My First Google+ Video Hangout Thinger

I recently did a streaming video interview thing hosted by the fabulous Trey Ratcliff from Stuck in Customs.

The truth is, I’m a little bit of a Luddite. I don’t skype. I lost my webcam months ago (don’t ask me how) and I didn’t bother replacing it. I think I’m the last person on earth that doesn’t have a smartphone.

But earlier this month, I watched the inaugural flight of Felicia Day’s Vaginal Fantasy book club on Google Air. (That’s the official name of the live streaming hangout thing.)

So when Trey invited me to come and hang out on his show, I jumped at the chance.

Since I don’t do a lot of webcam-ish stuff, I expected to be kinda self-conscious. But Trey’s questions were really good, so I had a good time talking about the creative process. He has a different perspective on things, as he’s a photographer. But it was interesting to see how much our experience overlapped.

We wrapped up the official part of the hangout in about an hour, but then we kept chatting because we were having a good time. Then Veronica Belmont swung by to say howdy and things got even cooler. The conversation went pretty free-range after that, but it was all good geeky fun.

If you’re interested, they taped the whole thing and it’s up on youtube over here. So if you want to see how messy my computer room is, and watch me try to talk with my hands on a webcam, you can hop over and check it out.

And, if you’re on Google+, you can add my profile if you want. That way if I get around to doing some hangouts of my own you’ll get a chance to be a part of them.

Best,

pat

This entry was posted in Interviews, the craft of writingBy Pat22 Responses

22 Comments

  1. Posted February 12, 2012 at 7:08 PM | Permalink

    I, too, don’t own a smartphone, just a simple cellphone.

    • pjmintz
      Posted February 13, 2012 at 7:47 AM | Permalink

      I’m with you. If my phone were a kid, he would be in second grade. I’m wondering if he’ll make it to high school…

    • zvanic
      Posted February 13, 2012 at 5:25 PM | Permalink

      I still use t9….

  2. katelyn
    Posted February 12, 2012 at 7:47 PM | Permalink

    Felicia’s book club is freaking awesome. Pretty much everything she does is, but still. Love her.

    • Posted February 12, 2012 at 7:57 PM | Permalink

      Lol, I first read : “Pretty much everything she does is butt” ! :-)

      But then I realized that your sentence continued on another line !

  3. kdculb
    Posted February 12, 2012 at 8:57 PM | Permalink

    I smart phone, what the hell is that? I don’t even have a cell phone – they were the downfall of civility and curtesy.

  4. DrFood
    Posted February 12, 2012 at 9:32 PM | Permalink

    Going to watch now (at least until I get paged. . .)

    I’ve already added you to my Google+ stream, but of course I still need to check it on a regular basis and I’m not so good at that. So I missed this happening live. Thanks so much for posting the link!

    The only time I use a webcam is for conversations between my parents and my kids–the visual helps a lot with the communication.

    • DrFood
      Posted February 12, 2012 at 11:36 PM | Permalink

      . . . and, I got to watch the whole thing! Cool!

      Except I was mortified by the descriptions of the well-meaning fans who offer some clueless criticism, because I did that! Ack! It was just my own personal OCD coming to the fore, and once I noticed some typos or word substitutions (more common than typos in these times of spell-check) I couldn’t help myself. I just felt like SOMEBODY needed to know about these things, and since I didn’t know anybody in the editing process and you were right there all friendly looking, well, I dumped them on you.

      Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a cold prickly. Never occurred to me that maybe you already know about them and maybe it’s too frickin’ late and I know nothing about the publishing process. . .

      (Well, except for the croup thing. That’s actually in my field of expertise. I stand ready for medical beta-reading at any time.)

      So I spent the first several minutes of that conversation just squirming in my seat wishing I had a way-back machine. Overall though, an excellent use of my time–thanks again!

  5. Posted February 12, 2012 at 11:24 PM | Permalink

    It’s cool to hear you talk about writing, thanks for posting the link.

    Here’s hoping I can continue living cell phone free.

  6. AO_22
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 8:27 AM | Permalink

    I don’t have a smart phone either. I’ve had a pay-as-you-go cell phone, but only for a couple of years and I sometimes go weeks without checking it because no one important calls there (it can be useful for emergencies).

    I will check out the interview, thanks for the link.

