I rather enjoyed Winning Colors; not quite as much as I did Hunting Party, but more than I did Sporting Chance. I still give it 5 stars - just a lesser 5 stars than I gave Hunting Party.
Winning Colors - Book Review
Creep is a very tough, very hard read in the best way. I highly recommend it. 5 stars.
Sporting Chance - Book Review
K.C. Silkwood Reviews 2
Hunting Party - Book Review
I had been considering reading Elizabeth Moon for most of my life, but I somehow never got around to reading any until now. I loved the characters and how they were all unique and yet believable, and found the concept of how rich peers would play at being Old Earth nobles and mix “traditional” names with “modern” names.
NaNoWriMo 2023 is here!
Hello all!
My apologies for not posting in a while. It is harder than I would like to admit to keep to a regular schedule of any sort, especially when I have to take the bus to work - I spend about 2 hours each day taking the bus, and as I’m already low-energy, I don’t have much energy to do much else.
I was planning on taking part in Inktober, at least to some degree. Where did the time go? October was incredibly busy, suffice to say. But I will still be taking part in NaNoWriMo. In fact, I was planning to post about NaNoWriMo on Wednesday, but the best laid plans…
If you are planning on doing NaNoWriMo (or already started), please be sure to friend me on there! If I can make the time for it, I will also be doing some writing streams on Saturday mornings or early afternoons (not this Saturday, though, as I am out of town). You can find me here: https://nanowrimo.org/participants/justin-grays
Keep on writing!
Glacier Tek Sports Cool Vest Review
When a friend told me about the Glacier Tek Sports Cool Vest, I was thrilled. I overheat easily, and with record temperatures on their way again, I needed something to help keep me from overheating. This vest was a blessing, especially this last week.
Will I see you at CONvergence 2023?
Well, it’s almost Independence Day Weekend, and that means that it is almost time for CONVergence 2023: All Dressed Up. I am looking forward to it; I haven’t been to CONvergence since 2019, since just before the pandemic. I am eternally grateful to be able to go to CONvergence once again, to see those whom I don’t get to see often, to go to panels and learn/experience things and share my knowledge. It promises to be a grand time.
Minicon 56 is a week away!
Hi, folks! Minicon 56 is a week away. This will be my first in-person convention since CONvergence 2019, and first convention since CONvergence 2020. I am looking forward to Minicon - I get to see friends whom I don’t get to spend much time with the rest of the year, I get to go to panels and learn things, and I get to be on panels and share my knowledge and experience on subjects that I find interesting.
Review of Anita B. Johnson's "Slutty by Nature" series
Like with my reviews of Sonni de Soto and K.C. Silkwood’s works, my reviews for these short stories are also short; therefore I am grouping three of them together and sharing them all at once. If a story is on Goodreads, I’ll review it almost immediately - you can see my Goodreads reviews here.
Review of Anita B. Johnson’s “Slutty by Nature” series
My First Time
Partying with Josie
Making the Grade
Donovan's Door Reviews - Part I
I bought Donovan's Door directly from Sonni de Soto - I forgot the decision tree that led me to decide to purchase that exact volume, but that decision tree led me to this collection of short stories. As I am not a kinkster (I am quite vanilla, to be honest), a part of me was uncertain how well I would be able to relate to the characters in the individual stories, while another part of me was wondering if this would stir or awaken anything within me. And while I remain vanilla, I find I am loving these stories and am looking forward to reading more.
I review the first 5 stories:
One Man’s Treasure
Alter Ego
Maybe Because
Ready to Play
Full-Scale Fantasy
Election Day is November 8th, 2022
I hope you all voted by August 9th for the Primaries; now it is time for the General Election! Do you know what is on your ballot? Do you know how to find out? Did you even remember that there is an election coming up?
Well, there are a lot of elections coming up! Pulling straight from Wikipedia: “During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. Thirty-nine state and territorial gubernatorial and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested. This will be the first election affected by the redistricting that will follow the 2020 census” (2022 United States elections).
K.C. Silkwood Reviews 1
Because my reviews for these short stories were also short, I decided to group them together and share a couple at a time. I’ll be doing this for future reviews of short stories - putting 3 reviews together in the same post.
Reviews of 3 of K.C. Silkwood’s Short Stories:
Naked at School
Stripped on the Softball Field
Bare at the Beach
Tiamat's Wrath - Book Review
Teammates: Take Shots - Book Review
I give Take Shots 5 stars. That gives the Teammates Series an average rating of 5 stars from me so far.
This book perfectly builds off of On Ice, further exploring the relationships that the teammates have individually and collectively. I said in my review of On Ice that the characters are well-developed, empathetic, and true - this remains true in Take Shots. Each chapter is from the point of view of a different character, which adds to the story by giving us deeper insight into the main character’s interpersonal dynamics.
GraysMatter Podcast - Season 2, Episode 03
Last season, I started to take some time to sit down and talk to fellow POC folx in the geek community about our experiences. Now that we’re in season 2, the discussions continue. Today we have a returning special guest - writer and cosplayer, Sonni de Soto (she/her). You can find Sonni with the following links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonni_de
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonni_de_soto/
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/sonnidesoto
Content Warning - Mentions or Discussions of:
COVID-19
Eyes
Religion
Spoiler Warning:
The Good Place
Start a Nonprofit to Help Your Community
The following is a guest post from Janet Lovelace. Janet Lovelace created Work Can Wait because too many entrepreneurs feel like work is always calling. Work Can Wait is about helping small business owners automate, delegate, and systematize their businesses so they can prioritize their lives.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Justin Grays. Any content provided by the author is of their opinion and has not been verified by Justin Grays.
Justin on Panels - Season 2, Episode 08
The adventure of cleaning up audio and improving show notes from previous panels continues in today’s episode of Justin on Panels. We are still working through MarsCon 2018, with the panel “Race and Culture in the Honorverse”. Please note: MarsCon 2018 was seven months before the release of Uncompromising Honor (HH14). Shadow of Victory (SI4) was the most recent novel in the current timeline.
Content Warning: Slavery does get discussed in this panel, and there are white men trying to whitesplain it away.
David Weber's Honor Harrington series presents a very diverse gambit of humans in a far future when race does not seem to matter as much as politics. Juxtaposed against our own realities, how does this fundamentally affect our perception of the Honorverse?
With: Justin Grays, Stephanie Stensland
August 9th is the 2022 Primary Election
2022 is a midterm year, and August is the Primary month for Minnesota. Plus, there is a special election for Congressional District after 1 U.S. Representative Jim Hagedorn died on February 18, 2022. So, get out there and vote. Be certain to vote down-ballot. Check both sides of the ballot. Research who is on the ballot before you go in. And make certain that you understand and ballot questions or referendums before you vote on them.
GraysMatter Podcast - Season 2, Episode 02
Season 2, Episode 02: Religion & Monster Fuckers
In this episode, we discuss topics ranging from Religion and Vampires to Transformers and Star Trek.
Hosted By:
Justin (xe/xem) - https://www.justingrays.org/
Nat MN (they/them)
Sarah (she/her)
Content Warning - Mentions of:
Dysmorphia
Religion
Sex
Vampires
Werecreatures
Books/Comics/Series Referenced: