Home? Not so much.

So, Ken was supposed to be home today. (There was even a slim chance he’d be home last night, but his dad isn’t as big on long haul driving.) Then I got the call yesterday afternoon.

They broke my car.

Not sure what’s up; there was oil everywhere and it was beyond their ability to fix at the side of the road (keeping in mind that Ken’s an engineer and Dad’s a former auto mechanic). Long story short, they got a tow into Flagstaff, and then a tow into Phoenix (Scottsdale, specifically, where there’s a Saab dealership) tonight.

The irony, of course, is that we’re due to drive to Phoenix on Thursday for the Styx show on Friday. Depending on how long it takes my car to get fixed, this could involve some interesting machinations*.

Sigh. This sucks.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent the past two days finishing up my first Custom Erotica Source commission. It was an interesting experience… I’m given to understand it was an unusually detailed request, so I’m even more curious to see what the next job will bring.

Teresa and I had another confab about PUM and I got some work done on my scenes tonight as well. I’ll hammer on those tomorrow (and possibly into Tuesday; I have some errands and appointments tomorrow, too) and get them sent off. Then I have a few short stories to write and send, and some nonfiction proposals to suss out.

Other than that, there’s sewing night at Morgana’s on Tuesday, and lunch with another friend on Wednesday (suuuuushi!), and then it’s off to Phoenix and Styx, baybee!

*C’mon, isn’t that a great word?!

---

Currently Reading: er, various things I can't put my hands on right now
Lately Listened To: the purring of contented cats
Recently Watched: Thriller, a rather odd series from the 1970s that I saw as a child and which completely freaked me out. Thanks a lot, Mom.

Not to mention the disco version

[In falsetto, everybody!]

What you doin' on the 'net, ahh

What you doin' on the 'net, ahh

You should be writing, yeah,

Writing, yea-eh-ah!

(Damn you, Bee Gees!)

Filk, to the tune of "Guerilla Soldier" (Gowan)

In another thousand words
Will it all be over
And another thousand words
Is the story done?
In another thousand words
Will it all make history
And another thousand words
Will the book be done...?

(It's kind of a curse, really...)

The jury's still out

I got, like, four inches cut off my hair today.

This is what I get for going to my Fabulous Gay Hairdresser while stressed, grumpy, and way too hot. (In other words, get the hair off my neck. Now.)

I think I like it. Really, I think I do. Or my brain may be faking me out into believing I like it so I don’t have a freaking nervous breakdown and lock myself in my admittedly enormous closet (it has a window!) for the rest of the year.

The gods of travel, they are capricious

I’m headed home from Arkansas. The trip out there was a bit of an adventure: the LAX-DFW flight left 2.5 hours late due to weather at DFW (and we sat on the plane at the gate for about 2 of those hours), then the DFW-LIT flight was also delayed due to weather, and then the flight itself detoured to go around the storm. Instead of arriving at 8 p.m., I got in at 1:30 p.m., and then we had to get to Hot Springs Village in the thunderstorm. But the bottom line was, I made it!

Ken was in the middle of a 24-hour rally, so the next morning his dad and I went to the historic Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs to meet up with him. We (rally people) had a private room and indulged in the amazing Sunday buffet (caviar! Seafood Newburg! cheese plate! nomnomnom), and then we got to celebrate because Ken won! Yay! *\o/*

After that we headed up to Little Rock for his grandmother’s 95th birthday party. She was so delighted while I was there, and I spent most of the party at her side, helping her out (getting her punch, reading her cards to her and telling her about her presents as I opened them, etc.). She can barely see, and her hearing’s not great, but she’s sharp as a tack. Meanwhile, the blue dye in the cake frosting turned everyone’s tongues and lips bright blue.

Ken and I slept hard last night….

Today’s travel has thus far been smooth, thank the gods. We got to LIT comfortably early and Ken had an early lunch with me (I had lemon-and-herb grilled chicken with brie and caramelized onions on a ciabatta roll, nom!). I had just enough time in DFW to switch terminals, have a brisk walk to my new gate, and hit a bathroom before it was time to board.

Ken may be home this weekend, or he may head straight to Oregon to do some work. I have a bit of a busy work week because I have to catch up on some things, plus we’re off to Phoenix and Fresno the weekend after this one for Styx shows.

~ ~ ~

Made it home, safe and sound. The travel gods made up for Saturday by smiling upon me today. Traffic on the 405 backed up just at the point where I peeled off to the 10. As I hit Pacific Coast Highway, the radio played Styx. There was little traffic up the coast, the air was cool, the sun was bright, the ocean was dazzling.

It's the lusty month of May!

Blessed Beltaine!

Went out for high tea with Morgana and Brian today to celebrate May Day. We tried out Tranquility Tea Room in Thousand Oaks. I found it online recently (although I can’t for the life of me remember how). It was a bit pricy, but overall quite good. I tried Lover’s Leap tea from Sri Lanka, and although it’s a black tea, it wasn’t very dark and it didn’t have any discernible flavor. It was worth the experiment, though! They had fun hats, but I’d brought my own. We all took them off before tea even arrived, however, because it was a wee bit too warm.

After we returned home, I grabbed novel subs to mail and jumped in the car (I’m borrowing Morgana and Brian’s second car since mine is in Arkansas). Alas, although my phone showed I had three minutes to spare, the PO was closing. I went off to the chiropractor to pick up some supplements, and when I got out of the car, I heard a nasty accident on the main street. (The building blocked my view.) It occurred to me that if I’d left earlier and made it to the PO, I might’ve been done at the chiropractor’s and turning onto that very street at that very moment. So I’m quite okay with everything getting mailed on Tuesday…

Now, though, I’m tired, and I still have much to do: writing, packing, cat box scooping… The Oak Leaf just isn’t going to get done before I leave. Nobody will suggest topics for the history of the Shire column (even though people requested the articles be run), and I didn’t come up with an idea for this issue until late yesterday. Sigh.

On and off

I’m soon off to Arkansas on Saturday for a madcap 3-day trip to attend Ken’s grandmother’s 95th birthday party. (Go Grandma!) Ken is already on his way there, in my car, no less. We have a bunch of stuff to bring home—Ken and his dad moved Grandma into a home last month (her choice, and she’s really happy there, yay!), and we’re acquiring some silver, crystal, china tea cups (yeah, like we need more tea cups…but it’ll be so cool to mix hers with my grandmother’s, you know?), that sort of thing. The original plan had been for Ken and I to drove out together, but because Grimoire needs subcutaneous fluids on a regular basis (every day is recommended, but skipping a day or two is okay), I couldn’t take the time.  :-(  Would've been fun.

On top of that, there’s a rally in Arkansas this weekend, so Ken’s bike is actually on a trailer that he and his dad are pulling behind my car. I get to attend the awards banquet with Ken on Sunday morning. Fingers crossed that he wins!

Meanwhile, Part II of Being an Adult Sucks: Our friend Donna was in town, and we so wanted to see her, but there was no way we could pull it off on Monday because on Tuesday, we had to deliver my car to Ken’s dad’s—2 hours away. (I would drive the car, Ken would ride the bike, and we’d ride the bike home together, after which he would head back out to his dad’s, running some errands along the way.) I couldn’t take Monday evening off if I was going to lose 4–5 work hours on Tuesday.

Sigh. As it turned out, it was a good call, because we were gone pretty much all day Tuesday. We hit traffic on the way out, so much so that all the errands Ken had to run wouldn’t be possible in the order he’d planned. So he had to run them in the opposite direction; i.e., on the way home. On the plus side, I had a yummy gyro for lunch and Ken picked up Baja Fresh for dinner, and I got to have dinner with him. On the negative side, he left soon after dinner.

I’m still bummed I didn’t get to see Donna (and Gillian, and Jen, and everyone else…).

Meanwhile…I don’t know. Just trying to keep up with everything. Morgana and I are walking, I’m hitting the gym, The Oak Leaf May issue is in progress, and story sales and rejections continue apace. I’d like to finish the OOTFP subs before I leave, too. We shall see.

Onwards!

Sale the second!

I heard about Peep Show last night, and then today got another acceptance!

My vampire story "Devouring Heart" will be published in The Sweetest Kiss: Ravishing Vampire Erotica on October 1, 2009, also by Cleis Press and edited by D.L. King (also edited Where the Girls Are... It's all one big pyjama party, really!).

I wrote "Devouring Heart" five years ago, so I'm especially chuffed it found such a wonderful home!

And Teresa's got a story in this one, too!

The TOC:

Midnight at Sheremetyevo by Remittance Girl
Wait Until Dark, Montresor by Thomas S. Roche
The Temptation of Mlle. Marielle Doucette by Anna Black
Kiss and Make Up by Lisette Ashton
The Student by Sommer Marsden
Red By Any Other Name by Kathleen Bradean
Enlightenment by Amber Hipple
Blood and Bootleg by Teresa Noelle Roberts
Fair Play by G. B. Kensington
Advantage by Ciara Finn
The Communion of Blood and Semen by Maxim Jakubowski
Nightlife by Madeleine Oh
Takeout or Delivery? by Evan Mora
Devouring Heart by Andrea Dale
Wicked Kisses by Michelle Belanger
Fourth World by Lisabet Sarai
Turn by Nikki Magennis
Cutter by Kristina Wright
Once An Addict... by A.D.R. Forte

Sale the first!

A new sale! My story "Now You See Her" will appear in Peep Show: Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists, coming in November 2009 from Cleis Press, edited by the yummy Rachel Kramer Bussel!

"Now You See Her" is a companion story to "Come to My Window" in Where the Girls Are, due out July 1, 2009, also from Cleis Press. I hadn't planned on writing a related story when I wrote "Come to My Window," but the theme of Peep Show spoke to a related, very cool idea...

Anyway. Peep Show is available on amazon for pre-order already, and here's the full table of contents!

Introduction: Hungry Eyes and Sensual Show-Offs
Showtime by Susan St. Aubin
Clean and Pretty by Donna George Storey
Superior by Monica Shores
People in Glass Hotels by Jennifer Peters
Indecent by Lolita Lopez
Ownership by Craig J. Sorensen
Audience Participation by Elizabeth Coldwell
Now You See Her by Andrea Dale
Watcher in the Shadows by Cheyenne Blue
Glass by Nobilis Reed
Sleeping Beauty by Malcolm Ross
The Theory of Orchids by L. A. Mistral
Missing Michael by M. March
Busted by Kissa Starling
Satisfaction Guaranteed by Sommer Marsden
Rosse Buurt by Geneva King
I’ve Only Got Eyes for You by Rachel Kramer Bussel
Calendar Girl by Angela Caperton

Nice review!

A terrific mention of Teresa's and my story in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction:

"'Under a Double Rainbow' by Sophie Mouette: Iris, the goddess of the rainbow, shows up at a women’s spirituality festival. Love, healing, and a healthy dose of sex ensue. A lovely tale with just the right amount of mild erotica, and a great weaving together of several subplots."

From Pagan Book Reviews. The full review is here.

Yay Ken!

Self-righteously, I did get a lot of work done yesterday, and today I smoothed over two chapters and some notes and got them all sent off to Teresa. I also ran some errands and went to the gym, and came home and showered, and joined Twitter (as cyvarwydd—feel free to follow me, even though I currently haven't a clue what I'm supposed to be doing with it).

And then things went a wee bit pear-shaped. Due to some health issues, I went all wibbly. I was all set to work on my first CES assignment when…no. No brain, no energy, no nothin’. I did take Afalwen with me as I sat on the sofa and watched reruns of NCIS (which I recorded so I could still blast through commercials), but our Internet access gets wonky in the evenings, so I only got a limited amount of useful stuff done. In between lying down on the sofa….

Then I got the call: Ken won the rally! And he was going to try and make it home tonight! I called him a bit later to request In-n-Out (because I needed red meat in a bad way), and it turned out he had a flat tire. He was unable to get hold of his mom or brother in Orange County, so he ended up calling AAA, and getting home around 1:30 a.m. But he’s home! And he won!

Now I shall wibble my wibbly self off to bed…

The truth is...

I’d like to be all self-righteous and say I didn’t go to the Queensrÿche show with Ken tonight because I had work to do. But I can’t. The truth is, I didn’t go because I have defective eyeballs.

See, there’s a rally in San Diego tomorrow morning, and it made no sense for us to drive to Hollywood, drive home, and then have Ken need to turn around and leave four hours later. The only other option was to take two vehicles, and have him head south after the show while I came back home.

