muscovies that have been making themselves nice and fat in their very own rapeseed field. She'll keep and continue to fatten them, and I'll process them for both of our freezers, and we've got a good deal. Arugula safely stowed, we went on to pick up some ducks and take them home for processing. It was dark and cold outside, so I basically enclosed them in a garbage bag and did a kosher-style throat slit to bleed them out in the middle of the kitchen. Very quick and humane, and also easy as pie, with all the blood collected with some salt and vinegar for a nice Polish duck blood and sour cherry soup recipe I'll be working on tomorrow. When they were plucked, I stuffed one with some of the fresh basil the nice arugula lady had given me, poured a bit of white wine in the cavity and let it sizzle at 350 until nice and crisp and brown. Mmmm, good. I had a leg and a breast on a bed of pan-wilted arugula greens. Couldn't ask for a better or fresher dinner than live greens fresh from the farm and a duck that was still quacking an hour ago. Rob also picked up a lovely Russian red wine called Kindzmarauli that definitely went well with the meal. I'm considering taking a paraffin melt to the other duck as it had some stubborn pinfeathers. Tomorrow bodes well for a trip to WalMart. Current Mood:  full |
jpsorrow
|
9:11p |
Alien Invasion!!!!
I've been thinking a little more about the arrival of the aliens in V the other night and the fact that many people who watched it (including me) seemed to feel that the reaction of the populace in the TV show was . . . how shall we say this . . . WRONG. When the people in NYC started clapping after the V announcement, I literally snorted and shouted (to the empty apartment), "You've GOT to be kidding me." This was preceded by the fact that no one seemed to completely panic as the ships arrived, no one fainted, no one started screaming hysterically, etc, etc, etc. So, the question then is, how would we react to such an event as a spaceship bigger than our city showing up in our skies? I mean, I got to figure that the initial reaction from everyone would be, "Is this some kind of movie? What are they filming?" But then, when people realize that, wait, the special effects go in after filming, I figure that a good chunk of the populace is going to totally freak out. I imagine it would be totally stunning, and that it would be too big and some people would panic. I think this would be the majority of the general reaction. And I think the panic would run more toward . . . well, running. We've all seen what happens in the movies when the big spaceship shows up. THINGS EXPLODE! So why would they hang around with that hanging over their heads? Now, the SF geek crowd might react differently. Although I still think I'd run. I mean, I'd be saying I just wanted to get a better view from, say, Pennsylvania, because no reasonable alien would invade Pennsylvania. But I don't think it would be pure panic from the SF crowd. We might be more accepting of the whole concept in the first place for one thing. And I think, in general, that we're more accepting of things that are "different" in some way. But anyway, in writing this I realize I'm still thinking about this. What do you guys think? How would the world react in this situation? |
news
[ theljstaff ]
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1:15p |
LiveJournal Major Notes: Spam counter-attack, RSS feeds again, CSI Deadly Intent contest
 The empire strikes backIn recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal. RSS feeds againIf you're addicted to , ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience. Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests! ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) c_s_iIf you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here. Enveloped in postcardsLast week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.  Photos of the weekIf you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too! ( Read more... ) |
danceswthcobras
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5:10a |
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| Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 |
jpsorrow
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10:31p |
Signing
But before the announcement/reminder about the signing this Saturday, here's someone seeking advice about my Throne of Amenkor series. If you're a member of Westeros, feel free to voice your opinion of my books there. You can mention that I've posted the first 6 chapters up on my website www.joshuapalmatier.com or something. *grin* And now a reminder about the signing:
SIGNING! *signing signing signing*
November 7th, 2009
Noon-4pm
Barnes & Noble
Ledgewood Mall
375 Route 10 E
Ledgewood, NJ 07852
973-252-9300
***
with authors
Patricia Bray; S.C. Butler
Barbara Campbell; Laura Anne Gilman
Jackie Kessler; Joshua Palmatier
Anton Strout
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| Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 |
jpsorrow
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9:09p |
V: The Review
OK, so I've seen the first episode and here are some thoughts. BUT FIRST! A reminder that there's a signing this Saturday with 7 fantasy authors in Ledgewood, NJ! Some see us. Or we will destroy you.
SIGNING! *signing signing signing*
November 7th, 2009
Noon-4pm
Barnes & Noble
Ledgewood Mall
375 Route 10 E
Ledgewood, NJ 07852
973-252-9300
***
with authors
Patricia Bray; S.C. Butler
Barbara Campbell; Laura Anne Gilman
Jackie Kessler; Joshua Palmatier
Anton Strout
And now back to V: ( SPOILERS! )So, as usual, it all comes down to what they do with the setup they've got now. Not the most stunning show at this point, BUT with lots of potential. I'll give them a chance to settle in and see what happens. Fringe felt a little rocky and unsure of itself at first, but I love that show now. |
jpsorrow
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1:48p |
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| Monday, November 2nd, 2009 |
jpsorrow
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9:07p |
Writing: Exposition
OK, now that all of the guinea pig drama seems to be over (Buddy is doing fine, so far), I can finally return to the writing posts I meant to do immediately after Albacon. This posts are based on the panels that I was on at the convention. I took notes at the time, but it's been long enough I don't know what some of the notes mean anymore, or remember what prompted the note in the first place, so this is just going to be me making comments about the topic, rather than an in depth report of what happened on the panel itself. I figured I'd start with the panel: Exposition: I decided to start with this one because this is something that I struggle with myself. For every book that I've ever handed in, my editor has alway said for the revisions that I need to explain more about the world, that I need to show it. This more or less comes down to exposition. Part of the problem is that I, personally, don't feel that alot of what my editor wants in the way of explaining the world is unnecessary . . . BUT I've had enough people comment on my Throne novels that they wished I'd had more about the world in there that I've realized that my editor is right. (*gasp* Don't let her see this post!) So, with the new work-in-progress, I've been trying to experiment more with adding in more world elements, and this means messing with exposition. You see, in the Throne books, the story was told through first person, so I introduced elements of the world exclusively through her by having her actually DO THINGS. I really don't like exposition. So everything came through as Varis, my main character, interacted with the world. When she went to the main street in the Dredge to steal food, you saw, through her eyes, the people of the city as they lived their lives. When she fled the Dredge, you were introduced to the "real" Amenkor as she experienced it herself. If there was something in the city that was interesting, but it never crossed paths with Varis, then you never learned about it. The new books are all in the third person, so I can't use the excuse of POV to leave off the exposition. *sigh* So I've been working on getting in there somehow. Here are some of the other techniques I've been using; note I'm still getting the characters to interact with the world itself as the main method for getting this across. Dialogue: Of course you can get some of the way the world works across using dialogue. This is tricky though, because an info dump in dialogue is still an info dump. What I usually try to do is incorporate the world information into a conversation that's really about something else. For example, today I wrote a scene where a young girl is recovering from an "illness" and is being taken care of by her father. While he feeds her soup, she asks him about a scene in the marketplace that she witnessed the day before that disturbed her. Her father then explains what the scene was about, thus revealing some of the politics of the world, but at a level that his daughter can understand and it's all disguised through the illness, which is the real focus on the conversation, since the father is trying to figure out what happened to his daughter. Hearthfire Tale: This is another technique sort of related to dialogue. If you've got some heavy duty history to get across at some point, you can do it by having the characters sit around a campfire and share stories, or they can go into a bar or tavern and hear a hearthfire tale, etc. I was going to say that I haven't used this technique before but it was brought up on the panel . . . but I just realized that would be a lie. I did use it in the book that's "finished" and waiting to go through the rest of the publishing process. At one point my main character goes into a bar to get something to eat and hears the tale of something that happened while he was . . . well, let's just say "away." I needed to get this "history" across because it was the basis of a significant portion of the rest of the book, but the structure of the book didn't allow me to actually to do the story as narrative. So a hearth tale instead. The trick is to make the hearthfire tale sound natural and fit into the story. Flashback: Ah, the tried and true flashback, where you mix exposition with narration. I probably don't need to say much about this, but the fact that it's so prevalent tells you that it's one of the easier and more effective ways to get in some exposition under the disguise of narration. The problem with this technique is that you REALLY have to be careful how often you use it. If there's another way