While we’re looking at the economic and social issues coalescing around the Ghost Ship fire, we need to accept that exploitation of creatives is so common it’s basically a tenet of American culture. The vanity publishers I talk about in the ‘Filigree’s Rule’ section of this blog? They’re only one of the more-blatant tips of…
Read More White Walls, Ghost Ship, and the arts in AmericaThe lessons are piling on from last Friday’s horrific ‘Ghost Ship’ fire in Oakland, California. At least three dozen people died. To recap: The Ghost Ship was an urban warehouse illegally and shoddily converted into cheap work-live housing for artists, musicians, and other creatives. Electricity and water were siphoned from neighbors, and frequently didn’t work.…
Read More Artists, protect yourselvesTrump’s latest cabinet pick for Secretary of Education is ‘Michigan royalty’ Betsy DeVos. This is not only a potential disaster for American public education, it’s another sure sign that when Trump says ‘Drain the Swamp!’, he must mean his version of Opposite Day. As in crony capitalism on steroids. How swampy is Betsy DeVos, in…
Read More Pyramid Schemes, Dunbar’s Number, and Betsy DeVosLet’s face it, the alt.right are Neo Nazis, pure and simple. They’re not ‘white nationalists’. They’re not ‘dapper’. They don’t simply want a ‘white homeland’ free from all ‘colored’ influences…they want to crowd out and exterminate the Other. We know this, we’ve seen this dance before. Their tools are misinformation and resentment, fear, and a…
Read More How to deal with Neo Nazis…Or be impeached, or even be assassinated (possibly even by his own people). And that should scare the crap out of every liberal in America. The Trump alternatives are worse. Even if none of those things happen, Trump has made it pretty clear he has neither an inclination for nor an interest in the details…
Read More Donald J. Trump will be forced to resign…This is a long shot, for actually doing anything…but you can sign a petition to the US Electoral College to recast or overturn their votes for Trump. They have a little over a month. Try this site, for more information. Clinton won the popular vote, but not the Electoral. Hmm. When have we seen this…
Read More How Electors can redeem their honor(Soon to be an artist’s book.) For a couple of years, I’ve been taken to task by well-meaning folks who want me to make only positive, light-hearted, beautiful books that affirm life and hope. And I do – I’ve got a lot of those on the workshop table, or in development. But being a nihilist,…
Read More Narrow ShoreOne of the perils of being an Independent voter, as well as mostly a nihilist, is that I often think of the worst possible outcome…and expect to see it. I’ve never been as completely saddened by America as I am now. #Whitelash and emotion-based politics carried the day over dull competence and multicultural globalism last…
Read More So that happenedI wear this right angle weave necklace every election and most national holidays. The seed beads are old stock Czech. The blue and white chevron beads are Chinese or Indian, circa 2006. The glass millefiori button is Japanese from around the 1950s, I think. I made it right after the 9-11 attacks in 2001. It…
Read More Election DayWarning: I will say some unkind things next. If you’re a US citizen, are you registered to vote? Will you vote tomorrow? Why haven’t you already voted? (It’s going to be a mess at the polls, and early voting by absentee ballot is so much easier, if your state allows it!) Some quick notes: If…
Read More Make your vote count!I had to ponder this one for a week, because it hit home. I may be adding to this post over the next few days. Sherri S. Tepper was a powerful author and outspoken activist, who happened to write science fiction and fantasy. I first ran across her work in 1983, when my best friend…
Read More In memoriam: Sherri S. TepperI suspected a long time ago this election bid of Trump’s was mostly a marketing stunt, until he fell in love with adulation and started saying anything to keep getting it. Now, in an effort to counter the ‘lying media’, he’s started a ‘news channel’ on Facebook. Guess what it looks like? Hmm. Anyone remember…
Read More We called it: Trump TVIt’s one thing when a publisher circles the drain, and nearly everyone has known or suspected it would happen for months or years. It’s another, when a *good* small press fails. One that was, by most accounts, doing everything right: lasting for longer than two years, choosing great books and authors, designing excellent covers, marketing…
Read More Well, shucks…I recently wrote about the materials and inspiration for a series of Dia de los Muertos-themed rings. I decided to do only an edition of three books in this group, because I have different ideas for the next three. To recap: Dia de los Muertos votive bone rings. On a platform of carved bone rings,…
Read More Votive Bone Rings(Updated October 5, 2016) I have just made the saddest $25 win that I ever bet. (2nd update October 7,2016) I’ll keep that $25 safely unspent in case I need to return it.* Because a couple of years ago I privately bet a group of other authors that the embattled erotic romance publisher Ellora’s Cave was…
Read More Ellora’s Cave updateThis was going to be just a section in Filigree’s Rule, but I thought it deserved its own post. (Added info, as of 10/4/2016.) I have begged literary agents before: please clarify your stance on negotiating publishing offers for querying authors. We authors need to know beforehand, if you never do this and would rather…
Read More Agents, offers, assumptions, and bad behaviorLike a few hundred million other people last night, I watched the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. I thought Trump had a good initial ten minutes in which he attacked Clinton roundly on her support of previous disastrous trade deals (I agree with him in part.) Then…he lost it. Other people will…
Read More That first debateRemember those carved bone rings I showed off a few days ago? The first ring-book is now complete. I’ve decided the edition of 6 will have a Dia de los Muertos theme because 1) I live in the Southwest, 2) I’ve adored ‘Dia’ celebrations since I was a kid in New Mexico, and 3) It’s getting to…
Read More First look: votive bone ringHey, gang, if any of you get an email purporting to be from my filigree email addy, look closely at its address without opening it. If it comes from a place that looks like this d357cf678@pslaw.co.za It’s a phishing attempt.
Read More Phishing alert!I’m a registered Independent voter. I’ve been watching your political career since 1992. Your good points are also your bad points: you are a career politician and you show many signs of being a paid corporate shill. Okay. At the worst, that means you know that politics and business are nuanced affairs. You are also…
Read More Dear Hillary