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2019-08-30 00:15:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Catherynne M. Valente posts
Livestream Q & A!
I’ll be going live in a few minutes for the latest Q&A! See you over on the YouTubes!
Http://youtu.be/c6KPJtMQ8n4
2019-08-30 00:06:11 +0000 UTC View PostExperiment: The Foul and Dreaded Question: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
Greetings, Laboratory Folk! I am writing this from a teensy hotel room bed in St. Petersburg, Russia. When last I was here, it was ten years ago, and the dark of winter. I must say, this city is far less scary and intimidating when it is sunny and green and full of flowers. I am told this was the coldest July on record, and indeed, the weather here in August is much more like October back home. I had to pack a coat. A COAT. In the midst of desperately trying to claw back bits of ...
2019-08-08 07:57:34 +0000 UTC View PostMonthly Discussion Post!
This is your monthly open discussion post, a place to vent, chat, share, and conversate about anything and everything you could want. I'll be here and available to reply, but this is your space, to create the kind of community here you want, and make connections with each other.
WHAT IS UP MY DUDES?
2019-08-01 00:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostWorldcon Schedule
Because of the wonderful luck of being invited to be guest of honor at a convention in Europe the weekend before Worldcon, I am able to attend this year in Ireland (note: the winningest country in Eurovision history) and lose the Best Novel Hugo in person!
This is my schedule, for those of you based overseas or attending Worldcon yourself. I've had a number of you lovely, darling folk request that I start posting my convention schedules here so that you get notifications and are s...
2019-07-31 23:45:09 +0000 UTC View PostALLCAPS COOKBOOK: Mango-Passionfruit Victoria Spongewich
Mango-Passionfruit Victoria Spongewich
I made a friend on the island! This is basically like finding a TV with a working Netflix subscription in the desert so it’s a PRETTY BIG DEAL. Ok, not really. But kind of.
Anyway, my noo fran has a daughter and the daughter had a birthday so I volunteered to be Cake Lady for the occasion.
Of course one problem with being Cake Lady is that while I can bake things that taste very good, I am shit garb...
2019-07-25 15:46:17 +0000 UTC View PostStreaming tonight! (And housekeeping)
Hi everyone!
July’s remaining rewards will start going up tomorrow as I get ready for Worldcon and associated travels (I’ll be posting Dublin/St. Petersburg pics here for you guys!). Don’t forget to vote for the Hugos! All you need is a supporting membership.
Meanwhile it’s so hot here it’s impossible for humans to think and I’m by myself with a sleeping baby so I’m going to stream again tonight if you guys want to come hang out! (I’m playing...
2019-07-21 00:24:40 +0000 UTC View PostCome Hang Out with Me Tonight!
So I am launching a Twitch channel tonight.
I enjoyed sitting in on Heath's stream quite a bit and wanted to have my own space where I could game without guilt and possibly even have some non-baby conversation in the chat window that doesn't involve his 100 Games project.
And having finally finished a book and given myself a few days before I start the next one, now seems like a good time to try it out.
So come over and look at my dumb head in the corner while I ...
2019-07-09 20:24:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe Importance of Being Misogynist: The Evolution of the Douchebag Throughout History
Something a little different this month--not so much writing advice directly as musing about history and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. I hope that's okay, many people have asked for a few more essays on non-writing topics and as you can see, I got my back up under this one. Apparently June is my month for righteous indignation and ranting.
Come with me on a magical journey of anger and yelling at the internet!
***
I’ve got a bee in ...
2019-06-26 19:18:58 +0000 UTC View PostThe Library Is Open: How to Give a Good Reading
The Library Is Open: How to Give a Good Reading
Greetings, Mad Fictioneers! We have arrived at summer in Maine, which means it’s wet and slightly warm but not really warm because fuck you that’s why. I’m sick, it’s raining like the sky personally hates me outside, and I have deadlines my lungs don’t really care about. It’s a mess up in here.
But the show must go on!
So let’s talk about that for a bit. The show, I mean....
2019-06-14 18:20:28 +0000 UTC View PostALLCAPS COOKBOOK: Lamb Meatballs with Spinach and Orzo
Lamb Meatballs with Spinach and Orzo
I’ll be honest about where I got this recipe. I’ve altered it some, as I literally can’t make anything the way the tin tells me to because FUCK YOU TIN YOU CAN’T KEEP ME DOWN, but the idea to make such a thing, to go to the store and grumpily pay for ground lamb (I guess lambs are made out of gold and frankincense and printer ink these days because god damn, it is pricey. You could do this with beef or pork as we...
2019-06-06 18:20:12 +0000 UTC View PostExtra: Unearthed from the Deep Files
i was looking for something else for the Denizen this month when I found a pile of Old Book Planning Notebooks and smiled. I keep all my notes for each book in their own individual notebook and honestly, it's mostly lists and structure maps. Lists of possible names usually take up the first many pages--and that's what this is.
The first notes for what became The Refrigerator Monologues.
You can see a list of possible superhero/villain names, the beginning of mapping ou...
2019-06-05 01:35:57 +0000 UTC View PostSongs from the PLAGUE HOUSE: Open Discussion Post
Hi everyone!
Our bouncing baby burbler brought home what appears to be Mega Space Black Death from day care. He's almost over it, but it seems to have evolved into Charizard or something in our systems and both Heath and I are almost comically sick. The kind of sick where you look at what you just coughed up like Temperance Brennan from Bones and are like huh she must have died of typhoid in Victorian London during the alien invasion, you know, the one they had in Victorian London.<...
2019-06-05 00:55:07 +0000 UTC View PostDenizen of the Month: Guest Taster In Chief & Guest
Something of a two-for-one this month!
To the left on the couch is Nikki Taylor, a fantastic friend to the Briary, fellow artist & all round Helpful & Excellent Sort of Person.
(Long time Patrons may remember her as she helped shoot the launch video for this very Patreon, did the animation, and has provided a Denizen or two herself...)
To the right is Lumen Von Spaceghost who we have featured here before, but not in her role as Designated Taster of Briary Guest...
2019-04-30 16:31:51 +0000 UTC View PostThank You for Two Beautiful (Mad) Years
Thank you, everyone. Thank you for sticking with me, thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, thank you for the community. Thank you for supporting us, for making my family possible, for making it feasible for me to have a child, for being there when I needed you. I'll never be able to thank you fully, not ever. None of you can know how much you've helped, how much you've affected my life. I owe you guys forever and a day. Thank you so much. I hope I have been able to give back some s...
2019-04-30 16:14:09 +0000 UTC View PostThe Rain in My Brain: Writing with ADD
Greetings, darlings! The tulips are coming up, the air is no longer harmful to warm-blooded things, there’s mud everywhere, like four whole flowers, the construction sign on a major thoroughfare in our town got hacked to read “Fist Me Daddy” and didn’t get fixed for ages, and spring is grumbling about having to show up for class. NEW ENGLAND, MY DUDES.
This month, I’m going to talk about the elephant in my room. I’m getting back into the swing of working a...
2019-04-30 15:57:44 +0000 UTC View PostAPRIL ALLCAPS COOKBOOK: Raspberry-Hazelnut Mousse with Chocolate Crust
Raspberry-Hazelnut Mousse with Chocolate Crust
So I ordered a mango mousse for dessert at a restaurant the other day, because I love mango, so I can temporarily forgive a dessert for not having chocolate. But when it came, it was just kind of gloppy and puddingy and had no real texture or oopmh or ANIMA.
I AM UPSET BY THIS said I. BUT ONLY A LITTLE.
I CAN MAKE IT BETTER said I also. I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.
So, despite know...
2019-04-08 18:41:24 +0000 UTC View PostTwo Years on Patreon--How to Celebrate?
The Mad Fiction Laboratory has arrived at its two year anniversary.
Hot damn.
It's been the most amazing and humbling experience with all of you. You have made our lives, and quite literally our child, possible. There is no word for what we owe you and the gratitude we feel.
You are all my heroes. The very heroes of my life.
But I want to do something to celebrate! Last year we opened all the posts to the public for anyone to see for two weeks. However, tha...
2019-03-29 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostOpen Discussion Post!
This is your monthly place to chat and get to know each other and discuss anything you like, from knitting patterns to Star Trek to politics (be nice) to the relative awesomeness of various marsupials to your day to day life on this oft-shabby planet.
How are you guys doing?
