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Posted by John Scalzi

The Astra Awards are an award given out by the Hollywood Creative Alliance, and in previous years have been primarily for film and television, but this year they have branched out into books as well, across seventeen categories including Best Science Fiction Novel. And what do you know, in this inaugural year for the book awards, When the Moon Hits Your Eye was the winner. I am, of course absolutely delighted.

The awards were livestreamed, which I have posted above, and you can see my acceptance speech starting at 28:56 (if you don’t want to watch the whole thing, the full list of finalists and winners is available here). In my speech I specifically thank my editors Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Mal Frazier, as well as my agent Ethan Ellenberg and my manager Joel Gotler, but also generally everyone who worked on the book up and down the production chain. There would be no book without their work.

In any event, how cool is this? It’s made my day. Winning awards is fun.

— JS

A Farewell to Draggon

20/4/26 19:30
azurelunatic: Picture of wooden spoon, captioned Je n'ai pas de cuillère. I have no spoon. (the treachery of embodiment)
[personal profile] azurelunatic
So we have Lawn Dragons. A while ago, an inflatable dragon so new that I didn't even have a lawn picture of it got caught in a wind storm and partially broken. It still lit up, but the blower didn't go, and I thought it was probably some broken wires. And maybe we could fix it.

So Belovedest draped it over the lounge chair on the porch, to dry out.

And there it sat.

I admit that I am short-tempered sometimes.

It's lounging season, I think a little early this year. So the dragon and I have been sharing the chair. And much to my annoyance, we have been sharing it with tiny black ants. Which have been using the deflated dragon as a pathway to climb up onto the chair's side tables (it's a retired infusion chair, so it reclines, has tables, and a place to attach an IV pole) and even on to my very person. I discovered this yesterday.

What losing my temper looked like this time was an enticing Craigslist ad for the salvage-condition dragon (free to the first to arrive), along with reviving my ad to get rid of the aftermarket KitchenAid beater that just barely didn't fit my mixer bowl. Which had been hanging around for months and was starting to develop lichen.

They were both gone by the time I got outside this afternoon.

Daily Check-In

20/4/26 18:06
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[personal profile] starwatcher posting in [community profile] fandom_checkin
 
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Monday, April 20, to midnight on Tuesday, April 21. (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #34505 Daily Check-in
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 17

How are you doing?

I am OK.
10 (58.8%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
7 (41.2%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single.
7 (41.2%)

One other person.
5 (29.4%)

More than one other person.
5 (29.4%)




Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
 
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oursin: A toy hedgehog with book and satchel: Im in ur tropes deconstructin ur prejudices (Trope hedgehog)
[personal profile] oursin

‘Women want to experience pleasure’: how the female gaze caught the attention of film, TV and fiction

I will slightly concede that maybe women have not had quite the opportunities in film and TV that they have had for centuries in written fiction, though even so I suspect with a little thought we could come up with instances where female gaze was significant in creating popularity even if it hadn't been part of the purpose in making.

But as ever, the instances about fiction are limited in their genre range (OMG there is a long history of ROMANCE) and appear never to have read anything that was not on the radar approximately five minutes ago.

E.g.

[T]he genre has altered the way female worlds are received. “I wasn’t the only one who thought that if you were female in the fantasy world it wasn’t going to end well: if you fall in love it’s going to be used against you, if you have any sort of power you’re going to die or become the mad queen,” she says. “You never really saw female characters represented in any way where you felt safe, thinking they’re going to be here in the end and not have to give up their sense of identity to do so. People, almost, have been waiting for these books to come.”

Good grief.

Okay, will concede that I am currently reading The Books of Earthsea and I occasionally look up from Ursula Le Guin's commentaries and thinking a very strong case can be made that she had never, at least when she was writing those works, encountered anything by Naomi Mitchison. Which would blow out of the water certain of her contentions about female protagonising....

But leaving my much-neglected and overlooked precious aside, I scan my shelves for the works I was scooping up during the 70s-80s-90s, ahem.

And no mention of fanfic.... dearie me. Did not do the research?

***

On another topic, there was an interview with Will Self in The Observer which is paywalled, so not linking. But in it he moans that after his divorce and ex-wife claiming mental abuse, ALL their friends cut him off, even his oldest besties: which makes me rather wonder whether a) they had actually observed things going on or b) they were fed up with him whingeing on about it.

[syndicated profile] scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by Athena Scalzi

When we explore our minds, our thoughts, and who we are as a person, we don’t always like what we find. Author Dan Rice takes a deep dive into the idea of accepting one’s true self, even if some facets are uglier than others. Grab a mirror for some self-reflection and follow along in the Big Idea for his newest novel, The Bane of Dragons.

DAN RICE:

Sometimes you have to go down the rabbit hole.

The challenge I faced when writing The Bane of Dragons was to send Allison on an adventure with a climax that ended her story and the series with a bang instead of a fizzle. Luckily, Allison had rabbit holes to go down, one that she had explored many times before and another she had only ever gazed upon.

The rabbit hole Allison spends much time spelunking is her inner self. In those dark tunnels she wrestled with, negotiated with, and sometimes was defeated by her literal internal monster that always pined for escape and to supplant her. This device provides ample ongoing conflict throughout the series after the monster wakes up in the first book, Dragons Walk Among Us. Allison’s titanic clashes with her inner monster, which she comes to understand is another facet of herself, mirrors the struggles young adults face as they pass from adolescence to adulthood, albeit in dramatic and often bloody fashion.

The other rabbit hole Allison must explore is the slipstream, described as a superhighway through the multiverse. Since encountering this pathway to alternate dimensions in the first book, she has dreamed of traveling it, and, while both sleeping and awake, has been commanded by a stentorian voice to enter the slipstream. It is something she both yearns for and fears. In The Bane of Dragons, it’s a yearning she must give in to and a fear she must face. The only way to protect everyone she loves is to travel the slipstream and discover exactly what’s waiting for her on the other side.

What Allison and her motley companions discover are strange worlds and monstrous aliens. They are captured by angry, terrestrial octopi, whom they attempt to negotiate with, with nebulous results. Instead of taking the fight to the monsters threatening Earth, Allison is handed over as a prisoner to her nemesis, General Bane. But not all is what it seems on the surface, and even the deadly General Bane, with whom Allison shares a kinship by way of her inner monster, is a prisoner of sorts, pining for freedom.

To free Bane and hopefully protect everyone she loves, Allison must finally come to ultimate terms with her inner monster. In the end, that means looking into the mirror and accepting herself, both the human and the monster with its fangs and claws and transgressive desires. Only by becoming one with her monster can she communicate to Bane and others like him how to break the bonds that hold them.

Just like in real life, young adult characters sometimes need to go down the rabbit holes, both those that spark curiosity and those that cause dread. It’s the only way to learn, mature, and find self-acceptance.

—-

The Bane of Dragons: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Books-A-Million

Author socials: Website|Facebook

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April 20th, 2026next

April 20th, 2026: MURDOCH UPDATE: she cut her paw on a zebra mussel and needed stitches :( But she's doing great and her only complaint is she's not allowed to run around at the dog park until it heals! And she has to wear a bootie over her bandage when she goes outside. Look, she's had better times but she's a trooper. <3

– Ryan

Bridge Building

19/4/26 18:38
ranunculus: (Default)
[personal profile] ranunculus
We should all build bridges in our lives, metaphorically and in real terms.  I was working on the latter today. 



Daily Check-In

19/4/26 21:52
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[personal profile] mecurtin posting in [community profile] fandom_checkin
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Sunday, April 19, to midnight on April 20 (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #34498 Daily check-in poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 23

How are you doing?

I am OK
13 (56.5%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now
10 (43.5%)

I could use some help
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single
11 (47.8%)

One other person
9 (39.1%)

More than one other person
3 (13.0%)



Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Tags:

Culinary

19/4/26 19:25
oursin: Frontispiece from C17th household manual (Accomplisht Lady)
[personal profile] oursin

This week's bread: brown oatmeal loaf: strong brown flour, medium oatmeal, turned out a little dense and crust a little cracking, the yeast that was rather delayed in transit coming to the end of its useful life.

Saturday breakfast rolls: (fresh yeast acquired) brown grated apple, light spelt flour, molasses.

Today's lunch: chestnut mushrooms quartered in olive oil, when checking recipe in Claudia Roden's New Book of Middle Eastern Food spotted the adjacent recipe for sweet and sour okra - saute for 5 minutes in olive oil, add sugar, salt, pepper and lemon juice (as I had half a lime going spare I also added that) and a little water and simmer for 20 or so minutes, I also added half of a red bell pepper than was going spare (possibly rather younger okra would have been nicer but this turned out quite well); aubergine cuts into rounds, placed on oiled foil on grill and grilled (turning a few times) until tender (the recipe was a little optimistic as to how long this might take) and then splashed with teriyaki sauce mixed with ginger paste; served with couscous with raisins.

