Good morning! I hope you're having a good day so far. I also hope your week is a good one. Shout out to those who gave a few dollars to the coffee fund. You ROCK. And now, for the links and commentary you came here for. Today's link list is pretty short. I'm getting very close to my deadline. So, I've been on the internet less than usual.

First, some videos. And yes, there's more Black Panther. Because I can't get enough warrior women and smart women and wise women in my life. (I still haven't seen the movie. [sigh] Soon. I swear.) Also, Janelle Monáe because she rocks.

So, I've been so involved in getting my latest novel wrapped up that two weeks in a row, I've forgotten to write my Friday post. Sorry about that. I'm just very close to my deadline and well...that's where my head is at, and rightfully so. Anyway...let's get started.

Mainly I'm writing about this in order to put together the bigger picture for anyone (like myself) who is interested. With the way that we're constantly bombarded by news these days, it's hard to understand what it all really means. So, I like to step back from the individual trees and have a look at the forest as it were.

This week has been interesting politically. The Mueller probe has slammed Manafort with new charges after Rick Gates pled guilty. Gates is cooperating with the investigation. Apparently, among the long list (32 counts) of illegal activities the pair are being busted for is hiding $30,000,000 from the US government. (Wow. Just. Wow.) That is not good news for Trump. Mueller is pushing ever closer to Trump's inner circle. The investigation is definitely picking up speed. This is the second week Mueller has been in the news with new indictments.

And it seems that the 2016 election isn't the only route Russia has used to influence American elections and politics. The NRA, an organization known for being a big influence in Washington via its lobbyists, is now being investigated by the FBI for its connections to Russia. This indicates a much bigger problem since Trump isn't the only American politician who has taken money from the NRA. (According to the article the NRA disclosed it spent at least $30 million on Trump's behalf and attacking Hillary Clinton – more than twice what the NRA disclosed it spent on Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential run. And there is evidence that indicates that it may have actually been as much as $70 million.) In truth, I've been bewildered by the self-destructive and oddly pro-Russian bent the GOP has been on for the past few decades. It's been extremely weird hearing positive words about anything Russian coming out of the mouths of the once staunchly anti-Russian party. Ultimately, this relationship between the NRA and Russia explains it because the GOP is riddled with NRA money. There are very few Republican congress critters who haven't taken NRA money.[1] And since the NRA has declared itself a "social welfare organization" it doesn't have to disclose its contributors--a tidy loophole for foreign influence given Citizens United. That scares the piss out of me. And it should.

Last week has been rather eventful, what with yet another school shooting and the most recent round of Mueller indictments. On the good side of the equation, the movie Black Panther has soared past all the predictions of its box office intake. (YES!!!) That said, there's a lot out there to discuss. Let's get started, shall we? 

Angela Basset OFMG! It's so great to see her on the screen again. I adore her. And how psyched am I to see black women portrayed as warriors and generals? SUPER PSYCHED! GIVE ME MORE WOMEN IN THESE TYPES OF ROLES, PLEASE! That's two movies featuring non-sexualized warrior women within a year of one another. I'm so happy! More women of Wakanda! More women of Themyscira! Yayayayyay!

​Okay, now for the links. :)

Good morning, y'all. Are you ready for some righteous anger? Let's do this thing. First up, today's video.

Be careful out there, bats and ghouls and all monsters in between. This one is a beast. Dane brought it home. One day I was perfectly fine and the next it hit me like a runaway freight train. I was only able to remain awake for thirty minutes at a time and then would pass out for three hours. I didn't want to eat. And when I did, I puked. And the coughing and the body aches... That's why you haven't heard from me. My brain still hasn't recovered. Everything will go back to normal next week. I'm seeing the end of it, thank the gods. But...yeah. Don't get this. Dane and I planned on getting a flu shot. We'd even seriously discussed when but the flu took us out before we acted. Grrr.

Anyway, sorry I don't have much else to say today. Except that I've been binging Downton Abby and Altered Carbon and that's been mixing in my brain in interesting ways. LOL.

Take care, y'all. 

My novel Blackthorne is on the Locus 2017 Recommended Reading List. I'm so very thrilled to have my work included among such SFF literary greats. It means a lot to me. The list is used for the Locus Awards. So, if you've read Blackthorne and enjoyed it, please take a few minutes over at the Locus site and give it and several of the other wonderful works listed a vote.[1] (If you have a favorite that isn't listed, you can write it in.) You don't have to be a subscriber to vote. So, why not vote and support your favorite writers?

Second (as announced on FB and Twitter), I'm extremely honored to be the 2018 Literary Guest of Honor at Luxcon in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg! The convention is April 14th and 15th. This is something I didn't think would ever really happen, and I'm thrilled to death. This will not only be my first time as a GOH but my first time on the European continent. More on that as details are pulled together. (You can also check out their FB page.)

Okay. Now, back to writing. Deadline looms. And stuff.
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[1] If you'd like suggestions, how about any (pick five in each category) of these?
SF novels: Persepolis Rising, James S.A. Corey, The Stars Are Legion, Kameron Hurley, Provenance, Ann Leckie, Luna: Wolf Moon, Ian McDonald, The Last Good Man, Linda Nagata, Null States, Malka Older, The Wrong Stars, Tim Pratt, The Collapsing Empire, John Scalzi, Empire Games, Charles Stross, Borne, Jeff VanderMeer
Fantasy novels: The Stone in the Skull, Elizabeth Bear, City of Miracles, Robert Jackson Bennett, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr, John Crowley, The House of Binding Thorns, Aliette de Bodard, The Ruin of Angels, Max Gladstone, Spoonbenders, Daryl Gregory, An Unkindness of Magicians, Kat Howard, The Stone Sky, N.K. Jemisin, The River Bank, Kij Johnson, Jade City, Fonda Lee, A Tyranny of Queens, Foz Meadows, The Beautiful Ones, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Delirium Brief, Charles Stross, Creatures of Will and Temper, Molly Tanzer, Horizon, Fran Wilde
YA: Before the Devil Breaks You, Libba Bray, In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, Stephanie Burgis, Sovereign, April Daniels, Buried Heart, Kate Elliott, Frogkisser!, Garth Nix, Akata Warrior, Nnedi Okorafor, Shadowhouse Fall, Daniel José Older, Want, Cindy Pon
1st Novels: Tropic of Kansas, Christopher Brown, Dreadnought, April Daniels, The Prey of Gods, Nicky Drayden, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Theodora Goss, The Art of Starving, Sam J. Miller
Editors and authors listed in non-novel categories: Joe Monti,  John Joseph Adams, Ellen Datlow, Jonathan Strahan, Peter S. Beagle, Sarah Gailey, Neil Gaiman, Cassandra Khaw, Ellen Klages, Seanan McGuire, Nnedi Okorafor, Sarah Pinsker, Christopher Rowe, Peter Straub, Cynthia Ward, Martha Wells, JY Yang, Charlie Jane Anders, Samuel R. Delany, Greg Egan, Maria Dahvana Headley, Mary Robinette Kowal, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Scott Lynch, Seanan McGuire, Kelly Robson, Marie Brennan, Tobias S. Buckell, C.S.E. Cooney, Karen Joy Fowler, Darcie Little Badger, Maureen McHugh, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nisi Shawl, Carrie Vaughn, Caroline M. Yoachim, E. Lily Yu