who i want to be

a postsecret valentine

2007-02-14T10:54:00.000-08:00

http://postsecret.blogspot.com

today

2007-02-14T09:13:00.000-08:00

I find this truly beautiful, and haunting. It makes me want to write. It reminds me of Harris Burdick. It inspires me. I hope it does the same for you.

Happy Valentine's Day.

brand spanking new

2007-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

with emphasis on the spanking!

i've redesigned my website! it is bright and shiny and new and pink. read some hot writing, check out my books, and revel in the bright colors.

take a look and let me know what you think!

p.s. you might have noticed that i updated the blog, too.

Custom Erotica Source

2007-02-04T23:57:00.000-08:00

I "auditioned" recently to become a writer for Custom Erotica Source, a VERY cool erotica website run by Sage Vivant and M. Christian. With their permission, I am posting an excerpt from the story. The challenge was to write a very specific story, with characters and plot outlined for me, in one week and in 1000 words. Yikes! To top it off, I had a 9 hour class on one of my two weekend days that week. Here is a bit of what I came up with.

Blooming
by Riain Grey

The woman standing on my stoop was very pretty; a bit unusual looking somehow. Her eyes were a nice woodsy shade of hazel that perfectly complemented her light brown hair. She had a lovely figure, happily unobscured by the yellow summer dress she was wearing. Her breasts were firm and small, with thick nipples that jutted out proudly. Judging from the look of the dress, I was betting that there wasn't much on underneath. If anything. I felt myself get hard at that thought, but I did my best to ignore it. It wouldn't do to leer at the help. There were all kinds of laws about that. At least in the tropical heat of the greenhouse, her nipples wouldn't be quite so --

Suddenly I realized I was staring. Oops.

"Hi," she said, offering her hand for me to shake. "I'm Beth Stevens, here to see Alan. Is that you?"

"That's me. Come on in."

I ushered her into the front room and waved towards the couch. "Go ahead and take a seat, and we can get started. Can I get you something to drink?"

By ten minutes into the interview, I knew that I was going to hire her. She had a nice vibe and had done a lot of different things in her career. She seemed friendly and willing to learn. And I was looking forward to sharing the greenhouse with somebody.

"Why don't you come take a look," I said. "See what you think."

She nodded and followed me through the back of the house. Steam swirled out as soon as I opened the door.

"Wow," she said, surprised.

"I know," I said with a grin. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I don't even feel it anymore."

She took an exploratory sniff and then breathed in appreciatively. "It smells so good in here. Like my grandparents' farm. It's...homey, somehow."

I nodded. "For me, this is home. I sleep in here now and then." I gestured to the far wall. "This is where we'll be planting." The tangle of vines and foliage looked a little intimidating, but she just looked around the greenhouse with a broad smile on her face.

"I'll take the job," she said.

this is a really fun toy

2007-02-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

super cool web toy!

http://avatars.yahoo.com

(see the sidebar for mine!)

obviously

2006-12-29T16:03:00.000-08:00

Which My So-Called Life Character Are You? Find out @ She's Crafty

this is just silly.

2006-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Excellency Riain the Excited of St Winifred by Winchelsea
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

a thingie

2006-12-20T15:54:00.000-08:00

i read stuff.

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/riaingrey

Paul Cameron is an ASSHAT

2006-12-08T15:04:00.000-08:00

But Dan Savage tells it how it is.
The Stranger: Not Everyone Intends to Maintain a Respectul Silence About the Contents of Mary Cheney's Uterus

i always wanted a pair of tight pants

2006-12-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

Your results:
You are Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)
Malcolm Reynolds (Captain)
Honest and a defender of the innocent.
You sometimes make mistakes in judgment
but you are generally good and
would protect your crew from harm.

Click here to take the Serenity Personality Quiz

The Glass is Half Full....of Magical Pickled Moon Juice!

2006-12-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

The Keirsey Temperament Sorter says that I'm an Idealist:

Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self -- always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.

Idealists are sure that friendly cooperation is the best way for people to achieve their goals. Conflict and confrontation upset them because they seem to put up angry barriers between people. Idealists dream of creating harmonious, even caring personal relations, and they have a unique talent for helping people get along with each other and work together for the good of all. Such interpersonal harmony might be a romantic ideal, but then Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. This idea of a mystical or spiritual dimension to life, the "not visible" or the "not yet" that can only be known through intuition or by a leap of faith, is far more important to Idealists than the world of material things.

Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. More often, however, Idealists are the very soul of kindness. Particularly in their personal relationships, Idealists are without question filled with love and good will. They believe in giving of themselves to help others; they cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soulmate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are rare, making up between 20 and 25 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.

ho-lee crap

2006-11-29T12:34:00.000-08:00

Somebody give this guy a medal.

"How's your boy?" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq.

"I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President," Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

"That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?"

"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House.

In Following His Own Script, Webb May Test Senate's Limits - washingtonpost.com

Thanks to the Stranger Slog for the link.

One Director to Rule Them All

2006-11-29T12:13:00.000-08:00

Peter Jackson is still in the director's chair for the Hobbit, according to the New York Times:

Peter Jackson - The Hobbit - Movies - New York Times

ouchie!

2006-11-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

Reading this actually made me feel sort of sorry for Bill Gates....for a second.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Andy Ihnatko :: Avoid the loony Zune

wild horses

2006-11-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

I wore silver gloves and a dragonfly in my hair. The music pounded at my feet as we pushed our way across the dance floor. The punch was sweet and cold.

We left early and went to the beach instead. I held on to every moment, the salt smell of the air, the gardenias twined around my wrist. The way you draped your jacket around my bare shoulders.

Our kisses tasted of popsicles and seashells and longing. We looked into the water, cold and silvery. After you drove away, I pressed myself against my bedroom door, breathless, and already lonely.

'wild horses' (c) riain grey 2006 - do not reproduce without written permission

R.I.P.

2006-11-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

Thank you, for these and many, many others...

The Player
Gosford Park
Short Cuts
M.A.S.H.
Nashville
A Prairie Home Companion

You will be missed.

