Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 214
March 13, 2012
What you should be doing in mid April
Supporting my friend, Eric, by attending one of the shows of Proof, a play he is producing.
I hope to be there opening night. Here are some details.
(I lifted this from Eric's site for the play, but I think he'd be okay with it.)
I hope to be there opening night. Here are some details.
(I lifted this from Eric's site for the play, but I think he'd be okay with it.)
March 12, 2012
You can now buy the eARC of No Going Back!
Welcome to the modern book world.
I filed the ms. of No Going Back about 9:30 a.m. this morning. Yes, that means I finished it. Hurrah!
I'm writing this at 9:00 p.m., and you can now buy the electronic Advance Reading Copy, the eARC, of the book from my publisher, Baen Books, by going here.
This eARC was available about ten hours after I turned it in. Ten hours. That's cool.
Baen's eARC program works like this. They sell the uncorrected version of a book, meaning the book has not been through the full copyediting and proofreading stages of the production process, online for those who want to read the book early. This version is basically what the author submitted to them. The cost of an eARC is $15. If you wait until late May, when the book goes on sale, you can buy it online for $6, which is obviously much less. But you'll have to wait two and a half months! Who wants to do that? No one! For a measly nine extra bucks, you get early access to the book and can be the first person you know to read it!
That the book went live so soon after I filed it is due to Publisher Toni quickly okaying the sale of the eARC, and then two people working hard on the job. Joy Freeman, who produced the proofs for the book, turned them in record time, mere hours. Becky Catchings then worked late to create the eARC in all the many formats that Baen supports--and if it's at all a significant ebook format, Baen supports it.
My contribution was to turn in very clean copy that is ready to print; I consider that to be a part of the job.
I hope you check it out and enjoy it!
I filed the ms. of No Going Back about 9:30 a.m. this morning. Yes, that means I finished it. Hurrah!
I'm writing this at 9:00 p.m., and you can now buy the electronic Advance Reading Copy, the eARC, of the book from my publisher, Baen Books, by going here.
This eARC was available about ten hours after I turned it in. Ten hours. That's cool.
Baen's eARC program works like this. They sell the uncorrected version of a book, meaning the book has not been through the full copyediting and proofreading stages of the production process, online for those who want to read the book early. This version is basically what the author submitted to them. The cost of an eARC is $15. If you wait until late May, when the book goes on sale, you can buy it online for $6, which is obviously much less. But you'll have to wait two and a half months! Who wants to do that? No one! For a measly nine extra bucks, you get early access to the book and can be the first person you know to read it!
That the book went live so soon after I filed it is due to Publisher Toni quickly okaying the sale of the eARC, and then two people working hard on the job. Joy Freeman, who produced the proofs for the book, turned them in record time, mere hours. Becky Catchings then worked late to create the eARC in all the many formats that Baen supports--and if it's at all a significant ebook format, Baen supports it.
My contribution was to turn in very clean copy that is ready to print; I consider that to be a part of the job.
I hope you check it out and enjoy it!
March 11, 2012
Now that's a fight league introduction
Forget about the UFC's gladiators, or the new intro before their PPVs. We need the intro for India's Super Fight League.
Yeah, it runs over four minutes, but so it goes; some things can't be rushed.
Seriously, how are we to deduce fighting from this intro? Why are those men dancing? What are they saying? What is that strange sound they make in the choruses? Why does an intro run so long it has choruses?
Why do we care?
None of that stuff matters; this is amazing.
Thanks to Kyle for pointing me to this.
Yeah, it runs over four minutes, but so it goes; some things can't be rushed.
Seriously, how are we to deduce fighting from this intro? Why are those men dancing? What are they saying? What is that strange sound they make in the choruses? Why does an intro run so long it has choruses?
Why do we care?
None of that stuff matters; this is amazing.
Thanks to Kyle for pointing me to this.
March 10, 2012
Ice cream tastings
You know you're a hardcore ice-cream junkie when you hold an ice-cream tasting.
On the other hand, when Jeni's announces the availability of five new ice creams, the Super Pop Cakes! Collection, what else could I do but order two of each, invite nearby ice-cream enthusiasts who could come on short notice, and hold a tasting?
(As always, click on the image to see a larger version.)
The group was heavily divided on which was the best flavor, with none of the candidates getting a unanimous blessing as the best or the worst.
