Dropping By
Ack! I haven’t posted in so long. Been very, very, very busy. School, trying to get the thesis done, and my job at Northwest Airlines (merger, anyone?), trips and now the Olympics. There’s always something!
Best Books I Read in 2007
I’m trying to make this a yearly thing, although I’m a little late this year. Anyway, just like last year, of the books I read in 2007 (which may or may not have been published in that year), these were my favorites.
FCC Proposes Lifting More Rules Against Media Consolidation
In the past several years, the FCC has removed many of the rules that kept companies from buying up too much of our media — our TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers. It used to be that a single corporation could only own a limited number of media outlets. What that meant was that the viewpoints we got about the news were sufficiently diverse so we could get a good idea of the whole picture. But with fewer and fewer corporations buying up all the media outlets — with the FCC’s approval — the news we get is increasingly homogenized.
Snake in the Toilet
Check out this awful tale about a woman who found a python in her toilet.
Ahhhhhhhhh!
More Death in Burma
It just gets worse and worse. I had to miss posting a few days, so here’s what’s been happening for the past several days.
Groups Struggle to Tally Myanmar’s Dead
Yangon: Monks Massacred at Monastery
A news clip from September 27:
Burmese Demonstrators Killed
Overnight, monasteries in Burma were raided by government forces, and at least one and possibly as many as three or four of the protesters were killed during the crackdown. Read the details on BBC’s site and commentary on With Bowl and Robe.
Here’s some more background on the situation:
Burmese Buddhists March in Rangoon
I’ve been watching the amazing protests going on in Burma for the past nine days. Here’s a YouTube clip from BBCnews from day four of the march:
People Power
No, I’m not talking about Soylent Green. 
More Suz…and Joss!
OK, I know I just posted something about Suz Brockmann yesterday, but today, she put up this wonderful story about having dinner with Joss Whedon. And since I adore both Suz and Joss, and the story was awesome, I couldn’t resist posting a link. Read about Suz’s dinner with Joss here.
Contest for Suz Brockmann
One of my favorite authors is Suzanne Brockmann, and she’s currently doing a countdown to the release of her next book, Force of Nature. As part of that, she’s doing a contest over the next three days, where the prize is five of her hard-to-find books. I actually own (and have read) all five, so I’m not going to enter the contest myself, but I do want to see what the results are.
What a Voice
This guy’s performance gave me chills. WOW.
Danse Macabre - A Reading Journal, Part 2
Danse Macabre
If you haven’t already, read part 1.
Danse Macabre - A Reading Journal, Part 1
Danse Macabre
The introduction to Dark Descent
Educational and Interesting Podcast Sites
Found an interesting post on podcasts being put out by universities, and another list of college podcasts here. In addition to the sites they lists, I also found several more universities that are now putting out podcasts. Here’s are some of them:
Global Warming and Sea Level Rise
For a story I’m writing that’s set in the future, I needed to research this sea level rise I’ve been hearing about. With the temperature rise from global warming, the sea levels will also rise, for two different reasons. For one thing, it’s basic physics that water expands as its temperature rises. As the temperature of the earth rises, the temperature of the oceans and all other water on the earth will also rise. As they rise, the water will expand, and the sea levels will rise.
Writing the Novel - A Reading Journal
Writing the Novel: From Plot to Print by Lawrence Block
One of our requirements for school is to write five reading journals each semester. Here is a portion of one of this semester’s journals.
Harry Potter On Good Paper
Check out this interesting article about the upcoming Harry Potter book. Scholastic has agreed to print Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Travel Podcasts
A friend of mine, Ray Bartlett, writes for Lonely Planet, and is now doing podcasts for them as well. His first podcast, Sapporo Snow Festival (under “Ice Sculpting Heats Up”) was just recently posted on their website. Yay!
Vampires Everywhere
Did you know vampires are fascinated by counting? Or that plants such as hawthorn or a branch of wild rose will repel them? I didn’t either, but as part of researching vampires for my novel, I learned quite a few things I didn’t know before. Something else I didn’t know was that Dracula wasn’t the first novel written about vampires; just the most famous.
Mike Rosenberg on The Naked Vine
A good friend of mine, Mike Rosenberg, has a blog called The Naked Vine, where he expounds on a variety of affordable wines. He’s doing such a great job, the Cincinnati Weekly wrote an article about Mike and the Naked Vine. Hooray for Mike! I have yet to get over the thrill of seeing my friends in print (and I hope I never will).
