Lynn Flewelling's Blog, page 4
September 9, 2013
Treat coming-- with apologies
Dear friends,
As I announced a few days back, I have started a fan page for S&A and the new book release. I will be announcing a very special giveaway there soon. Sadly, there just isn't much traffic here anymore, while there is at FB. I'm not abandoning this page, but I have to go where the traffic is. I encourage you to follow! I still prefer the quieter, less commercial ambiance here, but people seem to be leaving in droves, which is too bad.
If you'd like to get in on the fun, here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/Nightrunner.Tali
As I announced a few days back, I have started a fan page for S&A and the new book release. I will be announcing a very special giveaway there soon. Sadly, there just isn't much traffic here anymore, while there is at FB. I'm not abandoning this page, but I have to go where the traffic is. I encourage you to follow! I still prefer the quieter, less commercial ambiance here, but people seem to be leaving in droves, which is too bad.
If you'd like to get in on the fun, here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/Nightrunner.Tali
August 28, 2013
Seregil and Alec get up to mischief
I leave my computer unattended for five minutes and suddenly those sneaky bastards have their own Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/Nightrunner.Tali#
https://www.facebook.com/Nightrunner.Tali#
August 27, 2013
Shards of Time Cover Art
Ta da! The release date is April 1, 2014.
August 26, 2013
Cover art . . . almost
I have seen the finished artwork for Shards of Time and it is GORGEOUS!! By far my favorite of all the ones by the new artist. I'm desperately excited to share it, but my editor says the art department is still tweaking the lay out, so we must wait. But I had to do a little happy dance anyway. Can't wait to show it off!
August 12, 2013
Back on the Bicycle, Days 1 & 2
Last summer the family went back to Maine for a vacation. One of the highlights was renting bicycles in Acadia Nat'l Park and riding the carriage trails through the woods. I hadn't been on a bike since I think 1983, when I took a really scary fall. Getting back on a bike was an act of courage, but my body still remembered how to do it. It was a gorgeous, if arduous ride, and I felt I'd reclaimed a part of myself. When we got back to California I thought about it for a while, shopped around a lot, did lots of research and ended up with a men's Cannondale Quick 4 hybrid. The men's small is almost exactly the dimensions of the women's size, was on sale, and I really liked the red and black paint scheme.
I biked a lot for a while, and got up to six miles, but then got distracted by school and ended up only riding sporadically. Doug started riding it to work. Then a week ago Friday he took that flip and I bought him his own bike for his birthday. Now I had no excuse not to ride. I bought some Timbuk2 panniers at REI this weekend and am back on the road.
Day 1: So, I'm back on my bike after a long hiatus for a variety of reasons, sloth looming large among them. I have made a pact with myself to be better about exercising and I do like to cycle, so last week I bought myself a good set of panniers so I have no excuse for not riding my bike to Panera, an almost daily journey of 2.8 miles each way. It's a start. My friend Taryn Holvick is my inspiration and she knows why.
So of course, I waited until the hottest part of the day to pack up and head to my office away from home. All went well, as in I did not fall over or hit anything, and I call that a good ride. Apart from the pounding heart, dripping sweat, empurpled complextion, rubber legs and general wibbliness, I am quite pleased with myself. So long as I don't think too much about how much of the trip home is uphill. Somewhere, Taryn Holvick is laughing at me. And she knows why.
Day 2: This morning I mentioned to my son that while my book laden panniers do make the bike hard to balance when it's not rolling, but that once you are you don't really notice them. We'll come back to that. I rolled off for Panera much earlier than I did yesterday, with the temperatures in the 70s rather than the 90s. As you might expect, it was a much more pleasant ride and I arrived in much less of a sweat, not purple at all, and less wibbly, or so I thought. I rolled confidently up to the curb at Panera, braked to a stop and started to dismount. Only to experience a critical fail of the left knee. Remember how heavy panniers make it hard to balance the bike at full stop? I picked myself and bike up as an elderly couple came out and asked if I was hurt. "Only my pride" I bravely replied, hoping I hadn't shattered my left elbow, which seems to have taken most of the fall.
My elbow is not broken, just scuffed and sore. Being of a well padded build, I didn't suffer any other immediate injury, though I suspect I'll have a bruised hip tomorrow.
I biked a lot for a while, and got up to six miles, but then got distracted by school and ended up only riding sporadically. Doug started riding it to work. Then a week ago Friday he took that flip and I bought him his own bike for his birthday. Now I had no excuse not to ride. I bought some Timbuk2 panniers at REI this weekend and am back on the road.
Day 1: So, I'm back on my bike after a long hiatus for a variety of reasons, sloth looming large among them. I have made a pact with myself to be better about exercising and I do like to cycle, so last week I bought myself a good set of panniers so I have no excuse for not riding my bike to Panera, an almost daily journey of 2.8 miles each way. It's a start. My friend Taryn Holvick is my inspiration and she knows why.
So of course, I waited until the hottest part of the day to pack up and head to my office away from home. All went well, as in I did not fall over or hit anything, and I call that a good ride. Apart from the pounding heart, dripping sweat, empurpled complextion, rubber legs and general wibbliness, I am quite pleased with myself. So long as I don't think too much about how much of the trip home is uphill. Somewhere, Taryn Holvick is laughing at me. And she knows why.
Day 2: This morning I mentioned to my son that while my book laden panniers do make the bike hard to balance when it's not rolling, but that once you are you don't really notice them. We'll come back to that. I rolled off for Panera much earlier than I did yesterday, with the temperatures in the 70s rather than the 90s. As you might expect, it was a much more pleasant ride and I arrived in much less of a sweat, not purple at all, and less wibbly, or so I thought. I rolled confidently up to the curb at Panera, braked to a stop and started to dismount. Only to experience a critical fail of the left knee. Remember how heavy panniers make it hard to balance the bike at full stop? I picked myself and bike up as an elderly couple came out and asked if I was hurt. "Only my pride" I bravely replied, hoping I hadn't shattered my left elbow, which seems to have taken most of the fall.
My elbow is not broken, just scuffed and sore. Being of a well padded build, I didn't suffer any other immediate injury, though I suspect I'll have a bruised hip tomorrow.
August 7, 2013
Yarn Porn
Rather than go out and buy a padded laptop sleeve like a normal person, I got the idea to knit one. My first thought was to felt it, but I found a pattern on Ravelry.com for one that looks woven. In involves cabling every other stitch, back and front and makes a very nice pattern. Not easy knitting, but worth it for the look.
I'm using Malabrigo Rasta Super Bulky merino yarn in their Archangel colorway.
I'm using Malabrigo Rasta Super Bulky merino yarn in their Archangel colorway.
A Story
Folks, what follows is not a brag. I'm not asking for praise. I just wanted to tell you a story with a point at the end. A different kind of story than I usually tell you.
Last Friday Doug took a header off his bike and we ended up spending from 6:30 pm to 1:30 am in the local ER. It was a very busy night and so they parked Doug and many others on gurneys in the hallway. Doug was banged up but not seriously hurt and we mostly joked around with the nurses, waiting endlessly for medical attention and test results.
Around 9 pm the EMTs brought in a woman probably in her late 70s who was haranging them loudly about the bandage on her head, and how she didn't need it and why they were doing everything wrong. She wasn't really angry, just frustrated and wanting to go home (which turned out to be a managed care facility). The EMTs were at their wits end with her and stood smirking and shrugging at the rest of us out of her line of sight, which bothered me. They were quite young and clearly didn't know what to do with her during the long wait to get her onto a room for treatment. They had to stay with her until that happened and it took a long time. It soon became apparent that she was all alone. As the EMTs read her file to the nurse they listed her ailments, one of which was dementia, which the woman loudly denied. She continued to bluster and complain throughout the poor nurse's attempts to get her logged in. I noticed, too, that others in the hallway were either smothering grins, looking impatient, or pretending the woman was invisible. This is common with the elderly; they become alien, other, something people don't want to look at or deal with.
In the midst of the woman's diatribe she'd mentioned having been involved in showing champion dogs. When the nurse was done I stepped into the woman's line of sight and said "Hi, how are you doing?"
That's all it took. She and I talked for two and a half hours about her malamutes, the joys and the sorrows of working with them, how she'd loved them, how hard it was when one of them was badly hurt or they died. She told me their names and their markings, she told me about what it was like to show a dog and win at the Westminster Dog Show and other big shows. She smiled, she teared up, and she totally forgot about the bandage on her head. I told her about Doug's accident, my trip to the Westminster Dog Show, and the dogs in my life, but mostly I listened. I think for that length of time I eased her suffering and fear, because I do believe that under all that bluster was fear. She was, as I said, all alone, among strangers, with no one to tend her, or the time to comfort her. So I did, because I could. By the time they came to put her in a room, she was calm and cheerful. Sometime later they wheeled her by again, probably for an X ray down the hall, and she smiled and waved to us. That smile made me feel so happy.
The point of this story? If the universe hands you the opportunity to be compassionate and help someone—friend or stranger—grab that opportunity fearlessly with both hands, trust your heart, and do what you can. Sometimes you'll be rebuffed and yes, it can be embarrassing, but the times you are allowed to help make a world of difference. Probably all you need to do is listen, maybe hold their hand. That's it.
Yesterday a friend of mine told me a Jewish proverb: If you help one person, you help the world. I believe that. Do what you can, when you can.
Last Friday Doug took a header off his bike and we ended up spending from 6:30 pm to 1:30 am in the local ER. It was a very busy night and so they parked Doug and many others on gurneys in the hallway. Doug was banged up but not seriously hurt and we mostly joked around with the nurses, waiting endlessly for medical attention and test results.
Around 9 pm the EMTs brought in a woman probably in her late 70s who was haranging them loudly about the bandage on her head, and how she didn't need it and why they were doing everything wrong. She wasn't really angry, just frustrated and wanting to go home (which turned out to be a managed care facility). The EMTs were at their wits end with her and stood smirking and shrugging at the rest of us out of her line of sight, which bothered me. They were quite young and clearly didn't know what to do with her during the long wait to get her onto a room for treatment. They had to stay with her until that happened and it took a long time. It soon became apparent that she was all alone. As the EMTs read her file to the nurse they listed her ailments, one of which was dementia, which the woman loudly denied. She continued to bluster and complain throughout the poor nurse's attempts to get her logged in. I noticed, too, that others in the hallway were either smothering grins, looking impatient, or pretending the woman was invisible. This is common with the elderly; they become alien, other, something people don't want to look at or deal with.
In the midst of the woman's diatribe she'd mentioned having been involved in showing champion dogs. When the nurse was done I stepped into the woman's line of sight and said "Hi, how are you doing?"
That's all it took. She and I talked for two and a half hours about her malamutes, the joys and the sorrows of working with them, how she'd loved them, how hard it was when one of them was badly hurt or they died. She told me their names and their markings, she told me about what it was like to show a dog and win at the Westminster Dog Show and other big shows. She smiled, she teared up, and she totally forgot about the bandage on her head. I told her about Doug's accident, my trip to the Westminster Dog Show, and the dogs in my life, but mostly I listened. I think for that length of time I eased her suffering and fear, because I do believe that under all that bluster was fear. She was, as I said, all alone, among strangers, with no one to tend her, or the time to comfort her. So I did, because I could. By the time they came to put her in a room, she was calm and cheerful. Sometime later they wheeled her by again, probably for an X ray down the hall, and she smiled and waved to us. That smile made me feel so happy.
The point of this story? If the universe hands you the opportunity to be compassionate and help someone—friend or stranger—grab that opportunity fearlessly with both hands, trust your heart, and do what you can. Sometimes you'll be rebuffed and yes, it can be embarrassing, but the times you are allowed to help make a world of difference. Probably all you need to do is listen, maybe hold their hand. That's it.
Yesterday a friend of mine told me a Jewish proverb: If you help one person, you help the world. I believe that. Do what you can, when you can.
July 30, 2013
SHARDS OF TIME RELEASE DATE
April 1, 2014. And this is not an April Fools joke!
July 29, 2013
Shards of Time available for pre-order!!!!!
Just discovered this on Amazon. No cover art yet, but the sketch I was shown is a knock out!
http://www.amazon.com/Shards-Time-Lynn-Flewelling/dp/0345522311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375148712&sr=8-1&keywords=shards+of+time+lynn+flewelling
http://www.amazon.com/Shards-Time-Lynn-Flewelling/dp/0345522311/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375148712&sr=8-1&keywords=shards+of+time+lynn+flewelling
July 19, 2013
Need a Tea IV
Comic Con was fun but exhausting. Today I've been dragging but have been nursing myself along with fine teas. I began this afternoon with a deliciously musky, leathery Yunnan Golden Tips gifted to me by friend
wedschilde
. Don't know the company and part of the title is in Chinese. Good stuff, but not enough to keep me from passing out on the couch.
Tonight I'm sampling from my latest shipment from Norbu Teas. Pudina Chai is a blend of Darjeeling and fragrant mint leaves. It's a very good after dinner tea, and I think it will be lovely iced. http://www.norbutea.com/PudinaChai
wedschilde
. Don't know the company and part of the title is in Chinese. Good stuff, but not enough to keep me from passing out on the couch.Tonight I'm sampling from my latest shipment from Norbu Teas. Pudina Chai is a blend of Darjeeling and fragrant mint leaves. It's a very good after dinner tea, and I think it will be lovely iced. http://www.norbutea.com/PudinaChai
