Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 118

Friday Cat Blogging—Cats and Shadow Edition

Why Kirby Is King

Today would have been Jack Kirby's ninety-second birthday. To honor the day, my brother and I asked comic book creators from the Mid-Ohio-Con family and beyond to answer the question "Why is Kirby king?" Our second annual Kirby tribute appears today at midohiocon.com.

Over and Out

I sent two hard copies of Dust and Steel, along with synopsis, off to my agent on Monday. This means that for the first time in over a decade the book is officially, finally off my desk and, more importantly, out of my head.

Yes, I said "over a decade." This book, which began at a breakfast counter in Juno, Alaska, and ended on a cluttered desk in St. Paul, MN, has been with me longer than my children (and at times has proven even more unruly). It has endured four moves, numerous jobs, unemployme

Smart Things

Continued very light blogging from me for at least another week or two. In the interim I've been reading other folks saying interesting things. A sampling:

Big discussion on Jay Lake's blogs about the Kindle: Part 1a and 1b and 2.

Lilith Saintcrow. The Hack Manifesto. As another "hack," this one warms my heart. Genre and Compression in which she discusses the idea of genre and the problems some have with as well as the internal pressure one feels to dive deep into a work, especially when it's new

Whatca' Reading?

A long time ago, back when MiniCON was big, I attended a panel that Alan Steele was on. I no longer remember what the panel topic was, but I remember him talking about how he had these tremendous periods in output (writing) followed by a cycle of input (reading.)

Well, even though I'm still in the middle of writing my young adult novel, my input valve must be stuck or something because I've been reading like CRAZY. I've just narfed a bunch of graphic novels in the manga series HIRAKU NO-GO (about

Monday Morning Open Thread and WIP

Hey all,

Getting ready to go help Laura unload the physics department today. Unluckily for us the building is ready for move-in this week instead of next when Laura's sabbatical starts. When they kick us out at 11:00 this morning I'll come home and cut and mount some more replacement trim before collapsing in a heap with my laptop and some editing on the trunk novel. How about you?

Friday Cat Blogging

You don't seriously expect me to pose, do you?



Look, even I get tired of the camera sometimes



Lazer cat hates ragweed season.



You have found my secret lair, now I must burn you with my eyes.



Cuteness overload.



Hey, Tahoe cats look kind of funny...

Off Topic: Tornado

Yesterday afternoon, I was lying on the bed thinking I should either nap, meditate (which is really, for me, just guided napping,) or start writing. Since I could barely keep my eyes open I went for meditation/napping. I settled in on the bed, plugged in to my mp3 player, but I paused because I heard the sound of a train rattling in the far, far distance. I thought: "Huh, a train," because, a train passes quite close to our house and we can often heard it rumbling through the neighborhood. Two s

Killing the Muse

Jim Butcher recently joined Twitter. Encouraged by many of the people I already "follow," I checked out his tweets. His very first one was strangely profound. He wrote something to the effect of "Author kills Muse. Film at 11." Subsequent posts made it clear that his reason for "killing" his Muse is that he's behind on his deadline and he can no longer afford to wait for inspiration to strike. He's just got to knuckle down and write.

Like I said, I found that surprisingly insightful.

I alway

Quick Hit—Interview Cat and Muse

The always fabulous Jackie Kessler's lead character, Jezebel is interviewing my Ravirn over at Cat and Muse. These are always a lot of fun.