I was thinking about the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure tonight. No, I have no idea why. But this scene in particular has been in my head:
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure clip
That was my fave saying for at least three months after I saw that movie for the first time. “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.”
Classic.
So, go. Be randomly goofy with me.
Happy Friday.
Hi, all–
I’m a little late to the party, but found out that Radclyffe’s Best Lesbian Romance 2013 through Cleis Press is up and running and ready to accept submissions. You can go to this link (RadNews!) and there on the left, you’ll see “Best Lesbian Romance 2013” link. Click that, and a pop-up for a .pdf will show. You can thus print it out for easy peasy reference. (Deadline March 15, 2012)
You can also find it here, at the Erotica Readers and Writers Association.
The ERWA also has some other calls for submissions:
JMS Publications is looking for LGBT short stories. See here (deadline Dec. 30, 2011).
EDITED TO ADD: Hi, all–Victoria Oldham noted (see comment below) that JMS seems to be a little tight with story rights. So, make sure you check into that if you want to work with them.
Also according to ERWA, Bradley Publishing is looking for romance, too. Check details here.
And Laura Antoniou is looking for submissions (heh!) to her leather anthologies. Click this link. One has a deadline of Dec. 31, 2011 and another has a deadline of January 31, 2012, and another February 28, 2012. If that’s your gig, go check it out!
There. That should keep you busy for a little bit…
Happy writing!
Hi, all–
I was sad to learn yesterday that Barbara Grier, a pioneer and architect in lesbian and feminist publishing and writing.
Victoria Brownworth at Lambda Literary provided this lovely piece about her. The Washington Post also had a good write-up in her obituary here. How far we have indeed come, that a woman who came of age during which “queer” was a dirty word and when LGBT people were routinely outed after bar raids in local papers and often lost their jobs, families, and friends, would be acknowledged like this in the Washington Post. And that was due, too, to the work that Grier did throughout her life.
For those of you who don’t know who she was, Grier was a founding partner of legendary lesbian/feminist press Naiad, which subsequently helped pave the way to the vibrant and expanding world of LGBT fiction and publishing. Many of us writing LGBT characters today and publishing books with those characters can thank Barbara Grier. Those of you who read in those genres, well, thank Barbara for helping with that.
More on my thoughts here.
Happy Saturday.
Hi, kids–
Some of you may have already read my novella “Some Kind of River.” It was originally published by Torquere Press @ 2008 and sold as an ebook through them as well as through Barnes and Noble Nook.
The rights recently reverted back to me, and I’m currently in the process of tweaking it a little bit, having a new cover designed, and I’ll soon make it available as an ebook on Kindle. I’ll probably make another story available with it, so hopefully you’ll feel you’re getting your money’s worth! 😀
For those of you who don’t know about this story, here’s a synopsis:
Kayaker and grad student Dez spends her summers working western whitewater as a river guide. A few of those summers she’s spent with buddy Melanie (Mel), also a kayaker and guide. Dez figures the crush she’s had on Mel will eventually fade, but when she arrives in Idaho for her summer guide gig and sees Mel again, she knows the crush will be tougher than she thought to kick. After all, no way would she ruin a perfectly excellent friendship by admitting her attraction. Besides, Mel has a crush on someone else, right? But a rowdy game of Truth or Dare leaves Dez more confused than ever, and wondering if she pushed things too far.
Kayaking, river rats, and a western summer. If that’s up your alley, you might want to give this a looksee. I’ll let you know when it’s ready. I’m hoping to get it up before Christmas. 😀
Okay, that’s today’s update. Happy Wednesday!
Hi, all–
Hope the weekend treated you well. I wanted to talk about music, because I’m a huge music fan, and I listen across genres and time periods. And yes, I do play a couple of instruments, but I’m way out of practice; I’ve also been a radio DJ and a sometime dance DJ. Anyway, music is one of those things that, as a writer, sets the mood for things that I’m working on. Plus, there’s a soundtrack to your life, no matter what generation you are. There are certain songs and certain genres that can instantly take you back to parts of your past and you’re right there, remembering something that happened like it was freakin’ yesterday. Like smells, music triggers memories, both bittersweet and good.
With that in mind, I thought I’d share this great piece from a recent issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. I’ve been a subscriber to RS for…oh, geez. Too long to talk about without tipping my age. 😀 A while, now.
Anyway, RS does these “playlist” features (and sometimes whole issues) that features various artists who list a few of their fave songs/artists in a particular genre. This recent piece featured Mick Jagger listing his fave reggae tunes; Norah Jones and her Neil Young playlist; John Mellencamp on protest songs; Dave Guetta on dance-floor classics; Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and his fave Stevie Wonder tunes; Merle Haggard and the songs he wish he’d written; Lou Reed on jukebox awesome-ness; Tom Petty on his fave Elvis tunes; Miranda Lambert’s fave revenge songs; Patti Scialfa and girl groups; Billy Gibbs and his fave blues guitar tunes; Cee-Lo on southern hip-hop…basically, a seriously super groovy funkalicious major-ass playlist that will open your brain, dredge up some memories, and maybe even introduce you to some folks and songs you didn’t realize were out there.
I had a blast looking these up on YouTube (easier than doing the iPod thing in this case) and remembering the first time I’d ever heard these tunes. Almost all of the songs you can find easily, and, if you’re like me, you’ll go dig some of your old albums/CDs out, turn on the ol’ stereo (“SHUT UP! You still have one of those???” Um, yes. I do.), sit back with a tumbler of Jack Daniel’s and your beat-up guitar that you haven’t messed with in a while, and have yourself a solitary jam session.
So here you go. The link to the awesome-sauce playlist in the recent issue of RS.
Rock on, peeps.
Hi, folks–
So some of you, I’ll bet, are doing NaNoWriMo. That’s National Novel Writing Month, and it takes place every November. I’ve participated twice, and each time completed it, much to my pleasure. It’s a great opportunity to set a writing goal for yourself, and to achieve it. Plus, you’ll meet lots of other people who are also engaged in it, and established authors offer pep talks and advice throughout.
source: NaNoWriMo
It might be just the thing you need to get off that idea you’ve been sitting on and commit it to paper.
Need some inspiration? Check with author Chuck Wendig. He posted The Inkslinger’s Invocation to provide just that. Check it here. Note–if you are of a more “delicate constitution,” Mr. Wendig may not be for you. Too bad. He’s a veritable smithy o’ words.
Want more, ah, staid inspiration? Here’s Lynda Barry from last year.
The point is, NaNoWriMo is a vast cornucopia o’ anxiety-ridden, excited, jump-on-the-document authors, whether established or not, whether you’ve been dreaming about putting your idea to words or you’ve just been trying to work out the next plot for your next novel. It’s a circus of writing delirium, the kind of milieu that only those who engage in this absurdly profound (profoundly absurd?) pursuit can understand. It’s a slap-happy, punch-drunk commiseration festival, and should you crank out your 50K words by the end of November, it’s a silly, grinning, drink-raising toast to the mighty you, who conquered the demons at the door to your muses’ private quarters.
So if you are an aspiring writer, and you’ve been looking for the opportunity to finally get that manuscript written, NaNoWriMo might be just the ticket for you.
So good luck, word bandits! May your drafts flow effortlessly from your fingertips.
Happy Wednesday!
Hi, all. I’ve had this topic on my mind for a while, not only because I’m a restless soul, but also because I lost my best buddy last week. Taylor was my doggie companion for 14 years, give or take, and a wiser spirit I don’t think I’ve met. She let me know it was time for her to go, and as painful as it was, I let her.
So I’ve spent the past few days thinking quite a bit about her and the silly things she used to do, and about trips we’ve taken all over the country, and time we’ve spent just watching moonrise in the evenings. I found her all those years ago sitting by a highway off the Zuni Reservation in New Mexico, on my way home to Albuquerque from a camping trip to Mt. Taylor (hence her name). I didn’t realize that when I stopped the car that day and coaxed her over, that it would be the start of another journey for both of us. Those of you who have animal companions in your lives, I’m sure, can understand what I’m talking about.
