I Am Not Any of These Other People

I recently finished listening to Judy Greer's audiobook of her memoir I Don't Know What You Know Me From (which is delightful, by the way: my favorite chapter is "My Stupid Trip (Alone) to Spain" but they're all great).

Now, I'm nowhere near as well-known as Judy Greer, but I also get the "where do I know you from" thing quite a bit. I also don't know why this happens. (Remind me to tell you sometime about the first time I met Kim Stanley Robinson.)

Anyway, here is a brief list of people I have been told I look like.

1. Ted Chiang


Photo © 2014 by Folly Blaine

We are not the same person, as you can see... I'M THE ONE ON THE RIGHT OKAY.

That said, if someone mistakenly invites me onto a movie set and wants to introduce me to Amy Adams, I'm not going to say no.

2. A Native American


(That's Chief Joseph)

This according to a homeless man in San Francisco. He was perhaps not an authority on comparative phenotypic analysis.

3. The character shown on the cover of China Mountain Zhang (Tor, 1992)


Cover art by Wayne Barlowe

Okay, that's actually a fair cop. Here's a close-up from the 1997 Orb edition, which remixes the original artwork:



And here's a picture of me from this year's Readercon:


Photo by Christopher M. Cevasco

You win this round, Dan Trefethen!

Anyway. I won't be offended if you come up to me and insist that you know me from somewhere else, even if it's the first time we've ever met. Just don't turn it into a weird interminable guessing game and we'll be cool.

I'm writing for Clarion West

I've been pretty bad about promoting my Clarion West Write-a-thon participation this year, but I'm starting up the marketing machine now. If you're not sick of hearing about it by the time August rolls around, well, I'm doing something wrong.

In a nutshell: this is the time for you, genre fiction lover, to make a fully tax-deductible donation to support Clarion West, a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation which runs a six-week workshop every summer, often described as "boot camp for writers." I attended CW last year, and it was an amazing experience with wonderful people.

I'm donating this year to support all my classmates (listed previously). You can also sponsor me as I finish revising my novel Waypoint Kangaroo for my editor at Thomas Dunne Books, who plan to publish it next summer! And then I'm moving on to short stories, and the second Kangaroo novel (also under contract to Thomas Dunne).

Here's my page (use the "Sponsor" link to donate via PayPal):


http://www.clarionwest.org/members/sparckl/

To sweeten the pot, here are some rewards I'm offering for my supporters:

• Donate $64 and you'll get a sneak peek at more of "Ten Days Up" (the writing sample on my Write-a-thon profile), which will be published this November in the Mission: Tomorrow anthology.
• Donate $128 and you'll get a signed paperback copy of Thursday's Children: Flash Fiction from 512 Words or Fewer (free shipping to continental US).
• Donate $256 and I'll share a "mix tape" of some of my favorite film scores which I use as background music when writing.
• Donate $512 and I will put together a fiction-themed Puzzled Pint "party pack" (4 puzzles + 1 meta) for you to share with your friends!
• Donate $1,024 and you can name a minor character in the second Kangaroo novel (subject to editorial approval).

That's all for now. Have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend!