Mari Ness's Blog, page 25
June 20, 2013
The Borrowers Afield
More chatter about The Borrowers over at Tor.com.
Meanwhile, the last of the roofing ladders was removed about an hour ago, along with most of the roofing gunk. Alas, some of the nice ornamental plants were crushed, although the weeds were completely spared. This seems unkind. I know we were getting rid of the old roof and it had no reason to like us, but a nice bit of weeding on the way out would have been awesome.
Fortunately it's both seriously hot and raining cats and dogs (that is, the neighbor's dogs are barking about it and the neighborhood stray cat has decided that my lawn chair provides an excellent umbrella), so I suspect most of the plants will be bouncing back quite soon. The grass is certainly spouting.
Meanwhile, the last of the roofing ladders was removed about an hour ago, along with most of the roofing gunk. Alas, some of the nice ornamental plants were crushed, although the weeds were completely spared. This seems unkind. I know we were getting rid of the old roof and it had no reason to like us, but a nice bit of weeding on the way out would have been awesome.
Fortunately it's both seriously hot and raining cats and dogs (that is, the neighbor's dogs are barking about it and the neighborhood stray cat has decided that my lawn chair provides an excellent umbrella), so I suspect most of the plants will be bouncing back quite soon. The grass is certainly spouting.
June 18, 2013
The Quiet Gentleman
Good news: the roofing hell appears to be nearing its close. The inspectors came by today and gave their ok, which, yay. The yard still has roofing supplies everywhere and the driveway still has a large dumpster but by any standards this is an improvement. Also, I am able to get a passport after all, so, another improvement.
In this improved mood I offer you a discussion of attempted murder in the Regency era, over at Tor.com: The Quiet Gentleman.
In this improved mood I offer you a discussion of attempted murder in the Regency era, over at Tor.com: The Quiet Gentleman.
June 17, 2013
Missing Links and Secret Histories
Alas, roofing continues, keeping me in a state of permanent irritation. But I did want to note that my contributor's copies of Missing Links and Secret Histories, from Aquaduct Press, showed up a little over a week ago – wrapped in plastic, fortunately enough, given the tropical storm, so in between roofing irritations, I've been peeking at it. So far I highly recommend Jenni Moody's "Peter Rabbit," Jeremy Sim's "Sanya TM-300 Home-Use Time Machine," and Anne Toole's "Secrets of Flatland," although I should warn you that this last contains some Scandalous Stories about Isoceles Triangles.
I still have to peer at the stories in the beginning of the book, but that should be enough to tell you that this is a marvelously fun book telling various background stories of various fictional characters in Wikipedia style. I have three stories in it: "Godmother," "Marmalette" and "Palatina." The official release date is July, but it seems to be available now from Barnes and Noble and Amazon; keep an eye on Aquaduct's blog for more announcements.
In completely unrelated news, Twitter takes a moment to tell us about Dame Judi Dench's embroidery.
I still have to peer at the stories in the beginning of the book, but that should be enough to tell you that this is a marvelously fun book telling various background stories of various fictional characters in Wikipedia style. I have three stories in it: "Godmother," "Marmalette" and "Palatina." The official release date is July, but it seems to be available now from Barnes and Noble and Amazon; keep an eye on Aquaduct's blog for more announcements.
In completely unrelated news, Twitter takes a moment to tell us about Dame Judi Dench's embroidery.
June 14, 2013
The Borrowers
Roofers still around today, grr. Meanwhile my post about The Borrowers popped up on Tor.com. Bonus: the story of one of the very first short stories I ever wrote.
June 11, 2013
Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 10
Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 10
Roofers around, so, communication today will likely be limited. In the meantime, have some quick notes about the last episode of this season of Game of Thrones.
1. Kinda anticlimactic after the previous episode, huh? Somewhat typical for this show's second season, but...I have an idea or two that might have helped out, without having to change anything but the editing.
2. Joffrey. Not dead yet. AUUGH.
But two interesting twists: one, Walder Frey, Ramsey Bolton, arguably even worse people (well, Ramsey definitely even worse), and yet, at least I can say that both of them are more effective, and Walder Frey, at least, has the slightly bigger picture in mind. It just adds to the WHY ISN'T JOFFREY DEAD yet feeling, especially since Cersei and Tywin do have little biddable Tommen waiting in the wings.
Two, once again, the twisted psychopath of Joffrey is right: Tywin did hide under Casterly Rock. Sadly, Joffrey's been right fairly often. I don't know if this is meant to be a metacomment on insanity, or a reminder that Tywin has his limitations (and helping set up just why he didn't foresee Tyrion crossbowing for him), but it's been an interesting touch.
3. You know how it is. You're watching, and Theon torture porn comes back on, and you think, well, at least this is marginally better than watching a pregnant woman stabbed in the abdomen, and then the camera focuses on a sausage, and you're like, yeah, at least the Red Wedding had more emotional umph.
4. Speaking of Theon – so does this switch in the Northern plot, with Yara heading off to rescue him, and not a hint of Victarion or Euron yet, mean that the show will be skipping the entire kingsmoot plot? And possibly Victarion?
I can't quite see Euron getting axed – first, Melisandre made a point of killing Balon Greyjoy with the leeches too, and somebody is going to have to rise up to be the leader of the Iron Islands, and that somebody is not going to be Yara, at least not immediately, and second, Euron at least claims he can control dragons, which gives him quite a role in the upcoming books. That said, there's no particular reason why the whole kingsmoot plot can't be dropped for a "Hi, I'm Euron. I'm your father's brother and I can control dragons, so you go play with your little boats elsewhere go me." Victarion, however, May Not Be Appearing In This Series.
Also, this does seem to be a rather big shift, right, suggesting that we'll be seeing a lot more of the Dance With Dragons plotline next season – which suggests that Jon might become Lord Commander of the Night Watch midseason. Maybe. We'll see.
And also, what happens to the Greyjoys if Euron and Victarion don't show up, given that the show has been absolutely clear that Theon has been castrated and therefore won't be doing much to continue the line? (And dare I bring up urination issues? You could have handled that in other ways, Ramsey. Auugh.)
4. Speaking of Jon, really not sure what the point was of having Ygritte come and shoot him in this episode, especially since the episode was running slightly long as it was and other bits (hi, Sansa's reaction to the Red Wedding) felt shortchanged. I mean, yes, it was All Dramatic to have him come into the Night's Watch bleeding from arrow wounds, and he got to shout at Ygritte and tell her that he loved her and once again prove that yes, he really truly knows nothing, but surely the arrow wounds could have come as he was fleeing the wildings last episode? Which leads me to –
5. The major shift I would have made with the two episodes is pretty simple:
Move the jail house scene between Davos and Gendry to last week's episode, and move the entire Yunkai plot from last week to this week.
This accomplishes three things:
a) Misdirection, making the non-book reading audience assume that the "previously these leeches were fried" bit was just part of Gendry's plot line, and not a warning that really truly Robb Stark was going to bit it later that episode.
b) Keeping up with the general THINGS SUCK AND NOTHING GOOD feeling of the entire episode, with only one freaky kick-ass moment – Bran's.
c) Giving a little less of a "the only thing happening here is a crowd of mostly brown people saluting a white savior" feeling since that at least wouldn't have been the only scene from this plot in the episode.
Adding to the issue, I got the feeling in episode 9 that part of the Yunkai storyline – the idea that most of the residents were slaves – was cut (based mostly on the dialogue between Dany and Jorah when they return). Put the Yunkai storyline with those lines back in, and you first of all have a moment in the episode where Dany does look uncertain and worried, so it's not all Dany Triumphant, remind viewers that the residents are slaves, and most importantly, have someone – Jorah, Melisandre, possibly Barristan – point out that sometimes freeing slaves doesn't go the way you think it will, to prepare viewers a bit for what will be happening next season.
Not that viewers are completely unprepared – my father, who hasn't read the books, has already said that he thinks Dany is displaying some very mean tendencies and is about to go very evil or very incompetent or both, which suggests that the show is doing a nice job of prepping up for the "white people saving the world doesn't always work out great for people" storyline from A Dance With Dragons. The show is not doing a good job of making me or apparently anyone over 20 like Daario Fabio that much either, which is probably a good thing.
6. Rumor had it that a scene between Littlefinger and Lysa Arryn was at least filmed, though it didn't show up. Next season, maybe?
7. Shae, when you are brutally killed next season, don't blame Varys.
8. TV Stannis is just not moral enough.
I realize that part of this was inevitable after HBO said, OOH, CHANCE FOR NAKED BODY AND PAINFUL SEX, so we've just been going on from here, but this should be a stern person who will always do the right thing no matter what the cost. Otherwise, his decision to go off and fight zombies is going to come off as seriously abrupt and "where did that come from?" which is exactly what happened. One moment, Stannis is all, I go hunt down other kings, and the next minute, he's told about the North, he doesn't care, Melisandre burns a piece of paper, and off to the North we go. Not only did that just kill the whole surprise of Stannis showing up at the last minute to seize the day, but it makes him look even more under Melisandre's power than ever, and it just felt off.
The scene with the three of them looking out at what I guess was the North looked great though, so, kudos there.
9. And on a purely superficial note, YAY! Jaime is going to get to have another bath! And wash his hair! And...be with Cersei instead of Brienne at least for now. Less yay.
Overall thoughts of the season:
Some good, some bad. Most of the bad involved pretty much anything to do with Theon, but I've spent enough time chatting about that, so moving on. Good included the Red Wedding, the warging, Beric and Thoros, pretty much all of the King's Landing stuff, and Dany's Dracaerys moment. Questionable included pretty much everything with Jon (it's not the acting, really, it's just Emo, Emo, Emo) though I did like the Wall climbing and the later warging bits, and most of the Dragonstone storyline, although Davos is growing on me.
And yeah, I'm in for next season. Which for HBO, is all that really matters.
Roofers around, so, communication today will likely be limited. In the meantime, have some quick notes about the last episode of this season of Game of Thrones.
1. Kinda anticlimactic after the previous episode, huh? Somewhat typical for this show's second season, but...I have an idea or two that might have helped out, without having to change anything but the editing.
2. Joffrey. Not dead yet. AUUGH.
But two interesting twists: one, Walder Frey, Ramsey Bolton, arguably even worse people (well, Ramsey definitely even worse), and yet, at least I can say that both of them are more effective, and Walder Frey, at least, has the slightly bigger picture in mind. It just adds to the WHY ISN'T JOFFREY DEAD yet feeling, especially since Cersei and Tywin do have little biddable Tommen waiting in the wings.
Two, once again, the twisted psychopath of Joffrey is right: Tywin did hide under Casterly Rock. Sadly, Joffrey's been right fairly often. I don't know if this is meant to be a metacomment on insanity, or a reminder that Tywin has his limitations (and helping set up just why he didn't foresee Tyrion crossbowing for him), but it's been an interesting touch.
3. You know how it is. You're watching, and Theon torture porn comes back on, and you think, well, at least this is marginally better than watching a pregnant woman stabbed in the abdomen, and then the camera focuses on a sausage, and you're like, yeah, at least the Red Wedding had more emotional umph.
4. Speaking of Theon – so does this switch in the Northern plot, with Yara heading off to rescue him, and not a hint of Victarion or Euron yet, mean that the show will be skipping the entire kingsmoot plot? And possibly Victarion?
I can't quite see Euron getting axed – first, Melisandre made a point of killing Balon Greyjoy with the leeches too, and somebody is going to have to rise up to be the leader of the Iron Islands, and that somebody is not going to be Yara, at least not immediately, and second, Euron at least claims he can control dragons, which gives him quite a role in the upcoming books. That said, there's no particular reason why the whole kingsmoot plot can't be dropped for a "Hi, I'm Euron. I'm your father's brother and I can control dragons, so you go play with your little boats elsewhere go me." Victarion, however, May Not Be Appearing In This Series.
Also, this does seem to be a rather big shift, right, suggesting that we'll be seeing a lot more of the Dance With Dragons plotline next season – which suggests that Jon might become Lord Commander of the Night Watch midseason. Maybe. We'll see.
And also, what happens to the Greyjoys if Euron and Victarion don't show up, given that the show has been absolutely clear that Theon has been castrated and therefore won't be doing much to continue the line? (And dare I bring up urination issues? You could have handled that in other ways, Ramsey. Auugh.)
4. Speaking of Jon, really not sure what the point was of having Ygritte come and shoot him in this episode, especially since the episode was running slightly long as it was and other bits (hi, Sansa's reaction to the Red Wedding) felt shortchanged. I mean, yes, it was All Dramatic to have him come into the Night's Watch bleeding from arrow wounds, and he got to shout at Ygritte and tell her that he loved her and once again prove that yes, he really truly knows nothing, but surely the arrow wounds could have come as he was fleeing the wildings last episode? Which leads me to –
5. The major shift I would have made with the two episodes is pretty simple:
Move the jail house scene between Davos and Gendry to last week's episode, and move the entire Yunkai plot from last week to this week.
This accomplishes three things:
a) Misdirection, making the non-book reading audience assume that the "previously these leeches were fried" bit was just part of Gendry's plot line, and not a warning that really truly Robb Stark was going to bit it later that episode.
b) Keeping up with the general THINGS SUCK AND NOTHING GOOD feeling of the entire episode, with only one freaky kick-ass moment – Bran's.
c) Giving a little less of a "the only thing happening here is a crowd of mostly brown people saluting a white savior" feeling since that at least wouldn't have been the only scene from this plot in the episode.
Adding to the issue, I got the feeling in episode 9 that part of the Yunkai storyline – the idea that most of the residents were slaves – was cut (based mostly on the dialogue between Dany and Jorah when they return). Put the Yunkai storyline with those lines back in, and you first of all have a moment in the episode where Dany does look uncertain and worried, so it's not all Dany Triumphant, remind viewers that the residents are slaves, and most importantly, have someone – Jorah, Melisandre, possibly Barristan – point out that sometimes freeing slaves doesn't go the way you think it will, to prepare viewers a bit for what will be happening next season.
Not that viewers are completely unprepared – my father, who hasn't read the books, has already said that he thinks Dany is displaying some very mean tendencies and is about to go very evil or very incompetent or both, which suggests that the show is doing a nice job of prepping up for the "white people saving the world doesn't always work out great for people" storyline from A Dance With Dragons. The show is not doing a good job of making me or apparently anyone over 20 like Daario Fabio that much either, which is probably a good thing.
6. Rumor had it that a scene between Littlefinger and Lysa Arryn was at least filmed, though it didn't show up. Next season, maybe?
7. Shae, when you are brutally killed next season, don't blame Varys.
8. TV Stannis is just not moral enough.
I realize that part of this was inevitable after HBO said, OOH, CHANCE FOR NAKED BODY AND PAINFUL SEX, so we've just been going on from here, but this should be a stern person who will always do the right thing no matter what the cost. Otherwise, his decision to go off and fight zombies is going to come off as seriously abrupt and "where did that come from?" which is exactly what happened. One moment, Stannis is all, I go hunt down other kings, and the next minute, he's told about the North, he doesn't care, Melisandre burns a piece of paper, and off to the North we go. Not only did that just kill the whole surprise of Stannis showing up at the last minute to seize the day, but it makes him look even more under Melisandre's power than ever, and it just felt off.
The scene with the three of them looking out at what I guess was the North looked great though, so, kudos there.
9. And on a purely superficial note, YAY! Jaime is going to get to have another bath! And wash his hair! And...be with Cersei instead of Brienne at least for now. Less yay.
Overall thoughts of the season:
Some good, some bad. Most of the bad involved pretty much anything to do with Theon, but I've spent enough time chatting about that, so moving on. Good included the Red Wedding, the warging, Beric and Thoros, pretty much all of the King's Landing stuff, and Dany's Dracaerys moment. Questionable included pretty much everything with Jon (it's not the acting, really, it's just Emo, Emo, Emo) though I did like the Wall climbing and the later warging bits, and most of the Dragonstone storyline, although Davos is growing on me.
And yeah, I'm in for next season. Which for HBO, is all that really matters.
June 5, 2013
Not all fairy tales are, well, fairy tales
One of the more interesting reactions to the last episode of Game of Thrones, "The Rains of Castamere," has been the often stated, "This isn't a fairy tale!"
I say interesting, because of what is meant/implied by this statement: that fairy tales are happy, safe places where no one is hurt and no one dies.
Even in the Disney versions, often criticized for softening the original tales (which I don't think is entirely true or fair; the animated Snow White retains much of the horror of the original, even with the cute little animals and the merry dancing and singing), people get hurt. Good people get hurt. Snow White is poisoned and ends up in a coma. Cinderella is imprisoned by her own stepmother and forced into household drudgery. Rapunzel is imprisoned (and in the original, her prince is blinded and they go through a lot before finding each other.)
Outside of the Disney versions, fairy tales contain terror: Bluebeard killing his wives. Sleeping Beauty trapped behind climbing roses that have ripped out the eyes and torn the skin of those trying to rescue her, only to emerge in a new unknown world (Perrault has a little, aching detail about how the fashions had changed and the prince has to keep himself from telling Sleeping Beauty that she is dressed like his grandmother). Another prince has spent years – how many, we are never told – shivering at the bottom of a well, separated from everyone he knows, disguised as a frog; when he is finally, finally so close to transforming back, to becoming human again, he is flung against a wall. A girl weeps as her father strikes off her hands to save her from the devil. Wolves track little girls in the woods, caught by their bright red cloaks. Parents watch hopelessly as their children follow the Piper into an unknown world.
And many of the tales have unhappy endings, or contain death, sometimes quite literally – the Grimm Brothers collected many stories about Grandfather Death, and Death also appears in many Italian fairy tales, as someone to be bargained with or tricked or greeted as a friend.
I am hardly the first to note this, but it seems so often forgotten, perhaps because what we want to remember is Cinderella dancing with the prince, Aladdin gaining his heart's desire just from rubbing a lamp, a sister regaining her brothers. Yes, the familiar tales have happy endings, and some of the tales are more lighthearted more others – Puss in Boots is not especially traumatic. But these endings have to be earned, through cleverness or virtue or trauma or pain or sorrow or agony. I have no idea how Game of Thrones will end. But I can say that some of its trauma is not so far removed from fairy tales.
I say interesting, because of what is meant/implied by this statement: that fairy tales are happy, safe places where no one is hurt and no one dies.
Even in the Disney versions, often criticized for softening the original tales (which I don't think is entirely true or fair; the animated Snow White retains much of the horror of the original, even with the cute little animals and the merry dancing and singing), people get hurt. Good people get hurt. Snow White is poisoned and ends up in a coma. Cinderella is imprisoned by her own stepmother and forced into household drudgery. Rapunzel is imprisoned (and in the original, her prince is blinded and they go through a lot before finding each other.)
Outside of the Disney versions, fairy tales contain terror: Bluebeard killing his wives. Sleeping Beauty trapped behind climbing roses that have ripped out the eyes and torn the skin of those trying to rescue her, only to emerge in a new unknown world (Perrault has a little, aching detail about how the fashions had changed and the prince has to keep himself from telling Sleeping Beauty that she is dressed like his grandmother). Another prince has spent years – how many, we are never told – shivering at the bottom of a well, separated from everyone he knows, disguised as a frog; when he is finally, finally so close to transforming back, to becoming human again, he is flung against a wall. A girl weeps as her father strikes off her hands to save her from the devil. Wolves track little girls in the woods, caught by their bright red cloaks. Parents watch hopelessly as their children follow the Piper into an unknown world.
And many of the tales have unhappy endings, or contain death, sometimes quite literally – the Grimm Brothers collected many stories about Grandfather Death, and Death also appears in many Italian fairy tales, as someone to be bargained with or tricked or greeted as a friend.
I am hardly the first to note this, but it seems so often forgotten, perhaps because what we want to remember is Cinderella dancing with the prince, Aladdin gaining his heart's desire just from rubbing a lamp, a sister regaining her brothers. Yes, the familiar tales have happy endings, and some of the tales are more lighthearted more others – Puss in Boots is not especially traumatic. But these endings have to be earned, through cleverness or virtue or trauma or pain or sorrow or agony. I have no idea how Game of Thrones will end. But I can say that some of its trauma is not so far removed from fairy tales.
June 3, 2013
Quick housekeeping note
For some reason, the SFWA Bulletin post did not crosspost from Dreamwidth to LJ, and I didn't notice for a bit.
The correct order should have been the SFWA Bulletin post, and then the Game of Thrones post, which explains why the GOT post starts off with "And on a happier note..." Sorry for the confusion.
In completely unrelated news two crows are loudly ranting in the bird feeder behind me. I assume about the humidity. These are the most talkative crows I've heard for awhile in Florida, and they are DRIVING ME BONKERS. Though they are right about the humidity.
The correct order should have been the SFWA Bulletin post, and then the Game of Thrones post, which explains why the GOT post starts off with "And on a happier note..." Sorry for the confusion.
In completely unrelated news two crows are loudly ranting in the bird feeder behind me. I assume about the humidity. These are the most talkative crows I've heard for awhile in Florida, and they are DRIVING ME BONKERS. Though they are right about the humidity.
SFWA Bulletin 202: A more general review
The last issue of the SFWA Bulletin was mailed out to SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) members last week, and has, to put it mildly, generated a bit of a stink, even going so far as to become a trending topic on Twitter until tornadoes hit Oklahoma City again. Most of the outcry has focused on an article by Mike Resnick and Barry Malzburg. Other people have written about this more eloquently than I can. A related but significant point is that the organization spends a fairly significant part of its annual budget on the Bulletin, and that its articles are solicited and paid for. This being the internet, various comments were also made about squid and were-badgers. [1]
John Scalzi, the current president of SFWA (Steven Gould does not replace him until July) has issued a reply explaining the background. With this, I hope the organization can move forward.
Overlooked in all the uproar about the column was another question: how well did the rest of the Bulletin meet its mission?
Let's find out!
The mission of the SFWA Bulletin is clearly stated on page two of the publication.
1. "To inform SFWA members and subscribers of activity within the publishing industry, ranging from advertising to interviews, and from market reports to personnel changes."
Let's see.
Exactly one article in the entire Summer 2013 Bulletin, the Market Report, appears to address this point. In its second paragraph, we learn that Cemetery Dance is temporary closed to fiction submissions (this happened in January 2013), Redstone Science Fiction is on indefinite hiatus (this happened in September 2012), and that Phantom Drift is currently closed to submissions (their website states that they are currently open to submissions.) So that's helpful.
The Market Report also contains a long listing for New Diabolic Publications, but includes only one of two of their anthology projects currently accepting submissions; Black Gate Magazine; GigaNotoSaurus; HeroesandHeartbreakers.com; Penumbra; War World: The Patriotic Wars; and a note that Tor UK is now taking unagented submissions, along with submissions guidelines. Tor UK made this announcement in January.
And that's it for "activity within the publishing industry."
Entirely missing is any information about the following: the Penguin/Random House merger (old news by now, but three issues have gone by without a mention); the demise of Night Shade Publications; the war between Simon and Schuster and Barnes and Noble; sales figures for the Kindle Fire, Apple iPad, Nook and other devices; the decision by the major publishers to settle with the Department of Justice (granted, old news by this point, but see above); any information on how many science fiction/fantasy books the major and independent publishers are publishing this year; any discussion of Amazon; any discussion of issues with ebooks and libraries; or any of the other myriad publishing news tidbits that I may have missed.
So, this seems to be a failure. Next!
2. "To provide...articles of specific interest and advice about practical aspects of the writing profession, including topics such as copyright, finances, and changing conditions of the industry."
Yay! This one should be covered, right?
...or maybe not.
One article, "Words for Hire – Estate Planning," does definitely fit these guidelines and is not incidentally one of only two articles in this issue to receive praise from members.
Some of the other articles arguably fit into Mission Part Two (although more probably into the third part, see below): "Say the Secret Word," by a copywriter who currently works for "Sitewire, a firm specializing in marketing and advertising versus social media"; "How to Pitch Your Fiction at a Pitchfest," by a former studio executive for MGM Pictures; and "Agent Anonymous – Finding a Good Fit." [2]
Thing is, these three articles all seem to be addressing completely different audiences. Both "Agent Anonymous" and "Say the Secret Word" appear to be aimed at newbie, unpublished writers (and the second also has the feel more of a rant than advice, but moving on). The Pitchfest article is for aspiring screenwriters going to their first Pitchfests. Obviously, there's some overlap here, and some of the advice in the Pitchfest article is equally valid for aspiring novelists going to cons, so yay.
But. To have these three more "newbie" articles in the same publication as an estate planning article which assumes that its readers have an extensive and complicated publication history gives a rather whiplash effect, and a sense that the publication, as a whole, lacks focus. In addition, active SFWA members are, for the most part, not newbie writers. Many of the people receiving this in the mail are active, successful, screenwriters.
Also oddly, outside of the estate planning article, the rest of the Bulletin is silent on the first thing it lists as a practical concern for writers: copyright.
Copyright is a huge, huge issue right now for writers. And I mean huge. The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is about to start looking at U.S. copyright law, since about the only thing everyone seems to agree on is that it needs to be tweaked. I don't see any agreement on how. This includes issues of fair use, international copyrights, what exactly the United States should or should not be doing to defend copyrights abroad (an extremely contentious issue that I see no agreement on whatsoever), fanfiction, digital copies, online piracy, estate law, defense of copyright versus trademark and a lot of other issues that I'm forgetting. (Fanfiction in particular could benefit from a better dialogue on this.) Adding to the issue is the question of what, exactly, we mean by United States versus international rights in the internet age.
None of this was discussed in the Bulletin. It's important.
So, mission one, failed. Mission two, half successful. Mission three...
3. "To stimulate constructive debate about the literature of science fiction and fantasy, by publishing thought-provoking articles and essays on subjects of interest to writers and others in the publishing industry."
...ok, I think we can agree that "debate" was achieved here. Go Mission Three!
But I would much rather see us, as an organization, focus on business controversies: self-publish that difficult to place novel, or try for the small press? Numbers, figures, sales? What's up with those Bookscan numbers? How reliable are they? What algorithms is Amazon using to create those "suggested sales" lists and how can writers take advantage of this? On a lighter note, is paranormal romance here to stay, or will it vanish in ten years? Whatever else anyone can say about the Dialogue column, it wasn't a business controversy.
