Writtenwyrdd

Happy holidays!

Chance the English Setter says (in his solemn way) happy holidays to all my old blog friends. Hope all of you are well.

The Beginning of The End

Well, this is a while coming.  I'm going to close this blog down.  Typepad has been a great hosting site, but it's costing me, and if I am not going to blog, I will switch to the blogger blog for my occasional posts.  I hope to regain the impetus and start blogging again at some point.  But seeing as I am not even visiting and commenting on my blog friends' blogs, it seems wise to close up shop, at least temporarily.

Let's face it.  As my college professor said, if you aren't writing, you aren't really a writer.  So I have been a prolific blogger for the past several years, but not really a writer.  I need to reach back and grab that part of me and get it restarted.  (After I raise a couple of rambunctious puppies to semi-adulthood.  When I have a spare few minutes from working in my yard, working to earn a living and doing home improvement projects.  Oh, and playing silly time-wasting games on Facebook.)

In any case, I plan to gradually move the content from the old blog to blogger.

Please come and see me for new content at the original Writtenwyrdd blog, writtenwyrdd.blogspot.com.

Tah, darlings, for now.  This blog will remain active for a few weeks, and I'll link forward it if possible to the old blog site when it goes off line.

This and that, part...I dunno. And a dog cookie recipe

I'm sliding by briefly to update you on my lack of blogging.   Color that excuses if you wish; it's pretty much the truth.

Anyhow, I have been spending far too much time playing games on Facebook and not writing when I have the laptop open; and I haven't been spending that much time at those activities.  what I have been doing, when I've been doing anything besides playing with silly 10-month-old puppies, is still digging in my yard.  I confess to being sick of it most of the time and only digging in a couple of times per week for several hours.  That's enough for anyone, I'd think.  But I still have to move the dirt I've already removed into the semblance of a flower bed against the bank, edge it with rocks in a semblance of a rock wall, and dig up the rest of the dirt in the yard and replace it with gravel.  Once I get that done, then there's the remainder of the pavering.  But I can live with it in gravel until next summer if I must.  Because next summer I have to get more gravel delivered and dig up the driveway side of the ho use to install drainage tile, so I'll do the other digging projects then...to include the rest of the stuff from this year.

What you can't do this year, postpone until the next year.  Works for me!  That, and my favorite motto: "Pay the man the money."  As in, have a pro do the work properly instead of me screwing up, as it'll be cheaper and far less frustrating in the long run!  (I wish I could have done that this year, actually; but I have been enjoying the labor in the yard, for the most part.  It's just getting a bit old, is all!)

On the puppy front, Luger and Chance are 10 months old now.  They are bouncy boys and full of naughtiness.  Luger is full of nervous energy and we have to practically force feed him to keep weight on him, and Chance, with his bad heart, is a bit sluggish and a bit (just a tiny bit) overweight even on less food than his brother.  As I see signs that his heart condition is segueing into the beginning stages of congestive heart failure (trembling, fatigue, hard pulse, tires easily and hard breathing) we are scheduled to see the doggie cardiologist in Portland (a 4 hour drive each way) in early September.  He'll likely end up on diuretics and who knows what-all else, but the scan will inform the doc as to what's going on.  The murmur is much improved, but the extra work the defect creates is nearly always going to eventually lead to congestive heart failure.  So, my boy will likely have a reduced life span, but that doesn't mean he won't live a long and fully functional life with some minor caretaking my his faithful human servants.  (I'm also giving him l-caratine and taurine, which work to promote healthy cardiac function and don't hurt, either.  And probiotics and papaya enzyme for both of them, as better digestion means better use of the extremely expensive kibble they eat.)

Luger has food sensitivities, and I'm still trying to find a kibble that works best for him.  I'm hoping the red meat EVO will do it.  Chicken, wheat, corn, gluten and soy are all out of his diet at the moment but he's got a worsening problem with the yeasty ears, so I haven't found the cause yet, I believe. 

Also, I came up with a really yummy wheat/corn/soy/gluten-free dog cookie recipe.  Even humans can like it.  See below. 

Sorta Hypoallergenic peanut butter molasses dog biscuits

2 Cups old fashioned/rolled oats milled to flour in your food processor
2 Cups buckwheat flour
2 Cups potato flakes (aka instant potatoes)
2 Cups peanut butter
1Cup molasses (or more, to taste)
5-6 eggs

Mix together all ingredients except for 2 of the eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  You should have a slightly sticky dough that you can roll into balls without having it so sticky it sticks to everything like contact cement.  If too wet, add more oats or buckwheat; if too dry, add remaining eggs, one at a time.  If still too dry, add more molasses or a bit of water.  Heat oven to 325.  Roll dough into small balls, about 3/4" across.  Press them into about 3/8" thick discs on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 for 8-9 minutes.  NOTE: These will not spread, so you can place them relatively close together. 

This recipe will make at least 8 dozen cookies.  Freeze excess.

 

Been working on the dirt pile...

I began trying to deal with the dirt pile from digging up 8" of half my fenced yard area.  So I am making a large flowerbed against the bank that edges my property.  I don't own the bank, but my neighbor has given me the go ahead to garden it because he doesn't.  So we both win, and I get some weed control and more sunlight after I clear the bank!  Anyhow, I have to do half again as much as you see planted here before I can go back to digging up the rest of the fenced yard for paving.  I have no idea what can survive Zone 3-4 temps and handle nearly full shade, or, at best, only 2-3 hours of morning sunlight.  So we are applying the "throw everything in there and see what survives" gardening.  Call it research.  But I've got a Hosta, some oregano, some chives, vinca (2 varieties), day lillies, low bush cranberry, catmint, bachelor's button, pussy toes, ajuga, and a couple of other things that are getting placed in the bed. 

newest project

I interrupted my digging to create this "doggie watering hole". Pretty cool, huh?

View of my new patio...or what I've been up to

Howdy! Bet you all wondered if I'd ever post again? Well, I am toying with closing down the blog but I don't want to lose all the content or comments. Basically, it's been years of my life and I'm not into blogging or talking about writing when I'm too busy to even write. The pups are nearly 9 months and cute. I'm working my tailfeathers off doing yard hardscaping. And I'm actually enjoying my summer!

This is cute...but vaguely disturbing... ;)

the boys at 8 months

 

Happy Towel Day!

Towel Day is an annual celebration on the 25th of May, as a tribute to the late author Douglas Adams(1952-2001). On that day, fans around the universe proudly carry a towel in his honour.

It's time again to celebrate Towel Day.  Official site here.  I'd say something witty, but Douglas Adams (may he R.I.P.) has said it all. 

Now go write some Vogon poetry that disinspires the masses. 

And remember...42

Alas, I have no toe nails.

My lack of writing has gotten me on the extreme disapproval list for the McKoala challenge, and Goblin has arrived to snatch my toe nails!  Le sigh.

I am presently forced by the nearly continuous rain and the thin "sod" that is my newly fenced, 100% shaded, side yard is a churned up mud pit and I can't let the pups into it until, at minimum, I get the whole thing dug up and a gravel base installed.  I still will have to pave it all, except for flower beds, before snow falls, though.  

On a different front, I am missing my writing, but a few other commitments in my personal life have cropped up and are taking what time I do have away from being a dog mommy.

I didn't even post a happy mother's day here, so I hope all you mothers and dads too had a great mother's day.  Madre scored from me, including jewelry.  I generally always get her earrings or a necklace of some sort because what do you get someone her age that she really needs or wants?  She has it already!  But I did get her gormet coffee and a mug that says "The best child has four legs" and "Dog Mom" on the other side.  It seemed oddly appropriate given our pet-centered lives.

Except for the nagging, pernicious cold that I have which has lingered as sniffling and mild chest congestion for two weeks now, I'm doing great.  And it appears that some work changes are going to cause me to actually not get scheduled to work every day this summer, which means....maybe some writing gets done (after yard work!)

 

As I'm heading off to work...

Guilt trip achieved.

I know it's poor quality, but the intense staring was highly cute.

Book recommendation for the politically weary

"Discourse?  That's too civilized a term for what we hear when we watch cable tv or log onto one of the innumerable, foaming, partisan Web sites-- a hectoring cacophany of mistrust and ill will, usually uninformed, always vehement."  from the foreward to Wingnuts:  How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America, by John Avlon

Avlon is a long time writer for The Daily Beast, an online rag.  The book is insightful (and centrist to my way of thinking, anyhow.)  I wish President Obama's plea for rational discourse and a spirit of genuine cooperation between the politicos in DC had been heard.  But, short of that, perhaps an informed public can bring attention with their votes, calls and editorials?  Dunno.  But one can hope.

If you are both sick of and confused by the rabid, fear-mongering and hateful "discourse" that has become our national political "debate", you need to read this book.  It helps one see through the morass of crap that's being flung by the monkeys in the political zoo. 

Luger at 6.5 months

We go most mornings before dawn, just enough light to see, and go to the park so they can run amok in a fenced area. They are a lot calmer for it!

He's much better looking now...before his features were a touch mongoloid, what with small eyes, narrow head and the ginormous ears that made those feathers seem even more out of proportion.

 

Chance at 6.5 months

 

Ignore how the cats have destroyed my expensive chair.  Someday, when the pups are older, I'll reupholster in leather.  At least that will last.

Haiatus

Sorry, gang.  I've been wrapped up in life and puppies and hardscaping the yard.  I have also been losing my enthusiasm for blogging as my time in which to do it has been reduced to literally nothing.  If I have time to write, it's going to have to go to real writing.  So I wont' be by often to your blogs, either.

I'm not dropping the site, but I might not be posting for some while.  So please don't forget about me, keep me on your feeds or google reader, but don't expect too much from me for at least the time being.

On a personal note, the pups are doing well and so am I.  I'm just tired from being awakened at 3am by puppies who insist they must go pee then.  Sigh.  This will pass.  (No, don't tell me they can hold it.  The thing is Chance is on a diuretic and apparently cannot.  And I don't want their fussing to keep Madre awake.  So I get up, take them out, recrate and go back to sleep on the sofa.  It's the temporary compromise.)

They are awfully sweet boys, though, and I'm glad we have them. 

Housekeeping tip:  If you can afford one, buy teh Dyson vacuum.  We got one and the rug that had been vacuumed the day prior gave up a full cup of hair and dirt.  That's how much the old vacuum missed and left in the 8x10 wool rug.  Wowza.

Tah dahlings.  I'll be in and out with miscellaney, but it won't be often.  I'll miss you and think of you, but I just don't feel like blog writing.

Chance @ 6 months.

I finally was able to get a good shot of Chance! The boys will be six months in a few days. Wouldn't trade 'em for anything, but they are a lot of work. I stopped at Kittery Trading Post on the way home from my Boston doctor appointment, and the staff were friendly and extremely helpful. A young fellow in the hunting section called over a fellow who trained bird dogs and he gave me a number of pointers and assured me that my idea of working them on faux birds was a great way to take the edge off their energy. Cuz, man, they need the edge taken off. I also got a 50' lead so I can work them safely until I can trust them on recall, and some scent and a decoy. Can't find that stuff locally.

My impression that they are sharp is underscored by how quickly they learn commands. They turned a corner last night and "saw the light", e.g. They got the sit/stay and have come when called today. It hadn't sunk in entirely until then. There was an almost audible click, lol.

But, word of caution, don't try training 2 dogs at once for retrieval. It becomes a competition and then a game of grab ass, which is not supportive of retrieval as the 'birdie' languishes, forgotten.

Script Frenzy

April is Script Frenzy month, brought to you (I believe) by the creators of NaNoWriMo.  Check out the details here if you are interested.  They also have a very adorable plot machine on the site in the top right-hand corner to get you started.  Come on, peeps, only 100 pages of script in a month.  You can do that!  Right??

And, to get you started, here are some places where you can get a crash course in scriptwriting here, here, here, here and here.

Contest declared a fail

I've got to apologize for the late post on this, but the lack of entries to the contest is resounding, so I'm going to call the thing off.  My readership is down just as far as my participation, so it's not very surprizing. I am not giving up the blog, but I declare myself unenthused for the moment and won't be up to much (unless I feel like it) for the forseeable future.

I think I should set my sights on transferring back to blogger, which is free.  But five years of blog posts, nearly 1600 of them, is daunting!  And I'd lose the great comment trails!

On the home front, the pups are still just under 40 pounds and sweet little guys.  Or not so little guys.  They even give the cat a break and only mob her after a few moments of licking and nose sniffing.  She truly is asking for trouble, but you can't say it's her fault, necessarily, any more than you can say the bikini clad model was asking to be raped.  Molly taunts them, but she should still be safe from molestation in the form of two large dogs pinning her down with their paws and chewing on her fur.  (But I must observe here that a slobbery 'do on a cat, all spikey and stuff, is highly amusing.)  I hope to get some new pictures soonish, but I've been really, really tired and occupied with a few personal projects and walkign the dogs twice a day.  (Chance, by the way, still thinks the outside is for walking and the inside is for peeing on the paper.  He's sweet, but stubborn.)

Madre has been handling the details of getting the electric shifted and a door ordered.  Once the ground thaws, we will have the new yard fence installed, then I will build the stoop/deck from the new side door.  (That means we can get the dogs properly housebroken, and none too soon.)  I got my construction permit last week, and it must be said that small town construction is relatively headache free, at least in my small town.  I just drew a sketch, filled out a few blanks, paid the man my $20, and off we went. Thank goodness! 

And I'm taking an electrician correspondence course so that I can rewire my own house at some point.  Yes, I have a master electrician for a friend who will supervise the proceedings.  But the house is two wire (ungrounded wire) and needs redoing, sooner rather than later.  And it's easier to do it one room, one circuit, at a time so that we can still live in the place.  The best solution is for me to do it catch as catch can. 

Both boys

 

if I could just get them to actually hold still a second...

Luger, enjoying his Nylabone

 

Contest entries due tomorrow night at midnight!

Come on, you know you like free swag.  And you only have to write a single, measley sentence to enter.

Reiterating, we have a contest here on the blahg.  But Amazon has shipped me 2 more duplicate books, so I'm offering not one but THREE prizes.  So please spread the word so we have enough entries to justify my giving out three books. 

Prizes:
Nalini Singh's Archangel's Consort, book 3 in the Guild Hunter series;
Taken By The Others, book 2 in Jess Haines's H&W Investigations series;
and our original prize, Elizabeth Moon's Oath of Fealty, the 4th book in the Paksinnarion series.

How to enter:
As before, I would like you to write anything from one sentence to 200 or so words (we aren't being picky as to word count, just so long as it's brief) using the following sentence as prompt.  Anything goes in terms of what you write, just so long as it's somehow inspired by the quoted line.  FIRST PRIZE WINNER WILL BE MY FAVORITE; THE OTHER TWO WILL BE CHOSEN BY LOTS AKA RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR.

"Arcolyn went with him to the Golden Fish, not really surprized that the agent was staying at such an expensive inn."  (page 216 of the paperback edition)

Deadline:  Have your entry posted in the comments OF THE ORIGINAL POST DATED MARCH 18TH by midnight EST on March 26th.  I'll use my questionable judgment and taste to pick my favorite.  Change:  SINCE I AM GIVING AWAY THREE BOOKS, I WILL NOT CLOSE ENTRIES UNTIL THERE ARE AT LEAST 12 ENTRIES.  I'll let you know in the event of this occurrence. 

Please include a valid email in your log in to typepad so I can contact you, or at least have a link to your website or blog. 

Eligability.  Anyone can enter.  If you've won before, you can enter again.  I might feel obliged to exclude you to give someone else a shot, but don't assume that you can't win, either.  Previous winners are also eligible. 

I'll mail the swag to the winner(s) as soon as I can after the winner is announced.  Timeline varies according to my work schedule, which is pretty much 6 days a week--making post office visits difficult.

Contest reminder... & WE'RE TRIPLING THE PRIZE

Reiterating, we have a contest here on the blahg.  But Amazon has shipped me 2 more duplicate books, so I'm offering not one but THREE prizes.  So please spread the word so we have enough entries to justify my giving out three books. 

Prizes:
Nalini Singh's Archangel's Consort, book 3 in the Guild Hunter series;
Taken By The Others, book 2 in Jess Haines's H&W Investigations series;
and our original prize, Elizabeth Moon's Oath of Fealty, the 4th book in the Paksinnarion series.

How to enter:
As before, I would like you to write anything from one sentence to 200 or so words (we aren't being picky as to word count, just so long as it's brief) using the following sentence as prompt.  Anything goes in terms of what you write, just so long as it's somehow inspired by the quoted line.  FIRST PRIZE WINNER WILL BE MY FAVORITE; THE OTHER TWO WILL BE CHOSEN BY LOTS AKA RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR.

"Arcolyn went with him to the Golden Fish, not really surprized that the agent was staying at such an expensive inn."  (page 216 of the paperback edition)

Deadline:  Have your entry posted in the comments OF THE ORIGINAL POST DATED MARCH 18TH by midnight EST on March 26th.  I'll use my questionable judgment and taste to pick my favorite.  Change:  SINCE I AM GIVING AWAY THREE BOOKS, I WILL NOT CLOSE ENTRIES UNTIL THERE ARE AT LEAST 12 ENTRIES.  I'll let you know in the event of this occurrence. 

Please include a valid email in your log in to typepad so I can contact you, or at least have a link to your website or blog. 

Eligability.  Anyone can enter.  If you've won before, yes, you can enter again.  I might be inclined to give someone else a shot, but don't assume that you can't win, either. 

I'll mail the swag to the winner(s) as soon as I can after the winner is announced.  Timeline varies according to my work schedule, which is pretty much 6 days a week--making post office visits difficult.

Caught napping

Here lies the sum total of my weekend. Stretched out, the pups are almost the length of the sofa. They are very warm and cuddly, though. 22 weeks. How the time has flown.

I had three days off over the weekend, which was great.  One day was a trip to Bangor to see my neurologist, who wants me to get an MRI as I'm either having some med side effects or something else going on.  That was fun, four hours driving and spending $50 in gas to spend an hour in town. 

Saturday I loafed about and did not much except as you see below. I was tired, and the dogs were glad to join me.  The cat was up there for a while, too!  It's not the most flattering picture of me, and the photo quality of Madre's camera stinks, but it is pretty representative of how I am living my wild-child life these days. 

