Memorial Day

 Memorial Day

 

Amazon buys MGM, setting up Prime Videos for James Bond, Rocky to move in - CNet

As Panzer was taking his after lunch nap his kitty bed was violently shaken and he was thrown to the floor. Not willing to accept such treatment, our angry kitty boy hopped in the Panzermobile and headed into the Catosphere. Following all the raucous noise took him to the C/Net site. There he discovered Amazon was the cause of his problem.

 

You woke me for this? Really?

According to a post at C/Net by Joan E. Solsman, Amazon bought MGM this week. The negotiations had been rumored for weeks, but the announcement was made that Amazon is indeed buying MGM for $8.45 Billion. The post does point out that Amazon won't be immediately streaming MGM movies and tv series on Amazon Prime Video. MGM doesn't own the rights or have control over many of the movies and tv series in its library. The post includes several links to other sites for more information on streaming services.

 
Panzer says, "The post brings up a lot of questions and not many answers. This little kitty wants to know 'What did Amazon really buy?'"

 

Note: This is a long post. There are so many links in this post you will need to bring two thermos of tea and twenty-four muffins for today's combined reading selections.

 

To read the post tootle over to Amazon buys MGM

39 Places to Publish Novellas and Long Short Stories - Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity

 Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere and decided to make a stop at the Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity site. There our adventuresome kitty boy found a post with markets for novellas and long short stories.

 

Erica Verrillo's post is a collection of 39 markets for novella and long short stories. Finding markets for material of these lengths is hard, so this list is worth reading. All are paying markets. The post includes descriptions of the various lengths for novellas and long short stories.

It's definitely nap time for me.

 

Panzer says, "There are several fantasy and science fiction markets included in here."

 

Note: With 39 market listing, this is a long post. Bring a thermos of tea and three muffins for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to novellas and long short stories

Doing Crime the Canadian Way - The Rap Sheet

This morning Panzer made a trip to The Rap Sheet site. With just a tiny bit of digging in the posts he found one about Canadian crime writing awards.

 

According to the post by J. Kingston Pierce, the 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in Canadian Crime Writing were just awarded. Winners were chosen in nine categories, ranging from novels to unpublished manuscripts and including fiction and nonfiction. The post includes a list of the winners and the nominees in each category.

 

Just wondering.

Panzer says, "How does an awards name like that fit on the trophy?"

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a huge cup of tea and a large muffin to read the winners and the nominees.

 

To read the post tootle over to Canadian crime

No Post

Her work is never ending.

No post today.

 

Mom is getting caught up on work today.

We'll be back tomorrow.

New Barnes & Noble Opens At Totem Lake This Week - Patch

Today Panzer had just entered the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was shaken by clapping and cheering outside. Following all the jocularity took our traveling kitty pilot to the Patch site. There he discovered a post about Barnes and Noble was causing all the excitement.

 

A new bookstore? Are things getting back to normal?

According to the post by Lucas Combos, Barnes and Noble has opened a new bookstore in Kirkland, Washington. The bookstore has children's, YA, adult fiction and nonfiction books and a cafe. Based on the description in the post, the cafe will be the old style Barnes and Noble cafe not the dinner and drinks restaurants introduced more recently. The bookstore opens its doors today (Wednesday, May 26).

 

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Maybe somebody decided a bookstore doesn't need a dinner and drinks restaurant in it."

 

Note: This is a long-short length post. Bring a cup of tea for your reading enjoyment. 

To read the post tootle over to Barnes and Noble

A New Panzerism

 Panzer on training your human:

Being an avid reader,

 

I came across this little nugget on an internet market website last night:

Free. Cat harness. Worn only once.

Humans can learn.

 

So ...

I figured ...

That's what "Just say No! means."

Powell's Employee Union Files Grievances Over Rehires - Publishers Weekly

 It's the weekend. So, when Panzer isn't cat napping, he's cleaning up the Panzermobile and the hangar. Today when he was sweeping out the hangar, he discovered a wadded up post on the floor. Flattening it out, he found it was a post from the Publishers Weekly site about Powell's Books bookstore.

 

According to the post by Ed Nawotka, the union for Powell's Books' employees is filing grievances against the bookstore on behalf of the employees. The union wants the bookstore to rehire employees for the same wages and positions they had before the pandemic closed the bookstore as promised by management. The bookstore says since it has been over 12 months since they closed, they're not bound by that promise. The bookstore wants former employees to apply for employment positions like everyone else.

There must be more to it.

