by Charlene Teglia | Apr 23, 2010 | Uncategorized
I’ve been getting questions about what’s next and that kind of depends. I have Red Queen and Kiss of the Demon coming from Samhain (typety typety type) and after that, um. I’d like to finish the Shadow Guardians, but don’t know which book will come next. I did a series proposal for all 5 books before I wrote Claimed by the Wolf, but which book is #3 will kind of depend on how Demon ties up and which one seems like the logical follow up. I’d like to deal with Wishmasters. I’d like to finish a few things I have hanging, plus some new projects. I don’t know how free my time is going to be this summer, although I have a teen in my neighborhood I may be able to commandeer for some babysitting.
Basically I’m looking at truly being able to write full time for the first time very soon, and I really don’t know how that’s going to translate in terms of output. I may not be able to write significantly more because maybe my brain is only good for X books per year no matter how much time I have. I may amaze myself with my output. I may be putting half of my time into other endeavors so that my head doesn’t blow a fuse. In short, I’m not really able to predict how things will go after this summer until I get there. It’s going to be a year of trial and error, I’m sure. Kind of like the rest of my life.
But at any rate, contracted books are Red Queen and Kiss of the Demon, and if you have any requests on what you’d like to see from me next, I’m open to feedback.
by Charlene Teglia | Apr 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
I watched the Peter Watts case unfold with shock and then a lot of trepidation. Because it struck me that this is precisely the sort of situation that could lead to confusion, escalation, and terrible repercussions for individuals in the autism spectrum. So much so that I don’t want to travel with my child without a medical ID that warns authorities that she’s in the autism spectrum.
I don’t know Peter Watts, and I don’t know that he’s an ASD individual. But given the tendency for Asperger’s and highly functioning autistic types to gravitate to professions like engineering, science, writing, I suspect a person who is both an academic and an author has some tendencies in that direction. Pair that with his well-known (in SF circles) affinity for animals and the scale tips further.
Here’s what I know from living with an ASD child. ASD people rely on scripts to cope with social situations and their social skills do not translate from one situation to another. If they are in an unrehearsed situation, such as an unprecedented border exit search, they may not know the correct way to react. They may want to cooperate, but react too slowly to the unexpected. If stressed enough, they may temporarily be unable to react at all.
Peter Watts was beaten, jailed, and ultimately found guilty for the crime of reacting too slowly. His jury determined that the letter of the law had been broken because a typical person had time to react and cooperate, but is Dr. Peter Watts a typical individual? And what will happen to the 1 in 100 individuals who find themselves in a similar situation, those in the autism spectrum, who we recognize as needing more time to finish class work or complete tests and will certainly need extra time to respond appropriately in a social situation they are unprepared for or unfamiliar with? Will they get that time? Or will they be treated as a threat by law enforcement personnel, airline security, border security? Are those people trained to handle special needs individuals who look normal but aren’t?
I am continuing to watch this case and in particular the sentencing with concern. I do not believe justice was served. I believe that this was a case of a collision of two individuals, the border security and Dr. Watts, who experienced a social failure, a failure to communicate and to understand on both sides, that escalated and resulted in a criminal outcome. And I worry about what this means for people like my daughter.
by Charlene Teglia | Apr 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
Husband is en route home today, and boy am I glad planes are flying. He’s been in San Fransisco this week for
Drupalcon, and there were people doing presentations there who couldn’t make their international flights. It’s sobering to see how much disruption around the world happened from a volcano in Iceland. It impacted everybody from grocery stores awaiting fresh food supplies to writers hoping for new deals at the London Book Fair only to find out their publisher reps didn’t make it.
But he made it there, and is on his way back, and that kicks ash. You can celebrate the restoration of air travel with a song or two.
And speaking of geology, it’s Earth Day. Here’s a site full of things to do for all ages.
by Charlene Teglia | Apr 21, 2010 | Uncategorized
I may be the last person in America (except possibly my Amish neighbors) to see this movie, but it arrived today via Netflix, and the moppet was sad because her dad is still out of town so I put it in and we watched it together.
She didn’t like the part about Ellie dying (I’m not worried about spoilers here, see last person in America), and she got scared by some parts, but overall she enjoyed it and so did I. We liked Kevin, and the dog (Squirrel!), and the Collar of Shame made me laugh even if it went over her head. She loved the balloons and getting Kevin to the baby birds, and Russell getting his last Wilderness Scout badge.
Up is a fun adventure movie, but it’s also a movie about connections and new goals. Sometimes to reach a goal you literally have to ditch your ballast. Good story.
by Charlene Teglia | Apr 20, 2010 | Uncategorized
I’m currently plagued by two kinds of bugs. One is building anthills all over the yard. I tried experimenting with vinegar and boiling water, but it’s going to take tons to cover the entire yard, which is about what it’ll take to discourage the invasion.
The other is on my laptop, and it’s either hardware or software. In other words, if installing a new operating system doesn’t do it, I will have another silicone corpse gained in the service of my publishing career. Less drastic fixes have been tried, and still weird glitches and crashes happen.
I seem to be hard on my writing machines. The keys break. The screens go dim. The hard drives die. And then they go to Silicone Heaven.
I really wanted this one to last longer, so I’m hoping it’s just a bug and that a new install will cure it. I haven’t broken any keys or cracked the screen. Stay with me, laptop. Don’t go towards the light. We’ll get some software penicillin for that bug and beat it down.
“Do not go softly into that vacuum tube night, but rage, rage against the dying electric light!”
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