Laura Anne Gilman's Blog, page 39
March 15, 2015
A Kitten Turns Two
Beware the Ides of March...but celebrate the birthday (observed) of the Kitten of Thursday!
That's right, Castiel is officially and approximately TWO.
Happy birthday, you menace to society.
(He doesn't get a cupcake, but that shouldn't stop you from having one.....)
(the day he came home - with coffee cup and finger puppets for scale)
(Cas learns how to be a writer's cat)
(Menace to Society...)
That's right, Castiel is officially and approximately TWO.
Happy birthday, you menace to society.
(He doesn't get a cupcake, but that shouldn't stop you from having one.....)
(the day he came home - with coffee cup and finger puppets for scale)
(Cas learns how to be a writer's cat)(Menace to Society...)
March 14, 2015
plotting...
Today I get to plot a kidnapping, kill a misguided bad guy, and undercut my hero's confidence. All before lunch...
Best job ever? Entirely possible.
(I mean, the pay's for shit, my boss is a raging psycho about deadlines, and my co-workers just want to hang out on my desk and cadge snacks, but other than that...)
Best job ever? Entirely possible.
(I mean, the pay's for shit, my boss is a raging psycho about deadlines, and my co-workers just want to hang out on my desk and cadge snacks, but other than that...)
A Very Important FYI (that you might want to bookmark)
Placing this here for anyone who needs to use it an an argument going forward, and as a reference for anyone who foolishly wants to start the argument here..
Article 25 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, to which the United States is a signatory:
Article 25
1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
(http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=eng)
Health Care: a right, not a privilege.
Article 25 of the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, to which the United States is a signatory:
Article 25
1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
(http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=eng)
Health Care: a right, not a privilege.
March 13, 2015
Sir Terry
Everyone's remembering Terry Pratchett, who has left us - not of his own will but under his own terms - too soon, at age 66, one step ahead and one finger raised to the Alzheimer's trying to destroy him.
My memory of Terry Pratchett is not Discworld-related. I came very late to the Discworld books. No, I first met Sir Terry (not yet Sir Terry) when I was a very young assistant editor, and we were handling the paperback edition of GOOD OMENS: The Nice And Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.
Yeah, I met Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman the same day. I played pool with them both at the launch party for GOOD OMENS, and came away with a signed hardcover. And I wasn't starstruck because I was a professional, and this was cool but not all that amazing.
And then I sat down and read GOOD OMENS.
There are perfect books. There are not many perfect books. This is not one of them. But in the glow of that reading, in the glow of my cackling, wondering joy of reading it...it is perfect and it will always be perfect.
Individually, both Neil and Sir Terry can impress the hell out of me, and I have a pocket of fondness forever for Samuel Vimes. But nobody will ever convince me that there was a more magnificent madcap impossibility of a book than GOOD OMENS.
And I leave you with three of the more classic quotes, so you can see what I mean, and maybe run out and grab yourself a copy too, if you don't already have one.
“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”
“25 And the Lord spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying 'Where is the flaming sword that was given unto thee?'
26 And the Angel said, 'I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down some where, forget my own head next.'
27 And the Lord did not ask him again.”
My memory of Terry Pratchett is not Discworld-related. I came very late to the Discworld books. No, I first met Sir Terry (not yet Sir Terry) when I was a very young assistant editor, and we were handling the paperback edition of GOOD OMENS: The Nice And Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch.
Yeah, I met Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman the same day. I played pool with them both at the launch party for GOOD OMENS, and came away with a signed hardcover. And I wasn't starstruck because I was a professional, and this was cool but not all that amazing.
And then I sat down and read GOOD OMENS.
There are perfect books. There are not many perfect books. This is not one of them. But in the glow of that reading, in the glow of my cackling, wondering joy of reading it...it is perfect and it will always be perfect.
Individually, both Neil and Sir Terry can impress the hell out of me, and I have a pocket of fondness forever for Samuel Vimes. But nobody will ever convince me that there was a more magnificent madcap impossibility of a book than GOOD OMENS.
And I leave you with three of the more classic quotes, so you can see what I mean, and maybe run out and grab yourself a copy too, if you don't already have one.
“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
It may help to understand human affairs to be clear that most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused, not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally bad, but by people being fundamentally people.”
“25 And the Lord spake unto the Angel that guarded the eastern gate, saying 'Where is the flaming sword that was given unto thee?'
26 And the Angel said, 'I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down some where, forget my own head next.'
27 And the Lord did not ask him again.”
March 11, 2015
How it goes (how it rolls)
On Monday I realized I'd written myself down the wrong path. Not far, maybe a thousands words or so, but I was coming off the high of an amazing scene, and I let the lizard brain jump to the next amazing thing and it wasn't until several pages later that I thought - no. This doesn't work, this won't lead us to where we need to be.
So I stopped, and put it aside, let the high fade so I could look at the two scenes with a clearer eye.
Tuesday, I threw many of those words out, and tried to find the right path. It wasn't happy-making, but my gut is never wrong when it says "pull over, you took the wrong turn."
Today, I had lunch with a fellow writer, wherein we talked about the fact that our WiPs are similar in tone, style, and approach, and determined that yes, there is a term for that sort of book, and a history, and even someone we can sort of flail at as a "founder" (and there may be more of that later, as things gel). And then I went off, fully intending to tear apart the first hundred or so pages of the WiP to see where I'd gone wrong, and instead found myself tearing apart the existing outline for the second half of the book (for the third time) and...
huh. Stuff fell out of my brain and into the story, and suddenly everything I've done up to now makes sense, and the reason I'd stumbled so hard on Monday was to lead to this...
(not seen in photos: 6x9 notecards and post-its)
Typing is fine, but for serious replotting and rejiggering, you need paper and multicolored pens. So now, instead of a blank wall, a stubbed toe, and only a vague idea of what's on the other side, I have actual blueprints, and a tool kit. And a stubbed toe.
If there's a lesson here it's two-fold. 1) if it feels wrong, it probably is. 2) if you don't panic, don't try to force things, the same gut instinct that told you it was wrong will give you the tools to figure out what's right.
And, as my twinling pointed out, this is exactly what happened with SILVER ON THE ROAD, in exactly the same spot. So I guess I know what to look forward to (hah) in book 3?
So I stopped, and put it aside, let the high fade so I could look at the two scenes with a clearer eye.
Tuesday, I threw many of those words out, and tried to find the right path. It wasn't happy-making, but my gut is never wrong when it says "pull over, you took the wrong turn."
Today, I had lunch with a fellow writer, wherein we talked about the fact that our WiPs are similar in tone, style, and approach, and determined that yes, there is a term for that sort of book, and a history, and even someone we can sort of flail at as a "founder" (and there may be more of that later, as things gel). And then I went off, fully intending to tear apart the first hundred or so pages of the WiP to see where I'd gone wrong, and instead found myself tearing apart the existing outline for the second half of the book (for the third time) and...
huh. Stuff fell out of my brain and into the story, and suddenly everything I've done up to now makes sense, and the reason I'd stumbled so hard on Monday was to lead to this...
(not seen in photos: 6x9 notecards and post-its)
Typing is fine, but for serious replotting and rejiggering, you need paper and multicolored pens. So now, instead of a blank wall, a stubbed toe, and only a vague idea of what's on the other side, I have actual blueprints, and a tool kit. And a stubbed toe.
If there's a lesson here it's two-fold. 1) if it feels wrong, it probably is. 2) if you don't panic, don't try to force things, the same gut instinct that told you it was wrong will give you the tools to figure out what's right.
And, as my twinling pointed out, this is exactly what happened with SILVER ON THE ROAD, in exactly the same spot. So I guess I know what to look forward to (hah) in book 3?
March 8, 2015
one weekend, ended.
Here, have a belated Caturday photo.
The weekend was spend alternating between WERRRRRRDS! and FAAAAABULOUS MEALS WITH PEEEEEOPLE! And WIIIIINE! And as such, I am pleasantly exhausted while still maintaining a vaguely self-satisfied sense of got-work-done.
More of both to come, this week. All month, actually. Seattle is spoiling me. :-)
The weekend was spend alternating between WERRRRRRDS! and FAAAAABULOUS MEALS WITH PEEEEEOPLE! And WIIIIINE! And as such, I am pleasantly exhausted while still maintaining a vaguely self-satisfied sense of got-work-done.
More of both to come, this week. All month, actually. Seattle is spoiling me. :-)
March 7, 2015
Two Brains, No Waiting
And I'm officially again working on two different books. Different genres, different time frames, vastly different voices... *head 'splodes a little bit*
book 1:
She could still feel the press of the [redacted], like a bruise on her skin. If she touched it, if she looked at it, it would overwhelm her. So she looked at anything but. She looked at the fire, crackling around the coalstone, eating the kindling and grasses she had gathered the night before. She listened to the horses, shuffling and breathing, the crunch of their teeth and the swish of their tails. She smelled the scent rising from the jacket draped over her lap for warmth, deep and smoky and sharp, with an unrecognizable flavor that she could only identify as being [redacted].
book 2:
“We need to let the client know it’s accomplished, and then send them an invoice for the remaining funds.”
“And by ‘invoice’ you mean discreetly remind them three times that they owe us for a successful solution to their problem, and on the fourth try suggest that perhaps written documentation might jog their memory, and see how fast the money appears?”
“It’s almost like you know rich people,” I said, turning around. “Now get outta my chair.”
book 1:
She could still feel the press of the [redacted], like a bruise on her skin. If she touched it, if she looked at it, it would overwhelm her. So she looked at anything but. She looked at the fire, crackling around the coalstone, eating the kindling and grasses she had gathered the night before. She listened to the horses, shuffling and breathing, the crunch of their teeth and the swish of their tails. She smelled the scent rising from the jacket draped over her lap for warmth, deep and smoky and sharp, with an unrecognizable flavor that she could only identify as being [redacted].
book 2:
“We need to let the client know it’s accomplished, and then send them an invoice for the remaining funds.”
“And by ‘invoice’ you mean discreetly remind them three times that they owe us for a successful solution to their problem, and on the fourth try suggest that perhaps written documentation might jog their memory, and see how fast the money appears?”
“It’s almost like you know rich people,” I said, turning around. “Now get outta my chair.”
Bloody Sunday
Selma was 50 years ago today.
Longer than I've been alive. Longer than a lot of people here have been alive. This shit should be settled already. We shouldn't be having bullshit arguments with people who think that skin tones affect a person's inherent value.
Show the world what you do with your hands, not what color they are. That should be all that matters.
Longer than I've been alive. Longer than a lot of people here have been alive. This shit should be settled already. We shouldn't be having bullshit arguments with people who think that skin tones affect a person's inherent value.
Show the world what you do with your hands, not what color they are. That should be all that matters.
March 6, 2015
In Case You Missed It....
Yesterday, Tor.Com did a reveal for the cover of SILVER ON THE ROAD.
But I know some of you tend not to click through on things. So here. Let me SHOVE THE AMAZING OH MY GOD SO BEAUTIFUL UNDER YOUR NOSE.
This? Is never the cover I would have asked for. But it's so incredibly perfect I can't even tell you how perfect it is. And Isobel didn't get white-washed, or turned into some delicate flower! (blessings on my editor, the art director, and Mr. Palencar) She's frumpy and grumpy and strong in the way all frontier women (no matter the frontier) have to be, and the bones of her face were perfect, even though I'd never described her to Mr. Palencar beside the fact that she's of Spanish/Mexican descent. And for the first time ever - in over 20 book covers - I RECOGNIZED my character when she looked back at me.
*is a little weepy right now, don't mind me*
Want to know more? For that, you are going to have to click through....
But I know some of you tend not to click through on things. So here. Let me SHOVE THE AMAZING OH MY GOD SO BEAUTIFUL UNDER YOUR NOSE.
This? Is never the cover I would have asked for. But it's so incredibly perfect I can't even tell you how perfect it is. And Isobel didn't get white-washed, or turned into some delicate flower! (blessings on my editor, the art director, and Mr. Palencar) She's frumpy and grumpy and strong in the way all frontier women (no matter the frontier) have to be, and the bones of her face were perfect, even though I'd never described her to Mr. Palencar beside the fact that she's of Spanish/Mexican descent. And for the first time ever - in over 20 book covers - I RECOGNIZED my character when she looked back at me.
*is a little weepy right now, don't mind me*
Want to know more? For that, you are going to have to click through....
What She Watched and What She Read, 2015
Books:
6. DEJA DEAD, Kathy Reichs
5. UNTITLED, client manuscript
4. THE CLOCKWORK CROWN, Beth Cato (ARC)
3. UNTITLED, client manuscript
2. TAINTED WATERS, Leah Cutter (beta-read)
1. FOXGLOVE SUMMER, Ben Aaronovitch
Movies:
11. Pacific Rim (yeah, I know, I didn't see many movies in the theater the past few years...)
10. Hunger Games (yes, finally. Shut up)
9. Divergent
8. Jack the Giant-Killer (glad I didn't spend money seeing this in the theater, but good to watch while sorting tax paperwork...)
7. Duma
6. Mirror, Mirror (after a while I just had it on for the pretty, I freely admit)
5. Over the Hedge (I'd never actually watched it through to the end, before)
4. Now You See Me
3. The Other Woman
2. Nanny McPhee
1. Grand Budapest Hotel
6. DEJA DEAD, Kathy Reichs
5. UNTITLED, client manuscript
4. THE CLOCKWORK CROWN, Beth Cato (ARC)
3. UNTITLED, client manuscript
2. TAINTED WATERS, Leah Cutter (beta-read)
1. FOXGLOVE SUMMER, Ben Aaronovitch
Movies:
11. Pacific Rim (yeah, I know, I didn't see many movies in the theater the past few years...)
10. Hunger Games (yes, finally. Shut up)
9. Divergent
8. Jack the Giant-Killer (glad I didn't spend money seeing this in the theater, but good to watch while sorting tax paperwork...)
7. Duma
6. Mirror, Mirror (after a while I just had it on for the pretty, I freely admit)
5. Over the Hedge (I'd never actually watched it through to the end, before)
4. Now You See Me
3. The Other Woman
2. Nanny McPhee
1. Grand Budapest Hotel
