Just a Day in My Life

Crunchy

California continues to burn. Last time I checked, there were over 1,500 wildfires burning in the state, almost all of them in Northern California. As a result, the air quality in Sacramento, already bearing the brunt of a nasty heat wave (100+ degree temperatures all week), is, well, crunchy. With a tangy mesquite zip. I [...]

Thomas M. Disch

I admit that I’m not all that familiar with the writings of Thomas M. Disch. I’ve read a few of his short stories, and I remember enjoying them, and I’m sure I read one of his books at some point. Other than that, nothing. I do know that he was a highly regarded science fiction [...]

Uninspired to Blog

It’s not that there’s nothing going on. There’s plenty, from good stuff at work to the ongoing kitchen model (Jennifer has much better coverage at her blog, really). It’s just that right now, I just plain don’t really feel like writing. I’ve been uninspired to blog, uninspired to work on my novel, uninspired to work [...]

Freakin’ Smoke!

Right now, there are an estimated 842 wildfires burning in California. All of them are mostly in the northern part of the state, which is definitely unusual; the southernmost fire is burning in Monterey. There have been about 6,000 lightning strikes, and apparently these strikes are responsible for most of the fires. At the moment [...]

Some Names…

There are some names that are supposed to last forever. Names that you grow up with, or that come to you at a significant point in your life and change your direction. I remember when I learned that Charles Schultz had died; the guy who had created Peanuts was supposed to last forever because I’d [...]

Daikaijuzine reopens for submissions tomorrow

Just in case you weren’t keeping track, Daikaijuzine reopens to submissions tomorrow.

Great moments in book marketing

First, I was happy to see that Tolstoy is still churning out books; in the "New Fiction" section, I found War and Peace. I guess it was a sequel or something.
Second, from the cover of Rogue Angel: The Soul Stealer: "Fearing the unknown can be scary." Um. Well, yeah, I suppose it would be. Except [...]

Random, disappointing observation

So, after seeing The Happening with my wife and my good friend Dale Emery, I drove home, stopping at the Colonial Heights library on Stockton Boulevard on the way. I was listening to Dreams from my Father, by Barack Obama, and feeling very proud of myself for being a liberal Democrat who supports an African [...]

Basil? Is that you?

I admit that I put off finding a hotel until pretty close to the last minute, so maybe I should have expected that things wouldn’t go perfectly well. Still, when I first spoke with the front desk clerk to make my reservation, the fact that I had this conversation should have alerted me that the [...]

Why the English Language is awesome

A word I vaguely remembered last night from my high school English classes:
e·ruc·ta·tion (ĭ-rŭk-tā’shən, ē’rŭk-) n. the act or an instance of belching.
And another word that was brought up at work a couple of weeks ago:
con·tu·ma·cious (kon-too-mey-shuhs, -tyoo-) adj. stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient.
We discussed this at our write-in last night. One [...]

Watch this space

I may have sold another story!
Details forthcoming. But in honor of the occasion I have switched my site’s theme back to the "Classic Monsters" theme. It’s appropriate.

Wee Writing Angst

I submitted my newest short story, "Padma", to my writers’ group last night. It went over very well, which honestly surprised me. I was convinced that it sucked, especially the end; and yet the end got the most positive feedback overall. Some of the descriptions that were bandied about were "chilling", "scary", and "superb", though [...]

Limited horizons

One of the things I really miss about my college days was my near constant exposure to people of other cultures and nations. Within my relatively broad circle of friends I regularly got to hang with people from France, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Ecuador, India, Mexico, and so on. And, of course, there [...]

Things you can’t make up, part one

It’s nice when people who have been missing for 42 years are finally found. Especially when they’re found inside their apartment. It’s sad when they’re dead, though.
It’s been well observed that one of the downsides of being a writer is that many of the outrageous and bizarre situations that come up in real life, like [...]

Today’s Writing Related Question

What’s the best way to tell an old friend and housemate of yours that you killed her in the opening scene of your new novel?