Random interesting shiznit

On writing
[writing|process] Language, language, and the temptations of etymology by jaylake - I love reading Jay Lake's posts, no matter what the topic. In this one he ponders word choice in fiction, and when a word's etymology makes it inappropriate to use in a story. This is something that keeps me up at night - Good to know that I'm not (completely) insane.

Coll-ab-o-ration by Rachel Swirsky - I had always wondered how authors collaborate on a story.

Yaoi, slash, and characterisation by lanjelin - Thoughts on yaoi - Let me show them to you. I'm interested how the gay experience compares and relates to slash/yaoi (fan)fiction, and this essay brings up some good points about how authors characterize their characters through sexual tropes and labels.

Real world stuff
A Host of Mummies, a Forest of Secrets from The NY Times - Chinese archaeologists discovered an amazing cemetery in the middle of a desert in Xinjiang. What makes the find even more interesting is that the 4,000 year old corpses are from European descent. The whole article is great - I love reading about burial customs, and the fact that the bodies were buried in boats in the middle of a desert really fascinates me.

The Ides of March - and Caesar's Comet by dr_nebula - On comets and Cesar's assassination.

ficsssss

With that Wade rolled over and fell asleep. Or, Dan thought as he watched the outlaw warily, made a decent enough pretense of it. It wasn't good to stare into the campfire, get hypnotized by the flames and then lose your night vision, so Dan stared up at the sky and picked out constellations for a while, like he used to with Mark and William.