Tara Maya's Tales

Writing daily can help you lose weight. No, I am totally serious. I know it seems counter-intuitive, because, after all, you are sitting around on your buhunkus, and, if you are like me, tempted to eat snacks while you write. But writing each day takes willpower. Learning to discipline yourself to write can have a positive impact on the rest of your life. Willpower is like a muscle . This has a downside and an upside. The downside is that it can become exhausted, which means that you can find yourself more susceptible to temptation. The upside is that by exercising your will every day--for instance, by writing daily, if you a writer--you can improve not just your ability to write, but also strengthen you willpower in other areas, like dieting. Heidi Halvorson, a researcher on willpower, writes: So if you want to build more willpower, start by picking an activity (or avoiding one) that fits with your life and your goals – anything that requires you to override an impulse or d...

15. United Kingdom Per capita alcohol consumption: 13.37 liters Recorded consumption: 11.67 liters Unrecorded consumption: 1.70 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 4.93 liters Wine: 3.53 liters Spirits: 2.41 liters Other: 0.67 liters 14. France Per capita alcohol consumption: 13.66 liters Recorded consumption: 13.30 liters Unrecorded consumption: 0.36 liters Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 2.31 liters Wine: 8.14 liters Spirits: 2.62 liters Other: 0.17 liters 13. Ireland Per capita alcohol consumption: 14.41 liters Recorded consumption: 13.41 Unrecorded consumption: 1.00 Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 7.04 liters Wine: 2.75 liters Spirits: 2.51 liters Other: 1.09 liters 12. Portugal Per capita alcohol consumption: 14.55 liters Recorded consumption: 14.55 liters Unrecorded consumption: 2.10 litres Per capita consumption by type (recorded) Beer: 3.75 liters Wine: 6.65 liters Spirits: 1.27 liters Ot...

Rthan Rthan’s old hut had been dismantled after he had fallen in battle, as was customary. During his captivity, his tribe had mourned him as one already dead. On his return to the tribe, a new hut was built. Kinsmen in Sharkshead and others from his birth clanhold, folk who had heard he still lived and come to see if it was true, helped him with the building. Six sturdy rib bones from a whale provided the main support, around which was woven a skeleton dome of femurs and fibulae. Then layers and layers of skins rubbed in lard, fur side down, facing the interior, were stretched tight and lashed to the bones, so that when the hut was finished, it was slick and waterproof on the outside, soft and warm inside. Kinsmen thumped his back and insulted him affectionately, lighting the hearth fire as their last favor before they left him alone in his new house. The fire burned blue. Against the light, he could see Meira’s silhouette. The little girl stroked a patch of otter fur. “Otter ...

Princess Kate gets hitched. I love princesses. I should. A princess taught me to read. A princess convinced me to get married. And a princess made my dream come true. But I met a guy once who hated princesses. He was a Spanish anarchist who would hold up protest signs whenever any Spanish royalty showed up. The problem, he complained at a dinner party attended by radicals, pacifists and intellectuals, was that just about everyone in Spain adored the Spanish royal family, and for good reason. The king of Spain had defied terrorists to defend democracy. The anarchist didn’t care. “I hate the kings. But I especially hate the damn princesses.” “I love princesses,” said the activist next to me. “I LOVE them!” She and the gay guy on her other side then started talking Princess Fashion Tips. The anarchist rolled his eyes. I wondered if he was right. Are we unhealthily obsessed with royalty? Dany from Game of Thrones.  Some examples: • The Royal Wedding. Need I say m...

Rather than drone on about how edits on The Unfinished Song: Sacrifice are going (except to say they are indeed ongoing), I thought I'd let you have a peak at my next project-in-progress. This is going to be a military hard sf series called STRAT. On a hell world where feudal mech lords use memetic tech to imprint loyalty onto their vassals and thralls, all Charlie and his people ask is to be left alone, free to think for themselves. Then, on his wedding day, Charlie's bride is kidnapped to be a thrall. As he fights for his life and her freedom, he discovers the war helm of an ancient and powerful lord. He needs the knowledge in the helm to bring the battle to his enemies. But if he uses it, he risks losing himself... I'm going to release it in novella-lenth episodes of about 25,000-35,000 words each. Charlie is gonna fight in a lot of wars, and each episode will cover one war. I'll start with a trilogy and may expand from there.