Kind readers,

Romancing the Vote started today. This is a fundraiser for voting rights organizations, auctioning books, crafts, and expert advice from romance & science fiction writers & fans. My contribution is an annotated copy of North Continent Ribbon, but there's all sorts of cool stuff in the mix. (I was charmed to discover that a woodcut I admired was made by one of my middle school penpals!)

I was in Toronto last week. I dropped by the Art Gallery of Ontario while I was there and said hello to the collection of Napoleonic wars-era model ships in the basement. The first time I encountered them, I was overwhelmed by their intricacy and the story of their creation: many of these models were carved from wood and bone by French prisoners of war. My current writing project is about someone who runs away to sea, so this time around I was much more able to parse the detail: numbers of masts, rows of guns, ratlines and galleries. Here are a couple of photos (the second one shows the roundhouses where officers could relieve themselves! You want smelly things at the front of the ship, since the wind cannot come from that direction).

And of course I would be remiss if I did not also offer you a cat. Here's Gennoveus, showing off his golden eyes.

Yours,

Ursula.