Laura VanArendonk Baugh's Blog, page 52
September 23, 2013
Four ‘Til Late – an Eric Garrison contest!
Check it out: today’s post has a contest.Free books! And we’re hosting Eric Garrison and his book Four ‘Til Late (which you might remember me mentioning before). But first, this is Eric’s first blog tour stop. Please give him a hearty welcome! As I’ve mentioned, I first met Eric at a local short story gathering, […]
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September 19, 2013
Pirates! and a free sample
Aarrrgh! It’s offic’ly Talk Like a Pirate Day! And in honor, we’re goin’ t’ look at a burnin’ question: Why d’ our pirates talk like this? Of course, thar aren’t a lot o’ recorded pirate speeches. Even court records o’ tried and convicted pirates don’t capture t’ dialect o’ t’ accused. What we think o’ […]
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September 17, 2013
Where Do Plot Ideas Come From?
There’s a joke among fiction writers about people who offer, “Hey, I’ve got a great idea for a book. You write it and then we’ll split the profits.” There are a few problems with this, but one of the most obvious is that the idea is the easiest bit. It’s the writing that actually takes […]
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September 16, 2013
So, What DOES the Fox Say?
At times, life is strangely kind.This time, it was both kind and strange. Foxes became a hot internet meme, and in an… unexpected way. In case you missed it, here’s the Norwegian music video, “The Fox.” Not gonna lie, I love this on many levels — the beautifully cliché videography, the formulaic song progression, […]
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September 15, 2013
Why Does Writing a Book Take So Long?
A friend joked about my copious free time. “I mean, what do you have to do, really? You’re self-employed, so you can totally slack off there. And you’re writing a book, and that can’t be hard. I mean, really, how long can that take?” He was joking about all of it, of course, which is […]
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September 2, 2013
Books By People I Actually Know
I know. I’ve heard your sighs in the dark before the dawn, when you thought no one was listening. I’ve seen your eyes slip over the bookstore windows, your fingers brush the keys as you open a browser to Amazon. It’s okay. You can tell me. You nod. “I don’t mean to complain, Laura, but…. […]
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August 30, 2013
The 8-Hour Challenge follow-up: Smoke and Fears
Remember the 8-Hour Book Challenge I described a few days ago? Today Konrath posted the achievers, and you can find them here. (Check them out; you might find something fun!) Even before Konrath’s post went live, however, Smoke and Fears somehow started climbing the chart, and it’s reached #16 on Amazon’s Free Historical Fantasy list. […]
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August 28, 2013
Gen Con, the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and Ninja
Geekery, fiction, and ninja — that’s a pretty typical day in my life, actually…. Gen Con So I forgot entirely to mention that I would be at Gen Con, the world’s largest gaming convention. But I was there! I and my cosplay group “…And Sewing Is Half the Battle!” taught workshops ranging from how to […]
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The 8-Hour Book Challenge
Oh gosh. Hold on a sec and let me catch my breath. Okay, author J.A. Konrath wrote a post on (among other things) maintaining the joy of creating without fussing over commercialism or perfectionism, and he ended with a challenge to create an entire book in just 8 hours. That’s the entire book project. Writing, […]
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August 27, 2013
Polite “Bowing” Deer in Japan
Have you heard of the bowing deer of Nara? Sika deer (probably from shika, Japanese for “deer”) are spotted into maturity and still have a strong population in Japan. They were once considered divine messengers, and now they are protected. In Nara Prefecture, they roam freely and harass visitors for treats. They are often called […]
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