SCI FI Wire Roundup
Here are a few SCI FI Wire pieces I’ve had published recently, but didn’t have time to link to when they were initially posted.
Laurell K. Hamilton: Hamilton Bares All In Candy
Scott Lynch: Locke Lamora Mixes Fantasy And Cons
Fiona McIntosh: Odalisque Talks Turkey
Marjorie M. Liu: Eye Is ‘Electrokinetic’
Orson Scott Card: Card Details Empire‘s Scope
Robin Hobb: Son Messes With Birthright
Orphan Has Arabian Feel
SCI FI Wire just published a piece I wrote about Catherynne M. Valente’s new novel, The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden.
What Was Lost Has Been Found
God bless the men and women who work at the Hampton Inn Austin-NW/Arboretum. The maid who cleaned my room did find my iPod and set it aside in the lost and found. I imagine my room was somewhat confusing, as I actually left quite a bit of other stuff in there–a few books and pamphlets from World Fantasy that I didn’t want to pack and take with me (and also the broken strap of my watch band), but of course the iPod was not just a really good tip. The fact that I’ll be getting the iPod back restores my faith in humanity.
I’m not really sure why the hotel didn’t call me immediately once the maid cleaned the room, to inform me that I’d left some stuff in there, but I can’t complain about the end result!
Express Scribe Transcription Playback Software
I don’t know why I never thought to google the phrase “transcription software,” but it occurred to me today, and up came the website for Express Scribe Transcription Playback Software. It looks like it used to be shareware, but is now freeware. I downloaded it and played with it a bit, and it seems to be pretty great. It has an audio player built into the same program as a text editor, so you can play your audio file, transcribe in the same program, and use the function buttons to execute transcription commands, such as the most essential one of all: rewind. And you can even set how far back it jumps each time you hit rewind — 5, 10, 15 seconds, whatever works best for you. It also has a rather useful feature that slows down the audio speed, so that when transcribing interviews, it’s easier to type what the subject is saying. I’ve used something like this before, but this is much superior to anything I’ve tried, as it manages to slow the speech down, yet has very little distortion.
If you have need of such a thing, I highly recommend checking it out. Not only does it seem to work pretty great, but the price is also right: free.
Duncan Takes On Nostradumus
And here’s a worthy piece of reportage for SCI FI Wire: my interview with Dave Duncan, which was conducted live at World Fantasy.
Vote!
Get out there and vote today, people. Well, Democrats that is. Democrats vote today. Republicans are supposed to vote tomorrow. No, really.
Kafka Wins Top Fantasy Prize
Again, for my own record-keeping purposes, here’s a link to the rather boring little SCI FI Wire piece I wrote about the World Fantasy Award winners.
Read the story, or ignore, as you will.
Fantasy Con Honors Howard
Pretty much for my own record-keeping purposes only, here’s a link to the rather boring little SCI FI Wire piece I wrote about the World Fantasy Convention.
Read the story, or ignore, as you will.
WFC Photos
Alas, too busy to post my con report today, but I will do so soon, promise. Meanwhile, please enjoy the pics I took. Pictured here are two members of my con posse.
Here’s a link to the whole set. And for more photos, check out the World Fantasy Group setup by John Klima.