MCM's Blog, page 52

Fission Chips Winner Day!

Remember that Fission Chips Mystery Card contest I've been running for the last few months?  About 6,400 of you have participated (even if you didn't realize it).  Well now we have a winner!

After tallying up all the results (by which I mean I got the server to do it), the winner with 3,014 pings is Ebonwumon!

[wild applause:]

As part of the deal, a character of undefined characteristics has been characterized and inserted into the story, which will tie up the mystery of the business cards quite nic

A Moment of Cranky

I apologize in advance for this rant.  It's been building up for a few weeks, and I just have to say it, even if it is impolite and a tiny bit irrational.  I do my best to be civil and understanding at all times, but I've been pushed over the edge.

To writers/agents/publishers (both professional and aspiring): stop using "self-published" as shorthand for "crap".

I have seen one too many blog posts that warn against problems like adult illiteracy, fragmented culture, and self-publishing, as if they

What do you do when you're nominated?

I've always wondered what one does when one is nominated for an award.  You always hear what celebrities do, but those people aren't really human, so they don't count.

Having come as close as I'm likely to come, I will illuminate the details.  This is what one does after one is nominated for an award:

Answer many, many emails.  In every one, get just as excited as the first;Get no writing done, but discover a newfound talent for web work;Drink very good red wine;Watch the disappointing finale of I

OMG RollBots Got Nominated

I will do my best not to get all squeaky and hoppity-hoppity here, but OMG ROLLBOTS GOT NOMINATED FOR 3 GEMINI AWARDS!

They are as follows:

Best Animated Program or Series (RollBots)
Best Direction in an Animated Program or Series – George Elliott, Joey So (RollBots "Training Day")
Best Original Music Score for an Animated Program or Series – Serge Côté (RollBots "Crontab Trouble")

To say that I am giddy is to misunderstand what giddy means.  I am ECSTATIC.  Everyone worked their brains out on th

Interesting Observations

So I'm back from my two week vacation (sometimes known as Holy Health Problems, Batman!) and am trying to catch up on work that was scheduled but not finished during my absence.  This has led me to some very interesting observations…

Writing to Structure

This is not writing advice.  This is something I've noticed while writing The App (which wraps up at the end of the month).  The plan for that story was to write one chapter for every day of the month of August, which meant REALLY knowing how thin

Coming Back to Life

As those on Twitter already know, I had another fun allergy attack on Friday.  The episode wasn't as bad as others have been, but the drugs I took to fix myself beat the living crap out of me.  As such, I've now lost 3 days of work, and I'm still not feeling 100%.  Some of that is likely due to a burn-out I've been predicting for a few weeks now… but either way, it's not good.

The long and the short is this: I have to catch up on The App, edit the next TorrentBoy chapter, and prep for Fission Chi

The Society of Elderly Jaywalkers

Logo Thursday claims another victim!  Thanks to Tim for the truly absurd idea.  The Latin should say "I walk anywhere", but I can't be 100% sure without an edumacation.

Odds and Ends

First, some housekeeping: I'm going to be moving the Chaos Book from its serialized spot on Fridays so it can become my first "episodic" series, which involves fully-formed mini-books released every month.  There's also a new business model involved.  I'll explain more when it's ready.

The next thing just dropped into my head: what makes eBooks more useful than regular books?  Tagging.  Some people have suggested that meta data should be included in books by authors and publishers, as a way of gi

Topic Tag: Sentient Glowing Balls

Today is Topic Tag Tuesday on Wednesday!  Schedules are for crybabies!

Today's topic comes from the everpresent kdnewton, who suggests: "The mass migration of sentient balls of light, mistaken as a meteor shower."  Next Tuesday, he gets to request the topic, and I'll take another full hour to write the story and fix Wordpress so I can post it!  Here are 500 words about sentient glowing balls…

The sky had been alight with shooting stars, and to Darlene, spread out on her lawn at two in the morning,

Logo Thursday (on Friday)

Today is Logo Thursday!  Well, no, today is Logo Friday, but I don't want to make it habit, so we're calling it Logo Thursday.  Oh never mind.  You know what I mean.

Here's how Logo Thursday works: you give me a topic for a logo.  Fictional companies, family crests, other such absurdity.  I will pick one at random and do it up within an hour, and post it here.

To give you a sense of how it works… here is my logo for Eventualism.  Also note that this is my entry for Mike Vardy's contest.  I will wi