Here's Michelle Paver, with a few beautiful wolves, talking about Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. wolf is my favorite character, too!

I am officially a published author! Well, after a fashion. Issue 31 of Mythic Circle arrived today! And my short story is right in the middle - and it's ILLUSTRATED!

I have to say that I'd never envisioned the scene quite the way the illustrator did. The man looks much more medieval European than I'd thought - I picture my characters as looking Arabic/North African or East Indian. But the composition and sense of motion are really good. I'm thrilled, actually. I just wish I got more copies - also, that I could scan or snag this illustration and let everyone see it. :)

(Mentally jumping up and down all over again - I do hope the nice job they did here with the story presages well for the novel it comes from. My mom was full of questions like that - how big is the readership; who reads it; all that sort of thing. Not unimportant questions, but what I think is: it's a first step. Some readers are better than none, and I think everyone who reads the story here will be curious about the novel.)

Yay!

Some more thoughts on the recent "Trek", among other things. An informal essay, about 3,000 words long. ( Read more... )

I am just going to quote her letter to me, including a link from Bologna. And why wasn't this announced in NYC? Isn't Megan Whalen Turner American?

HI, everybody!

Look what I found!

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_gZW10xq-pDs/SjBAt6yHsDI/AAAAAAAAB74/Yp7Lsbc4mTY/s1600-h/a

Is that not the most awesome thing ever?

Yes, it is! Sophos lives!

This is what my 10th grade girls did this year. The writing and editing were exceptionally clever, IMHO, and they gave me permission to post the short film to youtube. (Last year's film by this same group was quite classy, as well. They are a talented group of young women).

Well, my sister and I finally got to see it tonight, and here follows my review. Basically, we enjoyed it. But I should add that I've been watching "Trek" since I was twelve (TOS, in reruns), and that I get seriously irked by bad science in an SF show. Wacky I can deal with; wild speculation I can deal with, but risible science just gets to me. OTOH, some of what was done with the characters was very interesting. My sister's comments, which sum it up pretty well, were, "This movie could make you scared of dentists. Begin drilling!", and "I loved Uhura! The actors were great!" Spoiler alert:
( Read more... )

Well, Anne, I had to try this too! I have to admit I took the quiz twice, and the first time I did it, I also got Geordi. But I'd taken it some time ago, and got Uhura that time, so I'm going with her-

Your results:
You are Uhura

Uhura 80% Deanna Troi 65% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 60% Jean-Luc Picard 60% Will Riker 60% Chekov 55% Geordi LaForge 50% James T. Kirk (Captain) 50% Beverly Crusher 45% Worf 40% Data 39% Mr. Scott 35% Mr. Sulu 35% Spock 27% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 10%

You are a good communicator with a pleasant soft-spoken voice. Also a talented singer.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character am I?" quiz...

Or there will be! I haven't seen them yet, and have no pics, but my younger sister told me there are now two baby bluebirds in the nestbox. We are filming them for Dad, and I may be able to get the video onto DVD and then onto the computer. We'll see! In any case, I'm excited that the babies have made it this far in all the chilly weather we've been having. I was afraid it was too cold for the eggs to hatch.

Author mary-j-59
Title Narnia and Hogwarts
Genre Informal essay, g-rated, about 2,800 words
Summary Is Rowling really the C.S. Lewis of this age, as some have claimed? why or why not?
( Read more... )

Hi everyone, I thought you might enjoy this podcast: The Mount Kisco Library Podcast

A neat little meme I saw on Cardigrl's journal. You are, in 15 minutes, to name the first 15 books that you love/that come to mind/that influenced you. So here are mine:

( Read more... )

I got this one from Anne Arthur, and once again we came out the same way! Again, I like the result (and this time I didn't have any trouble answering the questions. ))

You Are A Thoughtful Idealist

You are a bit tentative when it comes to new experiences. You have to push yourself to try new things, but once you do, you love the adventure. You don't spend a lot of time thinking about how people see you. You're kind of scared to know what they think. You are a very romantic person. You can't help but see the world as it should be. Right now, stress occasionally makes you feel trapped in your life. You usually have a clear perspective on things though! Overall, your life is calm and steady. Not much stirs you, and each day is full of joy. You feel like the fate of the future partially rests in your hands. You believe you need to help make the world a better place.

I took this one from Bohemianspirit - an interesting quiz, because, in a couple of cases, I wanted to click in every single button, and in another, I didn't think any answer was the right one. Still, I like the result (even though some of my friends would see me as argumentative!))

Your Word is "Peace"

You see life as precious, and you wish everyone was safe, happy, and taken care of. Social justice, human rights, and peace for all nations are all important to you. While you can't stop war, you try to be as calm and compassionate as possible in your everyday life. You promote harmony and cooperation. You're always willing to meet someone a little more than halfway.

It's the height of the Triduum - we are technically in the great silence and darkness now, and I feel I shouldn't be posting at all, but I did want to wish a Happy Easter to all who celebrate, a Happy Passover to all who celebrate that holiday, and a happy spring to those who don't celebrate either.

Still rather cold, but the daffodils are blooming at last! Here is a picture to celebrate spring.

VoicePost 170K 0:52

“Well hi, we're having a discussion about dialects in the United States and I am just going to repeat the words Mary, Merry, Marry. Basically Mary rhymes with Airy( and has sort of the long A sound in it. Merry (pause) Berry and it has the short E sound. Marry is basically the same sound as in hat. all of them are a bit slurred because it's following R but it's basically a, eh, ah, Mary Merry Marry. comments are welcome. I guess that's it for me. Bye. corrected by hand, just now. Spinvox is a horrible program and cannot understand my speech!” Transcribed by: multiple users

And here's a link to the wikipedia entry (what an awful transcription, btw!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_r

Just want to set this one down before I forget it. Several of my regular patrons came into the teen room this p.m. One boy (about 14 or 15) pulled another boy's phone out. He had one of those phone decorations on it that are so common in Asia.
Boy one: "I like your crystal dragonfly."
Boy two: (deadpan) "Yeah. It animates itself and eats people."

Somehow, that made me smile.

Margaret and Helen are terrific this week. Or, rather, they were terrific late last week. Here's the link to their blog; check out March 19.

(Even as one of those lefties out in Lah-Lah land that they would send over a cliff, I found it funny!)

http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

A couple of friends took this one, and yes - this is how I always come out. There were some tricky questions, though!

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener with almost infinite patience. You have complex feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships when they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable