In the mail today: My @RockSugarBand challenge coins for their albums, including the long-awaited "Reinventinator" -- 14 new mash-ups of hard rock and pop songs. My favorite so far: "Faithful Child 'O Mine," because how can you not like Journey and GnR all smooshed up. You can't!
For those of you going "wha"?, here's @RockSugarBand's best known single, "Don't Stop the Sandman." This kills at the dances I DJ, I'll have you know.
Also, my favorite nugget of trivia about @rocksugarband is that the lead singer is @JessHarnell, who you know from just about every single cartoon you (or possibly your children) ever grew up with, especially this one.
(Also, being this is social media and you never know: I'm not being paid or given any consideration to promote this band, or really, any band anywhere. I'm just very fond of Rock Sugar's particular brand of musical cheese.)
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1. So, indulge me for a minute while I say something here about a thing my detractors do, and why, and what I think about it. The thing is to avow that I am no Heinlein, or Asimov or Ellison or [Insert Revered White Male Science Fiction Writer Who They Consider a Great Here].
2. Why do they go out of their way to do it? Because it's very important for those they admire to be "great," for whatever values they consider great, and this is their way of telling themselves (and me, in a distaff fashion) that I will never measure up: I'll never be "great..."
3. ...no matter how many books I write or sell or how notable I become in the genre or out of it. They are denying to me the thing they consider to be the most important thing, and what they assume I consider important as well. Don't we all want to be "great"?
I am attempting something strange and possibly objectively terrifying in the kitchen right now. No, it is not related to burritos. You will know more if it is successful.
Update: the culinary experiment is cooling now. My friends, allow me to present to you:
Hey, @FedEx, I'm pretty sure you delivered my package to someone else's house, and both your online and phone help are being notably unhelpful about it. This is not a great look for you.
(I normally don't have a problem with @FedEx, so this is a little weird. I got the email notification of delivery, but there's no delivery. Either I had the first door robbery in 20 years of living on a rural road where there is no foot traffic, or it was delivered elsewhere.)
Update: package magically appeared. Gray minivan drove off down the driveway. I'll take it.
Just arrived at the Scalzi Compound: The signed limited edition of Murder By Other Means, the latest installment of the "Dispatcher" series. If you preordered from @SubPress, they're on their way! Also, SubPress has the ebook edition up on their site:
You can also still get the signed, limited hardcover edition from @subpress, although hurry, since "limited" means just that -- once it sells through, it's gone forever. It is, he said, with absolutely NO bias whatsoever, a gorgeous little book.
ALSO ALSO, let me give a shoutout to artist Michael Koelsch, who did such a terrific job on the cover art, which is taken from a scene in the book. It's so good!
1. So, as a follow-up to yesterday's thread and comments about copyrights and lengths thereof, some additional thoughts about the practical and theoretical issues revolving copyrights, their length and copyrightable intellectual property in general. Ready? Here we go:
2. To begin, the pipe dream of a 30-year-term of copyright really is just that, a pipe dream. 179 countries including the US are signatories to the Berne Convention, a treaty tightly wound into the World Trade Organization. Here's the actual text:
3. Basically, the Berne Convention and its terms the "floor" for copyrights; you can't offer less protection than it offers and be a signatory. A copyright term of 30 years-and-out is, uhh, *less.* It is not seriously going to be considered any time soon. So, it's Life+50, folks.
I write books as a fucking business, thank you very much, and part of my business is the long tail -- creating a body of work that is saleable for many years. It's one reason I have that long contract with Tor: All my novels at one house, motivated to keep it *all* in print.
MOREOVER, a backlist I control means the ability to sell older novels as new in foreign markets and into other media formats years after the were originally published. Those additional publications/adaptations feed into backlist sales of the original work, and thus, royalties.