Being a bunch of random things: 1: So a few weekends ago my father and I built a new compost bin, since the one we had kept leaning further over every time I put something in it. And I figured since we were going to build one, we better build a big one. Problem with that picture is, it's hard to really get an idea of the scale. So I asked the girls to stand next to it for scale: But then I thought that's no good, unless you know how tall the girls are. So I came up with a scale everyone can understand: See? Really big.
2: Over at Jay Lake's blog, how many rejections have you had? Interesting to see how many rejections people have collected. I added my data in the comments, since it's easy to get from Sonar, but at the moment rejections aren't really a useful metric for me. I'm still trying to steal time to write wherever possible, so the big one for me is the number of stories completed and submitted every year. Long as I can keep increasing the number of stories completed every year and I think I'm improving, I'm happy.
I'm not so blase about acceptances of course, and I've had a really good year on that front so far. But that's a tale for another time...
3: Realms of Fantasy is going away. Terrible news, and I particularly feel for the staff. RoF has never been easily available in New Zealand, but I picked up copies from the States when I could and I really liked it. Sorry guys.
4: Everything is Borrowed, the latest album by The Streets is really, really good. This track won't leave me alone.
OK, so I didn't start a new story about happy ponies. But the new one has nothing more sinister in it so far than a busted up Honda Civic. And a couple of dead guys, but they're just regular working stiffs, more sweet than terrifying. Tonight, the writing goes very well indeed.
Over at Starship Sofa today, there's a recording of Jeff VanderMeer's story Shark God Versus Octopus God read in several outrageous accents, by me. I was aiming for a Ray Winstone hard man kind of thing, but it turned out more like the bloke below:
Weird Tales has released their list of the 85 weirdest storytellers of the past 85 years and it's a corker! They've taken a very broad definition of storyteller. Opinion so far seems to be shock, followed by confusion, followed by a standing ovation. Any list that can include both Dr. Seuss and Warren Zevon is fine by me.
What this means is I'm going to get two sessions of one-on-one coaching with award-winning author James George. He'll be looking at my work and hopefully taking it apart and showing me how to make it better.
I'm also going to work up some new stories from a slightly different perspective than what I usually do, which might help me to figure out how to keep my short stories, you know, short. Actually, the Ask a Writer segment of this recent Adventures in Scifi publishing discussed this very issue.
In other news, I think I can finally see the end of the first draft of what I'm working on now. It's way too big, way too many things happening and has two protagonists in completely different dimensions. I'll get to the end, let it bake then bring out the scalpel.
But enough about me. Biggest news of the day - the new album by Elbow has landed!
And on the same lines, In our time discuss the Multiverse. Although how you can talk for nearly an hour about the multiverse and not mention trans-dimensional space pirates even once, I have no idea.
Since this post has gotten all scientific, how's this for a video. If the comments on Youtube are to be believed, the song was based on this bloke.
Liz and I spent the weekend at Hahei, the first time I've really been to the Coromandel. Yes, I know it's only a couple of hours from home. Shut up. Got some more work done on the story that is eating my life and had an epiphany. This isn't just a standalone story. It's all related, albiet tangentially, to a series I'm writing. Things are proceeding better now. Started reading the latest Peter F Hamilton, which seems to have about three chapters in 600 pages. I'm normally not a fan of singularity SF, but this is Peter F Hamilton - I'm in safe hands.
Are you all subscribed to Starship Sofa yet? If not, now's a great time to start. Tony's taking the week of, so in place of a show he's podcasting one of the short stories up for this year's BSFA awards every day this week.
update: This arrived in my inbox this morning:
StarShipSofa will bring you, in conjunction with the British Science Fiction Association all five of the short stories that have been shortlisted for the BSFA Award for Best Short Story 2007 in audio narrated format for FREE. Starting Monday 10th March (tomorrow) StarShipSofa will upload one of the narrated stories each day. First off, to give you a heads up will be Chaz Brenchley narrating his own story Terminal.
Now this means they will all be up online for free for you to listen to, well in advance of voting time at Eastercon.
And yes.... I will not except....."Er I was too busy to read 'em excuses!"
So... if you haven't already... pop over to StarShipSofa and subscribe for free or you can subscribe via iTunes and get some of the very best in SF short stories, narrated and uploaded for free.
Congratulations to everyone who made the ballot for this year's Julius Vogel Awards. Alas, my story didn't make the cut, but it's nice to see such a large number of nominees in every category. And if you're not listening to Whispers, maybe now's the time to start.
