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Three books new to me. All are fantasies, two are series.

Books Received, November 15 to November 21, 2025

Poll #33866 Books Received, November 15 to November 21, 2025
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23


Which of these upcoming books look interesting?

View Answers

Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent (March 2026)
3 (13.0%)

Tides of Fortune by Lauryn Hamilton Murray (June 2026)
1 (4.3%)

Everybody’s Perfect by Jo Walton (June 2026)
17 (73.9%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
18 (78.3%)

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
I would definitely found an SF magazine.

Most mags struggle with handling submissions but I had a moment of insight: all I need to do is tell writers to send me _good_ stories. Their crap, they can submit elsewhere. Bang! Workload down by 99%.
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

Didn't get as much done today as I had wanted, mostly because my hands hurt. I actually stopped working at one point, heated up the ol' therapy mittens and watched a bread episode of the Great British Baking Show while they therapeutically warmed my hands.

I'm knocking off for the day, and will be watching Maigret on Masterpiece Theater. It's been decades since I've read Georges Simeon, and while Maigret wasn't a favorite, he'll do in a pinch.

Hopefully, my hands will be less ouchy tomorrow.

On the plus side of the day, I thought I remembered that Jermone Joyita had come from "Wick's World," but I looked it up anyway, and it turns out I was wrong. He came from The Wikesworlds or "The Wickes," but since this was a passing detail in Dragon Ship, I think I can be a little proud of myself.

Rook is marching back and forth in my office, shouting "Yowr!" and Utterly Rejects the notion that he has to wait A! Whole! Hour! for Happy Hour. I gather the idea is that we ought to have TWO Happy Hours on Friday.

. . . and Saturday . . . and Sunday . . . and Monday . . . and --

Yeah. Nice try, kid.

Anyhoot.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. Tomorrow is also a writing day -- glares at universe -- so check-ins may be anywhere from odd-houred to absent.

YOWR! says Rook.


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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


A young scholar and his diverse companions are dispatched on an intelligence-gathering mission deep into enemy territory.

The Door on the Sea (The Raven and the Eagle, volume 1) by Caskey Russell

Friday

Nov. 21st, 2025 09:17 am
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[personal profile] rolanni

Friday. Blue skies and frost glittering on the grass in the Long Back Yard.

Yesterday was a Writing Day. Today will be more of the same. No, I don't know how it's going. Welcome to my life.

Speaking of which . . .

Those who have been following along for the last while will perhaps have noticed that a little over a year ago, my partner, best friend, co-author, second brain, and emotional support Steve died.

I am not, and I know this very well, the only person who has endured this awful loss. Surviving a beloved partner's death, going forward -- even deciding if one wishes to go forward -- this process is many things, but there's one thing it isn't.

It's not a competition. Having taken the decision to go forward, one does what one must, or at least what seems good and productive to do. As we are all different, your methods will be different from mine.

I have had people who are before me on this road turn and take the time to tell me that I'm doing fine, and that I take as an inducement to courage from someone who has already traveled the rough bit I'm just getting to.

But -- survival is not a competition. I can't say this enough, apparently.

When I was at BaltiCon -- boy, that was a hard thing to do, but it had to be done, I decided, and so I ... managed. I hid in my room a lot. I didn't do the parties; I didn't go to panels that I wasn't on. I recruited myself for necessary tasks.

So, while I was at BaltiCon being a half-coward, a colleague told me that I was doing so well. Much better, in fact, than another colleague who had also recently lost their partner and was being publicly and (in the opinion of the first colleague) embarrassingly noisy about it. Which -- no. There is No Correct Way to Grieve. I've been plenty noisy, and expect to be so again, the road being twisty and misty like it is. Neither I nor my colleague in craft and loss are doing better than the other. We're surviving. Day by day, and sometimes minute by minute.

Life wants to live. If you're still standing after receiving what ought to have been a fatal strike, and you've decided to take the Road Forward, I won't lie to you -- it's hard.

I won't lie to you -- you're doing fine.

We're fellow travelers. Not competitors.


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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


A park guide's life is upended by a pandemic and her charming, idiot son.

The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay

Winter 2025 Submission Guidelines

Nov. 19th, 2025 10:08 pm
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[personal profile] holmesticemods posting in [community profile] holmestice
Reminder that works are due on Monday, November 24th!

