A Week in the life of Tales to Tide You Over - 11-06-2011

Here's a week in the life of Tales to Tide You Over. I hope you find something interesting, amusing, or inspiring.

Posted on: Monday, October 31, 2011 10:30 AM
On the Eve of NaNo 2011

So, in classic form, the National Novel Writing Month (NaNo) starts tomorrow, and I feel horribly unprepared. For the last couple of years, I decided not to do NaNo only to decide at the last minute...meaning with between two weeks and a month to prepare.

This year, I decided not to bother pretending I wouldn't do NaNo, as I've done it every year since my first, whether or not I planned to.

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Posted on: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 11:02 AM
NaNo 2011 Day 1

For some reason, every November, I catch some hideous cold/sinus so I'm miserable. This year is no different with most of the day under the pressure of a severe migraine.

I stayed up to start NaNo at midnight, and managed 738 words before my headache got too strong. It was not a bad start, but took much longer than it should have because of a decision to use Scrivener for the first time. Despite...

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Posted on: Friday, November 04, 2011 10:05 AM
5 Interesting Links for 11-4-2011

A quick NaNo update:

I am just under 100 words shy of 6k, which means I'm ahead of the game, but not much. Still, the story is coming together nicely. The bad side effect of that is I'm spending time working on my outline, adding or improving the scene blurbs, instead of producing new words that count.

Archeology

The conflict between wanting to learn from the past and how that very intere...

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Reminder and Notice for New Readers

I have moved my posting activity to the blog on my site rather than maintaining an LJ and Blogger blog. I occasionally remember to crosspost, but if you want to keep up with me, please go directly to Tales to Tide You Over Blog.

For my Renovation (WorldCon) 2011 experiences, go to the Renovation Tag.

Posts since 3-26-2011

I fell a bit behind in the crossposting, so here's what you might have missed out on.

5 Interesting Links for 4-15-2011

Life

A sideways look at education that reflects the students’ skills and needs rather than a rubber stamp plan: Read the rest of this entry »

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Shotgun Bride by B.J. Daniels

I received this romance through the Tell Harlequin program where Harlequin sends out examples of their different lines to get feedback from readers. If I’d had my choice, I wouldn’t have taken this one because it is an Intrigue, the one line of Harlequins I tend not to appreciate because relationships formed under extreme pressure don’t feel like they have a chance of surviving past the last page. I am delighted that Tell Harlequin made me re-examine my thoughts about this line while introducing me to an extremely talented author.

Is Shotgun Bride an Intrigue? Absolutely. There’s a link to the criminal underground, there are secrets held that threaten to break families apart, there’s even a kidnapping and big rescue. All of these elements are standard thriller fare and need to be there for the novel to qualify in this line. However, they also connect into the story, layer upon layer woven together with the skills of a master despite the short number of pages, only 212. Read the rest of this entry »

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Interesting Links for 4-8-2011

Publishing

A tongue in cheek but completely accurate flowchart for getting published with a work of fiction:
http://www.katehart.net/2011/03/how-to-get-published-flowchart.html

Research

Juliette Wade pointed me to a YouTube channel of snippets of vanishing languages, something sure to offer those building a society around language some good ideas: Read the rest of this entry »

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More Fun with Art

I had a spare moment the other day and sketched a simple picture on my phone.

Then I used a different program on my computer to play with coloring it in.

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Interesting Links for 4-1-2011

Online Reads

Another fun story from Daily Science Fiction. L is for Luminous by Tim Pratt, Jenn Reese, Heather Shaw, and Greg van Eekhout is part of a series of alphabet stories. It’s short, funny, and poignant at the same time.
http://dailysciencefiction.com/story/tim-pratt-jenn-reese-heather-shaw-greg-van-eekhout/l-is-for-luminous

Publishing

A look at the current big events in the traditional vs. self-publishing debate that offers a decent analysis of the variety of things happening: Read the rest of this entry »

The Shadow Conspiracy II edited by Phyllis Irene Radford and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

The Shadow Conspiracy II edited by Phyllis Irene Radford and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff caught my eye in the LibraryThing Early Reader program because I’d met both the editors at BayCon (and had, in fact, heard both of them read). Between that and the steampunk theme, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity, and I am glad I didn’t.

This is a wonderful collection of eleven steampunk short stories by the following authors: Amy Sterling Casil, Judith Tarr, Irene Radford, Brenda Clough, Sue Lange, C.L. Anderson, Katharine Eliska Kimbriel, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Nancy Jane Moore, Pati Nagle, and Chris Dolley. It contains both stories set in the more traditional arena of Europe, and ones occurring in the New World and even Africa. The characters range from society darlings, to pirates, and even on to missionaries and newspaper men. The main characters are just as likely to be male as female as well (despite the inclusion of only one male author), offering rather different perspectives on the stories and environments. The stories themselves range from psychological/philosophical pieces to adventures and mysteries.
Read the rest of this entry »

Posts for the Week of 3-25-2011

Interesting Links for 3-25-2011

Have you ever had one of those weeks when you lose track of what day it is? On top of that, Forward Motion started the March Madness challenge this morning. I’m a little over 1k into a new steampunk novella. Well, better late than never, here are your interesting links.

Life

A look at sleep, needs and consequences of too little, as well as some tips for recovering from sleep deprivation:
http://talktoyouniverse.blogspot.com/2011/03/ttyu-retro-sleep-tidbits-for-characters.html

Publishing

With the Google Settlement case back in the news, I found this exploration of the events, complete with quotes from various players, to be clear and interesting: Read the rest of this entry »

Do eReaders Signal a New Life for Short Stories?

I’ve been involved in a big project for a while so my reading time has been limited. What this means regarding my Wednesday posts is that I haven’t finished the wonderful steampunk short story collection, The Shadow Conspiracy II, I’m in the middle of, so can’t very well review it. Instead, I wanted to talk a bit about eReaders and what I’m discovering as I use mine more frequently.

I’m a determined supporter of short fiction, but over the years I’ve not been much of a reader, whether online or in print. I have a number of subscriptions, but the magazines pile up with few getting a full read.

Since February 8th, I have read 3, almost 4 books. All of them have been eBooks, the longest run of eBooks vs. print so far, and with the exception of the first, they’ve all been short story collections or magazines.
Read the rest of this entry »

A Different Creativity Tool

So I now have an Android phone. I wanted it to replace my Palm, which can no longer sync with my new computer. My focus was on email, contacts, notes, and task lists (something I still having achieved because I use a local Outlook install.

What I have discovered is Zuma Blitz, various solitaires, and (of course) Angry Birds. The Palm had been a source of productivity for me as much as a distraction, and seeing as I’ve done novel notes, wrote book reviews, and even outlining using the quick office app, I can’t say my phone has not served that purpose well. I’ve yet to do a creative work, but I see that time coming soon enough.

However, I’ve discovered that “creative work” might be taking a different direction than I’d expected.

A little backstory: Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 3-4-2011

This week has a lot more entertainment than usual, though there are a few writing posts as well. Take a break, enjoy what’s below, and then maybe learn something too.

Just for Fun

Talking with my family about a TV show called Dweebs, we tried to remember the difference between a geek, nerd, or dweeb. Found this Venn diagram that explains it all:

http://laughingsquid.com/nerd-venn-diagram-geek-dork-or-dweeb/

Clearly my extracurricular Internet reading has been focused on taking breaks this week, but here’s hilarious milk commercial: Read the rest of this entry »

A catchup post

Life got a bit interesting, but I hadn't realized how far behind I'd fallen in my crossover posts. While I'm seeking a better mechanism, here's what you've missed if you don't follow my main blog on http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com/blog/:

Interesting Links for 01-14-2010
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Online Reads

This poignant story, Flower Fairies, will only be available free until the end of the week, but Kristine Kathryn Rusch is offering a fiction story for our enjoyment on her blog every Monday, with the post staying complete for one week. Click the Free Fiction Monday tag to find the latest story:
http://kriswrites.com/2011/01/10/free-fiction-monday-flower-fairies/
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The Deconstruction of Iron Man 2
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I am in the middle of reading George R.R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings, and so though I’ve read almost a normal book’s worth, I’m nowhere near done. Therefore, I thought I’d let you in on a book-related project I’ve been working on.

While my book reviews focus on my reader reactions, I often toss in a writing observation or two if I see one. Additionally, I’ve been teaching writing classes both on Forward Motion and the Muse Online Writers Conference for a while now.

Because of this, I was invited to participate in the Deconstruction Seminars, a new offering on SavvyAuthors.com. I will be deconstructing the novel Iron Man 2 by Alexander Irvine, a book I reviewed on my blog here.
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Interesting Links for 01-21-2011
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Just for Fun

This is a under 5 minute video about a boy’s imagination and where it takes him on a rainy day. Lovely little break pointed out by Lynn Viehl:
http://vimeo.com/5442611
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Thinking About Author Branding
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I was commenting on a friend’s blog post about author branding (linked below), and it got me thinking. I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you all and see what you think as readers and writers.

Since the Internet opened ways for authors to have more control of, and responsibility for, marketing their books, writers at all stages have been told to develop a brand, something that would be tied to their books in readers’ minds.

On the surface, this makes a lot of sense because you want your name or titles to come to mind whenever a particular concept is mentioned. This is what advertising attempts to do with other types of products, which has proven successful. Marketing journals often talk about how what matters is name recognition, which is why good and bad attention serves a purpose. When someone is scanning the shelves, they’re more likely to pick up the book with an author they have heard of, even if they don’t remember where or when that connection was made...
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To keep this post from getting way too long, I'll just add that there are more interesting links and a review of A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin waiting for you as well. Come on over and enjoy: http://margaretfisk.mmfcf.com/blog/

Warrior Wisewoman 3 edited by Roby James

Warrior Wisewoman 3 edited by Roby James is an anthology of science fiction stories focused around strong female characters. These characters may not be the lead, and the definition of strength is a broad one, opening the potential for a wide variety of interesting tales.

As with most anthologies, some stories resonated with me more than others, but none of the included tales jarred me, which is not always the case. A few of the stories that stood out for me (in order of appearance) are listed below, along with a note as to why with every effort to keep from spoilers.

Read the rest of this entry »

Interesting Links for 12-07-2011

This week has been a good one for discoveries, and so I bring you a broad range of areas, including a beautiful short story. I hope you enjoy them.

Anthropology

A glimpse into the death practices of an ancient city:

http://heritage-key.com/blogs/owenjarus/ancient-city-petra-tombs-reveal-61-burials-and-islamic-gold-medallion

Read the rest of this entry »

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is the book I have reread the most. It’s my comfort read, the one I turn to every five to ten years. While normally I talk about more recent books in the hopes of encouraging you to try out some new authors, or of getting suggestions of similar authors for me to try, something interesting happened while I was rereading Pride and Prejudice that I would like to explore.

First of all, I read this as an ebook. It came already installed in my Sony eReader, and I began it a while back but didn’t start seriously reading it until last month. While format can make a difference, I read a lot of books on my eReader and even on my Palm, so this isn’t a new format for me.

Okay, at this point I suspect you’re thinking I’m going to say, despite my history, that now I hate the book, but I’m done being mysterious. I enjoyed the interactions between the characters as much as I always do. I like the stilted but witty crisscross, the arrogance that gives way to self-examination, and the culture of the times. None of that changed for me.

Read the rest of this entry »