Letters to Myself

To mark the occasion of the release of her second book, Mark of the Demon (now available at discerning book merchants everywhere), Diana Rowland is holding the Demontastic Contest to Hell. Rarely am I one to pass up a contest. And so:

No, I didn't buy anything for the photo. Yes, we actually have all that stuff lying around the place. Yes, I'm frightened too.

Posted by jon at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Didn't mean to leave a questionable picture of Jonah up there that long. The week just kinda got away from me, y'know? It was Spring Break, the weather was nice, and--

--okay, I admit it. I spent the week playing Plants vs. Zombies. And in that week, I also accumulated a couple more PodCastle rejections, and one from TTA Press.

Reading: The Spriggan Mirror, by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

Posted by jon at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by jon at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

12 day rejection from PodCastle.

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Reading back issues of my 40 Years of Avengers on DVD (no longer available! Marvel wants you to subscribe to their digital collection instead!). In addition to the heavily muscled look popular in the early to mid-90's, it also seems pretty likely that they spent all the money on making fancypants holographic covers, and not on, say, art. Because a lot of it is really badly drawn.

Let's not get into the plots, either.

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I'm touched by how polite my recent spammers are. So nice, so supportive. Charming, even. Still banning their asses, of course.

Reading: The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi. Also, lots of Avengers.

Posted by jon at 09:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

18 day rejection from McSweeney's. Ah well.

Reading: Memoirs of an Occasional Superheroine, by Valerie D'Orazio. Currently a free read/download from Scribd.com, for the interested.

Posted by jon at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by jon at 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have finished now The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N. K. Jemisin. Oh dear God, that was good. I'd also like to point out, to those of you wary of starting trilogies that aren't yet complete, that this volume is fairly self-contained in a sufficiently satisfactory way. So don't let that hold you back.

I urge you all who are reading this humble blog to follow my link and order a copy of this book right now. Even if you already own a copy of the book, go get another one and give the new one to somebody else. Alternatively, you may leave your places of work or home to purchase a copy, as long as you drive straight to the bookstore, pay immediately, and begin reading as you walk through the parking lot. That is all.

Posted by jon at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Spent Presidents' Day (which President? All of them) equipped with the Boy, as his school was closed today. Which means I missed school. I was also out last week for three days, what with my common cold that also had a +8 to headaches and spontaneous runny noses. When I get back to work, I'm not going to know what the hell is going on. I fully expect to learn that they've hired a new head of the library, and it turns out it's a cat. And we all have to salute it and feed with packages of salmon we keep in our pockets.

I am happy to report, however, that I am officially going to WisCon this year. Make a note of it.

Reading: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by the one and only N.K. Jemisin. Just picked it up over the weekend and am opening it...NOW.

Posted by jon at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1 day rejection from PodCastle. They seem determined to fight me off.

Cold out there today.

Posted by jon at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apologies for the delay in postings. Have been most unwell, in a really disgusting way. Seem to have finally dried up. Yes, I'm grateful too.

I'm also pleased to announce to you all that I will be going to WisCon this year. Yes, I'll be making a rare public appearance outside my natural habitat of home, library, bookstore. Like J. D. Salinger, only much less talented and/or successful. Yay, etc. In a related note, is the "Dessert Function" worth registering for?

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14 day rejection from PodCastle. Liked this one better than the last one, but still no. Hm.

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Got snow in a decent amount, for the first I can remember here since we returned from the Midwest lo those many years ago. The house is beginning to be surrounded by snow goons. Pictures of two of them can be seen here and here. They look tricksy. I'm pretty sure Ian and I can take them. Ian dashes across the yard, and when they turn to follow, I lop off their heads with my broadsword. A foolproof plan.

(Yes, you out there, the rest of the country are all so bored with the Snowpocalypse, and who can blame you? But this is the first time we've been able to play too, so hush already.)

Reading: Essential Doctor Strange, Vol. 1. By the Twelve Moons of Munnopor, 'tis most amusing.

Posted by jon at 08:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)