NOTES FROM THE LAIR

acetachyon @ 2009-08-19T18:24:00

2009-08-20T01:25:17Z

During the Ladyless Anthology Brouhaha, I ran across the term "manthology" from Jim Hines (which was, he explains, him trying to be clever).

I figured such a collection might look like this:

So Jim does it again in today's post when he writes:

In this highly optimistic scenario, you’re already three years behind the trend, which means there’s a decent chance the rest of the world has moved on to Shakespearean Cthulhu.

Shakespearean Cthulhu.

The cover of which would probably look like this

Ack...

2009-08-19T16:23:47Z

So much for mirroring entries from my other blog.

That had been the plan.

Let's try that again...

Geek Movie Quote Thursday 2/19/09

2009-02-19T22:05:56Z

KIRK: "Khaaan!"
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan

Thought For Today

2009-02-18T20:35:50Z

When Life hands you a lemon, don't make lemonade.

Instead, punch Life in the face with a brick and say, "I didn't want a lemon, I wanted PIE, dammit!"

In The Can

2009-02-18T20:11:14Z

Finally finished the polish on Episode 5. Queue that up this weekend and it'll be ready to go in September.

Time to pull out notes for Ep. 6 and get cracking on that.

(For those of you just joining us here at LJ, I write the weekly web serial KAT AND MOUSE: GUNS FOR HIRE, currently on Part 7 of Episode 2.)

Behind the Curtain

2009-02-18T20:04:32Z

I recall a convesation I had with a buddy on the value of knowing how a story works.

He said he didn't want to know because it would destroy the experience for him.

I held that knowing heightens the experience for me, from a writer's perspective.

What do I mean?

As writers I believe after we learn the basics of the craft, we develop a desire to find out how other writers demonstrate it. How do they draw the reader into the pages of their novels and keep them riveted for 300+ pages? What makes their stories so interesting that readers buy their next book or their tenth book?

Answering those questions helps us develop and hone our craft, our technique. It makes us better writers. It allows us to see how our colleagues play with or break the "rules." When, for example, others point to Elmore Leonard as the "king of dialogue," we study him to learn why, and how we can incorporate that into our writing.

Maybe knowing all that can be a turn-off to readers. "I don't want to analyze a novel," they say. "I just want to read it to be entertained."

Maybe for them, that's fine.

And sometimes, we writers also just want to read to be entertained.

But that part of us that analyzes is always working, even if it's unobtrusively, peeking out just behind that curtain.

WonderCon Ahoy!

2009-02-18T02:26:40Z

Jess and I will be attending WonderCon on Saturday the 28th.

For you readers who are in the SF Bay Area and plan to go, look for us and say "howdy do!"

We'll be the ones wearing Kat and Mouse hoodies.

Warrior Women

2009-02-18T02:18:38Z

Jim Hines talks about warrior women over at his place, in reference to the character Talia in Stepsister Scheme. Check out the comment thread. Lively debate, with lots of good points.

This calls to mind a series of posts by Carrie Vaughn on UF heroines (UF in general, but with emphasis on UF heroines) which also referred to a post by Lilith Saintcrow on the same.

Personally, I'm a fan of warrior women. Way I see it, if women want to fight in combat, on the frontlines, and they train hard and take their requisite lumps, go for it.

(I do write about a pair of warrior women so I might be a little biased.)

UPDATE: More on butt-kicking heroines from Sherwood Smith. (h/t: K.C.Shaw)

(Yes, I know some of the links up there go back to my other blog.)

Who The Hell? And Where The Hell?

2009-02-18T01:46:27Z

Me? I am a writer and voice-actor.

As a writer, I've been published in Anotherealm, Neverary, Flashshot, and millenniumSHIFT, among others. I currently write the web fiction serial KAT AND MOUSE: GUNS FOR HIRE.

As a voice actor, I've lent my pipes to various online audio dramas produced by Pendant Productions, Giant Gnome Productions, Dream Realm Enterprises, MisfitsAudio, and Imagination Lane, to name a few.

I am a big SF/Fantasy/movie/genre TV/comic book/anime/manga fan.

This place? Just a place for my brain droppings, if you will.

Moo hoo ha ha.

Just a little bit about writing and fiction. A little bit about my voice acting.

A little bit of this. A little bit of that.

A little bit country. A little bit rock and roll.

Heh.

Basically: Fiction writing. Voice acting. Comic books. SF/Fantasy. Genre movies and television. Cool shit. Weapons. Guns and gun rights.

And whatever else oozes from the depths of my mind.

Trust the ooze. Love the ooze. Sing tributes about the ooze.

The ooze is your friend.

Welcome (or Re-Hello)

2009-02-18T01:19:26Z

I finally made up my mind and decided to mirror my ~~Blogger~~ other blog here on LJ. The initial test didn't quite work as I'd anticipated so I'm manually doing this.

So...

Let's try this again, shall we?

[NOTES FROM THE LAIR] Now Reading...

2009-02-04T13:05:57Z

Finished Stepsister Scheme. Jim. Jimster. Jimaroonie. Big Jim. You,
sir, are the shiznit. Bravura job on this one. Beyond turning tropes on
their ear. They went ass over teakettle. Can't wait until Mermaid's
Madness.Started Dead Man's Hand on my lunch break yesterday afternoon.
Read 70 pages. Drew me in and kept me there. Would've read into the
afternoon had a fellow cubemonkey not come by and said hello. I say,
well done, Carrie. You da writer-woman! Woot woot!

[NOTES FROM THE LAIR] Chicks With Guns: 2/3/09

2009-02-03T14:07:28Z

This is Airman First Class Vanessa Dobos.

[NOTES FROM THE LAIR] KnM Updates

2009-02-02T13:15:57Z

Part Five of "Easy Money" is now up.More trouble ahead for our daring
duo.

[NOTES FROM THE LAIR] Geek Movie Moment

2009-01-31T21:55:23Z

I woke up with these two songs from the Rankin and Bass production of
The Hobbit running through my head."The Greatest Adventure""Roads Go
Ever Ever On"Say what you want about this movie, but I almost wore out
my copy (taped from HBO).I even had the record.And can it really be a
bad movie when John Houston plays Gandalf?As cheesy and folksy as it
is, "The Greatest Adventure" is actually a neat "call-to-action":...The
chances, the changes, are all yours to makeThe mold of your life is in
your hands to break.The greatest adventure is there if you're boldLet
go of the moment that Life makes you holdTo measure the meaning can
make you delayIt's time you stop thinking and wasting the dayAnd the
other? "Roads Go Ever Ever On"?Just a nice, folksy, and kinda wistful
little tune.

Revamping In Progress

2009-01-29T21:04:57Z

Working on something for this area.

Stand by.

And....

2009-01-29T20:00:41Z

...we're back.

Sort of.

More to follow.

acetachyon @ 2005-08-08T15:24:00

2005-08-08T22:24:48Z

This is a test.

This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.

This is only a test.