Welcome!

This is the alternate blog site for Maria Lima (formerly known as chickwriter), author of the Blood Lines series, unrepentant fangrrl and writing geek. The blog is a work in progress (a.k.a., I update when I update!), as is pretty much everything else in my life. My primary blog can be found at my website. Feel free to follow me here, as I have many, many LJ buddies and have had this journal for quite a few years. It's not going anywhere. ::g::

My role models include Tanya Huff, Joss Whedon, Christopher Golden and Charles deLint amongst many, many others.

I love to read, write and watch genre TV. I'm very lucky that people actually pay me to do one of these three things. My series is published by Juno Books, an imprint of Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.

Other places to find me:

My Web site
Facebook
Twitter

Tags: who am i

John Scalzi wrote an awesome post entitled: Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is.

I highly recommend you read it – including the 800 comments.

Scalzi’s post struck a strong chord in me (who, according to his game metaphor got the hardcore setting, thanks to being female, Latina, queer).

I find it fascinating and not a little disheartening to see the same old “stop blaming me”, “what am I supposed to do about it” comments from so many straight white males. As an adjunct to that, a lot of “but my life was anything but easy because [insert reason(s) here].

Dudes: you are missing the point by miles. I don’t know if my analogy will help, but here’s an attempt: (and all my points are based on US/Western Culture)

Imagine there’s a pile of cards in play for the game called Life.

The objective is how you play during your journey, not some vague “winning” of the game, since the final outcome is the same for everybody.

Each card represents points a person can play throughout their personal journey. Points can be translated into real world advantages (jobs, money, opportunities, etc.)

At birth, each person gets 1 card to play based on the fact that s/he lives.

If you’re white, you get a second card, if male, yet another. If you are heterosexual, you get another.

Based ONLY on these criteria, at the start of the game, straight white males already have the advantage in having more cards.

No, this doesn’t mean that their entire journey through Life will be easy, simple and without roadblocks, only that they get more cards to start with. Some folks will get extra cards along the way (for money, education, other aspects of Life that affect their journey). That’s a given.

What Scalzi was pointing out that, at the start, straight, white males have more cards to play. What they do with those cards and how many other cards they get are variable.

So, we’re not blaming you for this, it’s just a statement of fact. You (the straight white male) have more cards at the beginning. You can choose to use those cards to lord it over others, or you can choose to stop, think and be inclusive.

It’s up to you.

For those of you who asked “what do you want me to do?” – I will repeat Scalzi’s answer (from the comments) – What do you want to do? It’s not my call. I am not the captain of your underpants.

If you want to sincerely know what you can do to level the playing field, I suggest you start by increasing your awareness–of your surroundings, of the language you and your friends use (do you laugh at homophobic, racist jokes or do you stop them?), of anytime you can reach out a helping hand to someone who is not a straight white male.  Small steps lead to bigger ones.

Some other thoughtful posts on the same topic:

Karen Healy

Steven Brust

 

(Please note, discuss as you wish, however, like Scalzi, I have the Crossbow of Courtesy primed & loaded…aka, don’t be a dick or I shall have to shoot down your comment.)

 

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

All the cool kids are doing it:

Chuck Wendig

Ragen Chastain

I’ve heard that Jim Hines is going to do it over at Reddit.

 

So, since I’ve had blog-block for awhile, let’s turn it over to you all.

Feel free to ask me anything: about writing, food, fun, frolic–whatever strikes your fancy. Your questions don’t even have to be about me.

 

Go for it!

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

This isn’t about Team Gale or Team Peeta or anything of the sort. Why? Because for me, and I suspect for Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games trilogy isn’t at all about the relationship triangle.

In fact, until the recent spate of movie publicity and subsequent hype, it never occurred to me that anyone could see this as any sort of romance-oriented story. Sure, there are relationship issues, but they are as far from a standard romance trope as one can get.

For me, the books are about:

• doing what you must to survive
• making the hard choices
• the overpowering presence and influence of mass media
• the corruption of the few, the over privileged and their willful ignorance
• becoming the hero – however reluctantly
• accepting reality and doing one’s best to make it work

The series is bleak, troubling, with no fluffy happy ending–which made sense to me considering the established world.

That’s actually one of the things that bothered me the most about the Harry Potter books. As much as I loved them, the epilogue was too pat, too perfect. Where was the PTSD? The consequences of having been fighting/at war since age 11? I know that this is part of the reason I read Harry Potter fan fiction, to satisfy that need in me to see more.

