Gaming last night was a blast. I'll do a writeup ... probably not til Monday. Maybe tomorrow, but probably not.
Got up late, didn't do any editing, went to Lani's book signing, which was lots of fun, then went and saw "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", which I'd never seen.
Jimmy Stewart is *dreamy*. *swoon* *tud* I really should think more about doing Netflix so I can watch all the old movies I've never seen but would like to.
miles to Lothlorien: 367
In these last few days before the election--an election which I'm already heartily sick of, just like everybody else I know, and yet can't stop obsessing over, because it's that damned important--I am finding myself being filled with a slow and perhaps irrational confidence that Kerry is going to win in a landslide.
A landslide, in my terms, for this election, is perhaps an overstated word. A landslide, from my perspective, would be a solid enough lead that bringing the election to the Supreme Court would be pointless. An act of desperation. Frippery. A landslide would be enough of an edge that even this Supreme Court, which enthroned Bush in the first place, would have to look at a lawsuit for re-instating Bush as being frivolous.
I have no particular basis for this belief. It could be that I can't bear the other possibility. I know that many of Bush's supporters still believe Iraq had WMD, that Bush is doing the right things for the country, and that the rest of the world supports his election as President. I can barely concieve of this, even though evidently about half the voting public seems to feel that way. I know that not all the unprecedented numbers of new voters are going to vote Democratic on November 2nd (appalling disenfranchisement stories aside). I know that the new Bin Laden tape is going to cause Bush's people to insist that the country cannot afford to change horses in mid-race, although I honestly do not understand how anybody at all could continue to support Bush when Bin Laden, our number one public enemy, has effectively endorsed him:
We did not find it difficult to deal with Bush and his administration, because it is similar to regimes in our countries, half of which are governed by the military and the other half of which are governed by the sons of kings and presidents; and we have a long experience with them.
Of course, Bush supporters probably see that as vicious lies on Bin Laden's part, or something, but I truly don't see how anybody with the capability of grasping anything beyond his own ass could miss the point. Or this point, for that matter:
The events that influenced me directly trace back to 1982 and subsequent events when the United States gave permission to the Israelis to invade Lebanon, with the aid of the sixth US fleet. [...]While I was looking at those destroyed towers in Lebanon, it occurred to me to punish the unjust one in a similar manner by destroying towers in the United States so that it would feel some of what we felt and to be deterred from killing our children and women...
Your security does not lie in the hands of Kerry, Bush, or al-Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands."
These are the words of a man who's been at war with America for more than twenty years, and I believe him. I believe that our security does lie in our own hands, and I believe that the first, desperately important step we have to take in order to assure our security is to get George W. Bush out of the White House. I believe that Bin Laden means it when he says Kerry isn't the answer to security issues, but I also believe that Kerry is a step in the right direction. I do not believe that Bush will ever accept that the attacks on September 11th may have had a root cause in U.S. foreign policy over the last decades, nor that he will ever take steps to correct that policy; his having begun a war of aggression for fictional reasons is, I think, proof enough of why I believe that.
I believe Kerry at least has the insight to grasp Bin Laden's none-too-fine point, and that he will work toward remedying the absolute and unbelievable mess that the United States is in right now. I don't think he'll solve all the problems, nice as that would be, but I do believe he'll put a lot more effort into trying than Bush ever would.
And I believe the voters are going to put him into office in such a decisive way that Karl Rove won't be able to play the games he did in 2000.
I believe I could be hideously wrong about all this, too, but at least this sense of serenity that's settled over me will get me through til Election Day without giving me an ulcer. :)
Oh, *now* I'm pissed. Morrison Auto Group (local Audi dealership) just called me. Said that the car was fixed. Said they'd never been able to actually get a speedometer that fit and that they'd opened up the circuit board on the car and soldered a fix and they couldn't guarantee how long it would last. Said *I* could call up junk yards and look online and see if I could find a reconditioned speedometer. ***I*** could do that. what the FUCK have THEY been doing for the last EIGHT FUCKING WEEKS? And then they fucking had the nerve to say that if, *IF* I had the reciept for the mother fucking speedometer that I did buy, I could bring that in and they would reimburse me for the cost, which ought to JUST ABOUT COVER the costs of FIXING THE FUCKING CAR, which the technician had, and I quote, "lost a lot of time on." Yeah, I said, funny, so have I.
I'm so angry I'm shaking. As soon as I calm down a little I'm calling the mothership. Mother *fuckers*.
...
Have talked to the mothership now. Am still cold-handed and shaking with fury, but they're calling the dealership back and I guess I'll see what goddamned well happens next. I told them that I'd been lied to and jerked around and that I absolutely felt as if they owed me money at this juncture, whether or not I was able to produce the reciept. My *God*, I'm angry.
I have no fewer than three complete book manuscripts piled on my desk. I also have bills, a computer (besides the one I'm using right now, I mean, and a camera, along with various and sundry other junk. A Harlequin excerpt agreement, which I need to put in the file folder. A memory stick. A bowl with the remains of the da oatmeal. An unopened envelope with someone's comics in it. Notes for correcting BANSHEE CRIES, one of the three manuscripts on the desk.
Okay. HoS ms can go ... somewhere else. Possibly the garbage; I don't need this copy anymore.
Oh look, stamps. *puts those away*
This may take a few minutes. :)
Got a massage last night, which was wonderufl although it doesn't seem to have done lots of overall good for the state of my stiff neck (peanut gallery comments are not welcome). Then hitched myself over to Bear Tooth, where I met up with Dad and we watched Spider-Man II. Some idiot had brought a very little child to the show, and the kid was rightfully terrified during the incredibly scary and awful Doc Ock hospital scene. Poor baby. *I* think that scene's unnecessarily scary and awful. But aside from that, man, I do love that movie. Although superheroes sure do cause a lot of property damage. :)
Ok, back to cleaning up the desk so I can deal with copy edits. :)
Oh, and, hey: I posted an excerpt from URBAN SHAMAN yesterday.
miles to Lothlorien: 361
current music: Ain't noffin but a HOUN' GOG!
Eep! Got the copy edits for URBAN SHAMAN. I haven't looked at them yet, but I'll need to tomorrow, 'cause they want 'em back in New York by the 8th. (Publishing: a hurry up and wait business. Both the hurry up and the wait take place on the writer's side.) I'll go over 'em tomorrow and email the copy editor with any questions (I fear I may have lots; I've never done this before), and then spend the weekend doing copy edit, um, edits.
I have absolutely no excuse for not having worked on HoS today, but as I'm going for a massage in a little while and a movie after that, I can pretty much guarantee there will be no miraculous turnaround on me doing them later today.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will be GENIUS.
Nothing to report this morning except mileage. Well, that and the frelling clouds hid the eclipse. Snivel.
miles to Lothlorien: 356
FINALLY all the October books I wanted were out, so we went forth to have a bookstore accident.
We failed.
I mean, okay, strictly speaking it's not an accident if you go in intending to spend a lot of money, but when you don't spend even a hundred dollars, you've had a whole different *kind* of bookstore accident. How *embarrassing*.
But we now own FURIES OF CALDERON (Jim Butcher), ORPHANAGE (Robert Buettner), KINGDOM OF THE SOMETHING OR OTHER and uh, something else about Egypt (Judith Tarr), TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR (Lani Diane Rich; GO LANI!!!), SHIELD OF THE SKY (Susan Krinard), THE NIMBLE MAN (Christopher Golden & somebody else) and a L.M. Modesit or whatever his name is book. I think that's all of them. I didn't get JUST A GEEK or REAL LIVE PREACHER.COM (figure I'll ask for them for Christmas), and we spent *less* than a hundred dollars. *Sheesh*.
And that's it for book buying for me until I've caught up on some of the books I've got. (Thank heavens Christmas is approaching, so I can ask for books and not have to buy them!)
In other news, how 'bout them Red Sox?
William S. Lind, whom I've never heard of, has some bloody intelligent things to say about the nature of war and the current situation we're in. Lyrically speaking, not the most lovely of writers, but very precise and to the point. I may have to pick up a book or two of his, particularly as I think what he calls Fourth Generational Warfare--war made not at a state, but at an international gang, level; terrorism, or gureilla warfare, as practiced by all sides, if I understand him correctly--makes a hell of a good springboard for THE END OF DAYS and maybe another book or two of my own.
(Do normal people think like that?)
*gasp*! It's semi-clear out right now! Ooh, I hope it stays this way so tonight's eclipse will be visible! *hopeful gasp*! *hope hope hope*!
miles to Lothlorien: 351
Okay. I'm on a bit of a reading binge lately, which means I've read, I don't know, five or six books in the last week, which is really nice. But I decided that I wanted to read Guy Gavriel Kay's LAST LIGHT OF THE SUN this weekend (hear that, Laura?), which means I need to do the HoS edits over the next 3 days so I can reward myself with LLotS.
The last couple books I've read have both been Mercedes Lackey books (I think I've read 4 of her books this year, which is more than I've read in *years* and years), and one of them, her Luna book, THE FAIRY GODMOTHER, was particularly charming. I enjoyed it far, *far* more than I expected I would--it's about a young woman who is meant to be a Cinderella, but who thwarts the magical Tradition that empowers the 500 Kingdoms, and who becomes a fairy godmother instead. It's completely wonderful. I hope there'll be more. :)
I have also--again because of Luna--discovered Judith Tarr. Why did no one tell me about Tarr's books years ago? I'm trying to find all the books in the series of hers I started--I've read THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN, which is the second of what I think are a fairly loosely related series of four (and maybe eventually more). Really good stuff.
And Christie Golden gave me a copy of INSTRUMENT OF FATE, which fits into the KING'S MAN AND THIEF world, so I'm going to read that very soon too, as I just re-read KMaT and I still like it very, very much. Perhaps if I'm particularly studious about doing my edits I can read it Thursday. :)
That's the sort of day it's been. It's raining, I made bread and dinner, and spent a few hours curled up with the cats and a good book. Not a bad life, ladies and gents. Not a bad life a'tall.
Well, some of it's right...
Take the quiz: "What does your birth month reveal about you?"
June
Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite andsoft-spoken. Having lots of ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Abiding. Able to show character. Easilyhurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.
miles to Lothlorien: 349
Go go edity me! I have edited and submitted a short story for an anthology I was invited to submit something for (different anthology than the Luna one!), and, um. Well. That's all so far, but go me anyway! :)
Yet *another* Audi update.
They said the car would be ready on Friday. Today is Monday. No car. I called the mothership. The mothership called the dealership, then called me back.
Apparently when they went to put the odometer in, they broke the tip off the ignition.
This was last week.
They will not, I said, be charging me for this, I assume. The very nice mothership lady said she assumed not. Why did they not call me to tell me this had happened, I asked. She had no idea. Because it was their fault, she guessed. Yeah, so?
If the part comes in today, the car will be ready tomorrow. If the dealership calls me tomorrow, I will say to them, "I assume you will not be charging me for any of this. Any of it at all."
I suspect they'll say they have to, in which case I'll call the mothership and tell *them* that I expect to not have to pay for any of it, and that any other organization would have offered me a loaner car EIGHT WEEKS AGO, and that it would be just barely reaching reasonable for them to reimburse me for the cost of the odometer as well, at this point.
I mean, for God's sake. This has taken on an element of a comedy of errors. I'm sort of fascinated to just keep watching to see how it goes, you know?
*wriggle* Jim said nice things about my book. :)
Let's see. RWA meeting tonight; I should get Mom to do a printout of the cover on their nicer printer so I can bring that to the meeting. What else, what else? It's very beautiful and quite cold out this morning. I'm going to have to gird the ol' loins to convince myself to go walking. But it's much too pretty not to, so I suppose I shall. :)
miles to Lothlorien: 347
So I didn't go to tap class last week 'cause I didn't feel good, and this week I went to the advanced class to do a make-up class. Oh my gawd. I am so not in good enough shape for that class. The studio is also a lot warmer than the one the beginning class is in, and 40 minutes into class I was relatively sure I was going to puke. But then one of the fifteen year olds started feeling pukey, and I couldn't be as wussy as a fifteen year old (or something) and so I got a drink of water and worked through it.
I came out red-faced and panting and sweaty and told Ted I wasn't in anything like good enough shape for that class, and he said, cheerily, "So you'll be going back, then."
Well. Yeah, probably. :)
miles to Lothlorien: 345
Gawd, what fun we had gaming last night! *laugh*
Our friends Pat and Melissa decided to join the game, so we actually have SIX players! Wow! SIX! *falls right over* The game is set in 1890s New Orleans, and we've come up with a fairly astonishing array of characters, ranging from my quadroon street rat to Jack's linguistic scholar, whom he is playing so well it's screamingly funny. The character is a terrible bore and keeps cornering people and going on about how electricity is the way to go, and the exciting development of 'air screws' (propellers). Pat's playing an entrepreneur (because 'whore' wasn't available as a character occupation) who has made a Great Deal Of Money Indeed off Christopher-the-war-hero's wealthy family, and both of them, upon being cornered by Jack's character, glaze right over and start looking around at the beautiful women surrounding them. Shaun's playing a half-Japanese adventurer from San Francisco, and Melissa's playing an octoroon investigative babe who can almost pass. But she's got 17s in 4 of her stats, so it doesn't matter if she can't quite pass; everybody kind of falls down in worship anyway.
More behind the cut tag, 'cause I could (and probably will) go on for ages about this game. :) But boy, we're having fun. :)
miles to Lothlorien: 343
Ok, so the cast of characters:
Jean Bougouise, played by Christopher. A captain in the U.S. Army, he fought in the Indian wars and is now home from battle. Comes from old New Orleans money. Age: 24. Character class: Tough.
Charles Schwab, played by Pat. An entreprenuer, in the kindest terms. A con man and a gambler in more honest terms--but a very good one. Has clawed his way into Society through charm and improving the Bougouise family fortune. Age: 29. Character class: Charismatic.
Jack's character; can't remember his name, played by Jack. A linguist, a scholar, and a medical doctor. Employed by the Bougouise family. Age: 36. Character class: Smart.
Mia, played by Melissa. An octoroon (less than 1/4th black or Indian blood) assassin, not that we actually know that last bit. Works in security through sheer force of will. Employed by the Bougouise family. Age: 23. Character class: Strong.
Ki, played by Shaun. A giant of an Oriental, half Japanese & half Mysterious Other; he does not know his mother. An adventurer from San Francisco, he's currently employed by the Bougouise family. Age: 19. Character class: Dedicated.
Tersa, played by Catie. A quadroon (1/4 black or Indian) swamp rat thief with ambitions of being a voodooine. Her Catholic mother got her a nice safe job working for the Bougouise family. Age: 15. Character class: Fast.
And, The Prologue:
Captain Jean Bougouise is recently home from the wars. His younger sister, Jaqueline, has just turned sixteen, and so in an all-out bash, their parents throw a debutante ball and welcome home party. The upper crust of New Orleans is invited; professional leech and businessman Charles Schwab, who has made a great deal of money for the Bougouise family, attends, as does Jaqueline's tutor, Jack.
Also in attendance are the head of security, Mia, and many many more or less invisible servants, including a sullen Tersa and the gigantic Chinaman, Ki.
After dinner, during dancing, Mia notices an upper-crust fellow named Robert sneaking around the dance hall with a piece of chalk, writing arcane symbols on the walls. He heads for the doors; she follows him. Ki also notices one of the symbols and tries to clear it away. Instead, faintly glowing chalk ends up smeared all over his arm. He notices Mia approaching Robert over at the terrace doors and decides to flank him, heading for a servant's hall that leads out to the gardens. Tersa follows him.
("Do I know she's there?" Shaun asks, and does a spot check. Rolls a 2. "You wouldn't know if I was groping your ass," I sayz. Sniky sniky t'ief.)
All Jean, Charles and Jack notice while this is going on are BOOBIES! Which becomes the catch phrase for the evening and probably the rest of the game. :) Actually, Jack doesn't notice BOOBIES; he's too busy lecturing a glazed-over Charles on air screws.
Out in the garden, three shambling creatures appear, terrorizing both Tersa and Ki, who couldn't make will checks to save their pathetic lives. Ki starts backing up, but doesn't get too far because Tersa's behind him with an already-drawn knife.
("Of course I have my knife out. THere's this GIANT FREAKING CHINK RUNNING AROUND THE HOUSE. How the hell do *I* know what he's doing?" Shaun: "I'm Japanese!" Game as a whole disrupts while we argue (gleefully) over semantics of 1890s insults; it is quite rapidly determined that anybody with Oriental blood is a chink by 1890s standards. It becomes clear this is going to be a game full of insults being flung at one another. (Duh. 3 rich whites and 3 poor coloreds. Ya think?))
Mia gets Robert, who has Freaky Black Glowing Eyes, into an armbar. Tersa, who knows a goddamned zombie when she sees one, leaps on the closest zombie and knifes it once. She spends the next five rounds screaming like a banshee and flailing wildly with her knife, rolling nothing above a 6. Ki turns and runs, with Tersa's accusing, "COWARD!" flung after him.
The zombies crash through the terrace doors. Even Jean is distracted from the BOOBIES! by this, and comes over to see what's going on. Robert's Freaky Black Glowing Eyes reduce him to being frozen in place. Jack and Charles, not being fighter types, very sensible edge away from the problem, though neither of them leaves the room with the other three hundred guests. (Charles figures he can't afford to let the Bougouise heir get killed, so he better stick around just in case he's *really* needed, and Jack just doesn't believe this is really happening. It's unscientific!) Mia bashes Robert's head into the wall until he falls unconscious (which takes three rounds) while a zombie attacks Jean, shaking him out of his stupor. He stabs a zombie; the zombie cold cocks him (AUGH! He PULLED HIS COCK OFF AND HIT HIM WITH IT? (You can see that this is not a game of great class...)).
