Yesterday, I meant to write about urban fantasy versus supernatural fantasy, but instead went off on a tangent about why I stopped reading epic fantasy. (I also think it’s interesting that both Erin and I have made a similar shift in reading.)

So as I’ve said, I’ve been reading much more supernatural and urban fantasy, but–for me at least–there is a distinction between the two.

When I think of urban fantasy I think first and foremost of Charles de Lint and then Nina Kiriki Hoffman. In most of his writing, there is magic in the world, and it has always been there, but most people remain unaware of the magical world, or unable to sense/interact with the magical world. And sometimes even those who do see magic don’t always believe what they’re seeing.

Supernatural fantasy (at least for my classification), tends to focus on magical creatures or individuals with magical talents living in the modern world. That world may or may not be aware of these supernatural beings, but those beings have a strong influence on the world. A big theme seems to be either supernatural beings coming out of the closet or the world at large changed by supernatural beings.

It also tends to be more open to genre bending and combining. I love mysteries, and supernatural fantasy has a lot of series that are both fantasy and mystery. (Simon R. Green, Jim Butcher, and Kat Richardson all do this extremely well.) This combination expands the traditional mystery, not only because the detective or investigator has extra abilities, but because you then get to look at the idea of what constitutes a crime when the victim is undead, or when the battle for pack leader involves a fight to the death?

However, supernatural fantasy also tends to have a fair amount of boinking. There is often a strong romantic and/or sexual element. These supernatural or magical creatures are either super sexy or use their magical powers to make themselves super sexy. That’s my least favorite part of supernatural fantasy. I just don’t care to learn the details of supernatural noogie and how much hawter it is than regular human to human boinking.

I’m not saying they’re badly written sex scenes, I’m just saying I’d rather have more world building than boinking.

And that is one thing the good supernatural fantasy books tend to do very well, they have excellent world building, and have taken our world and twisted it just enough that it’s close to our world, but not quite the same, but those small differences are very well done.

But both types of fantasy are very good, and I’ve been enjoying reading both kinds, although supernatural fantasy is way more common right now. Will you find these distinctions in a book store? Unlikely. I’ve seen the term paranormal fantasy bandied about, but it seems to be used primarily for fantasy books with a lot of boinking. What if you want one and not the other? My recommendation is to check the covers. Sexy women (or men) on the cover tend to designate a fair amount of boinking. But it’s not a hard and fast rule (Charlaine Harris‘ Sookie Stackhouse books are an exception, although I’ve noticed that the reissues are going for the sexy covers).

And you can always check my reviews. I do try to note if there is a large amount of boinking in a book.

Go stare at Janiece!

O.O

I’ve been reading a lot of supernatural and urban fantasy recently.

There are several reasons for this. First and foremost seems to be because unlike other types of fantasy, supernatural fantasy seems to be written more like mysteries. There is often an overarching story, but each book has a plot that begins and ends within the book. We may learn more about the character’s past or talents or secret or whatever, but the story arc is concluded.

Additionally, most supernatural and urban fantasy books are written so that you can start at any book in the series. Sure, there’s a past, and it’s nice to know the past, but you aren’t doomed to be lost if you miss the first (or second or third) book in the series. And when a new book comes out, you don’t have to reread every other book in the series.

Which is why I have all but stopped reading epic fantasy.

I like being able to pick up a book, read that book, and then go onto something else. I am not in the mood to pick up an eight hundred page tome that is the first book in what was supposed to be a trilogy but has stretched out to to five… seven… ten… whatever books. The idea of having to read hundreds of thousands of pages is just overwhelming right now. Not that I haven’t read hundreds of thousands of pages of supernatural fantasy and mystery, I just don’t have to read them all at once. I can read some Carrie Vaughn and then switch to Andrea Camilleri and then read something completely different.

So sorry epic fantasy.

I am over you.

Of course this wasn’t at all what I meant to write about when I started. What I wanted to write about was the difference between urban fantasy and supernatural fantasy.

Maybe next time.

Commentary on the Technology Poll here, including “other” if you chose it.

Grandmom has been complaining that I haven’t been making enough things she can eat, so I made cinnamon bread on Sunday.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Dough:
1 cup warm water
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup dry milk
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp flour
1 egg
1 tbsp water
Topping:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour

Mix together the water, butter, sugar, potato flour, dry milk, and yeast. Add the salt and cinnamon. Slowly add all-purpose flour until smoothly incorporated. Knead with mixer for 5 to 10 minutes. Allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a slightly oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap.

Once dough is finished rising, whisk together sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Beat together egg and water.

Roll dough into a large rectangle. Thickly brush some of the egg wash onto the dough rectangle (I only brushed on a light coating, and the swirl separated some). cover the surface of the dough with the cinnamon/sugar/flour.

Roll up the dough, and place into small, lightly greased loaf plan.

I rolled the dough up and then folded it under itself. They suggest rolling the dough longways.

Allow dough to rise for about an hour at room temperature.

After dough has risen, preheat oven to 350.

Pulse topping ingredients in food processor (recipe called for twice as much flour, but this made way too much topping, and the consistency seemed off). Brush egg wash into top of risen loaf. Sprinkle with topping. (I did this over a piece of parchment paper to make clean up easier.)

Back 350 for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Slide knife or other utensil around edge of loaf to release from pan. Remove bread from pan. You’ll want to do this over parchment paper or waxed paper to make clean-up easier, as a bunch of the topping will fall off.

Completely cool and then eat.

From the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

You know, I really thought more people would have two or more cell phones.

I was also expecting snarky comments on my options. :)

Several friends have noticed that we’re suddenly being friended more frequently.

I’d been pretty much checking out Facebook every couple weeks (mostly to keep tabs on my cousins), until sometime last month when I started getting contacts from people I hadn’t heard from in years.

Which is cool, because it’s nice to see how people are doing.

But it’s also made me somewhat uncomfortable.

As I said before, I’ve been using it for the past year and a half to keep tabs on my cousins, and a couple of friends–primarily friends from the Internet, but some friends that I knew/know in person as well. And it’s been fun for that, but the applications I quickly grew bored with. If I’m going to waste my time on the Internet, I’d rather waste it leaving comments on friends blogs than testing my trivia knowledge (Yes, the Princess Bride trivia game is addictive, which is why I stopped playing.)

But as I said, things suddenly picked up, and that’s where I ran into difficulty.

As I’ve said before, I really didn’t like high school. I was a geek, I was unattractive, and my depression and OCD were out of control. That is not a recipe for happiness, let me tell you. So with some exceptions, I don’t have fond memories of that time in my life.

Part of the reason is because I felt like an outcast. (See: unattractive geekiness) I often felt like I was on the outside looking in, and it was a really horrible feeling.

Then I went to college, and eventually from there I graduated, and at some point after that (not immediately mind you) I started to get my life together. (And that’s about all that needs to be said about that.)

So what does this have to do with Facebook?

It has to do with “friending” people.

I remember what it was like to not have friends, and to have people who didn’t want to be my friends. I got over it, but I remember the feeling.

Which is why I really dislike it when people I really don’t want to get back in contact friend me.

Let’s face it, I’ve got this place that I’ve had for years. If someone really wants to know about me they can come here and read about me and comment if they want. I can’t keep anyone from reading here, although I can control what people say. (NOTE: Unless your comment is spam or incredibly crude and offensive, I won’t delete it. You remain obnoxious I may disemvowel you, but I won’t delete you.)

And that’s fine with me.

Facebook isn’t the same way.

You have to choose to let someone be your friend.

What if I don’t want to be Facebook friends with someone? Isn’t refusing to friend someone kind of mean? Isn’t it exclusionary? Isn’t it the same thing that made me unhappy when I was younger, being purposefully excluded?

I know. I’m agonizing over a decision that someone may or may not even notice, because I’m remembering that someone was mean to me 20 years ago.

But it does makes uncomfortable. I must either be a liar and pretend to be friends with someone who I don’t consider a friend, or I purposefully exclude them.

So far, I’ve just ignored those friend requests, not knowing what to do with them. But it still makes me feel like a jerk. Especially since I like being able to keep track of people with whom I’ve lost contact. But I’m afraid that as Facebook continues to expand, I’m going to be faced with this dilemma more and more often.

So what do you all do? (Other than not having anything at all to do with Facebook. That horse has already left the barn. Guess that’s the problem with being an early tech adopter.) Or am I the only person in the world to feel guilty about things like this?

So, I’m having issues with anxiety today.

I’ve learned that the best way for me to deal with my anxiety is to remain busy. Yesterday I organized the basement and did laundry and made biscotti.

Today so far I’m making cinnamon bread. (I also baked double chocolate cookies, and did two more loads of laundry.)

The problem is that I can only bake so many things before the freezer become overwhelmed. And I can’t just leave baked goods sitting around because Grandmom will binge on them, and then her digestive tract will get upset, and that’s never a good thing.

So apparently you all need to come visit me so I can bake lots of different things and have them eaten immediately.

When can you get here?

Michelle: Have you seen my sorts? I seem to be all out of them.
Michael: You left them on the floor and Kit was playing with them.
Michelle: Why would Kit want to play with them, they’re not fun.
Michael: Like we know what looks like a fun toy to a cat.
Michelle: Sure we do: a milk ring.

There is too much CRAP in my HOUSE!

It must GO! It must GO NOW!

Must! Organize! Computer Room!

ADDENDUM the First:

Anyone still use zip drives? I’ve got a zip 250 and discs that I haven’t touched in multiple years.

It’s Friday! Have some cat picture! And cat-related pictures!

Kat has decided that the florescent bulb on Grandmom’s lap puts out enough heat for him to use it as a sun lamp.

That’s right, there is nothing here for you today. Today is all about me. After I finish teaching teaching my class, I’m taking myself out to lunch, and then going to a local spa.

Then I will either hie myself to a bar or a bookstore. Depends upon my mood.

I am hoping that by the end of the day I’ll be somewhat de-stressed and a lot calmer.

You may hear from me later, you may not. It all depends, because today is all about me. So feel free to entertain yourselves by continuing the latest game of word association.

The lock of hair lay in the precise center of floor.

Below the neat cut, a blue ribbon tied with a bow held the lock together; the remainder of the lock curled upon itself into a loose circle, the uncut end wisping out.

It was the only thing in the room.

The wooden floors were bare. Even the dust had been swept up and taken away.

He knelt down on the floor and stared at the curl–the only thing remaining of their years together. But as soon as he reached out to touch the ribbon, it all disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Janiece is the most awesome human on the planet.

Thank you Janiece!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ve got nine thousand words for you below the cut.
(more…)