Nervous? You're not meeting the Prez

DFTBA. (Nerdfighter Salute)

Okay, many of you won't get that, but those of you who follow John and Hank Green, the VlogBrothers, will know that it means "Don't Forget to Be Awesome," and that if you Nerdfigher saluted me back, you're supposed to fight World Suck by making the world composed of more awesome and less suck.

John Green was invited to join a Google+ Hangout with the President. As in, Barack Obama, president of the United States. 

He made a vlog about how he felt about the upcoming talk. You know how you're nervous about big events before they happen? How you focus on trivial things? You're not the only one.

Green reassures us that it's okay to be nervous. Most people deal with the same thing.

Here's the vlog:

Tea Time: Earl Grey Supreme

Earl Grey Supreme Reviewed by: BecTea
Type of tea Black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects and Aroma Flavor Aspects: Natural Aroma: Rich and delightful
Where I got it John Greenhow Store	Cost $8.95 per 1/4 lb
How I brewed it Just boiling water over a mesh tea basket. Steep 3 minutes. Sugar & milk added. For a single cup I used a tsp of loose leaves and 2 1/2 tbsp for a whole pot.	Rebrewing notes Just as good as the first time, steeped twice as long.
Review Earl Grey Lovers Unite! This is the smoothest Earl Grey I've had the pleasure of tasting. It was wonderful in the morning, made a refreshing tea with lunch, and was good cold with a little sugar when I had some left in the pot! It is a classic breakfast tea but I think it is delightful in the morning and all afternoon long. It is labeled as "an early 19th-century blend of fully fermented black teas with a tangy, pungent note introduced by bergamot orange oil." I found it in Colonial Williamsburg, Va at the John Greenhow Shop. Do not lament! You can buy it online at Williamsbugmarketplace.com. This tea does not disappoint! Get it online or start planning your road trip to VA because this tea is worth it.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Tea Time: Festivus

Festivus Reviewed by: Juturna F.
Type of tea Black, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects and Aroma Flavor Aspects: Floral, Spicy Aroma: Orange and Cloves
Where I got it Tin Roof Teas (It's a holiday tea.)	Cost Somewhere between $7-$10 for 250 grams (can't remember exactly)
How I brewed it 3 tsp in a tea strainer, hot water from the break room coffee machine poured in until 12oz mug full, steeped for 2 minutes.	Rebrewing notes A little lighter colored on the second brew, not quite as strong in flavor. Didn't try a 3rd brew but I expect it wouldn't do well.
Review I expected a darker brew from a black tea, but it's fairly light even on the first brew. But since it's got at least as much in the way of other ingredients as it does tea leaves, that's not entirely a surprise. There are actually dried orange peels in this one. Despite the poor rebrewing, it's a pretty good tea, with half the pleasure in the scent. Spices include black tea, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and pink peppercorn; it also includes orange and apple pieces. I'm pretty certain the black tea is just so you can say it's caffeinated, because I barely taste the tea at all. However, I happen to like the smell of orange and spices, so I like this tea. If you enjoy fruity herbal teas or Bigelow's Constant Comment, you'd probably like this one, too. I honestly haven't tried the latter, so I can't tell you exactly how they compare.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Fangirling! Brandon Sanderson

Harriet McDougal and Brandon Sanderson sign books. I squee.

One of the two times I've been to Dragon*Con, I went as an Aes Sedai. If you've read the Wheel of Time series, you know what I'm talking about.

You also know Robert Jordan, the primary author, passed away before finishing the epic fantasy series. Fans were saddened by this news (understatement of the century). However, a new author was chosen to finish the series using Jordan's notes: Brandon Sanderson.

I actually picked up and read his Mistborn trilogy before I found out about that. It was fantastic. And I've liked every other book of his I've read (Warbreaker, Elantris, The Emperor's Soul, The Alloy of Time). I stopped reading the series after Jordan passed away, though, because I wanted the last books to come out before I finished (I knew I'd have to reread the whole thing anyway, so I figured rereading it all once was enough). A Memory of Light, the 14th book in the series and the long-awaited conclusion, is now out, courtesy of Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan('s in-depth notes).

So when I heard Sanderson was going to be in my state, I packed up and headed out to Quail Ridge Books to fangirl in person.

Also at the signing was Jordan's editor at Tor, and later his wife, Harriet McDougal. They spoke, and they're both good speakers.

We learned that much of the beginning and ending of the 14th book was Jordan, while the middle was mostly Sanderson. We learned Sanderson's technique for getting into the head of the characters was to read the last scenes Jordan had written from their points of view, and then show the product to McDougal, who having edited the first eleven books could advise if it was ready or needed work to be in character. We learned that McDougal could always tell whether her husband had been writing a villain or a hero just by how he walked into the room, and that Jordan had been particularly vehement against the idea of others writing in his universe--but that he'd been insistent that the series be finished. Sanderson disclosed to use which scenes in which books had been written by Jordan ahead of time and which were him (the Matt scenes in 12 were mostly Jordan but Sanderson in the next book; Perrin mostly Sanderson in 13, and so forth).

