The Spice of Life

mimi on the move: think spice ... think paprika ... think chicken paprikash!

I've moved.

This is the old Novelog, now call Danger Gal. I've also moved. You will be redirected in a few sections. If the redirect doesn't work, click here.

Don't Wear the Writer Crazy Hat

Or there might be monkey poo a-flinging.

Does this stem from writers getting a big head from repeatedly creating worlds where the characters do one's bidding? I wish my characters would do my bidding. They keep trying to do their own bidding.

Oh wait, maybe that's a good thing. I mean, who wants to be the Great And Powerful Oz? I'd rather be a flying monkey, myself.

One Sentence Challenge

Risa at Cosmic Variance is passing along the One Sentence Challenge:

Physicist Richard Feynman once said that if all knowledge about physics was about to expire the one sentence he would tell the future is that “Everything is made of atoms”. What one sentence would you tell the future about your own area, whether it’s entrepreneurship, hedge funds, venture capital, or something else?

My favorites are comments 14, 15, 23, 32, 44, 48, 49.

What's my contribution?

"We don't have to be mean because, remember, no matter where you go, there you are. " (Buckaroo Banzai)

"One must still have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing star!" (Nietzsche)

"Some say he is a holy man; others say he is a shithead." (Principia Discordia)

Hottus Chicas Scientificas Unite

We need tshirts, ya think?

Razib over at the GNXP blog ended up with way more than he bargained for when he pronounced his surprise over finding a "hot chick" who read science fiction. Enough people have already denigrated and defended Razib, so I'll only touch on a few things here, but if you read or write science fiction/fantasy then you should check out the blog entries on this topic, such as the following:

Aetiology: Science, Intelligence and the Pretty, by Tara C. Smith

Mixing Memory: Piling On, by Chris

Adventures in Ethics and Science: Gender profiling at the wine bar, by Janet D. Stemwedel

Doc Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge: Hot or Not? by Dr. Joan Bushwell

I'm just supremely tired of the stereotype that women don't like science fiction. We do. A lot of us do. A lot of us don't. Whether I'm hot or not is irrelevant (even though, I am hot, incidentally...), just don't treat me like an anomaly. I am not unusual because I am female and (insert favorite anomalous pursuit here).

Razib said in his long "I, Coolie?" explanation post: "And yes, when I see beautiful women I do stand in awe, and worship even."

Just don't. Don't put beautiful women on a pedestal. Because if they want to discuss Hyperion, you'll be too befuddled to listen.

One commenter on Aetiology seemed to think that D&D/Sword and Sorcery stuff was a good sample of the science fiction/fantasy genre. Have you ever worn chainmail? Let alone a chainmail bikini? What is the purpose of a chain mail bikini anyway? It might protect one's nipples, that's it, and sometimes not even that.

No, thanks. I don't even think about those kinds of books when I think of science fiction and fantasy. I almost consider it a separate "D&D Genre," though I do see some overlap. Technically I suppose it's part of the science fiction/fantasy genre, but it certainly isn't a representative sample.

Admittedly, I have a tendency to read mostly female authors. It's just who I'm drawn to, not a consciously Feminist decision. I do read male authors, certainly, but the stories that have stuck with me are generally by female authors. And there quite a few of those. I would add to this list Kay Kenyon and Elizabeth Bear.

I would also point you to a New York Times article on this topic:

Women and Science Fiction by Susan Schwartz

Oh, and for some fun, check out Ernest Cline's recipe for Geek Porno. (Not for the faint of heart, BTW.)

But I don't wanna watch this misogynist he-man woman-hater porn.
I want porno movies that are made with guys like me in mind:
Guys who know that the sexiest thing in the world
is a woman who is smarter than you are.

You can have the whole cheerleading squad,
I want the girl in the tweed skirt and the horn-rimmed glasses:
Betty Finnebowski, the valedictorian.
Oh yes.
First I want to copy her Trig homework,
and then I want to make mad, passionate love to her
for hours and hours
until she reluctantly asks if we can stop
because she doesn't want to miss Battlestar Galactica.
Summa cum laude, baby!
That is what I call erotic.

American Title Contest

My friend Lindsey Brookes made it to the second round of the American Title contest! Yay Lindsey!

Please help support her. Voting for her is as simple as sending an email to webmaster@romantictimes.com and putting OPERATION: DATE ESCAPE in the subject line. You can get more information from her website: http://www.lindseybrookes.com/

To busy to write? Nearly, but not quite.

I've been working my mouse finger to the bone lately, and not in the way you're thinking. First off, I designed my first ever book cover! It's for my longtime friend, critique partner, and yes, fellow Gerry Butler fangyrl Leslie Dicken. Leslie has three books available right now in addition to Taboo, so please check her out.

I also just recently finished the site design and WordPress CMS installation for Romance author Tawny Weber. Next up, a template design for Renee Luke, another Romance author who also just got a deal to write under her Young Adult genre pseudonym Nyomi Scott.

Thanks Leslie, Tawny and Renee for keeping me busy and therefore out of trouble!

And still, no Gerry

People magazine just published their "Sexiest Man Alive" issue and it's once again George Clooney. No surprises there, and for the most part the others listed in the issue are the usual suspects with perfect cheekbones and physiques.

Salon magazine has come out with their own list and it includes the likes of some of my favorite celebrities who didn't make it on the People list: Alton Brown, Neil Patrick Harris, Richard Dawkins, Alan Rickman and Jon Stewart.

And yet, Gerard Butler isn't on either list. What's up with that? What's wrong with you people? You'd think his role in critically acclaimed Dear Frankie would have gotten him some street cred. Of his role as the Tall Dark Stranger, he said:

"That’s what I love about this. If you just tell the story of what the story’s about, then it sparks curiosity but I think it also arouses suspicion, as you say, that it could be overly sentimental. But it so isn’t. And I think it was all about doing the inner work and then underplaying everything. And so I know for me, that’s what I was constantly thinking was just, “Bring it down. Give it truth. Give it realism.” Because if you can do that and an audience can relate to you as a human being who’s not purely good or purely bad, but he just is who he is, then that’s what sucks you in. In a way, that’s what sucks you in to this beautiful little fairy tale."

Salon recognized this bit about geeky chef Alton Brown, but ignores Gerry?

"...when he explains in serious, caressing detail the differences between a chewy cookie and crunchy one, it's downright hypnotic. And when he strides around kitchen stadium as commentator of "Iron Chef America," he's a reassuring authority, an eager fan, and a conspiratorial insider letting you in on the secrets of taming fire itself. He's the ultimate caveman and the uptight professor, and if that's not a twofer fantasy figure right there, I don't know what is."

Don't get me wrong, I adore Alton. He's at the top of my Tivo To Do List. I even know the inside jokes about the puppets. But we need to tell People magazine to get with the hunky guy program.

If you're a writer, you write.

Jennifer Jackson has a post on quitting the writing life, and randomfreshink has posted an inspiring response. The last few paragraphs really struck home for me, but most especially:

"You write because the people in your head won't shut up until you do--and you really do not want therapy. You write because you probably should get therapy. . .

"You make time to write. You steal lunch hours and early mornings and late nights. You fit writing into note pads on short breaks. . .

"You also avoid writing because it's like a fickle mistress who won't always put out, but who knows that unpredictable reinforcement is the best way to form an addiction. You also want to avoid writing because sometimes it's just bad, and that breaks your heart. And you can never write anything that's as good as the images and ideas in your head because words stumble."

Keep writing. Don't ever give up.