Blog Without A Name

Sunday morning in the North Country

Slept in, had a leisurely breakfast with Steve, brushed three coon cats; two of whom like to be brushed, and one who thinks that brushing is a sign of the End Times.

Trooper and Sprite are watching the bird feeder action as the snow drifts down. Mozart is curled up in the Warmest Corner in my office.  Scrabble is supervising Steve from atop the Former Home of Circular Logic BBS.

I put chocolate in my third cup of coffee to celebrate the snow, and, after I post this, will get on with the day’s writing.  If all goes well, we’ll break early tonight and stream that gentle romantic comedy, The Sorcerer and the White Snake, for relaxation.

I see by the One Calendar that the rest of the week is going to be rather busy with Things, so I may be scarce around the intertubes.  You have been warned.

I hope everyone has a pleasant Sunday and, indeed, a pleasant week.

 

Women Writing SF/F…or not

A couple of interesting articles were pointed out in Another Part of the Internet.  I’m posting them here to boost the signals, and because they are an interesting addition to the ongoing shouting match discussion about how women don’t write SF/F, except when they’re putting guy writers out of a job by doing it wrong.

Strange Horizons’ 2012 SF Count

Lady Business 2012 Coverage of Women in SF/F Blogs

The break-out points from the NPR study of women in cinema, at I’m Working On It, including some interesting information from studies done at the Geena Davis Institute regarding how men perceive the number of women within a group.

The transcript of the NPR study of women in cinema

Anybody got any more?  Real Numbers relating to real publishing are what we’re looking for, not Opinions.  The reason the shouting match discussion exists is that there are ‘way too many Opinions, and ‘way too few Real Numbers.

Adding:

Empirical evidence that women have been writing SF/F for A Long Time.

Broad Universe Statistical Tour of SF/F/H

Stories included in Hvad Fluffy Vidste

This in answer to numerous requests for the titles of the stories reprinted in the Danish cat stories anthology:

Skitty, Mercedes Lackey
Cats in Victory, David Barr Kirtly
A Matter of Ceremony, Sharon Lee
The Cat, Gene Wolfe
Out of Place, Pamela Sargent
The Alien Mind, Philip K. Dick
Mother of Champions, Sean McMullen
All Cats are Gray, Andre Norton
Space-time for Springers, Fritz Leiber
Tobermory, Saki
Jade Blue, Edward Bryant
Ordeal in Space, Robert A. Heinlein
What Fluffy Knew, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Virtually, a Cat, Jody Lynn Nye
Dysfunctional Family Cat, Paul Melko
The Beancounter’s Cat, Damien Broderick

Origin Stories: Trooper and Sprite

There was a call, down in another thread, for the “stories” of Trooper and Sprite.

There’s really not much to tell, here.

Socks’ death left a big hole, not only in the lives of Cat Farm Management, but also in Mozart and (though she would never admit such a thing) Scrabble’s lives.  We had initially decided to wait until November to take on a new crew member, since we knew we had some traveling coming up, what with the BEA and the book tour.  We changed our mind when Mozart seemed to still be expecting us to be bringing Socks home This Time, every time we went away.

Here’s Socks:

Socks in a box
Socks in a box

So, we went looking for an older — i.e. Not a Kitten — Maine Coon, to keep Mozart company.

We deliberately kept our search within New England; indeed, within Maine and New Hampshire, and no more than a day’s drive from the Cat Farm.

Which search led us, in the fullness of time, to Kelimcoons, where the decision to retire Trooper from Show Business had only recently been taken.  Here’s a link to the show cat page at Kelimcoons.  Scroll down a little, and you’ll find Trooper.  After a lengthy discussion and many questions asked on both sides, it was decided that Steve and I  could drive down to New Hampshire, meet Trooper, and put the question to him in person.

We did that at the end of June; the reply was in the affirmative, and we brought him home with us.

Trooper has been a joy from the start; he’s a sweet-natured, and genuinely kind cat, interested in the doings, and respectful of the elder cats.  We worry that he’s a little serious, but then he’ll perform an unsubtle and, to him, hilarious, Maine Coon gag and put it all in perspective.

