Marlene Dotterer's Blog, page 90

Six Sentence Sunday

I'm cheating a little. There are seven sentences, but there was just the one extra sentence to finish off the paragraph. Made me itch to not include it.

This is from Bridgebuilders, Chapter 2. The first six sentences were up last Sunday.

"Did you have a date, Moira?" The call came from Leslie Dick-Read, casually removing her clothes in ways that showed off her admittedly nice body. The taunt was taken up by several other girls, all of them unhappy that Moira had out-run them to the extent she h...

Now It's Really Mabon

Sweep your porches and light a fire, if it's cool enough where you live. Us – we're in the middle of heat wave. No fires.

I mentioned in my jump-start Mabon post that we'd be having pumpkin martinis. Here's the recipe:

3 oz Pumpkin Smash Liqueur (I recommend Bols, but it's really hard to find. Hiram Walker makes one that I suspect never saw a real pumpkin, but you're stuck with what you have.)

1 oz Captain Morgan Spiced Rum

1 dash half-and-half

Ground cinnamon

Shake the ingredients over ice and ...

Growth Economies

Is growth the only way to run an economy?

Ursula K. Le Guin writes a wonderful post about this over at Book View Cafe. I was excited, because she expressed something I've always thought: that constant growth can't be done.

We can't just keep getting bigger and bigger. The analogy Ms. Le Guin provides, that of the physical body, is perfect. Growth must happen for the human being. But at some point, growth has to stop, and we settle into maintenance. If we keep growing, we end up, well… obese...

Happy Mabon!

I walk on lighter feet when the weather turns to cool evenings and leaves change colors. In this mild climate, we aren't really experiencing true Autumn yet, but I can feel it starting. The light of the sky, smell of the soil, the activity of animals – it all points to the seasons changing once again.

This is my favorite. Orange and brown and red and gold… cinnamon, pumpkins, apples… warm oatmeal for breakfast, pumpkin martinis in the evening. Sweaters, leggings, and scarves. The World Series ...

The Blooming Late Journal: I AM A WRITER

The Blooming Late Journal: I AM A WRITER.

Samantha Stacia writes about the puzzle of being a writer. Run on over and read her post.

I can identify with this conundrum.

I am a writer. Is that worth anything? It's a "hobby," my husband says, and I can't argue with that. It's a full-time hobby, though, or it could easily be. It could demand eighty hours a week and then ask if I needed to sleep at night.

All without earning me a single penny.

Hence, the title of hobby. You see, if it was a "job," I'd ...

Six Sentence Sunday

Okay, I can handle six sentences. From Bridgebuilders:

Moira peeled the t-shirt off as she entered the locker room, too hot to leave it on another minute. She continued to strip on her way to the showers, carting the sweat-soaked clothing with her just long enough to toss it all into the hamper in the corner. The laundry 'bots would take care of it from there. She could've left it strung out on the floor and they still would've taken care of it, but Moira had principles. Besides, she didn't...

Write Campaign Party: Who Are You?

This is my first time in the Rachael Harrie's Write Campaign. I've found great new blogs to add to my feed (but how come extra time to read them didn't come as part of the package?), and I've added lots of Twitter followers (and followees).

But I haven't been very active in getting in touch with people, which is a shame, because it's a fascinating bunch. To remedy that, let me ask a favor.

I'm in two groups: Science Fiction #2, and Paranormal Romance #2. If you're in those groups, would you...

Shipbuilder On Sale at Amazon

I didn't know Amazon did this, but evidently they sometimes put books on "sale." It's now going for $7.91. This is actually closer to the price I wanted to charge, so I'm happy.

Since this is Amazon's puppy, I have no idea how long the sale will last.

It's Time for a Cooking Post

Autumn is approaching, which does all kinds of woozy things to me. The opportunity to cook (and eat!) seasonal autumn foods is a big part of that. Since I also want to migrate some of the posts from my defunct cooking blog over here, this seemed like a good time to find a recipe for autumn.

As I migrate the posts over here, I'll store them on the Recipe page. Please check over there if you need an idea for dinner. Or breakfast. Or dessert. Or….

Anyway, here's a post from November 2007:

Thanks...

Is Longhand Necessary to Creativity?

Here's an interesting post about handwriting and creativity, and it made me wonder: do I write a better story if I'm writing longhand, or typing on the computer?

A few years ago, I would have said, "Longhand!" without any hesitation. I am, after all, old enough to have finished all my schooling before computers became commonplace. All my creative writing was done in longhand. Even after I started using computers to write, I still frequently wrote it out first on paper, and then typed it in.

I c...