Things to Do Today

• Go to the gym.
• Read through at least 100 pages of Out of the Frying Pan.
• Answer various work-related e-mails.
• Do dishes/make big salad for lunch/cut up watermelon/do dishes/make dinner (Trader Joe’s curry chicken over brown rice with Thai soup, the latter already meade)/do dishes again.
• Scoop cat boxes.
• Update GWW packing list/meet with Morgana, Brian, and Robin to make GWW plans.
• Cheer for Ken as he runs the LOE Rally.
• Answer various personal- and SCA-related e-mails.
• Try not to be sad that nobody wanted to see James Marsters and Ghost of a Robot tonight. Curse my evil bad eyesight. Sigh.
• Snuggle with kitties, and write a blog about them.

Prepping for the fun

October already. The season of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Except I think I shan’t be decortating for Hallowe’en this year, because I’ll be gone for most of the month. It’s going to be a fun and busy 31 days!

Here’s what I’ve got on the schedule:

Great Western War, October 8–10. I’m only going for the three days, because Ken’s out of town. Luckily we have a cat sitter! Also, I’ll be carpooling/sharing a hotel room with a friend who’s never been to War before, and she’s thrilled about that arrangement. Makes me feel good I can help her out!

New Technology Workshop & Two Book Signings, October 14–17. I’m sooo excited about this Oregon Writers Network workshop: all about how publishing is changing at a mind-bogglingly fast rate, and how to jump on that speeding bullet train of publishing via Kindle, Smashwords, CreateSpace, and more. I’ll also be doing book signings in Lincoln City and Portland with Shanna Germain and Kristina Wright, promoting Fairy Tale Lust and Alison’s Wonderland. Join us if you can! At the Portland signing/reading, there will be a contest for best fairy outfit!

Styx shows in Florida, October 20–25. I barely get home from the Oregon trip before I turn around and fly out to Florida for not one, not two, but three Styx shows! They’re doing a series of special concerts, the entire albums of The Grand Illusion and Pieces of Eight back-to-back, and I for one cannot wait to experience such a smorgasbord of incredible classic rock! Plus I get to hang out with the most fabulous Helen, and hopefully get the chance to see Zan, Rik, Rowdy, Dean, and even a friend from high school!

Rick Springfield book signing, October 29. He’s written an autobiography, and is doing a talk/signing in LA. This is why I love love love living in southern California!

Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog charity event, October 30. Another reason why I love living here! Dr. Horrible on the big screen, to raise money for Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, which “keeps music alive in our schools and communities by donating musical instruments to under-funded music programs, giving youngsters the many benefits of music education.” Even if I didn’t care about the event (which I do, I do!), I’d want to support a fantastic charity like this.

Hallowe’en (you know the date). Oddly, I have no specific plans for the evening. Morgana and Brian will be out of town… What I want to do is borrow a child or two and go trick-or-treating slightly south of here because I’ve heard a certain celebrity dresses up to hand out candy near where a friend of mine lives, but…I’m so not a stalker. Really. Honest.  ;-)

So, yeah, October’s kinda packed. November is looking pretty mild by comparison; the only hard-scheduled things of note are Coronation/Queen’s Champion and Thanksgiving, the latter which we shall be hosting for my sister, brother-in-law, two kids plus one friend-of-kid, and possibly Ken’s mom. I’m pondering NaNoWriMo, but if I do it, it will be unofficially, because I’ve already written the first 2.5 chapters of the novel I’d like to do.

What are your plans as the days turn colder (well, everywhere except southern California, where we’ve been having record-breaking temperatures, and the southern hemisphere, that is)?

Book signing in Lincoln City, OR!

And another one!

Along with the Portland book signing/reading on Saturday evening, October 16, I will also be doing a signing in Lincoln City that afternoon, again with Shanna and Kristina!

Where? North by Northwest Books, Streetcar Village, 6334 S. Hwy 101 #9, Lincoln City, OR 97367, 541-994-3087

When? Saturday, October 16, 1–3 p.m.

