Kris Bowser's Blog, page 2

May 24, 2022

One does not simply walk out of the bakery

It’s been a long, long time since I posted an excerpt (or anything else, for that matter) on the blog. In a figurative, internet-posting sense, I’m a terrible juggler; if I’m updating my newsletter regularly (and I have been), I’m neglecting my blog. If I’m blogging regularly, I’m probably neglecting something else. I can keep maybe one-and-a-half balls in the air at once. Anyway, like I said, the newsletter’s gotten regular updates, including monthly excerpts. Not everyone is a newsletter-reading human, so I’m going to start adding them to the blog, and maybe my (also neglected) Ko-fi page.

All that said, here’s an excerpt from the revision of Stars Fall Out:

In a few long steps, my father crossed the distance from the kitchen and pushed the door shut. A final breath of snow puffed in on the sound of bells.

My father’s palm stayed pressed up against the door, above my reach. “Your sister and I have an understanding. She’s well aware that she must keep up with her duties here, or she won’t be studying that magic anymore.”

“And if she doesn’t show up? Or if she leaves?”

“Then I especially need you here. We need the money, Tyatavar. Why do you think I’ve been running around, teaching these classes? Leaving my daughter to run my bakery when she should be worrying about starting her own life?”

Starting her own life. At those words, I could almost feel the letter in my pocket, like a bee on my shoulder or a heated blush spreading onto my cheeks.

“Will you please come back in?” Finally, my father dropped his hand from the door. An act of trust that I wouldn’t bolt.

That act of trust froze me as surely as the statues of Yinar and Nirsua, but where they had been sculpted of stone, I chiseled my own stillness out of flesh and blood and fire that burned in my spirit, even as a paper in my pocket had already gone to ash.

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Published on May 24, 2022 14:19

December 16, 2021

Going Back to Normal Bingo: COVID-19 Introverted Pessimist Edition

Because it’s not all beach parties and booze, and anyway, screw beach parties and booze.

The text in the squares, if you can’t read it:

Awesome conversations where people ask, “So, what do you do?”

Avoiding eye contact at stores so no one will ask if you need help.

Answering a question with a neurotic non-answer and worrying about it hours later when you realize.

Debating whether to wave at someone you pass in the hallway at work when you already said “hi” to them once that day.

Having no memory of the past weekend when someone asks how it went.

Disengaging from innocuous small talk because you disagree with a basic premise and you don’t want to go all critical essay on someone’s ass.

Going to someone’s house and they apologize for the mess and it’s just a single sweatshirt.

Having someone ask how you’re doing and being uncertain if it’s a is a real question or a form of “hello.”

Biting your tongue when someone misuses the word “literally.”

Walking an extra half mile down the street because you don’t want the amount of social interaction involved in having someone stop for you and waving thanks.

Feeling self-conscious in the store because they’re playing a song you hate but it’s at the exact beats per minute of your walking speed.

Bringing a book to a social event but not getting to read the book.

FREE SPACE. IT’S A STAR.

Actually giving your actual opinion about something for once, and then immediately becoming exhausted when someone asks a follow-up question.

Accidentally wearing something you look nice in so that someone gives you a compliment, which is a form of attention, which is something you don’t want.

Partaking of extra drinks and appetizers at any social event to avoid awkward hovering.

Refusing to ask to stop the car because you don’t want to be the first one to admit they have to pee.

Saying something clever that no one notices, and then everyone laughs five minutes later when it occurs to someone else.

Casual questions that reveal the depth of your incompetence, e. g. “Have you done your taxes yet?”

Nihilism and whatever.

Getting stuck at an event because you car-pooled with someone and they want to stay forever.

Listening to people say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”

Not being able to use “but there’s a pandemic” as an excuse to get out of social gatherings.

People freaking out when your digital watch goes off in public because maybe it’s a bomb or something?

Having someone ask you “how many people were there?” as if you weren’t too overwhelmed by them to count.

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Published on December 16, 2021 16:23

September 24, 2021

What’s my reward for staring down my obsessive-compulsive...

What’s my reward for staring down my obsessive-compulsive disorder and going inside a Dunkin Donuts during the pandemic, rather than using the drive-thru?

Straws. As many freakin’ straws as I want. And napkins too.

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Published on September 24, 2021 13:40

September 9, 2021

In addition to bakery fire burns, bruised jaws, and deep ...

In addition to bakery fire burns, bruised jaws, and deep gashes, I can now add printing acid injuries and goat injuries to the list of bodily traumas I’ve had to Google in my Stars Fall Out research.

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Published on September 09, 2021 17:19

July 28, 2021

I found a site called MoonConnection.com in my Stars Fall...

I found a site called MoonConnection.com in my Stars Fall Out research. It seems like a nice enough site, but what a waste that it’s just lunar information and not a werewolf dating site.

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Published on July 28, 2021 06:06

June 21, 2021

If I am ever granted three wishes, I shall waste one of t...

If I am ever granted three wishes, I shall waste one of them swapping handwriting with one of those people who prints in small caps.

Or a cybernetic arm that does the same thing. I’ve thought about this too much.

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Published on June 21, 2021 18:53

June 8, 2021

Continuing last summer’s re-read of the Dune series by Fr...

Continuing last summer’s re-read of the Dune series by Frank Herbert, I picked up with God Emperor of Dune a few days ago.

My reading choices are often dictated by whim or nostalgia, and so Dune has to be read in the summer, just like the first time I read it.

So far, I’m enjoying the character of Leto II quite a bit. Where Paul Atreides is all doomy and self-important, Leto II is much more fun and quixotic.

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Published on June 08, 2021 15:46

June 5, 2021

A choice of two doors

I’m now living in an actual situation in which I have to decide between Door One and Door Two, and both options suck.

Door One used to be our main entrance into our apartment. We stopped using it at the start of the pandemic because it’s a shared door, and we figured we might as well limit exposure.

Hence, to go through Door One is to confront my obsessive-compulsive germ anxiety issues.

Door Two, once our private side entrance, has since become our main entrance. A harmless garter snake has taken up residence there. It enjoys lazing around on the stone path and never moving.

Hence, to go through Door Two is to confront my debilitating snake phobia.

Needless to say, leaving the apartment has become a lot of damn work.

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Published on June 05, 2021 07:31

May 10, 2021

Diverse Speculative Fiction Reading Event

Diverse Speculative Fiction Banner

I’ll be participating in a live reading event on Saturday, May 15, 2021. My face is on the banner and everything… (That’s a new experience for me.)

Anyway, I’ll probably read an excerpt from Stars Fall Out, so if you’ve been following that particular project, this is a great time to hear me read a short scene while trying not to talk as fast as someone who grew up in Rhode Island tends to talk.

The event combines a series of live readings with a Follow-an-Author Giveaway. Here are links to both:

Reading Event on Saturday, May 15, 2021, 5:00 p.m. EST.

Follow-an-Author Giveaway

Hope to see you there!

(Though, I’m not 100% certain that it works that way…)

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Published on May 10, 2021 16:21

April 20, 2021

Every time I have to put on my extrovert hat, I am remind...

Every time I have to put on my extrovert hat, I am reminded first that it does not fit well, and second that I do not, in fact, own an extrovert hat.

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Published on April 20, 2021 13:38