…Am still around, just very very busy (especially with the snakelet progressing at exponential pace towards toddlerhood. Babies are scary sometimes. The good scary, but still). Still working on the novel that wouldn’t die. 73k words in, 18.5 chapters. 30 to 40k words to go, 6.5 chapters. I can do it. *deep breath* In the meantime, I’m over at SF Signal, revealing which SFF character I would like to share a drink with….

…family rather than being linked to it by blood). So not quite what I want to be studying intensively… In other news, work has started again on the novella that wouldn’t die (complete redraft), so I’m going to be scarce this week. And, hum, the week after (which is Christmas anyway)….

…ually, I only learnt they were mindmaps after I started using them. I have downloaded Freemind on the computer (neat cross-platform tool), but for some reasons mindmaps work better for me on paper–one of the rare things that still does. So I take a huge A4, and draw little circles and little arrows, et voilà! Suddenly all my problems vanish. Ha, I wish. But what usually happens is that I get past whatever had me stumped (in this particular, a trou…

…eams exist only either as a background and foil for a single hero, or as a compendium of individuals, each fighting to be outdo each other in stupid displays of heroism (yes, X-men, I’m looking at you). I’m tired of the casual acceptance of violence as a valid answer to anything, of the proliferation of guns in movies and books, of how it’s always acceptable to go face the bad guys with a sword or a pistol instead of seeking a peaceful resolve. I…

…gs. I have written about this before, but to save you the click: people assume dogs are male. Listen out for it: you will find it’s true. (..) People assume animals are male. If you haven’t already noticed this, it’s only because it’s so pervasive. We also assume people are male, unless they’re doing something particularly feminine; you’ll usually say “him” about an unseen car driver, for example. But it’s ubiquitous in regard to animals. (…) Then…

…also have the coolest suits: the yellow tight-fiting body suits just look dumb compared to Magneto’s cape and helmet… Other than that… Well, what can I say? It was a deeply sexist movie–not exactly surprising, but my (female) neighbour and I watched in growing horror the series of Emma Frost’s flimsier and flimsier costume. And every single woman in the movie ends up naked (Moira even starts the movie by dressing as a call-girl, supposedly in orde…

…er one of works by 21st-Century women writers. (Kev McVeigh gave me a more complete list of 150 female SF writers, but it’s not online that I can find, which is here). So, without further ado, my bit for the first meme (will get around to the second at some point): You know how it works: bold those you’ve read, italicise those you own but have not read. (If you’ve read the entire named series, you can even emboldenize that as well.) 1 Frankenstein…

…sacre is handled, with (I thought) less emphasis on the guilt of the alchemists who took part in it, and a tendency to shrug off war as something bad caused by homonculi rather than an inherently human problem. Perhaps the worst difference in that regard was to have Scar be the killer of the Rockbells instead of Mustang. Having Mustang be the killer in the original anime brought an edge to the character and a fount of guilt that I found too easily…

…e, chopped into small pieces 1 teaspoon of chilli garlic sauce (I use Lee Kum Kee, which is medium hot, since the point isn’t to take out your taste buds) Instructions Mix everything, and leave to settle in the fridge for a while (ideally, overnight, but it still works if you leave it around ten minutes. It needs to settle, though, don’t skip that part). Notes There’s a version of this which has 1 part sugar, 1 part nuoc mam, 1 part lime juice and…

…ia LJ or mail to give me your mailing address and whether you wish the antho signed. Thanks very much to everyone else for entering–I had no idea Written in Blood was so popular 🙂 There will be another contest coming soon (July if I get around to it, or September, ’cause the wedding is a bit in the way of organising stuff like this), to win a copy of Servant of the Underworld and a cool Aztec coaster….