Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Archive
Recommended Reading List: January, 2010
Lost nearly a week of reading to the damn flu (although I did finish Season 7 of 24, so it wasn’t a complete waste of time). What I did read, though, was marvelous. January was a banner month. January, 2010 Bruen, Ken, The Guards, St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2001. Let me just say, “Oh, my.” I had no idea you could write like this and get published. The Guards is a prose poem of darkness, with a character that I—the daughter of two alcoholics—should hate, and I don’t hate him even though he drinks his way through the entire novel, and makes all the mistakes that an alcoholic makes. Set in Ireland and very very dark, very well written, unforgettable. One of the best novels I’ve read in years. Seriously. Buy it, … Read entire article »
Filed under: On Writing, Recommended Reading
A couple of free things
Smart Pop Books has put my controversial essay, “Barbarian Confessions,” on their website for free–one week only. If you’ve been reading my nonfiction columns, you’ll see me refer to this essay a lot. Here’s your chance to read it. You can find it here. And, last week, I got interviewed for the nifty podcast site, StarShipSofa. Check out the excerpt here. The entire interview will be posted soon. Check out the entire website here. Tweet This Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News, On Writing
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Networking Part One
Artwork donated by Pati Nagle. The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Networking Part One Kristine Kathryn Rusch Sometimes the topics that I’ve overlooked in my single-minded attempt at finishing this Guide astound me. If I had written a proposal for the Guide before I actually completed the manuscript, I would have estimated the Guide’s length at 70,000 words, and I would have covered a few of the topics herein. At the moment I’m at 130,000 words and counting, with six more topics of my own to cover. As you can tell from that opening paragraph, this week’s topic is one I hadn’t thought of. I should have thought of it; I discuss networking with my writing students all the time. In fact, I network each and every day. But I hadn’t considered it a stand-alone … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
Recovering Apollo 8 And Other Stories
On May 1, Golden Gryphon is releasing my latest short story collection, Recovering Apollo 8 and Other Stories. The collection features all of my award-winning and best-of science fiction/fantasy stories from the last five years or so. None of these stories have been in previous collections, and some are very hard to find. It also has a stunning Bob Eggleton cover. Bob and I are happy to be working together again. He was the artist on my very first cover story, “Sing,” in Aboriginal SF Magazine–and, it turns out, that was his first cover painting ever. You can preorder here or directly from the publisher here. Tweet This Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
The Disappearance of Wicked
One of my own personal favorites–”The Disappearance of Wicked”–appears in the March/April edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I think I like this story because I needed a writer’s office cat, so I inserted my own. The Goddess, as she appears in this story, was as she appeared in life–forever biting the hand that fed her, threatening the raccoons, and being her usual tough self. She was still alive when I wrote the story, but died last May at an advanced age–at least 15, probably much older. (We’d had her 12 years, and the vet said she was at least 3. But she had a gray muzzle and old lady habits even then, so she was probably 10.) Anyway, there are other things in the story–children, dogs, kidnappings. But I … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News, On Writing
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Goals and Dreams
The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Goals and Dreams Kristine Kathryn Rusch Last week, I discussed the two kinds of business plans—the kind you draw up for a financial reason (such as trying to get a loan or to lure investors), and the kind you draw up for yourself. If you haven’t read this post, I suggest you do so, not just because it will help you understand this post, but because it will help you with your business. In that post, I mentioned that I’d be discussing the differences between goals and dreams this week. It actually surprises me that I haven’t done so sooner. As I said when I started the Guide, I’m writing it out of order, partially in response to reader comments and partially in response to life itself. As things … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
My last IROSF column
My last IROSF column went live last week. IROSF is going away, sadly. The IROSF folks asked me not to write about how much I’d miss IROSF (I will) because they didn’t want the entire issue to be about the loss of IROSF. I did talk about it a bit, but I also talked about the way magazines come and go–and one small line in the essay started a really silly comment trail. I’d suggest you go read the column and issue. Ignore the comments. Here’s where you can find it all. Tweet This Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Radcon
I spent the weekend as one of the Guests of Honor at the Radcon Science Fiction convention. If you haven’t attended a con in a while, go to next year’s Radcon. You’ll have a blast. This is my third (?) Radcon, and I’ve had fun every time. It’s in Pasco, Washington. I forgot to take pictures, but fortunately, others remembered. This photo, of the book signing, comes courtesy of Kay Kenyon (who is a fine writer–buy her books!). It’s of me and Patricia (Patty) Briggs (another fine writer–buy her books too!). As you can tell, we’re having fun. Tweet This Post … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
