S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 218

Scribd.com Gets Greedy

It's been brought to my attention that Scribd.com has begun charging people to download my free e-books hosted on their site. To get around my copyright and the free distribution notice I've placed in each e-book, they are using an archive subscription scam to make their money (this also neatly avoids them having to pay me any royalties on the profits they make.) Evidently all the money they've been raking in from the Google ads they've posted on my e-book pages hasn't been enough for them....

Unplugging

I'm still working on the rush job. I also need to spend a little quality time away from the internet, so I'm going to unplug until I'm in better shape to provide you with the kind of content that is helpful (versus the kind I want to write at the moment, which would only make you as blue as I am.)

I don't know how long it will take, and it's nothing to do with you guys, honestly. More like I've hit too many creative speed bumps lately and now my soul shocks are shot. While I've got the do...

Off To Rush

Create a sticky note online for your blog at Wigflip.com's sticky note generator, Superstickies (link swiped from Gerard over at The Generator Blog.)

Question

It seems that Blogger is now providing up to ten satellite pages for static content (Theo gets credit for the heads-up; she mentioned it in comments):



While I appreciate the extra space, I don't know what to do with it. I'm not what you'd call an "About Me" writer. I have the stories blog for excerpts and fiction stuff, and the photoblog for pics. My public bibliography is posted and linked to the sidebar; so is everything else I think is interesting (and I think I already have more than en...

Series Ten

Ten Things I've Never Told Anyone About StarDoc

Beyond Varallan's cover art is still my favorite from the series, which is lucky because I also own the original painting. I paid for it with some of the wages I earned moonlighting as a bookseller.

Cherijo originally had a middle name (Ten) but it made the whole thing sound disjointed when spoken out loud. I decided everyone would have to wait until Shockball to discover that she was the tenth clone Joseph created.

Dream Called Time originally...

Cherijo Arrives

It's here.



Dream Called Time , the tenth and final StarDoc novel, is now available online and in stores. If you enjoy science fiction, would like to know how I wrapped up the series and support PBW in the process, I hope you'll check it out.

The novel is dedicated to the people who kept me and StarDoc going, and today I'd like to share that dedication with everyone:

This book is for
all the loyal StarDoc readers out there.
It took ten years for us to make this journey
through constant hardships

GenArt Ten

Ten Things About Online Art and Image Generators

Custom design your own avatar image with the Avatar Generator.

Make a button, badge, sticker or other virtual doodad for your blog or website with Adam Kalsey's Buttonmaker.

Make gorgeous online art with the help of Bomomo (warning, highly addictive.)

If you're not HTML-savvy but you'd still like to design your own 2- or 3-column layout for your blog, try playing with the online blogskin generator Firdamatic.

This Gradient Color Generator allows you...

Winners

After seeing all the titles you guys are reading, I have a desperate urge to hit the bookstore. Maybe if I ask Kat to babysit Skye for a couple hours today . . .

We revved up the magic hat, and the winners of the 3 Books + giveaway are:

Robin Bayne, who is working on both The Glycemic Load Diet by Dr. Rob Thompson and Along Came a Husband by Helen Brenna.

Robin K, who is reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer.

RK, who is also double-time reading The Killing Floor by Lee Child and Amazon Ink by Lor...

Baby Girl

I'm not posting today because we brought home a new pup to join the family, this time a little girl Sheltie:



Kat and I met her a couple of weeks ago, and while I had not intended to get another pup until next spring, from the moment we all looked at each other it was pretty much a done deal. Sometimes with dogs you just know.



If she looks a bit skinny it's because her fur was trimmed for the summer weather. She just turned three months old, and is very sweet and dainty as she tip-toes around ...

3 Books + Giveaway

Just Read: The City & The City by China Miéville, trade paperback

Why I picked it up: The last time I read a book by this author was in 2001, at the RWA National Conference in New Orleans. At the time I thought his writing was unparalleled, but the story itself wounded me spiritually to the point that I later seriously considered giving up writing myself. I've actually compared that earlier book to a loaded gun that another writer can only point at their own face.

What I liked: My spirit must ...