Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, books, making on May 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »
It can be fun when your own life becomes something of a treasure hunt. There I was, looking for Thing A when I stumbled across Thing 2. I went through a book binding phase and one of my experiments was with leather and copper. It’s been buried in my book collection ever since.
I’d be more precise now, but I still like the little leather map on the fastener.
* * *
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, books, Fiction, magic, reading on April 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Does this happen to you? Sometimes I read a book and it’s bad. Maybe I learn a few things about what not to do, but the characters are too stupid to live or the author wants me to root for an ass, the story ends too early or too late, or some essential plot point is broken. This drives me a little bit nuts.
I finish the book and am left not with the happy satisfying end of story feeling, but with bad book juju. Is that a thing? It should be.
I’m left a little cranky, and nothing is as it should be.
My drink is too hot or too cold. Lunch tastes weird. My clothes fit funny. Even cookies don’t have their usual delicious snap.
Until I find a new book, a good book, and all is right again:)
Just me?*
* * *
* * *
* Of course it’s not just me:) This is why authors work so hard to provide a satisfying reader experience. This is also why I reread books I know I love.
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, books, Louis L'Amour, quotes on April 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Books are precious things, but more than that, they are the strong backbone of civilization. They are the thread upon which it all hangs, and they can save us when all else is lost.
— Louis L’Amour
* * *
Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #ThingsIKnowForSure, books, creativity, Lord of the Rings, star wars, Thoughts on March 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »
For today, I give you this highly-personalized, certainly particular list of #ThingsIKnowForSure:
* * *
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, awesome, books, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Hugo Awards, Hugos, inspiration, Murderbot, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, writing, yay on August 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »
The folks over at Boing Boing have listed last night’s 2019 Hugo award winners, complete with links:
Best Novel: The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)
Best Novella: Artificial Condition, by Martha Wells (Tor.com publishing)
Best Novelette: “If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” by Zen Cho (B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog, 29 November 2018)
Best Short Story: “A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine, February 2018)
Best Series: Wayfarers, by Becky Chambers (Hodder & Stoughton / Harper Voyager)
Best Related Work: Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Best Graphic Story: Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda (Image Comics)
Best Professional Editor (Short Form): Gardner Dozois
Best Professional Editor, Long Form: Navah Wolfe
Best Professional Artist: Charles Vess
Best Semiprozine: Uncanny Magazine
Best Fanzine: Lady Business
Best Fancast: Our Opinions Are Correct
Best Fan Writer: Foz Meadows
Best Fan Artist: Likhain (Mia Sereno)
Best Art Book: The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga Press / Gollancz)
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book: Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt / Macmillan Children’s Books)
John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Jeannette Ng
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman, directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman (Sony)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: The Good Place: “Janet(s),” written by Josh Siegal & Dylan Morgan, directed by Morgan Sackett (NBC)
So excited to see my favorite Murderbot and the Wayfarers series get some love, and I’m looking forward to checking out some of the others on the roster. For more reading material, check out Tor.com’s full list of nominees. Enjoy!
Posted in Likes, Other, Science!, tagged #ThingsILike, #YouAreAHumanShield, books, history, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Library of Congress, measles, PSA, Roald Dahl, science, Thoughts, Today in History on February 7, 2019| Leave a Comment »
From the Library of Congress:
Today in History – February 7
On February 7, 1867, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, the author of the beloved semi-autobiographical Little House series, was born in Wisconsin, the second daughter of Charles and Caroline Ingalls.
“Are you feeling all right?” I asked her.
“I feel all sleepy,” she said.
In an hour, she was unconscious. In twelve hours she was dead.
— Roald Dahl, on his daughter Olivia and Measles
Now, some people can’t be vaccinated.** That’s why the rest of us should. “You are a human shield”! (I love that, and I love being a real-life superhero and all-around good neighbor.) Thank you to the researchers who made vaccines possible, to the public policies making it a requirement, and to my parental units for helping me be part of a healthy community by keeping my vaccinations up to date!
***
* Ok, Hop on Pop and other such books are real too, but these had chapters and everything! Also Little House was only semi-autobiographical and had some race issues, but acknowledging that lets us know how far we’ve come.
Posted in Writing, tagged #ThingsILike, books, creativity, Fiction, fun, genre fiction, Motivation, nanowrimo, persistence, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, Thoughts, work, Writers, writing on November 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »
It’s November. Days are cold and nights are frosty. The cat wants in. And out. And back in again. It’s also the time of year for NaNoWriMo.
Yep, I’m doing it! My plan is to win (because of course) but most importantly, my goal is to get back on the regular-everyday-seriously-stop messing around writing train, and to practice a select number of specific writing skills. I haven’t gotten around to updating my official NaNo information, but I am working industriously away, so double handful of yay there.
Right now it looks as though the story I’m working on will involve superheroes and science fiction, but you just never know when a story will take a left turn. Will there be elves in the closet? Magic cotton candy machines? Or a secret bio lab planning to doom us all?!? One never knows:)
As I’ve mentioned in years past, I tend to be a pantser who heads to the keyboard and tackles the project head on, but I’m mixing it up this year.
Now I’m off to do some planning, some pantsing, and lots of writing:)
Posted in Writing, tagged arts, awesome, books, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, Hugo Awards, Hugos, inspiration, N. K. Jemisin, science fiction, sff, speculative fiction, writing, yay on August 22, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The good folks over at The Verge have the list of 2016’s Hugo award winners, complete with links and the complete list of nominees. Lots of women and authors of color this round. All in all, this year’s award race largely shrugged off reactionaries and controversy, a real win for diversity and innovative speculative fiction. Enjoy!
Winner: Best Novel
Posted in Entertainment, Likes, Science!, Writing, tagged #ThingsILike, books, creativity, Giulia Enders, inspiration, John Maguire, Mars, Mary Roach, nonfiction, science, Seth Shostak, space, Steve Squyres, Thoughts, Writers, writing on June 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Today’s Thing I Like is nonfiction writing in general, and author Mary Roach in particular. If you aren’t familiar with her work, check out the books linked below or this interview with Seth Shostak at SETICon 2012.
Nonfiction can be a fiction writer’s best friend. At its best, it includes detailed, character-driven explorations of real-life situations and challenges, and can provide the sort of solid foundation a more speculative piece needs to succeed. I’ve mentioned this before, but avoiding abstractitis is key to good writing.
Specifically:
No matter how abstract your topic, how intangible, your first step is to find things you can drop on your foot.
— John Maguire
Nonfiction helps you do that, and Mary Roach is a great example of a quality nonfiction writer.
I have yet to read all of Roach’s books but Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void were terrific. Her books take a somewhat off-beat topic and delve in, deep. She’s also funny. The level of detail is satisfying and succeeds in painting an engaging portrait of her subject that is also educational. Packing for Mars, for example, is a great way for writers to familiarize themselves with the nitty gritty of space exploration, how we got to where we are now, and how we’ll get to where we’re going.
To note, if you’re interested in popular nonfiction about the intricacies of digestion or Mars exploration, check out Giulia Enders’ excellent Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ, and Steve Squyres’ Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet.
Read, then write:)
J.R. Johnson 
You must be logged in to post a comment.