All the ways of my life, I'd rather be with you

Ten years ago today, my beloved and I ran off to Gretna Green, Scotland, and eloped.

It wasn’t our first plan, not by far. We’d gotten handfasted in California as an engagement ceremony before we moved to Wales, and intended to move back in a year and plan a big SCA wedding. But the British government had other plans. Apparently my plan to stimulate their economy by being supported by my husband and spending lots of money on tourist travel and antiques and whatnot was only feasible to them if we had this particular piece of paper.

(They lied, by the way. We didn’t have to be married for me to get that damned visa. They lied and took away my lavish ceremony. Two husbands, three ceremonies [four if you count the handfasting], and I still haven’t had what I’d consider the perfect ceremony. I’ve come to terms with that. Goodness knows two of the ceremonies are such great stories, nobody would believe them if I wrote it in a book. Large ceramic ALFs. A drunken Scotsman trying to beat down his new bride's door. That's just the tip of the iceberg.)

But I digress. The point is, if we had to get married, in Britain, this was the place to do it.

Our attendants were Elizabeth and Chris Flagge, SCAdians we’d met only twice before. When they heard at our second meeting that we were running off to elope, they asked who our witness were, and we said, “Erm, we were just going to grab someone out of the chip shop across the street…” They brought something old, etc., as well as a bouquet for me, which was so unexpected and sweet (I still have the pence for my shoe). They also brought Elizabeth’s (I think) mother, who took pictures and was just lovely. (Sadly, we’ve lost touch—if you’re reading this, guys, send me an address or phone number!)

We were married in the Registry Office in the room for 20 people (remember, there were only 5 of us, and 4 of us were standing up) because the room for 8 was already booked. Our Registrar, Donna, had a delightful Scottish accent.

Afterwards, we had our picture taken over the historic anvil, took our entourage out to lunch, then hopped on the bike and spent the weekend in the southwest of Scotland.

It’s strange…we don’t usually celebrate this anniversary, because it’s just not the important one for us. The day we moved in together (February 25, 1996) was really the day we made our commitment to each other. Our handfasting (March 14, 1998) comes a close second. This one, not so much.

Today is our 10th, though, and we have to celebrate it apart, and that’s making me feel maudlin and droopy.

So I’m looking at pictures of that day (except I can’t find the one of us and the anvil), and quietly celebrating that even if we can’t be together, we are together. 983 miles means nothing to the heart.

So tell me something about the person (or persons) of your heart. About your ceremony (any kind) or your favorite memory. Help me celebrate this day….

I broke down...

...and joined Facebook. Drop by and say hi!

(I'm already on MySpace here.)

LoJ 2008 photos!

Labyrinth of Jareth photos finally uploaded—you can view them here!

Submit or perish!

Pooh. Realms of Fantasy passed on “Oroflex (Patent Pending),” saying “this is a cute fairy tale variant, but I’m trying to cut back on those a bit.” Just my luck to get an editor who’s on a literary subgenre diet!

But I had a stack of returned stories to send out today anyway, so here’s what happened:

• “Soulsearching” to Coyote Wild
  
• “Hell’s Belles” (reprint) to Clonepod
  
• “The Queen’s Gardener” to Doorways
  
• “Matchmaker” to Serpentari.us
  
• “A Familiar(’s) Tale” to Renard’s Menagerie
  
• “Oroflex (Patent Pending)” to F&SF
  

I have no idea where to send “A Father’s Blessing” right now, but some markets open up on 8/1, so I can wait a week or so.

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Currently Reading: Heaven Sent, Christina Jones
Lately Listened To: 7 Deadly Zens, Tommy Shaw
Recently Watched: Graham Norton, The Middleman

Onslaught...brace yourself!

I just added back posts from 7/4, 7/6, 7/7, 7/8, 7/9, and 7/11, in case anyone's interested.

Now I have to catch up about Labyrinth of Jareth, my talk at the Alternative Lifestyles Group, the latest Styx show, Meg's visit…but right now, I'm off to the gym!

Important note to self

It's perfectly acceptable to stay up until 3 a.m. Thursday night when you've gotten home from a Styx show at 1:30 a.m. and you're still buzzed from all the love your boys showered on you (it was, after all, your 75th show. And you did put a light stick in your cleavage.).

It's entirely acceptable to stay up until 3 a.m. Friday night because Meg is visiting and you can't stop talking to each other.

It's not acceptable to stay up until 3 a.m. tonight, because you have to be on the road to the LARA meeting at 8 a.m.

This is your only reminder. Pay attention…

Fabulous Whitby is finally here!

Great news! The anthology Fabulous Whitby, which contains my story "Proof of Devotion" (which I wrote all the way back in 2002 at the Oregon Coast Writers Master Class!), is finally available!  ::squee bouncity::

Right now, amazon doesn't seem to be supporting it well: amazon.com doesn't list it at all, and amazon.co.uk and amazon.ca are listing it as out of stock or whatnot.

The good news is, you can order it from a place called York Publishing Services out of the UK.

The better news is, they charge only $3.99 to deliver to the US, which is the same as what they charge to deliver in the UK (using the current exchange rate). That's right—international shipping is the same as UK shipping!

Click on the link above to go to the Fabulous Whitby order page. I'm soooo excited about this one. I'm in an anthology with Liz Williams and Esther Friesner and Cherith Baldry and Jay Lake andandand…!

Haunted Hearths: more great reviews!

Rainbow Reviews called my story the "the unexpectedly romantic heart-wrenching 'Some Old Lover's Ghost.'"  ::beam::

Queerhorror and Bay Windows also have lovely things to say about the anthology as a whole. Yay!

Everything, all the time

Rejection from Intergalactic Medicine Show for “Matchmaker.” For anyone keeping score, that’s four rejections in six days.

However, I think I forgot to mention a sale! Teresa and I sold “Food for Thought” to Best Lesbian Love Stories 2009. We brainstormed that story on a drive from San Jan Capistrano to Westminster, and first subbed it in 2004.

~ ~ ~

You know you’re an Eddie Izzard fan when all someone has to say is “penne all’arrabiatta” and you start to giggle.

~ ~ ~

I spent almost an hour at the chiropractor’s today, trying to get my body back into alignment because every. single. part. of. me seemed to have gone walkabout. I have to admit, after a few weeks of feeling “energetic” (which I realized really was “normal” for most people), I’ve been rather despondent by this turn of events.

~ ~ ~

Dave arrived safe and sound from the UK, although the shuttle trip that took 1.5 hours in May took 3+ hours today… Then again, it included two cushy gated communities, one of which Britney Spears is allegedly moving to. We went out for dinner at Armando’s because I’ve had no brain or impetus to gather food to actually cook.

~ ~ ~

My faerie skirt is done donity done done done! (Well. Unless I add little flowers to the dags in front. The jury’s still out on that. And bells. It might need bells.) Morgana’s outfit is done. Brian only needed to do his leafy bits, and they’re done. Tomi is still phutzing, but she came into this late—she’s buying Ken’s ticket and is mostly just using her Russian, but she wanted to add to it.

~ ~ ~

Tomorrow we collect 9 sweet kittens and their mama and deliver them to Morgana’s friend Michelle for fixing and shots and whatnot, and then we’ll have dinner before heading off to the Masquerade. Finally! We’ve been wanting to do this for years, and I’m gobsmacked that it’s actually going to happen…

Wait...what day is it?

Apologies for the recent silence. My back has been acting up, resulting in me taking half a muscle relaxant on two separate evenings, which resulted in the day between those pretty much disappearing in a fog. I'm now behind and confused.

Plus, I've been violating my cardinal rule of costuming by working on my Labyrinth of Jareth costume this week—and paying for it. Plus I've been helping Morgana with hers, because it's a project she wouldn't have undertaken (redoing her utterly gorgeous wedding outfit, a cream velvet German) if I hadn't said I would help. The good news is, my skirt is done except for covering the grommets (which isn't required for actual wearing, but is nice and prevents anything getting snagged). The better news is, it looks beyond awesome! But we still have to get together tomorrow night to finish up hers…

Plus our friend Dave from the UK arrives tomorrow, and LoJ is Saturday, and I've got a speaking engagement on Sunday that I'm not yet prepped for and then taking Dave to Pasadena for his conference. Did I mention our cleaning lady has essentially retired to care for her ailing father? And the house is a mess?

Ah well. It's not like anything tragic has happened. And once I have a moment to breathe, I'll finish up all the partial journal entries I have written and inundate you all!

Descent into...meh

A double-whammy of rejections:

• GUD passed on “A Father’s Blessing.”
  
• Podcastle nixed the audio rights to “Hell’s Belles,” which I still think would be great as an audio piece. Hmmm…
  

~ ~ ~

Today was…meh. Whether it was the lingering effects of the muscle relaxant or the precursor of my now-elusive period, all I know is that I was grumpy, tired, unmotivated, unfocused, and still uncomfortable even after my chiro adjustment. My chiro said I could work out, but at a fraction of what I usually do, and it didn’t seem worth the time to drive to Bally’s.

Whee

My back/hip’s been bothering me for a couple of days now, and my massage therapist, who for several weeks has been struggling to fill the time because I’ve been in such good shape, could’ve spent hours on the muscles that were essentially making it hard to find my spine. =8-0 So I popped half a prescription muscle relaxant, took a long bath in Epsom salts, and generally called the day a bust. Hopefully tomorrow the chiropractor will put things back where they ought to be (and the relaxed muscles won’t pull things back out of whack 0.2 seconds later), and all will be well with the world.

For now, though: whee.

You can never have too much glitter and lace

Today Morgana, Tomi, Elizabeth, and I got together for a rare Girls’ Day Out. Elizabeth needed lipstick from The Body Shop, so we all trooped to the mall for lunch (California Pizza Kitchen, where three of us had salads and one of us had a Asian-wrap appetizer) and shopping. (Which is rare because most of us shun the mall for the most part!) Everyone but me bought lipstick (they didn’t have any shades that were good for me, and I like the brand I’m using anyway), and we came away with a few other products as well (moisturizers, under-eye-circle cream, etc.). Then it was off to Hot Topic and Torrid, where I loaded up on purple hair extensions, purple glitter eyeliner, body glitter (silver and a peacock mix), and purple glitter nail polish, all for Labyrinth of Jareth this weekend.

Afterwards, Morgana and I hit a couple of fabric stores and I picked up lace trim for my faerie skirt. I may not have time to put it on before Saturday—the skirt has to be wearable, and can survive without the extra bits if I run out of time. I hate working on any of it this late, but it is what it is. I’ve been so focused on work that costuming has taken a back seat these past few months.

Still, it’s going to look fucking awesome, and yes, there will be pictures!

~ ~ ~

Woo hoo! It’s been confirmed that I’ll be signing at the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing at RWA Nationals this year! Last year Teresa and I were there (as Sophie, natch) but our books weren’t. This year I’ll be there as Sarah Dale—fingers crossed that I’ll actually have things to sign this time ‘round!

Glowing

Feh. Rejection from Lace & Blade for “Soulsearching.” And here I thought that was a perfect match. But since I think Lace & Blade is an awesome anthology theme, I’m just going to have to write another story before the deadline!

~ ~ ~

Spa Day was über-fabulouso! We had eight ladies, although two left early due to other commitments or whatnot, so we had two tracks: facial and hand/foot. Plus massages done by my own amazing therapist, Melanie. (Six ladies got massages. I was the floater and ended up passing because Melanie was exhausted…but I was scheduled for my regular massage on Tuesday, so I soldiered on. ::gg::)

For me, I looooved the facial steam. Must do this more often. Perching on the edge of the tub was perhaps not the best thing for my back, but the foot scrub was deliriously wonderful. I put on a lavender nail polish when I got home, which made me even more happy.

So, six months of planning and prep went off famously (Morgana and I were the sole guild members at the first meeting in January and, I believe, for several thereafter; other folks came to later meetings for some prep). Not only did I have a fantastic and restful time, but another friend (not involved in the SCA, much less Spa Day) told me my skin looked good today!

~ ~ ~

Another Sunday, another Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf with the local RWA ladies. Ellenie and I were prolific. Go us!

A supernova born of our bliss

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

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

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

~ ~ ~

Oh, and before I forget…June stats:

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

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

Another exciting evening...

Well, that was interesting!

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

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

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

Such excitement for a Thursday night!

~ ~ ~

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

Squeak

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

~ ~ ~

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

Kudos!

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

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

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

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

…or not.

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

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

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

~ ~ ~

Okay, this is just too funny.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~ ~ ~

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

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

~ ~ ~

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

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