Red Tash's Blog, page 211
March 4, 2012
March 3, 2012
Sample Sunday! A sneak peek into That Crackling Silence, the...
Sample Sunday! A sneak peek into That Crackling Silence, the sequel to This Brilliant Darkness:
Oblivion was nothing as she expected.
Waking from her cloudy slumber, she stretched and reached for Tom's warm body.
"Tom," she whispered.
The smell of him on her pillow, she turned in their bed to seek him, to see that smiling face. She would rub her fingers, her skin, her own face against his stubble, laugh and delight in the scratchiness of it, climb atop him as his strong arms encircled her.
"Tom," she said, opening her eyes. A brilliant burning light surrounded her. White and platinum and blue, like the star. "Tom?" she said again.
But Tom was gone.
Their bed was gone.
Christine was
Where am I?
gone.
Gone?
The question echoed in her mind, winking in and out of sense and meaning. The warmth she'd felt from the dream of Tom now drained from her, as the white light bore down, splitting open her consciousness.
"Where am I?" she fought to shout. "What is this place?" Her voice stopped, falling flat against the invisible wall of nothingness.
And then, she was nothing, drifting once again in some bright oblivion. A speck in a sea of nothingness.
Oblivion. Nothing.
Just as she'd expected.
This is a first draft, so the whole passage is subject to change, but I woke up from a dream with it one morning, and when dreams hand me that perfect of an opening line, it's not bloody likely to change.
If you'd like to experience This Brilliant Darkness so you, too, can give me input into this literary project, go pick up a copy at Amazon:
It's free 3/4/2012.
(If you don't do Amazon, fear not. I'm releasing it back onto Nook, iTunes, etc. this week.)
I'm always interested in hearing what readers think—good, bad, or indifferent. The story definitely seems to evoke a reaction, either way.
Are you on Pinterest? Follow the This Brilliant Darkness pinboard to visualize the characters, and come along as I add images to the That Crackling Silence board for a few visual teasers/spoilers.
fantagraphics:
no-straight-lines:
Trina Robbins describes...
Trina Robbins describes creating the first comic book story about a lesbian, which is the first comics story about any LGBTQ person that wasn't derogatory, erotic, or a gag strip; this is the birth of the queer "literary" comics genre. "Sandy Comes Out" will be included in the No Straight Lines anthology.
Robbins describes the reaction by lesbian artists Mary Wings and Roberta Gregory, who were outraged that a straight woman beat them to it. What isn't mentioned here is that the character Sandy was actually Robert Crumb's sister!
This is the second snippet from an interview conducted by CCA painting major Robyn Dalbey.
The No Straight Lines anthology is coming in 2012.
Tim and I have been watching Prophets of Science Fiction on the...
Tim and I have been watching Prophets of Science Fiction on the Science Channel. Or, rather, he has been recording it on the DVR, and I have been watching it with the kids. Or, rather, one of our kids woke me up at 4 am today, so after I watched the last Conan on the DVR, I switched this on, hoping to get back to sleep.
The problem is, even a dry, recycled show about Heinlein is still about Heinlein.
I'm not going to lie and pretend I'm still super-familiar with this book. I read it when I was about nine years old (yes, I was one of those kids), and people—that was a long time ago now.
But as I'm watching this show, and they're talking about how the hippies identified with the book, I'm going "Wow." It's entirely possible I was influenced a lot more by this book on an emotional level than I realized.
See, I remembered the water thing, quite well. I remembered that the character was a human raised by Martians who didn't comprehend our ways. And even back then, when I was a mere babe (seriously, it kind of bothers me, thinking of my 8 or 10 y.o. reading a book like this right now, because of where they are in their personal development), I realized the alien metaphor was a way for Heinlein to frame a social commentary about our culture. I got that. (And, sweet Jesus, no wonder I was such a lonely kid! Why couldn't I have been into Strawberry Shortcake like everyone else? I mean, my mom did my whole room up in it.) But the Grok stuff…wow. Just wow.
I was going to post some quotes, but to hell with it. Just read the book. Or re-read it.
The show is waxing on about cryogenics, so they've lost me.
March 2, 2012
cwnl:
Rotation Dome of CLIMSO
The Christian Latouche IMageur...
cwnl:
Rotation Dome of CLIMSO
The Christian Latouche IMageur Solaire (CLIMSO), is an observatory stationed at Pic-du-Midi museum of France. CLIMSO is an astronomical observation instrument specialized in the study of the Sun. It makes multiple films of the sun , particularly the globality of the surface and crown. In the image above it was captured in exposure as it rotated putting on a beautiful show against the backdrop of the night sky.
Copyright: Alain Sallez
Red is on vacation until she can buy a new computer. Red's new MacBook is here! She feels like sending birth announcements! In the meantime, please Thank you for supporting this artist by buying, reviewing, or recommending her first book, available as an ebook or paperback:
Buying, recommending, reviewing, reblogging, tweeting, Facebooking, etc., etc. her first book, This Brilliant Darkness is always preferred—or if you can't afford $2.99, there's her free short, The Wizard Takes a Holiday. Work has begun on the TBD sequel, That Crackling Silence, and another short about The Wizard is fleshing itself out, as well. Promise you that. And, yes, there will be MORE background info about our mysterious wizard. Since you've insisted. Get the reads here: Red Tash on Amazon.com
inkwings posts a lot of great fantasy artwork, but this one is...
inkwings posts a lot of great fantasy artwork, but this one is just one of my all-time faves. I think someone should animate it, so the TV is flickering light.
Monster In Rehab by MarcoBucci
Henryville, Indiana is gone
All Tashs are accounted for, thanks for your...
