alleypat- Wed, 17:26: The alleypat Daily is out! http://t.co/5YWsuezg9F ▸ Top stories today via @booksamillion @ottawasenators
domynoe- Wed, 18:32: Today stats: 2 new followers via http://t.co/BkQiIMlBrs
- Wed, 20:48: The LoseIt changes to how challenges are calculated unfairly penalizes people with FitBits etc. Good thing I'm there to lose weight.
- Wed, 20:50: The challenges were an added bonus. One I can't participate in the way I'd like now. Very disappointed, esp since I'm a premium ($) member.
- Wed, 21:35: I spent 30 minutes fitbit dancing. 0 calories burned. #LoseIt
- Wed, 22:05: Kinda offended that the pretty blond woman is the only one doubted as the "real deal" even though there were some crazy men. REALLY, Gordon?
- Wed, 22:06: Also interesting to see that the totally crazy "my gimmick will help" people are showing up. It's the cooking version of American Idol. :P
- Wed, 23:45: Walked 5.54 miles. http://t.co/0SG6KtCbtH
- Thu, 01:30: I spent 30 minutes doing yoga. 82 calories burned. #LoseIt
- Thu, 02:22: RT @cleolinda: YEAHHHH. RT @bexone: @cleolinda I particularly like the part where they just slip in that they get the copyright and hope no…
- Thu, 02:24: RT @LucienneDiver: Note: if you recommend someone else's book on GoodReads, I pay attention. Recommending your own, I tune out.
jmward14- Thu, 10:42: My Balticon Schedule http://t.co/gDejy6lDEG
- Thu, 10:42: My Balticon Schedule http://t.co/4AGUd72vdD
- Thu, 12:54: @clundoff Thanks for the RT, Catherine! I hope I can return the favor for you soon.
- Thu, 12:54: RT @clundoff: “@outeralliance: Congratulations to Bisexual Book Awards Finalists, including @clundoff @ceciliatan and @britmandelo!” Thx! :…
musingaloud"Silent Drops of Crimson and Gold Rain" is up at The Journal of Unlikely Entomology. I love the pic they used! And now, the story behind the story!First, while this is a deeply personal story for me, I do want to stress that it is fiction. And while Rebekah is built upon a real person, most of the facts do not resemble Real Life. The descriptions carry the most truth, as they're laden with images pulled from my memory of the "real" Becky and her home.
Now, for the Bug portion of the story: An entomologist spoke to our Master Gardener group about well, bugs. Apparently, entomologists are somewhat like Birders in that they follow bug migrations or mating schedules -- except they get to trap and keep their specimens! He described a scene (I think it was somewhere in Arizona) at a mini-market, the parking lot full of entomologists, and these big black beetles flying overhead, dropping to the ground, people running and women screaming as bugs fell from the sky. Well, what writer wouldn't want to incorporate this description into a story? So that's where the original story began.
Then my longtime childhood friend died. Eventually I knew I had to write through my grief, snippets came here and there but it was very difficult and the story itself went through many drafts and reincarnations, thanks to the gentle guidance of my fellow Liberty Hall critters. It can be very difficult to see a story through emotion-laden eyes. And it was very difficult to let go of the grief.
Becky's father really did built a treehouse high in a eucalyptus tree that used to scare the beejeezus out of me to climb up the ladder. But he did not outlive her mother and as far as I know, neither one was alcoholic. The ashes and rose petals from the plane was very real, but not what happened after.
I do want to state that the real Becky did not die alone, but surrounded by family and love.
musingaloud"Silent Drops of Crimson and Gold Rain" is live at The Journal of Unlikely Entomology. Check out the ToC:Table Of Contents:
Ecdysis by Nicole Cipri
Spiders, Centipedes, & Holes by Cat Rambo
The Space Between by Lew Andrada
Silent Drops of Crimson and Gold Rain by Pam L. Wallace
The Lonely Barricade at Dawn by Jesse William Olson
Jeanette's Feast by Michelle Ann King
B. by Nicola Belte
jmward14Originally published at Jean Marie Ward. You can comment here or there.
Balticon is this weekend—and I have schedule. Sort of. We’re talking Balticon, after all. Plans and schedules tend to be (ahem) fluid.
The one thing you can be sure of is a lot of fun. So if you happen to be in the vicinity of Hunt Valley, Maryland, this weekend, I hope I’ll see you there!
Friday
9 p.m., Salon A
Steam-powered: Rage of the New Victorians
Moderator: Jean Marie Ward
Panelists: Martin Berman‐Gorvine, Richard Allen Leider, Neal Levin, Jeffrey P. Young
From werewolves of property to anti-zombie airship pilots, the Empire has struck back. Meet the writers of this Brave Old World and learn about their stories and novels and where they get the ideas for those crazy gadgets.
11 p.m., Chase Room
Cover Trends
Moderator: Collin Earl
Panelists: Richard Allen Leider, Starla A. Huchton, Philip Giunta, Jean Marie Ward
What are the latest trends in science fiction, fantasy and horror covers? How are the new media changing the rules? What’s next?
Saturday
4 p.m., Salon B
Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings
Moderator: Kelly A. Harmon
Panelists: Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Gail Z. Martin, Christine Norris, Sarah Pinsker, KT Pinto, Morgen Rich, Roberta Rogow, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha J. Wooldridge
Bite-sized readings from the amazing women/authors of Broad Universe.
Sunday
7 p.m., Salon B
Marketing and Promotion
Moderator: Roxanne Bland
Panelists: Ian Randal Strock; Cecilia Tan, Jean Marie Ward
What marketing and promotion will publishers do, and how much of it? What marketing and self-promotion do publishers expect authors to do? Do the big houses do more for their authors than the small press houses, or do they only do more for their “big name” authors?
9 p.m., Parlor 3041
Balancing Creative Life with Real Life
Moderator: Leona Wisoker
Panelists: Phil Giunta, Jean Marie Ward
How do you get your creative time in while still getting to work, having clean underwear and remembering to feed the cat?
10 p.m., Belmont Room
Promoting Your Book
Panelists: Jean Marie Ward, Michael Ventrella
What works in promoting a book? Do book-signings really help a small author? Are bookmarks and/or postcards effective at garnering attention? Does a blog help or hurt an author? Does an author have to have a website? How do you find good reviewers? What tactics do NOT work? What methods might work for an established author that wouldn’t work for a beginner?
anindigomindSo yesterday Microsoft did their thing, and announced the 'Xbox One.' Even today I can't look at a report without my blood pressure going up. My thoughts -WHERE ARE THE GAMES? Games are going to be a deciding factor in what consoles I buy in the future. Call of Duty/sports don't do anything for me. Realistic graphics don't either. Console makers don't seem to understand that graphics don't sell consoles/games, style does - compare Halo/Call of Duty/etc to Okami/Ace Attorney/Journey. Though I suppose the former do make more money, even though they are almost shovelware at this point?
E3 is coming. I can be patient. I still don't think it is a good idea to hold off so long, because you know Sony is going to roll out whatever Sqaure Enix is working on, and Nintendo will fly the Mario/Zelda flag, and Microsoft has to be delusional to think they can compete with that.
The name - confusing, but not bad. We'll get used to it. I kind of like the styling of it - X1 is a nice shortening of it.
Always-online, DRM, used games - no answers? Really? That is a PR nightmare. They are tilting at windmills and don't seem to understand the reality of the market. No backwards compatibility? What bullshit is that? I would buy one sooner if it could run 360 games, because there are still games I want to play and having to switch between two consoles for no reason is not fun. I only recently reconnected my 360 to the internet, mostly for the hell of it, and I'm looking forward to it being unconnected for around two months while I move. Is Microsoft really telling me that if I had an X1, during that time I'd be completely unable to play video games? ...What? And this used games things - whaaaaaa? Somehow I doubt friends borrowing games is really a major source of piracy, and what does that system do to rentals like Redbox or Gamefly? I'm sure Microsoft has answers, and maybe it's not as doom and gloom as it seems, but they need to start explaining before they utterly lose the faith of their market.
Does anyone actually pay Forza games? Because I only ever hear about them in context of console presentations. Are they even real games? I feel so confused.
There's a strange sort of elitism that surrounds Microsoft's outlook - this idea that everyone has a living room, and a reliably/cheap/fast internet connect, and the $60 to drop on a subscription every year. That we can all afford to buy games when they are brand new, and that all games will be widely available and won't go out of print or slip into obscurity.
Is anyone else concerned about what the Xbox One having an always-on microphone and requiring a constant internet connection means for wiretapping/privacy? Because... yeah.
Meanwhile - EA realized how bad 'we aren't making Wii-U games anymore' sounds, and changes their tune. Is the communication within gaming companies really that bad these days, that the spokesperson, senior software engineer, and CFO are all on completely different pages?
- Current Location:United States, Alaska, Wasilla
- Current Mood:
anxious - Current Music:The Almighty Gooberzilla & Cohosts - The Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Podcast | Powered by Last.fm
gwynnegaI'm mostly packed for Wiscon, though it looks like the weather's gonna be a bit colder than it usually is when I'm in Madison. I hope I'm bringing enough layers. I have to get up at the ungodly time of 3:30 a.m. (my first flight takes off at 7 a.m.).My schedule is here.
- Current Mood:
the usual pre-travel jitters
anindigomindPhfffft. Alaska in May - wtf. It snowed on Friday - snow-snowed. It was crazy. The last of it only just melted today. Seeing the snow under the midnight sun is a strange, surreal feeling, though I suppose that's how it isn't up in the arctic circle. It turned out to be a good thing though - it meant we didn't have to worry about cleaning up the yard, and hopefully it took out some of the mosquitoes.Yesterday some workers came through and put in all the road work signs - they couldn't make the holes very deep, so the signs are almost comically high. But whatever - it works. Hopefully it means they'll get around to working on the road sooner rather than later - they also put in little fences to protect the 'wetlands'(swamp) and extended the culvert. Today the weather was beautiful - sunny and warm, and just barely starting to turn green. I'm going to have to make walks part of the daily schedule again.
Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning up the place, because on Saturday we had some people come by to look at the house. Good news - they love it! They want to buy it! Bad news - they want us to come down 5k first, because it doesn't have a garage. Okay... what? Five thousand won't build a garage, but it would pay for mom's eye surgery or pay off my credit card. It's our income for two months, and is a good year's income for me. So we're holding our ground on this one - it's already priced at 40k under what it's valued, and it will sell at that price. We don't want to be jerked around over bullshit.
Saturday evening I saw Star Trek Into Darkness with the writing group. It... was alright? It had some massive problems - like how there is zero character development, starfleet is made up and the continuity doesn't matter, women don't get to do anything, and aliens/other races outside of the main crew don't exist until the moment the camera lands on them - but the action was good, the acting decent - Cumberbatch needs more villain roles, 'cause he pulls off threatening really well. I find I like the movie better when I think of it as not a Star Trek movie, and being completely unrelated to the Star Trek universe and history. It's a piss poor Star Trek movie, but a fairly good sci-fi movie? It really suffered by constantly reminding us about that other, better Star Trek movie. *coughKhancough* JJ Abrams - master of the non-spoiler.
I took notes during the movie, for what that's worth. First page is entirely 'VOLCANOES DON'T WORK THAT WAY.' and lots of facepalming. At one one I noted 'Janeway would have kicked his ass.' IO9 did a really nice FAQ that is in line with my thoughts, so here's a link.
Also last week - I bought Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon on the 14th. It is almost a perfect game - except there is require motion-controlled sections. In a handheld game. Did I mention that it isn't mentioned at any point that there are motion controls? That you're just supposed to figure that out on your own? WHOSE IDEA WAS THAT? And on Thursday I went to Gamestop looking for a case for my 3DS, and I found a copy of Apollo Justice. Just the game, no case, but I don't really care. YAY ACE ATTORNEY.
Going to go to the store now, for lemonade and a salad. The whole family is going along - I'm really starting to miss my car/independence. I wish I understood cars better.
- Current Location:United States, Alaska, Wasilla
- Current Mood:
busy
Profile
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Page Summary
- alleypat : My tweets [+0]
- domynoe : My tweets [+0]
- jmward14 : My tweets [+0]
- musingaloud : The Story behind the Story [+0]
- musingaloud : Story Up! [+0]
- jmward14 : My Balticon Schedule [+0]
- tezmilleroz : Why a One-Star Review Should NOT be a Matter for the Police [+0]
- anindigomind : Gaming : Xbox One Thoughts [+0]
- gwynnega : pre-Wiscon post [+10]
- anindigomind : Journal : Snow and Sun [+0]
