I now have two separate short stories out trying to sell themselves for me at the same time. Yes, I know it took long enough. And really, not likely to get anything for either of them. But, the effort continues.

This week I got three books:

New Warriors #13 (meh, okay)
Runaways #30 (My pick of the week, some interesting tweaks to the status quo)
Secret Invasion Runaways/Young Avengers #1 (reasonably fun)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

I also noticed the bookstore I got my giftcards at for my birthday/xmas was having a 'buy 3 books, get the 4th free'... not _that_ great a deal, but still, better than nothing. So I used up one of them and got:
Queen of Mazes, by Karl Schroeder
A Meeting at Corvallis by S.M. Stirling
Iron Sunrise, by Charles Stross
and
Camouflage, by Joe Haldeman (Nebula Award Winner).

Work was okay, but a bit later than usual and so got home later than I'd like, both hot, tired (from the long walk), and hungry (I wanted to stop at a Taco Bell and see if I could take advantage of Phillip Ontakos, but alas, none is ever in my path when I need one. :P). However, on the way home I did pass a strip club with "Hulk was filmed here" on the marquee (outside). You can see the one in the trailer, when the two monsters are rushing each other in the streets and you see a big Zanzibar sign in the background. I just found it was amusing that they were advertising that.

In other news, I'm reasonably pleased with myself writing wise this month. Not only have I met my writing quotas for on-weeks, but I've also _edited_ a significant amount on my off-weeks. Pretty much every day this month that would have been a writing day on an on-week has become an editing day on an off-week. Okay, sure, I may not have done as much as I would have liked on each day, but I've done a chunk that I can at least be mildly pleased with. So yay me. I think I'm also getting a little better at identifying exactly what about particular passages that doesn't sound right - before it was usually sort of a vague unease, that the words didn't flow as I wanted them to, but wasn't sure exactly what to fix. So I think I'm getting a little better at it. Yay me x2.

In TV news, well, there's Doctor Who, and... well, unlike a lot of people on my flist, I didn't much care for the latest episode. Like a lot of RTD's work, it was only okay. Well-acted, certainly. A few good moments, undoubtably. But on the whole it didn't do much for me - the basic plot has been used many times in SF (and even non SF) and, really, not done terribly innovatively here. The reason why it happened (both the sci-fi reason and the more human reason behind the title) didn't reall work well for me, nor did I see why certain elements of the resolution should work (which seemed to boil down to 'just because we need that'). There's also a lot in the episode that, because it's a tease for big events that the finale will handle, I have to hold in abeyance before I decide whether they were handled well or terribly in this episode. Midnight was much better.

Also watched the S5 premiere of Stargate Atlantis, which I watched early by... let's say 'magic'. It was also okay, but a little more on the enjoyable side. Kind of a lot there that I expected to happen, but Stargate's the kind of show that it's fun to follow along even with that. Still, one thing really bugged me (fairly minor spoiler, but cut anyway) ( Read more... )

Oh, and a teaser from Doctor Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog (the Joss Whedon mini-musical with Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris), if you haven't seen it yet.

I did a Sci-Fi friending meme a while back, and got some new friends out of it. So, welcome! Maybe I'll try to do one of those intro memes going around in the next little while. One thing you should probably know is I occasionally do big random post full of whatever comes to mind, with few segues.

Done another writing cycle... still working on the same longer story I was doing so last time, and still doing well with it, know generally where I'm going, so that's a relief. It's still pretty rough, of course, but I'm having fun with it.

I hate when ads answer questions I never asked. On the way to work I pass a place where there's a big sign in the window saying, "Yes, we have lemon tarts!" That's a little presumptuous of them, don't you think? How do they know what question I'm asking? Maybe it's "Do you have anything that I can break into your store and steal without you getting mad or pressing charges?"

Speaking of ads, whenever I see a dating website commercial that shows a couple happily in love, I always try to find myself imagining which of them will snap and attempt to kill the other first. Have I become too cynical?

In TV, what's been new? BSG and Doctor Who! (Hey, that's a poem and I didn't know 'em!)
BSG was somewhat disappointing, all in all, both all this year and, to a lesser extent, the finale. It wasn't bad, just, kinda meh. We'll have to see where it goes. I'm still thinking they jumped the shark with the Final Four. I get the impression they got too enamored with OMG COOL NEW IDEAs at some point that they dropped the ball on their previous ongoing plots and won't be able to tie everything up in a fundamentally satisfying way.

Doctor Who, though, wow, that actually turned in a good episode by RTD. Surprising, because his are the episodes that I usually dislike quite a bit, even if I like elements of them. This one, although it had a few rough spots, was overall very well done. (My main problem is that I thought the reactions turned a bit too extreme _too_ fast, at least without invoking alien paranoia-rays), and I don't think I have any reservations in calling it one of RTD's best. And, for that matter, possibly one of the best of the season.

I saw a trailer for the US version of Life on Mars. I didn't really plan on watching it, but was just curious. Now, one of the big rumors is that they're going to redo the whole pilot and recast everybody except the star. Based on the trailer? Wow, I'm hoping the rumor is the exact opposite. Because I can see everything else working in a kitschy sort of way, but the star is _so_ flat. And you do not mess with Colm Meany. You recast something to _get_ Colm Meany, not to get rid of him. Anyway, I probably still won't watch it, regardless of recasting, unless nothing else is on when it premieres, but it's the principle of the thing.

You know you're a comics geek when anytime someone starts talking about 'green living', you instantly suspect them of being Skrulls (or Green Martian, I suppose, for DC fans).

