... very glad you enjoyed doing the Baen Free Radio Hour :-)

... if you find a source for the fuzzy little balls that Rook likes, please share it. Amelia has two types of toys she loves to have thrown. A third type would be welcome.

... song: Amazing Grace, because my father loved it

It makes me very happy that "The Sign of the Dragon" kept you up late, and I am very honored that you are reading it in Victoria Goddard's fan server! She's a favorite author of mine :-) :-)

Thank you :-) :-)

Update from the reading front: finished "Il leone, la strega e l'armadio," Fedora Dei's Italian translation of C. S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." I loved this book (in English!) as a young child, and was charmed all over again by the translation.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

For the still curious:

- The dragon sequence currently has 50 poems. Some may be deleted.

- I began writing it in 5/2025 and have been adding to it as the mood takes me

- 2 of the poems have been published so far: Mouse Dragon in Star*Line #49.1 and Cyberpunk Dragon in Eye to the Telescope #58

✏️

Update from the poetry front: 2 poems accepted by SpecPoVerse :-)

For the curious
- poems written 5/2025 + 6/2025
- accepted in 72 days
- previously rejected 2 times + 3 times
- both poems are part of a long dragon sequence I've been working on
- SpecPoVerse has already paid $10 i.e. $5 per poem

✏️

Hello, friend :-)

... I plan to be at Balticon in May and Confluence in July. I suspect you will be at Confluence....

Photo of a tabby cat exploring the inside of a dishwashing machine.

#Caturday. Amelia the Explorer.

[I am aware that this is not the most perfect of all possible places to explore.]

Thank you for a great talk. I am in awe of the skill, dedication, and knowledge you bring to Air and Nothingness Press. And the books you publish are always so beautiful. I feel almost guilty (but not quite) that I have written in their margins, as is my habit :-)

For the curious, the April edition of my newsletter, containing news -- spoiler alert! -- that I will be at Balticon may be read here:

mailchi.mp/30762226bdac...

You can subscribe to the newsletter here:

marysoonlee.us13.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=...

Update from the reading front: finished Fortress of Eagles, book two in this fantasy series by C. J. Cherryh. I am besotted by Tristen and very taken by this series.

Update from the reading front: finished Sienna Tristen's lovely poetry tale "The Insomniac's Assistant." Highly recommended. I believe it is out of print, but there appears to be an audio version, which I have not tried.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

After dithering, I decided to attend Balticon in-person: www.balticon.org

This will almost certainly be the only convention I attend in 2026 that is NOT in Pittsburgh. [I plan to also attend the annual Pittsburgh convention, Confluence.]

I'm excited but nervous.

Is anyone else reading this going?

In answer to your closing question: a day with only minor interruptions, so that I managed to write not one but two poems, thereby catching up a little bit on days when no writing happened. Oh, and I submitted my Nebula ballot for the categories I'd read in their entirety (novellas + poems).

One cat now, down from two different, beloved older cats a few years ago.

One large plant, one cherished orchid. My husband has banana plants as well.

Lots of plants outside in the yard.

Thank you!!!

Update from the poetry front: I'm delighted to report an acceptance from 4LPH4NUM3R1C :-)

For the curious:
- poem written 8/2025
- accepted in 20 days
- previously rejected 3 times
- they pay $15
- this is a podcast market (they read out poems and stories)
- part of a long dragon sequence

✏️🐉

Update from the reading front: finished the book that I was smitten by -- Fortress in the Eye of Time by C. J. Cherryh -- I remained smitten till the end. An old copy of book 2 in the series is supposed to reach me today from Ebay. I expect to be smitten by it too.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

#Caturday. I repeat, no one here but us plants....

Watching and thinking good thoughts

Integrity / Artemis II / the astronauts are almost back :-)

I should have said: I write a lot of speculative poetry, some of it formal, e.g. I had a triolet published only last week in Star*Line, but right now I can’t think of one available free online.

If science haiku are of interest, the first version of my Elemental Haiku may be found at Science. Click on an element of the periodic table to read the corresponding haiku:

www.science.org/content/arti...

N.B. My thanks to Jia You, who created the interactive periodic table, and to Science.

✏️

Update from the poetry front: my poem Mars Loop Magpies is in Space & Time #149 :-)

For the curious
- written 3/2025
- previously rejected 5 times
- they paid $5
- this is my 4th poem in Space & Time, who also published 2 of my short stories (back in 1997 and 2001!)

One for sorrow, two for joy...

Update from the poetry front: humorous SF poem accepted by Star*Line :-)

For the curious
- written 3/2026 (yes, recently)
- accepted in 11 days on its first time out
- this is my 97th acceptance from Star*Line
- they pay a minimum of $5
- it's hard for me to tell whether my humor works

Interesting. I find the main characters in Chanur and Foreigner very likable. And in the book I'm reading now. I've read and liked downbelow station though I remember finding it sadder

Do you have a favorite so far? If so, which one and are the main character(s) likable? [Always on the lookout for recommendations, even though I have a lot of books on the to-read list already.]

Thank you!

:-) :-) ❤️:-) :-)

Like several Cherryh books, it took two chapters before I was fully hooked. It was worth it :-)

Adding Gate of Ivrel to my wishlist.... Likable protagonist(s)?

Thank you for mentioning these!

I already love the Chanur books and the Foreigner books, and a couple of others I happened to read.