The Wordsmith's Forge

 Choose unusual times and places to throw heras together.  Real life is weird.  So keep your fiction real, and weird it out.

My friend ceciliatan is running a Kickstarter campaign, and made some very insightful comments over on crowdfunding.  So I asked if she'd like to do a guest post here, and she sent me this excellent essay about writer and reader expectations.

What do you think?  Do you expect a favorite weblit project to hit paper eventually?

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This week the poetry of Path of the Paladins is on sale for half-price, since the May 1, 2012 Poetry Fishbowl made the $300 goal.  This fantasy series touches on themes of faith, service, gender studies, trauma recovery, platonic relationships, self-discovery, and determination.  You can read more about Path of the Paladins on the Serial Poetry page.  Currently available are these poems:


"Star of Gailah" -- a hymn written in ballad verses, mentioning some key spheres of influence.
20 lines, was $10, sale price $5  SOLD

"This Beaten Drum" -- Shahana and Ari come across a battlefield and must lay the ghosts to rest.
193 lines, was $96.50, sale price $48.25  In microfunding now

"Loaf Mass" -- Ari's brother Larn muses on the village's recovery shortly before harvest begins.
70 lines, was $35, sale price $17.50  SOLD

"Supernal Nature" -- While repairing a damaged statue, Shahana and Ari discuss what it means to be a goddess.
186 lines, was $93, sale price $46.50

"But One End" -- Shahana and Ari visit a village to trade for supplies and run into an unexpected altercation.
173 lines, was $86.50, sale price $43.25

"Swimming Against the Tide" -- A follower of Gorrein muses over why his actions caused Bodil to kick him out.
78 lines, was $39, sale price $19.50

Finally, this series has an open epic, "Uneasy Things," in which Johan meets Einar the smith and rediscovers something lost.  For sake of bookkeeping sanity, it's still at the standard price of $.50/line. 

If a new epic is opened, but not completed, during this sale then it will still keep the sale price of $.25/line until finished. Since there is only one epic in microfunding right now, I'm also willing to suspend the rule about "one open epic at a time from each series" for the duration of this sale. 

Here is a PayPal button for your convenience.  If you prefer another method of payment, let me know and we'll discuss options.

These are some posts from the later part of last week in case you missed them:
Read "The Green Horse"
The Books I Didn't Buy
Negative Learning
Poem: "Now That They Have Come To This"
New on Torn World
Science Fiction Poetry
Muse Fusion is open!
Xenogenesis Tips
Crowdfunding Economics
Llewellyn Assignments
Friendship Fiction
Hard Things
The Influence of Fiction


The half-price poetry sale for Path of the Paladins is open this week.

Poetry in Microfunding:
"Uneasy Things" belongs to the series Path of the Paladins.  Johan visits a village and meets Einar the smith.

Torn World writing update:
Approved as canon: "Squiggles: Excerpts from Nleimen's Journal," (fiction), "Bitter Herbs" (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: "Dusting Off the Green Speech," "Doing the Work," "Breaking the Ice," (fiction), "Unlicensed Dreams" "The Colors of the Rainbow," "Something Big Is Coming" "How Skycat Got Her Name" "The Unicorn Surprise" "Nutterjell," "Imalye Fotolyi" (poetry), "Wild Herbivores of the North" "Ghost Bat" "A Dryland Ecosystem" "An Avian Ecosystem" (nonfiction).  Drafted: "Cutting Cords and Clasping Hands," "Like Ash Before the Wind," "From Dark to Bright," "Beached Fish," "The Inappropriate But Useful Disposal of Lettuce" "A Thin Red Trail" (fiction), "Patterns in the Grass" "Now That They Have Come To This," "A Purple Monster," "A Whole New Kind of Beauty" (poetry).  In revision at home: "Water Dance," "When the Wind's Teeth Sing," "The Bones of Need" "Raining Kittens," (fiction), "Fish of the North" (nonfiction), "Breeding the Perfect Fighter," "The Smallest Invaders" (poetry).  Currently writing: "Catch of the Day," "Reaching for the Moons" "Winterheart" "The Museum of Mortality" (fiction).

Weather has been moderate and mostly pleasant here.  The peonies are almost done blooming.  Strawberry plants have green fruit on them.

Who takes a private jet when your buddy can fly without one?

I forgot to mention in my Monday report: this week I'm hosting discussions of sacred poetry over on Poetree.  So far there's a meta post about the theme and some Pagan poetry.  I'll be doing different traditions through the week.

Here's a list of superheroes who could be queer.  Some of these are obvious, others a bit more of a stretch; but good and different cases are made for each.

My favorite pairings that aren't mentioned:

Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, especially in Smallville.  Because hoboy I've seen farmboys crushing on each other and trying desperately to make it not so, and it looked very much like that.  If the boys I knew could've wrecked a planet between them in superpowered romantic death throes, they would've done it.  Clark and Lex's doomed relationship is well founded on their location: if you're bisexual in a small town, you're better off chasing girls.

Professor X and Magneto, deliciously played up in X-Men: First Class, hinted at in various other incarnations including a couple of cartoons.  Most tellingly, they'll threaten each other all day ... but if you make a credible threat against one and the other finds out, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.  Charles and Erik are very much products of their time.  When Erik comes from, being queer got you killed.  Charles may be more optimistic, but he's not much less stuffy.  It's the love that dares not speak its name.

Okay, over to you.  Who do you think should come out of the closet?

I have a couple of new Torn World pieces today:

"Bitter Herbs" is a poem currently visible to supporters only.
This Southern poem lists medicinal herbs and their uses.
14 lines, $5 or 5 Torn World credits.

"Fish of the North: Rockfish" continues the material about native fish.
Several species of rockfish form a pleasant accent to the Northern diet.

If you like these items and want to see more like them, please consider sending me credits or karma through Torn World's crowdfunding options.  Not a Torn World member, but still want to support the work? I have a permanent PayPal button on my LJ profile page.

my_partner_doug shared a couple of comic links with me.

This one is Star Trek.  Jim Kirk would totally do that.

This one is PBF Comics.  It reminds me very much of my poem "Husband by Hand."