Happy Superbowl Sunday, if you like the sports, and happy Superb Owl Flight Day, if you don't like the sports. May your favorite team do the thing and win the points, and may the Superb Owl soar above your home without pausing to claim tribute in His mighty talons. It's random crap time!
So I realized that I never posted this awesome photo set by my darling Ryan. He took many, many awesome pictures of my custom Alice Price-Healy doll, repainted by the incredible talent over at Retrograde Works. I cannot praise either of their work highly enough. The pictures take my breath away. So does the doll.
Here is an old but beautifully informative post on word counts and how long your novel should be. Naturally, there will always be exceptions, but this is a good way to make yourself pause and go "why is my YA really 120k?" or "is my epic fantasy really done at 75k?" Fun for writers of all ages!
I genuinely want this board game to exist. Except for the part where all play sessions would end with hysterical sobbing and a mysterious lack of alcohol. WHERE HAS THE RUM GONE?!
If you're reading this today—yes, today, the day I posted it, not some weird day in the future that has become "today" through the alchemy of time—you should know that Feed is a daily deal on Amazon. You can get the eBook for $1.99, which is pretty damn amazing. If you've been waiting to pick it up, now's the time!
And that, as they say, is that. Hope you're all well. Hope the Owl doesn't carry you away.
Because the Owl just might, you know.
So I realized that I never posted this awesome photo set by my darling Ryan. He took many, many awesome pictures of my custom Alice Price-Healy doll, repainted by the incredible talent over at Retrograde Works. I cannot praise either of their work highly enough. The pictures take my breath away. So does the doll.
Here is an old but beautifully informative post on word counts and how long your novel should be. Naturally, there will always be exceptions, but this is a good way to make yourself pause and go "why is my YA really 120k?" or "is my epic fantasy really done at 75k?" Fun for writers of all ages!
I genuinely want this board game to exist. Except for the part where all play sessions would end with hysterical sobbing and a mysterious lack of alcohol. WHERE HAS THE RUM GONE?!
If you're reading this today—yes, today, the day I posted it, not some weird day in the future that has become "today" through the alchemy of time—you should know that Feed is a daily deal on Amazon. You can get the eBook for $1.99, which is pretty damn amazing. If you've been waiting to pick it up, now's the time!
And that, as they say, is that. Hope you're all well. Hope the Owl doesn't carry you away.
Because the Owl just might, you know.
- Current Mood:
awake - Current Music:Nick Cave, "Jubilee Street."
10. I'm getting ready for the Parasite tour. In the local parlance, "getting ready" means "busting ass on book two, so I don't feel bad about essentially taking a week off while I jet around being fancy." I'm making a lot of progress, although the book is, as always at this stage in the composition, a hot buttered mess.
9. I am also getting ready to do a few more Parasite giveaways. I'm very conflicted. On the one hand, I like the ease of "comment and RNG" giveaways, but on the other hand, I really appreciate it when people put out a little bit more effort, since I have to do a lot of effort on my end, and then I feel like I get to have fun too. I'm still deliberating.
8. Since a few people have asked recently: the tip jar is currently closed, but will be opening on October 1st, since I figure that once every six months is a good way of doing things. I'll make a post clearly stating the situation and what your tips will do when we get to next Tuesday.
7. No, funding a second "season" of Velveteen vs. is not currently on the table. I may be doing something else about that. We shall see.
6. Ryan and Amy are visiting! Ryan and Amy are incredibly tolerant humans who understand that time and deadlines wait for no house guest, and thus allow me to retreat into my room and actually get stuff done while they amuse themselves. Best Amy and Ryan are best. Also...
5. I remain too sick to die, although I'm breathing a little better, so a lot of "company" thus far has consisted of "I want soup no not that soup different soup oh gods above and below why is air so hard?" and whining piteously. I hate the human body sometimes.
4. I am super excited about Frozen, but am amused by the fact that—thanks to the current trend of "gender neutral, non-evocative, mentioning no characters, single word" titles—it's hard to sort news about the movie from news about a remarkably wide assortment of books. Disney, perhaps it is time to reconsider your titles...
3. ...says the girl who wrote Feed.
2. Jean Grey is currently not dead and my mother refuses to come into the comic book store because she's afraid I'm going to develop telekinetic powers and burn the place to the ground.
1. Zombies are love.
9. I am also getting ready to do a few more Parasite giveaways. I'm very conflicted. On the one hand, I like the ease of "comment and RNG" giveaways, but on the other hand, I really appreciate it when people put out a little bit more effort, since I have to do a lot of effort on my end, and then I feel like I get to have fun too. I'm still deliberating.
8. Since a few people have asked recently: the tip jar is currently closed, but will be opening on October 1st, since I figure that once every six months is a good way of doing things. I'll make a post clearly stating the situation and what your tips will do when we get to next Tuesday.
7. No, funding a second "season" of Velveteen vs. is not currently on the table. I may be doing something else about that. We shall see.
6. Ryan and Amy are visiting! Ryan and Amy are incredibly tolerant humans who understand that time and deadlines wait for no house guest, and thus allow me to retreat into my room and actually get stuff done while they amuse themselves. Best Amy and Ryan are best. Also...
5. I remain too sick to die, although I'm breathing a little better, so a lot of "company" thus far has consisted of "I want soup no not that soup different soup oh gods above and below why is air so hard?" and whining piteously. I hate the human body sometimes.
4. I am super excited about Frozen, but am amused by the fact that—thanks to the current trend of "gender neutral, non-evocative, mentioning no characters, single word" titles—it's hard to sort news about the movie from news about a remarkably wide assortment of books. Disney, perhaps it is time to reconsider your titles...
3. ...says the girl who wrote Feed.
2. Jean Grey is currently not dead and my mother refuses to come into the comic book store because she's afraid I'm going to develop telekinetic powers and burn the place to the ground.
1. Zombies are love.
- Current Mood:
sick - Current Music:None at present, check again later
My darling Ryan is trying to get started as a professional photographer, and he's good. You can see his photo blog here, for examples of his work: http://pokingbadgers.com.
Right now, he's partnering with A Rising Tide to sell his first prints. To quote Ryan directly, "I currently have four prints available for purchase and all are printed on high gloss archival-quality Hahnemuehle Satin paper that will maintain its integrity for years to come." So that's what's what! Here's the info on his currently available material:
Blue Moon.
(http://arisingtide.org/collections/tan
16x11 for $79.00
32x22 for $149.00
Suzalo Library.
(http://arisingtide.org/collections/tan
15x22 for $79.00
30x44 for $149.00
It's Full of Sparks.
(http://arisingtide.org/products/its-fu
10x15 for $99.00
15x20 for $149.00
30x40 for $229.00
Breath.
(http://arisingtide.org/collections/tan
10x15 for $99.00
15x20 for $149.00
20x30 for $229.00
They're spendy, but also a) gorgeous, and b) huge. So if you're looking for holiday gifts for the art-lover in your life, take a look!
ETA: A message from the proprietor of A Rising Tide:
Hi guys.
I'm Tim, the proprietor of arisingtide.org. To thank you guys for all the page hits, I'd like to offer 15% discount. The discount code is: friendsofseanan and will be active until the end of November.
Thanks so much for looking at these beautiful pieces.
So that's pretty spiffy!
Right now, he's partnering with A Rising Tide to sell his first prints. To quote Ryan directly, "I currently have four prints available for purchase and all are printed on high gloss archival-quality Hahnemuehle Satin paper that will maintain its integrity for years to come." So that's what's what! Here's the info on his currently available material:
Blue Moon.
(http://arisingtide.org/collections/tan
16x11 for $79.00
32x22 for $149.00
Suzalo Library.
(http://arisingtide.org/collections/tan
15x22 for $79.00
30x44 for $149.00
It's Full of Sparks.
(http://arisingtide.org/products/its-fu
10x15 for $99.00
15x20 for $149.00
30x40 for $229.00
Breath.
(http://arisingtide.org/collections/tan
10x15 for $99.00
15x20 for $149.00
20x30 for $229.00
They're spendy, but also a) gorgeous, and b) huge. So if you're looking for holiday gifts for the art-lover in your life, take a look!
ETA: A message from the proprietor of A Rising Tide:
Hi guys.
I'm Tim, the proprietor of arisingtide.org. To thank you guys for all the page hits, I'd like to offer 15% discount. The discount code is: friendsofseanan and will be active until the end of November.
Thanks so much for looking at these beautiful pieces.
So that's pretty spiffy!
- Current Mood:
blah - Current Music:Beth Orton, "Pass In Time."
It is with great pleasure that I remind you all that the latest iteration of the Traveling Circus and Snake-Handling Show will be assembling this Saturday at San Francisco's own Borderlands Books. We'll be getting underway at 6pm, and rocking the roof until closing time comes and they kick us all out! Why are we partying?
To celebrate the release of Ashes of Honor, naturally.
There will be cupcakes! There will be music and a raffle and reading and some Q&A, and it will be a hootenanny of a good time, with a whole lotta hoot AND a whole lotta nanny! Bring your kids! Bring your siblings! Bring your slime monsters! We totally hope to see you there.
Oh, and: Richard Kadrey, who is so awesome that they had to invent new swear words to describe him, will be at the bookstore before the Circus comes to town! His event starts at three. Come early, and make a day of it!
Remember that Borderlands does take telephone and email orders, and would be happy to send you books signed by any of the lovely authors who will be haunting the store that day. Get a book already touched by pure awesome. Or, you know. Ink. The party starts Saturday at 6pm!
Cheese! And! Cake!
To celebrate the release of Ashes of Honor, naturally.
There will be cupcakes! There will be music and a raffle and reading and some Q&A, and it will be a hootenanny of a good time, with a whole lotta hoot AND a whole lotta nanny! Bring your kids! Bring your siblings! Bring your slime monsters! We totally hope to see you there.
Oh, and: Richard Kadrey, who is so awesome that they had to invent new swear words to describe him, will be at the bookstore before the Circus comes to town! His event starts at three. Come early, and make a day of it!
Remember that Borderlands does take telephone and email orders, and would be happy to send you books signed by any of the lovely authors who will be haunting the store that day. Get a book already touched by pure awesome. Or, you know. Ink. The party starts Saturday at 6pm!
Cheese! And! Cake!
- Current Mood:
excited - Current Music:Amy in the next room mocking my tag system.
I am home from Conflikt! I got up at 4:08 am this morning in order to catch my commuter flight back to San Francisco, and managed to stay awake long enough to read most of the way through Graveminder by Melissa Marr, after finishing Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear. And this is why Seanans always travel with lots and lots of reading material. Nothing brings on insomnia like having nothing to read.
I'd like to say that it was a good convention, but I'll be honest: I don't know. For me, it was a series of charms strung on a silken cord, and some of them were brilliant, and some of them were bright, and some of them could have used a spot of polish, and very few of them went together in a logical way, because that is what a convention while already exhausted and overworked looks like. I had fun. I am awake enough to be quite sure of that.
But oh, there were amazing things. Talis came, white horse girl all the way across the water, one of the oldest denizens of the Babylon Wood, and she sang "Still Catch the Tide" and "Ten Years" in her concert, and I cried like a very crying thing, as did Vixy. There are very few people in this world who can break my heart like Talis can, or who I love half so much for doing it. And she had her new album! Queen of Spindles, and she put it in my hand like a promise or a prayer, and I listened to it all the way home.
Pin-trading with Jovanie and Anne, and stealing Anne's Companion Cube pillow over and over again. Dinner with Brooke and Judi and Ryan, followed by chocolate books. Lunch with Jennifer. Fringe with Ryan and rooming with Brooke and going to Old Navy (as always). The Suttons, tearing up the stage, and Sunnie's Mama Gitka, and Katie Tinney writing the "Wicked Girls" parody I think I shall everafter love most of them all. And rain, and 7-11, and hugs, and friends, and home. I went home this weekend. I will go back soon.
Perhaps then I will be able to stay.
So this is my charm bracelet of a weekend. It flashes lovely in the light, and I can work the clasp even when I'm tired. Soon I'll go to my bed, and my cats, and my dreams of the wood, but for now, I am still partway on a plane, and I am very very far away from home.
I'd like to say that it was a good convention, but I'll be honest: I don't know. For me, it was a series of charms strung on a silken cord, and some of them were brilliant, and some of them were bright, and some of them could have used a spot of polish, and very few of them went together in a logical way, because that is what a convention while already exhausted and overworked looks like. I had fun. I am awake enough to be quite sure of that.
But oh, there were amazing things. Talis came, white horse girl all the way across the water, one of the oldest denizens of the Babylon Wood, and she sang "Still Catch the Tide" and "Ten Years" in her concert, and I cried like a very crying thing, as did Vixy. There are very few people in this world who can break my heart like Talis can, or who I love half so much for doing it. And she had her new album! Queen of Spindles, and she put it in my hand like a promise or a prayer, and I listened to it all the way home.
Pin-trading with Jovanie and Anne, and stealing Anne's Companion Cube pillow over and over again. Dinner with Brooke and Judi and Ryan, followed by chocolate books. Lunch with Jennifer. Fringe with Ryan and rooming with Brooke and going to Old Navy (as always). The Suttons, tearing up the stage, and Sunnie's Mama Gitka, and Katie Tinney writing the "Wicked Girls" parody I think I shall everafter love most of them all. And rain, and 7-11, and hugs, and friends, and home. I went home this weekend. I will go back soon.
Perhaps then I will be able to stay.
So this is my charm bracelet of a weekend. It flashes lovely in the light, and I can work the clasp even when I'm tired. Soon I'll go to my bed, and my cats, and my dreams of the wood, but for now, I am still partway on a plane, and I am very very far away from home.
- Current Mood:
tired - Current Music:Talis Kimberley, "Queen of Spindles."
10. Well, that's that: I am officially out of "skip days" until after March. My friend Debbie rather unexpectedly pinged me Tuesday to say that she would be in San Francisco starting Wednesday and would I have dinner with her? So we had dinner (and I dragged her along on the usual round of Wednesday errands, because there's "taking a skip day" and then there's "committing professional suicide"), and now I have to make word count every day from now to March 15th. Yes, that includes the days when I'm at conventions. I have no regrets.
9. ...okay, I have one regret: I am so far behind on everything I watch that it's not even funny. The only shows I've managed to keep up with are Fringe and Glee, and that's because I prioritize them in bitey, bitey fashion. Because I have to preserve my questionable sanity somehow.
8. I'm pondering a post on the financial realities of the Hugo Awards and the electronic voting packet, but for the moment, if you are eligible to nominate for the 2012 Hugos, and you haven't, why not nominate now? WorldCon isn't getting any further away.
7. Tax time is approaching. This means I need to clean my entire house, so that I can get my receipts into something vaguely approximating order. Oh, goodie. It also means it's time to make my annual pledge to set up a better filing system than "the bottom of my purse is full of receipts and Luna Bar wrappers, look in there." Although my faintly peanut butter-scented receipts are always nice.
6. Ryan is coming to visit! Which is wonderful, and will lead to much hugging and adoration (and also to the dry cleaning of the guest room duvet). Also much doll photography, since Ryan has promised to take some pictures of my unnervingly glossy-eyed collection for the edification of all those who think it can't possibly be that bad trying to sleep in my room.
5. I fly to Seattle tomorrow for Conflikt, where I am doing absolutely nothing official. It's going to be great. I get to spend the weekend hugging my friends, working on the books I have coming due, and going to Barnes and Noble to sign books. Plus the hotel is walking distance from the airport, so no one has to get up at four a.m. to drive me. That'll be nice for everybody. Well, except me. I still have to get up at four a.m.
