Go!
November 1, 2009
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Go NaNoWriMers! Go go go go go GO!
Categories: NaNoWriMo
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Get Set…
October 31, 2009
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Oh, man, it starts tomorrow already. NaNoWriMo! I can imagine some of you setting your clock to 11:55 tonight so you can start writing as soon as the starter pistol goes off at midnight. That’s how I did it.
Do you know what you are going to write? Or are you taking the blind plunge into a new world? Either way, it’s a heady experience.
I just saw a great article recently about plotting by the seat of your pants. Worth checking out. And here’s another one about scheduling yourself during NaNoWriMo.
It makes me wonder…The Boy will have me up late at night regularly. What’s to prevent me from a half hour of writing every night after getting him back to sleep? Hmmm…
Categories: NaNoWriMo
On Your Mark…
October 30, 2009
2 comments
Sunday begins NaNoWriMo. I’m with you all in spirit. If you read this blog and are participating this year, by all means please comment below & let me know you’re out there.
A friend commented recently saying she likes the idea but can’t imagine having the time to do it, what with all that is on her plate. Not to sound hypocritical, but why not? 50K words breaks down to 1667 words per day for 30 days. If you write without regard to the actual quality of the story or plot, then a moderate typist can crank that out in about an hour, which can be broken up into chunks through the day. Think of it as a longer version of free writing. Give it some consideration! Remember, the book written by Chris Baty–who started NaNoWriMo–is called No Plot? No Problem! That gives us complete freedom to write anything that even somewhat resembles a story, no matter how disjointed and unreadable it is.
Just talking about it gives me the bug…
Categories: NaNoWriMo
Will you NoWri this November?
October 23, 2009
3 comments
We are fast approaching the most exciting month of the year. November! Now, some (here in the US, at any rate) get excited because they are looking forward to their next supersaturation of L-tryptophan, but not this humble wordsmith. No, November 1st at 12 o’clock a.m. begins the hallowed National Novel Writing Month. 
NaNoWriMo — as it is known to those who love it — is the wonderful month-long foray into sleep deprivation and overclocking of the plot crank, yes, that caffeine-driven deluge of words on page without rhyme, reason, or regard to personal safety. If you’ve done it right, on November 30th at 11:59:59 p.m. you will have several things: 1) 50,000 words of a previously unrealized novel, 2) friends and family who complain they don’t see you enough, 3) a mean coffee monkey, and 4) serious bragging rights. What you will also have is an obligation to finish what you so hastily started: a novel!
Alas, I will not be participating in NaNoWriMo this year (heavy sigh). There is quite enough to do in the Wade household with The Boy now starting his third month of benevolent dictatorship. But I did want to weigh in with my full support to anyone who is curious about it or is planning to give it a go. Do it! It will be worth it. Go to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up. Just having access to the forums is worth the price of admission. Well, it’s free to sign up, but…you know what I mean.
There are also many bloggers out there who are posting NaNoWriMo content this month and the next, posts about how they are doing it and giving excellent tips on how to make it through this next great month of November. I’ll have another post, soon I hope, with links to some of those. In the meantime, all of you my faithful and teeming trove of readers are welcome to post comments here about their NaNoWriMo experiences and tips as well.
TTFN and keep cranking!
Categories: article, othersites, writing
The state of it…
October 16, 2009
2 comments
Who was it that said the difference between a writer and a non-writer is that the non-writer has a lot of ideas for books, but that the writer actually gets them down on paper? That’s kinda what’s going on right now in my house. The Boy is sopping up all our attention and thought processes, and I have barely gotten any words down. Oh, there are still plenty of ideas in the old noggin! But they are biding their time until they can be written down.
With that being said, I am seriously thinking about using a digital recorder when I drive to work. I’ve hemmed and hawed about it in the past, but now may be the time. If anyone has any ideas about how to make it work, I’d appreciate your $.02 because I feel like unless I know what I have to say, it won’t come out. I’ve done some recording of notes, but not actual storytelling. Would it make sense to start my recording session with some purpose in mind? Maybe if I could just work out a story outline beforehand, then I can get in the car, fire up the recorder, and just record one scene, for instance. Is that how people use their recorder? I may have to put that question out on some writing forums and see what others do.
Also, I am trying to get some freelance gigs. I’ve subscribed to some blogs that post a digest of job boards. I would love to make some money doing what I love the most.
How are you doing? My crank is a little rusty. How have you been able to keep your writing going?
The SF Reviewers List
October 16, 2009
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This is so cool. I’ve added my blog to a list of SF reviewers hosted by John Ottinger of Grasping for the Wind. It’s already gained me some hits. Welcome to anyone who visits here due to the list. Since the host of the list actively encourages cross-posting said list, I’ve included it below. Now, just a word of caution: this is just a list. It’s up to you to decide if you want to click the link that takes you to a site you don’t want to go. There may be some blogs here I would not care to visit, just to judge by the names of them. Caveat reader!
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Romanian French Chinese Danish Portuguese German
A
The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.
