In the aftermath of Theo's capture, we learn some interesting things about this strange new world she's stumbled into...
That's all for now, unfortunately. I need to prep still, but I'll have more to write about once I'm done with class.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
New Demon Stuff
Mason and I will have a podcast once I'm back from teaching at the Loft's Youth Writing Conference today, but while you wait impatiently for that, you can read the newest chapter in the School for Wayward Demons that Rachel Gold/Calish and I are writing: http://entertheunseen.com/01-07-ben-takes-a-side-job/
In the aftermath of Theo's capture, we learn some interesting things about this strange new world she's stumbled into...
In the aftermath of Theo's capture, we learn some interesting things about this strange new world she's stumbled into...
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Link Salad Days!
I am so amazing and busy, you can hardly keep up with me, can you?
Today is Tuesday which is my super-duper productivity day. I've posted a new installment over on Wattpad :http://www.wattpad.com/76031780-unjust-cause-part-26-choices-made. In this chapter, Alex thinks she's got everything figured out. So, of COURSE, the universe throws her a curveball... in the form of one Spenser Jones.
Also, Rachel Calish/Gold and I have updated our School for Wayward Demons, which you can read here :http://entertheunseen.com/01-06-everyone-catches-up-to-theo/. In this chapter, the demons finally catch up to our cheeky thief, Theo. Will she manage yet another daring escape? Tune in to find out!
I reviewed a couple of things up on MangaKast, too, in case you were curious about how I felt about the latest Ao no Exorcist chapter (61) http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/ao-no-exorcist-61/ or its spin-off Salaryman Futumashi Okumura Yukio no Aishuu http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/sorrows-of-the-salaryman-exorcist/, which, in my opinion, has the best tag line in the history of strange manga tag lines, ever: "This is my seriousness!"
Okay, wow. Impressed yet?
If not, you should know that I also taught the Loft's Open Pages class on Fan Fic last night at the Savage Public Library last night. Savage! Savage, Minnesota, which is somewhere down there with the other suburbs like Apple Valley and Burnsville. I did find it last night. Drove right to it, thanks to Google Maps, in fact. The crowd was tough, though not 'savage.' I had two students, which was twice as many as I expected. In fact, in case of disaster, I'd brought along my Japanese to study. One of the librarians decided to stay and.... I guess add warm bodies, but I find that the addition of an adult can make things awkward sometimes. Though, tbf, I was plenty awkward on my own. I had a HELL of a time speaking. Like, words... I stumbled, very uncharacteristically, through my own introduction, but I managed a fairly decent recovery (I think.)
Because there was an adult (beyond me) present, the two kids took some warming-up.
Teenagers, you know.
Plus, the whole point of Open Pages is that the class is supposed to self-direct, so I intentionally come under-prepared, with the idea that if the consensus is "We want to talk about how hard plotting is!" then we do that. But, mouths stayed firmly shut in the presence of another grown-up, so I had to run though that list y'all gave me of 'fan fic pet peeves." Luckily, my teaching style (chaotic good) lends itself to interruption and discussion, so going through that list seemed to spark thoughts, etc., and by the end there was a lot of chatter among the three of us. Also, one of the students boldly asked for time to write, so we spent the last half hour doing just that.
I never know with these things, but it felt, to me, ultimately, successful.
Probably that means I bombed.
I'm constantly surprised by why teens take a class on fan fic... and the levels that they come in at. Like last night, I had one student who didn't entirely seem clear on the concept. When it came time to write, she needed much more than a prompt. She seemed confused as to the point of fan fic, event though we'd been talking about it for about an hour. I explained that some people use fan fic to fill in the corners of a story--the bits you don't get to see, but might like to. So, for instance, if she wanted she could try writing about two of her favorite characters doing something mundane, such as grocery shopping or shopping for shoes. She seemed to thinks this was silly, since most of the time the heroes were in a life-or-death situations. When would they have time to shoe shop? I said, see, that's kind of the point. To take them out of the the plot and see what they're like in their ordinary life. But, then again, I said, not everyone likes curtain fic. So, maybe instead, I suggested, you could do a fix-itabout something that bothered you in the story that you wanted to change or write something that happened after canon had finished... like the story of what Harry Potter is doing with his life after school.
