@swan_tower@wandering.shop
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swan_tower

@swan_tower@wandering.shop

Author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent & more. Also 1/2 of M.A. Carrick. (she/her)

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swan_tower, to random
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A BREVIARY OF FIRE, collecting many of my folklore-based stories, will be out on the 21st! You can pre-order now or wait to buy it direct from the publisher after it's out (and a print edition will follow soon, I promise):

https://www.swantower.com/writing/a-breviary-of-fire/

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

Me: loading dishwasher, minding my own business, bothering nobody

The Muse: "YOU WILL PUT UNICORNS IN THE PORTAL FANTASY. CRANKY ONES."

Me: "...I what now?"

The Muse: "BUT ONLY AT NIGHT."

Me: "But--"

The Muse: "THAT IS ALL."

...I don't even know, but I'm not gonna disobey.

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@lilithsaintcrow That was my brain hearing a track from the score to The Fountain and declaring THIS IS HOW THE NOVEL WILL END.

Did I know what the plot of the ending was? No. But I had a mood, and I had marching orders from my subconscious.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Would love recs for video games. My criteria are: 1) I like a good narrative, 2) I suck at speed reactions/hand-eye coordination challenges, 3) I like puzzle-solving, and 4) I'd prefer something that's not a giant undertaking lasting dozens of hours. Chants of Sennaar is a good example size-wise, though more robust narrative would be ideal.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

I'm reading TONIGHT at Strong Women, Strange Worlds, with Jessica Peter, Ginger Smith, Rosalyn Briar, Victoria Nations, and Meredith R. Lyons -- free event, register here! tinyurl.com/m5n37k5n

Alon, to random
@Alon@mastodon.social avatar

Religion-based systems of discrimination in theory allow the individual to convert and become a member of the privileged class, for example the Ottoman millet system, or French colonialism in Algeria. But in practice, any attempt by the oppressed to do it at scale is resisted. Portugal traded in African slaves starting in the 15th century, saying it was legal because they were not Christian; then as the Congo converted to Christianity, the legal basis for slavery changed from religion to race.

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@Alon Or Renaissance/early modern Spain, where Jews and Muslims were encouraged to convert en masse . . . and then subjected to massive discrimination as "New Christians" versus "Old Christians."

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

"Whatever the scandal-sheets may claim, I do not wear trousers at home, though I have considered it once or twice. (The incident at Booker's Club should not be counted; I was extremely drunk at the time.)"

After ten years of not knowing what the hell happened at Booker's Club, I have finally written this tale! Now I have a third Lady Trent short story, a scandal-sheet's report on the very inappropriate behavior of Mrs. Isabella Camherst while at home in Falchester. Trousers Are Involved.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Having repeatedly commented "that's a good tree" while out walking with my husband, I have

  1. concluded that just as all puppers are good puppers, all trees are good trees, and

  2. come up with a proposed Internet Classification Scheme:

cute lil' sapling = twee
thicc trunk = tronk
gnarled trunk = burly boi/burly gurl
tall 'n thin = skypole
REALLY tall = heckin' skypole
sequoia = cloud frend (choose your preferred misspelling)

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

This whole "we're going to change things and make it opt-out rather than opt-in" schtick has existed for a long time. It wasn't okay when Facebook decided to make your friends-only content public, and it isn't okay now.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Five days left in the for Year Three of the SF/F magazine ZNB Presents, and they could really use some signal-boosting!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/znb/znb-presents-year-three

lilithsaintcrow, to random
@lilithsaintcrow@raggedfeathers.com avatar

“This book is too complex! The language is dense! There's too much going on!"

tents fingertips together Excellent.

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@lilithsaintcrow Yeah, I write for the people who showed up for exactly that.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

I really wonder how much Talenti's sales are boosted by the sheer utility value of their containers after you've eaten all the ice cream.

swan_tower, to random
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It pleases me far more than it should to pair this hideously 1990 neon-painted long-sleeved shirt with pajama pants whose plaid does not match AT ALL.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Halloween is tomorrow, and THE MAP OF LOST PLACES is barely $500 from goal! Back Sheree Renée Thomas' and Lesley Connor's spooky anthology now!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/apexpublications/the-map-of-lost-places-a-horror-anthology

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Tomorrow night! I'm doing an online event with @kateheartfield , who also has a Norse-inspired book (THE VALKYRIE) out now:

https://www.brooklinebooksmith.com/event/marie-brennan-kate-heartfield

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

I do not know why Japan decided to gather a couple hundred people and have them play "Ode to Joy" on theremins hidden inside matryoshka dolls, but I am here for it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiJHRn0f8yE

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

Welp, today I just got my first email from an AI company offering to train a ChatGPT-based language model on my books to help me with search and writing.

I told them if they did so I'd sue and that I hoped their business model was criminalized. ("Die in a fire" was merely implied.)

First of many, first of many: the bottom-feeding grifters have arrived.

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@pseudonym @cstross I read a study about the effect things like Gmail's canned responses and other next word suggestions are having on our communication -- they're ironing out variation and narrowing the ranges of words and phrases we use (at least in writing; can't recall if it looked at speech or not).

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Today marks the first time I've thought about searching the internet for the answer to a question and then decided not to bother because I might just find a random AI response instead.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Amazon's subscription changes have put a LOT of magazines in trouble. Apex needs 300 new subscribers by January or they'll have to scale down future issues -- details here:

https://apex-magazine.com/apex-blog/its-not-a-sub-drive-but-its-a-sub-drive/

LeviKornelsen, to random
@LeviKornelsen@dice.camp avatar

I believe that trans people should chair all meetings going forward, as I have been told that they have an agenda, and I am sick to shit of this meandering nonsense.

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@LeviKornelsen My god, if only that could fix the place my sister works. They have yet to have a "stand-up" meeting that lasted less than an hour, and many of them run 2-3 or more.

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

About to head out to a celebratory almost-done-with- dinner with @alychelms, I see we are a mere $380 from adding pattern dice to the Kickstarter, and 12 backers from printing the extra cards in the deck! 47 hours to go!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mariebrennan/rook-and-rose-pattern-deck/

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

Saturday #DragonCon2023 schedule:

10 a.m. Gender Essentialism in the Wheel of Time

7 p.m. Finally! A Dragon Panel!

8:30 p.m. Back in Time: Historical Urban Fantasy

#dragoncon

swan_tower, to random
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

"'Stand on the other side from where the physics is happening' is actually a good general rule for scientific equipment." -- Randall Munroe, What If 2?

swan_tower, to sundaypix
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

For #SundayPixShop, a food stall on a cold day during a festival in Krakow, Poland! @sundaypix

annaleen, (edited ) to random
@annaleen@wandering.shop avatar

I feel like everyone I know somehow got COVID this week (including me, for the first time). Did you also get COVID this week?

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@annaleen I am hoping my "no" vote remains true -- turns out I had an exposure on Sunday, so now I'm Schroedinger's Infected Cat. I've dodged it this long; I don't want to break that streak!

csharpwords, to random
@csharpwords@supervolcano.angryshark.eu avatar

Got up at Horrible O'Clock this morning despite my natural tendency to sleep until 8, and went for a sunrise dip with my swimming group. Totally worth it but I also won't be doing it again anytime soon.

swan_tower,
@swan_tower@wandering.shop avatar

@csharpwords I generally only want to see a sunrise from the other side, and then go to sleep. But that's undeniably lovely!

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