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SS/HG out for beta
20 October 2012 10:45 pmSS/HG is FINALLY out for beta ::falls into a limp heap:: I'm immensely pleased with it, hugely grateful to the mods for the extension, and in eternal debt to my betas (you know who you are!). I struggled with the ending all day yesterday -- it just wasn't jelling the way I wanted it -- but fortunately Mr Psmith was able to slice right through the nonsense and point out what the core of my problem was, and after that it was all beer and skittles. Figuratively speaking.
So now I get to go to bed. You have no idea how lovely that sounds. Nine-year-old me who tried every trick in the book to avoid going to bed would be horrified, but hey, that's what happens when you get old and decrepit (young 'uns, take heed!).
Also Obama kicked butt in the last election, and Amazon's product reviewers are going to town over Romney's binders full of women *giggle*. Yep, a good week.
So now I get to go to bed. You have no idea how lovely that sounds. Nine-year-old me who tried every trick in the book to avoid going to bed would be horrified, but hey, that's what happens when you get old and decrepit (young 'uns, take heed!).
Also Obama kicked butt in the last election, and Amazon's product reviewers are going to town over Romney's binders full of women *giggle*. Yep, a good week.
Random neat stuff
14 October 2012 09:27 pmThe chart that proves just how lacking Middle Earth is in women
Examples of how the Victorians made even their microscope slides look like steampunk masterpieces
A very fun (and painlessly educational!) video about hexaflexagons (don't worry if you don't know what they are -- you will when she's done)
And last but not least, Tim Burton's original poem, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," which eventually became the movie, read by the epically awesome Christopher Lee
You're welcome :)
Examples of how the Victorians made even their microscope slides look like steampunk masterpieces
A very fun (and painlessly educational!) video about hexaflexagons (don't worry if you don't know what they are -- you will when she's done)
And last but not least, Tim Burton's original poem, "The Nightmare Before Christmas," which eventually became the movie, read by the epically awesome Christopher Lee
You're welcome :)
There were two excellent aspects to this book, and two not-so-excellent.The first excellence was the highly detailed and very true-to-life descriptions of rare books, special collections and archives. In one scene the main character, Edward, visits a fictional rare book library in Manhattan called the Chenoweth. Poor Edward is flummoxed by everything he encounters: the numerous different catalogs (books here, manuscripts there, backlog in the other place; a third of their holdings in the electronic catalog, a third on little index cards, a third uncataloged entirely); reading room etiquette (he tries to talk to someone, can you imagine??); where the books live (only three bookshelves are visible, all full of books about books), and so on. "The whole operation was a model of mysterious, gleaming efficiency, like some incomprehensible ultramodern public restroom."
Plus there are student assistants wheeling squeaky carts, patrons at other tables looking at folders of letters, red velvet bookweights, a "serious little magnifying glass that looked like demilitarized Russian spy gear," and lots of very sharp pencils.
My archivist's heart was deeply, deeply satisfied by this, not to mention vastly amused. Later they go to the Chenoweth's offsite storage in Virginia where, three floors below ground, they find a fenced-off corner piled with dusty, broken-down, moldering boxes and cartons containing donations made long ago and never processed. This also made me laugh. (Thank god the velvet bookweights were red, not green, otherwise I'd suspect that he'd modeled his descriptions on my own workplace!)
The second excellence was the curious story-within-a-story: Gervase of Langford's weird and disturbing narrative, with its stag-headed knight, Mobius-strip storyline, and page covered in black ink. Margaret, the medievalist who helps Edward in his quest, explains how alien this kind of story would have been to the era in which it was written, in almost every way a complete anachronism. She also offers a brief but accurate history of how people's view of the purpose of writing has evolved in the last 500 years or so, including how suspicious people were of the idea of the novel and reading for pleasure.
So yay for the vivid descriptions of many wonderful old and rare books, and the delights of a hunt for a mysterious ancient manuscript.
Boo, however, for a gaping plot hole and an ending both disappointing and anticlimactic.
That said, the two "boo" components didn't outweigh the fun I had with all the rare-book-and-archives lusciousness. If like me you love that sort of ambiance, you can still enjoy this -- just be prepared for a somewhat limp ending.
On literary vs genre fiction
9 October 2012 12:59 amThe New York Times recently ran a feature piece on Justin Cronin's The Passage (which I read and liked VERY much, except for the last page where I suddenly found out IT WAS ONLY BOOK 1). Cronin started out as an author of what many people would probably call literary fiction (e.g., Mary and O'Neil, also very good).
Then he wrote a behemoth of a vampire novel (oh, and two sequels) and sold it for a gazillion bucks, so of course people started saying he'd sold out. But really, what is this artificial distinction between literary fiction and genre fiction? There are tremendously talented and literate authors writing horror, science fiction, fantasy; there are appalling hacks who still get billed and sold as lit fi. Isn't what matters that it's a great story well told?
From the article:
On a related (i.e., zombie) note, I'm on Letter 8 of Ora et Labora et Vampires and am quite enjoying it.
Then he wrote a behemoth of a vampire novel (oh, and two sequels) and sold it for a gazillion bucks, so of course people started saying he'd sold out. But really, what is this artificial distinction between literary fiction and genre fiction? There are tremendously talented and literate authors writing horror, science fiction, fantasy; there are appalling hacks who still get billed and sold as lit fi. Isn't what matters that it's a great story well told?
From the article:
the difference between a literary novel and a genre-oriented one is not usually of much consequence to readers — nor is it particularly apparent to most writers, who tend to see the same blank page no matter what kind of book they sit down to work on. “You write how you write,” Cronin told me. “If I were a calculating careerist, I would not be a novelist.” When I contacted Colson Whitehead, the MacArthur-genius-award-winning author who last year released “Zone One,” a literary novel about a zombie takeover of Manhattan — my message to him included the words “literary” and “genre” — he replied politely that he’d “rather shoot myself in the face” than have another discussion about the difference between one category of literature and another.
On a related (i.e., zombie) note, I'm on Letter 8 of Ora et Labora et Vampires and am quite enjoying it.
A poem for a rainy Saturday
6 October 2012 04:19 pmYesterday, while wandering the wilds of the Interwebz, I stumbled across this wonderful piece by Gerald Gould. Like Magee's High Flight or Masefield's Sea Fever, the words and the rhythm inspire a kind of pleasant restlessness. (All three poems also prompt a tear in the eye and a tightness in the throat, I've never been able to pin down why; perhaps because the wish to journey forth remains unfulfilled?) I think perhaps Bilbo might have appreciated it.
Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea,
And East and West the wanderlust that will not let me be;
It works in me like madness, dear, to bid me say good-by!
For the seas call and the stars call, and oh, the call of the sky!
I know not where the white road runs, nor what the blue hills are,
But man can have the sun for friend, and for his guide a star;
And there's no end of voyaging when once the voice is heard,
For the river calls and the road calls, and oh, the call of a bird!
Yonder the long horizon lies, and there by night and day
The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away;
And come I may, but go I must, and if men ask you why,
You may put the blame on the stars and the sun and the white road and the sky!
-- Gerald Gould
Beyond the East the sunrise, beyond the West the sea,
And East and West the wanderlust that will not let me be;
It works in me like madness, dear, to bid me say good-by!
For the seas call and the stars call, and oh, the call of the sky!
I know not where the white road runs, nor what the blue hills are,
But man can have the sun for friend, and for his guide a star;
And there's no end of voyaging when once the voice is heard,
For the river calls and the road calls, and oh, the call of a bird!
Yonder the long horizon lies, and there by night and day
The old ships draw to home again, the young ships sail away;
And come I may, but go I must, and if men ask you why,
You may put the blame on the stars and the sun and the white road and the sky!
-- Gerald Gould
"...Here is a book that will break your heart." C.S. Lewis, on The Lord of the Rings.
Benjamin Harff, a German art student, has made this doubly true. He decided for his capstone project to do a hand-illuminated, hand-bound copy of Tolkien's The Silmarillion. He spent six months on it and had the volume bound in leather by a professional hand book-binder (he assisted).
It is the most beautiful thing I've seen, such a remarkable labor of love and art.
Here are pictures, and an interview + more pictures.
In these days of 140-character tweets and instant this-n-that, my heart is reassured when I see evidence of appreciation for Things That Take Time.
Also of course we wants it precious, we wants it!!!
Benjamin Harff, a German art student, has made this doubly true. He decided for his capstone project to do a hand-illuminated, hand-bound copy of Tolkien's The Silmarillion. He spent six months on it and had the volume bound in leather by a professional hand book-binder (he assisted).
It is the most beautiful thing I've seen, such a remarkable labor of love and art.
Here are pictures, and an interview + more pictures.
In these days of 140-character tweets and instant this-n-that, my heart is reassured when I see evidence of appreciation for Things That Take Time.
Also of course we wants it precious, we wants it!!!
Little boxes, in the archives...
1 October 2012 11:40 pmFinally wrapped up indexing the 400+ page book on Masonry (some very interesting stuff in there, let me tell you) and am at last freeeeeee to do something entertaining...for about 15 minutes before I collapse into bed.
So I share with you this, which totally made my day. Anyone who works in special collections or archives, or who has done research there, you'll appreciate this. For those of you who don't, or haven't, trust me: this is really, really, really true.
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So I share with you this, which totally made my day. Anyone who works in special collections or archives, or who has done research there, you'll appreciate this. For those of you who don't, or haven't, trust me: this is really, really, really true.
They're crack shots with a rifle and can catalog a book in 30 seconds. They can take down vampires and dig up obscure references to codices that even Methuselah never heard of. They wear tweeds and sweater vests, midnight-blue spandex and cat ears. They are armed with stakes, or superpowers, or whistles and mechanical mice.
They know not to speak Latin in front of the books.
They are LIBRARIANS.
Courtesy of TheMarySue, I give you ten librarians who kick butt. And far from shushing you, I encourage you to cheer as loudly as you can :)
“Peace to the books of the world,
an iron hammer to those who would abuse them,
and glory and wisdom to the British Empire!”
They know not to speak Latin in front of the books.
They are LIBRARIANS.
Courtesy of TheMarySue, I give you ten librarians who kick butt. And far from shushing you, I encourage you to cheer as loudly as you can :)
an iron hammer to those who would abuse them,
and glory and wisdom to the British Empire!”
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talesofsnape, rivertempest, toblass and madeleone have given me pandas!!! How lovely to get all those big fluffy bears -- thank you, m'dears :)lady_of_clunn has an interesting meme on her post today, full of questions about one's house. One can learn a lot about someone from their house -- much more than from "Coke or Pepsi?" and "Croutons or bacon bits?" (Surprisingly, however, there are no questions about books or bookshelves; whenever I go into someone's house the first thing I do is prowl their bookshelves.)I was amused to discover how many of my answers would be either "the cat" or "the dog." For example:
8. What is on top of your refrigerator? => the cat
9. What colour is your sofa? => same as the cats
32. Is there anything under your bed? => the cats (it used to be the dog as well, but now she's far too massive)
37. Is there anything on your kitchen floor right now? => the dog
43. Do you keep any kind of protective weapons in your home? => just the dog
44. What does your home smell like right now? => the dog
45. Favourite candle scent? => Not Dog?
55. What style do you decorate in? => Early Dog and Late Cat
I'm reading a very interesting book at the moment called Lord of the World. It's post-apocalypse -- well, it starts pre- and right now we're in medias res, so I guess it's full-on apocalyptic, not just post-. At any rate, it's quite fascinating. The author was an Anglican (is that the right word for C of E?) priest who later converted to Catholicism, and the book is an exploration of a near-future world in which Humanism has spread throughout the world and religion is regarded as a mildly embarrassing joke. The two main characters are Julian Felsenburgh, a myteriously charismatic American who becomes President of Europe, and Father Percy Franklin, a Catholic priest who recognizes the profound attraction of the secular world's temptations, achievements and beliefs but whose faith remains strong. Although I'm quite certain that the author is on the side of religion, he does a wonderful job painting the positive aspects and deep appeal of both sides.
But one of the most lovely things about it is its beauty of language. The book was written in 1907 and has all the lush, elaborate detail that one used to find in novels in general, but which is all too sadly lacking these days. For example, here is his description of the Pope, when Father Franklin first meets him:
It was a very upright old man that [Father Franklin] saw in the chair before him, of medium height and girth, with hands clasping the bosses of his chair-arms, and an appearance of great and deliberate dignity. But it was at the face chiefly that he looked, dropping his gaze three or four times, as the Pope's blue eyes turned on him. They were extraordinary eyes, reminding him of what historians said of Pius X.; the lids drew straight lines across them, giving him the look of a hawk, but the rest of the face contradicted them. There was no sharpness in that. It was neither thin nor fat, but beautifully modelled in an oval outline: the lips were clean-cut, with a look of passion in their curves; the nose came down in an aquiline sweep, ending in chiselled nostrils; the chin was firm and cloven, and the poise of the whole head was strangely youthful. It was a face of great generosity and sweetness, set at an angle between defiance and humility, but ecclesiastical from ear to ear and brow to chin; the forehead was slightly compressed at the temples, and beneath the white cap lay white hair. It had been the subject of laughter at the music-halls nine years before, when the composite face of well-known priests had been thrown on a screen, side by side with the new Pope's, for the two were almost indistinguishable.
Isn't that gorgeous? Nobody writes like that these days, or at least very few.
In an odd coincidence, one of my current freelance jobs is a book on Masonry, which includes a section on the Catholic Church's historically extremely negative attitude towards it. That same attitude is all over this book. The priests regularly talk about how Masonry has been the force behind the rise of Humanism, and at big gatherings they play the "Masonic Hymn" instead of some antiquated thing like a national anthem. Intriguing.
It's a cracking good story so far, too. None of your Left Behind sensationalist crap, but a slowly creeping horror. I have no idea how it will end but I've very much enjoying the ride. It's available for free on Project Gutenberg, if anyone is interested.
Why tea is (so very) magical
13 September 2012 11:13 pmI have never seen it better explained ("It is a liquid hug"). Or diagrammed. Recycled from this tumblr, which (fair warning) features some of the most luscious decadent food-photo-pr0n that you will ever see.
Harry in hindsight
12 September 2012 10:00 pmCast your mind back, to the dim and misty days of October 2001, just before The Sorceror's Stone was released in theatres, before the entire civilized world knew who Albus Dumbledore was, when the only pictures we had of Professor McGonagall and Severus Snape were those in our own heads (but still, alas, long after the first Harry Potter fanfic surfaced in the Pit of Voles). Into this anxious time of uncertainty and anticipation (will the kid who plays Harry be able to act? will he look like I imagined?) stepped Vanity Fair, with a photo feature called "Something About Harry" and the world's very first look at The Boy Who Lived (not to mention the Professor Who Made His Life Hell and Spawned a Thousand Fangirls, Me Included).
Travel back in time with me and see them...
Annie Leibovitz (she of the infamous John Lennon/Yoko Ono Rolling Stone photo), did the pictures and she set up some fantastic poses -- she made sure to work in glimpses of Hogwarts as backdrops, an extra bonus. I can't decide if the shot of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team lounging about the Common Room is my favorite, or the intriguing shot of Quirrel, Hooch and what looks like a pterodactyl skeleton (in the library, yet!).
I now REALLY want a copy of this issue of Vanity Fair.
Travel back in time with me and see them...
Annie Leibovitz (she of the infamous John Lennon/Yoko Ono Rolling Stone photo), did the pictures and she set up some fantastic poses -- she made sure to work in glimpses of Hogwarts as backdrops, an extra bonus. I can't decide if the shot of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team lounging about the Common Room is my favorite, or the intriguing shot of Quirrel, Hooch and what looks like a pterodactyl skeleton (in the library, yet!).
