barely. functional.

November 9, 2006

I slept for 13.5 hours, and the only reason I got up was I wasn’t *certain* I had the stamina to stay asleep until tomorrow morning. I have been up five hours now, and I’m exhausted enough to go back to bed. The only reason I managed to get dressed at all was because it was lovely enough out that I thought I should walk the dog, and even so, ‘got dressed’ is rather loose in its definition. I don’t normally go outside in floppy pants and a sweatshirt. :) And then I took a very short walk indeed, because it turned out I was really tired. O.O

I still have six zillion things to talk about and can’t manage to hold my brain together for hardly any of them. I’ve got all the colored pages for Chance now, and OMG it looks good. My colorist said he can’t imagine anybody turning this down. *laugh* Let’s hope he’s right. I’ve also gotten most of the pages for the second issue, which is, if possible, even prettier than the first. Wow.

Atlanta: the aquarium was very cool, and if I’d had my camera (or hell, any camera) I’d have stayed longer. The day was wonderfully foggy, and it made me /really/ wish I had my camera: I could have taken some really wonderful photographs of downtown Atlanta–

Oh, Christ. *laughs out loud* I was not expecting this when I went to ‘s page. (My mother just said, “That’s my shy little honey.” *laughs and laughs and laughs*!) That LJ/photo group is for Night Shade Books, which is an independent press (as opposed to a small press; fascinatingly, the minute I laid eyes on their material, I thought ‘independent press’, not ‘small press’. Interesting psychological delineation there, apparently related to quality of material.) who have SUCH GORGEOUS BOOKS that I want to write for them. I have .nothing. appropriate for them, nothing at *all*, but I want one of their coooovers! Soooo pretty! (And yes, this from somebody whose covers haven’t exactly been awful.)

–and my other experience in downtown Atlanta that’s worth mentioning was being, for the first time in my life, the only white person visible in a several-block radius. That was … really weird. My goodness did it make me Very Aware of being a white chick, and an especially *pale* one, at that. Although, as I said to , it was mostly an, “Oh please God don’t let me trip on the curb because it will get noticed,” kind of awareness. It was fascinating. I suspect everybody should try it at least once.

So much more to talk about. So little brain.

thinks to do:

– print out TQB and start editing it
– go to the bonk
– send text edits for Chance
– send color edits for Chance

6 thoughts on “barely. functional.”

  3. I’m very fond of Night Shade Books, especially their 3-volume Jorkens collection by Lord Dunsany and their 5-volume collection by Manly Wade Wellman. Their devotion to quality and attention to detail is great.

    Hill House Publishers makes even nicer books, but at ten times the price.

    And as long as I’m thinking of wonderful independents I should mention NESFA Press, returning neglected classics to print. Mmmm, Christopher Anvil and Eric Frank Russell.

    Good luck with Chance! (Bon Chance?)

  4. I had that same experience in Atlanta. Leaving my hotel on foot (no rental car) my first night of a business trip, to try and find a local restaurant, having the vague, nagging sense that something was wrong. I thought at first it was the scaffolding, since EVERYTHING was in some stage of being under construction. And it wasn’t as obvious a difference as LA, where there were cars zooming by in herds, but empty and deserted sidewalks.

    Once I finally figured out what was going on, it was a really strange sensation, to feel so completely and obviously out of place and not belonging. Everyone was charming, and full of the traditional Southern Hospitality when I asked for directions, although there were more than a few sidelong “What’s she doing here?” glances.

  5. I had one of those experiences walking from work to the car dealership to pick up my car last year. And to make things worse, I was wearing what I call my librarian sweater. I was oh so very, very aware of being a pasty white girl. And it really was an interesting experience– definitely shifts your perspective, especially since in my case it happened less than a mile from where I work…

  6. (nudge) (poke) You’d be surprised at what is “appropriate” for Night Shade. (wink)

    Thanks for the Indy/small press thing. And I didn’t even have to say anyting, which is really cool. I’ve been fighting the small press label for 8 years now. I don’t want to be a size queen or anything but really… small… It just seems like an easy way to dismiss something, or it’s own special “short bus” catagory.

    Anyway, thanks again for beaing a Night Shade spokes-model, and for the kind things you said about our books. We actually shed blood and tears making sure our books look the best they can, and it is always nice when the effort is noticed.

    -jl

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