Still going…and going…

And not a pink rabbit in sight, let alone banging a drum.  No, the new book is now at 68,000+ words, despite a real solid computer scare Sunday/Monday (now resolved, and no files lost.)  It demanded that I do my daily words Monday after getting home from the computer fixit place and reconnecting everything and Read More…

An “Interquel” for Cold Welcome

What, you ask, is an interquel?   I made it up, for a segment that isn’t exactly a story but fits between earlier and later books.    I was trying to use this as the end of a short story, where it did not fit.  The location in “Story-timeline” is right, but it’s not a good ending Read More…

Not Just Literary Fiction

The morning’s foray onto Twitter included a tweet by Penguin-Random linking to this article, http://www.signature-reads.com/2016/09/this-is-how-literary-fiction-teaches-us-to-be-human/,  about how reading fiction increases readers’ understanding of other people.   Although I agree that reading fiction from childhood on up does tend to increase understanding and awareness,  I don’t agree with this kind of article (it’s not the first such Read More…

Progress Report: Zeroes Roll Over

My target for the week was 60,000 words by Friday night.  Instead, I reached 60,000 words today, before noon.  Sometimes books want to be written, and this is that kind of book.   Or possibly slowing down because of other problems has given my brain a chance to think over where it is, and solve problem Read More…

News: Facebook Page

I gave up on Facebook years ago after several days of struggling to get connected–I knew there was something there with my name on it but could not access it.   Thanks to brilliant new website manager Karen Shull,  who will be doing most of the posting over there because I don’t need more stress, I Read More…

Vocabulary: Staff, Team, Crew, and Gender

A couple of months ago (or longer…I didn’t write down the date)  I saw a discussion on Twitter of the need for gender-free terms to use in space-related activities.   Most of us (and certainly at least half of us) are aware that the old agreement that “man” and “men” included “woman” and “women” was, basically Read More…

“May I see some identification, sir/madam?”

Anyone who’s traveled from one country to another has been faced with a country’s filter department–Immigration & Customs.   Where you can go, under what rules, varies with place and time and the country in question.  People get refused entry for all sorts of reasons.  They get deported for all sorts of reasons.   They may need Read More…

Another Progress Report

Topped 50,000 words today.   Interesting things have happened.  A bit more information about who did what to whom when, which will lead directly into who’s doing what to whom now, and who wants to do what to whom in the future.  Some bad guys have been foiled by some good guys.   It’s become obvious that Read More…