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I have had my eyes on OnLive ever since it first released on US shores. Although I had been playing on their overseas servers on the PC and Mac I had yet to sample their Micro Console, which launched alongside the release of OnLive service in the UK last year. The thought of playing games with the relaxed mindset of never having to upgrade a PC or buy a new console again was exciting. So with a Micro Console in my hands, plugged in, I've had some time to see what the service can offer us gamers. Is this the future of gaming? Let's find out.
For those unknown to the OnLive platform, let me first bring you up to speed. OnLive allows you to send your control inputs of your selected game to the remote OnLive servers in the Cloud, whilst in turn they stream the audio and video from your game to your display. Now this can be displayed on a number of devices: from PCs, Macs, tablets and smartphones or on your HDTV via their very own Micro Console. So no boxes cluttering up your shelves, no physical discs to scratch or put in, no waiting in-line in the cold at stores on release day and no downloading, patching or updating of the game either. Simply plug in, sign in, select your game and start playing. It's pretty simple stuff.
The one way of interacting with the OnLive service that intrigues me the most is the Micro Console – A tiny device, no bigger than a DVD case, which allows you to plug in and stream the OnLive service directly to your HD display via an HDMI socket on the back. The Micro Console also comes with an Xbox 360/PS3-inspired controller that allows you to play current games on the service in the same way they are played on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 consoles. The games available are indeed PC versions, yet with more and more PC games being developed with connected Xbox 360/PS3 joypads in mind, the support for the OnLive controller is always available on most titles you can play.
OnLive Micro Console (Front and Back)
The Micro Console can keep its lightweight size because all it has to do is handle the video and audio streams from the OnLive Cloud servers to your display. So because all the hard work is done remotely in the Cloud the device does not have to include any bulky or expensive processors or graphics cards inside. This means it can be practically given away (as we saw during OnLive's launch at the Eurogamer Expo last year) or sold for a very competitive and wallet friendly RRP of £69.99, which is pretty good considering that is for the Micro Console, Joypad, batteries, rechargeable battery pack, and all the necessary cables (HDMI, ethernet, USB charge/data cable and power cables) to get you hooked up.
Choosing to play your games up in the cloud always has one major flaw and reliance – yup, the internet. So as long as your bandwidth is stable and fast enough, you are good to go. Early adopters of the service found a few server issues, but months down the road I have yet to run into any frequent problems with lag or disconnections. The amount of input lag can show itself depending on the type of game you play. Racing games and action adventures for example maybe more forgiving than say first-person shooters that require fast input response. On a slow or busy internet connection this can be a little frustrating when comparing the response rate to a disc-based version of the game on Xbox 360 or PS3, but for a casual gamer, or for people that are none the wiser, performance might be totally acceptable.
Getting into the OnLive service is as easy as simply turning on the console. Thanks to a new firmware update to the console and the pad, players can now switch on wirelessly through the controller (instead of being connected via the USB cable), just like on an Xbox 360 or PS3. Once signed up and logged in you are shown a simple interface where you can observe other OnLive gamers playing in the Arena area, view and update your Profile, read any latest offerings and promotions in the Showcase area, view Brag videos recorded by other gamers, view and manage Friends request, jump back into your Last Played games, view your purchased games in My Games or browse the game library in the Marketplace.
OnLive Joypad Controller (Xbox 360 form-factor with PS3 button/stick layout)
Like any new console that struggles to win gamer's hearts, you are only as good as your games. Thankfully at this early stage OnLive has a fair few titles under the hood, with more titles being released each month. Most of the available games come with a free 30-minute trial, and it is worth pointing out that these trials are not demos of the game, but more like 30 minutes of the full game. Sadly, the first 30 minutes of most games feature heavy narratives, simple ease-in levels, tutorials or character creation screens and menus – so the impression you get within your 30 minutes can vary between each game and it can sometimes result in a much less engrossing experience as say a tailored demo but still, it allows you to sample the game before deciding whether to avoid, rent or purchase the full release.
Selecting each game in the Marketplace gives a well presented running trailer along with much more information on the game, such as the controls used (keyboard & mouse or joypad), release dates and player modes, through to Metacritic scores and OnLive player ratings of the game. At a tap of a button you can also jump into other people currently playing the game as well as any bragging clips recorded by other gamers. So overall there is plenty of information here to assess weather the game is worthy of jumping into a free trial, renting it for 3 to 5 days or to purchase and own the full game.
Pricing of each game varies between the big blockbusters and the more XBLA/PSN-like titles that are on offer. An OnLive PlayPass can be bought for 3-day or 5-day unlimited access to the game. This behaves in a similar way as if you were renting the game, or you can purchase the full game for a similar retail release price of around £29.99 to £39.99 for the latest triple-A titles, which is fairly reasonable considering the outrageous On Demand prices of games on Xbox 360 and PS3.
OnLive Marketplace (Browsing for games)
Aside from the single purchase options OnLive offers a PlayPack Bundle subscription option, where for £6.99 per month gamers are subscribed to receiving exclusive discounts (30%) on game purchases and have unlimited access to over 120 selected games on the service. If you are a UK gamer, BT is currently offering its broadband subscribers an exclusive opportunity to get the OnLive PlayPack Bundle free for three months when they sign-up before January 31 2012, so be quick if you want to grab this offer.
The PlayPack Bundle is not a bad deal if you see yourself using the service on a regular basis. It is just a shame to see that first day releases are not included in this offering as well as the rest of its catalogue of games. Amongst the 120+ titles available there are are only a few triple-A titles worth playing. There are plenty of "fillers" in there to pack out the full line-up of games available, yet some of the triple-A titles are at least a year or two old, so if you are an avid 'core gamer you would have probably played or even completed these already.
There are a few things like like to see addressed before myself and I am sure many other gamers could fully jump onboard on a regular basis. The first would have to be a better subscription model that includes first day release titles, I'd want access to everything for my monthly fee not a limited amount of old titles. I am thinking along the lines of Spotify's Premium subscription, where gamers could get all they can eat for a single monthly fee and have no limits. Secondly, I would improve on the graphics hardware, as it feels some games are not fully maxed out in their settings. This is certainly going to be a costly area and is one that can be updated in the future without effecting its users. Thirdly, I'd like to see more publisher support. With the major publishers backing their own digital service it is sad to see not everyone is jumping on board, yet. Once again in time this can also be addressed and would greatly improve the appeal to gamers.
OnLive Game Details View (Game Details and Pricing Options)
Overall I find OnLive is getting off to a flying start, and with only just a few months under its belt in the UK and a year or so overseas. There is certainly plenty of potential and growth in the service, but with worldwide home bandwidth speeds not being fantastic enough for everyone to enjoy its full potential, perhaps we are exploring this digital age a year or so too early?
Personally I feel this is the way gaming will be going. Whether you like it or not, I see streaming or downloading your games as a significant evolution in gaming at home, at least in the distribution scheme of things. With services such as Valves online Steam service, EA's Origin, GAME's download store and lets not forget Apple's App Store, the way we are consuming our content, digitally, is becoming more and more frequent online. With highstreet videogame stores closing down each year, due to heavy competition of online and digital sales, I can see the next target will be the online retail stores themselves, as video games join the music, television and film industry by streaming content to our screens, and it is the OnLive platform and service which might just kick-start gamers along that journey.


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Product Details
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subset: commoncrawl


