14 May 2008 @ 01:44 am
Mind Meld: Young Adult SF/F Books That Adults Will Like, Too  
A Mind Meld in which various folk recommend
Young Adult SF/F Books That Adults Will Like, Too
--and reading my fellow commentators recommendations made me realize how many I missed.
Give a shout out for your own favorites.
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:57 pm
Sacremento News & Review loves Rollback  


A very kind review is here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 09:30 pm
 
I would like to start this post with a statistic on which I've been ruminating the past few days: "Having a husband creates an extra seven hours a week of housework for women . . . A wife saves men from about an hour of housework a week" (Source: U of Michigan, recorded in Reader's Digest). So, first of all, when I read this I yelped inside - "YES! That is soooooooo true" (well, not so internally. I was quite quick to exclaim the stat to my dear husband - who laughed and probably said something in retort that I proceeded to block out due to my state of epiphany). Second of all, I wondered WHY is this stat so true? Third in my thought sequence was WHO decided to study that subject (and are they making a living off of it? If so, I have plenty of things I could think of to study and then have published in Reader's Digest). Not to mention, HOW did they measure those variables?

Well, I've had a couple days to let the stat marinate in my mind, and now it just makes me laugh because I have to admit to myself that I would much rather have the extra housework and have my dear hubby around than to have more time yet not have him here. Cheesy, I know, but 100% true and scientifically proven.

The past couple weeks have been a beautiful blur, swirling with family visitors, drives around the city, and marvelous meals. Trev's parents were here two weekends ago, and mine (along with my grandparents) were here just a few days ago. Those times are so precious, and the memories are thankfully etched in our minds and hearts.

This week is significant in that: 1) Today two of our brothers (mine and one of Trev's) left for Peru, where they will travel from adventure to adventure for a month! I am thankful to have seen them at the airport this morning, and pray safety and traveling mercies on their time in South America. It's hard to believe, they're still in the air and will touch down in Lima about an hour after the time I finish writing. I so admire their sense of spontaneity and seizing the opportunity to explore another country and culture. 2) My best friend from college is leaving tomorrow for South Africa, where she will be leading a missions trip - I echo the same prayers of safety and mercies poured out to her . . . . 3) The Office season finale is on this Thursday. Just kidding! That's not number 3 . . . number 3 is that a dear friend from college and her husband are staying with me tomorrow night and I beyond wired to welcome them, having not seen them since their wedding almost one year ago.

One last tidbit from the latest Reader's Digest before I go: "7.5 hours of sleep is the amount that allows your brain to file the day's new information in your memory data bank." That means I best wrap this up, I'm feeling that tomorrow might have enough new information that will require at least 8 hours . . .
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:23 pm
Newly Discovered Zelazny Novel  
Thanks to GalleyCat, I just learned that Charles Ardai's Hard Case Crime line will be publishing The Dead Man's Brother, a previously unpublished novel by Roger Zelazny.

The manuscript, supposedly completed 30 years ago and long thought lost, was apparently recently discovered among Zelazny's papers.

Roger Zelazny was once one of my gods. I loved "A Rose for Ecclesiastes," Creatures of Light and Darkness, Lord of Light, Nine Princes in Amber (the sequels, not so much), "The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth," and many other of his short stories and novels, so a new work, particularly one from when he was still in his prime, is big news for me.

I'm also looking forward to learning the entire history of the manuscript's submissions and rejections, and why it ended up in a desk drawer for decades instead of being read by all of us in the '70s.

The stories behind Phil K. Dick's struggles to get his mainstream novels published were fascinating, so I'm hoping that the entire story behind this particular story will also end up being revealed.

Though GalleyCat didn't provide a link to it, the publisher's site is offering an excerpt. The fragment certainly has that hardboiled feel to it, and so I'm anxious to read the entire novel to see Zelazny's take on the genre.

For a Zelazny fan, nine months will be a long time to wait.
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:05 pm
I think I've done this one before, but...  

HowManyOfMe.com
LogoThere are
5
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?



I know this is just a statistics thing, where they calculate the odds of your first and last name combination, but the number doesn't surprise me. I know of two other people with my name, although one married a couple of years back and changed it.

According to my personalized results, there are 1,416,936 people in the U.S. with my first name, and 1,064 with my last. I'm surprised at how low the first number is and how high the second is. Then again, my generation in particular is saturated with Jennifers. It was a rare name before that fucking Donovan song came out. So I suppose it's something of a feat that it's the 21nd most popular first name in the country. My last name? The 25,874th most popular. There are also five people with my brother's name, but when I put in my father's it goes down to two, and when I put in my mother's it goes down to one.

Oh, hey, when I put in my sister's married name, it also gives me a list of famous people with her last name. I didn't get one for Pelland. Go figure.
Tags:
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:01 pm
Ink & Steel ARC contest winners!  
Comments on this entry are screened. If [info]lnhammer, [info]slobbit, [info]enevarim, and [info]clarentine would be so kind as to comment with their addresses, I will get their books out post-haste!

I also have two copies of the All the Windwracked Stars ARC to give away, but I have not yet decided what I am doing with those....
 
 
I'm feeling: lazy
 
 
14 May 2008 @ 12:13 am
17 Tips to Help You Get Leaner and Fitter  

I would bet that I’m not alone here in wanting to get leaner and fitter — it’s something that many of us would like to do, and many of us are striving for all the time.

We don’t want to lose weight, although that’s often stated as the goal — we want to get leaner. We want to shed the fat and leave just the lean muscle (some of us want to increase the muscle, others just want to lose the fat). We want to be healthy and in good shape and able to be physically active.

Unfortunately, with the stresses of our daily lives, with the frustrations of being overweight and living an unhealthy lifestyle, with the difficulties of changing ingrained habits … getting leaner and fitter isn’t always an easy process. Many of us give up before we get very far.

A little more than a month ago I announced my plan to become lighter and leaner in The Rules of the Unbelievable Lightness of Being Club. In summary, I planned to:

  • Eat when I was lightly hungry, eat slowly, and stop when I was lightly full.
  • Eat light foods (nothing heavy or greasy).
  • Add weight lifting to my running, and start lightly (just one set of light weights to start with).

I’d like to give you my successful one-month report (I’m not stopping yet, but plans have changed a bit), and then share some of my tips for getting leaner and fitter — things that are working for me that I think could work for you too.

My One-Month Assessment - Success!

Since I published my plan in early April, I started a training blog and announced my overall goal and some sub-goals (see below). Also, since posting that plan I decided to try to do a couple of sprint triathlons (the first is this weekend!) which meant adding swim and bike workouts to my plan.

Now, to give you some background, I’m a runner but a complete novice when it comes to the swim and the bike. So I’ve been building up a little endurance and learning some skills, and generally having a blast. I won’t be competitive in the triathlons, but I will have fun. :)

Another thing to note is that I’ve now become addicted to triathlon training. It’s so much fun, and I recommend it to anyone trying to get lean (it’s included in my list of tips at the bottom of this post).

OK, let’s take a look at my goals from a month ago, and the progress I’ve made on each:

My overall goal is just to get myself in good shape for my honeymoon in late June, and then after that to prepare for my 3rd marathon in December. Progress: I’ve been exercising almost every single day and eating pretty healthy in the last month. I’ve added triathlon training to my running and weight lifting and feel fitter than ever. I’ve lost an inch or two on my waist and about 5 lbs so far, though my weight has plateaued a bit. I really feel fitter than I was a month ago and feel like I’ll be seeing even more results in the next few weeks.

My sub-goals:

1. Start and stick to a regular strength training routine. I’m going to do 2 full-body workouts a week, just 6 exercises: bench press, standing rows, shoulder presses, pullups, bicep curls and squats. I might add deadlifts and dips later, and maybe a 3rd day per week once I’ve gotten into the habit (after 3 weeks maybe). Progress: I’ve stuck to this strength training routine extremely well so far, doing more than 5 weeks of this schedule. I’ve gone from one set per exercise to four (starting today) and have increased the weights for each exercise. I also feel stronger than ever. This is my longest ever to stick with a weight routine!

2. Build my running back up to a decent level. My focus won’t be on running, but I’d like to have a decent base (maybe 30 miles per week eventually) before I start my marathon training. I’ll also do a faster workout once a week, to increase fat burning and to get me in good shape for some shorter races I’ll be doing for the next few months. Progress: I’ve not only built my running back up to a decent level (25+ miles per week and still increasing), but have started doing hills/speedwork once a week and am feeling strong on the run. Also, not in the original plan, but since I’ve begun triathlon training I’m now doing more cardio than ever before. I feel amazing!

3. Eat lightly. I’ll go into more detail on this in a future post, but I’ve created my own meal plan, and will be eating 4-5 times per day, about 300-400 calories per meal. Sometimes a little more. Eat when I’m lightly hungry (instead of ravenous), eat slowly, eat until I’m lightly full (not stuffed), eat light foods (not heavy). Allow myself to cheat a couple meals per week. Progress: I have definitely been eating more often, and eating less per meal, and eating healthy foods for the most part. The cheat meals haven’t been too bad, and while I haven’t stuck exactly to the meal plan, I think my eating has been really good in the last month. I eat when I’m hungry and don’t starve myself, but don’t stuff myself either — very healthy eating style.

4. Stay accountable. I will be trying to post daily (or so) here on my training blog, as well as keeping a public training and eating log on FitDay. Progress: I’ve posted reports each day (though I was late on a couple) so I’ve been pretty much perfect here. And while I don’t use FitDay anymore, I’ve switched to the much better The Daily Plate (see my diary) and have been logging faithfully every day. The accountability of this log and the training blog have really helped keep me on track.

Overall Assessment

As you can see from my progress on each sub-goal above, I’ve been doing great on every account — overall fitness, strength training, running, eating healthy, and staying accountable. I’ve also added swimming and biking and am having such a great time!

A few indicators:

  1. Weight: Started at 189.5 and have dropped to 185.5. While my weight loss has leveled off, I think the overall loss is decent and the plateau is probably temporary.
  2. Waist: Started at 38 inches, down to 36 inches as of this week. Hooray!
  3. Strength: Went from 1 set of light weights to 4 sets of heavier weights.
  4. Running: Went from running 4x a week, 13 miles a week (my first week) to running 5x a week and 25 miles a week (last week).
  5. Overall exercise: Went from 6 workouts in a week the first week, total of 2 hrs 40 mins, to 11 workouts last week for a total of 8 hours and 20 minutes. That’s an increase of more than 3 times my total exercise minutes!

I’m obviously very happy with the last month and hope to just continue the exercise I’ve been doing and continue my healthy eating. I will continue to progress gradually with all four sports (weights, running, cycling, swimming) but will obviously not make the same kind of increases in total exercise time. If I just continue my schedule, I should do well over the next month

Tips for Getting Lean and Fit

The last month has been an enlightening part of my continuing journey over the last couple years to get leaner (and I still have a ways to go). One of the things that’s a bit tricky is losing fat while maintaining or even increasing your muscle mass — it’s hard to do as you tend to lose muscle as you lose fat, as a rule.

However, I’ve been finding that my muscle mass has actually been increasing (not at a huge rate, but at least it’s not decreasing) while I’m losing fat at the same time. Here are some tips for doing that and getting fitter than ever — as always, remember that I’m not an expert and these are just things that have been working for me:

  1. Increase cardio. I know that you’ll read magazines and hear from bodybuilders that building muscle is the best way to lose fat. And to some extent, I agree that’s a good strategy. However, losing fat is really about being in a calorie deficit — if you burn more calories than you eat, your body will burn fat for fuel. And there’s no better way to get into calorie deficit, in my experience, than lots of cardio. It’s hard to burn 1,300 calories in one workout by lifting weights, as I did in my bike ride yesterday, or even 800+ calories, as I did in my run yesterday. Even the amount your metabolism is boosted by having extra muscle is negligible when compared to these high amounts of calories burned by cardio. I know this one tip will spark a debate, as it always does, but let me just say that by swimming, biking and running for more than an hour a day (sometimes two) I’ve been burning a lot of fat. You can use whatever strategy works for you, but this method is proven to be successful.
  2. Do triathlon training. This is an extension of the first tip, but I think it’s a great tip — I’ve never had as much fun training as I have since I started triathlon training. Each day is a new challenge — a long run today, learning to improve my stroke tomorrow, a long bike ride the day after, then a hill run, then an endurance swim, then intervals on the bike, with weight workouts mixed into all of that. You never get bored. My suggestion is to look for a triathlon near you, maybe three or four months away — choose a sprint triathlon to start with. Then look for a beginner’s plan online, something that doesn’t start too hard, and slowly begin to build up endurance in each sport. Don’t overdo it in the beginning — even 20 minutes a day will make big improvements over time, until you’re doing 45-60 minutes most days of the week a month or two later. You’ll be fitter than ever, and your body will be leaner without a doubt.
  3. Lift heavy. This is where I agree with many magazines and bodybuilders. If you just do a lot of cardio, you will lose fat, but you’ll also lose muscle. But if you lift heavy weights (whether you’re a man or a woman), you’ll force your body to keep that muscle. Lots of repetitions with light weights don’t really do much — you have to work your way up to heavier and heavier weights with fewer reps. Compound lifts are best — ones that work multiple muscle groups, like squats and deadlifts and bench press and so forth. Now, if you’re trying to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, you won’t gain as much muscle as you would if you just tried to gain muscle and didn’t worry about the fat. Bodybuilders usually have periods of bulking (gaining muscle with a caloric surplus) and cutting (losing fat with a caloric deficit). You can do this too, but I’ve found that just lifting heavy and doing a lot of cardio will get you leaner.
  4. Eat adequate protein. This tip will also spark off a debate, because many bodybuilders will recommend one gram of protein intake per pound of body weight. However, most nutritionists will recommend 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight (divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms) for those trying to build muscle, and less for those who don’t exercise. If you eat a regular American diet with lots of meat, you eat well over this amount, so don’t worry about it. Vegetarians like myself can also easily get this amount if they try to get good sources of protein with every meal (nuts and nut butters, beans, tofu, soy milk, whole grains, etc.). I suggest non-vegetarians also focus on getting lean proteins, including those I just mentioned and lean sources of poultry, fish and red meat.
  5. Focus on bodyfat, not weight. While I like to monitor my weight, I know that it’s a very imperfect measure of how lean I’m getting. What’s better is bodyfat percentage, and while there’s no convenient way to get an accurate measurement of that percentage, there are a couple of methods that will suffice. The first is a bodyfat scale — there a a bunch of good models on the market, and while none of them is very accurate, they are consistent, and changes in the readings of these scales will reflect actual improvement in your body composition. The second is just using a tape measure to measure your body — you can measure waist, hips, chest, arms, thighs and neck, but if you’re shooting for easiness maybe just do waist (right around where your belly button is, not where your pants go around your body). With these kinds of measurements to monitor your improvements, you’ll have a better reflection of whether you’re getting leaner or not.
  6. Be accountable. My training blog has been a great way for me to stay accountable for my exercise and eating — it’s very motivational. I highly recommend starting such a blog to keep yourself accountable. Online forums, such as the Zen Habits forums, are also good ways to stay accountable, especially if they have daily reporting threads where you can tell people what you ate and what exercise you did every day. Sites such as The Daily Plate, where you log your food and exercise and other people can look at your log and post comments, are also good accountability tools. If you don’t use one of these online tools, at least have a group of friends and family to whom you give updates on your training, in person or through email.
  7. Eat when you’re hungry, stop when you’re full. This seems like such basic advice but the problem is many of us don’t follow it. We’re out of tune with our bodies and instead eat when it’s “time to eat” or when we have time or when we’re out with others and there’s food available. These are unhealthy eating patterns. First, we shouldn’t go hungry just because it’s not time to eat or we don’t have time. Always have healthy snacks, whether at work or on the road, and eat when you’re a little or moderately hungry. If you wait until you’re ravenous, you’ll overeat. Second, don’t keep eating if you’re satiated. Many times we are so ravenous that we eat past the point when we’re full, and then we’re stuffed. Or we eat seconds or even thirds because the food tastes so good, or because we’re too busy talking or watching TV to realize we’re full. Learn to eat slower, to pause in your eating for a few minutes even if you don’t think you’re full yet, and to listen to your body. Sometimes if you just wait for 5 minutes, you’ll realize you really are full. Avoiding overeating is crucial to getting leaner.
  8. Get into calorie deficit. As I said above, it’s only when your body is in caloric deficit (you burn more calories than you eat) that it really taps into fat as a fuel source. Your body burns fat all the time (it’s doing it right now as you read this article) but after you eat a lot of food, if your body doesn’t need all of those calories, it’ll store them as more fat. So on balance you’re not losing fat if you’re not in caloric deficit. How do you get into caloric deficit? First use an online calculator to calculate how much your body needs to maintain itself. Then subtract 500 calories from that amount and aim to take in that much each day — that’s the deficit you need to lose about a pound a week, which is a safe amount. Don’t go into a deficit of more than 1,000 calories per day, as that will result in an unhealthy rate of weight loss. Also don’t go below 1,200 calories per day if you’re a woman or 1,500 if you’re a man, as that’s generally said to be too little — you won’t get the nutrients you need.
  9. But don’t be in deficit during your exercise window. While being in caloric deficit is important if you want to lose fat, if you’re increasing your exercise (as I am and as I recommend above), then your body needs fuel for the exercise and for recovery and growth. Starving yourself while increasing exercise will only lead to low energy and the breakdown of your body. Here’s what I do: I think of the couple hours before my exercise, plus the time of my exercise, and the couple hours after my exercise, as my “exercise window”. So if I do an hour of exercise at 5 p.m., then my exercise window is 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. That’s when your body needs fuel — before and during exercise to fuel the exercise, and after the exercise to promote recovery and growth. Don’t go into caloric deficit during this time — try to get healthy, nutritious food with lots of carbs and protein. The rest of the day, you can be in deficit, but not during exercise if you want to get leaner and grow some muscle mass.
  10. Eat clean if possible. What’s clean eating? It’s a lack of junk food and as little processed food as possible. It’s whole grains, lean protein, fruits and veggies, good fats, beans and nuts. Basically, healthy food. You don’t need any fancy diet plan — just eat these kinds of clean foods, and eat a variety of them. Now, you can eat “unclean” foods of course, but as much as you can, eat clean.
  11. But don’t severely deny yourself. If you “go on a diet” and restrict yourself from foods your body craves, you will eventually binge. That’s not a healthy eating pattern either — restrict yourself severely and then binge, then repeat. Instead, indulge in what your body is craving, but do it in moderation. Then, instead of feeling guilty, move on and aim for clean foods most of the time. Feel free to indulge, as long as it’s the exception and not the rule. You want to have an eating pattern that you can live with, not something that will last a month and then collapse.
  12. Eat lotsa veggies and fruits. If there’s any single diet change you make that will make the biggest difference in getting you leaner. Two reasons: one is that they are high in fiber and vitamins and minerals, which most people are lacking in their diet and which promote a healthier body. Two is that they are high in volume without being high in fat or calories. You can eat lots of fruits and veggies but have very few calories.
  13. High-quality carbs are your friends. While in many circles carbs have been villified — and in the case of white breads and sugary foods, justifiably so — the truth is that if you’re going to increase your exercise, you need carbs. But you should aim for ones that are high in quality — whole grains, without a lot of fat or sugar, high in fiber and nutrients. Fruit, veggies, oatmeal and whole-grain breads are some good example of high-quality carbs.
  14. Drink water only. Well, almost only. I have a cup of coffee in the morning, and an occasional beer or glass of wine (especially if I burned a lot of calories exercising that day). But other than that, I only drink water, all day long. I don’t consume massive amounts of it, as that hasn’t been shown to contribute to weight loss, but I make sure that I stay hydrated, and drinking water instead of juice or sweet drinks is a good way to keep out those extra calories.
  15. Increase intensity. After you’ve built up some endurance in whatever exercise you choose — whether that’s walking or running or cycling or swimming or rowing or hiking — you should increase the intensity of that exercise perhaps once or twice a week. That doesn’t mean do an all-out effort, but doing faster-paced intervals, or walking or running or biking up hills, helps increase fitness, calorie burn and leanness. I’m a fan of long, slow miles, but more intense workouts really improve performance and get you fitter than ever.
  16. Rest is just as important as exercise. Many people make the mistake of exercising at a high level all the time, and think that rest is for wimps. Well, it’s not. Rest is when your body heals itself and grows stronger. If you just exercise all the time, your body will break down, and you’ll get injured or burned out. It’s something I have to do all the time: force myself to take a break. To ensure that you’re getting proper rest, make sure that 1) you take at least one full rest day a week, and two if you’re just starting out; 2) you follow a hard workout day with an easy one (or a rest day); and 3) you get lots of sleep — even take naps if you’re doing a lot of exercise.
  17. Most of all, enjoy yourself! Getting leaner and fitter doesn’t happen overnight, or even after a week or three. It’s a long process and it takes patience — and you’ll quit if all you’re looking for are results on the scale or in the mirror, especially if you don’t enjoy the exercise and good eating. If you really want to get lean and fit, you need to stick with it for the long haul, and that means you need to do it because you enjoy it. Make exercise fun! Don’t do it if you hate it (however, give it a couple weeks before you decide — often it gets much easier and more enjoyable after a couple weeks). Find exercise you love to do, that you look forward to doing. Find healthy foods that you enjoy. Living the healthy lifestyle can be a real pleasure if you make it so — and it’ll help you to get to where you’re going if you enjoy the journey.

