David Macinnis Gill's Blog: Thunderchikin Reads, page 15
January 9, 2014
Ask a Silly Question
Daycare asks Dad silly questions about his 11 month old daughter, and this is what he says (at 11 months, my son’s skill would’ve been prodigious slobbering).
January 8, 2014
Don’t Beat Yourself Up
Preamble:
For a little over the past month, I’ve been writing 2000 words per day. I made the decision to do this for a year in order to up my literary output after a year of frustration with the same output. I have several stories I want to tell, and unlike my more youthful friend sin YA, I don’t have decades to tell them, and I need to get on with it. I announced my goal on Twitter in early December and have been posting word counts each day. Usually, I don’t say much publicly about my writing goals or share my frustrations with the same. This time, I decided to make it public because it was the best way to make myself accountable. Since I began the Year of Writing (#yearofwriting on Twitter), over 70k new words have appeared in two different manuscripts. These are horribly messy and misshapen words that need hours of editing to even be readable, and a quarter of them will eventually be chopped. The important thing is that the words are there to work with.
The Point:
None of this is about publicly patting myself on the back. I’m a writer. It is my job to write, and I don;t deserve pats for just doing my job. No, this is about the tweets and DMs I’ve gotten from friends and followers who feel bad about the words they have not written in the same amount of time. The worst thing about writing is that there is no way to measure our output except against other writers. We look at people you have two books in one year (or three) or sign new contracts, and we compare that to our output and feel lessened We read tweets and Facebook posts and blogs and word counts while the mean little voice in our heads repeats the mantra that we aren’t good enough, that we are failures and frauds. What we forget, of course, is that almost no one shares the low points in public. We don’t tweet about the contract we didn’t get, the manuscript that failed after two drafts, or the three months we went without a word on the page because, well, shit happens and life gets in the way.
Whether you’re a writer, an artist, or someone with a passion that you want to pursue, let’s turn down the volume on the mean little voice. Don’t listen to its noise, and whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up: There are too many others willing to do that, and you don’t need to help them out.
January 7, 2014
Star Wars Comics
Star Wars no. 1
After more than 20 years, the force is with Marvel once again.Disney announced Friday that two of its subsidiaries — Lucasfilm and Marvel Entertainment — are working together on a series of new Star Wars comic books. The brand’s first comics were originally published by Marvel in the ’70s, back before both companies had been acquired by Disney. In 1991, the license for the comics was purchased by Dark Horse, which has published the titles ever since. Now the rights have returned to Marvel, which plans to release its first new–new Star Wars comics and graphic novels in 2015. More.
Once upon a time, I owned this issue. I was a rabid Star Wars fan and bought everything Star Wars I could find. I don’t remember much about the adaptation, except that it followed the script fairly closely. I do remember the cover, and I wondered why the colorist chose green for Vader’s helmet. I could see using blue as an accent color to create contrast, but green?
Anyway, now that Disney owns rights to comics and films, expect to see some close tie-ins for the franchise. I wonder if they will issue a reprint of the original in all of its dot-pirinted glory.
November 11, 2013
Rising Sun
Shadow on the Sun
A sci-fi thrill ride—incredible action, inventive world-building, deadly humor, and more—for fans of movie classics such as Blade Runner and Mad Max! This is the companion to Invisible Sun andBlack Hole Sun, which Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games, called “imaginative and action-packed.”
Characters return, new characters are introduced, and the action never stops. Readers embraced the first two books in acclaimed author David Macinnis Gill’s trilogy about Durango, Mimi (his nano-implant with a biting wit), and Vienne (his second-in-command), calling the books non-put-downable, thrilling, funny, and totally satisfying. A surefire bet for fans of dystopian sci-fi, from The Hunger Games to Battlestar Galactica. Cinematic action, rapid-fire dialogue, a futuristic setting on a terraformed Mars, and tragic romance—Shadow on the Sun is an unstoppable adrenaline rush!
Book Description
Durango has always relied on Mimi—once his tough-as-nails squad leader, she is now the bitingly sarcastic artificial intelligence flash-cloned to his brain. Mimi is the only reason he is alive.Durango has always looked out for his devastatingly beautiful and brave second-in-command, Vienne—now wounded, crushed, missing. Vienne is the only reason he wants to live.Durango hasn’t always despised his father. But he does now. Lyme wants Durango to be the Prince of Mars, and he’ll stop at nothing to realize that dream. He’ll sacrifice anything and anyone in the name of domination. Even Mimi. Especially Vienne. Lyme forgot one thing.
