Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's Blog: #42 Pencil: A Writer's Life, the Universe, and Everything, page 52

Legal Fictions: Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education turned 60 last Saturday. It rang the death knell for segregation in the United States, making possible many of the things that came afterwards, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which has also been celebrated lately.

Looking at the history of how that ruling came about provides a short course in both how lawyers contribute to social change and why they’re an important part of the mix.

Brown v. Board didn’t happen because the Brown family of Topeka, Kansas, (or the o...

BVC Eats: Brownies with whiskey-soaked cherries

Jennifer Stevenson’s Triple Chocolate Brownies with Whisky-Soaked Cherries

After long delay, here are the richest, most evil brownies you will ever eat. They’re super-quick to prepare as long as you soak the cherries in advance. I keep a jar of cherries soaking in whiskey at all times. Just in case, you know, brownies.

So at least one night before you bake, and up to weeks or months beforehand:

1-1/4 cup dried sour cherries, such as purchased from CostCo

2/3 cup hot water, or whiskey, brandy, ru...

Chains and Memory: A Sequel to Lies and Prophecy

Long-time BVC readers may recall Lies and Prophecy, the urban fantasy I published in 2012 (and its prequel novelette, “Welcome to Welton”). Today I’m delighted to announce a Kickstarter project for the sequel, Chains and Memory!

The world of the Wilders series is the near future of an alternate history: a version of our own reality in which people began manifesting psychic powers in the late twentieth century. For most people this begins at puberty, but wilders are born with their gifts — long...

Writing versus Re-Writing

By Brenda W. Clough

Let me begin by saying that very nearly all writers rewrite. Rare indeed is the writer who can just pour it all out on the page, solid gold and not a word or a comma needing to be changed. If you are that rare bird, then it is a cinch that this is not your first, or even your tenth, story or novel. To hit it perfectly, every word shining and ideal as your fingers leave the keys, is a learned skill, just like running a four-minute mile. And how do you learn it? Practice, of...

BVC announces Strange Attractors by Jeffrey A. Carver

Book 2 of The Chaos Chronicles

by Jeffrey A. Carver

Shipworld!

For John Bandicut, Earth is but a memory. Stranded at the edge of the galaxy in a structure populated with beings from a thousand worlds, Bandicut finds unexpected friends—only to be caught up in a cascade of forces that threaten the Shipworld itself. Confronting an entity known as the boojum, Bandicut discovers greater peril than ever in his journey into the unknown.

Volume 2 of The Chaos Chronicles, from the Nebula-nominated author...

The Insufficiency of Blame

We take a lot of photos of my dogs when I’m competing. Partly for the same reason one takes photos of anything–keepsakes, bragging rights, and (these days) Facebook shares.

But in large part, it’s a great way to figure out exactly what happened in the ring—things that seem inexplicable in the moment, but become all too clear with a series of photos or a bit of digital recording.

The thing is, it’s easy to blame a dog for what happens in the ring. And it’s true, sometimes Dart simply “gives me t...

Nebula Awards Weekend 2014 Report – with Book View Cafe brag!

The Nebula Awards Weekend, hosted by the Science Fiction/Fantasy* Writers of America, is a true feast for the writer (and lover) of the genre/s*. (There has been much debate about whether Science Fiction properly includes Fantasy, and indeed the name of the organization was changed to be inclusive, but pronouncing SFFWA led to so much inadvertent spitting that the earlier, simpler form is preferred.) One (extremely) notable writer put it this way: “I go to Worldcon or World Fantasy Con for my...

Blog Hop

Blog Hopping Down the Bunny Trail.

Thank you Jennifer Stevenson http://jenniferstevenson.com for inviting me to join this blog hop. This is how it works. Jen answered the 4 questions below and then tagged 3 people to do the same. I was one of those three so here goes.

1) What am I working on?

At the moment, I’m pouring words into a Steampunk novel that started as a short story in “The Shadow Conspiracy” a shared world anthology edited by Phyllis Irene Radford and Laura Anne Gilman and published...

Story Excerpt Sunday: From Glorieta Pass by P.G. Nagle

Glorieta Pass

The Far Western Civil War, Book 1

by P.G. Nagle

“Come on, Lacey!” said Nicodemus, pulling at McIntyre’s sleeve.

McIntyre groaned, his dreams interrupted. “What now?”

“Come on!” insisted Nicodemus in a hushed voice.

Anderson rolled over. “Go to sleep, Nico,” he said in a weary voice. “It’s nearly midnight.”

“Not me,” said Nicodemus. “Captain Graydon’s getting up some fun, and I want to see it!”

“If you’re smart you’ll steer clear,” said Anderson. “Paddy Graydon’s half crazy.”

McIntyre...

TRAINS: Promising Me New Worlds

Vintage Diesel Engine from the Chicago, South Side and South Bend Line.

I’m not positive, but it’s entirely possible that my desire to tell stories began on a sleeper car rolling through the night from Chicago to New York City.

Much of this is a hazy memory, of course. I was only five years old, and this memory is older than Amtrak. But a portion of it is crystal clear, engraved in my memory like words upon granite.

Christmas was coming, and my parents had heard that the sleeper cars were going...