Predictably, I liked them all.
Jeni Britton Bauer is mad, but in all the best senses of the word, and definitely in a very good and tasty way.
If you haven't tried Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, pop for the high price and give some a chance. You'll be glad you did.
On the other hand, when Jeni's announces the availability of five new ice creams, the Super Pop Cakes! Collection, what else could I do but order two of each, invite nearby ice-cream enthusiasts who could come on short notice, and hold a tasting?
(As always, click on the image to see a larger version.) The group was heavily divided on which was the best flavor, with none of the candidates getting a unanimous blessing as the best or the worst.
Predictably, I liked them all.
Jeni Britton Bauer is mad, but in all the best senses of the word, and definitely in a very good and tasty way.
If you haven't tried Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, pop for the high price and give some a chance. You'll be glad you did.
March 9, 2012
Tonight
What I had really hoped to be doing tonight was watching this.
Instead, what I'll be doing until the early morning hours once again is this.
(Photo courtesy of Gina. Click the image for a larger version.)
I did this to myself, and I love the book I'm writing, but still, I do wish I hadn't gotten into this situation.
Ah, well. Back to it.
Don't even talk to me about my office. I already know. Maybe this year we'll beat it into shape.
Instead, what I'll be doing until the early morning hours once again is this.
(Photo courtesy of Gina. Click the image for a larger version.)
I did this to myself, and I love the book I'm writing, but still, I do wish I hadn't gotten into this situation.
Ah, well. Back to it.
Don't even talk to me about my office. I already know. Maybe this year we'll beat it into shape.
March 8, 2012
My days right now
I'm entirely home from my day job in a desperate push to finish the already later-than-late No Going Back. For those who've asked and those who wonder, here's what my day looks like:
The breaks, by the way, are necessary, at least to me, just so that I can keep producing good work.
The process does seem to be working well, though it is exhausting, and I look forward to its end.
Ah, the glamourous life of the novelist with an overdue book.
* Drag ass out of bedRepeat
* Work on NGB
* Shower
* Eat lunch (half hour)
* Work on NGB
* One hour dinner break (food and a TV show on DVD, currently Treme, Season 1)
* Work on NGB
* One hour late-night break (snack, usually ice cream, and a TV show on DVD, currently Justified, Season 2)
* Work on NGB
* Fall over stupid and sleep
The breaks, by the way, are necessary, at least to me, just so that I can keep producing good work.
The process does seem to be working well, though it is exhausting, and I look forward to its end.
Ah, the glamourous life of the novelist with an overdue book.
March 7, 2012
Jerk of the week?
To whom would you award this honor? Would it be
(A) Kirk Cameron, not for bashing homosexuality ("I think that it's unnatural, I think that it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization."), which he did last week, but for his outrage this week at the fact that people called him on what he said:
(C) Rush Limbaugh, not for the incredibly offensive and stupid slut insult, which would have been a strong contender last week, but for this amazingly delusional part of his vague and insincere apology for the slut comment:
I found it hard to pick a winner, but in the end I selected Limbaugh. Cameron's being pouty and stupid, and Santorum is being just plain stupid, but Limbaugh, ah, he's managing to wring a slimy attack from the residue of another slimy attack. That level of jerkitude deserves special recognition.
(A) Kirk Cameron, not for bashing homosexuality ("I think that it's unnatural, I think that it's detrimental and ultimately destructive to so many of the foundations of civilization."), which he did last week, but for his outrage this week at the fact that people called him on what he said:
"I should be able to express moral views on social issues, especially those that have been the underpinning of Western civilization for 2,000 years — without being slandered, accused of hate speech, and told from those who preach 'tolerance' that I need to either bend my beliefs to their moral standards or be silent when I'm in the public square."(B) Rick Santorum on why a British government program to make higher-income people pay more taxes won't work:
"It failed. They didn't get a lot of revenue. What happened? Well higher income people don't have to pay taxes if they don't want to, because they can move their money somewhere else, they can move their investments. They can stop investing. They can stop working. They don't need to work. They're higher income people."or
(C) Rush Limbaugh, not for the incredibly offensive and stupid slut insult, which would have been a strong contender last week, but for this amazingly delusional part of his vague and insincere apology for the slut comment:
"I acted too much like the leftists who despise me. I descended to their level, using names and exaggerations. It's what we've come to expect from them, but it's way beneath me."
I found it hard to pick a winner, but in the end I selected Limbaugh. Cameron's being pouty and stupid, and Santorum is being just plain stupid, but Limbaugh, ah, he's managing to wring a slimy attack from the residue of another slimy attack. That level of jerkitude deserves special recognition.
March 6, 2012
Springsteen and Young together
Well, not exactly. It's actually Bruce Springsteen mocking himself and Jimmy Fallon doing his excellent Neil Young. It's also a hoot.
Enjoy as they cover LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It."
If that's not enough of the two of them for you, and it certainly wasn't for me, check them out doing "Whip My Hair," this time with the Boss playing himself circa Born To Run.
Thanks to Eric for turning me on to these.
Enjoy as they cover LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It."
If that's not enough of the two of them for you, and it certainly wasn't for me, check them out doing "Whip My Hair," this time with the Boss playing himself circa Born To Run.
Thanks to Eric for turning me on to these.
March 5, 2012
Things that piss me off:Fortune cookies without fortunes
I'm not talking empty fortune cookies, the ones you crack open in eager anticipation of the little slip of paper within and then sigh as you find them empty. Those are simply manufacturing errors, which I'm willing to accept now and again.
No, I'm talking the fortune cookies whose "fortunes" are instead homilies or, worse, boring assertions.
I want fortunes, actual predictions of events to happen in my life. I care less that they are right than that they dare to predict.
If I was in charge of fortunes, you would definitely get predictions. I'd go specific, and I'd go funky. Sure, sometimes I'd opt for the easy ones:
No, I'm talking the fortune cookies whose "fortunes" are instead homilies or, worse, boring assertions.
Hard work and perseverance pay off.Not a fortune, but I've found it in a cookie.
Money is not the ultimate wealth.Also not a fortune, but it's appeared in a cookie of mine.
I want fortunes, actual predictions of events to happen in my life. I care less that they are right than that they dare to predict.
If I was in charge of fortunes, you would definitely get predictions. I'd go specific, and I'd go funky. Sure, sometimes I'd opt for the easy ones:
Your hard work will soon be rewarded.Yeah, they're generic, but at least they're predictions, so I'd use 'em. I'd also, though, get specific and maybe take a few risks, even get a little weird at times:
You will come into some money soon.
Your recent troubles will soon end.
As long as you bathe and play nice, you're going to get lucky within the next three days.Of course, the makers of Neosporin would have to pay for that last bit of product placement.
He'll buy you those shoes you've been wanting once you learn that new trick.
You might get laid every now and then if you ever treated her like a person.
That spot you've been scratching will get infected. Buy Neosporin.
That opportunity you've been seeking at work? It's going to happen--but while you're out sick.Yeah, I believe in being encouraging. Of course, I also believe in being realistic.
You're right that your partner is cheating on you, but the affair will end soon, and without disease.
Your diet will work, and you will lose the weight.
Your diet will work, and you will lose the weight, but then you'll put it back on within a year. Go ahead and have another cookie.If any fortune cookie manufacturers are reading this, my services are available at a reasonable fee.
March 4, 2012
On heavy rotation right now
The Fray's new album, Scars & Stories, is out, and some of its songs are now in heavy rotation in my current listening mix.
Here's the first song on the CD, "Heartbeat."
And the second, "The Fighter."
Of course, from a fighter to a "Boxer" is only a short step, so let's go there.
You can't think music and a boxer, though, without "The Boxer."
And then the mood brings me back to The Fray's classic, a tune that often mirrors the inside of Jon's head, a song I heard over and over while in Italy on a cherished trip with my daughter, a trip I will never forget and always treasure.
That's kind of the way it runs in my head, sometimes, many times, this time.
Here's the first song on the CD, "Heartbeat."
And the second, "The Fighter."
Of course, from a fighter to a "Boxer" is only a short step, so let's go there.
You can't think music and a boxer, though, without "The Boxer."
And then the mood brings me back to The Fray's classic, a tune that often mirrors the inside of Jon's head, a song I heard over and over while in Italy on a cherished trip with my daughter, a trip I will never forget and always treasure.
That's kind of the way it runs in my head, sometimes, many times, this time.
