Sumptuosity

JK Rowling needs a slap

2007-10-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

I haven't until now had a reason to slam JK Rowling or the Harry Potter series. I personally really enjoyed reading the books, and seeing all the children come together over the books has been great. She has taken a lot of heat over the past few years, some of it quite undeserved.
But Ms. Rowling has stepped over the line. She has recently declared that Dumbledore is gay. WTF. I kept waiting for this to be a joke. It looks like 'this is how she always thought of him'. WTF! It's not in the story line. Is she really that desperate for more media attention that she's going to stoop to this of type of oh-by-the-ways for years to come? What's next? It was all a dream? Harry wakes up with a concussion under the stairs and now we're gonna get the real story?

C'mon, Rowling. You've just completely blown your credibility.

Introducing Nathalie Mallet

2007-08-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

We have another author lurking in the mist of Prince George. (Okay, the mist is actually a lethal blend of pollutants - but that's another post.)

Nathalie Mallet has just launched her first novel, The Princes of the Golden Cage, in paperback from Night Shade Books.

I met Nathalie through our local writers workshop, and recently she came to Con-Version 23 in Calgary where I was glad for a chance to get to know her better. A very intelligent, fun lady! I'll be reviewing her novel for Neo-opsis Magazine and will try to get it in the local paper as well.
Available at Books & Co or on Amazon.

Summer Update

2007-07-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

The guilt monster of blog neglection has kicked in.

After a looong winter, I'm a bit relieved and a little sad we're not mountain biking this summer. With some changes and a new approach for next year, we should be back at it.

All is well on the home front. Kids are glad to be done school. I'll be spending the summer immersed in a few things:

BMX racing - my daughter is racing regularly locally, and my stepson will be going to the World Championships in Victoria in July. I'll be tagging along and catching up with some friends while I am there.

Writing - still poking away at my novel. It's coming slowly. (I meant sloooowly.)
I'll be attending Con-version 23 in Calgary in August, and Nina Munteanu and I have planned a couple extra days for a mini-writing retreat before the start of the convention. So looking forward to that - not only having some quiet time, but Nina is such great fun and we always have the greatest conversations (and mucho de la beer).

A group of local friends has been getting together to film some short sketches. It's all off-the-cuff and a lot of fun. I hope I can make more of the weekly meetings between hopping in and out of town.

Publishing - Bundoran Press will soon have a few exciting announcements to make. I'll be reading and editing in the midst of the above chaos.

I still have paperwork galore and websites to work on in an attempt to keep up with the bills. I was thinking this would be more of a relaxing summer? Well fer...

Canadian SF wiki

2007-06-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

A long overdue wiki site for all Canadian Science Fiction. Big shout-out to Marcel Gagne and Robert Sawyer for creating this site.
http://www.canadiansf.com/

Lloyd Alexander

2007-05-18T21:53:00.001-07:00

Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain (Taran the Pigkeeper) along with many other works, has passed away at age 83.

'The Black Cauldron' was my first introduction to the world of 'fantasy' as a child. (My mother was horrified that I was past the realm of Anne of Green Gables, and thought it was all crap.) I would voraciously shop our small town second-hand bookstore for anything fantasy, and it's still my favourite genre to this day.

I give a moment of remembrance to a writer who touched the lives of many.

Ten Rules for the Good Life

2007-05-03T17:33:00.001-07:00

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
3. Never spend your money before you have it.
4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap; it will never be dear to you.
5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.
6. Never repent of having eaten too little.
7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.
8. Don't let the evils which have never happened cost you pain.
9. Always take things by their smooth handle.
10. When angry, count to ten before you speak; if very angry, count to one hundred.

Con-Vention 23, Calgary

2007-05-03T09:17:00.000-07:00

Woowoo! Got my membership and room booked for Calgary.

Oh, scratch that woowoo. It's Calgary - I'll have to learn how to YEEHAW!

Muppet Show

2007-04-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

I found it! I've been ranting for years about seeing this scene when I was young(er). Miss Piggy does Meg Ryan from "When Harry Met Sally". Freakin byooootiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4O0ftwqZn4

Sick to my stomach of the Park.

2007-01-11T18:23:00.000-08:00

You may have heard of the big Tragedy in Stanley Park, Vancouver. A couple large wind storms recently whacked down most of the park, devastating the trees and making a big mess.

Here is the format of the Vancouver Global news cast.
1. Whining about the weather.
2. Crying about the Park.
3. Very short segment on the homeless and the cold, and the overcrowded shelters, and the chance of dying in the subzero weather.
4. More crying about the cost of cleaning up the Park.
5. A DEDICATED PHONE-IN LINE AND FUND RAISING COMPAIGN, WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS COMING IN TO CLEAN UP THE PARK.

