Author Archives: Eugie Foster

Received a postcard in the mail. It read:

“Dear Hobkin, Please tell Matthew that you are due in for your shots . . .”

Obviously, a reminder notice from our vet to bring Hobkin in for his annual exam. I found the note incredibly endearing. Of course, that’s the reason they do it like that, to appeal to pet owners. And hey, it worked! Also, I really like our vet. They’re tops when it comes to skunks.

So it looks like we’ll be scheduling an appointment for him right soon. Hobkin will be displeased. I plan to insist upon being the one to hold him when they administer his shots, as it will be far less traumatic for everyone concerned. I want to avoid another scene with him screaming bloody murder. It’s amazing the set of vocal cords that are on our normally-silent fuzzwit. And he’s absolutely untroubled by anything the vet does to him as long as I’m holding him. He’s such a momma’s boy.

Writing Stuff:

Received a rejection from the Poe’s Progeny anthology. The story wasn’t quite what they were going for with their theme. They invited me to submit something else, but I’m not sure if I have anything suitable.

I’m just in a pissy mood today. It seems like little things are all conspiring to irritate me.

My wing stubs hurt so I’ve been taking Clonazepam every night for the last several nights. Wonder if that could be contributing to my overall state of irritation?

The day started out poorly. My security clearance to READ from a database table I’ve been testing on at work disappeared, poof. I had it yesterday. When I came in this morning, it was gone (as it was from all of my project team members). So instead of finishing up my testing, I spent the morning getting my stupid clearance restored. God, it wasn’t even UPDATE access! I just wanted to perform SELECTs off the stupid table.

Then I had to go to a doctor’s appointment, a worker’s comp. related one for my TOS so I couldn’t skip it or reschedule it. It was in town. There was much rush-hour traffic fighting. I hate driving in rush-hour. And I got totally turned around in town and had to doubleback several times.

Writing Stuff:

Continue reading →

Took a Clonazepam last night for the first time in many weeks. Decided to try to nip the TOS pains early, before it gets excruciating. Stupid wing stubs. Now, I am most loopy. It should wear off in a bit, but considering helping it along with some nice coffee. Coffee . . . mmmmm.

Writing Stuff:

But the problem I have is, if the Asylum 3 was so popular, where the hell are my royalty payments? I have yet to see a penny for this story. And I think it’s a good one, deserving of payment.

I think that pretty much cements it. I am no longer submitting to anthologies that pay only in a “cut of royalties” anymore. That seems to translate to “no pay.”

So Matthew’s at the Atlanta Film Festival, Hobkin’s napping under his hutch, I’ve got a huge pot of coffee brewed, and I’ve got no excuse not to be writing. But am I writing? Of course not.

In order to avoid putting words on the page, I’ve dumped a load of laundry in the washer, neatened the bedroom, and fiddled with my writing logs. To top things off, my arms are hurting. My TOS is making itself known again.

I’m just totally pissed with myself now.

Must. Write.

Watched Cyrano de Bergerac with Matthew. That play fills one of the topmost spots in my list of Things I Actually Liked That They Forced Me to Read in School, so I was quite delighted that the movie version was so well done. Much better than that atrocity Roxanne put out in later years with Steve Martin as the lead. Yuck.

This weekend is the Atlanta Film Festival. Matthew wants to attend a bunch of panels as a networking thingy for his Inde Film Track at Dragon*Con, but I’m not really interested. The screenplay readings one sounds like it might be fun, but the others are all about the nitty-gritty of movie making: directing, producing, funding, marketing, etc. I’ve got all my creative apples in my writing basket. While I certainly can appreciate the finished product, my interest in filmmaking is pretty much confined to potential screenplay adaptation possibilities. So I suspect it’ll just be Hobkin and me for much of the weekend. Maybe I’ll ply my muse with insane amounts of caffeine and sugar and see if I can’t entice her to make an appearance. Prime opportunity to get plenty of writing done. Theoretically.

Or, I might put on a vacuous DVD or five, and vegetate on the couch.

In mundane day job news, I finished testing on a particularly persnickety program today that I’ve been working on for weeks. Whew. It’s like having an anvil lifted off my chest!

Writing Stuff:

Received confirmation that I have been approved as a guest at Dragon*Con this year. It was a roundabout sort of confirmation. No one notified me about it (even though I know and work with these people!), but they sent an email to Matthew asking him to add my bio to the website as a guest. (Btw, wicked_wish, if I hear word of any such roundabout notices about your guest status, I’ll be sure to let you know!)

Also sent a name suggestion to the director of the Children’s/YA lit. track, as she’s been casting about for what to call her new track. She’s been waffling between “Children’s Lit” and “Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction,” but both of the terms “Children’s” and “Young Adult” mean something in the biz. They connote age ranges that publishers aim their titles at. I thought choosing just one would seem to preclude the other when really she means the whole array. I noticed that book publishers, when they have a children’s/YA division, frequently call it “Books for Young Readers” to include the whole range. Ergo, my suggestion: “F/SF for Young Readers.” So there, I’ve spent my two pennies.

Woke up with a sinus headache and a deep ache in my shoulder which exacerbated my wobbly head. Took two Sudafed and a pair of Ibuprofen with my morning coffee, and shortly afterwards found myself debating whether I should launch myself from my chair and go swooping through the office going “I’m flying! I’m flying!”

Too much of a good thing. *twitch*

Restrained my flight urges. Came down, more or less, after lunch, and also experienced a return of the headache. Opted not to repeat the Sudafed/coffee/Ibuprofen cocktail, as I was uncertain whether I would make the correct decision to not flap and hoot through my place of business if confronted with the temptation again. But I’m undecided on whether or not I regret that now.

Hobkin’s also feeling under the weather. His tummy got upset again yesterday. Fed him anti-nausea meds and a Pepto-Bismol sandwich, and he perked right up. I wonder if there are stimulants in either of those? Every time he takes them, he becomes all zingy and amok.

I find the parallel between our respective states of health interesting, although Hobkin gives every indication of being over his bout of tummy disgruntlement and I’m still whimpering and periodically clutching at my head.

I was also worried that he might be dehydrated as he did the dip-paw-in-water-lick-off thing again yesterday, so I filled up a 2cc feeding syringe with water to see if he’d drink. Normally when I stick a syringe in his mouth, he gets Amoxycillan or his anti-nausea med, both of which he thinks are liquid candy. So he drank the first gulp willingly enough, but once he realized it was just water, he glared at me reproachfully, and used his paws to bat away the syringe. Sigh.

Writing Stuff:

Submitted “The Reign of the Wintergod” for reprint consideration at a market.

And again, I’m having a difficult time getting the ole writing gear engaged. Flibbertigibbet muse.

Saw Harry Potter 3 yesterday. It was enjoyable, although I can’t seem to bring myself to gush about it. I think it was stronger than the previous two, probably due to the change in directorial vision. I also think the actors are truly coming into their roles, which is ironic as they’re going to recast them for subsequent HP films. Although there was still one or two instances where the actor playing Harry went a bit over the top. But overall, they showed much more range than in HP1 and 2.

The EFX were lovely. I especially liked how they showed the passage of time via the behavior of the Whomping Willow. And Buckbeak was amazing. My “Oh, Matthew! Let’s get a hippogriff!” comments were tempered only by the realization that one would probably want to eat Hobkin.

But the film didn’t engage my emotions. I sat back, watched all the pretty sets and costumes, and enjoyed myself, but the charm and involvement I got from the book didn’t come across.

Also watched Pitch Black in preparation for the upcoming Chronicles of Riddick coming out this week. Matthew saw it when it first came out in the theater, but I skipped it, as I fully expected it to be too scary for someone as wimpy as myself. As it turns out, I needn’t have avoided it. Nothing particularly squicky or creepy beyond the standard carnivorous alien-in-the-dark fare.

I do find it interesting that they’re playing down the fact that Chronicles of Riddick is a sequel. Not really a problem as I don’t really think Pitch Black requires follow up, and I’m more than happy just to follow the Riddick character.

Surprising myself, I’m liking Vin Diesel as the “new action hero.” Being a fan of the James Bond, clean-cut, tuxedo suave persona, I didn’t expect to find myself enamored with the gritty, ghetto-urban guise that they’re pushing with him. But I liked him in both Triple X and Pitch Black. He’s real and believable and sympathetic, anti-hero and all. Looking forward to seeing Riddick now.

Tried to trim Hobkin’s nails while watching Pitch Black. In the span of a feature-length film, I managed to get two toes clipped before he rolled over (with a reproachful look at me) and tucked all his paws beneath him so I couldn’t get at them. Sigh.

Writing Stuff: