Because its my birth month, I’ll give you all a gift!
For the month of May only you can get Symbol of Hope for free on Smashwords!
Book 2 of the Natan Fleet Show series, available free!
Apr
27
Posted by : | On : April 27, 2013
As the days progress, drawing closer and closer to my closing date, the reality of the situation starts to set in. I’m filled with both excitement and dread, though the excitement has begun to win out.
The song that best fits the situation “No one sayin ‘Do this!’ No one saying ‘Be there!’…”
Oh, I know its not going to be as amazing as all that – there are bills to pay and gotta clean the house and mommy won’t be there to cook dinner for me. But I’m ready to have ALL the responsibility.
I keep thinking about all the things that need doing, and then the “But first’s” get in the way. I want to pack, but first I must close on the house, because I have nowhere to put my stuff once it’s in boxes. I don’t want to live in a room stacked with boxes for weeks. And even after closing, I have to repaint and fix floors. So that’s the next step after closing. Should I even put anything in boxes yet? Should I waste my boxes on books, or should I put other things in those boxes? I’m going to just transport my clothes and my sewing fabric in the containers they’re already in. And I don’t want to live for weeks in a room half packed either.
But, I’m close enough to closing that this weekend that I went ahead and got the fix for the kicked in door and the new locks. Discovered that I could possibly fix the door with a lot less work and money than originally thought. I’m not going to replace the whole door. I’m just replacing the broken part.
I also went shopping for a rug today at the flea market. Things didn’t go quite the way I thought they should. The only employee working the rug area was lecturing another woman when I arrived. Her poor husband was loitering off to the side, bored as heck. Then she finally got tired of listening to the guy tell her the same thing over and over and left, leaving the employee to me. I had taken that time to look over the selection of rugs.
Let me say this: I don’t like rugs. I just don’t. Most of the time, the pattern on the rug, or the colors, something about rugs annoys the heck out of me and I can’t stand them.
I found ONE rug I wouldn’t mind looking at. So I asked the guy the price on the one I liked. He told me $399. I went “Hmm.” In a thoughtful/disappointed tone. Thinking about it. Then he asked me what the color of my couches were. I told him Khaki/beige. He proceeded to tell me firmly and repeatedly that I couldn’t have that rug because the predominant color was creamy white. And I’m like… what? What? REALLY? You’re going to tell a customer they can’t have a product because something someone in a home fashion magazine said? He refused to let me speak and say that my couches are a temporary issue. I didn’t buy them and I plan on changing them later. But he kept talking over me and saying I have to pick a different color rug.
No. Dude lost a sale.
I don’t like being treated like that.
On the plus side, I bought an antique.
A 1934 Kenmore sewing machine. It’s beautiful. I flipped when I saw it at the flea market. I’m totally going to use it too.
Apr
17
Posted by : | On : April 17, 2013
This post is a random My Life update.
I’m coming up on my 29th birthday, which I actually find more than a little frightening, given that I still live with my parents. I thought I’d be married with kids and on my own by now… Life’s response was to laugh maniacally and stone me with lemons. Supposedly being struck with fruit doesn’t leave bruises on the outside but can cause internal bleeding. A very apt description of what happened to my life plans and goals. Although, I didn’t have unrealistic goals (being married and having kids), but it’s weird that the more far-fetched things came true: I’m published and buying a house by myself.
For the longest time, I thought I needed someone else (a man) in order to get my life started. I don’t know why I thought this. Or thought that I had to make myself perfect in order to have a relationship with someone. I’d always been insanely jealous of all those women who had obvious flaws (ie: crabby, obsessive compulsive, clingy, high maintenance, controlling, nagging, etc) that had stable relationships and I wondered why they had boyfriend/husbands and I didn’t… I try not to cling, or cry, or control, or nag, not just because its rude, but because I personally find it annoying when I do it. I think it’s also society’s programming: You’re nothing if you’re not spreading your legs for some man.
I don’t know, but I’m giving up on that. I’ll just be a self-rescuing princess and move to another castle on my own. And screw dating too. It’s obnoxious anyway. (I’ve got a theory that maybe I should date like I house hunted – find all the things wrong with it before making a decision of whether I can live with the issues or not. Besides, isn’t the definition of Insanity “trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results”?)
Back on the topic of reality rather than theoretical… After spending a year at my current position and feeling fairly stable there, I’ve decided to attempt independent living once again.
Apr
04
Posted by : | On : April 4, 2013
User: Help me write a story.
