Halfway Out of The Dark

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone

Also, happy Successful Story Upload to everyone doing the Yuletide Fanfiction Challenge!

Today I need to catch up on the writing I didn't get done yesterday while I was cleaning the house. Our first friend who's staying for Christmas is coming in tomorrow.

I want Rice Krispie treats. The good kind that they have at Disney, that are bigger than your head.

* Writer Teresa Frohock is doing a Gender Bending Challenge
Last week, a group of us were talking about whether readers make automatic assumptions about the contents of a novel when they see a woman's name on the cover. Part of this has to do with the Guardian article that talked about women taking male pseudonyms in order to trick male readers into reading their novels. The other part has to do with my own experience using my real (read: female) name when publishing Miserere and some of the assumptions that were made about Miserere's themes.

I question whether readers can really tell if a book is written by a man or a woman based on the prose alone.

* I love everything Richard Curtis does, so here are some vids for musical interludes this Friday: From Love Actually Hugh Grant Dancing in Downing Street and The Wedding Scene

and a deleted scene from Pirate Radio: Push Three Buttons for the Meaning of Life