(Despite a disclaimer at the beginning in which Sanderson politely asked that no one reveal any spoilers, there was the inevitable moment when someone made a comment "But I wasn't upset when _____ died, because I didn't like the character in the first place." If you've never heard a hundred people groan in spoiler annoyance at once, it sounds like the agonized cries of marathon runners when they arrive after months of training to discover the race has been changed to a 100 meter dash. Sanderson strongly but politely reworded his request for no spoilers, which said guest, having arrived late and apparently lacking in common sense, had missed by coming in late.)

It was a fantastic talk, and could have gone on forever. However, then we would never had gotten any signed books. So we adjourned and the signing began.

While we waited for our books to be signed, the staff of the bookstore had created such amusements as a crossword puzzle, a trivia game, and a game in which the name of your character was sticky-noted onto your back, and you had to identify your character by asking those around you only yes or no questions. (I was Masema! >.>  <.<  >.> And no, I did not try to convince anyone to marry strangers.)

Quail Ridge Books does a fantastic job of signings. They're organized and have a great and efficient process in place to move fans through lines while still giving each person a chance to really talk to the authors. The store staff were great, willing to stay open late, and the volunteers (who'd entered a contest to be allowed to volunteer, and seemed to be having the time of their lives) were friendly and happy to be there.

And I was especially impressed that Sanderson took the time to point out that signers would have plenty of time to grab a bite to eat between signings (thanks to the store's system of signing and a limit of 3 books per run through the line), and he promised he wouldn't leave before 10:30. I was very impressed with how considerate he was towards his fans and also towards everyone who worked there, everyone whom he interacted with. Both he and McDougal seemed to be genuinely nice people, and so it was a pleasure to attend the signing, not just for the books but to meet them.

Also, after his talk, I think I know what inspired him to write The Emperor's Soul (which I devoured in the same day I purchased, nom-nom-nom!). I can't help but think that must be how he felt, digging through Jordan's notes, trying to recreate the work of a master. "I've learned so much," he said over and over again. "This experience has made me grow as a writer." Humble, considerate, and a great writer: it's a powerful combination.

The same goes for McDougal: funny, charismatic, and deeply devoted to her husband, I could hear her love for Jordan in her voice when she spoke, as much as the passion for the series she spent years editing. With her there, it was like Jordan was in the room as well.

I'm thrilled to gotten the chance to meet Sanderson and McDougal, and if you ever have the chance to hear either of them speak, do so. 

Publishing Industry News

Publishing news and relevant industry blogs for 2/9-2/22. Okay, so I'm exhausted as I'm finishing this up, which means there's a good chance I've missed something. If you can find something major that I should really include, please toss it in the comments and I'll update Saturday morning!


Industry News

Indie booksellers sue Amazon and the Big Five  ("Six") over DRM. Basically, they're saying that by signing agreements with Amazon that restrict the devices on which the e-books produced can be read, and since the same deals have not been offered to them, competition is being limited. By Kindle books being only readable on the Kindle, and all e-books sold on Amazon only being Kindle-compatible,  the companies have created an environment in which the vast majority of readers who want to purchase a book produced by the Big Four will purchase a Kindle--cutting the indie retailers out of the picture. The indie booksellers are asking for an injunction against Amazon to prevent the addition of DRM to Amazon-purchased e-books. (As a Nook owner, I would love to see the dumping of DRM from Kindles. Do you know how many books I don't read, because the authors are only on Amazon? I just don't like reading books on a computer.)

Meanwhile, Amazon increases their funds to 2.2 million for the e-book borrowing pool. That means publishers and authors stand to make more money than before if they choose to allow their e-books to join the borrowing community. Publishers who join the KDP Select program are allowed to have their books put into this pool, and any book borrowed generates a small royalty fee that goes to the publisher (I think that means it's considered part of the author's earnings). KDP Select requires any book offered in it to be available only on Amazon, and not through any other e-retailer.

In the DOJ lawsuit versus the Big Five, Macmillan throws in the towel and decides to settle as well, leaving Apple the only defendant. The Macmillan settlement is scheduled to go to the U.S. Department of Justice to be approved by July 8. Part of this deal would be $20 million to go into the fund to reimburse e-book purchasers.

And the DOJ okays the Penguin-Random House merger. They're expecting the deal to finalize in late 2013, although they're waiting for approval from a couple of other concerned groups (such as the European Commission) who are looking into the merger.

ReDigi is getting close to being able to sell used e-books, but they still have to pass the hurdle of a lawsuit filed by Capitol Records that claims copyright infringement. Filed in January 2012, the lawsuit rejects the claim that ReDigi is the "digital equivalent of a used CD store." Among other things, ReDigi plans to make use of the fact that they pay artists and copyright holders at sale, and that they use a software that thoroughly ensures the material sold is deleted from the original device when the material is loaded on the new one. Two Thursdays ago, we learned Amazon is also working on a similar program to allow resale of used e-books. Both companies are caught in the still-developing no-man's land of digital sale, in which e-books are actually only licensed, not owned, by the purchaser.

Congress introduces a bill aimed to make all publicly-funded published research freely available to the public. Part of the controversy comes because the published material would need to be fully searchable on a central database, which means all of the some 1.5 million research articles published each year would have to be uploaded, entered into publicly searchable databases, and otherwise appropriately processed, and opponents (including publishers of said research) say that the material is publicly available already.

Yet another bill is on the floor in front of Congress to require large e-retailers to pay sales tax. Still yet to be seen whether or not this bill will succeed where others have failed.

Do you live in India? Are you writing a book? Caution, Pearson is expanding their vanity publishing branch Partridge to India. Find out more at Writer Beware. Also beware if a claims-to-be media company calls you up and offers you a huge promotional deal--if only you'll invest $5000 (USD) of your own money. The one she recently heard of is called Close-Up TV News.

Second-Life creators make Versu, a choose-your-own style platform that sells choose-your-own stories and will one day allow authors to create their own choose-your-owns to sell. They've only got a few books right now, but I see potential, lots of it...)




Industry Blogs

QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 2/15 and 2/22. (Edit: Latter added late).

Nathan Bransford reflects on Bookish, a site where readers can read books, shelve them, share them, recommend them, and also buy them.

Why do agents send form rejections instead of telling you what you could do to improve your manuscript? Even a sentence or two of feedback? Rachelle Gardner explains--those two minutes add up considering the thousands of queries agents get, they know they could be wrong, and more. She also explains why the new saying "self-pub is the new slush pile" is untrue.

If you're writing a will and deciding whom to leave your copyrights to, ask before giving them to someone. Kathryn Rusch explains why, and it really comes down to this: if the person doesn't know about literary rights, and isn't willing to learn, they can get screwed over and your book may fade into obscurity even if it's made into a movie.

Jane Lebak on QueryTracker talks about working with a cover artist. The cover artist's job is to get readers to pick up your book, no matter whether or not it's fully accurate to what's inside--so be flexible, because "Cover art is not an illustration. Repeat after me: it's a selling tool." That aside, it does help to have an idea of the tone you want your cover art to have, the genre, the theme of the book, the audience you're trying to reach--all the things that will help in designing the perfect cover to appeal to that audience. Meanwhile, Sarah Pinneo explains why you should have multiple links to places readers can buy your books: give them a choice of where to purchase, and include indie retailers.

At the Editor's Blog, tips on getting your details right, and how to have just the right amount of detail.

I may have mentioned before that I love Jim Hines' cover posing. He imitates the poses of the people on the covers of books to raise awareness of just how silly women's poses often are. Most of the poses he imitates are women's, but he does a few male poses for comparison. It's drop-dead hilarious--and it really says something about the cover industry.

Booktalk Nation now offers virtual author readings, for authors to connect to fans without the travel hassle. Readers may even order signed books and have them shipped to their homes.


What other publishing news have you encountered in the past couple of weeks?

Opposing Visions

Lately I've been working on a short story in between edits, and I've encountered a problem: my antagonist is vague. It's not that I don't have a specific idea of the antagonist. Not at all.

You see, I have a very clear vision in my head of the antagonist, of who he is and why he does as he does. In fact, I have two such very clear visions.

There are two different paths that this short story could take. They're almost identical in what the protagonist does, and they have a nearly identical ending. The ultimate outcome is the same.

But the context of the short story is entirely changed based on the motivations of the antagonist. On the advice of a member of my writing group, I'll be writing both versions. I simply can't choose one or the other until I've seen them both. The thing that scares me is that I think both will be good, and I won't be able to choose after the fact, either.

But they'll also both be better, because they'll clearly defined, and fully themselves, instead of half someone else.

Have you ever had two conflicting views of the same character? How did you refine that character into a single view? How did you choose?

Tea Time: POWER!!! tea

POWER!!! Tea Reviewed by: BecTea
Type of tea Herbal, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Natural
Where I got it Thaumaturgy 777	Cost $3
How I brewed it The water was just before a boil; steeped 10 minutes. This was a loose leaf tea that requires a strainer or cotton reusable tea bag (I got one the same time I got the tea).	Rebrewing notes Have not rebrewed yet.
Review This is a specialty tea blend with unique ingredients like Sampson Snake Root and Licorice. It was advertised as spiritual tea: "This is a good, all-purpose tea, to attract good luck on all fronts of life. It's a good tonic for those engaging in the practice of magick and who want to increase their personal power, magnetism, chi, prana, or whatever you choose to call it." It sounded very intriguing! I can say it isn't overpowering as far as the taste, even with the 7 different ingredients. It has a mellow flavor that has an earthy green tea quality, even though it's all herbs and has no tea in it. I added honey to ease the earthy, natural quality and it was quite nice. It has enough unique flavor (cinnamon tones maybe) to be a sipping tea versus a drinking tea. As far as the spiritual aspect I'm not sure yet, but I did get a "get up and go" buzz from it and proceed to clean, clean, clean. In the meantime the tea cooled down and became even better, hinting that it might have lemon grass as an ingredient. Recommended for a unique tea experience or as a tea for ritual presentation. Would be very lovely while enjoying a bath.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Tea Time: White Ayurvedic Chai tea

White Ayurvedic Chai Reviewed by: Juturna F.
Type of tea White, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects Spicy
Where I got it Teavana.com	Cost $2.50/2 oz on 75% off sale; normally $10/2oz
How I brewed it Heated water on stove until it was just beginning to make noise. Poured over 3 tsp dry tea in mesh basket in cast-iron teapot until teapot full (apprx. 16 oz). Steeped for 2 minutes.	Rebrewing notes Rebrews very well. 2nd rebrew same flavor as first.
Review I do really like this chai. It's got that spicy chai taste, but is lighter and sweeter than a usual black-tea chai. Hot, the spice really comes to the front, cloves and ginger right on the tongue. As it cools, the spice becomes less noticeable and the tea tastes sweeter and sweeter. Since I don't usually add sugar to my tea, it's really noticeable to me just how sweet the tea tastes at room temperature. At the same time, spicy teas without milk or sugar usually have a very faint bitter aftertaste to my tongue, and this one is true in that regard. I don't think most people get that, but it would be a great tea for a touch of sugar or honey. Not sure how well it would do with milk, as it's a white tea and I find those generally get overpowered by milk. The smell is fantastic. If you like a rich aroma, this is a great tea for you. I would especially recommend it to those who love chai teas but want to cut back on caffeine: white teas have much less caffeine than black teas or matés, but this has all the taste of a regular chai! If you're not a fan of spice teas, steer clear, because that's pretty much the defining point of this tea. As for lovers of pure white tea,be warned that the white tea flavor is very much buried under the spices. On an interesting point of note, I definitely overbrewed the tea one of the times I brewed it, and was surprised to find it did not become particularly bitter. White teas, if steeped too long, have a tendency to do that, but the strong spice taste covered up most of the scorched-leaf syndrome. And for the record, if you notice your tea smells strongly of potato, go wash your hands. You've probably just been chopping them, and I assure you the tea does not actually smell like potato--as I figured out after a morning of stew-making.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Distracted by Photoshop

I was introduced to photoshop. Through the HCRW, in fact, I've been taking an online course on how to create book covers. This has led to the usual multitude of horrific mutilations of my own old vacation photos.


There will be no real post today, due to hijinks like this.

Hijinks. Why exactly is there a hibiscus flower in place of the sun?
It seemed like a good idea at the time... Which was far later than
I should have been up playing on photoshop.

Animals need a home!

Want to adopt a kitten or a greyhound? One of my friends fosters animals and is looking for someone to adopt a cat-friendly greyhound, an elderly cat, and a kitten. You can find more here, on her blog (including why "elderly" animals are a great choice for adoptions!).

Here are the adorable varmints being cute:

Tea Time: Jasmine Green Tea

Sunflower: Jasmine Tea Reviewed by: Juturna F.
Type of tea Green, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects and Aroma Flavor aspects: Floral, natural Aroma: Jasmine
Where I got it Asian Market, but can also be found here on Amazon	Cost $6.99 for 1/2 lb
How I brewed it Filled a mug with hot water from the coffee maker at work. Walked back to my desk, added 2.5 tsp loose-leaf tea (in strainer) to 12oz mug. Waited about 2 minutes or so and removed.	Rebrewing notes Usually good for at least one rebrew.
Review The smell of this tea is heavenly. I'd know it was jasmine tea without ever reading the label! It's pretty sensitive, though: I think I burnt the leaves either by oversteeping or using water that was too hot, and since it was coffee machine water (slightly cooled, even) and I steeped it less than 2 minutes, that means it's a finicky brand. Definitely becomes bitter when oversteeped, but from prior experimentation, I know it can also be slightly sweet and completely not bitter if prepared carefully. I do taste both green tea and a floral note, which means neither flavor overpowers the other. It's a nicely balanced blend, and while I'm usually senstive to bitter, the strong jasmine scent makes me enjoy it even poorly brewed. I'm actually very fond of this tea (okay, so it was the first loose-leaf tea I ever tried, a gift from a college roommate) and while it's not the fanciest tea I've had, it's inexpensive, tasty, and sweetly scented. Despite starting on this tea myself, it's probably not the best first-ever loose-leaf green tea. Once you've come to enjoy green tea with a more resilient brand, then it's a nice tea for learning to brew delicate teas, as you'll know when you get it wrong but it'll still be drinkable. It does take some practice to not make bitter, but at the price (you can get a pound on Amazon for under $10), you can experiment all you want. It's also a good go-to tea for a pick-me-up anytime, especially on a budget--always make me feel like I'm drinking flowers! If you dislike floral teas, however, this is absolutely the wrong tea for you.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Tea Time: Jasmine Blooming Tea by Primula

