Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, climate change, creativity, Fiction, free fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, sff, writing on October 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »
The good news is that there is a lot of up and coming fiction addressing issues of climate, change, and the environment. (The bad news is that we need it.)
Grist/Fix: Solutions Lab has a new climate fiction issue out, with discussions about the role of fiction in fixing reality and a dozen new stories from their “Imagine 2200: Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors” short story contest to get us started.
The Climate Fiction Issue: How fiction can change our reality | Fix
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Posted in Likes, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, J.R.R. Tolkien, Thoughts, Writers on October 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I vote for this as one of the feel-good stories of the year. Because what’s happier than real-life hobbits?
‘What is this if not magic?’ The Italian man living as a hobbit
“I decided that I wanted to live my hobbit life to the fullest… I wanted people to enter my mind, my fantasy. Many make fun of us. Some think I am trying to escape from reality. Far from it. I am living my dream, my adventure.”
— Nicolas Gentile, hobbit
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Good for you, Italian hobbit man, good for you.
Posted in Holidays, Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, history, Indigenous art, inspiration, progress, Thoughts on September 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Today is Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
It’s good to see at least some progress on long-overdue Indigenous issues, but it also raises a question. How do we deal with difficult topics? Expression, sharing, recognition, and dialog are constructive options, and art plays a fundamental role in each of these elements.
9 Indigenous musicians reflect on what truth and reconciliation means to them | CBC News
This article interviews Indigenous creators, about their art and their thoughts on reconciliation, and also includes links to their work. I particularly like this quote from Inuk singer-songwriter and filmmaker Elisapie:
“Like I always say, this is our story. But this is definitely your story, too. So get on with it and discuss and face those uncomfortable questions and try to find the answers, too, right?”
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I also like this quote from Murray Sinclair:
“I did say … at the end of the TRC report that we will not achieve reconciliation in my lifetime. We will probably not achieve it in the lifetime of my children. We may not even achieve it in the lifetime of my grandchildren,” Sinclair, a former senator and chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), told Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild.
“But if we make a concerted effort … then eventually we will be able, some day, to wake up and, to our surprise, find that we are treating each other in a way that was intended when contact was first made.”
— National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is 1 step on a long journey, says Murray Sinclair | CBC Radio
So here’s to what’s hard getting easier. And to waking up.
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, genre fiction, inspiration, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I recently finished a book that should have checked all my boxes, but in the end… didn’t. The characters started off interesting but came down with a case of the stupids and never fully recovered.* The characters also spent most of their time floating around like bobbers on an unbaited line. When they eventually found their purpose it was too late, and the book finished before actually ending.
When a story is like that I find my mind stays twisted up in it, fidgeting with its edges, trying to work out how it should have fit together rather than how it did. Like a jumbled Rubik’s Cube made of words. A stream flowing in the wrong direction. Or an itch I can’t scratch.
Sometimes that itch gets to the point where I find I have to Do Something about it.
Once upon a time I read a British coming-of-age novel called I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I remember it as charming and it mostly worked for me, at least until the end. I finished the book and thought, “Nope, I’m afraid that won’t do.” And as an exercise for the annoyed problem-solver at the back of my mind, I rewrote the final chapters.
I moved a stack of Jim Butcher books yesterday and happened upon that new ending. It now sits on my bookshelf next to the original book.
Sometimes what you need is to step back and think, “This little piece of the world could be better.” And then work to make it so.
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* This is, of course, just my opinion. At some point you may read the same book and think, “That was the most brilliant and lyrical story ever.” That’s cool too.
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, action, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts, work on September 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”
― Carl Gustav Jung
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Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, inspiration, quotes, Thoughts, Writers, writing on September 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »
“Never envy someone who is better than you. It will stop you from looking at how they do it.”
— Gianpiero Petriglieri
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #WillMissTheColorGreen, astronomy, equinox, fall, inspiration, Thoughts, yay on September 22, 2021| 2 Comments »
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, today is the Autumnal Equinox. I’ll miss the sun and sandals and the color green, but think of what we get in return: bright leaves, harvest time, crisp blue skies, walks in the woods, evenings with books and hot chocolate by the fire.
(And it’s not like we have a choice so we might as well make the most of it;)
Welcome to Fall!
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Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, cooking, elves, home, inspiration, yay on September 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »
One of our neighbors has a decades-old grape vine that is both enthusiastic and agile, and it has branched out to surround our shared yards, three fences, and at least two trees. It is also a prolific producer of grapes. Wildlife like them, but sometimes too much. Last year we were a hit with wasps, which I could have done without.
This year, hot off the pick-your-own fruit farm, I decided to try a bit of juicing.
Grapes + Instant Pot == juice, and it’s dark purple and dang tasty.
I should have used a higher grape-to-water ratio, but didn’t want to waste the fruit if the recipe was a dud. The juice is just about sweet enough to drink straight and tastes of minerals and a fall afternoon. I suspect these grapes would make fantastic wine.
Have I discovered one of the long-lost vines behind the prized vintages of the Elven Court in Exile?
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Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, Affinity Photo, creativity, imagination, inspiration, photo compositing, Thoughts, tutorials, whales on September 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »
I’m having fun crossing things off my list, like juicing my backyard grapes and mowing. I also spent some time with a compositing tutorial, and made this image as a reminder that the world is often deeper and more astonishing than meets the eye.
Plus, whales are cool.
Posted in Other, Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, Fiction, inspiration, lists, optimism, Thoughts, Writers on September 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »
This is my (non-day job related) To Do List Action Matrix (sounds very official, amirite?)
Not the complete list, you understand, but a selection of the items I am most likely to tackle in the next few days.
He he. Let’s see how far I get, shall we?
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