tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32426074105602726552024-03-18T01:00:33.014-07:00Deborah J. RossUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1635125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-22217030606874310742024-03-18T01:00:00.000-07:002024-03-18T01:00:00.240-07:00Reprint: Covid Vaccines Essential for Elders<p> </p>
<h1 class="legacy"><span class="nobr">COVID-19</span> vaccines: CDC says people ages 65 and up should get a shot this spring – a geriatrician explains why it’s vitally important</h1>
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Even if you got a COVID-19 shot last fall, the spring shot is still essential for the 65 and up age group.
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/old-asian-senior-couple-wearing-face-mask-virus-royalty-free-image/1332149015?phrase=covid-19+shots+and+seniors&adppopup=true">whyframestudio/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laurie-archbald-pannone-894205">Laurie Archbald-Pannone</a>, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-virginia-752">University of Virginia</a></em></span>
<p>In my mind, the spring season will always be associated with COVID-19. </p>
<p>In spring 2020, the federal government <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/03/18/2020-05794/declaring-a-national-emergency-concerning-the-novel-coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak">declared a nationwide emergency</a>, and life drastically changed. Schools and businesses closed, and masks and social distancing were mandated across much of the nation. </p>
<p>In spring 2021, after the vaccine rollout, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said those who were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 could <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/13/health/cdc-mask-guidance-vaccinated/index.html">safely gather with others who were vaccinated</a> without masks or social distancing.</p>
<p>In spring 2022, with the increased rates of vaccination across the U.S., the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/03/26/world/covid-19-mandates-cases-vaccine#hawaii-lifts-its-indoor-mask-mandate-and-travel-restrictions-the-last-state-to-do-so">universal indoor mask mandate</a> came to an end. </p>
<p>In spring 2023, the federal declaration of COVID-19 as a <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/05/09/fact-sheet-end-of-the-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html">public health emergency ended</a>.</p>
<p>Now, as spring 2024 fast approaches, the CDC reminds Americans that even though the public health emergency is over, the risks associated with COVID-19 are not. But those risks are higher in some groups than others. Therefore, the agency recommends that adults age 65 and older receive an <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-0228-covid.html">additional COVID-19 vaccine</a>, which is <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/updated-covid-vaccine-10-things-to-know">updated to protect against a recently dominant variant</a> and is effective against the current dominant strain. </p>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sOCkozbwgcw?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440"></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">You have a 54% less chance of being hospitalized with severe COVID-19 if you’ve had the vaccine.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Increased age means increased risk</h2>
<p>The shot is <a href="https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-vaccine">covered by Medicare</a>. But do you really need yet another COVID-19 shot?</p>
<p><a href="https://uvahealth.com/findadoctor/Laurie-Archbald-Pannone-1356544233">As a geriatrician</a> who exclusively cares for people over 65 years of age, this is a question I’ve been asked many times over the past few years.</p>
<p>In early 2024, the short answer is yes.</p>
<p>Compared with other age groups, <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-who-is-at-risk/art-20483301">older adults have the worst outcomes</a> with a COVID-19 infection. Increased age is, simply put, a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html#">major risk factor</a>.</p>
<p>In January 2024, the average death rate from COVID-19 for all ages was <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographicsovertime">just under 3 in 100,000 people</a>. But for those ages 65 to 74, <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/older-adults-made-90-us-covid-deaths-2023">it was higher</a> – about 5 for every 100,000. And for people 75 and older, the rate jumped to nearly 30 in 100,000. </p>
<p>Even now, four years after the start of the pandemic, people 65 years old and up are about twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than the rest of the population. People 75 years old and up are <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographicsovertime">10 times more likely to die</a> from COVID-19. </p>
<h2>Vaccination is still essential</h2>
<p>These numbers are scary. But the No. 1 action people can take to decrease their risk <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0301-respiratory-virus.html">is to get vaccinated</a> and keep up to date on vaccinations to ensure top immune response. Being appropriately vaccinated is as critical in 2024 as it was in 2021 to help prevent infection, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/updated-covid-vaccine-10-things-to-know">updated COVID-19 vaccine</a> <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/adverse-events.html">has been shown to be safe and effective</a>, with the benefits of vaccination continuing to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7035e5.htm">outweigh the potential risks of infection</a>. </p>
<p>The CDC has been observing side effects on the more than 230 million Americans <a href="https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/">who are considered fully vaccinated</a> with what it calls the “<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/reporting-systems.html#">most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history</a>.” Common side effects <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/expect.html">soon after receiving the vaccine</a> include discomfort at the injection site, transient muscle or joint aches, and fever. </p>
<p>These symptoms can be alleviated with over-the-counter pain medicines or a cold compress to the site after receiving the vaccine. Side effects are less likely if you are well hydrated when you get your vaccine.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Getting vaccinated is at the top of the list of the new recommendations from the CDC.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Long COVID and your immune system</h2>
<p>Repeat infections carry increased risk, not just from the infection itself, but also for developing long COVID <a href="https://time.com/6553340/covid-19-reinfection-risk/">as well as other illnesses</a>. Recent evidence shows that even mild to moderate COVID-19 infection can negatively affect cognition, with changes similar to seven years of brain aging. But being up to date with COVID-19 immunization has a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vaccination-dramatically-lowers-long-covid-risk/">fourfold decrease in risk of developing long COVID symptoms</a> if you do get infected. </p>
<p>Known as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fragi.2022.900028">immunosenescence</a>, this puts people at higher risk of infection, including severe infection, and decreased ability to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.it.2020.11.002">maintain immune response to vaccination </a> as they get older. The older one gets – over 75, or over 65 with other medical conditions – the more immunosenescence takes effect. </p>
<p>All this is why, if you’re in this age group, even if you received your last COVID-19 vaccine in fall 2023, the spring 2024 shot is still essential to boost your immune system so it can act quickly if you are exposed to the virus. </p>
<p>The bottom line: If you’re 65 or older, it’s time for another COVID-19 shot.<!--Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE.--><img alt="The Conversation" height="1" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224838/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" style="border: none; box-shadow: none; margin: 0px; max-height: 1px; max-width: 1px; min-height: 1px; min-width: 1px; opacity: 0; outline: none; padding: 0px;" width="1" /><!--End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines--></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/laurie-archbald-pannone-894205">Laurie Archbald-Pannone</a>, Associate Professor of Medicine and Geriatrics, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-virginia-752">University of Virginia</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-vaccines-cdc-says-people-ages-65-and-up-should-get-a-shot-this-spring-a-geriatrician-explains-why-its-vitally-important-224838">original article</a>.</p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-29349088101438251282024-03-08T12:34:00.000-08:002024-03-08T12:34:40.524-08:00More Praise for The Laran Gambit<span style="font-family: georgia;">Praise for <i>The Laran Gambit</i>, my latest #Darkover novel. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzodVUZBLGRrFliRtuVqiv7VqfFe3cjPITIlhPE1OEjrV5xuRpHfVtS5nYRZh6ZyiICVlNm9HCr_Gox28Fv3ijMXTtgR50PaQd1xB5wjwcFX-gsUOf7kz-6wrAWkyxFtD-wEPIJL9nwuyx9OLttKT-NU3wXJ-i4SUpsYUrj-l5BDhodaoFFgFNSwTWMNT/s900/laran%20gambit%20ebook%20cover%20as%20of%20Jan25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZzodVUZBLGRrFliRtuVqiv7VqfFe3cjPITIlhPE1OEjrV5xuRpHfVtS5nYRZh6ZyiICVlNm9HCr_Gox28Fv3ijMXTtgR50PaQd1xB5wjwcFX-gsUOf7kz-6wrAWkyxFtD-wEPIJL9nwuyx9OLttKT-NU3wXJ-i4SUpsYUrj-l5BDhodaoFFgFNSwTWMNT/s320/laran%20gambit%20ebook%20cover%20as%20of%20Jan25.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">"A compelling and excellent return to Darkover…such a great conflict and resolution… " </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">--Amazon review</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Amazon: https://buff.ly/3Pf03r4 </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Barnes and Noble: https://buff.ly/4a5GjOy and other vendors. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Also in hardcover and trade paperback</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-4694332148344769862024-03-04T01:00:00.000-08:002024-03-04T01:00:00.149-08:00Science Fiction Worldbuilding: Orbiting a White DwarfI'm always on the lookout for great information about world-building, especially fascinating astronomy discoveries. This is an excerpt from an article in <i><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/165502/webb-directly-images-two-planets-orbiting-white-dwarfs/" target="_blank">Universe Today</a></i> by Evan Gough. Check it out for the full story. (I find this image evocative and beautiful -- do you?)<div><br /></div><div><br /><header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><div class="unive-736022e0087cc27637454d8f03b8a1d6 unive-above-header" id="unive-736022e0087cc27637454d8f03b8a1d6" style="box-sizing: inherit;"></div><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jack-madden-kozakis-1b-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="450" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jack-madden-kozakis-1b-a.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></h1><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;">Stars end their lives in different ways. Some meet their end as supernovae, cataclysmic explosions that destroy any orbiting planets and even sterilize planets light-years away. </span>Our Sun is not massive enough to explode as a supernova. Instead, it’ll spend time as a red giant. The red giant phase occurs when a star runs out of hydrogen to feed fusion. It’s a complicated process that astronomers are still working hard to understand. But red giants shed layers of material into space that light up as planetary nebulae. Eventually, the red giant is no more, and only a tiny, yet extraordinarily dense, white dwarf resides in the middle of all the expelled material.</span></h1></header><div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: inherit; counter-reset: footnotes 0; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><div class="unive-a8f4b16f4048da5e3055cfd6a115b5f7 unive-content" id="unive-a8f4b16f4048da5e3055cfd6a115b5f7" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Can some planets can survive as stars transition from the main sequence to red giant to white dwarf? </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;">Researchers at the Space Telescope Science Institute, Goddard Space Flight Center, and other institutions have found what seem to be two giant planets orbiting two white dwarfs in two different systems.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;">If the researchers are correct, and the planets formed at the same time as the stars, this is an important leap in our understanding of exoplanets and the stars they orbit. It may also have implications for life on any moons that might be orbiting these planets.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;">Some white dwarfs appear to be polluted with metals, elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. Astronomers think that these metals come from asteroids in the asteroid belt, perturbed and sent into the white dwarf by giant planets. “Confirmation of these two planet candidates with future MIRI imaging would provide evidence that directly links giant planets to metal pollution in white dwarf stars,” the authors write.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Astronomers have found that up to 50% of isolated white dwarfs with hydrogen atmospheres have metals in their photospheres, the stars’ surface layer. These white dwarfs must be actively accreting metals from their surroundings. The favoured source for these metals is asteroids and comets.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><img alt="This artist's illustration shows rocky debris being drawn toward a white dwarf. Astronomers think that giant planets perturb smaller objects like asteroids and comets inside the WD's Roche limit. They're destroyed, and the debris is drawn onto the star's surface. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)" class="wp-image-165505" decoding="async" height="576" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/white-dwarf-accreting-rocky-material-1024x576.jpg" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/white-dwarf-accreting-rocky-material-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/white-dwarf-accreting-rocky-material-580x326.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/white-dwarf-accreting-rocky-material-250x141.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/white-dwarf-accreting-rocky-material-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/white-dwarf-accreting-rocky-material.jpg 1280w" style="background-color: white; border-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: georgia; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="1024" /></p><figure class="wp-block-image size-large" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1em 0px;"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">This artist’s illustration shows rocky debris being drawn toward a white dwarf. Astronomers think that giant planets perturb smaller objects like asteroids and comets inside the WD’s Roche limit. They’re destroyed, and the debris is drawn onto the star’s surface. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="unive-4b3fc18b149dd8268aa7cbf60e159a7c unive-body-newsletter-box-dynamic-and-randomized-values" id="unive-4b3fc18b149dd8268aa7cbf60e159a7c" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"></p><div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: georgia;"> </span><span class="posted-on" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: georgia; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: 0.1818em; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/165502/webb-directly-images-two-planets-orbiting-white-dwarfs/" rel="bookmark" style="box-shadow: rgb(34, 34, 34) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-01-30T19:06:06-05:00" style="box-sizing: inherit;">JANUARY 30, 2024</time></a></span><span class="byline" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; display: inline; font-family: georgia; font-weight: 800; letter-spacing: 0.1818em; text-transform: uppercase;"> BY <span class="author vcard" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a class="url fn n" href="https://www.universetoday.com/author/evan-gough/" style="box-shadow: rgb(34, 34, 34) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">EVAN GOUGH</a></span></span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-28308008746203618092024-02-16T01:00:00.000-08:002024-02-16T01:00:00.210-08:00Short Book Reviews: A Murder Magnet Takes on a Sentient Spaceship<p> <i>Station Eternity</i> by Mur Lafferty (Ace)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover230960-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover230960-medium.png" width="205" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Poor Mallory! Ever since she can remember, she’s been a
magnet for murders. To make matters worse, only she has the intuition and
insight to solve them. This hasn’t put her in favor with law enforcement, once
they figure out she isn’t the killer, she’s just bad luck. As a social pariah,
she’s tried to fly under the radar. Then aliens contact Earth and agree to
accept a human ambassador to their space station (Eternity). For some reason,
the sentient station allows Mallory to come onboard, too. For Mallory, getting
as far away from other humans as possible seems like the solution to murders always
happening near her.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Until word comes that a shuttle filled with humans is on its
way to Eternity, perfect fodder for the next round of killings. What a great
set-up!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There’s more, of course. It turns out that Mallory and the
quintessentially nasty ambassador are not the only humans onboard Eternity.
There’s a third, Xan, AWOL from the military after all evidence points to him
as the perpetrator of the last murder Mallory found herself involved in.
Actually, he was the target, but it takes the two of them overcoming their
extreme reluctance to interact to figure it out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the midst of all this, Eternity’s hostile-to-the-point-of-rudeness
symbiote who is her link to organic beings is killed and the station goes berserk.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lafferty shifts from the focus on two people, Mallory and
Lan, to a widening cast of characters in a manner that reminds me strongly of
her brilliant science fiction murder-mystery-on-a-spaceship, <i>Six Wakes</i>.
The characters all have ties to one another, and such a pattern of interactions
and relationships precipitates a murder, or so Mallory believes. If she doesn’t
figure out what’s happening, the list of victims is sure to skyrocket. What
seems at first to be a series of side-tracks is really a spiral network of
connections that all come together in a most satisfying manner.<o:p></o:p></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-57884555991974321972024-02-09T01:00:00.000-08:002024-02-09T12:08:27.813-08:00Book Review: A Time Traveling Romance With Pirates and a Ghost<p> <i>A Turn of the Tide (</i>A Stitch in Time - Book 3) by Kelley Armstrong
(KLA Fricke)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover258282-medium.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover258282-medium.png" width="210" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>A Turn of the Tide </i>is the third book of Kelley
Armstrong’s “A Stitch in Time” series, the “stitch” being a time portal between
modern and Victorian times, a room in Thorne Manor, England (now kept locked!).
The first two were fun adventure-romances, linked by the women of Thorne Manor.
These women also have “second sight,” the ability to see and communicate with
ghosts, and to lay to rest the spirits of those who have been murdered by
naming aloud their killers. (There’s a catch, which plays a part in the plot,
which is that if the person calling aloud the name the murderer gets it wrong,
dire consequences ensue for the ghost.)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This third “Stitch” novel features Miranda, a Victorian
woman writer of “risqué pirate adventures who, having learned about the wonders
and liberation of the 20<sup>th</sup> Century, decides to embark upon her own time-travel
adventure. Miranda’s plans go astray when the “stitch” lands her not in modern
times but a century earlier, in the late 1700s. She encounters the love
interest, a French expat named Nicolas, on the run from the French Revolution
and repaying the locals who have given him shelter by acting as a Robin Hood, stealing
from a corrupt lord and fencing smuggled goods on the village’s behalf. Almost
immediately, before the couple can even begin to get to know one another, chemistry
ignites.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is where my interest bobbled. I feared I was in for the
rest of the book being the typical Romance attraction/pulling back two-step. I
enjoy a love story as the frosting on a compelling plot with strong ideas, but
not the entire central driving force of the book. However, I’d enjoyed
Armstrong’s other books and found her writing to be both pleasant and engaging,
so I kept going.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Very soon, the story deepened. Not just in revealing the characters
and their backstories but more serious themes. Armstrong is an author who sneaks
in notions like compassion, altruism, and hope—not to mention a frank
discussion of contraception and women’s sexual pleasure, this from the character
of an 18<sup>th</sup> Century Frenchman! I loved that although Miranda
considers herself experienced and knowledgeable, having experimented with sex
with several lovers (none of whom has had a clue, as one might expect from Victorian
times), she is amazed and delighted by Nicolas’s sensitivity and amatory expertise.
Once they decide to become intimate (cue: consent!), he refuses to have
intercourse because he does not have condoms (I think they were made of sheepskin
at this time), so he proceeds to make love to her (and teach her how to make
love to him) without risking pregnancy. As a reader who is concerned about
the depiction of consent, birth control/disease prevention, and frank discussions
about pleasure, I give <i>A Turn of the Tide</i> high marks. Yes, one might
question the historical accuracy of the knowledge and attitudes, but it is important
that these topics not be shoved under the rug (or in the closet, as the case
might be).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story becomes emotionally even deeper with another
complication. While hiding out from the evil lord on Nicolas’s old ship, Miranda
encounters the ghost of the former cabin boy. Nicolas had no idea the boy was
dead or how he died. This mystery becomes an important driver of the plot. More
importantly, Miranda’s compassion for the suffering ghost and her determination
to free him elevates and ennobles her character. And ultimately sets the book several
levels above a typical time-travel romance.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">The set-up for subsequent volumes involves a
delicious twist on the “stitch.” I can hardly wait.</span></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-13622564367717313692024-02-05T01:00:00.000-08:002024-02-05T01:00:00.181-08:00Praise for The Seven-Petaled Shield<p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.87)" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTlwbIqjNuqj1Woo539cT72lakQT7WxYD7xEsxM0P4X3a4yJ84-Q5QKc4rpjnErZGygjMm7G8Oe7UQRsl66AReGi9hbB7DLLe8hasZqU0aSZLqbGKL6G-jEobdWyL-XNpKqPwHUvw-73Dd0aeD7HmBH-VFuJUHj_NaSEM5_gyFLNQJr10n1kpKp_ClyEy/s2025/9780756406219_SevenPetaledShield.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2025" data-original-width="1256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDTlwbIqjNuqj1Woo539cT72lakQT7WxYD7xEsxM0P4X3a4yJ84-Q5QKc4rpjnErZGygjMm7G8Oe7UQRsl66AReGi9hbB7DLLe8hasZqU0aSZLqbGKL6G-jEobdWyL-XNpKqPwHUvw-73Dd0aeD7HmBH-VFuJUHj_NaSEM5_gyFLNQJr10n1kpKp_ClyEy/s320/9780756406219_SevenPetaledShield.jpg" width="198" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>The Seven-Petaled Shield</i> is the first volume of my epic fantasy trilogy. Here's what reviewer Reggie Lutz had to say about it:</span><p></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />It has been a while since I've read a fantasy that, at first glance, appears to be categorized in the genre as clearly as <i>The Seven-Petaled Shield</i>. It is almost deceptive in this way. What the author does with the form, and the narrative is engaging, unique and managed to keep me up past my bed time a couple of nights. There are swords, there is sorcery and as the cover suggests, yes. A sea god does appear. Though to many, such themes are familiar territory, what she does with them, how they serve the narrative, and how all of this is viewed through her protagonist's unusually compassionate gaze is unique and engaging. I'm still digesting a lot of this as I've finished reading this book only recently, but one of the things that I noticed as I read it was having the thought, "Oh, this is another Chosen One story," and then of course having that perception proven wrong, which is an absolutely delicious experience as a reader. There are moments like this throughout the book, accomplished with deft prose and subtlety. I agree with another reviewer about how the mutli-cultured worldbuilding is handled well. For me, as a reader, I love a strong character, and in that regard this book does not disappoint. It was a joy getting to know her main character, Tsorreh. I will definitely read the rest of this series.</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"A critical, inventive spin brings an </span><span class="a-text-bold" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700 !important;">exciting uniqueness </span><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">to the good and evil quest theme." —</span><span class="a-text-italic" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic !important;">Midwest Book Review</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Buy it at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Petaled-Shield-Book-One-ebook/dp/B00AYJIL3K/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FFSYSEIDPPK3&keywords=the+seven+petaled+shield&qid=1706654996&sprefix=the+seven+petaled+shi%2Caps%2C606&sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> or your favorite vendor.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">If you enjoyed the book, please post a review! </span></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-22873304305353900602024-02-02T12:15:00.000-08:002024-02-02T12:15:29.238-08:00Book Review: A Disabled Detective in Space<p> <i>The Spare Man</i>, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover252447-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover252447-medium.png" width="208" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A murder mystery set on a space station, what could be
finer? When the detectives are Tesla Crane, a brilliant and extremely wealthy
inventor with an array of PTSD and physical injuries, her service dog, and her
real-life (although retired) detective husband, Shal. No sooner do they embark
incognito upon their honeymoon voyage than a fellow passenger is murdered and
all clues point to Shal. The ship’s security cuts off their communications (to
their Earthside attorney, for one thing, and to one another, for another). Only
then do things start to go seriously pear-shaped.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For me, what makes <i>The Spare Man</i> stand out from
similar tales is its depiction of a disabled protagonist. Tesla faces the
limitations of crippling spinal damage, an implanted pain-suppression device,
and the risks of having her trauma re-triggered. She has an array of coping
strategies, the most outstanding of which is her service dog, a Westland
terrier named Gimlet. As the former owner of a retired seeing eye dog and
friend to a number of folks who rely on service dogs (as opposed to the badly
behaved pets that sometimes pass as such), I appreciated how Kowal portrayed a
service dog at work. These included how Gimlet was “on work” or “released” to
be just a dog, and when working, how she was focused on Tesla and her
specifically trained behaviors to alert her owner of impending trouble.
Sometimes, the dog would physically prevent Tesla from engaging in emotionally
perilous behavior. I cheered when another character would ask to pet this
absolutely charming dog and Tesla would say, “No, she’s working. If you pet
her, you will interrupt her focus.” I wish more people understood this before
they walk up to a vested service dog and start interacting without asking first
(or, worse yet, allow their toddlers to rush up to a service dog!) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, the mystery unfolded too slowly for me, with
many interruptions that dissipated the tension and forward momentum. Halfway
through the novel, I began to be increasingly irritated with Tesla. Her
propensity for interfering with the investigation by the ship’s security, ignoring
her service dog (including leaving her dog behind and going into dangerous
situations), dialing up her pain-suppression device at the very real risk of
injury through numbness, and especially lying to her husband about being fine
when it was obvious she was <i>not</i> fine, all these eroded my sympathies. I
thought her lawyer was overhyped and ineffective, although possessed of an
extremely colorful and imaginative vocabulary. I had a hard time moving past a
point fairly early in the book where Shal has been drugged, probably by the
security force who are holding him against his will under the pretext he is a
suicide risk. I would have been terrified this was all a set-up to do away with
him as the only competent investigator around, but Tesla blithely goes about
her way, following clues in a desultory fashion only when it suits her.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the end, the resolution of the mystery was quite
satisfying and put together a wide array of clues. Some of these had gotten
buried under inconsequential chit-chat about how cute Gimlet is, not to mention
the excessive repetitions of Tesla’s coping strategies (if she’s that
successful in using them, why does she end up on the verge of an incapacitating
meltdown so often?) This would have been a much better, tighter, more
dramatically sound book at half the length.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I loved Kowal’s other work and will continue to read her
books as they come out, but <i>The Spare Man</i> was, alas, not up to her best.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #666666; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-22361834729103866082024-01-29T01:00:00.001-08:002024-01-29T01:00:00.146-08:00When You Can't Write<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P-sAIUMXmRczw2uYOfIeyrlv3FT4wZED7VmdawLNlvZ7wz-Tylx6icFbFe6XxlCNi9coiO-v8Gy05i8vrdjctIAa_u3aL_FCBspUy5t77XjCCkFUi_SWhwmyx8L2eMcdWzEt1XaaJzITdUgjLcufdwsJLiYoNeJatV64QGt6wPWSpykhmUZtEZ3HY8Pt/s600/Walter_Langley_-_Never_Morning_Wore_To_Evening_1894.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P-sAIUMXmRczw2uYOfIeyrlv3FT4wZED7VmdawLNlvZ7wz-Tylx6icFbFe6XxlCNi9coiO-v8Gy05i8vrdjctIAa_u3aL_FCBspUy5t77XjCCkFUi_SWhwmyx8L2eMcdWzEt1XaaJzITdUgjLcufdwsJLiYoNeJatV64QGt6wPWSpykhmUZtEZ3HY8Pt/s320/Walter_Langley_-_Never_Morning_Wore_To_Evening_1894.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>For a long time, I used to joke that I couldn't afford writer's block. I began writing professionally when my first child was a baby and I learned to use very small amounts of time. This involved "pre-writing," going over the next scene in my mind (while doing stuff like washing the dishes) until I knew exactly how I wanted it to go; when I'd get a few minutes at the typewriter (no home computers yet), I'd write like mad. I always had a backlog of scenes and stories and whole books, screaming at me to be written. The bottleneck was the time in which to work on them.</p><p>I kept writing through all sorts of life events, some happy, others really awful and traumatic. Like many other writers, I used my work as escape, as solace, as a way of working through difficult situations and complex feelings. I shrouded myself with a sense of invulnerability: I could write my way through anything life threw at me!</p><p>Unfortunately, I was wrong.</p><p>I hit an immovable wall during a PTSD meltdown following the first parole hearing of the man who raped and murdered my mother. For weeks at a time, I battled flashbacks and nightmares. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't stop crying. Also, I couldn't write. That creative paralysis added another dimension to the crisis. If I couldn't write, who was I? Where were my secret worlds, my journeys of spirit and heart where people healed and things got better? Gone...and I didn't know if I'd ever get them back.</p><p>I was fortunate to have a lot of help, professional and friendly, during those dark weeks and months, some of it from fellow writers. No pep talks, just friendship, constant and true. Eventually, as I recovered, I was able to return to fiction writing as well, although by then, I found myself a single working mom and had a new set of demands on my time.</p><p>Writers stop writing for all kinds of reasons. In my case, it was personal and emotional, part of a larger crisis. Other times, however, the well runs dry when the rest of life is going smoothly. Quite a few years ago, I ran into a writer I greatly admired (at an ABA convention), and I'd not seen anything from this writer in quite a few years. I introduced myself and asked when the next book would be coming out. Only when I saw the change in the writer's expression did I realize how difficult the subject was. I was probably the hundredth person that weekend to ask. (Eventually, this writer came out with several new books; I wonder now if the appearance at the ABA wasn't a way of trying to get the head back into writerly-space.)</p><p>Sometimes, a writer feels they've said everything they have to say. Or that one book or one series is it; there are no new worlds begging to be explored. They can rest on their laurels with a feeling of satisfaction and closure. For the rest of us, though, not writing is anywhere from excruciating to devastating.</p><p>I think it's not at all helpful to try to "cheer up" a writer in the middle of a dry period. The specific reasons--creative paralysis, personal crisis, discouragement--vary so much. I think it's safe to say that each of us has to find our own way through. For me, it's helped immensely to know I'm not the only one to go through it--and that's the operational term "go <i>through</i> it." Come out the other side. Talk about what happened, in the hopes of being the light in the darkness for someone else.</p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-58589904252669752372024-01-29T01:00:00.000-08:002024-01-29T01:00:00.146-08:00The Green Skies of Mars and Other Astronomical Wonders<p><a href="https://www.livescience.com/space/mars/astronauts-on-mars-may-see-a-green-sky-eerie-new-study-suggests?utm_term=DDD5EA84-294F-4E92-82D0-D484CC712BAA&lrh=7834def88502fe481874f8deb219a99513d9e144b5b179feb87c7bcb8d8ff6e4&utm_campaign=368B3745-DDE0-4A69-A2E8-62503D85375D&utm_medium=email&utm_content=5140FCAB-4131-4A10-B318-2DC1AB293244&utm_source=SmartBrief" style="font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-size: 28px;" target="_blank">Astronauts on Mars may see a green sky, eerie new study suggests</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/p7tBPERjYRC9yqf3P5AKi8-650-80.jpg.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="650" height="180" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/p7tBPERjYRC9yqf3P5AKi8-650-80.jpg.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>Using the <a href="https://www.livescience.com/tag/european-space-agency">European Space Agency</a>'s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), scientists have observed <a href="https://www.livescience.com/space/astronomy/planets/mars">Mars</a>' atmosphere glowing green for the first time ever — in the visible light spectrum, that is. The effect is called airglow (or dayglow or nightglow, depending on the hour). Nightglow "occurs when two oxygen atoms combine to form an oxygen molecule," <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/A_green_glow_in_the_martian_night">according to ESA</a>. On Mars, this happens at an altitude of approximately 31 miles (50 km). Scientists have suspected Mars to have airglow for some 40 years, but the first observation only occurred a decade ago by ESA's Mars Express orbiter, which detected the phenomenon in the infrared spectrum. Then, in 2020, scientists observed the phenomenon in visible light using TGO, but in Martian daylight rather than at night. Now, we've seen the phenomenon at night via TGO.<p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 602px;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><br /></span></p><h1 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 28px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.livescience.com/space/the-moon/moon-is-40-million-years-older-than-we-thought-tiny-crystals-from-apollo-mission-confirm?utm_term=DDD5EA84-294F-4E92-82D0-D484CC712BAA&lrh=7834def88502fe481874f8deb219a99513d9e144b5b179feb87c7bcb8d8ff6e4&utm_campaign=368B3745-DDE0-4A69-A2E8-62503D85375D&utm_medium=email&utm_content=99C8F233-401C-4298-B580-CF8DF1C6C222&utm_source=SmartBrief" target="_blank">Moon is 40 million years older than we thought, tiny crystals from Apollo mission confirm</a></h1></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EWU2ENVR9TVXXJkqpTj8QZ-970-80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="180" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EWU2ENVR9TVXXJkqpTj8QZ-970-80.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>The moon is at least 40 million years older than we once thought, a new study reveals. Scientists confirmed our cosmic companion's new minimum age after reanalyzing tiny impact crystals from lunar samples taken by NASA's Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Earth is <a href="https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/how-do-we-know-how-old-earth-is">approximately 4.54 billion years old</a>. So based on the newest study, the zircon crystals were formed around 80 million years after our planet formed. However, the collision that birthed the moon could have actually happened even earlier. After the Earth-Thea crash, the infant moon's surface would have been <a href="https://www.livescience.com/moon-85-million-years-younger-than-thought.html">covered by a magma ocean</a> due to the intense energy of the collision. Therefore, the lunar zircon crystals could only have properly solidified into their current state once the magma ocean had cooled down.<div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><h1 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 28px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://www.livescience.com/space/exoplanets/the-oldest-continents-in-the-milky-way-may-be-5-billion-years-older-than-earths?utm_term=DDD5EA84-294F-4E92-82D0-D484CC712BAA&lrh=7834def88502fe481874f8deb219a99513d9e144b5b179feb87c7bcb8d8ff6e4&utm_campaign=368B3745-DDE0-4A69-A2E8-62503D85375D&utm_medium=email&utm_content=48CD6220-BB39-4A76-8823-592982A9A74F&utm_source=SmartBrief" target="_blank">The oldest continents in the Milky Way may be 5 billion years older than Earth's</a></h1></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z9zsLkba7JAfNMAXf94ftg-650-80.jpg.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="650" height="180" src="https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/z9zsLkba7JAfNMAXf94ftg-650-80.jpg.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br />Astrobiologists think a planet needs to have certain features to support life: <a href="https://www.livescience.com/28738-oxygen.html">oxygen</a> in its atmosphere, something to shield organisms from dangerous radiation and liquid water, for a start. Although big land masses aren't strictly necessary for living things to emerge, Earth's history shows that they're important for life to thrive and exist for long periods of time. So, if an exoplanet had continents before Earth, it follows that there might be older, more advanced life on that world.<br /><br />This line of thought led <a href="https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/greavesj1">Jane Greaves</a>, an astronomer at Cardiff University astronomer in the U.K., to answer the question: When did the first continents appear on a planet in our galaxy? Turns out, two exoplanets' continents — and perhaps life — may have arisen four to five billion years before Earth's.<div><p style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: "Open Sans", "Open Sans-fallback"; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 602px;"><br /></p><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/164305/can-a-dead-star-keep-exploding/#google_vignette" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Can a Dead Star Keep Exploding?</span></a></h1><div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/STScI-01HBY9ZFTDH9H40KED385GQY1X-580x446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="580" height="246" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/STScI-01HBY9ZFTDH9H40KED385GQY1X-580x446.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">If the Tasmanian Devil is a type of dead star, it’s not behaving like the others. As a dead star, the light coming from it could signal its transition into a sort of stellar afterlife. It could be a new type of stellar corpse.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">“Because the corpse is not just sitting there, it’s active and doing things that we can detect,” Ho said. “We think these flares could be coming from one of these newly formed corpses, which gives us a way to study their properties when they’ve just been formed.”</span></span></div></h1><p style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></p><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/164286/the-echoes-from-inflation-could-still-be-shaking-the-cosmos-today/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">The Echoes From Inflation Could Still Be Shaking the Cosmos Today</span></a></h1></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/11106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="584" height="438" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/11106.jpg" width="584" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>In the very early universe, physics was weird. A process known as “inflation,” where best we understand the universe went from a single infinitesimal point to everything we see today, was one such instance of that weird physics. Now, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Science have sifted through 15 years of pulsar timing data in order to put some constraints on what that physics looks like.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div><div><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/164271/life-might-be-easiest-to-find-on-planets-that-match-an-earlier-earth/#google_vignette" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Life Might Be Easiest to Find on Planets that Match an Earlier Earth</span></a></h1></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NASA-EarlyEarth-PaleOrangeDot-20190802-2000x1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="800" height="192" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NASA-EarlyEarth-PaleOrangeDot-20190802-2000x1200.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div>When methane (CH4) and oxygen (O2) are both present in an atmosphere, it’s an indication that life is at work. That’s because, in an oxygen environment, methane only lasts about 10 years. Its presence indicates disequilibrium. For it to be present, it has to be continually replenished in amounts that only life can produce.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-8287709587178628632024-01-26T01:00:00.000-08:002024-01-26T01:00:00.232-08:00Short Book Reviews: A Legendary Master Thief on the Trail of the Sirens' Stone<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover262220-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover262220-medium.png" width="204" /></a></i></div><i><br />What Song the Sirens Sang</i>, by Simon R. Green
