The scene around her proved that well enough. As if a penis would somehow prove more useful to the Cause than her peculiar “gift.” From what Elle had discerned over the last few months, whatever supposed benefits the organ conferred were canceled out by mulishness and a propensity for tomfoolery. She doubted it was the latter, but the man was unduly annoyed at her for having the gall to aid her country without virtue of a certain appendage hanging between her thighs. Easy? Either her superior had dreadfully underestimated the Southern male’s love of an opportunity to do violence, or he’d purposely set her in the middle of danger. One that even a girl such as yourself should be able to handle.” Elle suppressed a bitter laugh as she recalled her Loyal League master LaValle’s briefing from a few days before. April 1861 Baltimore, Maryland “It will be an easy assignment, a simple passing on of information.
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In Witch King I wanted to do something a little different. I also used a lot of historical sources to create the material culture of the world. Not just in politics and government and fashion, but in physical layout, with the city changing to accommodate the development of trains, automobiles, and electric light. In the Ile-Rien books, I wanted to show a secondary world fantasy setting, centered around the city Vienne, that realistically aged and changed over time. It’s different for each writer, and for me at least it’s different for every book. But I think it actually varies a lot based on the preferences of the writer and their method of work. I think people tend to talk about worldbuilding as if it’s one static process that is the same every time you do it. Witch King by Martha Wells (Tor.com, May 30, 2023). I was on the lookout for the lamp over the Firehouse Station. I had reservations at what is considered the best restaurant in the park, Cafe Orleans, and the restaurant Walt Disney considered “his” restaurant, The Carnation Cafe. I already knew the layout of the park before we left. I explored the lore behind every attraction: the inspiration behind the Matterhorn and how it may be the first steel rollercoaster in the United States, the opposing ideas for the Haunted Mansion, the various iterations of the submarine adventure. I found myself steeped in Walt Disney history: the man, the park, the opening day problems. In the months leading up to the trip, I did what I normally do before a trip: I researched the hell out of the destination. I went when I was eight, but I hadn’t been back since. Last year, after learning that my partner’s parents took him to Disneyland while he was a baby, my partner and I decided to take a trip to Disneyland. Previously On Rereading My Childhood – The Baby-Sitters Club #14: Hello, Mallory Never fear, he never *quite* reaches that level. “And that’s just the beginning of the things I’ll do to you, vampire.”Įventually he sees the error of his ways, but really, it’s too late to have regrets once the monstrous acts are committed. His gaze seemed intent on her face, but his eyes were still vacant. “Without a second thought.” His lips curled. Her hunky alpha male (Lachlain) was great in some ways, however, I found myself cringing at many of his demands, from his insistence in keeping her against her will (for fear she’d never come back to him if he let her out of his sight) to his sexual advances, despite her resistance. While most of these stories evolve where the heroine inevitably becomes stronger, Emma’s personal growth transition was so quick that it didn’t seem natural. The heroine (Emma) went from a childlike innocence to hard-headed and irritating. While I enjoyed quite a few parts of book #1, overall, I’d say it was just “okay”. The series has been recommended to me over and over, and I was very happy to receive it for Christmas. This is the official Book#1 in the “Immortals After Dark” series. MARYSE’S SURPRISE FROM HER FAVORITE BOOK BOYFRIEND’SĪ Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark, Book 1).ALL MY REVIEWS (ALPHABETICAL BY AUTHOR). Remapping Black Germany: New Perspectives on Afro-German History, Politics, and Culture Lisa Ze Winters, The Mulatta Concubine: Terror, Intimacy, Freedom, and Desire in the Black Transatlantic, (Athens: Georgia University Press, 2016), 3. She is “that seductive mulatto woman” in colonial Saint-Domingue ( Moreau de Saint-Méry, Civilization, 81-89). She is present in travelers’ descriptions of antebellum New Orleans’s free women of color. She is the commodity that drove the fancy slave trade in the antebellum United States. She is the enslaved Joanna, “immortalized in John Gabriel Stedman’s Narrative of Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam (1806 )” (Sharpe, Ghosts, 46). She is allusively present in the fantastical and garish transformation of an enslaved black woman to sexually powerful white (by virtue of makeup) mistress in the Brazilian film Xica! She is remembered as the owner of the infamous maison des esclaves (house of slaves) on Gorée Island, the former Senegalese slave entrepôt and now major slavery tour destination. She is the protagonist who emblemizes Cuban national identity in Cirilo Villaverde’s 1882 novel, Cecilia Valdes: Novela de costumbres cubanas. She is in representations of Thomas Jefferson’s long-term “relationship” with the enslaved Sally Hemings, begun when she was fourteen and he forty-four (see Gordon-Reed, American Controversy). The mulatta concubine in diaspora is everywhere. They sang by pheromone, a crescendo of infection hormones that maddened the mating instincts of every species in the Dirty Ruuutu Flophouse and Grill - a vast, glittering, state-of-the-art performance area seating over one hundred thousand - until the slightest whisper sounded like a techno-erotic laser light show of the soul, at which point Us spilled out of their vases in an undulating rosy wave, spun up in to a towering spiral of velvet sparkling life, and sang an ancient Sziv folk ballad called ‘Love Is Easy When You’re A Hive Mind’ coupled with a thumping, thrusting, subwoofer-slaughtering beat, dispersing on the downbeat, slamming back into their magenta spire on the upbeat, and bringing the house all the way down. They sent the same supergroup to the Grand Prix every year, some 60 percent of their species, decanted into artful vases and simply called Us. IN SPACE EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU SINGA century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. “Being a group intelligence comprised of hot pink algae genetically fused with nanocomputational spores, the Sziv never formed rock bands per se. These principles are ones I will be living by… err GATHERING BY. As we re-emerge and start to be able to gather in person (at least in some places) and continue to re-design so much more to happen virtually (and yet still be meaningful and human). It’s all so good and couldn’t be more timely. SO, my gift to myself (and maybe also to you!) to be able to reference the the important guidance of this book is this chapter by chapter list of the things I want to recall in my future gatherings. There are books I always say I’ll re-read but I rarely actually do that. The wisdom of this book is wisdom I want to reference for every future gathering I get to host. My adult self, who still LOVES to gather people and create purpose and meaningful connections in both personal and professional realms was underlining and highlighting every other word of this book. This is book three in the Loose Ends series but can be read as a standalone. When they’re exposed, those secrets will bring far-reaching consequences that could sever not just their shaky bond, but Low’s family ties as well. And even if Low could forgive the unforgivable, Renzo is still shadowed in secrets. It’s a tough sell to believe there’s anything good in a man as unapologetically dangerous as Renzo. Like the vicious attraction Low struggles to control, and bullets that won’t stop flying. The very last thing he wants is to come to the aid of the man responsible for his cousin’s death, but the knife at his throat doesn’t give Low much options.Ĭlose proximity doesn’t temper the hatred Low harbors for Renzo, it only brings up new problems. Unsure of who to trust, he turns to the one man he definitely knows wants him dead. Yanked from his bed, blindfolded and spirited away in the middle of the night, Lowell Scott is shocked to find the darkly gorgeous Renzo bleeding and in need of his help. Just as he’s set to make a move, Renzo’s club is ambushed and he’s shot. Someone is auctioning off women in his city, and he’s damn sure not about to let that offense stand. Read an Excerpt and grab your copy today…You don’t want to miss this book!īeing the king of Atlanta’s underworld used to have its perks, but lately all undercover agent Renzo Vega has seen is the downside. This story is more or less based on Dumas’ real life. This idyllic life is broken when Armand’s father who is concerned that this scandalous relationship will destroy his daughter’s (Armand’s sister’s) chances of marriage, and secretly convinces Marguerite to leave Armand, who believes, up until Marguerite’s death, that she has left him for another man. Marguerite’s dies of tuberculosis abandoned by everyone. The gentleman Armand falls in love with Marguerite and ultimately becomes her lover, convincing her to leave the city and the life as a “courtisane” and move with him out into the countryside. The plot is filled with agony and heartache. She is named the Lady of the Camellias because she wears white camellia flowers when she is available to her lover(s) and red ones when she is occupied. The book was published in 1848 and is about the beautiful Marguerite (in the opera she is called Violetta), a famed courtesan or a luxury prostitute. This week I really enjoyed the opera La Traviata ( Italian for the fallen women) by Verdi at The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo.īefore the performance I dug out my old, Norwegian copy of the novel “The Lady of the Camellias” and read it, because La Traviata is adapted from this French novel (“La Dame aux Camélias” ) written by Alexandre Dumas the younger. The horn- and key-heavy classic big band ensemble continues through much of the album. Opening with the lively Get Happy, Ferguson offers us a literal invitation to gather round to be enveloped by Ferguson’s soulful, distinctive voice. Initially hesitant to take on an album not only of other people’s songs, but of Billie Holiday’s songs, Ferguson fell in love with Holiday’s incredible story and wanted to put her own stamp on some of the most beautiful and recognisable songs of the 20 th century. Lady Sings The Blues is an expressive re-interpretation of much of Holiday’s iconic catalogue. Two years after her sophomore studio album Freedom, which firmly cemented her as a solo artist in her own right, Ferguson has returned with an unexpected covers album. Undeniably the most memorable voice that has emerged from a Simon Cowell-created talent show, Ferguson has proven her remarkable musicality and undeniable vocal talent with two critically acclaimed original albums. 100 years after the birth of seminal jazz icon Billie Holiday, comes a fitting tribute to Lady Day from contemporary R&B singer-songwriter Rebecca Ferguson. |