Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, family, home, inspiration, memory, Thoughts on April 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Today would have been The Whippersnapper‘s 109th birthday. I was hoping to post another photo of her but my father, keeper of the family album, is out of town.
For now just let me say to my grandmother, dancer, baker, tea maker and all-around excellent human being:
I miss you, but I love that you were here.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, space, Thoughts, yay on April 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »
This may seem late to some of my more southerly readers, but today is the first time it feels like spring. The sun is out, the sky is blue, and I went out for a walk with Mr. Man and didn’t have to shovel. (Sure, there’s still snow on the ground, but I saw my first motorcycle of the year, kids are running around in shorts, and robins are all over the yard.
It’s a good day!
The Sun did all that and more. Let’s go for a little visit, shall we?
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Posted in Food and..., Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, chocolate, creativity, food, inspiration, Thoughts, work on March 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I spent a little time last night working out a new recipe for the mocha tofu pudding. What’s different? Double the espresso.
And am I using post-lunch dessert as an excuse to test the caffeine-fueled recipe results right now, on this busy busy Tuesday?
Why yes! Yes I am.
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Posted in Holidays, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, Fiction, genre fiction, hope, inspiration, J.R.R. Tolkien, sff, Thoughts, Writers, writing on March 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »
On this day, eons ago, the brave Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee fulfilled their quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. And so it was decreed that March 25th would ever after be known as Tolkien Reading Day!
What does that mean?
Today is Tolkien Reading Day! – The Tolkien Society
And as an extra bonus, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Estate Releases Treasure Trove Of Drawings And Maps.
See those maps and more here: Maps – The Tolkien Estate.
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“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, news, poetry, Thoughts, Writers on March 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I spent too much of today in the news mines (and most of what I found is not great), so I thought I’d share a poem. It’s from 2016 but still relevant.
Click through and read from the beginning for best effect.
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by Brian Bilston
They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
…
— Flipping the Message About Refugees, With a Poem – YES! Magazine
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Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, hope, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts on March 22, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
— Desmond Tutu
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, flash fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, sff, Writers, writing, writing contest on March 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Tap into your inner Hemingway* with this (very) short story contest:
Enter the Incredible Six Word Wonder Contest 2022 – Doug Weller Writer
This is the place for you to enter your absolute best six word stories, memoirs, poems, and jokes, with the chance of winning $100, getting published, and being named the Six Word Wonder!
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* Ok, Hemingway probably didn’t write that classic six-word story, but the example (and its supposed author) occupy an established place in the heart of flash fiction.
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, #Ukraine, creativity, emotion, inspiration, music, Thoughts on March 20, 2022| Leave a Comment »
I am partial to the written word, of course, but there are times when words can fail us. That’s where music comes in.
Ukrainian violinist Illia Bondarenko made a recording of himself playing in a shelter in Kyiv. Since posting, he has been joined by musicians around the world…
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Do you play? You can join in by downloading the score and making your own recording:
Violinists Support Ukraine – Participate
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, inspiration, reading, Thoughts, Writers on March 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »
Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.
— Holbrook Jackson
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2022, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Murderbot, Nebula Awards, sff, Writers, writing on March 18, 2022| 1 Comment »
The Nebula Award finalists for 2021 have been announced! (Actually, they were announced over a week ago but I missed it because there’s a lot going on in the world right now, you know? It’s still nice to take a little time for new fiction.)
What’s on the list? Is Uncanny still killing it? (They are.) Are the good folks at Diabolical Plots represented? (They are.) How much of it is free to read right this very? (Links below!) And what do you mean, no Murderbot? Read on!
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Nebula Award for Novel
The Unbroken, C.L. Clark (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom; Orbit UK)
Machinehood, S.B. Divya (Saga)
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK)
Plague Birds, Jason Sanford (Apex)
Nebula Award for Novella
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Tordotcom)
Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard (Tordotcom)
And What Can We Offer You Tonight, Premee Mohamed (Neon Hemlock)
Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters, Aimee Ogden (Tordotcom)
Flowers for the Sea, Zin E. Rocklyn (Tordotcom)
The Necessity of Stars, E. Catherine Tobler (Neon Hemlock)
“The Giants of the Violet Sea”, Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 9–10/21)
Nebula Award for Novelette
“O2 Arena”, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Galaxy’s Edge 11/21)
“Just Enough Rain”, PH Lee (Giganotosaurus 5/21)
“(emet)”, Lauren Ring (F&SF 7–8/21) [available free for a limited time]
“That Story Isn’t the Story”, John Wiswell (Uncanny 11–12/21)
“Colors of the Immortal Palette”, Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny 3–4/21)
Nebula Award for Short Story
“Mr. Death”, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/21)
“Proof by Induction”, José Pablo Iriarte (Uncanny 5–6/21)
“Let All the Children Boogie”, Sam J. Miller (Tor.com 1/6/21)
“Laughter Among the Trees”, Suzan Palumbo (The Dark 2/21)
“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather”, Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny 3–4/21)
“For Lack of a Bed”, John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots 4/21)
Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction
Victories Greater Than Death, Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen; Titan)
Thornwood, Leah Cypess (Delacorte)
Redemptor, Jordan Ifueko (Amulet; Hot Key)
A Snake Falls to Earth, Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Root Magic, Eden Royce (Walden Pond)
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen; Rock the Boat)
Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Encanto, Charise Castro Smith, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse, Lin-Manuel Miranda (Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures)
The Green Knight, David Lowery (Sailor Bear, BRON Studios, A24)
Loki: Season 1, Bisha K. Ali, Elissa Karasik, Eric Martin, Michael Waldron, Tom Kauffman, Jess Dweck (Marvel Studios)
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Dave Callaham, Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham (Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios)
Space Sweepers, Jo Sung-hee 조성희 (Bidangil Pictures)
WandaVision: Season 1, Peter Cameron, Mackenzie Dohr, Laura Donney, Bobak Esfarjani, Megan McDonnell, Jac Schaeffer, Cameron Squires, Gretchen Enders, Chuck Hayward (Marvel Studios)
What We Do in the Shadows: Season 3, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Sam Johnson, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Stefani Robinson, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Lauren Wells (FX Productions, Two Canoes Pictures, 343 Incorporated, FX Network)
Nebula Award for Game Writing
Coyote & Crow, Connor Alexander, William McKay, Weyodi Oldbear, Derek Pounds, Nico Albert, Riana Elliott, Diogo Nogueira, William Thompson (Coyote & Crow, LLC.)
Granma’s Hand, Balogun Ojetade (Balogun Ojetade, Roaring Lion Productions)
Thirsty Sword Lesbians, April Kit Walsh, Whitney Delagio, Dominique Dickey, Jonaya Kemper, Alexis Sara, Rae Nedjadi (Evil Hat Games)
Wanderhome, Jay Dragon (Possum Creek Games)
Wildermyth, Nate Austin, Anne Austin, Douglas Austin (Worldwalker Games, LLC)
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So seriously, you may be asking, no Murderbot? No, but it’s a good thing.
Author Martha Wells graciously declined her nomination as a novella finalist this year for Fugitive Telemetry: Murderbot Diaries, Book 6, published by Tordotcom. Wells felt that the Murderbot Diaries series has already received incredible praise from her industry peers and wanted to open the floor to highlight other works within the community.
— SFWA Announces Nebula Award Finalists – The Nebula Awards®
And that’s that. Go forth and read!
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