Monthly Archives: February 2011

Finishing A Book

Posted on February 28, 2011 by

I never finish a book. Really. On my desk right now is the draft I’m working on, a revision for a three-year-old book for e-publication, the edited version of a book I just sold, and page proofs on the next release. At what stage can I say “I finished my book!” Continue reading →


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Posted in Book View Cafe, Books and Reading, Publishing, Writers on Writing, Writing life | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Uniforms

Posted on February 27, 2011 by

The United States went to war with Germany and Japan when I was a kid of eleven. One of the things I remember is how – overnight, it seemed to me — the streets of Berkeley filled up with uniforms. … Continue reading →


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Posted in Book View Cafe | 10 Comments

Fiction for Adults

Posted on February 27, 2011 by

Freb: So much chatter all over the Internet lately about dark fantasy.  Some can’t even agree on the definition of dark. Like that book on your shelf there, praised as being so dark. I found it emotionally adolescent in spite … Continue reading →


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Posted in Books and Reading, fantasy | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

Party Bees

Posted on February 26, 2011 by

Back in January I wrote a post about the beekeeper’s biggest fear – their hive not making it through the winter. We’d just had one of the coldest November/Decembers on record and we were waiting for a warm sunny day … Continue reading →


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Posted in Animals | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Practical Meerkat’s 52 Bits of Useful Info for Young (and Old) Writers, week 8

Posted on February 25, 2011 by

Well, we only got a few requests (don’t be shy, speak up!) but two of them were on the same basic topic, so I’m going with that, in my first two-part discussion about getting help from your peers (as opposed … Continue reading →


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Posted in Book View Cafe, Writing life | 17 Comments

Sock It To Me, Beowulf 3

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

Socks are challenging.  Firstly, they have to fit the wearer.  Luckily Alma and I have exactly the same size foot, so I have a handy try-on model at the end of each leg.


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Posted in Book View Cafe | 2 Comments

Don’t Know Much About History

Posted on February 24, 2011 by

The New York Times reported in January on yet another study showing dismal performance by U.S. students in science. The news was depressing, if not surprising, but the part of the article that really stuck with me was a throw-away … Continue reading →


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Posted in History | 12 Comments

New Web Site for Steven

Posted on February 23, 2011 by

Steven would like to interrupt this blog to announce that he has a new web site. Come look! http://www.stevenpiziks.com/


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Posted in Book View Cafe | 2 Comments

A Padawan’s Journal #40: The Last Period

Posted on February 23, 2011 by

What happens when you put that last period on a novel? It’s done, right? Finis. THE END. Wrong. There’s still a lot to do. After I put the last period on the very, very first draft of Shadow Games (a … Continue reading →


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Posted in Publishing, science fiction, Star Wars, Writing life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Radcon Report Part I: Corrupting the Young

Posted on February 22, 2011 by

This weekend, my convention-going career attained two firsts. I went to Radcon (in Pasco WA) and it was my first gig as Writer Guest of Honor. For me and for many other writer guests, Radcon’s program began the day before … Continue reading →


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Posted in space opera | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments