Email Woes

April 17, 2013 at 6:06 pm

My e-mail is down again. Happened last week for most a day, then somehow fixed itself. Now it’s happening again, and does not seem inclined to get better.

I get my email through Mozilla Thunderbird. When I log onto Thunderbird, I can see that I have lots and lots of new mails, but whenever I try to open one… or scroll down, or do anything else… Thunderbird freezes and goes non-responsive. It has happened over and over again. Nor will the damn thing unfreeze unless I turn off the computer and reboot. A real pain. I’ve rebooted a dozen times, run half a different virus checks, and nothing. Tried booting up Thunderbird in safe mode, no help.

And of course this happens when Ty if off. Ty is my in-house computer guru. The computer always breaks down when he’s away, never when he’s here. And he won’t be here again till Monday.

So if you’ve sent me an email, don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer. You won’t get one. Not till Monday, best guess. Unless a miracle occurs.

I hate this damn machine. And Windows. And Thunderbird.

If only I could send email with DOS. DOS never fails me.

FIXED. For now, at least. Thanks to Stephen, the Gandalf of Computer Wizards, from Oz.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: computer woes, everyday life

LOWBALL Done & Delivered

April 12, 2013 at 4:23 pm

Another monkey off my back…

This time it is a hideous mutant joker monkey. LOWBALL, the twenty-second volume in the ongoing Wild Cards series of shared world anthologies and mosaic novels, is finally complete, and has been delivered to our editors at Tor.

The lineup this time:
!œThe Big Bleed,! by Michael Cassutt, starring STUNTMAN,
!œThose About to Die,! by David Anthony Durham, starring INFAMOUS BLACK TONGUE,
!œGalahad in Blue! by Melinda Snodgrass, starring FRANCIS XAVIER BLACK of the NYPD,
!œTies That Bind! by Mary Anne Mohanraj, starring MICHAEL STEVENS of the NYPD,
!œCry Wolf! by David D. Levine, introducing THE CARTOONIST,
!œRoad Kill! by Walter Jon Williams, starring GORDON THE GHOUL,
!œOnce More, for Old Time’s Sake! by Carrie Vaughn, starring EARTH WITCH, CURVBALL, DRUMMER BOY, and JOHN FORTUNE,
!œNo Parking!¦ !œ by Ian Tregillis, starring RUSTBELT.

Special thanks this time around to Melinda Snodgrass, who stepped in heroically to help with the editing on this one when I was being crushed beneath the weight of other deadlines. I could not have pulled this puppy together without her.

LOWBALL will likely be released by Tor in hardcover in summer, 2014. More details when I have ’em. Our main man, Michael Komarck, is already hard at work on another spectacular cover.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: anthologies, wild cards

Dark Sword Strikes Again

April 7, 2013 at 11:39 pm

My friends at Dark Sword Miniatures in Minnesota have released some terrific new figures in their range of Ice & Fire miniatures.

Here’s Strong Belwas, sculpted by the incomparable Tom Meier and painted by the amazing Jen Haley.

5072_f1_p

And here’s his travelling companion, Arstan Whitebeard, who may be more than he seems. Another Tom Meier sculpt, another Jen Haley paintjob.

5073_f1_p

The latest batch of “GRRM Masterworks” also includes Ser Jorah Mormont, Lady Margaery Tyrell, two new ladies of the court, and a battling brother of the Night’s Watch, all by Tom Meier, and Balon Greyjoy of Pyke, sculpted by Jeff Grace. To see them all, and lots of other cool minis besides, visit Dark Sword’s own website at http://darkswordminiatures.com/

Current Mood: null null

Tags: a song of ice and fire, dark sword, miniatures

RIP Roger Ebert

April 5, 2013 at 1:15 pm

I was very saddened today to hear of the death of Roger Ebert.

Roger (somehow I think of him as ‘Roger,’ not ‘Ebert,’ though I never met him in the flesh, and spoke to him only once, by telephone, in the early 1970s when both of us were young and dinosaurs roamed the earth) has been my favorite film critic since forever. I did not always agree with him, but I always found him insightful and fun to read. He was not just a terrific critic, he was a terrific WRITER. His shows with Gene Siskel, SNEAK PREVIEWS and SISKEL AND EBERT AT THE MOVIES, were must-see TV for me. A hundred other teams have tried to recapture their magic, but none came close.

He was One of Us too. A fan, and an SF fan at that. In his youth, he wrote for fanzines, and he even published a few short SF stories in Ted White’s AMAZING and FANTASTIC along about the same time I was publishing in those selfsame magazines. If he had not gone on to be the world’s best film critic, he might well have been a successful SF writer.

A brilliant man, a good life. I give him two thumbs up.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: life and death, movies

Lone Star GRRM

April 4, 2013 at 1:05 pm

For those of you who couldn’t make it to Texas for Aggiecon and Deeper Than Swords last month, the good folks at Texas A&M and the Cushing Memorial Library have thoughtfully videotaped my speech and uploaded it to YouTube.

So if you’d like to hear more about how a Jersey boy came to deposit his papers and manuscripts in College Station, you can hear all about my strange connection to Texas here:

<lj-embed id=”351″/>

Enjoy.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: comic books, fandom, friends, writing

Season Four!!!

April 3, 2013 at 11:09 am

HBO has officially renewed GAME OF THRONES for a fourth season. (And I’m almost finished with the first draft of my script. No, sorry, not going to tell you which one it is).

http://tv.broadwayworld.com/article/HBO-Renews-GAME-OF-THRONES-for-Fourth-Season-20130402

Record ratings for our season three premiere, “Valar Dohaeris.”

http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/04/01/game-of-thrones-premiere-ratings-3/

Also (sigh) record levels of piracy.

http://www.thewrap.com/tv/column-post/game-thrones-premiere-breaks-piracy-record-83526

On other topics… no, no, Peter Dinklage is NOT being replaced by Warwick Davis in the role of Tyrion. That was just HBO’s little April Fools joke. (I was so busy I forgot to make my own April Fools joke). So calm down, boys and girls. Peter is still with us.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Season Three!!!

March 31, 2013 at 11:50 am

Tonight’s the night!

The wait is over.

Season Three is at hand.

Be sure to tune in. Even those of you who “don’t have HBO.” HBO is doing a big promotion this weekend, so it’s free on many cable systems and satellite services right now.

I have seen episode one three times now, at various premieres, and I think it kicks ass. I hope you all agree. Season Three bids fair to be the strongest to date.

For those new to the Not A Blog, let me add my annual disclaimer. I hope you watch the show, and I hope you talk about, all the things you liked and hated… but not here. This is not the place for critiques, discussions, theories, whatever. There are dozens of other places on the internet better suited for that, so post your thoughts on Westeros, Tower of the Hand, Winter Is Coming, Television Without Pity, or any one of the myriad other sites that welcome such.

Time to buy the beer and order that pizza for the premiere.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: game of thrones, hbo

Wildfire v. The Doctor

March 30, 2013 at 3:51 pm

GAME OF THRONES will be taking on The Doctor this year in the Hugos… and FRINGE as well.

LoneStarCon 3 just announced this year’s Hugo nominations. “Blackwater,” the ninth episode of the second season, has been nominated in Best Dramatic Presentation – Short Form. That was the episode with the wildfire and the big battle, I am sure you all recall, written by yours truly (with considerable help from showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who added one of the shows’s best original scenes) and directed by Neil Marshall. We’ll be up against an episode of FRINGE, and no less than three episodes of DOCTOR WHO, which has owned the Short Form category for most of the past decade.

Blackwater-Game-of-Thrones

The full list of nominees can be found at:

http://www.lonestarcon3.org/hugo-awards/index.shtml

The Short Form finalists:
Doctor Who:”The Angels Take Manhattan” Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who:”Asylum of the Daleks” Written by Steven Moffat; Directed by Nick Hurran (BBC Wales)
Doctor Who:”The Snowmen” Written by Steven Moffat, Directed by Saul Metzstein (BBC Wales)
Fringe:”Letters of Transit” Written by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Akiva Goldsman, J.H.Wyman, Jeff Pinkner. Directed by Joe Chappelle (Fox)
Game of Thrones:”Blackwater” Written by George R.R. Martin, Directed by Neil Marshall. Created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss (HBO)

Thanks to all those who sent in nominations, whether you nominated us, or someone else. As I have said time and time again, the nominations are in many ways the most crucial part of the process.

Should be an interesting contest. I haven’t seen any of the last season of DR. WHO, so I don’t know which of those episodes is the strongest contender… but the Whofans are many and formidable, so I figure we are rather a long shot to upset the Doctor’s applecart. I know even less about FRINGE. But hey, you pays your money and you takes your pick, and the Hugos fall where they may.

Congratulations to all the other nominees, and my thanks to David, Dan, Bryan, Neil, and all the rest of the great cast and crew who make HBO’s GAME OF THRONES the hit it is.

wildfireblackwatergot9

Current Mood: null null

Tags: hugo awards

Website Revamp

March 26, 2013 at 7:01 pm

By popular request… a complete redesign and revamp of my website debuted today.

Same content. New look. More bells, more whistles, more functionality (we hope).

There will be a few bumps as we ease through the transition, but we should have everything smoothed out and running well before too long.

Let us know your thoughts.

Current Mood: null null

Tags: website

The Beast

March 16, 2013 at 10:34 pm

Here’s another taste of Season 3, courtesy of HBO.

Enjoy.

<lj-embed id=”350″/>

Me, I am off tomorrow for the Hollywood premiere on Monday night. Should be cool.

Maybe it will help me forget all the stress I have been under of late… too many damn deadlines, all of them urgent… sigh… someday I will have time to stop and smell the roses, kick the severed heads… but not now…

Starting tomorrow it is LA LA LA SF TX TX TX TX and then home… where all the work and all the deadlines will be waiting for me, along with a pile of mail three feet high and maybe a thousand new emails…

Current Mood: null null

Tags: game of thrones, hbo, writing

Not a Blog

Email Woes

LOWBALL Done & Delivered

Dark Sword Strikes Again

RIP Roger Ebert

Lone Star GRRM

Season Four!!!

Season Three!!!

Wildfire v. The Doctor

Website Revamp

The Beast

Latest Month

Recent Posts

Syndicate