Kate Elliott's Blog, page 67

Book Report

I finished Princess Nest of Wales: Seductress of the English by Kari Maund in two days! Now I feel emboldened to try another book (besides, I mean, those I am reading in short sections for research, which is an entirely different thing, given I usually read them in 5-10 page segments, which is as much as I can absorb at any given time).

Anyway, Princess Nest is a really well done short history book that is easy to read without being at all shallow or imprecise. While it is ostensibly a biograp

"Good Enough"

msagara writes here about the concept of "good enough," submitting work, and how writers talk about writing online in a way that can sometimes be misunderstood by non-writers.

A long time ago, in a comment thread, I indicated that the way authors talked about their own work, in the nearly context-less space provided by on-line venues, should be done with some caution, because many people who are not writers take it as a statement about the objective value of the work.

For this reason, for instance

The Unreadability Logjam

I love to read. I'm an inveterate reader from way way back, as far back as I can recall: iow, since from the time I learned to read I've loved the experience of reading, which is both relaxing and pleasurable for me (as opposed to work). I love fiction in that low-brow escapist way which I suppose is looked down upon by some, but I don't care about that.

Anyway, every once in a while I hit a dry spell where I just cannot read fiction. It normally doesn't last long, perhaps a month or two, but

Contest Winner and Apologies

I'm quite quite late with the Advance Uncorrected Proof (hereafter known as AUP) of Traitors' Gate contest due to moving house and having visitors at the same time. My apologies. Basically, everything online or that was not moving and visitors (or paddling) was derailed for several weeks.

So.

This contest was exceptionally difficult as I loved ALL the entries and found them very very interesting, heartfelt, and illuminating in the sense that it was fascinating to me to see what appealed to diffe

Writing Mentorship and CONTEST! Update

Trying to figure out how to improve your writing? Stuck on a plateau and needing a boost to move to the next level?

Writer Judith Tarr is offering Writing Mentorships. You can find details here.

I want to mention that way way back in the day, when I was still a struggling unpublished writer, she kindly read the first chapter of one of my manuscripts. She was compassionate ehough to treat me with respect: in other words, she was ruthless. After about 3 days of crying my eyes out, I read over h

The Happy Simple Rural People: Iran Version

I grew up in a small town--actually, I grew up in the country outside a small town, not actually in it. But I'm quibbling.

Therefore, I have long treated with the greatest skepticism various pronouncements, in any venue, about rural folks that are pronounced by people whose version of rural life is mostly marked by their own assumptions and prejudices about what it must be and how people are there.

The current election in Iran is no different.

Here's a useful take (from Tehran Bureau) on the so-ca

Beginnings and Ends, and a Contest

Meanwhile, major things are happening in Iran.

While here at home I have reached the end of the beginning, as the saying goes. I've completed my revisions on Cold Magic, so it is now in a state to be sent to the editors (I will have two editors on this project, which I'll explain later once contracts are signed and delivered). What that means to me now is that the novel is in decent shape--that is, I wouldn't be horrified to see it published as is, but I expect there is still much to do on many

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

I have for years and years watched Iran. The neo-con rhetoric about Iran, like the blind men and the elephant, describes only very partially what is Iran in this modern age.

So this election and its stunning aftermath--still unfolding--has completely gripped me.

Some coverage and links that I've found useful are:

TehranBureau.

The NYTimes Lede blog.

Andrew Sullivan's blog.

War and Piece (Laura Rozen)

The inestimable Juan Cole.

This piece by Gary Sick, linked from all over.

One thing I read (and obviousl

the votes of women may determine this election

"Women have always been just under the skin of history. Today, we assert ourselves."
Zahra Rahnavard, wife of presidential candidate Mir Hussein Mousavi.

If you haven't been following the Iranian election, I recommend you do. Photos, especially, this being my favorite. Google is your friend. No telling how it will turn out, but the revolution this time is in green. Last election Iran had 80% turn out. 80%. (Yes, yes, I know that ultimate control in many elements of public life and law rest

Contest! Win a copy of Traitors' Gate Advance Uncorrected Proof!

Thanks to shinyspace for this contest idea.

I have one more copy of the Advance Uncorrected Proof of Traitors' Gate**. This is a bound galley, a typeset bound copy of the final manuscript, soft bound, with a blank cover (title only, no cover illustration), and some typos and such, things not yet fixed before the final bound book is put on the shelves. But it is the text that will be published (except for the uncorrected typos and such).

Anyone, anywhere in the world, can enter.

Here's the deal:

1)