Martha Wells's Blog, page 226

It's my birthday and I'm 45 today. (Thank you to texanfa...

It's my birthday and I'm 45 today. (Thank you to texanfan and eldritchhobbit for the V-gifts!) I think I'll celebrate by doing laundry. Actually I may go to the Ben and Jerry's and get an ice cream shake later.

Still no news on the prospective lay-off for Troyce. It makes it kind of hard to make plans post-September. The job market here is lousy, at the moment. ETA: Just found out the lay-off is definite. All the talk about letting him stay on was just that, talk. So, things aren't lookin

scottedelman has a link and pictures of the books found i...

scottedelman has a link and pictures of the books found in the place where Jaycee Lee Dugard was held captive for 18 years -- most were sf/fantasy. It's very eerie, to see books there by people you know.


texanfan asked: What is your favorite thing (book or short story) that you have written and why?

Of the published books, I think I'd have to say The Ships of Air. I'd wanted to use the Queen Mary as a setting in a fantasy novel for years, since I first went there in the early 90s. And it was th

circe_tigana asked: How do you organise your preparation ...

circe_tigana asked: How do you organise your preparation & research notes when you're working on a project? With all the amazing world-building you do I'm assuming you must have copious notes you need to refer back to and keep in some semblance of order!

And have you found some amazing software secret re: the above that you can share? I'm trying Scrivener myself but am not yet fully convinced...

I actually don't have any usual system, and I don't use any programs for writing except the word proces

teenygozer as a published author, do you find it necessar...

teenygozer as a published author, do you find it necessary or desirable to continue your education in writing? I mean, do you still take classes and learn now things that you find you can apply to your writing? Or do you just find reading people's work is what teaches you new things?

I think it is necessary and desirable, because I don't think anybody ever gets to a point where you know everything there is to know about writing. For one thing, I think your process and your ability, does, or shou

toliver asked: While you are writing something that you h...

toliver asked: While you are writing something that you hope will be published, do you also write "for fun" things at the same time? Meaning, bits/stories you know will never see the light of day but you write it for yourself, just for fun or other reasons. Do you have several stories going at once (for publishing) and turn to the others when you need to think about something different? Does that help your process?

Yes, I usually do. It helps me to keep writing even when I'm stuck on whatever my

Writing Questions

Okay, let's do this again. While everyone is having fun without us at DragonCon (and OMG I wanted to go so bad this year), let's do writing questions: If anyone has a question about writing and/or publishing in general, or about my writing, comment with it here and I'll answer it in a later post if I know what the answer is.


From WriterBeware: Postage Promotion: From publicity companies (some competent, many not) to the marketing packages hawked by self-publishing providers such as AuthorHouse (

On the lay-off front, no news is still no news. We did m...

On the lay-off front, no news is still no news. We did manage to change around our house and car insurance to cut those payments in half. The job market in town is dismal to nonexistent.

We did have a good weekend, though. A friend came into town to hang out, and we watched Psych and Top Chef and old Foyle's War DVDs, then we went to a housewarming party for a friend's daughter who's going to the university here this fall, and a surprise anniversary party for her parents. So we had lots of f

Okay, I posted this link on Facebook, and at least three ...

Okay, I posted this link on Facebook, and at least three people found money that was owed to them or their relatives. It's http://www.window.state.tx.us/up/, the online database for the Texas State comptroller's office list of unclaimed property.

All you need to check the list is your name and the city you've lived in. If you find a listing, you have to be a) the person who is owed the money or b) the executor of the estate of the person who is owed the money, etc. The site will either print

Link to a warning post by Mary Robinette Kowal about the ...

Link to a warning post by Mary Robinette Kowal about the Fundable.com site: My Very Bad Experience With Fundable.com. It sounds like the site is turning into a scam.

ETA: From the comments on this post, it's definitely a scam.

Here's a more direct link to Stephan Martiniere's City Wi...

Here's a more direct link to Stephan Martiniere's City Without Ends.


No real news to report, we're still waiting to hear for certain. We canceled our land line phone service, and the expensive cable package, and we're trying to redo our car insurance in a way that should cut it in half, though we'll have to drop collision insurance on Troyce's truck. And if he is laid off, we won't be able to afford health insurance, but that just puts us in the same boat with a whole lot of other people.