Patrick Chiles's Blog, page 33
January 19, 2012
In Space, No One Can Hear Your Agent
NASA okays release of the first sci-fi movie actually filmed…wait for it…in spaaace! But before anyone gets all excited and starts camping out in front of theaters, keep in mind it's only eight minutes long. You read that right. So it ain't exactly Lord of the Rings. Maybe they can run it as a short [...]
January 18, 2012
More Awesomeness from Orbit
It must be hard to get any actual work done on the space station when they're treated to views like these. This is why bazillionaires will pay $20 mil for a week's stay up there.
January 13, 2012
PERIGEE News
If you have Amazon Prime, it's now available via their KDP Select program. I appreciate the nice reviews recently posted, but more is always better! I'm reviewing the master file for the paperback right now, so we're still making progress and expect to have the dead-tree version out by month's end. In the meantime, I'm [...]
January 12, 2012
Reports of my Demise
…have been greatly exaggerated. Wife, son, and I have all been down with the flu this week. Blogging activity will resume once everybody's back to normal and the house no longer smells like an old high-school locker room.
January 10, 2012
Holy Testicle Tuesday!
…and other great curses in Chinese from Firefly, the best show that I had never seen until a few months ago. If you're wondering about the blog post title, it's the #1 cuss-out. It's almost, like, destiny that I stumbled into this on a Tuesday. Can't argue with fate. 
January 8, 2012
Gratuitous Blog Activity
I know, there hasn't been much to speak of here lately. Been busy prepping the paperback version of Perigee with my cousin's company, Fresh Ink Foundry. In the meantime, here's a good story from the BBC on a related subject: Could Hypersonic Flight Become a Reality? If you want to know more, check out the [...]
January 3, 2012
The Indie Publishing Year
David Gaughran provides a great wrap-up of 2011 from the perspective of independent authors: The Self-Publishing Year in Review. Here's his introduction, but read the whole thing: This has been a year of massive changes. Some of the older hands say that the business has always been this way. However, I don't think we are [...]
The Long and Winding Road
Via Sarah Hoyt's site, a new how-to series at MadGeniusClub: The Road to Digital Publication. Just based on the first installment, I'd recommend it to anyone contemplating e-publishing their work. And for crying out loud, if you don't take any other advice, take this: Tabs – don't use them. I repeat, do NOT use tabs. [...]
January 2, 2012
Why I am an Indie Author
Now that Perigee is finally out there for public consumption, I had thought about posting a long essay about how the whole thing almost ended up in a drawer. The always-worthwhile Passive Voice blog saved me the trouble with this link to a pitch-perfect essay by writer Anne R. Allen: Confessions of a Former Query [...]
December 31, 2011
Brave New World
Via the Advice Goddess, news of an alien-themed…well, um…how do I put it…house of ill repute in Nevada. Where else, really? I foresee lots more Trek conventions coming to Vegas – and a run on green body paint. The jokes almost write themselves.
