Martha Wells's Blog, page 217

We were supposed to have an ice storm today, but it looks...

We were supposed to have an ice storm today, but it looks like it's been canceled in favor of cold rain, which is good. Christmas is over, so I'm done with winter and would like to move on to summer as rapidly as possible. Or at least spring.

Really want to see The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but it's in limited release and not here yet. I've been looking forward to that one almost as much as Sherlock Holmes (which was fabulous).


From eldritchhobbit and others: Ebook Fundraiser for Spi...

From io9: Venture Brothers Christmas CarolsPatrick Rothf...

From io9: Venture Brothers Christmas Carols

Patrick Rothfuss' Worldbuilders has raised over $60,000, not counting matching donations, for Heifer International.


Yesterday we had eggs benedict and fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, and I think I am maxed-out on food. The weather is predicting an ice storm later on this week, so that won't be fun.

Had a fantastic, very relaxed Christmas. Starting Christ...

Had a fantastic, very relaxed Christmas. Starting Christmas eve, we watched White Christmas and Love Actually, then Christmas morning we put on Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle, from the book by David Pirie, to rev up for movie-going later. We have the big Christmas meal for lunch (with a reprise later for dinner) and I made ham, my mother's ham gravy (my first time to try to make it and it turned out fabulous -- pure concentrated hammy goodness), garlic braised green beans from a Food Network Magaz...

Yesterday it was 70, humid, rainy, and then there were hu...

Yesterday it was 70, humid, rainy, and then there were huge gusts of wind, and then a tornado warning. This morning it's down below 50 and dropping, and earlier I could see the blue line of the cold front moving in. Now it's completely overcast.

morfin went out to get a part to fix the toilet (because our house is still falling apart), we're expecting belleps to arrive, and I need to make an apple pie at some point. I'll probably make potato soup and candied baked beans (it's an old recipe ...

From Writer Beware: Drewlie & Julia: Or, The Case of the ...

From Writer Beware: Drewlie & Julia: Or, The Case of the Alias'd Literary Agent Questions erupted on Julia's Facebook forum. Why the inconsistencies in Julia's professional info? Why the fake address? The weirdness of Sara dropping dead and Julia emerging out of thin air began to look even weirder--could Sara and Julia, with only an "e" of difference between their last names, possibly be the same person?

I think online scams like this catch a lot of people unprepared. They think if they aren'...

Missing Child in Chicago

Chicago-area people: Eric Marin has a notice about a missing child, last seen leaving for school. If you're in Chicago, please check it out and pass it along. Brianna is described as a African-American, 5 ft. 4 inches tall, weighing 110 lbs., with brown hair, brown eyes, and a fair complexion. She also has pierced ears. She was last seen wearing a navy blue polo shirt, navy blue sweater, gray pants, and a brown coat. She had on black gym shoes, as well. According to police, she frequents...

I still need to clean house, and figure out what I'm goin...

I still need to clean house, and figure out what I'm going to cook next week, and try not to be excessively tempted by yummy but labor-intensive recipes in Food Network magazine. A friend gave morfin a small sachertorte for Christmas, so we will be happily nomming on that next week.

We're also having intermittent internet problems again, so I may disappear at any moment.

We're also far outside the radius of the snowpocalypse, and it's actually going to get warmer here over the next couple of d...

eldritchhobbit recommends: The Apex Book of World SF edit...

eldritchhobbit recommends: The Apex Book of World SF edited by Lavie Tidhar. Stories from authors from China, India, Malaysia, Israel, Palestine, France, Serbia, and more. Pre-order and get a copy of Lavie Tidhar's collection HebrewPunk for $10.00!

And from oldcharliebrown : the table of contents of The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2010 Edition edited by Rich Horton.


In our house's continuing quest to fall completely apart, last night we discovered our doorbell was broken. Which ex...

More fabulous signed books as prizes in Patrick Rothfuss'...

More fabulous signed books as prizes in Patrick Rothfuss' Worldbuilders fundraiser for Heifer International. Signed hardcovers of The Fall of Ile-Rien are up there, but the drawing for prizes is random.

The fundraiser has raised over $34,000 already, not counting the auctions for professional manuscript critiques and rare manuscripts.

I think I'm mostly done with Christmas preparations, except for the house-cleaning and food-buying, which I can't do until next week.

Speaking of YA books, oracne did a review of Libyrinth, b...

Speaking of YA books, oracne did a review of Libyrinth, by Pearl North


Realms of Fantasy Magazine: Please Help Us Serve You Better (and create accountability) We have purchased premium placement for the month of December in Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and Chapters. We've been receiving reports from all over the country that suggest we are not receiving this placement in at least two of these chains.


For Vampire fans: Local Austin writer Don Webb has a new story collection just released b...