A Proclamation

Posted on July 29, 2009 by Matthew S. Rotundo

WHEREAS:  Joe Bonamassa is the Greatest Guitarist Alive ™; and

WHEREAS:  I am a major fan of Joe Bonamassa, as are all right-thinking people; and

WHEREAS:  Joe Bonamassa doesn’t have any Omaha dates scheduled for his 2009 tour; and

WHEREAS:  Joe Bonamassa is playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on October 19th; and

WHEREAS:  my sister and brother-in-law live in a suburb of the Twin Cities; and

WHEREAS:  I have procured four (4) third-row tickets for the show; now

THEREFORE:  I, MATTHEW S. ROTUNDO do hereby proclaim that my wife and I shall be in Minneapolis from October 15th-October 20th, to attend said concert, visit family and friends, and partake in general frivolity.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I submit this blog post this twenty-ninth day of July, two thousand nine.

That is all.

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My WorldCon Schedule, Let Me Show You It

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Matthew S. Rotundo

WorldCon is fast approaching.  Here’s my schedule (subject to change, natch):

When: Fri 9:00 a.m.
Location: D-Bonsecours
Title: Writing Workshop N
Session ID: 677
All Participants: Jody Lynn Nye, Matthew Rotundo
Description: Critique session for previously submitted manuscripts

When: Fri 12:30 p.m.
Location: P-514AB
Title: "eXistenZ" – Screening & Discussion
Session ID: 267
All Participants: Matthew Rotundo, William Humphries
Description: Screening and discussion of David Cronenberg’s 1999
virtual reality film.  What’s real?  What isn’t?

When: Fri 5:00 p.m.
Location: P-513B
Title: Odyssey: Confessions of Oddfellows
Session ID: 708
All Participants: Bob Sojka, Carl Frederick, Elaine Isaak, Ellen
Denham, Jeanne Cavelos, Lancer Kind, Larry B. Hodges, Matthew Rotundo
Moderator: Jeanne Cavelos
Description: Is the Odyssey workshop right for you?  Come talk to
people who have been to the workshop and to its director.

When: Fri 7:00 p.m.
Location: P-510D
Title: Intro to Guitar
Session ID: 302
All Participants: Matthew Rotundo, Melissa Auf der Maur
Moderator: Yourself
Description: Learn the basics of how to play a guitar.

When: Sat 2:00 p.m.
Location: P-518BC
Title: Battlestar Galactica: The Postmortem
Session ID: 264
All Participants: Amy Sisson, David Clink, Eliza Baynes, Matthew
Rotundo, Susan Forest, Suzanne Church
Moderator: David Clink
Description: It’s over, or is it?  Did the final season pay off or
leave us wanting more?  And even if you’re satisfied with the
conclusion, are there still stories to be told?

When: Sun 10:00 p.m.
Location: P-522B
Title: Young Turks
Session ID: 716
All Participants: Colin Harvey, Derwin Mak, Leah Bobet, Matthew
Rotundo, Maura McHugh, Peter Atwood
Moderator: Colin Harvey
Description: Writers who’ve recently begun selling stories and novels
talk about how they’ve arrived on their particular beachhead.

When: Mon 9:00 a.m.
Location: P-522A
Title: Author Reading
Session ID: 194
All Participants: Matthew Rotundo, Michael Skeet, Richard Chwedyk

This should be fun.  Hectic, as always, but fun.  If you’re going to WorldCon, do look me up!

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Progress Report, in which I consider working for the government

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Matthew S. Rotundo

Wet Work is another 5.4K further down the road, or so says Magic Meter:

Full disclosure time:  This number is artificially inflated.  I may have mentioned that this novel is being expanded from a short story I wrote last year.  I’ve reached that point in the narrative where I’m folding in great chunks from the short story.  It feels a bit like I’m cheating here–but this stuff needs to be done; it’s essential background.  I’m trying to keep it to a minimum.  Really I am.

That’s me–your one-stop rationalization shop.  Open 24 hours!

Either that, or I should go to work for the government.

The first act is coming to an end–and shaping up nicely, I might add.  In my previous two novels, as I approached the Big Sequences, places where the action was supposed to be picking up, I found myself bogging down in logistics and self-doubt.  Not this time.  I feel like I have a pretty fair handle on the next couple of chapters, and I’m looking forward to charging through them.

And after that?  Good question.  I’ll let you know when I know.

Care for a snippet?  Here ya go:

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