Posts Tagged Back Half
State of the Writer: September 2013
Posted by DLThurston in Book 1, Great Hugo Read, State of the Writer on September 4, 2013
I’m a few days late, I know. I mentioned a month ago that I didn’t know what would happen to my posting schedule during my unemployment. The answer appears to be that it’s going to go down a little. Since we’re starting on a personal note, the job hunt is going well, but has not yet wrapped up. I’ve had some good interviews, hoping one results in an offer. Be a nice birthday present. Oddly, last time I was unemployed (coming out of college) I also landed a job right around my birthday.
Speaking of birthdays, today is my daughter’s first. It’s an oddly surreal feeling. It feels like it can’t have been that long, also feels like it’s been much longer. My daughter is a time p̴ar̷ad̸òx, apparently. But I still love her. Tonight’s plans involve putting a cupcake in front of her, and seeing what happens.
Alright, writing. I’ve tucked into my new generation ship novel project a little earlier than planned. I’m working my way through a few drafts of the first chapter, looking to get a tone I’m happy with and get some characterization going. After that I’m going to back out again and get some outlining done. Probably going to work similarly to Nickajack with outlining and writing happening at the same time, with the one only a few chapters ahead of the other. Right now the book is just over 1800 words long, but that represents several evenings of toiling on that first chapter to get it as good as I can. It’s not something I’d normally obsess over so much at the start of the book, but I do want to get it at least a little right.
In general I’m trying to find a little time each night to write. And there is a little more time in the evening with a one year old than there was with a six month or nine month old. Some nights will be Nickajack s͙͇͉̅ome nights will be Back Half.
Great Hugo Read: We’re back to the past read, picking up again in 1958 with Fritz Leiber’s The Big Time. It’s the last novel awarded a Hugo without a nomination stage. I’ve paired it up with Brian Aldiss’s novel Non-Stop, which beat The Big Time when, in 2007, the British Science Fiction Association selected their Best Novel of 1958. So it’s one novel that was thought better at the time, and one novel that was thought better with a half century’s hindsight. This is something I’ll end up talking about more in October when the Hugo Read looks at its first Retro Hugo winner.
Buying options for both books:
The Big Time by Fritz Leiber
- Print: Out of Print, check your local used book store or Alibris
- Electronic: I found it absolutely free on Kindle, or for $7.99 on Nook.
- Audio: Available from Audible, narrated by Suzanne Toren.
I got a 1972 copy published by Ace, but that was before I realized The Big Time was originally published as Ace Double D-491. I bring this up not because of my love of Ace Doubles, but because it is paired with a collection of Leiber short stories from the same universe as The Big Time.
Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss
- Print: Out of Print
- Electronic: Kindle and Nook editions available.
- Audio: Available from Audible, narrated by David Thorpe.
The Cloud Giveth…
Posted by DLThurston in Unleaded Crosspost on December 17, 2010
Over on Unleaded this week I wrote a post about backing up ones writing, redundant backups, and even included that amorphous concept of “The Cloud” as a backup source. This is the new concept that some companies, including Microsoft and Google, are trying to push that you can store your files online where things can be redundantly backed up by the massive servers of multi-million dollar corporations, not only protecting them against the potential issues of physical media but also making them available everywhere. It seems like such a fantastic concept. Just yesterday I started writing Back Half, and because I did it in Google Docs I was able to pick up right where I left off when I got home without any transition or mailing of files. It’s great.
However, there’s one problem.
It’s been announced that Yahoo is planning on cutting its cloud bookmark service Delicious.
Perhaps this isn’t too much of a surprise, as Yahoo has been scrambling for money and relevancy ever since the ascension of Google. And there are several tutorials running now online about how to pull your information out of Delicious. But it drives home that these Cloud computing endeavors are ultimately run by corporations, and corporations decide all the time to change focus or to shut their doors. Now, does that mean that Google Docs is in any danger of closing tomorrow? Absolutely not. In fact, most companies like Google or Yahoo are very good about nice long twilight periods for their online services. The shut down of Google Wave was announced roughly three months in advance. But these are the big boys and companies that care about reputations going forward.
A little due diligence never killed anyone. When it comes to any form of online backup (whether hard drive backup or Cloud redundancy) know who you’re dealing with and make sure to ask yourself what happens if the service or entire company shuts down. Just as I would never want an important file to exist only on my laptop’s hard drive, I also wouldn’t want my only copy to be available from a single Cloud computing provider. Is this paranoia? Perhaps. Is that a bad thing in the end? I contend no.
In the end, as most advice does, it comes down to common sense. A well established company is going to be a safer bet than one who went into business yesterday. That’s true in almost any venture, but especially true online. So back up your files, just be aware of who you’re backing them up with.