The Memory Palace

Official tumblr of author, editor, reviewer, journalist and literary hired gun JoSelle "Jo" Vanderhooft. I mainly use this to squee about fandoms I enjoy, like Les Miserables and Doctor Who, and to fangirl John Simm. Hello, hello.

[thinksquad-deactivated20190405]

Last night police in riot gear marched down West Florissant Avenue, ordering people to leave the area and firing tear gas onto the streets. Police even fired tear gas into the backyard of a home where several people held their “hands up” in what’s become a symbol of protest over the shooting of Michael Brown. Daily RFT caught the melee on video.

The incident occurred after police had already evacuated nearly everybody on West Florissant Avenue. Between tear gas firings, a police officer bellowed “go home” into a loudspeaker. It took about an hour, but nearly everybody within vicinity of the police left the streets.

Yet a group of four male protesters remained defiant on West Florissant, screaming profanities at the police and putting their hands in the air. The police responded with threats of tear gas.

"Turn around and leave or we will deploy gas," shouted a police officer through a loudspeaker. Residents in their backyards pleaded for the men to get out of the street. After a few minutes of prodding, they did so. But the police still decided to advance.

Standing in his backyard along with a few friends and family was 24-year-old Rich West. And after seeing the police deploy tear gas as they marched down the empty street, West and his friends felt like protesting.

"You go home! You go home!" they chanted. As the police come closer, they all put their hands up.

Once again, the police officer with the megaphone ordered the protesters to go home.

"We’re in our yard!" they responded.

At one point West walked to his fence with his hands high up in the air.

"This my property! This my property!" he shouted, prompting police to fire a tear gas canister directly at his face. He moved at the last second.

"This my shit!" West screamed irately after narrowly avoiding the gas canister. Eventually a friend grabbed him and pulled him back to calm him down.

"This is my backyard! This is my shit!" West continued screaming into the camera. He turned to the police: "Y’all go the fuck home!"

"This is our home. This is our residence," West’s brother added. "Why do you think people say ‘fuck the police?’ Because of that shit."

Flora Busby, West’s mother, a soft-spoken woman in her 60s, came into the backyard to see if her sons were alright.

"We in our backyard!" she said. "Why you gotta shoot us?"

Again West shouted at the police. And again they fired another gas canister into the yard — this one nearly hitting his house.

"It’s pure ignorance," West responded after catching his breath. "I pay property taxes here. I should be able to be in my backyard any time."

He said that regular harassment by the Ferguson police department, often in the form of traffic stops, has been occurring ever since he was sixteen years old.

"They ain’t gotta be throwing tear gas in my backyard," added Busby. "This is my property. We were just standing back there, my son was standing back there, and I go to see about him and they threw it."

She continued: “I’m angry about that. They shouldn’t be doing that. And they didn’t need to kill the poor little boy. “

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/08/police_in_ferguson_fire_tear_gas_on_protesters_with_hands_up_in_their_own_backyard.php

[syllethx]

What the fucks happening in Ferguson?

Alright, i’m gonna sit down and basically explain the situation in this ask so everyone of my followers knows why i’m so pissed.

Michael Brown, a 17 - 18 year old african american boy was unlawfully shot (8-10 times supposedly) by police in St Louis, Missouri on saturday, august 9th, 2014. He was unarmed, and had done nothing to attract suspicion other than the fact that he was black. His body was left in the street for 4 hours. (beware: somewhat graphic image linked)

There are several claims from witnesses (see: Dorian Johnson’s account and video [HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING UP ON HIS ACCOUNT, ITS VERY SPECIFIC] — Brown’s friend who experienced the situation first hand, La’Toya Cash and Phillip Walker— Ferguson residents nearby the incident),  that fall together in generally close claims. However, the only one who’s claim seems out of place is the police officer’s who shot Brown. Who, by the way, is put off on paid administrative leave AND who’s name remained under anonymity for his safety (However, attorney Benjamin Crump is looking for a way to force release his name). He claims that Brown began to wrestle the officer for his gun and tried attacking him after he told Brown and his friend Dorian Johnson (22) to “get the f*ck on the sidewalk”.

