I know there are certain words that are overused in fantasy titles. It even has a title generator to lovingly mock it ( Read more... )

So apparently there's some talk lately in writerly circles about realism vs genre. The latest iteration I've seen--and which prompted me to write this--is in the vein of "YA Realism is a rising trend (that will save us from sparkly vampires)." This is layered with overtones of lauding white guys for "creating" this beneficial trend, which ( Read more... )

So this morning while brushing my teeth, I started thinking about what keeps me reading a book. I came up with three things, and then just now thought of a fourth ( Read more... )

First off, and not related to the subject line of this post, Happy Birthday (today, or yesterday in her time zone) to melinda_goodin, and Happy Birthday (tomorrow, in the same time zone as me) to sksperry! They are two of my favorite people, and I'm glad the world has both of them in it.

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The reviewer of GoT at the NYTimes has posted a reaction to the ( Read more... )

These posts always happen when I see the same error committed three times in short order by different people.

Imminent means any minute now. Eminent means very important.

A vice is a bad habit. A vise is a tool for gripping things. (The Brits may feel differently about this. The OED has recently revamped their website so that I can't find any ( Read more... )

Dear Cable companies,

You see this thing here? Where Hulu is going to offer subscriptions to full seasons of TV?

Please try a variation of that. How about instead of charging me $70/month for a slew of channels I don't want, you charge me $3/month for each channel I do want. Add bundles: $10/month for a group of 4 channels owned by the same ( Read more... )

Apparently the big box stores are competing with each other to see who can sell books for the least amount of money. Agent Nathan Bransford has a good summary of the situation here. Go read it and then come back ( Read more... )

I'm setting a book right now, and the author keeps doing something that profoundly annoys me: trying to create tension by saying or showing that there is some Big Secret ( Read more... )

Over on her professional blog, eiriene gives some thought to the future should Borders collapse.Now, people who have been in communication with me in writer/publishing circles on the internet for the past decade+ are familiar with my (a) lack of patience with wild-eyed naifs who think that self-publishing will bring down the New York oligarchy, and (b) ( Read more... )

I think it's sinful that today is August 6 and the US barely acknowledges the anniversary of the Hiroshima bomb. I only remembered because BBC online's "The Day In Pictures" showed one of a woman at the memorial in Japan ( Read more... )