B
The Billion Light-Year Bookshelf
Book View Cafe [Authors Group Blog]
C
Cheaper Ironies [pro columnist]
D
Daily Dose – Fantasy and Romance
Dave Brendon’s Fantasy and Sci-Fi Weblog
E
F
Fan News Denmark [in English]
Fantasy and Sci-fi Lovin’ News and Reviews
G
The Great Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey
H
I
I Hope I Didn’t Just Give Away The Ending
The Internet Review of Science Fiction
It is the Business of the Future to Be Dangerous
J
K
L
M
Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf and Book Review
Marooned: Science Fiction Books on Mars
Missions Unknown [Author and Artist Blog Devoted to SF/F/H in San Antonio]
The Mistress of Ancient Revelry
N
O
OCD, Vampires, and Rants, o my!
P
Pussreboots: A Book Review a Day
Q
R
Realms & Galaxies: Celebrating SFF
S
Science Fiction and Fantasy Ethics
Sci-Fi Songs [Musical Reviews]
T
Tor.com [also a publisher]
U
V
Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic
W
Wendy Palmer: Reading and Writing Genre Books and ebooks
X
Y
Z
Romanian
Cititor SF [with English Translation]
French
Chinese
The SF Commonwealth Office in Taiwan [with some English essays]
Danish
Portuguese
Life and Times of a Talkative Bookworm
German
First Clean Reads Book Review
September 25, 2009
3 comments
Yesterday my first guest post was posted at Clean Reads, a review of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation. Essentially it’s a reposting of the review I wrote for this site, with a brief intro to science fiction and speculative fiction added for the unitiated.
This was my first guest blog anywhere, and I admit I was a little intimidated at the thought. It’s like sending your manuscript to an editor and waiting for their form-letter rejection notice. Just because it’s someone else’s blog (instead of a magazine or publisher) doesn’t mean your article will be automatically accepted. Laura, hopefully you used the same editorial selectivity when posting my review! 
Thanks to Laura Fabiani for inviting me to be a guest poster! I appreciated being able to add my review to her website, because I believe that reading a good book or an important book does not automatically mean that the reader has to read a lot of profanity, violence, or spiritism.
Incidentally, Laura would like me to mention that she is hosting a book giveaway at her site. Go check it out & you may come away with one or two good reads.
Categories: article, othersites, reviews
Marseguro: a Reader’s Review
September 18, 2009
1 comment
What would you do if genetic sculpting (genesculpting) became possible? Marseguro, by Edward Willett, explores a future where genetics assumes epic proportions. 
Marseguro is the name of a planet secretly colonized by a group of fugitives fleeing from an intolerant theocracy. The Selkies, a race of genetically modified humans, suffered under the hand of the Body Purified, who believe in the sanctity of the human genome and viciously persecute any who disagree or who have been modified. When the Body comes into earthwide political power, the Selkies are forced to flee with their creator, Victor Hansen.
The story begins fifty years after their exodus. The Selkies thrive on the water world Marseguro, free even to explore aesthetic pursuits such as art and theater in a uniquely Maseguroite manner. However, human Chris Keating begins the story by plotting to betray his fellow colonists to the Body Purefied.
Marseguo is a richly realized story, blending together older SF tropes such as interstellar travel and colonizing planets with newer ideas like genetics and string theory. (If you’re wondering where string theory comes into the story, here’s a hint: Willett did not misspell ‘brane’.)
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and have already ripped into the sequel Terra Insegura, which is similarly enjoyable. Marseguro has a strong plot, well developed society and believable technology. What I feel lacking, in my opinion, is characterization. The main characters Emily Wood the Selkie, Richard Hansen (grandson of geneticist Victor Hansen and pawn of the Body Purified), Archbishop Cheveldoff, and Chris Keating of course all behave in a believable manner, but lack a depth to their character that would have added far more drama. Ultimately there is nothing wrong with this. Stories are either character driven or plot driven. Edward Willett has crafted an excellent plot driven story that was easy and enjoyable to read. I would certainly recommend Marseguro to anyone who enjoys SF.
This is my first review of Marseguro, aimed particularly at readers. Soon I’ll post a review that focuses on this book from a writer’s perspective.
Categories: reviews
Clarkesworld
September 3, 2009
1 comment
A little contest from Clarkesworld to win a free book. Clarkesworld is a very nice online SF magazine, one that seems worth tracking.
Anyways, back to the contest. I just have to post this link on my blog:http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/issue_36/
Categories: Uncategorized
What Is Up?
August 21, 2009
1 comment
Well, here’s my Friday blog post. But today it won’t be about writing or anything like that.
No, today is to announce that last Sunday our baby boy came into the world! For the sake of privacy, I will call him The Boy. He is cute as a button…no, make that cute as two buttons. Both Princess and The Boy are doing well and we are all readjusting to our new roles in life.
If I miss next Friday’s post, it is because I am trying to teach the The Boy some basic chemistry or physics.
TTFN!
Categories: meta
The Guy
Cranking Plot by Guy Thomas Wade is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.crankingplot.wordpress.com.
