And I wonder why I don’t have TV

This came to my attention from two better authors I follow.  Apparently, there was more, and the Oscars decided they were going to tear down someone in grade school.

Really? Have you no class? I mean, I heard a little bit about the whole ‘boobs‘ thing on the radio the following day, and my response was “Hollywood knew what they were getting when they picked MacFarlane…” because, I guess in a way, I’ve just become accustomed to Hollywood’s incredible double standards (Kind of like how Brave is apparently cutting-edge! But that is another rant) combined with the force of humor I have on day job, stupid kinda bounces off like water-off-a-duck. I was surprised Lincoln didn’t sweep because the establishment likes their historical porn, but it still didn’t change my mind about not seeing Argo. Thankfully, I’m not alone in a world of crazy.

I won’t go into the feminist rant about the sexualization of girls of color. Don’t need to, because it’s been done better elsewhere by people who lived through much of the same. Quvenzhane, I didn’t watch the show (even if I had TV, I probably wouldn’t have). but you didn’t deserve that one iota. I for one am ashamed of the establishment for you. Your movie looks awesome, by the way, so if I can’t find it when I head back to the city on the weekend, I suppose I’ll have to order it from Amazon or something.

FYI, I have a TV, but I have movies and series on DVD, not tv channels.

Cover Reveal: The Twelve Dancing Priestesses

Before anyone jumps the gun, this is a short story (well, for me – the original draft was around 13000 words, I slapped it around to under 10,000 to make it marketable, which I might add in terms of shorts is still considered long) so even though I’ve got a bunch of unsigned novels on the backburner, I’m not that fast as to put out more then one novel a year. Check this out, it’s purty:

It’s almost like Ellen and Co. know what I cover snob I am. I’m having a hard time picking it over ToO as my favorite (because I think they nailed that one too) but I just love the crows. Or are they ravens? Heck, I love the illustrative feel and the color – but the birds make me smile.

In other news, I guest appeared on Rita Bay’s Author’s Desk. Check it out here.

I normally try to keep my opinions to myself on some things

But really?

If you didn’t click on the link, a conservation officer shot a wild deer that was kicking it with some Hutterites. Thing is, Manitoba is crawling with deer – come to think of it, last time I was strawberry picking at Connery’s, they had a deer wandering around munching on berries and I was all like, “Eh, I used to live in Charleswood… the deer look both ways across the street before crossing.” The magic of deer wore off some time long ago – they’re about as interesting to me as squirrels now.

Maybe it’s just because I’ve seen over a half-dozen moose and seven black bears this year, but I really don’t think deer are all that dangerous. Furthermore, tons of the guys I know hunt, my partner wants to take up duck hunting because of his dog, so it’s not like I’m opposed to hunting, either (I don’t understand the appeal to be honest when I can go to store and pick up food, but eeeh). This was just an act of arrogance.

I know that it’s a wild animal and should be treated as such… but… really? I’ve had a deer growl at me because I scared it (I was giving it on a path this summer in the City – not in the bush where I should be meeting these critters) but these things usually just run off. If they’re not afraid of humans, it’s not a terrible thing, either.

Blog Hoppin’

Celia Breslin, one of the authors I interviewed around Christmas time (well, in the bonus round, anyway…) interviewed me over at her blog. 

In random musings, this is just an observation not so much for my book so much as others I’ve written – I noticed when I was searching out reviewer blogs and I noticed something I hadn’t before. I like that we actually have terms like “YA, Middle Grade, Adult” but this “New Adult” is throwing me, but only because I seem to read sci-fi/fantasy books (and write them, for that matter) where there is no “New Adult” in their society – sort of like how teenagers can get married and reach majority at a young age (there is no ‘finding yourself’ in the dystopia de jour), I’ve written books where age of majority is sixteen, and I know I’m not the only writer who does this; a friend and I were arguing as to whether or not it was content that deemed whether or not George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire were YA or not (my argument was that even though I didn’t doubt lots of thirteen year olds read the book, they could in no way be directly marketed to them due to content, even though we have considerably younger viewpoint characters in the books – if you disagree, feel free to throw it in here) so I have to ask – what, by definition, is New Adult, and can, for example, a character who would normally be considered a teenager in our world still have that definition in a different context where they’re forced to grow up quickly? (I’m not referring to ‘I raised my siblings as my own’ so much as ‘I joined the army at sixteen, got married at seventeen, had babies at eighteen’; the novel starts when the character is 20, has buried a child/spouse/parent and is, by all definitions in that world, an adult).

Once again, this has got nothing to do with the current novel, so much as me meandering for future projects. I always considered the expressions marketing terms.

Second Thoughts/Jitters

Even though we were delayed, for whatever reason I’m now having the ‘And why would anybody read what I have to say?’ thought process – which happens ironically not when I get in front of people but whenever I hand a project in – I can handle you face to face or in a crowd, the thought of later freaks me out a bit.

Eh, I talked about the irony of not being scared of running into a burning building but scared of doing badly at it years ago with my friends, so assume I’m over it and I’m just being dumb. I’m not promising anyone perfection, and there’s no accounting for taste, but this isn’t like following a protocol or direct orders, so I’m in kind of  “Where’s the Manual?”

So yeah – as of tonight, I’m an author in the ‘Here’s a book I wrote” sense. And even though I don’t agree with vandalism and general tomfoolery with other authors, I was updating my reading on goodreads and I saw my author dashboard – and I had to take a picture on my phone:

I don’t know what happened – the actual page was normal – but I approve! (It is since back to normal – I will once again stress: I don’t condone vandalism, especially in regards to other writers who are precious and so are their books, but I’m calling that guy Kale from now on).

In other news – my publisher found a way for us to pre-purchase e-copies of books and sell a product to a person on the spot rather then the “I’ll download it when I get to a computer” scenario – here’s a shot of one of the copies I bought, put with a soon-to-be-phased-out-Canadian-Penny for your reference (of both size and, for future generations, pennies).

I’m pretty excited about the idea because they take up a lot less physical space then books and, while I have zero issue at say, Winnipeg’s Comic Con or whatever helping someone do an online purchase, it’s an actual physical product that I can sign, people can keep if they want or they can toss if they don’t. The idea came from downloading music, so if you’re looking for a way to sell your virtual product in person, check out http:///www.dropcards.com. I don’t know how many other of the Burst/Champagne authors took advantage of this deal (my sister, upon finding out about this, told me I should have bought double what I did. She has a degree in business, BTW.)

And if you’ve read this much so far, fellow author Cotton E. Davis interviewed me about a week and a bit ago. Check it out here.