Fran Friel's Yada Feast Annex

• 07:55 Today's goal is a short one - break 30k. Have some stuff around the house that needs doing. #nanowrimo #amwriting #
• 12:01 Youngest has decided I'm evil. Putting away the halloween decorations. He threw a huge fit when I boxed up his pumpkins. #
• 15:34 I'm not getting nearly as far nearly as fast today.... still 2k short of today's goal #nanowrimo #amwriting #
• 17:35 about 700 words from today's goal. I can do that :) #nanowrimo #amwriting #
• 17:36 Today is a bit more scattered as far as my focus goes. I had wanted to get a lot more done. Not complaining. 30k is nothing to sneeze at. #
• 18:14 Made goal. Am happy. May write more later if the mood strikes. #

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Team Totally Tits was rocking tonight. We were in second place for most of the night. The final audio round was Show Tunes, and I've never been so happy before to have memorized the soundtracks to Hair and Little Shop of Horrors! Unfortunately, the audio round is the great equalizer, with some 60 points at stake, so in the end there were three teams tied for the top.

Which meant it was time for the tie-breaking PBR chug-off. And of course, my team sent me to do it. I was up against two other guys, representatives from their own teams who looked like they were used to chugging cheap hipster beer. Anyway, let's just say that as the foul PBR flowed out of its can and only half into my mouth, washing over my face and down my shirt, I realized quickly that we weren't going to win. I finished chugging last out of the three of us, and so Team Totally Tits walked away with third place.

PBR is disgusting, but I did my best and took one for the team. I can already feel the hangover coming on. And I can't stop burping.

We return on Monday, December 14 to try to reclaim the trophy. Hopefully next time there won't be a chug-off--or if there is, it'll be of, like, chocolate milk.

I've been really bad about posting updates here. I've gotten used to the quick and lazy style of Facebook updates, alas. LiveJournal takes more effort. So here, in no particular order, are some updates.

-I'm currently 3/4 of the way through stealthmuffin's next novel MS. It's definitely a worthy successor to the first two books in the series, and it's been an incredibly quick read. I think I'll be able to finish it tomorrow, at which point, I'll be able to clear my head and switch back over to my own stuff. I really want to get this revision of Chameleon off of my plate, as hopeless as I think it is to try to sell it. Getting rid of it will be a huge weight off of my shoulders. And if my agent likes it and starts shopping it around, it'll be nice to have a piece in circulation that I'm not particularly attached to (unlike Machine, which every major SF publisher has already turned down, save one). Then I'll finally be able to turn to something else. Probably shorts, I think. I could really use a nice short or two under my belt. Hell, I might even try to revise the derivative piece of crap I had the writing group look at a couple of months ago.

- Speaking of shorts, I got a lovely piece of fan mail from Janis Ian today about "Captive Girl." Holy fucking shit -- a Grammy-winning singer/songwriter sent me fan mail. And speaking of writing new shorts, it's time to finally write a story that tops "Captive Girl," because as much as I appreciate all the attention that it's gotten and is still continuing to get, I'd really like to not feel like a lyric from "How Do You Sleep?" -- you know, the one that goes: "The only thing you done was yesterday, And since you're gone you're just another day." I can hear Lennon croon that line in my ear every time I get a new bit of praise for that old story.

- I've finally seen photos of my performance from the show up in Haverhill a couple of weekends ago, and I need to work on my game face. I thought I was projecting that I was feeling confident and pleased with myself, but in every picture, my expression is completely blank. Well, it's a step up from projecting fear, I suppose.

- In upcoming performance news, Kate and I are dancing this upcoming Sunday at Raks Spooki in Arlington. The line-up really kicks ass. I'm still flabbergasted we'll be up there alongside all those other amazing dancers. Kate and I taped our rehearsal on Sunday, and we're both very happy with how the dance is looking, so while I'm nervous for Sunday, I'm not anxious, if that makes any sense. I must remember the lesson of the game face for Sunday! Yes, we're allowed to look blank and haunted in our first dance, but damn it, I am going to project enjoyment for the second one!

- And we're also beginning to choreograph our dance for the December Za-Beth show. My hope is to be done with the rough draft choreo by this Saturday. It'll do us some good to do speed choreography, followed by speed-learning. We've tended to take months on choreo in the past, and if we're going to get anywhere as dancers, we really need to speed that up.

I think that's it.

I'd been thinking about having some of my friends attending OryCon visit me in the hospital, but I'm told they're being extremely vigilant about visitation due to risks from H1N1 and seasonal flu. I may have trouble even getting my immediate circle of family and friends in.

So the fallback plan is to have interested folks visit Nuevo Rancho Lake on Sunday. I should be discharged from the hospital on Saturday to continue post-op recovery at home.

However, that presents several potential issues. First, we have no idea what state of mind or body I'll be in. Visitors may be impractical unless it's a tour of Jay snoring in an opiate-induced haze, for example. Second, because this is lung surgery, I'll be incredibly vulnerable to respiratory infections, including common colds, flu and pneumonia. And if someone brings me Con Crud, that would be a wretched gift indeed.

Yet at the same time, I know me. If I'm not toxically wretched, visits from my people are immensely uplifting for me.

So we're talking about face masks and contingency plans and whatnot. At the moment, it's utterly unclear. Watch this space, and the blog of calendula_witch for details as they emerge.

However, if you are interested in seeing me that OryCon Sunday, please let me know in comments here, or by email. That might help in planning.

Last of tonight's catch-ups, a Photoshop blog...

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After a bit of discussion earlier today on Twitter with photographer, author and all around nice guy John Urbancik, I decided to write a quick blog on how I would approach a problem in Photoshop.  In this case, scratches.

Now, there are untold types of scratches, so I won't go into too far really.  In this case, I'm showing a couple of methods of "scratching" someone's skin.  In this case... ahem... mine.

I took a photo of my hand (to which my little girl without missing a beat, says, "why are you doing that? Can I do that too? What about a leg?", and so on. Here's the unadulterated pic of that, and, for this demonstration, a texture image of a tree.

Now, before I get too far ahead of myself, there are billions (and billions and buuulllions) of ways to do this very same thing, this is just one way.  As my friend says, your mileage may vary.

In Photoshop, I take the tree bark photo and drag it into the hand photo.  It doesn't have to be tree bark, really any texture that has or can be made to be narrow and thin will work.  Grass, tree bark, house siding, celery, whatever texture you want your scratches to have.  In this case, the bark is too "fat", too wide to convincingly be made to look like scratches.  So we squish it a bit, and then rotate it to match the angle of the hand.

You have to think of this as a story almost.  You can't just throw any texture at it, it will be obvious to everyone that it's manipulated. You have to toy with the angle a bit to match your object, in this case I've turned the texture a bit to match.  You may also need to go further, such as skewing it, or distorting one corner, or even using Photoshop's Liquify filter to help it match some.

You don't need to spend hours getting that angle perfect, you'll probably end up needing to tweak it a bit later on anyway.  As long as it's pretty close, you're fine.  To help the texture work with the tones, shadows and texture of the hand, you can manipulate Photoshop's Layer Blending Modes to get what you want.  Now, each blending mode has a specific effect, but to be honest I tend to just cycle through them until I see what I like. In this case, I'm leaving it (for now) on "Vivid Light".

At that point, add a layer mask to the tree bark layer and start working out how your scratches are going to work.  You can erase it instead, but then if you want to edit the effect, or expand on it, it's much harder to pull off.  Using a layer mask, you can work over the bark until it matches your idea of scratches.  Just make sure you don't leave any hard edges.  This is an organic item, so a flat edge in it is a dead giveaway.

It's quite a bit different now, and far more striking.  It's also wrong.  As you can see, the location and the angle are wrong, but again, that's why you don't spend all that time above.  Just fix it up a bit, not only making sure that the angle is right, but that the texture isn't awkwardly crossing a fold or other skin anomaly.

Scratches can of course cross a fold in real life, but they wouldn't be constant through the gap. There would be a section of skin missed, so you either account for that in the image or you move the scratch so it doesn't interfere.

The other thing to watch out for is obvious digital editing.  Whenever you edit a texture or layer, there's a chance you'll leave part of it behind (like a ghost). Even if those ghosts are really tiny in the picture, the human eye will notice something is wrong.  The best way to get rid of those while you are freehand painting the mask is to just make your brush size smaller and smaller.  Not too small though, or you'll get an obvious hard edge.

After you work with it a little more, you can come out with a nice set of scratches:

Now, I don't mind that color, but I'm thinking something a little more interesting, possibly even more subtle, would be nice.  After a little more mask manipulation, a change to the "Color Burn" Layer Blending Mode, and a slight blur on the bark's mask, I have this:

Which to me looks much more painful, and in fact I keep looking at my hand to see if it's still ok.  It is the witching season after all, and maybe I cursed myself.  I'll be back in a minute, I'm going to go look for some peroxide.

Oops.. too late.

