Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 68

NASA APOD

On April 12th, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. His remotely controlled Vostok 1 spacecraft lofted him to an altitude of 200 miles and carried him once around planet Earth. Commenting on the first view from space he reported, "The sky is very dark; the Earth is bluish. Everything is seen very clearly". His view could have resembled this image taken in 2003 from the International Space Station. Alan Shepard, the first US astronaut, would not be launched until almost a month later and then on a comparatively short suborbital flight. Born on March 9, 1934, Gagarin was a military pilot before being chosen for the first group of cosmonauts in 1960. As a result of his historic flight he became an international hero and legend. Killed when his MIG jet crashed during a training flight in 1968, Gagarin was given a hero's funeral, his ashes interred in the Kremlin Wall. Twenty years later, on yet another April 12th, in 1981, NASA launched the first space shuttle.

More about Moi

Tracy S. Morris interviews me at her blog: http://tracysmorris.com/

Friday Cat Blogging

4 cats, 1 spouse, no movement



SUN!



Thinking thoughty thinks, why you ask?



Watchoo lookin' at?



Worship me, peasant



What do you mean "dog treat?"



Delicate! Dainty! A Princess! Slurpslurpslur…

Right On, Write On!

If you missed me last night (which I'm sure you did, given that it was SRO at Doug's sold out reading/signing at B&N), check out the "Write On Radio" show last night: http://www.kfai.org/node/35216. I'm actually the first guest for once so you don't have to wait!

I always feel really stupid doing these things, but my partner tells me I came off much smarter than I felt. I'm more in my persona as Lyda at the beginning and tend to focus on Resurrection Code as it's the most recent release, but the host and I get around to talking about vampires and even bring up Whedonistas! the other book project I was involved in through Mad Norwegian Press.

Launch minus One, and still we manage swag

Among Thieves officially hits the shelves in the U.S. tomorrow. And while I am sure this will result in the kind of mad-cap rush usually portrayed in Keystone Cops & Mel Brooks movies (whether to or from the store is still open to debate), I can tell you how to avoid the crush should you want to get your own copy...for FREE.

Fellow Penguin fantasy author, Lisa Shearin, is graciously hosting a giveaway of two signed copies of my debut effort over on her web site. All you need to do is stop on by and leave a comment in the thread for a chance to win. How easy is that? (Answer: it's very easy. Like, one click and little typing easy. You expended more effort ordering/making/opening your coffee/tea/energy drink this morning. No, don't deny it--we both know better.)

So stop on over to Lisa's site and toss your name in the hat; and check out her stuff while you're there, too. She shares the same editor as Kelly and myself, and since our editor has exceptional taste (ahem)...well, you get the picture. ;)

Write On!

Sorry to be so shameless with my self-promotion, but I would like y'all to know that I'm going to be a guest tomorrow night (Tuesday, April 5) on the "Write On Radio" show on KFAI (90.3 FM Minneapolis/106.7 FM St. Paul) from 7:00 - 8:00 pm Central Time. If you're not local and want to listen as it's happenin', you can stream it at http://www.kfai.org/.

Even if you can't listen in, say, because you might be attending a reading/signing of Douglas Hulick at B&N at the same time, you can check out the archives at http://www.kfai.org/archive the next morning. I'll try to remember to post a link here on Wednesday morning.

Friday Cat Blogging

Look dude, the radiator stays ON, and that's final.



Step over here please, I want to smack you one.



Blah-blah-blah, that's all you do.



Goo-goo-gachoo, baby!

Friday Cat Blogging: St. Paul Edition

Midnight Cat seez U in deh dark.

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Lafing Cat tinks U r funnie... lookin!


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Whatever-ing and Other Things

So, the exciting news of the day, for me, is that I am the featured Big Idea author over John Scalzi's "Whatever" blog. (Makes me feel almost a teeny bit famous, you know?)

It was one of those pieces where I knew precisely what I wanted to write about the moment I sat down to compose the pitch, but then hit a wall when it came time to actually writing the thing. An essay focusing on a chance encounter with a dictionary? Okay, that can be kinda cool if you're a word geek (guilty), but how to make it interesting for the reader? And then how to use it to flog (albeit subtly, of course) my book? I went narrative, and I think it turned out alright. Take a gander for yourselves.

(Of course, I have to note that on the day I show up on Whatever, one of my sons is home sick, which will greatly curtain my interaction time with teh webz. Ah, Mr. Murphy (not you Sean) -- you strike again!)

In related shameless self-promotional news, I have a short essay up over on Penguin U.S.A.'s SF/F page about Western Martial Arts and how they impacted the writing of my book. Linkiness here.

And, finally, I have April signing dates for the Twin Cites up on my web site. (Please note the special information about being able to order an autographed copy of Among Thieves from Uncle Hugo's prior to April 16. This is pretty cool if you want a signed/personalized copy and can't make it to either signing.)

Wow, There *Is* Such a Thing as Bad PR After All...

Via Michele Hauf on Facebook. Here's an excellent example of what NOT to do when you get a bad review.