I was very excited to be invited to write a blog post over at Books Are My Thing this week. That blog post is up there today. Head on over and check it out – and be sure to join in the discussion!
Author Archives: Eric
Still Writing
I know it’s been awfully quiet here lately. I’m working my way back to getting more stuff up here I really am. I’ve got a couple of things lined up. I’ve also received TWO invitations to anthologies! I’m very excited about this and have started cranking away on those ideas already.
More soon!
Work Swallowed August
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. That’s one of those traps with blogs – you have these gaps at odd times for various lengths and if people catch your blog at just the wrong moment then you’ve lost them. They think you never update or that you’ve blog faded or whatever. Well, I haven’t blog faded. I’m as inconsistent as I have ever been. Work (the day job supporting all this cool stuff) swallowed the month of August. The ravening beast of overtime licked his chops, bit down and shook me like a rag toy. I got flung to the side at some point and I crashed pretty hard. It’s hard to work up the desire to sit at the computer and type after you’ve done that for 10 or 12 or 14 hours at a pop for the day job. My wrists hurt, my elbows were inflamed enough for my wife to feel the heat radiating off them and my back was… painful. In short, that sucked and I’d like to avoid doing it again. I made it through – how well is yet to be seen.
In the middle of that mess I was able to attend Intervention 6. I had the pleasure of helping out with the children’s programming track again this year. I think it says something that staffing at a convention was a welcome relief from my work schedule. There weren’t a ton of kids there this year. I’m not sure why. Some of the kids have grown past the “little kids” program level. Some have made the return trip year after year, but it’s difficult to gauge the program not knowing who we’re going to get. I haven’t quite figured out how to make that work better. I’d normally give a review of the rest of the convention, but I really didn’t see it. I was there, I walked past it, I even chatted with some of the other folks there. Missed all the other program stuff. I can tell you there are some crazy talented folks working out there that deserve your attention. I can tell you that I’ve found a couple of folks that I may recruit to help with children’s programming next year – they were spectacular with the kids. In the end, the kids seemed happy and that was really the whole point. I call that a win.
I’m getting my writing geared up again too. All the submissions I had out there came back (rejected) during the month that was eaten so it’s time to get out there and keep trying. There are things on the way though – I’m hoping to have a guest blog appearance during banned books week! I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting, but I’ll keep everyone posted as I remember them…
Mars
The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A friend of mine said she started this book one evening and couldn’t put it down. I should have listened.
I started and finished this book this morning. I’m actually giving it 4.5 stars. It was a super fast read. There was a lot of “science” in there, but I put it in quotations because I can’t confirm any of it. You know what? I’m OK with that. It all sounded reasonably plausible to me (even the parts that I figure aren’t could work, right?). In the end this I think the science could be substituted out for any inhospitable landscape and particular level of ingenuity. Don’t get me wrong, placing the story on Mars makes this what it is but that’s just the backdrop. The really wonderful part here is the characters. They’re all people. There’s no trouble at all believing all of them as real. I totally believe this story could happen in our near future.
You know what else? I hope this and other stories of people overcoming great odds to accomplish things that move us toward outer space exploration (ahem, Apollo 13) become the sort of thing that inspires people to push for more exploration. This book was a heck of a ride. I can’t wait to see the movie.
Aeronaut’s Windlass
I tend not to cross post my book reviews, but since I’m a fan of Jim Buthcer and I got the chance to read this ARC (advanced reading copy) I thought I’d put this up here. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to keep Mr. Butcher writing and keep these stories going!
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I have to start by thanking my book blogging friend Krystal for letting me read this ARC. Go check out her book blog here: http://booksaremything.com/
I have lots of thoughts in no particular order – and there will be spoilery stuff in here. I’ll try to keep it away from the spoilers as much as I can.
When I started reading my very first impression was that the author has been reading the work of Gail Carriger. This is not a bad thing! It was a little adjustment, but Mr. Butcher is a hell of a story teller. It worked. I could see where some people would be put off by that – I am not one of those people.
Clocking in at around 630 pages this is a substantial book. It was necessary. There are tons of world building and character development bits that need space to be shown. IF it couldn’t be guessed by the cover, this is a steampunk fantasy book. There are floating cities, airships and mysterious creatures from the surface. I’d need to hear more from the author or see the maps / drawings that will be included in the final version to be sure, but I think this is meant to be some kind of alternate earth. Having things fall to the surface of the world (and that being a ‘bad’ thing) leads me to believe the Predator will be going to the surface in the next book. How could they not?
The author’s characters are as interesting and diverse as ever. I am not personally a fan of Rowl or his clan, but I suspect there will be a lot of discussion about the cats of this world in the future as well. I like the warrior born characters. They were my favorites. I will say the cast of characters is an impressive spread. This made me wonder who the true “hero” of the book is supposed to be. Captain Grimm, Gwen, Bridget & Benedict? Could be any of them. Folly was very interesting as well. Writing the etherialists as crazy as they are could not have been easy, but had to have been fun.
I suspect this book will really take off (yes, you may groan) when it is released. It is a fast moving story in an interesting world. There’s a little something for everyone in here.
A Pseudo-mention
A lot of the time lately I’ve found the internet to be a frustrating and mean place. I try to stay away from the most negative aspects of it, but I’m not always successful. The longer it goes, the more I understand the usefulness of Facebook as a tool and the more I hate the way it is handled. I have started to stay away.
Today I was surprised by something small and personal, but very cool and positive. I have a story in an anthology called TV Gods. I really like my story. While I was listening to Pseudopod I heard TV Gods called out. The narrator for the episode is also a fellow author! I was very excited. I realize it’s not a big deal to other people, but I really enjoyed it.
IF you like horror, please go and listen to Pseudopod. I am not particularly a fan of horror but this podcast really is excellent. The stories are frequently visceral and distressing – but isn’t that the point of horror?
The mention is right at the start of episode 444 “Boys Will Be Boys”. It is an uncomfortable story with genuinely horrible things in it. It is read by Keven M. Hayes – who really nails the mood and tone.
Well done. Well done. Go – check it out!
Going Off Site
This was originally published in Watch The Skies.
A couple of weeks ago Watch The Skies did something we’ve never done before. We headed off
site and set up a table at a charity event. Any other time in the past 14 years when something
was going on, people were coming to us. This was new and exciting.
The event was the Carlisle High School SciFi Saturday. This was the second annual version of
the event. I have to say, the turnout and enthusiasm was far, far more than I expected.
The CHS SciFi club was working with a number of charities raising money and donations. The
charities included Project Share, Community Aid and Furry Friends Network. They lined up a
gymnasium full of folks interested in what they had going on and laid out a whole day filled with
events.
This was a charity event, but it really seemed more like a mini convention than anything else. The
participants spanned all kinds of genres. There was a media star there (no, I’m not saying who it
was – you should show up next year and see for yourself) there were artists, costumers, authors,
editors, comic book shops, and all kinds of fun stuff. A DJ set up in one corner. I heard the theme
to Land of the Lost at one point during the day – how often do you hear that blasting from a DJs
speakers? That Game Place was set up and running game demos through the course of the day.
There was a lot going on.
The school had club members ready and willing to help carry things in and out. Everyone’s space
was laid out on a map. Set up was quick and easy. In terms of logistics, I’m not sure it could have
gone better.
WTS wasn’t actually selling anything. We were there for promotional purposes only. We donated
a couple dozen cans of food to the food drive but that wasn’t the bid deal. The big deal was that
we gave away 90 books. That’s right, we were promoting science fiction, fandom and reading by
giving away books. I believe there were a lot of folks that didn’t know how to feel about what we
were doing. Yes, for free. No, it’s wrapped up so it will be a surprise when you open it. Gave them
all away. Many thanks should be given to Jeff Young (our fearless fanzine editor) for organizing
the book collection and getting our group all set up. It was a grand success.
In all, the only thing I can say was we didn’t see enough people show up. Sure there were lots of
folks in the gym, but it would have been better if it was packed. That’s the part where you come
in. If this even runs again next year (and I suspect it will) I plan to be part of getting WTS there
and participating again. What we need is for YOU to be there. I certainly hope you will be.
Going Up!
I know there aren’t many folks on my list that geek out over the same kind of stuff I do – but this is one of those times when I’m going to share because the future is creeping up on us. You’re too close, you won’t see it right away but suddenly you’ll look around and think to yourself, “how the hell did we get here?” while staring at all the little things that have added up over time.
Check out the place being built directly over the top of an operational rail yard HERE.
I was fortunate enough to have heard a presentation on this project a couple of years ago. There was a lot of discussion about how the coordination and the software was being handled because of the massive amount of logistics involved. It really is an amazing project that we’re not hearing much about. I find it fascinating that we’re taking our most definite steps so far toward becoming the land of Fifth Element – we’re building up, directly over other places that have already been built.
Anticipated Reading
There aren’t many books that I’ve gone gaga over. Ready Player One is among the few that I have been really taken with. I’m glad it is a stand alone book. I’m anxious that the movie can’t possibly live up to the hype it will be greeted with (even if they manage to get the rights to all the stuff they need – and I doubt that will ever happen).
Now there’s another book coming out from the same author. I’ve taken a peek at the first chapter and there is hope for another book that will drag me in and push me along on another amazing ride.
Check out the first chapter here.
I don’t have tons of reviews up, but you can check out other books I’ve read if you track me down on Goodreads or see what I’ve got posted over at MilSciFi.com.
Reflections on my Birthday
Today is my birthday, but I don’t celebrate much anymore. I’m in between the joy of being another year older you gain when you’re young and are desperate to reach all the milestones set ahead of you and whatever feeling accompanies the milestone birthdays as you age. I’m not 16, nor am I 60. At 45 I am right in the middle of everything and maybe that’s why I don’t see it as a particularly celebratory occasion?
I don’t want that to sound as if I’m unhappy (and text without emotion and facial expression is often misinterpreted) because I’m not. I’m happier than I ever understood I could be. I have so many things to be thankful for in my life that any list would be woefully short and inevitably I would forget something important (isn’t that a sign of getting old?). My family is healthy and happy. We have a wonderful home in a nice area with good schools. I have some success with work and such a myriad set of hobbies I can’t keep up with them all.
Maybe that gets to the crux of what I’m feeling today. It’s not so much a celebration as another distance marker. A warning if you will. Today is a great reminder that every day should be special. I have often said there are not enough hours in the day. I have, for the most part, said that in the context of another day with long hours at the office and a list of things I need to finish at the house, but the heart of the matter isn’t that at all. When I say that I think, “45 already? How the hell did that happen? I have so many things I want to do. I have so many things I want to share with my daughter. I have so many places I’d like to travel to with my wife… I’m going to run out of time if I’m not using every single day to the fullest!”
I am so grateful for all the good in my life. I’m thrilled to share that with my friends and family. I’m fine with being 45 – I’m right in the middle of all the things! I have a lot going on. I can’t wait to do more, be more and share more. There are so many places, people, things out there I’ll never get to them all – but I’m sure going to try. So in that sense, yeah – it’s a happy birthday.