Cleverbot: A me chi me lo dice che non sei una donna?
User: In english. Help me write a story.
Cleverbot: May I ask on what sir?
Mar
28
Posted by : | On : March 28, 2013
I started watching Sword Art Online with my friend, Alexa, after she said she’d heard lots of bad reviews about it (She and I are a little weird like that. We watch the animes no one else likes). This anime is set in a time where a true VR game, that transports the minds of the players into the world entirely, predictably goes awry. When the creator of Sword Art Online hijacks the game at it’s opening, 10,000 players are trapped with no hope of escape until someone beats all 100 levels of the game. Removal of the VR helmet from a player will cause that player’s body to die, brain fried by microwaves the VR helmet uses to read the player’s mind. The main character, Kirito, is a young Japanese boy who was in on the beta test of the game and powered his way up to level 8 solo. Unfortunately, his previous knowledge of the game doesn’t quite apply anymore as things have changed.
I’d like to dispel some of those bad reviews. In today’s anime world, there’s an emphasis on boobs, guns, violence, and a lot of the time a de-emphasis of character development. Sword Art Online isn’t about the game itself, but about Kirito as he, an instinctive loner, lives through this horrifying experience of being trapped in a world that was supposed to be an escape. Along the way, he makes friends, and loses many of them, as Character death = Player death. Or so they were told. He has to deal with people who have gone insane, resorting to Player Killing instead of focusing on the goal.
This anime is more an exploration of how people would react in a situation where they don’t actually feel pain, everyone is armed, and not all of the ones who joined were serious players, but generally innocent bystanders. As that, Sword Art Online has masterfully captured the essence of humanity by distilling the population into a setting where there is no government, no rules except the laws by which the game itself runs, and setting them free to do as they wish. It harkens to Lord of the Flies, in a way, as most of the players are young and have the usual problems of being teenagers.
Sword Art Online focuses entirely on Kirito as he is inside the game world, breaking away from the themes most other animes in this genre run with, which show a duality between the game and the real world. It makes me wonder what the general population’s reaction to this is. What kind of backlash will this have on the game industry within the context of the story? Its fascinating. My only negative point is that the anime is more of an overview of Kirito’s struggles, rather than a day-by-day, which means that it jumps months between episodes sometimes. I’m pretty sure this is based off a light novel series, though, and perhaps the novels explain things a little better. However, the translation of novel to anime has been pretty good. I’m not too confused by the time skips, as it becomes apparent pretty quickly how far along in the game he is in each episode.
The animation quality is extremely good too. The characters are well animated, not just still shots of their heads with their mouth moving as the only action. The battle scenes, when they show them, aren’t repetitious kick-punch-kick-slash cycles and incoherent screaming for 20 minutes. Although this IS an anime where they could legit use “his power level is over 9000!” because they actually can see someone’s stats in their HUD. (This too makes me giggle as I think about how when the survivors escape, they’ll be so used to swiping their hand in the air and getting a menu that they won’t know what to do when it’s no longer available.)
Overall, I give it a 4 of 5.
Mar
18
Posted by : | On : March 18, 2013
The lure of vanity press profits has begun to pull in even more of the Tradpub industry. It started with Harlequin and a handful of smaller publishing companies and now it’s taken over Random House. It doesn’t matter to me that they backpedaled quickly once their horrifying contract was pointed out publicly. The fact is, they would NOT have done anything if they hadn’t been embarrassed. (You know, my motto is that if you’d be embarrassed if someone took a picture of you doing something, then maybe you shouldn’t do it?)
Please go read John Scalzi’s review of Alibi’s contracting terms. And Elizabeth Donald’s articulate response. Even though she’s still on the side of the Tradpub, she’s got some good points.
I’m convinced more and more that my decision to publish independently was the right move.
I’d still be the first to say that it’s not for everyone, and most authors honestly don’t know what they’re doing with editing, book formatting, or choosing cover designs. I’ve even got some things to learn. But if someone I would normally have sent my work to (and been very proud that they had accepted it) can offer me a contract like Alibi’s and call it “profit sharing”, then I don’t want any of that.
I’d rather languish forever unknown than sell my soul and first born to Random House for the privilege of PAYING THEM to publish my book (which they then own forever throughout the world). Also, in Scalzi’s review of the contract, I noted that nowhere did he say that the author was exempt from being liable for costs accrued by Alibi. Meaning that Alibi could rack up the costs of “publishing your book” and then turn around and say “You owe us X amount because we went over budget.” You may as well have gone to a vanity press at that point. They’re sharks, but at least they tell you “You pay $10,000, and then we print 1000 copies of your book,” and they give you the option to purchase their dubious editing and cover design packages. Alibi doesn’t even offer editing or cover design. So what if Publish America got a lot of flak for having contract terms that said they own the book’s copyright for 7 years. At least it’s not the LIFE OF THE AUTHOR +70 years. Or, you know, the LIFE OF THE COPYRIGHT, which when it comes to ebooks, is only forever.
Screw it all. If I’m going to have to do it myself, then I’ll do it myself and keep my book rights while I’m at it.
The tradpub industry is still harping on us independent authors, telling us we’re making a big mistake trying to forge a path by ourselves, and it makes me sad. How are we supposed to break in? You can’t get an agent’s notice without having some published work under your belt. However, the market for short fiction is dwindling. Those that are left are so inundated with submissions that even if they mean well and want to get to everyone who actually is worthy of getting published, they just can’t do it. You can’t get an agent without selling work first, and you can’t sell work first without an agent? Its just too much!
Mar
03
Posted by : | On : March 3, 2013
I was thinking the other day about how depressing working in general is. We go to work, slave away, and for what? Money. What do we use money on? Basic necessities that every human needs to survive. We work to pay for food, water, and shelter. But the thought occurred to me. What if we didn’t HAVE to?
What if the government provided to every individual a 1500 calorie balanced diet daily. Period. That’s what you get daily. But if you want pizza, or Chinese, or a fancy steak dinner, that’s on you. YOU can pay for anything extra.
This solves 2 problems:
1) obesity due to unhealthy eating/over eating
2) world hunger.
If enough food to survive on a daily basis is provided for free, then we wouldn’t have to be paid so much. This would mean that money was used for all of the extra things you might want in life, and also lead to less stress because you’re not so worried about whether your children will get dinner tonight. This would catapult society further forward in technology and art because it frees the human mind from worrying about basic needs.
Yeah. I’m sure there would be greedy bastards who steal dinner from their kids, just like there’re greedy bastards who steal their children’s credit and social security. But there will always be greedy bastards and the majority of everyone else will be taken care of. Maybe that’s what the government should be worrying about.
Instead of worrying about what I do with my uterus. Because I don’t think that’s anyone’s business but my own.
Feb
10
Posted by : | On : February 10, 2013
I have a tendency to ask too many questions when it comes to movies. As a result, I usually find them incredibly stupid, or I’m just too confused by the things that we weren’t meant to notice that I can no longer just sit and enjoy.
On the other hand, something that was supposed to be lighthearted ends up being a goldmine for unintentional depth.
Take Warm Bodies for example.
I went to see the movie with my best friend. It was an amazing movie and I giggled throughout the whole thing. Even after realizing it was a dressed up Romeo and Juliet story. That’s ok. Its a classic for a reason in this case. But what got me was the question of “why do the zombies need to eat?” The question is actually pretty valid because it’s stated in the movie that eating the brains of another person gives the zombie that person’s memories. Followed by the fact that these zombies can reverse their dead-state through the power of love, it seems to me that these zombies are Magic zombies, not Viral zombies.
If they’re Magic zombies, why do they need to eat at all? What drives them to hunger? Are they actually not really dead exactly, or are they in suspended animation? …of a sort. What about when R comes back? In his “Most Unsexy Shower Scene Ever” (this needs to be an award. I don’t know how much more unsexy that shower scene could have been) he’s shown as having several gaping wounds on his body, as well as several scars on his face.
My friend and I came to the conclusion that:
A) we were over thinking this way too much, and
B) the zombies have to eat because they have limited healing capacity. It is a slow process, but it requires energy. This is why R has scars as well as open wounds. This would also explain why the Bonies seem to be solid creatures, despite having no skin. Also this would make it possible for them to come back to life from ALL THE FEELS.
On a related note…
My best friend an I were doing a marathon of Season 2 of The Walking Dead.
I had to ask: Why do they eat?
This again is a valid question because that story arc with Sophia missing, they found a Walker and cut it open to see what it had eaten lately. Its insides were rotting. It had a black gooey mess instead of intestines. So if they don’t have the organs to digest food, WHY do the Walkers need to eat?
A) I’m way over thinking this.
B) my conclusion is that these are Viral zombies and the virus running the corpse requires energy to continue running the corpse. It isn’t actually the corpse using the food that has been consumed but the virus itself.