I now REALLY want a copy of this issue of Vanity Fair.
Help!! I got a request from a friend regarding computer games for his kids (age 12 and 8) and am drawing a total blank, as everything Mr Psmith does is MMORPG or at least requires online access and it's been years since I played anything like this myself (xyzzy, anyone?).
He's looking for (and I quote) "WOW style game they can play (for PC or Wii) that doesn't have too much blood or naked fornicating Orcs, but does have a fantasy feel with some combat, interaction, quest for glory, etc. Multiplayer isn't really an option for us because our internet is spotty at the best of times."
Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?? Your input eagerly anticipated!
He's looking for (and I quote) "WOW style game they can play (for PC or Wii) that doesn't have too much blood or naked fornicating Orcs, but does have a fantasy feel with some combat, interaction, quest for glory, etc. Multiplayer isn't really an option for us because our internet is spotty at the best of times."
Thoughts, suggestions, ideas?? Your input eagerly anticipated!
Ora et Labora et Zombies
10 September 2012 09:06 pmI just found out about this really unusual post-apoc book and wondered if anyone else has heard about it. (NB: No, I have no connection with the book or the author, so this isn't a veiled sales pitch!) It's called Ora et Labora et Zombies.
Dr. Thomas Schutten's wife, Ava, is out of town when the zombie apocalypse strikes, so the doctor and his young son flee to a nearby Benedictine abbey -- his and his wife's agreed-on meeting place in case of catastrophe. (Bonus points for planning ahead, Dr. Tom!). While waiting for Ava, hoping against hope that she'll make it, Tom writes her letters. The book consists of these letters.
So you're thinking, "Meh, it's an epistolary novel, big deal," right? But here's the kicker: you actually get the letters in the mail, as in via the US Postal Service. You get one letter a week; each one is 4-6 pages and there will be 72 of them overall. The author/publisher says this about it:
Is this not a really original and fascinating combination of book art/art book/letterpress skill/zombie apocalypse/serial novel?? And these are a few of my favorite things, so I'm utterly intrigued. I've subscribed to the first two bundles and cannot wait to get the first ones!!
Dr. Thomas Schutten's wife, Ava, is out of town when the zombie apocalypse strikes, so the doctor and his young son flee to a nearby Benedictine abbey -- his and his wife's agreed-on meeting place in case of catastrophe. (Bonus points for planning ahead, Dr. Tom!). While waiting for Ava, hoping against hope that she'll make it, Tom writes her letters. The book consists of these letters.
So you're thinking, "Meh, it's an epistolary novel, big deal," right? But here's the kicker: you actually get the letters in the mail, as in via the US Postal Service. You get one letter a week; each one is 4-6 pages and there will be 72 of them overall. The author/publisher says this about it:
Ora et Labora et Zombies is comprised of seventy-two handwritten Letters of between 4-6 pages, reproduced on specially watermarked stationery with a hand-printed serigraph cover sheet. Each Letter will be published individually, as a weekly serial, and distributed to readers through the mail. This idiosyncratic method of publication aims to celebrate and prolong the disappearing experience of receiving letters in the mailbox, and also to create in the reader a sense of anticipation, of waiting as the dramatis personae must wait to discover what is happening.
Is this not a really original and fascinating combination of book art/art book/letterpress skill/zombie apocalypse/serial novel?? And these are a few of my favorite things, so I'm utterly intrigued. I've subscribed to the first two bundles and cannot wait to get the first ones!!
As a reward for having finished my story for the first week of SSIAW on Friday, Mr Psmith and I went out to hear lovely traditional Irish music on Saturday -- fiddles, penny whistles, bodhrans, tambourines, tight harmonies and singable tunes and step dancers. There was rain but it passed leaving a double rainbow, so all was well and all was well and all manner of things were well. Today I did my readings for class -- more Gargantua and Pantagruel -- and answered correspondence (for which read, not morning rooms with engraved stationery, but rather blog trolling/commenting!).
A bunch of random things of interestingness have crossed my path in the last couple of days, so I thought I'd share them.
First and foremost (and in honor of which I have created the new userpic featured in this post), Sir Patrick Stewart is on Twitter, as SirPatStew!!! This is almost (but not quite) enough to make me get a Twitter account. His first tweet? "Hi world." His second? "My brain hurts." Best so far? From Sep 4, "Scotch/Soda. Sunset. pic.twitter.com/RjSaUhmq ." I want to be the person who took this picture.
Next up, a fascinating poem by James Hall entitled Maybe Dats Your Pwoblem Too. Whether you're a superhero or just the girl next door, it's easy to get locked into one persona: "So maybe dat's youwr pwoblem too, who knows / Maybe dat's da whole pwoblem wif evwytin / Nobody can buhn der suits, dey all fwame wesistent." Who among us hasn't wanted to burn their suit and reinvent themselves from scratch? (You can also read the author's thoughts on it.)
Third and fourth are both writing-related items. (3) Yale Law professor Stephen Carter wrote a great piece, It Is to Be Hoped That Proper Grammar Can Endure which argues that precision in writing is necessary for precision in thought. He even brings in the venerable Adam Smith: "The rules of justice may be compared to the rules of grammar...Morality should be modeled on grammar...so that we may have “certain and infallible directions for acquiring it.”
(4) I stumbled across two excellent Mary Sue Litmus Tests here and here. The first one has separate sections for fan-fiction and original fiction, while the second is for original fiction only. They provide an interesting window into the various character features that have become commonly viewed as Sue-ish -- of course, each of these things individually are fine, it's just when one character features lots of them that things start to get dicey. A good reality check for my own writing!
Finally, from io9.com comes my nominee for Dad of the Year. When his daughter wouldn't eat her lunch at school, this guy started drawing silly Avengers and other superhero cartoons and putting them in her lunchbox. My favorite is Batman :)
And that's it for Sunday!
A bunch of random things of interestingness have crossed my path in the last couple of days, so I thought I'd share them.
First and foremost (and in honor of which I have created the new userpic featured in this post), Sir Patrick Stewart is on Twitter, as SirPatStew!!! This is almost (but not quite) enough to make me get a Twitter account. His first tweet? "Hi world." His second? "My brain hurts." Best so far? From Sep 4, "Scotch/Soda. Sunset. pic.twitter.com/RjSaUhmq ." I want to be the person who took this picture.
Next up, a fascinating poem by James Hall entitled Maybe Dats Your Pwoblem Too. Whether you're a superhero or just the girl next door, it's easy to get locked into one persona: "So maybe dat's youwr pwoblem too, who knows / Maybe dat's da whole pwoblem wif evwytin / Nobody can buhn der suits, dey all fwame wesistent." Who among us hasn't wanted to burn their suit and reinvent themselves from scratch? (You can also read the author's thoughts on it.)
Third and fourth are both writing-related items. (3) Yale Law professor Stephen Carter wrote a great piece, It Is to Be Hoped That Proper Grammar Can Endure which argues that precision in writing is necessary for precision in thought. He even brings in the venerable Adam Smith: "The rules of justice may be compared to the rules of grammar...Morality should be modeled on grammar...so that we may have “certain and infallible directions for acquiring it.”
(4) I stumbled across two excellent Mary Sue Litmus Tests here and here. The first one has separate sections for fan-fiction and original fiction, while the second is for original fiction only. They provide an interesting window into the various character features that have become commonly viewed as Sue-ish -- of course, each of these things individually are fine, it's just when one character features lots of them that things start to get dicey. A good reality check for my own writing!
Finally, from io9.com comes my nominee for Dad of the Year. When his daughter wouldn't eat her lunch at school, this guy started drawing silly Avengers and other superhero cartoons and putting them in her lunchbox. My favorite is Batman :)
And that's it for Sunday!
September is my writing group's twice-yearly Short Story In A Week, aka SSIAW. In years past, though my goals have been lofty I've never managed more than two stories out of a potential four (or, if you're a glutton for punishment, eight). I vowed that this time...yes, this time would be different. I even attempted to plan for it by not scheduling any freelance work, intending to devote all my free time to the creation of fabulous original tales of surpassing craftiness and wonder.
Alas, the best laid p's of m & m etc. etc. etc.
I was seduced by its list of readings into a fall semester course in Early Modern Fantasy (this week I learned what an ekphrasis is) so have pages of readings. A freelance job that was scheduled for August lagged two weeks, so is in-house now. I will be out of town for a week at the end of the month. And to really put the Dementor's Kiss on things, I signed up for not one but TWO fests; a quick glance had told me that deadlines were in October, i.e. safely after SSIAW, but my mad calendrical skillz failed to translate this into "Yo, bitch, 'due October 1' means writing like crazy in September..."
Curse you, brain with too many interests!!!
However, all of that notwithstanding, I HAVE TRIUMPHED: I have written and subbed a story for the first week of SSIAW. Yes! I rock!!!! It's based on the The Marriage of Sir Gawain, aka Gawain and the Loathly Lady, particularly this bit:
Then shee said, choose thee, gentle Gawaine
truth as I doe say,
wether thou wilt haue me in this liknesse
in the night or else in the day
It took until 3:30am last night/this morning, it's as rough as a dirt road in Texas and the pacing is abysmal, but it's got good bone structure and when I have time to polish it up I think it will really shine. I even managed to work in a nicely apt Greek mythological reference via a character name; we'll see if anyone picks up on it.
I am pleased. Also tired. But mostly pleased. Only three more weeks/stories to go! ::collapses in a heap::
Alas, the best laid p's of m & m etc. etc. etc.
I was seduced by its list of readings into a fall semester course in Early Modern Fantasy (this week I learned what an ekphrasis is) so have pages of readings. A freelance job that was scheduled for August lagged two weeks, so is in-house now. I will be out of town for a week at the end of the month. And to really put the Dementor's Kiss on things, I signed up for not one but TWO fests; a quick glance had told me that deadlines were in October, i.e. safely after SSIAW, but my mad calendrical skillz failed to translate this into "Yo, bitch, 'due October 1' means writing like crazy in September..."
Curse you, brain with too many interests!!!
However, all of that notwithstanding, I HAVE TRIUMPHED: I have written and subbed a story for the first week of SSIAW. Yes! I rock!!!!
Then shee said, choose thee, gentle Gawaine
truth as I doe say,
wether thou wilt haue me in this liknesse
in the night or else in the day
It took until 3:30am last night/this morning, it's as rough as a dirt road in Texas and the pacing is abysmal, but it's got good bone structure and when I have time to polish it up I think it will really shine. I even managed to work in a nicely apt Greek mythological reference via a character name; we'll see if anyone picks up on it.
I am pleased. Also tired. But mostly pleased. Only three more weeks/stories to go! ::collapses in a heap::
Watching the DNC...
6 September 2012 11:09 pm...and having a quiet squee over Obama's speech. Clinton's last night was also brilliant (just a country boy from Arkansas, my happy a**).
Did you know...
3 September 2012 04:26 pm...that there's a giant comprehensive master list for all six years of the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sshg_exchange? It has 900+ fics listed and is sortable AND filterable by all sorts of characteristics: year, author, rating, etc. Wish I'd found it at the beginning of my four-day weekend instead of the end >:|
I'm plugging along onsshg_exchange and luciusbigbang, not to mention my writing group's twice-yearly Short Story In A Week which always, always, ALWAYS seems to fall during the busiest months of the year for me, in some sort of cosmic slap-down of my attempts to participate fully in it. So far we're three days into the first week and I've written king zippy nada, as a a friend of mine used to say.
But it's not my fault, really! I keep getting distracted -- not least by the aforementioned list, but also by the wonderful SS/HG AU fic Droxy's Folly, which went up on AO3 over the weekend. (If you haven't read this yet, drop everything and GO.) And of course by silly videos of cats, we all know how that goes.
