Browsing Tag

genderqueer mammoth

Photos

Goodness, a lot of you are still hitting my mammoth name poll

Google Analytics informs me that my poll from 2013 as to what to name my mammoth is still getting a stupidly high number of hits. This confuses me deeply, given that I’m wondering what the heck all you folks are actually searching for, and whether a poll I did two years ago at this point is in fact interesting enough to you that you’ve clicked over to read about it.

If you did indeed do that thing, HI! The mammoth in question was named not long after that poll, of course. His name is Jean-Claude! (Or sometimes Jeanne-Claudette, because it is important to note that my mammoth is genderqueer. Sometimes he feels male! Sometimes she feels female!)

Either way, my mammoth ALSO says hi. Here are more current pics, of me and J-C and three awesome musicians I learned things from at Fiddle Tunes: Lisa Ornstein, André Marchand, and Normand Miron!

Jean-Claude did had a wonderful time at Fiddle Tunes, and so did I!

About Me

The entire Victoria trip, part 3: Sunday

And now, to finish up my posts about going to Victoria at the beginning of April, here’s the recounting of what we did on Sunday of that weekend! The previous posts, for those of you who may have missed them, are:

  • Friday, in which Anna and Dara declare that 6:30am is not an actual time of day, in which a ferry is taken, in which the Royal BC Museum has HOLY SHIT MAMMOTH!, and in which Fernwood has a highly awesome open mic
  • Saturday morning and afternoon, in which much wandering of downtown Victoria is done, in which Anna’s new mammoth is photographed having adventures, in which books in French are bought, and in which Anna acquires SURPRISE GUITAR!
  • Saturday evening, in which Anna and Dara have a spectacular time seeing Le Vent du Nord, in which Anna’s mammoth meets a polar bear, and in which there is photographic evidence of fiddle players

On to the final leg of the Victoria adventure: Sunday!

Continue Reading

About Me

The entire Victoria trip, part 1: Friday

I already went on at considerable length about the general awesomeness of seeing Le Vent du Nord perform at Hermann’s Jazz Club. And of course, y’all also know about my newly christened mammoth!

But I’ve been reminded that I did not in fact give you a proper writeup of the weekend as a whole. And it’s worth talking about that, just because Dara and I never had been to Victoria before, and Victoria in general was absolutely worth the visit.

So behold, my recounting of my and Dara’s Victoria Adventure! This post’s going to focus on what we did on Friday the 5th, with as many pictures as look decent enough to share. I’ll do other posts for the non-Le-Vent portion of Saturday the 6th, and for Sunday the 7th!

Continue Reading

Valor of the Healer

A few more promo items make a post!

In Mammoth News

First up, I promised you all another handout of a copy of Valor of the Healer to a randomly selected commenter from the poll to name my mammoth! I am happy to announce that that winner is… Jessica! Who, based on comments I saw dropped on Dara’s signalboosting of the poll, is userinfojessie_c on LJ! Jessie, if you’re reading this, I’ll be finding you to get in touch with you about receiving your copy of the book!

Second, for those of you who didn’t see me announce this on the social networks this morning, the poll to name the aforementioned mammoth is, in fact, CLOSED! I got a whole boatload of creative suggestions, and thank you all for submitting them. There was a particular hard, protracted battle between the top three names, but in the end Fred G.’s choice prevailed. And so I am also quite happy to present to you genius billionaire play-mammoth genderqueer philanthropist Jean-Claude Mamut!

Jean-Claude Mamut

Jean-Claude Mamut

Asked about the honor of this naming, Jean-Claude was quoted as saying, “Merci beaucoup à tout le monde! Oui, I am very grateful for all who voted upon my name. It is a man’s name, c’est vrai, but sometimes I am Jean-Claude, and sometimes I am Jeanne-Claudette, or Jean-Claudette, or Jeanne-Claude. I am a very small mammoth, but I am legion and in me there are multitudes. If you are not sure how to call me, you have but to ask.”

Further asked about how exactly a French-Canadian mammoth wound up in a gift shop in a British Columbian museum, only to be purchased by a perky blonde author and fangirl from the States, the mammoth of the hour replied, “Ah oui, that is a long story and there is not enough whiskey to tell it properly. I will say now only that it involved many fermented berries, three other mammoths, an ice floe, and eighty-nine traffic cones.”

