Category Archives: Blog

Still a smear on the virtual highway

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Had a little alarm clock snafu this morning. I was pinned by a skunk and just wanted nine more minutes of sleep when my alarm went off. Wasn’t thinking too clearly, otherwise I would never have done what I did next. I rolled over, prodded Matthew, and asked him to hit snooze. After a few more prods, he lumbered up, the alarm clock fell silent, and I fell back asleep.

Half an hour later, Hobkin decided it was time for breakfast and scampered off to see if the breakfast fairy had made an appearance, which woke me up. I looked at the clock and realized it was much later than I had expected. Matthew blearily asked: “You didn’t want me to turn it off?” Chaotic rushing ensued.

Not a good way to start the day.



Writing Stuff:

Finished proofing the galleys of “Of Two Minds in Lanais” for Leading Edge and emailed my corrections to the editor. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever kept something that needed to be done from an editor in my life–rewrite request, contract, synopsis request, or proof. I guess I shouldn’t beat myself up over a week, but it still makes me feel like I dropped the ball in there.

I heard my muse cackling maniacally, alternating with hysterical giggles. I thought it best to leave her be for a while longer, but she seems to be displaying a surprising amount of resilience.

Discovered a cute folkish tale I’d set aside. I re-read what I’d written, and liked what I had too much to leave it unfinished. So I rattled off 2000 new words and just like that, it’s done. Hunh. But I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it now. When I started it, I had intended it for Cricket. But it clocks in at nearly 3.4K, far too long for them. Hmm. Perhaps that’s why I set it aside in the first place.

Ah well. I’ll see if I can cut it down or, more realistically, hunt down other markets for it. I wonder if it would be suitable for Cicada?

But I finished another story. Yay!

Eugie, meet Mr. Semitruck, aka Dragon*Con

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Dragon*Con happened. Haven’t fully recovered from it yet. May not for many more days. Oof. My brain feels tenderized. I have bruises that I cannot fully account for, and blisters that I can. Our bedroom looks like the costume fairy exploded in it. Our living room is only marginally better, and only because we had to pick things up off the floor or Hobkin would have been more than happy to investigate them for us. And there are some post-con issues that I’m having to deal with that are not making me happy.

But from what I can pick out of the actual convention blur, it was great! Highlights, or rather those bits I can remember enough to be coherent on:

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Busybusybusybusybusybusy

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So busy I can’t believe I’m taking the time to make this LJ entry. Gearing up big-time for Dragon*Con. Had a very aggravating thing happen last night. Heard from one of my staff that she wasn’t working D*C this year. Talk about last minute notice! I didn’t think I could fill her spot by convention time, so I was frantically rethinking my painstakingly synchronized desk schedule.

But, as fortune had it, I got a note from the volunteer coordinator today. Due to staff cuts in other departments (sorry, tk0667), there was a staffer adrift who expressed an interest in working for me and he stepped into the gaping need. Welcome tanglered!

Got the majority of Thursday’s pre-con hardcopy Daily Dragon issue laid out. It can’t be finalized until I get the deluge of schedule changes received and entered, but I’m pretty happy to have gotten this far ahead of the game. Also updated the online template and created a brand new one for the hardcopy. Hoping to streamline the publication process this year. Otherwise, I will need a holiday to recover from my holiday.

Also made some updates to the behind-the-scenes parts of the website to get it prepped for convention action, and so I can hand it over to arkhamrefugee in something other than an embarrassing, chaotic mess.

Matthew and I have both been working dude_the like a dog. But Matthew’s getting more of his time than I am, which makes me glower. Except I’m ahead of my hubby in the convention readiness arena, so I guess I can only glower so much.

They are still sending us boxes of swag. We got Sky Captain posters and cards. Glah. My dining room is layered in cardboard boxes AGAIN, dammit.

Lastly, my immune system appears to have rallied (or de-rallied, as the case may be) and halted my MCTD flare-up in it’s initial stages before it could put me down and out for the count. *knocks on wood*



Writing Stuff:

Writing? What writing? Who has time to write?

Um, I did get a personal rejection from Andy Cox of Interzone, but at least it had a heartening invite to send more: “please continue to send us your stuff, which we very much look forward to reading.”

Bunny of the Month Club!

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Ooo!! I want THIS. It’s a “Bunny of the Month Club” with extremely twisted hand made bunnies (and bears and penguins). Oh I want it I want it I want it!

But, err, my birthday isn’t for four months. Sigh.

Spent most of last night doing Daily Dragon prep: setting up templates, forms, fiddling with graphics, peering at my staff schedule, etc. Feeling pretty confident about being ready in time for the convention. Barring any unforeseen emergencies. Oh, wait, what am I talking about? It’ll be chaotic and insane. Yup.


Writing Stuff:

Got the current SFWA Forum in the mail. Realized that since I had the contracts from Cricket (received in May even) for “When Shakko Did Not Lie,” “Razi and the Sunbird,” and “The Snow Woman’s Daughter,” I could have upgraded my SFWA membership from Associate to Active already. So, I filled out the web form and assembled my “proof of publication” documents and stuck the whole stack o’paper in the mailbox. As soon as the paperwork goes through, I’ll be an Active member, able to vote in the Nebulas and everything! Woo!

Pill oopsie

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Did something incredibly careless the other day. I’ve got several prescription meds I take daily to keep all of my physiological aggravations under a semblance of control. Normally I take them religiously with my breakfast in two gulps. I downed the first set, reached for the second, and noticed that I was one pill less than I thought I ought to be. I figured I’d grabbed an extra pill in the first swallow, no biggie.

Low grade fever, aches, minor joint pain, and fatigue ensued, classic signs of one of my Lupus/MCTD flare-ups. I didn’t think anything of it as I’ve been logy for a while, and my meds have been doing an excellent job of keeping me on an even keel. I thought I was just tired. Then I discovered the pill I thought I hadn’t taken, but assumed I had, had rolled underneath my keyboard. I must have knocked it with my hand and not noticed. It was my Imuran pill, the one I take in concert with Prednisone to keep my stupid immune system from attacking me. Except I’m being weaned off the Pred, taking only a single, measly milligram a day, not enough to hold the fort without the Imuran riding shotgun. Ergo, the beginning of a flare-up.

Of course I immediately resumed my regular scheduled Imuran doses and I think my system is rallying. But I’m a little dismayed to discover how fragile my health equilibrium is that a single missed dose could throw me off.

AND, we got eight more boxes of promo stuff from Fed Ex–posters and postcards! ARGH!! Will the stream of boxes never end?



Writing Stuff:

My review of Sci-Fiction story, “Bulldozer” by Laird Barron is up at Tangent.

Heard via the Rumor Mill that there are other writers in the waiting-for-a-response-from-LCRW boat, so I’m glad I didn’t query yet. Waiting is.

Dragon*Con schedule up!

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After getting nearly eleven hours of sleep last night, I feel better today. Still pretty yicky, but better. Matthew’s looking a bit ragged, too. He’s been spending most of his days doing website updates and schedule coordination for his track.

The Dragon*Con schedule grid is live! I’m also nearly finished constructing the Daily Dragon orientation packet. Got to work out the desk staff schedule, but I can’t do that until I hear back from all my volunteer people. dude_the will be flying in this weekend. Going to see about assembling the skeleton and tendons of Thursday’s edition so that all I have to do when I get onsite is its flesh and makeup, and running it off–barring egregious schedule changes.

Also, the D*C volunteer coordinator is going to swing by and pick up over twenty boxes of promo stuff to distribute. Hurray! But the Fed Ex. Man came and brought six more. Boo! There’s still dozens of boxes littering my dining room, dammit!



Writing Stuff:

This week is a two-weeker at Critters due to the Labor Day holiday. Did both my crits and sent them off already since I expect to be rather swamped next week with Dragon*Con and all.

The amount of wordage that I’ve been able to accomplish can be summed up with a big ole goose egg. But then, I tend to experience a significant writing hiatus both before and after D*C.

Health news and writing

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At my doctor’s appointment yesterday, as they always do, they weighed me and took my temperature. On the weigh-in front, I was pleased to discover that I’ve managed to loose a few pounds. I suspect the weight loss is primarily due to the decrease in my Prednisone dosage (three more weeks and I’m off it completely!), but it made me happy. On the temperature front, I clocked in at 99.1. I appeared to have a very low-grade fever, so low-grade that I didn’t notice it. Hmm. Must pamper self so I don’t get sick before or during Dragon*Con. I normally burn a teeny bit hotter than average, but not 99.1 hotter.

I’ve also been extremely fatigued of late. ‘Course I’ve been generally tired for a long time now, so I guess that’s not exactly new. But I’m stressed that I’ll get sick before D*C, which of course is exactly what my immune system needs . . . stress.

Stupid brain.

And my wing stubs hurt again.



Writing Stuff:

– Finished up my Critters critique for this week’s queue.
– Wrote a review for Tangent of this week’s Sci-Fiction offering, “Bulldozer” by Laird Barron and sent it off to ye olde editor.
– All despondent stories have had their egos stroked and been summarily ejected back into the cold, cruel world. “Come back with your shield, or on it!”

Mostly writing

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Had a follow-up with my Rheumatologist today. Same ole same ole. Amazingly enough, traffic was actually not terrible.



Writing Stuff:

– Mailed my A-OK note off to my Cricket editor as well as a requested author’s note to suffix the story. 186 more words at a quarter a word is another $46.50. I love these folks!
– Sent a query off to Carina and heard back from her that, while she had plucked my second story from the last batch of slush out for further consideration, she decided it really wasn’t a RoF story. BFoD is on the way. Oh well, it still means I’ve got two pieces on Shawna’s desk.
– Did a major overhaul on the story that languished at The Strand for a year and a half, and in the process lopped off 1.8K words! Woof. I hadn’t looked at it since I sent it to them and I found a lot of good cuts. Out it goes again, hopefully sleeker, smoother, and more attractive to editors.
– And ooo! I heard on the Rumor Mill that Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine issue #14 with my story “Body and Soul Art” is out! Can’t wait to see my contrib. copy (and get paid)!

Hungry Hobkin, Dragon*Con, and Cricket SALE!

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My wing stubs didn’t hurt today! Hurray!

But this morning was rough on the sleeping front, due in large part to an insistent fuzz beast whose internal clock claimed adamantly it was breakfast time a good two hours before it actually was, and for that matter, before I needed to wake up. I can’t count the number of times Hobkin clambered up beside me, pawed at my head (thereby waking me), and then hopped down to pace in front of his food tray . . . loudly. Oof. Bloodshot eyes and frayed nerves, that’s me.

Updated the Daily Dragon website and wrote up staff handouts, as well as schedule change request and announcement request forms. Definitely getting in gear for Dragon*Con.

Practiced my opening talk for Ann’s Workshop. Needs some work yet, but I’m getting there.



Writing Stuff:

I SOLD my folk tale “Li T’ien and the Demon Nian” to Cricket! Woohoo! Got me my sales fix!

And to deflate my sails, also in the mailbox:
– A 9-day “there’s nice writing here but . . . ” from JJA of F&SF. Sigh. I remember once upon a time getting alases from GVG. Out it goes again.
– A form “no” from The Strand after 535 days, without even an apology for the long wait. Grrr.
– 30-day personalized “not quite right for us” from Stanley Schmidt of Analog with invite to send more.

But, to end on a “yay” note, I also got a lovely fan email from an aspiring writer who discovered my blog. They said they were inspired by my ramblings to join Critters and to start submitting their stories to markets. They also bought a copy of Ascendancy of Blood. It really made my day.

In other news:
– The new issue of IROSF.com came out sans my “Subgenre Spotlight on Cyberpunk” article. No word from the editor on whether they liked it yet. *fret fret fret*
– Carina’s back from her vacation and I still have yet to receive a BFoD from my second story that was in the previous RoF batch. Might I *gasp* actually have had two stories forwarded to Shawna from that batch, bringing my total waiting on her desk for her attention to three? Oh my. I shall, of course, query Carina, because she is the coolest, nicest slush reader evar.