Also arguably in this category was "Peabody's Improbable Archery." This was one of two articles in the issue to receive praise from members (the other was the estate planning article). It's an amusing rant on how fantasy movies and novels, Hunger Games aside, so often get the archery wrong, written by someone who makes her own bows and clearly knows her stuff, so, bonus. Lots of SFWA members write or publish fiction that features archery, so, double bonus.
Minus just one or two points for the article's very informal tone and use of the word "boobs" instead of "breasts" – a tone that would have been perfectly appropriate for a blog post of for most other publications, but possibly not for a supposedly professional publication representing SFWA, particularly given that the last two issues had come under criticism for their portrayal of women. What's frustrating about this is that the article needed only some very light editing to avoid those issues.
The other article in this category was a very long article about teaching science fiction creative writing classes. Given the number of SFWA members who also teach, or may be asked to teach, I thought this was fine.
So mission three, accomplished. Let's look at mission four.
4. "To inform the publishing community at large of SFWA's activities and important events, including the Nebula Awards and the election of officers."
Half right here. The Bulletin did an excellent job with the Nebula nominees, providing space for the nominees to discuss their work, as well as a nice tribute to Gene Wolfe, recently named as a SFWA Grand Master.
SFWA election results? Entirely missing from this publication. Other SFWA activities? Also missing.
The election results were announced on May 3, before the Nebula Awards were announced on May 19th. The Bulletin did have time to bold the names of winning nominees; I don't, however, know when the Nebula votes were tabulated, and it's possible that the Bulletin editors had early information. My issue arrived on May 30.
#
So, mission one, not met. Mission two, half met. Mission three....met, but not in a way that made many people happy, and partly met through two articles of interest to only a portion of the membership. Mission four, half met. [3]
So, to sum up, we can say that the Bulletin is barely meeting its own stated publication goals. And this, I think, is also a problem. And a problem that arguably led right to this situation: had the Bulletin focused on points one and two, it would not have had room for the article that has generated such controversy and unwelcome attention. [4]
We can probably draw some overall life lesson from that, though with the caveat that sometimes goals and missions have to be changed. But I don't see a problem with the Bulletin's stated mission, just the delivery.
So to answer the question of what do to about the Bulletin: Just have it follow its own stated goals, and I think we'll be fine.
#
Finally, I've been asked whether or not I'll be staying in SFWA. The answer is yes. The Bulletin isn't the only thing SFWA does.
[1] Which on a lighter note also temporarily led to me getting, and I am not making this up, spam about badgers and squid. Ah, internet.
[2] I suppose Jim Hines' "Cover Art and the Radical Notion That Women Are People" fits into the "changing conditions," but this is more an essay arguing for changes in cover art than an article noting that these changes are in fact happening.
[3] This is all leaving aside the slight problem that the Bulletin also featured writers telling us about what it felt to get an Edgar or a National Book Award, both awesome, prestigious awards for different fields.
[4] I'm not by any means advocating for silencing anyone, or saying that Resnick and Malzburg shouldn't have had the opportunity to respond to what they saw as unwarranted attacks on them. But judging by the internet reactions, the Bulletin does not seem to have been the right place for any of these dialogues in the first place.
John Scalzi, the current president of SFWA (Steven Gould does not replace him until July) has issued a reply explaining the background. With this, I hope the organization can move forward.
Overlooked in all the uproar about the column was another question: how well did the rest of the Bulletin meet its mission?
Let's find out!
The mission of the SFWA Bulletin is clearly stated on page two of the publication.
1. "To inform SFWA members and subscribers of activity within the publishing industry, ranging from advertising to interviews, and from market reports to personnel changes."
Let's see.
Exactly one article in the entire Summer 2013 Bulletin, the Market Report, appears to address this point. In its second paragraph, we learn that Cemetery Dance is temporary closed to fiction submissions (this happened in January 2013), Redstone Science Fiction is on indefinite hiatus (this happened in September 2012), and that Phantom Drift is currently closed to submissions (their website states that they are currently open to submissions.) So that's helpful.
The Market Report also contains a long listing for New Diabolic Publications, but includes only one of two of their anthology projects currently accepting submissions; Black Gate Magazine; GigaNotoSaurus; HeroesandHeartbreakers.com; Penumbra; War World: The Patriotic Wars; and a note that Tor UK is now taking unagented submissions, along with submissions guidelines. Tor UK made this announcement in January.
And that's it for "activity within the publishing industry."
Entirely missing is any information about the following: the Penguin/Random House merger (old news by now, but three issues have gone by without a mention); the demise of Night Shade Publications; the war between Simon and Schuster and Barnes and Noble; sales figures for the Kindle Fire, Apple iPad, Nook and other devices; the decision by the major publishers to settle with the Department of Justice (granted, old news by this point, but see above); any information on how many science fiction/fantasy books the major and independent publishers are publishing this year; any discussion of Amazon; any discussion of issues with ebooks and libraries; or any of the other myriad publishing news tidbits that I may have missed.
So, this seems to be a failure. Next!
2. "To provide...articles of specific interest and advice about practical aspects of the writing profession, including topics such as copyright, finances, and changing conditions of the industry."
Yay! This one should be covered, right?
...or maybe not.
One article, "Words for Hire – Estate Planning," does definitely fit these guidelines and is not incidentally one of only two articles in this issue to receive praise from members.
Some of the other articles arguably fit into Mission Part Two (although more probably into the third part, see below): "Say the Secret Word," by a copywriter who currently works for "Sitewire, a firm specializing in marketing and advertising versus social media"; "How to Pitch Your Fiction at a Pitchfest," by a former studio executive for MGM Pictures; and "Agent Anonymous – Finding a Good Fit." [2]
Thing is, these three articles all seem to be addressing completely different audiences. Both "Agent Anonymous" and "Say the Secret Word" appear to be aimed at newbie, unpublished writers (and the second also has the feel more of a rant than advice, but moving on). The Pitchfest article is for aspiring screenwriters going to their first Pitchfests. Obviously, there's some overlap here, and some of the advice in the Pitchfest article is equally valid for aspiring novelists going to cons, so yay.
But. To have these three more "newbie" articles in the same publication as an estate planning article which assumes that its readers have an extensive and complicated publication history gives a rather whiplash effect, and a sense that the publication, as a whole, lacks focus. In addition, active SFWA members are, for the most part, not newbie writers. Many of the people receiving this in the mail are active, successful, screenwriters.
Also oddly, outside of the estate planning article, the rest of the Bulletin is silent on the first thing it lists as a practical concern for writers: copyright.
