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| Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 |
daegaer
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11:46a |
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oursin
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11:19a |
Open up the sky
Well,here I am at Heathrow, having my coffee. Cab arrived Really Early but traffic was a bit heavy, so it wasn't by any means the best ever time.
However, when I turned my phone on, there was a message from the airline to say flight was delayed (?Chicago thunderstorms?) so I have undue amounts of time hanging about Terminal 3.
But, anyway, my dearios:
DON'T FORGET TO FEED THE PARROT!
This entry was originally posted at http://oursin.dreamwidth.org/1894814.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View  comments. |
daegaer
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11:04a |
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copracat
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6:27p |
I think we should refer to it as STI/D. In other news, I wish I liked Chris Pine. This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth.  comments. |
| Monday, May 20th, 2013 |
jinian
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10:43p |
queerness and intentional community
I had a good conversation with the kids at Bio House yesterday, talking about nonstandard co-parenting arrangements and such. (D: "Group marriage!" M: "I'm not even talking about group marriage." Me: "I am!") I hadn't known that they were thinking so hard about this, it was really nice. One guy was complaining that it's really hard to find people to be roommates with when your friends disappear into dyads to raise kids after a certain age, even if you personally value group living. I said being queer helps some with that. We're more often on the same page, and at least we've thought about whether we are or not, you know? And they were all ten-plus years younger than me, and while I know they heard me they didn't - quite - get it. I am used to this, in the sad but relieved way that queer people older than me have always acted over my own comparative lack of trauma, because for these kids being gay wouldn't have been that hard, it is an option that they have heard of as more than a slur from the time they were little. I thought about how to express my feeling on this, and the way I want to say it is that homosexuality is no longer enough to make you queer.* Queer is that you want something you're not supposed to, and you know that, so you make your own decisions about what you do want and how important it is to you. Homosexuals can get married now, you know, so we must want the same things as Everyone Else. Isn't that what we've been saying we want? There are two problems with this. One is that I like queer people, dammit, and having fewer of us is bad. It's true that these straight kids were really thoughtful; I think it must have something to do with general tolerance and knowledge of available alternatives. So maybe I can get some of my community from sufficiently liberal straight kids. On the other hand, homosexuality is still scary and can get you in trouble, so I worry that younger gay kids will actually be more likely to fall in with the monogamous-nuclear-family railroading that's pushed on them. The second problem is that I personally am being othered more now, because the umbrella of social acceptability is bigger and I still don't fit under it. I don't want to, but I do want some company out here in the sun. People are still not all the same. We shouldn't have to be. One of the guys commented during our conversation, "We're all talking about our own things! I'm talking about roommates, you're talking about raising kids, you're talking about no kids..." Still, we basically agreed. We all wanted to think for ourselves and figure out what would work for us. * Here and now in my liberal location, that is. I know this differs over space as well as time. This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/569407.html. Respond wherever you like. |
polymexina
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11:32p |
Poem for Three Dead Girls of Last Summer // RACHEL MCKIBBENS
My sweetheart says I can no longer watch the news.
You worry too much. And he is right. My fear is a drilling.
Constant. Bloodthick. That girl in the suitcase,
that wife in the river, that woman in the elevator needed me.
I worry too much, it is my right. My fear is a drilling,
a songless bird perched upon my shoulder.
That wife in the river, that woman in the elevator needed me.
But I have three girls of my own, they are mine mine mine
and the songless bird perched upon my shoulder
watches over them, my sweet little Gretels who follow me home,
these three girls who are mine mine mine
gobble up my heart like a hunk of bread. When men
see them, my dear little Gretels, they follow me home.
When there is a knock at the door, I stash my darlings in a cupboard.
They come to gobble up my girls like hunks of bread. Men
line up like ants to take them away, to carry them home.
When there is a knock at my door, I hide my darlings inside a cupboard
like bowls of sugar. When they sleep, I wrap them in kite strings,
line them up like ants so no one can take them and carry them home.
They clutch their dolls and all night long they wish for boys
like bowls of sugar. As they sleep, I hold them like kite strings.
Constant. Bloodthick. That girl in the suitcase,
clutched her doll and all night long wished she'd been a boy.