1. What creative things are you doing?
Well, I write, mostly. Almost exclusively SF. Often I find myself including Artificial Intelligence as a major theme (or a minor one), and I also seem to enjoy writing characters who are particularly flawed and dysfunctional in one way.
Mostly I write short stories, although there are a few novel like works in progress. I find for some reason when I write novel-length I'm usually writing them in a Young Adult style (or outright children). I don't know why, maybe it lets me look past my own perceived flaws since I'm imaginging my audience not being _as_ picky, or maybe I just find children/teens better characters because I was a functional child/teen once but never managed to become a functioning adult. ;). Or maybe it's my comic background, and the type of ideas I want to explore novel-length are more along the lines of the adolescent fantasies.

Anyway, right at this moment in writing I'm mostly working on a novel-length.

For fun, once in a while, privately I also adapt (or plot to adapt), which is similar to writing but I find uses a slightly different creative muscle. More working out problems and economizing not just space, but key moments, emotion, etc.

I also do occasional other things like icons, though not as much as I used to.

2. What motivates or enables you to get them done?
Enjoyment, to a degree. Desire to make a living off it. More specifically, I write to a specific schedule. Right now it's 8000 words every other week (writing 2000 a day for each non-work day). So in the rough moments, when it's hard to write, knowing I've got a break coming as soon as I finish helps, and trying to keep to a schedule gets me writing even when I don't want to, usually.

3. What creative things do you want to be doing, but aren't?
I'd like to be doing _more_ writing. In addition to my own stuff, I'd kind of like to work a little more on writing things like comics, cartoons, tv shows, and/or movies. (Well, scripts for such, since I'm unlikely to be able to do it for myself).

4. What stops you from doing them?
Laziness, in part, and I get burned out working, even writing, straight without a break. Also lack of self-confidence. I think that if I could be convinced that what I was writing wasn't complete drek, I might find the energy to do it more. Unfortunately only some level of success might help with that.

5. Are you distressed at the thought of the things you aren't doing? Why or why not? If yes, how do you deal with this distress?
A little distressed that I'm not writing more. I'm not so distressed that I'm not writing the particular things I'd like to work more on - I've made my choice of what to do with my available energy and I'm not disappointed with that, but I do, as written above, feel I should have more energy for writing. How do I deal with it? I dunno, I just keep going with what I'm doing.



From writing onto reading, it's time for Book Foo!

Finished: The Sky People, by S.M. Stirling
Started: Otherland Vol 4: Sea of Silver Light by Tad Williams

Sky People review under the cut. Some mild spoilers. Short version: Meh.

( Read more... )


Finished: The Number of the Beast, by Robert A. Heinlein
Started: A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

NotB review under cut. Some spoilers. Short review: Oh, Heinlein, how you lost your touch in later years.
( Read more... )

(Last thing under a WIDW tag was a Doctor Who one that I never officially counted even if it sort of applies, so I'll call this #16)

Time for another edition of What I'd Do With... Yes, it's been quite a while since I've done one of these, mostly because I've been doing much more actual writing in the last year or so. But I still get WIDW type urges, and this time I thought I'd try something different, and to make up for the long absence, something a little more intensive than I usually do.

WIDW a movie about Marvel Comics Thor (actually, sort of WIDW a movie and its sequel)...
The why: ( Read more... )

The what: An actual script for my proposed Thor movie (albeit still in something of a rough form, I got to a point where I just wanted to get it done and didn't throw in my best work).

If that's too long for you, here's the summary-in-words:
( Read more... )

Rough thoughts about a sequel, in which I decided to include a character normally known to be in the X-Universe, and a classic Thor moment, and even a tiny bit of thoughts on the third movie: ( Read more... )

So, that's it. Comments welcome.

You can get to all my WIDWs here.

Well, I should have gotten to it a lot earlier, but I wasn't able to work up to editing as much as I'd like. Bad time of the year motivation-wise. But, I'm back. I sent the rejected story off to another magazine for attempted publishing, and completed editing of another story... alas, my other place that allows online submissions is closed for 2 months (sadly if I managed to get it done yesterday I would have squeaked by, but oh well), so I'll have to look for another that works with online submissions and accepts my word lengths. There are a couple options but I have to look into specifics, and, well, I've only got so much of a motivation-store per day, and I've already used up today's finishing up editing and sending one of them off. So I'll look into the specifics later. Or if things don't turn out so well on the specifics, just wait the two months.

Anyway, I'm still not expecting much, but at least it's an effort.

So let's start with the TV, shall we? Doctor Who was a better episode this week with a trip to the past, and Donna's doing a good job as the Doctor's Companion. Though I do kind of wish we'd get a story set in a historical time period that _doesn't_ deal with some alien plot to destroy or take over the world, or really deal with aliens at all. I know they're the bread and butter of Who, but I'd like to see one that _just_ dealt with the history, with some of the drama being involved in being swept up in events, maybe being killed in the middle of a war, etc. Hell, I'd kind of like the same in a future story too. BSG also worked out better, with some odd developments on the cylons that were kind of cool, but (minor spoilers ahead) ( Read more... )

In other news about the old Televisual system, Amy Acker has joined the cast of Whedon's Dollhouse, so there's another alum of his old shows. You know when he finds someone he likes he likes using them again. There's still no official word on the renewal of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but TV guide lists it as a 9 on "chances to return out of 1-10" and pointed out that apparently they've been adding to the production staff, so that's good to hear. I just wish they'd make it official. John Shiban's taking up a showrunning position on another series (Wizard's First Rule) which I suspect means he may be leaving Supernatural or having less of an involvement, which I only mention because there are some SN fans on my flist who might be interested. Also Ron Moore and Michael Taylor (of BSG) have a SF pilot greenlit for FOX. Let's hope it works out better than their last series, the Bionic Woman. Here's how it, Virtuality, is described: "(A) sci-fi drama which follows 12 astronauts who are sent on a 10-year journey to find a distant solar system. The explorers pass the time by hooking up to advanced virtual reality modules to explore self-created worlds. But they discover someone has downloaded a computer bug into the system -- and one of them may be the saboteur." You know, I kind of dig the description? It sounds like they're making it a Slower-Than-Light travel SF series, which is good, and as long as the virtual reality element is handled well it could be quite cool. I'm in for it. I know a lot of people don't bother with FOX because they cancel stuff, but if you ask me, that attitude's just dumb and liable to get more stuff cancelled. They want a hit as much as anyone and they as a network seem to _try_ a lot more for SF than many of the other ones, who only attempt it when another network has hit big with one. Anyway, rant over. Moving on.

