The Wordsmith's Forge

 Dolls can have quite a personality, especially when they are also characters.

According to this study, wind speed is increasing over time and in many places around the world. 

This matches my personal observations here in Illinois, where wind is causing more destruction in recent years.  The study does not say whether or not climate change is causing wind to pick up, but does say that wind intensity can affect climate change.  It did not mention another established fact: warmer water feeds hurricanes, making them bigger and more dangerous.  If the wind is generally blowing faster, those two factors are liable to heterodyne in ways that humans will find extremely troublesome.  And when Mother Nature sends protestors to your house, not even plywood can keep them out.  Bend over and kiss your beachfront buildings goodbye.

lit_handyman has posted an essay about the importance of word choice in avoiding anachronisms.  This is most useful for period writers but also for speculative fiction writers.  Make sure your words match your setting.

Have you nominated any of your short stories for the Washington (DC) Small Press Award? This is for sf/f/h stories published in 2010. Stories in ebooks are eligible, along with other stuff.  Deadline is May 1, 2011 & they present the award at Capclave in October.

My story "Forbidden Love" from the batch I wrote for the March 2011 Muse Fusion has been sponsored by xjenavivex.  (Thank you for your support!)  It is currently in home revision and will be submitted for canon board approval.  Once approved, it will be visible to the public.

Today my_partner_doug and I visited the Douglas-Hart Nature Center.  We donated a copy of my book From Nature's Patient Hands: A Collection of Poetry.  I also volunteered to do a poetry reading and/or workshop; we're hoping that will come together for their Earth Day celebration in April.

Communities  magazine has extended their deadline for the "Right Livelihood" issue.  I know this is a topic of interest to folks here so I am echoing.  Don't worry about competing with me directly; I've already got my proposal in for "Crowdfunding: A Communal Business Model."  (I have a couple responses from people about that already; more are still welcome.)  This market does not pay in cash but you do get FOUR comp copies -- which you can take as duplicates of the issue with your article, or as a one-year subscription, your pick.

We've extended our article proposal deadline for Communities issue #152, “Right Livelihood.” We still have room for more proposals and encourage you to send us your idea. The issue will be out in September 2011.

Please send your article idea to editor@ic.org by Saturday, April 2, 2010.

Your final article must reach us by Friday, May 19, 2011.

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ellenmillion is hosting a sketch fest today.  There's a summary on crowdfunding but the main action is on the sketchfest page and the prompts page.  Some artists put out a tip jar, some have set prices for sponsoring art, others do it for free.  Some people also have a page elsewhere to display their sketches as they work through prompts; you'll see these scattered around LJ, for instance.  Watch for thumbnails to appear as artists post their sketches.

You can now read my post over on torn_world about nouns beginning with "H."