A Meerkat's Bolthole

 This landed in my inbox this afternoon, and I thought it could use a boost.  Share as you see fit.

Lambda Literary Foundation's annual Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices has two genre-friendly faculty this year: Samuel Delany teaching the Fiction workshop and Malinda Lo teaching a joint Genre and YA workshop. (There are also workshops in Nonfiction and Poetry.)

Health of the meerkat update: At the moment, I feel like I've got a head cold/moderately annoying allergies, which is pretty much where I was before the Thursday melt-down. I suspect so long as I keep to early nights and lots of sleep, I'll be able to knock this back before too long. But man, that was an unhappy 36 hours...

This afternoon, I and the source-o-flu-bug (my mom) and dad [and The Puppy] attended the Parkinson's Unity Walk in Central Park. Because my mom and I were in recovery, we didn't actually do the two mile walk*, but were there to hear the speeches and browse the information booths. Sadly, Michael J Fox wasn't there this year -- he apparently gives kick-ass speeches, and I'm sorry to have missed him.

[aside: while browsing the booths my dad looks at a brochure and says "what is ideopathic Parkinson's?" We all know we've heard the damn word a thousand times, but are drawing a blank. I pull out my phone and google** it. "It means 'doctors don't know what causes it." "Sort of redundant, then," my dad says. Too true.]

While at the Walk, I had the sad pleasure of meeting Dylan Hartung, a young Australian boy*** who has been living in NYC with his folks for the past four years, after being diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in 2004. Dylan and Mei-mei formed a quick bond, and I got to hear about the dog he had to leave home in Australia, and the 'angels on leashes' (therapy dogs) he has met. Lovely kid, well-spoken and a pleasure to meet. His web site is called "Everything's Possible" and he really is proof of that. And if you ever have the chance to support the Ronald McDonald House, please do so. It's that foundation that's enabled Dylan and his parents to stay here and get the treatment that has given him a fighting chance.

Afterward, retired to the folks' abode, where I ate lunch and then collapsed for a recuperative nap on the sofa -- it was way too hot outside for poor little recovering me! Now home, still wiped out, but with work ahead of me -- some writing, and then working on the FLESH & FIRE proofs. I have to say -- this book? Looks sooooo preeeeeety. *pets proofs*


Oh, and for those of you who have to use the evil things called 'alarm clocks' may I offer a more soothing (and amusing) alternative? http://www.voco.uk.com/?gclid=CO7PurWxiJoCFRo-awodMk4oLQ




* the irony of my dad the Parkinson's patient being in better shape that either of us was not missed, trust me.
** if they're going to strip-mine copyrights, I will use the damn noun as a verb until it enters the public lexicon, same as xerox. It's petty but it feels good.
*** yeah, I know. I really do meet Australians everywhere. It's sorta scary...

Went to sleep last night around midnight, not having done any of the things I meant to do when I got home. Oh well. Sunday's a full day for working, right?

Er. Not so much. Woken up at 2am by the need to call 911 (not for me, don't worry) and didn't get back to bed until 3ish. Woke up again at 4 because -- having closed the window after that, it was too warm. Got out the fan and set it up. Went back to sleep,. Woke up again at 8am, morning near half-gone and still feeling groggy. Some days, the universe is just telling you to take it easy.

Of course, for me that means halving my to-do list, not tossing it altogether. Mostly I did a lot of housekeeping this morning, both physical and mental, stopping now to make lunch (cubed chicken breast, sauteed with sweet red peppers and grilled pineapple, with a splash of teriyaki sauce. Yum.) This afternoon, the manuscript calls to me, forlorn, like a singleton swan in mating season. And there's a large chunk of salmon that wants to be poached.

But first, some e-housekeeping:

Many of you asked if there was anything you could do to help Len Wein and his wife Chris when their house burned down earlier this month. Yes, there is. http://www.povonline.com/weinproject.htm (thanks to Bob and M'e for the link)

Meanwhile, BN.com has finally gotten STAYING DEAD updated to 'available' in their system, yay! Oh, and Amazon.com got on the stick, too! (it only took them two weeks, but then again, they had Other Trauma to clean up, first). And for those of you who prefer to shop elsewhere, Powells' is in the game too

And 24 hours more to enter the puntastic contest!

Okay, I'm probably the last person to give in and click, but if you haven't yet...

47 Year old Susan Boyle wows the judges with her performance in the auditions for Britains Got Talent, singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Go, watch. We'll wait.

I'm not sure which was more delightful: her performance, or the sight of Simon with a blissful expression on his face, aware that he was being wooed by a magnificent performance out of the most unpreposing package imaginable.

Never to late to dream -- especially if you have the talent to match the determination.

ETA: as expected, SImon's label is already meeting with Ms. Boyle.

