• Review,  Writing Resources

    Review On Spec #77

    A little late in reading this one as I just finished it before #78 arrived but I had to clear a backlog of other stuff first. Wish I hadn’t waited so long because this is certainly one of my more favorite issues of On Spec in the last while. The Resident Guest By Sandra Glaze A young woman working in a hotel grows up under the watchful eye of a ghost (a World War veteran) that lives in the hotel. This was a fascinating story, hitting the reader on several levels. Really enjoyed this one. The Far-springer by E. Catherine Tobler One of medusa’s sisters tries to survive in a…

  • Game Reviews

    Dragon Age Origins has gone gold

    According to BioWare’s webpage Dragon Age has gone gold. Should be in stores next week. (In case you’re just jumping in and wondering why I care, I was the lead designer on Dragon Age for the majority of its development.) I’m thrilled for the team, years of their hard work have made this a fantastic game. I’m hoping they can relax a bit and just enjoy the thrill that comes from seeing the game they made show up on store shelves. More than likely they are already working busily away on other exciting things.

  • Writing Resources

    "From the Sea" has arrived!

    Took a break and checked the mail and found that my copy of On Spec has arrived which features my story “From the Sea” and an interview with me! And I also noticed that AnthologyBuilder did their periodic update announcing what has been added recently, including my story ‘His Island’. I also finished writing the climax for a story I’ve been struggling with for a couple weeks. Very pleased, all in all.

  • Uncategorized

    Adding 'All' to a section

    On the table of contents notebooks have the word ‘All’ in the dropdown when filtering but the section list does not for user-created sections. Luckily users can add this manually themselves: Go to Tools|Options Select Notebook Layout Find the notebook you want and click on it Above (Add Section) enter All and then press ADD ITEM All should now appear in the table of contents and should work correctly – i.e., showing every page in the current notebook.

  • Review

    Rendezvous at Angels Thirty

    I focus most of my reviewing effort on smaller press and lesser known magazines but I do have subscriptions to some of the larger magazines such as Analog. These magazines receive many reviews already by professionals, so I won’t start doing that but when stories particularly interest me I’m going to make a small mention of them here. “Rendezvous at Angels Thirty” by Tom Ligon (Analog May 2009) This is an interesting tale of simulated flight, a simulation pilot reliving historical combat engagements. I enjoyed the characterization and the time period references a lot. The ‘mystery’ that the main character, the pilot, is seeking to solve draws the plot along…

  • Writing Resources

    The Tale of Lady Spite

    Details are up about the next issue of Tales of the Talisman, which includes my story “The Tale of Lady Spite”. Click here to go to TalesOfTheTalisman.com for more info. I believe the issue goes to print soon, if not already. The full table of contents I’ve reproduced here: The Adopted Story by Lawrence R. Dagstine Illustration by Paul Niemiec Lamia Poem by John Hayes Dinner in Daylight Story by Audrey Hollis Illustration by Neil T. Foster Hell’s Jazz Band Poem by Todd Hanks The Boundary Story by Eric Bonholtzer Illustration by Leila del Duca Haiku Two Poems by Noel Sloboda Ghostbusters: The Last Great Horror/ Comedy Essay by Dan…

  • Writing Resources

    Beneath Ceaseless Skies

    I love reading digital books, but hate reading anything online. I prefer a distraction free environment (my pda or iPod touch) and find the scrolling interface of web text annoying. So as much as I enjoyed Beneath Ceaseless Skies when it showed up on the web, I only read a few stories. But now they offer a pdf version and a mobipocket version! Download the latest version here.

  • Uncategorized

    Spellchecking

    Spellchecking tools are available on any note. Spellchecking What does it do? YourOtherMind has an editable list of words (US English only currently) that can be used to check for spelling mistakes. This list is also used to generate random sentences and names. How To Use It Open the editbar and choose Features|Spellcheck. Applies To Notes To learn more about YourOtherMind, Creative Sidekick and Writer’s Organizer, visit the main discussion page. To learn more about Brent Knowles, the creator of YourOtherMind, visit his main page.

  • Writing Resources

    On Spec now has a digital subscription available

    Excited to see that On Spec has a digital subscription available. If you haven’t read this fantastic magazine you really should (and not just because it has published a couple of my stories). Some much finer writers than me have been published in its pages (such as Robert Sawyer and Cory Doctorow and Leah Bobet and Tony Pi and jeez, the list just goes on an on). Digital versions means you’ll save a bit on the postage (or a lot if you live in some far off land).* Also noticed that the cover art for the next issue of On Spec, in which my story “From the Sea” appears, is…