Martha Wells's Blog, page 123
December 10, 2013
I'm back
I was gone for a week on the first real vacation I've had in nine years. I went with my husband and a group of friends to Disneyworld. It was awesome. I got dehydrated and had vertigo, especially in the mornings and evenings, and it was still awesome. I'll try to post about a few of the highlights over the next few days.
The first was Be Our Guest in the expanded section of fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. It's a inexpensive counter service restaurant, and you have to wait in line for at least half an hour or so to get in if you don't have reservations, but it was completely worth it.
It's in a new Beauty and the Beast area. There's a square with a fountain, a little shop, and another small counter service place called Gaston's Tavern (which serves pork shank and cinnamon rolls as big as your head -- Disney does food well), and all of it looks like real-life versions from the movie. Then to the left of that is a castle wall, with a long bridge across a moat that looks like it's cut through a forested hillside, with a waterfall. Then at the end of the bridge is a mountain, and on top of the mountain is a castle. It's all forced perspective, so it looks like it's full size, just further away than it actually is. You walk through the mountain entrance to get into the castle, which has three large dining rooms, one the castle hall, one the castle ballroom, and one the scary West Wing that Belle wasn't supposed to go into. (It was almost too dark to eat in there.) One end of the hall has frosted glass windows looking "outside" and because it was December it occasionally snowed behind them. (It was 80 degrees in the real outside.) In the West Wing there is the portrait of the beast, and the rose in a glass jar, both of which periodically do all the things they did in the movie. (The rose in the jar was particularly impressive. It wasn't animated -- it looked like a three dimensional hovering magical rose that was magically losing petals due to a curse, and it was only a few feet away from you. They do really, really cool things with projections onto objects.)
They cut off the line at a certain point and don't allow anyone else to line up for a certain period (I think it was an hour and forty-five minutes) so the restaurant was full, but not chaotic or crowded, and there was plenty of room for everyone to find a table, and also lots of room between the tables for people to walk around and see everything in all the rooms, like the portraits, statues, intermittent snow, moving rose, etc. (One of my friends accidentally walked into the kitchen at one point, because it's not labeled.) You order on touch screens as you come in, then go sit down, and they bring you the food in rolling glass and wood carts that look like something from a fancy la belle epoque Paris restaurant. (To find you, they either give you a rose token (a small electronic device shaped like a rose) or you use the Disney "magic band" that comes with the meal plan, and they actually track that to your table. (Fortunately, we realized we needed to leave our bands on the table while we got our drinks.) The food was not expensive and very delicious. I got a roast beef sandwich with green beans. The deserts were these various wonderful cupcake-size things of different kinds with beautiful decorations, and were also delicious.
Even though you have to get there early and stand in line, it was totally worth it. I'll try to post som pictures as soon as I get copies.
***
* I'm on the the Coffee with Kenobi podcast: http://www.coffeewithkenobi.com/coffee-with-kenobi-book-chat-martha-wells-razors-edge/ which I had a great time doing.
* My co-writer on Blade Singer, Aaron de Orive, has a post on SF Signal about the kickstarter: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/12/guest-post-help-kickstart-blade-singer-a-swashbuckling-collaboration-between-aaron-de-orive-and-martha-wells/
* Athena's Daughters has a Kickstarter - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/103879051/athenas-daughters-women-in-science-fiction-and-fan/description
* The Book Fair for Ballou SR high school library has started: http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/2013/11/spread-some-holiday-good-cheer-with.html#more
The first was Be Our Guest in the expanded section of fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. It's a inexpensive counter service restaurant, and you have to wait in line for at least half an hour or so to get in if you don't have reservations, but it was completely worth it.
It's in a new Beauty and the Beast area. There's a square with a fountain, a little shop, and another small counter service place called Gaston's Tavern (which serves pork shank and cinnamon rolls as big as your head -- Disney does food well), and all of it looks like real-life versions from the movie. Then to the left of that is a castle wall, with a long bridge across a moat that looks like it's cut through a forested hillside, with a waterfall. Then at the end of the bridge is a mountain, and on top of the mountain is a castle. It's all forced perspective, so it looks like it's full size, just further away than it actually is. You walk through the mountain entrance to get into the castle, which has three large dining rooms, one the castle hall, one the castle ballroom, and one the scary West Wing that Belle wasn't supposed to go into. (It was almost too dark to eat in there.) One end of the hall has frosted glass windows looking "outside" and because it was December it occasionally snowed behind them. (It was 80 degrees in the real outside.) In the West Wing there is the portrait of the beast, and the rose in a glass jar, both of which periodically do all the things they did in the movie. (The rose in the jar was particularly impressive. It wasn't animated -- it looked like a three dimensional hovering magical rose that was magically losing petals due to a curse, and it was only a few feet away from you. They do really, really cool things with projections onto objects.)
They cut off the line at a certain point and don't allow anyone else to line up for a certain period (I think it was an hour and forty-five minutes) so the restaurant was full, but not chaotic or crowded, and there was plenty of room for everyone to find a table, and also lots of room between the tables for people to walk around and see everything in all the rooms, like the portraits, statues, intermittent snow, moving rose, etc. (One of my friends accidentally walked into the kitchen at one point, because it's not labeled.) You order on touch screens as you come in, then go sit down, and they bring you the food in rolling glass and wood carts that look like something from a fancy la belle epoque Paris restaurant. (To find you, they either give you a rose token (a small electronic device shaped like a rose) or you use the Disney "magic band" that comes with the meal plan, and they actually track that to your table. (Fortunately, we realized we needed to leave our bands on the table while we got our drinks.) The food was not expensive and very delicious. I got a roast beef sandwich with green beans. The deserts were these various wonderful cupcake-size things of different kinds with beautiful decorations, and were also delicious.
Even though you have to get there early and stand in line, it was totally worth it. I'll try to post som pictures as soon as I get copies.
***
* I'm on the the Coffee with Kenobi podcast: http://www.coffeewithkenobi.com/coffee-with-kenobi-book-chat-martha-wells-razors-edge/ which I had a great time doing.
* My co-writer on Blade Singer, Aaron de Orive, has a post on SF Signal about the kickstarter: http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/12/guest-post-help-kickstart-blade-singer-a-swashbuckling-collaboration-between-aaron-de-orive-and-martha-wells/
* Athena's Daughters has a Kickstarter - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/103879051/athenas-daughters-women-in-science-fiction-and-fan/description
* The Book Fair for Ballou SR high school library has started: http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/2013/11/spread-some-holiday-good-cheer-with.html#more
December 1, 2013
Sunday Links
I'm going to be offline off and on for pretty much the rest of this week, just fyi.
Book recs
* Tor.com Under the Radar: Teresa Frohock’s Miserere: An Autumn Tale
Teresa Frohock’s debut novel, Miserere: An Autumn Tale, is one of the most grossly under-read novels of the last few years. I’ve seen the sales figure. What’s incredible, is every person I’ve recommended the novel to, or who read it independently and discussed it openly, has done nothing but rave about its subtle brilliance. In fact, whenever someone asks if they should read it a slew of pro authors and bloggers assault the questioner with encouragement.
* Lane Robins has three ebook SF/F novellas out: A Soul Like Salt, Brewing Poison, Brewing Peace, and A Case in Perspective
* A Tower Broken by Mazarkis Williams is out in the UK
* The Big Idea: The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj
***
links
* Atlas Obscura: The Lake Monsters of America I went on Girl Scout campouts in the territory of the Lake Worth Monster.
* Why Sleepy Hollow is both the Silliest and Most Important Show on TV Right Now
* Women Writers and Bad Interviews
* Postcolonial Fantasy and Africa- Against the Word "Tribe"
A Quote
"The writing world is full of heartache, headache, rejection, lack of support, feeling like nobody cares or respects you, feeling excluded, feeling attacked, criticized or ignored. We ALL go through this. And it only gets worse once you start getting published. In my opinion, writers are either the greatest or the most despicable human beings on earth, depending on how they react to this negativity. The great ones are those who support others even when nobody supports them, who strive to improve their work no matter how many times it is rejected or criticized, who MAKE people care who previously could care less. The despicable ones are those who are faced with these same problems and decide to respond with bitterness, pessimism, hate, jealousy, and disrespectfulness. They take everything as a personal offense and blame everyone else for their own shortcomings. They backstab and sabotage, attack and criticize. They never see things from anybody else’s point of view but their own. Basically, they add to the negativity rather than becoming the bright shining positive force they should be. My advice is to strive to be one of the great ones. The world doesn’t need any more of the despicable ones."
