Poetry Fishbowl on Tuesday, September 6
This is an advance announcement for the Tuesday, September 6, 2022 Poetry Fishbowl. This time the theme will be "Cats and Their Habits." I'll be soliciting ideas for cats, therapy cats, mythical or legendary felines, the Cat Who Walks By Himself, Bastet and other cat deities, cat breeds or species, white cats are evil, cat breeders, cat lovers, cat haters / people who are allergic to cats, people with cat-related nicknames or comparisons, veterinarians, primal soups with cat traits, alien or fantasy felines, farmers, tricksters, jerryriggers, poor people, the disabled, survivors, tinkers, hippies and bohemians, upcyclers, generalists, researchers, explorers, children, parents, superheroes, supervillains, rebels, other people who interact with cats, catnapping, hunting, grooming, playing, sunbathing, purring, shedding, scratching, tomcats singing, lingering at doors, upsetting expectations, twisting tropes, parenting, teaching, adventuring, leaving your comfort zone, discovering things, troubleshooting, improvising, adapting, cleaning up messes, cooperating, taking over in an emergency, saving the day, discovering yourself, studying others, testing boundaries, coming of age, coming out, running away from home, subverting fate, learning what you can (and can't) do, sharing, preparing for the worst, expecting the unexpected, asking for help and getting it, fixing what's broke, upsetting the status quo, changing the world, accomplishing the impossible, recovering from setbacks, returning home, the Cats' House, cat rooms, catios, cat shows, the Big One, poor neighborhoods, low-tech societies, the forest primeval, savannas, liminal zones, sharehouses, kitchens, campfires, laboratories, supervillain lairs, nonhuman accommodations and adaptations, thrift stores, farmer's markets, flea markets, bizarre exoplanets, magical lands, foreign dimensions, other places where cats go, cat behavior and body language, cat tropes, cat toys, catnip, cat transformations, cat furniture, cat wall shelves, cat books, poorskills, patchwork, weird food, secret ingredients, supplements that turn out to be metagenic, basic repair kits, a box of scraps, landraces, puzzling discoveries, sudden surprises, travel mishaps, the buck stops here, trial and error, intercultural entanglements, enemies to friends/lovers, interdimensional travel, lab conditions are not field conditions, superpower manifestation, the end of where your framework actually applies, ethics, innovation, problems that can't be solved by hitting, teamwork, found family, complementary strengths and weaknesses, personal growth, and poetic forms in particular.
This topic includes all cats, living or extinct, natural or supernatural, Terran or alien or fantasy; as well as all catlike creatures, cat analogs, characters with cat features, etc.
Some options require a bit more exposition:
[Introduced in "Because Her Darkness Burns So Brightly"]
The Mori no Tami (森の民) or Forest Folk manifested in significant numbers after the Big One, using their naturalistic magic to repair the damaged ecosystem. Moriko means "forest girl," Morikun means "forest boy," and Morichan means "forest child." Now they are forming a community in what used to be a private campground called Humboldt Haven, restoring camp cabins damaged by the earthquake and building new ones. They call it Mori no Mura (森の村), literally Forest Village, or Village of Mori. Because the facilities were rustic to begin with, it was easy to repair the broken parts, then add off-grid amenities such as a generator or solar panels, hand pumps, and so forth. Within a matter of months, they have created a fully functional village out of what used to be a campground. The forest features mostly second-growth redwoods and tanoak, with a few pockets of old-growth redwoods in hard-to-reach areas. Thickets of huckleberries fill the understory in some places.
(Rutledge thread, drafted but not explicitly introduced yet)
Vermont Shag Carpet Cats -- These huge, hairy landrace cats are well adapted to the cold snowy weather of the Northeast. The name comes from the very long, very dense winter coat but in spring a massive shed converts them to a medium-long overcoat with a thin undercoat. A majority of Shag Carpets "blow their coats" in just 1-2 weeks. Unlike some long-haired breeds, they groom themselves just fine, but indoor cats require heavy grooming from their owners in spring to avoid coating the whole house in cat hair. Separated from the overcoat, the undercoat is actually spinnable and quite warm, although on the short side as fibers go. At Emerald Mountain Glen, the fibercrafters do their best to groom as many cats as they can to collect the fibers, and often offer to groom outside pets in exchange for the fiber too. Shag Carpets come in all colors and patterns. They tend to have big fluffy feet like snowshoes, including a polydactyl variant sometimes nicknamed Vermont Snowshoe Cats. Every few years, a new stud cat is introduced to Emerald Mountain Glen and allowed to mate with whichever females he chooses; these are often but not always purebreeds. The numbers of purebred studs in the Shag Carpet history are: Maine Coon (4, 1 polydactyl), Norwegian Forest Cat (3), Siberian (1), American Bobtail (1), Fishcat (1), Savannah (1), Ragdoll (1), Ragamuffin (1). The addition of Savannah increased height and added a new spotting pattern, but created a chance of skittish or aggressive temperament. Ragdoll and Ragamuffin were then introduced to improve temperament, which is working. Less often, queens are brought in, but these are usually selected for desirable features from someone's pool of working farm cats. Vermont Shag Carpet kittens with short hair, poor cold tolerance, low self-preservation, poor hunting, or other undesirable features are typically adopted out of the commune unless they have another highly desirable trait. They are still quite popular as pets.
Local-America recognizes two polydactyl breeds, American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. Terramagne-America recognizes American Shorthair Polydactyl, Bigfoot Cats (allowing registry of any polydactyl cat, rather like the National Pinto Horse registry based on color), Hemingway Cats (established by Ernest Hemingway and adapted to Florida's hot wet climate with a short thin coat), Maine Coon Polydactyl (a subset of the long-haired Maine Coon breed), Mitten Kittens (a long-haired breed similar to Ragdoll), and Skookumcats (a big hairy breed with a long coarse rain-shedding coat, developed for the Pacific Northwest). Polydactyl cats should not be confused with thumbcats (supercats based on having opposable thumbs regardless of how many digits they have), handcats (supercats with anything from longer toes and thumbs to fully functional hands), or shipcats (cats with Super-Intellect, sometimes Telepathy, Extended Lifespan, or other superpowers), although cats can qualify for more than one of these categories. Fishcats are descendants with thumbcat, handcat, and/or shipcat ancestry; they tend to be more intelligent with larger brains, and they often have opposable thumbs, longer toes, functional hands, and/or extra digits. Various people have breeding colonies of fishcats or their relatives, but there isn't an established breed yet.
The comic strip City Indians runs in the Blue Streak. It features a number of native characters living in River City rather than a reservation. It is drawn by an Osage and written by a Missourian, and they get their inspiration from contemporary issues facing tribal people. It focuses on changes over time and how people adapt to those -- or don't. Sometimes the comic strip is irreverent, but it is always relevant. It has been syndicated in Wasape, a small town near Bluehill. Of the characters, Two Alley Cats Singing is fun and sassy. She is an Illini girl born in the city and recently aged out of foster care.
Ansel's grandmother Norma Jean breeds barn cats for intelligence, toughness, and hunting skill. Occasionally she selects specific parents. Most of the time, however, she simply gives away individuals that don't measure up, and sometimes she brings in particularly promising cats from other places. She is unconcerned with color or coat, and conformation other than insisting the cats have a healthy build. So they come in all colors, European and Asian body types, long and short hair, etc.
Jumbie is a calico supercat who appears in the Berettaflies storyline; I have a scene sketch for her but haven't written it out yet.
Mrrhow the Mercurial and her siblings first appeared in the Damask thread and subsequently shifted to Officer Pink with Riposte.
Padma / Tyria belongs to Turq's cohort and sometimes takes the form of a purple cat, currently living in Ava; also from the Officer Pink thread.
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
The Daughters of the Apocalypse focuses on rebuilding in the Aftermath. Cats are highly valued for pest control.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman is Italian fantasy and includes a cat, Marchesa Micia.
Frankenstein's Family features two scientists running a valley in historic Romania. Victor and Igor have a woodpile cat.
The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy. While most characters are werewolves, Lucille is a cat person and seeking feline shifters.
Not Quite Kansas is about falling into the wrong world and trying to get by there. Barb is a cat demon.
Polychrome Heroics is superhero fantasy with numerous examples of cats, some detailed above.
The Steamsmith features a cheetah, Farasat, who is sensitive to alchemical energies.
Or you can ask for something new.
I have a linkback poem, "Art, Not Magic" (8 verses, Torn World).
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
I'm going to host a Poetry Fishbowl on my blog on Tuesday, September 6. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, plots, settings, objects, and poetic forms in particular. Chances are I'll spend a good chunk of the day, from afternoon to evening or more, alternating between this site and doing stuff offline so my back doesn't weld itself to the chair.
