Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry May 28
Critter Notices
Books from Critters!
Check out Books by Critters for books by your fellow Critterfolk, as well as my list of recommended books for writers.
Space Travel for SF Writers
Hot off the presses from ReAnimus Press! Space Travel - A Science Fiction Writer's Guide— An indispensible tool for all SF writers that explains the science you need to help you make your fiction plausible. (Also via Amazon)
How to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
Interviewed!
I was interviewed live on public radio for Critters' birthday, for those who want to listen.
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you're looking for great stuff to read from bestselling and award-winning authors—look no further! ReAnimus Press was founded by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
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FEATURED BOOK
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Keep Your Records On Paper
I'm as digital as they come. If it can be done online, I do it.
There are only a few cases where I shy away from bits and favor atoms.
Paper records are one of them.
I saved myself thousands of dollars in taxes by having paper records of a stock transaction. The brokerage company said they no longer had records from the time I'd made the purchase. If I hadn't been able to prove when I made the purchase, and what price, I'd have had to pay thousands in taxes I didn't owe. Thank heavens I had the paper records.
Banks/etc. want you to switch to online statements, since it saves them money. Note, it saves them money, not you.
Don't expect your bank/etc. to keep these for you. They won't. They delete records after some usually short time. (3 months - 18 months - five years... none of those are long enough if you need one that's older. Don't think they keep offline backups forever, either. The case I mentioned, the place had no records past a certain date, period.)
This applies to financial transactions and anything else that might be important in the future. Proof for anything you deducted on your taxes, for example. (Paid your mortgage bill online and don't have a paper statement years later for proof? Your loss.)
Moral: Keep paper records.
That said, let me qualify it: Keep your own records. If you're religious about downloading online statements and keeping backups so you won't ever lose them, and they're in a standard format that you're sure won't become unreadable, then keeping your records digitally is fine. (But on your own hard drive, where you know they're there and they won't mysteriously vanish after some time.) If in doubt, get and keep paper.
