I'm off to MileHiCon

MileHiCon starts in a few hours, and I'm just about to leave. This year I've opted to not stay at the hotel. I thought it would be a good way to save money, although I will miss out on some of the room parties. So, I will be checking in from time to time, but don't expect too many posts over the next couple of days. If I have the energy, I'll post daily updates, but we'll see.

I will try to get some pictures while I'm there...a lot of that depends on one of my friends actually making the Con.

I'm definitely looking forward to renewing some friendships, meeting some people I've only known on-line, and just meeting a lot of people.

See you on the flip-side...

The Henry Rollins Show

Last night I went to the Henry Rollins show here in Denver. I can honestly say that I'm a bit sore today from laughing so hard. He's not a stand-up comedian, but he's actually a lot funnier.

His comments and stories about Bush, Bill O'Reilly, Trent Lott, Sean Hannity, Karl Rove, Condoleeza Rice, and the rest of the Neo-Cons that have almost destroyed this country had me almost rolling in the aisles. His constant references to Bush as "My President" were hilarious.

He also talked about his recent trips to Syria, Lebanon, and Iran. His reasons for going there were because he wanted to meet the people. Too often, we Americans make the assumptions that the people of a nation necessarily support their leaders, and reflect the morals and ideas of their leaders...which simply isn't true. I think most Americans, at least 71% based on the last polls, would be highly offended if some foreigner said that about Americans. Most of the people he talked to in those nations said that they loved America and Americans, but they didn't like our leader, and in the case of Iran, the people said they were afraid of America because they're pretty sure that we're coming to kill them...and of course, by "we," I mean our government.

There were several former (or maybe current) G.I.'s in the room as well, and his stories about visiting soldiers that had been wounded in Iraq were very moving, and he also talked about his USO trip to the Middle East during Christmas. One of the guys even approached the stage (much to Henry's chagrin) and tossed him a card for Iraq War Vets against the War (or something to that degree).

All in all, the show was great. I seriously thought my friend Vik was going to pass out from oxygen deprivation because she was laughing so hard at times.

My only complaint would be the theatre. We had really good seat, row K, but instead of the usual theatre seats, we had padded fold-up seats...and the rows were very close together. I'm 6'2", and it was very hard to find a place to put my legs.

That's a lot of words

I was just going back through my blog entries, and I realized that it was one month ago tonight that I started working on the new book. In that time, I've written more than 40,000 words. I'm sure there are some writers who would think that's kind of trivial, but that's a pretty impressive flow for me.

I've felt like I wasn't writing as much as I should, but when I sit down and realize that it's 40,000 words in 30 days...well, I'm not sure what to say other than way to go me!

Tomorrow Night

Tomorrow night at this time I'll be on my way to downtown Denver for the Henry Rollins spoken word show. I found a great clip from his show on IFC where he talks about re-writing history.



I think it's certainly true that we've done our best to re-write history throughout, well, throughout history. Even when I was a kid, I can remember people referring to Indians as savages, and even though I'm starting to gray a bit, it really wasn't that long ago. They've been savages, noble savages, victims, it all depends on what time in history you're hearing the facts. Although I think this is one we can agree on...they were definitely victims, and most of them continue to be victims. This is actually an underlying subplot in the novel I'm working on.

Because the Soviets were our allies in WWII, Russia is often portrayed as being a paradise under Stalin, when in truth, Stalin was almost as brutal as Hitler...we just can't look at it that way because we were working with him. It's kind of like how Hussein was our buddy during the Iran-Iraq War, but then he became a brutal dictator and a supporter of terrorism with huge stockpiles of WMDS...sorry, getting off course.

History is written by the victors they say, and I guess history is re-written by whoever is in power. It will be interesting to see how history portrays Bush and his cronies. Hopefully they'll be portrayed as the criminals that they are.

Over 40,000

I broke through the 40,000 word mark on the novel. In theory, this should mean that I'm half way through this beast, but the truth is, I'm well past the middle of the book...which is going to lead to some problems. It's very difficult for me to imagine pulling another 40,000 words out before the end.

My main character has already begun to undergo his transformation. At the beginning of the book, he's a sniveling little shit that most people will feel sorry for at first, and then they'll just want to slap him and tell him to grow up. At least that's what I'm going for. However, he is now starting to get through his grief, and starting to stand up for the things he believes in. For this to be realistic with the conclusion I have in mind, he has to do his thing here really soon, otherwise it will just be him being strong, and people will wonder why he still isn't doing anything to change his life.

Another character has just gone through a major trauma that puts her clearly on the path I need her to be on...something she was kind of refusing to do for a long time...so she's going through the change she has to go through.

So, pulling out another 40,000 words will be difficult. The only solution I can see is that when I go back to do the first re-writes, I will have to add some scenes earlier in the book. I can already see one of them, but I really have no idea what else I can do to expand it.

As well as this novel has been flowing out of me, I have a feeling the solutions will present themselves clearly to me when I begin to look for them.

Dumbledore is Gay

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, JK Rowling revealed during a reading at Carnegie Hall this week that the headmaster of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels is gay.

Now, I have to admit that I'm not really a Harry Potter fan. I haven't read any of the books, but I have seen the movies...other than the last one, which isn't out on cable yet...as far as I know. I will admit that I liked the first movie, and I've thought that each movie has gotten steadily worse. Yes, I know that the movies are probably nothing like the books, but I don't really plan on reading the books any time soon.

Now, why do I bring this up? A lot of people on various speculative fiction forums have been discussing it, so I figured I'd weigh in. Plus, in less than a week I will be at MileHiCon, and I can just imagine some cosplayer is even now as you read this busy at home working on a Dumbledore in drag costume. Plus, using that title in a blog entry is likely to generate some traffic. I learned from Keith...give me a break!

In some ways, I think this revelation will hurt the book some, at least in America. There are already large elements of the Christian Right that are opposed to this book because it promotes witchcraft and Satanism (which are not necessarily linked, no matter what the CR might tell you.) In Europe, I don't think anyone will care because they're not quite as morally freaked out as we Americans are.

My hope is that this might teach young readers some tolerance, and maybe that will help to grow more tolerant adults...we certainly need them. I don't have a problem with a gay character in a children's book. They are a part of our society and should not be marginalized like the Right would like for us to do.

I was talking about this with a kid at work yesterday. He's sixteen, a huge Harry Potter fan, and he's gay. He thought it was a great thing, but he worried that some people would look at Dumbledore's relationship with Harry and try to draw some sort of pedophile conclusions from that...because we all know that all gays are pedophiles. Where do people get those kinds of ideas from? Oh yeah, the Christian Right.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Anyone else feel like weighing in?

And just so you know, if you post an anonymous comment slandering me for my views without identifying yourself, your post will be deleted. At least have the courage to let the world know who you are if you're going to attack someone's viewpoint!

Gore and the Peace Prize

I've been debating whether or not to discuss this, but as someone who considers himself a Green, I feel I have to...

My first reaction to hearing that Al Gore had won the Nobel Peace Prize was, "Are you Serious?" After sitting and thinking about it for a long time, my second reaction was, "Are you Serious?" Well, that just kind of kept going.

Already we've seen people on both sides (are there really only two sides) of the political debate weighing in on this. From the Left you've had a lot of comments about how much he deserves the award and how great it is to see an environmentalist win the award. From the Right, you've mostly gotten derision, including several people talking about the relevance of the Prize given that Yassar Arafat won it. Hey, no award is perfect. The first ever Grammy for Heavy Metal went to Jethro Tull...people do get things wrong. Of course, the Right wouldn't feel this way if Bush had won the Prize...wait, let me come up with someone from the Right that's a little more likely to win...I'm thinking....I'm thinking...I'm thinking...well, anyway, you get the point.

