Mur Lafferty's Blog, page 86
October 6, 2009
News From Poughkeepsie – Day 122
Vampires work like this…
No one would burst into flame when the sun comes up. That's ridiculous. The sun, as it always has been, is an illuminator, a life-giver. And vampires have plenty of reason to avoid the sun, as the light of it's rays reveal a harsher truth than even fire: in the light of the sun, a vampire looks–and feels–its true age.
And so Immithalia hobbles through her days, a rag and bone woman who can barely walk, caring for her sister, whose appearence in bed approaches skeletal. ...
October 5, 2009
News From Poughkeepsie – Day 121
It's October, so that means Halloween, my favorite holiday of the year. To celebrate, we hear at the News From Poughkeepsie offer our first in what will be a series of monthly contests. Ad the end of the month, I'm going to give away this T-shirt to one talented writer:
This official News From Poughkeepsie "Press" shirt will never be for sale. I will not be giving them away at cons. I will not barter for them, even if you have fine aged cheese. The only way you can get a shirt is to write.
Writ...
NaNoWriMo for iPhone/iPod Touch users
As I'm a properly programmed lover of my iPod Touch (we're not sposed to say iTouch, that makes the giggles come), I of course have been going through looking for good apps on writing. I thought, with NaNoWriMo coming up, I'd give you guys what I found.
WriteRoom: I haven't played with this a lot because simply I don't like to write on the tiny screen. Short txts and emails are all I can manage. But supposedly this lets you write and then connect with your computer, either via sync or wifi...News From Poughkeepsie – Sunday Edition #4
Yeah, yeah, it's Monday. Maybe I should just just merge the Sunday and Monday into one massive, monstrous post. Shout out in the comments if you have opinion on keep Sunday separate or not.
The theme was "Westerns" which got alot of strong responses. My favorite was by David Niall Wilson, which just cracked me up to no end:
The creak-wheeled wagon rolled into town leaning heavily to one side and smelling of dust and gun oil. The horse plodded ahead slowly, as if he knew where he was heading...
October 2, 2009
News From Poughkeepsie – Day 120
Western…as high fantasy
"Merlin! I'm callin' you out!"
Merlin did not come out of the tavern. Merlin wanted nothing more than to crawl back into a bottle of whiskey, and forget about the dark wizard who waited on the dirt road outside. He had a shot in his hand, and by the gods, he was going to keep drinking until he blacked out.
Only, Arthur was there, wasn't he? The boy deserved a better role model than a drunken wizard. If he was to be the future of this land, then Merlin had to show him...
October 1, 2009
News From Poughkeepsie – Day 119
Western…in modern times.
"Hello, I saw your ad on the message board? 'Have BFG, will travel?' That's you, right?"
"That's the part everyone focuses on, yes."
"You do have the gun, right?"
"In game? Yes…but I prefer not to use it."
"But you will use it, right?"
"I will. If the situation calls for it."
"You're gonna need it. I'll just tell you right now, you're going to need it."
"Miss, can you tell me what the trouble is?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. See, it's about my brother. I think he's fallen in with...
September 30, 2009
News From Poughkeepsie – Day 118
Western…on the schoolyard
Big Lucy's Black Hats were the terror of recess. No snack cake was spared their greed, no shin spared their wrath. The teachers were useless. The Black Hats were the queens and kings of Tombstone Elementary, and they knew no one could challenge them.
No one, that is, until the new girl arrived. Her name was Marshal, and she wore a white hat…
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September 29, 2009
Banned Books Week
Banned Books Week
Happy Banned Books Week! This week is the time when we celebrate the freedom to read what we like, a right that we have embedded in our Bill of Rights.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Course, that's Congress. People try to ban books all the ...
News From Poughkeepsie – Day 117
Western…as religion
Bobby Joe believed in The Gun. He had met other Marshals, men and women who appeared pious, but who threw aside the Lessons of The Gun as it suited them. To them, wielding the gun was about power. To Bobby Joe, however, it was about salvation. Out here in the Wild, it had to be.
Bobby Joe said a prayer for every bullet as he loaded his weapon. He thought about about the two marauder gangs outside his door, ready for war. He though about the town they were about to tear...
September 28, 2009
The News From Poughkeepsie – Day 116
I don't watch a whole lot of television, but I don't dare miss an episode of PROJECT RUNWAY. As an examination of the creative process and an intriguing character study of the kind of people who chose to make creation their life, it's hard to beat. Plus, you get fashion shows and the idiosyncratic charm of Tim Gunn. It's hard not to like such a program.
But I was watching last weeks episode and I almost punched the screen. The contestants were challenged to come up with an outfit based on a...
