Category: CEMurphy

Stormcloud sunset

overwhelmed by sarcasm

April 26, 2013

I was just briefly overwhelmed by sarcasm over on Twitter. Alastair Reynolds (whom I like very, very much) was commenting on stories he’s reading for (I think) a ‘zine, the first 3 of which he’s read have all been grim, dystopic, pessimistic near-future SF, and said, “Hey kids: you can do more than one thing with science fiction, you know?” But by that time the sarcasm had already seized me. I said, “So does this mean the hopeful aspect of my planned climate change trilogy is Right Out?” and it…

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the essential kit

fed up.

April 25, 2013

I am fed up with social media. Yes, I know, a blog is social media, but let us refer to it as old school, or static, social media: it does not roll over completely every few seconds-to-minutes, nor is it expected to. I love the ease of interaction and accessibility to my readers that Facebook offers. Facebook, however, seems to be deliberately and actively trying to make the public pages unusable for the person running it–ie, me. At the moment, between the enormous size of the cover photo (which, once…

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Crow Brings Daylight

Kitsnaps: Crow Brings Daylight

April 24, 2013

A long time ago, it was always night. Only Crow, who flew far south and north again, knew of daylight, and he told many stories of the brightness and shadow to the Inuit people. In time, they began to ask for daylight themselves, but No, said Crow, I am too old to drag daylight so far north for your hunters to see by. Please, said the people, and finally Crow agreed to spread his old wings once more and fly beyond the horizon to find daylight for them. He flew…

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the essential kit

Magic & Manners: Chapter Two

April 23, 2013

With further apologies to Jane Austen, I present to you the second chapter of MAGIC & MANNERS, which is what happens when I get it into my head to wonder what PRIDE & PREJUDICE would be like if it was not a lack of wealth that beleaguered the Bennet sisters, but rather an excess of magic… Chapter One is here or here, if you want to read it on LJ. Chapter Two commences behind the cut. :)

the essential kit

EPIIIIIIIIIIC

April 22, 2013

I just finished reading Carol Berg’s THE DAEMON PRISM (which, like nearly everything Carol writes, is on my list of Favorite Books), and it got me to thinking about what makes epic work and what makes it work on a huge, international bestseller level. Carol’s epic fantasy usually focuses on a handful of people, rather than a cast of thousands, like (for example) GRRM. They’re very different storytelling styles and obviously bring different things to the table, both of which I find appealing in different ways. I wonder if one…

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