Slosh

Well, not the spiffiest of days. My back continued to hurt, and thus I was out of sorts. Plus, this: Since October of last year, when I read about it in the Endicott Studio blog, I’ve been looking forward—no, craving—to see the Pre-Raphaelite exhibit when I heard it would be coming to the San Diego Museum of Art in May. Of course I planned to see it with my Pre-Raphaelite partner in crime, Morgana, but she and Brian had a busy summer, so there was a lot of shuffling and planning and whatnot. Finally we decided on the weekend of Faeriewords, since they felt they couldn’t shoehorn Faerieworlds into their schedule. Unfortunately, we then had a mis-meeting of minds, with me assuming it would be a day trip and them assuming it would be a weekend jaunt. By the time we realized this last week, there was no way I could take a whole weekend away, especially after a week away at RWA.

So yeah, it hasn’t been the best of days.

On the plus side, I’ve been strangely compelled to do various organizational things, like rearranging the TBR bookcase to fit all the new books from RWA, and putting away all the sewing trim we’re keeping (we’re purging about half of our original stash), and mending, and filing, and story submissions… Oh, and baths with copious amounts of Epsom salts are excellent for catching up with one’s reading. Exactly why don’t I do this every day?

---

Currently Reading: Lying in Mid-Air (ARC), Anne Tourney
Lately Listened To: cats purring
Recently Watched: Graham Norton, Painkiller Jane

There is no pain, you are receding...

My darling Meglet visited for a couple of days, and of course I got almost nothing done (because when Meg and I get to talking…). As a result, I’m a bit behind and a bit fretful. Add to that the fact that my back was hurting so much today that I cancelled my appointment with my trainer and went back to my chiropractor for the second time, and the day was largely a bust. Especially because the chiropractor said my muscles were spasming and pulling the bones out of alignment, and I should take a bath with Epsom salts, so I did, but not before popping half of a prescription muscle relaxant from last year.

It’s been a nice, floaty evening, let me just say.

That said, I’ve gotten a wee bit of writing done, and a lot of reading, and tomorrow is another day.

Before I forget, though, go check out the recent Lust Bites review of RWA Nationals, written by myself, Teresa, Kate, Deanna, and Anne.

More tomorrow. For now, I’m taking my loopy self off to bed.

---

Currently Reading: Lying in Mid-Air (ARC), Anne Tourney
Lately Listened To: “Hm, what?” she asks dreamily
Recently Watched: Eureka, Painkiller Jane

Pirate Tourney!

Pictures can be found here!

RWA away away (and back again)

Unsurprisingly, I’m writing this on yet another plane. This time I’m on the way home from RWA Nationals, where I’ve been since Tuesday. Dudes. My brain is full. Six days of workshops, 2000 writers (95% female—woah, the estrogen levels in that hotel!), an abundance of food and drink, and not a whole lot of sleep. I met so many wonderful people and reconnected with so many more.

I roomed with the fabulous Christine, the other half of my brain Phaedra, my coauthor Teresa, which was a blast. I was the only one who knew any of them—I was the pivot point friend—but as I suspected, they all got along famously. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time…

I spent some quality time with Teresa’s and Sarah’s and my editor, Adam. Fascinating man, and lots of fun.

I hung out with fellow Lust Biters Kate Pearce, Anne Tourney, Deanna Ashford, and Deanna’s daughter (also a Kate), as well as Michelle M. Pillow and Mandy Roth (a fellow ‘80s aficionado!). I also got to meet the amazing Emma Holly.

Thanks to Phaedra, who took me as her date, I got to go to the Berkley/Penguin/Ace party. Fantastic hors d’ouvres, free wine and champagne, and oh my gods squeak I’m at a party with Nora Roberts!

I took mostly workshops on creativity, on re-finding the joy and refilling the well, although also a few on structure and whatnot. Much of the former was stuff I already knew, but needed to be reminded of, needed to get it to sink back into my subconscious. During one workshop I did have a lovely (dark and sad, though) epiphany about the book I’ve just started. It breaks my heart to do it to my heroine, but I can’t shy away from it.

I’ve been in a writing slump for a while, and just before the conference, when I started to haul myself out of it, I realized I’ve been mildly depressed overall. I didn’t want to write, but I didn’t want to do much of anything, except maybe costuming. As I started to come back to my normal self, I decided to start a new project, go in a different direction to clear out my brain. (Phae, what did you call it? Something about coffee?) Cleanse the palate. So I’m working on an urban fantasy, and it’s different that what I’ve been doing, and I’m enjoying it. I need to just play with it, not worry about whether it’s “right,” explore and learn the book while I’m writing it.

Pictures can be found here—enjoy!

---

Currently Reading: Dime Story Magic, Kelley Armstrong
Lately Listened To: the buzzing in my brain
Recently Watched: Dr Who