Panzer says, "Umm ... A year is a long time to hold a position open for an employee ... and ... this says most of the employees they've hired are the former employees.  ... What's wrong? "

 

Note: This is a long-medium post. Bring a cup of tea and a large muffin for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Powell's Bookstore

2021 CWA Dagger Awards Shortlists - Mystery Fanfare

 Panzer stopped in at the Mystery Fanfare site today. There he found the Crime Writers' Association's (CWA) Dagger shortlists.

 

According to the post by Janet Rudolph, the Crime Writers' Association announced the shortlists nominees for this year's Dagger Awards. There are 9 shortlists. There are Dagger Awards available for short stories, nonfiction, publishers, historical, translations, and new authors. There are gold daggers and steel daggers and even a library dagger.

Anybody on the lists you know?

 

Panzer says, "There sure are a lot of crime writers on those shortlists."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a big cup of tea and a big muffin for while you're reading all those names.

 

To read the list tootle over to CWA awards shortlist

ThrillerFest XVI - ThrillerFest Website

 Today Panzer made a trip to the ThrillerFest website to get information about the annual conference.

 

No plane or hotel. Some free. I'm going.

According to the website, the International Thriller Writers' ThrillerFest will be June 28 - July 10 this year. Like most other conferences it will be virtual only. The conference includes pay and free presentations. The Master Class, X-Treme CraftFest, PitchFest and ConsultFest are all pay presentations. You can register for any or all of them. The Author Advice videos, Debut Authors videos and the Awards presentations are all free. The free presentations are hard to find, so here's what you have to do: Click X-Treme CraftFest in the band at the top of the page (below where it says ThrillerFest XVI and right next to Master Class); scroll partway down the page to the Register Today! button and click it; go all the way to the bottom of the Registration page and there you'll find the free presentations. You can read about them and the date and time of each presentation. Since these presentations are on Facebook you will need to follow the ITW on Facebook.

 
Panzer says, "If you're looking for the free presentations, follow the instructions exactly!"

 

Note: If you plan to read all the information about the conference, bring two thermoses of tea, six muffins, six chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) and six oatmeal cookies (biscuits).

 

To visit the site tootle over to Thriller Fest

Barnes & Noble's Owner Buys Paper Source - Publishers Weekly

 Today was a quick trip into the Catosphere for Panzer. He stopped in at the Publishers Weekly site where he found a post about Barnes and Noble.

 

According to Jim Milliot's post, Elliott Investment Management has purchased bankrupt Paper Source. Elliott Investment Management owns Barnes and Noble bookstores. Elliott plans to run the two companies separately; however, Barnes and Noble CEO James Daunt will oversee both companies.

 

Separate but equal? Right.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Do you suppose Paper Source might start to carry books and ereaders?"

 

Note: This is a short post. Bring half a cup of tea for your reading enjoyment.

 

To read the post tootle over to Paper Source

 

 

A New Panzerism

(Sorry  this is late. Mom has had computer problems since last Friday. Hopefully, it's all fixed now.)

 

Panzer on statistical analysis:

It's pretty easy to tell when information supplied as fact is incorrect.

Now take for example, Mom's statement, "The average cat sheds his body weight in loose hair each month."

Obviously ...

Average? You maybe. No me.*

 

This is not true.

There is no such thing as an average cat.

All cats are way, way above average.

* From Cat Wisdom for humans

No Post Today

 

Panzer went to the vet today to get his vaccinations.

 

He's not feeling well

We'll be back tomorrow.

The Pinnacle Academy - Brian Jackson

 Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere and decided to make a stop at The Pinnacle Academy site. The Academy is run by Brian Jackson. He and his wife Melanie are both authors of a lot of books.

 

It's free. It'll only cost you time.

According to the Introduction at the site, the curriculum there is based on some of Brian Jackson's Udemy courses. These Udemy courses were centered around writing and publishing. To use the site, hover over the word in the banner bar you're interested in. This will give you a drop down menu. The beginning of the Introduction is about the platform and how it was built. It's not really an Introduction to the course. The site is currently free to use.

 

Panzer says, "Mom took a couple of his Udemy courses and she had to pay for those."

To visit The Academy tootle over to The Pinnacle Academy

Killer Nashville Scholarships - Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference Site

 Today, Panzer made a trip to the Killer Nashville International Writers' Conference site. There he found a post about scholarships to attend the conference.

 

According to the website, there are three scholarships available. The guidelines and how to apply are after three author bios at the top of the post, but read the bios first. The application deadline is July 5.

 

Read everything!

Panzer says, "Be sure to read everything carefully. You don't want to get disqualified because you used the wrong font or something like that."

 

Note:This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a small muffin for today's reading selection. Then sit down with a thermos of tea and write the perfect scholarship application.

 

To read about the scholarships tootle over to Killer Nashville scholarships

A New Panzerism

 Panzer on cat love:*

It might be difficult to understand how much I love Mom.

Well ... 

It turns out that she feeds me ...

And ...

I love her a lot for that.

And ...

If she needed me to prove my love ...

I would.

And that explains cat love.

I'd ... I'd ...

Dash in front of a car to save her ...

If ...

It was parked.

 

 

 

 

*In honor of Mother's Day yesterday

 

 

 

Happy Mother's Day!

 

From Panzer, Mom and What's His Name

325 Paying Markets for Short Stories, Poetry, Nonfiction - Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity

 Panzer was shaken from his kitty nap by cheering and clapping coming from the Catosphere. Hopping into the Panzermobile he followed all the noise to the Publishing ... And Other Forms of Insanity site. There he found a post about markets was causing all the hullabaloo.

 

It will keep you busy all weekend.

The post by site owner Erica Verrillo lists 325 paying markets for writers' submissions. There are markets for short stories, poetry and nonfiction. According to the post, many of the markets were listed on Duotrope and she added more of her own.

 

Panzer says, "If you can't find a market for your work there, you're not really looking to sell it."

 

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring two thermoses of tea, thirty muffins and thirty-three chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for your searching mission today.

 

To read the post tootle over to 325 markets

London Book Fair Announces Three-Week Format in June - Publishing Perspectives

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Publishing Perspectives site. There he found a post about the London Book Fair. In April Panzer told you about the London Book Fair's plans to be online only this year.

 

Three weeks is a long time for a conference.

According to the post by Porter Anderson, the London Book Fair has announced the schedule for this year's Book Fair. The post is divided into three sections. The first section is an introduction about the time table for the Fair. This section also contains an explanation of a planned break from June 11 through June 20. The second section is the schedule for the annual conferences from June 7 through June 10. The third section is the schedule of the programming for June 21 through July 1.

 

Panzer says, "There's a lot planned for those three weeks."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of tea and five chocolate chip cookies for today's reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to London Book Fair

To read Panzer's previous post, tootle over to London Book Fair digital only 

No Post Today

Do you know what Sunday is?

No post today.

 

Mom is catching up on her work.

We'll be back tomorrow.

Children's Authors Show Off Their Treasures on Antiques Roadshow - Publishers Weekly

 Today Panzer stopped in at the Publishers Weekly site. There our inquisitive kitty boy found a post about three authors and the Antiques Roadshow.

 

It's true he's a dog, but those Snoopy comics are cute.

According to the post by Claire Kirch, three children's authors will be appearing on the PBS Antiques Roadshow this season. Because of COVID-19 travel restriction and problems, the show needed to find celebrities near the show's home base in Boston. In addition to other celebrities, this season's shows features children's author Jason Reynolds, and author-illustrators Marc Brown and Mo Willems and their treasures.

 

Panzer says, "This just seemed really interesting to this little kitty."

 

Note: This is a long post because it discusses the 'treasures' of each of the three featured authors. Bring a large cup of tea, a muffin and three chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to Antiques Roadshow 

#DisneyMustPay: Authors' Groups Join Forces to Advocate for Writers Owed Money By Disney - Writer Beware

Today as Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere he suddenly heard booing and hissing outside the Panzermobile. Following the angry noises took our brave kitty pilot to the Writer Beware site. There he found a post about the Disney organization's treatment of writers.

 

According to Victoria Strauss' post, the Disney company is not paying some writers their royalty payments. The company, also, is not responding to authors about their requests for payment. Seven writers' groups (Authors Guild, Horror Writers Association, National Writers Union, Novelist, Inc., Romance Writers of America, Science Fiction Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime) have joined together to help authors try to get their royalties paid. The group is using the Twitter hashtag #DisneyMustPay for discussions, to give out information and to learn about authors who aren't being paid.

 

Careful. He left a big mess there.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... So, Mickey isn't paying his bills, huh?"

 

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a large muffin for today's reading.

 

To read the post tootle over to Disney

A New Panzerism

 Panzer on learning new skills:

I heard What's His Name telling Mom he's going to teach me how to clean my own litter box.

Well ...

I've got some breaking news for him ...

It's simple. I just don't want to.*

We cats already know how to clean our litter boxes.

But ...

Why should we ...

When we've taught our humans to do it for us?

* From Cat Wisdom for humans