It is why my sweetheart says I can no longer watch the news. |
lavendertook
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11:43p |
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| Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 |
eumelia
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7:00a |
Short PSA
Hey, I put a cut on my recent posts due to receiving totally correct PM's from other phobics who don't want to read about my exploits. I'm so sorry my posts caused undo distress due to my thoughtlessness. From now on any posts (and I don't think there will be, hopefully) that deal with my phobia will be cut. Please do not feel shy to contact me about posts that you may find upsetting or triggering, I do not want what I write to be the cause of any distress that can be avoided or at the very least controlled - I know, I read/watch things that might trigger me, but I psych myself up before hand. All my love. Crossposts: http://eumelia.dreamwidth.org/590810.html Current Mood:  love |
littlereview
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12:48a |
Poem for Tuesday, Musicals, Baltimore Sunday
( A House DividedCollapse )I got to spend another day with  dementordelta, who stayed over after we saw Ramin Karimloo in Baltimore on Sunday night. We had a lot to catch up on -- the Les Miserables miniseries with Gerard Depardieu and John Malkovich (we all agreed that Javert was under-characterized and didn't talk about the law enough, but Valjean's creepiness with Cosette and Marius's creepiness in general were bigger issues, though Fantine is much better and the Thenardiers are great). Then we watched Love Never Dies, which has all the same flaws as the first time I saw it (redeeming the Phantom at the expense of every single other character = Not The Best Idea) but has some lovely songs. We ordered pizza, which Daniel even came downstairs to eat with us. Then, since we were having a Ramin weekend, we watched the 25th anniversary Les Miserables concert with the bonus Four Valjeans. That has all the same assets as the last time I saw it and very few flaws (even Joe Jonas doesn't bother me, since I have trouble feeling sorry for Marius in the best of circumstances). And I really love seeing Colm Wilkinson, Judy Kuhn, Frances Ruffelle, et al in the encores. (Karimloo plays Enjolras in the main cast.) After Delta had to go home, I had dinner with my family and tried to catch up with e-mail (warning: this will take another day). Some photos from Sunday: 
( Sunday in BaltimoreCollapse )Best wishes to people in Oklahoma or who had loved ones in the path of the storms. |
| Monday, May 20th, 2013 |
sparkymonster
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9:52p |
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wordweaverlynn
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7:22p |
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catherineldf
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8:48p |
Guest post: Author Susan Jane Bigelow on "The Daughter Star"
I'm pretty excited to have Susan Jane Bigelow as my guest blogger this month. Susan's already the author of the Extrahuman series - Broken, Fly Into Fire and The Spark, all from Candlemark & Gleam Press. The Daughter Star is book 1 of her new science fiction series and it looks like another excellent read. Check out what Susan has to say about it below and preorder the print version on Kickstarter. 
Hi everyone! I’m Susan Jane Bigelow, and I’m here today to talk about my new book, The Daughter Star. It’s the story of trade ship pilot Marta Grayline as she tries to care for her sister Beth, get answers to her questions, figure out her relationship with her long-distance girlfriend, and find the freedom she so desperately craves against a background of interplanetary war and alien intrigue.
This book is the first of three focusing on the three Grayline sisters, Marta, Violet and Beth, and their roles in changing and shaping their world. It’s also about truth, tenacity, faith, growing up, family, love, and a whole host of other things. It’s been an amazing and challenging series to write so far, and I still have the third book to write! This story started out as a “pace book” to The Spark, which is the third book in the Extrahumans series. See, The Spark was a very stressful and emotionally draining book to write for me, and every once in a while I felt like I needed a break. So I started working on a fun space adventure story to distract myself when I felt burned out on The Spark. I created the character of Marta, who so enthralled me that I soon found myself lost in her world, and the character sketching I was doing soon began to stretch into a full-fledged novel. I worked on both books concurrently, and actually finished the first draft of Daughter Star before I finished The Spark. However, it turned out that The Daughter Star needed a ton of work. This was partly because of the somewhat odd and offhand way in which I’d written it. I wrote at least five different endings before I found one that really worked for me, and led into the next book in a way that made sense. I eventually tightened the story up, made it more serious in places, and gave both Marta and her world a lot more depth. I learned a lot while writing this book. I’d probably never do the “pace book” thing again, though it was fun and gave me a real sense of accomplishment. I also learned that there’s nothing like a massive load of revisions and a looming deadline to focus my creativity. But what I learned that I value the most is that I can still write the kinds of books that I really want to read and share with everyone else. The book releases on 5/28, and will be available on Amazon, BN.com, the Candlemark & Gleam website, and retailers both electronic and physical worldwide. I hope folks check it out! Thanks to the amazing Catherine Lundoff for having me on! |
catherineldf
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8:45p |
Final WisCon schedule
If you're there, please say hi. I'll be at various parties, including the TOTU/Diversicon one on Saturday night, the Broad Universe table and sundry other places. | Burd Janet, Lady Isabel, The Famous Flower of Serving Men and The Female Smuggler: Strong Women of Traditional Ballads (scheduled) | moderator | Sat, 1:00–2:15 pm | Conference 5 | | Moderator: Catherine Lundoff. Email fellow participants Catherine Lundoff, Catherine Crowe, Margie Peterson, Katherine Mankiller about this item. | | Traditional folk ballads are full of depictions of women as victims, but there are plenty of unusual stories about women as soldiers, as fighters, passing as men, robbing stage coaches and all sorts of other activities that get written out of standard histories. Many writers are inspired by ballads, whether as theme or background. Let's talk about some of our favorites and what we or other writers have done with those stories. | | The Unheard Voices of SF/F/H (scheduled) | participant | Sun, 10:00–11:15 am | Conference 4 | | Moderator: Catherine Lundoff. Email fellow participants Kimberley Long-Ewing, Catherine Lundoff, Victor J. Raymond, Julia Rios about this item. | | What amazing voices and stories are we missing out on in science fiction, fantasy, and horror due to lack of representation, support, or a myriad of other things? What are some things that suppress/oppress different voices and stories? What is being done to boost the signal of women, authors of color, and QUILTBAG authors? What can readers do to find these voices? Members from Broad Universe, the Carl Brandon Society, and Outer Alliance discuss these issues and more in a lively panel discussion. | | Outer Alliance: New Writings in LGBTQ SF/F/H (scheduled) | participant | Sun, 1:00–2:15 pm | Conference 2 | | Email fellow participants Julia Rios, Julie Andrews, Megan Arkenberg, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Catherine Lundoff, JoSelle Vanderhooft, Sunny Moraine, Cliff Winnig about this item. | | Outer Alliance is an organization for writers and readers of science fiction, fantasy and horror that advocates positive portrayals of LGBTQ characters. We will be reading from a wide range of fiction that fits this description. | | Monstrous Females and Female Monsters (scheduled) | moderator | Sun, 4:00–5:15 pm | Capitol B | | Moderator: Catherine Lundoff. Email fellow participants Catherine Lundoff, Zen Cho, Joyce Frohn, Georgie L. Schnobrich, Micole Sudberg about this item. | | What does it mean for a woman to turn into a monster? Or for a monster to turn out to be female? Lamias, hags, vampires, Grendel's mother, Medusa, Lilith, even the occasional werewolf—our dreams and nightmares are full of terrifying women. What can we make of these stories? Do they influence our writing, our readings, our movies? What kinds of female monsters terrify you? What kinds would you like to see more of? |
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sineala
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9:35p |
AO3 story number meme
A meme, borrowed from ![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) surexit and  osprey_archer: I have 84 works archived at AO3. Pick a number from 1 (the most recent) to 84 (the first thing I posted there), and I'll tell you three things I currently like about it.(Let me just get the obvious one out of the way: you actually probably don't want to ask about story 69.) Read this entry on Dreamwidth ||  comments Current Mood:  okay |
elynross
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7:42p |
Everything's fine here!
I've gotten several emails asking if I'm okay, given the devastating tornadoes in Oklahoma yesterday and today, so I wanted to say yes, I'm fine! The one today was a ways down south of me, sadly in the same path as the major tornadoes that hit in 1999. Thankfully all we've had is rain, and though we were in a tornado watch zone until 9 pm, I don't think I'm in any danger. If the sirens do go off, I have a place to go, and hopefully the cats will follow. Please keep those who have lost friends and relatives (and those who don't yet know the status of loved ones) and those left homeless, in your prayers/thoughts. Originally posted at Dreamwidth. There are  comments there, and you can make another, using Open ID |
rainbow_goddess
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5:45p |
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kateelliott
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2:14p |
COLD STEEL Giveaway
Copies of COLD STEEL arrived on my doorstep this afternoon.
