Today's t-shirt. Because I'm a total dork.

Today's post will be quick. I've a lot of catching up to do on the word count meter. AKA--my life is boring, I've not much to say today, and I'm in a hurry to get back to making fictional people's lives more interesting. You know, deadlines. 

Far more interesting things: 5 BISEXUAL CHARACTERS WHO DESERVE RECOGNITION ON BISEXUAL VISIBILITY DAY. Also in the spirit of the day, did you know there are two bisexual characters in Blackthorne? They are James Slate and Mallory McDermott. This weekend Star Trek: Discovery will premiere. I CANNOT WAIT. So, have: Everything You Need to Know About Star Trek: Discovery Before It Premieres. And have a couple of SF shorts:

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sorry I'm a day behind, but am spending much needed time with family before I go back to super-focusing on the new novel project. My Dad is in his 80s and has Alzheimer's. So, Mom needs the help. It happens.

In other news, I was glad to hear that The Handmaid's Tale got so much attention at the Emmy's. (Also, genre fiction in general.) I've been watching Top of the Lake which stars Elizabeth Moss. It's not SFF, but I like to keep an eye on what's going on in other genres because it's important not to become hide-bound as a storyteller. Besides, I'm a fan of intermingling different types of stories.[1] It's fun. Right now, I've been focusing on stories with interesting female characters. I've watched the first and second season of The Fall which was interesting--if not comfortable, and Top of the Lake is quite similar in that it too addresses anxiety-producing levels of engrained misogyny within police departments and communities. Trigger Warning: in season one of Top of the Lake the crime involves a missing twelve year old girl who is pregnant due to multiple statutory rapes and abuse. (I'm not finished yet, but it's obvious that her father and uncles are the guilty parties.) It's a rough watch at times, but it's worth it so far. I've also been watching The Good Wife and Elementary and I'm enjoying them quite a bit. More importantly, I don't understand all the hate that Elementary received. I adore the attention to detail. It's gender-flipped characters (Watson and Moriarty) are artfully portrayed and well-written. Sherlock as ex-drug addict is just the right balance of unlikeable asshole and likeable dork. I adore it, and I'm extremely happy there's so much of it to watch. Dane and I have also been continuing with Preacher--although the first half of the second season has been extremely sllllow. I loved Castlevania. And we also started watching Midnight, Texas which is delightfully hoaky. The writing is pretty bad, but every episode manages to pull something off that keeps me watching. I can't explain why. I suspect it has to do with the witch character, Fiji. (That name. Arggh. But hey, it's not as bad as Bo-Bo.) 

I've been reading Ian Banks' Culture series as well as Dan Simmons' Hyperion. I'm not enjoying them as much as finding them interesting in a craft sense. (Which describes my relationship with Kurt Vonnegut. I only read him out of obligation and education. I learn clever craft tricks from him--necessary since I don't have an advanced degree in Literature.) I gave Dhalgren a try and bounced, alas. (I feel it's a failing in myself as a reader, rather than Delany.) Most of my journey through the classics of SF hasn't been pleasant, I'll say. It's steeped in levels of misogyny and racism that are often hard to get past--even more so now. I've been making progress through Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series with the Skiffy and Fanty crew and have been enjoying those. Also, I've been trying to keep up with certain coversations regarding AI. That's been interesting. (I also find it amusing when white dudes go on about how something won't be disruptive to the economy because...well...they say so.) Anyway, that's what I've been reading these days.

I hope your week has been going well in spite of all the awful going on out there. And if you're being affected by the awful, I hope you get through it safely and whole. Take care out there.

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[1] I've done a 70s Irish Crime and Urban Fantasy mashup and an Epic Fantasy, Sharp's Rifles, Patrick O'Brian, Horror mix (Cold Iron) and an Epic Fantasy, Patrick O'Brian, Serial Killer/Murder Mystery, Horror, Samurai story mashup (Blackthorne). Like I said, it's fun.

This week promises to be hectic. Dane had a minor problem with his car. On top of it, I need to help out my Mom with some things, and somehow manage to keep up with the word count while I'm at it. Here's hoping it all works out without my getting too far behind. I'm sure it'll be fine but...arggh. :) Anyway, on to more important things.

And today's comic is about the unfortunate LEGO Friends. Personally, it isn't as much about fem lego hair as it's availability in sets as well as its being featured on box fronts, advertising and so on. (I've seen the argument that 'girl hair' has always been available and thus, isn't a problem. [eye roll]) Look as long as women are treated as a separate species in toys there will be a persistent sexism problem. And now, those links.

Friday is already off to a rough start. The first story I saw on my phone this morning was about the London bombing. And well...American news feeds aren't often filled with gleeful stories these days. That makes it more difficult to be optimistic, but I'll give it a shot. Oh, hey. I have a new entry in my column over at Skiffy and Fanty. It's a review of the film IT. Overall, I liked it. Both the film and the novel some problems, and I'm still mulling those over. (I'm not sure I'll ever settle on an answer.) But the film is definitely worth seeing.

​In other news, they're releasing a series of shorts related to the new Blade Runner. I have to say, the one I watched is really good. (Although, the sight of a white man breaking a black man's neck feels more than a bit icky in the current political climate.) Anyway, first, see the original, if you haven't already.

For the record, I never felt comfortable with the rapey scene between Sean Young's character and Harrison Ford's. Still, Blade Runner remains one of my favorite films. When I heard that Scott was making a sequel I groaned. I had a horrible feeling that he'd only do what was done to the Alien franchise over and over. (The is, make film after film based on scripts that miss what made the movie unique--the Feminist theme. Thus, puking out dull crap that just retells the conflict between human and alien.) I'm still worried about that. Anyway,  here's the trailer for the new one.