to get across the information, then you should probably use that instead, even if the flashback would be "easier" to write. If you use them too much, they can get monotonous and the reader begins to wonder why you didn't just tell the story starting way back when, since you're flashing back to "way back when" so often. And they should be thinking that. If you're using flashbacks that often, it's probably a sign that you started your story too late and you need to go back and ask yourself whether you should start it earlier. Prologue: And this is also a tried and true method for getting across some world story or back story that probably doesn't have anything do with the main characters of the book itself. (It's hard to have the character experience the world elements if they, say, weren't ALIVE during the actual event.) This is where the prologue comes into play. There's alot of discussion about whether prologues should be used at all in anything, and I say that yes, they can be effective. I intend to use one in my new work-in-progress, because those events are necessary to set up the main plot thread of the main novel . . . but then there's a significant time jump to where the main novel actually begins. It seems appropriate to offset these initial scenes as a prologue, even if it's a rather long prologue. It doesn't make sense to call it "chapter one" for example. So prologues are necessary in some books, in my opinion. Are the overused? Yes. I've read quite a few books where I felt the prologue was unnecessary OR that the prologue was actually chapter one and did not need to be offset with the "prologue" status. And those are the things I've used (obviously) and been playing with for getting across exposition. I've been trying other things as well, but those are more at the line-by-line level and are harder to explain. And this post is long enough as it is. *grin* Hope there was something helpful in there! |
| Sunday, November 1st, 2009 |
jpsorrow
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8:58p |
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danceswthcobras
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7:14p |
Paranormal Activity
I get why people were reported leaving the theaters in droves. It's not that it's that scary, though I guess some people might think it was. It's not even that it was a bad movie. It's an excellent example of how much interest and tension and plot can be sustained without fancy special effects. But I nearly walked out myself, despite really liking the story and wanting to see how it turned out. The way the camera constantly shakes and jiggles and pans in dizzy circles throughout this movie basically made me physically nauseous. I nearly decorated the seats in front of me before I figured out what was going on, and then I basically had to close my eyes every time the jiggling started up. I would have enjoyed the movie a whole lot more minus the motion sickness. I still enjoyed it, but I definitely could have lived without the headache and nausea. That part was not fun. I would recommend this movie as entertaining to anyone who isn't likely to get motion sick from it. However I've never gotten motion sick from camera effects before, so I wouldn't have known I was susceptible before going. Fair warning. Current Mood:  nauseated |
jpsorrow
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6:27p |
Book Review: "Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes" by Neil Gaiman
I've heard lots about Sandman from various people and so I finally broke down and decided to get the first volume and read it. I haven't read many graphic novels ( Watchmen and V for Vendetta are the other two), so that's what I'm comparing this to in the long run. Overall, I thought the story itself was not as involved as the other two, not as developed, and a little erratic in quality. There were issues in here that I absolutely loved and ones that I read and could easily have passed on. A very erratic start. I realize that there are 10 other volumes of novels after this, and having talked to a few people, I know that the story gets much more involved and fully developed as it progresses, but if I'd read this one volume without having heard about the improvement in those that come . . . I probably would not have continued to read the series. There was some really good storytelling in here in places, and I can see the potential for the rest of the series, but I'm not certain I'd have continued regardless. One of the things that I found disappointing was the artwork. I wasn't as drawn in by the style of the art, although it got better as the issues progressed again. It feels too . . . cluttered to me, with alot of detail and background elements that I didn't feel needed to be there. I also had some issues with the colorations of panels. But in the end, I'm willing to go with the flow as long as the story draws me along and for the most part that's what happened here. And the story did draw me along, even if there were a few missteps on occasion. It pulled me along enough (and I've benn reassured enough by others) that I've already bought the second volume. The last few issues, that focused more on Sandman himself and tried less to integrate him into the DC universe, gives me hope that what people are saying about what happens later is true. |
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