Nosebook. It’s such a time sink.
Social Media
posted in: animal friends, family, personal news
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Snow
posted in: animal friends, personal news
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On the wetland boardwalk near our house. Snow: It’s not just for shoveling.
Not Alone
For the last little while (like, since before the pandemic), the writing hasn’t been going so well. There are probably a bunch of reasons for that, some of which I might elaborate on someday (but not today). All I want to say today is that it’s nice to note once in a while that I’m not alone.
John Steinbeck was a pretty well-known writer-fella. Won a Nobel, I believe. He wrote in his diary, “I’m not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people. I wish I were.” Yeah. What John said.
On the other hand, one of my favorite nonfiction writers is John McFee. Great writer. He once said, “If you lack confidence in setting one word after another and sense that you are stuck in a place from which you will never be set free, if you feel sure that you will never make it and were not cut out to do this, if your prose seems stillborn and you completely lack confidence, you must be a writer.”
There. I feel better now.
Royalty Audit (Dog Fashion)
Captain Jack likes to go over my royalty statements for accuracy and clarity. Here’s what he thought of a recent one for Alien Speedway.* Fortunately, he didn’t audit the actual check. Still, this is a good argument for direct deposit.
It could have been McDuff. But I don’t think so.
He has also taken to chewing up bills. I’ve told him that you can’t get rid of bills that way, but I don’t think he believes me.
*The typical publisher royalty statement does not suffer much in clarity from being torn to shreds. They tend to be masterpieces of obfuscation even without the mastication.
The Good and the Bad of It
posted in: awards, personal news, Reviews
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My previous post notwithstanding, 2022 has gotten off to a pretty rocky start in the Carver household, due to some family members going through tough times. I’ll not go into details, for reasons of privacy. But several pieces of (professional) good news have come along to brighten the days, and I want to share those.
The first, I believe, was a lovely review of The Reefs of Time from Scribble’s Worth Book Reviews. They liked the book a lot. On their list of Pros and Cons, they gave it 9 pros and 0 Cons.
The second was my first review on TikTok, by a young man named Anthony Avina, also of The Reefs of Time. He too liked it lot.
The third was a wonderful short review of the Sunborn audiobook, on an internet radio segment called Sci-Fi Bookbuzzes with Bria Burton (scroll down to the little audio player to hear the review). That led to a subsequent on-air interview with PatZi, the host of the parent radio show, Joy on Paper. You can listen to the interview here.
Finally, and the biggest happy surprise of all, was word that I’d received the Helicon Society’s Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award, which I talked about last time.
These things are extremely welcome rays of sunshine.
But I’d trade them all in a heartbeat for things to be better for the people I love.
Helicon Award 2022!
posted in: awards, Helicon Society
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Happy New Year! I learned today I am a recipient of this year’s Helicon Award—specifically, the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award! I am excited!
The Helicon Awards are new to me, but I have learned that they are announced each year by the Helicon Society, “a collective of SF/F authors and other creators who subscribe to the Superversive approach to creating SF/F media and look to promote good quality sci-fi/fantasy…” It is something of an under-the-radar group, with no official public structure; the judges and membership are anonymous. Okay, I know one of them, Richard Paolinelli, a founding member. But the others are unknown to me. Whoever they are, I am immensely gratified that they have found my work worthy of a lifetime achievement award! Thank you.
Here are the past winners of Helicon’s Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award:
- 2019 – Jack McDevitt
- 2020 – Anne McCaffrey
- 2021 – David Weber
- 2022 – moi
I am delighted to join their ranks.
See the recipients in other categories here. Congratulations to all of them!
Merry Christmas, 2021!
posted in: animal friends, holiday greetings
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Wishing all of you the happiest of Christmases! It’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? Time for some quiet contemplation and good cheer, whether you celebrate the birth of Jesus as we do, or simply a good time to gather with people you love. Wishing blessings on all of you! Here’s our simple hearth for this year. Make me feel warm just to sit in front of it.
By the way, thanks to all who have asked: Captain Jack is doing great, following the surgery on his jaw. He looks a little funny, but his energy and personality are back full strength!
Live Interview on Lurking for Legends—8 p.m. EDT, Today
posted in: interviews
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I’ll be going live in a little while in a video interview with David M. Kelly and Richard H. Stephens, as part of their show, Lurking for Legends. What will we be talking about? I don’t know! But I’ll bet it has something to do with writing, and possibly lurking, and maybe even legends. Come join us—it’ll be fun!
https://www.facebook.com/RichardHughStephens/videos/441961747498329/
Update: You can watch the completed interview at that link. It’ll be on YouTube, also, but I don’t have that link just yet. (Because it doesn’t exist yet.)
Seriously, come on in. You don’t have anywhere else to be, do you?
A Haiku for Difficult Times
posted in: creativity, haiku, writing
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When the leader of a small group I am in suggested that we each write a haiku about our relationship with creativity, I had to look up what the pattern is for a haiku. (I am not a poet.) I stared for a while at the screen, muttering. Because, frankly, my relationship with creativity has been highly contentious of late, a lot of circling and snarling. Here’s what I settled on:
I chip at granite
Hoping to spark ideas
Ow ow ow—what’s this?
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Autographed Books for the Holidays?
posted in: Bookshop, my books, my Etsy shop, sales, specials, The Chaos Chronicles, The Reefs of Time
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Everyone loves autographed books! Especially sets of books. I know just where to start: The Star Rigger Bookstore…
…where you can buy complete, autographed sets of the entire Chaos Chronicles (to date) in evocative Starstream Publications trade paperback editions… or the first four books in first-edition Tor hardcovers. Or signed hardcover sets of The Reefs of Time and Crucible of Time. Or autographed copies of Eternity’s End, in the shiny new trade paperback, or the first-edition Tor hardcover. And much, much more. All (most?) at amazing, mark-down prices. (Truly amazing—that they are marked down, I mean.)
Don’t see what you want? Shoot me an email. There’s a good chance I’ve got it and just haven’t listed it yet.
In case you’re wondering, StarRiggerBooks is me, using Etsy as a platform. So you’ll get the same personal service, satisfaction almost guaranteed, by using the Etsy order form. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t know how to give impersonal service. I am my only underpaid employee. And I defy you to find a marketing algorithm anywhere in this store. Go ahead and look! Seriously. Look.
To all you USians traveling for Thanksgiving, travel safely and enjoy your holiday, I hope with family and treasured friends.