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james_davis_nicoll
lydamorehouserolanniWednesday. Grey, damp, and warm.
Today is the day I was to have turned Kin Right in to Baen.
I have a bunch of clerical tasks to finish with today, so that's what will be happening. I also need to chop and freeze onions, figure out if I can freeze lemons, and also sliced deli ham (I went a little nuts at the grocery and bought a fresh-deli pack of black forest ham and another, of baby Swiss, because damn, I miss ham sandwiches). My desire having been somewhat slaked, I realize that I had better freeze what's left and parcel it out later.
Lunch will be a salad, on account I have lettuce, tomato, cooked potatoes, pickled beets, olives, cottage cheese, and I can have tuna, if the whim so takes me. Breakfast was ham and Swiss on whole wheat with mustard. Third mug of tea is brewing.
The cats have relocated themselves to the front of the house, which is where my office is located. No one is actually in my office with me at the moment, but all are within the sound of my keyboard.
I started reading Longeye last night, and have yet to encounter porn. I will backtrack to Duainfey briefly, reminded as I was by the audiobook company that sought out the Fey Books, signed a contract, and then pulled out, giving as their reason, and I quote: "Chapter Thirty-Seven!"
Now, Chapter Thirty-Seven is ... hard. Even very hard. Or, one might say, effective. Not porn, and I contend that no one would have paled, had Our Heroine instead been multiply and terribly wounded in a gun fight, or tied to a post and whipped.
I further note that we apparently have always wanted to talk about Power's drive to subsume and control Art/Soul/Love/Innocence.
What else?
Ah! A book came across my newsfeed -- Falling Forward, which apparently discusses the Myth of Resilience. As someone who still finds herself saying at least once a day, "I can't do this," I'm interested in what this book has to say, and I wonder if anyone here has read it, and what you thought.
I think that's it for the Morning Edition.
Today's blog post title brought to you by Sail North, "Compass."
Here, have a picture of Rookie before he jumped up into my chair in the dining room and went to sleep:
james_davis_nicoll
james_davis_nicoll
rolanni17 Duainfey (Fey Duology #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller***
16 *Crystal Dragon (Liaden Universe® #10), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
15 *Crystal Soldier (Liaden Universe® #9), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
14 Seeking Persephone (Lancaster Family #1), Sarah M. Eden (e)
13 Theo of Golden, Allen Levi (e) book club
12 *Balance of Trade (Liaden Universe® #8), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
11 *Scout's Progress (Liaden Universe® #6), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
10 *Local Custom, (Liaden Universe® #5), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
9 *I Dare (Liaden Universe® #7), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller**
8 Cuckoo's Egg, C J Cherryh, (audio first time)
7 *Plan B, (Liaden Universe® #4), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
6 Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Crusie (audio first time)
5 *Carpe Diem (Liaden Universe® #3), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
4 *Conflict of Honors (Liaden Universe® #2), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
3 *Agent of Change (Liaden Universe® #1), Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
2 A Gentleman in Possession of Secrets (Lord Julian #10), Grace Burrowes (e)
1 Spilling the Tea in Gretna Green, Linzi Day (e)
________
*I'm doing a straight-through series read in publication order
**I screwed up and moved right on to I Dare from Plan B, therefore deviating from publication order. I will now amend myself and go back to pick up Local Custom.
***I'll be re-issuing Duainfey and Longeye as an e-omnibus later this year, and so I need to read them!
lydamorehouserolanniTuesday. Suddenly, it's Spring. Trash and recycling patiently awaiting pickup at the curb.
I have been to tithe the Vampyres, who have got New Technology. It had used to be that you entered the lab area, took a number and were, in the fullness of time, Called. Now! You enter your name into a tablet, and it appears on the Big Screen in the waiting area. Occasionally, the Big Screen pings brightly, and a name is shown, with directions underneath. I input my name and sat reading for some time before my name went up in lights and I was directed to Station Number Two for logging in, after which I was returned to the waiting area, this time to wait for a call-code to appear under my name on the screen. I sat down, verified that I had finish reading my book, of which more anon -- and the screen went down.
I swear I had nothing to do with this. All I did was say, so that the receptionist on duty could hear, "Technology! Screen's down." Then, as I had finished my book, I pulled out my phone to check my mail (and the guy next to me, on the assumption that he knew all about my intentions, said, "That won't do you any good." Really?), the receptionist called for Olivia, who appeared to reset the screen, and my name was called to enter the lab.
