Author Archives: Eugie Foster

T-day Weekend in Review

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Hope all who celebrate it had a fabu Thanksgiving!

Not much accomplished over the four-day holiday at Chez Foster. fosteronfilm had a cold/sinus malaise and Hobkin had an upset tummy, which resulted in me not doing much in general aside from comforting and playing nurse to both.

Whenever Hobkin’s sick or scared, he demands to be cuddled against my chest, with his head wedged beneath my chin, rather than just curling up at my side or in my lap. I think he finds the sound of my heartbeat soothing, and skunks in general (or perhaps it’s only Hobkin), seem to find being pressed between/against something comforting. Maybe since they live in borrows underground in the wild, pressed in hole=safe.

So I spent a good portion of the last four days propped on the couch with eight pounds of snoring fuzziness flopped on my chest, trying to balance my laptop on my stomach so I could get some work done. And those were the times when Hobkin was snoozing flat instead of lolling to one side, requiring me to use an arm to balance him in place—else he’d roll right off in his sleep and blame me for it (yes, that’s happened before)—and thereby forcing me to type one-handed. It’s hard enough typing using both hands with a skunk lying on me; I can’t see over him, so if I lose the home keys, if I can’t find them again by touch, I’m pretty much plum out of luck.

A couple of times, Hobkin flopped on Matthew instead of me, and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my two ailing boys (with my grainy, less-than-one-pixel-lame cell phone camera, alas):

I feel sort of remiss that I didn’t post a “Things I am Thankful For” Thanksgiving day post, as has been my tradition, but the day itself sort of slipped by me. Like last year, health issues conspired to make the holiday low key—although this year they weren’t mine but Matthew and Hobkin’s. But I think it’s good to remind myself that I have much to be thankful for. So herein my belated “Things I am Thankful For” list; it’s essentially a reprise of my 2006 list, but I am no less thankful two years later:

1. For my husband, Matthew, my best friend, love of my life, and soul mate. He cherishes me as I am, even with all my flaws and foibles. I am stronger because of his support and better because of his example.
2. For Hobkin, for making our house a home and reminding me that dignity is overrated, especially compared to laughter.
3. For family and friends: near, far, offline, and on.
4. For my health. Even as crappy as it is, it could be and has been much worse. And despite all the rips and worn spots in my human suit, it works well enough to keep me going—which is more than many people are able to say.
5. That I have the freedom and ability to chase my bliss and tell the stories that fill my days with magic.
6. For my beautiful home—my whimsy-filled sanctuary where unseen fey folk mysteriously turn on and off the lights and occasionally swipe and hide inexplicable items.
7. That I am not hungry or cold.
8. That I believe in and love myself.
9. For my day job, because it is an incredible blessing that I love what I do and not only don’t begrudge the hours I spend at the office but am glad of them.

   


Writing Stuff

New Words:
• 300 on The Stupid Novel.

Sale to Bards and Sages Quarterly: “Gifts Not Asked For”

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Writing Stuff

New Words:
• 700 on The Stupid Novel.

The spreadsheet informs me that I’m around 800 words away from the ever-so-elusive 40K. It needs to be longer than that, since the story won’t be finished in 800 words—I’m thinking maybe another 10K—but 40K has been a huge ole wall that I haven’t been able to get past before. And I’m actually beginning to believe I will this time. Ooo.

Received:
• 3-day pass from PodCastle on a reprint with invite to submit again.
• 11-day cordial pass from Beneath Ceaseless Skies, ditto invite to submit again.
• 5-day sale of “Gifts Not Asked For” to Bards and Sages Quarterly.

They’re going to serialize it in five parts, starting with their April ’09 issue. I’ve never had a story serialized before (although I do have a two-parter slated for publication in a couple forthcoming and yet-to-be-announced issues of Cricket), and I hadn’t originally written this story to be a serial. But as I was perusing the B&SQ guidelines—which indicate that they’re only looking for fiction 1.5K words or less—I saw that they were also interested in serials, with each part around that 1.5K-word mark. And I remembered that “Gifts” is broken into four or five distinct scenes of about that length. Quick tweak to change the scene breaks to part breaks, and voila, five-part story ready to be serialized. Shiny serendipity.

State of the Human Suit

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Had a follow-up with my rheumatologist. He’s not only the best specialist I’ve ever had, but the best doctor, period. He pulled me out of a miserable, two-month long flare-up (my doctors back in Illinois were well-meaning but inept) going on four years ago and has kept my lupus/MCTD stable ever since. And he’s the only doctor (and I routinely see quite a few) who actually remembers anything about me or my condition*.

He always inquires about my writing, sometimes asks after Hobkin, and is generally interested and engaging. He’s also got an incredibly appealing bedside manner—stern in a grandfatherly sort of way—and has a charming Italian accent. And I actually believe he cares about my health; when I first saw him, he scolded me for not seeing a rheumatologist before for my lupus (I mentioned the ineptitude of my previous doctors, didn’t I?).