If you liked this article, please share it on del.icio.us or on Digg. I’d appreciate it. :)

 
 
13 May 2008 @ 03:49 pm
Interview with Jeri Smith-Ready  
Today I post another interview with one of my buddies from sfnovelists.com.  I met Jeri Smith-Ready at RavenCon less than a month ago and we hit it off immediately.  She has an evil sense of humor and is lots of fun at "Koffee-less" kaffeeklatches.  She also has lots of interesting things to say about writing, as this interview reveals.  Her newest book, Wicked Game, is out as of today (Congratulations, Jeri!) from Pocket Books.  So read the interview and then check out her book!

 

1) What was your inspiration for writing WICKED GAME?
A song, of course. Not the song “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak—that came much later. Almost three years ago to the day, I was driving down the road flipping the dial and came to a classic rock station playing “Bad Company” by the band of the same name. I thought, Hmm, “Bad Company” would be a perfect title for a paranormal book with a shady main character.

By the time I reached my destination, I had a fully formed idea for vampire DJs who were psychologically and culturally ‘stuck’ in the era in which they were turned. I also knew the heroine would be “bad” in some way. (The punch line is that even though it all began with “Bad Company,” the publisher ultimately asked me to change the title.)

2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
I tend to read widely rather than deeply and rarely follow series for more than a book or two, regardless of how much I enjoy them. I’m the opposite of an addictive personality. I’m pretty sure I’d be the world’s first casual crack smoker.
I was completely different as a kid, of course. I read EVERYTHING, especially books by Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley, and Jim Kjelgaard, who each wrote continuing series about animals (and not talking animals, either—usually just plain old horses and dogs). I also loved the Trixie Belden mysteries. Trixie was like Nancy Drew, but with an actual personality. 
My all-time favorite book was DOGSBODY by Diana Wynne Jones. It combined my love of animals with my passions for astronomy and mythology. Because of that book, Sirius became my favorite star (not to mention my eventual choice in satellite radio).
My current favorite authors tend to write stand-alone novels or loosely connected series: Neil Gaiman, PC Cast, Charles de Lint, Christopher Moore, James Morrow, Caprice Crane, and John Irving, to name a few. They also tend to be funny.

3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
To me, speculative fiction at its core is about what it means to be human. Often it does this by juxtaposing humans with other races or species (like elves or vampires or aliens), or by putting ordinary people in extraordinary settings. I also like the genre’s tendency to push the boundaries of humanity itself.

4) Why did you decide to make Ciara a con artist?
From the beginning I knew that the main character would have a shady past. Her current job is in sales and marketing (S&M, as she calls it), which is really just a legal form of con artistry. It sounds like a cheap joke, but the two pursuits both require an understanding of human nature and how to manipulate people’s emotions to make them cheerfully act against their own best interests. 
Ciara tries to save the radio station from corporate takeover by branding it as “WVMP: The Lifeblood of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” essentially hiding the vampires’ nature in plain sight. She disguises the truth as a marketing gimmick. I loved playing with notions of truth and lies, and I loved watching Ciara’s moral acrobatics in justifying her actions. Con artists are sociopaths with little notion of right and wrong; however, Ciara’s parents gave her a religious upbringing, which she’s rejected, but only on the intellectual level. She still feels guilt.
5) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?
I’m an avid pro football fan. It’s the only thing in my life that has nothing whatsoever to do with writing, and I guard my time with it like a starving dog with a bone. I also follow politics, but that’s not fun—more like a form of sado-masochistic torture.
6) What sort of research did you do to write WICKED GAME?
For the musical aspects, the research came by osmosis over the course of months and years. I’d think of a band and then run to Allmusic.com (and more recently Pandora.com) to learn all about them. Then I’d surf the links to understand the connections among that band and its forerunners and followers. 
And of course I read books. One of my favorites was THE ROCK SNOB’S DICTIONARY by David Kamp and Steven Daly. Entertaining, informative, and an incisive look inside the mind of the cooler-than-thou rock snob. 
To learn about radio stations, I interviewed DJs and had them ‘vet’ the manuscript when it was in near-final form, to make sure I didn’t have any major mistakes. A highlight of my life was getting a cover quote from Weasel, who used to DJ at the legendary Washington, DC, alternative station WHFS. He said that, disturbingly, he could relate very well to my characters. 

7) Shane McAllister (the 90s grunge DJ vamp) loves Nirvana. Is that your favorite band, too?
Yep, though I was only a casual fan during the band’s actual existence. I was sad but not devastated when Kurt Cobain died in 1995. However, as the years go by and I’ve learned to appreciate the band’s incredible talent, I grieve his loss more intensely. 
I suppose the creation of Shane is my small way of honoring Cobain’s life and work and the impact it’s had (and continues to have) on my psyche. I feel a spiritual kinship with them both and wonder if but for the grace of good fortune I’d be in as bad a shape as they were in their lives.

8)  What are you writing now?
I’m working on the second draft of WICKED GAME’s sequel, BAD TO THE BONE (May 2009). That’s due to my editor in a few days, which explains the bags under my eyes. And probably the hallucinations.

9) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing? 
After three years of writing full-time, I’ve ceased to feel guilty for not writing first thing in the morning. My brain just isn’t wit-enabled before 10 or 11 am. 

10) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
Dialogue is by far the easiest. Maybe it’s my theatre background, but my first drafts tend to consist of characters arguing in living rooms and coffee shops. I keep forgetting that novels have infinite budgets for location shoots.
First drafts are the hardest by far. It feels like sculpting air. Once I have a rough draft down, no matter how crap-adelic, I can work to make it better. But that initial creation of the story is torment.

11) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
I also have an epic fantasy series, the Aspect of Crow trilogy, which takes place in a world where everyone has magic bestowed by their Guardian Spirit animal. The first one, EYES OF CROW (Luna Books, 2006), won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Best Fantasy Novel. The second, VOICE OF CROW, came out last October (a favorite of mine because it was the Book That Almost Killed Me), and the trilogy will conclude this November with THE REAWAKENED.
I also have an older urban fantasy (REQUIEM FOR THE DEVIL, Grand Central Publishing, 2001). It takes place in modern day Washington, DC, and Lucifer masquerades as a political consultant. For the first time in his ten-billion-year existence, he falls in love. It changes everything.

12) What is the purpose of fantasy/science fiction, if any?

See answer to #3. I can’t be that earnest twice in one interview.
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 03:43 pm
come out fighting with your rattle in hand. thrust and parry.  
[11:42] [info]matociquala: I like this sentence:
[11:42] [info]matociquala: "Sebastien. Tell me you didn't know any Vikings in the ninth century."
[11:42] [info]matociquala: Abby Irene FTW.
[11:42] [info]jmeadows: hee
[11:42] [info]cristalia: hee
[11:42] [info]matociquala: She's 88 years old and not taking his vampire nonsense any more.
[11:42] [info]matociquala: By god.