What?? What about the people? What about the people dying on the street? Business after business is donating $25,000 to clean up some branches and replant trees (let's not forget the value of the timber that is coming in from the clean-up.) A shelter could do a crap load of good with $25,000, I'm fairly sure. A $9 wool blanket can make all the difference to a kid living on the street.

What is wrong with this picture. Save the trees!! Save the tourist trap! Save the jogging run! Screw the people! Let's especially screw the people that scare away the tourists. (A constant complaint - the homeless in Vancouver are keeping tourists away in drastic numbers.)
That's my favourite part. Why save the park if no one is coming to look at it anyway?

What's the code for a puke smiley?

Rant

2006-12-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Why do so many women use nearly naked shots, (of either themselves or just stock images) as their profile pictures for blogging and forums? Why do they want to be envisioned only as a set of boobs or as an ass with a thong in it? Do they think they're going to be on top of the mating chain? Do they not realize that the net is filled with a lot better/more explicit portrayals of sexuality and their tiny square of cleavage is not going to assert any type of advantage? Many of the women seem to be quite independent, intelligent and even feminist, so it seems bizarre to revert to such am lascivious tactic of voyeurism. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I'm not.

No NaNo

2006-11-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I made somewhat of an effort, not quite valiant. I haven't made it past the word count below for NaNoWriMo. However, I feel great about what I have so far, and I came out if it with an outline and many notes. I've finally birthed the damn thing, after a two year gestation period.

I have a good excuse. With all this snow, we were able to open the hill on the 26th. Last year was Jan 17, so we're just a little ahead of schedule. Everything went fairly smoothly, even with technical difficulties and such. I had a couple great staff members in and we went hard all day.

Happy winter to all! Hope my fellow NaNo'ers had good results with their projects.

Having a verclempt kind of day

2006-11-16T20:07:00.000-08:00

Thought I would go pyscho and post some old pics, seeing as I never do. The fat face in each pic is mine, except for the skiing shot. That's my daughter.

These two are screen grabs from a tv commercial we did in 05. Couldn't get a high res image.
The first is my stepson, 14 at the time, grabbing some big air for the camera, and the second is my daughter. She doesn't care what she's on as long as it goes fast.

super snort

2006-11-14T16:31:00.000-08:00

So many diversions, so little words

2006-11-14T09:50:00.000-08:00

I'm back, with a vengeance

2006-11-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

It's day four of NaNoWriMo, and I'm just getting started. After a few days of distracting distraction, and a couple days of being sickly sick, I'm back.
I bought a shitload of music from Puretracks. (I know, I know, I can hear all your groans out there. I'm sorry. I don't walk out of a music store with CD's in my pocket either.) It turned out to be the purchase from hell. Puretracks and its digital rights management has an issue with Windows Media Player 10, it turns out. I had to downgrade to 9 just to get my new stuff to play, and haven't yet got my older songs working properly. Needless to say, they heard from me. YEAH.

Got my Hershey's with Almonds, got my beer, got my friends, got some tunes. All is good. Real good.

NaNiWriMo

2006-10-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm doin it! For real. *panic*

Anyone else giving it a stab? A try? A feeble poke? A colossal whammy?

Where did my life go?

2006-10-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hello all. It's been way too long.
Some of you know, things fell apart and I didn't make it to LA. Not only did I throw away money and tons of Air Miles and other points, I was so disappointed to not be in that con bubble of creative people, ideas and high energy. (Well, for the first few days, anyway. Depends on your con stamina smarts.)

I am going to VCon this weekend, come hell or any depth of water. This will be my (ummm, Lynda?) fourth year going. Smaller crowds, but always good. The con committee has really pushed hard this year with marketing, so hopefully all their hard work pays off. They always do a great job. *Hats off*

Big news. Big big news. I am proud to announce the launch of "The Best of Neo-opsis Magazine" Anthology. I am part of the new small press Bundoran Press.

We have a launch slated for Sunday at VCon, and we'll hold a couple other events as well later on in October.

Here's the front and back cover.

Take care all, and Happy Thanksgiving!! (Every year, I miss the damn turkey.)

Against all Odds.

2006-08-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for this for a year. I'm goin to LA! To the 64th World Science Fiction Convention, that is. I'm won't be taking in all five days, but I'll cram all I can into three. Through battles with employee scheduling and paperwork and Air Miles and RBC rewards to get there, and airport security and possible strikes still looming, it's been a nightmare, but all is almost well.

I have absolutely no goals for the trip other than to have much fun as possible, and I'll do what I can do help out EDGE Publishing and Neo-opsis Magazine to promote their publications, along with getting the work out about the North of Infinity Anthologies. That's it.

Can't wait.

Caaaaaaaannnnn't wait.

Canadian Book Prices finally reflect dollar fluctuation

2006-06-29T21:47:00.000-07:00

It seems so entirely CROOKED and FRAUDULENT for US Book publishers to have taken advantage of the Canadian pricing on US published books. It's about time something was done.

Little Brown Dress

2006-06-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

I've been battling myself lately about life, stuff, my overabundance of crappy stuff, crappy living space, crappy living. I came across this story, about a young woman, a dancer, who decides to handmake and wear ONE brown dress for an entire year. All the time.

While I'm not big on major artsy-fartsy granola anti-society type protests (I do appreciate plumbing), this woman's online journal really struck a note with me. The more I read, the more I liked her attitude about the whole project. She discovered many thoughts during her year that were less about anti-consumerism, and more about the way she felt about herself, her belongings, the way she viewed other people, the fact that most people DON'T notice when you wear the same thing two days in a row, much less months on end. While I've never been about high fashion (or low fashion, or matching fashion, or sometimes even agreeable fashion), I am quite self conscious at times while out being the Business Woman. If we all focused more on people's ideas, strengths and actions, we'd get a lot more done than pre-supposing their 'worth' from their clothes.

I'm gonna go throw some shit out.

If the Earth were a sandwich...

2006-06-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

North America has no parallel. Slightly disappointing, but a cool thing to think about for a moment.
(I like the fact that the northern bit of Canada parallels the tip of Antarctica.)

Accepted!

2006-06-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

I was totally pumped to receive an acceptance letter for the short story I submitted to North of Infinity III. I did the hampster dance in my chair. Will have to order the first two editions for perusal.

Going to get to this month's Writing Workshop. YAY. It's been a long while, again. Don't know if I can pound out a story in the next few days to have it worked over - I have a few ideas on the go, but have to make time to finish them.

Thinking of dying my hair blue. Hmmm.

The World is my fodder today.

2006-06-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

Computer cock-up finds erection hard to handle.

When the good die young

2006-06-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

Deep Magic, a high-quality e-zine, is on the rocks. Free to read, and recently started paying authors for their stories. They've seen a huge increase in submissions, of course, after that announcement, but haven't reached a feasible number of subscriptions to even keep producing the magazine. I've seen Deep Magic get more and more positive coverage, and would hate to see it die at this point. If anyone can help by subscribing, or a donation (what's five bucks?), we don't want to see the little guy go under!

Canada one of the largest oil suppliers to the US

2006-05-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one that finds this terribly, terribly frightening?

2006-05-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Forbidden Cargo

2006-05-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

Got my copy of Forbidden Cargo today, from EDGE publishing. Can't wait to read it.

Also, just finished Julie Czerneda's Migration, #2 in the Species Imperative series. I found myself a little lost, cuz it had been a couple years since I read the first one. Once again, Julie keeps the pace pretty fast, the characters interesting, and we're treated with a surprise at the end. It's not nearly as much of a jolt as in the first book, and it's way easier to digest. Number three will be out soon, and I'll forward to it.

Update on Life

2006-05-06T11:02:00.000-07:00

Been away much too long.
The days of putting sunglasses on top of my head and calling my hair done are over. Had a crazy, insane, busy, 14 hour days winter of work. Went well.
I've been rehearsing my brains out for our next theatre production - Closer, by Patrick Marber. This play won numerous awards overseas, and Mr. Marber wrote the screenplay for the movie as well. I'm playing Anna, (Julia Robert's character in the movie.) This script is so well written - very intense, flows like a dream. It's been quite a challenge to reach some of these dark emotional places that have been buried, and to try to use these roiling emotions, all the while trying to remember the damn lines. We are all in panic stage, as we have press coming to dress rehearsal this Wednesday, and we open Thursday. We do seven performances, then are taking the show to the Theatre BC Zone Festival.
Festival is a freaking blast. A week of performances from different theatre groups, all adjudicated by a theatre professional. The people are always so open and friendly, and of course, the numerous get-togethers with copious drinking is great stress relief. : )
I'm working on getting flights booked to Worldcon, this year held in Los Angeles. I'll know a few people going, and will be announcing a major event (for me, anyway) in publishing. (It's still hush - will let you know soon.) I'm looking forward to meeting some of the authors on the great list of guests.

Haven't had much time for writing. Been tossing around a few short story ideas. I've been neglecting our monthly writers workshop, but should be able to attend the next one. Will have to pound out a story.

Next update soon. Best wishes to all!

101 Greatest Screenplays

2006-04-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

This is a very BIZARRE list. Made me think.

Woowoo! First royalty cheque

2006-04-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

I received my first royalty cheque for the Anthology. --------->
It will buy half of a new coffee table. My other one has gone to CrapFurniture Heaven, and in my living room is a great pile of books & papers, sans coffee or table.
Stay tuned for the saga of earning the second half.