Robert Altman, 1925-2006

there is a god

2006-11-20T15:22:00.000-08:00

FOX EXECS NOT GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL, SAYS MURDOCH

"NEW YORK (AP) -- After a firestorm of criticism, News. Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that his has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson."

last one

2006-11-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

...maybe.

50 Science Fiction books meme
The most significant SF/F novels from 1953-2006 according to the SF Book Club. Bold the ones you have read, italicize those you started but never finished, put a minus next to the ones you hated, and put a star next to the ones you love.

* The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
-The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
* Dune, Frank Herbert
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
* A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
* Neuromancer, William Gibson
Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick
* The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley
* Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.
The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov
Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras
Cities in Flight, James Blish
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett
Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison
Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison
*The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester
Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany
*Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey
* Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
-The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson
The Forever War, Joe Haldeman
Gateway, Frederik Pohl
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, J.K. Rowling
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
*I Am Legend, Richard Matheson
Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin
Little, Big, John Crowley
* Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny
The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick
Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement
More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon
The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith
On the Beach, Nevil Shute
Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke
Ringworld, Larry Niven
Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys
The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien
*Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut
-Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson
Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner
The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester
Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein
Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock
-The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
Timescape, Gregory Benford
*To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose Farmer

why i love post secret

2006-11-16T17:17:00.000-08:00

http://postsecret.blogspot.com

the man they call jayne

2006-11-15T16:03:00.000-08:00

tonight's tv date: Day Break, starring Taye Diggs and (DUN!) Adam Baldwin! Hooray! The plot is a timely (get it? GET IT?) mash-up of '24' and 'Groundhog Day,' with Taye Diggs as a cop who keeps reliving the same day.

Early critics are skeptical if anyone will actually watch this show, as it bears the unfortunate burden of replacing Lost, which is on hiatus until January. Some reviews are promising, others...not so much.

Tom Shales of the Washington Post says it's "...TV tinged with surrealism, mysticism and an aura of murky, existential mystery" and notes Adam Baldwin's finest moment:

Baldwin gets the best line of tough-guy, noirish dialogue when he menaces Hopper with "You are itching for a toe tag, aren't you?"

USA Today pounds the timeslot, premise, and the two-hour pilot:

"...Unfortunately, spend two hours tonight with this murky, muddled serial, and you may already feel as if you've been trapped in this day for an eternity." D'oh!

On the other hand, SciFi.com gives the show an A-,not too shabby for a pilot episode, and calls the casting "impressive":

"Taye Diggs...is an ideal fit for Hopper, an imperfect but determined man who'll do what he has to to save those he cares about. The rest of the players are equally well cast, especially Victoria Pratt as Hopper's edgy partner, Adam Baldwin as his ex-partner and main foil and Moon Bloodgood as his grounded and beautiful girlfriend."

So, who knows...but I'll definately be watching. Set your DVRs!

Fox knows no shame

2006-11-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Via EW, this incredibly grotesque press release for an even grotesquer "show". I would expect this from OJ Simpson, but Fox's involvement comes as a genuine shock. And now if you would please excuse me, I need to go soak my eyeballs in bleach.

Things That Make Me Die Inside (Vol. 5) | Popwatch | Blog: Entertainment Weekly#more

skiffy fun

2006-11-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

ix sez: You've seen the Guardian's top 20 geek novels, right?

I hadn't, but it's a good list -

The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams : enh. i'm the only geek in the universe who didn't think this book was totally brilliant. i actually liked the movie better. i do want these, though..
*1984 -- George Orwell: obviously one of the most brilliant books ever written. I really like a lot of Orwell's work, actually, especially Down and Out in Paris and London and Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
*Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley : I don't really have anything to say here that hasn't been said many times before. Great book though.
*Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip K Dick: Do they? I love you, Ridley Scott. Philip K Dick, he's an okay fellow too.
*Neuromancer -- William Gibson: A friend of mine who claims to know William Gibson said that while he was writing this book, he (William, that is) holed himself up in his apartment for months without reading or watching movies, to keep his book from being influenced by outside stories. One day, sick to death of himself and the universe he had been immersed in for a year, he decided to go see the new movie from his favorite director. That director was Ridley Scott (I still love you, Ridley Scott!) and that movie was Blade Runner and William Gibson actually had to leave the theater because the movie was too close to what he was trying to write. I have no idea if this story is true, but it is a great story nonetheless.
*Dune -- Frank Herbert: Mind-stoppingly brilliant, I have read this book more times than I can count. Every time I have found something new. Scathingly fantastic.
I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov: I haven't read this...I know, I know. I can hear you, ix!!
Foundation -- Isaac Asimov: Ditto...
*The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett: Funny.
Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland
-Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson: As noted, I really didn't like this book. I love cyberpunk and all, but this just didn't do it for me.
Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons: Ick. I don't know, I just have problems with Alan Moore. I can't get into his stuff, I've tried. Maybe I should try again...
Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson: Haven't gotten around to this one yet.
Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks: I've always wanted to read this, but haven't yet. I like I(a)in Bank's writing a lot.
*Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein: Grok.
The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick
*American Gods -- Neil Gaiman: One of Gaiman's best, excepting his comic book work, which I just find so amazing. I quite liked 'Neverwhere' also.
*The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson: Love this book!
The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson: enh. Just never got the point of this one. I think I read some of it, it was too faux-trippy for me.
Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham: What, now? The only book of this list that I have completely never heard of.

I liked this list a lot, but there are a few other books that totally should be on here:

*Perdido St. Station-- China Mieville : Oh. My. God. Maybe the best science fiction novel ever written.
*The Demolished Man -- Alfred Bester: In which crime is unheard of, advertising helps a man commit murder and a telepathic detective is determined to catch him. When I first saw the previews for 'Minority Report,' I thought it was an adaptation of this book. The book is much, much, better, and does not star Tom Cruise.
*In the Garden of Iden -- Kage Baker: my new science fiction obsession. The Company hires operatives throughout history to help change the future. Almost impossible to describe. A completely lovely book.

I know there are more...thoughts?

Amazon's Best Books of 2006: Science Fiction & Fantasy

2006-11-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

Best Books of 2006: Science Fiction & Fantasy

I've only read *one* on this list, but these are all brand new, so I don't feel so bad.

