Kristine Kathryn Rusch » Archive
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Lies, Scam Artists, and Bullshit Meters (Networking Part 5)
Artwork donated by Pati Nagle. The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Lies, Scam Artists, and Bullshit Meters (Networking Part Five) Kristine Kathryn Rusch Irony of ironies. If it hadn’t been for networking, I wouldn’t have lost an hour of my work time today saving one of my best friends from a scam artist. Not that he would have fallen prey entirely. My friend, whom I met in college, works in one of those professions where, if you add the word “thriller” to the end of it, you get a bestselling book category—for some of its practitioners, anyway. For every Robin Cook or John Grisham, there are a slew of wannabes or almostbeens who write good novels, but never really make a living. But everybody thinks these writers make a living—meaning everyone outside of the publishing … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
February 2010 Recommended Reading List
Travel, workshops, exhaustion. Many things got in the way of my reading in February. February wasn’t the reading bonanza that January was. I did read a few clinkers—more than one all the way through. (Not because I felt I had to finish, but because there was something compelling about the book, just not anything I could recommend.) The books I did enjoy are listed below, including two stellar nonfiction works. February, 2010 Bruen, Ken, The Killing of the Tinkers, St. Martins Minotaur, 2005. Another short bleak novel, beautifully written, with an uncompromising view of the world. Wonderful stuff. I laughed aloud in several places, shook my head in surprise, and just enjoyed. This book is noir, for those of you who don’t know what noir is. Fiction doesn’t get much … Read entire article »
Filed under: On Writing, Recommended Reading
Murder, She Workshopped
I have an impy streak. And when Kerrie Hughes asked me to write a story about guns and monsters, I somehow came up with this. Combining a writing workshop with a famous writer and a writing student and some monstrous behavior…well, you’ll see. You can get the book at your favorite bookstore, or you can order it here. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Groups Continued (Networking Part Four)
Artwork donated by Pati Nagle. The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Groups Continued (Networking Part Four) Kristine Kathryn Rusch I am an inveterate group builder. I can’t help myself. (My dictionary, consulted because I can’t spell inveterate to save my life [you should have seen my first attempt], tells me that inveterate means fixed in habit and practice, particularly a bad one. Yep. That fits.) I build groups wherever I go. My husband Dean Wesley Smith told me once that we needed to move somewhere where we didn’t know anyone and we needed to remain anonymous after we did. I told him it wouldn’t work and added, “Wherever we go, we colonize.” And we do. We bring other writers with us. We built a writing community in Eugene, Oregon. We’ve built another here in Lincoln City, Oregon. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
An Italian Version of Hitler’s Angel
The mystery imprint of Delos Books has just published my novel Hitler’s Angel in Italian. The book had a strange run in the U.S., which resulted in a tiny edition, almost a limited edition. It’ll reappear in English, in my preferred version, from the British publisher MaXcrime in June. In the meantime, enjoy the lovely Italian cover. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Diving Into the Wreck Available on Kindle
Finally, the e-book for Diving into the Wreck is available on Kindle. You can find it here. I’m not sure about other e-versions. Readers, please do let me know if you can’t find other formats. I have a hunch they will be available within the week. Thanks for your patience! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Current News
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Groups (Networking Part Three)
Artwork donated by Pati Nagle. The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Groups (Networking Part Three) Kristine Kathryn Rusch After last week’s brief digression on risk–which is a topic I will return to, I promise–I’m back to networking. And this week’s topic? Groups. Ah, groups. This is the topic that I was surprised I missed, and yet when Carolyn Nicita proposed it, I realized the topic itself was a large one. I put it under the heading “Networking,” but groups themselves will probably have a few posts of their own. In her e-mail, Carolyn combined online groups with in-person groups. Under the group topic, however, I’m only going to deal with in-person groups, saving online discussions for the social media and internet sections of networking. (If anyone has suggestions or insights about that, be sure to e-mail … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Risks (Part One)
The Freelancer’s Survival Guide: Risks (Part One) Kristine Kathryn Rusch I know, I know. I had a plan and I’m not sticking to it. This is why I have become more and more unemployable as the years go by. I can’t even stick to my own plans, let alone plans someone else imposes on me. Of course, I respect deadlines, which is why I’ve been able to meet this one for 51 weeks running. But last week, I told you I would write a few columns ahead—and I did—but I’m not posting them all yet. Because a few things happened this week. First, I read a couple of articles, one a couple of months old. Then, I watched the Oscars, as I do every year. And finally, I’ve been dealing with some major risk-takers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Freelancer's Survival Guide, On Writing
