The Ten Percent

/ 12 Comments / Controversies, The Industry, Thinkythoughts, WTF World? / By

Note: Since I had 10 weeks to think about SFWA’s potential decision re Mr. Beale, I wrote two reaction posts. The one I posted last week is, thankfully, the “if he’s expelled” version, and I followed it up by renewing my SFWA membership. Below is what I would’ve posted if he had not been expelled, and I would’ve preceded it with a membership cancellation. As you can see, both posts use some of the same elements and arguments, though I think there’s an emotional difference that makes posting this one worthwhile. I also think it’s worthwhile to continue the larger […]

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Time to pick a side.

/ 2 Comments / Controversies, The Industry, WTF World? / By

I’ve written two different posts about this issue. Circumstances decided that this one got posted first; good. I might post the other. Depends on how I feel over the next few days. So, I’ve had a few weeks to think about the fallout from my Guest of Honor speech at Continuum. I’ve also had a few weeks in which to observe the SFWA controversy that was brewing before my speech, in response to the Malzberg & Resnick articles in the Bulletin. Lots of other things have happened during that time, on both the micro and macro scale: yet another incidence

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So, that happened

/ 22 Comments / Causes, Thinkythoughts, WTF World? / By

Not going to spend a lot of time on yesterday’s shenanigans. I’m still in Deadline Hell on the UMSP, still in recovery mode from cross-planet/season-hopping jetlag, and still on vacation when all is said and done; I’ve got better things to do. And anyway, I’m too much of a counselor to forget that the most virulent-sounding hatred is always the result of fear. There can be nothing more pitiful — dangerous, certainly, but still, pitiful — than a person whose self-worth depends solely on their perceived ability to diminish others. That is a person who truly has nothing of his

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Continuum GoH Speech

/ 119 Comments / Appearances, Controversies, Conventions and Workshops / By

Apologies for not posting this sooner, folks; my schedule as a GoH is packed almost solid, and I just got a free moment to upload. I ad-libbed a bit, but this is the text of my speech from earlier today at Continuum. Might miss some emphases and other formatting; no time to check it right now. Warning for profanity. My father was afraid for me to come to Australia. He mostly made jokes about it — “Good, you’ve got dredlocks, maybe they won’t think you’re Chinese”, stuff like that. But I know my father, and I know when the jokes

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Off to the other side of the planet

/ 7 Comments / Appearances, Conventions and Workshops / By

Australia, that is, where I’ll be guesting at this year’s Continuum in Melbourne. It’s my first trip Down Under, and I’m kinda giddy about it — though not so much giddy about the 20+ hours of air travel I’ll need to get there. But that’s why I’m heading there a bit early, so that I can recover, play the tourist a little and become vertical again, and say something more than “Blergh” to the people I meet there. If you’re Melbourne-abouts, drop in and say hi! If you’re closer to my usual side of the planet, though, don’t feel bad

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You CAN win the Kobayashi Maru.

/ 27 Comments / On Writing, SFF on Screen, Thinkythoughts / By

Gonna keep this brief, ’cause it’s 1:30 am as I’m writing this, and ’cause tomorrow I’m taking a 6-hour flight to Cali to attend the Nebulas and hopefully either win, or cheer while someone I really like wins. It’s a win-win, so no need to wish me luck; if anything, wish me safe and stress-free travels. Anyway. Just saw Star Trek: Into Darkness, and I have some thoughts. Those thoughts will require spoilers, so beware, anyone reading past this point. Also, spoilers for a brief mention of Iron Man 3.

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Recent Developments

/ 3 Comments / Appearances, Guestblogs / By

Hi, all. Still neck-deep in Deadline Hell, though beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. (And please don’t take my mashup of three metaphors in one sentence as a measure of the quality of my writing right now.) But all novel, all the time does not a sane girl make, so here’s a little of what else I’ve been up to lately: Let’s All Go to the Science Fiction Disco: Here is how this project was described to me initially: Would you like to write an essay about Janelle Monae? To which I replied “[expletive] YEAH WHAT

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Catchup Time!

/ 13 Comments / Natter / By

I am in crunch mode right now. The first book of the UMSP is due in May, and I’m going to have to grind like a grindy thing to meet that deadline. My writing goal right now has been upped from 3000 words/weekend (my weekends are my only solid writing time, and my normal production rate is about 1500 words/day) to 5000 with 250 words/night on as many weeknights as I can manage. Can’t always manage the latter; I work long days, in a job that’s sometimes psychologically exhausting. But I’m gonna try, so wish me luck. As a result,

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On Fanworks

/ 12 Comments / Fan Fun / By

There’s been much debate in the blogosphere over the years about FANFIC: Threat or Menace?!?!?1! I haven’t participated in most of that debate, mostly because a) before four years ago, I had no “professional author” dog in the fight, and b) I was busy, mostly producing dogs for the fight. But I also haven’t participated because my thoughts on the subject are fairly simple. I think fanworks = flattery + free publicity. I’m not going to limit things to fanfiction here, because the issue is really derivative art in general (including filk, fanart, fanjewelry, whatever), and I’m not going to

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