On the usefulness of reviews to a fan and a writer

Some recent online discussions about reviews had me thinking about my own feelings on reviews last night. I have two perspectives on them: as a fan and as a writer. And since I think of myself as a fan first and a writer second, I’ll start with my perspective as a fan. I don’t go [...]

Short fiction I read in January 2012

Here is the short fiction I read in January. For a second time, I made my goal of averaging 1 story/day, although the spread isn’t particularly even. As always, bold titles are recommended. Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Malcolm Jameson (as by Colin Keith) (Astounding December 1941). [1/2/2012] Bullard Refeclts by Malcolm Jameson (Astounding December 1941). [1/3/2012] Joe [...]

When a writer’s mind wanders… so does his body

I had an errand to run at a nearby grocery store, a short walk from my office. During lunch, I headed down into the mall below my office building to make my way to the store. Almost from the moment I left my office, my mind was working its way around some plot points in [...]

Fiction-writing progress, 2012, week 4

This week was better than last week, but I still haven’t found my stride. I wrote 4 out of 7 days, but each day was more than 500 words, giving me a total of just about 3,300 words for the week. It brings the total for January up to 13,213 words. This is somewhat below [...]

My weekend, etc.

We had a fairly low-key weekend for a change and I think we all needed it. I did no writing over the weekend. Instead, most of my free time was spent reading A Feast for Crows. And indeed, I am now more than 2/3rds through the book and expect to finish it this week. I [...]

“Jump gestures” for e-books

So in thinking about more use cases for traditional books and e-books, I came up with one that would be incredibly useful to have in e-book readers. I’ll use the Kindle App as an example, since that is where I do 97% of my e-book reading. Let’s say you are reading, oh, I don’t know, [...]

Haircut

It has been a while since my last haircut and the last one I got was not particularly good. This morning I finally got a decent cut. This is me before (actually a couple of days ago, originally posted on Twitter): And here I am just a few minutes ago. The satisfied look on my [...]

Taking the day off

I’m taking the day off from writing-related stuff. I’m even taking a day off of Vacation in the Golden Age reading (I’m far enough ahead so that it’s safe to do this.) I missed one writing day this week, but so far, all months, I haven’t given myself a day off from worry about getting [...]

New Story: “In the Cloud” available on Amazon (40K Books)

I’m pleased to announce that my novelette, “In the Cloud” is now available on Amazon, put out by 40K Books. This is the second story of mine that 40K has put out. The first story, “If By Reason of Strength…” recently received a positive review in Analog. Here’s the cover for the new story, done [...]

RIP Robert Hegyes (Epstein)

I remember watching the show as a kid living in New Jersey. And doing poor impersonations of some of the characters. RIP Robert Hegyes.

Index of stories appearing in Analog for the 2011 AnLab awards

Time is almost up to vote for the 2011 AnLab awards for Analog Science Fiction. Ordinarily, you can vote for these awards from their website, but it seems their site has been having some difficulty lately. You can’t vote there and the index of last year’s stories is not listed. So I have gone ahead and [...]

And to perk up your spirits on this dreary day… (NSFW)

Here is a rather funny video Kelly sent me this morning. Having lived in L.A. for nearly 20 years I can attest first hand that this is 100 percent true. Although why someone would order “Grilled Cheese Animal Style” from In-n-Out is beyond me. Double-Double all the way!

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Tweets

@FredKiesche It's been so long since the one time I read MITHC that I just don't remember the details. :-( 2 hours ago
@FredKiesche Of course, this was happening at a time when many people thought the U.S. might be invaded by either Japan or Germany. 2 hours ago
@FredKiesche And I love the fact that they can't figure out what unit the .45 is in. Very post-singularity kind of thing. 2 hours ago
@FredKiesche Plus, you've got to love the Heinleinesque gun fights in the midst of a posh restaurant. 1 person w/a laser; the other a .45 2 hours ago
@FredKiesche He's one of those writers I haven't read much of... until recently. Chatted with him a few times at cons. @PrinceJvstin 3 hours ago
@FredKiesche Not buying, but still reading, I take it... I think the industry builds Lent into its business model. 3 hours ago
@PrinceJvstin And the first half of RECRUITING STATION reminded me of Hubbard's FEAR (in tone). Also a creepy story. @FredKiesche 3 hours ago
@PrinceJvstin It is my thesis for the story in my next Vacation post. @FredKiesche 3 hours ago
@PrinceJvstin The villain in the Swanwick story is even creepier than the villain in RECRUITING STATION. @FredKiesche 3 hours ago
@FredKiesche Publishing-related economics classes of the future will devote entire lectures to the cash cow known as the Kiesche Effect. 3 hours ago