Daisy Bateman

writing

A Brief Tour of My New Office

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Since it will never be this clean again. Needs more bookshelves. 1. Poster to cover oversized mirror on the wall.2. Oversized mirror.3. Hat.4. My grandmother’s roll-top desk.5. Chair the cat is supposed to sit on.6. Chair the cat actually sits on.7. Reading couch.8. Seedling starts for the garden. (Mostly cabbage.)

I Would Also Accept Shrubbery

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I recently was in Santa Fe, where I had a chance to visit the Georgia O’Keefe museum. It’s a lovely place and I highly recommend it. They, quite reasonably, have a lot of restrictions on taking pictures of the paintings, but none at all for the quotes posted on the wall. This is about painting, … Read more

Giant Killer Everything

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The problem with (best part of?) reading science news is how much of it would make awesomely terrible (terribly awesome?) book plots. For example: The First Sea MonsterTitle needs some work, but set that baby loose on an unsuspecting* seaside town and/or freighter filled with illicit cargo and dangerous characters and let the magic** begin! … Read more

Springtime For Deathtraps

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No musical numbers, but my newest Death Traps story has just been published by the brilliant podcasters over at Escape Pod. In it, Xnab and his crew address the eternal question of what to do when you have locked the keys inside your treasure chamber, and whether the apocalypse is really just a case of … Read more

Coming Up For Air

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Things I have been doing lately: Moving, preparing for a wedding, finishing up a massive work project.Things I have not been doing lately: Blogging, sleep. These things are not likely to change soon, but I did want to stop by and say hi and share some good news, now that the check has cleared: The … Read more

A Hundred Acres of Shadows

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(Inspired by a true story. Loosely. With thanks to @bmahersciwriter and Captain Morgan.) The bear lowered his rotund form into the chair and contemplated his guests.“Well, gentlemen, I think you know why I’ve brought you here.”As they protested their ignorance, he slid a stoneware jar across the table and pointed to the label.“Do you know … Read more

Department of Story Ideas: The Meat-Eaters

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The Inspiration:A conversation over lunch during which someone mentioned ongoing efforts to create lab-grown meat. Apparently, it needs to be kept moving by the application of electrical shocks in order to develop properly. You see where I am going with this. The Story:As above, with some minor variations. Rather than using muscle cells directly from … Read more

“Fancy”: A Revisionist Version

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You know how sometimes there’s a song you really kind of like, but you can’t stand to listen to it because the lyrics are basically about how if you’re a poor woman all you’re really good for is prostitution? Well, for me, Reba McEntire’s “Fancy” is that song. I have to admit, the chorus is … Read more