Now, here's my take, I think it would be great to give the Prize to an environmentalist, but Gore is not a Green. Yes, he obviously is more concerned about the environment than the typical American, but he is still a part of the political system that thinks it's ok to sacrifice the environment for the sake of big business, no matter what his movie might say. The "Inconvenient Truth" is that Gore is just another cog in the system. When push came to shove during the Clinton administration, Gore sided with Big Business, again and again.

Maybe he has raised public awareness about global warming, but I think the melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and dying polar bears have done more than Al Gore. Not to mention the continued desertification of the world, the dying forests, and all the other problems that too many people are willing to stick their head in the sand about.

So, my reaction to Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize continues to be, "Are you Serious?"

Crazy Colorado weather

Yesterday we had a high of 80. It was just three degrees short of a record. This morning at 7:30 I was awakened by the crack of thunder, which is kind of strange, since we rarely have thunder in the morning. It's almost always an afternoon phenomenon around here. So, I got up to look out my window, and it was snowing.

That's right folks, we're getting our very first snow of the season, and that makes me very happy. I love the snow. Of course, thunder snow is kind of a strange thing, but it's Colorado...what would you expect.

Today is actually my day off. Imagine that, a rare Sunday off. There will probably be a few more blog entries later in the day, as I try to clear some things from my cluttered mind.

For now, I'm going to enjoy the snow...

My final MileHiCon schedule

This should be my final schedule for MileHiCon Oct. 26th-28th.

Friday 8-9 in the Atrium
Autograph Alley

Saturday 10-11 Mesa Verde B
Get to Know the Small Press

Saturday 11-1 Mesa Verde B
Break out session...a chance to talk to editors from a variety of publishers. I'll be representing Sam's Dot Publishing.

Saturday 3-4 Dealers Room
Autographing along with Carol Hightshoe and Maggie Bonham

Sunday 2-3 Wind River B
Reading, along with Rebecca Rowe

Hope to see some of you there. If you need a copy of my novel, go to Amazon and order a copy.

Over 30,000

I broke the 30,000 word mark tonight. I'm still pretty sure that the rough draft will come up short of the 80,000 word goal, but as long as I come close, I should be fine. As I've often said, my writing is very sparse in the rough draft, so I should be able to go back through and add some detail to get more length. For some reason I'm still doing too much telling in this book. I'm going to have to work on that in revision. A lot of what goes on in the book is in the character's heads...what they're thinking is often more important than what they're doing. Maybe that's why I'm having the problem.

Still, at least I'm once again putting words to the page...

White House hypocrisy

Click on the title of this entry to read what I think is the ultimate in White House hypocrisy. The article basically talks about how Condi is pledging that the White House (and America) will support Russian activists because as she sees it, there is too much power concentrated in the Kremlin.

Don't get me wrong, I think she's right that the Kremlin has too much power, and I also agree that the way Russia has rolled back democracy is not a good thing, but in my humble opinion, there is now too much power concentrated in the White House. Even with the "democratic" Congress, Bush and his cronies are still basically getting whatever they want, and democracy has been rolled back in our country as well...maybe not as drastically as in Russia, but things can always change.

Let's keep in mind that the Patriot Act, and several Presidential Orders since the passing of the "Patriot" Act make it possible for the current administration to declare martial law in this country, and although it has always been possible to do this, they've made it much easier for themselves. If we ever have another massive terrorist attack in this county, we might well see that the White House is a lot more powerful than any of us can imagine.

MileHiCon addition

For those of you planning on attending MileHiCon, I just wanted to let you know that I have now been added to Autograph Alley on Friday night from 8-9. This is immediately after the opening ceremonies.

AA is basically just table after table of authors waiting to sign stuff. This is one I was really hoping to get...so I'm quite happy now!

New Story posted

I haven't posted a new story on my website in quite some time, so I decided I would change that...especially since there's a good chance that I'll see a huge jump in hits just prior to MileHiCon...as I always do.

This story has only appeared in a print issue of Aoife's Kiss, so there's a good chance that you probably haven't seen it yet.

So, click on the title of this entry, and read your little hearts out.

The new book

So, people have been asking me about the new book I'm working on. If you're actually interested in the subject, I'd suggest you visit my LiveJournal at http://jerwine.livejournal.com. I'm talking about it quite a bit there, and just a few minutes ago, I posted an excerpt of what kind of came out as stream of consciousness writing.

So, if you're interested, you know what to do...

The White House and Protesters

If you click on the tile to this entry, it will take you to an article from The Washington Post that talks about a manual the White House uses as policy for keeping protesters away from Bush.

I already knew that they did their best to keep him away from dissenting views. A guy I used to work with talked about going to a rally for Bush (he was pro-Bush,) and they were encouraged to shout down anyone supporting Kerry, to steal signs from people supporting Kerry, and to point them out to security so that they could be removed.

Now it is true that all politicians do their best to avoid protesters, especially when they're on the campaign trail, but to actually have such extensive policies in place seems absurd.

As an example:

"The manual offers advance staffers and volunteers who help set up presidential events guidelines for assembling crowds. Those invited into a VIP section on or near the stage, for instance, must be " extremely supportive of the Administration," it says. While the Secret Service screens audiences only for possible threats, the manual says, volunteers should examine people before they reach security checkpoints and look out for signs. Make sure to look for "folded cloth signs," it advises.

To counter any demonstrators who do get in, advance teams are told to create "rally squads" of volunteers with large hand-held signs, placards or banners with "favorable messages." Squads should be placed in strategic locations and "at least one squad should be 'roaming' throughout the perimeter of the event to look for potential problems," the manual says."

It's difficult for me to imagine most politicians going to these lengths. Yes, they have their private dinners, where only hand-picked people get in, and I'm sure other politicians do their best to discourage dissenters from being at their speeches, but I seriously doubt that any of them are as serious as this!

It makes you wonder if they're trying to protect the president from knowing that people don't like his polices, or if they're trying to make the rest of the world think that there are no dissenting voices in America...it's probably a combination of both, as well as several other factors.

Neil Young's Let's Impeach The President

You might have to watch the video a couple of times because there's a lot going on in it. Although the song has some great things to say, I can't say I really like it that much...but the message makes it worth posting...

My MileHiCon schedule

I just got the preliminary schedule for MileHiCon, and it looks like Saturday is going to be a very busy day for me!!!

Here it is...

Saturday 10-11 Get to know the small press

Saturday 11-1 Break-out session (this is an opportunity for people to talk to small press editors and publishers)

Saturday 3-4 Book signing

Satuday 6-7 Reading

I'm still hoping to get a seat at Autograph Alley on Friday night, but it's already pretty packed, so we'll have to wait and see...

Over 10,000

I blew through the 10,000 word mark on the new novel today. At this rate, I'm pretty sure I'll have the rough draft done by the end of the year. I always love the creation part...it's the revision that seems to kick me in the butt.

10,724 / 80,000 (13.4%)

The King Arthur Test

Even though I don't watch very many movies, I've obviously seen this one far too many times...

Your Score: King Arthur

You scored 85Worthiness!

You're King Arthur. Charged with the nobel task of finding the grail by God himself. You know exactly what you're doing and you're on top of every situation. "It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeator of the Saxons, sovereign of all England!" "The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!"

Link: The Monty Python & The Holy Grail Test written by Silent_Tiger on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

The Covey Awards

Voting for the Covey Awards for October has now begun. This is a monthly contest that judges books by their covers, and this month, The Opium of the People, and its great cover by Laura Givens are nominated.

Go to http://thenewcoveyawards.blogspot.com You can vote for "Most Eye Catching" and "Most Relevant." Laura and I would appreciate your votes in both categories...and of course, you should also buy a copy while you're at it!