Mad Libs

Dr. Horrible

2008-07-18T22:37:57Z

Okay, if you haven't heard about this, then where the hell have you been? Anyhow Joss Whedon has put together this . . . I have no adjectives . . . musical . . . No, not an extravaganza exactly, for our enjoyment. For a limited time only. You can watch part one and part two right now, and the final part tomorrow. On Sunday, they will disappear forever (until they are released on DVD and for downloading). But I am amused. Neil Patrick Harris is . . . Wow. And of course, Nathan Fillion. Our very own Mal. And Moist Man. Heh. So. Go watch. Be there tomorrow when part three comes live. There is singing and villainy and moisture!

wow

2008-07-18T21:42:10Z

Holy Crap! My tiny little town got The Dark Knight! I wonder if I can find a babysitter . . . .

what is privileged correspondence?

2008-07-18T18:58:05Z

Today Simon at Bloggasm sent me a link to his post relating to the whole William Sanders dustup (which comes later in his post). If you remember, I posted about Sanders earlier, go here if you want a refresher.

Now much of Sanders' reponse to all of this seems to focus on the lack of professionalism in this writer posting his rejection letter online. And I have to admit, after I read Sanders' letter submitted to SfScope, I have only solidified my opinion of him, which is essentially that I"m not interested in breathing the same air as him.

But all that said, I'm interested in the issue of expected privacy in an email. A lot of emails come with disclaimers at the bottom not to forward or share the information unless explicitly stated by the writer. In online groups, one of the rules of the group is often that nothing be reposted or revealed unless explicitly stated by the writer. (I refer you to the David Moles/SFWA dustup of last year or the year before--Google it, I'm sure you can find the info).

The fact is, however, even when explicitly stated, any time you put information out in an email or a blog post, it can get away. Knowledge wants to be free (I cannot for the life of me remember where that is from, but it's from somewhere). But now let's add in private correspondence. It there an expectation of privacy? Probably, if it's between friends, but what if it's between acquaintances or even strangers? What if it is a rejection letter from an editor? Does that editor have a right to expect confidentiality? Or what if it comes from a boss? Or a company representative with whom you do business? What if it's from a teacher or a librarian or a from a fan?

Personally, I think that Sanders had no real claim to privacy in that letter. Now wait a minute. As I think about that, I think--what would my editors think if I aired their correspondence to me? Even the rejections from editors I don't know? In general, I doubt they would like it at all. And I'm sure that would be reflected in the way they dealt with me--which is to say, they might choose not to at all.

Does the fact that Sanders' email was racist make it right? I think this is the heart of the problem. Is it important to expose him, since he holds a public voice in our culture? Is it important to expose racism whenever we find it so that it can be erradicated--along with gender/sexual/ageist and other discriminations? When it comes to something like this, do professional ethics or personal ethics and moral standards take precedence?

In the end, it has to be a personal choice. The writer chose to expose Sanders' email, and he may pay a professional price for that. I think (I hope) he was aware of that choice when he made it, and that he chose to make it anyway, because he felt it was the right thing to do.

Should Sanders' be judged by the rest of us who read the email? Should he be excoriated for his opinions? Well, the teacher in me says he's ignorant and should be taught better. The old soul part of me thinks that perhaps he's a little young and brash to be willing to learn anything at the moment. And the part of me that believes we come back life after life to learn what we still need to learn says that he will learn one day.

As for the cracker (see the Bloggasm blog), I just want to say this. While I don't believe in threats and so on, c'mon. When is a cracker not just a cracker? When it is the body of Christ. And while I may not be Catholic and may not travel that road of belief, I've sat in a number of masses and I get it and I respect it. Why must people fuck with other people's beliefs that way? It's just mean.

did you know?

2008-07-17T21:02:09Z

Even when you've been kicked in the head and the stomach and have fallen down stairs, life goes on all around you, did you know that? Even you participate sometimes. Though sleep is . . . difficult.

Thanks everyone for the condolences. Sierra was a fabulous dog and we'd had her for nearly 15 years. I don't have any pets now (she hated other animals except Dusty, who died a few years ago). I'm not sure when I'll be ready again. I'm sure, as these things happen, somebody will find us and join the family before we even know it. My husband cleaned up all her things so I wouldn't have to look at them, but it's hard to get rid of the outdoors, all of which reminds me of her.

So I have things to share today. First, I had a post on SFNovelists about writing every day. Here's a link if you want to read.

jimhines has a perfectly hilarious rendition of Modern SF novelists, to be sung to "I am the very model of a modern major general."