"Every civilization was built off the back of a disposable workforce." Yeah. That makes me feel that they 'get' what they're working with. I even like what they've done with Harrison Ford. Check out the related shorts. 

I love that one. It brings something new to the world and stays within its bounds at exactly the same time. Again, I'm trying not to hope too much.

That's the actor who plays Draxx in Guardians of the Galaxy. He's amazing. Anyway, I'll continue to tell myself not to hope too much. The odds aren't good. (Although, the remake of Fright Night was freaking AMAZING.) We'll see.

I don't like to post much about writing how-to's. Largely, the reason why is because writing is a creative endeavor, and creativity is a personal thing. What works for one person, doesn't for another. This is the most confusing and mysterious thing about working as a creative: the journey to being productive is a self-discovery process. There is no One-Size-Fits-All answer.[1] Even the most basic Rules for Good Writing[2] are pirate rules--that is, guidelines. Too many times, beginners clutch onto the rules presented to them and fail to understand when they don't work for them personally. But hey, that's the first step in becoming a writer: working out what works.

Which is a long way of saying be flexible. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.

Also, I'm not a fan of writing gurus and I certainly don't wish to become one. Teaching is one thing. It's a form of mentoring. That's perfecting fine.

Caveats posted, Dear Reader. Here we go.

One thing that's been bothering me a bit lately is the use of the word "people" when we specifically mean "men." However, when discussing "women" we tend to stick to that distinction and almost never use the more generic "people."  Have you noticed this? I have. It's a problem, particularly when you believe women are people.

Ready for some fem-rage to rev up your morning? Okay. Let's do this thing. :) First, today's video. More Wonder Woman. Because Wonder Woman. 

Here's one of my favorite reviews of Blackthorne so far:

"I don't think I've ever seen a fictional book address some of these issues (erasure/assimilation, particularly) so well in the text. I love that these issues are presented as conflicts between well-meaning "good guys" - rather than a villain and a paragon of enlightenment and virtue - and that no one is right all the time, and that they respond to criticism by seeking to be better to their allies." (5 stars)

I'm so happy right now. :)

The prospect of another weekend of terrible storms freaks me out a bit---only a little because we're not in the path this time. Still, I'm having some anxiety. A lot of it has to do with the fact that my early years were spent in Kansas City, MO, and one of my earliest memories is of hiding in a basement from a tornado. And not too long after that we moved to Houston which is susceptible to hurricanes. I remember hurricane Alicia rattling the windows of my parents' house so hard I was sure they'd break. (We didn't actually have a room without windows in that house. If they had broken we'd have been cut up badly.) In the end, we weathered it just fine, but the memories stick. Storms of various types (and T-Rex attacks) have heavily featured in my nightmares my whole life for reasons I won't go into. Which is why it's so silly for me to take so long to figure out why I couldn't get work done last weekend due to obsessively checking Harvey's progress through Texas. Storms scare the shit out of me.

And here we are, facing not just one but three storms making landfall (in Irma's case AGAIN) this weekend. It terrifies me that we've had two "storms of the century" this year already. It worries me that Climate Change is still being bandied about as if it were a fiction. (If you've doubts check this: climate.nasa.gov/evidence/) The longer we ignore situation, the worse this is going to get, bats and ghouls. And yet, I know certain sectors of the American population won't change their minds until they're directly impacted and that impact needs to be financially when it comes to business-minded folks.

My thoughts are with those enduring these terrible storms, fires, and earthquakes. My hope is that the impact is minimal upon you and yours. However, I can't help but hope that once Irma lands that it is enough proof via financial cost to foment change. (I understand that Trump has several properties being affected.) All in all, we can't afford to debate any longer. We must act.

We're not even finished cleaning up behind Harvey, and we're facing another historically huge storm: Irma. The thing that frustrates me most about all this is the continued Climate Change denial. I'm aware that the consequences have to hit businesses hard before attitudes are changed on a Federal/State level. I'll bet that if Trump's hotels in Florida are slammed he'll change his tune regarding the legitimacy of Climate Change. That's obvious. Sadly, most of that (stagnant) end of the political pool is self-motivated and will only budge in limited amounts when they understand their self-interest is at stake. (I say "when they understand" because, unfortunately, they can't see beyond the immediate connections. Longer term/enlightened self-interest doesn't seem to be a thing. Right up there with awareness of unconscious white supremacy.) Or, more importantly, when the leaders they look up to change their tunes. (Conservatives are group-followers and group-thinkers. They don't tend to stray from whatever the authority claims is 'right.') I'm not looking forward to the mess that Trump is making of America. At the moment, it's a testament to how great a president Obama was--the fact that we've been running on auto-pilot so well so far. (Anyone who has had a bad manager after a great manager has left the company will know exactly what I'm talking about.) Trump has spent more time golfing than running the country, and will only be able to do that for so long before it all starts catching up with him.

My hope is that he'll be impeached or arrested before it's too late. (Again, we've at least ten months before cynicism kicks in for me. America has seen this shit before--and I'm not even necessarily talking about Nixon. So, don't even go there.) 

Hello, everyone. For non-Americans, happy Monday. For Americans, happy long-ass weekend. In either case, I hope your day is a good one. :) Let's start with today's video, something I'll call "Why I was uncomfortable with Big Bang Theory and Stopped Watching Pretty Quickly." AKA "Misogyny is not fucking Adorkable, you assholes."​ 

I used to buy that whole "Male Geeks are more emotionally mature and smarter than Male Jocks" routine. Years of writing SF while female combined with Gamergate sure as hell cured me of that illusion. And now for those links.