Ki reappears on the scene with swords; Charles is Extremely Dubious about the Giant Chinaman with swords, but fortunately Ki goes after the zombies, thus proving himself to be on the right side. He rolls a 19 on his first hit, then in typical first-level fashion, follows it up with a 3. (Oh my god! I hit something! *panic*!)
Tersa is screaming, "Fire! Fire!" as she fails to knife the zombie whose back she's on. Mia takes this as "Shoot them," and does so with a FORTY CALIBER double-derringer pulled from her bodice. She pings one; Tersa screams, "Flame, FLAME, *BURN THEM*, you stupid fucking whore!" (and you should have seen the look on Melissa's face. It nearly made me cry with the laughter.)
Mia, in a response which was immediately characterized as, "Oh no you did *not*!" complete with the head waggle, turns around and shoots a different zombie instead of the one Tersa's on. ("'cause hey, she called me a whore!") That zombie goes down. Jean meantime gets hit again, having gotten in one good stab, and hits the deck himself.
Jack decides at this point perhaps he'd better do something, as does Charles; the former picks up a candleabra and caves a zombie's chest in, reducing himself to frozen-rabbit state for the rest of the fight. Charles uses his sword cane to get in a few glancing blow, Ki makes another good hit, and Tersa finally rolls two crits and gets to double her damage, and kills the third zombie by driving her knife into its skull. She immediately leaps off it and races for Jack, demanding the candelabra, as she thinks these things need to be burned.
Startlingly enough, it's Charles who agrees with her, although she has to get a different firestarting source, because she ends up in an argument with Jack about whether those really *are* zombies ("You can't desecrate those bodies by burning them!" "Dey ZOMBIES! Dey ALREADY desecrated! An' dey come back to life if we don' burn 'em!" Jack, however, clutches his candelabra and Tersa, being only 4'9", can't get it away from him.). While she's looking for something to burn 'em with, Ki pokes at the bodies and discovers a strip of symbols tattooed onto one of them. Mia notices him cutting away the strip of skin; nobody else does.
When it becomes clear Tersa intends to burn the bodies and the Bougouise household with them, if necessary, Charles and Mia help her get the bodies out to the terrace while Dr. Jack stabilizes Jean, who is still unconscious. The constable arrives; Tersa disappears, Mia and Charles, between them and their 17 charismas, convince the constable that everything's under control. ("What's dat Chinaman got on his back?" "...gardening shears. He's the gardener.") The Bougouises' bring Jean back to his town home; Tersa follows them, and the evening is concluded.
There are a bunch of movies coming up at Bear Tooth that I want to go see. "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is playing next weekend; "Before Sunset" is playing the 2nd-4th; "Sabrina" (the original) is playing on the 8th, I think. "Hero" and ... something else ... are also playing, and I wouldn't mind seeing "Hero" again. I very rarely remember to go to the Bear Tooth movies. I hope I remember some of these.
Nobody else thought my last posting was funny, huh? Well, I did. Phtthhtbt. :)
Yesterday, I:
ripped out the icky sliding shower doors (with Mom's help) cleaned the bathroom fixed a bug did three loads of laundry sanded two brackets for my shelves did two editing passes through HEART OF STONE walked 5 miles brought Ted out to dinner put up a new shower curtain! whew!
Have reached Mines of Moria and am snacking on apples and cheese as suggested by fellow hobbit, Jen. Gandalf is smug for he opened doors with silly Elven Elfin Elfen fucking riddle. Who speaks Elvish anyway these days. Their time is over. Haven't they read the books?
miles to Lothlorien: 340!
Apparently there are more people at home during the day than I usually suspect. A few days ago I was out for an evening walk, and a woman I'd never seen before who was standing on her porch called, "Don't you usually have your dog with you?" (Well, yes, but I was too lazy to bring her that time.) Then yesterday Chanti and I were out for a walk and another woman whom we've seen before (with her baby boy) stopped and asked how often I walked my dog, because she thought I must be just about the only person in the whole world who walked her dog so regularly, and that her little boy looooved it when I walked by with the dog every day. There are people watching me! I'm not paranoid! I'm not!
More on the subject of poisoning Ted. Well, sort of, anyway.
Today is day 14 of Lent. It's my official weigh-in day. Now, for the past, erm, whatever. Long time. My weight has fluxuated between 186 and 189. Generally slightly more toward the 189 end.
This morning (and yesterday morning, for that matter) I weighed in at 184, so I've lost somewhere between two and five pounds. *happy dance, happy dance*! All by not eating sweets. Yay!
Another update in 2 weeks. :)
miles to Lothlorien: 335
Ted thinks I'm poisoning him. I'm not making cookies and whatnot, so he's not getting his sugar fix at home, just at school. Yesterday he had one of the desserts they'd made for the school restaurant and he couldn't finish it 'cause it was too sweet. So he came home and said I was poisoning him. Bad, BAD wife! :)
*looks around happily* I guess that's all!
miles to Lothlorien: 332
Apparently today/yesterday is the time when the body figures out, "Hey! You're feeding me fewer calories than usual! FEED ME, SEYMOUR!" I am .starving. And if I eat another piece of fruit I'm going to choke on it. MEOW. MEOW. *MEOW*!
So the Audi mothership called me back yesterday, and the nice woman I talked to didn't believe any more than I did that the car had been built in Ireland. (The VIN was American.) The best she could figure was the part had been built in Ireland, not that she knew if there was an Irish Audi parts manufacturer. Anyway, *she* was told that the technician (technician, when did they become technicians? I thought they were mechanics) who was working on my car had been out sick for an entire week and that the dealership didn't know when they were going to have the car done. She said that wasn't acceptable, she had to tell me *something*, and they said, "Well, we hope it'll be done by the end of the week."
Bear in mind that they will have had the vehicle for 6 full weeks tomorrow.
Also bear in mind that I called on the *sixth* and was told that the technician had been out sick but was now back at work and would be catching up on his backlog. As I told the nice woman on the phone, they're lying to one of us. I am *really* *not* impressed.
So now I don't know if I should call up the Morrison Auto Group (who are the dipshits who have my car) every twenty minutes until the car is done, or wait until Friday and see if they've fixed it and if not call the mothership back. Although if it's not done by Friday I'm doing the latter anyway. This is beyond ridiculous.
In other news, Farscape AAAAUGH! Waaah! AUGH! *WAAH*!
And, hm. I think that's about it.
miles to Lothlorien: 329
*laugh* Ted's working on a paper for school and was saying he guessed he was going to have to go back and add filler. I said, "What font are you using?" Times New Roman. "Change it to Courier." The paper suddenly goes from 4 pages to 7 (it's supposed to be 7). I come look at his screen and say,"That's single-spaced." He double-spaces it. Suddenly it's 11 pages. He says, "Ack!' I say, "Change it back to TNR, and here, you're writing it like it's a webpage, with double space between the lines paragraphs instead of indents." *tweak tweak tweak* "Also, here, you can use this spacing (25pt exact), which is what I use for manuscripts." I set that. Ted says, "Ooh! I like that!" I say, "I'd like to make a chiro appointment." He says, "Okay, I'll be done with this paper in about ten minutes." :)
Not much to report today. We went and watched "Taxi" yesterday, which was generally pretty bad, but has Queen Latifah, which makes up for some of the badness. :) And we watched the first half of The Peacekeeper Wars, which made us happy, although I thought many of the characters were more...manic...than they'd been when last we saw them. It was a little odd. But Claudia Black has put the five important pounds she lost back on, and looks wonderful, and she and Ben Browder are *almost* as sexy together as James Marsters and Juliette Landeau.
Did lots of work on a new site design yesterday. Hopefully the domain will be all resolvey by today so I can finish the rest of it.
Um, what else. BANSHEE CRIES is off to Matrice, IMMORTAL BELOVED is almost converted, which means HEART OF STONE is up next, and all you people who asked if your notes were any help will finally get answers to your questions.
That's it!
miles to Lothlorien: 325
*beam* I sent email to my cover artist to say thank you, because, I mean, *wow*, and I thought I might not hear back from him, but in fact I did and he seemed very pleased that an author had taken time out to send him some positive feedback. I've asked if it's okay for me to link to him, which I wouldn't usually do, but Luna doesn't seem to make much acknowledgement of cover artists, and I want to make sure that's an HQ decision, not the artist's. (I suspect the former, and will petition to get his name in on the copyright page, 'cause *I* always like to be able to find out who the cover artist is!) Anyway, that's v. pleasing. :)
We made up characters for a new game last night. Christopher brought along a friend of his, a Captain in the Air Force whose name is Jack, so obviously we had a good time calling him "Cap'n Jack," and going, "ARRR" a lot, in between reminding each other, "That's *Captain* Jack!" And Christopher put forth his theory that the difference between a nerd and a geek was this: a nerd was someone with above average intelligence and limited social skills who used his intelligence to go into business and make a lot of money in a way no one else could think of. Bill Gates is obviously the prime example of a nerd, in this scenario.
A geek, in the meantime, was someone with above average intelligence and limited social skills who used his intelligence to memorize the entire Star Wars trilogy, or all of Farscape, or The Princess Bride, or some variation on that theme.
Given that we were all sitting around quoting Pirates of the Caribbean, we decided we were not at all in a position to argue. *giggle*
Anyway, so the game is Ted's 1890s steampunk occult adventure that he's been talking about running literally as long as I've known him. I'm looking forward to it. Should be fun. :)
Let's see. Anything else? I read the first ARTEMIS FOWL book last night, and I was sort of underwhelmed by it. I didn't believe the Artemis character at all, although I liked everyone else a fair bit. I'll probably read the second one, just to see what I think. Oh, and on the reading topic, I also read THE COMPLETE BONE last weekend, all 1300 pages of graphic novel. I lost interest in reading it as it was coming out about halfway through, because the publication schedule was desperately irregular and the story moves at a novel's pace, not a graphic novel's pace. But having the entire thing in one ginormous volume to read was really extremely satisfying. I was very pleased with it. :)
And that's about it!
miles to Lothlorien: 320
Well, I just finally called the Audi mothership. After sitting on hold for a very long time (during which I attempted to compose an email which would fit into their 1200 character limit on their website) a very nice woman answered and listened to me rant about this incredibly frustrating situation. She took my complaint and the mothership will be contacting the Morrison Auto Group on Monday. I should hear from them (the mothership, although I expect to hear from the MAG, too) Monday or Tuesday.
*Very* frustrating. :P
Hah! I got the permission slip! (I tell you, using a fax scares me. I'm Not Familiar with those beasts!)
Oops, she's trying to fax again. Hm. And I don't have her email. I wonder if the number on the sheets is good to call; it's actually a different person than the one listed on the excerpt agreement. Well, I'll try the number I do have. :)
ANYWAY! In all its glory, the cover for URBAN SHAMAN:
*bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce*! Tell me what you think!
Warren Ellis has once again used the Internet for Doing Cool Shit. Today's stunt is Strange Machine, a blog of Futurosity, in which he has invited his LiveJournal readers to write, draw, manipulate--in some way, create--their vision of the future. How far a future doesn't matter; whose future doesn't matter. All that matters is that you create something, and post it to Strange Machine, as one of hundreds of other creators, coming together for twenty-four hours.
My submission is an excerpt from THE END OF DAYS, a post-Apocalyptic novel of America. Some of you have seen this before.
Warren Ellis is goddamned cool. I'd love to do stuff like this. Of course, I don't have twenty-five hundred daily readers like he does. :)
In *other* news, I sent off the novella proposal to Jenn last night and she liked it (yay!), I got the first 10 chapters of IMMORTAL BELOVED converted (I've only got them in HTML) so I can print it for Mom and Dad, and I plead with anyone who reads it to remember I wrote it in 1998. Oi. :) And, um. Oh! And Maria's happy with her site designs, so I will be finishing all that up this weekend, yay! Aaaand I guess that's all for now!
miles to Lothlorien: 318
thinks to do today:
1. work on Maria's site
2. finish up BANSHEE CRIES proposal
3. print out IMMORTAL BELOVED for Mom and Dad
4. continue to feel like a geek for buying the fax machine :)
I have just bought a fax machine.
I feel like an utter dweeb. :)
I've needed one just enough in the last year or so that not having one is really annoying, but having one feels like complete and total overkill.
But hey, I've faxed off my cover-and-excerpt permission form, and at least that's cool! *laugh*
I need a fax machine so I can fax off this excerpt/cover art agreement thingy so I can post it all on my webpage. I mean, I've discovered I can use my computer as a fax machine, but I don't know if I've got a phone cord that would reach to the nearest outlet, and I'd have to see if HQ would be willing to call before they faxed me back, so I could set it up instead of having a phone line dragged through the house for days. I suppose, though, that I could do that.
It seems *completely* unreasonable to me that I cannot use my cable modem to do faxes. *Completely* unreasonable. I realize it has no phone number to call, but it still seems just *wrong*.
We went out to dinner last night with my parents, to celebrate me having a cover. *laugh* Lots of fun. We stayed over at Mom and Dad's too late for me to come home and work on BANSHEE CRIES, so I gotta finish up my edits for the first chapters and send those off today.
Today marks day 7 of Lent. Still going pretty well.
Hrm. Not feeling so good. I think I need water.
miles to Lothlorien: 314
ohmygodohmygodohmygod I just got my cover. Oh my God! It ROCKS! I'm finding out what I have to do in order to be able to show it to people, but OH. MY. GOD!
*falls over, squealing*! OH MY GOD! The font is cool! The photo ROCKS! It says, "An exciting debut novel by C.E. Murphy" on it!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
*tud*
Gymmed this morning. I need to get into this regularly enough that it's not an Event Worth Mentioning on the webpage. o.o
It's lovely out this morning. Sadly, it's not supposed to stay that way, which is extra sad because there's supposed to be a partial solar eclipse visible at sunset tomorrow, except for the part where there'll be clouds. Hrmph.
Um, let's see. Worked on BANSHEE CRIES edits last night, and I need to finish up the synopsis and send the proposal off to Jenn. What else. This giving up sugar for Lent thing is going better than I expected it to, although Ted's vaguely annoyed because me giving up sugar means he gives up sugar sort of by default (I'm not making cookies and things; there's temptation and then there's sheer idiocy) except when he's not at home, although there's still ice cream even if he is at home. For some reason, fond as I am of ice cream, I can resist it even knowing there's some in the freezer. Cookies, not so much, and brownies are entirely my downfall.
I confess my idea of giving up sugar involves having a teaspoonful on my cereal, the occasional handful of gorp (which has M&Ms in it, but I'm not allowed to pick the M&Ms out and chomp on them!) as a snack, and if I get really desperate, somewhere less than 20 chocolate chips as a sweet. Oh, and jam. I can have jam. But not root beer. Anyway, it comes down to about 98% less sugar than usual, so good enough.
miles to Lothlorien: 308
music: Britney Spears, Toxic, playing in my head
Well! *That* was exciting!
Chanti and I went for our walk, and she stopped to go to the bathroom, so I was standing there waiting for her and suddenly she went GRROOOWRRRRF! and bounced up. So I looked up, and twenty feet away was an approaching moose with its hackles raised. ACK!
Fortunately, Chanti was Very Good, and came right with me when I scurried across the street. The moose didn't follow us, much to my relief. Pantpantpant! Had I not been out with the dog, it wouldn't have frightened me half so much, because the moose around here are very used to people, and as long as you're not deliberately stupid and aggressive at them, it's usually fine. But Chanti doesn't know that, so that was fairly scary! Eee! *pantpantpant* O.O
Ted's catering event went off smashingly. They got a standing ovation from the people they fed. *beam* Ted was very, very tired yesterday. :)
However, he and I went to see a sneak preview of "Shall We Dance", which I thought was utterly charming. I will very likely go see it again, and probably bring my parents with me. :)
miles to Lothlorien: 305
Superman never made any money
Saving the world from Solomon Grundy
I despair the world will never see another man
like him
This has not been a successful day. First I started out editing the wrong files, which made me very grumpy, and then when I started to get back into the swing of things I had a gassy tummy (which I'm sure you all REALLY wanted to know) and ended up alternately napping and watching X2 between bathroom breaks.
And now it's raining.
Grumpy Kit.
miles to Lothlorien: 301
Dammit. I just wrote up an entry, then accidentally clicked a URL in another window and this window got written over. Dammit.
I'm all alone today, as Shaun's at work and Ted's off being Master Caterer for an event that the UAA culinary club is doing. And I do mean Master Caterer; the professor who was supposed to be in charge of everything broke his ankle Wednesday night, and put Ted in charge instead. Ted's been a bit O.O the last few days.
The point of mentioning the all aloneness is that I have absolutely no excuse to not work on the HEART OF STONE edits. I've gone through all the notes I've gotten and printed out the ones that weren't written directly into the manuscript, and most of it is detail work. I should be able to get that done today.
But then there's Mary Anne's revision letter, which is annoyingly accurate and has numerous things I really should address noted in it. That might take me a couple of days, so I probably won't get this out the door on Monday after all. And I will *try* to rid myself of some of the em-dashes, MA, although if you think I overuse them now, you should see my rough drafts. People've been trying to break me of the em-dash habit since fifth grade. It doesn't stick. :)
miles to Lothlorien: 300
Hooray! My reward for writing 30K this week has arrived! Season 4 Highlander! And hey, I even finished watching season 2 last night! But now, sadly, I must go back to watching it only on Saturday nights (unless I have another prodigious burst like this week's, in which case I can watch more.). Still, that's okay, 'cause I'm not sure seasons 5 and 6 are out yet, unless you buy 'em through a big package deal at the website, and I don't need to re-buy half the series to get the last two seasons.