Also, Simon's Cat is back. Thanks to freixenet for showing me the way, and it was good to see with the way I've been feeling.

Here it is for you:

Bad day

2008-07-16T00:05:21Z

Today I fell halfway down the stairs when I stepped on a toy. Then we took our dog Sierra to the vet. We did not come home with her. She's gone.

movies and such

2008-07-15T01:53:03Z

Took the fam to see WallE (it was particularly cool after watching the documentary about Pixar last night). It was very fun and as good as everyone says. But the best part was the end when my daughter ran down in front of the screen and danced while the credits rolled. She thought she was very cool. So did we.

Then we came home and ate food and watched The Middleman. This is campy. No other word for it. This one had a Simone de Beouvoir reference. And wrestlers. And furries of sorts. It makes fun of so many things. I love it. Yeah, I am easily amused as a matter of fact.

I remembered one of the things I liked so much about writing on Bitter Night. Snarky dialog. Snarky characters. I amuse myself. Again--I am easily amused. But hopefully you all will be too.

And now . . . I will go turn on the soaker hoses and water my plants in the hopes that they will come ripe before snow flies.

Oh, and I will be at SpoCon in Spokane on the first weekend of August. Any of you going to be around? Oh, that reminds me . . . I should get in touch with Aunties and see if they'll let me drop in and sign stock.

memage

2008-07-14T03:56:39Z

stolen from kristine_smith :

Your result for The Attachment Style Test...

The Cuddleslut

27% Anxiety Over Abandonment and 17% Avoidance Of Intimacy

You're mostly secure, but sometimes you need a little extra reassurance to make it through the tough times. You are usually affectionate and sweet, and you find it easy to fall in love. An encouraging word from a crush or a loved one can motivate you for weeks.

Fictional character with whom you might identify: Kaylee (Firefly/Serenity), Hiro Nakamura (Heroes)

Other Attachment Types:
Secure:	The Unicorn	\|	The Cuddleslut	\|	The Free Agent
Preoccupied:	The Cling Wrap	\|	The Squid	\|	The Insect
Fearful:	The Doormat	\|	The Leper	\|	The Exile
Dismissing:	The Hermit	\|	The Stone	\|	The Player
Confused:	The Waffler

Take The Attachment Style Test at HelloQuizzy

just wasting time . . .

2008-07-13T20:38:30Z

Actually I'm not wasting time. Though honestly sometimes it feels like it when I'm cleaning or some such and want to be writing--everything else is a waste of time. But I've been working on excavating my dining room and cleaning a closet. The thing is, my closets are full of old things that don't fit anymore. But I'm losing weight. I have to, and so hopefully that will mean I"ll have close to wear as I go down. Actually, as of today, I've lost 14 lbs. Not bad. Especially given the thyroid issues. My goal is 5 lbs a month for . . . well, pretty much forever at this point. The things that I won't fit into are the shoes that no longer fit after 2 pregnancies. Some I've never even worn. That's terrible. Size 11 for any of you who are interested.

But now one child is a-napping, the other is a-fishing with his dad, and I am about to tackle Bitter Night some more. Yay me!

And then fix dinner. I am making bbq pulled pork and artichokes and fruit salad (raspberries and blueberries were on sale! Yum!) The artichokes are enormous. Bigger than a softball. Wow.

We have had a brilliantly pleasant several days--blue skies, highs in the 80s (about 15-20 percent humidity) and nights that are around 40. So it's been lovely. I should add that we have no ac in the house. Don't really need it. Right now my office is 68 degrees. If we open the house at night and shut it up in the morning, it stays really cool over all. I just wish summer lasted longer. It's possible to get snow in August, though it most often happens in September or October. Usually we have at least a few inches on the ground at Halloween. Which means trick or treating and costuming is an adventure.

Gmail is intermittently working for me. I loaded fine this a.m., then stopped loading, and then thought about it a long time before loading again just now. We'll see how it does going forward. I tend to use it a lot since I can check it easier than some of my other email eddresses.

All right, enough musing.

ETA: Gmail is not on the not working part of intermittent. Dammit.

anybody else having a problem with gmail?

2008-07-12T20:49:49Z

I can't get gmail to load today. Anybody else having trouble? Accessing the net otherwise seems fine.

Snippet Saturday

2008-07-12T16:00:24Z

It is time again for Snippet Saturday. Come one, come all--post something to entertain!

