Entry tags:
languages meme
1. How many languages do you speak?
English fluently.
French & German to GCSE standard once upon a time; I can still get by in both when I try (better at understanding than producing), and I'm trying to improve my German again by reading in German regularly.
A little Spanish, enough that it was useful when I was there last year. I can understand a fair bit, again, more than I can produce, due to knowing French and a smattering of Italian/Latin.
Some Russian, enough that it would be useful if I were likely to be able to go there anytime in the foreseeable future.
Currently learning some Thai for next year's south-east Asia trip.
2. What is your mother tongue?
English.
3. What is a language that you would like to learn and why?
All the languages!
BSL.
Mandarin (I've learnt a little bit a couple of times but never enough to stick. Actually that's true of BSL too.)
I tried learning Hungarian a few years back (before L & I visited Hungary) but yeah, they're not lying when they say it's difficult. I'd like to learn Finnish too, mostly because I'm interested in how it's different from Indo-European languages.
4. Does it bother you when people speak a language you don't know in front of you? Why or why not?
No. I guess it might if it were being done deliberately and specifically to exclude me personally, although even then it would depend a lot on context. Otherwise I don't see why it would bother me.
5. Speak to me.
There's a video on YouTube of me doing a reading for an online event. There's a couple of others on there too I think.
English fluently.
French & German to GCSE standard once upon a time; I can still get by in both when I try (better at understanding than producing), and I'm trying to improve my German again by reading in German regularly.
A little Spanish, enough that it was useful when I was there last year. I can understand a fair bit, again, more than I can produce, due to knowing French and a smattering of Italian/Latin.
Some Russian, enough that it would be useful if I were likely to be able to go there anytime in the foreseeable future.
Currently learning some Thai for next year's south-east Asia trip.
2. What is your mother tongue?
English.
3. What is a language that you would like to learn and why?
All the languages!
BSL.
Mandarin (I've learnt a little bit a couple of times but never enough to stick. Actually that's true of BSL too.)
I tried learning Hungarian a few years back (before L & I visited Hungary) but yeah, they're not lying when they say it's difficult. I'd like to learn Finnish too, mostly because I'm interested in how it's different from Indo-European languages.
4. Does it bother you when people speak a language you don't know in front of you? Why or why not?
No. I guess it might if it were being done deliberately and specifically to exclude me personally, although even then it would depend a lot on context. Otherwise I don't see why it would bother me.
5. Speak to me.
There's a video on YouTube of me doing a reading for an online event. There's a couple of others on there too I think.
Novavax authorisation!
Very pleased that Novavax has been authorised in the EU. I was *usefully* stabbed for science!
(I am aware that even if it hadn't worked out, the science would still have been useful, but it does feel nicer to be a guinea-pig for successful science :) )
(I am aware that even if it hadn't worked out, the science would still have been useful, but it does feel nicer to be a guinea-pig for successful science :) )
More Novavax trial
A couple of weeks ago I had the final appointment in my Novavax vaccine trial. ( vaguely medical stuff but nothing gory )
[0] The very nice doctor, who was excited to hear I was going to see Billy Bragg, recommended this as a coping strategy for any side effects, so it was medically approved and everything. Possibly not so much the whisky ;)
[0] The very nice doctor, who was excited to hear I was going to see Billy Bragg, recommended this as a coping strategy for any side effects, so it was medically approved and everything. Possibly not so much the whisky ;)
Book release!
My next book is out! The Rising Flood (book 3 -- not the final one -- in the Marek series)[0]. E-book only for now; paperback forthcoming in December.
I started editing it back in early 2020, under the fond impression that I'd whisk through that and be done with it by mid-2020. Ahahaha. Finally got it to the publishers about six months ago, so they've done a splendid job of rapid turnaround. Let's hope that book 4 (which should be the last one in the series, at least for now) edits happen a bit quicker.
[0] Book 1, The Deep And Shining Dark, and book 2, Shadow And Storm, if you missed either of those[1] & fancy a read.
[1] Shadow And Storm, unfortunately, had its paperback release on the same day the UK went into its first lockdown, so publicity kind of...suffered.
I started editing it back in early 2020, under the fond impression that I'd whisk through that and be done with it by mid-2020. Ahahaha. Finally got it to the publishers about six months ago, so they've done a splendid job of rapid turnaround. Let's hope that book 4 (which should be the last one in the series, at least for now) edits happen a bit quicker.
[0] Book 1, The Deep And Shining Dark, and book 2, Shadow And Storm, if you missed either of those[1] & fancy a read.
[1] Shadow And Storm, unfortunately, had its paperback release on the same day the UK went into its first lockdown, so publicity kind of...suffered.
brrrrrr
It has been COLD this week. L has been very much enjoying frozen puddles and ice-sheets. (Also Zelda, still, but obviously that is an indoor endeavour.) I fear that the chillis in the greenhouse have definitely had it, but the ones on the windowsill look OK; I'll plant some indoor seeds this afternoon & hopefully get a few more plants, though I've always had terrible luck with germinating chillis.
Currently awaiting a phone call for an appointment for L, which has been stressful largely because I missed a call on Thu and no one has been answering the damn phone since. Hoping to get it sorted today.
I have a story out in the Trans-Galactic Bike Ride anthology (it's great! buy it!), and heard this week that a bunch of stories from the Bikes In Space series are being translated into Italian, and that mine's one of them. So that's pleasing.
Currently awaiting a phone call for an appointment for L, which has been stressful largely because I missed a call on Thu and no one has been answering the damn phone since. Hoping to get it sorted today.
I have a story out in the Trans-Galactic Bike Ride anthology (it's great! buy it!), and heard this week that a bunch of stories from the Bikes In Space series are being translated into Italian, and that mine's one of them. So that's pleasing.
Entry tags:
speaking of things
Apparently there's a "topic per day" December meme floating around somewhere; I am not about to attempt that but if anyone does have any topics they'd be interested in my thoughts on, feel free to suggest.
Entry tags:
gadgety
Months ago, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
doop ordered a ReMarkable 2 (like a cross between a Kindle and an iPad -- e-paper device) for me, and it arrived this week. It is very good at doing what it claims to do: it really does feel very like writing with a pencil or similar on paper. (Not quite so much like a fountain pen, which is what I normally use, but fountain pens are a bit specific, given that I have different ones that feel different to write with, and it's still not far off.) There's some texture to the screen, which makes it a much nicer experience than using an Apple Pencil on the slidey glass screen of an iPad. The texture does mean that the stylus nib wears down; they give you about a dozen spares with the thing itself.
The handwriting recognition is very good, even with my (fairly loopy, joined-up) handwriting, though you can only convert-to-text to send it by email; unlike, eg the Nebo app on the iPad, you can't convert it and save the converted version back to the device. It is great for making notes in a phone conversation (I hate doing that with a keyboard, even with the phone on speaker/hands-free), because you can make the notes and then automatically convert them to text.
I gather it's nice for drawing on; I am not much of an artist, but it feels fun to mess around with.
I am still a bit dubious about whether I really have a use case for it...and if I do, whether this + phone replaces the iPad mini (quite possibly? in which case I could eBay the iPad?). I've been doing some Nano drafting on it though as a kind of end-run around days when I've been struggling to pick up the laptop, and that has worked well. I quite like drafting by hand but I hate typing it up afterwards. Maybe that's enough of a reason, if I do start using it regularly for that :)
doop ordered a ReMarkable 2 (like a cross between a Kindle and an iPad -- e-paper device) for me, and it arrived this week. It is very good at doing what it claims to do: it really does feel very like writing with a pencil or similar on paper. (Not quite so much like a fountain pen, which is what I normally use, but fountain pens are a bit specific, given that I have different ones that feel different to write with, and it's still not far off.) There's some texture to the screen, which makes it a much nicer experience than using an Apple Pencil on the slidey glass screen of an iPad. The texture does mean that the stylus nib wears down; they give you about a dozen spares with the thing itself.The handwriting recognition is very good, even with my (fairly loopy, joined-up) handwriting, though you can only convert-to-text to send it by email; unlike, eg the Nebo app on the iPad, you can't convert it and save the converted version back to the device. It is great for making notes in a phone conversation (I hate doing that with a keyboard, even with the phone on speaker/hands-free), because you can make the notes and then automatically convert them to text.
I gather it's nice for drawing on; I am not much of an artist, but it feels fun to mess around with.
I am still a bit dubious about whether I really have a use case for it...and if I do, whether this + phone replaces the iPad mini (quite possibly? in which case I could eBay the iPad?). I've been doing some Nano drafting on it though as a kind of end-run around days when I've been struggling to pick up the laptop, and that has worked well. I quite like drafting by hand but I hate typing it up afterwards. Maybe that's enough of a reason, if I do start using it regularly for that :)
Entry tags:
Gender, and politics
According to a leak in the Sunday Times (and let us set aside how bloody annoying it is to constantly be finding out about policy by 'leaks' to the press), the proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act to make life a bit easier for trans people, are not, despite the consultation showing 70% support for them, going to happen. And not just that, but there are suggestions that things may be made *more* difficult for trans people.
This is all aimed pretty squarely at trans women (and trans children; there's also a risk of treatment being made even harder to get for trans kids which, given how hard it is already, is pretty horrifying). It will, of course, affect other trans people. (As it happens, it is unlikely to affect me personally, as a non-binary person who is pretty invariably read as a woman, except for the emotional impact of the whole shitty business.)
I find it hard to write about this, partly because of how very distressed it makes me. Scared for my friends, and for the kids I support via Mermaids. Sad and confused that this strange thing has happened in some strands of British feminism that has led to this place where some people believe that in order to protect cis women they need to further marginalise trans women. (And other trans people, but this particular debate is squarely focussed on trans women and largely ignores trans men and non-binary people other than to paint them as deluded; as above, that doesn't protect them from its effects and impacts.)
Laurie Penny has written an excellent (long) article talking about how British feminism got here and why the transphobia currently highly visible in some strands of British feminism is bullshit, so there's all of that; she's saying it better than I can.
Self-ID (which is still a legal declaration with legal force, not, like, something you print out off the internet) has existed in other countries for years, with no ill effects or resulting issues. The 'safety' issue is a massive red herring. Men wanting to abuse women don't *need* to pretend to be women and sneak into women's toilets to do so; it's not like rapists and other sexual assaulters generally face any significant consequences for their actions. How about we focus on that? In any case, when was the last time you got asked for your ID (still less your birth certificate) to go into a public lavatory? If you do start asking people to prove their gender before entering a single-sex public space, who do you ask? Everyone? People who don't look 'feminine' enough? Whose body shape doesn't match your expectations? (Whose expectations?) How the hell can this possibly be 'feminist'? (This sort of toilet policing has already started happening to cis women who don't 'look right', indeed happened to a butch lesbian friend; and the N Carolina 'bathroom bills' were unworkable and were in the end struck down.) Women's refuges have been including trans women for years, because trans women, like cis women, can be victims of domestic violence.
Trans women get this much scrutiny precisely *because* of misogyny and the patriarchy: it's the same damn struggle. Trans rights are human rights; trans women's rights are women's rights; black trans lives matter; and this is all intersectional. That's it.
This is all aimed pretty squarely at trans women (and trans children; there's also a risk of treatment being made even harder to get for trans kids which, given how hard it is already, is pretty horrifying). It will, of course, affect other trans people. (As it happens, it is unlikely to affect me personally, as a non-binary person who is pretty invariably read as a woman, except for the emotional impact of the whole shitty business.)
I find it hard to write about this, partly because of how very distressed it makes me. Scared for my friends, and for the kids I support via Mermaids. Sad and confused that this strange thing has happened in some strands of British feminism that has led to this place where some people believe that in order to protect cis women they need to further marginalise trans women. (And other trans people, but this particular debate is squarely focussed on trans women and largely ignores trans men and non-binary people other than to paint them as deluded; as above, that doesn't protect them from its effects and impacts.)
Laurie Penny has written an excellent (long) article talking about how British feminism got here and why the transphobia currently highly visible in some strands of British feminism is bullshit, so there's all of that; she's saying it better than I can.
Self-ID (which is still a legal declaration with legal force, not, like, something you print out off the internet) has existed in other countries for years, with no ill effects or resulting issues. The 'safety' issue is a massive red herring. Men wanting to abuse women don't *need* to pretend to be women and sneak into women's toilets to do so; it's not like rapists and other sexual assaulters generally face any significant consequences for their actions. How about we focus on that? In any case, when was the last time you got asked for your ID (still less your birth certificate) to go into a public lavatory? If you do start asking people to prove their gender before entering a single-sex public space, who do you ask? Everyone? People who don't look 'feminine' enough? Whose body shape doesn't match your expectations? (Whose expectations?) How the hell can this possibly be 'feminist'? (This sort of toilet policing has already started happening to cis women who don't 'look right', indeed happened to a butch lesbian friend; and the N Carolina 'bathroom bills' were unworkable and were in the end struck down.) Women's refuges have been including trans women for years, because trans women, like cis women, can be victims of domestic violence.
Trans women get this much scrutiny precisely *because* of misogyny and the patriarchy: it's the same damn struggle. Trans rights are human rights; trans women's rights are women's rights; black trans lives matter; and this is all intersectional. That's it.
Entry tags:
Picocon!
I am going to be a Guest of Honour at Picocon (very small but perfectly formed SFF convention run annually by the Imperial College SFF society) this year! It is on Sat 22nd February, at Imperial College London[0] (it's near South Ken tube), so if anyone fancies a one-day SFF convention in London at around a tenner a ticket, I urge you to come along and see me, Tamsyn Muir (author of the most excellent Gideon the Ninth), and Roz Kaveney. We will variously all get to talk about something we fancy talking about, and take part in a panel discussion; plus there are other bits and bobs going on during the day. And a bar, of course.
As per the above paragraph, I am expected to give a talk about "anything you like, honestly!"; at present I have no idea what this is going to be. (Suggestions welcome.) I hope it will be entertaining, at any rate.
[0] Where I used to work, some years ago!
As per the above paragraph, I am expected to give a talk about "anything you like, honestly!"; at present I have no idea what this is going to be. (Suggestions welcome.) I hope it will be entertaining, at any rate.
[0] Where I used to work, some years ago!
Entry tags:
Richard III and Henry VI at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
Obviously the correct chronological order is the other way around, but I saw them backwards; which was interesting! in that I noticed various things in Henry VI that they picked up again in Richard III, whereas I suppose it's supposed to be the other way around. (Also when Richard came on I thought "aw yay!" which I'm pretty sure is *not* supposed to be the response to seeing Shakespeare's Richard :D ) Henry VI normally comes in three parts; this was Parts II and III squashed together into 3h20, including two intervals.
Note: I don't think 'spoilers' is exactly a thing in this context, but if you were intending to watch either of these in the week or so before they close (WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you can), and you prefer not to read in advance about production choices, perhaps don't read these somewhat rambly observations.
( tl;dr bloody (very bloody) great )
Note: I don't think 'spoilers' is exactly a thing in this context, but if you were intending to watch either of these in the week or so before they close (WHICH I HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you can), and you prefer not to read in advance about production choices, perhaps don't read these somewhat rambly observations.
( tl;dr bloody (very bloody) great )
Entry tags:
Book! (As in, my book!)
Shadow and Storm, the second book in my Marek series, came out today in e-book form (print to follow in March). I am coping with this marginally better than I did with the release of the first one, which is nice.
Secondary world fantasy with magic, politics, and lots of queer people. Obv I encourage you all to read it :)
Secondary world fantasy with magic, politics, and lots of queer people. Obv I encourage you all to read it :)
Entry tags:
Can't imagine anyone on my list needs this reminder, but...
...if you're a UK voter, remember to vote today. Vote the Tories out.
I nearly* had to wade through a FLOOD to vote!
* Got slightly wet feet before being redirected by helpful TfL and SGN** folks making sure people could cross safely further up the road and reach the polling station.
** who put the hole in the water main in the first place
I nearly* had to wade through a FLOOD to vote!
* Got slightly wet feet before being redirected by helpful TfL and SGN** folks making sure people could cross safely further up the road and reach the polling station.
** who put the hole in the water main in the first place
Entry tags:
Yuletide 2019 Letter
Hi Yuletide Writer!
Lots of info further down, in case you like that. (As a writer I find it helpful, so maybe you will too!) If that's not your bag, feel free to skip the rest of the letter. I'm just going to flag up that I absolutely can't cope with rape, serious child/animal harm, or child/animal death. And thank you SO MUCH for volunteering to write one of these tiny fandoms; can't wait to see what you come up with!
( fandoms! unlikely to be of interest to readers who are not my prospective Yuletide writer :) )
Lots of info further down, in case you like that. (As a writer I find it helpful, so maybe you will too!) If that's not your bag, feel free to skip the rest of the letter. I'm just going to flag up that I absolutely can't cope with rape, serious child/animal harm, or child/animal death. And thank you SO MUCH for volunteering to write one of these tiny fandoms; can't wait to see what you come up with!
( fandoms! unlikely to be of interest to readers who are not my prospective Yuletide writer :) )
Entry tags:
Politics
Petition: do not prorogue Parliament (possibly this is too late in the strict sense, but as an expression of concern/intent/etc it's useful enough).
L & I took ourselves off to College Green yesterday evening, after a quick explanation of what 'suspending Parliament' ('prorogue' is a slightly absurd word and he is only 7) means and why it's a bad thing, with a quickly-drawn sign saying "SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY" and Johnson's name in a red crossed-out circle. Excellent design work that child.
I gather there's another London protest at noon on Saturday at Downing St.
L & I took ourselves off to College Green yesterday evening, after a quick explanation of what 'suspending Parliament' ('prorogue' is a slightly absurd word and he is only 7) means and why it's a bad thing, with a quickly-drawn sign saying "SAVE OUR DEMOCRACY" and Johnson's name in a red crossed-out circle. Excellent design work that child.
I gather there's another London protest at noon on Saturday at Downing St.
Jesus Christ Superstar at the Barbican
Yesterday my sister and I went to the Barbican (which is a very comfy theatre!) to see their production of Jesus Christ Superstar (which apparently is the same as the 2016 Regent's Park outdoor one).
( spoilers for staging etc if you mind about that )
( spoilers for staging etc if you mind about that )
Entry tags:
Worldcon!
Spent the last 5 days in Dublin for Worldcon (plus a day before on train/ferry getting there). It was awesome; I am now very tired.
There was lots of time hanging out with lovely people: some who were already good friends, some I was meeting in-person for the first time (hurrah for internet people!), and some folk I already knew a bit in person but got to spend more time with. All of which was wonderful. I was intending to prioritise socialising over programme content this time (especially given that some of the people I wanted to hang out with are folk who I am unlikely to see again for years at a time), and that worked out really well :)
Programme-wise I was on two panels (one on fanfic and representation, one on art/craft), moderated another (on fanfic and community), and co-'ran' the Stitch & Bitch, which is very low effort as it just means "turn up on time and be friendly to people". And attended between 2 and 4 panels a day, almost all of which were excellent. There was one I left halfway through because they weren't addressing the topic, there had been one too many heteronormative comments, and I hadn't had my TEA yet so wasn't coping; I was chatting online with a couple of other folk also in it, so we all escaped and went for TEA and a cathartic rant which turned the whole experience into one of my fun con memories.
(edited to add) Also went to the orchestra concert on Fri evening, which was great.
The Archive Of Our Own won a Hugo! It was a damn good Hugos list all round (winners and nominees and long-list), but I was especially thrilled about that one. Partly because it feels personal (I use the Archive all the time, I've had an account since the closed beta, I volunteered for a while) and partly because I can't imagine that happening 10 or even 5 years ago. It feels really important as a marker of the way the overall SFF community is changing. I wasn't at the ceremony but I was watching in the bar, and there was cheering in there too. I may have done a little cry.
I bought an art! (A small thing by Sara Felix.) And picked up my beautiful rainbow bracelet from V Anne. Not only is it gorgeous, but being able to fiddle with it whilst chatting to people means that this is the first con I've ever come away from without having wrecked all my nails gnawing on them. I am proud of myself!
But yes mostly my highlights are all the lovely people, and generally 5 days spent being fannish and surrounded by delightful fannish folks :)
Bloody hell I am SO TIRED today though.
There was lots of time hanging out with lovely people: some who were already good friends, some I was meeting in-person for the first time (hurrah for internet people!), and some folk I already knew a bit in person but got to spend more time with. All of which was wonderful. I was intending to prioritise socialising over programme content this time (especially given that some of the people I wanted to hang out with are folk who I am unlikely to see again for years at a time), and that worked out really well :)
Programme-wise I was on two panels (one on fanfic and representation, one on art/craft), moderated another (on fanfic and community), and co-'ran' the Stitch & Bitch, which is very low effort as it just means "turn up on time and be friendly to people". And attended between 2 and 4 panels a day, almost all of which were excellent. There was one I left halfway through because they weren't addressing the topic, there had been one too many heteronormative comments, and I hadn't had my TEA yet so wasn't coping; I was chatting online with a couple of other folk also in it, so we all escaped and went for TEA and a cathartic rant which turned the whole experience into one of my fun con memories.
(edited to add) Also went to the orchestra concert on Fri evening, which was great.
The Archive Of Our Own won a Hugo! It was a damn good Hugos list all round (winners and nominees and long-list), but I was especially thrilled about that one. Partly because it feels personal (I use the Archive all the time, I've had an account since the closed beta, I volunteered for a while) and partly because I can't imagine that happening 10 or even 5 years ago. It feels really important as a marker of the way the overall SFF community is changing. I wasn't at the ceremony but I was watching in the bar, and there was cheering in there too. I may have done a little cry.
I bought an art! (A small thing by Sara Felix.) And picked up my beautiful rainbow bracelet from V Anne. Not only is it gorgeous, but being able to fiddle with it whilst chatting to people means that this is the first con I've ever come away from without having wrecked all my nails gnawing on them. I am proud of myself!
But yes mostly my highlights are all the lovely people, and generally 5 days spent being fannish and surrounded by delightful fannish folks :)
Bloody hell I am SO TIRED today though.
plans and consultations
Courtesy of sfred: English/Welsh folks (it's a devolved matter for Scotland/NI) may be interested in the consultation about allowing opposite-sex people to convert an existing marriage to a civil partnership, and ending the right for same-sex people to convert the other way (the former on the grounds that people might have gotten married who would have preferred a CP were it available, and the latter on the grounds that a) anyone who got CPed & would have preferred a marriage has had plenty of opportunity to switch now, and the trans issue no longer applies if you can continue with a CP after changing gender). Consultation ends 20 Aug, and took me 5-10 min to fill in, time mostly taken with reading all the stuff they've written before each question as the questions themselves are all yes/no/don't know with no text boxes.
Tomorrow I am off to Worldcon! I have not packed yet, and I am out visiting friends with L this afternoon and watching Stranger Things withdogrando tonight. But I do have a list and I put a wash on this morning which is now drying in the sunshine (glad today isn't yesterday...) so I'm sure it will all be fine.
This week I have mostly been recovering from holiday; trying to get some work done between holiday 1 and holiday 2 (to the extent that Worldcon counts as 'holiday'; it will be lovely but also very very full-on); and writing fic withlaurashapiro (collaboration on writing being mostly a new thing for me[0]) which is proving to be lots of fun.
Realised last week that L has started biting his fingernails, which I fear is a habit he has picked up from me, whoops. We have made a Pact that we are both going to remind each other not to if we see each other doing it. I'd really rather he avoided solidifying it as a habit if possible because these things are way harder to ditch than they are to acquire :/
[0] I did co-write that Purple Prose chapter with Grant, but that was a very different sort of writing.
sfred: English/Welsh folks (it's a devolved matter for Scotland/NI) may be interested in the consultation about allowing opposite-sex people to convert an existing marriage to a civil partnership, and ending the right for same-sex people to convert the other way (the former on the grounds that people might have gotten married who would have preferred a CP were it available, and the latter on the grounds that a) anyone who got CPed & would have preferred a marriage has had plenty of opportunity to switch now, and the trans issue no longer applies if you can continue with a CP after changing gender). Consultation ends 20 Aug, and took me 5-10 min to fill in, time mostly taken with reading all the stuff they've written before each question as the questions themselves are all yes/no/don't know with no text boxes. Tomorrow I am off to Worldcon! I have not packed yet, and I am out visiting friends with L this afternoon and watching Stranger Things with
dogrando tonight. But I do have a list and I put a wash on this morning which is now drying in the sunshine (glad today isn't yesterday...) so I'm sure it will all be fine.This week I have mostly been recovering from holiday; trying to get some work done between holiday 1 and holiday 2 (to the extent that Worldcon counts as 'holiday'; it will be lovely but also very very full-on); and writing fic with
laurashapiro (collaboration on writing being mostly a new thing for me[0]) which is proving to be lots of fun.Realised last week that L has started biting his fingernails, which I fear is a habit he has picked up from me, whoops. We have made a Pact that we are both going to remind each other not to if we see each other doing it. I'd really rather he avoided solidifying it as a habit if possible because these things are way harder to ditch than they are to acquire :/
[0] I did co-write that Purple Prose chapter with Grant, but that was a very different sort of writing.