Molly Ringle's Blog, page 16

It was too hot in Seattle and other news

I feel like I should post something. Summer kind of melts my brain, though, especially when it's been as hot as Seattle has been this year. We got virtually none of our beautiful "June gloom," the layer of clouds we usually get that keeps it cool and keeps summer officially away until the 5th of July. Instead, this year, not only did it not rain on the 4th of July (sacrilege! It must rain on the 4th of July in Puget Sound!), it was hot all that week, all of June, and all last we...

Natural deodorant recommendation: Fat and the Moon

You guys! I found a natural deodorant that actually works. If I sound surprised, it's because I've only tried certain widely distributed natural deodorants (let's just call it Bob's of Vermont) that did *not* work.

I don't mind using ordinary deodorants/anti-perspirants like Degree or Old Spice--in fact, I love Old Spice's tongue-in-cheek marketing, and their scents are often pretty much unisex. However, lately I didn't like how those type of products left my armpi...

Awesome perfumes lately

I'm still me, which means I'm still sampling absurdly large numbers of perfumes, even though I haven't posted about it here much. Therefore we're past due for such a post, right? Here goes!

Of the absurdly large assortment, these are the ones I've especially enjoyed:

Bel Ami by Hermes: I've been adoring it for over a year, and what can one say? Swoon at first application, and every application since. Manly, sexy, and leathery, but in the most elegant and refined way, a l...

Replacing a social network with a stack of books

It's been more than a week since I quit Facebook, and I'm starting to feel that going back to it, to the old levels of interaction, would be about as appealing as re-entering a dysfunctional relationship. So yes: I recommend quitting Facebook. I'd be deeply pleased if the next mass exodus online was from Facebook. As long as we don't replace it with something even more annoying.

Because, see, as I've said to some friends today, what’s unusual for me this time is that...

Why I quit Facebook

Short version: I've broken up with Facebook.

Long version, in the form of a mental conversation held with myself many, many times over the last couple of years:

Me: I need to cut back on all the ways I waste time.

Mind: Such as Facebook?

Me: Maybe, but, you know, other stuff too. All the activities that are mostly just adding to my stress instead of helping me.

Mind: So, Facebook.

Me: Haha, but it's handy to have a login there, in case people need to tag me.

Mind: So that you can come to the...

Persephone book 3: draft one done!

I have completed a first (sloppy but complete) draft of the third book in the Persephone series! And yes, this will be the final book in the series, unless I do a spinoff someday, so it will for now wrap up as a tidy trilogy. Therefore, if you're the type of person who doesn't like embarking on reading a series that's yet unfinished--and I understand if you are, because I tend that direction myself--then it's okay, you can start mine now.

The title is likely to be...



If it were...

Are you hippie enough for probiotic home-fermented ginger beer?

I mainly hate soda because there's nothing healthful in it and it leaves you feeling gross (well, it does for me, anyway) and it's a huge waste of money and resources. But THIS ginger beer is probiotic and gets its bubbles from the interaction of yeast and sugar, not from being injected with pressurized sterile carbon dioxide, and you can make it pretty easily in your own kitchen.

I was hippie enough to make some, and after fermenting for 48 hours, it tastes good and, more importantly,...

Fiction new releases: spring roundup

I’ve been keeping my head down and writing, which is why you haven’t heard from me in a while. The news there is that I do plan to wrap up the Persephone series as a trilogy this year, with the completion of book 3, and I’m nearly done with a first draft. Hurray! But revisions and editing always take a while, so in the meantime you’ll need something else to read.

Luckily I have a lot of author friends with new books out. All of them come from small or independent publi...

That time Loki got pregnant

I've neglected you, blog. Sorry, blog!

Here are some random funny literary things.



I'm reading an intro to Norse mythology (because Greek is the only mythology I know in much depth and I want to branch out). You probably already know this story, but I wanted to share: at one point, Loki turns himself into a mare to distract a guy's stallion, gets pregnant by said stallion (as a mare), and gives birth to an eight-legged horse. Then he turns back into himself and gives the awesome eight-legged ho...

The reformed grammar Nazi speaks

Language prescriptivism (or "grammar Nazism," as it's more commonly known) is one of my flash points. I do not for a moment believe that "kids these days" are ruining the language by their "lazy" texting, tweeting, and other shortcuts, and I rouse myself to the defense of both the kids and the language whenever my friends start grumbling in this fashion. But I wasn't always so enlightened.

I used to be a grammar Nazi/language bigot/whatever our term is, of the worst, snottiest kind. It was stu...