Why? To promote Fairy Tale Lust and Alison’s Wonderland, two fairy tale erotica anthologies

With Whom? Author Shanna Germain and Fairy Tale Lust editor/author Kristina Wright

Hope to see you there!

Portland, OR, reading/signing!

Portland-area friends! I’m doing a book signing and reading in your neck of the woods next month! (Actually, probably two signings, but I’m still hammering out the details of one, so stay tuned for that.)

Where? She Bop, a female-friendly sex toy boutique, 909 N. Beech St., Portland, 503-473-8018

When? Saturday, October 16, 8:30 p.m.

Why? To promote Fairy Tale Lust and Alison’s Wonderland, two fairy tale erotica anthologies

With Whom? Author Shanna Germain and Fairy Tale Lust editor/author Kristina Wright

What Should I Wear? I’m so glad you asked! If you’re so inclined, wear fairy tale or fairy-themed clothing/accoutrements, for there will be a contest! (Not required, of course, but how can that not be fun?!)

More Deets? Check out She Bop’s website and events page.

Hope to see you there!

** Celebrate! **

Happy Birthday

to my Beloved,

Ken!

(You can e-mail him at ken.meese AT mac.com if you want to tell him happy birthday yourself!)

Who am I today?

This question has come up in different forms: Why do I have so many pseudonyms? How do I find your non-erotic stuff/how do I tell the difference between your erotica vs non-erotic works?

Here’s a handy reference guide!

I have different pseudonyms because I write in different genres. It’s to help my readers easily find what they’re interested in. I also try very hard to be clear when I’m promoting something, what genre it’s in. If I say fantasy, I mean fantasy, not erotica. And so forth.

Dayle A. Dermatis – fantasy, science fiction, occasional non-fiction. I did sell one short, sweet romance story under this name, but it appeared in small presses a long time ago. When I put it up for sale as an e-book soon, I’ll use my sweet romance pseudonym (and if anyone is confused and buys the story and then realizes they’ve already read it, I’ll happily refund their money because if they’ve been a fan of mine for that long, they totally deserve it!).

Andrea Dale – erotica and erotic romance

Sophie Mouette – erotica and erotic romance co-authored with Teresa Noelle Roberts

Sarah Dale – spicy romance co-authored by with Sarah J. Husch

Kendra Wayne – erotica and erotic romance. An alternate name for Andrea Dale, really, for when I’m going to have two stories in the same anthology. Also the name I write under for Custom Erotica Source.

Andrea Loewen – romance, some with paranormal elements. There may be some sexual scenes, but if there are, they’re not full-on erotic. I haven’t yet sold anything under this name, but I have several things making the rounds.

All of my publications are listed at my website, divided up by pseudonym with the genre noted.

Questions? Comments? Fire away!

Dayle’s Version of Thai Soup, More or Less

Some of you asked for the Thai soup recipe I mentioned here, and it made me laugh and laugh. Do you know me? I’m the one who doesn’t cook. I just flail about in the kitchen trying not to poison anyone. I don’t like recipes. Recipes are like rules, and I really hate rules unless I understand their underlying purpose. (See, e.g., (a) why I don’t like Regency romances and (b) why I feel the need to research the history of any ritual.)

This may explain why it just took me 10 minutes to figure out where I’d saved this recipe on the computer.

This is cobbled together from several recipes I found online,* with my own preferences clearly noted. All amounts are arbitrary.

Dayle’s Version of Thai Soup, More or Less

Ingredients

• 2 containers of that organic vegetable stock. The rectangular cardboard kind, not the cans. You could use chicken stock, too, from the cardboard thingies. Or you could make your own stock.
• 1–2 stalks of lemongrass. The original recipes say to mince them, but I hate hate hate accidentally chomping down on an unchewable piece of lemongrass. So I treat them kind of like bay leaves: I whack them in half, and leave them floating in the soup, and throw them out towards the end when they start to get in the way and annoy me.
• 1–2 tsp chili sauce. I think I used at least 2½ tsp, and it was marginally hot for me. Ken liked it. He doesn’t like things as spicy as I do. I’d probably use 3 tsp if I made it when he was out of town.
• 1 tsp curry powder. Or more, if you like it.
• 4 cloves garlic, minced. Or more. I love garlic. Mmm, garlic.
• 2 cups cabbage. Or more. I’m fond of cabbage.
• green onion. I like green onion, too, so I’ll throw a goodly amount in.
• tomatoes. Chop one or two up and throw them in, to your taste.
• 1 can coconut milk.
• 3–4 Tbsp soy sauce.
• 1–2 Tbsp fish sauce, if you like it. Note: Do not grab the fish sauce when you’re putting in the soy sauce, or the final product will be rather salty. It was still edible and didn’t bother me much, but it might be too much for you. So remember, the fish sauce bottle and the soy sauce bottle look different, and you should pay attention to them.
• 2–3 Tbsp lime juice. The original recipes said fresh-squeezed, but damn those limes are wee and don’t give much juice. The hell with that.
• ½ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped.
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped. Don’t add this if you think cilantro tastes like soap, like Morgana does. I like cilantro, so I add it unless I think I’ll be inviting Morgana over to dinner. But why do they sell cilantro in such huge bunches? No matter how hard I try, I can never use it up before it gets all slimy.
• The original recipes called for mushrooms, and if you know me, you can visualize me shuddering in disgust now.
• shrimp. I love me some shrimps. I couldn’t have them during the cleanse, but I’ll add them now. Quantity is unknown due to lack of experimentation. I also wouldn't add shrimp if Morgana was coming to dinner. But I might add chicken.
• tofu. See shrimp. I wonder if I should fry it up first? No idea.
• cauliflower.** Since I couldn’t have shrimp or tofu during the cleanse, I steamed some cauliflower and threw it in, and it was yummy. I don’t know how much I used. Don’t say I didn’t warn you re: not liking recipes and rules.

Directions

• Pour the veggie/chicken stock into a big pot. Add the lemongrass, lime juice, chili, garlic, and green onion. (If you’re like me, you’ll space and add the coconut milk and other liquids here. Not sure why you’re not supposed to, except maybe you’re not supposed to boil the milk. I dunno.) Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes, “or until broth is fragrant.” I have no freaking clue what that last part means. It was smelling pretty damn good all along. If you're like me, you'll use this time to frantically chop everything else.
• Add the cabbage and tomatoes, and probably things like mushrooms and shrimp and tofu and cauliflower. I didn’t cobble this together in a coherent fashion, okay? Gently simmer 1–2 more minutes (cabbage should remain on the crisp side, and not go over to the Dark Side. Which is a good rule of life, really.).
• Reduce heat to low and add the coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, and lime juice, unless you were like me and automatically added them earlier.
• Taste it. If it’s not spicy enough, add more chili sauce. If it’s not salty enough (really?), add more soy sauce or fish sauce or a stock cube/powder or salt. If it’s too salty or sweet, add more lime juice. I’m not holding your hand through this, okay?
• Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle with the basil and cilantro. Or, if you’re lazy like me, you’ll just throw the basil and cilantro in towards the end. Presentation is for wusses. Just give me my soup.  ::clutches bowl close to chest, slurps, makes omnomnom noises::

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*This is my usual way of finding things to make. I go online and search various websites, and copy several versions of what I want, and then sort of randomly cobble them together into a Word document. My oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe (which can also be an oatmeal cranberry cookie recipe) is three different recipes on the same piece of paper. Each time I make them, I try to remember which bits from which recipe I used. So they’re never the same twice. Fun!

**Thank goodness for spell check, because apparently I don’t know how to spell this.

Flash me, baby

I have a rather naughty piece of flash fiction up today at Alison Tyler's blog... 