Finally, she seemed to settle on something, but it was kind of baffling to me, especially in comparison to my other student who not only instantly started writing, but also said that they had a FanFictionnet that they'd been active on until they forgot their password.
So... two VERY DIFFERENT students.
Today is Tuesday which is my super-duper productivity day. I've posted a new installment over on Wattpad :http://www.wattpad.com/76031780-unjust-cause-part-26-choices-made. In this chapter, Alex thinks she's got everything figured out. So, of COURSE, the universe throws her a curveball... in the form of one Spenser Jones.
Also, Rachel Calish/Gold and I have updated our School for Wayward Demons, which you can read here :http://entertheunseen.com/01-06-everyone-catches-up-to-theo/. In this chapter, the demons finally catch up to our cheeky thief, Theo. Will she manage yet another daring escape? Tune in to find out!
I reviewed a couple of things up on MangaKast, too, in case you were curious about how I felt about the latest Ao no Exorcist chapter (61) http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/ao-no-exorcist-61/ or its spin-off Salaryman Futumashi Okumura Yukio no Aishuu http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/sorrows-of-the-salaryman-exorcist/, which, in my opinion, has the best tag line in the history of strange manga tag lines, ever: "This is my seriousness!"
Okay, wow. Impressed yet?
If not, you should know that I also taught the Loft's Open Pages class on Fan Fic last night at the Savage Public Library last night. Savage! Savage, Minnesota, which is somewhere down there with the other suburbs like Apple Valley and Burnsville. I did find it last night. Drove right to it, thanks to Google Maps, in fact. The crowd was tough, though not 'savage.' I had two students, which was twice as many as I expected. In fact, in case of disaster, I'd brought along my Japanese to study. One of the librarians decided to stay and.... I guess add warm bodies, but I find that the addition of an adult can make things awkward sometimes. Though, tbf, I was plenty awkward on my own. I had a HELL of a time speaking. Like, words... I stumbled, very uncharacteristically, through my own introduction, but I managed a fairly decent recovery (I think.)
Because there was an adult (beyond me) present, the two kids took some warming-up.
Teenagers, you know.
Plus, the whole point of Open Pages is that the class is supposed to self-direct, so I intentionally come under-prepared, with the idea that if the consensus is "We want to talk about how hard plotting is!" then we do that. But, mouths stayed firmly shut in the presence of another grown-up, so I had to run though that list y'all gave me of 'fan fic pet peeves." Luckily, my teaching style (chaotic good) lends itself to interruption and discussion, so going through that list seemed to spark thoughts, etc., and by the end there was a lot of chatter among the three of us. Also, one of the students boldly asked for time to write, so we spent the last half hour doing just that.
I never know with these things, but it felt, to me, ultimately, successful.
Probably that means I bombed.
I'm constantly surprised by why teens take a class on fan fic... and the levels that they come in at. Like last night, I had one student who didn't entirely seem clear on the concept. When it came time to write, she needed much more than a prompt. She seemed confused as to the point of fan fic, event though we'd been talking about it for about an hour. I explained that some people use fan fic to fill in the corners of a story--the bits you don't get to see, but might like to. So, for instance, if she wanted she could try writing about two of her favorite characters doing something mundane, such as grocery shopping or shopping for shoes. She seemed to thinks this was silly, since most of the time the heroes were in a life-or-death situations. When would they have time to shoe shop? I said, see, that's kind of the point. To take them out of the the plot and see what they're like in their ordinary life. But, then again, I said, not everyone likes curtain fic. So, maybe instead, I suggested, you could do a fix-itabout something that bothered you in the story that you wanted to change or write something that happened after canon had finished... like the story of what Harry Potter is doing with his life after school.
