Round 'em on up

Here's some thingies that I should post about before I forget:

My review of Black Static #3 is now live over at The Fix Online. A very stylized magazine that focuses on horror fiction. I really liked a few stories, and others did absolutely nothing for me. Or the genre, if you want to look at it that way.

This week, I pushed past my 300th comic for MyLifeComics. Kinda neat.

I, um, also beat Final Fantasy XII. Was easier than I expected, but then again I put a good 100+ hours into my characters, making them beefier than a field of cattle. I probably could've finished the game a long time ago, but my OCD kicked in and I needed to beat every hunt, find every magic spell, get the best armor and weapons, and so on. Anyways, I loved this game. The story is strong, the world is spanning, and its details are plentiful. My only complaint is that they make Vaan out to be the main character when, in all truths, Lady Ashe is the focal point of the story. But that's minor stuff. The battle system has even gotten me interested in MMOs. Not that I'd ever play one, but it has sparked my gamer's heart.

Hmm, movie-wise I've seen the following:

• No Country for Old Men (2007) - A quiet, slow-moving piece about violence out West. A bag of money is stolen from a deal gone bad, and a crazy, psychotic killer is tracking it down. What ensues is a methodical cat-and-mouse game that ends as it should, both depressingly and inexcusably real. Quite disturbing and quite beautiful, if that makes any sense. Definitely a film worth watching.
  
• I Am Legend (2007) - Vampire flick that really, honestly, was a big letdown. CGI monsters? Come on. This would've been so much more successful if they stuck with live-action actors. Will Smith is fine though, carries the film well enough, but I don't know. This just didn't scare me like I had hoped it would.
  
• The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) - This is the story of two drag queens and one transsexual woman trekking across the Australian outback on a mission to perform at a casino in Alice Springs. Hugo Weaving stars in this one, and thank the heavens above I saw this before The Matrix or Lord of the Rings because seeing him all donned up in makeup and groovin' to Abba has forever changed his appearance to me.

And I think that's all for now.

An important reminder

Remember, couples everywhere, that...



Heh.

Some realizations

I don't read as much in the winter, nor do I have the same passion for reading in the winter as I do in the spring, summer, and fall when I can go to the park, curl up on a patch of grass, and immerse myself in a book for hours.

I need to add a third POV to the Novel. It has to be done because, right now, I feel like some stuff is too hard to explain without it and also I'd like to have a more gray set of villains rather than straight up bad people.

I need to lower my expectations...for everything.

I don't miss eating bread as much as I suspected, but I think I need to work some brown rice or something back into my diet because I cannot go without it, unfortunately.

I have to finish things I start, no matter how much I don't want to.

I'm a bird in your hand

No writing tonight. My brain is mush, and I'm extra sleepy. In truth, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with "After Effects." It's really just a distraction from another project I'm not quite ready to talk about yet.

There's this cool storm brewing outside. I'm basically just sitting here listening to it growl and crack in the distance. I love it. Rain, soon. I feel like an old geezer with a bad hip acting up, but it's coming. I can feel it. I only wish the storm actually made things cooler here. It's been hot and humid and oh-so-sticky all day long that I just want to pass out and leave it all behind.

I'm trying to save up for an iPod. My sister got me the iPod Shuffle when I graduated college and it's been my BFF ever since. Unfortunately, I think it's time to upgrade. I want more space, and I want more songs. The video iPod (80GB) looks really cool though it's the most pricey of the bunch. I wouldn't be upset with a (30GB), but if I'm gonna pick that one I might as well go for the gold. Anyone got some suggestions? Are the Nanos no longer cool? Also, I'm sticking with Apple as I do like using iTunes so don't tell me about some generic brand like uMusic or whatever. I won't hear of it. I won't!

Free tools!

While perusing Wikipedia, as I'm subject to do from time to time to time to time to time, I came across Syne Mitchell's web site, which, besides having authorly things on it, has some free Javascript tools that a lot of writers might like to take advantage of. One of them is a virtual post scale and the other a response time calculator. I track my submission responses in my Excel spreadsheet, but for those days when I don't feel like going to the post office the virtual post scale might just hit the spot.

Anyways, check 'em out!

Con report!

My con report of NY ComicCon 2007 is now live and breathing.

In lieu of any actual news, here's my monster name or whatever. At least now I no longer have to blame my Italian heritage on me being hairy. I'm a frakking abomination, people. Can't you just deal with that?

Get Your Monster Name

Miscellaneous shtuff...

Got Justina Robson's Keeping It Real in the mail today.

I've finally gotten around to finishing a story, which is now going through a second reading and a quick set of line edits and then it's poof out into the real world with it. These things grow up so fast.

"Hold notice" from Andromeda Spaceway Inflight Magazine on a story of mine, letting me know it's made it through the first round.

