Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 4

FF: A Few Opinions This Time

Persephone Has Some Solid Opinions

Thanks to all of you who sent good wishes for foster kitten Cayenne.  He seems to be over his intestinal issues.  He and Cascabel have moved from the hutch into our spare room.  If we’re home, we are giving them more or less free run of the house to see if our resident adults can handle this.

Over the next few weeks, expect to see lot of Sherlock Holmes.  Jim found us an audiobook collection read by actor Stephen Fry, and I’m very much enjoying.  Mind you, I could recite some of the stories, but somehow that doesn’t seem to matter.  Fry also wrote the excellent and delightful introductions.

And now for the usual reminder…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the Comments section, because I enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles.  I also don’t usually list my scattered research reading.

Completed:

The Man In the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie.  Audiobook.

Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson.

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson.  Published three years before the first Harry Potter novel, this features a “Chosen One” taken from his family and living as a servant in a rich family; a magical world interwoven with our own, and a magical train platform.  Of course, J.K. Rowlings has claimed her novels simply sprang to life without any influences at all.  See also the art for The Books of Magic graphic novels if you wonder.  And, of course, Diana Wynne Jone’s excellent novels, many of which are set in schools for people with magical gifts.

Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson.  Hagrid would be right at home here.  Probably my favorite of the three Ibbotson’s listed here.

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Audiobook, read by Stephen Fry.

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Audiobook, ibid.

In Progress:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Audiobook, ibid.

Spirits in the Wire by Charles de Lint.  I hadn’t read this since it was released, and was curious how a fantasy dependent on tech now outdated would read.  Answer: Just fine.   When a book is good (another example is Tea With the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy), the technological puzzle does not invalidate the story.

Also:

Just finished the most recent Smithsonian.  Excellent variety of articles.

Now leafing through Jim’s alumni magazine from the University of Michigan.  They often have some very interesting articles.

Shoe On Another Foot

Cayenne Slips Into Action

Last Friday, I finished a draft of a fourth novel in my Over Where series that I finally felt ready to let Jim—who is always my first reader, bless him—read.  So, for now, my writer shoes have shifted to other feet.

(The first three novels in the series are Library of the Sapphire Wind, Aurora Borealis Bridge, and House of Rough Diamonds.  They are available as trade paperbacks, mass market paperbacks {the first two only}, e-books, and audiobooks.)

When I was updating my bullet journal, I had it brought home to me what a journey this book has been—not because I didn’t enjoy writing it; I loved that part—but because of how my physical condition got in the way.  My first note is “Started drafting in late 8/2023, longhand because of my shoulder.”

The next note is “Started typing up 1st bit in Nov. 2023, a lot of revising.  By late January 2024 35,000 words.”  The big change here was that in November 2023, I started PT for my shoulder.  It really helped, so I was able to type with a less pain.  And by “revising” this mostly means expanding material I shorthanded in my handwritten draft.

I was very happy to be able to type without so much pain, but in January 2024, my excellent PT therapist told me that it was evident something was wrong that PT couldn’t fix.  By February, I knew I had several severe tears in rotator cuff and surgery would be needed.  Did I stop writing?  No!  I kept pushing, often working in small sessions, and by late March, I had something like 68,000 words.

Surgery was April 3, 2024, and I wouldn’t be able to even re-read until September.  New material didn’t start being written until January of 2025.  I’ve been working on it in one form or another since.  This draft is about 102,000 words.

There were other writing things that happened over that span of time.  Weber and I did our final review and edit of Friends Indeed, the fifth of our Star Kingdom novels, and I wrote a short story (“Dog Helps Those”).  But my primary focus was OW4.

So, it’s very odd to not have this book on my “to-do” list, and to know it reappear there for a while to come.  I always ask Jim to take his time reading a manuscript because, unlike editors and proofreaders, “real” readers rarely have the luxury to gulp down a book in a short span of time. 

There will be more polishing, no doubt, but I’ll be shifting emphasis for the next couple of weeks.  I hope to recharge my creative batteries as they are somewhat drained now.

Kittens will help.  And reading.  And crafts.  And planting, and all the other things I love.

But first, I have editor’s notes to address for “Dangerous Delusions,” a novella that will be out in November in the Star Kingdome anthology Challenges.

And even before that, I’d better go find out what Cayenne and Cascabel have gotten into now.  Let’s hope it’s as minor as one of my old slippers.

FF: The Size of the Book

Cascabel and Cayenne Read

Jim and I are starting to think of the foster kittens (now an estimated eight weeks old) as getting quite large.  Then we take a picture like this one, and I realize how small they still are.  The book in the photo is a walloping eight inches high.

Keep a good thought that Cayenne (the black and white) being over his constantly upset tummy.  Maybe he’ll catch up to his sister.  Right now, he weighs one pound to her two!

And now for the usual reminder…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the Comments section, because I enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles.  I also don’t usually list my scattered research reading.

Completed:

The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs.

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie.  Audiobook.

The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring by John Bellairs.

In Progress:

The Man In the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie.  Audiobook.

Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson.

Also:

Now that the kittens are graduating to larger areas of the house, I’m starting back on magazines.

Also, a beta reader copy of the next Juniper Wiles novel by Charles de Lint!

Hawk Hunting Cat

Cayenne and Cascabel: 8 Weeks Old

On Sunday, a hawk tried to “take” Persephone, my senior cat.  She’s not a lightweight by any stretch of the imagination, but going after a fourteen pound cat was not the extent of the hawk’s ambition.  Not one bit!

You see, Persephone was inside the house when the hawk attacked.  Instead of scoring a juicy meal of feline, the hawk hit the picture window hard enough to stun itself.  Persephone then sat on the windowsill, watching as the hawk came around.  I swear she was chuckling to herself.  (In case you wondered, all my cats are indoor only cats.)

And, yes, the hawk survived more or less uninjured, toddling to shelter behind the evergreens in front of our house, then flying off about an hour later.  And, yes, again, we do have stickers on our windows to deter bird collisions, moreover, sad as I am to admit it, our windows aren’t even terribly clean.  Hawks, despite how they are portrayed in fiction, are not the brightest of birds.

I’ve been doing my writing between putting in this year’s garden and dealing with the foster kittens.  This is the first year in several that I’ve been able to work in the garden without excessive shoulder pain.  Jim had gotten so accustomed to doing most of the heavy work that he keeps asking me if I’m okay.  I’m happy to tell him that I am.

The kittens are now a walloping eight weeks or so.  Cascabel is about twice her brother’s size, and much more coordinated.  This doesn’t stop Cayenne from indulging in his share of chasing when they play tag.  She seems over the intestinal disorder they came to us with, but he’s on his second round of medication.  Happily, he’s a fiend for wet food, so devours his kitty probiotics.  At less a pound, he’s too small to effectively protest taking his oral meds.

We’ve started letting the fosters run about the kitchen several times a day.  Our three resident adults are coming to actually like them.  Roary has been the slowest to come around, but we had an insight that explains this.

When Roary was four or five weeks old, something injured him so badly that he nearly lost one of his rear legs.  He spent a couple weeks at the shelter recovering from surgery, then came to us.  We suspect he doesn’t really remember kittens—he was the only one at the shelter—so these weirdly leaping, vaguely catlike, sort of stinky, creatures are not part of his memory set.

He’s spending a lot of time watching them, and even got up on top of their hutch a few nights ago, so we’re hopeful that he’ll adjust. 

Now, back to the writer part of my life!

Hands-Free Reading

Persephone Reads

As I have mentioned, Jim and I have taken in two foster kittens.  They’re a walloping seven weeks old now, have had their second set of shots, and seem to be getting over some intestinal distress with which they arrived.

Needing to oversee them, as well as what seems like constant cleaning up meant that I was glad for the ability to enjoy stories while my hands were too busy to turn the pages.

As for the usual reminder…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the Comments section, because I enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles.  I also don’t usually list my scattered research reading.

Completed:

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family.  Non-fiction.  A look at the Galvin family, in which six of the twelve children were schizophrenics.  Tries to place their situation in a medical/historical context, which I appreciate.  Book published in 2020.  Author interviewed many of those involved.

Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.  Short story collection.

The Chessmen of Doom by John Bellairs.

The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs.

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.

In Progress:

The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs.

The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie.  Audiobook.

Also:

I’ve put a pause on magazines of late, but I’m reading a draft collection of short stories by Alan Allinger. 

Generalizations Versus Individuals

Blue Flax

This week, I found myself thinking about how generalizations are both useful and horribly dangerous, both in life and in writing.  These deep philosophical thoughts germinated with my recent interactions with our two foster kittens and as I work on getting our garden ready for the year to come.

“Microclimate” is a concept that is very important to gardeners where I live.  Here in Albuquerque, a few hours of shade can make the difference as to whether a plant will thrive or fail.  Therefore, the generalization that, say, blue flax does well in our yard needs to be modified as “Blue flax does very well in one particular corner of our yard,” as you can see in the photo above.