Finally, she seemed to settle on something, but it was kind of baffling to me, especially in comparison to my other student who not only instantly started writing, but also said that they had a FanFictionnet that they'd been active on until they forgot their password.
So... two VERY DIFFERENT students.
Thursday, October 09, 2014
We're Late.. And Early
Because you've all been waiting with baited breath... MangaKast 28 has been posted: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/10/09/28-were-late/
It's called "We're Late" because Bleach and many of the others came out yesterday afternoon. However, because we waited (I had to work last night) the fan translations of Shingeki no Kyojin (SnK/Attack on Titan) came out so I reviewed those as well. In this podcast, Mason and I discuss Bleach, Toriko, Fairy Tail, and Shingeki no Kyojin. There is silliness with interjections of the occasional thinly-thought (what if Grimmjow is actually under the hood of “C” compulsion, has Eren been eaten before, etc.)
So, you know, if it's your thing... it's there for you.
It's called "We're Late" because Bleach and many of the others came out yesterday afternoon. However, because we waited (I had to work last night) the fan translations of Shingeki no Kyojin (SnK/Attack on Titan) came out so I reviewed those as well. In this podcast, Mason and I discuss Bleach, Toriko, Fairy Tail, and Shingeki no Kyojin. There is silliness with interjections of the occasional thinly-thought (what if Grimmjow is actually under the hood of “C” compulsion, has Eren been eaten before, etc.)
So, you know, if it's your thing... it's there for you.
The Hunt is ON...
The newest chapter/installment is up on the School for Wayward Demons (and Misfit Witches) which I'm co-writing with Rachel Gold/Calish is up on our website: http://entertheunseen.com/01-05-the-hunt-is-on/
In this episode, we get a sense of the wheels that Theo's little b&e started turning... and now the question is, who will get to her first? The good guys, or the ones I'm fairly certain want to kill her!
In this episode, we get a sense of the wheels that Theo's little b&e started turning... and now the question is, who will get to her first? The good guys, or the ones I'm fairly certain want to kill her!
Tuesday, October 07, 2014
So Much Writing to Read!
It's Tuesday, so there is a new Tate installment: Bringing Balance and Force in which we learn the TRUE mission of the demon Internal Affairs agents. Dun-dun-DAAAAHHHHH.
There is also new story up on my co-writing project with Rachel Gold/Calish called "Demons, Demons Everywhere" and is the introduction to the character of Erin.
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Thursday Chapter! More, More, MORE.....
You know, if the universe rewarded people who wrote a LOT of fictional content, I'm fairly sure I'd be eligible for SOMETHING. :-)
Today, on offer, is the second chapter of the project that I'm doing with my fellow writer Rachel Gold/Calish and the artists Mandie Brasington and Alexis Cooke, the School for Wayward Demons and Misfit Witches. This chapter is called "Lily Has No Choice: entertheunseen.com/lily-has-no-choice/ and introduces demon-hunter, tracker extraordinary (retired) Lily, who is a character from Rachel Calish's book The Demon Abraxas. (There might be other cameos too....) :-)
Today, on offer, is the second chapter of the project that I'm doing with my fellow writer Rachel Gold/Calish and the artists Mandie Brasington and Alexis Cooke, the School for Wayward Demons and Misfit Witches. This chapter is called "Lily Has No Choice: entertheunseen.com/lily-has-no-choice/ and introduces demon-hunter, tracker extraordinary (retired) Lily, who is a character from Rachel Calish's book The Demon Abraxas. (There might be other cameos too....) :-)
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
DOUBLE-STUFF Tuesday!