And to round out this lovely little bit of randomness, here's a sketch of an armless monster on a Post-It, inspired by the work of Stefan G. Bucher's Daily Monster:

Comments are a go

Wow, I just realized that folks can now comment on MyLifeComics. This seems to be a new function of the site; at least I don't remember it being there a few days ago. I generally don't ever go back to look at the comics after posting, but now I finally have a reason to. The voice of the public shall be heard! Praise me, please!

It was a dark and stormy night

I completely forgot that I wanted to post about this...

Back in January, Jason Sizemore, editor and supreme being who makes old ladies cry at fast food joints, posted the artwork that will be used for issue nine of Apex Digest. Since my piece of flash fiction "Sonorous" will be in this issue, let me just say that I'm ecstatic over the artwork, almost to the point of drooling. Can't wait to see the final mockup...

Map!

I can't claim to understand what this whole map excitement is about, but all the cool kids are doing it. I'm hoping to discover that I have a huge fan base in Japan...



Create your own visitor map!

London, Un Lun Dun

China Mieville takes a moment to talk about his upcoming YA debut Un Lun Dun (which now I figured out what the blazes the title means). I'm definitely interested in seeing how this all turns out.

But for now I must get back to writing about space pirates, robots, and candy.

My Elves Are Different

Steve Wilson, a fellow cohort from FantasyBookSpot, is doing some spec-fic related comic strips lightly titled My Elves Are Different. The artwork is what it is, but the writing is sharp and full of personality, which is what matters most. And they're fun, so check them out!

Looks like Greenhorn has some competition...

Harry Potter and the Nudity that Scared Me

No, that's not the title of the secret eighth book. It pertains to the fact that 17-year-old Daniel Radcliffe has taken his career in a slightly different direction. He plays a demanding role in Peter Shaffer's controversial play Equus, which has something to do with sex and horses, I guess. Or maybe just horses. ::shrugs::



If you thought HP slash fanfic was out of hand before, just wait until the whole cast is dancing nude in stables and casting levitation spells on bails of hay and drinking spiced apple cider and polyjuice potions and turning into horses themselves. Oh, it's going to get sickeningly interesting very soon. Luckily for me, I never really cared for how Radcliffe portrays Harry, thus, his representation of the character is no more ruined than it was prior to the above horse/sex photos.

It's a wikiworld afterall

Paul Di Filippo's "Wikiworld" from Lou Anders' Fast Forward 1 anthology (which I reviewed a few posts down) is now available to read for free online. So check it out; it's a fun one, but also a bit scary seeing how it's a future that might just one day come to be.

New layout

Well, it's a new year...so I've decided to try out a new layout for Wistful Writings.

This is a work in progress as I figure out how to use Blogger's customization tools. Stay tuned for changes...

Holiday update

Happy (belated) holidays, everyone!

Had a nice Christmas morning with the family. Got a new desk which will come in extremely handy for drawing. Also, a stuffed hamster that can moonwalk. I specifically asked for no books or gift cards to bookstores because I have way too many as is and in the next few months I'm getting a bunch more sent to me. But my sister is trying to clear out her stash so she's given me:

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
The Outstretched Shadow (Book 1) by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
To Light a Candle (Book 2) by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara
Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara

So there. I'll get to them eventually. Really, I will. When? ::shrugs::

Top 50 favorite short stories

I've been reading short stories now for several years, and this list (can you tell that I like lists?) has been growing inside my head for some time. To ease the migraines and furry little demon lords, I'm going to post what I think are my Top 50 favorite short stories EVAR. Well, maybe not EVAR since more and more will probably continue to impress me, but you get the point. These are more like my Top 50 stories as of November 29, 2006. And you'll probably notice that most of these come from recent or just emerging authors, and that's because I've been doing more reading of what's current than what's in the past.

Feel free to yell at me for that. Throw fireballs for all I care. Or, better yet, suggest short stories to me that you'd think I'd enjoy. I'm attracted to the weird, the extreme, and the tragic (and, well, anything involving broken robots).

Personal thoughts/comments/quips are added when I feel like adding them. So there.

Also, please note that these are in no order whatsoever. Just my favorite fifty I could come up with.