Green/Jasmine Flowering Tea Reviewed by: BecTea
Type of tea Green, blooming	Flavor aspects Flavor aspects: Floral
Where I got it Amazon.com	Cost $16.68/$1.40 per pot
How I brewed it Water was just before boiling. The tea is a blooming flower green tea with jasmine, one flower ball per teapot. My tea pot holds 40oz (that's a max of 8 cups or 4 good mugs of tea). The tea flower stays in the pot the whole time.	Rebrewing notes I've never rebrewed a blooming tea.
Review Fabulous. This is one of my favorite "warm, fuzzy feeling" teas. I love the whole experience of it. The tea starts out as kind of a tea pellet, and then you get to watch it bloom. You can't get the brewing wrong either. When it's bloomed, it's ready. You don't take the flower out so you don't have to worry about how long it's steeped. Just drink and enjoy. It should be noted that if you think green tea is too earthy or muddy, then you actually will like this tea. It has the right combination of green tea to give it a light glowing color (and some caffeine) while the jasmine gives the bulk of the flavor, which is divine. It is good on its own or with honey. It is also still full of jasmine flavor when it turns cold. The price is for a container of 12 "blooms" and each bloom makes a full pot of tea. This tea can also be found at department stores like Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Guest Post: How long to cool boiling water for tea

With us today is Adrian, also known as Badger. With an undergraduate in astrophysics and mathematics, he decided to put his talent towards helping us make a great cup of tea! When he's not slaying Sicilian Dragons or risking everything on a King's Gambit on a chessboard to get to the princess, he's randomly bouncing around the realms of books, games, and other hobbies. Oh, and he does enjoy a good cup of tea. 

So here's Badger, answering the question, "If I accidentally let my water boil, how long should I let it cool before using it so it won't scorch my tea?"

Many of us have started a pot of water boiling and just forgot about the water until it is boiling, which more than likely scorches the teas as they are steeping. I know I have forgotten about the water to the point where the water evaporated from the pot! What can I say, besides chess is exciting? So I applied some of my schooling to find how long to wait after removing the pot from the burner for better tea-steeping temperatures, since most everyone has some form of timer/alarm now.

Assumptions: 1) boiling water in an open pot, 2) Room Temperature is ~70 degrees Fahrenheit.

NOTES: Temperatures for the teas were taken (read as "borrowed") from the blog on steeping teas. An open pot was assumed due to complications of a tea kettle retaining more heat than a pot, since the only openings are the spout and the lid (or in some models, they are the same).

The calculated times are only approximate since they do not take into consideration the specific heat of water (how well water retains heat).

White Teas: 170-175 degrees Fahrenheit, 6-7 minutes

Oolong Teas: 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.5-5 minutes

Black Teas: 190 degrees Fahrenheit or greater, no more than 3.5 minutes

Green Teas: 140-170 degrees Fahrenheit, 7-14.25 minutes; 160 degrees Fahrenheit, 9.25 minutes.


If you have any questions about my methods, feel free to email me at fencer85math@gmail.com, and I will be more than happy to tell you about the methods I used. I will make another post with more accurate results taking into consideration the specific heat of water, and then on to the TEA KETTLE!!! :)

Publishing Industry News

Publishing news and relevant industry blogs for 1/26-2/8. Kind of quiet this time around.


Publishing News

Apple's iBookstore releases a new category: Breakout Books. Self-published, best-selling, and chart-topping-debut authors, you have a chance to be showcased.

The GSU e-reserves case has been closed, but now it's time for the appeals to roll in. U.S. attorneys have asked for an extension on the deadline while they consult with some agencies before possibly submitting an opinion. (What the GSU E-Reserves case was about.)

Amazon is getting ready to sell used e-books.

Tor UK, a science-fiction/fantasy publisher, now accepts direct submissions from authors.

If you roleplay on GoodReads forums, you should know that Goodreads has new rules: no explicit sex. Romance roleplaying okay, just keep it clean.

Hachette, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster finally launch Bookish, a site that recommends books and lets readers shop for books.

Reddit opens a book exchange.

