james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-10-12 08:52 am

The Menace From Earth by Robert A. Heinlein



A diverse assortment of (mostly) non-Future History science fiction stories from Robert A. Heinlein.

The Menace From Earth by Robert A. Heinlein
rolanni: (lit'rary moon)
rolanni ([personal profile] rolanni) wrote2025-10-12 08:32 am
Entry tags:

Books read in 2025

49 Black Tie & Tails (Black Wolves of Boston #2), Wen Spencer (e)
48 Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky(The Final Architecture #1)e)
47  Hemlock and Silver, T. Kingfisher (e)
46  Outcrossing, Celia Lake (Mysterious Charm #1) (e)
45  Outfoxing Fate, Zoe Chant/Murphy Lawless (Virtue Shifters)(e)
44  Atonement Sky, Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #9) (e)
43  Stone and Sky, Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #10) (e)
42  Regency Buck, Georgette Heyer (re-re-re-&c-read)
41  I Dare, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (Liaden Universe #7) (page proofs)
40  To Hive and to Hold, Amy Crook (The Future of Magic #1) (e)
39  These Old Shades, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Sarah Nichols (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
38  Faking it (Dempsey Family #2), Jennifer Crusie, narrated by Aasne Vigesaa (re-re-re-&c-read, 1st time audio)
37  Copper Script, K.J. Charles (e)
36  The Masqueraders, Georgette Heyer, narrated by Eleanor Yates (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
35  Everyone Here Spoke Sign Language: Hereditary Deafness on Martha's Vineyard, Nora Ellen Groce (e)
34  Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Winifred Watson, narrated by Frances McDormand (re-re-re-&c-read; 1st time audio)
33  The Wings upon Her Back, Samantha Mills (e)
32  Death on the Green (Dublin Driver #2), Catie Murphy (e)
31  The Elusive Earl (Bad Heir Days #3), Grace Burrowes (e)
30  The Mysterious Marquess (Bad Heir Days #2), Grace Burrowes (e)
29  Who Will Remember (Sebastian St. Cyr #20), C.S. Harris (e)
28  The Teller of Small Fortunes, Julie Leong (e)
27  Check and Mate, Ali Hazelwood (e)
26  The Dangerous Duke (Bad Heir Days #1), Grace Burrowes (e)
25  Night's Master (Flat Earth #1) (re-read), Tanith Lee (e)
24  The Honey Pot Plot (Rocky Start #3), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
23  Very Nice Funerals (Rocky Start #2), Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (e)
22  The Orb of Cairado, Katherine Addison (e)
21  The Tomb of Dragons, (The Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy, Book 3), Katherine Addison (e)
20  A Gentleman of Sinister Schemes (Lord Julian #8), Grace Burrowes (e)
19  The Thirteen Clocks (re-re-re-&c read), James Thurber (e)
18  A Gentleman Under the Mistletoe (Lord Julian #7), Grace Burrowes (e)
17  All Conditions Red (Murderbot Diaries #1) (re-re-re-&c read) (audio 1st time)
16  Destiny's Way (Doomed Earth #2), Jack Campbell (e)
15  The Sign of the Dragon, Mary Soon Lee
14  A Gentleman of Unreliable Honor (Lord Julian #6), Grace Burrowes (e)
13  Market Forces in Gretna Green (#7 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
12  Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, Judi Dench with Brendan O'Hea (e)
11  Code Yellow in Gretna Green (#6 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
10  Seeing Red in Gretna Green (#5 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
9    House Party in Gretna Green (#4 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)*
8    Ties that Bond in Gretna Green (#3 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
7    Painting the Blues in Gretna Green (#2 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
6    Midlife in Gretna Green (#1 Midlife Recorder), Linzi Day (e)
5    The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison (Author), Kyle McCarley (Narrator) re-re-re&c-read (audio)
4    The House in the Cerulean Sea,  TJ Klune (e)
3    A Gentleman in Search of a Wife (Lord Julian #5) Grace Burrowes (e)
2    A Gentleman in Pursuit of the Truth (Lord Julian #4) Grace Burrowes (e)
1    A Gentleman in Challenging Circumstances (Lord Julian #3) Grace Burrowes (e)

_____
*Note: The list has been corrected. I did not realize that the Gretna Green novella was part of the main path, rather than a pleasant discursion, and my numbering was off. All fixed now.


selenak: (Default)
selenak ([personal profile] selenak) wrote2025-10-12 01:27 pm

Yuletide Letter

Dear Yuletide Writer,

we share at least one fandom, which is great, and I'm really grateful you take the time and trouble to write a story for me. All the prompts are just suggestions; if you have very different ideas featuring the same central characters, go for them. Also, I enjoy a broad range from fluff to angst, so whatever suits you best works fine with me.



DNW:

- bashing of canon pairings or characters in general. By which I don't mean the characters have to like each and everyone - a great number of those I've nominated can be described as prickly jerks, among other things, and it would be entirely ic for them to say something negative about people they canonically can't stand - but there's a difference between that and the narrative giving me the impression to go along with said opinions.

- Alpha/Beta/Omega scenarios, watersports, infantilisation. Really not my thing, sorry.


Likes:

- competence, competent people appreciating each other

- deep loyalty and not blindly accepting orders

- flirting/seduction via wordplay and banter (if it works for you with the characters in question)

- for the darker push/pull dynamics: moments of tenderness and understanding in between the fighting/one upman shipping (without abandoning the anger)

- for the relationships, both non-romantic and if you like romantic, that are gentler and harmonious by nature: making it clear each has their own life and agenda as well

- some humor amidst the angst (especially if the character in question displays it in canon)


The question of AUs: depends. "What if this key canon event did not happen?" can lead to great character and dynamics exploration, some of which made it into my specific prompts, but I do want to recognize the characters. Half of those I nominated are from historical canons, and the history is part of the fascination the canon has for me. ) However, if you feel inspired to, say, write Cecily Neville, space captain, and manage to do it in a way that gives me gripping analogues to the historical situations: be my guest!

How much or how little sex: I'm cool with anything you feel comfortable with, from detailed sex to the proverbial fade out after a kiss. Or no sex at all (given that most of my prompts are non-romantic in nature), as long as the story explores the emotional dynamics in an intense way.

Cecily Duology - Annie Garthwaite )

Foundation (TV) )

Alien: Earth )
rolanni: (Default)
rolanni ([personal profile] rolanni) wrote2025-10-11 05:41 pm

A gypsy wind is blowing warm tonight

Saturday. Sunny and warmer than I had expected.

Many chores have been accomplished, including doing the preliminary set up for my glass working space. I had a moment of despair when I realized that none of the many outlets in the Foosball Room, err, worked. Then I remembered my fusebox lessons from Steve Symonds, crossed the basement, flipped a switch, and hey, presto! Power, we haz it.

I have two oil radiators, and also the old electric heater that I replaced not because it didn't work, but because it was old. So, it, too may join me and I'm thinking that room will be toasty as heck, even in winter.

The library cart (sorry, Steve) will be put into use to hold my glass and tools where I can see everything, and Archie's stool (I bought a nasty old wooden stool at a flea market back in nineteen-seventy-ought two, I guess, all over splotches of paint, and -- oh it was a mess. But for fifty cents, who could say no. Took it home, did the sanding and the priming and painted it Chinese Red. When I brought Archie in to run the place, that was his favorite seat.) is just the right height to park my fundament (why does spellcheck not know fundament?) on while I glare at the pattern, which I have no doubt I will be doing a lot of.

There was a big old warped piece of wood leaning against the wall, which I have put down, so I'll have something besides a concrete floor between me and the permafrost, and I should probably get a cheap rug, for another layer. Right not, All The Things are on top of the board, because I'm hoping to flatten out the bow.

Now! I need to rustle lunch, and then, oh, go out to TJMaxx.

Yes, yes, I'm supposed to be getting rid of stuff so it will be easier for those who have to clean up after me, and instead, I'm getting new stuff.

How's Saturday treating you?

Oh, hey, my work-area-in-process:

#
Hmmph. Did another exploratory round of Stuff I Already Have. Identified a glass keeper, known to those of us who had administrative/secretarial jobs as a desk-top file organizer, which will do fine. It is metal, but easy enough to soften each section by taping in a manila folder or two.

Steve used to have these ... big foam tiles that he used in the SRM office (another basement location). They interlocked, so you could make your space as big as you needed, and they were soft, which was easier on your back and legs. I went looking for them, but no luck. And -- I have a really hard time remembering where I last saw what. It could be they never even made the move to this house. So now I'm trying to remember where he got them. Maybe Staples? Back when Staples actually had things in their store instead of offering to order it online for you?

mooches off to Staples online

SPOILER: As suggested by several Facebook friends, Home Depot had them, aka "single sided gym tile"

#
And that's enough fun for one day.

I went to TJ Maxx and unexpectedly came upon a wooden plate holder, which will handily hold the glass I'm working with now. I can foresee a time when I'll need to bring the other holder into play but for now, I've put it aside.

I put together some "gym" tiles, and put them directly on the floor in front of my work bench. All The Things are still piled on top of the warped board, but I'm not having to walk to the warped board, so that's a win.

For a change, we are not under a freeze warning tonight, so that's a change. And now that I've had my fun, I need to finish up washing cat bowls, by which time, it will be Happy Hour.

How time does fly.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe.

I'll check in tomorrow.

The work space as now configured:

Tonight's blog post title brought to you by Mr. Robert Seger, who is pretty damned sure of himself, so there is that:  "You'll Accomp'ny Me"


james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-10-11 11:26 am
Entry tags:

New Policy

Asking politely has failed for 20 years. Therefore, comments with naked urls will be deleted, as they break Recent Comments. To post links, follow the advice below.

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-10-11 08:51 am
Entry tags:

Books Received, October 4 to October 10



13 works new to me. Four fantasy, two horror, one non-fiction, one thriller, and five SF, of which at least three are series.

Books Received, October 4 to October 10


Poll #33712 Books Received, October 4 to October 10
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 47


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

The Seed of Destruction by Rick Campbell (July 2026)
2 (4.3%)

Uncivil Guard by Foster Chamberlin (November 2025)
7 (14.9%)

Crawlspace by Adam Christopher (March 2026)
5 (10.6%)

The Girl With a Thouand Faces by Sunyi Dean (May 2026)
13 (27.7%)

Your Behavior Will Be Monitored by Justin Feinstein (April 2026)
5 (10.6%)

Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter (April 2026)
0 (0.0%)

Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim (June 2026)
16 (34.0%)

Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher (March 2026)
21 (44.7%)

Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Three edited by Stephen Kotowych (October 2025)
15 (31.9%)

Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills (April 2026)
14 (29.8%)

The Body by Bethany C. Morrow (February 2026)
4 (8.5%)

I’ll Watch Your Baby by Neena Viel (May 2026)
5 (10.6%)

Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward (July 2026)
8 (17.0%)

Some other option
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
34 (72.3%)

andrewducker: (Default)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2025-10-11 03:22 am
Entry tags:

Photo cross-post


The children have located Christmas.
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

ffutures: (Default)
ffutures ([personal profile] ffutures) wrote2025-10-11 02:58 am

Fanfic - Harry Potter / Buffy / Bedazzled - Harry Potter: Undazzled - V

This is a crossover between the Harry Potter books, the Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV series, and the film Bedazzled (1967, not the 2000 remake), with some other crossovers and Easter eggs, so far including Dogma (1999). All characters belong to their respective creators / owners / megacorporations of doom and not to me, please don't sue...

V - On Task )
I haven't proof read this much and it's 3AM, so please let me know if you spot any mistakes. Comments please before I post to archives. For previous parts see:

On Twisting the Hellmouth - https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-34251/MarcusRowland+Harry+Potter+Undazzled.htm
On Fanfiction.net - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14336114/1/Harry-Potter-Undazzled
On Archive of Our Own - https://archiveofourown.org/works/54407350

update Sunday - corrected errors etc., thanks to everyone who commented.
rolanni: (Default)
rolanni ([personal profile] rolanni) wrote2025-10-10 06:10 pm

If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life

Friday.

Pics before wordage:

   

 

 

So that was a pleasant day. Cool but not frigid on the beach, despite a brisk breeze. Took a pleasant walk along the trail at Scarborough Marsh, from whence the picture of the Great White Heron and also what I believe to be a loon, which if so -- a coup. I mean, herons are hard to photograph, but loons are impossible.

