Personal updates, in which I am mighty, with help

May has been a long and gruesome slog. But here's what has emerged:

• Mom apartment cleaned out, Mom stuff moved elsewhere or crammed into our house for more sorting and actual Mom needs, Mom at nursing home, still waiting for a more permanent room. She's taken another fall this week but is not badly damaged, fortunately. This led to yet another discussion on shoes, which is a problem because a. her feet are badly deformed due to various problems, b. she simply refuses to wear anything she doesn't find immediately comfortable and c. we have no good way to transfer her out and about to take her shoe shopping. So logistical nightmare that we've been through at the previous 2 facilities already. Sigh. But, hey, apartment cleanout accomplished before end of month! Go, us!
• Novel draft of Other Me sfnal novel that absolutely, positively had to get done before I left for the Nebulas on Wednesday? DONE! DONE! And soon to be the editor's problem, until it is mine again when it comes back.
• Article draft for Queers Destroy Horror - not quite done yet, but researched so should get done this weekend.
• Everything else? What are you, joking? Not done yet.
• But hey, estimates for replacing our retaining wall and landscaping the decaying eyesore that is our house's street presence are in progress. Biz plan, in progress. More stuff soon!

Tanith Lee: Where to Start Reading

Science fiction, fantasy, horror, erotica, New Weird and queer fiction all lost a major luminary with the passing of writer Tanith Lee earlier this week. I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but greatly admired what I've read of her work. Given that other people have given her such elegant tributes elsewhere, I simply asked her fans on Twitter to recommend some of their favorite works. Check out the Tanith Lee page on Goodreads for in depth descriptions and reviews.

Here's what people came up with:
The Dragon Hoard - early novel, kidlit).
Volkhavaar - one of my personal favs. Interesting high fantasy with a complex female protagonist.
Red as Blood or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer - short story collection, dark fantasy fairy tale retellings
The Birthgrave - part 1 of a trilogy. Another high fantasy with a complex, tormented female protagonist.
Reigning Cats and Dogs - fantasy.
When the Lights Go Out  - contemporary weird
"Northern Chess" (novelette) - sword and sorcery
Fatal Women - queer spec fic short story collection as Esther Garber
The Silver Metal Lover - science fiction, generally considered one of her classic works
Dreams of Dark and Light - dark fantasy/horror short story collection
Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine - science fiction
Black Unicorn, Red Unicorn, Gold Unicorn - YA series
Blake's 7 episodes "Sand" and "Sarcophogus" - sfnal tv series, rumored to be difficult to get in region 1DVDs
Vivia - vampires and demons and other fun stuff
Law of the Wolf, Wolf Star Rise, Queen of the Wolves, Wolf Wing (Claidi series) - fantasy quest series
Night's Master, Death's Master, Delusion's Master, Delirium's Mistress, Night's Sorceries - The Flat Earth high fantasy series.
Day by Night - standalone science fiction novel
The Gorgon and Other Beastly Tales - mixed genre collection of short fiction
Sabella - science fiction with vampire protagonist
Kill the Dead - dark fantasy

And this is only a portion of her oeuvre. From a topical standpoint, she wrote about death and sex and change and ghosts and werewolves and demons and vampires and other planets and complicated women and men and characters who changed or combined genders and all kinds of other things. Stylistically, I'd say that if you like one or more of the following, her style should appeal to you, too: Angela Carter, Michael Shea, Jack Vance, A.S. Byatt and/or Storm Constantine, you're likely to enjoy her style as well. In any case, give her works a try; she was an amazingly prolific author with tremendous range who deserves to be remembered.