THE PRETENDER’S CROWN is spell-checked, the prologue is rewritten, the NOTES are fixed, and it has been submitted to my editor, who says, “Huzzah!”

I am officially On Holiday* until after my birthday. Laura Anne, the writing brain is yours; have at. I will be reading, exercising, trying to get my bad eating habits a little bit sorted out, visiting family, doing photography, and generally taking time off.

Starting *now*.

*Where “On Holiday” means I only have to write one short story, and possibly a comic book script if I get ambitious.

currently: exhausted

I had no idea so many people felt so strongly about oranges! :)

The other day somebody asked me, somewhere, how I knew how long a book would be. I rambled on about it on Magical Words today, so perhaps that’ll be of some interest to people.

Only yesterday I was proclaiming proudly to Ted that I’d been out of the house almost every single day of the year, except two or three back in January. However, I have not been out today, and it’s pissing down rain, so I kinda think that my streak’s been broken. Damn.

I got up late this morning, and genuinely didn’t think I was going to get any work done, but I’ve actually ended up with 2300 words written, which I’m pretty happy about. (Perhaps not Blazing Avatar of the Writing Godhead happy, but pretty happy!)

I bought local, er, grown? honey at the Cork Market a few days ago (I love the Market. It’s a major reason that I’d like to stay in Cork. It’s vivacious and full of good smells and people talking and foods I’ve never heard of, and it’s just wonderful. I should do a photo shoot there sometime.), but the kind I’d been buying, which is ambrosia-like in its light sweet clarity, wasn’t available just then. So I got another kind which is much woodsier in taste. I don’t like it quite as much (although I bet it’s going to be *really* good in the barbeque sauce), but it’s really interesting to discover the completely distinctive tastes. I could become a honey connessuier, if they’ve got such things. (I’m sure they do.) I’m thinkin’ that even if they’ve got the kind I like a lot next time, I might look for a smaller jar of something else, just to keep trying the new flavours.

ytd wordcount: 182,100

currently: okay

Sheer exhaustion sent me to bed around 10pm last night, and consequently sheer wakefulness got me up around 6:30 this morning.

This combination, plus a bit of sheer bloody-mindedness, got me 8K today. I have another hour, technically, before my writing day is officially over, but my brain was already wearing out 1200 words ago, so I think I’m going to just take my 8K and go home. Or something. Even though I feel vaguely guilty about not writing until 7pm, which is my end-time. Stupid brain.

Various bits: when we went into SubCity (the Dublin comic shop we particularly like) on Friday, it was to discover the guy who isn’t Rob who works there blasting Dire Straits’s “Romeo & Juliet” and dancing around behind the counter singing at the top of his lungs. It was awesome. I sang too. Best Dire Straits song evah.

At the end of P-Con Frank gave me two awesome presents: one is a Princess Doll Maker, because a few months ago on Facebook somebody had a birthday and was a princess! for it, and I said I wanted to be a princess too! and so Frank’s been calling me princess, and now I’ve got a little princess doll making kit that I’m totally looking forward to making a princess doll with. :)

He also gave me a phoenix egg, guaranteed to hatch sometime in the next 500 years. It’s sitting on my desk, under the lamp where it will keep warm, and in a teddy bear’s lap so when the lamp is off the warm fuzzy bear will keep it warm.

Also, Sunday evening I was standing around with Maura McHugh and, uh, Sarah Brennan, whose LJ I can’t find right now, who are both 6′ or very nearly or slightly more in height, and it was a very rare occasion when I felt /short/ standing around with women. Because I’m not short: I’m 5′8″, or close enough for government work, and it’s quite startling to realize the women you’re standing with are towering over you!

…I have got craploads of emails to answer, and am absolutely 110% out of give-a-shit right now. Maybe after dinner.

ytd wordcount: 138,000
miles to Minas Tirith: 241.9

currently: determined

The artist in yesterday’s post is Gabriele Dell’otto, which, well, of course, that makes perfect sense now that I know who it is (he’s the guy who did the relatively recent SECRET WARS miniseries, that lush fully painted OMG gorgeous story). The piece art was *for* Emanuele, not by him. :) Anyway, there’s a fan site at octavalegio.it, where more utterly gorgeous artwork can be drooled over. The sketches galleries are my favorites, ’cause that’s where all the stuff he’s done for fans is. Rawr. And a shout-out to april-art, whose search fu was mighty enough to figure this out!

Let’s see. I have cleaned the kitchen, the bathroom, my office, my computer-room desk, done laundry, walked extensively, and attacked the back garden (which, after about four hours, defeated me. It is now Ted’s turn. I have done quite a lot back there, but it’s so awful that until it’s been gone after a second time it doesn’t look like much has been done. It’s very discouraging. Ted discovered the same thing, so we have to trade off to survive it.). Ted has cleaned the living room and swept the downstairs, cooked delicious dinners, helped fold laundry, and brought me to a movie.

(”In Bruges”, which was…very good, really, but I don’t want to see it again. Colin Farrell is both a fine actor and laugh-out-loud cute when he wants to be. Especially in those glasses. OMG. *laugh* So cute. But my goodness, that movie turned out dark. Good, but dark. And ooky. Good, but dark and ooky. Okay, now I’m parodying something and can’t remember what. Possibly “Sliding Doors”. We also saw “The Accidental Husband”, in which Jeffery Dean Morgan is worth the price of admission, which is good, because the movie falls a little flat. I never quite bought Uma Thurman’s character, and I can’t decide if it was her portrayal or the writing.)

Teh intarwebs, which have of late been boring me, have coughed up some special doom on a stick certain to keep me entertained for far longer than I should stay at a computer in the form of Tv Tropes. This is the best stuff ever. :) I’ve found Jim’s books referenced at least four times. :)

Also, via S.C. Butler, how Gary Gygax created the world we know today. Not that this is news to me, or, in fact, to probably many of the people reading this, but it’s just another reminder that we geeks won. RIP, Gary. You changed all of our lives.

Ted made … I forget what. Some kind of Chinese chicken dish. I had leftovers for lunch, and asked him what one of the components was, and he said, “Bamboo shoots.” Quite naturally, I stared at it a moment, then said, “I’m a panda!” and gobbled it up. That was funny when I did it, but for some reason about three minutes later it came back to haunt me and I ended up laughing so hard I cried. Ted thought I’d lost my mind. :)

thinks to do tomorrow (because I am trying to instigate the idea of a *weekend*, and therefore am not doing them today):

- email les
- email barb
- email matrice
- …I know I’m forgetting things…

ytd wordcount: 81,600
miles to Minas Tirith: 168.9

currently: exhausted

I got my words written today and then thought, “Hm, I could practice the tin whistle! Wouldn’t that be something!” Only then I couldn’t find my little tin whistle learning book. After poking around a while and still not finding it, I took it as a sign of needing to get a better one. The one that came with the whistle has fingerings for all the songs, which is great for learning to play them right away, but not so good for actually learning which fingerings are which notes, so I wanted a better one anyway, and having lost the original (which will probably turn up now that I’ve got another) seemed like as good a reason to get a new one as any.

I picked a few books up and looked through them, and settled on the one that had, on page four, “Weile Weile Waile” (which has the memorable chorus, “Don’t stick knives in babbies heads / down by the river Saile!”, and is a great favorite of my family’s), because I’ve never seen that song in a book before and thought it must be a Sign. :) Unfortunately, the book cost more than I expected it to, so I guess I bloody well better practice in a few minutes here. o.O

2 miles of walking is not very much like 4 or 5, but it’s raining, and I’m pleased I got 2 miles in. And tomorrow I have to remember to go to the writer’s group, and I’m going to go visit Sammy and Myles (and their charming children) for a while. It’s almost like having a life. :)

ytd wordcount: 13,200
miles to Minas Tirith: 20.4
singing: Weile Weile Waile

currently: discontent