One quick note: you can easily have the scratches be brush strokes on their own layer.  Depending on the texture you're going for (skin, wood, metal, etc.) you can paint it and then mess with the blending modes.

One other quick note: another way is to use a harder edged brush on a new layer, and set the layer style to "bevel and emboss".  Then you can literally paint on a 3D-ish scratch around the edge of something. Especially for metal or wood, or something with "rough parts" coming off of the scratch, that would work well.

It's definitely possible that this image has the longest title of any that I've done so far, and undoubtedly will take me several Tweets to promote. That won't be confusing at all, but then again, I suppose you are actually here.

I've been thinking of trying out one of Howard Pyle's works for some time, but they're kind of difficult to come by online.  For someone of Pyle's stature, having taught, been friends with and overall influencing at least a couple of generations of artists, that's a big surprise.

A Wolf Had Not Been Seen in Salem for Thirty Years (above, from 1909) struck me as a fascinating piece as soon as I saw it. There are quite a few of Pyle's works that I find interesting, and this one certainly stands out. For me, it stands out because of the many things Pyle doesn't do here.

There are plenty of Pyle's works that are more aggressive, more forward in either their content or in the pure visual setting of the pieces.  Do a search for Attack on the Chew House or even his far more famous work The Nation Makers to see images that are very strong, practically dripping with emotion and strength.

Pyle seemed to have been split between works that are highly engaging, full of energy and action, and works that are quiet, subtle, and speak in a low volume. Having been an illustrator for some time, that certainly makes sense, as the art is driven by the story and thus, drives the portfolio as well.

A Wolf Had Not Been Seen in Salem for Thirty Years falls definitely into the latter camp. It's far more subtle, far quieter within the image itself.  But I think that's deceptive.  Laid within the quiet confines of this image is a violent trap just waiting to be sprung.

Pyle's image is rather sparse, between the snow and the cloudy sky he leaves the viewer's eye to latch onto the people and the wolf. Your eye falls upon the people in the front, and the mix of fear and of the unknown is very strong here. Pyle creates his people, the landscape and even the tree with a sense of direction, all bringing your eye to the wolf.

Illustrators can really vary as to how they'd deal with a creature like the wolf.  But I think no amount of gore, or bared teeth or monstrous form are going to top Pyle's wolf.  This is a creature of pure malevolence, and in Pyle's subtlety he's speaks volumes.

He doesn't need the over-the-top horror to make a striking figure.  Just the wolf's bowed head, his menacing lean forward, his matted, dark fur against the white of the snow, all make it such a powerful darkness invading the light that the viewer can fill in the story themselves.

Pyle here does what any good, creepy horror movie or scary book can do.  It's not about showing everything, not about explaining every detail. It's the terrible, quiet invasion by a creature of the dark, evil come to the light.

Opinions?

Continuing the quest to catch up on things...

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There are all sorts of stories and blogs out there about doing art from nature, learning landscapes, all that kind of thing, so I'll do my best not to bore you to tears.

Yes, I'll wait patiently here while you're out.

Hello?  Anyone?

So the two of you that are left reading this, I'll say that there is plenty to learn from in nature.  There are so many textures, views, styles and all kinds of visuals that an artist can easily spend a lifetime learning just the natural side of art. Case in point, a simple trip to the local pumpkin patch can be a huge boon to the imagination.

So we're looking through the squash, gourds, vines, pumpkins and all the other plant life, and we find sort of the typical lineup of a pumpkin patch:

Everything normal, except for the ZOMBIE SQUASH GETTING READY TO EAT THE OTHERS!*

Up to this point, I thought just the oddly shaped gourds you find in the pumpkin patch, with their twisted fins and designs, were about as weird as they get. Note exhibit A, especially the green funky one at the top:

Unusual?  Sure, at least for city boys like me. But it's not ZOMBIE SQUASH™!

That thing is just terrible looking, all gnarled and wrinkled and textured. I think it started crawling towards me too:

Then it turned over and went back the other way:

After it ate one of the kids, it finally occurred to me that this is exactly what nature can do.  Nature (and let's not forget the farming involved in this too) created this unique, textured and thoroughly inspirational piece for me to work with.  It fires the imagination to think of all of the things this could be, and then hurrying on to write stories, or paint pictures or make movies or whatever it will be that inspires you.

Is it a crawling zombie worm?  Is it an alien larvae? Did someone leave an apple in the sauna?  With a quick flash of nature, and the sense to open up your eyes and look at all that's around you, you can be inspired to create things that are unique to you, and to your vision.

For me, I saw this:

and immediately saw in my head the terrifying creature coming from the heavens, a violent, tortured look on it's face, to destroy us all.

Awesome.

*Note: It's actually a Blue Hubbard Squash, but I like ZOMBIE SQUASH™ better.

DAW’s 30th Anniversary Anthology: Science Fiction

Edited by Elizabeth Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert

Introduction by Betsy Wollheim and Sheila Gilbert: Normally I don’t find much of value in the introduction except perhaps the initial idea behind the anthology (which I then use to judge whether or not the authors stuck to that idea, deviated from it, or did something incredibly cool and unexpected with it). This time, though, the introduction actually gives you some incredibly interesting history on how DAW came to be and how it got to where it is right now, with Betsy and Sheila as editors. Perhaps this is more interesting to me than it would be to others, since I’m a DAW author myself, but I honestly think this introduction is as interesting, or more interesting, than some of the stories in the anthology (no offense to those authors). I’d definitely suggest reading it.

The Home Front by Brian Stableford: This is kind of an economic story actually, set in the future. The world is being terrorized biologically speaking and we fight back using . . . potatoes. That makes the story sound silly and it’s much more serious than that, and in the end the story isn’t really about terrorism but how we as humans behave and react to terrorism (especially the biological kind, which can’t really be seen). An interesting story.

Aboard the Beatitude by Brian W. Aldiss: OK, I have to admit that I . . . didn’t get this story. The Beatitude is a FTL ship and the story seems to be exploring some of the affects that FTL might induce on the crew and such. There are also some ambiguous moral issues brought up, since the crew of the ship needs exorbitant amounts of energy to work and it gets that energy by destroying worlds it passes in its flight, some of which are inhabited. But in the end, I just didn’t get the intent behind this story. It’s probably just that I’m not the reader it was intended for.

Odd Job #213 by Ron Goulart: This story was simply fun! The idea is that two private investigators are hired by an android cat to find out what happened to its maker. Hilarity ensues in a tongue-in-cheek kind of serious way. However, reading this story I got the impression that the story wasn’t really meant for the short form and that it should have been developed more. I would like to have seen this as a novel. (And as an aside, there are books out there now, not by Ron Goulart, that are in the same vein as this story.)

Agamemnon’s Run by Robert Sheckley: This was an interesting story about unnamed aliens that get us humans to act out old battles, myths, etc. We’re supposed to follow the “history” if we’re chosen to be one of the participants, especially the “named” participants, like Agamemnon. But they also like it if we can figure out how to change the outcomes. The idea was interesting, but I’m not sure that the story worked as a whole for me. It felt like it needed a little more development.

Grubber by Neal Barrett, Jr.: This story was incredibly interesting, starting off with an alien creature. We end up experiencing this creatures growth to adulthood, through their rather alien eyes. Because of this, it’s a little hard to get into at first, because we’re seeing things through those alien eyes, but as you read you settle into the new perspective. A great story, in my opinion.

The Sandman, the Tinman, and the Bettyb by C.J. Cherryh: And this was another great story. It begins with a man (the Sandman) alone on a ship watching a part of space that has little to no action in general. Of course, action ensues. It’s not “end of the universe” action—an ancient missile fired eons ago is heading toward a space station—but it doesn’t need to be for a short story. The efforts to stop the missile by the people that most of those on the station have forgotten or could care less about is spectacular.

The Big Picture by Timothy Zahn: This was also a good story, about a man on a space station whose friend went “undercover” on the planet below and subsequently vanished. A reporter shows up to find out what happened. An interesting twist in the end, but it’s more about the man and his interactions with the reporter that are interesting to me.

A Home for the Old Ones by Frederik Pohl: This story is obviously set in the world the Pohl created for his books, and there are some assumptions that the reader has already had a background in that universe. I haven’t read that, but the story was still enjoyable. My only problem with it is that it didn’t feel like it ended. I felt like this was a scene or backstory for something that happened in the previous books that those who’ve read it would be interested in and would see where it “fit” into that universe . . . but for someone like me who hasn’t read the previous stuff . . . it just doesn’t feel whole.

Not With a Whimper, Either by Tad Williams: An interesting story here that will make you look at your computer and your chat sessions and IMs and boards and such in a different light. I generally like Tad Williams’ work and this was no exception. It’s written entirely as a chat session on a board between . . . well, geeks . . . and something else. It takes a little while to get used to the format and such, but definitely an enjoyable read.

The Black Wall of Jerusalem by Ian Watson: This one got off to a rocky start for me. The first few sections were just confusing and I couldn’t get into the story. But then it settled and I found myself wondering about this Black Wall and such. The group and the main character of the story ended up being much more interesting than I’d originally thought, and the idea behind the Black Wall also intriguing. I felt there could be more done with this Wall . . . and what was behind it.

Station Ganymede by Charles L. Harness: This story was instantly engaging, with a father and son conflict being played out on a station investigating and doing research over Jupiter. The science was interesting, if a little “soft” in some aspects. The action was predictable (I could see the shape of the story once the key element was introduced) but it was still highly enjoyable. And the relationship changes in the two main characters were perfect, I thought.

Downtime by C.S. Friedman: An intensely interesting story, with an idea regarding where our near future society could be going with some of our technology that’s both subtly horrifying and instantly controversial. I like the fact that C.S. Friedman presents us with both sides of the controversy and idea and, in the end, doesn’t leave us with a nice solid “answer” to the problem. You can see both sides of the human element to the science—why some would hate and fear the technology and the laws that surround it, and others (those on the receiving end) would . . . well, at least appreciate it. I can see this as something our society may have to contend with shortly. Although I’m not sure that the laws in the story that arise around the technology would actually get passed by us. I guess we’ll see, won’t we?

Burning Bridges by Charles Ingrid: This story takes us to a new world and culture and is really a kind of spy/action story, the main character attempting to clear a blood debt, although he’s being forced into it by some rather nasty individuals. The real question is who’s playing who, and who really has the upper hand. Based on the intro, this is set in a world that readers of Charles Ingrid will recognize. Perhaps they’d recognize the main character as well. I haven’t read any of Charles Ingrid’s novels, so this was a brand new world for me, and I found it intriguing. In fact, when I finished, I announced to the world in general that, “I think I’ll have to get some of Charles Ingrid’s books.” *grin* I’d certainly like to learn more about this world.

Words by Cheryl J. Franklin: I’ve never read anything by Cheryl J. Franklin, although I think I have one of her books on my TBR stack. So this was my first introduction to her writing. This is a story about an unsocial security systems specialist who helps out the police and on one particular case she is forced to be a little more social than normal when she takes in the victim’s cat. It’s a nice story with a rather uneasy commentary on how we view our own pets . . . and perhaps how they view us.

Read Only Memory by eluki bes shahar: I’ve never read anything by this author either and by the intro it seems this story is an introduction to the world she uses in her books. Some of the references I didn’t get, but the story itself was easy to follow. Essentially, the main character is drawn into middle of a dangerous game of power and archeology over an artifact called a Library. But the books in this Library aren’t what they seem . . . and neither is the main character.

Sunseeker by Kate Elliott: This story is set in the Jaran universe, although it’s set on Earth. The base story is about a solar ship called the Sunseeker and the group of spoiled young adults from various wealthy families that travel around in it for promotional purposes for the solar array that powers it. But when the ship lands to see an archeological site, it’s attacked. But the REAL story is about one of the young adults and her relationship with her father.

The Heavens Fall by S. Andrew Swann: This is a rather interesting story about a form of punishment called “empathy treatment” that, in the near future, is used to punish convicted criminals. The idea is to force them to relive their victim’s last moments as if they were the victim themselves. Of course, this punishment has some flaws and in this particular story goes horribly wrong. A nice cautionary tale about a seemingly simple and “harmless” technology and how it could be misused.

Passage to Shola by Lisanne Norman: I’ve never read anything by Lisanne Norman and this story introduces you to her world. The main characters are actually aliens here, with Humans being a minority species, with the ability to psychically bond to other alien species. In this story, a bonded Human and alien at the teen age are being transported to a new city by the main character . . . and things go horribly wrong when their ship is hijacked by a vicious—and hungry—alien.

Prism by Julie E. Czerneda: This is another story in which the main character is an alien so far removed from human that, at times, it can be hard to understand and follow her. Julie E. Czerneda is very good at getting across the alien-ness though, probably because of her biological background. Here, we meet two bizarre alien creatures, although the real story is about one of the creatures growing from childhood to the beginnings of adulthood.

Overall, I thought this anthology was stronger than the companion fantasy anthology I’ve already reviewed. I’ve bolded the two titles that I thought were the strongest in this anthology, but I have to say that nearly all of the stories were interesting and well-written. One of the strongest of the DAW anthologies I’ve read so far.

So just for the hell of it -- and because I was having trouble figuring out just what exactly Vicki was thinking when she... um, never mind, that would be telling -- I just googled myself.

Quel surprise: I'm on Facebook. In Spanish. Right here.

