Mur Lafferty's Blog, page 78

ALL WRITE!: Birthday Wishes

My birthday was Saturday, and one of best presents I received was Natalie's rendition of the ALL WRITE cast celebrating it. I just had to share!

More Books: The Alchemist and The Executioness, The Third Bear

First, I finished The God Engines last night. I had some questions about some things that Scalzi did with his narrative (namely never revealing whether the "rooks"–think "companions" in Firefly–are male or female – he used no pronouns and no revealing gender-specific body parts during a somewhat graphic sex scene), and it was quite dark, but I enjoyed it and it made me think. Recommended.

The Alchemist and the Executioness: This is not on the pile of books, as it's Audible-only, but it's...

Books, and reading, and more books.

Confession time. In today's Internet age, we (I) are easily distracted, entranced by shiny devices that play games and movies and music, and an IM is a tiny shot of dopamine that our brains crave much more than any stupid learning given by BOOKS.

That said, a writer needs to read. It's not just a "what's happening in my genre?" issue, but it's a deeper, subconscious issue where your little brain learns vocabulary and turn of phrase and storytelling. If you don't read, you can't write. On a...

Books, and reading and more books

Confession time. In today's Internet age, we (I) are easily distracted, entranced by shiny devices that play games and movies and music, and an IM is a tiny shot of dopamine that our brains crave much more than any stupid learning given by BOOKS.

That said, a writer needs to read. It's not just a "what's happening in my genre?" issue, but it's a deeper, subconscious issue where your little brain learns vocabulary and turn of phrase and storytelling. If you don't read, you can't write. On a...

On Perfection

Humans, as a rule, do not trust perfection. We do not trust the easy way out. We do not respect those born into money; we love the "poor to rich" stories. If we actually meet the "perfect" mate, we assume there's something deeply wrong on a fundamental level. (I watched an episode of Kim Possible with my daughter and when Kim found the perfect boyfriend – cute, interesting, engaging with her friends, dying to take her to the prom – my first thought was, "Oh, he's so evil. Just wait." By the e...

ISBW #148 Feedback / Good Cop, Bad Cop

Yes. Another unannounced break. I was editing a book. This was recorded before I took the time to edit. Lots of feedback, and Matt joins us again for a long Good Cop Bad Cop.

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All Write! Pin-Ups: Dragonrider

ALL WRITE Pin-Up month continues! Natalie Kelly, one of the super-talented people I'm working with on Fables of the Flying City–she did the awesome poster I gave away at the launch, and is coloring the graphic novel–gave us this fantastic portrait of Pratchett flying on a dragon. I'm tempted to make it her permanent means of transportation.

Treading water- just barely

I'm trying to get my novel edited. Besides the paying work deadlines, it is my only priority. Hence no blogging or podcasting.

I have gone through the horrible angst of, "this is nothing but derivative tripe," and have reached the point in creation that Connie Willis refers to as "The f***ing book." It is only my knowledge that this is normal that keeps me going.

I'm not on twitter much. I'm not on chat much. My priorities right now are a) family, b) paying work, c) novel. Usually in that...

All Write! Pin-Ups: Vengence!

July is ALL WRITE! Pin-Up Month, and we're kicked off  by nothing  less than the fantastic artwork of  Josef Komenda! Feel free to leave you appreciation of this fine work of art in the comments.

The Many Colors Of Sir Pussykins

With such talented artist providing Sit Pussykins artwork, it became clear that future illustrations of the cat-making an omelet variety had to be in color. The bar, as they say, had been set.

Josef Komenda started by reworking his first entry, but the proceeded to knock our socks with a whole new drawing that shows the serious side of a cat making an omelet.

Meanwhile, Elfie M. Noyes served up her own version of Sir Pussykins, with a bit more whismy:

So many ways for a cat to make an omelet...