Cate Gardner's Blog, page 54

Tweet when You're Dead

Assuming the interwebs stay active ad infinitum, then I do believe I've discovered the secret of how to keep your work newly updated and out there forever... Sort of. I've hit a snag though. If you don't comment on other people's blog posts or interact with others on forums/twitter etc then it's unlikely anyone will find your blog but... There's always a chance they just might. Watch those keywords people.

What am I talking about?

Well, I don't normally pre-write blog posts, but I had a gem of ...

Beyond Fiction

It may be Wednesday but there's no WIP post from me today, I'm too hyper to string more than eight words together. I've been a total pimp this week... And the worst sort, it's all me, me, hey have you heard about me. Thank you to everyone who's played along (or intends to play along) with my cheeky meme contest. Your support is much appreciated and I hope you all win. erm...

Anyhow, apologies for yet more pimpage (it ends here), but Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits just received its first revie...

Sparkling Linkage Queen

You are about to be bombarded with links.

One will take you to a strange place. Another with take you to an even stranger place. And one will take you to the strangest place of all.

First off, the gorgeous-wonderful-totaldude Mark Deniz has interviewed me for his new Beyond Fiction interview/review site.

Next we have the fabulous news that Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits is available to pre-order. And if you order now you save $1.99. That's a price of a burger or chocolate orme (scrub that last ...

The Trojan War

I am the destroyer of Trojans.

I sliced and cut my digital sword into their hide and speared Achilles in the heel.

Beside me, Pretty Paris (played by Microsoft Security Essentials)folded all too easily (too busy staring at Helen, I suppose), but Hector (Malwarebytes) put up a nobile fight and helped me clear my computer of invading Greeks (played by bytes).

I hope Agamemnon (excuse me while I roll his name off my tongue maybe a dozen hundred times) doesn't return. Or if he does, he comes in the...

Life of a Writer of Weird: Dumbing Down

Reasons why I should have my IQ reassessed, evidence for the prosecution:

Watching this week's 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire', which I try not to do unless incredibly bored, a sports question appeared. 'Oh, how I hate sports,' was my initial response. A family member shouted out 'swimming' before the multiple choices appeared. Swimming wasn't there, so I said, 'must be pool then'. Seriously. It took about a millisecond to realise my faux pas and scream, 'I meant diving', but the damage was do...

WIP Wednesday - Several Children are Accidentally Eaten

I'm afraid my brain melted at around eleven thirty-three this morning and is currently located in a pool around the photocopier. At some point during the day, I may have fed several children to a hungry mayor but it turns out the paragraph was a little topsy-turvy and all came out right in the end....undigested.

Fred currently stands (well, more often sits) at 13,590 words. He's trying hard. He'd appreciate beer, but I'd rather you sent him chocolate.

Other things from this week: back to work ...

Sliding thru the Weekend

Having neglected my Fantastical Fifty stories for Fred (who now has a title but insists on the monkier) and having reached Fred's self-imposed deadline for the day, I decided to work on a short that has been swirling around my flashdrive for a couple of weeks. I knew its beginning and I knew its end, but its dangling inbetween bits were rather messy. Then I hit upon the answer...

The man with the sketchpad is Death.

Oh crap. I think I have a reaper fascination. That can't be good. I wonder if I...

Rainbow's End

So excited about this one...

Triangulation: End of the Rainbow is now available for purchase over at Amazon. It contains my story, The Meaning of Yellow, along with stories from Aaron Polson, Marshall Payne, Cat Rambo, Amanda C Davis, Peter S Beagle, Brenta Blevins, Eugie Foster and others.

Here's the beginning of The Meaning of Yellow:

Sound rushed from the cinema, dragging with it several dwarves and a basketful of poisoned apples. Crouched behind the seats in row F, Maxine pressed her grey...

Theatre of Published Books

Drumroll please... (I ask for a lot of these but this time it's appropriate)

Theatre of Curious Acts is to be published by Hadley Rille Books as a novella in 2011.

I am sooooooooo excited.

Theatre is my NaNoWriMo novel from 2009. Originally it sat at just over 50,000 words, but after a recent rejection from a publisher (that story expands a little) I edited it down to 42,000 words.

Last week the original publisher (who shall remain unnamed but I will say, they're an awesome company) contacted ...

WIP Wednesday: The Return of Fred

I've almost hit my stride with Fred. Having left the book at 90 words last Wednesday, I'm now at a whopping 4,578... Erm.

Maybe we should fast forward to next Wednesday.

Lily's favourite line of the week: "But even if I wasn't, you'd still be as hairy as an afghan hound wearing a wig."

Resemblance to original script: 40%

Now we'll interrupt our normal schedule to encourage you to go wish Mercedes M Yardley and Marshall Payne hearty congratulations. They've both snagged agents because they're bot...