Come talk about curses and cusses--what works, what doesn't, and why.

Today's post features excerpts from a book about Diana Sperling, who was an indefatigable painter of real life scenes during the Napoleonic era. She works in so many delightful details of her home, what people wore and did ( Read more... )

This campaign, participated in by a slew of fellow writers to raise consciousness of mental health and depression related issues, has my entry here.

Last year, at my favorite con, Sirens, I did a presentation on folding fans and fan language. Unfortunately, I can't reproduce here the fun part--the skits the participants put together. I had expected ten or twelve people at most, but the room was packed, so we ended up with five different teams, who came up with hilarious and inventive skits ( Read more... )

Sort of continuing on from the writer/reader contract of a few weeks ago, my boiled brain oozes and steams to the social contract in life, in history, and in reading.

A couple weeks back, I had a post about space opera, which has been on my mind not only while I finished reading Judith Tarr's Forgotten Suns, but also because Dave Trowbridge and I are back on track with rewriting Exordium for ebook. (Book View Cafe |KindleThe rewrite has been interesting. Of course I wanted to clean up the prose (I have learned a ( Read more... )

Ones I loved, ones I didn't--what are yours?

Over at Book Smugglers.

It's long, but really fascinating.

Certain films have so much magic they get remade, though the remakes can feel very different. You've Got Mail was the latest iteration of Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner a charming and brilliantly written film from 1940 that I watched recently, and discovered some entertaining elements.

Cultural appropriation and liminality, volcanoes and houseboats, why sometimes a writer has to go indie, discussed in this interview with Francesca Forrest.

I hope these questions and answers will engender some discussion--I really had fun doing it.