Birthday, Part II

Saturday

This morning’s present was a DVD of Grosse Point Blank, one of my favorite movies. I can’t believe I didn’t own it already!

We had a quick breakfast, then did the Queen Mary’s Ghosts and Legends Tour, the tickets for which were part of our package deal. (We also got tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific, the LA Zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and an LA Galaxy soccer game, plus a coffee table book about the Queen Mary, a 50% off coupon to a Best Western in San Diego, and a signed photo of a Radio Disney DJ. Sweet deal!) The tour was a production with special effects rather than an actual tour of the haunted areas of the ship, so it was expectedly cheesy, but it was still fun. Since most of it was low-lit and I have abysmal night vision, I probably missed a few things.

At one point, they told us about a crewman who was playing chicken back and forth between an automatic door and got cut in half. I turned to Ken and, sotto voce, asked, “Does that mean he haunts two rooms at the same time?” Hee.

After that, we went across the way to the Aquarium of the Pacific, because, you know, they have otters! They have moon jellies and crystal jellies and weedy sea dragons and leafy sea dragons and otters! We managed to hit the otter feeding time and I just about asploded from the cuteness. (I want to do their behind-the-scenes otter experience next year, which includes feeding the otters.)




Lots and lots of squee, but I also got tired (stupid cold) and had to sit for a bit. The Aquarium of the Pacific has astonishingly uncomfortable benches that don’t seem to have been constructed for human beings. If you try to lean back, you pretty much sliiiiide right off them. Since it was a Saturday, the place was swarming, although we were highly amused by the barely walking toddler wearing an AC/DC t-shirt.

Full of oceanic goodness, we made our way back to Manhattan Beach (with me being geeky and taking pictures of the Goodyear blimp on the way) and met up with a bunch of our Styxfan peeps for a birthday dinner of sorts: Nanci, Lenny, Monk, Cindi, Sheri, Karin, Fran, and Thom. Nanci, Lenny, and Monk brought me presents even though they weren’t supposed to, and others brought cards, and I was just happy to spend time with my friends.

I’d randomly picked a restaurant using the powers of the GPS on my iPhone, and although the deli was small, the portions were big and mouthwatering. I had a roast beef and brie panini (nomnomnom), Ken had a big salad (he let me steal his goat cheese), and we split some seasoned fries with a cajun mayo type dipping sauce. Then the waitress brought me birthday dessert! Some kind of cookie/brownie thing drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces and topped with whipped cream. I forced everybody to eat some, because I was already stuffed. But it was goooood.

Then it was back down the street for another night at Pancho’s, where we met Louis and Angela. Tyla and her mom and brother showed up for a short time as did Tani and Johnny, and Maria joined us, too. Ken and I split up and sat at different tables for different views, which confused Taylor (who ended up sitting at Ken’s table). Between the second and third sets, Ken brought in ginormous cupcakes from Costco, which I attempted to foist off on all my friends, and then on any drunk person I could make eye contact with. When they asked what the occasion was and I said my birthday, many strangers felt it was then appropriate to wish me a happy birthday and hug me. I’d had several glasses of wine, so I had no problem with that.

(Sheri got a great photo of me and cupcakes, but I can't figure out how to link to it on her Facebook page. Grr.)

The band once again rocked, and Taylor’s guest vocals on two songs were gorgeous, and Jimmy, the lead singer, announced it was my and another patron’s birthday, although almost nobody heard him. Ken got his timpani mallets signed, which was very cool.

At one point late in the evening, I’d turned to say something to Nanci, and suddenly there was a Todd drumstick wedged in the crook of my elbow. Apparently it had slipped out of his hand, because others saw him turn and look at Koko and laugh. All I knew was that I’d gotten a birthday drumstick! Whee!


We headed home after that, arriving at 3 a.m., and got about four hours’ sleep because we had to get up bright and early the next day for…

Birthday, Part I

So, my birthday weekend. A quick note before I start: Click on any of the pictures in these entries and you’ll be taken to the full set on my Flickr site.

Now, on to the festivities!

Friday

Since we were spreading my birthday over several days, Ken spread my presents over several days. Friday morning I awoke to a promo photo of Lawrence circa 1985 (Strange Animal era)—rock that mullet!

We went down the coast (gorgeous, with the sun sparkling on the water, but no dolphins—did they not get the memo that it was my birthday weekend?) to Santa Monica. I’d had a light tea at The Tudor House before, and I’m happy to say that their full afternoon tea was also excellent: finger sandwiches (natch), salad, scones with proper Devon cream (heaven!) and jam, and petit fours. We opted for a Yorkshire tea blend that was just lovely.


We took a picture in front of the British mailbox in the store, but you can’t see it…


We also browsed in the store, but didn’t buy anything—I like to patronize our local British shop in Ventura whenever I can.

After that, we strolled around Santa Monica hand-in-hand in the sunshine. We needed new cover screens for our iPhones, so we went to the Apple store, where the Most! Enthusiastic! Employee! Ever! checked us out. (He high-fived me when I said it was my birthday weekend.)


We hit some traffic heading further south, but got to the Queen Mary with no problem. I’d been on her once before, about four and a half years ago, for a cocktail party, so I hadn’t really seen much of her. Our room was surprisingly spacious, and they did a great job upgrading while keeping most of the Art Deco décor. Can’t say I was impressed by the obviously modern bedspread and curtains, though—not only were they completely and utterly wrong, they clashed with each other.



For example, they kept the original bathtub knobs, which include options for hot and cold sea water. Sadly, they no longer work. Why would someone want to bathe in hot sea water? Wouldn’t one just then be sticky?


After a shower and fluff-and-buff, we were back on the road to Pancho’s, where Styx’s drummer Todd Sucherman would be playing with local band Day After Daze. We met up with Sheri, Karin, Nanci, Lenny, Monk (Nanci and Lenny’s child, a little stuffed monkey), Cindi, Todd, and Angie, and later Fran and Thom. (I’m terrified that I’m forgetting someone…) We ate yummy Mexican food in the bar (I had a shrimp and crab quesadilla) while waiting (and waiting, and waiting…) for the band. (We got there early to get tables up front, but the band didn’t go on ‘til 10 p.m.)


Between sets I had the chance to say hello to Taylor Mills, Todd’s wife, and get her CD signed. Alas, although I took a picture of her and Sheri with Sheri’s camera, I didn’t get a picture of Taylor and myself! Next time…. She’s a sweetheart and we had a great time chatting.


Amusingly, when I popped on to Facebook to update my status, I saw that my newest “friend” was The Fabulous Koko Powell, Day After Daze’s bassist! I told him that later and he high-fived me. (It was a high-five kind of weekend.)

The band finished up around 2 a.m. and we scooted back to the Queen Mary and crashed hard, because we had a busy day ahead of us…

Renaissance Faire 2009

The pin on my shoulder is my birthday present from Morgana and Brian.  :-)

Heh. Oops.

I really was loopy on Friday, because I posted my good/bad entry w/o finishing it, and my Spells jar paragraph made no sense because I have one! I’ve updated the entry, so you can read the whole thing now…

Later I will update about Ren Faire (some fun pictures, too!) and the Forever Vinyl show, but that should happen after I finish my birthday update, which should happen after I get some work done today. So. Off with me.

The bad vs. the good

Things that are making me grumpy:

Stupid cold. It hasn’t gotten really bad, but it’s annoying. Can’t breathe through my nose w/o nasal spray. Can’t do much for an extended period of time w/o feeling exhausted. Etc. My productivity this week has been abysmal.

Writing. It’s going soooo slowly and I have soooo much to do. See above re: “Stupid cold” for the reason. Writing with a sloggy brain is just sloggy. And kind of oogy.

My lovely long and picture-filled journal entry about my weekend. Again, see above. It’s…half written, maybe?

Exercise. See above, yet again. Grrr…

Things that are making me happy:

I’ve been getting the proposals for Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess in the mail. It’s a lot of work, because I have to research each editor and customize the letter to her. Some editors have recently bought work similar to PUM, or have said they’re looking for similar things in recent interviews. Others, not so much. But I’m still getting a few out each day—plus I got two more Out of the Frying Pan proposals in the mail. (I’ll be going through the old ones after PUM is done and re-querying a bunch.)

My Spells jar! For years now, I’ve been looking for a ceramic jar that says “Spells” on it. I saw one…I have no idea how long ago, or where, or when, but I remember that they existed, but when I started looking for one, pfft. Well, a few months ago I somehow ended up looking at someone’s Flickr photos from a Ren faire, and saw a booth of jars. So I e-mailed my friend Sara, who’s big in the faire in Phoenix, and asked her to keep an eye out for one for me. (This was before I knew we were going to faire this year.) She found a ceramic merchant who had jars, but not a Spells jar, and asked him, and he offered to make one! And it arrived today, and it is perfect! It’s black but has purple-y sparkles on it, and I’m dying to know if she told the merchant that purple is my favorite color or whether it was just sheer fate. Anyway, I’ll take a picture soon. Perfect Spells jar, for the win!

Faire! I haven’t been to a Ren faire in years and years, largely because I do SCA, so why got to faire? We were supposed to go to Northern Faire last year with Morgana and Brian and Laurel and John, but a Styx concert and Ken’s work intervened. I didn’t even think I had anything to wear (and Brian didn’t want to do pirate, so Morgana said she wasn’t going to do pirate), but I found a green bodice in my garb closet that miraculously fits me, and I have my purple chemise and green and purple skirts and fun Celtic-y jewelry and pins that say “Everyone is watching you look at my chest” and “Careful, men have suffocated between these,” and I’m really looking forward to this tomorrow! (My cold notwithstanding. Reminder to self: Walk slowly, and sit down a lot.)

Our slow cooker. I hate to cook, and Ken and I are the types to suddenly look up from our work, announce hunger, and then realize we haven’t prepped anything. Cooking just takes too damn long, you know? But with the slow cooker, if we actually get up in time and put stuff in it, it’s like magic! Come supper time, there is food ready to eat! It’s like…like…like going to a restaurant, except we don’t have to put pants on! Tonight it’s a salsa chicken to shred for tacos (dayum, it was good!), and Sunday we’ll use the leftovers to make soup (in the slow cooker). Sing the nomnom song with me!

The hot tub. Ahhhh…

Nyquil. Say no more.

As usual, the good outweighs the bad, and now I’m off to sleep the drug-filled, dream-weird sleep of the Nyquil damned!

The good vs the morning

The good news is that I didn’t have to report to jury duty on my birthday.

The bad news is that I have to be there at 8-effing-o’clock in the morning tomorrow. Argh.

But I’ll take Afalwen and get some work done!

Speaking of work, must get back to it… I got some PUM proposals in the mail today, and now I have to get a short story back in circulation, then finish another short story.

---

Currently Reading: Dogs and Goddesses, Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich
Lately Listened To: Hm. Be interesting to see what I choose…
Recently Watched: Supernatural (I suspect it’s very, very wrong that I’m thinking certain thoughts about Castiel…)

My birthday weekend, in one picture

The plan is to get all the pictures uploaded to Flickr today and do a full write-up of my Most Incredible Birthday Weekend, but for now, here's a teaser:

But who's typing?

So, I’ve got a freelance writing blog in my RSS feed on Google Reader, and every Monday it lists all the freelance writing and editing gigs it culls from other places—all the Craigslists, for example.

Today, there’s one that says “Ghost Blog Writer Needed.” And when you’ve got a brain like mine, that goes in sharply sideways into a potentially really interesting idea. (OTOH, can ghosts type? Wouldn’t a ghost be looking for a live person to put together the ghost’s blog? Which, incidentally, is a throwaway line in my Ghosted manuscript …)

I want to have intimate relations with Joss Whedon's brain

Well, we were going to go to King’s Hunt today, even though Ken got home at 5 p.m. last night. By late last night, though, he realized he was coming down with a cold… So we’ve spent most of today curled up in front of the TV. (We’re now caught up on Dollhouse, which has had some jaw-dropping twists and turns, plus a couple of the funniest lines I’ve heard in a long time. I ::heart:: Joss Whedon so very much!)

Now, though, I’m off to the grocery store for the fixings for chicken soup/stew, pesto pizza, and ice cream, among other things. Joy.

And now that our Internet access seems to be working again, I’ve got to get all those PUM proposals mailed!

Reunited...and it feels so good

Ken’s home! Yay! He arrived at about 5 p.m., after getting a new front tire yesterday in El Paso and a new back tire this morning in Phoenix. (Sara, he would’ve crashed at your place, but he didn’t actually have A Plan until pretty late and didn’t want to bother you.)

So I made salad, pesto tortellini, from TJ’s and sauce for dinner, and we watched How I Met Your Mother and two eps of Castle. We have sooo much on the DVR right now, including the final two eps of Battlestar Galactica. I’ve been doing my best to avoid any Internet or TV Guide spoilers. The fact that our Internet connection has been effed up for the past two days has aided in that.

But I have so much to do! I may spend my regular Sunday afternoon writing fest with fellow writers at CB&TL answering e-mail and sending PUM submissions than actually writing.

Purring under stress. Good lesson to learn.

Yesterday, I learned how to give subcutaneous fluids to a cat. Not something I ever wanted to learn, believe me. Today, with Morgana’s help, I gave Grimoire a full dose. Bless his furry little heart, he took it like a trooper. In fact, he purred, complaining only briefly once or twice. (Morgana is magical about calming cats, which helped wonders.) Just a few more days of that, to flush out the extra calcium in his system that’s been messing him up. (He spent Tuesday night and most of Wednesday at the ER vet.) Still no news on scheduling surgery for him; more on that when I have info. Really. Honest.

Meanwhile, I’m working on a Harlequin Nocturne Briefs novella, since they’re having a pitch contest, and Teresa and I had a good confab on Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess. Proposals will be blanketing New York soon, provided my Internet connection stops freaking out. We also have the next few scenes sussed out. Onwards!

Ken should be home tomorrow. He got a new front tire this morning, but thought his back tire would survive the rest of the trip. Er, not so much. He’s in Phoenix, and tomorrow morning he’ll replace the back tire and come home to me.

Anyway, I’ll post this whenever I have a reliable connection again. Which means, in the magic of time, it will already have happened by the time you read this. Or something like that.

Resurfacing, briefly

Nine short stories in the mail today, plus follow-up queries on two others. Whew. Now, on to blanketing New York with Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess! (And then re-sending Out of the Frying Pan, and then whatever novel is next on my list…)

New record: Story e-mailed 12:46 p.m., rejection received 6:19 p.m.

In other news, Ken will probably be home Thursday (he’s staying with his brother in Texas tonight and leaving tomorrow morning), Grimoire is spending the night at the ER vet, my herbs are not yet dead and I’ve absconded with a bunch of rose geranium clippings (my “payment” for hacking back Morgana’s rose geranium hedge o’doom) that are now soaking in preparation for planting, and Valerian now gives me heart palpitations instead of helping me sleep.

Rockin' out

Nanci finally sent me a copy of this picture from the Styx show at the Anaheim House of Blues. Nanci and her husband have a little monkey named Monk that goes to all the shows, and I managed to get Lawrence's attention at the end to ask him to take a Polaroid of us with Monk. And because Lawrence loves us so much, he obliged.

Sah-weet!

I’ve been thinking ahead to my birthday weekend. Todd Sucherman of Styx is playing with his usual bar band in Huntington Beach on Friday and Saturday nights, so I thought it would be fun to get a nice hotel or B&B in the area and stay Friday night, then go to the Aquarium of the Pacific and have tea at The Tudor House. But at the same time, we’re paying attention to money so I didn’t want to go overboard on the hotel stay.

I just discovered The Queen Mary is having a special deal that includes a room, tickets to their Ghosts and Legends show (The Queen Mary is massively haunted), reduced-price tickets to the Aquarium of the Pacific, tickets to the LA Zoo, tickets to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, a discount coupon book for San Diego hotels, and more.

Score! *\o/*

We’ll head home Saturday night, of course, because Sunday we grab Morgana and Brian and go to see meerkats! It’s going to be an amazing weekend!

But now, back to work. ::hunkers down::

Success!

The event is over! It was fabby! The Super-Secret Special Entertainment was awesome (despite the minor problem of half the lamps getting blown out)! The Roman-style macacroni and cheese was to die for (and I have a big ol' bag of it in my fridge)! I didn't have to hide any bodies under the new pool!

Tomorrow, back to life and work. The enforced break from writing has had the benefit of making me really miss it, really look forward to getting back to it. More on that...tomorrow!

Also tomorrow, Ken leaves for Arkansas to help move his 95-year-old grandmother into a care facility. It's something she wants to do, which is good. But I'll miss him. So I've also booked myself a mini spa day at home tomorrow—I'm thinking a facial steam, a cuticle scrub, and some pretty nail polish. (Feel free to suggest a color. I've got most of 'em, and haven't decided yet.)

Woke up this morning with a wine glass in my hand…

Whose wine? What wine? When the—

No, that’s not it at all. Reboot.

Went to bed sometime between 1 and 1:30 a.m. this morning. Woke up a little after 7 a.m. because:

• there’s a logistical flaw in the special entertainment!
  
• I need to make a list of everyone to thank in Closing Court!
  
• why is “Only the Good Die Young” stuck in my head?!*
  

I know it’s all going to go smashingly; all that’s left to do is final prep, and there are ton of amazing and wonderful people coming who are going to pitch in and make the event a success. I’m already salivating over the feast menu (running an Italian-themed event is one of the smarter things I’ve done!). The weather is going to be lovely.

But first I have a million tiny details to iron out…

::dashes off::

____
*Because it came up on Morgana’s iPod rotation the other day when we were sewing. Thank the gods I have an explanation for this one.

Edited to clarify: I'm not running an Italian-themed feast, I'm running an Italian-themed event. Sheez. This is what sleep dep does to me!

Ohmmm...

I’m surprisingly calm right now. I still have a mega-ton of stuff to do for the event (finish the site booklet, sort out the special super-secret entertainment, make signs, stare at Ken so he finishes casting the site tokens…) but it doesn’t feel insurmountable. Maybe because I finished my corset today (except for the grommets, which I’m going to make Ken put in because I don’t entirely trust myself with a hammer right now) as well as one of my dresses (I’ve got a few inches left on the trim. Oh, I want to bead it with pearls and amethysts, but not before the event!). It doesn’t really matter why. I’m just glad for it.

Of course, the dark-chocolate-covered caramel from Trader Joe’s that I just ate might have something to do with my mental state. Mmmm…

I’m mildly peeved about the time change tonight—I’m happy it’ll be light later, but not about losing an hour of sleep that I desperately need. Nothing I can do about it, though!

::Zens out::

Being published vs being read

My friend (and writer I respect) Steve York posted a link to an older post of his own about the truths of writing and publishing, because he's added to it and because it's something all writers, at any stage of the game, need to read. Repeatedly. Because we forget.

Thanks, Steve!

With a whoosh that flutters your hair as I dash by

Sorry for the recent radio silence. Been immersed in Black Oak Lodge preparations as well as having The Oak Leaf be the test case for putting all local SCA groups’ electronic newsletters online at the Kingdom’s website. I’m delighted to report the latter is up and running and working marvelously. You’d never guess how many hours of work went into that (and not just on my end)!

~ ~ ~

Quickie update: Back is fine, thanks to my chiropractor. I did lose Saturday in a drug haze, but that’s the price you gotta pay. Been dealing with some stress headaches on and off (my neck is impossibly stiff) but nothing major.

~ ~ ~

Pompoms for a sale! I just got word this morning that the cupcakely delightful Rachel Kramer Bussel has accepted “Stuffing the Ballot Box” for her Bottoms Up: Spanking Good Erotica anthology. It’s already available for pre-order—just click that link!

Also, I’m about to sign a contract for a fun freelance gig, writing customized erotic stories. The extra income will be most appreciated and it’ll be a way to keep my writing skills fresh, playing with voice and writing to theme. (I’m still in the market for some additional freelance work—maybe some copy editing or proofreading?—so if you hear of any, let me know!)

~ ~ ~

Other goodness:

• getting second-row pit seats for the Phoenix Styx show in May! (Only downside is that it’s on Tommy’s side, but a change of scenery is good for the soul, right?!)
  
• hearing that Styx is currently in LA (so close!) actually recording!

~ ~ ~

Once the event (13–15 March) is over, Ken’s off to Arkansas to help move his 94-year-old grandmother into a care facility. My alone time will be spent focusing back in on a slew of writing projects (and this enforced “vacation” from writing is making me chomp at the bit to get back to it!) and starting walking regularly with Morgana…as well as updating here more regularly. If you’ve missed me, that is. Feel free to tell me if you have. Because you all know I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.

(Also, I do post little updates to my Facebook account, more often than I really ought to. So if you’re worried that I’ve tipped off the edge of the earth, you can always check there. Which is not to imply that Facebook is off the edge of the earth, but then again, maybe it is…)

~ ~ ~

Finally, but most importantly…

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Dude...seriously?

Thursday night while we were watching TV, my back started to bug me…in a sciatica sort of way. Uh oh. I took some Advil, slept. Friday, it happened on and off, to the point that I made a chiro appt. My back (and neck) were a mess, and she told me to take a very hot bath with Epsom salts, sit on a tennis ball to work the deep muscle through which the sciatic nerve runs, and slather my butt with Biofreeze. I did the first two (forgot about the third), and also took a prescription muscle relaxant left over from my last bad bout.

It bugged me on and off during the show, and I took another muscle relaxant and half a prescrip painkiller before bed. Woke up with it hurting again, and I couldn’t get comfortable. Now I was getting nervous. I took another muscle relaxant and painkiller, and spent a goodly amount of today in a floaty, muzzy haze. Mmm…shiny…

Now it’s sort of happening on and off: It’ll hurt for a while, then fade away. I’m going to continue to take it very easy over the next day or so, and I’ve got another chiro appt on Monday.

I really can’t afford a bad bout of this right before Black Oak Lodge. I also really can’t afford to panic about it because that’ll just cause my muscles to seize up more, and this is all about stopping that muscle from seizing up on my damnable sciatic nerve… I’m avoiding the drugs as much as I can, because when I’m all happyfloaty, I’m mostly useless when it comes to actually being productive.

Anyway, if you’re waiting to hear something from me, or waiting on something from me, please be patient. I’m triaging as best I can!

Edited to add: I was going to ask why Nik Kershaw's "Wouldn't It Be Good" is suddenly stuck in my head, but I'm just going to blame it on the drugs.

Really? Are you kidding me?

Happy Birthday, Dad! Wish I could be in Myrtle Beach at the Olive Garden sharing it with you!

~ ~ ~

It’s been a stressful week, mostly involving me at the computer answering 8 million e-mails and designing the newsletter and fretting over Black Oak Lodge, or at Morgana’s working on my corset and one of my Italians, or trying to catch up on sleep and failing.

So getting a jury summons today ended up being kind of funny. Especially since I’m supposed to report on my birthday.

I’m kind of afraid to defer it, because the two weeks after that date are open. I don’t have anything else scheduled until late April (two Queensrÿche shows), and then there are Styx shows in May, and workshops and Faerieworlds in July. No doubt something will crop up in June.

I have no problem with serving; I did it a couple of years ago. It’s what makes our system run: a jury of your peers. If I’m ever unfortunate enough to be part of a trial, I want that jury of my peers, so I should do it for someone else.

Besides, you call the night before anyway to see if your group is up the next day, so there’s always the chance I won’t even have to go in on my actual birthday.

I’m really celebrating my birthday all weekend—two Day After Daze (with Todd drumming!) shows at Pancho’s on Friday and Saturday nights, and meerkats! on Sunday. So the actual day is less important. I’ll probably be happy to have the time to sit with my laptop, waiting to see if I’ll be called!

~ ~ ~

Tonight we went to a charity concert to benefit the Las Virgenes Unified School District Student Musicians. Now, I’m all about supporting the arts in schools, but I’ll be honest: The real reason we went is Tommy was performing, as well as Venice, a local band we really like (they opened for Styx in Germany and Switzerland in 2000, which is how we learned of them). Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross were also slated to perform, so we considered fleeing after Tommy’s performance. Thankfully MM and CC mostly performed together, and not very long. Tommy did come out for the final songs with MM (and sang a verse of “Takin’ It to the Street”).

Anyway. Despite messing up the first song, Tommy was amazing as always. He got a standing ovation after “Renegade,” which I didn’t expect to see in this type of crowd, and I heard a guy behind me exclaim, “That guy rocks!” Why, yes he does.

We had cheap nosebleed balcony seats, but that was okay. (Hey, it’s not like Lawrence was there!) We ended up sitting with Fran and Thom and Lisa, and afterwards we went out for food with a small crowd of Styx fan friends. Fun!