If this is a fansite, yay. I'm all for fansites.

The google quote however is: "Welcome to the official Facebook Page of Tanya Huff. Get exclusive content and interact with Tanya Huff right from Facebook."

NOT my official facebook page. Don't have one. Not getting one.
NOT a way to get exclusive content and interaction.

Just thought y'all ought to know. Spread the word.

Also, I hate the photo.

ETA from maribou: OTOH, they are also saying (as far as I can make out, and someone else's Spanish might be better), that if anyone wants to read one of your books online, they should post the title they are interested in on the "wall" page and then the person will post a link to that book. Which, unless you are offering your books free online and I just don't know about it, might be a very good reason to not like the person behind this.

Can anyone confirm this? Because this is something I'll have to stop.

( Have fun storming the castle! )
And I lived happily ever after...at least until tomorrow. ^_^

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A popular high school English teacher has been suspended after assigning his 11th-grade students a short story about masturbation by "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk. Greg Van Voorhis, 30, issued copies of "Guts" — which details three increasingly catastrophic masturbation attempts by teenagers with props including a carrot, a candle, and the water intake at the bottom of a swimming pool — to about about 100 students gearing up for the English Regents exam.

Many of the comments surrounding this news story seem to take it on faith that "Guts" is about masturbation and that of course kids masturbate, so what's the big deal? This is how you can tell who has read the story and who has not!

Of course, Guts is a story about masturbation in the same way American Psycho is about investment banking or Hogg is about the trucking industry. Yeah, the stuff's in there, but...

All that said, "Guts" is free online (see link), has been reprinted in a Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and a number of other places, so it's not like the story is otherwise locked away.

Plus, it's better than "A&P."

I've written more in the last 9 days than I have all year. Mostly, this goes to show what a craptastic year it's been. Nanowrimo has been good for me. I'm a little bit better than halfway through a decent zero/splat draft. I still have zero idea how it's going to end. No, I know how I think it'll end, I just don't know how I'm going to get there just yet. Really hoping I can find a way to do it without being truly and utterly horrible to my poor characters. It was nice to see that I broke 30k today. For 9 days, with two kidlets who aren't fully well - that's really not bad. It makes me wonder what I'll be able to do when the youngest is a little older and in school too... We shall see...

But - back to the draft now. Just the draft. (and a few notes on how to fix it in revisions since I've thought of things since I started that I need to tie into the beginning.)

Less than seven weeks remain, and the 365-self portrait project will be complete.

But I will continue with the Self Portrait Challenge, which has a monthly theme and asks for no more than one shot a week. That will start in January.

The portrait project will start in January. I haven't decided if I'll post any of those.

The 365-colors project also starts in January.

Before any of that happens, though, I'll be an artist at my first ever artist reception, Photofest 2009 in Tallahassee, Florida, where one of my pictures will be displayed in the airport.
That's just the photography.

I've got several writing projects going, at various stages, as well. I'll save details on those for another post.

Originally published at DarkFluidity.

Put yer dancin' shoes on and check out the new "East is Red" column on Bollywood horror: http://ping.fm/ZmwbI

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/11/for-those-who-read-this-blog-for.html

(Serena Altschul and some author in July, sitting on the trampoline after two days of interviews. None of which, oddly enough, were done on the trampoline.)

Mr. Neil,

I DVR'd yesterday's installment of Sunday Morning and after zipping through it back and forth multiple times cannot seem to find you, though the description indicated the correct episode. Was it bumped to next week? Have you been sucked into an alternate Neil-less universe?

A concerned reader,
Mary

I'm afraid it was bumped by the Fort Hood Massacre.

I checked: The profile CBS did of me is apparently still going out, probably some time in December, although no-one seems certain when. I was told that we could help ensure that it is broadcast (and possibly make it come out sooner than December) if CBS think people would actually like to see it. Which means that if you do want to see it, you can help the process along if you write or email CBS and (politely) tell them so:

ADDRESS:
CBS News Sunday Morning
Box O (for Osgood)
524 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019

E-MAIL: sundays@cbsnews.com

...
Dear Neil Gaiman, I ask for half-a-moment of your time (I would not presume to ask for more). This Spring 2010 I am teaching a Topics in Literature class on YOU at Winona State University (Eng 225: Neil Gaiman). Easy enough to select representative novel (American Gods), short stories (Fragile Things), children and YA (Graveyard Book), but here's the rub: I will likely only assign one Sandman graphic novel to students. I have been debating which is most representative, most worthy of inclusion, most amenable to class discussion and student scholarship. Then I thought I'd ask you. I know you suggest above that, for questions of this sort, we consider you a dead author, but I know you're not. When I came to a similar impasse about which of Ursula Le Guin's works to include in another class, she actually replied and offered her input. I extend the same offer to you: which of the Sandman volumes would you like to see on the syllabus?
Thank you for your time,
Nicholas Ozment, English Instructor
WSU

