Eric James Stone's Blog, page 13
May 29, 2012
Blood Lite III: Aftertaste
My humorous horror story “Nine Tenths of the Law” is now available in Blood Lite III: Aftertaste, edited by Kevin J. Anderson.
Here’s how the story begins:
The law offices of Thacker, Ford & Harward were on the upper floors of a downtown high-rise that had mostly escaped the ravages of the zombie troubles. I walked past the attractive, living receptionist and made my way toward a corner office, which I figured would hold one of the better lawyers.
None of the lawyers themselves had escaped infection, of course, because the zombies had deliberately targeted lawyers, judges, and politicians during the initial stages of the plague. But that only made them better lawyers. Contrary to movie stereotype, the typical zombie did not shamble around, arms outstretched, searching for brains to eat, because most zombies had all the brains they needed: The average zombie had an IQ of 182.
Instead of brains, they ate hearts. But nobody’s perfect.
Here’s the rest of the table of contents:
“I Was a Teenage Bigfoot”—Jim Butcher
“Blood Red Greens”—Joel Sutherland
“V Plates”—Kelley Armstrong
“Put on a Happy Face”—Christopher Golden
“Devil’s Contract”—E.S. Magill
“Scrumptious Bone Bread”—Jeff Strand
“Let That Be a Lesson to You”—Mark Onspaugh
“Mint in Box”—Mike Baron
“The Great Zombie Invasion of 1979″—JG Faherty
“Dating After the Apocalypse”—Stephen Dorato
“Typecast”—Jeff Ryan
“Making the Cut”—Mike Resnick & Lezli Robyn
“Acknowledgments”—Will Ludwigsen
“Mannequin”—Heather Graham
“Short Term”—Daniel Pyle
“Distressed Travelers”—Nina Kiriki Hoffman
“Bayou Brawl”—L.A. Banks
“The Steeple People”—John Alfred Taylor
“For Sale”—David Sakmyster
“The Man Who Could Not Be Bothered to Die”—Norman Prentiss
“The Last Demon”—Don d’Ammassa
“Choose Your Own”—Adrian Ludens
“Smoke and Mirrorballs”—Chris Abbey
“BRIANS!!!”—D.L. Snell
“Still Life”—Ken Lillie-Paetz
“A Day in the Life”—Sherrilyn Kenyon
“Old MacDonald Had an Animal Farm”—Lisa Morton
“Two for Transylvania”—Brad C. Hodson
“The Four Horsemen Reunion Tour: An Apocumentary”—Lucien Soulban
This is my third appearance in the Blood Lite anthologies of humorous horror, which makes me three for three. Here’s hoping they do a fourth.
May 26, 2012
Tweets for the week of 05-19-2012
RT @rosefox: Watch the #nebs2012 live at http://t.co/gwu39zVp 18:22:16, 2012-05-19
Blog post: http://t.co/6ttvv6US – Tweets for the week of 05-12-2012 23:59:46, 2012-05-19
Headed to Kanarraville, Utah, to see the eclipse. 16:39:26, 2012-05-20
@marionjensen Cars are lining the roads. 18:51:27, 2012-05-20
A demon is devouring the sun! #NotReallyItIsJustASolarEclipse 18:58:55, 2012-05-20
The sun is amazingly bright considering it's more than half covered. 19:20:09, 2012-05-20
Blog post: http://t.co/r2AxOyjx – Bookmarklet to add totals to Kindle sales stats 07:41:24, 2012-05-21
@rachelswirsky @ann_leckie Congratulations to you both. in reply to rachelswirsky 10:01:49, 2012-05-21
@bencrowder Unfortunately, it leaves out the step where we disregard as "outliers" some dots that don't fit with our pet theory. in reply to bencrowder 17:18:24, 2012-05-21
Blog post: http://t.co/wktUgAhU – Nebula Awards Showcase 2012 08:10:11, 2012-05-22
@teashopgirl Thanks. Glad it's working for you. in reply to teashopgirl 10:42:28, 2012-05-22
Either I've developed leprosy or my sunburn from attending the UtahRenFest on Saturday is starting to peel. #SunscreenIsNotAuthentic 12:11:12, 2012-05-22
I've been trying to think what the opposite of Occam's Razor is, and I've finally come up with it: Occam's Fake Beard. 17:28:06, 2012-05-22
Occam's Fake Beard: All else equal, the simplest explanation is what the shadowy disguised forces controlling the world want you to believe. 17:38:58, 2012-05-22
@ferretthimself Umm, yes. I'd never heard of a merkin, and I can only hope that someday senility will allow me to forget. in reply to ferretthimself 17:40:39, 2012-05-22
Blog post: http://t.co/HdCssrjn – CONduit 2012, this weekend in SLC 18:30:52, 2012-05-24
@pattyjansen If your blog allows pingbacks, then if someone links to your blog post from a blog that supports pingbacks, it will notify you. in reply to pattyjansen 23:42:45, 2012-05-24
@pattyjansen The point is that it shows somewhere else on the internet that people are talking about your blog post. Like a remote comment. in reply to pattyjansen 23:54:14, 2012-05-24
Blog post: http://t.co/1qBmUTrQ – I So Want To – я так хочу 08:34:08, 2012-05-25
May 25, 2012
I So Want To – я так хочу
This week’s Russian pop song: “I So Want To” by Infiniti. I must say the music video isn’t exactly the most entertaining one I’ve seen, but I like the song a lot.
Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and megalyrics.ru):
I so want to
I so want to
In the light of lanterns
In the light of lanterns
vanishing
You’re beautiful in it
But I know
What do you become a friend
I understand, but at heart I suddenly
I can not hold back her tears
I can not understand
Well, for what
Drops on the cheek
Rain drops on the glass with the lash
Chorus:
I so want to forget you
At heart she is, but I’m not your tenderness
It was not me
He kisses you
I’m just a snowflake in your heart
I so want to forget
I so want to forget
The sky is not for us to shine the stars
You are now on the other whispered dreams
You are now a stranger
I see
I say, “Goodbye”
We no longer meet the dawn
No more birds to fly with the wind
Let the night knocking on unanswered
Melting away
Chorus:
I so want to forget you
At heart she is, but I’m not your tenderness
It was not me
He kisses you
I’m just a snowflake in your heart
I so want to forget
I so want to forget
May 24, 2012
CONduit 2012, this weekend in SLC
This weekend I’ll be at CONduit, Salt Lake City’s annual science fiction and fantasy convention. This year, for the first time since I started going to CONduit, they have a major media star: , who played Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, will be there on Saturday.
Other guests include:
Tamora Pierce, the author guest of honor
Mary Ellen Smith, the costuming guest of honor
Tom Carr
Larry Correia
Russ Cook
Robert J Defendi
Jessica Douglas
Jess the Geek Girl
Paul Genesse
Melva Gifford
Cliff Green
Metti Ivie Harrison
Laura Hickman
Tracy Hickman
Kathy Mar
Bryce Moore
Jim Moore
Jane Lindskold
Brad R. Torgersen
Ann Sharp
Nathan Shumate
Virginia Smith
Eric Swedin
Jacob Walker aka J.K. Walker
Elisabeth Waters
Dan Wells
Julia West
Dave Wolverton, aka Dave Farland
David Yurth
May 22, 2012
Nebula Awards Showcase 2012
My Nebula-Award-winning novelette “That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” is now available in The Nebula Awards Showcase 2012. Edited by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel, this volume brings together many of last year’s winners and nominees:
“Introduction: In Which Your Editors Consider the Nebula Awards of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow” by James Patrick Kelly and John Kessel
“Ponies” by Kij Johnson
“The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoff Landis
“Map of Seventeen” by Chris Barzak
“And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill’s Side” by James Tiptree, Jr.
“In the Astronaut Asylum” by Kendall Evans and Samantha Henderson
“Pishaach” by Shweta Narayan
Excerpt from Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis
“Bumbershoot” by Howard Hendrix
“Arvies” by Adam Troy-Castro
“How Interesting: A Tiny Man” by Harlan Ellison
“The Jaguar House, in Shadow” by Aliette de Bodard
“The Green Book” by Amal El-Mohtar
“That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made” by Eric James Stone
Excerpt from I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
“To Theia” by Ann K. Schwader
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky
2011 Nebula Awards Nominees and Honorees
Past Nebula Winners
I’m very pleased to be sharing a table of contents with so many terrific authors.
May 21, 2012
Bookmarklet to add totals to Kindle sales stats
If you’re selling e-books through Kindle Direct Publishing, did you ever wish Amazon would put totals at the bottom of the month-to-date sales statistics?
Well, they still haven’t done that, but I’ve created a bookmarklet that will do that for you.
May 19, 2012
Tweets for the week of 05-12-2012
@RickNovy @Keffy Just add the following to your search or alert: -site:http://t.co/BQXUUIy9 in reply to RickNovy 09:55:08, 2012-05-14
@RickNovy No. There should be no spaces between the minus sign, the word site, the colon, or the website address. in reply to RickNovy 10:58:04, 2012-05-14
New Obama ad calls Romney a "vampire." False. (It's true that he sparkles in sunlight, but that's just sunscreen made of crushed diamonds.) 11:37:31, 2012-05-14
RT @howardtayler: Pre-orders for Schlock Mercenary: The Sharp End of the Stick are open! #schlocksharp http://t.co/nKj1xqXL 11:59:54, 2012-05-14
@BethCato I've heard shawarma sales have skyrocketed since the movie was released. in reply to BethCato 16:05:28, 2012-05-14
@RickNovy @bbeaulieu It's a glitch. Numbers for the week of May 13 will not be up until Friday May 18. May 13 shouldn't be listed yet. in reply to RickNovy 16:39:18, 2012-05-14
@RickNovy Brad was talking about Bookscan numbers in Amazon's Author Central. in reply to RickNovy 16:45:20, 2012-05-14
@JonahNRO @greenfield64 Mitt +2 w/women registered voters is probably statistical noise. 1 in 20 poll results are outside "margin of error." in reply to JonahNRO 18:04:03, 2012-05-14
Blog post: http://t.co/vNOvsrdW – My lecture to Brandon Sanderson's class 07:37:13, 2012-05-15
@ProfBrotherton X2: X-Men United is my favorite, and apparently it's good enough to take TWO spots on your top 10 list. ;-) in reply to ProfBrotherton 13:22:26, 2012-05-15
http://t.co/Dy9fEd0e is a cool site that lets you search the text of subtitles in a bunch of movies/TV shows. http://t.co/M8hvwMxd 16:27:57, 2012-05-15
RT @IMAO_: The Lord of the Rings would have benefited from some midi-chlorians type explanation of how a ring can make you invisible. 16:41:47, 2012-05-15
@morriswm It does say "If appropriate we’ll automatically add a footnote citation so there’s a record of where you found the info." in reply to morriswm 18:10:42, 2012-05-15
@thmazing That post looks broken to me. in reply to thmazing 18:13:25, 2012-05-15
Anyone know if the #NebulaAwards ceremony will have a video stream again this year? 10:50:13, 2012-05-16
.@TheDanWells If "Enterprise C" means "Yesterday's Enterprise," then I side with @RandyTayler on that being the best TNG episode. in reply to RandyTayler 10:52:51, 2012-05-16
.@HeidiTighe @RandyTayler @TheDanWells I own an autographed shooting script for "Yesterday's Enterprise." I think I win. #MostGeekCred in reply to HeidiTighe 12:03:58, 2012-05-16
@TheDanWells I eat tacos almost every weekday. Wednesday NOT being taco day for me is a change. in reply to TheDanWells 12:05:16, 2012-05-16
.@nathanshumate Single Generic Word is the name of my next band. in reply to nathanshumate 12:06:12, 2012-05-16
@thmazing Still not seeing it. in reply to thmazing 13:07:58, 2012-05-16
My latest post over at the Association for Mormon Letters blog is about "Mentioning Mormons in science fiction": http://t.co/fVkL36ZP 14:20:09, 2012-05-16
@CptSqweky @TheDanWells @RandyTayler Sorry, I think "Trials and Tribble-ations" is the best DS9 episode. in reply to CptSqweky 15:03:45, 2012-05-16
@JonahNRO @GovernorOMalley Don't be so human-centric, Jonah. Face-eating is merely a bear's way of showing respect. in reply to JonahNRO 15:31:53, 2012-05-16
Blog post: http://t.co/NQwFkoN0 – My Association for Mormon Letters blog posts 17:23:49, 2012-05-16
