Writer Tamago

Today I link to The Horrid Glory of Its Wings by Elizabeth Bear, posted at tor.com. This story works for me on many levels. The artwork for the story initially drew me (John Jude Palencar). Then, Bear opens with a Beagle quote, and if you know me, you know how highly I think of Peter [...]

Rachel Swirsky rephrases the payment issue into the publishing credit issue. Anne Leckie's take. Jim Hines Tobias Buckell Sarah Monette Certainly gives a writer a lot to think about. Mebbe we need life coaches to help us plan our careers. Wait! They're called agents, aren't they? Catherine

Thanks, In the Blue, for the lovely virtual snowflake. I just wish you hadn't sent so many real ones to follow it up. *** Today is sort of an extreme day. I finally posted my next Mahabharata installment, which is kind of high brow. Now, I'm not saying my next topic is low brow, but [...]

Bhisma was taken out of the final battle in our last entry. This meant that Karna could take the field, as Karna really didn't like Bhisma, and wouldn't enter the fray until he was out of the picture. Karna, you will remember, is Kunti's first son. His little brothers are the Pandavas, but they do [...]

After a fairly bureaucratic morning yesterday (several board meetings in my capacity as a member of the group that put on Iowa SF/F conventions), Bryon and I spent the day elfing. We shopped. A lot. The highlight of the day was our BBQ lunch with Mark and Michelle. Today was more of same. The tree [...]

John Scalzi discusses getting paid like a professional and why you should care. Cat Valente elaborates on her own philosophy about publishing short stories and what getting paid for them means to her income as a writer. Scalzi suggests that we put value on our work as writers. I agree. Yup, I am a newbie [...]

I had about 40 minutes to write tonight before I met up with my partner in Victorian squid-dom (a project which has been moved to the new year for a variety of reasons.) I spent most of that reading about the wonders of napkin dispensers. What? I didn't know how they worked. Manuel was helping [...]

I'm getting cranky, and it's showing. After the break that wasn't, and running at registration pace, I'm beginning to cringe at everyone who stops by, and every ring of my phone. I told a student who came in to argue with me about whether her daughter should take our placement test or not that I [...]

December is here. Tomorrow's Iowa forecast is for a serious 20 degree drop in temperature. I think we're getting serious about this winter business. You'd think the plethora of Black Friday commercials would be my first clue. As I oft do while I was driving to Iowa City to register students, I accessed the ole [...]