Note to Self

The search for the winner of this year's Meager Puddle of Limelight Award for Best Short Story Title continues with heat eight (the last of the preliminary heats).

There are nine heats in all. The winners (or joint winners) from heats one - eight go straight through. The second place finishers battle it out in heat nine to see which title joins the others in the final round.

What's at stake?
Bragging rights for the winner? An interview and/or guest post here on An Englishman in New Jersey, as well as signed copy of my book, Fur-Face, and a couple of I are a writer! pens, as shown in the pic below.You'll need an LJ account to vote, but they're free).

Poll #1842793 2012 MEAGER PUDDLE OF LIMELIGHT AWARD FOR BEST SHORT STORY TITLE: HEAT 8 OF 9
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: None, participants: 11

From the following list, please select any short story titles which you think should progress to the final round

Links to the other Heats and the final:
Heat one
Heat two
Heat three
Heat four
Heat five
Heat six
Heat seven
Heat eight
Heat nine
Final Round

Voting in Heats 1 through 8 will close on Sunday, June 3rd 2012 at 6:00pm (US/Eastern). Heat nine will take place soon after.

Good luck to all who take part! Vene, vidi, puddli!

Apparently my life is sufficently boring that I can’t think of anything to blog about. I have to draw winners for the BYD contest, but since I already blew my first deadline on that and there’s a long weekend coming up in America, I think I’ll wait until next week.

In the meantime, random things:

I believe this is very much the sort of thing the phrase “Oh, snap!” was invented for: Back to back questions presented to Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson.

*laughs* My wallet died, so I found an old one I knew I had lying around. It has Sarah/shadowhwk‘s work phone # ca 2001, a 1999 bank receipt, a photo of me & Ted from 1997, a 1994 pic of my sister, & the crowning glory, the thing that made me actually laugh out loud because it was so unexpected, an early 90s photo of the unrequited high school Love Of My Life. *laughs & laughs*

Speaking of pictures, this is probably the most awesome one I’ve seen this week. MIB-Avengers mashup FTW!

I believe I have got all the ducks in a row for launching ORIGINS next Friday. Having re-read the stories, I feel that the ORSSP patrons got their money’s worth, and that so too will the people buying it as an e-book. *waits impatiently for Friday next*

(x-posted from the essential kit)

I promised to get back to these posts, and I had a specific request for the differences among high fantasy, epic fantasy, and low fantasy. When I talked about fantasy, I discussed the various tropes and methods that can be used to categorize fantasy into different sub-genres without actually spelling out definitions for any of them.

This was deliberate. ( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

We just watched the latest (I think) episode of Legend of Korra, “The Aftermath.” I’m continuing to really enjoy this show for a number of reasons.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD

Pacing: One of the things that bugged me was the love triangle between Korra, Mako, and Asami. It felt, not necessarily cliche, but easy. It’s an oft-repeated trope, one that could push characters into more cardboard, stereotypical roles and — if other shows are any example — drag out for far too long.

Instead, Asami’s character quickly developed more depth and conflict. The plot moved along, changing her role in the story. The conflict between Korra and Asami progressed through conflict into understanding and sympathy. I loved the quiet moment at the end where Korra tells Mako, “She’s going to need you.”

I’ve seen that pacing elsewhere, and I appreciate that the show doesn’t seem to get bogged down. There’s always a sense of movement.

Lin Beifong continues to be awesome. In many ways, I think she’s my favorite character. Partly because she’s an older woman kicking all sorts of ass. Partly because she, more than anyone else I’ve seen, seems to take full advantage of her bending abilities. The firebenders throw fire. Earthbenders throw rocks. Beifong, on the other hand, manipulates metal cables like Spider-Man, grows blades from her armor to punch through mechs, and seems to push the “What else can I do with this?” angle.

Complexity: The scene with Tahno’s character really jumped out at me. This is a character who’s introduced as a full-on asshole. He’s arrogant, he cheats, and you really wanted Korra to kick his butt in the tournament. Instead, the White Falls Wolfbats won … and thus became the targets of an Equalist attack.

In the next episode, you see Tahno without his powers, and he’s utterly broken. Korra feels for him. She knows what he lost and how close she came to losing her own bending. It was a fairly short scene, but that’s all it took.

The relationship between Tenzin and Lin Beifong is another interesting example. Their history, the contrast of their apparent discomfort with how well they work together in a crisis … I have no idea where that’s going, but I like the dynamic, and at this point I’m trusting the show not to go somewhere overly cliche with it.

While there are certainly characters who seem flat-out Evil, at least at first, I appreciate that things generally aren’t presented in a simplistic black-and-white way. Neither people nor power are simple, and this show respects that fact.

The Animation: This is a very pretty show, particularly in the way it portrays movement and the grace of the different benders. I get done watching, and other cartoons suddenly seem clunkier.

