writerinside

New Old Blog

2008-03-10T10:14:38Z

Tonight I felt inspired to refresh an old blog I used to keep on, first, political topics and, later, my more touchy-feely side. I got yet another mass email from a fervent but hopelessly tainted niece who's become fully indoctrinated in the xtian warrior mentality of "kill em in the name of jesus". It so so so so sad watching a beautiful young spirit slowly take on the hate-filled rhetoric of heartless conservatives. I think that's why her emails in particular get to me. I can ignore the ones from my uncles, my aunts, my own mom. But not hers.

Here's my response. (Caution, it's not for atheists. Unless read with a sense of righteous irony.)

More research gold

2008-02-26T23:10:32Z

I LOVE historical research. There's pure gold to be mined on microfiche. Yesterday I was looking through 1943 copies of the San Francisco Chronicle. On Page 20, next to the want ads, I found this tiny snippet, about an inch in column space:

Dog Shot at Dead Master's Request
Pittsburgh, Feb 3 (AP) - All day yesterday an aged German shepherd dog whined in the room he shared with his master, Albert E. Newcomb.

Neighbors, investigating, found Newcomb dead and his faithful pet lying despondent near him.

Friends of Newcomb told humane society officials his last request was that the dog be shot should he die.

Today the animal joined his master.

It's Official!

2008-02-20T20:41:04Z

I didn't want to make a formal announcement until I had check in hand, but the production company came through and I'm holding it right now. As of today, I am OFFICIALLY a professional screenwriter! WOOOHOOOOOO!!

Now, off to the bank.

Writers of the Future Honorable Mention

2008-02-17T19:14:53Z

Yay me!

At first I had to wonder how many entries they get each quarter and whether this was akin to getting a ribbon for your 5th Science Fair just for successfully schlepping posterboard and a dead frog to the gym. But as it turns out, it's not such a bad thing after all. Karen Joy Fowler shared with me that her first award was this very same one. And I can think of a lot worse career paths to follow than hers.

What this means for the story, though, is that it won't get published in the WotF anthology. Which means I'm still sending it out. Interestingly, this was the story that got me into Clarion, so I know for a fact that it's a decent story. It shouldn't be too long before someone picks it up. And makes a big budget science fiction action adventure out of it. I understand that's the way it works.

[UPDATE]
I checked back at the WotF blog and judging from the sheer number of Honorable Mentions that were getting posted, I went back to thinking about frogs in formaldehyde again. But then I came across this bit of business:

Is there any way we can put these results into context? That is, how many total entries were there? How many received Honorable Mention status? How many received Semi-Finalist status...etc. Is this information being made available elsewhere or sometime in the future?

Sorry for the naggy questions.

Thanks!
KP

And thank YOU, KP, because this is exactly what I was wondering, too.

Here's the response:

Dear KP,

Here is the breakdown for you and those who don't know:

We don't give out the number of entries. It scares people.

Honorable Mentions are between 5 and 15 percent each quarter. It depends on how many good stories there were.

There is no set number on semi-finalists either but it is approximately 8 to 12 per quarter.

There are 8 finalists always. Those are the stories that get sent to the quarterly judges and the 3 winners are chosen from the 8 finalists.

Hope that puts it in perspective for you.
Joni Labaqui

Indeed it did, Joni. And thank you, too, if you stumble across this post.

Ok, I feel good about myself again. (That's the crappy thing about writing. I'm so darn fragile!)

Wtf WotF?

2008-02-14T07:01:07Z

I just got an Honorable Mention for the first quarter of the Writers of the Future contest. I'm not sure if this is significant, but I'm pleased. It was one of my Clarion submission stories.

I'm not quite taking the SFF world by storm yet. Just pissing on them a little. But just you wait.

Historical Research

2008-02-08T03:34:25Z

I'm feeling my oats. The ever-charming and brilliant Ellen Kushner just posted an exchange I had with the equally charming and brilliant Karen Joy Fowler regarding historical you-are-there style information. Lots of great info for people writing period pieces.

Memories retain their aroma best in sealed containers

2008-02-07T19:13:13Z

So...a couple of months ago I was walking along Haight and passed by a recycled bookstore with a $1 bin on the sidewalk. Of course, I had to stop and poke through it. And what did I discover but books 4 and 5 of a TRILOGY I cherished as a teenage geek. Piers Anthony's The Apprentice Adept. I never knew he'd written two more books.

