A supernova born of our bliss

I am still so messed up. I’ve been pretty much a day off in my brain since last Friday when we went to the Fashion Institute. Now today felt like a Saturday, too, because Morgana came over this afternoon and we watched Eddie Izzard’s Definite Article as well as Hunting Venus (gods I love that movie! I miss the 80s! Wah!) and went out for Indian food at Bollywood.

So I keep thinking tomorrow is Sunday and CB&TL with the other writers, when in fact it’s Saturday and Spa Day. Good grief.

I’m a bit grumpy because I love the 4th of July and its attendant fireworks, but I end up hating the 4th of July here, because many of the Hispanics feel the need to be setting off illegal fireworks here in the dry desert (Goleta is burning, have you heard?) for days before and after the actual holiday. I’m happy to say that today has been the quietest since we moved here, although a loud bang just startled me so much I jumped. (It’s after midnight as I type this.) Grrr.

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Oh, and before I forget…June stats:

6 stories subbed
3 stories sold (!!)
10 stories rejected

11 novel submissions (all the same novel, though)
1 full novel subbed by request
2 novel rejections (same novel)

Another exciting evening...

Well, that was interesting!

So I’m sitting here working this evening, and outside I hear a few loud bangs, of the sort that signify that a car has hit something. As we’re along a fairly main drag and at an intersection that really, really, really needs a four-way stop, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Eostre is looking all startled out the window, and I get up to join her. I peered out to my left and saw a red pickup swerving a bit, then picking up speed and racing off down the street.

And, at the same time, the fire hydrant across E Street (the smaller street) shooting water in the air higher than the light pole next to it.

I grabbed my phone and ran downstairs and outside, and dialed 911 for the first time in my life. There was a nice gentleman on the sidewalk (he said we had a beautiful house ::beam::), and between the two of us we were able to describe the make and color of the pickup and the direction it was headed. There didn’t seem to be any other damage, no other cars involved, etc. The spray was strong enough to mist my face as I stood across the street. Cops came, fire trucks came, and it seemed to take forever to turn the water off. The nice gentleman said the truck had blown at least one tire (accounting for one of the bangs I heard) so he shouldn’t have been able to get far. I’ve yet to track down any news about the incident online, which is mildly annoying. I suspect he was drunk, on an illegal substance, or illegal himself.

Such excitement for a Thursday night!

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Rejection from Fantasy Magazine for “What Price Beauty?” It’ll go out on Monday to Cemetery Dance, since they take only mailed subs. (Is there mail service on Saturday, since it’s a “holiday weekend”? I have no idea.)

Squeak

Rejection from ASIM for “Soulsearching.” Once again, a story there made it through the first two rounds of cuts before not quite squeaking in. Ah well. I wanted to send the story to the Lace and Blade anthology, and if I can’t have a sale at ASIM, at least I got the rejection before the other anthology deadline.

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Oh, feh. I accidentally put non-dairy creamer in my Earl Grey at Coffee Bean, and now my tea tastes like soap. Bleah!

Kudos!

Not an official review, but it's so incredibly wonderful any time someone takes the time to post a positive comment about something I've written... This is from two folks on Goodreads.com, about my story in Haunted Hearths:

"Some Old Lover’s Ghost by Dayle A. Dermatis – Definitely a light-hearted read – kind of a lesbian Ghostbusters. What makes this story stand out is the strong narrator – she’s smart, funny and definitely opinionated. For some reason or other, the word “sassy” comes to mind when I think of this story - and that’s a good thing."

I was definitely going for voice in this story and this tells me I succeeded!  :-)  Thank you, Megan and Deanne, whoever you are!

(And in case anyone's wondering, although the protagonist is a lesbian, this is a contemporary fantasy story and anthology, not erotica.)

…or not.

The Saratoga Styx show has been postponed. After all that… Sheez.

But, it means that I have two days of my life back, and I really need them right about now. I’ve got a bunch of work (two novels to work on, three novels to send queries for, etc.), plus I’ve barely started my skirt for Labyrinth of Jareth, and I’d like to make a simple mask, too. (No time for a leather one, but I was thinking of buying a basic cloth mask and gluing peacock feathers and other sparklies on it.)

