I didn’t know when I posted a quip from ‘Blazing Saddles’ a few days ago, how poignantly topical that would become. We just lost Gene Wilder, a devastatingly funny, wickedly honest, profoundly wise man. The signal-to-noise ratio of the world just got a bit stupider, meaner, and more callous with his passing.
Read More In memoriam: Gene WilderA month or so ago I posted a progress report on a scarf project. It’s finally finished. I may or may not sell it, but I’d like to wear-test it first. Materials: natural gray-tan linen, bias-cut cotton, cotton-polyester thread, rectangular mother of pearl beads. It not only came out close to my initial sketch, it’s even…
Read More Linen Pearl Scarf – Done!Nobody’s perfect. That we all make mistakes is no excuse for not trying to prevent them, or fixing them afterward. It’s certainly not a reason to go on the offensive and try to deny there was ever a mistake in the first place. Own up, early and completely: most sane people will probably forgive you,…
Read More The importance of proofreadingAfter looking at my old 1st attempt at a fossil mammoth-ivory needle, I decided to re-create the second needle I made back in the mid-80s. Ergo, the new needle is here: This is a fossil mammoth ivory needle 62 x 4 x 3mm, hole 4 x 1.5mm. Inlaid plug of stabilized turquoise. Anchored with DevCon…
Read More A new needleI thought I’d step back from dire politics, horrendous wars, and unimaginable natural disasters for a look at an amazing artifact just announced to the world. This bone needle. Of probable Denisovan origin, it dates to around 50,000 years old, and was found at a very information-rich cave site in Siberia. What’s so cool about…
Read More The oldest known bone needleIt is that lovely time of the summer when the Hugo Awards are happening. In just a few minutes, we’ll see what kind of debacle this will be. Livestreaming here: http://www.ustream.tv/hugo-awards Added: congratulations to the deserving winners, the deserving nominees, the suffering announcers, and the sweaty audience of Hotel Debacle. And jeers to the sad…
Read More 2016 Hugo AwardsFaith and Freedom Coalition Survey, Part 2 of 2. Question 8: What is your opinion of the fact that Hillary Clinton says she wants to use the full force of the government to change the beliefs of Christians to conform with support of same-sex gay marriage and support for abortion-on-demand? I’m given, predictably, the choice…
Read More Faith and Freedom Coalition Survey Part 2 (political rant)Part 1 of 2. Summary and warning: I get harsh with certain evangelical Christians. Why did Dr. Ralph Reed and his evangelical Christian Faith and Freedom Coalition send me an advertising pitch disguised as a voter survey? Maybe because I was a registered Republican for many years? I’m a 50ish female Independent voter in Arizona, which…
Read More Faith and Freedom Coalition Survey, Part 1 (political rant)I’ve entered a manuscript into the 2016 Pitch Wars. I’m one of about 2000 writers vying for 128 slots, to be mentored for two months while I revise the mms. In early November, the mentee authors get a chance to have their work considered by a large group of agents and publishers. I have a…
Read More Writer’s Dilemma: 2016 edition(And a bonus Craft Credo rant!) I had forgotten how much fun wire wrapping can be. After a clunky start, I’m picking up on skills I left dormant a decade or more ago. Ear cuffs (aka ear jackets, ear couplings, etc) are a fun but ambitious way to jump back into this technique. 1) Here’s…
Read More Silver Ear Cuffs, revisitedThis deserves a post of its own. Dan Koboldt has this reasoned and honest breakdown of last months’ #SFFpit Twitter pitch event. The Fifth SFFpit and Twitter Pitch Fatigue I’ve linked to it here, because it has some very good info for people just now querying science fiction and fantasy. Some mitigating factors include bad…
Read More An #SFFPit analysisOne of the perks of living in a large, relatively low-income Sun Belt city is the diversity of thrift store finds. As I’ve mentioned before, a lot of this transferred wealth comes from tragedy: retirees dying off and their heirs shoveling stuff to Goodwill or the dump, divorced or unemployed folks suddenly having to get…
Read More Thrift store treasures: flask and black glovesI love this graphic novel series enough to have it in my sidebar. I follow several dozen online and print graphic novels, because they’re excellent. If I included them in the links, it would be probably bore you. Girl Genius is there for lots of reasons. Give me 600 words, and I’ll blather about why…
Read More Learn to write with Girl GeniusSo a few days have passed. I did about as well in #SFFpit as I expected: one of the small publishers I know and trust liked my entries, as well as a few other people. It was a long shot with some hidden value beyond the pitch day, so I wasn’t that worried for the…
Read More #SFFpit: the epilogueI’m an Independent, and I am actually proud of the House Democrats today. They made some history by staging a fearless sitdown in the House, in protest over the Republican refusal to even *look* at upcoming gun control laws. When Paul Ryan booted out CSPAN and turned off the microphones and cameras, he forgot about…
Read More #SFFpit tomorrow, + how about them DemsIn 2004, in the midst of a fairly divisive American Presidential election, I made this fiber art book. This is one set of pages, embroidered in red and blue cotton thread on cotton and linen ground, with fore-edges tasseled in cotton thread and glass beads. This is the original poem I wrote and embroidered into…
Read More Continental Divide: 12 years laterSo this was going to be a narrow-focused publishing rant about Peter Thiel, Pixar, Diverse Voices, and hypocrisy… But then Orlando happened: first the senseless death of a harmless, gifted young woman, then the carnage last night, more innocent lives lost at the Pulse nightclub. The latter apparently caused by a young Muslim man with…
Read More Orlando (infuriating content)Down to three unanswered queries out of my list from early February. I have Some Thoughts about this process, but it’s not considered polite to vent about agents while querying, so I won’t. I do notice it’s very similar to certain job interviews, wherein one tries to strike the balance between assertive but not too…
Read More May 25: a mixed-bag dayBasic, useful writing stuff first. Here is a quick shout-out to Kristen Lamb, who tells it like it is over on her blog…far better than I can. If nothing else, new writers should learn (and tattoo in glowing ink on the inside of their eyelids) that Editing Is Most Of The Damn Job. Some smug…
Read More The Reality of Writing and Diversity, 5-18-2016