You can submit your works via AO3 or email (holmesticemods@gmail.com). For works submitted via AO3, we will post an announcement here with a link to your work at AO3. For works submitted via email, we will post the entire work here at DW. Works emailed to us must be properly tagged and formatted; see below for full instructions.

For all works, you must email a header to us. If you're submitting via AO3, this is in ADDITION to the header you will fill out on AO3. (The emailed header is for us to use in the community announcement post.)

Headers )

AO3 Submissions )

Emailed Submissions - Stories )

Emailed Submissions - Podfics, Artwork, and Vids )

Last notes: if you need a beta or Britpicker -- or wish to volunteer to provide either! -- please check out the Beta Volunteer Post. If you might enjoy making another gift and would like to help out if we suddenly find ourselves short, you may also volunteer to pinch-hit. And if you are bursting with eagerness about all those other oh-so-tempting prompts, go ahead and fill another prompt and submit it as treat, following the same directions above! Holmestice always welcomes treats!


Happy creating, and we're looking forward to your fanworks! If you have any questions, please ask -- we're always happy to help!
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

What went before Tuesday:

Went down a couple of rabbit holes.

First, someone is actually trying to schedule an MRI for me, and we've been playing phone and portal tag.

Second, I went looking for The Other File full of teaching stuff -- I did find it -- but while I was looking, I opened a file drawer Full of Lee-and-Miller interviews, reviews, articles, pr -- bunches and Bunches and BUNCHES of Stuff. A whole file drawer and, yanno?

We have never been famous, or even particularly --

And that? Was Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick calling. I have an MRI scheduled for Saturday December 6, so someone's taking this seriously. Is there a word that means "simultaneously freaked out and relieved"?

Anyhoot. As I said, I did find the Other File, but I still need to get with the cat fountains, so that's next -- glares at universe.

Right?
#
So, below (far, far below) is what I think will be my next glass attempt, to work on my cutting and also to use some of the scraps. Also, if I decide to get Really Crazy, I can just keep going up.

In other news, today was the Magic Medical Day. I have the MRI scheduled and an audiology appointment. This of course means that December is filling up with medical appointments, but here we are.

I am relieved to report that the cat fountains have been changed out, though I still need to wash the fiddly bits, my other duty to the cats has been performed, and I ate lunch, too!

It has gotten later sooner than I had expected, so my next thing will be to thread my needles for tonight's meeting.

I have downloaded the book club book (The Thursday Murder Club, for those who missed the big announcement yesterday), but I have Ghost Army of WWII queued up on the tablet for my next read.

Also! It's November which means I need to decide if I'm doing a Yule Letter this year.

And I still need to do the form for Adult Ed. That may have to happen tomorrow evening.

Whee!

Is everybody having fun?


#
So, when I went over to my instructor's house to finish my project, and I saw how many places I had missed covering the copper, I realized that it's a little too dim in Foosball Studio. I have thus purchased (yet another) Verilux task lamp (this one is a twofer: Task light and Happy Light) -- it will go in Steve's office and the repaired so-called smart light that's currently in Steve's office will go into the studio. I also bought a "beginner" happy light for my office, because I cannot afford -- that's literally "afford" -- to get depressed, and the way I'm feeling about the encroaching winter -- it seemed like a reasonable precaution.
#
WEDNESDAY
So, I'm home, having had small-a adventures, which made for a pleasantish time. I had the first appointment for the car's annual inspection, and the putting on of the new plates. A couple of filters needed to be replaced "next time for sure," but I told them to do it now, since I was all settled in, and! had a coupon, so that happened.

After, I went down to Water Street in downtown Augusta and had breakfast at Dave's, which I've never been to. Perfectly fine diner food, quick cheerful service, lots of customers, nailed a window seat. Will return. It's one of my challenges, as I go forward, finding places Steve and I did not go to regularly, so Dave's was a good discovery.

After breakfast, I backtracked to Manchester and Stained Glass Express, where I took on glass, tools, oil, but NOT a grinder, which are -- ow. It turns out that I can rent a studio at Glass Express when a studio is empty, and use all the tools there, so the Plan is to cut out my pieces, then gather them together and grind them all at once.