I have a lot to announce today. As usual, I have updated my work-in-progress on Wattpad. In this installment, the werewolves are getting restless and the demons discuss fate vs. freewill. www.wattpad.com/73575290-unjust-cause-part-24-demons-and-fate
A number of people have been curious about how Wattpad has been working for me. I have to say that it's gotten better. At first, I have to admit to being disappointed by the number of people reading. I'd had higher hopes that Tate's name would draw a bigger initial crowd. But, now that I'm fairly established (this is my 24th installment, which means there's AT LEAST 24,000 words up--I believe there's probably closer to 30,000 or 35,000 because my first few installments ran longer that a thousand words,) I'm pleased with the number of hits I'm getting. People seem to be slowly continuing to find me, too. I've been keeping up better on FB and Twitter and Tate's blog, so I think that's helped when people go looking.
At any rate, I still think that it's not a perfect model. I wish you didn't have to log-in to leave comments or kudos, and I wish more people were willing to critique me, like my colleagues do on AO3 with my fan work. That being said, Wattpad works really well for me and my needs, however. As I've said, what I need most of all is a reason to keep putting words on the page, and Wattpad is making me do it weekly. And I'm getting just enough feedback to make the whole thing seem worthwhile.
So, that's Wattpad...
My other big announcement today is that my friend Rachel and I are launching a website/serial novel WITH ILLUSTRATIONS by artists Mandie Brasington and Alexis Cooke. The main site is here: entertheunseen.com and you can read the first installment here: http://entertheunseen.com/a-very-small-heist-of-epic-implications-01-01/.
So... this is another grand experiment. If you go to the website, you can see that you can follow us on Facebook and Tumblr. We've also put up a tip jar.... something I've never tried before. We're also going to be going on a fairly aggressive publishing schedule: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays--though Saturday may be bonus content like more art or a podcast of the previous chapters.
The story is going to follow four characters, an ensemble cast. Rachel and I wrote a lot of the chapters together, but ostensibly we've divided the characters between us. She had Theo, a thief and a shapeshifter, pictured above with some of the forms she can transform into. She's also got Kitty, a half-demon with mommy issues. I'm writing Gabe, a lost soul who can see things other people can't...
And Erin, a very special demon-spawn who has had an insanely awful life....
Anyway, it's been a very interesting process to work not only with a collaborative writer, but also with artists.
Generally, though, the site is new and probably has some bugs yet. So, if you go there and you see a problem or just have general comments or complaints, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I'd like to make this experience as pleasant and intuitive as possible.
Okay, that's the general news! Have a great Tuesday!
Friday, September 26, 2014
Learning fic from a MASTER :-)
Starting in January, I'm teaching (with my friend Rachel Gold) writing fan fic to ADULTS:
So, if you're local, come get your geek on! We'll help you write that epic fic you've always dreamed of writing and/or improve your writing in general.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Updatery
First, I have to apologize for not getting a UnJust Cause segment together this week. My only excuse is that I worked nearly a 40 hour week, and I had two evening gigs: my Hobbit panel on Monday and the first of many Japanese language classes from Community Ed. on Tuesday.... so it's kind of been an insane week around the Tate Hallaway household.
However, Mason and I did podcast. Here it is: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/26-mason-and-lydas-inter-directional-adventures/
However, Mason and I did podcast. Here it is: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/26-mason-and-lydas-inter-directional-adventures/
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Thursday Evening Podcast
Mason and I posted #25, in which we discuss Bleach, Toriko, One Piece, and a number of other monthlies I got sucked into. http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/18/25-barrel-of-monkeys/
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
A Front Row Seat to the Writing Process
And... it's a bit messy.
This is my way of saying that I've had some epiphanies about my work-in-progress, but since I'm writing this 'out loud' I'm having to wrestle the plot back under control in a very public way. Still, I think this whole thing is kind of valuable. I mean, how often do you, as a reader, get a chance to watch a writer figuring a novel out as she goes along?
I feel like this is clunky, but it will be interesting to see what my regular readers make of it. Because, maybe, it's not as obvious as I feel it is. It's hard to say. Go see what you think, if you'd like.
