Thought Patterns

What a crazy day.

Lorna got out of the car to deliver a package. There were three barking dogs dancing around her but she'd met them before, just not all at once. She put the package on a table on the porch, where she usually leaves them, then turned to go. One of the dogs, the one that actually lived there, bit her in the back of her leg. The skin was barely broken but she's got one heck of a bruise.

I was wearing a button up shirt over a sleeveless tee. I had some errands to run so I took off the over shirt. As I took it off, I whacked and scraped my hand against the door jamb. Let me tell you, I about hurled my toenails. My poor pinky finger took the brunt of it. My pinkies are short and crooked. Now with it swollen and red, it looks quite strange.

Lorna used the ice pack first. She said sitting on it was very very cold! Once she was done, and it wasn't so cold, I used it. My finger is very sensitive to touch and earlier I couldn't handle the ice.

She grunts each time she sits down and I wince each time I accidentally use my little finger on the keyboard. Fun fun fun.

The Golden Crown Literary Society's short list was announced yesterday. A "short list", also called the "finalists", is made by tallying the scores from the judges and listing the top X number from the nominees. For example, there were 22 nominees for "Debut Author". The short list is 8 names.

Oh, and Paula Offutt is one of them.

Wait, *I* made the short list?

Yep! I did I did! Last night I was kinda bummed because the book wasn't short listed for the Lesbian Romance category. There were FIFTY nominees in that category and it was up against greats such as Karin Kallmaker's Finders Keepers and Lynn Ames' Heartsong. Then Lori L. Lake emailed me to offer congratulations and, in the course of other emails, reminded me of the high number of nominations for Debut Author. I felt much better after that.

Congratulations to all the finalists. Lesbian fiction is growing and we all, readers and writers alike, are responsible.

Linkages:
Golden Crown Literary Society - list of nominees - list of finalists - GCLS Convention

There be power in 'em.

Was cruising folkses blogs today and visited Irysangel (aka Jill Myles). She has a post up titled "LiveJournal Hivemind, help!" With a title like that, I just had to see what she wanted (although I am not part of the LiveJournal Hivemind, fer shur)

As folks helped her out, they gave links to various sites and I am just droolin' like mad!

Synonyms24.com - whoa, dudes. "Welcome to synonyms24.com. This is a collection of more than 100 000 english synonyms. You can search for english synonyms by typing in a word above or by browsing through the synonyms." How cool is that? I had fun there, looking up various words, following thoughts and concepts along the way. Awesome.

The Phrontistery, Compendium of Lost Words - "Welcome to the Compendium of Lost Words, a component of The Phrontistery. The Compendium lists over 400 of the rarest modern English words - in fact, ones that have been entirely absent from the Internet, including all online dictionaries, until now. By revealing the existence of these words online, I do not necessarily promote their revival, but I do encourage an appreciation of the flexibility of English vocabulary. In theory, the Compendium will be the only web page on which each of these words occurs in its proper English context." You must check out this site. The words are just amazing. And you can use a few and people think you actually know something! Seriously, though, some of these will be perfect for this one character I have. Be sure to check out the links in the sidebar.

I always use WordWeb to get the meaning of a word and possible synonyms. Now, though, if I am not quite happy with the results, I can hop over to the Synonyms24 site.

Greetings! No, I wasn't sucked into an alternative alien universe where they used me for their bizarre and somewhat kinky experiments on middle-aged humans of the lesbian persuasion. I have merely been sucked in the that alternative universe known as Real Life. You know, THAT alternative universe we try so hard to avoid yet, we still got bite marks on our collective asses.

I am writing again, slowly, not surely, but it is there. I think about my projects a lot, usually at the oddest times. But I open up a document, stare at it for a while, and close it down. Sad sad sad.

We all wear figurative hats. You know, the "daughter" hat we put on for Mothers and Fathers Day. The "sister" hat we put on when we hear the newly 13yr old nephew has his own laptop and has permission to use it in his room, unsupervised. Then there's the "writer" hat and the "lover" hat and the "Mistress of the Dungeon" hat and the "lesbian" hat and the…well, you get the idea. Sometimes, one hat gets put down and not picked back up very often. Sometimes, that hat is misplaced and/or forgotten.

I am a PWD (short hand for Person with Disability). I have put down my PWD hat and, frankly, just haven't even bothered to look for it in a long time. I used to wear it a lot. I was advocate, spokesperson, pert near ADAPT-like in my drive to gain equal rights for myself and others. But that hat is heavy and wears down the energy after a while. One can only advocate for a nearly 18yr old law for so long.

Today I got the ADA Pipeline, put out by SEDBTAC (oh how we love our capital letters, eh?). It seems as though last year some people in congress got it in their heads to revise the ADA. The Supreme Court has, basically, turned it into a nearly useless document. "On July 26, 2007, the 17th anniversary of the ADA…introduced the newest version of the ADA Restoration Act of 2007 (HR 3195 and S 1881….)"

