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Community for science fiction and fantasy author/artist M.C.A. Hogarth.
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
February 24, 2021
The Jaguar's Heart 2: Confronting the Alien

This one is public, so feel free to share if you like. Transcript below:

Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

Today, I talk about confronting aliens.

Okay, more like… today I talk about Baen’s Bar, because it’s inevitable that I talk about Baen’s Bar. For those of you who aren’t involved with the legacy science fiction publishing industry, Baen is only remaining publisher that seems committed to popcorn entertainment, the kind of stories that remind you of blockbuster summer movies: explosions, adventure, excitement. I enjoy a lot of Baen’s catalog—notably I went through a lot of it just after childbirth because dealing with incessantly female stuff made me crave some balance in my life, and balance to me felt like participation in interplanetary wars. (what can I say, it worked for me.)

Anyway, Baen has had a forum for so many years its forum software looks like it crawled off a BBS, and if you remember the wild west days of the internet where Usenet was a neverending flamewar, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say there are subforums on Baen’s Bar that take you back to times where speech was so free it reached through the screen and punched you in the eyes.

It is naturally inevitable that in the 2020s, the rhetoric there is defined by people in power in the industry as hatespeech.

I’m not really moved by this definition when the people who are calling it out never did anything about the hatespeech that’s been aimed at me, for decades, even when I spoke out about it. Even when it happened on their forums and their servers, which they never shut down to save this particular ‘woman of color’ from violence. It’s clear to me that this is a case where hatespeech is okay when used against your enemies, but not when it’s used against you, and I have no time for that kind of hypocrisy. I guess I can talk about it more if y’all want me to, but it’s not really the focus of this ramble… which is this thing that jumped out at me subsequent to the explosion of talk about Baen’s Bar.

…and that’s the number of people who proudly state that if you do not agree with them ideologically, they are willing to cut off ties with you.

This is bad enough in the normal populace. But it staggers me that it’s a thing in the science fiction arena. Because what is science fiction for, if not to confront the alien? How many of us fell in love with the genre because it was exciting to seek out new worlds and new civilizations? To meet the Other and discover all the congruencies and the frictions of competing worldviews? What is first contact, except an opportunity to expand one’s own horizons by grappling with ideas and beliefs we don’t share? And then, in exhilarating moments, to find the commonalities, framed in a new context that makes them shine like the glass in a cathedral window?

To hear science fiction authors and fans proclaim proudly that they don’t want to associate with people who aren’t like them… I don’t even know what to say to that. I thought we were the explorers, the negotiators, the listeners, the pioneers. What I want from my fiction is the excitement and danger of the alien shore. And there’s no wonder without that danger, and the danger is that you will be uncomfortable, you will be challenged, and you will have to reassess your values in a context where they might not apply.

How you confront the alien says a lot about you. How you frame the process of engaging with the alien does, too.

Ironically, the people who claim the writers and fans of Baen’s work are shoot-‘em-up types who enjoy books that cast the Other as enemy… are the ones who are advocating, in real life, for the Othering of people, actual human beings, with alien ideas. They are responding to caricatures, like someone deciding that Martians are little green men without sending a rover to Mars to find out. And they’ve decided those caricatures are too dangerous to exist, and it gives them great pleasure to start the interplanetary wars to extirpate them.

I can’t do that. And I wouldn’t be proud of it if I could. I prefer to know and count as dear people of many different beliefs, walks of life, and life experiences… than to decide in advance what I think of those people, and cut them off forever. I have grown more as a person, and honed my ideas in contests with other ideas, through my willingness to let other speak, and not discount them. I would hope that those of us who dream of the stars, and first contact, would as well.

Anyway, that’s all I got. Thanks for listening to this questing heart. Jaguar out.

The Jaguar's Heart 2: Confronting the Alien
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
October 27, 2021
Cursive Practice Video, to Relax

Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes

Materials:

00:04:27
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
July 23, 2021
Overview of the First Oil Paint Experiment

In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.

Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖

00:03:35
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
July 17, 2021
Video Review: Oil Painting Papers

My initial review on receipt of the three oil paper products I ordered: the Canson pad, the Rembrandt block, and the Arches single sheets.

00:01:54
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
November 09, 2021
Alysha Misc

Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.

Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!

Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461

Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.

After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...

Alysha Misc
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
April 12, 2021
The Jaguar's Heart 7: We Are Not a Monolith

A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.

Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.

It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)

I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....

The Jaguar's Heart 7: We Are Not a Monolith
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
March 25, 2021
The Jaguar's Heart 6: Hatespeech

One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.

Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.

It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.

We have forgotten how to listen.

Increasingly, we have also ...

The Jaguar's Heart 6: Hatespeech
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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
November 13, 2024
Exile 2 is live!

A few days early, on my shop; I was planning the 15th but I got it done faster than I planned. You can get it right now from my shop in ebook or paperback: https://studiomcah.com/products/an-exile-amid-stars-shieldmatron-2

Or, if you prefer, you can wait for the retail edition (ebook and paperback). Those links are here: https://books2read.com/shieldmatron2

I've also wrapped up the FireBorn's Legacy Kickstarter and sent out that update, so... I think that's everything that was on my plate for this year. I am thinking of going back to writing the gamelit (finally!) and maybe doing a Christmas story! I'll actually be able to breathe and think about that. Excited!

Anyway, grab the book if you're wanting to.🧡

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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
November 06, 2024
Any Word Requests?

Typo checks and first reader reports are coming in at a good clip on Surela 2 - thank you all! I'm going to start formatting this weekend and should have that wrapped up shortly.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at everything I've dropped to finish Exile Amid Stars (including re-reading the gamelit novel to see where I left off!). But I'd also like to do some conlang work, so this is an open call for requests for words! I'm assuming Ai-Naidari, but if you want to know words in other languages (the Jokka's, or Chatcaavan, or Faulfenzair, or whatever!), let me know.

Reminder also that I'm doing one card readings from my balance deck on Discord, so if you'd like one, let me know there. It's happening in channel #other-stuff.🙂

But anyway, yes. Word requests, if you have them!

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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
October 29, 2024
Beta Reader Alert!

I'll be finishing the draft of Surela 2 tomorrow, and will probably wrap up my personal revisions on it by the end of the week. Which means if you're interested in being on the beta reader team, you should clear the decks for the beginning of next week!

My recommended re-reads going into this one are Surela 1 and FireBorn's Legacy.

Wiki spoilers will probably start going up this week as I finalize my edits and start adding things to entries so that first readers can do research/double-check things, so be advised!

If you prefer to wait, I'm guessing this one will be available for direct sale (from my shop) by mid/end of November, and at retail in December. I'll have a pre-order page up probably by Nov 15 at the latest.

I know I've been quiet and putting all the things on hold, but the book was only 25,000 words long at the beginning of September and it's now 100,000 (and still going). I've dropped everything to get this done in time for a 2024 release, and it's been eating my brain ...

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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
February 02, 2024
post photo preview
Gamelit Novel Index

The chapter titles are all a mess. But this is the proper order so far:

Gamelit 1 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4241337/gamelit-novel-first-chapter

Gamelit 2 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4255477/gamelit-novel-last-bit-of-chapter-1

Gamelit 3 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4267366/gamelit-novel-chp2-part1

Gamelit 4 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4267371/gamelit-novel-chp2-final

Gamelit 5 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4298755/gamelit-novel-chp-3-part-1

Gamelit 6 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4330428/gamelit-chp-3-part-2

Gamelit 7 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4331116/gamelit-chap-4-pt-1

Gamelit 8 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/4361942/gamelit-chp-4-last-bit

Gamelit 9 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5215305/gamelit-novel-chapter-3

Gamelit 10 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5244861/gamelit-novel-10

Gamelit 11 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5271216/gamelit-novel-11

Gamelit 12 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5301971/gamelit-novel-12

Gamelit 13 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5326625/gamelit-novel-13

Gamelit 14 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5360605/gamelit-novel-14

Gamelit 15 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5385714/gamelit-novel-15

Gamelit 16 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5418577/gamelit-novel-16

Gamelit 17 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5444360/gamelit-novel-17

Gamelit 18 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5475518/gamelit-novel-18

Gamelit 19 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5502726/gamelit-novel-19

Gamelit 20 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5530518/gamelit-novel-20

Gamelit 21 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5558728/gamelit-novel-21

Gamelit 22 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5586451/gamelit-novel-22

Gamelit 23 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5613544/gamelit-novel-23

Gamelit 24 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5642711/gamelit-24

Gamelit 25 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5668799/gamelit-25

Gamelit 26 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5693714/gamelit-26

Gamelit 27 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5722853/gamelit-27

Gamelit 28 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5747793/gamelit-28

Gamelit 29 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5772301/gamelit-29

RECAP RECAP Gamelit 29.5 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/6386873/gamelit-29-5

Gamelit 30 - https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/6398055/gamelit-30

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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
11 hours ago
Gamelit 30
what does it all mean

We resume the gamelit after hiatus! Reminder that the index is here if Ray's recap wasn't enough to resituate yourself in the story: https://studiomcah.locals.com/post/5215754/gamelit-novel-index  

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mcahogarth@mcahogarth
November 22, 2024
Gamelit 29.5
Recap recap

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

 

Ray,

Could you do a recap for your channels about the Story So Far? I feel like viewers might be missing out, there’s so much going on! Do one of your specials, would you? Super exciting! Get them hyped! You know how!

 

Thanks, you’re the best!

 

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

 

Anything for you babe sure thing, on it

 

--Ray

 

Okay, so listen up, listen up. Things are coming to a head and it’s all about DONNER’S BECK. The town that KillzYourFase burnt to the ground not once, but TWICE. It all started with cozy mom-and-son team Mandypony and Thoroldaena, who taught you how to cook on a campfire and sing with centaurs. When their caravan reached Donner’s Beck, they discovered it was GONZERS. Celebrity MOBA streamer KillzYourFase and his partner Goldie came through and wrecked it in pursuit of Killz’s ultimate quest, to become the first PC endgame raid boss villain. Now Mandypony and Thoroldaena are fighting back by building up the town Killz destroyed. Will they succeed? What’s Killz’s villain arc going to look like? And what will Mandypony teach you to cook next?

But that’s not all: other beta players are getting in on the action. Even Thoroldaena’s dad’s got your back with obscure trivia about medieval fortifications. Last we heard, Thoroldaena and mom were off to petition the Lord of the Forest for a return of the river that once flowed past Donner’s Beck. They hope to divert it into a moat. What will Omen Galaxica’s next gen AI evolve in response to their request? Let’s see what happens next!

 

 

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