I do feel sorry for the east coast
Feb. 23rd, 2026 11:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessThat storm is a monster. I hope all my friends there are okay.
I could use some help from everyone. I'm working on something new. God know where it is going. I am curious as how it hits as an opener (not really looking for a critique per se but if you see anything stupid, confusing etc let me know. On the other hand if something is really working, I'd love to know that too) Anyhow here it is. I'd love to hear a few opinions thanks.
( content warning, murder mystery, dead bodies, mutilated ones, cults and sex workers )
I could use some help from everyone. I'm working on something new. God know where it is going. I am curious as how it hits as an opener (not really looking for a critique per se but if you see anything stupid, confusing etc let me know. On the other hand if something is really working, I'd love to know that too) Anyhow here it is. I'd love to hear a few opinions thanks.
( content warning, murder mystery, dead bodies, mutilated ones, cults and sex workers )
Call the Midwife S15E01 got the history irritatingly wrong (spoiler under cut)
Feb. 23rd, 2026 07:56 ambrightknightieI watch Masterpiece on PBS Passport streaming these days, not over the airwaves, but I still watch on Sunday nights, wrapping up the weekend as I have since at least Downton Abbey. Last night, I watched the finale of season 6 of All Creatures Great and Small (set at the first Christmas after WWII), which was a solid and satisfying, if busy, episode, and also the premiere of season 15 of Call the Midwife (set in 1971), which was also busy, but neither solid nor satisfying.
(On broadcast, Call the Midwife won't premiere until March 22 in North America. Come, support PBS and watch a month early!)
I love historical fiction, but I do need it to get the history mostly right. We all make mistakes sometimes! It's so easy to fall for an urban legend historical fallacy! But. This show has an entire staff, any of whom could have used even just Wikipedia at any point to spot-check this particular item and learn that it's not only false, but a deliberate slander/sarcasm against what the episode was trying ineptly to celebrate and ended up trivializing. Not every historical fiction show can be The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for citations, but I remember when Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman would sometimes end on a screen with a simple text paragraph about the real history of whatever the episode was depicting. Movies depicting real historical people do that regularly. And some novels. Maybe all historical fiction should try that, just to prompt someone to double-check.
Call the Midwife was so exceedingly excellent in its earliest days, when it was still directly based on the memoirs of the real Jennifer Worth. The farther it gets from that -- now in season 15! -- the more often it trips. ( Spoilers for what this episode messed up )
(On broadcast, Call the Midwife won't premiere until March 22 in North America. Come, support PBS and watch a month early!)
I love historical fiction, but I do need it to get the history mostly right. We all make mistakes sometimes! It's so easy to fall for an urban legend historical fallacy! But. This show has an entire staff, any of whom could have used even just Wikipedia at any point to spot-check this particular item and learn that it's not only false, but a deliberate slander/sarcasm against what the episode was trying ineptly to celebrate and ended up trivializing. Not every historical fiction show can be The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles for citations, but I remember when Doctor Quinn: Medicine Woman would sometimes end on a screen with a simple text paragraph about the real history of whatever the episode was depicting. Movies depicting real historical people do that regularly. And some novels. Maybe all historical fiction should try that, just to prompt someone to double-check.
Call the Midwife was so exceedingly excellent in its earliest days, when it was still directly based on the memoirs of the real Jennifer Worth. The farther it gets from that -- now in season 15! -- the more often it trips. ( Spoilers for what this episode messed up )
Writerly Ways
Feb. 22nd, 2026 11:14 pmcornerofmadnessLast week I wrestled with a tough emotion to portray in fiction and here's another one, grief/mourning. this might be one of the most personalized of emotions. It's freaking tidal, coming and going with whatever moon your mind is following. I think the difficulty of this emotion is just how different it can be person from person, from all the various lived experiences out there. It's not even necessarily the same within one person.
Take me for example. Within a year I lost my last two uncles (the only two I was related to by blood) and the grief hits different for both of them. Uncle S died suddenly, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. He was, without a doubt, the more gregarious of my uncles, the 'fun one.' The fourth of July last year was hard because the family always went to his lake house. Mom and I had also been at a rock/gem show the day he died and when that rolled around, neither of us wanted to return so that is a shared bit of grief that maybe in a story might not make sense.
Uncle D was the shy uncle, the introvert who really should have been helped more in school with his learning issues but that wasn't the done thing in the 50s and 60s. The first anniversary of his death is coming in the next few weeks and yet oddly there is a lack of grief when I think about it. It's not that I didn't like this uncle but it is different. Maybe it was the lack of a funeral. Maybe it was how much he pulled away almost as if afraid he had nothing to talk about with me because he wasn't 'smart enough' (no, I know he feared that.)
Even yesterday, I finally decided to stop being a jackass and answer my 3 month back log of emails/blog comments. I had at least a dozen in there that I owedspikedluv. There is so much regret in that, an emotion that doesn't go with grief alone but it is a big part of it. There is, of course, nothing I can do about that but I am determined to get the rest of the owed comments out in the next few days. I'm avoiding future regret, right? And avoidance is definitely one sign of grief.
I think in many ways, grief isn't necessarily hard to write but the way others perceive it i s where it gets sticky.
For example, I think I wrote grief well in These Haunted Hills but the book fell flat (though I did just find a great review by someone I'm not sure I know on GR) Ah well (but that's a heart break for another time)
How do you handle grief in fiction?
Open Calls
Story Unlikely This mag pays well BUT you have to subscribe which is free but if you get a paid sub your pay as an author goes up and that, while I understand it, doesn't necessarily sit well with me.
Horror Library Volume 10 Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories
Folded Space Podcast Science fiction, exploring new worlds, future possibilities, and the enduring human spirit
The Whumpy Printing Press is looking novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novel submissions Novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novels that fall into the whump genre (i.e. a character needs to be hurt). We’re looking for strong stories with a balance between whump and plot. Ideally science fiction or fantasy (is it possible I DO NOT have a whump story?!?)
Street Magic III Magic. Hiding right under our unsuspecting noses, or swirling around all around us. When we’re talking about Street Magic, it’s probably closer than you think.
SciFi To Go: Food For Thought Funny short stories in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and horror
86 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (February 2026) many of these include LGBT and women in general
From Around the Web
How the Page Thinks: Spatial Intelligence in Writing
The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Build an Author Brand That Attracts Readers and Sells Books (Step-by-Step Guide)
From Betty
How to Create a Simple Language
How to Use Story Structure in Non-Narrative Writing
Six Rape Tropes and How to Replace Them
Reconciling Character Choices With Your Plot
How to Make Your Dark Event Pay Off
Using Contradictions to Create Masterful Microtension – Part 2
Setting the Stage with Powerful Description
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Turn Feedback into Action: Understanding Editorial Letters
Why Writers Fear and Resist Change (and Characters Do, Too)
YouTube for Writers, Part 6: Building Your Author Brand on YouTube
Why Every Writer Needs a Critique Group (and the Six Relationships That Shape Your Career) Okay this one is something I have been saying forever. Ignoring the whole God bit (which fine if you're religious great but otherwise I don't feel like it needs to be in this article. This is not for everyone). I do still wish I could get more people into my critique group.
Email List Segmentation for Authors: How to Reach Readers and Increase Sales
A BREAKTHROUGH Program for Writers of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror This is like a college class in a way complete with application fees. It is NOT a cheap opportunity by any means.
Take me for example. Within a year I lost my last two uncles (the only two I was related to by blood) and the grief hits different for both of them. Uncle S died suddenly, unexpectedly, of a heart attack. He was, without a doubt, the more gregarious of my uncles, the 'fun one.' The fourth of July last year was hard because the family always went to his lake house. Mom and I had also been at a rock/gem show the day he died and when that rolled around, neither of us wanted to return so that is a shared bit of grief that maybe in a story might not make sense.
Uncle D was the shy uncle, the introvert who really should have been helped more in school with his learning issues but that wasn't the done thing in the 50s and 60s. The first anniversary of his death is coming in the next few weeks and yet oddly there is a lack of grief when I think about it. It's not that I didn't like this uncle but it is different. Maybe it was the lack of a funeral. Maybe it was how much he pulled away almost as if afraid he had nothing to talk about with me because he wasn't 'smart enough' (no, I know he feared that.)
Even yesterday, I finally decided to stop being a jackass and answer my 3 month back log of emails/blog comments. I had at least a dozen in there that I owed
spikedluv. There is so much regret in that, an emotion that doesn't go with grief alone but it is a big part of it. There is, of course, nothing I can do about that but I am determined to get the rest of the owed comments out in the next few days. I'm avoiding future regret, right? And avoidance is definitely one sign of grief.I think in many ways, grief isn't necessarily hard to write but the way others perceive it i s where it gets sticky.
For example, I think I wrote grief well in These Haunted Hills but the book fell flat (though I did just find a great review by someone I'm not sure I know on GR) Ah well (but that's a heart break for another time)
How do you handle grief in fiction?
Open Calls
Story Unlikely This mag pays well BUT you have to subscribe which is free but if you get a paid sub your pay as an author goes up and that, while I understand it, doesn't necessarily sit well with me.
Horror Library Volume 10 Original, thoughtful horror-centric short stories
Folded Space Podcast Science fiction, exploring new worlds, future possibilities, and the enduring human spirit
The Whumpy Printing Press is looking novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novel submissions Novelette, novella, novel, short story collection, and graphic novels that fall into the whump genre (i.e. a character needs to be hurt). We’re looking for strong stories with a balance between whump and plot. Ideally science fiction or fantasy (is it possible I DO NOT have a whump story?!?)
Street Magic III Magic. Hiding right under our unsuspecting noses, or swirling around all around us. When we’re talking about Street Magic, it’s probably closer than you think.
SciFi To Go: Food For Thought Funny short stories in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, and horror
86 Opportunities for Historically Underrepresented Writers (February 2026) many of these include LGBT and women in general
From Around the Web
How the Page Thinks: Spatial Intelligence in Writing
The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Build an Author Brand That Attracts Readers and Sells Books (Step-by-Step Guide)
From Betty
How to Create a Simple Language
How to Use Story Structure in Non-Narrative Writing
Six Rape Tropes and How to Replace Them
Reconciling Character Choices With Your Plot
How to Make Your Dark Event Pay Off
Using Contradictions to Create Masterful Microtension – Part 2
Setting the Stage with Powerful Description
Fix Flat Deep POV: 7 Probing Questions for Better Immersion
How to Turn Feedback into Action: Understanding Editorial Letters
Why Writers Fear and Resist Change (and Characters Do, Too)
YouTube for Writers, Part 6: Building Your Author Brand on YouTube
Why Every Writer Needs a Critique Group (and the Six Relationships That Shape Your Career) Okay this one is something I have been saying forever. Ignoring the whole God bit (which fine if you're religious great but otherwise I don't feel like it needs to be in this article. This is not for everyone). I do still wish I could get more people into my critique group.
Email List Segmentation for Authors: How to Reach Readers and Increase Sales
A BREAKTHROUGH Program for Writers of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror This is like a college class in a way complete with application fees. It is NOT a cheap opportunity by any means.
Keep an eye on your inbox!
Feb. 22nd, 2026 03:54 pmfthmods posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
fandomtrumpshateWe have started posting auctions, which means that we have started sending emails with your auction link and the link to submit edits!
Please keep in mind:
- These WILL be coming from our new proton.me email address, so be sure to tell your email client not to send it to spam!
- We will be sending these emails throughout the week. If your friend got theirs and you haven't gotten yours, please be patient. We can only post a few hundred of the 1600 auctions per day.
- Your auctions may not all be posted on the same day. You'll get one email for each auction post - some email clients may put these in one thread together, so keep an eye out for that.
- You will not be notified when edits are made, you will have to check your post. If you still do not see your edits by Thursday evening, and it's been at least 8 hours since you filled out the form, email us to check.
Please remember that just because your post is up for your viewing, does NOT mean that browsing is open in general! Please don't send bidders to check things out until Friday, Feb 27!
today was needed
Feb. 21st, 2026 11:20 pmcornerofmadnessI was going to shop around Jackson but once I got there apparently everyone in a 100 mile radius showed up. It was hilariously crowded so I cut my day in half. I did get to the coffee house and like the jackass I am saw one open table and three people in line so I threw my shit on that table got all comfy then got in line. I wrote. I finish that chapter I've been trying to finish for a month. I started a new story. I might share it tomorrow to see if it feels like it would draw you in.
I couldn't recycle today because it looked like none of the 8 dumpsters had been emptied since I was there last week. People were trying to toss stuff a top the mountains. I noped out of that, hit the library and Kroger (I guess this snow tomorrow is going to be worse than I heard?) which was packed to the gills.
I also managed to hit Tractor Supply. I now own six black ducklings and a dozen of mixed peeps. Okay not really but probably only because I love to travel and can't take care of farm animals. I did get onion sets though and my brush on a stick so I can clean the kitchen floor. This is a Liberman (like my broom) 15$. All the other brands were 40$ and up. I'm like dudes, it's a brush on a stick. I can buy two of this one for one of yours and yours didn't seem considerably better.
There was a handmade lemonade 'food' truck in the parking lot. I got the holy water lemonade (strawberry, peach, something I'm forgetting and blue curacao and I nearly drank it all in one go I ate the lemons in it to. Have I mentioned I love lemons? (bought another half dozen of them today)
I saw a facebook announcement that the Bourbon City steampunk already has their panels filled up and I didn't get an email so I guess I ain't one of them. What sucks is I have the tickets but its on graduation. BUT they're also doing a writing thing so I am going to try that too. Who knows. I might just tell my bosses I have a convention. Do they need to know what kind?
And I am already sending my panel ideas to the Gettysburg steampunk thing. I mean I left it too long on Bourbon but it's early days for Gettysburg.
Science Saturday time
Unprecedented spike in atmospheric methane during the COVID-19 pandemic has a troubling explanation
Astronauts' brains physically shift in their heads during spaceflight
Sleep deprivation harms the gut via the vagus nerve, early study reveals
5,500 years ago, a teenage girl was buried with her father's bones on her chest, new DNA study reveals
Our adorable, noodle-like ancestor had 4 eyes, half-a-billion-year-old fossils reveal
95 million-year-old Spinosaurus had a scimitar-shaped head crest and waded through the Sahara's rivers like a 'hell heron'
Iron Age Surgeons Fixed a Woman’s Shattered Jaw With Primitive Prosthetic—and She Survived
City-size, cold-volcano comet transforms into a glowing 'snail shell' after major explosive outburst
I couldn't recycle today because it looked like none of the 8 dumpsters had been emptied since I was there last week. People were trying to toss stuff a top the mountains. I noped out of that, hit the library and Kroger (I guess this snow tomorrow is going to be worse than I heard?) which was packed to the gills.
I also managed to hit Tractor Supply. I now own six black ducklings and a dozen of mixed peeps. Okay not really but probably only because I love to travel and can't take care of farm animals. I did get onion sets though and my brush on a stick so I can clean the kitchen floor. This is a Liberman (like my broom) 15$. All the other brands were 40$ and up. I'm like dudes, it's a brush on a stick. I can buy two of this one for one of yours and yours didn't seem considerably better.
There was a handmade lemonade 'food' truck in the parking lot. I got the holy water lemonade (strawberry, peach, something I'm forgetting and blue curacao and I nearly drank it all in one go I ate the lemons in it to. Have I mentioned I love lemons? (bought another half dozen of them today)
I saw a facebook announcement that the Bourbon City steampunk already has their panels filled up and I didn't get an email so I guess I ain't one of them. What sucks is I have the tickets but its on graduation. BUT they're also doing a writing thing so I am going to try that too. Who knows. I might just tell my bosses I have a convention. Do they need to know what kind?
And I am already sending my panel ideas to the Gettysburg steampunk thing. I mean I left it too long on Bourbon but it's early days for Gettysburg.
Science Saturday time
Unprecedented spike in atmospheric methane during the COVID-19 pandemic has a troubling explanation
Astronauts' brains physically shift in their heads during spaceflight
Sleep deprivation harms the gut via the vagus nerve, early study reveals
5,500 years ago, a teenage girl was buried with her father's bones on her chest, new DNA study reveals
Our adorable, noodle-like ancestor had 4 eyes, half-a-billion-year-old fossils reveal
95 million-year-old Spinosaurus had a scimitar-shaped head crest and waded through the Sahara's rivers like a 'hell heron'
Iron Age Surgeons Fixed a Woman’s Shattered Jaw With Primitive Prosthetic—and She Survived
City-size, cold-volcano comet transforms into a glowing 'snail shell' after major explosive outburst
New FTH Email Address!
Feb. 21st, 2026 04:33 pmfthmods posting in fandomtrumpshateLike many people these days, FTH is trying to detangle ourselves from Google. This won't be quick or easy for several reasons, but this year we've taken one step you'll need to be aware of as a creator or bidder: We've got a Proton email address that we'll be using for some FTH business.
We can't use it for everything, because a lot of our automation will currently only work with gmail. But be sure to add fandomtrumpshate AT proton.me to your email client's allowlist, and look for FTH emails coming from this address as well as our usual gmail!
We can't use it for everything, because a lot of our automation will currently only work with gmail. But be sure to add fandomtrumpshate AT proton.me to your email client's allowlist, and look for FTH emails coming from this address as well as our usual gmail!
Fannish Friday
Feb. 20th, 2026 09:16 pmcornerofmadnessThe most exciting things that happened today is my knee is sad and I can't find my brace.
Rocket barfed in the computer room
And I found out how much of a difference Kerry Gold makes when you're making a butter-based sauce. It transformed my alfredo sauce. So damn good. Worth the expenseif you're going to do something butter forward.
And here are the fannish recs. Nothing from me. I've been stuck on my Hazbin WIP and finally edited a chapter that's been sitting on my to-do stuff and it's been a chapter I posted over a month ago...fantastic. How did I fuck that up and how has it been a month since I posted (oh right 3 sentence ficathon and half a moon, fun but diverting.)
I'm also trying to decide if I start a new novel or combine it with an idea I already have.
Fannish recs
What A Year Torchwood
Little Wolf (Or: Trust is for the Weak). The Owl House
Sea Snails The Murderbot Diaries
10 Seconds Hazbin Hotel
Braving the Weather She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Cold & Warm, Sweet & Sour, Heart & Soul Hazbin Hotel
A Thoughtful Gift Torchwood
Bad Weather The Fantastic Journey
About John Sheppard Stargate Atlantis
Final Session: Communication Class Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss
The Plan The Godfather
Second Chance, Third Life Hazbin Hotel
BFF 4 Eva <3 Hazbin Hotel
Don't Need It Hazbin Hotel
Damaged. due South
For Toshiko Torchwood
Close Hazbin Hotel
Long Lost Genius Stargate Atlantis
admiration through affection Hazbin Hotel
Lust and Love helluva Boss
touch averse Hazbin Hotel
Hollow Batman
A Night In The Afterlife Hazbin Hotel
Fire Alarm Teen Wolf
Rocket barfed in the computer room
And I found out how much of a difference Kerry Gold makes when you're making a butter-based sauce. It transformed my alfredo sauce. So damn good. Worth the expenseif you're going to do something butter forward.
And here are the fannish recs. Nothing from me. I've been stuck on my Hazbin WIP and finally edited a chapter that's been sitting on my to-do stuff and it's been a chapter I posted over a month ago...fantastic. How did I fuck that up and how has it been a month since I posted (oh right 3 sentence ficathon and half a moon, fun but diverting.)
I'm also trying to decide if I start a new novel or combine it with an idea I already have.
Fannish recs
What A Year Torchwood
Little Wolf (Or: Trust is for the Weak). The Owl House
Sea Snails The Murderbot Diaries
10 Seconds Hazbin Hotel
Braving the Weather She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Cold & Warm, Sweet & Sour, Heart & Soul Hazbin Hotel
A Thoughtful Gift Torchwood
Bad Weather The Fantastic Journey
About John Sheppard Stargate Atlantis
Final Session: Communication Class Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss
The Plan The Godfather
Second Chance, Third Life Hazbin Hotel
BFF 4 Eva <3 Hazbin Hotel
Don't Need It Hazbin Hotel
Damaged. due South
For Toshiko Torchwood
Close Hazbin Hotel
Long Lost Genius Stargate Atlantis
admiration through affection Hazbin Hotel
Lust and Love helluva Boss
touch averse Hazbin Hotel
Hollow Batman
A Night In The Afterlife Hazbin Hotel
Fire Alarm Teen Wolf
The return of thankful thursday
Feb. 19th, 2026 10:59 pmcornerofmadnessMostly because I am out of communities to rec.
I am thankful tonight wasn't worse. It was scary. I was walking out of the kitchen with a full glass of water. My bad knee buckled. I caught myself before I was all the way down. The water nearly hit my laptop. It's okay. I'm okay. The knee and ankle are swelling. Not happy about this. I wanted to hike this weekend. I had even talked to the wildlife prof and she said I can go with her when she's free (I'm not really able to go alone.)
This makes me very sad. I can't get this leg stronger but I have hope. Yes I do.
Because you know why? I think I said it yesterday but it bears repeating. My water aerobics class is a go. Send up a little well wish for me that I don't hurt myself. But this is my third initiative that has gone through at work and I'm proud of myself.
I'm also thankful that for once MOST of the students I contacted about not passing actually contacted me for help. I want so much to see this. I might not be able to help them but we can try. One's mother (a coworker) reached out too to tell me how upset her child was and how nervous they were to come talk to me. I reached out and we talked and I think that it will help.
I am thankful tonight wasn't worse. It was scary. I was walking out of the kitchen with a full glass of water. My bad knee buckled. I caught myself before I was all the way down. The water nearly hit my laptop. It's okay. I'm okay. The knee and ankle are swelling. Not happy about this. I wanted to hike this weekend. I had even talked to the wildlife prof and she said I can go with her when she's free (I'm not really able to go alone.)
This makes me very sad. I can't get this leg stronger but I have hope. Yes I do.
Because you know why? I think I said it yesterday but it bears repeating. My water aerobics class is a go. Send up a little well wish for me that I don't hurt myself. But this is my third initiative that has gone through at work and I'm proud of myself.
I'm also thankful that for once MOST of the students I contacted about not passing actually contacted me for help. I want so much to see this. I might not be able to help them but we can try. One's mother (a coworker) reached out too to tell me how upset her child was and how nervous they were to come talk to me. I reached out and we talked and I think that it will help.
