Ten Seconds...

...is reportedly the amount of time you have to grab the attention of an editor reading your slush pile submission.

Obviously, this varies by editor, but even if an editor is willing to give you more than a few minutes of their time, the idea is: DON'T WASTE THE OPPORTUNITY.

I've written about this on this blog before in "Hooking Like a Pro" and "Opening... A Can of Worms?"

I have only a few new insights to add to those, and they come after having re-watched IRON MAN (the movie, as opposed to the animated special, which I also have) last night. Those of you who have seen the movie -- or, like me, read the comic books first-- know that, in terms of a "sympathetic character," Tony Stark is a bit of a hard sell. He's a drunk (though not so obviously in the movie), a military-industrialist, a womanizing playboy, filthy rich, and arrogant. But those character defects are also crucial to the plot, i.e. Tony's transformation into a hero.

I noticed last night that those clever screen writers did something very sneaky. They didn't start in chronological order, instead, they very briefly introduced Tony and then had his convoy blow up. As viewers we didn't really have time to decide if we LIKED Tony or not, but we sure could sympathize with what is quite obviously a horrible plight.

Then they showed us what a jerk his was in a few short brief, and mercifully funny scenes. The funny deflected some of his jerk-itude, but, as they quickly brought us back to the NOW, those scenes served to really illustrate his change in character that takes place while captive in Afghanistan (which in the original comics was Viet Nam).

Clever, huh?

I was surprised, too, how effective it was. Frankly, I went to that movie not already not liking Tony Stark very much. I'd just finished reading CIVIL WAR and Tony is not portrayed as a very sterling good guy, shall we say. And, I was completely and utterly charmed by Robert Downey, Jr. (whom I normally don't like either) by this very clever and subtle writing trick.

So, it's Monday...

....So I'm talking all over the place.

I've got a brief post about Halloween over at Something Wicked: "Monday, the 13th", which includes a REALLY CUTE picture of Mason in the mummy costume that I made for him last year.

Also, I'm ranting about all the disrespect I feel I suffer over on SF Novelists.

and on Wyrdsmiths, I mention this item:

Tuesday, October 14 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm -- there will be a "RAKING THROUGH BOOKS" event at Keiren's Irish Pub in downtown Minneapolis, featuring Wyrdsmiths: Eleanor Arnason, Kelly D. McCullough, and Lyda Morehouse/Tate Hallaway. The event gives the audience members a chance to have a discussion with writers - about the authors' works, the writing life, etc. Kieren's Irish Pub is located at 330 2nd Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis. The event is sponsored by The Rake, The Loft, and, of course, Kieren's Pub. The event is open to the public. Call the Loft (612) 215-2575 for more information.

For all you local folks, think of it as an opportunity to get drunk AND talk about writing.

Nice Review on LiveJournal

Google Alerts found this nice review of Romancing the Dead.

"Where Are We Today, Miles?"

Like many families, mine has some odd catch phrases that come from our own shared experiences.

My parents used to always say, "Where are we today, Miles?" when we were driving somewhere and had gotten lost or even as an opening conversation gambit, ala, "How have you been? 'Where are we today, Miles?'" According to them, it comes from a radio show that used to run in LaCrosse. The show used to air in different locations which were also the subject of the show, and the announcer asked his co-host (presumably Miles) that question to get the show rolling. Miles would then answer, "Well, today we're standing at the Johnson's dairy farm...." or whatever the show was about (did I mention this was in Wisconsin?)

I always think of this phrase when I teach the class on setting.

Of course, that's usually what I call it in the syllabus: "Where Are We Today, Miles?" Creating Setting, which also might be the other reason I think of it.

But, at its simplest, setting answers the question: where are we? Though, it should also be noted that setting also defines WHEN we are (as in the "today" part of the announcer's question.) The when is much more important when writing SF than it is when writing contemporary romances because the reader assumes "today" (or now or modern times) unless given a clue to the contrary.

Setting is one of those things that your very first writing instructor also always told you needs to be in the first paragraph. I actually agree with him or her, for once! It does. Though, how you go about establishing that is a matter of much flexibility, IMHO.

The simplest option is just to say so. "The year was 1778..." or "2778," as the case may be.

But that can be awkward and clumsy.

Because I teach SF/F on a regular basis, I must have a thousand books lying around my office with the oh-so-clever title "Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy." In one of those books -- the one by Brian Stableford (which is much more cleverly titled "Writing FANTASY and Science Fiction and Getting Published"), in fact -- is this idea: use a "distancing move." Stableford then goes on to define a distancing move as some event or physical description that makes it clear to the reader that this story is taking place somewhere outside of the norm. His example is the clock striking thirteen in the beginning of Orwell's 1984. But it can be something as simple as describing a double sunset in a binary star system (my lame example, not his).

Stableford goes on to talk about how effective a "distancing move" is to alert the reader to pay attention to the rest of the words that follow, which makes it that much easier for you, the writer, to use subtle clues (as opposed to a two-by-four) to let the reader in on the setting of your world.

He doesn't say this (I don't think), but the fact of the matter is that, thankfully, most science fiction readers have been conditioned to be rather careful readers. A skillful writer can use this to their advantage. It can also be the bane of the not-so-skillful, in that we (SF readers) tend to take everything at the beginning as not only important, but LITERAL.

So if you say "he was an animal" at the beginning SF readers tend to believe you mean that literally. He's non-human. A romance reader reading the same sentence might think he was merely a nasty person with a beastial attitude. These are the pitfalls of writing for SF readers.

That's not to say you can never use that kind of a metaphor when writing SF. You simply have to establish a tone before you do (and, even then, it's wise to make it as clear as possible in context. Otherwise, we're easily confused.)

Setting: set it up early, and say it clearly (or via a distancing move.)

Those are my inital thoughts. More later.

Oh, So That's Your Excuse, Eh?

Like much of America, I watched last night's VP debate and posted my comments over on LJ. Unlike most Americans, I don't *get* "folksy." I have never, in my entire life, wanted to vote for the guy (or gal) who I'd sit and have a beer with. Fine for beers and peanuts, but, when it comes to governing a superpower, I want someone smarter than me in charge (or second in charge, as the case may be.)

Meanwhile, I haven't gotten much writing done because we have contractors doing work on our downstairs bathroom. That's my excuse, anyway. Speaking of writing, though, my editor sent along the electronic version of my copyedited manuscript of DEAD IF I DO (which now has a fancy new cover) for me to start work on. So it's not like I don't have anything that needs doing.

Also, I've kind of been left in charge over at Wyrdsmiths, so I'm sparse over here, it's probably because I'm busy over there.

Uh,yeah, that's why I haven't had much to say lately. Yeah, that's the ticket.

What's in a Name?

The topic of last night's Loft class was the creation of characters, which I've talked about here before. However, at the tail end of the class, Keri asked, "How do you pick the names for your characters?"

I kind of pulled a Neil on her and answered, "magic."

So I thought I should probably elaborate on that.

Naming is a very strange process for me. I love names. I really do think they have a lot of power. Getting a character name exactly right is something I spend a lot of time on.

First of all, I usually start by combing through my various baby name books. I have a ton, which I had even before I had baby, as it were. I have books that just list names alphabetically, and ones that divide names by ethnic origin. There are TONS of on-line sources for names, if you're so inclined -- all you have to do is plug "baby names" into Google and you'll get about a million hits.

But then the process starts to become really... personal.

I say names that seem interesting out loud. I try to imagine what a "Max" might look like compared to a "Matyas." And I can't tell you why I might go for one over the other, except that one will "FEEL" right.

A lot of it is rhythm or how it flows from my lips. Some of it is practical (ala, "oops, I've already got three guys whose names start with "M.") Some of it is flights of fancy (I've always thought the name "Constantine" to be sexy. I have no idea why, and it's not from either the movie or the Hellblazer comic book). I just like imperial names, like that, I think.

Magic, I guess.

New Cover Art: DEAD IF I DO

I just got this from my editor at Berkley:

And here's how the back cover copy reads:

I’ve finally found Mr. Right. Sure, he might not have a pulse, but coming from a girl who’s sharing a body with a short tempered goddess, I’m not one to judge. Sebastian is the vampire of my dreams and I’m dying to walk down the aisle. Everything couldn’t be more perfect.

