I loved Apple computers for a long time. Frankly, I still love the two I have: A late 2013 iMac, and an even older MacBook Pro. But Apple has definitely been embracing the Dark Side since Steve Jobs died, and its walled garden, along with its pressure to push users into the Apple store and to make getting software from … Continue reading →
There are folks who want to write books. Then there are those of us who write because drinking kills your liver (and killed most of our relatives) and therapy is too fucking expensive. You think I jest (and to a certain extent, I do). But there is something that drives people to turn themselves inside out, to rip every event … Continue reading →
Honestly, I don’t know ANYONE who likes the state of the world right now. Not a single person. And I’ve been wanting to write something about this, but I have not had an inch of breathing room for blogging all month. But I was looking for something I’d written about people getting paid for their work this morning, and tripped … Continue reading →
Right now, the world I want to live in is being destroyed in front of my eyes by the people who think they’re saving it. Being different and trying to force people to respect how different you are by agitating for laws to require respect for your difference has become a cause célèbre. Problem is, we are ALL different. I … Continue reading →
I play video games in my free time, and decided to try Far Cry Primal. You start out as a young black male — bit of a shift for me, because I prefer to play as a female when the option is offered. In Far Cry Primal, it isn’t. I mention the race of the MC here because it becomes … Continue reading →
I bitch about Apple being a pain in the ass for not keeping old document formats for me on new systems. I don’t like the Apple store’s “Walled Garden” approach. And I think the newest iPhones are so ugly and crippled that I got a Samsung instead. I disagree rabidly with their “free tech to people in crappy countries” program—which … Continue reading →
Where this comes from: A new SFWA member happy to have qualified—who is also one of my writing students—contacted me privately to present misrepresentations of what I said here that were being presented in SFWA’s private forums. I will post MY first reply, the reply from SFWA President Steven Gould, and my definitive response: MY FIRST REPLY: The potential for … Continue reading →
Ms. Kate Baker Operations Manager SFWA Dear Ms. Baker, I’m canceling my SFWA membership. While it was encouraging to see SFWA edging toward acceptance of the indie publishing model, it’s too little and too late, and offset by an appalling reason behind the change of SFWAs incorporating state. SFWA moved from Massachusetts to California for the purpose of allowing SFWA … Continue reading →
Where revision is concerned, making the assumption that you have the process of knocking out an upcoming revision well in hand before you start in is an act of hubris that will be punished by the Manuscript God. This I know, for I have walked through the Valley of What-The-FUCK-Was-I-Thinking many and many a time before, and have had my ass handed … Continue reading →
THE ORIGIN AND SUMMARY This discussion refers back to The Ten Normal Genders and the Seven Variations (link opens in new tab), and assumes that you have read it. If you haven’t, it’s long, but I’ve done my best to keep it clear and organized, and you’ll understand the reason for THIS post much more clearly if you’ve read that … Continue reading →