He’s also the reason I haven’t wanted to switch to a different HMO despite the fact that it’s the most expensive HMO option offered and some egregiously terrible experiences—bordering on (possibly crossing into) malpractice terrible—not to mention the general bungling, incompetence, and inability to provide basic customer service I’ve suffered at the hands of my HMO. But it seems that the state is making that decision for me. Due to budget issues, my place of work is dropping my current HMO as a benefit option, so come 2010, I’m going to have to switch.

When I first heard about this, I was appalled. My rheumatologist is specific to the particular HMO I’m currently with, so I won’t be able to keep seeing him. But, after our follow-up on Friday, I’m a little less dismayed. Not ’cause I like him any less or anything, but ’cause he said that “I’ve graduated” (his words, hee!) and don’t need to see him as often since I’ve been stable and flare-up free for so long. He suggested we decrease the frequency of our follow-up appointments down to once a year—with, of course, a stern admonition to call him immediately if I start evidencing any signs of a flare-up. And then he teased me about missing him.

Although y’know, I actually will miss him, ’cause I rather enjoy our visits.

But with me only seeing him once a year—and the fact that, at best, I won’t mind replacing my other doctors, at worst, I’ll be glad to swap them for another one since I can’t imagine their replacements being much worse—it’s less distressing.

Still, I remain miffed that I don’t get a say in this matter. ‘Cause in the end, I find any amount of aggravation and incompetence from the rest of my HMO to be a fair trade for seeing my rheumatologist. So even though I can contemplate this mandatory service provider switchover somewhat philosophically, I remain very unhappy that I have to give him up come 2010.

*My p-doc still thinks I have ADD even though I remind her every single time I see her that I’m taking Adderall to combat lupus/MCTD-related fatigue, not to treat ADD. Not to mention that I have no (and have never had any) symptoms of ADD and have never been tested for or diagnosed with ADD. Not impressive. I’d be raring to switch p-docs and would have way before now, except that pretty much all she is to me is a signature on a ‘scrip, so it doesn’t really matter to me how incapable she is as a doctor.

   


Writing Stuff

Writing accomplished this weekend: none. Glargh. Move along, folks. Nothing to see here. Sigh.

End of an Aeon

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Received an email from Bridget McKenna that Aeon is ceasing publication. It’s a great shame, as I’ve found their fiction offerings to be pretty consistently superb. And on a personal front, they have a story of mine, “Black Swan, White Swan,” which was slated for publication in their next issue.

But at least there’s a silver lining there. The Aeon editors plan to publish a print anthology in 2009, End of an Aeon, which will feature the unpublished stories they currently have in inventory.

This is the second sale for me this year that has been nixed (although, certainly, having “Black Swan, White Swan” appearing in an anthology isn’t technically a “nix”) due to a market folding or a previously green-lit project being given the axe.

I seem to remember hearing that the publishing industry, along with the film biz, has traditionally been considered (relatively) recession proof—the argument being that even when finances are tight, people still need entertainment. But I’ve been hearing through the grapevine, directly and indirectly—as well as being impacted personally—of publishers feeling the pinch of the deteriorating economy: that it’s making them pull back on their lines, limit the number of new titles and new authors being taken on, and other worrying behavior. So it seems pretty clear to me that the current economic straits are being felt by the publishing industry, undoubtedly more so by the small/independent press/magazine folks, but also by the major players.

Very depressing it is.

Cover Mock-up of Returning My Sister’s Face

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I woke up this morning before my alarm went off with Hobkin a warm, fuzzy lump curled up at my shoulder and fosteronfilm a warm, less-fuzzy lump beside me. I lay in the pre-dawn darkness listening to them breathe, amused that at first I couldn’t tell which breath-sound belonged to husband and which to skunk. Eventually, I determined that Matthew’s breathing was the deeper, slower of the two and Hobkin’s breathing had a little snuffle-hitch at the end of each exhalation—plus he was closer to my ear. It was very peaceful.

‘Course then my alarm went off, and I had to emerge from the toasty covers and into the frigid air. But I’ve managed to keep a bit of the early AM tranquility with me—which is fortunate, ’cause holy Jeebus is it cold outside!

   


Writing Stuff

Received the cover mock-up for the ARC of Returning My Sister’s Face from Norilana, and omigod it’s fabulous. Shiny, shiny cover:

The ARC is off to the printers, and I’ve been compiling a list of places to pass along to Vera as suggestions to send it to. Feels kinda weird to find myself in the opposite role than my usual one of review material recipient (for The Fix).

Frozen Editor and Galleys of Returning My Sister’s Face

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So cold. So very, very cold.

The office at work is freezing. I’m downing hot tea, wearing my coat and gloves, and I still can’t get warm. I haven’t turned on the space heater under my desk yet, ’cause it always dries out my contacts. And I can’t edit if I can’t see. But I’m nearing the point of not caring about my eyes anymore. Plus, I can’t edit if I can’t feel my fingers either.

*shiver shiver*

   


Writing Stuff

New Words:
• 350 on The Stupid Novel. Must. Get. To. Zero draft.

Received:
• Galley proofs of Returning My Sister’s Face from norilana. I’m very pleased with the layout; it’s elegant and readable. I can’t wait to hold the finished product in my eager little hands.

Y’know, it’s not like I haven’t received tons of proofs before, but I can’t seem to wipe the silly grin off my face as I review this one. Every stage of getting this collection ready for publication gives me the same sense of excitement and glee as I used to get when I first started making sales.

And somewhat disturbingly, Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” is now playing through my head. Umm…

Twitterpated

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Mostly at the instigation of dude_the, I have gotten myself a Twitter account. I was pretty uncertain about it until I found that Twitter and Facebook have an application which facilitates cross-platform updates so I can update my status in Facebook and have it automatically go to Twitter (or vice versa—not sure which platform the app. originates from). Shiny geekiness.

So if you Twitter, add me and I’ll add you so we can follow each others’ 140-character or less status updates .

Back From Weekend 1 of 2 and Patricia A. McKillip Cover Blurb

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Had a dentist appointment on Monday AM so I came into the office late, Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday, and I opted to take my 4×10 day off yesterday. Feels like I’ve been home more this week than at work. Oh, wait, that’s because I have!

However, life is returning to its normal routine—as normal as it gets. dude_the flew back home on Sunday, the presidential elections are over*, and I’m now taking stock of my plate of hamsters. And verily, my hamsters are surly, nippy, and fat.

Y’know, I should quit saying that I’m trying to “catch up” and simply accept that it is my lot to perpetually be in a state of hamster overflow.

*This is the first time in a very long while that I’ve dared to feel optimistic about the political outlook for America. Not to mention proud of my country. I actually got rather weepy-faced when I watched Obama’s victory speech. That man’s a moving and powerful speaker.

   


Writing Stuff

And in the giddy-unto-hyperventilating news, Patricia A. McKillip, the Locus, World Fantasy Best Novel, and World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award-winning author—a writer I’ve admired and idolized for, like, ever—gave me the most fabulous cover blurb for my Returning My Sister’s Face collection:

“The tales are beautifully written, elegant, passionate, funny and moving. The entire collection is a delightful, magical bridge across cultures. I hope many readers find their way to it.”

I am squeeful beyond the telling of it.

New Words:
• Around 300 on The Stupid Novel. I really need to get my butt in gear if I’m going to get it to zero draft before end of year (and, more to the point, before the beginning of Georgia’s legislative session).

Go Vote! And “A Box of Spoons” up at Hub

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If you’re a Yank 18 years of age or older and you haven’t yet, go vote!

Don’t take your constitutional right to participate in America’s democratic process for granted. Make your opinion count. Cast your ballot today.

   


Writing Stuff

Newly published:
• “A Box of Spoons” is now up at Hub (issue #68). Free fiction; go read, yo! (After you vote.)

Voting, Hardware Failure, and Honorable Mention in Year’s Best SF: 25th Annual Collection

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Hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween!

We stood in line for three hours to vote. Three hours. Although it wasn’t that onerous. The atmosphere was pretty upbeat throughout. There was a certain shared, whoa-can-you-believe-this-three-hours!-wow consternation, but it was good-natured and conducive to camaraderie rather than conflict.

On the very bad, craptacularly wah-some front, one of our external drives died. 250 GBs bit it. Hard. It stopped being detected by fosteronfilm‘s VAIO desktop computer, so we tried it on dude_the‘s Macbook. No go. Then Paul noticed it was making a softly ominous “click-click” noise instead of the gentle “whirr” it’s supposed to make. Very not good.

That drive has a lot of Matthew’s film data on it, and we’re not sure how much of it was backed up or is otherwise replaceable. The hubby was still trying to determine the full contents of that drive when he essentially passed out from exhaustion last night/early this AM.

Unfortunately, while I have computer geek proclivities, they lie, in total, in the area of software. When it comes to hardware, I’m easily confounded, flustered, and distressed—to the point of having to ask for help to plug in a USB thumb drive in one of my not-finer moments at Dragon*Con a couple years back. Yes, I am utterly lame when it comes to cords, plugs, cards, cables, and peripherals.

Paul’s thinking it might be the casing and connection which have belly-upped, so wants to extract the drive from the case and insert it into the computer to see if it’ll register as an internal drive. ‘Course the case appears to be solid-state and will need to be pried open. If that doesn’t work, I guess we have the option of taking it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to see if they can recover the data. No idea how much that’ll cost or what the chances are of them being able to rescue the contents.

Matthew, understandably, is quite upset.

   


Writing Stuff

In a belated “OMG, REALLY??” I discovered that “The Center of the Universe” received an Honorable Mention from The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois, which come out last July. How did I miss that?? Um, well, late squeeing is still squeeing. *squee!*