Disease Transmission
A few days ago I wrote about some research I’d done about pandemics. At the same time, I also learned about disease transmission. Those flu pandemics that hit fast and burned out after several months were all airborne pathogens (diseases). We’re all familiar with airborne disease - it’s why we cover our noses when we sneeze or our mouths when we cough. The disease spreads into the air through our coughing and sneezing and then other people breathe it in and are infected.
SHU January Residency: Day 5
(If you haven’t read day 0, day 1, day 2, day 3, or day 4, you might want to check them out first.)
SHU January Residency: Day 4
(If you haven’t read day 0, day 1, day 2, or day 3, you might want to check them out first.)
Tuesday morning my story was critiqued. I thought I’d feel a lot more nervous, but the good experiences I’d had in the other critique sessions and the couple of comments I’d heard from people who had critiqued my work had me feeling fairly confident.
SHU January Residency: Day 3
(If you haven’t read day 0, day 1 and day 2, you might want to check them out first.)
Day 3 dawned bright and early. We started off the day with another round of critiques, and by the end of the session, I felt almost comfortable with the whole process. Everyone was so respectful and kind with their criticism - not holding back, but not attacking people, either.
Pandemics, Pathogens, and Avian Flu
I recently did a little research into pandemics and pathogens for a story I’m writing. I discovered some very interesting stuff, like - there were more pandemics in the 1900’s than I knew about. I knew there was one in 1918, but apparently there were two smaller flu pandemics as well, in 1957-8 and 1968-9. They were bad enough that 70,000 died in America in the first one and 34,000 in the second. That’s not as many as the 1918 flu (675,000 dead in the U.S., including at least one of my great-grandparents), but it’s still a lot of people. I’m yet again amazed by what we *don’t* learn in school. This other site talks about even more epidemics in the 1960’s that were apparently not as bad, but significant enough to be mentioned.
SHU January Residency: Day 2
(If you haven’t read day 0 and day 1, you might want to check them out first.)
I woke the next morning with butterflies. First up that morning: my first critique group. The last time I was in a face-to-face critique group was 1989, and I don’t remember the experience fondly.
SHU January Residency: Day 1
I knew the day was going to start at what for me was a very early hour. I often get up around 9 or 10 or even later (and stay up correspondingly late at night), but classes started at 9am. Ugh. So - to be kind to myself - a couple weeks earlier I started changing my sleep schedule so I wouldn’t be exhausted on day 1. Thankfully, it worked.
SHU January Residency: Reception (Day 0)
I’m a little late, but it’s about time I talked about the residency I just attended at SHU. Months ago, when I was trying to decide if I wanted to apply to the writing popular fiction program, I looked all over for descriptions of residency experiences, and while I found many posts and pictures, none of them went into the detail I wanted. So with that in mind, I’m going to try to provide the detail I wanted back then. At least for this residency - after this, who knows? 
More Writing News
Contests and Fun Stuff
To celebrate making the final four of the American Title III contest, KJ “Kim” Howe is holding a really fun “kill me off” contest. She explains it in detail on the Drunk Writer Talk blog.
Odyssey has announced their summer 2007 fantasy writing workshop.
Writing News
Contests and Fun Stuff
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- Daphne J. Riordan
Just another writer trying to make it. -
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What I'm Reading Now:
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Read So Far in 2008:
Exit Strategy
by Kelley ArmstrongBlood Engines
by T.A. PrattBelgrave Square
by Anne PerryIron Kissed
by Patricia BriggsBlood Drive
by Jeanne C. SteinTo Sir Phillip, With Love
by Julia QuinnThe Watcher
by Jeanne C. SteinMackenzie's Pleasure
by Linda HowardCaught in the Act
by Lori FosterChampagne Rules
by Susan LyonsUnquiet Dreams
by Mark del FrancoPrince Joe
by Suzanne BrockmannNo Humans Involved
by Kelley ArmstrongFire Study
by Maria SnyderGrimspace
by Ann AguirreThree Bedrooms, One Corpse
by Charlaine HarrisMagic Bites
by Ilona AndrewsHot in Here
by Susan LyonsThe Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott FinchHunted
by Walter SorrellsMagic Burns
by Ilona AndrewsThe Brass Bed
by Jennifer StevensonDark Needs at Night's Edge
by Kresley ColeHis Majesty's Dragon
by Naomi NovikNightlife
by Rob Thurman -
Worldbuilding Dare, Apprentice Level
October/November 2006 -->
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Legacy of Blood
Third Draft
107 / 301
(35.5%) -
Legacy of Blood
Rough Draft70,000 / 70,000
(100%) -
2007 Word Count Marathon
Forward Motion
93,596 / 250,000
(37.4%) -
2007 Editing Marathon
Forward Motion
58,835 / 125,000
(47.0%) -
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