Economic disparity and deprivation.

In our society it is murder, psychologically, to deprive a man of a job or an income. You are in substance saying to that man that he has no right to exist. You are in a real way depriving him of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, denying in his case the very creed of his society. Now, millions of people are being strangled in that way. The problem is international in scope. And it is getting worse, as the gap between the poor and the “affluent society” increases…

Martin Luther King, Jr. The Trumpet of Conscience (1968).

Thanks so much to Chris Hayes for this.  I had never heard nor seen it before.  Powerful!

Dr. King would have been both horrified and yet not shocked, I fear, to find that this problem continues.  Awareness has changed.  But has the outrage?

Beautifully said, and yet a horrible truth.  I cannot understand that anyone might think forcing anyone to poverty could be anything but deeply wrong.

Every person who is laid off, or whose employer is shut down -- including abortion clinics.  Every city hemorrhaging people because no jobs exist.  Everyone having to work multiple jobs because minimum wage isn't enough to live on.

I could go on and on.  I bet you know people for every instance.  It is WRONG.

We need to right matters.  We -- the people of the whole world.

Reading slush, and coping with pellets...

Angry Robot Books has had Open Door sessions, where anyone could send in a manuscript if it fit their guidelines.  No agent needed -- just your novel.

Here's what two of their 2011 readers said about the incoming MS.  Bloggers Donna and Floor-to-Ceiling (Amanda) deal in statistics and their own thoughts on the slush reading process.  Check it out and see what it's like!


I notice that Amanda mentions a title that I later copyedited.  8)  How's that for pretty blinkin' awesome?

Thanks to Absolute Write for these links; I found them in this forum thread.


Toby Buckell talks about milestones and goals (Writers and pellets) which is fantastic for anyone, whether you write, draw... or just plain have goals and milestones of any kind.  Yes, you.

If you haven't yet, check out the links in Toby's sidebar too!

His link came to me via Champagne and Socks' 2011 Publishing Links.

Doctor Who

Friends, acquaintances, and even chance-met Whovians will ask me why I don't watch New Doctor Who.  It's not my Doctor Who, really.

I would rather read about New DW.

I can name the actors who played the first seven Doctors (even if I sometimes get the incarnation numbers out of order, until I do run through the names).  I loved all the old Doctors... well, except for Colin Baker's Doctor, who I think needed to be in that booth that helps the Doctors adjust to new regenerations.

It's hard to explain how New DW just doesn't appeal to me.

So think of it this way:  Book covers are chosen to appeal to the target audience.  The art may not match what is exactly described inside the book, but that is what they're meant to do.  Attract the right readers.