Sunday, November 30, 2008

Bonus Sunday Goodness

Well now, I've just been a busy little beaver this weekend, haven't I?

Anyway, here's what happens when you let an experienced hard SF writer loose on the idea of Superman having sex. Be prepared to "bwah." Loudly.

And here's some funky/sexy/cool artwork I just turned up on io9, with clickable thumbnails to my two favorites.

Off and running

Well, folks, I'm pleased to announce that I finished the rough draft of "Ethna Redux" mere minutes ago and sent it off to three cheerful volunteers from the MC Garden (sara castle, robotunit8, and Lady K) for fact-checking all the details of Ireland and Irish mythology that my very American mind might have mangled. My plan at this point is to have the finished product ready for the December 14 EMCSA update.

I have also found some success in my quest for information about gay male sex, in preparation for writing that M/m superspy story I've been teasing you all with (BTW, in case you missed it, the final poll numbers came out almost identical in the "for" and "against" columns. That's good enough for me). I have a slash-loving friend who'd probably prefer to remain anonymous here, but who deserves my thanks for coming through for me in an entirely unexpected way. I hesitated to ask her advice at first, since from what I understand, slash is usually written by women who enjoy fantasizing about gay men rather than by gay men themselves. That, I thought, wouldn't do me any good at all. But this friend happened to have a link to a website of advice from an actual gay man about how to write realistic slash, and it's chock full of exactly the kind of details I need most. I doubt many of you out there are all that curious, but if you are, here's the link she gave me.

And as a special thanks to my friend, I'll be tucking her favorite slash pair into my story...but so subtly that only she'll see them for who they really are.

Cheers to all my secret and not-so-secret accomplices!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Meet Finvarra

So, there I was, plotting out my latest story and trying to turn the two-dimensional baddie of Lady Wilde's fairy tale into a sexy, three-dimensional being you could sort of root for...for awhile, anyway. I took a bit of inspiration from Tolkien and from Peter Jackson's adaptation of same (more about that in the eventual "Peek Beneath the Duct Tape") - including his decidedly androgynous male Elves. I added a large dash of Cluracan as portrayed by Neil Gaiman in the Sandman epic, and then I looked to the guy you see at your left.

This is Perish, the only really popular male fetish model I've found so far. I have a hunch that if he really were a fairy king, he'd be more likely to kidnap Ethna's husband than Ethna herself; nevertheless, he has great chemistry with the ladies he models alongside, and he comes across as delightfully sensual and otherworldly - not to mention occasionally downright freaky. But I like that, I like that. In fact, I find myself strangely attracted to him...well, most of him, anyway. ;-)

The picture at left doesn't quite illustrate anything from the Ethna story, but it comes close enough, with the idea of a supernatural being "playing" his female victim via music. You'll see how it all works out soon enough. In the meantime, if you'd like a better look at the female half of this pairing, you can start here and work your way through her brief but interesting little gallery.

One final note: "Ethna Redux" will mark the first but not the last appearance of Perish in one of my stories. I plan to cast him as the villain in my M/m superspy story, too.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Funny how the poll numbers have changed since my last post about them ;-)

I imagine some of you stopping back by here after a week or two away and going, "Huh? No, wait!" - then frantically stabbing the vote buttons. ;-) But sorry, folks, the wheels in my brain are turning too fast to be stopped now. If M/m isn't your thing, you'll just have to skip the superspy story.

But don't worry; there will be plenty for you to enjoy in "Ethna Redux," including a rather large slice of mdom, for those of you who like that sort of thing. I've tried to do right by the story and characters as Lady Wilde originally presented them...although, of course, I've added a good bit, especially at the end. ;-)

My version is coming along quite well, BTW. I might even finish the rough draft this weekend - or perhaps next. There are a lot of factors to juggle, including a sinus infection and a girlfriend I haven't seen nearly enough of lately.

Anyway, drop back by tomorrow for a look at my model for Finvarra, the Fairy King who kidnaps Ethna.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving from Lords Cthulhu and Dagon

Ever wondered exactly how to pronounce "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!"? Here, let io9 show you how. And wow, that high priestess looks genuinely deranged, doesn't she? That's some mighty fine camp.

