Ignoregon.com - Blog Posts From Oregon City http://ignoregon.com/rss/oregon city Aggregated Blog Posts From Oregon City Mon, 6 Sep 2010 15:56:55 +0000 en Twitter: 2010-09-04 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680898.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680898.html Sat, 4 Sep 2010 10:01:00 +0000 I talk about "The Horatio Alger Myth" over at The Book Pushers: http://bit.ly/cBCZg5 #TheNativeStar # And "Brain candy for a lazy afternoon" sez Dirty Sexy Books! http://bit.ly/cb4uzk #TheNativeStar # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-09-03 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680555.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680555.html Fri, 3 Sep 2010 10:01:00 +0000 I am well and truly interviewed over at the Dear Author blog. And there's a giveaway! http://bit.ly/dk1fFS #TheNativeStar # Finally got around to watching "Dreams with Sharp Teeth." What a wonderfully done documentary. Fascinating stuff. # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-09-02 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680233.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680233.html Thu, 2 Sep 2010 10:01:00 +0000 A nice review of THE NATIVE STAR from Sherwood Smith, who I admire immensely. Thank you, Ma'am! http://bit.ly/acm0E1 #TheNativeStar # Emilie Bush at Steampunk Chronicle tackles THE NATIVE STAR: http://bit.ly/99H7sH #TheNativeStar # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Falling down ded http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680156.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/680156.html Wed, 1 Sep 2010 17:15:00 +0000 After having spent yesterday in a storm of rampant and shameless self-promotion, and then subsequently staying out until all hours at the Sapphire Hotel being plied with spicy alcoholic beverages by my sister Rachel, her partner Dante, and a couple of debauched wenches we managed to pick up along the way, I woke up this morning with an intense desire to take the day off. But shamelessness never takes a holiday. So while today will see a diminuendo of my relentless marketing clangor, I would be remiss if I did not lift my voice in a song of deepest heartfelt thanks to some more wonderful people who’ve taken the time to namecheck, review, or otherwise plug my book: Pam L. Wallace (aka musingaloud on LJ) with a much-appreciated debut day signal boost, Josh Rountree who says that “the book simply oozes REALLY COOL SHIT (TM) like competing schools of magic, including one that runs on belief (and is thus subject to propaganda, government or otherwise) and a secret society with plans that extend far beyond the scope of this first book (in a planned series!!!)” Tina Connolly who says that “it’s one of those books you never knew you were missing till you found it – it’s a rollicking mix of old west, magic, alternate history, steampunk, etc, all mashed up in an adventure with plenty of thrills, spills, and romance.” And, of course, all the tweeters, re-tweeters, Facebook wall posters, etc. Your Karma checks are in the mail. In other news, my poor overworked Google Ego Alert has informed me that the new issue of Locus hits newsstands today … and it contains a review of THE NATIVE STAR! If I weren’t falling down ded (and swamped with all the day-job work that I DIDN’T do earlier in the week!) I’d be running to buy a copy right this very moment. Maybe later tonight. And you can rest assured, the minute I have it in my hot little hands, I’ll post all about it. Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-09-01 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679765.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679765.html Wed, 1 Sep 2010 10:01:00 +0000 Well here I am, awake and alive, and somehow I've found myself smack-dab in the middle of LAUNCH DAY! #TheNativeStar # Check out the review at Tor.com that was waiting for me before I'd even had my coffee: http://bit.ly/dhaFM5 #TheNativeStar # And a "5 out of 5 star" review from The Book Pushers: http://bit.ly/ajO91Z #TheNativeStar # OK, I am going in search of coffee now. Though I'm already pretty amply buzzed, and probably don't need it. # BTW I'm not the only one launching a book today: Congratulations to the brilliant @darinbradley and his debut NOISE -> http://amzn.to/cq6nZj # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. THE NATIVE STAR: Launch Day! http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679674.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679674.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:16:00 +0000 Oh my goodness, I can hardly believe this day is finally here. Launch day! Today my debut novel, THE NATIVE STAR, hits the shelves and the Internets nationwide. I am simply beside myself. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I stayed up to watch my status in Amazon flip over from “coming soon” to “in stock.” Then this morning, I woke (late) to find a plethora of amazing treats, presents and surprises waiting for me: launch day congratulations on Twitter, an incredible review (5 out of 5 stars) on The Book Pushers and an even MORE incredible review on Tor.com by A.M. Dellamonica. All this in addition to the many thoughtful reviews & plugs that have appeared from folks like Rachel Swirsky (at Alas, a Blog and on her LJ), Jessica Reisman, Kelly Robson, Stina Leicht, Ann Leckie, Sara Mueller, and the inimitable Mr. Serge Mallioux. Not to mention the review at Greenman Review (by Camille Alexa) that kicked it all off, and the kind comments from Gail Carriger, Madeleine Robins, and C.C. Finlay. Feeling in need of coffee (but hardly needing any additional buzz), I dragged husband out to the Barnes and Noble at Clackamas Town Center where we confirmed that, yes, indeed, there are actual copies of the book on an actual shelf, right between RED HOOD’S REVENGE and BLOOD LAW! And then we went to the Barnes and Noble Cafe where they served us exceedingly indifferent Americanos, and then we went to  J.C. Penny and bought 4 pairs of sandals that were 80% off. We may not celebrate like normal people, but we do celebrate. Anyway, I just want to say thank you, everyone. From the bottom of my heart. Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-31 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679226.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679226.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:01:00 +0000 Today's blog tour stop: "All Things Urban Fantasy," where I chat about gateway Historicals for Urban Fantasy readers! http://bit.ly/b0zz0f # 4 of 5 stars to Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow http://bit.ly/b6tuIo # I'm chatting at Library Thing this week! Come ask questions, make provocative statements, whatever. No holds barred. http://bit.ly/bQqOuo # I JUST NOW figured out how to make the post entry box in WordPress' admin area bigger via the little draggy corner. What a maroon! # ARC Update: It's steaming its way through sunny California. Only 10 stops left! http://bit.ly/bqtuEb #TheNativeStar # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. What noobie novelists do when they should be sleeping http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679167.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/679167.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:29:00 +0000 … and then they blog about it. Good luck, you silly little book! Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. My taffeta arriveth! http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678768.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678768.html Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:40:00 +0000 OMG, the 15 yards of taffeta I ordered for my World Fantasy dress came today, and it’s utterly gorgeous! The color is perfection. Remember I said I was going to go with black taffeta? Well, forget I ever said that. Black is my favorite color to wear, but if you do a dress like this in all black, you lose a lot of the impact of the fussy frippery. And this dress is all about the fussy frippery. So I decided to go with with a very rich dark aubergine instead. Because nothing says luxe like a big woman floating around in a profusion of purple ruffles. The photo on the left shows the exact color, but my taffeta isn’t crushed like that, it’s smooth. Isn’t that a luscious color? Don’t you just want to rub it all over yourself? So now I’ve got just about everything I need to get started, with the notable exception of the black broadcloth I ordered to make the bustle. Until I get that fabric I can’t do anythingâ€"except, of course, stare at the beautiful pile of purple taffeta in the corner and drool. P.S. I got the taffeta for $2 a yard plus $10 shipping from an absolutely fantastic eBay merchant. Anyone in the market for taffeta should put this seller at the top of their list. Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-30 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678501.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678501.html Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:01:00 +0000 I must need a haircut. All this hair on my head is impairing my ability to write a cogent blog post. # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-29 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678252.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678252.html Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:01:00 +0000 You know what words I never want to hear any chef use ever again? "Big bold flavor." # I stop in at Amberkatze's book blog. And there's a contest! http://bit.ly/aUvp25 #TheNativeStar # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-28 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678028.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/678028.html Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:01:00 +0000 Read Chapter One THE NATIVE STAR free my website! Now live at http://bit.ly/bESttI #TheNativeStar # Gosh I hate it that you can't edit tweets. Free ON my website. ON my website! # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. “-punk”? Or just “a punk”? http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/677839.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/677839.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:27:00 +0000 Back in college, I thought I was such a punk. I had the pink hair and the nose ring, I wore a leather jacket with studs on it, and I thought I was bad ass. I spray-painted an anarchy symbol on the old Dodge Econoline Van I inherited from my parents not because I had any interest in smashing the State but because I thought it looked rad. The most subversive activity I ever participated in was driving that selfsame Econoline Van through the breezeway at the University of Oregon Student Unionâ€"not out of a spirit of protest but just for kicks and giggles. In short, my political consciousness was close to nil, I was more likely to blast polka music than the Ramones out of the Dodge’s 8-track tape player, and (the ultimate kiss of death) … while all this was going on, my parents were paying my way through college. Honestly, I couldn’t have been less of a punk if I’d been that dude in Repo Man who aspires to be a fry cook. What got me to thinking about my shameful past as a poseur is the whole “-punk” proliferation. I myself have added to it with my own “Bustlepunk” silliness, but we also have more established -punks like Clockpunk, Dieselpunk, Steampunk, Atomicpunk, and Spypunk.  (The newest punk I’ve come across is Decopunk. I mean really, they just breed like rabbits.) Like the proliferation of “-gates” to describe a political scandal, the suffix “-punk” has come to mean very little. I think any text that makes any claim to be “-punk” has to include some kind of meaningful critique of current political and/or social structures. The critique can be metaphorical, of course, directed at a fantasy or historical analogue of those structures, but if it’s not thereâ€"if it’s all just surface styleâ€"then it doesn’t deserve to be called “-punk” anymore than I did back when I was in college. The funny thing is that todayâ€"as an old lady with mostly-regularly colored hair who wears soccer-mom getups and frets about whether the family dog is truly happyâ€"I’m more of a “-punk” than when I was running around in studs and leather. At least these days I have something resembling a political consciousness, and a deeper understanding of the forces of history that have gotten us to where we are today. And sometimes I even agitate in the hope of effecting changeâ€"no Molotov cocktails required. Similarly, whenever I read something that is billed as “-punk,” I try to determine it really deserves the description, or if it’s just the status quo in a purple mohawk. As an English major in college,  we used to call this “interrogating the text.” (Oh, academia.) Let us, for an example, “interrogate” the seminal steampunk text “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne. Does it deserve to be called “-punk?” Well, it does indeed have a boldly subversive elementâ€"Captain Nemo is revealed as the descendant of a Muslim sultan who resisted British colonial rule. His political affiliations has cost him the lives of his close family and his ability to live on land. He is an enemy of the most powerful State in existence at the time of the book’s publicationâ€"the British Empire. In short, he is a terrorist. A meta-analysis of the text reveals the whitewashing of Nemo’s character in most subsequent film and graphic adaptations (indicating that the element being whitewashed was threatening enough to be suppressed). Taken together, I’d say that’s more than enough to earn this book it’s -punk credentials. Someone get it a pair of Doc Martens! As someone who values intellectual rigor (but does not always practice it) I think this is a very interesting exercise to conduct. So what do you think? Which “-punk” books have you read that truly live up to their subversive billing? And which do not? Remember, this isn’t a game of “if a book is labeled steampunk and there’s no -punk in it, then it’s a bad book.” That’s not my point. My point is that engaging one’s brain, and actively looking for political subtexts (or the absence of them) is a valuable critical skill that is beneficial to develop. Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-26 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/677511.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/677511.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:05:00 +0000 One tweet about Comcast and Qwest & I got DMs from personal reps eager to help. The world of tomorrow sure is accommodating. # If I tweet about how much I like BMW luxury automobiles and how I wish I could buy one, I wonder if a car salesman will DM me. Testing! # Costuming update: I got my new sewing machine feet in the mail & my patterns. Now I just need the fabric to get here! http://bit.ly/d4wKxI # We downgraded our Comcast subscription to basic cable. I am now in the midst of serious Top Chef withdrawal. Project Runway will be worse. # BUT WAIT! Top Chef is available on Hulu! And PR is on Lifetime.com! Oh, thank God, my sanity is saved. # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. In which I tour blogs http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/677345.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/677345.