A Meerkat's Bolthole

I was reading innocently on the sofa early this morning, and Boomer decided to Stake A Claim. Which involved him jumping from the sofaback onto my stomach.

Uuufffd.

For those of you who've wondered about how large the Boomerang, Fool of a Took, Cat of No Brain, Meatloaf-in-training actually is? When he rested his chin on my collarbone, his tail (not a very long tail, considering) flicked just below my knees.

Stupid puma-wannabe.

Anyway, back at the desk for the morning for whatever work I can accomplish, then off to the vamp this afternoon. New vamp, new routine, new joy. Not.

Meanwhile, some publication updates for y'all.

1. I am told that my short story "apple: not a fairy tale" is scheduled for the upcoming Aeon #15
(August/September). I still have no idea how to categorize this one. I think I'm looking forward to reader reactions....

2. UNUSUAL SUSPECTS [with my Cosa Nostradamus series "Illumination"] is available for pre-order from Borders and Amazon.com, Chapters, in Canada, but not (yet) B&N. And, of course, any/all indie bookstores. Yes, the "cave dragon loanshark pondering an investment" description c'est moi....

3. It looks like there's a hiccup in the release of "Dreamcatcher" nobody thought to tell the author about. When I have an actual release date [after agent/editor/editor's assistant are back from RWA], I'll let y'all know.

And it looks to be another 90+ degree day today. Lovely.

A 'word cloud' of my short story "Fire Rising in the Moon."

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.

Paracodol FTW. I can has brain again.

Also, the Baltimore Marriott Hunt Valley FTW, as recent unpleasantness with their national reservations line were not only handled efficiently by the on-site manager, but he followed up with a letter of apology and breakfast buffet coupons. No great expense to them, but a small miracle of good customer management.

And, for those of you who a) actually are reading short fiction or b) want to start, my story
"Wolfling" has gone up at Abyss & Apex. Go, read, and read klingonguy's Xenosomnabulism too, and if you like what you read -- or you appreciate A&A's chutzpa in publishing them -- drop them a donation via paypal. Remember, the more arts you support, the more arts you get!

And back to work now, me.

Hrm. Apparently nobody here reads my short fiction. I feel like I should be more surprised by that than I am. Nonetheless, 1600 new words on the untitled pirate story, and I think I may know where it's going, if not exactly what it's going to do when it gets there.

Meanwhile...


(despite appearances, that's not Boomer, no.)

Halp, I've been iPwned!

Yep, despite FedEx's best(worst?) efforts at incompetence, I'm now the proud owner of an iPod shuffle. It's wee, it's red, and it's very very cute. I think I will call it Melvin.



And now I have to go chase down more things that must be nailed to the wall...

Excitement today: installing the new a/c unit. Woo.

But yay, there was also riding. Carrying forward from last week, this lesson was all about sinking me deeper into the saddle, and thereby having a better seat. So... started with longer stirrups, and ended with no stirrups, forcing me to work more on my lower-body balance. On the plus side, when left alone my hands and shoulders seem to be doing the right things. Still working on trot-canter-trot-walk transitions, over and over until muscles aren't relying on the brain to tell them what to do. Owww. But we're seeing progress, so it's aches in a good way.

The trick is, as always, keeping the hands steady, the body centered and back, and the legs on, while also keeping the horse engaged and thinking forward. Neat trick, that. Soon as I get it right I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, am taking a break between novella and going back to the novel to work on a short story that's been thumbing its nose at me for far too long. I will beat it into submission. Maybe.

( a sampling )

And when that is done, 100% back into HARD MAGIC and downward toward deadline...

At Lunacon this afternoon, I was handed a contract (thus making it official after the "I like this, I want it" e-mail a few months ago) for my story "Wolfling" to go to Abyss & Apex.

(for those keeping track at home, this is a story in the "Dragon Virus" universe)


I also, on my way out the door, got in the mail my very first ever piece of fanart. Specifically, of P.B. *squeeeee!* I have been showing it around proudly, and the general reaction has been "how cool! And it's really good!"

As soon as I have the scanner set up, I will share it with y'all. :-)

And now I need to get some sleep, as tomorrow is a damn full day of conventioning...

Because the moment a freelancer clears her schedule of one thing, something else should appear to keep her crazed, I've just agreed to write an "e-Bites" for Harlequin Nocturne e-Books. Basically, a novelette-length paranormal dark erotica.

*pauses while msdori has moment of squeee.*

It took a while because I held by my refusal to write about amorous vampires, werewolves, werecats, or anything else that triggers my "oh god not another" reaction. So what am I writing about?

Heh. Heh heh heh.

You'llllll seeeeee.....


Of course, they want to publish it in August (yes, this August, yay for e-production schedules) so I need to get started. I also need to start on Bonnie #1, which is due in August. While I'm still (because it won't leave me alone) writing forward on TPEMB. And working on a client manuscript or two, because Publishing Grinds Slow and Accounts Payable even slower.

This is why being organized is the #2 secret of freelancing. Oy.

The story and I have reached a cautious détente. It also now has a working title: "Transplant." The dragon at the end of the tunnel isn't singing yet, but it may be humming scales as a warm up. er, the punlight just went on. Sorry about that.

Meanwile, "Lost Souls" has passed muster with the beta-readers who reported back in, and Madame Editor reports that FREE FALLBLOOD FROM STONE [note: oy, I've become my mother, who can't remember which of her children she's speaking about, either] will be read over the winter break, and notes coming back to me in January. Oh, the joy of an efficient editor, she said glumly.

In other non-news, the weather fails us; after a few measly inches of snow we have sleet and freezing rain. Bleah. It looks like it might be safe to go outside but it's actually worse than snow. Would anyone take it amiss if I just went back to bed?

EtA: and the come-to-Jesus talk has produced groveling [which I give not a damn about] and the promise of action on Monday [which I do give a damn about]. So we'll see.

There's a short story I wrote a while back that I really like a lot. It's short and kinda nasty and kinda thoughtful and four times now editors have said "wow, I really like this, but..."

And then come back to me with four completely different "buts."

I suppose it's a good thing that I'm pushing buttons with this, it means the story's working on at least one level (and maybe even four!). But it's quite frustrating, too.