Sharon Mock's journal

(Still around.  Life is stressful.  More regular posting will return when I'm ready.  No idea when that might be.)

First of all: fair warning.  I am angry.

I recommend swan_tower's post for context, http://swan-tower.livejournal.com/489896.html.

I knew there was going to be pushback against Smith and Brown.  And I knew what forms it would take.  "You're just doing this for the publicity/drama."  "You're lying/exaggerating/misinterpreting."  "You're just bitter/angry/irrational/untrustworthy."

"You just can't admit that your books just aren't very good."

I wasn't entirely expecting that pushback to be made by an agent and a publicist, in public.  But neither am I surprised.

Why could I predict?  Because I know what happens when fans criticize pros, when reviewers give bad grades to books, when authors dare to imply that an agent/editor/publisher hasn't given them a fair shake.  Because I have that damn bingo card embedded in my head.

That bingo card reminds me not to criticize my superiors.  It's a very bad thing.  I'd like to get rid of it one of these years.  But for now, this is what I've got.


No wherewithal for comments, I'm afraid.

Here's a hint:

The yelps and howls from the kennels announced the end of Verona's lunch as surely, and as loudly, as any bell or buzzer ever could. Visitors, she thought at first, come to St. Edgemarry's to find themselves a special pet. But no, the commotion wasn't nearly frantic enough. Russ--Dr. Bernicke--must have decided to come in, though it wasn't his day to do so.

Was he still Dr. Bernicke if he was here off his schedule? That was one of the bits she hadn't yet worked out in her head, and not, if she were to be fully honest with herself, anywhere close to the most important one.

Yes, I've finally started revising Her Hollow-Boned Desire. (I wrote a prologue earlier, but somehow--I'm not quite sure how this works--that didn't feel like revision.) This new first scene isn't perfect, of course. I know I'm not getting the incluing quite right, for example. But I'm doing so much better than the previous draft.

Expect more frequent updates soon-ish. I intend to get back to the daily accountability updates as soon as I have my feet a little bit more under me.

A heaping spoonful of awesome poetry signal-boosts:

1) shweta_narayan is crowdfunding poetry to raise money for Clarion San Diego. Go take a look, chip in some money, enjoy the poetry goodness.

2) rose_lemberg is editing Stone Telling, devoted to literary speculative poetry. She's open for submissions now. If you have any interest at all, bookmark this site--it will be awesome. Trust me.

3) Okay, so this is less of a signal boost than an opportunity to share something cool. This is my favorite of the poems voidmonster collected for a recent poetry salon. For those with especially strong eye squicks, a trigger warning might not go amiss... though I had no problems with it, obviously. Enjoy!

One of the downsides of being in this weird quiet transitional state is that I tend to emerge only when I have good news to report, turning this into a de facto brag blog. Still, I know at least some of you are reading to keep track of what's up with me, so:

"Attar of Roses," my first published story, is now available in podcast form at Podcastle. w00t!

But what I'd really like to do right now is boost the signal ofThe Open Source Women Back Each Other Up Project & Gentlemen's Auxiliary. Because I'm one of the lucky ones. When I was young and timid and insecure at my first con, and didn't know how to discourage this one guy who had latched onto my company as though he were drowning and I were a life preserver, somebody had my back. Somebody noticed I was uncomfortable and came over to help me out.

I've tried to pass it on, as best I can. I hope the rest of you do, too.

... that five links make a post.

1) jimhines recently put up a very timely post about introversion and the cost of social exposure. As somebody who is both an X-treme Introvert and pathologically shy (which I doubt comes as a surprise to anybody who's met me), I find it comforting to know that the Internet can be daunting even to people who--like Jim Hines--stick their neck out on a regular basis.

2) Recommended listening: NPR hosts a streaming version of Shearwater's new album, The Golden Archipelago. "Shearwater is fearless in its seriousness and often awe-inspiring loveliness: As The Golden Archipelago finds him examining humanity's complex relationships with nature, Meiburg's whispers can hit like screams, and when he screams, the effect is so clean and graceful, it's strangely calming." seajules, though it occurs to me that I have no idea whatsoever of your taste in music, this seems like music for you nonetheless--the sound of a storm-swept sea.

