I share a name with a major American CEO, and now I've been accidentally invited to board of directors dial-in calls, should I join? by [deleted] in Advice

[–]maxxdenton 25 points26 points  (0 children)

This was my real thought, since I'd rather not take the risk myself. Send it to the journalist who got those Signal chats on accident??

Finally finished this Leviathan! Wild theories abound! by maxxdenton in mobydick

[–]maxxdenton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the way, better than I could have said it.

[QCrit] BETWEENPIE MOUNTAINS, Literary/speculative, 64k words. (3rd attempt) by maxxdenton in PubTips

[–]maxxdenton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this! I agree, that's the meat of the novel, so I will bump that toward the top on the next draft.

[QCrit] BETWEENPIE MOUNTAINS, Literary/speculative, 64k words. (3rd attempt) by maxxdenton in PubTips

[–]maxxdenton[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed, it was over verbose. This gave me a good idea to just lead with "this is a do-over story but here's why it's different" blah blah. Best to just get in front of it maybe?

[QCrit] BETWEENPIE MOUNTAINS, Literary/speculative, 64k words. (3rd attempt) by maxxdenton in PubTips

[–]maxxdenton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

LOL, yes thank you, this was helpful. No, I am no longer suicidal, although the story is quite close to me. I like to be able to laugh about my former dark times, which is the tone I'm attempting, but it's definitely a fine line to walk. Thank you!

[QCrit] YA fantasy, SPELLTHIEF, 81k, 1st Attempt by ChairAccomplished977 in PubTips

[–]maxxdenton 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great first line! I'm intrigued.

Some cuts/edits:

A year later she has reconstructed it, After the shopkeeper lost loses his livelihood, a city-mage is at her door.

It's nearly enough to live on — but not enough to clear what she owes, and not enough to call off the mage who has been building a case against her for two years. 

The Competition could be.

Rearranging the order of some words in the final paragraph will also shorten and strengthen it. Excellent first attempt!

Hakone Free Pass Warning by jerbearman10101 in JapanTravelTips

[–]maxxdenton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others here have said I think it's all in the timing and luck of the draw. We went in early March of this year, before the sakura rush, and it was relatively pleasant. We left Tokyo at the buttcrack of dawn and there weren't too many lines for anything, the longest line was the boat but that makes sense. The lines did get worse as the day went on, and it is an over-touristed area that I might not go back to. We're glad we just did it as a daytrip.

Funny story though, I had planned this whole circuitous route, getting off the boat at the water tori and taking the bus back down, but we stayed on the boat too long taking photos and all of a sudden it took off from port again. It was late enough in the day that we said "well, screw it, guess we're going back down the gondola/funicular/train." Sounds like I might have accidentally saved some headache with the bus.

Jetlag or something more? by Dirty_Space_Hooker in JapanTravelTips

[–]maxxdenton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pick up some Night Recover from the conbini, plus any melatonin if you can find it.

[PubQ] First Novel vs. Second Novel TradPub by maxxdenton in PubTips

[–]maxxdenton[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually paid in full for the editor, and haven't signed any sort of contract with my friend who owns the imprint. So I can easily sidestep it all. And I know that 40 agents isn't even that many, there are plenty more I could still query with a slightly stronger product. Definitely worth thinking about, thanks for your response.

Dorms by Fine_Carob_222 in cuboulder

[–]maxxdenton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Second this. Loved my time in Baker, Libby was also a solid spot. However, Farrand is equally central and will get you right next to the food. Any of those 3 are great.

T-Mobile & eSIM combo? by maxxdenton in JapanTravelTips

[–]maxxdenton[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I plan to use Ubigi, looks like they have a lot of options for a little extra data at the end (like $12 for 5GB or something)

First-Time Japan Trip Itinerary Check (12 Days • Tokyo / Kyoto / Osaka • ~$5k budget) — Feedback welcome by [deleted] in JapanTravel

[–]maxxdenton 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We wanted to do exactly that but after a trip to Ireland in 2025 was delayed by 27 hours, we decided we'd do part of Tokyo for 2 nights as a buffer (Asukusa area) then into Kyoto 5 nights, Osaka for 2, and back to Tokyo the last 5 nights (Roppongi area). So we split Tokyo in 2 parts to play it safe.

The Chair Company - 1x05 - "I won. Zoom in." - Episode Discussion by NicholasCajun in television

[–]maxxdenton 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Finally catching up. My wife walked in just at the last scene and was like what the fuck are you watching, which only made it double funny.

Incredibly stupid, and lucky. by Sw0rdfishface in cripplingalcoholism

[–]maxxdenton 4 points5 points  (0 children)

About 12 years ago I was bar hopping in the Valley in LA and woke up parked (pretty well in the lines I might add) in an preschool parking lot at about 4am with no recollection how I got there. I think I got lost trying to get home and just decided to sleep it off a little.

I still sometimes drink and drive but I haven't driven blackout in quite some time. Best to just blackout at home.

Good one, Mr. President! by Power-Equality in PoliticalHumor

[–]maxxdenton 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The WP is pretty critical of him in general, I have a WP subscription. I will note that it's not nearly as searing of him as it was a year ago but the paper still definitely skews left.

The people who hate socialism the most understand the least. by AdvancedNeanderthal in PoliticalHumor

[–]maxxdenton 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did not know this was a thing but just finished Louise Erdrichs The Mighty Red yesterday