Jenn Reese's Blog, page 17

Finn Makes Five

After about eight months of discussing the merits of a third cat and deciding it was too much of a risk, we fell in love with a new little boy named Tab Hunter this weekend and brought him home anyway.

What swayed us was a long conversation with his foster daddy, an incredibly knowledgable and caring man who blew me away with his knowledge of cat health and behavior. We knew the kitten had been raised well, was not aggressive, and had all the behavior qualities we were looking for in a new family member. Plus, Kitten Rescue has a fantastic return policy if things just don't work out. They value good, safe, happy homes over all else, and we do, too.

So please help us welcome Finley ("Finn") Hunter Reese! He's about 13 weeks old and loves to play, purr, and follow his new brothers around with wild-eyed joy.

From Finley

We've had the Feliway running for a few days, and so far the boys are adjusting well. Cairo hisses and growls (totally normal), but is not aggressive, and Oslo is intensely curious and has already tentatively started to play. So far, so good.

A typical tableau, with Finn at its heart:

From Finley

2 Books for Boys & Girls

I have talented friends, and they write fantastic books. Today I'd like to talk about two recent releases because they are so incredibly different, and yet have so much in common.

Let's compare the books:

Boy at the End of the World by Greg van Eekhout

Male author, male main character
Science fiction (post-apocalyptic)
Setting is wild and dangerous, very "Person vs. Nature"
Cover marks it as a "boy" book

Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis

Female author, female main character
Fantasy (historical)
Setting is upperclass society, very "Person vs. Person"
Cover marks it as a "girl" book

Opposite ends of the spectrum, yes? But what's not apparent are the way Fisher (Greg's book) and Kat (Steph's book) fight for what they believe in. The way they are both resourceful, and scared, and brave, and willing to learn and grow. The way they both want to make a better life for themselves and for the people (or mammoths) they love.

Fisher fights giant parrots and rogue tech. Kat battles nefarious magic users and highwaymen. In many ways, they are both alone on their journeys — struggling to make sense of their power, and of the world. Along the way they make enemies and friends, and a whole lot of jokes, too.

I wish we lived in a world where girls and boys would eagerly pick up both books, devour them, and talk about mammoths and magic in the same sentences. I wish we lived in a world where adults encouraged them to do so.

Because really, no kid should miss out on either of these amazing books.

The Alphabet Quartet

It's hard to believe, but all 26 stories that Tim Pratt, Heather Shaw, Greg van Eekhout, and I wrote are now live on Daily Science Fiction's site. Twenty-six weeks has never gone so quickly!

If you missed a story or want to gulp down all 26 at once, here you go:

The Alphabet Quartet on DSF

If you'd like to hear our stories instead of read them, then you won't have long to wait! Escape Artists is producing all of them — plus a few extra! (Warning: the podcasts contain adult language.) Here are some primers:

Escape Pod

PodCastle ("D is for De Gustibus," "F is for Flotsam," "L is for Luminous," and "N is for Nevermore Nevermore Land")

PseudoPod ("Q is for Quit" and "F is for Flotsam")

Enjoy!

We Need These Voices

As many of you know, I work part-time for the Lambda Literary Foundation, an awesome non-profit dedicated to promoting LGBT literature and authors. Every year, the LLF hosts a Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, and this year's astounding group of 42 writers has already been selected.

A few months ago, lot of people were upset about author Jessica Verday being asked to remove the LGBT content from her story for its inclusion in an anthology. A lot of people were wondering how they could help raise awareness of these issues and help support authors writing about LGBT themes. Well, I've got an *excellent* suggestion.

Help send an LGBT writer to LLF's Writers Retreat.

Here's a list of LLF's 2011 Writers Retreat Fellows. Writers in need of financial assistance have a link at the end of their bio that says "Help send [writer] to the Retreat." Even $10 would help.

We've got the writers divided into their workshops: Fiction, Genre Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Even if you can't contribute, read their bios anyway and revel in their diverse backgrounds and passions. It's truly wonderful, and gives me a lot of hope for our future.

Caturday Comes Early

Defying all odds, the cats are still being cute.

The classic "Why don't you ever pay attention to me?" look:

A good reminder that cats are predators:

But that they pretend to be harmless:

And last, Oslo looking uncharacteristically dignified:

Panda Sandwich

Had a great visit with Samantha Ling and her hubby Chris a few weeks ago. I think the Kung Fu Panda's expression says it all:

Stuff I Love: Baggu!

I've been using Baggu for years, and I can think of few products that I love more.

Baggu are reusable shopping bags that fold into tiny pouches. They are so light and small that they fit easily into a purse, backpack pouch, or even the back pocket of your jeans. Unfolded, they are Bags of Holding, capable of carrying heavy and bulky items, or tons and tons of groceries.

If you decide to buy one, buy six instead. Keep two in your backpack or purse, two in your car, and spread the other two out wherever you think you might need a bag. Some of the myriad ways I have used Baggus:

- Groceries (duh)

- All other shopping (clothes, books, housewares, etc.)

- Gym bags

- Lunch bags

- Picnic trips

- Any time you need to carry more stuff than your arms can comfortably hold

Seriously, these bags are awesome. Once you get in the habit of keeping them on your person, you'll see. Since I got mine a couple of years ago, I've used them hundreds if not thousands of times. Think of all those plastic bags! Besides which, they're more comfortable to hold than plastic or paper bags, and are far sturdier. (Did I mention the cool colors?)

When I bought mine, Baggu only came in one size. Now there are tons: backpacks, totes, smaller, bigger, packs of 5, zippered packs, etc.. You really can't go wrong with the "Baggu," though.

And if your tastes run to hip or edgy, check out what Threadless has done with Baggu!

I cannot recommend these bags highly enough. Go forth, purchase, and help save the Earth.

Mutant Love (Old Art)

I've been going through some old artwork from high school, and thought I'd share some of my X-Men (and other famous superhero) sketches, mostly to reinforce my love of comics despite recent blows. Please note: all of my sketches involve me copying (but not tracing) specific panels. I was never good enough to create my own poses or to drawn superheroes without a reference.

Click to see larger versions.

One of my first Great Crushes was on Nightcrawler of the Uncanny X-Men. (Good ol' Kurt Wagner shared this honor with Starbuck, Han Solo/Indiana Jones — who strangely counted as one person, but was not Harrison Ford, and Jack Cutter from Tales of the Golden Monkey. I wrote their initials on a piece of paper and slept with it under my pillow every night.

I drew three pictures of Kurt, but can only find two. The one that's missing is my favorite — a picture of the Bamf! stuffed animal.

Kurt and his girlfriend Amanda Sefton kissing:

Kurt in obvious angsty pain:

Here's a picture of Storm from the Asgard storyline. Because I was terrible with faces, I sometimes didn't draw them:

I went through a metal phase at one point. Here's Colossus (X-Men) and Cyborg (Teen Titans):

Strangely, I never really cared for Spiderman, but I did love drawing his poses. I like this one, complete with water damage:

Oh, I have so many more sketches!!! Three of my friends and I designed a superhero team and actually wrote a comic. I'll probably share some sketches from that as well, before moving on to the mountain of D&D-related drawings I have. Aren't you lucky!

Women in X-Men: First Class (Spoilers)

It makes me sad when there's a movie I really want to see, and that does so many things right, but that seems to go out of its way to belittle, objectify, and/or marginalize women. Below I'm going to mention some of the things in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS that upset me. To do so, I will have to mention some spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

SPOILERS BELOW

SPOILERS BELOW

SPOILERS BELOW

In the movie, women are repeatedly depicted:

1. Scantily clad in their lingerie (Moira, Emma, Angel), naked (Mystique), or with the zipper of their uniform pulled way down (Mystique)

2. As sex workers (Angel, Emma)

3. As being interested in relationships almost to exclusion of all else (Mystique)

4. As bad at their jobs because of their interest in men (Moira, Mystique)

Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if *any* of the men were depicted these ways. They aren't. They are focused, concerned with big issues, powerful, and driven. They wear clothes.

But the worst for me were these two scenes:

1. Xavier and Erik encounter Emma Frost as she is performing her sex worker duties. Instead of being badass, Emma does not use any of her powers, but runs straight at the two men, as if she will squeeze between them and somehow escape. In short, she's completely stupid and incompetent — despite the fact that she is powerful enough to fight both men at the same time in a previous scene.

The men capture her easily. Erik uses the metal in the bed frame to bind her arms wide apart, and then wraps another metal coil around her throat. Um, yeah. Meanwhile, the two men are fully clothed and standing over the lingerie-clothed Emma Frost, in complete power over her. Erik proceeds to choke her almost to death while Xavier asks him to stop, but does nothing to help her.

Yeah, I have a problem with this scene. A big problem. This scene makes me feel like the screenwriters hate women. This scene makes me angry and extremely sad.

2. Xavier erased Moira's memory without her consent, and with a kiss. Because women can't be trusted, and because he knows Moira won't object to the kiss? Or because women are just so cute and easy to manipulate because of all those gosh-darned hormones? Oh, and she's not mad at all, she blushes when she mentions the kiss at her office — in front of an entire contingent of powerful CIA agents who already think they were crazy for letting a woman into their midst.

*shakes head*

At the end of the film, the only mutants remaining on the side of "good" are white men. All the women and PoC have either died or gone off to fight with Magneto.

I wish I could have gone with them.

Stuff I Love: For Your Face

My primary rules for health and beauty products are simple: the company must be cruelty-free and the product must be 100% vegetarian and contain no palm oil. Secondary rules include: as many natural ingredients as possible and somewhat affordable. (Although I am willing to pay extra for items that meet my requirements.) Here are a few of the products I love:

Coalface Cleanser, LUSH

The first time I washed my face with this soap, I felt as if I'd washed off five years in the process. Maybe my previous soap was just terrible, but still. A-MAZE-ING.

Angels on Bare Skin, LUSH

This is more of an exfoliant than the coalface soap. I love the smell and texture, and I love that it doesn't even sting if I get it in my eyes. The first time I used this after washing with coalface, my skin was so soft and smooth, I didn't even recognize it. Plus, a tiny bit goes a long way, so it's easy to take with you on trips.

Aloe & Green Tea Oil-Free Moisturizer, Alba Botanica

I can't quit this moisturizer. I keep trying to find cheaper ones, but nothing else comes close. I love the smell and feel of this product. It energizes me. I find myself looking forward to putting it on. And best of all, it keeps my face moisturized far longer than other products.

Feel free to share your own favorites!