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Dec. 18th, 2025 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsEverything I've previously read by M.T. Anderson emotionally devastated me, so I despite the fact that Nicked was billed as a comedy I went in bravely prepared to be emotionally devastated once again.
This did not happen .... although M.T. Anderson cannot stop himself from wielding a sharp knife on occasion, it it turns out the book is indeed mostly a comedy .....
Nicked is based on a Real Historical Medieval Heist: the city of Bari is plague-ridden, and due to various political pressures the City's powers have decided that the way to resolve this is to steal the bones of St. Nicholas from their home in Myra and bring them to Bari to heal the sick, revive the tourism trade, and generally boost the city's fortunes. The central figures on this quest are Nicephorus, a very nice young monk who had the dubious fortune of receiving a dream about St. Nicholas that might possibly serve as some sort of justification for this endeavor, and Tyun, a professional relic hunter (or con artist? Who Could Say) who is not at really very nice at all but is Very Charismatic And Sexy, which is A Problem for Nicephorus.
The two books that Nicked kept reminding me of, as I read it, were Pratchett's Small Gods and Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland. Both of those books are slightly better books than this, but as both of them are indeed exceptionally good books I don't think it takes too much away from Nicked to say that it's not quite on their level: it's still really very fun! And, unlike in those other somewhat better books, the unlikely companions do indeed get to make out!
I did end it, unsurprisingly, desperately wanting to know more about the sources on which it was based to know what we do know about this Real Historical Medieval Heist, but it turns out they are mostly not translated into English. Foiled again!
This did not happen .... although M.T. Anderson cannot stop himself from wielding a sharp knife on occasion, it it turns out the book is indeed mostly a comedy .....
Nicked is based on a Real Historical Medieval Heist: the city of Bari is plague-ridden, and due to various political pressures the City's powers have decided that the way to resolve this is to steal the bones of St. Nicholas from their home in Myra and bring them to Bari to heal the sick, revive the tourism trade, and generally boost the city's fortunes. The central figures on this quest are Nicephorus, a very nice young monk who had the dubious fortune of receiving a dream about St. Nicholas that might possibly serve as some sort of justification for this endeavor, and Tyun, a professional relic hunter (or con artist? Who Could Say) who is not at really very nice at all but is Very Charismatic And Sexy, which is A Problem for Nicephorus.
The two books that Nicked kept reminding me of, as I read it, were Pratchett's Small Gods and Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland. Both of those books are slightly better books than this, but as both of them are indeed exceptionally good books I don't think it takes too much away from Nicked to say that it's not quite on their level: it's still really very fun! And, unlike in those other somewhat better books, the unlikely companions do indeed get to make out!
I did end it, unsurprisingly, desperately wanting to know more about the sources on which it was based to know what we do know about this Real Historical Medieval Heist, but it turns out they are mostly not translated into English. Foiled again!
General festivity.
Dec. 17th, 2025 08:25 pmhannahAs I've been saying over the evening: my father's book group usually meets in person, but due to one of the members coming down with the flu, the decision was made to meet on Zoom like it's 2020 all over again. But their loss was the party's gain. The cake I made for what would have been the book group's meeting instead went to my father's building's winter holiday party, so it still made its way to a good home. An apple ginger spice cake seemed fitting for Charles Dickens' London - they were meeting to discuss Bleak House - and it managed to slip into a general wintertime holiday festival without any issue or trouble. Once people started in on it, it went quick.
I'd had a stressful day, due to meeting with a therapist and my parents at the same time. It was necessary and it was useful and by golly was it stressful. After it was over, I simply went back to my apartment. Nothing else. Then I thought I could sit in my apartment or I could go to my parents' building winter holiday party. I went with the party. I'm fairly hammered at this point - it wasn't an open bar as such, but there was rum and there was tequila, and all I used as a mixer was a slice of lime and about a quarter cup of commercially made eggnog at one point. And the eggnog was with the tequila, not the rum, which isn't a choice I'll make if I attend another such function.
For all that I'm not anticipating tomorrow, with all its responsibilities, I'm good with having gone tonight.
I'd had a stressful day, due to meeting with a therapist and my parents at the same time. It was necessary and it was useful and by golly was it stressful. After it was over, I simply went back to my apartment. Nothing else. Then I thought I could sit in my apartment or I could go to my parents' building winter holiday party. I went with the party. I'm fairly hammered at this point - it wasn't an open bar as such, but there was rum and there was tequila, and all I used as a mixer was a slice of lime and about a quarter cup of commercially made eggnog at one point. And the eggnog was with the tequila, not the rum, which isn't a choice I'll make if I attend another such function.
For all that I'm not anticipating tomorrow, with all its responsibilities, I'm good with having gone tonight.
I finished a project!
Dec. 17th, 2025 08:15 pmwatersword
I have finished the daisy which covers the tea stain on this t-shirt! I am very proud of myself.
Satin stitch, French knots, stem stitch, and fishbone stitch.
Demonic Ox now listed for preorder
Dec. 17th, 2025 01:48 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
lois_mcmaster_bujold_feedI've been waiting eagerly to show you all the latest cover art by Lauren Saint-Onge -- really lovely, and also, an actual scene from the story! To be published February 2026.
Publisher link here:
https://subterraneanpress.com/bujold-...
In addition, the book will be available from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and Dreamhaven Books & Comics here in Minneapolis, though they likely haven't had time to get it entered on their store websites yet. But in due course.
Ta, L.
posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on December, 17
Publisher link here:
https://subterraneanpress.com/bujold-...
In addition, the book will be available from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction Bookstore and Dreamhaven Books & Comics here in Minneapolis, though they likely haven't had time to get it entered on their store websites yet. But in due course.
Ta, L.
posted by Lois McMaster Bujold on December, 17
Anybody have any explanatory links?
Dec. 18th, 2025 04:09 pmconulyAs we all know - or anyway, as most of us know - words are capitalized like names if they're used like names and titles.
This most commonly applies to kinship terms, of course - "I gave a present to my mom" versus "When she opened her present, Mom cried" and "I have an uncle who is a firefighter" versus "You're a firefighter, aren't you, Uncle John?"
But there's a few people in the comments asserting that they've never seen this before, they would've been marked down at school, and so on.
It does boggle my mind somewhat that they, I guess, never read fiction in which people have parents, or else don't pay much attention when they do read, but I suppose not everybody is lucky enough to have been raised by a proofreader. However, what I'm posting about is that it's surprisingly difficult to find an authoritative source on this subject online.
The MW and Cambridge dictionary entries only cover this in the briefest way, without an explanatory note. I can't find a usage note by looking elsewhere at MW. I see people asserting that the AP and Chicago styles require this - but I can't actually access that, and searches on their respective websites go nowhere.
I can find lots of casual blogs and such discussing this in detail, but understandably people who think they already know are reluctant to accept correction from random sources like that. Can't quite blame them, though they're still very wrong. Or, I mean to say, they're out of step with the norms of Standard English orthography.
Does anybody have any source that's likely to be accepted? I don't even care about telling that handful of people at this point, I'm just annoyed at my inability to find a link on my own.
This most commonly applies to kinship terms, of course - "I gave a present to my mom" versus "When she opened her present, Mom cried" and "I have an uncle who is a firefighter" versus "You're a firefighter, aren't you, Uncle John?"
But there's a few people in the comments asserting that they've never seen this before, they would've been marked down at school, and so on.
It does boggle my mind somewhat that they, I guess, never read fiction in which people have parents, or else don't pay much attention when they do read, but I suppose not everybody is lucky enough to have been raised by a proofreader. However, what I'm posting about is that it's surprisingly difficult to find an authoritative source on this subject online.
The MW and Cambridge dictionary entries only cover this in the briefest way, without an explanatory note. I can't find a usage note by looking elsewhere at MW. I see people asserting that the AP and Chicago styles require this - but I can't actually access that, and searches on their respective websites go nowhere.
I can find lots of casual blogs and such discussing this in detail, but understandably people who think they already know are reluctant to accept correction from random sources like that. Can't quite blame them, though they're still very wrong. Or, I mean to say, they're out of step with the norms of Standard English orthography.
Does anybody have any source that's likely to be accepted? I don't even care about telling that handful of people at this point, I'm just annoyed at my inability to find a link on my own.
What I'm Doing Wednesday
Dec. 17th, 2025 01:42 pmsage
Rockstar Lestat is LIVE in my shop! Both the pattern and the doll are now for sale! \o/\o/\o/
And here's the tumblr link, if y'all wouldn't mind giving it a reblog.
books
The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple. Really all over the place, and fails at sticking to a theme. Not academic enough for my taste, though there's some fascinating history in there.
media
Watched PBS's Great Performances 2025 Twelfth Night and really enjoyed it. Sandra Oh's Olivia was a delight and Peter Dinklage's Malvolio was stunningly good. Lupita & her brother were a refreshing take on the twins, too. It's available to everyone to stream through the end of the year, and then after that you need a PBS Passport to view.
( failing at fandom )
yarning
I went to yarn group on Sunday and had a nice time. We had our Christmas party with a lot of food, the vast majority of which I couldn't eat, darn it, but it was fun nonetheless. And my friend from there who I do ebay with gave me a big bag of craft books to list. I also worked on another burgundy kickbunny, as the one I just finished last week sold already. A number of people have sent me photos of their cats playing with things I made -- it's super gratifying, because CAT! And I've had two more people commission kickbunnies this week, yay!
yuletide
I finally stopped tinkering, knock wood. I still have a lot of anxiety over it, though, as I'm writing out of my comfort zone and I don't know if it works or not. The majority of my creative inspiration is yarning, so making words work is extra hard atm. ION: AUGH!
rl
Damn it, my amazon account got hacked AGAIN last night. It must have been a brute force attack, given the givens, although I did use public wifi yesterday, so maybe that was it. Hrm.
I hope you're all doing well, or as well as can be expected, or better! <333
Yuletide progress: it is posted!
Dec. 17th, 2025 04:28 amelisem I have met the deadline and posted the thing! Now we just have the week between today and Reveal Day, also known as "the week where I find all the hidden typos and fix them." Main Collection Reveal Day for the fics is the 24th, and is followed by Author Reveals on January 1.
This year was more work than previous years, for a very particular reason. I got COVID for the first time in October, and while I got very lucky (Paxlovid turns out to work for me, yay!), I am so easily drained to exhaustion, by pretty much anything including brain work, which has never been this bad before. Also, I'm used to multitasking, and hoo boy do I need different strategies and approaches now.
I'm planning for a very long recuperation, since it looks like that's the smart way to go. But here we are, and today is a milestone day. The story is a story, and it's posted, and now I can catch up a little on my Etsy shop (I hardly posted anything new while writing) and my eBay offers (I'm selling most of a half-century's worth of queer and related subjects library, since I'm not a working journalist any more and somebody really should get use out of these books and periodicals).
It's been a long time. I had forgotten the peculiar satisfaction that comes with meeting a deadline.
This year was more work than previous years, for a very particular reason. I got COVID for the first time in October, and while I got very lucky (Paxlovid turns out to work for me, yay!), I am so easily drained to exhaustion, by pretty much anything including brain work, which has never been this bad before. Also, I'm used to multitasking, and hoo boy do I need different strategies and approaches now.
I'm planning for a very long recuperation, since it looks like that's the smart way to go. But here we are, and today is a milestone day. The story is a story, and it's posted, and now I can catch up a little on my Etsy shop (I hardly posted anything new while writing) and my eBay offers (I'm selling most of a half-century's worth of queer and related subjects library, since I'm not a working journalist any more and somebody really should get use out of these books and periodicals).
It's been a long time. I had forgotten the peculiar satisfaction that comes with meeting a deadline.
Sometimes I finish things
Dec. 17th, 2025 04:53 pmmergatrudeI have a number of projects on the go - some I start just so that my idle hands have something to do, some where I have hit a snag and put aside until I can figure it out, some I get bored with. BUT! I finished the cowl I started knitting in March for a friend's birthday in September!
( cut for photo and blather )
( cut for photo and blather )
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good things
Dec. 16th, 2025 01:30 pmwaterswordI spent yesterday evening re-reading Helen Dewitt's The English Understand Wool, one of the best books I've read in the past few years, and reading T. Kingfisher's Snake-Eater, which I loved.
A friend is stopping by to keep me company while I make snickerdoodles, and this has prompted me to sweep and run the vacuum cleaner; this evening I will go to needlecrafting and there will be a colleague there.