According to Johnson, after a minor confrontation on the officer’s part where he grabbed Brown by the neck and then by the shirt, the officer pulled his gun on Brown and shot him at point blank range on the right side of his body. Brown and Johnson were able to get away briefly and started running. However, Brown was shot in the back, supposedly disabling him from getting very far. He turned around with his arms in the air and said “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!” By this point, Brown and the officer were face to face as the cop shot him several times in the face and chest until he was finally dead. Johnson ran to his apartment and by the sound of his account, seemingly had some sort of panic attack. Later he emerged from his home to see Brown still laying in the streets. People were gathered with their cellphones, screaming at the police.

According to msnbc, the police refuse to interview Johnson at all, despite his amazing courage to come forward. They didn’t wanna hear it. They only listened to the cop’s account of it all and were vague with the media on what they thought happened. They’ve also refused to commit to a timeline in releasing autopsy results and other investigation information.

Numerous rumors are sweeping around such as Brown stealing candy from a QuickTrip, the store he emerged from calling the cops on him, Brown reaching for a gun, Brown attacking the cop first, ect. But these have all been debunked. (I know a lot of these have been debunked, but im having a hard time finding sources. if anyone could help out and link some legit ones id be SO grateful)

The event in and of itself was terrible, but now it has escalated beyond belief. Around 100 or more people, mostly black, went to the police station to protest peacefully. Things quickly turned bad as martial law got involved and authorities were bringing in K9s, tanks, heavy artillery, ect. The heavy police presence only made things worse as riots began to break out and looting and vandalism started. [ x ] [ x ] [ x ]

Now, as of very recently, the media has been banned from Ferguson. There is also a No-Fly zone above Ferguson for the reason of “ TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES ” as said on the Federal Aviation Commission’s website. Cop cars are lined up on the borders to prevent people from entering/leaving. Media outlets are being threatened with arrest. It completely violates our amendments and everything.

It’s becoming increasingly scary and difficult to find out whats going on over there. I’m afraid this is all the information I have, though. If anybody else knows anything about the situation, please feel free to add on or correct any mistakes i’ve made as i’m no expert on writing these things.

And as a personal favor, i’d really appreciate anyone to give this a reblog in order to spread the word. I think it’s a shame that this is going on in our own country yet so few people know about it. Help me make this topic huge and get this as much attention as possible.

[badass-bharat-deafmuslim-artista]

Everyone should sign this. I support this petition! (WFA stands for World Fantasy Awards)

Octavia Butler contributed a rich, nuanced, complex body of work during her lifetime. Her novels, essays and short stories changed the entire genre of speculative fiction by complicating our notions of power, race and gender. Her characters were vivid and deeply human and her prose was sharp. She wrote masterfully across the imaginative genres, from science fiction to historical fantasy to horror. 

While HP Lovecraft, whose head the current award is modeled after, did leave a lasting mark on speculative fiction, he was also an avowed racist and a terrible wordsmith. Many writers have spoken out about their discomfort with winning an award that lauds someone with such hideous opinions, most notably Nnedi Okorafor.  It’s time to stop co-signing his bigotry and move sci-fi/fantasy out of the past.

[executionerbarbie]

for real this is so important and would make so many white neckbeards mad 

[trilobiter]

Let’s take Lovecraft down a peg, yeah?

[nonameinanytongue]

oh hell, yes

[theupstartcrow]

It's ridiculous that I'm using a profile picture that is eleven years old. However, I hate having my picture taken, so i don't really have much to replace it with lol.

[theupstartcrow]

I'm editing the following anthology and submissions have slowed a little bit with about a month and a half left in the reading period. I'm not sure why I didn't post this on Tumblr sooner, but better later than never, I suppose. Tumblr has so many writers who identify all along the LGBTQiA/MOGII acronym and/or who care about seeing more than cishetero people represented in science fiction and fantasy that it'd be a shame not to see some of your stories in my inbox.

Guidelines come from here (scroll down).

