Eric James Stone's Blog, page 6
June 5, 2013
My first mystery story publication
I’ve had many science fiction and fantasy stories published. Some have had mystery elements to them. But “Wouldn’t Be Much,” in the June issue of Crimson Fog magazine, is my first plain mystery story — no science fiction or fantasy involved.
But it does involve magic.
Crimson Fog uses a Flash-based reading application that makes it look like you’re reading in a paper magazine, so they can do some really interesting things with layout. It also means I can embed the issue here, so you can read the story my clicking on the cover below. (If you’re reading on a device that doesn’t support Flash, like an iPhone or iPad, try this link.)
June 1, 2013
Tweets for the week of 05-25-2013
@paolobacigalupi Because fracking is done at drilling sites, not processing plants. A pipe leak at a processor is not "fracking accident." in reply to paolobacigalupi 20:04:24, 2013-05-27
@paolobacigalupi While the gas may have come originally from a well that uses fracking, the accident itself was unrelated to fracking. in reply to EricJamesStone 20:05:55, 2013-05-27
See pics of my wedding cake at this Kickstarter for the company that 3D-printed the custom caketoppers: http://t.co/CunoGbrAt0 11:47:05, 2013-05-28
May 25, 2013
Tweets for the week of 05-18-2013
Thanks. 12:47:11, 2013-05-18
About to watch Star Trek Into Darkness in IMAX 3-D. 16:03:21, 2013-05-18
Good luck to my friends at the #Nebulas. And if more than one friend is up for the same award, good luck whoever I like the most. 21:44:07, 2013-05-18
@AletheaKontis I'm typing with my finger crossed for you. in reply to AletheaKontis 21:49:03, 2013-05-18
Congrats, @aliettedb, on a well-deserved win. 22:26:22, 2013-05-18
Blog post: http://t.co/ODHgDdX4pG – Tweets for the week of 05-11-2013 23:59:04, 2013-05-18
Best out-of-context LDS prophet quote: "When it needs rocking, and you have not much to do, rock it." – Lorenzo Snow #MormonsRock 14:29:00, 2013-05-19
Check out this 1 weird trick internet advertisers in YOUR TOWN use: "Check out this 1 weird trick internet advertisers in YOUR TOWN use: '… 16:52:03, 2013-05-20
@robisonwells @RandyTayler Beauty and the Beast first published in 1740 — the same year Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler invented time. in reply to robisonwells 11:39:04, 2013-05-22
RT @jimduckett: If anybody asks you, "Do you believe in coincidences?" Be sure to say, "Are you kidding? I was about to ask you the same qu… 17:51:47, 2013-05-22
@CandaceSalima How do you feel about the Church's response? http://t.co/LqElrtjuBT in reply to CandaceSalima 16:55:58, 2013-05-23
@stubbleagent @LauraSAndersen For scientific accuracy, we would need to change the Bronte sisters' surnames to Apate. in reply to stubbleagent 17:02:25, 2013-05-23
RT @MissBamantha: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish for compliments and he'll be like "didn't I do a good j… 11:12:45, 2013-05-24
RT @michelleisawolf: My friend wanted to feel like a princess for her wedding day, so I made her marry a man she never met in order to secu… 16:37:19, 2013-05-24
@grist @paolobacigalupi That headline is a lie, based on the information in the article. The leak was unrelated to fracking. in reply to grist 17:43:59, 2013-05-24
May 18, 2013
Tweets for the week of 05-11-2013
@jimduckett Well, you seemed like a man of obvious taste and discernment. in reply to jimduckett 22:56:50, 2013-05-14
I interview alternate history author @LauraSAndersen over at the blog of the Association for Mormon Letters: http://t.co/GgypjWQ2hC 13:58:49, 2013-05-15
May 11, 2013
Tweets for the week of 05-04-2013
Blog post: http://t.co/O8scAJReRt – Tweets for the week of 04-27-2013 23:59:08, 2013-05-04
Watch our wedding video, complete with trumpet fanfare, robot ring-bearer & helicopters: http://t.co/FcDvkEmBWT 09:04:53, 2013-05-06
Sometimes my brain wants to pronounce "misled" to rhyme with "fizzled." 13:30:58, 2013-05-07
@daviddlevine Hmm. Does MS Word have a word weight function? in reply to daviddlevine 13:37:45, 2013-05-07
May 4, 2013
Tweets for the week of 04-27-2013
RT @trevso_electric: I want to defend a penguin in court just so I can say, "Your Honor. My client is clearly not a flight risk." 15:59:20, 2013-04-29
@LeahCypess It's not really that difficult. Email me your manuscript and I can do it in under 2 minutes. in reply to LeahCypess 11:03:38, 2013-05-01
@LeahCypess It would take me longer to explain than to do it. in reply to LeahCypess 11:04:01, 2013-05-01
@EricDSnider Suprisingly, you don't see a distinction between a headline writer's mistake and official corporate policy. in reply to EricDSnider 12:17:15, 2013-05-01
@EricDSnider If Fox really didn't see a distinction, they wouldn't include the word "legally" in the article's first sentence. in reply to EricDSnider 12:18:08, 2013-05-01
@EmaPen Congrats! in reply to EmaPen 13:25:11, 2013-05-01
@ericbdavies @EricDSnider My mistake. But this Fox story's correct: http://t.co/aNy2uZ3pVc so I think it's headline mistake, not Fox policy. in reply to ericbdavies 15:06:20, 2013-05-01
Blog post: http://t.co/h6hCfe6VxE – Manuscript Tip: How to replace underlining with italics in Microsoft Word 18:25:32, 2013-05-01
@PeterAhlstrom @stacylwhitman By force of habit, I use two spaces. But if I know an editor prefers one, I'll happily make the switch. in reply to PeterAhlstrom 22:34:29, 2013-05-01
Blog post: http://t.co/MYgsQZE3Oh – Ender's World is out 07:27:46, 2013-05-02
RT @crossedgenres: Unidentified Funny Objects 2 has 8 hours to raise the last $2000 for their @kickstarter! Please help them out: http://t.… 11:00:45, 2013-05-02
@scatteredjules @amberargyle Following people before Twitter was invented was called "stalking." in reply to scatteredjules 17:09:29, 2013-05-02
@darylwriterguy I hope it involves the line "Ah, darn you! Gosh darn you all to heck!" in reply to darylwriterguy 17:13:14, 2013-05-02
May 2, 2013
Ender’s World is out
The anthology of essays about Ender’s Game I talked about here is now available. My essay is titled “How It Should Have Ended,” and you can read the beginning over on the SmartPop Books website.