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:30:00 +0000 Well well well. Look who’s going to be a busy girl in September. Who? Me! That’s who! I’m “going” on my first ever blog tour. I’ll be giving away signed copies of THE NATIVE STAR along the way, in addition to various and sundry other goodies. So drop by and say hello! Please. For the love of God, Montressor. Other exciting stops are yet to be scheduled. And I’ve received a very kind invitation that I’m really looking forward to accepting; details to come. Library Thing Author Chat: Aug. 30 to Sept. 6 Amberkatze: August 30 All Things Urban Fantasy: August 30 Suvudu: August 31 Dear Author: August 31 The Book Pushers: September 2 Number One Novels: September 6 SciFiGuy: September 7 Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing: September 8, 15, & 22 The Magic District: September 9 Book Wyrm Knits: September 13 Kalayna Price: September 14 (Image ganked from Bob Eckstein’s hilarious post on Salon: The Sad State of Publishing; My Disastrous Holiday Book Tour. You should go read it. Unless you’re a writer who’s about to go on a book tour, real or virtual. Then you most definitely shouldn’t.) Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Ooo la la Tissot http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676926.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676926.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:45:00 +0000 Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-25 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676757.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676757.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:01:00 +0000 Oh boy. Suddenly my MacBook Air is not playing nice with my home router. What fun. # But in better news, my interview with the fantastic A.M. Dellamonica is up on her Website! http://bit.ly/d2IkEJ # OK, MacBook air connects without a problem to the WiFi here at Starbucks. So the problem's with my home router. Yech. # Well, screw it. I'll figure out my router issues later. Now I'm off to drop some scissors and knives with my neighborhood sharpener! # ADVICE NEEDED! I want to dump Comcast internet (so $$$!) Qwest DSL is much cheaper, but will it be horribly slow? # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. The Costuming Begins http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676420.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676420.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:32:00 +0000 So I’ve decided to make myself a Victorian costume to wear to my World Fantasy 2010 book launch party. This is not unprecedented, as last year I also sewed a costume to wear at World Fantasy. Because, you know, World Fantasy is the one con where they don’t like you wearing costumes, so that’s the one con I go out of my way to make costumes for. This is the kind of person I am. Anyway, this year I am getting an early start, because last year I didn’t start sewing until the beginning of October and I ended up with a bustle skirt but no top, so it was just me running around in a corset and a little bolero jacket and it was just wrong, wrong, WRONG. So this year I am going to have a completed ensemble or else I’m not going to wear it. And if that happens, World Fantasy will have won, so trust me, I won’t let that happen. As I have said repeatedly, I will not be making a new corset. I already have a corset, which I made last year from a Laughing Moon pattern. As long as I do not lose a whole lot more weight, it should still fit me. I will, however, be making a bustle petticoat, a draped skirt, and a bodice. Here are the patterns I will be using, from the wonderful “Truly Victorian” Website: First up: the bustle & petticoat overlay. Like any good Victorian lady, I want to get all my undergarments in order right from the get-go. I ordered some nice cheap (thanks to a 50% off coupon) black broadcloth off the JoAnn Fabric website this weekend, so once it arrives that will be the first project. Before I can get much further into making the dress itself (especially the bodice, which will need to be gussied up substantially to hold its own with that skirt) I need to make myself a duct-tape dress form. That will be an exercise in hilarity which you should all stay tuned for. Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-23 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676288.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/676288.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:01:00 +0000 Gail Carriger sent such an awesome blurb for my book, I had to update my book trailer to include it! http://bit.ly/c2Gb54 #TheNativeStar # You can read the whole blurb here: http://bit.ly/9uEcJr — Thank you, Madame Carriger! #TheNativeStar # Daughter is off to camp for a week! Not a dry eye in the house. # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there. Twitter: 2010-08-22 http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/675915.html http://mkhobson.livejournal.com/675915.html Sun, 22 Aug 2010 10:04:00 +0000 Man, did I make a couple of awesome scores at Goodwill last night! Post & photos to follow. # Powered by Twitter Tools Mirrored from M.K. Hobson | Necrophilatelist. Please leave comments there.