Welcome to Tales to Tide You Over!
This blog will be a consolidation of my Stray Thoughts blog on Blogger and my LiveJournal writing process blog, along with anything else that comes to mind. You will be able to click the tags to focus on a specific topic area, but I hope you enjoy seeing the broader spectrum.
What I Am Reading
I finished Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy this week. It was everything I’ve come to expect of her writing and more. I’ll try to get my comments up next week.
I also finished the Irlen book. A lot to think about, but nothing that changed my mind about going forward with the lenses. If just having my monitor tinged green has helped my focus and online reading, how much more will having that ability all the time?
This has not been a heavy reading period for me because I’m writing a complex computer program that tends to grab what concentration I have, but I don’t last long without reading something 
.
Publishing
Tips on how to study the market for a manuscript:
http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2010/07/how-to-study-the-market.html
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If you haven’t read my summaries of the Muse Online Writers Conference, click the “Home” button at the top of this page and go look under appearances. It’s a wonderful conference that is now in its sixth(?) year where you have the opportunity to meet editors, authors, and publishers all online and all for free. Starting last year, the mastermined behind it all, Lea Schizas, also worked with various agencies and publishers to offer pitch sessions in chat, and therefore a written medium many authors find more relaxing…I know I did.
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Not as many links as I’d hoped to offer, but once again, I’m on the road (and this time not fast enough to post ahead of time. Still, there should be something of interest for pretty much everyone in the mix I’ve included. Enjoy.
What I Am Reading
While I’m still reading the Irlen book, I’ve also started Demon Hunts by C.E. Murphy. Not surprisingly, I’m enjoying this continuation of the Walker Papers, but what she’s done with this one is fascinating, because it offers old readers something new while grounding new readers in the world.
I also just finished listening to Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan, which I started listening to in Audio Book for all the way back in December of 2009. I don’t have much opportunity to listen to longer works because when I’m on a long drive, it is generally with someone else in the car who wouldn’t appreciate coming in on the middle of the book. On the other hand, it says a lot about the book that I was able to pick up right where I’d stopped with no loss of place or story.
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What I’m Reading
I am still reading a non-fiction book called Reading by the Colors by Helen Irlen (ISBN: 0-399-53156-4), but I haven’t had much reading time, in part because of the focus I’ve achieved with my first steps in Irlen Syndrome correction. I’ll soon be jumping back on the reading bandwagon.
And I forgot to mention I read Winters Passage by Julie Kagawa as well, a novella set in between two of her YA books I haven’t read. It was interesting the hints at the greater picture and what has happened along with the troubles still to come. I’m not planning to pick up her full-length books at this point because I’m not really the target audience, but if these characters continue to linger in my back brain, I may change that plan.
Publishing
A look at the various avenues open to selling short fiction:
http://kristadball.com/blog/?p=125
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My mind is still over in Canada, and I haven’t gotten back into the swing of things, so the pickings are a bit sparse. That said, here’s some solid links for you, plus some compelling reading choices to try.
What I’m Reading:
An aftermath of my wonderful trip to Canada has been that I’m walking in the mornings again. However, unlike there, I lack a furry companion to keep me interested. I had put a number of audio short stories on my phone for a road trip where I wasn’t driving, but I didn’t have time to listen to most of them. Finally, I had the equivalent of a commute, and a short story is the perfect length. I’ve been enjoying a run of stories from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, though I’ve noticed other ezines are starting to offer audio versions as well.
The Manufactory by Dru Pagliassotti is one I didn’t expect to find in this magazine, and yet the feel of it denies its modern/futuristic elements. This is not a comfort story. It explores the choices that status brings and takes away in a creepy and powerful tale:
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=64
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Note: Sorry for the slim pickings this week. I’m heading off to Canada and so am scheduling this post. Between last minute work on my goals and packing, I didn’t have much time to read blogs and articles.
What I’m Reading:
I forgot to mention that I finished Dreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl last week. I haven’t had time to write up my comments, and I didn’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy it, because I did. This one takes the series one notch higher, and besides, it involves one of my favorite characters from the first novel.
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What I’m Reading
I managed to take in a bit of short fiction while waiting for my son to finish the book he’d borrowed, Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews (which I now have). There are a bunch of good reads out there for the enjoying.
The Dead Man’s Child by Jay Lake on Cosmos Online offers a lyrical narrative that builds on itself to resolution in the manner of the old teaching tales. It’s not rushed or focused on action or gore, and is compelling for that very fact. What did you think of it?
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/fiction/online/885/the-dead-mans-child?page=0%2C0
I listened to Father’s Kill by Christopher Green on Beneath Ceaseless Skies in audio form. I rarely have time for audio, so it’s not my favorite method of “reading,” but the BCS reader is quite good. I found the tale evocative and primarily mood focused. It does have a twist at the end that I didn’t anticipate, but is both well seeded and surprising too so nicely done.
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/story.php?s=48
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My husband recommended this novel for me, and it meets a lot of my interest areas. This Is Not a Game talks about the gaming world gone one step further into the real one, and then explores the social and economic consequences of same. The novel has a very cyberpunk feel to it while at the same time showing none of the traditional modifications. It reminds me a lot of The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, with modern-based tech as opposed to steampunk.
One of the reasons I enjoyed the book is its very complexity. Walter Jon Williams keeps numerous threads running throughout the book for which the interrelationships are not clear from the start. There are many types of books this one can fall under, but ultimately it’s a mystery. Dagmar is the main character, and she is responsible for crafting complex games run through the Internet but intersecting with the real world as an effort to advertise brand-new products. The games may involve international travel or just research but draw players into a world where treachery is the natural state of things.
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I am coming to understand just how much brain is involved in teaching my youngest son to drive, and it means I lose track of the simple things…like Friday. So here, better late than never, are this week’s links.
What I Am Reading:
My dear husband got me a copy of Dreamveil: A Novel of the Kyndred by Lynn Viehl for our anniversary, and I’ve been enjoying the read. It’s amazing how her style is the same and yet different for this new series in the Darkyn world.
Research
A musical look at library research
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_uzUh1VT98
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I’ve never really done writing pages, but I have this theory that if I can get moving in the morning I will be in better shape. And so I’m jogging on a rebounder with my Plantronics Bluetooth headset and Dragon Naturally Speaking on my computer.
If talking to you while rebounding seems like a rather crazy idea, admittedly it is, however I have tried voice recognition and writing before, and it worked fine.
That was not the case yesterday.
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