Tue, Jun. 24th, 2008, 07:32 pm
SITE UPDATE: fanvid recs and leather story
The highlights:—A new online story is added to Leather in Lawnville. —Fanvids are recommended at Buried Treasure. The details.
Tue, Jun. 24th, 2008, 07:32 pm
ONLINE SERIALIZATION: Leather, Licking, and Lawnmowers 2: Spontaneous (Leather in Lawnville)
The second story of the serialization is online. Can an Old Guard top survive in a world with safe words? Spontaneous (scroll down to "Online Edition").
Thu, Jun. 19th, 2008, 09:22 pm
Writing life: Family happenings, plus what the fan fiction community has taught me
"When my husband and I were first dating and I found out he hadn't read the Narnia books as a kid, I insisted he read them. He really enjoyed most of them despite being extremely leery of organized Christianity, but when he finished the series, he said, 'I dunno. For the first six books it felt like the Christian symbolism was kind of gently caressing my subconscious... and then in the last one, it suddenly tackled me to the ground and started dry humping me while screaming "who's your daddy?"'" -- maculategiraffe. Topics in this post: Storms, heat, publishing historical fantasy print books, haircuts, my mother's 1966 letters, slash convention, review of my leather fiction, slavefic, the fan fiction community. ( Read more... )
Tue, Jun. 17th, 2008, 02:54 pm
Con report: Con.txt slash convention 2008
No offense intended against professional authors - I'm one myself, after all - but sometimes I'm on a forum for pro authors, and they're talking about submissions and contracts and marketing and sales figures and are saying things like, "Should I tell the tale from a different point of view? Would that make the story sell better?" and "Should I change this scene? Would that make the story sell better?" and "Should I use one-and-a-half-inch margins rather than one-inch margins? Would that make the story sell better?" and I just want to scream. So here's to amateur fiction conventions, that oasis where the writing conversations center on whether the story was fun to write and fun to read. ( Introduction for newbies: What is a slash convention? )( Con Atmosphere and Fandom Trends )( Dealers' Room )( Vid Show )( Panels )( Overheard at the Con )
Tue, Jun. 10th, 2008, 10:57 am
Author appearance: Con.txt (June 13-15, Washington D.C. suburb)
This weekend, in an unofficial capacity, I will be attending Con.txt, a convention for readers and writers of homoerotic fan fiction and original fiction. (The Website is down as I post this, since its server had a fire recently, but here is its LiveJournal.) If you're going to be there too and would like to cross paths, please e-mail me by Thursday morning.
Sun, Jun. 8th, 2008, 02:11 pm
Life of simplicity: Making progress. Really.
"The sacrifices others see [the monk] making are in reality no different from the athlete's recognition that certain elements detract from one's performance." --Frank Bianco: Voices of Silence: Lives of the Trappists Today. Topics in this post: Internet addiction, support for solitaries, stability, meditation/contemplation, liturgical hours, work, novelties, lectio divina and Vitae Patrum, Great Books and ethics, rigid daily schedules, seasonal schedules, social interactions, overwork and tiredness, the Psalms and Thomas Coverdale, Anglican chant, arguments against solitude, grace through trial, asceticism. ( Read more... )
Tue, Jun. 3rd, 2008, 10:47 pm
Writing life: Book reviews, natural gardening, word usage, publishing e-books, and moving into print
"Some people and groups push e-books as democratising the publishing industry, toppling the tyrants of literary culture and saving the environment at the same time. . . . When any writer asks me: should I epublish? I say that epublishing [is] an answer, but only if you are asking the right question." -- Emily Veinglory. Topics in this post: Internet roundup, original slash, reading fantasy, reading historical fiction, natural gardening, word usage, self-publishing e-books, self-publishing POD books, Internet addiction (breakthrough!), my mother's 1967 letters. ( Read more... )
Sat, May. 24th, 2008, 11:34 pm
SITE UPDATE: satire on fanfic, essay on originalfic, story recs, links to hermits & Boer War
The highlights: —Leather, Licking, and Lawnmowers, a contemporary gay erotica collection, is published.
—A satire on fan fiction authorship is posted at Master/Other.
—Bard of Pain is now an Amazon Kindle e-book.
—Buried Treasure now includes recommendations of online male friendship stories and videos.
—Private Parlor is updated with a new slavefic review.
—A brief essay is posted on original gen, original het, and original slash.
—Hermits' blogs are linked at the Web directory on solitude, simplicity, and self-discipline.
—Updates are posted to my bibliography of Victorian and Edwardian history: Boer War, boys' books, clothing, masculinities, prisons, and food. The details.
Sat, May. 24th, 2008, 11:34 pm
E-BOOK, BOOKTRAILER, & ONLINE FICTION: Leather, Licking, and Lawnmowers (Leather in Lawnville)
 Leather, Licking, and Lawnmowers takes leathersex out of its usual bars and back alleys, setting it in unexpected locations: A 5&10. A potluck. A hamburger joint. A college waltz party. Even when the leatherman who narrates these stories returns to the Eagle bar, things don't go quite the way he expected. . . . Written by the former director of the Erotic Authors Association, who is also editor of True Tales: An Erotic E-zine of Masculinity and Power, this five-tale gay erotica collection includes the story "Spontaneous," runner-up for the 2006 Rauxa Prize for Erotic Fiction.
For adults only.
Thinking about it, I've decided that bringing Jell-O to a gathering of leathermen wasn't my big mistake. My big mistake was bringing it on the night that Master Trent was attending.
Sat, May. 24th, 2008, 11:34 pm
ONLINE FICTION: The Slavefic Plot Creator (Master/Other)
Sat, May. 24th, 2008, 11:34 pm
Mentoring life: Anniversary celebration
"For discipline is the channel in which our acts run strong and deep; where there is no direction, the deeds of men run shallow and wander and are wasted." --Ursula K. Le Guin: The Farthest Shore. Topics in this post: family responsibilities, serving as a role model (or not), my leather fiction. ( Read more... )
Mon, May. 19th, 2008, 04:02 am
Life of simplicity: Clothes, community, lectio, and the Vitae Patrum
"The life of the solitary is not an easy life, since there are no prescriptions for it and each day must be faced anew. The signs which say 'keep in lane' and 'when red light shows wait here' are of little relevance to one who is called to strike across country, equipped with a rather inadequate map and a compass one has not yet learnt to trust. From time to time the solitary seeks affirmation, reassurance that the path along which he or she is being drawn is genuine and not an illusion. . . . "Sometimes no guide appears, and one is given no such reassurance. This is a test of faithfulness, of perseverance in the face of doubt and darkness. The early pioneers of the desert of course had no guides. They just went out into the desert, the place of desolation, and got on with it." --Eve Baker: Paths in Solitude. Topics in this post: cowls and habits and other clothes, (not) finding a community, lectio, the Desert Fathers (especially St. Anthony), stability, family obligations, intemperate speech, schedule. ( Read more... )
Fri, May. 9th, 2008, 05:55 pm
Writing life: Sylvia Engdahl's science fiction; plus, a writing meme
"There is usually no precise equivalent of [Ancient Greek's] 3rd person imperative in English. Euclid often uses it in expressions which are translated by 'let there be' or 'let it have been drawn'. In the Septuagint translation of the Bible, God uses the 3rd person imperative in the first five and one-half days' work: genêthêtô phôs, Let there be light or Be there light. Perhaps an English example of the 3rd person imperative can be found in the stage direction Enter the King. "What the commands of mathematicians, God, and playwrights have in common seems to be this, that the mere act of speaking suffices to bring about the truth of what is being said." --Alfred R. Mollin and Robert B. Williamson: An Introduction to Ancient Greek. Topics in this post: making booktrailer videos, fan mail, making cover art, early childhood reading, editing fantasy, reading science fiction, researching historical fantasy, prison tourism, prison history, memories of watching Doctor Who in the 1970s, editing and laying out leather fiction, wordage. ( Read more... )( including A Writing Meme )
Fri, May. 9th, 2008, 05:55 pm
Life of simplicity: Starting from scratch
