Eugie Foster's Self-Indulgent Musings

A Conversation About Self-Publishing

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:42:02 GMT

For folks wondering about my thoughts on self-publishing, Matthew Nadelhaft started a question on Facebook about it, and Christina Baker Cline posted the resulting discussion on her blog (with everyone's permission).

Other folks that chimed in include Michael Stackpole, Jeff VanderMeer, Stephen Dedman, Jennifer Stevenson, and Alex Irvine.

Heading Out!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:35:05 GMT

Senate and House leaving at 12:30 so Legislative Counsel gets to too. *Woot!* Heading out for an early start on my 3-day weekend!

RETURNING MY SISTER'S FACE: Trade Paperback Now Out

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:06:33 GMT

The trade paperback edition of Returning My Sister's Face is now out! For folks who'll be at Readercon next weekend, it'll be available at the SFPA table—who are graciously stocking it along with other Norilana Books titles. Although, alas, I won't be attending. Wanted to, but the stars did not align.

Gifts Not Asked For, Part II: Flame Dancer

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:41:24 GMT

The July issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly with the next installment of "Gifts Not Asked For" (Part II: Flame Dancer) is now out. Yay!

WiP: Whatever Skin You Wear

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:18:21 GMT

Writing Stuff:

Came up with a working title for the new Work in Progress, "Whatever Skin You Wear." New words: 500

Pondering if the theme would be better served with a narrower, interpersonal focus than my initial concept. I thought the story would be fairly epic and heroic—good guy vanquishes the uber evil and saves the world—but I think what I'm trying to say might be better expressed by two people learning something about each other in a wacky world.

Definitely would be shorter if I go that route, which is always a plus. But it's gonna be a bear trying to pull it off without some major narrative info dumping since detailed aspects of the setting are vital to the theme.

Hrmmm...

Embracing the Gods of Insomnia

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:02:23 GMT

The gods of sleep hath forsaken me. Well I, for one, welcome my new insomnia overlords. Lucid wakefulness is obviously overrated...

New WiP: Untitled SF Short Story

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:48:18 GMT

Smacked between the eyes by an idea for a near future, VR/social networking fusion story over the weekend. 2.5K words; no working title yet.

Guess I'm going to backburner The Stupid Novel for a little longer.

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Finis

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:58:54 GMT

"Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" DONE. Fork rammed to the hilt; manuscript sent to editors; fingers crossed. Time to break out the booze! Hurray for three-day weekends.

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Cognition Without Chemical Stimulants: A Mini-Case Study

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:15:39 GMT

And lo, there was insomnia.

I think sleep deprivation plus uppers may kybosh some key writing processes in my brain, so I'm going to try to ford ahead sans meds today. Then again, sleep deprivation alone may in itself be enough to mangle my brain's word production capability. But I've been wondering for a while whether the Adderall—while giving me the energy I need to stay motivated and productive—may actually be impairing some of my creative ability. I've got the verve, but the words seem lodged somewhere in my head that I can't access with anything like the same fluidity and ease that I use to. I can still do routine and very technical wordsmithing, like copyediting and, well, editing in general—those skills may actually be enhanced by the meds—but my ability to create new prose feels diminished.

'Course, I can't write if I'm passed out and drooling on my desk, either. So I'm keeping the shiny capsules close to hand in case this doesn't work out.

And now: coffee.

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Mad Dash to the Finish Line

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:09:42 GMT

The deadline for "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" is in two days. Embarking on the final revision/editing pass. Maybe I can get it in before Fri...eh, who am I kidding?

Adventures in Languages that don't use a Latin-based Alphabet

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:34:43 GMT

Editorial inquiry leads to giving myself a crash course on the correct romanization of Farsi—or rather one word in Farsi. (Wikipedia, ho!)

I've banged my brain before trying to grok romanization standards: Chinese mostly—both pinyin and Wade-Giles—but also some Japanese rōmaji. And y'know, I really, really like languages that use a Latin-based alphabet.

French is nice. I took French in college. Maybe I should write a nice little French fairy tale next.

*whimper*

In related news, "The Tortoise Bride" has been slated for the October issue of Cricket .

RETURNING MY SISTER'S FACE: Trade Paperback at Readercon

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:58:01 GMT

Coordinating with Vera (norilana) to ensure the trade paperback release of Returning My Sister's Face will be available for Readercon next month. It's slated to come out July 5th. Hurray!

Wish I could be there. Maybe next year...

There and Back Again

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:08:47 GMT

Novel progress: -100 words, as much fun as having an anvil dropped on my toe. And it's back to work on "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart." Incorporating some critique suggestions.

Crits, Codex, and Breaking Out The Stupid Novel. Again.

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:34:47 GMT

Taking a break from "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" while waiting for critiques to come in. Sent it, hat in hand, to a few valorous and generous souls and also to Codex.

I've been a member of Codex for years—I think I joined up pretty near to when it was established—but at the time, I was a member of Critters, so wasn't active at Codex. But I went on hiatus at Critters and Codex has been highly recommended to me by several writers. Giving it a whirl.

So yeah, time to dust off The Stupid Novel and get back to work on it. Except I haven't looked at it in months. Gulp.

Hobkin's Powers of Persuasion

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:07:04 GMT

My day off: writing/working downstairs on the couch because after lunch, Hobkin insisted I be his pillow. I'm pinned by an 8lb fuzzy animal. Oh well. He's a decent mousepad.

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: First Draft Ahoy.

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 19:04:10 GMT

Completed one more pass on "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart." I'm calling the fork jabbed and the story officially at first draft. Now to foist it upon hapless critiquers...

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Nearly Ready for Critique

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:58:35 GMT

Pass #3 and #4 done on "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart." +450 words and damn close to the "SO sick of it; let someone else read the @#!% thing" stage (aka "1st draft").

Sale to Escape Pod!

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:13:02 GMT

Just sold reprint of "Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" to Escape Pod. *Woot!*

Up

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:37:42 GMT

Saw Pixar's newest, Up, and thought it was charming, but I expected more after all the gushing reviews. Liked WALL-E and The Incredibles better.

Ergonomics Ergonomics Egonomics

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:53:06 GMT

Day one of my three-day weekend. Trying out a new home office configuration. So far, bigger monitor and ergo keyboard=Win. Chair=Fail.

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Nearing First Draft

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:38:42 GMT

Yay! Caught up at day job. My office has been plague-ridden these last couple weeks. My fellow editors have been out sick, and as a result, we'd fallen behind on the page proofs. But folks are recovering and we're caught up. So I can dedicate more time to "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart."

Yesterday: completed editing pass #2, hubby first-readered it, and as a result I cut 600 words(!). <--That's the reason he's my eternal first reader. He confirmed a feeling I had about a couple scenes but was waffly about, making me feel better about slashing them to bits. Pass #3 underway.

Getting closer to fork sticking.

[Edit: Sigh. I spoke too soon. A new batch of page proofs came in, and the editorial intray once again overfloweth. Snartleblast.]

Mortal Clay, Stone Heart: Progressing

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:54:36 GMT

Words: +100 and -100 (different ones) on "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart." Editing pass one done, pass two underway, then it's off for critique. Also, heard back from the editors, and they said my story length is a-ok. Whew!

Skunk Related Sleep Issues

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:08:21 GMT

Got awakened at 2:30AM by Hobkin grousing "lil help already!" while trying to climb up beside me. Seems the hubby moved the doggie steps...

Writing Progress: Mortal Clay, Stone Heart

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:24:10 GMT

Words: -600 on "Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" and almost done with the first revision pass, but I'm still 600 words over. Think I need to ask the editors how hard that maximum word length in the guidelines is...

Silverblade Prophecy cameo

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:24:21 GMT

My cameo for Scott M. Sandridge's podcast novel, The Silverblade Prophecy, is now up (ep. 14). Listen for me as Imana!