An update for those of you who like your epic fantasies like you like your significant others — er… hmm. I’m not sure I can continue that analogy and avoid an X-rating. Uh… um… Just finish that one off yourselves. Anyway, the Science Fiction Book Club’s versions of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken [...]
Archive for January 2011
What fantasy authors do in their spare time, part #354:
Talk about deep stuff. Like, why are there Chosen Ones, and why aren’t more of them jerks? In private email, got to conversing with Sam Sykes, a fellow debut fantasy author of Tome of the Undergates, about the whole concept of the Chosen One and the trope’s not-so-subtle inherent message that birth matters more than [...]
Bestseller!
For those of you who’ve seen the January 2011 print issue of Locus, this will not be news. But for the rest of you – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms made the bestseller list! Specifically in ninth place, and specifically on the “paperbacks” (mass market) subset of the list, based on data from October 2010. Details, [...]
Why is Oree Shoth blind?
A friend asked me this, so I’ve decided to answer here because I think it’s something others might like to know. The question was, why did I decide to make Oree Shoth, protagonist of The Broken Kingdoms, blind? Bear with me; this is gonna be another long one.
BLADDOW!!
Y’know, sometimes I just have to stop and contemplate how lucky I am, ya’ll. I mean, there are times when it gets to me: the performance anxiety, the fear of failure, the Bookscan/Amazon/etc. numbers, the deadline pressure, the financial struggle. I’m a “big picture” kinda gal, but I’m also human, and in this business it’s [...]
Comforting Futures, and Whether (or Why) We Should Avoid Them
Meant to post this yesterday, but was traveling for the weekend and got home exhausted. So this continues my one-year-long “tradition” of writing anti-oppression-related posts on MLK Day; it’s just late, sorry. I’m working on a dystopian short story right now. It’s tough going; those of you who follow me on Twitter have probably seen [...]
Even if I tell you, you won’t know.
That raspy, too-sweet voice. Lil was in my home, making me breakfast, after eating some Orderkeepers that Shiny had murdered. “What in the Maelstrom are you doing here?” I demanded. “And show yourself, damn it. Don’t hide from me in my own home.” She sounded amused. “I didn’t think you liked my looks.” “I don’t, [...]
FAQ you, you FAQing FAQ!
As some of you may know, I started a new full time job recently. Yay, regular income and cheap health insurance! And the job itself is great so far, but since I’m still kind of a full time writer, time has just become my most valuable commodity. So to maximize my free time — so [...]
Character Study: Itempas
OK, this got prematurely posted a few days ago thanks to the unmiracle of scheduled blog post publishing; I clicked “OK” when I should’ve clicked “Save for later”, basically. Took it down a few minutes later, but those of you on the RSS feed might’ve seen it already. Sorry ’bout the confusion. Anyway: I spent [...]
Award Strategizing
So now that 2010 is done and other authors are starting to put out their not-quite-solicitations for Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy award nominations, I suppose I’ll jump on the bandwagon. Sorta. Because I’ve got an odd request. See, I’ve got two eligible short stories (“The Effluent Engine” and “On the Banks of the River [...]
