Long Week

I'm not feeling myself today; waking with a bit of scratch in the throat and snot-packed head. I do so love the onset of the ick. I think I might curl up and finish reading the anthology I started some time ago. I hope to get some writing done, but the Ick and writing don't mix all that well...

Today's SciFiChat on Twitter was about the best of the decade in Fantasy.

I hammered my opinion into the heads of those listening. Namely: Peter V Brett's Demon Cycle, which started with the novel The Warded Man, is the bee's knees, and my pick for the best fantasy of the last decade.

Now, many might have a strong argument for George RR Martin's series, but Game of Thrones came out in 1999, so there...

I also plugged the shit out of Myke Cole, Sam Sykes, and Tim Akers, all of whom I have met and found cool cats Cole's books are not on the market yet, but Tim and Sam both have books available: Tim's most recent offering is Horns of Ruin and Sam's is Tome of the Undergates .

I didn't get to participate in Litchat as much as I might have liked, as work intruded. It was about a book, Writers Behaving Badly, which sounded quite interesting. Alas, so little time, so many books.


Last night, while corresponding with my agent, he spurred an idea in my head. I think it has legs. We shall see... First, however, to finish Bridge of The Broken and keep our fingers crossed about The Last Captain.

Not Much To Rant On, But A Bit To Talk About

Not much to rant on these last couple days, things have been relatively good.  Saturday started a bit rough, though.

93 Games Studio, the folks that first published my work, are closing their doors after a nine-year run of it.  The boss has had enough, and as another so clearly put it, "with the low margins and other headaches of today's RPG industry, if your heart ain't in it, it just isn't worth it." I am saddened by this news, as I hate for anyone to become fed up with things or face such difficulty that they cannot go on entertaining others with quality games.

Saturday was a loss for The Pink Pixies, the last game I will be able to coach for this year.  While it was a loss, the team played wonderfully, and Isabelle fired two goals in and had two assists.  They spread well and passed so very beautifully.   Where Isabelle truly shines is in her speed onto the ball.  She is incredibly fast, able to overtake offensive players even when starting from well behind.  Just awesome.

It has been very nice to spend lots of time with my girl, though now she is running a slight fever and feels a number of aches.  We spent Sunday watching Farscape and thoroughly enjoying it and one another.  She is starting to find the tropes and predict some of the plotting, which I find immensely cool.  I was never that into the mechanics of story when I was... Shit, I was never that into story until I sat down and started to try and really write my own stories.

I also, over the weekend, started writing another novel.  It is a sequel to The Last Captain, and the idea had been percolating in my head for some time.  So far it's flying out pretty fast, though I have no set title.  I even have some research to do for it, which is fun and different for me, who likes to annoy those of his friends with expertise in an area until they relent and give him their thoughts (Yes, David, I am talking about you, among others!)

Today was just me, Isabelle and Farscape, as Isabelle still isn't well.  I got a tiny bit of writing done.

I also, through the miracle of Twitter, attended Litchat.  I'm not normally able to devote my full attention to this chat, being at work.  Today's was not as interesting for me as others have been in the past, having read those I have read.  That being said, it was much better than some of the litchats I have attended, in that no one bashed a writer for gender-bias or failure to meet some tangential standard with little relation to their art.   Also, I was able to drop a few names in for some who were less familiar with the genre, which was nice (I do so love to corrupt the souls of the untainted:  Why, one didn't even know the definition of ichor!  So sad!)

Tonight, dinner with my agent, where I am sure some stratagems will be discussed for WFC (Read: Have a good time but keep your mouth shut about business, Griffin). He has also read and done an editing pass of The Last Captain, and I am hungry for his input.

Tomorrow I have to go into town for a brief while, but otherwise shall do as I did today; mellow, write, hang with my girls and prepare myself for the fun and intensity of the upcoming World Fantasy Convention.  I hope the flights will be uneventful or, if not uneventful, full of merely colorful characters to write about here.

Twittage and Catching Up

This week the #Litchat was all about the oppression of man upon the women writing literature.  I opted out.  I shall return next week. Maybe.  But only if I can oppress.

I look forward to #scifichat this week, as it's about Post-Cyberpunk science fiction.  I liked Gibson, but LOVED Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired.  I grew up reading cyberpunk along with military SF like David Drake and Jerry Pournelle so I am interesteed to see if what I write qualifies under the genre.

This week's #1 rager:  @GiasGirl has overtaken the famed tirade of @JohnCusack.  She's got it in for @TilaOMG and just added #Shitmydadsays to her skin-ripping roastage.

So much to do, so little time to do it. 

I am on target for the end of this month to finish The Last Captain.  I can't fuckin' wait.

Boo got hurt in her soccer game last night. A shame besides the pain, in that we might have won had she been able to stay in (Yes, she's that good.).

Not Much To Rant About

In order to better quasi-stalk a writer friend of mine, I recently started Twittering.  Now I think I may have already managed to become an irritant to some of the folks I have met there.  At least, they are replying to my messages... If they aren't irritated, then they might actually be, dare I say it, replying to what I am saying? Such a novel idea.  Perhaps I should read further.

Well, being such a joiner, I joined a couple of chat groups there: namely #litchat and #scifichat.  Both are fast-moving forums where much is discussed.  Litchat is three times a week, and often has very serious Names as guest speakers or just sitting in and adding to the discussion. It is, of course, right smack in the middle of my work day, so I am not able to be as attentive to it as I would like, but there is usually a log of the chat available a few days later. I have thus been able to monitor some interesting discussions, and made some new aquaintances (I dare not say friends yet).

Today's Scifichat (which is thankfully during my lunch) was about the Hugos and Nebulas, and was a spirited discussion that CJ Cherryh joined in on.  Having won both, I believe, she had some brief yet pithy statements to make about them and graciously answered some questions, even ones I had.  Remarkable.

But enough about the things I am learning, the really cool thing about Twitter is I can hear all about what Sarah Silverman

Aisha Tyler

or John Cusack

 want me to hear about what they might be doing or heated about at any given time they choose to let the twitterverse know they are up to something. 

I am beside myself with fanboi paroxyms of joy!

Not really, but it is fun to read posts from people who seem genuine, even through the 100 character filter of the Twit...