Clever Manka is dressed and undressed

Uhhh. So First Time is up to 100 kudos just over the weekend? I think people like it? I guess? I mean, it felt like a good story as I was writing it, and I was pretty sure nobody'd done that particular take on it before, but I didn't expect quite this level of response. I'm so glad the time/verb tense switching seems to work (at least for those who commented about it). When I first sent it to solo  for beta, I said that was the only thing that was non-negotiable. It's not something one is "supposed" to do in writing, and even mckitterick sorta side-eyed me when I told him what I was planning. But I needed that switching/experience overlap to happen for Shen Wei and the reader in an explicit way. What a relief and a pleasure that I was able to pull it off.

Speaking of fic writing, it's interesting to me how people navigate their reading habits when it comes to fic (and, probably, other writing as well). rheasilvia mentioned in a post not wanting to read fic while writing and while I've only written two fics (my only two pieces of fiction ever, at all), both times when I got stuck I was like "welp! time to read what someone else has to say about this character!" and then I go get inspired by someone else's hot sex scene character development.

In Fabulous Good News that is not about Guardian, I slept through the night! It helped that I was bone-tired after three 2am mornings in a row, and I drugged myself with a double dose of diphenhydramine. I did wake up around 2, then 4:30, then a bit before 6, and finally at 7:30 but other than that last one I was able to easily fall back asleep almost immediately. FUCK YEAH. FELT GOOD.

Speaking of feeling good, I'm running some errands later this morning so will soon break my streak but as of right now I've gone nearly 72 hours without speaking aloud to another soul. My god I can't even describe how wonderful it's been. Because I am so super chatty and not shy in the slightest, people assume I'm an extrovert, but (ha ha ha ha ha!) no. I just have a very loud personality. I fucking love being alone. As long as I had internet interactions with people, I feel like I would do well in one of those solitary space mission things. Except for my deep and abiding existential horror of voids. 

If anyone wants to see pics of me and my parents, here are the proofs from the photo shoot last week. My reactions:
1) I look like a fucking Amazon. I'm only 5'7" (probably 5'9" in those shoes tho) and my parents are seriously shrinking. Like seriously shrinking. Daddy used to be 6'1" and Mommy was nearly 5'11" when I was growing up. Being able to fit her under my chin is surreal. And terrifying. Osteoporosis is bad, folks! Eat your greens! Lift weights!
2) I really should have taken off my footie socks with those shoes but the next stop was the airport and I didn't want to forget to put them back on. Not walking on airport floors barefoot. UGH.
3) Real glad I washed my hair because even though I'm sporting over half an inch of roots there, it looks gr8.
4) My neck must've been bothering me that day, otherwise I don't know why I've got my head tilted up in half those photos. I know that's not the best angle for my face and I'm usually very conscientious about that when modeling.
5) My parents are fucking adorable.

Another one down--Alastair Reynolds'sTerminal World. Pain and depression are good for something, I guess. I'm getting lots of reading done!

One of the criticisms I've heard about Quantum Thief (my favorite so far) was that the world was confusing and hard (if not impossible) to understand. The environment of Terminal World is similarly far-future, but easier to grasp. It is, however, hugely depressing. It seems these not-really-steampunk-but-sorta worlds (Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker, Mieville's Perdido Street Station) are dark, dirty, and mostly someplace you wouldn't want to live. A lot like Victorian London, I guess.

I liked Reynolds's analysis of how the different technological zones worked, but his reasons for how they got that way (explained in the last twenty pages of the book) completely blew it for me. Ugh. The ending was a weird tease, too. I wasn't sure if he was trying for a cliff-hanger or whether he was making a statement about the uncertainty of life. It was strange, and felt slightly contrived.

His characters were fun and appropriate for the setting, and I thought he did a good job of playing with noir themes and archetypes. They banter well, and while they might not be exactly well-rounded, they fit nicely in his seedy underworld. Most of the book reads like a thriller, and his fight scenes are fantastic.

I can't shake the suspicion, though, that he started writing this book thinking "I want to write something with airships!" and then figured out how to build an SF world around his goal of placing half the story on airships without it seeming like his goal was writing about airships.