I don’t need to read fan fiction with Hunger Games, because Suzanne Collins fulfilled my expectations. It wasn’t a happily-ever-after, but a “we’ve survived and it’s good” ever after. I’m okay with that. In that world, I think this was the best possible outcome.

Here’s a fabulous web comic from Faith Erin Hicks that encapsulates a lot of my feelings. Note: the comic does have spoilers!

Will the movie reflect what I think is important in the story? I hope so. I really hope they didn’t choose to emphasize the Gale vs. Peeta aspect of the overall plot. It’s important, yes, but IMHO, only as it impacts on Katniss’ ability to make the correct choices for her own survival.

What are your thoughts?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: hunger games

A friend of mine passed away yesterday. We weren’t especially close, in fact, she was more friend of a friend. But it hit me hard. Right in the virtual solar plexus, like an unexpected punch.

E was my age. Evidently, she developed some sort of infection over the weekend and succumbed. (She was dealing with an autoimmune disease, but that was well managed). More sadly, she’d retired from nursing to care for her brother (who is in hospice) and her mother (who is in assisted living). Only it’s her that died.

She was vital, full of life last time I saw her (ages ago). Strong, passionate, vibrant. She told amazing stories of her time spent in cardiac ICU. Of her troubled past. (Single mom). I based a lot of my character Bea on E.

Life is too damned short.

I am sad.

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Call me Scrooge – or whatever the equivalent is when one dislikes a holiday that is, by its nature, exclusionary. For those people unpartnered, it’s a day filled with reminders of how you’re not the expected norm. For those who are partnered, it’s nothing more than guilt/shame/agony wrapped up in spending money on stupid heart-shaped crap.

Yeah, I really, really hate it. Did even when I was partnered.

Why is there a day to (supposedly) celebrate romantic love? Shouldn’t that be every day? Perhaps I’m jaded, but a ridiculously expensive box of candy isn’t going to signify that you love your partner more or less than yesterday or tomorrow. Buying a gift because it’s expected is less meaningful than an obligatory dental visit.

Why not pick a random day a month to do something special for your loved ones – not just romantic love, but anyone you consider family. Send a fun note, a card, post something mushy on their Facebook wall. Unexpected acts of kindness and love seem more special.

I don’t begrudge florists their revenue today, but I do hate the artificiality behind it. Same with Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. Material goods don’t say “I love you” – everyday actions do.

I’m going to spend today trying to ignore/avoid the hype. Yeah, I’m a grumpy mcgrumpypants. That’s how I roll. Maybe tomorrow will be better. Oh wait, then I’ll have to look at early Easter displays. At least there will be Cadbury Mini Eggs.

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: valentine's day

It’s Monday again – a week since I last blogged. So much for the every single day goal. Oh well.

This past week has been a lesson in learning to cope. Small things, really, but adding up to one tired me. I’ve been having issues with the CPAP mask. If it sits properly on my face, it’s brilliant. I sleep well. I breathe well. All is good. Only, it doesn’t sit properly on my face, it slides. Up, down, whichever direction doesn’t matter. Only a tiny bit, but that bit is enough to break the mask seal and cause eye leaks. (Air blowing up into my eyes).

On Thursday morning, I went in for my 2-week check-in with the sleep tech. She saw the problem immediately. The mask is a teensy bit too small. The medium size of the same mask is too big. (They measure from bridge of nose to mid-chin). When I described the problem, she noticed that even just sitting there in her office, the mask began to slide. Solution: try other kinds.

After some trial-and-error, we settled on the Mirage Quattro, an older style mask with a forehead band. It looks more uncomfortable than the Quattro FX (the mask I have), but it feels a ton better, more secure. Sadly, as with all this kind of equipment, it has to be ordered via the durable medical equipment company, who will then provide it to me. I’m hoping they call me today.

In the meantime, I’m still using the machine & the FX mask and spend a great deal of time fussing with it. I discovered that I can (and do!) adjust it in my sleep. It becomes part of whatever dream I’m having. Definitely weird.

I’m also hoping that once this mask situation gets settled, I’ll have better sleep–e.g., less fraught with worry about the leaks.

Coping with this type of situation is tougher than I thought. It’s the same realization as being diagnosed with sarcoid and trying to wrap my head around the understanding that this is forever. It’s not going to be cured. It’s not going away. I will always have to use a CPAP…every single night. Sure, I know intellectually that it will become force of habit, just like I got used to putting my night guard in my mouth when I go to bed. But now, it’s still new, different, odd. Just another thing that makes me feel not normal.