Well, except for the fact that the awesome band I hired for the reception has been replaced by some guy with an accordion and lederhosen. And the bridesmaids’ dresses somehow got switched to salmon pink taffeta with butt-bows. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Sebastian’s ex-lover, the zombie-slash-vampire-slash-witch who just happens to be the mother of his undead son, wants the both of us six feet under. Now I know why some girls turn into Bridezilla…

So... What do you think? Are you excited??? It comes out in May 2009!!!

You Know What I Hate...?

I hate how hard it is to lose weight. I know I sound like such a girl, but I've been regularly working out at the gym for over a year now and I think I've lost all of five pounds. The worst part? If I don't work out regularly and decide, "Oh what the hell" and have a peice of pie, I INSTANTLY gain a pound that it's taken me months to walk off.

Mother bluther.

On the flipside, my friend and fellow writer Naomi Kritzer gave me the latest DVDs of "Battlestar Galactica" (the new one, of course,) and I can now catch up on all the comings and goings of my favorite SF TV show.

Yum, Jamie Bramber.... All he had to do to lose weight was jump rope for a couple of episodes, goll dang it. Why doesn't that work in REAL LIFE (tm)????!!

Now I'm off to go have some bread and water....

Grumble, grumble.

Urban Fantasy and Real Life (tm)

In class last night, I ended up talking about... well, a lot of things, but one bit I thought amusing enough to share here is about where FANTASY ideas come from.

I've yakked on here at this blog a lot about where to get good science fictional ideas, but not so much about fantasy. One of the things I ended up writing on the chalkboard last night was: "notice weirdness."

I do think that's really fundamental to being a good speculative fiction writer. If you notice the weirdness of every day life, you begin to articulate ways you can describe that. I remember a class many years ago (or maybe it was the MarsCon panel on "plot" with Walter Hunt, in which Kelly McCullough and my alter ego got seriously wound up about how "every scene needs to be in SERVICE TO PLOT!!!" and I'd had so much coffee, Walter worried my head was going explode.) Anyway, the point is, that I remember explaining to someone that writing good exposition/narrative is like imagining that you (the character) are traveling with an invisible foreign exchange student (the reader) through you fantasy/science fictional landscape. When you stop to buy a soda, you might turn to him/her and explain, "In this country, we use credit cards for everything. Money isn't real here, it's just electrons, which represent debt...."

How this relates to "noticing weirdness" is that you can't really distill concepts like our economy into little, entertaining sound bytes unless you spend some time noticing just how absurd it all is, you dig?

And it doesn't have to be something so complex as our economy, it can be noticing other small, random weird bits that then mushroom into full-blown story ideas. The example I gave last night was from a real conversation I had with friend and fellow writer Sean M. Murphy on Tuesday night. He said, "Hey, I've got this great idea for you to steal!" and then proceeded to recount his drive over. Apparently, he was behind this truck that had one of those business decals on the back. It was for a tattoo parlor called "Monster Ink," which was cool enough in itself because it very easily lent itself to any number of urban fantasy ideas in which tattoos have magical/totemistic powers, but the best part, he said, was the phone number: (651) ***-DEAD, which automatically made him ask one of those central to story generating "what if" questions: What if a vampire ran a tattoo parlor??

So there you go.

My advice to all you writers out there: Notice Weirdness!

Nature Walkin'

Today St. Paul Public Schools have what they call an "early release" day, which has always sounded to me like some kind of prison term, but you know... what it means is that in not that long now I'll be picking Mason up from school. Our plan is to go somewhere for a nice, long nature hike. Both Shawn and I worry that Mason doesn't get to go outside very much now that he's a full-day kindergartener. The truth is, he could pretty much count on almost a half-day of outside adventure when he was in Pre-K. I loved to, (when weather permitted, of course, I mean, this IS Minnesota) spend the afternoon with him at the beach, in the park, walking in the woods, or just running around (or even just sitting and reading) in our own backyard.

It's a beautiful day out today, and I've never visted the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Reserve, which is just south of the international airport and a short drive from the Mall of America. The information on their web site looks cool. Plus, if it turns out not to be to our liking, we're not far from Minnehaha or Hidden Falls at that point.

I need to go if I'm going to get any "real" writing done. See ya all on the flip side!

Happy Belated Mabon

For our Mabon celebration last night, Mason and I baked cookies in the shape of fallen leaves. We decorated them with frosting in fall/autumn colors: reds, yellows, oranges... and even some green and brown (chocolate!) We also made moon shaped cookies, of course! I made several dozen because we have a very tiny maple leaf shaped cookie cutter that made bit-sized cookies I thought would be nice for Mason to take to his kindergarten class for snack treat.

Mason has been very anxious to start his "magical training," so we also did a very small ritual that we usually do on Imbolc, but have been forgetting... which is that every year we add a bead to our life necklaces. Mason's was started at his Wiccaning, and this year he added beads for the cats. It wasn't a very harvesty thing, but as we beaded we told Mason about why we celebrate Mabon and about how the days will start getting darker until we finally reach the darkest day: Winter Solstace.

For my own harvest things, I've been baking a lot of bread to save on food costs this year. I make a single sandwich loaf every other day now. I got a really good recipe from one of our thousand of baking books that I've been slowly perfecting. The bread is perfect for sandwiches, but Shawn has also been craving some "artisan" bread, like French baggettes, which I'm going to try to make now and again as well.

At any rate, Happy Mabon!

It's Monday...

...so I'm writing about ideas over at Something Wicked. As I say there, I'm not one of those writers who can come up with really cool ideas at the drop of the hat. I believe this is one reason why I'm a novel writer rather than much of a short story person. I guess I feel like if I'm going to invest all the energy it takes for me to come up with a cool, viable* idea, then I want to milk it for all its worth.

Ironically (or perhaps synchronicity-ly,) my Loft class subject on Wednesday is: "'Where the Heck is Schenectady' Finding SF Ideas." I've write about this subject here on this blog before, but every time I teach this class I come up with a new answer to this age old question. Tune in on Thursday to see if I've got a different insight after talking about it for two hours at the Loft.

---------------------

*This is the hardest part for me. It's one thing to come up with an idea, another thing for it to be well-suited to hang a story on, you know?

Today, I Was A Parent

Which is my big excuse for not getting any writing done so far today. Instead of writing, I visited my son's kindergarten class. Mason has been having a little trouble adjusting to the new teacher/new routines. In art they did a project about their favorite part of the day, and Mason drew a picture of going home. After that, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I should check things out," and since the teacher made an open invitation for us to stop by any time....

It was fun, and honestly, I'm glad I did it because it assaged many of my fears.

I still have concerns, but now I have more concrete information to base them on, which will help when it comes time again for parent/teacher conferences.

Then Shawn and I went home for lunch, and I'm only now getting around to "starting" my usual day as a writer.

So, I Guess I'm Teaching...

By chance, I happened to log-in to LJ last night around 6:30 pm and one of the readers of my blog casually wrote, "Hey, see you tonight! I'm taking your class at the Loft."

As A. A. Milnes might write: "!... !!... !!!"

The last thing I had heard from the Loft was two weeks ago, when they very kindly informed me that my class VERY LIKELY would be cancelled because they only had four people signed up at that time. My assumption (and you know what you get when you ASSume) was that they would give me a call or an email telling me if it WAS a go. Guess not. I'm just really, REALLY grateful for LJ right now and the chance that someone made an off-hand comment, or, as I told my students last night, I'd have been sitting home in my pajamas watching "The Closer."

Feeling Old...

... because I just discovered that Mason's kindergarten teacher is on Facebook.

You Say TV Like That's a Bad Thing

Over at the Wyrdsmiths blog, Kelly McCullough is talking about how he has been without a TV since 1983 and how this confuses people.

He doesn't actually say that thing you often hear from English and creative writing instructors say, which is "Turn off your TV" with the corresponding implication that people who watch TV waste their brains and all their creativity pools on the floor at their feet, but this implication lingers in between the text.

And I want to refute that.

If it weren't for TV, I wouldn't be a writer.

Let me say that again so that I'm perfectly clear: if it weren't for TV, I wouldn't be a writer.

I was inspired to write Archangel Protocol (under my other name) after watching an "X-Files" episode and watching the entire run of "American Gothic."

If the TV eats your brain, you should turn it off. But it's not all the evil-to-creativity that people imply that it is.

That's all I'm saying.

Foiled by Faeries!

So I wrote my usual Monday morning blog over at "Something Wicked," but let me tell you, girl, it's hardly worth the re-direct. I'm very uninspired today, and I blame that on my inability to drive through Minneapolis without getting lost.

A little background to explain the above: I'm currently a Saint Paulie, and have been for over a decade now. I lived for six years on the OTHER side of the river in Minneapolis (think Oakland vs. San Francisco. St. Paul = Oakland), but apparently the faeries of the place no longer recognize me as one of their own.

St. Paul and Minneapolis have a long and sordid rivalry. At one point, I'd hoped to write a novel that "explained" the profound differences between the two cities via magic and/or faeries. (Turned out the research overwhelmed my ability to make forward motion.) The thing is, Minneapolitans always complain about St. Paul -- they think it's impossible to find things in our town. Our former governor/former pro-Wrestler Jesse Ventura once infamously snarked that he thought the streets of St. Paul must have been planned by "drunken Irishmen." St. Paulies often feel the same way about Minneapolis (only I supposed we'd have to insert "drunken Norwegians"). After all, it's not a joke that in Minneapolis you can stand on the corner of Hennepin and Hennepin (it turns a ninety degree angle under the highway) and parallel streets will sometimes cross and flip sides.

After moving to St. Paul, I've become a rabid supporter of my town, and I think that the Minneapolis faeries are on to me. Because, I SWEAR, every time I have a reading gig in Minneapolis I get lost. (With the notable exception of gigs at either Uncle Hugo's or Dreamhaven, but both are located on the evil lay line of Lake Street, which may negate the faeries' ability to excert their magick on me.)

To this end, I spent much of my usual writing time this morning driving aimlessly through the southern suburbs of Minneapolis trying to find a Home Depot I've been to a thousand and six times.

It's definitely a Monday. Damn faeries!*

--------------------------------- * Note: before you alert my doctor that I'm apparently off my meds, this whole St. Paul/Minneapolis faerie thing is the product of my well-documented overactive imagination.

My First Day as a Writer

I think this whole writing thing is going to work out for me. I got up and got my family off without too many hitches, and then I hauled my a$$ to the gym and worked out. I cleaned the house a bit (I mopped the kitchen!) and did the usual maintenance things like sweeping and dishes, and then...

I wrote.

I didn't get a huge word count in yesterday, but it was well over a thousand words and, more impressive to me, I managed to work on two DIFFERENT projects. And most importantly to readers of this blog (if there are any) I started BETTER WED THAN DEAD/HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD, the fifth Garnet Lacey book. I'm really pleased how quickly I picked up Garnet's voice after having spent most of the day's writing energy working on my science ficiton novel.

Garnet is so fun.

Whoot!

So in about three minutes, I'm going to take Mason off to all-day kindergarten. Then I will be a full time writer. I'm sure I'm going to squander some of my time, plus there are things I need to get done, like grocery shopping and housecleaning... but even so, I suspect I'm finally going to have a whole lot of time to just WRITE. I'm so excited I could barf. I've go so many projects that have been waiting for today. I'll probably run around trying to do everything at once, but it's going to be great to finally have the time.

New Review: Writers Are Reads. com

If you want to know what I've been reading lately check out my review of Tobias S. Buckell's SLY MONGOOSE on WritersareReaders.com.

So... what are YOU reading these days?

It's Monday...

...so I'm blogging over at Something Wicked about how I did absolutely nothing of value this weekend (except read.)

Cover Copy for DEAD IF I DO

I got the back cover copy from my editor, and while, in my previous life in science fiction, I've been known to roll my eyes at some of the copy I've been given, I have to say this not only accurately describes the book, but it's cute and funny too!

I’ve finally found Mr. Right. Sure, he might not have a pulse, but coming from a girl who’s sharing a body with a short tempered goddess, I’m not one to judge. Sebastian is the vampire of my dreams and I’m dying to walk down the aisle. Everything couldn’t be more perfect.

Well, except for the fact that the awesome band I hired for the reception has been replaced by some guy with an accordion and lederhosen. And the bridesmaids’ dresses somehow got switched to salmon pink taffeta with butt-bows. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Sebastian’s ex-lover, the zombie-slash-vampire-slash-witch who just happens to be the mother of his undead son, wants the both of us six feet under. Now I know why some girls turn into Bridezilla…

Plus, I absolutely LOVE the little tag line they gave me: "Something borrowed, something blue; something dead, and witchy too!"

What do all y'all think?

It's Monday...

...so I'm over at Something Wicked blogging about Swear Words and Writing.

Come On Over...

My pal Rick, aka "the Ninja Writer," is featuring my short story "Irish Blood" as part of his short story club. It's short! It's free! It's on-line! Come join the discussion on his blog: http://www.cvrick.com/

Sex Scene Class On-Line

***OKAY TO FORWARD***

September 2-29, 2008
"Sex Between The Pages: Understanding & Writing Sexual Tension"
by Mary Buckham
Registration $30 at www.WriterUniv.com/

How do you write great sexual tension? That’s the question Mary Buckham posed to Linda Howard, Stella Cameron, Susan Andersen, Nancy Warren and more romance writers who write great sexual tension from sweet to spicy hot. In her workshop, Mary combines these lessons from real-writers with practical understanding of the 12 Stages of Intimacy (based on Desmond Morris' works) and more recent findings by scientists on the amazing role biology plays in mate attraction and selection -- findings that can be directly incorporated in our creation of powerful sexual tension.

So if you want to learn how to increase the sexual tension in your work, don’t miss this opportunity. Topics include:

* Sex versus Intimacy
* Using conflict to increase sexual tension
* The importance of details
* How to portray body language
* Maximizing biological differences between the sexes
* Analyzing those who write sexual tension well
* Exercises for your work in progress

Mary Buckham’s debut Romantic Suspense novel, THE MAKEOVER MISSION, was a Silhouette Intimate Moments release. Her second novel, INVISIBLE RECRUIT, was a May 2006 Silhouette Bombshell. A former magazine editor, she has written hundreds of free-lance articles and a non-fiction book. Currently she is a national writing workshop presenter, both online and at conferences. Visit www.MaryBuckham.com or www.BreakIntoFiction.com for more information about the release of her Break Into Fiction™ book coming June 2009.

One Life Goal Down...*

I finally wrote the perfect book.

Okay, that's perhaps a SMALL exaggeration, so let me explain. Despite the changes in the publishing industry, I've always been edited. Normally, a couple of months after I turn in a book, I get an editorial letter of some sort requesting revisions. These letters are e-mails, actually, and can be anywhere from twelve to three pages (single spaced). I get two months to revise the book and then it goes to the copy-editing stage, etc., etc., until finally the book hits the shelves.

For every book I've ever written, I've always gotten a revision letter. Even though sometimes the changes are "small," they usually involve changing plot or character or other rather substantive things.

I got an email from my editor yesterday, and I thought, "Okay, here we go. Let's see what needs doing this time." Turns out nothing! Well, okay, I actually forgot to fill in a couple of "fill in later" spots, but we decided we could do that during the copy-editing stage.

Whoot!

I can't really explain why this makes me feel so elated. I mean, it's not really like I've written a *perfect* book. But, I really loved writing DEAD IF I DO and I'm really proud that my "first" pass (really, of course, the result of several drafts) was accepted.

Maybe I'm just excited to get to skip one of the usual steps, because it means less work for this self-indulgent, lazy writer.

Whee! Video games here I come.

-------------------------------------- *Cross-posted from Wyrdsmiths.

SF Market for Women

A market from BroadUniverse:

http://www.expandedhorizons.net/submission.html

Hello, everyone. My name is Dash and I'm the creator and editor of the new speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, etc.) webzine Expanded Horizons. Our mission is to create a venue for diverse voices in speculative fiction, and to publish stories which challenge stereotypes of all sorts. We seek to challenge SF as a white male genre, and transform it into something broader, something that reflects the actual diversity here on Planet Earth. I try to read each submission both for the quality of the writing and for how well it fits the mission of our magazine - I think about whether the story engages in cultural appropriation, how my own biases are affecting my selection of stories, etc. I know that because I am one person (who has benefited from both earned and unearned privileges), and because I am not, and cannot, be deeply familiar with all cultures and subcultures, there will be points and nuances I will miss. I know that this process of self-reflection is constant and ever-changing. I want to create a vessel for the creative energies of others, but because I am human and my contributors are human also, missteps will be made. I also know that by creating a venue for the authentic expression of views which challenge deeply held, "established" social truths, there will be controversy. But there is real, tangible racism and sexism in the SF community- and many of us know something needs to be done.