Blood was drawn, the tech was interested in the symbol on my shirt (Tree-and-Dragon), I made answer, was favored with the information that the tech's granddaughter loves science fiction and went to bookstores and belonged to a book club, and all. I offered a card so her granddaughter could look for our stuff; the asked for several to share with other book loving friends, and we parted on good terms.
I stopped at Washville on my way home and came home richer by a clean car and a subscription, so now I won't have to hassle the card reader at the gate, which I use for an excuse to not wash the car when it's needed. Hopefully, this circumstance, and the fact that Washville is slightly less horrifying in its methods than Golden Nozzle, may help me keep the car better.
So, Duainfey. Yep, there are a couple of tough scenes, but no porn, and the reflective arcs of story are perfectly fine. It is Dark, but, being as that's As Advertised, this is a Feature not a Bug.
I have just finished eating a cookie with a mug of tea, and as soon as I post this missive to the internets, I'll be making rice, which I neglected to do yesterday, and also washing the bedclothes, which likewise didn't happen yesterday. On the bed itself, I think I need to change out the Deep Winter blanket for the waffle-weave, and! I need to write an email, do my duty the cats, find lunch, and eventually wander out to the library to get crafty.
What've you got going today?
james_davis_nicoll
kaffy_r
rolanniMonday. Cloudy and damp. Bed's been stripped, towels are drying, eggs on to be boiled hard, submitted news of LUC6's imminent publication to MWPA's newsletter. Sea Shanties streaming. Apparently the week's theme is Sea Shanties.
Waiting for a friend to come by and pick up a thing, after which I b'lieve I'll wander out into the day and perform this list of errands.
Many thanks to all (on FB) who weighed in on yesterday's discussions regarding cultural relativity.
I'm a little past the half-way point in Duainfey. Altimere's invention has been proved, and I haven't seen any porn yet. I do see that we were very subtle on the SF underpinings, which is to say, I knew it was a First Contact novel, and Steve knew it was a First Contact novel, but we might've been the only ones. Though one of course must feel for poor Charlie Mason, taken up by the Purity League for building his steam carriage. Also, Points to the authors for that very telling discussion of duty in which Altimere likens his care for Becca to her care for her horse.
What else? Not much. Oh. I'm feeling some sharper today, which tells me that not only is writing a book much more wearing using only one brain, but recovery takes longer. Information, I suppose.
How's everybody holding up?
One of the other things roused up out of muck at the bottom of my brain relative to yesterday's conversation -- there had used to be what were called "racy" or "naughty" novels. The Night Life of the Gods by Thorne Smith is my benchmark "naughty" novel, though Topper will do in a pinch (I adore Topper; I'd read it again, if I wasn't afraid the book will fall apart on me). It seems to me that there are no more "naughty" novels, though I'd be pleased to be proved wrong (titles, anybody?), that we have various kinds of Romances -- sweet, sexy, hot, and so on -- and of course we have porn, but nothing that's just ... bawdily flirtatious.
Someone in yesterday's discussions mentioned Nick and Nora Charles, who were more flirtatious than naughty; they teased each other: elegantly, wittily, playfully, sexually. It was play, and illustrated that they each felt safe in their partnership and with each other.
One of the things that continually startles me, in my Brave New World, is how carefree ("carefree" meaning "free of care") and playful I was able to feel, knowing that I had backup, and genuine affection in my life.
Anyhoots! The eggs are cooling, and I need to get the towels out of the dryer.
james_davis_nicoll
rolanniI am out of cookies.
This cannot be allowed to stand.
In other news, spent this morning with a scrap fabric box that I adopted from the craft group. There were limited items that will be of use to me -- ever, if I'm honest, so I'll be looking to place the remaining contents with a group or person who will find them useful.
However! I have established that I can, indeed, embroider the titles of books legibly onto cloth, so I will be updating my Shirt of Stars (actually, I have two Starry Shirts, which emboldens me to pursue the update project) with, err, the 18? titles that are missing.
This? May take a while.
Firefly has been Very Attentive while I sorted fabric, and did a proving piece. We've been sitting quality in the living room, listening to a Sail North compilation, which has segued into I'm-not-exactly-sure-what-this-is, but it's not offensive.
Starry Shirt and Proof of Concept Below.
redbirdminoanmiss. While I was there, a couple of people talked about Ny, and read poetry. I disconnected after listening to one song, because listening to people sing over Zoom feels thin. There were some great photos of Ny, smiling.jreynoldswardSunday book summaries are my casual log of what I’ve been reading this week. These are not formal reviews. They’re more my reactions and musings as taken from my journal when I complete the reading, and at times will contain notes about how they influence my thoughts on what I’m writing.
