It Ain’t Broke, But I’m Gonna Fix It Anyways

This here entry over on LiveJournal got me to thinking about my various blogs, journals, and assorted chunks of social media, and how I use, or don’t use, them as I ought. I’ve come to some conclusions. To wit: I’m just too damn rigid about what goes where, and have things set up so I end up doing a lot of additional work every time I write something.

I’m just too damn rigid about what goes where. Now, when I started this, the idea was… hey, stop that snickering! I wasn’t talking about… hey!

Sigh. Right. What I meant was that, when I started this blog, I thought I had it all figured out. The stuff about writing, genre, conventions, and so on would go here. Non-writing stuff and whatnot would go to my Dreamwidth journal and my Livejournal. A place for everything and everything in its place.

Except… I worked at doing regular entries on this blog, but let things on LJ and DW go slack. I’d put up videos and funny pictures there, just so it wouldn’t look entirely like Uncle Gary’s Self-Promotogasm Hour over there, but never managed those substantive ‘non-writing’ entries. It always felt like Extra Work. So it never got done.

Now, conclusions part deux: (I) have things set up so I end up doing a lot of additional work every time I write something. I write a blog entry, then I go and post a link to it on Dreamwidth (which gets picked up by Livejournal). Then I go post a link to it on Tumblr, and then Twitter, and then Google+. (Facebook picks it up automagically through NetworkedBlogs.) So posting a single blog becomes an event. Even if it’s a frakking links post. Events always feel like Extra Work. I’m not into Extra Work.

So, two problems, but with one solution. I just write one blog, featuring both writerly and non-writerly stuff, and set things up so it automagically cross-posts to my Livejournal, my Dreamwidth journal, and my Tumblr (which I couldn’t do before, but can now that my site’s converted to WordPress). More varied and interesting (at least to me) things for me to write on, less work to spread it about, and more on my LJ, Dreamwidth, and Tumblr that looks like actual content instead of filler. People who are interested can read and comment wherever they want, not just on my main site. Starting, oh, right now.

Now if Google+ will get off its high horse and open up its API so I can automate that, I’ll be freakin’ golden.

You’d like me when I’m golden.

(I’m also testing out new catch-phrases. That one may need some work.)

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light. His blog originates here.

Back in the saddle again…

Good morning, everyone, just wanted to briefly announce that the new GaryWOlson.com is now up and active (and actually has been since Saturday afternoon, when I did the switch from Joomla to WordPress). All the pages and blog entries have been transferred over, and all the old URLs have been redirected to the new ones. The RSS feed was also redirected to the new one (https://www.garywolson.com/feed/), so if RSS is how you keep up with this blog, you won’t need to make any changes (unless you want to, I mean).


I’ve also taken the opportunity to implement a couple new features. It’s now possible to subscribe to my blog entries via e-mail (not to be confused with subscribing to my newsletter, which will still be a no-more-than-once-a-month-and-usually-less affair), and the box for doing that is on the left column of my website pages. It’s also possible to use Google Translate to shift everything into another language entirely, though I won’t be able to vouch for how accurate it is.


Now that this is out of the way, I can finally get back to trying to wring the rest of the first draft of The Morpheist out of my brainmeats…

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and several previously published and forthcoming short stories. He can be found via his website, his blog, on Facebook, on Twitter, and in many other far-flung places on the Internet.

Joomla out, WordPress in–major site revamp this weekend!

Last weekend, I made brief mention of some “site maintainance” that was going to happen over the weekend–namely, me upgrading this website’s current Joomla version (1.5) to the more current 2.5. Unfortunately, I discovered that the component I use for blogging won’t work wth 2.5, and doesn’t currently have a 2.5 upgrade. So, I could either wait for them to eventually produce one, or I could do what I was strongly considering anyway, which is to scrap Joomla entirely and rebuild this site as a WordPress site. As the title of this entry reveals, I decided to go ahead with option two.

So this week I’ve been building a test version of the site in a super-seekrit subdomain, mainly so I can make some necessary design choices, see how things look, fix issues with links and image displays and such. When that’s done, which should be soon, I’ll export all those posts and pages, scrap this site, install wordpress, and import the lot again. I expect to be doing this sometime over Memorial Day weekend, so if you drop by and things are looking funky, or altogether absent, that’s why. I’m doing as much prep work as possible in advance, so hopefully this downtime will be minimal.

Though all the URLs to all the things will be changing, I’ll be setting up redirects so that anyone coming to the site from someplace else using old links will get directed to the correct content in its new location. The RSS feed for the site will also be changing (to https://www.garywolson.com/feed/), though I think WordPress is smart enough to recognize the old feed address and deliver accordingly. (Clicking it now will only send you to an error page. I knew you were wondering.) Hopefully this won’t result in you who follow this blog directly via RSS being flooded by entries. I’ll be temporarily disabling the syndications to Facebook (NetworkedBlogs), LiveJournal, Dreamwidth, Amazon, and GoodReads, just in case.

See you on the other side!

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and several previously published and forthcoming short stories. He can be found via his website, his blog A Taste of Strange, as @gwox on Twitter, and in many other far-flung places on the Internet.

Fading Light, Reading Pics, Site Maintainance, Free Links

Fading Light CoverI got some good news recently — my bizarro/horror short story Goldilocks Zone was accepted into the anthology Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous, edited by Tim Marquitz. That’s the awe-inspiring cover on the left, with artwork by Jessy Lucero–click on the image to see it in its full-size tentacly glory. Fading Light‘s gonna be droppin’ on September 1st from Angelic Knight Press, and in addition to my story, it features monstrously good tales from Malon Edwards, Jake Elliot, Lee Mather, Edward M. Erdelac, and more. You’re gonna want to catch this one!