After my /s/p/e/n/d/i/n/g /s/p/r/e/e needful art shopping, I went over to Longfellow's Greenhouse and Gift Emporium, where I found a vacuum bottle (which I've been looking for). Now I can make a bottle of tea and take it back to Steve's office with me, so I don't have to interrupt myself to walk to the front of the house to make another mugful (YES, this is a First World Problem, and I'm glad I solved it), and some lavender soap, because -- lavender soap -- and a cardinal to hang in Steve's office. They are ALL Christmased up at Longfellow's.

After frivolous shopping, I went to Lowe's to get my long-delayed ceiling/art tile, now that a kind friend helped me to understand what, exactly, I wanted. Then I hit the Cony Street Hannaford, and home again, where?

It's dern near lunch time.

I'll get with that in a minute, but first I want to tell you about a Strange Thing that happened on my way home from needlework last night.

It was of course Dark at 6:30 and I was on my way home, no cars ahead of me (of this, I am certain, and so is the Subaru nanny), when suddenly, with no one turning into the road, there was an SUV in front of me. "Wow," I thought, "I am really tired not to have noticed there was somebody in front of me. This could have gone badly."

And about the time I finished chastising myself, a cop car came up behind me, lights flashing. I pulled over. The car in front of me pulled over, and cop pulled in right behind them.

I pulled out and continued home, arriving at the corner where the CVS is, where there were several more cop cars in the parking lot, lights flashing and several SUVs that had apparently been pulled in.

. . . which is when I began to entertain the theory that the car which had suddenly appeared ahead of me had been running without its lights in order to Not Be Noticed.

That now off my chest, I'm gonna go see what's for lunch. I defrosted a couple pieces of pork and I have some frozen skillet veggies, so that may be the way to go.

How's everybody doing today?
#
A call was made for a picture of Steve's new cardinal, which is below. The new cardinal is hanging up; it's made of tin.  I gave the reindeer to Steve for Christmas manymany years ago.  The black cat was a gift from someone else, and the ornament in the foreground is made out of paper and lights up. Once Sharon finds a battery for it.

I'm feeling kinda tired, so the Plan for the rest of the day is to go down to the studio to make room on the workbench for the new project before I crash, then come upstairs and do paperwork.

Tomorrow will be a writing day.
#
Ready for action. First step is to cut out my pattern pieces, but I can do that upstairs. After I finish my course description and return a contact.

#
I?
Am a Tired Woman. However! I am a Tired Woman who has managed to get all the paperwork out of here, and may therefore write tomorrow and Friday and Saturday with impunity.

After I sleep for nine hours.

I did start to handwrite the holiday letter while I was waiting for the car, but that doesn't really have a drop-deadline on it. My feeling is that the holiday letter can arrive as late as January 2 and still be legitimate.

So! Writing Rules are now in force. I may peek in Occasionally and at Odd Hours over the next three days -- or I may not. Default assumption ought to be that I'm working. Which is a good thing.

Everybody take care. Stay comfy. Hug the people you love.

Today's blog post title brought to you by 38 Special, "If I'd been the one"


Watching The Adventures of Superman

Nov. 19th, 2025 06:37 pm
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
"Could it be that (Superman) hides behind the darkest disguise of all? Could it be that he is a woman?"

"(...) What made you ask that?"

"Because he has compassion. He aids people in trouble. He helps the weak. "

It is possible the bad guy in The Secret of Superman has issues.

Bundle of Holding: Yeld 2E

Nov. 19th, 2025 01:59 pm
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


This new Yeld 2E Bundle presents the 2024 Second Edition of The Magical Land of Yeld, the all-ages tabletop fantasy roleplaying game from Atarashi Games about young heroes (called Friends) finding their way home.

Bundle of Holding: Yeld 2E

The Queen Bee by Randall Garrett

Nov. 18th, 2025 09:57 am
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Castaways are trapped in a terrible Randall Garrett story!

The Queen Bee by Randall Garrett

See me ride outta that sunset. . .

Nov. 18th, 2025 09:43 am
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

. . . on your color TV . . .  Am I the only one who ever wants to filk things like TNT for, oh, accountants?  or retail workers?  or well.  Sorry AC/DC

Onward.

Um. Tuesday. Jeez, yesterday was a long day.

Tuesday. Sunny and cool. Trash and recycling languish yet in the garage, but I've got time to get it out to the curb.

Today's to-do includes filling out a form for adult ed, scheduling an interview for ... Sunday afternoon, is what I'm thinking ... changing out the cat fountains, and getting my needles ready for this evening's meeting of the embroidery club. Might be time for a little entering of corrections. That would be nice.

But first! Breakfast! I'm going with hummus and naan and grapes again. I must have been in hummus deprivation.

What's for breakfast at your house?
#
And apparently I'm on short-thought today. I just last night finished reading The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams, by Mindy Thompson, which was a fine time-travel tale riffing off of the Change-one-Thing theory, and never in your face. Very well done. It is, for those who object to such things, YA, and the narrator is a young girl.

Link to today's cat census and state of an art

Today's blog post title brought to you by AC/DC, "TNT"

 


I know my site is down

Nov. 18th, 2025 09:42 am
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
Along with a lot of the interwebs...

Books read in 2025

Nov. 18th, 2025 09:22 am
rolanni: (lit'rary moon)
[personal profile] rolanni

57  The Bookshop of Dust and Dreams, Mindy Thompson (e)
56  Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt (e) (bkclb)
55  Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega 2)(re-read) (e)
54  Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs (Alpha & Omega 1) (re-read) (e)
53  Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs (Alpha&Omega.5(re-read) (e)
52  Blind Date with a Werewolf, Patricia Briggs (e)
51  The Women, Kristin Hannah (e) (bkclb)
50  Emilie and the Hollow World, (Emilie Adventures #1) Martha Wells (e)
49  Black Tie & Tails (Black Wolves of Boston #2), Wen Spencer (e)
48  Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky(The Final Architecture #1)e)
47  Hemlock and Silver, T. Kingfisher (e)
46  Outcrossing, Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm #1) (e)
45  Outfoxing Fate, Zoe Chant/Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters)(e)
44  Atonement Sky, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) (e)
43  Stone and Sky, Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #10) (e)
42  Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41  I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40  To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39  These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38  Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37  Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36  The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35  Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33  The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32  Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31  The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30  The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29  Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28  The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27  Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26  The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25  Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24  The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23  Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22  The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21  The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20  A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19  The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18  A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17  All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16  Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15  The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14  A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13  Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12  Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11  Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10  Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9    House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6    Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea,  TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.


No election

Nov. 17th, 2025 10:54 pm
james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
Not over this budget, anyway.

It boggles me that Canada had to endure 13 days of ambiguity about the budget vote. What next, an election cycle that lasts five whole weeks? The suspense would be palpable.

Bundle of Holding: Salvage Union

Nov. 17th, 2025 03:43 pm
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll


Scrappy scavengers in scrap-metal mech robots

Bundle of Holding: Salvage Union

Clarke Award Finalists 2022

Nov. 17th, 2025 10:19 am
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[personal profile] james_davis_nicoll
2022: The British are heartened by Partygate revelations that the Tories celebrated in trust the gatherings barred to the rabble during Covid, the UK teaches the world a thing or two about political stability by going through three Prime Ministers in less than two months, and Queen Elizabeth II escapes the prospect of discovering how exactly the UK would continue its downward political arc.

Poll #33843 Clarke Award Finalists 2022
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 35


Which 2022 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
0 (0.0%)

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
33 (94.3%)

A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
0 (0.0%)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
3 (8.6%)

Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
2 (5.7%)

Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D. Rivera
1 (2.9%)



Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2022 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Deep Wheel Orcadia by Harry Josephine Giles
A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine
A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley
Wergen: The Alien Love War by Mercurio D. Rivera

If I say I did not hear of something, it means that it is new to me. Did I not at least glance at the Clarkes in 2022?

Monday morning in pictures

Nov. 17th, 2025 09:06 am
rolanni: (Default)
[personal profile] rolanni

Tali said she wanted a selfie, then decided she'd rather eat my sweatshirt

Firefly, getting ready to take over the top of the couch

Rook would like to be brushed, please

On the way to Steve's office

The desk. Cover me; I'm going in


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Disassembly of Reason

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