Here’s the table of contents:
Introduction: Ender’s World – Orson Scott Card
How It Should Have Ended – Eric James Stone
The Monster’s Heart – John Brown
The Cost of Breaking the Rules – Mary Robinette Kowal
Winning and Losing in Ender’s Game – Hilari Bell
Parallax Regained – David Lubar, Alison S. Myers
Mirror, Mirror – Alethea Kontis
Size Matters – Janis Ian
Rethinking the Child Hero – Aaron Johnston
A Teenless World – Mette Ivie Harrison
Ender on Leadership – Colonel Tom Ruby
Ender Wiggin, USMC – John F. Schmitt
The Price of Our Inheritance – Neal Shusterman
If the Formics Love Their Children Too – Ken Scholes
Ender’s Game: A Guide to Life – Matt Nix
I reread Ender’s Game for just before writing my essay, and was struck again by what a brilliant book it is. Obviously, it has really struck a chord with the reading public — last year, 27 years after it first came out, it was the . If you haven’t read it in a while (or ever) I recommend reading it — and then reading Ender’s World to get some interesting perspectives on it.
May 1, 2013
Manuscript Tip: How to replace underlining with italics in Microsoft Word
For years, standard manuscript format has held that italics should be indicated by underlining. So many writers are used to underlining in their manuscripts. But some editors and agents now prefer to have real italics instead of underlines. Fortunately, it is possible to use Microsoft Word’s search and replace tool to make the change. I offered to do this for a friend earlier today, and she emailed me her novel manuscript. Two minutes later, I emailed the manuscript back with all the underlines changed to italics — and that included download and upload time. But I can’t do that for everyone, so I figured I’d explain the process, step by step. It looks like a lot of steps, but it’s really not that difficult, and it should all make sense when you look at it.
Open the “Find and Replace” dialog (Ctrl-H)
Click on the “More” button
Click in the “Find what:” box
Click on the “Format” button
Choose “Font…”
From the “Underline style:” pulldown, choose the single thin line
Click “OK”
Under the “Find what:” line, it should now show “Format: Underline”
Click in the “Replace with:” box
Click on the “Format” button
Choose “Font…”
From the “Underline style:” pulldown, choose “(none)”
In the “Font style:” list, choose “Italic”
Click “OK”
Under the “Replace with:” line, it should now show “Format: Font: Italic, No underline”
Click the “Replace All” button
All your underlined words should now be italicized words with no underlining.
April 27, 2013
Tweets for the week of 04-20-2013
Hulu invited me to take a survey that could take up to 15 minutes. First question was my age. After I said 46, survey was over. 09:25:20, 2013-04-20
@JulieCFrost I don't know. It's possible they were looking for 65+, just as it's possible Abraham Lincoln was a time-traveling android. in reply to JulieCFrost 09:36:40, 2013-04-20
Blog post: http://t.co/D9JFEglvyT – Tweets for the week of 04-13-2013 23:59:50, 2013-04-20
Mormons in the news: Samurai sword-wielding Mormon bishop comes to aid of woman being attacked http://t.co/FtCxosztVM 09:52:20, 2013-04-24
April 20, 2013
Tweets for the week of 04-13-2013
My 1000th Twitter follower is Writers of the Future winner @kodiakjulian, whom I enjoyed meeting last week at the WOTF workshop. 20:11:20, 2013-04-16
@mat_johnson
@AbrahamHanover If a right-winger did it, sit back and watch all your liberal friends blame "conservative rhetoric," etc. in reply to mat_johnson 12:00:22, 2013-04-17
@AaronWJohnston @MaryRobinette Yes, I'd seen that a few days ago. Didn't know they were doing the audiobook until then. in reply to AaronWJohnston 12:10:20, 2013-04-17
My latest post at the blog of the Association for Mormon Letters is about "A Memory of Mars": http://t.co/WESAN82Vcj 15:20:42, 2013-04-17
@amberargyle Before. in reply to amberargyle 17:10:15, 2013-04-17
RT @IMAO_: Well, at least it's nice the suspect is someone we can all come together hating: guys who wear baseball caps backwards. 16:42:02, 2013-04-18
RT @saladinahmed: One second we're all 'You're DEAD, old media! Your reportage is so slow!' The next it's 'Don't rush to publish! Be rig … 08:22:08, 2013-04-19
I re-read @tchernabyelo's "The Box of Beautiful Things" a few days ago. It's as good as I remembered it being. http://t.co/gTClfp3D6S 12:41:23, 2013-04-19
@TKosmatka I didn't know you'd expanded "The Prophet of Flores" into a novel. Cool. in reply to TKosmatka 15:24:30, 2013-04-19
RT @IMAO_: I hope the new Superman movie has his origin story in it because I'm really curious what that is. 15:28:28, 2013-04-19
