835 words on "Smoke and Mirrors" today, because of course it's the thing that's absolutely lowest on my priority list, being due sometime in January of 2009. (And there's another Shadow Unit story--"Wind-Up Boogeyman"--I even have to write first. But Todd likes to talk to me in the shower, dirty old man, and he gave me a great big juicy angst-riddled scene this morning.)
I'm pleased, however, because narrative chunks shaking out of my head may be a sign that my brain is starting to regenerate from the forced-march.
I am amused at myself, because it took me 24 hours to figure out that maybe the reason I felt tired and achy and out of sorts was that I was dehydrated. Some naproxen and 48 ounces of water later, I am vastly improved, and the urge to bag on climbing tonight is fading. (And hey, it's up to 13 degrees! No excuses!)
In other news, my
Sarracenia is falling down on the job. The fattest, blackest housefly you ever saw is buzzing around the apartment, and I have
no idea where it came from.
And here are a whole bunch of reviews and comments on things:
My dad liked
Dust:http://stwish.livejournal.com/439222.html
nayad liked
Undertow:
http://nayad.livejournal.com/217626.html
carla_scribbles liked
Dust:http://carla-scribbles.livejournal.com/112252.html
gscbook does not have the love for the Promethean Age stuff, with spoilers:
http://gcsbook.livejournal.com/10033.html Joe Sherry doesn't mind
New Amsterdam too much:
http://joesherry.blogspot.com/2008/01/quick-takes-elizabeth-bear-kage-baker.html
varianor really likes
Undertow:http://varianor.livejournal.com/212212.html
thebostonreader likes Jenny but finds
Scardown confusing:
http://thebostonreader.livejournal.com/92992.html
shadowkat67 found
Blood & Iron disappointing:
http://shadowkat67.livejournal.com/330518.html (I like this review a lot, if only because it tells me a lot about how the book intersects with certain readers.)
next_bold_move (I love that username) liked
B&I, however.
http://next-bold-move.livejournal.com/519285.html
carbonel mostly approves of
Carnival:http://carbonel.livejournal.com/74864.html
pnkrokhockeymom goes into lit-crit mode on
Whiskey & Water:http://pnkrokhockeymom.livejournal.com/71442.html (Now, this is the way to author's heart. Seriously.)
lightreads gives
New Amsterdam a thumbs-up, and a "They Fight Crime!"
http://lightreads.livejournal.com/33311.html Graem's Fantasy Book Review does
Wastelands:http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com/2008/01/wastelands-stories-of-apocalypse-edited.html
kaiz liked
A Companion to Wolves:
http://kaiz.livejournal.com/185568.html(I have a special place in my heart for everybody who has said OMG TEH SEX IS SO HAWT! Really, for me, the sex in that book was so unhot as to be a turn-off. However, comma, it's kind of reassuring to know that I can write stuff that is Not My Kink convincingly. I'm always a little worried when I can figure out what a writer likes in bed from reading his or her work. [NB: Of course, I did not write the sex scenes.
truepenny wrote all the sex scenes.)
galeni really liked
ACtW, too. Win!
http://galeni.livejournal.com/210326.htmlPoodlerat also liked it:
http://poodlerat.bellonae.com/2008/01/09/a-companion-to-wolves/(Amusement value for those who chased all of the above links and noticed the one who doesn't like Sarah's work, and thinks I am a positive influence on Sarah; and the one who doesn't like my work, and thinks she's a positive influence on me. The funniest part of this, of course, is that in place of pride on my refrigerator, next to the Moscow Rules magnet, the Zen magnet, and the pornographic Shakespearean refrigerator poetry, is a magnet Sarah gave me that shows two crusty old broads in Mother Hubbards and bears the caption: "We've been through a lot together, and most of it was your fault."
It is good to have friends.
I kind of think we're a collective bad influence, personally.)
And speaking of being a bad influence,
marythefan really liked
ACtW and isn't sure she's supposed to.
http://marythefan.livejournal.com/843246.html(I would like to go tell her that any way you read a book is the right way, as long as you can defend your reading. But that would be rude.
I love this line with all the love that is in me:
And makes me feel like I'm being one of those guys who gets off on his comic books without realizing that mainstream female superheroes are being drawn more like fetish porn than pro source material really ought to be.Well yeah. Exactly. That's what subversion is
for. And you know, the classical pro-slash argument is that it's a subversion of everything that's wonky about gender roles in general media. The fact that it also hits a sexual kink for most or all of the readers/writers thereof is, well, it's something for examination, right, but it doesn't make it bad.
I have some fantasy kinks myself that don't exactly bear Feminist Inspection. On the other hand, I also know where they come from, and yanno, I am keenly aware of the fantasy/reality divide. Getting off on something problematic doesn't make you a bad person, unless you go out of your way to arrange to have it happen in real life, and not in a consensual role-playing situation. (Then, eventually, the nice men at the FBI will get interested in you, if--and we hope--you fail to cover your tracks enough.)
That's what fantasy is
for. That's what
fiction is for. It gives us a means to do things we can't do in real life, because they're wrong. (Well, it's also for thematic arguments, but that's besides the point.)
It's the salad dressing story*. Writ large.)
*Two elderly sisters live together. Each night at dinner, one sister takes the salad dressing out of the bottle and measures two servings into a silver serving dish. Finally, one night, the other sister says to the first one, "Muriel, honey, it's okay to put the bottle on the table as long as we're nice, and know better."