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On 23 May 2019, the Federation of European Publishers, in cooperation with the Association of Czech Booksellers and Publishers and the Moravian Library, organised an Aldus event "Focus on the Czech Book Market", as part of the FEP General Assembly in Brno.
Tomáš Kubíček, Director of the Moravian Library, welcomed the participants and introduced the Library, the second largest in the country, highlighting its role in presenting Czech authors at fairs and other events in recent years, also through contacts with several publisher associations. Mr Kubíček explained that the Czech Republic had the densest network of public libraries in Europe – with 6,000 branches – and said that the libraries were channels for discussions on literature and for the promotion of reading, as well as stakeholders in the debate on publishing and the related policies.
Martin Vopěnka, Director of the Association of Czech Booksellers and Publishers, made a presentation on the Czech book market from a historical perspective: 'From socialist planning and censorship through capitalism to contemporary book market or 30 years of free publishing in Czech Republic'. Mr Vopěnka first provided some data on the Czech market: the current value of the Czech book market is about 310 million euro; about 15,000 titles are released per year, out of which some 35% are translations. After many years of stagnation, the market has started growing modestly in the last years. VAT on printed books at first increased from 5 to 10, 11, and finally 15%, but afterwards the association successfully campaigned to have it reduced to 10%, and that is the state as of today. The parliament is currently discussing a proposal for a law which would reduce VAT on ebooks and audiobooks from 21 to 10%.
Compared to mature markets in Western European countries, the Czech market remains relatively diversified, even though concentration became significantly more prominent in the past few years. The market share of the five largest publishing houses is not more than about 20%. On the other hand, the share of the main retail chains will nowadays be close to about 50%. The field is still characterised by above-standard personal relations – commented Mr Vopěnka – which differentiates it from other business areas. However, only slowly is the association managing to restore the belief that a professional organisation is justified, with scepticism being prevalent especially among smaller entities. On the other hand, large companies are aware of the justification for the existence of the association and see measurable results of its activities.
Mr Vopěnka recounted then how the present situation arose from its past roots. When the word "normalisation" is used in the context of literature, a word prominently referencing to the seventies and eighties when the Czech Republic wasn't a democratic country, the first thing that comes to mind is censorship. However, one thing that had an even more devastating impact was the planned economy, which completely ignored market laws. Economic and productive plans were made in advance. For instance, the plan would say that a certain book would have a print run of 10,000 copies – even if there was demand for 100,000 books (back then, the number of different titles published was small and the number of copies printed was large). On the other hand, the plan gave ideological titles such as Lenin's Collected Works a print run of 200,000 copies, even though there was no demand for those. These books were then placed in all libraries, schools and state companies.
Planning also affected printing houses. A whole year in advance, it was already determined how much a printing house would print and how much paper it would use. A successful printing house which could manage to print many more books and thus require more paper, would have a lot of problems. The most economically advantageous approach in this system was to follow the plan and perhaps slightly exceed it.
Investment resources were also scarce and hard to come by. It often depended on the relationship between a company director and the communist government, and how politically engaged the director was. The distribution of books was secured by a state company called "Book Wholesale", but it was all basically only virtual trading, since everything was determined in advance. While an ordering system did exist for bookshops, most titles were delivered based on the plan anyway.
With the end of the communist regime, free entrepreneurship became possible in 1990. However, state companies still existed at that time. As censorship was abolished, previously forbidden titles were published in massive numbers; however, the capacity of the printing houses was not enough to cover the demand. In that first phase, the market had three types of entities: the original state publishing houses, publishing houses founded by people from the field, and finally people who founded a publishing company without any prior knowledge – people like Mr Vopěnka, who told the story of his pioneer years as a publisher.
He recalled that, at the beginning, the biggest problem was finding a way to print the books: he had no contacts at the printing houses. Mr Vopěnka used to store the books in his small apartment, privately. When a truck arrived, he completely unloaded it on his own. After that, he delivered the books in his backpack, used a rented van, or had the booksellers come and pick them up on their own. Clients had to pay in cash, because there was virtually no legislature in the early years and fraud was rampant. He didn't even have a phone – the socialist infrastructure was not even up to that task. He had to go to a phonebooth with a handful of coins – and there often were long lines and conflicts. Later he bribed someone to have a phone line installed.
By the end of 1990, the state-owned Book Wholesale got into deep financial trouble. Its rigid system could no longer survive in the economy, and its bankruptcy had a strong negative impact on many new publishers. This was followed by the privatisation of the retail network and some state-owned companies. The process was saddled with numerous frauds; however, one such large fraud allowed for instance Prague to maintain its original network of bookstores, which was privatised by bookstore owners. The Book Wholesale was privatised by a crafty politician, who correctly identified that its real value lay in real property – a complex of houses in the centre of Prague. He then no longer continued the company's wholesale activities, even though it was one of the conditions of the privatisation.
In the first years of the free market, many people became rich quickly – some with their own smarts and hard work, while others thanks to fraud. The market quickly became saturated and the demand for books dropped faster than was expected. In the mid-nineties, many of those who got rich ended up losing everything. In other cases, successful publishing houses went out of business due to the bankruptcy of their distributor or due to a fraudulent client who didn't pay for a large book shipment.
In the second half of the nineties, the market stabilised, and the number of bankruptcies dropped. Those who survived until then usually ended up with a stable company. In this phase, the publishers had the strongest position – the many distributors had to compete for their titles, and often purchased whole print runs to do that. The margin of distributors was also small – it gradually grew from 30 to 40 percent. Today the situation is reversed: the publisher bears all the risk and in addition needs to push really hard to get its books on the market. The system basically relies on a virtually full commission with a distribution rebate of 50%.
After the year 2000, when the market was already stable, the position of the Association of Czech Booksellers and Publishers was very weak. Larger entities did not take part, and there was a lack of understanding of the need for advocacy in favour of readership and supporting literature. This started to change after 2010 – at that point, the opinion seemed to be that president Klaus' hard liberalism had its limits and that societally beneficial activities could not be secured only by the market.
Mr Vopěnka became Chairman of the Association of Czech Booksellers and Publishers in 2013. In his first year, he managed to convince large companies to join the association, and thanks to that today it represents about 80% of the market. And right at the beginning of his function, he reached an agreement with the future Prime Minister on reducing VAT rates on books. Meanwhile, the association became a professional organisation that was respected by the public as well as by politicians. It is proactive in lobbying around legislation affecting publishers. Mr Vopěnka covers his position for free, and the same goes for the board members. This also leads to certain limitations, and that's also the reason the association cannot afford to be very active internationally.
State support for the publishing of books significantly grew in the past years, especially in the form of grants of the Ministry of Culture. The peak to date was this year's book fair in Leipzig, where the Czech Republic was the guest of honour and arrived with a delegation of over 50 authors. Still, there are also numerous negative trends, notably a diminishing space for book reviews in the media. This means that titles supported with massive advertisements tend to win out in sales, and quality is no longer the determining factor for success.
That being said – argued Mr Vopěnka – book publishing remains a beautiful field, full of adventure. In his case, it allowed him to become independent, and today he even has much more time to do what is most important to him – writing novels.
Radovan Auer, Director of Svět Knihy Praha (Book World Prague), an international book fair and literary festival, introduced the fair as the biggest publishing and literary event in the Czech Republic. As Mr Auer explained, World Book Prague is very much audience oriented, B2C; as B2B issues are treated mostly at the Frankfurt Book Fair, it wouldn't make sense to try and compete on that ground. Book World thus decided to position itself as attractive for the public (stressing the notion of festival), rather than for literary agents.
The venue is pleasant: a palace from 1898, with a good exhibition area – though with technical issues. There were 461 exhibitors this year, and more than 50,000 visitors – the number of visitors has experienced a 20% increase year on year for the last 3 years. All in all, Mr Auer considered the current times as good for publishing and literature in the Czech Republic.
For the time being, exhibitors at the fair are mostly Czech publishers. A lot of lectures and debates take place in the four days if the event. Mr Auer illustrated more in detail the venue of the Book World, to then move to this year's edition, which marked the 25th anniversary of the fair.
The event was celebrated having Latin American literature as guest of honour; 8 countries participated. It took 2 years of complex negotiations, but then for the first time Latin America was represented as one at such an event. Mario Vargas Llosa was one of the guest stars of the festival.
Jaroslav Císař, from the Central Bohemian Research Library, provided some data on the Czech book market in 2018 as well, based on the figures of the Czech National Library and the Czech ISBN Agency, using a somewhat different method than that of the trade association. Mr Císař first declared that the Czech Republic was a country of books, and that its literature had helped the country survive through its most difficult times. He then presented some series of data on book production from the period 2014-2018.
According to the sources mentioned, title production stands at more than 16,000 titles per year (used to be above 18,000 a few years back), with translations representing 35-40% of the total. Roughly half of these make it to bookstores, the rest being 'grey literature' (catalogues, company publications, government publications, theses, etc.).
The number of publishers – on the rise – is 6-7,000, of which some 2,000 are considered active (publishing at least 1 title in a year). In communist times, in comparison, there were 50 publishers. Further data regarded the 20 largest private book publishers in the Czech Republic by number of titles published (those with at least 100 titles in 2018). The main groups have their own distribution and retail networks nowadays, and – with minor exceptions – all publishing houses are private subjects. Publishing – commented Mr Císař – was the first creative industry completely privatised in the country after the revolution. More tables showed the different imprints of the main publishing groups, and the largest presses of institutes of higher education, universities and institutions of the central government by number of titles published.
Looking at the number of books issued by Czech publishing entities in foreign languages, English is by far the most present, with between 600 and 800 titles, followed by Slovak (around 300); the other main languages, all below 100 titles, are German, Russian, Polish, French and Spanish. Fiction is the main category of books published, with close to 5,000 titles (in decrease); some 2,000 children's books are published per year (growing), while academic books and textbooks have decreased from some 1,700 to less than 500 (the phenomenon certainly requires further explanations). Translations – generally some 6,000-odd per year – are predominantly from English (52 to 56%), followed by German, French, Slovak, Russian, Polish, Spanish and Italian.
Mr Císař quoted some figures about public library purchases of books, which represent allegedly around 4 to 5% of publishers' turnover. The main formats of e-books, for which the Czech ISBN Agency started assigning ISBN numbers in July 2010, are epub, mobi, pdf; in 2018, more than 10,000 ISBN were assigned to e-books, but only about one third of those are distinct titles, the rest being the same books in different digital formats. 300 ebook publishers are currently active in the market, while print books are by far the main segment: ebook turnover is estimated at below 2% of the total. The typical Czech ebook reader is a man, under 30, with a university education. Audiobooks sales expanded a lot in the last 3 years; some 30 publishers are currently on the market, with 250-300 new titles per year.
According to Mr Císař, books still rank among the highest places as to cultural values for people in the Czech Republic, and the publishing industry is highly developed even in such a relatively small country. Altogether, he concluded that in this he saw reason for cautious optimism for the future.
Tomáš Kubíček concluded the event with a presentation on 'Leipzig 2019 Tschechien', the experience of the Moravian Library with the Czech Republic being guest of honour at the Leipzig Book Fair 2019. The Library organised the country's presence at the fair (as they do with other fairs: Frankfurt, London, Bologna and more).
The situation before this year saw some 5 Czech books published per year in German-speaking countries – the figure now stands at 80. Some 2,800 pieces of news on Czech literature were issued this year in the German-speaking area.
The strategy adopted was to make of the occasion a 'Czech year' in the Germanophone world, rather than just 4 days (the duration of the fair). Many institutional partners were involved – the Czech Ministry of Culture first and foremost. A network was thus established, and the Library received a lot of support, from partners at home and in Germany alike. The aim was to showcase Czech culture in a broader sense; hence the range of partners was also very broad.
A programme was set to support translations of Czech books abroad, and many events were organised before the fair, including a residency programme for Czech and German authors in Brno and Leipzig. More events took place at the Leipzig Book Fair, where the Czechs set up three stands: a Czech Republic stand, a Children and young people stand, and a stand called Quo Vadis, dedicated to German emigration to the Czech Republic. Events at the fair included exhibitions and films; all in all, there were some 130 events in 4 days, and 55 Czech authors engaged in readings or talks.
The Czech year in Leipzig started in October 2018 and will end in November 2019, actually lasting one year and a half. Launched in autumn 2018 with events at the Frankfurt book Fair and a ball at the Leipzig Opera House, its calendar foresees a large number of events of all kinds (readings, film projections, concerts, etc.) and will close on 8 November, again at Leipzig Opera House.


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Creating your own perfect morning routine should be a priority for your health and wellness! I'm here to tell you why you need one and how to get started.
Category: Wellness
Pantry staples to make life healthier and meal prep easier
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I am a big proprietor of meal prep and clean eating. I often post short videos of my latest grocery hauls in which I will briefly mention the items I purchased as well as give a little description of what I may be using them for… Continue reading Pantry staples to make life healthier and meal prep easier
2-step meal prep: a beginner's guide
What pops up when you type #mealprep into your social media search bar? Food storage boxes packed with ground turkey, cubed sweet potatoes and vibrant strings of green beans all nestled together; bulk packages of the trendiest health foods posed for a photo-op on a kitchen counter; a shot taken from above of someone's grocery… Continue reading 2-step meal prep: a beginner's guide
Mama-style marinara sauce
Let me get this straight: there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in a pinch for time and picking up a jar of pre-made marinara sauce to whip up some quick spaghetti. But when your taste buds are craving some good old fashioned pasta, you don't need to call your great grandma or go digging… Continue reading Mama-style marinara sauce
Becoming a weekday vegan…
Making the transition into this new lifestyle began with the babiest and most cautious of steps. Afterall, vegans get a bad rep. I was nervous my family would look at me like I'd announced I was joining a convent. I also wasn't sure how my fiance would feel about no more frequent triple meat lovers… Continue reading Becoming a weekday vegan…
Zesty Grilled Shrimp Salad
What's for dinner tonight? If you're still sweating by mealtime like us desert dwellers, firing up the oven is a no-go. And ordering in is getting old. So if you haven't already caught on, the grill should be your best bud this time of year. With little prep time and a big flavor payoff, I… Continue reading Zesty Grilled Shrimp Salad
The easiest ways to get more veggies
Why is there a picture of an intense-looking dessert on this post? Well, that dessert is actually breakfast and that breakfast actually has a good serving of vegetables in it. Are you trying to eat healthier? Looking to swap out carbs for a leaner substitute? Aiming to get more nutrition in your daily diet? Read… Continue reading The easiest ways to get more veggies


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Rasmussen shows a four-point surge for Mitt Romney and that's with only two days polling after the debate. Meanwhile, Reuters daily tracking also shows a four-point bounce for Romney during the same period.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Mitt Romney attracting support from 49% of voters nationwide, while President Obama earns the vote from 47%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and two percent (2%) are undecided.
These results are based upon nightly interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. As a result, only about two-thirds of the interviews for today's update were conducted after the presidential debate. Sunday morning's update will be the first national polling based entirely upon post-debate interviews.
Still, the numbers reflect quite a debate bounce for Romney. Heading into Wednesday's showdown, it was the president who enjoyed a two-point advantage. Today is the first time Romney has been ahead by even a single point since mid-September. See daily tracking history. As with all bounces, it remains to be seen whether it is a temporary blip or signals a lasting change in the race.
Both men have solidified their partisan base. Romney is supported by 89% of Republicans and Obama by 88% of Democrats. Among those not affiliated with either major party, Romney leads by 16.
The generation gap remains wide. Obama leads by double digits among those under 40. Romney leads by double digits among those over 40.
Matchup results are updated daily at 9:30 a.m. Eastern (sign up for free daily e-mail update).
Post-debate state polls show Romney up one in Virginia, the president up one in Ohio and Romney up two in Florida. All three remain Toss-Ups in the Rasmussen Reports Electoral College Projections. Check out our review of last week's key polls to see "What They Told Us."
Lest Romney supporters get antsy over the better-than-expected jobs numbers, Megan McArdle has the antidote:
There's another reason to disbelieve in a conspiracy: the number comes too late to do any good. Most of the political experts I've talked to think that late-breaking good news on unemployment doesn't help you . . . and the reason they think this is that George H. W. Bush had good employment numbers in the fall, with a sharp October decline in the number of unemployed, yet he nonetheless went down to defeat. If you go along for four years with an unemployment rate of over 8%, then suddenly dip to slightly below that figure, voters do not simply go "Hurray! The president finally fixed the economy just in time!" They think "Maybe it's really getting better, and maybe it's a blip." (As in fact, the 1992 October jobs report sort of was–the number of people out of work rose again the following month, though in the context of a distinct downward trend).
The bottom line is that people's view of the economy is very personal. They judge how well things are going based on their own personal economic experience, the experience of their family and friends, and how secure they feel in their job. Even the "official" unemployment number is not known to move the needle very much.
But there is no doubt that Romney's beat down of Obama during the debate translated into a nice, healthy bump not only in the polls, but also in the intangible area of energizing his campaign and his supporters.
Just what the doctor ordered.


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Friday, December 10, 2010
Stripping Down
See, I participated in the Debutante Ball, and several people said they were glad to get to know more about me. I was like, "Wha--? Everyone knows everything about me!"
I mean, it's not exactly like I hold back here on the blog. So yeah.
But then I realized that there are probably many things that my blog readers don't know about me. (The world doesn't only revolve around bacon. True fact.)
So today, one chance only, you can ask me a question. Or two. Or whatever. And in the future, I'll answer it.
Questions can be about me personally, or about Possession, or about writing, blogging, or whatever you want. I reserve the right to pretend like I didn't see your question if I don't want to give away things about my book and/or how much I weigh.
Ooo-kaaay. *cringes* This is so like stripping down to your bare bones and having people really see inside you. Really, really see inside.
But the comments are open...
Ask away.
And holy squee! You can win some Possession-related things on The League blog today. (Surely you've entered to win ALL FIVE of our books, right?) And Holy Mother of All Contests! Have you been to Beth Revis's blog? No? GO NOW.
59 comments:
- Alex J. Cavanaugh said...
Be prepared! I did this a few weeks ago and was deluged with questions.
My question - besides YA, what genres do you enjoy?
- December 10, 2010 at 5:09 AM
- Tez Miller said...
Did you originally want to call your group blog "League of Robots", but Futurama had beaten you to it? You all write futuristics, after all... ;-)
- December 10, 2010 at 5:10 AM
- Jessica Bell said...
Um ... How messy does you house get when you are on a roll with writing? You know, coz I just need some company here ;o)
- December 10, 2010 at 5:18 AM
- Natalie Aguirre said...
What are your top five-ten author blogs and book review blogs that you read and recommend I follow. I'm a middle grade, maybe someday YA, fantasy writer. I'm feeling like that's where I should be focusing my blog reading to make more friends.
- December 10, 2010 at 5:23 AM
- Theresa Milstein said...
What do you feel you need to sacrifice in order to work and to make time to write? You may have more than one answer.
Stripping? I was thinking of home improvements.
- December 10, 2010 at 5:32 AM
- PK HREZO said...
How do you keep up with everything? I mean, really? Do you forget things? Or is your day all planned in Outlook??
- December 10, 2010 at 5:36 AM
- Stina said...
LOL I'm about to delve into a genre where stripping is the norm, but I still didn't think it THAT way when I saw your title. I must be still asleep. ;)
Hmmm. Questions. Are you going to the LA SCBWI conference next year? (I'm going to you better be.) ;)
What's the one thing you can't live without in the morning?
- December 10, 2010 at 5:49 AM
- Hannah said...
How do find the time, energy, skill, extra arms to do all of the things you do? I imagine you're like a Tasmanian devil just spinning and drooling in front of mutiple computers. Am I close? I mean, I want to see an actual daily plan.
- December 10, 2010 at 6:02 AM
- Magan said...
WAIT...Let's go back to the real meat of the story here... You were in a debutante ball? LORDY MISS ELANA! I tried to write a southern love story and actually went to a debutante ball and wow... can you put up pictures? This I would really love to see!
- December 10, 2010 at 6:19 AM
- Matthew MacNish said...
Okay, here goes. You're at your local Dungeons and Dragons group and you are getting ready to play an adventure. You need to pick a character to play with.
Do you pull out you Wizard, your Warrior, your Cleric, or your Rogue?
- December 10, 2010 at 6:40 AM
- Kerri Cuev said...
How the heck do you manage kids, writing, and being a social web butterfly? You must be superwoman! Yup, gotta be.
Regular bacon, thick slicked or maple? I go for maple lol!
- December 10, 2010 at 6:51 AM
- Jess said...
No question from me, but I just saw an article on msn.com that I think you might like...it's about bacon gifts!
Enjoy :)
- December 10, 2010 at 6:56 AM
- Caroline Starr Rose said...
Who's winning Survivor? ;)
- December 10, 2010 at 7:12 AM
- Unknown said...
This is not what I came to the blog to see! False advertising, I say. :)
Fact: Some us WISH the world revolved around bacon. Think of how the wind would smell of smoked apples, and the raindrops would be salty! Mmmmmmm .... bacon.
- December 10, 2010 at 7:13 AM
- Jess of All Trades said...
What's your sign?
Also, what is one thing you wish (for real, now) that you could change about the publishing industry?
- December 10, 2010 at 7:18 AM
- Melissa Sarno said...
Hope this is not too personal but I always love to hear about people's childhoods and where they grew up and what they were into. So, what were you like as a little kid?
- December 10, 2010 at 7:27 AM
- Jennie Englund said...
Thanks for the links!
- December 10, 2010 at 7:42 AM
You're so funny. Your blog tag lines crack me up! Most of the questions I would have asked have been asked about schedule and time and genre.
But then, I did think of one....
I like to wear one of my most favorite sweatshirts while I write. It's totally old and faded, but it's just something I love to wear while writing. Anyway, do you do anything like that? Like clothing, or maybe a special spot to write, or whatever. . .
- December 10, 2010 at 7:46 AM
- Jill Kemerer said...
So my mind was in the gutter--sorry! Do you write more than one genre?
- December 10, 2010 at 7:52 AM
- Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...
I totally came here because of the title. Go me.
Ok, so here's a question.Feel free to ignore me. (If you don't like this one you can answer, "what's you're favorite way to eat bacon?")
Have you quit? I mean, have you ever just said, "I can't do this anymore," and stopped writing? At least for a while?
- December 10, 2010 at 8:05 AM
- lotusgirl said...
It's like a contest-a-palooza these days. Wow. It's like presents all around for Christmas.
My question: What's your favorite time of day and why?
- December 10, 2010 at 8:13 AM
- Carolyn V. said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- December 10, 2010 at 8:19 AM
- Bast said...
I can't really think of a real question, so here goes:
If some virus or something caused all the pigs in the world to die -- meaning, no more bacon -- what would you do?
- December 10, 2010 at 8:21 AM
- Kathryn Packer Roberts said...
okay, I didn't look at the other questions, so sorry if I'm repeating...
Do you have a book(s) that you absolutely loved and had to shelve to move on to the one you are publishing? How did that feel and why did you end up coming to that decision? Do you think you will ever go back to that/those books?
Thanks! I was actually thinking of asking you that question anyway, so I'm glad you are doing this.
- December 10, 2010 at 8:26 AM
- Sarah Ahiers said...
ok, here's a question i stole from Kiersten White. It's a great question, though, and i wish more authors were asked it.
Did you always know you would end up a published author? I mean, i know you've been trying and working hard, but did you know it would pay off for you?
- December 10, 2010 at 8:34 AM
- Shari said...
When you need some peace from your crazy life, what do you do?
- December 10, 2010 at 8:55 AM
- Carol Kilgore said...
Brave, brave woman.
Question: On an average day, how much time do you spend blogging and how much time do you spend writing?
Have a fun weekend.
- December 10, 2010 at 8:57 AM
- Sara B. Larson said...
Hmmm... this does leave so many, many options. What to pick. Okay, how about this:
If you only had one week to live, what would you do and who with? (money is no issue)
- December 10, 2010 at 9:16 AM
- Joanna St. James said...
Why do I get the feeling that you are not answering these questions publicly? That is not my question by the way, but I would really like to know the answer 2 carol K's question.
Now my question Will you do me the honor of being my first YA author in my interrogation room? (Wolf Blitzer won't be present)
- December 10, 2010 at 9:36 AM
- Lisa_Gibson said...
Do you think bacon flavored jelly bellies would be good? (I don't think they have them do they?) Would you try them if they made them? Or even bacon flavored Twizzlers (okay that's kinda too weird).
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover
- December 10, 2010 at 10:32 AM
- Shannon O'Donnell said...
Girl! I wanna know what's up with the Dove chocolates in your giveaway at the league? Where's the Bacos or Bacon-flavored toffee or something?! You aren't caving to chocolate peer pressure are you? *gasp* :-)
- December 10, 2010 at 10:47 AM
- Shannon Messenger said...
LOL--I know exactly what you're feeling. I feel the same way when I put out a call for questions. So I'll go easy and refrain from asking about your most embarrassing experience. ;)
Instead I'll go with a question where--in my opinion--there is no wrong answer: Captain Jack Sparrow or Will Turner? :)
- December 10, 2010 at 10:54 AM
- Katie Ganshert said...
When did your love affair with bacon first begin? Could you explain it for us. Was it love at first site? More of a falling in lvoe as you get to know each other better type of thing? Have you ever gone through rough patches?
- December 10, 2010 at 10:55 AM
- Golden Eagle said...
You have courage to do this!
My questions is: why do you use words as your way of getting out that creative energy, instead of something else, like another art medium?
- December 10, 2010 at 11:29 AM
- Elana Johnson said...
You're all trying to kill me, aren't you?
- December 10, 2010 at 12:11 PM
- Wendy Paine Miller said...
Do you believe all writers are just a wee bit crazy?
~ Wendy
- December 10, 2010 at 12:39 PM
My question? Someday, can we do lunch again? ;)
- December 10, 2010 at 12:52 PM
- amberargyle said...
Two questions (tricky, I know):
1. What's your most embarassing moment?
2. The world as we know it is ending, you can take one "thing" with you to live underground for the next who knows how long. What do you take?
- December 10, 2010 at 1:19 PM
- Lydia Kang said...
Okay, writing-wise, what is your biggest fear?
- December 10, 2010 at 1:19 PM
- Susan R. Mills said...
Okay, so I'm dying to know... do you like your bacon burnt and crispy like I do?
- December 10, 2010 at 1:43 PM
- Tina Lynn said...
Hmmm...how are you so amazing? Come on, confess. Launched here in an escape pod by your parents during a nuclear apocalypse? Bitten by a radioactive spider? Given a ring that gives you the power to create anything you can imagine? It's only fair that you tell us mere humans so we can stop beating ourselves up for being less than...you know?
- December 10, 2010 at 1:49 PM
- Colene Murphy said...
What is the best thing you ever brought to show and tell as a kid?
- December 10, 2010 at 2:04 PM
- Nicole L Rivera said...
What book did you read that made you most want to become a writer?
- December 10, 2010 at 2:07 PM
- Marsha Sigman said...
When you first started sending out queries for Possesion, did you get many requests for partials or fulls? I know you never gave up and sent out quite a few queries, so how did you keep from getting discouraged and going on to the next project?
This is technically two questions. And I think you and your blog are totally awesome.
- December 10, 2010 at 2:14 PM
- Jodi Henry said...
I've noticed a trend on published, (and about to be published) author's blogs.
They include everything: about me, what color socks they wear to the kind of ice cream they eat, and everything to do with writing and getting published, but one teeny tiny little thing...
otherwise known as the BIGGEST obstical between an aspiring writer and getting an agetn...the query letter.
So, did you keep a copy of the query that landed you an agent? and if so would you share it with all of us aspiring authors?
I guess that's two questions, sorry.
- December 10, 2010 at 4:46 PM
- Jodi Henry said...
Oh, ugly. 'agetn' should be 'agent.' sorry
- December 10, 2010 at 4:47 PM
- Julie Wright said...
do you ever get like crazy jealous of other authors who "seem" to have it easy with publishing? Don't name names. :) I get crazy jealous sometimes and wish I could stifle that evil part of my being.
- December 10, 2010 at 5:29 PM
- February Grace said...
I apologize if someone else already asked this, but I can't read through all the comments right now...(eyes are giving me fits and telling me to get off the internet already...)
What makes you so happy that you could, or do, cry over it?
- December 10, 2010 at 6:09 PM
- Paul Greci said...
Question time...hmmmm....When you started your journey down the path to publication is there one or two big things you didn't know then that you wish you had known that would've made it less stressful or is it all water under the bridge? (I'm totally assuming there was some stress involved.)
- December 10, 2010 at 7:19 PM
- Jemi Fraser said...
You're a brave one!
I'd like to know 2 things...
1 - what was the book that really hooked you into being a reader as a kid?
2 - what is your favourite book to read aloud to kids?
- December 10, 2010 at 7:32 PM
- Carolyn V. said...
Okay, I need a better question that no one has asked.
If you had to write a different genre what would it be? (That question is so much better than my last one.)
- December 10, 2010 at 9:37 PM
- Julie Hedlund said...
This isn't a question so much as I implore you to give yourself the gift of the "Bacon of the Month" club through Zingerman's Deli (it's based in Ann Arbor, MI but they have a mail order catalog). It really is a must for every bacon lover. I gave it to my husband for Christmas one year, and we're still reeling. Expensive but worth it. Funny that when I went to college there I couldn't afford to put a toenail across the threshold of the actual, physical place. Now, however, I indulge from time to time. It's sort of me flipping the bird to my former poor self.
But I digress... Just get the bacon of the month club for say 6 months. I promise you won't regret it. Then you can tell us about the experience on the blog! :-)
- December 10, 2010 at 10:37 PM
- Donea Lee said...
Ok, I'm refraining from bacon-related questions... :)
Hmmm...I would like to know this: What kind of sci-fi/futuristic/ dystopian novel or tv world could you see yourself living in?
- December 11, 2010 at 1:27 AM
- Debbie Davis said...
Elana I just have to say that I totally love the new look of your site. I also love how it goes with your book cover...which I think is so beautiful and can't wait to read! I am so excited about your book being published. I really look to you as an example in not giving up or giving in. It helps me hang on when I think that my goal to be published is just too big to come true. I then realize that you held on and it happened. thanks for being a beacon of hope! If you get over to colorado again soon, let me know... I would so love to take you to lunch!!!
- December 11, 2010 at 12:33 PM
- Sharon K. Mayhew said...
I know I'm late...but I have to know...
Twizzlers or M & M's?
- December 11, 2010 at 3:02 PM
- Abby Minard said...
Okay here is my question: with all the blogging, writing, emailing etc you do, how do you find a balance between that and your personal life?
- December 11, 2010 at 4:06 PM
- Jeanne Estridge said...
Thanks for joining up over at The Raisin Chronicles. My question has to do with that.
I notice (with pea-green envy) that you have a boatload of followers. And not a small boat, either. A veritable cruise ship of followers.
I know that publishers want authors to have blogs. I can check that box, but did it come up during negotiations that you have such a well-followed blog?
- December 12, 2010 at 5:51 AM
Do you drink vino when writing in the evenings, and if so, what is your preference?
- December 12, 2010 at 6:38 PM
- Taffy said...
Do you have a favorite brand of bacon?
Which Oreo is your very favorite?
- December 13, 2010 at 11:11 AM


text:
One person's experience of a #DryJanuary continued with dramatic results
Dry January is getting coverage in the media. However, one of the main points of the campaign is for people to experience what it is like to not drink for a while.
One person decided to extend the alcohol free period and stop drinking coffee and as a result is more relaxed, has more energy after sleeping better and is financially better off.
Read more here


text:
Friday, January 27th, 2017...2:02 pm
GSIPM Wins Photowings Grant! and is hiring!
Jump to Comments
GSIPM won a grant from Photowings for its "Bursting the Bubble: Fostering Connections between Community and Campus" project. The project will aim to display art throughout Monterey County that depicts MIIS students involved in their local community. At the center of the project is the MIIS Committee on Art in Public Places (CAPP), which is recruiting volunteers and one student Project Leader in a paid position, to enact the project. Interested students should contact Carolyn Meyer (firstname.lastname@example.com), explaining their proposed involvement and interest in the project.
To learn more about CAPP and the Photowings grant, visit sites.miis.edu/arts.