You don’t want to mess with Durango.
Invisible Sun
You don’t want to mess with Durango.
He left his crew behind.
His father is dead.
And he’s going to prove himself to Vienne, even if he dies trying.
As he races through flood and fire and across a violent and terrifying planet, there’s a 97% chance he’s going to die trying.
But who’s counting.
Black Hole Sun
“Rockets readers to new frontiers … action-packed.” — Suzanne Collins, author of Mockingjay & The Hunger Games
“Black Hole Sun grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go until the last page. In the best tradition of Heinlein and Firefly, Black Hole Sun is for readers who like their books fast-paced, intense, and relentless. Buy it, read it, pass it on!”— Laurie Halse Anderson, author of Wintergirls and Speak
“Great story, great characters, and nonstop action. David Gill takes you to a rugged, fast, tough world.”— Chris Crutcher, author of Deadline and Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes
“Readers will have a hard time turning the pages fast enough as the body count rises to the climactic, satisfying ending, which will leave new fans hopeful for more adventures.”— Booklist starred review
ABOUT THE BOOK
Durango will take on any mission—as long as it is dangerous, impossible, and hopeless, and as long as it pays enough for him and his crew to get by. Fortunately for Durango, he also has Mimi, a symbiotic nano-implant, to keep him on the straight and narrow, as well as a crew of loyal soldiers. Because he’s going to need everything he’s got for his latest mission—defending a rag-tag clan of helpless miners from a ravenous horde of feral cannibals and their enigmatic but brutal leader, who is hellbent on taking out the miners, and Durango along with them.
READ CHAPTER ONE for free!
LINKS!
Podcast: Black Hole Sun by David Macinnis Gill | Girls in the Stacks
The Bookrageous Podcast By Jenn, Josh and Rebecca
LISTEN TO A PODCAST of the author reading CHAPTER ONE!
DISCUSSION GUIDE download now!
WATCH THE TRAILERS!
August 17, 2013
Ask Me Anything
Monday, August 19, starting at noon, I will an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit. I’ll hang out for most of the day on the site, answering anything you ask. My AMA will be in conjunction with YAWriters subreddit, which will be hosting a weekly discussion the subject of “Genre in YA.”
I write in multiple YA genres and have a background in the scholarly study and teaching of YA, so feel free to hit me with those topics especially, even though as a former teacher, I am wired to answer any question about anything.
If you aren’t familiar with Reddit and AMAs, I’m sharing what Beth Revis, bestselling author and moderator of the YALit subreddit, posted about them on her blog:
I’ve had several people ask me what Reddit and AMAs are, so here’s my (much abbreviated) explanation of the community:
If you’ve never heard of Reddit before, you should definitely consider joining the community! Reddit is called the “front page of the Internet” for a reason–everything is there. Basically, Reddit gathers together “subreddits,” which are focused places for people to discuss things they like. For example, there are subreddits for fandoms like Doctor Who and Firefly; there are ones that are instructional and informational, like Writing and Travel; and there are ones where you can ask questions, such as AskHistorians and IAMA.
IAMA is short for the phrase “I am a…” and AMA is short for “ask me anything.” So people who have a unique experience or interesting job or what-have-you, will go to the IAMA subreddit and offer for people to “ask me anything.” This is what I’m doing today with Julie Cross–it’s essentially a forum for people to ask us anything.
If you’re still on the fence about joining Reddit, I also want to point out two very awesome subreddits. YALit is a place where people go to discuss YA books and literature, and YAWriters is a place specifically for those who want to write YA, or are interested in YA publication. I’m actually one of the mods of YAWriters. We recently did query critiques for all the members, and we have a full schedule of events, including future AMAs with authors, agents, and more; pitch and sample critiques, scheduled discussions, etc. So if you’re interested in writing for a YA audience, consider joining us!
So I’ll ‘see’ you Monday August 19 starting at noon EST when you can Ask Me Anything.
April 8, 2013
Silly Putty Eats Magnet
Silly Putty is a supercooled liquid (or amorphous solid, if you like), which means it has characteristics of a fluid. You can mix it with iron, as the video creator did below, and watch as the putty flows around the magnets, making it look like the magnet is being swallowed. Science!
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