--------------------------------------------------------------->

80 and going strong

2006-03-24T19:17:00.000-08:00

One of our ski instructors is an inspiration for how to live life. She's 80 years old this month, and she goes hard all day long. Not only is she very sweet and polite, her physical ability puts my huffing-and-puffing-up-the-stairs to shame. SHAME, I tell you.
Check out the national coverage. She also made front page of our local paper.

Just quoted II

2006-03-14T21:26:00.000-08:00

"See, we have way more intellegent conversation than ancient astronaut touting, big bang slagging, anti-evolution young Earth Creationists!"

KJCE

First bad review

2006-03-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

Woowoo! Got a review on the Neo-opsis story. The reviewer didn't like it one bit. I find it kind of amusing, as she missed the tongue-in-cheek style of the whole story. But that's what writing is all about! Seeing what different people get out of your work. I'm just happy it's out there.

Holy freakin funny

2006-03-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

Poor Petey, the guy's sufferings in the first stage of his life (I'm sure there's at least 14 stages) will make him rich & famous & incredibly content in the next 13 or so stages. Read his blog here, especially the The Writer: So Clever; Yet So Dumb post. My gut hurts from laughing.

DUDE

2006-03-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

I've just learned there's a DVD out of the entire first season of The Muppet Show. I am so excited. Will have to get one and introduce the kids, who don't know half the Muppets. *shakes head* Sad, sad world we live in.
I'll also be very excited when I find a collection of The Carol Burnette Shows. Any leads anyone?

I put some letters together and made a word

2006-02-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

Spotted this mag online one day, Amazing Journeys. They had fantastic cover artwork, but needed some new font work for their title. I whipped up a couple versions and sent them off, and they were gladly accepted and put into use. (I received a free copy! The stories were a wild ride. Very powerful. Excellent work.) Amazing Journeys is also getting some good reviews and feedback in the spec fic world.
I've never said "Lookit my letters" before, but I am now, plus putting in a plug for the mag.

St.. i.. ll ali..ve...

2006-02-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed a correlation between my brain cell function and the regression to online personality surveys.

take the WHAT BAD BOOK ARE YOU test.

and go to mewing.net. not as good as reading a good book, but way better than a bad one.

Extra Extra!

2006-01-23T22:09:00.000-08:00

Drum roll, please.

I am pleased to announce the publication one of my short stories in Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine.

*enter high-pitched squeal here*

I kindly got permission from Karl to be the first to post the cover of Issue 8, selling only my soul and a cheesecake.

*PLUG* I highly suggest subscribing, or asking your bookstore to carry them. (Tell the store they are available through the distributor Magazines Canada.) *END PLUG*

If you are a writer, author, artist, you must read this.

2006-01-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

I come across a lot of pep talk for writers, but this one really stood out for me.

This totally made my day

2006-01-19T14:39:00.000-08:00

After dealing with snotty people who have no comprehension of reality or plain english, this was a great stress relief. A little gory for my liking, but funny enough.

If I fail to appear

2006-01-17T23:12:00.000-08:00

Oh hey. Finish that sentence above. Great fodder. Post yours as a comment.

Here's a sample. "If I fail to appear intellectually sound, it is only due to your lack of earmuffs." Something stupid like that.

But I digress.

If I fail to appear for a while, I am busy with this damn resort business. We finally opened today, and will be going hard for a while. If it snows again, we'll last more than two days. If not, I'm going to be mud wrestling Pete for his job.

Make good things happen while I'm gone.

Real school of Wizardry

2006-01-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

Wish I thought of this. A real Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

New Year's Decisions

2006-01-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

Yeah yeah. It's still January. I'm good to go.

This year I will:
Exercise more. I don't do the dieting thing. Silliness. I hope to fit in a minimum of two good workouts per week, be it yoga, tai chi, biking, or heaven forbid a bit of snow this winter - snowboarding.

Write 12 more short stories. That's one a month. I figure I'll have to double up in the summer, but that's cool.

Quit smoking. Get off my case. It'll happen.

Decide between doing a few major theatre projects or throwing myself into this novel. I've been researching for four months, and think I'm ready to go. It'll break my heart to pick one or the other, but I don't have the time to do it all, and I'm tired of watching time fly by without the accomplishments that I want to see.

That's about it. I'll leave mundane things such as cleaning my house until 2007.

New find! Internet Review of Science Fiction

2006-01-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

Visit. Sign up. Support. http://www.irosf.com

Book tag

2006-01-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

Came across this somewhere and thought I would start my own tag.

1. Total number of books I've owned:

Bizarre. I was just discussing this last night with a friend, thinking I should do a count for ego's sake. I may have 1000 in my house, scattered from bedrooms to basements. I would have easily had that many through my childhood, as I read voraciously. I still have a couple bookshelves worth at my parents' house. I'm thinking that in another 20 years they'll be antiques. : )

2. The last book I bought:
I went into two different Chapters in two different cities while travelling over Christmas. I loaded up on clearance items, including some Ancient Egyptian reference for my collection, and Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson, cuz I haven't read him yet.

3. The last book I read:
I have just finished Amazing Journey's magazine. I was pleasantly surprised by great stories - very powerful with a lot of emotional pull. I am plowing my way through the novel O-Zone, by Paul Theroux, author of Mosquito Coast. I'm finding it... hmm... shallow?

4. Five books that mean a lot to me:

In Their Nightgowns, Dancing by Michael Armstrong. This is a script by my friend Michael and I had the honour to be part of the production. Fabulous story with fabulous writing.

The Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander (Taran the Pig-keeper series). This was my first introduction as a child to the Fantasy genre, and from there on Anne of Green Gables was boring as snot. I never looked back.

Any that were bought for me by friends.

5.The books in my collection where the physical object means a lot to me:

A personally autographed Serpent in the Sky by John Anthony West. A friend went out of her way to get me a copy and have it signed by John. Thanks, Leena!

My copies of Throne Price and Courtesan Prince from Lynda Williams.

Time is too short to wrack my brain any longer.

6. Tag five people and have them fill this out in their blogs.

Steph, David, Mark, Peter, Lynda

Robert J. Sawyer gives advice aplenty.

2006-01-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

A great post from Mark Leslie led me to this podcast by Tee Morris and Robert J. Sawyer. Robert gives his advice to authors wishing to promote their work. It was fabulous to listen to, and I recommend it to both new and accomplished authors. I hadn't had the chance to talk to Robert in person when we were at the same con, so it was nice to get a feel for the guy.

SF Site top 2005 - VOTE!

2006-01-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Vote for your favourite releases of 2005.
http://www.sfsite.com/columns/neil214.htm

Award & Nobel winning authors overlooked

2006-01-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year all! I have been neglectful of my blog - and many other responsibilities. Life updates soon. :)

Click the title to read the story about prize winning books being resubmitted to publishers under an unknown name, and their subsequent gnarly rejections. It all boils down to this "“Being 29, blonde, good-looking and vaguely famous should be enough to get you a book published nowadays."

Miss, miss, miss, and miss. I'm not even blonde anymore to at least get one of 'em. Harrumph.

Book A Minute

2005-12-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

HA! This is hilarious. Catch up on your sci/fi/fantasy with the Book a Minute list. I know this will appeal to certain people who prefer the abridged version.
*ahem* Karl *cough*

I think I may have to try this myself with a few books. Maybe I'll do Throne Price first. *grin* Lynda will hope I pop right out of reality. If you wanna try it, leave a comment below!

OMG. The Interview with a Vampire summary is hilarious.

Fuck off George Bernard Shaw

2005-12-13T21:58:00.000-08:00

At A Loss For Words: Tackling a literary giant

Freakin hilarious post. What's almost as funny is the hoopla stemming from the comment.

Shame on you, BC

2005-12-13T18:03:00.000-08:00

How *&$# bizarre. We have the news telling us one night that this year is a boom year for Christmas shopping - retail sales are already higher than last year's numbers.

The next night, we're told every single charity is suffering, with as low as 20% of the usual donations. The news report on Global had the gall to say it was due to everyone giving during the tsunami. *snort* Did they miss their own report the day before?

Get a grip.

Filth III

2005-12-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

Filth III went very well!
Thursday night went well, considering opening night jitters. The audience howled the whole way through the show. The second night was bizarre. The audience barely laughed, but they all said it was good. We do have a video of the whole show. I can't wait to see it. (As I was back stage running lights or throwing props around - didn't get to see much of it.) As director, it's always fun to see what comes out on stage that didn't show itself in rehearsal.
Here's some back stage and cast party pics.

A Very Special Bank Robbery

Hillbilly ready for her gynemycology exam.

Cast Party Shenanigans

Did you read her hat?!

Rejected

2005-12-06T10:19:00.000-08:00

Got a rejection letter today, telling me my story sucked and it's not what they wanted.

Kidding! It was actually a kind rejection note, with a spot of feedback (telling me my story sucked and it's not what they wanted). My Ego Meter is waivering wildly, but I figure I still have hundreds of submissions to go before I can do some serious whining.

Two events, of the opposite sorts

2005-12-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

Event Announcements

ORU ANTHOLOGY BOOK LAUNCH
Books & Co, 7pm, Wednesday, December 7th.

