Saturday, March 31, 2012

Greetings... Now get your ZAP ready.

Yes, I know, you don't believe me. But it's 1300 April 1, 2013. And the zombies are everywhere.

I can't stay very long - connection's tenuous at best. 67 of the world's most brilliant scientists, and we can only get 5 minutes at the most. Just have to warn you before IT happens. The zombie apocalypse will start tomorrow night (April 1, 2012.) Make sure you're ready.

There's a settlement in the mountains of NC. Grandfather Mountain's been fortified into a settlement. If you're in the midwest, Mesa Verde in Colorado is the safest. The water's in short supply, though, so you might be better off heading north to the Routt National Forest. They'll find you; don't go past the markers without their permission. New England is pretty much gone; if you're there, get out and head to the Laurentian Mountains, near the Baskatong Reservoir. There's a seaside fortress at the edge of Oregon, and a few outposts in the Sierra Madre.

Haven't gotten in contact with South America except a single legion in the Brazilian rainforest, but they say there's at least seven places down there. We haven't managed contact with Europe at all, but an outpost in Siberia claims to be monitoring their situation and reports that there's a few places untouched.

Okay, running out of battery power. Going to make this quick:

Is this the end of the world?

Reports show that the decay overtakes the physical movement after a period of ten months. Because of the uneven spread of the disease, we're still encountering fresh packs, but it seems to be trailing off. Don't give up hope.

How did it start?

It appears to have begun after a teenager's high school science project was left in a locker too long.

Is there a cure?
Funnily enough, there's a prevention. The disease is immune to virtually every treatment known to man, from antibiotics to vitamin overdoses. But we accidentally discovered that infection won't occur in individuals who consume two tablespoons of

@#$%^&*()
Error
Signal lost

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Wednesday Writing Prompt: TV

Put your characters (if they're not already here) in the modern-day world. Hand them a TV. What are their favorite TV shows? Why?



My characters:
Kelly: The news. She leaves it on in the background and pretty much ignores it. Sometimes, her brother's concerts get covered, and she always misses having him around when he's on tour. He keeps trying to get her to watch The Walking Dead, and if she ever did, she'd like it, but she hasn't gotten around to it yet.

Trax: Heroes. For all his rock-star image, he's a closet geek, and Hiro's his favorite character. But don't let on you know. His agent will deny it to her dying day. According to her, he's a big American Idol fan. She even tells him who his favorites are supposed to be. Probably a good thing, since he's never gotten around to watching the show.

Derik: Dancing with the Stars. He's a romantic at heart, and as much as he loves NCIS and The Office, it's the glamor of DwtS that gets him tuning in. It doesn't hurt that he keeps picturing Kelly in those dresses, either. If she ever gets around to returning his affections, she'll probably find herself dragged off to ballroom dancing classes.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Keeping Sane

How does an author, locked up in her tiny apartment by herself for days on end, stay sane?

Everything's fine. No, haven't seen a thing.

Doctor Who Girls' Night. (Extra credit if you understand the photo reference!)

Yes, there's the regular job. And for some people, that may be social time enough. But the interactions between coworkers are often more formal, which means less relaxing. And if you work in a cubicle forest like I do, it's really not all that social.

It's important to keep up a social connection in what can arguably be called one of the most introverted professions around. We're humans - we need social company, even those of us with introvert qualities. It's kind of important to the continued functioning of our sanity (or, in some cases, functional insanity.)

Scheduling your life should include at least one, if not more, arranged social periods. Yes, that's right, playdates for grown-ups.

In my case, I host a weekly girls' night. This consists of several of us getting together, cooking dinner, and watching an episode or two of Doctor Who. Or sometimes we just end up talking so much that we don't get around to watching, but that's okay, too. It's about the company, not about the activity.

I could use this time to write. I could use this time to clean. I'm particularly fond of dishes, and there's always the hassle of more-or-less cleaning the apartment* before everyone gets here. But I never regret the company, and it's always fun.

(*Disclaimer: Cleanliness is relative. Dishes are clean; bathroom's Lysoled. That's what counts, right?)

Maybe you won't crack open a bottle of mead and have 6 cooks trying to work in a tiny apartment kitchen. But that's no excuse to neglect your mental health. Whether it's friend time, family time, or spouse time, make time in the week to be with other people. Even if this means heading over the local game shop for board-game night, or doing a hang-out on Google+ with old college friends. Our minds work best with at least a little human interaction. So make time.

Do you have a regularly scheduled social time? If so, what do you do? If not, what could you do?

Friday, March 23, 2012

Publishing News

Either I've missed something, or these past two weeks haven't been particularly heavy in the breaking-news arena. It's mostly industry blogs this week. Please leave a note in the comments if you've encountered anything of note that needs to be added for these past two weeks!


Dorchester is trying to sell the company. Agent Kristan has details - as in, a copy of the letter.

At QueryTracker, we have the Publishing Pulse for 3/93/16, and 3/23.

