Hey everyone, Mod R here. Or should I say the resident Grinch? I feel Ilona on wanting holiday cheer (ffs!), but I for one have been desperately resisting the coming of winter. Like many of you, I don’t think the Roaring Whatthefucks 2020s have shown all they can do yet, so I’m not actually in
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The Saga of SubZero
About three weeks ago, I was cooking a shepherd’s pie. I will now pause to address the concerns raised by the UK cooks every time this is mentioned. In UK, shepherd’s pie is made with minced lamb and cottage pie is made with minced beef. In US, any dish that involves layers of corn or
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Connected Experiences
Still editing Maggie. Mad respect to Stephanie, our editor, for sticking with this and seeing the potential there, because right now I’m slightly embarrassed at having turned in such crappy draft before. Onto more important matters. Microsoft snuck AI into the latest version of Word. By default Microsoft sits there and scans all of your
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The Netherrealm
Yesterday, a man pointed at my Ouija board pinafore costume and asked me whether I “worked there”. I laughed dismissively “Yeah, pal, at the Great Beyond”. Now I recognize him for what he truly was – an unsung modern age prophet. Because this post truly comes to you from the Other Side. PSA: if you
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Existential Helplessness and Hats
It’s time for that post again. It is no secret that the news cycle feeds us endless bad news. I haven’t checked mine this morning but I know what I will find: war, natural disaster, climate calamity, unemployment, retirees in poverty, a story about someone who had symptoms for a while ignored by doctors and
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The Disaster in Western North Carolina
The scale of devastation in Western North Carolina is unprecedented. When you combine mountains and heavy rain, all of the water runs downhill into valleys and rivers and the flooding can be catastrophic. All images are from the Durham Downtown Facebook page. Why didn’t people evacuate? I see this question a lot, and I can
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The Irony
On the phone with Jeaniene Frost Me: I haven’t done anything for a whole week. J: I hear you. Dragoncon was a lot. Me: I might take the next week off too. J: This is so unlike you. I’m starting the new project next week. Me: But why? J: List of reasons that make sense.
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The Time Between
We all have a routine that keeps our lives running. Get up, brush teeth, make coffee, drink a cup, get dressed, head out the door. Don’t forget phone-keys-wallet. We run our dishwashers, we sweep our kitchens, we vacuum our floors, and feed our pets. Being writers, we work from home, and our cycle of routines
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Welcome to the Spamily
About three days ago I was CC’ed on a spam email. We all know what to do with spam. We ignore it, and it gets auto deleted. The people who were also CC’ed on this spam apparently didn’t know this. Instead they responded to the spam via Reply All. That reply then went to the
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My Movers Might Be Wanted by the FBI
Sometimes summers last forever. This summer felt like it, a long marathon of hot days filled with work. We had gone to Florida on a short vacation what feels like a lifetime ago. So much happened. And so much of it has been, well, weird. We sold Maggie and worked on the edits. Still working.
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News From the House
This will be a longish post. First the coolest thing: Hi Ilona & Gordon, I hope you are both doing well and enjoying the summer! I’m so pleased to share that TIME Magazine has recently launched a major romance project, including a list of The 50 Best Romance Novels to Read Right Now that features WILDFIRE
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Hurricanes, Awards, and Color Transitions
Happy Monday! This is going to be just me rambling post. It’s too early for coherency and I am on my first cup of tea. Please wish a swift recovery to Mod R who is feeling a little under the weather and had to wait to get antibiotics over the weekend. We are unsupervised for
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