Linkee-poo is human and I need love just like everybody else does

Using your gaming session to write your story.

"Gone are the days of having to be selected to put out a book. Gone are the days of having to go to a bookstore to see what is available. Now you can check online, with real time reviews, AND, real time 'bestseller' rankings. It’s unsurprising that as the barriers to entry for the book business went down, so did the quality of the books being produced. These days, over one million books are published each year, with at least half of these self-published. So it’s almost obvious that, given the volume, you could game your way to the top of a category with very few sales." How to be an Amazon bestseller with only $3. (Grokked form Chuck Wendig)

Authors muse on GRR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and how it changed epic fantasy. Stina Leicht has some great notes about history and our fantasy reflection of it. If you take those statements with the historical notations pointed out by Django Wexler, you can see parallels between actual history and the growth of grimdark fantasy. One of the things I like about SoI&F (or at least the HBO rendition, as I haven't made it to A Storm of Swords, and I kinda lost track) is that the sword isn't the only weapon, and plate mail the only armor and there are hundreds of background people who don't have them. Few people could afford them, fewer still could afford the training required to use them properly (which is why mercenaries were so important). Also, I'm really grateful he gave us the real version of chivalry, which wasn't as clean as it had been made out to be, and a diversity of cultures and people. Also, no gorram stew and taverns every day's march. (Grokked from Cat Rambo)

"(W)hile I can assemble a quick list of writers who have said… that they expect award recognition for their work… it’s actually a very short list. And most of those you could guess just by having followed the events of the last few years… So, where does… the idea that dense, fancy, poetic prose is a bid for award attention? That if you, as a reader, find the prose difficult to process, then that must be because the writer is showing off? Pretentious, even?" Anne Leckie on "pretentious" versus "transparent" writing. In a critic of a Very Famous (as it goes) Author my main critique was that their prose was magnificent, but entirely too dense for my tastes. They responded by stating that's exactly the kind of prose their fans were looking for, and they were kind of known for it. Fair enough, you go with your bad assed self and sell your millions of copies. As to the contention that "pretty prose" wins awards, let me take this moment to laugh at that. These days I find it pretty hard to slog through Lord of the Rings (which I devoured every year from 16 to 24 years old) or Lovecraft (bless his archaic, little, racist heart).

"The U.S. Department of Energy is looking for the public’s input on what would be the country’s very first fresh water wind farm." In our very own Lake Erie.

Out coming robot overlords. Also noted in case you still think manufacturing jobs will rebound.

That's going to leave a mark. "This is probably the impact site of the Schiaparelli lander itself."

California National Guard members (as well as others) are being forced to repay sign-on bonuses (and college reimbursements) they received for re-upping during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. And all it would take would be a law to absolve them of this debt. You know, by the very people who are claiming the have veterans' best interest at heart. My, wouldn't that be a great lame duck session law (you know, like they were unable to do this past summer.

"Some races have shifted late in Democrats' favor, particularly in Republican-held suburban districts with high levels of voters with college degrees. Still, there has not been the wholesale move in polling that the party would need (to retake the House), even with Hillary Clinton's gains across the electoral map." This is why that initiative to win control of the individual states' governments to affect redrawing the electoral lines in 2020 is so important. And frankly what I don't want is the Democrats playing the Republican's game only harder, but a fundamental reform of how we draw electoral maps to eliminate rank gerrymandering.

"Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke has qualified to participate in the upcoming U.S. Senate debate at Dillard University, a historically black university in New Orleans." This should go well.

"But even if there aren’t hard statistics, the problem of racial bias among police isn’t new. In fact, it’s been a concern of the FBI for at least a decade. Exactly 10 years ago this week, the FBI warned of the potential consequences — including bias — of white supremacist groups infiltrating local and state law enforcement, indicating it was a significant threat to national security."

"Early voting kicked off on Thursday in the key swing state of North Carolina, and voters turned out to the polls in droves. Across the state, but especially in the urban centers of Charlotte, Raleigh, Fayetteville, and Winston-Salem, voters waited for hours to cast a ballot." In Ashtabula County, Ohio, we have to go to the county board of elections to vote early. That's a 45 minute drive from home, in the opposite direction from work. And we only have 2 weekends available. (Grokked from Mur Lafferty)

A breakdown of early voting. "While Democrats tend to do better in early voting, Republicans usually post an initial lead with mail-in ballots before Democrats surpass them during in-person early voting in mid to late October." With some information on the current election and early voting.

"The Pennsylvania Republican Party filed a complaint late Friday night asking a federal court to allow out-of-county poll watchers to monitor voting stations on Election Day." Apparently someone figured out the Trumpster's plan of sending people into "those places" would violate the law.

"Trump hotels say that the change to 'Scion' has nothing to do with the fact that their bookings are way down, claiming that the polls showing the decline are rigged."

"A CNN panel failed to maintain composure on Friday when Donald Trump supporter Gina Loudon insisted there was no evidence to back up claims that the Republican nominee has engaged in racist and misogynistic behavior."

So much for Junior's talk of allowing the kids at Liberty U their own right to speak. Yep, Jerry Falwell, Junior, is still a tool.