Not been keeping in touch, too busy/harrowing. Still in NY looking after Lu's dad as best we can. Hard times. Meh.

Just to wish my wonderful son Tony a truly happy birthday, wish I was there, see you Sunday handsome xxx

...so I made a meme.

( Who's on YOUR superhero team? )

Short recommendations time!

Book-wise, I just finished Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (those were both zingerella-recs that she thought I'd like, as opposed to the times when she gives me books that she thinks it'll be funny to hear me rant about). I couldn't put either of them down. They're swashbuckling fantasy, with no actual magic, and no glossing over of the ugly class and gender dynamics of period settings, which made me quite a happy girl.

I preferred Privilege, as it had an engaging female lead who did stuff, and a host of secondary female characters who also did stuff, and talked to each other about things other than a man. And it skirted the other big problem in writing strong female characters, particularly in genre fiction, wherein "strong" is defined as "kicking ass" without having to resort to vagaries such as character development. Katherine kicks a substantial amount of ass, don't get me wrong, but the less ass-kicking characters, from the traditionally girlie Artemesia to the brilliant-but-dumpy Flavia, are just as interesting and well-developed.

Also, it has hot boys making out. Well, hot boys in one book and hot middle-aged men in the other book. And beautifully witty dialogue.

On the non-fiction end, I'm almost finished reading The Authoritarians, available for free online. It's an accessible study of the authoritarian personality, both that of followers and leaders. I don't think it's covering any new ground and I'm not entirely sure I buy Altemeyer's methodology or conclusions, but it's definitely an interesting read, and it very much describes some of the more puzzling things about the Right (or, in the case of people I more frequently encounter, what I'd term the "reflexively Right").

The last movie I saw was Alien Apocalypse, courtesy of PopeJohn. It has Bruce Campbell fighting giant termites, so if you like that kind of thing (I do) you should check it out. Also it's shot in Bulgaria, and most of the actors don't speak English, so the dialogue is horribly and hilariously dubbed in.

I've acquired a bunch of new music lately, most notably LAL's 10-year anniversary CD, Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom (thanks to outcastspice), and a very weird CD by Tim Buckley (thanks to culpster). I also discovered a great new band called Sunday Driver, a steampunk band with Indian classical influences. They have three free songs that you can download on their site, and I liked those so much that I bought the album (see, it works), which is hopefully in the mail.

Oh! TV. Well, I finished Deadwood and am now bereft, in the way I was when Oz and Six Feet Under ended. As in "what am I going to like as much now?" I suppose when Mad Men starts up again I'll have something, but really, Deadwood is a fucking masterpiece and why would they ever cancel something so great? And don't tell me to get into The Wire; I watched the first season and found it too triggering.

(crossed to my own journal)

The following is mostly a detailed rant, and mostly about one book, so if you skip it you're not missing much.

What has happened to editing for professionally published fiction? Don't the houses care any more?

This summer, I finally got around to reading Christopher Moore's Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story. This is Moore's third novel, and was published by Simon & Schuster, who are no small press.

So what's with all the typos? The book is rife with them, from end to end. This might be understandable from a self-published book or vanity press, but I can't imagine how S&S would turn out such a poorly edited book.

I've just finished Max Brooks's World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. There are much fewer typos here (I may have noticed two), but this book suffers greatly from lack of proper editing on several levels.
( Warning: Spoilers Ahead )

The end of the year is almost upon us, and the holidays are bearing down like a freight train, so it must be time for a Christmas sale.

From now until the end of the year, I'm offering special discounts on three of the hardcover books offered on the Signed Books page of my website.

The Meisha Merlin trade hardcover of TUF VOYAGING, with a cover by Michael Komarck and interior illustrations by Janet Aulisio, normally sells for $29.


The Bantam Spectra hardcover reissue of WINDHAVEN, my collaboration with Lisa Tuttle, sells for $26 on the website.


And INSIDE STRAIGHT, first volume in Tor's new Wild Cards triad, goes for $27.


You can also get all three of these books for $69.

But those are the normal prices. From now through the end of the year, as a Christmas special, I'm offering each of the hardcovers for $20, or all three for $57.

Those prices include Book Rate (Media Mail) shipping within the United States. If you would prefer Priority Mail, please add $5 for a single book, or $10 for more than one. Overseas and out-of-country shipping is more; please inquire.

And of course I'm always willing to sign and inscribe the books.

Happy holidays, and good reading.

Note from the Assistant's desk:

Please email grrmbooks@gmail.com with questions regarding ordering or international shipping rates.

The f**kwit who decided to have one publication go on the 24th and the other on the 30th? Should not only get a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking but eight tiny flying reindeer leaving "presents" all over their front lawn.

Welcome to the world, Zachary Elia, who was born with his eyes open, looking at the world around him.

Old house, badly placed kitchen sink, badly place water pipes, broken window under the kitchen sink area. No room to put in insulation. And it's supposed to be in the single digits tomorrow night.

RRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR

*beats head against wall*

ETA: And now one of the pvc pipes for hot water has come apart at a seam. GHARRRRRR!!!

ETAA: Pipe fixed, but not without teh dramas. Pipe heater still not installed.

ETAYA: Water now back on after 3 hours of curing time for the fix. No leaks. Will check in the morning. Tired and VERY grouchy now.

Be safe, everyone in this storm. Looks to be nasty out there.

So, at SMOFCon, every so often there would come a time when I had to tell a story about my fannish history, including things like going to my first con, helping to found my college SF Club, or the fact that said club now puts on a con of its own and comparing campus-based events.
Every time I did this, I would say something like, "When I was in college..."  or "I went to college in the Hudson Valley [and then stuff about trains]..."  And Kim would pipe up and say, "No, you have to tell them where you went to college, go on." 
So I would say, "I went to Vassar." 
And there would be this fascinating moment of recognition and laughter and everybody always said, "Oh my gosh, I've never known anybody who went to Vassar!"  or "I'd always heard about that place and now I've met somebody who went there!" &c.
It was very odd, but amusing.

Now I am eating a snickerdoodle leftover from the Christmas Party at the other end of the building and feeling great college nostalgia. Oh, Nilda's, nobody can ever do snickerdoodles as well as you.