http://baens-universe.com/articles/The_Mudlark

Pat Cadigan’s got a story up at Baen’s website. It’s about mothers and daughters, but unfortunately cuts off (it’s a pay site) right when the story’s getting good. You can read the rest of it for 6 bucks.

Posted in Uncategorized
Get the feed or get email updates
Submit Article: Stumble it! | Del.icio.us | Reddit | Digg

Gina Biggs’ long-running Red String series (volumes one, two, and three are all available at Amazon) is reaching a climax. The series has been focusing on the trials and tribulations of three high school girls as they come to terms with their sexuality and burgeoning adulthood. While it’s drawn/plotted as a conventional manga, it’s far more than that. Miharu is bold, assertive, and the aggressor in her relationship with her soulmate Kazuo. Reika, the shy one, has been growing into a more confident young woman after a jerk from her school jilted her. What’s even cooler is that she did NOT fall into the arms of her grouchy, grumpy best friend Eiji, even though he seems to have feelings for her. Instead, she’s taking some time to work on herself. Fuuko has finally come out of the closet, and handled her “coming out” conversation with her first crush (the captain of the girl’s volleyball team) with well-earned poise. Plus, you’ve got to love that all the characters are drawn as Japanese, unlike in some other mangas or animes, where it’s blondes, blondes, blondes, and Brits every frickin’ where. I love that the colored versions of each girl shows different skin-tones, and that their various (dyed) hair-styles are treated as essential components of their characterization, not as a generic component of their ethnic hotness.

Finally, while the datin’-drama is fun, this is really a story about those friendships that sustain girls as they morph into young women. Miharu, Reika, and Fuuko’s friendship has been the series underlying driving force for a while now… they’ve been separated, but it’s been great to watch them start new friendships and work to maintain these life-preserving old ones.

I wanted to mention this comic because Miharu and Kazuo might be ramping things up very soon — and what’s great is that it’s Miharu who’s initiating their growing intimacy, and it’s Miharu who’s making sure they’ve got condoms. GO MIHARU! There’s totally going to be angst, but damn, chica, way to prove you’ve been thinking ahead.

http://redstring.strawberrycomics.com/index.html

Posted in Comics, Online Novels
Get the feed or get email updates
Submit Article: Stumble it! | Del.icio.us | Reddit | Digg

Bellatrys, responding in part to Pat Cadigan’s original post, has a great analysis of Borders’ issues.

She writes:

Now, I don’t know exactly why Borders is doing so much worse than B&N (appears to be) - unlike some past situations, I have no inside line on their struggles, I never worked for this Big Chain Bookstore, so I don’t know what’s led them to this ongoing-for-years flailing around. Without some sort of “tell-all” account from an insider, anyone’s guess is as likely to be wrong, and based on their personal worldoutlooks, as mine. But given my experiences in various businesses, and watching mistakes being made, Cassandra-like, I expect we’ll learn that there were stupid HP/Compaq or AOL/Time-Warner merger level mistakes, which might have been survivable in a time of plenty, but not after the Seven Lean Years we are living through.

They have hit an iceberg, financially speaking, and are taking on water faster than the pumps can get it out. They’ve got to cut down expenses. Not ordering/reordering stock is what you have to do when you’re running out of credit . Though they haven’t been owned by K-Mart for a long time, they are in a very similar situation to the one K-Mart was in in 2002 shortly before they declared bankruptcy, when they couldn’t get suppliers to make deliveries of stuff like dog food and other staples. Anything Borders does needs to be regarded not as Industry Standard Practice but rather as throwing all the cargo overboard, because turning the ship around and driving it backwards to harbor doesn’t look like it’s going to work.*

Posted in Uncategorized
Get the feed or get email updates
Submit Article: Stumble it! | Del.icio.us | Reddit | Digg