As I was watching episodes of Private Practice via streaming, I began to notice how, in this show, as with most others, though we see patients coming into the picture with illnesses, conditions – there’s no reflection of regular characters having something chronic – sure, Addison has fertility issues, but that doesn’t impact her day-to-day functioning. Gabriel Fife was in a wheelchair – but you never learned why. Plus, he wasn’t a regular character. When these people go to bed at night, they don’t put in a night guard. They don’t use a CPAP. Heck, not a one of them even take medication on a regular basis. I love the show, but as with most TV, even though they try to bring in the “different”, the characters we see in each episode are pretty much perfect physically.

I get it, I do. The prevailing opinion is that no one wants to watch people who aren’t pretty and physically perfect. Only thing is, that definition varies from person to person. Plus, wouldn’t it be nice for once to see someone who does have a chronic condition that doesn’t result in being in a wheelchair? Something that nearly 1 in 15 Americans suffer from? It doesn’t have to be the focus of a “very special” episode–how about just showing us one character that has to hook up to a CPAP when they go to bed? To deal with it as just a regular part of life?

Frankly, I think I (and others) might learn to deal a little easier if we could see those like us reflected in our popular culture.

What’s your take?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: coping, cpap, sleep apnea

I watched a lot of the TV show: Private Practice over the weekend, thanks to Netflix streaming. If you’ve not watched it, it’s a spin-off of Grey’s Anatomy, which I enjoy. Both shows are not about the medical stuff for me, but about the interrelationships amongst the characters. It occurred to me while watching that this show (and Grey’s, for that matter), are good examples of how to write characterization.

• First, you allow people to get to know and care about your characters. (In Private Practice, we empathize with Addison as she realizes on her first day at work, that her friend/boss Naomi neglected to tell the other doctors in the practice that she’d been hired. Through her eyes, we meet the other docs and get to know them).
• Second, you throw in some sort of challenge, obstacle. (Insert any episode)
• Third, just as you think things are beginning to go great, you toss in something dire. (Insert the back half of any episode)
• Fourth, your character resolves the challenge (whether good or bad). (Act 4 of the episode)
• Finally, you show that your character has grown (either good or bad). (The wrap up)

Yep, it really is that simple. Think on this a little. What can you do to shake up your characters’ lives? What kind of obstacle or challenge can you give to your protagonist?

Joss Whedon is famous for many things, but I always remember his statement from ages ago (paraphrased): “Give your audience what they need, not what they want.” I’ve always remembered this. I was amused to hear these words coming from one of the Private Practice characters during an episode. They were talking about medical treatment, but the sentiment’s the same. You’re the doctor when it comes to your writing. Your audience may want bunnies and puppies, but they need demons and vampires. They need to see the conflicts, have resolution, even when the resolution isn’t what they’d envisioned. This is the audience-facing corollary to writing good characterization. You need both to create good fiction.

If you stick to these basics, you’ll have a head start.

What examples do you have of when a writer gave you what you needed and not what you wanted? Did it work? Did you hate it? Love it?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: characterization

The brain, she is fried. So instead of meaningful (or otherwise) content, here are some links:

• C.E. Murphy talks about where to get books
• An interview with Grimm creators
• lots of pictures of my kitty
• My favorite pulled pork recipe
• Free online courses from MIT
• Whisky tours!

Any new/favorite/interesting websites I should check out?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: link stew

Yesterday, my trip request got approved at work. This isn’t a normal “I’d like to go on vacation” type request, but a request to use my 10-year longevity benefit: a “dream weekend”, including extra day off and up to $2000 for the trip. This is a new thing at our still fairly young company. Only three of us qualify at this point. When it was announced a couple of months ago, I was excited, but really couldn’t think of what to use it on.

Then, I discovered that one of my awesome role models (now buddy), Ms. Tanya Huff was a guest at World Fantasy Con 2012, along with Charles deLint and Patricia Briggs, both of whom I’d love to meet.

I crunched a few numbers, dismayed that a flight from DC to Toronto was $750 (at the time), but persevered and figured I could do it within the allotted budget. I put in the request and now it’s official!

I’ve registered. I’ve booked my flight and hotel (oddly, the flight was now nearly half of the original price – go figure). Best of all? I’ve convinced my pal Dina to come along! The only sad part is that this is the same weekend that sis & BIL have a trip booked to CA for some event. I really wish they could attend, too.

I’m SOOOO excited!!! I love Canada. I love Toronto (only been there once and that was a zillion years ago) and am so looking forward to spending a weekend with fellow writers. Plus, World Fantasy is one of my favorite conferences. It’s more of a pro bent, so there are a ton of amazing people, many of whom I fangrrl from afar.

Hope to see some of you there!

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: conventions, wfc2012

I discovered Letters of Note yesterday via some other blog that totally escapes me now.

This is AWESOME! (especially if you love history, as I do). Their tag line: correspondence deserving of a wider audience.

The site collects, displays and transcribes old letters – some from only a few years ago, some from much further back. The letter that utterly entranced me? To My Old Master – a letter from an emancipated slave to his previous master, who’d written requesting the slave to return to work at the farm. It’s an absolutely riveting read.

This, and sites like the Library of Congress, are a chief reason I adore the Internet. In the olden days, when I was in college, writing a term paper/research paper meant HOURS digging through books, hours spent trying to find primary sources and hoping you had time.

Now, with a few clicks, I can SEE a lot of these primary sources “first hand”. No, it’s not quite the same as holding something in my hand, but how likely is it that I’d get to actually touch one of these letters? The most I’d be able to do is peer through the museum glass.

Don’t get me wrong, I ADORE going to museums, seeing historical collections in person, but being able to find this stuff online is priceless.

What’s your favorite website for historical data/collections?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

The following books were read by me this weekend.

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• The Last Chance Texaco by Brent Hartinger
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Discuss.

(Edited to add The Help)

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: reading

…is like today.

Woke up to strong winds and heavy rain pounding into the window above my head. I wanted nothing more than to roll over and try to get some more sleep, but alas, I have things to do. Mostly, though, I have people coming. Grocery delivery scheduled between 9 and 11, then between 11 and 1 – oh joy of joys, the medical equipment guy is coming with my CPAP machine!!

I know it’s going to be an adjustment to learn to sleep with a mask on my face, but trumping that x 1000 is the fact that I’m going to be able to get REAL sleep. Last week, when I went to the sleep doc, he informed me that my sleep study showed that I’d stopped breathing 70 times in an hour. Only for a second or so, but SEVENTY times!! Basically, that means I never actually get all four stages of sleep, so I’m never fully rested.

I can vouch for that this morning, as I feel like a truck ran me over. Exhausted, though I went to bed at 10 and fell asleep rather quickly.

CAN’T WAIT to have my machine!

It is rather frightening, too, to know that I’ve had this for who knows how long. My sister and BIL both have sleep apnea. I will bet anything my late father did, too. He’d often fall asleep at the movie theatre or just sitting in a chair, and wake up choking, gasping. Turns out, tendency toward this is genetic. Whee?

I’m just glad that these days, it’s more readily recognized and treatable.

Speaking of machinery, my new at-home blood pressure monitor arrived. Easy-peasy digital machine. Happy to report that today’s BP is 114/85. I’ll be taking it first thing in the morning so as to keep a consistent log.

Since it’s so gloomy today, I’m probably going to curl up with a good book or movie while I wait for people to arrive. I’d be recording, but I’ve sent some files off too ACX for a QA test, so I need to wait until they get back to me. (I think waiting might be the operative word for the day!)

What’s your favorite rainy day book or movie?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: cpap, rain

It began with Homicide: Life on the Street, with the murder po-lice, the Waterfront, the dark and twisty tales of life in a Baltimore cop shop. Who can forget following right along with newbie Tim Bayliss as he desperately sought Edina Watson’s killer in season one? How we agonized when the brilliant Frank Pembleton was brought down, not by bullets, but by a stroke? Seven seasons of awesome by Tom Fontana and based on David Simon‘s Homicide: Life on the Killing Streets.

After Homicide made its final bow, as desperate as Bayliss for equally brilliant entertainment, I uncovered Oz. I didn’t have HBO when Oz actually aired, but was lucky enough to score DVDs via Netflix. As with Homicide, I was instantly hooked and quickly mainlined the entire six season run in less than two months.

I even got to tell Tom Fontana how much the show meant to me in a brief encounter during MWA’s Edgar cocktail party one year. He probably thought I was insane.

After I finished this fix, I faced a whole lotta nothing. At this point, I still didn’t have premium cable and though there were a few shows I enjoyed, none had the hard-hitting edge I craved. I needed something other than bright shiny Hollywoodized characters with improbably pretty actors. I’m not against pretty. Pretty has its place, but having gotten a taste of something more visceral, more real, I wanted more. Fabulous writing merged with excellent casting/acting. It had to be there.

Then, there it was. From a familiar source: The Wire – a different view of Charm City and yet another show that I had to wait to see until it was done and available via iTunes/streaming. My inner addict breathed more easily. All too soon, however, I finished watching the five seasons.

I cast my wandering eye about, hoping for a new fix. A new show to fill that gap. Sure, I watched other dramas, but nothing that resonated with me as much. Some tried too hard. Some not at all. How could I settle for bland polished Hollywood pablum when I’d been exposed to the real thing?

( Read the rest of this entry » )Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: homicide, oz, southland, the wire, tv

A blog post today over at Book View Cafe (which linked to an article) got me to thinking about a conversation I had some years ago with Dana Cameron.

It was the deadest of the dead dog Sunday evenings, after the close of Malice Domestic. I’d planned to stick around for one drink, then found myself chatting with Dana until nearly 11:00 that evening, in the tapas bar.

( Read the rest of this entry » )Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Thanks to suricattus for the info!

Originally posted by seachanges at We're not out of the woods yet.

Tags: internets

I’m still here. My goal to do a blogpost daily got derailed by a digestive system upset thanks to new/old meds (all of which list various digestive issues as side-effects). I’ve spent the last several days just feeling rather miserable and doing a lot of sleeping.

A bit better today, but still rather out of whack, so I’m working at the job from home – thank goodness I can do that.

Hoping that this will clear up.

So, what’s new in your world? or the world–now that I think on it, I’ve been offline and have no clue what’s been happening.

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

For some bizarre reason, I keep rescuing kittens in my dreams.

A few nights ago, it was at the seashore, and I rescued them using a weird trapping type of machinery. Sort of a cross between a humane cage trap and one of those glass-enclosed claw machines at the arcade, only instead of a claw, this one just had a sliding wall that came down and trapped the kitties inside at the edge of the ocean. Go figure.

This early morning’s dream was perhaps less weird, but still with the kitties. I (and some friends) were at my house (which, evidently, was a refurbished old church). We had to be sure to not let the cats out, but then someone had moved some construction panels and one of the kitties fell down into an unfinished basement. There was only some framing for stairs, so we (me and faceless friend) coaxed the kitty to climb up the two-by-fours and then we boarded up the hole in the wall again. There was something else about working at the house, and the cats roaming around but that’s all fuzzy.

My twisty mind, let me show you it.

In other news, the cardiac doc visit went well. She scheduled me for an echocardiogram, but doesn’t think I have any heart issues. My numbers are good; family history is good, so this is mostly to rule out the possibility of sarcoid in the heart.

Today, I visit the sleep doc for followup. I suppose I’ll get the prescription for the CPAP machine, since that’s what was indicated in the sleep study results. Severe sleep apnea, oh, my!

And, on that note, I need to finish eating breakfast so I can skedaddle to the doc’s office.

Y’all be good!

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: dreams, kitties

I like traveling to new places. Discovering other cities, other cultures, historical sites: totally my thing.

Usually, the Lima/Condit travel troupe (aka, me, sis & BIL) plan a getaway week somewhere fun. It’s our combined birthday/Xmas gift to ourselves/each other.

This year, we’re eschewing the long trip in order to save up for Tripapalooza, aka, Whisky & Wales in 2016. Why so far out you ask? Because after December 2015, I qualify for my company’s AWESOME 15-year longevity award: a dream week trip, with extra time off and up to $10,000 in bonus $$. PLUS, 2016 is when the sister girl turns 50.

We’re planning a two-week extravaganza, visiting whisky distilleries in Scotland, Hay-on-Wye, and who knows what else. We’ve got 4 years of planning ahead of us!

Truth be told, part of the fun of these trips is the planning. The librarian sis is AWESOME at the details. I’m more about the big picture. Between us, we make a heck of a team.

We plan to let a cottage somewhere sort of central (probably a National Trust property) or through vrbo.com. Probably let a car/van. BIL really wants the freedom of driving around. I want to take trains.

No matter what we eventually decide for our itinerary, I know it’s going to be fabulous!

Tell me about a great trip you’ve been on/are planning! Where’s somewhere you’ve always wanted to go?

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.

Tags: travel

Evidently, there are 2 new shows on the air and I missed both of them. ::facepalm::

Alcatraz debuted last night to various reactions from my friends, mostly of the “I’ll watch this again” variety.

Lost Girl, a show that’s been airing in Canada made its way south with its own debut on the stupidly named SyFy network. The protagonist is a succubus. Huh. Didn’t see that coming as a premise for a show.

What say you, hive mind? Is it worth catching up on them? Should I watch?

Keep in mind I LOVE fun shows AND grim, dark shows. From Big Bang Theory to Oz to pretty much anything in between. As long as it’s good storytelling and well defined characters.

Originally posted at Maria Lima. You can comment here or there.