I also bought new collars for the dogs in Bangor.  I was having a devil of a time and coming home from the dog walks frustrated and angry; this weekend, though, walking them was delightful and relaxing.  This was because I gave in to the inevitable and bought them prong collars, aka German choke chains.  They simply will not cease throttling themselves against the regular chokers or a nylon collar, and this can lead to neck injuries and thrachea or larynx damage.  I hated having to use them, as they look cruel; but they are excellent training tools.  (Hopefully, I'll be able to quit using them eventually.) 

Upon being kitted out with the prong collars, the pups lunged as per usual, squealed in surprize and immediately became delightful walking companions.  Madre, the Pug and the boys and I walked a couple of miles without having to wear jackets yesterday, and--due to the new collars--it was really nice.

I'm amazed how many people think the dogs are Dalmations, though.  The pure hound dog faces ought to be a giveaway, but they aren't.

Puppies...before & after

Okay, remember when?  12 weeks, below.  See how small they are?  Both fit on my lap!  Chance is on the left, Luger on the right.  (I'm the human in the middle.)

Now check out the today shot of Chance:

Now, when you compare the boys' 6 weeks head shots... Amazing change in 16 weeks, eh?

Contest (due to extra book again)

Okay, we are having another quickie contest due to Amazon's having told me that a book I ordered would NOT ship and yet I received 2 copies.  (Recall that my old Amazon account got hacked and I had to reorder some books that I supposedly wouldn't receive?) Anyhow, I'd be paying return postage anyhow, and it's vastly more fun to give the second copy away to one of my faithful readers than to return it.  Hence, the contest.

The prize.  The 4th book in Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksinnarrion series, "Oath of Fealty."

As before, I would like you to write anything from one sentence to 200 or so words (we aren't being picky as to word count, just so long as it's brief) using the following sentence as prompt:

"Arcolyn went with him to the Golden Fish, not really surprized that the agent was staying at such an expensive inn."  (page 216 of the paperback edition)

Deadline:  Have your entry posted in the comments by midnight EST on March 26th.  I'll use my questionable judgment and taste to pick my favorite. 

Eligability.  Anyone can enter.  If you've won before, you can enter again.  I might feel obliged to exclude you to give someone else a shot, but don't assume that you can't win, either.

I'll mail the swag to the winner as soon as I can after the winner is announced.  Timeline varies according to my work schedule, which is pretty much 6 days a week--making post office visits difficult.

The puppies

Chance (left) and Luger (right, with black ear) taken a few days ago.  They are 5 months/22 weeks at the moment.

These guys look so solemn, don't they?  Chance is really just wondering what I'm doing with that camera thingy.

Luger is not quite as solemn in appearance, perhaps because he doesn' have quite the soft muzzle that Chance does.  Chance, by the way, has started to drool while I'm making their food dishes.  Just so long as he doesn't start with the gross drool strings! 

I have been getting a bit of a break since DST ended, as that translated from 3:30 to 4:30 wake ups...but this morning I got the potty call at 3:30 again.  Bleh.  Hope that doesn't become a trend.

Can't wait until the snow melts so I can get the fence and door up so they can be kicked outside for the potty break.

Kickbutt 1st line winners and miscellaneous news

There are some hilarious final entries at the Kick-Butt First Line contest.  Enjoy.  I particular loved, "If at first you don't succeed, strap on your big girl boots and go stomp the shit out of it."

****

On the home front, still too busy to write.  I hope to squeeze in some time soon and finish a story I began for Phoenix Sullivan's anthology based on the prompt, Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever.  Wish I'd gotten it finished.  Oh well.  Might get it into a horror anthology, though. 

My puppies are about 40 pounds.  I managed to weigh them and I believe I overestimated their size.  Hard to tell when I'm holding a squirming bundle of furry bones and standing on a bathroom scale, though!  They are getting pretty calm and not mauling the cat like the last bone in existence.  They even come off when we call them back, which is wonderful.  Well, them mostly come back.  And now we are working on leash training, because I can take them for a nice, long walk when I get home from work.

****

Life always has something going wrong when you own a house, it seems, because on top of having to get the yard fenced (which entails some electrical rerouting and a new exterior door being installed, which means permits and inspections, too) I have had the sump pump back up and spray water into the basement.  The overhead lights stopped working, making me think something shorted because water hit it.  So a friend who's an electrician is coming over to help me check it out.  Bleh.  I called to see if he could tell me how to check it out myself but he's such a nice guy he insists on coming by to do it.  I have to get him something nice for Christmas this year, lol.

And the snow is melting!  Yay!  It's been above freezing most days for the past week and the several feet of snow is evaporating nicely.  Might get snow as well as rain tomorrow, however.  Let's cross fingers and pray for just rain. 

****

And I am sending out prayers and good vibes to the people of Japan as well as Christchurch.  What a horror.  It's hundreds of times worse (literally) than the Christchurch quake, and that was bad enough.

Opportunities for anthologies

I have shamelessly swiped a few great submissions opportunities from Angie's blog. 

13 May 2011 -- Sword and Sorceress 26 -- ed. Elizabeth Waters

Stories should be the type generally referred to as "sword and sorcery" and must have a strong female protagonist whom the reader will care about. See Sword & Sorceress 22, Sword & Sorceress 23, Sword & Sorceress 24, and Sword & Sorceress 25 (or S&S 1-20) for examples. We do not want stories with explicit sex, gratuitous violence, or profanity. We are NOT a market for poetry. We are willing to consider stories set in modern times (urban fantasy), but we won't buy more than one or two of those for the anthology. We always want something short and funny for the last story.

No reprints. No simultaneous submissions.

With regard to multiple submissions, do not submit more than one story at a time. If we've rejected your first one, you may send one more as long as it's before the deadline. We have occasionally bought someone's second sumbmission. We have never bought a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth submission. If you send us two stories, and we don't hold either of them, wait until next year to try again. Please do not re-submit stories we have already rejected (including stories rejected in previous years).

If you have not previously sold to Sword & Sorceress, please read What is a Short Story? and Why Did my Story Get Rejected? before submitting to us.

Please do not explain or describe your story in the e-mail (cover letter). If your story can't stand on its own, fix the story.

Reading period: Saturday, April 16 to Friday, May 13, 2011. Stories received before or after this period will be deleted unread.

Response time is expected to follow MZB's traditional standards: you should hear within a week if we're holding your story for the final line-up or rejecting it.

Length: up to 9,000 words, with preference given to shorter stories. The longer a story is, the better it has to be. Long stories should be submitted early in the reading period.

Formatting and Submission:

Format with one-inch margins on all four sides of page.

Please do not use a header or footer.

Your name, full mailing address, and email address must be in the upper left corner, single spaced.

Skip two lines, center the text, then put the title, with your name (or byline) on the next line. We're not going to be as rigid as MZB was about pen names, but we expect them to be reasonable, rather than cute.

The rest of the manuscript should be single-spaced, with the first line of each paragraph indented 1/2 inch.

If you need to indicate a break, put "#" on a line by itself, centered.

Do not underline; use italics instead. Do not use bold face. We prefer Courier New font, size 12.

Word count will be determined by our word processor; that way it will be the same for everyone.

Save your document as an .rtf file (rich text format or interchange format, depending on what your computer calls it). E-mail as it as an attachment to mzbworks at yahoo dot com. The subject line should be "SS26, your last name, story title" (e.g.: SS26, Bradley, Dark Intruder) -- we don't want submissions caught in the spam filter.

Rights purchased: first rights, non-exclusive eBook and audio book rights.

Payment: 5 cents per word as an advance against a pro rata share of royalties and foreign or other sales.



31 March 2011 -- Triangulation: Last Contact -- eds. Jamie Lackey & Steve Ramey, Parsec Ink

[Heavily edited down to the essentials -- click through for (lots) more detail.]

Triangulation is an annual 125-150+ page short fiction anthology that publishes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and any other speculative fiction that caught the editors' fancy. Every year we have a theme: 2011's theme is "Last Contact". We pay semi-pro rates and are available online at places like Amazon.

We define "short fiction" as "up to about 5,000 words or so." If you have an awesome story that exceeds 5K then by all means send it; but be warned that we have yet to accept anything for publication much longer than 5000 words. We dig flash; there is no minimum word count.

We have no interest in getting more specific about the term "speculative fiction." Science fiction, horror, fantasy, magic realism, alternate history, whatever -- if there's a speculative element vital to your story, we'll gladly give it a read.

We love creative interpretations of our theme, "Last Contact". Don't ask us what it means -- tell us what it means with a story that convinces us you're right.

We will run mature content if we like the story. So make sure there's an actual story in that mature content.

We will consider reprints, but we are much more picky with them. If the story ran someplace obscure, then it's probably new to our readers; if it ran someplace high-profile, it's going to have to be the best thing we've read since the alphabet to get in.

The submission period is December 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011. All electronic submits must be sent within that period, all snail mail submits must be postmarked by the deadline.

Compensation: We pay two cents per word (USA funds, rounded to the nearest 100 words, US$10 minimum payment) on publication and one contributor's copy. The anthology will be published in late July of 2011. We purchase North American Serial Rights, and Electronic Rights for the downloadable version(s). All subsidiary rights released upon publication. Contributors will also have the option of purchasing additional copies of the anthology at reduced price.

15 May 2011 -- Steampunk Holiday Anthology -- ed. Angela James, Carina Press

Carina is looking for steampunk novellas with a winter or winter holiday theme, to be published digitally both individually and as a collection in December 2011. The novellas should be from 18,000 to 35,000 words and feature steampunk elements as integral to the novella. The stories do not need to be romance, or even have romance elements, but can be straight steampunk, or steampunk with romantic elements, and can also feature elements of mystery, thriller, horror or other sub-genres. Additionally, there is no set heat level for these stories, so they can have no sex, or be ultra-sexy, or anything in between.

Essentially, we’re looking for interesting, creative, well-written stories within the steampunk niche that will appeal to readers’ imaginations and add to our growing catalog of steampunk stories.

The steampunk holiday collection will be supported by a marketing and promotion campaign both online and in print. In addition, though the collection won’t currently be offered for sale in print format, each author chosen to contribute to the anthology will receive a set number of limited edition print copies for their own use.

To submit, please send your completed manuscript and synopsis, along with query letter to submissions@carinapress.com by May 15th, 2011. In the subject line, please put Steampunk Holiday: Manuscript Title and Author

All submissions will be reviewed and final decision made by June 15th, 2011.

For questions about this call for submissions, please email Angela James at submissions@carinapress.com

For more information about Carina Press, and to read the submission guidelines, please visit www.carinapress.com

***

31 May 2011 -- Night Terrors 2 -- ed. Marc Ciccarone & Joseph Spagnola, Blood Bound Books

NOTE: Do not submit before 1 March.

Like volume I, this second volume will be an open themed anthology of horror. Meaning we want stories from all topics and subcategories of horror. Including, but not limited to: psychological, creatures, paranormal, and gore. Remember, evil has no boundaries and neither do we! Nothing is off limits, so take advantage of the freedom. Science fiction and dark fantasy* will be considered as long as it has a strong element of horror. Try to avoid classic horror conventions/monsters (vampires, werewolves, and zombies), unless you incorporate a unique twist.

Third person stories are preferred but we’ll read first person stories as long as they are well done or integral to the plot.

Stories can range from 750 - 4500 words firm and must be rooted in the realms of horror/dark fiction.

Stories must be formatted in the following manner:
-- 12 point font
-- Times New Roman or Courier New
-- Double-Spaced
-- Contact information in the upper left(name, address, phone number, email)
-- Word Count Upper Right
-- 1 Space after a punctuation
-- Underline everything you would like to italicize at publication
-- Attach as a .doc file

Submission: Starts March 1st and closes May 31st (2011). Selections will not be made until after the submission period.

We'll accept stories in any setting or time period, as long as it's well written, powerful and original. Most importantly, scare us. We want to be haunted by your story long after we put it down. Gore and sex are acceptable, as long as it serves a purpose.

Payment: 1st place- 5¢/word; 2nd place 3¢/word; 3rd place 2.5¢/word. All other stories will receive 2¢/word.

Send submissions to submissions@bloodboundbooks.net. Subject should read:
Night Terrors II: story title/author last name

* Fantasy is always a gray area. Dark fantasy to us is more H.P. Lovecraft than J.R.R. Tolkien. We’d like to see a creepy world you created or a flipside image of humanity rather than Middle Earth type realms featuring wizards and dwarfs.

***

UNTIL FILLED -- Horror Library, Vol. 5 -- Cutting Block Press

Cutting Block Press is pleased to announce an open submissions period for the 4th Volume of its Horror Anthology Series, +Horror Library+, to be published in trade paperback during 2011.

We're looking for the highest quality examples of all forms of Dark Fiction, running the gamut from traditional horror, supernatural, speculative, psychological thriller, dark satire, including every point between and especially beyond. No Fantasy or Sci-fi unless the horror elements are dominant. Read +Horror Library+ Volumes 1-3 to see what's already pleased us. Special consideration will be given those pieces that we find profoundly disturbing, though blood and violence on their own won't cut it. While we will consider tales of vampires, ghosts and zombies, we tend to roll our eyes at ordinary ones. They're just too plentiful. Your best bet is to surprise us with something that is different, while well conceived and tightly executed.

Guidelines: Stories will range between 1,000 and 6,000 words, though we'll look at longer works of exceptional merit. In that case, query before submission. Buying 1st worldwide anthology rights. No reprints. Paying 1.5 cents per word, plus one contributors copy. For established authors, rates may be negotiable. Response time: six months or sooner. Deadline: We will accept submissions until filled. All Queries to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

Manuscript format: 12 point courier font, standard margins, left side of header: name, contact info, right side of header: word count, top of first page: title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format: single space, NO INDENTS, ONE EXTRA space between paragraphs, use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story

Subject box: Short Story submission - title of story

Attach story in MS Word Document or RTF (only). Please paste your cover letter in the body of the e-mail. Send submissions to horrorlibrarysubs@yahoo.com.

[See the web page for a special offer on copies of Horror Library Vol. 1 for writers doing market research.]

***

UNTIL FILLED -- Mortis Operandi -- ed. Kfir Luzzatto and Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow Press

MORTIS OPERANDI is looking for stories that revolve around the investigation of a crime and in which the supernatural plays a central role. While we’re expecting a fair share of murders, we strongly encourage stories that revolve around OTHER kinds of crime — for example, arson, assault, blackmail, bullying, burglary, dowry death, embezzlement, fraud, kidnapping, larceny, libel, piracy, product liability, slavery, smuggling, terrorism, treason, and toxic pollution are all fair game.

By "supernatural" we mean magic, monsters, and/or miracles, but we don’t consider psychic abilities (although the inclusion of a minor character possessing them will not in itself disqualify a story), extraterrestrial life, or UFOs to be supernatural.

Types of stories may include whodunits, police procedurals, hardboiled fiction, and courtroom dramas. All genres and treatments are welcome, including ecclesiastic, fantasy, humor, horror, historical, military, romance, and parody. Settings outside the U.S. and U.K. are welcome. Settings on other worlds aren’t.

We want well-written stories that demonstrate originality of concept and plot. Zombies, vampires, and werewolves will be a hard sell, and romantically inclined vampires will be staked on sight. Think outside of the coffin.

Stories will be judged exclusively on the basis of their literary merit; a history of prior publication is not necessary.

Get more information about our thoughts on this antho at Market Scoop.
Submissions & Queries: anthology [[ at ]] theharrowpress.com
==No simultaneous submissions. One submission at a time.
==Please attach your stories to your email in Microsoft Word, RTF, or text-only format. Stories pasted in the body of an email will not be read.
==Please include the words “Submission: Mortis Operandi” in the Subject line of your e-mail.
Length: 3,000-6,000 words. Please include an approximate word count in your e-mail submission.
Reprints: No
Language: English
Payment: US $50/story, upon publication, and a free copy of the book
Rights: Exclusive English anthology print and electronic (e-book) rights. Please read our Sample Contract (pdf) for full details.
Submission period: Opens 1.1.11 -- Closes when filled.
Publication Date: 2012

We are experiencing a slight lapse in Winter...

Rain the past 2 days and it's 45 degrees. We are pleasantly surprized.  We want more, but it's supposed to snow some tonight and drop down to single digits again tomorrow night.

In the meantime, don't forget to set your clocks forward an hour tonight, as we are ending Daylight Savings time.  I wish we'd stop doing it all together, but it is now institutionalized and therefore a juggernaut.

On the home front, I'm surviving on about 6 hours of sleep a night and no time for much except puppy minding when I get home from work.  Now that it'll still be light when I get home, I can safely walk the puppies every evening, which I will do as soon as I get home, barring hideous weather.

They are still growing.  I have a few more pictures, but nothing too exciting.  I'll try and get some more this weekend and post them.  They were 21 weeks old as of yesterday, and officially 5 months old next Tuesday.  My babies are at least 45 pounds now, and they're 26" at the shoulder.  English Setters are tall, lean dogs, sometimes described as gaunt.  So I have no idea how much taller they will become, but, judging by the paws on those boys I suspect a couple of more inches in height.  Pappa and granddad are both 60-65 pounds, so that's my best guess as to size.  You can't go by momma's size, as there's a wide variance between boys and girls in this breed.

At any rate, they are cute, and they are listening much better than they were.  The cats are still for chasing, but they aren't as crazy about it as before, and if you tell them to come off, they do (most of the time.)  At the risk of oversharing, the only serious problem of note right now is Chance developing coprophagia.  Yep, poop eating.  The best preventative is monosodium galutamate, aka Accent or MSG in the food to make teh poop taste nasty, but I can't give that to Chance due to his heart.  I really hope he outgrows this behavior.  *shudders*

My brain fears no one...but it should

A recent CNN online article describes research regarding the experience of fear in humans.  Apparently, the amygdala in the brain is at least partially responsible for the proper experience of fear, based on study of a woman whose amygdala has been destroyed by disease.

The interesting thing about this study is how this woman's lifeis affected.  The total lack of ability to know or experience any form of fear has caused her to blithely take risks that could have killed her, because she doesn't have that slight fear or wariness that causes her to check and reassess situations that may be life threatening.  She will approach people who she should know to avoid because she has no fear that they may cause her harm.  Or she will do things that might otherwise kill her, such as picking up a snake without worrying if it could poison her.

The upshot is that lack of fear can be extremely dangerous and shorten one's life.  But the ability to adjust the fear experience to treat post-traumatic stress disorder or to heal phobias is a good thing.

For the purposes of speculative fiction and plotting stories, however, the concept of this control of fear can be a great basis for a plot. 

Ideas.

• Create or eliminate targeted fear responses.  Say you have a character who is a government agent.  She or he cannot feel fear of death--it has been eliminated.  But they can feel everything else, including a heightened fear of disappointing their superiors or of failing their cause.  Wouldn't that be a great modification to terrorists who want their suicide bombers to unfailingly deliver the packages?  Or wouldn't it be a great thing for dictators or despotic governments, to ahve their soldiers charge into battle like rabid lemmings regardless of the circumstances?  Scary.
• Behavior control as the new thought control.  You could innoculate a society against touching substances, following trends, eating certain foods, believing certain beliefs, etc.  that the government/religious group, political group, cult wants them to avoid.  Selective application of fear or removal of it can channel the population into generally predictable models. 
• The crazy/evil manipulator behind the scenes.  Here's a really freaky-weird concept--you have some crazy person using such a technique to create great works of "art" on the planet using an entire country or ethnic population or geographic population as his medium. 
• The ever-popular power play.  Aliens/fairies/political or religious groups could use such a technique for control and conquest.  Say an alien race wants to have the populations avoid certain areas of the landscape so that there are human-free zones.  An ecological safe zone for wildlife could be created, or humans could be confined by fear to certain reservations. 
• Fluid dynamics in populations: Herd the masses and mass behavior.  And the fear could even be of something that doesn't exist.  If it's of something that doesn't exist (e.g. it's a superstition) it would be omnipresent and dreadful.  A fear of things that go bump int he night would keep people inside during the dark, have them avoid dark closets or such. 
• Social Engineering, e.g. Update on Brave New World.  Combine targeted loss of fear with targeted fears to create whole new societies. 
• Medical fixes.  We could cure obsessive behaviors like hoarding, or alcoholism and drug abuse. 
• A takeover. Humans could be tweaked so that they cannot fear the alien invaders or the leaders of a particular religion or political party.  Is that not akin to a religious experience, if you tweak the concept a little bit? 
• Create the perfect soldier, intergalactic colonist, etc..  Genetic engineering combined with fear adjustments would provide a group of colonists or soldiers with the right tools for the job...especially if it were reversible. 
Self-applied "mental modes."  Programmed fear settings that put her into the proper response mode for a particular show.  Be it acting, dancing, sex workers, soldiers, cops, firemen, criminals, cage fighters, or the average Joe or Jane mundane individual seeking to be 'in the mood' for a romantic evenign with her lover...initiating a "mental mode" that would give them the edge to compete/perform in their field would make them highly functional. 

Designer people with set or, worse, endlessly programmable behavior "channels"?  Scary stuff.

 

The puppies

I know it's not a good picture of them, but you can see how BIG the boys have gotten! They are almost 26" tall at the shoulder. Boomer the Pug can walk under their bellies now, and they were barely taller than he when I brought them home.

And an amusing factoid: I did the math, and, not including the grain, raw beef heart and liver, they have consumed about 1.2# of kibble per pound of weight gained.

I just had to retrieve a pen from Chance's gullet, too. Thought we'd lost the tip and spring, but he came up chomping on them a few minutes later. It's amazing how much crap they can hide in their mouths. No kidding, I get in there mining for treasure, fingers literally down their throats and fingers digging all over...and they still manage to hide stuff that's pretty huge. Almost like they have a crop and cough stuff up to chew later like cud! I didn't find a rock the size of a marble once, despite a thorough search.

Dullness pervades

Life has been relatively quiet lately.  I like it.  We have fallen into a routine with the puppies, and I am still living on about 6 hours of sleep a night when I generally prefer eight to nine.  I don't know why I'm not more tired than I am.  Must be the excessive amounts of coffee I have been slurping.

The puppies are over 40 pounds now.  They are both listening better and have more self-control than they did at 12 weeks.  They are 20 weeks old today, and they are so much taller than the Pug that he can walk under their bellies.  They were a scant inch taller at the shoulder than Boomer when I brought them home about 7 weeks ago. Wow. 

I will be installing a fence in the yard as soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws, and then I'm going to spend my spare time organizing the basement so that (hopefully) I can gut the mudroom in 2012 and rough in plumbing, run electrical and insulate so we can put in a new bathroom to replace the funky one.  I'll get the walls in the mudroom and do the laundry area first, and finish off the bathroom and add custom touches in 2013, if not earlier.  I will be doing most of the work to save money, but I still am guessing at about 18k to do it all.  That's still not that bad for extremely well insulated, new bathrooms alone.  And once I have that new bath in I will be able to put the wall back in the living room that incorporated teh front porch as interior space and give us back the front porch.  And I'll open the kitchen to  the living room so we have a great room. 

The most important point of the mudroom project is that I'll have a back door to the yard and a doggie door, and the dogs can be locked into a heated space where they can't hurt anything yet have outdoor access winter or summer.  So if I have to leave them for an extended time, they will have a place to hang out away from cats and hazards. 

Sadly, Luger did something to his foot on Thursday night and after howling in pain for a minute or so, he was limping pretty badly.  He's still tender footed and ki-yies when he steps wrong, and I'll have to get his leg exrayed Monday if he hasn't gotten past that stage.  Not sure what he did, but he was running back into teh room at top speed during one of the boys' tears, and I think he slid and possibly jammed his leg into the door jam.  I'm just concerned that he either tore a muscle/ligament or he may have damaged a growth plate in his leg or foot bones.  That's pretty bad, and I really don't want to pay for doggie surgery at the moment.  But you can't ignore injuries like that, especially when the dog's growing so fast!  Might have extreme consequences later on.

And on the writing front?  *laughs hysterically*  WHAT writing?  I ask you, when would I wedge in some time?

My highly appropriate coffee mug

Madre tells me it's my own fault that the pups insist on 3am potty breaks. I have spoiled them, and they want their morning cuddle/snooze with me. However, I maintain that if they would actually go to the bathroom before bed it might mean they slept until 4:30, which is when the alarm is set. Le sigh...

The writer's life

A couple of days ago, Sylvia commented with an hilarious link where cats quoted Charlie Sheen.  I found a great post by the author, Francesco Marciuliano (author of the Sally Forth strip), on the writer's life.  He's talking about writing comic strips, but I think it could easily apply to us all. 

The only flaw?  He omits mention of coffee!

Which brings me to the topic:  What do you do that makes you live a "writer's life"? 

A professor I had in college (where I took in all but name a creative writing minor) stated once that you are only a writer when you are writing.  I submit that in a certain sense that is true...but what is the life of a writer, and what does that writer do in between spates of writing?  Isn't it logical that life fills the void between the moments when you are writing? 

Because, if we feel we are writers, want to be writers, or are already paid professionals in the field in some manner, there should be some distinctive flair or habit or prevalent whatever, right?  (Okay, play along with me here anyhow.)  If we have something that defines us as writers besides the actual production of prose, what is the life that we are leading that makes us distinctively living the "writer's life"?  Is there a stereotypical writer's life that doesn't borrow from Hemingway and a fifth of bourbon or involve gay Paris and beret-wearing mimes smoking unfiltered Turkish cigarettes and drinking coffee in a bistro or absinthe at the cabaret?

Play with the idea a bit and look at your own life.  Where do you show your writerly nature to the world?  In your decor, choice of abode, your hobbies, your haunts, your friends?  Seriously, look at your life and what you've built around yourself and see how those things in your life reflect your writing habit/career.  It could be little superstitious rituals.  Purchasing habits.  Hobbies.  How you describe yourself to others.  What I'm really asking you to do is to look at the activities that are not related to actual writing or the settling in to write but which you feel define you as a writer.

For myself, I have a thing for goofy tee shirts.  A lot of my shirts have amusing comments about being a writer, and it makes me feel like a writer because the shirt says so.  It's a form of label, marking me to the world...or at least marking me to me! 

And I surround myself with office supplies.  Blank post its, reams of paper, bound books, art paper--you name it, I likely have some of it lurking, forgotten, in the office area.  For some reason, I feel like the creative potential in a blank page is incredibly powerful for me. 

Then there's my leisure time.  I am unable to actually do this because my location and job (the Job That Ate My Life) prevents it.  But, given the opportunity, I'd hang out in bistros or organic coffee shops; I used to do that in San Francisco, and I wish I could do so all the time. I also used to dress rather Bohemian, which made me feel all hip and cool and stuff.  Though, just shy of 50 now, it's not exactly a look or trend that would win points any longer, so, like the coffee shop hanging out in, it's all a wish, not an actual thing I can or will do.  But that still defines me to myself.

So...what is it you do that makes you feel like a writer in the mundane existence outside of actually penning the Great American Novel?

Close your eyes for the train wreck...

"Two and a half men's "uncle Charlie" should not be replaced or even killed off like they do in daytime TV. He should be kept around as a public service announcement..." commenter on TMZ

I hate to watch celebrity melt downs.  It's far too easy to hate them or scorn them for the things they do that the 'little people' like me couldn't even dream of trying, much less get away with.  So I try to avoid even considering them and their self-involved and -created plights.  (Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Robert Downey Jr., etc.)  I do, however, like to see them fix themselves a la Drew Barrymore. 