Hear readings from the ORU Anthology by authors & editors. There will be goodies and door prizes, such as Throne Price and Neo-opsis Magazine.

FILTH III
Back by popular demand! An evening of Comedy without Limits!
Warning: Adult content & language. (Trailer Park Boys meets Southpark meets Family Guy meets Monty Python meets... umm...your worse nightmare.)
The weak of heart and stomach are encouraged to stay home.

At Artspace (above Books & Co.)
Thursday, December 8th, 8pm.
Friday, December 9th, 9pm (After the music is finished downstairs.)
Tickets are only $9. Email vodine@telus.net for tickets, or get them at the door.

GAH!

2005-12-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be very egotistical and vent. Most other people get to do it.
A book that has been recently published, a first novel by the young author, is receiving rave reviews. I am very glad for the author and obviously wish all the success to everyone. However, what pisses me off is that I couldn't make it through the first chapter - I found the setting fascinating, but the writing very amateurish to the point where it turned me off the story.
Strangely enough, this only motivates me to write more. Even though I know I am capable of producing crap, I can also produce something decent, and I feel I am able to write better than that amateur tone that turns me off. Writers have it beaten into their heads that 'the chance of publication are small - the chance of success even smaller'. When I see what is being touted as good, and I have seen work from unknown writers that I feel is better, it is encouraging me not only to write but to encourage my friends even more.

GO KICK SOME ASS!

(Maybe I'll have some time next week for writing. *mumble mumble*)

Help Nalo

2005-12-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

Nalo Hopkinson has listed many of her works on her site, available for purchase through herself. She is on a fundraising drive to buy a new computer so she can finish her novel by her deadline.
I've read some of her work, and highly recommend it. Raw, emotional stuff.

New Technology leads to long distance touching

2005-12-01T21:14:00.000-08:00

I had a hard time coming up with a PG rated title for this post.

In the works are cyber hug pajamas, so parents can hug their kids long distance. There's a lot of material for horror stories - Suit goes Psycho and strangles kids that didn't brush their teeth.
I find it funny that their story is that the technology started with chickens. CHICKENS??! *snort* I'm sure.

(click the title to get the link, like usual.)

Where's Whacko

2005-12-01T15:14:00.000-08:00

From a few year's back. Just rediscovered it in the bizarre stuff on my hard drive.

This was after a theatre performance, and the director was making her heartfelt speech to the cast & crew etc etc. You gotta play "Where's Whacko?"

Canadian Short Story Magazine

2005-11-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

So love to come across Canadian publications. www.storytellermagazine.com

Consulting & Feedback Issues

2005-11-30T14:08:00.000-08:00

I consulted with a professional on some business issues, and I've decided to get a stamp made reflecting the feedback that I got.

Pillage

2005-11-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

Is it wrong to root through an entire carton of cheesecake ice cream and just pick out the chunks of cheesecake?

Fear Not

2005-11-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

Scientists are on their way to developing drugs that inhibit our fear response, supposedly in order to treat anxiety & phobia disorders.

I find this idea really scary. If people no longer fear, they no longer have good judgement. These drugs could be abused by terrorist groups, radicals, gov't training & military, etc etc. Screwing so much with the human body leads to no good.

*Gosh* (I've just reread that last line. Heh. My bad.)

Kicking inspiration right up your ass

2005-11-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

The last three posts of Storytellers Unplugged, a blog hosted by a number of authors, gives writers a good reality check. Read 'em and weep, then go do something about it.

Workshop

2005-11-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Went to the writers workshop yesterday, that I have neglected for about four months. I had to catch up on everybody's stories, as most writers have been submitting one chapter of their novels per month. It's a little silly to try to critique one chapter without knowing what went on before.
PLUS, these stories are DAMN GOOD! I've missed seeing how these characters and plot lines are developing. When you're supposed to be critiquing a piece, and you end up reading through four chapters voraciously, it's a good indication that there's some quality stuff there. I've been reading a ton of fantasy/spec fic lately, from small press to the big guys. It's been very inspiring, because some of it just isn't very good - causing the book to be thrown against the wall. If that type of stuff can get published, these novels that are developing from my fellow writers are very publishable, and I expect will succeed in whatever channels they take.

Here's a big hurrah to you guys. You know who you are.

2005-11-18T23:08:00.000-08:00

Number of searches to double check facts: 2
Trips to dictionary.com to use thesaurus: 1
Beer & cigarette break: 1
Words: 113
Current Efficiency rate: 2%

Cupcake Orange

2005-11-18T15:41:00.000-08:00

Snipped from Publishers Weekly:

Sneek peeks of next week's reviews: From prostitute-cum-successful-litigator Cupcake Brown is a heartfelt memoir A Piece of Cake;

The next Canadian umm... that dude who does stuff

2005-11-17T22:34:00.000-08:00

Rick Mercer's blog. Very funny. I love the "Monty Chretien".