Writing-wise, I'm on another writing cycle, although I was actually working on a fair bit of free-writing during my off-cycle, so it doesn't seem like much. It's going okay I guess, still a bit slogging and still don't have the whole excitment about writing back yet, and though I still have decent ideas for the SFnal aspects of a story, the more basic plots sometimes elude me. However, last week I did make some good progress on a story (a sequel, or at least set in the same universe but much later, to one I finished and was quite pleased with a while ago). In the process, I wound up wroting my first male/male sexual relationship. ( Read more... )

I think the lack of writing excitement probably signals I haven't entirely pulled out of my winter depression, despite it being spring. I still feel a bit hopeless, which while a realistic outlook doesn't help me get up and moving like I'd want. Helping to mitigate it though is that I've been a bit more into chatting with a new group. No offense to the other people I chat with, but, well, you suck! No, no, you don't suck, it's just there is something sort of ego-stroking about talking to a new group of people who you haven't already told your best jokes to. ;) This is actually the remnants of the old BKV online forum who since migrated to a new one after he closed it, where we also set up a chat room.

Anyway, what else is else? Oh yes, Book Foo.

Finished: Look to Windward, by Iain M. Banks
Started: Ventus, by Karl Shroeder

Look to Windward is another Culture novel, and the last of them I'll be reading for a while (since it's the last I've got right now). It wasn't bad, but not my favorite of them.
( Read more... )

Ventus is a first SF novel by a Toronto writer, looking like it's a nice big idea novel, and it's pretty hefty.

Finished: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling
Started: Otherland, Vol 3: Mountain of Black Glass, by Tad Williams

Thoughts on OotP behind cut. Short version, not bad, but some elements rankle.
( Read more... )

So, I watched Stargate: Ark of Truth. Thoughts behind cut, some spoilers.
( Read more... )

That wraps up most of what I watch for the next little while, until BSG starts and Doctor Who shortly after that. Lost's still ongoing for a couple more weeks. It's been better than last year, since they've decided on a course to actually finish up the series. Up and down. The Desmond ep was the best so far this year I think.

Watching Serenity on Space now.

Book Foo:
Finished: Excession, by Iain M. Banks
Started: Use of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks

Thoughts on Excession (and a quote from it) behind the cut, non-spoilery. Generally liked it.
( Read more... )

Finished: Reflex, by Steven Gould (sequel to Jumper) (reread)
Still reading: Otherland, Vol 2: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams

Brief thoughts on Reflex behind the cut. Not really spoilery.
( Read more... )

Haven't been writing very much, have been trying to do some editing, but have been in a real funk lately and haven't felt much like doing _anything_. Oddly enough I've had some decent ideas for writing, just when it comes right down to it I have trouble forcing myself to. Still hoping my depression tapers off before the end of March like it often does. Oh well, keep trying, the only way to go.

Weird short story idea my mind woke up working on furiously. Can't remember having the idea, just working on it, maybe dreamed it and woke up to work on it, maybe thought of it and sort of drifted in and out of dream. Probably unsalvagable in any event, but writing it down just in case.

The cast of Corner Gas in the middle of a technological singularity.

Probably old hat since it's been boingboinged, but... Ever watch a zombie movie and wonder, "Hey, in the midst of this zombie apocalypse, I wonder how beloved magicians Penn and Teller are faring?"... Well, here's your answer.

In other news, feeling pretty low on motivation all around lately. I'd have hoped I'd pull out of my winter depression by now, but it's still going on. Anyway, despite that I've still managed to do some editing on writing. Also word comes that I may be able to get a free, secondhanded printer in the next little while, so that helps too, lets me expand my submission range.

Other computer's still running but I haven't tried to reboot and I occasionally hear odd sounds from the HD so I suspect it may only be a temporary reprieve from death, unfortunately.

Got a call today that the truck would be late tomorrow. Except the last 3 times I've gotten such a call for Monday it was followed up on the actual Monday with a call at the regular time saying it was there and where was I (combined with the driver having no idea about it even being thought to be late). So I'm not getting my hopes up to it.

In media... Atlantis finale was okay, but not as cool as I'd hoped. Still, only a couple months till the next ep, and pretty soon SG1 movie. Supernatural's renewed for another season, probably not a big surprise, but nice to hear. Still waiting on word on Terminator. Caught the new Spidey cartoon. Not bad, weird mix of Ultimate and regular continuity elements, a couple annoying voice actors, but worth a look. Wolverine and the X-Men's still a year away though, so it'll have to do me until then for comic cartoons. Comicbookresources has been doing a feature on the cast of Paul Cornell's Captain Britain and MI-13 comic series... unfortunately only Wisdom and John the Skrull really appeal to me, but we'll see, maybe I'll like the new char or some of the older ones I've not liked much before.

Ah well, enough for now.

So, the latest in a series of annoyances, mostly minor with a few slightly less minor of the past week, the latest cuts in the universe's quest for 1000...

