More soccer is coming to the ESPN app. The network just announced its biggest slate of National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) games ever for the 2026 season. Next season, 33 regular‑season matches will air across ABC and ESPN platforms, complemented by expanded weekly windows and a televised Decision Day that will broadcast all eight simultaneous […]
In the first draft poll, 30% of respondents usually produce a first draft that's very close to the final draft, and no one usually produces first drafts that barely bear resemblance to the final draft. And most respondents (57%) at least sometimes produce a first draft very close to the final draft. *g*
For the "usual" question, slightly more people have too-wordse first drafts (25%, compared to 20% for too sparse), whereas in the "sometimes" question, too sparse is more common (38%) than too words (23%).
(70% of respondents believe that tickyboxes know no such thing as overkill, btw!)
As for me, it differs wildly - I used to produce very clean first drafts that didn't get changed much during editing/betaing, but for the last several years now it's been much more inconsistent. The more I struggle with either writing or finding time/energy to write, the worse my first drafts get - because sometimes I just have to get something, anything, down first, or I won't get anywhere at all. But it's pretty frustrating, so I want to get back to how I used to write, and I need to figure out how to do that with less time and energy than I used to have ...
One thing's remained the same, though: my first drafts are generally too sparse, which is why they always grow - sometimes considerably - during editing as I flesh them out and add in all the things that I had in my head but didn't put in the actual text. *g*
Today's writing
Again not as much as I'd like. I need to actually sit down and finish something, but it's hard to find the energy.
WED Question of the Day
Today I don't have a poll, but instead a request for advice: when you're low on energy, do you have any strategies that make it easier to write? Or to get started writing, at least? Because I often find myself just staring blankly at a page for way too long until I somehow get going, and I'd really rather not. *g* When I have more energy, I can usually get there much more easily, which is really unfair. :p
(I want to be writing! I feel better once I actually get started writing! But getting there is such a pain on some days. *grumbles*)
From backstage wrestling to kids music, Netflix is rolling through the month with an eclectic list of content ready to warm your screens this week. January 19 • Sandokan (Season 1) January 20 • Just a Dash (Seasons 1–3) • Rizzoli & Isles (Seasons 1–7) • Star Search • WWE: Unreal (Season 2) January 21 […]
Have now imported nearly 20 old stories over these past several days, including many of the ones which are the site of most discomfort for various reasons; my ao3 account’s total word count jumped now to nearly 400k. It’s not all of them, but it’s most. Now they’re there, more accessible than they were and I just need to tolerate that.
In a move aimed at enhancing user protection while maintaining the platform’s flexibility, Google has announced plans to implement a more cumbersome process for sideloading apps on Android devices. This development comes as part of broader efforts to address growing concerns over app security and malware risks associated with installations from outside the official Google […]
Broadband internet provider Brightspeed reportedly had a data breach that affected the personal data of over a million customers. The Charlotte-based company services over two million residential and business customers. The breach became publicly known when a hacker group called Crimson Collective shared on Telegram that it had the customer data, which included names, emails, […]
When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn’t trust… from bestselling author Isabel Cañas.
In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong.
I love Cañas’ writing, but I felt that this book didn’t quite hit the mark. I never felt that the two main characters, Alba and Elías, were as compelling as they could have been. I never got to know them as well as I would have liked, and have come to expect from Cañas’ work.
I tend to think that part of the reason is that more time had to be given to explaining the situation, unlike her first two books where the situations were those most readers would be familiar with. Because of that, the romance side of the story was overwhelmed by the horror.
And horror there is in Alba’s possession. Some parts are out and out creepy and I liked that the reader is kept guessing as to what’s really going on and who can be trusted. But for my self, I would have preferred more time spent on the romance's development, which at times felt rushed.
I won’t go so far to say that I didn’t enjoy the story, because I did. But the book would place last in line when it comes to her three books.
Mount TBR 2026 Book Links
Links are to more information regarding each book or author, not to the review.
So famed is the Empire of Emor for its law system that many foreigners do not realize that Emor holds accomplishments in other arts. Foremost among these arts is medicine.
Until the practice of medical training was formalized in Emor, the knowledge of how to heal was informally passed on by peninsularean men and women who received no special training. Despite these drawbacks, some of the healers were quite good; Koretia's healing women deserve special mention. But the creation of the Medical Academy during the period of the Middle Charas caused knowledge of healing to leap forward immensely. These days, many a healing woman, priest, or bard will travel north to spend time in the Medical Academy, learning valuable lessons.
The Physicians' Quarters next door were created after the Medical Academy, as a place to allow students to work under experienced doctors. The Physicians' Quarters cares for city residents and a select number of soldiers who are undergoing lengthy convalescence.
Because of the doctors' important work, visitors may find it difficult to obtain entrance to either the Quarters or the Academy. I've found that dropping a rock on my foot does the trick.
[Translator's note: The protagonist of Death Mask begins his journey at the Physicians' Quarters.]
In the annals of television history, few moments capture the spark of comedic genius quite like the day production began on what would become one of America’s most beloved sitcoms. On January 19, 1961 – exactly 65 years ago – the cast and crew of The Dick Van Dyke Show gathered at Desilu Studios in […]
Tonight is for all the glory as the 2026 College Football National Championship Game streams live on ESPN. Live from Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Hurricanes will have a slight edge on their home turf when they take on the Indiana Hoosiers. These programs have met only twice, splitting a pair of games in the […]
Working on the ‘importing all my old fic’ project, dancing around it and doing what I can tolerate in a given moment.
There are a number of things I have no real memory of writing, and also ficlets that only ever were posted on livejournal, which makes me feel more solid in trying to do it; I don’t want to lose anything, and I’ve had enough files end up corrupted over the years to want them in multiple places. Telling myself I can import without fully rereading everything, but with some things even glancing at the text is hard enough.
Appreciating how very much I wrote in those years, how I was genuinely working on trying to figure out questions of character and technique, playing with things even if I didn’t get know how to do them effectively. Feeling a lot of fondness for myself of 20 years ago, even as I grimace.
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