Top 50 favorite short stories

1. Cory Doctorow - "Craphound" (I will say this time and time again that Doctorow's story of aliens, yard sales, and friendship is one of the most powerful tales I've ever read.)
2. Ursula K. Le Guin - "The Birthday of the World"
3. Ursula K. Le Guin - "Darkrose and Diamond" (I'm a sucker for Earthsea, though I enjoy her short stories about the world more than the novels. Weird.)
4. Neil Gaiman - "Harlequin Valentine"
5. Margo Lanagan - "Singing My Sister Down"
6. Kelly Link - "The Girl Detective"
7. Paul Melko - "Doctor Mighty and the Case of the Ennui"
8. Jay Lake - "The Soul Bottles"
9. Jay Lake - "Fat Jack and the Spider Clown"
10. Albert E. Cowdrey - "Imitation of Life"
11. Sandra McDonald - "Lost and Found"
12. Patrick Samphire - "Uncle Vernon’s Lie"
13. Liz Williams - "Mortegarde"
14. Josh Rountree - "The Queen's Wood"
15. Josh Rountree - "A Better Place"
16. Lawrence M. Schoen - "The Game of Leaf and Smile" (One that I can see myself re-reading every Halloween.)
17. Michael Bishop - "Bears Discover Smut" (Brilliant and fun.)
18. Richard Bowes - "There's a Hole in the City"
19. A.M. Dellamonica - "The Spear Carrier"
20. Dario Ciriell0 - "Valley of the Shadow"
21. Ruth Nestvold - "The Old Man and the Sneakers"
22. Heidi Cyr - "X & Y"
23. Anne McCaffrey - "The Girl Who Heard Dragons"
24. Aliette de Bodard - "A Warrior's Death"
25. James Tiptree, Jr. - "The Women Men Don't See"
26. Paul Di Filippo - "Shipbreaker"
27. Ian R. MacLeod - "New Light on the Drake Equation"
28. E. Sedia - "God's Chosen" (Hooray for broken robots!)
29. Richard Parks - "Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge"
30. Tanith Lee - "En Forêt Noire"
31. Mary Robinette Kowal - "Cerbo en Vitra ujo" (Effing disturbing. That's all I'll say.)
32. Jeffrey Ford - "In the House of Four Seasons"
33. M. Thomas - "The Tinker's Child" (Hooray for broken robots!)
34. Heather Lindsley - "Just Do It"
35. Ef Deal - "Czesko" (I was really drawn into the story simply by the voice of the narrator.)
36. Lisa Silverthorne - "Wild Feed"
37. Joan Bauer - "Blocked"
38. Pamela Zoline - "The Heat Death of The Universe"
39. James Tiptree, Jr. - "Painwise" (Too weird for words, but awesome regardless of the matter.)
40. M.K. Hobson - "Discovery's Wake" (Go tenure!)
41. Forrest Aguirre - "Treason Is"
42. Merrie Haskell - "Dead Languages" (I'm a Buffy fan, so what?)
43. Lavie Tidhar - "304 Adolf Hitler Strasse"
44. James Enge - "Payment Deferred"
45. Hannah Wolf Bowen - "Watch Dog"
46. Jeffrey Ford - "In the House of Four Seasons"
47. Ann Sterzinger - "Tremors" (My goodness, this horrific tale is tattooed in my memory.)
48. Lucy Sussex - "Frozen Charlottes"
49. Vera Nazarian - "The Slaying of Winter"
50. Paolo Bacigalupi - "Small Offerings" (You commoners won't get to read this for a few months, but by the gods I'm now permanently afraid of the miracle of life.)

And that's all for now. Looking over the list, I've realized I've missed many short stories that I absolutely loved, but they'll just have to wait for the next list, whenever that'll be.

What's happening

Well, let's see what's been happening lately. I've read some books and been writing reviews for a couple of them. I've finished The Light Ages by Ian R. MacLeod, Dreams and Visions edited by M. Jerry Weiss and Helen S. Weiss, The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin, and Wings to the Kingdom by Cherie Priest. Expect to see some reviews for those popping up soon.

I've started reading Melusine by Sarah Monette, which is a bit slow so far but still interesting. I already know that I'm going to enjoy Mildmay's chapters way more than Felix. Felix is a bit too whiny for me, and I always have a soft spot for the deeply complicated thief character. And whenever I get around to it I'll finish up the crapfest that is David and Leigh Eddings latest. Complete and total crapfest.

I've also been doing a lot of work on a secret project Damon and I are creating together. It's a bit time consuming, but I think it'll be worth it. We plan to reveal the whole special thang sometime next week. Stay tuned for further updates.

Writing-wise, I've finished a couple stories here and there. I'm trying to finish up my contest entry for the Apex Halloween Contest, and the deadline is October 15. Shouldn't be too hard to finish. I just need to sit down and figure out what is going on in my story.

And I bought Killzone for PS2 since it was a $20 Greatest Hits game. Waste of money. The enemy AI is dumb and the ally AI is even more dumb. Blargh. That annoys me; I should have just gone for Ratchet: Deadlocked instead. At least I know that game will challenge me in a good way. Oh well, maybe next month.

Some stuff to be aware of...

FantasyBookSpot is hosting another awesome contest for the month of March. You can win a signed copy of Jeff VanderMeer's City of Saints and Madmen. To find out more, go here.



Jay Lake, always an interesting writer, has some thoughts and reflections from the authorial perspective. He's open and honest about everything he talks about. Go check it out: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

And finally, Tansy Rayner Roberts is hosting a contest for ASIM #22. You have to match the title with the opening line. Go here to see the contest. If you are the winning entry, you get a whole slob of prize choices. Only about four entries so far (mine included), and I know I have a better chance of winning by NOT telling people to enter, but hey, I'm a nice guy...

Happy Friday, everyone!

Making progress...

~ Received check and contract back from Shimmer for "The Dealer's Hands".

~ Received signed and personalized copy of Rebel Ice. Pretty darn cool, ya know. I'm excited to read it.