holy crap

I was thinking about my former coworker Jim today when I saw that la gringa was featuring some of his cartoons on her blog today. i knew Jim back in the day. At the time he had just published a short story in a Susie Bright anthology and I was profoundly jealous. Then he went and wrote a screenplay for Steve Buscemi that became the film Lonesome Jim, out in theaters this spring. Now I've discovered that he is directing his own feature which stars John Cusack. Cusack is co-producing. Holy shit! New York is getting smaller and smaller, I swear.

bloggity goodness

meet my new favorite blogger, the fantabulous ktbuffy. she's so cool. she lives in nyc, and is totally geeky, and seems to like buffy almost as much as i do, and reads a lot of good books, and likes to mock Snakes on a Plane. my kind of girl!

ktbuffy a-go-go!

oh my god

can these be real? yes, yes, they can. Courtesy of Strange Horizons, things never to submit to speculative fiction magazines.

Stories They've Seen Too Often.

Horror Stories They've Seen Too Often.

This is similar to an amusing entry on Jane Espenson's blog.

This has, of course, never happened to me. Nope.

love's bitch

...but man enough to admit it.

this here is a shout-out to everybody's favorite bad boy, William the Bloody a.k.a. Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

First of all, Spike is fucking hot. Second of all, the actor who plays him is really, really talented, and manages to turn a fairly one-dimensional villain into an amazingly complex, interesting character. Third of all, Spike's got a sexy (if unlikely) British accent. And finally, Spike is utterly bent. And while I hate, hate, hate the way Buffy responds to their sexual relationship (she is disgusted with herself), I love love love the kinky subtext therein. Below are some of my favorite bits of dialogue, found from transcripts on Buffyology.

TALKING
SPIKE: Can we talk?
BUFFY: Vocal-cord-wise, yes. With each other? No.(She moves off.)
SPIKE: We have to talk.
BUFFY: About what?
SPIKE: We kissed, Buffy.
BUFFY: So?
SPIKE: We kissed, you and me. All Gone With The Wind, with the rising music and the rising... music and what was that, Buffy?
BUFFY: A spell?
SPIKE: Oh, don't get all prim and proper with me. I know what kind of girl you really are. Don't I?

FIGHTING
SPIKE: Oh, poor little lost girl.
(He jumps up and grabs the chandelier, swinging forward and kicking Buffy full in the face with both feet. She goes down.)
SPIKE: She doesn't fit in anywhere. She's got no one to love.
(Buffy seizes him and throws him against the staircase, smashing the banister to bits.)
BUFFY: Me? I'm lost? Look at you, you idiot! Poor Spikey. Can't be a human, can't be a vampire. Where the hell do you fit in?
(Spike swings at her but she ducks and gut-punches him, then hurls him across the room again. He smashes into the fireplace and collapses in a heap.)
BUFFY: Your job is to kill the Slayer. But all you can do is follow me around making moon eyes.
SPIKE: I'm in love with you.
BUFFY: You're in love with pain. Admit it. You like me because you enjoy getting beat down. So really, who's screwed up?
SPIKE: Hello? Vampire!
(He swings at her again but she blocks and punches him. Spike grabs her and pulls her closer.)
SPIKE: I'm supposed to be treading on the dark side.
(He throws her against the wall, smashing a huge Buffy-shaped hole in it. Spike throws her across the room and she lands on her back. Spike stands over her, leans down and seizes her by her jacket lapels.)
SPIKE: What's your excuse?

