Jules Jones's Blog, page 22
April 9, 2015
Eastercon was good
Enjoyed myself at Eastercon. Got to see various friends, was well enough to do a bit of volunteering (if only minding the table in the green room), went to some fun and useful panels. (Am still giggling madly at the look on the other panelists' faces when one minute in Charlie Stross launched into his description of a Real Life Vampire, the hippo arse leech.)
Returned home too tired and sore to report in before now, and am now developing suggestions of Con Crud. But it was well worth it. :-)
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/292303.html, where it has received
comments.
Returned home too tired and sore to report in before now, and am now developing suggestions of Con Crud. But it was well worth it. :-)
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/292303.html, where it has received
comments.
April 2, 2015
Eastercon
Kalypso_V and I are travelling down together Friday morning, arriving early afternoon. We'll be leaving sometime on Monday afternoon.
I'm not on any panels. I may well be in the audience when other rascafarians are on panels, but am not guaranteeing it. :-) In fact, I really need to cross-check the programme first thing, to make sure I know where to track other people down.
Twitter handle is @bookfetishist and my mobile number has not changed - ping via gmail if you need a reminder.
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/292069.html, where it has received
comments.
I'm not on any panels. I may well be in the audience when other rascafarians are on panels, but am not guaranteeing it. :-) In fact, I really need to cross-check the programme first thing, to make sure I know where to track other people down.
Twitter handle is @bookfetishist and my mobile number has not changed - ping via gmail if you need a reminder.
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/292069.html, where it has received
comments.
March 29, 2015
Depression lies
Jim C Hines offers a detailed list of the many ways in which depression lies to you. The comments are worth reading, too.
http://jimhines.livejournal.com/782841.html
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/291738.html, where it has received
comments.
http://jimhines.livejournal.com/782841.html
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/291738.html, where it has received
comments.
March 17, 2015
book log 2015 - January summary
Summary of the books read in January, posted only a month or so late... All were reviewed in more detail earlier in the blog.
1) Ben Goldacre: Bad Pharma
Excellent non-fiction analysis of the problem of biased research in the pharmaceuticals industry.
Kobo, Amazon US
, Amazon UK
2) Gemma Halliday - Spying in High Heels
Chicklit mystery, not to my taste.
Kobo, Amazon UK
, Amazon US
3) Christmas in the Duke's Arms
Regency romance anthology with linked novelettes by four authors, set in a small village one Christmas.
Amazon UK
, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada
, Kobo
4) Pati Nagle -- Dead Man's Hand
A lovely short ghost novel for Halloween, with the emphasis on the human soul rather than on horror.
direct from Book View Cafe, Amazon UK
, Amazon US
, Amazon Canada
, Amazon Australia
5) Summer Devon -- The Gentleman and the Lamplighter
Gentle and lovely Victorian m/m romance.
Amazon UK
, Amazon US
, Amazon Canada
, Amazon Australia, Kobo
6) Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett -- Good Omens
Yes. Well. I mentioned on Twitter while reading the book and when I wrote my review that it coloured the book to be re-reading it for the first time since Pterry announced The Embuggerance. I posted the review two days before he died. It's no bad thing to be reminded of why he was so special.
Amazon UK
, Amazon US
, Amazon Canada
, Amazon Australia, Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/291430.html, where it has received
comments.
1) Ben Goldacre: Bad Pharma
Excellent non-fiction analysis of the problem of biased research in the pharmaceuticals industry.
Kobo, Amazon US
, Amazon UK2) Gemma Halliday - Spying in High Heels
Chicklit mystery, not to my taste.
Kobo, Amazon UK
, Amazon US3) Christmas in the Duke's Arms
Regency romance anthology with linked novelettes by four authors, set in a small village one Christmas.
Amazon UK
, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Kobo4) Pati Nagle -- Dead Man's Hand
A lovely short ghost novel for Halloween, with the emphasis on the human soul rather than on horror.
direct from Book View Cafe, Amazon UK
, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia5) Summer Devon -- The Gentleman and the Lamplighter
Gentle and lovely Victorian m/m romance.
Amazon UK
, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, Kobo6) Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett -- Good Omens
Yes. Well. I mentioned on Twitter while reading the book and when I wrote my review that it coloured the book to be re-reading it for the first time since Pterry announced The Embuggerance. I posted the review two days before he died. It's no bad thing to be reminded of why he was so special.
Amazon UK
, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Amazon Australia, KoboMirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/291430.html, where it has received
comments.
March 13, 2015
memories of Terry Pratchett
As with so many other fans I know, Terry wasn't just an author whose books I loved; Terry was someone I *knew*, even if it was only a slight acquaintance. It hurts that he is gone; it hurts that I am grateful that he is finally free of The Embuggerance. He was and always will be an important part of my life, and even the 70+ books he left us don't quite make up for the ones we didn't get.
There are so many stories about him on the net today, of how he touched lives. Little pieces of Terry that will live on alongside his books. This is mine.
The first Discworld con was only the second ever con I went to. I went because it was the Discworld con, because Terry's books had lightened my heart at a time when I was sorely in need of it. I met a lot of wonderful people, including Terry himself.
A few months later, I bought my first modem. That was long enough ago that I selected Demon as my ISP because they offered both flavours of 56k connection. I knew about usenet, and promptly set up my feed for two groups: demon.service, the gripes group for my ISP, and alt.fan.pratchett - and found that Terry was a poster in both. At the time he was posting pretty much every day in afp, and actively involved in conversations, many of which had nothing whatsoever to do with his work, but were just about things of interest to geeks. Because Terry was a geek too, and there were a good many conversations where the Alpha Geek simply happened to be the most shoplifted author in the UK. The online world was smaller then, and such a thing was possible.
I was seconded to the Netherlands for a few months. I still had an online social life to stop me getting too lonely. And not just online. There were friends there to take me out to the pub at a CloggieMeet one weekend, because of afp.
I moved to the US. I still bought the UK editions of the books, via the esteemed ppint, guerrilla bookseller of Interstellar Master Traders. ppint knew that I'm not that interested in autographs just to have the autograph, that it's more about the memory of *getting* the autograph; and accordingly was somewhat surprised the first time I ordered my copy of the latest hardback complete with personalised signature from the signing session Terry did for IMT. "This is different. Terry will probably know who's asking, even if I'm not there to ask in person." He did. And an "it's in the post" email from ppint for one of my orders included a message passed on from Terry that he was glad to hear I'd been successful in getting published. That meant a great deal to me.
Yes. About that. I'm not the only afper who managed to get a book finished and submitted to a publisher in part because of the advice and encouragement Terry freely handed out on afp. There are a number of established writers I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to, but first and foremost is Terry. Best advice I ever heard on not being intimidated by the amount of work in writing a novel: You don't write a novel. You write 300 words a day, and at the end of a year that's 100,000 words, and that's a novel. Thanks, Terry. I don't always manage the 300 words, but that one helped me more than once, especially when I was trying to write again a couple of years ago after a long bout of illness.
Terry eventually quietly withdrew from afp, and the group went on without him. In the end many of the rest of us gradually drifted away in the general Death Of Usenet, but some of the links remained; on irc, on LiveJournal, at meets, at cons. In the friendships and marriages that happened because of afp, and in the children that happened because of afp. And Terry always made it to the UK cons, almost to the very end.
I didn't get to most of the later cons, what with one thing or another. I almost didn't get to 2014, but someone kindly passed on her membership when she couldn't go. When Terry had to withdraw a few weeks before the con, I knew I would never see him again, that most of us wouldn't. In some ways the con became an advance wake -- sharing stories and remembering. And even though he couldn't be with us in person, he was still with us. We had videos of him, and his assistant Rob took video of us to send back to The Boss. He sent us a gift, in the form of a beautiful little folio book he'd had specially printed for the con members when he knew he wouldn't be able to come; one time only limited edition, only 888 numbered copies, ever. We sent him one back, in the form of a Con-inna-Box; a replica Luggage where con members could leave things that represented their memories of the con, and messages written on sheets to be bound into a book. I'll never have to think, "I wish I'd told him how much he meant to me", because I did.
I still haven't managed to read that folio all the way through in one sitting, because I don't want to get tear stains on it. It's probably going to be a while before I do.
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/291220.html, where it has received
comments.
There are so many stories about him on the net today, of how he touched lives. Little pieces of Terry that will live on alongside his books. This is mine.
The first Discworld con was only the second ever con I went to. I went because it was the Discworld con, because Terry's books had lightened my heart at a time when I was sorely in need of it. I met a lot of wonderful people, including Terry himself.
A few months later, I bought my first modem. That was long enough ago that I selected Demon as my ISP because they offered both flavours of 56k connection. I knew about usenet, and promptly set up my feed for two groups: demon.service, the gripes group for my ISP, and alt.fan.pratchett - and found that Terry was a poster in both. At the time he was posting pretty much every day in afp, and actively involved in conversations, many of which had nothing whatsoever to do with his work, but were just about things of interest to geeks. Because Terry was a geek too, and there were a good many conversations where the Alpha Geek simply happened to be the most shoplifted author in the UK. The online world was smaller then, and such a thing was possible.
I was seconded to the Netherlands for a few months. I still had an online social life to stop me getting too lonely. And not just online. There were friends there to take me out to the pub at a CloggieMeet one weekend, because of afp.
I moved to the US. I still bought the UK editions of the books, via the esteemed ppint, guerrilla bookseller of Interstellar Master Traders. ppint knew that I'm not that interested in autographs just to have the autograph, that it's more about the memory of *getting* the autograph; and accordingly was somewhat surprised the first time I ordered my copy of the latest hardback complete with personalised signature from the signing session Terry did for IMT. "This is different. Terry will probably know who's asking, even if I'm not there to ask in person." He did. And an "it's in the post" email from ppint for one of my orders included a message passed on from Terry that he was glad to hear I'd been successful in getting published. That meant a great deal to me.
Yes. About that. I'm not the only afper who managed to get a book finished and submitted to a publisher in part because of the advice and encouragement Terry freely handed out on afp. There are a number of established writers I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to, but first and foremost is Terry. Best advice I ever heard on not being intimidated by the amount of work in writing a novel: You don't write a novel. You write 300 words a day, and at the end of a year that's 100,000 words, and that's a novel. Thanks, Terry. I don't always manage the 300 words, but that one helped me more than once, especially when I was trying to write again a couple of years ago after a long bout of illness.
Terry eventually quietly withdrew from afp, and the group went on without him. In the end many of the rest of us gradually drifted away in the general Death Of Usenet, but some of the links remained; on irc, on LiveJournal, at meets, at cons. In the friendships and marriages that happened because of afp, and in the children that happened because of afp. And Terry always made it to the UK cons, almost to the very end.
I didn't get to most of the later cons, what with one thing or another. I almost didn't get to 2014, but someone kindly passed on her membership when she couldn't go. When Terry had to withdraw a few weeks before the con, I knew I would never see him again, that most of us wouldn't. In some ways the con became an advance wake -- sharing stories and remembering. And even though he couldn't be with us in person, he was still with us. We had videos of him, and his assistant Rob took video of us to send back to The Boss. He sent us a gift, in the form of a beautiful little folio book he'd had specially printed for the con members when he knew he wouldn't be able to come; one time only limited edition, only 888 numbered copies, ever. We sent him one back, in the form of a Con-inna-Box; a replica Luggage where con members could leave things that represented their memories of the con, and messages written on sheets to be bound into a book. I'll never have to think, "I wish I'd told him how much he meant to me", because I did.
I still haven't managed to read that folio all the way through in one sitting, because I don't want to get tear stains on it. It's probably going to be a while before I do.
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/291220.html, where it has received
comments.
March 9, 2015
book log 2015 - 6) Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett -- Good Omens
Usually I make a note when I happen to know the author (or in this case, one of the authors). It doesn't normally affect my review much, but in this case -- I last read this book before Terry went public about The Embuggerance. That's coloured my recent re-read, putting an edge on the humour that wasn't there last time round. Nevertheless...
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read, and yes, that includes Terry's other output. The Bible is true on a literal level, the Antichrist has just been born and Armageddon is coming, and a somewhat shopsoiled angel and demon would really rather it didn't, thank you very much. Aziraphale and Crowley have spent the last six thousand years doing their jobs on Earth, after that unfortunate incident in the Garden of Eden, and in the manner of undercover agents everywhere, have discovered that they have more in common with each other than their masters. They like humans, and they like the human lifestyle. They don't at all like the idea of returning whence they came. And so they decide to do something about it.
All of which was predicted by Agnes Nutter, Witch, who left a set of prophecies for her descendents. Very, very accurate prophecies written by someone who saw things but didn't necessarily understand what she was seeing. Her present day descendent knows that Armageddon is coming, and sets out to do something about the Antichrist.
Who just happens to be a perfectly normal English boy with a gang, and a dog. The dog is from hell, but the gang isn't, in spite of the collective opinion of the adults of the village. One too many swaps in the nursing home left the Antichrist as a cuckoo in the nest of a completely normal middle class family instead of the American diplomat's, and completely untended by satanic nursemaids to guide him in the wrong path. And thus the stage is set for a satire that mercilessly dissects all manner of things about modern life, and has enormous fun along the way.
Very much recommended.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290982.html, where it has received
comments.
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read, and yes, that includes Terry's other output. The Bible is true on a literal level, the Antichrist has just been born and Armageddon is coming, and a somewhat shopsoiled angel and demon would really rather it didn't, thank you very much. Aziraphale and Crowley have spent the last six thousand years doing their jobs on Earth, after that unfortunate incident in the Garden of Eden, and in the manner of undercover agents everywhere, have discovered that they have more in common with each other than their masters. They like humans, and they like the human lifestyle. They don't at all like the idea of returning whence they came. And so they decide to do something about it.
All of which was predicted by Agnes Nutter, Witch, who left a set of prophecies for her descendents. Very, very accurate prophecies written by someone who saw things but didn't necessarily understand what she was seeing. Her present day descendent knows that Armageddon is coming, and sets out to do something about the Antichrist.
Who just happens to be a perfectly normal English boy with a gang, and a dog. The dog is from hell, but the gang isn't, in spite of the collective opinion of the adults of the village. One too many swaps in the nursing home left the Antichrist as a cuckoo in the nest of a completely normal middle class family instead of the American diplomat's, and completely untended by satanic nursemaids to guide him in the wrong path. And thus the stage is set for a satire that mercilessly dissects all manner of things about modern life, and has enormous fun along the way.
Very much recommended.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290982.html, where it has received
comments.
March 8, 2015
SFWA membership now open to small press and self-pub
In the unlikely event that anyone who would care about this doesn't already know about it -- SFWA has amended its membership requirements to allow small press and self-published science fiction & fantasy to be considered. That doesn't mean it's open season, as there is still the requirement to make a commercial sale, i.e. make a minimum amount of money in a reasonable time period from the fiction in question. The *same* amount of money as was required under the old rules. Qualifying markets are still qualifying markets. If your publisher isn't a qualifying market, you have to provide the evidence yourself.
As far as novels are concerned, it's $3000 net advance/royalties in a one year period after 1 Jan 2013. I'm still not entirely sure what the qualifying period on short fiction is, but would assume it's the same. Some more detailed information at the VP's blog:
http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2015/03/05/answering-more-questions-about-the-sfwa-qualifying-process/
http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2015/03/02/how-to-apply-for-sfwa-membership-with-small-press-or-self-published-credentials/
This does only consider income received after 1 Jan 13. But of interest to me is that had this rule been put in place back when RWA did the same thing around eight years ago, I would have qualified for SFWA membership with Dolphin Dreams, as indeed I did with RWA membership. At which point I'm sure that various people would have insisted that no, I didn't, because my stuff isn't Real Science Fiction and Fantasy (TM). And I would have enjoyed watching them flail every bit as much as I did on the romance side.
It's an incentive to get that space opera back out on the submissions rounds, and finish the urban fantasy. :-)
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290747.html, where it has received
comments.
As far as novels are concerned, it's $3000 net advance/royalties in a one year period after 1 Jan 2013. I'm still not entirely sure what the qualifying period on short fiction is, but would assume it's the same. Some more detailed information at the VP's blog:
http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2015/03/05/answering-more-questions-about-the-sfwa-qualifying-process/
http://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2015/03/02/how-to-apply-for-sfwa-membership-with-small-press-or-self-published-credentials/
This does only consider income received after 1 Jan 13. But of interest to me is that had this rule been put in place back when RWA did the same thing around eight years ago, I would have qualified for SFWA membership with Dolphin Dreams, as indeed I did with RWA membership. At which point I'm sure that various people would have insisted that no, I didn't, because my stuff isn't Real Science Fiction and Fantasy (TM). And I would have enjoyed watching them flail every bit as much as I did on the romance side.
It's an incentive to get that space opera back out on the submissions rounds, and finish the urban fantasy. :-)
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290747.html, where it has received
comments.
Book log 2015 - 5) Summer Devon -- The Gentleman and the Lamplighter
It's Victorian London, and wealthy young gentleman Giles Fullerton is still grieving a year after the death of the man he loved, his grief made worse by the need to conceal it. He deals with the emotional pain by walking the streets through the night, until he can face sleep. Young lamplighter John Banks knows a thing or two about grief himself. He loved his wife dearly, even though he's gay, and has missed her each day since her death. The young gentleman who wanders his route on so many nights may have attracted his attention with his good looks, but John can see that something drives him into the night. Enough so that at last John speaks to him, concerned for his safety. Curiosity about John's job of lighting and dousing the streetlamps provides something for Giles to focus on outside his grief.
There's companionship of a sort in a stranger to speak to, and gradually the two young widowers reveal more about themselves to each other in their conversation each night; first in coded and deniable references to their grief, and then more openly. Enough so that they finally act on their attraction. But this is Victorian London, and a relationship is barred by more than their being both men; the social gulf between them would be every bit as shocking to society, and moreover puts them at far greater risk of exposure than if they could meet as equals. Will they both have the courage to find a way through to a chance at happiness?