I snatched them up, then set about looking for the first three so I could relive that childhood pleasure. It took some doing. They're out of print and evidently even the library's copies have walked off. I found 2 and 3 in other used bookstores but couldn't find the very first one until 2 days ago. The SF public library, main branch, did some major remodeling and the long-lost paperback evidently showed up again. I yoinked it and started reading yesterday whilst on the bike at the gym.

*sigh* Piers Anthony is a fucking perv. Sweet Jesus.

I can't tell you how rabid I was about these books while I was growing up. I wore them out like no others. I loved them. I can see why now - I was just hitting puberty. I think that's an important point. I'd forgotten that everyone in the first book is naked. A sociological thing. Clothing is not allowed. And so literally every page mentions "nicely jiggling breasts" or "full-formed crotch" or the various comforts and discomforts of being totally nude 95% of the time (except during certain competitions or in private, where a touch of clothing is considered highly erotic). Oh yeah, and I'm up to Chapter 4 and the two main characters have had sex twice. Does this guy know his audience or what?

I can't believe how bad the writing is. Ridiculous plot, ridiculous characters, unrealistic EVERYTHING, almost no descriptive language. Basically, take a really cool idea, add nekkid people, and you got a story PERFECT for teenage boys.

It's a cliche at this point - don't go back and read the things you loved as a child. The Crap Fairies (thank you, Kater) always work hardest when you're away for a few years. Still, the writerly part of me is a little bit inspired. I know, I freakin KNOW I can write better than this. With all due respect to Mr. Anthony.

Why customer service should stop using templates

2008-02-07T06:30:34Z

I've got a video project coming up and was thinking about buying Adobe Premiere and After Effects for my Windoze laptop. Problem is, I seriously want to switch to a Mac as soon as I can afford it, which will probably happen after the project is done (I may even use the income from said project to finally make the switch). So I posed a simple question to Adobe:

"I want to buy some of your products, but I'm thinking of possibly switching from Windows XP to a Mac in a couple of months. Would I have to buy separate Mac products or can I use the same license key for a new Mac download? Thank you."

Adobe's Response (this is a direct cut and paste, so the little treats are all them):

Hello Justin,

Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service.

Due to the Support Portal being closed on weekends, we were unable to
respond to your e-mail. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may
have caused and appreciate your patience.

Justin, I understand that you want to purchase Adobe products for
Windows version and you want to know if you could switch them over to
Macintosh, as you plan to switch to Macintosh in a couple of months. You
also want to know if you would be required to purchase separate products
for Macintosh or use the same license key of Windows for the new Mac
download.

With regard to your query, I suggest that you purchase the Windows
version of Adobe software. Once you have switches your operating system
to Macintosh, you may then take advantage of Adobe Platform swap.

Please note that Adobe® offers platform swap. If you are interested in
changing platforms on one or more of your Adobe products, please contact
Adobe Customer Service at the number given below to speak to a
Representative.

Thus, you need not purchase a new license to use the application on
Macintosh. However, please note that without the platform swap request,
you will be unable to use the Windows license on Macintosh.

Also, please visit the following URL on the Adobe Web site for the
latest customer service and technical information:

http://www.adobe.com/support/main.html

We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.

To purchase the software kindly contact Adobe Sales team at (800)
833-6687 (phone option 2), for further assistance. We are available from
6:00 A.M to 8:00 P.M, Pacific Time.

For your records, your customer ID number is ------. The customer ID
number is the easiest way for us to access your account in our database.
In the future, please provide this number when you contact Adobe. Your
case number is ------.

Justin, the Web Support Portal Representatives are available from Monday
to Friday. For your convenience, on weekends we have a dedicated phone
support for Customer Service related queries. Please feel free to
contact our phone support at 1 (800) 833-6687 from 6:00am-8:00pm PST, 7
days a week.

We thank you for your time and are pleased to inform you that you are
one of our esteemed customers

Best Regards,

Tim G.
Adobe Customer Service

I especially like that last bit: "...[we] are pleased to inform you that you are one of our esteemed customers." Aw *blush*.

And for further irony...
Note the person who signed it - "Tim G." My partner's name is Tim G. As of yesterday, he officially became my ex-partner. Can I have more salt in my eyes, please?

Plastic Soup Floating in Pacific

2008-02-06T17:00:24Z

I actually heard about this from a Hawai'in native and pictured a solid land mass. Her description was a "floating mass twice the size of Texas." It turns out that's a little inaccurate - this article describes it as a "plastic soup twice the size of the continental US." This is where our garbage is ending up.

I know there's a short story here. I just haven't figured it out yet. So don't steal it. (Well ok, steal it - if you're reading this, chances are you're a brilliant writer and I want to see what you come up with.)

Btw, I already checked and it's NOT visible from satellite. Towards the end of the article:

Mr Moore said that because the sea of rubbish is translucent and lies just below the water's surface, it is not detectable in satellite photographs. "You only see it from the bows of ships," he said.

Poop. Guess I'll just have to go out there and see for myself.

on a completely unrelated topic...

2008-01-31T17:31:07Z

I love this video for so many reasons...

Don't pick scabs!

2008-01-30T10:01:29Z

Beware scab writers. Bastards!

I wonder...

2008-01-29T10:52:30Z

...how many writers write because they feel they have something to say. And how many write because they're scared they don't.

New article posted

2008-01-26T10:19:01Z

Got a new one up: Walkthrough: Building a Mobile Game in Visual Studio 2008.

I especially like this one because it's a BIG-ASS, very ambitious demo that worked out quite nicely. I'm rather pleased with myself.

On other fronts, I finally turned in version 4 of The Script, as I will refer to it from here on out. Haven't heard anything about it yet, really. But I'm also really pleased with that one. Like v1 (and unlike vs 2 and 3), this one really *zinged* as I was writing it. I had that experience of feeling like "Yes! Omg, this is fucking great." I finally got a lock on the main character, which has taken me some time. After that, everything started falling into place.

We got the go-ahead on the next film. We're starting the brainstorming on Sunday. I'm excited about beginning a big new writing project. At the same time, i also got the go-ahead on an interesting industrial video project that I pitched. That one should be fun, too, albeit potentially stressful because of some aggressive timelines.

In the not-so-great news, I am officially a vampire now (and I'm not referring to Facebook). I've had the worst insomnia. Last night I discovered I had a full-on flea infestation IN MY BED. I didn't go to bed until about 5am, and then I felt fleas crawling all over me, biting my legs, crawling into the most inconvenient locations. I thought it was my imagination but once I figured out it was really happening, I got up, stripped the bed, flipped the mattress, put on clean sheets, and finally got to sleep with a bustling bundle of flea heaven wadded up in the corner (and currently awash in hot bleached water in the laundry room). I didn't sleep until 9:30am, not long after the sun was up. And I woke up again around 5pm, as the sun was going down. I feel like I should be wearing goth.

Lawd, how did this happen? Perhaps if I go ahead and take my trip to Japan, I can keep my schedule and slip into sync. Maybe? (I have no idea what the time zone is there. Let's just pretend.)

I Heart Al Gore

2008-01-24T13:12:57Z

One of the many, many reasons I love Al Gore.

Cloverfield and miscellany

2008-01-22T05:58:24Z

So for the past several weeks we've had leaky plumbing in the bathroom. Walking on the tiles around the toilet causes water to seep up from underneath the floor. But in the past couple of days it's gotten so bad that we're keeping a pile of rags around the toilet and they're constantly soaked. Tonight I had to do some reading (to put it politely), so I stripped off my socks and rolled my pants up, so only my feet got soaked. After I came out, I mentioned to Tim what a mess it was becoming and he casually commented that he wasn't sure if the water was clean or "used".

Um.

In other news, I saw Cloverfield yesterday and can't stop thinking about it. FUCKING GREAT MOVIE, damn!!! I would have to say my top 15 list just got a new entry. Maybe even top 10, but I'll see how it replays before making that decision. One of the main criticisms of the movie has been its use of 9/11 imagery. That makes me wonder - where's the boundary between allusion and exploitation? The way I see it, we've had mass destruction many times before, but all the old disaster/monster movies got it wrong. As horrible as it is to think about it, we now know what happens when a building collapses in a large city, i.e. what the debris looks like, how crowds respond. Is it exploitive to use this information to portray such events accurately? Is it exploitive to depict a character's mom dying in the hospital if we've experienced that very thing (which I have not, thank God)?

Meanwhile, I'm currently distracting myself from finishing draft 4 of the script I've been working on since Clarion. I'm fucking exhausted. I just want to sleep. But the director's waiting for it. This is the part I love.

for the renaissance man

2008-01-19T08:30:13Z

ZOMG I've finally found my perfect sport: chessboxing. Round of boxing, round of chess, round of boxing, round of chess. Repeat until someone gets knocked out or a checkmate.

