Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 56

A Degree in DIY?

I found an article today the Guardian, theUniversity of Central Lancashireis now offering an MA in Self Publishing. Which raises the question, if there is enough material to teach what is essentially a Do-It-Yourself sort of endeavor, and grant a degree which certifies that the bearer posses the skills necessary to be successful within the field, when are they going to start handing out honorary degrees to those of us who have figured all this out on our own?

I have to say, for the most part,...

Writer’s Tool Box: Deadlines

This afternoon I spent some time exchanging emails with yet another editor. From her examples I gather, she is exactly the kind of editor I need, but, at least right now, I’m not certain our schedules are going to synchronize.

I have a high degree of confidence that I will have the manuscript for Up Slopein second draft by early March. After that, its simply a matter of ping pong with an editor to put the final polish on my next published book. My target for publication is the middle of April....

State of the Short: From the Indie Side – Sci-Fi Anthology

From The Indie Side

Let me make one thing clear before we being. I am not a professional book reviewer. I am not an editor, nor do I possess the critical eye necessary to be a very good one. That said, I like to read. And I know what I like when I read it. And, when I’m reading with my eyes and not my ears (thanks Audible), I usually spend a good deal of time deconstructing what I love, as well as what bothers me.

If you were to get your hands on my iPad you could open up my Kindle app and revi...

CheeseBot5000 Manufactures History

Ha! This is awesome! Eric Beckendorf over at CheeseBot5000 will write you a short story if you buy my book. Eric does not know this yet, but I’m going to up the ante a tad. If you buy either the ebook or print version of my book The Big Red Buckle in the next week (February 1 through the 7th), I will donate all proceeds earned to Worldbuilders.

Wow! Look what you get, a good book, an interesting short about your choice of historical figure, the schadenfreude of knowing you’re twisting my best...

Quiet in the Wilderness: Signal Boost THE BIG RED BUCKLE

Humanity has survived environmental and atmospheric calamity and begun to move out into the stars. Sport still plays a vital role in our day-to-day affairs. The Big Red Buckle recounts an episode of a single-stage endurance race held between two shield volcanoes on a Mars that is slowly being terraformed. Participants must run and soar over 1,500 kilometers while the solar system watches.

For Marco Aguilar, just being at the starting line represents the culmination of two years of careful prep...

NASA’s Response, Priceless

[image error]This morning NASA issued a public reply regarding the on going legal issue I posted about the other day. The agency is sticking by their earlier finding, that the rock which mysteriously appeared in front of the rover, is in fact a rock.

PopSci has more information about the story as it develops.

This is an ongoing legal matter and we are limited in what we can discuss about the filing. However, NASA has been publicly sharing our ongoing research into the rock dubbed “Pinnacle Island” since we...

A Red or a Litigious Crackpot?

I just came across this article on Pop Sci, turns out that someone recently filed a lawsuit against NASA which attempts to compel the agency to take some more photos of a rock.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in a California court, is aimed at NASA and its Administrator, Charles Bolden, requesting that the agency “perform a public, scientific, and statutory duty which is to closely photograph and thoroughly scientifically examine and investigate a putative biological organism.” Joseph is disputin...

Writer’s Tool Box: Twitter

I’ve been pitching a panel to a number of Science Fiction/Fantasy conventions which will discuss the “tool boxes” of a variety of writers. I think about these sorts of things a lot, probably too much. This admission is probably just amea culpaof my character. I love tools! I love to tweak tools, I love to make tools, I love to adapt tools to a task.

Part of my approach to writing professionally has been to test tools, with the intent of optimizing my turn around time for any particular project...

Oh the Joys of Moving

The POD comes today. It works something like the cable guy, except in reverse. You contract with them to drop it off and pick it up.

But, this morning I woke up to about five centimeters of accumulated snow dusting over a layer of ice that formed after it rained last night. The dog is slinking around the house like she’s done something horrible. And this results in her being constantly underfoot. And my morning would not be complete without the start of a head cold.

I’m not complaining, but it...

Inclusion

In between potty training and packing boxes this morning I came across this video in my FaceBook feed. It’s nothing particularly revolutionary or mind bending for that matter, but it is video which deals with a topic that has been on my mind of late.

I have been a part of many different communities. Whether it was standing along-side strangers on a wildland fire crew cutting line or waiting atop Tiger mountain for the thermals to start I have usually felt included. Rarely, have I felt like oth...