31 Jan 2022

Not Alone

posted in: writing | 0

For the last little while (like, since before the pandemic), the writing hasn’t been going so well. There are probably a bunch of reasons for that, some of which I might elaborate on someday (but not today). All I want to say today is that it’s nice to note once in a while that I’m not alone.

John Steinbeck was a pretty well-known writer-fella. Won a Nobel, I believe. He wrote in his diary, “I’m not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people. I wish I were.” Yeah. What John said.

On the other hand, one of my favorite nonfiction writers is John McFee. Great writer. He once said, “If you lack confidence in setting one word after another and sense that you are stuck in a place from which you will never be set free, if you feel sure that you will never make it and were not cut out to do this, if your prose seems stillborn and you completely lack confidence, you must be a writer.”

There. I feel better now.

 

20 Jan 2022

Royalty Audit (Dog Fashion)

posted in: quirky | 0

Captain Jack likes to go over my royalty statements for accuracy and clarity. Here’s what he thought of a recent one for Alien Speedway.* Fortunately, he didn’t audit the actual check. Still, this is a good argument for direct deposit.

It could have been McDuff. But I don’t think so.

He has also taken to chewing up bills. I’ve told him that you can’t get rid of bills that way, but I don’t think he believes me.

*The typical publisher royalty statement does not suffer much in clarity from being torn to shreds. They tend to be masterpieces of obfuscation even without the mastication.

 

17 Jan 2022

The Good and the Bad of It

posted in: awards, personal news, Reviews | 1

My previous post notwithstanding, 2022 has gotten off to a pretty rocky start in the Carver household, due to some family members going through tough times. I’ll not go into details, for reasons of privacy. But several pieces of (professional) good news have come along to brighten the days, and I want to share those.

The first, I believe, was a lovely review of The Reefs of Time from Scribble’s Worth Book Reviews. They liked the book a lot. On their list of Pros and Cons, they gave it 9 pros and 0 Cons.

The second was my first review on TikTok, by a young man named Anthony Avina, also of The Reefs of Time. He too liked it lot.

The third was a wonderful short review of the Sunborn audiobook, on an internet radio segment called Sci-Fi Bookbuzzes with Bria Burton (scroll down to the little audio player to hear the review). That led to a subsequent on-air interview with PatZi, the host of the parent radio show, Joy on Paper. You can listen to the interview here.

Finally, and the biggest happy surprise of all, was word that I’d received the Helicon Society’s Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award, which I talked about last time.

These things are extremely welcome rays of sunshine.

But I’d trade them all in a heartbeat for things to be better for the people I love.

15 Jan 2022

Helicon Award 2022!

posted in: awards, Helicon Society | 6

Happy New Year! I learned today I am a recipient of this year’s Helicon Award—specifically, the Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award! I am excited!

2022 Helicon Award Badge

The Helicon Awards are new to me, but I have learned that they are announced each year by the Helicon Society, “a collective of SF/F authors and other creators who subscribe to the Superversive approach to creating SF/F media and look to promote good quality sci-fi/fantasy…” It is something of an under-the-radar group, with no official public structure; the judges and membership are anonymous. Okay, I know one of them, Richard Paolinelli, a founding member. But the others are unknown to me. Whoever they are, I am immensely gratified that they have found my work worthy of a lifetime achievement award! Thank you.

Here are the past winners of Helicon’s Frank Herbert Lifetime Achievement Award:

  • 2019 – Jack McDevitt
  • 2020 – Anne McCaffrey
  • 2021 – David Weber
  • 2022 – moi

I am delighted to join their ranks.

See the recipients in other categories here. Congratulations to all of them!