Moving Week

Sorry for the silence! I just moved into my awesome new home with my awesome best friend! Regular posts will resume next week. Thank you for your patience!

What I Read in 2012

Books

1) Folktales in Fragile Dialects by Catherynne M. Valente

2) In the Cut by Susanna Moore

3) Vox by Nicholson Baker

4) Crash by J.G. Ballard

5) Telepaths Don't Need Safewords by Cecilia Tan

6) Doctor Who: The Stealers of Dreams by Steve Lyons

7) Vermillion Sands by J.G. Ballard

8) Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard

9) Doctor Who: Winner Takes All by Jacqueline Rayner

10) Odd Girl Out by Ann Bannon

11) Doctor Who: Only Human by Gareth Roberts

12) Doctor Who: The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards

13) Women on the Edge of Space edited by Danielle Bodnar and Cecilia Tan

14) Story of O by Pauline Reage

15) Return to the Chateau (Story of O II) by Pauline Reage

16) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

17) The Female Man by Joanna Russ

18) The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin

19) We Who Are About To… by Joanna Russ

20) The Two of Them by Joanna Russ

21) How to Suppress Women's Writing by Joanna Russ

22) The Adventures of Alyx by Joanna Russ

23) To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction by Joanna Russ

24) Orlando by Virginia Woolf

25) And Chaos Died by Joanna Russ

26) On Strike Against God by Joanna Russ

27) Magic Mommas, Trembling Sisters, Puritans and Perverts by Joanna Russ

28) Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, translated and annotated by Ursula K. Le Guin

29) Robotica by Kal Cobalt

30) The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein

31) Manners from Heaven by Quentin Crisp

32) The New Topping Book by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy

33) The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice

34) Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin

35) Juliette by Marquis de Sade

36) Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir

37) The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature by C.S. Lewis

38) The House of Sable Locks by Elizabeth Schechter

39) Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

40) A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris

41) Three Bedrooms, One Corpse by Charlaine Harris

42) The Julius House by Charlaine Harris

43) Dead Over Heels by Charlaine Harris

44) Clues to Christie: The Definitive Guide to Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Tommy & Tuppence and All of Agatha Christie's Mysteries

45) The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

46) Nemesis by Agatha Christie

47) Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

48) A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine

49) The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness by Epictetus (A New Interpretation by Sharon Lebell

50) Doctor Who: Devil in the Smoke by Justin Richards

51) Doctor Who: The Angel's Kiss—A Melody Malone Mystery by Justin Richards

52) On the Shortness of Life, and Other Essays by Seneca

Short Stories

1) "Fantomina: or, Love in a Maze" by Eliza Fowler Haywood

2) "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gillman

3) "When It Changed" by Joanna Russ

4) "Poor Man, Beggar Man" by Joanna Russ

5) "The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde

6) "The Case of the Perfect Maid" by Agatha Christie

7) "Robot Dreams" by Isaac Asimov

8) "Secretario" by Catherynne M. Valente

2012 Graphic Novels

1) Mass Effect: Invasion by Mac Walters, John Jackson Miller, and Omar Francia

Question for Readers

So... I got kicked off Google's ad thingy because, well, this is a sex blog. I would like to make a few pennies off of this space, and one way I could do that is featuring sponsored posts. Would that annoy anyone? What if I promise to only post about things I actually like? Please let me know.

Back into the Swing

As it were.

I promised myself, and apparently Twitter, that I would write more this year, and this is my first attempt to keep that promise. After basically writing off the last half of December, now it's time to get back to work. On today's schedule: betareading a fantasy adventure serial, and editing an erotic fantasy novella.

The first can be found at TheWizardsProphecy.com. It's a labour-of-love type project, with the writer, editor, and artists working for free, because we all believe in this story, and want people to read it. Check it out.

The second is my latest project for Circlet Press. It's a gorgeous, lyrical tale starring selkies, which are pretty much at the top of my list of favourite fantasy creatures. I meant to have this turned in at the end of December, but the holidays and some personal drama ate my brain. I'm gonna get my hustle on now, though, because I'd really like to get this one on the market soon. I've been lucky lately in that I've been receiving manuscripts featuring Celtic mythology. Princes of Air was the project before this, another beautiful book that I was desperate to get out there. Do me a favour and read that one too. I promise you'll thank me.

Honestly, writing Cecilia Tan to beg her to take me on as an editing-slave was probably one of the best creative moves I've ever made. Circlet has a collection of wickedly talented authors, and I'm almost embarrassed at how lucky I've been to work with them.

Editing Editors, and Grokking Grammar

I'm currently editing/betareading a web serial for an editor friend of mine. I edit a lot of different things, from a lot of different writers, at a lot of different skill levels, so I didn't think editing an editor would be all that different.

Let me tell you, I've never had more fun editing ever in my career.

An editor knows her stuff, and she's not going to scatter the page with punctuation that may or may not fit, or get tangled up in a sentence and leave it for someone else to sort out. What needs fixing is usually just the little mistakes that everyone makes when writing, and she misses them because she's read it over too many times. I end up sailing through, trimming when needed and commenting when I have a suggestion. Most of the comments are for plotty or character things, not for silly grammatical errors. I love that. I love content editing with all of my wizened little heart. I get cranky when I have to do so much copy editing that I don't get to think about The Big Picture. When I edit this friend of mine, this is pretty much all I have to do.

I'm mentioning this because I think it's important for all writers to know that they should never stop honing their craft. I thought I was hot shit when I started training as an editor, and so did the rest of my class. We all had our asses kicked by the mathematical precision of grammar, and it was a lesson I learned well. I haven't stopped learning since, and no wordsmith should. Get some books about grammar and punctuation and read them. I'm serious. If that idea makes you feel nauseous, then you're not reading the right grammar books. Whenever I feel like my skills need polishing, I re-read one or more of these books:

Sin and Syntax by Constance Hale
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
The Well-Tempered Sentence by Karen Elizabeth Gordon

Don't groan. Those books are friendly, funny, and useful. If you don't feel like reading, open your favourite browser game and listen to the Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing podcast. (Not that I've done that or anything. *shifty eyes*)

I can't tell you how amazing it is when grammar finally clicks for you and you feel like you can see the scaffolding behind everything you read or write. It's worth it, trust me.

Why I Should Not Be Given Dolls

So, Friday was my birthday, and one of my girlfriends got me a custom-made Snape doll, and brought over her Hermione doll, and, well, this happened.







If you like them (and really, why wouldn't you?) you should check out the Etsy store of the lady that made them, StaceFace Productions. (Just, uh, don't tell her what we did with her creations.)

The Smutster's Toolkit

Yeah, I have no creativity to spare right now. SO many cool things on the go, but they are EATING MY BRAIN. So, here's something to look at. If anyone has ever been curious about what an erotica editor needs at her desk, here you go.





(The penis-moose might be specific to Canadian smutsters.)

Holiday

*waves* It's Victoria Day, so just an Erotica Today, and a late one at that. I'll be back to work tomorrow.

Planning for 2011

So! A new year has rolled in, and since I lost the last month of 2010 to Virulence, I'm anxious to make Sex in Sepia sing again. Here's what I've got planned for the next year (at least, what I've come up with so far). If you have suggestions for topics, or you have a steamy book that needs reviewing, comment on this post.

Upcoming Book Projects, of the Steamy Persuasion

Like a Vorpal Blade: More Erotic Tales of Wonderland
Elementary Erotica Sherlock Holmes Bares All!
Sense and Sensuality This is the upcoming paranormal Jane Austen collection I'm putting together for Circlet Press's Clasp imprint

Steamy Book Reviews

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
I've been meaning to read this for ages, sine it's considered by many to be a founding work of erotic steampunk.

The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction by Rachel P. Maines
This is another one that's been leering at me from my shelf for a while.

Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present by Lillian Faderman
Been meaning to pick up a copy of this for years, and the third edition just came out, so it's definitely time.

That's really all I've got planned at the moment. Again, suggestions and requests are welcome. Hell, give me half a reason to babble at you about historical ephemera. That's pretty much what I'm here for.