Isles Series Comes To Close
SCI FI Wire published a story I wrote about David Drake’s new The Crown of the Isles trilogy, which will bring his Lord of the Isles series to a close.
Movable Type 3.2
My blogging software, Movable Type, was just upgraded to version 3.2. This should help fight comment spam and will do a variety of other things. It looks to be working fine so far, but if anyone notices any bugs, let me know.
Stirling Continues The ‘Change’
SCI FI Wire just published a story I wrote about S.M. Stirling’s new three book deal with Roc, which will consist of three new books set in the world of Dies the Fire.
Crown Of Stars Wraps Up
SCI FI Wire just published a story I wrote about Kate Elliott’s new novel Crown of Stars, which concludes the series of the same name.
Monster Started Online
SCI FI Wire just published a story I wrote about Dave Wellington’s novel, Monster Island, which was originally serialized online.
Paragaea
Chris Roberson recently launched a new website dedicated to his new novel, Paragaea: A Planetary Romance. It’s got lots of cool stuff on it, *and* has a whole prequel novel available for free featuring the protagonist of Paragaea.
The government is trying to kill your TV, iPod, and computer
If it offends thee, tear it out!
There have been more reports of subscribers, who, upset with the magazine’s content, are actually tearing out the offending pages and mailing them back to us along with a subscription cancellation.
The latest example of this involved David Gerrold’s “thirteen o’clock” in the Feb. 2006 issue. It’s not clear if the subscriber was offended by the story’s content, or by the lack of punctuation. It’s a toss up. (There were also Puritanical complaints about the Gary Shockley story, though no pages were torn out in outrage, as far as I know).
In order to placate these subscribers, F&SF‘s pages will henceforth be perforated to facilitate the removal of offensive material. We’re definitely still going to keep publishing offensive material though.
More Melusine Books Coming
SCI FI Wire just published a story I wrote about Sarah Monette’s new book deal with Ace, which will include the third and fourth books in the series that began with Melusine.
Writing the Other
I received a press release the other day about a new writing book that I thought sounded interesting:
Writing the Other: A Practical Approach by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward is now available from Aqueduct Press for $9 a copy. Based on the acclaimed “Writing the Other” workshop, this important book includes essays and exercises that help authors create believable characters with diverse backgrounds. Race, religion, and age are among the differences covered in the book’s hands-on approach.
Both established professional writers and talented beginners have benefited from attending “Writing the Other” workshops. Now these valuable techniques and concepts are accessible to the public in a concise and highly readable, step-by-step guide.
Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (ISBN 1-933500-00-X) can be ordered via your local bookstore, or online. Details about the book can be found here. You can find out more about the “Writing the Other” workshop, and read student testimonials, at www.writingtheother.com.