…we don’t stand much on protocols here. I’m CJ, not ma’am, flamers will be assigned a marshmallow stick and set in a corner to do something more useful, and we generally just ask that people be courteous toward each other.
If your membership ever should disappear, it probably got caught in our tougher spamcatcher, me: I’m always suspicious when I see a user name that could not be replicated without a codebook. If this happens, nothing personal: if you post once, you enter my memory bank, and it’s less likely to happen. Besides, part of the fun around here is people getting to know one another, and we have some of the most interesting hobbies and pets and people on this site.
We are tightly linked to two other sites, listed over in the left sidebar, with a clickable link. Lynn doesn’t have memberships on her site—anybody can post; Jane’s site requires a membership to post (it’s the spammer thing) and if you join this site, might as well zip over there and join hers, and zip over to Lynn’s and comment, too. But we are all 3 the owners/managers/artists/writers of Closed Circle, which is how we sell our e-books: we all 3 used to share one roof: now we’re at opposite ends of the country from Lynn, but we’re all working on the same project. If you want pix, Jane’s site has lots of them, and if there’s anything going on that’s picture-worthy, Jane almost always has them—the more so since she finally got a replacement for the camera which kept shedding parts as you took pictures. It ran out of parts to shed, and she finally got one of those little jobs you can carry in your purse or pocket. Pix may now blossom all over the place.
I don’t think I ever introduced myself. I’m known as Shlinas over on Shejidan…I’m Spence’s daughter. Currently spending my days chasing around two little ones and when I find a free moment, I’m rereading the Chanur series (just started the Kif Strike Back).
I just registered. I follow you on one of my twitter accounts. I am known as nDelphi or Delphi around the 3D Art scene. I tried putting together a 3D graphic novel, but never finished it; a sin, I know. What can I say? Unlike my characters, I am human. LOL! Glad to be here.
P.S. I will never use the word ma’am. I promise. 🙂
Well, I’m not new but any book you haven’t read is new to you.
I’m a long time science fiction reader. The first book I remember reading, and I’m sure it isn’t the first one, is Pebble In The Sky in the mid 50s. Why a 10 year old liked a talky book with a 60 year old tailor I couldn’t tell you but I did and I was off and running.
About me personally, I was/am a recording engineer and sound mixer. I worked in the record, TV and movie businesses for 35 years and I’m sure you’ve heard my work and didn’t know it.
I’m also a stain grade finish carpenter and custom bicycle maker. I’m not married and quite a catch as I work in both wood and metal.
I write and I’m currently trying to fix a mystery that I wrote myself into a plot hole and can’t get out. It’s rewrite time. I also wrote a sitcom pilot that I know wouldn’t get produced but I’d sat there saying “I can write better than this” so many times that I thought I’d better put my money where my mouth was. It’s funny and not joke funny, although there are plenty of jokes, but character funny. And I like it.
Enough for now. Thanks for dropping in.
Phil Brown
@ Brittanie….nice to see you here! ;-D
Welcome all!
I read Pebble in the Sky, too, in Junior High—such a rich imagination the good doctor had!
Thank you all so much for becoming official! It gives us weight on the ‘net and, sort of like a planet forming from a batch of dust, then attracting more and more particles, a new member gives us mass that gives us resources—and makes it possible for more and more people to find us and join in.
Hi CJ
I’ve been a fan of yours since “The Gate of Ivrel” first came out and I generally hang out on LiveJournal where there is a RSS feed to this blog.
Did you know that Suzette Hadin Elgin aka ozarque at LJ is fascinated by how well you depict aliens and can deliver needed info without the dreaded infodumps? Her posts on the subject are at:
http://ozarque.livejournal.com/644259.html
http://ozarque.livejournal.com/644972.html
http://ozarque.livejournal.com/645265.html
http://ozarque.livejournal.com/645548.html
http://ozarque.livejournal.com/646381.html
http://ozarque.livejournal.com/646963.html
Hello, I’ve been a long time lurker, reading the blog for years to figure out when a new book would be forthcoming and just following my favorite author and all her adventures. My first sci fi read was Ursuala K. LeGuin’s The Left Hand of Darkness for a freshman college English class and I’ve been addicted ever since. Now a middle-aged single woman with two cats – both shelter adoptees as adults. The female, Cassandra, is at least 19 years old; the male, Sylvester is at least 6 (and no, he’s not a tuxedo – I named him after felis silvestri, the wild cats of Libya). Still employed, worked too many hours – used to travel a lot internationally. Never owned a TV so a bit outside of the American mass culture. And I always take a vacation day when there’s a new Bren book so I can read it cover to cover in one sitting!
