Matt Ruff's Blog

Just in time for Christmas, the Japanese translation of Bad Monkeys:

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Just in time for Christmas, the Japanese translation of Bad Monkeys:

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I didn't love it. It's very, very pretty, and I wasn't bored, but the story and characters never engaged me the way, say, Titanic's did. Instead I stayed in author-head pretty much the whole time, observing the storytelling decisions Cameron made and thinking about what I might have done differently. For me this still qualifies as entertainment and I do feel I got my money's worth, but I am disappointed that I didn't experience the emotional highs and lows I was clearly intended to.

Lisa did ...

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A holiday update on my novel-in-progress: I now have a contract with HarperCollins and a deadline. The finished manuscript is due at the end of next year, which means barring delays (and/or the collapse of the publishing industry) it will be published sometime in late 2011 or early 2012. Sorry to take so long, but as we all know by now, I write slowly. You should still have time to read it before the Mayan calendar runs out.

I'm still not ready to go into detail about the plot, but in essence...

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A recent post by nihilistic_kid inspired me to look up Patricia Highsmith's Wikipedia entry, which led me in turn to this Telegraph interview with Highsmith's former lover Marijane Meaker. Meaker describes how, following their final break-up, she and Highsmith purged their feelings by fictionally murdering one another:

Highsmith wrote a bitter book, The Cry of the Owl, killing off the character based on Meaker. "I am knifed to death - for several pages - at the end," chuckles Meaker, who...

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Because it's that time of year, I thought I would remind everybody that I've got first editions of Sewer, Gas & Electric, Set This House in Order, and Bad Monkeys for sale, and of course I'll be happy to custom-inscribe them to you or the lucky gift-recipient of your choice. Drop me an email here if you are interested.

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Lisa and I took advantage of a break in the rain on Saturday to hike up the hill to the Seattle Zoo. Despite it being a weekend the place was pretty empty, which we liked -- nothing like having your own private animal park to stroll around in. If you're in the area, and especially if you have a zoo pass, you may want to check it out. The snow leopard cubs (usually outside between noon and 3) are getting big, and you can just walk up and look at them now without waiting in line.

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Last Friday's Stargate had the first use of body-swapping technology as a plot complicator. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, they've got this alien device on the show that's kind of like a plug-in desktop Zen garden. You place a magic stone on top of this lighted box, and somebody somewhere else in the universe does the same thing, and just like that, you take control of their body and they take control of yours--until someone moves one of the stones.

There are lots of interest...

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Good popcorn TV. Some random thoughts:

* It's nice to see
* I'm not sure if it's the haircut or what, but they did something to give Morena Baccarin just a hint of uncanny valley, and it's very effective. She's still gorgeous but I can totally buy that she's an evil reptilian who wants to eat my family and my pets.

* The Syphillis Channel has been replaying episodes from the or...

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John Wyndham meets cute (overload):

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