Trusting the Viewers: I was trying to figure out how to phrase this last bit, and “trust” is the closest I can come. I’ve never seen a single episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, but it hasn’t stopped me from enjoying Korra. It doesn’t surprise me that they wanted a show that could welcome new viewers as well as old, but it struck me that there just isn’t a lot of exposition or hand-holding, period. There’s no talking down, no assuming that things will be too complicated or difficult to understand. Elements are explained as they become relevant to the story.

I know there are things I’m missing from Avatar, but I can catch up on my own, and I like that they don’t slow down the story to spoon-feed information.

In Conclusion: Okay, I get it. I’m officially a fan, and I have added Avatar: TLA to my list of things to catch up on (when I find the time).

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

Here’s my selection of interesting (and sometimes amusing) posts about writing from the last week:

What Happens After Writing 3 or 4 Books a Year (Elizabeth Spann Craig)

Traditional vs. Self-publishing is a False Dichotomy (Nathan Bransford)

The Art of Pacing in a Novel (Elissa Cruz) [Jon’s Pick of the week]

Why I'm A Writer & Not a Fighter Pilot (Maggie Stiefvater aka m_stiefvater)

Sounds Great, No Substance (Mary Kole)

Do We Need An Authors Code for Online Conduct? (Jannette Johnson aka darke_conteur)

Who's helping who in the cover blurb game? (Anthony Horowitz)
by way of April Henry (aka aprilhenry)

How to Win a Writing Competition (Dr. John Yeoman)

All About Advances (Rachelle Gardner)

Damn Yankees, and Other Ways Self-Publishing Holds Itself Back (Sarah LaPolla)

The Highs and the Lows of Becoming an Author (Cassie Alexander)

The scariest question: "Why should I care about this story?" (Juliette Wade)


If you have a particular favorite among these, please let the author know (and me too, if you have time).  Also, if you've a link to a great post that isn't here, feel free to share.

If you found these useful, you may also like my personal selection of the most interesting blog posts from 2011, and last week’s list.

Writing

The final FINAL cover (really!) for Skein of Shadows, now with logo and webby goodness!


(cover artist: Eric Williams)

Also, as part of the whole "Rise of the Underdark" promotion/event/thingy, Wizards of the Coast has pulled together some cool extras, including a Puzzle Hunt. You can play to unlock extra content, which may or may not include an exclusive scene from Sabira's story that is mentioned in both books but has never been shown...until now.

So, what are you waiting for? Go play! Heh.

Everything Else

There have been a few people asking if they can still donate to Eldest Boy's Senior Project, even though the deadline has passed. The month-long time period we set for his project was arbitrary, dictated mostly by his presentation requirements. The page doesn't actually close until we deactivate it, so if you missed the cut-off for whatever reason and still want to contribute to a great cause, it's not too late.

Speaking of Eldest Boy and Max, please keep them in your thoughts next week, as one graduates and the other has his biannual CT/MIBG scans. We've asked them to go back to doing the scans under anesthesia, since when they tried to do them without last time, it took forever and resulted in a lot of frustration and unusable CT images. So prayers that he has no problems with the anesthesia and that the scans show no progress (or, better yet, are completely CLEAR) would not be taken amiss. Thanks!

I was going to do a big post about Camp NaNoWriMo, but Nicki wrote about it so much better already: Off to Camp.

This post, then, simply serves to say that I am joining in the fun this summer; I’ve signed up for both June and August. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that I’m writing epic fantasy this year, or that I’m writing in a world where music and magic are inextricably intertwined. My plan is to start writing on June 1 and keep going until I either finish the series or have to take time off to write sequels to other books (like my next cozy mystery!).

I plan to keep up on my regular posting; don’t worry about that.

If you’re a writer, are you heading off to Camp NaNo this summer? What summer plans do you have, writer or not?

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

Here's my schedule as Writer Guest of Honor of this weekend's BayCon. There's not a signing on the schedule, which means that I'll sign books whenever you catch me somewhere at the con, unless I'm running to get somewhere else.

I'm also doing a Magic: The Gathering draft, probably Avacyn Restored or something in the Innistrad block, Saturday night. See below for details.

( Read more... )

Yesterday, I gave my very first Skype talk (a presentation on blogging at Elizabeth Library, NJ). We had a few technical troubles at the library's end, so we went ahead without any microphone, just pictures.

I have to say, not being in the same room as the audience took a bit of getting used to, but I had a great time,and it was certainly nice to be able to give a talk from the comfort of my basement office.

Due to the lack of sound, when I finished my presentation, the organizer, Lonnie, had to use the keyboard to write out people's questions. While he typed, I had a bit of fun, inventing fictitious questions like 'Are you related to Brad Pitt?'; 'Is that your real voice?' etc.

Ooh, and I discovered a great visual trick you can do which makes your head looks like it's shrinking on screen!

I'll definitely do more Skype talks.

How about you?

Have you ever done, or attended, a Skype talk?