Mead! The drink of the gods. Tis a funny thing, to write about the stuff, and to never have tried it, no? Well, now you can try to make your own, with this mead making e-book. Am I being asked to promote this? No, he probably doesn't even know I'm mentioning it; I just think it's cool.
Edited to add: Well, hell, the dude's got a video!
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Getting a little buzz on Yahoo, this 2 minute Star Wars video.
The timing of this video was all the more interesting, as Lucasfilm recently announced that it would be reproducing the Star Wars saga in 3D. And yes, you aren't the only one who is horrified by a three dimensional Jar Jar.
(And come up with a better name than Gliese 581g, for crimony's sake.)
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In the "Why it's a miracle that humans haven't gone extinct" category, a viral video of a Ukrainian lion trainer getting chomped on.
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I predict this year's hot new Halloween costume will be "Cigar Guy". Here he is, knocking out Sonny Liston...
If you haven't heard of Cigar Guy - he was standing in the background when a photographer got nailed by an errant Tiger Woods shot.
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I have some actual news and publishing information to share, but I think that I will wait and put those together. My guess is that if you need to know something bad enough, you can find it. My goal here is to show you things you might have missed. (Or really, reasons to mock/praise randomly.)
The "to be continued" implication from yesterday's post (written yesterday, in fact).
We recently mark the 30 year anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back. To show my age, I can attest that I do recall seeing it in the theatres, and Star Wars toys were one of my childhood indulgences. You can ask my mother how I impersonated the ... nevermind.
Mark Charan Newton commented on his recent signing event at Forbidden Planet.
Moreso, and what caught my attention, was that he dumped on Drum & Bass. Say it ain't so, Mark! More props for "tripleclarke Mieville" for the funky tune that would be his entrance song.
Novelists get entrance songs? They totally should. This has been one of mine,in previous lives.
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Okay, forget about the entrance music for authors at signing appearances. How about, which favorite character would you invite to dinner? Over at Borders Blog, Adrian Tchaikovsky asks just that, with some interesting considerations.
The genuinely good heroes would be insufferable and highlight everyone else’s flaws (c.f. Superman), the dark, brooding heroes would just be waiting for an excuse to kick off (Tisamon). The stiff-backed military types would be stuffy (Temeraire’s Will Laurence), whilst the genius types like Isaac dan der Grimnebulin and Baltazar Casaubon would just get annoyed at how slow everyone else was. Meanwhile the detectives, like George’s Maurice Newbury, would be watching you all the time, and by the end of the meal they’d have a catalogue of absolutely everything you’d ever done wrong.
I've been in "research mode" since the Crohn's let up. I tend to read non-fiction much slower than fiction (absorption factor), and it tends to take me out of the creative writing frame of mind; hence, no writing updates lately. I am moving at the end of the month; my mother is coming to visit a week later, and Raine is coming to visit immediately after that - so I might be a little quiet over here.
Be that as it may, I have overheard some interesting things, so I thought I'd share.
FANFIC - Big buzz this past week. I even wrote a post about it. It was more of a rant, and I think that I'll pass on ranting at you just yet on this blog.
I will summarize my thoughts as so: I have been at least a decade in creating characters and lands, they are very much alive in my head, I am very much emotionally invested in the concepts and as such I am extremely protective of them.
As a writer, I would prefer to inspire you to do your own, as I was inspired. The thought that someone else thinks they could write my characters, or my universe, better than me - well, it's not flattering to me. At worst, if it's not flat out plagiarism, it is insulting.
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Book Porn - I've been buying antique books on a whim these past 6 weeks, while picking up some inexpensive paperbacks to add to my library. Anyone interested in seeing those finds? Just curious.
Over the next three months, Orbit will be releasing the entire Hunter Kiss series, starting with The Iron Hunt. To celebrate, I’ve been asked to do a series of video “Bookcasts” about the novels, and what it was like writing them.
Say! That's pretty cool. I must say, Liu is .. uh, she's kinda hot. And the Great Wall of China? Double sexy cool points in my book.
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Wait, there's more! Do you think that kids might find reading more interesting, if there were more toys like this?
Likewise, this winter — namely the end of January, 2011 — you can also expect my debut foray into urban fantasy – Bloodshot. You may recall me recording my progress here, calling it my “fabulous urban fantasy adventure about a neurotic vampire/thief and her wealthy blind client, now with Bonus! Cuban drag queen and military intrigue.”
Apparently this cover is an anomaly because it doesn't feature a "demonic tramp stamp." (I like 'em, but I'm a man. This cover is still pretty sharp, though.) Read the rest here.
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I wasn't cool enough to warrant an official press release. (Now look. I like my anonymity. This is the stuff we get to joke about when I get published and so forth. Indulge me.)
However, a couple years ago, I was introduced to Pat's Fantasy Hotlist through George R.R. Martin's blog. He's there on the blogroll, so if you watch those (do you?), you'll see the announcement in multiple locations.
Anyway, Pat has been working for some time on editing an anthology. It's finally all set. Most importantly, a portion of the proceeds will benefit breast cancer research, so I am inclined to make sure you know about it.
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Let's see. There's a blog meme floating about (I'll pass on this one).
Some new cover art (should see the latest Vincent Chong, wow).
German news TV channel N24 mistranslated George Lucas in an 2005 interview, interpreting his famous line, "May the Force be with you," as "Am 4. Mai sind wir bei Ihnen" (We are with you on May 4). Thus a holiday was born.
Maybe it's just old "duh" news. After all, there is a Wikipedia page.
Anyway, along those lines - wouldn't your GPS be so awesome, incredible and geekworthy, if it had Darth Vader's voice?
Hell yes! Check it out:
P.S. If you're up late tonight (or super early tomorrow), have a wish ready. Falling stars, Aquarid meteors, what's the difference, eh? ;-)