::waving hello::

On the plane home from Oregon. As usual, I’m a combination of exhausted and energized. My brain whirls with plans, plots, ideas, enthusiasm.

Neither of the anthologies we wrote for are “sold.” (Denise Little, the editor, works for Tekno Books, who packages anthologies for DAW, among other places. These two haven’t been picked up by DAW yet.) However, we’re also free to send the stories we wrote elsewhere in the interim. My story for the first antho didn’t quite make it (although a number of attendees came up to me afterwards and told me how much they liked it), but my second story did. It was a very silly story. :-) However, I’m still going to send it elsewhere and see what happens. I can always write another story.

I’m already fired up for the workshops in July, too. The first weekend is Structure and Plot, and the second is Contract & Copyrights, which I sorely need. For the week in between, Kris will work with us individually on things we want help on, but the two things I came up with aren’t craft issues. I don’t know if I have craft issues. So I’m thinking I’ll spend those 5 days hammering away at some project. Not sure what project; that’ll depend on where I am at that point. That’s 5 months away, for crying out loud.

Kris also gave me some advice and insight on how to deal with Ghosted, which has been fighting me for some time. One thought is, in fact, to set it aside, possibly up to a year, and come back to it with fresh eyes. I’m not convinced I want to do that when I have some other things I can try, but we’ll see.

First goal right now is to deal with volunteer stuff for the next two weeks. I overcommitted, yes, but I have to accept that and deal with it. Black Oak Lodge will go fine, but Ken and I need to focus on it, and I need to have the right attitude to do that.

Anyway, the best thing to come out of this weekend is the reminder that I’m part of a network of amazing, fun writers. All are peers and friends. I met nifty new folks, reconnected with ones I’ve missed for far too long.

My only regret is that I was so busy, I never got the chance to walk on the beach. I adore the wild Oregon coast. Still, I really can’t begrudge the time I spent with smart, creative, hilarious friends.

::waving::

Off to a workshop on the Oregon Coast tomorrow. I expect the "no blogging" rule will be instated, so you probably shan't hear from me 'til I return. (The workshop doesn't start until Thu evening, though, so I may check in with tales of rambling walks on the beach, interspersed with finishing a story that needs to get mailed ASAP and reading lots of nummy stories.)

Play nice! If you drink the booze, replace it! (Don't water it down to make it look like none is gone. I'm onto you.)

Because you asked so nicely

There have been requests for the tale of how my inner beast was unleashed, so in a nutshell, here it is.

Now, those of you who know me, know I’m not a confrontational person. I hate conflict. My first instinct is to avoid it altogether, although I’m slowly learning there are times when talking the issue out is appropriate (not always successful, perhaps, but sometimes you’ve got to try). That’s why this whole thing was so…unexpected.

This happened at the casino show where security made us stay at our seats until near the end of the show. (They didn’t make us sit down, but only a handful of people stood until we were allowed to go forward.) Styx’s stage manager was furious.

A little while after we got up to the stage, some asshole guy decided it would be a brilliant idea to shove me into Ken and sit his girlfriend on the stage, I assume so she could jump up and do...whatever. Grab the guys. Dance. Get busted for being an idiot. Whatever; I don't care. They were on my right; Ken was on my left. Ken reached around me and grabbed the woman and pulled her get down, as did I.

At which point we discovered something about me. Apparently I turn into a mama bear protecting her cubs, or possibly the Tasmanian Devil, when someone tries to get at my band.

I turned around and roared “No! That is not fucking appropriate! Get the fuck down!” Ken notes that the guy was about 6-3, 6-4, and when I let into him, he actually took a step back. His girlfriend took several steps back. Heh.

Then the guy made a worse mistake: He condescended to me. He started in with "Hey, calm down, we're all just having fun here."

Me, still at the top of my lungs: “It’s not fun when you’re shoving me! Back the fuck off!”

At that point, Ken was trying to calm me down. I think I had flames shooting out my ears. I turned back to the stage, but the guy was still being a little muttery, and Ken said "Hey man, be careful, she'll rip your face off." I will? This was so unlike me. I was livid.

It felt kinda good actually. :-)

I also had a big space behind me for the rest of the show. :-)

The band and security never noticed a thing.

[Note to my mother: I’m sorry. I honestly don’t use the f-word on a regular basis. That was part of what was so bizarre about the whole incident.]

Timpani mallets? Priceless.

We’re home from a mini-vacation of four Styx shows, visiting with friends, and seeing The Da Vinci Experience exhibit at the Air & Space Museum in San Diego. Woo!

Highlights:

• Lawrence taking my hands and saying “Dayle, hello,” and later remembering how to spell my name when he signed my promotional plastic “A Criminal Mind” handcuffs.
  
• Chatting with Taylor Mills, Todd Sucherman’s wife, about her CD and all manner of other things for half an hour or so.
  
• Seeing the twins get their poster signed by Lawrence and Chuck.
  
• Making Fran laugh so hard I thought she was going to hyperventilate.
  
• Learning that Keith (the stage manager) bitched about the security guards at the Harrah’s Casino show on his Facebook account during the concert.
  
• Discovering my inner “protect the band” beast. I scared a couple of idiots who did something supremely stupid. I scared Ken. I scared myself. Bottom line: Nobody gets at my boys!
  
• Coming up with a great t-shirt slogan that I might just be able to convince the merch guy to make.
  
• Reading stories for this week’s writing workshop in Oregon on my iPhone while sitting in line waiting for a show.
  
• And the pièce de la résistance: Todd tossing Ken two broken timpani mallets. He uses the mallets for “Suite Madame Blue,” and last year Ken held up a sign asking for one. Of course, mallets are reusable, and I thought that would never happen. The night after he threw them to Ken, Ken held up a sign thanking him, and Todd pointed and mouthed “Those were for you!” meaning he remembered the request and must have saved the ones he’d broken at some point. Ken is as giddy as a schoolgirl, and rightly so! Dude!
  

Now it’s heads-down working until Wed when I get on a plane to Oregon for a workshop. Can’t wait! I have a bunch of awesome stories to finish reading, and I get to hang out with some amazing writers I’m privileged to call friends.

Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction

Go here to see a larger version. Pretty!

Pay attention to the signs

We had every intention of going to a friend’s birthday party tonight, and then afterwards to see Forever Vinyl. But the friend is in Long Beach (a good hour and a half away) and the band in Torrance, and we didn’t get home from the metal casting workshop (1/3 of the site tokens for Black Oak Lodge are done! And they look awesome! Umberto and William are awesome!) until 5 (because we had to stop at Michael’s), and then I got out of the shower at 5:50 (the party starts at 7) and the first two shirts I tried on were inexplicably dirty and then my tights had a run and a hole in them, and the present wasn’t even wrapped yet, and I said, “Self, the Universe is trying to tell you something.”

So we’re staying home. I’m going to work on a short story, watch a movie, snuggle with Ken, maybe order pizza or eat the rest of the frozen junk food we bought for Thanksgiving), catch up on e-mail, and maybe do some handwork project, because I’m still in a crafty mood thanks to an afternoon of casting and hanging out with crafty people. And lo, it will be good.

More charity goodness!

I’m delighted to report more “sales” to a new charity anthology! This one is Coming Together: Al Fresco, and proceeds will benefit Conservation International. (Again, I say “sale” only in that the works will be published; I don’t get paid.)

But what a table of contents! Along with my story (“Outside in the Rain,” as Andrea Dale), I have a Sophie story written with Teresa (“Slow Burn”). I’m not allowed to reveal the entire list yet, but I can tell you it’s chock full of excellent writers.

You can pre-order the book here if you so desire! (Publication date is Earth Day 2009.) Remember, it’s for a good cause!

Edited to add: Here's the full TOC!

Adam & Eve on a Raft (Robert Buckley)
Afternoon of a Faun (Helen E.H. Madden)
Anal Alley (Sommer Marsden)
Ask for It (Jude Mason)
Blonde on a Harley (Teresa Noelle Roberts)
For Want of a Woodpecker (Ripley Patton)
Foreign Parts (Rachelle Le-Monnier)
Hailey's Comet (Jae Knight)
Happy Endings (Jamie Hill)
Hidden in Fog (Teresa Noelle Roberts)
Mahalo (Allison Wonderland)
Making Rain (Angela Caperton)
Midnight Ménage à Trois (Heather Smith)
Natural Tease (Arya Rewan)
Outside in the Rain (Andrea Dale)
Pantheism 101 (Alessia Brio)
Paradise Valley (Michelle Houston)
Reclining Buddha (Lisabet Sarai)
Rites of Consummation (Nicole Gestalt)
Silver Bells and Cockle Shells (Shanna Germain)
Slow Burn (Sophie Mouette)
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (Rita Winchester)
Sparrow Takes Flight (Giselle Renarde)
The Journey Home (Jasmine Black)
The Roof (Selena Kitt)
Untouched Perfection (Moondancer Drake)
Wet as Spring (Robin Elizabeth)
Wildlife (Randy Foster)

Weirder things have happened...

