Announcements, Cross Stitch, and an Interview

First, before I forget, I did an interview about my spooky story in Neon Druid:
https://mtmisery.com/2019/02/17/neon-druid-interview-jennifer-lee-rossman/



　

I've signed a couple contracts recently, so I can share some exciting news. And now that I think of it, it's all autism related. I tell you what, realizing I'm autistic has really impacted my life and my writing in positive ways. (Read my autistic essay here: https://www.wattpad.com/691607417-unbroken-book-two-essays-friendship-by-jennifer)



My autistic-acceptance story My Fair Cavelady will be part of the next volume of Brave New Girls!

The Repatriation Heist is a story about a time traveling autistic witch, which will be in Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove. (The editor is one of our Libretti authors -- we're editing each other!) Preorders available here: https://hotel-stormcove.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders



　

Finally, Of Clockwork Hearts and Metal Iguanodons will be published online as a podcast on GlitterShip. It's probably the most "on brand" story I've ever written, combining all my trademarks: disability, autism, dinosaurs, robots, queers, and obscure historical facts!

　

I'll have more about all these stories and the anthologies as they get closer. Especially the dinosaur one. Fair warning, the blog post about that one is going to have a lot of yelling about inaccurate depictions of dinosaurs

　

Finally, speaking of autism and dinosaurs, have I mentioned that I'm autistic and love dinosaurs? I feel like I've brought that up once or twice. Anyway. Dinosaurs are my thing. Autistics sometimes call it a special interest.

I see no reason to do crafts unless there's a way for me to make dinosaurs with it. (Wait till you see the 3D purple parasaurolophus I'm crafting out of yarn and plastic canvas. It's *awesome.*) So here's my latest cross stitch, a cowgirl riding a utahraptor. Semi-based on my story The Good, the Bad, and the Utahraptor (http://www.castofwonders.org/2018/11/cast-of-wonders-332-dinovember-the-good-the-bad-and-the-utahraptor/).

It's about 3 inches tall, and is done on 18 count fabric.

No, the raptor doesn't have visible feathers. It was an artistic choice. Maybe he's covered in green plumage.

The Good, the Bad, and the Utahraptor is Published!

Jurassic Park is my favorite movie, has been ever since I was five. Yes, I was way too young to watch it. I don't know what my parents were thinking, but other movies I loved at that age include Tremors and Jaws, so... clearly I was not a normal child.

But back to Jurassic Park. I love dinosaurs. Like, I was that annoying kid who wouldn't play with a plastic allosaurus because it had the wrong number of toes. So a movie where they eat people? Fun!

I practically wore out my VHS, I can still quote large chunks of the movie, and I think Dr. Malcolm might have been my first crush. On second thought, it might have been Princess Jasmine. My point is, I loved the movie and its sequels.

　

However, being a dino-nerd, I knew it was not without its faults, especially regarding my beloved raptors.

For one thing, real velociraptors were the size of turkeys. The big ones like in the movies are more similar to utahraptors or deinonychuses. They also had feathers, damnit.

But I gave the movies a pass because we were only just discovering feathers when the first movie was made, and while they did discover utahraptor during production (if I remember correctly), the idea of a larger raptor had already been proposed in the scientific community and they thought it would be a subspecies of velociraptor. So, fine. I accepted it.

　

Then they announced Jurassic World.

Yes! A chance to correct their mistakes!

[insert disappointed sigh here]

Look. I love these movies with all my heart, but they made three mistakes with the new movies:

1. Wrong species of dinosaur

2. No feathers

3. Chris Pratt did not ride a raptor like it was a pony

　

Yeah, okay, maybe that last one isn't a scientific inaccuracy, but it was definitely a mistake, and I have taken it upon myself to correct these errors. So, without further ado, I would like to proudly present my dinosaur western, free to read and listen to on Cast of Wonders...

　

The Good, the Bad, and the Utahraptor

(narration by Sandra Espinoza)
http://www.castofwonders.org/2018/11/cast-of-wonders-332-dinovember-the-good-the-bad-and-the-utahraptor/

Utahraptor

In the time travel western I'm writing, outlaws ride utahraptors. They're the size of horses, and. they. have. feathers. (Sorry, Jurassic Park; you've always been my favorite movie, but your "velociraptors" leave a lot to be desired in the realism department. Like I can talk; my technicolor raptors wear saddles and attack stagecoaches... but at least they have feathers).

This lovely lady is River, the mount of the as yet unnamed outlaw leader. I opted against full, wing-like arm feathers as I like the flowy look of the feathers on her head and tail (and I don't have the skills to make it look nice that way).
I traced the outline from this diagram on Wikipedia.

I Hate This Book I Love

I've got this idea for a book. It's a good idea and I really like it.

Which must be why I've started and restarted it five times, each from a different perspective or starting at a different point in the story.

Now I think I've got it figured out. The story, I've realized, should be about the villain of the other attempts, and her rise and possibly fall as the leader of an outlaw gang of dinosaur bandits.

For the record - or my own amusement - this is as far as I got in my last attempt:

The first rays of morning peeked over the craggy mountaintops, flooding the valley with a golden light that ushered the chill from the air. Yellow grasses still sparkling with dew swayed in a breeze that smelled of flowers. A creature bellowed somewhere in the distance but didn't break the tranquility of the wilderness.

Carmen [surname] sat in the long shadow of a sprawling acacia, one only a few trees in the area, shaking and pulling her knees to her chin.

Yeah, not my best, and I really had no idea where I was going.