Archive for the ‘Brilliant Things’ Category

Last week, my partner emailed me a small selection of links and said you have to read these. I did so.

And now I am giving you a small selection of links and saying no, really, YOU HAVE TO READ THESE.

First up, we’ve got How to Become a Mars Overlord by Catherynne M. Valente, published by Lightspeed Magazine. The explosive richness of the prose and the vivid snapshots of alien culture and mythos are amazing – reading this is like bathing in a nebula.

Next is Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time, also by Cat Valente, published by Clarkesworld Magazine. I can’t even begin to describe the brain-melting blend of science, world mythology, and personal history that she encapsulates here. I mean, just look at the beginning lines:

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a high-density pre-baryogenesis singularity. Darkness lay over the deep and God moved upon the face of the hyperspatial matrix. He separated the firmament from the quark-gluon plasma and said: let there be particle/anti-particle pairs, and there was light.

How cool is that?

Thirdly, we have As Below, So Above by Ferrett Steinmetz, published by Beneath Ceaseless Skies. I am a sucker for stories written from non-human viewpoints, and Ferrett pulls it off with brilliant clarity and easy readability. The worldbuilding is stellar in its subtle detail, and the slow, smooth untangling (or further tangling) of the plot kept my eyes glued to the screen with barely time for a blink.

And lastly, certainly not leastly, the fourth story is from Cat Valente: The Days of Flaming Motorcycles, found in Apex Magazine. This is the most unexpected and original zombie story I’ve ever read, and it packs an emotional punch right next to a fascinating premise.

That’s what I’ve been reading – what about you? Got links to other short stories or poems to share? I’m hungry for more words!

Much to my surprise and delight, a very sweet blogger-writer gave me an award! Ooh, shiny. Thank you so much! You tolerate me, you really really tolerate me! :B

Of course, it comes with terms. I have to introduce her, reveal seven things you don’t know about me, and then share the love with five other bloggers. Who then get to do the same song and dance (if you want!). Also, I owe someone my firstborn, I think. I never read the fine print that carefully.

Meet the talented Patti Larsen, a YA author and insightful writer. She recently sold her first book to Acorn Press and writes scripts for a teen web series. (How cool is that?) She posts samples of her fiction every Sunday – you should check those out. I also adore her in-the-writing-process posts, which are touching and gritty.

Now, a brief tangent before we get to those Unknown Seven Things. A few weeks ago, I discovered some… interesting… search terms that led to my blog. Such as “genderqueer dinosaur.” I was so amused and decided to write a blog post around those terms. So! In honor of my genderfunk and my secret saurian nature, I present to you:

The Littlest Genderqueer Dinosaur, Ty

  1. As a kid, I would sit outside in the yard with a notepad and pen and write down observations on the invisible dinosaurs I was watching. I even drew a diagram of how a pack of Velociraptors would hunt me where I sat. I named them all.
  2. I had the Jurassic Park Compound when I was young. My other toys (usually animal figurines) would frequently discover the human-toys lying dead and the dinosaurs roaming free.
  3. Utahraptors are my favorite dinosaurs. This is probably because of reading and adoring Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker as a kid. (I still love it as an adult.)
  4. My first grade teacher was a dinosaur nut and is responsible for my obsession. We made a life-sized paper maché Protoceratops in class.
  5. We also made giant paper maché eggs that “hatched” little dinosaur erasers. Each kid had their own and got to hatch them after a few months.
  6. Unsurprisingly, I wanted to be a paleontologist when I was a kid. What I really meant by that, though, is “I want to study living dinosaurs in the field,” which is why I eventually switched to craving zoology.
  7. Up through sixth grade, I pretended to be a raptor. Including in school, complete with stilted gait and tucking-my-arms-in and “hunting” people at recess. I have no idea why no student or teacher ever batted an eye.

Paying It Forward

Time for some completely amazing, wonderiffic, friendly, and brilliant bloggers who inspire and delight me! Now, I did not repeat any of the bloggers I awarded last time, but I still love them. The following awesomelings are great to talk with, either via Twitter or email, which I really appreciate. I love one-on-one interaction. I love when people care, and these guys do.

  1. Do Mi Stauber is a multi-talented wonder: she does colored-pencil art, she plays guitar and sings, she teachers people how to teach, and she’s a book indexer. She is talks about everything with such freshness that she makes me want to index books, too. And play mo’ guitar and draw more and basically do everything cool in the world.
  2. Shanna Mann has a sharp tongue and a sharper wit; she’ll delve into deep, mind-twisty discussions that leave you feeling satisfied with time and synapses well-spent. She encourages open-minded skepticism and promotes critical thinking, especially when dealing with the intangible.
  3. Fabeku Fatunmise is an orange ninja. (What, you need more than that?) He’s also a drummer and a singing-bowl player (bowl-singer?) and very savvy in just about every way. He also has free soundbytes if you want some soothing sounds from his bowls, which are gorgeous.
  4. Reba X is brilliant and clever, and her blog is full of heart and wisdom. Every post is rich and honest and so worth reading.
  5. Patrick Hester is rockin’ his geekitude and writing about writing, comics, cool TV series, SF/F books, and his cat. Oh, and he runs a pretty damn awesome podcast called Functional Nerds.

Just to clarify, my shiny stylish bloggers, you don’t have to post this award on your blog if you don’t want to. Totally optional! Spread the love if you want, but it’s not required. I just wanted to give a shout-out to some of my awesomelings ’cause y’all rock. ♥

Thanks again to Patti for passing me this award, and thanks to my five buddies above for being awesome!

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across one of the most amazing videos/songs/poems/thingies that I’ve ever found. It’s called How To Be Alone, by filmmaker Andrea Dorfman and poet/singer/songwriter Tanya Davis.

This is one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever seen, and reminds me of all the things I have always loved about being alone.