November 2015: links.

Business Musings: Getting in Touch:  Kris Rusch points out that if someone cannot reach you, then they may not be able to [a] pay you [b] offer you money for something you've already done [c] just discuss a business deal or even meet you.

And if it's your high school pal, your editor, your agent, your fan, a future business partner, or any combination of those... then you failed.  

It's even worse if you happen to be an author whose assistant decides to "help" by denying you those messages.

Consider the folks who want to give you an award, one that you'd love to have -- the Newbery or the Hugo.  Do you really want to be That Author, the one no one can reach for anything?  Really??

Keep in mind that "pay you" part.  That isn't the be-all and end-all of having email where you can be reached by certain people.

It's pretty damned important, however.


I should point out that when I was Steve Brust's p.a., I didn't block people.  He read his own fan mail.  People mostly contacted me about conventions.  Some of Steve's editors did write me, and often I took care of things with his agents, but only certain things.

BTW, Kris's post has made me realize I need a Comment Form of my own.  Expect one to show up sometime in the near future.

Editing costs.

It's interesting how people vary from the "But -- this just takes you reading it, right?" to the "I want you to catch all the things in my writing!" mindsets.  With, of course, variations all along the range there.

This includes editors too.  I have had editors who thought I just took a few moments to copyedit, that it wasn't a process that involved much time at all.

Cats...

We have yard kittens.

This is good in that the home owner is deeply allergic and we cannot have indoor pets. And as a guest [also with allergies] pointed out, this is the best of both worlds -- cute cats whose dander does not affect the watchers!

Health update. :)

I am doing better (despite Killer Bambi and parking lot) accidents.  That's the short version.  8)

Clave's this weekend!

October waxes, as does the Interweb.  Sigh.

The Sobering Saga of Myrtle the Manuscript.

Quality of slush pile items, a discussion on Absolute Write.


When in doubt, volunteer by Christie Yant.

A 2010 link collection post by Amanda Rutter; interesting in that it contains the 2010 online discussion about sexual harassment,* done by a former editor, among other things... but OT, there's the Mad Hatter on steampunk.


* For a lot of great advice about how to help anyone being harassed, ANYONE, read Brigid Keeley, who writes about this very topic.

Coolness, NYCC, publishing numbers: also cake.

Jim Hines on Cool Kids in sf/f.  Fascinating.

Kameron Hurley gives us the Cold Publishing Equations: Books Sold + Marketability + Love.  This is important, new writers!  READ HER EQUATIONS.  They will help you.

Really, grasshopper, I joke not.

And yes, this includes anyone who feels that self-publishing makes it All Different.  It really does not, not if you didn't do all the things professionally and did not happen to know how to do them either.  This is no judgment:  everyone learns.

Update: early Sept.

I have got my car back.  As of a week ago.  :)  My PT seems fine.

And the pretty replaced parts are indeed very nice.  8)  The driver's side is all shiny.


Last Friday we drove out to see my folks, and also to my storage unit.  Which is lacking some things now, while my poor PT is probably wondering why it had musty crates filling it up--

I could've sworn my PT had all its hubcaps when I left the shop t'other day, but maybe I was wrong.  I'll ask my team... Progressive gives you a team, so I have several people working on my claim, which is still open due to the medical issues.

Car news: good!

Good news from the body shop on my car!  When I spoke to a gentleman there Monday, he said the repair estimate was a few dollars shy of $1700.00.

This is great as I have owned my poor abus'd PT Cruiser not even a whole month.  Having the repairs be considerably less than its list price of $2995, huzzah.  FYI:  its low miles make my car worth rather more than that.  8)

Keep your fingers crossed, I pray you!

The 2015 Hugos: diversity and Alfies.

The 2015 Hugo winners list at Locus, including the Campbell for Best New Writer.

Who is my AR author, Wes Chu.  :D

Well done, Wes!!  The Appliances triumph in their bid for world domination.  Their Robot Overlords will succeed.

SkyNet.  What more is there?

Ah... Moving on to Chuck Wendig's Hugo Recap post.  Man, I wanna buy some of Noah Ward's work too.  That dude sure won a LOT of Hugos (Chuck is so right, HIS WORK IS BRILL).

Ahem.

Car roll call: mine.

My cars...

• 1980-something Mustang 2 yrs.  (I remember it was supposed to be one thing, 1980-whatever, but it was something weird.  Somehow 1981/1983??)  I had my T-top Mustang 1987-1989.  Give or take a month.

• 1989 Geo Metro, bought new:  just over 9 years.  (How I loved that Geo!)  Traded in 'Stang for Geo.  Needed a car that didn't have multiple oil leaks.

• 2000 Chevrolet S-10, leased new in 2000:  2 yrs 9 mo.

• 2003 Toyota Echo, leased new in 2003:  2 yrs 4 mo.  Toyota paid off my truck lease, quite happily -- but required a deposit, which I had not needed in 2000 with Chevy.

• 1998 Toyota Corolla, used:  10 mo.  As of last September.  Formerly my mother's beloved car...  Slain by a deer this past June.

Editing, CE job, Adam and my authors...

Can you teach editing?

Amy Einsohn thinks you can -- check out her PDF, Are Editors Born or Made?

I'd agree.  The people I meet who think they can edit and who prove amenable to being trained... are the ones who I think can learn not only how to edit, but how to become freelance editors.  Not everyone can do both.

Here's the shorter report Amy did for Science Editor in 2004, which includes the initial pages of her longer essay.

The Subversive Copy Editor (Carol Saller) interviewed Amy Einsohn in November 2011.

From Carol's blog I found Zombies and bogeymen, aka the zombie rules in grammar.

FYI: early rate change.

Normally I wait until September to post a rate change.  Not for 2015.

(If you're curious as to why, read my About me/rates page.)

This year I'll begin my eighth year as a freelance editor.  Thus I'm announcing a rate change for new clients, starting as of 27-July-2015.  Any current negotiations are not affected.

Penguicon in review.

So... many days have passed since Penguicon 2015.  Many many.

(Okay, WEEKS, but I had foolishly thought I wouldn't be doing another con until October back then.)

Penguicon was a frickin' excellent con -- wicked brilliant!  I wish you had all been there.

Here's some of the pretty pictures, which I am very grateful to fellow attendees for providing.  [I am rubbish at these things.]

Someone thought my little mini-flyer for UnlockedCon combined with the P-con"Sherlocked!" BoF was worth taking a pic of...

@ninja_CE Have you seen the official Penguicon photos yet? https://t.co/AnOD7zawOr

— Penguicon (@Penguicon) May 15, 2015

Convergence highlights: part 1.

{ Post written last week -- possibly 7-July-15 -- posted today. } 

A few things [maybe] before packing.  For Readercon.

Because insanity is congenital.  :P  Apparently.


The War for the Oaks review off Smart Bitches, Trashy Books via Will Shetterly.

Emma and Toni Weisskopf were the primary panelists at the Georgette Heyer panel Saturday.  About Heyer's writing influence on sf.

The best of panels.  Educational, funny, witty, fun, clever, fascinating -- taught me things I didn't know, and best of the very best, got to sit down with Heyer fans IN PERSON which aside from my folks, I never get to do.

Convergence was a great con.

Thoughts for the day.

bright orange for the shroud:  p. 19, Fawcett edition.

' Acquaintance rather than friend.  The dividing line is communication, I think.  A friend is someone to whom you can say any jackass thing that enters your mind. With acquaintances, you are forever aware of their slightly unreal image of you, and to keep them content, you edit yourself to fit.  Many marriages are between acquaintances.  You can be with a person for three hours of your life and have a friend.  Another one can remain an acquaintance for thirty years. '

Words, books, learning.

Jackdaw and the Randoms:  my latest project.  Completed project, that is.

If you're a reader of YA, and/or you like scoundrels, you'll like Jackdaw.  He is who Douglas Richardson (of BBC Cabin Pressure) aspires to be.  No, really.


I was added as an approved freelancer for Tor.com and the Macmillan freelancer pool this month June.  I am working on my first Tor.com novella now.  David Tallerman's Patchwerk.

Because books.

And it's a cool image, isn't it?

The rest of my life--

"Let me sum up.

"No, that will take too long."


A short recap of my life lately:

I went to Penguicon and came back with a new boyfriend.

Then I turned in a deadline the following weekend for a new client.

Those are part of why I lagged in Twitter, email, and blogging.  (But wait! there's MORE.)

Tweets, Tor, Puppies, writing.

Fascinating article by @Suw about @torbooks' recent Social Media difficulties: http://t.co/fgL8BWCeE6

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) June 10, 2015

My thoughts on the Tor mess, a.k.a. Theo Beale jerks people around again. http://t.co/t0jZ13r3KD

— Jim C. Hines (@jimchines) June 11, 2015

Eric Flint on the Sad Puppies' latest [June 2015].

Jim Hines:  Bigots, Bullies, and Enablers.  (FYI:  regarding tags, I also count bullies as predators.)

A few words from our sponsor--

The Internet.

Well, what did you THINK would sponsor an editor anyway?

Cat waxing for fun and profit and... urm.

This is actually to balance out Tuesday's sad news.  We lost Tanith Lee -- see Tor.com, help them keep hanging their poor overus'd site, why don't you.

She died this weekend.  I'll write more about her in the future.  Not today.  Already wrote up a short piece for NYRSF... a love letter to one of my very favorite authors.  Goodbye, Tan.  I wish I'd told you how much you meant to me and how you helped shape my life, mind, heart, soul.

But I didn't.  8(

The Hugos and Worldcon 2015: ongoing.

It is ongoing.  The Saga Continues, forsooth!