text:
This article was co-authored by Ndeye Anta Niang. Ndeye Anta Niang is a Hair Stylist, Master Braider, and Founder of AntaBraids, a traveling braiding service based in New York City. Ndeye has over 20 years of experience in African hair including braiding box braids, Senegalese twists, crochet braids, faux dread locs, goddess locs, kinky twists, and lakhass braids. Ndeye was the first female of her tribe in Africa to move to America and is now sharing her knowledge of African braids passed on from generation to generation.
There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been viewed 1,061,081 times.
The side braid is a cute style of braiding that goes over the shoulder. It looks especially nice with side-swept bangs or as a romantic, somewhat messy look. Do a basic side braid, or mix up your look by doing a variant such as a French, Dutch, or 4-strand braid.
Creating a Standard Side Braid
1Brush your hair. Begin by brushing your hair thoroughly. Knots and tangles make braiding a lot harder than it should be.
2Part your hair. Since the side braid look is asymmetrical and on the side of your head, part it to 1 side. It does not matter if it's the right or the left. The braid is not going to be straight down the back of your head.
- If you're going for a romantic look, allow the part to be messy. If you want to go for something more fun, try a zig-zag part.
3Gather all your hair to 1 side. If your part is off to 1 side, make sure that the hair is on the side farthest from the part. Make sure the shortest pieces aren't too short to braid.
- If the part is on the right side, make sure the hair is on the left side. If the part is on the left side, make sure the hair is on the right side.
- If your hair is medium length and too short for one side braid, 2 side braids (i.e. pigtails) might work better. Or try 1 of these side braids just around the hairline.
4Split the hair into 3 sections. Take the hair into your hands and divide into 3 even sections.[1] X Expert Source Ndeye Anta Niang
Professional Hair Stylist & Master Braider Expert Interview. 10 January 2020.
- The area underneath your ear will be the anchor point for your braid, so don't move the braid around once you get started.
- The sections will be easier to control if your hair is a little damp. Keep a spray bottle of water on hand to moisten your hair while you work.
5Braid the hair. Starting underneath your ear, braid as you normally would. Grab 1 of the outer sections and cross it over to the middle, then grab the outer section on the opposite side and pull it across the new middle.[2] X Research source Repeat, alternating sides and cycling through all 3 strands over and over again.
6Stop at the desired length. It's best to stop before strands of your hair become so short that they begin falling out of the sides of your braid.
7Secure the end. When finished, place an elastic band around the end of the braid. Arrange any wisps of hair that are hanging out. Spray with hair spray if desired.
- If you want a cleaner look, use spray or pins to secure wisps. If you want a messier, softer look, leave the wisps.
- If you have thinner, silkier hair, you can do a knotless braid by tying the end with a few strands of hair.[3]
Expert Source
Ndeye Anta Niang
Professional Hair Stylist & Master Braider Expert Interview. 10 January 2020.
8Tug a few shorter strands of hair out of the bunch if desired. Letting a few strands frame your face will soften the look, so if you have long side-swept bangs or want a few tendrils to curl out around your neck, separate out those pieces now.
Creating a French-Style Side Braid
1Brush the hair. Before you begin to braid the hair, brush the hair to remove tangles and knots. Decide which shoulder you would like the braid to hang over. Then, brush the hair over that shoulder.
- If you want to part your hair, the part should be on the opposite side of your head from your hair. If your hair is going to be over your right shoulder, part it on the left, and vice versa.
- If you don't want to part your hair, just brush all of your hair towards the shoulder where your braid will be.
2Gather the hair. The braid should be started underneath the ear opposite the shoulder where you've gathered your hair. If your braid is going to be over your left shoulder, begin the braid under your right ear. Start by separating a small section of hair from the bottom of the sweep of hair going across the back of your neck. This section should be a triangle 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) wide.
- The goal of this braid is to wrap the side braid around the bottom of your head and over 1 shoulder for a more romantic, finished look.
- Another option is to begin this French braid at the top of your head. This can start at the part line.[4]
Expert Source
Ndeye Anta Niang
Professional Hair Stylist & Master Braider Expert Interview. 10 January 2020. To begin your braid in this way, follow the same French braiding instructions. The difference will be that you will start the braid much higher on your hair, either at your front hairline or just behind your ear.
3Split this section of hair into 3 sections. Make sure the sections are even, and begin braiding as usual. Grab 1 of the outer sections and cross it over to the middle, then grab the outer section on the opposite side and pull it across the new middle. Do this only once. Don't braid any further just yet.
4Start French braiding. The rest of the braid will be half a French braid, and you will incorporate more hair into the upper half of the braid. Every time you go to cross 1 of the high strands down into the middle of the trio, add a section of loose hair from the hair sweeping over your other shoulder before you move it to the middle.
- If you are starting the braid at your front hairline, pull sections forward from the back of your head. Work diagonally down and across to just behind the ear opposite your part.
- Be sure to add hair from directly above that section of braid so that your hair on the back of your head doesn't cross all over itself and ruin the design.
- Keep the braid tight, and hold it close to the hairline. Keep the strands separated.[5] X Research source
- By the time the braid reaches the opposite side of your head, it should contain all your hair, not just the little section.
- If you are starting the French braid from the top of your head, you will begin by French braiding down, and then when you get around the earline, you will begin braiding in a horizontal line across your head. If your hair is super short, you can stop the side braid at your ear by fastening it with a pin or clip.[6] X Research source
5Finish your hair with a normal braid. When you reach the opposite ear and have incorporated all the hair into the French braid, braid the rest of your hair in a normal 3-strand braid. When you're done, the braid will start at 1 side and finish hanging down over the opposite shoulder.
6Complete with a hair band. Secure the braid with an elastic band. Arrange any wisps of hair and spray with hair spray if desired.
- Tug on the braid if you want a messier look. Loosen the braid to the desired size.[7] X Research source Tugging the braid gives the illusion of volume for thin hair.
Creating a Dutch Side Braid
1Brush your hair to the side. Make sure to get out any knots or tangles. Don't part your hair. This style works better with hair swept to the side.
- This style works better with longer hair with few layers. Short layers may not stay in the hair when it's swept to the other side of the head.
2Gather the hair. You will be starting to braid over the eye opposite of the shoulder you swept the hair over. Grab about a 1-2-inch section. Split this hair into 3 distinct sections.
- If the hair is over the right shoulder, the braid will begin over the left eye, and vice versa.
3Begin braiding. Bring the right section under the middle, then bring the left section under the right. Add hair to the middle, which should now be the right section.[8] X Research source
- A Dutch braid is like the opposite of a French braid. Instead of adding hair and braiding over, you add hair to the strands and then cross under the braid. This places the braid on top of the hair, instead of under like a French braid.
4Continue adding hair. As you braid, keep adding hair as you cross the strands. Keep the braid close to the hairline along the side of the face. Add hair into the outside of the braid by pulling in hair from the hair sweeping across the back of the head. Do this until you've added all your hair to the braid.
5Finish with a standard 3-strand braid. Once all the hair has been added, just continue braiding with 3 strands until you run out of hair. Then secure with a hair tie.
Creating a 4-Strand Side Braid
1Sweep all your hair onto 1 side. Make sure to brush or comb if necessary.
- You can place a part in your hair if you wish. If you part your hair on 1 side of your head, make sure you sweep the hair onto the opposite shoulder.
2Part hair into 2 sections. Then split the 2 sections in half so there are 4 distinct sections of the same size.
3Begin the braid. This braid can be tricky, so thinking about the hair in parts might help. Number each strand 1-4, left to right. Cross 2 over 1, then cross 4 over 3. Each cross should be right over left. Then, cross 1 over 4, which will be left over right.[9] X Research source
- Repeat these steps until no more hair is left. Renumber your strands each time you start a new crossover.
4Secure with a hair elastic. When you have reached the end of your braid, secure it with a hair tie.
- If you want, you can gently tug at the braid to loosen it up a bit and create a little fullness or give it an elegantly messy look.
- Adding a little hairspray will help keep your braid in place for the rest of the day.
Expert Q&A
Did you know you can get expert answers for this article?
Unlock expert answers by supporting wikiHow
QuestionHow do I stop my side braids from falling out?Ndeye Anta NiangNdeye Anta Niang is a Hair Stylist, Master Braider, and Founder of AntaBraids, a traveling braiding service based in New York City. Ndeye has over 20 years of experience in African hair including braiding box braids, Senegalese twists, crochet braids, faux dread locs, goddess locs, kinky twists, and lakhass braids. Ndeye was the first female of her tribe in Africa to move to America and is now sharing her knowledge of African braids passed on from generation to generation.
Hair Stylist & Master BraiderHair Stylist & Master BraiderExpert Answer
QuestionHow do you do a fishtail braid?Laura MartinLaura Martin is a Licensed Cosmetologist in Georgia. She has been a hair stylist since 2007 and a cosmetology teacher since 2013.
Licensed CosmetologistLicensed CosmetologistExpert Answer
QuestionHow do you Dutch braid your own hair?Laura MartinLaura Martin is a Licensed Cosmetologist in Georgia. She has been a hair stylist since 2007 and a cosmetology teacher since 2013.
Licensed CosmetologistLicensed CosmetologistExpert Answer
Braid neatly, but not super tight or the braid will be stiff.⧼thumbs_response⧽
Don't use hairspray when your hair is wet. It will make the braid stiff.⧼thumbs_response⧽
If you have layers, it is always a good idea to use a texture balm or an oil to keep your layers from coming out of the braid.⧼thumbs_response⧽
Things You'll Need
- Brush / comb
- Hair bands
- Hair spray (optional)
- Bobby pins (optional)
- ↑ Ndeye Anta Niang. Professional Hair Stylist & Master Braider. Expert Interview. 10 January 2020.
- ↑ http://stylecaster.com/beauty/1-3-ways-messy-side-braid-thick-hair/
- ↑ Ndeye Anta Niang. Professional Hair Stylist & Master Braider. Expert Interview. 10 January 2020.
- ↑ Ndeye Anta Niang. Professional Hair Stylist & Master Braider. Expert Interview. 10 January 2020.
- ↑ http://www.popsugar.com/beauty/How-Do-Side-French-Braid-23531356
- ↑ http://www.realsimple.com/beauty-fashion/hair/tools-techniques/braided-hair/side-french-braid-hairstyle
- ↑ http://www.oncewed.com/diy/romantic-side-braid-hair-tutorial/
- ↑ http://www.hairromance.com/2013/07/dutch-side-braid-hairstyle-tutorial.html
- ↑ http://www.hairromance.com/2013/05/hairstyle-tutorial-four-strand-braids-and-slide-up-braids.html
- Videos from Missy Sue
About This Article
To side braid your hair, start by brushing it thoroughly to get rid of any knots or tangles that might get in the way. Once you've brushed your hair, gather it all on the side you want the braid. With your hair on one side, split it into 3 even sections. Take the right side and cross it over the middle to make it the new middle section. Then, take the left side and cross it over to the middle section. Repeat the process, alternating sides until you reach the bottom of your hair. Secure the braid with an elastic band or pins and show off your new style! For more tips from our Beauty co-author, including how to do a French-style side braid, read on!
Reader Success Stories
"I didn't know how to braid, so I searched wikiHow and I learned very quickly."


text:
Primary sources for all these lyrics were books obtained from various people. Many of the older ones are photocopies of originals – that may explain how many hands and eyes along the years may have added to a few typographic errors here and there!
Meera Bhajans and some Tamil words have added to our mistakes!
We also noticed a few non-Javalis in these books. We decided to go ahead and publish those too – but clearly marked them so!
Book 1: "Book 1900"
For those who cannot read Telugu, the page says "
samgIta sAhitya vidyA viSAradulagu
pekkanDrachE rachi&impabaDina
SRmgAra jAvaLLu.
mailavaram venkayya SAstrula vAri chEta
rAmAnamda mudrAksharaSAlayamdu
1900, samvatsaram
If anyone has any additional information about this book, or, has an original print, please let us know.
Book 2: "Book 1911"
For those who cannot read Telugu, the page says "
strIlakatyamtOpa yOgambuga
prAchIna kavipumgavulachE
kamalA mudrAksharaSAlayamdu
mudrimchi prakaTimpabaDiye
Book 3: "Old & New Book 1890"
A lot of text on this cover. Not attempting to transliterate for now. Title of the book is "prAchIna navIna JavaLIlu" – translates as "Old and New Javalis".
Compiled / written by "SrI konDagunTUri nAgabhUshaNa kavi". First edition was in 1890 February, in "chennapuri"
This page explains the uniqueness of this book. Author took many old JavaLis, and wrote a modern JavaLi in the same Raga and Tala.
In our posts too, you will notice a small tag "Prati" for every second JavaLi.
Book 4: "JAVALIS of Sri Chinniah"
Book 5: "jAvaLilu by Sri bAsukhaila vijayavenkaTakrishNarAya kavi"
Not quite the traditional cover page, but 1st page of the book.
Book 6: "gabbiTa yajnanna SAstrigAri kRtulu-jAvaLulu-bhajana kIrtanalu"
Book 7: "jAvaLis by dvibhAshyam pullakavi"
His jAvaLis were probably never printed as a book. These were obtained by visiting the family of the poet in "durgADa gETu" village in Andhra Pradesh, and copying from the hand-written notes of the poet.
Book 8: "kRtulu" by dAsu SrIrAmulu, published in 1893
He published "padamulu" (పదములు), "SRmgAra padyamulu" (శృంగార పద్యములు), and "jAvaLIlu" (జావళీలు) in this book published in 1893.
Text in the title page reads as
|గాన విద్యా వినోద రసిక జనానంద కరంబుగ నుండునటుల
వేలూరు గ్రామ నివాసియును,
ఫస్టు గ్రేడ్ ప్లీడర్ గారునునగు
|gaana vidyA vinOda rasika janAnanda karambuga nunDunaTula
vElUru grAma nivAsiyunu,
fasTu grED plIDar gArununagu
|దాసు శ్రీరాములు గారిచే రచియింపబడిన
|dAsu SrIrAmulu gArichE rachiyimpabaDina
Interestingly, his works were published again in 1991.
We noticed that in some cases, a jAvaLi was marked as a padamu or, vice versa. In a few cases, rAga or tALa were shown differently too.
If either book calls it a jAvaLi, we're publishing it here.
Book 9: "jAvaLIlu – padamulu" by dAsu SrIrAmulu, published in 1991
As mentioned above, we are posting all lyrics that either book marked as a jAvaLi.
Book 10: "rasarAja vaibhava"
Compiled and edited by Prof. Shreekantham Nagendra Shastry, 2007. The book also contains notation to sing each jAvaLi.
Book 11: vichitra jAvaLIlu విచిత్ర జావళీలు
Book 12: pArsi sabhAranjita jAvLilu – పార్సి సభారంజిత జావళీలు
Book 13: jAvaLIlu (svara sahitamu)- జావళీలు (స్వర సహితము)
This book contains 109 jAvaLis, collected by Sri N C Parthasarathy & Smt Dwaraka Parthasarathy, and may have been first printed in 1980. The book contains notation for most jAvaLis and can be very useful to learners.
Book 14: gaDDibhukta sItArAm pADina pATalu, ADina jAvaLIlu – గడ్డిభుక్త సీతారాం పాడిన పాటలు, ఆడిన జావళీలు
This book was published by SrI mOdugula ravikRshNa, and contains 24 lyrics – most of them jAvaLis! Has a very interesting history behind the book too, written by SrI VAK rangA rAvu. The book comes with a CD too.
Book 15: jAvaLi ravaLi – compilation by Dr. Ushalakshmi Krishnamoorthi. జావళి రవళి – డా. ఉషాలక్ష్మి కృష్ణమూర్తి గారు ప్రచురించిన పుస్తకం
This book has a collection of 24 Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada jAvaLis in both Tamil and English script. ఇందులో 24 తెలుగు, తమిళ, మరియు కన్నడ జావళీలు ఉన్నాయి.
Book 16: "jAvaLilu – modaTi bhAgamu" – edited by SrI mOdugula ravikRshna జావళీలు – మొదటి భాగము. సంపాదకుడు: శ్రీ మోదుగుల రవికృష్ణ
This book has a large collection of 233 jAvaLis written by different lyricists / composers. We'll be publishing only those we did not publish before. Or, those that have better / different lyrics from what we had published.
Book 17: "Bunch of jAvaLis" – by SrI pappu vENugOpAla rAvu
A definite collector's item that has transliteration, translation, and notation for 51 jAvaLis. Text in English, Tamil, and Telugu. Audio CD too. We are publishing only a few from this – that we either did NOT gather from anywhere else, or some, where the lyrics in this book are better / more complete than what we published earlier.
Book 18: "pArsi sarasamOhana jAvaLi" – compiled by vElUru nArAyaNa sAmi piLLai
Found this book at http://musicresearchlibrary.net/omeka/items/show/2955 a few months ago. Book has 5 parts (sections) – each section has jAvaLis in a north-Indian language (yet to identify, need to read 10-15 to get better idea), and a jAvaLi in Tamil language with the same number! We're still trying to see if the meaning is the same!
Since the first jAvaLi is not in Tamil, but is written in Tamil script, some errors may occur in transliteration. We're also trying to see if we can get any expert to correct our mistakes!


text:
date nights are few and far between these days, but this look got me to a fun dinner with jared and friends and to up/down (an 80s arcade). it was chock full of the good stuff – duck hunt, pinball, super mario bros, and of course, skee ball. it was such a fun night, and brought back memories of staying up too late trying to save the princess.
there's really no good way to transition from that, soooooo…..the cold shoulder trend is still hot. ok, even i know that was a bad one, but i just had to! i looked and looked for an off-shoulder/cold-shoulder top last summer and didn't find anything that worked for me, but i stumbled onto this one at tj maxx of all places. i love the thrill of the hunt in there. it's totally hit or miss, but sometimes, ya just hit.
i think the top says a lot so i kept accessories a little more streamlined, and while they 'say something' too, everything else is neutral so it doesn't all compete. while i'm a jeans and t-shirt girl at heart, i'm trying to up my game a little, and this top will be great for daytime this summer too – i'm thinking with shorts and birks or nude sandals, and since it's not totally off the shoulder, i can still 'mom' in it. i love it when something can pull double duty!
all photographs taken by meredith gutshall
top: similar, similar // denim // clutch: similar // shoes: shoe post here


text:
Part of a weekly series of gear reviews for the Summit Daily News. http://bit.ly/2hHv3A6
From goggles down to socks, just about every ski or snowboard gear company is likely to tell you that their piece of equipment is the key to optimizing your skiing experience. But ask any ski or snowboard instructor, and chances are they'll tell you it all starts with the right boots.
That's why this week we checked in with the guys at the Copper Mountain Surefoot custom boot shop to learn a little more about the science behind boot fitting and just what can be done to get the perfect fit. They also set us up with a pair of their full custom fit boots to get a feel for what the right size is supposed to feel like.
People often don't realize what can be done to fix a boot's fit, store manager Jeremiah Hughes said. There's much more to it than just getting the right size out of the box. And buyers often don't even get that right.
An out-of-the-box or stock ski boot shouldn't fit perfectly from the get go; it should be a little more snug than you would want. They're designed to "pack out," or compress, to conform to the user, long-time ski instructor Johnathan Lawson said.
But stock boots can be hit or miss, and even a close fit can have pressure points that can affect comfort and performance.
"With stock boots, you have spots that cut off circulation," Hughes said.
He frequently hears people complain that their boots are cold but said that the reality is usually that the boots don't fit properly. If it doesn't allow proper blood flow, an ill-fitting pair of boots will make your feet cold.
Boots that don't fit right will also make skis less responsive, Lawson said. You want your skis to respond to minimal movement. If a boot is too loose, it will take more movement from the skier to get the skis to respond.
That's where the boot mechanics at Surefoot come in. Changes can be as simple as hammering out the shell of customers' existing boot to make more room for the proverbial skier's "sixth toe" or as complex as a full custom fitting with computer-generated measurements to the nearest millimeter.
For this review, Hughes took us through the entire custom process with a pair of Lange RX 120's. Surefoot can either make an orthotic sole and custom liner for a customer's existing boot shell or suggest the best-fitting shell to go with them. They'll sell each piece individually or as a package.
For a full custom fitting, it starts with one of their technicians determining a skier or boarder's ability level. Then they take basic measurements of a client's foot to determine a boot shell that best suits their foot shape and ability — Surefoot has access to factory-measured internal dimensions of the boot shells they stock, including Tecnica, Nordica, Lange and Salomon.
Once that's determined, the process really get's interesting.
The company has a proprietary computer scanning system that scans the bottom of a person's foot and creates a topographic image of it using pressure-sensitive rubber pegs that measure the foot in 538 places. That image is then stored in their system so that any Surefoot store nationwide or abroad can have access to it for a customer's future needs. Surefoot also guarantees their work and will make adjustments, if needed, after the initial fitting. After the scan, the image is sent electronically to an automated CAD-CAM orthotic milling machine that uses the measurements to shape a custom medical grade orthotic footbed. The scan can also be used to make orthotics for regular shoes.
When the orthotic is finished, the customer steps in to their new boot with an empty liner that is then injected with foam in three locations to create the custom fit around the entire foot, heel and ankle.
Start to finish, the process takes about an hour and a half. Surefoot also offers boot heater inserts at an additional charge.
Ditching my blown-out Technica boots with stock liners for the Surefoot Lange RX 120's, the difference was immediately noticeable. My skis did in fact feel more responsive from the first turn than they had in my Tecnicas. Like Lawson said, Surefoot's boots fit properly right from the beginning, unlike stock boots that need to be broken in or may eventually pack out to a point where they become loose.
Lawson —who has been skiing and instructing with a number of pairs of Surefoot boots for the last 14 years— also added that the custom liners tend to be more durable than stock models.
"They don't break down as quickly," he said.
Having now skied in them for a few weeks, I'm sold. The added cost pays dividends on the hill. Even on a minus 4-degree day, my feet weren't nearly as cold as they've been in previous boots. The fit really does make a big difference in both comfort and performance. Covering the Dew Tour last week, there were days that I spent around 10 hours in them without any issue.
Lawson may have summarized them best: "Just imagine a boot without pressure points; anybody that has had a boot that doesn't fit right will know what I'm talking about. Skiing with bad boots is like riding a bike without a seat."
That's why Lawson, like other pros and athletes, seem to keep coming back to Surefoot.
"It's one of the best purchases you'll make," he said.
Full Surefoot custom boots — shell, liner and orthodic— range between $700 and $1,400, depending on model and skier ability.


text:
Planning a trip to Nainital
After our recent trip to Austria, Ankur and I have been wanting on plan a trip to a hill station in North India. Somehow, Austria has made us fall in love with the mountains once again, after almost five years of having loved only beaches. We have been discussing where to go next and there are many names that we have researched. Nainital is one name that always pops up when hill stations in India are discussed. While Ankur has been to towns near Nainital, he has never been to Nainital. Thus, starts the process of figuring out the doability of a trip to Nainital in the months to come.


text:
The Winged Histories
Sofia Samatar - published March 2016
March 15, 2016 · trade cloth · 337 pages · $24 · 9781618731142 | ebook · 9781618731159
April 11, 2017 · trade paperback · 337 pages · $16 · 9781618731371
Best Books of the year: NPR
Locus Award finalist
Rights sold: Poland (MAG); India (Juggernaut Books); and Japan (Tokyo Sogensha).
NPR, Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books Of The Past Decade: The Olondria Series
"'Have you ever seen something so beautiful that you'd be content to just sit and watch the light around it change for a whole day because every passing moment reveals even more unbearable loveliness and transforms you in ways you can't articulate?' asks judge Amal El-Mohtar. 'You will if you read these books.'"
Using the sword, pen, body, and voice, four women confront a rebellion and the older, stranger threat behind it.
Four women—a soldier, a scholar, a poet, and a socialite—are caught up on opposing sides of a violent rebellion. As war erupts and their loyalties and agendas and ideologies come into conflict, the four fear their lives may pass unrecorded. Using the sword and the pen, the body and the voice, they struggle not just to survive, but to make history.
Here is the much-anticipated companion novel to Sofia Samatar's World Fantasy Award-winning debut, A Stranger in Olondria. The Winged Histories is the saga of an empire—and a family: their friendships, their enduring love, their arcane and deadly secrets. Samatar asks who makes history, who endures it, and how the turbulence of historical change sweeps over every aspect of a life and over everyone, no matter whether or not they choose to seek it out.
David Naimon and Sofia Samatar chat about The Winged Histories on the Between the Covers podcast.
"Why Read Fantasy?" interview on Bookslinger by Cassidy Foust
Los Angeles Times interview by Lilliam Rivera.
Mahvesh Murad interviews Sofia for the Midnight in Karachi podcast.
Weird Sister interview by Katie Heng.
Podcast interview: SF Signal.
"On the 13 Words That Made Me a Writer" on LitHub.
Kirkus Feature, "Who Tells Your Story" by Ana Grilo: "A hopeful and beautiful story of tragedy and war."
Read the first chapter on Tor.com.
28 Books to Read in 2016: The Week.
"It is dazzlingly beautiful and as close to perfect as a reader can hope. . . . The Winged Histories is one of the finest fantasy novels of 2016, or any year."
— Jane Franklin, Rain Taxi
"Samatar's second novel's lyrical and gorgeous prose explores the lives of four very different women caught up in the brutality of war."
— Recommendations from the Booksmith in the San Francisco Chronicle
"Like an alchemist, Sofia Samatar spins golden landscapes and dazzling sentences. . . . The Winged Histories is a fantasy novel for those who take their sentences with the same slow, unfolding beauty as a cup of jasmine tea, and for adventurers like Tav, who are willing to charge ahead into the unknown."
— Shelf Awareness (starred review)
"All of it is harrowing — and written in such heart-stoppingly beautiful language there's a good chance readers will ignore the plot and spend a few hours just chewing on the words, slowly, to draw out the flavor. Then they'll need to read it again. Fortunately, this is a short book; also fortunately, there's a lot of novel packed into relatively few pages. A highly recommended indulgence."
— N. K. Jemisin, New York Times Book Review
"The lush syntax is often so spellbinding that entire paragraphs demand an immediate re-read, and the plot map follows tributaries as often as the river itself. Rhythmically, it varies between traditional fantasy fiction and a sort of poetic prose. Samatar's women are realistically flawed, and the storylines have intentionally frayed edges and visible brutalities and, of course, monsters and magic. Based on just a first read of this lyrical work, Samatar's fascination with language and the human condition is very apparent, and perhaps even contagious. Excerpts of in-world books and songs, plus an intricate family tree and glossary, help transform this fantasy into a world so real that when the book ends, Olondria becomes a red balloon, ever-present but just out of reach. For every moment of power and adrenaline, an equally crushing or lovely or strange occurrence is offered. But then, such is war, and life."
— Jessi Cape, Austin Chronicle
"Throughout it all, Samatar ponders weighty questions. "What is the difference between a king and a monster?" Tialon asks; "What is music?" wonders Seren. But Histories isn't a book about easy answers, any more than it's driven by plot. It's circuitous and hypnotic, told through flashbacks, meditations, and stories within stories. Tialon pores over a history book written by her aunt; Seren sifts through the traditional songs she sings. Rather than being distractions, these nested texts ring with lyricism.
"At the same time, they underscore one of Samatar's profound themes: how words make us, every bit as much as we make them. At one point Seren, waxing philosophical about the distinction between sorcery and literacy in Olondria, says that writing is "like riding a horse to go somewhere instead of walking. You go to the same place, but you can carry more." Accordingly, Samatar carries a great deal with her in the pages of The Winged Histories: beauty, wonder, and a soaring paean to the power of story."
— Jason Heller, NPR
"Told by four different women, it is a story of war; not epic battles of good and evil, but the attempt to make things right and the realities of violence wielded by one human against another, by one group against another. It's about the aftermath of war, in which some things are better but others are worse. Above all, it's a story about love—the terrible love that tears lives apart. Doomed love; impossible love; love that requires a rewriting of the rules, be it for a country, a person, or a story."
— Jenn Northington, Tor.com
"An imaginative, poetic, and dark meditation on how history gets made."
— Hello Beautiful
"This book. This perfect book." — Amal El-Mohtar, Lightspeed
"If you think Samatar has the ear and soul of a poet, you will love this book. . . . If One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende, are favorites of yours, you will love how Samatar shows us a rebellion and a civil war through the lens of a central family. Each of the viewpoint characters (there are four main ones) brings not only a different perspective, but new information about a prince's attempted coup and a warrior's attempt to free her nation… or the rise of the Priest of the Stone. . . . If you love stories but distrust them, if you love language and can also see how it is used as a tool or a weapon in the maintenance of status quo, then read The Winged Histories."
— Marion Deeds, Fantasy Literature
"I wouldn't normally taunt you with a book you can't have for two months, but this time is different, ok? Because the book in question is a sequel, which means you have time to go and read A Stranger in Olondria, and then be ready for Winged Histories in all its glorious glory. In Olondria, Samatar built us a beautiful fantasy world, full of diverse peoples and customs, gorgeous landscapes, and a dark undercurrent. Our guide to Olondria, Jevick, found himself caught up in the midst of a troubled political situation, in a country on the brink of war. In Winged Histories, we see that war from four perspectives. And, god, what perspectives they are. Samatar has created characters that you will carry around with you for weeks (months?). If you love strong voices, world-building, and books that tell hard truths with beautiful language, these are for you." — Jenn Northington, Book Riot
"Samatar's use of poetic yet unpretentious language makes her one of the best writers of today. Reading her books is like sipping very rich mulled wine. The worldbuilding and characterization is exquisite. This suspenseful and elegiac book discusses the lives of fictional women in a fantasy setting who fear their histories will be lost in a way that is only too resonant with the hidden histories of women in our own age." — Romantic Times Book Reviews (4.5/5 stars, Top Pick)
"The Winged Histories is a saga, all right, focusing largely on a single family, but its prose, while characteristically graceful and evocative and often stunningly beautiful."
— Gary K. Wolfe, Locus
"It is obviously not coincidental that Samatar's narrators are all women: The Winged Histories addresses that which is so often elided in conventional fantasy novels – the absence of women, or at best, the limited roles available to women. If Lord of the Rings shows us only privileged women, able to disguise themselves in order to fight, or else to remain sequestered from the grubbiness of war, Samatar's women have to deal with the effects of war head on, because in their various ways they are all involved. While it may be true that Tavis presumes on her status in order to learn to fight, she is nonetheless part of a sustained military campaign, and all that entails. Likewise, she and Siski have always been aware of their significance as nieces of Olondria's ruler, the Telkan, thanks to their aunt, Mardith, who seeks to gain power through matchmaking. However, through Seren and Tialon we see women who are nominally reliant on men in order to survive, and the ways in which they negotiate survival in a world that is rapidly changing. . . . And still there is more to be said about The Winged Histories and its predecessor. Thoughts and notes piled up as I read on, and I reached the end wanting nothing so much as to return to the beginning and start all over again. Samatar's work really benefits from rereading, which is more than can be said for a lot of contemporary novels. This is a very satisfying novel to read, challenging and troubling too, as the very best fiction ought to be."
— Maureen Kincaid Speller, Interzone, 265
"Tav, a teenage girl from the House of Telkan, 'the most exalted bloodline' in Olondria, has run away to become a swordmaiden in the army. As she fights alongside the men, she realizes the war is a distraction while the ruling branch of her family subjugates her native kingdom, Kestenya, and surrounding territories. . . . Samatar is a writer of uncommon beauty, and she takes a genre that has historically tended to focus on the heroic exploits of men and shows how those exploits involve and affect women. This novel teaches us the importance of giving voice to experience and bearing witness; as one character says, writing is less about words than 'how we are written into one another. How this is history.' A lyrical immersion into a finely wrought world." — Kirkus Reviews