Perks: I will post at least one of the resulting fishbowl poems on the blog for everyone to enjoy, and an extra one if there's at least one new prompter or donor. The rest will be available for audience members to buy, and whatever's left over will go into my archive for magazine submission.
If donations total $100 then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
I want to promote linkbacks pointing people to the "Fishbowl Open" post on Tuesday. I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of "Art, Not Magic" (Torn World). One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Twitter or LiveJournal, rather than all on Dreamwidth.
(See the complete list of current perks.)
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in cats -- please mark the fishbowl date on your calendar. Drop by and give me some ideas, comment on the posted poetry, encourage people to come look, whatever tickles your fancy. I hope to see you then!
This topic includes all cats, living or extinct, natural or supernatural, Terran or alien or fantasy; as well as all catlike creatures, cat analogs, characters with cat features, etc.
Some options require a bit more exposition:
[Introduced in "Because Her Darkness Burns So Brightly"]
The Mori no Tami (森の民) or Forest Folk manifested in significant numbers after the Big One, using their naturalistic magic to repair the damaged ecosystem. Moriko means "forest girl," Morikun means "forest boy," and Morichan means "forest child." Now they are forming a community in what used to be a private campground called Humboldt Haven, restoring camp cabins damaged by the earthquake and building new ones. They call it Mori no Mura (森の村), literally Forest Village, or Village of Mori. Because the facilities were rustic to begin with, it was easy to repair the broken parts, then add off-grid amenities such as a generator or solar panels, hand pumps, and so forth. Within a matter of months, they have created a fully functional village out of what used to be a campground. The forest features mostly second-growth redwoods and tanoak, with a few pockets of old-growth redwoods in hard-to-reach areas. Thickets of huckleberries fill the understory in some places.
(Rutledge thread, drafted but not explicitly introduced yet)
Vermont Shag Carpet Cats -- These huge, hairy landrace cats are well adapted to the cold snowy weather of the Northeast. The name comes from the very long, very dense winter coat but in spring a massive shed converts them to a medium-long overcoat with a thin undercoat. A majority of Shag Carpets "blow their coats" in just 1-2 weeks. Unlike some long-haired breeds, they groom themselves just fine, but indoor cats require heavy grooming from their owners in spring to avoid coating the whole house in cat hair. Separated from the overcoat, the undercoat is actually spinnable and quite warm, although on the short side as fibers go. At Emerald Mountain Glen, the fibercrafters do their best to groom as many cats as they can to collect the fibers, and often offer to groom outside pets in exchange for the fiber too. Shag Carpets come in all colors and patterns. They tend to have big fluffy feet like snowshoes, including a polydactyl variant sometimes nicknamed Vermont Snowshoe Cats. Every few years, a new stud cat is introduced to Emerald Mountain Glen and allowed to mate with whichever females he chooses; these are often but not always purebreeds. The numbers of purebred studs in the Shag Carpet history are: Maine Coon (4, 1 polydactyl), Norwegian Forest Cat (3), Siberian (1), American Bobtail (1), Fishcat (1), Savannah (1), Ragdoll (1), Ragamuffin (1). The addition of Savannah increased height and added a new spotting pattern, but created a chance of skittish or aggressive temperament. Ragdoll and Ragamuffin were then introduced to improve temperament, which is working. Less often, queens are brought in, but these are usually selected for desirable features from someone's pool of working farm cats. Vermont Shag Carpet kittens with short hair, poor cold tolerance, low self-preservation, poor hunting, or other undesirable features are typically adopted out of the commune unless they have another highly desirable trait. They are still quite popular as pets.
Local-America recognizes two polydactyl breeds, American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. Terramagne-America recognizes American Shorthair Polydactyl, Bigfoot Cats (allowing registry of any polydactyl cat, rather like the National Pinto Horse registry based on color), Hemingway Cats (established by Ernest Hemingway and adapted to Florida's hot wet climate with a short thin coat), Maine Coon Polydactyl (a subset of the long-haired Maine Coon breed), Mitten Kittens (a long-haired breed similar to Ragdoll), and Skookumcats (a big hairy breed with a long coarse rain-shedding coat, developed for the Pacific Northwest). Polydactyl cats should not be confused with thumbcats (supercats based on having opposable thumbs regardless of how many digits they have), handcats (supercats with anything from longer toes and thumbs to fully functional hands), or shipcats (cats with Super-Intellect, sometimes Telepathy, Extended Lifespan, or other superpowers), although cats can qualify for more than one of these categories. Fishcats are descendants with thumbcat, handcat, and/or shipcat ancestry; they tend to be more intelligent with larger brains, and they often have opposable thumbs, longer toes, functional hands, and/or extra digits. Various people have breeding colonies of fishcats or their relatives, but there isn't an established breed yet.
The comic strip City Indians runs in the Blue Streak. It features a number of native characters living in River City rather than a reservation. It is drawn by an Osage and written by a Missourian, and they get their inspiration from contemporary issues facing tribal people. It focuses on changes over time and how people adapt to those -- or don't. Sometimes the comic strip is irreverent, but it is always relevant. It has been syndicated in Wasape, a small town near Bluehill. Of the characters, Two Alley Cats Singing is fun and sassy. She is an Illini girl born in the city and recently aged out of foster care.
Ansel's grandmother Norma Jean breeds barn cats for intelligence, toughness, and hunting skill. Occasionally she selects specific parents. Most of the time, however, she simply gives away individuals that don't measure up, and sometimes she brings in particularly promising cats from other places. She is unconcerned with color or coat, and conformation other than insisting the cats have a healthy build. So they come in all colors, European and Asian body types, long and short hair, etc.
Jumbie is a calico supercat who appears in the Berettaflies storyline; I have a scene sketch for her but haven't written it out yet.
Mrrhow the Mercurial and her siblings first appeared in the Damask thread and subsequently shifted to Officer Pink with Riposte.
Padma / Tyria belongs to Turq's cohort and sometimes takes the form of a purple cat, currently living in Ava; also from the Officer Pink thread.
Among my more relevant series for the main theme:
The Daughters of the Apocalypse focuses on rebuilding in the Aftermath. Cats are highly valued for pest control.
Fiorenza the Wisewoman is Italian fantasy and includes a cat, Marchesa Micia.
Frankenstein's Family features two scientists running a valley in historic Romania. Victor and Igor have a woodpile cat.
The Moon Door explores a women's chronic pain group and lycanthropy. While most characters are werewolves, Lucille is a cat person and seeking feline shifters.
Not Quite Kansas is about falling into the wrong world and trying to get by there. Barb is a cat demon.
Polychrome Heroics is superhero fantasy with numerous examples of cats, some detailed above.
The Steamsmith features a cheetah, Farasat, who is sensitive to alchemical energies.
Or you can ask for something new.
I have a linkback poem, "Art, Not Magic" (8 verses, Torn World).
If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.
Writing is usually considered a solitary pursuit. One exception to this is a fascinating exercise called a "fishbowl." This has various forms, but all of them basically involve some kind of writing in public, usually with interaction between author and audience. A famous example is Harlan Ellison's series of "stories under glass" in which he sits in a bookstore window and writes a new story based on an idea that someone gives him. Writing classes sometimes include a version where students watch each other write, often with students calling out suggestions which are chalked up on the blackboard for those writing to use as inspiration.
I'm going to host a Poetry Fishbowl on my blog on Tuesday, September 6. I'll be soliciting ideas for thematic characters, plots, settings, objects, and poetic forms in particular. Chances are I'll spend a good chunk of the day, from afternoon to evening or more, alternating between this site and doing stuff offline so my back doesn't weld itself to the chair.
Perks: I will post at least one of the resulting fishbowl poems on the blog for everyone to enjoy, and an extra one if there's at least one new prompter or donor. The rest will be available for audience members to buy, and whatever's left over will go into my archive for magazine submission.
If donations total $100 then you get a free $15 poem; $150 gets you a free $20 poem; and $200 gets you a free epic, posted after the Poetry Fishbowl. These will usually be series poems if I have them; otherwise I may offer non-series poems or series poems in a different size. If donations reach $250, you get one step toward a bonus fishbowl; four of these activates the perk, and they don't have to be four months in a row. Everyone will get to vote on which series, and give prompts during the extra fishbowl, although it may be a half-day rather than a whole day. If donations reach $300, there will be a half-price sale in one series.
I want to promote linkbacks pointing people to the "Fishbowl Open" post on Tuesday. I have a spare series poem available, and each linkback will reveal a verse of "Art, Not Magic" (Torn World). One person can do multiple links if they're on different services, like Twitter or LiveJournal, rather than all on Dreamwidth.
(See the complete list of current perks.)
If you enjoy my poetry -- or if you just love poetry in general, or want to promote interest in cats -- please mark the fishbowl date on your calendar. Drop by and give me some ideas, comment on the posted poetry, encourage people to come look, whatever tickles your fancy. I hope to see you then!