I have minimal computer skills, I am still trying to figure out how to get a personal avatar.
oooh, the avatar mess. We tear our hair out over the avatar business, and you are not alone.
Does anybody want to explain how to make the avatar thing work? I can’t, because my avatar is not a Gravatar, and I don’t know how to manage the ones that are.
Hmm, as a user of the sites that have Gravatar enabled, you don’t have to do much more than have a suitable picture and go here and enlist http://en.gravatar.com/
The various plugins on the various sites that are Gravatar enabled then connect to the picture and put it into the boxes next to the comments.
Since WordPress blogs are quite popular and they enabled gravatar plugins very early, and additionally there are loads of plugins to enable them on other blog software, you’ll find them a lot around the web these days.
Addendum: They are connected to the email address that you sign up with, so if you chose to register for a blog site with the plugin with a DIFFERENT email address, your gravatar will not show up on that site.
Read their page … lets see if it works …
Do I have an avatar?
Oh well. At least i feel very much like that icon today …
Too Darn Hot for North West Washington!
Hang in re the avatar. Somebody surely can help figure it out!
You aren’t kidding re North East Washington—We’ve been building retaining wall. And starting at 4:30 am is the only way to beat the heat.
Hi. Long time lurker and reader, first time poster. My first science fiction read was in elementary school in the ‘sixties, the book was one my older sister had gotten from the library: Robert Heinlein’s “Red Planet”. I’ve been reading science fiction ever since! My first CJ book was The Pride Of Chanur. A couple of months ago I introduced a co-worker to The Foreigner series and she was seriously hooked just after reading the first one, and immediately went out and bought the entire set (more income for CJ!). My work involves computers, but it’s mainframe computers — me no savvy small-box computer stuff. I also loathe computers, with a deep and abiding hatred, but — meh, it’s a living. I really enjoy postings about the mechanics of writing and the crafting of a story. I’ve set up an avatar using Gravatar and cropping a picture of some of my own artwork but it might be too tiny and fussy, so we’ll see how it turns out.
OK! I’m game. A lurker since Cherryh’s World. I discover CJ (Morgaine Stories) on the library shelves and it was love at first read. Then Mri, Chaur, etc. Then came Foreigner… I couldn’t buy them fast enough. I am a science dean for a Florida community college and have been reading sci fi and fantasy since I was 10.
Glad to make all your acquaintances.
Our 1000th member is joyfulscribe! Welcome to all our new people—settle in, kick back, relax, and enjoy! And I am very glad to make your acquaintance!
Congratulations on reaching 1000, CJ! Joyfulscribe is an appropriate name for #1000! 🙂 😀 😆
Congratulations on reaching 1,000. That’s fantastic.
My name is Kreszentia, but most people call me Zenzi since it’s easier to pronounce, and I joined a few weeks back. I first read your Fortress series, which I enjoyed immensely, followed by The Dreaming Tree. It took me a while to get around to reading the Foreigner series because I was convinced I didn’t like science fiction since I’d never read it (great reason, yes?). That changed when I was desperate for reading material and read Ender’s Game. Since I enjoyed it and it was science fiction, to make sure it wasn’t a fluke I decided to read Foreigner since I liked your work, thinking that would increase my chances of finding another science fiction book I liked. It absolutely did work. I read Foreigner and immediately – I mean that quite literally – ordered every book in the series from Amazon in hardcover. I joined because I am looking forward to Invader.
This is already too long, but I must say: I moved to Korea before Deceiver came out so when I first started to read it and read ‘Tabini-aiji’ or ‘paidhi-aiji’ I had to smile because I would picture an ajima. The words actually switch out very well – both convey authority and wisdom.
Hurrah! A thousand strong and growing!
hooray! for the 1000th member!
I am in the UK and have been an avid reader of CJ’s since I found Merchanter’s Luck in a local secondhand book shop. I design super expensive cashmere cardigans embroidered with special designs and make pots and I have a very annoying natural swimming pond attached to a house and olive grove in spain. I’ve been reading CJ’s log for several years, so it’s great fun to have access to this more interactive blog; can’t believe how time is found for writing and garden , blog and developing e-books …
Hi!