I'm still tripping on the image of two boxers pummeling each other in their silk shorties, then frowning over a chess board. Where do I sign up??

New article posted

2008-01-17T07:22:31Z

It's been awhile since I've posted anything. I've skipped over all the good stuff - my trip to Vegas to see my parents in lieu of going to Texas for the holidays, my trip to Hawai'i for said holidays, my severe food poisoning on xmas day a few hours before I had to get on a plane and fly back to SF, the week my 16-year-old niece was here, 1 day after recovering from said food poisoning. All in all, it's been quite an eventful couple of months. In the meantime the film projects are moving forward, albeit slowly, I'm still writing short stories and not sending them out, and the tech work just keeps coming in. Evidently my latest batch of articles has been hugely successful (ahem). They want more more more.

I want less less less, but I can use the money. In the meantime, here's the latest: "OBA and UC: Directions for Developers".

You know, it occurs to me that if my readers or clients ever come across my writing blog, it might strike them funny that I'm always talking about how much I want to get out of tech work. Well, just know that I'm 100% committed to the work I'm committed to and that every technology I write about works perfectly and makes bluebirds sing and shit little rosettes as they crown me with ivy. Seriously.

Or maybe I'll just restrict my posts to friends-only.

Nah.

Writing Updates

2007-12-08T02:46:20Z

But first a non-sequitor. It just occurred to me what to call the guy who wanders aimlessly along the sidewalk in front of me, slowly, weaving to the left and right so that I can't get by: a meanderthal. Just sayin.

Turned in another tech article last night. I have a BIGGIE due before I leave for Hawaii (yay), along with 2 more 30-second video demos. Then I'll be done with the tech work for the year. I'm also still trying to type up (!) an outline I've ALREADY WRITTEN for a new script that I think rocks the house. But that's just one man's opinion. As one might tell, I don't always suffer the insecurities of the fragile writer.

Still no "official" word yet but it looks like the script I wrote after Clarion is moving forward. I'm working on the next draft. So far, a LOT of people have read it, including a "name" to star (more later, hopefully), the author of the source material, the director's producer, his DP (director of photographer), his manager, his composer (and lifelong friend), and a few others, most importantly the financiers. And everyone loves it. It's an odd monkey, definitely not "Hollywood" material. But for the audience we're going for, it's good. We've got a lot of notes and are starting draft #4. I'm so glad I was able to work through my collaboration issues before this.

If all goes well, we could start pre-production as soon as January. In the meantime, we've gotten the go-ahead on another project, for which I'll be hired to write the script. I'm making NO OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS YET! Because it's my policy that it's not a done deal until the check has passed through my hand into my account and has CLEARED. After that, I can say it's official. But if all goes as planned, this will be my first paid gig as a creative! Woohoo!

Such an odd turnaround, really. I still haven't been able to place a short story, which is more a matter of not getting it together enough to send stuff out than anything. And yet it looks like I may have 2 films in production in 2008. Wow. Pretty cool stuff.

non sequitor

2007-12-07T01:09:22Z

Ok, this has NOTHING to do with writing, but I just had to post it. This guy is SOOOOOOOO Texas. Btw, NSFW.

(This clip reminds me why I'm so glad I'm going to Hawaii for xmas this year with Tim rather than Texas. It'll be the first year of my entire life I haven't been with my family.)

What I'm watching today

2007-12-05T02:53:03Z

Obviously I'm trying to write a new tech article today. Which is why I'm watching old Reese's commercials, fake trailers (LOVE LOVE LOVE Scary Mary), a big girl in tight gold lame rapping in Iowa (you go Dove girl!), and the most freakin adorable kitten I think I've ever seen in my life.

Oh, and Star Wars Pulp Fiction. Freakin brilliant.

Randonmess

2007-12-01T04:47:50Z

I found out recently that I live 3 doors down from where Jimi Hendrix supposedly lived at one point, and about a block from Janis Joplin's old apartment (which incidentally is now next to a rehab clinic), and about 3 blocks from The Grateful Dead, and within walking distance to Jefferson Airplane, and about 4.2 blocks from Charles Manson. Supposedly Patty Hearst was also held captive somewhere in this area but I haven't been able to find the address yet.

I wonder if someday people will be saying, "And that's where Justin Whitney used to bang on the ceiling because his upstairs neighbors were loud, obnoxious assholes. And the day after he moved in, he went to Clarion, which changed his life forever and led to the world's most popular series of novels, the internationally beloved Spelunker series, which he wrote at this coffeeshop." (I made part of that up. I have no idea what the series is going to be called.)

