MCM's Blog, page 47

Free-e-Day: Typhoon

Happy Free-e-Day!  I hope you're having as much of a blast as I am.  Or will be.  I'm writing this ahead of schedule.

Today I'm releasing Typhoon 0.5.  It will only be available for 24 hours, and then you'll have to wait until 1.0 is released sometime in 2010.  There are a few significant changes in this version (compared to the one you know from #3D1D) but the biggest adjustments are yet to come.

Download this file, share it with your friends, your family, your dog or cat… do whatever you...

Review: Her Fearful Symmetry

I don't have much time to read anything these days, but this week I found myself with some non-wired time to kill, so I decided to read Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry, a book I've been desperate to see.

For those that don't know, Ms Niffenegger's first book, The Time Traveller's Wife, is almost the perfect science fiction book… there's a logical foundation that serves as an engine to the human drama that drives the story.  It's brilliantly constructed, beautifully written, and I...

Release #10: Xander and the Wind! (2 to go!)

When I started writing this book, it was summer.  When I FINISHED writing this book, it was summer.  And yet somehow it wasn't ready until today.  Sigh.

This is "Xander and the Wind", my newest children's book.  It was commissioned by the amazing @ppival, who told me the story of his son and the wind, which was really very easily adapted into something like this.  To quote the book blurb:

$ts[:]=array("The Vector","vector");

Xander and the wind did not get along. Every time he had a balloon, it...

The Race Begins

Today is November 24, and that means there are 37 days in 2009.  Thirty-seven.

Here's what needs to get done:

Typhoon for Free-e-day (one week from today).  Luckily, that doesn't have to be perfect, as it's just a 0.5 release.  But still.  I need time to make my brain work.Xander and the Wind.  Artwork is ALMOST done. Fingers crossed.The Chaos Book. There's one scene in the middle that I don't like, but it is otherwise done!#2D1D on December 5&6.My last project for the year, which is basically...

Topic Tag #Desertbus #1

Tonight's Topic Tag comes from @tenaciousN, and relates to Desert Bus For Hope

The man with the socks on his hands was a terrible assassin.  It went beyond the lack of fine motor skills, too.  As he sat on the bus with his hands wrapped in burgundy, the man looked embarrassed, and good assassins never look anything but deadly.

"May I?" asked a young woman in a frayed skirt, pointing to the set next to him.  Behind her, a thick-set punk with a large artificial tree tried to navigate the aisle...

Hint #2

See you there.

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Why Fancy eBooks Make Me Nervous

I love eBooks.  I really do.  I think they're the way the majority of people are going to read in the future, and I think it's great.  Less paper, less waste, better delivery… it'll be great.  But I'm really iffy about this notion that eBooks will be able to break down the walls that separate literature from TV, movies and games.  No, I'm not just iffy.  I'm downright scared.

I think maybe the issue is that a lot of the writers and pundits who go googly-eyed at the notion don't write in other ...

Dustrunners Contest Winners

What wonderful entries we got!

The question was:

I want to know what you think about dustrunners. Not the book, the job. Asteroid pirates: good or bad? Kani's world is split on the issue, but how about you? What do YOU think?

Do you think they're saving the world, or up to no good?

If you found out your best friend was a dustrunner, would you help them out, or turn them in?

And the answers were diverse and quite nutty.  But I had to pick four winners, so here they are:

The best-reasoned answer...

Topic Tag: Bunny Tacos

Today's Topic Tag is a return to normalcy for me.  Hide the kids.

Nicki peeked her head around the corner, nose crinkled up at the smell and the smoke.  It reeked of onion and peppers, but Bill seemed oblivious.

"Bill," she hissed.  "What are you doing in here?"

"Hmm?" Bill asked, peered over his shoulder as he worked in a giant steel pot by the sink.  "I'm making tacos."

"You're doing it wrong," she said, started to leave, but then came back for a second look.  "What in the hell is in that...