Link definitely NSFW, for those of you outside the US who actually are working today. Of course, anyone viewing this blog from work probably isn't too concerned, eh? ;-)

Lastly, to my frequent visitor from Mumbai: my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Aha, so you *are* up for a little man-on-man action!

I like those poll numbers I'm seeing over on the right (Missed the original post? Click here). Well friends, your wish is my command. I'm still working on "Ethna Redux" at the moment, and there's that other mysterious project that's still in the batting-ideas-around stages, so the M/m superspy story probably won't get started until around January. However, I'm so excited about it that I'm already toying with names and ideas. I can't wait to try writing an entire story in cyan. It'll be an interesting challenge.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Apnea shows us what to expect from the retooled "V"

Sorry, I just found this on her blog and had to share. ;-) But for those of you going "Huh?," yes, the classic '80's-era series about guinea-pig-gulping evil lizard people is coming back. Beware.

Oh, and I did get off to a very nice start on "Ethna Redux" yesterday. Toward the end of the process, I'm going to be looking for someone with a good knowledge of Irish fairy tales and Celtic mythology to check what I've written for any glaring errors. If you'd like to volunteer (or volunteer someone else), feel free to drop me a line.

And finally, please vote!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Voicelessness

Behold the lovely Ancilla Tilia, nude, muzzled, and loving every second of it. I discovered in an interview I read that "ancilla" is Latin for "slave," and she really is a lifestyle sub.

Anyway, I chose this picture to share with you today because it represents a subset of my general mind control/enclosure/bondage fetish: enforced muteness. After all, isn't our ability to speak, to express our wants and feelings and opinions, an essential part of what makes us human? Taking away someone's voice, literally or figuratively, is extremely depersonalizing. In real life, it's horrible; but in MC fantasy, it's delicious. A slave has no voice at all in what happens to her or him.

Voicelessness is a theme I explored first in private fantasies; then later in several of my stories, including Spellbound, Solitaire and Willing Subject. Funny how those three just happen to be my personal favorites.

I've also explored the theme in some early photomanips I created for my own private pleasure. I'm sorry to say none of them are good enough to share online; however, I will give you this little tease: Callidus is interviewing me for his blog and has convinced me to share another pic I did which came out rather better than the mouthless ones. I'm not sure when he'll post the interview, but I'll let you know once it's up.

Oh, and one other tease: I hope to start writing "Ethna Redux" today or tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Your input, please

Monday night I had another one of my lucid dreams that turned into a very pleasant MC fantasy. This time I was playing around with a very old (but, IMO, pretty clever) idea that I'm surprised to realize I haven't actually used in an EMCSA story yet. So naturally, I started plotting. First I imagined myself as a superspy captured by her archenemy and turned into a willing sex slave. Then suddenly it occurred to me: why did it have to be a female superspy? After all, Aerosol Kid has already mapped that territory quite satisfactorily with his Akiko series. Wouldn't it be fun to turn some macho, arrogant ladykiller like James Bond or Tom Cruise in action hero mode into a cock-worshiping supersub?

Well, one way or another, I'm sure I'll write the story - though "Ethna Redux" is up next, and I've just received an offer I can't refuse via e-mail. It'll be awhile. But I thought I'd give those of you who actually read and enjoy my stuff a chance to weigh in on the subject. And you don't even have to e-mail me to do it; just cast your vote here:

EDIT: Okay, it looks like the poll isn't working, so I've taken it out and tried a different brand. Just look to your right. :-)

Monday, November 17, 2008

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape with Guest Star Tabico

All right, folks, it's time for the less mysterious of my co-conspirators to weigh on our two collaborations. Take it away, Tabico!

I have the memory of a balsa wood elephant, but there are a few moments from my lengthy engagement in this genre that still stand out. One of them was that first week when Spellbound appeared. It was short, sharp, and awesome, and I knew immediately that a new top-shelf talent had appeared in our midst. I didn't know if she would continue to write - Alphax, another best-of-breed storyteller, has only two short pieces to his credit - but I saw right then at that moment that something had dawned.

So later when thrall suggested a collaboration, I was fully on board. I don't recall now (remember the elephant) what sequence of events led to the suggestion, or even for certain that she brought it up, but I'm fairly sure she did. At that point I had already worked with Iago once, and been ecstatic at what we had produced despite an almost complete lack of any subsequent fanmail. The process as well as the product had been really good, so despite the fact that In Darkness Bound totally bombed at the MC Box office, I was ready to give a collaborative work another go.

I don't recall how spiders came up. I do recall, quite distinctly, that thrall had a mental image she wanted to go with, of a mummified figure with cobwebs over her mouth, the cobwebs moving in and out with her breath. I'm into transformations and monster-women, so the half-human half-spider figures are probably from my imagination.

Arachnae turned out well; not genre-defining, but a good yarn with some punch. Moreover, the process of creating it worked well and was fun. In short, we batted the plot back and forth, each picked different sections to write - and free-edited, meaning that we rewrote each other's work as though it were our own.

It's a tricky recipe, that last part, but as I had with Iago, thrall and I hit just the right balance of respect for one another's work and lack of ego when our own stuff was polished. So it was a good experience.

Later on we did Salvation. I recall even less about that effort, but it was also a fun activity. Somehow we missed the mark a bit there - I secretly (well, not so secretly now, eh?) think that "Salvation" although both good and fun could have been really earth-shaking, and wonder what I or we could have done to make it so. The elements are there - the brilliant concept of the slave being rescued who turns the tables on her rescuers. The hot element of the freed slave, now rescuer, who is lured back into slavery. Somehow, though, we missed some element, some tone, that would have made it more molten.

But I regret nothing.

I've prompted thrall a few times (twice, I think) since then about maybe doing something else together, but the time wasn't right or maybe my suggestions just failed to light a fire. In any case, my genre writing has slowed down a bunch. More recently thought hers has increased, (particularly if you take the blog into account), so perhaps there's hope. I still think that, if we could just get exactly the right ingredients, we could write something that people would be talking about years from now.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Heads up!

First, my Reader's Picks page on the EMCSA is now updated.

Second, remember that horrible David Lynch adaptation of Dune? Well, things could have been a whole lot worse.

And lastly, just in case you've been living in a cave for the last week or two, there's a new Watchmen trailer available with 100% less Lower Manhattan and 100% more drama. I understand some folks are complaining about the use of the name "Watchmen" for the second-generation vigilante team; but my only real gripe is that the silhouette of the Comedian's killer looks a bit too well-defined to properly preserve the mystery.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: My Collaborations with Tabico and trilby else

To date, I've written three collaborative pieces for the EMCSA: two with Tabico and one with trilby else (I don't count the Quick and Dirty Anthology as a collaboration, since each chapter was written separately by a different author; and anyway, I'm not allowed to say much about that ;-P), and each collaboration was lots of fun. Of course, it helps that Tabico and trilby are my two favorite authors on the EMCSA; and our styles and kinks mesh well enough that we were able to create stories that, IMO, come across as seamless wholes rather than pieces of Frankensteinian patchwork.

Each story came about under very different circumstances. I'll tell you a bit about all three now, and Tabico plans to stop by later with her own thoughts, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Stay tuned.

My first collaboration was on Arachnae, or the Icky-Squicky Spider (Tabico and I couldn't agree on a title, so we used both of our ideas. Guess which one was mine. ;-P). It began with my reading Tabico's Adaptation, at the end of which she expressed an interest in squick and wondered if anyone else out there felt the same. She and I had already exchanged a number of e-mails, and as a matter of fact, I was privately toying with the idea of MC by spider bite; so I suggested a collaboration. I didn't have anything like a coherent plot in mind when I wrote her; I was just fascinated by the idea of being so deeply enthralled by something abhorrent that you end up reveling in what should send you screaming. Well, Tabico took that idea and ran with it, quickly coming up with the alien spider queen concept, which allowed for all the variations on freaky bondage and body modifications that we both enjoy so much. We worked up the overall plot together and divided the sections pretty evenly, with one of us taking all but one of the above-ground scenes and one of us taking all but one of the below-ground scenes. I won't spell it out for you, but if you've read much of our writing or know anything about our backgrounds, that's probably enough to tell you who wrote which bits. ;-)

I can't remember which of us was the first to suggest a second collaboration, but I do remember that I'd recently had a dream that gave us an excellent starting point. I dreamed I was a brainwashed slave trying to prevent intruders from taking over my Mistress' compound. There wasn't much more to it than that, but on waking, I was intrigued by the notion of a slave molded for helplessness and passivity being all that stood between her Mistress and victory for her Mistress' enemies - which would have been victory for the slave, as well, if only she'd been in a position to appreciate it. As before, the division of work on Salvation was pretty equal; but this time we swapped off in the middle of scenes as well as between scenes. As a result, when I went back to reread the story a few months ago, even I couldn't remember which of us had written certain sections (though I do recall that Tabico wrote the opening and I wrote the close). I guess that's a testament to how well our styles meshed.

The situation with trilby else was a bit different. As I've said before, he likes to stay in the shadows (a great place from which to snark, I might add) and had never collaborated with anyone else. As a matter of fact, I'd broached the idea to him at least a couple of times before, but he'd always responded with a polite "Thanks, but no thanks." Then I hit a rough patch in a number of different ways; and suddenly there was trilby, offering me a collaboration as, I guess, a way of cheering me up. Unfortunately, that rough patch extended to my creativity, and I'm afraid most of the best bits of Goldilocks are his. I did come up with the basic idea of a woman stumbling onto long-abandoned alien technology and MC'ing herself with no one to rescue her, but trilby was the one who really fleshed it out. I hadn't even thought of setting it in the future, on another planet; I just had a sort of vague, Tommyknockers-ish idea of a unearthed spaceship or secret silo or something, somewhere on earth.

Then there was the matter of names. Idris' ship took its name from a way-beyond-cool William Gibson heroine (trilby's idea, but I recommended the book to him ;-)). When it came time for a story title, of course we had to use just a single word, since that's a trilby else signature. Our first idea was "Bauble," but then he happened to mention Goldilocks in passing, and a little light bulb went off in my head. He liked the idea, too, so there you go. Much easier to name than the spider story. ;-)

Looking back on my three collaborations, I can't help noticing that though the actual work was either evenly divided (with the first two) or more heavily shouldered by the other person (with the last), all three ideas began in my head. I don't know if that's coincidence or if there's more to it than that. Certainly, I'm not the kind of author who can be handed someone else's suggestion and dash off a story just like that - not most of the time, anyway. So don't hold your breath waiting for me to contribute to any other anthologies. But if someone whose work I respected and whose style meshed with my own offered up the right idea, it could conceivably strike a spark in my head. Who knows? I wouldn't rule anything out.

Anyway, collaborating - with the right partner - can be terrific fun. I highly recommend it.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

This is what happens when you don't have cable

I don't watch TV at all anymore; the only time I even turn the thing on is to play DVD's. Now, this does have its advantages, like saving the money I'd spend on cable and not getting addicted to some show I'll be stuck coming back to week after week to make sure I don't miss anything. Plus, I'd honestly just rather use my weekday evenings playing online.

Unfortunately, the downside of not having cable or watching TV is that I don't get to see music videos unless I make an effort to hunt them down, which I usually don't. But today, for some reason, I did. One of my current favorite songs on the radio is Shiny Toy Guns' "Ricochet." Just for kicks, I hunted down the official video on YouTube; and lo and behold, it's chock full of fetishy goodness: zentai, total enclosure, depersonalization, and a hint of mind control (not to mention a few random hairless, stuffed dogs). And all that's on top of what was already a kick-ass song to begin with. Here, have a look:

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Latex Laurie to the rescue!

The original subject I had planned for my Wednesday blog entry was a "Peek Beneath the Duct Tape" on my trio of collaborations with Tabico and trilby else; but to be perfectly honest, I haven't had a chance to write a word about any of them yet. Fortunately, I just stumbled across a cache of fantastic new Watchmen posters, including the best shot yet of Laurie and a little commentary from Malin Akerman on how it felt to be encased in all that yummy latex. Just click the pic for all the details, but WARNING: clicking the thumbnails on the "Laurie" page takes you not only to larger versions of the posters but also to five different articles from five different sources with tidbits about the movie - and one of those tidbits includes both MAJOR SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't read the graphic novel and a relatively minor movie spoiler for those of you who have read the novel. So, if you want to read every article but the one I'm hinting about, just highlight the spoiler text inside these brackets: [Ozymandias (the guy in purple)]. Otherwise, read all or none as you please. :-)

Quite some time ago I told both my collaborators about my blogging intentions and offered them the chance to participate; but trilby told me he prefers, as usual, to remain in the shadows; and I haven't heard back from Tabico in so long that I can only assume she feels the same. So, Tabs, if you're reading this and really do want to contribute, this is your last chance! ;-P The non-collaborative Peek about collaborating is now planned for Saturday.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Hey, look! It's Gay Superman!

Remember that link I gave you Friday to the io9 page of noir-ish poster art for Watchmen? Well, I ended up following the link from there back to the artist's gallery at (of course) Deviant Art. While I was disappointed by his cheerful rah-rah Republicanism, I did find many more pictures worth looking at, including these three:




There are also plenty of other pictures to enjoy, as well, including several more noir-type Watchmen and superheroes shots. It's worth a look. Just try not to giggle too hard at his take on Sarah Palin.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Hilarious near-blasphemy

Watchmen fanatics, prepare yourselves to have your deepest fantasies joined to your darkest nightmares, then turned against you with the kind of brain-blasting rush you-know-who could only dream of inflicting:

I don't know how I missed this, but...

Many, many thanks to Jukebox for writing in to direct my attention to his new Shiny, Happy People, which is about exactly what it sounds like. This Sorayama picture captures it fairly well, except that the guy in the painting isn't nearly as happy with his condition as Jukebox's converts.

I just have to add this one to the updated Reader's Picks page I sent Simon last night. Can't you imagine the look on his face when he hears from me yet again about the same damn thing as before? Poor guy, so longsuffering. But it's all in a good cause. ;-)

Bonus points to those of you who catch the Faculty reference in Jukebox's story.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

I'm thinking it's about time to update my "Reader's Picks" page

I really need to add in sara castle's Athame, which has just come to a delightful conclusion in today's EMCSA update, and also Libertine's Honey Chile and nymph's Las Fallas and Other Stories, both of which I've mentioned here before. Plus, I need to fix a few glitches, and modify an assertion I made about a story that the author disputes.

Enjoy your week. More Peeks Beneath the Duct Tape coming soon.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Now here's a little something to get that nasty Love taste out of your mouth

At long last, Warner Brothers has seen fit to give us a behind-the-scenes Watchmen video that's actually worth watching, even for those of you on dial-up. Want a bunch of long, lingering shots of Sally Jupiter in her heyday and in her boozy old age? How about Latex Laurie kicking major ass in the prison fight scene? Interviews with both actresses and some brief but intriguing glimpses of several other characters? Well, look no further, my friends.

Of course, if you're a dial-upper and really, really can't be bothered to wait for the download (even though I promise you it's worth it), at least you can see a couple of nice shots of the young and old Sally here. All hail io9!

EDIT: I can't figure out how to stop the video from starting automatically; and since it's already getting on my nerves, I figure it probably annoys most of you, as well. Therefore, I've removed the embedded object. You can now find the video simply by following this link to io9. You're welcome. ;-P

Now here are a couple more "money" shots to further entice you, if you still need enticing. Believe me, after seeing this video clip, you will be in love with Laurie and with Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino - and that's even if you haven't read the graphic novel.



Oh, and then there's this: a couple of fantastic noir-style Watchmen posters with a bonus of Spiderman, Batman, and a piece of billion-dollar dreck that I don't deign to name in the same sentence as the Great Ones.

Courtney Love is a total fucking idiot

And her grammar skills would shame a first grader.

Better news from Lesbian Land tomorrow.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Visitor update

I thought you might be curious to know who else been reading my blog lately, so here's another visitor update. Bear in mind that the free version of Stat Counter only counts the last 500 visits (correction: the last 500 hits, and most visitors are responsible for more than one hit. Thus the relatively small number of dots on the map). So you're not seeing, for instance, the two or three folks from New Zealand who've dropped by in recent weeks, the Alaskan, the Israeli, or the South African (Yes! Now I've had visitors from six of the seven continents!). Also, you can't tell just how fervent some of my visitors have been. For instance, I seem to have a true kindred spirit in London; though I've never actually heard from him or her. Anyway, whoever you are, your presence is much appreciated. As is everyone else's. :-)



Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Art Appreciation 102

If you followed the link in last Saturday's entry to Sci Fi Wire's page of Halloween costumes, you've already seen the image at left here. The author of the article on the SFW page wondered "how she made the tail." Well, dingbat (the SFW author, not you ;-)), "she" didn't "make" the tail. This isn't a costume; it's a painting by an artist named Chio Maisriml, whose work can be found in a subsection of the Beesign website. I've been enjoying his stuff for years now. Here are just a few of my favorites:






For larger versions of these pictures and many, many more along similar lines (including one with an alienized Susan Wayland), just follow the link above. Oh, and by the way, don't be worried that the site is mostly in German; even if you don't speak the language, all you really need to know is "Galerie," which is pretty self explanatory.