If you allow one slippery-slope argument, pretty soon you'll have to allow them all. 18:05:00, 2012-05-16
@WSJ @CopywriterBob Adjusting for inflation, it seems Romney's wealth would be second to George Washington's. http://t.co/7Av75y1C in reply to WSJ 18:06:43, 2012-05-16
@Keffy You're right. "Sufficiently advanced technology" is the phrase for that. in reply to Keffy 00:27:58, 2012-05-17
Blog post: http://t.co/TlI9v2Ew – I'll Be With You – я буду с тобой 07:25:22, 2012-05-17
@scalzi Fine here. in reply to scalzi 08:48:20, 2012-05-17
@AShvartsman Have you tweeted about zombies? (This interaction about zombies may increase your Klout about zombies.) in reply to AShvartsman 09:18:57, 2012-05-17
Is it childish of me to say "@OrrinHatch is a fraidy cat!"? If so, then I won't say it. http://t.co/w0TL0IS2 10:30:08, 2012-05-17
@RickNovy Does your new ENT speak more quickly than the previous one? in reply to RickNovy 16:32:03, 2012-05-17
RT @IMAO_: The easiest way to be carbon neutral is to find someone with the same size carbon footprint as you and murder him. 16:32:34, 2012-05-17
It's Causal Friday. Make something happen. 07:34:15, 2012-05-18
@dolohov Ha-ha! Made you tweet. in reply to dolohov 08:42:35, 2012-05-18
A well researched response by @JamesGoldberg to misinformation in a @Salon article by @pareene: http://t.co/URCHj3Gk 16:01:41, 2012-05-18
@jakeboyslim I didn't realize you played EverQuest. ;-) in reply to jakeboyslim 16:18:50, 2012-05-18
RT @WakefieldMahon: A true flash fiction master does not feel the need to put a shocking twist in every tale…. but it's so much fun! 16:19:53, 2012-05-18
.@amysundberg I thought everyone knew that "YA" books are first-person, all-caps, transliterated Russian stories. in reply to amysundberg 16:45:12, 2012-05-18
@Keffy You could try doing the podcast equivalent of a numbers station. http://t.co/5DY0IDAm in reply to Keffy 17:18:01, 2012-05-18
RT @RickNovy: For the afternoon crowd, my novel "Rigel Kentaurus" is free today and tomorrow for Kindle. Last time free. http://t.co/7VF … 17:18:18, 2012-05-18
May 17, 2012
I’ll Be With You – я буду с тобой
This week’s Russian pop song: “I’ll Be With You” by Blue Affair & Sasha Dith. (The version I usually listen to is a slightly different remix.)
Here are the translated lyrics (courtesy of Google Translate and sefan.ru):
I’ll be with you
I will be with thee, thou shalt be with me, and
Together we’ll go for a walk in the moonlight!
I will love, you will be silent,
In your eyes I see sadness
I’ll be with you …
I will be with thee, thou shalt be with me, and
Together we’ll go for a walk in the moonlight!
I will love, you will be silent,
In your eyes I see sadness
I will be with thee, thou shalt be with me, and
Together we’ll go for a walk in the moonlight!
I will love, you will be silent,
In your eyes I see sadness …
I will be with thee, thou shalt be with me, and
Together we’ll go for a walk in the moonlight!
I will love, you will be silent,
In your eyes I see sadness
I’ll be with you …
I will be with thee, thou shalt be with me, and
Together we’ll go for a walk in the moonlight!
I will love, you will be silent,
In your eyes I see sadness (3 times)
Umm, yeah. The lyrics are a little repetitive.
May 16, 2012
My Association for Mormon Letters blog posts
Apparently I’ve been remiss in blogging about my blogging.
My latest guest post at the Association for Mormon Letters is on the topic of “Mentioning Mormons in science fiction.”
In March, I interviewed author Brad R. Torgersen.
In April, I interviewed author Nancy Fulda.
May 15, 2012
My lecture to Brandon Sanderson’s class
Brandon Sanderson teaches a creative writing class at BYU, and last semester I had the opportunity to give a guest lecture on the subject of writing short stories. A video recording of the lecture is now available on YouTube:
