Saturday, May 30, 2009

If She Was Only a Dude Part Two

The Sotomayor flap just keeps growing. The sensible Republicans (yes, there are a great many of them) are dismayed at their lunatic fringe who insist on pushing the message that a brown, Latino woman on the Supreme Court is the end of America as we know it.

But it gets worse.

G. Gordon Liddy, of Watergate fame, spouts off on his radio show:

LIDDY: Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something, or just before she’s going to menstruate. That would really be bad. Lord knows what we would get then.

I just can't freakin' believe it. Aren't we past this kind of bullsh*t? We have a woman two steps away from the Oval Office, we've been in space, and died on the battlefields of Iraq. But it always comes back to the "curse" as if that somehow renders our brains into lumpy pudding. Or worse yet, homicidal maniacs.

It would be easy to taint all men for this moron's misogynistic views, but that's not fair. The majority of the guys I've met are intelligent, thoughtful and cool. Unfortunately, they don't tend to the ones with the national radio shows or looking to curry favor with the far right (Newt) and their voices are being drowned out by the nutters.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

If Only She was a Dude

President Obama nominates a Hispanic woman for the Supreme Court. One definitely suited for the job. So what does one of our Republican politicians have to say?

"Of primary concern to me is whether or not Judge Sotomayor follows the proper role of judges and refrains from legislating from the bench. Some of her recent comments on this matter have given me cause for great concern. In the months ahead, it will be important for those of us in the U.S. Senate to weigh her qualifications and character as well as her ability to rule fairly without undue influence from her own personal race, gender, or political preferences." (emphasis mine). - Senator Imhofe (R - Oklahoma)

So apparently if you're one of the dudes on the court we don't have to worry you'll rule in favor of other dudes, be they white or black, or be they Republican or Democrat? I'm surprised Imhofe didn't mention her religion (Catholic) but then he's treading on thin ground with the gender and race thing as it is. He's known for such bonehead comments, just like his counterpart in Iowa, Rep. King.

She's qualified to be on the court. Period. The fact she's Hispanic and female shouldn't matter. But to these guys, it does.

Monday, May 25, 2009

A Nice Way to End May

Just back from TimeGate. I'll do a full report very soon, including a report about "the bra" incident during the production of THE HAUNTED CHICKEN TRUCK OF LAKE LANIER skit, hopefully with photos. Quite amusing and something I'll not probably live down.

I've received some delightful news! MADMAN'S DANCE received a Silver Medal in the Science Fiction category of the Independent Publisher Awards (smile). And the book is a Prism finalist for time travel. You may remember my blog about the Prism awards a couple years back when SOJOURN took home one of their nifty glass pyramids. Here's hoping lightning strikes twice!

Three other buddies finaled for the Prism - P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast's CHOSEN (House of Night Series) in Young Adult and Jeri Smith-Ready's WICKED GAME in Light Paranormal. Just like in 2007, we'll be sitting together and fidgeting.

More later once a bit of the con lag clears.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

TimeGate 2009

While other author buddies are at Balticon this weekend, I'm staying in Atlanta for our local time travel convention - TimeGate. TimeGate showcases Dr. Who, StarGate and other time travel media. Check out their guest list -- it's way good. I never got hooked on StarGate, but I'm a Dr. Who fan from the 1980's so besides doing a guest gig, it's fun to listen to sit in on the panels.

I've coerced other authors to join me in the fun. In specific, Gillian Summers (the writing duo of Michelle Roper and Berta Platas) who pen really cool young adult books published by Flux. Bes sure to check them out.

So if you're in Atlanta this weekend, drop by. My schedule is as follows:

Friday, May 22
6:00 pm -- Guest Reception in the Consuite
8:00 pm -- Jasper Fforde Panel (Panel Room 1)

Saturday, May 23
12 noon -- Reading in the Consuite (The reading will include some bits from MADMAN'S DANCE (Time Rovers - Book 2) and a taste of my new young adult DEMON TRAPPERS novel. Maybe you can help me title the book!)

2:00 pm -- Fantasy Literature (Panel Room 2)

9:00 pm - TimeGate Cabaret (Panel Rooms 1 & 2) wherein guests and attendees perform various skits, music, etc. to benefit the Red Cross and the Fulton County Animal Shelter. I am taking part in Michelle & Berta's THE HAUNTED CHICKEN TRUCK OF LAKE LANIER radio show. Knowing these two, it'll be a hoot.

Sunday, May 24
5:00 pm -- Y.A. Literature (Panel Room 2)
6:00 pm -- Paranormal Romance Literature (Panel Room 1)

Monday, May 18, 2009

Jana On The Air

Besides slaving away on the Work In Progress, I've been out and about interviewing! I thought it was high time I posted those links so you can listen in. I love doing podcasts and radio interviews because they're just SO MUCH FUN.

The first comes via Edge Publishing and Marie Bilodeau. Marie is vivacious French Canadian lady who interviewed me in the dealer's room at World Fantasy last October in Calgary. It's a rollicking interview, so be sure to check it out here.

I also was interviewed for Gail Martin's The Ghost in the Machine podcast. Gail was great fun and as you can see by her webpage, she interviews lots of cool folks.

And as mentioned in an earlier posting, I was on Fran Stewart's Mystery Matters podcast on Voice America. Here's the link to the archive.

And now back to the little demons and their exploits. These wee guys are fun! Well, only because they don't really exist. I can't imagine what life would be like with Biblio-Fiends running amok.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Of Projects & Moons

Our jaunt to Chicago for some R&R went quite well. We wandered around the Windy City using buses, El and other trains. This time around we stayed north of the Chicago River, a few blocks from Michigan Avenue. Unfortunately my right knee has been bugging me recently so I had to resort to alternate support--yeah, I had to buy one of those nifty collapsible canes. Worked great. The Chicago bus drivers would wait until I almost got to the nearest handicapped seat before they floored it as compared to when I wasn't toting the cane. Now that I'm home the knee is improving, but still not enough to do Tai Chi. Disclaimer: this ouchie wasn't because of that wonderful martial art, but something I did on the drive home from Orlando. Go figure.

Last Monday I began my new job, i.e. the work I owe to my editor at St. Martin's. As hubby put it, "You're not longer on the dole." Not that I wasn't earning $$ with my small press publisher, but this time around there is an advance and I need to earn that money back or there will be Complications.

I spent a few days doing some series planning and then dug into the first book. I had about 40% of it written earlier this year, then had to do a rewrite for another editor (that publishing company ultimately did not pick up the series) so now I'm having to get back up to speed as many of the scenes have changed or are totally useless. I need to get a pretty good idea of where the story arcs end for each book, some of the key elements of those arcs, etc. I didn't do any of this for the Rover Series which led to a lot of bottles of Advil and wine being consumed. Learned, we have.

I'll keep you posted on my progress. Oh, and I need to think up a title for each of the books, including Book the First--BLACKTHORNE'S DAUGHTER didn't fly with my editor. I have to agree that it does sound like a pirate novel. Probably with a clinch cover, which is so not Young Adult or Urban Fantasy.

How's about POTATO MOON? Nyah, that's already taken. If you want to read this parody on RUSSET MOON (the totally illegal sequel to Stephanie Meyer's TWLIGHT series) start reading near the bottom of this page. Just make sure your keyboard is waterproofed. If I wasn't so engrossed in my project, I'd love to add to the madness just to say I was part of it.