At Old Orchard, I walked the beach, and up into town, had a chicken salad wrap and a root beer at Cafe 64, decided not to go down to Wells, but to come on home, but avoiding the interstate because construction. This of course meant that I got lost in Portland, which is business as usual. I finally asked the car's navcamp for a way home that avoided highways, and boy didn't it oblige me? However! I discovered a new road. I truly do not believe I've been on Route 88 before, and that was just a splendid drive. So -- Serendipity For the Win.

I came home to the news that the nerve conduction test -- that's probably not what it's called -- has been scheduled for October 23 at 3:45 which won't do for two reasons, those being it will mean I have to miss stained glass, and! I'll have to drive home from Rockport in the dark (that's 50ish miles of unlit back roads from the Confusion Factory), and I don't know the route well enough to want to do that. So, I'll add rescheduling that piece of optimism to my pile of Monday phone calls.

The cats -- all three, which made for some confusion of who was where and how do I not fall over -- threw themselves onto to me with loud cries the second I opened the door. I did tell them I was going to be gone for most of the day, but apparently neither Tali nor Rookie can tell time and Firefly's skills are a little rocky.

I now have Rook and Tali keeping a Very Close Eye while I type this update, and Firefly is having a wee dram of dry food to recruit herself.

I see that we're under a Freeze Alert this evening, which means I'll be needing to cover the rose again.

But before that, I need to put the clean dishes away and, oh...pour a glass of wine.

How did your Friday play out?

Today's blog post title is brought to you by Jimmy Soul, "If you wanna be happy."  My excuse is that this is the song that was playing when I turned the car on this morning.  Recorded in 1962.


Dork Tower ([syndicated profile] dorktower_feed) wrote2025-10-08 05:00 am

Half-Baked – DORK TOWER 08.10.25

Posted by John Kovalic

This or any DORK TOWER strip is now available as a signed, high-quality print, from just $25!  CLICK HERE to find out more!

HEY! Want to help keep DORK TOWER going? Then consider joining the DORK TOWER Patreon and ENLIST IN THE ARMY OF DORKNESS TODAY! (We have COOKIES!) (And SWAG!) (And GRATITUDE!)

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-10-10 08:47 am

Roll For Initiative (The Last Session, volume 1) by Jasmine Walls & Dozerdraws



Old friends unite for one last adventure without fully understanding the implications of the group's latest recruit.

Roll For Initiative (The Last Session, volume 1) by Jasmine Walls & Dozerdraws
andrewducker: (Academically speaking)
andrewducker ([personal profile] andrewducker) wrote2025-10-10 08:51 am

Life with two parents: Just about

My mum had a heart attack yesterday afternoon, followed by an angioplasty.

She was sitting up in bed and drinking coffee by 9pm last night, and seems to be fine now. They're keeping her in until Monday to make sure, but panic over.

Turns out that an angioplasty is nowadays an outpatient operation under local anaesthetic, with over 97% success rate. Modern medicine is awesome. And thank fuck for the NHS!
rolanni: (moon & mountains)
rolanni ([personal profile] rolanni) wrote2025-10-09 08:42 pm

Come and take a walk with your sister, the Moon

The moon is gorgeous tonight, big and yellow.

So, now I have glass and the means to cut it, though I am strictly forbidden from doing so until next class. What I do have to do is finish cutting out my pattern and affixing the pieces to the appropriate pieces of glass so that I can begin cutting my glass next class.

Excuse me: "Seymour Glass. Do you See More Glass?" Thank you, J.D. Salinger. Honest to Ghod how long do I have to pay for that English project?

So! I'm feeling, actually, better about the glassworking after this evening's class. Maybe because I have a better feel for how the moving parts fit together. Possibly because the instructor did not faint dead away when she saw my pattern, but said, "Oh, that's nice, did you get that out of one of my books?" and then helped me modify that big swodge of "ocean" that some of y'all were so worried about.

I see that I'm going to have to be moving the portable radiators into The Foosball Room (so called because there was a Foosball table in that room when we looked at the house, and for a time it was a question whether or not we would be adopting), aka The Cold Room aka The Workshop, so I can cut glass (permission will apparently be given to cut glass at home eventually) without my supervisors getting paws on, not to mention glass in their fur.

For tonight, my glass and assorted Stuff is in the car. I'll need to move it down to The Foosball Room before I head for the ocean tomorrow.

Fans of Firefly will wish to know that she is having the Zoomies. Apparently, she DID SO TELL the kids that I would be home and that I would feed them, first thing I got inside, and as this has come to pass, her stock has gone up.

That's all I've got to report. The rest of my evening will be reading today's chapter of A Night in the Lonesome October, and getting something to eat.

Everybody stay safe. Writer's Day Off Tomorrow. I'll check in as I can.

Oh, wait! My bats came:

Tonight's blog post title brought to you by U2, "She Moves In Mysterious Ways"


rolanni: (Default)
rolanni ([personal profile] rolanni) wrote2025-10-09 10:34 am

She walks looks and drives like an ace now

What went before ONE:  Oh. Here's something amusing.

Someone had suggested yesterday that I go to Aldi for grapes.

I typed "Aldi near me" into the search bar, and I am offered!

Newington NH (250 miles RT)
Dover NH (250 miles RT)
And! My favorite: Port Orange, FL (3,000 miles RT)

So, that's why I'm not going to Aldi for grapes.
#
What went before TWO:  Two thousand eight hundred and eighty-ish new words written, bringing the WIP entire into the vicinity of 94,050.

"Frogging" is a knitting term that I believe Brenda Clough introduced into my vocabulary. It comes from "rip it, rip it" which is what one does when one makes a mistake.

Tomorrow will not be a writing day. I have some layout to complete and a couple phone calls to make before I hit the road to Glass Express, where the class is to meet our instructor "directly after work." I wonder what that means. Class officially starts at 6. I guess if I arrive at 5, the time won't be wasted. I mean, really, I'm going to be in a glass shop. It's not like there won't be stuff to look at.

Checking the weather, I see that we are now under a Freeze Watch tonight. Looks like I'd better go out and cover up the rose bush.

Aaand, back. Rook saw me heading for the front door and threw himself at my knees, yelling. It is almost Happy Hour, but jeez, kid.

In addition to the freeze warning, the weatherbeans tell me that it will be sunny and 60ishF/16ishC on Friday. Rain starting Sunday evening and that's most of next week, right there. So! Friday Will Be a Writer's Day Off.

I do believe that's all the news &c.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I'll check in tomorrow.
#
Thursday, sunny and cold. Ish.

I did turn on the oil heat to warm us up at floor level, while the heat pumps do their thing overhead.

I did cover the rosebush last night, but something disagreed with my design decision, be it wind or be it beast, and the blanket was off the rose this morning.

Today! I really hope to get the November echapbook up for preorder. Fingers crossed. I also have some phone calls to make. Including a call to make an appointment to have my hair cut. I'm still liking it longer, except for the part where my bangs fall in my eyes -- see haircut, above.

I find a note from Adult Ed in my mail this morning informing me that our instructor expects to meet us at Glass Express at 5 pm, so that's one question answered.

I also see in my inbox that! my bats will arrive today. That's awesome. The last best guess for delivery that I saw was October 15 or something. Early delivery FTW.

Yes, I bought bats. I like bats.

What else? Oh. Just got a "Hello, this is a cold call for Steve Miller. Is he --" Sigh. I really miss being able to slam down a receiver.

I had the house phone forwarding to my cell, so that the cellular robot could stop that stuff before it even got recorded. It was doing a good job, too. Then, a couple days ago, the house phone started ringing again -- one call from the hospital and four calls for Steve. I need to look up again how to forward the landline.

So! That's my day pretty well laid out.

Who's doing something that's fun?

Today's blog post title is from The Beach Boys, "Fun, fun, fun" -- which is also a formative song.  First, there's the Interesting Truth of:
Well the girls can't stand her
'Cause she walks, looks, and drives like an ace now

And also -- granting that I'm probably the only one who ever put this spin on it, welcome to my brain -- that Our Narrator is a hero because he's going to let her drive his car.  Because, I mean, yeah, what else would he want to do?

Rosebush, uncovered:

For those who are still with me, here's the link to this morning's cat census.


james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-10-09 08:50 am

The Cool War by Frederik Pohl



A hapless minister is drafted into international intrigue.

The Cool War by Frederik Pohl
ffutures: (Default)
ffutures ([personal profile] ffutures) wrote2025-10-09 11:48 am

Is it just me...

...that thinks of the guards in Castle Wolfenstein whenever I see these in a supermarket?

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/315239766