Robin McKinley's Blog, page 169

HOW TO BE A 19TH-CENTURY FAN guest blog by blondviolinist

 

 What would you do, if you were an American music fan in the mid 19th-century, and your favorite Norwegian violinist was coming to town on a concert tour? Why, write a poem and send it in to the newspaper, of course! 

I've been doing a lot of music history research lately, looking through 19th-century newspapers for articles about famous violinists. Some of the research is dry and boring, but some of it has been delightful. My favorite find so far has been a handful of poems published in US n...

Niall the Rotten Ratbag*

 

We were only six at bell practise tonight, including Cordelia** and Tanya, our beginner.  I had got there early because I'd asked Niall if I could have a lesson in teaching beginners, assuming that he'd play the beginner in case of accidents, but he promptly said, certainly, come along early on Friday and you can guinea-pig Tanya.***  So I did, and both Tanya and I survived†.  But it's been a long day†† and having resigned myself to not ringing/disfiguring Grandsire triples or Cambridge...

Consolation and the Lack Thereof*

 

I made the more important of my two deadlines today . . . and the other one is going to have to wait till tomorrow morning.  Siiiigh.  Which probably means I'm not going to get Oisin's miniatures done for tomorrow's cup of tea with possible keyboard accompaniment either.   And then there were handbells.  SIIIIIGH.  We were trying something only slightly new—a jiggered-up version of bob minor, bob minor being More or Less the One Thing I Can Ring on Handbells, and in this variant you are...

Chelsea Flower Show guest post by AJLR

Last week we (self + husband) went to the annual Chelsea Flower Show, which is held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital. For gardeners – and for anyone interested in plants, things to do with plants, nifty gifts of anything to do with plants, or just plain old growing things – this is the place to be. Organised by the Royal Horticultural Society, it is the ne plus ultra of such events. It even has a place in the London Season (although the types of hothouse flowers that attend as part of...

SUNSHINE*

 

Remember that I got asked to write about writing SUNSHINE for an on line book club whose June book it is?  The organiser of said site and club suggested I write about my Big Idea, a la John Scalzi's WHATEVER model, http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/01/06/the-big-idea-open-call-to-publicists-editors-and-authors/ , which I can't do, because Big Ideas are not how I do anything, certainly not writing stories.  Fortunately she thought what I wrote instead is funny.  

And here it is.  a

Some days

 

Some days you get to the end of them and you're still trying to decide if they've been a good day or a bad day.   Today, for example.

            Mondays usually get off to a bad start by oversleeping.  This is because I usually forget about the flowers till it's already later than I meant it to be and I'm closing down the laptop and about to start thrusting hellhounds into their harnesses* so we can all go back to the cottage and go to sleep.  And then there's this bucket of cut flowers...

MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess

 

"She knew every inch of the forest, every narrow path that twisted and wound its way beneath the silver branches.  They never should have found her.  She should have been up and away long before the horses' scent came to her, and very long before the sound of men's whispering drifted to her ears.  Through the trees or in them, even above them, she could have fled in an instant, or hidden herself so well that they could scour the forest for days and never find her. . . .

            "Her...

Heroic Move: Guest blog by Jeanne Marie

 

(I know it's summer where many of you are now, but try to think back to winter, when all this transpired…)

Hero flew home from a two week post-proposal holiday visit* on a Sunday. We had spent a good bit of time during that visit discussing re-location options, pros and cons of seeking work remotely, etc. On the drive to the airport Sunday evening, Hero said "OK, do you want me to move here? Because I'm serious – I could be back later this week. What do you think?"

EEEEEEEP!!

So, on Monday,*...

Beam

 

See what came in the post today.*    The Penguin-Putnam autumn '10 catalogue.  Yaaay. 

               PEGASUS gets a double page spread which is deeply cool, and we already know the cover art is splendid.  And I love the 'dump' (aka 9 Copy Floor Display) with 'their special bond threatens the very foundations of the kingdom' in flashy print across the top and Ebon flying down the corner.

                But my evil cowishness is overwhelming me just a trifle and whose bright idea was it to...

Death is a low chemical trick played on everybody except sequoia trees*

 

I've been on a train all day, going to visit an ailing friend—a probably dying friend—a friend who, just by the way, the world can't do without, let alone my private feelings on the matter.  I am not in a good mood.  Blood, spit and damnation, but this system sucks.  I want to speak to the management.**   The subordinate mortal bureaucracy is clearly run by idiots.

            I'm also frelling shattered.***  I give the ME credit:  it pretty well held off all day† and even more or less let...