I can’t read them all, plus I already know the story, and meanwhile the book is not officially released until 25 June 2013.
[The ebook will be released into the wild on 25 June but it is possible that the print book will start showing up earlier in bookstores just as the print copies of COLD FIRE did. So if you are buying the print version, keep your eyes open.]
Obviously the only thing to do is to have a giveaway.
I’m giving away four copies of COLD STEEL.
Here are the rules:
1. The giveaway will be open for one week, from today 20 May until 9 p.m. HT (Hawaii Time) on Monday 27 May.
2. Anyone can enter internationally.
3. To enter, ask me a question about the Spiritwalker Trilogy *or* about writing *or* about the science fiction/fantasy field and media *or* about something else. Everyone who asks a question is entered. There are no stupid questions.
4. Three of the copies will be picked randomly from all entries (here, on livejournal, and on tumblr). One copy will be picked at my discretion based on the questions themselves–but only one. There may be a few of you who worry about whether your question is good enough or clever enough or interesting enough: It is. And anyway, as per the above, lest you are still secretly fretting as I would be, three of the winners will be picked without regard to the question asked.
I will mail out the winners’ copies as soon as I get addresses (on May 28 if possible).
5. After you have read the book you can review it IF YOU WISH, or not review it, as you wish. This giveaway is in the nature of thanking my readers.
Just to clarify, any review should be the honest opinion of the reviewer. While I naturally hope all of you love the novel, I am aware that not everyone will, and reviews should be honest. However, IF you decide to review it, I ask (as per Orbit’s request) that you not review it until late June when the books are available.
Do not underestimate the importance of the social media conversation about books. The conversation is a fabulous thing, and it matters.
A brief reminder: Check out my book event dates (San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Seattle, Portland), and come if you can!
One last thing: YOU GUYS. Thank you for being the best readers.
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds. |
jeliza
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5:07p |
garden log
easter egg radish, destined for seed pods, in own pot/ LEFT BED: SEED boothby;s blond, 3, toward front of left bed next to trellis SEED mexican sour gherkin, 2, tworad back of left bed next ot trillis SEED ruby red cabbage, next to current seedlings melon seedlings from little peat pot next to iron crook in back right corner adjusted sprinkler hose RIGHT BED: SEED dwarf pac choi between strawberries and carrots SEED lettuce behind strawberries and in front of sugar snap peas (with room left for succession planting) Need to get: more sugar snap starts, sunflowers |
matociquala
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7:42p |
i'm going to drive to the river styx. i'm gonna take route 66.
Ding dong, the draft is dead. That's "The Heart's Filthy Lesson," handed in at exactly the contracted length (10K: The manuscript is 10K manuscript (40 pages in manuscript format) ~9.3K MS Word.) This old features writer still has enough column-inch damage that it feels awfully good to dial it after running 25% long on that damned book last month. *g* Now there's just one more June 1 deadline I should really try to hit. And, oh yeah, a cross-country flight, two ten hour drives, and a convention guest gig in the middle. Where's my fucking Wonder Woman icon? Oh yeah, I'll be at Up In The Aether in Detroit this weekend with my beloved Mr. Lynch! Come out and play! *** travel and appearances 2013:Up in the Aether: Detroit, MI, May 23-27 2013 4th Street Fantasy: Minneapolis, MN, June 21-24, 2013 American Library Association (guest speaker): Chicago IL, June 28-30 2013 ConVergence: Minneapolis, MN July 4-8, 2013 Readercon: Burlington, MA, July 11-14, 2013 Space City Con: Houston, TX August 2-4, 2013 (Literary Guest of Honor) Lone Star Con (San Antonio Worldcon): San Antonio, TX, August 29-September 1 2013 Context: Columbus, OH, September 27-29 2013 (GoH) Signing (and Scott Lynch's The Republic of Thieves book launch!) : Pandemonium, Central Square, Cambridge MA, October 8th 2013 NYC ComiCon: NY NY, October 11th 2013 (only) Viable Paradise: Oak Bluffs MA, October 12-16 2013 World Fantasy Convention: Brighton England UK, October 31-November 3, 2013 2013:
