Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi I’d listened to Lock In by John Scalzi, because Wil Wheaton read it. I was a big fan of Wil Wheaton’s performances in the audiobooks of Ready Player One and Armada by Ernest Cline. (Both are excellent books, if you ask me. Super fun and highly entertaining!) So I searched for other books that WW had read, and found Lock In. It was a great book. When Agent to the Stars popped up on…
I’m slogging my way through Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith. Most of my reading is done via Audible, and this is no exception. I have the book on Audio. I’m four hours in out of an 11 hour, unabridged reading of the title. Jane Austen’s classic has been enhanced by Seth Grahame-Smith, and is read by Katherine Kellgren. I wanted to read the book before . Confession: I hate zombies. I hate everything to do with zombies.…
My darling husband and I had a wonderful time last night at the California Academy of Science in San Francisco. Their Nightlife program, combined with SF Sketchfest meant that science was funny last night–for grown-ups only. The 21+ event was held at the California Academy of Science from 6 to 10pm, and included some pretty awesome guest speakers and comedians. (We took this picture outside of the “Africa Hall” because my younger daughter has a slight obsession with Giraffes. More…
What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman I was recommended this book by my cousin’s wife. And though I love her dearly, I’m not sure I was a big fan of the novel. A story split in two times, What She Left Behind follows 17-year-old Izzy in the 1990s, and 18-year-old Clara in the 1930s. Izzy’s foster parents work for a museum and bring Izzy along with them on an exploration of a state-run insane asylum that has been…
My in-laws are so talented and creative! My Father-in-law loves paper crafting, my Mother-in-law is a textile design artist, and my Sister-in-law (and soon-to-be Brother-in-law) is an illustrator. I feel completely inadequate when it comes to everything visual art related in their company. (I can’t even draw stick figures right! They always come out crooked.) Here’s hoping that my daughters inherit their artistic skills from that side of the family! To complete their paper craft holiday scene, my Father-in-law invited…
For those of you who don’t know, my husband works at Wikia. (OMG how many times have I used Wikia in my RP/Fanfiction days?) I was invited to come along to the Wikia Holiday Party, which was Game of Thrones themed. Thankfully, hubs and I just caught up on GoT, so we weren’t spoiled by anything at the party. This was a chance for me to go out and have fun without kids underfoot, and also to see some of…
I very nearly gave up writing this month. Well, not entirely. I very nearly gave up wanting to publish my writing this month. I received a “this novel will never sell” blow from someone who “knows the business.” At that point I had to decide if I was writing for me, or if I was writing for a career–for other people–to get published–to become a traditionally published author. And then I decided I was writing for me. I will still…
I was at the Algonkian Write to Market Conference from November 12-15, 2015, in Corte Madera, California. The conference was held in Corte Madera, California, and I have to say, I’m super glad that I went. I will be writing a more comprehensive review, covering every aspect of the Conference I can think of… but I won’t bore you with the details. Here I’ll just post a few pictures and tell you guys what an amazing experience I had. You…
This post is to serve as an apology to my readers, and as a notice of hiatus for the month of November. I am participating in NaNoWriMo 2015, which is a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, and I am attending the Write to Market conference by Algonkian Writer Conferences in Corte Madera. I will, of course, be writing about my experiences with both, but for now I need to focus on getting my NaNoWriMo word…
I have the pleasure of being a close friend with Michelle Gould, who works as a freelance video editor. She’s incredibly talented, incredibly friendly, and incredibly kind. One of her jobs is editing “Happy Hour with Cameron Stiehl,” a YouTube channel dedicated to making the world a more open-minded and understanding place “one cocktail at a time.” Cameron does interviews with celebrities who are in the LGBTQ community and around San Francisco, where the interviews take place. It was an…