Swan Tower

1) The Red Cross book sale raised $250 (I added a bit to make a nice round number). Thank you to everyone who a) supported the cause and b) took some of these books off my hands!

2) Speaking of books, I just got the news that the Science Fiction Book Club has acquired A Natural History of Dragons as an Editor's Pick. Given that they did the entire Onyx Court series as well, this makes me very happy.

3) Speaking of other things related to my job, both Sirens and 4th Street Fantasy are open for registration. I haven't yet settled my con schedule for next year, but there are good odds of me being at both of these -- and whether I am or not, I highly recommend them both to all of you.

4) Speaking of things related to other people's jobs as writers, Patricia Burroughs is running a costume contest between now and December 4th. This is your chance to play dress-up and win an ebook and a gift certificate. I know some of you are costumer types, so check it out!

5) Speaking of, um, okay, I'm having trouble inventing segues . . . speaking of other people's jobs as creative people (in this case, art), Robert Scott (he of the Urban Tarot Deck) now has an online store, selling prints not only of various Urban Tarot cards, but other work he's done. So much pretty stuff . . . .

6) Speaking of things totally unrelated to everything above, I encourage you all to check out Rolling Jubilee. This post does a good job of articulating why I support the project, as does this one. Short form: it's a way to short-circuit one of the systems that perpetuates and feeds the growing inequality in the United States. And I'm kind of in favor of that.

7) Giving on up on segues, this video is nifty.

8) . . . and that's all I've got for now.

I'm very pleased to say that with ten days to go, the Urban Tarot deck is just over a thousand dollars away from being fully funded. Close enough, in fact, that the artist Robert Scott has started making plans for what to do if he overshoots his funding goal.

The full updates (here and here) have more details, but the short form is that if the project goes $3K over the original total, he will add in custom silk spreadcloths for every donor above $65, and if it goes $5K over, then every donor receiving a deck will also get an embroidered velvet bag.

Also, Rob has added a second offer of the "Hermit and the Leviathans" reward package, which is the one where you get a personalized tour of the Fossil Halls at the American Museum of Natural History from one of the deck models, Chris Hall, who is a docent there. Why a second offer? Because the first one got snapped up in record time, and I can understand why. if I didn't live on the other coast, I'd consider going for that option myself! (As it stands, I went for the option of being a card model instead. No, I'm not telling you which one. You'll have to wait and see.)

And speaking of things that went fast . . . we've added five more to the "Marie Brennan" package, in which you get a signed copy of With Fate Conspire, along with my signature on the guidebook -- which, if you recall, will include a short piece of introductory fiction from me. So if that tempts you, head on over to the project page and donate.

I had a bunch of things I meant to post yesterday, but ended up getting all political instead. (I am heartened, though, by the news that at least some organizations are seeing a funding surge. And there's at least one doctor advocating for civil disobedience when the law would threaten the rights and well-being of patients.)

But! The point of this is to post the other stuff!

I neglected to mention this on the 16th, but I have my usual post up at SF Novelists, talking about audience expectations, and whether it's better to be wrong or right about where the story is going.

Next, I'd like to point you at a friend's Kickstarter project, for The Urban Tarot Deck. The existing art for this is pretty awesome; I own a print of the Princess of Swords, and kniedzw has the Magician. I've been hoping for years that he'd be able to finish the deck (and must confess to a hope that if this project is a success, he'll finish his Silhouette Tarot, which I like even more). So mosey on over to take a look, and if you like what you see, send a few bucks his way.

(Okay, full truth? I am sorely tempted to shell out silly amounts of money to be on one of the remaining cards. A bunch of the models for the existing cards are friends of ours, and I love what Rob did with them; it would be nifty to see what he'd do with me. But, um. Kind of silly amounts of money, for something I cannot even pretend is a business expense.)

Third, cogent analysis of why John Carter tanked. I confess that if anybody ever makes a movie of my books, I would love to have control over various aspects . . . but then I see what happens when somebody with no distance from the subject gets to run the show, and I reconsider. I'd like to believe I would be sensible enough to listen to other people's advice, but who knows? I might be just as short-sighted and detrimental as Stanton was.

Fourth, fellow geeks of a certain stripe may be interested in the trailer for a live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie. I have to admit, watching it breaks my brain a little; I've been a fan of the anime for (ye gods) nearly half my life, and Suzukaze Mayo is the voice of Himura Kenshin. The guy in the trailer . . . is a guy. (When a friend told me they were filming a live-action movie, I asked, only half-joking, whether they were going to cast a woman as Kenshin.) But there are things flashing by in the trailer that have me bouncing in my seat; does that gatling gun mean we're going to get Aoshi and the Oniwabanshu stuff? I must watch and see. :-)

And, to make five (non-political) things, I leave you with The 25 Most Awkward Cat Sleeping Positions.