I will admit that I nearly named this chapter, "Part 23: In which things come to a head and a decision is made..." a very A. A. Milnes kind of chapter title, but I decided instead to call it "Part 23: Word Up."
This is my way of saying that I've had some epiphanies about my work-in-progress, but since I'm writing this 'out loud' I'm having to wrestle the plot back under control in a very public way. Still, I think this whole thing is kind of valuable. I mean, how often do you, as a reader, get a chance to watch a writer figuring a novel out as she goes along?
I feel like this is clunky, but it will be interesting to see what my regular readers make of it. Because, maybe, it's not as obvious as I feel it is. It's hard to say. Go see what you think, if you'd like.
I will admit that I nearly named this chapter, "Part 23: In which things come to a head and a decision is made..." a very A. A. Milnes kind of chapter title, but I decided instead to call it "Part 23: Word Up."
Friday, September 12, 2014
The Manga Chapters Are Mocking Me!
Seriously, so yesterday I get the alert that Blue Exorcist is out the day AFTER Mason and I podcasted, and then, last night, another one came in--Shingeki no Kyojin #61 (aka Attack on Titan.)
To that end, I've written up YET ANOTHER review for the Mangakast page: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/shingeki-no-kyojin-61-a-review/.
In a nutshell, I'm just not sure about this "The End" to the political goings-on in Shingeki no Kyojin. As I say in my review, it seems a bit... simple, which doesn't bode well for the manga's conclusion in general. But, I shall wait and see.
To that end, I've written up YET ANOTHER review for the Mangakast page: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/shingeki-no-kyojin-61-a-review/.
In a nutshell, I'm just not sure about this "The End" to the political goings-on in Shingeki no Kyojin. As I say in my review, it seems a bit... simple, which doesn't bode well for the manga's conclusion in general. But, I shall wait and see.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
My Unsolicited Opinion of Things
Also? Mason and I managed to miss the publication of the latest chapter of Ao no Exorcist/Blue Exorcist by ONE DAY, so I wrote up a review of it over on MangaKast: http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/11/ao-no-exorcist-60-review/
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
The Ever-Moving MangaKast
The schedule for the publication of our manga keeps getting shifting, but we're trying to stay on top of it! To that end, Mason and I have published our 24th podcast: 24: Otaku in the Basement. In it we discuss the recent chapters of Bleach, One Piece, Toriko, and a new manga I started reading Hitogatana. If you're the sort, check it out! Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 09, 2014
Tate's Tuesday!
Having completely missed last week thanks to internet fail and school starting with a bang, I am back today with a new weekly installment of her work-in-progress, serialized sequel to Precinct 13 on Wattpad. Check it out! In this one, Valentine FINALLY shares some secrets...
I don't know what else I have to report. I spent part of the weekend reviewing the e-book mark-up of my AngeLINK short story, "The Case of the Missing Devil Child," which Wizard's Tower Press is offering as part of the full AngeLINK e-book bundle that people purchased as a premium for https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/accessing-the-future (there are still a few left, btw.) Similarly, I need to go over the proofs for the e-version of Resurrection Code, so we can get that out the door.
I'm also working hard on revising the "seekrit" project I alluded to in the previous post. So, soon there will be EVEN MORE places to read my stuff.
Our cat Inky gets to go to the vet today. He's been having litter box trouble again. This isn't a new problem, but we had it under control, or at least in a more tolerable way. Something seems to have happened--either he panicked after all our various vacations or he's got some new irritation in his bladder. We thought the vet ought to have a look, at any rate. Fingers crossed that it's something fixable. Shawn is kind of at wit's end with all the extra laundry he's caused.
I don't know what else I have to report. I spent part of the weekend reviewing the e-book mark-up of my AngeLINK short story, "The Case of the Missing Devil Child," which Wizard's Tower Press is offering as part of the full AngeLINK e-book bundle that people purchased as a premium for https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/accessing-the-future (there are still a few left, btw.) Similarly, I need to go over the proofs for the e-version of Resurrection Code, so we can get that out the door.
I'm also working hard on revising the "seekrit" project I alluded to in the previous post. So, soon there will be EVEN MORE places to read my stuff.
Our cat Inky gets to go to the vet today. He's been having litter box trouble again. This isn't a new problem, but we had it under control, or at least in a more tolerable way. Something seems to have happened--either he panicked after all our various vacations or he's got some new irritation in his bladder. We thought the vet ought to have a look, at any rate. Fingers crossed that it's something fixable. Shawn is kind of at wit's end with all the extra laundry he's caused.
Friday, September 05, 2014
Scheduling and Apologies for Lack of Post
If you were looking for a new chapter of UnJust Cause, my sincerest apologies. Our internet crashed and burned and we only really got it up and running a day or so ago. I will be back to my usual schedule next week.
This was also the start of school for my son and we have a crazy new start time that we're ALL still getting used to.
We actually got the podcast recorded and posted early this morning, but I had to run off to work at the Maplewood Library, so I forgot to do all the social media-ing to let people know it was out and up. If you want to listen to it, you can find ihere:http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/you-and-me-23/.
Figuring out the new manga publishing schedule as well as Mason's o'heck o'clock school start time is kind of doing a number on us. We may end up shifting our 'broadcasting' schedule again... to be timely, we may have to post on Thursday nights. That might work out all around, since I'll be more caffeinated and we won't have to have Shawn breathing down our necks that it's time to get going. (Though that added a certain otaku flavor that I really liked.)
At the library today my manga find was volumes 1 &2 of : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingyo_Used_Books (known in Japanese as Kingyoya Koshoten). I've been trying to find an on-line source for it with no luck. It's a combination of two genres I like in manga--slice-of-life and manga about manga. The "main character" (there's kind of couple at the center) is the woman pictured on the cover below, who has taken over general management of her grandfather's legendary used manga store. Stuff happens around them, manga changes people's lives, and a lot of manga are discussed and quoted.
I haven't decided how I feel about it, but it's a lot of fun.
We actually got the podcast recorded and posted early this morning, but I had to run off to work at the Maplewood Library, so I forgot to do all the social media-ing to let people know it was out and up. If you want to listen to it, you can find ihere:http://mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/you-and-me-23/.
Figuring out the new manga publishing schedule as well as Mason's o'heck o'clock school start time is kind of doing a number on us. We may end up shifting our 'broadcasting' schedule again... to be timely, we may have to post on Thursday nights. That might work out all around, since I'll be more caffeinated and we won't have to have Shawn breathing down our necks that it's time to get going. (Though that added a certain otaku flavor that I really liked.)
At the library today my manga find was volumes 1 &2 of : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingyo_Used_Books (known in Japanese as Kingyoya Koshoten). I've been trying to find an on-line source for it with no luck. It's a combination of two genres I like in manga--slice-of-life and manga about manga. The "main character" (there's kind of couple at the center) is the woman pictured on the cover below, who has taken over general management of her grandfather's legendary used manga store. Stuff happens around them, manga changes people's lives, and a lot of manga are discussed and quoted.
I haven't decided how I feel about it, but it's a lot of fun.
Friday, August 29, 2014
MangaKast has Moved...
As I'm sure many of you have heard, Weekly Shounen Jump has changed its publication date. The translations were scheduled to come out Friday, but we managed (like many people who were crashing the various translation sites) to read them on Thursday afternoon. We decided to stick with a Friday AM publication, anyway, because, honestly, I suspect it will settle into that soon enough. Anyway, you can get the link to our podcast here: mangakast.wordpress.com/2014/08/29/22-we-love-you/
In this podcast, I actually spend some time trying to figure out why this last chapter left me feeling unsettled. Ultimately, I think I decided it was the questions that a certain scene opened... but go listen. I'm actually fairly articulate for once, which is fairly amazing considering how little coffee I had before we started this.
