News - Mark Your Calendars

I wanted to say something about the Clown Car primary struggles going on, but thinking about it makes my head hurt and my heart bleed, so I'll just ask: "Where are the women? I know they're smarter than this..." And Senator Scott Brown (R:MA) responded to my complaint about his support of the Blount amendment with a repeat of his position, which truly must be based on a different Blount amendment than I read. He ended by saying it was defeated, as if that makes it all better.

I removed the censorship flag over the blog title - I know, you never noticed - but only commented the code out so when SOPA and PIPA return, I can respond again.

Almost finished with Mercenaries: A Love Story. I'm doing a final read on my Kindle to make sure it's formatted ok and all the nasty editing marks are gone. I think it'll be up Monday or Tuesday. Mark your calendars!

I've mentioned Becka Sutton's web serial Dragon Wars before. She's moving to publish the first story arc in ebook and paper, and I offered to assist with the e-book formatting, so if you don't like it, you know where to address your complaints. She's got an Indiegogo crowd fundraiser in process for this month, so stop by and see if you could be minded to help. Even if you can't, read the web serial.

Last Friday, Joe Konrath linked to Catherine Ryan Hyde's post: Friday Author: Barry Eisler. Since I doubt that Joe needs any additional traffic, I've linked to Ms Hyde's post directly. Everyone should read it, especially the comments half-way through on offense, and the human reaction. Mr. Eisler's words certainly seem to apply to others of us than just authors. For example:

Okay, let’s clarify that principle, and consider it.  The principle is, “If someone finds something offensive, you shouldn’t do it.”
But this doesn’t make any sense as an organizing principle if for no other reason than that it’s impossible to implement.  Because what if I find your reluctance to cause offense offensive?  What do you do then?

And also:

Comedians should push people’s buttons.  They should reveal uncomfortable truths about uncomfortable subjects.

Nota bene: Rush Limbaugh is neither a comedian nor an entertainer.

As always, comments welcome below.