'Tis a gift to be simple; 'tis a gift to be free

[rolanni]

So, things have been rockin' and rollin' here at the Confusion Factory.  Yesterday, we took time out from holiday prep (insert laugh track) to take Steve to the weekend clinic at Inland Hospital, where he achieved the diagnosis of bronchial pneumonia, orders to Take It Easy, and a prescription for antibiotics.  It was a little bit of a zoo getting the prescription filled, what with the lines of communication at our favored pharmacy having gone down for more than an hour, and eventually necessitated a second trip into town, but all was at last accomplished, at last, by Steve -- who won the second trip into town by the simple tactic of being awake when it came time to go.  He brought home a late lunch of nutritious Kentucky Fried Chicken (original), mashed potatoes, and gravy.  Easily, the best meal either of us has eaten in a month.  It's true what they say about hot grease, and salt.

The rest of the evening was filled out by Steve napping in Princess Jasmine Sprite's blue throne, with the Princess herself holding him down, and Sharon alternately reading and napping on the couch.

Finally, we rose and sought our bed, and that, as they say, was that.

Today, we expect more of the same sort of excitement.  I'm concentrating on a Miraculous Cure on my own behalf, because if I don't get one today, it will be my turn with the doctor tomorrow.

So, that.

In other news, I have succeeded in offending someone with "The night don't seem so lonely," so, if you haven't read it, this may be the moment.

Also! If you've read Carousel Seas, as some of you have, please consider leaving a reader review on BN.com, Amazon, Goodreads, Baen, or other sites that you may frequent. Early reviews help readers who may be on the fence about buying the paper copy. Also, early reviews help the author, by demonstrating that people not only anticipated, but immediately put the book at the top of their TBR pile.

Thank you.

. . .and I think that's all I got.

A blessed solstice to those who celebrate, and -- everybody stay healthy, right?

Today's blog post is brought to you by the Shakers, Simple Gifts.

Comments

It's a wonderful story....

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to Carousel Seas. Hope you two are feeling much better today.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

How on earth did somebody manage to be offended by "The night don't seem so lonely"?

(What am I thinking? This is the internet. You could state that the sky is blue and find somebody out there to be offended by the assertion.)

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

That's what I was wondering. *Shakes head*

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

"Blowjob" offendeth the eye and must be plucked out.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

Some people lead very sheltered lives.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

And, on asking more deeply, it comes about that it isn't The Word that's offensive, but the fact that The Word appears on the front page of Baen, thereby sullying its honor forever, and endangering countless numbers of innocents, who are in no way used to "sexually explicit" content in their web browsing experiences. (1: In what way is "blowjob" sexually explicit to someone who doesn't know what the word means? 2: Where are the CNoI getting this danger-free browsing experience?)

It would be fine, if The Word appeared on Some Other Page; mine correspondent liked the story, or at least didn't find anything offensive, except the placement of The Word, of course, and that there was a hint of pedophilia, which wasn't something they would expect the children to have to read about either, or at least not on front pages of websites, and certainly not on the Baen site, which was a place previously considered safe for children, but now it's a hotbed of Bad Words and will have to be monitored and innocence, O! Innocence! is dead.

. . .or something.

It's kind of ironical that this tempest forms above a story about the rescue of a child in terrible circumstances.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

Are they hassling Baen about it, or just giving you private grief?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Happily, so I thought at first, the complaint was to the publisher on an open board. The publisher has answered that The Word rang no warning bells for her.

This, however, has not been good enough, because -- the internet -- and a discussion is ongoing regarding how to repair Baen's honor, including "altering" The Word, invoking, once again, The Children. (Altering it to WHAT, I wonder, considering the list of available choices?) Or perhaps only removing the story from the front page and sticking it in a corner someplace.

This is one of those days when I think it would be easy to stop writing, but that's probably the headache speaking.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

There's no pleasing some folks.

As for claiming that something should be removed or censored "for the children" . . . that line has always annoyed me deeply. I never blocked or snooped on my own kids' internet usage, and I do believe they turned out just fine anyway, thanks very much.

[kk1raven.livejournal.com]

I'd say that any child old enough to be reading the Baen front page is old enough to need to know what that word means. Ignorance of the meaning of words doesn't protect young people from situations where they might come up.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Oh, I have a good guess. But a character is what a character is. Good story, Sharon.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Non-writers, she says, trying to be charitable, don't always understand about Stakes. If the character got on a Greyhound and arrived to fulfill his promise without getting a hair out of place, and never having done anything to EARN the pay-off, then -- that's a story, but it's. . .kind of lame.

Good story, Sharon

Thank you, ma'am.

[reedrover]

Stories are about challenges, conflicts, failings and overcomings. I didn't think of it as "earn" but now will put that into my perspective.

And yes, a ta-da story is for 2-year-olds.

[ellenru.livejournal.com]

That's unfortunate. I thought the places and events from which Moss came made his feeling of "safe" that much more poignant.

I just finished my re-re-re-read of "Tides" and am about to start the same of "Sun" in anticipation of my paper copy of "Seas" arrival. Roughly 20 days and counting.

Sigh

[otaku-tetsuko.livejournal.com]

Dear Sharon,

Thank you. I needed that today.

Love, Sarge