michaeldthomas

Some person is eBaying their story "idea" for a starting price of $3,000.00.

I love this quote from Victoria Strauss in Writer Beware:

"Ideas aren't worth anything. It's only their expression that has value. This is why ideas aren't protected by copyright: they are the basic building blocks of creative endeavor, and as such must be available for anyone to use. Give a dozen writers a single idea, and you'll wind up with a dozen different novels of a dozen different qualities, each of which might or might not find publication, depending on a wide variety of factors and variables."

Yup. It's all about the implementation.

Real life is managing to be as real as possible.

1- Entropy visited our home again. This morning the fridge started to make noises like the Tin Man with an upper respiratory infection. It's been a loud fridge for a long time, so its immanent demise comes as no surprise. Luckily, Lowe's had a nearly identical fridge on sale and in stock. Nice people will bring it here tomorrow while taking away the old one. Other than the dryer, that means every appliance in our household has been repaired or replaced in the last month (plus a kitchen sink repair). Homeownership is fun!

2- Caitlin is doing much better. She made it through the last few days of school without any screaming fits. Her brain has also been stable. Hooray for good Caitlin health!

3- Pink Raygun gave Whedonistas a good review.

4- I like my new short story (so far).

5- The week started off with the deaths of comic book creator Dwayne McDuffie and Doctor Who Brigadier actor Nick Courtney. They both will be greatly missed. I keep tearing up from all of the wonderful remembrances.

How are you?

Caitlin had a massive seizure this morning that needed Diastat (rectal valium) in order to stop it. For almost ten minutes, Caitlin's brain betrayed her and caused a rhythmic spasm on her left side that only powerful drugs could stop.

This is her first seizure since last May and the first one needing Diastat in about two years.

Hopefully, this is an isolated seizure and not the start of a new pattern.

She's been asleep in her room for the last five hours or so. The seizure wiped my poor angel out.

Seizures still suck. You never get used to them happening to your child.

The Paul McGann Doctor Who movie is finally being released in North America. We pre-ordered ours a couple of weeks ago, and I've been jealously watching my Twitter stream as other friends watch their copies before me.

So, why do I care so much about a Doctor Who story that at best can be called mediocre?* (Apologies to those few like jblum and dreamer_easy who I know love it.)

Back in 1996, I wasn't really a Doctor Who fan anymore. I'd loved the show during my teen years, but my life had gone in different directions once I was in college (relationships, music, writing, comic books, trying to be "cool"). My Doctor Who things were all packed away.

Hearing about the movie reignited my interest in the show. I found rec.arts.drwho and the early websites. I also stumbled upon the videos of classic stories for sale at Best Buy and Borders. At that point, my fiancee C cut a deal with me: I could buy the videos if I quit smoking.

I did it. My cigarette budget became my Doctor Who collectibles' budget (if you've been to my house, you know how that worked out).

That May, we watched the McGann movie with a small group of friends in our Campustown apartment. I enjoyed it, flaws and all. I wanted more. I started buying books, toys, and anything else with a Doctor Who logo on it. C and I attended our first Doctor Who convention that November (Visions 96). The rest is history. The world might not have a book called Chicks Dig Time Lords if it wasn't for that telemovie.

That's why I can't wait until I have that DVD in my hands. The Paul McGann movie changed my life. :-)


* For the record, I think it's an average story. For a regeneration episode, it ranks about the same as Robot. I love the direction, McGann's performance, and the TARDIS set. The script is not particularly good, and some of the actors are a bit crap (I'm looking at you, Eric Roberts). The biggest knocks on the movie is that it didn't spawn a new series and Fandom had nine years to pick it apart.

Since it's only a week and a half away, I thought I would list rarelylynne 's Gally schedule. If you see her, make sure you ask her for a Chicks Dig Time Lords's ribbon. :-)
( Lynne's Schedule )

1- Caitlin is still progressing. :-)

2- I spent this week doing small home repairs. I replaced a borked drain on our kitchen sink. Thank the maker for youtube repair vids. I love that I live in a world where I can learn how to repair things in minutes rather than paying big money to a plumber.

3- We had a wonderful visit from our friend Sigrid on Wednesday. We watched Doctor Who, shared stories, and ate pizza. She also had a chance to talk to rarelylynne about a SEEKRIT PROJECT. Good times...

4- It's the 25th anniversary of the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster today. I was in 6th Grade eating lunch when they announced it over the PA. It's still devastating. I cried a little last night during the PBS NASA documentary that covered it and the Columbia Disaster. I truly believe that these two tragedies are the reason why my generation in the US isn't pushing our government for more manned space exploration. Space became scary instead of wondrous.

5- The comic book magazine Wizard ended its print edition while firing everybody this week. I used to occasionally read it back in the 90s. I was never a big fan since it had too much of a frat-boy attitude. It was much more focused on the exploding booby titles from places like Top Cow than the thoughtful Indie and Vertigo comics that I was reading.

Still, it's a shame to see it go. I'm not pleased in general by the death of the print magazine as a viable form of information and entertainment. Wizard once sold over 100,000 copies per month in the late 90s. It was down to about 20,000 last month. For all of its problems, it paid its writers, had an editorial process, and published the occasional well-researched article. The comic book websites can't replace that.

Wizard claims that it will open a e-magazine, but so did Starlog. They seem happier now running crappy conventions with c-list celebrities than covering an industry.

It's a new year filled with new conventions. In case you want to stalk us, here's the current list:

Gallifrey One
February 18-20
Los Angeles, CA
Lynne M. Thomas is an Additional Guest
Plus: Whedonistas Launch!

C2E2
March 18-20
Chicago, IL

Odyssey Con
April 8-10
Madison, WI

WisCon
May 26-30
Madison, WI

4th Street Fantasy
June 24-26
Minneapolis, MN

CONvergence
June 30- July 3
Bloomington, MN
Lynne M. Thomas is a Guest of Honor

WindyCon
November 11-13
Lombard, IL

Chicago TARDIS
November 25-27
Lombard, IL

Caitlin's bones are all healed!!! No more brace!!! She can begin physical therapy and use her real wheelchair again!!!

WOO HOO!!!

The only downside at the moment is that she's in pain due to her leg and hip muscles being unused for over a month. She'll have a rough few days, but the end is in sight.

The Hugo Award season is upon us. I obviously have nothing eligible for an award, but I would like to mention that Chicks Dig Time Lords (edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea) is eligible for a nomination in the Best Related Work category.

You can find out more about WorldCon and the Hugo Awards here. :-)

There's not too much to report. She's still healing. Her cramping issues are getting better. It still breaks our hearts, though, when she screams out in discomfort. Caitlin really wants her brace off.

We're meeting with the school today to go over the plan for the week. I'll be driving Caitlin to and from school until she can use her regular wheelchair again. This will not be fun since we also have to use the wacky harness system in the car (the brace prevents her sitting up). Did I mention we can't wait to get rid of the brace?

The next doctor's appointment is in a week. Hopefully, things will move towards normalcy after that.