On the walk to school today, Elaine told me about the time her class sang "Are You Sleeping?"  She told the teacher that there was another song called "Ugachucka" that sounded the same, and the teacher, who was apparently a little quicker than me, said that it was the same song in a different language.  At this point, I realized Elaine meant "Frere Jacques."  I corrected her pronunciation and told her it was in French.

Elaine agreed and told me that she'd informed her class it was "from an old Star Trek episode."

There are a lot more pants jokes in my house now that Elaine is old enough to giggle maniacally at them.  And she's not the one making them.

Daniel:  "What kind of ice cream would you like?  Vanilla, mint chip, chocolate moose tracks, mustard, or pants?"

Elaine:  "All three kinds."

Daniel:  "All right -- vanilla, mustard, and pants."

Elaine:  "Vanilla, mint chip, and chocolate moose tracks!"

Daniel:  "Chocolate moose pants?"

There was also discussion of making mustard ice cream in the blender and using Parmesan cheese in place of sprinkles.  Not to mention more references to pants.

A little song that Elaine was singing on her way to school today:

"Wonders and daisies,
"Wonders and flowers,
"Wonders in the whole wide world.

"I'm wondering about you daisy,
"I really am."

"How do you tell a recursive joke?"

When I went to tuck Elaine into bed tonight, I was greeted with a big smile and the line, "Do you know how to tell a recessive joke?"  Although it's been ten years, and the wording was garbled, I recognized that someone had been teaching the child old jokes from college.  So, Elaine and I did a few rounds of the following together:

Person 1:  "How do you tell a recursive joke?"
Person 2:  "I don't know; how do you tell a recursive joke?"
Person 1:  "Well, first you tell a recursive joke."
Person 2:  "How do you tell a recursive joke?"
Person 1:  "I don't know; how do you tell a recursive joke?"
Person 2:  "Well, first you tell a recursive joke."
etc.

Elaine says that she's going to teach it to all of the kids at recess tomorrow.

Last year in the spring, my writing group was low on manuscripts to critique.  So, we used the extra time to read through all the short stories nominated that year for the Nebula and Hugo.  We followed our usual process for critiquing, but instead of focusing on ways to improve the stories, we tried to address three questions:

One, what works in this story?  Two, why would an editor choose to buy it?  And, three, why would people feel it was worthy of being nominated for an award?

Overall, it was a fascinating and instructive process.  I learned a lot more about writing great stories by hearing the entire table critique all those award nominees than I would have by simply reading them myself.  Even more exciting, I saw changes in the stories being brought to the table after that.  It felt like the process stepped up our whole game as writers and a critique group.

The Nebula nominees have been announced for this year, and, time allowing, I think that we'll be reading through and discussing the short stories again.  So, I'm going to put the links here:

“Robot” by Helena Bell (Clarkesworld 9/12)
“Immersion” by Aliette de Bodard (Clarkesworld 6/12)
“Fragmentation, or Ten Thousand Goodbyes” by Tom Crosshill (Clarkesworld 4/12)
“Nanny’s Day” by Leah Cypess (Asimov’s 3/12)
“Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream” by Maria Dahvana Headley (Lightspeed 7/12)
“The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” by Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/12)
“Five Ways to Fall in Love on Planet Porcelain”by Cat Rambo (Near + Far)

Just collecting the links, I found myself hooked strongly enough by "Nanny's Day" that I read the whole story right away without planning on it.  That doesn't happen very often for me -- I think the last time was a Daily Science Fiction story by Nina Kiriki Hoffman called "Boy Seeds."  In this case, as in that one, I thoroughly enjoyed the story.  It should be interesting to discuss it in my group when we get to it.

On a side note, the idea of reading through all the Nebula nominated shorts is particularly exciting this year, because this is the first time I'm a full member of SFWA, eligible to vote on the Nebulas.

When I went to tuck Elaine into bed tonight, she was reading one of the picture books from the little bookcase of kids' books we keep in the hall outside her room.  She kept reading to herself as I tucked her in.  She kept reading as I turned out the light.  "Hey!  I wasn't finished!" she exclaimed from the dark.  I explained that she was free to wake up and keep reading in the morning, but, right then, she needed her sleep.  She thought about that and seemed to accept it, which wasn't surprising, as I've heard her reading aloud to herself every morning this week.  As I turned to leave, Elaine exclaimed, "Reading is my favorite thing to do now!"  I told her that I'd take her to the library soon, and she looked really excited.

Elaine can read.

Furry Stories in 2012

The Ursa Major Awards season is upon us, and I have several stories that are eligible for nomination.  Most of them were originally published online and are easy to access there.  Two of them, though, were originally published in print anthologies.  So, for a limited time, I'm making those two stories available as free e-books.

St. Kalwain and the Lady Uta originally published in ROAR 4

One Night in Nocturnia originally published in Tails of a Clockwork World

Magtwilla and the Mouse

Hot Chocolate for the Unicorn

The Most Complicated Avatar

Shreddy and the Christmas Ghost

Looking back at all those stories that came out last year...  it's really kind of hard to believe.  It was an amazing year.  At any rate, whether you feel like nominating any of these stories or not, I hope that you enjoy some of them, and -- if you have an interest in furry fiction -- then I hope that you'll take a minute to nominate any stories from last year that you do feel are worthy.  The Ursa Majors are a people's award, and that works best when the people participate.