Horse Yoga Evolves

Posted on May 20, 2013 by

PookaGarland_bvcWe live in a fantasy novel around here. Not always the part with the unicorns and the flowers. Mostly the one with stablehands and pitchforks and bread that needs baking. Once in a while some grimdark. And around just about every corner, a good dose of the Weird.

We thought we were starting horse yoga here because a human then in residence needed to loosen up some tightness to ride a horse better. We were quickly disabused of that when one of the horses marched up and took charge. Continue reading →


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Posted in Animals, horses, Lifestyle | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Story Inspiration Sunday

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

My writing process has evolved and changed over the years. I anticipate it will continue to change.

Currently, I write everything out by hand, first, then type it up on the computer. Creating fiction using this process ensures that it starts as fun for me.

I have a day job, and I’m on the computer all day long. Therefore, somewhere in my head, I’ve equated “computer” with “work.” It doesn’t matter that I use a different computer, in different parts of the house (or at a coffee shop.) Computer equates work, to me, which is the opposite of creative.

So I hand write everything first. I draft either an entire short story, or a chapter, before I type it up. One of the good things about this process means I have pretty clean first drafts. At this point in my career, the percentage of what’s on the hand written draft that makes it into the typed draft can vary between 70-98%, depending on the piece.

So what does that have to do with inspiration?

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Nostalgia Vacations and Indoor Volcanoes

Posted on May 18, 2013 by

There was another report this week about the rise in the traditional British holiday. Part of this is down to economics – ever since the financial melt down of 2008 people have had less money to spend on overseas holidays – but, apparently, a larger part is down to nostalgia for our old childhood holiday haunts. We’ve done Europe. We’ve done the Far East. We’ve done the Caribbean. Now we want to re-create those magical childhood memories.

As someone who grew up in a British seaside resort in the 60s, this is a subject I know quite a bit about. Bournemouth was one of the Big Two holiday destinations for post-war Britain. As soon as the schools broke up in late July, the town would fill with holidaymakers. To get a good spot on the beach, you’d have to arrive before 8am – or be prepared to walk a mile or two down the beach away from the hotels and bus stops.

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Posted in Culture, History, Humor, Lifestyle, Travel | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

“Nahiku West” a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award Finalist

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

Nahiku West by Linda NagataLinda Nagata’s novelette “Nahiku West,” originally published in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, has been listed as a finalist for the 2013 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, for the best short science fiction of the year. The Sturgeon Award is a juried award, with winners selected by a committee.

“Nahiku West” has also been selected for inclusion in multiple best-of-the-year anthologies. The story is available from Book View Café in ebook version, along with a second story, “Nightside On Callisto.”

Find the full list of Sturgeon Award finalists here at Locus Online.


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Stalking the Wild Muse: Writer Rituals & Habits

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

MusemedA series exploring the props, habits, and drugs that fuel the writer’s productivity. Past, present and future! Look for BVC writers, plus other authors we know and love.

By Brenda Clough

Fredereich von Schiller, the famous German dramatist, kept a drawer full of rotten apples in his desk.  He claimed that the whiff of decaying fruit inspired him to write. Another one of those writers it would have been very difficult indeed to be married to. Although it would be interesting to try the experiment — somebody find some apples and give it a go!

In an interview with the Guardian, novelist T.C. Boyle goes with music, saying:

I always listen to music while writing, so I have shortcuts to iTunes and Sonos on my desktop. I find that the rhythm of whatever piece is currently playing (classical or jazz, primarily John Coltrane, blowing away at this very moment) penetrates some deep place inside of me and helps remind me that writing is a lyrical activity.

This is a highly YMMV point; I need complete silence while I write, otherwise I can’t ‘hear’ my characters.


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Spy Princess a Mythopoeic Award Finalist

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Spy Princess coverThe Spy Princess, a middle grade fantasy by Book View Cafe author Sherwood Smith, was chosen as a finalist by the Mythopoeic Society’s jury for the Award for Children’s Literature. Written when Smith was fifteen years old, and sensitively edited by Sharyn November of Viking Children’s books, The Spy Princess is followed by Sartor, published by Book View Cafe.

The rest of the nominees can be found at the Mythopoeic Society website.

 


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Writing Tools and the March of Technology

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Kaypro III bought my first computer thirty years ago, a Kaypro II. It was state of the art for the personal computer: no hard drive, of course, but duel floppy drives so you could run software on one and save your work on the other.

The operating system was CP/M. I picked the Kaypro because I’d read that the CP/M operating system was the one most likely to survive. Microsoft was still an upstart back then.

It was “portable,” meaning that it closed up into something about the size of a sewing machine and could be carried with you if you didn’t mind lugging around a 20-pound object. No battery, of course. You couldn’t really take it to the coffee shop.

Continue reading →


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WWW Wednesday 5-15-2013

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

It’s WWW Wednesday. This meme is from shouldbereading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• What did you recently finish reading?

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue, by John McWhorter. It’s a history of English, but it doesn’t focus on the vocabulary changes that I’m already familiar with; instead, it digs into the grammatical shifts along the way. Which is much more fascinating than it sounds: I hadn’t realized how much of its grammar English shed in between Beowulf and today, and why. My only disappointment is that there’s an interesting political discussion to be had about that, which McWhorter mostly shies away from.

• What are you currently reading?

Continue reading →


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BVC Eats: greasy food revisited – Baked Eggs

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

eggsThis is the kind of thing you eat when it’s still cold out, darnit, and summer should have been here weeks ago, and coffee isn’t doing the job, and you want something solid in your stomach.

Baked eggs are very, very solid. Think in terms of one or possibly two baked eggs per person, tops. How many bowling balls can you eat? Exactly.

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BVC Announces Conscientious Inconsistencies by Nancy Jane Moore

Posted on May 14, 2013 by

Conscientious InconsistenciesA Collection of Short Fiction
by Nancy Jane Moore
$4.99 (Collection) ISBN 978-1-61138-258-7

“Break all rules, including these.”

So advises one of the stories in this reprint collection. These stories jump — conscientiously — from a homage to Alexandre Dumas to an action-packed adventure set in the near future. There’s also an epic fantasy or space opera — take your pick — told in aphorisms, a contemplation on death, and a tale of what happens when walls begin to divide a place. As Lyndon Perry wrote of the now-out-of print PS Publishing hardcover edition, “Moore’s style rises above a particular perspective and stands on its own as quality short fiction.”

Conscientious Inconsistencies at BVC Ebookstore

Here’s an excerpt from one of the stories in the collection, “Three O’Clock in the Morning”:

Continue reading →


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Posted in Announcements, Book View Cafe publications, eBooks, fantasy, New Releases, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment