Good afternoon, y'all. Last weekend was...eventful. From the linked article: "On Sunday, Charlottesville tried to regroup, and to apportion blame. Supporters of the white nationalists and the counterprotesters both criticized the response of law enforcement to the clashes on Saturday, saying the police could have done more to stop the situation from escalating." Well, there may be a reason why the police are reluctant to act in these situations, and it's a scary one. That's right, White Supremacists have been infiltrating the police force--according to the FBI. The College Station event on 9/11 planned by White Supremacists has been cancelled. Yayayayayay!!! Meanwhile, on FB I've heard a lot of ridiculous excuses over the past few days. One of which is "If you call them Nazis, no wonder they become Nazis." Because, you know, Feminists have been called Nazis for decades, and we know the result of that one. [eye roll] In addition, GoDaddy finally grew a conscience and gave The Daily Stormer the boot, and hours later, Google did the same when they attempted to make a switch. A third company, Zoho, has also announced that they have denied the group service. May this trend continue. Hate speech is not protected and should not ever be.

And now, links.

Entertainment/Literary: For 'Little Mermaid' star, a rude awakening in Middle America. Get over it. Frankly, why can't an Asian American actress play the role? Ariel is a fictional character, FFS. (For more, see this link.) Next up...Women swept nearly every category at the 2017 Hugo Awards. Also, have a listen to DISABILITY.TV EPISODE 33 - TYRION LANNISTER'S PRISON CONVERSATIONS. And another worthy source of information is Black Disabled Woman Syllabus: A Compilation. Over at The Mary Sue, Lynne M. Thomas talks about her daughter in Caitlin Is Not Groot: Finding Proper Communication Adaptations in Science Fiction and Fantasy. And How Trump killed off my romantic lead.
Lastly, VIRTUOSO ACTION DIRECTOR LEXI ALEXANDER FIGHTS BACK AGAINST HOLLYWOOD.

General: We Need to Talk About Online Harassment and something needs to be done about it--more than talking, y'all. Because this. And now, Sexism at Work: Tech’s sexism doesn’t stay in Silicon Valley. It’s in the products you use, Exclusive: Here's The Full 10-Page Anti-Diversity Screed Circulating Internally at Google [Updated], Memo to the Google memo writer: Women were foundational to the field of computing, Men Have Always Used 'Science' to Explain Why They're Better Than Women, A Google engineer wrote that women may be unsuited for tech jobs. Women wrote back, and Yes, You Can Be Fired for Circulating Bigoted Ideas at Work. Also, Vocal fry, uptalking, nasal: women's voices can never be "right". You see, lower voices are perceived to have more authority, more power, and ultimately--according to statistics--are paid more. No wonder most of the people I see bitching about vocal fry are men.

Trigger Warning Section: Taylor Swift’s Sexual Assault Testimony Was Sharp, Gutsy, and Satisfying. I'm not a fan and that was bad ass.

So, tonight's the night. If you're in Austin, TX and are free for the evening, I'd love to see you there. I'm bringing cupcakes from The Upper Crust Bakery. We'll have lots of fun, you'll hear a bit from/about my new novel, Blackthorne, and I may even read from the  Feminist SF work in progress, Persephone Station. If you're good. :) (Just kidding. If you're one of my readers, we all know you're good.)

​In case you haven't seen it, here is a review of Blackthorne from the Barnes and Noble site. And here's a lovely review from Paul Weimer of Skiffy and Fanty too. 

I'm off to get more words in and run errands. I hope to see you there and if not, I hope you have a lovely Friday night.

Sorry about yesterday. I had an appointment with my newest doctor who has joined my collection of doctors.[1] She gave me some news which means I'll probably be taking yet another pill--not just working out with weights. In addition, it seems I may never have had enough bone mass because I was super thin as a child. (I weighed 54 pounds in 7th grade.) Yeah. [sigh] Getting old isn't a hell of a lot of fun, but it beats the alternative. So....let's just say, I wasn't up for posting long-winded anythings yesterday. I usually don't let this shit get me down, but it did yesterday.

On to other things.

I've been working out with Kirby Sams at Hyde Park Gym for a couple of weeks, and I gotta say he's pretty great. He's done a fantastic job of not making me feel like an idiot for being this far behind and out of shape.

Sebastian is reverting to his same old sweet and sassy self. He's been wanting to go outside. (Yeah. NOT HAPPENING, FUZZY ONE.) And he's been wanting to play with his cork/catnip ball. (He lays on the ground and bats at it as it rolls by. Sometimes he attacks it, but mostly it's a lazy process.) He probably should have surgery, but I just got the starting amount on that and there's unfortunately no way that's happening. Also, it'd be one thing if he wasn't already healing--which he is. He may limp for the rest of his life, but I don't think it's going to slow him down much. Hell, he has a broken hip now and he tries to run around and jump, silly thing. All in all, I think he's going to be okay. I'm so so happy to have my boo-kitty back. He's been super snuggly lately.

You can't tell here, but he's definitely gotten some of his weight back. He's more alert too. Here's hoping we have him for another decade. :)

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[1] Seriously, this is like the worst game of Pokemon ever. I truly have no interest in collecting them all, and yet, here I am. Therefore, I'm on doctor number six. That's five specialists plus my GP. 

Sorry. Monday morning I'm getting the last round of needles in my neck. (They're burning out the last half of the problematic nerves causing the migraines. I know it sounds awful, but this *really* works in my case. (it doesn't for everyone.) In any case, I plan on being mostly senseless on the sofa and watching great tv. (while not signing any legal contracts for 24 hours. yeah. that's an anethesia joke.) I hope you have a terrific Monday. I'll get back on schedule on Wednesday, when I'll do a coherent Armadillocon report. This year was full of WOW. Nisi Shawl totally rocks. 

Also, did I mention I've a signing on Friday at BookPeople at 7pm? (was that obnoxious enough?)

Happy Monday to you!

And I'll be there. Armadillocon is my local, as it were. Stop by and see all the great authors who will be there. :) It'll be well worth your time. I'll be getting up at bleeding-o'clock-in-the-morning due to the writers' workshop. So, no blog tomorrow.

Here's my schedule:
Morning Pages
Sat 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Southpark A
M. Cardin, R. Eudaly, K. Hoover, S. Leicht, J. Perez, R. Schwarz*
Freewriting (timed writing) and keeping a journal for Inspiration

American Gods
Sat Noon-1:00 PM Ballroom E
M. Bey*, K. Catmull, G. Oliver, A. de Orive, P.J. Hoover, S. Leicht
Neil Gaiman's best-selling opus has hit the small (well, not so small these days) screen. How well did it adapt?

Signing**
Sat 3:00 PM-4:00 PM Dealers' Room
J. Blaschke, K. Hoover, S. Leicht, B. Mahoney, T. Prevost
**If you don't catch me here and you're in town, come to my reading/signing at BookPeople on the 11th

The Return of the Feminist Horror Panel
Sat 5:00 PM-6:00 PM Southpark A
G. Faust, Mi. Finn, D. Humphrey, D. Johnson, S. Leicht*, J. Nevins

Reading
Sat 7:30 PM-8:00 PM Conference Center
Stina Leicht

Handmaid's Tale Revisited
Sun Noon-1:00 PM Southpark B
P. Benjamin, G. Faust, P.J. Hoover*, D. Humphrey, T. Prevost, S. Leicht
This classic seems more relevant now than ever. Why does this story resonate, and what does it say about current events and culture? How is the TV adaptation working?

