Roary Reads! The edited Gathering of Emerald Clouds, aka Over Where 4, was turned in on Monday.  But life doesn’t just have stress from work, so re-reads remain very popular right now.  I…

This Year’s Garden The manuscript of Gathering of Emerald Clouds is off.  So now I will tell you how my garden did grow this past several months. The answer is terribly and wonderfully.&…

Persephone Reads I’m still working very hard on the edits for Gathering of Emerald Clouds, aka Over Where 4, so am sticking to re-reads for fiction.  I did finish one non-reread, though, and h…

Bee-yootiful Asters My intention this week was to fill you in on how the garden did this year.  Instead, due to something being dropped in the chain of communication, I’m spending my time Over…

Mei-Ling Puzzles Over Gryphons This week, I have a lot of re-reads on my list.  In part, this is because I’m working very hard on the edits for Gathering of Emerald Clouds aka Over Where 4, and I h…

Visiting with Ranger Rio This past Saturday, Jim and I went to the New Mexico State Fair with several friends.  We’ve gone almost every year with Chip, but this year we added in Gail and Mike—…

Mei-Ling Reads When I was a kid, there were two books I was repeatedly given by well-meaning adults.  One was John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony, a book which—along with The Grapes of Wrath—made me…

Bright Blossom I managed to do something that made my right levator muscle spasm painfully on Saturday, so I’m keeping today’s Wandering short. (Feeling a lot better, just don’t want to stress it f…

Liana Shows Off Her Summer Haircut Okay.  I’ll admit it.  I am not a fan of narrative non-fiction, especially for dramatizing ancient history.  See below for what I do like… And now …

Hot Season Bounty About five years ago, Jim and I decided to see if the cactus pears (also called “tunas”) from the little patch in our yard were any good.  Turned out they are quite sweet, al…

Cayenne: Poisoned?? As I noted in the WW, Bubonicon was great, but I was very tired afterwards.  As always, reading is how I refuel.  You’ll see more works by Adrienne Mayor this week.&nb…

See Below for List of Panelists! This year’s Bubonicon was the biggest ever.  Final numbers aren’t in, but anyone who was there knew it even without the numbers.  For the first time that …

Cascabel Would Like a Flying Snake to Chase My reading list features a chance find that’s been keeping me busy.  Also, I’m racing to get ready for Bubonicon, mascot: Perry Rodent.  A joke…

This coming weekend, August 21-23, is Bubonicon, New Mexico’s longest running convention for fans for science fiction, fantasy, horror, and permutations thereof.  The guest list is amazing—bot…

Mei-Ling Reads Take a look back at this week’s WW for my big news.  My reading this week has confirmed that even when a gardening book says it’s meant for the Southwest, the writer is drawing on Ar…

Take a Journey Over Where I’m thrilled to announce that the fourth Over Where novel has been accepted for publication.  My working title is A Gathering of Emerald Clouds.  I’ve only known…

Persephone Contemplates Fresh Catnip Temperatures have been high—107 F on average.  Rain has been rare.  Jim and I are already thinking ahead to how we can adapt some of the most tormente…

It Goes On Monday morning, I learned that a friend died.   And her husband told me that when she was in hospice, her family had read to her, and that one of the books they had chosen was …

Mei-Ling Reads! This week a bunch of library holds came in all at once, so books and magazine I own are sidelined to make sure I hit the due date. And now for the ritual clarification…  The Fr…

Persephone Poses This past weekend, I was reading one of the SF magazines.  I’m not going to name which, nor the story that started me on this Wandering, because not everything catches everyone the…

Veggies Read! This week’s photo features Thursday’s harvest: eggplant (two types), sweet Hungarian peppers, liana beans, a crookneck squash, Swiss chard, carrot, and two Sungold tomatoes. My readin…

Lapis Lovelies Last weekend, Jim and I paid a visit to the New Mexico Natural History Museum with our friend Michael Wester.  We’d been to the museum close on two months or so back, but decide…

Cascabel Reads Once again, my reading has split in various directions because I don’t like reading something creepy right before bed.  As I re-read Tey’s Alan Grant, I am caught by how Tey bec…

Lianas and Heat Hardy Pals A couple of weeks ago, I invited questions on any topic.  As the offer remains open, I’ll clarify parameters at the end of this Wandering.  First, I want to answer a very…

Mei-Ling and Roary Read and Rest I quite enjoyed The Atrocity Archives but ran into technical difficulties worthy of an epic when I tried to check out the next book in the series.  For now, I …

Shade Cloth at Work At the beginning of June, I invited readers of these Wanderings to suggest topics about which I could wander on about, and promised I would do so as long as I did not violate an…

Mei-Ling Contemplates the Complexities of Teeth This week I’m try a new-to-me (at novel length) author because of the frequent and fond mentions of Jim Mendur, a reliable regular Commenter on the F…

Hollyhock Since I can’t think of anything to Wander on about right now, rather than wasting time, I’ll give you a picture of a pink hollyhock (taken by my husband, Jim Moore) and go write.  At…

Persephone Reads This week, I’m starting writing the next Star Kingdom/Stephanie Harrington book.  Often, when I’m starting a new book, I don’t want another author’s voice to intrude.  On…

Incoming!! (saith Mei-Ling) Last week, I finished a short story I’ve been working on since the beginning of the year.  This is not because I am a particularly slow writer or an undermotivated …

Cascabel aka “The Moonlight Princess” Reads The calendar claims it’s not yet summer, but the weather is hot and windy, and it sure feels like summer.  Good time to stay indoors and…

Any Questions? After a lot of stress, I’ve finally found my writer brain, and am moving toward finishing a rough draft of a short story I feel as if I’ve been working on since the dawn of time. Sin…

Roary Knows the Secrets Last week’s trip to Arizona meant I left a lot of what I was reading at home.  Once I was back, I finished off a lot. And now for the ritual clarification…  The Fr…

Sunset Point Last week, Jim and I went out to Arizona to deal with some family stuff. On the way home, we stopped at Sunset Point, an Arizona state rest stop with one of the nicest views you could …

Arugula Thriving Sometimes, when doing gardening stuff, I feel like a mad scientist.  Last week, I told you about how we put coffee grounds around our squash plants. This week, I thought I’d u…

Persephone Reads This last week has some twists and turns! And now for the ritual clarification…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a …

Cascabel Reads Still reading less than usual, but managing a bit. And now for the ritual clarification…  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and m…

Coffee and Squash Yes.  The comma in the title is in the correct location.  This week, our squash plants reached the point that we gave them some coffee.  It wasn’t a cup of coffee, …

Mei-Ling Reads Stuff that’s not really mine to talk about in a public forum has been going on and cut into my reading time.  Notable that I didn’t even finish an audiobook this week. And now for th…

Sabertooth Meets Crunch Prey Last weekend, we took a couple hours off to visit the Natural History Museum here in Albuquerque.  Not only is it recently reopened after a renovation, but our fri…

Cayenne and Roary It’s fascinating how many tales from how many time periods deal with coping with changing values.  Even when those changes are welcome—an end to war, new opportunities—even those …

Pomegranate Blossoms Spring plant growth continues two to three weeks ahead of schedule.  In the case of some plants, it’s even farther ahead than that. As you may remember, last spring here i…

Mei-Ling Reads Purely by coincidence, this week sees me moving toward the end of various longer reading projects.  But not done yet, and reflecting on the nature of change. And now for the rit…

Lurking Tiger The tiger featured above was nearly lost in the shadows under a large log in one of the areas that’s part of the relatively new Asia area at the zoo portion of the Albuquerque BioPark…

Cayenne and Cascabel This week, I had a lovely letter from someone who wanted to thank me for how my works—in his case, particularly the Firekeeper novels—were his “go to” place in times of trouble…

No Longer Tumbling Weed It plummeted from the sky, crashed across the yard until it could crash no more, halting only when it could not smash through all around it.  So came the tumbleweed. Th…

Roary Reads As I read through my Yeats collection, I’m startled when a much-anthologized work appears, layered with extra dimension because much discussed in classes past.  I’m a different reader n…

Liana Settles for Basil The other day, someone asked me why Jim and I bothered growing carrots and radishes. “They’re cheap enough, and, anyhow, radishes don’t have much flavor.” Well, I thought ab…

Cascabel Does a Happy Dance I love the written word, and I love thinking about how literature comes about.  Yes, I’d even say I actually enjoyed doing my MA and PhD in English Lit.  This …