Congratulations to Lt. Gary Ross and his partner of 11 years, Dan Swezy, on their impending nuptials. They will be getting married tonight, just after midnight, on the day the military officially changes its policies about gay and lesbian service members.
The military still has a ways to go - gay and lesbian partners of military members will not have full benefits the way heterosexual partners do - but this is a huge leap forward, and long overdue.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
It's All in Your Head
One of the tricks for beating procrastination is to have a lot on your to-do list. This way, if you're procrastinating on one thing, you can be busy accomplishing something else. This week I'm procrastinating on starting YA mystery 2, which must be turned in on Dec 1. I am all heeby jeeby about committing myself to 5 weeks of 1,500 words a day for the first draft in addition to the 5 classes I am teaching this term. So instead, I've been getting short stories out the door, and writing a grant proposal, and doing copyedits on book 1.
But I reached the lowest point of procrastination two days ago, when I cleaned the refrigerator. You know things are desperate when I'm cleaning the refrigerator.
Things could be worse. Truman Capote worked for 19 years on his unfinished novel Answered Prayers and then died. Ralph Ellison worked for 40 years on his second novel and then died. Writer's block or severe procrastination? You decide: It's All in My Head, by Jessica Winter.
Happy Friday to you, and may your weekend be most excellent! I hope you don't have to clean your refrigerator
But I reached the lowest point of procrastination two days ago, when I cleaned the refrigerator. You know things are desperate when I'm cleaning the refrigerator.
Things could be worse. Truman Capote worked for 19 years on his unfinished novel Answered Prayers and then died. Ralph Ellison worked for 40 years on his second novel and then died. Writer's block or severe procrastination? You decide: It's All in My Head, by Jessica Winter.
Happy Friday to you, and may your weekend be most excellent! I hope you don't have to clean your refrigerator
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Weekend news
Spent most of the weekend at the fabulous UNF-FWA Writer's Conference. Thanks to all 127 attendees who came to my workshop on character arcs and my fabulous critique group of 9 fiction writers and those who bought my books. Excellent, excellent conference and it was great to be part of it for the second year in a row.
Very sad to hear about the SEAL deaths in Afghanistan, however - I can't even read the news stories without tearing up.
And very irate to read about the gay men married in Massachusetts 7 years ago, they've lived together 19 years, one of them an Australian citizen, the American suffering from AIDS, and now the federal government is trying to boot the Australian out of the country using the Defense of Marriage Act to say he can't have permanent residency. If the Australian leaves, who will take care of his husband? And if the husband goes with him to Australia, who will cover his extensive medical needs? So ridiculous. SF gay married couple loses immigration battle.
Very sad to hear about the SEAL deaths in Afghanistan, however - I can't even read the news stories without tearing up.
And very irate to read about the gay men married in Massachusetts 7 years ago, they've lived together 19 years, one of them an Australian citizen, the American suffering from AIDS, and now the federal government is trying to boot the Australian out of the country using the Defense of Marriage Act to say he can't have permanent residency. If the Australian leaves, who will take care of his husband? And if the husband goes with him to Australia, who will cover his extensive medical needs? So ridiculous. SF gay married couple loses immigration battle.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Happy Release Day!
Happy Release Day to this new anthology!
Very happy to be in it with Laird Barron, Rick Bowes, and other fine writers.
Very happy to be in it with Laird Barron, Rick Bowes, and other fine writers.
Read more about it indiebound.org
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Reading, reading, reading
New to my physical shelves (fake links):
Shadow Walkers by Brent Hartinger. This is paranormal romance gay YA, and the opening reminds me a lot of being on an island in Lake Erie.
Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This is a big fat hardcover that a friend of mine scooped up at RWA Nationals-- the first Kenyon I've read. Intriguing start so far . . .
The Full Spectrum edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell. This is a non-fiction anthology of essays by LGBTQ youth - powerful and painful, very well done.
New to my Nook:
Harry Connelly's Child of Fire, scooped up for 99 cents. I have the paperback already but this was a bargain, and it's a great read - fast-paced urban fantasy with a male lead.
Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson. Another bargain, and Jackson is a popular romance writer. She's also local here to Jacksonville, though I've never crossed paths (well, Jacksonville is 800 square miles big, so no surprise...)
Plus I added in 3 Borges stories, 5 more SGA fanfics (oh my am I rediscovering my Rodney and John love!) and Lois Bujold's The Warrior's Apprentice (free from the Baen library).
Reading, reading, reading! What are you reading?
Shadow Walkers by Brent Hartinger. This is paranormal romance gay YA, and the opening reminds me a lot of being on an island in Lake Erie.
Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon. This is a big fat hardcover that a friend of mine scooped up at RWA Nationals-- the first Kenyon I've read. Intriguing start so far . . .
The Full Spectrum edited by David Levithan and Billy Merrell. This is a non-fiction anthology of essays by LGBTQ youth - powerful and painful, very well done.
New to my Nook:
Harry Connelly's Child of Fire, scooped up for 99 cents. I have the paperback already but this was a bargain, and it's a great read - fast-paced urban fantasy with a male lead.
Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson. Another bargain, and Jackson is a popular romance writer. She's also local here to Jacksonville, though I've never crossed paths (well, Jacksonville is 800 square miles big, so no surprise...)
Plus I added in 3 Borges stories, 5 more SGA fanfics (oh my am I rediscovering my Rodney and John love!) and Lois Bujold's The Warrior's Apprentice (free from the Baen library).
Reading, reading, reading! What are you reading?
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sherman Alexie says every word posted to your blog is a word not written in your novel. Ouch.
So here's a picture instead. I'm sad to see the space shuttle program end; sad for the scientists, engineers and others who are now jobless; sorry that for millions of kids, there is no career path to being an astronaut in the United States anymore.
The last American space shuttle, re-entering Earth's orbit in July 2011
So here's a picture instead. I'm sad to see the space shuttle program end; sad for the scientists, engineers and others who are now jobless; sorry that for millions of kids, there is no career path to being an astronaut in the United States anymore.
The last American space shuttle, re-entering Earth's orbit in July 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Willpower
Yesterday I procrastinated on writing all day long and finally wrangled myself into nearly 2000 words.
Today I am procrastinating with the internet and by re-arranging my bedroom furniture. But I'm planning to get 2000 done anyway. Plus editing. After a nap.
This article on procrastination is an interesting one, and I agree with the concept that self-control is a limited resource. For the month of July, I have been concentrating a lot on healthy food. That's paying off at the waistline, but my wordcount is only about 15,000 tops. I also agree that self-control is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Until one day you overstretch it to the point of uselessness, and then you eat chocolate all day and surf the internet until your eyeballs fall out of your head.. . or maybe that's just me.
23 days so far without diet soda!
Today I am procrastinating with the internet and by re-arranging my bedroom furniture. But I'm planning to get 2000 done anyway. Plus editing. After a nap.
This article on procrastination is an interesting one, and I agree with the concept that self-control is a limited resource. For the month of July, I have been concentrating a lot on healthy food. That's paying off at the waistline, but my wordcount is only about 15,000 tops. I also agree that self-control is like a muscle - the more you use it, the stronger it gets. Until one day you overstretch it to the point of uselessness, and then you eat chocolate all day and surf the internet until your eyeballs fall out of your head.. . or maybe that's just me.
23 days so far without diet soda!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)