Been a busy time so this one is three weeks’ worth of reading.
I got rather frustrated when looking up my library’s offerings of Len Deighton ebooks—which is to say, they were pretty minimal. So when I found a copy of Spy Hook in a Little Free Library, I grabbed it. Complex plotting, of course, conspiracy upon conspiracy…and then I discovered that it was book one of a trilogy. Did I like Spy Hook well enough to go seeking the rest of the series? Sadly, not really. There was a time when I would gobble up this genre, but…given that there’s some real-life versions unfolding with the Epstein Files and some Very Weird Connections that I’m reading about that…well, they’re rather interesting. And weird. Plus, I’ve read too much of Charlie Stross’s Laundry Files books that were a pastiche of Deighton’s style that…I just kept hearing Stross’s voice, not Deighton. Oh well.
One of my enjoyable, to-be-savored reads was Charles de Lint’s Someplace to Be Flying. Set in de Lint’s Newford world, it’s a fascinating look at how the world can change. I don’t find de Lint to be an author I want to binge read. I’m working my way through his books slowly, as the mood takes me—somewhat like I do with Ursula K. Le Guin. De Lint manages to create an interesting mix of Native American traditions and European fantastical work, and does it so very well. Not everyone can pull it off like he does.
Then there was Kurt Baumeister’s Twilight of the Gods. I have to admit, the beginning had me thinking that “yessss, this is better than Gaiman’s American Gods.” Then…I started not liking what he did with Loki. Perhaps my perspective is spoiled by reading fanfic but the rest of the book didn’t live up to the opening for me.
I continued my dive into 20th century women journalists by reading Martha Gellhorn’s Travels with Myself and Another. It’s a mildly concealed secret, so to speak, that the “Another” spoken of is Ernest Hemingway. Gellhorn is an…interesting read, with strong biases about what she expects in the way of services, cleanliness, and the like. Very strong opinions and…definitely a product of her era when it comes to other ethnicities.
Another de Lint, Dreams Underfoot, is a collection of the early Newford short stories. I do not remember reading them, which makes me wonder because I thought I had read more de Lint than I apparently have. Recommended. Lovely urban fantasy, a foundational work.
I finally finished Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now, in paper. Trollope’s books tend to be among the sort that I prefer to read in paper and take my time with. They’re a dense read and this one, involving a woman hack writer and her marriage schemes involving her son and daughter in hopes that they will find wealthy mates. But there are other marriage schemes afoot, including that of the daughter of a wealthy grifter who ends up in a bad way when his malfeasance is discovered. Fortunately, the daughter recovers and the grifter is the only one who really comes to a bad end. Those who scorn historical romance might…want to take a look back at some of the authors now considered to be classics, because Trollope for one definitely wrote himself some rather twisty marriage scheme plots, all involving British aristocracy.
I wanted to reread some of Cordwainer Smith’s work, but…could not find my copy of Norstrilia, alas. I have to wonder where it went walkabout to because I had planned to write a piece about Le Guin and Smith, and I suspect I pulled it to reread for that purpose. Oh well. I reread one of his short story collections, The Instrumentality of Mankind. For the most part, it holds up very well, with minor visitations from the Suck Fairy.
Then there’s the horse book fix. I reread Blister Jones by John Taintor Foote, a collection of short stories featuring the headline character, a racehorse trainer back in the wild days of the early twentieth century, when doping a racehorse was the norm except for certain stakes-level competition. This book is—well—a product of its era, and probably among the early sources for a bunch of later tropes featuring racehorses. It’s also very heavy on dialect, stereotypes about Black racetrack workers, and hoo the times where the n-word shows up in multiple forms. But the champion racehorses are outstanding, the problematic horses—including the titular character in the last story, the Big Train—end up fitting into what are later cliches, and, well—if you want a somewhat accurate account of the lower levels of the early twentieth century horse racing world, this is it.
While I’m not much of a mystery reader these days with a handful of exceptions, I enjoyed a reread of Dorothy L. Sayers’s Gaudy Night. It’s been long enough since I read it that I didn’t remember the details, and while it started slow in comparison to current-day mysteries, by the halfway point the story was rocketing along. I’m not that big on Lord Peter Wimsey but I do like Harriet Vane.
