Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Archive
Diving into the Wreck Available!
Even though the publication date says late November, Diving into the Wreck is available now. You can purchase copies at various places, from Amazon.com to specialty bookstores to the chains. I have a few requests for my readers. First, please have your favorite bookstore–one that is carrying Diving–send me contact information, including addresses (both web and brick & mortar). I’m setting up a special page just for ordering, and I want to include as many specialty bookshops as possible. Second, I’m designing a website just for Diving. Let me know (privately or in the comments section) what you would like to see. Third (but most important), if you plan to get a copy of the book, please do so within the next two weeks. In these tough economic times, my publisher wants to see … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Success Part Four
The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Success Part Four Kristine Kathryn Rusch This morning’s Washington Post had an article that encapsulates much of what I’ve been discussing in the Success sections of the Freelancer’s Guide. The article from the front page of the October 28, 2009, edition is about farmer, fish taxidermist, and wildlife artist, Robert Bealle. Bealle has just won the Federal Duck Stamp Art Contest, which is the only art contest sponsored by the federal government. I’m quite familiar with the contest due to one of my past lives—when my ex-husband and I owned the art gallery, a regular customer bought the limited edition lithographs from the contest every year. He had my ex frame them, along with the postage stamp featuring the art. Over the years, I gained quite an appreciation for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
September 2009 Recommended Reading List
I’ve been doing a lot of nonfiction reading this month as I research a few large (and thankfully related) projects. I’m astonished at two things: 1) the lack of scholarship in some popular histories and 2)the lack of entertainment value in some scholarly histories. I just read one scholarly tome about the biggest pre-Madoff scandal in the U.S. in which four of the principles get murdered and the rest eventually commit suicide—and the damn thing was dull. I’m still a bit astonished about that. September, 2009 Baxter, Stephen, “Turing’s Apples,” The Year’s Best Science Fiction, edited by Gardner Dozois, St. Martins Press, 2009. A wonderful story about a successful search for extraterrestrials. Creepy and plausible, this one will haunt you. Carriger, Gail, Soulless:An Alexia Tarabotti Novel, Orbit, 2009. This is a marvelous … Read entire article »
Filed under: On Writing, Recommended Reading
Year of the Rat
While I was teaching and traveling, a few stories of mine got published. (Yay!) I’ll post information about them over the next week. Here’s the first, “Year of the Rat,” in an anthology of stories about, of all things, intelligent design. There are many good stories in here, including one by Dean. Enjoy! Tweet This Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Freelancer’s Survival Guide Success Part Three
The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Success Part Three Kristine Kathryn Rusch I wrote the last part of last week’s post and all of this week’s post during the Master Class. Dean and I teach a Master Class for professional writers who have plateaued in their careers. It’s a two-week boot camp that’s as hard on the three main instructors (me, Dean, and Loren Coleman) as it is on the students. I knew I wouldn’t have a long dedicated period of time to write these posts during the class. Fortunately, I’m finding half an hour here and half an hour there to work ahead. This post will go live during my catatonic week (after the Master Class and Bouchercon and the jetlag of going to the East Coast and catching … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
Mainstream Fiction v. Science Fiction
That’s the topic of John DeNardo’s new MindMeld, which has me and Gene Wolfe and Sean Williams and tons of other folks weighing in. So many, in fact, that there will be a part 2. Check it out here. Tweet This Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Bouchercon, Mystery Readers, and Me
I got home from Bouchercon late yesterday, and am only now beginning to process everything. For those of you who were wondering, I didn’t pick up any awards. Mitch Alderman’s “Family Values” from Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine won the Best Short Story Shamus, and Sean Chercover’s “A Sleep Not Unlike Death” from Hardcore Hardboiled won the Anthony. (You should check out these and the other nominated stories–they’re great.) Honestly, most people say it’s an honor to be nominated, but I mean it. Out of about 3000 short stories published that are vaguely mystery every year (the statistic comes from Penzler’s Year’s Best), two of mine got shortlisted. I’m thrilled. I had a great Bouchercon. I met a lot of readers, talked great books, and generally had a good time. Plus I felt … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Success Part Two
< The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Success Part Two Kristine Kathryn Rusch Last week, I teased you, and said we’d talk some more about success. I promised to reveal the information that I withheld in last week’s section. And I might. But I might not. Because success is as vast a topic as failure. Maybe more vast, if you’ll allow me that grammatical exaggeration. There’s good stuff and bad stuff in success. We think there are only good things, but if you recognize that success can lead to problems, then you’re halfway to solving them before they even arise. So let’s continue with the definitions of success. Last week, I discussed the dictionary definitions of success as well as the fact that your definition and reality may contradict each other. But let’s look at the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