This is a gentle, slow romance, and all the better for it. It's a lovely short novella with a pair of well drawn, appealing main characters and some good secondary characters, and a sex scene that adds to the emotional development rather than being there to make up the word count. One for my re-read list.
Available free to members of the Heroes and Heartbreakers website, or you can pay a modest sum to get a nicely formatted ebook with a gorgous cover.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290522.html, where it has received
comments.
There's companionship of a sort in a stranger to speak to, and gradually the two young widowers reveal more about themselves to each other in their conversation each night; first in coded and deniable references to their grief, and then more openly. Enough so that they finally act on their attraction. But this is Victorian London, and a relationship is barred by more than their being both men; the social gulf between them would be every bit as shocking to society, and moreover puts them at far greater risk of exposure than if they could meet as equals. Will they both have the courage to find a way through to a chance at happiness?
This is a gentle, slow romance, and all the better for it. It's a lovely short novella with a pair of well drawn, appealing main characters and some good secondary characters, and a sex scene that adds to the emotional development rather than being there to make up the word count. One for my re-read list.
Available free to members of the Heroes and Heartbreakers website, or you can pay a modest sum to get a nicely formatted ebook with a gorgous cover.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290522.html, where it has received
comments.
March 7, 2015
booklog 2015 - 4) Pati Nagle - Dead Man's Hand
Five murdered poker players from different eras are brought back from the dead for one last tournament. The prize is life itself.
The book opens with Wild Bill Hickok finding himself pulled from the grave, his bones clothing themselves with flesh and the flesh with clothes. The reader follows along with Bill as he tries to work out what's going on and why he feels an urge to go to Atlantic City, although the reader has an advantage over him in being able to recognise the present day and just how much time has passed. Another four men from different time periods have the same experience, although one is so recently dead that he is able to convince friends and family that he'd been kidnapped and held incommunicado for several years. As they gradually assemble, they discover that they have been revived for the greatest poker tournament in history - between the greatest players, no matter when they lived.
The result is an atmospheric blend of ghost story and mystery, with some superb world-building going into the strange casino that has revived the men. The characters are well developed, and it's a joy to watch their interaction, and their different reactions to the present day. Those reactions are driven in part by their different reasons for wanting the prize; not just a new life in a recreated body, but what they want to do with that life. A chance at love, a chance at revenge, fascination with this new world they find themselves in... Even for the four losers, their short time walking the earth again allows them to do at least a little of what was left undone.
A lovely short ghost novel for Halloween, with the emphasis on the human soul rather than on horror.
direct from Book View Cafe, with excerpts available
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290235.html, where it has received
comments.
The book opens with Wild Bill Hickok finding himself pulled from the grave, his bones clothing themselves with flesh and the flesh with clothes. The reader follows along with Bill as he tries to work out what's going on and why he feels an urge to go to Atlantic City, although the reader has an advantage over him in being able to recognise the present day and just how much time has passed. Another four men from different time periods have the same experience, although one is so recently dead that he is able to convince friends and family that he'd been kidnapped and held incommunicado for several years. As they gradually assemble, they discover that they have been revived for the greatest poker tournament in history - between the greatest players, no matter when they lived.
The result is an atmospheric blend of ghost story and mystery, with some superb world-building going into the strange casino that has revived the men. The characters are well developed, and it's a joy to watch their interaction, and their different reactions to the present day. Those reactions are driven in part by their different reasons for wanting the prize; not just a new life in a recreated body, but what they want to do with that life. A chance at love, a chance at revenge, fascination with this new world they find themselves in... Even for the four losers, their short time walking the earth again allows them to do at least a little of what was left undone.
A lovely short ghost novel for Halloween, with the emphasis on the human soul rather than on horror.
direct from Book View Cafe, with excerpts available
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon Australia
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/290235.html, where it has received
comments.
March 6, 2015
booklog 2015 - 3) anthology -- Christmas in the Duke's Arms
Regency romance anthology with linked novelettes by four authors, set in a small village one Christmas. The Duke's Arms of the title is the village pub, but there is a real duke as well, plus an earl or two. I've left it too late to write a proper review of this one, alas, but Azteclady's written a good review. I don't agree with her ratings on each story, but that's a reflection of the variety in the stories - if you like historical romances, there's a good chance at least one of these novelettes will work for you.
Amazon UK
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/289951.html, where it has received
comments.
Amazon UK
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Kobo
Mirror of http://julesjones.dreamwidth.org/289951.html, where it has received
comments.