"In 2013 Sophia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria introduced us to new world described with such poetic verve that is has since become a living classic of fantasy fiction. With her new book, The Winged Histories, Samatar's great storytelling talent and wickedly beautiful prose takes us to an Olondria wracked by war. Despite this bloody and turbulent time, four women will have their voices resonate above the fray. Their stories and the stories they tell themselves are vivid portraits of women willing to challenge the conventional and fighting in myriad ways to be remembered. Samatar's creative use of a section titled "A Common History" unites the voices of these women to unrelated yet connected people or events which adds an emotive depth to the story. She also includes a richly imagined mythology that is shared by the characters, a scintillating vein of ideas bringing such beauty and darkness, but that helps us understand unearthly changes need to be embraced, despite our fears, in order to be truly free."
— Raul M. Chapa, BookPeople, Austin, TX
"Can I smear tears on a piece of paper and call that a review? This was GORGEOUS and emotionally bruising and so so wonderful and engaging and many other perfect words. There is so much world-building, a fascinating mythology, and beautiful language (I'm trying not to yell about Seren's little language lessons). There are amazing epigraphs, which I'm always a huge fan of. Samatar winds the stories of four very different women through a monumental period of Olondrian history, and it's one of the best reading experiences I've had in the last year. Poetic and bloody, lovely and dark, this is a book to be SAVORED, and I will be re-reading it again soon, at a much slower pace."
— Allison Senecal, Book Shop of Fort Collins
"Sofia Samatar's work is a revelation. Her prose has only become richer and more assured between her debut novel and this follow-up. The Winged Histories gives the stories of four women whose stories are linked by the events that shape them (and that they help to shape). The contexts of the complicated class and national histories the inform these women is described in such clear detail that I feel that I know them all, their histories and their inner realities. Amazing, incredible, lush, emotionally rich, politically fascinating, this is one of the most satisfying novels I have picked up in ages. It begs the reader in each moment to consider how histories are created, and the costs and inequalities behind how we all must fight to be a part of history, however it gets written."
— Gretchen Treu, A Room of One's Own, Madison, WI
"Pleasantly startling and unexpected. Her prose is by turns sharp and sumptuous, and always perfectly controlled. Samatar's writing strongly recalls Guy Gavriel Kay's fantasy, which reads like historical fiction, but there are strains here too of Jane Austen and something wilder."
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Advance Readers
"A nuanced and subtle tale of war, love, duty, family, and honor. It's like polyphony—a chorus of voices singing different melodies, sometimes at odds, but ultimately harmonious. And moving. And exciting. Have I mentioned exciting?"
— Delia Sherman
"Sparse and magical, beautiful and terrible; The Winged Histories is a story spun out of stories and the lives of fierce women, each a warrior in her own right."
— Nalo Hopkinson
"A brightly moving narrative that crystallizes into scenes as delicate, hard, and changing as ice, that rises up to meet four women in the midst of warfare, and the most devastating kinds of devotion and rebellion. It is astonishing what The Winged Histories does with language, what it does as a novel."
— Amina Cain, author of Creature
About the Author
Sofia Samatar is the author of the novels A Stranger in Olondria and The Winged Histories, the short story collection, Tender, and Monster Portraits, a collaboration with her brother, the artist Del Samatar. She is the recipient of the William L. Crawford Award, the Astounding Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the World Fantasy Award. She teaches Arabic literature, African literature, and speculative fiction at James Madison University.
"But those on the border write no histories. Their book is memory. Their element is air."
— Karanis of Loi, The Eighth Meditation
Book One: The History of the Sword
Everywhere the sound of wings.
1. Secrets
The swordmaiden will discover the secrets of men. She will discover that men at war are not as men at peace. She will discover an unforeseen comradeship. Take care: this comradeship is a Dueman shield. It does not extend all the way to the ground.
The swordmaiden will discover her secret forebears. Maris the Crooked fought for Keliathu in the War of the Tongues. Wounded and left with the high-piled dead, she was rescued before the pyre was lit by the man who most despised her: her second lieutenant, Farod. "Farod," she said to him, "what have you done?" And he answered: "Do not thank me, General. I am like a man who has preserved his enemy's coin; and I am like a man who, having seen his enemy safely submerged among crocodiles, has drawn him out again."
The swordmaiden will discover that her forebears are few. There was Maris, and there was Galaron of Nain, and there was the False Countess of Kestenya.
The swordmaiden will hear rumors of others, but she will not find them.
Her greatest battle will be waged against oblivion.
— Ferelanyi of Bream, The Swordmaiden's Codex
I became a swordmaiden in the Brogyar war, among the mountains.
I was fifteen when I went there to school. Fifteen, and a runaway. The old coach swayed, the pink light of the lantern bounced against the mountainside, and I sat with my hands clenched in embroidered gloves. My furs were cold. I made Fulmia stop the carriage at the officers' hall, so that I could give them my letter. This hall had once been a temple of Avalei; now fires burned among its smoke-stained pillars, and battered shields lay stacked up in the porch. Nirai stood in the doorway and cried in the wind: "What news from the Valley?" Then he peered closer and started. "It's all right," I said. "I have a letter from the Duke." Inside they were all there, Uncle Gishas, Prince Ruaf, and others. They passed my letter around the great stone table.
Praise for Sofia Samatar's debut novel, A Stranger in Olondria:
"It's the rare first novel with no unnecessary parts – and, in terms of its elegant language, its sharp insights into believable characters, and its almost revelatory focus on the value and meaning of language and story, it's the most impressive and intelligent first novel I expect to see this year, or perhaps for a while longer."
"The excerpt from Sofia Samatar's compelling novel A Stranger in Olondria should be enough to make you run out and buy the book. Just don't overlook her short "Selkie Stories Are for Losers," the best story about loss and love and selkies I've read in years."
— K. Tempest Bradford, NPR
"Sofia Samatar's debut fantasy A Stranger in Olondria is gloriously vivid and rich."
— Adam Roberts, The Guardian, Best Science Fiction Books of 2013
"Books can limit our experiences and reinforce the structures of empire. They can also transport us outside existing structures. The same book may do both in different ways or for different people. Samatar has written a novel that captures the ecstasy and pain of encountering the world through books, showing us bits and pieces of our contemporary world while also transporting us into a new one."
— Bookslut
"The novel is full of subtle ideas and questions that never quite get answered. It is those dichotomies that lie at the heart of this novel, such as what is superstition and what is magic? How much do class and other prejudices affect how we view someone's religion? Jevick often believes himself above such things, as does the current religious regime of Olondria, but in a way both are haunted until they believe. . . . Samatar gives us no easy answers and there are no villains in the book — simply ordinary people doing what they believe is right.
— io9.com
"As you might expect (or hope) from a novel that is in part about the painting of worlds with words, the prose in Stranger is glorious. Whether through imaginative individual word choices—my favourite here being the merchants rendered "delirious" by their own spices . . . Samatar is adept at evoking place, mood, and the impact of what is seen on the one describing it for us."
— Strange Horizons
"Vivid, gripping, and shot through with a love of books."—Graham Sleight, Locus
"With characteristic wit, poise, and eloquence, Samatar delivers a story about our vulnerability to language and literature, and the simultaneous experience of power and surrender inherent in the acts of writing and reading."—Amal El-Mohtar, Tor.com
"Samatar's sensual descriptions create a rich, strange landscape, allowing a lavish adventure to unfold that is haunting and unforgettable."—Library Journal (*starred review*)
"Sofia Samatar has an expansive imagination, a poetic and elegant style, and she writes stories so rich, with characters so full of life, they haunt you long after the story ends. A real pleasure."
—Chris Abani, author of GraceLand and The Virgin of Flames
"A book about the love of books. Her sentences are intoxicating and one can easily be lost in their intricacy…. Samatar's beautifully written book is one that will be treasured by book lovers everywhere."
—Raul M. Chapa, BookPeople, Austin, TX
"Thoroughly engaging and thoroughly original. A story of ghosts and books, treachery and mystery, ingeniously conceived and beautifully written. One of the best fantasy novels I've read in recent years."—Jeffrey Ford, author of The Girl in the Glass
"Mesmerizing—a sustained and dreamy enchantment. A Stranger in Olondria reminds both Samatar's characters and her readers of the way stories make us long for far-away, even imaginary, places and how they also bring us home again."
—Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of The Jane Austen Book Club
"Let the world take note of this dazzling and accomplished fantasy. Sofia Samatar's debut novel is both exhilarating epic adventure and loving invocation of what it means to live through story, poetry, language. She writes like the heir of Ursula K. Le Guin and Gene Wolfe."
—Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble
"Imagine an inlaid cabinet, its drawers within drawers filled with spices, roses, amulets, bright cities, bones, and shadows. Sofia Samatar is a merchant of wonders, and her A Stranger in Olondria is a bookshop of dreams."
—Greer Gilman, author of Cloud & Ashes
Cover illustration by Kathleen Jennings.
Mar. 30, 7:30 p.m., The Last Bookstore, 453 S Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013
Apr. 1, 10:30 a.m., AWP, Small Beer Press: 15th Anniversary Reading, F161, Room 513, Meeting Room Level, LA Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA (Sofia Samatar, Ayize Jama-Everett, Gavin J. Grant, Juan Martinez, Maureen F. McHugh)
Apr. 2, 12:00 p.m. AWP, "In the Realms of the Real and the Unreal," S171. (Katharine Beutner, Sofia Samatar, Carmen Machado, Alice Sola Kim, Kelly Link)


text:
World of Mothers: U.S.
The U.S. is the only developed country without a national, paid parental leave program. As a result, the maternity leave moms can take varies widely across the country. This piece was dependent on our two moms' willingness to share their very personal stories. I think it captured the issue well. I developed, produced and wrote this piece.


text:
An adorable puzzle/platformer where you take on the roll of a 4" tall cleaning robot. Protect Nida's house from an onslaught of mutated bugs. Jump, vacuum, and solve puzzles to keep the house clean!
Created by LeftyMcBrandon on
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Thanks :)
Thanks :)
For all my loses I got it! Many tnx!
Thank you kindly.
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