(Severn House)<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Simon R. Green’s supernatural mysteries and adventures are
always a delight, and <i>What Song the Sirens Sang</i> proves a worthy addition
to the adventures of <span style="background: white;">legendary master thief Gideon Sable. Actually, Gideon Sable
isn’t a person, it’s an office that has been taken over (AKA stolen) by a
nameless and infinitely resourceful narrator. </span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">“The original Gideon Sable was a legendary master thief, who
specialized in stealing the kind of things that others couldn’t. Like a ghost’s
clothes, a photo of the true love you never found and jewels from the crown of
the man who would be king.”</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">At the end of the last episode, Gideon and his
partner-in-crime sweetheart, chameleon Annie Anybody, have defeated the most
evil man in the world with the help of their team, have acquired (i.e., gotten
coerced into taking on) the truly bizarre magical shop known as Old Harry's
Place, and have set about replenishing its contents in the forlorn hope that
once everything is up and running, they’ll get to enjoy lives of their own. One
of the articles of merchandise that arrives on their doorstop is a small stone
from the cavern of the sirens (as in “the” sirens from <i>The Odyssey</i>). The
last song of the sirens, said to drive whoever hears it to insanity, still
resonates in the stone, making it as unique and valuable as it is deadly. All
that remains is for someone to figure out how to unlock the song.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">Before Gideon and Annie can properly secure the stone, it
goes missing and they’re off to gather up another team and track it down. Their
team begins with their old ally, The Damned, a man who killed two angels (one
from Above, one from Below) and fashioned their halos into armor. Now he joins
Gideon and Annie in search of his kidnapped wife, switch artist par excellence,
who is now in the clutches of the stone collector, a shadowy figure named
Coldheart. They’re joined by a lady werewolf with an unerring tracker sense and
an unexpected crush on The Damned.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">As in earlier Gideon Sable supernatural heist thrillers,
nothing is as it seems and nobody can be entirely trusted (except Annie, who
isn’t Nobody, she’s Anybody). The prose is delicious, the characters terrifying
but lovable, and the “long con” disguised as a plot has so many twists and
turns, it’s auditioning for a Los Angeles highway.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">Prepare to be vastly entertained, but beware: the series is
addictive.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-88246568998032960272024-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:002024-01-19T13:24:33.616-08:00Short Book Reviews: A Lady Adventurer-Scholar Takes on Faerie<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover260397-medium.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover260397-medium.png" width="213" /></a></i></div><i><br />Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries</i> (Book One of
the Emily Wilde Series), by Heather Fawcett (Del Rey)<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In many ways, <i>Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries</i> by
Heather Fawcett reminded me of Marie Brennan’s best-selling <i>A Natural
History of Dragons </i>and the “Amelia Peabody” mysteries by Ellis Peters: the
Victorian lady adventurer-scholar genre. In all of these, the narrative voice
(that is, the personality of the l adventurer-scholar) grabs my interest and
keeps it for page after page. The stories are as much about the protagonist’s
inner emotional journey from adamantly self-reliant spinster to emotionally
awakened, relationship-literate partner as they are about external action. <i>Emily
Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries</i> fits neatly into this model with a
delightful array of plot and character twists. In this case, <span style="background: white;">Cambridge
professor Emily Wilde takes her sabbatical in the far North (Norway?) to
complete her magnum opus on all things Faerie, particularly the “Hidden Ones,”
what we would call high elves. Her tone-deaf social skills alienate the
villagers upon whom she must depend not only for the folk tales that will form
the heart of her treatise but for sustenance and rescue. She has no idea what
she’s done wrong or how she’s going to cope with her insufferably handsome
academic rival, Wendell Bambleby, who arrives unexpectedly and manages to charm
the townsfolk, muddle Emily’s research, and alternately bewilder and frustrate
her.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">This book is familiar enough to relax into and enjoy the
ride, and a fresh enough rendering to surprise and delight me with the
original, often whimsical elements. Footnotes and references perfectly enhance
the “scholarly” voice. If there were moments when Wendell felt tempted to grab
Emily and shake some sense into her before kissing her, I was right there with
him.</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;">The bottom line: Marvelous fun!</span><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-55254084326039023072024-01-08T11:47:00.000-08:002024-01-08T11:47:26.425-08:00Writer's Block: Lowering Standards?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8eLubkYZpki6v45mw4dtgtMOGIgd6JoA2CzBgtO-tDstJvGhh8QKBIK4pBR5pfSb3-GTVIb0ok8JWQCSmjc495ir5xoTm71-PWJvZ1W7fK0_a2E1nsYaS68J4-8il7B-rCqs2THUtM7SAHdFNBNVQxEZB64j1Wa7eM5dcCkp-VIv6cSeSBNCT5Qz5LQb/s4128/20190402_165851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4128" data-original-width="2322" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8eLubkYZpki6v45mw4dtgtMOGIgd6JoA2CzBgtO-tDstJvGhh8QKBIK4pBR5pfSb3-GTVIb0ok8JWQCSmjc495ir5xoTm71-PWJvZ1W7fK0_a2E1nsYaS68J4-8il7B-rCqs2THUtM7SAHdFNBNVQxEZB64j1Wa7eM5dcCkp-VIv6cSeSBNCT5Qz5LQb/s320/20190402_165851.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br />Today's thoughts on writing arose from Sandra Tsing Loh's review of <i>Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother</i> (Amy Chua, Penguin) (about which I may write a completely separate blog post) in the April 2011 <i>Atlantic</i>. Loh wrote:<br />
<br />
<i>I follow the old writer's chestnut: "When you face writer's block, just lower your standards and keep going."</i><br />
<br />
Cute, I suppose, and encouraging in its own way, but I'm not sure I agree with the mindset. I had never heard such a thing, and I've been publishing professionally for over 30 years. Maybe it's the difference between mainstream writing (and the expectation of peerless prose?) and genre writing. Or that the mentors I've have and and the pros I hang out with have a more organic approach to writing, an appreciation for story-telling over meticulously "beautiful" language? Or has this writer never been truly blocked, only impatient and self-critical?<br />
<i> </i><br />
<br />
Whatever the reason for my not hearing this before, I find its underlying premise destructive: that writing (i.e., composing a first draft) must somehow embody one's highest literary standards. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is nonsense! If you can just "carry on", what's going on isn't writer's block. It's elitist self-indulgent pifflebunk. If worrying about your "standards" interferes with the flow of your writing, then maybe you're trying to write and to critique yourself at the same time, and it might be better to get out of your own way and just <i>write!</i><br />
<br />
You can always edit and polish to your heart's content, but get the story down first.<br />
<br />
For a long time in my early career, I wrote perfectly awful first drafts. I mean really bad in almost every sense -- except the passion I brought to them. Grammar, plot, characterization, prose style, you name it, I butchered it. As a consequence, I learned to revise with a vengeance. I learned that all of these things, these "literary standards" things, are <i>fixable</i>. The only thing that can't be changed is inserting "heart" into a story when it isn't there to begin with. (Or maybe some writers can do that, but I can't.) I'd a thousand times rather write--or read--a story with that core of fiery truth than with the most sophisticated technique in the world.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-75090106257211534952024-01-05T01:00:00.000-08:002024-01-05T01:00:00.305-08:00Book Review: Tanya Huff's Into the Broken Lands<p> <i>Into the Broken Lands</i>, by Tanya Huff (DAW)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover258803-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover258803-medium.png" width="212" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tanya Huff is a seasoned, multi-genre author whose work
never ceases to amaze me with its sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and sheer drama.
She’s as prolific as she is versatile, both with her many long-running series
and her stand-alone novels. <i>Into the Broken Lands</i> introduces a
completely new world and characters. The set-up is familiar to fantasy readers:
generations ago, mages intoxicated by their own limitless powers shattered the
laws of nature and reality, resulting in their own demise and a landscape of
magical impossibilities, The Broken Lands. Since then, the royal heirs of
Marsan, greatest of the surviving human realms, venture into The Broken Lands
in search of the fuel for an ever-burning flame and their own legitimacy as
rulers. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here, Huff does something both challenging and brilliant:
she weaves together two such journeys, one in the present and the other, a
couple of generations ago. At first, the two seem disjoint, the past being no
more than prolog to the present. As the two sets of characters venture deeper
into the perilous Broken Lands, both similarities and differences echo and
build on one another. Eventually, the fate of the earlier expedition shapes the
present, and the present offers redemption for what has come before. The
unifying elements include records kept by the first expedition, taken as reverential
gospel, and the discovery of how scholars have selectively edited them,
horrendous dangers that are repeated with unpredictable variations, and a
single character: the sole surviving weapon of the mages, without which no heir
can reach the source of the fuel and return safely. Only the weapon isn’t a
thing, an “it;” the weapon is a person, a giant rock-like female warrior who
had been enslaved and imprisoned until a healer, a member of the first party,
saw her as a person.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Into the Broken Lands</i> is understandably character-fueled,
although there is plenty of action, escalating tension, and mystery in the
story. At its core, however, the story allows us to examine key questions. What
is a person—and how does one become a person? What is the redemptive power of
love? What is the role of knowledge and is there such a thing as knowledge free
from ethics? While an entertaining story filled with bizarre magic and
compelling characters, it is at its heart a story of love and grief. Exceptionally