- Carlton Mellick III
Book recs
* Tor.com Under the Radar: Teresa Frohock’s Miserere: An Autumn Tale
Teresa Frohock’s debut novel, Miserere: An Autumn Tale, is one of the most grossly under-read novels of the last few years. I’ve seen the sales figure. What’s incredible, is every person I’ve recommended the novel to, or who read it independently and discussed it openly, has done nothing but rave about its subtle brilliance. In fact, whenever someone asks if they should read it a slew of pro authors and bloggers assault the questioner with encouragement.
* Lane Robins has three ebook SF/F novellas out: A Soul Like Salt, Brewing Poison, Brewing Peace, and A Case in Perspective
* A Tower Broken by Mazarkis Williams is out in the UK
* The Big Idea: The Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj
***
links
* Atlas Obscura: The Lake Monsters of America I went on Girl Scout campouts in the territory of the Lake Worth Monster.
* Why Sleepy Hollow is both the Silliest and Most Important Show on TV Right Now
* Women Writers and Bad Interviews
* Postcolonial Fantasy and Africa- Against the Word "Tribe"
A Quote
"The writing world is full of heartache, headache, rejection, lack of support, feeling like nobody cares or respects you, feeling excluded, feeling attacked, criticized or ignored. We ALL go through this. And it only gets worse once you start getting published. In my opinion, writers are either the greatest or the most despicable human beings on earth, depending on how they react to this negativity. The great ones are those who support others even when nobody supports them, who strive to improve their work no matter how many times it is rejected or criticized, who MAKE people care who previously could care less. The despicable ones are those who are faced with these same problems and decide to respond with bitterness, pessimism, hate, jealousy, and disrespectfulness. They take everything as a personal offense and blame everyone else for their own shortcomings. They backstab and sabotage, attack and criticize. They never see things from anybody else’s point of view but their own. Basically, they add to the negativity rather than becoming the bright shining positive force they should be. My advice is to strive to be one of the great ones. The world doesn’t need any more of the despicable ones."
- Carlton Mellick III
November 30, 2013
Water Issues
Last night we went to see Catching Fire, which was fabulous. (With it, Thor 2, Doctor Who, it's been a great couple of weeks at the movies.) Then we went to a local family-run place we really like and picked up kebobs and bread and baba ghanoush to go, and then we started home. As we got close to the house, we saw there was water flooding down all the streets. Very strange. We followed the flood to our house, where the source of the Nile seemed to be a bubbling lake at the end of our driveway.
The water main runs under the front of our property for some reason and it had broken. It took a couple of hours for the city to get out there, around 10:00 pm, but they worked on it until it was fixed. I'm not sure how long it took them. We went to bed but I kept hearing drilling and banging until pretty late at night. The city will probably come back at some point and fix the concrete and the street. All the pavement around our house is broken and cracked from over forty years of shifting soil, so anything they do it will be an improvement.
Oh, and someone let me know that the audiobook version of The Serpent Sea is current on sale for $4.95 at Audible.com
Plus: I have a kickstarter project going on this month and there's a book fair for a high school that really needs books.
The water main runs under the front of our property for some reason and it had broken. It took a couple of hours for the city to get out there, around 10:00 pm, but they worked on it until it was fixed. I'm not sure how long it took them. We went to bed but I kept hearing drilling and banging until pretty late at night. The city will probably come back at some point and fix the concrete and the street. All the pavement around our house is broken and cracked from over forty years of shifting soil, so anything they do it will be an improvement.
Oh, and someone let me know that the audiobook version of The Serpent Sea is current on sale for $4.95 at Audible.com
Plus: I have a kickstarter project going on this month and there's a book fair for a high school that really needs books.
November 29, 2013
The rumor is there are Black Friday specials going on at ...
The rumor is there are Black Friday specials going on at Amazon and B&N.com for paper books. 30% off by using BOOKDEAL on Amazon or BFRIDAY30 at B&N.
If you wanted to give someone a Raksura book, or Emilie and the Hollow World, or Razor's Edge for Christmas, this would make them anywhere from cheaper to pretty cheap. Or you could just get yourself a present.
If you wanted to give someone a Raksura book, or Emilie and the Hollow World, or Razor's Edge for Christmas, this would make them anywhere from cheaper to pretty cheap. Or you could just get yourself a present.
I hope everybody who celebrated had a good Thanksgiving a...
I hope everybody who celebrated had a good Thanksgiving and a good Hanukkah.
We didn't have any guests this year and didn't go out of town, so I went for a less labor intensive meal. I did a pot roast braised in red wine with a little cognac (which I ended up making a gravy out of and it was really tasty) plus carrots, potatoes, green beans, and rolls. (The green beans are from an Emeril recipe that uses a bacon-onion-garlic-chicken broth braise, and for some reason it makes the house smell like a really good Chinese restaurant, so that's a bonus.) We basically just sat around and ate and watched RED 2.
On Monday night we went with a friend to see one of the 3D showings of the Doctor Who 50th, and I absolutely loved it, and managed to remain unspoiled for all the big moments, yay! The theater was packed and a lot of people were in costume.
There was one weird moment yesterday with Tasha (one of the cats). She had a minor freak out where she started running around the living room and crying loudly (it sounds like normal cat behavior but isn't for her). She stopped after a minute and seemed okay but confused. I took her upstairs (away from Jack, the other cat) and she mostly wanted to purr and cuddle. She let me squeeze her tummy and abdomen gently and later she peed and pooed normally, so I have no idea what that was. I think she may have had a cramp or something and she thought she was being bitten invisibly and it scared her.
ebook sale
* Angry Robot is having a 50% off ebook sale today The sale includes my book Emilie and the Hollow World (DRM-free).
Two things if you missed them earlier:
* This is a kickstarter for a children's book Aaron de Orive and I co-wrote a few years ago. He developed the characters and the plot outline, and we both worked back and forth on the actual writing. The book is finished, we're just doing a kickstarter for the money to publish it, get it edited and copyedited, and get artwork and design for the cover.
* The Book Fair for Ballou SR high school library has started: http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/2013/11/spread-some-holiday-good-cheer-with.html#more
This high school library started out with less than one book per student, and after several annual book drives is doing much better, but the school still has little to no budget for new books.
You can buy books off the library’s wishlist at Powell’s (http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/wishlist?email=guyslitwire@gmail.com&list=Ballou%20Sr%20High%20School,%20Washington%20D.C.) and send them directly to the school at:
Melissa Jackson, LIBRARIAN
Ballou Senior High School
3401 Fourth Street SE
Washington DC 20032
There are lots of books on the list under $10.00 and even one book helps. Be sure to include the title “librarian” so the books go to the right person at the school, and be sure to check them off the wishlist as you’re buying them.
We didn't have any guests this year and didn't go out of town, so I went for a less labor intensive meal. I did a pot roast braised in red wine with a little cognac (which I ended up making a gravy out of and it was really tasty) plus carrots, potatoes, green beans, and rolls. (The green beans are from an Emeril recipe that uses a bacon-onion-garlic-chicken broth braise, and for some reason it makes the house smell like a really good Chinese restaurant, so that's a bonus.) We basically just sat around and ate and watched RED 2.
On Monday night we went with a friend to see one of the 3D showings of the Doctor Who 50th, and I absolutely loved it, and managed to remain unspoiled for all the big moments, yay! The theater was packed and a lot of people were in costume.
There was one weird moment yesterday with Tasha (one of the cats). She had a minor freak out where she started running around the living room and crying loudly (it sounds like normal cat behavior but isn't for her). She stopped after a minute and seemed okay but confused. I took her upstairs (away from Jack, the other cat) and she mostly wanted to purr and cuddle. She let me squeeze her tummy and abdomen gently and later she peed and pooed normally, so I have no idea what that was. I think she may have had a cramp or something and she thought she was being bitten invisibly and it scared her.
ebook sale
* Angry Robot is having a 50% off ebook sale today The sale includes my book Emilie and the Hollow World (DRM-free).
Two things if you missed them earlier:
* This is a kickstarter for a children's book Aaron de Orive and I co-wrote a few years ago. He developed the characters and the plot outline, and we both worked back and forth on the actual writing. The book is finished, we're just doing a kickstarter for the money to publish it, get it edited and copyedited, and get artwork and design for the cover.
* The Book Fair for Ballou SR high school library has started: http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/2013/11/spread-some-holiday-good-cheer-with.html#more
This high school library started out with less than one book per student, and after several annual book drives is doing much better, but the school still has little to no budget for new books.
You can buy books off the library’s wishlist at Powell’s (http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/wishlist?email=guyslitwire@gmail.com&list=Ballou%20Sr%20High%20School,%20Washington%20D.C.) and send them directly to the school at:
Melissa Jackson, LIBRARIAN
Ballou Senior High School
3401 Fourth Street SE
Washington DC 20032
There are lots of books on the list under $10.00 and even one book helps. Be sure to include the title “librarian” so the books go to the right person at the school, and be sure to check them off the wishlist as you’re buying them.
November 27, 2013
Kickstarter Project
This is a kickstarter for a children's book Aaron de Orive and I co-wrote a few years ago. He developed the characters and the plot outline, and we both worked back and forth on the actual writing. The book is finished, we're just doing a kickstarter for the money to publish it, get it edited and copyedited, and get artwork and design for the cover.
And happy Hanukkah and happy Thanksgiving to everybody celebrating!
And happy Hanukkah and happy Thanksgiving to everybody celebrating!
Book Fair
Book Fair for Ballou SR high school library:
http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/2013/11/spread-some-holiday-good-cheer-with.html#more
This high school library started out with less than one book per student, and after several annual book drives is doing much better, but the school still has little to no budget for new books.
You can buy books off the library’s wishlist at Powell’s (http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/wishlist?email=guyslitwire@gmail.com&list=Ballou%20Sr%20High%20School,%20Washington%20D.C.) and send them directly to the school at:
Melissa Jackson, LIBRARIAN
Ballou Senior High School
3401 Fourth Street SE
Washington DC 20032
There are lots of books on the list under $10.00.
Be sure to include the title “librarian” so the books go to the right person at the school, and be sure to check them off the wishlist as you’re buying them.
http://guyslitwire.blogspot.com/2013/11/spread-some-holiday-good-cheer-with.html#more
This high school library started out with less than one book per student, and after several annual book drives is doing much better, but the school still has little to no budget for new books.
You can buy books off the library’s wishlist at Powell’s (http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/wishlist?email=guyslitwire@gmail.com&list=Ballou%20Sr%20High%20School,%20Washington%20D.C.) and send them directly to the school at:
Melissa Jackson, LIBRARIAN
Ballou Senior High School
3401 Fourth Street SE
Washington DC 20032
There are lots of books on the list under $10.00.
Be sure to include the title “librarian” so the books go to the right person at the school, and be sure to check them off the wishlist as you’re buying them.
November 26, 2013
You must watch this while it's available: The Five(ish) ...
You must watch this while it's available: The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
Duration: 31:02 With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who about to film, the 'Classic' Doctors are keen to be involved. But do they manage it?
It's written by Peter Davison, and it's awesome. You will not believe who all is in it. There aren't any actual spoilers for the 50th anniversary, but I think it works even better if you've already seen the 50th.
Duration: 31:02 With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who about to film, the 'Classic' Doctors are keen to be involved. But do they manage it?
It's written by Peter Davison, and it's awesome. You will not believe who all is in it. There aren't any actual spoilers for the 50th anniversary, but I think it works even better if you've already seen the 50th.
November 25, 2013
The Gate of Gods in Audiobook
The Gate of Gods is now available in audiobook, read by Talmadge Ragan. It was originally published by HarperCollins in 2005.
It's on Tantor Audio here, or you can get it at Audible.com, on iTunes (scroll down for the audiobooks), and Amazon. It's available in MP3 or CDs.
It's the third book of the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy (after The Wizard Hunters and The Ships of Air) and the last Ile-Rien book. You can see info on all the Ile-Rien books here on my web site.
