Drafts delivered and a ripping good yarn
April 9, 2008
So I’m sorry that I’ve been MIA lately - between finishing edits on Powerless and watching the unbearable cuteness that is my son I have had little time to blog.
But I have been reading and man it’s a good one. The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of those door-stopper sized fantasy novels that intimidate 98 pound readers like me. But I am about 400 pages through it so far and I am loving every page. No “chosen one” farmboys here, no axe-wielding orcs and Scottish dwarves or boy wizards - just good old fashioned skullduggery! Think Ocean’s Eleven set in a fantastical Venice filled with wit and adventure. The writing is superb. The story is absolutely engrossing.
What a great read. (so far, if the ending blows I’ll find Scott Lynch and hammer him to death with this twenty-pound monster)
Kid, it’s only going to get worse
March 23, 2008
The Saloon is Open for Business!
March 22, 2008
Miracle of miracles - I left the house the other night for beers and burgers with friends. Trust me, between deadlines and dirty diapers this is an event worth marking.
To sweeten the deal, the friends were some buddies from my old writing group, The Fantastic Saloon, and I’m happy to say that the band (as they say) is getting back together.
Writing groups are a unique thing - I can’t really picture groups of painters, for example, huddling together over coffee and suggesting changes to each other’s works - “You know the yellow bit really works for me, but I just don’t buy the brushstrokes in the bottom corner there. But maybe that’s just me.”
And in New York the various groups of speculative writers have taken on a certain prestige. There are hard-to-get-into groups, boasting memberships of hot published writers and influential junior editors, as well as the countless groups of passionate unknowns.
The Saloon definitely belongs to the latter category. But just look out, because we’re taking our vitamins.
Now this is a cool idea
February 16, 2008
You might have already come across this since it’s been Boing Boinged and bounced about the blogopshere, but I think it’s cool enough to repost here:
A convention for middle-grade and YA sci-fi and fantasy only. Tamora Pierce and Julie Holderman are trying to get just such a convention off the ground, and they are looking for volunteers.
Conventions are the one place where strict genre labeling doesn’t bother me - it’s a shorthand way of people of like-interests to get together. Science Fiction and Fantasy aren’t just emerging in the young adult market - they are flourishing, and I think it would be a terrific opportunity for readers and writers alike.
So if you’re interested, click on the above link and offer to help out. I did.
A Must-Read Miscellany
February 6, 2008
I wasn’t much of a reader as a kid. I came to the skill late. I didn’t start reading for pleasure until around age ten or eleven. (It’s ironic, but not necessarily atypical for someone in my profession. )
Sorry to say that throughout much of my boyhood, books were great for building forts for my GI Joes.
Except for my World Almanac phase. Every kid has his quirks, and one of mine was a short-lived obsession with the eclectic mix-mash of trivia and lists behind the yellow cover - god how I loved lists. Still do. I carried a dog-eared and coca-cola stained copy around with me at odd times. I peppered my speech with interesting facts about the cabinet of our 22nd and 24th president, Grover Cleveland (it’s true. look it up in your almanac)
That’s why this book makes so darn happy - Schott’s Miscellany is the almanac to end all almanacs. Oceanic Dead Zones? Check. Swimming the Amazon? Check. James Bond and Drinking? Check.
I’m so tickled with this book that it has earned its own tag. So go get one and let’s exchange useless, wickedly entertaining facts and figures. C’mon, do you know the list of Geipan and Alien Sightings 2007?
Robert Jordan
September 17, 2007
Picked up from Boing Boing that Robert Jordan died today.
I guess that there will be plenty of time for reflection upon his life and his works, there will be praise and there will be respectful criticism, too (I suspect that it will be mostly praise).
For my part when I think back on the Wheel of Time series, I remember mostly the thrill of being in my early twenties and discovering the joy of high fantasy again. I picked up the second book in the series on lark - a bored summer read - and almost against my best of intentions, I was hooked.
I suspect that his unfinished opus will be regarded as one of the touchstones of a generation of fantasy writers - a writer that brought many of the faithful back to the fold. And of course his books will always be a source of intense pleasure as well as critical debate. And that, my friends, is one hell of a legacy to leave behind.
Blogging again for the first time . . .
August 11, 2007
Well it’s a start at least. I’ve tried this before and I admit that the last go-around was a bit one sided. I was distant, non-committal and would disappear for days or even weeks on end. But I’m a different person now. Honest. I’ve learned from my mistakes and I can be the blogger you deserve.
So c’mon. Let me hear you say it - You had me at ‘Blog’.
