Testing, testing

This is my first post from my new website. Pay no attention to it. *This is not the website you’re looking for.* (No, really–it’s not. I’m working on getting the right URL transferred, so this one is only temporary. And the only content on it so far is my LJ content.)

After weeks of radio silence…

…I am practically spamming the friends boards today. I forgot to mention that next week is Life, the Universe, and Everything, a local convention that is FREE! and always a good learning experience.

Note that Tracy Hickman and his wife, Laura, are the guests of honor, and special guests include my author Rebecca Shelley (who wrote Red Dragon Codex as R.D. Henham), Brandon Mull, Howard Tayler, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, Dave Wolverton, and L.E. Modesitt, Jr. I appear to be part of the "and many more!" participating guests (in previous years they’ve posted my name, at least), but I seem to be in good company–those joining me on various panels include such awesome authors as Mette Ivie Harrison, Kristin Randle, Jessica Day George, and another of my authors, Clint Johnson (Green Dragon Codex, also writing as R.D. Henham). I’ll still be on a goodly number of panels (six, to be exact), so if you’re interested in writing science fiction and fantasy–for adults or children–it’s a great place to get some good information without having to pay an entrance fee.

Panels I’ll be on (notice that these times are subject to change, so you’ll want to check the final schedule next week:

Thoughts on starting a business

I never really thought I’d ever be in a position to start my own business. I never really liked to think about money–growing up, we never had any to worry about, and in college my money management skills were about equal to Wall Street’s current crisis. But because I didn’t grow up learning those skills, … Read more

Kindling Words update TK

Oh, and I keep forgetting to post about Kindling Words, which I’ve been back from for over a week. I was able to take pictures, and got some really great ones of Ashley Bryan, our keynote speaker, who was the best keynote speaker I’ve ever heard speak, and he didn’t even have a speech. But … Read more

Allowing myself to be zen about the clutter

I’m sitting down in my office for the first time in weeks. I’ve been working all sorts of other places for the last few weeks except for my office, because the office has been a downright terror and it doesn’t exactly soothe me to work in a space that has a tarp on the floor … Read more

The politics of names–on naming characters

As I’ve been trying to come up with a name for a particular character in my book–one who comes from a very particular culture considered to be low-class and uneducated–I’ve been pondering on the politics of naming our characters, and how that ties into our own personal experience with people from particular SESs. It makes … Read more

Manuscript critique discount

We’re all dealing with tough times right now. Getting your manuscript critiqued by an experienced editor is definitely a luxury, and an expensive one at that. With that in mind, I’m offering a discount for the next month (expires March 11) on my manuscript critique services. Critiques of submission packets (first three chapters and query/cover … Read more

The fashion report, New York, and cameras

I’m sitting in my friend’s New York apartment having just finished a rousing discussion on each of our personal existential crises. There’s always something that makes you think, "What do I *really* want to do when I grow up?" isn’t there? As things change, you have to adjust, and there’s always some negotiation as you … Read more

Now, for historical fiction and nonfiction

I’m not done with the science fiction list yet–I’m afraid I’ve been sidetracked by actual work, which is a good thing!–but Quimby over at Feminist Mormon Housewives has a particular question which I thought we could help out with. She asks: I have this kind of wonky idea that I’d like to introduce my children … Read more

Director’s cuts

I’m just about to watch a DVRed-off-TV version of Blade Runner (part of G4’s “Movies that Don’t Suck” series, which deserves praise in and of itself), the description of which I find really interesting. Ridley Scott’s director’s cut of his sci-fi noir thriller adds scenes and a new ending, drops the voice-over [which I remember … Read more