The creative prompt for dreamersdare and pushkin666 are visiting it is by now a tradition for me to make some salmon bulgogi for the bbq. And I'll probably make some flat breads and tzatziki to, you know, make it fusion cuisine :D
And finally, new potatoes with butter. With some chives. Honestly, so good.
The Vorkosigan novella "The Flowers of Vashnoi" has not been available in a paper version since the Subterranean Press edition sold out. The novella "Winterfair Gifts" has had only scattered paper publication, not easy to find. (Both, of course, are continuously available under their own titles as my indie ebooks, or audio downloads from Blackstone.)
Neither would be economically viable for any pro publisher to handle, but it occurred to me they'd be just the thing to add to my little list of print-on-demand paper editions, including The Spirit Ring and "Knife Children". So I've put them together in a single PoD volume, to be titled Two Tales.
Experience with the long-time reader confusion over the novella "The Borders of Infinity" and the 3-novella collection it's in, Borders of Infinity, made me try to label this paper mini-collection as clearly as possible. We'll have to see how it works out. I'm not yet sure how to make it searchable under either of the novella titles, which is what I suspect most people would first be looking for.
Anyway, I asked artist Ron Miller to do us a cover in the style of my other indie VK ebooks, and here's a sneak peek:
When this paper-only edition becomes available to buy, later this summer, I'll post the ISBN number, which should helps folks trying to order it through bookstores. (Uncle Hugo's will certainly have it; they also carry the other two of my PoDs.)
When you see a possibly terrifying mythical creature, is your first thought, I’m totally gonna pet that? If so, then Sara Omer, author of The Gryphon King, might have something in common with you.
SARA OMER:
At its core, The Gryphon King is about a horse girl on a quest for vengeance versus a man with cat-related PTSD. But before I can get into the infernal horse and lion biology at play, I have to gush about the monster-riding story more generally.
Just as children wish for puppies, children reading fantasy books wish for dragons. The unbreakable bonds between fire-breathing beasts and reluctant heroes populate epic fantasy stories, but if giant flying lizards aren’t your style, there’s any number of mythic monsters that might be mountable (monster romance implications of that statement aside). I love a dragonrider story as much as the next person, probably more than most people, but there’s a whole ecosystem of underutilized fantastic monsters out there that deserve some time in the spotlight. In the empire of Dumakra in The Gryphon King, there is at least one stable full of flying horses that didn’t ask to be ridden into battle or form lifelong bonds with power-hungry morally gray disaster princesses, but we can’t always fight the fate we’re dealt.
Growing up, having my own horse was as much a fantasy as having my own dragon, but I like to think I lived a tangential horse girl experience. I wasn’t yet in kindergarten when I learned to ride horses, taught by the grandfatherly carriage driver Mr. “Grandpa” Clint, who drove his carriage around the town square. After learning how to drive a carriage at an age that was definitely not road legal (to the chagrin of many other children), Grandpa Clint taught me how to ride a horse at his stable. The horse for the job was an ancient old white gelding living a life of comfort in retirement, and who I enthusiastically urged to a flying gallop my first time on the trail. I had a wonderful time as my mom and Mr. Clint raced after, concerned I would be terrified or die, probably. Surprise, I lived. I think everyone should experience that exhilaration, and a few hundred feet off the ground while you’re at it.
I had a formidable collection (army) of Breyer horses, although unlike Nohra in The Gryphon King, I didn’t grow up with an imperial stable. But some family friends had their own horses and boarded them nearby. Sometimes I would get to go ride or hang out at the stable and in the pastures. Rambo, their stubborn paint gelding, was barely tall enough to even be considered a horse rather than a pony, and I vividly remember a time he got kicked, presumably for being an asshole, and the bloody branding of the hoof that slowly healed. For this and other reasons, I’m convinced every horse is a little like a dragon.
There are multiple breeds of mythic horses I added to the bestiary that is The Gryphon King. Because why stop at sky horse when you can have water horse? And when I really got to thinking about the biology of pegasuses, I wanted to explore their avian side. What better way to celebrate the incredible Eurasian horses and the birds of prey in the region than combine them into one omnivorous monster that has an appetite for blood? As if horses weren’t already dangerous enough, now they really, really want to eat your fingers and the barn cats. And—oh, look—the battlefield became good grazing once the fighting’s quieted down. Really, pegasuses are a little terrifying, and they’re not even the most threatening strain of horse in Dumakra.
The moral is that if you make a bird big enough, humans begin to look like the small animals scurrying through the tall grass, evading tooth and talon. And what’s more terrifying than horse-eagle? Lion eagle.
I have utmost respect for anyone who can make a big cat with a massive wingspan seem docile and friendly; I just think, considering the injuries a falconer could incur and compounding those with what might befall your average lion tamer, you should have to sign a few release waivers to approach a gryphon.
Maybe I made all my animals ferocious because nature is ferocious and dangerous, and when people play at power, they don’t come close to the might of beasts. But their actions have often irreparable impacts on nature nonetheless.
Fear and respect can coexist. Add a little human curiosity, and I would never fault anyone who decided to ride a murder horse. The Gryphon King is for the readers who would go out of their way to pet a man-eating monster, who would risk it all to bond with a creature that could kill them a few different ways on purpose or by accident—I’m a little scared for your wellbeing, but I respect the drive and share the dream.
Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods? Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes.
I actually talked about my this last time and my love of summer fruits. I also love corn on the cob when it is it in season. I made this recipe for corn/chickpea salad the other day, at least I sort of did, I excluded the herbs, olives, and pickled onions, and added some soft cheese cubes. I also added a tiny bit of maple syrup to the dressing to cut the vinegary/sourness, I saw that on a YouTube shorts vid. It was very good, and I've been eating it for lunch for the last couple of days.
Prompt: 484. Science Word count: 449 Rating: M Summary: Cameron's therapist says it's normal, it's not her fault. Cameron's mind says she always had a choice. Warnings: A/B/O, past child sexual abuse, mentioned sexual content, incest. Note: I came across the term "arousal non-concordence", made the most basic research, and it seems to fit a couple of characters of mine. Since I've been working in writing about this one again, she's the chosen one to suffer. I'm basically a high school dropout, I apologise for inaccuracies – you can blame them on the nature of omegaverse.
*very curious to see what the show does with ep 10!
*Sanctuary Moon y/n?
(PS very very funny to me that when Preservation decides to free a secunit in ASR, they go about it very officially, legal channels, documentation, all that stuff. Court orders! Probably actual real ones! And then in Network Effect, when ART and crew meet Three, they're all just like 'so we're going to lie about this, right? everyone in favor of plan: lie and deceive? excellent, yep')
Whenever I think about summer, I always think about strawberry picking. I really love strawberry picking (and fruit picking in general), which I used to think was because I love strawberries, but lately I've come to realise that, cliche as it sounds, is actually because I just love being out in the fields with my friends and family. When I was younger, the Muslim community in Ireland used to arrange a fruit picking trip for the whole community every year, so I could rely on being able to go on a trip with my friends outside of school, or to do something with them even if we didn't go to the same school.
The British Muslim community thing is camping, by the way, which is happening as usual this year but I'm not going because ... I don't really fancy camping right now lol.
Anyway, speaking of strawberries, I used to just eat them but these days I make desserts with them, so here's a recipe for a Victoria sponge with homemade jam.
Since we just passed the halfway point of this year, it's probably a good time to check in on my goal list and see where I'm at.
~Write 90k words - Current word count is sitting at 48,383. So a little over halfway there with six more months to go. I'm feeling optimistic about this one.
~Finish 3 WIPs - None yet, but I've been making progress on several of my WIPs, so hopefully I'll have one ready to post soon(ish).
~Create 100 icons/graphics - Done! My current count is 195 icons and 67 misc graphics, for a grand total of 262.
~Update website every month - Surprisingly, I've been keeping to this one so far. Currently working on updating my B-Western website, but also have some big changes in mind for my main site.
~Move Superman fansite to new host - Not yet.
~Move Librarian fansite to new host - Not yet.
~Finish one of my bingo cards - Making decent progress on my Album Challenge bingo card, so hopefully that one will be done by the end of the year.
~Create two new fanvids - No progress yet.
it only hurts when i breathe (spikedluv) wrote2025-07-1007:03 am
I had a chiropractic appointment this morning, so I didn’t get to mom’s until 9:20am. I took advantage of the fact that I needed to go downtown for that appointment to do some shopping; I got in Walmart and Price Chopper before my appointment, and the Pharmacy after. I also got in a walk around the park before my appointment.
I then had to go home and unload the car and put away groceries. I was home in time to make supper (Pip requested grilled cheese). I also hand-wash dishes, scooped kitty litter, and placed an online order.
I started the next Duncan Kincaid book and watched the current ep of Resident Alien and an HGTV program.
Temps started out at 65.5(F) and reached 84.2.
Mom Update:
Mom was sitting on her porch when I got there this morning. ( more back here )
Comment with Just One Thing you've accomplished in the last 24 hours or so. It doesn't have to be a hard thing, or even a thing that you think is particularly awesome. Just a thing that you did.
Feel free to share more than one thing if you're feeling particularly accomplished! Extra credit: find someone in the comments and give them props for what they achieved!
Nothing is too big, too small, too strange or too cryptic. And in case you'd rather do this in private, anonymous comments are screened. I will only unscreen if you ask me to.
Journaling prompt: What are your favorite summer-associated foods?
My grandma grew raspberries. She had a lovely square patch of canes, and I often helped pick them, which was a great way to sneak extra raspberries into my mouth instead of into the bowl. Delicious berries. And they remind me of my grandma, which is never bad.
FIL also grew raspberries. Back when he had two allotments (!!) and a respectable back garden, he used to make raspberry jam, which was *excellent*. However, he also used to freeze raspberries with so much added sugar that they tasted more like sugar than raspberries, which was a practically criminal waste.
I have my first serious raspberry harvest this year! Picked a good bowlful on Sunday morning, and my Boy came round for lunch and interview prep. We had a generous portion each (fresh raspberries! from my garden!) and there was still enough for me to enhance my breakfast for a couple of days afterwards.
There are more on the canes. \o/
Creative prompt: Draw art of or make graphics of summer foods, or post your favorite summer recipes.
Hmm. I spent two hours yesterday drawing people, in the final class. Copying a photo is so much easier than drawing from life! We spent half an hour on the photo (an elegant Black woman in profile), then drew one another for five-ten minutes using pencils, graphite sticks, charcoal and oil pastels, then one final 'portrait' in whatever medium we chose. It was actually easier to do the 5-minute ones, because there was no expectation that we'd do it well....
All this to say, I'm out of drawing today.
As far as summery food goes, I guess I eat more salad in the summer and more soup in the winter, but salad merely involves cutting/tearing and throwing into a bowl a selection from: lettuce and similar, from a head or a mixed bag or both, spinach, tomatoes, bell peppers, spring onions, feta cheese, salted cashews, sprouting beans, mushrooms, anything else I have that seems reasonable.
I am, however, inspired to create a Summer Pudding. Nigella has a recipe here https://www.nigella.com/recipes/summer-pudding but all you really need to know is: pudding basin, slightly stale white bread, mixture of berries, sugar. Line the basin with the bread, fill the centre with lightly heated berries and sugar, saving some of the delicious juice to coat all the bread. Cover the top with more bread, and juice that, then put a weight on top and leave it in the fridge overnight. Serve slices with double cream.
Eton Mess is good, too, with the additional benefit of not mattering what it looks like.
Icon is Pedro Pascal because he is also delicious.
I love Terry Hope Romero's cookbook Salad Samurai, especially some of the recipes in the "Summer" chapter. Here's one of my faves:
Polish Summer Soba Salad
Salad ingredients: 1/2 pound uncooked beets, peeled and diced 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil, divided 1/4 teaspoon celery seeds Pinch of salt and a few twists of freshly ground black pepper 6 ounces soba noodles 2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced 1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced into thin half-moons 1 cup cooked white beans 3 tablespoons chopped roasted walnuts
Dill dressing: 1/2 cup finely chopped dill 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon sugar 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt
1.) Preheat the over to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the diced beets on the parchment paper, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of oil, celery seeds, salt, and pepper and toss. Roast for 20 minutes, or until tender and easily pierced with a fork. 2.) Prepare the soba noodles according to package directions, but slightly undercook them to al dente. Drain, rinse with plenty of cold water, and transfer to a mixing bowl. 3.) In another mixing bowl, combine the scallions, cucumber, and white beans. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a glass measuring cup or bowl, pour half over the bean and vegetable mixture, and toss. Add the remaining dressing to the soba noodles and toss. 4.) Divide the soba noodles among serving bowls and twirl into a mound in the center of each bowl. Spoon the bean and vegetable mixture over the soba, garnish with roasted beets, and sprinkle with roasted walnuts.
I'm not fluent in your dialect of crazy (dine) wrote2025-07-0911:52 pm
Title: Do ALL the Science! Fandom: Iron Man / Marvel 616 Rating: G Content notes: None apply Summary: icons of Tony Stark doing / using all of his cool science stuff.
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