Sarah A. Hoyt's Blog, page 370

A Little Bit of Promo – Free Range Oyster

*Before I give floor space to the ambulatory mollusc: Turns out we have ONE MORE DAY at the house because… reasons. Maybe two, but if two it’s because tomorrow we might have to do highly specialized stuff we’d pay to have done if we could find anyone to do it. But if two, for Sunday most of what I’ll do is hand over stuff and let the guys work. Today I have a room and a half left to wax and set up. The only problem is that I calculated right before and my energy gave up last night. Ah well. I...

Selling Books To Real People

This post has been prompted by my friend Amanda Green’s post on Amazon. To whit, by the implication that Amazon killed Borders that others have flung up.

This is a touchy subject, because although I was informed that nice ladies don’t discuss politics, religion or coitus in public, I’ve found that the touchier subject is money: making it, keeping it, wanting it.

We’ll start by all the cries of greed that are so fashionable. People decry greed in stentorian accents, and are usually the very pe...

Get Rich Slowly

My older son, who is about to start medschool, supposing he ever has time to get an apartment and stuff, in between helping me scrape and wax floors, and clean tile, was talking to me in the car on the way to the other house about some creative project of his, and said “It’s another strand in my grand weave of ‘get rich slowly.'”

Years ago when talking to a colleague who is a friend (okay, somewhere between friend and mentor and squee, but never mind) he told me of one of the biggest writers...

Universal Stories or: Were the Brothers Grimm Jungians? – by Alma Boykin

*Yes, I have posts by others of you, but they have the potential to be controversial and since I’ll still be mostly out of pocket today and tomorrow, I don’t want to post those. (Yesterday’s, btw, should have come with a note that it was written as I was contemplating coming out of the political closet and what it might mean about what was going on in my life at the moment. I never expected it to become an argument on faith and religion. Don’t you guys know already where you stand and that yo...

What Matters Most When All Is Said And Done – A Blast From the Past, October 2008

Thought out of nowhere — or perhaps not since I’ve “faced” this in many books and stories, from Tom in Draw One In The Dark facing the Great Sky Dragon and knowing there’s no way he walks out of there alive, to the girl inSomething Worse Hereafter — in the Wings collection — who knows she’s dead, but there’s a second death and not how permanent, to probably countless others I’ve forgotten.

Those last few minutes fascinate me. Oh, people die in their sleep, people die without knowing they’re g...

And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Go to college, my parents said, you’ll never have to do hard manual work, they said.

Don’t follow your grandfather — and every construction worker — around while he’s working and ask how it’s done, they said. You’re smart enough you’ll never have to work with your hands and you’re a WOMAN for heaven’s sake.

A) They were wrong. B) We all are.

Their advice was absolutely right for their time and place. I get a kick out of going back and listening to my friends being called “doctor” by their nan...

Being a Time Traveler

Yesterday some point was raised about how an early twentieth century person would react to the modern day.

Well, give them some years to adapt. I know. You see, I am a time traveler.

I think I have mentioned in the past that I was reading a book on the Middle Ages (the Time Traveler’s Guide to the Middle Ages, I think) and kept coming across things that I went “so?” on. Because they were the same conditions I grew up in.

It’s hard to explain, truly, because we had buses and cars (not many car...

Work, Arbeit, Traballho

So, #derpcats are fed (why is it no one but me knows how to pour dry food?) and #derpfish is fed (he’s happier now in his bigger aquarium, and not hiding behind the heater looking like a sardine all the time, but he’s not making bubbles yet, so maybe not fully acclimated. If he doesn’t start making bubbles soon, I’ll do half a water change) #derpsarah is caffeinated and has had two ibuprofens, so it’s time to tackle the paint tray again…
This is a short post so you guys know I’m not dead. Min...

LIBERTY CON AAR Part Two, in which our hero learns that his best laid plans are no match for …. -David Pascoe

LIBERTY CON AAR Part Two, in which our hero learns that his best laid plans are no match for …. -David Pascoe

The next day, we arrived at the Choo Choo just prior to nine, when the gathering for the range trip … had already left. Those of us “late-comers,” several of whom were barely upright, apportioned ourselves into vehicles and left in mad pursuit. It was upon this trip that the Separate But Awesome plan was revealed. Essentially, after the- but I’m getting ahead of myself. You see, in th...

The A’tist and the Businessman – a Blast From The Past, November 2010

*We’re making a megapush to finish the house this week (I REALLY can’t afford not to write for this long) and therefore a blast from the past. A lot of this has changed with indie. I.e. putting your manuscript out there for sale is now a good strategy. (yay) Was this really ONLY five years ago. It’s like another world.

On the other hand, note the part where I talk about viewing writing like “schoolwork” and being sure there’s a passing mark somewhere. There isn’t. And in the age of indie it’s...