This is from The Black Ship, in honor of finishing the proof pages:

At first the descent off the royal yard was only agonizing, but it soon turned excruciating and then finally past all bearing. Still, they had no choice. The skin grated from Thorn’s hands as he slowly lowered Plusby, feeding the line inch by inch. His arms and shoulders ached with the strain and the cold sank into him like icy talons. He shook with fatigue and pain, hardly able to keep a safe perch on the shrouds.

They paused to rest on the yards and crosstrees, but dared not delay much—the race was against becoming so cold and exhausted that they simply fell.

Plusby allowed himself to be lowered through the lubber’s hole on the futtock plate. His face was the color of pewter and just as hard. He sagged against his safety rope, his strength nearly gone. With every foot closer to the deck, Thorn absorbed more of Plusby’s weight, until he feared that in the time it took him to climb down to the next level and shift the safety line down, Plusby would faint and fall.

it isn't really racist if I say it's not . . . except it is

2008-07-11T20:04:07Z

If you haven't heard about William Sanders' (editor of Helix) rejection letter to a writer, go here and read the letter and Sanders's apparent response, posted at shemale's blog. In the letter, he says some things that are disturbingly racist. Specifically, he says:

"You did a good job of exploring the worm-brained mentality of those people- at the end we still don't really understand it, but then no one from the civilized world ever can "

and

"And I don't think you're going to sell it to any other genre magazine, for that reason - though you'd have a hard time anyway; most of the SF magazines are very leery of publishing anything that might offend the sheet heads"

I don't know that you need more context to look at these and see how racist they really are. Tobias Buckell gives a very thoughtful discussion of what is so very wrong with this, which I recommend.

But here's what it comes down to for me. For one, any time you generalize anybody into a monolithic entity of "those people" deliberately robs them of humanity. You don't have to care about them, because there is no one who is to be noticed as an individual and they all think alike anyhow and they are evil, no matter who "those people" are. It demonizes them.Then second, you add in the implication that they are not civilized. Which means they are barbaric. And of course this is the rationale that allowed imperialist countries to overrun, enslave and slaughter so many people in Africa, India, China, South America and so on. After all--"those people" are merely animals (in Australia it was deemed that the aboriginal people were legally vermin and so could be slaughtered. A bounty was put on their heads, and pregnant women earned you more). The Irish were for the longest time portrayed in sketches with black racial features or as monkeys in order to differentiate them from the British and to lend a rationale to why they could and should be treated so abominably. Have a look at Jonathon Swift's "A Modest Proposal" for a scathing diatribe against the British treatment of the Irish. He's brutal (satirically--do not read it as truth when he suggests raising Irish babies for food). Read Anne McClintock's Imperial Leather for more on the Irish. And also, the poor in Britain were demonized as having racially black characteristics and therefore they were uncivilized and therefore didn't deserve basic human rights.

Then we have the "sheet heads" comment. How is the different from the plethora of heinous names that people call Jews, blacks, Gays, Mexicans, Chinese, Japanese, women . . . ? Why is it that anybody thinks any of this is okay--even in a private email as this apparently was? And how private can it really be, when it's going out to a writer? I mean, did Sanders not think that this could get shared somewhere? Anyhow, once again, name-calling is a way to dehumanize people and make them into things that have no value and therefore are not deserving of respect or rights. And it's wrong. There's no taking it back; there's no unsaying it. The bell has been rung--though he makes no effort to defend his quite indefensible words and he offers no apologies. Fair enough. There are no thought police and that's a good thing. But that doesn't mean I can't object to it and him, and that also doesn't mean that I can't take some small action to say that I don't think his racism is okay in any way, shape or form. .

I don't believe I will ever read an issue of Helix so long as William Sanders edits it. I don't believe I'll even read any stories from that magazine--which punishes writers more than not, but I can't help that. I don't write a lot of short stories, and I doubt what I write would be interesting to the zine, but it doesn't matter, I'll never submit. I doubt I'll ever willingly breathe the same air as this man at any function, if I should ever happen to be in his vicinity. I won't attend or support any con where he is invited as a guest (they can't keep him from attending).

That's my position.

difrancis @ 2008-07-10T21:24:00

2008-07-11T03:45:29Z

Today not that much work was done. Actually, some was done and some that doesn't look like work was done. Which is to say . . . daydreaming. Trying to open up my head to possibilities and connections. This often happens while washing dishes, folding clothes, cleaning the toilet, watering plants . . . . So I was letting myself wander, but then I hate housework, which pretty much means that less dithering of the mind than probably should have done. And then rounding up children and answered the phone when I probably shouldn't have and that dented my writing time. So that was that. Slow day. Tomorrow I intend to be more productive. And possibly organized. Even if I'm forced to dust something. Ug.

I have this urge to watch some Jane Austen movies. Sense and Sensibility maybe. Anybody read Nancy Kress' Dogs yet? Any thoughts? I'm starting to read Jim Butcher's Furies series. I haven't read them before.

Hump day

2008-07-10T04:54:18Z

Today I finished my page proofs for The Black Ship. This is a delicate process. I am limited on the number of changes I can make. I'm supposed to look for typos and grammar problems and errors of sense and so on. Something that would make a problem. But I am not supposed to add content or delete a lot of things because this can really mess with the layout. The page proofs, by the way, are the laid out pages. The book is ready for printing except for the corrections. So as I was reading, I kept thinking there were places that could be polished a bit. But I had to resist. I stuck to the program, and carefully considered every change in order to know if it was a needed change or not. It's a bit exhausting. Hopefully I caught everything, or the proofer on Roc's end caught what I didn't.

I've still been trying to sort out exactly where I want to set things in the San Diego area. Working on it.

Tomorrow I will just jump in again. And take the kids swimming. And at some point go see Wall-E.

And maybe go to the music in the park.

What are you going to do?

I laughed and I cried

2008-07-08T22:10:36Z

Since I don't seem to have much intelligent to say today, I thought I'd share this video. Found it over at Smart Bitches, and I laughed so hard I cried. Seriously Beverage Warning. It starts pretty normal. And then . . .

dirty and tired

2008-07-07T03:07:14Z

Today we got up early, packed up a bunch of water, food, bug spray, shovels, buckets and screens, and headed out to Crystal Park to dig crystals. We had a fair bit of success and the prize was this really cool smokey quartz that's about two inches long. Found a lot of smaller stuff too. It was lovely, though the terrain is reminiscent of Holes. It's at about 7,700 feet in the Pioneer mountains. Kids had excellent fun, they got very dirty, and they didn't want to leave. So then we did some geocasching, and then went to Butte for food and to hang out with some friends. Which was huge fun and then back home to scrub off the dirt and put the kids in bed. Whew. I need to pass out.. What was your day like?

favorite books

2008-07-05T17:43:16Z

I slept way way way late today. Up late last night doing the fireworks, which were fun and the weather wasn't cold for once (we are often nestled under blankets with winter coats).

But I want to talk about favorite books. I have lots of favorite books, as no doubt most of you have. Yesterday I was looking for something to read, and instead of hitting the TBR stack, instead I went with a book that I hadn't read for quite awhile, but remembered that it was a favorite. I wanted a for certain good read. So I picked up Wen Spencer's Tinker. Sigh. I love reading her stuff. I would have picked up the Ukiah Oregon books, but I would probably have read all of them all at once and I can't afford the time right now. Page proofs, you know. And I'm resisting blowing through Tinker and into Wolf Who Rules too quickly. But I don't know how good my resistance will be. Page Proofs. I just realized I never picked up her latest, Endless Blue, so I added that to the to be snagged asap list. Sigh. Probably just as well.

Anyhow, if you've not read Wen's books, do. Because they are totally made out of awesome. Good writing, extremely interesting world building, and the characters are just damned tasty. Plus there's fast-paced action. The complete entertainment package.

But now let me ask you. If you were going back to your shelves today for a for-certain-enjoyable-read, who would you be grabbing and why?

4th of July

2008-07-04T20:29:36Z

Today I'm celebrating our national independence. I'm celebrating the fact that in California, people who love each other can get married to each other, no matter their genders. I'm celebrating the fact that in the 232 years of our national life, we've managed to come a long way from where we started--giving equality to races, genders, and sexuality. Yes, I know we often stumble still, but we are trying. I'm celebrating a supreme court that recognizes that as a nation, we must adhere to all our beliefs, no matter how inconvenient we sometimes find them. Like a right to a trial. I'm celebrating the fact that I can be a pagan, or a devil worshipper or a heaven's gate cultist or a Catholic or a Protestant or a Jew, and no one can deny me rights based on my chosen religion. I'm celebrating the people who speak truth to power, who stand up and say "this is wrong," even if they will face repercussions. I'm celebrating the courage of the service men and women who fight for their country and their ideals and put it all on the line for us. I'm celebrating the fact that we can correct our flaws and become a better country, because we have already done so.

