S.K.S. Perry's Blog, page 16

And stay off'n my lawn!

I'm not sure what's worse: Men who call women bitches, or women who take pride in being one.

Since when did being a bitch become something women should aspire to? That's like someone being proud to be an asshole.

When someone remarks, "How rude!" the proper response isn't, "Why, thank you." Of course if you were actually rude, you probably wouldn't say thank you, unless in a very sarcastic tone.

I'd like to say that I don't understand this generation any more, but the truth is I think it's the people in their 30s-50s that are the problem. For the most part most kids I meet are relatively polite.

One should always be polite, even when threatening someone--okay, especially when threatening someone. It really freaks them out. Smiling doesn't hurt either.

And it's only eleven-thirty...

We were all ordered to meet in the hanger this morning at 07:30 because apparently the CO wanted to talk to us. What with all the changes going on in the military after the budget cuts -- some of us losing our jobs, our pensions, etc--we assumed he was going to address these issues.

Wrong. Surprise mandatory urine testing for drugs.

I reported where I was told and informed to "Wash you hands, pee in the cup, wash your hands again, and bring the cup back here."

When I returned, he said, "Wow, that was quick. You must have really had to go." Because that's what passes for humour in the military, even among the tech trades.

I told him, "Are you kidding me? I'm old. I could go again in ten minutes if you want me to."

Anyway, about ten minutes later when I had to go to the washroom again, I walked in and there was some private standing at the urinal, so I yelled, "Stop! You're wasting it!"

Which, come to think of it, is not something one man should ever say to another who has his zipper down and…never mind.

Procrasti....er....agent stuff

For the past few weeks silk_noir has been making a list of female authors in the spec fic genre. I think it's just important to note the female agents. More and more agents are the gatekeepers between authors and traditional publication. Try finding a publisher without an agent. Heck, try finding a publisher with an agent.

Anyway, I find it interesting to note that of all the agents who list themselves as representing fantasy on Agent Query, 108 out of 159 are women. For science fiction the numbers are 64 out of 111.

So, more and more, the people who decide what we read in the spec fic genre are woman.

Of course, it would be interesting to see how many books they sold compared to their male counterparts, and for how much.

It would be also interesting to know how many editors and publishers are women. As a matter of fact, I'd like to know how many of the people in the marketing departments for the publishing firms are women, because they may have more of a say in what sees publication than anyone.

PS - The numbers may be slightly off because I couldn't tell by some of the names whether they were male or female.

PSS - I still don't have an agent.

How Nice.

Apparently DARKSIDE: WAKING THE DEAD made FREE BOOK REVIEWS TOP 25 LIST for 2011, and I'm only finding out about it now. Cool!

For the record:

I am a white, heterosexual male, and I don't feel a damn bit guilty about it. I take no responsibility for my race, sexual persuasion, or gender; nor do I take credit for anything they may have accomplished.

I am an individual, and I'm assuming you are too, therefore I will treat you as such and not attribute any bias to you based on anything but the way you treat me, and the way I see you treat others. I have made it my personal mission to not only not hurt, deprive or demean others, but to actively help people whenever I can.

I take personal responsibility to those I may have hurt, both intentionally and unintentionally—because I'm not perfect--and ask for their forgiveness directly.

No one has the right to ask any more of me.

Day 9 of the Apocalypse

That's a NO from the agent who requested the snyopsis and partial. :(

This is not a business - This is Sparta!

The Canadian Gov't keeps trying to treat our military like it was a corporation, or a business. Even our pay and benefits are negotiated along with the Public Service contract, as if we worked at the DMV or Revenue Canada or something. (Somehow our pay and benefits never quite measure up to theirs, though.)

And while we may work for the public, there is a far cry from a military member and a public service employee.

PSEs don't have to worry about being tried and possibly paying a fine - or worse yet, being confined or going to jail - for not having their haircut, not shaving, not having their uniform up to an exacting standard, not paying their bosses proper or enough respect, being late for work, not keeping their room spotless, losing a part of their uniform (gloves, hat, boots--whatever) etc. Or the catch all, Conduct to the Prejudice of Good Order and Discipline - which basically covers anything that annoys the boss but there isn't really a rule for.

I'm pretty sure PSEs can't be forced to work 24 hours a day for days on end, with next to no notice, at no extra pay.

I'm pretty sure PSE's aren't forced to move across country every few years.

I doubt their boss can come to them, and--even though they're a secretary, or accountant, or cook, or truck driver--tell them to get their stuff together because their leaving in 24hrs to go stand chest-deep in the freezing waters of the flooding Red River and stacking sandbags, or providing relief to the people of Quebec because of the devastation caused by the latest ice storm, or helping to dig trenches and cut down trees to fight forest fires blazing in British Columbia, or doing a search for some little girl reported missing in the woods for the last three days. And it doesn't matter that they may not have the training to do any of these things.

Odds are nobody that works at the DMV are going to be ordered to go to Afghanistan, Rwanda, Kosovo, Iraq, etc--where the locals are actively trying to kill them.

They're certainly not going to be ordered to "run out there and draw there fire." Because even if they were, they could say NO, and not have to worry about being court-marshalled and sent to jail. Even firefighters and police officers in Canada have the right to say no if they believe the situation too dangerous or life threatening. Soldiers do not - even if it's almost a certainty that they will die performing their duty. (Even if they have no faith whatsoever in the plan or the person ordering them to do so.)

So when you tell me that I'm not entitled to this or that benefit or perk, or that from now on I have to pay this or that service, because it's more in line with what the public service gets, I'm not buying it. And neither should the rest of Canada.

Of course now that the war in Afghanistan is over, who cares about the military and the men who served?
Certainly not the tax payers.

Double Grrrr!

I'm really not good at this waiting thing. Waiting gives me too much time to think, and then I think things like:

I finished my first book 14 years ago. (Um, writing--not reading.) Since then I've written three more, and about a dozen short stories.

To date, the only thing I've had that comes close to being professionally published is a poem I wrote on a whim and sold to Strange Horizons, and a short story I jotted down on a bunch of cocktail napkins for a contest that eventually sold to Ideomancer.

That's it.

I sent Darkside to 52 agents. I received requests for partials or complete manuscripts from at least 12 of those. I never found representation.

With this kind of track record, why am I deluding myself into thinking that this time will be any different?

What makes me think I can write?

Day 6 of the Apocalypse (Weekends don't count, eh?)

Another NO. That's three NOs so far and one request for stuff. (Haven't heard back from them yet, so don't uncross anything!)

Day 5 of the Apocalypse

It's quiet. Too quiet. >.> <.