A Novel Friend

Busy Editor, Grumpy Cat

2012-01-27T17:04:00.001-05:00

Trish is very busy editing and composing edit-y letters and stuff.

Please, enjoy this picture of a disgruntled kitty in lieu of a blog post.

Happy Friday!

Calico Contentment

2012-01-25T03:15:00.000-05:00

Because horses SO cooperate for cell phone pix.

It's been a long time since I've written about Calico or horses. How about a Cali post?

Every time I've gone to the barn, it's been a day to celebrate. Not just because she's a fabulous horse, but for the crazy weather. Calico is a fan of weather. Well, maybe not rain, but everything else - and every change is something for her to kick her heels up to - quite literally.

S.A. Bolich has been doing a fabulous blog on horses for writers, and I've had several writer-specific entries on horses. While this entry isn't specifically for educational, it definitely gives some insight to equine thought.

When I'm not riding Calico, we do ground work, and I always start ground work - and often any riding session with anyone but me - with a free lunge. (The horse is in an enclosed area, but not tethered by any lead; the human makes them move with either a lunge whip or a long lead and their body posture.) My posture is relaxed and all I do is flick my wrists to wave her away from me. She usually dances off and shakes out a bunch of bucks and hops, breaks into a gallop, does a rollback (like a rear but in motion to change directions) to turn around, hops and does a few laps. When I see her relax into her usual easy trot, I make her turn around - a good way to get a horse's attention. From there, we do laps at different speeds with a lot of direction changes (because horses get bored going in the same direction; who wouldn't?). After that, we work on turning and stretching and standing and, occasionally, tricks - like target practice. In general, we just have a bunch of fun while getting our exercise in.

Calico is always particularly happy when we can do this in the outdoor ring.

Now, we live in New England, so weather isn't always accommodating, but so long as it's not raining or downright treacherous or at night (my biggest problem - and a winter problem), we go outside.

Last time I was there, we had fresh snow, so Calico was really "feeling her oats." Lots of zooming around and tossing her heels, and my isn't it fun to do a sliding stop! (You know that cartoon trope where the character stops so quickly they continue to skid forward and leave marks? Yeah, that's about it - it's actually a reining maneuver in the Western show circuit.)

Today, it was in the 40s. All the snow on the ground was melted and we had about a quarter inch of grass-clinging mud above the frozen ground. The sliding stop was ESPECIALLY fun. She dug all sorts of lines in the outdoor pen, turning diagonally to maximize her sliding space. In fact, she was so pleased with her accomplishment, that during the actual exercise part, when I put out a pole for her to walk over (like an obstacle… it's a pole, flat on the ground, but horses think it's the Horse Eating Pole of Doom! and try to avoid it) she went further down the arena. I thought she was trying to avoid the Pole of Doom! by getting out of reach, so I moved to head her off - noooo! I hardly started heading in that direction when she decided to take about four steps of a superfast canter and make a sliding stop that ended less than a quarter of an inch from the Pole of Doom! Her tail was up, her neck was arched (a proud posture - yes, horses do like to show off!) and she looked at me 'cos, "Mom, wasn't that just awesome?!"

I assured her of her awesomeness with a positive compliment, a moment of relaxed posture and breaking eye contact for a moment, then looked back and wiggled the lead rope just a little to make her go forward.

She looked down at the pole, then at me, cocked her head, "Oh, you still want me to do this?"

Hand and rope flick again. Eye contact.

She sighed, tossed her head, and delicately stepped over it before picking back up her trot.

Yeah, horses have personalities. And they like having fun as much as any of us. Haven't you ever done a running slide on a patch of ice or fresh waxed floor, then was all "Yeah, that was most excellent!" when you avoided falling flat on your bum? (Horses fall on their bums, too, I've seen it… and some do hurt themselves while playing.)

Speaking of hurting themselves, because of the slippery mud, we didn't spend too long outside and I didn't let her get too rambunctious - it isn't terribly hard for a horse to pull a ligament or twist an ankle - just like a person can. Even when they're just fooling around.

Hope you enjoyed the little Calico fun - and maybe, if you're a writer, you got some ideas about how your equines can show some believable personality.

Newsie, News, News, News!!

2012-01-23T01:26:00.000-05:00

January is more than half over! I'm doing stuff with Deadlines!

First, this is the LAST WEEK for anyone to sign up to take the fabulous New England Horror Writers Workshop at Annie's Book Stop in Worcester, MA!

Kristi Petersen Schoonover, TJ May, and I are running an all-day workshop covering the craft of writing, editing, and business for writers - including a critique of the first 2000 words of your manuscript! The workshop is only $30 - and we're giving a $5 discount to members of the Worcester Writers Collaborative, New England Horror Writers, Broad Universe and Worcester college students. Sign up three ways:

Paypal & email pattyatannies@gmail.com

Stop into Annie's Book Stop at 65 James Street in Worcester

Call Annie's at 508-796-5614

We're planning on having a fabulous time!

In yet another event, visit Tatnuck Bookseller on 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA for the Worcester Writers Collaborative Author Explosion (Not Literally!) on Sunday January, 29th!

Eighteen local authors (including me!) will be reading and signing and generally having a lot of fun.

Come join us!

Arisia was fabulous!! UnCONventional did wonderfully in its debut, and Our Fearless SPH Leader, Kate Kaynak, was happy to go home many boxes lighter than she came.

The party was a blast - and it was so good to meet so many of our contributors!

We had CAKE!! (That's me & Kate holding it in the pic, surrounded by our valiant team of editors and contributors!)

The Broad Universe table was also well visited with many sales, and we had a great showing on many fun panels. For a more comprehensive review, check out these blogs by my buddies, Justine Graykin, Kendra Saunders, and David Sklar.

Bad-Ass Faeries 2 also had another great review! And they especially liked "Party Crashers" by Christy & me. J

And, um… I have a pile o' papers that needs minimal attention before I go to bed…

Hope to see you at an event!

On SOPA and PIPA...

2012-01-18T21:39:00.000-05:00

I was not savvy or awake enough to join many of my compatriots in the censorship blackout protest regarding SOPA/PIPA. What I have heard scares me, but I confess to a certain level of ignorance - to much to say anything useful here.

So, let me link you to people & resources who do know more than me so you can read what I read and make your own decision to contact your senators and congress representatives.

I did.

John Scalzi:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/01/18/on-sopapipa-for-the-people-who-arent-blacked-out/

Nicole, who organizes the Worcester Bloggers meet-ups:

http://nicolecommawoo.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/sopapipa/

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more

Electronic Frontier Foundation:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/how-pipa-and-sopa-violate-white-house-principles-supporting-free-speech

Please, research this topic and educate yourself. What rights are you willing to give up, and what will you fight for?

January 2012: Time Travel

2012-01-15T14:50:00.001-05:00

Welcome to our January 2012 BroadPod, and our theme, Time Travel. Roxanne Bland, author of “The Underground”, introduces this month’s readers.

First, in an excerpt from her short story, “Misplaced Objects”, S.A. Bolich tells us about a pregnant time traveler who finds herself in a most extraordinary dilemma.

Then Danielle Ackley-McPhail offers a Victorian Steampunk piece in which a woman searching for a lost family member enlists an American inventor to create a machine that looks into the future. But it brings back more than mere images. Much more.

The novels of Pauline Baird Jones often involve time travel--for the characters, not Pauline herself, though she lives in hope. She'll be reading from her EPIC Book award-winning novel, Out of Time, which takes us to bomb-ravaged London during WWII.

Then Sandra Ulbrich Almazan reads from her novella, Lyon's Legacy. It’s a case of culture shock when Joanna Lyon travels one hundred years back from the future to meet her great-grandfather in a Chicago very different from hers.

Justine Graykin is our last reader. Her novel Eloise and Avalon tells of a historian whose unauthorized use of an experimental device takes him to a distant, ancient planet in search of clues to the origins of his civilization. Once there, he falls under the spell of the primal Earth and its inhabitants, one in particular.

Now, let our travels begin.

Jan2012BroadPod.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

January 2012: Time Travel

2012-01-15T14:42:00.001-05:00

Welcome to our January 2012 BroadPod, and our theme, Time Travel. Roxanne Bland, author of “The Underground”, introduces this month’s readers.

First, in an excerpt from her short story, “Misplaced Objects”, S.A. Bolich tells us about a pregnant time traveler who finds herself in a most extraordinary dilemma.

The novels of Pauline Baird Jones often involve time travel--for the characters, not Pauline herself, though she lives in hope. She'll be reading from her EPIC Book award-winning novel, OUT OF TIME, which takes us to bomb-ravaged London during WWII.

Then Sandra Ulbrich Almazan reads from her novella, Lyon's Legacy. It’s a case of culture shock when Joanna Lyon travels one hundred years back from the future to meet her great-grandfather in a Chicago very different from hers.

Justine Graykin is our last reader. Her novel Eloise and Avalon tells of a historian whose unauthorized use of an experimental device takes him to a distant, ancient planet in search of clues to the origins of his civilization. Once there, he falls under the spell of the primal Earth and its inhabitants, one in particular.

Now, let our travels begin.

Jan2012BroadPod.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Fire with Friends

2012-01-11T01:01:00.000-05:00

This past Monday, my friend Val came over and shared myannual fire ritual with me.

It was good to share it with someone new. She added another energy, and we added a few more parts to suit our needs for 2012… I'd organized my papers and things ahead of time, she needed to get rid of a particular artifact.

After that, she interviewed me on faerie rules. :)

All in all, it was a lovely, magical night.

And I am tired. So here's a cute picture of Val and Loki.

May your 2012 catch fire in a good way!

A Resolution to… Party & Promote!

2012-01-09T01:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, so, I didn't finish writing up all my goals in a coherent post. However, I've got a convention this weekend!

I love Arisia, and I love being part of this convention, so if aren't already registered, consider doing so. It's a fabulous time!

And, for if/when you are there, here's how you can stalk me!

First, check the Broad Universe table in the Dealer's Room. Find out about our awesome organization, get nifty Broad merch, hang with Broads, become a Broad… and patronize Broads who'll have their books around! (Because, you know, you totally need more books! Aside from Sunday, where I'll barely manage to be there for opening and then be panel-hopping and putting on a show for the rest of the day (just look at my schedule below!), there's a good chance you'll find me at the table - or someone there can find me for you.

Besides that, if I can manage to get a ride, I plan on being at the Memorial Service for Badger on Friday. Badger was a great supporter of the New England area Broads, and an all round wonderful person. Her passing is a great loss to the SFF community.

As for the Official Schedule (verbage borrowed from Arisia site):

Friday

5:30, Adams

Gender Limitations in SF/F

Often, strong female characters are portrayed in such a way that seem to be a rejection not just of traditional gender roles but of all things feminine. Similarly, male characters that take on what are regarded as traditional female roles are viewed as emasculated figures incapable of pro-active action. Where are the strong warrior women that can also be compassionate or the house-husbands that have a role beyond being the punchline of a joke?

I'm Moderating! With Super-Cool Friends!

Saturday

11:30, Quincy

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Broad Universe is an international organization of women and men dedicated to celebrating and promoting the work of women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Come hear samples from the works of several members of the Broad Universe organization.

There's a bunch of us, I'm emcee-ing. :) There will be chocolate. Come!

1:00 PM, Paine

How to Design a Fun Role Playing Adventure

You need to come up with a roleplaying adventure for your friends, quickly! But nothing's coming to mind. What to do? Our panel of experience gamemasters will share tips and tricks to come up with fun, challenging, and interesting adventures for your friends that will keep them coming back for more.

… It appears I'm the chick-in-residence at this panel. Cue evil laughter!!!

5:30, Galleria

Autograph?!

I'm at an autograph session with James MacDonald and Steve Sawicki! Um… please come so I don't feel like a loser with no one at my signing? I <3 you!

Sunday: Day of Insanity

11:30 AM, Quincy

UnCONventional Reading

UnCONventional is an [AWESOME!] anthology of sci-fi and fantasy stories set in cons that are a cover-up for something paranormal ['cos, that's the truth, y'know!]. Come hear [FANTABULOUS] samples from it by several of the contributing authors. [Brackets mine.]

Just be there! I bribe you with chocolate and coffee!!!

2:30, Harbor Ballroom III

Tea With Special Guests

Squee! I'm a "Special Guest!" But there's, you know, ton of other awesome people, including all the guests of honor (the Foglios! Esther Friesner!) and a few other fabulous friends of mine. It's a special thingamajig, so get the ticket and enjoy a lovely tea!

4:00, Paine

Writing as a Business

You've got your manuscripts and cover letters ready, and you're sending out submissions. How do you market yourself? Should you hire an agent, and how do you work with them? What are the rights that can be attached to a short story or novel for the author? When do rights revert back to the author? Is self-publishing a viable option, and what are the pros and cons of doing it? Where do you go for help and advice?

I'm Moderating, again - with another group of Super-Cool Friends!

5:30, Douglas

Food Communicating Culture in Literature

How do writers communicate things about their cultures and characters via the food they use? What can you discern about cultures based on if they get their food in pill form or if they are vegetarian/vegan, omnivores, or carnivores? How does the anatomy and physiology of your aliens or magical creatures dictate their food requirements? What about the terrain? Does the diversity of food culture--and what it communicates--on Earth get shown in literature?

I'm a-moderating again, with new people who have excellent reasons to be on this panel. You gotta come check it out!

8PM, TBA

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY!!!

Spencer Hill Press and Broad Universe co-host a kick-arse party celebrating the release of UnCONventional - and the all-round awesomeness of our writers. There will be lots of lovely food and CAKE! and caffeinated beverages and who knows what else. Make sure we're on your party list!

… I may get some sleep in there, and then…

Monday

… I have Monday off! I can sleep! And go to panels! And pack up the table! :)

Hehehehe!

Hopefully I've excited you about going to Arisia. I look forward to seeing you there!!

Happy New Year 2012 – Part 1

2012-01-05T00:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's that wonderful time of year again! Time to evaluate my 2011 goals and move forward with my 2012 plans.

I remember reading in one of the many articles I perused over 2011 that publicly setting goals actually hinders one's ability to get them done. The psychology behind that is that the act of setting goals makes one feel "accomplished," and therefore slows or stops progress; we need a certain amount of stress to push us to go beyond just setting goals.

I'm ambivalent about that because every year that I've done this exercise, I've improved my business life as a writer. On the other hand, I didn't meet a lot of the goals I set last January.

On the other, other hand (because I write spec fic and I can have more than two hands, damnit), a whole lot of opportunities and major changes redirected me…

See, I had this nice line of goals and steps set up, and then wooooo, that path took a 45 degree angle or something--starting not long after I even made said goals!—and while some of those steps and goals still fit on that line, a lot did not.

The Changes

Big Change 1: Spencer Hill Press

It started with being invited to co-edit this wonderful anthology for which I've been carrying around bookmarks and the first contributor copy around like my firstborn child. Which it kinda is, being the first book with my name on the cover. That, and it's made of teh awesomesauce of awesome. (Go pre-order it now!) It evolved into perusing the slush pile and adopting a manuscript or two to love and edit… which I need to ask Kate about the protocol for pre-publication gushing.

Big Change 2: Presidency!

Of Broad Universe. Because, y'know, just running events and stuff wasn't enough. I WANT THE WORLD! FOR WOMEN! WHO WRITE ALL SORTS OF WONDERFUL SPECULATIVE FICTION! Ahem. Yes. I'm always very dignified about my responsibilities. You totes should join our quest for world domination!

Big Change 3: Calico Silver!

Ok, I claimed this last year, too, but I'VE NOW HAD A HORSE FOR OVER A FULL YEAR AND WE DID AWESOME STUFF TOGETHER!

