Trying hard to suppress a laugh...

It’s been an insanely busy few weeks, including six Styx shows in a week and a half—we went to Vegas for two of them, too. I just finished up typing all my “concert tales” for Sarah, and I easily wrote over 5K words. Now I need to channel that productivity back into fiction!

The shows were awesome, and I got much love from my boys, although I didn’t get stuck in any elevators with them again. (Pout.) We did get into the Foundation Room after the Hollywood House of Blues show, and I got another picture with Lawrence, just because. Inexplicably, I look like I’m two inches shorter than him.

The other big news is that I bought a car! My previous car, a sweet Eagle Talon that I love dearly, is 11 years old, and it has been showing its age. We were already talking about test driving some cars when the passenger’s door handle broke, leaving me in fear that the driver’s side door handle would break and I’d be reduced to climbing in through the hatchback.

We had about six or seven cars on our “possible” list, but we test drove only one: the new Saab. I had a Saab years ago, and loved it. A new one was out of our price range, but Ken did a bunch of research and found a used one in, of all places, Henderson NV, near Vegas. Where we were going anyway.

So now I’m the ecstatic owner of a 2002 Saab 9-3 hatchback, green (!), fully loaded, with amazingly low mileage for its age. The only downside was having to caravan back from Vegas, but we made do. Now I’m mulling over license plates…I’m leaning towards a Styx-related one, in part because MOUETTE is already taken. (What’s up with that? I made up that name!)

I’ll post pictures soon. I can’t do so for two weeks, though, because I’m currently on a plane to Oregon for another book-in-a-week workshop. Teresa’s coming with me, and we’re going to get a good chunk done on OOTFP, as well as a joint article on collaboration for Lust Bites. I’m also planning on getting back into WSWL with a vengeance, and possibly getting a couple of short stories done, too.

That starts Sunday. Today we picked up Teresa and introduced her to the wonder that is Powell’s. I mostly stuck to my list (I went online last night and checked to see what used books they had in stock)… We had amazing Indian food with Lev and Gayle and Jessa, then dropped Teresa off at her hotel. Now I’m finishing up a few Internet-related things before I lose access (I’ll pop to the Internet café in Lincoln City once or twice, but mostly to check for anything urgent).

And we watched the VH-1 special on the new Shaw/Blades album, Influence. Out March 6!

---

Currently Reading: The Rival: Book Three of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Lately Listened To: I have one of Styx’s new songs, “Everything All the Time,” stuck in my head on WRDH
Recently Watched: How I Met Your Mother

New essay by me at LustBites!

I sometimes get the question (most recently, I believe, from Christine), "Do you ever get bored of writing erotica?" Well, if you want to know the answer, come on over to LustBites, wherein today's post I try to answer just that.

Leave a comment there and let me know what you think! Did I answer the question? Do you have anything to add or suggest?

And while you're at it, leave a comment on our Valentine's Day giveaway post, and you'll be eligible to win one of three goody bags chock full of sexy romantic books, including Cat Scratch Fever (UK edition) and Sex in Public, which contains a Sophie story, a story by my coauthor Sarah J. Husch, and more!

Whose idea was this, again?

Words Written: over the week, WSWL, ~5000; OOTFP, ~250
Writing Stats: Reviewed 250 proof pages of A Little Night Music, conferred with my fabulous coauthor Sarah, and then spent an hour and a half typing all the changes into an email for the wonderful editorial assistant Donna. These proofs were a lot cleaner than CSF’s; the copy editor this time did not try to run all of our paragraphs together, for one thing. On the down side, we found a number of very embarrassing errors that we made. Sigh!
Exercise: yoga

I’m sorry this has turned into a weekly journal. Is that why nobody comments anymore? (I confess I do feel a little unloved.)

Sigh. This week everyone was talking about Valentine’s Day, and my beloved was far away. But he called me several times on the day itself, and I got a lovely gift in the form of his flight itinerary for next week—he’s coming home on Tuesday rather than Wednesday! An extra day! We’re planning an intimate dinner at (Fusia), the swanky Japanese restaurant at the Luxor in Vegas when we’re out there the following weekend. And I’ll give him the cards I bought him a month ago, but in the current flurry of busy-ness I forgot to mail….

So. Yeah. Busy. Whose brilliant idea was it to start a new novel (tentatively titled With Soft Whispers Laden) at the same time that proof pages arrive and I’m working on two collabs (one novel, one novella) with Teresa? Oh, right, my own damn fault. Actually, I decided to start the new novel the day before the proofs arrived (I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by them, but the fact is I didn’t have them on my calendar, so still my fault), but still. I have 34 days total to write the novel (in time to submit it for the novel workshop I’m attending in May), not counting days off for concerts or the time in Oregon for BIAW. I know I will end up working on it in Oregon, because Teresa and I will be passing our project back and forth, but I’m considering those bonus days. And thank goodness for them, because I’m already behind.

Hell, it’s 10:15 p.m, I just sent the proof changes off, and I still need to work on Chapter 6 of OOTFP and on WSWL, and I’m getting a headache and all I want to do is lounge in front of the TV watching The Dresden Files. Gahhh. Oh crap, I have to clean the cat boxes, too. (Pun intended.)

<>-<>-<>

In other news, I was very happy to be at the computer when I got the e-mail from Loreena McKennitt’s mailing list about the concert presale. Of course, I got the e-mail after the tickets went on sale, but I managed to snag Row Q, which isn’t bad (when it’s not Styx, that is). I could’ve gotten Row N with two tickets, but I could get four seats in Q, which means we can go with friends. Whew. Goddammit, but I’ve been waiting for her to tour the U.S. since what, 1995? (She came to the Ventura Theatre that time. Blew. Me. Away.)

<>-<>-<>

Morgana and I did see the tall ships, and we got to say hello to a friend of a friend (Cassie, friend of Gayle & Lev) who works on The Hawaiian Chieftan. I took pictures that will hopefully inspire me to finish writing a pirate story that’s due at the end of the month…

<>-<>-<>

I think we’re going to have rain tomorrow, maybe thunderstorms. Which would be beyond lovely. Yesterday it was in the 80s, and it was awful…

---

Currently Reading: Just finished Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay. Sigh. Sigh. Now I feel the need to reread The Fionavar Tapestry, then read Ysabel again. And then maybe move on to A Song for Arbonne, and… Sigh.
Lately Listened To: Piano Recital, Daniel Levy; Music in the Age of Leonardo da Vinci, Ensemble Claude Gervaise (I can’t listen to music with words while I’m proofreading)
Recently Watched: Without a Trace, Prime Suspect 3

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! And you know what Valentine's Day means, right? That's right, sexy books!

Come on over to LustBites, where our vivacious group of Black Lace and Cheek authors are holding a giveaway. In the upper right of the picture, you can see a British copy of Teresa's and my very own Cat Scratch Fever. I know you have a copy already, but why not try to win one for a friend? You'll get a fabulous goody bag of other books, including Sex in Public, which contains the Sophie story "Make Me Come at the Ball Game"! (It's not even out in the US until April, so here's your chance to read it early!)

All you have to do to win one of the goody bags is to leave a comment over at LustBites. Nothing fancy, nothing profound. Just say "hi," and you'll be entered in the drawing.

As if that isn't enough, there's also a fun little quiz--can you figure out which statement is true or false about each of the authors. Most importantly, how well do you know me: do you know if Sophie Mouette's "fact" is true or false? ;-)

So please stop by. It would make my day if one of my friends won a prize!

Fear my power

Words Written: ~1700 words notes on a new novel (ack!)
Writing Stats: Prepped and/or mailed a total of 12 stories.
Exercise: up and down the stairs I go…

Woke up about 8 a.m. today, decided that was way too early, and went back to sleep for a couple more hours. Had weird dreams and woke up with a crick in my neck. It’s all a trade-off.

But boy howdy, have I had energy today! I worked. I made a loose menu plan for the week, made a list, and did a big grocery shopping. I did two loads of laundry (still have to put ‘em away, though). I finished prepping and/or mailing a total of 12 stories. My e-mail in box is mostly down to reminder e-mails (as opposed to things I have to answer—I have only one of them left to go).

Dangnabbit! And only a few hours later, a story gets rejected. Muttergrumble. Back to the drawing board. (Update a few hours later: back in the mail. Fear my story submission power!)

Aaaand, that novel that was bugging me the other day? Crap. I may have to write it sooner than I thought… No idea where I’m going to fit it into the schedule, but hey, that’s why I said this year was all about flexibility, right?

Right?

Meep.

---

Currently Reading: Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay
Lately Listened To: Mirror Mirror, Lorraine a’Malena; The Open Door, Evanescence
Recently Watched: Nora Robert’s Montana Sky, Monarch of the Glen

The week that was

Words Written: OOTFP, ~500
Writing Stats: Received rejection from Æon for “Matchmaker”: “It was a hoot, but it didn’t quite his the mark for us…” It’s one of those stories that gets close, but never quite hits the mark. Someday it’ll find a home…! Updated anthology list. Mailed “Always a Bridesmaid” to Purple Panties. Prepped 9 more stories to mail. Made notes on a new novel.
Exercise: taking it easy because my hip’s been hurting

Busy week! Ken left Monday, but came back because of bike issues. He swapped out the broken center stand for a new one, bought a new tire on Tuesday morning, and then he was really on his way. (Pout, sigh.) Tuesday evening I trotted off to Morgana’s for sewing. Albra needed help with some costuming for Estrella, so I did handwork on a Turkish coat for Her Majesty, then worked on a kumihimo cord after that.

Wednesday I spent writing and working, although I had another lovely massage…

On Thursday, I helped Morgana finally finish painting her meditation room, a project that’s dragged on far, far too long. Our friend Pat did an amazing mural on all four walls of the room, but we had to touch up some trim and whatnot. In total, it didn’t take very long, but now it’s done! We tidied up in there and toasted our success. That evening, I had dinner with Morgana, Brian, and Jeff at The Urban Café (I had a grilled chicken and cilantro sandwich that was quite amazing), and then we met up with Eric at the theatre and saw Monty Python and the Holy Grail on the big screen. (I’ve never seen it in the theatre, so it was a great experience!) Unfortunately, I’d been fighting off a headache all day, and by the end of the movie I was feeling rotten. I got home, talked to Ken, and went to bed with lots of drugs and a heating pad.

The headache, nasty as it was, was pretty much gone by the time I crawled out of bed yesterday, which was a very good thing. I got a bunch of work done, tweaked a story for an anthology, that sort of thing. Then I caught a ride up to Ojai, where some of our local SCA group members were making and serving dinner for the homeless. (We used the hall for our Shire Twelfth Night feast in December, and were happy to “give back” and do something for the hall and the community.) On the way home I picked Elyramere’s brain about gardening things, and I think I’ve decided to put a hedge of cape honeysuckle along the wall where the eucalyptus trees used to be. Easy to care for, happy in our horrible soil and lack of water and lots of sun, and as an added bonus, attracts hummingbirds. :-)

I then proceeded to prep nine stories to mail, although I still have to e-mail some and envelope others, etc. I’ll get that done this weekend.

Stupid headache came back today, or maybe it was a new one triggered by the champagne I drank last night. So I’ve been groggy and logy and unproductive for the most part.

I’d hoped to go see the tall ships that are in port right now, today, but Morgana’s sick. She suggested I call Tomi, but I decided my headache made me not want to go anywhere. As it was, I crawled back into bed this afternoon with the heating pad and drugs and Ysabel, and then dozed for a bit, thinking about a novel I want to write, probably this year. At some point (last night or this morning; it’s all a blur…) I also may have figured out the solution to a short story that’s been fighting me—which is good, because it’s due at the end of the month.

So I’ve spent a quiet day working and writing and watching TV, and now I’m off to curl up in bed with the heating pad (just ‘cause it feels good!) and Ysabel. Maybe I’ll come back out tomorrow, and maybe I won’t… [g]

---

Currently Reading: Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay
Lately Listened To: One With Everything, Styx and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra
Recently Watched: Heroes, CSI, Monarch of the Glen, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

It's here!

The new Guy Gavriel Kay book is in my hot little hands. Dammit, I'm not going to get anything done this weekend…

Alphabetical extravaganza

Here's the book description for C is for Co-Eds, one book of a new anthology series I (as Andrea Dale) have stories in:

A Is For Amour, B Is For Bondage, C Is For Co-Eds and D Is For Dress-Up kick off a new series from Alison Tyler and Cleis Press. From Amour to Zippers, this alphabetical extravaganza of erotic delights features 26 hot volumes of explicit, playful stories.

Campus cuties suddenly away from home explore new sexual delights in this charming collection. With stories like “College Reunion” by Andrea Dale and “While She Was Dancing” by Thomas S. Roche, who’s got time to study?

Teresa has a story in one of this first set as well, and as Sophie we've sold a story to the forthcoming H is for Hardcore. They're publishing them in sets of four, so I don't have guidelines for all of them yet.

Fun series, really fun covers! Remember, Valentine's Day is coming—you and your sweetie could snuggle up with one of these lovely books...!

