Cheap Ebooks!
Well, it’s not horse_ebooks, but they are on sale! For US readers, my award-winning first novel, Hammered, is on sale for $1.99 in ebook. For the UK readers,...
Quiet out there. Too quiet.
Hey, folks, So my radiation burns have nearly healed (just a couple of small scabs left, three and a half weeks after finishing treatment, and no oozy...
So we're watching this TV show called "TRAPPED."
Hey, folks, Well, I’m healing, slowly. There is some skin or scar tissue that wasn’t there before, and I’m kind of hoping that by Friday or Monday I might...
"A Blessing of Unicorns" available online now.
Hey folks. Asimov's has made its Locus-Award-Nominated short fiction for 2021 available online, including my story "A Blessing of Unicorns." Enjoy!
Big UK discount on MACHINE
Hey, folks! Just a quick note to let UK readers know that MACHINE is a Kindle Monthly Deal for 99p at Amazon UK! Remember to always take Mantis Cop's advice!...
Book Club, January 2022
So I mentioned over in the discord that I was reading a book that made me really angry. And in fact, it made me so angry that I wound up posting a goodreads...
I don't believe that everything happens for a reason. (CW, cancer stuff)
Well, I’m done with the radiation treatments. They gave me a certificate and a cute pink superheroine pen and let me pin a pink ribbon to a corkboard. (It...
Peter Pan Vs. Jenny Waynest
Actually I bet they'd get along famously.
Five More Fire Hydrants
CW: cancer stuff and one more piece of practical advice. Well, I am scabrous, rugose, and desquamating. I've got blisters in my underboob and peeling,...
Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas
(If you don't know the reference, you're one of today's lucky ten thousand: ) So the Great Minnesota Potato Spill drama has been a source of much joy in many...
Tomorrow, and then the next day, and then the day after that.
(CW: cancer stuff) One of the worst things about modern social media is the damn algorithms that ensure that people will posts out of order and out of...
Pro tips for surviving radiotherapy.
So you've got a hot date with Medusa. 1) I'm really sorry about that. 2) Here's a few things that make the process more endurable. (This is flat-out advice,...
The gifts that cancer gave me.
It turns out being suddenly, dangerously ill isn’t all bad. Especially if it’s the kind of illness I have, which would kill me if left untreated but other...
Karhu on sisukas nainen.
Karhu on sisukas nainen. My friend Chelsea, who is learning Finnish, told me that today. It means, they said, Bear is a woman with sisu. Sisu, per Chelsea,...
Medusa and me
A couple of people have asked for details of how the radiation treatments work, so I wrote this out for one of them, and figured I would copy it here in case...
I'm doing science and I'm still alive.
Well, not me. I’m not doing science. But I have been reading some science, and I’m realizing that one of the amazing things about the Current Unpleasantness...
December Book Club
Well, the long drive is good for podcasts and audiobooks! I'm still on the mystery kick. I finished the second Helene Tursten, An Elderly Lady Must Not Be...
Cancer stuff update, also rambling about life (CW, cancer stuff, obvs.)
Well, as I was sitting down to write this, I heard the news that Betty White had died. So as I compose these lines, I'm listening to Andrew Gold's "Thank You...
I'm a bad person and you deserve better but this is what you get.
Ensemble: Haul out the hellhoundsString up the sigils before a spirit gnaws on usI hear it stalkingI may be rushing things, but ward the walls, don't make a...
End of year roundup...
Hey, folks, New publications this year: "Thanksgiving," 24 November, from Tablet, Ani Wilcenski and David Samuels, ed. (short story) "A Blessing of...
*taps mike*
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedSwabs shoved up noses and rapid test scrounging Masking and face shields and HEPA...
Eight down, 24 to go (cancer stuff, horse stuff)
Well, that’s 25% of the radiotherapy done. It would have been a bit more, but today’s treatment was cancelled at the last minute because Medusa was in a snit...
Omicron and fascism
I’m spending a lot of time lately in the car, driving back and forth to radiation appointments. This means that I get ideas in the car (the best time to get...
The plague and the memory hole
We’re going to forget all about this, and that’s a terrible idea.
Still no jam today.
Medusa was out of sorts this morning. I still managed to get treated, but because everything was delayed, they didn't have time to do the tattoos. So I'm...
VGer is my lover.
Yesterday, I started radiotherapy. I could not decide whether to call this post "The Illustrated Boob," "They shot me with a proton gun," "The lion lies down...
The cat content you come here for
Gurney is a cat of vast dignity, curiosity, and intellect. Last night, for example, he happened to be inspecting the guitar amplifier when I tapped my...
CW: Cancer stuff update
Hey folks, Just wanted to check in and let you all know that things are finally moving again here. I got some good news on Monday, which is to say that my...
Book Club Post, November 2021
It’s come around again on the guitar, as Arlo Guthrie says: we’ve weathered the onset of the holidays, we’re battening down for the next Covid surge (sigh),...
New story! It's about mushrooms!
MUSHROOMS!
A Hole to the 80s
So yesterday was Max Headroom Broadcast Signal Intrusion Day, one of the holidays in my personal calendar, along with Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov Saves The...
The Origin of Storms cover reveal!
Available for pre-order now, here!
A moment of silence, this Armistice Day
I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, and...
CW: Cancer stuff, boy am I tired edition.
So I’m sitting on the couch and I’m sort of trying to write but it’s not going especially well. I did some administrivia and answered some relevant emails,...
THE ORIGIN OF STORMS pre-orders are go!
24 May 2022! Cover coming soon!
a poem for the ladies
This is from 2015. I just found it again, looking for something else. Oh grand-daughters. You will not know what your mothers and your grandmothers knew; you...
It's all Ursula's fault.
So I've been dealing with the Cancer Bullshit and trying to do #nanomiddlemo, as it were--I.E., use the general November energy to get a chunk out of The...
CW: Cancer Stuff
So we’re still in a holding pattern here until the oncotype comes back (hopefully next week, when I have appointments Tuesday AND Wednesday (medical oncology...
I've been thinking about healthcare, health outcomes, and American exceptionalism.
Cancer stuff updates will be a little delayed, as everything is sort of up in the air scheduling wise as we deal with delayed testing results and a minor...
Horse stories
So we missed last week’s lesson, due to a doctor’s appointment. This week’s lesson was working on crossrails, walking and trotting over them, and trotting...
October Book Club Post
Hey folks, So I'm still not making huge progress on the reading front--I've been distracted by a lot of podcasts, and I'm really enjoying 99% Invisible,...
CW: Cancer stuff
I am serving my primary purpose as a cat warmer while writing this, so know that all is well in the world. Just to quickly get everybody up to date, I had an...
Here is your Discord invite, loyal subscriber....
It expires in seven days! https://discord.gg/sCKe6rhg (If you miss the window, you can always drop me an email and get another one.) Best, Bear
Pastel shit-talking centaurs discover the true meaning of friendship is dealing responsibly with your damage
I wish I had written this fucking show. So my friend Alex decided to watch Centaurworld about a month ago, and wandered into a group chatroom we’re both in...
CW: Cancer stuff, but mostly positive.
Today I talked with a social worker about coping strategies, and a genetic counselor about genetic testing for genes that make recurrent cancer more likely,...
CW: Cancer stuff. c-PTSD stuff. (This one for subscribers because it's very personal) "For my next trick, I'll need a volunteer."
additional CW: this is a whine. I have to say, I’m not coping well emotionally right now. I was doing pretty well holding it together until after surgery and...
Horse stories
So, given my general state of discomfort for the past two weeks, I have not been riding. However, I have been out to visit the boys, and done two lessons on...
Unicorn chaser
Because we all deserve some cat photos after that last one.
A few exciting changes around here.
Hey folks! I have successfully hired a Discord administrator, a queer woman with literally decades of experience as a forum moderator in the gaming industry...
Pandemics and denial
Here’s a great article from Ed Yong at The Atlantic (speaking of their pandemic coverage) on failing to cope with Delta and what it means for future...