I've found my writing stride

2005-11-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

It consists of slamming out anywhere from 77 to 124 words, then completely draining mentally - my creative flow oozing down the side of my executive chair, onto the towers of file folders on the floor surrounding the desk.

*wait one to four weeks*

Repeat.

And you thought the show was about boo*s.

2005-11-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

Pamela Anderson acting in Fox's Stacked. For such a bad premise, the show could be a lot worse. However, I'm a little thrown off in discovering the entire marketing gimmick going on. I found the reference on Neil Gaman's blog. Never read the guy, but millions of people say he's good. :)

GOOD GOD!

2005-11-09T18:03:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I manage a small ski/bike resort. Check out this tidbit I ran across, on the world's most expensive ski resorts.

--"Spanish Peaks in Big Sky, Mont., charges members between $500,000 and $1.3 million for access to 3,500 private acres of skiable terrain and an 18-hole golf course. Tallus, a members' club in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., charges $795,000 for each member, along with quarterly fees of $3,418 and approximately $13,672 in annual fees."--

Insert string of profanity here.

EverythingSoundsLikeColdplayNow

2005-11-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

Heh.

Locus Mag

2005-11-08T15:21:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! Received my copy of Locus Mag in the mail today. I pillaged that baby in about 20 minutes.
The subscription prices will be going up in January, so now is a good time to renew/order. For those unfamiliar with the magazine, it is a "Magazine of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Field" - author interviews, publishing news, reviews, events, etc etc. I shall be perusing the extensive listing of cons and making my wishlist. : )

Killing ourselves reinventing nature

2005-10-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

These are fabulous award-winning pictures, Small World - all taken through magnification. This Velcro picture I linked to is very cool, and below is a favourite, Crystallized Vitamin A. I love the microscopic patterns and structures we cannot see, that are replicated on huge scales, whether man-made or natural.

Unsung Heroes

2005-10-28T11:54:00.000-07:00

(or Evil Slash-Happy Monsters - I think authors waver between the two extremes when referring to editors. :-)

I was pleasantly surprised to find this article at Locus Online, discussing the influences of great editors. The article goes into a statistical breakdown of Hugo and Nebula winning stories - fascinating for us statistic/marketing types.
Often editors are overlooked in the success of a story. The author gets the fame, fortune and glory. (I know.. har har) While I would much rather be a prolific writer, I have always had a knack for editing and am improving with each project that comes along. It's a great feeling to be able to work with someone's really good piece of art, and make it great - a synergy that makes up for the lack of fame, fortune and glory.

Copyright issues

2005-10-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Friend and author Lynda Williams interviewed in an article about copyright issues in Canada.

A moment of agony

2005-10-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I finally finished whacking at my short story, Addiction, which I renamed Theatre of the Vulnerable. I even managed to pound out a cover letter sans 4 cups of coffee, and submitted the whole works to a Canadian Anthology. I'm very nervous that the editor will come all the way over here and beat me up and tell all the other editors never to read any of my stuff.

A big smooch out to David and Karl who gave me some fine feedback.

This is a skit. We are so there.

2005-10-22T00:41:00.000-07:00

I'm ignorant of British radio, so this was a pleasant surprise. You've GOT to first listen to The Whoremongers, about halfway down the pink list of links. I also laughed my ass off at Kylie's Ass.

We need to blatantly steal both of those ideas and use them in Filth Skits. (To be safe and have theatrical honour, the program will say: we blatantly stole these ideas.)

What's am I anyway

2005-10-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

I know I should be writing, but I'm in need of senseless distraction. Personality quizzes are always good for deep and meaningful analysis.

What's your funky hair colour?

Your Hair Should Be Pink

Hyper, insane, and a boatload of fun.
You're a traveling party that everyone loves to follow.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

What kind of candy are you?

Gummy Bears

You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

What Kind of Candy Are You?

How boyish or girlish are you?
(The stupidest sounding one had the greatest answer of them all. And trust me, I did almost all of them.)

You Are 70% Boyish and 30% Girlish

You are pretty evenly split down the middle - a total eunuch.
Okay, kidding about the eunuch part. But you do get along with both sexes.
You reject traditional gender roles. However, you don't actively fight them.
You're just you. You don't try to be what people expect you to be.

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

When things get ya down

2005-10-17T23:40:00.000-07:00

A big smooch to my friends who help me through my rough spots. Try this, and let me know who you are. I laughed and laughed.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

A lesson in Canadiana

2005-10-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I come across the people that remind me why the world goes around.

I would do my own version, but most of you have seen my butt.