Corpse flower

Please, somebody in the UK, go and sniff this thing for me in my stead! I sooooo want to be there!

Warm Weather Prompts Corpse Flower to Boom Early

Imbolc energy

Words Written: “Burning Bright partial: 646; “Burning Bright” synopsis, words and edits
Writing Stats: Received rejection from PitchBlack, which is going out of business, for “The Queen’s Gardener.” Received payment for "College Reunion", to appear in C is for Coeds.
Exercise: walking with Morgana

Happy Imbolc, albeit a day late! And happy full moon! Wooh, that was some great energy yesterday! It seems to mostly be bleeding over into today, although being woken from a sound sleep by my mother calling this morning (8:30 a.m., half an hour before my alarm was due to go off—I tend to work late into the night) didn’t help. (My parents are fine. They just got to Myrtle Beach, where they winter, and my mother couldn’t get her dial-up to work. Sigh.)

Jury duty is over! What a relief. Don’t get me wrong—I’m very glad I had the opportunity to serve, and would do so again in a heartbeat. I’ve always believed in how crucial it is for our justice system, and this experience really hammered that home. I was so impressed to be debating in a jury room with 11 other intelligent, well-spoken, thoughtful, and reasonable people. Just because we didn’t agree (and I was outvoted on both counts) didn’t mean we weren’t polite and rational.

Still, the experience was stressful on many levels. Litigation is simply stressful. It’s a conflict, and while we’re dealing with it in a civilized way (a trial), it doesn’t mean that there isn’t high emotion. (This was a civil trial, BTW, in case I hadn’t mentioned before.) So there’s lots of negativity in the courtroom, and deliberations had a level of stress because we didn’t agree, and we also had a major time constraint. It turned out this was the second time they’d tried to have this trial—the last time, one of the parties fell ill enough to be hospitalized. We went through all three of our alternates, and then one of the jurors found out she had to fly back east on Wednesday for a funeral. Originally we’d been scheduled to be there Tue-Fri this week, and that was with a bit of extra padding. But then we had to regroup and do Mon-Tue. The lawyers even sped up to accommodate us, and we went to the jury room late Mon afternoon, and then had all day Tue. But we didn’t look as though we were going to come to a resolution by late Tue afternoon (in a civil trial, it has to be at least 9-3)… Thankfully, we did, and then I raced home to check on Grimoire, and then I was pretty much braindead and headachy for the rest of the evening.

Grimoire is doing fine, BTW, and thank you all for your well wishes. His problem has altered to the level of being the opposite problem, so on the advice of the vet I’m scaling back on the laxatives. The best news is, he’s lost weight! About six months ago, he topped the scales at 21.1 lbs. Saturday he was 19.7, and Wednesday, at his re-check, he was 19.3. According to his chart, he should be between 18 and 19 lbs, so that’s significant progress.

Speaking of significant progress, it’s been wonderful to get back into the flow of writing. Teresa and I had a hugely productive phone call yesterday; a novella proposal we’ve been working on will be ready to send this weekend. She also helped me brainstorm past a block I’ve had on a short story that needs to be sent this weekend (I got a brief extension on the deadline from the editor).

Today’s artwork is our inspiration artwork for the novella we’re working on. The novella’s about an Indian demigoddess who shapeshifts into a tiger, not a leopard, but otherwise the painting perfectly evokes what we’re trying to do.

It’s a new month, and I’ve been reviewing those writing projects and goals again. I made a list of novels and novellas for this year, with deadlines (both firm outside ones and target personal ones). I know I still need to be flexible—there’s one novel with a deadline of "???" because we haven’t heard back from the editor—but it’s good to see the list on paper, and get a sense of goals.

The beginning of this month looks very nice: a few little projects and fun things here and there, like helping Morgana finish painting her meditation room (finally!) and seeing Monty Python and the Holy Grail at the cheap theatre in town and working on a new sewing project (which is a secret). Then, towards the end of the month, Ken’s coming home and we’re going to five (possibly six) Styx shows! Whee bouncity bounce!

Immediately after that, I’m heading up to Portland, and thence out to the coast for another book-in-a-week retreat. Even more fun, Teresa will be joining me! We’ll finish up a novel and possibly the novella, or something like that. We’ll know better what we need to work on by the time we get there. Since we may not be able to work on our joint projects simultaneously (what one writes may affect what the next writes), I plan to work on some solo stuff, too. No idea what, yet. I have some ideas, but no concrete plans…

Plus there’ll be walks on the beach and great dinners and conversations with Kris and Dean and all the other writers, and a day or two on either end to spend time with my beloved.

<>-<>-<>

Speaking of my beloved, he’s coming home for the weekend! He arrives Saturday late afternoon, and will probably head out Monday. He misses the motorcycle, so he’s going to ride back up. I’m torn between wanting to run errands (like car shopping) and just curling up with him. Or going for a bike ride. I’ve been having some serious wanderlust recently.

Of course, before he arrives I have to write a short story, go food shopping, and meet with a friend to help him target markets for his artwork. And shower, and eat some food, and drink some tea…

Have a fabulous weekend, everybody!

---

Currently Reading: The Rival: Book Three of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Losing My Virginity: An Autobiography, Richard Branson
Lately Listened To: Long Distance: The Best of Runrig
Recently Watched: Gormenghast, Monk

Silk or leather or a feather

Words Written: at least 500/day during the week on various projects
Writing Stats: “Heaven Has Eyes” made the first and second round of cuts at Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. (This is the third or fourth story of mine to do so, but I’ve yet to sell to them.)
Exercise: see below

Not the best of weekends. Friday night/Saturday morning, starting at about 2 a.m., Grimoire starting yarking. Only one small hairball, the rest just…well, to be polite, I’ll just say liquid. Never a lot at one time. Then, at 8:45 a.m., my phone rang. The tree guy, saying he wouldn’t be out today because it was raining. (The tree guy is coming out to remove four eucalyptus trees and one stump, and to seriously trim back our out-of-control lemon tree.) Said tree guy was supposed to have called Friday evening to confirm he was coming out on Saturday, which he hadn’t done… So I crawled out of bed, pulled myself together, called the vet, and hauled Grimoire in.

Long story short, he was seriously constipated. Poor thing. He spent the day at the vet being knocked out, tested, and X-rayed. He came home Saturday night, barely able to walk in a straight line. I had to take him back in today for a follow-up, and was sorry to report that he hadn’t pooped overnight. So he spent half a day at the vets, getting, um, cleared out. But today they also found he had a bladder infection. So now he’s on two medications… Even with the vet’s monthly care plan, this wasn’t cheap. But the most important thing is, he’ll be fine.

Suffice to say, I’ve been distracted and worried, and didn’t sleep well last night. (I slept on the foldout sofa in the media room because I knew Grimoire wouldn’t be able to make it up the stairs, much less onto the bed, in his post-anæsthesia drunken condition.) So this weekend has mostly been a bust where work has been concerned. I’ve been able to work only on semi-mindless projects, like house-straightening and bill-paying and e-mail catch-up.

Morgana did come over this evening, though, and we watched a biography of Marie Antoinette that we’ve been meaning to see. Since I know next to nothing about French history, especially post-1600 (it’s an SCA curse), I found it fascinating. Now I need to add the Marie Antoinette movie to my Netflix queue. That and The Affair of the Necklace, which I thought was on there but apparently I’d forgotten to add previously.

After that, we watched the Adam Ant videos I’ve been collecting for her (when one shows up on VH-1 Classics, I record it and then dump it to tape), which led to us looking info up online… It’s a slippery slope, I tell you. (Not a slippery slop, which is what I first typed. Ew.)

Oh, and I’ve also watched the first half of the BBC miniseries of Gormenghast. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never read the books, although I own an omnibus edition. Anyway, weird stuff.

I’m still reading Kris’s Fey series, still not sure exactly where I left off the last time I was reading it and apparently got distracted by a shinier book. I’m also devouring Richard Branson’s autobiography, which makes me laugh out loud as I wait outside the courtroom to be called inside. The other jurors are patient with me.

Speaking of jury duty, they’ve changed our schedule, and we should be done by Tuesday afternoon. Both sides have rested their cases, and we’ll have closing arguments tomorrow morning, followed at some point (I’m assuming tomorrow) by jury instructions. It will be nice to finish up early (we were originally scheduled to start on Tuesday and end at the latest on Friday), because thanks to my sweet baby boy kitty, I’m now behind on most everything.

Give your kitties extra scritchies tonight!

---

Currently Reading: The Rival: Book Three of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Losing My Virginity: An Autobiography, Richard Branson
Lately Listened To: Banba, Clannad
Recently Watched: Gormenghast

Too Stupid to Live?

I have my first essay up at LustBites—please stop by and check it out, and post a comment or two!

It's all good, really

Words Written: OOTFP ~1000 words; LustBites article, 600 words
Writing Stats: Sent out some stories
Exercise: yes ;-)

So on Thursday, I was mentally composing a journal entry to be titled “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” I’m not sure what the Ugly was to have been—probably something about my pantyhose falling down and why hadn’t I just worn stockings? The rest of it was going to be something like this:

The Bad: The conflict in the jury room is stressing me out.
The Good: I’ve written 500 words/day during our lunch break.

The Bad: I got a flat tire on the way home.
The Good: I was at the grocery store a mile from home, and Brian came and was my knight in shining sweatpants (which, incidentally, is a phrase I’d used in the novel that very day).

The Bad: I’d had a headache all afternoon.
The Good: I had a two-hour massage scheduled that evening.

The Bad: Our TV had died on Monday. (It had been occasionally acting weird, but we didn’t think it was going to bite the big one nearly that soon.)
The Good: Within minutes of my posting the need for a TV to borrow on the local SCA list, Kelvin said he had one to loan me.

But then I got home, and all that went by the wayside. I checked e-mail, and saw something from United, that started with a notice in red that although my reservation had been confirmed, something hadn’t gone through, and I needed to contact them within 24 hours… I thought it was regarding my flight to Seattle in May for a novel workshop. Then I saw Ken’s name on it. Okay, it must be his flight to Illinois.

Then I saw Thursday’s date.

Hunh?

Ken was coming home! Turns out he’d intended to surprise me (calling from Oxnard Airport, I assume) but he’d forgotten that his United account is set up to cc: me on any itineraries. Still, it was a surprise, and a wonderful one at that.

So a few hours later, after an awesome massage, Morgana kindly drove me to the airport (I shouldn’t drive at night, plus I had the donut spare on the car) to collect my beloved.

Friday, we went out on my lunch break, and he also got a new tire on the car. That night we took Morgana and Brian out to dinner to thank them for saving me twice. Then we did a bit of research on the Internet, hied ourselves to Circuit City, and bought a new TV. (A 32-inch flat screen, replacing a 36-inch curved screen that was a little too big for our media room anyway.)

Saturday morning I had a headache—ugh—so we were mellow around the house. In the afternoon we test rode a couple of motorcycles (BMW GT and RT) and confirmed that yes, the GT is what Ken wanted, so he put a deposit down on one. We were also going to test drive some cars (more on that in a later post), but it was getting late by that point, so we went to the Mongolian BBQ, then came home and did some computer work before watching a bit of TV and going to bed early…

He had to leave early this evening, but we got a little work done around the house and whatnot before that. Since then, I’ve been writing and working and generally getting some things done that fell by the wayside. I absolutely must finish working on chapters 4 and 5 of OOTFP and get them to Teresa tomorrow! And then I have three anthology stories to write before the end of the month, and Chris Y’s YA novel to critique….

---

Currently Reading: The Changeling: Book Two of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Everyday Sacred: A Woman’s Journey Home, Sue Bender
Lately Listened To: random pop on iTunes
Recently Watched: CSI: NY

Brilliant

Brilliant post about writing here.

I think I need to read this every time I sit down to write.

Some people make gingerbread houses...

...and other people do this.

Uh...wow...

Break on through

Words Written:”I Need a Man,” 1637
Writing Stats: Followed up on a late payment. Received one rejection; story to be sent out again tomorrow. Received comp copy of Sex in Public, which includes the Sophie story “Make Me Come at the Ball Game.”
Exercise: yoga

Writing! After a lovely brunch with Gillian, Donna (visiting from Baltimore), et al, I went allll the way down the street to Lulu’s Beehive (okay, all of 1.3 miles!) to meet up with Christine for a writing session. We were both struggling a bit, but she made her goal of 5 pages (half of her goal for the week!) and I broke through and wrote over 1K on an as-yet untitled story (the deadline for which is tomorrow…) as well as a snippet on another.

Writing has been difficult to the point of non-existence for a while. I’m still not entirely sure why; all I know is that I’ve just had no enthusiasm for it. Not for a single project, which would have told me that there was a problem with that project, but for writing as a whole. So, it felt especially good to get back to it, to produce, to create.

I got home and had a snack, and soon thereafter Cat called, asking if she could spend the night. But of course! We hung out and chatted, and then she napped and I finished the story and talked to Ken. Then I woke Cat and we watched about half of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy before she started snoring softly. (She denies that last part.) So I sent her off to bed; we can watch the rest some other time. I still <3 Zaphod.

<>-<>-<>

I’ve been selected as a juror, which will make for an interesting rest of the month. It’s just three days a week for two weeks, and then three or four days the final week. We don’t have to be there until 10 a.m., which is horribly civilized. So although I’ll be busy, I’ll still have ample time to get everything else done that’s on my plate.

Of course, I should probably start by getting to bed at a reasonable hour tonight… Oops, too late. (Well, it’s reasonable for me, but the rest of the world might disagree.)

---

Currently Reading: The Changeling: Book Two of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Lately Listened To: RWA sessions
Recently Watched: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Those Venetian witches, you know

Words Written: 500 or so?
Writing Stats: I submitted five stories on Sunday, and received two rejections within a day. E-mail subs are both a joy and a curse. Four more stories were submitted today.
Exercise: yoga

Sale! I sold a fun little erotica piece, The Witch of Venice, to an anthology of stories inspired by drinks. Yes, The Witch of Venice is a drink. To get an idea for the story, I opened The Bartender’s Bible to a random page and picked the first drink recipe I found. So, obviously, it’s about pagans in Venice Beach. Hee.

<>-<>-<>

I had the most amazing and the most painful massage this evening. Two hours of my new massage therapist discovering that every part of my body is tight. My neck is tight. The base of my skull is tight. My pecs are tight. My right thumb is tight, for crying out loud. When I was face down and she looked at my back, she assumed that I’d been wrong and it was my right hip that was a problem, because of the way it sloped. Then she went to work on my left hip and discovered that no, the reason it didn’t slope was because there was a rock embedded there. And let’s not talk about my left hamstring, which hasn’t been the same since the sciatica twisted my entire left leg into knots.

I’ll be seeing her again soon. She was awesome.

<>-<>-<>

I went in for jury duty Wednesday, and I’m going back in tomorrow. I’m not on the jury, but they’re interviewing prospective jurors and didn’t finish on Wednesday. I’m currently in the audience, and it’ll be interesting to see how things transpire. The thing that most amazes me is how everyone in the damn Hall of Justice was funny. The lady giving us the orientation speech, the judge, both of the lawyers. Don’t they realize this is serious business?! Hee.

<>-<>-<>

The picture above is one I took in NY, at a rest area between Albany and Keene….

---

Currently Reading: The Changeling: Book Two of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Lately Listened To: some dreamy New Age CD my massage therapist had on.
Recently Watched: Star Trek: Enterprise (the Sci-Fi Channel is running it, and I’ve never seen the earlier seasons)

Fiction means "not real," right?

Hee! Fictional characters you should and shouldn't date.

Who would you date? Who would you run screaming from? Who's your partner most like?

(Everyone I think of would be bad for me. Hmm...!)

Tell me, tell me...

So, as mentioned earlier, I’m a member of Lust Bites, a group blog of Black Lace and Cheek authors. All the authors involved are invited to write little essays, about writing and sex and whatnot. I’ve already got a column slated for later this month, but that was the only topic that I could come up with. So, my pets, I need suggestions. What sorts of topics should I write about? They should be geared more towards readers than writers, but can be writing-related, too.

Post a comment! Tell me what to blather about! What haven’t I said that you want to hear?

Haunted somewhere out there

Words Written: damned if I know. I’ve been editing, mostly.
Writing Stats: Sale! Teresa and I have sold “Don’t Move” to H is for Hardcore. Which is not where we submitted it, but the editor thought it fit better in this anthology, and that’s just fine with us. Rejection from The Hub for “What Price Beauty”—it had been shortlisted, but “did not quite fit into the forthcoming lineup.” They “would be pleased to consider” further stories from me, though. Received proofs, and contract from Virgin UK via Teresa, for “Behind the Masque.”
Exercise: stretching

This entry was originally dated New Year’s Day, and I’ve been adding bits and pieces to it over the week. Let’s see if I can actually finish it and get it posted.

We got home at 2:40 a.m. New Year’s morning, and simply fell over. We’d been up for more than 20 hours… Less than 12 hours later and we were mostly unpacked, laundry was in, and mail had been sorted. Impressive, although it slowly went downhill from there, with us getting tireder and tireder. I did wrap the final presents that had arrived while we were gone, and then I did a mail run on Wednesday.

