Ask Me Anything February 2013

(UPDATED BELOW!) Vasili Kalinnikov is mostly unknown these days, mainly because he was really only starting to show his potential when he tragically died of tuberculosis when he was only 35 years of age. Still, a few of his works are still heard today, with the most familiar (if ‘familiar’ is even a word that can be applied to him) to his Symphony No. 1 in G minor, which is the work on tap today. This is one of my favorite of all Russian symphonies, because it just oozes “Russian symphony-ness”. Yes, that’s a term I just made up, butDown the rabbit hole….

OK, folks, I think I can finally wrap it up in this post! Hooray and Huzzah! (And remember, if you have something you’d like to ask, always feel free. I’ve got tons of ways you can get hold of me — e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, you name it. And if you want to remain anonymous, I always honor such requests.) Charlie asks: It’s Spring 2000, The West Wing is well into Season 2 and you’ve decided to write a spec script to see if Sorkin might let you write a few episodes of Season 3 for him. What wouldDown the rabbit hole….

Continuing the cavalcade of answers from Ask Me Anything!, so that I can be well-rested by the time the August edition rolls around! Roger’s final questions: Your solution to the immigration problem. Are we in a “post-racial society,” yet, and if not, what will it take? The US can kill Americans abroad if they are “terrorists”; your thoughts. The copyright law in my lifetime has expanded the effective date tremendously in my lifetime. Does this distress you? Are you concerned about MPAA/RIAA copyright overreach legislation such as SOPA? Well…huh. In all honesty, I haven’t thought much about the immigration ‘problem’,Down the rabbit hole….

And we keep on plugging away! First of all, I need to revise and extend my remarks from the other day, regarding what fictional planet I would like to live upon. I don’t think I gave the question enough thought at the time, so here are some additions: The Mars of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy (note to self: you’re way overdue for a re-read) strikes me as an amazing place that I would love to see, especially if I, like the long-lived characters of his books, get to see Mars all the way from dead red planet to verdant,Down the rabbit hole….

Another post or two, and I should be able to put Ask Me Anything! February 2013 to bed. Huzzah! (And remember, folks, you don’t have to wait for February or August to ask me anything. I’m always on the prowl for topic suggestions!) My friend and writing cohort (and Princesses beta-reader) Lynda asks: When going back to edit your writing, how do you determine what to keep and what to weed out? My first goal when editing is to look for needless words and get rid of them. In On Writing, Stephen King says that the formula for the secondDown the rabbit hole….

OK, I need to pick up the pace a little bit here…. Continuing with Roger’s queries: How many copies of the Orson Scott Card’s Superman comic will you be buying. I KNOW you’re his biggest fan. 😉 Heh. Clearly Roger already knows the answer to this: Zero, nada, zip, zilch. No way, not in a million years, never. In that order. Not one penny will ever find its way from my pocket to Orson Scott Card’s, so long as it’s within my power to prevent it. Heh! If you are selected pope: will you serve, and if so, what willDown the rabbit hole….

Continuing to answer questions posed in Ask Me Anything! (And feel free to pop in with some more, if you so desire, folks!) These were e-mailed by a reader who wishes to remain anonymous: Was your high school safe? Drug or gang problems? Did it have any anti-bullying programs? Do you worry about your daughter’s schools? What about the opposite: what were the strengths of your school? As far as I know, yes, it was pretty safe. There weren’t any anti-bullying programs to speak of, as in the mid-to-late 1980s, bullying was mainly seen as a ‘rite of passage’ kindDown the rabbit hole….

Continuing the cavalcade of answers to Ask Me Anything! questions. (Entries still welcome, by the way — ask things in comments here!) The Herkmeister (hey, if you don’t mind my asking, what’s with that name? There’s gotta be a story there!) offers a couple of Star Wars questions. So, Disney recently announced it would be making a bunch of stand-alone Star Wars films in addition to a new trilogy. The buzz is that first up will be a movie about Yoda (which is awesome because Yoda), but if it were up to you, which Star Wars character would you likeDown the rabbit hole….

It’s time to start answering the questions submitted by You Fine Readers in Ask Me Anything!. As always, I’m still open to questions, so don’t feel you have to stop now! I’ll start by putting Andy out of his misery, who always finds something off-beat to ask. In this case: When you eat anything with Alfredo sauce do you get a nasty smell that lingers on your lips after you are done? I am honestly not sure…but this is likely because I consume Alfredo sauce very rarely. I never keep it at home, and the only time I ever haveDown the rabbit hole….