It's so easy to make me happy. :)
Just got email from Matrice who said the marketing department wanted a bio from me Right Now.
C.E. Murphy, who goes by Catie in real life, lives in Alaska, where she was born and raised, with her husband, roommate and pets, with whom she was not born and raised. She works as a web designer by day, because she has a degree in English and History, and the only practical thing you can do with that kind of degree is write books....oh, wait.
More information about Catie and her writing can be found at her website, www.cemurphy.net.
I'm beginning to think this might be, you know. Real....
If you had a totally useless superpower--not one of the cool ones like eye beams or superspeed or superstrength or telepathy, but something with which you couldn't conceivably become a superhero (or villain)--what would it be?
I believe mine would be to change my hair at whim. Color, length, style, etc. It'd be an extension of Compulsive Hair Disorder.
(The astute among you may take this as a sign that I'm once more wondering wtf I'm trying to grow my hair out. You would be right.)
miles to Lothlorien: 298
I'm apparently *all* sorts of girls. This was the result I got the second time I took the quiz:
She is Progressive Girl
Click on the picture below to read more:
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Hey! They changed the questions!
*tries again*
Oh. Two different quizzes. Dur. :) What kind of girl am I quiz says I'm a hybrid between academic and girl next door. Earlier when I took it I was a hybrid between academic and athletic.
LotR Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road:
Sauron: One chicken to rule them all, and on the road to bind them.
(That's Ted's fault, not mine. :) Peg Kerr's got more here.)
Longer version of the Progressive Girl behind the cut. :)
Imagine that the Girl Next Door moved to the big city. Think of Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally. She's America's sweetheart with an urban sensibility. She's a post-Christian spiritualist, a pre-Monica Clintonite, and a dues-paying member of at least one social-change organization like NOW, Planned Parenthood, or the Sierra Club. You won't find her at an Earth First or PETA meeting, though. Those are the Granola Girl's stomping grounds. Progressive Girls want the world to be a better place, but they live out their politics in a moderate, left-of-center way.
If you are going to date a Progressive Girl, the one sin you can commit is to be a chameleon. Molding your opinions to fit hers will lose her respect. One very positive thing you can do is offer her new experiences -- the Progressive Girl is fearless about trying new things. Whether it's pluralism, skydiving, Asian peanut sauce, or this book, the Progressive Girl is always looking for new ideas.
She Might Be a Progressive Girl if:
She drives: a small SUV but really wishes it got better mileage; once she can get a good hybrid, she will.
She can talk for more than ten minutes about: just about anything.
She begins her sentences with: "Susan Sarandon says..."
She'd never: pass up the chance for a new experience.
She owns any of the following: a water filter, a tabletop fountain, an acre of rain forest, a mutt from the pound.
I'm giving up pizza and sugar for Lent. Nevermind that it's October. Pretend it's Lent, dammit. How long is Lent, anyway?
Um. I did *nothing* yesterday. I mean, I fixed bugs and I played some CoH and I watched an episode of Highlander and part of an episode of L&O, and ate pizza for dinner and had ice cream, and talked to Sarah for a while *hugs*. But that was it. It was not a Day Full Of Things.
Today I'm going to start on the HoS edits that I got from everybody.
miles to Lothlorien: 294
Feeling not brain-drained still, which is fantastic, all things considered. Yay!
Ted and I gymmed this morning. My arms are wibbly. I have to take the puppy for a walk in a minute, but I need to dry my hair first, because it's cold out. Brr.
*hugs* for Sarah, whose dad died yesterday. :( *more hugs*
miles to Lothlorien: 292
Think I'm finally winding down now. Watched a couple episodes of Highlander (it turns out the god-awful Richie episode is in 3rd season. On the positive side, at least I don't have to watch it to finish out this season...) and went out to dinner at Aladdin's with Ted. Not necessarily in that order. And I ordered season 4 of Highlander, 'cause hey, $39.95 and no shipping, who can beat that? :)
*yawn* Yeah. Bedtime. :)
Twenty nine thousand, four hundred and three. This is the number of words I have written since 10am Sunday morning. 10 chapters. 125 pages. A bunch of notes on what to fix. I am EXTREMELY pleased! 9009 words today, the last two of which were "THE END". Ahhahaha!
I am SO PSYCHED! FULL of energy! Boingee boingee boingee!
I was very nervous about this project (I've never written anything novella-length before! I've never been in an anthology with MERCEDES LACKEY and TANITH LEE before! I've never--you get the picture.), and Ted and I talked it out a fair bit. I took a lot of notes, some of which I wrote into a synopsis and some of which I wrote into an informal synopsis and some of which were just braindumping. At the end of one of them, I wrote, "Wow, this is a lot for 30K. Good luck."
It turned out it was just about exactly right for 30K. Now I'm fascinated by this process, and I really want to try it for a 100K novel. It really, *really* helped to be able to flip back to the notes files when I started to slow down, because I was able to say, "Ah! That's the next scene!" and then write it. I've never been that, mm, focused? Before, and boy, if that kind of focus can get 10K a day out of me (AND leave me not wiped out!), it's something I fully intend to develop! I may be on to something here!
It's also easier for me, I think, to write in huge chunks, because there's not nearly as much time to forget what I did at the beginning of a story. Especially if it's only 30K long. :) But I think the theory would hold true over a longer work.
I am SO psyched! *dancie dancie dance*! I also learned enough from doing the rewrites on URBAN SHAMAN to recognize some of my failures as a writer, so I've been taking notes while writing BANSHEE CRIES on things that I *know* I need to fix, so that should make it a little easier when I go back to revise. It'll be harder to say, "Oh, well, that works pretty well," if I've got a note, written in the heat of the moment, that tells me that it doesn't *either* work pretty well. So that should also be very useful.
I believe I'm going to celebrate by buying season 4 Highlander, which I just got an email saying was on sale cheap through their website, having a massage this weekend, and making my husband take me out to dinner tonight. *beam*
ytd wordcount: 281,500
All right. I need breakfast. Water. A hairdryer. Not necessarily all before writing.
*looks around*
See you on the other side.
miles to Lothlorien: 290
Couldn't resist. Had to hit the 10K mark twice in two days. Grand total for the day: 10,399 words. Grand total for two days: 20,617. Pages written: uh, 89. (Jesus.) Chapters left: 2.3. Number of pages left: 31. Amount of story left: about the same. I think.
Amount of brain left: more than expected.
ytd wordcount: 272,500
6 chapters down, 3 to go. 8500 words so far today. I may sit down and write another 1500 later, just to make it a nice even 10K, but I hit my actual goal of finishing up through chapter 6, so I'm very satisfied.
I am on track to shatter my current most-words-written-in-3-days record, which stands (and has stood since 1998) at 24,000 words. I expect this to come in at 27K, and I anticipate being done tomorrow.
I anticipate falling over dead after that. :)
Actually, I'm feeling incredibly perky, for having written nearly 19K in the last 48 hours. And now I'm off to the chiro, because my back's being a little nasty after all this sitting and typing, and to do OTHER STUFF that's AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD, because I've been typing for about 6 hours today. Oi.
ytd wordcount: 270,600
GO GO SPACESHIPONE! YAAAAAAAAAAAY! *dances around like a complete idiot* YAAAAAAAAAY!
Speaking of complete idiots, for the second time in a week, some idiot has upended her cereal spoon full of milk all over herself. Sigh.
Mmm, Highlander. Mmm, Adrian Paul. Mmm.
See, my reward for doing my writing is supposed to be watching 2 episodes of Highlander. This usually only happens from about September to March, on (theoretically, anyway) Saturday nights, unless something else comes up (which often happens) so a season lasts quite a long time. For example, I've been watching season 2 since, erm, last September, I think.
Tonight I figured that 10K in a day was definetely Highlander-worthy, and I sat down to watch a couple of episodes toward the end of season 2, which I've been avoiding doing because I'm pretty sure my Absolute Least Favorite Highlander Episode Ever is one of the next six or so, and I know for sure that one of the worst episodes filmed is the next one I'm supposed to watch.
No, I can't just skip those two; that would be cheating. I'm not sure why, but it is.
But! I enjoyed watching my Highlander tonight, and in the extremely unlikely event that I should write another ten thousand words tomorrow, I shall watch two more episodes. :)
(This is actually a much more civilized way to watch TV on DVD than the 18 episodes in a weekend binge that we did of Alias.)
current mood: cheery, if sleepy
current music: "Into the Woods", playing in my head
What a weekend!
Went to dance class on Friday, which was a lot of fun, and then went to see "Shark Tale", which was cute but so busy parodying/homaging other movies that it sometimes forgot about its own plot. There were a couple of very cute little kids in front of us, and for the several minutes that their mother was getting them prepared to watch the movie, I kept sitting there thinking, "Kids! Little tiny kids! What kind of movie is this that people would bring little tiny kids to it?" Eventually I remembered what we were there to see (I really, honestly couldn't remember), and then it seemed all right. :)
Saturday I finished reading Judith Tarr's DEVIL'S BARGAIN, which I liked a *great* deal (never read any of her stuff before; clearly I need to remedy this), and then wrote twelve hundred or so words of an alternate history novel which I'll probably never write more of. I certainly won't write more of it any time soon.
Ted vacuumed, I dusted and cleaned up here and there and made a german chocolate cake, Ted made London broil for dinner, and Ellen and her husband Jake, who were down from Fairbanks, came over to dinner, as did my parents, and we had a completely splendid evening that went on until Zilli had shed most of his fur on Ellen and Ellen was falling asleep from the kitty sleep rays being emitted. :) It was really a very excellent time.
Today was the day to get started on my novella, so I wrote a chapter. Then I took the dog for a two mile walk and came home and wrote another chapter. Then I took the dog for another walk and came home and wrote another chapter, and then part of another chapter, so I ended up with 10,218 words for the day and I'm, er, rather pleased with that. :) My brain's not even too tired. It may all be pure crap, of course, but that's what rough drafts are for anyway.
Jeez, if I can just do that for two more days... :)
miles to Lothlorien: 288
ytd wordcount: 262,100
So I called the bloody Audi place again, and the woman told me very happily that they'd JUST gotten the speedometer in this very afternoon, all the way from Ireland, and they couldn't put it in today but Monday they could, and it looked like it was going to fit and she sounded very pleased about all of that.
She sounded a whole lot less pleased when I said that was wonderful, and what kind of compensation was I going to recieve for them having had my car for more than three weeks, leaving me without a vehicle?
She went and got her manager (which was fine, as I hardly expected her to be able to answer the question) and he began explaining to me that the car had been made overseas and they couldn't be expected to order the right part when the manufacturers were wrong and that they'd had to put a lot of manpower and hours into finding out what was actually wrong, and I said yes, I understood that, but I had called up after they had already had my vehicle for more than a week and was told that they'd called up Audi in Germany once but nobody'd called back, and since I, the customer, had to call up the Morrison Auto Group to remind them to do their job, that I rather felt I'd put my own legwork into trying to make this move along a little more rapidly, and was he telling me that I was going to receive no compensation at all?
So he offered me a 10% discount, which is about 40% less than I think I should get, but is better than nothing, which would have had me calling the main Audi number and getting medieval on their asses.
Sweetly, of course. But medieval none the less.
If that car isn't ready on Monday, they are going to regret it. A lot.
No walking. No gymming. No nothing! Except some idiot smacked the spoon in her cereal bowl and splashed milk and cereal all over her shirt. Big dumb dummy.
Actually, it's beautiful out today and I intend to go for SEVERAL walks. But I haven't yet. And I've got dance class tonight, which hasn't got anything to do with walking.
Um. I did all of the things I said I was going to last night. Yay me. :)