Novel Proposals

2005-10-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Here is an excellent blog post on writing novel proposals. This may be one of the most cohesive articles I've read on the topic. There are other excellent reads in this blog, with contributions from a number of different authors.

Wake up and smell the crayons

2005-10-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how parents are whining about the teachers' strike. We are all inconvenienced by having our children home when they're usually at school. The teachers are fighting for better conditions for our children. 51 students in a class that is supposed to have a maximum of 33. (33 is already way too high) Does this not say something needs to be done??
I would rather my children miss a couple of weeks and have to work harder later. If ANY improvement is made in our current education system, it will be easier for both students and teachers. This is NOT merely about teachers' pay, it is about what YOUR children are immersed in for a good portion of their growing lives. When our teachers are sending home notes asking for furniture fixtures and paper towel, there's a very small example something larger is very wrong.

Talebones Magazine of Science Fiction & Dark Fantasy

2005-10-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

Posting a link to Talebones Magazine. A great quality publication and I enjoyed meeting Patrick.

VCon Report

2005-10-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at VCon 30. All of the volunteers did a great job.
I had many wonderful conversations and met a few great peoples.

Just quoted.

2005-10-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

It's been said that English doesn't borrow words from other languages, rather that English chases other languages down dark alleys, beats them up and rifles through their pockets for loose words.

Sorry, I slipped and instead of being evil was just late...

Your bitching is an integral part of your character, or so I tell myself...

They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I tend to think it's a good push-up bra.

So much to say and none of it relevant to your crisis.

Feel like the biggest piece of shit ever

2005-10-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

Went to take my daughter to the clinic this evening. We're walking down the sidewalk of the strip mall, and I'm shivering with a fever and hacking up a lung. We walk by a coffee shop, where a man is sitting outside, calling to people, with his hand reaching out. "Ma'am? Sir?" Most people, including myself, do the walk by without acknowledging him, as most do with any beggar on the street.
Twenty minutes later, when we walk back that way again, there's ambulance attendants treating this man. My daughter tells me when we first walked by she heard the man asking a person to please help him.

We went and sat down in the waiting room of the clinic where I cried into my daughter's hair as she sat on my lap. It only got worse when the doctor told me it was time to get her a puffer for asthma.

Please, don't walk by anyone asking for help, even if you think it's only going to be an annoying request for change.

Documents online

2005-10-03T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is very cool - www.writely.com. Create and share your online documents. Keeps track of who's working on what. We'll have to try it with our Filth scripts.

And I have no idea who this is

2005-09-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

But I like the way she thinks, and she writes, and she writes her thinks. Must ask.

Where do you stand morally?

2005-09-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Rather than steal the content, I'd rather post a link. Take this heartwrenching quiz and get some insight into your own values. (Then read the comments. *grin*)

The things we do for money

2005-09-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

David, Steph and I are now the new Karaoke Hosts at a local neighbourhood pub, appearing as MC and The Dirty Urges ©. C'mon out Wednesday and Saturday to Alfredo's. It's been a blast.

Freakin hilarious

2005-09-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

This guy witnesses a crash, and his entire rendition is caught on voice mail. See the post in another blog. You MUST listen. :)

Beats the hell outta bike, walk or run

2005-09-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

My good buddy Jim ( he hates 'buddy') took part in a very cool fundraising event. We need something cool like that here. Mind you, our 7 storey buildings just may not have the same snappy sex appeal.

Duck Hunt meets Doom

2005-09-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

In Conversation with God

2005-09-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

Came across this great photo and caption.

connections

2005-09-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

Had a great time tonight doing an Improv show for a crowd of about 150. It was nice to get back into the groove of THINKING! QUICK THINK! THINK SMART YOU DUMBASS! (That's what goes through my head.)

I've also crossed the 2000 word mark on a short story I am writing, tentatively titled Synergistic Connections. May lose that rather syllabic title.

How to Write a Book When You Have a Job, Kids, or Your Life is Otherwise Crazed

2005-09-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

One of things I wish I wrote. ;-) It's a humorous article on balancing life and writing. I haven't actually come across many that are good.

A is for Apple, V is for Vagina

2005-09-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

Seriously!
You gotta try this! In my frantic everyday typing, I kept slipping on the keys. If you type only one letter in the address bar, you are taken to a site, different one for each letter. I want to know how the hell that works! Who got dibs on the freakin alphabet?!

Vidlit

2005-09-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Cool idea. Using short video as a marketing tool for books. This one is cute.
Fondling Your Muse. Might have to buy the book.

Made from Beer.

2005-09-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

The big beer ad. Made me laugh.
http://www.bigad.com.au/movie.html

Speak engrish, dammit

2005-09-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

This is freakin hilarious. http://www.engrish.com.
You MUST visit the adult section.