DEAR HOUSE, AKA, THAT SHOW THAT HAS SPENT LIKE FOUR SEASONS PUNCHING ME IN THE FACE BECAUSE I BURNT ITS DINNER: YOU ARE FORGIVEN. LOVE FOREVER, PRU.

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So! I lost the entire month of November to NaNo and was on absolute restriction from any fannish stuff that might distract me. I marathoned all of Merlin, but I'm completely at a loss as to what other delightful things might have happened. Was there a thing with BAFTA? Are there YouTube videos? So my request, dearest fandom, I implore thee: link me to awesome stuff that has happened in the last few weeks! If Bradley James is crooning a love song to some person named Pru, I would also accept that shit. I am just saying.

This entry was originally posted at http://rageprufrock.dreamwidth.org/23362.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

*Edit: Game download fixed... hopefully. orz Please let me know if there is anymore errors. ;;

I drew this Sebastian and Ciel chibi based on Yoboso-sensei's style~ Tried to make it look official-ish...



( ...Full image... )


Also, fail!game is up~

http://yesterdayandtoday.org/mainx.php?x=game

I feel weird calling it 'game' when it's super short with no game quality. It's more like a slideshow... And it does not make sense to anyone unless you live in the universe inside my head. So... *hands out eggs* /takes out ☂ ;;

Note: Thanks to loosingreality for notifying me the error.

'Sarah!' I hear you cry. 'Where are the publishing posts of yore, so informative and yet so hilarious?' 'No,' you actually cry. 'We really didn't miss them. You don't actually know that m-'

I am GLAD YOU ASKED.

I have been told by Some People (and by that I mean Justine 'Don't Spoil Me! Why Are You Spoiling Me? QUIT SPOILING ME OR I WILL USE MY AUSTRALIAN KUNG FU' Larbalestier) that sometimes when I talk about books and movies and television shows, I tend to spoil them for people by means of gently saying 'I was so sad when so and so died' and 'I hope that Character A and Character B make out/turn into zombies/take over the world again.'

That's okay. For not only am I going to be mostly talking about covers, I promise that my brief summary of each of the books (all of which I recommend) will be MOSTLY LIES. There will be a bit of truth, here and there. But you'll never know where, unless you read them all. Rest assured you will be spoiled for nothing but the stories that play out in my head.

But this is mostly a Cover Post, and it is about an aspect of covers I have not yet previously discussed! It is about what happens when a book changes cover in the transition from hardback to paperback.

So why does this happen to some books and not others? Weeell, for many reasons. Obviously, a cover's main job is to sell the book, so stuff like hitting the bestseller lists means your covers tend not to change.

Naturally most books, they hit not the bestseller list. So all covers are changed to increase sales: sometimes sales are good, and the cover changes anyway. Why is this?

Because the publisher is like 'These sales, they are very nice, but we would like to sell MORE.'

Publishers, they never say 'Ehhhh... I think we've sold enough books.' No indeed - the 28 millionth copy of Twilight out the door is just as sweet as the first!

So sometimes, they think 'This book is selling despite the cover. We hear lots of complaints that the cover does not appeal/does not match the story. We will change it... and sell MORE!'

Sometimes, they think 'This book is selling to a certain audience. The audience this cover appeals to. But we think another audience would like this book. So let us CHANGE IT UP! (and sell more!)'

So let us go with the assumption that there are Two Kinds of Covers. Object covers, in which you are like 'Huh, that is some stuff.' And people covers, in which we are like 'Huh, those are some humans.' In the people covers, there are two subsets (watch me do the fancy maths) - covers concentrating on faces and covers concentrating on figures.

How and why do covers change? Let us go BEHIND THE CUT, and see. With guaranteed no spoilers, just lies!

( Hardcover to Paperback Changes, and Lying Summaries That Are Lies )

So covers, when they change, they usually change types, or change into a different subset. They go from action-y to atmosphere-y or vice versa. They reflect very different aspects of the book. It is always a big change.

And The Demon's Lexicon cover is changing from hardcover to paperback. I am most interested to hear your thoughts on what it may be like!

Still "couch sick". Advantage: catching up on all my recorded "Criminal Minds" and "Queer as Folk" reruns. Disadvantage: Beginning to confuse the two.

I thought there might be some writer friends out there who would be interested in reading this.


"What is the ideal page count for a first novel?"

Today's the last day of wrisomifu but it won't be the last day I'll be posting recipes. I've had so much fun translating and posting these that I've decided that I'm going to try and post one at least once a week. Hopefully I can get it to become a routine thing like the Quotation of the Week. I've been doing those since May 2005.

This is simple to make and is an excellent side dish to all sorts of meat.

Carrots with Tarragon

c. 400 gram carrots [14.11 US ounce]
c. 0.5 liter water [2.11 US cup]
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

dressing:
2 teaspoon white vinegar
1/2-1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or 1/2-1 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard
a little salt

Cut the carrots into slices and put them in a pot. Cover with water and add the salt and sugar. Bring to a boil and let simmer until the carrots are tender but not too soft.

While the carrots are simmering mix all the ingredients of the dressing in a small bowl.

Drain the carrots, pour over the dressing, let it cool.

Can be served either lukewarm or cold.

Serves 3-4 persons.

Also posted on Dreamwidth.

In this light, Brian can see the dark smudges under Gerard's eyes, the barely contained shake in Gerard's hands as he twirls the pencil around and over his fingers, agitated.

Brian settles onto the floor near Gerard, back against the couch; his right hand comes to rest on a stack of books, his feet nudge at a near-toppling pile of CDs.

"Bad night?" he asks gently, directly, and Gerard shakes his head at first, back and forth, shrugs. But he says, "Yes," because Brian is one of the few people he's learnt not to lie to anymore.

It's very quiet, and very empty in here, and Brian wonders how long Gerard's been up, switching from one type of distraction to another, how long he's been trying to keep occupied while everyone else went on to the demons and temptations he's not allowed.

- proteinscollide's In the Lost and Found

Also posted on Dreamwidth.

Things that make me smile #25232: Watching a documentary on transgendered college students, and seeing one of them participate in a drag king troupe...as *NSYNC and Backstreet Boys. [Sidenote: the Bye Bye Bye routine is very very easy to spot.]

And seriously, the guy that used to play Justin Timberlake? Quit the drag king troupe. True story.

ETA: Oh man, the guy that plays AJ in it is one of the featured FTMs, and above his bed HE HAS POSTERS OF *NSYNC. PLURAL.

No but seriously, if you can get your hands on TransGeneration, go and watch it. It's very, very well done and the four kids featured in it are awesome.

So uh, I think I got hit by a car.

Basically I was trying to cross the road at the driving centre to get to my instructor's car. As usual the @#$%^&*( streets around it were full of parked cars along the side, slow learners hogging the road, and jaywalking people. I tried to cross in front of a stationary taxi, which blocked my view of any oncoming cars. Just when I tried to take a step further to see if any cars were coming, I stepped out into the path of a moving car and got hit.

I suppose it's more accurate to say that I got smushed very hard against the car, but the impact was hard enough to knock me onto my hands and knees, and fling my glasses (which I was wearing) and bag some distance away. I'm still not too sure whose fault it was. The learner driver didn't even get out of the car (the instructor did instead), so I never knew who hit me.

Thank god nothing got broken, bones or otherwise. I do however have bruises on my knee, one of which is skinned, and what I'm pretty sure is going to be a fucking wicked bruise on my left foot. Speaking of which, I'm not even sure if my left foot was run over by the car.

After that I got into my instructor's car and had a horrible two hour driving lesson. Did I mention I absolutely hate driving?

Also, I got my period and accompanying cramps today. This had better mean I've got something awesome happening to me soon.

Perhaps you've seen those cute little stickers some people use in their car rear windows, little stick figures identifying Mommy, Daddy, and all the kids by name and relative size? At our house we refer to them as "the pedophile's menu."

Tonight on Dexter, serial killer Trinity uses them to kidnap a young boy, using the family names to convince the kid he's a figure of authority who knows his family.

Seriously folks—rethink those name stickers!

That otter above is not snuggly and asleep, she has a slamming headache and her sinuses hurt.

Great week with my son, great Thanksgiving, and then a Leftovers Night & Dominoes with friends last night. Today? Total collapse. I think my fibro is kicking up again. Too much rich food and salt; too little sleep. Amazing what you can get done in your bathrobe on the couch, including watching a string of Criminal Minds reruns and reviewing three teas, not to mention some galley editing. Just think what I could have done with a working brain.

Almost Dexter time. What a full day.

Title: Hold Fast
Rating: G, but S, for sad, possibly.
Summary: (Merlin, post-ep for 2x08, "Sins of the Father") "You'll stay with him."

