and how was your weekend?

I read two partials for critique, read a manuscript for blurbing, went through another 100 pages of revision (I swear, writing this book is like making consommé), helped (am helping) beta a site on its sorta-go-live day (more on that soon), had an initial back-and-forth with a new client, dealt with financial agita, and tangled with various and sundry family matters, including my parents' 49th wedding anniversary (go them!) and planning for their 50th (heh. heh heh. Hush mom; no I won't tell you)

and then my brain went splooey.

Apparently, I have a limit. And it's at a lower level than it was when I was 30.

I suppose this is good to know.

Self? Mainlining caffeine doesn't work any more. Your body's tired of that shit. Although it appreciates that you now remember the regular infusions of protein.

I am going to kick back with a glass of wine and the Jeff Dunham's special on the Comedy channel now. 'Cause "because I don't speak Spanish" always makes me laugh.


And, in case anyone else's brain hasn't gone splooey yet, rumor has it Sarah Palin's shopping a book proposal. How'd you like to be her editor, huh? Oy. And ow, also. Youbetcha.

BookView Cafe is go! I repeat, it is go!

For the past few months, I've been part of a project that has been equal amounts excitement and frustration. I'm pleased to say that the excitement has just about trumped the frustration when, only a few minutes past our go-live date, we actually managed to go live.

I held off on announcing anything to give the web-gremlins a chance to do their thing, but *takes a deep breath* here we go.

Ladies and LJ-folk, I give you BookView Cafe, a new online publishing venture by a consortium of writers, including Sarah Zettel, Ursula K Le Guin, Vonda McIntyre, our own ramblin_phyl Irene Radford, and a host of others, including myself.

The offerings on BookView Cafe will refresh on a regular basis, and range from novels to flash fiction and include both reprints and new work.

And how much is this gonna cost me, Gilman, you ask?

The charges vary, as each author determines the fee for her own work -- but a large number of the work is available for free.

Yes, free.

My first short story will be up in December, and all it will cost you is the time to log in and download it. But don't wait -- check out what the cafe is serving up now!*

http://bookviewcafe.com


Official Splog: Readers can access new content by visiting the website (http://www.bookviewcafe.com/). RSS feed and an email announcement list will eventually alert readers to new content. In addition, Book View Cafe will be partnering with TextOnPhone to make content available via iPhone and iPod. Daily posts by the authors to the group blog creates an ongoing virtual book conference where readers and writers can interact. Book View Cafe can also be found at social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, and at LiveJournal, Blogspot, and Wordpress.

Although there is material for sale the site, Book View Cafe itself is not a profit-making organization. This is a cooperative effort between the authors. Book View Cafe welcomes donations to help pay for the site, site management, and upgrade efforts.

For detailed answers to your questions, please our FAQ page.



*(but, y'know, be gentle if you run into a web-gremlin. They can be vicious if cornered...)