Sarah A. Hoyt's Blog, page 343

Legacies

In the move, we’ve — somehow — managed to lose our forks (and the one flash drive that contained the almost ready to go Darkship Revenge, leaving me about half. The copy on the computer is corrupted, the directory has disappeared AND — for what must be the first time in my life — I didn’t send the work in progress to friends. WTH? Anyone cursing me lately? It gets better: I’ve narrowed “where the flash drive went” to the pocket of the jeans I wore while moving. Which have disappeared. Not in...

Nine Miles of Two Strand – Dave Freer

Nine Miles of Two Strand – Dave Freer

Nine miles of two-strand topped with barbed wire
laid by the father for the son.
Good shelter down there on the valley floor,
down by where the sweet stream run.
Now they might give me compensation…
That’s not what I’m chasing. I was a rich man before yesterday.
Now all I have got is a cheque and a pickup truck.
I left my farm on the freeway.

Jethro Tull, Farm on the Freeway 1987

I’ve got a pig’s head in fridge.

Honestly, it keeps the milk fresh.

And h...

This Writer is Broken

Apparently I am not quite ready for my normal writing/editing schedule. Or at least I feel dead this morning. I’ve sat here, waiting for an idea to write, but it’s not there. Go read the last two posts. http://accordingtohoyt.com/2016/04/02/first-blood-free-complete-short-story/

http://accordingtohoyt.com/2016/04/01/preview-and-pre-order/

I’m alive, just tired. I’m going to get dressed and help Dan set up his office. I want to go to the zoo but I don’t think it’s on the program today.

First Blood – Free, Complete Short Story

This story is set in the world of Vampire Musketeers, and it is the origin story for Aramis. There will also, eventually, be origin stories for Porthos and of course Athos. We already have D’Artagnan’s in Sword and Blood.

If you like it, consider pre-ordering Sword and Blood, which comes out Monday.

First Blood

Sarah A. Hoyt

He was not a man.

The knowledge washed over young Rene D’Herblay as he hid between the wall of the refectory and the side of the lectern, clutching the cross he’d taken f...

Preview and Pre-order

I’m not that fond of April fool jokes, and this year, I just don’t have the time. If you must, this is my one (I think) joke on this blog. And this is a link to my favorite all-time April fool’s joke.

What I’ve been doing, in the evenings, after contracted work, is line-editing Sword and Blood, the first of the Vampire Musketeer books. I decided to do away with the pen name, which was assumed only because I didn’t trust the publisher not to kill my name, in those days when computer numbers st...

The Harshest Judge

For the last year, through moves and illness, I’ve actually been writing. But something a close friend went through recently made me think that the experience I went through, for 2 years before that, was an actual universal thing. And that some of you might benefit from hearing this.

I don’t know why people are the way they are, so please don’t expect me to explain. I know some people, no matter how they f*ck up, always have excuses and deflections “it wasn’t me.” or “the sun was in my eyes”...

Chaos

I’m one of those people who has always prided herself on handling change well. (Hope, OTOH I’m not big on. I prefer to do than to hope. And let’s not talk about charity, either. I do what I can, but my thoughts aren’t always the most charitable. I find, particularly as I get older, that I have a tendency not to take fools at well, let alone gladly.)

I mean, I was all of 17 the first time I packed up and crossed the ocean on my own, (kind of. There was a plane and a crew, and a bunch of other...

Some Days There Just Isn’t Enough Caffeine

This comes to you from the once and future office, but I couldn’t get my regular (wireless) keyboard to work, which is what made it so late. I’m using Goldport’s keyboard, until I find batteries for the darn thing.

Post in a little while. Going to do Mad Genius Club post first.

The Human Condition – a blast from the past post Jan. 12 2014

When I was in a writers’ group years ago, my friend Alan had this gag he did when commenting on an obviously short or funny story. “I found what it said about the human condition profound and illuminating.” Or “This is obviously about the human condition, but other than that—”

Well, that gag made me hesitate to make this post, but this post IS actually about the human condition.

Yesterday just before going to bed, I read an article linked from Instapundit about poverty in the Appalachia. Of c...

Litchrature

Sorry to be so late with this: woke late/starting upper respiratory trouble, I think, then in order: laundry, unpacking, comcast.

But we’re not here to talk about my personal life (thank heavens), we’re here to talk about literature. It is a subject I’m eminently qualified to discuss, as the normal end result of my degree was either as language professor/literature professor or translator. A rare and vanishing few made it to the diplomatic corps and that was mom’s ambition for me — did you ju...