A Meerkat's Bolthole

First off -- condolences to my friends out there in the heat-baked lands who don't enjoy springtime temps of 90+ (and you wanted me to MOVE out there? Um....no. Thank you. I'll keep my rainy-and-60 Spring, thanks muchly)
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I have a post up @ Bookview Cafe, talking about the joys (not) of dealing with a copy-edit, and when it's okay to admit that you need help...
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On a not-quite-related note, I'm on several publishing-oriented news and job lists. This teaser-link came through one today, and all I could think was "OMG, seriously? No, seriously?"

You’re so Perfect for the Job Why Don’t They Call You Back?
If you have been applying for jobs without not a lot of success you are not alone, most job applicants complain about exactly the same thing. Lot’s of application, lot’s of resumes, no interviews, no callbacks.…

Life Lesson: Anything that makes me feel good about MY proofreading skills? Bad, bad, and also bad. *facepalm*
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On the writing front, I 'only' got 2,000 new words yesterday in Word War but they were fun bits, including possibly the worst interruption of a sexual fantasy ever. *grin* Also put down about 750 words on a new story, and have figured out what it wants to do, which is always nice. Ahead of schedule, even. No work on PoL, though, due to Social Life Interrupting. Today is All About PoL. After Word War, anyway.
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Okay, onward to the Castle-squee.

( First Kitten, now the White Whale... )

First, the Important News!

Members of Book View Cafe [of which I am one] have been invited to speak at the Library of Congress!

For those who don't know, The Library of Congress is the repository of the United State's literary heritage, and are extremely interested in new methods of publication and distribution of literature. Book View Cafe's innovative combination of author professionalism, cooperative creativity and internet outreach have sparked the Library's attention.

"This is a tremendous honor," says Project Manager Sarah Zettel. "We couldn't be more thrilled."

The presentation is at the Library of Congress the week of May 18, 2009. A firm date will be set after the Inauguration. No, I don't know if I'll e part of the presentation -- a lot depends on scheduling -- but I hope to be there! LoC is an author-geek-joy thing. :-)
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Cooking news: I have made a... thing. It's not a scone, and it's not a biscuit... it's tasty and light and takes very well to butter and jam... it tastes almost like cornbread but isn't made with cornmeal...

( recipe follows )
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Random: Leverage continues to amuse and entertain. And bonus!horses! Also? I don't think there's ever been a show on tv where every. single. actor (male and female) does something for me. There's no off note or bad visual. And Hutton... hooyah. This culture still seems to think that tight skin and lean limbs are all that counts, male or female. Bah. Hutton is charming and sexy and inspiring all at once, and raises my eyebrow now the way he never did when he was young-and-pretty. I suspect that his clear comfort-in-his-skin has a lot to do with that...

Oh, and for Certain People: the soundtrack of yesterday afternoon was ASHsongs. I now have 80's Europop/showtunes/RHS synth in my head. Eeee! And there was much bopping about and scaring the cats. :-)

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...)