Yesterday, I woke up at 4:30am as usual to get ready and go to work, showed up at 6... and waited more than 3 and a half hours for the truck to arrive. It was apparently, running late. Then, after getting home, wanting to relax a bit before making up some sleep, I turn on my computers and... discover that one of them won't boot up. Apparently something in the HD died, or the whole HD died, I'm not sure yet. I didn't lose anything vital at least - most of my writing is here on this one, and most of the important stuff on the other computer I backed up here (and vice versa, cause I'm paranoid). Assuming the data's unrecoverable (I don't know at this point, but there's not enough there important to bother with trying to take it somewhere professional to do it, so if I can't get at it myself, it is), I think I lost a couple scripts I was working on, but those were more experimental/goofball than anything else, and the rest is all stuff I can easily (well, somewhat easily) download again, it'd just be a pain to get everything as I wanted it. The main problem is that it is my faster computer so until I get a new HD to run it off and install an OS on it, I can't watch movies (or even video clips, really). So bah. Bah I say. I mean granted right now all there is is SG:A's finale, but in the next little while will be a couple things that I won't be able to get on TV and I would rely on downloading to get my fix.

Anyway, let's get some Book Foo out of the way.
Finished: The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman (reread)
Started: Excession, by Iain M. Banks

I've already read FW many times so no detailed comments.

Finished: Jumper, by Steven Gould (reread x15ish)
Started: Otherland, Vol 2: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams

My only comments on Jumper is to reiterate: waaaaay better than the movie.

ETA: Yay! Thanks to some magic disk utils on CD my brother had on him, I was able to get the drive to boot up again and all seems to be running. It's too early to say if it's a permanent fix, but it works for now and everything seems to be there. Now to find SGA

Oh well. I was doing my best not to get my hopes up, and I can't say I was surprised. Still hurts though, of course, to finally get confirmation. But, the only hope is to press on.

Done another writing cycle, and a little early. It's a bit odd, because there were two things I complained about this week: 1) I didn't have any new ideas I was particularly interested in so I was probably going to have to force the writing on older stuff, and 2) Most of my writing tended to be a little longer in word count than most magazines are interested in. However, I not only worked completely on new stuff, I also finished a story in just a smidge over 3000 words. Yay me! (The other thing I worked on was a little forced-writing though).

It's a bit odd how the finishing one worked, too. Because of 1), while I was on the way to work one day, I said to myself, "Self, you need a new idea to write. Expand your horizons." Okay, I didn't actually say it in those words, but that was the gist of the thought. So I decided I'd experiment. I'd try to come up with the silliest idea I could think of in the next few seconds, and see if I could build a story about it. And I thought of a silly idea very quickly, and thought about it, and thought of a way it might not be totally silly after all. Now, of course, that was just the 'science fictional' germ of an idea. I didn't have anything else, nor know exactly what to build a story around. So when it came time to write, I basically just started with two simple character ideas and no idea where I was going. That's usually not a recipe for great writing for me, but in this case, it worked spectacularly. It was one of those beautiful writerly moments where the story revealed itself to me more or less naturally as I was writing it, to the point where I actually had a point where I essentially went, "Holy crap, (so and so is happening behind the scenes) and this is the story of how the narrator (first person) learns about it." So I was able to finish it up pretty easily. It wasn't a complex story, maybe a little obvious, but I'm rather pleased with it all the same. Oh, it still sucks and needs a great deal of revision, but it sucks less than much of my other work and I may try to polish it up and send it off next when my other story gets rejected.

I've mentioned many times my nostalgic love of the old Canadian TVO program "Prisoners of Gravity". It was a show where the host would interview various creators of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Comics. It's a bit kitschy (see the opening cartoon) but holds a dear place in my thought and have always thought more people should know about it. Well, I happened to do a search again and to my surprise, at least a few episodes now appear to be up on Youtube. Only 4 so far, alas. But, I've been watching them this afternoon, and I share! If you're a fan of written SF in particular, watch (each link's about 10 minutes in length)!

Amnesia/Total Recall: An episode devoted to how the loss of memory or perfect memory is dealt with in various spec-fic.

Part 1: David Cronenburg talks about his attempt to write the adaptation of We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (what eventually became Total Recall), Walter John Williams talks about Voice of the Whirlwind, C.J. Cherryh about memory, particularly in Heavy Time, Harry Harrison on The Turing Option.
Part 2: Pat Cadigan on Fools, and Korsikov's Syndrome. Nancy Kress on Brain Rose, Kim Antieau on "Another Country", Samuel R. Delany on Dhalgren
Part 3 (the eidetic memory part): Ray Bradbury on his own claimed eidetic memory, Megan Lindholm on Alien Earth,
Terry Pratchett on Small Gods

(other links/summaries will be behind the cut to save flists)
The Tolkien episode: Different fantasy authors/comics creators/artists talk about Tolkien's influence on them and the field in general. ( Read more... ), Science and Technology, pros, cons, definitions of SF and fantasy, science vs magic, other views, etc: ( Read more... ), Writers talk about Fans and Fandom: ( Read more... )
And it's not a whole ep, just to complete the youtube collection, here's a clip from PoG of Alan Moore and Steve Bissett talking about Swamp Thing and Metamorphosis in comics in general
Not my favorite of the episodes (though the Amnesia one I quite liked, and the second part of the fans one with Ellison and Gaiman was pretty cool), but still a blast from the past. I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I really wish there was a show like this now.

This week I got three books:

Runaways #29 (okay, but the delays really kill the book and I'm disappointed on something missing)
Ultimate X-Men #91 (interesting, Kirkman manages to make Apocalypse more threatening than the 616 version)

and from last week,
X-Factor #28 (good, David's almost good enough to make me not care about how much I dislike the X-books now)

Full review as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

WOrk wasn't bad. The walk to the comic store however, was a bit painful. My shoes need replacing and walking in them right now's a bit uncomfortable. By the end of the 2.5 hour walk my left foot was sore as hell, and I was limping through most of it. Ah well.

Writing cycle starts again tomorrow, and I'm a bit dismayed that I'm not really excited about any ideas to be working on. I was thinking of trying to go out of my comfort zone and try to write something actiony or maybe horror, but no ideas really presented themselves. I suspect it's part of the whole winter depression things. Ideas don't come as easy. So it looks like it'll be another cycle of forcing things.

