Recent years have witnessed a lively pursuit of feasible quantum information processing schemes that are cross-disciplinary in nature. One such scheme holding considerable promise realizes the quantum bit as a single electron spin trapped in a quantum dot and controlled optically. These systems are not only relevant to quantum technologies but also offer a unique realm in which to study new physics stemming from the interplay of solid state, atomic, and optical physics. I will briefly give an overview of this field, along with the goals that need to be met for quantum information processing. In the main part of the talk, I will present theoretical and experimental results on the various aspects of optical manipulation, in particular spin initialization, spin rotation, and two-qubit conditional control. I will conclude with a discussion of some remaining challenges and future directions.