Big Change 4: Concrete, Solidity on H-of-A's Deployment

Which I can only talk about a little for various reasons. But it's big for both of us.

The Accomplishments

In planning for these posts, because they are always more than posts for me, I read back over last year's posts. (Mind you, I really am evaluating myself and planning as I write this. I'm a writer; I think best in writing.) I admitted last year that I wasn't satisfied how I was tracking certain progress. As I've learned more, a lot of what I was tracking is really useless info.

Here is just some of the highlights:

Starting with previously mentioned…

Maintained horse adoption happiness.
Edited an anthology. (That you totally want to buy, right?)
Took on my first novel manuscript at Spencer Hill Press
Became Prez of Broad Universe

What all else I did…

Edited and updated another StraighterLine course
Finished complete second draft of Kelpie and sent to Beta readers
Published "Kali's Promise" in Epitaphs, the New England Horror Writers anthology
Published "To Me You are Holy" in the Eye on Life: Poetry Locksmith
Had "Fixed" accepted into Corrupts Absolutely? (due out March 2012)
Had "The Unicorn & the Old Woman" accepted into Sauced anthology (due out 2012)
Submitted 22 fiction/poetry pieces to various markets, agents, publishers (3 fewer than last year, but higher acceptance rate!)
Guest of Awesome at Pi-Con
Presented panels at Arisia, Conbust, Wiscon, Pi-Con, Dragon*Con, and Anthocon

And my usuals…

Maintained position as food writer for Worcester Magazine
Wrote and published about two dozen other pieces of non-fiction
Edited more stuff for StraighterLine and Smarthinking
Regularly tutored

There ya' have it. A highlighted list of 2011. Feel free to compare it to my goal-setting post and weigh it yourself, but really, I'm proud of it, and that's what matters. Next post will be the goal setting, itself.

Too busy to blog…

2012-01-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

Yes! It's a New Year!

Yes! I'm doing a New Year's Plan set of posts.

Just not today.

Why?

Because Scott's getting on a plane to the other side of the globe in less than 9 hours.

And that's what he and our living room look like right now.

Though - one New Year's Resolution will be my return to 3 blogs a week, so there will be one Wednesday sometime. Where I'll share my New Year's Planning.

Post Christmas Happy Collapse

2011-12-27T00:23:00.000-05:00

I'd like to say I've had a chance to start looking over my plans for 2012, but that'd be a nasty lie, and it's rude to write lies outside of fiction. (And occasionally within fiction when not executed properly.) Quite honestly, though, I don't care. I'm quite happy about the events that unfolded this week.

It's been a lovely whirlwind of a week, though. Two Yule parties, one of which I had the honor of guarding the Solstice flame all night while baking cookies with a new friend (mother of another friend). After that, my overtired quota was hardly filled—it was like being in college again! Seeing the sunrise by choice is much more magical than when you are not expecting to see it (my usual state of sunrise viewing: Oh crap! I'm still up?!).

Christmas Eve has changed; we spent it with good friends as Scott's aunt has moved to Maine. It was a wonderful dinner where we made excellent strides in corrupting our friend's 17-year-old daughter. We came home, I finished a few more batches of cookies and baking while Scott finally put the decorations up for the family coming over in the morning… er, later morning, as it really wasn't until about midnight that we started hard-core last-last minute prep.

Now, as Scott will be traveling, we had gotten – or so I thought – all our own presents to each other done early. He wanted & needed a kindle and a laptop that could be used for both gaming and his job-related stuff. I had wanted an Outback coat that I could steampunk up, but found another I liked, with another pair of riding jeans and a pair of riding boots that were also fashionable all for the price of originally desired coat. Ta-dah! Presents accomplished.

So, while I had nothing to sneak into the pile of family presents, I felt bad leaving him to finish his part of the wrapping and cleaning when I finished mine around 3AM-ish, so I started putting together and wrapping the stuff for my side of the family. As it was now into Christmas as opposed to Christmas Eve, I was oblivious that his grouching for me to "just go to bed" was anything more than him likely being overtired, too.

Eventually, I did go to bed before him. When I was getting my coat to pick up my Mom-In-Law, I learned of his sneaky machinations.

"Dear, before you go, can you grab me the box out of the living room?" he asks as he was getting ready to start the griddle for our traditional Christmas Breakfast.

Grumble, grumble… I zip up my fabulous new boot and tromp over to the living room. I'm late picking up Joyce. I bee-line for the pile of empty Amazon boxes that we've collected over the past few months. "Which one?!"

"The big one. In the middle of the table?" I hear him coming in my direction.

"Huh… Oh!"

There in the middle of the collection of family presents is a Kuerig coffee machine with green streamers on top!

He laughs. Because, y'know, I walked right by the big, unwrapped box and didn't notice it.

"Thank you!!!" I'm getting teary. I totally don't have any surprise for him this year. I wasn't planning for it at all! I'd been thinking of getting one of those for a while, especially for when I'll be the only one drinking coffee for some time. I'd complimented friends on it, but I don't remember mentioning it more than once, maybe twice. He really does listen to me!

But, wait! There's more!

He slips one more wrapped box out from under the pile and hands it to me. Two sniffles from desperately needing a tissue, I unwrap the box and… it's my own Kindle!

About a week ago, when I started going through the slush pile and editing for Spencer Hill Press, I had told him, something to the effect of, "Damn, I should have just had you get me a Kindle, too, when they were on sale. I didn't think I'd use it then… but now I see how I could really use it." It was a lament, though… I hadn't expected anything.

And now it was in my hands!

Yep, needed the tissue… and kept going through them all the way to his mom's apartment. (Shush – I was also PMSing, so totally logical reason for me to be all weepy!)

If that wasn't enough to garner another Husband-of-Awesome award… after hosting an excellent Christmas Breakfast, after spending a good day with my family at my mom's house, he stayed at my mom's house until 12:30AM fixing her computer that we calculated as being 8 years old.

Yep. :) Husband-of-Awesome.

I'll get work done later. Now, I just want to appreciate him!

Christmas Week!

2011-12-20T01:58:00.000-05:00

I baked nearly all my cookies last week… but I didn't finish or frost the ones that need to be frosted.

I still need to finish up my year end reviews for tutoring, too…

Oh, and I need to get back to the Spencer Hill Press Slush pile…

Needless to say, I'm behind on my plans from this post. le sigh.

Also, outside of the Blizzard Hallowe'en, we haven't had any snow. Not that I'm complaining (Dear Mother Earth, I am TOTALLY COOL with no snow!), but that means no cute winter snow pix of Calico. I may be able to get a Santa hat picture of her tomorrow, but we'll see how behind I'm running to my lesson and how much light I've got.

So, you have some cute pix if the indoor animals.

Now, I have to get back to that whole catch-up on work.

Weight is a Class Issue

2011-12-13T02:49:00.000-05:00

As I embark on yet another attempt to lose weight - I gained this year, a total step backwards in that part of my 2011 Goals - I'm reminded that, really, trying to lose weight requires a certain amount of financial privilege.

With our current "War on Obesity" TM in this country (because we get things accomplished by declaring war on them. Just ask the DEA!) growing in power and ferocity, such as taking obese kids from parents, I'm reminded of John Scalzi's "Being Poor" and "Point of Privilege" posts. In the former, he discusses food options, such as buying the Ramen noodles that are 12 for $1 as opposed to 10 for $1; in the latter, he says,

"The vector of privilege these days is not physical items, but how well one is cared for, or can care for one’s self and family: Whether one has adequate health care, whether one has access to healthy food, whether one’s housing and transportation costs are a not-onerous percentage of the household income, whether one has day care for children, whether one is free of high-interest consumer debt, and whether one can afford to save any money for the future."

Focusing just on those two first things in his list, Scott has what per most health care debates would define as a "luxury plan." In this luxury plan, this year, I was able to deduct up to $150 in exercise program costs. Now, my sister-in-law and I scoured the area for places. For the cheap ones, that would cover sign-up and a month. Maybe. We picked the Y, which was the cheapest. It covered sign-up (which I had a coupon for), and two months. For the rest, I have to dish out $40 per month. Someone who has to play the "which bill can I skip this month so I can feed my family" certainly can't cover that. We won't even discuss the exercise plans where the $150 wouldn't even cover a single month.

Now, this is just exercise; it doesn't go into eating and all that. Many of the health clubs have that for an added amount. My hospital also offers a plan. UMass happens to be one of the best hospitals in the nation for weight loss. Is their plan covered? Nope, absolutely not. That's another few hundred out of my pocket!

Mind you, this is after many other attempts on my own, through programs, and whatever else I've tried that I can't even begin to list.

Exercise should be easy, right? Um. No. More and more cities are losing sidewalks; it's not safe for anyone to walk anywhere. (We won't even get into Stranger Danger and all that fear.) Bikes are targets. The aggressions between cyclists and cars continue to grow in my area. Motor vehicles won't yield to bikes; bikes have to basically break the law to get where they're going. Most people don’t have jobs they can walk to. Many people continue to have to take working lunches, so no walks after lunch. After spending 8-12 hours at your work, honestly, do you want to stay any longer just to use exercise equipment? No. You want to get home and be exhausted with your family. With extended hours, people get less sleep, so they are less motivated to exercise. It's a fight just to get enough sleep in a night. And it's not like people are really able to negotiate with their jobs right now; shoot - we're happy we have a job! And we're constantly reminded of this.

For the sake of brevity, I will only make the passing point that stress, anxiety, and fear cause the body to retain weight. And we live in a culture still ruled by fear: fear of losing work, fear of what the media tells us to be afraid of…

Add to that the cost of food. Just take a walk around your local supermarket. What's more affordable? The store brand pasta made with refined flour or whole grains? 85% ground beef or lean turkey or whole cuts of meat? Canned vegetables or fresh produce? Store brand fruit juice with high fructose corn syrup or the organic, low sugar juice? Which children's cereals are most affordable? All the unhealthy stuff. When it's food or no food, you buy what you can afford so your family doesn't go hungry. Period. Moving even further down the income chain, what kinds of foods are available through welfare, food banks, and WIC? Is it the whole grain, organic, fresh-therefore-perishable stuff? No. So how can anyone dare say it's the parents' fault if their child can't eat healthy?

It's not like the schools are helping. After all, a serving of pizza can cover the vegetable portion due to the 1/8 cup of tomato paste per slice, despite being mostly made up of a thick crust of refined flour and covered with cheap cheese. Because, also, evidently, we're also still following the Reagan logic of tomatoes being a vegetable. There are plenty of other fascinating figures on how schools are failing students with sub-standard lunches for anyone who cares to look them up. Unless you can afford to pack your kid an awesome lunch that they'll want to eat and is also healthy for them, you're stuck with the school lunch.

For poor students, school lunch may be the closest thing to a well-balanced meal they get; Mom or Dad had to buy the 12 Ramen for $1 so that they could use some of the grocery money to pay rent or electricity or fix the car so they could go to work--because public transportation won't get them there on time, if at all.

So, starting in childhood, people who can't afford the best food have their bodies conditioned to subsist on crap. To hold onto fat because one never knows when the next meal will be, or if groceries will run short because electricity will be shut off otherwise. Or, even to hold onto fat because the poor food causes a stress/anxiety reaction in the body. Trained to finish your plate and not waist a crumb, the habit and guilt follow an individual into adulthood, where they finish off the ridiculously portioned meals from restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, here's a little more number crunching for anyone who wants to lay guilt on poor people for eating fast food. If one takes the time to calculate, and depends on schools to provide breakfast and lunch for the kids, a family of four can eat for $10 or less a night from fast food. Carefully mixed with cheap pasta, hamburger, ramen, mac & cheese, and canned vegetables, that can actually bring down the grocery bill and steal just a little more family time before Mom or Dad or anyone else has to run off to their second job.

Am I saying this is good? No. I'm saying our culture doesn’t support a healthy lifestyle, and the poorer you are, the less ability you have to live a healthy lifestyle--even just eat healthy food!

If this country does decide to make this another official "War on…", I'm afraid it will - like most every other war declared - just end up being another war upon the heads of the poor. Until then, those of us who are overweight actually have a chance of dropping weight.

Now, if only we could be inspired to do so as opposed to shamed… but that's an another post for a later time.

December 2011: Faith and Fear

2011-12-11T17:38:00.001-05:00

12-2011BroadPod.mp3 Listen on Posterous

In our December 2011 podcast, we have the snowy chill of Fear and the blanketing warmth of Faith. Justine Graykin introduces our readers:

Jennifer Pelland shares a sample from her new novel, “Machine”, about the loss of faith in love. In which body does the true heart of Celia lie?

In Tracy S. Morris’s “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” four now-grown girls from four different children's stories wrestle with the fear that they may never return to fairyland and may instead be stuck in the mundane world. Some lose faith, while others keep hoping.

Kelly A. Harmon, takes us “On the Path” with Tan, an unusual farmer, who embarks on a strange adventure when his unconventionally powered plow breaks down.

Bonnie Lee introduces us to the eerie world of replicates in an excerpt from the novel adaptation of her screenplay, “Crazy Eyes”.

Kim Vandervort reads from “Northern Queen”, the tale of a young woman who must choose between faith in a mysterious old crone and her fear of the unknown.

Light a candle against the December darkness, and listen to these Yule-tide samples of the story-telling art.

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Tis the Season for Year End Self-Evaluation and Business Records

2011-12-06T02:10:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's freaking December already!

This week, I must:

Complete most of my Broad Universe Actionable Items.

Submit a Pub review

Meet with weight consultant

Meet with Worcester Writers Collective

Meet with Promotions & Advertising Coordinator for Broad Universe

Exercise at YMCA on Wednesday and Friday

Exchange Calico's Blanket

Review the Spencer Hill Press Slush Pile

Before Christmas, I must:

Finish tutoring evaluations

Bake cookies

Finish Calico's present (wood burnt name plaque)

By year end, I must:

Write yearly letter for Broad Universe & finish rest of Actionable Items.

Review & evaluate my 2011 plans

Create a Novel Friend business plan for 2012

Sit down with Scott to discuss a household business plan for 2012

Basically, aside from a few hours I might be able to use at Annie's Book Stop and at the coffee shop before my riding lessons, creative writing endeavors are on the back burner.

Sometimes you have to run triage as a freelancer and really focus on what needs to be done the most and leave other important things, or the pretty, shiny things you want to work on, by the wayside with promises of coming back and picking them up later.

An important part of freelancing is continually reevaluating, prioritizing, and reorganizing projects. I do a big, formal thing of it every year-end/year-beginning, but I'm re-doing it every month, every week. What needs my attention now because it's due? What needs my attention now because the story won't leave me alone? What needs my attention now based on where I physically am? (For example, if I'm at an artsy coffee shop, I should make the most of the free-flow of creative juices; if I'm somewhere without WiFi, write stuff that doesn't require research.)

Being a fiction and poetry writer also influences these things. First of all, we are always, always, always getting new ideas. And sometimes these new idea are things that need to addressed immediately because they will make current work easier, are a limited time opportunity, or are so shiny that ignoring them will drive you mad. Actually, if we don't get creative releases on a regular basis, most writers, poets, artists, etc. get pretty damned cranky and certainly less productive. Sometimes ignoring the creative muse has a negative impact on the business end of work, so a balance has to be struck. "Look, I'll write a synopsis or a scene right now, but then you gotta leave me alone so I can get this stuff done that helps me stay housed, alive, and in good enough shape to continue your fabulous story, ok?"

Figments of imagination can be just as demanding and aggravating as bill collectors—really!

