tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188la_marquisela_marquisela_marquise2020-04-15T16:34:46Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:381547Second Welsh History lecture2020-04-15T16:30:13Z2020-04-15T16:34:46Zpublic0The early history of Dyfed (down to c. 800).<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWTtAQ5awJ8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWTtAQ5awJ8</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=381547" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:381197The Drowning Kings episodes 18 and 192020-04-15T16:29:38Z2020-04-15T16:29:38Zpublic0Two more episodes.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRsKy-2cgv0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRsKy-2cgv0</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I63Rw09Cpeo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I63Rw09Cpeo</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=381197" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:381138The Drowning Kings episodes 15, 16 and 172020-04-10T16:34:03Z2020-04-10T16:34:40Zbusypublic0Here they are!<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUi_8nRuvnw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUi_8nRuvnw</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc3GTynnCj4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc3GTynnCj4</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9xTDGX02rA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9xTDGX02rA</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=381138" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:380714Early Mediaeval Wales2020-04-06T16:07:13Z2020-04-06T16:07:13Zbusypublic0I'm also giving lectures on Wales between around 450 C.E. and 1100.<br />These will probabaly be weekly. The first one is here:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_SbdIy78AI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_SbdIy78AI</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=380714" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:380463The Drowning Kings episodes 12, 13 and 14.2020-04-06T16:05:39Z2020-04-06T16:05:39Zaccomplishedpublic0Three new episodes are up.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9wHCKJ9n0Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9wHCKJ9n0Y</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P65kfh7jopM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P65kfh7jopM</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_SbdIy78AI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_SbdIy78AI</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=380463" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:380199The Drowning Kings episode 112020-04-02T12:46:22Z2020-04-02T12:46:22Zpublic0Here's part 11 and a new historical note.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGcAfei3frc">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGcAfei3frc</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmoYB1boQ1k">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmoYB1boQ1k</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=380199" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:379940The Drowning Kings episode 102020-03-31T17:08:06Z2020-03-31T17:08:06Zpublic0Episode 10<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07CqA0wOqI">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G07CqA0wOqI</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=379940" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:379885The Drowning Kings episode 92020-03-31T13:13:49Z2020-03-31T13:13:49Zpublic0Here it is!<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUW_iUvaVYE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUW_iUvaVYE</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=379885" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:379557The Drowning Kings episode 82020-03-30T12:20:09Z2020-03-30T12:20:09Zcontemplativepublic0Here it is!<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojle_iqUwI8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojle_iqUwI8</a><br />You can use the link or, more simply, subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'm not listing them publicly, because I don't want to deal with the inevitable trolls.<br /><br />How is everyone? I hope you are all staying safe.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=379557" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:379146The Drowning Kings episode &2020-03-27T18:56:27Z2020-03-27T18:56:27Zsleepypublic3Here's episode 7.<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRLk4TECNJw&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRLk4TECNJw&feature=youtu.be</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=379146" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:378996The Drowning Kings episode 62020-03-27T11:42:52Z2020-03-27T11:42:52Zbusypublic0Episiode 6 is up, along with another historical note.<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO8MnQkAKRQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO8MnQkAKRQ</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R8J1uDccwg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R8J1uDccwg</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=378996" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:378791The Drowning Kings episode 52020-03-25T16:47:07Z2020-03-25T16:47:07Zpublic0Part 5 is now up, with visiting cats.