Genre writers post about their income. Find out the financial realities of being a genre writer.

Barnes and Nobles plans to close a third of its stores over the next decade.


Industry Blogs

QueryTracker for 2/1.

Nathan Bransford's These Past Few Weeks in books.

Twitter Vine is a new feature that lets you take 6-second videos and share them over Twitter. GalleyCat offers ideas for writers and readers for how best to use this.

It's been asked if small publishers are the "future" of publishing. This article looks into the financials behind it.

What do writers need to know? Kristine Rusch on the Business Rusch gives a breakdown of the minimum a writer needs to know, and suggestions for learning all of it without getting overwhelmed. Mostly, don't try to learn everything at once. And yes, even--especially--if you have agent, you still need to know all this.

Do you write sci-fi? Are you a member of the SFWA? Elections are coming up. Jim Hines posts his findings on one of the candidates, and while I'm not usually into promoting politics, a candidate who runs for hoots-and-giggles and writes articles such as "Women Ruin Everything" is something that concerns me. Sure, that's the guy I want representing an organization I might one day join. Really...

Heads' up: If you've heard of Jerry Jenkins' "innovative approach" to writing, you should also hear that he's charging close to $10,000 for the same services you can get by combining a $1600 publishing package through Lulu with $1200 worth of lessons through the Lone Ridge Writers' Group (LRWG has more variety in courses and more certified instructors, at that). More at Writer Beware.

Victoria Strauss also catches up on the matter of orphan works, including giving a summary of the Science Fiction Writers of America's statement on the issue (pdf). If you're confused about what orphan works are, or about any of the lawsuits around them (such as HathiTrust or the Google bookscanning project), she's got links to all the relevant information, and provides short, helpful summaries on what you need to know.

And can someone sue you if you use a vanity publisher and say things about them that aren't true? Well, yes. But they cannot sue the vanity publisher, as it is a media entity, which is a reverse of a previous hearing. Victoria Strauss details more on the suit vs. an author and ASI.

Angela Quarles blogs about using Bit.ly and how it helps her track certain links. If you have a link you want to track how (and how many) people are accessing it, she suggests using this service.

On the Futuristic, Fantasy, and Paranormal blog, author Terrel Hoffman talks about character's emotional wounds. Many character flaws initiate from a wound, and addressing that wound--making it a block that prevents the character from obtaining her goal--forces the character to evolve, creating a dynamic character.

And also on the FF&P blog, do your characters all sound the same when they're speaking? If your dialogue just doesn't seem to resonate with readers, check to see if your characters all talk as if they're different people. Do they have the same verbal quirks, such as swearing at the same things and the same rates? Do they all use the same types of words? Try differentiating their speaking habits to truly make them stand out.

On QueryTracker, Becca Puglisi offers a great resource for showing without telling: an emotion thesaurus, which explains the signs of different emotions. Even without purchasing the thesaurus, you can still use her advice: not all responses to an emotion are physical, and some are more subtle. A character might throw his hands in the air, or he might briefly close his eyes, or he might talk himself down if he's frustrated. So if you're tired of a character always doing the same thing to reveal a certain emotion, you can try telegraphing that emotion in a different way. And try to avoid naming the emotion right out, because that's telling, not showing.

Last month, my local RWA chapter, the HCRW, did a talk about taxes. As a writer, you could list yourself as "writer" as a profession on your taxes, and treat it like a business--but only if you're treating it like a business. Ash Krafton on QueryTracker offers tips on how, and how to know if you're treating it like a hobby or a business.

What are agents doing these days, anyway? Agent Rachelle Gardner assures us they're not just sitting around twiddling thumbs: in fact, many agents are diversifying, helping authors find new opportunities, protecting authors rights in contracts, and more.

And Janet Reid answers questions at the Friday Night Emporium. If your name is close to another author's, should you use a pen name? Perhaps. If the author is well-known in your own genre, that's when, or if your name is too close to a really, really famous author's, then yes. If it's a not-very-well-known author in a different genre, you're probably fine.

Writers Write has 40 hashtags for writers. How many of these do you use?

Learn how to self-publish your audiobook on Audible.com.

Kristen Lamb has a 3-part series on how not to feel overwhelmed by social media, and dealing with the stress that we all face when trying to keep up with all the latest "musts" of social media. Part one, Part two, Part three.


What publishing news have you encountered in the past two weeks?

Wednesday Writing Exercise: Monster Talk

This week, it's time to switch teams. That's right, instead of playing the hero, write a scene from the point of view of a monster addressing a human. Your creature gets just 700 words of human speech. So what does it say?


Zombie:

Lost my foot last week. Can't figure out where I left it. Perhaps it was at the ZomBar, or in the vegetarian brains aisle at the market?

Maybe I dropped it when I was running from the Freshie with a baseball bat. Those Freshies are a danger to society, I tell you. Won't someone hurry up and bite them? Oh, wait. Sorry. Didn't see the nose. No offense or anything. Before you try to behead me, just tell me if you've seen my foot.

I went to the mobility class around noon. There was a cute skeleton there--narrow pelvic bone and tall, so I think male--who managed to scale the wall. Climbing walls! What a luxury. I've still got about twelve months before I lose enough flesh for that. Rigor mortis is such a pain.

But I suppose the bolts and screws surgery isn't all that appetizing. Without tendons ligaments, things tend to fall apart--case in point, foot. I hear the surgery is expensive. Some people just choose to fall apart rather than go on. But it's not like they couldn't get funding. What's forty or fifty years of front-line hording against the Freshies? Don't get pulverized to sand, and you've got an eternity to figure it out.

Or at least until the bones grind down. But metal caps are just an extra decade. Totally worth it.

Anyway, I'm planning on paying my own, or at least paying it back within the first decade. Got a "Lose That Excess Weight: How to Chop Off Flesh Without Losing Stability" book in the press right now. Thank goodness the Freshies didn't think the publishing houses were worth defending. Or the libraries. Their nice little fortifications are full of baseball bats, katanas, and rapidly-depleting ammunition, maybe a rooftop garden or two, but they haven't got three books to their collective names.

Too bad for you, good for us. For some reason, all the people with the reasonable zombie apocalypse plans got bit quickly. I think the Leader might have had something to do with that. Okay, I know, that's obvious. Everyone who has ever played a game of D&D (also among the first bitten) can tell you liches are excellent planners.

Of course the whole "stupid zombie" thing was wrong, but hey. No one blames you Freshies for falling prey to the Flesh propaganda. It was written long before you were ever born.

So anyway, if you see my left foot, mind sending it back over? I'll be a lot sturdier with it around. Otherwise, see you at the next highway party. Skins versus no skins, the usual. And if you're tired of that flesh thing you've got going, we're still recruiting. Just think it over, that's all I ask.

Thanks.

Tea Time: Calming Tea

Calming Tea Reviewed by: BecTea
Type of tea Herbal, loose-leaf	Flavor aspects and Aroma Flavor aspects: Floral Aroma: Neutral/ slightly earthy
Where I got it Truly Unique in Wilson, NC	Cost $1.50 an ounce
How I brewed it Just boiling water over a cotton tea bag filled with 1 tsp of the tea blend, steeped for 10 minutes. I added about a Tbs of honey to a large mug of tea.	Rebrewing notes Did not rebrew.
Review This tea is advertised as "a daytime relaxing refreshment to take you from your hectic day." It is caffeine free. It has a strong hibiscus flavor and wonderful, rich hibiscus red color. In addition to the hibiscus, it contains rose petals, chamomile, red clover, ginger, and stevia leaf. I generally brew herbal teas for 10 minutes to access any root flavors, but this tea did not need that, even with a root ingredient. Since I brewed it strong, I added honey to ease up on the hibiscus' potency. Overall, it's nice, and the hibiscus is such an under-used ingredient that this is a nice change for your afternoon cuppa.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

Tea Time: Decaf Blackberry Sage by the Republic of Tea

The Republic of Tea: Decaf Blackberry Sage Reviewed by: Aritê gunê Akasa
Type of tea Black, Sachet	Flavor aspects and Aroma Flavor aspects: Natural Aroma: Strangely enough, like a soft, rich cupcake from a bakery.
Where I got it The local grocery store	Cost $9.99/canister (50 bags each)
How I brewed it Boiled water in electric kettle. Poured in travel mug w/ teabag, steeped for 5 minutes.	Rebrewing notes Good for rebrewing. I didn't notice any decrease in flavor the second time. Maybe a slight decrease the third time. I didn't try any further.
Review Lipton's Blackberry Black Tea has a far stronger blackberry flavor (and makes a delicious iced tea). The blackberry flavor in this is very subtle, as is the sage. It's pleasant, though. The blackberry comes in first, followed by the sage if you hold it in your mouth for a second. I can't for the life of me figure out why it smells vaguely like a good cupcake, but it's nice to have the sweet aroma with a hearty flavor. This tea does not have a strong flavor of blackberry or sage, but is nicely subtle and rebrews very well.
Reviewed by: No second review yet.
Type of tea	Aroma
Where I got it	Cost
How I brewed it	Rebrewing notes
Review

(Learning to Like Tea Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)

2012's Science Fiction Facts!

First saw this link on Google+: 27 science fiction facts made real in 2012. Pretty awesome to think every flower in Wales has had its DNA decoded, and that we're printing replacement jaw bones of titanium on command, and that we've made a flexible and cheap solar panel. Oh, and only a little scary to think about driverless cars being street legal--but maybe that's just that old I, Robot movie talking.