(Gender) Queered Space is an anthology of speculative fiction focused on characters who defy, transgress, toy with, subvert, or who reject or just plain don’t fit into the gender binary of cisgender (non-transgender) man or woman. Got a space opera starring a trans woman and her non-binary lover? A steampunk story with a genderfluid protagonist? A retelling of Snow White with a bigender Snow White? Show us! Characters can be any sexual orientation as long as their gender identity isn’t (at least primarily) cis male or cis female.

Although we are particularly interested in stories by transgender, genderqueer, genderfluid, and non-binary authors, and all other authors who don’t fit into the male-female gender binary, authors of any gender identity are welcome and encouraged to submit.

We are particularly interested in reading submissions about characters who are underrepresented in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and related genres. These include but are not limited to: people of color (particularly those who live in countries other than the US), disabled/neuroatypical people, working-class people, non-Christian people, immigrants, and people who live outside the US.

Our interest in diversity also extends to authors. We are particularly interested in stories by writers of color, disabled/neuroatypical writers, working-class writers, non-US writers, non-Christian writers, immigrant writers, and writers whose primary language is not English but who have translated their stories into English.

Stories should be 2,000 – 10,000 words long and should be sent as .doc, .docx, .rtf, or Open Office attachments to [email protected]. If you work on a Mac and are not sure how to convert, let us know. Standard manuscript format preferred.

We are not interested in the following:

Stories that denigrate transgender and genderqueer/genderfluid identities. This should go without saying, of course.

Stories that denigrate any race, ethnicity, culture, sex, gender identity, sexuality, nationality, religion, class, or other group, or that appropriate or exotify any identity. Look up “cultural appropriation” for an idea of what we mean.

Stories where a protagonist saves a backward alien race—or even a human culture—that can’t possibly save itself. No Avatar remakes, please!

“Issue” stories that only serve to teach the main character how not to be transphobic/racist/homophobic/some other form of prejudiced.

Stories where the sole explanation for the antagonist’s behavior is that they are “crazy.” Seriously, do NOT do this.

Fanfiction (stories that use characters the author doesn’t hold a copyright to)

And, this should go without saying: stories that feature a transgender or non-binary person prominently but are really about a cis man—especially those where a woman is his prize for doing something well.

Submissions open May 26 and close September 26.

Please send submissions to editor JoSelle Vanderhooft at [email protected] with the following subject line: Gender Queered Space: Submission: (Your Last Name): (Title of Your Story)

A bit about me: I've edited seven anthologies to date, mostly of lesbian SF/F (the most read of these is Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories, which was a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Award). I've made including diverse authors in my projects a priority for the last decade. I identify as bisexual/omnisexual and do not identify as cisgender.

[amazoogle]

[grubsnuggle]

#Why do we even have that lever

[theupstartcrow]

So, in honor of #Weneeddiversebooks and #diversifyyourshelves, I’m posting about a few books I’ve been, er, involved with, either as author or editor. All of these feature lesbian and bisexual female characters as protagonists or major secondary character. Some are sexy, some are chaste; some are romances, some are not; all of them are SF and fantasy.

First there’s my second novel, Ebenezer.

What is it: It’s a retelling of A Christmas Carol with a lesbian protagonist who is living with severe depression brought on both by genetics and by several circumstances. (And yes, her name really is Ebenezer—because she’s from Utah and people don’t know how to name their children there sometimes. Believe me, I know this firsthand ;)). It’s set at the height of the global recession in 2009 and explores not just the mind of someone essentially undergoing a life-threatening mental health crisis but the connections that we need to form as human beings in order to protect and care for each other when governments, businesses,social structures, and even personal ambitions fail us. 

Trigger warnings: Yes, for graphic suicidal ideation, frank discussions and portrayals of mental illness, discussions of death, as ell as classism and some pretty harrowing verbal/emotional abuse of poor people. ETA: And emotional/verbal abuse of a child. (I’m sorry. I knew I forgot something. Basically, I know it’s kind of an emotionally harrowing read, but I promise it’s worth it!)

Since this book is set in NYC, I tried to make the cast reflect the city’s diversity as well. Had I written it today instead of in 2009, I would have done a few things differently,but I still am hopeful that I did this part well. Ebenezer is white, but many secondary and tertiary characters are not. 