On the home front, we are presently experiencing more snow, and it might turn to freezing rain, which everyone adores...not.  Besides that, I am back to work after two whole days off in a row during which I accomplished nothing except to snooze on the sofa with my puppies.  They are both close to 40 pounds now, I think.  It's hard to get a true reading when you are holding a rather large, squirming dog and standing on a regular household bathroom scale.  I find them to be better about not chasing the kitties, and about listening when I tell them too...but I confess to resorting to my military dog handler voice, which is rather loud.  That does get their attention, but it also scares Chance, so I try to resist.  But when it comes to mobbing and pouncing on the cats, I smack butts and holler.  It is not to be borne and they need to learn that that is the one thing with dire consequences.

I can't wait for it to warm up so I can get the yard fenced.  Then I can let them run the silliness out of their systems. 

The properties of silver

A while back (February 2010) I had an article linking to Patricia Briggs' web page and her article on silver bullets.  It's great.  It's actually 15 articles.  And it's here.  Knock yourselves out. 

Firefly: the best little science-fiction-space-opera-western-wish-fulfillment-shoot-'em-up-you-wish-hadn't-been-cancelled

Firefly fans, have you heard this one?  Another internet upswelling that is apparently working to pledge money to get the rights to Firefly and put it back into production. 

They acknowledged that the odds that Fillion was serious about buying the show's rights are "pretty low," but hope the community's willingness to support some sort of revamped "Firefly" will encourage creator Joss Whedon or someone else with the proper clout to make a move.

Science Channel will be showing the existing shows in syndication.  (Yahoo!)  But, if you haven't heard of nor seen this little gem of a series, it's available on DVD.  I have it and the movie.  Gotta say, they are both the same story line, but the tv show is a sight better because it's longer. 

The Science Channel will be airing all of “Firefly’s” episodes starting on Sunday, March 6 at 8pm ET. The network will premiere the original two hour pilot of the series, which will be followed by episode one at 10 PM. After the big debut, the next 14 episodes, will air every Friday in the 10 PM timeslot.

Can I just scream here in annoyance at spam commenters? Especially ones who apparently want to sound provocative and say mean things to commenters in my blog? Srsly, you guys are assholes. And I promptly delete you.

Violence in your writing: where do you draw the line?

I ran across a CNN article that made me stop and think about the plethora of violence in the current crop of speculative fiction.  Basically, the article was talking about the increasing presence of violence against children in video games, and asked the question: are we less sensitive to the issue of violence against children because of the medium, or are we as a society becoming less sensitive to such violence?  Or are we just becoming insensitive to violence, period?  And he speaks about the quandry of deciding how or if to use these plot devices.

Here's what the article has to say.

...But, increasingly, I'm getting uncomfortable with how comfortable game developers have become with putting children in peril and, often, allowing them to be gruesomely killed.

If you watch local TV news, read the newspaper or skim through CNN's headlines, there's not a day that goes by when you don't hear about some unthinkable violence or long-term abuse against a child. The video game industry, which has strived since the 1980s to have the same cultural cachet as TV and movies, has found a taboo that can make gamers feel like they're consuming more mature, provocative entertainment.

When such depictions are presented in an artful, entertaining way, video game advocates are put in a position of defending content that might be less palatable in other mediums. Would the "Dead Island" trailer work as a live-action preview of a movie or would it have provoked outrage?

I wonder if our tolerance for virtual gore and bloodshed in games has numbed us to the mutilation and torture of children because they're virtual characters, no more real than the barrel-chested Nazis in "Wolfenstein 3D" or the turtles in "Super Mario Bros."

Or, more disturbingly, maybe we've become so used to hearing about violence directed at kids that its depiction in video games is just another reflection of our culture. Perhaps developers, many of whom have kids of their own, are exploring their own fears as they build complex, dark game narratives, fully aware that once there's an "M for Mature" label on the package, there'll be little outcry.

It's a tough question.  I have no problem with sex, violence, horror, or general nastiness in a story...if it is useful to the story.  The old "if it serves the story" line we all have seen trotted out.  It's true...but it's also an excuse for anything you envision, to greater or lesser degree.  Let me be clear, though: Obvious, beat-me-over-the-head-with-a-stick agendas are not what I am talking about.  In my not-so-humble opinion, agenda novels are obnoxious bits of proselytization better used as doorstops.  But for the 'real' novels, the question remains: what is too much in terms of violence--particularly crimes against children, women, racial hatred, etc.?  These topics are touchy to address and have a coherent, unemotional discussion about...especially in this country, where we all pretend we aren't prejudiced and to even bring up the topic for discussion implies you are in favor of prejudice.  And where should we writers draw the line? Where should we consider what we owe society or our culture or humanity as a whole?  Or do we have a responsibility in those arenas?  We are writing for money, after all.

Yet, as is traditional in spec fic, our genre usually touches on squicky topics that readers are more comfortable addressing in a setting that isn't too close to the real world.  Brave New World, Animal Farm, 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Frankenstein, etc. are all prime examples of this sort of examination that basically created the sf genre.  In recent decades, though,there's a lot of what could be termed gratuitous violence.  For example, my current favorite genre, urban fantasy, is pretty much defined by the dark and violent world of the paranormal.  Not only do we expect the violence, we are waiting for it.  Likewise, cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic tales are also violent by definition.  And these sorts of stories generally have violence not just as stuff that sets the scene or provides plot complications or a crime for our characters to solve...those genres also have a stylistic sense that is all about the violence.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  It's what we are reading the genre for, at least in part.  (I mean, what are the kick-butt heroines going to be kicking if not the butt of some presumably-violent baddy?). 

But I suggest that, as writers, it is worth considering our choices regarding the use of violence in our stories--particularly violence that involves subjugation of the weak, racism or other 'taboo' evils.  So ask yourself this:  why did you choose to put that particular bit of violence there in your story?  And do you know what, exactly, you are saying in the subtext formed by that particular choice?  Are you pointing up the foibles of racism, or portraying the extreme vileness that a particular political or social program may ultimately lead to?  Or are you just going for the titillation factor, or trying to push squick buttons in your audience? 

It's okay to do what you want in your own writing.  If you like buckets o' blood and squickiness, more power to ya.  I have my preference and you have yours.  As is usual in the USA, your readers will vote their opinions by buying your work. 

But beyond the pure commercialism or even our sense of artistry in the creation of our stories, I suggest we writers need to at minimum consider that subtext. If nothing else, it may provide you with a coherent response to haters who slam you for your choices in their reviews.

Photos of the boys

I've posted some photos of the puppies on Facebook here.  No need to be a member, the link is public. 

I am particularly amused by the one of Chance eating a carrot.  (It's good for their teeth and gums.)

More boys

Madre just took this one with her phone, so the quality isn't the best...but you get the idea about their size!

The boys

Well, the boys were 18 weeks last Friday, and 4 months on the fifteenth. As you can see by the picture, they are waaay bigger than they were when I got them 5 weeks+ ago.

We saw the vet today, and the great news is that Chance's heart murmer is a lot harder to hear, implying it's grown smaller!

They are double the size they were when I brought them home. Chance is 32# now and Luger is 34#. No wonder they've gone through over 65# of high grade kibble!

Oh, and for comparison, check out the picture that is here.  It gives the pups in a similar pose.

Brain = mush

Yep, it finally is confirmed: my brain has turned to mush.  Probably something to do with lack of sleep due to puppies who are determined that 3am is the proper time to wake me for a potty break (this despite being, ahem, purged at 9:30 and I know they can hold it 8 hours) and my apparent incipient senility.  I mean, who else do you know cannot remember she received a 40# bag of dog food from FedEx and calls to complain...only to find out from their relatives that the package not only arrived, it was you who unpacked the silly thing?  And you don't remember doing it?  (I still don't, as a matter of fact, but the bag of dog food is unquestionably in my laundry room, smirking.)

I suspect it might be that I've doubled one of my migraine preventatives, but since I've been on the new dose for better than 3 months, you'd think it would have been obvious before now.  But I'll ask the doc when I see him in a few weeks.

As far as puppies go, I got them Rogz collars that have a chain loop inset into the nylon collar, which allows you to have the benefit of a choke chain without having a chain all around the pup's neck.  It works very well to stop the lunging, although it isn't as good as a choker with Chance.  He still leans into the collar and I have to tug on it.  But it's better than one of those nose doohickeys that you have to use all the time.  I prefer suffering through the training process so that my dog (eventually) gets it that he shouldn't act like an idiot on the end of a leash.  (Or at least not act like the idiot at the other end of the leash, viz my confession above. :) )  At any rate, they are doing well, but as they are puppies they are little idiots with zero self control and the sense of, well, puppies.  But they are picking things up, slowly but surely. 

Chance's ultrasound results came in the mail just in time for me to present them to the vet next Monday.  The report is very hard to read, but I got that he had "good function" but there is an approximately .5 cm hole.  Couldn't make out the location due to doctor gibberish writing and it being a light copy, but the vet will understand it when she sees it, no doubt.  But a half a centimeter is about a 1/4 of an inch!  And that's a HUGE hole in a 12-week-old puppy heart!  Chance doesn't seem to be suffering, and he's keeping up with his brother just fine.  We did put him on a diuretic because he seemed to be a bit stressed, but they are growing rapidly.  I gather that it is during the growth that the dog's heart is going to be stressed the most.  We'll see Monday if it's sounding better, worse, or the same.  The worst prognosis involves the hole being situated so that blood that's pumped sort of gets sucked back into the other side of the heart, reducing the oxygen flow and causing the dog to become weak and grey due to lack of oxygen.  That's a situation where I gather you euthanize, as heart surgery is vastly more likely to kill the animal than help.  And if the dog is able to function without surgery, you leave the hole and just see what happens.  It might just get smaller or close. 