  7. Shadow
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 10:52 AM | Permalink

    I’m currently watching your video and you mentioned Harry Connolly’s The Twenty Palaces series and I also really enjoyed the series. Although it really is too bad that the series was canncelled due to not getting enough sales so it wont go any futher then it already has, but it was definitely a new take on the urban fantasy. I wasn’t even tempted to compare it to Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files.

    • Jack Lancaster
      Posted February 13, 2012 at 3:16 PM | Permalink

      Damn, I just saw this.

      I really liked the 20 Palaces series… can’t believe they canceled it.

      This is Firefly all over again…

      • Shadow
        Posted February 15, 2012 at 4:21 PM | Permalink

        I know! I found out when I had decided to reread the series and I wanted to find out when the next one was coming out… I was so disappointed that I had to put off rereading them :(

  8. Jack Lancaster
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 2:28 PM | Permalink

    Harry Connolly’s “Twenty Palaces” novels are really good. I discovered them in July last year and was really glad I did. Definitely a very different main character, and I especially liked the magic system.

    *SPOILERS!!!*

    So far, I think the Sapphire Dog is my favorite… thing. Very insidious.

    *END OF SPOILERS!!!*

    Also, I know exactly what you mean, Mr. Rothfuss in regards to the fast reading as a result of very slight dyslexia. I had difficulty learning to read as a child due to the same thing, and now I read very quickly. I read “The Wise Man’s Fear” in almost exactly 18 hours, for example. It’s nice to know there are people out there in the same boat… and that you’re one of them… ‘cos that makes me awesome by association.

  9. chobindue
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 4:38 PM | Permalink

    I’ve been thinking to write on your blog since a friend of mine talked to me about your book, but I was not sure about it.
    I was feeling like “Hey, what are you expecting from a writer? That he tells you how he’s happy that you’ve written on his blog? and What are you writing on his page? Thanks for the awesome book you’ve written? There are tons of people doing that”.
    Tonight, after listening to a part of your interview (I downloaded the rest on iTunes), I had the right feeling. Especially when you where talking about why you write and how do you feel about your success.
    I don’t want to tell you “That’s true! I agree!” or “I love your books”, I just want to share a thought that came into my mind.
    There was a moment in my life, ten years ago, when happened a great event. It was a great success and I’m still living thanks to that. But it cost me to lose my old life (I was 21) made of hanging out with friends, studying at university and all that stuff. There was some sadness in it.
    I’m happy with what I do and have know, that’s why I’m writing about it on your blog!
    It’s an unusual thing to write in a blog, but I’m just following a sensation I had. So I hope this can be of some use to you.
    Good luck with your work.

  10. Ryvius
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 5:11 PM | Permalink

    Great interview. Some really interesting discussion on art.

    BTW, you mentioned wanting to read Murakami. He has written some really amazing books. I especially love The Windup Bird Chronicle. Though it’s more magical realism than fantasy. If you’re looking for something closer to speculative fiction, you could try Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

  11. AJF312
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 5:27 PM | Permalink

    Kind of off-topic but I figured my question would have a higher chance of being answered in a newer thread. So I donated to Heifer, and got a sweeeeet thank you letter in the mail today. It states that my gift was recorded in the “General Fund”. Does that mean I screwed up? I could swear I donated through world builders, but then maybe not I normally peruse this blog in the wee hours of the morning when I finish my work. It’s not a big deal, but it would have been nice to get the matching donation thing. Get more goat for your buck.

  12. Little My
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 5:59 PM | Permalink

    Were you going to write about the Shared Worlds thing? I happened on it via Lev Grossman’s blog, and was pleased to find critters described by you, Gene Wolfe, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman. . .

  13. ssw166
    Posted February 13, 2012 at 7:32 PM | Permalink

    I don’t have a smartphone! I thought I was the last person who didn’t have a smartphone as well, then I read your post. :D

  14. Posted February 14, 2012 at 2:28 AM | Permalink

    Every time I check this site and glance at the title of this post, I somehow read “hangover” instead of “hangout.” Just thought I’d share.

  15. dcashd
    Posted February 14, 2012 at 8:51 AM | Permalink

    I’m not going to lie I was pretty disappointed at the questions Tammy was asking from the chat room. We had some nice conversations and questions going, but she seemed to be making up generic questions that you’ve answered a hundred times. All in all, it was still a blast chatting with fellow fans.

  16. Animewookie
    Posted February 16, 2012 at 8:52 AM | Permalink

    You were fabulous!!! What a joy to watch, and such a great mix of personalities :D (Sincere happy face…lol)

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