Scheduled for next week, though, I'm having a sit down with my friend Vikki, with whom I'm sharing a few projects, and I'll make a fiction/poetry list of priorities and potential deadlines. I also need to touch base with Christy on our novel, and I need to catch up with other people I'm working with on other projects.

It's no surprise though, and I'm hardly alone in the insanity that is December. Who else is rearranging their life and priorities with the end of the year and holiday season? What are your favorite ways to get it all done?

Mentors and Teachers in the Heroine's Journey

2011-11-30T17:06:00.001-05:00

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

This month, Broaduniverse is examining the roles of teachers in fiction. In traditional fiction, the hero is removed from the classroom to take a journey. From Athena to Obi wan, the Hero’s guide along this journey differs from the traditional teacher who stands in front of a class to deliver a lesson. For this episode of Broadly speaking, we are taking a closer look at the role of the teacher, or the mentor figure in the Heroine’s journey, and how that figure is different from the mentor in the Hero’s journey. The differences may surprise you.

First up, K.A. Laity, author of Pelzmantel and other tales of Medieval Magic discusses the definition of the mentor in fiction.

Then MeiLin Miranda, author of the serial An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom talks about mentors when they take on the Teacher role in a classroom setting.

Finally, Valarie Estell Frankel, author of From Girl to Goddess: The Heronie's Journey through Myth and Legend explores the differences between the mentor in the hero's and heroine's journey.

Mentors.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Join us for an enlightening episode of Broadly Speaking, where we hope that, just like your teachers and mentors, we can impart wisdom to you.

The Stories You May Never Know

2011-11-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

In the thralls of Thanksgiving thankiness, there's one thing that editors and writing group members and critiquers uniquely experience.

Stories that change their lives--that no one else might ever know.

Some of these come in the forms of manuscripts we reject or manuscripts we ask for revisions on that the writer refuses to make. They could be great stories, great seeds of stories, or great ideas. They just don't meet our needs, still need a lot of work, or were not allowed to germinate enough before the author spread them on a page.

Others come in short lived critique groups. The members who bring in a piece of a novel that they've been working on for a decade and will continue to edit until the day they die; novels and short stories that never see the light of day outside of critique group. The authors may never get the courage to submit, or may submit and get a single rejection and quit, or may never have intended to submit their work for publication.

And, for me, another small bunch comes from freelance work that people pay me to edit… that, for some reason or other, never gets published. The author may give up, the author may never finish, or the author may get distracted with Other Life till the day he or she dies.

These stories, or even germs of stories, still touch me, still affect me.

The written word is still sacred. It's a piece of someone's heart that they have shared with me, bared to me, and something like that still affects a True Believer in the Power of the Word.

Part of me mourns that no one else, or few others, will get the chance to experience the touch of these particular words. Another part mourns that the author may not get the recognition she or he deserves.

Yet another part secretly savors the fact that I had the rare honor to be part of the story's journey, to be one of the ones it touched.

Even if you never publish a story, remember it's never a lost cause. It's touched anyone who has read it, changed their lives. It definitely changed you for writing it.

So, after the Thanksgiving rush, let those of us with this honor, pause and give thanks for the stories that touched us… that no one else may ever read.

November 2011: Teachers

2011-11-21T15:37:00.001-05:00

Teachers by Broad Universe Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the November 2011 episode of the Broad Pod featuring the theme, Teachers.

Larissa Niec, author of Shorn: Book One of the Sky Seekers and professor of psychology at Central Michigan University hosts this month’s episode.

What teachers stand out in your memory? Was there someone who encouraged you to strive when you might have given up? Did someone inspire you with their own courage? Were your favorite teachers larger than life or very human?

Four authors offer us remarkably different visions of teachers and lessons:

Award-winning author, Carol Berg, intrigues us with an excerpt from The Spirit Lens, in which Portier, a failed student of magic, travels with a teacher who might just provide him the confidence he needs to unlock his own strength.

In a piece from the short story, “The Lesson of the Phoenix,” Julia Rios shows us that life lessons may come in many forms, and teachers need not be elder to be wise.

Trisha Wooldridge shares an excerpt from “Photo of a Mermaid,” in which two people in dire circumstances discover they each have things to teach the other.

And Justine Graykin offers the tale of Dietrich, who gets a sharp-tongued lesson in identity and cultural survival.

Sit back and enjoy these tales, and perhaps you will be reminded of a teacher who has been important to you.

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Vampires Broadly Speaking Snowed Out

2011-11-08T01:28:00.001-05:00

Sadly, this is the first episode that we had to miss for either The Broad Pod or Broadly Speaking. You'd think weather wouldn't affect the online realm that covers the globe... but, alas, it does.

In addition to problematic scheduling, most of the guests we had slated to talk Vampires for Broadly Speaking were affected by the freak Halloween snow storm that took out the Northeast in the US and left without power. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Stay tuned for next month, though! Tracy S. Morris will be hosting a teacher-based Broadly Speaking. And before then, we'll have our usual Broad Pod, also on teaching available at broadpod.posterous.com

Thank you for listening and being part of The Broad Pod and Broadly Speaking!

Best,

Trish Wooldridge

2010-2011 Broad Universe Podcast Producer

On Organic Characters--Listening as Opposed to Engineering

2011-11-08T01:21:00.000-05:00

A friend, looking at a synopsis of mine, was horrified to see I killed a particular character in the first 15 pages or so.

"She's such a great character! You're not using her potential!"

The character did, indeed, have a lot of potential. So do a lot of people who die "before their time." While I've come a long way from being entirely a "seat of the pants" writer--shoot, I'm feeling downright nervous that I don't know the endgame for Loki or Coyote in my NaNoWriMo novel!--I still don't engineer a plot or a character.

I see plenty of blog posts about how to incorporate flaws into characters or how to create complications for a plot… and I feel relieved that I can just pass by them. My characters come to me fully formed, with plenty of flaws intact, and they have their own plans with what will happen with any plot I create.

Not to say I do no engineering. I compare my writing to gaming because I will create a plot and a series of potential problems and I have some outcome in mind. I have a complex world that I've engineered in my head that has its own laws. However, my characters will do what they will. I can rein them in some by creating (hopefully logical) consequences for their action based on the laws of the world I've created.

Sometimes those consequences are that characters die. I give my characters free will, just as any human ought to have.

Because they are people. They - the characters, not the whole novels - are my children. Each have pieces of me… combined with pieces of other people I've met, or seen, or read about… and given a spark of will. The character, whether he or she or it be an adult or child, is the summation of many parts, a synthesis and a synergetic being.

While I create the world and the original problem, most of my writing is listening to my characters and transcribing. They tell me what they will do in these situations. They don't always tell me why, but eventually I figure it out (or, I have so far… like I said, these Tricksters have me in a bit of a tizzy). It's not me moving them around like chess pieces, it's me interacting with them as persons.

I've mentioned a few friends I have who do far more engineering. Their outlines are huge and detailed… they ask me for my thoughts on something, and my answer is not helpful because I ask what would be the most likely thing the characters involved would do. They make their characters do stuff; their characters serve their plan. Plenty of good stories are written like this--just not by me.

My stories are archives of my characters' lives. Once I discover how things go, I can't change the plot or the motivation. I can adjust what I include in a story--and what you include or omit can make big differences!--but I know what happened and what will happen. Not because I created it, but because I'm an omnipresent being in my characters' lives… and it's my job to tell their stories as truly as I can.

Even if they die in the first few pages. It would dishonor their story to change it just because it's unfair or a waste.

Happy… erm… Day After Halloween/Samhain!

2011-11-01T01:22:00.000-04:00

I have the power! And teh interwebz!

'Cos our Hallowe'en party was SNOWED OUT! by a freak Nor'easter that came in and knocked over a whole bunch more trees (because Irene and the May tornadoes didn't knock over enough). We were about 36 hours without power… fortunately, AFTER the last of our brave guests left… after we moved the first few trees so poor, brave guests could leave.

So, um… Happy Hallowe'en from me and Scott!

Zombie Tourist and Fairy Goth-Momma

Oh, and Nylis and I feel about the same about this stupid snow on Hallowe'en. You can see some of the tree damage out the window behind her.

Not like we generally get trick-or-treaters down our dark, dead-end street… even if most suburban parents haven't been not taking kids out for actual neighborhood trick-or-treating for some years now… but really, with the ice, snow, and slush… we didn't even bother putting our light on.

You couldn't see it through the snow-covered leaves anyway.

I'll stop bitching now. Scott is threatening to eat my brains. He did the gash, I did the make-up; further proof that we make a pretty damned good team.

It's NOVEMBER! Which means NaNoWriMo!

Why am I writing a blog when my trickster novel could be getting written?

'Cos I love you.

Anyway: work update:

Despite no power or webz for an extended period of time, I still managed to shoot out four submissions for the Broad Universe Mailing Party. Fingers crossed for acceptances!!

Now… onto novel writing madness.

Happy Hallowe'en, Samhain, All Souls, and All Saints Day!

Happy Halloween & November… And End-of-The-Year Resolutions

2011-10-24T12:07:00.000-04:00

I'm going to save my sanity and not promise more than one blog post a week for the rest of 2011.

Life continues to be crazy-busy. (Should I "TM" that term, at this point?) The bathroom has been redone and is great… no further blood sacrifices needed.

Rock & Shock was lot of fun. I didn't sell any books, but I did have some good Tarot Readings, from which I donated a part to New England Horror Writers.

Of course, besides that, it was a total, "This is why I LOVE my job" weekend. For Worcester Magazine, I had interviewed the director and producer of Inkubus, which will be out in limited release this weekend. It was a great interview, and I scored tickets to the red carpet premiere, the following Q&A… and access to the after party!

Did I mention this movie stars screen legends Robert England and William Forsythe?

Yeah… Husband-of-Awesome and I were at the red carpet premiere and after party with them!

Then someone I didn't know in the back of the party lit up a joint, so we made quick time to the door before I had to find out if that was one of the types of weed I'm allergic to.

Ah well! Good times.

OTOH, I'm back at the garage getting a wheel bearing replaced to the tune of… more $ than I really can spend. Grrrrr…

Till I can afford another car, I'm thinking of engraving my name in this particular seat at Rick's Garage.

And I'm sick with con crud from R & S…Actually, both of us are. And we spent all of yesterday dealing with most of the two cords of wood. H-of-A chopped; both he and I stacked. Pain medicine, vitamin C, and lots of tea are my friends.

Saturday, worked on writing plans with another good friend of mine: Yay! On the way to said friend's house, I got into a minor car accident: Waaah!

This week, I need to finish evaluations of my tutoring team, an outline for my NaNoWriMo novel. (Oh yeah: The Broad Universe panel at the Nashua New Hampshire Public Library on NaNoWriMo was most excellent!) Also, we must clean & decorate for our Hallowe'en party Saturday… while attending a Samhain celebration on Friday. (Sunday = SLEEP!)

TODAY: Get car fixed, five hours of tutoring & evaluating, chiropractor appointment, Broad Universe budget meeting… figure out to-dos for the rest of the week.

October 2011: Vampires!

2011-10-18T01:17:00.001-04:00

October Vampires by Broad Universe Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the October Vampires 2011 episode of the Broad Pod!

Join hostess, Trish Wooldridge of A Novel Friend Writing & Editing, as she and the Broads celebrate what many genre writers--not even just horror!--feel is The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

The episode opens with E.F. Watkins sharing her story of a violent act that is not quite what it seems. Then, Rae Lori's excerpt involves a power struggle for the role of Regent in a nightwalker clan. Gail Z. Martin brings us into an epic battle with the undead. Finally, Jaleta Clegg finishes the episode with musings on vampire survival related to problematic food supply.

The Broad Pod is brought to you by Broad Universe, an international non-profit dedicated to promoting, celebrating, and honoring women writers of science fiction, fantasy, horror--and everything in between. To find out more about Broad Universe, or how to join the ranks of Broads, visit www.broaduniverse.org

For now, please enjoy our display of why the claims of vampire demise… have been greatly exaggerated.

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Look! It's More Bits and Ends

2011-10-10T22:45:00.000-04:00

Because, really, my life continues to only give me time in small increments to get stuff accomplished.

News & Writing stuff from Chez Wooldridge:

I'm proofing the galleys from UnCONventional, and they are awesome! :) Pre-Order now! Trust me.

We're gutting and remodeling the downstairs bathrooms. No, I don't have pictures. Why? Because the H-of-A is grumpy and questioned the need for pictures, which was his subtle way of pointing out he didn't want pictures taken. We've had three generous blood sacrifices during this event, which we hope will appease the gods and faeries and saints of contracting and remodeling… and perhaps even the matrons and patrons of pipe-freezing-prevention for this winter.

This, my friends, is why, while we do not have children, we have well-stocked first-aid cabinet shelves. (Kits are too small and not comprehensive enough for our creative injuries.)

Anyway, will post pictures when it's done.

Of the bathroom, not the injuries.

In the meantime, today's picture is Nylis hiding from the chaos in the upstairs linen closet.

Got to hang out with more friends that I haven't seen enough of today. They brought their little girl (and themselves) for some Calico riding and loving. Good times!

Also, fixed the horsey-withdrawal I was suffering for nearly two weeks being cooped up in the house waiting for people to fix my ability to earn friggen money!

Speaking of horses, a fabulous Broad colleague, Sue Bolich, has started blogging on properly using equines in writing, too. Check out her two posts here and here. Very good reading!

I had an extra special fun time covering this year's Rock & Shock in Worcester, so look for the article in Worcester Magazine this week!

Also, stop by the New England Horror Writers table while you're at the convention! :)

I got to interview the director & producer & one of the actors of Inkubus, which is having a red-carpet premiere at the convention. Wheee!!

Now I have to go make 1600 words of avocado article sound fabulous. :) Movie premieres, gutted bathrooms, horses, fiction galleys, and avocados. Yup--that about sums up my life right now.

Interesting times!

Affluent White Person Problems Make Me Grouchy and Unproductive

2011-10-03T19:04:00.000-04:00

Comedian Louis CK has some great bits about "Being White" and "White Person Problems" and "Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy" that I cannot do justice to, so look them up.

However, they were on the forefront of my mind for most of ~~yesterday and Monday~~ ALL LAST WEEK as I threw my (fortunately high-impact-secure) cell phone across the room and cussed to make my Mom blush at my land line and Internet service. (At least I had the decency to not cuss directly at the people despite being walked through the hard restart of my modem and my laptop as if I were an idiot AFTER I had explained that I had already done so.)

[Addendum: I wrote this last Wednesday and have since had continued problems until (HOPEFULLY) today when my modem was replaced and reset with a whole password thingy. Needless to say, I've lost a week's worth of tutoring wages. Now, for the below paragraph, I'm not likely to lose my house or anything, so my point still stands OTOH… that's a week's worth of wages!]

[Addendum 2: Also, the Husband-of-Awesome lost a day of work (and he makes WAY more than I do) and several nights of work trying to get the Internet to work, replacing the modem--TWICE!--and still cooking me dinner so I could get other deadlines done at Panera Bread on their free WiFi.]

I just want to add to the comedian's parameters that these are not necessarily White Person Problems; there's definitely more privilege involved. They're definitely Affluent White Person Problems. Not to say such affected people don't stress over money problems each month--we certainly do!--but more that the stress is: "Can we make payments on all of our various debts without ruining our credit?" as opposed to, "Can we survive better without electricity, heat, or going grocery shopping this month?"

In any case, I was having a pretty sh*tty ~~past few days~~ WEEK because I couldn't do my job or get work done. [Addendum3: I just barely made an article and grant deadline… while at Panera Bread.]

You know, because not having this magical connection to the rest of the world at my fingertips in an immediate fashion is such a HUGE DISASTER.

It's not like I had healthy well water on tap, [Addendum 4: Ok, my faucet IS leaking pretty badly, but still, I have the water],

gourmet coffee I could make while waiting between calls to service people,

a cushy chair or yoga ball to sit on,

a pretty decent roof over my head,

a legal husband-of-awesome who has me on his health insurance and who I can kiss in public without worrying about potential hate crimes,

food in my refrigerator and pantry,

a job that, while I will struggle to catch up, isn't something I'm likely lose at the drop of a hat,

hell—a job and career I LOVE,

and, to top it all off, an adorable, beloved, money-eating HORSE* that I own and can escape to.

Sooo, I added another whole layer of craptacular guilt for feeling sh*tty on top of the general sh*tty sentiment that you really can't rationalize away because, after all, humans are selfish beings who, once they taste a certain level of comfort, feel entitled to it.

[Addendum 5: The fact that I lost a week's worth of wages adds another dimension that doesn’t quite stack the same way.]

On the other hand, this level of objectiveness, as flawed as it is, is still useful in understanding character motivations. So, at least on a writing level, things were useful. Gotta stay positive, right?

At the very least, it makes for a comic goldmine of contradiction. Right, Louis?

In any case, my phone is fixed, and the Internet connection seems to be working. I can return to being a more productive relatively affluent, white member of society. (Or so I hope!)

* What, you didn't know that money is the primary diet of the domestic equine?

There's Still Magic for Grown-Ups in Faery Tales

2011-09-27T14:33:00.001-04:00

Faerytales Compact by Karen Meng Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the September 2011 episode of Broadly Speaking, a podcast about the adventures of women writing science fiction, fantasy, horror - and everything in between.This month's podcast is devoted to women writers and feminism in Fairy Tales for Grown Ups. This month's edition of Broadly Speaking is hosted by Karen Meng, current treasurer and DataQueen for Broad Universe.

Karen interviews Cindy Speer, Vikki Ciaffone, and Trisha Wooldridge about the importance of Fairy Tales and retellings to culture, how the gender of the storyteller may or may not affect the message, and why writers should take some time exploring Faery Tales.

Cindy Lynn Speer jokingly refers to herself as a swashbuckler and author, but it is not far from the truth. A historical fencer who writes fantasy, murder mysteries and retold fairy tales, she divides her time between proving that the pen and the sword can be equally mighty. Find out more about her at www.apenandfire.com.

Vikki Ciaffone has been involved in SF/Fantasy for many years. She is personally responsible for the destruction of Sodom and Gommorha (she apologises, but all the hype was lies, and the populace was obsessed with Pictionary and Charades, two games Vikki finds highly evil). She then turned her attention to Troy, and once again, engineered its downfall in her quest to burn out the Pictionary Plague. She claims no responsibility for Pompeii or the Fall of Rome, though she might possibly have had something to do with the sun setting on the British Empire. In her spare time, Vikki has been known to shoot craps with the Fates and the Valkyries for shiny trinkets. Find out more about Vikki on the people page for Spencer Hill Press.

Trisha J. Wooldridge is the current president of Broad Universe, an international, non-profit supporting women in speculative fiction. She's published in the EPIC award-winning anthologies (2010) Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad and Bad-Ass Faeries 3: In all Their Glory from DarkQuest books, several poetry and non-fiction venues, and is an editor of the UnCONventional anthology from Spencer Hill Press, being released at Arisia 2012. www.anovelfriend.com

The Broad Pod is sponsored by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. To find out more about our organization, including new fiction released by women, more podcasts, and information about writing and publishing for women, visit our website at www.broaduniverse.org.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things (About Editing)

2011-09-26T02:42:00.000-04:00

Today, finally, I sent back my last MAJOR set of edits to one of the UnCONventional contributors.

I may have been stressing, I may have messed up my once-dependable blogging schedule, but damnit, I am so happy and proud of this project! Having to get back on this "dependable blogging schedule" is SO worth it. UnCONventional is already made of awesome--and it's not even out yet.

(If you're interested, though, you can SO preorder it here and make many of us even happier!)

Anyway, as I was getting through the edits, I was reminded of why I love this part of writing so much--well, at least when working with other people.

In the long tradition of online communications, here's a

Top 5 List of Things I Love About Editing

5. The challenge of playing in parameters. When you edit, you want to respect the author's creation, so offering suggestions and making changes need to be in line with the author's vision. As much as free reign over a project is fun, it's even more fun to test one's creativity and writing skill by working within boundaries.

4. The thrill of teaching. No matter how many students I teach, or how many friends I critique, or how often I post tips on my blog, there are still people who have not heard some of my favorite proofreading and writing strategies, like reading backwards, using find & replace to count word usage, and comparing word usage to overall word count. Having someone thank me for teaching them something new sets my heart all aflutter.

3. Discovering new worlds and being able to help them. Haven't you ever wanted to make the world a better place? And do you love escaping into alternate worlds? When you edit, you get to do both. You discover fantastic realms/realities, and you can help the author make them stronger--or at least present a clearer picture of them to readers.

2. Amazing surprises. In many stories, I've made suggestions for changes or even had no idea what to suggest. In so many of those cases, the author came up with a fix that was ten to a hundred times better than anything I could have thought of.

1. The creative sum is greater than the whole. We selected what we felt the strongest submissions were, and then we advised ways to make them even stronger. The end result of the author's creativity and love, plus the hard love from both Kate and me, is a piece that each of our individual parts could NEVER come up with alone. AND, as an anthology, we increase that by 22 of us, exponentially.

So, the next step is to put all these stories into galleys and see how it fits our page count and do yet another proofread. (And maybe 1 or 3 more after that.) Per Kate, we're still on good schedule for our release party in January and to get Advanced Reading Copies out for some reviews before then.

Thanks to all the authors and my co-editor for making this such a great project! I look forward to the rest of this journey with you.

(And, in earnest appeal, you really should pre-order a copy right now. :) )

Another "Bits and Ends"

2011-09-19T02:42:00.001-04:00

My "New Year" September is really pushing me!

I have about six more Round 2 edits to review for UnCONventional, which should be done Monday. (Pinky swear, Kate!!) Also today, I have article calls & emails to make. I'm doing a comfort food piece and a chef profile for Worcester Magazine due on Friday, I have an avocado article due in two weeks, a yet-unwritten short story that needs to be printed before Friday, edits on "Photo of a Mermaid" due… end of the weekish, and critiques for Traveling Java need to be done before Tuesday.

During the week, I will be traveling every day but Monday.

Oh, and on top of all that, there is another fabulous benefit to the Bay State Equine Rescue happening on Sunday:

Horse of Course Benefit!

It's taking place at Whip-O-Will stables and is one of those "family fun" events where we've got things planned for all ages… even if you're not all that into horses. Check out the event page!

It's happening from 11AM-4PM this Sunday, September 25th.

If you live in MA or CT or anywhere driveable, please try to come? :) Thank you!

I have this blog written on my to-do lists; let's see if it actually happens for more than this post. ;)

Life Before Blogging

2011-09-12T14:25:00.000-04:00

Two conventions, a whole-engine overhaul, reuniting with my first writers group, family issues, a death, a pow-wow, ten anniversary of 9/11…

Really, I don't feel that terrible about not blogging for about two weeks.

I really can't do all that justice in one catch up blog post, so I'll move forward.

It's September!

September is my New-New Year, and this year it's particularly poignant. Not only did Dragon*Con rejuvenate my writing spirit, as it always does, but hanging out with the Dragon*Writers, dinner with Ann Crispin, and being on some pretty fabulous panels just made it all the better. Even before that, being Guest of Awesome and sharing a pretty fab dealer's room with friends and friends-to-be at Pi-Con had me flying with writerly joy.

The engine overhaul made us have to redo some major finances, so despite its hefty cost, we're starting September with what is likely to be a better financial grasp on things.

I have yet to sit down and re-evaluate my New Year business plans, but that's all right. I'm working on my editing deadline for UnCONventional and remembering why we picked each of the stories we did; I can't wait for the anthology to come out so we can share it with you.

Besides my editing, I've got a bunch of local stories I'm covering for Worcester Magazine that are due in the next couple of weeks. I also know that the Broadsheet is looking for articles, and I have to get off my but to get some of my existing writing out there.

Speaking of which, I just shared the opening my novelette, "Mirror of Hearts," on the Broad Pod this week. I need to get on putting that out as an ebook. :)

In any case, there is a lot to do, but at least most of this is on the computer, and it really just requires some major Butt In Chair syndrome.

And kinda being sparse online.

The lesson in all this? It's never too late to do a little restarting, or a lotta restarting. So long as you go and do it.

September 2011: Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups

2011-09-12T01:15:00.001-04:00

The Broad Pod - September 2011 by Broad Universe Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the September 2011 episode of the Broad Pod, featuring Fairy Tales for Grown Ups. Join L.C. Hu, writer, artist, and all around geek, as she hosts this episode.

Dragons and magical beasts, peasants and princesses, heroes and tricksters—fairy tales are some of the first stories many of us hear as children; is it any surprise that they continue to inspire us into adulthood? This month brings us five new interpretations of the fairy story, as varied and wonderful as the tales that enchanted us as children.

Catherine Lundoff tells us of Vadija the Merry, whose laugh inspires a talespinner to begin a life-changing journey. Shauna Roberts gives us a science fiction retelling of the old tale Maid on the Shore. Theresa Crater leads us down beneath the Tor to meet the fae, as we follow a young woman's initiation to become a priestess. Vonnie Winslow Crist spins us a tale about a young man who makes a deal involving death, deceit, and devotion with a swan maiden. And Trisha Woolridge enchants us with the story of a young woman wandering her uncle's manor, who discovers a curious portrait in a dusty side room.

So sit back, and let yourself be swept away by these five fantastic fairy stories.

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Blog has been Washed Away

2011-08-24T21:12:00.000-04:00

There will be no blog tonight. The faucets to our washing machine have died and decided to flood the washroom. Go ahead and laugh at the bad '70s décor… the spigots were probably even older than that.

Scott is scurrying to Home Depot as we speak.

Wish us luck because I kinda need clean clothes for Pi-Con. *sniffle*

(Also, FYI, no blog on Friday because I don't have time to prewrite one, but I will be back on Sunday.)

Pi-Con Schedule and other Bits & Ends

2011-08-22T02:24:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned, I'm the Guest of Awesome at Pi-Con in Enfield, CT this year. :)

Here's my schedule:

Friday, August 26

7:00:00 PM Guest of Awesome Reunion Suffield
8:00:00 PM Sex & Genre Literature Suffield

Saturday, August 27

10:00:00 AM Dark Matter Somers

3:00:00 PM Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading (2 hours)
5:00:00 PM Fatal Femmes Somers
7:00:00 PM Tarot & Divination as writing tools Suffield
9:00:00 PM Chicks in Chainmail Somers

Sunday, August 28

1:00:00 PM Caring For Your Pet Unicorn Suffield
2:00:00 PM of Gods and Genre Agawam

So, I should have caught this at least a moon or two ago, but I'm scheduled during the Broad Universe/Heir to the Sun Release party and set-up. Fortunately, I have some equally awesome friends - and even a Husband-of-Awesome - who will be around to help. After 10PM, though, I'll be living in our party room.

Besides that, it's a nice spread. I have a lot of time to take care of Dealer Room set-up on Friday and most of the party work can be done ahead of time.

Stuff left to do for Pi-Con:

Make promised artsy stuff & Decorated Divinations - happening tomorrow. (Hi, Renée!)

Finalize Rapid Fire Reading stats

Make RFR flyer (& have H-of-A print it)

Make Party flyer (& have H-of-A print it)

Make spreadsheet for selling stuff

Make Instruction Sheet for selling stuff

For the Love of All That Is Good and Holy, DON'T DEADLINE THE NIGHT BEFORE!

In other cool news, my favorite bookshelf is featured here:

http://1bookshelf.blogspot.com/2011/08/trisha-j-wooldridges-bookshelf.html

Thank you, Hunter! :)

Besides me, there are some other excellent stories about people's favorite bookshelves. If you have a special bookshelf, check out Hunter's submission guidelines and share with us!

I spent the earlier part of today embracing my artistic child and painting faces of kids waiting in line for Pony Rides at Whip-O-Will Stables.

Did I actually take any pictures of the adorableness?

No.

So, you have to trust me: it was über-cyoot!!! Horses in My Little Pony colors (pink & blue, purple & pink, green & pink, brown & purple, blue & white) were the biggest hit. Second to that were butterflies. Lots and lots of butterflies. I also had a Spiders & Vines, a Bloody Batman, a Lion, and a Hello Kitty as a few outstanding pictures that challenged my artistic ability. (Ok, remembering how to paint horses on faces was a challenge, too.)

Fortunately, kids aren't terrible art critics. :) Yay childhood!

You should totally come to the Whip-O-Will Stables Horse of Course Benefit for Bay State Equine Rescue. I'll be doing both face painting AND Tarot reading.

You really want a MLP-colored horsey on your cheek! You know you do.

Pi-Con is a Week Away!

2011-08-19T15:12:00.000-04:00

NChanter (Pi-Con Prez) & Me at the Pi-Con Party during Arisia 2011

This is a Fannish Friday post. :) Because I'm a member of Geek Fandom and proud of it!

I started going to Pi-Con a few years ago because it was right by my hometown of Springfield, and I could stay with my Mom for free, and--hey!--another nearby convention!

I later found out many of my friends were there, like the Come Again Players/Genetic Imperfection, who do Rocky Horror Picture Show and Repo! The Genetic Opera.

One of the first panels I went to was one for Girl Gamers, which was great! (I ended up being on that panel the following year.) As an overall convention, it was very female friendly, which gave it bonus points in my book.

Anyway, Pi-Con has had me giddy all year because they invited me to be their Guest of Awesome this year. (The equivalent of the Fan Guest of Honor at most conventions.) Between the irony of the convention being local to where I grew up the total "uncool geek" through most of school and the fact that I'd fallen in love with this convention anyway, I've been on Cloud 9 since last Pi-Con.

It was like an omen for how excellent 2011 would be:

Editing an anthology (ok, behind on editing an anthology, but still!)
Renewed writing work
Major editing projects
HORSE!
President of Broad Universe
Poetry Sale
Another completed novel draft

And we're not even into my favorite month, September, yet!

Anyway, besides being the Guest of Awesome and being on a whole bunch of panels, I am also doing the following at Pi-Con:

Running a Dealer's Room with artsy and writery and sciencey friends (including Broads!)
Running a wonderfully caffeine-fueled Broad Universe party, sharing with a release party for Heir to the Sun
Bring Broad Universe to the Main Tent for a Rapid Fire Reading that I'm making extra special with a some games and trivia and--of course!--plenty of chocolate!

Please, please, please consider joining me at this convention (if you aren't already). :) It's taking place at the Holiday Inn Springfield-Enfield. Even if it is just for one day, try coming out on Saturday for the reading and the party and probably a bunch of other panels that I'll be on.

Stay tuned for my full schedule on Monday!

August 2011 Steampunk Episode

2011-08-14T23:28:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the August 2011 episode of the Broad Pod, sponsored by the Broad Universe.

Rae Lori, multi-genre author, artist and voracious book lover, is hosting episode which will be showcasing some Steampunk selections delivered right to your speakers. Reading this month are: Jody Lynn Nye, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Pauline Baird Jones and Emilie P Bush.

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So kick up your feet, grab your favorite treats and drinks and take a listen. You may discover some new and great reads to add to your bookshelf!

The Broad Pod is sponsored by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find out more about our organization, including new fiction released by women, more podcasts, and information about writing and publishing for women, visit our website at www.broaduniverse.org

BroadPod_Steampunk_Episode_08011.mp3 Listen on Posterous

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Meet Jennifer Brozek!

2011-08-10T17:10:00.000-04:00

A long time ago (I don't actually remember when), in a galaxy… well, still this galaxy, I had asked the excellent Jennifer Brozek for an interview, and I received it sometime in May… and it sat in my inbox until now! (Because I'm a dork like that.)

Now, finally, it's getting the sunlight it deserves. Not only is Jennifer another Broad (yay!), but I especially got interested in her work because she freelances for role-playing games, particularly ones which shaped my life, including DragonLance and White Wolf worlds. In 2010, she even won the Origins Award for Best Role Playing Game Supplement.

More recently, she's featured with several Broads and Friends of Mine in the collection of women-only written hard science-fiction stories, No Man's Land, available from DarkQuest Books.

And to give credit where credit is due, I borrowed Jennifer's photo from her webpage. :)

Now, I'm happy to introduce: Jennifer Brozek.

1. You've got an amazing body of work to your credit. What are you working on right now? What are you most proud of working on?

Thank you. I've always got an iron in the fire. I like to keep busy. Right now, I am finishing up a new anthology for Flying Pen Press called Space Tramps: Full Throttle Space Tales #5. It's about the lost people of a space faring society. I'm also working on a novella for Dark Quest Games' Shadeside RPG. The novella is called The Lady of Seeking in the City of Waiting. I've got a couple other things also but those are the two most immediate projects.

As for what I'm most proud of, that's a tough one. I think it has to be either my finance book, The Little Finance Book That Could or my horror collection, In a Gilded Light. The first one talks about how I became debt free and have remained so for over a decade—something that is close to my heart. The second one was a personal project that I never intended to have published. Then, once it was done, a couple of publishers became interested.

2. Your most recent release is a short story in the anthology No Man's Land called "M.O.V.E." Can you tell me what it's about?

"M.O.V.E." is about what happens to two female military cadets on a Military Observation Visit Experience. They are unexpectedly on the front line of an attack on a military space station. It is by their quick thinking that they save the space station from sabotage.

3. What inspired you to write this story?

I was asked to write a story about females in the military for the anthology No Man's Land. It was natural for me to look to my past for inspiration. I took an experience I had as an Air Force cadet—a base visit—and extrapolated what that sort of thing would be like in a space faring military.

4. This story is part of your Kember Empire series. For those of my readers who have never read any of your work, tell us a little about the Kember Empire.

The Kember Empire is the setting for a vast imperium that spans two colliding galaxies. I've written several stories and a novel in this setting. Most of the stories revolve around the Guardsmen (military), the Explorers (scientists/archeologists), the Counsel of Primes and the Counsel of Luminaries (politics). Obviously, "M.O.V.E." is based around the military and its culture.

5. What was the most exciting part of contributing to the No Man's Land anthology for you?

I've never been invited to an all female anthology before. I'm really looking forward to seeing the different points of view. Also, I am pleased to see that more and more women are taking an active role in writing military based fiction.

6. You've worked on both gaming literature and in speculative fiction. How do the two differ?

The short answer is that for gaming literature, you are playing in someone else's sandbox. In general speculative fiction, you are playing in your own sandbox. There are benefits and drawbacks to both. In gaming, you must get the continuity exact or someone will most definitely notice while in your own world, you can fudge things if you need to. In game writing, the heavy lifting of world building is already done for you while in your own writing, you need to do all that work of world building yourself. I enjoy both kinds of writing.

7. How did you break into the world of gaming?

I started out reviewing games for Black Gate magazine. Then, a friend of mine I gamed with online found out and asked if I would start reviewing games for his magazine, Campaign magazine. I did. So, when I pitched a fiction column to Campaign, that got picked up. A year later, my friend became an editor for Margaret Weis Productions and immediately hired me on as a writer for him. It was both a case of who I knew along with proving that I could work to a word count and a deadline.

8. Any future appearances you would like to mention?

I will be at GenCon and WorldCon/RenovationSF for certain this year. All other conventions are up in the air.

9. Where can we find you on the web?

I live on the web. I have a personal website at www.jenniferbrozek.com and a blog at jennifer-brozek.livejournal.com. I'm on Facebook (jennifer.brozek) and I'm on Twitter (@jenniferbrozek).

10. Anything that I've missed that you would like to mention?

I would be remiss in my editorial duties if I didn't mention the anthologies I edited. I have five of them coming out this year—two that are already out and three that are on their way.

· Beauty Has Her Way, Dark Quest Books, Feb 2011

· Human Tales, Dark Quest Books, Apr 2011

· Beast Within 2, Graveside Tales, Jul 2011

· Space Tramps, Flying Pen Press, Sep 2011

· Human for a Day, DAW, Dec 2011

Anthologies are some of my favorite editing jobs because I get to craft the product from start to finish while working with some of the best authors in the business.

This Week in Trish News

2011-08-08T19:04:00.000-04:00

My gemstone and bead order came in today!

I've mentioned before that one of my side hobbies is jewelry making. After all, we artistic folks are a fickle bunch. Yes, I love writing above all, but it's healthy to exercise the brain on several artistic endeavors--and just plain good for the soul.

And, for a rare occasion, I'll actually be selling some of what I've made at Pi-Con!

In particular, I'm making bookmarks and Decorated Divinations. Don't know what a Decorated Divination is? Don't worry. I made it up. Remember, I've also been reading Tarot for 15 years and will be running a Tarot & Writing workshop at Pi-Con. Still curious? Then you better come to the convention and I'll be happy to sort you out.

As an added note, that is one fabulous pile of gems that I only paid about $36 for, including shipping, so I'm happy to recommend Black Market Minerals for anyone else interested in gemstones and beads.

Besides exploring my non-writing artistry, I'm knee-deep in edits for UnCONventional.

I'm glad Kate and I picked stories we really liked and writers who we knew were good; it makes the reread-edit-reread-edit pattern much easier.

Arisia is also definitely holding a reading for us, and we will be having a fabulous release party! Be prepared… because weird is getting weirder. :)

Other work:

Press release deadlines.

New trainees.

Restaurant review.

I cannot forget the other Big Thing that has me running this week. Broad Universe is having our first Open Meeting on Sunday, August 14th, at 7PM Eastern Time (which is GMT - 4 hours)

Part of the problem is we're an international organization and we have members at all different technology levels, so we want to find something that is inclusive and free for anyone who wants to join.

Not as easy as you might think.

Morven Westfield, general tech goddess for many Broad Universe projects, is working on this. We're doing another test meeting tonight. Fingers crossed!

Now, I need to return to work. Happy Monday!

Wednesday Writer Wrists

2011-08-04T01:57:00.000-04:00

My wrists hurt.

I was up and on the computer by 11:30AM.

I slayed* some email.

I took a break from typing to make calls.

I slayed more email.

I took a break to do some dishes and put chicken and green chiles into the crock pot for tacos.

More email slayage.

Conference call with new Readings & Events Coordinator & Assistant.

More email slayage.

Break to put away laundry, wash the cat water fountain, feed cat.

Write agendas for Motherboard meeting and Open Meeting for Broad Universe--and anyone interested. Save the date! August 14th starting at 7PM Eastern time!

Break to check on taco stuff.

Properly filed into the new file cabinet some of the collected paperwork (dating back to 2006) in the "To Be Filed" folder in the OLD file cabinet.

Write a guest blog post for 1Bookshelf.blogspot.com

Break to finish preparing and actually EAT dinner. (I did eat cereal, yogurt, hummus, a peach, and a test taco at the desk throughout the day, lest you worry I didn't eat.)

Slay all/most emails related to Bay State Equine Rescue - Hey! Fundraiser where Calico lives. Horse of Course Family Fun Benefit at Whip-O-Will Stables on September 25th, for anyone living around Central Massachusetts!

Finish dishes for MIL before she comes to clean.

Listen to a podcast with Neil Gaiman as I continue with work…

Slay all Dragon*Con related emails.

Slay all Pi-Con related emails.

Pull spot checks to evaluate for my tutoring job.

Tally total email slayage at OVER 150 FREAKING EMAILS!!

Pause for a temporary, "Damn, I'm good!"

Realize I did not:

Finish my spot check.

Write any web copy for my web site

Write a press release for Broad Universe motherboard changeover.

Critique anything for UnCONventional.

Write my own durned blog post - wait, here it is! >check!<

Before I go to bed, I will go over one UnCONventional story. And then a housecleaning note & $ for Mom-In-Law. And then bed.

*In case you're wondering, my "slay" metaphor means to actually deal with, respond, record and do whatever else in regards to emails sitting in my inbox awaiting some sort of action. As I break to write this blog, there are 198 emails still awaiting action.

And Even More Bits & Ends

2011-08-02T00:42:00.000-04:00

And Even More Bits & Ends

On Technology

I totally thought my Blogger blog was what was getting posted to Facebook. In general, the Blogger version is a better overall blog because it does more and gives me less trouble. I can load photos more easily, I can caption said photos, and it doesn't inundate me with ridiculous advertisements whenever I want to do something. If you read me at novelfriend.blogspot.com, you often get a better blog that looks nicer.

So, when I couldn't get a cute Nylis picture to load on my Live Journal, I didn't think twice. In fact, for the past week as LJ was just not working at all and freezing, I didn't care. Then I got comments on my little [imagine cute cat photo here] or something quippy that I wrote on the LJ from my Facebook feed (because those come to me via email).

Ugh!

So, I got some suggestions. The biggest one was for the NetworkedBlogs app… but my ability to fake technology know-how has failed. I went through all the links on that and couldn't find how to just make my Blogger blog be automatically sent to Facebook (and, hopefully, LJ for that matter, so I don't have to double post all the time.)

Of course, I've been meaning to do something with the Wordpress account I opened about two years ago, but my fake-techno-superpower fails me there, too… and I don't have hours to kill.

Hell, I haven't even written up the copy my web mistress needs to update my website, which we worked on over a month ago.

Add to that: I lost my charger for my netbook at Readercon and the hotel cannot find it… and you have my great levels of Technology FAIL!!!

On Animals

Loki is still kicking… pretty well, too, despite the heat. He gets frozen water bottles twice a day and a fan on him constantly, so he actually has a better cooling system in his little hutch than we do in our overall house where the only AC unit is in the bedroom… and if that dies, we're SOL because it's built into the wall. (And it's getting testy.)

We're dealing with sunburns on Nylis' ears. The vet recommended we make sure to put Bullfrog brand sunscreen on her ears before she goes out, which we're doing. It's helping, but she's scratching the existing burns, so the vet said to put cortisone on those. They are slowly getting better. We're trying to avoid any need for a Cone of Shame… the local squirrels and birds laugh at her enough and are entirely unimpressed by her abilities to occasionally catch (and even less frequently kill) a slow mole or mostly-domestic mouse or an obese chipmunk or a seriously stupid baby bunny.

Calico is doing great. She's gotten a lot peppier during lessons and has a CLEAR preference for the outside--if only there weren't any aggravating bugs. We're in the process of discovering that we can bend (purposeful "we;" I'm not exactly the most athletic person, either.)

No, I don't have any new photos. I'm too busy having fun.

On Writing

I was supposed to start in on the critiques for UnCONventional, but I lost my day. I don't know where it went, but it ran away… likely in the Thunderstorms. So did any writing except for this blog, which is being posted after midnight… after the day has already run away and it's technically the next day and my blog is late.

Oh, and I still have hours to work… so, this is my writing.

Happy Manic Mon… er… Teriffic Tuesday.

Broadly Speaking: Humorous July

2011-07-30T13:01:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the July episode of Broadly Speaking, a podcast about the adventures of women writing science fiction, fantasy, horror - and everything in between.

This month three guests (well, sort of...) joined host Julia Rios to discuss the ins and outs of writing humor.

C.S.E. Cooney is the author of Jack o' the Hills, The Big Bah-Ha, and numerous short stories and poems. Claire mentioned Tom Lehrer's song, "The Masochism Tango" as an example of funny rhyme. You can see Tom Lehrer playing it here, and hear the way he rhymes mahogany with agony for yourself. And then Claire's poem, "The Sea King's Second Bride" won the Rhysling award for long form poetry on the very day this interview was recorded! Congratulations, Claire! You can listen to and read "The Sea King's Second Bride" in the Spring 2010 issue of Goblin Fruit.

Gwynne Garfinkle writes short stories, poems, and novels, some of which you can read online. "In Lieu of a Thank You" is one of those, which came up in the interview. You can visit Strange Horizons to read this tale of a woman who gets captured by a mad scientist and doesn't do what one might expect.

Mary Robinette Kowal won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2008, and is the author of the Jane Austen inspired fantasy novel, Shades of Milk and Honey. She's also a puppeteer (Here is the book trailer for Shades of Milk and Honey, and here's Mary performing "The Broken Bridge"), and the Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Her short story, "For Want of a Nail" is up for the Hugo award this year. Unfortunately Mary was unable to make it to the interview, so Claire presented her own left hand as "Mary-in-effigy". Stay tuned for a special message at the end of the podcast from Mary's Real Person!

And here's a picture of the three lovely interview guests:

Feeling Overwhelmed, Fur-Filled Friday

2011-07-29T12:47:00.000-04:00

Guess what? I'm still working on deadlines!

Please enjoy a cute tired kitty picture in lieu of a blog.

Thanks!

The New File Cabinet & The Mess

2011-07-26T21:59:00.000-04:00

Here's my spiffy new file cabinet rescued from a tree belt* after a tag sale** down the street about two weeks ago.

See how neat and clean and organized it looks? At the bottom of the photo are two bags: a paper bag for burning (I'll likely have another of my burning rituals when the weather is cool enough to signify an end to this wave of clutter.) and a reusable bag that now houses the three-ring binders that used to house the paperwork that now resides in the spiffy file cabinet.

I can haz organization?! :)

There are still a few things that need to be filed that are on my desk, and they are getting in the way of my focusing, so I must attend to them shortly. It's not the worst it's been, though.

Now, to the right of my desk is the rest of The Mess.

That is a three-shelf high book shelf. Note the Pile O Stuff reaches nearly to the top of the second bookshelf, preventing me from actually getting to the books on that shelf and the one below it. It's kinda scary. There may even be intelligent life evolving between the papers and books and Stuff in that pile. If you do not see a blog post, Facebook update, or an email from me in over a week, I may have been consumed by the Stuff and the hypothetical intelligent life that lives in that environment.

When you have this kind of upheaval, it's really hard to get actual work done. So, I need to give into the Cleaning Fairy and get this sh*t taken care of or she will beat me upside the head with her wand. Been there, done that… not a pretty sight. If I can do a certain amount each day, Cleaning Fairy will let me get bits of other work done… which is also what I need to do with deadlines and such.

Wish me luck… especially in negotiations with whatever Evolving Life Forms might be losing their Clutter-based Natural Environment.

* It's been brought to my attention that "tree belt" is a regional slang that may only exist in the 413 area code of Massachusetts. Specifically, it's that swath of grass between your sidewalk and the road, which has a dubious belongingness to both you and the city. For areas without sidewalks, it's the edge of your lawn separated from the road by the "curb." (Not called "curbing," which is supposedly the proper term is for that concrete separation, thank you Ms. Gilhooley, the faculty advisor for my high school newspaper.)

** "Tag sale" is the 413-ism for what everyone else in the nation (according to the H-of-A) calls "Yard Sale." Personally, I like "tag sale" better because nearly all of these sales use tags to denote the price, while the actual sale may take place anywhere from a driveway to a parking lot to a hall to a basement… not just someone's yard.

Another Bits & Ends for a Manic Monday

2011-07-25T03:14:00.000-04:00

Here comes the last week of July, and what's up with Trish? A lot, actually!

The pics are old ones from a very messy desk. My very messy desk… which is currently, horrifically, messy once again. It's bled out to one side and the book cases and has been doing so for some time. About a week or two ago, Scott got me a file folder cabinet and it has finally been moved into its new home beside my desk today, along with a new, narrower, bookshelf.

So, Stuff is getting rearranged. It makes for a great metaphor. I'm doing an awful lot of rearranging life around stuff right now. Here's a glimpse!

Good news! I have an acceptance to announce!!

New England Horror Writers accepted my poem "Kali's Promise" into their upcoming anthology, Epitaphs, which will be available 11-11-11 for Anthocon, in New Hampshire!

I haven't written much about New England Horror Writers, but it's another grassroots group that I'm proud to be a part of. If you write horror or dark fantasy and live in the New England area, definitely check out the group!

As I mentioned on Friday, I'm the new president of Broad Universe. :) There's a ton of stuff I need to do and reorganize for that… not the least of which is to write the press release.

I also have to reorganize all of my Broad Universe stuff that I inherited from Phoebe. I put two boxes in what I think will make a nice home. I have two more, plus my own collection of stuff.

That said, I am already talking about specific new projects on the horizon! Stay tuned.

Pi-Con just sent me my schedule! I'm on a bunch of panels AND working on a Rapid Fire Reading for Broads! I'll post it shortly.

Oh, and if you've missed it, I am their Guest of Awesome!

I'm also putting together a dealer's room with a few friends. We'll have art, jewelry… and some very special surprises. :)

Related to-dos: Um, actually fill out dealer paperwork, get party room for Broad Universe!

Come August, Kate Kaynak and I will start sending edits back to our fabulous contributors for UnCONventional!

As hard as some of the "no" responses were that we sent back, hearing so much excitement from all those we accepted is just amazing! We do have an excellent line-up, so keep an eye out for the book.

I owe my webmistress a bunch of stuff so she can update my website… oi!

On the non-fiction writing front:

1. I have a deadline on apples for the end of this week.

2. I have a review deadline end of this week.

3. I have to put together some horsey news within the next two weeks.

On the fiction writing front:

1. I owe my Trickster novel a synopsis; I promised the main character.

2. I need to re-edit "Photograph of a Mermaid" per various trusted people's advice and then resend it to Kate for UnCONventional.

3. I need to finish editing Kelpie.

And if you don't think that's enough to keep me busy (on top of my tutoring and training!), then you are far more sadistic than I am masochistic. :p

What am I doing blogging? I need to get to bed so I can get to work!!

Feminist Friday: Broad Universe Transitions

2011-07-22T15:06:00.000-04:00

Here's my Broad Universe story.

I've mentioned the wonderful Broad Universe multiple times on this blog. In a nutshell, we're an international, feminist, non-profit (501(c)3) organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women who write science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

I got involved through a colleague I met at Dragon*Con sometime in 2003 or after 2004, Katherine Mankiller, who introduced me to the group sometime in either 2005 or 2006. Finding their goals in line with mine, and having then-recently re-discovered my feminist passion thanks to another brief, but powerful, friendship (she moved; we lost contact), I joined right away.

About that time I was also "discovering" fandom and convention-ness. I'd been going to Dragon*Con since 2002, but despite being a total, bona fide, D&D-and-Magic-the-Gathering playing, Wizards-of-the-Coast-when-it-was-TSR reading, faery-seeking, science-loving, comics-collecting, honors-course-taking geek girl, I somehow totally missed the convention and fan culture. Being a member of Broad Universe introduced me to how many local conventions there were to me!

Nancy Jane Moore was in charge of readings at the time, and readings were really only just the Rapid Fire Readings held at a few conventions. (A Rapid Fire Reading is where BU convinces a convention to give us some panel time, and we squeeze as many readers as possible into that panel time, which gives many women a chance to read who wouldn't otherwise be on programming, and also increases our audience ratio because each reader brings a few people; the audience gets a great variety of fast-moving entertainment.) Between Nancy Jane and president, Phoebe Wray, and a few others I got invited to run the Rapid Fire Reading at Readercon. (I might have read in an RFR before then, but I'm not entirely sure of that.) I had plenty of help and coaching, and it was, indeed, an excellent RFR -as most are, particularly at Readercon, where a lot of Broads and friends convene.

Shortly after that, I got introduced to the idea of the Mailing Party, where our discussion list celebrates and pushes members to submit their work - as magazines and publications have often said they don't publish as many women as men because they don't receive as many submissions from women as men. So, we submit! Being a submission slacker, myself, I embraced the idea and was easily convinced I should "throw" a mailing party.

After some time of organizing more mailing parties and more readings around the New England Area - and even Balticon and a Worldcon! - Phoebe asked me if I was interested in joining the Motherboard as the new readings person, since Nancy Jane's term was up and she was ready to step down. I was floored, honored, and humbled to be asked. It took me a day to consider, but I said "yes!"

And then I really started to party. >:)

I had ideas, I was self-employed so my time was flexible, I was doing what I loved (and still am), and I still am a truly insane over-achiever. I always have been.

I started making lists of conventions people brought up and pushing members who were attending to create Broad events, like more Rapid Fire Readings. Our then-treasurer, Grace O'Malley, pointed out that only a small percentage of our members attended conventions, so we needed to do more things to serve those who didn't attend conventions. We came up with the idea for podcasts, and I flew with that (and as much as I love doing them, I'm happy to hand over the reins for 2012 to the most excellent Justine Graykin and Tracy S. Morris, who, among several supporters, gave me the help I needed to accomplish something I knew nothing about.) Readings got expanded to readings and events - at conventions and at local venues… and well, things continue to happen with more and more awesome volunteers stepping up to continue the group's growth.

Phoebe Wray, after 7 years of being a phenomenal president, was ready to step down and put her efforts into other places for the organization. She announced this over a year ago just to the Motherboard, and we were at a loss, because, really, there is no one like Phoebe with her energy, kindness, wisdom, and just stunning presence.

Earlier this spring, in a tiny and terrified voice, I chatted with Morven Westfield, who, other than Phoebe, had been on the board longer than I, and then to Phoebe, that maybe, if they thought I could handle it and if they thought it would be a good idea or if they thought I was totally crazy, unprepared, or whatnot… what did they think if, maybe, I stepped up to the role?

Both Morven and Phoebe thought it was a good idea, and that I was ready, and that they thought I was a good choice.

I started making plans… we would need a new Readings & Events coordinator, and I really couldn't expect anyone to be as masochistic as I was in regards to all my side projects, so I started working on my delegation and volunteer-requesting skills, and then, in May, still in a tiny and terrified voice, I asked the rest of the board what they thought about me stepping up to the position. Upon the rest of the board's approval, I moved forward with working on more transitions and planning.

Finally, this past Wednesday night, we had The Vote and Changes Happened.

Phoebe could step down and free up some time and energy to spend on the wonderful pet projects she had going on the side. I am in the process of freeing up my pet projects (though, more are on the horizon), and am stepping up… not entirely cured of feeling tiny and a little terrified, but getting better. On top of that, we have another strong and fabulous member and volunteer, Kimberly Long-Ewing, who is taking over the Readings & Events coordinator - now with an excellent assistant, April Grey!

On my to-do list is to make a formal press release about these changes, but I wanted to get down a little of the personal side for the blog. Broad Universe has been, and continues to be, one of the best resources I could imagine that has helped me achieve my own dream of being a writer. I have at least two short stories being published in 2012, possibly more, I've finished three novels, submitted more writing, built more confidence than I could have imagined, and met some of the most wonderful people who have become friends and colleagues - because I'm part of the organization.

That feeling of being tiny and terrified comes from a deep hope that I can return even a part of what everyone in Broad Universe has given to me, so far.

Not just because I'm president now, but because I believe in what Broad Universe does, I want to finish up this post with an invitation to my readers who aren't yet members… Even if you're not writers, even if you write outside of the science fiction, fantasy or horror genres, consider joining because in being a member, you're helping some amazing people achieve their dreams. And if you are a writer, genre or otherwise, I believe you'll be surprised at how Broad Universe can help you.

Thank you!

July 2011 Humor Episode

2011-07-18T02:43:00.001-04:00

The Broad Pod July Humor Episode by Broad Universe Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the 2011 July episode of the Broad Pod. Jody Lynn Nye, author of multiple science fiction and fantasy novels - mostly humorous - is proud to present the Humor episode in the rather silly month of July.

The Broad Pod is sponsored by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find out more about our organization, including new fiction released by women, more podcasts, and information about writing and publishing for women, visit our website at www.broaduniverse.org

July is full of reasons to laugh, from National Cow Appreciation day to Be Nice to New Jersey Week--and even Chocolate Day, so Jody and Broad Universe present a tickling collection of stories bits for our listeners. Jean Marie Ward teaches an important lesson on the creativity of Sirens, Jaleta Clegg shares a new version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," Tracy S. Morris relates a Bubba vacation tale in Hawaii, while Justine Graykin introduces us to spies who just want a little job security.

As Jody says, "Grab your favorite cow and some chocolate," and enjoy this month's episode of the Broad Pod!

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Some Horse Pictures for You

2011-07-14T01:18:00.000-04:00

Here are some adorable pictures of horses that sponsors of the trail ride I did this past Sunday helped!

The rescue herd enjoys some hay.

Avoca and Flicka chill out in the barn.

Piccolo demands you appreciate his adorableness with a side of adorable.

Epona says, "Worship me. I am a cute pony!"

Bailey says, "Nom-nom-nom. I haz a big pile o' hay!"

Piccolo wants to know if the camera is edible.

Because pony butts are just durned cute, Flicka and Epona model for you.

Keep an eye here for interviews and profiles of some of my donors!! Thank you everyone who made this happen. The horses appreciate it! (And treats. But you supplied them treats, so they love you.)

Meeting a Non-Writing Goal

2011-07-11T04:26:00.000-04:00

Shortly after I adopted Calico, Amanda Miller - a personal life coach, Mary Kay salesperson, and friend of mine - asked me what my goals were with my horse. My first thought was: um, goals? I had some short term plans on learning more about horses and horse training and actually riding with certain frequency. They were vague. A far cry from the details of my yearly business plan.

"Are you going to show her?" Manda asked.

I had absolutely no plans on showing. With my history in doing physical activities, the best way for me to find my balance in the saddle likely wouldn't look pretty for judges - no matter how good the communication between me and Cali ended up.

Then an idea hit me.

When I started working for the Bay State Equine Rescue, the summer of 2003, Prez Susan told me about a Sponsored Trail Ride fundraiser. Naïve me immediately thought of the trail rides often offered by farms where you hop on a stone-cold lesson horse and wander through trails in a big group of equally naïve horse people. I could do that!

Noooo…

Susan asked if I had a horse, and I said no. She asked me who I'd ride. We both ended up confused.

I had no idea that people who owned horses actually loaded them up in trailers to go walk on trails through the woods! And that they needed, like, vaccinations and permits to do that. And that there was organizations where you counted miles you did that!

Most horse people - at least those I've met - have this vague notion of the trail ride I was thinking of: clueless city refugees sitting awkwardly in saddles, afraid to actually steer their horses (I don't want to be mean!) and following each other in an guided line through woods or beaches or whatnot. But that's not what they think when they think "trail ride."

So, now that I had My Own Horse, I could do a proper trail ride!

That would be my goal. My goal was to ride Calico in the BSER Sponsored Trail Ride. And finish it safely.

(Now, earlier this year, I also learned about the Breast Cancer Ride for the Ribbon, which I took part in, but did not end up finishing that whole trail for a number of reasons - one of which, admittedly, was my confidence. I was given an "out", and I took it.)

But today, TODAY, I finished the BSER Trail Ride. Another of Amanda's students and her aunt were there, so I had companions to ride with (Phew! Calico doesn't like not being with other horses!) We wandered through Old Sturbridge Village for about an hour, then spent a little over another hour doing the shortest loop trail. Yes it was short, but we finished it!

It was just the right length for us. I have one saddle sore and some achy muscles, but I couldn't be happier!

It was an accomplishment for me and Calico as a team. We took turns being the "confident" one in several situations. Together, we'd never crossed bridges before. On all but one of the dozen or so bridge crossings, we were in the lead… and I may be anthropomorphizing here a bit, but I swear she had a swagger to her as if to say, "Really guys? This is a bridge!"

(Coming across a gentleman changing trash bags was an altogether different story, but I got to be the confident one there.)

Now, last week I had the good fortune of helping blaze this particular trail. It had a lot of downed trees that we made detours around, a water crossing, and a few especially (to me, Ms. Horse-Owner for < 1 year) steep hills. Ones I was being cautions on while on my own two feet.

Yeah, Calico didn't see any issue. (That may well be due to all the hill drills that Amanda had us do in lessons.) She was through them before I even had a chance to think about falling. And by the time we got to them, I wasn't the least bit wobbly.

In fact, there wasn't even a single time I recall feeling less than stable on her back. And the group of us were handing cameras back and forth, chatting, and Calico even had that one spook with the trash bags. With both of us, we were moving so easily together! In the ring, on occasion, she has "choppy transmission" where she'll almost stop when going from a trot to a walk. We transitioned probably about twenty times between walking and trotting through the trails and not once was she anything but smooth!

I've summitted a couple of mountains, canoed, gotten utterly lost for miles and then found on hikes… and as much as I love those activities, I've never felt near the ecstatic accomplishment as I did when we got back to the trailers after our ride. It wasn't just me accomplishing something, it was me as part of a team that depended on each other and trusted each other in the unique way that only a horse and rider can do.

It was awesome.

* And apologies for the extensive blogging hiatus. I've had a ton of deadlines and work - but it's all paid stuff! Anyway, I've written a blog or two about having to get back into the blogging saddle… so here I go again! [Ok, I didn't tag my back-in-the-blogging-saddle posts…. and I'm ready for bed.

The Obligatory Writers Block Post

2011-06-30T01:39:00.000-04:00

Every author everywhere gets the question, "What do you do about writers block?"

At the event last Wednesday, it was one of the first few questions presented to Neil Gaiman, who has answered this question multiple times already if you've ready any interviews with him.

The crux of the message is that "Writers Block" is a made up ailment by a super-creative group of people who are suffering the same apathy anyone else does of just not wanting to work at the moment. Engineers, doctors, plumbers, secretaries all have days when they are in a funk and are not as productive as they usually are; they don't decide to take time off due to engineer-block, doctor-block, etc. Writers are clever folk who decided they get to say this.

That’s not to say writers don't get stuck or bored with a project. The point is that Writers Block is no excuse to stop working. Someone in any other career will feel bored or stuck, too, but they have to show up and force themselves to perform. Period.

If writing is your job, you do it. If you’ve been writing for a while, you probably have several projects you could be working on if you are stuck on something. If what you're stuck on isn't on immediate deadline, great! Work on something else. Don’t spend hours on an online game or in front of TV. Write. Something.

If you are stuck on what's deadline, congratulations, you're working like everyone else in the world. :) You have to plough through and force words on the page. And then edit them.

As Gaiman also pointed out, when he looks back on a finished manuscript, he knows he had days where the words flowed like magic from his fingers and he knows he had days where he fought to get 100 words on a page, but he cannot tell which was which.

Over the past few weeks, I've had a number of projects that needed to get finished. I was working on my short story for UnCONventional, and found myself at a stuck point. I knew there had to be a face-off between the protags and the antags, and I knew who would win, but I wasn't entirely sure how. Fortunately, I had plenty of other deadlines, and some new characters for a story I may or may not write (It depends how long they stick around in my head) distracted me in my "down" time of laundry and dishes. Spending a few days not thinking of my issue, but working on other stuff that was due and letting my imagination just wander, was exactly what I needed. The "fix" came to me in one of those almost-awake dreams that I could still remember – the ones that arrive between smacks of the snooze button.

