Did Ya Fall Down th’Hole? Musings on the Miners’ Strike and the End of the Coal Era
Earlier this week the last coal-fired power plant in the U.K. shuttered for good. Coal is no longer used as a significant source of fuel in a country that...
Schoolgirl Outfits?
This is a queued post and it’s just one review because I had to split the two I have between this Monday and next Monday. Review: Locust Magic by Laurence...
Fredericksburg Tomorrow!
The Fredericksburg Independent Book Festival is tomorrow in Riverfront Park, Fredericksburg, VA. I’m at table D37 and will be there most of the time from...
Terrible Arthuriana
Still working on the X-Men watch through, but this week’s reviews also include an utterly terrible Arthuriana movie that made me cringe at all kinds of...
How To Interfere With a Horse - Without Actually Hurting It
“Don’t hurt animals” is a mainstay. Harming an animal may well cost you readers, even if you’re using it to show how awful somebody is (I’m not above doing...
Time Machines, Shadow Fae, and...
…a book I almost didn’t review because I almost couldn’t review it. Three reviews for this week, two YA books, one adult. Review: Tiny Time Machine: The...
Philcon News!
So, I have my schedule for Philcon 2024. Friday 6pm - Climate Change Fiction vs. Climate Change Reality Saturday 11am - Signing Saturday noon - Scrabbling...
Time for a Franchise Shift
Star Wars: The Bad Batch 3.14 Flash Strike Almost at the end. Will they get Omega out? It could go either way given the circumstances. As Omega looks for a...
Half-Elves and Queerness in D&D
Okay, so first confession: I love half-elves. And a lot of other gamers will think I love half elves because, done right, you can min max the heck out of...
Let's Take A Dark Trip
I had a conversation at Capclave about how kids are remarkably tolerant of dark fiction. This week’s batch of reviews includes the darkest YA novel I have...
WSFA Small Press Award
So, the award is announced on Saturday…and I’m a finalist! If anyone is coming to Capclave, here are the logistics (bear in mind, I’m not assuming you’re a...
One of Those Days...
Had one of those days. Mostly I plain forgot how long it takes to remove all the pins from the Jacket, run the base denim (in remarkable condition for its...
What's With the Cheese Curds?
Yes, I know the roof maintenance crew there aren’t cows ;). What’s With the Cheese Curds? Different states are known for different things. Wisconsin is known...
Don't Worry, the Panther Lives
So, I’m currently reading a “novel” that turned out not to be a novel. It’s being marketed correctly, I just got the wrong information with the review copy....
Capclave!
A reminder that I’m going to be at Capclave, September 27 through 29. The easiest way to find me is at the Rantings of a Wandering Mind table in the dealer...
Clones and Veterans
The Bad Batch season 2, which I’m almost done with, appears to be as much as anything else about the shitty way we treat veterans when they return to Civvie...
America's Third Coast
The Mackinaw Island ferry approaches Mackinaw, with the bridge in the background. In 1615, a French scout named Étienne Brûlé saw a body of water that was...
On Literary Roller Coasters
I like this book. Oh no, I don’t. The author did what? I…ugh no… Dang, they stuck the landing. Sometimes a book will just do that to you. I’m not talking...
Fall Convention Season
In full swing! Tomorrow and Sunday I will be at the Small Press Expo as an attendee…attending panels and buying comic books. Should be fun. September 27...
A mixed Batch
This alligator at the Lakenenland sculpture park tells you to watch Robocroc. Or…not. Orphan Black: Echoes 1.10 “We Will Come Again” CW: Death of a young...