This holiday weekend is the first time I’ve taken the iPad on the road. I didn’t bring my laptop with me–a deliberate effort to see how well I could get along without it, and how many of my most common tasks I could perform using just the iPad and my wireless keyboard. I’m pleased to…
We got a lot of rain yesterday. That means that for much of the day, we were trapped indoors with a 6 month-old, a 2 year-old, and a 4 year-old and eventually, they were bouncing off the walls. So finally, around noon, we headed out to a place called Tree Paad, which is a kind…
As it turns out, the drive from our house in Virginia to where we were staying in Albany, NY was about 370 miles. Knowing that we had a long drive, at the opening of a holiday weekend, with a two year old toddler to take along with us, we decided we wanted to get an…
Recently over at the Arlington Writers Group, we did a workshop session on “beginnings.” We each brought along the beginning to some novel or story that had been published (not our own) and then we read the first few paragraphs and discussed why the beginning worked or failed to work. It was an interesting exercise,…
I’ve seen a number of friends do posts recently geared toward new writers with tips for helping them along. Science fiction is a pay-it-forward field and I’ve kind of felt a desire to do something like this as well. The problem with posts such as these is that they very often cover the same ground.…
I received my final Readercon schedule today. Here it is, for those interested: Thursday, July 14 at 8:00 PM G We All Produce, We All Consume. Paul Di Filippo, Gemma Files, Robert Killheffer, K.A. Laity (leader), Jamie Todd Rubin. In a 2008 blog post, Leah Bobet connected the dots of increasing media interactivity and increasing independent…
I attribute my grumpiness to stress. I’ve mentioned the recent uncharacteristic behavior on my part, particularly the profanity aimed at the idiotic drivers out there. Well, sometimes people ask for it. I was all set to jump into another task at the day job when my boss called me and told me to head home…
Last night, I did some writing, mostly plotting-related work on my current novelette. It felt pretty good to sit down in front of the computer and get some stuff down, instead of just thinking about writing. When I finished, I decided I should take that momentum and attempt a workout. I haven’t worked out in…