Lisa Eckstein

@lisaeckstein

Reader. Writer. Big fan of human rights for everyone. Pronouns: she/her. Pronounce: EX-teen. Physical location: Silicon Valley, CA. Digital location: lisaeckstein.com

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Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· 18d

@dancingstarpress.com I want to make sure you know about The Language of Liars by @slhuang.com, because you're shaped the same!

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· 18d

#FridayReads The Language of Liars by @slhuang.com. Captivated by the alien cultures, the language-focused plot, and the unfolding mystery in this inventive scifi novella!

Cover of The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang. On a background of dark swirling colors, there are three tentacled creatures. The cover text includes a tagline, "Can words burn down an empire?" and a blurb by Rebecca Roanhorse: "Smart, razor-sharp, and absolutely devastating."

$Opening text of The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang: Nineteen Words for Doubt. Twenty-Six Ways to Lie. At first the Orro Primaries were skeptical. "Language causes the mind to jump?" they said. "No. Understanding causes the jump. Language is the tool," said the Master Linguist. "This ability would make us feared. It will only give us trouble from the conglomerate," said the Primaries. "No," said the Master Linguist. "It will give us spies." -Orro Internal Records, Dissolution Era (labeled for destruction) The day Ro jumped was the first day he doubted. Doubt. In his language, it meant uncertainty, apprehension, a lack of confidence or conviction. The feel-ing of a squiggle in his third and fourth stomachs. In Birjivina, the trade language of the Andu-Erjians, doubt meant a question-either a question raised or a question asked. Andu-Erjians said things like Ask your doubts or We have seventeen doubts to settle about this treaty with the Gendamese. The Gendamese had twenty-two common languages across three species. In one of them, everything could be made negative. You could have minus doubt, which roughly meant self-assurance or security. Another of their tongues used the word "doubt" as a slang question tag: You get me, doubt? Undoubt. The Koi people had only one language and didn't name it. Why did you need a name for something self-evident? The closest concept to "doubt" in their language roughly meant "miasma.” They didn't have words for abstract concepts; they had sensory metaphors. You weren't happy, you were the sound of trilling. You weren't in love, you were enveloped by warmth. "Sound" and "warmth" themselves were odd translations, since both species of the Koi had cell splinters that would break apart not very far above absolute zero-the literal translation of warmth was a numerical measurement a fraction of a degree above nothing. Warm to the Koi, perhaps, but a death sentence to most other species in the conglomerate. Except the Star Eaters. The…$

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· 18d

#FridayReads Foundling Fathers by @megelison.bsky.social, the story of a new American experiment gone wrong. Teenaged clones of Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin are raised in seclusion, until they discover the internet and learn all that's been kept from them about their intended purpose.

Paperback book, Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison. The cover illustration shows a Polaroid of a young George Washington wearing sunglasses and earbuds. A blurb from Sarah Gailey, author of Spread Me, says "Relentlessly, brutally, scathingly funny."

The first page of Chapter One of Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison. Text reads:

It took Benjamin Franklin twenty-seven minutes and fourteen seconds to discover there was pornography on the internet.

It was pretty impressive, considering the boy had started from zero. He had found the iPhone, still warm from someone's hand, sitting on a windowsill in his favorite privy. He did not recognize the object, having never seen anything like it before. The slick black glass was alien to him, so refined and smooth with beveled steel edges. He thought for a moment that it must be a large jewel. He hefted it in his palms, noticing the metal-frame setting bent around it. In the steel, he saw slightly raised areas and prodded one experimentally.

The jewel in his palm flamed to life, showing a vivid image of two people in front of an enormous waterfall. One of them he recognized-she was Mother, though as he had never seen her before. She wore breeches and... (page ends)

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· 29d

Another gorgeous sunset tonight!

Sunset over a suburban street, featuring a pair of palm trees. The clouds are orange at the horizon, but higher up, the sky is still blue, with white streaks of clouds.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jul 13

Sunset last night was really spectacular. I meant to share these photos right afterwards, and I forgot, but no reason you can't enjoy them today instead.

Dramatic sunset clouds, richly colored, above a suburban street.

The silhouette of a large tree in front of sunset clouds.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jul 11

Cloud waves.

Wispy white clouds that look a bit wave-like in shape, on bright blue sky. On the right is the edge of a conifer tree.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jul 9

Sidewalk shadows.

Four squares of sidewalk pavement meet at right angles. A jagged crack spreads across one square. Dappled shadow and light fall over it all.

A complicated shadow made from flowers on many thin stems, and something found on a thicker stem (maybe a light).

The shadow of a decorative fence with curved shapes, overlaid by the shadow of a bush or tree.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jul 3

#FridayReads Just getting started on Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez, and it's developing a portrait of a specific time and place, old school Brooklyn in 2007.

A hardcover book, Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez. The cover has large black text on a bright yellow background. Inside a pink circle is the silhouette of a building roof with people partying.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 26

#FridayReads Engrossed in Sublimation by @isabel.kim. Premise is that immigration can bifurcate selves, with one instance staying behind while an identical person moves away and develops separately. The story is about two instances who reunite in Seoul and must figure out their futures. Fascinating!

Book cover of Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim (Nebula award-winning author). The title and author name are in bold white text on a background that shades from pink to orange to black. There's an illustration of two identical figures walking away from each other. Additional text reads, "The border cuts you in two."

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 25

After leaving Daly City, we crossed the border into San Francisco, and since I was in a Shamshine Blind headspace, that felt thrilling and dangerous. If you want to know why, check out @pazsays.bsky.social's novel! (5/5 FIN)

Screenshot of the start of Chapter 1 of The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo. Text reads:

Shamshine and Sunshine are not the same thing. Anybody with training can tell the difference. Just like anybody with training could tell that Winfred Pimsley was a crook. But he was my kind of crook.

His antique shop perched on a hilltop just south of the ruins of San Francisco. On the Daly City side, little houses made of ticky-tacky sat back from the street, guarded by picket fences. Cars smuggled up from Mexico were parked across lawns, rusting steadily in the Pacific fog as they waited to get their plates changed. Kids playing hooky raced bikes held together with duct tape and resignation. A block away in San Francisco, moldy Victorians crumbled onto shattered sidewalks. Wild anise poked through the cracks in the deserted streets. Even daredevil teens knew to stay out of the old city.

The area had seen plenty of illicit psychopigment spills over the last thirty years, permeating the landscape with a thick emotional haze at odds with its appearance. As Tommy and I drove past yards overgrown with mile-high dandelions, the aging pigment's mix of ennui and affection made me feel like I'd just walked into my dad's old hardware store. Most antique dealers would've chosen a nicer neighborhood, but Pimsley had weighed the weeds against the ambient nostalgia and moved his operation from downtown faster than you could say "Falklands." That was the inveterate salesman for you: everything calculated to pull customers' heartstrings before they passed the fence.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 25

What brought me to the corner of Bepler Street was cocktails at the Nick & Nora bar, which was cool for its own reasons. And hey, still a Shamshine Blind connection, because they're all detective stories! (4/5)

A sidewalk signboard for the Nick & Nora Bar and Lounge in Daly City, with a picture of Asta the dog.

The interior of the Nick & Nora Bar and Lounge in Daly City. Above the bar are pictures of Nora, Asta the dog, and Nick. (Between these pictures are TVs showing a World Cup game.)

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 25

Conveniently, I also had a searchable ebook of The Shamshine Blind. Sure enough, the psychopigment investigation takes the agents to 92 Bepler Street. I was a block away! Well, sort of. There's no 92, but 90 exists. And it's at the crest of a hill, with a great view down into San Francisco. (3/5)

A residential street corner, with a signpost for Bepler St.

