Technical Difficulties

1.
Kelly Link, who is one of the most amazing writers working in our field today, made a guest blog post at Forever Young about her daughter Ursula. It is a beautiful, sad, scary, hopeful essay, and although, as Kelly says, it isn't much like the stories she writes, at the same time, it really is.

2.
Jay Lake has an ambition for The Specific Gravity of Grief:

I have a long term ambition for this book, which is to have copies make their way into oncologist’s offices and infusion centers around the country. I don’t feel a need to make any money off that process, which will push the price down, or possibly lead to some fund-raising as well to place copies very cheaply.

However, for any of that to happen, we need to sell through the 250-unit limited edition printing that Fairwood Press has put out. The wired.com review will help, as will forthcoming reviews. But one of the best things you could do for me and my cancer is spread the word, so people who are interested know about the book and can consider purchasing it. If we can sell through this printing, Fairwood Press will do a cheaper trade paperback edition, which I will work to drive the price down as far as possible on.

3.
Mary Robinette Kowal is preparing to audition for War Horse. (N.b., this post is also excellent for getting some perspective on the submission process.) When I asked about the ASTONISHING HORSE PUPPETS, she pointed me to this interview + demo. And she linked to another cool video in her post today. I especially love the bits where they're working on the horses' body language.

4.
I know I linked to OctoCam yesterday, but words STILL cannot express how awesome I think this is.

5.
The fifth thing is that I need to do laundry, make bread, and write fiction today. None of which is getting accomplished by blogging.

The only way out is through.

arcaedia on the first five pages. What she says is why, when I do novel-writing workshops, the first five pages--or fewer, even--are what we focus on.

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Scientists are giving Rubik's Cubes to octopuses.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates on "The Importance of Being Politically Correct."

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heresluck, this xkcd is so totally about you. <3

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Do Your Own Adventure w/ Sue Teller. Give her a chance to get going before you make up your mind.