It is Launched!

I have not been on the blog all that often of late because I have been organising my book launch for Howling on a Concrete Moon. The launch was last night at the local art gallery, and it went off quite well. Being an anxious nerve-ball, I was very tense and uptight in the leadup, but on the day adopted a kind of que sera sera  attitude. I had some help for the night: the woman who applied the war paint for my author photo did a makeup for the night, and she also helped us load the car with scoffages prepared for the guests to, er, scoff. An early comer helped me unload my car, and we got the repast spread out over two tables, and the bevvies set up at the bar, which had signage appropriate enough to have the Liquor & Gaming authorities jizzing themselves. I make this reference because the said authority told me I had to go to the local police and inform the Council. I found myself getting dreadfully irritated with the blue tape, when all I want to do is get my freaking book sold. Shortly before opening time, my husband and two sons arrived, and I was faffing about saying, 'There-are-people-outside-we-have-to-unlock-the-doors-I-need-the-toilet-can-someone-get-me-a-glass-of-wine.' We unlocked the doors, the crowd (well, people I'd invited) made their way in, and I - thinking I was dead cool - said, 'Good evening. I'm Simone Bailey, and I'll be your author tonight. There are refreshments this way.'

The official launch was done by another local author - she did an awesome job - her name is Leonie Rogers, and she rights delightful speculative fiction - so check her out.

Upshot is, I got all my stock sold - yee-hah! - so I now have to order more stock for future library talks etc.

So, I had a bit of a look to see what has been happening in the world today, and not much has changed: people are still immensely stupid. I'm not talking about the brownface scandal enveloping Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but I will say his makeup and costume were applied at a time when people weren't quite aware of the offensive connotations surrounding making up in this manner. Do we ALL have to apologise for innocent dumbarsery eighteen years ago? I'm aware this comment is likely to draw the ire of people who think I am bathing like a sybarite in my white privilege, but all I really want is for people to contextualise. That word is Con-Text-U-Al-Ise.  It's great. Apply it before you start losing your shit.

Speaking of people losing their shit, I kind of lost mine today when I saw a petition that is circulating online. I have long maintained these things are started by pussy-arses with too much time on their hands, and my opinion has not changed. It would appear the generatrix of this mewling bullshit is offended at some of the terms used by the Oxford University Press, terms she discovered during a search with the word 'woman'.  The terms included words like 'bitch' or 'wench'.  She wants to OUP to revise their dictionary. Listen, lady: this is not how dictionaries work. They give word definitions, etymology, synonyms, and will say whether the word is colloquial, jargon, and yes: derogatory. What a dictionary does not do is tell you whether or not you HAVE to say it. Seeking to see words banned is eerily Orwellian, and Heavens to Murgatroid, you must be aware 1984 is a work of FICTION, not a manifesto by which we all must live, aren't you? What is the point of posting dumb photographs of yourself whilst you are holding signs that read: I Am Not A #Bitch, or I Am Not A #Wench. Maybe you are NOT a #Bitch or #Wench, but you might consider a sign: I Am A #FuckingIdiot. So, too, might the thirty thousand people who have signed this asinine petition. People are getting sillier every day. Yes, some terms are obnoxious, but seeking to have a dictionary not use them is not the way to go about things. Pick another hill to die on.

To help me unwind tonight, I have been playing silly songs, and sharing them on Facebook. It is my quest to totally daggify (I think I made up a word, and I wonder will there be a petition to have it banned) social media. My cheese includes The Long Ranger by Quantum Jump. This song is seriously awful, and the lead singer looks like a young Dr John Hewson with a mullet. Check it out; you will see I write nothing but the truth.