Stumbled over this band on the weekend. Lay Of The Autumn are Italian but the lead vocalist hails from Ukraine and has some history as a solo artist as well, including trying out to be Ukraine's Eurovision entry in 2018. She's good but it's the instrumentalists who are the real stars. All terrific players at their positions, esp. the guitarist and keyboardist. Style is basically symphonic metal but with some other elements woven in.

This instrumental may actually be their best work, with all the players at their finest.

And this is a terrific song both vocally and instrumentally.

New day, new week, new month, what's not to like? Weather is nice here for a couple days, too. Might even get a hint of summer, with temps hitting the high 20s Celsius.

Coffee is on, some Fire Roasted St. Drogo. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Earl Grey Cream. Pitchers are washed and refilled with iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked.

Here's some goodies, too.

I have known for a while that Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, one of the masters of modern gothic and horror (Pan's Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water), was doing Frankenstein. The first trailer is out. Looks very very good, but the devil will be in the details.

Good morning. Posted a new Author's Publish piece on climate and environmental fiction in Resources. Hot topic these days so I thought there might be some interest in writing about it around here.

For the weekend, there's Kicking Horse Smart Ass coffee (no further comment) and we've got some Canadian Breakfast and Vinyl Cafe tea for the tea crowd. Fresh lemonade and unsweet iced tea are lurking in the fridge along with our seemingly infinite soda stock.

Hope you're having a nice weekend, all.

Stories about the environment and the mess we are making of it have been staple in s-f for decades now, with climate change being the current hot topic in that field. Of course, that has now spread beyond just s-f, with horror, fantasy, and even general literary fiction about the climate crisis becoming common. These 14 markets are looking for stories on various aspects of the climate crisis from how we might survive to how our world and societies might change as a result. They range from hopeful (Solarpunk magazine, which is named for a fairly new sub-genre focused on being hopeful and upbeat vs. the rather dark feel of a lot of -punk genres) to rather dark sounding (Club Chicxulub, named for the asteroid that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs). See if any might be an option for you.

https://authorspublish.com/14-magazines-accepting-climate-and-environmental-fiction/

Quote by WriterGirl
A robot tells the story and it’s the first story from this robot, so please be encouraging.

Thought we didn't allows stories written by AIs. 😉😊

I'm contemplating S-F, too, but more of the space fantasy, Star Wars variety. It's one of those weird ideas that's been stewing in my brain forever but I've never actually tried to turn into a story. Probably harder (ie. more grounded in science) than Star Wars, though. No magic (which is what the Force really is), spaceships work like spaceships instead of airplanes, guns run out of ammo, and such. There will be some borderline stuff, though. Hard to have galaxy spanning adventures without some kind of faster-than-light travel for instance.

Good morning! Looking like May will end slightly cool but that's not entirely a bad thing. Apparently Western Canada is getting their first heatwave of 2025. I'll take slightly cool, thank you.

Coffee is made, teas are refilled. How's things with you?

Enjoying cold filtered water with some lime juice as I wind down at the end of the day.

Got a great story or poem? Don't want to be sitting around waiting for the inevitable rejection (or even, wow!!!, acceptance)? The journals on this list, covering various types and genres of writing, have fast turnaround times so you can quickly get on to the next rejec...er...submission.

https://authorspublish.com/27-literary-journals-with-fast-response-times/

That sounds seriously cool, O White One. While I can't swim worth beans and have a slight fear of water/drowning, I am fascinated by sea life and the oceans in general. The woman I reported to in my library career (she retired just before I jumped ship for corporate IT) was married to researcher at the Canada Centre for Inland Waterways in Burlington. Not quite oceanography but certainly related since those inland waterways end up in the ocean eventually. Good luck with this new project.

No one has ever taken on the task of getting my grandfather's memoirs into shape. It's just a binder full of typewritten text. Grandad was a minister and eventually held a senior role in the United Church of Canada and was involved in the founding of some of their colleges including St. Paul's at the University of Waterloo. He was actually at the table for the early discussions about starting that university and later got an honorary doctorate for his work. He knew Bill Davis and some other big figures from that, too (I'm guessing me and Bear are the only ones here who know who Bill Davis was).

Another nice day here. This is one of my favourite times of year. Spring rains are more intermittent so we get some nice days and its warm enough to be outside, but the summer heat and humidity have not arrived yet.

Historically, I've been a horror guy. Having trouble getting into any kind of fiction these days.

Spooky, eerie horror or (as Stephen King put it) go for the gross-out?

Quote by Meagananne1986
So, science/nature article which befits my undergraduate degrees - mathematics/physics double major.

There's a reality out there somewhere where I did physics and am now a leading astrophyicist or quantum theorist. Sadly, this is not that universe.

Ah, little kid horror. Play on people's childhood fears and watch them freak out. Worked for King with It. And 'Salem's Lot, i think. IIRC the horrible thing in the spooky house was based on something from his childhood (there's also a short story called "Jerusalem's Lot" that's kind of the prototype for the novel but isn't a vampire story per se).

Down-to-earth. I find gourmet stuff is often a bit overrated. Our last couple days in Paris, we actually ate at a Neapolitan style pizza joint. And in Milan, we ate at this nice little diner with homemade pastas and such.

Read news articles or read science/nature articles?

Good to hear that she's getting along with her recovery. And that grandpa is still helping out.😊 We're a bit far to help them much but if I'm retired by the time they have kids, we'll probably move closer.

And a haunted garbage disposal? Sounds more horror comedy than straight horror. Unless it got that way by someone being fed down it in pieces. 😲

I would like to do Route 66 someday, I think, but I'm getting a stiff and cranky for those sorts of drives. I drove a bit of it on one of my US trips. To be frank, if I am speeding to a destination in the US other than maybe Michigan or Ohio, it's usually by plane. Driving is because I want to do the scenic route.

Team sport (e.g. soccer, hockey) or individual sport (e.g. tennis, badminton)?

Quote by WriterGirl
I do love brick, though.

Our builder offered brick and it looks nice so we went with it. My history was with asphalt (parents' place) and concrete (my first house) and in retrospect, I should have gone with one of those. Both are more practical, esp. up here in the land of ice and snow.

I can't really believe I wrote that. I blame my state of mind.

Good morning and welcome. Coffee and tea are refreshed and hot. How are things in your world?

I'm getting a new driveway. Bricks are too much of a pain so instead of getting them relaid again (2nd time in the house's 25 year history), I'm ditching them in favour of concrete. Not cheap but it's supposed to be good for 30-40 years and I'll be happy if I'm still breathing then (I'd be 90-100).

Beach unless I had kids of an appropriate age (or grandkids, which is more likely at my age).

Vegas for the shows or to gamble?

Wait for cable/streaming/online rental. I don't find much appeal in going to theaters given the cost these days. Maybe for an Avatar-type movie that really plays better on the big screen.

Drama or comedy?

A play sounds cool. My favourite play is the silly version of Hamlet, which includes memorable lines like:

Hamlet: To bee or not to bee, that is the question.

Bee: Here's an answer for you.

The bee doth sting Hamlet

Just basic orange pekoe tea (Red Rose).

Oops, Meagan didn't ask a new question. I prefer hiking. I bike but prefer road biking or a good, paved trail. I leave mountain biking to the kids (my son and his wife do mountain bike).

Fishing: Catch and release or take the fish home to eat?

Yeesh. That'll be the first story in almost 3 weeks and only the fourth in May. Wish I could get something going that I can get out quickly. Current projects are all running long and won't be done any time soon.

Sunny here for a couple days after a fairly nice weekend. Hope Americans are having decent weather for their long weekend.

There's some Deathwish Dark Roast on for coffee. Teas are Scottish Breakfast and Black Currant. Cold beverages are lookin' good.

I am almost old enough to remember when this song originally came out. Alice Cooper has been a fixture in rock almost my entire life and is still going strong at 77. And his backing band is one of the best in the business to boot. Here he is at Hellfest 2022 telling the audience in no uncertain terms that "School's out for Summer".

So, I am once again toying with how to get an e-book together for self-publication. I know a few here have done so already. Love to hear about your experiences, tips, tricks, what worked, what store you used (Kindle, Smashwords, etc.) and so on. To be frank, I don't know much myself, just some broad ideas.

Right now, I am just experimenting with compiling my horror stories (all currently on here) into a collection. Not sure if it's really something I would publish or just a way to figure out how to do things. At the very least, my goal would be end up with an epub of them. Then I can decide if it's at all marketable. Big problem I see is artwork. I would rather not use AI for this but not sure I want to sink money into engaging an artist, either. So maybe hunt around for some royalty-free stock that works and then do some monkeying about with it in GIMP.

FYI, my current toolset is all open source. LibreOffice and GIMP running on Linux Mint. I've looked at Scribus, an open source DTP package, for doing the final assembly but it does not yet export epub and seems like it will need some time to learn. LibreOffice might just be enough, too.

So here's a thread on self-publishing. Anything related to the hows and whats of it is on topic. Plugging your book belongs in Sing Your Own Praises, though, unless you're also talking about how you put it together or marketed and sold it.

Sunday!! And it really is SUNday here. Not a cloud in the sky for once. Though the forecast suggests that won't last.

It's a housework day and maybe cut the grass. Oh, and I was slinging pancakes this morning. So there's some out for anyone needing some yummies. For coffee I've put on on Kicking Horse Three Sisters. Tea is Assam Organic. Fresh lemonade and iced tea are in the fridge. Sodas are stocked up.

Hope folks are having a nice weekend and have a nice week ahead.

Later, alligators.

It continues to astound me that people can see a basic service like medical care as a commodity, not as an essential service. Even here with our public healthcare system, I see that attitude around, esp. in our Conservative Party. There's actual resistance to extending it to cover dental, drug, mental health, and home/longterm care, even though those should be part and parcel of a comprehensive health system.

Sorry to hear, Gil. It just seems to keep coming at you, doesn't it? Vibes to you and your family.

We just lost my dad's sister a couple weeks ago after a short hospice stay. Late 80s and had a rough ride healthwise in recent years, including a nasty bout with C-19. Still, she seemed pretty good when I saw her last summer at her son's place. That's basically the end of that generation in my family tree. Her husband is still alive but that's a relative by marriage. He turns 91 this year and is still in good shape last I heard.

Coffee and tea are refreshed as are the goodies. Rainy and a bit miserable here until the weekend.

Pondering whether I can find something to write for here that won't tie me down in endless convolutions like my three or so current projects have kind of done (all are headed for novella territory or so). Something I can put to bed in 4-5K words.

Tetley's. In my company Yeti (was a gift for admin week or something like that at some point).