Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 100

Dealing with the Blank Page

On Facebook, I got this question in response to the status update that I was beginning work on the sequel to ALMOST TO DIE FOR (NAL, August 2010):

How do you motivate yourself when you're staring at a blank page? It kills me every time.

The deeply personal reply to this is that I'm actually MORE afraid of working on the novel in progress than I am of a blank page. In fact, I actually open up a new document every time I sit down to write. I do that in order to lie to myself. The lie I tell mysel...

Alice in Wonderland

I went to the Tim Burton movie with three friends. General consensus: it's worth seeing, but not a good movie. Lots of special effects and good actors doing less than they are able to. Alan Rickman as the caterpillar. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Great Tim Burton landscapes. Not nearly as good as Mars Attacks.

Lack of Cat Blogging

I guess I am posting photos of volcanoes and stars because Kelly was not able to do his Friday cat blogging, due to being sick as a dog. This is your Sunday volcano and star blogging...

Another Reason to Fund NASA

A photo of the Eagle Nebula courtesy of NASA...

Volcanoes and stars! What is better? Though I guess I don't really want to be too close to either. But the images remind me why I write science fiction.

Photo of the Current Icelandic Eruption from Space

The plume to the left is the eruption. The plume to the right is (probably) where the lava flow reaches snow and ice.

The police are allowing tourists close to the eruption, and I have run across one ad on the Internet for a photography tour to the volcano. I am not much of photographer, but the idea of going is appealing. Eleanor hearts volcanoes, until they do something big and ugly.

Novel Survey Results II and III

Somehow I missed Jim C. Hines' publication of the novel survey results part II wherein he tackles the myth of the "overnight success" and "you have to know someone." Both myths -- BUSTED. Check out the results!

Here also is novel survey results part III in which he asks the question: "Can you boost your odds?" of being published by attending conventions, being in a writers group, having an advanced degree in creative writing, etc. The answer to this one is less clear, but interesting reading...

Thoughts in Response to Tate's Last Post

I do my blog because I want people to be able to find me on the Internet; and I want the blog to be current because nothing says "not here" like an out-of-date website or blog. I don't get paid, but I figure it's a very modest form of self-promotion, similar to the postcards or bookmarks many authors get printed up when a book comes out.

According to Patrick, everyone thinks they are or can be a writer, because they are literate and can read or write. Maybe we should give up the word writing f...

Still** Irritated

The more** I think about the question my friend asked yesterday, the more I'm irritated by it. (For those of you just tuning in, the question was:)

When people who aren't writers suggest that if you hate certain parts of writing, maybe you shouldn't do it, do you want to wring their necks, or do you just think it's time to be less honest about your feelings?

Yesterday, I answered: wring their bloody necks. Today, I say: do it, twice. It's justifiable homicide.

Thing is, I suspect that one of the...

When Your "Best" is Good Enough

Kelly made a post last week that talked, among other things, about writing the best book you can right now. While I agree with that sentiment, I want to add a caveat:

Yes, you need to write the best book you can right now; but you also need to know when it is good enough.

Look, a book can always be better. Tighter, smoother, cleaner. There are always scenes that could use another pass, lines of dialogue that could use tightening, details that can be honed, characters that could "pop" more. Ther...

Good Quote from Charles Stross on Firedoglake

It's hard to forecast the future because it's so fluid, and there's so much more of it than there used to be!

We aren't a monoculture any more. Nor do we consume common mass entertainment media. We're appallingly diverse. And there are nearly seven billion of us, with more than a billion in the developed world and another 2-3 billion in countries that will be developed within a couple of decades (unless things go horribly wrong).

Consider recreational media. In the 19th century you had...