Bringing Trooper into the house demonstrated really clearly the difference between a four year old cat and an Elder Statescat.  Trooper wanted to play — and, having come from a house full of cats, he wanted to play with somebody.  He tempted Mozart with springs and ping-pong balls and Turtle and. . .Mozart wanted to sleep.  Which was OK; Trooper likes to sleep, and he’s perfectly fine, sleeping with the Old Guy.

Just not, yanno, all the time.

So, we realized that, yes, we were going to have to get a cat for our cat.  As frequent readers will recall, we made an attempt to bring in local talent to fill the position, but the talent had a different vision and we quickly, and amicably, parted ways.

Even knowing that they didn’t expect to retire any other adults until late fall, I did it — I hoped over to Kelimcoons, and. . .there was Sprite.  She had lost her first litter of kittens and rather than put her, and themselves, through the trauma of attempting another litter, the family had decided to spay her and put her up for adoption.

I was immediately drawn — that face!  And, then I was convinced, because, as it happens, Trooper had sired only one single litter, and Sprite?  Was from that litter.

She was 15 months old, a little younger than we had wanted, but — Trooper’s daughter!  And Trooper’s such a doll.

By this time the book tour was breathing down our necks, and we didn’t want to bring a new cat into the house while we were away, and. . .

I wrote the email anyway.  And Kelimcoons very kindly agreed to hold Sprite for us until we returned from the book tour.

Which is why two days after the end of the tour, Steve drove down to New Hampshire and came home with a young lady cat, who immediately hid in the cellar until she realized that Upstairs was where the action was.  She has spent her time since ascending attempting to Conquer this territory.

If Trooper is a little too serious, Sprite is a little too goofy.  Until she collapses in your arms, and turns on her twin-engine purr-box.  Then, she’s perfect.

So — there you have it.

Mail Call

Today’s mail brings my author copy of Hvad Fluffy Vidste: 16 Science Fiction Katte, published by Science Fiction Cirklen in Denmark.  This anthology of cat stories reprints my very first ever professional science fiction story, “A Matter of Ceremony,” which would be reason enough to be inordinately pleased to have it included.

It’s all double-chocolate icing on the cake to find that I’m sharing a ToC with: Mercedes Lackey, David Barr Kirtley, Gene Wolfe, Pamela Sargent, Philip K. Dick, Sean McMullen, Andre Norton, Fritz Leiber, Saki, Edward Bryant, Reobert A. Heinlein, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Jody Lynn Nye, Paul Melko, and Damien Broderick.

. . .I can honestly say that I never dreamed that my name would appear in a Table of Contents that also included Saki.

And in addition to all that?  It’s a beautiful book.

But, don’t take my word for it, here’s the cover:

16ScienceFictionKatteHvad Fluffy Vidste
Art by Manfred Christiansen

Carousel Sun ebook on sale NOW!

The title says it all.  Here’s some links to get you started:

Baen (all formats known on land and sea)

BN/Nook (epub)

Amazon/Kindle (mobi)

This also means that!  If you’ve previously read the eArc, you may now post a review on Amazon.  And of course, once you’ve read this edition, you may post a review, too.

OK, I’ll be quiet now, so y’all can read.

Five Things Make a Post

1.  In light of Mozart’s continued ill health, I will not be attending Boskone.  Steve is still planning to attend.  If Mozart takes a amazing turn for the better, I’ll come down with him and cut a swath through the dealer’s room, but at this point, that’s not the way the smart money bets.  Y’all have a good time for me.

2.  “The Gift of Music,” by Sharon Lee is available to be read, obligation-free, at Baen.com.  “Gift” takes place in Archers Beach, Maine.

3.  The Compleat List of Baen Hugo Eligible Works published by Baen authors is here.

4.  All pre-ordered signed and/or personalized copies of Carousel Sun have been mailed.

5.  Have I mentioned how very, very fond I am of this song?