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Sunday, November 16, 2014

Hachette, publishing, Yog's Law.


Amazon and Hachette Resolve Dispute at the NYT.

It's good, and it's bad. "If anyone thinks this is over, they are deluding themselves. Amazon covets market share the way Napoleon coveted territory."

Yeah... that.



Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Artemis Rising: submit through Dec. 20th!




Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Monopsony, Amazon, Colbert, and you.


Oh, Amazonia... :/

Amazon closes a contract with one major book publisher (not that one, though) via Melville House.  (Storystream of the Hachette-Amazon battle at the Verge.)

Do I believe the worst of Amazon?  Yep.  I know I'm not alone.

So does Stephen Colbert.  No, really.  Back in June, he replied to them on his show:  Amazon vs. Hachette and with Sherman Alexie (see the Verge).  Because Stephen's a Hachette author.


Paul Krugman explains in Amazon’s Monopsony Is Not O.K. at the NYT.

Of the many great links Paul has in his op-ed, there is the New Republic's Amazon Must Be Stopped: It's too big. It's cannibalizing the economy. It's time for a radical plan.

Which tells you a lot right there.  But you read it to see all the scary bits yourself.


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Short break for Cabin Pressure.

Quotes in Tweets provided by the ever brilliant Cabin Pressure transcriber, Ariane Devere, over at the Cabin Pressure Fans site.

"This week, Abu Dhabi."



Monday, September 29, 2014

Depression: Robin, James, and me.

Robin Williams's death: a reminder that suicide and depression are not selfish by Dean Burnett.  This is a great piece, and if you don't understand depression, do read it.  If you think suicide is selfish, do read it.

And if you want to understand me, or anyone who is depressive, again... please read it.

Lynn Flewelling also blogged about depression and Robin Williams.

This is about Robin, who died, and James, who got married Saturday (see post on my SH fan blog) and mostly me.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

ConClave's in a fortnight.

Please note two updates to this page, marked by the ETA.


I'll be at ConClave October 10-12, 2014 -- it's at ConFusion's Dearborn hotel.

ETA 29-Sept-2014:  Here's the Clave Facebook page.  The programming track is here (subject to changes, as always); and yeah, that Copy Editor Q & A on Friday night is me.



The Dorsai and crew run a nice little con.  I had a lot of fun last year, and usually do, since Clave is one of my hometown cons.

The writing track looks pretty interesting.  I'm also keen because Kelly McCullough, who wrote the fantastic WebMage series, is the GoH.

The Webmage series is full of awesome.  I'm horrified that Goodreads fans have barely quoted any of it, frankly.  Slackers.  OTOH, some of the best bits aren't one-liners.

I have to lay hands on his other books sometime soon.

September 2014 update.

Almost every year I write a post about September being my anniversary month... and this marks the seventh year of my freelancing as a copy editor.  How's that?

Working from home limits your in-person social interactions -- no workplace with people you see every day -- and that lack has affected me whenever I was depressive.  Like now.

I need to make various changes so my career and my business both continue successfully.  And I want to be healthy.  I don't want depression or anything else to bog me down.


You can tell a bit about my life and my health by my blogging.  That goes up and down -- sometimes because I'm busy, sure.  In September 2013 I wasn't depressive.  I was motivated and that's part of why so many posts happened.

Normally I'm extremely motivated (Kevin Maroney once said I was "made of energy") so this has been a major problem during 2014.

You need motivation to do simple everyday things, but also for complex tasks like running a business.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

DetCon1.

NASFiC 2014, or DetCon1, was lovely.  (NASFiC only happens whenever North America loses the bid for Worldcon, btw.)  DetCon was the eleventh NASFiC.

I keep writing it as "Detcon" and having to correct it.  Apparently my mind palace has it That Way.


The Ren Cen was a worse maze than I remembered, and it's one of only three con hotels that have been possessed of a glyph of confusion.  At least for me.  Except that I think the Ren Cen actually has multiple glyphs...