And sadly, finally, I have a DNF. I really, really wanted to like Danica Nava’s The Truth According to Ember. I liked most of the characterizations, I really appreciated the depiction of a successful Down Syndrome Native American woman, I really really liked the use of Native American characters, but…oh dear. The plot in that particular setting. The further I read, the less believable it became to me, just because I’ve had enough exposure to corporate world to know that a lot of it doesn’t ring true. Plus the lead character, Ember, just started grating on me, unfortunately. But it was mostly the plot. Too much of it read like a formulaic “must hit plot points by this page” story and it really felt forced to me. Poor editing? Very possibly. I have another one of Nava’s books on hold and have hopes for that one, because I really like Nava’s writing and setting.
If you like what you’ve read, please feel free to check out my books at https://www.joycereynolds-ward.com/books or drop a tip at my Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joycereynoldsward
And oh hey! It’s Indie April! I have a bunch of ebooks on sale, starting with my Resistance and Romance! Itch bundle featuring six of my books heavy on relationships in the face of corporate and political turmoil. That will go for all of April. Plus I have Vision of Alliance and The Cost of Power Omnibus edition both available at $3.99 each throughout April. Check them out at my website, https://www.joycereynolds-ward.com
rolanniSunday. Sunny and going to be warmer than yesterday, say the 'beans, but it ain't there yet.
Firefly and I had a very serious conversation about reset keys and how, no, no one has found a reset key, though not, I imagine, for lack of trying. That means that, no, we can't get Trooper, or Sprite, or Steve, or Belle back, but that we have Rook and Tali, and while that's not the same, it's not necessarily bad.
She's thinking about it.
Breakfast was flat egg on toast with cheddar cheese slices, followed by a dried pineapple ring, because I was Weak when I was at the co-op the other day, and bought a bag of dried pineapple rings.
Lunch . . . I'm thinking fish -- haven't had fish in a while again -- and whatever I've got in the freezer for veggies. Peas, maybe.
Today is mostly going to be chores. I've done the dishes, and now I need to go sort the laundry and get that started. Also, while I was cleaning off my desk, I found orders to visit the Vampyres, um, a couple weeks ago. So! Vamps tomorrow afternoon, or, yanno, Tuesday morning. They've waited this long, they can wait a day longer.
And that's what I've got this early in the day.
How're you doing?
Tali helped me write this blog post:
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dw_maintenanceI keep forgetting to post about this: we've been troubleshooting the "missing notifications" problem for the past few days. (Well, I say "we", really I mean Mark and Robby; I'm just the amanuensis.) It's been one of those annoying loops of "find a logical explanation for what could be causing the problem, fix that thing, observe that the problem gets better for some people but doesn't go away completely, go back to step one and start again", sigh.
Mark is hauling out the heavy debugging ordinance to try to find the root cause. Once he's done building all the extra logging tools he needs, he'll comment to this entry. After he does, if you find a comment that should have gone to your inbox and sent an email notification but didn't, leave him a link to the comment that should have sent the notification, as long as the comment itself was made after Mark says he's collecting them. (I'd wait and post this after he gets the debug code in but I need to go to sleep and he's not sure how long it will take!)
We're sorry about the hassle! Irregular/sporadic issues like this are really hard to troubleshoot because it's impossible to know if they're fixed or if they're just not happening while you're looking. With luck, this will give us enough information to figure out the root cause for real this time.
james_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: Fellowship (from 2020)lydamorehouse - News on a lot of Fronts!rolanni - Follow the compass that beats in your chestjames_davis_nicoll - Five Stories About What Happens After We Get to the Moonjames_davis_nicoll - O Maidens in Your Savage Season, volume 1 by Mari Okada & Nao Emotorolanni - Books read in 2026lydamorehouse - Wish Me Luckrolanni - Vampyres and Technologyjames_davis_nicoll - The Sleepless (Sleepless, volume 1) by Jen Williamskaffy_r - Dept. of World Affairsjames_davis_nicoll - Bundle of Holding: The Perilous Voidrolanni - Cultural Geneticsjames_davis_nicoll - Five Vintage SF Works About Travelling to the Moonrolanni - Sunday afternoonjames_davis_nicoll - Vance Effect Works Againredbird - memorialsjreynoldsward - Periodic Sunday Book Summaries--#7james_davis_nicoll - More Than Human by Theodore Sturgeonrolanni - Philosophizing with Fireflydenise in dw_maintenance - The case of the missing notificationstimeasmymeasure
