Rock me, baby

Two more rejections, one for a solo story and one for a Sophie story, both from the same best-of anthology. Sounds like editors are cleaning off their desks in preparation for the holiday!

I’m feeling a little confused this evening, since I took most of the day off—thus it feels like it’s Saturday, and I don’t understand why the rest of the world doesn’t agree with me.

After my chiropractor appointment and a fruitless trip to a local fabric store, I trotted over to Morgana’s and she and Brian and Tomi and I headed to downtown LA where the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising was showing “Aesthetes, Bohemians & Craftsmen: Artistic Dress, 1880s-1920s.” Traffic was horrendous (how do people drive in that crap every day?) but we had no set time to be there, so we were still in good spirits. The exhibit was gorgeous, but they didn’t have a book about it nor postcards, which made us pouty.

On the way home, we stopped at Cho Cho San and now I’m stuffed full of sushi. I had, among other things, my absolute favorite: a Rock-and-Roll Handroll (scallops, avocado, and rice with their mayo sauce, wrapped in soy paper), which Tomi also had a pronounced tasty. I tried something new and very nummy, although also not very good for me: the Hot and Creamy Jalapeño Bomb (crab and cream cheese in a jalapeño covered in fried crunchy goodness, in a spicy sauce). Oof. Too much food in the end!

So now I have to somehow wake up enough to work on Ghosted and write a shiny new synopsis for Waking the Witch. There’s a fresh-cut rose in my writing office waiting to inspire me. Wish me luck!

There is no "try"

On the heels of the latest sale, a few rejections:

• “What Price Beauty?” almost made it in to the Terrible Beauty anthology, but didn’t make the final cut.
  
• I’d also sent solo story “The Queen of Christmas” and Sophie story “Don’t Move” to Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica Vol. 8 (both as reprints), and neither of those made the cut. But since they’re reprints, it doesn’t sting nearly as much!
  

And so I sent three stories out today

• “Giving to the Night” to Love Stories Magazine
  
• “What Price Beauty?” to Fantasy
  
• “Heaven Has Eyes” to Baen’s Universe
  

I am nothing if not stubborn.

Mouthwateringly good news!

And another sale! The Sophie story "Behind the Masque" will be in The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica Vol. 8! It first appeared in the Wicked Words anthology Sex With Strangers.

Oh, it was such a fun story to write. How can you go wrong with jewel thieves?

The Lucchese Star. Sixty carats of sapphire, as big as your fist. Makes your mouth water just looking at it. Makes you think of Caribbean seas, the summer you were ten, the eyes of the lover that got away.

Inside my turquoise doeskin gloves, my palms itched. They didn’t sweat, not a drop; I wasn’t nervous. It was all about the anticipation, baby. The lead-up. The foreplay….

Fly away home

I had the neatest random encounter yesterday.

Despite the fact that the hotel restaurant advertised, on its door and on in-room paperwork, that they were open from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., when I went there at 1:30 p.m. for lunch I was told that no, they were closed. Another woman had stopped there for lunch and was also dismayed, and got directions to the nearby IHOP because she wanted eggs, etc. As she headed to her van, she offered me a ride. Yeah, she could’ve been a serial killer. But I listened to my gut, and my gut didn’t give me any warnings. I knew the IHOP was close enough to walk back from if I needed to, too. So I went.

Kelly turned out to be a delightful, fascinating person and we ended up eating lunch together. She was from Colorado, but in the summer works as a commercial fisherperson, and was on her way to Astoria, OR, to do just that. When I said I was from southern California, north of LA, she hesitated and said, “Oxnard?” Turns out that’s the only place she’s been to in CA (she’d been there for fishing work).

We had such a great conversation. She’s someone I never really would’ve encountered and chatted with in any other circumstance, you know? But we talked about travel and life and writing and motorcycles, and it was just lovely. There are so many horrible, mean, depressing, nasty people in the world. It was a joy to spend time with a random stranger who made the world a more positive place.

Plus I walked nearly a mile back to the hotel, getting my exercise for the day. :-)

~ ~ ~

accomplished yesterday:

• good chunk written on Ghosted
  
• all e-mail (work and personal) answered or deferred to Après Trip folder
  
• new sale info logged in spreadsheet and website updated (had to install Firefox on Afalwen to do it…)
  

~ ~ ~

I’m trying to not be depressed about heading home and missing Ken. I’m just going to focus on hoping he’ll get the time off to come home next week for the Styx/Boston show! So there.

~ ~ ~

Home safe, although I had a particularly horrid homecoming with a dead rat in the garage (which was not the problem—I can deal with a small dead furry thing in a trap) that was infested with maggots (and that was the problem—I cannot deal with maggots, especially giant maggots who squirmed their way back towards the garage after oozing out of the dead rat’s eye sockets when I flung the rat out onto the sidewalk). Thanks to our tenant (who joined me in spraying every household cleaner possible at the maggots as well as bashing them with a shovel) and most especially Morgana (who had no problem picking up the maggot-infested rat carcass and bagging it and depositing it in the garbage), the world is a safer place. Although I took a very, very, very long shower after the incident.

Really, it’s all okay. There are fuzzy cats who want to curl up with me, and all sorts of possibilities awaiting me tomorrow. G'night!

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Currently Reading: Circle of the Moon, Barbara Hambly
Lately Listened To: I couldn’t decide
Recently Watched: Doctor Who (augh!)

And with a kiss I pass the key

Celebrate! “The Heist” has been approved by Cleis Press and will appear in the anthology Frenzy (formerly entitled Flash Fucking). Oh, I’m so chuffed. I love this fun little story. “And with a kiss I passed the key…”

So, to celebrate, I’m spending the day writing whilst Ken’s off at work. Writing, as well as hitting the gym and doing a few business-related things that writers must do.

(Note to self: Always bring cordless mouse on trips. You will thank me later.)

Yesterday and today

Yesterday we had a leisurely morning in the hotel, then finally dragged ourselves out into the world…straight to The Old Spaghetti Factory, home of pasta with mizithra cheese and browned butter. Oh, they have other dishes, too, but they’re just not worth mentioning.

After that we went to the Pittock Mansion, which we tried to see in late November last year, but they’d closed that day to decorate for the holidays, despite no mention of this closure (on a Saturday, no less) on their website. The place is tremendously wonderful, and I would’ve loved to stay longer and wander the extensive grounds, but (a) it had become hot and muggy outside and I was wearing riding pants that don’t breath, and (b) we had somewhere else to be.

That was visiting Ernie & Pauline, some motorcycle friends. We four went out to dinner at the Stone Cliff Inn, where I had the most amazing salad with assorted baby greens, medium rare steak, locally made bleu cheese, and a vinaigrette good enough to make one moan aloud. We also celebrated Pauline’s first time on a bike after her hip surgery a few weeks ago.

Unfortunately, I’d been fighting off a low-grade headache for most of the afternoon, so we said our farewells and headed back to the hotel for an early night.

I still had a headache this morning (it went away and came back), so I fought it off with Ibuprofen and Drenamin and PG Tipps. I was so successful that I went off to the hotel gym. Half an hour on the elliptical flew by since I was listening to last year’s RWA Nationals session with Nora Roberts, and she’s really funny. On the downside, I saw three spiders in the tiny gym room, and it was stuffy and humid and smelled a wee bit funny. But hey, I worked out, and it chased away my headache for good.

The ride to Lincoln City was gorgeous as usual, and it was fantastic to hang out with everyone at the regular Sunday lunch. Got some good advice from Kris and Dean, and was reminded that I often don’t celebrate the successes nearly enough (not something they said; something I figured out on my own. I love these cosmic two-by-fours!)—I mean, I got a request for a full manuscript, and why did I not jump up and down and eat a nice little square of Green & Blacks? Damned if I know. Anyway. Had some nice little epiphanies on the way home, too (long bike rides are good for that sort of thing).

Back in town, we saw Iron Man because it’s fabulous and Ken absolutely had to see it, and then, because it was just across the street, ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory again. You get one guess what I ate. Only one. Use it wisely.

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Currently Reading: Circle of the Moon, Barbara Hambly
Lately Listened To: various Styx
Recently Watched: There’s no DVR here. How can I watch live TV? I don’t know when anything is on!

Random bits and bobs

Happily and safely in Oregon, although I got about 4 hours’ sleep last night and actually managed to nap this afternoon (it was a requirement if I was going to make it through dinner and hot tubbing with Lev & Gayle tonight!).

~ ~ ~

I find it rather amazing that my gmail account, which I haven’t given anyone the address for, gets 95% more spam than my regular account (which has an alias link on my website, even). This is not, I must point out, an invitation to spammers.

~ ~ ~

There is a fairly new housing development here called…wait for it…Q Condominiums.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who giggles hysterically about that.

~ ~ ~

I’m happy to report that I did not, in the end, come down with a cold; the sore throat was some temporary fluke that was over by midday. In fact, I feel better right now than I have in a while. On Tuesday my massage therapist had to stretch to fill two hours—she simply couldn’t find problems to work on—and on Wednesday the chiropractor was delighted at how little she had to tweak. All this doesn’t mean I’m not still in constant pain, but I’m clearly stronger and healthier.

~ ~ ~

So Ken picked me up at the airport this morning and we rode out to Hillsboro, and had lunch before he headed off to work for a bit. He came back earlier than I expected, which allowed us some time to frolic in the hotel pool and relax in the spa before showering and heading back out.

Gayle made turkey and veggies and salad with a dressing from a local Japanese restaurant, and we provided chocolate cake that made us all go nomnomnom. We ended up not sitting in the hot tub because it was pretty warm out, but we had an utterly delightful evening just hanging out. And watching “Once More, With Feeling” (aka the Buffy musical episode). In English; then in French, for one song, just to be silly; then in Spanish, but it kept flipping back to English…

~ ~ ~

I have to say, it’s interesting to get a form rejection and a request for a full manuscript on the same day. For the same novel. :-)

~ ~ ~

Blessed Solstice, everyone!

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Currently Reading: Circle of the Moon, Barbara Hambly
Lately Listened To: Jay Leno in the background
Recently Watched: Ghost Hunters

Oh for crying out loud…

One thing I haven’t had the chance to mention is that Ken’s doing a “rush” job in Oregon—he dashed out to Korea to broker the deal for the machine in May (arriving a few days late at my parents’ as a result) and he’s been in Oregon since the beginning of the month (although he rode back down for the Fish show and will do the same for two Styx shows and Labyrinth of Jareth next month). And I’m going up to visit him for a few days, leaving this Friday and returning a week from today.

So what did I wake up with this morning?

A sore throat.

I know just who gave me this cold, and I’m going to have to hurt her…

Hopefully I can pop enough Echinacea and chewable vitamin C and sweat it out at the gym before I fly north!

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Currently Reading: Just finished One for the Money (the first Stephanie Plum book), Janet Evanovich; not sure what I’m grabbing off the stack next; will probably take Barbara Hambly’s Circle of the Moon to Oregon with me, since I reread the first book in NY in preparation for reading this one.
Lately Listened To: "A Gentleman's Excuse Me" by Fish, obsessively, over and over…
Recently Watched: Inside the Actor’s Studio with Matt Damon (great source of inspiration and commentary about the creative process)

Because you've waited so patiently...

...tattoo pictures!

Happy Father's Day, Dad

I wish I'd thought of doing this for Mother's Day!  ::kicks self::

I note that I don't have nearly enough recent pictures of my father and I together. Must rectify this.

If you want to read "The Sultan's Sons"...

...then let me be the first to tell you that Carnifex Press is having a Clash of Steel Deal: you can buy all three volumes for a mere $14! That's right, three anthologies of fantasy stories for less than $5 apeice! And my story "The Sultan's Sons" is in volume 2, Clash of Steel: Assassin.

I'm telling you, it's going to be a collector's item someday. Strike while the iron's hot!

Okay, shamless promotional efforts are over. Thanks for listening.  ::gg::

The work thing

Hey, I made a sale without doing a darn thing!

Alison Tyler remembered a story I’d submitted to her ages ago that she rejected for whatever project I’d subbed it for, and asked if she could include it in an upcoming anthology (pending publisher approval) and also excerpt it in a nonfiction book she’s writing (I’d get some compensation and a credit). Plus she wants to quote a comment I made on a Lust Bites post eons ago!

Acceptances are always fantastic. But there’s something a little extra when an editor approaches you, remembering something they saw from you a year or more ago.

So, things are finally settling out into normalcy again after me being away from home for more than half of May. I’ve got tons of things to talk about, so let’s make this the writing post, and catch up by theme.

This past weekend was a writers' fest! On Saturday, the local RWA ladies and I got together for high tea (5 out of 6 of us! a record!), and then three came over so I could show off the house, and we chatted for another few hours. After that, Ellenie and I grabbed our laptops and went to a local coffee shop and wrote for a couple more hours.

The next day was practically more of the same! Ellenie and I carpooled to the LARA meeting, where Sylvia Day and HelenKay Dimon spoke about the fears that keep us from writing. After that, five of us (including Christine, whom I hadn’t seen in ages—we couldn’t stop hugging!) went to Versailles and moaned our way through Cuban food, and then some of us repaired to Lulu’s for an afternoon of writing.

There’s been a fair amount of ins and outs over the past few weeks, including…

• A sale! My story “In Flight” will be reprinted in Best Lesbian Romance 2009! It’s a fun story. It’s got birds of prey in it! What’s not to love?
  
• I received, signed, and returned the contract for Flash Fucking, which will include (pending publisher approval) my story “The Heist.” The story is one of my personal favorites, so I’m quite chuffed!
  
• I also received my comp copies of Rubber Sex.
  
• Alas, I also received a rejection from Bane’s Universe for “Berengere.” It’s already been resubbed, of course.
  