Can writing about an anemiac make you anemic? Because I'm feeling awfully wibbly and wee bit lightheaded right now…

Amused

I caved. So sue me.

One Word Answers:

1. Yourself: luscious
2. Your partner: beloved
3. Your hair: purple
4. Your mother: amusing
5. Your father: stubborn
6. Your favorite item: indefinable
7. Your dream last night: forgotten
8. Your favorite drink: Chardonnay
9. Your dream car: flies!
10. The room you are in: media
11. Your ex: fond
12. Your fear: multilegged
13. What you want to be in 10 years? multipublished
14. Who you hung out with last night? Ken
15. What you're not: balanced
16. Muffins: meh
17. One of your wish list items: Lawrence
18. Time: ticking
19. The last thing you did: bubblebathed
20. What you are wearing: little
21. Your favorite weather: Welsh
22. Your favorite book: yes!
23. The last thing you ate: rye
24. Your life: better
25. Your mood: contemplative
26. Your best friend: missed
27. What are you thinking about right now? stories
28. Your car: Swedish
29. What are you doing at the moment? this
30. Your summer: hot
31. Your relationship status: precious
32. What is on your TV? lots
33. What is the weather like? arid
34. When is the last time you laughed? now

Brilliant quote

[Snerched from the delectable Shanna Germain]

“Murder is a crime. Writing about it isn’t. Sex is not a crime, but writing about it is. Why?”  ~Larry Flint

SCA Funny

(From Alexander, who got it from someone else): This year's Superbowl is Pennsic v. Estrella!

That light at the end of the tunnel? I hope it's not a train.

Sorry for the recent radio silence. Bad news and stress to varying degrees pretty much derailed my brain.

The biggie is that Grimoire is sick and it looks like he’ll need an expensive operation. It could be one of several things, all of which aren’t good, and the best option is surgery. The problem with being contractors is that while we have money, we have to balance how much money we have coming in over the next year or so. Bottom line is, I’ll update here when I have more news about how he’s doing. (A request: Please don’t ask. I swear I’ll update. It just makes it harder for me to keep having to field questions when I’ve already woken up in the middle of the night sobbing, you know?)

Meanwhile, Ken’s brother has been visiting on something of a work vacation. He’s helped us, Ken’s mom, and their other brother with various home repair stuff. He left today, so now the house will cease to smell like coffee and cigarettes (he smoked outside, but the smell permeates). Seriously, he was an amazing help and it was great to see him, but in the end I wasn’t mentally or emotionally up for house guests. Add in Ken’s mom staying over for two nights and multiple out-of-town guests either visiting or we visited, and… This isn’t coming out right at all. It was fabby to spend time with everyone. It’s just that it all happened at once.

And I’m dealing with a misunderstanding with a dear friend, which makes my heart ache, but the bottom line is I have to protect myself and the work (thank you, Nikki Giovanni and Jenny Crusie), and it’s a private matter I can’t in good conscience speak more about beyond that.

On top of all of that, I realized I’d overcommitted myself again, which is my own damn fault. Cue much tearing of hair and rending of clothes and gnashing of teeth.

So. ::claws self up by her bloody shredded fingernails:: What’s good?

In the midst of the worst of it, Pati sent me light and energy and Alia gave me rose-scented candles. Both were unexpected and extremely touching. Thank you. Morgana has been a rock in a storm, as well as a source of much-needed hilarity, and Christine brought me the sweetest-smelling rose from her garden and helped me brainstorm. My massage therapist is also a friend who makes me laugh and who knows how to cut to the chase. (We’re also each other’s workout and eating-right cheerleading buddies.) I’m blessed to have them all in my life.

Thanks to Ken and Dennis, we now have a new garage door (people door, not car door, but it means we’ll be able to use the remotes on the car doors again), a sensor light at the back door, and concrete where it was needed (which means we’ll be able to put in a new back gate that will allow much easier access to the Shire shed). And Morgana and Brian also have a repaired sidewalk.

I got to hang out with Gillian and Donna and Jenny and Darla and other like folks, and my local writer peeps (Erica, Tanya, Susan, and Miriam), and The Ormslick (hee!), and of course Mom and Dennis.

Lots of folks showed up to my guest blogging at Naughty & Spice, and I had a fantastic time!

And while the writing hiccupped due to the sadness and stress, it’s getting back on track. I have a very silly idea for my story for the Denise Little Workshop, and should have it finished Saturday at the latest. I also have another fun story (erotica, requested by the editor) to finish in that time frame. Ghosted continues apace. I’ve had some recent sales as well as several stories that are waiting publisher approval—one in particular will be very exciting if it comes to pass. ::fingers crossed::

We’re headed off this coming weekend to a Superbowl party—we have no interest in the game (um, who’s playing?) but it’s a great chance to see friends—and the next day we’ll visit two other sets of friends in that area. I’ll have Afalwen with me, of course, so I’ll be able to keep up with work, at least a little…

Other projects and various life stuff are under control again, and although I have a lot on my plate, it all seems to be at manageable levels again. I’m not going to Isles Collegium this Saturday in order to have the day to focus on writing and, well, everything else. That way I can justify going away for two days.

More soon…

Sometimes we have to repeat the same lesson over and over...

"And while I don't expect you to save the world, I do think it's not asking too much to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who would offer you depression, despair and disrespect."

—Nikki Giovanni

*\o/*

Sale! My story “Queen’s Up” has been accepted for the Lesbian Cowboys anthology. What a yummy cover, too. I’ll post again when it’s available for sale.

I had a lot of fun with this story. Set in an undefined time in the Old West, it’s got a poker-playing cross-dresser, her sozzled daddy, their threatened ranch, and an almost-mustache twirling villain. And a sexy saloon girl. What would be the point without a sexy saloon girl?

These dreams go on when I close my eyes...

Last night I had a long involved dream about Lawrence* that included him giving me a baby hedgehog.

Is that a euphemism I’m not aware of?!

(Amazingly, there are tons of dream interpretations about hedgehogs. My favorite so far is “Alternatively, it refers to losing your soul.” Sold my soul to rock-n-roll, baby!)

---
*Lawrence Gowan of Styx, for those of you who are new to this roller coaster.

Guest Blogging at Naughty & Spice

I'm guest-blogging over at Naughty & Spice today, talking about music, passion, writing, and the musicians we love. Please stop by and leave a comment! One lucky commenter will win prizes!

These are my people

Happiness is going to a party were, within 10 minutes of your arrival, someone says (in response to another comment, “What was the monster in Hitchhiker’s Guide that did that?”, and at least five people simultaneously say along with you, “The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.”

And later, someone quotes The Pirates of Penzance.

And most of the attendees not only get your Styx jokes, but cracked some of their own.

Yeah. Good times. :-)

A spot of promo for a good cause

I recently mentioned a sale to Coming Together: Against the Odds, and wanted to remind my faithful readers that I also have a story in the charity anthology Coming Together: At Last, which benefits Amnesty International.

If you'd like to see a gorgeous promo video for Coming Together: At Last, you can check it out at any one of these links:

YouTube / MySpace / Facebook

(It's provocative, but safe for work unless you have an exceptionally prudish boss.)

And here's a link to my post of the press release.

The only roller coaster my back will allow is called Life

Been a bit roller-coaster-ish the past couple of days, but I’m feeling more like I’m on solid ground again. Life wouldn’t be interesting without ups and downs, of course!

Ken went off on a rally of sorts Friday—basically, a bike guy wanted to spend his birthday organizing a 24-hour 1K mile ride, followed by pizza and general hanging out. I guess I got a little maudlin at his absence (I kinda get used to having him around!), plus I had some health issues creeping up on me that I didn’t realize until later, so Saturday…damned if I know what happened Saturday, but it must’ve happened.

Sunday Ken got home just before I left for CB&TL, where I met Ellenie and Erica and we talked and wrote. I wasn’t as productive as I wanted to be, but I moved forward, and that’s all I care about right now.

Brian was away, so Morgana came over for dinner (lemon-garlic chicken, brown rice, steamed broccoli, nomnomnom) and then we all headed out to a little bar to see Forever Vinyl, a rock covers band (mostly 70s and 80s, with a bit of 90s). They were awesome! and if I hadn’t been feeling under the weather, I would’ve danced all night. A friend of mine is in the band (he and his wife are Styx fans) and they dedicated “Renegade” to Ken and I. Hee!

If you like classic rock and get the chance to see them, do it!

(Of course, now I want my two favorite local bands, Forever Twelve and Forever Vinyl, to play shows together. The Forever Tour. The Eons Tour. The Oh My God They’re Still Playing Tour. Not that Forever Twelve ever bloody tours! Ahem! ::glares accusingly south, taps foot impatiently::)

After that, we came home and I had some wine and we watched some TV, and then as hard as I tried, I couldn’t sleep. All sorts of minor ailments, tossing and turning, anxiety, you name it. When I finally realized I should’ve taken Melatonin, oh, hours earlier, I discovered that it wasn’t on my nightstand, but still in the overnight bag. Between all that and an early call waking me up, I got about four hours’ sleep.

I spent the first part of the day feeling like someone was rubbing sandpaper on my eyeballs, thanks to the lack of sleep and the Santa Anas. Yuck. I’ve had my contacts out most of the day, which means I can’t really focus well (they can’t correct me to 20/20 with glasses) (that explains any typos in this post), but since I’m loopy and half-dead, it doesn’t really matter all that much.

Had a chiro appt in the morning (we talked nutrition) and then met my workout buddy Jen for the first time since, um, October? But it felt good (despite all my ailments) and I’m pleasantly stiff now, reminded that I had a good bout of exercise. We’re hoping to get together again tomorrow.

I also booked my flights for Oregon in February, for the Denise Little Workshop on the coast, plus a hotel the last night in Portland so I can fly home the next morning rather than rushing back for a flight after the workshop. I think I’ve got a carpool arranged, too. Eeeexcelent.

And I lay on our comfy media room sofa and read and dozed, which was nice. We’ll call today a day off, and get back to work tomorrow. (I called in sick today, and my boss agreed. ‘Cause she was suffering inside this wreck of a body with me!)

Now, I think, some more TV and cuddling with my beloved before I head off for an early night. Tomorrow I’ll talk about a new sale, some promo stuff, and the many errands we have planned. (I can tell you’re all on the edge of your seats.)

---

Currently Reading: Not Flesh Nor Feathers, Cherie Priest; Martha Stewart Living (I got a free subscription); Realms of Fantasy
Lately Listened To: Forever Vinyl, baybee!
Recently Watched: Long Way Down; How I Met Your Mother

Ugh

Effing Santa Anas effing 83 effing degrees in effing January muttergrumbleptui.

Sale! For a good cause!

I'm delighted to announce that my story "Always a Bridesmaid" has been accepted into the charity anthology Coming Together: Against the Odds, a collection of erotic fiction with mystery themes.

Of course, "sale" is something of a misnomer, because all proceeds go to support the charity Autism Speaks. That's a good thing, though!

But it's another publication, and a story I'm quite fond of. Come to think of it, the story really has been a "bridesmaid" for a long time—it's one of those that gets accepted and then the anthology folds, or doesn't quiiiiite make the cut, or whatever, even though everyone says nice things about it.

I see Teresa has a story in this one, too, so you'll get both halves of Sophie.

So, for lots of reason, yay!

Epiphanated

Well, I kind of bailed on Saturday’s goals, but I’ve been reasonable productive overall. Here’s a brief update.

I’ve gone to CB&TL several times with my writer-friend Ellenie, and we were most productive. I’ve fallen a little behind today, due to working on other things, but the night isn’t over yet… Ghosted is slowly moving forward, and Teresa and I are almost ready for the online workshop we’re teaching this weekend.

Got a rejection today from Paradox for “Berengere.” It’ll go back out soon, along with a couple of other stories I was waiting to send until this month when markets opened back up.

Finally got to the gym today, and did cardio and the back machine. Dude, they have a Trivial Pursuit game on TV now! I could’ve done an hour of cardio instead of half an hour! But I knew better than to overdo it. Still, I know when to time my workouts now. :-) My massage therapist and I are each other’s workout cheerleaders now, via e-mail (and our twice-monthly sessions). We each have free rein to harangue and humiliate the other if we don’t meet our weekly goals…

We did a big grocery shopping today, our first since the holiday traveling, finally replacing a lot of items we’ve been out of. That will ideally keep us from eating pizza several times a week. ::whistles innocently::

We also cleaned the sewing room today, so now the cutting table is free of piled junk and we can get to work on our Italians for Black Oak Lodge. I’d like to get my corset cut out tomorrow.

I’m almost done with my holiday thank-you notes, and still need to talk about Yule (and Thanksgiving, come to think of it!) here.

I’m mostly done with the Shire’s newsletter, although I’m still waiting for some information before I can wrap it up. I feel bad that it’s late (and, in truth, there may not be a January newsletter at all, depending on how things suss out), but I know it’s not because of anything under my control.

We’ve been watching some fun shows, including Long Way Down, the documentary following Ewan MacGregor and Charlie Boorman on a motorcycle trip from John O’Groats, Scotland, to Capetown, South Africa; and season two of Alias. Much amusement is being had by all.

---

Currently Reading: Thirteen Orphans, Jane Linskold; Martha Stewart Living (I got a free subscription); Romance Writers’ Report
Lately Listened To: WRDH (Radio in Dayle’s Head)
Recently Watched: Long Way Down; Alias

Photos from the New Year's Eve show

...for those interested, are here. Includes a bonus! FailBlog-worthy sign.

Entitled

Would you pick up a book called Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess if you were in the mood for a funny sexy paranormal romance?

Passionate Ink workshop

Title : Collaboration: When Two Heads are Better Than One
Date : January 9-11, 2009
Presented by : Dayle A. Dermatis & Teresa Noelle Roberts, aka Sophie Mouette
Cost : $15 (PI Members) and $20 (Non-PI Members)

Be one of the first 20 PI Members to email karen.e.erickson @ gmail.com to be added to the free members list. All Passionate Ink members receive two free workshops per membership year.

Workshop Description :
Learn how to write with a partner, including how to choose the right collaborating partner, the types and methods of collaboration, collaboration agreements/contracts and much more!

Presenters’ websites:
Dayle 
Teresa

To Pay Online :

Using PayPal (http://www.paypal.com), send payment to renewals@passionateink.org with “WORKSHOP - Collaboration” as the subject. In the “message” section, include Your Name and Email Address.

Cost: $15 for Passionate Ink Members, $20 for non-members

To pay by check, print this page and send with a check to
Passionate Ink Workshops
c/o Karen Steele
1304 Forest Marsh Dr
Neptune Beach, FL 32266

Best Lesbian Romance 2009 available!

I'm delighted to announce that Best Lesbian Romance 2009 is now available for sale! It contains a reprint of my story "In Flight," a sweet erotic romance about learning to trust again, with bonus! birds of prey.

Plus there are so many other fabulous authors in this one: my frequent coauthor Teresa, Shanna Germain, Alison Tyler, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Catherine Lundoff, Sacchi Green...

A good year indeed

The New Year has started out extremely well, even if, in my mind, yesterday was the first day of the New Year (since we were traveling all day Thursday). They say that what you do on the first day of the year relates to how your year will go, and my first day(s) have been mostly marvelous.

New Year’s Day started with kisses and the best music EV-er, followed by cheap champagne and much laughter, and then blessed sleep. In the morning we had brunch with Sara (the fabulous Styx fan with whom we stayed—she’s also into faeries, SFF, Ren Faire, crafts, and paganism, so you’d think we were clones or something), Rob (a fellow OWN writer), his wife Ximena, and his brother Richard. Then, sadly, we had to say goodbye to Sara and drive home, but that involved stopping at The Old Spaghetti Factory for supper, and a day that includes TOSF and mizithra cheese is a good day indeed.

I woke up with a headache yesterday (a holdover from the day before) but liberal applications of painkillers and a hot shower chased it away. I hammered through some e-mail, and after lunch went to CB&TL where Ellenie and I caught up and got productive. I finished writing the first draft of part 3 of the workshop, and got a good chunk done on Ghosted (Ellenie helped me work through a couple of small sticking points, in part by saying useful things that sparked me, and in part just by being there so I could ramble aloud at her to get to the information I needed). :-)

The only downside was when I got home, Grimoire started yarking up bile (on his own paws, even), panting, and shaking, so we raced off to the vet. Who gave him a shot of $30 painkiller (in hindsight, I should’ve asked for one, too—my neck/shoulder is killing me and I don’t have a chiro appt until Monday), told us to not feed him ‘til morning, and bring him back in the morning if necessary.

Half an hour later, he was demanding food and purring. Twit. As Ken said in the vet’s waiting room, “This is why we don’t have kids.” (To which I responded “Really? I thought it was because I didn’t want to lose my girlish figure.”)

We wrapped up the day with pizza (because it was too late to cook) and a soak in the hot tub, and that’s pretty much a perfect end to any day.

Now we’re to today, and I was up early to feed Grimoire and make sure he was okay, which he is. The mail came early because we had packages—hemp cord for my new corset and my comp copy of The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica, which includes the Sophie Mouette reprint “Behind the Masque” (about jewel thieves in Vegas! Hee!).

Lots of work planned for today:

• Ghosted
  
• crit a story of Teresa’s
  
• review synopsis of PUM (formerly Angelika)
  
• go over part 2 of our workshop
  
• write holiday thank-you notes
  
• track down the roadie who gave me the backstage pass and thank him! (There’s a form to contact the band on their website, plus the band has a MySpace page; I’ll leave messages both places :-) )
  
• work on (and ideally finish) the first online issue of The Oak Leaf, our Shire’s newsletter
  
• hammer through more e-mail
  
• go to the gym
  
• go to the library
  

I’ll check back later with my progress!

The best part of technology

I really love the Internet, and right now that especially includes Facebook. A few months ago, a friend from England—from when I studied there in 1987—tracked me down just by searching for my name. (I also really love that I have a unique name and that I didn’t change it when I married!) I’d tried to find her when we lived there in 1998-2002, but she doesn’t have a unique name, and her parents had moved (the only address I had). So I was thrilled.

A few years ago, one of my first boyfriends found me. We had a great talk, kind of clearing the air about when we broke up (talk about complete lack of communication…oh, we were so young). I’m so happy he’s doing so well!

Now, one of my best friends when I was a kid—she was older than me, but lived two doors down in a neighborhood where we were the only girls of any young age—just found me via Facebook. I’d actually been thinking about her, maybe a month or so ago, wondering how she was doing. The last time I heard from her was when I was in law school, and she’d gotten married. I’d since forgotten her married name, so I was at a loss. I’m so excited she found me!

There are still a few other people I think about every so often, wondering what’s become of them. Of course they’re people with names that bring up eighteen million Google hits (or eighteen hundred Facebook hits, or whatever), so pretty much all I can do is put the thoughts out there in the Universe and hope someone hears. And hope that those I’m thinking of, even if I never hear from them, are happy and well.

Eating the elephant, one bite at a time

I’m not making resolutions again this year, because I never do. I make general goals, and try to work towards those goals regularly. On New Year’s Day, I had a small epiphany, and realized my “resolution” is to stop and think: “What is the best thing for me right now?”

It might be choosing a healthier eating option—or it might be to indulge a little. It might be to hammer out another thousand words—or it might be to veg in front of the TV with my beloved. It might be to go to the gym—or it might be to take the day off. The main thing I’m going for is to make sure I’ve considered the question, that I’m not just taking the easy option.

Tony Robbins says something that’s a corrolary to this in his Personal Power stuff: That with anything you set out to do, even if it’s going to hang out with a friend, you ask yourself “What is my goal?” It could be just to hang out and have a good time. But the idea is to focus on what you want to achieve, because if you do, you’re more likely to achieve it.

The only other thing I’ve been thinking about in terms of goals/resolutions/whatever you want to call them, is a series that one of my mentors, Dean Wesley Smith, has been writing about in his blog. Although the articles are focused on writing goals, his insights can be applied to any goal. He’s also training to run a marathon, so he equates some of it to that, too. Even if you’re not a writer, I think they’re worth checking out. (You pretty much have to read them in order; the lead-in one is dated December 2.)

I've been re-reading them, taking notes as I go of the things that ring true for me. That way I'll have a Cliff Notes version to refer back to throughout the year.

What about you all? Are you resolved?

Happy New Year? You betcha!

How to ring in the New Year, Dayle's version:

Go to a Styx concert.

Get given an all-access backstage pass by a roadie from one of the opening acts who overheard you being interviewed by the local TV station saying this was your 82nd show.

Get kissed by your husband at midnight while he's recording a video of Styx singing "Auld Lang Syne."

Go backstage. Ask Lawrence if you can have a New Year's kiss.

Get it.

:-)

Done done done done-duh-done done-duh-done

Well, almost everything I did today was in the writing column—which is my job, so it was all priority stuff anyway. I did get through some e-mail, though, and the laundry's in the washer. Ken and I ended up going out to dinner, which altered some of my timeline.

You'll note I also added some stuff to the list that I'd forgotten about this morning…

• finish the proposal for Angelika (first draft is off to Teresa)
  
• review returned Chapter 3
  
• assemble first three chapters into one file for mailing (probably tomorrow—there’s one more thing we have to tweak first)
  
• finish “Now You See Her” (short story) and send to Teresa for a quick crit if she has time
  
• write my bits for part one of Teresa’s and my online workshop at Passionate Ink in January
  
• review Teresa’s bits for part one of the workshop
  
• follow up with the workshop coordinator about our workshop
  
• update my website with new sales, etc. (also tomorrow—I’ve lost the brain power for it)
  
• promo Like a Myth (yup, also tomorrow)
  
• follow up with an editor about payment and some other small bits and bobs
  
• re-read Dean’s articles about setting goals and take notes (started, but there’s a lot to process)
  

Tomorrow, another writing session at CB&TL. I'm hoping to focus on Ghosted, which has been languishing. The other To Do stuff I can do at home.

Now it's late and I feel the need to curl up with a good book—to read, not write or edit.

---

Currently Reading: Fathom, Cherie Priest
Lately Listened To: various holiday music
Recently Watched: nothing, but the next disc of Alias season 2 just showed up

To Do be do be do be

It’s one of those days when I feel I should post my To Do list, because it looks looming and extensive, and if I post it, I’ll feel compelled to really churn away at it. Or something like that.

Lots of writing stuff to do today (thankfully I’m meeting Ellenie at CB&TL for a few hours!):

• finish the proposal for Angelika (which may have a new title finally) and send to Teresa
  
• finish “Now You See Her” (short story) and send to Teresa for a quick crit if she has time
  
• write my bits for part one of Teresa’s and my online workshop at Passionate Ink in January
  
• follow up with the workshop coordinator about our workshop
  
• update my website with new sales, etc.
  
• follow up with an editor about payment and some other small bits and bobs
  

Then there’s the SCA stuff:

• work on the Shire newsletter for January (yeah. Chronicler again. Who expected that?). We’re moving to an online newsletter so I get to do a total re-design. Fun! But time consuming, and must be done after work is done.
  
• write and send Quartermaster Doomsday report (that woke me up last night—completely spaced on it ‘til now!)
  
• any Black Oak Lodge stuff that currently needs poking at
  

And let’s not forget about Life, the Universe, and Everything:

• holiday thank-you notes
  
• laundry
  
• dishes
  
• e-mail
  
• visit Morgana & Brian’s cat (they’re away for a few weeks, and Patches gets lonely)
  

I’m feeling a bit under the weather (minor stuff, nothing to worry about, but it’s very wearing and I run out of energy quickly), so I’m trying to triage and not overdo it. Ken’s on a bike ride today (I bowed out due to the minor health issues) but when he’s home, I can foist some things off on him. :-)

Anyway, I think that should keep me busy for a while… I’ll report back on my progress!

Randomness

To all my friends in the UK who got to see the Christmas episode of Doctor Who: ::pbltz!::

~ ~ ~

My friend Jenn Reese has posted an amazing story at her website. Go. Now. It’s awesome.

~ ~ ~

A reprint of my story “Peppermint Stick” is up at Circlet Press as part of their erotic advent calendar. Even though it was posted a few days ago, it’s still available—check it out before it vanishes! (Unlike Jenn's, mine is NSFW.)

