My 2022 reading resolution: Read or DNF every novel that has won a Hugo or a Nebula award, and acquire all the good ones. When I first got the idea for this new year’s resolution six months ago, I was reading maybe 30-60 pages every other day, with no real goal or direction. My wife… Continue reading Reading Resolution Update: May
“A land needs people to nurse its flesh…”
How lonely were those silent hills! How reaching out for the sounds of men, for I believe a land needs people to nurse its flesh and bring from it the goodness of crops.” Louis L’Amour, The Warrior’s Path.
Spring Shorts 2022 #4: The Freedom of Second Chances
I’m really happy with how this short story turned out. It pushes the edge in a lot of interesting ways, with the main character having to choose between duty and honor and doing what is right, and a forced abortion situation that puts the lie to the “women’s right to choose” insanity. It will probably… Continue reading Spring Shorts 2022 #4: The Freedom of Second Chances
“Belief in the lie…”
Belief in the lie is the life of the lie. Ursula K. Le Guin, Powers.
Refining my short story strategy
I’ve blogged several times about my short story strategy. To restate it briefly, I’ve found that it works best to self-publish all of my short story singles for free, and to take them down when I have enough of them (+40k words, usually about 10 stories) to bundle into a collection. I earn more this… Continue reading Refining my short story strategy
Spring Shorts Story #3: Christopher Columbus, Wildcatter
Wow, has it really been almost three weeks since I finished another short story? I really need to get back into the game. Still, this was a fun one, and I’m really looking forward to turning it into something great. As with the two previous stories, I used the Mythulu cards to come up with… Continue reading Spring Shorts Story #3: Christopher Columbus, Wildcatter
“The god Luck is deaf in one ear…”
The god Luck is deaf in one ear, they say, the ear we pray to; he can’t hear our prayers. What he hears, what he listens to, nobody knows. Denios the poet said he hears the wheels of the stars’ great chariots turning on the roads of heaven. Ursula K. Le Guin, Powers
Do all books deserve to be read?
From TV Tropes: Half an hour after the show is over, a random viewer is staring into their refrigerator, vaguely bemused by the fact that their six-pack of beer has somehow become a two-pack of beer. Rather than work out how this might have happened, it occurs to them to wonder how in the hell… Continue reading Do all books deserve to be read?
Why books written by mothers are better than books written by childless women
I never know which posts of mine China Mike Glyer is going to pick up for his pixel scroll, or whatever he calls the daily bucket of chum that he feeds the folks over at File 770 (the ones who aren’t Chinese bots, anyway). I’ve written at much greater length about my 2022 reading resolution… Continue reading Why books written by mothers are better than books written by childless women
An interesting personal discovery
I just made a very interesting personal discovery, gleaned from the data on my reading of the Hugo and Nebula winning books. Of the 110 novels that have won either award, I have now read all but 16 of them, which is enough data to get some reprentative results. One of the best predictors that… Continue reading An interesting personal discovery