S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 222

Cool Gen Ten

Ten Things About Online Generators

Spin Andrew Bosley's The Brainstormer and get three random, interesting concept starters.

Conspire allows you to customize a random and hilarious conspiracy theory with victims, conspirators, plots, heroes and locations (or leave the fields blank for random paranoia.)

I never thought I'd look for (or find) a horse name generator, but guess what?
You can find almost any kind of generator over at Generatorland, like this Plot Generator. Or register an...

For My Dad

The only photo I have of us together on the day you married my Mom is this one, with you in the background. I've carried it in my wallet for thirty years, and here's why:

You're brave. I can't imagine what it must have been like for a middle-aged lifelong bachelor to take on not only a wife but an instant family of five kids. You never complained, not once, not even when a certain damaged, hostile teenager did her worst to aggravate you.

You're a self-made man. Because you never had the cha...

Minor/Major Annoyances

If I ever launch a digital self-pub venture, I will choose a name for it that cannot at first glance be mistaken for the word pubic.

When I visit a chain bookstore, I don't mind walking around an enormous ugly kiosk pimping said chain's e-reader. Nor do I mind being asked if I'm interested in seeing a demo. But you e-reader sales people need to learn the definition of the phrase "No thank you." It does not mean keep talking to me while I walk away so I feel rude. Nor does it mean talk to m...

Getting Big

Sweetie's twins, Meriden and Dansant, are growing up really fast. They've almost doubled in size in five days:



The sweet potato vine is definitely worse for wear, but we've only been refilling the water globes about once a week to keep from disturbing the nest too much:



Judging by how quickly Stubborn Thing's twins went solo back in May, I think these will probably be the last close shots I get.



Baby birds are just so freaking cool.

Water Worlds

As a SF writer I've had to build a lot of planets, and I'm always on the lookout for new inspiration. Lately I've been playing with an idea that includes terraforming a water world to create artificial land masses and colonies for offworld visitors and maybe even some colonists.

The obvious solution is to boat them around and/or create floating constructs, but it's been done. I don't want underwater colonies because it doesn't serve the story idea. Then I toyed with the thought of deep dril...

Fighting Fatigue

It's not unusual for writers to be stressed out -- it's kind of an occupational hazard -- but lately I've noticed some unusual signs of fatigue popping up around the blogosphere. It's not just people neglecting their blogs or virtually disappearing for weeks at a time, either (that I blame on Twitter.) I've noticed regular comments by folks out there in NetPubLand who mention being tired or just plain sound tired. A lot.

I can sympathize. At the moment I'm trying to kill a deadline after an in...

Must Love Books

Most of my real life friends are not huge readers. Those who did not read books at all before meeting me have been gently prodded by Yours Truly into reading at least one book a month (I make no apologies for dropping unsubtle hints and shoving books at them until they caved in; I consider it a sacred duty.)

I think the main problem is that I live in a rural area where there are no bookstores and only a couple of tiny libraries. Limited access to books = few readers. I keep a stock of ext...

Trades Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities for Writer Trade Magazines

Although not technically a trade, lots of writers do read Library Journal, which is "the oldest and most respected publication covering the library field. Considered to be the "bible" of the library world, LJ is read by over 100,000 library directors, administrators, and staff in public, academic, and special libraries. LJ is the single-most comprehensive publication for librarians, with groundbreaking features and analytica...

Two Sweet

We took down the hanging plant this morning to refill the watering globes and discovered that Sweetie's twins have hatched:



Judging by their size I'd say they're only a couple of days old.



We can't tell the genders, but since they were born during my release week for Dreamveil we're calling them Meriden and Dansant.

In Character

A black velvet-gloved hand knocked softly on the closed, locked door. "Time to wake up, love."

A low, disgruntled sound, like the rumble of displeasure from a stirring tiger, came from inside the room.

The immortal assassin considered punching his fist the flimsy barrier, and then glanced at a nearby window. I swore I would not use my ability or my superhuman strength while under this roof. Stupid of me. He knocked again. "It's 6:45. School starts in half an hour."

The creature inside yanked op...