I have two more books coming out in audiobook in December:
City of Bones, which originally came out in 1995 in hardcover, and will be narrated by Kyle McCarley,
and Wheel of the Infinite, which came out in 2000, and will be narrated by Lisa Reneé Pitts.
Everything is also available in ebook.
November 20, 2013
So, here we are. I'm pretty much done with the Raksura n...
So, here we are. I'm pretty much done with the Raksura novella and the non-fic piece I need to turn in by December 1, except for some last revising I want to do on them. The novella is called "The Tale of Indigo and Cloud" and it's not so much the story of how Indigo stole Cloud from Emerald Twilight, but what happened afterward. (FAQ: I'm not sure yet when the novellas are going to be published, or if they'll be in any other format than ebook. I'll post as soon as I know.)
We have tickets to a local showing of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who on Monday, so I'm going to be desperate to avoid spoilers until then.
I found out something that was really upsetting last night and then burned the crap out of my fingers while making dinner. Fortunately it wasn't too bad and only now hurts on one finger which I unfortunately need to type.
***
links:
* Beth Bernobich: Things I Do For Books I Love
* McDonald’s Advises Hungry Employees to ‘Break Food Into Little Pieces’ So they'll starve to death slower.
* From Cynthia Leitich Smith: Beyond the So-Called First Thanksgiving: 5 Children's Books That Set the Record Straight
* What It's Like to Fail
The following is the personal story of David Raether, a former comedy writer for the sitcom Roseanne who later became homeless. It is adapted from his memoir, "Tell Me Something, She Said."
* Cheryl Morgan: World Fantasy Convention 2013
As I have said elsewhere, I really enjoyed this year’s World Fantasy Convention (WFC). It is very easy to have a good convention experience when you are in a lovely location, seeing old friends and part of the in crowd. Many other people enjoyed it as well. I suspect that a lot of UK people had never had the experience of being with so many top class industry professionals in a small convention before. I, however, have been to many WFCs, and have even helped run one, so I have a very different perspective on how things went. I know how the sausage is made, and I can see when it is done badly.
* Tom Pollock: Won’t somebody please think of the children
So there’s another ‘won’t somebody please think of the children’ blog up, this time at The Millions. It’s, at minimum, the tenth I’ve seen this year, all based on the same premise: YA fiction is too dark, it’s morally bankrupt, it’s vacuous, it’s harmful to it’s readers, especially the teenaged girls who consume it in their millions. Oh for the halcyon days when romantic fiction portrayed a more positive message about teens, like… Romeo and Juliet.
We have tickets to a local showing of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who on Monday, so I'm going to be desperate to avoid spoilers until then.
I found out something that was really upsetting last night and then burned the crap out of my fingers while making dinner. Fortunately it wasn't too bad and only now hurts on one finger which I unfortunately need to type.
***
links:
* Beth Bernobich: Things I Do For Books I Love
* McDonald’s Advises Hungry Employees to ‘Break Food Into Little Pieces’ So they'll starve to death slower.
* From Cynthia Leitich Smith: Beyond the So-Called First Thanksgiving: 5 Children's Books That Set the Record Straight
* What It's Like to Fail
The following is the personal story of David Raether, a former comedy writer for the sitcom Roseanne who later became homeless. It is adapted from his memoir, "Tell Me Something, She Said."
* Cheryl Morgan: World Fantasy Convention 2013
As I have said elsewhere, I really enjoyed this year’s World Fantasy Convention (WFC). It is very easy to have a good convention experience when you are in a lovely location, seeing old friends and part of the in crowd. Many other people enjoyed it as well. I suspect that a lot of UK people had never had the experience of being with so many top class industry professionals in a small convention before. I, however, have been to many WFCs, and have even helped run one, so I have a very different perspective on how things went. I know how the sausage is made, and I can see when it is done badly.
* Tom Pollock: Won’t somebody please think of the children
So there’s another ‘won’t somebody please think of the children’ blog up, this time at The Millions. It’s, at minimum, the tenth I’ve seen this year, all based on the same premise: YA fiction is too dark, it’s morally bankrupt, it’s vacuous, it’s harmful to it’s readers, especially the teenaged girls who consume it in their millions. Oh for the halcyon days when romantic fiction portrayed a more positive message about teens, like… Romeo and Juliet.