Except I can’t drive at night.

I mean, I can. Nobody’s told me I can’t. But I know just how poor my vision is at night (and at twilight, when it’s almost worse), how lights cause huge halos and half-blind me. It’s not just a case of not being able to read street signs. It’s a case of not being able to see if someone walked in front of the car. Coming home from the show Wednesday night, I couldn’t see the cement barrier in the middle of the freeway due to the oncoming headlights. (Oh, I knew it was there, and I could drive without hitting it, but still.)

So, I did the mature, adult thing and stayed home. Ken managed to sell my ticket, so at least we didn’t eat that cost.

But I hate doing the mature, adult thing. It sucks. Don’t wanna. ::stamps feet::

Now I should get some more work done, because then I can at least pretend to be a little self-righteous...

Want me to write you a story...?

I mentioned a while back that I’d signed a contract for a freelance gig, and I just got my first assignment as well as confirmation that I can advertise the site and my involvement.

I’m writing for Custom Erotica Source, which supplies customized erotica stories for clients. In other words, you send in the type of story you want, the characters (you’re the star, generally), and any specifics you want mentioned, and one of the writers writes you a story It can be romantic or steamy, short or long, etc. CES binds the stories into pretty handmade booklets.

I’ll be writing under the name Kendra Wayne, to keep these stories separate from my other erotica/erotic romance work. Yes, another pen name! (One can never have too many, you know.) So if you ever want to order a story, ask for me!

A conversation with my husband

I was making Pad Thai; he was doing dishes.

Ken (out of the blue): You should write a murder mystery…

Me (mentally): Um. Where can this be going?

Ken: …about an actor who looks like he commited suicide with a starter pistol.

Me: Um. Sadly, something like that actually happened…

Ken: Yeah. It was some lame 80s show—

Me: Hey! I liked that show! The female lead was hot. [brief pause] I can’t remember the name of the show, though. Or her name.

[Thirty second later]

Me: But his name was Jon-Erik Hexum.

Ken (fondly): You really are special, aren’t you?

(It was Cover Up, and the female lead was Jennifer O’Neill. But I had to look that up. Honest.)

'Night!

Screw it. I’m tired. I’m going to bed. I don’t care if it’s not even 11 p.m. yet.

Sorry ‘bout those pigs that just flew by your window….

Photos update

For some reason, the photos aren't leading to my Flickr site, so here are the links to the two sets:

Birthday Parts I and II

Meerkats!

Birthday, Part III

Sunday

Meerkat day! Meerkat day! Squee!

My present that morning was another in the Audubon birds of prey series: a California condor! (Actually, it’s a special edition bird, not part of the birds of prey series. Details…)

Morgana and Brian arrived and we all poured our underslept bodies into the car and headed east into the desert. We had lunch at a Ruby’s Diner because it was close and reasonable, not because of any great desire to eat at a Ruby’s Diner. My bleu cheese burger had some icky bits in it, I’m sad to say, but the fries I stole off Morgana’s plate were yummy. Then we killed a few minutes at Hadley Orchards where, it turns out, Morgana and Brian had their first date. (They had date shakes.)

On the way to the meerkat sanctuary, Morgana and I practiced our inner squees, as we assumed it would bad to vocalize them and startle the meerkats. Essentially, we did some out-loud squees to try and get them out of our system.


And then we were there! We were met by Pam Bennett-Wallberg, Director of Fellow Earthings Wildlife Center, who immediately said I looked like Stockard Channing, which I took as a huge compliment. She proceeded to tell us a funny story about Stockard, who’s the new narrator of Meerkat Manor and who’d come to the sanctuary to meet the meerkats and managed to get her rented Porsche stuck… Heh.

Now, you have to realize, I’d been waiting for this for a year. The deal is, you donate $100 to the center, and as a perk of membership, you and up to three other people get to spend 2 hours with the meerkats. What I didn’t realize when I tried to schedule this for my birthday last year was that there was a 6–12 month waiting list. So I scheduled it for this year’s birthday. I tried not to jitter and show too much impatience as Pam showed us around the facility, made us signed release forms, etc. :-)

There were three enclosures, two with two meerkats and one with three. Meerkats can be very territorial, apparently. To pick them up, all you had to do was offer them food…in the form of live, wriggling mealworms. Thank gods we didn’t have to handle live bugs! Morgana and I wouldn’t have been able to do it.