Chena

18/4/26 21:27
ranunculus: (Default)
[personal profile] ranunculus
Yesterday Chena went from her usual interactive, happy self to the picture of an unwell dog. She was wobbly on her feet, flinched away from people and really, really didn't want to be touched. She lay down in the living room around 9am and hardly moved until 4pm.  Not interested in food or drink.  I almost took her to the emergency vet last night, but it looked like she was beginning to be a little more alert, so waited. At 3am she consented to lapping a little water. At 7 am she zoomed out the front door and began barking noisily at Mr Raven who was sitting on the power pole.  Happily ate breakfast and slurped up water.  Charged up Fairview Hill running happily next to the car. She happily rooted around in the leaf litter where the fallen limbs had been, using her nose like a pig. She was following the scent of a vole.  My only guess is that somehow she got into some marijuana and spent the day yesterday extremely stoned. 1 gummy would have done it, but WHERE would she get such a thing?  Whatever the case I'm glad she has gotten back to normal.
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Busy

18/4/26 20:51
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[personal profile] ranunculus
This morning I met Dave and Ray at Friedman's.  We bought lumber, screws, and rebar so I can build a bridge.  We hauled the stuff up to the house, cut the lumber into 5' pieces and then hauled it out to Duck Lake. The three of us then switched gears and cleared the fallen tree off the old road above Duck Lake. Lots of twiggy stuff, but unnerving because three trees were involved.  The biggest tree had fallen hitting and breaking two smaller trees.  All of the bases were hung up (read the trees had snapped partway up and had not fallen all the way down. Instead the heavy trunk of the tree was suspended in the air.  When the lower branches are cut back it changes the way the trunk is supported and can cause one or more of the trunks to roll and fall.  This was on a steep sideslope, so I kept a sharp eye on everything as I cut, I really didn't want anything rolling down on top of me. 
Our third task was to clear two massive limbs at Deer Camp. The two were hung up, and leaning on each other.  There was probably 1,000 # waiting to fall on us.  Fortunately those two limbs were pretty stable and on flatter ground.  Once we cleared all the twiggy "brush"  and cut back any branch that was not supporting weight we considered the problem. Geez, hundreds of pounds 10 feet in the air....  We put a tow strap on the smaller limb and pulled it sideways a little. It obligingly fell down with a thump, leaving the larger limb hanging by nothing much.  I tried a cut to see if it would roll down, but no luck. So we put the tow strap on it and pulled it the opposite direction of the first limb. It fell with almost no real pressure on the strap.  Whew!  Very scary work.  Lots of thought about how to keep fragile human bodies safe.  With the limbs down Dave and Ray left as they had late afternoon appointments. 
I returned to the house and feverishly sorted out ribbons.  We mark the trail by tying surveyors tape; bright orange or bright pink; to clothespins.  The clothespins can then be clipped to branches, fences, wands or pretty much anything else.  To keep the ribbons and clothespins tidy and easy to access the pins are clipped to a circle of rope that can be worn over one shoulder.  Here is Carrie and Juno last year. 


The flags with the blue in them are to mark turns or other places where the trail might be confusing.  They mean: STOP, find your next flag before you go any further.  It will be in sight!  Helps keep people from getting lost.  I am desperately trying to make more flags.  Somehow an entire, large box of flags, neatly clipped to ropes, has disappeared. Probably at least 200 flags just gone.  Hopefully now that I am replacing them the old flags will re-appear. 
Tomorrow is a bridge building day with Glenn.
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Daily Check In.

18/4/26 18:07
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[personal profile] adafrog posting in [community profile] fandom_checkin
This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Saturday to midnight on Sunday (8pm Eastern Time).


Poll #34494 Daily poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 22

How are you doing?

I am okay
10 (45.5%)

I am not okay, but don't need help right now
12 (54.5%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans are you living with?

I am living single
9 (40.9%)

One other person
7 (31.8%)

More than one other person
6 (27.3%)




Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
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Happy Birthday Krissy

18/4/26 17:42
[syndicated profile] scalziwhatever_feed

Posted by John Scalzi

Shown here in the midst of prepping our taxes for our accountant, not this week but a couple of months ago, because she’s organized about that, and that is, in fact, one of the many, many things I love about her.

Krissy and I actually do a terrible job of being in the same place on her birthday. Last year she was in California visiting her family, and this year I am California for the LA Times Festival of Books, where I have a panel and at least two signings tomorrow. Last year I made up for my absence by getting her real estate. I think this year I am likely just to take her to dinner when I get back. You can’t do real estate every year.

Every year, however, I so incredibly grateful that this amazing person chooses to live her life with me, and I make it my business to let her know how much I love, value and respect her. She is the reason I get to live the life I do. That’s a pretty big deal.

If you wish to wish her happy birthday in the comments, that would be fabulous.

— JS

Daily Check In.

17/4/26 22:23
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[personal profile] adafrog posting in [community profile] fandom_checkin
Sorry it's late. I had an organ concert, and couldn't post until now. Hope everyone is having a good day/evening.

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Friday to midnight on Saturday (8pm Eastern Time).


Poll #34491 Daily poll
This poll is closed.
Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 18

How are you doing?

I am okay
8 (44.4%)

I am not okay, but don't need help right now
10 (55.6%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans are you living with?

I am living single
4 (22.2%)

One other person
10 (55.6%)

More than one other person
4 (22.2%)




Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.
Tags:
china_shop: Three-quarter profile of Shen Wei being unimpressed (Guardian - Shen Wei srsly?)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purply sky with stars. Text reads "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid-guardian.dreamwidth.org."


Hi, and welcome back to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch. Watch half an episode a week, at your leisure, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 14, up to 21:05

Summary
Zhu Jiu escapes out the SID window. Zhao Yunlan picks up the Hallows and collapses again. When he wakes, the whole SID (except for Wang Zheng and Sang Zan) is there, as well as the Envoy, Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi. Changcheng intercedes on Zheng Yi's behalf, but the Envoy is seemingly determined to hold her responsible for her crimes. Zhao Yunlan doesn't try to interfere. The Envoy takes her away. When Zhao Yunlan later leaves the SID, he sees Zheng Yi and Tan Xiao together in the street, happily waving at him.

The post-reveal tea scene!! Zhao Yunlan refuses to pretend nothing happened, and at last Shen Wei concedes, saying it's tiring to lie all the time, and that they've always been friends -- which raises more questions for Zhao Yunlan. Changcheng writes in his diary that the Envoy let Zheng Yi go; the whole SID knows. Ya Qing checks up on Zhu Jiu and scornfully eats an apple; Zhu Jiu is furious and humiliated at being hurt by a mere human. Changcheng unknowingly meets the Merit Brush and writes a new sign for Wang Xiangyang's fruit stand. (At the SID, the other Hallows get all excited.) A serious, reserved Shen Wei and an irrepressible Zhao Yunlan meet in the hallway between their apartments and drive to the Department of Supervision.

In the car, Shen Wei side-eyeing Zhao Yunlan and telling him not to talk.


Zhao Yunlan sings and asks questions, but Shen Wei doesn't want to talk. When they arrive, they meet Changcheng's uncle. Shen Wei has done Zhao Yunlan's homework for him written a self-criticism on Zhao Yunlan's behalf. In the Department of Supervision's lab, an experiment fails, and Professor Zhou sighs that Shen Wei would do better, which annoys his colleague Professor Ouyang. In the hallway outside Minister Gao's office, Shen Wei backs into a corner, out of sight of a CCTV camera, and uses his dark energy vision. Then Zhao Yunlan comes to get him, to meet the minister.

Quote
Zhao Yunlan: Okay, fine, I’ll let you choose a topic.
Shen Wei: We can just not talk.
Zhao Yunlan: Dun-dun dun-dun-dun-dun dun-dun... Well, you didn't say I couldn't sing!

Detail
I'm going to cheat and mention two details:
  1. When Zhao Yunlan wakes up in the SID, Da Qing says, "So capable. On your own, you were able to take back the Sacred Items?" and Zhu Hong says, "Zhao Yunlan, you are something! How dare you shoot me!" They're both using the same word, 可以, one approvingly, one sarcastically. *pets Zhu Hong*

  2. The morning after, Shen Wei is quiet and reserved. This is a Shen Wei who’s been up half the night writing a probably quite cathartic account of things Zhao Yunlan did wrong -- the self-criticism -- on Zhao Yunlan’s behalf. I like to think he wrote a blistering twenty-page version to get the worst of it out of his system, then threw or tucked that away and wrote the official/helpful one, partly in an attempt to control the narrative about the part he himself played, as far as the Department of Supervision is concerned. (Quoting myself here from the "singing in the car scene" discussion post. I really love that scene.)


Questions
When Tan Xiao staggers back from Zheng Yi, is that the girl pushing him away with her power, or the Envoy with his? Did the Envoy tell Zheng Yi and Tan Xiao to wait in the street to wave their thanks at Zhao Yunlan, or was it coincidence that he saw them? (How long were they waiting there?) Do you like Shen Wei's choice of sweater for the post-reveal tea-drinking scene? The original subs say, "I was cheated by you for so long, and my heart hurts. I will feel so upset unless I get my compensations," while the VIKI/Solo subs say, "But I was cheated by you for so long and my heart suffered great trauma. You can't just brush me off with a few words. Right? It's not appropriate." Which version do you prefer? Changcheng writes in his diary about the Envoy letting Tan Xiao and Zheng Yi stay in Haixing -- do you think Shen Wei intended the rest of the SID to know, too, or just Zhao Yunlan? How did Chu Shuzhi react when he heard? What's with all the manikins with missing body parts in the Haixing lab? When Shen Wei uses his dark energy vision in the hallway outside Minister Gao's office, what is he looking for?

Did you see any parallels in these scenes with other parts of the drama? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares, if at all?

(As usual, these are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

And here is our schedule -- if you can, please sign up to host a post!

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