A fish was dragged, without a single fin,
up from Amalgam’s Tee, and found within
were seven strips of cloth, no blood nor flesh;
the fishers burned the sailcloth, boat, and mesh.
Monthly Archives: May 2010
I just stumbled on this fantastic website for a museum that I really wish was a lot closer than Nova Scotia: The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, just in case you missed the title of this blog entry.
For those often confused by references to sailing vessels in fiction, the site’s tall ships page has a nice guide to sailing rigs that explains the difference between schooners and the five basic types of square-rigged vessels, using silhouettes.
(Teaser for the uninitiated: despite the term “tall ship,” not all large sailing vessels are technically “ships.”)
Okay, so I haven’t dropped a chain of literary agent links since April. Throw something heavy and hard at me. (I can take it.)
But, seriously, moving across town without hiring a moving company takes a lot out of a guy, especially when most of what you own consists of boxes and boxes of books. Kindle is looking real nice right about now.
So let’s get to those links!
♦ Dystel & Goderich doesn’t disappoint! Look at what the folks there have served up lately:
- Miriam reminds us that the real point in publishing is to enjoy it.
- Stacey does a damn good job and slapping down the cliché that men don’t read.
- Rachel gives up her best books list.
- Jessica seeks the logic underlying vampire stories, teenage hook-ups, mash-ups, and Malcolm Gladwell.
- Lauren confesses her love of bookshelf-lined walls.
♦ Jessica at BookEnds dives into the thorny issue of getting published after being self-published, and answers questions about resubmitting a reworked query letter, the purpose of query letter guidelines, and morality clauses in YA/MG contracts. She also warns us that confidence in a query can backfire.
♦ At her Pub Rants blog, Kristin compares different POVs, explains why enhanced ebooks will cause havoc, and tells writers why highlighting your age in a query is not a good idea.
♦ Nathan Bransford reminds us that every writer gets rejected.
♦ Rachelle Gardner at Rants & Ramblings reveals the secrets of a great pitch.
Enjoy!
A moscato! Albariño!
A prosecco: what a vino!
Trebbiano, trebbiano, trebbiano, trebbiano!
– if Kurt Cobain had been really, really into wine
_
[That’s from the hit track “Smells Like Teen Spirit With a Hint of Oak and Undertones of Citrus.”]
I have returned, completely mostly moved in to my new place of residence, and ready to shout “clear!” and slap the paddles to this flatlining blog.
Also, now that I’ve switched WordPress themes, I can go back to regular text hyperlinks; Andreas09 gives them a nice, clean look. However, I still like the idea of card suit bullets distinguishing the different categories of link soup, so I think I’ll keep them too.
So, without further introduction, let’s look at some good stuff posted recently by writers: Continue reading
COCKSWAIN, or COXEN, the officer who manages and steers a boat, and has the command of the boat’s crew. It is evidently compounded of the words cock and swain, the former of which was anciently used for a yawl or small boat, as appears by several authors; but it has now become obsolete, and is never used by our mariners.
– Yon tall anchoring bark
Diminish’d to her cock; her cock a buoy, &c.
SHAKESPEARE..
– Wm. Falconer’s Dictionary of the Marine (1780).
A certain city, stone but worn by fire,
sent to Amalgam seven girls in white
who said the arsonist was hanged with wire,
but still they missed the blaze’s yellow light.
I know the next week or so may be rather slow, so I want to publish a little update.
First of all, I am moving! Adams Morgan is a great neighborhood, but unfortunately great neighborhoods are not always blessed with great property managers, rational parking arrangements, or reasonable housing prices.
So, I’m off to the Waterfront, literally a couple blocks from where the sailboats dock, the Cantina Marina, the historic Maine Avenue Fish Market, Zanzibar, the Arena Stage, Hogate’s, and the Thomas Law House built in the 1780s.
It’s also very close (a 15 minute walk) to the National Mall. I can have lunch at NMAI‘s Mitsitam Café whenever I want! And, if you haven’t eaten there, go. Seriously. Venison loaf, chili short ribs, maple brined turkey, quinoa verde, bison chili, cherry dusted scallops, lobster whipped potatoes, roasted salmon, and drinks from juice to beer and wine. It’s absolutely the best food on the Mall.
I’m taking the move gradually during the overlap period. So far, I have moved 21 bankers boxes filled with books; I’m about halfway done with that part. The big stuff (mostly, as you might guess, shelves) will be moved on Monday, after which will be a week of organizing the new place and cleaning the old.
Also, as you can see, I’m trying out a new WordPress theme: Andreas09. I’m not too fond of the sans-serif font, but I like the clean hyperlinks and the more expansive layout. If I can figure out how to do Typekits, the fonts will be shifted to something more serify and old-fashioned.
Finally, I have been thinking of expanding outward from my Story Behind The Story posts. I have three writing advice blogs in the draft stage, tentatively (and humbly) titled “Advice From A Dude Who Hasn’t Even Been Published.” And, of course, I will get back into the fiction-writing habit as soon as the move is accomplished.
But, never fear: the Amalgam Poems and Archaic Definitions are front-loaded and ready to go!
RUMMAGE _ ‘Arrimage‘ is French for the ship’s cargo. Damaged and unwanted goods were sold at an arrimage sale, hence the derivation of today’s rummage sale. ‘Rummaging‘ — searching through a jumble — comes from this nautical source.
_
– The Pirate Dictionary by Terry Breverton.
The clergy of the shrine of St. Ambrose,
which stands a landmark of Amalgam’s heights,
all swear the Saint appears in winter snows;
of course, this is essential to their rites.