Every year, we buy the Pearls Before Swine daily calendar. When we started into 2022’s daily calendar, I hesitated. Stephen Pastis had written all of the comics in 2020, and he was commenting on the then-current events. I told Dean that I did not want to relive 2020. Dean told me I didn’t have to read the comic strips, but he wanted to. So they’re […]
Recommended Reading List: May, 2022
Well, May was super busy, with finals and a workshop that I was teaching and the Licensing Expo. I got behind writing up the recommended reading, and then I got sick in the first part of June, so I couldn’t finish this. I did manage to read a startling amount, though, considering I was also reading manuscripts and I was gone much of the time. […]
Recommended Reading List: July 2020
I’ve been line editing various editing projects, which are in their final stages, so my reading time is limited. I had a weird experience, though. I read a book that I hoped would get me into a new series, and a week later, I couldn’t remember what I had read. In fact, I was wondering why I had nothing to talk about here, before recalling […]
Recommended Reading List: April 2020
I assigned 100 Years of The Best American Short Stories for the Short Story Workshop in April. I don’t recommend the book, although I have several stories on the list from it. The book has some lovely features, including a history of the Best American Short Story volumes. Those of you who persist in thinking publishing has always (and continues) to discriminate against women might […]
Recommended Reading List: November, 2018
I usually spend November reading some of my favorite bestsellers. They all come out with new books during this month or during October. I read the first from one of my very favorites. Now, he’s one of the best writers we have, if not the best, and the book was great by most people’s standards. By his, it was a mediocre story (still better than […]
Business Musings: The Ideas of A Cold-Fogged Brain (Discoverability Again)
I feel like I’ve been on a particularly grueling business trip, and am slowly recalibrating back into my office. I worked very hard in the front part of April as I prepared for the science fiction writing workshop I ran here on the Oregon Coast. Then the workshop happened. Lots of great discussions, great questions, great stories, and dedicated work later, we finished…and I got […]
Recommended Reading List: April, 2017
First, apologies for the fact that the font changes sizes below. I have no idea why or how to fix it. I tried a bit, but life is too short. It’s a function of me writing different paragraphs at different times, importing links from other places. Sorry… April was a fascinating reading month for me. Dean decided to write a short story per day, so […]
Business Musings: Price Wars and Victims
The traditional publishers are screaming about Amazon. I’ve learned over the years that when someone screams about something, they’re doing so because they feel some kind of pressure, some kind of pinch.
How could traditional publishers be feeling a pinch from Amazon? After all, in the United States, Amazon is selling more books than any other retailer. Why would that hurt traditional publishers? Is it hurting traditional publishers?
Recommended Reading List: February, 2015
I spent all of February reading manuscripts for the anthology workshop at the end of the month. One of the students counting up the reading and determined we all read one-million words of unpublished fiction. (See the picture to the left, taken by Brendan Swann.) Usually when a professional writer mentions that she’s read that much fiction for a workshop, the fiction is pretty mediocre. […]
The Business Rusch: Unintended Consequences
I am completely overwhelmed. Not because I just finished teaching a week-long workshop. Not because one of my novels decided to become triplets. Not because it’s about to become November. Because I have too much to read. Seriously. I preorder a lot of books, and pick up the rest from my favorite local bookseller. One week before the workshop, I put a spending freeze on […]
Ten Little Fen: A Spade/Paladin Novel
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The Chase
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