My goal with writing this book was to rescue A Christmas Carol from over a century of schmaltzifying and saccharine-coating and to get in touch with what makes this novella so strange, so haunting, and ultimately so awe-inspiring. It seriously is my favorite book of all time, and one I re-read every year around the holidays. I cry every time I read it, and I wept several times while writing this book. I hope I did well by Dickens and by everyone who will read my retelling of him!

One of the difficulties in marketing this book has been the them, of course. People hear “A Christmas Carol” and think “Christmas book.” Well, in a sense that is correct. This book takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. But the idea of Christmas—even in the secular sense—is very much not an overwhelming theme, so it can be enjoyed, I think, all year round, and by people who don’t like or celebrate the holiday.

You can find it here on Amazon.

or

Here on Barnes and Noble.com. (if you have a Nook). 

And here on All Romance Ebooks if you’d rather support a smaller company.

If you’re a reviewer and would like to review the book for your blog, Amazon.com, or Goodreads, feel free to send me a message here or at upstart(dot)crow (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll set you up with a pdf. :)

Next up: part 2: steampunk and witches and lesbians, oh my! 

[theupstartcrow]

You need diverse books? I've got 'em! Part 1

So, in honor of #Weneeddiversebooks, I’m posting about a few books I’ve been, er, involved with, either as author or editor. All of these feature lesbian and bisexual female characters as protagonists or major secondary character. Some are sexy, some are chaste; some are romances, some are not; all of them are SF and fantasy.

First there’s my second novel, Ebenezer.

What is it: It’s a retelling of A Christmas Carol with a lesbian protagonist who is living with severe depression brought on both by genetics and by several circumstances. (And yes, her name really is Ebenezer—because she’s from Utah and people don’t know how to name their children there sometimes. Believe me, I know this firsthand ;)). It’s set at the height of the global recession in 2009 and explores not just the mind of someone essentially undergoing a life-threatening mental health crisis but the connections that we need to form as human beings in order to protect and care for each other when governments, businesses,social structures, and even personal ambitions fail us. 

Trigger warnings: Yes, for graphic suicidal ideation, frank discussions and portrayals of mental illness, discussions of death, as ell as classism and some pretty harrowing verbal/emotional abuse of poor people. ETA: And emotional/verbal abuse of a child. (I’m sorry. I knew I forgot something. Basically, I know it’s kind of an emotionally harrowing read, but I promise it’s worth it!)

Since this book is set in NYC, I tried to make the cast reflect the city’s diversity as well. Had I written it today instead of in 2009, I would have done a few things differently,but I still am hopeful that I did this part well. Ebenezer is white, but many secondary and tertiary characters are not. 

My goal with writing this book was to rescue A Christmas Carol from over a century of schmaltzifying and saccharine-coating and to get in touch with what makes this novella so strange, so haunting, and ultimately so awe-inspiring. It seriously is my favorite book of all time, and one I re-read every year around the holidays. I cry every time I read it, and I wept several times while writing this book. I hope I did well by Dickens and by everyone who will read my retelling of him!

One of the difficulties in marketing this book has been the them, of course. People hear “A Christmas Carol” and think “Christmas book.” Well, in a sense that is correct. This book takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. But the idea of Christmas—even in the secular sense—is very much not an overwhelming theme, so it can be enjoyed, I think, all year round, and by people who don’t like or celebrate the holiday.

You can find it here on Amazon.

or

Here on Barnes and Noble.com. (if you have a Nook). 

And here on All Romance Ebooks if you’d rather support a smaller company.

If you’re a reviewer and would like to review the book for your blog, Amazon.com, or Goodreads, feel free to send me a message here or at upstart(dot)crow (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll set you up with a pdf. :)

Next up: part 2: steampunk and witches and lesbians, oh my! 

[langsettttttte]

jesus

[grasscut]

According to a teacher at J.Law that my mom knows, she was apparently an honors student and was extremely motivated and had her plans for college all thought out. She wanted to go somewhere in life and now that was all cut short because some guy couldn’t handle rejection. This is tragic, and my heart goes out to her friends and family. I NEVER want to hear someone say that women have no reason to be afraid of men ever again.

