Beyond Annie Oakley - Some Interesting Women of the Wild West (and One Man?)
We all know about Annie Oakley. Alas, she's so famous that she dominates the search when you search for Black woman sharpshooters (Oakley was not Black, and...
Edwardian Magic...and Romance
Review: A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske CW: Explicit sex Specifically, this book includes explicit M/M sex. It's not gratuitous and reflects character...
No News Is...
…just no news, I suppose. It’s been particularly hard to focus on things this week with everything that’s going on. I’ve been doing some copyediting for a...
Spiders? Scorpions?
Wynonna Earp 2.1 "Steel Bars and Stone Walls" So, Waverly is possessed by an Old One. Dolls may actually be a demon, and there's more than one...Eliza...(who...
How Did Our Ancestors Move Granny - A History of Wheelchairs (and Similar)
Somebody posted on social media asking what disabled people did before wheelchairs were invented. Which, of course, sent me down a rabbithole. Turns out...
Tech Bros and Avenging Angels
Review: False Value by Ben Aaronovitch Aaronovitch sets things up so we won't know, at the start, if Peter is still a cop. All this does is create massive...
Welcome, 2026
2026 is likely to be…interesting. May it be better than 2025 in all ways. In February, we enter the year of the Fire Horse. I’m going to say it. Definitely a...
Happy New Spider
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man 1.4 "Hitting the Big Time" Peter really needs to realize that Norman is using him. But this is naive kid Peter. (Also,...
Beasts of Burden in Your Fantasy Novel - Other than Horses
One of the things I see a lot is fantasy writers using horses for everything because it's the only beast of burden I know. So I figured I'd do a post about...
Complicated Relationships
Review: The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch A pissed off Tyburn, complicated relationships, and...putting the smack down on a not so thinly veiled Blackwater...
Seasons Greetings
I hope everyone ate too much this week…we had pirogi on Christmas Eve. The Slovak kind. Hand made. From scratch. Because we’re that kind of crazy. (For those...
Guns and...
Wynonna Earp 1.9 "Bury With My Guns On" Revenge isn't as sweet as Wynonna thinks. Or as Doc thinks. She's celebrating, but she's not steady. Which is why she...
Season of Lights - Why We Throw Winter Festivals
Christmas. Yule. Kwanzaa. Why do we, as humans, insist on throwing a winter festival...whether its religious or not. The answer is actually pretty...
Another Trip to London
Review: Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch I think Ben Aaronovitch grew up on a council estate. Or lived on one. Nobody else could write this decidedly...
Happy Solstice!
I figure that one’s safe! Happy whatever winter holiday you celebrate. I actually do have something to celebrate - my story “Foundling” has been purchased...
A Little Bit Wicked - and a Spider
Wynonna Earp 1.6 "Constant Cravings." Oh dear. There's a cannibal around. Wynonna has killed five of the specific seven revenants she wants dead, but one of...
Is The Three Musketeers Genre Fiction? Dumas, Pulp, and Maybe Even Superheroes
In 1844, French author Alexandre Dumas published the first of the d'Artagnan Romances - the Three Musketeers. He wrote in collaboration with his longterm...
London Calling
Review: Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch I almost DNF'd this...and the rest of the series...on page 6. Pro tip, Aaronovitch, saying somebody's speech...
Purgatory?
Wynonna Earp 1.1 "Purgatory" I was very much a Buffy fan. I can't rewatch it now I know just how much of a jerk Whedon is. Wynonna Earp is very much in that...
Aroo? Where Do Werewolves Come From
Werewolves - a staple of horror and paranormal romance, and one of the things Hollywood is worst at (Seriously, is there a curse that keeps anyone from doing...