well done!<o:p></o:p></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-49522185130688186542024-01-01T01:00:00.000-08:002024-01-01T01:00:00.141-08:00Happy New Year to California: New Laws<p> The Golden State rings in 2024 with these new laws (and more):</p><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Tax Increase for higher wage earners</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">California has a short-term disability program that pays people who cannot work because of a non-work related illness, injury or pregnancy. The program is funded by a 1.1% tax on wages. In the past, this tax only applied to wages below a certain amount, about $153,000 in 2023. But starting Jan. 1, a new law, which was passed in 2022 but takes effect this year, eliminates the wage cap. People who make more than $153,000 per year subsequently will pay a 1.1% tax on those wages.</p></div><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Protections for abortion pills</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Abortion is now illegal in 14 states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But doctors and pharmacists in California who mail abortion pills to patients in those states will be shielded from prosecution or fines. The law bans bounty hunters or bail agents from apprehending California doctors and taking them to another state to stand trial. It even prohibits state-based social media companies, such as Facebook, from complying with out-of-state subpoenas, warrants or other requests for records to discover the identity of patients seeking abortion pills.</p></div><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">More sick leave</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Workers in California will receive a minimum of five days of sick leave annually, instead of three, which they will accrue once they have been employed for 200 days. Labor advocates say the increase will curb the spread of disease by preventing employees from working when they are sick. But opponents say the law will be another financial burden for employers and claim some workers request sick leave when they are not ill.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Cannabis laws for workers</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">State lawmakers passed a bill that stops companies from punishing workers who fail drug tests that detect whether a person has used marijuana at all in recent days. The tests relied on urine or hair samples and looked for a substance that can remain in a person's body for weeks after use.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;" /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Unions for legislative staffers</span></p></div><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;"></span>With AB1 Newsom signed off on allowing legislative staffers to form unions. The law will allow regular staffers to form and join unions but will not apply to lawmakers or appointed officers.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Minimum wage increase</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">The minimum wage for fast food workers<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;"> </span>was increased to $20 an hour starting in April. Newsom also signed a law to raise the minimum wage for healthcare workers. The new law will raise the minimum wage to $25 per hour over the next 10 years.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Child sex trafficking</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">SB 14 defines child sex trafficking as a serious felony. This would instill harsher penalties for such crimes and require repeat offenders to serve longer sentences.</p></div><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Social media</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">AB 1394 will levy steep fines against social media platforms that fail to combat and remove content that depicts <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2023-10-09/california-newsom-child-sexual-abuse-online-social-media" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005d8f; margin: 0px;" target="_blank">child sexual exploitation and abuse</a>. The bill, hailed by child safety advocates, will institute fines from $1 million to $4 million per violation, starting in 2025.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Book bans</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">AB1078 prohibits public schools in California from banning any books based on gender and race topics.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Security deposits</span></p></div><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;"></span>AB12 is a housing bill that limits security deposits to one month's rent, down from the previous limit of two months. Advocates for the law said steep security deposits were another barrier to housing, effectively forcing prospective tenants to save an unreasonable amount of money to qualify for a place to live.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Business emissions</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Large businesses in California are now required to disclose a wide range of emissions that are known to contribute to global warming. The law was lauded as the most sweeping mandate of its kind in the U.S. The law will bring more transparency about how big businesses contribute to climate change through direct and indirect means.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Conservatorship</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Newsom signed an expansion of the state's conservatorship system, designed to allow local governments more leeway in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-mentally-ill-detained-61f8c15a1ac13d53addc1ad2556ca0bc" rel="nofollow" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #005d8f; margin: 0px;" target="_blank">forcibly detaining people</a> who refuse treatment for mental illness and addiction issues. This was hailed as necessary to combat homelessness.</p></div><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; word-break: break-word;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">LGBTQ youth support</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Foster families are now required to prove their ability to meet the health and safety needs of children regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Fentanyl distribution</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">Prison sentences for criminals convicted of dealing high amounts of fentanyl will increase.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Ebony Alerts</span></p></div><p></p><div class="ContentBlocks_CardDetail__ContentBlock__xN30Y" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; display: flex; font-family: Roboto, "Open Sans", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; justify-content: center; margin: 0px; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px;"><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"></div></div><p></p><div class="styles_HTMLContent__LDG2k" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.8; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding-left: 70px; padding-right: 70px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-break: break-word; word-spacing: 0px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">SB673 established the Ebony Alert, which will inform the public when a Black woman or child goes missing.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">Gender-neutral toys</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;">This new law going into effect in 2024 requires gender-neutral toy sections at large retail stores in California. This won't do away with the boys' or girls' sections, rather it adds a new section for similar toys to be put side-by-side along with toys that appeal to everyone.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;">State mushroom</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px;"></strong>AB 261 established the California golden chanterelle as the official state mushroom.</p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-68501298656011730232023-12-29T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-29T01:00:00.138-08:00Short Book Reviews: A Deliciously Bizarre and Terrifying Dystopic Medical Thriller<p> <i>Leech</i>, by Hiron Ennes (Tordotcom)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91D9vtrzdlL._SY466_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91D9vtrzdlL._SY466_.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I should preface my review with the confession that although
I don’t read a lot of horror, this novel captured my imagination and kept me
staying up way too late, turning the pages. It straddles the boundary between
science fiction and horror, with a nod to thriller pacing and suggestions of
fantastical elements. In a far, but not too far, dystopic future, Earth is
barely recognizable. Upheavals have overturned the layers of crust, so that the
surface is all but barren. Humans must mine the caverns for wheatrock
foodstock. Winters are bitterly cold and getting worse. Even so, settlements
persist. One such is an estate ruled by a grossly obese baron who relies on
sophisticated machinery to stay alive. When his doctor dies, he sends to the
elite Interprovincial Medical Institute for a replacement (the narrator). But
this is no simple matter of sending another graduate of the same school. The
nameless narrator shares consciousness, knowledge, and memories with every
other graduate. In fact, they are all human hosts for a single, telepathic parasite.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As if that weren’t bizarre enough, the cause of death of the
former physician turns out to be a <i>second</i> parasite arising deep in the
caverns. It’s not only deadly, it’s incredibly difficult to kill, and it’s
spreading from one host to the next like wildfire.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I loved the medical neepery, the skillful way the author
introduced the characters and plot elements, the rocketship ride of dramatic
tension, and the wildly inventive world-building. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Content warning for violence, gore, mental rape, and a few
other horrors. The book might be too nightmarish for some readers.<o:p></o:p></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-13109591108211132152023-12-22T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-22T01:00:00.147-08:00Short Book Reviews: An 18th Century Astronomer<p> <i>An Astronomer in Love,</i> by Antoine Laurain (Gallic
Books)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71NL7f+QwaL._SL1500_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="498" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71NL7f+QwaL._SL1500_.jpg" width="199" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I loved this combination of the historical adventures of the
18<sup>th</sup> Century French astronomer, Guillaume Le Gentil de la Galaisière,
and a modern-day love story. Le Gentil was part of an international effort (proposed
by none other than Edmond Halley of Halley’s Comet) to measure the distance to
the Sun, by observing the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transit_of_Venus" title="Transit of Venus"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration-line: none;">transit of
Venus</span></a> at different points on the Earth and triangulating the
distance. The transit of Venus occurs when Venus passes between the Earth and
the Sun and can be visualized against the brightness of the Sun. (I was
fortunate enough to view this in 2012, using proper eye protection, of course.)
Le Gentil’s expedition was a saga of one
disaster after another, including his ship being blown off-course (for the 1761
transit), after which he remained in India for 8 more years until overcast
weather made observation of the 1769 transit impossible. By the time he
returned to Paris, everyone believed he was dead, and he had quite a time
recovering his property and position.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two and a half centuries later, Parisian realtor Xavier
Lemercier chances upon Guillaume’s telescope. It’s turned up in a locked closet
in an apartment he had once sold, and the new owner wants nothing to do with
it. When Xavier sets it up, he inadvertently spies the apartment across the
way, inhabited by a zebra (taxidermied, he later finds out) and a beautiful
woman. She walks into his office, much to his surprise, in search of new digs.
In the process, romance blossoms, aided by their children, who have become best
friends. Now he has to find a way to confess that he was spying on her without
the whole affair blowing up.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The two stories alternate in an interwoven pattern as Xavier
discovers the telescope and becomes intrigued by Guillaume’s story. Guillaume’s
adventures are dramatic enough to fill volumes and he was apparently a prolific
diarist. I like to think that if they ever met, they would have appreciated one
another. <o:p></o:p></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-4523200754512514762023-12-18T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-18T01:00:00.233-08:00[shameless promotion] Another Five-Star Review of The Laran Gambit<p><i>The Laran Gambit</i> has another five-star review!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpVR8TkWUQjE43ZAU22fGuIT8COJiP6kmbiuPg6bBZt2z44SxiDDRup6r7_ANCrgMAYHoHO11Rc_VKsYzaw8qYJZhk13FzDunDIgy4-YCz3hiHpfQ5XakfZ24WIG2NdNj6D4d_CgNGlkuw4q9iV855fG5eCWYWZfL1A6OI5fsrHjXFZmPZvpf6kmx0TRwT/s900/laran%20gambit%20ebook%20cover%20as%20of%20Jan25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpVR8TkWUQjE43ZAU22fGuIT8COJiP6kmbiuPg6bBZt2z44SxiDDRup6r7_ANCrgMAYHoHO11Rc_VKsYzaw8qYJZhk13FzDunDIgy4-YCz3hiHpfQ5XakfZ24WIG2NdNj6D4d_CgNGlkuw4q9iV855fG5eCWYWZfL1A6OI5fsrHjXFZmPZvpf6kmx0TRwT/w133-h200/laran%20gambit%20ebook%20cover%20as%20of%20Jan25.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUqf5WrD3VYEkAV97sK4XFfoEGms9c4_kkMe9fbrAE1YMWe7mHFwbrlXZnCEoPCYZMgk6rA41jJh2VY2HyF2vcpyhUtdILRgnHLt1ksBQrEJQZNs0Rw_BGq-kMckkSOf8ll1FUAbJRY7PyFw_RLYsLApd_hQ0fPGcXeVZo1ucHNvwMoBZvgAJlve3UwGwp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="798" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUqf5WrD3VYEkAV97sK4XFfoEGms9c4_kkMe9fbrAE1YMWe7mHFwbrlXZnCEoPCYZMgk6rA41jJh2VY2HyF2vcpyhUtdILRgnHLt1ksBQrEJQZNs0Rw_BGq-kMckkSOf8ll1FUAbJRY7PyFw_RLYsLApd_hQ0fPGcXeVZo1ucHNvwMoBZvgAJlve3UwGwp=w640-h282" width="640" /></a></div><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-27373770619720367742023-12-15T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-15T01:00:00.162-08:00Short Book Reviews: The Latest "October Daye" Adventure<p> <i>Be the Serpent</i>, by Seanan McGuire (DAW)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover259072-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover259072-medium.png" width="212" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve loved Seanan McGuire’s “October Daye” urban fantasy
since the very first volume and looked forward to each new installment. <i>Be
the Serpent</i> is every bit a treat for long-time fans of the series. It is
not, alas, an entry point for the new reader. Long-running series are often
burdened by sheer weight of backstory. McGuire is skillful enough to weave in bare-minimum
necessary details, but after 15 previous volumes, that amounts to a <i>lot</i>.