New article posted

2007-11-16T05:35:18Z

PHP Developers Don't Need Silverlight—Or Do They?
Think PHP developers don't need Silverlight? Think again. By dynamically generating XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), PHP developers can buff their skills with some very cool Microsoft® Silverlight™ tricks, adding a whole new responsive visual element to their PHP pages. This walkthrough goes through the details of building a simple Silverlight app just using XAML code, JavaScript, and PHP.

Note the copyright and trademark symbols ("bugs"). I just love rinsing my stuff through Legal. At least this one came through pretty quickly.

In other news, my NaNoWriMo novel is looking FABULOUS. Unfortunately, I've not done shit toward the word count goal. I've only written like two chapters. Lately I've been revising my Roman story from Clarion and starting a new script. The script is pretty exciting - sort of a new take on a vintage film style. With a twist.

On a roll...

2007-11-07T01:02:20Z

Two more articles went live in the past couple of days:

“Microsoft Unified Communications: How Developers Can Blend Messaging, Voice and Conferencing with Next-Generation Applications"
Microsoft's Unified Communications initiative brings together many software and hardware components to bridge the divide between phone and computer activities. This article describes UC from a developer's perspective, including an architectural overview, list of important APIs, and the best coding opportunities for application developers.

“Get Going with Silverlight and Windows Live”
Want to get started with Silverlight and don't have a clue as to where your services should go? Have no fear. In this feature we'll walk you through setting up an account on Windows Live and getting your services hosted there, both for development and deployment.

We also have a new portal up on Rich Internet Apps, called the RIA Development Center. It focuses on Silverlight as well as Flash and Java. I consulted on the editorial direction of the site and future content but most of the current content is repurposed. I'll be working on more sample apps, mini-demos, videos, and of course lots of articles and walkthroughs. Unlike a lot of my other stuff, this one should be fun. I find myself staying up late because I'm sucked in and enjoying myself, not because I'm on a deadline, which is pretty unusual.

Productive Weekend

2007-11-05T09:18:20Z

This is crazy. TWICE in the past 8 days I've lost some of my work. First, OpenOffice decided not just to erase my document, but to overwrite it completely with pound signs so that I couldn't recover any scrap of it. Then Friday I went NUTS on a new article about PHP and Silverlight. I was on a tear. I wrote some very, very cool Javascript code. I opened it up tonight - SPACES! Freakin SPACES. Entirely different editor, and somehow my work didn't just disappear, it was overwritten with something that made it unrecoverable.

But I'm trying to make the best of things. The first article needed to be rewritten anyway (which I haven't done yet but that's another story). And it turned out that the material I agonized the most over was stuff that I actually wrote by hand in a notebook - the ultimate backup. And tonight's Javascript - well, by doing it all over again, I understand the code that much better. I still ran into bugs but it took less time to debug them. In the end, I think I'm rocking the Silverlight code, which is good because I'm going to be writing a lot more of it.

But the big coup was yesterday. I stayed up until about 3 this morning, but I finally finished the second draft of the script, just in time for the director's meetings. He's talking with a "name" tomorrow (Monday) to star as the lead. And on Tuesday he meets with a potential backer. I'm excited and nervous and incredibly insecure and a little celebrity-dumb ("oooooo, can I MEET her??"). But most of all I'm just relieved to have that off my plate and in a form I feel good about. I think the changes came out quite well, once I got rolling.

Now, to get caught up on my NaNoWriMo novel!

Confidence Restored

2007-10-19T23:03:31Z

I watched Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, my reward for finishing a short story. What better reward could there be? Wallowing in the slog of insecurity, I saw this piece of crap and, like magic, realized that I really AM a decent writer. This has to be the 2nd worst movie I've seen this year (the 1st being Bridge To Terabithia, a protestant stealth screed masquerading as children's fantasy - sample line, out of nowhere, about halfway through the film, "This Jesus thing is really cool!"). FF4.2 had me laughing out loud, alone, in the dark, for all the wrong reasons. At least when it wasn't making me cringe uncomfortably with its ineptitude. It should win a reward for Most Ridiculous Dance Sequence In The History Of Cinema. Mr. Fantastic on the dance floor with two hawt women. One says "You need to loosen up!" Take it from there.

Thank you, writers of FF4. You have restored my confidence in my ability to write scripts that don't suck. As bad as yours, at least.