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November 14, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

Clarkesworld is a great magazine doing a lot to support authors — if science fiction, fantasy, or great writing is your thing, consider subscribing!

Automattic Special Projects's avatarWhatever

Many Whatever readers are fans of science fiction and fantasy, which means they have probably heard ofClarkesworld Magazine, the Hugo-winning science fiction magazine, which has published some genuinely excellent fiction in its run. Clarkesworld is owned and operated by Neil Clarke, who I can vouch for from personal knowledge as being one of the nicer folks in the genre. Neil has unfortunately has had a stretch of hard road recently, including a heart attack and (very recently) being let go from his day job. He’s keeping as optimistic an attitude about these things as he can, but optimism will only go so far.

Clarkesworld is an excellent magazine, and it’s also a story market that pays more than the SFWA minimum for professional-level sales, meaning that it’s a good market for writers, too. You can read its content for free on the Web site, but there’s also…

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Good NaNo News: Finally Back at Par

November 14, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

photo by Shayan (USA) on Flickr

I swear, I’ve felt like Tiger Woods* these last few days. I couldn’t get to par on my NanoWriMo word count to save my life. Too much going on, yes, but perhaps more importantly, my story engine hadn’t kicked in yet. You know what I mean, it’s that point when things really start happening. The bad guy comes out of the woodwork, the building collapses, the Galaxicon ice worm wriggles into the away team member’s pancreas and stows away on the ship. Like that.

Note to self: next time forget about setting up the story. Do that later, some time when you aren’t ridiculous numbers of words behind schedule. Instead, go straight to the meaty stuff.

Focusing on the action makes writing so much easier. My best day so far this month was 2,800 words before today, but this morning I managed almost 5,000. Because today I got to blow up a ship. A space ship. With my main characters on it.

Good times.

* For all I know Tiger is back on top again, but last time I stumbled on golf news he wasn’t doing particularly well. Still, Tiger is a global icon, and even if you (like me) are essentially uninterested in golf, you probably still get the golf tie. Feel free to tell me how out of touch I am in this department.

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Word Count Blues

November 10, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

photo by phatman on Flickr

When I said that this was a bad month for NaNoWriMo, I meant it. What I didn’t know was that on top of the accounted-for holiday, family illness, and associated travel, November has decided to become the Month From Hell.

Wondering why my word count sucks? In addition to the previously mentioned issues I’ve got family members who are sick with normal stuff (two), another with a broken wrist (way to swan dive off the roof, big guy;), and one in the hospital for surgery after catching virulent New Zealand germs (hi Dad!). (I’m sure that the NZ germs were quite friendly though. And picturesque; lovely place.) And oh yes, I got sick too. So, for anyone out there wondering at my less-than-par word count, well.

The good news is our overall family health is improving and that’s what matters. As far as NaNo is concerned, of course, the important thing is to just keep writing:)

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It’s That Time Again

November 1, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

NaNoWriMo Badge

It’s November 1st, and when I woke up this morning I realized that it is also Day One of National Novel Writing Month. Oh yeah, I thought, it’s time to write a novel. Right.

It’s a crap month for it. Forget Thanksgiving and international travel and all the usual work and life-related distractions, we’ve got a lot going on right now and some of it is challenging. So I’m busy, distracted, tired, and in no way ready to write a book in a month on top of everything else.

I’ve “won” NaNo before so it’s not like I have much to prove. I could skip a year and the world wouldn’t end.

…

And that’s exactly why I’m going to do it. It may not be the best work I’ve ever done or the longest, but I will do it. One of the most important requirements of being a writer is to, well, write. The discipline required to consistently put words down on the page is what trips up a lot of people, what sometimes trips me up, and this is a perfect opportunity to use an external constraint (a month-long deadline) to support internal goals. It’s said that “performance is a function of expectations” and NaNoWriMo is a terrific example of that in action.

So here goes. And hey, what she said:

“You can fix anything but a blank page.”

– Nora Roberts

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Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

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Oh Asian Grocery Doorbusters, How I Love Thee

October 30, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

The Asian grocery down the street can have some amazing  deals. This past week it was daikon (aka white radish) for nine whole cents a pound, and lemons, nine for $1. Now, I picked up some daikon because, well, why not?, but I also bought as many bags of lemons as I could carry. I love lemons, their color and acid taste, the way their juice brightens almost any dish, and the fact that they don’t even need to be fresh to be good. In fact, sometimes they are better when they’ve been preserved. On the off-chance that you too have been blessed with citrusy goodness, I include my recipe.

MOROCCAN PRESERVED LEMONS

One of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever tasted involved these savory morsels of salty sour goodness. The Restaurant Marrakech in Fez serves poulet citrone with chicken stewed to the tenderest perfection in a bright yellow potion of salty preserved lemons and olives and onions. I haven’t reconstructed the recipe but I’m working on it.

2 lemons, organic if you’ve got them
½ C (122g) fresh lemon juice
⅓ C (86g) coarse salt

1. Wash the lemons well. Cut them into 8 sections each and place in a glass jar. Add the remaining ingredients, cover tightly and shake to combine.

2. Leave the lemons at room temperature, shaking the jar every day, for 2 weeks. Rinse lemons before using.

Note: from The Dean & DeLuca Cookbook. Recipe scales well, and once ready, lemons will keep in the refrigerator for ~6 months.

Doubled recipe in a 750ml jar. Trust me, you want to pack these in something water-tight.

/zomg delicious!

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I Hear Winter Is Coming

October 29, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

We put the garden to bed this weekend. Finished uprooting the tomatoes, stripping all scarlet runner beans, and thanking the basil for its heroic effort in these Northern climes. In an effort to retain some essence of summer just that much longer, I brought in a few clippings of the apple mint. Prodigious stuff, this plant will take over a garden if you let it, but in a container it is content to produce huge, gorgeous, fuzzy leaves with a distinctive but mild mint flavor. Terrific in spicy peanut noodles, chickpea salad, or smoothies.

Apple mint

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Lunch with the 30th President

October 28, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

I’m hungry, it’s raining, and Frankenstorm is about to make landfall. Also, I’m behind in my writing. I can either be discouraged or I can have lunch with a side of wisdom from our 30th President. Guess which one I chose?

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “Press On”, has solved and will always solve the problems of the human race.

— Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933), U.S. President

Image
photo by Grand Canyon NPS on Flickr

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One of the Many Uses of Creativity…

October 18, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince, once said,

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

photo by Tasslehoff Burrfoot on Flickr

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Corruption, That’s What’s Up

October 17, 2012 by J.R. Johnson

Hello, boys. What’s up?

Two young men just came to my door, braving potential rejection and possible scoliosis (if the size of their shoulder bags are any indication), to discuss the issue of corruption in the world. Now, given that they are Jehovah’s Witnesses and I am… not, it’s possible we have a different definition of “corruption.” Still, as I took their magazine with its image of white men in suits exchanging handfuls of cash and closed the door on the boys’ smiling faces, a thought occurred. “Corruption” has become the sort of marketing buzzword that resonates across groups, faiths, and political parties. That is a good thing.

The more we elevate ethical behavior, the more we expose corruption, the likelier it is that individuals, companies, and governments will be faced with a society that refuses to take such behavior for granted. We all need to ask ourselves how we might behave at our best, and then try to follow through. If most of us can do that most of the time, then I can agree with those fresh-faced, spine-suffering proselytizers on at least one thing: there is hope for the future.

Hmm. In token support of this general push against corruption, perhaps I’ll re-watch Sahara tonight. Because it champions ethical behavior in the face of murderous corruption. Also? Steve Zahn. That is all.

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