"4.7 million fanfics are now Hugo winners, thanks to AO3 and the transformative culture that built it..."

You guys, THIS IS SO AMAZING!!!!! Best part: Every fanfic writer in the audience was asked to stand and jointly accept the award :)

More here and here, and there is also an NPR piece. I am as happy as a very happy thing, also I may have cried just a tiny bit :D

sshg_giftfest rides again! Broomsticks, of course ;) If you want to play, sharpen those quills and start thinking about prompts...

Go to about the 10:05 mark and LOOK, LOOK, LOOK AT THIS WOT THEY ARE DOING!!!



It's pasta with cheese... MADE IN THE CHEESE.

Could there be anything more utterly scrumptious???

Pardon me while I go watch this again. And again. And again....

Edit: There's another excellent cheesy bit at about 4:01, too. Sooooo hungry now!!

And I'm excited!!

I love making words on paper with a pen. I love the glide of the ink, the feel of the pen in my hand, the curves and lines, the way letters build words, words build sentences, sentences build messages. I love the way a letter in an envelope looks and feels when it's all addressed and stamped and waiting to be sent: the perfect size, the neat square corners, the heft and firmness of cardstock, the fun of choosing a stamp from among the many designs and images. I am agog at the fact that a bunch of total strangers will pass this small fragile thing along for me, hand to hand, all the way across the country or even around the world -- it's like magic!! I love thinking about my letter arriving in a mailbox, sitting there like a friendly little long-distance wave, and someone opening it, and having a nicer day because they got something in the mail that wasn't a bill. A letter touches another person in a way an email can't. As the Smithsonian Postal Museum says on their blog, letters are "physical manifestations of the senders. The loved ones’ hands wrote the words, folded the letter and sealed it into an envelope. Each letter still brings with it that gift, a physical connection that can’t be replicated through phones or tablets."

I have a huge stash of cards, notecards, stationery, etc. which I am always adding to, and I enjoy sorting through it looking for just the right one for a particular person or situation. I also have a stash of all kinds of different stamps; every time I go to the post office I ask the clerk to show me what new designs they have. At the moment I have stamps featuring Scooby Doo, Hot Wheels cars, the art of magic, ice cream sundaes, Disney villains, sharks, cactus flowers, and our National Parks. Alas, I missed out on the Mr. Rogers stamps -- they sold out in just a few days.

The challenge of National Letter-Writing Month is (duh) to see how many letters you can write. And I'd like to write to YOU. No, seriously, I really would :)

If you'd like to get a letter from me, just comment here and say so.* In order to make my letter of interest to you, and so I don't end up writing ten different versions of "what I did this week," please also tell me something you're interested in (horror movies, biodiversity, fantasy novels, politics, writing, cake decorating, collecting stuffed wombats) or ask me a question (what's the best bodice-ripper I ever read? do I think college should be free? what happens when we die? is Queen Elizabeth actually a shape-shifting reptile alien?). Anything goes!

Here's the catch, though: When you get my letter, you must write me back. Nothing fancy is required -- literally anything will suffice, even two lines on a postcard. Are you game? Of course you are!!

* No need to provide your address in the comment; if I don't already have it, I'll send you a PM asking for it. Also I am more than happy to write to people overseas, so if you're not in the U.S., don't let that stop you!

It's National Handwriting Day! Writing by hand exercises your fine motor skills (it's about more than just the thumb, people!), improves dexterity (swiping can only do so much!), helps you retain information, and can have a powerfully positive emotional impact on the folks you write to. So write that letter to a friend, scribble a note and slip it under someone's door, leave a message on somebody's windshield, send a card to a family member, whatever -- as long as you do it by hand :)

If you can't think of anyone to write to, Egg Press has a list of those in need who could use a friendly word. Write on!!!

snapecase continues to post, with some truly excellent contributions this year. if you need a little more Snape in your life (and who doesn't??), be sure to check it out.

HoggyWartyXmas and sshg_giftfest have ended and reveals are up, so I can now own up to having written the following:

Dreams of Time, Time of Dreams (LJ) (AO3) - They see each other, but through a glass darkly; will they ever see one another face to face? (SS/HG)

For Goodness Snake (LJ) (AO3) - Hermione takes on not one but two new positions at Hogwarts. Severus is not at all convinced that it’s a good idea. (SS/HG)

Silent Night (LJ) (AO3) - When Poppy insists that Minerva take a little time on her own in Scotland over Christmas, memories and regrets about a certain colleague threaten to make it anything but a happy holiday. (SS/MM)

I enjoy all three of these fests so much -- the quality is always top-notch, and the community of creators and readers is always so active. Everyone comments, talks about what they like, encourages each other, and generally has an excellent time :)

...you will soon be able to sell it! Also some Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers (!), William Carlos Williams, Charlie Chaplin, Aldous Huxley, and Marcel Proust, thanks to copyright law. Wikipedia has a fairly complete list of titles.

So there you go. Get busy :)

sshg_giftfest has begun posting, and WOW what a kickoff! A beautiful vignette, told in lush, sensual artwork. Go ye and marvel.

From xkcd.com:

Come and play!