<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IxfNgOkbpI&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IxfNgOkbpI&feature=youtu.be</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=378791" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:378602The Drowning Kings episode 42020-03-24T18:22:13Z2020-03-24T18:22:13Zgoodpublic0Part 4 is now up.<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlNDAVrV-es&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlNDAVrV-es&feature=youtu.be</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=378602" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:378297The Drowning Kings episode 32020-03-23T18:06:28Z2020-03-23T18:07:22Zaccomplishedpublic0Here's the next part, hopefully with clearer sound.<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0iJxtwUwEE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0iJxtwUwEE</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=378297" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:377897The Drowning Kings episode 22020-03-23T11:21:22Z2020-03-23T11:21:22Zbusypublic0Episode 2 is now up. I'm working on improving the volume, but didn't receive the new microphone till this morning, sadly. (I recorded this yesterday.)<br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3o6Gn-aa9M&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3o6Gn-aa9M&feature=youtu.be</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=377897" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:377831On line reading: The Drowning Kings2020-03-22T13:19:36Z2020-03-22T13:19:36Zcontemplativepublic6A lot of us are social distancing or self-isolating right now, and may be cut off from usual activities. So, I've decided to record reading my way through my Sekrit Projekt novel as a potential amusement. It's called The Drowning Kings, and it's a mystery with supernatural set in 9th century Wales, using a couple of very odd historical events as a starting point.<br />I'm updating it on my Facebook (Kari Sperring) and making the post public, and I will be posting links to it here too, and on my website. Please feel free to share it, if you think it's of interest, and to ask me questions about 9th century Wales.<br /><br />Episode 1 is here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhmAUZBnGSE&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhmAUZBnGSE&feature=youtu.be</a><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=377831" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:377511Not with a bang but a whimper2019-08-28T11:32:18Z2019-08-28T11:32:18Zscaredpublic2So, the oligarchs have what they wanted. Congratulations, white, male, southern, over-70-year-old members of the British Conservative Party. You have done your masters' bidding, following the klaxon call of Rupert Murdoch and Paul Dacres, who pretended they were just like you. You have your right-wing coup. You have the suspension of Parliament so a Prime Minister selected by 0.01% of the population, can act like a dictator.<br />This isn't 'strong leadership', whatever the Scum, the Excess and the Fail may screech. This is the first stage of absolutism. And you are not safe. You are not victorious. You've been played by the billionaires and the extremists who want to rip up human rights and re-instate feudalism. You think you'll be the lords of the manor. They told you you will be.<br />They lie. They're the only lords. The rest of us are nothing. Maybe you're old enough that you won't pay the price. But your children and grandchildren will, when they lose jobs because the boss wants more money, because they become pregnant, become ill, are injured. They'll die in childbirth, of heart disease, of job-related illnesses, of injuries, all untreated because treatment costs too much, or is only available to the few.<br />Those of them who live with learning difficulties or with disabilities will be excluded even further, institutionalised, maybe even legally put down. Those of them who are people of colour or people of other religions will face even more prejudice, persecution and injustice.<br />The environment will pay.<br />The country you claim to love will become an international disgrace, and a poodle of Trump's America. That's not sovereignty. That's subservience.<br />Here's the thing: the hard right make a lot of noise about democracy and 'will of the people', but in their mouths, those words always mean everyone else doing what they want. The 'people' are a lump to them, to be used and then ignored. They are not actual people. Actual people are complicated, varied, diverse, confusing, contradictory, and, yes, they change their minds. 'Will of the people' in the mouths of Boris and Trump doesn't mean the people they rule, it means the people that matter to them, the rich. That isn't Tory members. That's Tory donors and cronies, many of whom are tax exiles or not British. 'Democracy' does not mean that once voted on, a thing is set forever. It means the complete opposite. Otherwise, we'd have had one election ever and the same people in power ever after (which is absolutist totalitarianism).<br />Democracy means that the people are sovereign, and are allowed to express their opinions through protest (which Trump and Boris and May all tried to prevent). It means they can change their minds and be listened to. And in times of crisis, it means they need to be given a chance to express their views too. (What happened when WW2 broke out? Despite popular belief, it was not Hero Churchill and his Hero Tories saving the day. All the parties formed a government of national unity. And that's what we should be doing now. Giving power to one segment of one party is not democracy, and it is not sovereignty. It's a coup.)