Curse you, interwebz!!!!
Seems appropriate that I share one item of distraction, given (a) the current fests-in-progress, (2) the BBC's recent tut-tutting over 50 Shades of Grey (thanks,laurielover1912) and Newsweek's assertion that what's really wrong with FSoG is the lamentable quality of the prose. So, for your edification and jollification, I offer this light-hearted defense of smut, from Tom Lehrer:
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sshg_exchange? It has 900+ fics listed and is sortable AND filterable by all sorts of characteristics: year, author, rating, etc. Wish I'd found it at the beginning of my four-day weekend instead of the end >:|I'm plugging along on
sshg_exchange and luciusbigbang, not to mention my writing group's twice-yearly Short Story In A Week which always, always, ALWAYS seems to fall during the busiest months of the year for me, in some sort of cosmic slap-down of my attempts to participate fully in it. So far we're three days into the first week and I've written king zippy nada, as a a friend of mine used to say. But it's not my fault, really! I keep getting distracted -- not least by the aforementioned list, but also by the wonderful SS/HG AU fic Droxy's Folly, which went up on AO3 over the weekend. (If you haven't read this yet, drop everything and GO.) And of course by silly videos of cats, we all know how that goes.
Curse you, interwebz!!!!
Seems appropriate that I share one item of distraction, given (a) the current fests-in-progress, (2) the BBC's recent tut-tutting over 50 Shades of Grey (thanks,
laurielover1912) and Newsweek's assertion that what's really wrong with FSoG is the lamentable quality of the prose. So, for your edification and jollification, I offer this light-hearted defense of smut, from Tom Lehrer:
Holidaygen and anarchy
2 September 2012 10:57 pmWhat a great combination of subjects, eh?
hp_holidaygen is now open for signups, yay! I had great fun writing mine for last year, because I was assigned characters I don't usually write and thus given a chance to stretch myself a bit. Signup post is here, so go forth and put your name down!
On a totally 'nother note, Mr Psmith has gotten me hooked on Sons of Anarchy. Initially I thought it was pretty awful, like a soap opera only with more guns and a much higher body count, but as I've been drawn in I'm starting to see a sort of epic-ness to it. Some of the episodes, admittedly, are just epic train wrecks that you can't look away from: anything these guys touch seems to disintegrate into a bloody fiasco and nobody tells anybody the truth, ever, under any circumstances. But the last two episodes from Season 4 were classic Greek tragedy.
( More here, but spoilery )
I'm sure there are more analogies that can be made (Piney, for example, nags at me as being an archetypal figure but I can't put my finger on it), and I'd be interested to hear any that others have spotted or conjectured.
So it's turned out to be an interesting ride (no pun intended!), and I'm looking forward to next weekend when Season 5 starts with a whole new set of episodes to probe for classical/mythical allusions :)
hp_holidaygen is now open for signups, yay! I had great fun writing mine for last year, because I was assigned characters I don't usually write and thus given a chance to stretch myself a bit. Signup post is here, so go forth and put your name down!On a totally 'nother note, Mr Psmith has gotten me hooked on Sons of Anarchy. Initially I thought it was pretty awful, like a soap opera only with more guns and a much higher body count, but as I've been drawn in I'm starting to see a sort of epic-ness to it. Some of the episodes, admittedly, are just epic train wrecks that you can't look away from: anything these guys touch seems to disintegrate into a bloody fiasco and nobody tells anybody the truth, ever, under any circumstances. But the last two episodes from Season 4 were classic Greek tragedy.
( More here, but spoilery )
I'm sure there are more analogies that can be made (Piney, for example, nags at me as being an archetypal figure but I can't put my finger on it), and I'd be interested to hear any that others have spotted or conjectured.
So it's turned out to be an interesting ride (no pun intended!), and I'm looking forward to next weekend when Season 5 starts with a whole new set of episodes to probe for classical/mythical allusions :)
