Shannon

As is my custom, I keep an Excel spreadsheet of all the books I read, and add them up at the new year, and publish the list here. As is my more recent custom, I don’t tell you the names or authors of the books I read for work, as a number of them may […]

One of the things I did last summer was publish a nonfiction anthology called The Usual Path to Publication–a collection of a bunch of writers’ personal stories about how they got published. It was super fun to do and I totally want to make this a series. The Practice of Creativity blogger Michele Tracy Berger

Wait, didn’t I used to keep a blog? It’s been so long that, though I am going to attempt a recap of what’s happened since I last showed up here (March), I am certain to miss a million things. And I have no real excuses–just busy, crazy, life, etc etc, the usual. That is all.

A few little things: -We’re flying to San Francisco tomorrow for Mark to give a presentation at the GDC (Game Developers Conference). I will have a few free hours on Thursday afternoon, and plan to be hanging out at the Keystone on 4th Street, from around 2:00 till 5:00. Come hang out if you can!

So last summer at the Cascade Writers Workshop, someone asked us to talk about “the usual path to publication”…which of course, there is no such thing. But it got us all to talking about ALL our paths, and pretty soon it became obvious that this would be a great book. AND NOW IT IS. Or,

Thing the First: We went to RadCon last weekend and it was very good. (I feel I should reassure you all of that, since I was so down on OryCon!) Our panels were interesting and well-attended (well, except for the one scheduled opposite the Masquerade; that one was still interesting, even if it was just

We’re going to RadCon in a few weeks (February 11-14), and have just gotten our schedules. Without further ado: Fri Feb 12, 1:45 pm-2:45 pm: Keeping it Fun Some days the page wins. With increasing deadlines, non-stop edits, and required marketing, is it possible to keep it professional and still love what you do? Pros

I got a nosebleed yesterday morning. I didn’t know what it was, at first; I’m forty-nine years old, and this was my first one. Ever. Fortunately, I was with Mark, who gets them with some frequency; he was able to tell me what to do (pinch your nostril shut gently; sit up straight or maybe

It’s kind of taboo to talk about money. Especially for writers. John Scalzi’s recent deal is a refreshing exception; Jim Hines also shares a breakdown of his writing income every year, as do a few other writers. It’s great to get these glimpses into what’s really happening behind the vague “a good deal”, “five figures,”

Last year I read 63 books. Here are the 25 I read for “leisure” (as opposed to “somebody paid me to edit, copy edit, or proofread”), in order of when I finished them: Brenchley, Chaz: Bitter Waters Tarr, Judith: Devil’s Bargain Sedia, Ekaterina: The House of Discarded Dreams* O’Malley, Daniel: The Rook Barnhardt, Wilton: Gospel