Looking downhill along a residential city street with a view. A BART train is passing, and beyond it are hills covered with houses.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 25

I was excited to be in Daly City, imagining I might run into Agent Curtida and the rest of the Psychopigment Enforcement Agency. I stood at the corner of Bepler Street, and that sounded familiar. Was it a location mentioned in the book? (2/5)

An intersection of two large streets in a commercial area, with an overhead sign for Bepler St.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 25

Last night I went to Daly City for the first time since visiting an alternate version in the pages of @pazsays.bsky.social's The Shamshine Blind. TBH, this might be the first time I've ever gone *to* and not *through* Daly City. Even the cover illustration heads on through to SF. (1/5)

An urban street. A sign in the median strip reads, "Top of the Hill. Daly City. Gateway to the Peninsula."

The book The Shamshine Blind by Paz Pardo. The background of the cover is black lines and white space, with numbers suggesting a paint-by-numbers drawing. This black-and-white illustration shows the Golden Gate bridge, a woman, and an outline on the ground where a dead body lay. On top of all this are four splotches of color (blue, yellow, pink, and orange) containing the title and author name. There's a blurb from Anna North, bestselling author of Outlawed: "Fiercely intelligent... utterly original."

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 22

Each beam of light is actually made of many lasers. Here's a closeup.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 22

It was less blurry in real life, but this shows something of how the light plays against the fog.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 22

A few more photos and videos from my visit last night to the 7x7 installation of laser lights in San Francisco.

A grid of rainbow layers shining up into the fog.

The square grid of laser clearly visible, with the rainbow colors bright at the top.

Thick beams of laser lights in front of San Francisco City Hall.

Looking up between the support girders at the grid of lasers.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 22

7x7 light show installation in San Francisco Civic Center Plaza. Lots of fun to gaze at and walk around beneath.

A colorful grid of 7x7 lasers shine up into the fog above San Francisco City Hall.

A colorful grid of 7x7 lasers shine up into the fog.

A colorful grid of 7x7 lasers shine up into the fog above San Francisco City Hall, where a crowd is gathered.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Jun 12

#FridayReads I just finished @tanawir.bsky.social's beautiful The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away, a story of two lonely exiles who find each other and find love, despite the dark forces working against them. This book is the latest powerful novella from @dancingstarpress.com.

The book The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away by Tanvir Ahmed. In the cover illustration, a woman in a dark robe, with her head covered, sits with her hand on a white dog. They're overlooking a valley, with mountains beyond.

The first page of Chapter One of the novella "The Night Sweeps the Mountains Away" by Tanvir Ahmed.

The chapter begins with an epigraph in the Pashto script. A page at the back of the book provides a translation:

My whole life has flown by with this one desire
That you might ask me, "Who are you, who might you be?"
Rahman

English text then reads:

The first time I met Mina, I saw the story written at the corner of her eye. A diamond in four dots, nested between her right temple and the edge of her eyebrow. To most it would look like a beauty mark. I knew better
.
I met her toward summer's end, as the winds began to settle and the markets swelled with the year's last eastbound caravans. At the time, I was making a living as a water carrier. I spent most days loping between the public wells and my clients' houses, waiting with the women and nomads to fill my leather bag, hauling it through the dust and clamor of the streets, forcing a smile as doors opened for me. I made enough for my daily bread, and did not have to ask for alms.

I had several clients in the area of the Gulistan Gate, a quiet neighborhood shaded by fragrant olive trees. The air there was sweetened by birdsong and scents from unseen... [page ends]

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· May 19

Delighted to see the Women of Afrofuturism exhibit in one of the small museum galleries in the SFO airport. www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/...

Exhibit sign for the Women of Afrofuturism exhibit at the SFO Museum. There's a large block of introductory text that also appears on the exhibit site:

https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/women-afrofuturism

A display of books and a typewriter at the Women of Afrofuturism exhibit. The books include Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, Binti by Nnedi Akorafor, and How Long 'Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin.

A sign at the back has a quote by Octavia E. Butler: "You got to make your own worlds. You got to write yourself in. Whether you were a part of the greater society or not, you got to write yourself in."