I will buy a supporting membership to WorldCon for ten people who cannot afford it. Here's why. http://t.co/QR1M07YDs3
— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) April 11, 2015

Mary's blog that week, Talk with me about being a fan of science fiction and fantasy -- is about the Hugo awards, Worldcon voting, sf fandom, assumptions and backstory...

I was offline much of that week, so I missed this membership gifting.

I have read about the 2015 Worldcon/Hugo kerfluffle, as many have been calling it.  John O'Neill over at Black Gate called it The 2015 Hugo Train Wreck.

Thanks to my best friend Bea for sharing about the Black Gate post.

Penguicon HO!

This weekend's Penguicon. *

Thirteen years and still going strong.

It will be fun.  There will be Doctors and Daleks, anime and gaming, lots of Linux and computers -- and the Chaos Machine, liquid nitrogen ice cream, authors and parties and fans, oh my, and Stuff.  All manner of Con Stuff!

Pic from this blog: Four Doctors and their Dalek

Absolute Write: huzzah! (Also agents.)

Dear Absolute Write's forums, source of much usefulness, knowledge, wisdom... and they answer my tricky copy editing questions rather more than you might guess.

Anyone looking for answers is well advised to look here.  I've been using the Bewares Index (link below) for years to research publishers.  You should too.

As a copy editor, I know that if a publisher won't pay its writers, then I won't get paid either.  Against that, any publisher who treats writers well gives me a far better chance as a freelancer, of getting paid and being treated well myself.  I also learn from the AW forums which publisher communicates readily versus one who never replies.

We lost Terry Pratchett today.

The last Tweet may make you laugh -- that's why it's at the end -- because you may have been weeping ever since you found out.  Like me.

How to be a writer, by Terry Pratchett: pic.twitter.com/vqc3wzwiRo
— The Beer Nut (@thebeernut) March 12, 2015

Jim Hines made a storify of Terry's final Tweets here.  If you read any of Terry's books, these three will make you weep.

Jo Walton's anecdote about Terry Pratchett refusing a Hugo nomination is, well, both very Terry and very teary. http://t.co/6geWR1rGrn
— Ferrett Steinmetz (@ferretthimself) March 12, 2015

Teen scientist/author Jack Andraka.

Today I was watching MSNBC, and I found out about this teen scientist who has invented a way to test for pancreatic cancer.  Which tends to kill people before it's discovered in 85 percent of cases.  He invented this while he was in high school, mind you -- see how your dreams can define you!

His test's not saving people yet.  But I hope it will be.

His name is Jack Andraka.  I want to read his book.

Links of interest...

Kameron Hurley: The Privilege to Publish; the Power to Persevere at Locus; also Spotlight on: David Pomerico, Editorial Director.

PW's March picks of last week.


Publishing's Big 6:  Who are they? from Scott Marlowe's blog in 2010.

Tobias Buckell's Together, let’s break the Amazon monopoly on Kindles! in 2010.  It isn't entirely what you think it is...  and Toby's piece shows his brilliance. [Context:  this is about the Macmillan-Amazon negotiations of 2010, and I've linked to Toby's blog there.]

He definitely demonstrates the weirdness of the original statement!

Action, punctuation, dialog!

Punctuating action beats inside dialog.  It's a little tricky if you haven't done it before.

Howe'er, after much hunting, I found the answers in the 2012 Grammar Tip Tuesday: Punctuating Interrupted and Continued Speech.  Which came from PMS's Em dash page.

Bit of a diversion here.

When the holidays come around, I tend to reread the Golden Age of Detection... i.e., my favorite mystery authors.  Lately it's been Ngaio Marsh -- somehow I've managed to collect a third of her oeuvre, almost without noticing.

I long to reread Margery Allingham's Police at the Funeral.  (It is one of my very favorite Campion novels.)  My copy is, alas, buried deep in the storage unit.  So are nearly all my other Allingham books.  8(

The library hasn't got it, either, which is why I never got to read it until I moved to Vegas.

Margery Allingham, along with Ngaio Marsh and Agatha Christie, was one of the queens of crime fiction.  Except... you never knew if an Allingham would mean a mystery or a thriller or something else.  That's part of what I love about her work.

The Telegraph calls Margery Allingham: the Dickens of detective writing.

Je Suis Charlie.

Charlie Hegbo: Je Suis Charlie.  France Will Shine Again at Technocrunch.

L’arc de Triomphe tonight http://t.co/AttvOYS99L #JeSuisCharlie pic.twitter.com/lOGgjyn1us
— Amanda Wills (@AmandaWills) January 9, 2015

From Clariel to ConFusion 2015

I find I want to angst about a book I just read.  But if you haven't read the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix, possibly you won't feel the same way.

I also don't want to spoil it.  Clariel hasn't been out very long -- since October 2014, Goodreads tells me.  Goodreads is likely not a good place to go either if you want to go in quite blind, as I did.

In case you have read Clariel, enjoy the links here.