• Alas, also a rejection from Clarkesworld for “Dreamseer,” which promptly got turned around to Æon.
  

My overall stats for April and May look like this:

Novel rejections = 3 (for 2 different novel ms)
Novel submissions = 3 (for 1 novel ms)

Short story submissions = 15
Short story rejections = 12
Short story sales = 1
Short story publications = 1

And that’s about it. This weekend I’m spending most of Saturday working, and Sunday I’m hitting the coffee shop early with Ellenie because of a birthday tea for two friends in the afternoon. It’s always an adventure!

Fish photos

Tuesday night we saw Fish (former lead singer of Marillion) at the House of Blues Sunset Strip with Fran & Thom and Nanci & Lenny and Mario. It was hard to get good photos, but here are a few from the evening. Enjoy!

Cover deliciousness!

Omigods this is so fabulous and I'm thrilled to be in this anthology! (Our contribution is a Sophie Mouette novella, "Hidden Treasure.") Swoon!

Minor rant

What is it with musicians these days not making lyrics easily available? I long for the days of albums with sleeves containing all the lyrics and info my little anal-retentive, trivia-loving heart.

I downloaded one…what do you call a collection of music that isn’t in a hard form? We’ll call it a CD for discussion purposes…one CD for which the band didn’t have lyrics available anywhere. Now, I’m listening to the new Fish CD (in preparation for Tuesday’s show!) and while the lyrics are available on his website, each song’s lyrics are in a pop-up box that goes away if you click on it. Well, what I’d like to do is copy them into a single Word file so I can print them out and read them whilst I’m listening to the bloody music! (Also, I can’t bump up the View size on the pop-up box, which would be helpful for my dreadful eyesight.)

Remember when we were teenagers and had the time to just listen to music? To buy a new album and sit with headphones on and read the lyrics and maybe start singing along by the third or fourth listen?

What was the last CD you did that with? (Seriously, I'm curious.) For me, it might have been Styx's Edge of the Century in (eep) 1990....

Too good not to share

JK Rowling's Harvard Commencement Address.

New publication!

I was delighted to arrive home from the trip and find comp copies of Rubber Sex, containing my story "Bathing Beauty," in my pile of mail.

You know, it's funny how easy it is to forget what I've written. I kicked back and read a couple of the stories, then flipped to mine. I remembered the basics (heck, part of the inspiration was a Penthouse Variations letter I read in the 1980s that somehow stuck with me), but I was surprised at what a sweet story it is. Pretty damn romantic—which most of my stories are, actually.

Another funny note: My mother actually did own the bathing cap described in the story. I had a different reaction to it, though…especially when I was once forced to wear the hideous thing!

Anyway, the anthology was edited by cupcake-cute Rachel Kramer Bussel and I'm in fine company, as there are stories by Teresa, Shanna Germain, and Alison Tyler, among many others. Rachel has set up a blog for the anthology as well—if you're interested, check it out!

Almost home

BTV airport has free wireless so I have a few minutes to check e-mail and whatnot before we board. I've had a lovely trip, spending a lot of time with my parents and seeing a few old friends as well. My wrist is feeling lots better; I worked some on a short story but otherwise iced my forearm a few times and played with a squeezy ball. I also ate way too much and got a bit of reading done.

Tomorrow I've got an appt with my trainer and Ken leaves for a rally. Friday I've got a chiro appt, the cleaning lady, and a friend from the UK arriving to spend the weekend. I swear I'll get caught up soon!

Hope everyone's been having fun whilst I've been away. Tell me stories—what have you all been up to?!

Off again

Right, so I'm off tomorrow to upstate NY to visit my parents for a week. Ken's currently in Korea but will fly to NY on Saturday. Whew!

My apologies for being so quiet since I got back from the workshop in Oregon. After typing 67 single-spaced pages of notes, plus assignments, I came home and worked out with my trainer using TRX bands, and the result of all of that was that my right wrist has been feeling wonky. Some tingling, some minor pain. So I've been trying to rest it and ice it as much as possible…which isn't easy when typing is one's job. Everything else has had to take a back seat.

I do plan to get some writing done in NY, but the rest of the time, I'll be icing my wrist, playing with my squeezy ball (no, that's not a euphemism!), and generally resting and relaxing so I can hit the ground running when I return.

Have a fabby Memorial Day Weekend!

Sale!

Sale! Just got confirmation that my story "Tigress" will appear in The Mammoth Book of the Kama Sutra, edited by the inestimable Maxim Jakubowski. It'll be out in September!

This one was a strangely fun story to write. Authors had to pick a position from the Kama Sutra and write a sexy "origin story" that explained why the position came to be known by that name.

From the book's description, it sounds like the volume is going to be utterly gorgeous!