I'm sorry that I didn't see many costumes, but then that happened at Chicon 7 as well.

Bernadette Bosky, one of the Fan GOHs, enjoyed the con too.

Jim Hines:  Flickr of DetCon1 pics.


Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Thinking about the changes.

Why the Web Won't Be Nirvana from Newsweek in 1995.  Which I found via The Brief History of Social Media.

Aside from a few bits repeated in the latter, it's very interesting.

Particularly at how the counts are rising.  Facebook's ten years old as of this year.  So it may be on its way out, you know.

If you don't believe me, consider its predecessors.  Remember MySpace?

John Scalzi pointed out that websites don't last forever.  That's why LiveJournal isn't the only blogging site people use.  It's also why he has his own place on the Internet, and recommends authors get their own.  Fads change.

Alas, I couldn't find that post.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

"For a Breath I Tarry"

"You do not perceive any beauty?"

"Perhaps none remains after so long a time," said Frost.

"It is not supposed to be the sort of thing which gets used up," said Mordel.

[Frost adds,] "Perhaps there is only a little beauty and I am overlooking it somehow."

Thursday, July 17, 2014

When I first asked for help...

... these are some of the people who first helped me spread the word about my crowdfund.



This is my blog post explaining what's been making it so hard for me to start my crowdfund, and why I want to go to London.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Activate London plan: 2014.

I have a goal.  I want to get to the 2014 Worldcon in London.

Dreadfully, desperately... ever since I heard in 2012 at Chicon7 that London was bidding, I was enormously excited about them winning the bid.


And I've been fighting against depression for the last several months.  Lately I've found that a new-old symptom's troubling me:  fear.  It's been sapping my motivation.  Crippling me.

Sounds like such a little thing, doesn't it?

You cannot out-reason fear, because it's fear.

But perhaps I can outrun it or sidestep it.  Trick my way past it.  I'm a problem solver, I'm good at many things.  Let's solve this too.

Let me take steps to achieve this goal, while I'm waiting to see my new psychiatrist.  Maybe he'll give me something to supplement my meds and help me with this depression; I hope that seeing my new therapist will also help.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Let me sum up...


Well, this won't count as summing up if you're Inigo Montoya.

But I think Bothersome Words explains what editing is, and why editors do it, very well.

For which I am very appreciative.


And as I have been very quiet here on my own blog, while I've managed to be somewhat active on my SH fan blog, it seemed high time to post here.  Finally.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

A little ramble back to dear Gen...

Bless you, Goodreads fans of Megan Whalen Turner!

Because I didn't know there was another story about Eugenides.  A little one.  It is called "Thief!" and hanging on her own website.  Whether or not you've read the Thief series yet, check it out.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Amazonia, at it again.

Ah, Amazon.  Bullying is such a great way to get what you want... or is it?

Remember 2010 when Amazon decided to bulldoze Macmillan?  No?

They're doing it to Hachette now.  So if you can't get your book by Stephen Colbert, for example, that's why.  Because Amazon thinks that keeping you from buying his book, and other Hachette authors' books, is a really clever negotiating tactic.



Saturday, May 17, 2014

The importance of understanding...



I've been thinking about things like this for a while.  Men who get upset about women talking about rape and being afraid.

I'm not afraid all the time.  I had a really bad year when I was afraid.  I was stalked, I was raped, and that messed me up for a very long time.

When you don't know how to articulate things to yourself, don't feel bad when you can't explain them to others either.

I've listened to people say "Well, why didn't you tell me?" or "Why didn't you do...?"


Don't second-guess someone telling you about something traumatic.  Just don't.  It's not helping in any way.  Listen if you can.  If you can't listen, say so.

Saying "I don't understand" is fine.  But trying to rewrite his or her experience isn't.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Sarah Rees Brennan, Ilona Andrews.

Interesting things from interesting authors who are intriguing me...

Sarah Rees Brennan



The first is her blog [LJ post from October 2011], the second is her blog plus fiction [post from April 2013].