Even though I had read all the previous volumes, some more than once, I found
myself wondering <i>who </i>is this person and <i>when</i> did <i>that</i>
happen? I wished for a “refresh my memory” synopsis from time to time,
especially when supporting characters had similar names (like Simon and
Sylvester, although there aren’t enough letters in the alphabet to give
everyone in Toby Daye’s world a name starting with a different letter). I have
the greatest sympathy for the poor, unsuspecting reader who tries to jump into
the middle of the story. To be fair, there are plot elements that don’t depend on
an encyclopedic knowledge of What Has Come Before and are engrossing in their
own right.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Be the Serpent</i> has the same delicious blend of
Faerie, magic, romance, mystery, and action, not to mention great characters,
as has come before. Fans will love it, me among them. If I was disappointed by
once-terror-inspiring characters descending to warm-fuzziness, the switch from
BFF to arch-enemy more than balanced it out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story ends on a partial resolution, a false cadence as
it were, promising that the story isn’t over yet. This is great news for fans,
maybe not so much for someone still trying to figure out what’s going on.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I tried to read the attached novella, but I kept falling
asleep.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-29298269745646710492023-12-11T01:00:00.001-08:002023-12-11T01:00:00.234-08:00[personal] My Love/Hate Relationship with Chanukah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-9-1p-kBULO1O2Y_ucLnDgVGWqNyuBi532cTGfGa5s_0mULPwv_8Dqk2Wd3nKP0sHpzrfyopU1MS3fpJPDW57vC1qxj8_E2QSzU3kPlOdJ5v0reqcvI3xYlu6oQUJFlt05nQx3x2Hjxl/s1600/Georges_de_La_Tour_049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="490" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-9-1p-kBULO1O2Y_ucLnDgVGWqNyuBi532cTGfGa5s_0mULPwv_8Dqk2Wd3nKP0sHpzrfyopU1MS3fpJPDW57vC1qxj8_E2QSzU3kPlOdJ5v0reqcvI3xYlu6oQUJFlt05nQx3x2Hjxl/s200/Georges_de_La_Tour_049.jpg" width="163" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the past decade or so, whether Chanukah falls in early
December or overlaps Christmas, I have wrestled with the meaning of the
holiday. I grew up in a devoutly secular Jewish family, although my father used
to tell us stories of the holidays. It wasn’t until I had children of my own
that observing Jewish customs became important to me. Their father, my first
husband, came from a family that celebrated Christmas as a paean to
overconsumption, an amalgam of showering each other with cheap gifts and
gorging on indigestible food while sniping at one another. In our own home,
however, we would have a modest tree, a modest meal, and presents that had
something to do with the interests of the recipients.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61VtYYGLqiL._SX398_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61VtYYGLqiL._SX398_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="160" /></a>So where did Chanukah fit it? For one thing, when my kids
came along I decided not to compete with Christmas. No big gatherings. No
tinsel. No horribly unhealthy meals. And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">no
presents</i>. Instead, we turned off the tv, and gathered around to light the
candles and stumble through reading the blessings. We’d play dreidel using Chanukah
gelt (foil-wrapped chocolate coins) and take turns reading aloud from a
collection of funny children’s Chanukah books. The hands-down favorite was Eric
Kimmel’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Herschel and the Hanukkah
Goblins</i>, although his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Chanukkah
Guest</i> came a close second. One of the appeals of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Herschel</i> was the way the dialog of the goblins lent itself to silly
voices as Herschel outwitted them one by one. Needless to say, the kids loved
reading together and playing games as a family. Years later, they told me that
they didn’t want to give the impression they didn’t like getting presents for
Christmas but they liked Chanukah better.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the kids grew up, and I divorced and later remarried, I
found myself re-evaluating the holiday. I hadn’t celebrated it as a child and I
no longer had children to delight. By this time, my own Jewish identity had
become increasingly important to me. What did this holiday mean, beyond a way
of enjoying the winter in a non-specifically-Christian way?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started reading the story behind Chanukah, and that’s when
my troubles started.</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The history as it’s usually told is fairly straightforward,
this version from the website <a href="http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm">Judaism
101</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Alexander conquered Syria, Egypt and Palestine, but allowed
the lands under his control to continue observing their own religions and
retain a certain degree of autonomy. Under this relatively benevolent rule,
many Jews assimilated much of Hellenistic culture, adopting the language, the
customs and the dress of the Greeks, in much the same way that Jews in America
today blend into the secular American society. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
More than a century later, a successor of Alexander,
Antiochus IV was in control of the region. He began to oppress the Jews
severely, placing a Hellenistic priest in the Temple, massacring Jews,
prohibiting the practice of the Jewish religion, and desecrating the Temple by
requiring the sacrifice of pigs (a non-kosher animal) on the altar. Two groups
opposed Antiochus: a basically nationalistic group led by Mattathias the
Hasmonean and his son Judah Maccabee, and a religious traditionalist group
known as the Chasidim, the forerunners of the Pharisees (no direct
connection to the modern movement known as Chasidism). They joined forces
in a revolt against both the assimilation of the Hellenistic Jews and
oppression by the Seleucid Greek government. The revolution succeeded and the
Temple was rededicated. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at
the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been
defiled by the Greeks. Oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple,
which was supposed to burn throughout the night every night. There was only
enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the
time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day
festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates
the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unpacking that a bit, the history is usually framed as a
victory for freedom of religion (“they oppressed us, defiled the Temple, etc.,
but we resisted and triumphed, so now we get to worship in our own way”) with
the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days as proof of divine approval. As one
season after another rolled around, I felt increasingly uneasy about this. I
didn’t see how this was not glorifying war (see the last sentence in the
article above) by celebrating a military victory. I couldn’t understand how you
could reasonably separate the “miracle” of the oil and the “we took back our
Temple by force of arms.” Not persuasion, not diplomacy, not compromise. Not
libertarian “do you your thing.” Not even voting on the issue. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brute strength.</i> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This did not sit well with me. For one thing, setting aside
my commitment to nonviolent solutions, it means that if one side were winners,
the others lost. People aren’t thrilled about losing, by the way. The feelings
fester into resentment and the thirst for retribution. Every 3 year old knows
this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then I started considering those losers, those soldiers
dying far from home. Not being a scholar of Greek history, I don’t know if they
had a choice to enlist, or if they did so out of loyalty or from hope of a
better life. I did know I didn’t feel good about celebrating their deaths. I
couldn’t escape the connection. Sometimes it felt as if I were lighting candles
for the peace of their spirits.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Matters got even worse when I looked even more carefully at
the story. I began to see the conflict not as Greek oppressors versus those who
sought only to worship as they chose. It was a conflict <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">within </i>the Jewish community between hard-liners who wanted to keep
all the power within the priestly caste and those who saw commonality and good
in the world in which they were increasingly assimilated. I suspect the heads
of the Maccabees would explode if they knew how many modern Jews also practice
Buddhist meditation, yoga, or celebrated…Christmas.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At this point, I’d like to say a few more words about
Christmas. It’s nigh onto impossible to ignore, growing up in a Western
country. I’ll set aside the pagan (or not) origins of many of the traditions
and just say that much of the holiday has little or anything to do with
practicing Christianity. I love the music and the foods and the fragrances (fresh-cut
pine trees! oranges stuck with cloves! hot cider with cinnamon sticks! clove-scented
ribbon candy!). I love that the ideal is for us to set aside our differences in
the spirit of “peace on earth and good will toward all.” I loved walking
through gently falling snow, serenading the faculty members of my college, each
singer holding a lighted candle.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact, I love the idea of lighting candles in the darkest
time of the year. I cherish things that bring us together instead of separating
us. This is not to say that all of us must be alike. Each family’s,
community’s, ethnicity’s particular history has its own unique value. I just
don’t want to be jumping up and down for joy because my “side” won.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s a deeper issue here, which is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who has the power? Who is making the rules?</i> A small group of
priests (men, of course) who want things done the way they always have been? The
pioneers and experimenters who answer to their own consciences? We ourselves, flawed
and imperfect as we are? One of the many things I appreciate about modern
Judaism is the insistence upon finding our own understanding (“Two Jews, Three
Opinions”). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> opinion
is that I get to make up my own mind how to celebrate Chanukah.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
During this personal journey, an image that recurred to me
came from the television series <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babylon 5</i>.
At the end of the second season, as the Shadows are closing in and the future
looks grim, Susan Ivanova stands in a darkened room, lighting Chanukah candles. She was
not just one Jewish woman, she was me. She was all of us, yearning for hope in
dark times and bringing tiny points of light into a troubled time. The more I
thought about it, the more this image helped me to reclaim Chanukah. It doesn’t
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to be about “the miracle of the
oil” or the victory of the Maccabees. It can be whatever is meaningful to me.
That’s the “free to worship as we choose” part. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So this year I lit candles with my family and contemplated
the wiliness of Herschel of Ostropol in outwitting the Goblin King and all his
hench-goblins. I will greet my gentile friends with whatever holiday wishes they
like. I give myself permission to enjoy it all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If there is a miracle for me in Chanukah, it’s the
resilience of the human spirit and our ability to take a difficult passage and
find in it a message of universal hope.</div>
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-15620967459581760412023-12-08T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-08T01:00:00.147-08:00Short Book Reviews: A Domestic Haunted House Thriller <p> <i>Just Like Home</i>, by Sarah Gailey (Tor)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Xjtbx9cTL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41Xjtbx9cTL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oh, my. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I fell in love with Sarah Gailey ‘s writing when <i>Magic
for Liars</i> hit the stands, and I became
even more a fan with her tale of hippopotami in the Mississippi River (<i>River
of Teeth</i>). Her domestic thriller, <i>The Echo Wife</i>, took her
storytelling into new territory and new heights. Now <i>Just Like Home</i>
unveils her mature talent. It fits loosely within the new genre of “domestic
thriller,” more toward the “domestic horror” side with supernatural elements. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Vera Crowder returns home at the summons of her dying
mother, from whom she has been long estranged. She does so reluctantly, because
her house--the notorious Crowder House, hand-built by her father—was the scene
of serial murders. The town isn’t exactly thrilled to have Vera back. Questions
like “Did you know what was going on?” still haunt her. To make matters worse,
her father and the house have become the object of true-crime fans, and the son
of a journalist who helped to publicize it has become the mother’s caretaker (and
heir) and is busy stripping the house for his “murder art pieces.” As Vera
sorts her mother’s belongings, the memories she has long suppressed come to
life, along with disastrous truths.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I won’t say more about what those truths are because the
process of revealing them is one of the ways this book is brilliant. Vera is an
unreliable narrator who hides horrific childhood memories from herself, but she
herself is not the person initially presented. Nor are her parents. By
alternating between past and present, Gailey takes us on an ever-tightening
spiral path, each revolution bringing more and deeper connections. The final
confrontation and resolution, which would otherwise have come as a surprise—not
to mention being utterly unbelievable—proceeds inevitably and naturally from
what has come before. It’s a masterful handling of darkly gothic elements,
psychopathy, domestic terror, and gorgeously bizarre characters.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gailey is a writer who has come of age and richly deserves
the acclaim she’s earned.<o:p></o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-74219358526858929232023-12-04T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-04T01:00:00.266-08:00 A Month of NaNoWriMo posts (highlights)<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYgnAu_pwM014py2Yw5SbsvgovoUpFX2EpcBax-O08njbVp6W9fehMDe_Wey-Uuovfpr6d6jq12whe45ZrkyjYtzbnPBnKCgUzFxD7JonvvK_2-4MZiD3NMsWEHcdF81FkwckxJ_42LA3bxmwGXGVnYthLkq6UwL7V2R8sFYQ1M5iI2Lek8gxba3wV2If/s120/pensive%20woman%20with%20quill%20pen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="99" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYgnAu_pwM014py2Yw5SbsvgovoUpFX2EpcBax-O08njbVp6W9fehMDe_Wey-Uuovfpr6d6jq12whe45ZrkyjYtzbnPBnKCgUzFxD7JonvvK_2-4MZiD3NMsWEHcdF81FkwckxJ_42LA3bxmwGXGVnYthLkq6UwL7V2R8sFYQ1M5iI2Lek8gxba3wV2If/s1600/pensive%20woman%20with%20quill%20pen.jpg" width="99" /></a></b></div><b>I've been putting up brief posts about National Novel Writing Month. Here are a few that are worth repeating.</b><p></p><p><b><br />November 1:</b> Happy November! It's @NaNoWriMo time! Will
you join this year?</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">NaNoWriMo is a
yearly event that challenges participants to write a novel in a single month.
The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/writingcommunity?__eep__=6&__cft__%5b0%5d=AZVRY8v-3cUabVFEnMXOPzX3jdjwv3ZQoBD5mcG0dO9WUgzuP6RfMUTndXjGIv6-gppLYMJ-b_qETCiH8FaSiy8zxDpL1rB5P7CC8UBJyaRpYmg1czuGLNewi5OHfhqH8FXf-HBus8QsUmsHk-Q1rRW1G-Q_YQD51wr4auIOVd5dS2xuPTKG--zIvUnQeBF_LNI&__tn__=*NK-R"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: blue; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">#writingcommunity</span></a> spirit, online tools, and general
cheering one another on can be awesome. But it's not for everyone. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here's what I'll be
doing for NaNoWriMo: Cheering on my friends. I'll be finishing up revisions on
the next Darkover novel, Arilinn. Revising is a very different process from
drafting. I find that drafting goes better when I do it quickly, so I don't get
caught in second-guessing myself or editing as I write. Both are recipes for
disaster and paralysis. Revising, on the other hand, does not reliably produce
any measurable result in terms of pages or words. I dive into it and call it
quits every day when my brain won't function any longer. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>November 2:</b> <span style="color: #050505;">Happy @NaNoWriMo month!
Whether you participate or not, this is a great time to review your writing
goals. If finishing a novel is too much, how about a single chapter? Or a short
story? While it can be helpful to set ambitious goals, for many it's overwhelming.
We fare better with short, manageable goals that allow us to succeed, sentence
by sentence, word by word. What are YOUR goals for this month?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>November 3:</b> <span style="color: #050505;">Happy @NaNoWriMo!
Candles, music, hot drinks, snacks, a purring cat on your lap... What helps
make the words flow for you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I like soft instrumental music, an
occasional spearmint candy, and lots of kitty vibes!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>November 5:</b> <span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Happy @NaNoWriMo! Is it
possible to write a novel in only 30 days? What do you think?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">1. Why stop at only one? Let's write a
trilogy in 30 days?</span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">2. Hell, no! I can barely manage a
sentence in that time--but it's a perfect sentence!</span></li><li><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">3. Yes, if the voices in my head keep
dictating to me.</span></li></ol><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>November 10:</b> <span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">It's time for a break!
Rest is important – even during @NaNoWriMo. Writing a novel in 30 days is
pretty intense. Knowing when and how much to rest is tricky. Are you a fan of
rest or do you find it difficult to switch off?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">November 12: </span></b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Supporting characters can provide comic relief
when things get heavy. Do you have a favorite, one just begging for their own
story What would a writing session look like if some of your supporting
characters were keeping you company?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">November 13:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Doing something as demanding as @NaNoWriMo can
teach you things you didn’t know about yourself. Tackling a novel, regardless
of time, teaches me humility and patience. And that I have a wacky sense of
humor. Does this surprise you? What are you learning about yourself this month?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">November 15:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> During a project as big as @NaNoWriMo, it’s
normal to feel tired, to doubt yourself or run low on creativity. So it’s good
to have a few go-to accounts that lift you up, brighten your day or remind you
why you’re doing what you’re doing. What nourishes you during those moments?
What keeps you inspired?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">November 26:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">@NaNoWriMo pals: Are you
old school or ultra-modern? Whether it’s keeping track of your ideas, staying
on schedule or actually putting words on the page – do you prefer pen and
paper, your trusty typewriter, color-coded post-its, a giant whiteboard, clever
apps... or something else? Ask your readers: are you traditional or high-tech? <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">For organization, I use a writing
paper schedule and a spiral notebook for each novel. For writing, I mostly use
Word (or Google Docs), but if I'm stuck, I write my way through with that handy
notebook. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">What about you?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">November 27:</span></b><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Into the home stretch of
@NaNoWriMo, there’s a good chance you’ll run low on energy at some point this
month. When that happens, do you take a break or push through? What restores
your energy and momentum?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">November 30:</span></b><span style="background: white; color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span>On the last day of @NaNoWriMo, you may
need a little extra help to get across the finish line. Feel free to be honest
about that and ask for #encouragement. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here's some from me: You've done an awesome job, whether
you finished a novel or not. Your words are precious, so keep writing!<span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #050505; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Historic"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-59043593532968158612023-12-01T01:00:00.000-08:002023-12-01T01:00:00.136-08:00Short Book Reviews: Walter Jon Williams's "Praxis" Homerun<p> <i>Imperium Restored</i> (A Novel of the Praxis), by Walter
Jon Williams (Harper Voyager)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover255039-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="255" height="396" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover255039-medium.png" width="255" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was my first “Praxis” novel, and it’s a tribute to the
author that although I could not always follow the intricacies of the backstory,
I was so caught up in the action that I simply didn’t care. <i>Imperium
Restored</i> works on so many levels, each of them fascinating. Star-crossed
lovers are separated by a colossal misunderstanding that spews forth confusion,
mistrust, and crushing hurt (but does nothing to erase the fundamental
attraction between them). There’s also a bang-up battle in space, one of the
smartest and most inventive I’ve read, enough to convince me that any spacemil
science fiction Williams writes will be superb. Life in a vast star-spanning
spaceforce is filled with rivalries, jealousies, boredom, ill-fated sexual
encounters, interspecies friction, and what-do-we-do-with-ourselves once the
war is over. A lesser writer might have focused on the war itself. While the battle
scenes are pure bravura, Williams keeps enlarging the lens to look at the
ramifications, not just during the conflict but also afterward. The resulting
peace offers as many opportunities for tension, betrayal, alliances made and
broken, assassination attempts, revenge, and general chaos as the actual
fighting did. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There’s also a mystery.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What more could a science fiction fan want?<o:p></o:p></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-13532320625749852042023-11-27T01:00:00.000-08:002023-11-27T01:00:00.137-08:00GUEST POST: Lillian Csernica on Finding Happiness in Writing<p>I’m delighted to welcome author Lillian Csernica, who writes
eloquently from the heart about her life. She says the following essay “embodies
the main theme of my NaNoWriMo project, <i>Keep Getting Up</i>.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">HAPPINESS: A WELCOME
STRANGER<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">By Lillian Csernica<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you ask me where I make room for my happiness, it will
take me a minute or two to come up with a reply. Not because I don't know where
I keep it, but because in a very real sense, I don't have any to keep. I live
with Major Depressive Disorder. It's not like I get depressed every now and
then. I'm depressed all the time. I have to fight my way out of it to a state
of mind that approximates the kind of baseline cheerfulness that gets most
people through their day. The specific name for the no-happiness part of my
condition is anhedonia. That's the inability to experience pleasure from normal
activities such as watching a funny movie or playing with a pet. If that sounds
sad, it is. Some days it goes beyond sad all the way into tragic. I sit there
and watch life go by. I can see the colors and hear the sounds, but I can't
feel anything other than depression. The tastes, the smells, the textures are
there but they don't connect to the pleasure center in my brain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I've had to actively seek out qualified people who taught me
the skills I need to change my perceptions and reframe my thinking. I might not
be able to feel happiness, but I take great pleasure in other people's joy.
Here are two examples:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>My son John just finished taking a class at the library on
using a digital camera and laptop to make movies. He learned how to use some
new software and do some interesting things with the storyboard pages he'd
spent so much time drawing. John doesn't have a completed animation project
yet, but he did master a new part of the process in just one hour. I put the
experience in context for him, explaining how the animators he admires had to
learn step-by-step methods as well. John is proud of himself.</li><li>Michael, my older son, just brought home his latest
award-winning art project. He and his aide had kept it in his classroom until
summer school ended because it's a triptych with two of the panels created by
two of Michael's classmates. It shows a street scene right off the beach in
Capitola, done in multimedia that includes paint and crayon and some glitter.
While Michael didn't make it into the Top Three for this year's school district
art contest, he and his team received ribbons for Awards of Merit. All of us at
home made much over Michael winning his fourth award for an art project. </li></ul><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>I think I'm the closest to real happiness that I can get
these days when I write. When I get into the creative trance, all sense of time
passing vanishes. I leave behind the sorrows of the real world and function
within the world of my story. I am on that intuitive wavelength where I'm
processing structure and characterization and setting and dialogue all the way
down to the microwriting level of word choice and punctuation placement. I
could be a gem cutter working with the magnifiers and the precision tools that
allow me to cut a stone into a solitaire, a baguette, a marquise, whatever best
suits the particular gem. I reach into the story itself for its reality, its
shape, the right way to show off its color, cut, and clarity. There is no
pleasure like the pleasure of finding the exact word and putting it in the
ideal setting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have to work hard at making room for happiness in my mind
and in my life. Every day I have to survive in an environment of ongoing
tragedy, knowing that because of their disabilities, both of my sons will not
enjoy everything life has to offer them. I've learned that I can't hold on to
happiness. Life changes too quickly, and some of the changes are permanent.
I've learned that I have to take medication to correct my brain chemistry so I
can get out of bed in the morning and get through the demands of each day. I've
learned that I can't let my mental and emotional room be taken up by negative
feelings and old baggage. Most of all, I've learned that if I just keep still
and be in this present moment, happiness will wave at me or throw me a smile.
Once in a while, it will even come and sit beside me so we can share the
moment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.gravatar.com/avatar/e1c1f9a065062125570eb5e8ea304741?s=320" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="200" src="https://2.gravatar.com/avatar/e1c1f9a065062125570eb5e8ea304741?s=320" width="200" /></a></div>Lillian Csernica writes fantasy, romance, and horror. Her
short stories have appeared in W<i>eird Tales</i>, <i>Fantastic Stories</i>, and <i>Jewels of
Darkover</i>. Her Kyoto Steampunk short stories can be found in the Clockwork
Alchemy anthologies <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Hours-Later-Tales-Mystery-ebook/dp/B073Z6PZ7N/?_encoding%3DUTF8%26pd_rd_w%3Dg8gF9%26content-id%3Damzn1.sym.cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a%26pf_rd_p%3Dcf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a%26pf_rd_r%3D133-1656568-4487211%26pd_rd_wg%3D0vm7C%26pd_rd_r%3Df824a5a6-267f-420b-b8e7-b673c2e630d0%26ref_%3Daufs_ap_sc_dsk&source=gmail&ust=1700760897696000&usg=AOvVaw08Gmb88ihUxqS7ayS0Gd2x" href="https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Hours-Later-Tales-Mystery-ebook/dp/B073Z6PZ7N/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=g8gF9&content-id=amzn1.sym.cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a&pf_rd_p=cf86ec3a-68a6-43e9-8115-04171136930a&pf_rd_r=133-1656568-4487211&pd_rd_wg=0vm7C&pd_rd_r=f824a5a6-267f-420b-b8e7-b673c2e630d0&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Twelve Hours Later</span></a><span style="background: white;">, </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Days-Later-Steaming-Adventures-ebook/dp/B01GDBQJEK/ref%3Dsr_1_1?crid%3D303OQIS92XWOZ%26keywords%3Dthirty%2Bdays%2Blater%26qid%3D1700645316%26s%3Ddigital-text%26sprefix%3Dthirty%2Bdays%2Blater%252Cdigital-text%252C143%26sr%3D1-1&source=gmail&ust=1700760897697000&usg=AOvVaw3vbeYzUeuWJPFOWogVTSfR" href="https://www.amazon.com/Thirty-Days-Later-Steaming-Adventures-ebook/dp/B01GDBQJEK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=303OQIS92XWOZ&keywords=thirty+days+later&qid=1700645316&s=digital-text&sprefix=thirty+days+later%2Cdigital-text%2C143&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Thirty Days Later</span></a><span style="background: white;">, </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Some-Time-Later-Fantastic-Alternate-ebook/dp/B07996KTL2/ref%3Dsr_1_1?crid%3D256MZHSSZQLTQ%26keywords%3Dsome%2Btime%2Blater%26qid%3D1700645373%26s%3Ddigital-text%26sprefix%3Dsome%2Btime%2Blater%252Cdigital-text%252C136%26sr%3D1-1&source=gmail&ust=1700760897697000&usg=AOvVaw0yYDJkTR_voYntSpjcD7au" href="https://www.amazon.com/Some-Time-Later-Fantastic-Alternate-ebook/dp/B07996KTL2/ref=sr_1_1?crid=256MZHSSZQLTQ&keywords=some+time+later&qid=1700645373&s=digital-text&sprefix=some+time+later%2Cdigital-text%2C136&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Some Time Later</span></a><span style="background: white;"> and </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Next-Stop-13-Katherine-Morse-ebook/dp/B07X4BLSZN/ref%3Dsr_1_1?crid%3D3WJEK9RG0T9F%26keywords%3Dnext%2Bstop%2Bon%2Bthe%2B%252313%26qid%3D1700645440%26s%3Ddigital-text%26sprefix%3Dnext%2Bstop%2Bon%2Bthe%2B13%252Cdigital-text%252C150%26sr%3D1-1&source=gmail&ust=1700760897697000&usg=AOvVaw1-xMmoS5PnvAEJm9kaz8Xx" href="https://www.amazon.com/Next-Stop-13-Katherine-Morse-ebook/dp/B07X4BLSZN/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3WJEK9RG0T9F&keywords=next+stop+on+the+%2313&qid=1700645440&s=digital-text&sprefix=next+stop+on+the+13%2Cdigital-text%2C150&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Next Stop On The #13</span></a><span style="background: white;">. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Dreams-Elaine-LeClaire/dp/1988863066&source=gmail&ust=1700760897697000&usg=AOvVaw31VPNA_-skqp3oaOcpKqXH" href="https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Dreams-Elaine-LeClaire/dp/1988863066" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">SHIP OF DREAMS</span></a><span style="background: white;">, an historical romance, is set in the Caribbean of 1725
during the Golden Age of piracy. A genuine California native born in San Diego,
Lillian resides in the Santa Cruz mountains with her two sons and three cats.
