Recruitment for Our Next General Imprint Anthology Opens Soon!
Dec. 29th, 2025 03:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
duckprintspress
We’ll be looking for authors to contribute stories to our sixth general imprint anthology Beyond the Galactic Tide from January 10 to January 31 2026! For this collection, every one of the approximately 15 stories, up to 7,500 words long, must feature one or more asexual main characters in outer space settings! The minimum pay per story is $75, with the chance for up to $600 depending on the success of our crowdfunding campaign to cover publishing costs.
If you’re interested in potentially being the author of one of those 15 stories, now is a great time to check out the rules, polish your writing sample submission, ponder your pitch, and prepare to submit. Duck Prints Press only works with fanauthors interested in publishing their original work! If you are not a fanauthor, you are not eligible to apply.
Learn more about eligibility, find out which settings we’re including in “outer space,” learn about the range of asexual representation we hope to see, and much more by visiting our webpage today!
Post-Christmas mishmash | Recent media
Dec. 29th, 2025 03:47 pmumadoshi(As is so often the case, I'm generally up to date on reading my DW circle, but not doing at all well with commenting.)
I guess at this point we're well into the liminal last bit of the year. (I said toscruloose earlier that I still try to hold "Christmas is twelve days, dammit" in my heart, but it's hard, especially when our observance of the the holiday at all is so low-key.) We had masked visits with both sets of parents (mine on Christmas Eve and scruloose's on Boxing Day), and in between, Christmas Day was just the two of us and the cats and the Netflix fireplaces. My mom sent us home with Christmas stockings and some gifts (also very low-key; we still keep nudging for just not doing presents at all), and the latter included a hard copy of the most recent edition of Garner's Modern English Usage, which was a delightful surprise.
We actually had a white Christmas, which has never been a sure thing and is getting rarer and rarer at terrible speeds, but now ice and rain are arriving, to be followed by a cold snap, so I'm really glad we don't need to leave the house anytime soon. (See also: will we lose power? Very possibly! >.< But we're pretty well-equipped to deal with it.)
I'm feeling like I should be looking ahead or setting small goals or trying to find specific things I want to focus on, but so far I'm not really scrounging the brain for it. Anyone want to tell me about how you're approaching it?
(I do think I'll sign up for a GYWO wordcount goal again, despite having written almost literally zero words this year, but at this point I have the grim suspicion that the words may stay gone until a new full-on fannish obsession hits me, and that's so infrequent for me. ;_; I have so many Guardian WIPs and fragments. [And while I'm enjoying seeing all the fannish glee over Heated Rivalry, I don't currently feel fannish about it myself {which, honestly, I'm okay with}.])
Recent media, mostly books: All Is Bright, Llinos Cathryn Thomas' "read over Advent" novella, which was lovely; The Dark is Rising (book), which I'm glad to have finally read; I don't know if/when I might read the books that follow it; Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher; Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk; KJ Charles' Masters in this Hall (which I should've checked the series info about first, as it's the third Lilywhite Boys book and I haven't read the second. Oops); and Brigid Kemmerer's A Curse So Dark and Lonely.
scruloose and I finished listening to System Collapse, so we're out of Murderbot books. Yesterday (?) we listened to the four-minute audiobook sample of The Thief, which I might be able to work with? But wow, the voice sounds so much older than Gen to me. (Also, Kobo, four minutes is a reasonable sample length, but it literally cuts off mid-word.)
I watched the season finale of Heated Rivalry pretty promptly on Friday morning, for fear of being spoiled, which meantscruloose, who hadn't seen any of the show previously, pretty much watched it too while feeding the cats and having their own breakfast. (I did give them some background info first.) As noted above: not feeling fannish, but I thought that was really well done overall, and the actors seem like an absolute delight.
And we've watched two movies since starting vacation (Wake Up Dead Man and Sinners), which brings me up to a whopping four [4] movies this year.
I guess at this point we're well into the liminal last bit of the year. (I said to
scruloose earlier that I still try to hold "Christmas is twelve days, dammit" in my heart, but it's hard, especially when our observance of the the holiday at all is so low-key.) We had masked visits with both sets of parents (mine on Christmas Eve and scruloose's on Boxing Day), and in between, Christmas Day was just the two of us and the cats and the Netflix fireplaces. My mom sent us home with Christmas stockings and some gifts (also very low-key; we still keep nudging for just not doing presents at all), and the latter included a hard copy of the most recent edition of Garner's Modern English Usage, which was a delightful surprise.We actually had a white Christmas, which has never been a sure thing and is getting rarer and rarer at terrible speeds, but now ice and rain are arriving, to be followed by a cold snap, so I'm really glad we don't need to leave the house anytime soon. (See also: will we lose power? Very possibly! >.< But we're pretty well-equipped to deal with it.)
I'm feeling like I should be looking ahead or setting small goals or trying to find specific things I want to focus on, but so far I'm not really scrounging the brain for it. Anyone want to tell me about how you're approaching it?
(I do think I'll sign up for a GYWO wordcount goal again, despite having written almost literally zero words this year, but at this point I have the grim suspicion that the words may stay gone until a new full-on fannish obsession hits me, and that's so infrequent for me. ;_; I have so many Guardian WIPs and fragments. [And while I'm enjoying seeing all the fannish glee over Heated Rivalry, I don't currently feel fannish about it myself {which, honestly, I'm okay with}.])
Recent media, mostly books: All Is Bright, Llinos Cathryn Thomas' "read over Advent" novella, which was lovely; The Dark is Rising (book), which I'm glad to have finally read; I don't know if/when I might read the books that follow it; Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher; Widdershins by Jordan L. Hawk; KJ Charles' Masters in this Hall (which I should've checked the series info about first, as it's the third Lilywhite Boys book and I haven't read the second. Oops); and Brigid Kemmerer's A Curse So Dark and Lonely.
scruloose and I finished listening to System Collapse, so we're out of Murderbot books. Yesterday (?) we listened to the four-minute audiobook sample of The Thief, which I might be able to work with? But wow, the voice sounds so much older than Gen to me. (Also, Kobo, four minutes is a reasonable sample length, but it literally cuts off mid-word.)I watched the season finale of Heated Rivalry pretty promptly on Friday morning, for fear of being spoiled, which meant
scruloose, who hadn't seen any of the show previously, pretty much watched it too while feeding the cats and having their own breakfast. (I did give them some background info first.) As noted above: not feeling fannish, but I thought that was really well done overall, and the actors seem like an absolute delight.And we've watched two movies since starting vacation (Wake Up Dead Man and Sinners), which brings me up to a whopping four [4] movies this year.
Not really the call of the wiiiild, I guess
Dec. 29th, 2025 07:29 pmoursinOut for my walk today, went through the pocket park behind the house, and there was a lady with a small terrier (I think), that was going absolutely spare under some trees -
- and looking up I finally saw, right up at the very top where it had attained to, a squirrel, which was presumably the reason for the agitation.
Had some passing converse with the dog's owner anent this, who claims that he will never actually catch a squirrel, even though they are tame enough that if you go and sit on one of the park benches they will come and look you over.
Mostly the dogs that one sees being walked in the park are less vociferous, perhaps they have grown wise to the ways of squirrels.
So anyway, I passed on to the other somewhat larger park, and see no advance yet in what is supposed to be a development involving a pergola (???) and further eco-stuff but at least there is no longer unsightly work being done at that spot.
Have only very lately discovered that two objects which I vaguely thought, had I thought at all, were maybe bird-houses, are actually insect-houses. Much to my chagrin, I can find nothing about this on the park website which boasts of various eco and environment good stuff that goes on there (I am still trying to work out what the sparrow-meadow is, have not seen plume nor feather of a sparrow on my ambles).
However, I can at least point dr rdrz at this site where I perceive that insect houses are quite A Thing: designed to provide safe nesting, hibernation, and breeding spaces for beneficial pollinators such as solitary bees, butterflies, ladybirds, and lacewings'.
I assume solitary bees are a specific species, and have not actually been expelled from their hive for some vile transgression, to roam the earth etc etc etc like an apian ancient mariner.
Snowflake Challenge 2026!!!
Dec. 29th, 2025 08:17 pmabyssal_sylphA little late to mention / promo, but ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
snowflake_challenge is happening again in 2026! Hope to see you guys there as well :3
snowflake_challenge is happening again in 2026! Hope to see you guys there as well :3
Would my dog or cat really eat me if I died alone?
Dec. 29th, 2025 02:07 pmconulyMorbid question, but let's be serious here: If you were trapped in a house with nothing to eat but your recently deceased pet, wouldn't you at least think about it?
People talk about this like it's so shocking, or like it means your pet obviously doesn't really love you, but c'mon. I love my cat, but I'd eat her in a heartbeat if she was already dead and there was nothing else left. She's my cat, she's not my baby. It's not like I've gone full on Donner Party - and let's be clear, if that was all that was left on the table, and they were already dead, I'd do that too. At least, I'd think about doing it. I suppose I might not be able to bring myself to go that far, but I wouldn't find it shocking if another person did!
People talk about this like it's so shocking, or like it means your pet obviously doesn't really love you, but c'mon. I love my cat, but I'd eat her in a heartbeat if she was already dead and there was nothing else left. She's my cat, she's not my baby. It's not like I've gone full on Donner Party - and let's be clear, if that was all that was left on the table, and they were already dead, I'd do that too. At least, I'd think about doing it. I suppose I might not be able to bring myself to go that far, but I wouldn't find it shocking if another person did!
Yuletide recs (part 2)
Dec. 29th, 2025 10:38 amsnickfic posting in yuletideMore recs at my journal, including:
Possibly in Michigan
The Secret History
The Raven Tower
Impromptu/19th Century RPF
The Dispossessed
The Long Walk -Stephen King
Waking the Moon
Rope
Possibly in Michigan
The Secret History
The Raven Tower
Impromptu/19th Century RPF
The Dispossessed
The Long Walk -Stephen King
Waking the Moon
Rope
Yuletide recs, part II
Dec. 29th, 2025 10:36 amsnickficSo many delicious goodies. :') I hope to make at least one more recs post before writer reveals.
Two, Seven, Eight, Possibly in Michigan, 1.8k. The Beachwood Place Mall is not a great work environment. The canon is a bizarre 1983 short film about weird men in masks following women in shopping malls, possibly with the intention of eating them, which you can watch here; this fic is a series of incident reports and answering machine messages to and from a concerned perfume counter employee. IDK if it's possible to fully capture the fever dream quality of the film, but this takes a good stab.
an island made from fate, The Secret History, Camilla & Charles, 1.6k. Early on at Hampden, Camilla escapes a tedious house party and finds Charles. This is a great, elegantly written little character study of Camilla, who never got quite enough time in the book IMO, and really shows the fault lines of her relationship with Charles. Great stuff.
k2, p2, yo, k2tog, The Raven Tower, The Strength and Patience of the Hill and The Myriad, 1.2k. The Strength and Patience tells a story about a sheep, and The Myriad has quibbles. The story about the sheep is fun and feels very in keeping with the universe of the novel, and the reveal about why the Strength and Patience has chosen to tell this particular story is delightful.
la femme comme il (en) faut, Impromptu (1991), George Sand, 3.2k. George gets invited to a salon and attends despite her better instincts. I'm not familiar with the movie and found this via the historical RPF tag, but I really enjoyed this vivid portrait of the Parisian artistic community at this time period, and the last scene really elevates it, IMO, and ties the whole thing together. I love the subtle emotional arc of this, and now I kind of want to go find the George Sand biography the author mentionds in the notes.
More A Comment Than A Question, The Dispossessed, Laia Asieo Odo & Sadik, 2.3k. Every so often, Laia goes a little mad and hears a voice claiming to be from the future. It's been a long time since I read about these characters, but I enjoyed this so much. The device of visiting Laia at these various points in her life was very cool, and there's something so peaceful about this whole fic, too, the same sense of peace and simplicity I got from reading the novel years ago.
There's No Discharge in the War, The Long Walk - Stephen King, Stebbins, 12k. Stebbins walks, dies, walks again. Stebbins has always been a sneaky favorite of mine, and I love seeing him get a fic all his own here that fleshes him out and gives him his own unique horrific trauma! The author uses the time loop device to fantastic and creative effect, and it all adds up to a conclusion that I like more and more the longer I think about it. Absolutely spectacular work. One of my favorites this year.
Hyacinth Girl, Waking the Moon, Oliver Crawford, 7.6k. Oliver, before the Divine. The author tags this as "Tragic Backstory" and they are correct!! I read this book last year and yet feel as though I'm missing things in this fic; I can't quite tell how many of these elements were present in the novel and which the author invents here, but the result is gorgeous and heartbreaking. You've got fairy tale stuff, dysfunctional family, the Benandanti always menacing in the background, more literay quotes than you can shake a stick at, absolutely gorgeous imagery.
Knife, Rope (1948), Brandon/Phillip, 4.9k. Brandon and Phillip's class go on a camping trip, and Brandon discovers that Phillip is not just more wallpaper. This is obviously backstory to the movie but feels like a beautiful, self-contained little psychopathic romance on its own. Two weirdos falling in love via discussing murder scenarios!! I was compelled from start to finish.
Two, Seven, Eight, Possibly in Michigan, 1.8k. The Beachwood Place Mall is not a great work environment. The canon is a bizarre 1983 short film about weird men in masks following women in shopping malls, possibly with the intention of eating them, which you can watch here; this fic is a series of incident reports and answering machine messages to and from a concerned perfume counter employee. IDK if it's possible to fully capture the fever dream quality of the film, but this takes a good stab.
an island made from fate, The Secret History, Camilla & Charles, 1.6k. Early on at Hampden, Camilla escapes a tedious house party and finds Charles. This is a great, elegantly written little character study of Camilla, who never got quite enough time in the book IMO, and really shows the fault lines of her relationship with Charles. Great stuff.
k2, p2, yo, k2tog, The Raven Tower, The Strength and Patience of the Hill and The Myriad, 1.2k. The Strength and Patience tells a story about a sheep, and The Myriad has quibbles. The story about the sheep is fun and feels very in keeping with the universe of the novel, and the reveal about why the Strength and Patience has chosen to tell this particular story is delightful.
la femme comme il (en) faut, Impromptu (1991), George Sand, 3.2k. George gets invited to a salon and attends despite her better instincts. I'm not familiar with the movie and found this via the historical RPF tag, but I really enjoyed this vivid portrait of the Parisian artistic community at this time period, and the last scene really elevates it, IMO, and ties the whole thing together. I love the subtle emotional arc of this, and now I kind of want to go find the George Sand biography the author mentionds in the notes.
More A Comment Than A Question, The Dispossessed, Laia Asieo Odo & Sadik, 2.3k. Every so often, Laia goes a little mad and hears a voice claiming to be from the future. It's been a long time since I read about these characters, but I enjoyed this so much. The device of visiting Laia at these various points in her life was very cool, and there's something so peaceful about this whole fic, too, the same sense of peace and simplicity I got from reading the novel years ago.
There's No Discharge in the War, The Long Walk - Stephen King, Stebbins, 12k. Stebbins walks, dies, walks again. Stebbins has always been a sneaky favorite of mine, and I love seeing him get a fic all his own here that fleshes him out and gives him his own unique horrific trauma! The author uses the time loop device to fantastic and creative effect, and it all adds up to a conclusion that I like more and more the longer I think about it. Absolutely spectacular work. One of my favorites this year.
Hyacinth Girl, Waking the Moon, Oliver Crawford, 7.6k. Oliver, before the Divine. The author tags this as "Tragic Backstory" and they are correct!! I read this book last year and yet feel as though I'm missing things in this fic; I can't quite tell how many of these elements were present in the novel and which the author invents here, but the result is gorgeous and heartbreaking. You've got fairy tale stuff, dysfunctional family, the Benandanti always menacing in the background, more literay quotes than you can shake a stick at, absolutely gorgeous imagery.
Knife, Rope (1948), Brandon/Phillip, 4.9k. Brandon and Phillip's class go on a camping trip, and Brandon discovers that Phillip is not just more wallpaper. This is obviously backstory to the movie but feels like a beautiful, self-contained little psychopathic romance on its own. Two weirdos falling in love via discussing murder scenarios!! I was compelled from start to finish.
8 recs in 7 fandoms
Dec. 29th, 2025 06:26 pmmrs_redboots posting in yuletideIf you go to my journal you will find recs for stories in the following fandoms:
Puck of Pook's Hill/Callendar Series
Sussex Set
Swallows and Amazons (two stories)
Cadfael Chronicles
Chalet School
The Secret Garden
and Dragonriders of Pern
There may yet be more to come....
Puck of Pook's Hill/Callendar Series
Sussex Set
Swallows and Amazons (two stories)
Cadfael Chronicles
Chalet School
The Secret Garden
and Dragonriders of Pern
There may yet be more to come....
Mountie art link posted by Regina Keim to dS Trading Post FB group
Dec. 29th, 2025 11:35 amverushka70 posting in dsvirtualbarRegina Keim sent the Facebook Due South Trading Post group a link to this fabulous "Super Mountie" art on the German Etsy site.
I thought people might like to see it. Not sure if it's available outside Europe - haven't checked yet.
ETA: I fixed the Etsy-Germany link!
I thought people might like to see it. Not sure if it's available outside Europe - haven't checked yet.
ETA: I fixed the Etsy-Germany link!
Mountie art link from Regina Keim posted to dS Trading Post FB group
Dec. 29th, 2025 11:33 amverushka70 posting in ds_noticeboardRegina Keim sent the Facebook Due South Trading Post group a link to this fabulous "Super Mountie" art on the German Etsy site.
I thought people might like to see it. Not sure if it's available outside Europe, though.
ETA:Etsy link fixed now!
I thought people might like to see it. Not sure if it's available outside Europe, though.
ETA:Etsy link fixed now!
Snowflake Challenge
Dec. 29th, 2025 11:15 amysabetwordsmith posting in goals_on_dwHappy Snowflake Season to all! As we prepare to kick off the 2026 snowflake_challenge, please feel free to promote this event within your own circles. You are welcome to use any of these new banners for that. The community page also has icons.
This event may appeal to those with goals about blogging, reading, writing, arts and crafts, networking, making friends, having fun, and so on.
( Read more... )
snowflake_challenge, please feel free to promote this event within your own circles. You are welcome to use any of these new banners for that. The community page also has icons. This event may appeal to those with goals about blogging, reading, writing, arts and crafts, networking, making friends, having fun, and so on.
( Read more... )
Snowflake Challenge
Dec. 29th, 2025 11:13 amysabetwordsmith posting in newcomersHappy Snowflake Season to all! As we prepare to kick off the 2026 snowflake_challenge, please feel free to promote this event within your own circles. You are welcome to use any of these new banners for that. The community page also has icons.
( Read more... )
snowflake_challenge, please feel free to promote this event within your own circles. You are welcome to use any of these new banners for that. The community page also has icons. ( Read more... )
Why on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology
Dec. 29th, 2025 05:34 pmprofiterole_readsWhy on Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology, created by Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova and written by 10 more authors, was a lot of fun. Teen aliens on a rescue mission crash-land on Earth.
This book is called an "anthology" but it's more of a collaboration (like my beloved Grimoire of Grave Fates). Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova wrote the prologue presenting the aliens, then the other authors wrote stories about them encountering human teens, or sometimes just about humans dealing with the existence of the UFO. It's labelled as YA, but the writing feels MG to me.
The aliens choose their own genders, and don't necessarily stick with it. There are several enbies (among both the aliens and the humans), a trans boy, as well as some m/m, f/f and f/nb.
This book is called an "anthology" but it's more of a collaboration (like my beloved Grimoire of Grave Fates). Rosiee Thor and Vania Stoyanova wrote the prologue presenting the aliens, then the other authors wrote stories about them encountering human teens, or sometimes just about humans dealing with the existence of the UFO. It's labelled as YA, but the writing feels MG to me.
The aliens choose their own genders, and don't necessarily stick with it. There are several enbies (among both the aliens and the humans), a trans boy, as well as some m/m, f/f and f/nb.
The Day in Spikedluv (Sunday, Dec 28)
Dec. 29th, 2025 11:34 amspikedluvI did a load of laundry (bed sheets, so also stripped and re-made the bed), hand-washed dishes, vacuumed the bedroom rug (I used to think the old vacuum did okay on the bedroom rug, but it was even doing poorly there because the new vacuum just glides over it and I don’t have to go over a spot more than once to suck up the dog hair; such a treat!), cut up chicken for the dogs' meals, and changed kitty litter (thankfully I’m done with the crap litter and back to the usual). I turned the last little bit of chuck roast into soup.
I finished Boyfriend Material and read some fanfic. I watched the Bills game. NGL, getting that two-point conversion would’ve been exciting as heck, but I wish they’d gone for the safe (safer) play. It’s no fun watching your team lose. *pouts*
Today I tried the Cinnamon Plum tea. It was pretty good, and not too cinnamon-y. But I also didn’t let it steep as long (as I did with the Cinnamon Orange) for the first cup, which might have helped.
Bad news: I felt myself starting to get stuffy today. I hope that whatever I catch from Pip is mild.
Temps started out at 1.8(F) (BRR!) and reached 32 (according to Pip; I missed it). There was actually a little bit of sun in the morning, but it didn’t last, sadly. Freezing rain started during the evening and we're supposed to get more overnight. (Spoiler alert: we did get more overnight. o_O)
Mom Update:
Mom sounded good when I spoke to her. I can’t wait until I can see her again. I want to see for myself that she’s looking as good as she’s sounding. My brother visited her in the morning and Sister A in the afternoon, so she did have some company, which is good.
I finished Boyfriend Material and read some fanfic. I watched the Bills game. NGL, getting that two-point conversion would’ve been exciting as heck, but I wish they’d gone for the safe (safer) play. It’s no fun watching your team lose. *pouts*
Today I tried the Cinnamon Plum tea. It was pretty good, and not too cinnamon-y. But I also didn’t let it steep as long (as I did with the Cinnamon Orange) for the first cup, which might have helped.
Bad news: I felt myself starting to get stuffy today. I hope that whatever I catch from Pip is mild.
Temps started out at 1.8(F) (BRR!) and reached 32 (according to Pip; I missed it). There was actually a little bit of sun in the morning, but it didn’t last, sadly. Freezing rain started during the evening and we're supposed to get more overnight. (Spoiler alert: we did get more overnight. o_O)
Mom Update:
Mom sounded good when I spoke to her. I can’t wait until I can see her again. I want to see for myself that she’s looking as good as she’s sounding. My brother visited her in the morning and Sister A in the afternoon, so she did have some company, which is good.