Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

I just joined Facebook (finally, after much foot-dragging). I managed to invoke its CAPTCHA blockers within the first hour.

“We don’t believe you could possibly have this many friends!”
( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

Skin Deep is published at Redstone SF. What happens when sentient body armor forgets there’s a human inside? Nothing good…

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

Need some cheering up? 21 pictures that will restore your faith in humanity.

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been too busy to think, much less post. I have three trips in close succession: WisCon, a writing retreat in Denver, and Kij Johnson’s novel workshop in Kansas. I figured out, before all this started, that it meant 51 days of travel within a 65 day period.

I’ve done WisCon ( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

WisCon was awesome, as always. I had an even better time than usual. It felt like I just wandered from meal to meal in good company and had a permanently active social circle that I could find whenever I wanted. I wish I could recreate that in my everyday life. Alas, the curse ( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

After my adventures getting to Madison, I was thrilled to keep my original plans of local touring. Anaea Lay picked us up, and we enjoyed brunch with apple mimosas at La Brioche. Then we went to the Forevertron and the Circus Museum, both in Baraboo.

The Forevertron is the ( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

Well, I’m stuck in Dallas for about six hours, and possibly overnight. I have to sit in the airport til 8, when I find out if there’s magically room on this flight for which I’m on standby. If I’m stuck, AA (in theory) should pay for my hotel room.

But if you saw my twitter, I am ( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

A while ago, I did an interview with Mur Lafferty, editor of Escape Pod. In the interview I said that I’ve used a magic formula for many of my stories, and it works amazingly well. I promised to post the formula, and then totally forgot. Well, here it is, in the form of a ( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

In a previous post, I asked folks to ID some lyrics from American folk songs. I needed to know which set of lyrics was the most recognizable. The three I listed were Oh Susannah (the Niners variant), The Old Chisholm Trail, and Buffalo Gals. Buffalo Gals was the most ( Read more... )

Originally published at Vylar Kaftan. You can comment here or there.

Hey folks! If you’re reading this, I could use a hand. I need to know something for a story.

If you read the following lyrics, which ones do you immediately know the tune for, without thinking about it?

1) I went to California with a washpan on my knee…
2) Yippie-ki-yi yippie- ( Read more... )