<br />#Everyone will pay apart from those who already sit on the top of the global heap. Trump isn't funny or strong, he's a facist, racist, sexist dictator. Boris isn't a clown, he's a venal, self-seeking, narcissist. Rees-Mogg isn't amusing: he's the whip hand of the gang-master, the mine-owner, the mill-owner, every capitalist murderer you've shuddered over in books.<br />Welcome back to the nineteenth century. It's not what you think it is. It's not Downton Abbey or Victoria, and you aren't the aristocracy.<br /><br />(NB when I say white, male, over 70 Tory members, I mean precisely that. I do not mean those of my friends who are fiscal conservatives or who voted leave for considered, thoughtful reasons. I respect you and your views, and I do not blame you at all for Boris or any of this other nonsense. You aren't neo-feudalists, I know, and you aren't No Deal Ideologues in it for the money.)<br /><br />I'll be on the barricades.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=377511" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:377256On Dublin and the personhood of women.2019-08-25T21:07:01Z2019-08-25T21:07:01Zpublic24So, a long time ago, I lived and worked in Dublin (Ireland) for a couple of years. I made some good friends, did some useful academic work and rather lost my heart to the city itself, which is the perfect size for a capital, in my opinion, anyway. Phil came out for a year, too, and it was good.<br />Our flight back from Dublin after Worldcon didn't go until late afternoon, so we spent the morning wandering around old haunts. My old flat on Leeson St (Upper) is still there, and, I learnt from a friendly neighbour, my former landlady, who was lovely, is still alive and doing well. The neighbourhood has gone up market, though -- fewer clubs and bars and dodgy tenements, more accountants and posh flats. Then we walked on round past the Institute where I worked, and I realised something.<br />I was 25 when I moved to Bublin. I'd spent the summer beforehand writing my first full novel, and the job was my first academic job. I had hopes of becoming a real person, in all sorts of ways. People told 25-year-old me that it was possible, that I might well become a respected academic, a novelist, all sorts of things. <br />And I did, in a sense. I worked for another decade or more in academia, published a string of books and articles, taught many many great students. I wrote another novel and a bunch of stories, three of which later sold. But none of them sold then. None of them sold until the 2000s and that was partly my fault and partly down to culture.<br />Because two other things happened, back then, back when I moved to Ireland. Many many people, I will stress, including all of the Irish sff fans I met and most of my colleagues at the Institute, treated me like a real person. I had many good days, many good experiences (including helping to run the first two Octocons).<br />But then there was the colleague who slowly, continuously, determinedly undermined my scholarship solely on the grounds that they had decided I was English. (Nota Bene: I'm not English. I'm Anglo-Welsh, and yes, that's a real thing.) There was the senior academic who attacked me in public at a seminar not on any detailed of my work but on my inherent unfitness to do that work to begin with, because, well, Insufficiently Celtic.<br />Now, I get it completely about how important it is for cultures that have been colonised and derided to own their own history and lore. I come from one of those myself, in part. But this person did not do this to my male, fully English colleague, only me. Because I am female, and female is not quite the same as person. And women are the soft underbelly of the perceived antagonist.<br />I already knew that when it came to writing, women weren't quite people in the eyes of many. I'd been in two writers' groups where this was made perfectly clear. (Not the one in Dublin, which was uniformly lovely and produced at least two other professional writers from this period.) But it was while I was in Dublin I took the first steps towards writing seriously. And fandom in the UK told me not to. Someone I trusted lit into me in public and yelled at me for daring. Someone else I trusted told me never, ever, to speak to an editor or agent at a con because I was not the kind of person who should be doing that. <br />And I realised that, for all I had been told up to that point, that I was only partially a person. I gave up writing (apart from fanfic) for a decade or more, and I accepted the negativity I received in academia. I did more than my fair share of admin and pastoral care, published regularly in good journals, looked out for my students, and had some lovely colleagues.<br />And some appalling ones.<br />Up until around 1998, though, I still thought I was going to turn into a person some day. I worked hard, I got good feedback from my students (students are absolutely the best thing about academia). I wrote some important articles, including one on Denmark that helped to change the field and a book on Wales that did change the field (warning: Kari speaking well of herself. Guilt incoming). I still had two novels in a drawer and I thought about them from time to time (but didn't write original fic, because, well, I'd been told off for doing so).<br />Then it all came down. I was nearly 40, and I broke. It was already too late for me as an academic: I would never climb high enough, due to my gender and to that drip-drip about my insufficiency due to that English blood. Most of my colleagues were lovely, I stress, but there were one or two who made sure I knew my place. (This looks like whining, I know. All I will say is: ask me in person about what happened. I am not prepared even now to write about it where it might be seen. I will note, however, that the union were so horrified they wanted me to sue.)