Category: GENERAL

links for 2007-10-12

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links for 2007-10-11

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links for 2007-10-10

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links for 2007-10-09

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A Customer Service Conversation

Me: So, I noticed that compared to the iPhone you guys are kind of screwing me on my cell phone’s data package. You guys are charging me like $45 more per month for essentially the same services.

CS: Ha ha! We own you for another year, motherfucker!

Me: Um, okay. Is there any way to cancel early?

CS: Cancel? Sure, but there’s an early termination fee.

Me: How much?

CS: One soul per line.

Me: I see. So basically, even though a new competitor has emerged into the marketplace with a superior product with more affordable service plans, you guys aren’t going to do anything to try and compete. You’re just going to continue screwing me for another year, even though you’re going to have no hope in hell of retaining me as a customer.

CS: Yep! Anything else I can help you with today?

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links for 2007-10-08

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links for 2007-10-07

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Win Free Books!

F&SF regular Matthew Hughes is giving away 53 copies of his books. To win, all you have to do is blog about him and link back to his website. Here are the rules:

Write a blog post about my work, or post a review or a commentary on a bbs, webzine or Usenet newsgroup where books and/or short stories — not necessarily science fiction and fantasy — are discussed. Include a link to my web page.

You don’t have to be laudatory, although a scathing denunciation of my very existence may disqualify you from receiving a prize. You don’t need to write a thousand words, although I’d prefer more than a dozen. If you haven’t read my works, there are plenty of samples on this web page. Take fifteen minutes to read some of them, then write up your impressions.

Send me an e-mail at mhughes–at–mars.ark.com (substituting “@” for “–at–“. For the subject heading, put “53,” and in the body of the e-mail, include the URL for your post and a North American mailing address. I will verify the URL then send you a response to let you know that your entry has been received.

The first fifty-three people to send me qualifying e-mails will receive signed copies of one of my works. Most of them will get trade paperbacks of Majestrum or hardcovers of The Spiral Labyrinth, because Night Shade is about to send me several boxes of those titles. Ten or so will receive one of the Payseur & Schmidt limited-edition chapbooks of “The Farouche Assemblage,” a Luff Imbry novelette.

Three of the entries, drawn at random, will receive one of the limited editions of Majestrum, The Spiral Labyrinth, or The Gist Hunter & Other Stories, my 2005 short story collection from Night Shade.

There may be a few weeks turn-around time before the books get sent out; I have to wait for them to arrive from Night Shade. But people have already begun to receive pre-ordered copies of The Spiral Labyrinth, so mine should be here soon.

Link

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Article: Basic Training for Writers

Writers choosing to specialize in writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror have a number of opportunities to study with luminaries in the field by participating in writers’ workshops. These workshops are in-depth examinations of a writer’s strengths and weaknesses, and force students to both write and critique the work of others a great deal. This provides for a rather intense experience, which is why this sort of workshop is often referred to as a “writer’s boot camp.”
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Sales; Subscriptions; Photonic Captures; Excerpts

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