I read 'Widdershins' and it was the best DeLint novel I had read in several years.

lit meme

2006-11-13T11:22:00.000-08:00

In 2005, Time magazine picked the 100 best English-language novels (1923-present). Mark the selections you have read in bold. If you liked it, add a star (*) in front of the title, if you didn't, give it a minus (-). Then, put the total number of books you've read.

The Adventures of Augie March - Saul Bellow
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
American Pastoral - Philip Roth
An American Tragedy - Theodore Dreiser
*Animal Farm - George Orwell poor Snowball!
Appointment in Samarra - John O'Hara
*Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume God bless Judy Blume - so many of us wouldn't have survived puberty without her.
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud
At Swim-Two-Birds - Flann O'Brien
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Beloved - Toni Morrison
The Berlin Stories - Christopher Isherwood
*The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
*Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy an amazing, brutal read - highly recommended!
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
The Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
Call It Sleep - Henry Roth
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger Franny and Zooey was better.
*A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess Care for a little of the old in and out?
The Confessions of Nat Turner - William Styron
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen
The Crying of Lot 49 - Thomas Pynchon I read 'V', which was really long and complex and not that enjoyable...sorry, Thomas Pynchon.
A Dance to the Music of Time - Anthony Powell
The Day of the Locust - Nathanael West
Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather Why haven't I read this?
A Death in the Family - James Agee
The Death of the Heart - Elizabeth Bowen
Deliverance - James Dickey
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
Falconer - John Cheever
The French Lieutenant's Woman - John Fowles Saw the movie...it was pretty good.
The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
Go Tell it on the Mountain - James Baldwin
*Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
*The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck Brilliant.
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon See The Crying of Lot 49, above.
*The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
The Heart of the Matter - Graham Greene
Herzog - Saul Bellow
Housekeeping - Marilynne Robinson
A House for Mr. Biswas - V.S. Naipaul
I, Claudius - Robert Graves
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace I tried, I really did.
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
Light in August - William Faulkner
*The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
*Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Might be the most beautifully constructed novel of all time. Love it! Read it!
*Lord of the Flies - William Golding Those pesky kids...
*The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
Loving - Henry Green
Lucky Jim - Kingsley Amis
The Man Who Loved Children - Christina Stead
Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
Money - Martin Amis
The Moviegoer - Walker Percy
*Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf A beautifully written novel. I can never decide which one to recommend to new V. Woolf readers - this or the equally sublime To the Lighthouse.
Naked Lunch - William Burroughs Two words: giant cockroaches. Gross.
Native Son - Richard Wright
*Neuromancer - William Gibson
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro
*1984 - George Orwell
On the Road - Jack Kerouac Not as good as 'Visions of Cody'.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
-The Painted Bird - Jerzy Kosinski I liked this book okay until I found out that he made it all up.
Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov
A Passage to India - E.M. Forster
Play It As It Lays - Joan Didion
Portnoy's Complaint - Philip Roth
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
Rabbit, Run - John Updike
Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow enh.
The Recognitions - William Gaddis
Red Harvest - Dashiell Hammett
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
*Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut BRILLIANT. I like 'Welcome to the Monkey House the best, though.
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson I am the only sci-fi reader in the universe who didn't like this book. I loved 'The Diamond Age' and 'Zodiac'...
The Sot-Weed Factor - John Barth
*The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner Profoundly beautiful. I just love Faulker. But I wish 'As I Lay Dying' was on this list as well. What a heartbreaking, amazing book.
The Sportswriter – Richard Ford
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold – John le Carre
*The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
*To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee Scout, Atticus Finch, and Boo Radley...
*To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf I love this book.
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Ubik - Philip K. Dick
Under the Net - Iris Murdoch
Under the Volcano - Malcolm Lowry
Watchmen - Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons Why isn't Maus on this list? It's much better that the Watchmen. Or even V for Vendetta...
White Noise - Don DeLillo A wonderful, wonderful book.
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys

I read 36 of these bad boys...not too bad...

Crying Child Not Included - Wonkette

2006-11-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

for those of us who haven't mocked rick santorum enough this week.

look, ma! new blog!

2006-11-10T13:42:00.000-08:00

new blog look. love? hate? discuss.

This would have made for an even more interesting election

2006-11-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

bwaahahahahahahahha!

GREEN ARROW – TOTAL FUCKING COMMUNIST
Green Arrow is a loose cannon, politically speaking. He’s somewhere to the left of Alec Baldwin on the political spectrum and he’s armed to the teeth with those crazy-ass arrows of his. Green Arrow is an unapologetic leftist. He's always bitching about how the Justice League are a bunch of fascists and railing against “The Man.” He’s soft on drugs – his sidekick Speedy was a frickin’ junkie! An advocate of redistribution of wealth and his own pinko version of justice, this modern day Robin Hood wants to take your hard-earned money and give it to some soup kitchen or something. Go smoke another joint, hippy!

excerpted from Dave's Long Box: ELECTION DAY 2006 - WHOSE SIDE IS YOUR FAVORITE SUPERHERO ON?

a frothy mix

2006-11-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

and here we have my favorite election result.

The Stranger | Seattle | Slog: The Stranger's Blog | Rick Santorum

saving miss mars

2006-11-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

I know have been neglecting this little blog. Below, read my impassioned plea to save Veronica Mars, and then go write your own!

i am a 27 year old woman, right in the middle of your target demo, and I like the CW. I think with some tweaking, the CW could become a great network for TV watchers like me and my friends. Here are my suggestions:

1.) Renew Veronica Mars, and give it a new season next year. A lot of people I know won't watch VM, because they think it's going to be cancelled, and don't want to invest emotionally in it.

2.) Promote VM and Supernatural. Supernatural is a great show - just like Buffy and Angel were. It is also perfect for your demo. My husband and I both love it - I think it has wide crossover appeal. Promote promote promote!

3.) Drop the godawful green "free to be" ad campaign. That green is really offputting, and the ads don't really mean anything. I would try for something darker, more edgy - the tweeners these days are more savvy than that. They are very aware of media and advertising - don't insult their (or our) intelligence.

4.) I don't mind the Aerie girls, but I do think they're offputting to most GG fans, who are older than you think they are. Especially with GG struggling so much creatively. Please consider adding some crossover appeal for older, savvier fans.

5.) Get rid of 7th Heaven. It doesn't fit your demo anymore, and it's had it's run. Move on to younger, hipper shows.

6.) If you're going to do reality, get something else that will go with ANTM. That's a guilty pleasure for me. The other reality shows that work for me: Project Runway (SO GOOD), Dog the Bounty Hunter or whatever it's called, 'Made' on MTV - create something like that that is edgy and different.

7.) Syndicate the shows that appeal to your viewers - Buffy, Angel, Felicity, Dawson's Creek. How about Wonderfalls, Freaks & Geeks, and My So Called Life, too? Show Supernatural and VM marathons, and cross promote your own shows.

8.) If you're gonna do news, do it MTV style - edgy, hip. We like Jon Stewart better than real news.

9.) Work on creating hip advertising. USA and TNT have both done a great job taking syndicated shows and promoting them brilliantly.

I like the CW. Listen to your fans and I guarantee they will watch.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

2006-10-10T17:16:00.000-07:00

As if I don't have enough going on right now, what with a cross country move and a new job and all, I have just discovered that my entire email and website has gone kerblooie. It is all gone - website, email access, domain, hosting, all of it. Oh my god. So, if you are needing to reach me by email, please put a comment on this here blog and I will write back soonest from my private email.

Again I say, GAH!

i wear the cheese

2006-09-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

it does not wear me

Which Buffy Episode Are You?

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on kink and the beginning of such

2006-09-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

I think I always knew that I was kinky, although I didn't have a word for it. The first obvious clue was my utter fascination/obsession with the movie Labyrinth. My fixation was a common one in my age group; it was not how much I liked the film but rather how much I liked it when Jareth threatened and bullied and attempted to seduce a teenage girl. Take this statement for example: "I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I shall be your slave." Look, Mom - David Bowie is talking about power exchange in a clearly sexual context. Can I go see Jim Henson's next movie?

I started to really figure out my kinky self as a young teenager, with my well-read copy of Changing Bodies, Changing Lives, the YA version of the feminist classic Our Bodies, Ourselves. The truly brilliant thing about the book was that it had excerpts throughout, written by actual teenagers, about their own sexual experiences. I vividly remember one girl's candid description of a fantasy she had, about a strange man grabbing her on the street and raping her in the alley*. And I read and reread the story another girl told of riding through a carnival fun-house with a strange boy, and letting him feel her up in the darkness.

*Thinking about it now, it is an amazing and wonderful thing how non-judgemental the book was on this topic. The author(s) talked about fantasy as being a safe way to explore scary ideas, and emphasized that a person can have a fantasy about being raped without actually wanting to be raped. I suspect this book helped me more than I've ever realized.

By middle school, I was having my own secret fantasies, about boys I liked sneaking into my room at night. No imagined bondage, no spanking, nothing like that. Just a boy, and the key to my door, and the sound of the door closing behind him. I was also enjoying the incredibly detailed* sex scenes in Jean M. Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series. Of particular note was the scene where our handsome hero is carefully and gently--but determinedly--deflowering a fifteen year old girl. The sentence about her frightened eyes staring up at him as he casually unlaced her blouse was the direct cause of my first orgasm, years before any boys would manage to make me come.

*and, I realize now, without shame in the physical act of sex. People fucking, and seeming to like it! How novel. Jean M Auel is probably part of the reason I starting writing porn in the first place. That's weird to think about.

For most of high school I was able to suppress any naughty feelings that seemed too, well, naughty, and just have fun making out with my boyfriends. And when you're in love with a sweet boy and you're 16 years old it's pretty easy to go with the flow. It didn't come up again (so to speak, ha ha) until I met a troublemaker at - where else? - summer school. He had a safety pin in his ear and wore a lot of black and held me down on the bed when we fucked. Of course, he was also an intellectual black hole, and I doubt he knew why he held me down.

But I was starting to know.

a real post

2006-09-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

...sort of.

i've had bloggers block for awhile now. it's a lot of pressure to come up with all those words. what i'm starting to figure out (to which the cosmos says 'duh') is that there is all sorts of stuff going on in the back of my mind that has been too painful/too scary/too freaky/too FUCKING WEIRD to really get into. and this of course creates a profound sense of writer's block. have you ever tried to write about sex when you're having a hard time (no pun intended, ha ha) just having sex with a total emotional break down? no? well, i don't recommend it.

so, herewith, i will attempt a little more honesty in this here blog. in a word, i am having some emotional "issues". it's been a long year for me and my darling; one of the first casulties was the buttloads (no pun intended) of kinky sex. once he wanted to again, i couldn't, because i was too busy trying to understand those deep, desperate feelings of abandonment that the lack of kink seemed to bring to the surface.

also there is the whole other matter of the other blog that some of you may have seen if you ever went to my profile. that was supposed to be the place to talk about this stuff - but i think that the personal fragmentation is part of the problem. i need to not banish my kinky nature to some emotional cellar. so i will be moving things around a bit and incorporating that stuff here.

ok, so when do i get to levitate during sex?

2006-09-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Which Buffy Musical Song Are You?

Under Your Spell...
Take this quiz!

Quizilla |
Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

arr!

2006-09-06T20:33:00.001-07:00

You Are A Pirate!

What Type Of Swashbuckler Are You?
brought to you by Maddog Varuka & Dawg Brown

remind me to tell you my hinton battle story sometime

2006-09-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

this was a surprisingly fun quiz, despite the lameness (and slight brokeness) of this graphic.

Sweet
You scored 3 mystical, 4 suave and 4 evil.

Link: The What Buffy Character Are You? Test written by catwrangler on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

sick as the proverbial dog

2006-09-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

It figures that Friday having been my last day at work, I would immediately be laid up with a heinous cold. Cuz, you know, it's not like I have anything important to do this week...just pack up an entire apartment. Gah!

how it happened, more or less.