My friends all tell me that Taylor picked me and if that’s the case, then I am indeed fortunate, because I learned quite a bit from her about life, living, and finding moments in each day to treasure.
She taught me peace and patience — two things that I’ve had trouble finding, not realizing that these are things we all have within, and it’s just a matter of remembering where we put them.
She also taught me to take time for all of life’s nuances, including play time, rest, and work. Finding a balance is the key to living well. That’s something else I learned from her. And she would remind me when it was time to take a break from work and do some playing.
And when it was time to get some rest.
And when it was just time to be goofy.
She was with me at several important crossroads in my life, often proving to be a constant, and something that helped keep me grounded and forging ahead on whichever road we took. I wouldn’t be who I am today without having such a wonderful buddy along for the ride. I really miss her, but that’s the nature of some journeys. And that, too, she taught me.
Happy Día de los Muertos, and may the road rise to meet you in your own travels, wherever you go.
Hi, folks. OMG it is that time of year again. I blogged about it yesterday. Catch it here.
I am so going to a costume party tonight. I hope all of you are, as well and I hope you all dress up and have a freakin’ BLAST.
In the meantime, someone passed this link along to me, and I was woefully unaware of this site. ZOMBIESQUAD! WOOOOO! You can catch them at this link. The team bills themselves thus:
Zombie Squad is an elite zombie suppression task force ready to defend your neighborhood from the shambling hordes of the walking dead. We provide trained, motivated, skilled zombie extermination professionals and zombie survival consultants. Our people and our training are the best in the industry.
But they point out that when there aren’t hordes of the living dead filling city streets, they do this:
When the zombie removal business is slow we focus our efforts towards educating ourselves and our community about the importance of disaster preparation. If you are prepared for zombies, you’re prepared for anything.
To satisfy this goal we host disaster relief charity fundraisers, disaster preparation seminars and volunteer our time towards emergency response agencies.
You, too, can get involved. Go to the website (and the groovy link I provided above) and click on “chapters.” You’ll see it on the left-hand side of the page. It’s a philanthropic, educational organization with a great sense of the macabre. And who DOESN’T want to be prepared for a zombie outbreak? I ask you! Who doesn’t? They’re taking applications for membership now, so if you’re interested, check it out. Learn how to survive an outbreak, and also how to be just prepared in general for disasters, whether natural or unnatural. and learn how to do community work around those issues.
Awesome.
All rightie! Happy Saturday, and happy hallow-days!
Hi, kids–
So how is everyone feeling about Halloween? I know some parts of the country are going to get some snow this weekend (holy crap–I’m so not ready for this…), so that might put a damper on your festivities (I hope not), but why not dress up ANYWAY? Just cuz? It’s not every day, after all, that you get to put on something gory/goofy/freaky/totally off the wall and wear it around town and nobody bats an eye.
I’m not suggesting you go supah mac daddy like THESE folks (but those are pretty awesome), just that you put a little Halloween in you and get into the spirit. It’s a festival with a long tradition embedded in the shift in seasons from fall to winter, and the mystical aspects about that. Ancient Celts believed that on the night of Samhain, the boundary between worlds was at its most transparent, and the shift in seasons mimicked the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Samhain celebrations were often marked by bonfires, and that tradition still continues in areas of the British Isles.
And if that’s not quite up your alley, then perhaps indulge in MY favorite holiday, Día/s de los Muertos.
source: destination 360
That holiday’s roots come from indigenous cultures of Latin America, and for all its macabre iconography, it’s actually a celebration of life — when the living acknowledge their ancestors and people who have died before them, some family and friends, others not. They celebrate the lives of those people, and reflect on life in general. It’s a little wink at death, which claims us all, and a recognition that life, and the people in it, can be absurd. I like those juxtapositions.
So have yourself some fun n’ games!
Happy Friday!
Don’t worry! I’ll be back probably around Friday. In the meantime, here. Revel in this awesome photo montage thingie of the American West. It’s slow to load, but it is so amazingly gorgeous that it’s worth the wait:
Peace.
Andi Marquette 