Monthly Archives: September 2009

Sep
30

Freebies

Posted in writing | Leave a comment
There was a little discussion today on one of the loops I belong to as to whether or not “free” book samples were a good idea. Free chapters, for example, or maybe even short stories that might tie into the author’s world, like a prequel or a spin-off. Sometimes you see these on author websites, or as mini downloads for e-readers. At RT, it was very common to see little pamphlets with maybe the first chapter printed up for books that were either just released or soon would be. (And in some cases, the entire book was just given away). I’m of two minds on this. On one hand, I can see the appeal of giving the reader a taste of your writing and hopefully interest them enough into buying the real thing. I know publishers will often set aside copies of the books just for that purpose. Still. I… Read more
Sep
29

Banned Book Week

Posted in banned books | 3 Comments
Not that I’m the first one to talk about it. ALA Banned Book Week The above link actually has the list of the top 100 frequently challenged or banned books. Looking through them, I saw the usual suspects – Song of Solomon, A Separate Peace, Rabbit Run, Slaughterhouse Five, and well, a host of others. I’ve never understood the practice of banning or protesting books – all it does is fire up the imagination of the kids who aren’t allowed to read them. Better, perhaps, to sit in a classroom and dissect just what *might* make a work offensive – but even so, some of the reasons given for being offensive seem downright laughable, these days. “Foul language.” “Sexual explicitness.” “Vulgarity.” Racism of one sort or another – whether degrading to blacks or considered “anti-white”. (WTF??) Some of these reasons I suppose could be explained by the year of banning,… Read more
Sep
29

All Your Base Are Belong to Us.

Posted in computers, gaming, hopeless | 2 Comments
Actually, that’s not entirely true. Until my son received a DS for his birthday in July, he pretty much had zero interest in video games. His cousin does have a Wii, but we don’t see them enough for it to have become a regular habit – and because he isn’t really all that familiar with the games, he gets easily frustrated. However, after several months with the DS, he’s become a bit of an expert. Sort of. (Though there is a good deal of getting us up out of bed in the wee hours so we can “just help me with this one mission, mom.”) He’s definitely showing some signs of early obsession with the device. Only advantage? Works awesome when I need to punish him for something – or even the threat of doing so. On one hand, he comes by it honestly. After all, I cut my gaming… Read more
Sep
28

Renewals and Such

Posted in craft, rwa, writing | 3 Comments
It’s that time of year again. Many of the online groups and forums I belong to are sending out the request to renew. Some I will, some I won’t. Last May (2008), when I first started this whole process, I went and joined a slew of groups – mailing lists, online forums, workshops…you name it, I probably looked at becoming a part of the community. And it’s a pretty extensive list, atm. But it’s an empty list, for the most part. I don’t reasonably have time to be part of all of them. The mailing lists are fine – most of the time I just lurk on them anyway…but I’ve been woefully neglectful of most of the forums. Part of this is because I had no idea what I was doing when I signed up(and hell, I probably still don’t). I didn’t have a clue as to how the pubbing… Read more
Sep
27

Unicorns Poop

Posted in unicorn poop | Leave a comment
Unicorns poop because they have butts. They also apparently speak Mandarin. (Guess that would make them k’i-lin.) And honestly, Lucy was hopping around and neighing, but as soon as mr myn pulled out the camera, it devolved into this. My kids are insane. ** ** And no, the older girl is a cousin, not mine. 😉… Read more