A gardener friend newly moved to this area dropped by this weekend to get some iris rhizomes.  As I was showing her around our yard, and noting what had worked for us, she mentioned that in more humid climates, humidity lets microclimates “even out” over a larger area, whereas here in New Mexico, we lack that humidity buffer so our microclimates are more extreme.

Great fun.

Jim and I have had the foster kittens for two weeks now.  Although they are the same age, from the same litter, and have grown up together, they’re showing radically different personalities and interests.  Yet, so often people say things like “cats are” or even “kittens are,” as if they are interchangeable.

Especially in SF and Fantasy, one of the greatest errors is going for generalizations when worldbuilding (in which I include creating the people who live on those worlds).  As roleplaying games and computer games—both of which I indulge in on a regular basis—become the gateways through which newer writers come to make their creations, I think there is an automatic reflex to believe that there is a “typical” elf or space pilot or mage or whatever, thereby losing sight of the fact that there is no such thing as a “normal” anything.   Bluntly put, reality doesn’t come with character classes or racial designations.

On that provocative note, I shall wander off and write before going to let my typically atypical foster kittens have a chance to run around a larger area than their hutch.

FF: Before Bed

Mei-Ling Contemplates the Hidden Valley

Books that I am perfectly happy to read in the day often to not suit me before bed, in part because I am a very active dreamer, and don’t need to give my nightmares fuel.  I’ve also been plowing through audiobooks, in part because I listen when I supervise the foster kittens at play.

As for the usual reminder…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the Comments section, because I enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles.  I also don’t usually list my scattered research reading.

Completed:

Clouds of Witnesses by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.

In Progress:

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family.  Non-fiction.  A look at the Galvin family, in which six of the twelve children were schizophrenics.  Tries to place their situation in a medical/historical context, which I appreciate.  Book published in 2020.  Author interviewed many of those involved.  Almost done. 

Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorthy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.  Short story collection.

Also:

Since Hidden Valley Road is not exactly bedtime reading, I’ve been re-reading various other works.  I read several Doctor Doolittle tales, and realized that the almost reportorial style of the narratives would have worked well to convince my very young self that these were “real” stories.

Now reading John Bellairs The Chessmen of Doom, one of his middle grade Gothic novels set in the U.S. of the 1950’s, although written rather later.

On the Misnaming of Kittens

Cascabel and Cayenne

The foster kittens now have names: Cayenne (the black and white), Cascabel (the cream and grey).  We deliberately chose spicy peppers for names, because the shelter said this litter was a bit hot-tempered, inclined to hiss and growl.  This was certainly true when we brought them home a week ago.  I’m happy to report that they don’t hiss at me and Jim any longer.  Although they do hiss at strangers, they are also willing to give those strangers a chance to become friends, especially if those strangers want to cuddle.

(Side note: Cascabel is about twice Cayenne’s size. This isn’t just an artifact of the photo.)

Last week, I mentioned that we were being very careful to select names that would sound different from each other, as well as not sounding anything like those of our three resident cats—Persephone, Mei-Ling, and Roary.  The initial sound was less important than overall sound.  (Example Sunny and Honey would not do, although Peter and Pam might.)

Why do we care?  After all, “everyone” knows that cats don’t know their names, not like dogs.  Well, “everyone” is wrong.

In my experience in something like forty years of living with cats, not only do cats know their names, they also know the names of their housemates, and their nicknames as well.  And, yes, I have lived with cats who come when called by name.

I learned this a short time into my journey as a cat person.  I rapidly acquired cats (all some form of rescue or shelter pet) in my first year out of college, when I set up on my own to go to grad school.  My fourth cat was a kitten from a litter born to a cat my college roommate, Kathy Curran, had taken after I rescued her (the cat, not Kathy) from the service alley of the apartment building in which I lived.

My cats at that time were named for Celtic mythology (Gwydion, Nuada, Arawn).  The kitten became Manawyddan.  However, since he was ridiculously small for such a long name, he was usually called “WeeBop” or “kitten.”  Right about the time I graduated, Cat Five came to stay.  He was an impossibly tiny kitten I named Taliesin. 

Shortly after Talli came, I noticed that WeeBop was acting depressed.  He was not threatened by Talli, nor did he seem to dislike him in any way.  In fact, all the adult cats rather doted on this scrap of kittenhood.

Then it hit me.  Not only was I tending to call Talli “kitten”—after all, WeeBop by now was a couple of years old—but I was more likely to call WeeBop by his full and impressive name, which he seemed to have grown into.