QueryTracker also has a post on chain of custody for evidence for crime scenes, a post on creating a great book cover, recommends getting business cards (one suggestion they offer is VistaPrint, which sends 250 cards for the cost shipping & handling),

Nathan Bransford posts Last Week! In Books! for 3/19.

I should think most of know this by now, but when submitting a requested manuscript, make sure all the chapters are in a single document. For heaven's sake, don't submit 30 different attached files! And where do you put the page number when formatting your manuscript? In the right-hand side of the footer. Use an auto-number feature so the manuscript can be reformatted without messing up the numbers.

Ever queried an agency, been turned down, and wondered if it was okay to query a new agent to the agency? Jessica Faust over at BookEnds says sure, it's usually fine. Related thereto, is it okay to request switching agents within an agency? Also yes, if you think the new agent is a better fit and they're willing to make the switch. And no, just because a publisher isn't accepting unsolicited manuscripts, doesn't necessarily mean you have to have an agent. For some publishers, "not accepting unsolicited manuscripts" means they want to start with one-page query letter. They'll decide whether or not to ask for more from there. For others, it does in fact mean "no unsolicited materials."

She also answers some random questions: "Do you automatically reject a query if the author does not have a college degree?" (No.)  "Is 'mainstream literary fiction' an appropriate term/genre to describe a novel in a query letter?" (Yes.) "Do you work with authors from other countries?" (Yes.) "[I] am wondering if pursuing publication using a different last name will affect the career I hope I can have as a novelist." (One is fiction; the other nonfiction. No, it shouldn't cause a problem.) "When an agent requests pages, are they referring to the physical pages in a word document, or is the referring to 250-word pages?" (You're usually fine using the Word page count.) "What are your thoughts on teens drinking and swearing [in young adult novels]?" (The YA audience believes in keeping it real. Don't talk down to teens.)

Rachelle Gardner defines "publishing auctions" and how the work. A publishing auction is when several publishing companies like (or are expected to like) the same manuscript, and want to bid on the right to publish it. There are three main kinds of auction, but in every case, the best offer gets the deal (this does not always mean the largest advance). Or a publisher can "pre-empt": that is, offer a good deal before the auction happens, and the agent and writer decide they like the publisher enough to accept.

She also defines an "author-agent agreement." This is essentially the formal, written agreement between the author and the agent. Not all agents use them right away, especially with new clients. If you're not comfortable working without one, talk to your agent on why they're using a verbal agreement. Only go with them if you're comfortable with the situation.

And she talks about the 5 most common author website mistakes. Make sure the site is up-to-date and is focused on the reader, not the author. She also talks about "the typical advance" - which can vary widely, and may not be as large as you think. It varies based on genre, author experience, publisher, platform, and the number of books expected to sell.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Free eBook!

Remember that interview with James Hutchings? Self-published author of The New Death and Others and Two-Fisted Tweets?

The New Death and Others is currently on Amazon special for free, if you'd like to drop by this week and download it. ;)


Monday, March 19, 2012

The Word Box: Sapience vs. Sentience

This morning, let's take a quick look at a frequently misused, or at least misunderstood, set of terms.

Common mistake: Sapience versus Sentience

"Sentience," the noun form of "sentient," frequently heard in science fiction and fantasy, means the ability to perceive individual experiences. According to the Miriam-Webster Dictionary, the exact definition is:

sentient: 1: responsive to or conscious of sense impressions 2: AWARE 3: finely sensitive in perception or feeling

"Sapience," noun of sapient, is the ability to think, and to reason.

sapience: WISDOM, SAGACITY

It may not seem like much a difference, but the ability to reason is tied more closely to sapience than to sentience. Most animals are sentient, (yes, you can correctly say your dog is sentient!) but only humans are sapient.

For further reading on the difference, check out these articles:
Wikipedia Sapience
Wikipedia Sentience
AskDefine Sentience (of particular interest is the user-contributed dictionary)
AskDefine Sapience

Sentience is commonly used in science fiction and fantasy as synonymous with sapience, although the words aren't synonyms. Does applying the proper definitions change your interpretation of the stories? If all the characters in Star Trek (or your favorite Sci-Fi show) know that sentience is the ability to perceive but not to reason, does their use of the word mean they're all mostly vegan?

Friday, March 16, 2012

Some reviews of FF&P

Okay, I've fallen down on the ball and not gotten a guest blogger to review for me... but I'm posting links to several other blogs that offer reviews on the Fantasy on the Bayou conference!

Barbara Vey offers a review on Publishers Weekly.

Terry Spear shares some of her pictures of the conference.

Leanna Renee Hieber, steampunk author and presenter, seems to have had a great time. And I'd definitely call her the best-dressed person there! Love her outfits.

Kerri Nelson shares her top ten fave moments from the con.

Ursula Whistler, one of our presenters, gives her perspective.

Angela Quarles talks about attending as her first-ever conference.

Every one of these ladies was terrific, and I'm so happy to have gotten to meet them! I know I had fun, but don't take it from me. Check out what everyone else says!


What's the best con you've ever been to? What made it the best?