Erotica, fantasy, and horror writer.
Wonderful Tonight by Patti Boyd and Penny Junor Three Rivers Press, 2007 I’ve got a soft spot for rock and roll biographies. I must have consumed 50+ over the years, including those of bands. It’s not so much understanding the musicianship that attracts me as getting to know the real people behind the songs that …
After a year or so mucking around on Midjourney I’ve only recently begun using the –sref and –cref functions. What are these, do you ask? Well, they are offshoots of the basic reference pic users can paste into their /imagine prompts. Midjourney calls them Imagine URLS. As the user’s manual says, “Imagine URLS can be …
Diego Velázquez is regarded as one of the most prominent painters of the 17th century and a forerunner of realism. So said my art history professors. Los Meninas was considered by them to be the height of his innovation, as it depicts him, the artist, sitting and painting a portrait of the Spanish court life …
I like the way this turned out, even if the bottle isn’t symmetrical and the white bird a little odd in its feather placement. It was inspired by another series of AI artwork I’m working on.
When Elvis died in 1977, no one could dream that he’d become an American icon on the level of Mickey Mouse or Marilyn Monroe. See even a crudely drawn figure with a pompadour, a guitar, and a lopsided posture, it’s impossible NOT to think “Elvis.” Or one of his many impersonators, also an American …
Silent they stood, surveying the quiet countryside. It was a matter of time before they would be discovered, yet it mattered not to them; the world would have changed so drastically by that point that none of the sentients would have been much interested.
Are you or your adventurers embarking on an ocean voyage? Here’s some magic to help you out. Maritime Magic Magic Items Clover of the Sea: A rare ocean plant that looks like an oversized, dark green, 4-leafed clover. It grows in sandy, shallow inlets and is used as a component in luck spells. Figurehead …
The tragic life of 1960s It Girl and trendsetter Alice Ormsby-Gore, and the dickiness of Eric Clapton. John Scalzi on the perils of idol worship. Early puberty in girls linked to a chemical commonly used to scent bath products and perfumes. The downside of Booktok. Do you want to watch a certain show but don’t …
It ended sooner than I wanted. However there is lots of leftover material for next year’s three-month extravaganza! I’ll close with this delicious AI-generated version of The White Witch’s bento box. Made of polished and ornamented silver, it contains plenty of raw fish (tuna and salmon filets), hardboiled eggs, roe, oysters, pickled garlic, and nuts …
Many first edition Narnia books published in other countries had unique, enchanting artwork that was never repeated for further printings. These covers for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (shortened to The Lion and the White Witch) and Prince Caspian have a light, airy, featherweight feel that seems more appropriate for a book of …