My Small Salon
So I hosted a cream tea on Friday. George R.R. had urged me to do something to welcome Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer to Santa Fe and to give them a chance to meet some of the cool people who live here. George also wanted to show off my house which is very beautiful...
Adaptations — The Magicians
I've done a lot of adaptations. It's a tricky skill, but fun. You have to take from the underlying material the essential themes, the emotional sense of the work, keep the characters relatively intact, but be willing to make changes because film and print are two...
Back to Bond… James Bond
I just finished watching Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace back to back. Guess what -- Quantum isn't a bad movie. The problem was that it was the second half of a movie that got broken into two parts. Quantum seems to pick up like one day after the end of Royale,...
Dialog and Internal Dialog
I’ve been doing my final rewrite of the second novel in my space opera series. I’ve only got a couple of chapters to go before it’s as cooked as I can get it. Late this afternoon I went back to a scene that had stumped me earlier in the day. I realized I had used...
The Cardinal Rule
Money flows to the writer. Not from the writer. That's the rule. Remember it. Tattoo it on the back of your eyelids. Nothing makes me angrier then when I hear about an aspiring writer who had paid someone a lot of money to read their manuscript and comment. These...
Due Process in a Superhero Universe
Tuesday night George and I were having a long conversation via text. (Yes, Mr. Wordstar is a texting monster. He’s the reason I had to go with unlimited texting.) Truthfully we should have just picked up the phone and talked, but oh well. Anyway, GRRM wanted to...
Comparisons
After writing for most of yesterday and staying warm while the rain and wind battered the house I decided to spend the evening on a movie binge. Guardians of the Galaxy was on followed by Avengers -- Ultron. Boy is Guardians a _much_ better movie than Ultron. There...
Sticking the Landing
I'm tiptoeing up on the final chapter of the next novel in the Imperials series. Usually approaching the end of a novel feels like a toboggan ride, but this one has me groping my way toward the conclusion. I think it's a combination of things. I can see the final...
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I went over to the Cinépolis last night for a second watch of The Force Awakens, and I’m ready to discuss the movie. There are going to be a SPOILERS so if you hate SPOILERS and if for some reason you haven’t managed to see this film yet don’t read anymore because...
Tesla — The First Five Days
I thought I would give a report on my impressions about the Tesla. First, I'm a car person. I've loved them since I was a kid. The faster the better. I want them sleek and fierce. I want them to look like they're going 100 miles an hour when they're parked. My...
