In July, I had the following books in progress: Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Hidden Family by Charles Stross How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months
My June 2011 Book Reading
In June, I worked on reading the following books & novellas: The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan Open Season by C.J. Box Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Hidden
My May 2011 Book Reading
In May, I worked on reading the following books: Open Season by C.J. Box Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Hidden Family by Charles Stross The E-Myth Revisited
In with the New
It has been a horribly long time since I posted anything on my blog. So I’ve been thinking about ways to revitalize it. I’m going to start a few things, including posting updates on how my writing
Urban Fantasy Land Readers’ Choice Awards
Check this out: Urban Fantasy Awards.
Interesting Political Sites
If you’re not sure whether you’re registered to vote or not–or even if you think you *are* registered to vote–you might want to check out this site to be sure. Can I Vote has links for all 50 states.
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
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
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
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
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
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: Burma, also called Myanmar, has been run by a
People Power
No, I’m not talking about Soylent Green. 😉 I’m talking about the green newscasts my local station, WCCO, has been putting on at the annual Minnesota State Fair. They somehow hooked a bunch of bicycles
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
Contest for Suz Brockmann
One of my favorite authors is Suzanne Brockmann, and she’s currently doing a
What a Voice
This guy’s performance gave me chills. WOW.
Danse Macabre – A Reading Journal, Part 2
Danse Macabre by Stephen King and the Introduction to Dark Descent, ed. by David Hartwell If you haven’t already, read part 1. I likewise found his discussion of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde interesting.
Danse Macabre – A Reading Journal, Part 1
Danse Macabre by Stephen King and the Introduction to Dark Descent, ed. by David Hartwell The introduction to Dark Descent talks more specifically about short horror fiction than Danse Macabre
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
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
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. As
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 on paper that has a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer waste
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
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
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
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
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.) Our last day was a little reversed. Instead of starting with critique groups, we started with
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
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