If anyone is interested in the writing process, I've posted on the topic of the month ("Outliner or Pantser?") over at fangs_fur_fey http://community.livejournal.com/fangs_fur_fey/471769.html Lots of good entries on this topic, proving once again that there is No One Write Way.

Also, remember just yesterday when I said that Mustang was all about Chris Isaak? I just realized I've been writing to the Clash this morning. Um.... *is puzzled but amused*

And yes, Catie, I got my wordage, and now I'm off to the Park! [with my draft and red pen in hand, natch]

Well, I was going to post my comments about last night's premiere of "Kings" here, but then I saw that kateelliot had already gotten that started, so I'll just send you over there..

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the workmen to show up (and also delivery of a) the floor tiles and b) the kitchen sink). The cats already know Something's Up and are being clingy/bitchy. It's going to be a long week...


So, should I do photoblogging of the renovation? Y/N?


EtA: also, LJ FTW in one respect, anyway:

Page Not Found

"I'm sorry, you've reached a page that I cannot find. I'm really sorry about this. It's kind of embarrassing. Here you are, the user, trying to get to a page on LiveJournal and I can't even serve it to you. What does that say about me? I'm just a webserver. My sole purpose in life is to serve you webpages and I can't even do that! I suck. Please don't be mad, I'll try harder. I promise! Who am I kidding? You're probably all like, "Man, LiveJournal's webserver sucks. It can't even get me where I want to go." I'm really sorry. Maybe it's my CPU...no that's ok...how bout my hard drives? Maybe. Where's my admin? I can't run self-diagnostics on myself. It's so boring in this datacenter. It's the same thing everyday. Oh man, I'm so lonely. I'm really sorry about rambling about myself, I'm selfish. I think I'm going to go cut my ethernet cables. I hope you get to the page you're looking for...goodbye cruel world!"

A bunch of things, of which probably the most important to y'all is at the bottom, just so's you're warned.


First and foremost: kateelliott manages to say beautifully what I've been trying to verbalize elsewhere, and so I am using her words instead:

I think, on the whole, we are wise to err on the side of recognizing connectivity, not just in terms of seeking connectivity but in recognizing how deeply interconnected the system of people and their societies is and must be because we are band animals; it’s how we evolved, to make connections both in the familial kin sense and in the pattern-making sense of trying to see how the world fits together, to make sense of the place we live and how we function within it and how and where we relate to others and the landscape.

Things get mashed together in the grieving mind. They all become connected, intertwined, difficult, necessary. You can’t look away. You want to look away. You mustn’t look away. Maybe you can’t make it right, or maybe you can make something right, but the hard things have to be faced, grappled with, embraced.

Yes. That. Face, grapple, embrace. Every single day.


Meanwhile, in addition to the book I'm writing and the short story I'm writing, and the collaborative project that is probably going to be a novella, and Lunacon and Passover coming up hard, and oh yeah, a CEM expected soon, the management company has ok'd my paperwork (never underestimate the value of an experienced contractor who can herd ducks and line up cats) and we have a demo start date of...next Monday. Once it all begins, expect a hold on all cooking neep (except, possibly, "cooking with toaster and take-away") for a week or so...

Be warned: there will be photoblogging. And, since my office is off the kitchen, probably occasional whinging about the noise, too.

Boomer will be in his element. More!People! Pandora will hide in the bedroom. In the end, it will all be worth it. The kitchen will be better, the apartment overall will be better, and it's not like the money was earning interest in the bank any more, right? *whimpers* My poor credit cards aren't going to be speaking to me when this is done. But it will be worth it. I know it will.


In the further meanwhile, and on a totally different topic, I am once again participating in the Brenda Novak on-line auction to raise money for diabetes research. This time around, I'm offering:

1: the full set of "Retrievers" books (6 in all, including the newest just out in May '09) in trade paperback, packed with a beach towel and water bottle in a reusable tote, suitable for lazing about pool or
beach, or in your back yard, for a summer reading getaway.

2: an ARC of my forthcoming hardcover fantasy novel, FLESH & FIRE: BOOK 1 OF THE VINEART WAR (October 2009), with a pair of wine glasses with identifying charms [since the basis of the book is wine-magic!)

Bid early, bid often! [or at least, as soon as they put the offerings up!] And check out some of the other stuff available... this auction bring in the heavy hitters, and amazing opportunities (mine best-evah agent Jenn Jackson will be offering a critique. You Know You Want It.)

And now the coffee is ready and the working must begin...

It has been a very long day, and I am too wiped out to do more than skim e-mail, but a wee note caught my eye, and I thought "this is worth blogging about."

Bear with me, first, while I take you on a quick history recap.