2019-03-29 21:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostThe Unbearable Loneliness of Publishing
Greetings, everyone!
Here in Maine it’s the stupid part of technically-spring, where everything is cold and dumb and half frozen and half milkshake like a crappy slushee and everyone just wants the whole thing over with and what’s with the super late Easters in recent years? GOD I HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG FOR BUNNYEGGS. AND WARMTHS.
So, given the SERIOUS AND POSSIBLY LIFE-THREATENING DEARTH of bunnyeggs, let’s just get right into it.
An aspiring writer friend ...
2019-03-29 20:10:18 +0000 UTC View PostStreaming WOW Tonight!
The Laboratory is streaming Cat’s first experience playing World of Warcraft on Twitch now—come see her flail!
Http://twitch.tv/oddjobgoblin
2019-03-25 00:15:24 +0000 UTC View PostALLCAPSCOOKBOOK: Spicy Korean Chicken and Pastry Soup
Spicy Korean Chicken and Pastry Soup
So you know how it’s super annoying to have to scroll through someone’s life story just to get to a recipe WELL HA HA THIS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS YOU HATE.
But I have to explain why I made this frankenrecipe!
I’ve been home visiting my parents with the Smallest One over the last two weeks, and it is one of Those Houses where the TV is on for background noise/radiation all the time. So there I was, I say, there I was...
2019-03-18 16:06:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Livestream Q&A at 12:45 pm PST!
Get ready, Laboratory folk! Q&A starts in 15 minutes! LIVE FROM THE WEST COAST
2019-03-02 20:29:27 +0000 UTC View PostYes, Brand: On Personal Branding, Which is Admittedly Gross, But We Live in a Society
Greetings, Mad Fictioneers!
Here in Maine it is winter, but don’t make a big thing about it, man. It’s mostly in the 30s and 40s and the snow melts quickly, becoming a venomous sheet of hateful, angry, dare I say possibly racist ice that covers everything with its malevolence. Last year it was so cold half the island went bankrupt paying the fuel oil bills. This year it’s like whatever I guess I can freeze your shit if you really want.
I AM ...
2019-02-04 22:50:02 +0000 UTC View PostALLCAPS COOKBOOK PRESENTS: Not-So-Pumpkiny Pumpkin Pie
The Not-So-Entirely-Pumpkiny-Pie Pumpkin Pie
As many of you know, I am married to an Australian. As many of you may not know, to Australians, pumpkin is a savory food. It is for soup and quiches and whatever. So my husband does not like pumpkin pie, no way, no how. Oh, he’ll SAY he likes it, but that’s just trying to make me happy. He will follow up that wild claim by admitting that he would rather have literally any other kind of pie than pumpkin. It...
2019-01-28 22:36:04 +0000 UTC View PostChange to Rewards Due to Patreon Policy
Hi everyone!
It has come to my attention that Patreon doesn’t approve of us doing raffles and giveaways, so unfortunately, we won’t be able to do the care packages and signed book drawings anymore. Those who have already won will get theirs, but going forward we won’t be allowed to do anything that could be construed as a raffle for legal reasons.
BUMMER, GEEZ.
Over the next week or two, I’ll be thinking about what to replace the give...
2019-01-18 15:21:22 +0000 UTC View PostDecember Open Discussion Post!
Here is your space to chat freely about anything and everything, get to know each other, share memes and puns and assorted silliness, seek support and kindness, vent your frustrations, anything you like. It's your space!
Just be nice.
2018-12-30 21:16:25 +0000 UTC View PostALLCAPS COOKBOOK PRESENTS: Cornbread-Chorizo Stuffing
Chorizo-Cornbread Stuffing
From beneath the midden-heap of holiday cooking I HAVE ARISEN!
And I come to talk to you about stuffing.
I always fuck up stuffing. Always have. I thought I always would. The problem is I FRICKING LOVE STUFFING. It’s the besssst. All soft and chewy and crispy in the right places, and it goes with cranberry sauce so damn good and I just could eat it all the time.
But I’ve always made rubbish stuffing. If...
2018-12-30 21:10:26 +0000 UTC View PostNovember Livestream is Go!
Come on over and chat in the chat window! As you can see, there is a smol guest star in this episode...
2018-12-09 22:01:59 +0000 UTC View Post