<br />And I broke, and lost my academic career. And I ceased to be a person. I had no real job. People have jobs. People without jobs... well, they not quite the same thing as *people*.<br />By the time I was able to start over, I was over 40. I went back to writing, and, y'know, in many many ways I succeeded. I sold a novel and it won an award. I sold a second one. The thing I had day-dreamed about since I was 6 or 7 came true and I remain profoundly grateful for that. I have been very very lucky. Twice over, because I was in the last tranche of Celticists to find any kind of job at all.<br />And yet, looking at the Institute in Dublin, I realised something. I realised that somehow, between then and now, I have come to accept that I am not quite, not really, a person.<br />Women are not fully people.<br />Older women are definitely not fully people.<br />And women are told, over and over, when they are young, to be good and wait our turn, and many of us do. <br />And then, one day, while the white men of our age climb up and up, and are welcomed and praised, we are told: get out of the way, it's too late for you.<br />More so if, like me, those women are from the Lower Orders.<br />Even more so, if the woman is a woman of colour.<br />Even more, if she lives with a disability., if she is trans or gender non-conforming or queer.<br /><br />I have a fifteen year old niece, who is smart and talented and lovely. Right now, she knowns she's a person. I want her always to know that. I want her never to wake up and realise that she no longer thinks of herself that way. Not ever. I never want her stand outside somewhere where she started out with dreams and realise that even when they come true, people can make you feel you don't deserve them.<br /><br />We all should get to be people.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=377256" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:377001New novella!2019-08-23T13:18:01Z2019-08-23T13:18:01Zcheerfulpublic9So an exciting thing happened while I was away at Worldcon: my novella Serpent Rose came out from NewCon Press. You can find the details on their website here: http://www.newconpress.co.uk/info/book.asp?id=143&referer=Catalogue <br /> <p>I've always felt conflicted about the figure of Kign Arthur. As a historian of the early middle ages, he can be a problem, as the evidence for him is very thin, yet there are a lot of rather misleading books out there about him. As a writer, though, I find the whole canon of Arthurian works fascinating. We tend to tell the same story, these days, but in the 12th through 15th centuries, there were many many different stories told, with different heroes and different endings. Serpent Rose is one of those: I wrote it in an attempt to explore the characters of Lamorak de Galis, who is said to have been the third greatest of Arthur's knights, yet remains obscure in most retellings. The Prose Tristan contains elements of what may be lost stories about him, and I have used some of those. But his story wove its way into a story about the Orkney brothers, too, and particularly Gaheris. These days, he's one of the minor figures in the Arthur stories, but like his elder brother Gawain, he seems once to have been more significant, and, also like Gawain, his character has rather taken a beating from Sir Thomas Malory onwards. I've always rather liked him though, so...</p> <br /> Serpent Rose is high Arthuriana, set in the imaginary world of tournaments, heroic knights, quests and castles, rather than in a pseudo-early mediaeval context. It has a companion piece already written, which focuses on Gareth's wife (Lyonese/Llinos) and her story, and there are a couple more planned.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=377001" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:376762The Important Question of Skirts2018-03-28T13:10:32Z2018-03-28T13:10:32Zpublic2Well, the packing is done and the difficult decision about which skirt to take has been made. I have packed: the silver silky skirt, the blue parachute skirt, the silk patchwork skirt; the blue laced overskirt, and the completely ridiculous rose and black net skirt (as seen in the icon above).<br />I'm actually wearing jeans, but such is life.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=376762" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:376527Eastercon and All that2018-03-25T18:59:16Z2018-03-25T18:59:16Zpublic20We are having an Eastercon. I am helping to run an Eastercon, which goes to show either that I am a glutton for punishment or that I like there to be an Eastercon. Or something. I'm hoping to see some of you there.<br />I'm on the committee so should be fairly visible most of the time (we even have special badges). I'm also on a couple of programme items (TWP to #MeToo, Saturday at 3 pm and Remembering Le Guin, Monday at 2pm).<br /><br />I will of course be taking skirts.