Daily Adventures

Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Max Gladstone did what I've been dreaming of doing and he did it really really well.

He took the Journey to the West and translated it into pure space opera and did it writing only one chapter for every 20 in the old books, and he did it with style and beautiful writing. He pulled it all together with his own plot that made sense, with really incredible characters (and in his usual way, most of them are women) and an overarching beautifully paced escalation of action that charges up the reader's ability to learn and comprehend what's going on as quickly as Vivian Lao learns about the universe she lands in and how it works (even when some of the whys are beautifully made inconsequential) and finally has to deal with how it makes her work and feel.

He gives a solid framework for the timescales involved, the legends that are born, and what felt oddly Chinese was the rooted grounding in family and what it really can mean. He even had solid footing in the realms of Buddhist practice. He's done his homework.

I'll admit that as a Chinese woman, it felt odd to have him take both my culture and my gender and *write it*. And I'm sure there are going to be people yelling about cultural appropriation, but... damn, what he's done here is what writers are *for*. Examining and understanding and then creating from what isn't known to allow readers to have an even deeper understanding. I could as much yell about writers appropriating coding or science (and with writers who do it WRONG I do), which are also cultures in their own way, as about being Chinese or female (and homosexual, which amuses me to see my tendency to write homosexual men from the other side).

Given that the only thing that's actually Chinese is Vivian Lao's background, and the rest is actually all supposed to be about space aliens, he's allowed. *laughs*

Anyway, I loved it. I recommend it. I will probably wallow in its entirety a few more times just to inspire myself. And especially rejoice in a telling of why Tyrannical Empires should be fought against no matter how terrible and huge they seem and how small and weak and helpless we might think we are in the face of them. Dragons can be beaten.



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It's been odd, this last week.

Since about Monday, after I'd finished turning everything over to the team, I've been getting back to my life.

( And it's been a mixed bag... )

The dentist had noticed that I had some significant bone loss around a few teeth, so he scheduled me for an extra-long session with the hygenist. I was not looking forward to that, either... but went in today to get it done.

Lucky for me, the bone loss is mostly from my habit of grinding my teeth. Even with a toothguard, the loss has been pretty significant, but it's not periodontal disease, thank goodness. I don't have the inflammation, nor do I have significant plaque buildup, and my gums are healthy as can be. The hygienist was amazingly thorough, delved into places that she was even surprised she was able to get to, and ended up finishing half an hour early. She also cut the bill to just two-thirds the original quote, simply because I didn't need anything more than what she'd done. She also gave me the usual goodie bag of brush, floss, flossers (for my bridge), and toothpaste. Plus, she gave me the added assurance that my bridge was on solid, and no worries there.

So it's all good news and I'm grateful.

I was doing all right, so I made a zucchini bread that uses a pound and a half of shredded zucchini and is lovely, dense and moist without being gummy at all. It's modified from an American Test Kitchen recipe, partially for taste preferences, partially for altitude, and partially for how I like to put together a quick bread. I also made a pot of butternut squash soup from a squash I'd gotten at the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago. It's a little like fall in a bowl, and the recipe was in the American Test Kitchen's Home Cooking cookbook that I really love for the teriyaki chicken and the sweet potato casserole.

A rainstorm swept in from the West, and has made for a very cool and damp evening, perfect for a mug of warm herbal tea and just contemplating things. I managed to read The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker and loved it and all its intricately beautiful bits. Set in the turn of the century New York City, it's really good storytelling. Seemingly unrelated bits, all falling in on their own, ending up all to connect at the juncture of the climax. Very very nicely done.

Been home for a few days now, and finally recovered enough to try and think a bit. *laughs*

Was busy for a bit there, the second book got accepted by the publisher in only about 2 weeks after we submitted it. The feeling is starting to sink in that the first book wasn't entirely a fluke, and that we're actually able to write these things with vigor. It also struck me that I'm actually pretty good at this plotting thing and really figuring out the motivations and reasons underlying the things that happen in a book.

Also finding that I'm able to find my own voice given reasonable time and something to really concentrate on; however, it's not helping that the short story lady hasn't gotten back to us on the Valentine's Day short stories. *laughs*

( And I've been filling my time with movies, books, and plotting galore. )

Just today I was reminded of the first six months after I quit work. I'd just come off a huge project that involved hundreds of people, lots of management and coordination, and communication up and down the organizational hierarchy. My boss actually offered to send me to the West Coast to get an MBA because of the work I did, so I had shown some aptitude. I was good at it.

However, for the first six months after I stopped working, I spoke to nearly no one. Even John and Jet didn't get a lot of conversation from me, and I slept 10 to 12 hour nights for quite some time.

I feel a little bit like a flat tube of toothpaste.

I'm still not exactly sure why, but given that last year I came up with nearly half a million first draft words, and this year for the first three quarters I still managed to write nearly a quarter million words even with nearly a whole quarter completely off and all the editing needed to get a manuscript published, maybe I have reasons.

( And, as always, it's hardest to cut myself some slack, but I've tried to with ghost shrimp, outdoor movie, and books. )

I've been having an oddly hard time just concentrating lately. Some of it is because the allergy, dry eye, and simple eye infection stuff has come back, but equal in both eyes now, not just the right like last year.

Some of it is that yesterday I went to see Out in the Silence, at our church, with the documentary's creators right there to talk to us, along with a brand-new (2 week old) state-wide initiative to make sure that all the school districts in the state follow through with the new anti-bullying legislation that was passed in the Colorado State legislature this last year. All good things... but some of the real stories just floored me.

If you have a chance, see the movie. It's not unrelentingly depressing, there's funny spots and uplifting bits, too. It's up on Hulu, it's on their site. It's free for anyone to watch that wants to see it. But they like it when you also do the public screening thing, as the main point is to allow regular people a voice to stop the abuse.

( Cut for explicit badness that happened within 20 miles of my town. )

( And now just cut for length for flists. )

Spent most of the days when Jet was at camp working furiously on a follow up story to the novel darkprism_fics and I are getting published at the end of July. Torquere seemed interested in follow up shorts stories to keep the characters alive, and maybe progress to the next novel.

So by Wednesday I was utterly beat. I had a quick consultation gig that afternoon with Mimi, which was very calming as she had a list of online things she needed done, and we just marched through them in a quick checklist. I love that she uses me simply to Get Things Done she otherwise would not do. It's one of my real strengths, and delights both of us, as she wouldn't get them done without me, and I feel accomplished when it's finished.

( John then took me on a little adventure to Castle Rock on the way to picking Jet up in the morning. )

Just read Daniel H. Pink's Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us and I really liked it. Four out of five stars... and the missing one is just that they didn't go into quite the depth I wanted them to go into.

( Read more... )

To all those U.S. of A'ers that celebrate.

We had a doozy of a day, with 40+ people coming for a pot luck with plenty of grilled corn and smoked ribs and John's Jerk chicken and lots of salads and desserts that everyone brought and loved. And then, in the midst of it a thunderstorm just poured down rain until the back patio was an inch deep in water, even though it was supposed to be draining through all the slats. Everyone was good about making themselves comfortable in the house, ending up everywhere... on the floor, in the dining room, and even some ended up on our front door stoop, under the overhang there, just talking.

It was great fun, though, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

The six quarts of hand-cranked vanilla ice cream ALL disappeared. THAT was impressive.

( Ice cream recipe, a bit more about today, and a bit about _Princep's_Fury_ by Jim Butcher with spoilers. )