We had great intentions of going to Kingdom Twelfth Night today—we really, really wanted to see all those friends we’ve barely seen all year—but time just got away from us. Ken leaves tomorrow morning for Portland, and we had projects to finish before he left. He’s currently building a bookcase system for the sewing room, including shelves that will cross over above my drafting table. I am beside myself with delight! I can finally start getting that room organized, get out all my sewing and crafting bits, do artwork…!

I’ve been slogging through e-mail, trying to get caught up with that. Most of the personal stuff is answered; lists and “to do” items remain. I’ve been working as well, because all the late items from the end of the year showed up, and then all the 1/1/07 deadline items showed up within a few days of the deadline. Yeargh.

I’m slowly easing back into writing, too. Teresa finished a draft of Chapter 4 of Out of the Frying Pan and I’ve been going through that, tweaking a bit and making notes for upcoming stuff. She also wrote the first half of Chapter 5, so my next assignment is to write the second half. I also have a few anthology stories to write.

I don’t usually do a big year-end wrap up, but I did take note of my 2006 writing stats: 81 rejections, 24 sales.

Twenty-four sales… It takes my breath away. I didn’t track how many stories I wrote over the year, although I suppose it wouldn’t take long to figure it out from my daily writing spreadsheet. I think I’ll add the year to each story on the submission tracking spreadsheet.

I’ve been taking a step back, looking at my overall writing, trying to make some plans. I think the best plan right now is to not plan too far ahead. For example, Teresa and I want to get at least six chapters of OOTFP written before we start sending queries around. Our Black Lace editor is sitting on a partial we sent him, so he could ask for the rest at any time. And we have a novella proposal to write—Black Lace’s Wicked Words anthologies are moving to paranormal novella anthologies, and we have a fantastic idea for the first one. So, any one of those three projects could take off suddenly and need our immediate attention. (We’ll keep working on OOTFP after we mail queries, of course, but we’ll have to balance it with the novella—but, if Adam wants the BL novel, we’ll have to switch gears quickly.)

So, my first plan is “be flexible.” :-)

<>-<>-<>

So, right, Christmas. We took lots and lots of pictures with our new camera, and I’ll upload mine as soon as I figure out how… Which reminds me, I posted some other pictures before we left: various book signings and Calico Ghost Town.

My parents gave us a glass serving plate and a couple more little house figures—not David Winter cottages this time, but very similar. My middle sister gave us the special edition Narnia DVD, and my oldest sister bought us dinner. One of my nieces baked things for everyone.

And, ack! Previous presents I forgot to mention! Christine sent me an Amy Brown print—my first Amy Brown print! It’s called Autumn Daydreams. And Caterine sent us Pre-Raphaelite bookmarks! And Tani gave me Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf’s decaf English Breakfast tea! And Ken gave me the Llewellyn calendar!

The most important thing was spending time with the family. I hadn’t seen one of my nieces and two of my nephews in four years! We went into Lake Placid one day and tromped around, and most everybody went ice skating. Out of deference to my back, I chose to stand at the edge of the Olympic Oval and take pictures before my freezing fingers fell off. Ken skated for what may have been the first time in his life (he roller skated as a kid, though) and did a fantastic job.

As mentioned previously, I gave my youngest niece (11) a lap loom. We figured out how to warp it, and she completed her first weaving project the same day. Hahaha! Another convert! (I knew she’d like it. She’s a crafty thing.) Next I think I’ll teach her kumihimo. (I took mine with me; I’m making cords for edging Mongolian hats—we had a workshop on them at the beginning of January.)

<>-<>-<>

In other news, Ken decided that it was time for a change… He’s had long hair for a good 15 years, usually pulled back in a ponytail. He didn’t want short hair, but he wanted something more manageable on the bike, etc. So I took him to my Fabulous Gay Hairdresser. We looked at a few pictures, and then I sat down in the waiting room and let them go at it. When Ken walked out, all I could say was, “Oh my god! You look like Sawyer from Lost!” And indeed he does. Yum. Well, he was always yum, but this is a really nice style for him. (‘Course, he still wears it in a ponytail a lot…)

<>-<>-<>

I made Moroccan lamb kebabs (wonderfully simple recipe on the George Foreman grill!) and jasmine rice for supper tonight. Just mentioning it because it was really tasty…

---

Currently Reading: The Sacrifice: Book One of the Fey, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Lately Listened To: An Ancient Muse, Loreena McKennitt
Recently Watched: Medium, Hex (Ken hasn’t seen it, so we’re working our way through the DVDs)