**Please note** Editor is trying very hard to have a reasonable gender balance for authors, but to date has received far more submissions from men than from women.

Note from Tate: I checked the website and they do pay, though not much. ($30 per story regardless of length.)

Backyard Bummin'

This summer has been damn near perfect, weather-wise. It's been a bit dry, but the temperatures have been ideal for someone like me who doesn't really like that whole sweaty humidity thing that's been Minnesota summers of late. We've been spending a lot of time in our own backyard and bumming around to our friends' backyards. This is a picture of Mason (and Tika, dog,) in the backyard of our friends Steve, Shari, Berren, and brand new girl addition (whose name I don't know how to spell.)

We spent much of yesterday either splashing around at our friends' house or just laying under a tree watching clouds roll by. It was a very Calvin & Hobbes kind of day where we spent a lot of quality time doing absolutely nothing.

An Open Letter to Barack Obama

Dear Mr. Obama,

I am writing to you on behalf of my five year old son, Mason. Yesterday, at the dinner table I read him the article about how you've decided lift bans on off-shore drilling. He started to cry. My son loves the ocean so much. It's his favorite thing. We watch the BBC Blue Planet series: Ocean World, Frozen Seas, Open Ocean, The Deep, Tidal Seas, Coasts and the rest over and over and over again. Mason has said that he wants to be a marine biologist since he could talk.

Many months ago, during the nomination process, when we started hearing your name on the radio, Mason asked me why we vote Democratic and why we wanted you for president. I told him you were from Hawaii (one of his favorite states), and I told him that Democrats are more likily to support the environment rather than big business interests. He liked that. After that he started repeating that he wanted Barack Obama to be our next president. Not now. He would really like you to change your position "by next Saturday" please.

Thank you very much.

Yours truly,

Mason Rounds and Mason's parents

It's Monday...

...so I'm over at Something Wicked, talking about how I stopped worrying and learned to love the... outline.

Paranoia and Writers

I'm not usually a paranoid person, but I am when it comes to my writing career.

Last night, while sitting in the bathroom, I started reading an article in the recent Romance Report (the official magazine of RWA) called, "When Bad Things Happen to Good Writers." It's all about the rather inevitable decline in one's career, when your sales numbers drop, the editor stops returning your calls, and you suddenly find yourself without a renewed contract.

It's the sort of thing that professional writers don't like to think about. After all, we've all worked hard to get where we are (were?!) And, more than that, the mystical "call" came -- the one from our agents where, suddenly, we became published novelists. All our worries should be over. We've "made it." But... as the article warns, these things happen. It's the nature of the business.

And I should know. It's already happened to me. I used to write as my alternate personality; now I write as me because of this little thing called "the law of diminishing returns."

I only read about two paragraphs of the article and I can already feel the storm clouds gathering. (Yes, I KNOW I'm being paranoid. But have you ever heard the phrase, "Once bitten, twice shy"? That's me all over.) Now, I've been staring at my email inbox, and started muttering, "She hasn't sent the revision letter yet," (speaking of my editor). "She hates me. It's all over. I'll never work in this town again."

I told my partner about my ominous feelings last night, and she did what any sane person would do: she laughed. "Of course your editor hasn't written yet. It's only been two months. That's well within her usual return time on these things. Be patient."

Patient? I'm sure she said, "Paranoid".....

It's Monday...

...So I'm over at Something Wicked reminding myself to "Write! It's Good for You!"

Tortoise vs. Cat

Check out the Boing-Boing video of a cranky-yet-determined tortoise that chases cats out of its territory. Amusing.

Periphery Review

My alter ego would like to direct your attention to a review of her short story (as well as all the others) in Periphery, here: http://www.ourchart.com/

It's Tuesday...

... so I'm over at SF Novelists complaining about writing the dreaded synopsis.

It's Monday, so...

...I'm over at the Something Wicked blog trying not to complain about my current embarrassment of riches.

Interview: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman's debut novel Infoquake was released by Pyr in 2006. Barnes & Noble Explorations called the story of cut-throat software entrepreneurs in the far future "the love child of Donald Trump and Vernor Vinge" and later named it their SF Book of the Year. The book was also nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best Novel, and Edelman was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer on the strength of that novel. Infoquake has just been re-released in mass market paperback by Solaris Books with a fancy new cover by Stephan Martiniere.

This week, Pyr is releasing book 2 of David's Jump 225 trilogy, MultiReal. The book continues where Infoquake left off, and has already been called "a thoroughly-successful hybrid of Neuromancer and Wall Street" by Hugo nominee Peter Watts.

In addition to writing novels, Dave has also programmed websites for the U.S. Army, the FBI, ExxonMobil, and Rolls-Royce; taught software to the U.S. Congress and the World Bank; written articles for the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun; and directed the marketing departments of biometric and e-commerce companies. Dave is well-versed in PHP, Ruby on Rails, WordPress, ColdFusion, HTML, Javascript, XML, and CSS, and is an expert in web usability, web design, search engine optimization, and writing for the web.

What was your inspiration for writing Infoquake and MultiReal?

Infoquake and MultiReal are two parts of a story I started writing in late 2000 about my dot-com experiences in the '90s. I'm a marketing guy and web programmer by trade, and I saw a number of crazy things during the dot-com bubble. Mostly I was interested in the personal dynamics -- how charismatic schemers like my protagonist Natch convinced so many people to invest in so many worthless companies.

So in 2000 and 2001, I wrote a novel titled Jump 225.7, which you might call a far-future satire of the dot-com era. I literally finished the first draft of it on September 10, 2001. Then suddenly the next day, satire seemed the wrong way to approach the story I was trying to tell. So when I started rewriting it, the story became much darker and more serious in tone. I tried to ask all the big questions about capitalism, about Western society, about human nature and greed and what the long-term prospects of the species were. The end result was the Jump 225 trilogy, starting with Infoquake and continuing with MultiReal.

Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

Growing up, my favorite author had to be J.R.R. Tolkien (unless Stan Lee counts).

Interjection: Of course Stan Lee counts!!!

I'm sure I read the whole Lord of the Rings saga (including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion) half a dozen times. Then in adolescence I fell in love with Kurt Vonnegut, with a special reverence for Cat's Cradle and Slaughterhouse-Five. College brought John Barth to my attention, and I've been running the biggest fan website for his books since about 1996 or so. If I had to name my favorite author since college, I'd have to pick either William Gibson or Thomas Pynchon.

What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

I think for me it's the ability to rethink absolutely everything about the world, down to the smallest nanoparticle. I'm a worldbuilding addict, so I like being able to examine and reconfigure the politics, the history, and the sociology of my world to suit the story I'm trying to tell. For the Jump 225 trilogy, I considered all of those things and more -- I even got down to the level of thinking up new building materials and trying to invent ways that people would move goods from place to place in the absence of trucks and an interstate system. I can't really think of any other genre you can do that in.

Why did you decide to make Natch a software entrepreneur?

When I started writing the Jump 225 trilogy, I followed the axiom of writing what you know. I'd worked for several high-tech start-ups run by young, charismatic, slightly unhinged software entrepreneurs. And so that's who I started with.

The supporting characters are also based on character types I'd met in dot-coms. Horvil is the heavy-set, brilliant engineering guy who prefers to run things behind the scenes and leave the politics to the boss. And Jara is the serious, no-nonsense marketing woman who has something of a love/hate relationship with the company.

What (besides writing) do you do for fun?

I'm incredibly boring. I read. I putter around on the computer and tinker with my websites. I watch a lot of movies, and I keep up with the news. I'm looking forward to having children so I can have the excuse that I'm "spending quality time with my family."

What sort of research did you do to write these books?

Infoquake is heavily concerned with biologic software (or "wetware," as it's sometimes called). I know something about software, but I know very little about biology or physiology. So I certainly had to do some basic research into how the human body works. The main technology behind MultiReal also involves quantum physics, so I had to beef up on that a bit too. I admit that I don't tend to delve very deeply into the subjects that I research; mostly it's just your basic Wikipedia and Google searches, combined with long involved discussions with subject matter experts I know.

Natch is a compulsive workaholic. Are you that way too?

Absolutely not. I'm actually not very much at all like Natch or Jara, the two main protagonists of the novels. Although I suppose I do share certain characteristics with them. If I had to name a character who was closest to me in temperament, I'd have to say Horvil, the fat cheerful engineer who's always putting up with Natch's crap.

The political factions in the Jump 225 trilogy are divided between governmentalists and libertarians. If you were a character in the books, which would you be?

A lot of people who've read Infoquake assumed that my sympathies lie with the libertarians, because that's where Natch's sympathy lies. But I'm definitely more conflicted in my politics. I like to pick and choose among the different parties and philosophies. I have some definite liberal tendencies but a number of conservative ones as well.

You'll discover in MultiReal that the political situation is much more nuanced than Natch makes it out to be in Infoquake. The central government, which really seems like the epitome of evil in Infoquake, is a conflicted organization itself with some do-gooders working in the fringes. And the libertarians are full of self-interested schemers who'll stab you in the back.

What are you writing now?

I'm currently about 80,000 words into Geosynchron, the third and final book of the Jump 225 trilogy. I'm a very slow writer and I write a million drafts, but I'm hoping to finish the whole thing by the end of the year.

Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?

Yes, I always wanted to write, ever since I was a little kid. I wrote my first "novel" when I was about 6 years old, and I spent much of my childhood building up a pantheon of superheroes with my brother. I studied creative writing in college at Johns Hopkins, and tried to write a novel in my early 20s. It wasn't until I had given up on the writing and spent half a dozen years in the trenches of high tech that I came up with an idea that I could follow through on. And that was the Jump 225 trilogy.

What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?

I've never been very good about setting a concrete writing schedule. Maybe that's why it takes me so long to finish anything. I typically work about three days a week at my part-time web programming job, and then write whenever I have the free time and the inclination.

Where do you write?

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I'm one of the guys you see sitting there at Starbuck's with his laptop for hours on end. For some reason, I find it easy to write with background chatter. But when I'm not writing there, I'm sitting on my couch at home with one dog on the back of the couch behind my head and one dog nestled between me and the armrest.

What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?

The hardest thing for me as a writer is discipline. I have an easy time coming up with great ideas, and I find it very easy to sit down and start pecking on those first few paragraphs. But then I quickly burn out. If you're ever going to finish anything, you need to be able to batter your way through those burnout times, and I have a difficult time with that. And then I'm so rarely satisfied with what I write, it always takes me to forever to finish.

Thanks for the interview, David. If you want to know more about David Louis Edelman, check out his website at: http://www.davidlouisedelman.com/

New Vampire Drink?

I had a very weird dream last night. I only remember snippets of it, of course, but one detail stuck with me. I was a vampire, and I was drinking blood bottled with garlic and stinging nettle. Weird, huh?

I think my brain was figuring that the garlic, being posion to a vampire, would act like acohol, and the stinging nettle would numb the vamp a bit so s/he could drink more...? Not sure about that last part.

Now I'm only bummed that I'm not sure I can find a way to use it in my writing. I almost NEVER get ideas from dreams, so this is pretty unusual.

It's Monday...

... so, per usual, I'm over at "Something Wicked." However, this week all the authors are doing a re-release party for our various books, and I'm kicking it off with a contest for a signed copy of Romancing the Dead. If you want to participate, head on over here.

On-Line Synopsis Class

***OKAY TO FORWARD***

Online class: August 6-31, 2008
"Tips From Madison Avenue: The Selling Synopsis"
by Laurie Schnebly Campbell
Registration $30 at www.WriterUniv.com/

No wonder so many great novelists have a tough time writing a synopsis -- the two jobs require completely different skills! Advertising copywriters have discovered a variety of techniques that make people want to buy a specific product, whether it's a bike or a burger or a book. So this hands-on workshop teaches those same techniques, including:

* Finding your unique selling points
* Headlines (or openings) that grab a buyer
* Identifying your target market
* When details matter, and when they don't
* Brainstorming a creative plot strategy
* Highlights that sell your product
* Changing format, emphasis or both

An advertising copywriter for 25 years, Laurie Schnebly Campbell was amazed when she realized her day job made it easier to "sell" editors on her books. So far she's sold six to Silhouette, including one that beat out Nora Roberts for Best Special Edition of the Year, and loves sharing marketing techniques with people who DON'T work on Madison Avenue.

***OKAY TO FORWAD***

Booksigning Woes

Mason, at least, had a good time at the signing last night. I bought him two new Calvin & Hobbes and a new three-pack Garfield. The other ladies were fairly impressed at how quietly he sat absorbed in his books. He got a little squirrely at the end, and, of course, we had to take a break to eat, but I think it was fairly successful given I had my four year old in tow.

I, of course, sold no books.

Before you cry for me, Argentina, I have long ago come to the realization that book signings are really for booksellers and for authors. The booksellers get a stock of signed books, which, according to at least one bookseller I talked to actually sell pretty well off the shelf -- and better than their unsigned cousins, at any rate.

The author benefits the most, I think. The author gets a chance to meet-and-greet the booksellers, who, as we know, are the ones who do any and all "hand-selling," which can be key to a book's success. The author also usually leaves with a sense that many of the books won't end up as stripped returns. (Note: I worded that very carefully, because I'm well aware of the fact that in many cases signing a book does NOT save it from being returned. Plus, sometimes the booksellers will crassly admit to returning as many as possible. It's only crass because all the authors I know tend to take that stuff personally. We know it happens; we just don't want to necessarily hear about it.)

But, back to the positive. Personally, I also really like to do "multi-author" signings, because then the authors also have a chance to catch up on industry gossip and whatnot. Plus, the time goes a lot faster when there's someone else to talk with.

I sometimes wonder why we bother, since, like so many things in the publishing industry, booksignings feel like they come from another era -- one that's being overshadowed by "promotional" opportunities on the that crazy Internet thing all the kids are into these days.

I suspect that book tours -- the kind that are sponsored by publishers for gigantically best sellers (who, in my humble opinion, are the ones who need it the least, but then much of capitalism makes very little sense to me) -- still perform some important function in terms of boosting book sales and maybe even just allowing fans and opportunity to see that Big Name Star is just and average guy who puts his/her pants on one leg at a time... I'm not sure. I just know that I'll probably continue to sit in empty Mall bookstores staring at the wall for many years to come... at least until the bookstores stop asking me, that is.

Brain Dead...

Maybe that'd be a good Garnet book title, eh? BRAIN DEAD. It's actually a description of how I feel today. I'm always a bit stupid when Shawn is away (she's at a conference in Washington, D.C. until Thursday), and today is no exception. I stayed up late working on my small press project, which, I'm happy to say, finally has a little wind in its sails. I need to get one of those progress bars so many writer-bloggers have. But, today was all about sleeping in too late for a school day, getting Mason half way there and realizing we'd forgotten his backpack full of birthday party invitations. Had to turn around and were almost late for school.

I have a booksigning tonight at Northwood Mall, and because I'm minus one babysitter, I'm planning on bringing Mason along. I know that probably sounds crazy, but if I buy Mason a couple of Garfield books, he'll sit quite as a mouse on my lap and read them. And, you know, these things are always dead. Anyway, if you happen to be local and at loose ends for tonight here are the details:

On Tuesday, July 8, 2008 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm I'll be signing at the Waldenbooks in Northtown Mall with Lois Grieman and Michele Hauf. Waldenbooks is located at: 212 Northtown Drive Blaine, MN 55434. For more information call (763) 780-1264.

Also, I need to run off and go work out. I appear to have lost a pound or two, and if that's the case I should probably keep at this whole thing. (I'm only not sure because my scale is really old and not terribly accurate.)

Gender Bias in SF Conversation

My alterego was invited to participate in a conversation about gender bias in the SF/F publishing industry and what to do about it. The conversation is archived here: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/006846.html. Please check it out and join in the conversation (there are a lot more interesting and articulate people than me participating.)

Also, check out the YouTube video promoting the mega-author signing we had last night in Woodbury: http://youtube.com/watch?v=HXdiKexw7Jo. The signing, btw, was actually a great deal of fun, not because I signed a lot of books but because it's always so cool to hang out with other awesome romance authors.

It's Monday...

...So I'm over at "Something Wicked..." writing about Kids and Writing.

Sorry the post isn't very intelligent, but I'm actually a bit hungover. Not that I was out partying... no I just drank too much Mike's Hard Lemonade while eating popcorn and watching old episodes of "Lost." Duuuuude.

But all I have to say is....yum, Sawyer. Hey, and we're almost related. His last name is Holloway.

Marvel Moping

If your interested in my (or rather my alter-ego's) take on Marvel's Secret Invasion storyline, I'm blogging about it over at the Mid-Ohio ComicCon's site: Who Do You Trust?

The article is not nearly as geeky as you might think. You don't have to necessarily know comics to understand why I'm hesitant about what Bendis is up to, though I don't really explain the storyline because of the assumption most Marvel readers are up on the whole thing.

In other news, it's Friday. Hooray!

Check Out My New Gig

After WritersareReader.com's author Terry Spear reviewed my book Romancing the Dead, the folks there offered me a gig reviewing books for them. Since I absolutely adore (or ish that a-"whore"?) anything to do with FREE books, I said yes. My first reivew for them is up! I reviewed Dan Waddell's The Blood Detective. Check it out!

Have An Afflatusous Day!

I subscribe to the word of the day from YourDictonary.com, and I got this today:

Afflatus (noun)

Pronunciation: [ê-'fley-tês]

Definition: A strong creative impulse from a muse or higher power, divine or supernatural inspiration.

It's Monday, so...

You can find me blogging about my addiction to Internet research over at Something Wicked...

In other news, I've neglected to post that Mason and I, who had been playing the license plate game several months ago (we won: we saw all fifty states, even Hawaii, Alaska and Rhode Island), just saw a brand new plate. It was one we'd never seen before, and frankly, living here in Saint Paul, MN, I would never have thought we would: Puerto Rico.

New Review: Dead Sexy

I just got word of a review for Dead Sexy, here at: CK2S Kwips and Kritiques: Dead Sexy. They gave me four shamrocks! I guess they like me, they really like me!

In other news, I'm off to go buy "the thing at the place" as Shawn and I have been referring to it. It's a secret birthday present for little boy...

Mighty Marveling

My alterego, comic book geek that she is, posted a review of THE INCREDIBLE HULK over at the Mid-Ohio Comic Com's site called, "Days Without Incident: 0". Check it out.

In other breaking news, working out makes me tired.

Me, Everywhere

So, here's the latest places you can find interviews of me and other interesting bits (like a contest for the latest book!)

Interview with me at Amberkatze's Book Blog: Interview with Tate Hallaway, plus a bonus silly picture of me at the Uncle Hugo's signing for Tall, Dark & Dead,

and Jackie Kessler's character Jezabel interviews my character Garnet at "No Rest for the Witchy" with even more bonus weird pictures of me.

Too Much Coffee Makes Me Strange

I posted a "that kind of day" complaining song and a deep philosophical questioning over at Something Wicked... this morning.

People like to ask authors why they write urban fantasy/paranormal/fantasy stuff, and I realized that I don't really have a good answer to that. I mean, I can enumerate the reasons I like it, but some of it is actually deeply visceral. When we get to that part in the story when the heroine realizes the cute guy sitting next to her on the bus is actually a werewolf my heart speeds up. I get a real, honest-to-goddess adrenaline rush that I can't really explain.

I know that it's this rush that keeps me addicted to urban fantasy/science fiction. It's really a lot like a drug (luckily, the only side-affect is loss of sleep when you get wrapped up in a story and realize that you've stayed up well past your bedtime and it's a work night.)

I really notice this when watching TV shows based on my drug-of-choice. Battlestar Galatica will actually make me sit on the edge of the seat of the couch, my heart pounding. When the show is over (certainly during the first season, anyway,) I actually felt physically drained, like I'd run a marathon.

But why am I like that? Why is it that space dog-fights get my juices flowing? Why is it that once magic shows up in a novel, I'm hooked?

I don't know. Except maybe it's because that's the first hit I ever took -- the first grown-up novel I read cover-to-cover was THE HOBBIT, and I must have imprinted on it, like a baby duck. I really couldn't tell you. How about you??

New Review (RtD)

This isn't a very huge review, but an interesting perspective, none-the-less: Cerulean Siren: Another Book Down

New Review

Here's a UK blogger who has somethings to say about Romancing the Dead that are pretty interesting: This Fleeting Dream.

Me... Everywhere

I posted variations on the same theme in a number of different places this morning. If you want to read them in chronological order (to watch the progression of the idea go from rambles to a tongue-in-cheek confessional), here's how:

In-Between
In a Weird Place
Project Monogamy

In other news, I watched Appleseed Ex Machina last night and now I'm totally hot for a cyborg with rabbit ears. Help me.

More Reviews and an Event

Thank the Goddess for Google Alert or I wouldn't know that I'm supposed to be here this Saturday....

Also, I noticed a couple more reviews for my books on various blogs. One for Romancing the Dead on Amberkatze's Book Blog and one for Dead Sexy on Anna's Book Blog.

More Blah, Blah, Bloggin'

Since I love the internet so much, I've joined another group of paranormal romance/urban fantasy writes called "wicked writers" at Something Wicked... I'll be doing the Monday morning posts.

Also, there's a new review of Romancing the Dead at Coffee Times Romance. Here's some of the nicer bits:

I love Garnet. She is an amazing character. Ms. Hallaway has a unique twist to her story, with both Garnet and Sebastian. The reader is led on a merry chase to uncover who is behind the vampire napping. I read this in one sitting and kept trying to guess who the culprit was. Ms. Hallaway hides the truth until the very end and closes her book with a bang. I will be reading more of this series in the future, I am sure.

Also, Toni L. P. Kelner forwarded a picture of the cover to the German edition of Many Bloody Returns. Check it out!

Romancing the Dead Review (and an Interview)

Here's another review of Romancing the Dead, this one by The Book Girl.

Also, there's a very short, but nice interview with me in the Minnesota Women's Press, called "A Bite of Vampire Romance." A word of warning: I do mention a particular part of the male anatomy in clinical terms, and if such a thing could potentially be offensive to you, stop reading the article about three paragraphs from the end.

Save That Vampire!

I got this in my mailbox the other day and thought I should share it with all y'all:

I was just writing to ask if you happened to be a fan of Moonlight the vampire tv show?? As you may or may not know, CBS has recently cancelled this amazing series after just one season.

I'm part of a massive online group to ‘save’ the show or alternatively have it moved to a new network (www.moonlightarmy.com, www.moonlight-united.com)

The fans have worked so hard - we held a Moonlight Blood Drive for the red cross to bring attention to the show, and recently held a rally outside the Warner Brothers studio to show support for the production company - and it is truly an international movement (I'm from Australia!).

If you are willing and able, I was wondering if you could draw attention to the cause on your site? Just a word from you would encourage a rabid vampire fan base to champion the cause, and we all need a bit of Vampire love! (especially when they look like Mick!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,
Megan

Review of Many Bloody Returns

Google Alerts let me know about this review: http://nichtszusagen.blogspot.com/2008/05/many-bloody-returns.html, which actually reviews "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two" from Many Bloody Returns.

Interview with Simon Haynes

Simon Haynes is the British/Australian author of the bestselling, award-winning Hal Spacejock series, featuring an over-confident but woefully under-skilled freighter pilot and his wise but obsolete robot, Clunk.

If you enjoy TV shows like the Young Ones, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and Dr Who, or books by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde, then the Hal Spacejock series was written for you.

If you’ve never heard of Hal Spacejock … surprise! It’s only available in Australia.

However, to coincide with the launch of Hal Spacejock 4: No Free Lunch, the full text of Hal Spacejock Book One has been made available as a free download. To grab a copy in text, rtf or html format, visit http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Download.html

(Yes, it’s a free ebook. And you’re welcome to share the download link …)

Simon, what was your inspiration for writing Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch?

My publisher phoned me and said 'can we have another one?', and I find that sort of thing very motivating. Fortunately, I'd already completed two drafts. Unfortunately, the book I handed in didn't result from either of them.

My other motivators are Hal and Clunk themselves. These characters are very dear to me, and I love putting them in life threatening situations, sending them broke, taking away everything they care about and generally giving them a really hard time.

Hey, I'm a parent. It's in my nature.

Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

When I was growing up I read all the usual suspects for a British kid in the 70’s: Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome, Agatha Christie, Jerome K Jerome, Tolkien, Showell Styles, Frank Richards, Richmal Crompton, Michael Bond, WE Johns, Isaac Asimov, William F Temple ... and about a hundred others.

We moved to Spain in 1976 and English books were suddenly very hard to come by, so I read anything I could get my hands on. Westerns, thrillers, SF and so on. Mostly the sort of holiday books people abandon when they go home again.

Nowadays I enjoy humour, satire and SF, plus the occasional horror novel or murder mystery. I studied eng lit for my BA, which was enough to put me off the classics for many years, but I'm slowly coming round in my old(er) age.

What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

Every novel begins with a blank slate, and the possibilities are endless. Whether you’re reading the things or writing them, or both, it’s a journey into the unknown and the unexplored.

Also, speaking of my own stuff, I just love the idea of self-aware robots. Despite their supposed loyalty to humans, the robots in my books often have their own agendas and desires, and rather creative methods of getting what they want. If you’ve ever struggled with a wayward computer program you’ll know the feeling.

Why did you decide to make Hal a space courier?

I needed someone with a valid reason to travel the galaxy. Also, Hal's a careless type and there's a lot of humour to be found in his clumsy destruction of valuable cargo. His chosen occupation puts him in competition with customers, other pilots and all manner of officialdom, and we all know conflict drives novels.

It’s not just freight disasters giving Hal problems … there’s a spare cabin aboard his ship, which means I can throw in the occasional passenger. They’re inevitably bad news for Hal, and that’s fun to write.

A few people have asked whether I modeled Hal on Han Solo, from the Star Wars series, and the answer is no. Hal Spacejock is a terrible pilot, is law-abiding and is fearfully over-confident while being woefully under-skilled. I’m not even a big SW fan, have never read any of the books associated with the series, and am still trying to expunge Episode I from my memory. Anyway, my influences are mostly British and Australian.

As for Hal’s name … I began writing book one in 1994, and when I reached for “brash, over-confident, loud, unintentionally funny, unaware of his failings, secretly insecure”, the name ‘Hal Spacejock’ instantly popped into my head. Anyone proudly calling themselves ‘Spacejock’ has a lot of complex issues for me to uncover.

What do you do for fun?

I love DVDs, particularly watching them on my laptop with headphones. It’s more personal and involving than watching on a big screen. I rarely watch live TV, thanks to the ads, watermarks and scrolly banner things, so boxed sets are a great escape.

Apart from my DVD-watching hobby I also count golf and archery amongst my favourite activities. In truth, it's four or five years since I swung a golf club in anger, but I just rekindled my interest in archery and am looking forward to nailing a few targets.

Finally, I write a lot of software, particularly for readers and writers. I make it all available free via the Spacejock.com website.

What sort of research did you do to write this book? What kind of preparation do you do when you are writing?

I don't do any research. I just outline the thing to death, send a two-page doc to my editor and await her go-ahead. The writing always diverges from the plot outline, but I rarely force it back again. An outline is just a map, and writing the novel is the journey.

Preparation … I stock up on coffee, chocolate, biscuits and spare batteries for the exercise bike. (I built a shelf on the handlebars for my laptop, and only allow myself to watch DVDs when I’m peddling.)

Hal Spacejock loves his food, and particularly coffee. Is that your favorite too?

Yep – instant coffee by the bucket. These days I limit myself to three cups a day, but I try and get them all in before 10am. Then I switch to t-tea and t-try not to l-let the j-jitters get to m-me.

I rarely eat out, and can’t be bothered with fancy restaurants. Give me Thai or Indian and I’m happy.

I enjoy cooking, and have a page on my website with my favourite recipes. Nothing flash – I like healthy, filling food which tastes good. I’m not in bad shape for a writer – 1.92m and 90kg (6’3” and 200lb) – but I can see that balancing health, fitness and writing long-term is going to be a struggle. In case I’ve given you the impression I’m a health nut, I’ve not seen the inside of a gym since 1985. I just try to burn more calories than I consume.

You say Hal Spacejock is law-abiding, so how come he gets into so much trouble?

Because his author is a right bastard. If I wanted all-round nice guys and do-gooders in my books I’d go write picture books with an eye to the lucrative education market. As it is, my books are popping up in school libraries all over Australia, so I’ll accept some of the blame for the parlous state of modern youth.

The thing is, I’m a firm believer in actions and consequences. If Hal is forced to ‘borrow’ a truck in one chapter, you can bet your booties he’ll regret it later. There is NO easy way out for any of my characters, EVER. Just like real life.

What are you writing now?

I’ve just dashed off yet another plot outline for Hal Spacejock 5. Every time I come up with a new plot I know THIS is the one… until I come up with the next one. I like the other plots, but they can always form the basis of book 6, or 7, or 14 …

Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?

I majored in Creative Writing at university, but despite that handicap I still maintained an interest in fiction. The problem at uni was that there were so many Serious Writers pouring their hearts and souls into passages of deep, moving prose. Handing out copies of my work for class discussion was like chucking hand grenades into a chook pen.

As for where I am now, that’s a long story. (The grotty details are on the Spacejock website, but in brief I self-published three books using my own imprint, and was literally plucked from the shelves of a local bookstore by a proper, real, honest-to-goodness publisher. The old ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ .. and it worked!)

What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?

I see the kids off to school, mess around with email & internet until two hours before they’re due home again, then do two thousand words in a right old hurry.

Where do you write?

Propped up in bed. I kill the wireless network and get on with my daily word count, safely tucked away in a quiet corner of the house. It’s relaxing, and I enjoy the familiar surroundings. Also, nobody can sneak up behind me and read the early first draft rubbish over my shoulder – it’s strictly backs-to-the-wall stuff.

What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?

Hardest? Hitting 3000 words with 92,000 to go. I have no idea where it’s going at that stage. How many months will it take me to finish? Will the deadlines trample my grave? Will I disappoint my fans?

Easiest? Hitting 3000 words with 92,000 to go. I have no idea where it’s going, and I love it! It’s going to be the best Hal book yet, I have months to work on it, and I gesture rudely at impudent deadlines.

This isn't your first book. Tell us a little bit about what else is out there?

This is the fourth book in the Hal Spacejock series, so there are three more of those for starters. In each title Hal finds new and exciting ways to destroy his business, his cargo and his reputation. Funny, too.

The books are available in stores across Australia and New Zealand, so those living elsewhere have to make do with (expensive) imports. My publisher and my agent are on the lookout for overseas rights deals, but are facing two problems:

One, US publishers aren’t sure how the UK-style humour will translate to their market. (To which I say, bugger the translation. Just print the books as-is and trust your audience. I’ve tested the books on US bloggers and readers, and none have dismissed the weird limey humour as incomprehensible.)

Two, UK publishers regard Australia as their home turf. When they publish a book in Britain, up to a third of the print run sells to Australia, so books which are already published here are far less attractive than home-grown ones.

On top of that, several US publishers indicated they’d be interested in the series if it did well in the UK first. To which I say Aaaaaarrggh! Sometimes I swear I’m living in a Monty Python sketch.

Anyway, I console myself with the thought that each Hal book, each positive review, each appearance in a bestseller list, and each additional printing of the books is jacking up the price these publishers are eventually going to pay. I’m in no hurry, but I’m not happy when I have to reply to emails from UK and US residents asking me why they can’t get Hal in their local store.

In light of this, my publisher recently agreed to release the first Hal Spacejock novel as a free ebook: http://www.spacejock.com.au/Hal1Download.html

The press release with the reasoning behind the choice of a drm-free, publicly available ebook is here: http://www.spacejock.com.au/EbookPR.html

Ordering links for the Hal Spacejock books

The bad news is that Hal Spacejock is only widely available in Australia and New Zealand. You can order the books from Amazon and Powell’s, but they’re imports and the cost of postage is high.

Because of this, Fremantle Press has put together a bundle of all four Hal Spacejock novels including worldwide postage for just A$79.80* (That’s the same price Australians pay in bookstores.) http://www.spacejock.com.au/BuyHal.html

* This price is subject to change – follow the link for details.

A Review of an Old One: TDD

Google Alerts let me now about Xyeido's review of Tall, Dark & Dead in which s/he mostly likes the book, but complains that I work too hard to fit the chapter theme into the keywords of the house. This complaint always makes me laugh because I picked the keywords AFTER I wrote the chapter. But, I'm glad s/he was paying attention enough to assume the opposite.

Robert Asprin will be "Mythed"

I just read that Robert Asprin passed away this weekend. I loved his Myth Adventure books as a teen. http://www.mythadventures.net/

Interview: Kelly McCullough

Kelly McCullough's first novel in the WebMage series, WebMage, was released by Ace in 2006 to considerable critical praise. A second, Cybermancy, followed in 2007. His newest release, CodeSpell, will be out May 27th. And a fourth book, MythOS, is slated for late May '09. His short fiction has appeared in numerous venues including Weird Tales, Writers of the Future, and Tales of the Unanticipated. His illustrated collection, The Chronicles of the Wandering Star, is part of a National Science Foundation-funded middle school science curriculum, Interactions in Physical Science.

For more information and samples of some his short stories you can check out his website: http://www.kellymccullough.com/.

Why this book? What made you want to write this story?

That's a surprisingly difficult question to answer. This is the third book of a series and certainly part of my motivation for writing it is that this is a fun world to play in and I like these characters enough to want to spend more time with them. Part of it is that I had what I thought was a fast fun plot that continued the story in a way that would be entertaining to write and to read. But probably the most important part of the equation for this book is that actions have consequences. The things that Ravirn did in books one and two have ongoing repercussions and I wanted to see how they played out and how Ravirn would have to grow to respond to them.

Which authors inspire you? Has that changed over time?

Different writers teach me different things at different times. Zelazney and Tim Powers are probably at the top of the list of writers who've affected my work most visibly, though Powers is less present in the WebMage stuff than he is in some of my other, darker work. Norton and McCaffrey and Tolkien are in my bones. Martha Wells is wonderful and so are Robin McKinley and Lois McMaster Bujold.

Why genre? Is there something special about science fiction or fantasy that draws you to write in the field?

I was pretty much raised to be a fantasy and science fiction writer, though that certainly wasn't the intent of the process. I'm a third generation fan of the genre and some of my earliest memories are of having the Lord of the Rings, Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and A Midsummer Night's Dream read to me. I learned very early to love story and genre and once I found out that I could maybe make a living by telling the sorts of stories that were told to me I was pretty much lost.

What do you find most interesting about Ravirn? Why write about this protagonist?

What I love about Ravirn is his combination of idealism and cynicism. He expects the worst of a situation but won't let that stop him from working toward a solution, even when he knows the attempt is probably doomed. That and his sense of humor. I come from a family where humor, particularly black humor and sarcasm, are fundamental coping mechanisms. Sometimes life hands you a situation where you have to laugh or cry, and given any choice in the matter I'll always pick laughter. It may not solve the problem, but it sure lightens the load.

You're a writer. What else are you? What are your interests? Hobbies?

Husband and cat-wrangler are probably at the top of the list for other self-identifiers. My wife and I are coming up on twenty fantastic years together and over that time two cats became three cats, became four cats, became five. I love to read and play video-games. I've got a Gaiman, a Pierce and a Blaylock on the active books pile and I just finished playing Portal and Drake's Fortune. I also like hiking and biking, and since it's spring, I'm at the front end of the annual garden madness.

Did you have to do any special research for this book? What did you need to know in order to write it that you didn't know before? Do you have some special preparation you do for your writing?

I didn't have to do a lot of new research for this book. After finishing two novels set in the Greek gods plus computers reality of the WebMage I have a pretty good grounding in this world, and I really only needed to touch up my memory of a couple of the myths involved in this specific story. On a more general note, I read non-fiction voraciously. I just finished a great book on plants in traditional Hawaiian culture as part of a Hawaiian history and mythology kick. I read several science and technology magazines on an ongoing basis and I'm looking around for some good references on the Canadian Maritime provinces in general and on Halifax in particular.

I see a lot of computer and programming stuff in the WebMage series. Is that something that really interests you? Or is it more driven by the needs of the story?

Mostly it's the needs of the story. I love my laptop and the web and I tend to be a technology early adopter if I can afford it, but I'm not really much for programming or hacking. While I have been immersed in computer culture from a very early age since my mother became a bug-checker when I was about ten and has been working as an analyst and programmer ever since and because I've got a lot of close friends in IT, it's not something I'm much involved in outside of writing the books.

Ravirn displays a lot of physicality, constantly getting himself into life-threatening situations and back out of them in ways that involve all sorts of death defying action. I'm guessing that's not something you the writer have an enormous amount of experience with. How do you make that convincing? Do Ravirn's solutions reflect the sort of things you might do in a similar situation?

I'm much more of a thinker than Ravirn, especially as I've gotten older, but I've got to admit to a certain amount of speaking from experience when I have him do something big and physical and stupid like climbing a building and then jumping off. It's not the sort of thing I'd do now, but when I was in my late teens and early twenties I was something of an adrenaline junkie. I was into martial arts and mountain climbing and all sorts of things that are moderately safe when done responsibly and less so when done the way I did some of them. From fifteen to twenty-two I averaged two trips to the emergency room a year, and as I've gotten older that's led to things like a couple of knee surgeries and other corrective measures.

What are you writing now?

A couple of things. I just sent off book proposals for a fifth WebMage and for two books that I would like to write as a successor series to the WebMage/Ravirn books. I've also got a YA I want to work on–the second in a series that my agent is shopping around now–because I'm in love with the story and the world. That's the main front burner stuff. But I've got five complete novels and nine proposals out with various editors and any of those could get moved up the list if they sell. I'm pretty busy at the moment, and I love it that way. There's really nothing I'd rather be doing with my life than what I'm doing right now.

How did you become a writer? Is this what you saw yourself growing up to be? Or did it take you be surprise?

Short answer: I quit theater. Longer version. I set out at the age of eleven to be an actor and was well on my way when I met the woman I would eventually marry. At that point, I realized how incompatible theater was with having a long term relationship and I went looking for something else to do. On something very like a whim I wrote my first novel and fell head over heals in love with writing. Now I can't imagine myself doing anything else.

Do you have a writing routine? Talk process for a moment, how do the words get on the page?

I write between two and eight hours a day five days a week. On a typical day I get up around eight in the morning, stagger downstairs and collect a unit of caffeine–could be soda, could be tea, it doesn't really matter since it's a delivery system. Then I hop on the treadmill and websurf and read email and the like for an hour or so. At that point I'm mostly awake and I do things like respond to the email or other writing and life maintenance tasks. That can take anything between twenty minutes and two hours. Then I write. Less than a thousand words is a bad day. More than two thousand is a good one. Oh, and, I use a laptop so that I can work where the whim takes me.

Office? Closet? Corner of the living room? Do you have a set place to write? A favorite? How does the environment you write in affect your production? Your process?

In summer I write in a second floor screen porch. It has a gorgeous view over the park that abuts our backyard, and that sort of near outdoor setting is my preferred setting for writing–I'm hoping to have a more permanent solar built to replace the porch soon. Until then, my winter office is our upstairs sitting room which gets southern light and is a pretty comfortable substitute for my screen porch.

Is there anything you especially like to work on in a book? Anything you hate?

I love world-building and plot-twisting. Figuring out how a system of magic might work and then figuring out ways to game that system fascinates me. And yes, I was a rules lawyer back in my role-playing days, why do you ask? Likewise building a plot and then coming up with ways to add twists or bits of misdirection is a joy for me. I don't really have any hates. There are things that I used to find more difficult, character chief among them, but I'm getting a steadily better handle on the whole process and I just love writing. I even love rewriting, both the sentence level stuff and the bigger more complex story edits.

This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there.

Well, primarily it's the WebMage stuff. WebMage, Cybermancy, and now CodeSpell with MythOS finished and forthcoming and a proposal in for SpellCrash after that. On the novels front, as I mentioned above, I've got five more books and nine proposals out, so that could change at any moment. I've also had a number of short stories published, including an illustrated collection as part of a big middle school physical science curriculum that's been adopted by several states. But that doesn't make an enormous amount of sense outside the classroom setting it was written for.

Do you see fiction as having a purpose? Generally? How about your own work?

Transcendence. I think that human beings need story. We need myths and legends and tales that lift us out of ourselves and that fiction supplies that need. That's another reason I do most of my work in fantasy-if I'm going to be a mythmaker for a living I might as well write the truly mythic.

Early Reviews:

CodeSpell has been getting great reviews. Publishers Weekly called CodeSpell the "taut third book in the Ravirn series" and said, "A hint of cyberpunk, a dollop of Greek mythology and a sprinkle of techno-magic bake up into an airy genre mashup. Lots of fast-paced action and romantic angst up the ante as Ravirn faces down his formidable foes." From Romantic Times four star review: "This third book featuring hacker extraordinaire Ravirn is every bit of a fast-paced, energetic, page-turner as its predecessors. Ravirn continues to be a fascinating protagonist, and the chaotic twists of the plot carry the reader through to the end."

Sales info:

Amazon:

CodeSpell
Cybermancy
WebMage

Barnes & Noble:

CodeSpell
Cybermancy
WebMage

Dreamhaven (signed copies): http://dreamhavenbooks.com/mccullough.php