I've not read much to see just what they are trying to do. If nothing else, this will bring attention to the fact the ADA has been fucked screwed killed by the US Supreme Court. Some of what they have done has been for the better. But most has not.

Keep your eyes and ears out for news on this. We'll see how far they go with it. I'm thinking not very far at all.

Linkages:
SEDBTAC (Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center) - ADA Pipeline
AAPD (American Association of People with Disabilities) - ADA Restoration Act news
HR 3195 - House of Representatives version of the ADA Restoration Act

GovTrack.us info for HR 3195
OpenCongress.org info for HR 3195

S 1881 - Senate version of the ADA Restoration Act

GovTrack.us info for S 1881
OpenCongress.org info for S 1881

Georganna Hancock (of A Writer's Edge) got me started. So blame her.

Our dryer died a long time ago and we've not gotten around to replacing it. It's complicated, see, since the dry and washer are attached and there's only one plug and…well…it's one of those things. But this is how I feel since Laundry Day often gets skipped for longer than it should.

And how I feel about cell phones and other multi-purpose gadgets.

Cartoons by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

From WritersWeekly.com:

May 21, 2008

BookLocker Files Class Action Lawsuit Against Amazon.com By Angela Hoy

BookLocker.com has filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon.com in response to Amazon's recent attempts to force all publishers using Print on Demand (POD) technology to pay Amazon to print their books.

(…)

OUR STORY
After hearing rumors of Amazon's alleged activities, we spoke to an Amazon/Booksurge representative by phone on March 26th. You can read what transpired that day HERE.

After reviewing all the materials presented to us, and after talking on and off the record with publishers, authors and industry representatives at all levels of this controversy, it is our opinion that Amazon may be positioning itself to directly print and control every book it sells. By forcing publishers to sign their extraordinarly oppressive contract, Amazon gains the power to charge publishers whatever printing and distribution costs it desires, as well as controlling the retail, discount and wholesale prices of the books it prints, and, through this contract, automatically positions itself to control the market.

We cannot say for certain if what Amazon is doing is legal or not at this point; that is for the Federal courts to decide. However, in our opinion, the seemingly covert manner in which Amazon has conducted itself in this matter seems to make their actions highly suspicious.

link to full article

More available from the Amazon BookSurge Antitrust Lawsuit site

Jean Rosestar has a post up about rejection slips ("Reasons to Keep Writing and Submitting"). The post, an article written by someone else, ends with:

And do what F. Scott Fitzgerald did…wallpaper a wall with your rejections slips. There isn't a writer alive that doesn't have them.

Er, I don't have any.

Honest.

I've submitted short stories, essays, articles, and 1 novel. All that I have submitted has been published. I've been sieving through the memories in my brain and I can't find a time when I've been told "not for us" or "are you nuts?" or something similar. Way back in college I had some bad poetry turned down but that didn't get a letter. That got a "What about that short story you read in class?".

My publication list isn't long, true.

I'm not bragging. Far from it. I am still shell-shocked about my book and I still shake my head when I think of the other publications I have. At no time did I seriously think I would be accepted. My point is that not every writer is going to be rejected. Yes, there is adequate reason to gird your sensitive writer loins and be prepared for that return letter from either a publisher or an agent. Yes, the vast majority of writers will get such turned down. It is a competitive market, especially mainstream. We writers are trained to do that, perhaps trained more in that than we are in anything else.

My short story and essay in Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal stood a good chance of being turned down. I thought the essay would be. But, the essay ("Growing Up On the Farm") was heavy Southern and decently written. Both are what Kathy Rhodes was/is looking for. The short story ("Arrivals and Departures") wasn't exactly Southern, but it had that Southern feel to it based on its rural flow and setting. I really thought she'd turn it down and submitted it looking more for feedback than an acceptance.

An online acquaintance asked me to write "a little something" about myself and my owner-trained Service Dog for a relatively new publication called EDSToday. That "little something" grew into eight articles.

I wrote two articles for an online publication called Vision: A Resource for Writers. I didn't have much of a publishing history under my belt at that point but I had some experience to share. I was surprised both times when Lazette Gifford accepted.

Then there's the book I submitted. I sent in "Butch Girls Can Fix Anything" because it was a romance and I wasn't as attached to it as I was/am the Fantasy "Simple Sarah". I figured its rejection would hurt less. So imagine my surprise when Regal Crest Enterprises offered me a contract three weeks later.

My writing is not that good. My style is too weird, too fluffy. But I must be like a lucky fisherman who just happens to drop his hook in a nest of hungry trout. I submitted what each place was looking for and made sure to do it in the format they preferred. I had the right bait, I reckon.

Linkage:

Muscadine Lines, A Southern Journal
Vision: A Resource for Writers
EDSToday
List of my publications
Jean Rosestar's blog