Katrina Strauss was kind enough to drop me a line letting me know that P.L. Nunn is selling prints of many of the book covers she designed for five dollars each. One Shot is on the list, and in case you forgot what that one looked like—because, ya know, I don’t post it nearly enough ;)—here it is below:
A lot of other great covers there as well, and the site in general is much fun. You can check it all out at http://bishonenworks.com/art_gallery/main/display.php?id=43.
Nice way to kick off the week, yeah?
… and sometimes ridiculously cute:
I entered my Lone trailer in a contest. You can check it out along with the other entrants at Entries Part 1, and Entries Part 2. The voting rules are:
Votes will be counted via email.
One vote per person and per email. No multiple email accounts should try to vote over and over again.
Send vote to thepenmuse(at)gmail.com, subject: Entry #
Voters you have until Monday Jan 18th!
A lot of good trailers are entered. Even if you don’t vote, they’re fun to watch. 😀
This is the third year I’ve listed my favorite search phrases to hit http://www.rowanmcbride.com/. There were lots of searches for “Rowan McBride.” There were a lot of single word searches like “january” and “book” and (I kid you not) “is” that had me wondering how many pages the surfer had to go through just to get to me, and whether they were happy when they got there. For the first time I saw phrases like “Rowan McBride torrent” pop up which was deeply depressing for me.
But, as with the previous years, there were some that were hella funny. Here are a few of my faves, in no particular order:
- forbidden fruit rowan mcbride
Made the list because it tied so well into my previous blog posts.- blue curacao sickeningly sweet
Avery would definitely agree.- goodhand abrasive
Nooo. Good hands are NOT abrasive. I’m not opposed, however, to good hands being a little rough now and then. 😉- rowan flow i’ve never seen muscle growth
This was an interesting one because it felt like a note direct to me, and that I was supposed to decipher it. So far all I’ve got is Flow is currently being reworked for possible publication, and that if you’ve never seen muscle growth you’ve certainly come to the right place for it if you’ve hit my site. 🙂- polite please thank you into his ass
That…is most likely the best way to go about it.- why do i like muscle growth stories
You would not believe how often I’m asked that very question.- on the one hand dolphins are good
What’s on the other hand? O.O- my tongue played with his
His what? Tease. I want to know! Unless it’s the previous person’s dolphin.
And my favorite search term to hit my site in 2009:
- toaster said i want you inside of me
I think it has something to do with the sandwich place commercial that was out a while back, but I don’t care. I can’t figure out how it resulted in a hit on my site and it cracked me up bad.
That’s this year’s list. Wow, 2009 has been a year of incredible ups and downs, hasn’t it? I wish everyone peace, joy, and love in 2010 (I’m having a bit of a hippie moment here).
Have a Happy New Year!
— Rowan
I bought this on impulse the other day:
As you can see, this thing is so horrible that the retailers had no choice but to tie it with what I assume to be a spiritual ribbon before sealing it inside a blessed cylinder. My camera kindly recorded the date I bought it right onto the photo. I’ve not yet worked up the courage to break the seal.
It’s got a chocolate shell studded with pecans. There might be caramel involved somewhere, but I’m not sure. The package would have me believe there’s an apple in there as well.
I have no idea how one goes about consuming such a thing. Apparently it serves 8-10 people, so I’m contemplating having some sort of candy apple party at my place. It would be good to have some friends in on this because (1) almost everything is better with friends and (2)… well…
I don’t really like apples.
It always jars me to admit that because from day to day I walk around thinking I like apples, and this delusion inevitably leads me to making purchases like the one above.
But I’m not that big a fan. Can’t stand apple juice. Not keen on apple pie unless it’s a small slice and it’s mostly crust. I make a little “yuck face” every time someone mentions apple sauce. Hard apple cider I can do if the occasion’s right. That’s about it.
Even plain, healthy apples give me trouble. I don’t like red apples and I don’t like sweet apples. If I’m going to eat an apple it’s got to be green and tart and sliced into wedges.
Apple issues. That’s what I’ve got.
Yet I adore the imagery, so much. It’s not even the “forbidden fruit” aspect that hooks me (although I DO like it and I’ve used it in that context). The fruit from the tree of knowledge that Adam & Eve took a bite out of was never actually called an apple. I like that if you cut an apple in half you get five seeds and those five seeds can stand for anything from the elements (fire, water, earth, air, soul) to the body of a person (head, hands, feet) to a simple five pointed star. I love that in DeathNote the shinigami actually find them addictive, and that Ryuk in particular calls them “jooshy.”
Even that great sound an apple makes when someone bites into it. There’s something savage about that sound. I especially like it when a person buffs the apple on their shirt and then tears a chunk out of it–lure the prey in with a false sense of comfort and go in for the kill.
Apple torture. Just further highlights the issues I mentioned above.
And while I won’t eat a red apple, my characters sure as hell will, because to me red feels more seductive, more lush. If vampires didn’t drink blood, they’d probably eat red apples instead.*
Apple pie does a similar thing to me. I don’t like to eat it, but thinking about it elicits images of hearth and home. Of cold winter nights and warm fires.
Most of my stories make an apple reference in them somewhere. I think Paul’s Dream and Want Me are the only ones that don’t, although someone recently mentioned they think I’m wrong on that. If you know for sure there’s an apple reference in either of those books, be the first to paste the quote on this thread in the comments and I’ll send you an 8×10 glossy of that book cover. 🙂
So there you have it. My first post about apples. I should file it with the post I did a while back about shoes. Sometimes I’m really, really glad that “ramblings” is right there in the title of this blog to warn people of what lies ahead.
I’ll let you know if the giant piece of candied whatever above changes my mind about apples. 🙂
*Note: I hope I didn’t turn anyone off of red apples with the vampire analogy. I do not believe that red apples taste in any way like blood.**
**Note#2: But you gotta admit, vampire fangs are probably pretty handy when tearing into an apple. 😀
If you caught my recent interviews at Rain on Roof and Reviews by jessewave, you know I mentioned that I was taking a break from writing to recharge. Here are some of the things I’ve been doing:
Pulled the trusty Casio keyboard out of the closet. Hadn’t touched it for years. This turned out to be a problem because apparently I’d left the batteries in there and they did the leak/rust/mold themselves into the inside thing. It took three hours, but I was able to get it clean enough to take new batteries.
Got a Wii Fit. Am now addicted to Rhythm Kung-fu. I probably take it waaaaay too seriously.
Experimented with creating a bit of stop-motion animation.
Watched all twelve episodes of Black Blood Brothers.
Read volume 1 of Xxxholic, Tsubasa Chronicles, and Legal Drug.
Created a hand-drawn animation for my mother: Dancing Figurine.
Had a relatively minor surgery, which put a stop to Rhythm Kung-fu for at least three weeks. lol.
Currently recovering from said surgery. 🙂
So that’s everything I can recall. I haven’t been writing a lot, but easing back into real life has opened up some interesting conversations with my muse, so I feel like good things are coming. Plus, I might have a fun blog event coming with some friends of mine, so cross your fingers for that. 😀
My friend, Alex Woolfson, up and made a fab short film featuring angels, demons, and humor, so you know I like it. Embedding below, and you can visit his site at: http://www.yaoi911.com/.
Pitch from Alex Woolfson on Vimeo.
Dalek Haiku
Exterminate now!
The Daleks must reign supreme!
WE EXTERMINATE.
— Xyggurat
The above bit of genius had me laughing hysterically at four in the morning. Thank you to Xyggurat for giving me permission to post it. You rock socks.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Doctor Who universe, there’s a Dalek article on Wikipedia. 🙂