Chicago Survives Us

Jul 22, 2010 Life Leave a comment

So, yeah. It’s been a few days, eh? Sorry about that again. Work has been a pain, and we’ve been traveling, and blah, blah, whah, whah…

But, it’s all true. I swear it is.

Here’s a picture I took of Chicago to prove it.

While there we also saw several interesting things like the Cirque Shanghai acrobats, and the art institute. So, there’s my get out of jail free card. What’s that, you say? I could have updated in the hotel room? Well, yeah, technically that’s right. But by the time we got back there each night we were pretty well done-in. Chicago for us, you see, is all about the walking (I estimate we did 13+ miles the last day).

Other good things about the trip:

- Lunch with Brigid & Nick (twice!)
- Seeing parts of Transformers 3 being filmed
- A boat tour (first time after all these years)
- Berry Chill

So, anyway. I didn’t mean to talk about that today. Instead, I was going to talk about the publishing industry. I’ve been thinking a lot about things the past few weeks–past few months actually. And since I’m in this weird space where I was coming up through the ranks five or so years back, then took a detour, and am now back again, I’m in a personal position to make some commentary about what’s changed and how it affects us newbies (yeah, I know I don’t qualify as a newbie in some circles, but I figure that I’m a newbie until I’ve been publishing novels for five years. So there you go).

After working in this new world for a few months now, I’ve got a few thoughts about the publishing industry, and so for the next few posts I’ll be stringing along a running, stream-of-consciousness ramble about things I think are relevant to newish writers as well as to readers as a whole.

Consider this your warning. [grin]

Diving Into the Wreck

Jul 16, 2010 Other Writers Leave a comment

I’m reading Kris Rush’s “Diving Into the Wreck” now. I’m a bit over a third of the way through, and I have to say I’m really liking it. It’s been a nice, easy read with a compelling character and an intriguing story. Reminds me much of SF I read as a kid, but with a modern sensibility. [grin]

Four Stories Available on Smashwords

Jul 14, 2010 Business, Short Stories Leave a comment

Lots of things happening lately…you can find four of my stories available on Smashwords.

The Search, The Conversation

Jul 14, 2010 Life 2 Comments

I was looking for my jump drive this morning. It was nowhere to be found. Lisa watched me with some reasonably self-contained humor as I determined that it was probably still at work.

Run time up to later this morning. Here is a rough copy of an IM conversation we held.

Ron: BTW, I found my jump drive. It was in my shoe.
Lisa: Of course.
Ron: I thought you would like that.
Lisa: My only question is whether you found it before you put your shoes on or after.
Ron: I always check my shoe for jump drives before putting them on.
Lisa: Uh huh.
Ron: You never know when those buggers will crawl in there.

C-buz Interview Posted

Jul 14, 2010 Media, Science Leave a comment

We’ve got a local site here in Columbus (Indiana, not Ohio) that focuses on creative people in and around the local area. They just posted an interview of me, complete with some nifty photos (including one of me and Albert Einstein!).

And, if you’re interested in something a little more science-y, here’s news of some folks trying to take on “Big Al.”