Sadly, this isn't the first time a Beesign pic has been taken out of context and/or abused. The pic at left was my first introduction to this artist. I found it on some latex site or other (I'm sorry now that I didn't bookmark it because I can't find it again, and this particular pic isn't on the Beesign website) with the logo attached, just as you see here. Then I rediscovered it on the Hypnopics Collective with the logo removed, some random text added, and the asshole who posted it claiming it as his own work. I dashed off a quick, angry correction in the "comments" section; but the thing had already been up for a year by the time I got there, so I doubt anyone's dropped in on it lately to learn the truth. Oh, well. You and I know, don't we?

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

My deepest apologies

...to the sumptuous Kate Winslet for not raving about her on this blog before today. Believe me, I've raved about her many times in other venues. To me, this lady is absolute perfection in any of the various sizes and shapes she's adopted through the years, and I love her soul every bit as much as her body. This is the kind of woman I could marry...and just in case you were wondering, my beloved feels exactly the same. I think we'd make a delightful threesome. ;-)

Anyway, I found this lovely Barbarella-esque pic on the Vanity Fair website today (I won't tell you where I got the link for fear of lowering your opinion of me ;-P) and just felt the overwhelming need to share. VF has a ten-image slide show of Kate Winslet images, but IMO this one is by far the best. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Um, I think these people are knocking on the wrong door

Everyone expects a certain amount of spam, right? But when your e-mail address is only posted on X-rated websites, should you really expect spam from a Christian dating service??? That's what I've been getting lately, over and over again.

I can't help wondering how they'd react if I actually signed on with them: "lesbian and proud member of the Religious Left with several kinky fetishes seeking same." Maybe I'd even post that Sorayama gynoid pic as my personal photo. Do you think they'd be more anxious to a) purge their records of my merest blasphemous touch or b) evangelize my poor, benighted soul and help me realize that homosexuality really is a lifestyle choice?

Sunday, November 2, 2008

*sigh of relief*

I'll admit to being a bit worried when the new update showed up on the EMCSA and my revised versions of Solitaire and A Tenpack of Trixies weren't included. Fortunately, they're up now. I guess Simon just had so much on his plate this week that he had to do the update in pieces.

So anyway, for those of you who didn't like the thought of downloading the RTF previews, the long wait is over. ;-P "Solitaire" is about 95% what it was before, though I am quite pleased with at least one new turn of phrase. On the other hand, I think "Tenpack" 2.0 is a significant improvement over the original, especially in two crucial explanatory passages that I don't think were clear enough the first time around. I hope you'll enjoy both stories.

As for me, when I haven't turning and returning to the EMCSA in search of my updates, I've been continuing my research into Irish fairy lore. My plan for (working title) "Ethna Redux" is to stick as close to the original script as possible, but at the same time give you "the rest of the story" as I prefer to imagine it. And we all know what that means, don't we...or do we? I might surprise you this time. I might surprise myself. To be honest, I'm not 100% where this one is going yet.

And for my next trick...

Just thought you all might like a little heads-up about my next story. Recently, a certain shadowy friend pointed me toward this old Irish legend, and it immediately set my cogwheels churning. I'm a long way from actually writing anything down yet, but I have begun the necessary research and cogitation. So while you're waiting, here's a little question to set your own gears in motion: weren't those mysterious voices that helped Ethna's husband in the legend just a wee bit too convenient?

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Slightly tardy Halloween goodness

Saturday's blog entry was going to be about my next story, but then I got this link in my e-mail box and had to share. Sci Fi Wire offers several sexy suggestions for Halloween partygoers, including the following. Click the link above above for bigger versions of these pics and several others, as well.



And, of course, this post offers me the perfect opportunity to finally share this, which I secreted on my hard drive several weeks ago because you just never know when something is going to come in handy:



Look for a post about my next story tomorrow.