At Wyrdsmiths last night I was overwhelmed by a desire to doodle and drew this on my paper cup:
I call her "meep" and she seems to be at least partly inspired by Digger (by Ursula Vernon), which Mason has been re-reading. She also has a very long, dinosaur like tail on the other side of the cup and has probably been recycled by now.... but she made me think that I should try to draw a graphic novel type thing with these kinds of fantasy characters. Because, you know, if I don't get the bodies just right, WHO WOULD EVEN KNOW?? :-)
In this podcast, I actually spend some time trying to figure out why this last chapter left me feeling unsettled. Ultimately, I think I decided it was the questions that a certain scene opened... but go listen. I'm actually fairly articulate for once, which is fairly amazing considering how little coffee I had before we started this.
At Wyrdsmiths last night I was overwhelmed by a desire to doodle and drew this on my paper cup:
I call her "meep" and she seems to be at least partly inspired by Digger (by Ursula Vernon), which Mason has been re-reading. She also has a very long, dinosaur like tail on the other side of the cup and has probably been recycled by now.... but she made me think that I should try to draw a graphic novel type thing with these kinds of fantasy characters. Because, you know, if I don't get the bodies just right, WHO WOULD EVEN KNOW?? :-)
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Tuesdays with Tate
Today is Tuesday, which means you can read the newest installment of my work-in-progress, UnJust Cause, a serialization of the sequel to Precinct 13. In this episode, Alex hangs out with the werewolf biker gang while on run from the demon agents... http://www.wattpad.com/67753844-unjust-cause-part-21-heart-breakers-and-heart
Monday, August 25, 2014
When Rivendell Calls, I Answer
The Rivendell Discussion Group of the Mythopoeic Society has invited me to join their discussion of "The Hobbit: That Wasn't in the Book" at Common Good Books in St. Paul on Monday, September 22 at 7 PM. (September 22, of course, being the date recognized as Bilbo and Frodo's birthday by most Hobbit/LotRs fans.)
Apparently,Gandalf David was having some trouble finding a burglar panelist for this gig. I'm not quite sure about this funny mark he's left of my door, but I'm sure it will all be fine. I'm not really the adventurous type, you know. Do hope there might be a bit of singing, though (and some sexy dwarves.)
Fingers crossed. See you there, perhaps.
Apparently,
Fingers crossed. See you there, perhaps.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Fingers to the Keyboard, Nose to the Grindstone
I'm having one of those writing days where I feel like every word I write is stupid and nothing comes easily. It's only annoying because I haven't had much time to write this weekend, since I worked both Saturday and Sunday.
When I have days like this, I always remember back to the interview I did with Neil Gaiman for Science Fiction Chronicle back in god-knows-how-long-ago. He talked about that classic idea that really, showing up is the biggest part of writing, but his contribution to that old saw was that it's worth the effort. At the end of a novel or story or whatever, for the most part you can't really tell the difference in the writing between the days when every word was like squeezing blood from a turnip and the ones where you felt like the Muse dribbled gold out each finger. So, you know, the difference between someone who writes and someone who doesn't, is that the writer just keeps banging away, even when it's hard. (That's the gist of it, except, of course, he said it cleverer.)
Also, I take comfort that someone like Neil Gaiman has had shit-for-writing days, too.
When I have days like this, I always remember back to the interview I did with Neil Gaiman for Science Fiction Chronicle back in god-knows-how-long-ago. He talked about that classic idea that really, showing up is the biggest part of writing, but his contribution to that old saw was that it's worth the effort. At the end of a novel or story or whatever, for the most part you can't really tell the difference in the writing between the days when every word was like squeezing blood from a turnip and the ones where you felt like the Muse dribbled gold out each finger. So, you know, the difference between someone who writes and someone who doesn't, is that the writer just keeps banging away, even when it's hard. (That's the gist of it, except, of course, he said it cleverer.)
Also, I take comfort that someone like Neil Gaiman has had shit-for-writing days, too.
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