The year is 1991. I am a baby Assistant at Ace/Berkley, dutifully skimming the slush pile. And a manuscript catches my eye. SF, Heinleinish adventure with a female protag. It's not brilliant, but I think it's pretty damn good. So I take it to my boss, and make the pitch why I think we should buy it. She reads some of the manuscript, looks at the schedule, looks at the budget, and tells me to go make an offer. Baby Editor's First Phone Call!

The book got solid reviews and meh sales. The second book did pretty much the same. But the author and I got along well, and I knew she had a lot of talent, not to mention stubborn determination.

About this time, the female-featured mystery series was really starting to heat up, and we were told "look for more of this." So when the author mentioned that she had a mystery she'd written sitting on her hard drive (this was after hard drives, but only just) I told her to send it.

She did. We bought it, and two others ("I don't know if I can write two more," she said. "Shut up and take the deal," I said. "We'll worry about that later.")

That book was A COLD DAY FOR MURDER. The author was Dana Stabenow. It won the Edgar for best paperback original mystery, and cemented a damn good author/editor relationship, if I do say so myself. Leaving her to another editor when I went to NAL was one of the hardest parts of the job change. Dana parted ways with Berkley a few years later, and went to St. Martin's, who has published her since then.

And now, with WHISPER TO THE BLOOD, the 16th Kate Shugak book, she is a New York Times* bestseller.

16 books into a series. Two publishers, two agents, and several editors later.

Talent. And a stubborn determination.


*raises glass* Mazel tov, my friend. I may have set you on this path, but you're the one who walked it. Well done. Well done indeed.

Let this be a lesson and an inspiration to all of us who are looking down that road, and wondering if there's anything worth walking to....






*okay, extended list. NYT, baby!

Online "Lottery" to Benefit the Shirley Jackson Awards

(me: isn't that so deliciously sick? I love it...)


Takes place from February 9 through February 23, 2009 Boston, MA (January 2009) – The Shirley Jackson Awards will hold a "lottery" to raise funds for the award. This on-line event takes place from February 9, 2009 through February 23, 2009. Persons buy as many "lottery tickets" as they want in hopes of being selected the winner for any of an array of donated prizes from well-known authors, editors, artists, and agents.

"Lottery" tickets are $1 each and can be purchased from http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/store/

Persons may purchase as many tickets as desired. Tickets will be available from February 9th, 2009 through February 23rd, 2009. At midnight on February 23rd, "lottery" winners will be selected randomly for each item and announced on the website. Prizes will be mailed to the lucky winners.

In recognition of the legacy of Shirley Jackson's writing, and with permission of the author's estate, the Shirley Jackson Awards have been established for outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror, and the dark fantastic.

Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, "The Lottery." Her work continues to be a major influence on writers of every kind of fiction, from the most traditional genre offerings to the most innovative literary work. National Book Critics Circle Award- winning novelist Jonathan Lethem has called Jackson "one of this century's most luminous and strange American writers," and multiple
generations of authors would agree.

Partial List of Donations to be Awarded
• From James Blaylock: Signed copy (by James Blaylock and Tim Powers) of The Devils in the Details (Subterranean Press)
• From Douglas Clegg: Signed copy of the Vampyricon trilogy
• From Jeffrey Ford: Keyboard used to write several novels & collections, signed by Jeffrey Ford, to the winner.
• From Neil Gaiman: Keyboard, signed by Neil Gaiman, to the winner.
• From Stewart O'Nan: Signed copy of unproduced screenplay, POE
• From Paul Riddell: Carnivorous plant terrarium
• From Peter Straub: A reading copy of The Skylark, Part 1, read at ICFA in Orlando 3/2008.
• Tuckerizations by Ekaterina Sedia, Laura Anne Gilman, Nick Mamatas <<---- the important part!


"Lottery" Rules
Tickets will be on sale from February 9th through February 23rd, midnight, Eastern Daylight Time. The lottery will be held on February 23rd at midnight. Items will be raffled off individually. Persons may purchase as many tickets per item as desired. For example, a person may purchase ten tickets for the "ITEM" and fifty tickets for "ITEM 2." Each ticket purchase increases your chances of winning. For example, if you purchase five tickets of the "ITEM 3" and a total of ten tickets for that item have been sold , your odds of winning are 5 out of 10.

For each item, one winner will be chosen using a computerized random number generator. The winning names and prizes will be announced on the Shirley Jackson Awards website, http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org. The donating party will mail or deliver the prize to the lucky winner.

All proceeds from the lottery go to support the Shirley Jackson Awards.

Lottery Information website:
http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/lottery/

List of All Lottery Items:
http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/store/

For more information about the on-line "lottery", contact:
Matthew Kressel, Lottery Administrator, matt [at] senses five [dot] com