Visit her at </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://lillian888.wordpress.com/&source=gmail&ust=1700760897697000&usg=AOvVaw2C34k2pJm7yRVQSQrbrJ_-" href="https://lillian888.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 200%;">lillian888.wordpress.com</span></a><span style="background: white;">.</span><o:p></o:p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-46919300043317481942023-11-24T01:00:00.000-08:002023-11-24T15:14:48.043-08:00Book Review: Mothtown, A Brilliant Second Novel from Caroline Hardaker<p> <i>Mothtown</i>, by Caroline Hardaker (Angry Robot)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover286276-medium.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://netgalley-covers.s3.amazonaws.com/cover286276-medium.png" width="200" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Caroline Hardaker’s second novel, like the first, presents a
challenging read. It asks the reader to keep critical faculties, human
sympathy, and a healthy degree of scientific skepticism onboard as the story
unfolds. It’s been described as a cross between horror and mainstream, but I
don’t think it’s horror in the usual sense, any more than <i>Metamorphosis</i>
by Franz Kafka is. It might better be described as a psychological mystery.
Whether the fantasy/science-fictional/surreal elements truly exist in
Hardaker’s world or whether they are creations in the mind of the main
character is, ultimately, a judgment call for the reader to make.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The story alternates between “After,” in which the adult
protagonist races desperately through a sinister wilderness, and “Before,”
looking back to his childhood. The “Before” section opens on an apparently
dystopic world in which people go missing and floral tributes appear on
all-too-many doorsteps and street corners. This is the first part of the
mystery: What is going on? Are people <i>really</i> vanishing? If so, where are
they going? If not, where are their bodies?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Although his parents try hard to protect him and his sister,
ten-year-old David believes something more is going on. When his beloved
grandfather--a Professor of Superstring Theory and Dark Matter Studies--disappears
and his parents insist the old man is dead, David refuses to believe them. He
becomes convinced that his grandfather has found a door into another world<i>,</i>
a place he truly belongs. And David is determined to find such a world for
himself.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">David faces many difficulties in the ordinary world. He’s
barely verbal, doesn’t pick up on social cues or interact with others, and
seems oblivious to the feelings of others. His mother’s increasingly anxious
about the “disappearances,” and despite this, David takes off on his own to
visit the cemetery where his grandfather is buried. As a mother myself, I was
furious at his lack of sensitivity. Fortunately, Hardaker’s skill kept me reading
long enough to ask the question, “What is going on with this kid?”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">David is more than an unreliable narrator, although he is
that, too, and herein lies the second part of the mystery. What, indeed, is going
on with him? Can we trust anything he says about himself, the world, other
characters, his grandfather—anything?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Can we read between and behind the lines to discover the
real story?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">==SPOILER ALERT==<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">About the time I was incensed with David’s insensitivity, I
started noticing clues in his behavior, thoughts, and perceptions. At first,
these clues were subtle and David didn’t seem all that different from any other
shy, introverted child “on the spectrum.” Combining this with the half-truths
and outright lies parents often tell their children under the pretext of
“protecting them,” and the question of whether people are truly disappearing
becomes even fuzzier. Early in the book, there’s a news report of the discovery
of the bodies of twelve people who were reported missing, found on a
mountainside with “unidentifiable scientific apparatus,” suggesting they were
on the hunt for a “door,” and more references later. David’s “mudmen,” whom he
believes to be on the brink of disappearance, could just as easily be ordinary
strangers, disaffected and depressed by the “Modern Problem.” His grandfather’s
seminal work, <i>Hidden Worlds</i>, which David takes as a roadmap, has been
dismissed by his scientific colleagues as nonsense. As I went on, I began to question whether what
David reported was indeed what was objectively true.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There’s a time jump to David as a young adult in his
mid-20s. At first, it seems he is functioning better. He has a job and a
girlfriend, even if he’s broken ties with his family, including the sister he
once adored. But as new clues emerged, I came to question that picture. He
watches his girlfriend in the shop across the street but never speaks to her,
even about his desire to “go home.” I noticed instances of paranoid ideation, social
isolation, and dissociation. Then, as David comes under the sway of an outright
cult and decompensates progressively, malnutrition, self-harm, stealing,
obsessive/compulsive behavior, and outright delusions became more and more
prominent. For example, it turns out that not only is the girl not his
girlfriend, but she’s taken out a restraining order against him. He walks away
from his job, becomes progressively weaker as he starves, and lives in utter
squalor, in a “cocoon” he’s constructed from materials stolen and scrounged,
cemented together with his own blood. In the end, there was no doubt in my mind what was going on. I was glad that his family does an intervention to get
him into treatment and that there are hints he is at last willing to start
talking.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I found the conclusion not only highly satisfying but filled
with hope.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="background: white;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3242607410560272655.post-4646348585504210792023-11-20T01:00:00.002-08:002023-11-20T01:00:00.131-08:00New Evidence on How the Dinosaurs Died<p> Such a cool article from Universe Today, I think it merits a post all to itself!</p><p><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></p><header class="entry-header" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 0px 0px 1em;"><h1 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; font-size: 1.625rem; font-weight: 300; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/164024/devastating-clouds-of-dust-helped-end-the-reign-of-the-dinosaurs/#google_vignette" target="_blank">Devastating Clouds of Dust Helped End the Reign of the Dinosaurs</a></span></h1></header><div class="entry-content" style="box-sizing: inherit; counter-reset: footnotes 0; font-family: "libre franklin", "helvetica neue", helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">When a giant meteor crashed into Earth 66 million years ago, the impact pulverized cubic kilometers of rock and blasted the dust and debris into the Earth’s atmosphere. It was previously believed that sulfur from the impact and soot from the global fires that followed drove a global “impact winter” that killed off 75% of species on Earth, including the dinosaurs.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01290-4" style="box-shadow: rgb(240, 240, 240) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">A new geology paper</a> says that the die-off was additionally fueled by ultrafine dust created by the impact which filled the atmosphere and blocked sunlight for as long as 15 years. Plants were unable to photosynthesize and global temperatures were lowered by 15 degrees C (59 F).</span></p><span id="more-164024" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;"></span><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Most scientists agree the disaster started with an asteroid impact, where an asteroid at least 10 kilometers wide struck the Chicxulub region in the present-day Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. The impact released 2 million times more energy than the most powerful nuclear bomb ever detonated.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">The devastation created layer of ash sandwiched between layers of rock, known as the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary, formerly known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K-T) boundary, which is found across the world in the geologic record. It includes a layer of iridium, an element common in asteroids but rare on Earth. It was this ‘iridium anomaly’ that first revealed the extinction event as an asteroid strike to geologists more than three decades ago.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">What has been debated is what created conditions for the post-impact winter. The leading candidates were sulphur from the asteroid’s impact, or soot from global wildfires that ensued after the impact. Both would have blocked out sunlight and plunged the world into a long, dark winter, collapsing the food chain and creating a chain reaction of extinctions. <span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><figure class="wp-block-image size-full" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-164026" decoding="async" height="320" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-4.-K-Pg-boundary-North-Dakota-photo-by-Pim-Kaskes-768x1024-1.jpg" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-4.-K-Pg-boundary-North-Dakota-photo-by-Pim-Kaskes-768x1024-1.jpg 768w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-4.-K-Pg-boundary-North-Dakota-photo-by-Pim-Kaskes-768x1024-1-435x580.jpg 435w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-4.-K-Pg-boundary-North-Dakota-photo-by-Pim-Kaskes-768x1024-1-188x250.jpg 188w" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="240" /></span><figcaption class="wp-element-caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: smaller; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;">Overview of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in North Dakota (USA). The sediments indicate a river and swamp-like environment at the end of the age of the dinosaurs. The pink-brown layer yields ejecta debris derived from the Chicxulub impact event and the grain-size data from this interval were used as input parameters for the paleoclimate modeling study (photo: Pim Kaskes).</em></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">But in this new research, scientists from the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) studied new sediment samples taken from the Tanis fossil site in North Dakota in the US, which captures a 20-year period during the aftermath of the asteroid impact. Analysis of the samples revealed evidence of silicate dust particles, particles that were ejected into the atmosphere and eventually settled back down on the planet.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">“We specifically sampled the uppermost millimeter-thin interval of the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary layer,” </span><a href="https://www.astro.oma.be/en/dust-played-a-major-role-in-dinosaur-demise/" style="box-shadow: rgb(240, 240, 240) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;">said Pim Kaskes</a><span style="background-color: white;"> from the Archaeology, Environmental Changes & Geo-chemistry (AMGC) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA), who was also involved in the study. “This interval revealed a very fine and uniform grain-size distribution, which we interpret to represent the final atmospheric fall-out of ultrafine dust related to the Chicxulub impact event. The new results show much finer grain-size values than previously used in climate models and this aspect had important consequences for our climate reconstructions.”</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">Based on their findings, the scientists also created a new paleoclimate computer model that evaluated the roles of sulfur, soot, and silicate dust on the post-impact climate.</span></p><figure class="wp-block-image size-full" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 1em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><img alt="" class="wp-image-164027" decoding="async" height="866" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px" src="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-2.-Graphical-abstract-Senel-et-al.-2023-1024x866-1.jpg" srcset="https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-2.-Graphical-abstract-Senel-et-al.-2023-1024x866-1.jpg 1024w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-2.-Graphical-abstract-Senel-et-al.-2023-1024x866-1-580x491.jpg 580w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-2.-Graphical-abstract-Senel-et-al.-2023-1024x866-1-250x211.jpg 250w, https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Fig.-2.-Graphical-abstract-Senel-et-al.-2023-1024x866-1-768x650.jpg 768w" style="border-style: none; box-sizing: border-box; height: auto; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: bottom;" width="1024" /></span><figcaption class="wp-element-caption" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: smaller; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 0.5em;"><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit;">Conceptual model of the Chicxulub impact plume showing different stages of (a) production, and (b) transport and deposition of the impact-generated ejecta (not to scale). (c) Paleoclimate model simulations showcasing the time evolution of the dust-induced photosynthetic active radiation flux across the planet following the Chicxulub impact 66 million years ago (modified from Senel et al., 2023; Nature Geoscience).</em></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">“The new paleoclimate simulations show that such a plume of micrometric silicate dust could have remained in the atmosphere for up to 15 years after the event, contributing to global cooling of the Earth’s surface by as much as 15 °C in the initial aftermath of the impact,” said Cem Berk Senel from ROB, the lead author of the study.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">But while the dust was a contributor to the catastrophic conditions, the sulfur and soot were also a factor.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;">“We suggest that, together with additional cooling contributions from soot and sulfur, this is consistent with the catastrophic collapse of primary productivity in the aftermath of the Chicxulub impact,” the researchers wrote.</span></p><div class="unive-f6e3957db1947844803a57cf6be09487 unive-in-content" id="unive-f6e3957db1947844803a57cf6be09487" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 1.5em;"><div class="unive-in-content unive-target" data-unive-trackbid="1" data-unive-trackid="139910" id="unive-133934319" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">The prolonged disruption in photosynthesis would pose severe challenges for both terrestrial and marine habitats and mass extinctions would occur in groups not adapted to survive the dark, cold, and food-deprived conditions for at least two years. The researchers said this matches the paleontological records, which show that any plants or animals that could enter a dormant phase (for example, through seeds, cysts, or hibernation in burrows) and were able to adapt to an omnivorous diet, or weren’t dependent on one particular food source generally better survived the K-Pg event.</span></div><div class="unive-in-content unive-target" data-unive-trackbid="1" data-unive-trackid="139910" id="unive-133934319" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div><div class="unive-in-content unive-target" data-unive-trackbid="1" data-unive-trackid="139910" id="unive-133934319" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><a href="https://www.universetoday.com/154649/we-dont-know-exactly-when-the-dinosaurs-died-but-now-we-know-it-was-in-the-springtime/" style="background-color: white; box-shadow: rgb(240, 240, 240) 0px -1px 0px inset; box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 80ms ease-in 0s, box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s, -webkit-box-shadow 130ms ease-in-out 0s;"><span style="color: black;">Related: Previous research at the Tanis site suggests the Chicxulub impact happened in the springtime.</span></a></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0