Rosemary Kirstein

I’ve been making hand-bound blank journals for years. Back when I was writing The Lost Steersman, I got the idea to take it a step further, and tried making my own paper for the journals.

I made the paper out of recycled materials, and at that point, a lot of what I was recycling were printouts of early drafts of the The Lost Steersman.

At some point it occurred to me: instead of completely pulping the paper I was using, what if I kept some bits of shredded draft un-pulped? And let random words show up in the newly-made paper? How cool would that be?

Pretty cool, as it turned out.

But in the end, making my own paper was too time-consuming, and after a while I set it aside, and never used the pages I made.

The other day, I found them again. I wanted to do something special to donate to the Con or Bust auction, so Aha! said I.

Here’s the result:

click to embiggen

Ribbon is real silk, just like they make in Alemeth!

I love the way this turned out.

The book is 4 1/2 inches wide by 6 inches tall.    The shredded bits toss up random words within the paper.

mysterious fragments of words

I love the paper – it’s interestingly rumpled.    It works pretty well (if bumpily) with a fountain pen, but not well with a felt-tip.   I think a dip pen would work.   Ballpoint is not good at all. But colored pencils are very good — the paper has some bite to it.  I have not tried watercolors, but the paper has been treated to be not overly-absorbent.

What would YOU put in it?

So, hey — this could be yours.   Head over to the Con or Bust auction site and bid!

Also:  I’m including two loose squares of the same paper, so that you could test your writing implement or artistic medium before committing to marking the actual book.

And:  Bonus copy of The Lost Steersman itself!

All this for — well, you decide.

You can’t buy it here, you have to go to the Con or Bust Auction.

gold-trimmed little snail embellishment

I haven’t been blogging lately due, alas, to the continuing and increasing unpleasantness in the DayJob.

The Wind Horse flags have helped keep my spirits up, and the images on my beloved Darlene scarves as well.

Also,this image from a reader in Scotland:

The gentleman commissioned this as a gift for his wife, who then came up with the engraving.

I can’t express how lovely I find this…

(I won’t mention the reader’s name — unless he chooses to identify himself in the comments!)

I also have a steerswoman’s ring, which I had commisssioned, ages ago:

I can’t recall who made this for me …  but the reader in Scotland did provide a link to his ringmaker, so you can see their work here.

Well.  Must go.   Making two pots of pea soup, and trying to squeeze in some actual writing before Monday….

Hey, it’s time for the annual CON OR BUST fundraising auction.

I’ve participated in the past, and shall do so again this year… although I have not yet decided what to offer for auction.

I’m thinking, hand-bound blank book — I haven’t made one in quite a while.   But if I run out of time, I may have to default to the old reliable autographed copies of my novels…

Here’s the official announcement for the auction:

Originally posted by kate_nepveu at announcing 2012 Con or Bust auction

I am pleased to announce this year’s auction to support Con or Bust, which helps fans of color/non-white fans attend SFF conventions. Bidding starts Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:01 a.m. EST (GMT -5) and ends Sunday, February 25, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. EST. You may post auction offers and make donations now.

For more details, please see these updated posts explaining how to:

• make an auction offer;
• browse auctions;
• bid on an auction;
• pay for an auction or donate; and/or
• request assistance.

As a reminder, Con or Bust is now helping fans attend all cons of their own choosing, not just WisCon as in the past. (Requests for assistance to attend cons in April, May, and June 2012 will be taken from February 15 through 25; see the “request assistance” link for more details.) Because the demand for assistance is greater than before, please spread the word widely!

More information about Con or Bust.

So, there I was, typing away in the middle of the night, when one of my characters happens to mention single malt scotch. And I think to my self, Hey — I’ve got some single malt scotch. I could have some, right now!

So I did.

Laphroaig is my favorite single malt. But I had forgotten that I’d purchased some Laphroaig “quarter cask” special variety a while back, on a whim, having spotted it, having not heard about this version of it, and being in a mood to celebrate with some friends.

Many many dollars were spent on this scotch. And we never got around to drinking it. So it came home with me.

I’m here to say: Well spent.

Only thing better than Laphroaig? This type of Laphroaig.

Please, as they say, drink responsibly. For example, the only thing I'll be driving is the plot.

I did not think that Laphroaig could be improved upon.

How nice that there are some things in life that are excellent. Good books, good whiskey. Paintings so beautiful they make you weep. Music that sneaks up on you and holds you breathless.

Everything should vibrate and be drenched in color.

I thought I’d wander over (translation: get in my car and drive) to the Funky Monkey to have some coffee and do some contemplative writing and analyzing, and all. Alas — Tonight’s Comedy Night, and they were rearranging all of the furniture to make room for the extra chairs and tables they’ll need in a couple of hours, and they also had a rather loud jazz cd on in the background. To be heard over the dragging of chairs, etc.

I’ve had the week off from the evil DayJob, and I’ve been hunkering down and trying to ignore everything else but writing… but I had to get to the gym at some point, so I thought I’d tempt myself with a visit to the Monkey first.

Could be worse -- I could be at work.

Meanwhile: looks like SOPA is dead, and PIPA is in retreat.