And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

Love and blessings to all my friends this holiday season.

Playing with toys

	500
20
lab.drwicked.com

More holiday thoughts

Stuck on what to give your favorite author this year? No, I'm not even talking about me. I mean any author whose work you enjoy. I can give you a simple solution: Take a few minutes to write to them and tell them you enjoy their work. There's a great article about this here. (Even better, buy copies of their work to give as gifts this holiday season. But if you can't swing that, the nice note will warm even the Grinchiest of writers' hearts!)

~ ~ ~

Meanwhile, Shanna Germain is giving away books on her blog—just comment about your favorite winter fantasy, and you could win!

Suggestions for keeping warm this holiday season

Winter is apparently very inspiring to me, because I’ve amassed a number of short stories set around the Solstice, Christmas, and Valentine’s Day. So if you’re in the mood to snuggle under the covers or lounge in front of a roaring fire and enjoy some spicy stories to chase away the chill, may I make some recommendations?

I’m really excited about a winter-themed novella that’s just been released. “Hidden Treasure” is a Sophie Mouette story (written with Teresa) in Bedding Down. This is the first time I’ve been published by Avon Red, which is one of the reasons I’m over the moon. Plus the cover is gorgeous!

From the Introduction by editor Rachel Kramer Bussel: “The ‘Hidden Treasure’ in Sophie Mouette’s story turns out to be much naughtier than the criminals seeking it expect, and provides the inhabitants of a historic museum the chance to repeat the hottest parts of history.”

A snowbound castle folly in the Adirondacks, two bumbling redneck criminal wanna-bes, Victorian clothing, and a chance to turn a high school crush into something much more interesting… What’s not to love?

“The Queen of Christmas” was a blast to write, with inspirations from the house in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Wizards of Winter” video, the TV show Home Improvement, Martha Stewart, and one of the holiday displays on Christmas Tree Lane (aka the local historic district, a block from our house).… It’s the lead story in Naughty or Nice, an all-holiday-stories anthology to get you in the right spirit!

“The book starts off with a champagne popping bang with Andrea Dale’s ‘The Queen of Christmas.’ I ADORE this story! It’s so hilarious, I was laughing the whole way through, except when I was lusting after that very sexy, Christmas-loving electrical engineer across the street. And then I was kind of smacking my lips and making plans to attack my own electrical engineer husband later.” (author Donna George Storey)

You’ll never think about the Twelve Days of Christmas in quite the same day after reading “On the Twelfth Day” in the anthology He’s On Top…

“Finding Perspective,” a sweet and sexy Valentine’s story, can be found in Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2007.

“Mrs. Claus and the Naughty Elf” was another extremely fun story, and The MILF Anthology is a great book with a fabulous cover.

I know I keep saying I love my stories, but “Frozen” really does hold a place in my heart. I’m not sure I’m supposed to get choked up when I read one of my own stories, but there you have it. It’s also one of my most successful, having been reprinted twice. I’ll link to Best Lesbian Erotica 2005, but check out my website if you want one of the other anthologies.

Then there’s “Peppermint,” a 2004 contest winner at Torquere Press. This one’s no longer available online, but I just sold the reprint to Circlet Press! I’ll keep you posted on its publication!

All of those are Andrea Dale stories, BTW.

Along with the aforementioned “Hidden Treasure, of course, Teresa and have the Solstice story “Bringing Back the Light” at Fishnet, and it was reprinted in Mammoth Book of Best Lesbian Erotica 2007. You can read it free online at Fishnet (NSFW, obviously) or pick up a copy of the anthology, which is chock full of excellent stories.

And there you have it!  ::wanders off to score some eggnog::

Appearing for one day only! EDITED

Just a quickie...but an exciting one!

Circlet Press is doing an erotic "advent calendar" type of thing, wherein they're posting a different story every day for the month of December. You get one day to read the story—after that, it's gone.

I'm delighted that my story "One Thousand" will be the story for Friday, December 19! (NOT Thursday as originally posted.) It should be posted around noon (if it's not, just keep checking back) at Circlet.

"One Thousand" will later appear in the Like a Myth, anthology, but this is your chance to read it now! Enjoy!

(Obligatory disclaimer: NSFW.)

(The other cool thing: I donated my payment to the ASJA Writer Emergency Fund, which helps writers when they have crisis medical bills and whatnot.)

Cover me

The adorable cover for Best Lesbian Romance 2009, which contains a reprint of my story "In Flight," a sweet and sexy romance about learning to trust again, with bonus! birds of prey.

Available for pre-order now!

How did this happen?!

I’ve never hidden the fact that cooking isn’t something I enjoy. It’s just not my thing. I suspect it has something to do with the transient nature of the product; as an artist, I like to create things that last. Which doesn’t explain my love of music, but I suppose you can record it and re-listen to it—plus I get a stronger visceral experience from listening to music than I do from eating. I’m definitely not a food connoisseur; I like fairly simple, basic dishes. Ken’s the same way on pretty much all accounts (although I don’t know if the transience is a factor).

Anyway. We cook because it’s better for us than eating processed food all the time. I gather and try new recipes to avoid getting bored (“Not this again!”) and to find easier things to make (“Ooh, I can throw all these ingredients in the crock pot in the morning and then not have to think about dinner for the rest of the day!”)

So how did I end up having to cook for other people four nights in a row this week?!

Last night we had some friends over to do some Black Oak Lodge plotting and planning. Ken actually did most of the work on the honey-mustard chicken and black bean burritos, bless him, although I wielded the food processor and chopped three onions (because two would be needed for future recipes), and made salad, and set the table, yadda yadda.

Tonight’s progressive dinner through the Historic District somehow mutated into a potluck, so I’m making a white trash version of scalloped potatoes (frozen hash browns, butter, cream of chicken soup, and Velveeta. And since the scary blocks of Velveeta come twice as big as I needed, I’m making this on Xmas Day, too. Deal with it.) because they’re easy and frighteningly tasty. Although I will probably avoid them because I’m trying to lose weight.

Tomorrow night is our Shire Yule party, and we’re making a beef stew in the crockpot. Rah.

Sunday we’re hosting a Men’s Italian Costuming Overview class because Ken’s teaching it, so we’re making sloppy joe’s in the crockpot. Of course, I’ll have to prep this before I leave for the LARA meeting in the morning.

And then, by the gods, I’m going to find somebody else to cook for a while. (Do you know you can order Pizza Hut online?!)

Ah, life

Story is in the mail, as are the four contracts. On the downside, my massage therapist cancelled on me last night, leaving me with a stiff neck and the remains of a migraine to deal with on my own. I was so looking forward to my chiropractic appointment this morning!

So now I’m home, and I’ve mostly cleaned off my desk (sorted mail, paid bills), put away all my laundry, and unpacked everything else. The cleaning lady is here, thank goodness. I went to the grocery store after my chiro appt so we have food again. Now I’m going to see how much e-mail I can churn through in the next hour or so, which also includes checking edits on a story and responding with any changes… Ah, the mundane home life returns with a vengeance!

Did you miss me?

Home, and officially swamped, with a short story due now and four contracts to review, print, sign, and mail.

The mail also brought comp copies of

• Bedding Down, containing the Sophie Mouette wintery novella “Hidden Treasure."
  
• Never Have the Same Sex Twice, a combo fiction and how-to book edited by Alison Tyler, which contains an excerpt of my story “Breakfast in Bed” as well as something I posted in a comment on Lust Bites about music. (Amazingly enough, I didn’t even mention Styx!)
  

Mmm, comp copy goodness!

More soon, as I pull my life back together!

How have you all been?

Happy December!

Happy December! Let the Wild Rumpus of the Holiday Season begin!

(I believe in the order of things. First comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then the December holiday season, however you celebrate the latter. No overlap. None of this “Christmas decorations in stores before Halloween” shit. Deep down I think you should hold off ‘til December 1, but I know a lot of people use the T’giving weekend to start decorating, and I’m cool with that. But now it’s December, and I’m happy about singing along with all the holiday music!)

Smokin'!

Not one, but two acceptance e-mails today!

My story “Fanning the Flames” will appear in the Playing With Fire anthology, edited by the delicious Alison Tyler! pompoms! *\o/*

The other is a preliminary sale, meaning the publisher gets the final say—but the publisher seems to like my stories (it’s the same publisher that’s doing Playing With Fire), so squee! I’ll announce that one officially when I can.