tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.comments2020-04-08T08:40:43.691-04:00Bad Book HabitAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-59374585504474588992020-04-08T08:40:43.691-04:002020-04-08T08:40:43.691-04:00I have found this blog to be a reliable source of ...I have found this blog to be a reliable source of recommendations. Thanks for your efforts in the past.<br /><br />Coming to you from Wisconsin in the covid 19 epidemic for future people<br /><br />- MarkTakerOfNoteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02342209402053805823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-47606491918700700802013-07-20T20:14:43.504-04:002013-07-20T20:14:43.504-04:00She writes!
She writes!<br />The Arthurianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501331051089400601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-35816959579349964232012-07-17T07:02:48.263-04:002012-07-17T07:02:48.263-04:00Oh, wait, a point of clarity:
The copies you can ...Oh, wait, a point of clarity:<br /><br />The copies you can buy from Baen are still there, and still DRM-free. It's the ones that are money-free that are gone.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-6965004383526691032012-07-17T06:59:59.608-04:002012-07-17T06:59:59.608-04:00Holy crap!!! What a sad day!
It is most of Bujold...Holy crap!!! What a sad day!<br /><br />It <i>is</i> most of Bujold's backlist, and I've been reading lately that e-book backlists can be a significant chunk of an author's income. I'm going to pretend that she asked very nicely for it to be taken down, so that she could sell them instead of give them away. I'm going to pretend it was all very amicable. La la la la la.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-55927564166370207722012-07-17T02:56:22.170-04:002012-07-17T02:56:22.170-04:00You *could* read the series DRM-free... until this...You *could* read the series DRM-free... until this month, when for some reason they pulled the whole thing. None of the sites will explain why, only that they were ordered to take down the books.Whinerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03211731698182417270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-5195168390648909472012-06-24T21:44:27.063-04:002012-06-24T21:44:27.063-04:00"Came around on the guitar" ...like Alic..."Came around on the guitar" ...like <i>Alice's Restaurant</i>?The Arthurianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501331051089400601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-62238998808813698542012-04-22T10:34:01.332-04:002012-04-22T10:34:01.332-04:00Hunh! I hadn't been thinking of it as authoria...Hunh! I hadn't been thinking of it as authorial endorsement, or validation - more as an extra data point. I could dissect the final form of the dude's books all year, but it wouldn't tell me some of the things I'm particularly interested in: What did the earlier drafts look like? What did he choose to change, add, or remove during the revision process, and why? What was the initial idea, and what tricks/tools did he use to build the rest of the story up around it?<br /><br />I feel like my mental model for writing stories goes like this:<br /><br />1. OMG, I have a great idea!<br />2. ???<br />3. Profit!<br /><br />Step 1 is easy for me; I generate ideas like crazy. And there's zillions of great books to examine as examples of what Step 3 should look like in the end. But there's a lot of work that goes into Step 2, and it seems like every author does it differently; I haven't found a process that fully works for me yet, so I find it helpful to raid other writers' toolboxes.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-21726701282890832242012-04-22T10:02:17.154-04:002012-04-22T10:02:17.154-04:00You might also like to check out Book View Cafe, h...You might also like to check out Book View Cafe, http://www.bookviewcafe.com, a writers' collective, selling DRM-free books; mostly fantasy; and Closed Circle (a horrible, clique-y implying name that also implicitly excludes readers), http://www.closed-circle.net/, which is where C. J. Cherryh sells her DRM-free books.Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-71756704750611708082012-04-22T09:54:00.129-04:002012-04-22T09:54:00.129-04:00One of my former professors (a scholar of Renaissa...One of my former professors (a scholar of Renaissance drama and a NYT best-selling romance novelist) just came to visit my current place-of-work, and she was talking about how she realized she could write good romances: she enjoyed the genre and was able to analyze how the stories were constructed. So then she did the same, while tossing in additional challenges for herself (like: how can I write this story while grappling with a male lead who struggles with impotency? How can I write a fairy-tale-inspired plot while making the male lead a 19th-c doctor with the bedside manner of TV's Greg House?)<br /><br />Which is a long-winded and roundabout way of saying that I don't think you need authorial endorsement to validate your dissecting the workings of any book's plot--that's part and parcel of being an insightful reader and writer.Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-57669240958760472572012-04-22T09:52:28.289-04:002012-04-22T09:52:28.289-04:00Doh! No, I don't think you did. I kind of want...Doh! No, I don't think you did. I kind of want to avoid them myself, if you felt that strongly about it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-80241709501482137762012-04-22T09:52:23.304-04:002012-04-22T09:52:23.304-04:00I've liked most of Wrede's other books, an...I've liked most of Wrede's other books, and had been looking forward to this one until I learned about its erasure of Indians, at which point I decided I wouldn't read it. (I remember there being a huge debate about this when the book came out, which happened at the same time as a couple other SF race fail issues.)Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-52199954922894408662012-04-22T09:51:06.124-04:002012-04-22T09:51:06.124-04:00I can think of half a dozen books off the top of m...<i>I can think of half a dozen books off the top of my head that would suit your requirements if you were focusing on fantasy.</i><br /><br />Me too. It's very cool that those exist, too, and I think there's something to be said for rewriting the historical landscape - that just because women <i>were</i> treated badly, doesn't mean they <i>had</i> to be. But it's kind of a bummer that we-as-a-society find it easier to put girls on unicorns instead of spaceships.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-91250599109115154172012-04-22T09:46:22.263-04:002012-04-22T09:46:22.263-04:00Did I ever tell you about the series that I litera...Did I ever tell you about the series that I literally first threw across the room, because I got so ticked off at how the main character--a girl--became complicit in and furthered her objectification? And then I actually *threw the books away* into my building's trash recycler rather than letting someone pick them up and read them. UGH.Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-26080974219336300112012-04-22T09:42:06.428-04:002012-04-22T09:42:06.428-04:00Bujold sometimes writes them out of chronological ...Bujold sometimes writes them out of chronological order, though. (Not lately, I guess, but it's happened.) I'm not sure what time frame this one's in, but I don't think it's necessarily after/during <i>Cryoburn</i>.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-17712471793742713702012-04-22T09:40:26.292-04:002012-04-22T09:40:26.292-04:00It's a lot easier to find fantasy that empower...It's a lot easier to find fantasy that empowers women than SF that empowers women and is at the same time going to work for a younger audience, I think. I can think of half a dozen books off the top of my head that would suit your requirements if you were focusing on fantasy. (Which, in its way, is kind of awful: gender equality and empowered women are promoted in works that are kind of nostalgic for a fantastical past of some sort, but it's harder to find the same when speculating about the future? Though I'd lay it in part on the problematic gender dynamics of the SF publishing field. A lot more women write and publish YA or YA-accessible books, and that field has been dominated most of my life by fantasy and not SF.)Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-36373928318531025042012-04-22T09:25:42.472-04:002012-04-22T09:25:42.472-04:00I wonder about Ivan and his relationship--the last...I wonder about Ivan and his relationship--the last we saw of him was in ACC, when he panicked by asking random Koudelka girls to marry him. But the series is, what, about ten years past that point now? I was initially hoping to see him fumble through learning long-term-relationship ropes, but I think too much time has passed for that.Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-75070674161650397372012-04-22T09:21:13.008-04:002012-04-22T09:21:13.008-04:00Embassytown is on my to-be-read list, and your com...Embassytown is on my to-be-read list, and your comments make me look forward to reading it that much more!Merrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08215487688408256283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-36096363286585495072012-03-18T22:39:13.111-04:002012-03-18T22:39:13.111-04:00Plus, you got a blog post out of it. And when you ...Plus, you got a blog post out of it. And when you do that reading, more. And really, what else matters?<br />:)The Arthurianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501331051089400601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-38436484649342202172012-03-18T20:34:21.891-04:002012-03-18T20:34:21.891-04:00Cash, in particular. If it had been a check, I wou...Cash, in particular. If it had been a check, I would have had to go to the bank, and then it would be in the pool of Be-Responsible money, and I would have thought twice. But cash is like: <i>OMG spend me!</i><br /><br />But then again, a Christmas present was never meant as Be-Responsible money. So I'm sure it was for the best.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-79799742973963231732012-03-18T19:15:59.791-04:002012-03-18T19:15:59.791-04:00Oops!
"but I ceased to care"
Funny, wh...Oops!<br /><br />"but I ceased to care"<br /><br />Funny, what money does to people.The Arthurianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501331051089400601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-24982136612097675852012-03-09T08:22:39.831-05:002012-03-09T08:22:39.831-05:00...Upon further reflection, I probably shouldn'......Upon further reflection, I probably shouldn't even grant the racial distribution, though. The Russian and Scottish guys are still white, and so's the Vulcan's actor. So make that "broad international distribution".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-34868734691172005562012-03-09T07:08:42.593-05:002012-03-09T07:08:42.593-05:00I remember Earth Two - I was a kid at the time, an...I remember Earth Two - I was a kid at the time, and was sorry it got cancelled. I don't remember much but a traitor doctor and a sick kid who was being healed by the aliens or something.<br /><br />Nuts to your Russian and Asian and Vulcan! I'll grant you a broad racial distribution in the primary crew, but women are 50% of the population! Two of your Russian Asian Vulcans should have been <i>female</i> Russian Asian Vulcans!<br /><br />Hunh, Delenn! We re-watched most of Babylon 5 a while ago, but it dropped off Netflix streaming before we finished. That had a lot of competent women in it, not just Delenn. I shall have to consider that!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-32417056335156132462012-03-09T05:12:05.644-05:002012-03-09T05:12:05.644-05:00A while back there was a TV show called Earth Two....A while back there was a TV show called Earth Two. I thought it had a lot of potential, but the story line put a woman in charge of the settlers, and she made such bad decisions that I couldn't watch the show. Same thing with Star Trek: Voyager. Putting women in the lead role is fine, but not if your purpose is to demonstrate that women cannot lead!<br /><br />Not sci-fi, but Kyra Sedgwick's character in The Closer is a magnificent leader at work, and a total incompetent in her personal life. An interesting contradiction. And at least one gets to see the competence.<br /><br />Only one black woman in the primary crew on the original Star Trek? Hey, there was only one Russian and only one Asian and only one Vulcan, too. And only one Kirk.<br /><br />The women's roles in the Bourne movies are great. Dealing with Jason Bourne, Pamela Landy evolves, while Noah Vosen does not, and this contrast is a great feature of the movie.<br /><br />And long ago: Delenn! A driving force.The Arthurianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16501331051089400601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-38978947739408724472012-03-07T09:30:22.991-05:002012-03-07T09:30:22.991-05:00Aha, thank you, folks! I knew about Baen, but not ...Aha, thank you, folks! I knew about Baen, but not the others.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885982780022118174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2976434891520270721.post-60878522409986534702012-03-05T06:31:44.816-05:002012-03-05T06:31:44.816-05:00This might interest you: "#nodrmmarch – Month...This might interest you: "#nodrmmarch – Month of Shout-Outs to Digital Stores Without DRM & Geolocks" <br /><br />http://blog.vornaskotti.com/2012/03/01/nodrmmarch-month-of-shout-outs-to-digital-stores-without-drm-geolocks/Vornaskottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05525075982162860701noreply@blogger.com