Copyright is a huge, huge issue right now for writers. And I mean huge. The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is about to start looking at U.S. copyright law, since about the only thing everyone seems to agree on is that it needs to be tweaked. I don't see any agreement on how. This includes issues of fair use, international copyrights, what exactly the United States should or should not be doing to defend copyrights abroad (an extremely contentious issue that I see no agreement on whatsoever), fanfiction, digital copies, online piracy, estate law, defense of copyright versus trademark and a lot of other issues that I'm forgetting. (Fanfiction in particular could benefit from a better dialogue on this.) Adding to the issue is the question of what, exactly, we mean by United States versus international rights in the internet age.
None of this was discussed in the Bulletin. It's important.
So, mission one, failed. Mission two, half successful. Mission three...
3. "To stimulate constructive debate about the literature of science fiction and fantasy, by publishing thought-provoking articles and essays on subjects of interest to writers and others in the publishing industry."
...ok, I think we can agree that "debate" was achieved here. Go Mission Three!
But I would much rather see us, as an organization, focus on business controversies: self-publish that difficult to place novel, or try for the small press? Numbers, figures, sales? What's up with those Bookscan numbers? How reliable are they? What algorithms is Amazon using to create those "suggested sales" lists and how can writers take advantage of this? On a lighter note, is paranormal romance here to stay, or will it vanish in ten years? Whatever else anyone can say about the Dialogue column, it wasn't a business controversy.
Also arguably in this category was "Peabody's Improbable Archery." This was one of two articles in the issue to receive praise from members (the other was the estate planning article). It's an amusing rant on how fantasy movies and novels, Hunger Games aside, so often get the archery wrong, written by someone who makes her own bows and clearly knows her stuff, so, bonus. Lots of SFWA members write or publish fiction that features archery, so, double bonus.
Minus just one or two points for the article's very informal tone and use of the word "boobs" instead of "breasts" – a tone that would have been perfectly appropriate for a blog post of for most other publications, but possibly not for a supposedly professional publication representing SFWA, particularly given that the last two issues had come under criticism for their portrayal of women. What's frustrating about this is that the article needed only some very light editing to avoid those issues.
The other article in this category was a very long article about teaching science fiction creative writing classes. Given the number of SFWA members who also teach, or may be asked to teach, I thought this was fine.
So mission three, accomplished. Let's look at mission four.
4. "To inform the publishing community at large of SFWA's activities and important events, including the Nebula Awards and the election of officers."
Half right here. The Bulletin did an excellent job with the Nebula nominees, providing space for the nominees to discuss their work, as well as a nice tribute to Gene Wolfe, recently named as a SFWA Grand Master.
SFWA election results? Entirely missing from this publication. Other SFWA activities? Also missing.
The election results were announced on May 3, before the Nebula Awards were announced on May 19th. The Bulletin did have time to bold the names of winning nominees; I don't, however, know when the Nebula votes were tabulated, and it's possible that the Bulletin editors had early information. My issue arrived on May 30.
#
So, mission one, not met. Mission two, half met. Mission three....met, but not in a way that made many people happy, and partly met through two articles of interest to only a portion of the membership. Mission four, half met. [3]
So, to sum up, we can say that the Bulletin is barely meeting its own stated publication goals. And this, I think, is also a problem. And a problem that arguably led right to this situation: had the Bulletin focused on points one and two, it would not have had room for the article that has generated such controversy and unwelcome attention. [4]
We can probably draw some overall life lesson from that, though with the caveat that sometimes goals and missions have to be changed. But I don't see a problem with the Bulletin's stated mission, just the delivery.
So to answer the question of what do to about the Bulletin: Just have it follow its own stated goals, and I think we'll be fine.
#
Finally, I've been asked whether or not I'll be staying in SFWA. The answer is yes. The Bulletin isn't the only thing SFWA does.
[1] Which on a lighter note also temporarily led to me getting, and I am not making this up, spam about badgers and squid. Ah, internet.
[2] I suppose Jim Hines' "Cover Art and the Radical Notion That Women Are People" fits into the "changing conditions," but this is more an essay arguing for changes in cover art than an article noting that these changes are in fact happening.
[3] This is all leaving aside the slight problem that the Bulletin also featured writers telling us about what it felt to get an Edgar or a National Book Award, both awesome, prestigious awards for different fields.
[4] I'm not by any means advocating for silencing anyone, or saying that Resnick and Malzburg shouldn't have had the opportunity to respond to what they saw as unwarranted attacks on them. But judging by the internet reactions, the Bulletin does not seem to have been the right place for any of these dialogues in the first place.
Game of Thrones, Season 3, episode 9
And on a happier note, Episode 9 of Season 3 of Game of Thrones!
So, that happened. And other things!
1. Maybe it was just me, but Dany's bit at Yunkai seemed particularly disjointed and cut off this episode. I understand it why was there – given the other two storylines, we had to have something to cheer for and a reason for viewers to tune in next week, and Sam and Gilly, however adorable, were just not going to be enough because given the other two storylines, viewers would just assume those two are going to end up impaled. Or having their livers torn out by eagles. Whichever.
Anyway. Nothing wrong with the Yunkai storyline, and the bit where Daario, Grey Worm and Jorah were surrounded by ever incoming hordes of soldiers was pretty awesome, and anything that keeps Jorah on my screen and more importantly, talking (I just love that actor's voice) is a good thing. (I am coming to the conclusion that he's the hottest man on the show, although I will freely admit that's a debatable point.) Just it hardly seemed connected to the rest of the show, although it did lead to several viewers shrieking for dragons to show up and burn down all of the Lannisters. GO DRAGONS!
2. Speaking of Sam and Gilly, that was all very cute, but since it happened early in the episode, it was kinda buried, wasn't it? The only reaction I saw about that was from viewers upset that Gilly's baby is not wearing a hat and is going to catch cold. Given everything else that's happening to everyone else on this show I'm not sure that the common cold should be anyone's concern, but those viewers have a point. Winter is coming!
3. My brother didn't watch the episode with me this time around (although we might rewatch it tonight) but I can already give you his reaction: "JOFFREY'S NOT DEAD YET." (This has been the reaction for some time. He's read the books, but just thinks that bit needs to be sped up.)
4. Oddly, given that I knew what would be happening, and what did happen, the part that I found most gripping/suspenseful was the not-exactly-a-meetup between Bran and co and Jon and the wildings. Partly because I figured that here was one place where HBO just might alter the script. Jon's book story works better if he thinks that Bran and Rickon are dead – he has no reason to take Stannis' offer of Winterfell if he knows Rickon is alive – but while I certainly expect Stannis to make an appearance at the Wall, I don't know if the Lord of Winterfell offer will be made to Jon or not. It doesn't have to be, although since this show never loses an opportunity to allow Jon to be Very Emo it probably won't be. Anyway. I more thought that perhaps Jon would end up remaining with the wildings all the way up til Castle Black, or get taken prisoner by them again, just as he'd seen his brothers' direwolves. So I spent those scenes gripping my fists.
Adding to the tension was some excellent acting from everyone else when Bran warged into Hodor; the shock on their faces was incredibly well done. And for once, I didn't find Osha that annoying. (I like the character in the books. On the show – I get why Natalia Tena is playing her that way; Osha is supposed to be recovering from an incredibly traumatic event – but I find the way she walks and holds her head distracting, especially since we have Ygritte and Gilly as counterexamples.) And they gave Rickon some lines, yay! Though it's interesting that no one wondered if little Rickon could also go into his wolf; this is an older Rickon, who could have helped out, and a Rickon who has had wolf dreams.
The warg versus warg bit turned out to be surprisingly well done, even with me saying, No, Eagle! Leave the pretty face alone! It's Jon's best quality!
Poor Ygritte.
And now for the main show...
5. Arguably the most heartbreaking moment for me was the bit with Grey Wind. I can understand for production reasons why Grey Wind spent the episode caged instead of killing four men and then getting killed, but watching him howl in his little cage as the archers showed up....sniffle. And even knowing it was just a CGI wolf didn't help when Grey Wind closed his eyes.
6. Poor Arya.
7. So, I'm guessing that Jayne Westerling is most definitely, positively not pregnant. I had already assumed that, given the length of time between her last meeting with Robb and her later meeting with Jaime and her mother's insistence that steps had been taken. Still, internet rumor that Jaime had met a different Jeyne or that Jeyne was concealing a pregnancy kept going. This should end that – if Jeyne was pregnant, Talisa would have left the hall with the Blackfish. She didn't.
Despite her death, I still think there's a chance that Talisa was originally working for the Lannisters; a few scenes here and there from her seemed to suggest that, and it would make sense for Bolton and Tywin to want her killed before she could let people know that. I don't suppose we'll ever find out for certain, but I think I'll be continuing to read the show that way. Otherwise, it just makes both Talisa and Robb look worse. But if Talisa is a spy who seized the opportunity to seduce Robb, and then died for it...yeah, I like that story a bit better than "adult, not 16 year old, healer and pacifist marries the guy who invaded the Riverlands on a revenge kick even though he was engaged to someone else," especially since they left out the whole bit that the Robb seduction only happened because he was wracked by grief over the belief that his little brothers were dead.
8. I don't know why I found the decision to have Caitlyn kill Lady Frey instead of Jinglebell more disturbing. It doesn't really change the narrative either way – well, actually, I guess it might. Jinglebell is a true innocent, and Walder Frey really has no reason to keep him alive other than entertainment purposes, just adding to the futility/tragedy of that bit.
Lady Frey is young, but unlike Jinglebell, aware of what is happening. Yes, she was hiding beneath the table, which could be taken many ways, I suppose, but still, she probably had a good guess about what was going on, and went under the table because she was intelligent enough to realize that a stray arrow could hit her or that one of Robb's men could rush up to the table and try to attack her and Lord Frey. Or she just didn't want to watch. All understandable. And she may not have known what was about to happen. If she did know, I'm kinda surprised that she didn't leave with the bedding, although perhaps Lord Frey told her to stay, and she knew she had to obey him. If she did....well.
She certainly knew that Lord Frey was not going to make any attempt to save her, though. Gulp.
I also have to say that I have less confidence in Lord Frey's ability to find a tenth wife. Sure, up until now various small houses have been more than willing to sacrifice a daughter for an alliance with the Freys (although his first few wives didn't face the same age gap) but perhaps less so now.
8. Massive kudos to Michelle Fairley for her performance in that final scene, and the way she made her entire face change with grief and shock. She was almost unrecognizable, and the way she begged for Robb's life and then had to watch him die....it was a scene made by her performance.
9. The Twitter reaction to this has been hilarious and inspired several great quips.
So, bye Robb! On the bright side, you won't be consumed by dragons.
So, that happened. And other things!
1. Maybe it was just me, but Dany's bit at Yunkai seemed particularly disjointed and cut off this episode. I understand it why was there – given the other two storylines, we had to have something to cheer for and a reason for viewers to tune in next week, and Sam and Gilly, however adorable, were just not going to be enough because given the other two storylines, viewers would just assume those two are going to end up impaled. Or having their livers torn out by eagles. Whichever.
Anyway. Nothing wrong with the Yunkai storyline, and the bit where Daario, Grey Worm and Jorah were surrounded by ever incoming hordes of soldiers was pretty awesome, and anything that keeps Jorah on my screen and more importantly, talking (I just love that actor's voice) is a good thing. (I am coming to the conclusion that he's the hottest man on the show, although I will freely admit that's a debatable point.) Just it hardly seemed connected to the rest of the show, although it did lead to several viewers shrieking for dragons to show up and burn down all of the Lannisters. GO DRAGONS!
2. Speaking of Sam and Gilly, that was all very cute, but since it happened early in the episode, it was kinda buried, wasn't it? The only reaction I saw about that was from viewers upset that Gilly's baby is not wearing a hat and is going to catch cold. Given everything else that's happening to everyone else on this show I'm not sure that the common cold should be anyone's concern, but those viewers have a point. Winter is coming!
3. My brother didn't watch the episode with me this time around (although we might rewatch it tonight) but I can already give you his reaction: "JOFFREY'S NOT DEAD YET." (This has been the reaction for some time. He's read the books, but just thinks that bit needs to be sped up.)
4. Oddly, given that I knew what would be happening, and what did happen, the part that I found most gripping/suspenseful was the not-exactly-a-meetup between Bran and co and Jon and the wildings. Partly because I figured that here was one place where HBO just might alter the script. Jon's book story works better if he thinks that Bran and Rickon are dead – he has no reason to take Stannis' offer of Winterfell if he knows Rickon is alive – but while I certainly expect Stannis to make an appearance at the Wall, I don't know if the Lord of Winterfell offer will be made to Jon or not. It doesn't have to be, although since this show never loses an opportunity to allow Jon to be Very Emo it probably won't be. Anyway. I more thought that perhaps Jon would end up remaining with the wildings all the way up til Castle Black, or get taken prisoner by them again, just as he'd seen his brothers' direwolves. So I spent those scenes gripping my fists.
Adding to the tension was some excellent acting from everyone else when Bran warged into Hodor; the shock on their faces was incredibly well done. And for once, I didn't find Osha that annoying. (I like the character in the books. On the show – I get why Natalia Tena is playing her that way; Osha is supposed to be recovering from an incredibly traumatic event – but I find the way she walks and holds her head distracting, especially since we have Ygritte and Gilly as counterexamples.) And they gave Rickon some lines, yay! Though it's interesting that no one wondered if little Rickon could also go into his wolf; this is an older Rickon, who could have helped out, and a Rickon who has had wolf dreams.
The warg versus warg bit turned out to be surprisingly well done, even with me saying, No, Eagle! Leave the pretty face alone! It's Jon's best quality!
Poor Ygritte.
And now for the main show...
5. Arguably the most heartbreaking moment for me was the bit with Grey Wind. I can understand for production reasons why Grey Wind spent the episode caged instead of killing four men and then getting killed, but watching him howl in his little cage as the archers showed up....sniffle. And even knowing it was just a CGI wolf didn't help when Grey Wind closed his eyes.
6. Poor Arya.
7. So, I'm guessing that Jayne Westerling is most definitely, positively not pregnant. I had already assumed that, given the length of time between her last meeting with Robb and her later meeting with Jaime and her mother's insistence that steps had been taken. Still, internet rumor that Jaime had met a different Jeyne or that Jeyne was concealing a pregnancy kept going. This should end that – if Jeyne was pregnant, Talisa would have left the hall with the Blackfish. She didn't.
Despite her death, I still think there's a chance that Talisa was originally working for the Lannisters; a few scenes here and there from her seemed to suggest that, and it would make sense for Bolton and Tywin to want her killed before she could let people know that. I don't suppose we'll ever find out for certain, but I think I'll be continuing to read the show that way. Otherwise, it just makes both Talisa and Robb look worse. But if Talisa is a spy who seized the opportunity to seduce Robb, and then died for it...yeah, I like that story a bit better than "adult, not 16 year old, healer and pacifist marries the guy who invaded the Riverlands on a revenge kick even though he was engaged to someone else," especially since they left out the whole bit that the Robb seduction only happened because he was wracked by grief over the belief that his little brothers were dead.
8. I don't know why I found the decision to have Caitlyn kill Lady Frey instead of Jinglebell more disturbing. It doesn't really change the narrative either way – well, actually, I guess it might. Jinglebell is a true innocent, and Walder Frey really has no reason to keep him alive other than entertainment purposes, just adding to the futility/tragedy of that bit.
Lady Frey is young, but unlike Jinglebell, aware of what is happening. Yes, she was hiding beneath the table, which could be taken many ways, I suppose, but still, she probably had a good guess about what was going on, and went under the table because she was intelligent enough to realize that a stray arrow could hit her or that one of Robb's men could rush up to the table and try to attack her and Lord Frey. Or she just didn't want to watch. All understandable. And she may not have known what was about to happen. If she did know, I'm kinda surprised that she didn't leave with the bedding, although perhaps Lord Frey told her to stay, and she knew she had to obey him. If she did....well.
She certainly knew that Lord Frey was not going to make any attempt to save her, though. Gulp.
I also have to say that I have less confidence in Lord Frey's ability to find a tenth wife. Sure, up until now various small houses have been more than willing to sacrifice a daughter for an alliance with the Freys (although his first few wives didn't face the same age gap) but perhaps less so now.
8. Massive kudos to Michelle Fairley for her performance in that final scene, and the way she made her entire face change with grief and shock. She was almost unrecognizable, and the way she begged for Robb's life and then had to watch him die....it was a scene made by her performance.
9. The Twitter reaction to this has been hilarious and inspired several great quips.
So, bye Robb! On the bright side, you won't be consumed by dragons.
June 2, 2013
Summer
So, after a coolness that lingered, to be fair, far longer than I could have expected, until May, summer has most definitely arrived.
Grr.
And we aren't to the worst of it yet. (Hello, upcoming August and September.)
I once loved summer. And even now, I can still see its highlights: cheesy summer action movies. Cheap and abundant fruit. (Rumors that I turn into a watermelon in June and July are not entirely without basis. Also, cherries.) The heavy, pounding rains with the vicious lightning storms. The way everything pulses with growth.
However.
For the last several years, Things Have Gone Badly in June. Very badly. I have reached the point where I can't exactly say I'm bracing for whatever will go wrong in June, just kinda resigned to whatever it will be. And for the last several years, summer means entrapment. Between the rains, the heat, and the dizziness, my ability to ride my beloved trike is greatly limited to early morning hours and the occasional rare late post-rain afternoon, when I'm lucky. The places I can reach on my own, without help, shrink. I generally have a lot more bad days in the summer. Rather than choosing to enjoy a lovely couch and bed and two fuzzy cats and the wonder that is the internet and watching the multiple birds and butterflies that have chosen to visit the yard, I am here.
Fortunately, our little downtown area, which I can still reach in the morning, has greatly expanded since I got here, offering several options. The library still offers many tempting books. I have one of those lovely lawn anti-gravity chairs where I can stretch my legs under a large tree which whispers, rest beneath my shade and dream of living things.
I just made some homemade ice cream, something I do only in the summer. Passion fruits are falling from the vines outside, and they require ice cream. Require it. And I'll be waiting to watch the heavy summer rains.
Grr.
And we aren't to the worst of it yet. (Hello, upcoming August and September.)
I once loved summer. And even now, I can still see its highlights: cheesy summer action movies. Cheap and abundant fruit. (Rumors that I turn into a watermelon in June and July are not entirely without basis. Also, cherries.) The heavy, pounding rains with the vicious lightning storms. The way everything pulses with growth.
However.
For the last several years, Things Have Gone Badly in June. Very badly. I have reached the point where I can't exactly say I'm bracing for whatever will go wrong in June, just kinda resigned to whatever it will be. And for the last several years, summer means entrapment. Between the rains, the heat, and the dizziness, my ability to ride my beloved trike is greatly limited to early morning hours and the occasional rare late post-rain afternoon, when I'm lucky. The places I can reach on my own, without help, shrink. I generally have a lot more bad days in the summer. Rather than choosing to enjoy a lovely couch and bed and two fuzzy cats and the wonder that is the internet and watching the multiple birds and butterflies that have chosen to visit the yard, I am here.
Fortunately, our little downtown area, which I can still reach in the morning, has greatly expanded since I got here, offering several options. The library still offers many tempting books. I have one of those lovely lawn anti-gravity chairs where I can stretch my legs under a large tree which whispers, rest beneath my shade and dream of living things.
I just made some homemade ice cream, something I do only in the summer. Passion fruits are falling from the vines outside, and they require ice cream. Require it. And I'll be waiting to watch the heavy summer rains.
Mari Ness's Blog
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