Ultrasound at 34 weeks

We went for an ultrasound this morning. The tech of course can't give us any info, so we'll find out if everything is ok when we go to the Dr. on Thursday. The baby is currently weighing in at 6lbs. 10 ozs. plus or minus 1 lb., and it looks like it's in the right position.

So, here is the baby...

Banned books week

Banned Books Week starts today, and I think everyone should go out and read a banned book this week. Here's a great list of books to start with:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm

I don't necessarily have a problem with people trying to keep books with excessive sexual content in them away from children. We wouldn't let our kids read those types of books, but it's our decision as parents to keep them away from our children. The biggest problem I see is that most books are banned not because of sexual content, but rather because they portray political or religious ideas that are frowned upon by certain conservative groups. To me, this is misguided. If we are to survive as a nation, then we must have access to books that show us how things could be. 1984 or Brave New World are not advocating the types of societies they portray, but rather they are warning us about the dangers we could face if we continue down the road we're on. These books shouldn't be banned for this...they should be praised!

Do yourselves a favor and read a banned book this week. Meanwhile, I'll continue to write material that could be banned. Let's face it, if The Opium of the People had ever become a bestseller, it sure as hell would have been banned, and when Red Moon Rising comes out, it will probably ruffle a few feathers as well.

And all I have to say to that is..."So What?"

Reviews

This entry is geared more towards readers than writers and editors, but I think most writers and editors would agree with what I have to say.

When a reader finishes a book, the most important thing they can do (especially if they liked it) is go to Amazon, or any other site, and review the book. Reader reviews do more to help a new book than any promotion, especially with small press titles. With large presses, a new book might have a couple of months to gain a following, but in the small press, the time is much shorter, and all small press writers are dependent upon people reviewing our work. Sometimes even a bad review can help, but obviously we prefer the good reviews. If a potential reader can read a well thought out review from an objective reader, they're much more likely to take a chance on a small press book. Most readers assume that if it's small press, the author must not be very good, but this isn't always the case, and a well thought out review can convince them to buy the book.

I think it's also important to actually review the book...not just rate it. Giving a book a star rating without saying anything about it doesn't really help...especially one and five star ratings because that just makes other readers think that someone was either being a prick (one star rating) or is a friend of the author (five star rating).

Those are just my thoughts on book reviews, so if you've read something that you liked recently, please go and review it. One review can do a lot for a small press author and several reviews can make a career...so help the small press writer out, even if it's not me...

Clarification on The Baby Game

As many of you know, we're holding a little contest to guess the date of birth and the weight of our little one, but we've had a few questions about the contest, so I decided to clarify them here. First of all, in order for an entry to be considered, it must be made at:
http://jalanerwine.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-game.html.

The criteria for winning:
Only guesses that get the date right will be considered. After that, whoever is closest to the baby's weight will win. If things are still tied, whoever guesses the baby's gender correctly will be the winner.

All entries must be received by October 15th...and there is no entry fee.

Hope that clears up some of the questions.

An Ephemeris Discussion Board

We've created a discussion board for players to talk about the Ephemeris RPG, and to see what we're up to. If you're interested, you can find it in the links area at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm

I'm not really sure how much interest there's going to be in the board, as we certainly aren't one of the BIG games out there, but there does seem to be a growing interest in the game, so we figured it was worth a shot...

Ephemeris is a bargain book at Amazon

Apparently the core rulebook for the Ephemeris RPG is currently a bargain book at Amazon. This means that you can get the book for $2.96 at the moment. The rulebook is over 400 pages, and it has everything you need to start playing the game.

I'm not sure how long this sale will last, so if you want a cheap copy of the core rules, you need to act soon...

Ephemeris at Amazon

Kindle price increases

Apparently Amazon is reorganizing their royalty structure. As a result of this, the price on two of my Kindle titles, Seedlings on the Solar Winds and The Opium of the People, will be going up tomorrow (9/15). Right now, they're priced at 99 cents, so it's really a great deal, but obviously you need to order soon...

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

The Opium of the People

A sale, a sale

Recently I posted that I'd written a YA SF short story, and it was the first short fiction I'd written in quite a while. Well, I just got news that the story has been picked up for the April 2011 issue of Beyond Centauri. This will be my second appearance in this magazine...and I know people might find it strange that I sometimes dabble in YA SF, given the type of stuff I usually write, but whatever outlet the muse wants, it gets...

The Ephemeris Supplement Bundle

There's now a bundle of e-books available from DriveThruRPG that are a must have for anyone currently playing Ephemeris. You can order The Ephemeris Supplement Bundle at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=84030.

Included in this bundle are:

Ephemeris: Critters and Pests
The Expanded Ephemeris Equipment List
Necessity's Call
The Ephemeris Species Compendium
The Law Enforcer's Sourcebook
The Scientist's Sourcebook
The Soldier's Sourcebook
The Trader's Sourcebook

All of these are available for just $25. If you already own the Ephemeris core rulebook, then this will be a great addition to your game.

School fundraising for the kids

Both of our girls recently got their fund raising kits for their school. They seem to do this a couple of times a year. This year the oldest came up with the idea that I have lots of friends on the Internet, and I should see if they wanted to buy anything. I tried explaining that many of my friends have kids of their own, and I also tried to explain that money is very tight for everyone right now, but neither of them would be dissuaded...and it is very hard to say no to kids when they try so hard...

So, if anyone is interested in buying items to help my kids' school, here are the links to do so...

http://www.eZfundraising.com/customer/customer.asp?evtId=81064&parId=140630

http://www.eZfundraising.com/customer/customer.asp?evtId=81064&parId=140708

We do ask that if you're going to buy more than one item, to please split them between the kids because if you have kids, you know what's it's like if one gets more of something than the other does.

Also, all orders have to be in by September 20th. I don't know why they don't give us more time on this.

Thanks for reading this...

I said short fiction!

Since finishing my last two novels, I had decided that I wanted to spend some time working on short fiction...so why is it that I find myself plotting out a new novel today?

Stupid brain!

Share and share alike

I've now made it possible for readers of this blog to share my entries on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever else they might want to. So, if you think I've actually managed to say something that others might be interested in, or if you think some of my work looks interesting, please feel free to use those share buttons...

The first appointment of the month

We had another Dr's appointment yesterday. Things are still looking good. Rebecca isn't suffering from anemia or gestational diabetes. She did lose a pound which has prompted the Dr. to put her on a prescription for her heartburn. Hopefully that will help clear it up and she'll be able to eat better. She's been so exhausted. Everything is so hard for her, and I feel very bad for her.

Here's a pic of the belly that I took two weeks ago...



There's still a little bit of time left to get in The Baby Game if you're interested. Simply go to http://jalanerwine.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-game.html and make your guesses. The entries close on October 15th...and that's not too far away.

In other news, I had a job interview yesterday and things look really good for me to be going back to work in the next couple of weeks. It would only be part time, but we need the extra cash, and if we decide to switch things up with our work roles next summer, I need to be in a job soon so we can make that happen.

August Recap

Here's what I was talking about during August...

A busy few weeks ahead of us

The Genre Mall

Respect your editors and publishers

Time flies, or does it?

Just Because

Diesel e-books

Another Dr.'s appointment and a baby shower

Red Moon Rising release date

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 4 on sale

Wondorus Web Worlds Vol. 4 on sale

Sam's Dot Publishing has placed Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 4 on sale through The Genre Mall. You can order it for $10 with no shipping & handling, but the sale only lasts through the end of September.

For those of you that are new readers of this blog, the Wondrous Web Worlds anthologies are the best of the web collections that Sam's Dot puts out each year. They feature the best poems and stories from Sam's Dot's on-line zines, as voted on by the readers. This is an anthology that I edit, but in this particular issue, there is also a story from me..."Lost in the Dark."

You can read a complete write-up of the anthology, and of course order copies by going to http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#www4.

Red Moon Rising release date

The original plan had been to try to get this book out by MileHiCon, which is in less than eight weeks, but with last minute edits, and changes to the Sam's Dot Publishing schedule, that's just not doable, and I'm ok with that. I'd rather they put out the best version of the book that they can, as opposed to rushing the book.

So, the official release date for Red Moon Rising will be February 1st, 2011. I'll be bringing you more details about the book as we get closer to the release date.

Another Dr.'s appointment and a baby shower

We went to another Dr.'s appointment yesterday. Rebecca had to do the glucose test for gestational diabetes, and I know any woman who is reading this and has had to go through this just gagged. Everything is still looking good, although when the Dr. went to do the Doppler test so we could hear the heartbeat, our overly active little spaz of a child kicked the Doppler. It had us all laughing.

Today is the baby shower. Luckily it's not going to be a typical baby shower. It's just going to be a bunch of people sitting down and eating together. I don't think either of us could have put up with all of the ridiculous shower games...

Diesel e-books

Three of my books are now available from Diesel e-books. You can find them here:

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

Marionettes on the Moon

The Opium of the People

Just Because

A few years ago, Sam's Dot Publishing released a trade paperback that I edited called Just Because. This book was a collection of poems, essays, and stories by ProMart founder James Baker. For those of you that don't recognize the name, Jim, and his little publishing house ProMart, were responsible for helping a lot of writers get their careers started...including me. ProMart even published the works of a future Hugo nominee...so Jim obviously had an eye for talent.

I'd been editing for a while for Jim when he sent me a story by an unpublished author by the name of Tyree Campbell. This would be the first of many stories we would publish by Tyree, and when Jim was stricken with cancer, and we knew he wouldn't make it, it was Tyree who stepped up and took over the company...creating Sam's Dot Publishing.

After Jim's untimely death, I put together this anthology, and we released it as a trade paperback. Now Nomadic Delirium Press (the publisher I now run) has released the book as an e-book. You can get a chance to read some of Jim's works, and maybe get a sense of who he was. The book is also peppered with commentary from the people who knew him best...his ProMartians, as he called us...

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/21599

Time flies...or does it?

I'm still having trouble believing that the oldest started the fourth grade last week. Even harder to believe is that the youngest (soon to be middle) started kindergarten. It seems like they didn't even have a summer vacation.

Next Saturday (the 21st) will be our baby shower. This also will mark our three month anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married for three months. It seems like we just said, "I do."

At the same time, however, tomorrow marks the start of the third trimester for our next little nerd, which means we still have 12 weeks until the due date. It seems like Rebecca has been pregnant for almost a year, and I'm sure it seems even more so to her...given how sick she has been through this whole pregnancy.

So, is time flying, or is it dragging? I really have no idea...