It's a hard one. I think if I were teaching I'd either go for Season of Mists or Fables and Reflections, because both of them have stuff to teach -- those nice chewy bits that people can like or dislike, argue with or discuss. I know a lot of teachers like to teach Dream Country because a) Midsummer Night's Dream won awards, and b) it's short and c) it has a script in the back. Your call. And good luck.

...

I mentioned recently that there were some beautiful new Polish and Russian book covers for my books that I'd seen at signings, which got me thinking. The International Cover gallery on this website is incredibly out of date.

It's at http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Works/Books/International_Covers.

And though I get a lot of foreign editions in, and will at some point head down to the basement and rummage around and scan some (this week's mail brought the two-volume Japanese edition of Anansi Boys, on the cover of which Fat Charlie is not only Very White, but also Very Thin, and the complex Chinese - ie. Taiwan and Hong Kong - edition of The Graveyard Book) I thought that blog readers, being, as you are, all over the world, might be a better resource for knowing where to look for foreign covers.

Was your basement finished when you purchased your home or did you have it finished for your basement library? If you finished it yourself, how difficult was it? Also, I thought I saw a dehumidifier in one of the Photosynth pictures. Do you need one because of the books?

I'm asking because we have a full unfinished basement that we would like to have finished. We are running out of room for our books also. I don't think we don't have as many as you do though. :)

Any other suggestions for such a project would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
C.

No, when we got here the basement had a clay floor that puddled when it rained. We hired some nice builders and spent a lot of money finishing it, putting in drainage tiles, underfloor heating and all. There's a dehumidifier there in the summer and a humidifier in the winter, because after the first few years I noticed that binding glue and leather book covers were both cracking and flaking. There's now the equivalent of a large house in basement rooms beneath this house, filled with books and CDs and suchlike stuff.

And finally, a few photos from the China trip, taken by Ian Ford (or in one case, on his camera). Ian's a travel guide who now lives in China who helped organise my travels, and came along with me for part of the journey.

Amanda and I in the silk clothes that my publisher had given us as a thank you for coming, and because they are terrific.

I'm holding the Galaxy Award for this year, given to the foreign author most popular with Chinese reader-voters. This was my second year of winning it, so I have retired from the competition and said that they have to find a new favourite foreign author now.

(If I didn't believe in the Apex Book Company and its products, I wouldn't work so darned hard for the company. If you can help out, please do.)

http://www.apexbookcompany.com/news/2009/11/apex-magazine-and-options/

There’s been some debate on the series of internet tubes about workable business models for online content. Some, like Cory Doctorow, believe free is good. If you give out a quality freebie, people will shell out money for more of that product. I like to think of this as the ol’ street dealer’s trick of giving out samples of coke to get people hooked on their drug. Others have argued to me that offering content such as short stories online, you have to go to a subscription or pay-per-play system.

I can’t say either one has worked for Apex Magazine. A combination of the two has not worked. Sponsorship worked for two months before enthusiasm for it died.

I’d like to try an alternative.

I’d like to see how many fans of short fiction (and Apex Magazine) are out there that would donate $10 (or more) on a recurring, yearly basis to help pay for magazine costs. Our yearly cost is around $10,000. Doctorow was given $10,000 to write one single story. For your $10,000, you get 24 months of Apex Magazine.

If you’d like to give Apex Magazine a hand then please send me an email to jason@apexbookcompany.com. I don’t want to start collecting $10 (or more!) from people unless I know there are enough fans interested.

Please spread the word by reposting and retweeting this blog post.

Jason Sizemore
editor-in-chief

He:

Listen. It’s not like she honored her part of the deal. Nothing happened when I summoned her. It was almost a week later, two weeks after John’s funeral, when I heard someone knocking on my front door. I must have just got home from work, because I remember I was still wearing a suit and tie as I went to the door.

It was rainy out. I mean, shit. Vancouver in late October. Of course it was rainy. Of course it was dark even though it wasn’t even six in the evening. I was renting this old house in east Vancouver, already twice broken into, so I went to the door with my phone in one hand, ready to call the police. I opened the door with the chain still on.

And there she was. A woman wearing a yellow Mountain Equipment Coop biking jacket waiting on the front porch. “Um hi,” she said. “My bike got a flat. I saw your bike on the porch and was wondering if you had a bike pump.”

She:

There. You summoned me and I came. No one twisted your arm. No one made you take your friend’s equipment. No one made you sign the contract with your blood.

Just received word that the owner of Fear Zone intends to continue hosting the site after all, with all content archived, and hopes to re-launch the site whenever the advertising market improves.

Here's a partial preview of the big Domino Fall to take place tonite in Berlin, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This test used 100 blocks, but the real thing will use 1000.

Posted by Paul DiFi.

I saw one of these little guys crossing the road when I went out at lunchtime. It's not as unusual as seeing a dodo or a roc, but they're not exactly common in this part of East Texas, either. No coyotes giving chase, though.

I have been reading with interest some of the articles about the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Back in 1986, I had the fascinating and memorable experience of crossing through the wall at the infamous Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. I was on my way to Leipzig in (then) East Germany for a scientific conference. I first approached the US outpost near the checkpoint, uncertain of the protocol, but the bored-looking guy behind the counter said he had no interest in who went into East Germany. (I'm sure he was lying and that he recorded my every move!)

The Berlin Wall was an impressive sight. On the Western side, it was covered with graffiti. All of the brush was cut back from it, so it looked like a no-man's land for about 20 yards. Depressing looking, actually.

Checkpoint Charlie was both an automotive and pedestrian gateway between the East and the West. The route for vehicles was a deliberate maze so that someone couldn't just floor the gas pedal and break through. There were concrete barriers every few feet that required careful navigation to those who were permitted to pass through. For pedestrians, the course was no less daunting. Inside the Checkpoint, I had to pass through four different chambers. When you passed one stage, the door in front of you opened and then locked behind you, so there was no backing out once you were in play. I think that you could easily apply for a day pass to go into East Berlin, too, but I was prepared in advance with my visa for the conference. There were plenty of questions along the way, and at one stage you were required to exchange a certain amount of money into Ostermarks, East German currency that had no value outside the country. The money was cheaply produced. The coins were aluminum and the color on the bills came off if you rubbed it against something. While in the country you were required to convert a certain amount of money every day, and it was unlawful to take Ostermarks out of the country while you left. This guaranteed an influx of hard currency that the country needed to purchase goods.

After I made it through to the other side and was in East Germany, I had no idea what to expect. I thought that I would be stopped frequently and asked to justify why I was there and where I was going. I went to the train station in East Berlin and, after an arduous negotiation, figured out how to get a train ticket to Leipzig. No one would speak English. I had to take the U-bahn (subway) to a certain stop and then the S-Bahn (regular train) from that point on. Fortunately I saw a station stop that sounded like what I heard and guessed correctly where to change. Again, I expected that people would stop me and demand to see my papers, but no one did. I was free to travel inside the country without issue. However, when I checked into the hotel in Leipzig, I had to surrender my passport to the local police for the duration of my stay.

East Germany was drab and dreary looking. Pollution coated concrete and glass buildings that had been erected hastily after the war. Though there was nothing overt, I was convinced I was under constant surveillance. I tread carefully. I took absolutely no photographs during my 10 days behind the Iron Curtain. I got the impression that people crossed the street to avoid direct contact with me--I was obviously a westerner with my brightly colored clothing. I was a little surprised that the professors and other faculty at Karl Marx University spoke so openly about their dissatisfaction with the government. A couple of attendees from Czechoslovakia, when they discovered I was Canadian, wanted to know if I could help them join a hockey team.

It was a truly surreal experience that will stay with me as long as I live, I suspect. When the time came to leave, I traveled to Berlin with an American who had come in via India. He had a lot of things in his suitcase that interested the East German police when we made the reverse trek through Checkpoint Charlie. They opened his suitcase and spread out everything. I expected to get the same treatment. However, there was a shift change right at that moment and the guy who came on as a replacement seemed to assume that I'd already been searched, so I was waved through. The world seemed brighter and less oppressive once I was back in West Berlin, an amazing, ultra-modern city that seemed to be constantly partying in the shadow of the Evil Empire that completely circled it.

When the wall came down a few years later, I was one of the people who bought a little piece of it as a memento. Kitschy, of course.

An excellent season finale of Mad Men last night. Some shows choose to rip apart the status quo and leave viewers dangling during hiatus. On this show they managed to disrupt the status quo but give us the promise of a new beginning. Should be interesting times when the new season picks up again. I knew who Roger Sterling was going off to fetch to help them decode the arcane records of the business.