[janedoughxvx-deactivated2016071]

I’m speechless… 

[rudithbutler-blog]

I’msoangry.

[d0sesand-mimosas]

i’m so livid

and so fucking sad

[honey-tea-stuff]

it was done at school. And a teacher might’ve seen part of it happening. THAT. Really pisses me off. This makes me so sick

[gehayi]

Chris Plaskon walked up to Maren Sanchez at 7:15 in the morning on the day of the junior prom and asked her to go with him. When she said no, she was going with her boyfriend—which he knew already—he stabbed her in the neck.

Which means, does it not, that he came to school carrying a knife, prepared to murder her if she said no.

This wasn’t about a sixteen-year-old being unexpectedly set off by rejection. He brought the murder weapon to the crime scene. And he made sure to ask her very early, when few people would be around.

I don’t know what his motive was—but it wasn’t the prom. He had the means and he created the opportunity.This was premeditated.

[iron-sunrise]

There’s something very, very wrong with this article.

[serafinacastaway]

No.

Why are they discussing how “great of a kid” he was? How he was strange, but never dangerous? How no one saw it coming even though he was obsessed with her for two freaking years.

He brought a knife with him to school that day.

He brought a knife with him that day, knowing good and damn well he would ask her to prom. He knew, when he brought that knife with him, that she would turn him down due to being in a relationship.

You asked a girl in a committed relationship out on a date, and then got angry and “snapped” when she acted on the fact that she was in a committed relationship and said no, instead of miraculously going against it and saying yes to you.

But we all know he didn’t really snap. No, not when he packed the murder weapon on you ahead of time. Not when he cornered her during a low traffic time. Not when he knew she was seeing someone. Not when he knew she’d say no. No, he knew what would happen, but felt so entitled to her and her body that when she dared to say no, he felt justified in taking her life so that no one else could have her.

But the media talks about his model family? How he was strange but funny and happy and a class clown who enjoyed making others laugh? How he was a nice guy? How devastated his family is?

His? The attacker? The murderer? The one who felt so entitled to someone just because he liked her that he felt justified in stabbing her because she dared to tell him no?

What about her? What about her family, who has to live day in and day out with the fact that this boy felt so entitled to their child that he felt entitled to determine whether she lived or died? What about them, who have to move forward without seeing her because some rude, selfish, evil thing couldn’t take the word no and planned to kill her as soon as he heard it? What about them?

You don’t get to stab an innocent girl in the neck and have the media humanize you. I don’t care if you were a little depressed now and then, I don’t care if you have ADD. No one cares that you seemed to be a well adjusted, cheerful kid and that your actions were “so unexpected.”

You MURDERED someone for refusing your advances.

The media needs to STOP humanizing this evil, dangerous, selfish thing. It’s what’s wrong with the world.

[theupstartcrow]

Aaaand once again the media immediately has to mention that the perpetrator was mentally ill/neuroatypical, implying yet again that murders are only done by mentally ill people. And no, before anyone says that depressed people never get blamed for this sort of thing, reread the first paragraph again. FFS, if it didn't seem to play any part in his motivation to murder her--which, by the way, mental illness seldom does--why bring it up at all?

And I can't even start with the ADD thing, or I'll be furious all weekend and not be able to talk about anything else. 

I'm so done.

[sidestreets]

Someday, I want you to breathe and realize, in the middle of a street in whatever city you call home, that you don’t have to feel ashamed anymore.

The Most Important Letter of Our Life by JoSelle Vanderhooft (via sidestreets)

Woww. It's awesome to see that some of my old writing is still going around! I'm so glad you liked this, sidestreets.

[weneeddiversebooks]

erm, I have a question... Why don't people write their own books? I mean literally nothing is stoping them from doing so. Everybody can write a book, if they can write and read. Just asking for diverse books, won't change anything. Nothing changes until one takes action! And if people would use the energy they spent in complaining how undiverse books are in writing their own stories, the problem would be solved for ever. Just saying...

Hi Anonymous, the issue is actually a lot more complicated. You see, there is a belief that books about and/or by minorities don’t sell.  And because of that, even if one gets published, they don’t get marketing dollars. They don’t get positioning in bookstores or libraries. Because of this, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The whole point of this campaign is to push the public to find those books that are diverse or written by diverse authors and support them. Because if the books that are already published don’t get bought, it further hurts new, up and coming authors eager to break into the industry. Remember, it’s still a business and money drives the world. The third part of our campaign is to push the public to support diverse books by actually going out and buying books by diverse authors OR requesting them to be ordered at their local libraries. There is much we can do. Thank you for asking your question.

[fireandwonder]

Also:

1)  Have you ever tried writing a book?  It may not take much in the way of material resources, but it does take time, energy, and skill (which can be attained through practice - i.e. even more time and energy) that does not pay off immediately, and very, very rarely pays a living wage.  I know lots of people who have books they want to write, but they are either a)  going to school full-time, b) working just above minimum wage, or c) both.  So yeah, it does take less energy to ask for diverse books than to write one.  

2)  I once heard this response compared to “Don’t like the government?  Well, why don’t you just run for president?”

[shiraglassman]

Absolutely. Plus the fact that some of us DO write our own “diverse books” and then find ourselves spending all our free time trying to signal-boost them just so the audience that’s already there and waiting even

knows about it in the first place. Someone once posted about a lesbian princess and the post got 50,000 notes. But I bet you that less than one percent of those people knew about my lesbian princess/queen character. Just to give you an example: I had people telling me months after my book came out “wait, your characters are Jewish? How come I didn’t know that?” I didn’t know what to tell them.

[theupstartcrow]

It's also frustrating because people say they want diverse books, but then don't blog about, read, review, or even check out small press titles like Shira's or mine. Sometimes even when we offer a free copy. For example, i gave away something like 50 copies of the first Steam-Powered anthology (lesbian steampunk stories) to people who swore up and down that they'd review it. Maybe ten of them actually did.

[theupstartcrow]

You need diverse books? I've got 'em! Part 1

So, in honor of #Weneeddiversebooks, I'm posting about a few books I've been, er, involved with, either as author or editor. All of these feature lesbian and bisexual female characters as protagonists or major secondary character. Some are sexy, some are chaste; some are romances, some are not; all of them are SF and fantasy.

First there's my second novel, Ebenezer.

What is it: It's a retelling of A Christmas Carol with a lesbian protagonist who is living with severe depression brought on both by genetics and by several circumstances. (And yes, her name really is Ebenezer--because she's from Utah and people don't know how to name their children there sometimes. Believe me, I know this firsthand ;)). It's set at the height of the global recession in 2009 and explores not just the mind of someone essentially undergoing a life-threatening mental health crisis but the connections that we need to form as human beings in order to protect and care for each other when governments, businesses,social structures, and even personal ambitions fail us. 

Trigger warnings: Yes, for graphic suicidal ideation, frank discussions and portrayals of mental illness, discussions of death, as ell as classism and some pretty harrowing verbal/emotional abuse of poor people. ETA: And emotional/verbal abuse of a child. (I'm sorry. I knew I forgot something. Basically, I know it's kind of an emotionally harrowing read, but I promise it's worth it!)

Since this book is set in NYC, I tried to make the cast reflect the city's diversity as well. Had I written it today instead of in 2009, I would have done a few things differently,but I still am hopeful that I did this part well. Ebenezer is white, but many secondary and tertiary characters are not. 

My goal with writing this book was to rescue A Christmas Carol from over a century of schmaltzifying and saccharine-coating and to get in touch with what makes this novella so strange, so haunting, and ultimately so awe-inspiring. It seriously is my favorite book of all time, and one I re-read every year around the holidays. I cry every time I read it, and I wept several times while writing this book. I hope I did well by Dickens and by everyone who will read my retelling of him!

One of the difficulties in marketing this book has been the them, of course. People hear "A Christmas Carol" and think "Christmas book." Well, in a sense that is correct. This book takes place on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. But the idea of Christmas--even in the secular sense--is very much not an overwhelming theme, so it can be enjoyed, I think, all year round, and by people who don't like or celebrate the holiday.

You can find it here on Amazon.

or

Here on Barnes and Noble.com. (if you have a Nook). 

And here on All Romance Ebooks if you'd rather support a smaller company.

If you're a reviewer and would like to review the book for your blog, Amazon.com, or Goodreads, feel free to send me a message here or at upstart(dot)crow (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll set you up with a pdf. :)

Next up: part 2: steampunk and witches and lesbians, oh my! 

[gottliebe]

We need diverse books because mentally ill people of all ages need to read about themselves as being more than passive victims of their own minds or violent, manipulative threats to be defeated.

[daisybong]

If you want a book about a teen girl struggling with depression, who’s story is mirrored by her mother also struggling with depression, i suggest Saving Francesca. It’s my all-time favorite book and it’s so damn good.

[gottliebe]

Reblogging again so more people can see this recommendation. Thanks for offering it, snugglesfordean! :3

[shiraglassman]

What if you could get lesbian books for even cheaper than usual?

It’s coupon time again at Prizm, which means the eBook package (contains Kindle, pdf, and something else) of The Second Mango, my fantasy novel about a young lesbian queen who hires a dragon-riding warrior woman to take her around on a search for a girlfriend, is only $4.79 if you use the coupon code reviewmay2014 until May 9, 2014. I  Or, you could buy Tiffany and Tiger’s Eye by Foxglove Lee, a modern, lesbian take on the classic “1980’s teen horror” genre. An impoverished teenage lesbian’s life is finally starting to look up when she gets a fascinating new girlfriend—except her Creepy Doll (tm) gets jealous and starts making trouble. With coupon, it’s only $5.59. Both books contain no dead lesbians, lesbians who end up with men, or other Tragic Queer tropes, and the bisexual love interest of each protagonist is positively portrayed (and any hints of biphobia on the part of a character are corrected by the plot.) And the coupon gets you 20% off all books in the Torquere Press/Prizm Books catalog. Coupon does not work on Amazon.

[theupstartcrow]

I have read both of these books and can attest that they are well worth your time!

[disabilityhistory-blog]

Dear disability rights nonprofits, activists, and everyone else. Have you reached out to your Black constituents? Have you publicly expressed your outrage? Are you silent now? Because if you are, you are sending a message that Black lives are irrelevant. You are erasing my son’s life and my life as well.

On Murder of Jordan Davis By Michael Dunn (via disabilityhistory)

[biandlesbianliterature]

FEMMES ARE LEADERS IN TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS/ DEFENDING OUR QUEER AND TRANS PEOPLE OF COLOUR COMMUNITIES. WE USED OUR STILETTOS AS WEAPONS AT STONEWALL. WE WERE THE TRANSWOMEN WHO FOUGHT BACK AT THE COMPTON CAFETERIA. WE’RE THE GIRLS WHO STARE DOWN ASSHOLES STARING AT OUR LOVERS AND FRIENDS ON THE SUBWAY. WE WALK EACH OTHER HOME, ACT CRAZY ON THE BUS TO GET ASSHOLES TO MOVE AWAY, AND WE KNOW HOW TO BREAK SOMEONE’S LEGS. WE SHARE WHAT WE KNOW.

“FEMME SHARK MANIFESTO!” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha in Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Ivan E. Coyote and Zena Sharman (reviewed at The Lesbrary).

(via fuckyeahlesbianliterature)

[ithelpstodream]

No way!

[theupstartcrow]

Hm. So this would make Clara's father the son Rory and Amy adopted who we saw in the storyboarding for "P.S.", or it would mean that Rory and Amy adopted other children. This is all possible, but it does rather pose the question of why Amy didn't tell the Doctor who she was, why the Doctor never found out about this family link in all the time he researched Clara's history, or why the Doctor could never see her and Rory again. 

On the one hand, Moffat often has really...careless, non-resolutions to the big problems he creates (why can't the Doctor just park the TARDIS in Long Island and take LIR in to see the Ponds?) On the other, with how messy Clara's timeline is, maybe her "real" version is one of Amy's descendants.