There's a humming in the restless summer air

I promise I won't be a pain-in-the-ass shill about this, but I have GOT to tell you guys about the big Rogues anthology - because it drops today! And I'm in it! So are a bunch of other people you might have heard of! Including, but not limited to, such diverse folks as GRRM himself, Neil Gaiman, Pat Rothfuss, Gillian Flynn, Joe Abercrombie, and Connie Willis.

I recommend you click the image below, and find yourself transported to a Suvudu article for more details.



As for me and my participation, my story is called "Heavy Metal" - for a couple of reasons. One, it features my giant Tennessean monster hunter, Kilgore Jones (as featured in a previous short story, "The Heavy"). Two, it's set out in Ducktown, site of the defunct/collapsed Burra Burra Mine.

(If you want to read about something truly weirder than anything I can make up, do a little googling about the old Burra Burra. Gaze upon Tennessee's red desert, ye mighty, and scratch your heads.)

At any rate! If you'd like to pick up Rogues, then by all means, let me help:
Rogues at Amazon.com
Rogues at Barnes & Noble
Rogues at Powell's Books
(Couldn't get IndieBound to give me a listing, sorry - but Powell's is pretty damn awesome, so...)

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Still playing catch-up today, running the last of my errands and getting ready to launch back into the Princess X revisions tonight or tomorrow. I ran to grab lunch, went to DSW because I had a coupon and there's no such thing as too many summer flats, picked up a plastic kiddie pool for Greyson to wallow in, caught up on email, fixed/lacquered/installed a neighborhood sign (long story), responded to assorted invitations and requests, and swung by Southeastern Salvage to pick up a new welcome mat and some knockout roses.

Our welcome mat was so welcoming that it had turned a merry shade of dark green and featured sprouts growing out of it, plus squishy bugs living inside it. It had become the kind of welcome mat that you step over, for fear that you might get some of it on your shoes.

Yeah, well. That's what happens when it storms for a couple of weeks and nothing gets a chance to dry out.

And as for the roses, it's far too hot to plant them right this moment, but in the wake of all the landscaping/yardwork, we have a new sight-line to the front street - and it's basically a blind spot, so far as the house goes. I'm not super-worried about anyone jumping into the yard and wreaking havoc, but I'll still feel happier when we have something pokey and pretty planted along that section of fence.

Later. Closer to sundown, perhaps. Or maybe tomorrow morning before the day warms up. I don't know. Not right this moment, anyway.

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Goodreads Maplecroft giveaway: Still going on! You have another 11 days to throw your hat in the ring, so by all means, give it a go! You never know, you might get lucky...

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So. PENNY DREADFUL.

The husband and I caught up on the most recent episode last night, and I'll grant you, I might've had a drink or two while we watched ... but something occurred to me after the fact: I don't think that episode passed the Bechdel Test - OR the gender-flip-version of the Bechdel Test.

[Disclaimer: I'll be the first to admit that the BT is highly imperfect, but it's still an interesting metric.]

What I mean is this - by my recollection, the episode did not feature 2 female characters having a conversation period, much less a conversation about something other than a man. But that said, I likewise don't remember any of the dudes talking about anything other than Vanessa/Mina/Croft/bride-of-Frankenstein/Mrs. VanHelsing.

That takes some doing, right there, to duck the BT metric coming and going.

To be clear, I'm not passing any value judgment. I just thought it was fascinating, primarily because I see BT fails all the time; but I don't believe I've seen the reverse before. Ever.