All right. 2026 words on Seven for a Secret yesterday, and 2254 today. If I can keep producing like this, I will have a manuscript sooner rather than later, as it stands at 10,250 words manuscript count, which is a little more than a third of the contracted length.

And I think I figured out the Master Plan today, which makes me happy.

Her love is like a candle. You light it up at night.
Her heart is like a pack of cards. One chance at guessing right.
 
 
I'm feeling: jubilant
I'm listening to: Jethro Tull - White Innocence
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 06:48 pm
Twelve angry men  

Some of the people below are very famous. Others are world-famous for their work, though you might not recognize them immediately from their portraits. A few are well-known in their field, though not really household names. So some research will be required.

Based on what they all have in common, can you figure out who’s missing from the list?

one.jpg two.jpg

three.jpg four.jpg

five.jpg six.jpg

seven.jpg eight.jpg

nine.jpg ten.jpg

eleven.jpg twelve.jpg

 
 
13 May 2008 @ 01:38 pm
Air Your Craft-Related Grievances!  
(and it's not even Festivus)

I'll start:

Center-pull balls that don't. I shouldn't have to stop in the middle of my sock to untangle the gob of yarn that just spewed forth.

Grrrr!
 
 
I'm feeling: grrrrr!
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:36 am
Tuesday Ramblings  
Howdy, everyone!  This is being posted on the eve of a "me" day, whereas I plan to stay home and veg till my eyeballs shimmer like a veggie salad splashed with light balsamic dressing!  And to read -- see "Project" section below!

 

WIP Progress:  Sadly, I have been slacking in my scribing lately.  However, I have added approximately 300 words to the Moon story, which I seriously have to get cracking on if I want to meet the submission deadline.   I am getting an odd feeling of familiarity as I write it though.  I am beginning to think that my subconscious is in regurgitation mode and this is becoming like something that I once read that had impressed me years ago.

 

Project:  Received my complimentary copy of the July F&SF.  I forget who posted it, but F&SF is doing a promotion, whereas they give you a freebie issue in return for you blogging about it.  So, tomorrow, please come by and read my first ever review of a SF/F magazine!  And I will hold back naught at all….

Music:  I see people posting about this a lot.  However, I cannot really listen to music while I write.  This is because I actually listen to the music I play, and that takes me away from what I'm otherwise doing.  Gimme a background TV running though, and I can pound out the words.  This also is a contridiction to my usual way of doing things, since I really can do without TV.

 

Life:  I have to say thanks to everyone who posted about my wife's situation.  I appreciate all the sympathy when she lost work and the good wishes when she was hired at the new place. 

Signings & Events:   I am still working on setting up a local signing event for Hadley Rille Books and as such again put out the call for authors from my FLIST who may be able to make a Reno, NV signing.  The tentative date would be Wednesday, July 2nd, at 6:30pm.  Note the "tentative".  The bookstore hasn't decided for certain as yet, but I am thinking positive here...

Politics:  This you not see here that often.  I am not overly politicaly minded, but occassionally headlines do pop up that really leave me with astonished drop-jaw syndrome.  Such as this, attributed to our fearless leader, President Bush: "The president says the solution to high gas prices is drilling for more oil and building more refineries."  Hello -- where, on Mars?  I'm an old fart, admitted, and I remember in the late '70s how there was worries about using up the oil back then.  Just how many holes can you prick in Mother Earth before she can't bleed any more?  By this time there can't be that many places left.

Observation of the Day
:  I see that "Eyes Delighted", my collaboration with Tom Williams,  is now up.  If you would like a light-hearted comedic read, check it out here: http://www.ecs-media.com/stories.htm

 

 

Recommended reading: Today I suggest hunting up a copy of “Wolfling”, by Gordon R. Dickson.  This is one of Dickson's early works, not much larger than a novella, but it is a very well done story about genetic environmental adaption, lost interstellar settlements, discovering heritage and dealing with elitist snobbery.  It made a great impression on a young reader, and as a much older reader, it still entertains and stands strong.  My regret is that it could well have been expanded.  It would have been a fantastic read as a huge-ass epic, like Dune.  The culture hinted at in it would have supported such completely.

 

Submissions:  I'm still waiting to hear on these: 

:
:none out at the moment.::


Who Really Is: (insert name)

 

What Ever Happened To:  (insert name)?

 
 
I'm feeling: Need...Sun...Now
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 12:50 pm
WTF?!?  
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/13/tv.newseason.ap/index.html

ABC is going to remake "Life on Mars"? On what planet does that sound like a good idea?

(Although the idea of Colm Meaney playing Gene Hunt is intriguing.)
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13 May 2008 @ 11:09 am
No separate journal for now  
Between the comments in the journal and the thoughts they inspired, I've come to the realization that it's not yet time to start a separate journal for bellydance stuff. Sure, it would be fun to set a new one up and come up with a pile of new user icons, but there's no real need for it yet. Maybe if I start performing, I'll start up a separate journal, but for now, no.

For those who aren't big fans of the bellydance posts, fear not, I shall continue to use bellydance-themed icons for them.
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:51 am
Review round up  
On The Faery Reel, by someone who openly admits she has a "fairy intolerance"--she only enjoyed a handful of the stories:
Alas, a Blog

and The Del Rey Book of SF&F by BookLoon:
BookLoon Reviews

and another nice one by Gavin J. Grant at Bookpage.com
SF&F book roundup

Alankria, one of the lucky recipients of my "blog about it and get a free book" offer, reviewed the new edition of Black Thorn, White Rose
Alankria's blog
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:27 am
Congratulations to Danny Burstein!  
Congratulations to Danny Burstein, who was nominated for a Tony this morning in the category Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as Luthor Billis in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific! Danny was previously nominated for a Tony for playing Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone.
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13 May 2008 @ 09:13 am
Free public event in Winnipeg!  


Not one, not two, but three science-fiction authors will be appearing at McNally Robinson Grant Park in Winnipeg this Saturday afternoon, May 17, at 2:00 p.m. Come here Robert J. Sawyer, Nick DiChario, and Hayden Trenholm read and talk about the state of SF.

I'll be reading from Identity Theft and Other Stories, Nick will be reading from Valley of Day-Glo, and Hayden will be reading from Defining Diana.

McNally Robinson has a great review of Nick's book here.

The Robert J. Sawyer Web Site
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 06:00 am
Your Secret Thoughts  
  The hardest part about writing is capturing your own (or someone else's) inner thoughts. For example, if I ask you to tell me something funny or frustrating about your job, you'd give me tales of coworkers eating your food from the break room fridge, or tell me your boss is incompetent. But those aren't thoughts, just observations. We seem to store memories in terms of actions and some broad emotions, but not thoughts. And it is the thoughts you generally don't voice that make writing interesting.Let's test this. In the comments section, tell me what you were DOING immediately before reading this blog, and also tell me what you were THINKING about while you did it. If you can do both of those things, you are halfway to being an interesting and humorous writer.For example, "I was answering an e-mail from my coworker Karl while thinking he won't understand my answer because he has an unusually small head that probably can't hold much of a hat much less a brain."Your turn.
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 10:01 am
Should I make a separate journal for my bellydance posts?  
I've been posting more and more about bellydancing here, and since this is supposed to be a writing journal, I'm thinking about creating a different journal just for bellydance talk.

[poll closed]

ETA: I didn't put an option for "I'd rather read it here, but I will friend a new journal" because I'm trying to determine how many people I'll lose if I move the talk elsewhere.

Also, a perk of creating a new journal for it is that I'll be able to do more bellydance networking with a journal that's specifically bellydance-oriented than with this hybrid journal. But it may be premature to be thinking about that since I'm just a student and not a performer.
 
 
13 May 2008 @ 07:58 am
Gene Colan Needs Our Help  
I may be a little late to report this unfortunate news, but better late than not at all. Gene Colan, an amazing comic-book artist who is perhaps best known for his 81 consecutive issues of Dardevil, the entire 70-issue run of Tomb of Dracula, and most issues of Howard the Duck, is reportedly suffering from liver failure, which has led to perilous complications, among them fluid retention and encephalitis. Gene's wife, Adrienne, shared some of the details here.

Gene has been drawing comics for more than 50 years. If you're not familiar with his work, check out one of my favorite sites, the Silver Age Marvel Comics Cover Index, which features a gallery of some of Gene's greatest covers. Personally, I've always had a nostalgic soft spot for the cover of Marvel Super-Heroes #12, shown to the right. I can still remember encountering it in a Brooklyn candy store when I was 12 and being blown away by the first appearance of Marvel Comics' Captain Marvel. (My fondness for that memory has nothing to do with the fact that I'd end up writing his adventures a decade later.) I recall staring at the cover and desperately wanting to know, who is this guy? Gene's distinctive artwork, which displayed human emotions through facial expressions and body language in a way few could, certainly contributed to that.

If you're one of Gene's many fans, you can help in two ways. First, by simply dropping Gene a note if you wish, telling him how much his work has meant to you all these years. Supportive cards and letters may be sent to him at this address:

Gene Colan
2 Sea Cliff Avenue
Sea Cliff, NY 11579
USA


Additionally, various fundraising efforts are currently being organized to help pay for Gene's mounting medical costs. Clifford Meth is currently spearheading an effort to collect donations of books and artwork from professionals to be auctioned off, while the family is also auctioning artwork on eBay. Keep checking out both of those links for further updates.

Meanwhile, please keep both Gene and Adrienne in your thoughts.
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