But just in case, here’s Clay Shirky explaining, at which he is so very excellent:

[update! Users of iPad, iPod, and people reading through an RSS reader can’t see Clay, above, because it’s Flash!  They just get a blank space! Oh, noes! You’ll just have to go to the actual site through this link.]

Okay, now they’re vacuuming. That’s enough, thank you, Monkeyites.

What is it, and why should you care?

Check out this infographic.

Or read this article in Wired online…

Prefer the New York Times? How about this?

Or O’Reilly?

What, are you British or something? Well, okay!

But oddly enough, one of my favorite explanations of the effects of SOPA/PIPA as it stands now is this post by Scott Westerfeld, addressed to his young readers, explaining what would happen to his weekly “Fan Art Friday” blog posts…

Pirating movies and music and books is Bad. Stopping piracy would be good. SOPA/PIPA won’t do that.

Instead, my site could be blocked, and I could face legal action, for linking to this:

You can protest.

On NPR’s Science Friday, when Lawrence Krauss was discussing new ideas, theories and discoveries relating to the possible origin of the universe, a caller asked:

“With all due respect — and I find what you’re saying fascinating — but where is the practicality for us on earth? What is it doing for us today, or even in the very near future?”

Krauss replied:

“Well, you know, it’s a good question, and I put it back to you. I’d say: Well, what does a Bach cantata or a Picasso painting do for us?

“I think the point is: we are human beings and one of the most wonderful aspects of being human beings is being creative, and asking questions, and trying to understand our place in the universe. And it is absolutely true that understanding the beginning and end of the universe is not going to produce a better toaster.

“But… for me, one of the great virtues of science is, it’s a cultural activity. Like art, and literature, and music, it enhances the experience of being human.

“And it addresses the questions that I’m sure you’ve asked about your own existence. And if we can get new insights into our own existence and our place in the cosmos — well, that’s what happens when we attend a good play or see a good painting, it gives us a new perspective of our place in the universe. And I happen to think that is worth it for it’s own sake.”

On the basis of that (well, the entire interview, but the above is what made up my mind), I instantly bought the Kindle edition of his new book, A Universe From Nothing.

Earth and moon, as seen from Mars. (NASA image)

According to the Canada geese on the pond, that is.

Christmas Eve:

Swimming weather!

And Christmas Day:

Walking weather

Better have some cleats on your Wellies.

But how lovely to spend the holidays up in our unofficial New Hampshire vacation home (translation: cat-sitting for friends while they travel).

Plus: quite close to Boston, allowing a visit with Genrette Laurie J. Marks, and her wife Deb Mensinger.

Deb is the friend who had a liver transplant, last January — and some of you participated in the auction to raise money for medical expenses, for which Deb and everyone who knows her are very grateful.

Look, here’s a porch that she sanded and painted and everything:

All painted up and pretty.

Other people did the rest of the house, but Deb did the porch, she tells me, sanding and staining.

Here’s another view.

Very xmassy

The whole house looks so pretty, after years of being at the bottom of the list of priorities, with Deb’s illness. It’s a happy place now.

Xmas dinner was excellent, and the tree gorgeous. And I was happy to meet Laurie’s niece Anna, and see Eddy Martinez again, and his mother Anita.

For New Years I CANCELLED EVERYTHING and stayed home all by my self and it was so very lovely. I needed to decompress from the DayJob That Ate Manhattan. Didn’t need extra hours in travel, and more sleeping in guest-beds. I sent the presents up north with Sabine. Instead, I watched birds, wrote, and slept, and planned my escape I mean, ways to convince superiors at work that this much overtime is not a good idea, and yes, I could go on but I shall not.

But in other news, I have two weeks vacation coming up. In other other news, they wouldn’t let me take them back-to-back, but I’ve got one in January (quite soon!!) and the other in February. Wherein Writing Shall Occur.

More later…

Promise. Weekend.

Right now: Oh, yeah. Overtime.

Whilst hunkering down and enduring the crunch at the DayJob, and preparing for Xmas and New Year, the fun thing on my horizon is Boskone, NESFA’s regional science fiction convention, taking place in Boston, February 17-19.

Boskone is one of the conventions I try not to miss. It’s a favorite — but you know, by now I’ve been to an awful lot of them across the years…

So, when I was signing up and they asked me what I wanted to talk about, what sorts of panels I wanted to participate in, and what great ideas I had for new panels or discussion groups, I sort of went, “Um, um… well, you know, same old…”

Then I thought: wouldn’t it be great if I knew what panels my readers wanted to see me on, and what subjects they would like to hear me talk about?

Then I remembered: Oh, right. I could ask them.

So, what do you think? If you’re going to Boskone, or are willing for the moment to imagine that you will be going, what panels, discussions, or brainstorming sessions would YOU attend if you know that Rosemary Kirstein would be there?

If you’ve never been to a convention, take a look at last year’s Boskone schedule for inspiration. (And you can see what panels I was on last year — I’d be happy to repeat; they were interesting and fun.)

(Oh, how 21st cen, to be crowd-sourcing my con panel ideas…)

In other news: Hooray! First trailer for The Hobbit!

This makes me happy. I’m tired, I’ve been working the DayJob too hard too long, and I’m so happy to see Middle Earth.