Making Stuff

... or a day with my daughter.

Sometimes, your day just won't go the way you plan it. But it may go better.

There's writing planned for every one of my days. At least three kinds. And Internet work, and some computer study time... But some days, I don't really get to sit in front of my monitor and do all that stuff.

Like today. I was pulled out of my comfy cave by my daughter's pleas for help and by colorful scraps of fabric.

We made a tote. Doesn't seem like much, does it, to you crafters out there? But to a beginner, that meant learning patience. Thinking things through. Making choices. Learning about types of fabric and the purpose of different notions. Discovering the sewing machine. Learning to measure and cut and pin.

Learning about patience again, and listening.

But most of all, it was having Mom's undiluted attention. And doing something I like with my daughter and having fun.

Next training session: spending time together in companionable silence.

But that may be a very advanced skill.

Last Day to Register

It's Sunday, and it's the last day to register for this session of the Blurbs Workshop!

Hurry in! The fun starts in earnest tomorrow!

Click to join blurbs101

Get some great reads!

On the heels of the previous post, I'm happy to announce Delilah Devlin's summer contest (see the sidebar). The prizes are cool, the reading is hot, and I'm happy to spread the word about her stories.

Check it out here!

I just read a great story...

I had the wonderful luck to read an ARC of a coming novel by Delilah Devlin: Darkness Burning.

Here's her blurb to whet your appetite:

Beware the place where darkness rules and bloodlust is the ultimate aphrodisiac…

An apocalyptic storm has transformed New Orleans into a city of lawless terror—and Mikaela Jones is standing in the center of the nightmare. A beautiful, courageous journalist with a mysterious past, she sees monsters prowling all around her. But the gravest peril of all awaits Mikaela when she is taken captive by a mesmerizing male who is not mortal—a breathtaking creature who arouses the fire in her blood, making her burn for the exquisite erotic ecstasy of total surrender.

For seven centuries Alex Broussard has been waiting for the chance to free himself from the threat of the matriarchal undead society that seeks his destruction. And now, finally, that time is at hand—until the opportunity is ruined by the stunning, innocent, human interloper Alex is compelled to rescue from certain doom. Now they are joined, for good or ill, as they give in to the burning need that neither can resist—risking everything to experience the ultimate sensual release as the darkness rises all around them.

You might have guessed that I wouldn't be talking about it if I didn't like it.

For one thing, every book by Delilah is worth reading. With one caveat: she writes hot!

If you like tame stories, don't go there.

But if you like a wonderful, sensual celebration of life and love, amazing storytelling, great plotting, powerful worldbuilding, and delightful writing, try her!

Darkness Burning is a fantasy set in post-storm New Orleans, filled with vampires, demons, and other supernatural creatures. Don't expect any Hollywood monsters in Delilah's books, though. Her worlds are full of well-researched mythology, of legends based on ancient archetypes and myths that are the very foundation of our imagination.

Her characters are powerful and complex. No cardboard villains here, or white-hat heroes. Good deeds may have unintended repercussions, and sometimes, you must rely on your very enemy at a moment of need. In the best tradition of swashbuckling intrigues, Delilah Devlin creates a larger-than-life cast of characters with motivations that peel away like onion skins. And once you reach the core...

You'll just have to read it. Because Delilah only promises more at each turn of the road.

And you will want more, because you will fall in love with her characters from the first page, and in lust at the second. Love, lust, need, irresistible attraction, and unstoppable fate mix and weave together to form the lifeblood of Darkness Burning. You can never fully trust your allies, and you must never close your ears to your enemy.

Only love is a certain beacon in darkness.

Or so you think.

I don't usually do politics, but...

My husband directed me to this item on his news blog:

Russian Notes
Bloomberg:
"Yale University, which displays a Van Gogh painting seized after the
Bolshevik revolution of 1918, was sued by a man who claims he’s the
descendant of the former Russian owner and the artwork rightfully
belongs to him."

Of course, I followed the link, which took me to this reported response by Yale: Yale, which sued Konowaloff in March seeking a court ruling that it’s the rightful owner, says sales of artwork
“nationalized” by the Soviet Union were valid

Now I have to admit I didn't do any further research, and therefore I won't assign blame or comment on the validity of Yale's rights to the painting.

I do want to draw a picture, however.

Say you've worked very hard to be able to afford the kind of home you've always dreamed of. You fill it with the kind of artwork you desire, honestly and rightfully purchased by your hard-earned money.

Then a new administration comes into power and declares (I do not mean passes a law, which would take years of debate and would never roll in the United States), but just declares that all art is the property of the government. Regardless of who paid for it, of who labored to acquire it, of who loved it enough to buy it.

And the entire world approves.

How fair is that?

Not fair at all. No one approved when Hitler did it. The entire world seeks to put that wrong to rights.

But it's OK when it's the Soviet Union who did it? Why?

And if you're wondering why I'm so fired up about the issue, well, it's because the same Soviet Union stole all of my grandparents property, reduced them to begging, and ultimately caused my baby aunt's death by hunger when they exiled my grandparents to a frozen labor camp.

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Book Review: The Left Hand of Darkness

I dropped by Skhye Moncrief's blog today because she has yet another cool research book suggestion, Kinship and Gender.

It made me think of Ursula K. LeGuin's novel The Left Hand of Darkness. I commented on that on Skhye's blog, but I couldn't say much in a comment. And the book deserves a bit more.

The way genres cross today within books, we should dare navigate from our familiar aisles in the bookstore and explore the less familiar areas. If you like world-building and emotional stories, then The Left Hand of Darkness is a good candidate for a change.

It's a classical sci-fi novel in the best tradition, combining a wonderful, well-told story, strong characters, emotional scenes, and a deep philosophical subtext that is raised through storytelling and character development.

The Left Hand of Darkness is about the clash of cultures, about misunderstanding and intolerance, but also about friendship, love, and discovery. It is about honor, fidelity, and devotion. It is, ultimately, about the victory of what is essentially human within us, once the veneer of civilization is stripped away, and cultural bounds are made irrelevant by the demands of a struggle for sheer survival.

It is also about gender identity and how we perceive ourselves -- or don't -- through the eyes of an alien people whose physical gender is not as visible, or as determined, as ours.

It is also a love story, although not in the traditional sense. But then, it is science-fiction, and sci-fi readers do expect something "untraditional" in their tales. It is, however, powerful and compelling, emotional, and it will make you think and feel for the charactes for a long time after you turn the last page.

From Barnes and Noble, a short synopsis: In The Left Hand of Darkness, an Earth ambassador, Genly Ai, is sent to the planet of Gethen, whose inhabitants are androgynous. Through his relationship with a native, Estraven, Ai gains understanding both of the consequences of his fixed sexual orientation and of Gethenian life. As in many of her works, Le Guin incorporates a social message in her science fiction tale.

Guest Blogging

Here it is. I'm stopping by Skhye Moncrief's blog today. No long post here, because I've posted myself out there.