What do you think about these new science facts? What do you hope we'll see in 2013?

Conquering fear: Tornado in my closet

I used to be terrified of tornadoes. Lightning? Pretty. Thunder? Sky-bowling. But quick-moving winds? I remember one year at summer camp, a storm moved in rapidly. The clouds scurried across the sky so quickly you didn't have to sit still to see them move, and the afternoon grew twilight dark. Wind whipped through the trees and tore free leaves that fluttered down, spiraling and dancing and as bright green as they'd ever been. I crawled under a table and wouldn't come out.There may have been a few tears and little incoherent whimpering.

A camp counselor got on her hands and knees to tell me there wasn't even a tornado watch. It was just a fast-moving summer storm.

I didn't move until it was gone. Any clouds moving that fast had to be driven by cyclone-power, regardless of what the weathermen said.

There wasn't, off course, any tornado. But having grown up in the South in an area where tornadoes aren't an uncommon threat, having a phobia of them isn't unusual. I could stand spiders with minimal squealing and chair-hopping, but tornado watch? Send someone to pry the kid out of the game closet. Heck, I'd share a crawl space with spiders if I had to.

As I got older, I got better about ignoring the fear. Play it cool, I'd say to myself, and get through the day by blatant denial--turn off the radio and get lost in schoolwork, or turn on the TV to a news channel (in retrospect, probably a giveaway because it was the only time I was the one to flip to the news channel, but my parents never called me on it) and pretend to be  reading a book instead of watching.

One night in high school I had two nightmares. In the first, I was trapped in a hotel in which a tornado was bearing down on us. Had a lovely view of it coming our way from our 20th story room with a wall-to-wall window. I ran out into the hallway to find some windowless room to hide and encountered a chestnut stallion, possibly the most beautiful horse I'd ever dreamed up. I grabbed his halter and tried to pull him with me to safety, to get him to the stairs so we could go to the basement (I'm thinking it was a slow-moving twister when out of sight?). He was spooked, though, and I woke up as things started to fly.

Well of course that put tornadoes on my mind. So when I fell back asleep, no surprise my next dream featured a tornado bearing down on my house. I ran and hid in the coat closet, squeezing in between the vacuum and spare table leaves, stepping over the bag of gloves and hats, and ducking under the coats to protect my face from possible flying objects. (Since I had plenty of waking experience with this, that part of the dream was rather realistic.)

But then in my dream I decided I wouldn't accomplish anything by hiding. So I stepped out of the closet just as the tornado reached the house and blew into the hall (oh dream physics, how you defy logic). Rather than running from it, I put on full bluster and began to scream at it (How dare you, tornado!). I scolded that twister so thoroughly it twisted up with shame and shrank, and finally ducked into the closet to hide from the terrifying human. At some point it had acquired a face that now began to droop and sag and wince, and in true Harry-Potter boggart fashion I completed the picture by giving it a pink-and-lime hairdo and a handbag.

I woke up feeling powerful and exhilarated. I had defeated the tornado! Go me, go me, strike a pose and victory dance.

If only shaming tornadoes worked in real life.

But after that dream, my knuckles stopped turning quite so white when the clouds blew in, and if I still twist an eye up to the sky now and then during tornado watches, it's just a twinge of persistent nervousness, not gut-clenching fear. Tornadoes are something worthy of being a bit nervous about, if you ask me, so a little careful awareness isn't uncalled for.

These days I rather enjoy storms. If the news says I don't have to worry about major damage, I'll spend a summer storm on the covered balcony watching the clouds roll by and the lightning flash. Sometimes I'll feel a bit of uneasiness if the wind is too strong, but then I remember a tornado with pink-and-lime hair, and that the weathermen really do know what they're talking about, and I can go back to watching.

There's something about taking control that diminishes fear, at least for me. It's why I mock the scary movies that scare me the most, because it gives me power over them. It's why boggart-fighting works for me, because making my fear ridiculous gives me control over it, and that makes it less terrifying.

It's why I can do things in my real life that scare me, such as following the dream of becoming an author, such as submitting queries knowing I'll probably get many rejections before I find an agent: because I can remind myself that what I write is within my own control, and that I can improve. It's why I can attempt any major life change: because if any plan doesn't work out, I can do things to mitigate the damage, such as save money beforehand, have a back-up plan, and have friends on call to talk me through the down times.

I can't control other people, and I can't scold tornadoes into closets. But I can promise myself that I  have many options if my first choice doesn't work out, and then take advantage of those options, because I only lose if I give up, not if I take a different street to store. Knowing I can change my path, even if I don't, gives me choices, which is a form of control, which gives me courage. So, afraid or not, I put the pink-and-lime hair on my most terrifying challenges, and then I face them.

I'll never fully stop being scared. But I don't have to hide in a closet, either.

What's a fear have you faced? How did you get through this fear?