Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 79

Photo of the Day, Thanks to NASA

Constellations of lights sprawl across this night scene, but they don't belong in the skies of planet Earth. Instead, the view looks down from the International Space Station as it passed over the United States along the northern Gulf Coast on October 29. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is docked in the foreground. Behind its extended solar panels, some 360 kilometers below, are the recognizable city lights of New Orleans. Looking east along the coast to the top of the frame finds Mobile, Alabama while Houston city lights stand out to the west, toward the bottom. North (left) of New Orleans, a line of lights tracing central US highway I55 connects to Jackson, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee. Of course, the lights follow the population centers, but not everyone lives on planet Earth all the time these days. November 2nd marked the first decade of continuous human presence in space on board the International Space Station.

Voting Day Cats (Midway Edition)

Preposition Cats:


Inky... BEHIND!


Ms. Ball... INSIDE.


Deliah.... IN! (Waaaaaaaaay IN)


Ms. Ball... ON... and, of course, regal.

WF Winners Announced

Congratulations to all the winners of this year's World Fantasy Award!

Happy Halloween from NASA and ESA!

Halloween's origin is ancient and astronomical. Since the fifth century BC, Halloween has been celebrated as a cross-quarter day, a day halfway between an equinox (equal day / equal night) and a solstice (minimum day / maximum night in the northern hemisphere). With a modern calendar, however, the real cross-quarter day will occur next week. Another cross-quarter day is Groundhog's Day. Halloween's modern celebration retains historic roots in dressing to scare away the spirits of the dead. Perhaps a fitting tribute to this ancient holiday is this view of the Ghost Head Nebula taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. Similar to the icon of a fictional ghost, NGC 2080 is actually a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The Ghost Head Nebula spans about 50 light-years and is shown in representative colors.

Friday Night Cat Blogging

Seashell cats sussurates sussertively



I'z teh picture of decorum and tranquility
and not teh lest bit tippziez



Grarr!



I'z an art catz!

Vote on Tuesday it's in your Genes

Just in time for the election, scientists may have found the liberal gene.

More Coverage

Any writer will tell you that getting the cover art for your book is exciting. It is, in essence, both you and your book's face to the world; your chance to make that critical "first impression" and, hopefully, gain a new reader.

It's also pretty cool because, you know, someone is making a picture based on your words! *squee!*

Except, they aren't; or not really. The publisher is making an approximation of your words, based on what they think will help sell the book. And that, as we all know, can be very subjective, both in terms of what works and what looks good.

Truth be told, most of us don't have a lot (or in most cases, any) control over what appears above/below/behind our name on the cover. At best, we get consulted about any ideas we may have for the cover, maybe are shown a piece before it gets taken off to the approval meeting, and, on a good day, get to offer some insight or suggestions along the way. As to what happens with those suggestions in the meeting? Well, don't faint holding your breath.

As a debut novelist, you pretty much take what you get. I was lucky in that I was asked for some suggestions, but for the most part, they were along the lines of "We were thinking of this...any suggestions or comments?" and "Here's some pics of what your character looks like to me -- thoughts?" and "Can you write up a description of your main character for the artist?" To be honest, having heard plenty of cover horror stories (and seen a few as well), just being asked was a thrill. You want to hear what I think? Really? *squee II*! Of course, all the caveats I mentioned above apply, and all applied to me. I offered feedback, was politely corrected or deflected as necessary, and came out with a couple of good covers despite all that.

In other words, I got luck. Very lucky.

I posted my U.S. cover for Among Thieves (published by Roc) here the other week. Now I have the good fortune to be able to post my U.K./Australia cover as well (published by Tor/Macmillan U.K.):



Like I said: very lucky indeed. And I didn't even have to hold my breath and faint. :)
(Release in U.S., U.K., and Australia are all slated for the beginning of April, 2011.)

Friday Cat Blogging On Monday

So, I was without internet Friday afternoon and couldn't post my cat blogging. Here 'tis, much belated with the original captions included.

What do you mean, you're going away for the weekend?




What do you mean, you're going away for the weekend?



What do you mean, you're going away for the weekend?



What do you mean...ooh sun!

Quidditch World Cup... For Real?

Okay, I love Harry Potter as much as the next guy, but how stupid is this? Quidditch World Cup to be held in Manhattan.

I'm sorry, but the slid show of the guy running with a broom between his legs makes me sad. What's the point of Quidditch if you can't fly?

Big News in Fandom

SF3 has officially disinvited Elizabeth Moon as Guest of Honor for WisCON 35. The statement doesn't explain why, but I suspect there's hardly a soul in science fiction fandom that hasn't heard a whiff of Moon Fail.