Linkee-poo has done no less, and sometimes pulled it off

Wow, it's really that late? One of these days I'll get closer to a schedule.

Chuck Sambuchino with some tips about how to start a novel as gleaned from comparing a novel to the movie "True Lies." What he doesn't say there is that this is a good POV setup (going inside out), but that you also don't want to fall into the "white room" trap either (that is, your character starts off in a place with no description). It's also a good way for a reader to get to know your world. Also, this explains the difference between visual and oral story telling (movies, TV, and radio/spoken word) versus textual story telling. It's how you get a reader into the story. With movies and TV you can get a quick world view and then give the view something interesting to hook them as the visuals will keep their interest. With reading you better get to the hook quickly and then you can widen your circle.

Chuck Wendig on how he writes a novel. As with all writing advice, pillage liberally. What doesn't work, throw over board.

Steve Gould's writing process as revealed in an interview with Cather Schaff-Stump.

Mochizuki Chiyome, the master of an all female ninja clan. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Dr. Doyle wants you to know your fire. There's a reason why it's called "making/building a fire." And while she doesn't talk about it, cooking over a fire is not like cooking on a gas stove or grill. There are some big differences between a cooking fire, a heating fire, and a fire for light.

New research on Stonehenge postulates that the larger sandstone horseshoe was constructed first, then the bluestones were brought in. Although the article misses a lot of related research on Stonehenge or realize it was a part of a whole complex of sites in the local area, or that before the stones were erected it was very possible Stonehenge was actually a woodhenge (of which Stonehenge is connected to a different woodhenge which may be part of the total complex of ritual sites). (Grokked from Camille Alexa)

A British company claims to have a new jet/rocket engine hybrid technology. Slightly dry article until you get to the "What the company has right now is a remarkable heat exchanger that is able to cool air sucked into the engine at high speed from 1,000 degrees Celsius to minus 150 degrees in one hundredth of a second." Bwa? (Grokked from Jay Lake)

"Just four years after the worst shock to the economy since the Great Depression, U.S. corporate profits are stronger than ever… But the record profits come at the same time that workers' wages have fallen to their lowest-ever share of GDP." Not to mention how real wages have continued to fall. Also note the absurdity near the end of the article about how "'It's not because bad capitalists are keeping all the money,' said (Robert Brusca, economist with FAO Research). He said that businesses with high labor costs have either gone under or moved offshore." You know, if the article wasn't discussing these numbers as a percentage of GDP he might be able to make a point. Let's see, so if corporate profits are up, but employment and wages are down, who is getting all that money? (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

"It’s really amazing to see political reporters dutifully passing along Republican complaints that President Obama’s opening offer in the fiscal cliff talks is just a recycled version of his old plan, when those same reporters spent the last year dutifully passing along Republican complaints that Obama had no plan. It’s even more amazing to see them pass along Republican outrage that Obama isn’t cutting Medicare enough, in the same matter-of-fact tone they used during the campaign to pass along Republican outrage that Obama was cutting Medicare." The article's title is "Let's pretend the GOP isn't full of it", which pretty much cuts to the chase. (Grokked from the Slactivist)

Psychopaths. Fox News co-host laughs while discussing the deaths of kids. Sure, okay, he's laughing because he thinks he's making a point. It's the detachment from the subject that is disturbing. Also, an appalling lack of knowledge of both statistics and social context. What should be a question is why idiots like this are given a microphone in the first place (to go back to the Bob Costas point). I'd like to say this is unusual behavior, but having watched Fox News on and off (I have to admit, I usually can't stomach their BS for more than 10 minutes at a stretch), it's not. Oh, and Rush, you may want to check the statistics regarding spousal killings, not to mention the pandemic of spousal abuse. Fucker. (Grokked from Matt Staggs)

Say, like this dope who shot his girlfriend because she "refused to believe that it was realistic to worry about zombie attacks like those depicted on " the Walking Dead.

"During the first few years of the George W. Bush era, when there was still a surplus, they cut these taxes a few percentage points. These marginal tax rate cuts were never meant to be permanent; none of us who got them expected them to be. We always knew they’d one day return to the levels they were during the Clinton era." Unfortunately not everyone (::cough:: conservatives ::cough::) are as much of a mensch as George Takei. Nor do they have that good of a memory. (Grokked from Janiece)

Yep, we're boned. That's Juan Cole reporting on the Climate Conference in Qatar. Two things to take away from this, 1) thousand-year-long storms, just say that to yourself a few times and 2) things are still going bad even though with the Great Recession and the shale gas boom the USA actually met the Kyoto Accords by reducing emission of CO2 levels to 1990 status only 1 year after we would have had to by signing the accords. Climate deniers please note how the conversation has shifted from "if" to "yes, it's our fault" to "just how far pass 2 degrees C will we go". You're two arguments behind, again. (Grokked from Jay Lake)

Turns out that not only do elections have consequences, so does being a dick to your employees. Papa Johns, Applebees, and the other companies that all went "Obamacare, boo hoo hoo, I'll stick it to my employees for not voting 'correctly'" are seeing their "Buzz", their market perception, drop. A lot. Now it remains to see if this affects their corporate profits or not (same question I have for Chik-fil-a, although as a private company, they don't have to divulge or be honest about their profits).

Tweet of my heart: @joe_hill: Here's a heart-warming video that captures the GOP's response to the UN disability rights treaty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oesSyvh76g

Alligator Quotient: Now they're hiding the clocks.