Love in Dark Settings

I'd better do this according to school year rather than calendar year, since my eyes won't be in shape to do links-chasing in January. These are works that I discovered or rediscovered during the past year that I was especially impressed by.

Writings and Websites marked with an asterisk (*) are by authors or Webmasters who have been, or still are, members of the fan fiction community.

FICTION WRITINGS: Fantasy and Military Fiction

Catherine Jinks: Pagan series. A cynical streetboy pairs up with an idealistic Crusader. (My review.)

Ursula K. Le Guin: The Other Wind. Haunted by disturbing dreams of the dead, a widower seeks help from Earthsea's former Archmage, now an old man. (My review.)

* Naomi Novik: Victory of Eagles. When Napoleon threatens Britain's future, a captain and his dragon must choose between the claims of conscience and the bindings of duty to one's country. (My review.)

Erich Maria Remarque: All Quiet on the Western Front (1929). Life in the World War One trenches is only kept bearable by friendship. (My review.)

Megan Whalen Turner: Thief series. There's more to a young thief than his prison-keepers realize. (My review.)

FICTION WRITINGS: Homoerotic Fiction

Diana Gabaldon: Lord John and the Blade of the Brotherhood. Lord John finds himself caught between his duty toward the military and his duty toward a fellow soldier he may or may not love. (My review.)

* Manna Francis: Quid Pro Quo. The latest volume in the Administration series, about a pathological torturer and his lover, who despises torture but loves SM. (My review.)

* heartofslash: Army of Two. A former soldier learns that he and his commanding officer share an interest in DS. Green-grrl comments, "The kink will knock your drawers off; the sweet will melt you."

* maculategiraffe: The Slave Breakers. A slave is sent to be broken by the slave breakers, yet finds a path to hope. It's being fanficced like crazy, which is always a good sign.

* Susan R. Matthews, "Die Umkehr," in Gaylaxicon 2006 Sampler, edited by Dan Sakers. A guard pursues his as-yet-unrequited lust for a conscience-torn torturer. Part of her Jurisdiction series, which I reviewed here.

* Nick and Hank: Cutter Falls. A realistic BDSM series about a submissive torn between his family and his top. (My review.)

* Lija O'Brien: Staged Life. A turn-of-the-century girl on the run from her abusive uncle seeks refuge with a company of vaudeville actors. (My review.)

NONFICTION WRITINGS: Authorship and Publishing

Julia Cameron (with illustrations by Elizabeth Cameron): How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy). A witty set of cartoons outlining the various techniques that people in the arts employ to avoid finishing tasks. ("Read all the forwarded emails from your friends instead of writing your novel." Um, yeah.)

Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman: How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid them - a Misstep-by-Misstep Guide. A hilarious guide to typical mistakes that authors make.

NONFICTION WRITINGS: History

Stephanie Coontz: Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. Delves into the social and economic forces that altered the way in which marriage was practiced over the centuries. (My review - skip down to "interesting anecdotes.")

NONFICTION WRITINGS: Memoirs

Thomas Mott Osborne: Behind Prison Walls (1914). A prison supervisor has himself incarcerated in order to experience life behind bars. (My review.)

Deneys Reitz: Commando (1929). A young Dutch settler in what would become South Africa joins the Boer army, only to face deprivation while fighting the British.

NONFICTION WRITINGS: Simplicity

Frank Bianco: Voices of Silence: Lives of the Trappists Today. Composite portraits of modern Trappist monks, with a special focus on the changes that Vatican II has brought. (Excerpt - skip down.)

David Stiendl-Rast, O.S.B., with Sharon Lebell: The Music of Silence: Entering the Sacred Space of Monastic Experience. Reflections on the lessons that the monastic Liturgy of Hours hold. (Excerpt - skip down.)

MOVIES AND SHOWS: Drama

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972). As I wrote in my journal: "With Dudley Moore! and Peter Sellers! and Ralph Richardson! and Spike Milligan! And music by John Barry!"

Gallipoli. Two young Australians - one a realist, one a dreamer - join the World War One forces. My full review: "I watched the last half hour of Gallipoli again. I cried again."

Rent. A gay couple, a straight couple, and an M/F/F love triangle struggle to survive in Greenwich Village. While singing kickin' songs. (My review.)

The Waltons: "The Literary Man." From Season One. A country boy meets a published author and must face the question of whether he has what it takes to be a writer. Can I just say here that, after all these years, I still have a crush on Richard Thomas?

MOVIES AND SHOWS: Documentaries

The Boer War (BBC). Actor Kenneth Griffith narrates and portrays all of the characters in this part-documentary, part-reconstruction of the South African War . . . even Emily Hobhouse.

Into Great Silence. Follows the daily lives of Carthusian monks, with no commentary and virtually no dialogue. (My review - skip down.)

WEBSITES: Authorship, Publishing, and Technology

* maureenlycaon. "Being the weblog of a middle-aged woman whose chief interests are paleontology, web design and kinky pr0n." In between writing dark BDSM slash stories, she offers helpful tips on keeping your computer alive. There's a connection there, I'm sure.

* POD People. News and reviews on self-publishing. If something new happens in the self-publishing world, moderator Emily Veinglory is usually the first to post on the Web about it.

POD Publishers and Self-Publishing. Two e-mail lists with information on print-on-demand self-publishing, mainly from people who've actually made money at this career, so they're worth listening to.

TeleRead. A blog devoted to the topic of e-books and e-book technology.

Wired. An entertaining technology magazine that is forward-thinking enough to place all its contents online.

WEBSITES: Fiction

* origslash_news. A newsletter for the original slash community, with links to fiction, discussion, art, and anything else origslashy. Revived by originalpuck from a second death, and my, does it look shiny.

* orig_slavefic. A community for original slave fiction, founded by maculategiraffe. Very active, with lots of feedback for authors.

WEBSITES: General Social Networking

FetLife. A MySpace for BDSM folks, including writers. Set up in a much cleaner, community-encouraging fashion than MySpace.

InsaneJournal. Despite a massive influx of fanfolk, there's still not enough people there - but gosh, is its owner responsive to customer concerns.

MySpace. Why, yes, I discovered MySpace this past year. It's highly addictive, and there are tons of authors there. If you visit, you'd better have a fast-running modem and up-to-date anti-virus software.

WEBSITES: Literary Social Networking

* meta_roundup. A worthy companion to metafandom, covering fandom activities at InsaneJournal.

* Erotic Romance Writers Forum. Discussions among writers of erotic romance, mainly m/m. Another of Emily Veinglory's projects.

Romance Divas forums. A very friendly place for conversations on romance authorship, if a tad bit conservative. (BDSM literature is discussed in the forum for "extreme" topics.)

Queer Writers. A MySpace for authors of queer literature. Still not many people there, but it's growing.

WEBSITES: Simplicity

Hermitary. Best site on the Web for information on solitaries; plus, they have forums. (Yes, the conjunction of those two sentences make sense. You have to read the site to see why.)