What a year, gang. We’ve seen political upheavals mingled with newly energized activism. Lazy intellects, desperate anger, slick marketing, and pathological distrust of expertise resulted in everything from Trump’s election, Brexit, serious Flat Earth conspiracies, anti-vaccination movements, pseudoscience, and the disastrous return of Lysenkoism to Russia. We’ve seen brave, fierce scientists, journalists, and ordinary people…
Read More 2017 in reviewAfter seeing this made when I was a kid, I’m trying out the recipe for ‘Mamie Eisenhower’s Fudge’. It’s a really friendly recipe if you’re scared of candymaking. Just remember: no touching the fudge until it sets overnight. Cover the pans with foil and keep in an *undisturbed* room temperature location. Chill after cutting into…
Read More Mamie’s FudgeThese are coming along nicely. The teeny rocketships are all embroidered, and now both sides of the text blocks are sewn together.  I debated hand-sewn seams to anchor the folds, but my hands and schedule said ‘nope’. So my trusty old Elna sewing machine did the work, in about a quarter of the time…
Read More ‘Rocketship’ Fiber Art BooksAs I write this at 6am on a Wednesday morning, several major news organizations have called the Alabama Senate special election for Democrat Doug Jones. The Republican candidate, the odious Roy Moore, has yet to concede. This is a big deal for American politics. Early exit polls and anecdotal evidence suggests this is more a…
Read More Doug Jones and the Republican SoulThis will eventually have its own spot on Filigree’s Rule, but I thought the problem merited its own longer post. Literary agents are human: they have likes, dislikes, foibles, and triggers like anyone else. Sometimes an author is lucky and their quirks will mesh with the agent’s. This is one of the major reasons to…
Read More Abusive agents and how to spot themAs per this Facebook post, the erotic romance publisher Loose Id is closing. https://www.facebook.com/LoosenYourId/posts/10156261079630101 The four owners (The Quad, in LI nicknames) have decided not to squander the market’s good will, and are winding down the business by May of 2018. This was my first romance publisher: they took on the first edition of my…
Read More End of an Era: Loose Id