Somewhere between the publication of FC:IV and the writing of FC:V, I got sidetracked. It was a lot of things, really, but one thing, primarily: I met my mortality.
When I was young, like many melodramatic youths, I expected to die young. At the age of 32, to be precise. Who knows why that age and not, say, 34, became locked in my mind like some sort of Logan’s Run sell-by date, but it did. When the age of 32 came and went without so much as a blip on the death-o-meter, it wasn’t a surprise; by that time, I’d realized how silly the conceit was.
Then Death came by for a little visit. Continue Reading »
Posted in Hi Tech, Seattle, Writing | Tagged amazon, anticardiolipin, Kindle, medical memoirs, quiet living, self-publishing, stress management, TIA, work-life balance, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 4 Comments »
Yesterday, I went to Paris.
Put bluntly, yesterday was a crappy, crappy day. It wasn’t a tragic day, thankfully, but it was a crappy day, and one that means major changes ahead. And last night I was in that dangerous “fret zone,” where everything in my mind was whirling around the troubles, playing If Then Else with my future, and getting uncomfortably close to the death-spiral that would pull me down into depression.
Consciously, I retreated. It’s a mechanism I’ve learned, and it’s kept me from tumbling down into the dark many times. I retreated from the problem, tucked myself into a safe trench, and filled my forebrain with a fond memory while my subconscious wrassled with the problem.
And thus, Paris.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Culture, Writing | Tagged David Braccini, managing stress, paris, sainte-chapelle, The Four Seasons, vivaldi, work-life balance | 2 Comments »
Remember when I posted the sad story of a bestselling writer trashing his competition in bogus reviews? Well, it seems that Amazon is doing something about it.
Salon and other sources report that Amazon is deleting book reviews made by authors. That’s right. Deleting them. Poof. Gone. Nothing. And from now on authors will be banned/prohibited from posting reviews on books. That’s right! “The Evil Empire” is censoring my words and opinions! Egad! Zounds! Help! Help! I’m bein’ repressed!!
Actually, I’m fine with it. Continue Reading »
Posted in Culture, Hi Tech, Writing | Tagged amazon, Amazon deleting Author reviews, bad reviews, creative writing, ebooks, fake reviews, Kindle, novel writing, Seattle, self-publishing, Writing, writing techniques | Leave a Comment »
And for the Foodies…a couple of gear recommendations.
First, a great stocking stuffer idea.
I’ve made a bit of a study of corkscrews. I’ve tried a ton of them, of nearly every type. There’s the old-school helix-with-a-handle jobs; turn the handle and pull with all your might. There are the standard wing version (or, as I always thought, the little man who raises his arms when you twist his head). For a decade or so, the two-prong slip-n-grip models ruled the world; they were good, too, but they’re not as popular now. Most recently, it’s the “rabbit” type that’s in vogue; a gripper and a handle that plunges the screw down into the cork in one clean shoop, and pulls it out on the pull-back.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Food, Low Tech | Tagged cooking, cookware, cookware review, corkscrew review, double-hinged corkscrew, Emeril stainless, foodies, kitchen gadgets, stainless cookware | Leave a Comment »
A lot went right with the release of Beneath a Wounded Sky and the completion of The Fallen Cloud Saga. Overall, I’m very pleased with the product, inside and out. Don’t kid yourself, people do judge a book by its cover…and by its font, and even by the quality of its title page. A good product, a quality product, will sell better than something that looks like it was put together by a grade-schooler.
But I did not do everything right; far from it. And there was one Big Item that I actually ignored purposefully, and it bears mentioning for any of you out there who are taking notes.
So, where can I improve for next time?
Continue Reading »
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged amazon, Beneath a Wounded Sky, book marketing, book reviews, books, creative writing, ebooks, Kindle, novel writing, novels, publishing, reviews, self-publishing, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | Leave a Comment »
Since my most recent book is self-published, some doors are closed to it. Most newspapers won’t look at it; most reviewers won’t consider it. To an extent, I understand this. I mean, let’s be realistic…there’s a lot of crap out there in the self-published world and they don’t want to be neck-deep in it. Restricting the input to mainstream publishers is an easy, broad brush stroke way to keep the crap to a minimum. E-books have an even harder time.
Likewise, most awards are heavily weighted toward the mainstream publishing world. The exception to this, at least in genre fiction, are the smaller, “niche” awards. I’ve allowed myself to dare to dream, and have submitted Beneath a Wounded Sky to two such awards.
Continue Reading »
Posted in Fallen Cloud Saga, Writing | Tagged awards, Beneath a Wounded Sky, creative writing, endeavor award, Fallen Cloud Saga, FC:V, novel writing, self-publishing, sidewise award, uchronia, Writing, writing techniques, writing tips | 2 Comments »
Regardless who you voted for, thank you for voting.
Washington State is now all mail-in ballots, so voting for me was easy. Not so for many people in other states who had to wait in line for hours just to exercise this essential civic right. Nor was it easy for those still caught in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and who, displaced or homeless or without even a polling place to go to, somehow managed to get in there and cast a ballot. Bless you for your efforts, for your perseverance, and for your example. Continue Reading »
Posted in Culture, Politics, Seattle | Tagged current events, election, election 2012, electoral college, electoral count, mail-in voting, politics, presidential campaign, presidential politics, swing states, voting | Leave a Comment »
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Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 