Happy Independence Day.

arrival

2008-07-03T21:01:44Z

. . . and The Black Ship page proofs have arrived . . .

tidbettery and updatery

2008-07-03T20:23:38Z

The plan for this weekend was to do a whole bunch of fun stuff, including doing some hiking, going to crystal park (to dig crystals and get dirty), go see fireworks, swim, and bbq. Some of that may be in jeopardy as I had a call from my husband saying that he broke a tooth. I got him an emergency appointment, so we'll see how that goes. But . . . ow. Poor guy.

I've been working on a proposal for the next Crosspointe books. This is not easy. Here's how it works. A proposal can come in several forms, but in this case, I am trying to do a couple of things. First, I'm trying to layout the vision for what is going to be happening in Crosspointe. Second, I'm trying to juggle all the characters and bits--the Crosspointe story was always intended to be epic, and I've hit the stage where all the scope of it has to broaden. But it's like setting off a bomb--all sorts of people are effected and all sorts of events have been triggered in The Turning Tide and The Black Ship that will lead to an even bigger bomb or set of bombs. Keeping track of all that and weaving it together in a coherent narrative is proving to be a bit difficult. Plus I want to tell rompingly-fun adventure fantasy.

Now I know what a lot of the major events that have to happen are. I've known those for quite awhile. The trouble is, how to talk about them in an entertaining way that also tells a story and also convinces my publisher to buy more?

That explanation doesn't sound particularly coherent, does it? And in a way, that's right. Because I'm not at coherence really yet as far as narrative. It's like telling myself a meta-story, and while I'm doing it, I know that as I write the books the story will dramatically change as the lizard-brain starts making its contributions. So it's an interesting situation--I tell a narrative to sell more books to the publisher, and then write them, which will undoubtedly not really be the story that I told my publisher I was going to write. I know this; my editor knows this. But the publisher needs something to get a sense of what I will do, and I do know that the narrative will capture the scope and general finishing points for certain. It may capture more than that. Only my lizard-brain and the future know for sure.

links and snippets

2008-07-02T15:57:50Z

So first, varkat (my agent) is interviewing David Coe today about writing and agenting and etc. It's a series of posts, so scroll down to the first and read up, and more will be added.

Then suricattus went all shakespeare on our butts and made me laugh. A lot.

And now, onto a snippet. From The Turning Tide:

She reached out, calling the dust out of the air and pushing it away. Suddenly the a small island cleared. King William stared. The dagger twitched in his fingers. He looked old, Fairlie realized. His thin hair was mostly white. He was coated in dust, looking very much like a corpse, with haunted red-rimmed eyes. He was gaunt, like something was eating him from the inside out. She hoped it was painful.

Your turn! What have you got for me?

San Diego--what do you know?

2008-07-01T23:00:28Z

Hi folks!

I need some help from anybody who lives in or is acquainted with San Diego or its surroundings. Can you comment here if you do know something?

anybody using wikipad?

2008-07-01T22:27:44Z

I am trying to learn wikipad and if anyone out there can give me a clue about something, I really need it.

finishing a novel and etc.

2008-07-01T17:22:41Z

I have a post up today at sfnovelists that talks about finishing a novel and then getting into the groove for the next.

Here's the beginning:

Around a week ago, I finished up The Turning Tide, the third in my Crosspointe series. Finishing a book is always rather a strange thing for me. There's a certain amount of jubilation and awe at myself–I finished a whole, entire book! And then there's this period where my body starts to completely freak out–apparently I've been holding myself together with duct tape and bailing wire through the end of the book (and every other book). I don't sleep well for a couple of days because my mind is still fussing at the novel. Then I completely pass out.

Click here if you want to read more

And then agilebrit asked about snippet Saturday. I've neglected it the past two weeks, but it shall rise again. Tomorrow--since everyone will soon be doing July 4th things. So get ready. Tomorrow comes soon!

first reading report of The Turning Tide

2008-07-01T03:49:26Z

Just got my first reader report back on The Turning Tide. She likes it. There are a couple of issues, but they are pretty fixable. I'll wait until my editor and agent throw in their five or six cents and my other readers, and then go from there. But the important thing is that the ending works. And the characters seem to be interesting. And she read it fast--hopefully meaning she couldn't put it down.

yay!

I am amused

2008-06-30T21:50:40Z

This I pilfered by way of shadowhelm.

Watch. Enjoy. All it needs is some Princess Bride to make it complete.