Elaine Corvidae

United Breaks Guitars

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:00:23 GMT

Not a country music fan, but I found this to be hilarious. It seems United Airlines damaged a musicians very expensive guitar and then refused to give him any compensation. This is his response.

Sigh

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:31:59 GMT

Why, yes, I am still alive. Also a gigantic slacker, as evidenced by my lack of updates.

My old domain host was taken over by a new host, which changed the ftp protocol, username, and password for my domain. Now I can get it to work with FireFTP, but not with Dreamweaver. In theory alcohol might be to blame, but as I got it to work with FireFTP, and tried several combos with Dreamweaver, I think it's something else.

So I'm ignoring it for now, as I can get FireFTP to do my updates, it just takes an extra step. Instead, I'm watching old episodes of Buffy (Season 2). I wish we'd learned more about Principal Snyder's background. He knew about the Hellmouth, but we never found out how, or why the city council figured he was qualified to deal with it. (Spoiler, he wasn't.)

I feel like I should have something more interesting to say, but it isn't happening tonight. Oh, you should all run out and buy the DVD version of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog just for the singing commentary. It's awesome.

Complete and Utter Amazon Fail

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:00:06 GMT

This isn't the first time I've had major issues with Amazon, but this is particularly vicious. Under the pretext of protecting their customers from "adult" offerings, Amazon has removed sales rankings (and thus removed from the best-seller lists, or even a search where results are ranked by best selling) from GLBT books. This includes books that, despite Amazon's claim, have no sex scenes or are even listed as YA.

I find the entire situation to be reprehensible at best. For more information, please visit these links:

http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html

http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.html

Guest Blogging today...

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:14:27 GMT

I'm guest blogging today over at You Gotta Read, about the subject of "opposites attract" in fiction.

Information and the Internet

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:33:09 GMT

I've just come across this fascinating article about the internet revolution. Although the article focuses on journalism, specifically how the internet has affected newspapers, what he's saying has many wider implications.

HOX gene rap

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:31:29 GMT

Hilarious and awesome rap video about HOX genes. I'll admit, I have a special fondness for them, as I had to give a presentation on HOX genes for my Evo Devo class a few years back. I found the most beautiful and simply elegant experiment I've ever come across, and made it the centerpiece of my report. I'll try to dig up the citation tomorrow for all you science peeps. In the meantime, enjoy.

New Interview

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:01:04 GMT

I'm reposting this, because I think it gotten eaten the first time. If I double-post, my apologies! Anyway, I was just letting everyone know that author Ann Lory has interviewed me on her blog. There's also a contest; anyone who comments will be entered to win an ebook version of any of my backlist.

Demonheart

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:54:41 GMT

My short story "Demonheart" is now available for download right here. The blurb goes something like this:

Can a demon find freedom, and win the heart of a man she fears will see her only as a monster?

Even though summoned by a king to protect his throne, demons have always remained apart from the humans they are compelled to serve. Famine, a young demon woman, burns with curiosity about the lives of the humans she watches from afar. Daffyd is a human scribe, who knows Famine only as a disembodied voice that speaks to him every night on his balcony. When a plot against the king threatens Daffyd’s life, can Famine win freedom for her people--and win the heart of a man who she fears will see her only as a monster?

I originally wrote this way back in 2005, for a dark romance anthology (yes, I know it says short horror on the publisher site, but I think of it more as dark fantasy romance). It ended up too long for the anthology I intended it for, so I went elsewhere with it. The original idea had been in my head for a lot longer than that, but I was having trouble with it, mainly because I imagined it as a novel-length work, which is the default setting for me. Once I realized it wanted to be a short story, everything flowed much more easily.

The initial inspiration came from reading a book where, as is typical for most fantasy novels, the king resisted the temptation to meddle with dark sorcery to solve his problems. I thought that was rather boring, and wanted to write a story where the king gave in to temptation. I actually never cared about the king at all, though; I was always far more interested in the demonic creatures I imagined him calling forth. Because that's how I roll.

Fire in the Void, Chapter 16

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:11:28 GMT

Chapter 16 of Fire in the Void is now available. After the doom and gloom of the last few chapters, this one has a few laughs, or at least chuckles. You can find it here.

Coraline

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:17:30 GMT

Went to see Coraline over the weekend with David. If you haven't seen it yet--highly recommended. Being me, I wanted to know more about Whyborn, but I think that's more a compliment than a complaint. The creature design was amazing as well. We saw it in regular-old movie version, not 3-D, which was fine with me, as I think 3-D could have ended up a distraction from the content.

For Sophia Scholl

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:33:19 GMT

Possibly the most moving thing I've ever read about the White Rose Society.

Fire in the Void - Chapter 15

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:51:05 GMT

I keep forgetting to post when I update Fire in the Void, because I am a slacker of gargantuan proportions. But I remembered this time, so if you're reading (hey, it's free), then chapter 15 is now available.

Happy 25th Birthday to the Apple Macintosh!

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:31:39 GMT

The Mac turns 25 today. Some of you may know I'm a die-hard fan; although I've used other computers at work, every one of my personal computers have been Apples, ever since that first IIC in 1987. Today, I have a MacBook for my portable needs, and an 8-core MacPro to be my workhorse, especially as a render engine.

That Apple IIC still works, btw. :-)

Reaching The End

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:19:37 GMT

I reached the final scene of VERVAIN (working title) today, which started life as my 2008 Nano book. I'm delighted, to say the least. It always feels wonderful to finish a story, especially when your first impression is that it holds together relatively well. Of course it still needs extensive editing, and I need to tweak and add a few bits, but all in all I mainly feel good about my little story.

I feel much less complacent about coming up with an actual title for it, though. Ah, my old nemesis, we meet again...

Watching this while waiting for the inauguration

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:18:22 GMT

It's so true.

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:19:43 GMT

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Six Days Seven Nights

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Star Wars: Retold

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:10:43 GMT

One of the funniest things I've seen in a while:

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Pandora

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:02:00 GMT

I just found out about Pandora from Mookie's post at Dominic Deegan - he thought he was the last person the internet who hadn't heard of it, but no, apparently that was me. Or maybe not--if you don't know what I'm talking about, Pandora is possibly the best internet radio service I've yet stumbled upon. You enter an artist you like, and they construct a playlist for you based on similar music. I figured it would be something lame like iTune's Genius, but holy crap, it's awesome! I've only been listening for a couple of hours and have already found several bands I'd never heard of before but who I'll probably be buying in the future.

Fire in the Void - Chapter 13

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:39:47 GMT

I've uploaded chapter 13 of my free sf serial, Fire in the Void. If you've been following along, you know the crew is in a tight spot, and they may not all survive. If you haven't been reading along, it's got lemurs and space pirates! And, ya know, it's free.

Fire in the Void, Year One

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:18:27 GMT

I've posted the first year's worth of chapters from my sf serial, Fire in the Void in a single convenient PDF. If you haven't been following it, Fire in the Void
is a free serialized sf novel, with a new chapter posted on the first
of each month. Although it is the sequel to my previous serial, Exile's Burn (which can be downloaded here), it is written so that the new reader can hopefully pick it up and follow along without too many difficulties.

The
Zatvian Cooperative is in a state of collapse, and warfare, rebellion,
and lawlessness are everywhere. Follow the crew of the pirate ship Exile
as they search through the ruins, encountering petty tyrants,
smugglers, and medical experiments gone wrong. Led by their amnesiac
telepathic captain, Rat, they are searching for the daughter of one of
their own, kidnapped as a child by the Zatvians and remade as a killing
machine.

But the only thing more dangerous than searching for her...might be finding her.

Solstice Gifts

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 15:57:42 GMT

We opened our solstice presents last night. David got me a nice digital picture frame, which came with a bonus keychain that displays digital pictures (weird, huh?). He also got me season 4 of Doctor Who, yay! As for what I gave him: an uncracked geode, Sluggy Freelance Megatome 2, and an RC helicopter. The kitties got catnip mice, a new Thermo Kitty Sill, a feather wand, some squishy balls (Agatha likes to carry them in her mouth), and one of those little tracks where you can roll a ball down it and they stick their paws in and try to catch it.

Then we ate Tofurky and drank Cottonwood Brewery's Hazelnut Stout, and watched Pirates of the Caribbean for the umpteenth time. All in all, not a bad way to spend the longest night of the year.

Nanowrimo

Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:26:51 GMT

I actually crossed the 50,000 word line yesterday morning but have been too busy to brag about it until now. I'm really rather pleased with how this book is working out, so much so that I think I'll push on to the end. It's rare that a book just comes together for me without extensive rewriting, going back and changing things etc. This will need a lot of editing, obviously, but on the whole the story itself feels solid to me.

Just a shout-out...

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:22:24 GMT

Just a shout-out to my husband tonight. Our first date was November 26, 1990. Yup, a baby born the night of our first date would now be in college and eligible to vote. So thanks for putting up with me, and thanks for being my best friend. None of my books would be half of what they are without the real-life experience of all the dynamics that make a relationship work. I love you.

Something to make you cry...

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:16:58 GMT

...Or vomit, or just scream in horror. A 13-year-old girl was raped by three adult men, and then stoned to death by a crowd because she had committed adultery. Because, you know, the female is always at fault and she must have been asking for it somehow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7708169.stm

My Family.

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:48:09 GMT

I made it pretty clear that I endorsed Obama. Although some writers shied away from openly stating their preference, to be honest I feel that I openly state my preference for progressive values in every single thing I write. Every book and novella has been about social justice of one sort or another, whether the topic was racism (Wolfkin and the rest of the Lord of Wind and Fire series, not to mention The Ghost Eater) or the fact that the poor deserve human rights as much as the rich (Winter's Orphans and the rest of the Shadow Fae series). Exile's Burn and Fire in the Void feature a bisexual Afro-Chinese hero; that alone suggests that I have never voted Republican in my entire life.

So I originally thought that this blog would be about how proud I am to be American tonight. I honestly wasn't sure that the US was ready to elect an African-American with a name like Barack Hussein Obama. And yet, it seems that we do not suffer from the paucity of spirit that the radical right had tried to convince us that we do. We are bigger than that.

Keep in mind that I live in a state which had miscegenation laws on the books until the mid-1970's. People could not marry across "racial lines" (ignoring the fact that race is not biologically significant; a single Chimpanzee troop has more genetic diversity than the entire human race. Think about that.). This is within MY lifetime. And yet, although as I write this the race has not been called, it seems likely that North Carolina has collectively voted for an African-American man. That is huge. The fact that it's even a close race is huge.

I could go on about that for a few thousand words. I could mention that, as Vince Collins put it, Obama could be the worst president of all time and yet this is still a triumph for us as a nation. But instead I want to talk about the two most important people in my life: my mother and my husband.

My mom was born in 1940--a time when segregation was the norm, when minorities were disenfranchised as a matter of course. And yet she has consistently been the most progressive person I know. She read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee when it was first published, and instilled those values in me at a young age. I knew that this country had an ugly history of genocide before I was in elementary school. More than that, she always encouraged me to think for myself, after taking the time to gather the facts. She was an early advocate of environmentalism and feminism, and raised me accordingly. In the late 1980's and early 1990's, when gay rights were barely on the national radar, she was solidly on the side of equal rights for everyone no matter sexual orientation. She was also a single mom, and she took care of both me and my grandmother no matter the sacrifices she had to make.

She is an amazing woman, and always will be. I owe more to her than I can express.

My other shout-out is to my husband. I grew up in a very desegregated county, in a school where a lot of students were raised by grandparents. My grandmother helped raise me; I can relate to that part of Obama's story, and feel the sorrow that his grandmother didn't live to see today. (Personally, I feel it was a mercy that my grandmother didn't live to see Dubya in the white house; she hated the first Bush more than I ever saw her hate anyone, and I'm sure the last 8 years of his son would have bitter to her indeed.)

My husband did not have that advantage. When I first saw his high school year book, I turned to him and asked where were all the African-Americans? That's the difference between growing up in the rural south and the rural north, it seems; there were only 2 or 3 non-white students in his entire district. That's unbelievable to me. For him, there was definitely a sense that people should not date across racial lines. As for gays...unthinkable. A friend of his once said that if he dared so much as get his ears pierced (as being un-masculine), he would rip them out.

And yet, once he was able to express himself, he chose to be progressive. He chose to believe that more freedoms are better than less freedoms; that injustice for one truly is injustice for all. That love of any kind should be supported, not destroyed by hate. That race is truly insignificant biologically, and that with luck with will some day be insignificantly socially. That diversity = strength.

And so tonight I want to acknowledge these two amazing people, that I love above all else. One shaped my journey, and the other shares the journey with me. I owe you both everything.

Yes we can.

With all the love in my heart,

Elaine