feline and work updates....

The most recent trip to the vet confirmed that Pandora is just being a wee Drama Queen. Yeah, she's got some Medical Issues that are being dealt with, and her diet's being changed up yet again to keep up with her middle-aged digestion, but there's no reason for her to be quite so, um, Dramatically Unwell.

"She's fine when you cuddle her?"
"Yep."
"Well, then ..."

There was one moment of humor, when the vet tech tried to take her temperature and Pandora, being fed up with such treatment ill-befitting a Duchess, let loose with her bladder all over the tech's hands. The tech was much better-humored about it than I would have been, but we agreed that clearly, her kidneys are working jes' fine....

Meanwhile, in-between vet visits, cuddling Pandora, and reassuring Boomerang, there is the read-through on the draft of HARD MAGIC to be dealt with, plus first looksee for a new editorial client, and a copyedit job for the Usual Employer. As soon as the latter two are done, on to the revisions for DAUGHTER OF THE SEA and starting the new groundwork on VINESPELL. Sleep? What's that?

Oh, and as an aside for pet owners -- at the vet there was a cat who had fallen out of a fourth-story window and broken his leg. PLEASE double-check to make sure that your screens are secure! That moggy was lucky, all things considered....

a meerkat full of random thoughts...

This has been one of those days where I either got a lot done, or not much of anything, and I can't decide which. And a rush freelance job just came in. Guess I know what I'm lugging with me this weekend....

So. Randomly.
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My darling d'jour, from HARD MAGIC:

I lifted my head from my book and frowned at Nick. "Did you follow me?"
"Nope." He crossed his heart like a five-year-old telling a lie.

And that was the defining moment for Nick, that image of the little boy not foolin' anybody, even though I didn't realize it until 24 hours after I'd written that line.

And that led to a thought while under influence of hot water: It's not enough to know your characters as well as you know yourself. You have to know them better.
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A quick stroll through the Internets turns up the following comments on "Wolfling."

SFRevue says: "The newest issue of online magazine Abyss And Apex is #26 with some well-written stories, all of which got a Very Good from me." That includes my own "Wolfling" as well as klingonguy's Xenosomnambuliasm."

The Fix says: "Considered by itself, 'Wolfling' is a perfectly decent look at some of the issues around minority groups and 'difference'—but it is very hard to consider the story by itself when it’s probably nothing you haven’t seen before through a very similar lens. However, the author weaves the divergences between the fictional world and the real elegantly into the story, so the experience of reading Gilman’s tale is still an enjoyable one." [me: fair enough -- I never claimed to be exploring a totally new problem -- are there any of those? All I can hope is to make someone somewhere see something either for the first time, or in a different light.]
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on the other side of the book:

If you, like me, have been getting more and more annoyed at amazon.com, but don't want to give up the ease of on-line ordering, there's some good news -- effective 1 June, the Borders and Waldenbooks website is no longer associated with Amazon.com. It's still not a sgood as ordering from an Independent, but at least it's not the Great Satan of Online Retailing and Rights Grabbing....

Also, Hachette Livre UK has, reportedly, told Amazon UK to bugger off when it started to demand more and more concessions in terms of discounts and special treatments over any other retailer. I've seen the letter but ot been given permission to reprint it -- suffice it to say that Hachette isn't telling people where to shop -- just pointing out that Amazon's become a greedly little monster and they're not going to feed it any longer -- which means that Amazon has begun 'downgrading' the display of all books from that publisher. Discounts are the norm, and the more books you move the better your discount, but there's a point when good business just becomes extortion....
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and some non-cooking cookery:

It must be summer; in addition to ginger-ginsing iced tea, I made the first batch of summer slaw today!

1/2 head red cabbage
1/2 head green cabbage
3 large carrots

Shred all three ingredients in a food processor, either together or separately and then blended together after in a large bowl (glass is best), Drizzle with white balsamic vinegar and a light olive oil (I used the last of my Croatian oil, and am sad). Toss. Add salt, black pepper, and caraway seeds to taste*. Toss again. Add a pinch or two of brown sugar. Chill. Can be used as a simple salad replacement, as a base for bbq platters (soaks up grease like whoa!) or -- my favorite -- as part of a roast beef or tuna salad hoagie. Mmmmmm. And because there's no mayo, it works great for picnics or ourdoor parties.

*depending on the final use, I've also been known to add warmer spices, but for the base, salt, pepper and caraway will do.