Now, if I had to, I probably could have just buckled down and written through it – but it would have taken more words and edits. It still would have gotten done.

The lesson? Start work ahead of time so you have room to play with when you get stuck. Have multiple projects you can work on to give stories a rest. Never, ever give up and give into the myth of Writers Block as an excuse to not write.

Just write.

The Pride of June ((LGBT, LGBTQ, Feminist, Women, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance))

2011-06-28T00:27:00.001-04:00

Broadly Speaking: Pride Month by Broad Universe Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the June episode of Broadly Speaking, a podcast about the adventures of women writing science fiction, fantasy, horror - and everything in between.

Trisha J. Wooldridge hosts this month's episode of Broadly Speaking. In the United States, June is celebrated as Pride Month, a time to show support of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer members of our society. Broad Universe is happy to wave our rainbow flag for members who identify, write, and publish in the GLBTQ communities. Our earlier June podcast, the Broad Pod, was dedicated to fiction featuring GLBTQ characters, and now, Broadly Speaking is happy to interview five of our members on GLBTQ fiction, publishing, and activism.

Catherine Lundoff and JoSelle Vanderhooft recently edited a Hellebore & Rue: Tales of Queer Women and Magic. Both have written and edited numerous excellent stories and collections. Elissa Malcohn, member of the Broad Universe motherboard, is author of the Deviations series as well as a prolific poet and activist. Cecilia Tan is owner and founder of Circlet Press and author of the popular online serial - now available in paperback - The Prince's Boy. Racheline Maltese focuses a lot on non-fiction and academic prose related to queer topics and activism.

Join us for a spell or two while we wax with Pride on multiple topics related to writing, reading, and publishing!

Go to Bed!

2011-06-27T04:43:00.000-04:00

Inevitably, my pre-dawn posts inspire well-meaning friends and family to order me to get some sleep. I understand, I do.

Sometimes they're right.

I will often stay up late trying to fit in all of the to-dos that I overbooked myself to accomplish in a day. Sometimes I wander off to read some of my favorite webcomics and lose track of time.

Other days, it's not my fault.

Tonight I'm awake and typing on L'il Rosie while Big Rosie is getting a huge scan to kill some piece of malware that attacked earlier this evening. Scott stayed up as late as he could, but he has less flexibility than I do in scheduling – especially this month. So, I'm up, babysitting a malware scan.

My note for tonight actually had written on it (in caps): BED BY 1AM.

Ha! The Universe continues to focus on me as a bit of late-night entertainment. Obviously, some celestial being/s appreciate the irony of me being mostly able to complete my to-do list and moreso at the expense of being unable to meet a particular list item.

(Well, two list items. Broadly Speaking was supposed to go up tonight. Yeah… let's not post a file that may be infected! The link is for last month. In the mean time, enjoy this month's Broad Pod. It's still the PRIDE theme!)

Another loss, all of my short stories and poetry are on Big Rosie. While I had one WIP that got sent out tonight – so I DID meet my "send subs" list item, I could not send out more. :(

As I am doing a bloggy-type-blog and not relying on the Broadly Speaking announcement to be my Manic Monday blog, I may as well tell anyone interested what I've been up to… and why the last two scheduled blogs are mysteriously missing.

I've had a lot of deadlines. Like, a LOT. And a lot of out-of-the-house plans. And meetings. And computer problems.

Basically, I will be facilitating an online course for the next 8 weeks – the same one I finished all the edits for. That was a bunch of meetings and projects for this week. I also had some articles due and follow-ups on my team reviews.

And I had a well-deserved writer-girl day on Wednesday where I went up to Portsmouth, NH with my Broad Universe buds, Jennifer Allis Provost and Justine Graykin. We went to hear Neil Gaiman speak. As it was an educational experience, it's totally a work-related business trip and expense. And Jenn and I did a Mexican food review that I turned in that day. Dinner at the Coat of Arms, a proper British Pub in Portsmouth, was excellent research for those of us writing about the UK. Sometimes I really, really love being a writer!

And then, of course, the sleep deprivation sinks in and your hopes of catching up slip from your fingers with the flowing scan bar progress of Malwarebytes.

I still really, really love being a writer. And I'll go to bed when I damn well feel like it! (Here, Scan Gods, have some chocolate so this will be over soon so I can go to bed? Please?)

Writergirl, Writergirl, How does your Garden Grow…

2011-06-20T04:15:00.000-04:00

Overgrown and unsupervised,

Mr. Charles Darwin they all know.

'Cos I rarely weed, or clean or plant

I don't even have to sow.

I've got work to do, plants must be stubborn to survive

'Cos more deadlines come when others go.

Ok, I totally lost the meter there, but you get the idea. We've got a small-average size house on 3/4 of an acre of land surrounded by woods. I have a few beds I do at least keep an eye on.

My Fairy Garden

The Falling Steps

The Secret Stairway

The Roses

Currently, only the Fairy Garden is weeded/cleaned. That's where most of my herbs grow: mint, sage, lavender. And it has a little angel. Oh, and it's pretty small. The Falling Steps are smaller, but I don't know what all everything is.

My excuse about The Roses is that there is a big table in my way. And that pretty wine-red one is probably a bush older than me, so I just let her do her thing. Scott finally got me trellises a few years back.

The Secret Stairway is cool, but there's this funky plant that sorta-kinda looks like Queen Anne's Lace but isn't that always overgrows it faster than anything. (Even worse than mint!)

Gardening gets done under these conditions: It's nice out (not too hot, not too cold), Scott is doing something outside with me, and/or I've done so much desk work that I need physical labor to balance my energy. (AKA - I just need to KILL THINGS and weeds are a perfectly acceptable subject of my violent tendencies.)

Since I have a horse and, therefore, a positive outlet for physical energy, Saturday, mid-June, was the first time since about April or so that my gardens have received any energy beyond the passing thought of "Yeah, I oughta do that… ooh - shiny deadline!"

Gardening is good for the soul and generally leads to other creative endeavors: A crapload of mint? Mojitos, tabouleh (with mint), curry lamb meatballs (with mint), and mint chutney (which, for reference, uses way more mint than pesto uses basil). If not cooking, I make flower arrangements and put them all over the house (usually to the annoyance of Scott because I forget he actually needs to see the television regularly.)

It's good to exercise my other creative tendencies. I didn't paint or draw in Myrtle Beach; I wrote… a lot. So, my mind needs other non-writing projects to balance out all I'm doing now. Which feels like it's going slow until I actually pile it all up.

I might do that for you for Writerly Wednesday. ;) Assuming I'm not fighting to meet another deadline.

Which I might be.

Yeah… with a few exceptions, my plants are in the hands of Darwin this year; if they live until next year, we can talk again.

Wish us luck!

June 2011 Pride Month ((LGBT, LGBTQ, queer, feminist, fiction, science fiction, fantasy, broad universe))

2011-06-14T00:22:00.001-04:00

Broad Pod June Pride by Broad Universe Listen on Posterous

Welcome to the 2011 June episode of the Broad Pod! Trisha Wooldridge from A Novel Friend Writing and Editing hosts this month's collection of short readings celebrating Pride for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queer topics.

The Broad Pod is sponsored by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find out more about our organization, including new fiction released by women, more podcasts, and information about writing and publishing for women, visit our website at www.broaduniverse.org

June is national LGBTQ month, and our podcast today celebrates stories from across the rainbow spectrum. Kelly A. Harmon shares a tale of two women who hunt wyverns, inspire skylights, and refuse to submit to men's assumptions. Jennifer Pelland shows the heartache of a woman forced to confront an android copy of her beloved wife. Connie Wilkins rewrites a bit of World War 2 with a female demolitions expert's first encounter with magic-weaving woman in Breton. Roberta Gregory reads an excerpt where her female protagonist realizes she shouldn't make assumptions about anyone's sexuality - including her own. Jessica Freely closes this collection with a touching test of trust in a society suffering from transgendered class warfare.

Broad Universe is proud to support our members who are part of and who write in the LGBTQ community, and these beautiful stories should give you a few good reasons why. Enjoy!

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Untitled

2011-06-13T23:23:00.001-04:00

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Writerly Wednesday: Busy Writing Fiction

2011-06-09T02:11:00.000-04:00

I met with my Spencer Hill Press co-editor for lunch today about UnCONventional. We are in agreement on a bunch of things - yay!

In the meantime, I need to finish writing MY contribution. It involves lesbians, a cruise ship, mermaids, and has been helped by a lengthy email discussion with a good friend about SCUBA and underwater photography.

You TOTALLY want to read this anthology when it comes out in January. You know you do!

Oh… and yeah, we're still open to submissions until JULY 1ST! :)

How many words in a picture?

2011-06-07T04:48:00.000-04:00

I had a blog that I wanted to post Friday, but I got caught up in too much work. It's below the tornado pictures that had me so busy upon my return from Myrtle Beach and Wiscon. I think they're good enough reason why I have not been online very much.

You see, an F-3 tornado hit my hometown… the neighborhood where I grew up.

My brother standing on one of the streets hit hard by the tornado.

Mangled street signs.

A New View: Now we can see the Wilbraham hills where we once only saw trees and houses.

Looking down my street.

This is my back yard after three days of cleaning. In front, the dog's area is destroyed. Behind, neighbor's trees are still toppled. Fortunately, Mom's house only had a few thousand $ worth of damage as opposed to having to be demolished.

My brother, Travis (in yellow), Scott (in a navy Worldcon shirt, Travis' friend and Travis' friend's Dad help take apart the uprooted tree that filled the backyard. Buried 3 feet in the ground is a limb from this tree.

Mom's little shrine, and the tiny plants around it: Untouched by the storm.

On Wednesday, we had several tornadoes touch down around Massachusetts. Now, MA is a small state, and I'm a pretty social gal, so there are few places where I don't know people. Thing is, I was dead tired from Wiscon, so I slept in and didn't know what was going on for most of the day.

Here's what's so cool about living in the future:

My friend Renée, who lives in Connecticut, sent me a text asking if my mother was ok because she had seen on the news that a tornado touched down in Springfield (where my Mom lives.)

I called my mom and couldn't get ahold of her for a good 40 minutes, so I called my brother, Travis, who lives in New York City and asked if he got ahold of Mom.

Travis called his best friend, who lives four houses down from Mom, to go check on her.

Mom's landline came back, and I got ahold of her just as Travis' friend was calling him to assure him that Mom was ok.

After hearing how things were in my neighborhood (trees blown over & uprooted, a kitchen window cracked, garage windows broken, but nothing "major" per Mom), I sent a text to several of my other friends in the 413 area code. One only had texting ability, so she got back to me quickly. Another sent me a text a few hours later, and several others I saw on Facebook.

In the meantime, Phoebe, who lives out in Ayer, gave me a call because a tornado had touched down in Worcester, and Phoebe told me that Morven was bundled in the cellar with her laptop and kitty.

Morven had sent out emails to her friends and the various discussion lists we shared. From there, I heard from several other people that they were doing ok.

So, in a matter of hours, I knew the people I loved were safe and mostly sound - even as the storms still raged around my house.

A few months ago, my friend, Aimee Weinstein, who lives in Tokyo, was able to assure her friends and family of her safety per Facebook updates, even though phone calls and cellular signals were jammed after horrible earthquake.

While I still see - and will probably still find - things to complain about regarding technology and culture in current society, there's an awful lot to be thankful for.

Let me end on a positive note. On Sunday, Calico and I rode with our friends from Hillview Stables and Whip-O-Will Stables in the Ride for the Ribbon, raising money to help women fight breast cancer. It was wonderful! Thank you to everyone who supported us!

The Prancing for Pink Team: Beverly Darling on Elmo, Me on Calico, Kim Fontaine on Mac, and Amanda on Sugar.

Kim took a pic of me and Amanda starting the ride :)

'Cos who doesn't love Pink Ribbon Bums?

Remembering who I'm riding for. Love you, Mom!

May Broadly Speaking: Honoring the Mother of All Science Fiction

2011-06-01T21:00:00.001-04:00

shelly_broadpod.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Mothers Day falls in the month of May. In honor of this, our May edition of Broadly Speaking focuses on Mary Shelley and her first novel, Frankenstein.

Hostess Tracy S. Morris (http://tracysmorris.com) speaks with Trisha Woolridge (http://www.anovelfriend.com/) and Melanie Fletcher (http://www.melaniefletcher.com/) about Shelley’s influences, the history of Frankenstein and current interpretations of the work.

First up, Tracy talks to Trisha about Shelley’s influences, including her scientific readings, her grounding in feminism, and the year there was no summer.

Then Tracy interviews Melanie about one of her works in progress, a retelling of Frankenstein from the point of view of Frankenstein’s wife. They also talk about Shelley’s portrayal of the women in Frankenstein and Shelley’s own conflicting views of childbirth and motherhood.

Broadly Speaking is brought to you by Broad Universe, an international organization dedicated to promoting, celebrating, and honoring women in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and everything in between. Find out more about Broad Universe at www.broaduniverse.org Broad Universe is a registered 501c3 organization. If you'd like to support our mission to promote, celebrate, and honor women, your donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

We hope you enjoy this electrifying episode.

Look for me at Wiscon!

2011-05-25T23:32:00.000-04:00

I'm actually light on paneling for this convention, so you could just find me at the Broad Universe table just outside the Dealer's Room. Look for our Space Quilt sign!

Besides sitting at the table and attending panels, here's where I'll be:

Friday, 4PM, Conference 2

Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading

Members of Broad Universe, an international organization dedicated to promoting and celebrating women in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and everything in between, will present snippets of available and on-going work. Expect the touching and irreverent, humorous and frightening, action-packed and emotional, poems and prose, and at least a few surprises!

Sunday, 10AM, Room 634

It's a Broad Universe

Broad Universe is an organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women who write science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Come meet some members of Broad Universe and learn what tools and resources the non-profit organization offers to women writers from beginners to established levels.

Sunday, 1PM, Conference 4

Your Fandom is Ok!

It's important to remember that just because you don't like a particular fandom, you don't have the right to put down those who do. (We're looking at you, Twilight haters!) Everyone's fandom is OK! In this panel, we'll discuss why this is true, and what we can do to encourage better understanding among all members of fandom.

Sunday, 8:30PM, Room 629

BROAD UNIVERSE & NO MAN'S LAND PARTY

Come and party with fabulous Broads and amazing military fiction writers as we celebrate how kick-a$$ awesome women writers are! There will be readings and lots of fun. Beer, wine, tea, coffee, and hot chocolate will be available for beverages, along with tea sandwiches, cookies, chocolate, and CAKE!

Woooooooo Wiscon!

Too busy to write today

2011-05-24T00:59:00.000-04:00

Feel free to make your own captions... I'm exhausted!

Flying and Foodie Friday: Myrtle Beach Red Eye Special

2011-05-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

A thick fog consumed Worcester Airport, leading to a series of misadventures that dropped the Wooldridge Clan in Myrtle Beach at 2AM and without access to their rental car…

… Our first southern meal was at 11AM today, after finally obtaining said rental car, at a Waffle House.

Any further blogging on the subject is irrelevant.

Coffee, waffles, coffee, and (unpictured) "scattered" hash browns with "all the works."

Fun to blow out your entire caloric count in one meal, huh? Good thing I'm doing a lot of walking while I'm down here!

The Beautician and the Writer

2011-05-19T03:29:00.000-04:00

A haircut and pedicure can be intellectually stimulating.