Sarah's blog mentioned Ilona Andrews and here is the link for that 2011 post, Yet More About Reviews ... which is also about what happens when you become an author and it is all your fault.

Curious?  Go read it and find out what Ilona is talking about.







Thursday, March 20, 2014

I made a promise...

Today I promised my state senator that I'd post this.  He is -- in case you're wondering -- a Republican.

So I am.  This is the email that I wrote him today.

The subject line was "Explain why the Medicaid expansion isn't available YET."


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Other links of interest.

How to watch "Love, Actually" by Madeline Ashby.

In response to John Green on self-publishing by Kim Curran.

Authors and conventions by Emma Newman.  Lots of great ideas and input here.  Con-runners and attendees both.  8)

Monday, March 10, 2014

Freelance tips: many.

I found these via an artist on tumblr.  I'm sharing them here because freelancers need freelance info.

The Other Side of Freelancing -- this is by an artist, so not all of it is applicable to me.  But Parts 2 through 4 do pertain to my work and to any freelancer's work.

Do attend, I pray you!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Language and writing...

Definitions:  No problem -- an idiom -- and tits up, which in this context was an anachronism.

Meta Monday: Smallclothes.  Which the writer brought up because of history, and yes, GRRM.  Heh.

Recognizing Adjectives (a quiz).


Many helpful links via Ann Leckie, such as how not to cut adjectives and the evils of passive voice.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Paranoia when working...

In 2010 I was in the middle of editing a book... and my old desktop PC died.  From malware attacks.

It had survived many moves with me.  [Don't ask how many.]  We'd gone to live in Vegas, my old PC and I, then moved back across country to Michigan.


So today I've done some more research on my current tech problems.  On my new Acer desktop, which I bought in 2010.

I thought this was malware.  Nope; yay!

It may be the hard drive.  Not yay.  Not at all.

OTOH, my marvelous tech adviser at Chicon 7 -- hi, CKD! -- gave me lots of wonderful advice.  One was to get regular backups scheduled to an external hard drive.  I did these things.

This is far better than saving to a flash drive and having to readjust back and forth.  Computers get tetchy about that.

Monday, February 24, 2014

GAD spoilers.

(The links contain the spoilers.)


The Strand Magazine has a lovely piece on the detective of Margery Allingham, who is one of my very favorites of the gentlemen detectives.

The Great Detectives: Albert Campion is full of spoilers.  Do not read it unless you've already read the series.  I enjoyed the piece a lot, but again, I have read all the books many times over.

You could read the first six paragraphs of the essay and not be terribly spoiled -- possibly teased into reading the series that way.

Or into finding the BBC series Campion; it had two seasons and starred Peter Davison of Doctor Who fame.  That's how I discovered Campion myself.  :)  Huzzah for Mystery! on PBS.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Weather/life update.

What an exciting winter travail it's been so far, and that's not even counting last month!

Michigan hit a record for January snowfall:  over 31.5 inches as of yesterday.  Our normal snowfall?  Oh, a mere 12+ inches.

The fear is that we'll break the winter cold record too.  Right now we're in the top five coldest January records, matching the year 1875.


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Worldcon and Hugos 2014.

Are you going to London for Worldcon 2014?

The hotel listing for Loncon3 is displayed below.



And I gotta admit... I've been looking forward to nominating Sherlock season 3 for the 2014 Hugos.  (When you see this season, you'll understand.)  All the eps and the mini-ep too.  8D

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

ConFusion this weekend!

Legendary ConFusion, in fact.

It'll be awesome.  Come see!

Ping John or me if you're looking for the wake party for Electric Velocipede.

By ping, if you have my mobile number, text me.  If you lack it, shoot me an email before FRIDAY 17-Jan-2014.  (No, sorry, not posting it here, thanks.)

Or Tweet; apparently I am Google's only Anne Zanoni on Twitter.  Who knew?

I don't use mobile Twitter, so I won't be on Twitter all weekend.  Do not try Tweeting me about the party or the con if you expect a timely response.


I think I am the main ringleader.  8)  So to speak.