Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 192

Loot and Daleks: a Christmas story

Last night we had a Christmas gathering for our usual Thursday night horde. We finished up Battlestar Galactica a couple of weeks ago, so it seemed oddly appropriate to watch the new Doctor Who (Waters of Mars) as our interim 'episode of the week.' A DVD set of the Tudors was gifted, so that will be our next show that we try to watch while small children are wandering in and out, shrieking randomly and dismantling each other's bedrooms.

I made gingerbread! Dairy and gluten free gingerbread, ...

Kissing Frogs, and Reader Expectations

Nnedi Okorafor talks about the Princess and the Frog – it's a pretty positive review overall, and she addresses the racially/culturally problematic aspects of the story. Raeli's been looking forward to this movie for more than six months (it's out on Boxing Day here!), so I was relieved to hear that it actually isn't total crap, and that Princess Tiana (whom she is already completely in love with) sounds pretty cool. Nnedi's commentary on voodoo and how it's handled in the film was...

scraps and loose threads

1. It's been a huge month in Australian speculative fiction – the carnival is over here.

2. I really tried to buy Raeli a Barbie for her Christmas pile. I went into Big W and everything. But they just annoyed me. All of them. From the glam retro Barbies to the mermaids. Even the merchandise tie ins for the Barbie Musketeer movie was annoying, and I didn't spot any swords! Just fairy tale frocks. I moved on to Polly Pocket and was tempted, but apart from one cool set involving umbrellas...

Not a Work Day (the Guilt-Work Balance)

Parents of young children don't get days off.  It sounds trite and obvious, but not until you become a parent of small children do you understand the stark, relentless reality of what 'no days off' means.  It means no weekends, no sick leave, no mental health days, no impulse activities, no dropping everything at a moment's notice.  You're on 24 hour shifts every day and there's no paid overtime.  The younger the children are, the harder it is to find people who can actually replace you...

Pretty Me This

Most of the blogs I read are about writing, reading or, well, books. A few about other SF/fantasy media. Several about Arsenal. Several about feminism.

But not nearly enough that feed my obsession with pretties – art and fabric, preferably both combined. Jem and I went out with friends to the Fashion Fantasia the other night, a wearable art show made and modelled by students. It was lovely to see some mad creativity on show, and the display was gorgeous. Sadly I couldn't face a second...

Scrivener: Reloaded

So I've been playing with Scrivener for a couple of days now, and it's pretty cool, I have to say. I've uploaded the manuscript of Cabaret of Monsters (book 2 of the Creature Court) and have been footling with the features – dividing it into scenes (ridiculously easy) and labelling each scene with title, synopsis, keywords.

Okay, I've only done a couple of scenes. But I am enjoying the process and this seems to be a very good way to get back in contact with my novel after a six-seven week...

Trains and Fairies, Boys and Girls

Melander sent me a link to this story about a Canadian academic criticising Thomas the Tank Engine for being too conservative and under-representing women. (heh I don't know why people send me this stuff either, let's move on, shall we?)

The article is divided between the opinions of Professor Shauna Wilson, who has an interesting take on some of the more problematic elements of the tv show and some of the messages it presents to children, including a lack of female characters (and a...

To Scriven, I Scriven, We all Scriven (Scrivn'd!)

Confession time: I've been avoiding my novel. I finished it in a haze of sleeplessness, before the end of October. Then there was NaNo November, in which I very sensibly wrote the first 50,000 words of Book 3, including scads of backstory.

And then, you know, December hit and I fell over in a heap. When I recovered, peeping over the precipice, it was to catch up on Deepings Dolls work, neglected for over a month, to deal with Christmas and birthday responsibilities (Raeli's birthday is in l...

The Other Mama Writer

I thought I was mostly done with Christmas shopping, but it turns out there's quite a gap between 'mostly' and 'actually' and I still haven't closed it after facing sunny & hectic Salamanca today.

Shopping was a bonus anyway, as the trip was mainly a bribe/reward to Raeli, who wanted to re-enact her wistful memories of the years when she and I went to Salamanca every Friday, to have babycinos with Toto (my dad), restock the shelves at the "dollie" shop (Artefacts, the artist's co-op that...

and He did not like broccoli but He liked all the other vegetables…

My daughter's continuing religious education at the hands of Christmas carols and other kinder kids continues. Move over, Twilight and Harry Potter fans! The greatest piece of fanfic has now been told. Sadly, none of you will ever get to hear it, but we were treated to it on our way home tonight: a complex, epic filk taking in the tunes and some of the lyrics of at least half a dozen carols, and depicting the birth, life and magical adventures of Lord Jesus.

The best bit was how 'Lord...