3) I will be at ConDor at the end of the month. I will even be on panels. Come one! Come all! Start a pool on how often my brain will lock up!

4) Last bit of "Armature of Flight" news: if you're interested in reading what I have to say about the story, there's an interview up at Fantasy Magazine.

5) And finally, my poem "Alexander von Humboldt Visits the Moon" has been nominated for a Rhysling Award. Let it never be said I don't know how to bury the lede, but too much good news all on top of each other just leaves me feeling... awkward.

So "The Armature of Flight" is now up at Fantasy Magazine.

It's also available in podcast form. Read, in a spectacular bit of OMG-this-world-is-small, by one of my classmates from grad school, who I did not realize until last night is now a slush reader for Fantasy Magazine.

For those of you who care about such things (one way or the other, I suppose), the story contains Language. I know, I know. You are all shocked and appalled.

(And yes, this is the story that ties into the novel I'm currently revising.)

I did not, in the end, delete my Amazon account, for purely selfish reasons: the whole delisting thing was already claiming way too much space in my head. And, well, I've been using Amazon from the very beginning, and I remember too clearly when they were cool! and neat! and making the Internet a more awesome place, and canceling my account would have made me Sad, and it just wasn't worth it.

That said, they've permanently crossed the line between the normal suckiness of big business and the bad-faith anti-competitive behavior of companies like Walmart. So--like Walmart--I won't be using Amazon any more except when there are no other good options.

Alas.

(And I realize this makes me an evil greedhead, but I still don't understand why the digital version of a $30 hardcover book should cost the same as the digital version of an $18 CD. But that's an entirely different rant, and one from which I shall refrain...)

I'm hoping there's a reasonable explanation for Amazon's pulling of Macmillan titles.

Unfortunately, given that they have apparently pulled a similar thing before, against the same publishing conglomerate, for similar reasons, I am not at all optimistic. (ETA: Two different conglomerates, actually.  I confused Hachette (Random House) and Holtzbrinck (Macmillan).)

Possibly I should bookmark this link. I suspect I'll be using it come Monday.

Starting the year off right: PodCastle has accepted "Attar of Roses." Squee!

Other than that, the year goes steadily, though I could have lived without the disruption involved in the introduction of termites to the joy of sulfur and fluorine. Everything consumable that wasn't in factory-sealed bottles or cans had to be double-bagged; we used this as an excuse to be ruthless in paring down the collected kitchen cruft. Then we were sent out into a Major Rain Event. Fortunately stellatangdele and davecycle offered their guest room--can't thank them enough.

So the kitchen's now in rather better shape than I'd intended, though there's still bits of unpacking to do here and there. All the short stories are out there searching for loving homes; still haven't screwed up the courage to do the same for the poems. As for the three general "resolutions" -- read MOAR, cook MOAR, exercise MOAR -- two out of three's not so bad. Maybe I can count the kitchen work as exercise?

Finally, Hal Duncan puts his money where his mouth is and turns down the BSFA non-fiction nomination. If you haven't yet, do follow the link and see why.

Ink: Off Netflix. A super-indie, ultra-low budget, independently distributed urban fantasy about Storytellers (who do not actually tell many stories) and Incubi (who do not actually seduce any women) battling for the sake of a single small child. If this sounds glurgy, well... you're not wrong, but it has a sharpness to it that keeps it worth watching. I was pleasantly surprised but not overwhelmed. Those of you less cynical than I will probably like it even more.

Avatar: All full of pretty. (I might have a weakness for geeky men with long braided hair.) Grace rocked. (I might also have a weakness for the prickly and difficult.) Would have liked the Na'vi to have in some way differentiated themselves from generic tribal culture. More than that, would have liked Sully to have been a wee bit less inutterably stupid.

Sherlock Holmes: An Aerogel of a movie, with great deftness and not an ounce of subtlety, driven by high-octane sex appeal. The perfect movie to see for New Year's with a group of good friends.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: I saw this yesterday and am still making sense of it. I strongly suspect this isn't a movie for the uninitiated. But Terry Gilliam is the director, and Tom Waits is the Devil, and if either of these things make you want to see the movie, you should definitely go.