In non-cycle related news, I've recently become interested in an old project of mine, a comic idea I wrote the first 5 pages of for a Writer's Workshop Segment. I kinda had the idea of expanding it into a full comic script, and am sort of working on ideas to make it happen. But because such things don't really have a word count I have to work on it in my free time and not part of a cycle.

So, posting a bunch of random stuff again...

Is it just me or does "Vantage Point" look like on of those crappy "go through the same story from different people's points of view" type plots that every TV series in existence eventually does one episode based on the concept if they last long enough. If so, isn't that, as a movie plot, in the 'done to death' category?

Speaking of movies, the more I see commercials for Jumper the more I'm convinced I'm going to be disappointed in how much they changed from the book, to make it worse. It's kinda killed off my interest in seeing it.

It should be come as no surprise to my flist that I'm a man who shuns reality and lives deeply in fantasy. When I'm not watching TV or movies (which are often fantastical or SF in nature), I'm often working out story ideas or SF concepts in my head, or daydreaming around a SFish concept in a Walter Mitty way. These daydreams go back and forth, certain ones repeat every once in a while after a break, sometimes I do several different ones in a day. Lately though I've been stuck on the last man on Earth scenario. ( Read more... )

Looks like the Writer's Strike may be winding down. Yay. Hope it lasts past the initial 'back to work while we vote on the actual deal' and hope it's a good deal for them, since they deserve it. Edit to add: They officially voted to end the strike, at least until they have a chance to review and vote on the deal. So writers are back to work tomorrow.

Speaking of writing, done a writing cycle. Started a new story and managed to finish it... except I hate it. I still like the idea, and maybe one or two of the beats, but I don't like how it turned out and if I want to use it I'll probably have to write it all over again from scratch. And I'm not even sure how I'd start. So, kind of a good news bad news situation. Oh well.

I've been feeling a little iffy for the last week or so. It's odd, sometimes I feel fine, but often at some point during the day I feel dizzy and very very slightly nauseous. It's irritating, but I suppose it's better than being actually sick. Although sometimes I wish sickness would come and get it over with rather than these shadows of it coming and going regularly.

One of the few forums I hang out at closed suddenly. Most of the people knew it was coming (though not quite so suddenly) and so there's a backup getting in place for the people who hang there, but still, end of an era, of sorts.

Doctor Who Fandom Meme/Survey, stolen from locker_monster.. ( Read more... )

Thoughts on yesterday's Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Slightly spoilery, also with an answer from one of the producers that some Terminator fans have wondered about since the second episode about a potential 'mistake'. ( Read more... )

Finally to end on a random note completely different from all the rest, I have been craving spiciness lately a lot more than usual (I always enjoy it). Also, I've been craving trying something _different_ than all the usual stuff I try. I am considering getting a bottle of Jerk BBQ sauce when my current BBQ sauce of choice (chipotle) runs out, to perhaps satisfy a little of both at once.

Well, I've done it. Having abandoned a short story (in the sense of 'no work is ever finished, merely abandoned'), it was time to take the plunge, risk my fear of judgement. I sent off a short story to attempt to sell it. Because I don't have a printer, my choices were limited to places that accept online submissions (otherwise I would have had excuses to procrastinate to infinity), but it is still considered a professional market.

I'm not getting my hopes up. It sucks, and it's my second try (I did submit something when I was in my late teens, and that was also deservedly rejected), but since I'm probably always going to think my work sucks, it will at least be better practice for beating the anxiety of actually going through with it, so that if in the future my work does not suck I won't hold off on that basis, despite my fear of judgement. And anyway, I decided back in December that I would start submitting this year, and so here I am. I should hear back within 2 months.

In the meantime, (or the memetime), here's that meme that's going about:

YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST, I would like to know 37 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine ... You're on my list, so I want to know you better!

( Read more... )

This week I got two books:

Avengers: The Initiative #9 (okay but felt a bit pointless at times)
Ultimate X-Men #90 (my Pick of the Week, the major developments here at least felt like they had something of a point)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

I also picked up, at the used bookstore, Woken Furies, by Richard Morgan (last book of the Kovacs series), and Otherland, Volume 2: River of Blue Fire by Tad Williams.

Work was okay, came fairly early actually and wasn't too heavy, although the usual annoyances due to the renovations.

Since I had comics I did the full walk around, which was even more painful this time around because of the horrid windchill. Now, granted, it wasn't as bad as it's been in some parts of the country (-50, man), but it was pretty annoying for a 2 hour walk,
and particularly since it seemed to follow me around and blow in my face no matter which way I was walking. For a good portion of it I had to don my vigilante identity, the Red Toque again, pull it down entirely over my face, hook it under my chin, and walk around like that. If my book was smaller I would have tried to read while walking while having a toque over my eyes, just to freak people out.

Also on the walk, I did have an interesting idea I'm going to have to play with somehow. Sort of a superhero/team concept, inspired a tiny bit by a novel I read as a young kid and now can't remember anything but the base premise of it. Unfortunately if I mention the premise I'll possibly have given away the idea, so I'm going to keep it to myself a bit until I decide what to do with it.

Things I saw on the walk home: A poster of an Ood, from Doctor Who, just lying there on the ground. I almost picked it up, but it was really frayed around the edges.

And, posted just for the sheer wtfishness of it, some Dream Foo! ( Read more... )

And now, delicious cake.

Stupid State of the Union, making TV suck tonight. Of all the things Bush is to blame for, this is the worst. Well, okay, maybe not the worst, but it's annoying me right now.

Anyway, some stuff... lets see, we had Stargate over the weekend, but it was a total filler ep.

And in a bit of Canadiana of interest to probably nobody except me... I must have not been paying attention to the news, because I only just recently noticed that Space, Canada's science fiction cable channel, is now owned by CTV, when it used to be affiliated with CityTV. ( Read more... )

Writing cycle's over, ahead of schedule because, yay, I finished another story. It was a much older one. I actually thought I finished it earlier but when I went back to do some editing I remembered that I didn't. I had decided in broad strokes where to finish it, but the nitty gritty wasn't actually written, and there were many details that needed to be worked out. So I worked on that most of the time, and managed to get it finished. It'll be a pain to edit though, even more than normal. ( Read more... )

And from my writing to someone else's, Book Foo!
Finished: The Depths of Time, by Roger MacBride Allen
Started: Superluminal by Vonda McIntyre

Thoughts on DoT behind the cut, conceptual spoilers and other stuff behind the cut. In short, I didn't care much for it.
( Read more... )

This week I got one book:

Astonishing X-Men #24 (okay but this last arc's not worth the waiting)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Work was a pain. Late, and due to renovations it's a more annoying job even though the load's lighter.

Almost took the subway home (from the comic shop, anyway), due more to lateness than any tiredness, but I decided to press on. I'll need the fitness if I ever go on the long walk. Speaking of walking, did help me develop some ideas... unfortunately, they're mostly ideas for the story I'm editing now. Which is good in one level, since the story involves rapid technological progress and I was needing to add more tech stuff to the background, but I worry the story might already be getting too bloated as it is. Maybe the story's beyond my capabilities to tell well at this point, but oh well. And of course, it's a problem because that story's in the editing stage, and since tomorrow is the start of another writing cycle I need either completely new stuff to work on, or new ideas for older stuff, and I didn't get much of those. Ah well.

Also on the walk home, I wanted to check the time, and I saw a phone booth, which usually displays it. Except when I got there, it said, "Please hang up receiver". So I did. And then it immediately changed to "Please pick up receiver." No. Just because I do you a favour, doesn't mean I'm your little puppetmonkey. Make up your mind. Anyway, then it put the time up.

On other fronts, I'm still enjoying the Sarah Connor Chronicles quite a bit. It's going in directions I don't expect, which is often a good thing (though I still hope it goes in a couple directions I expect). And bonus points for a mention of the Singularity.

And, I suppose I should mention something about Heath Ledger. I'm not a particular fan of his -- by which I don't mean that I had any dislike for him whatsoever, just that I haven't _seen_ a whole lot he's been in. The only real connection I had to him, aside from looking forward to his role as the Joker, was that I used him as the character model/actor for Scuzz on XET. So it does hit me a _little_ more than any other actor that I don't have a particular connection to, so it was something of a shock. I think I actually said "Holy crap" when I heard it on the news. And of course, mostly, it's a tragedy for his family. Must be hard for them, especially with him being fairly young (he's actually younger than me, though I wouldn't have guessed), and him having a young daughter. I wish the best for them in the times ahead.

First new comic day in a couple weeks. This week I got one book:

New Warriors #8 (okay, still annoyed at too many characters looking alike)

Full reviews as usual at my comic reviews site for anyone interested.

Work was okay, but new drivers and so they arrived a bit later than usual and the load was heavier. Ah well.

The long walk wasn't bad, though. I just came off a writing cycle. Met my full quota, but I think I'm going to have to throw out about half of it. I worked on 3 stories. One, the one I wrote the most on, is more or less okay, but I still have to decide where I'm going with it and how to finish it. One of the others I need to revise drastically as I finally decided who the viewpoint character needed to be - I sort of wrote it with some kind of vague guy in mind as is, and it won't work. The third, well, there was something that wasn't clicking with it, and on the walk today I figured out what it is. ( Read more... )

So, Sarah Connor Chronicles. Episode One was similar to the pilot I saw, luckily. They changed a bit but not what I feared they'd change. The only big disappointment was the recasting of one of the characters - I liked the old actor much better. Second ep kept up the plot very well. I'm enjoying the show and glad it's done decently in the ratings. It's not perfect - there are a few potentially big glitches in the concept and the couple eps we saw, not to mention that you have to shut your brain off anytime they mention a timeline that's in any way supposed to match with the movies because it just doesn't no matter how much you try. Treat it as an alternate universe or rebooting where that much makes sense. But it's enjoyable, and love seeing Summer Glau active again.

Really not much to say lately, but a couple random things...

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is tonight. At least the pilot is, which I've already seen, but let's face it, until the strike's over TV's mostly going to be a dead zone from now on (except a few series burning off their last couple of episodes), so I might as well watch it again. I'm really looking forward to seeing the next ep, tomorrow. I made some icons of the first ep months ago, I'll probably post them on my master icon page after it airs.

I actually watched T3 last night, again. For some reason when the Terminator movies are on, any of them, if there's nothing else pressing on I'll usually watch them. Now, I know T3 was roundly hated by most T-fans, and I do think it was far inferior to T2, but I find it has a certain charm to it, despite its big flaws. (spoilers, including for the ending)
( Read more... )

Some Book Foo...
Finished: The Paradox of the Sets, by Brian Stableford
Started: The Depths of Time by Roger McBride Allen

( Read more... )

Also saw Stargate Atlantis... decent episode, a bit predictable at times (I could see plot points being set up for later). Good to see them doing something with that character. Heh, the badguys thought of the same plan from the last episode that I did, although that doesn't totally excuse the goodguys not thinking of it.

And a few memes:

A couple survey memes from firefox27, probably already done them, but why not again... One Word Meme and Layers of Me
( Read more... )

Stolen from kissingdaylight...

The Mayfly Project
Sum up 2007 in 24 words:

Much the same as 2006, with more writing. Tried NaNo for the first time, finished halfway through November. Moved once, was hell. Otherwise stable.

Speaking of Nano, I'm in my first writing cycle since before NaNo started (since I take December off from writing to the numbers, and NaNo was a single project). Not going too bad... it's been a little harder to get going but I'm still on schedule for each day's work. Working on two different short stories, while tossing ideas around for a third that has an amusing concept but I'm not sure where to work a story around it yet. Unfortunately I'm near to running out of steam on both the other two stories, so I might have to turn back to older work until I figure out exactly where I'm going with them, what the perfect ending is, etc, else I'll just be writing dross.

So, this weekend I've been focusing on editing, trying to bang into better shape a short story I finished a while ago. I'm still relatively unskilled in editing. It's usually one of the things I never get around to once the story is finished. In a few cases (like workshop entries), I give it a couple cursory passes, usually correcting problems I noticed while writing. This time I'm trying to be a little more systematic. ( Read more... )

Anyway, some memes.
Go to the Wikipedia home page and click random article. That is your band's name.
Click random article again. That is your album name.
Click random article 15 more times. Those are the tracks on your album.


Band Name: Guru Muni Narayana Prasad
Album Name Spinal moblization (which I guess means it's dancable, or the title is ironic)

Tracks: (and my commentary about them) ( Read more... )

Stolen from just about everybody! Take the first sentence (or two, or three, or however many it takes to make sense) from the first post of each month this year. Voila! - your Year In Review:

( Read more... )

Fan Explanations!

I consider myself knowledgeable about most of my fandoms. So, if there's ever anything you wanted to know about the universe or story of one of them, whether it's a serious or tongue-in-cheek question, ask! Maybe you want to know why the aliens in Stargate all speak English, or where the Doctor got his sonic screwdriver. If I know the answer, I'll answer it. If I don't, I'll make one up to the best of my ability to sound convincing.

Note: Because this involves making things up, I'll only answer questions about in universe matters. So I'll answer a question about why a character left, but not why the actor did.

Just a bunch of random stuff. Some segues inserted for your protection.

TVwise we're getting very close to the TV Dead Zone, with nothing new going on. There'll still be Atlantis for a while (and had a pretty good episode this week... yay for Canadian references!), but the strike will cut out most things, if it hasn't already (which it has for many). Brief thoughts on this season? A bit weak. Heroes has had its ups and downs (last ep was a down, hopefully it'll end on an up). GA continues to annoy me more than make me enjoy it. Pushing Daisies has been nice. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starts in another month or so.

2 For 1 Book Foo...

Finished: The Atrocity Archives, by Charles Stross
Started: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks

Thoughts on Atrocity Archives behind the cut. Minor conceptual spoilers. Short version: Not bad, but not my favorite Stross and not my style of take on mythosy stuff, so a bit disappointing. ( Read more... )

Finished: Altered Carbon, by Richard Morgan
Started: Quarantine, by Greg Egan

Thoughts for Altered Carbon behind this cut. Not terribly spoilery. Quick verdict: Enjoyed it.
( Read more... )

Speaking of fiction, NaNo is over of course, but I finished a while back so it doesn't feel like a big relief to me. Still, a big congratulations to everybody on my flist who completed the task. And those of you who didn't, well, there's always next time, good for you for doing as much as you did.

Writing wise I've decided my big goal for the next year (this is not a New Year's resolution because I don't make those, I am speaking of it as a goal from now until next December) is to finish up and start submitting some of my short stories. ( Read more... )

Canadian Content! So, I tried the President's Choice new ruffled potato chips. Buffalo Wings & Blue Cheese was the best - also the one I'd tasted before (not the brand, but that type). Szechuan and General Tao's chicken tasted too close to really warrant having both of them there. There were slight variations (Szechuan tastes slightly better to me, though I like the name of General Tao's Chicken way more), but it felt like a bit of a failure of imagination to do both. Neither would go into my regular rotation, though Buffalo Wings might.

Speaking of Canada, we're supposed to have the coldest winter in 15 years. Well, I'm ready. Maybe it'll inspire me to work more on the plot to Great Canadian Zombie Film.

Oh, and we've informed that our rent is going up. By $12.91, or some absurd number like that. Weird. But not a problem.

(Yes I know that's not proper Latin)

Final Word Count: 51,309 words

So, I finished today. Completed NaNo in 17 days, which is exceptional, because a) it's my first time really trying, and b) I was sure it would take all month. But I got momentum in the first few days and just kept going with it.

Technically storywise I only completed "Book One" of the story (carrying the main character from after escaping from Wonderland and meeting verious friends and foes before she leaves for the New World (where more recent and more American fictional creations live). Which doesn't even get me close to the point she was at in the original short story that inspired me to do this as NaNo, so maybe I'll write Book Two next year. Or maybe I'll just work on it idly, since I still had a bunch of ideas I didn't use.

Anyways, time for Things I Learned From NaNo:
( Read more... )

My word count is 34083. Will be getting my chips for reaching the half way point tomorrow, and probably sometime this week (unless I totally hit a wall) my chips for getting to the 3/4 point. If I keep to the same schedule, I'll reach 50k by the end of next weekend, and then the rest of the month is me-time.

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to finish it, properly, because to get to where I intended to be, I'd need more than 50k words, but I can always write "rocks fall, everybody dies". Or more likely, just write to some significant change in plot (like her escaping towards the New World) and call it the ending of Volume One. Anyway, the action's moved to the island of Laputa where she's learning more about steam machinery, the Combine has been introduced (made up of some old and new foes of the main character), the seven dwarves have been killed off (well, a couple of them might survive, I haven't decided yet), and in her rage and desire for revenge she's just met Adam, who will lead her more towards the dark side.

In other news, I finally got a new boxspring and mattress, which is good because my old one was... old. This one is actually comfortable to lie on in all positions, although I haven't actually slept a night in it. Still, it means there's a possibility I'll wake up without a few minutes of sore muscles. The only problem is (emo)without the pain, how will I know I'm me?(/emo).

Speaking of emo, I hit a real sudden wall of depression yesterday. Not sure what caused it. I'm okay for the most part today, but then I haven't had a lot of time to think introspective thoughts today.

And, a two-for-one deal in Book Foo this week...
Wednesday Book:
Finished: Judas Unchained, by Peter F. Hamilton (sequel to Pandora's Star

Thought behind the cut, not terribly spoilery but may be a bit.
( Read more... )

Started: Axis by Robert Charles Wilson (sequel to Spin)

Monday/Friday Book:
Finished: Glasshouse, by Charles Stross (set in the same universe as Accelerando)

Thoughts behind the cut... (some concept spoilers)
( Read more... )

I would like to read more in the universe (and again, something set more during the Wars would be cool), but sadly according to the author's FAQ he has no plans to write far-future or Singularity novels in the immediate future, so it looks like it'll be a fair wait if they come at all.

And time to be crass again and play "Who should have won the Hugo?" of the nominees I read, now that I've read 3 of them (Blindsight, Rainbows End, and Glasshouse)
( Read more... )
Started: Altered Carbon, by Richard K. Morgan

Heard good things about this one, will give it a shot.

Let's see, is there anything else needed in this post? How about ZOMBIES!
Lifeless: The First Zombie Apocalypse TV Series. Okay, it's not actually a TV series, yet. It seems to be something the creators hope will be picked up as a TV series, but they're filming a pilot (and possibly a few other episodes) on spec. Which at least gives me the _impression_ of a sort of fly-by-night fannish production that has limited chance of going anywhere and may not be all that great if it does, but still... the trailer didn't seem too bad. If it came out on TV, I'd watch it.

And huh, when did LJ add word-completion for the tags field? Neat. Although I never seem to remember what button to press to actually complete the word rather and so wind up typing it out anyway.

WC: 14069

That's more than halfway to halfway there (or more than a quarter of the way there for you laymen!). I promised myself that for every quarter of the way there I reward myself with a bag of chips (I normally try to restrict myself to once a month), so tomorrow I'll be picking one up. Probably a Doritos, since they're on sale.

Still seem to be going pretty well. Planning on moving the action rather soon to Laputa where I'll introduce the Combine, and I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to make the transition, but hopefully I'll come up with it on the way.

About my biggest problem so far is I keep getting distracted by the urge to work on non-Nano writing... and often things even sillier and less likely to actually help my dream of actually getting published than NaNo - attempting to write a cartoon based on some RPG setting or another for example (or in the case of Delta Green, an hour drama TV pilot). I do such things occasionally for my own amusement, usually working on them in my 'off' weeks for word-count writing (on the 'on' weeks I focus on things I might actually be able to submit, and write to a word count quota), but don't get quite so much desire to work on them as when I _can't_.

Doing pretty well for me. I've broken 10,000 words, which puts me 2 days ahead on my word quota (which means I'll be taking 2 days off eventually), and so far not having any serious trouble (well, the last 500 words of a day are a bit of a slog, but other than that). For those of you who are not as far along as me, don't feel bad, mine's complete crap, and complete crap isn't too hard to write.

It's Daylight Savings Time time tonight. It occurs to me that this is the first time it takes place in November. That means there's one more hour in NaNo this year (for those that use DST) than in others. One more hour. I suggest everyone on my flist doing NaNo dedicate an extra hour this weekend to doing something they enjoy that is not NaNo related. It's a gift, so use it to refresh and recharge. (Of course, if you've been procrastinating too much, maybe you should dedicate the hour to writing and nothing else).

I watched Stargate Atlantis. It was a good episode, one of the times they did a hoary old SF plot that you've seen on a thousand different shows, and did a nice job with it, putting a different take on it so that it didn't simply feel by the numbers (like the last few episodes have been).

So, I started, and got a good clip going. I not only met my word goal for the day, but also my word goal for tomorrow (which I wanted to do because I suspect I'll need the ability to take breaks to refresh myself and get new ideas).

Then, late in the day, I'm relaxing, and suddenly, the power goes out, for the whole block.

And I wonder... did I save? Oh, crap, I don't think I did. I know I should all the times, especially after this sort of thing has happened to me before, losing hours of work just because I didn't save and something happened.

So yes, clearly the universe doesn't want me to do NaNo today.

When the power came back on, I checked, and no, I did not save. However, my word processor is one that auto-saves regularly and so despite the fact that I didn't save it, I was able to recover it and no words were lost.

Screw you, universe, science beats you again!

WC: 4058

Here we go... 4 100 word short horror stories, for Halloween.

The Biography of King Earl

A good biographer can capture a subject's soul in a few words. So can an evil sorcerer. It doesn't take many. One hundred will do the job, contain all that is or was about a man.

The worst part is, in a really good spell, the words come to overwrite reality. The subject is removed from history, eternally tortured by cramped spaces and a lack of detail. His deeds go unremembered, and even the sorcerer can't remember his reason. The poor man hasn't even been given a face.

Once a glorious king, his palace is much smaller now. One story.

-

IM Worried

Marybear11 (09:45:15PM): I miss u.
Bi++erPhi1 (09:46:03PM): U 2. How r the kids?
Marybear11 (09:46:35PM): Asleep.
Bi++erPhi1 (09:46:43PM): No problems?
Marybear11 (09:47:02PM): Not with them. Scary being here alone, tho.
Bi++erPhi1 (09:47:24PM): Scaredy cat.
Marybear11 (09:47:54PM): Serious, its creepy. I keep thinking someone's watching.
Bi++erPhi1 (09:48:26PM): You say that every time.
Marybear11 (09:48:57PM): Worse this time, probably cuz of what happened at work.
Bi++erPhi1 (09:49:19PM): he'll cool off
Marybear11 (09:49:31PM): hope so
Bi++erPhi1 (09:50:01PM): *hug* I'll be back tomorrow.
Marybear11 (09:50:29PM): can't wait. Brb, doorbell
Bi++erPhi1 (09:56:28PM): u back yet?
Bi++erPhi1 (09:59:52PM): Mary?
Bi++erPhi1 (10:13:14PM): U there?
Bi++erPhi1 (11:11:39PM): ...hello