2006-08-31T14:13:00.000-07:00

from the essay goodbye to all that by joan didion

Of course it might have been some other city, had circumstances been different and the time been different and had I been different, might have been Paris or Chicago or even San Francisco, but because I am talking about myself I am talking here about New York. That first night I opened my window on the bus into town and watched for the skyline, but all I could see were the wastes of Queens and big signs that said MIDTOWN TUNNEL THIS LANE and then a flood of summer rain (even that seemed remarkable and exotic, for I had come out of the West where there was no summer rain), and for the next three days I sat wrapped in blankets in a hotel room air conditioned to 35 degrees and tried to get over a cold and a high fever. It did not occur to me to call a doctor, because I knew none, and although it did occur to me to call the desk and ask that the air conditioner be turned off, I never called, because I did not know how much to tip whoever might come—was anyone ever so young? I am here to tell you that someone was. All I could do during those years was talk long-distance to the boy I already knew I would never marry in the spring. I would stay in New York, I told him, just six months, and I could see the Brooklyn Bridge from my window. As it turned out the bridge was the Triborough, and I stayed eight years.

sad, but happy, but strange

2006-08-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

"'Thirdly and finally', he said, 'I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT'. He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. 'I regret to announce that - though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you - this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!"

It's like breaking up with a boyfriend who you like a lot but just can't stay with. I know, logically, that I can move back to NYC whenever I want. I know that there will be other homes, other friends, other places to make mine. And I know that my hometown holds family and friends who will be so happy that I am back.

But it's hard to leave New York. There's this pull here, a current that is hard to escape and even harder to explain. And once you've invested the effort, the time, the money, the frustration - once you've become a True New Yorker, it is very hard to imagine going back.

Nevertheless. On Thursday morning I fly back to the city of my childhood in all it's glory.

Wish me luck.

must...have...coffee

2006-07-11T09:23:00.000-07:00

You Are a Double Espresso

Hey Energizer Bunny Girl! Do you ever slow down? You're a mix of high energy and ambition, perfectly matched with strong espresso. When you want something you get it - by any means possible. You're driven, determined, and no nonsense. Which is just how you like your java.

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

a friday ficlet

2006-07-07T12:48:00.000-07:00

A fifteen minute ficlet
written in fifteen minutes (duh) and based on this word.

Fandom: Buffy/Angel
Title: My Own Man

Tell you this, anyways: I’ll be damned if I’m going to be kept on a leash, the little pet-able puppy. They might not think I have it in me, but I can still bite. Figuratively speaking, anyway.

So after patrolling with the little miss (who’s as self-righteous as ever about the whole thing), I decide it’s time to be a real boy. Head off to the bike for a last minute trip to L.A.

It’s not so much that I hate Angel (though I do, don’t get me wrong). It’s just bloody irritating the way his fixates. Two years and three boys later (including multiple filthy acts with yours truly) and he still thinks she’s coming back to him. And maybe she would, if he wasn’t off being Captain Broodypants, Boy Wonder. Which is why I’m on my way for a visit. Can’t have him sniffing around for the next hundred years of my life.

And maybe this will finally break her out of that corpse she’s dragging around, the icy shell that she lives in now. Maybe she’ll fight for something for a change. She’ll hate me for it, her and her little Scoobie gang. I don’t guess I’ll be seeing the little bit, or hanging around the Summers house anymore.

But that’s part of the point, innit? Be worth it, to feel one hundred and forty-eight dead, wooden years sliding into his chest. To watch it end, the way it’ll end for me one day soon.

I’ll be my own man, for a change.

Arrrr paarrrrrt two

2006-07-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

ktbuffy says that today is Pirate Friday, and who am I to argue?

Therefore, we must all

1.) learn how to talk like a pirate...

2.) ...so that we'll be ready for this, and then

3.) move to Seattle, if not already there, plus

4.) get a pirate fish screensaver, and

5.) admit our undying love for Captain Jack Sparrow.

that is all.

have you been touched by His noodly appendange?

2006-07-07T08:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.venganza.org/

Arr!

2006-07-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

In honor of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest...

Riain Grey, your pirate name is
Capn Horny Heart

What is YOUR pirate name?

Hee! Kinda sounds like a naughty breakfast cereal. Which basically sums me up as a person.

new and improved

2006-07-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

i've just done a redesign of my website! Please pop over, take a look, and let me know what you think!

While you're there, you can read my stories and flashers, look at the books my stories are in and learn more about me.

Come on, you know you want to!

these are just too good

2006-07-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

i had to take the test again. i like this answer, too.

take the WHAT BAD BOOK ARE YOU test.

and go to mewing.net. not as good as reading a good book, but way better than a bad one.

hee!

2006-07-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

okay, while I don't agree with the sentiment expressed, this is an awfully funny thing, just the same...

take the WHAT BAD BOOK ARE YOU test.
and go to mewing.net. not as good as reading a good book, but way better than a bad one.

love is never having to pee alone

2006-07-05T14:02:00.000-07:00

courtesty of mimi smartypants, the most brilliant blogger working today:

LOVE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO PEE ALONE

Nora appears at my bedside at 1:30 in the morning, stage-whispering "Mommy" over and over again and scaring me half to death because she is not so much a get-out-of-bed kid as she is a lie-there-and-yell-for-assistance kid. What could the problem be? "I have to go potty," she whispers dramatically. She has to go potty. She got out of bed and walked past two toilets in order to tell me this.

Me: Uhhhh great, then go. That's why you are a big girl with a big-girl bed.
Nora: Do you want to keep me company?
Me: Not really!
Nora: Okay. I will come back and tell you how it went.
Me: [some noise that roughly translates to oh my fucking god]

A few minutes later she is back with the compelling news that she had lots of pee-pee, probably because she had been sleeping all night! And the milk from dinner got turned into pee-pee! This happens inside your body! And then she's all like, "Mommy, move over a little so I can lie down and talk to you" and I lay down the law about going back to her own bed, NOW, because I am not really in the mood for a small person's chatty midnight monologue...

i love this woman so, so very much. go read the rest now!

it kinda figures

2006-07-05T06:35:00.000-07:00

i'm lusty, and i'm just my type!

Greed:	Very Low
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	High
Pride:	Medium

Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

The Fetish Chest is open for business

2006-07-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

They're here!

