2010 February » Lauren's Tales

“Buy Local” Fail

Feb 252010

I’m visiting my sister’s family next week. I’ve been getting in the habit of buying books for my little nephews in preparation for their late teens when they start getting curious about drugs and porn. Then I’ll be the goofy aunt who gave them “that” book, and maybe they’ll talk to me about stuff they can’t talk to their mom about. Besides, the nephews are cute, and totally deserve a copy of Terry Pratchett’s “Where’s My Cow?”

I live in Cambridge, MA, one of the last places in the country with independent bookstores. I decided to buy the book locally and bring it with me on the plane instead of, say, copping out and ordering it from Amazon to be shipped.

I went to Curious George Goes to Wordsworth. They did not have the book, but said that they could order it.

I went to the Harvard Bookstore. They did not have the book, but said that they could order it.

I went to Pandemonium Books and Games. They’d certainly have it. Nope. They offered to order it. I explained the nephews. They tried to figure out if they could order it to be shipped to my nephews for me, but finally admitted that it would be cheaper for me to order from Amazon.

I just ordered the book from Amazon.

The Tiger: Part 2

Writing No Responses »

Feb 252010

As promised, here is the next third of my short story, “The Tiger.” For those who missed it last week, part 1 is here.

Loser literary “agents” and the people who love them.

News No Responses »

Feb 252010

A while ago I posted this:

I work for a small press specializing in sex-positive erotica. We do not accept any unsolicited novel submissions. ALD [ALD Literary Agency (Leonid Dubizhansky)] sent [Circlet] a book called “How to Hate Sex With Primordial Innocence.” Losers.

An astute Googler dug up this post and wrote me:

Yes, we have no vampires

Writing No Responses »

Feb 202010

Sample conversation:

Me: I’m a really tough stick.

Phlebotomist: You have a good vein right here.

Me: It will roll. Guaranteed.

Phlebotomist: No, I’ve got it.

Me: Ow.

Me: Ow!

Phlebotomist: Uh, it rolled. Let me see your other arm.

Me: *cries*

This is why I don’t enjoy reading vampire fiction and won’t write it either.

Which isn’t such a bad thing; I have to make up something new.

More Free Erotica!

Writing 3 Responses »

Feb 182010

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I don’t have enough free smut on my site. Well, I’m going to fix that starting now.

I’m taking an old story that is out of print and posting it in three parts now and on the following two Thursdays.

It’s time for part one of “The Tiger.”

“Up for Grabs” reviewed

Writing No Responses »

Feb 142010

Up for Grabs has been reviewed by Emily at Good Reads:

The possibilities are endless when you combine science fiction and sexual ambiguity, the ability to choose your own gender or not have to pick just one. The five stories in this anthology each take a very different approach, but each invariably plays with the restrictive limits that society places on gender. Here nothing is as simple as female or male, or being stuck with the gender you’re born with when you know with every cell in your body that it’s the wrong gender. These stories provide a more fluid approach to gender identity and sexual awareness that is sometimes serious and touching and at other times playful and over the top.

Fetish Fair Flea in Providence

Writing 1 Response »

Feb 132010

I’ll be there tomorrow (Saturday) for a bit.

Let me know if you’d like to bump into me.

Review of Wishbone

Writing No Responses »

Feb 122010

Wishbone was reviewed over at GoodReads. I thought I’d posted this before, but it doesn’t look like I had.

This was a very strange, but interesting story. Honestly, I probably would have skipped it had I known it was set in a historical-like setting. In spite of that, I found myself enjoying the main character, Wishbone, and learning more about the Shih-aan species introduced here. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy historical and paranormal themes.

I break 100!

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Feb 112010

Yesterday I broke 100 recorded hits on my blog for the first time. Unfortunately, they were all looking for FaceBook.

Labels are for Cans

News No Responses »

Feb 112010

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, this news report says that autism and Asperger’s will be conflated in the next DSM. I think this is a good thing. I’m tired of people thinking that Asperger’s is a ‘mild form of autism.’ They are the same disorder with slightly different manifestations. An autie’s lack of language skills can make the disorder to worse to people around him, whereas having the speech abilities that auties lack just makes my life as an Aspie miserable. No one can see that there’s anything different about me, and aren’t interested in explanations counter to what they expect to see.

Furthermore, Asperger’s has managed to get less ‘stigma’ than autism. Let us Aspies give the auties a leg up in that department.