(no subject)

Excuse me if I'm not round much now. The most amazing things are happening in Ohio and Texas. The Texas stats are currently showing the power middle-aged rural women can have if they choose to exercise it.

PS I call this the 'wombat-in-a-can' effect.

(no subject)

While testing historical recipes, I worked out a shortcut for judging the worldbuilding of any book that uses an historical setting. It's such an obvious thing, I don't know why I didn't think of it years ago.

I now have a little time machine inside my brain. I take someone from an appropriate environment from a particular period and use my little time machine to move them to the equivalent environment in the novel. There are a range of really interesting reactions they might have which help determine how good the novel's background is. For instance:

1) hysterical laughter (maybe accompanied with words suggesting strange people in very strange lands or curiosity about a lunatic asylum that looks like a town street)

2) bewilderment ("How do these farmers get crops when they sow at such strange times of the year?")

3) thankfulness ("Nothing like this happens where I live - now can I go home?")

4) wish to teach ("No, you fool, if you soak those bloody skins in your only well you will all get sick and die. Go on, do it. You're too stupid to live anyway.")

5) sick jealousy ("I always wanted to learn the sword and to ride to tourney and to read and write. How does a poor boy who works such long day find all that time to develop all those amazing things? And can he repair a roof?")

6) climate envy ("Oh for sun that leaves the skin so perfect after a lifetime in the wild. Oh, and excuse me, miss, but where did you learn such perfect dance skills?")

7) product envy ("Does your equipment all self-repair, or is it just the single lance your father left you? Can you tell me who makes them?")

8) language confusion ("Five different languages and they can all communicate perfectly with each other. Here am I, alone. Unable to talk to any of these worthy souls. I need to find a peasant to translate at least the common English into good French. Latin would do, at a pinch, if I could find someone who speaks more than ritual language. I don't know why they want Michael on their left side (or was it their right?) but it's not useful when all I want to do is buy some bread.")


Have I left any out? I must have - all good lists are of ten items and that was only eight.