Moe Lane's Blog, page 470
November 3, 2022
11/03/2022 NaNoWriMo BANSHEE BEACH: 2008/12290.
20% done already! Huzzah! …I’m gonna need that buffer, later.
The guys with the old books say a sonic boom is when the air gets shoved out of the way from something moving really fast. I mean, really-really fast, even by Old American standards. The Lore says a sonic boom rattles your walls, breaks your windows, and makes you spill coffee all over yourself. So… maybe it was a sonic boom, and maybe it wasn’t? The windows were down and I had finished my coffee, so I couldn’t tell that way. It was loud as hell, though, and the stage absolutely rattled.
None of that woke up Lucas, because his eyes snapped open the moment the sudden wind pushed through the open window. By the time the stage stopped rocking on its sides he was already ready. For what? I dunno: whaddya got?
“The stage isn’t stopping,” Lucas noted, his head tilted slightly. “We’re still on the road, too. That’s good.”
“Ain’t much room out there for anything except cabbages, Lucas,” I retorted, slipping on my brass knuckles. “Before you ask, I didn’t see anything. Whatever it was, it was right above us.”
“Crap. What kind of monsters you got down here? Anything that can fly?”
“Just atotolins, these days. They don’t go zoom!”
Just signed up for Fright Reads 2023.
The table fees went up… and down. They went up in the sense that I’m paying more; but Fright Reads 2023 will be a two day event (September 30 – October 1, 2023). It’s the same venue as before (Benfield Sports Center in Millersville, MD), but if they have comparable foot traffic both days that they did at the last one, I should do even better out of the deal.
Obviously, this means that I need to have GHOSTS ON AN ALIEN WIND ready by September, if I didn’t have enough reasons already. I might… also need to get another project finished by then. I’m debating on whether to do it, because it’d involve doing a Kickstarter to get the funds in time. I don’t have to decide this month, though.
Reminder: Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Village That Voted The Earth Was Flat.’
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but if you haven’t read it, or read it lately: ‘The Village That Voted The Earth Was Flat‘ is one of Rudyard Kipling’s finest short stories. It got included in a Kipling fantasy anthology once under the flimsy rationalization that revenge fantasies count, and I for one applaud that editor’s creativity. Also, it’s a fascinating look at Edwardian England, in and of itself. Check it out.
November 2, 2022
‘Death Valley Queen.’
Death Valley Queen, Flogging Molly
#commissionearned
Posts will be kind of varied, this month.
I’m making wordcount on BANSHEE BEACH pretty well, so far, but it takes time. It’s also November, which is obviously a really bad time to do something like NaNoWriMo. Why am I doing it, then? Because every little bit of nose-to-the-grindstone helps.
Anyway, posting might be erratic, from time to time. Sorry about that!
The DOOM that came to Twitter.
I was never expecting 75% cuts. 50%, though? Oh, yeah.
Elon Musk plans to cut about 3,700 jobs at Twitter Inc or half of the company’s workforce in a bid to cut costs, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter… Bloomberg also reported that Musk intends to reverse the social media company’s existing work from anywhere policy and will require employees to work from office though some exceptions could be made.
That’s the thing that’s gonna cause heartache, agita, and the rampaging staggers, mind you. Elon Musk apparently does not like work-from-home, these days – and it seems he’s going to be treating his new acquisition the same as the old one. Gonna be interesting to see how that plays out*.
(H/T: Instapundit)
*I’m agnostic on work-from-home. It’s working out all right for my wife’s job, but I don’t think it’s a universal panacea (or disaster).
Tweet of the Day, The Sandman’s Going To Hell! edition.
Okay, that’s a guess – but it’s an informed one.
The rumours are true. Netflix is thrilled that so many of you have been watching Sandman, and the thing we were all hoping would happen… has indeed happened… pic.twitter.com/zc5CrhsdZK
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) November 3, 2022
(Via @Ravenpenny)
The stuff with Lucifer was already hinted at in Season 1, and taking it up now follows the comic’s own path. Since there is absolutely no reason at all not to follow along with the book, I feel fairly confident that this next season is about that. That this is also my second favorite Sandman story* has nothing to do with anything, obviously.
#commissionearned
Moe Lane
*My favorite? The Emperor Norton story, of course. I’ve never forgotten it.
11/02/2022 NaNoWriMo, BANSHEE BEACH: 2084/10282.
So far, so good…
I turned my attention to the man hurrying up. He had slicked-back hair and a little beard, which I can see the point of, but it doesn’t look good on me. “Hola! We’re here to check in.”
He did his best to look down at me, but, alas, the two of us were the same height. “I am sure that you are not.”
I considered that. “No,” I decided after a moment of visible thought, “I’m pretty sure this is the Xanadu. There should be a reservation, under ‘Tom Vargas?’”
The manager shook his head. “No,” he sneered, without even looking at the reservation book.
Lucas stirred, slightly, and stopped as I held up one finger. “No problem! Guess I was told the wrong place. Lucas, did you see a ‘graph office around here?” I asked him as we started walking away. I could see the bellhop’s face switch from ‘amused sneer’ to ‘sudden puzzlement’ as we walked by and slowed my pace just a bit.
“You mean the heliograph system you guys use? Sure, there’s just one down the street. Aren’t they expensive, though?”
“Oh, I won’t be paying for it, either way.” Behind me I could hear the first signs of consternation at the reception desk. “Hey, when they catch up to us, keep going.”
“Sure.” Lucas gave it a beat. “Why?”
“It’ll be funnier that way.”
The TROLL Netflix trailer.
TROLL is a movie about a giant troll waking up, and rampaging through Norway. This is one of those flicks where you either want to see that, or you don’t. Simple as that. My only regret is that I won’t be able to see it on a big screen.
