A Meerkat's Bolthole

EtA: This is all breaking news and the updates are coming too fast for me, at least, to keep up. The alarm went up in the LGBT community but it seems to have spread to anything that has any overt inklings of even slightly non-straight or overtly non-vanilla sexuality (including the Kushiel books). A quick looks shows that my books are still listed, as are Anne Bishop's books, even the ones that involve the sexual abuse of an underage child. EtA: Lynn Flewelling is waiting to see if they go after her books next. If they do, and my books remain listed... my books are slightly more explicit than hers, only difference is mine are m/f and hers are m/m.

Meta Writer seems to be on top of it, so I point you there or to Dear Author or Smart Bitches

My comments below stand. I will not buy there, I will not send people there, I will not include them in any of my announcement links. Until they get the head back on the chicken that's running that place, they are dead to me.




ETA: on the road. updates when I'm home.

Via EBear, via http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11369.html:

"If you write books with homosexual characters, read books with homosexual characters, please look at this: http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html

Mark, Erastes, and Alex (among others) had their Amazon sales rankings removed over the last few days for The Filly, Transgressions and False Colours respectively. On enquiring about this, Mark was told the following:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,

Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage

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suri here. it seems, at first glance, that the only books getting hit with "adult" ratings are those dealing with homosexual or transgender characters -- even if the books are YA. I haven't had a chance to check into this further (pending a call in to romance editors on Monday) but I haven't heard of mainstream 'sexy' or 'adult' books getting the same treatment.

Amazon, being a privately-owned company, is free to make whatever marketing decisions they choose to. And I, being a private citizen, am free to make whatever buying decisions I choose to. And until this is reversed -- or applied across the board to any book that has adult material -- which would include my own! -- I will not be buying from Amazon; not books, not music, not anything. And certainly not a Kindle. And I will be telling Corporate Headquarters of my decision.

You might want to do the same, if you're feeling the same disgust at their actions....

A bunch of things, of which probably the most important to y'all is at the bottom, just so's you're warned.


First and foremost: kateelliott manages to say beautifully what I've been trying to verbalize elsewhere, and so I am using her words instead:

I think, on the whole, we are wise to err on the side of recognizing connectivity, not just in terms of seeking connectivity but in recognizing how deeply interconnected the system of people and their societies is and must be because we are band animals; it’s how we evolved, to make connections both in the familial kin sense and in the pattern-making sense of trying to see how the world fits together, to make sense of the place we live and how we function within it and how and where we relate to others and the landscape.

Things get mashed together in the grieving mind. They all become connected, intertwined, difficult, necessary. You can’t look away. You want to look away. You mustn’t look away. Maybe you can’t make it right, or maybe you can make something right, but the hard things have to be faced, grappled with, embraced.

Yes. That. Face, grapple, embrace. Every single day.


Meanwhile, in addition to the book I'm writing and the short story I'm writing, and the collaborative project that is probably going to be a novella, and Lunacon and Passover coming up hard, and oh yeah, a CEM expected soon, the management company has ok'd my paperwork (never underestimate the value of an experienced contractor who can herd ducks and line up cats) and we have a demo start date of...next Monday. Once it all begins, expect a hold on all cooking neep (except, possibly, "cooking with toaster and take-away") for a week or so...

Be warned: there will be photoblogging. And, since my office is off the kitchen, probably occasional whinging about the noise, too.

Boomer will be in his element. More!People! Pandora will hide in the bedroom. In the end, it will all be worth it. The kitchen will be better, the apartment overall will be better, and it's not like the money was earning interest in the bank any more, right? *whimpers* My poor credit cards aren't going to be speaking to me when this is done. But it will be worth it. I know it will.


In the further meanwhile, and on a totally different topic, I am once again participating in the Brenda Novak on-line auction to raise money for diabetes research. This time around, I'm offering:

1: the full set of "Retrievers" books (6 in all, including the newest just out in May '09) in trade paperback, packed with a beach towel and water bottle in a reusable tote, suitable for lazing about pool or
beach, or in your back yard, for a summer reading getaway.

2: an ARC of my forthcoming hardcover fantasy novel, FLESH & FIRE: BOOK 1 OF THE VINEART WAR (October 2009), with a pair of wine glasses with identifying charms [since the basis of the book is wine-magic!)

Bid early, bid often! [or at least, as soon as they put the offerings up!] And check out some of the other stuff available... this auction bring in the heavy hitters, and amazing opportunities (mine best-evah agent Jenn Jackson will be offering a critique. You Know You Want It.)

And now the coffee is ready and the working must begin...

If you are a NYC resident, a former or current attendee of Stony Brook University, or just generally want to make the world a greener place, I'm going to ask you to sign a petition.

"We, the undersigned, wish to express our support for giving the thirty-nine year old Ashley Schiff Park Preserve a "forever wild" designation. Together with appropriate state legislation, this will ensure that the Ashley Schiff Park Preserve will always remain in its natural state, will never be developed, and will be available as a field site for academic programs of future generations of Stony Brook University students, and for the enjoyment of faculty, staff, students, and the surrounding community. We also feel that because it has been thirty-nine years since the Preserve was dedicated in Dr. Schiff's memory that the Preserve finally be given its originally intended and long overdue "forever wild" designation."


More information on the Preserve is here

If you went to SBU, you probably know the name Ashley Schiff. He was my uncle, and keeping the Park Preserve going is something that's really important to our family. So, if you can, please sign.

from karenmiller's LJ:

"There are many appeals going right now, to help all the people affected by these fires. Over $12 million in public donations has been taken already. But the animals affected are in even worse straits than the people, so if you feel you can help, even if it's only a couple of dollars, please go here to make a donation to the Victorian RSPCA's bushfire appeal."

The Australian Red Cross is also accepting donations.

Times are tough here, and it's hard to think about sending money so far away when so many need help here, too. But watching footage of the fires on the news is purely heartbreaking, all the more so because they were, apparently, the result of arson. If we, by helping, can offset the inhumanity of the arsonists, then it's a few dollars well-spent...

Last night, while introducing M. to Jeff Dunham, we came up with the name for his next special: "Cause it's Wrong, but Funny."

On a less amusing note, apparently there are people out in the blogosphere are screaming censorship because a prayer was cut from the broadcast of the We Are One celebration by HBO.

I have three thoughts on that

1. "censorship" applies ONLY to government actions. A commercial decision to edit a broadcast is not censorship. Please, already, learn your damned vocabulary before you use it.

2. The prayer was given before the celebration officially started, and included in the broadcast was the Gay Men's Choir, with full camera views and all, so it's less discrimination against gays and more discrimination against religion, ne?

3. As a follow-up the #2 thought, those claiming the removal of a gay bishop's prayer being discriminatory etc might want to stop and think about those of us who feel discriminated against every time a priest, a bishop, a minister, etc - no matter what their gender preference -- is invited to give a prayer over something. Yeah, we (non-Christians) are a minority. Does that mean we should be ignored or discounted?

(I was going to ask about the atheists and agnostics, but that would be writing the Other, and that's another blogfest I'm not getting into because I just wrote an entire series about hatred and discrimination and fear, and how we're ALL The Other to someone else. IMO and IMB*, Learning the Other is more productive to literature and society than fetishizing or fearing it. Your mileage possibly varies.)

and now, I have a book to finish revising. Yes.



*in my books

Busy. Very busy. Oh my yes very busy.

(and not all of it writing-related... there is editing and kitchen-stuff, too. And travel prep. Wheee!)

But in passing, because I haven't seen anyone mention it on my f-list:

New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, a vocal gay rights leader, will open President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration with a prayer on Sunday's kick-off event at the Lincoln Memorial. I think we can all agree that seating him next to Rick Warren would just totally make the festivities complete.

"Robinson is the first openly gay diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion....he would love to sit down with Rick Warren but believed that the California pastor has 'perpetrated lies about the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.'"

Lifted with permission from another LJ:

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When New Jersey passed the civil union law, it also created a commission to study civil unions. The commission's job was to determine whether civil unions actually did what they were Constitutionally required to do: convey all of the rights of marriage to same-sex couples.

This commission is going to be releasing their report on civil unions at 10AM this morning (to be posted at http://www.nj.gov/oag/dcr/curc.html). The commission -- composed of 13 individuals, six of whom are government officials representing an Administration that had opposed marriage equality in the courts, two of whom are members of the clergy, and one of whom is a right-to-life Republican -- UNANIMOUSLY recommends to Governor Corzine and the New Jersey legislature that they enact a law to allow same-sex couples to marry "expeditiously because any delay in marriage equality will harm all the people of New Jersey." (emphasis mine)

The civil union law "invites and encourages unequal treatment of same-sex couples and their children," concludes the final report, titled The Economic, Legal, Medical and Social Consequences of New Jersey's Civil Union Act. "In a number of cases, the negative effect of the Civil Union Act on the physical and mental health of same-sex couples and their children is striking, largely because a number of employers and hospitals do not recognize the rights and benefits of marriage for civil union couples."

"The Commission is compelled to issue its final report now because of the overwhelming evidence that civil unions will not be recognized by the general public as the equivalent of marriage in New Jersey with the passage of time. Nearly a decade later, civil union couples in Vermont report the same obstacles to equality that New Jersey civil union couples face today," the report states, citing the recent study of a panel in Vermont.
...
( further details from the report: )

Growing up, a word I heard a lot in my household was Tzedakah. It's loosely translated as 'charity', but the root word is actually 'justice.' Tzedakah was not something only the wealthy were expected to do -- it was an obligation to help those who have less, even if you yourself have little.

And the highest form of tzedakah was to give anonymously, so that you did not benefit, and the recipient did not feel guilt or obligation to a specific person, but rather felt part of a caring community.

You have the chance right now to make a real difference -- to perform an act of tzedakah. Vera Nazarian, owner of Norilana Books, is in dire straits due to several turns of terrible luck, and this damned economy. She's done everything she can -- now she needs help to keep the roof over her head, literally. $1, $5... the small bills in your wallet can make a very real difference. (and you can check out the charity auction, if you want to put little more money down! Some very nice items being offered...)

The details are here: http://community.livejournal.com/helpvera/751.html And feel free to pass the word along to people who aren't on LJ.

Thanks.

Polls closing. Parties gathering. Anticipation mounting.

I'm half-tempted to go to bed and wake up tomorrow to whatever New World Order we've got...


(that idea was hooted down. SO I guess I'll be playing drinking games with the rest of ya.)

EtA: who is drinking what? I thought I'd had enough scotch at WFC, but the bottle of Aberlour was spirited up by the peat-fairies. And so there we are.

and courtesy of cmpriest:



*okay, a representative democracy. If we can get those participation numbers up, then maybe we can call ourselves a realistic democracy with a straight face...)

In her journal, cmpriest is talking about the situation in Texas. Having survived the storm itself, the aftermath is doing even more damage.

Via CNN: The Houston Food Bank is “utterly overwhelmed with people asking for help,” its president, Brian Greene, said Tuesday. The food bank needs 500,000 pounds of food a day for the next six weeks to satisfy the “staggering” needs of Texans who have no food or water after the storm, he said.

“People don’t grasp just how many people live here,” said Greene, who was executive director of New Orleans’ Food Bank when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005. He lost his home in Katrina, and lived at the New Orleans food bank for weeks using a garden hose as a shower. Most of the Houston food bank’s volunteers’ homes were damaged and they don’t have power.

“It’s a very similar situation that I saw following Katrina: when the caregivers themselves [are] victims, it just becomes difficult on a far larger scale than you would think,” he said.

She has a list o' links where you can help out, including food banks, and the local ASPCA. What, you were going to invest that $10 in the stock market? Put it to a better use.


meanwhile, from MSNBC: "Alaska's investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power, a potentially damaging distraction for John McCain's presidential campaign, ran into intensified resistance Tuesday when the attorney general said state employees would refuse to honor subpoenas in the case."

Because being a Republican, apparently, means you don't have to answer to the law. Cheeney did it, Palin's doing it...

Does that mean Republican=Anarchist? It would certainly explain the "fkcu you" attitude they seem to be cultivating...