Category Archives: Blog

EWWW!!! Mangled lizard!

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AGH! Matthew’s laughing at me, but I’m still coming down from a freaked out adrenalin high. Hobkin caught, killed, and chewed up a lizard in the house. I heard Hobkin crunching something near the front door so I came to investigate what he’d found. I shooed him away from whatever it was. At first, I thought he’d discovered a bit of string or yarn, until I picked it up and realized what I was holding was a tail with attached mangled body. I screamed. I can’t believe I screamed. I can deal with all types of traditional creepy crawlies–snakes, spiders, bats, rats–in fact I like them. But finding that ruined mass of tissue attached to a tail totally unglued me.

Couldn’t even tell it was a lizard at first. Thought it was a mouse until Matthew and I got the flashlight out to examine it closer. It was a small lizard. Quite mangled. When I thought it was a mouse, I thought Hobkin had eaten about half the body, but after we figured out it was a lizard, it looks like he just chewed it up a bit. I believe the majority of the body was still there. Readjusting my body mass expectations from “mouse” to “lizard,” I think I could identify a head and midsection. It would appear I stopped Hobkin within a couple seconds of him nabbing it or else he probably would have polished it off.

Ew ew ew eww ewww! I scrubbed my hands three times, feeling downright obsessive-compulsive about it, and I had the urge to make Hobkin gargle with mouthwash or something . . .

On the verge of panic, I made Matthew call his godmother to consult with her, but she wasn’t home, so then made him call the head of the ADSA (American Domestic Skunk Association). She basically said we were very silly and that we didn’t have anything to worry about. After all, skunks eat mice and lizards naturally.

So now I’m trying to get my heart rate under control. My plump fuzzbump is a hunter after all. It can’t have been a very challenging hunt. I mean its winter (and how the hell did it get in the house in the first place?). The lizard was probably very slow moving. But I guess my darling does still have hunting instincts.

But now he’s in my lap, all sweet and cuddly, and probably wondering why Mommy was screaming earlier. Sigh.

Cake for Breakfast, Computers, Firefly, and Writing

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At my excited prompting, we had the rest of my birthday cake for breakfast yesterday. Couple things of note from that:
1. I really like having cake for breakfast. It’s yummy and the kick of that much sugar so early in my day really does zippy thing to my overall world outlook.
2. Matthew really does not like having cake for breakfast. It makes him a bit sick to his stomach for most of the day.

Dammit. Back to muffins or toast or cereal. Probably for the best . . .

Meant to go see The Return of the King, but the showing was sold out that we wanted to go to. So we postponed our plans by a day and instead went browsing at Best Buy.

As it turns out, our shiny new Sony VAIO computer is no long shiny or new (being classified now as “old, slow, and clunky” in the PC world–@#$&!^%), and is thereby incapable of functioning with the DVD burner I got Matthew for Christmas. Crap.

However the positive side of this is that we might get a new computer. There were a couple very nice models, including a new-and-improved VAIO at Best Buy with a mind-boggling amount of space and speed. We’re shopping around, waiting to see what sort of shape our finances are in for 2004. But considering the cost of a new system versus the cost of possibly upgrading our poor old VAIO, it makes more sense to buy a new system than to attempt an upgrade surgery.

When we got back home, we popped in the first of the Firefly DVDs. Eight hours and eleven episodes (plus the pilot) later we finish watching “The Message” and my eyes burn and I’m beginning to make funny comments that consist of more random syllables than recognizable words. Definitely short school bus funny rather than ha-ha funny. My stamina is ended; time for me to go comatose. But that means we’ve got two more episodes to watch as soon as Matthew wakes up!

I hope the movie gets green-lighted. IhopeIhopeIhope. Such an excellent show with amazing writing and characters. And so many unanswered questions! Damn Fox for screwing Firefly up. Damn them for canceling it! And their little dog too! Pffft.

Writing stats:

No new words on the page this year. Yet. But I’ve received fifty-four critiques on Critters so far for my current offering (which will remain up for five more days!). Gurgle. Scribbling “thank-you” notes as fast as I can. My mind’s spinning with all the feedback, but I’m getting a big picture on some things I want to work on in the rewrite. Wonder if I’ll crack sixty crits . . .

Also submitted my urban fantasy with MPC. It’ll go up when this one comes down. I foresee much rewriting in my future.

Ringa-a-dinga-ding!

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Happy New Year!

Feel a bit queasy this morning. We rang in the New Year with fizzy alcoholic beverages and bourbon balls on tummies filled with French fries and faux grilled chicken. Maybe not the cleverest of combinations. Or maybe it was the long soak in the hot tub afterwards to exacerbate the dehydration. Gurgle.

The important thing is we clinked in the beginning of 2004 with proper fanfare and celebration! *wobble*

The evening before Matthew put together his version of vegetarian shepherd’s pie and red velvet cake to celebrate my birthday. And oh, the prezzies! Many sexy and shiny new clothes, and two out-of-print Ann Maxwell books, as well as the new Tanith Lee book Piratica to be delivered in February. Yay for December’s unbridled avarice!

Hope everyone has a fantastic 2004!

Happy Birthday to Me!

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It’s my birthday today. Went to work as usual, though. There’s an irony in that. When I was a little girl, my birthday always fell during the Christmas holidays, so I never got a classroom party at school like all the other kids did.

I always felt cheated that classes were out on my birthday. Now, I feel cheated that I have to go to work on my birthday. Humph.

Got a lovely card and truly excellent CD compilation from britzkrieg. Thank you, britzkrieg!! My brother-in-law and his wife gave me a 2-year subscription to Realms of Fantasy, and my folks-in-law gave me a lovely necklace.

Going to open prezzies from Matthew later this evening.

My year in review (brought to you by the letter “F” and the number “1”):
– Fitness: Husband, skunk, and self are all reasonably decent. A few quirks and worries here and there, but generally A-OK. We could all stand to lose some weight, but then that’s what New Year’s resolutions are for.
– Finances: Acceptable. ‘Nuff said.
– Friends: Made some new ones, hooked up with an old one (waves to gannet), and spent quality time with loved ones.
– Family: Acquired a new stepfather whom I quite like, and spent a cordial, even pleasant weekend with him and my mother.
– Fiction: Made 14 sales, including several to pro markets, and my first reprint sale. I was hoping for one more sale in December, but that seems terribly unlikely at this point. Got my first professional review in Locus and it was favorable. Sat on a writing panel at Dragon*Con with luminaries in the SF world, and interrupted and contradicted one of them (gleep). Ended the year with 35 works in circulation. Also 80K+ words in completed chapters/works written with uncounted thousands of words written on unfinished projects. Not bad progress for only three years of focused writing effort.
– Firsts:
– Weathered my first year as Daily Dragon co-director/editor without any fatalities or catastrophic mishaps.
– Coordinated the Ms. Fantasm pageant at Fantasm for the first time, which took some of the sadness out of passing on my crown. It went smoothly, and there’s a lovely new Ms. Fantasm to bear the mantle.
– Took Hobkin to his first skunk show and made an excellent showing despite his not being on his best behavior.
– Frustrations: I didn’t finish the novel. In fact my progress on it was downright disappointing. And I really need to lose some weight.

All in all, I’m pretty pleased with the year. So, Happy Birthday to Me. I’m older, not necessarily wiser, but I’m okay with me.

Christmas aftermath

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Got back from Christmas in the Midwest with the in-laws. The house is still standing, and Hobkin was happy to see us. His Godmother gave him a slew of goodies during his stay at Skunkie Christmas Camp, including veggie cookies, a treat ball that we can record our voices on, and a little plush elephant that jingles. Hobkin has the sweetest fairy godmother! I’m so glad he can stay with someone as wonderful as her when we go out of town. It gives us such peace of mind knowing our little fuzzwit is being well cared for in our absence.

He was happy to see us, though. Spent all of yesterday curled up with or on me.

The week went by far too quickly. I’m trying hard not to dwell on the looming specter of returning to work tomorrow. Wah! But I loved spending so much time with Matthew’s folks. They’re such wonderful people. I really adore them; an occasionally quirksome feeling I must admit, since my relations with the biological side of my family dropped into “merely cordial” status a long while ago. It’s strange having such fondness for parental types. But strange in a warm and fuzzy way.

Also, my dad-in-law looked and sounded much better this year than last. I’m so relieved. And I again see where my Matthew gets his stubborn streak. Heh.

Can’t believe all the goodies received this year!

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Heart still ticking, writing too

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Got the standard “you are fine” checklist from my echocardiogram. My heart’s still beating a-ok, they say. Well, I’m glad to hear that, but that does leave the “why am I getting short of breath?” question unanswered. Of course, right now, the wracking cough is a bigger concern, but y’know, priorities. The winter months are always the worst on my system. Damn chill. Damn dry air. Damn lungs. *hack hack cough*

Writing stats:

A story I’m quite fond of passed the 2nd round of reading at Andromeda Spaceway’s Inflight Magazine. Hurray! Now . . . more waiting. They’re on a slush break, plus it’s the holiday season and all, so they say it might take them a little longer to get a final decision to me than usual. I need to learn to channel Michael Valentine Smith: “Waiting is.”

Also got paid for “An Interesting Week for Emmy.” There was some complexity after all, even using PayPal to transfer funds from UK to US, but we got it worked out. I have an overwhelming urge to kick the PayPal folks in the shins as I feel gouged by them, but I’ve been paid. And if I’d sent it through my bank, I would undoubtedly be wanting to kick my bank people someplace more tender than the shins, as they would have gouged me more. Fortunately, the editor/publisher was very cool and understanding about the whole thing.

Managed 1000 words on the novel. Uncertain about the quality of them, but they’re on the page.

One thousand words just does not feel like a lot of progress on something as complex and huge as a novel. Maybe I should do Nanowrimo next year if I can’t finish this thing so that I don’t find the length so intimidating. I mean, I’ve written 1000-word full, complete stories before, dammit. This was barely scene-setting. Argh.