Geek girl, fabulous hair!

Because of finances, my last trip to my usual salon was around Thanksgiving, and before that… well, the Thanksgiving before that. (2010 was a crappy finances year.) On top of that, the last trip to the salon had my usual beautician, Edna, on maternity leave.

It was good to see her today. She's, and most of who she works with, are really amazing people - particularly when it comes to social interaction. As an example, it had been over a year and a half since I last saw Edna. Yet, despite that lapse of time, she still remembered to ask about my pets, my family, my brother. Now, she sees hundreds, if not more, people regularly. But she remembered me!

It was by sheer luck my niece had recently reminded me she saw Edna and knew she had been out on maternity leave that I remembered to ask how her new baby was.

Then again, once we got talking, I remembered to ask about her puppy, her family in Colombia, and her husband.

Again, a lapse of over a year and a half… with someone I'd seen maybe every 3-5 months for maybe 2 years before.

As a writer, I find human interaction fascinating. People who work in service have a special set of characteristics that make them good at what they do. Remembering conversational details, being able to compliment at just the right time, and finding the balance of a personalized business relationship come easily - or they work hard to make it seem so.

Another part of the job is making people feel good about themselves. Now, it sounds almost manipulative to say it like that - but people who do well in these jobs do have that caring personality. My mom, as an Avon lady, kept notes for herself when her customers were going through rough times - or really good times - so that she remembered to follow up and see how they were doing. I'm pretty sure Edna doesn't keep a notebook - if she does, I didn't see it, but she kept straight in her head enough information on me where we could continue our personal relationship. It made me feel better as her client, and it benefits her because I request her over and over, and I do my best to tip properly.

Being aware of this kind of relationship helps a writer on two levels. In the craft, it's a great study of dialogue and professional relationship. There's only so much time during a salon visit or an Avon call, how do you communicate these tiny, personalized details so that you can establish a relationship so quickly? This is important for introducing readers to our characters and giving our characters good dialogue.

On the business end, paying attention to this kind of concentrated and powerful communication helps us with our queries and pitches - make someone fall in love with your book in 2-3 sentences. Also, this is a great networking technique. If follow an agent's blog and can remember that s/he just made a sale, open a conversation by congratulating that sale. It's a small detail, but it's personal and it makes the person feel good about themselves. If an agent is sharing information on their blog, it's an ongoing conversation and you're welcome to kindly continue it. The key is "kindly." Human beings want to feel good about themselves, so making someone feel good about it - and really meaning it - opens up more chances for a positive conversation or interaction.

Some networking groups I've been to suggest writing a memorable hint on the back of someone's business card. That's all fine and well, but you really don't want to be fumbling for someone's business card during a conversation. Make a point to remember something positive about that person you're speaking with that you might be able to mention in future conversations.

Returning to your story, what are the most important points in your main character's life during your story? You should be able to have just one or two things that stand out, and those ought to be a major part of your plot. (If you have more than one or two things that are UTTERLY IMPORTANT, you may need to go back to your craft. Check out the Storyfix blog for great advice on that.) If you were meeting your main character in person, what would you bring up in a conversation? Use these things in your pitch or query - just as if you were introducing a close friend to a new acquaintance that you hope might be a positive connection for your friend.

I can haz cute feetsies?

Thanks to Edna, not only do I have fabulous hair on my head, lack of hair where I want a lack of hair, and adorable beach feet (take a look - this doesn't happen often!), I have some new ideas on how to crafty my query for Kelpie.

I totally needed this spa day!

May 2011 Celebrating Motherhood

2011-05-17T05:26:00.001-04:00

May_Full_episode_final_mp3.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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Welcome to the 2011 May episode of the Broad Pod! Trisha Wooldridge from A Novel Friend Writing and Editing hosts this month's collection of short readings celebrating mothers from women writing across the realm of speculative fiction.

The Broad Pod is sponsored by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, honoring, and celebrating women writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Find out more about our organization, including new fiction released by women, more podcasts, and information about writing and publishing for women, visit our website at www.broaduniverse.org

May is for mothers, and our podcast today celebrates all kinds of motherhood. Vonnie Winslow Crist shares surprising and magical consequences when a young woman mothers a baby bird back to health; Ann Wilkes' military science fiction has strange visitors chatting with a mother in her home; Roberta Gregory's people are celebrating the mother goddess; a young wizard has to rescue his mother from a terrible date in Katherine Mankiller's tale; and Suzanne Reynolds Alpert introduces us to the 16-year-old embodiment of the mother goddess Quan Yin.

Mothers are special beings, so sit back and listen to these great Broad snippets of how many ways someone can be a mother.

Posted via email from The Broad Pod posterous

Horses for Fantasy Writers II: Oh, the Pain!

2011-05-11T03:42:00.000-04:00

A few episodes back in the HBO version of A Game of Thrones, there was a brief scene of Daenerys getting off her first long ride on a horse. Her three servants had to help her down and all but carry her to her tent. Scott turned to me and smirked. "You know that feeling, huh?"

Oooooh yes!

Strangely enough, not many new writers do.

The truth: Riding a horse is hard work!

I ride 1-2 times a week and I've worked my stamina up to a little over an hour in the saddle. Still, if I'm doing a lot of trotting or climbing hills, I'm reaching for ibuprofen the next day. And, usually, I'm wobbly for a good 10-15 minutes after dismounting.

Because, you don't just sit on a horse. If you did that, you'd fall off. Or hurt yourself, or hurt your horse… which brings us back to you eventually leaving your saddle unintentionally.

With a saddle

Your feet go in the stirrups with the ball of your foot on the stirrup, but your heels actually hold your weight and balance. That means your calves are getting a good stretch. You stabilize yourself with your knees, especially if you're leaning forward while going up a hill or holding yourself up for a trot. Every muscle around your thigh should also be helping you keep your balance. Your glutes and abs adjust to maintain your center of balance. If you've got a particularly spirited or stubborn horse, your arms and wrists are getting one helluva workout while steering and turning. If you're stressed, your neck and shoulders are going to tense and ache. (While that's not good riding, it's a common occurrence.) Now, if you're female and not wearing proper support… which, per most fantasy cover art seems to be pretty common, your whole chest is just burning in pain, and that affects your pecs, shoulders, neck, and back. If you're a male and you're not sitting properly, using your thigh muscles and glutes to protect your manhood, well, you're in a whole lot of other hurt.

Anyone learning to ride should expect a lot of pain in the legs and abs from working them. Also, anyone learning to ride ought to expect a lot of pain from strains and poor posture (that we hope, eventually, gets fixed.)

A saddle better distributes weight through the lower body and, if well made, helps ease muscle strain. It can also offer a certain amount of psychological support since new riders are often scared to actually grip a horse's mane no matter how many times they're told it doesn't hurt the horse.

Saddles also offer some extra potential injuries. If you get thrown or fall and can't get your foot out of the stirrup, you get dragged and/or kicked. Saddles can slide - forwards, backwards, and side to side. This will scare a horse and totally mess with your own balance. Imagine your horse breaking into a canter and - oops! - you didn't tighten your girth enough (another newbie mistake) and the saddle, with you in it, floops right to your poor horses belly!

Without a Saddle

So, your character hops on a horse without a saddle. He or she better have especially strong thighs or it's take-off and hard landing time. All the grip has to be in the thighs and core muscles to stay on, even at a walk. You feel every move of the horse, every turn, and there's nothing for you to brace against, like stirrups, when the horse changes gears - either faster or slower. Balance is key.

On top of that, it can be more painful for the horse because there's nothing distributing the character's weight over a larger area. The pressure is right on the spine, so it's more work for the horse to keep her balance and move. A horse laden with armor and a heavy saddle can be better balanced with a heavy rider than a somewhat heavy rider - especially a newbie who may not have his or her balance, so is bouncing on the spine - going bareback.

The Inevitable Stomp and Fall

Starting on the ground: It is an Indisputable Truth that if you spend copious amounts of time around horses, you WILL get stepped on. On purpose, accidentally… but likely both.

I've lost count of times I've been stepped on. In those times, I can honestly say the best foot protection is modern hiking boots with a reinforced - but NOT metal - toe. Or, of course, proper riding boots with reinforced toes.

A note on that metal bit… if you've got a knight in full mail with metal boots of some sort… a stomp on that metal will actually do more damage. Why? The metal will dent, if not bend or split, to the hoof, and it can cut off circulation to the toes. Unless someone actually cuts away that metal bit very quickly, your character is in deep manure. I've heard of many horror stories of steel-toe boots leading to lost toes or substantial foot and nerve injuries.

Well-made leather boots are your character's best safety measure on the stomping, but it will happen, and your character will likely limp for a few hours if it was an accident, a day or so if it was on purpose.

The second Indisputable Truth about horses is that you WILL fall off. Master horsemen and horsewomen fall off. In fact, they've lost track of when they lost count of how many falls they've taken.

A fall off a horse is close to the equivalent of a low-to-mid-speed car accident. Actually being thrown from a royally pissed off horse can be as much damage as a car accident at 50-70 miles per hour.

And if you're writing high fantasy, unless you're in armor of some sort, remove all those fun safety measures that cars have.

Assume there is a certain degree of whiplash and at least a bruised rib or two, if not a cracked rib or two. If your character's not wearing a helmet, there's potential for a concussion - or at least a good hard goose-egg and some dizzy vision. There's a high possibility of bruised hip-bones, sprained or strained ankles and/or wrists. We're not even getting into broken bones, or worse, broken backs/necks or immediate death from head injuries

The funny thing about most horse fall injuries, though? Unless they are serious, you don't feel the pain of them right away. That's why most people can get right back on a horse after a fall… you miss the part where they can hardly get out of bed the very next day. As soon as the body realizes it's falling or is getting thrown, adrenaline rushes in and masks the pain. Also, once you realize you can stand and aren't actually dead or have a major broken bone (if you're lucky), there's also a huge feeling of relief and euphoria - I just survived that!

When you're planning to have characters ride horses, be prepared for the pain if you want to be realistic. While a fall or an injury - or even general wear and tear - might be a bit inconvenient to your Save-the-World plot, it makes for good character development and can be used as a good plot device when you need a character to be a bit weaker.

Happy Riding & Writing!

A Little Escape from Mania

2011-05-09T00:10:00.000-04:00

Well, at least when I go to the barn.

People have been asking me for more pictures of Calico. Truth is, we're actually doing more stuff now, so I never think of taking pictures or asking Amanda to take pictures.

It's like handing me the camera at a convention. I'm having too much fun to stop and take a photo.

Callie seems to be having fun, too. She really likes exploring outside and is responding well to new stuff we're learning together. As always, she's also very protective. I'm learning the "half seat," which is basically leaning over and not sitting in the saddle. First few times she felt me move out of the saddle, she stopped and looked back to make sure I was ok. When we got down that we could do this at a walk, we moved to a trot. If we started the trot when I was half seat, she was good, but if I decided to take a half seat while trotting, she had to stop and make sure I was ok. Last lesson ended on the good note of us trotting a full lap around the ring - and over the Poles of Doom - with me in the half seat. Yay!

The Poles of Doom are these small birch logs that we use to count steps and make the horses learn to extend and stretch their legs more - or, at least be more aware of where their hooves are falling - while we move. Calico would prefer not to think of exactly where her feet are falling, so she doesn't like them. However, it's good for both of our movement and balance, so we work on them a little each lesson. If I'm not paying full attention, though, she'll cut around them.

It's really hard to pay attention while learning to keep your own balance in stirrups at a trot when you probably can still count on both hands how many times the pair of you have trotted together.

Our last visit didn't have any riding, though. In hindsight, I probably could have still done some bending and flexibility work with her, but I'm not feeling 100% yet, and she really, really, really wanted to go back out to pasture to hang out with her girls.

Did you know that horses, like cats, dogs, and rabbits, can master the "I'm so cute you want to make me happy, don't you?" look? Horses - Calico's not the first horse who's done this to me - will even lay their forehead on your shoulder and sigh deeply to make their point.

I can be a real sucker for the Cuteness Factor sometimes.

So, last Friday she just got a spa treatment with a new bug guard stuff, plus Skin-So-Soft and her new fly mask, before I released her back with Babe and Sesame. Oh the drama! She's not the bottom of the totem pole in this herd! She whinnies the second I let her off the lead rope, throws her head and tail to the wind and gallops - yes, gallops! - over to her girls, who fall into place alongside her and start sniffing her up and down and grooming. Once everyone is satisfied with everyone's general well-being, they clump together and move from hay pile to grass mound. That I took pictures of!

The other horse with the fly mask is Babe, and Sesame is the bay with a few white marks. By now, you should be able to pick out Calico. She's pretty hard to miss!

Enjoy.

Unexpected Reading Suggestion

2011-05-05T01:59:00.000-04:00

Anyone writing science fiction or fantasy ought to have a subscription to Backpacker magazine.

What do current outdoors tips have to do with what's usually in a fictional far past or far future, you ask? Well, strangely, a whole lot.

For you High Fantasy Writers

Ok, it also goes for you contemporary fantasy writers, too… but that should be an easy match. Now, you folks who are penning a quest of 3-7 heroes camping and traveling to save the world from Evil Antagonist of Doom, know that you won't have Gore-tex ® and LED flashlights. However, the many benefits of wool clothes or socks would still be related. You also ought to know how and when to make tourniquets, treat hypothermia, whether or not you can really suck venom out of a snake bite, proper rope tying techniques, and a safe guess of how long each character can safely hike carrying the proper equipment. (We're not getting into horses; that's another post.)

All of that info was just in this past month's magazine. It was really cool!

For you Urban Fantasy Writers or Steampunk Writers

If you've got characters surviving on gritty, grimy streets - whether they are now or some version of Victoriana, they still have to survive. Knowing how to tie knots and scale vertical surfaces comes in handy. So does basic first aid, scavenging food, and, if you're of the ilk where werewolves roam the streets, surviving a wild animal attack. Means to avoid hypothermia are also important, as are dealing with dehydration, cleaning water supplies, and how many things you can use a knife for might also come in handy in street smarts.

Steampunk writers might also pick a Wild West setting, which would definitely require outdoor survival skills. And those explorers - wherever they are bound in their airships - ought to know how to properly pack their bags so they don't throw their backs out and can maximize their limited space.

For you Apocalyptic or Post-Apocalyptic Writers

Life as we know has been destroyed, and your characters have to survive in harsh climates. Do I really need to elaborate? Yes, I've seen tips in Backpacker about dealing with heavy metal contamination and even possible radiation.

For you Space Opera or Space Cowboy Writers

Like any of the other spec-fic genres I've mentioned: first aid, survival in alien/harsh terrain, proper packing and loading, use of knives (primitive or laser knives), possible animal attacks are all potentially important. On top of that, take a look at some of the current gear we have! From Arctic sleeping bags that can fit in a pocket to footwear designed to support and protect feet without giving up benefit of toes, there's some pretty nifty stuff out there now - just extrapolate the coolness for the future.

Besides all that, just flipping through the pages and reading others' stories on camping adventures, or kick-ass jobs (this past issue), or hunting for the first time gives me a lot of new ideas for wonderful ordeals to put my characters through! (Let me tell you how they cringe at headlines starting with "Survive" and ending with an exclamation point.)

Now, I'm not affiliated with the magazine in any way, and it's Scott's subscription. My actual hiking happens maybe 3 times a year, max. I'm just suggesting this bit of research and reading as a fellow writer. Go have an adventure! (At least on paper… I don't want to hear how YOU had to get rescued in a few issues!)

* Photo by Scott Wooldridge: Compass at Wachusett Mountain.