Anne Is Fiction

My internet has developed a taste for sadism. It cut off mysteriously, then repaired itself with no explanation. I’m waiting for it to break again (knock on wood) but in the meantime, I’m using it enthusiastically.

So, first of all, the big bit of news: the prequel to Deliberate, titled Outside in the Cold, is officially posted! I’m very pleased with it. It’s loooong, and bloody, and full of difficult choices. I hope my readers enjoy it. If you are interested in reading it, click here.

I’m thinking about writing a quasi-essay thing talking about the making of OitC. I’d probably ramble on about why I did certain things. Could be boring, or it could be interesting. In any case, I plan on posting some spoiler-ish stuff about it in a day or two.

Writers’ Group! There is an official board over on my forums for it. Everyone is welcome, no matter their experience or fandom. Basically, if you have an interest in writing good fanfiction, this is the place for you.

A good book to check out if you’re into science fiction: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. I read it the other day and loved it. Bunches of aliens, and ass-kicking, and cool geeky technology stuff.

Two funny websites I’ve stumbled onto: I Can Has Cheezburger? and FAIL Blog. Both have pictures with hilarious captions, the former with cats, and the latter with moments of failure. Both provide endless hours of entertainment. Warning: addictive. Don’t visit if you have something you’re supposed to be doing, because you will forget.

My friend Sarah is over, but she’s on the phone, so I’m going to talk about the book Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow. I downloaded the free ebook last night out of curiosity, and stayed up until two in the morning finishing it because it was beyond excellent.

It’s about Marcus, a guy who’s pretty normal, if a little geekier and a lot smarter than most teenagers. His life turns totally upside down when he is arrested by the Department of Homeland Security after a terrorist attack on his city, San Francisco. He and his friends are held for days, interrogated mercilessly, until they are released to discover that the people of the city are being spied on by their own country. Random citizens are picked up by the cops for nothing, and the DHS uses every scrap of technology in the city to control its populace.

Marcus is the kid who decides to fight back. Using his experience with computers and the internet, he creates a network of young people who are determined that their rights will not be overthrown by the DHS. Unfortunately, the DHS doesn’t like what Marcus is doing….

It’s also about fear, and love, and friendship, and truth, and standing up for what you believe in. The importance of technology in this book was awesome for a nerd like myself, and it felt so real that when it was over I wanted to jump up and give all the characters a big hug (or a punch, in the case of Severe Haircut Lady). The writing is spectacular, and Cory Doctorow also dedicates each chapter to a different bookstore, which is very cool.

If you like science fiction, rebellion, or coming-of-age stories, you’ll like Little Brother. And you can download it for free and send it to all your friends (it’s got a Creative Commons license). I’m also going to buy a print copy, because I love it so much.

So, go download a copy of Little Brother right now, and read it and enjoy.

The Little Brother Website