I'm such a dick. Everybody's all giddy over the roadtrip! And episode 10! And I post this. Uh. Happy...reading?

This entry was originally posted at http://rageprufrock.dreamwidth.org/23086.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

I've actually had both time and energy to read this week, wheee! (Hover over the link to get the pairing(s).)

Fic

Never Did Run Smooth (or here or here) by mahoni - Futurefic in which Frank thinks it would be hilarious to get Bob and Gerard almost-married. They don't agree. This is an absolutely lovely story. I'm pretty uninterested in marriage as a topic but this made me see it through Bob's eyes and realise why what Frank had done mattered to Bob and Gerard's relationship. As usual mahoni's characterisations are first class, both Bob and Gerard felt very "real" and believable. I loved that their decision to go through with it didn't mean that everything was suddenly sunshine and roses, that it would take time and work for them to go from close friends to lovers and I also loved that we got a couple of glimpses of that process. It made for such a satisfying ending. (13,230 words)

Love Me Dead by zephyrina - Bob and Gerard are in love. They're also dead. I think this is the first story I've read where the main characters are zombies and I ended up having to not think too closely about some of the details, but it's such a sweet and funny story with a tiny touch of seriousness, that I loved it completely anyway. Bob and Gerard are totally adorable together. (5,370 words)

Foundations by dancinbutterfly - Gerard and Brian have had an open but serious relationship since the beginning. Projekt Revolution changes everything. I really liked this story. It's intense and a bit heartbreaking at times, and I loved all the characters. Especially Gerard and Brian of course, they're both so silly and stupid and stubborn and they're both fucking up big time, but they're doing it like grownups. Their history and what happened and how they reacted, all of it felt very believable. (11,360 words)

Don't Wait Too Long To Come Home by pearl_o - Ray and Gerard after the war. A sequel to Sway Sweet and Slow in which we get to see more of their lives and history. It's just as lovely as the first story but slightly more melancholic and bittersweet. The ending made me fiercely hope that Ray can get Gerard to accept his suggestion. (1,760 words)

Proof Is In the Picture by b_dsaint - Gerard keeps looking at Ray. A very sweet little story inspired by a recent photo of Gerard and Ray. (1,070 words)

Does This Make Me Look Fat? by inpurity - Frank and Gerard and the dogs. A sweet little bit of domestic fluff. (1,060 words)

Thank You (or here) by ninasfic - Gerard is saying "thank you" every time they've had sex, Frank is beginning to freak out. A cute little story. (1,140 words)

In Our Old Familiar Place by allyndra - Touring and food traditions. A lovely little story that really manages to capture the importance of food. The way they create traditions around it and how their memories are bound up with it. (966 words)

Easy Now by emcay - A PWP sequel to Five Point Plan in which Gabe and Gerard have just come home from their tours and have sex. Very hot and sweet. (3,120 words)


Art

Frank and girl!Gerard by theopteryx - Really gorgeous art of Frank and always-a-girl!Gerard taking a smoke break. I absolutely love the colouring and the way they're sitting.


If you like one of these remember to tell the writer/artist. Comments are love.

The rest of my bandslash recs are here.

Also posted on Dreamwidth.

This is definitely one of my all-time favourite soups. I don't always use chicken when I make it though. Almost any sort of meat will do, or even no meat at all. Lately I've often used skav, very thin slices of reindeer or moose that are sold frozen in small blocks.

Chicken and Lentil Soup

c. 250 gram chicken filet (or other meat, any will do really) [8.82 US ounce]
c. 100 gram bacon [3.53 US ounce]
1 medium sized onion
2 medium sized carrots
1 small-ish parsnip
c. 100 gram celeriac (or celery but you should probably use a smaller amount because they taste sharper) [3.53 US ounce]
0.15 liter dry red lentils [0.63 US cup]
1 liter chicken or vegetable stock [4.23 US cup]
0.2 liter whole cream [0.85 US cup]
2 teaspoon dried basil (or 2 tablespoon fresh)
salt and pepper

Cut the meat, bacon, and vegetables into small-ish cubes.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large pot. Fry the meat and bacon for a few minutes. Add the vegetables and lentils and pour over the stock. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until the vegetables and lentils are soft.

Add the cream and basil and let it simmer for another five minutes. Season to taste.

Serve with bread and cheese on the side.

Serves 4 to 6 people.

Freezes well.

Also posted on Dreamwidth.