Twists and Turns

I have been reading smut, which is to say I have been considering the socio-economic implications of a depressed fiat monetary system encountering an advanced, space-faring civilization that is still–somehow–building its economy based on barter. (Specifically, product x in exchange for women.) The primary plot thread is, of course, the romantic, but in general, I

StoryTime Blog Hop: Sugar in the Raw

She needed the money. That was the long and short of it. Land of opportunity… maybe. But opportunities cost money, and she was living out of a suitcase, and eating her last few dollars. When she left home, those meager savings seemed like a fortune. Now—two weeks into New York City—she could see they wouldn’t

Tor Book Club Reopens

I got the email we’ve all been waiting for this morning. No, not that email! The other one. No,  the other other email. Well, anyway, the Tor Book Club is back. For those of you who don’t know, the fine folks at Tor–who love us very much, and want us to be happy–have a book

IWSG: The Genre I Write In Most

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post

IWSG: Surprises, Surprises

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! The awesome co-hosts for the September 6 posting of the IWSG are Tyrean Martinson, Tara

Tripping Over Gender in Ancillary Justice

I’m just starting in on Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. And, for those of you who don’t know… the main character used to be a troop carrier. (Not exactly a spoiler. That’s the beginning of Chapter 2.) And as a troop carrier, she refers to everybody as “she.” Everybody. Male and female alike. Which does

The Past Tastes Better

The Past Tastes Better Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, my job is nothing. Forty or fifty years, or in rare cases, seventy, but never much more. A quick nip in time, back to some church dinner or Bar Mitzvah to pick up gramma’s secret recipe—whatever it happened to be—and back to collect the check.

Counting Down the Plot Cards

I got to work on my revision project for a while, and I wound up putting everything in order, or close to it. That makes the whole thing seem a lot more complete than it has in the past. (Previous Organization: Main Plot and Sub-Plot neatly separated so I can make sure everything’s there. Current

Reading From The List

I’ve made it to part 9/10 of the Sandman Comics. Progress is slow, at least in part because everybody is naked, so I can’t take the thing to work to read. (I want to quit, not get fired.)  I’m also squeezing in little chunks of my read all the Hugo AND Nebula–the ones who won

The Doomsday Book Has Arrived

A couple days ago, my current selection from the reading list of things that have won both the Nebula and the Hugo arrived. It’s a mass market paperback, and it’s been a while since I read something that way instead of on an e-reader.  Oh, wow, it’s been a while. The e-reader files show up

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