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Z-Line
Thinking hard about the upcoming work schedule
This has by far been the most laborious part of reconstructing the DDCom website: importing and correcting the images and meta for the novels.
I've kept having thoughts like "Will this never end?", "Why did I write all these books?", and occasionally "HOW did I write all these books? When dd I eat? When did I pee? When did I... " ...well, never mind, when you're married to @petermorwood, some things damn well take precedence. :)
But look at this. (I can't fit the whole "Books/Novels" page in here at the moment: but this is the bottom of it.)
The bottom line there contains books 55, 56, 57, 58, and 59.
That gap-without-a-novel-60 is going to drive me around the bend. I am now feeling around in my head for a book I could write in a week or two. (Short fiction will NOT work for me. I don't care what other writers call “books” [and the all-too-willing conflation of the terms “book” and “ebook” frankly embarrasses me]. In my head, novels are at least 70K words. I have standards to uphold.)
I am currently weighing several different projects in The Hand Of The Mind to see what, if completed, might fit into that empty spot in the next couple of weeks.
Don't mistake me. I will ABSOLUTELY write to spite that empty spot. :) (And one possibility that I'm now weighing carefully is [mostly] a Carmela story: Young Wizards: The Chocolate Wars.)
Let's see where this goes. Meanwhile: want to assist this effort? Reference this post and see what it suggests to you. And thanks! 😄
(BTW, just a note for folks who may be wondering if I need help with the website end of this: I have been building our household websites [hand-coded in HTML initially, because what else was there?…] since the mid-1990s. Anything I need to learn about managing Elementor—currently my preferred site builder since I became a Cranky Older Coder—I can find online. [Though the weary techbro-who-loves-to-hear-his-own-voice-drone-on-and-on quality of these does pain me.] I also have *expert* [and paid] professional assistance at the this-year migration end for the site as a whole. But many thanks to all those who've offered assistance.)
Evening Grace
i am massively overdue for a very very good week where not a single bad thing happens and everything is easy
reblog to give prev a very good week where not a single bad thing happens and everything is easy
Grandifloring
Nuggets
Midnight Pals: Sea hides its dead
Megan Bontrager: Submitted for the approval of the midnight society, i call this the tale of the sea hides its dead Bontrager: where are the dead? Bontrager: you'll never find 'em Bontrager: and why's that? Bontrager: cuz the sea is hiding them
Bontrager: so this big giant obelisk just rises up out of the ocean HP Lovecraft: out of the o-ocean?? Bontrager: yup! right out of the deepest watery, sodden depths Lovecraft: [sweats] nothing good comes from down there
Wile E Young: gotta love an obelisk Bontrager: i know, right?! Bontrager: they're the best Bontrager: especially from the sea Young: oh i don't know Bontrager: ESPECIALLY FROM THE SEA
Bontrager: now naturally when you see a giant obelisk rise out of the sea Bontrager: you would probably think it was related to that ancient eternal ocean-based cult that we all know and love Lovecraft: an ocean based cult?? Bontrager: yes Bontrager: very sodden Bontrager: much watery
Bontrager: so naturally an obsessed academic investigates Lovecraft: oh an obsessed academic? i like this part Bontrager: yeah, i thought you would! Barker: oh wow, howard likes an obsessed academic? Barker: what a surprise Barker: someone alert the media
Bontrager: there is something that you should know about this obsessed academic though Bontrager: it's that he's a massive jerk! Bontrager: who is sleeping with his grad student! Lovecraft: hey! what are you trying to pull here?? Lovecraft: this isn't the literary fiction campfire!
Bontrager: but he puts together a team Bontrager: but it turns out that everyone on this team has a dark secret Bontrager: and before the end, in this watery tomb… Bontrager: all secrets will be revealed! Bontrager: all questions will be answered! Bontrager: all socks will be sodden!
Bontrager: cuz it turns out that the eldritch god of this obelisk Bontrager: forces you to confront your greatest trauma and atone Koontz: like the guy in Star Trek V?? Bontrager: Bontrager: what Bontrager: no
Bontrager: not like star trek V Bontrager: no, more like god would demand Bontrager: i mean god is always demanding that kind of thing Bontrager: it's kind of god's whole bit Bontrager: why would you think of star trek Koontz: i just thought Koontz: i just Koontz: god was in star trek V Diane Duane: that was a false god, dean, and they destroyed him
Bontrager: look, the important thing is this eldritch god forces you to confront your trauma Bontrager: and through it, you will do a personal growth Bontrager: as you come to terms with some heavy shit Bontrager: if you think about it, this eldritch god is actually really good for your mental health Lovecraft: oh i don't like that :(
So just to let folks know what's going on
So first of all: let me tell everybody how things went with the new glasses.
Briefly: they're brilliant. The new varifocals work way better than earlier versions of them have routinely done. (This is apparently secondary to the way my eyes continue to change shape as I get older. It continues to make me snicker that I'm getting Iess nearsighted as I age. "So," I said to my Eye Lady, "if I can manage to live to, like, a hundred and twenty-five, I'll be twenty-twenty?" She gave me sort of a cockeyed look. "Well... you'll still be astigmatic. As for the rest of it, let's see how things go...") The reading glasses are no good for the computer: they6're genuinely just for reading. ...But this is okay, because the varifocals work fine for computer work. So THAT whole business has turned out more than satisfactorily... and thanks once more, from the bottom of my heart, to all those who helped out. ❤️
And get this. I went out to lunch after picking the new glasses up, and in the middle of lunch found myself paper-outlining a paranormal police procedural trilogy. (headclutch) So that went well. ...And no, I can't tell anybody anything about the plotting on these: it's too soon. But this looks like something of a change of writing voice (and thematic material) for me: darker than usual, maybe a touch grittier. We'll see how this group of works sets itself up as work gets going. (Other works further along in progress are in front of these right now, but that's fine. Giving things time to mature is never a problem.)
Anyway: typically enough, some other unexpected health junk that had been behaving itself during the spring then started kicking up cranky in June and over the last couple of weeks. (eyeroll) I don't want to get into more detail than necessary about this, but it's an outgrowth of the internal problems that have made me give up long-distance travel. It's required a goodish outlay of cash, and has resulted in me falling behind on my rent.
My landlord is being really easygoing about this, but nonetheless I'd very much like to get caught up on this before it gets any worse. (As being behind this way, I'm finding, is increasingly interfering with my work... especially as that's now become so much easier to get to grips with due to the new glasses.)
So it seems to me that this is a good time to repeat the Summer Reading Sale over at Ebooks Direct!
I imagine lots of people here know the drill. Everything's cheap, and the ebook bundles are all being held at their lowest price points for the duration (meaning specifically the "All The Wizardry" bundle, the Middle Kingdoms series bundle, the LGBTQ Pride collection, and the Feline Wizardry bundle—Even our "Give Me Everything You've Got" collection, which is the whole ebook store in one package, has had a bit knocked off.
So could I get folks to reblog this post so that people who might not have caught one of these sales before can do so now if they want to? Please & thank you!
And additionally: for those who're already up to the gunwales in ebooks and don't need any more, but still want to help out with the rent situation—if you'd like instead to drop something into my Ko-Fi, it'd be very welcome. And if you feel like doing this, I thank you very much in advance! 🙂
Support Diane Duane
...So that's the news from Lake Wobegon for the moment. ...Now to slip outside and give the potted plants a potful or so of water as an evening drink. They've been suffering from the (unusual-for-us) local heat wave, there's a wildfire watch on (leading to a ban on selling portable BBQs), and we're also having a ban on watering things with a hose at the moment. (sigh) One thing after another...
Anyway, thanks again, folks.
Golden (Full Moon)
Midnight Pals: No More Rights
[mysterious circle of robed figures] JK Rowling: hello children Rowling: apparently amnessty international ssayss i'm anti-rightss Rowling: how dare they! Rowling: i'm going to take away their right to ssay that
Rowling: can you believe that amnesssty would dare ssspeak againssst me? Kathleen Stock: a grave injustice, dark lord Rowling: they sssay that i'm anti-rightsss! Rowling: i'm actually very big on rightsss Rowling: i jusst think only i should have them Stock: a reasonable request, dark lord
Rowling: well well well Rowling: nice little human rightss watchdog organization you got here Rowling: would be a real shame if ssomething happened to it
Rowling: look, if thossse transss wanted to have rightsss Rowling: they should have gone about doing it the proper way Rowling: by becoming a besst sselling billionaire childrenss author with a globe sspanning media empire Rowling: i mean, it worked for me
Rowling: i'm going to sssue amnessty into the ground! Rowling: when i'm done, there will be nothing left but a big sssmoking crater in the ground Rowling: i will dessstroy them! Rowling: human rights, bah!! Rowling: I'm JK fucking rowling!!! Rowling: i'm a beloved national treassssure!!!
Rowling: you'll be hearing from my lawyer, amnesssty! Allison Bailey: i advise my client to -whoops!!! [trips, spills spaghetti all over the floor] Bailey: it's fine Bailey: this is not a problem Bailey: i'll just clean this Bailey: i'm cleaning it up Bailey: jeez there's a lot of sauce
Rowling: that'ss fine, i ssstill have complete confidence in allisson bailey Rowling: here, take thiss extra money Rowling: that'll fix thiss Bailey: thanks, i -- whoa! [trips again, spills spaghetti again] Rowling: Rowling: sssssigh Rowling: ok i'm jusst gonna write a check
My latest books cartoon for The Guardian. Many more here: www.theguardian.com/profile/tom-gauld
Midnight Pals: Humorist
John Scalzi: [carrying tray of burritos] who wants delicious burritos?! Scalzi: you've got your choice Scalzi: peanut butter and mayo Scalzi: apple sauce and vodka sauce Scalzi: chicken adobo and asbestos Scalzi: beef stroganoff and gravel
King: ha ha! these joke flavors are hilarious! King: leave it to acclaimed humorist john scalzi to come up with a funny new twist on an old favorite! Scalzi: joke flavors?!? Scalzi: i mean Scalzi: yeah… joke flavors… Scalzi: yeah that's the ticket Scalzi: i am quite the humorist aren't i?
Poe: actually steve, i'd say john is more of a sci fi guy than a humorist Scalzi: i'm glad you brought that up, edgar Scalzi: because that's a misconception that I've been meaning to fix for a while
Scalzi: in fact, i actually am a humorist Scalzi: i used to write for a little thing called uncle john's bathroom reader Dean Koontz: OMG are you uncle john? Scalzi: oh no no i was just one of many writers Scalzi: then again Scalzi: [muttering to self] why SHOULDN'T i be uncle john?
Scalzi: you might not have noticed this, but there's actually quite a bit of humor in my writing Barker: you don't say Poe: clive Scalzi: no really! Scalzi: take redshirts Barker: explain Scalzi: i mean, the title alone… ho ho ho! Barker: Barker: i'm waiting
Scalzi: ok so see, in star trek- Barker: OH it's a star trek reference? Barker: sorry i don't speak nerd Poe: clive stop it, you know good and well what it's a reference to
Scalzi: you know, when they write the definitive history of sci fi Scalzi: i'd like to be remembered as the guy who made humor marketable again Koontz: gosh! what about terry Pratchett? Terry Pratchett: i'd like to be remembered as the guy who made soup marketable again Pratchett: [drinking soup] mm! lecker!
Scalzi: well, terry Pratchett is technically fantasy Koontz: what about douglas adams? Scalzi: ok sure, yeah there's douglas adams Scalzi: that's fair Scalzi: i can't compete with that
Scalzi: but i meant besides douglas adams Koontz: what about Robert asprin? Scalzi: oh COME ONE NOW Scalzi: you can't be serious! Scalzi: I'm twice as funny as that guy!
King: i don't know, john, Robert asprin is pretty funny Scalzi: i'm about a million times funnier!! Scalzi: here i'll prove it Scalzi: pull my finger!!
King: you should hang out with piers, he likes making jokes too Scalzi: Piers Anthony: what do you call a trophy that looks like a cat's ass Anthony: [huffing panties] sorry gimmie a sec Anthony: i'm always funnier when I've huffed a few pairs
Muppetasia
Smoke Tree
Golden, Lining
Life in the Fas(phal)*t Lane *the phal is silent