Graeme Ing's Blog, page 9

Don’t drive like an ass!

If you didn’t know, I’m a dilettante student of urban planning and transportation efficiency. Forgive me, but sometimes I like to rant about gross inefficiencies I see in the urban transport sphere. This is one such post.

I’m sorry Americans (especially Californians), but there is a reason many interstates are either at a standstill, or have 6 lanes in each direction, or both of these factors – it’s because Americans have almost zero lane discipline. Yes, you! If you travel the highways of E...

Nerd’s guide to scene design

A few weeks ago I had to design the huge, climatic scene for my latest book. Doing so had scared me for ages, and it’s amazing how long I can procrastinate for. I wanted every character from the book to play a part, thus tying together all the loose ends in what I hope will be an intensely satisfying finale! Well that’s what we authors tell ourselves, and only hope that our readers agree!

If you don’t know by now that I’m a geek and nerd, then you aren’t paying much attention are you? heh. A...

Status Update May 2013 and beta readers wanted

Hello. Hey, it’s me, in case you’re wondering who this stranger is. I haven’t posted for a whole month because May has been an insanely busy month.

My mother came over from England for 3 weeks and we had a great time. Even though I had to work, we still found time to take her to Palm Springs and up to San Francisco. We had tremendous fun up there touring the city, going out into the harbor and driving up to Napa to sample some wines. This photo is me grinning ear to ear because the Golden Gate...

Are self-publishing and ebooks destroying our bookstore heritage?

There has been considerable press for years about what effect self-publishing and ebooks are having on our literary culture, be it bookstores and libraries or even literary masterpieces themselves. I’m sure you’ve all heard the rhetoric that allowing “normal” folk to publish whatever they want with no agent or publisher to act as a gatekeeper for quality, will result in a deluge of crap flooding the markets.On the face if it, it’s a valid concern; no one wants to wade through junk to find a g...

Real Ocean of Dust in Australia

I recently came across a fascinating post inThe Mirror newspaper in the UK. It shows a dust storm raging across the ocean. Heh, not really an ocean of dust, but indicates how terrifying the dust storms must be on my world in my book,Ocean of Dust. Imagine being on a ship with this thing bearing down on you. Full article

Photo: Brett Martin, Getty

What’s in a name?

As you may have noticed, I have an unusual spelling of the name Graham: it is in fact a Scottish spelling. This was never a problem for me when I lived in the UK where this spelling is almost as common as the usual form, but since coming to the US it’s been a constant battle spelling my name or listening to people butcher it. It’s actually humorous watching people read my name from a piece of paper, and wrestle with it in their mind, trying to figure out how to pronounce it. I never mind if p...

The St. Patrick’s Day Green-Eyed Monster

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everybody!

We just got back from a visit to our local winery, Orfila. OK, not the typical beer-swilling venue you’d expect for today, but after wine tasting we had a great picnic with bread and cheese, and yes, I had a great Irish Stout to wash it all down.

I didn’t have anything Irish to write about today (what with being an English/Norwegian Viking and all), but let’s talk about green. Consider the Great Green-Eyed Monster!

So much of our western culture is unfortunatel...

First and final draft

Somebody recently asked me how much the final draft differs from the first. Great question! Here is a snippet of the first and final drafts:

First Draft

She sat up, her head held high. Alice wasn’t going to win! She thought of Mampalo, and the physiker and the klynaks. They all believed in her, and there was one thing that she was determined to master. But first she had to prove Oban wrong. That wasn’t going to be easy, but she would start now!

When she emerged from the hatch onto the outside de...

Boomtown Craze Launch Party

A Grand New Age of Boom or Dust?

Boomtown Craze, Book 3 in the Backworlds series is here! This is a great scifi series for anyone interested in the frontiers of the galaxy, or fans of Firefly. (And don’t you love that cover?)

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted...

10 things to be thankful for

I know it’s not Thanksgiving, but today I want to give thanks for some things. I have two lists:

General

My darling wife: She is a wonderful friend, mate and companion in life. We don’t have everything in common (and nor should we) but we share the same opinions on the things that matter most to us, like family, house, work, travel, our pets. We have never argued for more than a few moments. We communicate openly about things that trouble us, whether each other or the world around us. I believe...