OWW EC: April 15, 2013
Popular Science flash: April 22, 2013
Steles of the Sky final: May 1, 2013
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson": July 1, 2013"Dark Leader": April 2013 "Green and Dying": June 1, 2013 Hieroglyph story: August 10, 2013 "Something's Gotta Eat T. rexes": October 2013 An Apprentice to Elves: ? 2014:
Karen Memory: January 6, 2014 travel and appearances: RavenCon: North Chesterfield, Virginia, April 25-27th, 2014 (Guest of Honor) ConVergence: Minneapolis, MN, July 3-7, 2014 Finncon: Jyväskylä, Finland, July 11-13, 2014 (Guest of Honor) Worldcon: London, England, August 14-17, 2014 No fixed deadline: Smile (unless its name is actually Salt Water) Unsuitable Metal
Gotham JazzUntitled Gangland Urban Fantasy That Keeps Bugging Me "Gallowglas" "Untitled Space Opera Thingy" aka "Periastron" "Posthumous Jonson" "Steel" "On Safari in R'lyeh and Carcosa with Gun and Camera" "This Chance Planet" "Flush" "Coronado" "Patience and Fortitude" "A Time to Reap" Current Mood: exalted |
therck
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6:22p |
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therck
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6:16p |
I'm making progress on my Not Prime Time story. I've hit the minimum word count, and I've worked in all the required characters. I just have to find an answer to the story's central question and figure out how that answer changes the characters. Scott's no help with this at all because, while he has consumed the canon, it's been so long that he remembers almost nothing. I've got my Weiss Kreuz Reverse Fest assignment. Neither of the prompts I have to work with plays to my strengths as a writer. One of them is flat out impossible because I lack the knowledge to write it even remotely believably (It's not the sort of thing I can learn from Google and Wikipedia, either). I can't blame the prompter. I didn't say in my profile that I couldn't write those things. I should have, but they didn't occur to me when I was filling the thing out. I'm worried that I'm going to produce a bad story. The prompt I can, in theory, write hits most of my weak points as a writer and has nothing of the sort of thing I'm good at. I have put out a call for help to a friend who writes and who knows Weiss Kreuz. The stuff I have trouble with is an area she's strong at writing. I'm hoping she can help me through it. |
therck
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6:05p |
Cordelia's birthday party was yesterday. We had seven girls attending, and they all seemed to have fun. Cordelia didn't want a theme for the party, and she didn't want to plan much in the way of activities. The girls played Apples to Apples Disney for about forty minutes. Then we did cake and ice cream followed by presents. After that, the girls took turns playing Mario Kart on the Wii. We have four Wii remotes, so they played in two groups. Cordelia had a yellow cake with blue 'cotton candy' frosting. (Scott has found a brand of frosting that comes uncolored and unflavored but that has a line of flavor packets that one can buy to mix in. I think they're vile, but Scott and Cordelia like them.) She helped me make the cake, Saturday evening. I let it cool over night and then frosted it Sunday morning. Scott's sister and cherydactyl stayed for the party. There wasn't a lot to do, but it was nice to have other adults to talk to. Scott tended to hover over the girls while we three other adults stayed in the living room. |
jinian
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1:59p |
note to self
Pocky is not lunch. Ideally, lunch includes vegetables, but it is certainly of higher volume and nutritive quality than chocolate-covered crackers. When one has a meeting in the afternoon, one needs to eat actual lunch. Go do that now. This entry was originally posted at http://jinian.dreamwidth.org/569276.html. Respond wherever you like. |
pantryslut
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12:44p |
I just realized that in addition to all the myriad ways working on "Gwyneth Paltrow's Head in a Box" is amusing me ("what are you working on now?" "I'm working on a story about Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box. It's called, 'Gwyneth Paltrow's Head in a Box'..."), that the title itself also counts as a spoiler. Bonus! |
othercat
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11:59a |
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