I had to ponder this one for a week, because it hit home. I may be adding to this post over the next few days. Sherri S. Tepper was a powerful author and outspoken activist, who happened to write science fiction and fantasy. I first ran across her work in 1983, when my best friend…
Read More In memoriam: Sherri S. TepperI suspected a long time ago this election bid of Trump’s was mostly a marketing stunt, until he fell in love with adulation and started saying anything to keep getting it. Now, in an effort to counter the ‘lying media’, he’s started a ‘news channel’ on Facebook. Guess what it looks like? Hmm. Anyone remember…
Read More We called it: Trump TVIt’s one thing when a publisher circles the drain, and nearly everyone has known or suspected it would happen for months or years. It’s another, when a *good* small press fails. One that was, by most accounts, doing everything right: lasting for longer than two years, choosing great books and authors, designing excellent covers, marketing…
Read More Well, shucks…My quest to create miniature books around jewelry platforms…continues! After contemplating my woodworking tools (and how much work went into a single mammoth ivory needle), I decided to outsource the jewelry forms. Find people who make stunning pieces from the start, and build on those beginnings. The latest experiments start here, with five exquisite buffalo-horn…
Read More Christmas in October: Ebony and HornI recently wrote about the materials and inspiration for a series of Dia de los Muertos-themed rings. I decided to do only an edition of three books in this group, because I have different ideas for the next three. To recap: Dia de los Muertos votive bone rings. On a platform of carved bone rings,…
Read More Votive Bone RingsSooner or later, nearly every jewelry maker runs across this problem: how to join loops or links with a sturdy, practical, design-compatible connector. Closed jump rings are difficult to design around. Open jump rings may pull apart at the worst possible time. Wire-wrapped jump rings and connectors can be strong and beautiful, but time-consuming…
Read More Jewelry Maker’s PSA: Split Rings(Updated October 5, 2016) I have just made the saddest $25 win that I ever bet. (2nd update October 7,2016) I’ll keep that $25 safely unspent in case I need to return it.* Because a couple of years ago I privately bet a group of other authors that the embattled erotic romance publisher Ellora’s Cave was…
Read More Ellora’s Cave updateThis was going to be just a section in Filigree’s Rule, but I thought it deserved its own post. (Added info, as of 10/4/2016.) I have begged literary agents before: please clarify your stance on negotiating publishing offers for querying authors. We authors need to know beforehand, if you never do this and would rather…
Read More Agents, offers, assumptions, and bad behavior