Secret Slaves, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and Christopher Pierce, and featuring one of my stories!

Ultimate Undies, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and Christopher Pierce

Sexiest Soles, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel and Christopher Pierce

Five Girls sold to MBNE6!

2006-06-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to say that my story Five Girls has been chosen to appear in Maxim Jakubowksi's annual erotica anthology, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, Volume 6!

This is particularly exciting, because the piece was a bit odd and I was afraid that maybe it wasn't a good fit. It's also very cool because Maxim was the first editor to pay me for my fiction writing. Actually that's a funny story. I was sitting about, minding my own business, when I get this strange email about this book, which I have never heard of, asking for address confirmation for contributor's copies and payment. I write back, and say, I have no clue what you are talking about, are you thinking of publishing a story of mine? and Maxim says, I'm sorry, there must have been a mix-up in my records, because I have it that you agreed to have the piece reprinted.

At this point Maxim expresses his sincere apologies if I didn't want the piece reprinted, but the book is actually ALREADY IN PRINT, so is that okay?

And I say to myself, hmmm, let me think. A well-known editor found one of my stories online (at CleanSheets, as it happens), has put it in a book, and now wants to send me a check and a free copy of said book. Um, okay! It was completely exciting not to mention that since the book had gone to press several months before, I didn't have to wait six months to see it in print.

This will be my third appearance in this series, and I am just pleased as punch. And in a blatant bit of self promotion, here are the other two, just in case you feel like buying some good porn.

Secret Slaves

2006-06-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Rachel Kramer Bussel's new anthology Secret Slaves, which features my story Prix Fixe, hits the bookstores on Saturday. On top of that, I've received a lovely mention from Rachel in her introduction:

"...Riain Grey perfectly captures both sides of the bondage equation "Prix Fixe," where a slave and her master show how perfectly in sync they are. "When you open the door I am kneeling with your drink between my chained hands. My fingers and toes are tingling, my ass full and hot," says her horny slave as she scurries to do his bidding, turning herself on unbearably in the process. Her master does not take this woman's raw need lightly, either—it's not a power trip for the sake of exerting power, it's much stronger, and when he says, "The trust in her electric eyes feeds me," you know they've made a kinky love match."

Wow!

I'm also delighted to announce that I will be one reading at Rachel's erotic reading series In the Flesh. I hope to see you there! Visit the blog for more info!

from the mouth of fans

2006-06-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

somehow i seem to have completely missed this fan phenomenon (fanomenon?) . how, i don't know. it's great though, it's like a geek version of 'take back the night'!

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,71084-0.html?tw=wn_index_23

strange...

2006-06-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

there seems to have been some sort of time distortion field that has rendered it impossible for this blog to accept new content. how very odd.

i am back now.

that is all.

Oops! She did it again!

2006-05-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

D'oh!

A reader alerted The New York Times to at least three portions of "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life," by Kaavya Viswanathan, that are similar to passages in the novel "Can You Keep a Secret?," by Sophie Kinsella.

Help send Ben Burgis to Clarion West

2006-05-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

As some of you may remember, I applied to Clarion West this year. I did not get in, alas, but this fellow did and now he needs a little help.

Clarion is NOT a cheap proposition. Tuition is $3,900, which includes room and board, but there are still travel expenses, lots of meals, computer equipment, time needed off work, and other expensive things. All told it can easily run up to 6K. So Ben has set up a donation page where you can PayPal him a few bucks to reduce expenses.

Please consider supporting Ben. A few dollars can go a long way. Clarion West is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and he deserves to go in style!

(Thanks to La Gringa for the link!)

If you live in England

2006-04-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Than you get to watch Anthony Stewart Head guest star on Doctor Who!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/episodes/2006/schoolreunion.shtml

Lucky!!

BWAHAHAHAHA!

2006-04-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

http://community.livejournal.com/fangganglite/7636.html

Make sure to watch the whole thing. Just brilliant!

Some other links of interest, because I myself have nothing to say:

This blog entry is an amazing analysis of mass market publishing, from somebody at Tor. A must read for aspiring novelists.

Also, make sure to run over and visit Naomi Novik, brand-spanking-new novelist of the utterly delightful Temeraire series. I would say more, except that I'm working on an audition book review for the Green Man Review. So you'll just have to wait.

And for those young adult novelists thinking of stealing material from other young adult novelists, just don't do it.

go forth and purchase, my children

2006-04-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

This anthology features one of my stories and will be out in July of this year! It has a cool cover! And you can even buy it ahead of time!

Yes, that's right, this is shameless self-promotion. But seriously, this book looks pretty cool. It's edited by the fabulous Rachel Kramer Bussel, too, so you know it will be good!

I will be sharing the ToC with the likes of Tara Alton, Simon Sheppard and Zaedryn Meade. Rockin'!

woefully behind

2006-04-26T06:43:00.000-07:00

Where the hell have I been?? I keep thinking that maybe this blog will update itself. So far, not so much.

A few quick pieces of news:

1. I'm delighted to announce that I will be reading porn at In The Flesh this August! In The Flesh is an amazing reading series curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel here in New York City. Cupcakes and dirty stories will be served. More details to come!

2. The lovely Tara Alton is my featured guest at my website this month. Go here to read one of her very naughty stories!

More soon!

kermit

2006-04-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know.
You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems.
Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green.
Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

so true

2006-04-10T09:09:00.000-07:00

You Are a Classic Martini

You are a sophisticated drinker, who knows that simple quality is over-rated.
You're a knowledgeable drunk, but sometimes you're a know-it-all when you're blasted.

You should never: Drink and gossip. You tend to forget who's standing right behind you!

Your ideal party: Has a real bartender. But no one mixes a better drink than you.

Your drinking soulmates: those with a Chocolate Martini personality

Your drinking rivals: those with a Margarita Martini personality

What Flavor Martini Are You?

numb

2006-04-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

Your Theme Song is Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd

"There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves."

You haven't been feeling a lot lately, and you think that's a good thing.
The comfortable part is nice... but you should really work on numb.

What's Your Theme Song?

ephemera gone wild

2006-04-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Favorite blog of the day: http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/. Beautiful and strange and glorious.

a real post

2006-04-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Checking in from crazy-land, where I am currently a full-time resident. I'm very happy to be almost done with the planning for a poetry workshop I'm leading tomorrow. I think it's going to be a wicked workshop and I'm really looking forward to it. However, it was (is) a large amount of work which I totally underestimated.

I'm thinking I must have been feeling fried anyways, since I went to bed at 9:00PM last night and slept through until 8:00 this morning. That felt good but did nothing for my productivity. Now I'm awake and done with the workshop planning and ready to get back on track with my own thing.

Got another very nice rejection letter today. It bothered me even less than the last one. Either I am developing a thicker skin, or I am just aware that the story in question is not my best work. I think I'm going to put it in the trunk for awhile and start working on other things.

Had a horrible nightmare about Clarion West last night. I'm trying so hard not to fixate, since the likelihood of my getting in is teeny-tiny (hey, especially since one of the stories I sent in is being routinely rejected - d'oh!). It's hard not to daydream about it. I'm trying to keep at least one foot on the ground, so that I'm not broken-hearted if I don't get in. After all, there's always next year!

this is better

2006-04-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

than most of the actual series was.

fang-gang lite: the good ol' days at Angel Investigations.

one ring to, uh...

2006-04-06T08:19:00.000-07:00

courtesy of la gringa, the best LoTR promo ever.

or, you could cause yourself extreme psychological pain and go here instead.

w00t

2006-04-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

a lot more than you ever wanted to know about the term w00t. some people have too much time on their hands.

the best thing about having a pen-name

2006-04-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

I'm ALSO a hot sex machine who will do anything for sex!

Considering I'm an erotica writer, these are both frighteningly accurate.

heh

2006-04-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

I'm a sexy geek who will do anything for sex! What about you?

Find the first letter in your first name:

A-Lesbian
B-Gorgeous
C-Pretty
D-Jewish
E-Christian
F-Retarded
G-Boyish
H-Preppy
I-Girly
J-Gothic
K-Beautiful
L-Popular
M-Slutty
N-Gangster
O-Hot
P-Gay
Q-Punky
R-Hot
S-Sexy
T-Emo
U-Ugly
V-Wonderful
W-Geeky
X-Bitchy
Y-Under-appreciated
Z-Over-appreciated

Now the third letter in your middle name(if you dont have one use your last name):

A-Slut
B-Boy
C-Bitch
D-Obsesser
E-Sex machine
F-Retard
G-Queen
H-Jew
I-Girl
J-Goth
K-Nerd
L-Motherfucker
M-Beauty queen
N-Geek
O-Whore
P-Punk
Q-Crackwhore
R-Alcoholic
S-Butthole
T-Fucker
U-Prince (ess)
V-Jackass
W-Babe
X-Scaredy-cat
Y-Coward
Z-Chocoholic

Now What Color Is the Shirt You Are Wearing:

Red- Who's Good With My Hands
Blue- Who Looks At Porn 24/7
Orange- Who Likes It In The Butt
Yellow- Who Wants To Have Sex With You
Green- Who will do anything for Sex
Pink- Who Will Do Anything For Crack
Purple- Who Will Rock Your World
Black- Who Likes Bondage
White- Who Masturbates At Work

sometimes it's a good thing

2006-04-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

I got the nicest rejection letter last night. The editor was kind and wished me luck placing the story elsewhere and welcomed future stories of mine. You can't do any better than that - at least without getting the story accepted. So yay!

And, I did the brave thing which was to send that story right back out. So am now waiting for rejection letter #2.

Today I have a busy day - my normal work things plus planning for a poetry workshop I'm helping lead on Saturday. Exciting!

yeah, i can see it

2006-04-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.
You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

to bravely go where no writer has gone before

2006-04-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

...while stile splitting the infinitive.

Having finished my Clarion West application in a dazed, sweaty state, I had thought to give myself a little break on the writing front. But, we all know that getting off the horse - especially when the horse is cantering along relatively well - is a terrible, terrible idea.

So today I checked out some speculative fiction magazines, made a list of publications I wanted to try for, girded my loins (whatever that means) and submitted a story to Lone Star Stories. I'll let you know how it goes.

In other news, I'm pleased as punch with my first mini-fan fic, and may try to do more in that direction. I'm also working on a flash piece that needs to be exactly 1,010 words (for a contest, natch) and getting ready to start on a urban retelling of the Snow Queen.

So it's a good week so far.

fictional expletives

2006-04-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

holy barnacles, this site is just too frakkin' awesome. you bet your bippy that i'll be back, bitchcakes! so don't be a rassin-frassin smeghead, or i'll have to kick your nitka.

i had no idea

2006-04-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

that james tiptree was a woman. how embarassing - must immediately buy one of her books.

I am:

James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon)

In the 1970s she was perhaps the most memorable, and one of the most popular, short story writers. Her real life was as fantastic as her fiction.

Which science fiction writer are you?

my very first ficlet

2006-04-03T13:15:00.000-07:00

and my first piece of fan-fiction.

the challenge: you have fifteen minutes to write a complete ficlet, taking place in any fandom, using a given word as a theme.

try it for yourself at 15 minute ficlets.

Fandom: BtVS
Spoilers: through Season Six
Pairing: Willow/Tara, sorta
Title: dunno, i suck at titles

It wasn’t just that she would never see Tara again. Never touch her skin or feel her energy sparkling. That was bad enough. It was that she didn’t understand where Tara was.

She knew where Tara wasn’t. Tara wasn’t in the earth, even if Giles did say that it was all connected. The earth, the air, the magicks, the energy. But Tara wasn’t part of that. Not under her stone by the water, not in the stained carpet in Willow’s room. Not in the sky, or in the window, or in Tara’s favorite sweater. If she had still been part of those places, Willow would have found her.

During the good minutes, Willow saw her, smiling, happy. No fear, no doubt. But then, inevitably, Willow’s jealousy and selfishness put an end to that, because how could Tara be happy if Willow wasn’t there? And then hating herself a little bit more, she would try to reinstate Tara to her heavenly grace, or at least to a universe without shrimp.

So it went, day after day, Willow sending Tara to heaven, and then just as quickly ripping her out again. How was she supposed to know which answer was the right one? The right place?

Maybe it would be better if she could just know, for sure, where Tara was. But she doubted it.

my continuing obsession

2006-04-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

with Spuffy is getting embarassing.

but this set of stories is really, really good and really, really hot! short vignettes (named after nail polish colors, i love it!) detail Buffy & Spike's sordid affair. NOT FOR ALL TASTES. but right up my alley.

holy crap

2006-03-31T10:21:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-31T10:09:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-31T08:13:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-30T12:36:00.000-08:00

...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

2006-03-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

...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

2006-03-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

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

falling off the blog wagon

2006-03-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-09T12:17:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-08T15:19:00.000-08:00

cupcakes make everything better.

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

have you ever seen anything more brilliant than this??

two beautiful poems

2006-03-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

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

2006-03-01T08:11:00.000-08:00

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

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

feh

2006-02-28T09:44:00.000-08:00

to the organizers of the New York Comicon I say feh, meh, phooie and pthhllphf! Having pre-registered (and paid) in October, mostly to get the free Serenity toy I was promised, we arrived on Saturday only to be told that we could not get in. On Saturday. At All. Despite having already registered. Months before.

After being shuffled around to five different people, none of whom knew what was really going on, we gave up in disgust and went to Midtown Comics instead. Much less frustrating and a better financial investment as well. The New York Comicon can bite me. Bastards.

the things i never told you

2006-02-24T12:59:00.000-08:00

i named a disease after you. little black car disease, which is when you see a car that reminds you so much of your ex’s that you think he is coming to see you and take it all back.

i stole your leather jacket because it smelled like smoke and french fries and home.

i remember crumpling into a ball of pain the day you left me. your voice crackled and rasped on the telephone. i didn’t leave my room for three days.

i can still feel your arms around me. it’s like being held by a ghost. only worse.

'the things i never told you' (c) riain grey 2006. do not reproduce without written permission.

wtf?

2006-02-23T09:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0217062contract1.html

This particular piece of sociology almost defies description. I can only urge you, as The Hot Librarian urged me, to go and read the whole thing yourself.

If you are like me, you will then sit, stunned and horrified, staring blankly at your computer screen and trying to figure out what is wrong with the human race.

I'm actually not even sure which part of this story is the worst. Is it the part where a man kidnapped his wife? Or the part where said man then raped his wife? Or is it the part where we discover his "contract" regarding "wifely duties"? Perhaps it is the part where we discover that said wife - kidnapped, raped, and abused - NEVER SIGNED THE DAMN THING?

So exactly how did this thing come about? Reading between the lines, this "contract" (I use the word loosely) is clearly a Dominant / submissive contract. It is thoughtful, carefully written, and specific. It seems to even be trying to accomodate various aspects of this couple's marriage. Their KIDS, for example - who will no doubt be needing therapy very, very soon.

This actually makes the situation more frightening to me. I am all for sexual freedom, and if a couple wants to sit down and hammer out a contract and both sign their names to it, that's fine with me. I don't care what the terms are, as long as both parties understand what it is they are agreeing to (and, of course, realize that such a contract is not legally binding and may be broken or revised at any time).

What bothers me in this case, aside from the fact that this guy is a total asshat rapist and control freak, is the unfortunate light that is now being shed on the concept of contractual dominance. I've comtemplated the idea of it, but ultimately have decided that it's not for me. Still, there are couples who feel that it works for them, or that it's hot, or whatever their reasoning may be.

This jack-ass and his jack-assed contract are like priests who rape little boys. People hear about it and decide that priests are gay and that therefore gays rape little boys. Now people will think that the BDSM community allows for spousal abuse. No. No, it doesn't. What this man did is not kink. It's rape.

I say again: WTF??

it's so true

2006-02-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

breakfast

2006-02-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

Hannah bit into the orange. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. The drops of juice on her lips mesmerized me. All I could think about was pushing my cock into her. I cleaned off the kitchen table in record time. She was on her back in seconds, her legs spread for me. Her mouth was warm and her tiny noises drove me crazy. By the time I shoved into her she was wet and panting for it. Juices squirted out of her when she came, so much sweeter than the orange I could taste on her breath.

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

send/receive

2006-02-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

She clicks the button again, her heart pounding. Will he write today? It bothers her that it matters. After all, they will meet on Sunday as planned, whether he writes or not. He warned her about this addiction to suspense. He told her that he writes for his pleasure, not hers. Still, she shivers in hopeful anticipation. The words that spell out what he’ll do to her make her tremble. Tied. Collar. Dog. Candle. Whip. When his next mail finally arrives, she will gasp in relief, grateful and frightened at the same time.

'send/receive' (c) riain grey 2006 - do not reproduce without written permission

trivia

2006-02-15T08:25:00.000-08:00

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Riain Grey!

The Aztec Indians of Mexico believed Riain Grey would protect them from physical harm, and so warriors used her to decorate their battle shields!
If you don't get out of bed on the same side you got in, you will have Riain Grey for the rest of the day.
The most dangerous form of Riain Grey is the bicycle.
While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes dressed up as Riain Grey.
Riain Grey can run sixty-five kilometres an hour - that's really fast!
Riain Grey has three eyelids.
Riain Grey can fly at an average speed of fifteen kilometres an hour.
Riain Grey was first discovered by Alexander the Great in India, and introduced to Europe on his return.
A Riain Greyometer is used to measure Riain Grey!
California is the biggest exporter of Riain Grey in the world!

this year

2006-02-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

This year, instead of candy or chocolates, I got a pair of pants. Pants that fit, that weren’t too tight. Pants that made me feel the way I used to, before the baby. I wore them home, enjoying the lusty glances that lingered on my ass. I showed off for my husband. “The pants look great,” he said. “But they’re gonna look better in a minute,” he continued, leading me into the bedroom. He was so right. Afterwards, I ate as many chocolates as I wanted.

'this year' (c) riain grey 2006 - do not reproduce without written permission

the full monty

2005-11-21T11:21:00.000-08:00

French Guard
I'm French! Why do think I have this outrageous
accent, you silly king-a?!

What Monty Python Character are you?
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