Also, Bethany Grenier recently posted some pictures from the reading/q&a/signing we did at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor on May 7th… here, here, and here. (Left to right, that’s Bethany, Jim C. Hines, me, and Emmy Jackson.) Had a good time, and am looking forward to possibly returning in the fall!

In other news, I’m going to be doing some website upgrades this weekend–basically upgrading GaryWOlson.com from Joomla 1.5 to 2.5, and slipping in a new template for the site’s look. Hopefully this will be smooth and mostly transparent, but if you drop by the site this weekend and things are looking screwy… well, I’ll be workin’ on it. (Hopefully after this upgrade, it’ll be easier to leave comments on the blog, and I’ll be able to implement some things I’ve been putting off.)

But enough about that. You’re here for the free links, right? (Yeah, I said free links, not free drinks… hey, where’re you goin’?)

One of the big blowups from the past week started here, with an author’s story of how her first short story to be accepted for publication was mangled and slimed by the anthology’s editor and publisher (Undead Press). A harsh tale, but heartening in how that, since the story came out, a lot of light has been shone on this festering boil of a publisher.

In other news of dickery, Lincoln Crisler recently related that bureaucracy is making it very difficult for spouses of military personnel to find employment. But the pushback has started, led by his wife, Consuela, and there’s a way you can help–by signing this petition. It just takes a few moments, and will help a lot of people.

Mad Science: Giovanni Aldini, Corpse Reanimator–all about Giovanni Aldini, the macabre scientist rumored to be a real-life inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Shocking!

Apparently, now, there’s a project going on that involves mounting laser guns on sharks. Really. Of course, when I read this, I immediately suspected that Karina Fabian was behind it somehow…

This Turkish Doctor Who takeoff is… is… look, it just is, okay? I had to lie down for a while after watching this.

Here’s a video that’s evidence that Farmer Brown’s switched crops, and is now growing magic mushrooms. That, or the cows are more than they seem.

Finally, there’s this video, which is simply titled “Japanese racing rendition.” As far as I can tell, it’s technically SFW (safe for work). It is also weird as hell, and something you will never, ever be able to unsee. You have been warned!

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and several previously published and forthcoming short stories. He can be found via his website, his blog A Taste of Strange, as @gwox on Twitter, and in many other far-flung places on the Internet.

Gettin’ Merry With It

The publication of Brutal Light just 23 days ago was undoubtedly the high point of my year. I had a lot of stressful things going on outside of my writing life this year, and while the work on the novel and the promotion thereof got a bit crazy as well, it was the kind of ‘good stress’ that I needed to counteract the not-so-good kind. I learned a lot this year, met a lot of new friends, pushed myself out of my comfort zone for the first time in a long time… and I’m looking forward to next year.

Like I wrote last week, I’m going to be taking next week off from blogging and the other social media venues. No blitherings shall I blog; no statuses shall I update; no tweets shall I twit. I’m also putting off the next issue of the newsletter until January. I’ll be reading everything, of course, but unless I’m really moved to say something (most likely because I’ve thought of a bad pun), it’ll be eerie silence from me until January 2012.

Which is not to say I won’t be busy! I’m on vacation from my day job as well, and am determined to get cranking on my next project, a dark science fiction novella called Entering Cadence. You may have read me going on about it in some of the interviews during my virtual book tour; naturally, the story has mutated further from what I then described. But I’m itching to start it, and next week is a perfect time to do so.

So from me and mine to you and yours, have a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a festive New Year!

(And if you like snow, you can have my share, when we get some.)

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Gary W. Olson is the author of the dark fantasy novel Brutal Light and several previously published and forthcoming short stories. He can be found via his website, his blog A Taste of Strange, as @gwox on Twitter, and in many other far-flung places on the Internet.

Friday Bag o’ Links

So. Just 34 days to go until my debut novel, Brutal Light is unleahed upon an unsuspecting humanity–in both old-timey ‘paper’ format and a variety of shiny e-book formats for your convenience. (Actually, the ‘paper’ format will be available around mid-December, not straight up on 12/1/11 — but it will be still dripping with convenience.) I am hip-deep in assembling a virtual book tour and writing out fascinating essay-shaped and interview-shaped nuggets for it, which doesn’t leave much time for writing anything time-consuming today. Which means it’s time for… links! [Stock footage: people running in terror from giant locusts, an outhouse exploding, old ladies clapping.]

Here are some very true words on the virtues of patience and persistence if you’re lookiing to get published: What Do I Wish I’d Known… Or You’re Kidding, Right?.

Here’s Su Halfwerk on how she learned to stop worrying and love writing for multiple genres.

I was wondering when they’d take my homebuilding concerns into account: Architecture Contest Calls for Zombie-Proof Home Designs.

From the department of I See No Way In Which This Can Be Turned Into An Orwellian Nightmare: Real-life Inception: Army Looks to ‘Counteract Nightmares’ With Digital Dreams.

Surely there is a short story in here somewhere: Vampire Moths Discovered in Siberia.

And finally, for those of you brave enough to wade into the gonzo end of the conspiracy pool, I present this site, which is loaded with gobs of articles on the agenda of the interdimensional Reptilians who secretly control Earth. Whenever I’m worried that I’ve lost my marbles, I go here to reassure myself that, comparatively, I am a marble hoarder.