The lion eschews the fattier wildebeest, or so I'm told

Ye gods, I haven’t really done a proper journal entry here since…July? July is when I remember everything ramping up and then tumbling over like a big ol’ snowball at the top of a mountain, rolling and gaining momentum and size. Pretty much all of it has been good—some of it’s been great—but being busy means stuff seems to fall by the wayside, and that’s bad.

So I’m just going to pick a topic and ramble about it, and hope for the best.  :-)  Let’s go with health.

Towards the end of August, I did a three-week nutritional cleanse through my chiropractor’s office (they’re also licensed nutritionists). Basically, this involved two protein shakes a day, plus food (week one was largely a raw foods diets, week two added steamed veggies/soup, and week three I got to have fish, nuts, and seeds). The goal was to clean out my liver and colon and basically detox my body from the years of processed crap I’ve been shoveling into it. As a side benefit, I wanted to lose a little weight—this wasn’t about losing weight per se, but about getting healthy, but I know that when I start any sort of healthy eating/exercise program, if I don’t see near-immediate results, I get discouraged. Stupid, yes, but it’s how my brain works. So I wanted to do this as a jump-start to being a healthier person.

Was it a success? Overall, yes. I had some setbacks, such as having to rescue Ken from Gila Bend, AZ, just as week two was about to start, which meant not really being able to have shakes and raw foods while driving 7 hours each way towing a bike trailer (because if I were following the plan, I would’ve had to stopped at least once an hour to pee, and when you’re towing a trailer through the desert, finding places you can (a) park in such a way that you don’t have to back up and (b) find an actual place to pee are few and far between). Also…how can I put this delicately? My colon really needed to cleanse, and that made it difficult to exercise every day (where exercise =  more than running to the bathroom on a regular basis).

The hardest part for me was timing. People…food prep takes a hell of a lot of time. I felt like I was spending all my time prepping food, eating food, and doing dishes. (I wasn’t creating a lot of dishes, especially in the beginning, because I wasn’t “cooking,” but I was using the same dishes over and over again, necessitating they be clean for the next session).

But I have to admit, if somewhat reluctantly because it would be nice to go back to throwing a frozen dinner into the microwave for breakfast every morning, I feel better. Dammit, I do.

Now, I need to get on my wee little soapbox here for a moment. I have a problem with the word “diet” in terms of how it’s usually used nowadays. “Diet” is supposed to mean “what you eat.” It does not mean “what you don’t eat.” As in, “the diet of the lion on the Serengeti is gazelle,” not “the lion eschews the fattier wildebeest.” “Diet” is not something you do for a specific span of time to lose weight (which is why I don’t refer to the cleanse as a “diet”). “Diet” is what you eat.

::climbs down off soapbox::  I do realize and acknowledge that when you’re discussing what you eat, you really can’t not discuss what you don’t eat—because sometimes it’s easier. Whether for your brain or for discussion purposes, sometimes you have to say “I don’t eat X.” My point is that I’m not on a diet. I’ve changed my eating habits, and my goal is to have changed them permanently.

To that end, I’m continuing to focus on making veggies and fruit the staples of my diet, with lean meat and other protein included as desired. (I’m also continuing to do one shake a day.) We were never much for eating tons of beef anyway (we use ground turkey for pretty much anything calling for ground beef), so that’s fine on occasion, as is whatever other meat I want. I have no desire to go vegetarian, so I’m-a gonna eat my chicken and fish and enjoy it very much. I’m keeping an eye on dairy—I missed it during the cleanse, but now and again it’s a quite fine thing indeed. Ditto refined sugar—a lemon wafer or a square of dark chocolate really does satisfy me. However, white bread, white pasta, potatoes are right out. Good thing I love brown rice and multigrain pasta, and I’m kinda looking forward to trying out other grains.

