Good morning, y'all. I'm going to do something a little different today. I'm going to link you to some wake up music. Because it's Monday. You can listen to it while you read. So, here you are, an oldie but a goodie...The Happy Mondays remixed by Paul Oakenfold and Andy Wetherall. It's one of my favorites from the '90s/'00s. And hey, Monday is in the name. ;)

Hang on. Put the soundtrack on pause a moment. This is something you need to see first. It touches on toxic masculinity and other revenant topics. This video does a brilliant job of analyzing why I feel like giving side-eye to anyone that insists that The Last Jedi is a piece of garbage, particularly if they're a CIS male. The film wasn't comfortable--even for me, but it did have quite a lot of important things to say.

Obviously, I saw To All The Boys I Loved Before. Two thumbs up. That was fun!

That was a gem of a movie. Totally fun. Sweet. And entirely not stressful. (Sometimes, I need that in my life.) Also, well-written and funny. Did I mention funny? I bet the book was great too.

What else? Things are going well with the rewrite. I got a haircut. My depressing mermaid story is still out there. Also, have a song from the music list for Persephone Station. :)

More later. I've got work to do. :) Have a great weekend, y'all!

I finally saw Crazy Rich Asians with my husband last night and wow! That was amazing. It also had a lot to say about the role of women in families and marriage. So, I'm going to discuss it behind a cut because, well, SPOILERS. 

So, my story A Siren's Cry is a Song of Sorrow is out in the world. It's kind of a modern retelling of The Little Mermaid. Sort of. Maybe not. Maybe more of a reference to The Little Mermaid. You can access it (and the other stories in the September issue of Apex Magazine) for the price of $2.99. That's not very much, y'all. Please consider buying it. If you do, you'll be supporting a wonderful venue for short fiction as well as the authors whose stories are in the issue. You'll help  Apex (an award-winning SF/F magazine) continue to pay authors professional rates for stories. And you know what? Writers have this nasty habit called 'eating' they have to support. They also require things like a roof over their heads, health insurance, clothing, transportation, utilities...you know, all that mundane stuff that keeps us alive while we create. Editors have these needs too. (And I've met Jason Sizemore. He's a nice guy.) So, go forth and spend that $2.99. It's worth it. Of course, you could buy the print edition for $10 and have something for me to sign the next time you see me. You know how I love scribbling on my novels. I honestly feel the same about shorter works.

Okay. I did my bit for self promotion. :)

Let's see. What else?

I still haven't seen Crazy Rich Asians or any other new movies yet. I've just been too busy with rewrites. Although, I will do it soon. I've been reading the non-fiction book Dodge City and it's been helpful. Although, I gotta say Earp and Masterson were definitely thugs with badges. It's also obvious that women didn't live long in that era. (I can't find any definitive data that doesn't merely assume that statistics for men are the same for women.) Most of the men in the story marry multiple times due to maternity deaths. (Remember there is no birth control and not a lot in the way of medical facilities in the Wild West.) I've done a lot of reading in between the lines on this one. I've had to. The author is more than a little sweet on Earp. I won't even get into detail about how indigenous Americans are written about--hardly at all unless it's about how they attacked a group of white people. So, I'm not recommending it. There's a lot of going back to give the history of this or that person who doesn't do much, but there have been a few useful details. [shrug] Hey, I've learned to read anything written about the Wild West from a straight white CIS perspective with a healthy dose of cynicism. (I've read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. And I do recommend that one.)

Oh! I'll be giving this chicken recipe a try tonight. We'll see how it goes. It looks tasty. Will let you know how that goes. I'm looking forward to the cooler temperatures this weekend. Great writing weather. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I get extra energized. I hope you have a lovely weekend!