Poetry on the Way!

Based on the first general fund poll, you elected to buy all the sub-epic poems.  I'll get those posted shortly.  You have $13.50 left.  I'll also post a poll regarding that.

Poem: "tanegashima"

This poem came out of the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from siege.  It has been sponsored out of the general fund.  You can read about Japanese matchlocks and the haiku form online.  This poem belongs to the series Lacquerware.

tanegashima

the elegant gun
with the lacquerware handle
smartly aims itself

Poem: "ARG"

This poem is from the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by clare_dragonfly and the_vulture.  It has been sponsored out of the general fund.

ARG

Air is the first concern:
Armor must be airtight
Yet let the wearer turn,
Strong and graceful and light.
Distant galaxies burn
Above the coming fight.

Radiation's a threat
All stellar soldiers face:
Challenge capably met
With lines of silver lace,
Background and bright rosette
Securing safe embrace.

Gravity is a dance
As lovely as the suit:
Pass at hand, fleeting chance,
Saved by magnetic boot
And mindful circumstance
From enemy pursuit.

Form follows function here,
Beauty of pure design,
Courage banishing fear
Beyond the battle line:
Grand knight and cavalier
Find their heir passing fine.

Poem: "full moon in a western sky"

This poem came out of the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by prompts from ellenmillion and marina_bonomi.  It has been sponsored by the general fund.  You can read about the traditional art of origami, an origami-kusudama chrysanthemum, and Japanese death poems online.  This poem is written in haiku verses.

( Read more... )

Poem: "The Mule Patrol"

This poem came out of the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from rhodielady_47.  It also fills the "handcuffed / bound together" square in my Trope Bingo card.  Folks voted to sponsor this via the general fund.

Format: Poetry
Title: "The Mule Patrol"
Fandom: Original (stand-alone)
Summary:  You are a soldier with enough good sense to behave yourself in a multi-species latrine.  Those with less sense attract the attention of the Mule Patrol.
Required Warnings: No standard warnings apply.  Some crude language and humor appear.

( Read more... )

First Test Post

First test post for pre-dating LJ posts.

Poem: "Widow's Walk"

This poem is from the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by a prompt from siege.  It has been sponsored by the general fund.  This poem belongs to the series Monster House.  It is a sequel to "Sonset" although considerably later in the timeline, and it will make more sense if you read that first.  You can read more about Memorial Day and the widow's walk online.

( Read more... )

Poem: "Xenotransvestism"

This poem came out of the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by prompts from wyld_dandelyon and rhodielady_47.  It fills the "cross-dressing" square on my Trope Bingo card.  Thanks also to haikujaguar, who has done a number of charming illustrations of her characters swapping clothes across species.  This poem has been sponsored by the general fund.

Format: Poetry
Title: "Xenotransvestism"
Fandom: Original (stand-alone)
Summary:  Soldiers have a way of relaxing by doing outrageous things, such as wearing each other's clothes.
Required Warnings: No standard warnings apply.  

( Read more... )

Poll: Followup for General Fund from the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl

The first poll elected to buy all the sub-epic poems, which have now been posted.  You have $13.50 left.  Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll.  I'll keep it open until at least Sunday night.  If there's a clear winner then, I'll close it.  Otherwise I may leave it open a little longer.

( Read and vote! )

Nature Photos

 Sunset.

In which JSTOR is a vanity press

It turns out that the famous academic journal JSTOR charges authors a fee  if they want their published article to be free to the public, not locked into JSTOR's pay-for-use system.  The main reason to publish in JSTOR is peer recognition; i.e. "for the luv."  There's a rule in the writing world that money always flows TO the author FROM the publisher, never in reverse; and that publications which violate that rule are vanity presses.  It's not necessarily an absolute, but it's very widely held.

I have to wonder how much damage JSTOR's precious reputation would take if that practice were widely known.  And since I spotted it in an article about a legal battle over information rights in which someone was more or less hounded to death, I thought I'd mention this part.  Authors do the work; JSTOR pockets the subscription money.  Surely there could be a better model than this.

Oxidizing Earth's Core

 This article about the Earth's core forming under oxidizing conditions caught my eye.

Poll: Series for Mid-Month Fishbowl

The January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl reached the $250 threshold, which is a third tally toward a mid-month fishbowl.  So there will be a bonus session on Tuesday, January 22.  Now it's time to decide which series should be the featured theme.  There is a discussion about An Army of One, the new series spawned this month about an autistic secession in space, in case you want to consider developing that one further while it is still brand new.

Everyone is eligible to vote in this poll.  I will keep it open until at least midday Monday.  If there's a clear answer then, I'll close it.  Otherwise I may keep it open a little longer. To see the trending votes in progress, click on the poll URL, and then 'View Poll Results.'

[Poll #1889990]

Poem: "Rigging the Game"

This poem came out of the December 4, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl.  It was inspired by ravan and the "spells" square in my Dark Fantasy Bingo card.  It has been selected in an audience poll as the free epic for the January 8, 2013 Poetry Fishbowl reaching the $200 goal.

( Follow the path ... )

Disability in SF: Resources on Autism

chordatesrock  has helped me find some of these resources about autism, something I'm researching for my new series  An Army of One: The Autistic Secession in Space.  Some other folks have added things too.  I put in the stuff about space and science fiction for convenience.  I'm compiling a list here, for other folks who wish to write about these topics, suggest ideas for me, etc. or who are dealing with autistic spectrum issues in everyday life.  If you have more resources -- especially from the perspective of neurovariant people themselves -- please share in comments.

( Read more... )

Acing the Rainbow Bechdel

Here's an article about revising the Bechdel Test (for female characters in entertainment) to cover people of color.

Gosh, that's easy for me.  I have whole settings where there aren't  any white people, or very few.  The Whispering Sands Desert is one.  Almost all the Northerners in Torn World are golden-skinned; some of the Southerners are people of other colors.  Kande's Quest is sword & soul, set in an African-flavored fantasy world ... but I probably shouldn't count that since I designed the demons after white people, or wait, maybe I can since the unpublished poem is talking about something else.

The Schrodinger's Heroes  cast is racially diverse; they're usually talking about quantum physics and/or saving the world.  The Steamsmith  has a black protagonist, who talks with other black people in several poems, notably her mother in "Coils and Brass" and her valet Ned in "Putting the Past on a Pedestal."  Fledgling Grace has some black characters, discussing their neighborhood news in "The Wingdresser's Kitchen" and an unexpected miracle in "On a Wing and a Prayer."  Other featured people of color include Native American, Jewish, Japanese-Australian, Australian Aboriginal, mixed Hawaiian, mixed Hispanic ... I'm sure I'm forgetting some.    Kung Fu Robots is Asian wuxia science fiction and The Origami Mage is Asian fantasy.  "Starfather" has an Egyptian-descended hero talking with an Asian-descended troopmate.

If you write, how's your Rainbow Bechdel score?