And that, my peeps, is about all I’m going to say about the matter. No soapboxes about how awful processed food or refined sugar is. This is my choice, my life. I don’t proselytize about what you should eat or not eat, and I’ll do my best to not be the difficult-to-feed person everyone hates to invite over. If you have questions, groovy, and I’m delighted to answer them; but otherwise, I’m off to make some of that incredibly awesome Thai coconut soup I’ve learned how to make. Omnomnom!

Retro Spec launch party

Anyone need a good workout?

My trainer’s moving back to the area! Huzzah! Even better, she’s going to be flying solo and starting her own business, rather than working through a gym—so her rates are fantastic. She’d like to get a boot-camp class (5 or more people) going on Tuesdays and Thursdays; each session would be a mere $15 (I believe for an hour; I can check on that).

Anyone interested? Please let me know! We don’t have 5 people yet and I really can’t afford many sessions unless we can get a few more folks.

Katrina is a fantastic trainer who will whip you into shape. She’s the main reason I lost 20 lbs a couple of years ago (and her leaving was the main reason I gained ‘em all back…).

Book View Café Publishes Benefit Anthology for Gulf Relief

Book View Café has launched their benefit anthology, Breaking Waves. All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Relief Fund of the Greater New Orleans Foundation.

The collection features over thirty stories by a wide range of best-selling and award-winning authors, including a previously-unpublished poem from Nebula and Hugo award-winner Ursula K. Le Guin, as well as a chapter from Rachel Carson’s groundbreaking book The Sea Around Us. Authors contributing stories of environmental rescue and recovery include Vonda N. McIntyre, Judith Tarr, Deborah Ross, Sarah Monette, David D. Levine, David Gessner, and Lyda Morehouse, among others. Tiffany Trent and Phyllis Irene Radford edited the collection.

The book is available in epub, pdf, mobi, and prc formats in the Book View Café bookstore and will be coming to the Kindle store soon.

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Okay, so why am I mentioning this here? Well, obviously, it's a benefit I believe in, and obviously, there are some major names in this book, so you know it's gotta be good.

But there's another thing.

I'm in it.

Wait. Because I'm still reeling in shock, I have to repeat that. I have stories in this anthology, too.

HolycrapI'minananthologywithUrsulaK.LeGuinandVondaN.McIntyreandJudithTarrandKristineKathrynRuschandIamsoooonotworthy!

Not only that, but I sent them two stories, figuring they'd pick the one they preferred...and they took both of them. I think I'm the only person with two stories in there: A reprint of "The Power to Change the Shape of the Land" (originally in Sword & Sorceress XVI) and a new (older) story called "I Sing a Song of Mourning." (Also known as, the two stories with the longest titles I've come up with.) Both are fantasy, for those of you who eschew the steamier side of fiction.

Please buy a copy, folks. If not for my stories, then for all the other amazing ones in there (look at that TOC!), and for the Gulf. Thanks!

Recommended Reading, July–August

I’m thinking of starting a semi-regular post here (ideally once a month, but it could easily slip) recommending things (books, short stories, possibly even non-fiction) I’ve read and thought were awesome. Of course, I’d love to know if anyone reading this would be remotely interested in something like that…  :-)

I want to make something clear from the outset: I am not a reviewer. I will not be reviewing books. I’m a writer; my job is to write. If I were a reviewer, then I would be honor-bound to talk about things I didn’t like as well as things I liked. I will not do that, at least not in a public forum. I may talk privately (and by that I mean conversation; I’m leery even of e-mails, which can be forwarded) about a book that I personally thought failed. (For example, there’s an award-winning book that I still intend to try again to read, because I want to understand why it’s award-winning, that some of you have heard me rant about because certain details are insanely wrong and I threw the book across the room on my first attempt to read it.) The bottom line is that these are my colleagues, these are people I work with even if I never meet them or engage directly with them in some form. I give them the respect I would hope they give me, as a fellow colleague and writer.

So what this is, is stuff I’ve read that I think you should read because I loved it. If you don’t want to read it, groovy. It may not be to your taste. I’ll try to explain why I liked it. That’s all.

‘kay? ‘kay. Onwards! Here’s what got me fired up in July and August:

“Fair Ladies,” Theodora Goss, Apex Online. Strangely, I had to look this one back up to remember why I loved it. And I was drawn in once again…. Theodora Goss has a way of writing stories that you just believe happened; her details are…believable is the best word I can come up with. It’s a story about a person, and about a country. That’s a difficult balance to achieve; usually stories are small or big, but this one manages to be both.

Arcadia Falls, Carol Goodman. I’ve made my adoration for Carol Goodman’s books clear here, I think. Are they all perfect? No. I’ve loved some more than others. But they all are the type of book I love, and are hard to find. They’re Gothics in the sense of isolation, of thick atmosphere, of mystery, of dread. One might call them supernatural mysteries now, but labels, blah blah blah. Arcadia Falls takes place in upstate NY, not quite as upstate as where I grew up, but close enough to be familiar. I suspect I loved this one for its Arts and Crafts cottage as much as its atmosphere and slowly unfolding truth about the past. Goodman has tread these themes before, to the point that I was figuring things out before I was intended to. But this is the type of book where the journey, for me, is more sweet that the goal. Just because I figured out the secret doesn’t make the immersion into the place and people less compelling. I’ve been reading Goodman’s books from the library, and I think I need to buy them for my own library so I can indulge again and again.

Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire. I read a fair amount of urban fantasy, and while I enjoy it, it’s the type of thing that rarely stays with me. It was a fun ride, but once I’ve finished the book, I don’t remember the characters; in other words, I wasn’t invested in them as real people. (That’s not a negative, per se: the same is true for thrillers. I’m reading them for the wild ride, not for the lasting impact, and that’s okay.) So I was surprise when Rosemary and Rue proceeded to rock my world. I believed in October (Toby) Daye, I liked her, and I cared about her. McGuire doesn’t make things easy for her character; in fact, I gasped more than once at how much shit she put Toby through. Although I knew, given the genre, that Toby would be alive at the end, that didn’t at all mean that Toby wouldn’t be damaged and irrevocably changed by the end. Hell, that happens in the first few pages—and that’s not a spoiler, just an acknowledgement that this book will grab you by the throat from the get-go and not let you off the roller coaster until the end. This series is now on my automatic To Buy list.

Bite Me, Parker Blue. I was pondering a Kindle, and my friend Shanna offered to loan me hers, as it wasn’t thrilling her the way she wanted it to. One of the books she had on it was Bite Me, and it was, of the options, the most interesting-sounding, so I started reading it in bits and snippets when I wasn’t reading everything else that’s piled around here. What I found was that I kept finding excuses to pick up the Kindle and read more (which proved to be a major point in favor for the Kindle, as it was easy to throw in my purse or carry around the house). I’m not a fan of vampire books per se; I’m not against them, but I don’t seek them about because so many of them are been-there-done-that or just outright twee. The heroine of Bite Me is very Buffy-esque (and I loved Buffy, so I was wary), but without the support network Buffy builds around her. Oh, Val starts building that network—my favorite is her hellhound, Fang (you’ve gotta read the book to experience the wonderful snark of Fang, truly!), but she’s young and nervous the way you’d expect and believe a Young Adult heroine to be, even if she’s a vampire slayer. Among other things….

Absolutely safe for work

For those of you who mutter about the fact that all my stories have sex in them, I’m delighted to report that you can now order Retro Spec: Tales of Fantasy and Nostalgia, which contains my fantasy (not erotica, fantasy) story “The Devil Went Down to the Sunset Strip.”

It’s funny. It’s about hair metal bands. What’s not to love?

Just ask the damn question!

The very charming Lisabet Sarai hosted me today at her blog, in which I answer The Question Nobody Asks (But I Wish They Would!).

Can you resist going there and leaving a comment? If you can, don’t tell me, for it will make me weep. Otherwise, see you there!

I saw her today at the reception

Would anyone local like to go to the Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests awards ceremony and reception on Saturday, August 28? Lots of big-name SFF writers will be there. Did I mention it’s free?

Ken will be out of town so I need a ride and a date.  :-)

There’s also a book signing in Pasadena the next day, although I don’t have details about that as yet.

Pop me an e-mail if you're interested!

A peek inside my brain

Projects I have worked on today (in no particular order):

• continued "quick" read-through of What Beck’ning Ghost (originally completed in 1993 to refresh memory of romantic arc so I can tweak the proposal before sending it out
• phone confab with artist I’ve offered to manage, followed up by an e-mail and some research
• e-mail confab with friend who’s in LA this coming weekend; we’re picking her up from LAX on Friday, spending the day with her and maybe hitting a museum, etc.
• changed hotel reservation for Crown Tournament this weekend (from just Saturday to Friday and Saturday); updated Best Western Rewards Club membership
• made packing list for Crown Tournament and noted things I need to do in preparation for meetings with people there
• back-and-forth phone and e-mail confabs with multiple people about buying Styx tickets tomorrow morning
• phone call to the gentleman making a pair of objets d’art (of a sort) for us—received good news!
• many varied e-mails about writing stuff and goodness knows what else
• watered Eostre (with Morgana's able assistance)
• pondered flights for September (Plattsburgh) and October (Oregon, Florida)
• other things I've no doubt already forgotten

Popcorn kittens, anyone?!

I wish I may, I wish I might...

The always-delightful Alison Tyler interviewed me for her Alison’s Wonderland blog, and you can read it here. I talk about my top three wishes and how I came up with the idea for “The Broken Fiddle,” among other things, and she makes me blush by saying nice things about me.

Also, if you comment on my interview there, you could win a prize. But I’m sure you really want to go there just to find out my answer to the question “Which fairy tale character would you most like to do and why?”

Research help needed!

A friend’s mom has been researching Anne Hughes’ diary for about 20 years, and wonders if there are any sources here in the US to help in identifying photos of two American servicemen.

Where does one go for info on old military photos from WWII? The VA? Does the military keep an historical archive, and if so, whom would be the contact?

This isn’t a time period I’m familiar researching (although I’m going to need to soon for a novel idea I want to pursue), so I’m throwing myself on your collective mercies! Power of the the Internet…activate!


Edited to add: My friend's mom is in the UK, so she'll need e-mail addresses, web links, or phone numbers for places to contact. Thanks!

Blink, blink

[I wrote this part last night, after watching Styx videos with Sara, who was visiting from Phoenix.]

Home from three Styx concerts, which included lifetime numbers 99 through 101. That’s right, I hit my 100^th show…and it was in Ventura, in my own backyard. At the last minute I pulled a completely unexpected front-row ticket to the Orange County Fair show the night before the Ventura County Fair show. I must’ve cashed in a hell of a lot of karma points for that one.

I feel very loved.

I am also rather drunk. Spelling is optional.*

[And this is today.]

It’s 8 p.m.; I got back about fifteen minutes ago from taking Sara to the airport. I’m tired, suffering from Post-Concert Depression (enhanced by the fact that I don’t know when my next concert will be), missing Ken (he’s running a rally and then going to an IBR meet-up), and blinking in confusion and despair at all the things that need doing… Where to start? Concert write-ups, laundry, e-mail, blogs, cat boxes, dishes, writing, general house tidying…

Maybe I’ll just have a glass of wine and go to bed, and pretend it’ll all be miraculously done tomorrow and I’m really about to go on the road for more shows!

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*Spelling was, in fact, optional, and it took me forever to type those paragraphs because I kept screwing things up and having to fix them.  ;-)

Tommy Shaw, Ventura County Fair, 8/7/10

Photo by Ken