Oi.

Barraged by all kinds of health stuff — not the flu, thank goodness, but enough other stuff that I considered staying home today. Somehow I was able to write a little through it all, although I can’t figure out how I managed.

Will post pictures and videos from the Victorian Ball, which was lovely. I actually had dress envy, which is rare for me. I’m usually eying what the men are wearing in any given time period before 1900. But with the Victorians, I have one word: BUSTLES! And sometimes three words: BUSTLES WITH BOWS! The outfit I wore looked positively dowdy compared to the adorable bustle dresses I saw. For the first time ever, I actually looked around and thought that a black dress just wasn’t right.

I must really be ill.

And here’s another review for Sins of the Sirens. Although not the most favorable review of my work, it’s a very positive review for the book as a whole. I’m fascinated with what anyone takes away from my contribution because the three stories are so incredibly different — “Pinned” is straight erotic horror, “The Dark River of His Flesh” is historical dark fantasy and “The Last Word” is a Borges-like tale — that whatever story they “choose” says a lot about the reader’s general tastes. And, for the record, “The Dark River of His Flesh” is about what happens when a good person encounters his Shadow, and the transformation that occurs as a result. Self-imposed isolation is just a prelude to the necessary transformation. It also mirrors the process of recovery from addiction. (A therapist friend read this early on and very loudly went “Yippee, this is exactly right!” Good to know, eh?)

Carry on.

Okay, although I’m still reeling from the discovery that co-Siren Mehitobel Wilson and I share the same birthday, I’m now urging you to check out David Niall Wilson’s thorough and thoughtful review of Sins of the Sirens. It’s quite awesome. Thanks for the valentine, Dave!

He’s also just posted an interview with the most blasphemous Siren: me, of course. There will be interviews with all four Sirens, so stay tuned.

There have been two other reviews so far. I’m ambivalent about posting links to them. One is largely positive, but it’s clear the writer didn’t know the meaning of the word “theme.” He hadn’t read all the stories in the book, either, as he accused my story “The Last Word” (and others) of being about “fetishes, sexual dominance, sadomasochism and drugs.” While there’s certainly a common thread of dark desire in the stories, I can name three stories off the top of my head that don’t have even a hint of these elements in them. If you don’t count alcohol as a “drug,” then it’s much higher. (“The Last Word” has alcohol and clove cigarettes, so maybe he thought that was too druggy?) That’s at least 20-25% of the book. It also didn’t go through fact check and mixed up two of Bel’s stories. So you can’t really take what he says very seriously.

As for the other review, it was so juvenile, it’s barely worth mentioning. Despite the few good words in it about my work (he and David both liked “The Last Word”), it seethed misogyny. I was really hoping the more professional reviews would get out there first. Oh well!

But if you’re just dying of curiousity, Lisa Morton ripped Dude #2 several new ones with her knitting needle, and Bel discusses them all with her usual flair. Enjoy!