Just say no!

If you're going out this #halloween, say no to #SlutShaming! http://t.co/8hxRehnF #lbloggers #bbloggers #happyhalloween #girlpower http://twitter.com/jacquina/status/263726196175548416

Shocker!!

RT @SapphicPixie: Romney refuses to comment on his vow to eliminate or privatize FEMA and he has declined offers to survey #Sandy damage http://t.co/4mTTNKKq http://twitter.com/meyer2311/status/263586604780752896

Wordless Wednesday #6

Brave girl!

http://imperfectwriting.tumblr.com/post/33933007179/i-went-to-the-mall-and-a-little-girl-called-me-a
If I tried this in my tiny little mountain town I'd be shot dead, asked questions later.

It's not just me, is it?

Mitt Romney tells disastet relief victims to help themselves. If you get hit by a natural disaster, it must be God's will. http://t.co/TfQsgVJq

Motivation Monday #3

Music can be a great motivator for me, when I'm writing, when I'm walking, when I'm just trying to get through the day to day. Here are some quotes from bookish quotes from bookish folks:
I think the one from Lady Gaga is my favorite...

“Without music, life would be a mistake.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols 

 “If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution.”
― Emma Goldman
 
 “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
― Bob Marley

 “If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.”
― William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night 

 the past is only the future with the lights on.”
― Blink-182, Blink 182 

 “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
― Arthur O'Shaughnessy, Poems of Arthur O'Shaughnessy
 
“Life is for the living.
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a note unsaid.”
― Langston Hughes, The Collected Poems 

   “The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats...”
― Albert Schweitzer

 “The only truth is music.”
― Jack Kerouac
 
 “I had a boyfriend who told me I’d never succeed, never be nominated for a Grammy, never have a hit song, and that he hoped I’d fail. I said to him, ‘Someday, when we’re not together, you won’t be able to order a cup of coffee at the fucking deli without hearing or seeing me.”
― Lady Gaga

"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?" When they couldn't answer, they couldn't vote. I once debated with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about whether an African American would ever be elected president. He believed it would happen within the next 40 years at the time -- I believed it would never happen within my lifetime. I have never been happier to have been proven wrong. And since President Barack Obama's historic election, we've moved forward in courageous and beautiful ways. More students can afford college, and more families have access to affordable health insurance. Women have greater opportunities to get equal pay for equal work. Yet as Rev. King wrote, "All progress is precarious." So don't sit on the sidelines. Don't hesitate. Don't have any regrets. Vote. Go, rise up, and let your friends and family in early vote states know where they can vote today. We must make our voices heard: http://my.barackobama.com/Help-Your-Friends-Vote-Early Your vote is not only important. It's imperative. Thank you, Dr. Maya Angelou P.S. -- Not on Facebook? Send your friends to vote.barackobama.com -- don't let technology get in the way of your incredible duty to our democracy."

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.

Wordless Wednesday #6

Coffin Hop and Literary News

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!

Wednesday Means...#YALITCHAT!

#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

Feature and Follow #14

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.

 

 

 




Thursday Rant--I Just Can't Take it Anymore!

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..." attributed to an associate of Ryan's, Roger Rivard, a Wisconsin legislator was quoted having quoted someone else here:

Then there's this binder stuff. I guess what Romney was trying to say was that *if* he had wanted to place equal-qualified women in place of men in the workplace in his home state of Massachusetts, he had "binders" full of women to choose from. 
What's sad is that Romney doesn't even think what he said was wrong, or how it can possibly be taken as insulting that information about women would be placed into binders like so many baseball cards listing their qualifications and stats. 

The binder meme has gone viral here on Amazon, with some pretty sharp comments.
http://bit.ly/BinderFullOfWomen

Yet more insults towards single moms (no mention of single parents, or dads, just moms:) This was one of the best reactions to this comment by Romney in which he makes a ludicrous and absoltuely false statement between single moms and gun violence:

 The witty and brilliant rebuttal by mom, blogger, and business owner has been classic:

http://www.shelaghmcnally.com/2012/10/mitt-save-my-daughter-and-marry-me.html

So my question is, given these statements from the Republican camp: is Romney deliberately trying to isolate and devalue the votes of women--and not just their votes, their contributions, their thoughts, their perspective? Why do Republicans hate women so much? If you associate yourself with this party, doesn't it mean you stand for these statements and sentiments above? I don't think you can pick and choose here: "Well, I believe women should have a say, but I hate Obama so much that I have to vote for Romney." Does that make any kind of sense? It doesn't to me. The people I'm around hate Obama, with a passion, but when asked what specifically they hate, they respond with proven falsehoods: "He's a Muslim." or "He tanked the economy." One, he's not a Muslim. Two, he inherited a giant mess, and everyone knows that. One thing they won't say to my face is the real reason: They hate Obama because he's black, and for no other reason.
I think this is one of the many differences between liberals and conservatives. I'm willing to open up a dialogue and try and understand and talk about different things. Without yelling. Seriously, talk to me. I really want to know.
But I have learned that you can't ask a conservative why they hate black people, or gay people. When I point out that even if you don't agree with someone's lifestyle, they're still taxpayers, same as you. Those are your fellow Americans you're talking about--why such hatred?They pay taxes, same as you. They fight in our wars, they teach our children, they are contributing members of society.
No on ever has an answer.
Why can't gay people get married?
The answer is usually a jabbing of fingers to the Bible.
But what if I, and many other millions of people, don't believe in a book that was written over 2,000 years ago by different men (and only men) writing in different centuries with different political agendas?
Oh, right, I'm a sinner and going to hell. I forgot.
Why are black people so bad?
Crickets chirp, a tumbleweed drifts by.
How does two guys or two girls getting married affect my life and my marriage?
Crickets chirp, a tumbleweed drifts by.

No one ever has an answer--I can't vote for anyone who actively (that means demonstrated action, people. Active=activity) hates me and my gender, and my friends. I don't understand how conservatives do, either.

Wordless Wednesday #5

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

#WordlessWednesday #4

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

Top Ten Tuesday #4

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



7. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

 
8. Succulent Wild Woman by SARK



9. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler   E.L. Konigsburg
 

10.  Arrow's fall by Mercedes Lackey--another book that inspired me to be a writer:

#SatSunTails #1

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 anymore. Tammy didn’t know the world she was running into, but still, she ran. 

Wordcount: 154
@xbluestockingx

Weighing in on the Debate

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

Feature and Follow #13

 

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. 

 

 

#Wordless Wednesday #3

 
 
 

#TenOnTuesday #3

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme from:

http://brokeandbookish.blogspot.com/

Click link or above pic!

Top Ten "Older" Books You Don't Want People To Forget About (you can define older however you wish. Basically just backlisted books you think are great.

1. Delta of Venus:Anais Nin





2. Forever: Judy Blume

 


3. Valley of the Dolls: Jaqueline Susann
 


4.Citizen Girl by Emma
McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus             


5. The Onion Girl by Charles de Lint

 
6. The Weetzie Bat Series: Franceseca Lia Block
 

7. Neil Gaiman: American Gods
 


8. Anna Deveare Smith: Tilight: Los Angeles, 1992