4. I want to go back to Disney World. I find myself grumbling slightly at my taxes because I know that self-employment income (i.e., "writing") means that I'll be paying more than the cost of a really nice Disney World vacation. I actually like paying taxes, except for the "finding my receipts" part, but sometimes the sheer amount of tax that I have to pay makes me weep for Babylon.
3. Mailing is ongoing! At this point, there are only a few shirts I can't find, and I'm hoping they're buried under the more popular styles/colors. I got a list of inquiries on status from Deborah this morning, and I'll be answering her tonight, but really, patience is king. I'm doing this alone. Any future batches of shirts will be super-limited, because even aside from the part where some people are annoyed (and I'm sorry about that), I just can't process 300+ shirts in 30+ size/color/style combinations in anything resembling a timely manner. Like, it is physically impossible to do that and go to my day job and not miss my deadlines. And sadly, "pays the mortgage" and "makes my publishers happy" beat everything else.
2. I have been playing a little tappy game called "Pocket Frogs" during my admittedly limited free time. I don't think the game's designers intended it to be played quite like this, since I have a very "gotta catch 'em all" approach, but it makes me happy. As does slowly watching the breed counters go to 100% as I breed all 368 possible individuals.
1. Zombies are love.
9. ...okay, I have one regret: I am so far behind on everything I watch that it's not even funny. The only shows I've managed to keep up with are Fringe and Glee, and that's because I prioritize them in bitey, bitey fashion. Because I have to preserve my questionable sanity somehow.
8. I'm pondering a post on the financial realities of the Hugo Awards and the electronic voting packet, but for the moment, if you are eligible to nominate for the 2012 Hugos, and you haven't, why not nominate now? WorldCon isn't getting any further away.
7. Tax time is approaching. This means I need to clean my entire house, so that I can get my receipts into something vaguely approximating order. Oh, goodie. It also means it's time to make my annual pledge to set up a better filing system than "the bottom of my purse is full of receipts and Luna Bar wrappers, look in there." Although my faintly peanut butter-scented receipts are always nice.
6. Ryan is coming to visit! Which is wonderful, and will lead to much hugging and adoration (and also to the dry cleaning of the guest room duvet). Also much doll photography, since Ryan has promised to take some pictures of my unnervingly glossy-eyed collection for the edification of all those who think it can't possibly be that bad trying to sleep in my room.
5. I fly to Seattle tomorrow for Conflikt, where I am doing absolutely nothing official. It's going to be great. I get to spend the weekend hugging my friends, working on the books I have coming due, and going to Barnes and Noble to sign books. Plus the hotel is walking distance from the airport, so no one has to get up at four a.m. to drive me. That'll be nice for everybody. Well, except me. I still have to get up at four a.m.
4. I want to go back to Disney World. I find myself grumbling slightly at my taxes because I know that self-employment income (i.e., "writing") means that I'll be paying more than the cost of a really nice Disney World vacation. I actually like paying taxes, except for the "finding my receipts" part, but sometimes the sheer amount of tax that I have to pay makes me weep for Babylon.
3. Mailing is ongoing! At this point, there are only a few shirts I can't find, and I'm hoping they're buried under the more popular styles/colors. I got a list of inquiries on status from Deborah this morning, and I'll be answering her tonight, but really, patience is king. I'm doing this alone. Any future batches of shirts will be super-limited, because even aside from the part where some people are annoyed (and I'm sorry about that), I just can't process 300+ shirts in 30+ size/color/style combinations in anything resembling a timely manner. Like, it is physically impossible to do that and go to my day job and not miss my deadlines. And sadly, "pays the mortgage" and "makes my publishers happy" beat everything else.
2. I have been playing a little tappy game called "Pocket Frogs" during my admittedly limited free time. I don't think the game's designers intended it to be played quite like this, since I have a very "gotta catch 'em all" approach, but it makes me happy. As does slowly watching the breed counters go to 100% as I breed all 368 possible individuals.
1. Zombies are love.
- Current Mood: tired
- Current Music:Taylor Swift, "Hey Stephen."
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