Francesca Forrest's Blog, page 113

A scary essay

Some time ago I wrote this essay prompt to use at the jail:

Your friend Mike is a manager at Dunkin Donuts. A girl you know, Callie, is applying for a job there.

Scenario 1: You know Callie would be terrible for the job.
What are three reasons why she would be terrible?


Scenario 2: You know Callie would be great for the job.
What are three reasons why she would be great?

The two people who originally wrote the essay wrote that Callie would be great--they essentially wrote letters of recommendation...

eight intriguing author remarks

Tomorrow is the last day to grab the indie fantasy bundle, so if you have friends who might be interested, let them know. In fact, I have five giveaway codes that I haven't used yet, so send them to comment here (my journal won't allow anonymous comments, but they can sign in with Twitter or Google Plus or Open ID if they're not on LJ)--I'll select randomly from the people who comment. (I'll make the offer on Twitter, too.)



Meanwhile, here is a game: Each of the authors in the fantasy bundle w...

snowmobile stories

I went walking at dusk yesterday. The train whistle was sounding nearby. Clear the roads, clear the tracks, coming through. Coming through slowly. It was the Connecticut and Southern. I stepped off the trail and watched them go by--this pack was driven by slim young guys (sometimes it's fathers and young kids--but those packs are usually diurnal and travel on weekends) in complete snowmobile suits that made them look like Power Rangers. They waved as they went by, and I waved back, and though...

Ice, radio, and names

Anyone who drives the Massachusetts Turnpike between Westfield and Blandford enjoys the Cthulhu-esque ice that cascades down the rock face every winter. There are shades of blue, green, and gold in it, as well as white. I suppose you get similar in any cold place with rock faces? I always want to get a photo, but it's hard because it's not a place you can really walk to (being on an interstate and all), and if you're traveling in a car, you're speeding on by.

And yet! I got this shot the other...

Animal food restrictions

I thought this up after seeing a number of things debunking associations of certain foods with certain animals.





Animal Food Restrictions

Do not feed ducks breadcrumbs, which are a source of empty calories and may cause obesity and secondary health issues, such as diabetes. Substitute healthy snacks, such as cracked corn, seeds, or peas.


don't give this duck diabetes!
Photo source here

Many cats are lactose intolerant, and milk may make them vomit. Give your lactose-intolerant cat soy or almond mi...

architecture of snow

waves



and cliffs



and ripples

Some interviews

The various participants in the Storybundle have been interviewing one another. Here, Brad Beaulieu interviews C.J. Brightly about The King's Sword. I was fascinated by her background in political science and her work for the military and national security organizations.



And here, sartorias has a conversation with dancinghorse about male and female narration and the world of her book Arrows of the Sun.



I'm heading over to read that one next--come join in the conversation either at Book View Caf...

Transit maps

Elsewhere I mentioned in passing a wonderful creation of the tall one's: a transit map for western Massachusetts. Here you can see it in its native habitat, on the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority's website--and you can click for finer and finer detail. And here is the whole map, hanging on my basement wall:



What's wonderful about transit maps is how stylized they are. Boston's higgledy-piggledy becomes this; central Tokyo's spiraling layout become this. (I link to Boston and Tokyo, instead of...

Lhind the Thief: a conversation with Sherwood Smith

The nice thing about the indie fantasy story bundle is that it's got so many different kinds of stories. sartorias 's Lhind the Thief, for instance, is a straight-up great adventure story of the sort that lets you forget, oh, say, approaching blizzards and the like. We talked a bit about it:

In addition to being light-fingered and light-footed, Lhind, the protagonist of Lhind the Thief, has certain powers dear to my heart--like the ability to communicate with animals. How did your own daydreams...

Mudlarker Nicola White on searching for messages in bottles

I believe I've mentioned Nicola White and mudlarking before: mudlarking is scavenging for found items on the banks of the Thames. Nicola White, an artist, keeps a blog of her finds--a marvelous blog (link here ; the top entry is on vulcanite screw bottle stoppers: fascinating).

One thing she looks for in particular is messages in bottles. The BBC did a five-minute report on her search for the messages of the Thames. She reckons that about one in every 200 bottles that she finds has a message i...