In any case, the boys are getting much bigger very fast.  Chance and Luger are 18 weeks today.  And they are at least 7 inches longer in the back than when I brought them home 5 weeks ago.  (Has it only been 5 weeks?  Lordy, it seems like forever.)  They are also 5 or so inches taller.  The jackets I made several days after I got them home?  They were an inch past the base of their tails, and are now short enough the bottom hem is ahead of their kidneys.  I think they are about twice the weight now, too: 30+ pounds, or darn close.  And their spots are still coming in.  I think they might look like their mama when the spots have all comein, especially Chancey.  He's getting the blue belton streaks all over his head and back! (See this delightful page for examples.  The dogs here are a very good example of the smeared dots that are called beltons...and these dogs are very much what mine will look like when older...except my boys are tri-colors, e.g. have both black and brown spots.)

In any case, so long as the boys will still fit on the sofa with me for a nap after they get their business done, I can survive on the five hours sack time.  It's nice snuggling with them, but they are getting a bit large now and I'm discovering that the bony frames of English Setters mean elbows and knees jabbing me when they sack out with me. 

I'll post pictures soon.  I actually have a couple of days off, Sunday and Monday and plan to do that as well as a few things like cleaning my room and office.  I have spent all my time doing dog minding since I got the boys.  Not that I particularly mind, but zero writing or cleaning.  C'est la vie!

Puppy update

They are making sad faces because I told them it's time for bed. We are learning leash manners and that you are supposed to potty outside. They are paper trained well now, though. But we are starting to transition. And the boys are growing FAST. They are a bit over 25# I think. Chance is doing very well, but he's on a diuretic due to his heart, and we are avoiding sodium. All in all, they are both fantastic dogs, but they are puppies and squirrely as all get out.

Guest Post: Allison Pang

I've got to apologize to you all, as I have been so busy with puppy mommyhood that I forgot to get the intro to this post done.  And apologies to our guest poster, Allison Pang, author of the awesome new release, A Brush of Darkness, an urban fantasy.  Allison will graciously show up here and there to answer questions posed in the comment trail.  No telling when, so stop back and check.  :)

Q:  One of the best things about your worldbuilding in the novel is the premise of Touchstones as anchors to the fey, and the sacred Contracts that make the system work like a form of currency.  Can you share a bit about your thought process in coming up with that paradigm that is the basis for the story? 

 A: It was mostly just to keep the immortals from getting a little too powerful in the “real” world. I’m a big believer in that things should have a price, but I also liked the idea of there being a bit of “buyer beware” when it comes to the humans who make these deals. Some of them are simple transactions, but others can definitely seem a bit too good to be true.

 Q:  Is this your very first novel, or do you have a trunk novel(s) stashed away?  If you have a trunk novel, what do you think that experience taught you, and how did you approach the creation of "A Brush of Darkness" differently? 

 A: This was my first solo novel. I have a trunk novel that was co-written with someone else before that that will never see the light of day. The mechanics of writing with someone else are different than solo writing, but I guess the biggest difference is that I could pretty much take the story (BoD) in whatever direction I wanted. 

 Q:  What did you learn from the process of this first published novel?

 A: The world of publishing can be very slow at times. Writers have to be patient and try to remain as professional as possible.  There’s an excellent saying out there about being nice to the people you meet on the way up…because you’re going to meet them on the way down. I firmly believe this.

Q:  Do you have any embarrassing, excuse me, amusing tales to share? 

A: Not really. Maybe pitching my book a little earlier than it should have been pitched, but overall I’d say things have been pretty normal.

Q:  Any advice to those who are shopping for agents or publishers?

A: Make sure your book is really ready – get feedback from people you can trust to be honest. Lip service is a nice ego stroke, but it’s not going to help you in the long run. Keep things professional between you and the agent/publisher (make sure you follow query guidelines, etc.) If you get a rejection, don’t take it personally. File it away, learn what you can from it and move on to the next on.

 Q:  How much of Allison Pang is portrayed in Abby Sinclair?  I know from my own writing that it's fun to take something that's part of me (or anyone else for that matter) and take that trait to extremes for humor or pathos.  Did you find yourself doing that with Abby or any of the other characters?   

A: Heh. Probably more than there should be. All the characters have some facet of me, but Abby has quite a bit of my personality. I didn’t intend for it to come out that way, but there it is.

Q:  Phineas is an hilarious take on unicorns.  I was spitting beverage when we are introduced to his un-unicornlike behavior.  It was amusing and refreshing to see a bawdy take on the creatures, but what made you pick this particular flavor of sidekick? 

A: Because I could? LOL. I don’t know. I ran a variation of him in an online game for a little while, but he was a bit more obnoxious (and larger) there than he was in the book. When it came to BoD I knew I wanted to give Abby some sort of little sidekick, so I shrunk him down. He wasn’t even supposed to talk in the book, but about half way through he opened his mouth and that was that – he went from being comic relief to actually having a real part in the series. J

Q:  Allison, I notice a lot of bacon mentions in your novel, including in your acknowledgement.  How much does bacon enter your real world life?  And (thinking of John Scalzi's Canonical Bacon Page) have you ever had some of the more outré bacon items out there, such as bacon chewing gum, bacon vodka, or a bacon ice cream?  Any recommendations or warnings for the rest of us?

A: Honestly – I just like plain bacon the best. I’ve had some of the bacon chocolate and it’s okay. I don’t eat it as much as I might indicate, but I don’t ever turn it down if I come across it either. LOL.

Q:  Hello Kitty is obviously something you love, given the mentions in the book and in the header of your blog.  So...does your real world underwear drawer have nothing but Hello Kitty in it?  And is there a miniature unicorn?

A: LOL. I actually don’t have any HK underwear at the moment – but my daughter does. Her entire room is pretty much done up in HK, actually. And we both have stuffed unicorns of different sizes. (I have a few from when I was her age still kicking around…)

Q:  Anything you'd like to share about the submission, editing or publishing process?  How were you pleasantly surprised or disappointed on your journey to publication?

A: Overall it’s been pretty good. I’ve been very fortunate at the way things have turned out. I’d say the only thing I’ve been a little sad about is losing a few friendships over the process. Of course, I’ve gained some too, but there’s always a bit of regret there.

John Scalzi's Canonical Bacon Page:  http://whatever.scalzi.com/about/the-canonical-bacon-page/
Allison's blog:  http://mynfel.blogspot.com/ 
Allison's Website:  http://www.heartofthedreaming.com

 

 

News and stuff

Not much going on in my life except for puppies and work.  But I would like to announce that Allison Pang will be guest posting on Friday.  She will be by here and there to answer questions in the comments.

Contest Winner!

I have read the fine entries to the contest and declare Phoenix the winner.  Thanks for participating everyone!  Phoenix, please contact me with your mailing address and I'll ship your copy of Patricia Briggs' Silver Borne as soon as I can.

CONTEST ENTRIES DUE TODAY!!!

Enter them in the comments of the announcement post by this afternoon. I'll select a winner this evening. (Times are fluid with puppies in the house. Act soon or you'll be too late.)

Nutrition stuff (for dogs and people)

Okay, still educating myself on canine and feline nutrition.  But I am pretty convinced already that most commercial food isn't comprised of entirely 'safe' ingredients for your pets.  And, if you have time and money, fresh food is a good way to go...if you educate yourself and are very careful (and can afford it.) A great article on why you should consider a corn free diet for your pets is here.

A few facts:

Reading the label.  The first 5 ingredients are the ones that are most important.  If you check, most of the cheap grocery store brands have corn or wheat as the first or second ingredient, and sometimes 4 of the 5 first ingredients are some flavor of grain.  They will often have chicken or other meat byproducts as the first ingredient, though--which looks like there is more of that first ingredient than the corn.  But that's misleading  (see below).  The listing is from the weight before processing...and unprocessed meat is full of water that is then removed when making kibble.  So you may have five times the corn content as the yummy meaty stuff.

Additionally, the pet food of good quality should have a Nutritional Adequacy Statement or AAFCO statement and a statement regarding the crude protein, fat, fiber and moisture content of the food.  This is really the place that you should pay attention to after the first five ingredients.  You need to consider your pet and his protein, carb and fat needs to know if you have too much or too little nutrition.  (see my previous post.) 

Understanding the common terms.  The USDA has a listing of common terms on human food labels here and terms defined for pet food here (in very intricate and confusing detail, too). But there are a number of terms that are very important to understand which you generally don't find on human foods, such as

• "Byproduct."  "When a label reads byproducts, you can be virtually assured there is no measurable meat value in the ingredient."  It can contain the bloody sweepings and sawdust from a slaughter house floor, or uncleaned viscera full of fecal matter, hair, hide, horns, bones, meat that is unfit for human consumption, or sick animals that die at the slaughterhouse and cannot be used for human consumption!
• Meat.  The term "meat" by itself means there could be anything in that ingredient that basically comes from an animal--from intestines, brains, dead cats, dogs, lab animals and any sweepings from off a slaughter house floor or byproducts from other processing.  And that can include unhealthy, diseased or experimented upon animals!  So look for a specific meat types on your label. (There is apparently even enough wiggle room that byproducts can also be called "meat."  Pet food regulations are vague and full of loop holes.)
• "Mill Run."  The vegetable equivalent of meat byproducts.  The hulls and stems and what all else that are left over from a manufacturing process. 
• "Meal."  Which is the condensed version of the named ingredient.  From what I've read, you remove about 80% of the original weight in water and fat from the meat, which means pound for pound there is vastly more protein in chicken meal versus chicken meat.  And "chicken byproduct meal" has more protein than the regular chicken byproduct...and may also have hair or other protein sources that are not digestible.
• "Natural."  Gah.  A useless word, but it sounds nice. "Natural" has not really been legally defined, but AAFCO requires a products labeled "Natural" to consist of only natural ingredients without chemical alterations, except for vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients.
• "Organic" has been legally defined for human foods by the USDA. Pet food companies can currently use the term "organic" if they follow the same rules as applied to human foods. Note that natural and organic are not interchangeable terms.
• "Holistic" has no legal definition and is unregulated with regard to pet food. Any pet food could use the term "holistic" in marketing their product. The term currently has no meaning in pet food.
• "Human grade" is not an allowed term on a pet food label, unless the food is made in a plant approved for manufacturing human food. Because of this, there are very few pet foods that are labeled "human grade." However, this regulation doesn't apply to advertising and websites, so some pet food companies will tout "human grade" ingredients in their products.
• "Clinically proven" on a package or pet food label means the claim must be supported by two clinical studies. All Science Diet dry pet foods contain clinically proven antioxidants.

Oils, fats and preservatives.  Well, the truth is, if you don't have a good grade of oil or some preservatives, you are going to have rancid pet food if it's sat for a while.  And if you don't have a good grade of oil listed by name, you very likely have by-product oil or oil considered unfit for human consumption.  It can consist of processing oil that's gone rancid, or old restaurant oil!  Oils that are low in saturated fat and high in Omegas are good.  Oils high in saturated or hydrogenated fat are not good, except apparently some argue that coconut oil and lard (aka pork fat) contain nutrition that is good for dogs.  Flax seed oil or Omega 3 oils help with skin and coats.  (Too much can cause diahhrea.)  Fat soluable vitamins need fat to be ingested so that they can be properly metabolised. 

Grain, while not evil, can be low in nutritional value or cause food allergies or digestive upset.  Especially in puppies.  Corn is the main ingredient in many foods AND it's the worst offender.  Not good.  Wheat appears to be better but is still not a really great source of food value for canids.  Proteins are graded based on a value of the best biologically absorbable protein, which is eggs.  On that scale, eggs are 100.  Here's a list I found here that shows a list of values. 

Grains that appear to be 'good.'  From my reading, I see that unpolished or brown rice, flax meal, sweet potato, pea, chickpea/garbanzo, peanuts and a few other grains and nuts are considered good additions to doggie diets.  Not best for cats, though, I suspect (yet many foods have corn meal second to chicken or other meat byproducts, meaning corn might be the primary ingredient in the little carnivores' diet!) Some sites say that feeding your dogs commercially prepared bread is good for them because the bread is usually fortified. Others are proponents of considering your breed's origins and using only grains or vegetables which were readily available to them back in the mists of history.  (A not necessarily good example being potatoes for North American canids or white African yams for African canids.)

Veggies and fruits or not?  Dogs are basically carnivores, although they are slightly omniverous.  Some proponents of natural diet say that in the wild dogs absorb all the grains and fruits they need by eating the predigested grains and such in the alimentary tracts of their prey.  But most sites that are not flogging commercial foods say that dogs can digest some veggies but not all the ones that humans can.  Some veggies and fruits are high in fiber but low in absorbable nutrition, making them mere filler.  (Thus the argument against corn, which is a fruit and not readily digested by dogs.)  Others (such as beets) are so high in sugar that unless the sugar is reduced they aren't as valuable as they are harmful despite the high nutritive value. 

Minerals and vitamins.  If you decide to give mineral or vitamin supplements, you need to be cautious.  For one thing, if you give a human dosage to a dog that weighs 20% of your weight (that would be a medium sized  20-40# dog, most likely) you might overdose the poor critter.  Secondly, if you give an excess, you can make your pet sick.  Third, if you create an imbalance such as with sodium/potassium, you can make your pet very sick or even kill them because you supplemented in the wrong amounts. So be judicious and do your research or ask a vet for her advice.  Above all (and this should be common sense) do NOT use people vitamins!  Certain supplements would be fine if you can measure them accurately via powdered form rather than in pills...but you need to use caution.  I take powdered Glucosamine as well as Hyaluronic Acid for my joints.  If I had an arthritic dog, I'd find out the dosage and try supplementing with the same stuff to see if it helps them, as these products are sold for dogs, horses, cats and other critters and are safe in the correct amounts.   But not everything is, and the literature is apparently conflicting in some regards.

Meat is best?  Well, it depends.  For one thing, dogs and cats need their nutrition in different configurations, particularly fats and protein.  If your dog has ever gorged on cat food and suffered severe diahhrea as a result, you will know what I mean!  So learn to read the labels and know what the terms mean.  The word "meat" with no descriptive can be anything--including by products.    Meat meal is concentrated protein because the ingredient is weighed after much of the water is removed.  Meal contains something like 20% of the original water content, so if "chicken" is listed as first ingredient, but "chicken meal" is the fifth, the chances are that your two ingredients are close to the same value or the meal actually has more protein/nutritional value in it!  The Biological Value of the protein in a particular foodstuff is how the benefit of the product can be generally determined.  First you have to know the type of protein and whether it's condensed into meal, is raw or is cooked.  These factors affect the relative protein in the product.  Then you have to consider whether the recipient can actually digest it.  And third you have to see where it lies on the label. 

The list below, from this site, gives some common foods and their Biological Value.

Protein Ratings

FOOD	PROTEIN RATING
Eggs (whole)	100
Eggs (whites)	88
Chicken / Turkey	79
Fish	70
Lean Beef	69
Cow's Milk	60
Unpolished Rice	59
Brown Rice	57
White Rice	56
Peanuts	55
Peas	55
Whole Wheat	49
Soy beans	47
Whole-grain Wheat	44
Peanuts	43
Corn	36
Dry Beans	34
White Potato	34

As far as sources of protein created in the lab are concerned, here is a short list of some protein sources you can find in supplements common today. See how they compare to the natural sources listed above:

Protein Ratings

PROTEIN SUPPLEMENT	PROTEIN RATING
Whey Protein Isolate	159
Whey Protein Concentrate	104
Casein	77
Soy	74

You can see that many of the common (read: cheap) ingredients in commercial foods are on the lower end or not on this list at all.  That said, the high priced grain free foods have issues, too.  A lot of the grain free foods have beets or potatoes, have objectionable preservatives, have a short shelf life, must be frozen, are difficult to find, or cost the moon. 

That all being said (and if you are still with me here) the cost of the food that is grain free (which seems to be anywhere from $1.50 a pound to $4+ a pound) is better metabolised with less weight.  Read that to mean that the dogs poop less because they use more of the food you have given them.  You can feed them less kibble, so it will last longer, making the cost differential less...but NOT exactly cheap.

You can extrapolate for yourself how this knowledge of USDA label requirements can apply to your human diet as well.

I'm on the side of getting the best foods for my doggies and cats I can afford.  When I saw that three of the top 5 ingredients in my Iams cat food are CORN I about choked.  They are getting a trial batch of grain free food as well, because Mikey has been vomiting on a frequent basis for the past couple of years, and no food seemed to make a difference.  Methinks I know why, now. 

 

Opportunity - The Midnight Diner

For many reasons which are both personal* and embarrassingly hypocritical, I have some anti-christian biases.  Not of the I hate you because you are christian variety, but the I'm so sick of being prosyletized** to, thank you for your interest yet again, but do leave me out of it and don't expect me to BE it variety.  

But, after reading their submissions page,  I think I like these guys at The Midnight Diner, a self-proclaimed rag of "Christian writing on the fringe," might be a good read.  Because their religious slant doesn't appear to be stuffy or rigid.  I like that about anyone of any flavor.  Anyone who is secure enough in their beliefs that they don't have to take themselves too seriously around 'hot button' issues is my kind of person.  Because, without open and honest dialog (read: racial issues in the United States) the problem festers and prejudice and hatred and misunderstanding thrive.  (Off my soapbox now, I promise.)

Getting back to the topic, The Midnight Diner particularly wants stories set in diners, but there appears to be room for other locations.  Also, namby-pamby stories need not apply:

"The Diner is not for children, or the faint of heart. Jesus dressed up as Thor, a whore who moonlights as an exorcist, a bouncer at a strip club, and more offbeat characters were regulars in the first edition of The Diner. This is not Guideposts or your Sunday School quarterly. Pansy sanitized work will be unceremoniously dismissed. Do not send me work where gangbangers say things like, “Golly gee, Beav, what ever are we going to do with this swell crack?”

They are presently closed for submissions, but check in at their web site or blog for when they open up.  But definitely read the submissions page for their list of things they do and don't want.  Funny.

*Isn't it always about the relatives?
**Hey, I'm pagan and a Unitarian***.  We don't do proselytizing. 
***Did you hear the one about the proselytizing Unitarian Universalist?  She went to answer the door and couldn't remember why she'd knocked.  (If you don't get it, email me.)