Pam also praised Morgana and I for not shrieking in high-pitched voices over the meerkats, which means our practice ahead of time had been a wise thing. She also was impressed that Morgana didn’t leap and scream when a couple of the meerkats “fought” for worms in her lap. Morgana laughed and pointed out that she had experience with crazed cats. A couple of little meerkats snarling adorable little meerkat snarls wasn’t going to bother her!


Anyway, Pam thought we were the coolest people ever, which was fun. She wanted to know all about the SCA and costuming and history, and my writing, and the fact that Ken and I had been to Africa, and the other animals we’d made a point of seeing (cheetahs, birds of prey, wolves, etc.), and kept commenting on how interesting we all were. She had us talking so much, we really didn’t get to hear all of her stories about Africa. She did talk about a book she’d written and a documentary she’d considered doing.

The meerkats, though. Head. Asplode. With Cuteness. They were…I’m going to do a crap job of describing it because they were just so freaking adorable. First up were Remi (F) and Suri (M) (no related to TomKat’s daughter). One of them wasn’t much for being held, but the other was. None of them specifically came over to be held or picked up, per se, but most of them were fine with being scooped up while they snorfled your other hand for tasty wriggly mealworms. We sat on low benches with our legs out, and held our hands by our ankles, and the one who liked to come up would run up our legs as we drew our hands up.


Next up was Kendi (F) and Rafiki (M). One of them wanted your hand flat (good for photo ops), whereas for the other, you fisted your hand and he or she would pry at your fingers to get to those yummy wriggling treats you were hiding.

Pam said that because these meerkats don’t have to deal with a lot of the problems live ones do (foraging for food, dodging predators, etc.), they can get bored—so they love having visitors. Plus they were smart, and knew exactly what it meant when we walked towards their enclosures—food! Between eating, they’d run around, scrabble in the dirt (they didn’t go into any full-on burrowing, probably because they knew they might miss out on food if they went too far), sit up on their little comfy chairs and look so cute you couldn’t stand it, scramble across our legs, cuddle with each other…


Our final stop was to meet Jengo (M), Nalo (M), and Bara (F). I swiftly twigged that Bara had clearer markings (not quite spots, but not quite stripes, either) than the other two. Turns out most people don’t even notice that! Go me! She’s from a different part of Africa. So she’s the only one of all of them that I can ID in the pictures. The rest of them have subtle stripes, whereas her colors are more pronounced.


I’m pretty sure it was Nalo who, after he’d eaten his fill, took up residence in the corner of the enclosure next to me. He was sitting up, looking around, checking things out, looking adorable. And I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t have stopped myself if I wanted to. Very, very slowly and carefully, I stuck out my forefinger. And he booped the end of my finger with his dirty little nose. (They all had dirty little noses! Squee!) So I reached out again, very, very slowly and carefully, and just barely brushed against the hairs on his little belly.

He was fine with that, so I did it again, with a little scritching. And again, and again, my brain dissolving into so much mush as I gave a meerkat belly scritches. He also let me scritch under his chin twice. I nearly died from the adorableness of it. I’m getting all squee-y again just typing this!

I managed to get one picture of myself doing this, and Ken got videos. In my picture his nictating membranes are over his eyes, so he looks like a little zombie meerkat. (Zombie meerkats! Squee!)


Eventually we had to go, after petting the dogs and the cat and thanking Pam profusely. What an amazing experience. Totally worth the wait! I’m so glad that I try to do something for my birthday when I can.

We stopped at The Old Spaghetti Factory on the way home, because nothing was going to make my birthday complete better than angel hair pasta with mizithra cheese and browned butter. (Well. There are a couple of other things. But Styx didn’t actually have a show this weekend.)

And then we came home, and slept for a long, long time.

Monday

Pretty much all I remember of Monday is finding a copy of Charles de Lint’s Tapping the Dream Tree as my next present. Oh, and when we ordered pizza that night, because it was my actual birthday, I got a stuffed-crust pepperoni-lover’s with onions and extra cheese. Urp.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled journal. At least 'til I get my write-up of the Ren Faire finished...

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!