And of course there's only one video I can put here - besides being a bona fide kiwi rock classic, Chris Knox's Not Given Lightly is used in the Vogel's Bread commercials. The Vogel after which the bread is not the same Vogel after which the award, but this is how my brain works. And you don't need much excuse to blast some Chris Knox
So on Saturday Liz and I made our way to the racetrack to see The Police. In preparation, I'd made driven Liz crazy watching Everyone Stares and listening to Message In a Box all week. Every time I go to a concert these days I wonder if it's going to be my last: I've own every Police and Sting album and the cost of the tickets pretty much matched the cost of buying them all. Perhaps ticket prices are increasing at a ludicrous rate. Perhaps I'm a parsimonious bastard. Probably a little of both.
"Hang on," I thought as soon as the support act, Fiction Plane started playing, "that bloke sounds almost exactly like Sting." Which made more sense when I learned it was his son. Fiction Plane sounded incredible. Expect them to be big.
The other support act was Fergie. Yeah, I didn't understand that either. See, I'm not opposed to today's popular music per se, but sandwiched between the rock of Fiction Plane and the Rock of The Police... I don't know. They couldn't have put Dave Dobbyn (Th' Dudes would be a good match), or Neil Finn (Or Tim, or Liam) up there? After a couple of her own songs, she started a medley of Black Eyed Peas stuff, then a medley of rock classics. if I'd wanted to hear someone sing "Live and Let Die" really badly I could have stayed home and played singstar. Oooh, aren't I mean. To be fair though, her band and dancers were very entertaining while Fergie was offstage for one of her three costume changes. For those of you keeping track, that's one costume every 20 minutes. I guess an important part of driving the brothers crazy and doing it on the daily is access to a significant wardrobe.
And then The Police. Still got it. Andy seemed in a bit of a foul mood and I'm sure Sting was giving him evils at one point. Steward Copeland- outstanding. I don't know if it really comes through on CD exactly how good a drummer he is. Sting is Sting. Seeing the Police live is totally different to seeing a Sting solo show. But what was missing in audio precision was more than compensated for in energy. Three seconds into Synchronicity II the whole place was on its feet.
And here I save you money. Thanks to the power of YouTube (like the power of Greyskull but with better animation), you can produce the whole thing in the comfort of your own home.
Step 1: give some guy three hundred dollars Step 2: wait for a drink for an hour (don't actually get the drink because the bar closed while you were waitng) Step 3: watch the videos below
OK, so my pace is glacial. But I've only been taking this writing thing quasi-seriously for a couple of years and I'm pretty pleased with what I've achieved so far. I've also been reading slush, which eats into my writing time, but is very educational. Often you can't see an error in your own writing until you've seen it somewhere else.
The high point for was seeing my first story in print in the pirate issue, modeled by Emily above. If you haven't already checked it out, you need to - every story is great. (And I hope it's not a spoiler, but every one has pirates in it). Working with the Shimmer crew and cap'n Adams was a privilege. And look - there's a new interview with the man himself here.
Other excitement this year- I got my first 'Alas' from Gordon Van Gelder, no doubt the first of many. Is it weird that I don't mind the rejections? None this year have been form letters and most contained encouraging comments. I think this is a Good Thing.
Since it was published last year, "Hard Times for Bartleby Crow" is eligible for this year's Sir Julius Vogel Award. If you liked it, feel free to nominate me here.
What's next? Lots more writing. Those unfinished stories are going to be completed, which should give me far more completed this year (forgive me father Heinlein, for I have sinned: I have not been following your second rule). There will be sequels: I'm currently back in the Bartleverse. Also working on a sequel to another story that has not seen print yet, with at least another two in the pipeline.
If I end up in your slush this year, expect to see: Zombies! Zeppelins! Fairies! Space worms in need of trepanning! Aging rockers on their farewell tour! Pigeons! I know, it all sounds so cliched. But dammit, I want to write my pigeon story. And for those of you who prefer drama - there's sport.
Depending on the progress I make in the first half of the year, I may attempt my first novella. Since my short stories don't seem to stay, you know, short, I might as well see how far they run.
This probably means I'll be light on the blogging. But I can always fake it by throwing up videos every few weeks. And since this post is all about my writing, perhaps this. I'm pretty sure most of my ideas come from a caravan this guy set up in my brain years ago.
Sometimes some Billy Bragg just hits the spot. Other times, a good feed of fish and chips does the same thing. Therefore...
Bill Bailey and Billy Bragg sing 'Unisex Chipshop'
I'd love to be going to see Billy Bragg when he tours next year. But I've already spent all my live music money on The Police. There's probably a joke in there somewhere...
Every day millions of letters, emails and assorted sweetmeats are sent to the d1sc0r0b0t blog, often containing thinly-veiled threats. Some contain thickly-veiled threats. And some, worryingly, just contain veils. But there are also questions. And the most common question is: "What is your favorite Christmas-related musical performance?"
Well, Mrs. Womley of Stoke, Reverend Ping of Cromwell and Mr. Hilter of no fixed abode, I can now confirm that my favorite Christmas song of all time is this one:
So Saturday afternoon, my mate Nick and I head off for a bit of wandering around the new Albany mall. It's pretty much the same as all the other malls, only slightly bigger. Nick wanted to go and check out Magnum Mac, since he's going to be in the market for a new computer soon. Surprising thing number one:
I finally get to check out the iPod touch and the latest nanos. And if I was going to replace my ipod today*, I would probably pick the nano over the touch. I mean, the touch is nice and all. Really nice. But those nanos are so cheap and look like they're pretty tough.
After that, we headed in to the city to see Beowulf - the mind imploding IMAX 3D version. It's not bad. I'm not a purist, so changes to the story didn't bug me too much. Surprising thing number two:
I was far less bothered by Angelia Jolie's totally unanachronistic high heels than I was by Beowulf's mysterious naughty bits. Yes, I know having the hero fight naked makes it difficult to secure a non-restricted rating. But in my opinion, far better to show some Geat wang than rely on convenient posts, helmets and random scenery to preserve decency. It's kind of jarring to be reminded of Austin Powers in the middle of an otherwise gripping fight scene.
I liked Beowulf, but I think I might enjoy it even more on DVD when the audience doesn't all have to wear Elton John glasses.
Anyway, saw the movie and headed back home. Actually, we headed back to my parents' place, since Liz was there with the kids (since the movie was over dinner time). And surprising thing number three:
I WAS COMPLETELY CONNED!
Liz had organised a surprise party to celebrate my first story appearing in Shimmer. You know that bit in the Matrix where Keanu Reeves realises his whole life is a lie and there's this whole other universe going on that causes him to act really badly? That was me. Especially the acting badly part. The place was absolutely packed, martinis were flowing like, well, martinis actually, they take a surprisingly long time to build, and everybody had a great time. That whole "let's go check out computers and go to the movies" thing? An elaborate ruse to get me out of the house.
Rasel was there, which was nice. Unfortunately, so was his camera. Rasel makes Robert Capa look like a hobbyist who may have occasionally taken a picture or two. And of course, said photos appeared on Facebook only hours after the party. No, I'm not linking to them here - there's a picture of me looking completely shocked that could be a still from Eraserhead. You'll just have to go and find Rasel on Facebook. There's a mystery for ya, scoob!
But seriously, it's been amazing that so many people are excited about me being published. Writing doesn't happen in public**, so it really meant a lot to have everyone there. I just hope they don't do it for every story. I've got a whole bunch of them I'm really happy with at the moment and my liver might not be able to take it.
As is now traditional on the b0t, we close with a music video. And since I mentioned Robert Capa up above, this would be the perfect place for Falco's Kamikaze Capa, but I can't find it on the youtube, so another Falco instead. Not Rock me Amadeus.
*which I'm not because as I've mentioned before, it's the original old school 5GB version, forged by the hand of Zeus himself, of mithril or spandex or something. Whatever, it's been in heavy use every day 2001 and it's still going strong. No way am I replacing this puppy until it's completely and utterly dead. Then I'll frame it.
**actually, in my house it happens at the kitchen table, even though I have a perfectly good desk
Discovered via Russell Kirkpatrick's blog, the Conflux 4 podcast series. There's some really good stuff here. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Jonathan Strahan and panel about whether workshops like Clarion really work.
Russell's busy, so like a plucky bucket-carrying Mickey Mouse when the bushy-eyebrowed wizard's back is turned, his 12-year-old son is taking the reins/manning the controls/reversing the polarity.
Day two of the "let's put both girls in the same bedroom" experiment. It's 9:45 and it might be possible that Abigail is finally asleep. Maybe. Brain fried.
Coming soon - actual content! In the meantime, have a track from the album I've been listening to several times a day for the past few weeks.
Richard Swift: Kisses For The Misses From the album Dressed Up For The Letdown. Yes, as a matter of fact it is available on emusic.com