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=376527" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:376222Finsbury Park2017-06-19T13:16:48Z2017-06-19T13:16:48Zangrypublic4On behalf of white British people everywhere, I apologise profoundly and abjectly for the white terrorist attack in Finsbury Park. O apologise for our broken, entitled, arrogant culture, which fosters white rage, xenophobia, racism and bigotry. I apologise for our educational and political systems which uphold and maintain white privilege. I apologise for our society that encourages and rewards white male rage and violence. I apologise for our legacy of colonisation, that reinforced existing prejudices and which we white people still refuse to recognise, process and atone for. I apologise for our political class, who use racism as a tool to keep them in power, without thought for the human cost. I apologise for the BNP, the NF, the EDF, Combat 18, Britain First, UKIP and all the other right wing racists. I apologise for The Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, the Daily Telegraph and the TImes and their irresponsible and cynical 'journalism'. I apologise for my personal complicity in the structures that maintain white privilege and for my craven failures to challenge it in all circumstances. <br />I'd like to think we were better than this, but the last 12 months have exposed that for a comforting illusion.<br />A plague on all our British houses.<br />The attacks in Manchester and on London Bridge made me profoundly sad.<br />The attack on Finsbury Park makes me deeply, deeply angry, because it is nothing more than vicious, unnecessary racism and Islamophobia, fostered by the shameful, bullying culture that we have allowed into power over us.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=376222" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:375980Department of Ask the Internet2017-06-01T13:23:46Z2017-06-01T13:23:46ZThe Hobbit songtrackcuriouspublic4So, before there was <em>Living With Ghosts, </em>there was <em>Valdarrien, </em>which tells the story of Valdin and Iareth Yscoithi (and gives the background on Yvelliane and Thiercelin). It's not of publishable quality, I think -- at least, not in any form that involves payment. But at the same time, I'm fond of it (and Valdin is the character <em>par excellence</em> for haunting me). So I was wondering about maybe running it here, chapter by chapter, as a freebie. Any thoughts?<br /><br />In other news, I aten't ded. I'm just out canvassing.<br /><br />Skirt of the day: autumn leaves<br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=375980" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:375626Words and deeds and thinking, oh my2017-04-10T15:50:41Z2017-04-10T15:50:41Zaccomplishedpublic12It's been a while. I never intended to become so intermittent with the blogging, but just lately it hasn't seemed like that there was much that I wanted to say. There's the state of the world... but much of my life in recent months has been bound up with that, and words are not enough. There's the state of me -- but I really don't find myself that interesting, and I certainly believe that the rest of the world don't really need to know about the routine of books and laundry and cats (well, maybe the cats). I had eye surgery in mid-December, and it healed well; I had shingles in March, which I could have lived without and for which I am holding Theresa May personally responsible. I'm doing some teaching on speculative fiction for one of the local universities, and that's the best bit right now (and the students are lovely: talented and motivated and engaged).<br />And I didn't write and didn't write, from November onwards, because, well, the state of the world, and the state of the book (which is evil) and the eyes and the shingles (but not the students).<br /><br />And then on Friday I sat down and wrote a 1000 words. Not on the book I'm meant to be writing. Not on the other book, either, but on something new and shiny and unexpected. And the words came back, and that's good. (I'm holding <user name=dancinghorse) partly responsible for this, because a conversation I was having with her on Facebook was just the trigger I needed: so, thank you, Judy, you are once again my hero and my role-model).
Here's a snippet: "The hounds were hunting. Stars scudded across the sky, taking cover behind wisps of cloud. The moon rode low, horns reaching out to hook anyone or anything careless enough to come to close. Dust splattered and span out with every tread, every bound the hounds took. Ice snapped in the air.
Bess shivered and pulled her thin wrap up over her head. Her hands, in their shabby wool mittens, sought sanctuary within the sleeves of her rough knit coat. The linen of the wrap was scant defence against the wind, blowing wolf-breathed from the east. A fine night for hunting. A fine night for fear and pain and blood. A fine night for war... She crested the ridge, worn boots slipping on the wet earth. A line of dull amber marched along the skyline to the east. Someone’s home, someone’s livelihood, was on fire. More than one someone, for certain: several hundred, most like. She whispered a blessing under breath, and made herself move on. War was not her business tonight, whether in heaven or down here."
So far, it wants to have old magic and hidden places, war and resistance, Aramis, and, heaven help me, Lenin. (I know. My brain.) I think I like it.
Skirt of the day: San Jose teal and fuchsia<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=375626" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-01:162188:1125Is this thing on?2017-04-05T10:04:41Z2017-04-05T10:04:41Zpublic27It's been a while since I posted here: this is mostly a test to see how the settings are working. Good morning, all. Just remember: today is another day on which to stand up and be counted.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=la_marquise&ditemid=1125" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments