Author Archives: Eugie Foster

Session ’07, Day 35

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Chug-a-chug-a. I think I can I think I can…

Actually, whether I think I can or not, I will. Only five more days left. People are getting a little white-eyed around the office. Myself included, undoubtedly. But word on the street is that Georgia’s 2007 legislative session will most likely adjourn sine die next Friday (the 20th). Although there’s also speculation that a special session will be called immediately upon adjournment.

Gulp.

Hoping that’s just a scary rumor.

   


Writing Stuff

I hit my 100th sale today!

It’s an occasion for cake and drunken revelry, but I don’t have the time for such indulgence, alas. I’m also thinking I might wait until I’ve amassed five more sales until I ring in the “official” 100th sale milestone. According to my spreadsheet, five of the sales were for nonfiction: four articles and an interview. (I’m not counting my Writing for Young Readers columns, as those aren’t “sales” so much as an ongoing gig–which reminds me I really need to start working on my May column.)

Received:
– 36-day sale of “The End of the Universe” to the new U.K. ezine, Darker Matter. The editor sent payment immediately (pro rates+, even!). I actually received it before the contract, which followed on its heels. Such lightning-fast payment (for fiction, at least) is a first, and I’m muchly impressed.
– Confirmation & contract from Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine that they want to reprint “Body and Soul Art” in their Best of Horror anthology.

New Words/Editing:
– fosteronfilm first readered my Persian fairy tale re-telling. He liked it, which is a little unusual, as he’s normally not a fan of fairy tales. So does that mean I did something right, or something wrong with this one? Normally, he’s an excellent bellwether of my fiction, able to predict which stories will get the best reception and which ones might need more work, with the exception of my fairy and folktales, which he tends not to be enamored with in general and which tend to sell well regardless.

So I did a couple editing passes, and now I’m dithering as to what to do with it. Send it out for critique? Send it out to market? Or sit on it for a week–to give myself the same distance I would’ve if I’d offered it up for crits–and give it another couple editing passes before sending it out to market. Or some other as-of-yet undetermined option.

Blah. Insecurity, doubt, and indecision is me.

Session ’07, Day 34

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And the 2007 Georgia legislative session resumes. La! Clawing our way to the finish line . . .

   


Writing Stuff

The Carolina Romance Writers (CRW) have updated their online workshop page to include mine: Worldbuilding for Writers: Transporting Readers Beyond the Ordinary.

When: June 2007.
Registration: $15 for CRW members, $20 for non-members.
Registration deadline: May 27.

What: Whether your story enthralls readers in the sumptuous decadence of a bygone era, sweeps them to a fantastical otherworld, captivates with an electrifying future, or happens right now, the vibrancy of your setting will determine whether readers live and breathe and feel what your characters live and breathe and feel. But the world your characters inhabit is more than scenery; it’s climate and sociology, magic and technology, history and politics–dynamics that shape the fundamentals of behavior, motivation, and thought as well as psychology, culture, and religion. How do you make it factually accurate? How do you present your world so it doesn’t read like a textbook? And how do you make it seem real? Worldbuilding for Writers will delve into everything from the logic and practicalities of magic to constructing an alien landscape to immersing in the here and now.

Received:
– 8-day nada from Heliotrope.

New Words:
– 250 on the Persian fairy tale retelling. And I’m at zero draft. I managed to finish it before session resumed. Woohoo! My first completed story of 2007! Going to have fosteronfilm first reader it, and then (probably) pop it up to Critters. I’m vacillating on whether I need/want to post this to Critters. I’ve been so non-active there, I feel a bit guilty about it.

Hobkin’s 5th Birthday

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It’s Hobkin’s birthday! The fuzzwit is five years old today. According to American Domestic Skunk Association skunk show standards, five years qualifies as a senior skunk. So far, Hobkin doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Thankfully.

We’re baking a cherry pie for him to celebrate his birthday. He’ll get a small slice. I anticipate sticky paws . . . and nose and fur.


Big smile for the camera!

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Six Flags Stabbity

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So Six Flags was holding a promo freebie today: free admission between the hours of 6AM to 9AM. Well, apparently every child and their cousin was trying to get in on it *grumble fume*, resulting in heaps o’ chaos and the gates closing at 6, as well as a holy muckup of traffic which impacted my commute to the MARTA station, even though I’m going southbound and Six Flags is west of the perimeter. Huge stretches of 400 whereupon I sat at a complete stop, waiting to creep forward.

Stabbity

   


Writing Stuff

My “Pick Six” interview with ambasadora is now up. Go read, yo!

Received:
– 97-day “beautifully written but . . .” with invite to submit again from Sheila Williams of Asimov’s. Sigh. At least I’m getting personal “no”s from her again.
– 35-day pass, praise, & invite to try again from Dark Recesses with suggestions for other markets to try.
– Contract from Helix for “The Center of the Universe.”

New Words:
– 1300 on a Persian fairy tale re-telling.

Yah, I tabled “Better a Heart of Fire.” I’ve got the writing bug now, but it’s been so long since I was producing things regularly ’cause of the legislative session, I’m rusty on the word cranking routine. Couldn’t seem to muster up the discipline to put words on the page and finish the thing when my momentum flagged. Not an auspicious sign for my post-session novel aspirations.

Also feeling like my prose craft is particularly raw from disuse. To bolster my morale and get back into the fairy tale rhythm, I went back and read over some of the other re-tellings I’ve written. And y’know, they were pretty good. Then I read over my current WiP . . . and it wasn’t.

Morale not so much bolstered as knocked down and kicked in the dirt.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
1,300 / 2,000
(65.0%)

Oakland Cemetery

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The photo shoot at Oakland Cemetery went well. I’ve never been there before, and I was agog at the beauty of it. There were sculptures and a fountain and stained glass windows, bronze urns bigger than me, and beautiful mausoleums fit to make a goth cry.

And the flora! *swoon* There were these huge oak, magnolia, and dogwood trees shading the pathways, and flowers sprouting everywhere perfuming the air. There was also a small, wrought iron gazebo with climbing roses abuzz with bumblebees. Not yellow jackets or wasps, but actual bumblebees–the kind that are as big as my thumb and utterly non-aggressive. We did a few shots in the gazebo and a stray wind knocked one of the bees into my leg; didn’t faze the bee or me. He flew off, I smiled for the camera, unstung.

I’m particularly fond of those kinds of bees, actually. They’re large and fuzzy enough to trigger my “aww, cute!” proclivities. I’ve also got an admittedly cavalier attitude about bees and wasps, which occasionally freaks fosteronfilm out, because I’ve never been stung by one. Pollen collectors and I get along, unlike their blood-drinking brethren, which I kill on sight, as I appear to have a big, blinking neon sign for them which says “Bite Me, I’m YUMMY.” Plus, I’m hypersensitive to their various anticoagulants and venoms. ‘Course, I have no idea whether I’m allergic to bee and wasp stings . . .

Nevertheless, it’s a truism, if I’m outside for long enough, something that I’m allergic to will brush against me, or some blood-thirsty insect will zoom in on me. And, ye verily, I’ve got the red welt on my calf to prove it. The last shot of the day for me was when we were posing around the base of a magnolia tree with lovely ivy creeping around the ground and trunk, and something bit me. I also somehow managed to get a touch of sunburn on the back of my neck, as did dude_the.* But while I understand how dude_the got sunstruck, as his hair is short and off his neck, I’m a bit perplexed as to how I managed the feat, since my hair is well past my shoulders and I’d brought a parasol. And as much as I could, when I was in direct sunlight, I had the thing up. Weird.

Dean, the photographer, is still sorting through the pix, but got me this one as a sneak peek:


Photo by Dean Ansley

Can’t wait to see the rest of them!

* It should go without saying, considering how photosensitive I am, that the parts of me that I could reasonably expect to be exposed to sunlight were liberally coated in industrial-strength, 45 SPF, broad spectrum sunscreen.

   


Writing Stuff

Received:
– Contract from Tekno Books for the electronic rights to “Honor is a Game Mortals Play” (forthcoming in the DAW Books anthology, Heroes In Training). They’re setting up a deal with Sony to sell electronic short fiction online from their website for Sony’s new e-reader device. Tekno also mentioned they’d be willing to consider other stories, which I took as an amazing serendipity, since I was just dwelling upon making some of my previously published fiction available electronically and pondering how to do that. So I fired off an email to the editor/director person listing some of my stories and their publication history to see if he’d be interested in considering including them. He is, with the caveat that Sony has final approval over content. So I’m sending them along and crossing my fingers.

Session ’07, Day 33

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I haven’t seen fosteronfilm and dude_the at all this week. They went to an advance screening of a movie last night, leaving me to come home to, once again, a humanless house. *humph* Fine. Me and the skunk don’t need that pair of slackers anyway.

I’ve got a photo shoot tomorrow for the Girls of Dragon*Con Charity Calendar project at one of Atlanta’s cemeteries. I think I’m going to have to drag both of them along.

   


Writing Stuff

Received:
– Payment from Helix for “Addy in My Mind.” Not pro rates, but the amount exceeded my expectations. Very nice.
– 1-day sale of “The Center of the Universe” to Helix. Publication date/issue TBD. This is the story that was orphaned when the Lesbian Sleuth anthology folded, so I’m well pleased that it was able to find a new home.

Session ’07, Day 32

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As it turns out, Crossover Day wasn’t so bad. I got out at 8ish–well within normal session hours–and it sounds like the latest chamber (the Senate this year) got out at around 10:30. So far, this week has been pretty gentle. And since the legislature adjourns all of next week for Spring Break, I don’t expect I’ll have to work this weekend.

Neat.

I continue to be amused when bills that I edited are deemed newsworthy. This time, it’s SB 43–prohibiting (certain) employers from prohibiting (certain) employees from (lawfully) carrying firearms in their (locked) vehicles–and the AJC‘s Political Insider commentary. *Snerk* Me likie when evil politicians squabble amongst themselves.

dude_the is here. Yay! He went with fosteronfilm to the Atlanta Film Festival volunteer meeting last night, so I came home to a humanless house. Hobkin trundled out to see me, crawled up beside me on the couch, and we both promptly fell asleep until the boys came home.

Despite the relatively easy pace of this week, I’m exhausted.

   


Writing Stuff

The French ‘zine Faeries hasn’t paid me yet for “Of Two Minds in Lanais” that they reprinted last November. There’s often delays in this biz between when I expect to be paid and when I actually am, so I didn’t think much of it initially–especially since this is the third story of mine they’ve published, and the prior two times they paid me without any fuss. But I queried the editor about it two weeks ago and haven’t heard a peep back. It’s making me a bit anxious both in a “why haven’t they replied?” way as well as an “are my emails going astray again?” way. Urk.

Received:
– Note from my Cricket/Cicada editor letting me know that, as I feared, my recent Cicada submission didn’t make it in before the new submissions moratorium, so it’s being bounced back. Pook. But I also got a bit of a status update on how things are going up there in Cricket Country–slow but progressing–and an encouraging nudge to write and submit something to Cricket, which has, ye verily, kicked my motivation to do exactly that into hyperdrive. Pondering. Think think think.
– Galley proofs of “Mistress Fortune Favors the Unlucky” from the editor of Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Badguy. It’s due to come out next month, and I anticipate many giggle-out-loud moments within its pages.
– 39-day “doesn’t quite meet the needs of our podcast” with a “we look forward to your next” from Pseudopod on a flash reprint. Alas.

Session ’07, Day 30, Crossover Day

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Today is Crossover Day, the deadline for when bills have to pass at least one chamber or be dropped, and also the busiest day of Georgia’s legislative year. Historically, Crossover Day is a midnight+ affair for the legislature and therefore us folks at the Office O’Legislative Counsel. Last year, I believe the House was in session until 1:30AM.

I wore the comfiest work clothes I have, brought a blanket/pillow and toothbrush, and packed an extra 10mg of Adderall (which I haven’t decided whether I should take or not, and I need to soon since it’s an XR).

Urk. I expect my brain will be at half mast come Wednesday.

But, on a happy note, someone brought in a plate of amazing caramel brownies this morning. Brownies and coffee for breakfast, does it get any more decadent? And the attorneys are treating the office to dinner tonight.

When under stress, apply food. Yup.

dude_the is here on a business trip, taking a class. Yay! Although we haven’t seen him yet as, well, he’s taking a class and it’s session. But his class ends on Wednesday, and he’s hanging out through the weekend. Hoping I get to do more than wave to him in passing.

   


Writing Stuff

The novel bug’s been hitting me. Adding details and brainstorm-related particulars to my existing outline and character sketches for the YA novel. Gearing up for a full out effort once the session ends.

Performance anxiety and trepidation is high.

I’m primarily doing research, possible to do between rush bills, at least, and gathering a bit of fodder for hungry lil plot bunnies. My focus is on autism and Asperger’s but while digging around online, I discovered a fascinating condition called hypergraphia, a driving compulsion to write, which I was unfamiliar with before. Speculating whether some particularly prolific writers might have it.

Brains are neat. And weird.

Session ’07, After Day 29, adjourned again

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I wasn’t able to go to the Pirates of the Caribbean screening last Sunday. I had to work. All day.

I got in the office at around 10:15 AM and couldn’t leave until after 7 PM. Bummer. But I knew that playtime would undoubtedly have to be sacrificed to the legislative session going into it, and so far, I’ve already had more actual weekends than I’d expected I would. And I know I’ve had it relatively soft compared to other editors, like poor elemess who had to stay until midnight on Tuesday. Plus, the evil-scary bill I labored over on Sunday, HB 227, actually passed in the House this week.

fosteronfilm is having two wisdom teeth pulled this morning, the poor thing. But it’s high time. One of them broke months ago. Fortunately, the break didn’t expose the nerve, and he wasn’t in pain.

Less fortunately, with the new year, we’d switched dental plans, which also involved acquiring a new dentist, and the one we got (based primarily on the proximity of his office to our house) was not a good fit, being less concerned about the state and welfare of our teeth and more interested in pushing expensive and unnecessary dental procedures–which, ironically, did not include extracting the broken tooth since that apparently wasn’t big ticket enough. So yah, we decided that we wanted a new dentist and had to wait for the insurance folks to approve a switch (the third dentist we’ve had in six months). Then we had to wait for the paperwork to go through so this new dentist could examine Matthew’s tooth and go “yup, that needs to come out, and probably be a good idea to pull that other one too while we’re at it,” get the extraction procedure okayed by the insurance, and then schedule it.

I’m just really, really glad that Matthew wasn’t in any pain. All this waiting, while decidedly annoying, at least wasn’t agonizing.

On the plus side, the extraction procedure is 100% covered. On the minus side, the anesthesia portion is 0% covered. The hubby is opting to have it done under just a local which is much less expensive than a general would’ve been. He’s hella more macho than me; when I had my wisdom teeth out, I insisted they knock me out. But I remain perplexed and indignant than none of the anesthesia is covered. If we couldn’t afford to pay for it out of pocket, would they really have subjected him to having two teeth pulled without any anesthesia?

   


Writing Stuff

I’m either due or past due on responses from several markets. I haven’t felt jonesy for a sale for a while, but I’ve got the writerly jitters good now. I could really use a juicy sale fix. *twitch*

Received:
– Heidi Ruby Miller (ambasadora) asked to interview me for her ongoing “Heidi’s Pick Six” author spotlights. Of course I said “yes.” Mine is slotted to go up next month.

New Words:
– 300 on “Better a Heart of Fire.” As I feared, my momentum is beginning to fizzle. A gooey glob of inspiration hit while I was driving to the MARTA station this morning. But, of course, traffic cops tend to frown at folks typing on laptops while driving, so I refrained from trying to increase my word count while cruising down the freeway. Will try to work on it this weekend.

Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
2,568 / 3,500
(73.4%)