Category Archives: LJ

Just found out that the Blasphemy anthology debuted at number TWO on the Shocklines.com Advance Order list!

For those of y’all who pre-ordered it, MMWWAAAA!

And if anyone wants to help bump it to number one:

Watched a lot of Angel episodes last night. Going to watch a couple more today. I’m so glad the WB renewed it. I would’ve gone into total Joss Whedon withdrawal if there wasn’t at least one show of his on the air.

Also saw Two Weeks Notice with Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant yesterday. I really liked it! I mean, it was a romantic comedy and as such it was a bit predictable. But there was some genuinely good writing–both funny and touching.

Took some Clonazepam at bedtime. The jury’s still out on whether I’m allergic to it or not. But my TOS is better.

And I got a note from the President/CEO of Phobos Books. Phobos (publishers of the “Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown” anthology) is trying to have a presence at Dragon*Con with James Maxey, another of their writers, and Keith Olexa, the Phobos editor. They do plan to have Pixeltown out in time for Dragon*Con (oh boy!). I’d told her that I worked Dragon*Con and my affiliation with the Daily Dragon and she wants me to join the Phobos contingency too. Aside from the autographing and publicity mongering, she’s also trying to set up a panel for us all to be on. If it pans out, it’ll be my second Dragon*Con panel. Hurray! And gleep. Did I mention my terror of public speaking? Ah well. The first panel went okay (it was a couple years ago). When I glazed up with a deer-in-headlights look, one of my fellow panelists nudged me and asked me a nice leading question to get me going again. Maybe I should warn Keith and James beforehand . . .

But it means I’ll get to autograph books! Ohboyohboyohboy! It’s all still so shiny and new. Can you tell?

Had a lovely evening last night with britzkrieg and her S.O. Went out for Thai food at Satay House, a nearby establishment with lovely decor and killer Pad See-U. Haven’t had Thai food in ages. Yummy. And, as usual, excellent conversation and company. britzkrieg, we need to have you and J over to meet Hobkin and have Matthew cook for us all!

Got my June SFWA Forum in the mail today. I’m STILL not in the member directory updates, damn it. But this time at least they had a URL to a form in the SFWA.org member’s only area that I could fill out to let them know. Hopefully, they’ll have me listed in the August Forum directory insert. People who applied months and months after me for membership both got theirs before me, and got listed in the directory before me. Cripes, what gives?

Had an appointment this morning with my optometrist. I can no longer wear RGP lenses because my eyes are so dry, which is annoying because the rigid lenses kept my eyes stabilized. I’ve been wearing soft disposables for the last several months and my eyes are already a degree worse. The opti doc had me try on four different sets of soft lenses before we settled on the proper power and brand (Acuvue Torics again). Putting on and taking off four sets of contacts in a very short time frame is a bit hard on the ole optics. But hurray for clear vision. ‘Course, as soon as I went home, I took them out. My eyes were just crying for a rest. Almost literally.

Sixteen crits already on this week’s offering at Critters.org. Goodness. (Thanks, britzkrieg, btw!) Mostly good reviews with a few downright glowing ones, and one regular who had major problems with my protag’s end decision. Z’okay, differences in philosophy are fine by me, and my story really made him think. I count that as a success.

And we have coffee filters! Thank whatever deity watches over caffeine addicts.

Had to stop taking the clonazepam because I started exhibiting allergic reactions. They were pretty low grade but I didn’t want to risk them getting worse. But they were working on my TOS. I’ve been in increasing amounts of pain since I stopped taking them, not to mention my sleep cycle appears to be royally kiboshed. I might try taking a dose tonight. If I am allergic, I’ll have all of Sunday to recover.

My body hates me.

The Blasphemy anthology site is now live! Click on the banner to read excerpts, including one from “In Suffering Lies Salvation” written by yours truly:

[take the test] – [by krystaljungle.com]

Ooo! The new cover art for Hitting the Skids in Pixeltown designed by Stephan Martiniere is up! Isn’t it gorgeous?

After I powered down the computer last night, finished writing for the day, we watched Bridget Jones’s Diary on DVD. I’m such a sap for good romantic comedies, and this one was such a fun one. And now I’m feeling on a Hugh Grant kick. Mmm, Hugh Grant. Yummy. I now wanna see Notting Hill again and Sirens. Maybe I can convince Matthew to have a Hugh Grant-a-thon today. Popcorn, Hugh Grant, hubby, skunk. Sounds like the makings of a good Sunday.

We didn’t see Two Weeks Notice when it came out. Now I’m wondering if it was any good. Maybe we’ll rent it.

In happy news, I stepped on the scale this morning and it informed me that I’ve lost three pounds. Quite pleased about that. This is the first dieting I’ve done where I haven’t particularly increased my cardio activity. In the past I did a huge amount of exercise to lose weight–aerobics (which, incidentally, I hate, but I just happen to hate less than most other exercises), dance, yoga, etc.–but this year I’m too damn lazy/sick/busy to get a regular exercise program organized, so I’m just cutting calories. I know that doesn’t work as well. I’m just losing weight, not toning muscle, and I’m not doing anything good for my metabolism this way. Actually, I had doubts whether it would work at all since I know how important exercise and increasing one’s metabolism is when it comes to losing weight. But it is indeed working.

Three pounds down, four to go. Then I’ll be back at where I was before last year’s holidays. I’m aiming to lose those extra pounds by Dragon*Con so I’ll be able to lace my corset without any extra space in the back.

It’s important to have goals . . .

Been writing for most of the day.

Just finished my rewrite of the story I had in the Critters queue last week. I’ll give it one final pass, then out into the world it goes. This one was a particularly grueling rewrite as there were substantial changes/clarifications that needed making. Not to mention I ended up with thirty critiques (I vow I will never complain about a lack of lovin from Critters again!) Gleep. But I think I managed to address the flaws in the story, at least to my satisfaction. I’ll sleep on it and go over it again tomorrow, but I’m well pleased with my efforts. Fork poised and ready to stick.

Also did a couple more passes on the new story and re-loaded it to Critters. MPC processed and it’s slated to go up next week. Huzzah.

I feel quite productive even though all I did today is rewrite. Probably ’cause the rewrites were fairly extensive.

Rah.

Saw a matinée showing of Finding Nemo yesterday. There were a lot of kids at it. Yes, I know: animated film from Pixar, G-rated, afternoon showing. I did indeed realize beforehand that there were going to be a mass of kids. For the most part, they were well behaved. But the one or two that insisted or screaming or crying throughout the movie were a bit rough on my overall viewing enjoyment. But, at least I didn’t have anyone kicking the back of my chair for the whole show.

Nemo was beautiful. Pixar really has their act together when it comes to breathtaking animation. And I really liked their sensibilities when it came to human behavior. We’re callous and unthinking towards animals! Yes, we are! Overall, Nemo is a sweet and charming flick. I recommend it to anyone who has a smidgen of whimsy left in their jaded, cynical souls.

We are out of coffee filters. Calamity! Catastrophe! Not a good thing! I’m eying the coffee beans, wondering how they’ll taste eaten straight and not coated in chocolate. Blargh. We’ll definitely need to make a coffee filter run.

My new clonazepam meds are fun. Yep, they’re fun. I took my dose late last night and then worked on updating my writing webpage (no, I didn’t code anything funky). After an hour or two, I got up to go wooze and giggle at Matthew. An hour after that, I tipped over and fell asleep. But there was some time in there where I was light-headed, euphoric, and giggly. So hurray for something amusing coming out of all the stupid meds I’m taking. I’m still a little wobbly now. And without my coffee I’m not sure how long it may last. But at least it’s a fun wobbly. Wheee.

Did three more passes on the new story yesterday. Managed to cull around 300 anti-words. It’s still longish, hovering at that border between short story and novelette, though. Sigh. I do tend to write to that length, the 7-8K death count. Oh well. I like the story. That’s the important thing.