Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 24

Much Ado about Hugo

Amazing! Seriously, I’m flummoxed, befuddled, and confusticated. Voting for the Hugos now takes more time than confirming I am who I say I am when I attempt to settle a bill online with a public utility. It is just possible that this state of affairs may drive me to turn my house inside out. A la Wonko’s Asylum style.

“Hold stick near centre of its length. Moisten pointed end in mouth. Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum. Use gentle in-out motion.” –Douglas Adams, “So Long and Thank...

All I can tell you

Is that there is big-ish news afoot. Well, super big for me anyway, and it’s not that tonight my eldest comes to visit us for the whole stinking summer. Yea, I know, that’s got to be pretty big.

Stay tuned for announcements. Oh boy!

IOTD

Setting: Writer walks into acoffee shop. It’s busy, people are trying to get their morning cuppa before heading off to work. Another man sits at a table near the front counter.

Writer: “Morning. How was your weekend?”

Man: “The ending of GOAT was not happy.”

fin.

Gaming the System

An Open Letter to Key Washington State Legislators

I wrote this letter to key State representation because the current permitting process a) does nothing improve or promote public safety and b) represents an unnecessary hurdle to accessing public lands. Many tiny communities along this amazing expanse of trail are currently hurting. They are dying under many pressures, but most suffer because there simply aren’t long-term job prospects for the people who live there. Theyneed ways to attract people to these places and all 253 miles of the John...

IOTD

Thank You Readers

Every so often, when I’m sitting behind the keyboard, pounding out another tale, I feel the immensity of this challenge I’ve set ahead of myself. I feel alone, shipwrecked-alone. Like there’s no help out there, I’m the only one who’s ever going to read any of this stuff. Sometimes that’s enough, but then there are other moments.

I struggle against this sensation because I know that it’s not true, but when it happens it takes a lot out of me. Instead of focusing on the story at hand, I have t...

IOTD

Jim C. Hines posted this a few minutes ago and I’m tripping over my keyboard with jealousy, why didn’t I think of this?

I’m thinking about trying to do a weekly blog post highlighting some of the positive and amazing things being done by various folks in the SF/F community. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how many wonderful, kind-hearted, generous people there are in our geeked-out slice of the world.

Take Pat Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders fundraiser. Pat has poured so much time and energy into World...

The Mountain of Song and Story

Once upon a time, three routes which crossed three bridges, separated a family of goats from the mountain where the grass grew long, and the flowers were perpetually in bloom. The mountain, it seems, loved songs and stories responding to these by becoming more fecund and productive. The goats loved to make these. Each bridge crossed a fast moving river that none could swim. The water crashed and cascaded down rocks as sharp as razors, a watery desolation inhabited by none.

The goats set out t...

IOTD

You woke up this morning and cleared the dust from your eyes. You opened up your computer or maybe glanced at the news on your phone as you sipped coffee. It wasn’t good news, it made you sad. It stole some energy from you. Sucked a little of your life irretrievably down a drain.

Watch this. Don’t argue with me, it’s Saturday and we both know you can spare fifteen minutes. Watch this and feel how your cups run over.