Adam Heine's Blog, page 25

About E-Readers and Free Books

One of the interesting things about the e-pocalypse is the proliferation of free books. Plenty of smart authors -- self-published and otherwise -- are releasing free books into the wild as a promotional effort.



In theory, this is a great idea. Heck, in practice it's probably a great idea, but I've noticed something about the free books on my Kindle.



I forget about them.



Seriously. I mean not all the time, and not forever. But yeah, most of the time: I hear about a free book; if it sounds...

Books I Read: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go

Author: Patrick Ness

Genre: YA Science Fiction/Dystopian

Published: 2008

My Content Rating: R for violence and effing language (except he doesn't say effing)



Todd has grown up his whole life being able to hear everyone else's thoughts, and having everyone else hear his. A germ that hit before Todd was born killed all the women, and the men who survived couldn't keep their thoughts to themselves. But it turns out you can keep secrets even if you know eve...

When Characters Are Too Safe

(Remix)



So, you're watching The Incredibles.
You get to the part of the climax where the giant robot knocks Violet
out and is about to crush her. Is it tense? Are you afraid Violet might
die? Well, a little, but deep down you know that something will happen
at the last second to save her. Why? Because she's safe. She's a major
character -- and a child at that -- in a movie in which nobody has yet
died on-screen.

For The Incredibles,
that's no big deal. We don't need the added tension of "som...

So You're Thinking About Quitting Your Blog

Every time I see a blog shutdown, or hear someone lament how nobody reads blogs anymore, I get all worried. "Is my blog a waste of time? Should I focus my energy somewhere else, like Tumblr or Pinterest or dear-God-anything-but-Google-Plus?"



I don't think this blog is a waste (and your response to our family's emergency a couple of weeks ago just proves it to me). Blogs are basically the same as all the other places online. It's just a matter of how people interact and whether you prefer to...

The Downside of Critiquing

Critiquing others' work has a lot of things going for it.



It helps you identify weak points in your own writing. You know that whole plank/speck thing? All those things you can't see in your own writing are easier to see in someone else's. And the cool thing is, the more you do it, the more likely you are to catch them in your own work.



It helps you learn from people's strengths. Like, I'm terrible with the descriptions. So when I'm critiquing for someone whose good at them, I'm all, "Oo,...

Getting Unstuck

I've been working on revisions for Post-Apoc Ninjas, and it's been taking way too long. I once again have questioned whether I really should be writing, whether I deserve an agent, whether Air Pirates is some kind of one-hit wonder. I keep thinking if Air Pirates doesn't make it, Ninjas will be my next shot. Which means it has to be not just as good as Air Pirates, but better. And it's not.



But that's totally unfair. Of course it's not better. I've been working on Air Pirates for 4 years. It...

Books I Read: Quiet: The Power of Introverts by Susan Cain

(For those of you wondering how our daughter is doing, here is the latest update. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.)





Title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Con't Stop Talking

Author: Susan Cain

Genre: Non-Fiction

Published: 2012

My Content Rating: G



If you are an introvert who grew up in America, you very likely felt like there was something wrong with you. Like you should speak up more in class, make more friends, be more popular, assert yourself to get what y...

"I now pronounce you Doctor and, well...Kaylee."

"Now kiss the gorram bride."







So what's your favorite Firefly episode? Mine's the one where this happened or, if we're being serious, "Objects in Space."



Sketch from Anthdrawlogy's weddings' week.



(Note: If you follow me in other places, you probably know something's going on with our family. I've decided to let the posts I've already scheduled continue as planned (largely because I don't have the time/inclination to change them), but if I'm slow or unresponsive with the comments, this i...

Which Prize Would You Like?

If I were to, say, run semi-regular contests around here, what sorts of prizes would you be most interested in, do you think?







poll by twiigs.com



For those suggesting their own prizes in the comments, remember this is for science; try to be mostly serious. Emmet, I'm looking at you.

Daddy, Where Do Crit Partners Come From?

I don't technically have a critique group. I don't meet with other writers on a regular basis, and the only person who sees my chapters as they come out is my wife. Part of that is there just aren't a lot of sci-fi/fantasy writers in Chiang Mai (though admittedly I haven't looked very hard, what with my abject terror of new things).



So I don't have a group, per se, but I do have critique partners -- those hardened souls committed to reading through the garbage I send them. I collect them the...