Writing writing writing

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Did some pruning and another 1000-words on the Urban Fantasy piece, and it’s complete! Woohoo! Zero draft! Going to have Matthew first reader it, and then up to Critters it goes. Got a story due up this week, and I suspect Andrew is having another double or triple weeker for the holidays. Also, the Creative Loafing contest should be notifying entrants of the outcome soon. As the odds are that will be a resounding rejection, I’ll need to try to coordinate that story into the queue as well. Think I’ll be using an MPC somewhere in there.

But it’s done! Very pleased to have cranked out another story before the year’s end. It clocked in at 7300 words, word processor count. Which, unfortunately puts it at 8400ish, manuscript count. Going to try to do some judicious cutting in my editing and rewrites, but it’s still going to be a hard sell due to length. Sigh.

In a flurry of glow-of-accomplishment, I’m tempted to crack open the novel again, see if I can’t make some headway on it. We’ll see.

Wrapping, writing, waning

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Did a lot of present wrapping last night. Hobkin “helped.” He punctured a wrapped parcel with his fangs, flopped on me with great determination so I had to have Matthew fetch paper and tape for me and contort to wrap and ribbon, and he attacked a hapless box of Styrofoam peanuts. He actually ate one of them, which if he were a ferret, would have me panic-stricken and in tears at the vets, having them do ultrasounds/x-rays/etc. to see if he had an obstruction and was in need of emergency surgery. But we’re wise to the ways of skunk-kind. Now.

Early on, when Hobkin was still a youngster, he got hold of a Styrofoam packing peanut before we could get it away from him. Matthew and I grabbed him and forced open his mouth and fished most of it out. Hobkin, while being young, had a full-grown set of teeth. It is very hazardous removing something from the jaws of a skunk that is determined to keep it. Both Matthew and I emerged bloody and swearing from that venture. After bandages and antiseptic were applied, we anxiously contacted the Skunk Chat community, gave Hobkin some feline hairball remedy, and fretted. As the Skunk people reassured us, skunks are not ferrets. What’s life-threatening for a ferret is a light snack for skunk-kind. Still, we’re trying to avoid feeding Styrofoam to our little fuzzbutt. I can’t figure out why he loves the stuff.

Writing stats:

Polyphony 4 said “no.” Rats.

69-words on a flash piece for NFG‘s 69-er contest. My fascination with the platypus from the nature show I saw last week didn’t seem like enough to merit a full short story. But a 69-word flash piece? That’s an appropriate length. Fun, light, and short. Cool if it gets published, and I’m only out 69-words if it doesn’t.

750-words on the Urban Fantasy. Argh. My momentum is waning! Must. Maintain. Impetus. *gasp* I’m almost at the climax with the dénouement to follow. But I’m already at 7500-words, manuscript count. My awareness of hitting the “unsellable” length is weighing down my progress. Will. Finish. Story. Dammit. I-think-I-can . . .

I’m such a Junkie

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Sunday we did a slew of Christmas shopping. Almost finished with it. Still got a few more things to pick up, but we’re in the homestretch.

I also got new shoes! I’m a total shoe-a-holic, and I’ve been very good for a long time now, not picking up any new pairs for ages and ages, no matter how strappy or shiny or sexy. But I was lured to the shoe displays at the mall and showed Matthew the shoes I had on–cracked soles, worn sides, heels uneven from wear, and no longer impervious to water (don’t they just sound pathetic?)–and he agreed that I should buy some shoes. So I went skipping down the Payless aisles and now have three new pairs. I adore Payless. Since I don’t buy or wear leather, my options are extremely limited. But hurray to Payless and their “all man-made materials.” Cheap footwear that doesn’t compromise my pro-animal ethics. Gotta love it.

Writing stats:

700-words on the Urban Fantasy piece and I’m beginning to get anxious at its length. Dammit. I’m looking at another novelette here. Maybe I should just stamp “unsellable” on it and have done with it.

Abyss & Apex said “no” to a flash piece, although Leah was very complimentary about it. That’s, um, seven for this month. This counting rejections by the month thing is getting depressing.

I expect to hear from several markets this week, or perhaps next. Polyphony is due to start sending out rejections this week, the Creative Loafing contest should have their winners lined up “on or around” the 17th, Phobos said they’d have final judging done by mid-December in time for Christmas (although I expect them to be tardy if they follow their usual modus operandi), and Carina said she was picking up a new batch of slush for RoF. Plus I’ve got manuscripts at the usual fast-response suspects.

Also, I queried Dreams of Decadance again about the story the editor’s been holding for nearly two years. I’d have thought it was a lost cause long ago, but I got a note from her saying that she was holding it for consideration and “quite likely to buy it” way back in May of ’02. Makes me inclined to keep my hopes up and my patience screwed to its sticking place. But I’ve queried several times since then, both email and snail mail, and haven’t got any sort of response since. Gurgle.

I’m beginning to jones for another sale, which is ludicrous since I made four sales in November and three in October. I should be cruising on my fix high. But I’m all twitchy about scoring my next one. It’s like I’m mainlining on sales and I still keep needing more and more and more. Agh! I’m a junkie!