Joe Haldeman's Blog, page 77

little old ladies and little old me

Odd thing happened this morning at work. I've been writing at Bageland off and on for several years – it's the closest coffee place with ceramic cups. Normally I sit out at a sidewalk table and scribble, and nobody has ever bothered me.

This morning a well-dressed woman came out and stood over me. "Are you a famous writer?" she asked. I said yes, and she nodded and walked away. I tried not to feel jinxed.

Then another well-dressed woman. "Are you a writer?" she asked, apparently unconcern...

. . . ray's gun . . . .

Like, I never had reason to be jealous of Ray Bradbury before . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM&feature=youtu.be

(um . . . somewhat adult content warning)

Joe

Dexter versus Keller

Space industrialization speech has been taking all my time, but I gave it (in its Florida incarnation) and now am free for other pursuits.

(The "real" one will be in Puerto Rico in October; I'll make sure a youtube is posted.)

The research was interesting, but frustrating. We're in a space-development limbo. President Obama is sympathetic and has increased funding on some fronts, but he really wants private industry to take over the low-earth-orbit regime, and they're not ready yet.

Speaking o...

the con game

This is a strangely small convention . . . when we're in public areas like the dealers' room, there's a vastness all around. Like one little pea in a cozmic tin can, rattling hollowly inside.

The art show, for instance, is smaller than I see at regional cons in places like Iowa and Ohio. But the hall it's in is big enough for a worldcon art show.

There are apparently more than 800 people here – the newest badge numbers have gone to four digits – but we're spread pretty thin.

Decent turnout f...

The Forever War correction

Hold it . . . Gay points out that I made a mistake . . . the _last_ time The Forever War was sold to the movies, the screenwriter was the guy who did _Tombstone_. But not this time. I don't know anything about the identity of the writer, only that it has supposedly gone through four drafts.

Joe

Loose the dogs of Nasfic!

Uneventful but long day in air[ports and airplanes yesterday. Got to the con hotel in Raleigh and chummed around a bit, and had a pretty good Italian dinner in the hotel restaurant. Then retreated to the room and watched a highly uplifting movie, Terminator 5. I think it was 5. Does it make a difference?

Got up around six and went to the gym for an hour, doing the Nautilus-style machines and pedaling the stationary bicycle for 150 calories. Then showered and gathered my stuff, and walked ...

money musings

Dave, I've always thought that the big non-secret of happiness is to make as much money as you need, and not a lot more. For various values of "need," including imaginary ones. I mean "complex" ones.

What I need now more than anything is time, and the simple fact is that money can eat up time. I suppose you could save time by hiring people, but there's a limit to that. I hire a guy to mow the lawn (and then pay to go work out in the gym) and have a couple of women come in once a week to ti...

The Forever War screenplay

[Somebody wrote into sff.net offering to write a screenplay for THE FOREVER WAR. . . :]


860, Tue 03 Aug 2010 01:29:43p

Andrew, anybody can write a script for any book, especially THE FOREVER WAR,
but it might not be a productive use of one's time. Scott has a script; last
I heard, it was the fourth rewrite. I've talked to the writer -- he has good
credits, like "Unforgiven."

I'm not among the people who assume that the novel will be desecrated by the
movie. ...

typewriters

The last electric typewriter I bought was the Olivetti Praxis. Roger Zelazny had shown me his in 1970, with its snazzy Wide Elite Victorian font, and I had to have one. I wrote most of THE FOREVER WAR and a few subsequent novels on the Praxis, along with a couple of manuals. Then the correcting Selectric came along.

From the beginning, though, I had a problem with electrics: the noise. It was like the machine was impatient for me to get working, when maybe I would rather just sit and thin...

notebook page

Here's the notebook picture to go with the reply to Alisa , , ,

Joe