Facebook Down!

“OPB BREAKING NEWS: Facebook is down,” read a message on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s feed. “Worker productivity rises. U.S. climbs out of recession.”

But not really, because Twitter and Blogger are still working. 😉

Twelfth Planet Press

Whenever I find a new small publisher, I’m going to just toss it up on the ‘ole blog, mostly so I don’t forget it.

So here’s Twelfth Planet Press, “an Australian indie publishing company focussing on publishing innovative, fresh and exciting speculative fiction projects.”

Books:

Anthologies
2012 edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Ben Payne
New Ceres Nights edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Tehani Wessely
Sprawl edited by Alisa Krasnostein (September 2010)
Speakeasy edited by Alisa Krasnostein (April 2011)

Collections
A Book of Endings by Deborah Biancotti
Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres (September 2010)
Twelve Planets (starting January 2011)

Novella Series
Angel Rising by Dirk Flinthart
Horn by Peter M Ball
Bleed by Peter M Ball (September 2010)

Doubles Series
Roadkill/Siren Beat by Robert Shearman/Tansy Rayner Roberts
The Company Articles of Edward Teach/Angaelian Apocalypse by Thoraiya Dyer/Matthew Chrulew (October 2010)
Above/Below by Stephanie Campisi/Ben Peek (November 2010)

Novels
Robot War Espresso by Robert Hood (April 2011)

Submissions:

Right now they’re looking for novelettes and novellas. And fantasy short stories set in the Roaring Twenties. Cool beans.

Self-Imposed Deadlines Are Real Deadlines

>rant
I work from a home office with a large whiteboard. I put all my deadlines for the next three months on this board, with little boxes to check them off when I finish each item. I put my classes for graduate school up there, and also my writing projects.

I was speaking with a friend on the phone the other day and stressing a little because I was behind on one of my writing goals, which meant that the due date for another writing goal would be pushed up to coincide with a school goal. I didn’t want that to happen, so I dedicated a few nights to stay up until three or four in the morning to put in the extra work to meet the deadline. I still have to get up in the night to nurse, and then rise early to send the hubby and toddlers off to work/preschool, so that meant I didn’t get much sleep.

This had consequences. I was tired and grumpy, which annoyed my friend.

“You keep talking about writing deadlines, but you don’t have any real deadlines,” she said. “So why would you do that to yourself?”

Right. I can’t have real writing deadlines because writing isn’t real work.

No, no, she said. “But you can do it whenever you want and it doesn’t matter if you really do it right away or not.”

Look, I understand her point. One reason I want to be a writer is exactly so I can write whenever I want — but this means imposing my own deadlines, not escaping them.

The distinction may be fine, but it’s important.

It was especially frustrating because around the same time, a relative chided me for not being “focused” enough, and I should “get a real job.” You know, because being a stay-at-home mom with a three month old infant AND going to school AND publishing a book — not one of those counts as a “real” job.

I don’t say this often, but… screw you. I work damn hard. At real work. With real deadlines. And maybe the world doesn’t particularly value mothering, academic research or writing fiction, but that doesn’t mean the things I do have no value.

>/rant
Ok, on a more positive note, I was tagged with a Prolific Blogger award by Jai at Jai Joshi’s Tulsi Tree, and now I have to figure out who among the many awesome blogs I read am going to tag myself. I have to admit, I always worry a bit when I get one of these awards, because of the chain-letter/ponzi scheme pyramid structure of the meme. But I also feel really happy that someone thought of me, and no money or cursing is involved 😉 so I will pass it on. But first I have to think about who to choose! Argh! There are so many good blogs…. I’m thinking I might tag some of the blogs where I read but never comment, because I feel bad I never comment. Check here later for updates.

King Rolen’s Kin and Death Most Definte – Book Trailers of the Day

This is interesting because it uses computer animation, very well executed. This trailer was produced by Daryl Lindquist of R&D Studios. I especially like the way the trailer leads into the dramatic framing = book cover. Then the covers of the trilogy pop up in tempo to the ringing bells while snow continues on the black background. Nice.

This trailer has only one problem; it’s a problem with the cover too.

Who is the author?! The name is so small I couldn’t read it after several replays. I don’t want to have to expand the video to full screen just to know who wrote this book, it should be splashed across the screen for my Lazy Reader convenience.

Ok, ok! I expanded the video to full screen.

It’s Rowena Cory Daniels. Her Facebook slogan is, “Pour your heart and soul into your books in the hope that other people will want to read them!”

Amen.

* * *

R&D Studios does some classy work. Here’s another one, for Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson.

Looks good, Trent!

If Ghengis Khan Had Written Fiction…

Steps So Far

I promised I’d be transparent about my indie venture, Conmergence.

Here’s what I’ve done so far:

Cover Art: $65 (for stockfootage), about 16 hours labor

Website: $99 (one year Wix Pro site), about 12 hours labor (there is more to do)