Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 83

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Jon made a comment on my last post that suggests I have not been clear.

I was trying to make three arguments:

1) Obligations of day to day life can interfere with productivity.

2) Some writers are more prolific than others, for whatever reason.

3) For many writers, writing is not easy.

I was also trying to distinguish between the mind set of a practical writer and the mind set a 'fine art' writer. It would be nice if some of the other Wyrdsmiths would jump into this discussion, since we probably ...

Writing

As Kelly has mentioned, John Scalzi has a long post on writing on his blog. Here is part of it.

If you want to be a writer, than be a writer, for god's sake. It's not that hard, and it doesn't require that much effort on a day to day basis. Find the time or make the time. Sit down, shut up and put your words together. Work at it and keep working at it. And if you need inspiration, think of yourself on your deathbed saying "well, at least I watched a lot of TV." If saying such a thing as...

So your man can smell like the sea...in a bad way

In the tradition of paying occasional homage to the Old Ones on this blog, I am insanely horrified to present....

A couple quick Smart Things

A quick appetizer of Smart Things for Sunday night/Monday morning:

Brent Weeks and Brandon Sanderson had a wide-ranging discussion about epic fantasy over on BabelClash this week. Topics ranged from pacing, to foreshadowing, to chapter lengths and cliff-hangers, and so on (the discussion starts at the bottom and scrolls up, 'natch). I'm not sure I agree with them 100% on chapter endings or purpose, but then again, I am writing on a different scope and scale, which can impact structure quite a ...

Astronomy Photo of the Day

What dark forms lurk in the mists of the Carina Nebula? These ominous figures are actually molecular clouds, knots of molecular gas and dust so thick they have become opaque. In comparison, however, these clouds are typically much less dense than Earth's atmosphere. Pictured above is part of the most detailed image of the Carina Nebula ever taken, a part where dark molecular clouds are particularly prominent. The image has recently been retaken and then re-colored based on light emitted by...

Friday Cat Blogging

Are you getting my good side?
Make sure you get my good side.



Stoic cat contemplates stoicly.



I will kill you if you try to move me out of the sun.



See I told you I'd fit...now help me get outta here.

Smart Things

In no particular order.

John Scalzi on either writing matters enough to you that you find the time to write. Or you don't. Harsh but true.

Douglas Martini on dating writers. Both funny and a fair amount of truth to be found here.

Cat Valente on what a con takes out of you if you're doing it as a pro and part of your job.

On a related note, Lilith Saintcrow on the costs of writing. It isn't easy and it isn't effort free.

Kristin Nelson on the incredible power of story. This one makes me quite snuff...

Listen to Me!

MANY BLOODY RETURNS is now available as an audio book from Audiobook Stand.com. My short story "Fire and Ice and Linguine for Two" is collected therein. The theme of the anthology is vampires and birthdays, so my story involves Garnet and Sebastian's wacky attempt to celebrate his birthday one Christmas. For those of you who have read HONEYMOON OF THE DEAD, this story is actually the first appearace of Fonn, the Frost Giant.

I've pointed you to the .mp3 version, but it's also available as a...

Fighting Oil with Ink

I donated a short story reprint to the anthology, BREAKING WAVES: AN ANTHOLOGY OF GULF COAST RELIEF. This is an e-book available in a number of formats from Book View Cafe. 100% of the proceeds go to the Gulf Coast Relief Fund. Contributors include Ursula K. LeGuin, Vonda McIntyre, David D. Levine, Sarah Monette, David B. Coe, Kristine Kathryn Rusch and many more.

The theme is ecological disasters with hopeful endings (preferably involving the ocean.) Mine is "Indigo Bunting," which is a stran...

Astronomy Photo of the Day (Courtesy of NASA)

What created the strange spiral structure on the left? No one is sure, although it is likely related to a star in a binary star system entering the planetary nebula phase, when its outer atmosphere is ejected. The huge spiral spans about a third of a light year across and, winding four or five complete turns, has a regularity that is without precedent. Given the expansion rate of the spiral gas, a new layer must appear about every 800 years, a close match to the time it takes for the two...