Mur Lafferty's Blog, page 83

Brilliant Character Post by Charlie Jane Anders

I love io9, but I especially love it when Charlie Jane posts. I have hung out with her in person a couple of times (I'll always remember pie and WorldCon 09, Charlie Jane!), and she's nothing short of brilliant. I was delighted to read her post this morning about characterization and the "F*** Yeah" moment. (I try to keep this blog clean, but that's the title of the post. If work or kid situation doesn't like you reading stuff like that, be warned the word is spelled out in the article.)

But...

All Write! #9 – Exacting Standards

All Write! #9: Exacting Standards

All Write! #9

The myth of tomorrow

Bled Sunrise by bslmmrs - CC BY 2.0

I just got an email from a listener who is telling me how much ISBW has helped him. (I love these, they really help keep me going.) But he had one quote that was just amazing:

I would talk about tomorrow but it was a far off concept more than a reality.

And that really says it all. We talk about tomorrow as if it is a new day and a new opportunity. It's on a lot of inspirational posters. But tomorrow is simply 24 hours from now. If you think nothing will...

Diamonds or Dandelions?

Quantity vs quality? I've been thinking about this a lot, and how it pertains to creative output. Thus, I came up with my Diamonds or Dandelions comparison:

Dreaming of Diamonds by Swamibu - CC BY 2.0

Diamond Method: Blizzard Entertainment puts out bestselling games. Every. Damn. Time (since Warcraft I, anyway). I used to work in the game industry, this is not a "magic bullet" industry. Games can suffer from feature creep (it's three weeks till Golden Master and you think "wouldn't it be cool i...

All Write! #8 – A Very Open Mic

"I am a writer"

Here it is. The last, definitive, thing we can say about "how can I find time to write?"

Jay Lake is a prolific writer. He's also undergoing a 16 week [Edit- Jay corrected me- 24 weeks of chemo (12 sessions biweekly):] chemotherapy treatment. Here's what he wrote today.

I am a writer, so I write. I write because I want to, because I need to, and right now, I write most of all to deny cancer the place it wants to take at the center of my life.

Jay also cut television and gaming out of his life so ...

Brilliant

I love wordplay. I'm not talented at it myself, but when it's done well it's like watching an expert dancer or eating something from a master chef.

Oh, and the message is awesome too. Pay attention. Watch the whole thing.

ISBW #143 – Cynicism / Don Vaughn Interview

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Show notes forthcoming.

Upcoming interviews- Ellen Datlow, Blake Charlton, and, thanks to Chris Lester, Liz Giorinsky, Phil and Kaja Foglio, and more!