The Wordsmith's Forge

Here is a thoughtful essay about the evolution of race in roleplaying games.  It's a good theory.  But you know what?  Some folks have always thought like that.  My first reaction to a mass of new data is to search for patterns.

My second is to break whatever patterns I find.

I write the same way.

For those of you celebrating Ostara, check out the page "Preparing for Ostara" on the Greenhaven site.  There are ritual themes, food and decorations, and sample rituals.  Those of you in the southern hemisphere may refer to Mabon instead.

According to the "Manage Tags" feature, the topics most often appearing in this journal are:

Networking -- 2617 posts
Reading -- 2398
Writing -- 2392
Cyberfunded creativity -- 2025
Poetry -- 1681
News -- 1406
Fishbowl -- 1146
Science fiction -- 1066
Fantasy --1065
Art -- 857

These are some posts from the later part of last week, in case you missed them:
How Society Makes People Sick
Read "The Mind Palace Minotaur" by Moonvoice
Separation of Church and State
Design Fiction and Telling Worlds
Analyzing Presidential Candidates
Plunge Is FULLY FUNDED!
Poetry Fishbowl Report for February 21, 2012
What Bookstores Carry
PayPal and Morality
Couplets Planning
Dwarf Stars Award


The next Poetry Fishbowl will be Tuesday, March 6 with a theme of "commoner heroes and second fiddles."  Please drop by to leave prompts, read some free poetry, or just watch the fun.

Poetry in Microfunding:
"Rosehips and Honey" (Hart's Farm) shows Rowen teaching children about gardening.  New epics may be opened in any other series.

Torn World writing update:
Approved as canon: "Squiggles: Excerpts from Nleimen's Journal," (fiction), "Hide Away," "Bitter Herbs" "Red Glass, Green Glass," (poetry).  Back to me for edits: "Seafoam Fashions," (poetry), "Half-Leg," "Northern Game: Bola-Ball," "Dolls in the Empire" (nonfiction). Currently in front of the canon board: "Catch and Release," "Dusting Off the Green Speech," "Doing the Work," "Breaking the Ice," (fiction), "Unlicensed Dreams" "The Hearsay Cafe," "The Colors of the Rainbow," "Something Big Is Coming" "How Skycat Got Her Name" "The Unicorn Surprise" (poetry), "Wild Herbivores of the North" (nonfiction).  Drafted: "Cutting Cords and Clasping Hands," "Like Ash Before the Wind," "From Dark to Bright," "Beached Fish," (fiction).  In revision at home: "Water Dance," "When the Wind's Teeth Sing," "The Bones of Need" "Raining Kittens," (fiction), "Fish of the North" (nonfiction).  Currently writing: "Catch of the Day," "Reaching for the Moons" "Winterheart" (fiction).

Awards
Voting is now closed for the 2012 Rose & Bay Award which honors crowdfunding excellence in the categories of Art, Fiction, Poetry, Webcomic, Other Project, and Patron.  See the list of winners.


It snowed last night, a beautiful blanket of sparkling white fluff.  By late morning, it was more than half melted, and I doubt there's more than a few scraps left in the shadows tonight.  The world is slowly edging towards green.

rix_scaedu has written two stories based on my prompts.  In "Friendly Fire," an exorcism upends the government.  "They Came in the Night" is about an alien billboard.  It reminds me of some favorites from Asimov's SF.