SHAGGING
BUFFY: Shoe, need my shoe.
SPIKE: What's the hurry, luv?
(Spike looks very pleased with himself.)
BUFFY: The hurry is I left Dawn all night. And don't call me love.
SPIKE: You didn't seem to take issue with that last night. Or with any of the other little nasties we whispered.
BUFFY: Can we not talk?
SPIKE: (sighs) I just don't see why you have to run off so quick. Thought we could...
(He makes a lewd gesture.)
BUFFY: Not gonna happen. Last night was the end of this freak show.
(Buffy heads out but Spike catches her arm and pulls her down onto his lap.)
SPIKE: Don't say that.
BUFFY: What did you think was going to happen? What? We're going to read the newspaper together, play footsie under the rubble?
(Spike slips his hand under Buffy's skirt and she shudders with pleasure.)
SPIKE: Not exactly what I had in mind.
(Buffy pushes his hand away and struggles against him.)
BUFFY: Stop!
SPIKE(grinning): Make me.
BUFFY: No! No!
(She continues struggling, then gives up and kisses him passionately. She wraps her arms around him, grinds against him and moans with pleasure. Then she abruptly breaks off.)
BUFFY: No, no. I have to--
SPIKE: Stay. I'm stuck here. Sun's up.
(Buffy regards Spike for a moment, then gives in and goes back to kissing him. Spike lays her down on a pillow and moves on top of her, kissing her neck. She sighs in excitement.)
SPIKE: I knew. I knew the only thing better than killing a Slayer would be fu--
BUFFY: What!
(Buffy shoves him away and stands, furious.)
BUFFY: Is that what this is about? Doing a Slayer?
SPIKE: Well, I wouldn't throw stones, pet. You seem to be quite the groupie yourself.
BUFFY: Shut up.
(She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, disgusted.)
SPIKE: I'm just sayin'... vampires get you hot.
BUFFY: A vampire got me hot. One. But he's gone. You're just... (beat) You're just convenient.
(That gets to him. Angry, Spike stands and pulls on his pants.)
SPIKE: So what now? You go back to treating me like dirt till the next time you get an itch you can't scratch? Well, forget it. Last night changed things. I'm done being your whipping boy.
BUFFY: Nothing's changed. It was a mistake.
SPIKE: Bollocks! It was a bloody revelation. You can act as high and mighty as you like but I know where you live now, Slayer. I've tasted it.
(He leans in to kiss her again but she pulls away from him.)
BUFFY: Get a grip. Like you're god's gift.
SPIKE: Hardly. Wouldn't be nearly as interesting, would it?
(Buffy pushes him away and starts to walk out but he blocks her.)
BUFFY: No! Let me go!
(Spike puts his arms around her and calms her. Buffy stands still, glaring at him.)
SPIKE: I may be dirt but you're the one who likes to roll in it, Slayer. You never had it so good as me. Never.
(Buffy shrugs his arms off.)
BUFFY: You're bent.
SPIKE: Yeah and it made you scream, didn't it?
BUFFY: I swear to god, if you tell anyone about last night, I will kill you.
SPIKE(skeptical): Right.
(Spike pulls a pair of lacy white panties out of his jeans.)
SPIKE: ...You're going to want these, too.

Ha! Yeah, I'm a geek, I know.

writing is hard

...editing is harder.

just a quick note from the trenches, where i am slowly but steadily beating my latest story into submission. it's the cornerstone of my application to Clarion West, which must be turned in by Saturday. pressure much? nah.

on the plus side, things seem to be working out storywise - i'm getting close to a distint lack of suckage. that's a good thing.

more soon - i'm off to fight the good fight.

hot off the press

i'm very pleased to announce that one of my stories will appear in the forthcoming anthology Secret Slaves, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and Christopher Pierce. You can preorder the book now! It looks to be fabulous, what with my fellow contributors, including Debra Hyde, Simon Sheppard, Tara Alton, J.Z. Sharpe, Sage Vivant and Zaedryn Meade, among many others. Yowza!

slightly belated

happy birthday to me!
happy BIRTHDAY to me!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR RIAIN
happy birthday to me!

falling off the blog wagon

here's something weird: when i miss a day blogging the whole concept falls apart. all of the sudden i feel like i'm behind, broken, disappointing my legions of fans who are breathlessly waiting to hear what i will say next.

intellectually i know this silly. after all, my legions of fans still have my website to visit! unfortunately that is a little out of date as well. *sigh*

so herewith, i will be posting as often as possible, mostly in small, unassuming chunks. hopefully this will relieve my blog-guilt and get this thing back on track.

thanks for listening.

good books part one

i had a great convo with one of my best friends about books a few days ago. in his honor i present a list of my favorite science fiction, fantasy and young adult books. i'll be posting these in little chunks, because writing these descriptions is a lot harder than i thought it would be! here's the first three.

The Starbridge Trilogy by Paul Park

One of the most intense, fascinating, and brilliant sci-fi series ever. No, really. These books sing to me. On a world where the seasons are so long that if you're born in spring you'll never see summer, the ruling Starbridge class tries to keep on top. But people get tired of priests when it's been winter for an entire generation. Highly recommended! These are out of print but you can find them used. The exact titles are The Soldiers of Paradise, Sugar Rain, and The Cult of Loving Kindness.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Okay. This book basically defies description. I think it might be the best novel I've ever read. I actually don't want to tell you anything about it, because it deserves to be experienced in its entirety. Even explaining the plot (or trying to) would be spoiling it a little. So just go read it.

Dune by Frank Herbert

A classic of the speculative science fiction genre. Fiercely political, complex and dark. I've read it so many times and there is still so much there. Also a classic coming of age story. It sucks to be a teenager - especially when you're the messiah. Um, but avoid the movie at all costs - at least until after you've read the book.

napoli - the other white santorum

in a vomit-worthy development, South Dakota has just passed a law that will make it illegal for doctors to perform abortions, unless the pregnant woman's life is in immediate danger. Even victims of incest and rape will not have access to a legal abortion, unless a special exception is made. Here, in his own words, are the charming sentiments of Senator Bill Napoli as to what would make such an exception possible:

BILL NAPOLI: "A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it, and is impregnated. I mean, that girl could be so messed up, physically and psychologically, that carrying that child could very well threaten her life. "

Hmm - let me make sure I'm getting this. Unless a woman is a virgin, a good Christian, and has been sodomized, she has no option other than carrying a fetus to term - even if she is the victim of rape or incest. According to this law, a 14 year old girl could be raped by her own father and be forced to give birth to her own half-sister. A married woman could be raped by a stranger and have no choice but to have the baby. And a virginal, religious young girl could be denied an abortion if it was decided that she was not "brutalized" or sodomized "as bad as you can possibly make it."

Are we seriously supposed to just accept this, like good little girls, and remember that Daddy Napoli - who does not have a vagina or, apparently, a daughter - knows best?

Here's some good news: apparently Senator Napoli's home address is a matter of public record! I found a variety of
extremely helpful information at this site: http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2005/mbrdt128.htm

So, here's what you can do: write this dirtbag letters. Call his house. Send him email via this online form. Tell him that treating women this way is un-fucking-acceptable. Here's his contact info, according to the state of South Dakota:

Senator William M Napoli
6180 S Hwy 79
Rapid City 57702-8467
Home Phone: 605-341-2370
"Business" Phone: 605-348-7373

mmmmm

cupcakes make everything better.

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

have you ever seen anything more brilliant than this??

two beautiful poems

for your reading pleasure

Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-- over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Recuerdo
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

We were very tired, we were very merry --
We had gone back and forth all night upon the ferry.
It was bare and bright, and smelled like a stable --
But we looked into a fire, we leaned across a table,
We lay on the hill-top underneath the moon;
And the whistles kept blowing, and the dawn came soon.

We were very tired, we were very merry --
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry;
And you ate an apple, and I ate a pear,
From a dozen of each we had bought somewhere;
And the sky went wan, and the wind came cold,
And the sun rose dripping, a bucketful of gold.

We were very tired, we were very merry,
We had gone back and forth all night on the ferry.
We hailed, "Good morrow, mother!" to a shawl-covered head,
And bought a morning paper, which neither of us read;
And she wept, "God bless you!" for the apples and the pears,
And we gave her all our money but our subway fares.

the beach

It was like the last cigarette I smoked before I quit for good. That’s how it felt. There was sand in my hair and everything tasted like salt and your hands were so warm. I leaned into your arms so that the shifting wind couldn’t tear me away, and we stole secret kisses that only the ocean saw.

I felt the wind change that day. It plucked at my clothes and blew my hair in my face and distracted me, just for a second. When I looked for you again, you were already gone, like smoke disappearing into the rain.

'the beach' (c) riain grey 2006 - do not reproduce without written permission

why i love new york

http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/004627.html

you do read overheard in new york, don't you?