Well, I'm back. On April 28th I was unable to login. Then I was informed by the login that my account was locked down. There doesn't seem to be a way to inform anyone at BC about a login problem unless you can login to tell them.

Today I was allowed access to change my password--which I wasn't before, because the account was locked.

So I'm back.

I hope the problems at the site get sorted out.
Otherwise, I am going to miss this place.

charlie.

Just read a blog about the old Nine Princes in Amber series by Roger Zelazny and it got me to thinking about a novel that I purchased back in 1975 for my wife that Christmas. First hardcover edition of the English translation (by Derek Coltman) of Malevil by Robert Merle. Merle was also the author of the bestseller, Day of the Dolphin, some of you may remember. The only books of his, still in print, are in 50 languages--none of them English. All his English novels are out-of-print.

Last week I was locked out of BigCloset for three days, unable to login because either my username or my password was unacceptible. Could not even use the link to change the password-- because when I did, I got a message the link was bad, or backfetch had failed, or the link was no longer valid, or (really the topper) that I had already used the link before.

Same thing yesterday. Today I only got backfetched twice.

I miss this sight. I really do.

charlie

Does anyone ever notice how few woman heroines are drawn like this nowadays?
Normal, vulnerable, but resolute?

.

Hunted, by c. schiman

charlie.

I was just sitting around looking at some photos of some of my old artwork and came across this one. It was done back in May 2005, when I could still hold a paintbrush. It's oil on canvas (25" x 20) and (as far as I know) is residing in a home in eastern Colorado. I titled it, The Meaning of Life, and the "secret" of the painting is the lettering highlighted in yellow inside the equation.

charlie

I thought I would talk about Natalie Barrett's children's book, Tuck Everlasting. It is a story, written in the late nineteen-seventies. It starts in early 19th century America. A pioneering family, the Tucks, stumble upon a spring with water that gives them immortality when drunk. Although it take them another some years to realize it, they find they have to go undercover to go on living their lives. Because each time their secret is discovered, they are denounced as demons, devils, or witches.

Just finished painting this to illustrate the quote.

charlie.

I have been disappointed, lately, with the lack of good transgender novels to read. I will admit that I am kind of fussy about what I like to read. I like character-driven stories. Not magical, or gender-swapping types, but more down-to-earth things; like plotlines which show how we cope with the intricacies of life. The struggles to fit in; not necessarily in dramatic movie-of-the-week ways, but how to fit in with "normal" society and be whole. I like mysteries and thriller elements, too.

I went to see the eye doctor for my yearly check-up.

I just read an interesting novel , A Lion in Waiting (Kindle Edition) by H.W. Coyle.

Wendy Carlos - A Biography, by Amanda Sewell.
Oxford University Press; Illustrated edition (September 2, 2020) Hardcover.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've just posted a new short story, Legends. If you've already read it since I posted it, I have just revised it (fixed the typos, hopefully all of them, and added some extra bits to the story). I want to add that the story is a mix of mystery, a puzzle of the past, and a hodgepodge mixture of science fiction, magic, mythology, gods and the continuation of a long-standing vendetta. Creating the main character's voice and how he tells his story was hard and--in the end--very satisfying.

Missing Without A Trace: A Kelly Mitchell Mystery is now available on Barnes and Noble!!

I'm so excited!!

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/missing-without-a-trace-cha...

I just received this at 10:43AM this morning.

Hello,

Thank you for the e-mail concerning the status of your account.

After reviewing your response, we have reinstated your account, but we are upholding our previous decision to remove the following books from Amazon:

Missing Without A Trace: A Kelly Mitchell Mystery (ASIN:B07BBW4T2X)
Missing Without A Trace: A Kelly Mitchell Mystery (ASIN:B07BF9FKJ4)

Please note that you are ineligible to receive any KU and KOLL royalties related to these books.