Slavery Themes in SF & F
Sun 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Ballroom D
L.T. Duchamp*, S. Leicht, J. Perez, T. Pierce, N. Shawl

On the good side of the equation, reviews of Blackthorne are starting to hit, and they're looking positive. That makes me ever so slightly less stressed. However, I'm dead certain I'll have made a mistake somewhere in the diversity department. (I'm white. It's inevitable. My hope is that the harm done isn't significant.) The point isn't in not making mistakes. It's in learning from them and not repeating them. [crosses fingers]

On the bad side...my cat, Sebastian, has gone missing. He disappeared on Thursday right after I left for the agency retreat and hasn't been home since. We're hoping he'll show up soon. Dane has done all the things. ALL OF THEM. Even things I never knew would be helpful. I've finished making the signs and we'll be posting them around the neighborhood tonight. Do me a favor and if you have a little energy to spare, think a positive thought about Sebastian finding his way home for me. I'd appreciate it. Every little bit helps. Here's the photo I took of him on Tuesday night while I was packing.

I hope your week is going well. Take care!

Good afternoon, y'all. I'm back from the agency retreat. Wow, am I ever exhausted. A wonderful time was had. I got to see Barry and Jen and friends (both new and old) and ate some amazing food. The hotel we were in was pretty much an ode to British colonialism. (The computer room was decorated in wall to wall The Queen. No joke.) The fun part was the rooms were themed. Each was name for a famous British author. (Also, you got a bookmark with your room key.) My room-mate and I got Wordsworth. Anyway, fun times were had, relatives visited--I was born in St.Louis, MO. And well, now it's back to work. This week is going to be a busy one.

Alas, I didn't get much in the way of link-curating done because I was mainly off the internet with the exception of Twitter. So, this may be short. :) 

​Today's video:

Entertainment/Literary: HOW THE MUMMY DID SOFIA BOUTELLA DIRTY. Hot tip: don't screw over your co-star, men. It will come back to bite you later. Twenty Years or More From Stardom.

General: Senator Kamala Harris Has A Strategy To End The Pay Gap For Black Women. Perhaps the oddest thing about that article is the fact that it's plastered in ads for McDonald's food. Yes. McDonald's. That fast-food restaurant that rallied against the idea of raising minimum wage. The restaurant infamous for treating its employees like shit. Bustle, I'm not sure what you're saying there. Alt-right commentator claims Romans weren't ethnically diverse, gets owned by actual historian. That one is pretty amazing. 

Trigger Warning: Fired cop who killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards indicted on murder charge. 

It's still Tuesday! I swear! Sorry, I'm heading out of town for my agency retreat which means that this is the last blog entry for the week. I'll be Tweeting because I won't be able to help myself, but mostly I'll be working. That's what the retreat is for, see. :)

Okay, and now for the Feminist Monday-ish links and things. 

Today was pretty depressing on the political/healthcare front. To say I'm frustrated with Republicans is an understatement. I seriously don't have any use for them at this moment. Empathy and compassion for other human beings is important--far more important than a tax cut for a group of people who won't even notice the pittance the tax cut equates to. Seriously. And it's not like that money is going to go back into the economy. Trickle down economics is bullshit.

I'm a Queen Latifa fan. She just makes me smile. So, I'll be watching Girls Trip. :)

Sorry, y'all. I'll post it tomorrow. Today is just not happening. Outpatient surgery (aka the actual neck injections designed to evict the head bees for a year part 1 of 2) has managed to slam me on my ass for today. (They didn't just numb the problem nerves in my neck--they burned them. They grow back. Thus, the process lasts a year--hopefully.) I thought I was going to be able to do it, but having just fallen on my backside with a barstool wrapped around my leg[1]...well...I'm thinking this is for the best.

Tomorrow. I promise. In the meantime, I'll be on the sofa--tweeting (even if it's ill-advised,)
reading, and watching tv.
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[1] I never claimed to be the most graceful of women. Also, OUCH! And oh, my, the bruises I'll be having. [sigh] It was silly of me to try to balance myself on one leg today.

There are quite a few great shows cropping up these days. Here are a few that I'm looking forward to. The first is Bright.

And then there's Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

And the next one makes me cry every time I see it because I keep thinking of how Wonder Woman made me feel, and I'm thrilled that another minority group gets to have that same feeling. This is why I'm into SF/F y'all. THIS. (And that soundtrack is amazing.)