That was human thinking.  For WeeBop, not only had one of his names (kitten) been usurped, but he was no frequently “in trouble.”  Why did he think this?  Well, like many humans, I only used his full name when I wanted to get his attention because he was into something he shouldn’t be.

(How many of you were only called by your full name and middle name when your parents were annoyed?)

Once I realized this, I started referring to Talli as “the baby cat,” and WeeBop as “kitten.”  The horrible full name was only used when Bopper was in trouble, which honestly wasn’t often.

Tranquility reigned, and I am now very careful as to the naming of kittens.

Back to working on my yet untitled novel…  The naming of novels and stories, is also a trial!

FF: Interpretations

Roary Views the Foster Kittens

This week, between Sayers mystery and non-fiction science, I’m thinking about how much the interpretation is as crucial as the facts.

Those of you who read this week’s WW know that Jim and I have two foster kittens.  They’re calming down, so Jim managed to get a picture of them both, which I’ve put at the end.  Size reference: curled up like that, they’d fit on a standard dessert plate with room to spare. 

As for the usual reminder…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the Comments section, because I enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles.  I also don’t usually list my scattered research reading.

Completed:

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan.  Heroes of Olympus Book Five.  Audiobook.

The Story of English: How the English Language Conquered the World by Philip Gooden.

Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.  Yes, yes, I know, I’ve read this before.  This time a different reader.  Since reading/performing a book is an act of interpretation, I’m getting a different interpretation.  Jonathan Keeble’s voice is deeper, and he’s a little less likely to “Wodehouse” Peter in a “fey” mood or Freddie, pretty much all the time.  Good at emotion.  I teared up when the someone (avoiding spoilers) learned she was a widow, even though I knew it was coming.

In Progress:

Clouds of Witnesses by Dorothy L. Sayers.  Audiobook.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family.  Non-fiction.  A look at the Galvin family, in which six of the twelve children were schizophrenics.  Tries to place their situation in a medical/historical context, which I appreciate.  Book published in 2020.  Author interviewed many of those involved.

Also:

Finished the new Smithsonian.  Something archeological next.

Cayenne and Cascabel

Foster Kittens!

Holding Still For Just a Moment

Tuesday morning, Jim and I went out to pick up our two foster kittens.  They are littermates, about five weeks old.   They’re listed as domestic shorthairs, but they are definitely fluffy.  The male is black and white.  The female is cream with tigerish stripes.  Her paperwork speculates that she may be part Siamese, although maybe “just” tabby.  Either way, as you can see from the photo above, she’s very cute.

The kittens are very feisty and hiss a lot. When they’re not hissing, they meow.  That’s why we have them to foster.  Their entire litter really needs socialization, so they’re being placed in smaller groups so they can get attention.  They’re currently residing in our spare guinea pig hutch, which keeps them from wandering off and getting hurt, but gives them more room than they would have had in a shelter kennel.

The shelter gave them placeholder names (Spaghetti and Alfredo), but we’ll probably come up with other ones as we get a sense of their personalities.  One thing that will be important is that the names don’t sound like any of the names, or common nicknames, of our other three cats. Contrary to popular belief, cats do know their names. They can get confused, and even very unhappy, if they hear someone else being called by what sounds like their name. Ask, and I’ll tell you a tale related to this, perhaps next week.

Tuesday we focused on letting them get settled.  Later today, we need to give them a medicated bath, a preventative just in case they were exposed to ring worm.  That should be interesting.  Because, as I said, these kittens are very feisty.  Very.

The reactions of our resident felines to these new arrivals has varied.  Persephone is interested and has repeatedly gone over to look at them.  If they hiss at her, she hisses back, but almost politely, as she doesn’t add in a growl or paw swipe, which is what she does when she is seriously annoyed. If they growl at her, she doesn’t deign to growl back.  Mei-Ling is cautiously interested.  Roary is either indifferent or nervous.  Hard to tell.  Of our three, he’s the only one who has never had a new kitten move in.

This is an experiment.  We are to keep the kittens for three to four weeks, after which they will be neutered and will become available for adoption.  However, if one or both of the kittens seem to be a good fit for our household, we have first option to adopt.  However, if they do not seem a good fit, we will return them to the shelter, hopefully no longer so inclined to hiss at everyone and everything, and better prepared to find their forever home.

We’ve fostered before—that’s how Roary came to us, five years ago, in his case, as a medical foster—but never two at the same time, so this will be an adventure for all of us.

Now, someone is meowing… I think I’ll go see why.