I would not call a lot of books “brilliant,” but OSAMA is pretty effing brilliant. I thought this book was going to be nigh unreadable, based on the concept – a world where Osama bin Laden is the character in a series of pulp novels, and a private eye is tasked with hunting down the guy who […]
Books You Should be Reading Read More »
I’ve talked often about how I can’t really plot my way out of a paper bag. Much of this is simply due to lack of practice. When I started writing stories, I was far more interested in the people, and later, the settings, to care much about why and for what overall purpose and to
Writing Craft: How I’m learning to plot my way out of a paper bag Read More »
One of the most annoying and astonishing parts of being a writer is how little control you have over an actual book once you sign a contract. Unless you get it written into your contract, you don’t contractually have a say in what covers end up on your book or whether or not anyone consults
The Business of Writing: A Rant About Audio Books, Covers, and Contracts Read More »
No, that post title is not a directive, that’s the name of a movie I finally ponied up to watch my last night at Wellspring before I passed out. I’d been putting off this movie for a good long while, primarily because I heard about it not long after some nut job shot up a
God Bless America: Living our Dystopia Read More »
I have been meaning to write a response to this article by Ursula LeGuin for some time. Needless to say, when she says stuff like, “It’s amazing, given their different physiology and complement of hormones, how much alike men and women are in most ways,” I want to tear my hair out. This stuff comes
Boys with babies and women with knives: Rethinking gender assumptionist power structures Read More »
I recently came back from the Wellspring Writing Workshop in Lake Geneva, WI. I got to spend a lovely week with a bunch of other writers – only one of whom I’d met before! – and talk shop and boat around on a lake (“We’re on a boat!”) and look at swanky stuff and ride
On Fear of Failure and Writing “The Book” Read More »
I’ve heard people call WorldCon a business con. I went to my first one right after Clarion twelve years ago and had a dull time. The panels were dull. The people all seemed very alien. I was bored to tears. Even the parties were awkward, because the only folks I knew were my Clarion buddies.
The Business of Writing: Attending Conventions After a Long Absence Read More »
I was only stumped by one question at WorldCon, and that was posed by Elizabeth Bear at the “Looking Forward to the Post-Apocalyptic World” panel. She asked why someone would choose to write future fiction vs. secondary world fantasy and what the primary differences were, or something to that end. The best I could come up
Secondary world fantasy vs. future fiction Read More »
The first panel I sat down to watch at WorldCon had a panelist lob out a sexist comment about 5 minutes into it. Also, if I never hear the term “token male on this panel” again, it will go far toward restoring my faith in humanity. You’ll never see me saying I’m the “token female
Ranting on panels: Just you and a million of your closest friends Read More »
NOTE: Contains a fairly major spoiler for GOD’S WAR. I spent a lot of time this weekend on panels at WorldCon talking about the responsibilities of being a writer, and how what we put on the page can mean something very personal to people. I spend a stupid amount of time buried in research books and
Taking Responsibility for Writing Problematic Stories Read More »