A Two-Post Monday

I have two posts going up today. The first, my usual Monday Magical Words post, can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “A Luddite Looks at the Future of Books” and it’s about e-books and what they mean for the future of writing and publishing. The second is a special Halloween Week post that I’ve written for the Knight Agency, where I’m represented. This post can be found at http://knightagency.blogspot.com/. I hope you enjoy both posts.

A Post About Very Little

Today’s post can be found at http://magicalwords.net, the group blog on the business and craft of writing fantasy that I maintain with fellow authors Faith Hunter, Misty Massey, and C. E. Murphy. The post is called “Ephemera and Free Association,” and it is really about nothing at all. I hope you enjoy it.

New Year’s Birds

As many of you know, I’m an avid birdwatcher.  But few of you probably understand fully just how much of a bird-geek I am.  So by way of illustration, I offer this:  I keep a list of the birds I see each year, in addition of my life list and some other lists I keep, which I won’t go into here, lest I jettison what small scraps of dignity I have left.  My year lists actually serve several purposes.  First, it’s fun to see how many different species I can see in a given year (yeah, told you I was a geek).  Also, it can serve as a helpful record of when and where I saw certain things. 

But the main reason I do it is that it compels me to pay attention to the more common birds at least once a year.  Birders often focus on finding rarities, on adding new birds to their life lists.  It becomes easy — far too easy — to take the more common stuff for granted.  By keeping my year lists, I make myself go out and search for the common locals that are easily overlooked but well worth finding.  For at least one day each year, I actively look for nuthatches and chickadees, robins and doves.
That’s what I did this afternoon.  It’s cool and breezy here today, but crystal clear.  And I got out for an hour or so, and did some birding.  It’s something I want to do more of this year.  What did I see?  Not a whole lot, but some cool things.  A Cooper’s Hawk, a Brown Thrasher, a Hermit Thrush, several species of sparrow, including Fox, Swamp, Field, and White-throated.  I also saw a pair of bluebirds, some cardinals, and a bunch of other things that I’ll probably see hundreds times between now and the end of the year.  But for today, every bird was exciting; each one was “new” all over again.

New Year’s Eve

Back home after two days of long drives. We have a party to go to tonight. We’ll be welcoming back into town some friends who have been living in New Mexico for the past year and a half. It’ll be great to see them and to ring in the New Year (and ring out this old one) with good friends.

Wishing all of you a wonderful 2009.

Best,

David

A Post About Writing in the New Year

Today’s post, “A Wrtier’s New Year’s Thoughts,” can be found at http://magicalwords.net.  Please visit the site and enjoy the post.

And if I don’t post again before New Year’s, please have a happy, fun, and safe holiday.  Thanks to all who have visited this blog and shared comments with me.  I wish all of you a wonderful 2009.  May it bring peace, healing, and prosperity to all.

A Post About Writing Over the Holidays

Today’s post, “Holiday Writing,” can be found at http://magicalwords.net.  Visit the site, enjoy the post, and have a wonderful holiday season.

Our Big Party (Which Is Why I Haven’t Posted In Days)

So, been a few days.  Had to focus on the rest of life for a little while there,  Every year Nancy and I throw a big party — an Australian Christmas Party.  What makes it Australian? you ask.  Well, in Australia, Christmas is a summer holiday.  It’s hot and sunny, and the year we were there we spent Christmas at the beach eating shrimp and fresh strawberries, boogie-boarding in the waves, and playing cricket.  So we get a ton of shrimp, we get Tim-Tams and Mint Slices (our two favorite Aussie cookies), as well as a ton of other food (cheeses, satay chicken, chips, etc.) we have our friends bring plonk, and we light a fire in the fireplace and crank up the heat so that people will come in shorts and t-shirts and be comfortable, despite the 30 degree (Fahrenheit) weather outside.  Great fun.  But also a lot of work.  So I spent the last half of the week shopping for food, as well as for holiday gifts for family.  Then yesterday we were getting the house ready for dozens of guests.  And, well, blogging and work kind of fell by the wayside.

The party was last night, and it was a great success.  And now I can get back to work for a week before traveling for the holidays.

A Post About Gifts for Writers

Today’s post, “A Holiday Buying Guide for Writers,” can be found at http://magicalwords.net.  So figure out which writers on your shopping list have been naughty and nice, and visit the site.  And, of course, enjoy!

Happy Halloween

This is kind of a special Halloween for me.  Usually I’m off at World Fantasy Convention this time of the year.  I’ve missed almost all of the past ten Halloweens.  And I would have been at WFC this year (in Calgary) but the spike in fuel prices made the airfare too high, so I’m skipping it.  And that means I get to spend Halloween with my kids.  I’ll be taking the younger one trick-or-treating, and Nancy and I will be hosting a sleepover for the older one with her three best friends.  They’re all hooked on ”Buffy,” and we have the complete boxed set.  I’m looking forward to it.

Hope all of you have a great Halloween.

A Writers’ Holiday

Today’s post, “A Holiday for Storytellers,” can be found at http://magicalwords.net.  Enjoy!