Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's Blog: #42 Pencil: A Writer's Life, the Universe, and Everything, page 20
November 24, 2014
Midwifing A Story: The Trusted Reader
Some writers do all their work in isolation. They are the creative hermits of the literary world. When they get an idea for a story, they tell no one. This isn’t always the misplaced fear that the other person will “steal” their idea. Few ideas are so strikingly original that they have not already been told in a myriad variations. Even if the other person were to write a story on the same idea, the stories would have different executions. Knowing this doesn’t seem to make a difference. Some f...
BVC Announces Futures Near and Far by Dave Smeds
Futures Near and Far
by Dave Smeds
A future where murder is only a misdemeanor. A colony world where humans can remain only if they are worthy of their tenancy. A woman who journeys to postapocalytic Africa in search of her childhood best friend. Welcome to a dozen tales of futures near and far, transformative or lethal, prospects to show us who we are.
REVIEWS:
“…astonishing both in range and quality. Dave Smeds conjures a future where regeneration and eternal youth are made possible through nan...
November 23, 2014
Living (in) a Fantasy Novel
This past week I set up a crowdfunding campaign for a new project: a series of very short novels (or novellas) about horses (of course), magic (because I write quite a bit of fantasy), and Tucson (where I live, and where, so to speak, the magic happens). It’s a “heart project,” in that I’ve wanted to write it for a long time, and it’s about a place and a cast of characters that are very near and dear to me. It’s literally coming from where I live.
“Your life is like a fantasy novel.”
I get a lo...
November 22, 2014
Story Excerpt Sunday: From Dun Lady’s Jess by Doranna Durgin
Book I of the Changespell Saga
Carey looked at Arlen in surprise. “You want me to fool around with an untested spell? I’ll rely on my horses, I think.”
“Did you hear nothing of what I have said?” Arlen’s anger flashed just bright enough to remind Carey who and what his employer was. “Everything I know of this new spell is in my head, Carey—except for this manuscript. If anyone—and I mean anyone, from the lowest road pirate to the Precinct Guard—tries to take it f...
November 21, 2014
Art, Imagination, and Freedom
When I clicked over to watch the video of Ursula K. Le Guin’s acceptance speech (it’s only six minutes; like all her work, it is elegantly concise) I was glad to discover that nearly sixty thousand people had been there before me. It has probably doubled since I scribbled these thoughts down. I hope so.
I realize that writing down my reactions is akin to a mouse squeaking about the elephant’s roar. But I fully believe that Ursula wants us mice squeaking about her ideas.
She starts off by saying...
November 20, 2014
The Tajji Diaries: Learning to Play
One of the joys of providing a retirement home for our new-to-us seeing eye dog, Tajji, is watching her re-discover the behaviors of a puppy. For most of her adult life, Tajji performed a job so difficult that it’s beyond the ability of most dogs. Seeing eye guide work is highly unnatural for dogs. They must learn to be visually vigilant and to scan for obstacles well above their height; what is perhaps more demanding is that when in harness they are not allowed to explore the world of smell,...
Ursula LeGuin Brings Down the House
Ursula LeGuin at the NBAs
Our beloved Ursula LeGuin was the highlight of the National Book Awards as she gave a speech in acceptance of her award forMedal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Neil Gaimin bestowed her medal upon her, and then she gave what the New Yorker article describes as “the definitive remarks of the ceremony”.
A portion of Ursula’s speech is excerpted in the article and you can watch a video of her remarks here.
November 19, 2014
The Sustainable Economy: Co-ops and Other People-Friendly Businesses
As most of our readers know, Book View Café is a cooperative. We’re owned by our author-members and exist for the purpose of publishing books by our members, getting those books wider distribution, and providing services to our members to help them in writing and publishing their books.
That makes us a producer co-op: we’re all people with our own writing business who come together to help each other. That’s similar to farmer co-ops, which often sell their members’ crops and run stores that pr...
Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Ursula K. Le Guin
T
oday, 7:40 EST:
Live-stream NBA: Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters to Ursula K. Le Guin http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014_ceremony.html#.VFRJLodm47A
November 18, 2014
#watched100times: Love and Other Disasters
*I’m* the Queen of England
It’s not a sign of mental disorder when a person watches the same movies over and over again, is it? Thank goodness. Because here I go again.
The hubby is working a put-in for a major musical down at the Palace tonight starting at one a.m. (isn’t show business glamorous?) so here I am, awake at three-forty-five in the morning, in my twenty-second private living-room screening of Love And Other Disasters.
Like many of my favorite movies this one was written, directed, a...
#42 Pencil: A Writer's Life, the Universe, and Everything
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