by Chris McMahon Since I'm off in the forest somewhere camping, being completely low tech, I thought I would do something completely different and natter on about modified steam cycles. Hopefully this will be of interest to SF types, or even steampunkers. The conventional steam cycle, as used in typical coal-fired or gas-fired power plants, is the... Continue Reading →
Capclave schedule and other things
by Kate Paulk I now have my schedule for Capclave - although the launch is still rather undecided. Some silly (*ahem) the lovely folks at Capclave have me moderating two panels, which should be fun, and I'm on a third panel and have a reading. There will still be a book, although what, how, and... Continue Reading →
Unringing The Bell
by Sarah A Hoyt (didn't mean to sign it huge. Is technologically declined. Sigh.) Those of you who haven’t read Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Writing Like It’s 1999, do so. For those of you who read my blog this might seem like I’m harping on a theme, or like I’m getting repetitive. Well I’d think so... Continue Reading →
A Ramble on the Writerly Life … Or how do we feed ourselves?
I came across this list on the Forbes site. 'Ten happiest jobs, as reported a General Social Survey by the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago.' What interested me about this list is number 4: '4. Authors: For most authors, the pay is ridiculously low or non-existent, but the autonomy of writing... Continue Reading →
Space Pioneer
by Dave Freer Space Pioneer... No, actually I am not referring to Mack Reynolds 1965 novel - although it might be fun to garner the modern left wing response to a novel about colonization... before explaining that it was written a lifelong member of the America Socialist Labor Party, the son of its Vice Presidential... Continue Reading →
A Dog, A Dragon, The Moon and a Serenade
by Amanda S. Green First an update. Last week I reported that I'd been representing NRP at FenCon (this year's Deep South Con) in Dallas. It's my first time at a con representing the press and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous about it. But, so far, so good. The... Continue Reading →
Lonesomely over the bricks
by C. S. Laurel Writers get lonely sometimes. I know I do, despite the fact that I have a loving partner and a decent enough income to keep me out of the homeless shelter. Just about. But the thing is I’m really a social animal, and the writing life consists mostly of sitting at the... Continue Reading →
Jigsaw Pieces
by Chris McMahon I am busy re-drafting my new SF novel Foreign Elements at the moment. I find working through critique comments nerve-wracking, particularly when they impact on the story structure. On the one hand I hate any sort of criticism of my little 'baby', on the other hand, once I've settled my own mind about... Continue Reading →
Everything is relative
And no, that's not "the more things, the more relatives", although there are times when I wonder, particularly when... oh, never mind. Chalk it down to another bad day at work and a few other frustrations and leave it at that. Anyway, family things in everyday life often find their way into posts here -... Continue Reading →
No Sex, Please, We’re Bored
by Sarah A. Hoyt As many of you know – because I’ve told you – I don’t have anything against sex. (Well, not at the moment. It would make writing awkward, and besides it would shock the cats.) I have been happily married for twenty six years and I have two sons, neither of which,... Continue Reading →