mcahogarth
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Writing Guest Posts
🕑 Added 2024-05-07 14:59:04 +0000 UTCI booked myself a virtual book tour for the 15th and the organizer asked me for at least 3 guest posts for the various blogs. I thought you all would be entertained by my first, though it's aimed (obviously) at people who don't know me. :)
Now I only need two more ideas! Give me some if you have one!
WHY NOT BOTH
I drink coffee in the morning, and love picking between different varietals and different styles of drinking it. I will drink straight espresso, Cuban coffee, Turkish coffee, black coffee… I’ll add cream and sugar and honey and molasses and maple syrup. I have yet to meet a coffee I didn’t like. But I drink teas of all kinds, and will happily hold forth on the various medicinal benefits of dozens of herbs. I’ll drink green tea straight, and whisk away at my matcha, and I’ll take my black tea strong with a side of pastries, and then spend an hour sorting my tisane cabinet: chamomile for calm, ginger for digestion, skullcap to sleep, turmeric pepper to wake up. People ask me: are you a coffee or a tea person, and I say, “Yes?”
For years I owned and loved dogs until I reached the apex achievement of dog ownership by finding the Dog of My Heart, a gawky, haphazardly furred rescue from Montserrat. After her passing, I couldn’t bear the thought of replacing her… so of course, God sent a starving kitten to my door. I didn’t think I would like cats, but a year later, that cat was sleeping on my bed next to me and I was smiling and shaking my head while lint-rollering cat fur off everything, including my toothbrush. I still love dogs, but cats have a place in my heart too, so when people ask: are you a dog or a cat person, I say, “Absolutely.”
This is a pattern with me. Foodie food or normal food? Can’t I have both? I love a peanut butter sandwich as much as I like braised duck with raspberry coulis. Ballroom dress princess, or armored up valkryie? How about yes? Pastels or bold colors? Paint one wall sky blue in the bedroom and give me a deep orange wall for the kitchen. Imagine my delight when I visited the California coast: turn to the right, beach. Turn to the left, mountain!
My fiction is like this too. If you give me a dichotomous choice, I wonder why I have to pick. Why do I have to choose between magic and starships? Why can’t I have aliens and engineered cat people? (And dog people!) Why can’t the same universe contain cozy and terrifying, humor and romance, philosophy and action? The real one does.
Earthrise is the first book in one of my starter series leading into the vast Peltedverse setting. It’s got over 35 books in it, but they’re grouped into sets that share a vibe (because as much as I like peanut butter and raspberry duck, I’m not sure about eating them at the same time). Earthrise and her sequels are all space adventure with a dash of romance. But if you liked that cup of coffee, and wonder if you can also have tea… I’m your author, and this is your passport. Come love all the things. I do!
Comments
Fjord
I seriously thought you were going to mention the whole Dreamhealers series after all the coffee, tea, and food choices and having both. || Edit: maybe a discussion about writing from alien perspectives where the physiology drives part of the story and why it’s interesting to expand the idea of “who are people?” - I’m partway through the first book of the Stone Moon trilogy. Having fun guessing the physiology underpinnings (I’m reading it as cold blooded beings with thermal vision; the ability to switch genders makes me think amphibious; the structure of society built on a tripod of gender; how biological function and gender roles and autonomy play out in small enclave communities that don’t get a lot of cultural exchange and travel across large distances).
Brian Bradley
Love this!