And, asked if sie had anything further to add, our mammoth finished, “Not for me, merci! Anna, she is the storyteller. Please buy her new book Valor of the Healer so she can afford to buy me more fermented berries. And maybe a small herd of my fellow mammoths.”

Fred G., who came up with the mammoth’s name, has been given his copy of the book!

Other Giveways in Progress

But wait, there’s more! If you missed out on the poll, there are now two other active giveaways running for the duration of the week–and therefore, two more shots to win your own copy of Valor of the Healer!

I have a post up on Carina Press’ blog right over here, where I’m talking about the challenges of writing Faanshi as a character, and how to portray the strength of a young woman who is neither physically strong nor outspoken in the slightest. Come over and tell me about your own favorite female characters who’ve shown strength in unexpected ways, and I’ll put you in a random draw for another copy of the book!

And on a much lighter note (because at Anna the Piper Enterprises, we try not to get too SRS BZNZ unless absolutely necessary), I also have this giveaway going! Because Carina put up some promo tweets about me today, and I feel that it’s not fair that THEY get to have all the fun talking about me. So spread your own ‘fun facts’ about Anna the Piper for yet another way to get a copy of the book. These ‘facts’ do not even have to be TRUE, and in fact, the lulzier the better. ;D

Thank you all for your ongoing support of the book!

Valor of the Healer

Don’t forget to name the mammoth!

While all these shenanigans I’m doing with daily giveaways are going on, Internets, don’t forget–the poll to name my mammoth is still open!

27 voters now and we have a pitched battle going on between ‘Woolworth’, ‘Mortimer J. Higganbottom the Third, or Steve for short’, and ‘Jean-Claude Mamut’! Clickie! Make your voice known on this important question! And don’t forget either that if you campaign for your choice in the comments, you will be entered into the final draw for another copy of Valor of the Healer!

Name This Mammoth!

Name This Mammoth!

And I gotta tell ya, Internets–I’m SEVERELY tempted to make genderqueermammoth.tumblr.com. 😀

Valor of the Healer

Polls are now OPEN! What should I name my mammoth?

Editing to add, 8/3/15: Goodness, a lot of you are still hitting this post. Hi, all of you folks who are hitting this post! Here’s a more recent post you might want to read too.

As you all know, O Internets, I had massive huge fun going to see Le Vent du Nord in Victoria! But almost as awesome was the acquisition of a toy mammoth, who proved to be my and Dara’s constant companion through the whole weekend. The mammoth’s adventures are documented right over here in a publicly viewable album on Facebook!

All the Cool Mammoths Wear Hats

All the Cool Mammoths Wear Hats

But of course the mammoth needs a name. And a great number of creative suggestions were lobbed my way!

My belovedest of Daras pointed out quite correctly that I should not force binary gender expectations onto my mammoth and that the mammoth may in fact be genderqueer. Therefore I quite happily accepted names that would be associated with any gender. And now it’s time to pick one! Do not let the obvious masculinity or feminity of any given name distract you from whether it is in fact appropriate for the mammoth. Genderqueer Mammoth is legion and contains multitudes!

I particularly liked the general theme of “hugely complicated and/or dignified names” as well as a strong contention that Genderqueer Mammoth may also in fact be Quebecois. And two different people came up with ‘Mamut’, with or without an associated first name, and which I am given to understand means ‘playboy’. Given that Genderqueer Mammoth got snogged on the way out of the Le Vent concert, the individuals who proposed those options may be onto something. >:D

Choose up to three on the list, or propose one of your own in the comments! And if you’re seeing this post on LJ or Dreamwidth, please click over to the angelahighland.com link since the poll doesn’t carry over to the mirror sites.

I will give a copy of Valor of the Healer to a randomly selected commenter who makes a case for their choice in the comments–so to have a shot at the book, you must not only vote, you must also campaign for your choice as well! You have until Valor‘s release day, one week from tonight, to jump in on the poll!

ETA 4-13-2013: AND! Just to make things a little bit more lively, Internets, I will ALSO offer a copy of Valor of the Healer to whoever has the winning choice on the poll! Consider this incentive to campaign for your selection! Vote! Vote like the wind! And get your friends to vote too! 😉

Continue Reading