Mark L. Van Name's Blog, page 290

She sure can write

I love reading Sarah's writing. I know I'm biased, but in this case, I'm also right. For samples, check out the blog she and some friends are doing, a site I've mentioned before: A Year In Prose.

This entry of hers in particular grabbed me. Who hasn't missed someone that way?

I was surprised by her post this week, because it's skiffy of a sort and unlike any of her previous writing.

While you're reading her entries or any of the others on this blog, be sure to listen to some of the music...

Two tunes, two bits of Jon & Lobo trivia

When I wrote the first Jon Moore story, "My Sister, My Self," I conceived of it as the opening chapter to a novel. (You'll be able to read this story in Jump Gate Twist, due this summer at bookstores everywhere.) I wrote it to stand alone fairly well--well enough that it sold, but not so well that its real purpose wasn't clear to many.

I had planned to open each chapter with a quote from a song that had influenced my writing during that chapter, so I put a few lines at the start of this st...

UFC on Versus: How we fared

Last night's UFC show promised to be an evening of finishes, and though there were a few odd moments along the way, it basically delivered. Let's get right to the results and see how Kyle and I did. As usual, we begin with the undercard.

Jason Brilz vs. Eric Schafer

Only one prelim made it to Versus, and this was not it. From what I read, though, it was a long and not always pretty struggle. In the end, Brilz won the decision.

Unfortunately, Kyle and I had both chosen Schafer, so we kicked...

Another excellent Raleigh restaurant: Saint-Jacques

As I've noted before, the Triangle area has developed into a small-scale foodie paradise. With lots of very good restaurants, a few top-drawer ones, and a wide selection of wonderful locally grown and raised food, this small part of North Carolina has become a great place to go out to eat. I'm now happy to add another name to the list of top-drawer local dining establishments: Saint-Jacques French Cuisine.

Saint-Jacques has been around for several years, so I'm not sure why I took so long...

UFC on Versus tomorrow night: Kyle and I try again

Sunday night will bring a UFC show on the Versus network for the first time, and of course I'll be watching it. (Versus already carries the WEC, the UFC's sister organization.) Though this will mean we have to make two sets of picks in one week (the UFC's next PPV is on Saturday the 20th), Kyle and I are up to the challenge. Here's our thinking on tomorrow's fights.

A quick opening note from Kyle: I'll say up front that this is a great card. It's clear that the UFC is really trying to do ...

Repo Men

I had a good time watching Repo Men, and sections of the movie were simply awesome. The sexual surgery scene, for example, was sufficiently kinky that Cronenberg would have been proud to have shot it. Despite the good stuff, though, the movie ended up being another empty-calorie snack that was occasionally tasty and good enough to spike the blood sugar for a bit, but not delicious enough to make you count it a memorable mental meal.

Okay, I pushed that food analogy way too far. No more of t...

Want to know the kind of dork I was?

A couple of small events today brought Neil Diamond to my attention, and from there my mind jumped back in time to high school. Here's a quick sample of the kind of dork I was then.

I had one close friend, my best friend. He was the kind of best friend I thought would be with me forever. He's not around anymore, sadly--a long story. But then he was always around.

We played basketball together, sometimes in full five-on-five pickup games, often just the two of us. We both loved it. We ...

Old habits

Jennie called to my attention this recent boingboing post on this book about the art of manliness. The post mentioned two terms that quite charmed me:

"Snotter, or Wipe-hauler. A pickpocket whose chief fancy is for gentlemen's pocket-handkerchiefs."

The whole idea that one might even consider calling oneself a snotter or a wipe-hauler just makes me smile.

As I was enjoying these terms, I realized that one of the reasons I so liked them is that I carry a cloth handkerchief every day. I alwa...

Want to read Children No More?

Not only read it, mind you, but read exactly the manuscript that Toni accepted?

Well, you can, and right now...but it will cost you.

Years ago, Jim Baen started a nifty program: eARCs. An ARC (Advance Reading Copy) is a printed copy of a book that publishers sometimes make for distribution to reviewers, bookstore buyers, and so on. An ARC is typically only partway through the editing process; the book still could change. The eARC is an electronic ARC, an eBook version, that is exactly the boo...

In praise of Toni Weisskopf

Toni Weisskopf is the Publisher of Baen Books and its most active editor. She is also my editor. At a party once, I heard her talking to a young woman who wanted to be a writer. I wandered over and commented that Toni was good at developing beginning writers. Toni responded, "If by developing you mean, 'Keep your fucking hands off my prose,' then I suppose I am." That comment nicely summarizes the attitude she encounters from me regarding my work. I strive to earn that attitude by delivering ...