"Voluntary poverty can be the easiest step of all. . . . Gone is the struggle about this or that - all of it is forbidden. You own nothing. How much easier, how much simpler than our world of endless decisions between acquiring and not acquiring." --Richard J. Foster: Freedom of Simplicity. Topics in this post: Internet addiction, acquisitiveness, Carthusian monks, sacrifice, tidying my surroundings, schedules, skimming quotas, solitaries, rhythm versus novelty, library browsing quotas, travel quotas, Zen Buddhism and the arts, reading quotas, using simplicity as an excuse not to be simple. ( Read more... )
Sat, Apr. 26th, 2008, 06:39 pm
Seeking beta readers (volunteer editors)
I'm very much in need of additional beta readers (volunteer editors) for my stories. Specifically, I need help with checking for grammar errors ("No, it's 'who,' not 'whom"'), stylistic problems ("You've started four sentences in a row with the word 'He'"), inconsistencies ("You do realize, don't you, that you've given this character two different names?"), and lack of clarity ("What the heck were you trying to say in this passage?"). If you think you might be able to help with any of the above, please e-mail me. If you're interested in betaing particular genres or series, let me know. And of course, if you're not interested in betaing a particular story I approach you about (or you can't fit it into your schedule), you can just say so. I can't offer any money or glory, only a first peek at my stories, a small credit line (unless you wish to remain anonymous), and the quiet satisfaction that you've helped make my stories better.
Mon, Apr. 7th, 2008, 01:40 pm
Writing life: Spending time with Parhelion's stories and my Muse
"When the female sea horse spots her mate each morning, they engage in an elaborate greeting ritual, wrapping their tails around a branch of coral or a blade of sea grass and rubbing their snouts together, seemingly quivering with joy over their reunion. Then they entwine tails and glide across the ocean floor. A biologist friend of mine once remarked that she wished her husband would be half that affectionate when he didn't want sex." --Stephanie Coontz: Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. Topics in this post: Internet addiction, self-publishing e-books, writing fantasy, braille, history of transsexuality, history of marriage, text-to-speech, reading historical fiction, Easter, Digital Rights Management, wordage (and how), sneering at bad gay porn stories, admiring good gay porn stories, Earth Hour, history, writing historical fantasy, print-on-demand (Lightning Source and Amazon's CreateSpace), self-publishing print books, April Fool's Day, audio books. ( Read more... )
Mon, Apr. 7th, 2008, 01:34 pm
Mentoring life: Being honest with ourselves
"Working as a servant was as much a rite of passage for young people in the late Middle Ages and early modern era as going off to college is today. In contrast with other societies around the world, where servants were usually a class of people doomed to servitude for their entire lives, in northwestern Europe large numbers of young people passed through a phase of service before forming their own households and working their own lands or trades. In northern Europe, anywhere between one-third and one-half of all young people put in time as servants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In the early 1700s, according to one study, 60 percent of all English youths aged fifteen to twenty-four worked as servants at some point in their lives." --Stephanie Coontz: Marriage, a History. Topics in this post: military history, orders, leather history, service, protocol, schedules, family hierarchy, religious hierarchy, business hierarchy, support networks for hierarchy. ( Read more... )
Mon, Apr. 7th, 2008, 01:31 pm
Life of simplicity: Starting over
"There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less." --G. K. Chesterton. Topics in this post: Internet addiction, accumulating possessions, support networks for simplicity, my Muse's effect on my schedule, mania's effect of my schedule, simplicity readings. ( Read more... )
Mon, Apr. 7th, 2008, 10:38 am
New feed for LiveJournal users
eternaldungeon2 is the new LiveJournal syndicated feed for my blog entries, which will allow you to continue reading my blog on your Friends pages. See the previous post for the reason for this feed. My apologies for the inconvenience to LJ users in having to switch. My thanks to ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) seryx for being kind enough set up the feed.
|
|
