Nature Photos

 Gray skies.

Portal Fantasy

In the "fuck that noise" category, here is a thoughtful discussion about gatekeepers who reject portal stories without regard to the quality of the writing, only the content.

1) If you are an acquiring editor, you can rule out categories of things you don't want to buy.  But it really sucks when everyone gangs up on a topic and tries to choke it out of existence.  That amounts to censorship.  You hold great power, and an obligation to use it responsibly.

2) Everything is liked by somebody.  Many fans do, in fact, adore portal stories.  It's a top favorite for me, because it's a major subset of my all-time-favorite motif, Fish Out Of Water.  I have done whole panels on this topic!  My favorite thing is to take some hapless character out of their comfort zone and dump them somewhere utterly unfamiliar.  A portal works great for that, whether it transports Terrans to another world or vice versa.  It is aggravating to imply that "nobody likes" something, especially when their are great examples of it in literary canon already.  You just make yourself look stupid.

3) In good hands, a portal makes an awesome plot device. Something like the Teflon Tesseract in my Schrodinger's Heroes series is a never-ending source of challenges.  Sunnydale's Hellmouth is another good example, and Narnia remains a splendid classic.  I would, you know, like to see the next  one without some editor smothering it in the cradle.

4) Any motif in entertainment can be done well or poorly, and they all have been up one side and down the other of Quality Street.  So quit trying to steal things out of the writers' toolbox.  *smack*  *SMACK*  

5) Are you actively trying  to murder traditional publishing with knives and poison?  Because hey, crowdfunding is over yonder yelling "Come here!  Bring your spending money and your unmet desires.  Bring your awesome ideas and your unpublished entertainment. Let's have a party!"  Because if you don't meet the needs of a whole swath of customers, somebody else will.

The stupid, it burns like hydrogen.

Poem: "By Any Stretch"

This poem fills a square on my card for the kink_bingo fest. This fest encourages people to push the limits of their comfort zone by creating erotica, pr0n, smut, and other sexy stuff in the many flavors of kinky, sensual, and otherwise exotic activities. I'm hoping to attract some new readers for my writing.

The following story belongs to Schrodinger's Heroes, featuring an apocryphal television show supported by an imaginary fandom. It's science fiction about quantum physics and saving the world from alternate dimensions. It features a very mixed cast in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation. This project developed with input from multiple people, and it's open for everyone to play in. You can read more about the background, the characters, and a bunch of assorted content on the menu page.

( Read more... )

Crowdfunding Creative Jam

The Crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open on LiveJournal and on Dreamwidth.  This is our twelfth jam and our one-year anniversary, yay!  The October theme is "kink."  (There's a whole paragraph about the theme on the main posts.)  Come leave us prompts, claim prompts for your own work, and/or watch for free goodies to appear.

Crowdfunding Creative Jam

The Crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open on LiveJournal and on Dreamwidth.  This is our twelfth jam and our one-year anniversary, yay!  The October theme is "kink."  (There's a whole paragraph about the theme on the main posts.)  Come leave us prompts, claim prompts for your own work, and/or watch for free goodies to appear.

Crowdfunding Creative Jam

The Crowdfunding Creative Jam is now open on LiveJournal and on Dreamwidth.  This is our twelfth jam and our one-year anniversary, yay!  The October theme is "kink."  (There's a whole paragraph about the theme on the main posts.)  Come leave us prompts, claim prompts for your own work, and/or watch for free goodies to appear.

Poem: "The Tommyrocker"

This poem came out of the March 6, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by promtps from aldersprig, marina_bonomi, and siege.  It has been sponsored by janetmiles.  This poem belongs to The Steamsmith series, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.

( Full steam ahead... )

Poem: "The Tommyrocker"

This poem came out of the March 6, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by promtps from aldersprig, marina_bonomi, and siege.  It has been sponsored by janetmiles.  This poem belongs to The Steamsmith series, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.

( Full steam ahead... )

Poem: "One Man's Renaissance"

This poem came out of the July 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  It's a sequel to "An Amazing Carriage of Amber and Jade."  This poem belongs to The Steamsmith series, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.  While doing the research, I looked up Leonardo da Vinci and his inventions, oil paint, the glider, Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Queen Victoria.

( Full steam ahead ... )

Poem: "One Man's Renaissance"

This poem came out of the July 3, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from siliconshaman.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  It's a sequel to "An Amazing Carriage of Amber and Jade."  This poem belongs to The Steamsmith series, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.  While doing the research, I looked up Leonardo da Vinci and his inventions, oil paint, the glider, Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Queen Victoria.

( Full steam ahead ... )

Poem: "Two Sides of the Same Coin"

This poem fills the "slaves" square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo Card.  It was also partially inspired by a discussion with catsittingstill about how much of Maryam's experiences derive from her father's side of the family rather than her mother's.  Well, that's what happens when people get kidnapped and shipped overseas as chattel property; they lose a lot of their culture, so they have very little of it to pass down.  For this poem, I researched British slavery and artifacts from the slave days, including this copper token.  The poem has been sponsored by catsittingstill.  It belongs to The Steamsmith series, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.

WARNING: This poem mentions historic racism, classism, slavery, related artifacts, and the continuing impact on people's lives.  If such topics are triggery for you, then you might want to skip this.

( Full steam ahead... )

Poem: "Two Sides of the Same Coin"

This poem fills the "slaves" square on my Hurt/Comfort Bingo Card.  It was also partially inspired by a discussion with catsittingstill about how much of Maryam's experiences derive from her father's side of the family rather than her mother's.  Well, that's what happens when people get kidnapped and shipped overseas as chattel property; they lose a lot of their culture, so they have very little of it to pass down.  For this poem, I researched British slavery and artifacts from the slave days, including this copper token.  The poem has been sponsored by catsittingstill.  It belongs to The Steamsmith series, which you can explore further on the Serial Poetry page.

WARNING: This poem mentions historic racism, classism, slavery, related artifacts, and the continuing impact on people's lives.  If such topics are triggery for you, then you might want to skip this.

( Full steam ahead... )

Poem: "Cheques and Balances"

This poem came out of the September 4, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by prompts from siege, siliconshaman, janetmiles, and DW user jjhunter.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  This poem belongs to The Steamsmith series, and you can read more about that on the Serial Poetry page.  For this poem I researched courtesy titles, substantive titles, Salic Law, the Smith coat of arms, the Smith family history, and heraldic blazoning.


( Full steam ahead... )

Poem: "Cheques and Balances"

This poem came out of the September 4, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by prompts from siege, siliconshaman, janetmiles, and DW user jjhunter.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  This poem belongs to The Steamsmith series, and you can read more about that on the Serial Poetry page.  For this poem I researched courtesy titles, substantive titles, Salic Law, the Smith coat of arms, the Smith family history, and heraldic blazoning.


( Full steam ahead... )

Birdfeeding

SQUIRREL!

Seen at the hopper feeder this afternoon, along with a flock of sparrows.

Birdfeeding

SQUIRREL!

Seen at the hopper feeder this afternoon, along with a flock of sparrows.

Read "The One Night of the Year"

rix_scaedu has written "The One Night of the Year" based on my prompt.  It's a poignant story about not wanting to be yourself.

Read "The One Night of the Year"

rix_scaedu has written "The One Night of the Year" based on my prompt.  It's a poignant story about not wanting to be yourself.