3500wordsperpound

"I am not writing to you as a black voter, or a woman voter, or as a voter who is over 70 years old and six feet tall. I am writing to you as a representative of this great country -- as an American. It is your job to vote. It is your responsibility, your right, and your privilege. You may be pretty or plain, heavy or thin, gay or straight, poor or rich. But remember this: In an election, every voice is equally powerful -- don't underestimate your vote. Voting is the great equalizer. Voting has already begun in some states that President Obama needs to win. So please use this handy tool to make sure your friends in those key states know where to cast their ballot. You will be doing them a great favor. As a country, we can scarcely perceive the magnitude of our progress. My grandmother and my uncle experienced circumstances that would break your heart. When they went to vote, they were asked impossible questions like, "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?"…

RT @SapphicPixie: No woman should vote for the party that says rape is a #giftfromgod. #WarOnWomen http://t.co/CgBp3StY #UseThe19th #Republican http://twitter.com/xbluestockingx/status/261154241278791680 This is why I don't understand why WOMEN vote Republican.

The night before Halloween, talk spooky books with @maureenjohnson, @ransomriggs, and @kamigarcia on @Figmentfiction! http://t.co/UDcFLdh1 http://twitter.com/PenguinTeen/status/261114186095022080

 In celebration of the Coffin Hop: Master storyteller Neil Gaiman recommends spooky books at #AllHallowsEve -including THE PECULIAR by @Stefan_Bachmann http://t.co/rQL31rcv http://twitter.com/SaraMegibow/status/261114892935913473

And more spooky literary news: Yay for the Coffin Hop 2012!

#yalitchat tonight 9PM ET #2and20darktales authors talking about the making of the anthology. You do not want to miss this! http://twitter.com/Georgia_McBride/status/261110006311706625

Q: When you step out of your USUAL genre what do you like to read? Best books in that genre? I have to say a like a lot of genres--paranormal romance and urban fantasy are my favorites, but I read a lot of spec fiction, I read a lot of  feminist essays (Bitch Magazine, Bust Magazine), memoirs/diaries of my fave authors and artists, and first person/true story erotica.

I just don't understand Republicans. It's not from lack of trying. I have tried to talk to them, but you know what that's like. Have a rational sane logical discussion that doesn't involve an "offhand" comment about a women's place being in the home, and how blacks and gays are out to destroy life as we know it? Surely, you jest.

I live in a very rural area, where most people are of the extreme kind of conservatism. There's a lot of extreme religion around here, and extreme views on people, especially what a woman's place should be. Not to mention the dirty blacks (still called "coloreds" up here, and forget the limp-wristed homos who want nothing more than to drag you out of the country bar and have their way with you.)

Recent comments from the Romney/Ryan campaign have made me utterly recoil in horror. "The method of conception doesn't matter..." (Attributed Paul Ryan here: ) "Some women rape easy..." attribut…

I'm in a reflective mood this morning, so here are some pics for that. All work given credit to the owner.

This week's theme for #WordlessWednesday is MUSIC, again with the help of Psykopaint. All pictures are copyrighted by their users.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme from:
http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/ Click link or above pic! 

This weeks themes is rewind, so I thought I'd think about books that I have loved in the past either as a child/teen or young adult. It's a little strange because I have some children's stuff mixed in with heavy feminist lit, but I was reading heavy feminist lit before college, so there you have it!

1. The Golden Compass



2. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young GIrl



3. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood




4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte



5. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath




6. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

My first contribution to the #SatSunTails microfiction contest, hosted over at Rebecca Clare Smith's Journal.

Here's the writing prompt:
"darkened empathy"

Here's the picture prompt:
And here's my contribution:
Tammy hesitated only a moment before running into the woods. She could hear her mother behind her, stumbling, calling her name. Some part of Tammy thought that it wouldn’t happen to them, it wouldn’t come here, it was all a new tv show. Before her mother changed, she warned Tammy: If it happens to me, you run, you run to woods as fast you can and don’t look back. Tammy didn’t realize as she obeyed her mother, the before-mother, and ran into the woods-- branches scratching her face-- that her own heart was changing, and that a new sense of darkened empathy rose in her. She felt sad for the thing that was once her sanctuary from all the bad in the world, but knew the nightmare drooling blood down the front of her blue housedress wasn’t really her mother …

I watched. I tweeted. I was hugely disappointed. Here's why, summed up neatly in an article from Reality Check.org:
A Debate in Which Women Were Left Drinking Alone | RH Reality Check

Q: What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? Is it to one day become an author yourself, just for fun, maybe get some online attention, or maybe something very different? I started this blog for a few reasons. First because I am a writer myself, and I need a vehicle to market myself and my ideas. I have a lot to say about a variety of topics: fiction, urban fantasy, politics, pop culture, feminism, animal rights. What can I say? The world interests me. Second was the fact that I love reading, and I love free books, and if you start a book blog, you get free books!  Third, there's a lot of anti-intellectualism going on in America. I have personally observed this in the tiny little mountain town I live in. Especially coming from living in big cities all my life, where people have more of a tendency to respect different ideas and perspectives, even if they don't agree with them. This blog is a response to that.