Fast puppy-update. Trinkett is doing well after her amputation. She hates having to wear her muzzle, I hate the idea of the wound getting infected worse. But other than that, and the occasional yelp as she figures out how to get around without tweaking the incision, she is doing very well. In another week the stitches come out and we see if we can restart the chemo. Can’t do that while the incision is healing, because the chemo drugs attack fast-growing cells, which are the ones making the incision heal up.
And my shy little Katie girl is blossoming under Trink’s gentle guidance. She is becoming much more outgoing, will go outside on her own, comes looking for petting, chatters at me in the morning, and is exceptionally happy to see her dinner dish! This may not sound like much, but compared to how she acted when I first got her… doing normal “dog things” is a major step forward for her.
That is so good! Do not weaken on the muzzle thing: Ysabel managed to pop her stitches (Efanor helped) after she was neutered, and I am here to tell you the treatment for popped stitches is nothing to wish on any creature. She and vets have never been the same since.
And how good about Katie! I’m of a belief that critters can heal each other, psychologically, and how good they are friends!
Oh yes. Katie definitely feeds on Trink’s energy level. When Trink was in the hospital, Katie wouldn’t budge off her bed. I had to bring her food to her, and carry her out for potty breaks. And yeah, carrying a 60 pound dog is not the easiest thing to do! Trink comes home, and Katie is out in the living room to greet her and then settles in to eat dinner and go out for a potty break. She’s looking forward to when Trink can actually play with her. It’s also very amusing to see how Katie acts when Trink is getting ready to go for a walk. Walks are Trink’s favorite thing, and Katie will be dancing around us while Trink is getting her harness on, and will actually let me put her harness on (Katie’s, just to be clear), and then will eagerly follow us to the door, at which point she slams on her brakes with this amazed “you think GOING OUTSIDE is actually fun??” look, and run off to her bed. I figure that eventually she will follow us out, and then we can start working on short walks, etc.
And yes, the muzzle is going to be worn. Apparently just licking the stitches increases the risk of infection, and that’s the last thing I want to deal with right now. I will admit that it’s a bit messy. In order to keep her from licking, I have to use a basket muzzle with a poop guard (http://www.gemgreyhounds.org/images/store/merchandise/muzzles/stool_guards.jpg), which will still allow her to drink. But it does that by having small holes that lets water get inside the muzzle, and that means whenever Trink lifts her head, lots of water comes dripping out of the muzzle onto the floor, the carpet, etc. Ah well.. it won’t be forever!
Very happy for you, and yes, the muzzle is a necessity. Better than the cone of silence [as my husband calls it]– at least she can lie down and maneuver around easier with the muzzle. Poor pup, not fun, but things sound hopeful. Got fingers crossed for you and the critters.
One sincerely wished to meet Her Majesty Ysabel and the Dark Prince Efanor, but, because there were so many of us there, and kitty nervous systems easily go into overload at the sight of so many humans, I understand the reason they were given the solitude during our visits.
Alas, Ysabel in particular can go from purring one moment to biting the heck out of a person repeatedly in the blink of an eye. I can ‘read’ her pretty well, but I can’t move fast enough to save a third party. Efanor just has a nervous meltdown and probably takes more stress than she does. hers just goes straight to her adrenalined outburst, and he internalizes his.
Well, I mostly lurk here, but Estara’s comment above made me want to try out using my mobileread avatar here, too, and maybe everywhere. So I went off and signed up, and now I have to post something so that I can see if it worked…
I’ve been reading you for ages, but Jane’s work has been a nice gift since CC opened up. I do seem to recall that five or six years ago, on a trip to Toronto for AdAstra, you or Jane told me that you would never do ebooks because they were so easy to pirate… I’m awfully glad you changed your minds!
All the best – pholy
Yay! ^^ Eureka!
😆 minds do change! And the saving grace has been the quality and honesty of our readers.
One never forces oneself on a cat, especially if the cat doesn’t know you. It took me 3 days to get my first cat used to me, 5 days for Birdie, it seemed like weeks for Ruthie, and then Sydney just seemed to take to me like I was her only owner. I have a book on “How to Talk to Your Cat”, written by a veterinary psychologist. One doesn’t stare at the cat, unless one wishes to become the cat’s enemy. If you don’t want the cat to feel intimidated, take a quick peek, then look away. In other words, do what the cat does….;)
I’m still up in the air about which ereader to get. I’m still leaning toward the Sony, but I’ll wait and see. I did look at one on display, but I don’t think it’s quite what I want. Consumer’s Repo..er, a leading consumer’s magazine did tests on the various ereaders, so I’m waiting to see if any new developments happen.