Archive for the 'About Writing' Category
Clarion West Write-a-thon
I’m one of many participating writers in the Clarion West write-a-thon. My personal page for the write-a-thon lists my goals. I usually sponsor writers, but don’t actually participate. This year Nisi Shawl asked me so nicely I agreed. This is good: external goals always push me. Here’s what I hope to accomplish: I start out [...]
Writers who have created science fiction that could save the world
I’m at Norwescon, and one of the panels I was on posed the question, “Can science fiction save the world?” Much discussion ensued, most of it excellent. Conclusions: Maybe. It has (think of Orwell, Bradbury, etc). It’s often the stories and books that are written with no agenda to save the world that have an [...]
Transcript of #sffwrtcht
In case you want a break from the generally disturbing news, here is the transcript of a lovely hour-long chat I had on Twitter at the hashtag #sffwrtcht. Thanks to Bryan Thomas Schmidt for hosting an excellent event. Topics included my next book, Mayan December, writing, collaborating, and dogs. Well, you know, there has to [...]
Bibliography: The Research Behind Mayan December
I did a lot of research for my novel Mayan December (coming out from Prime Books in August). This isn’t usual for me. For most of my science fiction stories, I research all the time. I go on jags where I read science articles from National Geographic to Wired to The Technology Review to various [...]
Listen up, writers! The joy of podcasts
Yesterday I had one of those long 8 hour drives through the country, me and my golden retriever and and a bunch of podcasts. I’ve taken a real liking to having stories told to me. Here are some of the reasons: As a writer, it’s an easier way for me to disengage the critical brain, [...]
The Dangers of Missed Deadlines, or Pretty Ruby
This spring, I attended a writer’s workshop in Flagstaff, Arizona. There, I agreed to get the final draft of my current WIP novel, The Creative Fire, done by August 31. Now, all of us came up with carrots or sticks. I came up with a stick, since I am personally motivated by sticks. My stick [...]
Movie Recommendation: Winter’s Bone
Went out to see the movie Winter’s Bone in Queen Anne last night. I highly recommend it for writers. It has a strong female character, a society that is itself a character, knockout dialogue, real social dilemmas, and it never missed a beat. We often think our stories need to be big – to be [...]
Starry Heaven: Last Full Day
Wow. All done now except the closing party. I’d call this a rousing success. Highlights of the last two days: We attended a great wine social event complete with excellently interesting science people at The Wine Loft last night. I could have kept talking to them for hours. Everyone was interesting and erudite. I’m quite [...]
Starry Heaven Day 3: The Phase Shift
Workshops have rhythm. The rhythm for Starry Heaven starts with critiquing the beginnings of each others’ books. Beginnings matter – they are what sells manuscripts to agents and publishers, and what initiates readers into the world of the book. So we have been sitting in a large group sharing impressions of each others beginnings. Today, we move to a new [...]
Starry Heaven Day 2: Fire, a Walk, and the Night Sky
A great morning of critiques. Excellent food. We followed that by spending the day hiking. Good thing we went today since they are going to close the forest tomorrow or the next day. The fire is still burning, and has gotten bigger. It is still not too near us, and has burned no structures, although [...]
Land.”
