Monday, March 26, 2007

Rothfuss Interview

Tonight, I posted the e-mail interview Pat and I conducted with Patrick Rothfuss. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out; I wasn't surprised that Mr. Rothfuss's responses were very much in the same tone as his protagonist Kvothe.

In sports news, I'm happy to see the Rutgers Women's basketball make it to their second Final Four under coach Stringer. Baseball season is less than a week away, though this will be the first season in many years I will not have a fantasy team to manage. Lastly, the NHL season is becoming very exciting - the Devils and Penguins are neck and neck for the Atlantic division lead. I've a feeling this is how the Atlantic division will play out for the next few years, or at least as long as a goalie named Brodeur is between the pipes in NJ and a kid named Crosby is wearing black and yellow.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Lucky Day

Yes it is snowing here in New Jersey. But today is something of a lucky day. On my way home from work, driving on the barely plowed roads (thanks NJDOT, although the roads were much worse during the February storm), I was listening to the only terrestrial radio station that plays the music I really like, 89.5 WSOU. I've been listening to the station for almost 20 years know, since my middle school and high school years when I really began to enjoy Heavy Metal. As is typical with the station, they announced they would be giving concert tickets to a caller within the hour. I kept the radio tuned to the station, hoping the giveaway would occur before the signal crapped out, which often happens as I get closer to home. When they played the latest song by Shadows Fall, I realized the contest would be next. After a couple of unsuccessful attemps (they often give tickets to caller #89) I won! So, in April I'll be seeing Shadows Fall and Lacuna Coil at the Roseland in NYC, probably my favorite small-scale concert hall in the area. However, it has been about 10 years since I saw a concert there.

I also had tickets ordered for Godsmack today, they'll be at the Hammerstein in May.

When I checked my e-mail, I was told I'd be receiving a copy of Scott Lynch's forthcoming Red Seas Under Red Skies - W00T!

And to top off the day, Mrs. Blog o' Stuff baked a batch of home-made Chocolate Chip cookies.

After an insane week at work, Friday turned out to be a nice little surprise of a day.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Writin' & Ramblin'

I finished up Tim Powers' pirate novel, On Stranger Tides a couple of days ago. I liked it quite a bit, even if the ending wasn't as strong as the first 2/3rds of the novel. It was a cool mix of pirates, magic and history. I think I need to read more of Tim Powers' books.

I also posted my latest review today, One Million A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois and published/offered by the Science Fiction Book Club. The book is a couple of years old. In fact one of the stories, Charlie Stross's Missle Gap was (or will be) offered in a limited edition by Subterranean Press.

In beer news, I recently had Samuel Adams' White Ale. I don't recall enjoying it, or rather I was somewhat noncommittal in my taste. However, in the past I had it in bottles, this time I had it on draught and it was suprisingly delicious.

I've been plugging away daily at the new story I'm writing, or rather the story I started many months ago and picked up last week.

Lastly, baseball season is just 'round the corner and Alex Rodriguez just cannot keep his mouth shut.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Heart-Shaped Review

I'm taking a break from my pirate story for now and returning to a story that's been gestating in my head for some time. This one is a first-person narrative and for whatever reason, I am feeling more comfortable writing in this voice. Time will tell, I suppose, but this (as of yet unnamed) character speaks to me every day, begging for his story to be told.


Oh yeah, I posted my review of Joe Hill's debut novel, Heart-Shaped Box. I liked this one very much, Hill threw a lot of elements together that really appealed to me. I loved 2oth Century Ghosts and this one almost as much.

Friday, March 02, 2007

The Ship Has Yet to Sail

The Pirate Vette won't be joining the good crew of Fast Ships, Black Sails edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. Considering it was my very first ficiton submission, I can't say I'm too surprised. This is even more true when I saw that stories by Elizabeth Bear and Kage Baker had already been accepted, in addition to my near-deadline submission.

Oh well, I'll keep plugging away.