More Than Once Upon a Time

So sad to hear she’s gone. Her cleverness, her fluid style, and above all the good humor of her books, will be missed. A wonderful writer.

A theory about AmazonFail. If you examine what Amazon is trying to accomplish from their point of view, why do they even need publishers? Why not just open the Kindle directly to authors - give the authors then entire 30% that Amazon is paying the publishers now. 30% on a $9.99 book is not that much lower than 15% on $28 hardcover, and if you move more of the cheaper book it could be much more. Plus Amazon could take a page from Harlequin and open the Kindle to anyone - in fact, they could even charge authors for the privilege! $250 to publish your own ebook! I’m sure a lot of folks would jump at the chance. Then Amazon would leave the marketing to the blogverse, which is probably the future of marketing anyway.

Who needs publshers? I wonder if Amazon is offering a 40% deal to selected bestselling authors right now.

Apparently Amazon and Macmillan are having it out (Tor, my publisher, is a subsidiary of Macmillan) over ebook pricing. Amazon is currently not selling ANY books published by ANY division of Macmillan except through third party sellers. suricattus has a good post about it.

Oy.

So Obama caved on trying terrorists in NY. Why? Because it was too inconvenient and too expensive.

We never are going to achieve anything if that’s always our excuse.

Why not? They were basically built at the right time (1890-1910). They look like it too, except for the trains. But once upon a time there were wicker seats and leather straps to hang onto (hence the Straphangers organization).

An antique.

If you have the stomach for it.

Back from another lovely weekend in Montreal. I do enjoy that town. This time it was smoked meat instead of Duck in a Can. But, proving that the power of Duck in a Can is Supreme, I found myself inexorably drawn back to the spot, recognizing that I was three blocks away even though the only time I had ever been to the restaurant was on a summer night, and this was a winter noon.

Resistance is futile.

If Coakley loses tomorrow, it’s not going to be because of anything the Democrats did or didn’t do, or anything the Republicans did or didn’t do either. It’s going to be because of us. The blame will lie on us, and only us, the ones who voted.

Why? Because as a society we are incapable of making any hard decisions. We want our cheap imports, but we want our jobs, too. We want all the medical care we can possibly consume, but we don’t want to pay for it. We want to be safe and strong and secure against our enemies, but we don’t want to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve that condition. Nor have we demonstrated the courage required to achieve it, either.

We are a nation of toddlers, intellectual recidivists unable to make the difficult decisions required of political adulthood, unworthy of the legacy handed us by our founders.

As Joseph de Maistre (and Kurt Vonnegut) said, “Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite (Every country has the government it deserves).”

Doing readings in people’s homes. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/books/review/Elliott-t.html

The Taverna Kyclades. If you’re ever in Astoria, you have to go. Mmm, octopus.