Plus there’s working out, Spa Day on Saturday, and all that fun stuff!

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Okay, this is just too funny.

Yesterday, Ellenie, Tanya, and I were all lined up on the sofa at the coffee shop, and some other woman was in the chair kitty-corner to us (the chair forms the lower part of the L arrangement). We all had laptops. No fewer than four people commented on us, on how great we looked, stuff like that. Some asked what we were working on. (“Are you all taking the same class?” Why, do we look like students?) Somehow, we’d become the coffee shop’s entertainment.

So I was in the coffee shop today with Ellenie (I was in the chair, she was on the sofa near me) and a young man sitting at the next table suddenly said “I like your shirt.” I was wearing the one that says “Careful or you’ll end up in my novel” (because it’s seems like an appropriate thing to wear while writing in a coffee shop).

But what is it about us sitting here that makes us so interesting and popular to the point that people can’t help but talk to us?

Maybe it’s because we’re so damned hot. And clever. Yeah, that’s got to be it.

Why yes, I am crazy. Why do you ask?

So, this coming Tuesday is my first Styx concert in 5 months, and as you can imagine, I’m a bit twitchy from the lack of Live Stygian Goodness. Not to mention the fact that the Tuesday show is actually a Boston concert with Styx opening, and while I like Boston well enough, I’d rather have it the other way ‘round. (And reports from previous shows indicate that many concert goers have felt the same way after experiencing the show.)

So I was at a point of weakness, you see, when friends posted that they had extra tickets for sale to the show in Saratoga, CA (just south of San Jose), on Wednesday night. Ken’s on his way home now for the Tuesday show, and would be riding back up on Wednesday; thus I had a ride there. All that was left was sorting out a place to stay and a way back home. Amtrak was about $60 door-to-door (the Oxnard station is…counts on fingers…four blocks from our house). Granted, it would be a 9 hour ride, but have laptop, will travel.

Then, serendipitously, another friend posted that she was driving to the Saratoga show and her husband couldn’t make it after all, and she had space in her car… And so it was arranged that I would ride up with Ken, share the hotel room with said friend, and ride back with her on Thursday (a 5.5 hour drive). See, it’s a Styx headlining show, and it will be my 75th Styx show, and…it’s Styx.

All of which made for a crazier-than-expected week for me, what with sorting out appts with my trainer and massage therapist and finalizing products for our Herbal Guild’s Spa Day on Saturday, not to mention, oh, work.

And then tonight it comes through the grapevine that someone talked to Styx’s merch guy last night and he said the Saratoga show was cancelled, although we can’t yet find confirmation of that. Bguh. I try to be organized, and the universe conspires against me.

We’ll see what happens when we call the venue tomorrow.

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Due to a variety of random reasons, I decided not to join my fellow Herb Guild members in a trip to the Lavender Festival in Ojai yesterday. Instead I focused on various projects and had a reasonably productive day. I’d told Morgana that if folks were going out to dinner, I’d be happy to join, and it ended up being just Morgana and Brian, which was fine. We tried Olive Garden (Brian’s choice) but the wait was too long, so we came back and hit Armando’s, a local Italian place that’s awesome. I had pan-fried ziti with meatballs, and brought half of it home. That was lunch today. Yum!

Today I wrote in a coffee shop with friends (whereupon I hit an annoying road block in the novel, which I have to suss out), worked out, made a lovely cobb salad for dinner, watched the first episode of Xena: Warrior Princess from Netflix, and caught up on e-mail and other various little projects.

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Well, Ken just called, and he’s about an hour from home, so I can’t go to bed just yet. (Yes, he left Oregon this morning. Yes, he’s at least as crazy as I am. We do make a fine pair, don’t we?)

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Currently Reading: Circle of the Moon, Barbara Hambly
Lately Listened To: Eurythmics’ Greatest Hits
Recently Watched: Law & Order: SVU