A black starry cloth banner with the large silver words "There are black people in the future". This is part of a project by artist Alisha B. Wormsley to widely display the sentence, including on billboards.

Explanatory plaque about Alisha B. Wormsley's project, including a photograph of a billboard reading "There are black people in the future". Text of the plaque also appears on the exhibit site:
https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/women-afrofuturism/gallery#5

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· May 3

On one of those rare occasions that justify my yarn stash, I managed to start a new knitting project without buying anything new. In progress shawl-wrap thingy, pattern is Nymphalidea by Melinda VerMeer.

Knitting project on the needles, with two balls of yarn. One ball is multicolor, with orange, red, and purple. The other is solid blue. The project alternates stripes of these and is an irregular curved shape.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Apr 30

Just recording for Bluesky posterity that in my now-abandoned novel, I hit the Bay Area with a big earthquake on November 4, 2026, and now I'm superstitious about it.

Screenshot text: The major worldbuilding in my 2026 storyline was about a significant earthquake striking the Bay Area, something I never wanted to be predictive about. (But to make sure I'm not psychic, for the record: November 4, 7.5 on the Hayward Fault.)

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Apr 19

Turned another year older on Friday, baked myself a cake. First time trying this recipe for Cake with Lime (Bolo de Limão), and it turned out delicious! easybrazilianfood.com/cake-with-li...

A bundt cake with white glaze dripping down the sides.

A slice of the cake on a plate. The inside of the cake is pale yellow, with green flecks of lime zest.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Apr 17

#FridayReads Engrossed in the wonderful Nonesuch by Francis Spufford! Loving the characters, the historical setting, and the world of secret magic.

Cover of Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. (The cover says "Author of Golden Hill", but for me he's the author of Cahokia Jazz, which I loved.) Cover illustration is of a woman in 1940s attire standing on a giant stone hand that is suspended above London. A blurb from Joe Hill says "You simply. Must. Read. This. Book."

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Apr 3

#FridayReads The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I read this 20+ years ago, but remembered very little of the story. Fascinating to reread now that I have a lot more familiarity with Le Guin's work.

Paperback book: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. 50th anniversary edition includes a new introduction by David Mitchell and a new afterword by Charlie Jane Anders.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Apr 3

I finished knitting my sweater! (Just as the weather started getting hot a few weeks ago, naturally.) I'm really happy with how it turned out. Pattern and yarn details in the earlier thread.

Me, smiling and modeling the sweater I knitted. It's a bulky cardigan with different sections in different colors. The body is orange, the sleeves and bottom are purple, the cuffs are green, and the front has vertical stripes in all three colors.

Me modeling the back side of the knitted sweater. The middle of the back is green, with orange at the sides. The bottom and sleeves are purple.

My knitted cardigan displayed on a flat surface. It's a bulky cardigan with different sections in different colors. The body is orange, the sleeves and bottom are purple, the cuffs are green, and the front has vertical stripes in all three colors.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Mar 27

#FridayReads All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun is the compelling story of passengers on a cruise ship right after 9/11. At first the characters feel conflicted about trying to enjoy themselves in such a terrible time, but then personal dramas keep them from enjoying themselves anyway.

Book cover of All the World Can Hold by Jung Yun. The title and author name are in large white text across a busy background. Upon closer inspection, the illustration is an upside down image of a tropical landscape, with a cruise ship out on the ocean.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Mar 21

#FridayReads So intrigued by Good People by Patmeena Sabit. We're learning about the family at the center of the story from statements given by people who knew or encountered them, in the aftermath of... something unknown that's happened!

The book Good People by Patmeena Sabit. On the cover, the title and author name appear in large gold text on top of a pale blue pattern that evokes waves. At the top is a blurb by Khaled Hosseini: "A spectacular triumph."

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Mar 19

The irises are irrepressible!

A flowerbed in front of a tree, packed with purple irises and a few white and yellow ones.

Lisa Eckstein@lisaeckstein· Mar 16

The poppies are populous! #bloomscrolling